Soong Xintong was slightly surprised. Then, they wouldn't know how to do it?
"Xintong, what are you looking for?" How about I help you ask around? " Xie Daniu said enthusiastically.
"No need, I was just casually asking. If there isn't, then forget it." Soong Xintong added some more dishes for the two brothers, "You two eat more too, don't just eat meat."
"Delicious." Little Treasure unhappily pulled open the cucumber. "Don't want to eat it."
"You can't be picky with food, or else you won't grow up." Soong Xintong gave him another two cucumber strips, saying, "You have to finish them!"
"Oh." Little Treasure pursed his lips and reluctantly stuffed the cucumber into his mouth.
"These two children are so obedient." Aunt Xie smiled as she looked at Big Treasure and Little Treasure, "They're already six years old. Xintong, are you going to send them to the academy?"
Soong Xintong replied, "Yes, I'll send the two of them over after the academy and farm vacation."
Every year, the academy would take a vacation in July and would only reopen again in August. This was also where the new semester would start.
"When that happens, I'll let Goudan and Big Treasure accompany me. I don't really expect him to take the Elementary Scholar examination. It'll be fine if he can read." He had only earned about eight taels of silver today. Aunt Xie was also very generous, thinking to send him to the academy.
Soong Xintong raised her head and glanced at her, then looked at Xie Yi and Xie Hao who were sitting on the other side. Both of them had faint expressions on their faces, but the disappointment and envy on Xie Hao's face was even more obvious.
Xie Hao was not even twelve years old this year. If he went to the academy to study, he might be smarter than Goudan. However, in a village like this, he naturally had to give the opportunity to his younger and more beloved younger brother.
Soong Xintong sighed slightly and did not say a word.
Grandma Qiu saw the expressions of the two grandchildren and glared at Aunt Xie in dissatisfaction. "It's almost dark, hurry up and eat. We'll talk about the academy later."
Aunt Xie originally wanted to talk to Soong Xintong about buying a pen and ink, but seeing that her mother-in-law was unhappy, she could only lower her head and not say anything else.
Indeed, there were many people with great strength. Four catties of fish, almost twenty catties. After eating it all, not even the soup was left behind.
After seeing the Xie Family user off, Soong Xintong then returned to the house to count the silver.
He took out the silver from the purse and the silver from the jar and poured them all on the bed.
"Wa, wa, wa …" Little Treasure's eyes widened as he shook the hand that was holding onto Big Treasure. "Big brother is rich! Big brother is rich!"
Little Treasure couldn't hold back his joy anymore. Looking at how much money he had wasted, he finally believed that his family wasn't short on money.
Soong Xintong buried her head in counting the silver taels. "We already had two hundred taels before this, but today we've earned thirty-seven hundred and fifty taels. How much is it in total?"
He suddenly asked the two kids, catching them off guard.
Xiaobao struggled to count his fingers. "Four taels of silver and how much?"
The calm Great Treasure gave it some thought, "Forty-one taels. Hmm, there's still three hundred and fifty coins."
"Smart." Soong Xintong patted his head and said, "That's right, that's right. Sis will remember everything that I've taught you."
Little Treasure, who couldn't calculate the outcome, had a sullen face, sparkling tears rolling in his eyes.
Soong Xintong looked at Xiaobao's pained expression and couldn't help but rub his head. "Xiaobao is also very smart. It's just that he's too lazy and can't remember too much."
"Sister, I'm not so good after all. Am I not that stupid?" Little Treasure was finally not good, and he was a bit depressed.
Soong Xintong patted his head. "You're not stupid, but you're smart. Didn't you remember five words yesterday?"
"Little Treasure is very smart." Big Treasure also praised him, "He's even stronger than me."
Little Treasure covered his face in praise. He couldn't help but laugh as he blushed.
"Alright, we have so much silver now. In a few days, I'll take you two to the county city and buy you two new sets of clothes." Soong Xintong counted out ten taels of silver and put it aside by herself. Tomorrow, she would find a time to return Aunt He's family silver.
"No need to buy, no need to buy. I have new clothes." Big Treasure patted his monk collar's new clothes.
"That won't do. I'll send you to school soon. You need to wear nice clothes." Soong Xintong looked at the clothes she had made with disdain. It seemed that she had to make them again another day. If only she could embroider bamboo joints like the clothes Scholar Lu wore.
However, thinking about his craftsmanship, he decided to just forget about it.
Soong Xintong looked at her two playful younger brothers as she continued to count the money. After she paid her debt, she would have to buy ink and paper for the two of them. She estimated that there wouldn't be much left over.
Soong Xintong raised her head to look at the roof of the thatched cottage and sighed helplessly. The silver in her hand was probably only enough to build a few tile-roofed houses. If she wanted a big courtyard, like a courtyard, she would need at least a hundred taels of silver.
However, this business was almost finished. What was he going to do next?
Ah, life is hard!
Soong Xintong laid on the bed and looked at the two monkeys. She couldn't help but sigh with emotion. It was great to be young!
In the dead of night, the stars and moon were removed, and soon it was daybreak again.
Soong Xintong was still the same as before. After instructing Dabao and Little Treasure to stay at home, she carried her basket up the mountain and walked into the depths of the forest as per what she remembered from the day before.
Along the way, they picked quite a few new mushrooms and wooden ears, and also quite a few gray mushromm s. This was a grayish-brown or light brown fungus, with a grayish color inside.
Soong Xintong recognized this kind of gray mushromm because of her grandma. Behind her maternal grandma's home was the forest, and every summer and autumn, these gray mushromm would grow in the forest after the rain. She would often pick them with a basket.
But after her grandmother died, she also went to the city and didn't eat anymore.
Soong Xintong was overjoyed to suddenly discover such a gray mushromm, and she picked up all the gray mushromm on the ground.
The gray mushromm had other names, such as Ma Bo, Gray Horse Bag, or even Horse Trash.
It was almost noon, and Soong Xintong's basket was already filled to the brim with mushrooms, wooden ears, gray mushromm s, one or two kilograms of basilisk mushrooms, and fir fungus.
First, he went home to eat lunch. Other than Mu Er taking it out to dry, he put the rest of it in the shade beside the well. He guaranteed that it would be watery when he brought it to Manager Soong!
In the afternoon, he went to the back of the mountain, and when it was dark, he went home with a basket full of gray mushromm s.
During dinner, Big Treasure looked at the dark gray mushromm with a disdainful gaze, "Ah'jie, would you be poisoned if you ate it?"
"I'll eat it for all of you to see." Soong Xintong picked up a piece of meat and put it in her mouth. After chewing for a while, she swallowed it down. "Remember to call Grandma Qiu when I have a fit."
Little Treasure's expression changed. He put down his chopsticks and was about to slide down the mountain, making a posture of running.
"Alright, I'm just teasing you guys. Hurry up and eat." Soong Xintong looked at the troubled expression on Dabao's face. "If you don't like it, just eat the mushrooms. Do you want to eat the meat?" There's no meat left at home, if you want to eat you have to wait until the day after tomorrow when you enter the city before you can eat. "
"I don't want to eat meat." Big Treasure picked up a piece of gray mushromm and stuffed it into his mouth fearfully.
Soong Xintong couldn't help but laugh when she saw his heroic expression. "It's that bad?"
Who knew that after Big Treasure swallowed it, he picked up another piece, "Sister, it's not difficult to eat."
Little Treasure picked up a piece of meat that he had been skeptical about and ate it. His eyes lit up. "Delicious."