Old Madam Zhao got upset the moment she saw the white rice and pork.

She lost her appetite entirely.

With a sour face, she scolded, “I know you’ve earned some money, but money isn’t meant to be spent like this! The year has been tough, and we’ll need money for many things later. Look at Ergou—he’s at the age where he’ll need to get married in half a year at most. But our family doesn’t even have a proper house for him! We have to save up to build him a mud-brick house. I heard from Matchmaker Wang that bride prices have gone up recently—it’s now half a tael of silver…”

Zhao Ergou quickly spoke up, “Grandma, it’s still early for me to think about marriage.”

But Old Madam Zhao didn’t think it was early at all.

In the village, some sixteen-year-old boys were already fathers.

Her gaze fell on Wu Huiniang’s pale face.

She scowled and said, “Since you’re pregnant, stay at home and rest properly. Stop running around! Just one doctor’s visit cost us forty to fifty copper coins—do you think money falls from the sky?”

Wu Huiniang lowered her head in guilt. “I’ll listen to you, Grandma.”

Meanwhile, Cheng Wanwan was deep in thought.

From now on, she definitely couldn’t let Wu Huiniang do so much work.

In another month, the season for selling cold jelly would end.

She had to seize this time to expand the market.

She needed her sons to go to town to help, and more importantly, she wanted to broaden their horizons—whether in business or other skills.

She couldn’t always be the one leading the charge.

If they sold cold jelly in the morning, they could return home in the afternoon.

Farm work could wait until they got back. Chopping firewood and carrying water could be done in the evening. Lunch wouldn’t be a problem since Wu Huiniang could manage on her own.

The only thing that needed arranging was feeding the chickens and ducks at home.

If Sidan (the youngest son) stayed home, he could take care of the poultry.

But she planned to send him to school soon.

Tomorrow, she would inquire about the situation and see if he was willing.

If he wasn’t, that was fine too—he could stay home and raise chickens and ducks.

“You could’ve asked Xia Hua to help in the fields. Why did you have to go struggle there yourself?”

Old Madam Zhao kept muttering complaints.

Cheng Wanwan smiled. “Mother, can I trouble you with something?”

Old Madam Zhao narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What do you want now?”

She had already suggested that Xia Hua help out, but her eldest daughter-in-law still wanted to trouble her with something else?

Could it be that she wanted the old house to provide meals for Dashan’s wife at lunchtime?

One extra meal wasn’t much, but it wasn’t little either…

Forget it. Since she was carrying a child of the Zhao family, giving her one meal wouldn’t be a big deal.

“Let me be clear—there’s no white rice or fatty pork at the old house. Just coarse grain pancakes and cornbread. Take it or leave it.”

Cheng Wanwan: “……”

Where was this conversation even going?

When had she ever said Huiniang needed to eat at the old house?

With a sigh, she clarified, “I just wanted to ask if you could arrange for someone from the old house to come over and feed the chickens and ducks at our place. Just digging up some wild greens for them at noon would be enough. The evening feeding can wait until Sidan gets back. No matter who does it, I’ll pay them two copper coins.”

“We’re all family, why talk about money?” Old Madam Zhao snapped, but then she suddenly had another thought.

If the money stayed in her eldest daughter-in-law’s hands, it would all be spent on white rice and pork.

This woman had fingers like a sieve—money just slipped right through.

She had to help her grandsons save up for their future brides!

So she relented, “Alright, two copper coins then. I’ll go back and ask who wants the job.”

Wu Huiniang opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but Cheng Wanwan shot her a sharp look.

She was pregnant—she should just accept being taken care of.

In ancient times, women’s lives were fragile. If anything happened, regret would be useless.

Before, they hadn’t had the means, but now that they had some money, they should ensure a good pregnancy.

Looking at the messy dishes on the table, Cheng Wanwan said calmly, “Starting today, everyone except your eldest sister-in-law will take turns washing the dishes.”

“Mother, really, it’s not necessary,” Wu Huiniang said uneasily. “Washing dishes isn’t hard. I can handle it.”

She quickly moved to clean up.

“Put them down.”

Cheng Wanwan pressed her hand down firmly. “Dashan will start today, and then we’ll rotate. Also, from now on, everyone washes their own clothes. Your sister-in-law can’t be doing everything. Understood?”

In this household, Cheng Wanwan’s words were law.

The four boys had no objections.

Zhao Dashan helped Wu Huiniang sit down before swiftly cleaning up the dishes.

Once the house was tidy, the four boys sat around the main hall’s table. Wu Huiniang was also made to sit down.

Clearing her throat, Cheng Wanwan announced, “Today, we’ll start learning basic addition and subtraction within ten.”

Zhao Sanniu groaned. “Mother, my brain is slow. Can I skip this? I’m strong—I can just do labor. Let Second Brother handle the thinking stuff.”

“No.”

Cheng Wanwan refused outright. “Even if you don’t fully understand, you must at least try. Learn as much as you can.”

She turned to Zhao Sidan. “How many characters have you learned from Tiezhu?”

Zhao Sidan grinned proudly. “I traded ten chestnuts for ten characters, and I remember them all! I can even write all our family’s names.”

Cheng Wanwan nodded. “After learning arithmetic, you’ll all learn one new character a day from Sidan. Let’s start with the character ‘Zhao’.”

Zhao Sanniu was on the verge of tears.

He wanted to run away but didn’t dare.

As darkness fell, the house lacked candles. Zhao Dashan brought over a torch for light. The flickering flames illuminated six faces in the dim room.

“What’s one plus one?”

“What’s eight minus six?”

“What? Eight minus six is three? Sanniu, how did you even come up with that?”

“If you don’t know, use your fingers to count…”

At first, Cheng Wanwan was enthusiastic, but gradually, frustration crept into her voice.

She ended the lesson with a headache and let Sidang teach them how to write. The boy wet his finger and traced a character on the table. “This is ‘Zhao’—our family name.”

Cheng Wanwan glanced at it.

And nearly lost her temper.

Sidan had only written half the character, mistaking (walk) for (Zhao).

He was teaching nonsense!

She covered her face. “Forget it, Sidan. It’s too late. Learning to write in dim light is bad for your eyes. Let’s go make cold jelly instead.”

Zhao Sanniu instantly perked up. “Yes, Mother! I’ll boil the water!”

As long as he didn’t have to study, he was happy to do anything.

Even Zhao Dashan, who wasn’t keen on studying, quickly stood up. “I’ll start extracting the jelly seeds.”

Zhao Ergou was still lost in thought. “Mother, if we can count using fingers for numbers under ten, how do we count numbers above ten quickly?”

He took a long time to do mental math, and half the time, his answers were wrong.

Cheng Wanwan smiled. “I’ll teach you later. One step at a time.”

Meanwhile, Zhao Sidang scratched his head. “Hmm, why does this ‘Zhao’ character look different from what Brother Tiezhu taught me? I’ll ask him tomorrow.”

Cheng Wanwan felt a surge of relief. At least he realized his mistake.

She stood up. “Alright, it’s late. Let’s start making three buckets of cold jelly tonight.”

Wu Huiniang tried to help, but Cheng Wanwan stopped her. “Go rest. Don’t come out unless I say so.”

Wu Huiniang, overwhelmed with emotion, retreated to her room, her eyes red. She couldn’t sleep, so she started sewing clothes by the dim firelight.

And so, the Zhao family worked late into the night, while the old Zhao household bustled with its own matters as well.