Chapter 39

Not long after Wang Fa left, Wang Ren arrived.

He came in quite a rush, standing at the door and speaking with Shen Lin instead of entering the house.

He pulled a few pieces of broken silver and several strings of copper coins tied with red ribbons from his pocket and handed them to Shen Lin.

“I know that your family’s business has also been affected by the rainy days, and you’ve lost quite a bit. This is the compensation silver my father promised you after Aunt Wang caused a scene at your house last time. It totals 10 silver coins; please count it carefully.”

Wang Ren studied Shen Lin’s face closely, trying to discern whether he had been doing well lately, or whether Zhou Jing had given him a cold shoulder due to poor business. After looking carefully, he could not detect anything.

“I know that a few households have gone to Zhou Jing to demand compensation for their ducks. With this silver, your family should be able to manage.” Wang Ren said.

Shen Lin held the silver, feeling a mix of emotions. He understood the fickleness of human relationships and the unpredictability of accidents.

It was not the first time he realized that while many people offered help in good times, few were willing to lend a hand in times of need.

After holding the silver in silence for a moment, Shen Lin finally spoke softly, “Thank you. It must be hard for you to take this amount of silver. Aunt Wang values money above all else, especially at a time like this when every household is worried about their crops. With everyone wanting to stretch their silver as far as possible, for such a large sum, without your efforts, Aunt Wang definitely wouldn’t have let it go so easily.”

Wang Ren felt his face turn red. He had indeed used some unscrupulous means to obtain this silver, even employing his father’s influence for the first time to pressure others.

However, he did not plan to let Shen Lin know about these matters, as he wanted to maintain a good image in Shen Lin’s eyes.

Wang Ren: “Forget about that; hurry and give the silver to your brother-in-law. As for whether your brother-in-law asks about the ten lashes Aunt Wang was supposed to bear, just tell him that it took a lot of persuasion to get the silver, so the lashes had to be waived.”

Shen Lin rubbed the silver in his hands, his mind racing with thoughts. He sincerely thanked Wang Ren again and said, “Wait a moment, Wang Ren. I’ll go inside and get some sausages for you to take home to your family.”

Shen Lin went back inside and briefly spoke with Zhou Jing and Shen Mo.

Shen Mo said: “Wang Ren is actually thoughtful. I didn’t notice it before, but I didn’t expect him to be reliable at a critical moment.”

Zhou Jing smiled meaningfully.

“He is indeed being thoughtful. Now it’s said to be our family’s matter, but who knows, in the future, it might turn into a personal matter for him. As for Aunt Wang, getting 10 silver coins from her is already the best outcome. As long as she doesn’t cause any more trouble, we’ll let it go. Otherwise, we’ll deal with both the old and new debts together.”

Although Shen Lin didn’t say anything further, the tips of his ears turned slightly red, revealing that he understood what was meant.

Shen Mo said, “Xiao Di, pick out 10 catties and give it to Wang Ren as a thank-you gift for his help.”

Shen Lin agreed and went out with ten catties of sausages.

Wang Ren waved his hands repeatedly, saying, “I can’t accept this! Sausages are a precious item. I heard from others that your family sells them in town for 25 copper coins per catty, which is even more expensive than fatty meat. I can’t possibly take this much!”

Shen Lin said, “Just take it. Right now, this thing can’t be sold, and even if we keep it, we won’t be able to eat it all at home. It’s better for you to take it back and let Uncle Village Chief and Auntie taste it. Just consider it a way to thank them for helping my family get 10 silver coins from Aunt Wang. Either way, it’s better than throwing it away and wasting it.”

Wang Ren then accepted it.

The rain had drizzled on for ten days before finally stopping.

On the day the rain ceased, the villagers could not pay attention to the muddy fields and, wearing high rubber boots, trudged into the fields.

Looking at the seedling fields that had been washed askew by the rain, with roots uprooted and seedlings dying, several families who lived in extreme hardship fainted on the spot.

Heaven had so ruthlessly destroyed the crops in the fields; how were they going to get through this winter?

They had just enjoyed a few good years, and their lives had shown some improvement, yet in the blink of an eye, they were being thrown back to square one.

Even though the Zhou family had no land, they understood the difficulties faced by the families in the village. Shen Mo sighed and said helplessly, “This winter, I fear most families in the village will struggle.”

“We rely on the heavens for a living—there’s nothing we can do when natural disasters strike.” came the response.

With the rain stopped, the Zhou family’s stall could finally open. As there was no pork for making sausages at home, Zhou Jing and Shen Mo set out together in a mule cart to buy some.

The road from the village to the town was still a dirt path, untouched by any repairs from the officials. After the rain, it became particularly difficult to travel, and if one wasn’t careful, the mule cart’s wheels could easily get stuck.

However, in order to sell the sausages as soon as possible and make up for the losses during the rain, Zhou Jing and Shen Mo could not wait for the road to dry; they had to be careful as they drove the cart.

Despite their caution, the mule cart got stuck in the mud several times. Zhou Jing had to push from behind while Shen Mo urged the mule forward, and together they managed to free it. When they finally arrived at Butcher Wu’s place, Zhou Jing was covered in mud and looked quite disheveled, while Shen Mo, on the other hand, remained clean and fresh.

Butcher Wu said, “I haven’t seen you in a long time, Brother Zhou. How have you been lately?”

Zhou Jing forced a smile and replied, “This heavy rain has cost me a lot of sausages; I’ve lost all my stock.”

Butcher Wu sympathized and said, “Don’t mention it; even I’ve lost quite a bit in my shop in town. But Brother Zhou, you can still manage to get by. If you’re having trouble with money, I might not be able to help in other ways, but you can take the pork from me on credit. You can pay me after you sell the sausages.”

Zhou Jing smiled and said, “Thank you, big brother! I still have some silver on hand, so I can manage for now.”

Butcher Wu nodded, not wanting to waste any more time, and asked, “Same old arrangement?”

Zhou Jing shook his head and replied, “No, this time I need a larger quantity. I want one hundred catty of meat.”

Butcher Wu was taken aback for a moment. Then, thinking that Zhou Jing must be anxious to make up for his losses, he advised, “Selling fifty catty of sausages is already about right for your stall. If you add this much, you might not be able to sell it all.”

“It’s fine; I have other plans in mind,” Zhou Jing answered decisively.

Seeing Zhou Jing’s determination, Butcher Wu couldn’t persuade him further and began to cut the meat for him.

—o—o—o—

On the way back, Shen Mo asked Zhou Jing, “Brother Jing, if we buy so much meat, what if we can’t sell all the sausages in a day? It’s so hot; we can’t keep the sausages for a long time, and they’ll spoil by the next day.”

Zhou Jing replied, “We not only need to increase the quantity of sausages but also of duck products.”

“Ah?” Shen Mo responded, surprised.

Zhou Jing explained, “The heavy rain these past few days has given me some insight. Our business has relied too much on the weather. When the weather is good, we can do well, but once it rains, we can’t set up our stall, and we won’t earn a single penny at home. So, I thought we couldn’t just rely on the stall; we needed to come up with other ideas. Even if it rains, we can still sell our products and not run out of income.”

“What can we do to make money without setting up a stall?”

Zhou Jing winked mysteriously and smiled, “We can promote our products to the taverns in town. It doesn’t matter how big the tavern is or how much they order; as long as they want it, we’ll take the order. Little by little, if seven or eight shops in the whole town are willing to buy our sausage and duck products, our daily sales can match what we make from a whole day of setting up a stall.”

Shen Mo’s eyes sparkled with excitement upon hearing this. He wondered why he hadn’t thought of this method earlier. It turned out that people needed to be pushed to come up with ideas.

Because the sales of duck products had increased, the supply sent by Wang was no longer sufficient. Zhou Jing went to several other families in the village to collect more ducks. The families that sold their ducks had originally been frowning with worry, but unexpectedly, Zhou’s family took the initiative to approach them and offered to buy all their ducks. They immediately expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Zhou Jing and Shen Mo. Although the money from selling dozens of ducks was not much, recovering even a little loss was still a gain.

—o—o—o—

Three days later, Zhou Jing’s stall officially opened. The recent rain had a significant impact on families with land. For those in the town without land, it merely meant that the prices of vegetables had increased slightly. The larger impacts would not be felt until the autumn harvest later on.

Not long after their stall was set up, several old customers came looking for them.

The woman said: “It’s been raining these past few days, and your family hasn’t set up the stall. Your sausages have spoiled my little son; he keeps demanding to eat them. I had no choice but to brave the rain and buy some from Yunji, but they only had the original flavor, not the spicy one. My child won’t eat it at home.

The moment the rain stopped, I came out looking for your stall. I didn’t expect you wouldn’t be here, and my son threw quite a fit when I got home. Today, I just happened to be out buying vegetables and ran into you. Quickly give me a catty, so I can satisfy my child’s cravings. If my little son finds out I bought your sausages, he’ll be overjoyed!”

Shen Mo weighed out a catty and, after a moment’s thought, added two duck heads as well.

Shen Mo: “Big sister, you’ve been a loyal customer of ours, so I’m giving you two duck heads to try. Consider it our way of apologizing to your little one for making him wait so long for our sausages.”

Although two duck heads were not much, it made the woman feel appreciated.

She was pleased and smiled at Zhou Jing, saying, “You’re lucky to have such a spirited little husband who knows how to do business.”

Zhou Jing smiled and said, “It truly is my good fortune to have married him.”

Shen Mo’s face turned bright red at her words, and the woman covered her mouth and laughed.

Shen Lin, however, glanced at his older brother and then at Zhou Jing—momentarily lost in thought.

The business at the stall was still affected and was not as good as before.

Following their prior agreement, Zhou Jing took out another backpack filled with sausages and duck products and slung it over her shoulder.

“Both of you keep an eye on the stall for now. Don’t worry if things don’t sell quickly. There are usually fewer buyers in the morning market, and our main customers won’t arrive until noon. I’m going to promote our products to the shops in town. You all can eat lunch first; don’t wait for me. No matter what, I’ll make sure to return before we close up in the evening,” Zhou Jing instructed.

“Alright, you go ahead. We understand,” they replied.

—o—o—o—

Zhou Jing then headed towards the bustling streets, not differentiating between the size of the taverns or the decoration of the shops. As long as they were in the food business, he would not miss the opportunity to approach them.

“Boss, I have some sausages and duck products here. They taste excellent and are great as snacks when partnered with your drinks. Would you like to keep some in your shop to sell?”

The shop was small, with four or five tables inside, primarily serving breakfast and operating on a tight profit margin. Upon hearing Zhou Jing’s pitch, the owner didn’t even look at the products and directly refused.

Zhou Jing was not upset; instead, he smiled and said, “If you ever need some in the future, you can come find me at the market. My family has a stall set up there.”

Zhou Jing had anticipated that promoting his products in town would not be easy, so he did not feel discouraged after facing rejection from one shop.

After visiting a few more places, he arrived at a large tavern called Kelaiju.

Businesses like this one were usually quite prosperous, with a high customer flow. If he could succeed here, it would be more profitable than selling to five smaller taverns.

However, the chefs in such establishments were typically very skilled, making it unlikely that they would be interested in his offers.

Despite this, Zhou Jing still decided to give it a try.

Zhou Jing said: “Hey, young man, is the boss around? I have some sausages and duck products here, available in both spicy and original flavors. They’re great snacks to enjoy with drinks; you can keep some to try.”

Since it was morning, even in such a large tavern, there were only a few scattered tables of customers having breakfast.

The waiter leaned lazily against the counter, appearing indifferent.

Upon hearing that Zhou Jing was there to promote his products, he waved her away impatiently, as if shooing away a fly.

“No, thank you. Our tavern’s chefs are all from the capital; their dishes are far better than what a country person like you could offer. I don’t know what you’re thinking, trying to sell food in a tavern like this.”