Chapter 10: The Storm Reappears – Worry-Free Grass

Li Youyin thought that his family had gotten into some trouble when he saw the panic in Shen’s eyes. He quickly went over and comforted her, saying, “It’s fine, don’t be scared, everything will be alright. I’m here.”

The middle-aged man, realizing that his earlier actions were misunderstood by the woman in front of him, quickly stepped forward, cupping his hands in a gesture of apology, and said, “Sister-in-law, my apologies. I didn’t mean to offend you just now.”

Once the middle-aged man explained his intentions, everyone understood why he had acted so abruptly earlier.

The man, whose surname was Qin, worked as a steward for a wealthy family in the town. Last time, when passing through the market, he had bought two baskets from Li’s stall. After the servants used them, they found them to be particularly durable.

When Steward Qin learned of this, he decided to buy more baskets for use at the manor.

He sent a servant to buy more, but they didn’t know that the Li family only went to the town during the large market days. The servant waited for several days but couldn’t spot anyone from the Li family.

Today, Steward Qin decided to take a chance and come himself. However, due to a small accident on the road, he arrived later than usual, which led to the previous misunderstanding.

Steward Qin ordered thirty baskets and twenty carrying baskets, agreeing to pick them up at the next large market. He paid half of the deposit, 130 wen, and left.

The family of three looked at the deposit and were very happy. Li Youyin sighed, saying, “I never expected that one day, the baskets I made would catch the attention of a steward.”

Afterwards, they bought a pound of meat from the butcher, two bolts of cloth from the fabric shop, and half a pound of pastries from the pastry shop before heading home.

When they got home, Li Xing had already prepared dinner: a plate of mixed grain cakes, a plate of cold shepherd’s purse, and a pot of radish soup.

Li Wen was especially happy when he ate the pastries. As soon as he finished his meal, he eagerly went to brag to his little friend, Xiao Pang, the grandson of Granny He next door.

The family closed the yard gate and sat down to count today’s earnings. The two sisters were responsible for counting the copper coins, placing every 100 wen into a pile. Li Youyin and Shen would then string each pile of coins together with a string.

To their astonishment, there were more than a thousand and thirty copper coins. No one could believe their eyes.

Shen was so excited that she pinched her arm, confirming that she wasn’t dreaming. Li Youyin, seeing his wife’s action, couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.

“Xiulan, don’t pinch me, pinch yourself. I’m tough, and it doesn’t hurt,” he said with a loving smile on his face.

The children, who were used to their father’s affection for their mother, simply smiled.

Shen, feeling embarrassed, shot Li Youyin a sharp look and then ignored him.

Excitedly, Shen said to Li Youyin, “I never expected that we would make so much money in just one day. We earned more than a tael!”

“Mother,” Li Guo’er said, “Right now is the best time for shepherd’s purse and water chestnuts. We should dig up more and sell them, or else when they are out of season, no one will want to buy them.”

“Guo’er and Xing’er are right,” Li Youyin said. “We’ll listen to you.”

“This is better than farming. A whole year of hard work on the land only yields three or four taels of silver, but selling wild vegetables brings in more than a tael in just one day. From now on, your father can go with you to fish and dig for wild vegetables, so you siblings will have an easier time.”

For the next period of time, they went to the town several more times, and their savings increased rapidly. They had already saved up fifteen taels of silver.

Shen counted the copper coins over and over again, tears of joy falling from her eyes. Li Youyin said, “In the future, our family will have even more money.” He wiped away the tears from her eyes as he spoke.

The days quietly passed by, filled with busy but fruitful work.

That day, after Li Guo’er and her father sent the servant who was sent by the steward to pick up the baskets away, Li Guo’er turned around and saw her aunt-in-law, Zhao, standing right behind her.

Zhao was glaring at her with a sharp, piercing look from her slanted eyes, and then spoke with a harsh, mocking voice: “Second brother, have you really fallen so low that you’re selling these wild vegetables that are fit for feeding pigs?”

Some of the people who were about to buy vegetables overheard Zhao’s words.

A woman nearby, rolling up her sleeves, immediately pulled Zhao aside and angrily said, “Where did this stray dog come from, barking here? See if I don’t tear your mouth apart.”

When Zhao realized that the woman dared to curse at her, she immediately started to fight back, and the two got into a scuffle. Li Guo’er and her father acted as though they didn’t see it.

They even moved their stall back a bit, afraid that Zhao’s large body would knock over the goods.

Looking closely, Li Youyin’s eyes showed a hint of disgust, and Li Guo’er had a look of schadenfreude, standing aside to watch the commotion.

In the end, Zhao was the one to lose the fight. She was covered in dust, her hair in disarray, and there seemed to be a bruise on her face.

As she looked at the father and daughter in front of the stall, selling shepherd’s purse to the woman who had just fought with her, Zhao gritted her teeth in anger.

A malicious gleam flashed in her eyes before she straightened her clothes and hair and turned to leave.

Once Zhao had left, Li Guo’er said, “Dad, it seems we won’t be able to keep the secret about wild vegetables making money. We’ll have to think of another way to make money.”

She also brought up how Zhao had previously stolen wild chickens and rabbits from them. Hearing his daughter’s words, Li Youyin was furious.

“That sister-in-law of mine, before the family separated, used to boss me and your mother around, just because she had two sons. Now she’s bullying my daughter again,” he said, his face turning pale with anger, his body trembling.

Seeing his father so upset, Li Guo’er quickly went over to comfort him.

“Father, don’t be angry. We’re fine, right?”

Zhao had suffered a humiliating defeat last time at Li Guo’er’s hands, and now after getting beaten again, she had thoroughly developed a deep hatred for the second branch of the family. Once she returned to the village, she eagerly spread the news that wild vegetables could be sold for money.

Once all the goods were sold, the father and daughter pushed the cart back home.

A gentle fragrance of peach blossoms greeted them, and a soft breeze blew through, causing petals to fall to the ground, creating a picturesque scene! Taohua Village really was beautiful.

Unfortunately, for some reason, the peaches on the village’s peach trees were sour and astringent. In the end, no one picked them, and they all rotted on the ground.

When the father and daughter got home, they told Shen about what had happened in town. Shen replied, “I see now!”

The father and daughter asked, puzzled, “What happened?”

Shen said, “Just now, I met your aunt-in-law at the door. Before I even had a chance to speak, she angrily said, ‘You really married a good husband and gave birth to a good daughter,’ then turned around and walked away.”

“She must have been defeated in the town! Haha! Just thinking about her expression, I can’t help but laugh.”

The next time they went to town, they encountered a few women carrying baskets. If one looked closely, one would notice that there seemed to be a hint of panic in the way they looked at the father and daughter.

Usually, the villagers would gather some eggs and take them to the market to exchange for money. The eggs were usually covered with something, so the father and daughter didn’t think much of it, assuming the baskets were full of eggs.

However, for some reason that day, it was nearly noon, and all the fish had been sold, but there was still a lot of shepherd’s purse left.

At this moment, a woman in her thirties pointed to the shepherd’s purse on their stall and asked, “How much is this shepherd’s purse per jin?”

“Three wen per jin.”

“Why is your shepherd’s purse more expensive than others by one wen?”

“Auntie, do you see how clean and fresh my shepherd’s purse is?”

The woman looked closely at the wild vegetables and realized that they were indeed cleaner than the ones from other stalls, without a single weed in sight.