Chapter 387: Chapter 387

Mrs. Jin had a touch of hesitation on her face. She didn’t doubt the old lady’s fondness for her husband and believed that she was willing to gather silver for him.

But when her husband was preparing for the exams, all the silver in the house was pooled together, and even the last ten taels given by the old man contained quite a few copper coins.

This was enough to prove that the Old Mu Family now only had an empty shell left.

Mu Dade saw the hesitation in Mrs. Jin’s eyes, but he wasn’t worried at all.

Not to mention anything else, as long as it’s in the Old Mu Family, whatever he wants, his parents would sell everything they have to find it for him.

Besides, if his parents don’t have it, there’s still the third branch, right?

The third branch should have earned quite a bit of money, and there’s no reason his parents wouldn’t ask them for it.

He didn’t believe his parents would dismiss the impending glory and wealth lying at hand.

"Yinyin, stop worrying. If I say this money is for my exams, how could my parents disagree?"

"Moreover, I’m already at the point of no return. If they refused, all their previous efforts would be in vain."

"And my third brother didn’t contribute initially, so it’s only fair for them to shed some blood."

Mu Dade spoke as if it was obvious, giving the impression that the Old Mu Family and the third branch owed him.

Mrs. Jin finally let go of the little worry in her heart, and her face brightened with more joy than before.

"Dan Dan’s father is right, but that Shuang girl from the third branch isn’t easy to deal with, she..."

Mrs. Jin, having been beaten a few times, was still somewhat afraid.

"Why be afraid of her? Eventually, daughters are meant to marry off, and if my mother loses her temper, a little girl couldn’t possibly withstand that."

Mu Dade and Mrs. Jin discussed at length and were about to start writing a family letter when suddenly the crisp laughter of Mu Dandan and Mu Yingying echoed through the courtyard.

Having been in Qianzhou Prefecture for some time, Mu Dandan and Mu Yingying grew fairer, with their good clothes making them look no different from the official’s daughters. Original content can be found at N0velFire.ɴet

Listening to the long-missed laughter of the two daughters, Mrs. Jin felt this trip was truly worth it. At first, Old Mrs. Mu didn’t want Mu Dade and Mrs. Jin to take the two daughters out, saying the house lacked people to work.

Mrs. Jin finally managed to persuade them to bring the daughters out.

At the Old Mu Family, her daughters would surely be used like maids by Old Mrs. Mu, something Mrs. Jin couldn’t bear.

How could she allow her daughters, raised like proper young ladies, to be ruined by the old lady?

"Speaking of it, Dan Dan and Ying Ying are of marriageable age now, so after the Autumn Examination, let’s find a good husband for Dan Dan. What do you think?" Mu Dade considered before speaking.

"Of course that’s good. I didn’t want my parents to arrange marriages for Dan Dan and Ying Ying, because I wanted to wait until our family has made a name for itself, to find a suitable match for the two girls."

In Mrs. Jin’s heart, her daughters were not lacking in beauty, and with Dade becoming a scholar in the future, she wouldn’t look down on an average family.

"Alright then, let’s keep this in mind and for now write a family letter urging my parents to quickly send money over."

Mu Dade took up the pen swiftly and wrote the letter, then spent a tael of silver for Mrs. Jin to specially hire a horse from the courier station to deliver this one letter.

Money can make the impossible possible, and Mu Dade deeply understood that with money, even a hundred miles could be reached in a day or two, and by then, they would simply wait to receive the money!

Mu Shuangshuang and Zheng Zhi discussed business and took ten taels of silver from the shopkeeper. This was the amount agreed upon after negotiation. Mu Shuangshuang would provide the ingredients for popcorn, and Jiu Si Xuan would cover the cost. She only needed to deliver popcorn every three days.

After clearing the account this time, until the end of next year, Jiu Si Xuan would not account for the popcorn money anymore.

Though it sounded a bit like a servitude contract, the thought of getting a hundred taels a year later put Mu Shuangshuang at ease.

Just treat it like an ancient insurance with full deposit and withdrawal. A year later, when Xiao Han and Yuanbao need to study, perhaps it’s a good time to spend silver.

Mu Shuangshuang didn’t rush to split the popcorn silver with Lu Yuanfeng because she planned to use the money to buy four acres of dry land, which was perfect since it was also the vegetable planting season.

After strolling around on the street with Lu Yuanfeng, they came to a meat stall. Coincidentally, the stall owner was throwing bones into a wooden barrel beside him. These bones were quite large and hard.

Ordinary people wouldn’t stop to look, but Mu Shuangshuang inexplicably did.

Because she noticed the meat being sold on the stall was beef.

"Uncle, are these beef bones for sale?" Mu Shuangshuang asked as she walked over to look in the barrel, which was filled with beef thigh bones, perfect for making soup.

"What? You want these bones?" The stall keeper was startled. He was planning to discard these since all the meat had been cleaned off, and nobody would buy them.

Seeing Mu Shuangshuang wasn’t joking, the man thought and said, "Two copper coins, take them all!"

"Alright, thank you, uncle!" Mu Shuangshuang sweetly replied, with Lu Yuanfeng quickly paying next to her.

Indeed, the feeling of having a "boyfriend" is quite good — you don’t have to pay for things nor carry heavy items yourself.

Actually, even without confirming the relationship between Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng, Lu Yuanfeng would do these things because he was genuinely happy to help Shuangshuang.

After packing the beef bones into the wooden barrel she brought, Mu Shuangshuang didn’t rush off but instead looked mysteriously at Lu Yuanfeng.

"Do you know what I want these beef bones for?"

Lu Yuanfeng honestly shook his head, "I don’t know, but everything Shuangshuang does has its own reason."

The implication being, whatever Shuangshuang says, he, Lu Yuanfeng, wouldn’t question.

"Alright, then I’ll reluctantly tell you. I want to use these beef bones for soup — red soup and clear soup. If there were a Mandarin duck pot, it’d be great."

Mu Shuangshuang suddenly reminisced about food endlessly. Lu Yuanfeng knew Shuangshuang had likely thought of something but encountered a problem.

Mandarin duck pot, it should be a type of pot, and since it was a pot, it must have to do with iron.

Lu Yuanfeng suddenly grasped Mu Shuangshuang’s small hand, his palm being large enough to completely wrap around hers.

Holding in broad daylight unexpectedly made one feel nervous enough to have sweaty palms.

"Fengzi, what...are you doing?"

Mu Shuangshuang was somewhat embarrassed, with Lu Yuanfeng grasping her hand in broad daylight at the marketplace.

"I’m taking you to see if there’s a place to make a Mandarin duck pot, and also get another pot to cook pig food."

Mu Shuangshuang’s house only had one iron pot, which was given by Lu Yuanfeng. Later, that pot was used for boiling water and cooking meals, as well as cooking pig food. After cooking pig food, it had to be cleaned again. The cooked pig food had no place to store, which was quite troublesome.

With Lu Yuanfeng’s words, Mu Shuangshuang felt he was indeed thoughtful.