Chapter 278: I’m Just Asking
The Wang Family must establish good connections for future business dealings.
"Alright, you have more experience outside, so you make the decisions! We can’t be stingy at times like these. Mother may not understand much, but she does know that having more friends means having more paths to take. It’s tough for a young girl like you to run the household and deal with men outside. If there’s any way I can help, I’d even cut off my own flesh for you! Don’t worry, by tomorrow morning, everything will be prepared properly for you!"
With Old Granny Zhang’s assurance, Wang Yongzhu didn’t have anything to worry about.
She then took out the remaining silver and settled accounts with Old Granny Zhang.
"Mother, it cost one hundred and twenty taels to redeem our original land, plus five taels in deed tax. My little over five acres cost fifty taels, with two taels for the deed tax. To include your name and that line in the documents, I gave the Yamen officer handling the property transfer nearly three taels. For hosting guests at the restaurant, a table of fine food only cost five taels," she reported to Old Granny Zhang.
"This morning you gave me a silver note of one hundred and fifty taels, plus the twenty taels from the wolf meat sale, and the remaining fifty taels from the gratitude gift from Boss Zhang last time, which totals two hundred and twenty taels. We spent one hundred and eighty-five taels, and the rest is all here." As she spoke, she pushed all the remaining silver ingots toward Old Granny Zhang.
Old Granny Zhang felt the silver, thought for a moment, left Wang Yongzhu with five taels, and put away the rest, whispering a warning, "Keep this silver in case there’s an emergency. Don’t put money into the house anymore. Now that the land’s been redeemed and the harvest is coming, we’ll be more comfortable at home. And that deposit from Boss Zhang, you must keep it safe, no matter what—even if the sky falls or your father dies, you can’t touch it, understand?"
Wang Yongzhu nodded; she understood, which is why she hadn’t given Old Granny Zhang the one hundred taels deposit silver note.
Now, with land and a business, and still having around thirty taels of silver, let alone anything else, in Qilidun she alone had quite the wealth.