After Zhao Ce finished talking with his uncle, he turned around and prepared to go home. Just as he was about to knock on his own big door, it was opened from the inside. The little girl who had heard him talking with his uncle was already waiting inside the door with a smile on her face. "Husband, you're back? Is everything taken care of?"
Zhao Ce laughed, "Yes, everything is taken care of." He unloaded his book box and casually put it aside, then sat down directly on a stool. Zhao Ce let out a long sigh of relief. He had been on the road for over four or five hours today, and with his current physical condition, it was indeed a bit much to handle. He needed to eat well and pay attention to exercising his body. Meanwhile, Su Caier had already swiftly brought him water to drink and washed his face. She then held the new fan he had bought and fanned him with all her might. After drinking the cool well water, a cool breeze blew over him. Zhao Ce felt his pores all relax and expand. It was so comfortable! The considerate girl beside him continued to fan him with all her might. "Husband, is this wind enough?"
Zhao Ce sighed, "It's enough." Su Caier said, holding the fan tightly, then switching to holding it with both hands. She continued to work hard to cool down her husband. After fanning for a while, her strength diminished slightly, occasionally gaining strength again. Zhao Ce turned his head to look at her and smiled, "Aren't you tired?" Su Caier looked at him with a pair of innocent big eyes and said, "No, I'm not tired." She said she wasn't tired, but the strength in her fanning hand had diminished quite a bit.
Zhao Ce chuckled and took the fan from her, rubbing her thin arm. "You don't have to use so much force." Su Caier repeated, "I'm not tired." Zhao Ce poked her small forehead, "Little liar." Su Caier covered her forehead with her hand and smiled at him, trying to please him. Zhao Ce couldn't help but gently pinch her small face, then took out the contract from his arms and handed it to the little girl beside him. "Here, this is the newly signed contract."
Su Caier held the contract carefully in her hands. "A contract?" she asked, looking down at the written paper. Then, somewhat embarrassed, she said, "Husband, I don't know how to read..." Zhao Ce laughed and explained, "Today, I went to the Su Yunfeng’s family in Xiahe village and arranged for a cooperation with him. After a few days, when the tools we ordered in the city arrive, we can continue making white sugar to sell for money."
Su Caier, upon hearing this, looked at the contract in her hands with some joy. This meant that their family would have a stable livelihood in the future. Su Caier carefully held the paper and said, "I need to keep this contract safe."
Zhao Ce nodded and said, "You can put it wherever you like. Later, I will go to my uncle's house again and talk to him about the white sugar business. If he's free, he can take me directly to Wenhua’s Restaurant." "Once our business becomes stable, we won't have to worry about money or food anymore." Su Caier listened to her husband's plans for the future and her eyes were filled with longing. Yesterday, they had sold ten silver taels worth of the white sugar they had made in the city.
When the large silver ingot was handed to her by her husband upon their return, she was still a bit incredulous. Ten silver taels! She had never seen such a large amount of silver before, even the five silver taels from before were smaller. The ingot was much bigger! Now, the two of them could sell white sugar for so much silver. Over time, wouldn't they earn a lot of silver? This way, they could quickly pay back the silver they owed to their uncle.
Su Caier said happily, "Husband, I will put this contract away." Zhao Ce nodded. "Go ahead." Su Caier took the contract and went back to her room. She took out the wooden box containing all of their belongings from the crack in the bed and opened it up. Two land contracts were at the bottom of the box. There were five silver taels and a ten-silver worth ingot inside. In addition, there were some copper coins. These were the spare coins her husband had left for her to use at home. Her nine copper coins were in a small purse and were also placed inside the wooden box with the silver coins her husband had earned.
She couldn't help but blush when she thought back to when she had eagerly given her nine copper coins to her husband, saying that she wanted to help pay off their debts by going to chop firewood in the mountains. Now, those nine copper coins had increased many times over. "My mother used to say that I should live well and that things would get better. She carefully took out the silver coins and put the contract at the bottom of the wooden box. She carefully put all the silver back and patted the wooden box with great affection.
Nowadays, she ate white rice and flour every day, and the dishes were full of oil. Almost every meal had meat to eat. The heaviest work she had done at home was washing clothes by the river every day. Su Caier lay happily on the bed, looking at the wooden box. Her little mouth was pouted slightly from being squeezed. She muttered to herself, "Nowadays, every day feels like a dream." So much so that every time she woke up, she had to look at her husband several times to confirm that this man was not something she had imagined in her dreams.
"My husband works so hard and gives me such a good life. I also need to be more sensible and obedient." Saying this, she knocked her head against her own hand. She gently closed the wooden box, just like every time she put the silver coins in it. She whispered, "Be careful and hide well." After speaking, she did not wait for the wooden box to answer and hid it back in the crack. Standing up, she patted her little hands and went out to prepare the lunch that was already cooked.
The two of them had a late lunch. Zhao Ce looked at the sky and prepared to go to Zhao Youcai's house. As usual, he brought a small bag of white sugar. Although Li Shi felt a little embarrassed every time she saw him carrying such a precious thing over, he had no other gifts to give. He could only take these things as a convenient gift. But if it were another family, Zhao Ce would not be so generous. Zhao Youcai's family was definitely different. With his ability, Zhao Ce could naturally pay off the silver owed by his uncle's family, but their family's kindness to him would never be repaid. Zhao Ce was also clear about this. So, what he was thinking about was that if he could make a name for himself in the future, he would definitely not forget his uncle's family. "I'm going out." Zhao Ce said. Then he went out with the things he brought.
