He Zhiran quickly returned the courtesy.
"Uncle Xie, don't be so polite. We will be living together for a long time to come and should help each other out."
After speaking, He Zhiran turned to look at the Fang family members who had envious looks on their faces. She also took out twenty taels of silver and handed it to Fang Chuanzhou.
"Uncle Fang, this is for you. Take it."
Fang Chuanzhou already understood the general situation and did not say too much like Xie Tianhai. After giving his thanks, the Fang family members all had satisfied smiles on their faces.
There were 75 taels left. He Zhiran was not lacking silver in the first place. She only symbolically kept 25 taels and gave the remaining fifty taels all to Peng Wang.
Peng Wang had originally thought that getting thirty or forty taels would be good enough. He absolutely did not expect that He Zhiran would be so generous as to give him fifty taels.
This was equivalent to all the money that could be earned by selling those wolves to the fur shops by himself and the other officers.
"Sister, isn't this a bit too much?" Peng Wang did not even know when he had started to view money as dirt, to the point that he felt there was too much silver that had come to his hands.
He Zhiran laughed and said, "Brother Peng is a good person who does not see us as criminals. We are all clear in our hearts that without your agreement, we would not have gotten a penny from those wolves. It is precisely because I know you are a good person that I tried to figure out a way to maximize the profits made from those fifty wolves. This way, it not only does not hinder your ability to earn extra income, but we prisoners also get a share. It's a win-win."
There was no denying that He Zhiran's words completely delighted Peng Wang.
Peng Wang laughed while holding the silver: "Hahaha... Little sister is so sensible. Rest assured that as long as I am around, I guarantee that you all will not suffer hardships on the road to exile."
With Peng Wang's public promise, He Zhiran's efforts were not in vain. What could be more important than traveling comfortably on the road to exile?
Just as old Lady Mo felt gratified to have such a sensible daughter-in-law, He Zhiran had already come before her.
"Mother, this is the first sum of money our Mo family has earned. Please keep it safe."
Seeing the silver that He Zhiran handed over, old Lady Mo felt warmth in her heart, but still refused it,
"You should keep the silver. Today mother will act as the head of the household and from now on, the Mo family will be headed by the Hes."
Old Lady Mo was worried the other daughters-in-law would be unhappy, so she looked them over as she spoke.
The sisters-in-law were already convinced by He Zhiran's wisdom and integrity, so how could they be unhappy?
The Eldest Sister-in-law quickly represented the other sisters-in-law,
"Mother is right. Little Sister-in-law is capable and wise. Although our Mo family has fallen, we still need someone sensible to be the head of household."
Then she looked at He Zhiran and sincerely said, "Eldest Sister-in-law will listen to all your arrangements from now on, Little Sister-in-law."
"I also agree for Little Sister-in-law to be the head of household."
"Little Sister-in-law, Third Sister-in-law also agrees."
"Little Sister-in-law, from now on Fifth Sister-in-law will listen to everything you say."
The Mo women, who had not held out much hope for the future earlier, were now reignited with fighting spirit and expressed their attitudes one after another.
Even the tough guy Mo Jiuye was moved by He Zhiran's wisdom and integrity at this moment. He was even feeling grateful that he did not know what virtues and abilities he possessed that allowed him to marry such a virtuous wife.
Seeing that everyone unanimously agreed with mother-in-law's words, He Zhiran did not pretend to decline and slipped that twenty-five taels of silver into her space.
"Alright, since everyone trusts me, I'll temporarily be the head of this household."
Peng Wang's fifty taels of silver could not be enjoyed by him alone. He still had to distribute some to his subordinates so they could also live it up.
Peng Wang first called away the officers.
With the officers leaving, the space they previously occupied could directly see in the direction of the He family.
The He family members were furious as they glared at He Zhiran.
They had also heard parts of the earlier conversation about dividing up the silver, but there was no share for the He family. If they did not fear those officers, they would have gone over long ago to reason things out with He Zhiran.
How could the Fang and Xie families get to divide up silver while he had also used rocks to defend against the wolf pack. It was just that he had been at the very back and did not dare charge to the front...
He Zhiran glanced at the He family members. She had long been immune to their unkind looks.
She beckoned her mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunt, as well as the women from the Xie and Fang families to come over to the cart.
When He Zhiran had returned, the women had seen the coarse cloth on the cart and had looked upon them enviously.
Although these fabrics were inferior to what even the servants of their former households had worn, they were still better than nothing in such special times.
Moreover, although the coarse cloth did not look good, making them into clothes would still be much better than their current patched outfits.
When Mo Hanyue saw that Ninth Sister-in-law had brought back so many things from her trip into the city, she immediately smiled happily.
"Ninth Sister-in-law, you're so nice to have purchased so many good things back."
He Zhiran lovingly stroked Mo Hanyue's head.
"The weather is hot. We haven't had a change of clothes since leaving the Capital city. I just randomly bought some cloth to make a new set of clothing for each of us over the next few days while we don't need to travel."
Hearing they could make new clothes, which woman would not be delighted?
Moreover, their current outfits with patches were already extremely dirty. With the hot weather, the smell of sweat mixed with mud was revolting even to themselves.
Although the Fang and Xie families knew He Zhiran was kind, they did not think her purchase of cloth would include portions for them.
Zhao Shi thought for a bit before stepping forward to say, "Sister He, Auntie sees you've bought quite a lot of cloth. Could you sell some to our Fang family? Don't worry, Auntie has silver now. We will buy them from you. We can even help make clothes for your family members."
Seeing Mrs. Zhao bring it up, the Xie family members also nodded in agreement.
He Zhiran could see that the two families had misunderstood her intentions.
The reason she had bought so much cloth was precisely so that everyone could have a share.
It was just that she did not take the initiative to give some to the Fangs and Xies because she could not endlessly provide for them unconditionally.
She wanted the two families to clearly recognize that there were no such things as unlimited free lunches in this world, much less the Mo family being able to support them for their entire lives.
She did intend to ask them for help making the clothes and planned to use the cloth as payment for their labor. This would be a mutually beneficial transaction.
"Auntie, I did buy back a lot of cloth. You can help make the clothes. I won't pay you anything else and the cloth will serve to offset the costs. How about that?"
Zhao Shi knew that although He Zhiran had phrased it this way, she was still helping them in a roundabout fashion.
The Fang family accepted this sentiment.
"Alright, mine and my daughters-in-law's sewing skills are decent enough. We'll take on this job."
The Xie family members also expressed that they could help. And they sincerely thanked He Zhiran.
Seeing that Ninth Sister-in-law had already assigned out the clothing making tasks, the sisters-in-law became somewhat anxious.
The impatient Second Sister-in-law was just about to say that they could also make clothes when she was stopped by old Lady Mo, who had been observing things.
Old Lady Mo had long seen He Zhiran's intentions and fully approved of her approach. Naturally, she could not let her own family members mess things up.
Although confused after being stopped by mother-in-law, Second Sister-in-law still obediently shut her mouth.
He Zhiran publicly handed out all of the cloth. Zhao Shi patted her chest and guaranteed that they would start helping measure and tailor clothing for everyone after dinner. They would even work through the night these few days when they did not need to travel to quickly make all the clothes.
After all of the cloth for clothes had been allocated, He Zhiran left the twelve straw hats for her own family's use and gave the rest to the Fang and Xie family members. There was a limited quantity so they could only take turns using them.
The Fang and Xie families happily took their things and left. He Zhiran then took out the bag of fabric scraps the cloth shop owner had gifted her.
Seeing those fabric scraps, the sisters-in-law subconsciously looked at their own embroidered shoes, which already revealed their toes.
Not only were the toes revealed, but the soles would probably be worn through after another two days of traveling.
Ninth Sister-in-law really was thoughtful to have bought so many fabric scraps back for them to make shoes.
