CHAPTER 299: CHAPTER 286: AS LONG AS I DON’T DROP DEAD, I’LL WORK MYSELF TO DEATH!

He has no use for this rocking chair; he’s busy all day and doesn’t have time to lie around on it.

Although the task of boiling the base ingredients is now in the hands of his brother-in-law and his wife, he still has to organize hiring people to pick the red peppers.

These peppers are not like other things; they don’t all turn red at once. They redden batch by batch, and each time they redden, they need to be picked. Of course, with ten acres of land, it’s too much for just the family to handle, so they’ve hired some people from the village; Jiang Mangzi’s family of three, Ding Wulang and his wife Mrs. Zhang, and a few sons and daughters-in-law from the Qi Lizheng family.

After picking the peppers, they need to be washed, laid out to dry, and after drying, sent to the earthen oven his daughter made to be baked dry. His daughter said that naturally dried ones tend to have white spots, and after baking, not only do they not have white spots, but they are also easier to preserve.

Do you think the work is done after drying the peppers?

Wrong, he still has to boil syrup for canned yellow peaches. His daughter has arranged a full schedule for him.

Speaking of canned peaches, Yu Changhe said, "The Jiang family and the Ding family are about to end the harvest in their peach orchard. Without peaches, we can’t continue our canning business."

Yu Xiaolian gave a "huh," "Don’t worry, Dad. If peaches are out of season, we can still use hawthorn, the mountain red fruit."

Yu Changhe was caught off guard. He thought he could take a break, but who knew his daughter had already planned the next step.

Yu Changhe tried to dissuade Yu Xiaolian, "But those mountain red fruits are sour. Can anyone eat them?"

Yu Xiaolian gave him a sidelong glance, "Dad, you ate the hawthorn cans from the supermarket, didn’t you? Don’t you know if they taste good?"

Yu Changhe retorted, "The hawthorn in the supermarket is big, but the mountain fruit on our hill is just the size of a fingernail, very sour. Can they even be compared?"

Yu Xiaolian patted her father’s shoulder, "Dad, don’t worry about the hawthorn. I’ll talk to Qi Lizheng and have him collect it for us."

Yu Changhe waved his hand, "No!"

It’s better not to trouble others all the time. Whether you pay or owe a favor, he still survives.

As long as it doesn’t kill him, he will work himself to death.

Besides, a few days ago, Qi Lizheng mentioned wanting his daughter to marry his youngest son Qi Shanbao, but he rejected the idea.

Now, he doesn’t want to visit the Qi family without a reason.

Awkward.

Qi Lizheng thought he would agree, but he never expected Qi Li to have this idea.

Reasonably speaking, his daughter is almost thirteen, and it’s time to discuss marriage, but forget about Qi Shanbao; he wasn’t impressed, let alone his picky daughter.

Moreover, his daughter even rejected someone from Prince Jin. Who is Prince Jin? He’s the next Emperor. With his daughter’s abilities, marrying Prince Jin and becoming an Imperial Concubine shouldn’t be difficult.

If Qi Lizheng knew his daughter turned down such a huge opportunity, Qi Lizheng would probably faint on the spot, right?

Yu Changhe never mentioned Qi Lizheng’s proposal of marrying Qi Shanbao to Yu Xiaolian. He felt there was no point in bringing it up. Every time he met with his daughter, they were so busy discussing business that there was no time for idle chatter!

Speaking of Qi Lizheng, Yu Changhe thought of Qi Shanhe, "By the way, that Qi Shanhe went to your uncle’s house to borrow money. Your uncle, considering his wife is already pregnant, didn’t want to put her in a difficult position, so he lent him ten taels."

Mentioning Qi Shanhe made Yu Changhe angry. That man relied on being a scholar, self-righteous, and never did any housework. His family’s roof was leaking, and it was Qi Dalian who climbed the ladder in the rain to fix it.

Now that Qi Dalian is married, Qi Shanhe has the nerve to go to the Sun family asking to fix the roof.

In the end, it was Sun Fengshou who did the repairs.

Yu Changhe complained angrily, "Isn’t he your student? You should discipline him!

If it comes to it, just give him more homework until he drops!"

Yu Xiaolian frowned.

Has the thirty-tael dowry from Qi Dalian been spent so quickly by the Qi family?

It shouldn’t be. Thirty taels, if spent frugally, could last three years. Even if Qi Shanhe spends money on his studies, it shouldn’t have run out in less than a year.

Or does Qi Shanhe think her uncle is rich and is treating him like an easy target?

She just mentioned how Qi Shanhe recently changed into a new long robe and new stationery, turns out it was from the money borrowed from her uncle.

"Dad, next time tell my uncle that if Qi Shanhe comes to borrow money again, don’t lend it to him. Also, he should ask for the ten taels back. Why let him spend it for free?

People like Qi Shanhe, who are self-righteous scholars, care a lot about face. So when you get back to the village, do this..." Yu Xiaolian started giving her dad some bad advice.

Yu Changhe grinned, "Is it okay to do that?"

This man is related to their family, isn’t this a bit inconsiderate?

If Qi Dalian knew about it, it wouldn’t be good either.

Even though Qi Dalian and Sun Fengshou are of one mind, if you lend money to her brother on the surface, but act this way behind his back, it’s a bit improper.

"Anyway, the money was lent voluntarily by your uncle, so I won’t interfere..." Yu Changhe was adamant.

Yu Xiaolian pouted.

"Hey, I was just saying. Don’t take it seriously!" Yu Changhe stood up from the rocking chair.

Yu Xiaolian was speechless. If her uncle and Qi Shanhe are having a give-and-take relationship, why come to her to complain?

If her uncle is willing to lend money to his brother-in-law, then he shouldn’t come complaining to her parents, adding unnecessary worry.

If he’s unwilling to lend, then he should be resolute. Why get tangled up?

Besides, with her family’s current influence, they might not be able to control others, but handling someone like Qi Shanhe shouldn’t be a problem. Why let him bully them?

Yu Changhe glimpsed an invitation on the table, "What’s this?"

Yu Xiaolian replied, "It’s an invitation sent by County Magistrate Ma’s daughter, Ma Xiyue."

Yu Changhe was puzzled, "When did you get to know County Magistrate Ma’s daughter? How did you meet her?"

Yu Xiaolian sighed. She didn’t know Ma Xiyue, but there was Feng Suyun between her and Ma Xiyue. Feng Suyun had a good relationship with Ma Xiyue, and because of the Gao Yishui issue, she owed Master Feng a favor, so she got a bit closer to Feng Suyun.

A few days later, on September 28th, it’s Ma Xiyue’s birthday, also her coming-of-age ceremony.

Yu Xiaolian guessed that Ma Xiyue invited her probably because she played well with the Feng family sisters.

Yu Changhe wasn’t worried at all about his daughter’s current social skills. After asking a few questions, he dropped the subject and instead instructed his daughter to quickly enter the space and get him beef, durians, cherries...

Yu Xiaolian thought her dad hadn’t seen her in days and missed her, and went out of his way to see her. It turns out he came for supplies.

Yu Xiaolian, diligently and without complaints, cleaned off the durian in the space, putting the flesh into preserving boxes, and then threw the durian peels in the trash corner.

Just before Yu Changhe was about to leave with big and small bags, he remembered something, "Oh, that Mrs. Yu agreed to do the double-sided embroidery for your shop. Next time you return, don’t forget to pick up the embroidery samples."