Thank you, Luna Han, and Sang Sang for your tips.
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In a moment's time, Zhang Guiying really brought out eight identical canned jars from the inner room, which she seemed to use for storage on normal days as well; the jars were well-preserved, with their lids and all, and they still looked brand new.
Fang Pingying took the jars and gave Zhang Guiying 40 cents, telling her, "Auntie, please mention to the villagers in the next few days that if the jars are new and have lids, they can bring them to your shop for recycling. I think I will need some more later."
"How many are needed?" Zhang Guiying asked.
Fang Pingying couldn't predict how well these would sell, so she couldn't give a definite number, "I am not sure for now. Just help me collect them, I will probably need ten to twenty soon."
Initially, Zhang Guiying was happy, but then her expression turned a bit troubled, and she said to Fang Pingying, "Getting so many jars might be difficult. You know, everyone in the village is keen; I'm afraid it might take a lot of effort to explain to them."
Fang Pingying thought about what Zhang Guiying implied, then smilingly said, "In that case, auntie, no matter how much the jars cost from the villagers, as long as the jars pass the check, I'll pay five cents each regardless of the number. The profit is all yours. I won't bother visiting every household for this; I'd rather not spend the effort."
Zhang Guiying was indeed worried about this matter; she had no reason to help Fang Pingying without getting any benefit.
Hearing this, she felt it was a good deal, quickly agreeing, "Alright, then it's settled. I won't tell the villagers you are recycling the jars; I'll just say the canning factory asked me to collect them."
Fang Pingying nodded; she felt this arrangement was good, at least Zhang Guiying, seeking profit, wouldn't spread her matters everywhere.
After taking the jars home, Fang Pingying asked Luo Honglan to boil a pot of water. After it cooled slightly, she soaked the jars in the boiled water for a while, then dried them with a clean cloth and put them on an outdoor bamboo sieve to dry.
Fang Pingying calculated that the day after tomorrow was the market day in town; she would go to the town cooperative tomorrow to buy some honey, and check if there were any lemons for sale and buy some as well.
When making the hawthorn jam, adding a few drops of lemon juice would enhance the flavor, but if there were none, it was okay.
Apart from hawthorn jam, she also planned to make hawthorn cakes to sell in town, to see which product sold better; after all, making hawthorn cakes was only a couple more steps than the jam and didn't use extra resources.
As evening approached, the Luo Family returned home and seeing so many empty jars drying in the courtyard, Zhou Yunmei couldn't help but frown, "What on earth is this for, picking up all these useless things? Others might think our family is collecting junk."
After speaking, Zhou Yunmei even made a move to handle the jars.
Seeing this, Luo Honglan quickly lifted the bamboo sieve with the jars and put it behind her, nervously saying to Zhou Yunmei, "What useless junk? These jars are worth five cents each. Sister-in-law bought them from the village's store. Be careful, don't break these jars; otherwise, we will have to spend money to buy new ones."
"What, these jars are worth five cents each?" Zhou Yunmei pointed at the jars and began to angrily shout, "This wasteful woman, I knew she would never bring us any good, just saying something about starting a business to disgrace us. And she has already spent so much money before even making any, babbling about how Zhiyong works hard and that we need to save, but in truth, she wants us to save so she can splurge."
Fang Xiu still held a grudge about the misunderstanding at noon and wished someone could help her deal with Fang Pingying.
Hearing Zhou Yun Mei scolding Fang Pingying, Fang Xiu immediately added fuel to the fire by echoing Zhou Yun Mei, "Mom, do you really believe she's trying to save money? In fact, she's just envious because big brother gave all the money to you, and she feels uneasy. She probably wishes she could take all the money back, every penny of it."
Luo Honglan, standing nearby, couldn't accept Fang Xiu and Zhou Yun Mei talking about Fang Pingying like this, and furrowed her brows, looking at them saying, "Mom, what are you talking about? Doing business, of course, involves spending money on stock, or else what would we sell? That's how everyone does business."
As soon as Luo Honglan finished speaking, Fang Xiu retorted sarcastically, "Wow, having money really changes you. Just yesterday she took back the money, and today you stand up for her."
Zhou Yun Mei's face darkened, and she fiercely pinched Luo Honglan's arm, whispering furiously, "You wretched girl, where do you think your allegiance lies? I am your real mother."
Thinking about how Fang Pingying stood up for Luo Honglan, Zhou Yun Mei became even more infuriated and pinched Luo Honglan several times in a row.
Luo Honglan had tears swirling in her eyes, but still whispered back, "Mom, sister-in-law is our own family too. If she really makes money from business, she won't mistreat us. Why do you keep causing trouble for no reason, people will laugh at us."
"You..."
Seeing Luo Honglan keep defending Fang Pingying, Zhou Yun Mei got angry and was about to hit her.
But this time she was stopped by Luo Dashan, who had been following them quietly, "Honglan is right, let's not make a scene anymore. Besides, we cleared up the money matter yesterday, there's nothing to argue about today. Just receive your monthly allowance, having food at home should be enough, why State so much?"
"Old man, you don't understand anything, better keep quiet. You've never managed the household expenses over the years, you have no idea how difficult life can be." Zhou Yun Mei felt aggravated thinking about the money issue.
If it weren't for the wrong things she said about Zhiyong yesterday, she would never willingly accept such a small sum. She would force Fang Pingying to handle Zhiyong's salary like before.
Thinking about it, she resentfully glanced at Fang Pingying's door and deliberately raised her voice, hoping Fang Pingying could hear, "Just giving us five yuan a month, what can that buy? It's not even enough to cover social obligations with people in the village."
"If money isn't enough, let's just change our approach. Instead of always giving money, let's return gifts with items instead. It's not that difficult." Speaking of social obligations, Luo Dashan also thought Zhou Yun Mei was too extravagant and preferred Fang Pingying keeping the money tight, it's better than being taken advantage of by strangers.
Hearing this, Zhou Yun Mei glared at Luo Dashan, "Exchange gifts? What do we have at home to give away?"
Luo Dashan said, "We can grow our own. Anything others can grow, we can too. With such a big family, we indeed need to plan properly. Apart from the fields, we should grow more green beans, soybeans, and peanuts. We can't just rely on the grain harvest all year round."
"You old fool, I don't want to waste breath talking about this with you. You do what you want, I don't care anymore…" Unsatisfied that Luo Dashan also sided with Fang Pingying, Zhou Yun Mei felt aggrieved and spent the afternoon cursing Luo Dashan in the courtyard.
Though she was criticizing Luo Dashan, most of her complaints were actually targeted at Fang Pingying.
Moreover, Zhou Yun Mei really had a knack for indirectly blaming others.