Divorce with three kids? I'll build a house and eat meat, driving my in-laws crazy.

Chapter 123 Is that jujube paste cake?
At this moment, Chen Jinbang was filled with thoughts, recalling the long time he spent copying books, each stroke of which was permeated with endless hardship and exhaustion, as if it were a labor of toil with no end in sight.

And that clan elder, who actually tried to adopt him as his son, his greedy eyes and scheming thoughts shrouded his heart like a dark cloud, lingering for a long time.

Meanwhile, the ugly faces of his second and third uncles flashed through his mind. Their selfishness, meanness, and coldness were like sharp blades, constantly piercing his heart.

At this moment, Chen Jinbang was filled with mixed feelings, a mixture of bitterness and humiliation.

He suddenly felt that compared to those deep grievances, simply bending down to pick up the copper coins on the ground and saying a word of thanks didn't seem so unbearable.

His face was ashen, his jaw clenched, and the muscles in his cheeks bulged slightly, as if he was trying his best to suppress his inner resentment and unwillingness.

After a brief standoff, her legs finally gave way, and she knelt down.

Chen Jinbang's eyes burned with the flames of humiliation, yet also with a hint of determination, as he snatched the coins from the servant who was also bending down to pick them up.

His hands moved swiftly among the coins, each one seemingly requiring all his strength to pick up. His movements were filled with struggle and helplessness, as if dignity and reality were engaged in a fierce tug-of-war between picking up and grabbing.

Finding money wasn't the hardest part; the hardest part was having to kneel down and thank Chu Yu for every single penny you found.

At first, he bit his lip and spoke very softly, as if saying one more nice word would kill him.

Later, as he scrambled for the items, picked them up, knelt down, and kowtowed in gratitude, he gradually got used to it.

Chen Jinbang picked up the money faster and his words of thanks became more and more fluent.

Chu Yu was very satisfied, and then sent someone to bring a bag of copper coins, which he casually scattered out a few handfuls.

Chen Jinbang pounced on him like a mad dog, disregarding everything else.

Among the group of strong and sturdy servants, he surprisingly came out on top and grabbed the most money.

Soon, all the copper coins on the ground were picked up.

Chen Jinbang counted the copper coins in his pocket with a big smile, giving Chu Yu a grateful smile with each coin he counted.

Chu Yu suddenly felt very bored. Chen Jinbang was like his prey, and what he enjoyed most was when the prey fought back desperately.

Once his prey has been tamed and become obedient, he instantly loses interest.

He asked listlessly, "How much did you pick up?"

Chen Jinbang counted several times before he finally counted them all.

He replied, "One tael and two mace."

His eyes were filled with joy. He had made a fortune today. Not only did he get his tuition fee, but he also had an extra 200 coins.

200 coins is enough to feed the family for a long time.

Thinking of his second and third uncles' true colors, he secretly decided that the money could only be given to his parents and younger brothers, and absolutely not to anyone else.

Chu Yu lazily raised his finger and pointed at a servant, saying, "Then give it to him."

Chen Jinbang was stunned, his lips twitched, and he asked incredulously, "Why...why?"

He painstakingly sacrificing his dignity to retrieve this, why should he give it to someone else?

Chu Yu chuckled and said, "What? You don't want to study anymore? Don't you have to pay tuition to study?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Jinbang could only reluctantly count out 200 copper coins and hand over the rest to the servant.

Seeing that the servant had taken the money, he anxiously said to Chu Yu, "Young Master Chu, then... then I can come back to continue my studies tomorrow, right?"

He was afraid that Chu Yu had embezzled the money and wouldn't hand it over to the headmaster.

On second thought, it seems unlikely that they would embezzle a mere tael of silver.

Chu Yu really didn't care about that money. He waved his hand lazily and said, "Go back and come back tomorrow."

"Alright." Chen Jinbang breathed a sigh of relief. After leaving the academy, he took out the 200 coins from his pocket and looked at them, looking as happy as a fool.

Now that we've solved the tuition problem for next month, all that's left is to make sure we have enough to eat.

With the 100 coins he earned from copying books, he now has a huge sum of 300 coins in his hands.

He first bought a few meat buns, intending to take them back so everyone could have a good meal.

He ate steamed buns while strolling around the street.

As we strolled around, we came to Aunt Pang's stall. Aunt Pang had already packed up and was happily counting her money.

Chen Jinbang glanced at her sideways; seeing Aunt Pang reminded him of Li Ruru.

The reason he was humiliated by Chu Yu today is all Li Ruru's fault.

It's all Li Ruru's fault for not obediently sending him money every month like before. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have knelt down to pick up the money, losing his reputation as a scholar.

If Li Ruru were here, he would definitely take his anger out on her.

Unfortunately, Li Ruru wasn't there, so Chen Jinbang could only stare at Aunt Pang helplessly.

Aunt Pang was so engrossed in counting her money that she completely ignored him.

Having no other choice, Chen Jinbang could only snort and continue walking forward. When he arrived at the livestock stall, an idea suddenly popped into his head.

He should do something to double, or even ten or dozens of times, the money in his pocket.

Li Ruru, a peasant woman, was able to build a large house and afford an oxcart by selling konjac tofu.

Is he, a scholar, really inferior to a peasant woman?

How is it possible?

Chen Jinbang firmly believes that he doesn't lack the talent for business, but rather the time.

If he ever really starts a business, he will definitely become the richest man in Pingchuan County.

Even the wealthy man Bai had to be humble and respectful in front of him, addressing him as Boss Chen.

-

By evening, Li Ruru's konjac tofu was all ready.

Hai, along with her three daughters-in-law, made three round trips in an oxcart to deliver all the konjac tofu.

Li Ruru warmly invited them to sit down, and Chaochao brought over a large plate of jujube paste cake.

Pepe picked some grapes, as well as cucumbers and cherry tomatoes from the yard.

A plate of fruit, a plate of snacks.

This was a way of entertaining guests that no one else in Chenjia Village had ever seen before, and it was also the highest-level welcome ceremony.

Hai's three daughters-in-law stared wide-eyed, covering their mouths in astonishment.

"That's...that's jujube paste cake?"

“Yes, my mother bought it from the county town, especially to entertain distinguished guests,” Chaochao said.

Actually, she knew that her mother didn't like people visiting their home, because her mother was afraid that others would be envious of her family's good life.

But the people who came today were special. The Third Grandmother's family treated them very well, and they deserved to be treated to jujube paste cakes by our own family.

Jujube paste cake is very expensive, costing about 50 yuan per pound. It requires a lot of red dates, white sugar, and glutinous rice flour to make.

Upon hearing this, I realized it was indeed jujube paste cake, meant to be served to distinguished guests.

The three daughters-in-law were surprised and flattered, wondering what they did to deserve such a precious gift.

They were just doing their jobs for money, and all their busy work was for the 10% commission that Li Ruru offered.

Compared to them, they felt so insignificant.

They only thought about making money, but Li Ruru genuinely treated them like family.

Seeing that her three daughters-in-law were all stunned, Hai Shi picked up a jujube paste cake and gave each of them a piece.

"Eat quickly, don't let Aru's good intentions go to waste."

The three of them looked at the jujube paste cake in their hands, swallowed hard, and carefully took a bite.

A soft, sweet aroma instantly fills your mouth. The soft, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth rice noodles intertwine with the rich and mellow jujube paste, sweet but not cloying, exuding a rich jujube fragrance. It's so delicious you'll want to stomp your feet.

"Delicious, so delicious."

"We've finally been able to enjoy some good food thanks to our cousin."

Li Ruru smiled and said, "Eat more if you like it."

Hai was a worldly person; he only ate one piece of jujube paste cake and didn't eat any more.

She asked, "Aru, how are you going to deliver all this konjac tofu to the county town tomorrow?"

She knew that Li Ruru usually used an oxcart, but the oxcart could only carry about twenty buckets at most, and it couldn't hold any more than that.

There are currently 76 barrels of konjac tofu piled up in the yard.

(End of this chapter)