Chapter 35

On the road to the county seat, Qin Fangniang was also explaining to Sang Luo what her father had instructed.

“We could have invited a few more families, but my father only realized last night that it might be better not to let people know too early about your fairy tofu business to avoid attracting attention. So, he didn’t invite too many people, just the two families with the closest relationship to ours. It may take a little longer to build the house.”

“By the way, my father’s explanation to others is that we made the money for building the house by selling wild vegetables in the county. Even if someone in the village is curious, they won’t come all the way to the county to see. Besides, they wouldn’t want to spend money on the entrance fee.”

Sang Luo chuckled. “Your father is right. We are indeed selling wild vegetables. Let’s go with what your father said. It’s okay to be a bit slower. Can it be finished before the autumn harvest?”

Qin Fangniang nodded. “It’s still possible to finish before the autumn harvest.”

If she could finish before the autumn harvest, Sang Luo would be fine. Although it might be a bit slower, she would avoid a lot of trouble.

They entered the city smoothly. They first went to the West Market, where Sang Luo placed her items. Then Qin Fangniang went to the East Market by herself, pulling a cart.

Sang Luo made 120 pieces of fairy tofu last night, with each person taking 60 pieces. Together with the wild vegetables she brought, they each went about their business.

By the time it was noon, except for two bunches of wild vegetables that hadn’t been sold, everything else had been sold. Sang Luo looked at the few buyers left in the West Market and thought it would be difficult to sell the remaining vegetables. So she decided to pack up her stall, hand in her tax token, and pick up her empty buckets and baskets to go to the East Market to find Qin Fangniang.

They met in the East Market, and Qin Fangniang had also sold out her immortal tofu, with only a few bunches of horse teeth grass left.

Seeing Sang Luo approaching, Qin Fangniang knew it was time to close shop and return home.

It was noon, and everyone was resting at home. Who would come to the market to shop?

Sang Luo tidied up and handed over the money to Qin Fangniang. With some excitement, she whispered to Sang Luo, “I sold eighteen bunches of wild vegetables today, plus thirty coins for the tofu. In total, I made thirty-nine coins. After deducting the entrance fee and market tax, I have thirty-seven coins. Today, I can also buy a bone stick to take back.”

Qin Fangniang was genuinely happy.

The money from the immortal tofu was fixed. She might be slow at calculations, but from the moment she learned that Sang Luo had given her sixty coins at the West Market, she knew that if all her tofu sold out in the East Market, she would have thirty coins. As for the vegetables, Qin Fangniang added one coin for every two bunches she sold, silently tallying up in her mind.

She didn’t need to count the money again now; she knew exactly how much she had earned today.

Thirty-seven coins! Qin Fangniang was overjoyed even before Sang Luo arrived.

“Thank you so much.” Qin Fangniang was so excited that she didn’t know what to say. “This is a huge income for our family.”

She didn’t know how big, but Qin Fangniang knew that earning nearly forty coins in a day was astonishing, something she had never dared to dream of before.

Farmers relied on a few profitable ventures all year. Usually, selling eggs once every eight or ten days was the most they could manage. Apart from selling grains every year, they rarely saw much money.

Now that she had handed over the money owed to Sang Luo, Qin Fangniang squeezed her slightly heavy money pouch and thought about earning so much money every day in the future. Her heart and hands trembled with excitement.

Sang Luo smiled and warned her, “This is just a recent trend. Selling may slow down a bit in the future.”

But when the tofu was introduced, she didn’t need to mention it to Qin Fangniang yet.

Qin Fangniang was momentarily stunned, then slightly disappointed, but she quickly adjusted her attitude. “That’s still good.”

Sales might slow down a bit, but they wouldn’t be significantly less. With a new type of food available, there would always be some people who liked it. Being able to make a stable income from these people’s businesses in the long run was also good.

However, when Qin Fangniang thought about the fact that the raw materials for Sang Luo’s product came from the mountains, she became a little worried. She didn’t know if those things were available all year-round or if they were seasonal.

But these things she could only think about in her heart. She wouldn’t ask anything she shouldn’t ask.

“Let’s go. I’ll buy a bone stick, and then we’ll buy some grain,” Qin Fangniang said.

Sang Luo nodded. “Before buying grain, I think I’ll buy a rice jar first. We only have two cloth bags at home, and it’s not very convenient to use.”

As soon as Qin Fangniang heard that Sang Luo wanted to buy a rice jar, she nodded in agreement. “A rice jar is essential. We have a saying that even if a family is struggling, they mustn’t be without a rice jar and a water jar. It’s part of the feng shui of a home.”

To buy a rice jar, they had to go to the shops on the main street from the East Market. As they walked with their burdens, Qin Fangniang told Sang Luo, “When you put the rice jar at home, remember to put three coins inside.”

This was the first time Sang Luo had heard of this. “Is there a special meaning behind this?”

Qin Fangniang shook her head. “I don’t know either, but everyone does it. We have an old saying that goes, ‘With coins in the rice jar, wealth will never cease.’ Anyway, it’s auspicious to do so.”

Sang Luo made a mental note to do it when she got home.

After buying a bone stick each, Sang Luo asked the butcher to cut a small piece of lean meat, intending to stew it with the bone soup. Both her and her children’s bodies needed nourishment, and supplementing their nutrition was an ongoing process.

With the meat bought, the two of them left the East Market and headed straight to the grocery store on the main street.

The grocery store in the county was much larger than those in the village markets, with all kinds of pottery displayed in a storefront. There were various sizes and shapes of rice jars alone.

Sang Luo picked one without much hesitation, opting for the simplest and most practical one she could afford. She spent eighty-nine coins on a clay rice jar with a lid that could hold five dou of rice. This would suffice for the daily use of their family of three. She also bought some salt.

They asked the shop assistant to help wipe off the dust from the rice jar with a clean cloth and then moved it onto Qin Fangniang’s cart, surrounded by a few buckets to keep it stable.

With the rice jar acquired, they proceeded to buy grain. This time, Sang Luo had some silver coins on hand, so she didn’t have to buy just a liter or two but could ask for a whole dou.

It cost seventy coins, and when pounded into rice, it would yield about seven or eight liters. Combined with what they had pounded the day before, it should be enough for two or three days if there weren’t many people to feed.

With more than fifty coins left in her hand, Sang Luo didn’t spend them recklessly. With construction on the house starting tomorrow, she needed to buy meat, eggs, and vegetables. Plus, there might be unexpected expenses. It was wise to keep some extra money on hand during these days.

Back in the village, it was already afternoon, and Sang Luo was both tired and hungry. Since they were cooking at the Chen family’s place the next day, they let Qin Fangniang push the cart directly back home. Sang Luo planned to carry only a basket on her back and return home via the small path. She would leave the water buckets and such for the afternoon when she had rested. 

Qin Fangniang agreed to everything except one thing.

“The rice jar cannot be placed in my house. It might bring bad luck to your family. I’ll have your uncle deliver it to your home when I get back.”

She was quite superstitious, following one belief after another.

Sang Luo felt it was best not to know about these things, but once she did, she had to believe in them. It made her feel better, didn’t it? She didn’t argue with Qin Fangniang. “Auntie, I’m really tired. Let Uncle Youtian take care of it.”

Knowing that Sang Luo went to the county early every morning to set up her stall and had to go into the mountains in the afternoon to find materials, and that she had to work all night making fairy tofu, Qin Fangniang insisted, “It’s no trouble at all. You don’t need to carry those buckets yourself. I’ll have your uncle deliver them for you, and he can pound the grain for you as well. Just go home, eat something, and rest.”

Sang Luo thanked her and bid farewell to Qin Fangniang before heading back along the small path.

…

Back at home, Uncle Shen waited and waited, but he didn’t see a trace of Sang Luo or Qin Fangniang. Not even Shen An or Shen Ning came over. At lunchtime, he caught Shen Jin coming home and asked him, but Shen Jin said he hadn’t seen his sister-in-law all morning.

Uncle Shen and Mrs. Li had been keeping an eye on the Chen family all morning but hadn’t seen Qin Fangniang come out at all. She was usually very active around the village, known for her diligence. She wasn’t the type to stay cooped up indoors all day.

With doubts in their hearts, Uncle Shen didn’t even manage to have a peaceful nap that afternoon. He reluctantly lay down for about twenty minutes before rolling over and heading out to the courtyard.

And just as he stepped out, he saw Qin Fangniang pulling a cart back from a distance.

Uncle Shen squinted and saw that the cart seemed to be loaded with baskets and barrels. As the person got closer, he could see clearly. It was indeed baskets and wooden barrels—about seven or eight of them.

Qin Fangniang pulled the cart to her own door and called for Chen Youtian. The couple didn’t know what they were doing, but soon after, Chen Youtian came out with a rice jar. Uncle Shen stood in his own yard for a long time, observing as Chen Youtian made several trips, each time taking baskets, barrels, and pottery up the mountain.

He thought carefully. When did the main branch of the family get so close to the Chen family?

While Shen Lie was still at home, they were closer to the Chen family’s eldest son. It wasn’t uncommon for the younger generation in the village to get closer.

After Shen Lie left home, it was Shen An’s siblings who became closer to the younger generation of the Chen family.

But it wasn’t like this before, was it? At least the elderly couple and the younger couple from the Chen family weren’t involved. Especially after hearing about the death of Chen Dashan, the elderly couple and the younger couple seemed to be in low spirits for some time, not speaking much and rarely smiling. It took nearly half a year for them to recover slightly.

Getting closer to Sang Luo seemed to have started… after borrowing grains that night?

But when the Chen family lent grain to Sang Luo, it should have been Sang Luo who felt grateful to the Chen family. Why does it seem so off now?

Uncle Shen stared in the direction of the Chen family for a long time, but he couldn’t figure it out. With a dark expression on his face, he sat back in the main hall.

Sang Luo had no idea that the matter of building two houses would trouble Uncle Shen’s family for a whole day. If she knew, she would probably respond with, “What does it have to do with you?”

When she returned home, the area behind their thatched house, which was being cultivated, was bustling with activity. Looking over, she saw seven children scattered around the small patch of land, ranging from tall to short.

She was a little stunned and inexplicably thought, “Hmm, tie a vine around them, and they would be the Calabash Brothers, seven of them, neither too many nor too few.”

Shen An and Shen Ning were the most enthusiastic when they saw her. As soon as they dropped their hoes, they ran over, helping carry baskets and fetching water, asking her if she was tired and if she had eaten.

Chen Ershan called out “sister-in-law” from afar, while the little girl followed behind Shen Ning, shyly looking at Sang Luo and calling out “sister-in-law” as well.

Shen Jin, who had been scolded by Sang Luo a few days ago, felt awkward and paused with his hoe but didn’t move.

Shen Yin and Shen Tie were unfamiliar with Sang Luo. Seeing their brother not moving, the two little brothers didn’t dare to move either.

Looking at this group, Sang Luo felt, um, like she was the owner of a coal mine with child laborers. What should she say? Anything she said would be a bit awkward.

She knew what was going on with Shen Jin’s three, but what about Chen Ershan and the little girl?

Sang Luo squatted down and asked the little girl beside Shen Ning, “Why are you helping with the land too?”

It was the first time the little girl had met an adult who would squat down and talk to her at eye level. Being so close, she felt curious, happy, and a little nervous.

“I’m helping Sister Ning. And there were bean cakes yesterday. The bean cakes Mom brought home were delicious. Thank you, Sister-in-law,” the little girl said, a little embarrassed.

Shen Jin’s ears perked up suddenly. What bean cakes?!!!

The person who had been digging suddenly stopped and looked at the two people talking in the distance.

He moved his lips, wanting to ask, but remembering the last time he had been brushed off by this elder sister-in-law, for some reason, he didn’t dare.

Shen Jin felt sad and angry. Who exactly was this sister-in-law?

Why were all the Chen siblings eating bean cakes, and he didn’t even see a crumb?

Unacceptable.

He was still surnamed Shen, wasn’t he?

Even if they were cousins, they were still brothers, right?

Looking at Chen Ershan, who was working hard beside him, he became even more annoyed.

Disdain! Disdain! Disdain!

Without hesitation, Shen Jin, holding his hoe, moved closer to Chen Ershan, who had a puzzled expression.

Um, not tall enough.

Shen Jin tiptoed, stretched his neck, lowered his voice, but miraculously maintained his momentum. “Clearly, you also came to work after eating bean cakes. How dare you look down on me this morning!?”

Chen Ershan: ???

What are you talking about?

Shen Jin, still feeling annoyed, couldn’t help but ask Chen Ershan, “Um, so, were the bean cakes delicious?”