Chapter 78

The two of them finally decided to buy both the water tank and the wooden barrel.

The water tank was easy to clean and maintain but too heavy, and it was prone to breaking if bumped, so they brought a wooden barrel for the trip back and forth.

When the two of them and their five children announced their plan to make rice wine to sell, Yan Qiuxing worried they wouldn’t do well, while Fan Jiang and Fan Hu worried about losing money.

Only Fan He was in high spirits and exclaimed, “Then let’s bring more bamboo tubes! Each bamboo tube sells for two wen!”

He understood that those buying the wine were people with extra money at home.

Unlike the ragged people in the village, they wore good clothes. Those willing to spend more than twenty wen per jin on wine that didn’t fill their bellies didn’t mind paying two wen for a bamboo tube.

Upon hearing that bamboo tubes could also be sold for money, the other four children were somewhat tempted.

“This year’s harvest is good, and it’s cold in winter. The wine will sell better than in previous years,” Yan Qiu hesitated uncertainly.

Wine was made from grain; in years of natural disaster when grain was scarce, even the court would issue decrees to limit wine production.

And in famine years, grain prices soared. Even wealthy families in the capital would prioritize buying grain.

Fan He excitedly continued, “With a good harvest, there will be more buyers. Didn’t the village elder say? There’s a high possibility of flooding next year!

If there’s a flood, grains will be scarce, and surely no one will want to buy our wine. So, let’s sell wine this winter and make money. With that, we can store more grain, and we won’t have to worry next year.”

The other four agreed vigorously.

Previously, their parents had earned some silver from selling chicken-head rice and mushrooms, but building a house would cost a lot. They needed to earn money quickly so the family wouldn’t go hungry!

The five children unanimously agreed and couldn’t wait to go home and start selling rice wine.

Shuiqing saw that Fan He, the second son, was the most eager to make money, and he was also quick-witted with a keen business sense.

Hmm, he’s a promising talent. Let’s focus on cultivating him in the future.

As for the other four, their strengths in different areas were still unclear. We’ll observe them slowly.

After deciding to make money by selling rice wine, the family first hurried to the place where the cart was parked, paid the fee, received the cart, and headed straight to where water tanks and wooden barrels were sold.

On the way, they saw someone selling rabbits. Six little rabbits were squatting in a bamboo cage, so they bought them as well.

The cart had to carry water tanks and wooden barrels, so buying a small lamb today was out of the question. When it came time to buy piglets, they would rely on Hu’s father, who was a butcher. He often dealt with pig-raising households.

He knew best which family’s piglets were cheap when their pigs gave birth.

With a goal in mind, the family was spirited and bought their goods.

On the cart were a large and a small water tank, five wooden barrels, a basket of miscellaneous items, and six rabbits in a bamboo basket. The remaining space was only enough for one person to sit.

They unanimously left this space for the youngest, Fan Hu.

The others walked on both sides of the cart.

Just as they left the city gate and turned onto the official road heading home, they saw from afar a woman in coarse clothes holding a basket.

She stretched her neck, stood on tiptoe, and when she saw Shuiqing’s group, she timidly called out to Fan Jin, “Senior Brother?”

Shuiqing was stunned. “Huh, an old acquaintance?”

She quickly blinked at Fan Jin to signal him.

Fan Jin first explained to her, “She’s my mentor’s daughter. Her father has taken care of me a lot in the past.”

Shuiqing waved her hand and urged, “Alright, alright, she’s been waiting here from far away. Go see what’s going on.”

She wasn’t the original owner, and Fan Jin was a good partner for her, a responsible teammate, but not yet her husband.

Moreover, maybe the woman really had something urgent.

Fan Jiang took the reins, and the other four surrounded Shuiqing, staring at her father and the woman.

“Mother, I saw this woman when I was at the grocery store,” Xing Hui whispered to Shuiqing.

“She was watching the black wooden hairpin I bought for you, Mother. I thought she wanted to buy it, so I didn’t say anything. When she just kept staring without speaking, I bought it.”

“Mother, she knows Father, so why didn’t she greet him at the grocery store? Why did she insist on waiting here?”

Shuiqing: … I was just focused on making money before, I have no experience in romance!

It’s pointless to ask her!

Fan He speculated on the side, “Could it be that she saw us buying so much and thought Father was very wealthy?”

As these few people whispered and muttered, Qin Wanyue looked at those big and small watching them, hesitantly suggesting, “Senior Brother, let’s go to the tree in the distance and talk about it, okay?”

Fan Jin’s handsome eyebrows frowned slightly, and he did not agree: “Wan, Mrs. Zheng, we are already married, we should avoid suspicion.”

Now under Shuiqing’s eyelids, he was still worried that he could not explain clearly. If he went to the trees behind, how could he say clearly?

“A nobleman does not stand under a precarious wall; naturally, I cannot go.”

Qin Wanyue was suddenly deeply moved. Holding a handkerchief to wipe tears from her eyes, she sobbed, “Senior Brother still cares for me, just like when we were children, caring for and considering me; not like… not like others.”

Shuiqing: …She was speaking so well, why is she crying now?

Fan Jin nervously first glanced at Shuiqing’s expression, then turned back and cautiously changed the subject, “I met Pingsheng brother during lunch.”

He didn’t mention the unpleasant incidents that had occurred.

Qin Wanyue halted her tears, softly saying, “I know, he came home during lunch to tell me.”

Together with his two friends who only know how to freeload, they were criticizing Senior Brother’s family.

Occasionally, they sighed that Senior Brother was now successful, had money, and the whole family dressed in fine clothes, able to order several meat dishes at Shanhai Lou!

She remembered when she was at the grocery store, Senior Brother’s daughter, a servant girl, bought the hairpin she had been hesitating to buy, and her heart ached.

These were things she should have enjoyed.

Fan Jin felt uncomfortable all over, patiently waited for a while, saw that Qin Wanyue had been silent, and reminded her, “Madam Zheng, is it something from Master’s place?”

They hadn’t seen each other for many years. If it wasn’t a matter from her husband’s family, it had to be something from her natal family for Qin Wanyue to come to him.

Qin Wanyue hesitantly shook her head, whispering, “During lunch, my husband and Pingsheng mentioned you. Thinking your family was in this direction, I couldn’t even eat lunch and waited here early just to see you, Senior Brother.”

Fan Jin’s heart tensed again. He nervously turned to look at Shuiqing and was afraid of making her misunderstand.

Qin Wanyue also noticed that during lunch, Zheng Pingsheng and his group had talked about Senior Brother’s wife, always using terms like “a rustic woman,” “shrew,” and “harridan.” She had already defined Senior Brother’s wife as an uncouth, unsuitable countrywoman.

She tugged at the hair that had fallen by her ear, tucked it back, and looked at Fan Jin’s worn coarse cotton gown. She sighed softly, “Senior Brother’s wife and children wear fine cotton clothes, only Senior Brother himself, the head of the family, wears coarse old clothes. If it were me… I would wear coarse old clothes myself, letting my husband shine outside, not allowing others to look down on him.”