The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 109 Consideration

"Are you so sure that I can do this business that you agreed to let you take part in it?" Mrs. Zhang said slowly.

Chen Cui raised her head slightly and replied, "Madam, I'm not sure. I just want to give it a try. After all, we can only know whether it will work or not after trying it. Don't you agree?"

"You said you were from Shangde Town, tell me about your family situation!" Mrs. Zhang put aside business and started asking about Chen Cui's personal situation.

"To answer your question, my wife lives in Liujiaping Village, Shangde Town. My husband passed away unexpectedly last September. Now I am living with my three sons and one daughter. I made some money by making charcoal last winter. My three sons are now studying in the town's school. My youngest daughter is still young and just turned one year old."

Chen Cui knew that Mrs. Zhang was trying to find out her background, so she told her everything about her family to show her sincerity.

When Mrs. Zhang heard Chen Cui say that she was a widow, she didn't mind. But when she heard that she had four children, three sons and one daughter, she was really envious.

She couldn't help but look at Chen's thin figure, then at her protruding belly, and fell silent.

This peasant woman doesn't look that strong, so how could she give birth to a son? Why is there no sign of pregnancy even after drinking so many bitter medicines?

Seeing that Mrs. Zhang had been silent for a long time again, Chen Cui couldn't help but glance at her secretly. She saw that she had her eyes lowered, looking as if she was thinking about something.

Chen Cui felt a little uneasy. She coughed lightly and asked cautiously, "Madam, what do you think of this business?"

Mrs. Zhang came back to her senses, a hint of subtle disappointment flashed across her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure.

She smiled and said to Chen Cui: "I understand your situation, but this business is not a small matter, I still need to think about it. You go back first and come back at this time in three days."

Chen Cui felt a little disappointed after hearing this, but she still nodded and said, "Thank you, Madam, for giving me this opportunity. I also have canned cherries and apricots, but they are in the car outside the county government office and are being looked after by the children. How about I bring them to you?"

Mrs. Zhang nodded. She also wanted to try other canned fruits, so she let Chen Cui go.

When Chen Cui left the house, she told the maid beside her: "Chun Tao, prepare some gifts for the children of Mrs. Liu's family. It's better to prepare something practical. Let her take it with her when she leaves later."

The girl named Chuntao nodded, turned around and went to the warehouse to look for something suitable.

When Chen Cui came back with four jars of canned food, Mrs. Zhang was gone, and only the maid named Chuntao was there.

"Mrs. Liu, this is a return gift from Madam to you and the children. Please take it."

Chuntao took the jar and handed a bundle to Chen Cui.

Chen Cui did not refuse, with a look of gratitude on her face: "Thank you, ma'am, thank you, big sister."

The girl was only about seventeen or eighteen years old. She really couldn't call her "sister" and just vaguely called her "older sister".

Chuntao covered her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled. It was the first time she heard someone call her like that: "Mrs. Liu, I'll send you out right now. Tell the gatekeeper not to stop you in three days."

Chen Cui returned to the mule cart carrying the things given by Mrs. Zhang. The children were already looking forward to it.

"Mom, what's going on?" Changping asked first.

"The county magistrate's wife asked me to come back in three days." Chen Cui looked worried.

"That lady must be also moved, but she just can't make up her mind for the time being. We'll have the answer in three days," Changping comforted her.

In fact, Chen Cui now feels a little regretful and thinks that she was a little reckless.

She decided that if the county magistrate's wife did not agree to the share-sharing plan in three days, she would sell the recipe to her all at once, and would not care about the price. She would sell it to her as long as she paid.

After the family purchased what they needed for life, they returned home. Chen Cui was a little upset, so Changping drove the car.

The house behind the county government office.

It was almost time for dinner, but the county magistrate Wang Hengzhi had not returned yet, and his wife Zhang Ruomei was becoming a little restless.

"Where did the master take his people to the countryside today?" Zhang Ruomei asked Chuntao beside her.

County Magistrate Wang Hengzhi has been taking people to the countryside to check on the people's conditions every other day recently, and he often comes back very late.

"It seems to be Shangde Town." Chuntao tried hard to recall and answered.

"No wonder I felt so familiar with the place that Mrs. Liu was talking about today. It turns out this is the place the master was going today." Zhang Ruomei exclaimed.

She was still asleep when her husband went out in the morning, and the news was brought up by asking someone at the front.

Seeing that it was getting dark, the kitchen staff asked if they wanted to serve food, but Zhang Ruomei refused: "Wait until the master comes back."

"Madam, Mrs. Liu also brought some canned cherries and apricots. Would you like to try some?" Chuntao suggested seeing that she was uneasy.

She saw that her master liked the canned lychees very much when he ate them in the morning, and later said, "It would be better if it was iced."

So when she got the other four jars, she chilled them so that they would taste more refreshing.

"Well, bring some cherries over." Zhang Ruomei said casually.

When she took the cool and delicious cherries in syrup, she couldn't help but sigh with satisfaction: "It's delicious. It would be even better if there were no pits!"

But she also knew that cherries were not like lychees. They were so small that it was difficult to remove the cores. For a peasant woman like Liu, it was already very good that she could do it like this.

In fact, the reason why she didn't give Mrs. Liu a reply on the spot today was because she hadn't made up her mind yet.

According to her idea, she definitely wanted to buy the recipe once and for all and make it herself, but seeing that Mrs. Liu was a person with strong ideas and a firm attitude, she was a little worried that it would be difficult to convince her.

Alas, if she hadn't been concerned about the master, she wouldn't have done this.

The master was a pedantic person, and he thought about the people's livelihood all day long. He repeatedly ordered her not to compete with the people for profit, which made her dare not do anything, for fear that he would know and cause conflicts between husband and wife.

Thinking of the love they had when they were newly married and their current estrangement, Zhang Ruomei felt a little lost.

It is obvious that the two had met before marriage and liked each other. She was attracted by Wang Hengzhi's elegance and handsomeness, and Wang Hengzhi also liked her brightness and generosity. However, after marriage, her mother-in-law suppressed her in every way and deliberately made trouble, designing to pair her niece from her mother's family with her son, which gradually caused the two to drift apart.

Later, my mother-in-law's niece died in childbirth, leaving behind a little girl who became the master's eldest daughter.

Although that woman is gone, the relationship between me and the master can never return to the initial intimacy.