Chapter 359 - 359: Eye-Opener
At the old house.
The bread and biscuits that Li Qingyu and the others had baked were placed in Chu Xuyuan and Chu Xuyao’s room.
Chu Qingzhi and Wu Yaqing were packaging them. Tan Mengyang would send someone to transport them away later.
The bread was packaged with ten slices per bag, and each bag weighed half a kilogram. One hundred kilograms of bread amounted to four hundred bags, all already wrapped in oil paper and packed into four boxes.
The biscuits were packaged with 2.5 kilos per bag, and one hundred kilo amounted to forty bags. They were packed into two boxes.
Just after finishing the packing, Tan Mengyang’s subordinates arrived with a group of people. “Miss Chu, Young Master sent me to transport the goods. Are they ready?”
Chu Qingzhi pointed at the six boxes at the door. “They’re all packed. Do you want to check?”
The subordinate hurriedly said, “No need. We trust Miss Chu.”
Chu Qingzhi smiled and said, “Then go and load them. By the way, don’t let the box get wet.”
The subordinate nodded. “Thank you for your reminder, Miss Chu. We understand.”
After loading the goods onto the carriage, the subordinate handed a hundred taels of silver to Chu Qingzhi. “Miss Chu, here’s the payment for the goods.”
The bread and biscuits were sold for 50 copper coins a half a kilo, so 200 kilos would be 200 taels of silver. When they signed the contract yesterday, Tan Mengyang had paid a deposit of 100 taels of silver, so she received the other 100 taels this time.
With the settlement of payment and goods, the subordinate, along with his crew, transported the goods away.
Chu Qingzhi walked to the accounting room and handed the money to Shen Ruyue. “Ruyue, record it.”
Shen Ruyue nodded.
There were still 25 kilos of bread and 25 kilos of biscuits in the room. These would be given to the villagers to sell when they went out to sell ice cream bars.
Yesterday, Chu Xuede didn’t receive the goods, and he was disappointed for a long time. In the evening, he even came over to remind Li Qingyu to bake more bread and biscuits. He was quite eager.
“Qingzhi.” Du Xiu’e stood outside the courtyard and waved at Chu Qingzhi.
Du Xiu’e was one of the women assisting Chu Qingzhi in brewing beer, aged around twenty-five or twenty-six. She was meticulous in her work, quick with her hands and feet, and had a clear and organized approach. She was truly a valuable helper.
Chu Qingzhi liked her quite a lot. When she heard this, she replied, “Sister Xiu’e, I’m coming.”
Du Xiu’e was surrounded by nine other people involved in brewing beer. When they passed by, they happened to see Chu Qingzhi and stopped to greet her.
The group arrived at the beer workshop.
Chu Qingzhi took out the key and opened the door. As she walked inside, she said, “The task for today is to clean the barley grains and then put them in the wooden tray for germination…”
This was the first time for everyone to brew beer, and Chu Qingzhi guided them step by step, providing explanations along the way.
Wu Yaqing assisted Chu Qingzhi on the side, enjoying the work quite a lot.
This step was very simple. The twelve of them completed it in an hour.
Chu Qingzhi said, “Germination will take three days. For the next three days, you can arrange your own schedule and don’t need to come to the workshop.”
Everyone nodded.
Chu Qingzhi added, “After cleaning the workshop, everyone can go home.”
“Okay.”
Wu Yaqing washed her hands and walked towards Chu Qingzhi. “Qingzhi, what should we do next?”
Chu Qingzhi reached out to wipe the water off Wu Yaqing’s face. “Go order milk.”
Wu Yaqing’s interest was piqued. “Where?”
Chu Qingzhi pointed in the north. “There’s a cow farm over there. Let’s go there.”
Wu Yaqing formed a little tent with her hands and placed it over her eyes, making a cute gesture. “Is it a bit too far?”
Chu Qingzhi said, “It won’t be far if we ride a horse.”
Wu Yaqing said excitedly, “Then let’s go and ride the horse…”
The two of them went back and rode their horses to the cow farm.
At the Li family’s porcelain shop.
Chu Qingshuang started molding beer bottles as soon as she arrived at the shop. In no time, a cute, round-bellied clay bottle was born in her hands.
She looked at the beer bottle and found it cute. She couldn’t help but smile.
An eight or nine-year-old girl named Li Wenyu, dressed in a cute blue dress, walked over. “Sister Qingshuang, what are you molding today?”
Chu Qingshuang looked up at the cute little girl and said, “Beer bottle.”
Li Wenyu looked at the beer bottle and praised, “How cute.”
Chu Qingshuang smiled at Li Wenyu. “If you like it, 1’11 give you one when I’m done.”
Li Wenyu said happily, “Thank you, Sister Qingshuang.”
At this moment, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl walked in. It was Yan Yanrong. She had a smug expression and, glancing at the beer bottle in Chu Qingshuang’s hands, she spoke harshly, “What beer bottle? Chu Qingshuang, do you really think of this place as your own home? Who said you can mold whatever you want?”
Yan Yanrong was Li Shaoliang’s cousin. She had always liked Li Shaoliang. In the end, when Chu Qingshuang came, Li Shaoliang turned his attention to Chu Qingshuang. She had always held it against Chu Qingshuang.
Not only did she act this way, but she also joined forces with others to isolate Chu Qingshuang, which was quite inappropriate.
Chu Qingshuang didn’t want to cause trouble for her family and the people around her, so she endured it.
Chu Qingshuang’s smile faded, and she furrowed her brow. “I can sell the bottles 1 molded.”
“You?” Yan Yanrong looked over and said disdainfully, “Who’s gonna buy it? Are you buying it yourself? Do you have the money to buy it?”
Chu Qingshuang lifted her gaze, staring directly into Yan Yanrong’s eyes. She asserted firmly, “I’ll make as many as I want to sell. You don’t need to worry about it. Besides, this shop doesn’t belong to the Yan family. Mind your own business.”
Yan Yanrong, relying on connections, was also learning under Chu Qingshuang’s master.
Yan Yanrong said aggressively, “This shop doesn’t belong to the Yan family, nor doesn’t it belong to the Chu family. Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because Master dotes on you!”
Chu Qingshuang felt that talking to Yan Yanrong was a waste of time. “Instead of entangling with me here, you’d be better off completing the tasks assigned by the master. That’s more worthwhile than anything else.”
Yan Yanrong felt that Chu Qingshuang’s words were mocking her for not making good ceramics. She suddenly became angry, “Just because you can make good ceramics, does that give you the right to look down on others?”
Chu Qingshuang felt aggrieved. “I’ve never felt that I’m better than anyone, nor do I look down on others.”
Yan Yanrong wouldn’t give up. “Then what did you mean just now?”
Chu Qingshuang was speechless. “I didn’t mean anything. You’re thinking too much.”
“Qingshuang, have you had breakfast?” Li Shaoliang’s voice came from outside the shop.
Yan Yanrong looked around quickly, then swiftly approached Chu Qingshuang, grabbing her hand and pressing it against her own face. She sat down on the ground and started crying, “Qingshuang, I just said a few words to you, why did you hit me?”
When Li Shaoliang entered, he saw Yan Yanrong sitting on the ground, covering her face with her hands and crying…
Unexpectedly, Li Shaoliang didn’t follow the usual pattern. He placed the food box in his hand on the table by the door and walked towards the three of them. “What happened?”
At the same time, he went to the side to get a basin of water and placed it in front of Yan Yanrong. “Cousin, wash your face. When my father comes and sees your muddy face, he’ll scold you.”
Hearing this, Yan Yanrong did not know whether to cry or not. She stared at the basin of water in a daze.
Chu Qingshuang was also stunned, not because of Li Shaoliang’s actions but because she was caught off guard by Yan Yanrong’s trick. She had never thought someone could scheme like this. It was an eye-opener..