The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 137 Transformation

Seeing that Mrs. Zhang was in a good mood at the moment, Chen Cui talked to her about pepper planting and subsequent product development.

Zhang Ruomei was indeed interested in this. She loved chili as a condiment and it was very satisfying and very much to her taste.

"How many acres of land can you plant with the seeds you have?" She asked a very important question.

"We can probably grow crops on more than ten acres." Chen Cui gave a conservative figure.

The pepper trees in the space have been continuously bearing fruit, and now the plants have grown to as tall as her neck, squeezing out the growing space for corn.

She plans to pull them out or transplant them in the near future. Anyway, she has saved enough seeds, and the peppers can be propagated outside the space in the future.

“How many kilograms can be produced per mu?”

Chen Cui thought for a moment and replied, "I just planted a patch in my backyard. It's not a large-scale planting, but if I take good care of it, it should yield no less than three to five hundred kilograms."

In fact, she thought the yield per mu would be at least 500 kilograms, but peppers are afraid of both drought and flooding. If they are not well cared for or the climate is not right, the yield will definitely be reduced, so she didn't dare to say more.

Zhang Ruomei asked again: "How much does it cost to make one pound of chili oil and one pound of hot pot base?"

"I use soybean oil to make chili oil. One pound of soybean oil costs 45 wen. With spices, it doesn't exceed 60 wen. Hot pot base uses more spices and beef tallow. So one pound costs about 300 wen. Of course, these prices don't include chili peppers. Chili peppers can also be added directly when cooking, or ground into powder and used as seasoning."

After listening to this, Zhang Ruomei put her hand on her chin and thought hard, obviously considering the feasibility of this.

After a while, she said, "Let me think about it. I'll get back to you in two days."

Chen Cui naturally nodded in agreement, then stood up and said goodbye.

After she went out, she carefully stroked the small box containing the silver bills. Looking at the delicate patterns on the box, her heart couldn't help but tremble.

With a sudden income of three thousand taels, Chen Cui felt like she had become a rich person.

According to today's prices, as long as one does not squander it, these three thousand taels are enough for the whole family to live comfortably for many years.

Of course, this is an exception if there is someone in the family who is studying, especially if there are three children studying at the same time.

The reason why there were few literate people in ancient times was because studying and going to school was very expensive, and the higher the level, the more it cost.

Ordinary families can hardly guarantee food and clothing, so how can they have the spare money to let their children learn to read and write?

The three Changping brothers also knew that their opportunity to study was hard-won, so they worked so hard.

Chen Cui already knew that the children were copying books to save money. Although she didn't quite agree with it, she didn't object either.

Copying books is time-consuming, but it also allows them to better deepen their impression of the books and understand more about the hard work of learning and the hard-earned money.

Therefore, she did not intend to tell the children all about the three thousand taels. She only told them that she had received the money, but the specific amount did not need to be disclosed.

After all, the children are still young, and it is hard to say whether it will have an impact on their character when they suddenly find out there is so much more money at home.

What if they think their family has enough money and stop working hard, or think they can just lie back and relax with so much money and don’t want to go to school?

After all, this was three thousand taels. Even she was shocked by this sudden wealth. It was even more difficult for these children with limited vision and experience to control themselves.

At dinner that day, Chen Cui announced the canned food dividends and told the children that she was going to buy the house they were living in.

She was generally satisfied with the house and wanted to make more renovations to it, but of course she felt more at ease after buying it.

Buying a house is a big deal, so naturally you need to discuss it with family members.

Because Chen Cui deliberately blurred the amount of the dividend, and the fact that they were buying a house was a happy thing, the children didn't ask much.

Only Changping asked her privately: "Mom, is there enough money at home?"

Chen Cui told him very confidently: "The money in our family is enough for the three of you to pass the imperial examination. As long as you are willing to study and can pass the examination, mother will continue to support you!"

Changping knew that his mother was not a boaster and that what she said would definitely come true, so he nodded vigorously: "Yes, I will definitely work hard!"

Chen Cui quickly asked the real estate agent to contact the homeowner, bought the house, and then made a series of renovations.

The most important thing is the toilets and bathrooms. Two toilets were built for men and women. The floors of both were paved with blue bricks. The holes were also paved with large blue bricks. After defecation, they were flushed with water. A septic tank was dug next to it and it was usually covered so there would be no smell.

The bathroom is also separated in the middle, into two rooms for men and women.

Now there are four women in the family, and three men, so they are evenly matched.

In the summer, everyone takes a shower every day to avoid the inconvenience of queuing.

Drainage ditches were dug in each room, the ground was sloped, and simple waterproofing was done with mortar, so there was no need to take the bath water out and throw it away every time.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of renovation, Chen Cui added sheds under the eaves of each room, and connected all the sheds together, so that when it rains, people can walk between rooms without worrying about getting wet.

Even the sheds where the mules and sheep live have been renovated to make feeding and cleaning easier.

The sheep were bought last October and are still in the lactation period. They can produce more than three kilograms of milk every day. There is still a lot left after each person has a bowl. Chen Cui asked Mai and Xiao Ya to drink it as well to avoid wasting it.

Mrs. Mai was extremely grateful. It didn't matter to her whether she drank it or not, but she wanted her daughter to drink it so that she could get better and not get sick again.

She felt that she had fallen into a blessed place and was enjoying a real good life here. Which servant could eat the same meals as the master, take a bath and go to the toilet in the same way? She and Xiao Ya were really lucky to meet the lady.

The wife even asked a doctor to treat her embarrassing disease, and even asked her to use such precious menstrual belts and expensive paper when she had her period. She felt that even if she worked for the wife until her death in this life, she would never be able to repay her kindness.

In fact, Chen Cui just felt that she had done what she should do. She accidentally discovered that Mrs. Mai had a serious gynecological disease, so she patiently worked on her thoughts and asked a doctor to treat her.

In order to avoid subsequent recurrence, she was asked to pay attention to personal hygiene, take frequent baths, and not use wood ash during her menstrual period, but instead use the same tissue paper as herself.

Although this kind of paper is relatively expensive, Chen Cui thinks it is worth it compared to her physical health.

As a woman, she felt sympathy for Mai's past, and thought that buying an extra copy when she went shopping was the employee's care. She didn't expect Mai to react so strongly and be so grateful to her.

Perhaps it's because, as a woman, no one has ever paid attention to her needs in this area, and she has never received the care she deserves, so she feels touched.