Transmigrated as A Farm Girl Making Her Family Rich

Chapter 49: Chapter 49 The Prodigal

“Father, look at what Big Brother said, you must speak to him.” Ye Shuzhi stomped her foot in the room, even angrier after hearing her elder brother’s words.

“Big Brother is always so biased.” Ye Shuzhen added fuel to the fire as she fanned herself. @@novelbin@@

“Hongji, work on the furniture first, and you can make toys for the children when you have time.” After hearing his daughters’ complaints, Hongji’s father glared at his son, feeling that he did not prioritize properly.

“Father, look at this drawing. If I were to make a toy out of it, do you think people would buy it?” Hongji showed his father the drawing on the wood.

“This… who painted this? It’s really good, Heavenly Gods and fairies…” Hongji’s father exclaimed in admiration.

“Father, just now when I went back to my room, I saw Wuwa with this piece of wood. As soon as I saw it, I couldn’t resist the urge to carve it out. Even if we don’t sell it, it can still be a toy for Wuwa to play with.”

...

Hongji began to carve the wood with his hands.

Hongji’s father, being a carpenter, had decent carving skills, but he had not studied the art of carving drawings, and his craft was not as good as his son’s.

Carving large pieces of furniture was not as difficult as these small drawings. The smaller the item, the harder it was to carve.

He no longer scolded his son and let him continue carving.

Ye Shuzhi, listening from the side with her ear turned, glared angrily at her elder brother for making toys for his child instead of making her bridal dowry first.

Ever since Big Brother got married, she, as the younger unmarried sister-in-law, had been competing for favor with her sister-in-law. This sibling rivalry was the reason for their disharmony.

Now she had to compete for attention with the children too. It was only natural that she had to vent some of her frustration on them.

Ye Shiqi, having just finished painting two portraits, was too tired to continue. She lay there thinking.

She speculated about the world in the book. Which immortal was the one they worshiped? Was it Huang Daxian, or The Bodhisattva Guanyin, or maybe The Buddha, possibly the Jade Emperor, the Imperial Mother, or it could be the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, or even the Land God and the God of Wealth?

She decided next time she would try to paint the Goddess of Mercy, an immortal from the mythical stories.

When Mrs. Lai returned home, Daya had already brought her two younger sisters back and had gone into the kitchen to cook.

Ye Shuzhi told her mother about her grievances, asking her to persuade Big Brother.

After hearing her daughter’s words, Mrs. Lai naturally took her side and hurriedly went to Hongji, starting to scold him:

“Hongji, what are you doing? Don’t you know what’s important? Your sister is getting married in a month. How can you not think about making her dowry?”

“Mother, look at what I’m carving. This thing is also quite important. Maybe if I carve a few more, I can even give them as gifts to Shuzhi.”

“What’s that? Aren’t those just children’s playthings? Those worthless things, they can play without needing to carve them.”

“How can you say that, Mother? Have you seen what I’m carving in my hands? They are Heavenly Gods and fairies.”

Mrs. Lai did not quite believe her son could possess such artistic skill.

Still, she looked carefully at what her son was carving. It wasn’t yet fully formed but it showed promise. She then said:

“Son, if you can carve immortals, then carve a portrait of a worshiped immortal for me!”

“This… I’ll see if I have the time. Didn’t you say we should quickly work on Second Sister’s dowry? Everything else can be carved slowly.”

“Child, we mustn’t delay, you need to carve a Fertility Guanyin, and for your sister’s dowry you also need to carve a Fertility Guanyin for her,” Mrs. Lai felt that not having a child to continue the family line was always a thorn in her heart.

“A Fertility Guanyin? All right!” Hongji also hoped that the immortals could bless him with a son soon.

Hongji hadn’t considered that his baby was only a few months old, and his daughter-in-law, who had recently given birth, hadn’t had much time to recuperate.

Hongji carved for an entire afternoon, shaping the two pieces of wood. He still needed to sand them down and apply varnish, all tasks that required meticulous care.

As night fell and the family had eaten their dinner, they saw the wooden figures in Hongji’s hands, already sanded smooth.

And he began to varnish them. After he finished applying the varnish and while waiting for it to dry, the family saw the small pieces of wood on the table transformed into exquisite figures.

Hongji felt a great sense of achievement as he admired his work, smiling happily.

Ye Shuzhi’s previous complaints dissipated upon seeing the figures take shape, and she, already an adult, really wanted one of the figurines as an ornament.

Ye Shuzhen spoke her mind before her sister, saying to her brother,

“Big brother, give me these two toys! They would look great on the shelf in my room.”

“Big brother, make it a gift for me, carve a few more, maybe I could turn this into a business in the future,” Ye Shuzhi shared her thoughts, her mind on the grocery store of her future husband.

Daya held Wuwa in her arms, and her three other sisters stood by, admiring the work. They thought these were toys made for their sister, and they didn’t dare to speak in front of their aunts, who wanted to take the toys, yet their eyes pleaded with Hongji.

As a father, Hongji’s heart swayed towards his own daughters under the gaze of his five girls; furthermore, he had promised to carve the items for his daughter, who had drawn them herself.

“Second sister, third sister, to be honest, I also want to sell these toys, but I carved these for Wuwa to play with, so she gets these two first, I’ll carve for you both later!”

“What? You’ve worked so hard carving these, they are so beautiful, and you’re giving them to Wuwa to play with? Such a waste.”

Mrs. Lai usually would never stop scolding Mrs. Li, or Hongji’s daughters, but she had never cursed her son like this before.

Upon hearing her daughter’s words, she realized that these could be sold for money, that they were valuable things, how could they be used as toys for those who cause losses? Wasn’t this wasteful?

Hongji, chastised by his mother and seen by his daughter’s eyes, became stubborn.

“Mother, stop it. Our family has plenty of discarded wood; I’ll just work harder and carve more. I said these two were for Wuwa to play with, and that can’t change.”

“Hmph, play, play, play, that’s all you know. Liangkou told you to carve more divine figures, you remember what I just said to you, don’t you?”

Mrs. Lai shot a glance at Ye Shiqi, who was held by Daya, feeling that her son had changed since this girl was born.

He became less filial toward her and even talked back at times.

Sometimes Mrs. Lai even maliciously thought about drowning the girl secretly; after all, raising so many daughters felt like a waste of food.

With the incident over grabbing the figures, when they were almost dry at night, Hongji took a bath and was about to go to bed, he moved the figures back into his room.

The lights in the courtyard went out. Mrs. Lai, who had already gone to bed, quietly came to the thatched cottage in the dark, searching for the two figures.

Footsteps were heard again in the courtyard, and when they arrived at the thatched cottage, they encountered Mrs. Lai.

“Mother, didn’t you go to sleep? What are you doing here?” Ye Shuzhi was quite nervous, thinking her mother had already found the two carved pieces of wood.