Because she hadn't notified her mother-in-law and mother beforehand, and feared being too far to get home for lunch, which would worry the two elders, Chen Lan decided to chop firewood on the mountain not far from her house.
She took an electric saw from the system's warehouse. She had bought it when she needed to saw poplar trees to plant white fungus, and had almost forgotten about it in the warehouse! She wouldn't have remembered it today if she hadn't come up the mountain to chop wood.
With the advanced equipment, Chen Lan treated it as trimming the branches of the large trees in the mountain. She sawed off any branches within reach of the electric saw, tidying up each tree. In about an hour, she had trimmed a large area. From above, it looked very neat and much better. The ground below was a mess of branches, making it difficult to walk.
Seeing that it was already half past eleven on the system clock! It was getting late. She immediately stored some of the branches on the ground that were blocking the path into the system's warehouse, leaving the rest to dry for her to collect tomorrow. She then carried three or four branches as thick as an adult's arm down the mountain.
Since she had sawed branches on the mountain closest to home, she went home first. She dropped the branches she was carrying on the ground outside the yard, then took out all the branches from the system's warehouse and spread them out to dry outside the yard. After spreading them all out to dry, she didn't go into her own yard. She estimated that her mother and Xiao Shan's mother had already taken the children to the temporary kitchen for lunch.
Not bothering to go home to wash her hands, she walked towards the temporary kitchen. When she got closer, she saw that her mother and Xiao Shan's mother were indeed sitting at the table with the children, basking in the sun and waiting for food.
Chen Lan quickened her pace and went to the usual place for washing vegetables to wash her hands thoroughly. After patting the dust off her body, she walked over to her mother's table. Jia Hui and Jia Yao saw their mother from afar. Dressed warmly like little penguins because of the cold weather, they were excitedly hopping on their legs.
She quickened her steps, took Jia Hui from her mother's arms, held her with one arm, and then took Jia Yao from Xiao Shan's mother's hands, holding him with the other arm. The mother and her two children hugged and nuzzled each other.
At this moment, Jia Hui, the little one, started to get restless. She kicked Jia Yao with her little chubby feet. Jia Yao, who also had a temper, kicked her back with his little chubby feet. The two little ones started kicking each other, one kick from you, one kick from me. Sudan Novel Network.
Chen Lan quickly called her mother over for help. Her hands were occupied, so she couldn't separate them. Her mother turned around and chuckled. As she took Jia Yao, she tapped Chen Lan's head and said, "You really are worthy of being my daughter. Look at them, they are just like you when you were their age. When you were as old as them, you used to bully Xiang Xi like this. You were half a year younger than Xiang Xi, but you often bullied him."
Chen Lan felt embarrassed! How did the conversation turn to her?
At this moment, someone arrived to rescue her from her embarrassment. Her mother-in-law called out from a distance, "Xiao Lan, where did you run off to? I looked everywhere for you and couldn't find you!"
"Mother-in-law, what were you looking for me for? I went to the mountain to chop firewood," Chen Lan asked.
Her mother-in-law approached and whispered mysteriously, "Xiao Lan, is what you told Uncle De true?"
Seeing Chen Lan's confused look, she continued in a low voice, "That silver and silver dollars will be worthless later on. Is that true?"
Chen Lan nodded and quietly said with certainty, "Yes! Mother-in-law, if you still have a lot, you should hurry and spend it to buy things that can be stored for a long time, like gold."
The mother-in-law hesitated upon hearing this and then whispered, "But, in this remote mountain wilderness, where can I exchange it for gold?"
Chen Lan thought about it and realized it was true. So she lowered her head and asked softly, "Mother-in-law, how much do you have?"
The mother-in-law suddenly seemed a bit unnatural, and quickly lowered her head and whispered, "Not, not much. The bulk of it is with your father-in-law, right? It's just some of my original private savings and some loose change for daily use. About less than two hundred silver dollars."
When Chen Lan heard that it was less than two hundred silver dollars, she felt relieved and lowered her head to whisper, "Mother-in-law, how about this! I have two plans for you to use this money.
The first is to advance this money as wages to Teacher Zhou and the others. They are planning to go back the day after tomorrow, so they can take some money back to the capital for their families.
The second is a bit more troublesome: find hunters in the mountains to buy their furs and make leather clothes and leather quilts."
Seeing that her mother-in-law was still hesitating, Chen Lan decided to reassure her, to make the elder happy. At worst, she would be more diligent next year and pick more wild vegetables, selling them to the system. She hadn't sold anything to the system in a long time.
She thought she should make time to go to the mountains to see if those ginseng plants were still there.
So she lowered her head and whispered, "Mother-in-law, don't worry. I'll convert the silver dollars you consider as wages into gold. Is one piece weighing ten taels enough?" Saying this, she opened the system warehouse with her mind, took out a gold ingot weighing ten taels, and quickly stuffed it into her mother-in-law's sleeve.
As soon as the gold ingot entered her sleeve, it weighed down her arm, startling the mother-in-law. She quickly covered it with her other hand and repeatedly whispered, "You child, really! You didn't give me a heads-up, you scared me." While speaking, she patted her chest with her hand.
Seeing Chen Lan looking at her, waiting for her reply, she quickly lowered her head and whispered, "It's, it's enough, it's just a bit too much."
Chen Lan said with a slight, indifferent smile, "It's not much, not much. As long as you are happy!"
The mother-in-law whispered, "Happy, how can I not be happy? I've made a huge profit now."
Chen Lan quickly whispered, "Keep this safely! It's for your bottom drawer. If Uncle De and Uncle Fu need money, it will come from me.
Also, mother-in-law, please take the trouble to prepare gifts for Teacher Zhou and the others who are returning. Prepare a gift for each of them. Teacher Zhou's should be more substantial, as a token of our family's good wishes.
Also, for Xiao Shan and his mother, and Lin Mao and Lin Mai, please discuss with Uncle Fu and Uncle De how to pay their wages. These people have worked very diligently, and we cannot let them down. We must give them what they deserve.
Alas! This is also a troublesome matter. If we give them silver dollars now, they won't be of much use, and there's nowhere to spend them. It's better to convert it all into gold at the end. You go and discuss this with them. Come to me when you want the gold."
The mother-in-law happily whispered, "Don't worry, I've already prepared the gifts for Teacher Zhou and the others with Mai Zi a few days ago. Teacher Zhou's gift has a special mark, so just pay attention when you take it. As for the wages for Xiao Shan and his mother, and Lin Mai and her brother, it's not urgent now. I'll talk to them properly after Teacher Zhou and the others leave."
After the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had finished their discussion, the meal was ready. They had just finished talking and could eat.