Chapter 323

The clear and melodious voice rang out, and Ding Jiajia, for some reason, felt incredibly calm as soon as she heard this sound.

Fan Erzhu abruptly turned around and saw his second aunt walking towards him step by step.

She was still holding a velvet flower in her hand, fluffy and delicate, far better than the silk flower in his hand!

His silk flower cost sixteen wen, while this kind of velvet flower was basically fifty or sixty wen. He looked down on the fabric flower Ding Jiajia wore, but now others also looked down on his silk flower, which was ordinary.

He glanced at his mother and grandmother in the crowd behind him, secretly blaming them in his heart. If they weren’t so reluctant to spend money, he wouldn’t have been outdone if he had bought a velvet flower now!

His mother’s face in the back of the crowd was full of reproach.

This daughter-in-law always ruined her good intentions and obstructed the good marriage of her grandson!

A girl from someone else’s family, even as his niece-in-law, didn’t suffer. What was she thinking of ruining? It was really unclear.

Fine, if Hu Shuiqing dared to ruin this marriage, she wouldn’t let her live in peace either…

Shuiqing saw her mother-in-law and elder sister-in-law, and without thinking, knew what these two were plotting. She naturally also saw the malice and resentment on her mother-in-law’s face, but it didn’t matter. After all, as her daughter-in-law, she never expected to hear a good word from them. More or less resentment was not taken seriously.

She walked towards Ding Jiajia and smiled, “This is what I asked my brother to bring back from the prefectural city. He’s not good at choosing colors, and it doesn’t look good on me, but any delicate color looks good on young girls like you. Take it as a gift from me. If you like it, keep it. If not, it’s okay. Gifts are meant to be accepted willingly.”

The last sentence subtly mocked Fan Erzhu.

Fan Erzhu’s face turned extremely ugly.

He disliked that Ding Jiajia didn’t suit sky blue, saying that girls should only wear pink, but his second aunt said her own delicate colors didn’t look good on her, and young girls were more suitable.

He belittled Ding Jiajia, but his second aunt belittled herself. It was clear who was superior and who was inferior.

He wanted Ding Jiajia to definitely accept the gift, but his second aunt’s words indicated that Ding Jiajia’s approval was necessary. Moreover, his aunt’s gift clearly overshadowed his own! “Shuiqing is right. I said Erzhu shouldn’t force Ding Jiajia to accept it if she doesn’t like your silk flower.”

“It’s not necessarily that she doesn’t like the silk flower, but it depends on who gives it! This thing can’t be accepted carelessly.”

“I don’t know whether it’s accepted carelessly or not, but if it were me, I would rather have the velvet flower than the silk flower.”

…

In the crowd, Zhang Chunhua looked at the velvet flower with envy and swallowed hard.

Those fluffy flowers arranged side by side were really beautiful.

Suddenly, Fan Erzhu’s silk flower was outshined! It’s no wonder people often say that you get what you pay for; these expensive things are indeed better.

She looked at Fan Erzhu’s silk flower again, with a hint of disdain in her eyes, as if it was a second choice.

Fan Erzhu didn’t even look at Zhang Chunhua in the crowd. He gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at his second aunt, then turned and left.

Well, if Ding Jiajia didn’t want it, it didn’t matter. There were still many young girls in the village her age, such as Li Tiantian, Mrs. Li’s little daughter, and Xu Ting, the eldest daughter of the Xu family… He felt a bit sorry for them. If he gave them gifts, buying fabric flowers would be enough, which only cost nine wen and could save a lot.

After all, they were just village girls who hadn’t seen much of the world. Receiving fabric flowers would probably make them jump with joy, not knowing what to do with themselves.

Li Tiantian and Xu Ting did indeed jump with joy upon receiving fabric flowers, repeatedly touching and admiring them, and even tried them on their hair.

However, the joy came not only from buying something they liked but, more importantly, from having earned the money themselves!

It wasn’t given by others or asked from their parents; it was earned with their own silver coins.

With sixty wen a month belonging to them, they could use it freely without asking anyone’s opinion. Today, they could even buy the headbands that had seemed so out of reach before, and they didn’t even think they were expensive as imagined.

After all, sixty wen could buy six and still have some change left!

Fan Erzhu’s intention to give Jiajia a silk flower was also heard by them. They completely understood if Jiajia didn’t like it! Not to mention Jiajia not liking it, they wouldn’t like it either. They could earn money to buy flowers for themselves, so why accept something they didn’t like from someone else?

Shuiqing successfully gave away the velvet flower and also managed to deal with the bad peach blossom for Jiajia, returning to the house in a relaxed mood.

Just as she entered, she saw Fan Jin’s dark, glossy eyes looking at her, followed by his low, gentle voice saying, “Shuiqing, this is the money earned from selling medicinal herbs. Take a look.”

The white silver coins in the cloth bag appeared, making Shuiqing feel even better. Instead of looking, she asked directly, “How much in total?”

“Nine hundred and fifteen taels,” Fan Jin replied, then went on to explain how much each type of herb had earned in detail.

Finally, he added, “Uncle Ding said the aged tangerine peel doesn’t fetch a good price right now. If we’re not in a hurry to use the money, we could sell a small portion later and store the majority. When times improve, the prices will likely rise.”

Uncle Ding suggested not selling any at all and keeping everything in stock, though that carried greater risk.

After all, if storage conditions weren’t optimal and the herbs spoiled, they’d lose everything.

After pondering for a while, Shuiqing raised her eyes and asked, “I think we’re not short of money. Besides the labor costs for the aged tangerine peel, there aren’t many expenses. Why don’t we just store it all? We have more than enough to get by with the other two types of herbs.”

With turmoil likely to persist for a few more years, waiting until things stabilize will improve the economy and make spending on this easier.

A faint smile played on Fan Jin’s lips as he lightly murmured his agreement.

Meanwhile, Shuiqing calculated the financial situation of the herb shop.

They had earned over nine hundred taels in a month. Efficiency was low in the first month since everyone was new, but if things stabilized, monthly income could easily range from eight hundred to a thousand taels. Wages for the herb shop workers were twenty-one taels a month, covering lunch, at a cost of about two taels per month.

Additionally, the initial investment for the herb shop, covering bricks and tiles, was repaid with labor, so no money was spent. Totaling forty to fifty taels for lime, bricks, and green boards, it wasn’t much compared to their over nine hundred taels, and this was a one-time expenditure, with no monthly costs to follow.

The first batch of herbs sold for nine hundred and fifteen taels, making for a promising start. Shuiqing was satisfied with the income.

Now that the business was profitable and the employees hard-working, it was time to reward them. But rewarding employees couldn’t just be lip service; it required real action.

“It’s getting colder. How about making winter clothes for the herb shop staff? Cotton garments, two layers with cotton stuffing in between, enough for two sets so they can change and wash.”