The Blessed Farm Girl Has a Spatial Storage

At this time, Mrs. Wang's cursing voice could still be heard from the courtyard, going on about how the family's money couldn't be used to support Zhao Dong's poor household.

Zhao Dong shook his head, ignoring them. He turned to the two daydreaming children and said, "Let's go, let's go. We need to hurry back; your mother is stewing meat porridge at home."

Upon hearing "meat porridge," Zhao Zhitong immediately scampered off towards home. Zhao Yu, afraid she might fall, shouted and chased after her.

In the courtyard, when Mrs. Wang heard Zhao Dong mention meat porridge, she sneered, "Look at you, poor as church mice, and you still dare talk about drinking meat porridge? The nerve!"

Then, she turned to Mr. Zhao and said, "Let me tell you, that destitute family is so poor now they can barely keep the pot boiling. They're eating those filthy river snails! This is retribution for him not giving the prescription to my son back then!"

Listening to Mrs. Wang's curses and complaints, Mr. Zhao was thoroughly fed up. "Enough! That prescription was something Zhao Dong's wife came up with to survive. There was nothing wrong with them selling it to the highest bidder. Stop your nagging! Haven't we lost enough face already?"

Hearing this, Wang Pozi flew into a rage and began to throw a tantrum. "Oh, you old coot! How dare you speak to me like that? How did I lose face? After marrying into your family, I bore you descendants, gave you such an outstanding son as Zhao Chun, and a grandson who's a top scholar! And this is how you talk about me? WAHHH, I don't want to live anymore..."

Seeing Mrs. Wang throwing another tantrum, Mr. Zhao's headache intensified. He simply flicked his sleeves, turned, and walked out the door.

***

By this time, Zhao Dong and the two children had returned home.

As soon as they entered, Zhao Zhitong shouted, "Mother, look! Mr. Meng helped us catch two big fish! Father couldn't even catch them."

Saying this, she held up the fish for Sun Mei to see.

Sun Mei glanced at them and smiled. "Not bad. Tomorrow, we can make roasted pot fish."

While they were talking, someone suddenly knocked on their door.

Zhao Dong put down the river snails, then turned to open the door. He was surprised to see Mr. Zhao standing outside.

Zhao Dong was astonished. "Father?"

It was no wonder he was so surprised; Mr. Zhao was usually so thoroughly under Mrs. Wang's thumb that he rarely visited their home.

"Ah," Mr. Zhao acknowledged with a sound, his gaze sweeping into the courtyard. Sure enough, he saw a basin of fried snails.

Averting his eyes, he thrust a money pouch into Zhao Dong's hand without a word. After handing it over, he turned and left.

Zhao Dong was stunned and quickly hurried after him. "Father, this is..."

Mr. Zhao waved his hand. "Take it. And don't say I gave it to you."

With that, he quickly walked away.

Zhao Dong looked at the money pouch in his hand; it contained a full five taels of silver. He then looked at the retreating figure, already distant, a bewildered expression on his face. He couldn't understand why this father of his had suddenly sent them money.

Had the sun risen in the west today?

Sun Mei, seeing Zhao Dong return, asked, "Oh, who knocked on the door?"

Zhao Dong replied, "That father of mine. For some reason, he suddenly gave me a few taels of silver."

As he spoke, he showed the silver to Sun Mei.

Hearing this, Sun Mei was also puzzled. "Why would he suddenly give us money?"

Zhao Dong shrugged. "Who knows?"

Since they couldn't figure it out, they stopped thinking about it.

However, the subsequent arrival of Tian Cuihua, the Village Chief's eldest daughter-in-law, and Sun Liuniang, Shi Tou's wife, finally revealed the reason.

It turned out that news of Zhao Dong gathering river snails in the river had spread through the village. Everyone was saying that he had spent all the family's money to redeem Zhao Ya and that they wouldn't survive the winter.

Perhaps it was after hearing about this that Mr. Zhao had secretly given him some money.

What was he to think of this father of his?

After all, Zhao Dong was his own son; he probably couldn't bear to see him actually starve to death.

At this moment, Tian Cuihua and Sun Liuniang were still skeptical and sought confirmation from Sun Mei, "Are you really just researching how to eat these river snails, and not so poor that you can only gather river snails to eat?"

Sun Mei chuckled. "Yes, really. So, please, take your grain back."

After Sun Mei's repeated assurances, Tian Cuihua and Sun Liuniang finally believed her. They said goodbye to Sun Mei and left.

Later, after they had finished their meal, Zhang Qiang and his wife also came by, carrying a small bag of wheat. Soon after, Butcher Zhao, Zhao Huzi, and several villagers with whom they had partnered in the tofu business also arrived, each bearing grain.

Similarly, they had all come because of the rumors circulating in the village.

The amount of grain they brought wasn't much, just a small bag each, but it was a genuine expression of their goodwill.

After seeing these people off, Zhao Dong was still remarking with emotion how most of the villagers were very simple and kind-hearted.

Sun Mei nodded repeatedly and also grew emotional, saying that in her previous life, when she was young, the villagers in her village were also very warm and simple. Whenever a neighbor faced hardship, many people would readily offer help.

For instance, if someone in a family passed away, because they practiced burial and needed pallbearers, a single call for help would bring several strong men from the village without a second thought.

But, gradually, things had changed.

Zhao Dong nodded, but then a different thought occurred to him. "We need to remember all the families that came today."

Sun Mei said, "Mm-hm. Are you saying they're worth building strong relationships with in the future?"

Zhao Dong nodded. "That's part of it. I'm also planning to invite them to join us; we can raise pigs together."

Sun Mei was taken aback. Not fully understanding Zhao Dong's meaning, she asked hesitantly, "But if our pig-raising method gets out, won't we lose our profits?"

Zhao Dong knew his wife hadn't thought things through fully, so he patiently explained, "Dear, you're oversimplifying things. The pork business isn't like the tofu business. This is a huge piece of fat meat.

Our family has no influential background or powerful connections. Once word about our pork gets out, we'll inevitably be targeted. If they try to force us to hand over our pig-breeding prescription then, we'll have no choice but to swallow our pride and comply.

Besides, even if we don't run into malicious people, the noise from castrating pigs is considerable. We wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for long. Sooner or later, people would find out. Then, this kind of pork would be everywhere, and we wouldn't make much money from it."

Sun Mei instantly understood. "So, you want to raise pigs with the village, to unite everyone's strength?"

Then, still a little confused, she added, "But if everyone in the village raises pigs, and so many people are selling pork, we still won't make much money, will we?"

Zhao Dong laughed. "If the whole village raises pigs, of course we can't just sell individual cuts of pork. My idea is that we sell whole pigs directly to large restaurants. That's how we can make big money."

Sun Mei immediately thought of Guang Ju Restaurant. That's practically a 'national chain store'! If we cooperate with them, with our family acting as the intermediary for the villagers, there'll be no problem selling the village's pigs!

After Sun Mei excitedly shared her idea, Zhao Dong laughed, "Exactly, that's what I was thinking. We'll lead most of the village to get rich together. Then, even if someone targets our prescription, the villagers will stand with us to protect their earnings.

Besides, even if the pig-raising method does get leaked eventually, it won't be a disaster. At most, others will only be able to sell retail cuts. By then, our village will already have a strong reputation for pig farming, and the big restaurants will still come to us to buy pigs."