Chapter 35: An Unexpected New Source of Income

“How much?” Du Wanchun asked.

The pawnshop owner held up five fingers.

“Five taels of silver?” she guessed.

The owner shook his head. “Fifty wen.”

“Fifty wen?!” Du Wanchun was taken aback. She had rarely seen ivory brushes before, but she knew ivory was valuable. No matter how worn it was, it couldn’t possibly be worth only fifty wen.

She quickly took the brush back and said, “Fifty wen is too little.”

The shopkeeper then said, “How about one hundred wen?”

Du Wanchun still shook her head. As she looked at the brush in her hands, an image of Zhou Ruiyuan teaching her to write the other night suddenly flashed in her mind.

Seeing her hesitation, the shopkeeper added, “How about five hundred wen? Will you pawn it or not?”

Du Wanchun snapped back to reality, clutching the brush tightly to her chest. “No, I won’t pawn it.”

The shopkeeper frowned. “Young lady, you shouldn’t be too greedy. Five hundred wen is the most I can offer.”

Du Wanchun looked up at him and said firmly, “Even if you offered me five hundred taels, I wouldn’t pawn it.”

With that, she hugged the brush and turned to run out of the pawnshop.

By chance, just as she stepped out, she ran into Aunt He, who worked as a cook at Magistrate Li’s residence.

Aunt He’s face lit up with joy. “Wanchun! What are you doing here?!”

Du Wanchun glanced back at the pawnshop, then smiled and said, “Auntie, I came to the county today to buy something for my husband.”

Aunt He stepped forward and eagerly grabbed her hand. “Wanchun, do you still have any of those little radishes at home?”

Du Wanchun was momentarily stunned but then nodded. “Yes, we still have some.”

Aunt He immediately said, “Can you sell me some more?”

Du Wanchun asked in surprise, “Auntie, you still want to buy radishes?”

Aunt He nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Last time, I bought some from you, and Magistrate Li and his wife absolutely loved them. Not only did they enjoy them, but they also had me prepare some to send to the Fang family. The old master of the Fang family loved your radishes too, so now they’ve asked me to buy more.”

The Fang family was a well-known wealthy merchant family in Cheng’an County. They had done business in the capital in their early years, and after earning a considerable fortune, the old master handed over the family business to his son and returned to the countryside with his wife to enjoy retirement.

Du Wanchun was delighted. “Really? How many radishes does Master Fang want?”

Aunt He thought for a moment and said, “Just the same amount as last time. If they buy too many, they might spoil at home. If they need more in the future, I’ll come back to you.”

Du Wanchun nodded. “Alright, I’ll go back now and pick some radishes for you.”

Aunt He glanced at the carriage behind her and smiled. “That works. I’ll wait for you in the backyard of the Li residence.”

“Okay, Auntie.” Du Wanchun had assumed that the Li family hadn’t finished eating all the radishes from last time. She hadn’t expected that not only did they still want more, but even the wealthy Fang family wanted to buy them as well.

If these two families became regular customers, then the Zhou family would have a steady means of livelihood.

At that moment, Aunt He pulled out a small pouch of copper coins from her pocket and handed it to Du Wanchun. “Wanchun, take this as a deposit for the radishes. I’ll pay you the rest once you deliver them to the residence.”

Du Wanchun weighed the pouch in her hand—it was about one hundred wen. “Thank you, Auntie.”

After accepting the money and bidding farewell to Aunt He, she immediately drove the carriage back home.

As soon as Zhou Daniu saw her return, she quickly walked up to her. “Wanchun, how much did you pawn the brush for?”

Du Wanchun took out the pouch of coins and placed it in Zhou Daniu’s hand.

Zhou Daniu opened it and exclaimed, “Oh! There’s a hundred wen in here!”

At that moment, Zhou Ruiyuan slowly pushed a chair and walked out of the house.

Du Wanchun stood in front of him, and as the sunlight streamed down, she smiled, revealing two small dimples on her cheeks. She stretched out her palm, revealing the brush.

Zhou Ruiyuan was momentarily stunned. As he looked into her bright, star-like eyes, he slowly stood up.

Step by step, he walked toward Du Wanchun. Unlike before, his steps were no longer wobbly but much steadier.

Du Wanchun quickly took a few steps forward, wanting to support him.

But before she could reach him, Zhou Ruiyuan suddenly stretched out his arms and pulled her into his embrace.

His hug was warm, carrying a faint, refreshing scent unique to him.

In his arms, Du Wanchun could hear his heart pounding. She reached out and hugged him back. “Husband… your brush… I didn’t pawn it…”

Zhou Daniu, who had been watching, was shocked. “Wanchun, you didn’t pawn the brush? Then where did these copper coins come from?!”

“Wanchun—” Zhou Daniu was about to ask further, but when she looked up and saw the two embracing, she quickly turned around and went back inside to give them some privacy.