Rebirth of a Farming Wife

Chapter 77: Want to Make Money

Now that the chaos of war had not yet started, prices were not too high. They had bought a whole ox cart of goods and spent less than ten silver coins.

Although it wasn’t much, Su Wenyue still felt somewhat pained; apart from the Zhuangzi, her dowry silver only amounted to one thousand taels, and she had already given five hundred to Xiao Xi to deal with things, leaving only five hundred taels.

Money, no matter how sparingly used, would always diminish with spending. It was not sustainable to only have outflows without inflows; finding ways to make money was necessary. However, she hadn’t thought of any better solutions recently. She had been embroidering embroidery products, planning to sell them once finished, and with her skill and ingenuity, she should be able to earn some silver.

“What are you daydreaming about? You don’t even like aunt and Jiang Chunlan, so why buy so much stuff?” Han Yu had never intended to let his wife use her dowry silver to cover household expenses, but since Su Wenyue insisted on buying, he couldn’t stop her, only thinking in his heart that he would compensate her once they were better off.

“I didn’t buy it for them. Mother was injured, and the doctor said she needs to be well nourished. We can’t always eat things that lack sustenance. Besides, I don’t want to put Mother in a difficult position. I can tell that Mother still has some affection for her sister, my aunt. If things with aunt and cousin become too strained, Mother might not say it, but she will certainly feel bad inside,” Su Wenyue said and then feigned a few blows at Han Yu.

“In the end, it’s all for you. Otherwise, with your dear cousin always targeting me, I’m not one to just take it lying down. Let alone spending so much silver for them, I would rather just kick them out the door! My mother always said I

was too willful. Indeed, once married, everything’s different. I have to consider everything for my husband—on this account, I could be considered a good daughter-in-law,” she said.

Su Wenyue complained to Han Yu while making her point. The deed was done, but Han Yu needed to know why she did it and how much she humbled herself for him—he should keep her goodness in mind.

Seeing his wife’s playfully petulant way, a warm feeling filled Han Yu’s heart, and he enjoyed it thoroughly. Initially, he had married Su Wenyue following the elders’ wishes and had not been in love with anyone, so he had no expectations for their married life. However, he had not anticipated that Su Wenyue would do so well. Sure, she had this or that minor flaw, but to him, those flaws made her even more endearing, and step by step, she had made her way into his almost indifferent heart.

“You are already a good daughter-in-law of mine, who dares say you’re not!! I remember everything you do for me; however, you don’t have to humble yourself too much. When it comes to right and wrong, stand your ground, as I will always be there to back you up!” Han Yu immediately promised, indicating his stance to Su Wenyue. He certainly cherished his wife’s kindness towards him.

“What if I’m not in the right, will you not back me then?” Su Wenyue pushed further, suddenly turning from a wise and understanding young daughter-in-law to a demanding one, and this change was precisely what won

Han Yu’s heart even more.

Han Yu was savvy enough to say, “Of course I will. Who else would support an unreasonable wife like mine? Even if you are unreasonable, I’ll still stand by you.”

“That’s more like it,” Su Wenyue nodded in satisfaction, reflecting on how different Han Yu was now from the cold and heartless man of her previous life.

Because they were not in a hurry to return home and traveled leisurely by ox cart, they did not reach the Han Family until after noon. Mrs. Yang had asked Mrs. Liu to save lunch for Han Yu and Su Wenyue. Upon arriving home, they found guests present, members of Mrs. Liu’s mother’s family had come to visit.

It was an unusual time for Mrs. Liu’s relatives to visit, and Su Wenyue was somewhat curious, though it was none of her business, she did not inquire further. Together with Han Yu, they brought in the things they had bought.

Han Yu took what had been bought with the public funds to the kitchen, and Su Wenyue put what she had bought into her room. Although they were bought to be used together, once in her room, she had control over their use, and she could do as she pleased without anyone objecting.

Thinking it over, Su Wenyue also sent a portion of the pastries they had bought that day to Mrs. Liu, for her to entertain their mother’s family, and took the chance to give her formal greetings to Mrs. Liu’s relatives, as a friendly gesture among sister-in-laws.

The visitor was Mrs. Liu’s eldest sister-in-law, who was exceedingly courteous and lavished praise upon meeting Su Wenyue. More sophisticated and worldly than Mrs. Liu’s straightforward nature, as for her character, Su Wenyue had not interacted much with Mrs. Liu’s relatives and refrained from making any judgments.

In the afternoon, Han Yu went hunting in the mountains, and after acknowledging Mrs. Liu, Su Wenyue visited her mother-in-law and then spent the rest of the time in her room embroidering.

Today’s trip to the County Town intensified Su Wenyue’s desire to make money. The best idea she had so far was to continue embroidering. Quality embroidery products fetched high prices, but very few skilled embroiderers were around. In Xinye County, the embroiderers of the Su Family were considered top-notch.

Su Wenyue’s embroidery skills came from the previous life when she had sought guidance from many skilled embroiderers, not just to show off her virtue and fidelity. The man she aimed to please was particularly demanding, wanting only the best in every aspect of life. Later on, everything she wore was made by her own hands, far superior to the work of the Su Family’s embroiderers.

By now, Su Wenyue had accumulated many small pieces of embroidery and planned to do a few more, along with a larger piece, to sell together at her mother’s embroidery workshop. Since the workshop was theirs, whatever price it fetched was theirs to keep, and this would be a significant saving compared to selling through a third party. However, she would certainly need to find a way to explain to her mother when the time came.

“Fourth Daughter-in-law, may I come in?”

Su Wenyue was embroidering when Mrs. Liu knocked at the door. Su Wenyue’s hand only paused momentarily, and on recognizing Mrs. Liu’s voice, she continued her swift needlework, simply moving her lips, “Is that you, Sister-in-law? Come in.

“Fourth Daughter-in-law, you’re doing embroidery, aren’t you? Look at this flower, it’s just like the real thing—such fine craftsmanship,” Mrs. Liu entered and immediately started with lavish praise and compliments.

Su Wenyue had guessed Mrs. Liu needed something from her. Now that her eldest sister-in-law had visited and Mrs. Liu had sought her out, she became even more certain.

“You flatter me, Sister-in-law. You’ve come at this time; has your eldest sister-in-law left?” Su Wenyue casually asked..