Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 169 - 168: There’s No Such Thing as Spells in This World
Of course, in the end, the fight didn’t happen.
Qin Yao’s cold glance was more effective than anything; Liu Ji immediately settled down, much more obedient than before.
Old Liu looked at Qin Yao with admiration, appreciating her decisiveness. After this journey to the border, the third child indeed became more sensible.
Mrs. Zhang saw Old Liu’s expression and whispered proudly behind him:
"See, like I said before, how could Yao Niang harm the third boy? She didn’t pay the service tax just to help him learn well."
Old Liu agreed wholeheartedly and repeatedly said, "Right, right, you’re absolutely right."
Mrs. Zhang turned her head proudly, "Of course~"
In winter, it gets dark early. After finishing dinner, it was already pitch black.
The six members of Qin Yao’s family lit a torch and left the old house, returning to their own home.
On the way, they picked up the money box from the water mill.
The weather was cold, and it had been snowing lightly for half a day today. People were afraid of the cold, so not many came to the water mill. Second Lang shook the money box, which clinked only a few times.
When they got home and took a look, sure enough, there were only three copper coins. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Qin Yao took out the household ledger, and Second Lang already knew how to add today’s earnings from the water mill, then tossed the copper coins into the ceramic jar in the main hall cabinet.
For daily needs like buying vegetables, he and Da Lang would take money from there and record it in the ledger every day.
The reason for this hassle was that when Qin Yao was busy at the water mill, she had no time to look after the household’s daily meals.
And every time they wanted to buy small items, asking her for money was troublesome. So, she simply created a special everyday savings jar, assigning the water mill’s earnings for daily expenses.
Initially, this task was Liu Ji’s responsibility. When he came home and found that his authority over the money had been taken by Second Lang, he felt quite depressed.
Second Lang locked up the cabinet, threading the key on a string and wearing it around his neck, only taking it off when bathing.
The little fellow walked earnestly to the corridor to Liu Ji, who was adding charcoal to the burning brazier for the smoked meat, saying:
"Dad, Mother said that since you’re home during this period, you’re in charge of the meals, so if you need money, just come to me."
Liu Ji was so shocked he almost got his fingers burned by the charcoal, sucking in a breath of cold air and questioning in surprise:
"I have to get money from my son?"
Second Lang raised his hand and pointed around to everyone in the house, "Indeed, anyone in the family who needs money has to come through me."
Qin Yao, eating fried peanuts inside, nodded her approval, "Second Lang is managing the household now."
Qin Yao thought that letting a child learn some simple bookkeeping was good for developing financial acumen. Since Second Lang didn’t like martial arts training, she let him manage the money.
Besides, there wasn’t much money, losing it wasn’t a concern, and it made things easier for her.
A few days ago, Qin Yao bought half a pig from the town butcher, and with the help of He and Mrs. Zhang, cut and marinated it into twelve strips of smoked meat.
Now, a few wooden boards enclosed the corridor of the main hall, burning a basin of charcoal covered with ash, slowly smoking the meat.
Liu Ji closed the wind-blocking wooden board, stood up, and asked Second Lang to fetch a basin of water to wash his hands.
Covered in charcoal, he looked like he’d emerged from a coal mine.
A charcoal stove was constantly burning in the main hall, with hot water boiling on top. Considering his father had just returned home, Second Lang fetched a basin of hot water and handed over a bar of soap.
Liu Ji held the soap, looking suspiciously at Second Lang, "What’s this?"
"Soap, you can use it for washing your face, hands, bathing, and laundry. It foams, give it a try, Dad," Second Lang said with a bit of pride, eager to see his father’s inexperienced expression.
Unfortunately, being an adult, though surprised internally, Liu Ji didn’t show much on his face, leaving Second Lang somewhat disappointed.
After watching Liu Ji work up a lather, Second Lang snatched the soap back and placed it on the stone platform by the kitchen door.
Liu Ji washed his hands clean and sniffed them; they didn’t have any odd smell. This soap worked quite well.
"Where did you buy it?" Liu Ji discreetly asked Second Lang while dumping the dirty water.
Second Lang softly replied, "Mother conjured it up. She’s amazing, she can use spells!"
Liu Ji’s mouth twitched; this woman was deceiving the child again. There’s no such thing as magic in this world!
He wanted to ask further about its ingredients, but Second Lang, disliking the cold outside, quickly ran back inside the house.
Liu Ji let it go, giving another look at the small piece of white jade-colored soap on the stone platform, thinking he had heard about this somewhere.
Oh, he remembered, Fan Xiucai mentioned before that his grandfather specifically bought a package of soap from the Southern Shuntian Prefecture for washing hands and bathing. It foams and has fragrance, much better than soap powder.
However, the one at their home had no fragrance, probably because they didn’t add any expensive perfume.
"Wife, is making that soap not cheap?"
As soon as Liu Ji entered the main hall, he tentatively asked.
Qin Yao responded with a hum — nothing from a pig is cheap. She signaled Da Lang to raise the candlestick while holding a ledger in her hand, reviewing it.
Liu Ji attempted to peek, but Qin Yao quickly raised her head alertly, so he resignedly sat across from her, taking out a book from his parcel and pretended to read, appearing studious.
Da Lang and his siblings shared a foot basin for washing their feet. Afterward, they put on straw slippers, divided some charcoal from the furnace into their small brazier, and returned to their rooms to rest.
This small brazier was interesting; Qin Yao found it in a shop selling ceramic bowls in town. It was shaped like an open-mouthed jar but was actually a very thick ceramic bowl.
She bought the bowl and had Liu the carpenter make a bamboo sleeve, placing the ceramic bowl inside it, with handles at both ends, so a small one could be held without burning the hands.
They made three in total; one for herself, and Da Lang and his three siblings shared one between every two of them.
In the cold winter nights, they filled the brazier with charcoal, covered it with a bamboo lid, and placed it under the quilt to warm the bed before lying down; it didn’t feel cold at all.
In Da Lang Brothers and Sisters’ past memories, winter was the hardest to endure.
But now, with charcoal fires, windproof rooms, soft bedding, and small braziers, snuggling in warm blankets was so comfortable, they didn’t want to get up.
The small brazier could also rest on their knees to warm their hands; when their hands got cold from writing, they’d just touch it.
This function resembled the copper hand warmers used by wealthy families; it’s not as refined but cheap and practical.
However, the quality of the ceramic bowl might not last long, and they’d need to get new ones next year.
Qin Yao’s clever ideas were thanks to the prevalence of the internet in her past life, where local specialties from all over could be found online.
At the time, she might have just found it amusing, but recalling it now provided many conveniences for her life.
Liu Ji enviously glanced at the small bamboo-covered brazier on Qin Yao’s lap, not forgetting to inquire about the soap.
If Fan Xiucai said it was a useful item, it must be valuable. If they could make more to sell, wouldn’t that make a fortune?
Qin Yao couldn’t ignore his burning gaze at all.
She had thought of what he considered, knowing all too well the little schemes in Liu Ji’s mind.
