Another month passed, and another vegetable shop could not survive and closed down. Two other shops closed down on Wang Street and moved to the town’s residential area. Only her Second gu’s family was still holding onto Wang Street.

Next to her Second gu’s vegetable shop was her own oil shop, and customers who came to her shop to buy oil would still go to her vegetable shop for a visit.

Su Qingyu went to see the two shops that were opened in the residential area, and they did have some business.

The vegetable shop business was originally a small-scale operation. It was not profitable to make a lot of money, but there was still some small money. It was not profitable to sell vegetables alone, but meat, eggs, and fruits had to be sold together, and there was still a profit of one or two taels of silver a day.

The vegetable items in Su Qingyu’s store barely broke even, not losing money but not making much money. The profit of eggs was also thin, and it mainly relied on the meat stall, raw and cooked meat. There was also some business in kimchi, pickles, and salted vegetables, and the largest income was still fruit.

Of course, this was only on the surface, and the goods she sold to Xu Shaoyan every month were her biggest source of income.

Su Dahu, Father Su, and Zhou Dajiang went to distant places to collect a lot of wild delicacies. She took Grandma Zhou and others to make dried vegetables and dried mushrooms and sold them at a very good price.

She kept these tightly, not selling them to the store and not selling them to Pingchuan County and Guangning Prefecture at all. People’s ability to imitate was too strong, and she couldn’t let others learn.

For some leafy vegetables that couldn’t be made into dried vegetables, she sold them to the system in exchange for some medicine that helped the growth and development of the fetus. As for the vegetables and fruits that didn’t look good, they were all stuffed into their own mouths or made into jam and preserved fruits. Qingyang, Qingxing, and Yaya liked to eat them the most. They ate preserved fruits as snacks, drank jam with water, and liked to dip them in food.

So the leftover fruits and vegetables in the store were not wasted at all.

As for the manor that Xu Shaoyan transferred to her, she couldn’t go out with a big belly. She asked Father Su to go and see it, and he just said that someone asked her to take care of it. Her honest father didn’t ask any questions. He lived alone on the farm for more than half a month, commanding the tenants and farm servants to turn the land and plant winter vegetables and winter wheat before coming back.

Su Qingyu didn’t have any time to worry about anything.

The days slipped into winter.

Su Qingyu had a big belly, and she looked more like a bear when she was wrapped up. Her movements were clumsy. She went to the front shop less and less. She made dried vegetables and fruits with Grandma Zhou in the backyard.

Everyone didn’t let her go to the front shop for fear that she would accidentally slip. In the backyard, Grandma Zhou and others didn’t let her do anything. She mostly sat and watched, occasionally giving instructions.

On this day, Su Qingyu saw Xiao Qingxing holding Yaya in the backyard. It was very rare in broad daylight. Usually, the two little things went to Yangwei Martial Arts Hall early in the morning and came back at sunset. Why didn’t they go out today?

The two little things sat on the bench, leaning against each other, and they were a little depressed. Su Qingyu went over to talk to them, and then she knew that Madam Ma was sick.

“Ah? Why did she get sick? When did it happen?”

“Since winter began, Master’s wife has been in poor health and has been coughing all the time. Today, Brother Xiaodouzi came over and told us not to go over because Master’s wife was afraid that we would get sick.”

Coughing all the time? “Have they asked a doctor to see her?”

“Yes, Master Ma has asked doctors from the county and Guangning Prefecture to see her, but she didn’t get better.”

“Why didn’t you tell your sister so that we could go see her?”

“Master’s wife didn’t let us tell you. She said that your sister is pregnant and she didn’t want you to worry.”

Su Qingyu felt a little sad after hearing this. Madam Ma was a beautiful, kind, and forbearing woman. Life had worn her out, and she should be happy and cheerful in the second half of her life.

Su Qingyu looked down and saw Yaya looking up at her. She smiled and stroked her head: “Yaya, do you miss Madam Ma too?”

The little thing nodded very seriously: “Yes. Let’s go see her.” She pointed outside.

“Okay, yí^[1]mother’s sister will take you to see her in two days, okay?”

“Okay. Fruit, eat.” After saying that, he struggled to leave Xiao Qingxing’s arms and ran to the front store.

Xiao Qingxing hurriedly got up and chased after her. Su Qingyu smiled, thinking that the little thing must have gone to the front store to get some fruit, and she would hide it and bring it to Madam Ma.

Children knew good and evil best, and they remembered who was good to them the most.

Two days later, Su Qingyu took some boiled autumn pear paste and Su Qingliu, Qingxing, and Yaya to Yangwei Martial Arts Hall.

When they went there, they found that after a short period, Madam Ma’s face had become ashen, and she was lying on the bed without makeup. When she saw them coming, she couldn’t get up by herself and had to rely on Master Ma for support.

Master Ma stared at her without blinking, with deep sadness in his eyes.

Madam Ma only glanced at Qingxing and Yaya from a distance and asked them to go out. Master Ma nodded to Su Qingyu and went out as well. Su Qingyu glanced at him and saw that he had lost a lot of weight, his eye sockets were sunken, and the whole person had become more and more stern, which made people afraid.

“I’m sorry to trouble you to come and see me…”

Su Qingliu’s eyes immediately turned red when she heard her speak slowly, word by word, and her obviously weak spirit.

Su Qingyu felt bad too, so she walked over and sat down next to the bed. He took her hand and patted it caressingly. She didn’t touch any flesh, but the joints were distinct, pale, and slender.

“I should have come earlier. You asked the children to keep this a secret. Countryside women are still working in the fields before giving birth. The town is not that big; why didn’t you let me come?”

“I’m afraid I’ll pass on the disease to you. The baby in your belly is the most delicate…”

Su Qingyu saw that she was looking at her belly with envy and raised her hand to touch her belly, but she retracted it when she got to her belly, so she grabbed her hand and put it on her own belly.

The baby in her belly might have felt the gentle touch of a woman and moved very cooperatively.

“Oh, he moved! He said hello to me.”

“Yes, such a gentle and beautiful mistress, the child can’t wait to come out to see you.”

Madam Ma’s face was glowing with spirit. She touched the child a few more times, and when she saw that the child was no longer moving, she reluctantly retracted her hand, still staring at him, which made Su Qingyu very sad.

“Madam, you must take good care of your illness. He will come out in spring. Let him accompany you then. If you like, I will give him to you.”

Madame Ma’s wife laughed. Just after laughing twice, she started coughing violently again…

Su Qingliu hurriedly strode over and patted her back, and Su Qingyu also helped to smooth her chest. Cui Yuying, who was serving outside, immediately brought in a bowl of medicine juice and helped her drink it. It had a strong herbal smell, and Su Qingyu felt a little uncomfortable and nauseous when she smelled it, but Madame Ma drank it all in one go without blinking.

“It’s really bitter. I told him I didn’t need to drink it, but he made me drink it. It was so bitter that I almost vomited my bile. Everything I ate tasted like bitter medicine.”

Su Qingyu took the handkerchief and wiped the corners of her mouth. Seeing her sucking the candy beans Cui Yuying fed her, she comforted her, “It’s bitter first, then sweet. Just take care of it. When the time comes, I’ll find whatever you want to eat and make it for you.”

“That’s great. I’m just afraid I won’t be able to eat it.” The light in her eyes slowly faded.

(End of this chapter)