CHAPTER 348: CHAPTER 323: STEALING FROM ONE’S OWN HOUSE? (3)

"Lian’er, put these Silver coins into your space, I really have nowhere to hide them," Sun Shi said helplessly.

"Mother, I still have tens of thousands of Silver Taels in my space, you keep these to spend." Mainly because next year when she leaves, who knows how many years it will be before she returns, she thinks she should leave more Silver Taels for Sun Shi and Yu Changhe.

Sun Shi shook her head and whispered, "Lian’er, I also have nearly ten thousand taels in hand, too much for me to manage."

Sun Shi hid the Silver in three places: one was under the wooden bed where she and Yu Changhe slept in summer, one in the kang cabinet, and one was following her mother-in-law, Yu Laotai, buried in the ground of the vegetable cellar.

Even then, Sun Shi was worried every day, afraid the money would be stolen. If Yu Xiaolian weren’t going on a long journey, she would have stored it all in her daughter’s space!

"Alright then, I’ll keep some for the New Year expenses, and the rest, I’ll put away."

"Manjin and the others haven’t returned from Zheng City yet. When they come back, we’ll have a few hundred more taels, enough for New Year expenses. You don’t need to keep it, just put it all away!" Sun Shi said helplessly, "It’s worrisome when there’s no money and still worrisome when there is money."

Yu Xiaolian touched the wooden box containing money and put both the box and Silver into her space.

"Mother, has Sun Manyu been back recently?"

"I haven’t seen her, but I heard from Mrs. Li that your sister Manyu hasn’t been able to conceive, and her mother-in-law treats her especially poorly.

Every time she brings back the homework scrolls from you for Li Wenyuan, her mother-in-law shows her a good face.

From what Li said, they’re waiting for you to give Li Wenyuan questions next fall to help Manyu," Sun Shi said very complicatedly.

Logically, relatives helping each other is only right.

But knowing her daughter’s nature, she certainly wouldn’t do something so biased.

Moreover, since Sun Manyu doesn’t get along with her daughter, it’s even less likely.

Sure enough, just after Sun Shi finished speaking, Yu Xiaolian responded, "Last year was just a fluke, when Minister Fu randomly took my questions, next year might not be the same."

Besides, by next fall, she might not even be in Luocheng anymore.

"Mother, you should focus on our family’s matters rather than worry about how Sun Manyu is doing.

If I really leave next year, then the affairs of Zhenpin Pavilion, the two workshops, and the Music Workshop will all fall to you. Although I’ve arranged for stewards, you still need to check in each month, and if there’s really no place to store the money the stores earn, deposit it in Shan Yue Money Shop. It’s owned by Zheng Yuanfeng, and even if anyone else’s money disappears, ours won’t."

Speaking of Zheng Yuanfeng, Sun Shi felt a pang of regret. "Back when Yu Changhe’s leg was broken, it was thanks to Zheng Yuanfeng’s timely treatment that it recovered so well. The last time Doctor Xiaozheng came, he was in too much of a hurry to eat at home. When is he coming again?"

"I heard a few days ago that he went to Huizhou, so he probably won’t be in Luocheng for a while. We’ll wait for another opportunity."

"By the way, Mother, do we have copper coins? How many?"

For giving red envelopes to the household servants, fifty or one hundred copper coins would suffice, naturally using copper coins.

Sun Shi replied, "Yes, a while ago, to make that Jiang Family boy give us the mountain hawthorns, your father brought back several large baskets of copper coins; they’re in the back room."

Yu Xiaolian had Zhao Erya and Sun Mancang carry the copper coins into the house, then called over Sanya, Sun Manjiao, and Little Tiger. Yu Xiaolian then started counting copper coins with them, stringing fifty copper coins together with hemp rope.

Yu Changhe came back from inspecting the workshop and saw his daughter surrounded by a bunch of kids, stringing copper coins by the stove, chatting as they worked.

"What are you stringing them for?" Are these kids bored with nothing better to do?

Sun Shi sat nearby, turning sweet potatoes on the stove with a fire poker, smiling, "Our daughter said it’s for giving everyone red envelopes during the New Year to make everyone happy."

Yu Changhe nodded, "Just for our household’s people?"

Yu Xiaolian tilted her head at her father, "Who else do you want to give?"

Yu Changhe took off his black fox fur cloak, dusting off the chill, "Weren’t there a few families in the village last year who couldn’t eat? They’re still struggling this year, and winter is only halfway through, and they’re almost out of grain. I was thinking if we should help them."

Sun Shi looked at Yu Xiaolian.

Yu Xiaolian thought for a moment, then asked Yu Changhe, "Dad, how do you plan to help?"

Yu Changhe sat on a chair, "Isn’t that why I’m asking you? Do you think it’s better to give money or grain?"

Yu Xiaolian replied, "I think neither money nor grain would be good."

"Then what? We just ignore it?"

"Not necessarily, didn’t you buy dozens of acres of land? After the New Year, you can hire them to plow the fields. Anyone who comes to plow the fields and work for us will be provided with meals and paid fifteen copper coins a day. This way, they won’t develop a habit of laziness and can still survive.

As for those who would rather starve than work, we simply ignore them."

A bushel of rice earns gratitude; a bushel of rice more incurs resentment. Once their family gets used to giving, those people might feel entitled, just like Wang Zhanming’s family, losing the sense of gratitude.

Once her family stops their charity, those people might even resent them. So the best way is to let these people exchange their labor for grain, so they will be grateful for the opportunity to earn money and not waste hard-earned resources.