Chapter 28

Aunt Zhang’s voice trembled as she asked, “Did you say two and a half catties of rice for one catty of fox nuts? Did I hear that right?”

That was two and a half catties of rice!

One catty of rice cost nine wen, so two and a half catties would be over twenty wen. Could something that was found everywhere in rivers and ponds be worth more than twenty wen?

Aunt Zhang couldn’t believe it. Instinctively, she thought Fan Jin and Shuiqing were thanking her.

But on second thought, it didn’t seem likely. Fan Jin and Shuiqing weren’t very wealthy, and Fan Jin had said they would need more continuously, no matter how much they could provide.

“You heard right. To tell you the truth, it’s my husband’s classmate who’s buying. He owns a restaurant, and a bowl of soup or a cake can easily cost dozens or even hundreds of wen. When my husband heard he was exchanging rice for fox nuts, he thought of our village. When he came back and I told him how you helped me, we decided to ask your family first to see if you were interested,” Shuiqing explained smoothly.

It made perfect sense.

Aunt Zhang hadn’t expected that a simple act of kindness in the morning would bring such a great reward!

In her heart, she thanked all the gods and buddhas, nodding repeatedly, “Willing, willing! How could we not be willing?”

Coarse rice cost five or six wen a catty, and black flour cost three wen a catty. Her family usually exchanged the harvested millet and corn for black flour and ate black flour porridge.

Two and a half catties of rice could be exchanged for seven or eight catties of black flour porridge, enough to feed the family for two days.

“Alright, let me ask, how many catties can your family supply in a day?” Shuiqing inquired.

Aunt Zhang was about to give a number when she saw several children in the yard.

In the yard, Jin Niu, Yin Niu, Tong Niu, Tie Niu, and Mu Niu couldn’t stay still any longer. They got up and walked towards the house.

“Mom, my brothers and I won’t go up the mountain to chop firewood and sell it. We’ll go catch fox nuts, and you and the younger ones can stay at home to peel them. We’ll spend the whole day peeling fox nuts!” Zhang Tong Niu said.

Their family had little land and poor harvests, so they were most enthusiastic about free food. They were the fastest at peeling fox nuts in the village.

Now, one catty of fox nuts could be exchanged for more than twenty wen, incomparable to the two or three wen for a load of firewood. The family naturally had to focus on this.

If they did well, they might not have to go hungry during the lean months next year…

Aunt Zhang had an idea. She looked at Shuiqing seriously and said, “I’m the most skilled at peeling fox nuts in the village. I can peel five or six catties a day. With the kids helping, we can manage at least twenty catties a day.”

She was startled by the number herself. Twenty catties of fox nuts meant fifty catties of rice, which could be exchanged for over a hundred catties of black flour.

Could they really earn over a hundred catties of black flour in a day?

She calmed her rapid heartbeat and nervously asked Shuiqing, “Second Daughter-in-law, is twenty catties too much? We’d be fine with less.”

Shuiqing quickly reassured her, “Not at all! My husband’s classmate said the more, the better. Aunt Zhang, you just keep peeling as much as you can, we’ll take it all.”

Aunt Zhang relaxed and smiled, pointing to the bamboo sieve with fox nuts draining, ready to be dried. She instructed her daughter, “Quickly put these away and bring some to your second uncle and second aunt to taste.”

Fan Jin and Shuiqing naturally declined, but eventually collected all the peeled nuts and reminded Aunt Zhang to soak the ones peeled in the afternoon and deliver them before dark.

Tomorrow, once Fan Jin delivered them to the city, they would bring back the grain and distribute it.

Aunt Zhang’s family had no objections, thanking them profusely and seeing them off for a long distance. On the way back, Aunt Zhang’s voice choked with emotion, “Eldest, do you think this is a blessing from the heavens?”

She didn’t think she had done anything wrong, but she had a husband who gambled, and her children had only barely survived. Forget about enjoying life; even a full meal was a luxury.

Every day was a struggle to worry about the next meal and tomorrow’s needs.

She managed the few acres of barren land diligently, never imagining that the fox nuts in the ponds could be exchanged for grain one day.

“Mom, it’s because Second Uncle Fan is capable and Sister-in-law Shuiqing knows how to repay kindness!” Zhang Xiaocao brought her mother back from her thoughts, emphasizing.

Aunt Zhang came back to her senses, muttering, “Yes, yes, if it weren’t for the Fan family’s second son knowing a rich man’s son, and if Sister-in-law Shuiqing hadn’t thought of our family, such good fortune wouldn’t have come our way!

In the past, even people in the village, including your Aunt Fan, said the Fan family’s younger son was useless, wasting money on education. But now, it seems that being literate and educated is good. Even the jobs he finds are things we never dared to imagine.”

Jin Niu chuckled, “Right, Second Uncle Fan is clearly different from us. Educated people think better and have it easier than farming.”

Tie Niu quietly said, “I feel like Sister-in-law Shuiqing has changed too.”

“How has she changed? She’s still the same. You’ve only seen her a few times; how can you tell?” Yin Niu teased.

“I also feel she’s different. She’s the same person, but she seems more reliable, trustworthy,” Mu Niu tried to explain, frowning as he struggled to find the right words.

Aunt Zhang found the reason and said cheerfully, “Ah, what do you know? It’s because they’ve separated from the family. She’s standing tall and confident now. Naturally, she looks better;

And being the one in charge, her words and actions make people trust her.”

The six children listened, feeling it was both as their mother said and not quite.

“Alright, hurry up and pick fox nuts. We need to deliver them to Second Uncle Fan’s house before dark. We can’t lose such a good job;

When it’s over and we’ve earned enough grain, I’ll make you black flour pancakes!” Aunt Zhang waved her hand, smiling broadly as she spoke.

Over a hundred catties of black flour a day… Occasionally giving the children something dry to eat was alright, wasn’t it?

Hearing they could have dry pancakes, not only did the younger Mu Niu and Tie Niu cheer, but even the eldest Jin Niu couldn’t help but look forward to it.

Since their father started gambling, losing all their money and land, how long had it been since they’d had something dry to eat?

Other families looked forward to eating meat and eggs during the New Year, but their family just wanted a full meal, hoping to have at least one dry meal instead of two bowls of thin porridge a day…

After leaving Aunt Zhang’s house, Shuiqing and Fan Jin headed to the village head’s house, then to Granny Li’s house, and to everyone who had helped Shuiqing that morning. They didn’t visit anyone else that day.

There was no need to visit more.

Because once they delivered the rice tomorrow, other families would bring fox nuts on their own to ask if they were needed.

They had also agreed on delivery times, precautions, grain quantities, and distribution times with other families, just like Aunt Zhang. Initially, everyone was so shocked they thought they had misheard, then turned to joy, repeatedly asking if they had heard correctly.

Once they were sure they hadn’t misheard, they promised they could start today and deliver a batch before dark!