Chapter 13: Cousin Qin An

Qin Tou’s younger brother was named Qin Xiaocun. Together with Zhu Erhong, he had three children.

The eldest, Qin Shuli, now worked as an accountant in the county town.

The second, Qin Shuda, farmed in the village.

The third was Qin An.

The reason the two brothers, Qin Tou and Qin Xiaocun, grew distant was because of money.

Years ago, when Qin Xiaocun and Zhu Erhong were supporting Qin Shuli’s education, the whole family lived very frugally. When Qin Bing got married, Qin Xiaocun and Zhu Erhong only gave five copper coins as a wedding gift. Understanding their hardship, Qin Tou and Wang Xiuqin didn’t say anything.

Later, when Qin Shuda got married, Qin Tou and Wang Xiuqin gave two hundred copper coins as a gift, hoping to help out the younger brother a bit.

Afterward, when it became clear that Qin Shuli had no future in the imperial exams, he took a job as an accountant at a brick shop in the county town, recommended by the old private school teacher. Qin Shuli married the daughter of a retired scholar. Though from the countryside, her family was fairly well-off.

When Qin Shuli got married, Qin Tou and Wang Xiuqin gave a gift of fifty copper coins.

At that time, Qin Shuli was already earning wages. The fifty coins were a gesture to show family affection and were more generous than what was given to ordinary relatives.

A year after Qin Shuli’s marriage, Qin Wen got married. Zhu Erhong still only gave five copper coins as a wedding gift. This made Wang Xiuqin unhappy.

Even the most distant acquaintances usually gave at least ten wen(copper coins). What was the meaning of giving only five wen? Was it meant to insult?

At that time, Qin Shuli was earning over two taels of silver per month, and Qin Shuda was either working in the fields during the busy season or taking odd jobs in the city during the off-season. It was hard to believe the couple couldn’t even come up with ten wen.

From that point on, the relationship between the two families cooled.

A few years later, when Wang Xiuqin had a bad fall, they spent everything they had on medical treatment. With no money on hand, Qin Tou went to Qin Xiaocun for a loan.

Qin Xiaocun and Zhu Erhong cried and complained, saying they had already emptied their savings to support Qin Shuli’s education. But since the elder brother had opened his mouth, they felt they couldn’t refuse. Still, they insisted they had no more to give, and in the end, Zhu Erhong reluctantly handed over five wen, which made Qin Tou turn and leave in anger.

From then on, the relationship truly soured, and the families rarely interacted.

When Qin Jin got married, Qin Shuli and Qin Shuda had already separated their households. The day before the wedding, Qin Shuda came over to help with some chores and gave twenty wen as a wedding gift on the day of the wedding.

As usual, Qin Xiaocun and Zhu Erhong gave five wen, then brought along Qin Shuli’s wife and children to the wedding feast.

Wang Xiuqin felt annoyed but couldn’t drive them out, so she simply ignored them.

None of the past grudges were Qin An’s fault. Now, seeing him drenched in sweat with a flushed face and pale lips, Qin Jin couldn’t just stand by—he had to lend a hand.

Qin An paused, fanning himself, then shook his head and said softly, “Thanks, Brother Jin. But it’s okay. I can do it myself.”

“Go sit under the tree and chat with Miao,” Qin Jin said, grabbing the stone mill handle on his own.

At that moment, Ye Miao also stepped forward, gently tugging Qin An’s arm and smiling, “Brother An, let’s wait over there.”

Seeing that Qin Jin truly wanted to help, Qin An let out a sigh of relief, thanked him, and went with Ye Miao to stand under the willow tree nearby.

He was indeed exhausted.

His eldest brother Qin Shuli worked in a brick shop in the county town. Because the shop was on the north side of the county and the commute took too long, and since someone needed to watch the shop, Qin Shuli now lived in the county town permanently.

Today, Zhu Erhong went to deliver a change of clothes to Qin Shuli. Normally on such days, she would be in a good mood. But when Qin An returned from the fields, he found her looking gloomy.

Not knowing why she was angry again, he quietly went to cook like he always did, keeping his head down.

When the meal was ready and served on the table, he had just picked up a corn cake when Zhu Erhong suddenly threw down her chopsticks, yelling that even a lazy bum like Qin Jin could make money, while he—Qin An—couldn’t even get married. How dare he eat?

After scolding him thoroughly, she snatched his chopsticks and shoved him out to grind flour.

He had only eaten one palm-sized cornmeal cake for lunch and was now extremely hungry.

Turning to look at Ye Miao, who was holding his arm, he moved his lips and hesitantly said, “Brother Miao.”

“Just call me Miao-ge. I’m a year younger than you, and it feels weird if you call me ‘brother,’” Ye Miao replied with a smile.

Qin An laughed upon hearing that. “Miao-ge.” (T/N:Someone who is a ger is represented as name-ge)

Ye Miao responded with a smile. He had seen Qin An twice before while doing laundry by the river and knew a bit about his situation. Seeing Qin An so exhausted at midday, he figured Qin An must have been made to suffer by Zhu Erhong again.

Being a fellow young ger, Ye Miao naturally sympathized with Qin An. But when someone has a mother like Zhu Erhong, who only wants to climb the social ladder, there really isn’t much anyone can do.

“Miao-ge, your family’s business must be doing quite well,” Qin An suddenly said as he looked at Ye Miao.

Ye Miao nodded. “It’s doing okay.”

“Then I wish your business prosperity and that you earn more and more money,” Qin An said, pointing toward the stone mill. “I’ll go sweep the flour—it’s not right to make Brother Jin run back and forth.”

The millstone was large, and while grinding flour, someone had to be there to sweep it as it came out. Qin An was already grateful that Qin Jin helped him turn the mill—how could he let him do both the pushing and the sweeping?

Ye Miao found it odd and quickly followed him. But Qin An refused to say more and changed the subject. “I heard others say you’re good at needlework. If I get a chance, could I come ask you for some tips?”

“Of course!” Ye Miao nodded immediately.

Qin An smiled, expressing his thanks with heartfelt gratitude.

Ye Miao waved his hand, saying it was nothing. He didn’t have many peers to play with in the village, so if An-ge wanted to ask him about sewing, he was more than happy to help.

Qin An’s two bags of flour were quickly ground. After thanking them again, he left with his cart.

Qin Jin and Ye Miao then began grinding their own flour.

Under the scorching sun, with the millstone set directly beneath it, Qin Jin was soaked in sweat by the time the flour was done—his clothes were dripping wet.

Back home, Qin Jin fetched a basin of water to wash up, and after changing into clean clothes, he felt much better.

He squatted at the courtyard gate, drawing on the ground with a twig.

Ye Miao grew curious and walked over, bending down to look. Not understanding what he was drawing, he asked, “Brother Jin, what are you drawing?”

“A small pushcart,” Qin Jin explained.

The amount of tofu curd they bought daily had increased, along with the pea cakes and tofu sheets. Carrying everything by hand was too exhausting, so he wanted to make a small pushcart.

Right now, they didn’t have much money. He couldn’t afford the kind of snack carts commonly seen in his previous life, and he didn’t need one like that yet. So he planned to make a simpler one.

The cart would resemble a small delivery trolley, but with only two wheels—one at the front and one at the back. Instead of a flat surface, the top would hold two circular barrel frames.

This kind of harvesting pushcart was designed for orchards and vegetable fields. Though small, it could carry a good amount, and the water buckets would sit securely on the barrel frames without sliding—perfect for his current needs.

To show Ye Miao what he meant, he grabbed some small wooden sticks and hemp rope and quickly put together a rough model.

Ye Miao was stunned by the miniature version. After studying it closely, he looked at Qin Jin with admiration. “Brother Jin, you’re really smart. If your parents had sent you to school back then, you’d probably be a scholar by now.”

Definitely better than Qin Shuli.

Qin Jin chuckled. “I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now. Besides, I’m still not sure I can actually make the real thing.”

“We should go find a carpenter in town. They’re skilled and could definitely make it.”

If not, they’d go to the blacksmith. Such a useful cart needed to be made—it would save Qin Jin a lot of effort.

“We’ll save up more money first. Right now, we don’t have enough on hand,” Qin Jin said, determined. If the carpenter couldn’t do it, he’d go to the blacksmith.

But if it was made of iron, it would be much more expensive.

Bottom line: they had to earn more money first.

Soon, it was the early hours of the next day. He and Zhao Feng went to Zhang Qi’s house to pick up tofu curd.

At 250 wen, they could buy 275 jin of tofu curd. Each of them carried two buckets. But four buckets couldn’t hold that much, so Zhang Qi and his wife helped them carry the rest.

Yesterday, they had delivered tofu curd to the old courtyard. Today it was the turn of Qin Wen and Qin Li’s families—both good older brothers, so they had to be treated equally.

In total, they made 55 jin of tofu sheets.

They kept six jin at home and took the rest to sell at the city gate.

Today, Qin Jin carried two baskets. One basket wasn’t enough to hold all the pea cakes and tofu sheets.

With more tofu sheets on hand, his sales pitch changed: the tofu wasn’t just good for cold dishes, stir-fries, and stews—it could also be used as a dumpling or bun filling, and its flavor rivaled that of meat.

His pitch was loud and catchy, the content intriguing, and the free samples even more enticing.

So a crowd gathered and kept rotating.

From afar, Zhu Erhong watched the tiny stall with its steady stream of customers, gritting her teeth.

She had thought Qin Jin’s little business was just a trivial side hustle, barely making a few wens, so she hadn’t paid it much attention before.

But yesterday, when delivering clothes to Qin Shuli, she had accidentally spotted Qin Jin’s stall—and that one glimpse had filled her with blinding jealousy.

She thought maybe it was just luck yesterday, so she came back today to confirm.

Now, her eyes were practically bleeding with envy!

How could her family not end up looking worse in comparison?

With a face like thunder, she watched for a bit longer, then turned and went home.

Meanwhile, Gu Nan had arrived early at Wuligou Village.

After hearing from Ye Miao that the dried tofu could be used in dumplings, he decided to buy four jin instead of just three. If Shen Yucheng hadn’t spoken up yesterday, he would’ve bought all six jin.

Ye Miao clicked his tongue in disbelief. What kind of people could afford to spend dozens of wen daily on snacks like this?

They were on par with the old Ye family.

By noon, when Qin Jin came back, Ye Miao passed along Gu Nan’s message: Gu Nan’s father-in-law was willing to sell 300 jin of peas. If Qin Jin had time, he could go to the Wang family village and look for Wang Yongshu.

The price was 3 wen and 3 li per jin, 7 li cheaper than the grain shop.

This price matched what grain shops paid for procurement. Qin Jin was quite happy—a savings of 7 li per jin meant 210 wen saved on 300 jin.

This was a big number!  

Saving money was the same as making money!  

After lunch, he pulled the cart out from the old courtyard, preparing to go to Wang family village to buy peas.  

Ye Miao wanted to go along, but both he and Zhao Feng didn’t allow it. After a few words of persuasion and seeing Ye Miao change his mind, the two were just about to head out when they looked up and saw Zhu Erhong standing at the gate with a cheerful smile.  

He was a bit surprised. “Auntie, what brings you here?”