Chapter 10

As for little Tianbao, naturally, everyone doted on her from the bottom of their hearts. If anyone dared to bully little Tianbao even a bit, the whole family would never agree to it.

People, you have to be useful. Once you become useful, everyone around you will be ten times friendlier. But the Song family’s love for little Tianbao was mostly because they had waited many years and finally welcomed this little girl.

This little girl was born under an unusual omen, bringing good luck and was also cute, so naturally she was even more loved.

Early the next morning, Grandma Zhou got up early, taking a few daughters-in-law with her to start cooking the recipes taught by little sweet treasure Xiao Tianbao.

Grilled fish, eel rice, mackerel dumplings, and fried ribbonfish — these were the types of sea fish they often caught before.

The ingredients were definitely enough, and the cooking was meticulous. Grandma Zhou was going all out; even if it didn’t succeed, she was prepared to waste the oil and salt.

All the daughters-in-law heard little sweet treasure Tianbao’s earnest wishes, knew these recipes really came from her, and so they were full of enthusiasm. They were even more confident that they would surely make money.

After working all morning, Song’s third and fourth sons hitched the ox cart and loaded the prepared food and several baskets of fish onto it.

Grandma Zhou went to the east wing and asked Mrs. Liu, “Fourth son’s wife, I’m going with them to sell the fish. Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll bring it back for you. Our chickens are all laying eggs now, I don’t want to kill any. I’ll buy you one and stew some chicken soup.”

Mrs. Liu was a traditionally virtuous and obedient daughter-in-law. She had been resting after childbirth these days and was eating the best food at home, so she felt a little embarrassed.

She hurriedly said, “Mother, no need. I eat millet porridge with chicken eggs and goose eggs every day, it’s fine.”

Little sweet treasure Tianbao didn’t expect her grandma to personally go sell fish. This old rural lady was quite spirited, and going with her was definitely more appropriate than with her dad, who was taciturn and not good at talking.

Little sweet treasure Tianbao said, “Wow, grandma is amazing. Grandma is going to sell fish and even do business. That’s really awesome.”

Hearing this, Grandma Zhou was overjoyed, as if injected with energy. Look, her little granddaughter was praising her again.

Grandma Zhou herself also thought she was pretty impressive, able to speak well. Being praised by little Tianbao made her even more confident.

Grandma Zhou said, “Then I’ll watch and buy. You stay at home. If you want anything to eat, just ask your second sister-in-law to cook for you.”

Then she looked at little sweet treasure Tianbao and softly said, “My dear granddaughter, my sweet Tianbao, wait for grandma to come back. You grow up quickly, grandma will buy you all the delicious food.”

Little sweet treasureTianbao smiled sweetly at Grandma Zhou, melting the old lady’s heart.

Soon, Grandma Zhou, along with the two sons, hurried to the town with the ox cart.

The family was still a little nervous, not knowing if the business would succeed, but little sweet treasure Tianbao was very confident.

With her special seasonings that definitely wouldn’t be found here, and cooking methods that others didn’t know, any big restaurant would surely want to keep these dishes.

A few fresh, unique dishes that no one else had would attract a large number of customers and could definitely make the business popular.

At night, Grandma Zhou and the third and fourth sons finally drove the ox cart back.

Grandma Zhou looked like a victorious rooster, proudly holding her head high, with a smile on her face she couldn’t hide.

The third and fourth sons also looked very happy. The baskets for food on the cart were empty, the fish baskets were empty, but there were some new things they had bought.

“Unload the cart, unload it! Take the fine rice, white flour, chicken, and fabric into the house. Oh, and the wine I bought for your dad, bring it down too.”

As Grandma Zhou shouted this, everyone in the Song family came out to see. They had been wondering all afternoon if the fish could be sold.

Judging by Grandma Zhou’s demeanor, it seemed they had sold it.

Song’s eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Zhu, joked, “Oh, Mother, you’ve gotten rich. Buying so many good things!”

“Yes, I bought it, even bought roast chicken for tonight’s extra meal,” Grandma Zhou said proudly.

The kids happily ran around. The roast chicken from town was the best they could get, and they rarely got to eat it.

Grandma Zhou was usually very frugal, but now that she was so generous, she must have made money, and lots of it.

Third son’s wife, Mrs. Zou, hurriedly said, “Hey, hurry up and unload the cart, Mother. Come inside quickly. Everyone’s waiting for you to tell the story.”

This “telling the story” was obviously a joke meaning they wanted Grandma Zhou to explain how things went.

Everyone laughed at Mrs. Zou’s words and quickly came to help unload the cart.

Grandma Zhou carried a small cloth bag, entered the house, took off her shoes, and sat cross-legged on the kang (heated brick bed).

Old Master Song saw Grandma Zhou’s proud look and joked, “Hey, this old woman really got rich, she even dared to buy roast chicken.”

The smile on Grandma Zhou’s face could no longer be hidden. She had worked hard for this family all her life but had never been so recognized before.

She never expected she actually had a talent for doing business. For a rural old woman to be able to do business, Grandma Zhou was proud beyond words.

But this was all thanks to her little granddaughter who brought her good fortune and methods. This little sweet treasure Tianbao was truly a lucky star. She loved her very much.

Everyone hurried to unload the cart and then quickly went inside, gathering around Grandma Zhou, waiting for her to talk about today’s events.

Grandma Zhou didn’t speak first but put the small cloth bag on the table and opened it. Inside were all bright white silver coins.

The whole family was stunned. So many silver coins? How so many silver coins? They had never seen so many silver coins at once before.

Everyone silently stared at the silver coins, completely surprised.

Second daughter-in-law, Mrs. Zhang, quickly lit a candle. The room brightened, and the silver coins gleamed in the candlelight.

Old Master Song trembled as he touched the silver coins, biting one with his teeth. It was real silver.

Old Master Song said, “Oh, how much silver is this? No wonder you dared to buy so many things.”

Grandma Zhou proudly looked at everyone and then stretched out her hand: “We sold a total of sixty taels and two qian of silver, spent five taels and two qian, and have fifty-five taels left.”

The whole family looked at Grandma Zhou with shocked expressions. Oh my god, how much? Fifty-five taels?

It should be known that the Song family’s land, mountains, seas, and poultry raising income together did not even reach thirty taels per year. The entire family’s clothing, food, and living expenses were always tight.

But this one time made two years’ income at once. How could they not be surprised? They were absolutely stunned.

No wonder Grandma Zhou bought so much fine rice and flour. In the past, she would never have dared. Now she really had money.

Mrs. Zhang was the first to sigh, “Oh, this is really the good luck little sweet treasure Xiao Tianbao brought us. I knew it could make money, but I never thought it would be this much.”