Chapter 428: Chapter 428

Yu Liulang was also unhappy. Mrs. Li said such things about his wife right in front of him, showing no respect at all.

Yu Liulang held Feng Xiaohua’s hand and said to Mrs. Li, "Second sister-in-law, why are you speaking so unpleasantly? It’s normal for my fourth sister to care for me since she raised me since childhood."

"Furthermore, Xiaohua and I have already set the date for our wedding; it’s the eighteenth of next month. She’s going to be my wife, your sister-in-law, so how can you say the engagement is not real?"

"When you got married, my fourth sister was in a difficult situation but helped the family pick tea leaves for half a month. Didn’t that count as money?"

"When you were in your confinement period, my mother’s health wasn’t good. If it wasn’t for my fourth sister washing clothes and diapers for your son, do you think you could have raised him?"

Yu Liulang brought up one thing after another, making Mrs. Li, who originally had the upper hand, lose her ground.

Her face turned from blue to white, looking awful.

Yet even so, Mrs. Li was still unwilling to concede.

"So what? Don’t forget, the things Si Niang did are worthless. If she’s willing to give me an ounce of silver, I wouldn’t care about those things she did."

"You..." Yu Liulang was furious, and if the person in front of him wasn’t his second sister-in-law, he would have slapped her twice.

"Second aunt, don’t be angry, as the saying goes, a light gift carries deep sentiment. My mother helped you with all those things, which shows she had you in her heart."

"You also know, at that time, what our family’s situation was. We hadn’t split the family, and there wasn’t a penny to spare."

"Also, that ounce of silver wasn’t given by my mother. She has always been fair and just."

"Who gave it then?" Mrs. Li snorted coldly, determined to clear this up.

"I gave it. Two hundred coins were for the meeting gift, equivalent to the work my mother did when you got married."

"What about the other eight hundred coins?" Mrs. Li pressed aggressively.

"The other eight hundred coins were for buying duck eggs. Xiao Hua’s aunt’s family has many ducks, so I bought all their duck eggs, and together it totaled an ounce of silver. Earlier, she was agitated when she heard you slandering my mother, hence she mentioned giving an ounce of silver."

Mu Shuangshuang finished speaking and smiled at Feng Xiaohua, "Aunt Xiao Hua, am I right?"

Feng Xiaohua knew that Mu Shuangshuang was indeed fibbing.

However, she wonderfully helped to smooth things over.

"Yes, I was just too anxious earlier!"

"You are collaborating to fool me, do you think I’m stupid? Eight hundred coins for duck eggs, that would require sixteen hundred duck eggs!"

"How many ducks does Feng Xiaohua’s family have? It might take an entire year to produce that many duck eggs!"

Mrs. Li muttered suspiciously.

"If Second aunt truly doesn’t believe it, I could give you eight hundred coins, and you prepare sixteen hundred duck eggs for me, how about that?"

Mu Shuangshuang remained calm and collected, speaking reasonably and courteously before Mrs. Li, showing not a hint of disrespect.

In contrast, Mrs. Li continued being unreasonable and troublesome.

Mu Shuangshuang wasn’t one to easily endure loss. She didn’t confront Mrs. Li because she would not be staying with the Yu Family for long.

If she offended Mrs. Li now, it might cause trouble for Feng Xiaohua after she moved in.

Knowing this, there was no need for Mu Shuangshuang to argue.

At this point, Mrs. Li couldn’t find a reason to act out, but her expression toward Feng Xiaohua turned increasingly hostile.

Seeing Mrs. Li’s venomous gaze, Feng Xiaohua withdrew with fright.

Yu Liulang noticed and immediately glared back at Mrs. Li.

Amongst the family, Yu Liulang disliked Mrs. Li the most. She couldn’t keep secrets, loved spreading tales, and worst of all, was stingy and greedy.

After the family finished eating watermelon and chatting, Mu Shuangshuang spoke with Old Mrs. Yu about the corn and proposed to leave soon.

"Shuang, can’t you stay for lunch?" Old Mrs. Yu reluctantly wanted Mu Shuangshuang to stay.

"Grandma, Fengzi and I still have a ton of things, plus we can’t leave the house unattended these days."

Xing Beichen was at Fengzi’s house, and nobody cooked for him; starving him would be their fault.

The loss outweighs the gain!

"Well..." Old Mrs. Yu still hesitated.

"Grandma, we can visit next month, and I need to settle the remaining corn payment today, haul a few cartloads of corn back, leaving the rest here, okay?"

Old Mrs. Yu naturally agreed, not insisting since her niece had to go back.

Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng completed the corn transaction, destroyed the contract, and placed five bags of corn on the cart, weighing about four hundred pounds.

She and Lu Yuanfeng carried two bags each.

It was enough for Mu Shuangshuang to supply Jiu Si Xuan with popcorn for the month.

The remaining corn she intended to keep at home for her own snacks, to make breakfast: corn porridge, corn cakes, or corn dumplings, or feed the chickens, which could also raise them.

Currently, Mu Shuangshuang’s family didn’t have sweet potatoes; only the sack Yu Liulang brought over and those from the Old Mu Family, which would soon be gone.

Thinking of these, Mu Shuangshuang felt she couldn’t slow down in making money, or else she might have to live on cold winds from the Northwest.

On the way back, Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng discussed how to manage the few acres of land.

Lu Yuanfeng suggested using oxen to plow the additional three acres of dry land and plant vegetables.

As for the two acres intended for a lotus pond, they should start digging immediately, bit by bit, so by winter the pond should be ready.

"Fengzi, now that we have the extra three acres of land, I think we should consider fertilizers."

The best fertilizer in ancient times was always manure. Though Mu Shuangshuang’s family raised pigs and chickens, their manure was still insufficient.

"Why don’t we, as you suggested last time, build more latrines in the village?"

Lu Yuanfeng referred to public toilets.

Designed to collect waste from travelers and villagers.

"Sounds good, we’ll find time to gather wood from the mountain, and I’ll head to town to buy some cheap sandalwood or something to mask the odor. If the villagers find our toilets pleasant, they might prefer them over their own."

"Great, let’s create the best, or we won’t bother!" Lu Yuanfeng agreed.

"Perfect, I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together!" Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽

Mu Shuangshuang was thrilled at the thought of bringing modern elements into the ancient world.

Especially with solving the fertilizer issue, her enthusiasm grew even stronger.

"No rush, let’s proceed step by step, slowly and steadily!"

"Fengzi, you’re right, let’s take it one step at a time."