Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 200 - 199: A Promising Child

The four siblings happily bustled in the small corner of the kitchen, completely unaware of Qin Yao who was standing outside with a smile on her face.

She watched them quietly for a while, holding back the urge for a midnight snack, not wanting to disrupt the warm scene, and turned back to her room.

The night grew deep, and the kitchen finally quieted down.

Da Lang placed the fried pancakes into each of the siblings’ wooden lunch boxes, opened the lids to let them cool, covered them, extinguished the fire in the stove, checked the doors and windows to ensure no safety hazards were left, and led his siblings to clean up before returning to their room to sleep.

The chickens in their yard crowed right on time, bringing life back to the quiet courtyard.

It indeed rained today, but it was not heavy, with the rain fine like strands of hair, fluttering around, an oil-paper umbrella was enough.

Qin Yao continued driving the carriage to send the kids to Lower River Village, watched the driver take them, and then returned to the village.

When she placed the fifteen Divine Power Book Boxes brought back by Second Lang in front of Liu the carpenter, he jumped up from where he was squatting on the ground.

"Good heavens! Is your Second Lang possessed?" Liu the carpenter asked incredulously.

Qin Yao glanced at him, "Don’t talk nonsense, Liu Erlang just has a high financial acumen."

But she didn’t approve of the behavior of selling his book box to make money.

Liu the carpenter calculated the cost and the time spent, he could make two book boxes a day, but that was under the premise that the timber had already been pre-treated.

The timber costs were actually not much, the box frame wasn’t made of high-quality materials, just the common cedar wood from Jinshi Town.

Only the rod and small wooden wheels used a harder wood, which was slightly more expensive.

Adding it up, the cost was only about 180 or 190 cents.

If it were him selling them, he wouldn’t dare ask for five maces of silver.

At this point, Liu the carpenter once again sighed, "Your Second Lang’s learned his father’s knack for persuasion."

Qin Yao tugged at the corners of her mouth, "I’ll take it as you complimenting their father and son."

Liu the carpenter said, "If people are willing to buy them for five maces of silver, should we set the price at that?"

Qin Yao said, "I think we can increase a bit, how about 588?"

Liu the carpenter thought she outsmarted him, but reluctantly agreed, "It’s a bit pricey, let’s compromise at 568."

Qin Yao nodded, "That works!"

The two reached an agreement and immediately began to work.

Qin Yao wasn’t good at intricate carpentry, but she could saw the timber into boards. Liu the carpenter guided her a bit, and they managed with one providing raw materials and the other making the mechanisms rods and wheels, eventually painting and assembling them.

Still missing a painting step, Qin Yao called Yun Niang over.

Initially, Yun Niang didn’t want to come, as she had wheat to harvest at home, needed to weave, cook, take care of the kids, and tend to the vegetable garden, with no time to spare.

Qin Yao pleaded with her to help for four or five days, saying it wouldn’t delay much, and the wages were counted per piece, with fifteen cents per item.

These fifteen orders meant 225 cents, over two maces of silver.

Indeed, money was a strong motivator, Yun Niang hesitated for a moment, strapped her child to her back, and came to the workshop.

With few people in the workshop, she let her child play with wooden blocks in the yard, not worrying about him getting hurt.

Yun Niang quickly got back into rhythm, and the three people in the workshop worked with the energy of a crowd.

There was plenty of time to fulfill the orders, but Qin Yao wanted to make over ten extra Divine Power Book Boxes to take to the county later as a trial.

Moreover, these days the city had begun preparations for the preliminary examination of the imperial exams, and in two days the exams would start.

This batch could be completed right when the preliminary exam ended, with candidates still in town and not yet leaving, targeting them as customers would be perfect.

Although she promised to work only four or five days, Yun Niang saw the pile of boards Qin Yao had prepped growing higher and felt a bad premonition.

Sure enough, by the fifth day, half the work was still left undone; for the sake of money, she gritted her teeth and directly took out fifty cents, hired a villager with few lands for five days of temporary work, and got back to the task.

On February 10th, Yun Niang, exhausted with sore hands, finally finished painting all the wooden pieces.

Qin Yao counted them and found they exceeded the planned amount slightly, having made materials for forty book boxes.

Yun Niang rubbed her aching wrist, fearful there was more to paint, quickly saying:

"I need to go home; it’s been so many days since I brought food to my father-in-law, my mother-in-law’s going to scold me to death."

She also remarked that even when assembling the waterwheel earlier, she wasn’t as busy then; going day and night without seeing each other’s traces, worrying she might be up to some mischief.

Previously, it was post-harvest idle times, not busy at home; she could consistently receive wages from the workshop, with the home tasks not heavy, the mother-in-law managed them pretty well, naturally not saying anything to her.

But this time was different; all scattered chores piled upon her mother-in-law, without a doubt, drawing complaints.

Upon hearing Yun Niang’s concerns, Qin Yao quickly handed her the payment, a large piece of fifty maces of silver coins plus a string of copper coins.

Forty boxes, fifteen cents each, amounting to exactly 600 cents.

It was just eight days’ work, immediately receiving two months’ previous wages, Yun Niang’s worries vanished, and she laughed.

"Miss Qin, next time there’s work like this, call me!" Before leaving, Yun Niang happily advised with her son on her back, even the pain in her wrists seemed to heal.

Liu the carpenter laughed too, "That’s indeed being swayed by money."

Qin Yao shrugged, "It’s the same for everyone; money’s allure is undeniable."

The materials dried for two days, Qin Yao’s work also concluded, and she assisted Liu the carpenter in assembling all the book boxes.

Forty boxes painted black, adorned with pink and white patterns, lined neatly on the warehouse shelves, creating a bit of a visual impact.

On the 12th, Qin Yao brought the kids home, and after dinner, told Second Lang to remind his classmates at school tomorrow to have their remaining balance ready, and she’d personally deliver to the academy gate the day after, exchanging money and goods.

"Second Lang, tell them this way, say my Mother, in view of us being schoolmates, has given you guys a discount; the original price for the Divine Power Book Box was 668, now only charging you 568."

Qin Yao raised an eyebrow, "Remembered?"

Second Lang grinned, nodding repeatedly, "Mother’s assured, I’ll tell them word for word, let them remember our goodwill."

Qin Yao appeased him with a pat on his small shoulder, "The youth is teachable."

"But these small favors don’t work much, usually just go as needed; under unequal conditions, it’ll just seem like flattery."

Da Lang and Second Lang put away their smiles, seriously listening, learning some social intricacies.

Sanlang and Si Niang yet seemed puzzled, since they were in different classrooms than Da Lang and Second Lang, with different teachers.