Chapter 164: Investigation
Chapter 164: Investigation
Jiang Xia didn't respond to Tea Caihua's question but instead greeted her politely as "Big Sister" and walked out of the courtyard to the neighboring house.
Great-Grandmother and He Xinghuan were sorting dried fish. Since there was no school today, Zhou Zhou had also come early to help Zhou Jie sort the fish, which had been received the day before.
They were now receiving twenty to thirty pounds of dried fish every day.
Jiang Xia handed a stack of large denomination banknotes to He Xinghuan.
He Xinghuan was stunned, "So much?"
Great-Grandmother laughed, "Is this how much you've earned in total?"
Jiang Xia smiled, "No, we've earned five hundred and thirty-nine in total. Each person gets two hundred and sixty-nine fen. You count and see if it's correct."
He Xinghuan's hands trembled as she held the stack of money, "This is too much! Did we really earn this much?"
Jiang Xia smiled, "It's not bad. We've just started selling, and we don't have a customer base yet. We're only selling to middlemen. Once we open up the market, it'll get better. By the end of the year, when fish prices rise, we can increase the price and earn even more."
He Xinghuan understood, "I'll take this opportunity to collect more dried fish."
The price of dried fish was low now, but as winter approached and the weather got colder, fewer boats would go out to sea, and the price would increase.
Jiang Xia agreed with a smile and then told them about the station attendant who wanted to buy dried fish.
He Xinghuan smiled, "That's great! I exchanged some oil coupons with someone yesterday and bought twenty pounds of oil. I'll go and get sesame seeds, salt, sugar, and everything else we need. Let's make the dried fish today."
Great-Grandmother chuckled, "You go ahead! I'll take care of sorting the fish."
In less than ten days, they had earned over two hundred yuan, which was more than twenty yuan per day, almost as much as families with boats.
Great-Grandmother never imagined that her family would have a "daily fortune" like this.
Zhou Jie, the youngest, spoke up, "You all go ahead! Leave the sorting to me and Zhou Zhou!"
Everyone laughed.
Jiang Xia playfully patted their heads, "If you sort the fish well, I'll reward you with some fish fry!"
The two children became even more focused.
Jiang Xia and He Xinghuan went into the kitchen to make the dried fish.
Preparing the fish in several flavors took an entire morning because they were deep-fried, which produced a lot of oil smoke, high temperatures, and was both tiring and hot work, earning them a hard-earned income.
After each batch, Jiang Xia would be so full of oil smoke that she couldn't eat, having lost her appetite.
Neighboring House
Tea Caihua couldn't help but ask Zhou Mu again, "Mom, what money are you dividing with Great-Grandmother's family?"
"It's the money from selling dried fish. Xia has been working with Great-Grandmother's family to collect and sell dried fish. They use the fish to make snacks. They sold some yesterday and are dividing the earnings with them."
Tea Caihua's expression changed, "A partnership? I thought they were just hired to help?"
"No, it's a partnership."
Tea Caihua was unhappy. If it was a partnership, why did they involve outsiders instead of her, the eldest daughter-in-law?
"Does collecting and reselling dried fish earn a lot? How much can you make per pound?"
She thought she had heard something about two hundred yuan!
They had only been collecting dried fish for a few days, and they had already made over two hundred yuan?
Seeing her eldest daughter-in-law's change in expression, Zhou Mu explained, "I didn't ask about the details. But Xia has spent a lot of money on collecting the fish. She's given out over a thousand yuan from my savings. Your Great-Grandmother's family has also collected a lot and must have invested a lot of money."
The eldest daughter-in-law had a narrow mind, so Zhou Mu didn't dare tell her too much.
Zhou Mu added, "Collecting dried fish is complicated. The fish needs to be sorted, and when fresh mixed fish is caught, they have to be killed, dried, and then sorted. You're busy going out to sea and taking care of Ah Hai and the others. You don't have the time. Great-Grandmother's family doesn't have a boat, so they have more free time. And remember when the kitchen caught fire, they risked their lives to help us put it out. We owe them a debt of gratitude!"
Mentioning the kitchen fire made Tea Caihua feel guilty, and she didn't say anything more, but she was still unhappy inside.
Jiang Xia couldn't believe her ears. How could her sister-in-law even consider partnering with an outsider instead of her own family? It was clear who was closer and who was a stranger.
After harvesting fresh vegetables, Jiang Xia's sister-in-law, Tian Caihua, returned home with a sullen expression.
Jiang Xia had been helping with household chores and washing vegetables while her mother-in-law was out at sea, so she continued to do so even when she wasn't going out to sea herself, to avoid any complaints from Zhou Chengxin about being unfilial.
Tian Caihua entered the house, her face still dark. In the courtyard, she saw Zhou Chengxin wearing a face mask, holding a welding rod, and welding an iron frame amidst the sparks and crackling flames. She couldn't help but speak up, "If you have free time, you help your brother, but he treats you like a fool! He makes money and doesn't even consider partnering with you. He just uses you as free labor."
The iron frame was meant to support a large fish cage for Zhou Chenglei, but it was not Zhou Chenglei who had asked Zhou Chengxin to weld it.
Zhou Chengxin had seen his father working on it the day before, and since he wasn't going out to sea today, he had taken the initiative to continue the work.
Hearing Tian Caihua's sarcastic tone, Zhou Chengxin responded in kind, "I enjoy helping my brother. You help your brother, I help my brother, what's it to you? I didn't tell you to stop helping him either!"
Tian Caihua was speechless.
That sarcastic tone again! Remembering Zhou Chengxin's recent cold behavior, Tian Caihua decided it was best to keep quiet.
Forget it, she thought. Let's not provoke Zhou Chengxin's temper and just focus on the good luck they've been having lately. Going out to sea has been profitable, earning over a hundred yuan each day. It's better to seize this opportunity and make some extra money.
Jiang Xia's family had already become millionaires, and since the division of the family, they had only had a few good days at sea, barely managing to save up a thousand yuan. Meanwhile, others were already starting to build two-and-a-half story houses.
---
By noon, Jiang Xia and He Xinghuan had prepared over a hundred pounds of three-flavor fish fry.
Zhou Zhou and Zhou Jie were such well-behaved children that they sat there all morning, sorting dried fish. Jiang Xia noticed that Great-Grandmother had some clean lotus leaves, so she used them to package some spicy small fish for the two children to enjoy.
The children were delighted and took a bag of small fish to play with the other village kids.
In those days, children lacked material comforts, unlike the variety of snacks and drinks available to modern kids.
A penny or two was enough to buy a cup of watermelon seeds, and the children would be thrilled, becoming the envy of their peers, surrounded by admiring friends.
Zhou Jie was a clever boy, and he had overheard Jiang Xia's recent discussions about using the fish fry to expand their market. So, when he got his hands on some dried fish, he grabbed Zhou Zhou and headed for the village's big tree to find their friends. He wanted to help sell the fish fry too!
Sure enough, the fried fish fry attracted the attention of the village children, and Zhou Jie and Zhou Zhou were instantly surrounded.
Some adults noticed the delicious-looking fish and asked Zhou Jie for a taste. They found the fish to be fragrant and chewy, leaving them wanting more.
One of the villagers asked, "Zhou Jie, did your family make these fish fry? They're delicious! Do you sell these fish fry? How much are they per pound?"
Zhou Jie, clever as he was, lacked the cunning to keep the information to himself. He replied, "Yes, Auntie! Do you want to buy some? Then go find my mother or my sister-in-law, Zhou Zhou's aunt. Hurry, or my sister-in-law might take them all to sell in the city!"
The other villagers became curious and gathered around, asking questions.
(End of Chapter)
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