Chapter 16: Swapping Meat

Soon, the sun set.

Jiang Dahe returned with his younger brothers and sons.

Since no one in Jiangjia Village raised cattle, there were no ox-carts in the village.

To go to town, they had to walk. If they wanted to go farther, they’d have to walk to the town first and then rent an ox-cart.

It was a real hassle.

“Yo, kiddo’s dad, what’s this about? Did you find some silver on your way back? Look at you, your mouth’s about to split from smiling.”

Sun Pingmei, leaning against the kitchen doorway, teased as she saw everyone grinning.

“Something like that,” Jiang Eryong replied, keeping a bit of mystery.

“What? Did you really find silver? How much? Where?” Sun Pingmei’s eyes widened instantly. She darted to the door in one step, grabbed Jiang Eryong’s sleeve, and asked excitedly, almost bouncing.

“You really believe that? How is your brain even wired? I’m honestly afraid our two sons might take after you—then they’d be too dumb to even get a wife, and that would be it.” Jiang Eryong sighed helplessly.

To put it nicely, his wife was innocent.

To put it less nicely, she was both foolish and greedy.

But she also had many virtues: filial to her in-laws, diligent, and kind-hearted.

Those positives more or less balanced out the negatives.

“Fubao found some pigeon eggs. The price is a bit high; these eggs are valuable—worth more than what Aunt Chunxia said. Eight eggs in total, sold for a full four hundred wen!”

Jiang Eryong no longer dared joke, fearing his wife would take it seriously.

“What? Four hundred wen? Mother, did you hear that? Four hundred wen! Such tiny bird eggs, fifty wen each? Eggs from chickens are only two wen apiece! Are these rich folks’ brains broken? Or do they have so much silver they don’t know what to do with it? Spending four hundred wen on eight bird eggs… if that were my son, I’d open his butt with a stick. Money isn’t meant to be spent like that!”

Sun Pingmei’s mouth dropped in astonishment.

“You shouldn’t involve me, Mom! Don’t hit me.” Jiang Tonghuo, chopping wood nearby, felt speechless. He was being scolded for no reason.

“You, child! Mom is just hypothesizing, why are you so dumb? Definitely takes after your father.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the father and son exchanged a glance. Jiang Eryong and Jiang Tonghuo both sighed.

“Dahe, is what your second brother said true?” Zhang Jinlan, resting in the main room, came out. In this household, she only trusted her eldest son to speak honestly.

The second and youngest sons were always joking around; she didn’t trust them.

“It’s true. Eight pigeon eggs sold for four hundred wen. They’re wild pigeon eggs, rare and nutritious. Many wealthy families love them. Before I even named a price, a manager bought them all. Oh, and Mom, the meat price went up too—forty wen per jin. I bought one jin, leaving 360 wen, plus the thirty wen for moving grain bags, totaling 390 wen. Count it, Mom.”

As the eldest, he managed the money.

Jiang Dahe untied the money pouch from his waist and handed it to his mother.

Zhang Jinlan quickly took it, feeling the heavy pouch.

“I won’t count it. You’re always reliable. Go rest in the room, I’ll cook.”

“Daddy, daddy, let me see the basket,” Jiang Fubao whined, tugging at her father’s clothes while he spoke with her grandmother.

Jiang Siyin, a devoted father, immediately set the basket down.

Fubao lifted the green leaves covering the meat, bent over to shield the basket, and quietly swapped the meat in the spatial space with the meat in the basket.

After taking care of the meat, she happily went to wash her hands.

“Wow, why’s this meat so heavy? Definitely more than one jin… almost two, and it’s all wet. Did you wash it with water?”

Zhang Jinlan, about to cook, noticed something off about the weight.

A woman who had lived nearly half a lifetime could judge weight by hand—and always accurately.

She looked at her sons, puzzled.

“No, we didn’t. Why wash it? I’ll check,” Jiang Siyin said, confused. He had carried the basket the whole way, and it hadn’t rained. From the market to home, it never touched water. How could it have been washed?

“Feel the weight. Is it really two jin? Do you think I’d lie? Dahe, did you buy the wrong thing? This meat is more than one jin.”

Zhang Jinlan slapped her youngest son’s head and handed him the meat, then asked the eldest.

“No, it was one jin when I received it. It couldn’t have gotten heavier.”

Jiang Dahe was baffled.

“Whoa, indeed it’s heavier. Quite heavy. Big brother, look.”

Jiang Siyin passed the meat to Jiang Dahe, who then handed it to their father Jiang Shoujia.

When the Jiang family stood in the courtyard, staring at the meat in confusion, Jiang Fubao finally said in her childlike voice,

“Grandma, I’m hungry.”

“Oh, it’s dark already. I’ll cook. If the meat’s heavier, so be it. Maybe the butcher made a mistake—we benefit, spending the price of one jin for nearly two. I’ll render the fat into lard, the leftover lard bits make a dish, and we can stir-fry some salted meat slices. Oh, the kitchen stove also has wild pheasant soup simmering. We had some at lunch; the rest is for you five, though Fubao gets the drumstick.”

Hearing her granddaughter was hungry, Zhang Jinlan didn’t overthink.

Extra meat wasn’t a loss. The butcher took the hit, not them.

One extra jin could be turned into lard—just in time, since they were running low before the new year.

Today was truly lucky.

Caught a wild pheasant, got a good deal on meat…

Ever since Fubao woke from falling in the water, things had been going smoothly.

Zhang Jinlan’s smile grew wider as she carried the pork into the kitchen.

“What’s this about a wild pheasant?” Jiang Eryong asked Sun Pingmei.

“Fubao heard a bird call and pulled me to investigate. Turned out it wasn’t a bird—it was a lame wild pheasant. It can’t fly high, just runs fast, and its leg is broken, so it’s easy to catch. We had some for lunch; everyone got a piece. The leftover soup is for you tonight. Kiddo’s dad, let me have some soup too,” Sun Pingmei said in a soft, coaxing tone.

“Why do I feel creepy all over? Speak properly, we have kids watching. Nearly thirty years old and still so greedy! Thankfully our sons aren’t ready to marry, or their wives would laugh at you,” Jiang Eryong shivered.

Old couples, always acting coy. He shot Sun Pingmei a glare and quickly went inside.