Chapter 85: Counting Money Until Hand Cramps

  A busy day finally passed, when everyone had left, Zhao rubbed his sore shoulders and said to Rui Xuan: "It's about time, we should close the door too."

  Ruihao showed no signs of fatigue and quickly said: "I'll go, I'll go."

  "Alright, you can go, your presence won't be missed anywhere."

  When the children were no longer around, Chen Tianfa said to Zhao Shi, "His mother, you say that so many respectable people came to help us open our business today, but I feel like it's all so unreal?"

  Zhao walked forward, smiling continuously at him. Just as Chen Tian's heart was in a mess, he felt a sharp pain on his arm. He looked down and saw that his wife, Qianqian, was pinching his arm with her jade-like fingers.

  "Ah, it hurts, it hurts." Chen Tianfa cried out.

  Zhao put down his hand and said: "You know it hurts, so are you saying this is a dream?"

  Chen Tianfa nodded repeatedly and said it was not a dream, scolding the Star River.

  Looking at the faint mark that his wife had squeezed out, Chen Tianfa couldn't help but smile foolishly again. "Hey, wife, what great luck did our family encounter? How could we have become acquainted with so many talented people?"

  "Zhao glared at him, 'What are you talking about? You used to say that Xi Mei was born with a good fate, and that she would bring prosperity to her husband and father. Maybe it's Xi Mei who brought you prosperity.'"

  Zhao's words were just a joke, but unexpectedly Chen Tianfa took them seriously. After Zhao left, Chen sat on the stool in deep thought.

  No wonder he's so lucky, it turns out his own daughter is a good luck charm.

  Having a good girl at home is just great, Chen Tian thought with relish. Just as he was lost in thought, he heard Zhao's wife shouting outside, "Old man, hurry up and come out, it's time to work."

  One word shocked Chen Tian awake. What was his mother talking about? Was there still something good to be done?

  The incomprehensible one went out of the house and walked quickly towards the shop where they were.

  As soon as they entered the shop, they saw a family gathered around a box, all with eager expressions looking at it.

  Chen Tianfa became even more bewildered and asked "What's going on?" Why are they all looking at him with such strange eyes?

  Ruihao pulled him towards the box and explained, "Dad, this is the result of our family's hard work for a whole day. Now it's just waiting for you to come and open it with us."

  The excitement in his eyes was undisguised.

  Chen Tianfa quickened his pace and said, "You guys didn't remind me, I almost forgot. Come on, hurry up and open it, let's count how much we made."

  When everyone stood beside the table, Zhao said: "Alright, now that everyone is here, let's open the box."

  After finishing speaking, several children looked at Zhao with tense eyes, their hands holding boxes.

  A "click" sound of unlocking came, and Zhao picked up the heavy box and poured it onto the table.

  "Clang, clang." The sound of the copper plate hitting the table excited everyone in the room.

  Xihe felt like her little heart was going to jump out, money. Money, so much money, she had never seen so much money in her life before.

  Hey, kiddo, don't you think about how old you are and how much money you've seen.

  "Mom, mom, mom! So much money, money!" This girl was so excited that she stuttered.

  At this time, her mother in her mouth, was also stunned by the scene in front of her.

  Zhao thought that he had already set up his stall before and had seen a lot, after all, he used to make a good amount of money in one day. However, compared to today's, it seemed like nothing at all.

  Now, Xi Mei had become the calmest one in the family. The little girl pretended to be very worldly and said, "Hey, everyone quickly adjust their expressions, it's too embarrassing."

  Chen Tianfa was the first to react, pushing Zhao's wife beside him, "Hey, wake up, don't be stunned, quickly count how many copper plates there are in total."

  "Oh, oh." Zhao's family finally woke up like a dream, and began to count the copper plates on the table in a flurry.

  "Mother, I'll help you." Xi Mei said, raising her hand. Because this little girl loved money too much, she didn't wait for Zhao Shi to speak and started helping with a flurry of movements, her speed not one bit inferior to Zhao Shi's.

  Even the youngest sister is helping out. All of the Chen children are pitching in.

  "Mom, I'll help you count the latest chapters of Tiancai Langruo."

  "I'll help mother count too."

  "I'll help too."

  Several children expressed their willingness to help Zhao Shichen share his burden.

  For a moment, the whole shop was filled with the sound of rustling money, and after a long time, Zhao's wife finally looked up and trembled, saying, "Husband, I didn't miscount, did I? How can there be so much?"

  When they heard their mother say this, the children all stopped what they were doing and asked in unison, "Mother, how much is there?"

  Chen Tianfa also looked at Zhao with a curious face. After a long time, Zhao said, "Adding up the fragmented silver, it's a total of 100 taels!"

  "What? One hundred and twenty taels?! Several people couldn't believe it and shouted out loud."

  Chen Tian's voice also trembled as he asked: "Girl, you didn't miscount, did you?"

  Zhao looked at several children and then looked at Chen Tianfa, hesitantly saying: "Did I count wrong? Or should we count again?"

  The Chen family nodded in unison and continued the work they had just left unfinished. After counting again twice, they finally believed that it was not their mistake, but they really earned so much money today!

  Ruihao jumped up high, "Dad, Mom, our family has money now, our family has money now."

  Xi Mei chimed in, "Yes, yes, with so much money, we can buy a lot of land. At this rate, we'll soon become the richest people in this town."

  Sister Xi heard her siblings' words and couldn't help but rub her temples in frustration. You innocent kids, you're thinking too much.

  Today is the first day of opening and it's almost half price, plus people are curious about this thing so they can sell that much.

  When the price goes up tomorrow, who will still afford to buy this every day?

  Even for those wealthy families, it's just a novelty now, they bought some and still have to eat the leftovers tomorrow, so she thinks this preserved egg will only be popular for a while.

  Even if it stabilizes and sells one-tenth of what it does now, it's still good.

  But now she wouldn't be foolish enough to say such depressing words here, her mother would beat her.

  So I can only pretend to be as innocent as a four-year-old child should be and have fun with the family.

  After laughing for half a day, Zhao's wife suddenly remembered to ask, "Hey, old man. If we calculate the earnings for today, apart from the capital, and the lion dance performance fees, how much can we make?"

  Chen Tianfa heard this and thought for a moment before saying, "Please dance the Lion Dance... five taels of silver..."

  "What? 50 taels? That's expensive!" Before he could finish speaking, Zhao cut him off.

  Chen Tianfa comforted her with his eyes and told her to calm down, continuing only after she had calmed down, "These half-dozen eggs were all brought over from the workshop. Young Master Wang said that he would only take the cost of the chicken feed, so I calculated..."

  After finishing speaking, he lay on the table and started counting. During this time, Zhao kept asking, "Is it done? Is it done?"

  Finally, after being asked by Zhao's family for over a dozen times, Chen Tianfa lifted his head from the table and replied: "The eggs are probably worth about ten taels of silver."

  Upon hearing this, the others finally relaxed their strings. Xi Mei said: "Oh my, I was scared out of my wits! I thought we'd have to pay 50 taels for the eggs!"

  Zhao's eyes curved into a smile, "Still 50 taels. With such a large capital, can our family not make a profit?"

  Zhao's smile turned into tears, and several children saw their mother, who was just fine a moment ago, now with a tear-stained face. They were shocked and came forward to ask, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

  Zhao wiped away the tears on her face and said, "It's nothing. I just hope that in the future you can all live a good life, Mother will be happy."

  Xi Mei nodded in agreement. Although her mother had never said so, she felt that her mother always thought that her children were not as well off as the children of her two uncles' families.

  So I feel very apologetic in my heart, now the bitterness has passed and sweetness has come, it's hard not to get excited.

  Xiju saw Zhao's like this, and carefully stuck her head on her mother's leg to comfort: "Mother, I've never felt that our family is poor, really, on the contrary, I'm proud of Mother."

  Several children surrounded Zhao's family, wiping her face and making her happy, while Chen Tianfa felt sour in his heart.

  "Hey, these kids are usually not so close to me."

  Alright, a seven-foot-tall man got jealous and was secretly heartbroken. At that moment, he felt someone touching his pants.

  Lowering her head to take a look, Xi Mei's little sister was staring at her with big, shining eyes, silently comforting herself.

  Chen Tianfa felt slightly comforted, thinking that at least one of the girls still remembered him and it wasn't a waste to care for her.

  Let's put aside the ups and downs of the Chen family for now, but talk about the Wang siblings who just arrived home.

  Just as Wang Zihan had just stepped into his own house for less than a cup of tea, the sound of a servant's respectful voice came from the door, "Young Master, the old lady asks you to go to the main house."

  Upon hearing this, Wang Zihan put down his teacup and said, "Alright, you go tell Old Madam that I'll be right there."

  After the sound of footsteps disappeared, Wang Zihan looked at the stains on his clothes and shook his head. He got up to change behind the screen.

  When he rushed to the main house after changing his clothes in a hurry, his grandmother, parents and sister were already seated at the table, waiting for him.

  She respectfully called out "Grandma" before sitting down in her own seat.

  Seeing him arrive, Old Lady Wang instructed, "Let's start eating."

  For a moment, the whole house was silent, even the youngest Wang Yuanying didn't make a sound, quietly eating her own bowl of rice.

  Finally, the long meal was over, and based on his own experience, Wang Zihan knew that his grandmother had something to entrust.

  As expected, after the maid finished serving her mouthwash, the old lady slowly opened her mouth and said, "Han'er, I heard that you followed your parents to help someone open their business today?"

  "Yes, grandma."

  The old lady then said, "But it's just an insignificant family, how can they still trouble you, the host, to open a shop for them?"

  "Grandma, they are not insignificant people, they..." Prince Wang Han was cut off by his grandmother's stern "shut up".

  Noticing that several people were staring at her in surprise, Old Lady Wang finally spoke up and said, "I know they have the recipe for pickled eggs."

  Seeing her grandson's astonished eyes, the old lady shook her head secretly. Children are still children after all. "The workshop is full of our Wang family members, and it's easy to know how to do things. You should know that no matter how important they are, they are just more important servants, and you will always be their master!"

  "Grandma, they are not servants..." Before she could finish speaking, her own sleeve was pulled by her mother.

  Taking a deep breath, Wang Zihan had regained his usual calm demeanor and nodded respectfully, saying: "Grandma, I understand." But the fist in his sleeve was already tightly clenched!