Chapter 32: Selling Buns

Seeing Empress Dou’s current state, like she’d swallowed a fly, the Emperor began to doubt himself. If Empress Wu was still alive, she wouldn’t have done such a foolish thing.

Xiao Jinyu returned to the Prince’s residence and spent half the night in the separately built ancestral hall. When the previous Empress passed away, he was only nine years old.

Over the years, he had coldly observed Dou shi usurp her position, pretending to be kind on the surface, but secretly wishing for his demise, forcing him onto the battlefield at the tender age of nine.

Now, with the country secure, Dou shi and her son wanted to eliminate him, yet his biological father knew everything and did nothing.

Perhaps he hoped more than Dou shi for his disappearance. That way, no one would know how despicably he had deceived his mother’s affections, how he had lived off her, and how he had burned his bridges.

His mother died of grief, and he was ambushed by the Crown Prince. If he hadn’t met Xie Jiu’er, with her strange and unusual methods, he would have died long ago, in the mountains harboring lurking beasts, in the heavy snow, uncared for, a corpse in the wilderness.

Therefore, this time, he would take the initiative. He would personally claim what was owed to him, just like he had reclaimed his crossbow in his childhood.

…

After the Spring Festival, the refugees from various places had returned to their hometowns. Although life was difficult, they had begun to live their lives in an orderly manner.

In the countryside, some people had already begun repairing their own field embankments, taking the opportunity to dig away some snow from the fields – a good omen for a bountiful harvest!

The villagers  only returned to the village on New Year’s Eve. Every household was extremely poor. Upon their return, they didn’t even have time to catch their breath. Some went up the mountain to collect firewood, others to gather ground moss, resting only when the sky was too dark to see.

In Xie Jiu’er’s family, there were seven people when they left, but two fewer returned. The eldest daughter-in-law’s second daughter was missing, and the old woman died of a cold on the way back.

That evening, they ate the ground moss they had gathered from the mountain. Although their stomachs were still empty, it was far more comfortable than on the road while fleeing. Xie Jiu’er’s aunt, Li shi, lay on the kang, unable to sleep.

Now, although the room was cold, without the wind and snow, it was more comfortable. Then she began to miss her second daughter. When her father sent her away, she kept crying: “Mother, I don’t want to go, save me.”

Thinking of her daughter’s helpless and desperate expression, Li shi shed a string of turbid tears.  She had no choice.  There wasn’t much food, and it was even robbed. If she didn’t send her daughter away, the whole family would starve to death.

Throughout the night, Li shi’s mind was filled with her daughter’s desperate cries. Xie Laoda, beside her, snored loudly, sleeping more soundly than anyone.

Originally, they had planned to sell Xie Jiu’er to others after returning to exchange for some food, but they found that the three of them were gone.

In such a world, the entire village had gone out together, and only 80% returned.  It was estimated that they had already been abducted.

Abducted was good! Abducted to keep her second daughter company, so that she wouldn’t be lonely on the road to the underworld.

The next day, the village head had already begun to count the number of people, preparing to report to the higher authorities. Xie Laoda falsely reported the number of Xie Jiu’er’s mother and her children.

The village head hesitated: “Grain and seeds are already scarce, and we need to repay the government with interest after the autumn harvest next year. Since they are not in the village, it is inappropriate for you to report their numbers. If the higher authorities investigate, it will be difficult to explain!”

Xie Laoda coldly snorted: “There are signs that the cellar was tampered with, and some of their belongings are missing. They must have gone out to avoid disaster, and may return in a few days. If they are still alive, and I don’t report it, and my family doesn’t have enough seeds, who will support them? I won’t care then.”

The village head glared.  You never cared about them, he thought. After hesitating, he finally decided to add Xie Jiu’er’s mother and her children to Xie Laoda’s name.

Looking at the villagers who were discussing amongst themselves, the village head shouted: “There’s no need to falsely report the numbers.  Everyone should report the actual population. Next year, when we repay the seeds to the government, we will have to repay an extra 30% as interest.  We don’t know what the harvest will be like next year, so don’t falsely report, the more you report, the more you have to repay.”

The people nodded in agreement: “That’s right.  Instead of wasting time on that, we should do something else. Next year, we should save some seeds for ourselves. If we want to truly eat grain, we have to wait until the year after.”

“That’s right. I heard the government means the same thing.  Ah, let’s continue eating wild vegetables.  It’s just hard on my son.  His mother didn’t even have any milk when he was born. I don’t know if he will survive.”

After reporting to the village head, everyone went home dejectedly, picked up their tools, and went up the mountain in groups of two or three.

After the New Year, Xie Jiu’er discovered that the restaurants and taverns in the city were open.  Many wealthy people were eating and drinking inside, while the poor people outside, in tattered clothes, could only cast envious glances inside and smell the aroma of meat they had never tasted in their lives.

Seeing this, Xie Jiu’er spent half a tael of silver to buy half a bag of flour, intending to make buns to sell on the street.  Walking down the alley, she saw Aunt Fang entering her house with a bundle of firewood, and slowed her pace, waiting for Aunt Fang to enter before continuing.

“Mother, let’s make some buns and sell them at the market!”

Xie Jiu’er put down the bag of flour and checked the remaining ground moss and mushrooms at home. There was enough, they could try selling for a few days to see.

“Sell buns? We can try that. If business is bad, we can just eat them ourselves.” Zhou shi happily began cleaning the ground moss and soaking the mushrooms in water.

“Should we sell plain buns or add some meat?” Zhou shi asked, busy with her work, remembering the filling.

“Let’s add a little meat! The new copper coins are already in circulation. I’ll exchange some copper coins later. I’ve checked, buns at the restaurant cost ten copper coins each, so we’ll sell them for eight. Mother, what do you think?” Xie Jiu’er squatted down and helped clean the ground moss.

Zhou shi replied cheerfully: “I think it’s good.  A little cheaper than the restaurant, and they’ll sell. I’ll finish this soon. You rest; you still have to go to the Zhu residence later.”

Xie Jiu’er looked unconcerned: “I’m just cooking, it’s not tiring. Besides, it’s still early. You’re even more anxious than Madam Zhu.”

Zhou shi lowered her head and continued to work: “I’m just afraid that you’ll be too tired at home and do something wrong at the Zhu residence, losing your job. Although Wu Yang and I are messing around at home, we can stay in the county mainly because your job is stable. If we didn’t have a stable job, I wouldn’t have dared to come to the county.”

“Mother, guess who I saw outside today?” Xie Jiu’er suddenly changed the subject, causing Zhou shi’s heart to skip a beat.

“Who? What’s wrong?”