Chapter 57

In the evening, it started to drizzle.

With each autumn rain, it gets colder.

Shuiqing, nestled on a wooden plank bed, finally appreciated the benefits of having a thatched hut. In this lonely deep autumn, having a place to shelter from the wind and rain, without getting wet, brought a great sense of security.

“I wonder if Hei Zi found a family in the village to stay with, or if he left the village?” Yan Qiu chatted casually without lifting her head, busy weaving a seat cushion with dried corn leaves.

Xing Hui, who was assisting her sister, folded the corn leaves into long strips of the same size to facilitate weaving. She replied, “He probably left the village. There’s no other household in our village that would be satisfactory for him.”

In the village, people wouldn’t even think of eating meat, and they couldn’t bear to eat plain rice. Eggs were used for trading salt and other goods and were too precious to eat.

Shuiqing didn’t expect that the rich young man would actually stay with another family.

In her estimation, he would probably return after having lunch.

Why could he stay in someone else’s house?

Regardless of the reason, she admired him. After all, she herself found it hard to swallow the black porridge or the black bread.

Surprisingly, that arrogant and picky young master could manage it.

Fan Jin entered the room, shaking off the rain from his pointed bamboo hat and patting the water off his clothes.

Seeing the door was open, Shuiqing raised her voice to remind him, “Quickly, go inside and change your clothes to avoid catching a cold. Fan Jiang, bring a bowl of ginger soup from the kitchen pot.”

Fan Jiang, in the opposite room, covered his head with his hands and rushed to the kitchen. He quickly returned with the ginger soup after pouring it.

After changing into another set of coarse cotton robes and drinking the ginger soup, Fan Jin came to Shuiqing’s room.

Shuiqing shifted on the wooden plank bed to make room for him and asked, “How did it go? Did you talk to everyone?”

Remembering that her two daughters were still in the room, she then said to them, “Yan Qiu, Xing Hui, it’s getting darker. Take care of your eyes; go play in your brother’s room for a while. Your father and I have something to discuss.”

The children, understanding their parents had important matters to discuss, packed up their things and left the room, closing the door behind them.

In the low thatched house, Fan Jin sat at the end of the bed and carefully replied, “Except for the few families who refused to cooperate last time, everyone else agreed.

Recently, there have been fewer chicken head rice, and although they’ve been working harder, it’s inevitable due to the season. Now, hearing that bamboo mushrooms and skirt mushrooms can also be traded for food, everyone is overjoyed and agreed without hesitation.”

“Chicken head rice is traded at one and a half kilograms for every kilogram, so diligent families have a good daily income. However, bamboo and skirt mushrooms are not weighed. If they’re traded at the same rate, the daily income won’t be as high.” Shuiqing thought about how Yan Qiu, Xing Hui, and the other four children could collectively gather about twenty kilograms of mushrooms in a day.

Moreover, mushroom picking relies on luck. On good days, you can gather baskets full, but on bad days, you might only get a few.

In Shanshui Village, with many hills and abundant shrubs and grasses, there are plenty of mushrooms, but picking them one by one is time-consuming.

“Chicken head rice is priced at 121 coins per kilogram, opened bamboo mushrooms at 167 coins per kilogram, unopened at 187 coins per kilogram, skirt mushrooms at 181 coins per kilogram, and rice at 2 coins per kilogram. Since mushrooms are more expensive than chicken head rice, shouldn’t we get more rice in exchange?” Fan Jin calculated.

Rice in the shopping mall is very cheap, whereas the mushrooms, which are abundant in the mountains, are expensive. But they couldn’t exchange too much rice.

Rice is 9 coins per kilogram, while fresh mushrooms are usually 10 to 20 coins per kilogram. If they exchanged tens of kilograms of rice, it would be too conspicuous!

Shuiqing also wanted to exchange more rice for the mushrooms. Both mushrooms and chicken head rice are highly seasonal. Once the season is over, they are no longer available.

Chicken head rice is already out of season, and chicken mushrooms and bamboo mushrooms will be gone by the end of October. By then, the villagers of Shanshui wouldn’t be able to earn money from them anymore.

Of course, she wouldn’t be able to earn money either.

So, while the rainy season brings abundant mushrooms, the more the villagers gather, the more she can earn. After exchanging for rice, it would also be beneficial if the villagers became wealthier.

A huge disparity might cause jealousy, but if everyone is almost equal, they would just strive to work harder for a better life.

“What do you think of exchanging three kilograms of rice for opened bamboo mushrooms, four kilograms for unopened ones, and four kilograms for skirt mushrooms?” Fan Jin suggested. This rate is double that of the county, but not too outrageous.

Even children as young as six or seven could pick mushrooms, so families with many members could earn more than they did with chicken head rice.

After all, Shanshui Village was his birthplace and had a special place in his heart. He hoped the villagers would live better lives—except for those with bad character.

He agreed, “Alright. With the rain now, mushrooms will start sprouting at night, and they can start picking them early tomorrow morning.”

Shuiqing looked at the drizzle outside, and the dimly lit thatched house, and said, “After the mushroom season ends, let’s start building our house.”

Who says the south isn’t cold? Shanshui Village is in the south, but when she asked around, no one in the surrounding areas, including the town, knew what the sea was.

It seems quite far from the sea. Both the Hu and Fan families eat spicy food, and when she inquired subtly, she found that most villagers also used chili in their cooking.

Shuiqing speculated that Guangning Prefecture is in the south, possibly near places like Hunan, not coastal, with a rainy and humid climate, prone to floods in summer, and though it doesn’t have the severe snowstorms of the north, it is still bone-chilling in winter.

A brick house that is warm in winter and cool in summer would be perfect.

Fan Jin agreed. They had sold two batches of brushes and had seventy to eighty taels of silver. After the mushroom season, they could build a courtyard house and still have some savings.

A house is a big deal; it’s where you spend the most time. From officials to commoners, everyone wants their own home.

In their means, they would build the best house possible.

After agreeing on the amount of rice for mushrooms and the time to build the house, the room fell silent.

Fan Jin, thinking of what he heard in the village, frowned and worriedly said, “I heard Hei Zi is staying at my elder brother’s house.”

Shuiqing was truly shocked this time.

She knew very well what her mother-in-law was like. The food aside, her sharp and harsh demeanor—how could Hei Zi endure it?!

How could he manage to stay there?