Seeing that Chen Zhao was still in trouble, Ying Bao knew that she must not even have the money to make a stove, so she said, "How about I lend you five taels of silver first, you can make a stove first, and then buy a frying pan. Your family should have no shortage of rice and flour, only icing sugar and sesame seeds will cost money..."
As he was speaking, he saw Chen Zhaocui lowering his head and crying silently.
Yingbao paused, then said, "When you make money, return it to me."
Chen Zhao nodded, stepped forward to hug Ying Bao, and whispered to thank her: "Thank you for helping me."
She had not been very friendly to Yingbao before, and she had even hoped that Yingbao would suffer bad luck.
But she didn't hate Yingbao at all when her mother was imprisoned, and she secretly hoped that she would never come back.
I guess the eldest sister Chen Wan thought the same. When she learned that her mother had passed away, she didn't shed a single tear.
Yingbao quietly pushed her away, took out a five-liang silver ingot from her bag and handed it to her: "Now that everyone is free, go and make a stove."
Frosting sugar and sesame seeds can be bought at the market. Sesame oil can be used to fry the sugar cakes. Brother Daniu’s oil mill also sells it.
Chen Zhao took the silver, nodded, turned and ran away.
A few days later, Chen Zhao really started selling fried sugar cakes.
Chen Fengshi chased Chen Zhao to the market and scolded him for a long time, saying that if her father's reputation was implicated, she would never be spared.
Chen Zhao was determined to go against Chen Fengshi and ignored her no matter how she scolded him.
Chen Xu followed closely behind his second sister and helped add firewood to the stove.
Yingbao went to see them and bought some cakes.
Chen Zhao pushed the money back and said, "Take it and eat. Xu Bao often eats at your house. How can I let you pay for it?"
Yingbao insisted and pushed it into her hands: "If you don't want money, I won't buy it, and it won't be easy to come back next time."
Seeing her say this, Chen Zhao had no choice but to accept the money.
Today is the first time the market has opened since the flood, and many people come to buy things.
When the young girls and wives smelled the fragrance of the sugar cakes, they could no longer walk and bought one or two to try.
Children and young wives from Dongchen Village and Xichen Village also came to join in the fun. They had plenty of pocket money, so they took out a few cents to buy one.
For a while, Chen Zhao was too busy to handle it.
Yingbao watched for a while, bought some things at the market, and then went home.
Chunniang was sitting in the yard with her mother and sister-in-law, picking leeks and preparing to make leek dumplings. When she saw her daughter coming back, she asked, "What did you buy?"
Yingbao gave her a piece of the candy cake she had bought, and gave one each to her grandmother and aunt.
"Wow, who made this? It's really good." Chunniang put the cake in her mouth, wiped her hands on her apron, and then slowly took a bite.
Grandma and my aunt nodded: "It's really good, crispy on the outside, and with sugar sesame filling inside."
Yingbao also took a bite and said, "Chen Zhao made it. I taught her."
Chunniang was surprised: "Bao'er, why are you teaching her to do this? Would Chen Fengshi be willing for her granddaughter to run a small business?"
"You have to accept it whether you like it or not." Chen Zhao is not a person who will just accept her fate. She will definitely fight with Chen Fengshi to the end.
Yingbao knew Chen Fengshi very well. The old woman was very concerned about her reputation. Now that her son had passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, she felt that she was superior to others. She would rather her family be extremely poor than go out in public to do business. But when she really needed money, she had no choice but to compromise.
Of course, Chen Feng was not poor in her previous life. Her family owned hundreds of acres of land, most of which were hired farmers to cultivate. She also used money to buy a house in the county town for her second son.
Aunt Xu replied, "What's wrong with doing business? That Chen Fengshi is really something." Earlier, Aunt Xu also went to the market for a stroll and happened to see Chen Fengshi holding a small bamboo stick and trying to hit Chen.
After eating the sugar cake, grandma wiped her hands with her apron and said, "Maybe she doesn't want her daughter to be in the spotlight. I think she's about 11 or 12 years old. It's really not suitable for her to do business alone."
Old Mrs. Xu has far-reaching thoughts. In her opinion, people in the world are evil, so girls should stay at home obediently. Even if they do business, they must be accompanied by their family members, otherwise what if they are bullied by bad people
Chunniang took a look at her little girl and thought to herself that her daughter had followed her cousin to do business at a very young age, and had made Dacheng and Erquan rich. She found it incredible, so she didn't think there was anything wrong with a girl doing business.
Seeing them chatting, Yingbao carried the odds and ends she had bought into the house, took out those for A-niang, and put the rest into the cave.
Then he went out with a small shovel and a backpack.
Now that the soil is soft and the weather is neither too cold nor too hot, she wants to plant some more trees around the village.
We also need to plant medicinal herbs in the wild, such as marigold, thistle, mountain thistle, and Atractylodes macrocephala, which are common but effective, and we need to sow more seeds.
She took out a bunch of saplings from her orchard and put them in her backpack. She was about to leave when she heard someone calling her from behind: "Yingbao, what are you doing?"
Yingbao turned around and saw that it was her master Zhou Wuchang, and replied, "I'm going to grow some herbs."
Zhou Wuchang walked over with his hands behind his back, followed by his eldest disciple Zhou Hao. "Master will go with you."
"Okay." Yingbao took the shovel and led the way.
The master and his two disciples came to the soapberry tree in the village. Yingbao put down the backpack, then began to dig the soil and plant kudzu seedlings.
The reason why Yingbao chose to plant kudzu vines next to the soapberry tree is, firstly, because kudzu vines are very useful, and also because they grow very fast, often becoming lush and leafy in just one year.
Moreover, their roots, stems and flowers are good medicines for cooling blood and detoxifying.
Zhou Wuchang watched his younger disciple planting seedlings with great interest, and said to his older disciple, "Why don't you go and help your junior sister with the work?"
Zhou Hao responded, took the shovel from Yingbao and started digging the hole.
Yingbao planted kudzu vines in the hole he had dug.
Zhou Wuchang looked at it for a while and asked, "Yingbao, why do you plant this?"
Yingbao squatted on the ground without looking up and said, "These grow fast. They can climb up the soapberry tree in one year. With their protection, it's not easy for outsiders to get in."
As kudzu vines entangle between the soapberry trees, the gaps between them become smaller, and even a cat cannot get in.
Zhou Wuchang smiled and said, "What if someone sets you on fire?"
"The villagers are not blind, they will definitely be able to see it." Ying Bao said, "If an external enemy attacks, we can just find the right direction."
"Even if there really is an external enemy attack, they won't set fire to just one place. They will set fire to everywhere," said Zhou Wuchang.
Yingbao thought for a moment and said, "When that time comes, there will definitely be a lot of people coming. I also have a second way to deal with it."
Zhou Wuchang was curious: "What method?"
"Escape to a place where there is no fire." Yingbao said seriously: "If you really can't escape, I will ask everyone in the village to come to my house and defend it together."
Zhou Wuchang laughed: "Is this also considered a method?"
"Yeah." Yingbao had never experienced war and couldn't think of any good way to fight the enemy.
"Master will tell you what you should do to defend against foreign attacks so as to have the greatest chance of winning." Zhou Wuchang was amazed as he looked at the circle of lush soapberry trees.
Yingbao raised her little head and said, "Master, you say."