Thank you Xuan'er Feifei for the sachet, thank you Yi Jianqi for the reward, and thank you to both dear friends.
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Although Luo Honglan greatly admired Fang Pingying and thought that the hawthorn jam she made was a good product, she always felt that doing business was not such an easy thing and was unsure whether they could really make money from it.
She looked at Fang Pingying hesitantly, as if she had something to say but stopped herself.
Fang Pingying smiled and asked, "What's up, got something to say?"
"Sister-in-law, we're sure to make money from this, but what if we end up losing money instead?" Luo Honglan blurted out, then feeling as if what she said was somewhat inappropriate, she quickly explained to Fang Pingying, "Sister-in-law, it's not that I don't believe in you, I'm just worried..."
"I understand." Fang Pingying comforted her with a smile, "As your older brother said, even if we lose money on this, it's no big deal. It doesn't cost much, at most it's about ten yuan. If we really end up with a loss, it's nothing we can't make up for, with your older brother backing us up."
Speaking of Luo Zhiyong, Luo Honglan's heart settled down, and she began to feel some confidence in the venture as well.
She laughed at Fang Pingying, "Alright, I'm not worried anymore. Our business will definitely make money, and I'll help earn money with you, sister-in-law."
Fang Pingying gave her a playful look, "What do you mean 'help me'? You've been involved from the very start. If we make money, of course you'll have your share."
After hearing this, Luo Honglan immediately waved her hands in front of Fang Pingying, hurriedly refusing, "I don't want it, I don't understand anything, I just help you tend the fire. Even if you weren't making this, I'd still be doing these chores at home, and even more than this."
"In that case, if we do make money, I'll help you save it up. You can come and take it any time you need it, and if you don't use it, I'll just keep saving it for you. When you get married and urgently need it, you can come to me anytime." Fang Pingying originally intended to give it to her when she got married, but remembering the person she married in her previous life, she changed her words.
Still, Luo Honglan persisted in refusing, "Sister-in-law, let's not talk about the money, I definitely don't want it."
"Let it be, don't worry about it, I'll decide," Fang Pingying planned to discuss with Luo Zhiyong about saving the money for Luo Honglan after they made some profit.
If Luo Honglan's fate hasn't changed much from her past life, this money will definitely be of great use to her in the future.
When the two returned home, Zhou Yunmei and the others were not there, only Luo Zhiyong was in the courtyard checking over the hawthorns.
Seeing Fang Pingying return, Luo Zhiyong's face carried a hint of a smile, "You're back so soon, did you get the honey?"
"Got it," Fang Pingying said, and then took out the paper-wrapped fabric from the basket and showed it to Luo Zhiyong, "Look, I also bought fabric for each of us to make clothes."
Luo Honglan took the fabric from Fang Pingying's hands and showed it to Luo Zhiyong, "Big brother, sister-in-law has been choosing the fabric for your clothes for a long time, take a look, do you like the color?"
A wife buying clothes for him, Luo Zhiyong was obviously very pleased inside.
But this man was not good at sweet-talking; he looked at the fabric and gently smiled, "I don't wear everyday clothes often, didn't I tell you not to buy it for me, and to get yourself an extra one or two? It's getting cold, you'll need clothes to change into."
"I already have some, we can talk about changing them later, I still have some old clothes." Fang Pingying said, showing Luo Zhiyong the red fabric she bought for herself, laughing and saying, "Look how pretty this red fabric is, I deliberately hauled a few extra yards so I can make a fashionable city-style shawl for Honglan later."
"What's a kanjian?" The little girl always liked to wear new clothes, and Luo Honglan, hearing she also had a share, excitedly tugged at Fang Pingying and asked, "Is it like a vest?"
"It's not a vest, but it doesn't have sleeves. You can wear it over a shirt, it's very fashionable in the city." Fang Pingying explained as she gestured on Luo Honglan's body.
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Luo Honglan was deeply touched upon hearing this, her voice choking up as she spoke.
She had always been the forgotten one in the family, and over time she had grown accustomed to it, never vying for Zhou Yunmei's favor like Luo Cuilan or Luo Zhiming would. Consequently, Zhou Yunmei paid her even less mind.
Take the making of clothes for example, Luo Cuilan would have several new outfits a year, while she would usually wear the clothes Luo Cuilan didn't want anymore or those that were made but not liked, only getting a truly new garment for the New Year.
Fang Pingying and Luo Zhiyong, seeing the tears swirling in Luo Honglan's eyes, understood what was on her mind.
Luo Zhiyong, unusually affectionate, fondly tousled Luo Honglan's hair, "Silly girl, what's there to thank for? In the future, just tell your sister-in-law if you need anything, we'll buy it if we can afford it."
Fang Pingying also smiled and drew Luo Honglan close, "Yeah, once your sister-in-law starts making money, I'll buy you loads of beautiful clothes from the city."
Having bought honey and dried the jars, Fang Pingying called Luo Zhiyong and Luo Honglan to help make hawthorn jam like yesterday. They still had half left, so Fang Pingying specially made some hawthorn cake.
Although these tasks weren't complicated, they were time-consuming. With only three of them, and having started in the middle of the morning, cooking was inevitably delayed.
But this time Zhou Yunmei didn't lose her temper; she just looked displeased and then instructed Luo Cuilan and Fang Xiu to cook.
Today, Fang Xiu and Luo Cuilan were rather warmhearted. Previously, if it was their turn to work, one could be sure to see them in foul moods, and the sound of them slamming things in the kitchen could be heard from the yard.
But today, both of them seemed quite happy to work, with Fang Xiu even assisting Fang Pingying and the others by cleaning pots and tidying up.
Once done, she asked Fang Pingying with a laugh, "Big sis, where did you learn this from? You never made it at home before."
Fang Pingying glanced at her and replied casually, "I happened to see it in a book the other day and thought I'd try it out, didn't expect it to be this easy to make."
Fang Xiu nodded eagerly, "Yeah, it looks really nice, it would definitely sell well in the town."
"Who knows yet, we'll see when the time comes." Fang Pingying gave her another look, thinking Fang Xiu's lack of troublemaking today was quite rare. Regardless of her intentions, as long as she took the initiative to make amends, Fang Pingying wouldn't dwell on past grievances.
"How much are you planning to sell it for? This stuff must have cost some capital, right?" Fang Xiu looked at the jars of jam on the stove and asked Fang Pingying again.
Fang Pingying, facing Fang Xiu, had the intuition that Fang Xiu had more to say, but she suddenly remembered that she had almost forgotten to price the product.
Though she roughly remembered the prices of things at that time, hawthorn jam was new and she didn't know how to set a fair price.
Thinking it over, Fang Pingying didn't bother to figure out what Fang Xiu was going to say, and simply dropped a line before heading to the yard, "You go ahead and cook. I'll discuss with your elder brother and see how much we should sell it for."