Mrs. Qian now has a little money in her hands, but she still spends a copper coin carefully. When she heard that a test basket cost hundreds of taels of silver, her voice became loud.

In her opinion, this wooden examination basket was just carved and engraved, it was flashy and not valuable at all.

The shopkeeper smiled and introduced: "Look at this examination basket. It is made of rosewood and carved by a master. It means winning the title of Toad Palace and being named on the gold list. The four corners are wrapped with gold edges, which is anti-collision and elegant."

Look at this examination basket again. It is made of red rosewood, and the carvings are also very exquisite and detailed. It means that you will be successful and win three yuan in a row. The corners are wrapped with silver.

Look at this again, it’s made of wenge wood, the carving, the engraving, this..."

"Okay!" Mrs. Qian interrupted his chatter, pointed to a relatively ordinary-looking test basket placed aside, and asked, "How much does this cost?"

The shopkeeper stroked his beard and said with a smile: "This is the most expensive, it costs one thousand taels of silver."

"What?!" Mrs. Qian almost stared out of her eyes, "It doesn't have many carvings, no words, and it's not inlaid with gold or jade. Why is it so expensive?"

The shopkeeper patiently said: "This is made from agarwood. It has a mild aroma and can soothe the mind, calm the mind and regulate the internal energy."

Mrs. Qian was speechless, "Tsk, I didn't expect that the test basket is so particular. There are a few who can afford it! Can you introduce me to someone who can afford it?"

"The test basket will be used several times and can be passed on to other students in the family. It is appropriate to buy it more expensively. After all, the conditions are getting better and better." The shopkeeper rambled and took her to a bookshelf where there was a row of ordinary products.

test basket.

The cheapest ones are made of bamboo strips, which cost one tael of silver, and there are also various kinds of ordinary wood ones, with different prices.

Mrs. Qian did not buy the cheapest one, but chose one made of camphor wood. There were exquisite carvings on it, which meant winning the title of Toad Palace and being named on the gold list. It was beautiful and generous.

Mrs. Qian bit her back molar and spent fifty taels of silver, which was a huge sum for her who had just been out of hunger for more than a year.

Shangguan Ruoli looked at it and was quite surprised, "Mom, you are really willing to give up."

Mrs. Qian endured the pain and repeated the shopkeeper's words, "It's not like I can use it once. If Si'er went all the way to high school, he would have used it many times. Besides, when Si'er doesn't need it anymore, it can be used by several people. There are so many

You brat, there must be someone who is good at studying. After calculation, fifty taels of silver is not expensive at all."

Shangguan Ruoli smiled and said: "That's true."

Dongming Ziyu was quite surprised to see the exam basket, "I didn't expect that one day I would have to carry the exam basket into the examination room. I feel that the burden on my shoulders is heavier. I have to read a book."

Shangguan Ruoli laughed and went to stew tonic for him.

The next day it was Sun and Zhao's turn to go to the shop to sell goods. When they came back, they looked a little excited.

Mrs. Sun pulled Shangguan Ruoli and said, "Fourth brother and sister, several people went to the shop today to buy the big round cake you made!"

Shangguan Ruoli frowned, "What did you say?"

Mrs. Zhao smiled and said: "I said, that cake is very troublesome to make, so let's eat it instead of making it."

Mrs. Sun felt a little unwilling that she couldn't earn any money, and said with bright eyes, "I've been told that you can set a high price, ten taels or twenty taels, it doesn't matter."

Zhao said: "We didn't agree. We said we would discuss it later."

If Daya and Erya learn to make such beautiful cakes and have this skill, they will be able to stand up straight in their husband's family in the future.

Now the eldest son of the eldest brother wants to marry a girl from an official family as his daughter-in-law. The second son and Rong Chuan are close friends. Sanya is studying medicine with his fourth younger brother and sister. There are several children who are indistinguishable. The fourth son of the third brother and sister is also studying medicine with her fourth younger brother and sister.

But Da Ya, Er Ya and Shi Lang all have no abilities.

Now, the second bedroom is the worst. Ms. Zhao is worried, but she knows that she can't make the decision in this family, so she can only endure it.

Shangguan Ruoli thought for a moment and said: "Go and tell mom about this profit and temptation. It's okay for me to teach you. You also know that whipping cream is tiring, and decorating flowers also requires talent and skills."

Anyway, she wouldn't tie herself up in the snack room.

Mrs. Qian did not expect that she would inadvertently attract a big deal. The profit from one cake almost caught up with the income from snacks in ten days.

She is very excited!

So he came to Shangguan Ruoli to discuss, "What you teach them will do, it all depends on their talent."

She knew that Shangguan Ruoli wouldn't hide anything, and she didn't avoid everyone when making cakes.

To Shangguan Ruoli's surprise, it was not difficult for them to perform labor-intensive tasks such as whipping cream. If they were strong enough, they would have to ask the men in the family to help.

Decorating flowers is difficult for them. Not only does it have to look good, but the color scheme needs to be reasonable. If the force is not controlled well, the flowers that come out will be ugly.

In the end, the person who was most qualified for decorating the flowers was Erya. Of course, Ling Yue also came as a guest to help. She has studied calligraphy and painting with everyone for several years.

Cream cakes are indeed profitable. Shangguan Ruoli is worried that they only focus on making cream cakes, so he proposes to limit the number of cakes and order only five per day.

Although she didn't know why, Mrs. Qian directly said to listen to Shangguan Ruoli, and everyone listened.

Being busy, time passes quickly.

In the spring of March, with hazy mist and rain, the beautiful scenery of the south of the Yangtze River is picturesque and intoxicating.

No one in the Dongzhou family was in the mood to enjoy the beautiful scenery because the day for the Tongsheng Examination had come and Dongming Ziyu was about to go to the examination room.

Everyone came out early and stood at the gate to see Dongming Ziyu off for his scientific examination. Everyone looked solemn and expectant.

Shangguan Ruoli didn't feel that there was anything wrong at first, but as soon as the solemn atmosphere became infected, he became a little nervous. He just checked the contents of the test basket several times.

Mrs. Qian even held Dongming Ziyu's hand and told him to take the exam well, but not to neglect his health, pay attention to rest, etc.

Ling Yue took out a small cake and handed it to Dongming Ziyu with both hands, "Dad, I made it myself. I wish you immediate success!"

A lifelike horse was painted on the cake, galloping on the white clouds, which was very appropriate for the occasion.

Dongming Ziyu took it and said with a smile, "Thank you, my dear!"

Wulang gave his favorite small stone to Dongming Ziyu, "Dad, this is Wulang's lucky stone, given to you!"

Dongming Ziyu took the stone, touched his hair, and said: "Thank you son, dad will be very lucky!"

Other children also gave gifts and said auspicious words.

Mrs. Qian said impatiently: "Okay! Let your fourth aunt keep these messy things first. They will be checked very strictly when entering the examination room. Don't let them be taken away, and it will affect your fourth uncle's exam!"

Dongming Ziyu expressed that he liked their gifts very much, and Shangguan Ruoli quickly accepted the children's wishes.

Old Man Dong urged: "Okay, let's go quickly, don't be late!"

Dong Youliang pulled a mule cart, and Dongming Ziyu got on the cart. Dalang followed and took him to the examination room.

Everyone saw them out of the village and watched with eager eyes as they disappeared into the hazy sea of ​​rapeseed flowers.
Chapter completed!