After seeing them off, Shen's family let out a sigh of relief. Zi Lu and the others gathered around, saw the four large silver ingots in Shen's hand, each took one and held it for a while. Zi Fu and Zi Lu were so excited that they jumped up, they felt more deeply than Zi Qing and Zi Shou the hardships of life, suddenly seeing this wealth at home, almost crying with joy. Zi Fu also specially reminded Zi Shou not to tell anyone.

  Shen's family was overjoyed, "Qing'er, I really didn't expect that the things you've been messing with could actually make a lot of money, it's much better than farming. To think about it, I'm really ashamed, I've been busy outside every day, and at your young age, you have to take care of the child, do household chores, and even grow silver. Actually, this year's vegetables were also grown by you kids. I'm so happy, come on, I'll make some delicious food for you."

  "Mother, there will be more silver sent over later. I said it, and I must send Second Brother to school, didn't I?" Zi Qing made a weird face at Zi Lu. Zi Lu nodded vigorously.

  Five days later, when Zhou came again, he brought another good news. He said that last time he saw that our family raised many chickens, so in the future they can take all of our eggs and also the chickens because their master has his own restaurant.

  It seems that Shen's family didn't give them more than 200 copper plates for nothing last time, now they are actively thinking of getting business.

  Zi Qing hastily said that the chicken they raised was absolutely better than others in terms of taste. He caught a capon and took ten eggs to let Zhou Zhanggu send them to Dongjia to try, and they would set the price next time they bought watermelon. This time they pulled over 3,000 catties away, Shen Shi took sixty taels of silver, and the remaining small change was also used by them to drink wine. This time, looking at these few silver ingots, everyone became much calmer.

  Shen's family thought there was still some time before the harvest, so she wanted to go back to her mother's house and take a few melons for He's family to taste. Her own children also used well water to cool down and relieve their thirst from time to time, and it was time to show filial piety to the elderly. Shen's family had also considered whether or not to send something to Tian's family, but after hesitating for half a day, she decided to wait until the end of the month to think about it again. If they knew that their own watermelons had sold for so much silver, who knows what would happen.

  Ziying picked out four watermelons for Shen Shi and took them to Baitang Village. Shen Shi brought along Zirong and also brought the clothes she had made for He Shi. Originally, they were going to bring along Zixi as well, but Ziying was worried that the road would be too long and there wouldn't be a way to take care of her on the way. Besides, it wasn't the first time she had taken care of Zixi alone either. Shen Shi thought about it and indeed it was so, so they left Zixi behind.

  After returning from her mother's home, Shen's mood has been very good. After so many years, she can finally show filial piety to her mother and brother, and they can finally be at ease.

  Time flies, and it's already June 5th. Zeng Ruixiang has started his summer vacation. As he enters the house, he coincidentally runs into Zhou Zhanggui bringing people to collect the third batch of melons. Neither of them expected so many people at home, nor did they expect the male owner of this household to be a scholar. After exchanging pleasantries, they found out that the price had dropped from 18 cents per catty last time to 12 cents now. They picked over 3,000 more catties, and Zi Qing estimated that these watermelons would likely sell out after one more sale.

  This time, Shen didn't give them a tip, and instead, one family gave him a melon. The four of them were even more satisfied. Zhou, the shopkeeper, ordered all the tens of castrated chickens at home to be raised for a few more days, saying that the outside chickens were sold for 15 cents per catty, while the East House offered 18 cents, and the eggs were priced the same as the outside ones. As a result, Shen let them take away the hundreds of eggs he had accumulated recently.

  After seeing them off, Shen smiled and talked to Zeng Ruixiang about the income from selling melons for twenty days. "I really didn't expect that because of the child's unintentional move, our family would be lifted out of poverty in just half a year. This time, I can finally relax completely. In autumn, we will prepare to build a big house, you think carefully about what kind of house to build, our family is not short of money. The income from these melons is over 100 taels, and the previous sales of vegetables were also 15 taels, ah, let's buy some good things for the house." Shen had a look of satisfaction on her face.

  After dinner, the family sat under the starry sky to enjoy the cool breeze and talked about building a house. You spoke one word at a time, Zeng Rui Xiang and Shen Shi were not annoyed, saying that whoever had any ideas could mention them, and let Zi Fu take notes.

  "I said I want a house of my own, a big and beautiful bed, and thick quilts. I don't want to sleep on straw," said Zi Qing.

  "I want a study room, I want three big bookshelves, and I also want to buy books that I like," said Zifou.

  "I also want to read books, I want to go to a private school. After school, I will study with my elder brother in the study room. I don't want to sleep on straw either," said Zirong.

  "What I want is to have a full meal every day and also have meat to eat." Zi Shou's request was the simplest.

  "I still want to take a bath in the house, let's build a bathroom at home, I want to soak in a large wooden tub. It's really inconvenient for us to take a bath like this now, it would be better if we had a separate bathroom." Zi Qing said.

  "Qing'er's request is good, and I also want this matter, taking a bath should be more convenient and comfortable, especially for us women." said Shen Shi.

  "Didn't anyone of you think it's inconvenient to go out?" Zeng Rui Xiang asked.

  "I actually thought it was inconvenient for a long time, but I didn't have the nerve to say it," said Zifeng.

  "I don't want the old house's toilet, it's easy to fall in if you're not careful." Ziqing was still fearful of squatting on the two wooden boards over the pit to do her business.

  "What good ideas do you have, mother knows you've always been clever and resourceful." Shen smiled as she looked at her daughter.

  "I've actually thought about this for a long time. Let's dig a hole outside the latrine, cover it with a wooden lid, and then dig a tunnel from the latrine to the hole. We can squat down and do our business, and when we're done, we can just flush it into the hole outside with water. Yeah, let's dig a sloping tunnel, so the bottom of the slope is right above the big hole outside, and with one flush, everything will be gone! How about that?" Zi Qing's face was full of "come on, guys, praise me!" expression, which made everyone burst out laughing.

  Zi Fu put his arm around Zi Qing, patted her head and said seriously: "Look at this little sister of ours, so clever and lively, just like her brother."

  "Brother, are you praising me or yourself? I've seen people with thick skin before, but never as thick-skinned as you." Zi Qing said with feigned dissatisfaction.

  "Qing'er makes some sense, Zifeng. You should think it over carefully and make it more comfortable. It's best if you can draw a picture." said Zeng Rui Xiang.

  "Dad, the windows should be opened a bit wider, and the light should be brighter. Otherwise, it's too dark inside the house, and it's not convenient for my brothers to read books." Zi Qing added another sentence. She really didn't like the old house on the other side before, which didn't even have any windows. Although it was a room separated by wooden boards, at least make it bright and spacious. It's really hard to imagine how Shen Shi lived there for ten years.

  A family with a yearning for a better life in the future, their joyful voices and laughter echoed far, far away.