Chapter 172: A Solution

Chapter 172: Chapter 172: A Solution

The men helping the Zhang family build their house lined up for their meal. When they saw today’s dishes, they all swallowed hard. Over the past few days, the food from the Zhang family had never been a disappointment, neither in taste nor in quality. The wait in line was a bit boring, and as everyone had grown familiar with each other, some started joking with Zhang Wei Qiang, who was helping Lin Qin and Zhang Minzhen serve. Of course, with two women present, no one dared to make any off-color jokes.

"Brother Qiang, your wife and sister are one more capable than the next!" someone said with immense envy. "Putting everything else aside, just based on their cooking skills, I dare say there are few in the surrounding villages who can compare. Every time, the food is so good I want to swallow my own tongue."

Someone else immediately chimed in with a grin, "Exactly! It’s not just your meat buns that are delicious; even your regular meals are tastier than anyone else’s. Just for this daily meal and snack, I wish this house would take a few more days to build..."

PFFT. Before he could finish, a man who was already eating nearby spat out a mouthful of soup. The man across from him was quick enough to shield his rice bowl, but his clothes still got a little wet. He immediately snapped in frustration, "What’s your problem?"

"It’s Er Hou’s fault! We all know they’re in a hurry to get the house built, but he just had to wish for it to take a few more days for the sake of a good meal. See? The soup immediately got salty, didn’t it?" the man who had spat the soup complained with a laugh after putting down his soup bowl and taking a big bite of rice. This made everyone burst into laughter. Then, someone deliberately took a sip of the soup and called out in relief, "It’s fine, it’s fine! Er Hou only said it once, so the soup is just a tiny bit salty. It’s perfect with rice."

’The soup is salty?’ Zhang Wei Qiang picked up a bowl of soup and took a small sip. "It really is a bit salty."

Lin Qin looked a little embarrassed. "I was the one who added the salt to the soup. I might have put in too much."

"You already added it? But I added some too." Zhang Minzhen was dumbfounded. The two of them looked at each other, both feeling ashamed.

"It’s fine. This is an easy fix, but you two need to be more careful next time and not be so careless." Zhang Wei Qiang couldn’t help but laugh. He reached out, poured the soup from the bowls that hadn’t been taken yet back into the large soup pot, then ladled in a few scoops of plain boiled water. After stirring it with a ladle and trying it again, he said, "It’s fine now. Everyone, just make do with it."

"It’s no big deal! It’s just a moment of carelessness, adding salt twice. My old lady once used sugar instead of salt, and our family still ate it just fine," someone shouted nonchalantly. The others all agreed, and it was as if a floodgate had opened. The married men, in particular, all started sharing funny stories about their own wives’ cooking mishaps, and the area was instantly filled with laughter.

「...」

"What are you two worried about?" Once everyone had gotten their food, Zhang Wei Qiang took his bowl and sat down alone with Lin Qin and Zhang Minzhen, asking them directly.

"I knew we couldn’t hide it from you." Lin Qin sighed and explained Gu Nuan Nuan’s concerns. "The four of us thought about it for a long time but couldn’t come up with a good solution. What do you think we should do?"

"...This really is a tough one." Zhang Wei Qiang frowned and thought for a long while, feeling it was a thorny issue. He ate his meal in silence, continuing to think. Finally, he said suddenly, "What if we dig our own fish pond?"

"Dig a fish pond?"

"That’s right. Nobody wants the land around this house anyway. What if we talk to the village about leasing a few acres to dig our own pond for raising fish? Then, we can figure out a way to get some of the fish from the Fish Spring and raise them there. Wouldn’t that solve everything? That way, we won’t have to rush over there so early every day." The more Zhang Wei Qiang thought about it, the better his idea seemed. But then he frowned again. "It’s just that the money to lease the land and dig the pond might be... well, it’s fine. I’ll go ask the village first and see how much leasing the land will cost." He looked at Zhang Minzhen. "If what you manage to scrape together still isn’t enough, I’ll borrow some more from my army buddies."

"Okay." Seeing that there was now a solution, Zhang Minzhen was instantly happy. Lin Qin was also overjoyed. "You’re the one with the ideas."

When the two returned home and told Wen Xiu and Gu Nuan Nuan about Zhang Wei Qiang’s plan, they also breathed a sigh of relief. Gu Nuan Nuan was laughing internally. ’It’s true that many heads are better than one when it comes to solving problems.’ But money was still an issue. ’Even a hero can be stumped by a lack of cash,’ she thought, feeling a bit resistant to the idea of borrowing.

’Usually, it’s hard to borrow money when you really need it; you could beg and plead with everyone you know and still come up empty-handed. But when you don’t lack money, it’s like everyone is suddenly eager to lend you some.’

She shook her head. ’It would be so great to have enough capital. We could lease a few more acres. Besides the fish pond, we could raise some pigs, chickens, and ducks. We could even create an ecological cycle, recycling waste to reduce feed costs. The efficiency would be so much higher than single-species farming...’

As Gu Nuan Nuan’s imagination ran wild, she felt quite powerless. She could only sink her consciousness into her space and sigh to Cao Cao, "The main problem is still not having enough money. It’s such a headache. They say the first pot of gold is the most important for starting a business, but is there any way to make money quickly without arousing their suspicion?"

Cao Cao was confused. "..." ’What is money? Is it some kind of energy, like the Spirit Stones in the Cultivation World? In that case, I’m short on money too. I’d also like to know.’

"Sigh, forget it. I knew it was useless to ask you." Seeing that Cao Cao remained silent, Gu Nuan Nuan sighed in defeat. ’I’m still too young. If I were a bit older, I could even go stone-gambling and get rich overnight, securing a large amount of capital. But right now, there probably isn’t even a place to do stone-gambling in the Alliance. As for gold and silver... right, how could I have forgotten about Cao Cao’s ability?’

"Cao Cao, quick, check if there’s any ownerless gold, silver, or treasure buried anywhere in this village!"

"No." Cao Cao’s spirit first perked up, but after a quick scan, it shook its main stalk in dejection and gave a gloomy answer. "There’s none. Not with owners, and not without."

"If there’s none, there’s none. Why are you so upset about it?" Gu Nuan Nuan wanted to laugh when she saw Cao Cao looking even more disappointed than she was.

"If Master is sad, Cao Cao is sad. If Master is happy, Cao Cao is happy too," Cao Cao said as a matter of fact, rustling its leaves to curry favor.

"You’re so good." Gu Nuan Nuan felt a little touched and patted Cao Cao’s main stalk.

"Master, why don’t we go into the mountains to hunt? There must be plenty more wild boars, wild rabbits, and wild pheasants like last time. I can find them all. And if there are any precious plants in the mountains, they can’t hide from me either," Cao Cao suggested enthusiastically.

"That’s a pretty reliable suggestion." Gu Nuan Nuan propped her chin on her hand, considering it. With her uncle there, plus her own extraordinary strength, the idea of catching a few wild boars in the mountains to supplement their income seemed quite feasible. "Yes, when we go into the mountains to scout the path, it’ll be your time to shine."

"Mhm, mhm!" Cao Cao’s voice was high-pitched, brimming with eager excitement.