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As dusk approached, Old Man Ye and his son finally returned home.
They were both covered in sweat, their brows furrowed with worry.
Old Lady Ye saw that Ye Daquan was still carrying the bag of white rice and couldn’t help but ask, “Couldn’t you return it?”
“No,” Old Man Ye replied in a low voice.
He sat down on a small stool, taking off his shoes as he said, “The shopkeeper at the rouge shop was kind enough to let us return it. But the grain shop…”
“Hmph, they said we got the rice dirty and wouldn’t let us return it. We said we’d exchange it for brown rice, but they wouldn’t agree either,” Ye Daquan said angrily.
Old Lady Ye and Wei Shi, along with the others, felt their hearts sink. They thought of the only ten days’ worth of food left in the house and almost cried.
They wouldn’t be able to pay back the money! They had to pay an extra one hundred and twenty wen in a month!
This white rice was delicious, but it wasn’t filling!
Old Lady Ye wanted to scold Ye Daquan, but thinking that it was all because of Ye Caiping, she felt ashamed to scold her daughter and kept quiet.
The entire Ye family was shrouded in gloom.
Ye Caiping stepped forward and said, “Today is the 21st of August, and it’s only half a month until the Double Ninth Festival [1]also known as Chongyang Festival, is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th month of the lunar calendar, usually in October. The festival has ancient roots and is linked … Continue reading. Every household will use some white rice to honor their ancestors. We can lower the price by one wen, and ask every household. Even if they are poor, I believe everyone will buy one or two liang of white rice.”
As soon as she said this, everyone in the Ye family’s eyes lit up.
Ye Daquan said, “My little sister is so clever.”
Ye Erquan thought for a moment and said, “Don’t things get more expensive during the festival? We should raise the price by one wen! We can wait half a month, when the price of rice goes up, and sell it for a few more wen.”
Ye Caiping laughed in anger, “You want to raise the price? How much can you raise it? At most, it will go up by three or four wen per jin, but then we won’t be able to pay back the money. We lose four wen a day, and that’s sixty wen in half a month. You only have thirteen jin of white rice, and you probably won’t even earn sixty wen.”
Everyone listened and thought she was right.
Ye Erquan was still counting on his fingers, while Old Man Ye said, “Don’t cause trouble. We should hurry up and sell all the rice and pay back the debt tomorrow.”
“That’s right,” Ye Daquan glared at Erquan.
Old Man Ye put on his muddy shoes and went out.
…
Old Man Ye borrowed a small scale from the village head and, following Ye Caiping’s method, went from house to house.
Everyone wanted to eat well during the festival, but they had to have white rice to honor their ancestors.
The villagers also knew that the price of rice would increase during the festival. Now they heard Old Man Ye say it would be cheaper by one wen, and they were all willing to buy.
A kind-hearted villager curiously asked, “Why did your family suddenly buy ten or so jin of white rice? You bought it and kept it, why are you selling it now? And why is it cheaper by one wen?”
Old Man Ye looked embarrassed, “Who can afford white rice in these times? But as you know, Caiping was injured, and the doctor told her to eat well. So we bought ten or so jin.”
“But she recovered quickly, and she said she didn’t need to eat it anymore. She insisted that we sell it.”
The villager was surprised, “Caiping is so considerate?”
Ye Caiping was known throughout the village.
Old Man Ye looked sheepish and didn’t say much. He weighed two liang of rice for the villager.
One family bought two liang, some bought three or four liang, or even one or two jin. Soon, within an hour, thirteen jin of white rice were sold.
The last two jin were bought by the village head when he was returning the scale.
The village head had just paid the money, but he put the bag of white rice back on the table and pushed it towards Old Man Ye.
“Village head, what are you…” Old Man Ye was startled.
“Caiping is injured, isn’t she? Take this white rice back home and let her eat it. It’s good for her recovery,” said the village head.
Old Man Ye was both grateful and helpless. He smiled wryly, “No need. We already owe you enough. Besides, this whole thing happened because of the white rice.”
He then explained the whole story.
The village head was speechless for a moment, “This Daquan…sigh.”
“A woman’s body can’t be neglected,” said the village head’s wife, coming out of the room.
“Take this white rice back. I’m afraid it will cause trouble again. You see, I have to make a bowl of white rice porridge every morning for Fubao to nourish his stomach. I’ll make an extra bowl, and you can have Caiping come and eat it every morning at the time of the rooster’s crow.”
The village head nodded, holding his pipe.
Fubao was their only grandson, and he had a weak stomach. The doctor had told them to feed him a bowl of white rice porridge every morning.
Old Man Ye’s eyes welled up, “This…we haven’t paid back the money we owe you.”
“Come on, come on, we’re family. Why are you so concerned about this?” The village head waved his hand, “You’re both hardworking people, you’ll be able to pay it back.”
Old Man Ye felt ashamed, but thinking of his daughter still recovering, he nodded, “Thank you.”
…
Back home, Old Man Ye and his family started counting the copper coins.
Thirteen jin of white rice, with a price reduction, was 19 wen per jin, a total of 247 wen.
The rouge was 120 wen, totaling 367 wen.
Because of the two pieces of candy and the one wen reduction per jin of white rice, they were short 33 wen.
Old Lady Ye said, “We also have today’s four wen of wages, we’re still short 37 wen.”
Old Man Ye said, “We’ll sell the firewood tomorrow and make up the difference.”
Ye Caiping was secretly surprised. This white rice was so expensive? It cost twenty wen per jin!
But thinking about the low yield per mu in ancient times, plus this year’s disaster, the high price of grain was understandable.
Besides, that was white rice. The common people’s staple food was brown rice. White rice, also known as polished rice, was food for the wealthy.
“Caiping, tomorrow you take your household registration book and go to the village head’s house to change your registration,” Old Man Ye looked at her, “Go at the time of the rooster’s crow! They’re free then.”
“Okay.”
Just in time, she had some things she wanted to ask the village head.
At this time, Ye Yong, Ye Xuan, and Ye Peng came back. Ye Yong and Ye Xuan each carried a small bundle of firewood, while Ye Peng only had half a bundle.
The weather was turning cold, and the villagers were all scrambling to collect firewood, either for themselves or to sell for money. There wasn’t enough dry firewood on the mountain for everyone.
Wei Shi and Yin Shi quickly set the table.
It was still the same radish and rice bran porridge from noon.
Old Lady Ye was in charge of serving. She gave Ye Caiping a thick bowl of brown rice porridge, while the others got thin porridge that you could see through.
“Caiping is recovering, she needs to eat more,” Old Lady Ye added.
Everyone agreed, except for Ye Jinhua, who snorted.
Ye Caiping didn’t say anything. After all, she was truly an injured person and needed nutrition.
Note:
Characters
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty
References
| ↑1 | also known as Chongyang Festival, is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th month of the lunar calendar, usually in October. The festival has ancient roots and is linked to several cultural practices and symbolic meanings. |
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