Font Size:
“Oh, Sister Caiping, you bought so much meat…”
Ye Bajin stopped abruptly, giving a self-deprecating chuckle.
He had originally wanted to say that wasn’t Ye Caiping’s family dirt poor? Where did she get the money to buy rice and meat?
But on second thought, regardless of where she got the money, whether it was much or little, it was none of his business. Asking her about her private affairs was really too abrupt.
Ye Caiping felt a little embarrassed and handed him a bag of buns:
“This morning, I went up the mountain and found a few medicinal herbs, which I exchanged for a few taels of silver. Thinking that everyone in my family was so hungry and gaunt, I bought some meat to nourish them. It’s not that I deliberately didn’t repay your family’s money.”
Ye Bajin then remembered that Ye Caiping’s family still owed his family five taels, and his face turned red with embarrassment: “No, no… that’s not what I meant…”
It seemed like he was acting like a debt collector.
Ye Caiping smiled faintly.
Was Bajin too honest? Because she owed money, he was acting like a lord.
She said, “In a few days, I plan to set up a stall in town. I’ll need you to help me haul things then. Once I make some money, I’ll pay you back immediately.”
Ye Bajin finally smiled and took the bag: “Alright, just let me know, I’ll haul anything you need.”
He opened the bag and saw that it contained small steamed buns, ten in total.
“Ah, why did you buy so many?”
“I bought a whole basket, it’s not much.”
Ye Bajin had four older sisters, all of whom were married.
He and his wife only had one child, Fubao, and together with the village head and his wife, there were five people in total. Two buns each was enough.
Ye Bajin imagined his son’s happy face when he ate the steamed buns, and he was overjoyed.
Soon, three women from Wang family Village came over.
Ye Bajin lightly flicked his bullwhip, and the cart slowly left the town.
…
By the time they reached the village, the sun had already set.
Ye Caiping had already put the spices into her spatial storage.
Ye Bajin directly sent Ye Caiping to her doorstep and helped her carry the things into the house.
“Goodness, Bajin, why are you carrying so many things to our house?” Yan Fang exclaimed in surprise.
Ye Bajin put down the 30 jin of white rice on the ground, grinning: “This is what Sister Caiping bought, I’ll just leave it here.”
Then he left.
Yan Fang looked at the bags and bags of things on the ground, rice, soy sauce, and everything, her mouth agape in astonishment.
At this time, Old Man Ye and the first and second families came over. Old Man Ye said, “Caiping, this, this…”
“This morning I dug up a ginseng on the mountain, and I sold it for 10 taels of silver, so I bought some food and oil.”
The entire Ye family was stunned. Du Shi widened her eyes:
“You dug up ginseng? Wait, you said you sold it for how much? 10 taels? My god, you, you lost a lot!”
“Little sister, weren’t you cheated?” Ye Daquan cautiously said, “A few days ago, someone in Wang Family Village dug up a ginseng and sold it for a whopping 120 taels! You… only sold it for 10 taels?”
Ye Caiping said, “The ginseng I dug up had shallow roots, only seven or eight centimeters deep, so it was only worth 10 taels. I sold it to Ping’an Hall.”
The Ye family looked at each other in astonishment.
Old Man Ye nodded: “A ginseng with only seven or eight centimeters of root is just forming, the roots are indeed too shallow. As for the one from Wang Family Village, theirs had roots thirty or forty centimeters deep, so it’s not surprising it sold for over a hundred taels. Besides, Ping’an Hall is known for being fair, 10 taels is about right.”
Yan Fang felt a mix of joy and worry, examining the things on the ground one by one: “You should save that money for your dowry, why spend it so carelessly!”
Ye Caiping coughed lightly. Dowry? She wasn’t getting married!
“I bought food for the family, it’s not wasteful spending.”
“Mother, there’s meat! A big chunk of fatty meat!” Ye Peng rummaged through the things on the ground, his face beaming with excitement. “There’s also Belly meat and ribs!”
“This is glutinous rice!” Ye Jin’er also leaned in, smiling as she looked up. “Mother, are we having glutinous rice tonight?”
“Yes, we’re having glutinous rice tonight.”
Ye Yin’er spoke cautiously, “Can… can we eat it too?”
“Of course, we’ll all eat together.”
Yan Fang and Old Man Ye’s faces twisted with pain. Glutinous rice was a luxury, not something their peasant family should be eating.
Yan Fang wanted to say that they had already bought the glutinous rice, and it should be saved for Ye Caiping to eat alone.
But she was afraid of causing another uproar in the family if she spoke up.
Besides, her daughter had said they would all eat together, so she didn’t want to be picky.
Du Shi and Ye JJinhua’s eyes lit up.
Although Du Shi was greedy for money, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to get a single penny from her younger sister.
Especially since this was money that her younger sister had earned herself, she wouldn’t be able to touch it.
Being able to eat glutinous rice and meat was already a huge surprise.
She wished Ye Caiping had used all ten taels to buy food, so she could at least eat a little more.
As for Ye Caiping’s previous promise to compensate her after earning money, she never believed a word of it, treating it as just wind passing by her ears. Naturally, she couldn’t remember it.
Seeing Du Shi’s greedy, shining eyes, Ye Caiping couldn’t help but sigh. Her sister-in-law was a troublemaker, but she was definitely smart and knew her priorities!
“My little sister is just amazing.” Ye Daquan said with a smile.
“Little sister is just so good to us.” Ye Erquan’s mouth stretched almost to his ear.
The two brothers, who were obsessed with their younger sister, automatically switched into their “licking dog” mode.
Ye Caiping ignored them and said to Ye Huan’er, “Go outside and pick a few green peppers, then bring back two small chili peppers. Oh, and grab a bunch of scallions! Jin’er, come help me in the kitchen.”
“I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” Yan Fang said happily. “Jin’er and Huan’er, go pick vegetables! And bring back a big head of cabbage and a radish.”
“Let’s stir-fry a plate of eggs.” Ye Caiping called Ye Yinhua over and gave her twenty copper coins, asking her to check which household had eggs and buy ten.
After giving her instructions, Ye Caiping went into the kitchen to get busy.
Wei Shi also came in to help.
Ye Caiping washed the rice, while Yan Fang and Wei Shi each took a piece of belly meat and a piece of lard.
“Caiping, a pound of belly meat is enough for us to boil,” Yan Fang said, taking out a small piece of belly meat.
Ye Caiping laughed, “Mother, you didn’t see how green your eldest and second sons’ and the boys’ eyes turned with hunger! A pound won’t be enough to share, two pieces each will be gone. That lard, after we render it, the cracklings can be kept for a few days.”
Yan Fang still thought it was too extravagant. They had pig liver, belly meat, and ribs, and they were going to buy eggs soon. They had never eaten like this even during the New Year.
But seeing that her daughter wanted to eat this way, she didn’t object. She just took out the five-spice powder with a pained expression, cutting it very thinly.
Ye Caiping finished rinsing the rice and lit the fire.
After Ye Jin’er and her sisters came back, she asked them to watch the fire.
“Second sister-in-law, let me slice the pig liver,” Ye Caiping said.
By this time, Wei Shi had finished chopping the ribs, and Ye Caiping quickly took her knife and sliced the pig liver thinly.
She then rinsed away the blood, and marinated it with soy sauce, starch, ginger, salt, and sugar.
Yan Fang was rendering the lard on the side. Seeing that so many things were added to marinate the pig liver—not just salt, but even sugar—she felt even more distressed.
What a wasteful way to prepare food!
Ye Yin’er came in carrying a basket of eggs. “I bought them from Uncle Gong’s house. They were 2 copper coins each, and Uncle Gong gave me two extra, plus a big bunch of chives.”
She had just used up the 20 copper coins.
Note:
Characters
Other Characters:
Heigou – Ate poisonous roots
Heigou’s mother
Doctor Zhao
Zhao Facai – Neighbor
Village Head Ye- Sometime Ye Lizheng (Lizheng is a title that refers to Village Head/Chief)
Ye Bajin – Village Head’s Son
Fubao – Village Head’s Grandson
Tie Niu and Zhuzi – two women who helped Caiping
Ye Bajin – Son of Ye Lijeng
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty