Chapter 86: Knowing the Ugly

This was the first time Li had encouraged the three brothers so amiably to play in the main house. She stood in the courtyard and watched them go out with a smile.

Shen Tie, still somewhat confused, didn’t quite understand what was going on, but he noticed that his two brothers weren’t rushing as fast as usual today.

He was a bit puzzled, walking out of the courtyard for a long distance, looking sideways at Shen Jin, then at Shen Yin, and finally at Shen Jin, “Brother, is it true what mom said about buying cakes and candies for us?”

Li’s instructions to go into the courtyard to see something had slipped his mind, but he remembered about buying cakes and candies.

Shen Yin, upon hearing about cakes and candies, turned his head to look at their courtyard from afar. Seeing his mother peeking this way, he quickly turned back.

At six years old, still somewhat naive, he was a little better than Shen Tie but not by much. He seemed to understand a bit, but not entirely.

He was puzzled, “Brother, why did Mom ask us to see what our sister-in-law is doing? Chen Xiaoya and the others never come into our courtyard unless Big Brother and Sister asks them to. Brother, will Big Brother and Sister be angry if we sneak into the courtyard?”

Shen Jin frowned, not wanting to talk.

…

Outside the main courtyard of the Shen family, it was lively. When these younger children had finished eating and had nothing to do, they liked to come over here. At the moment, Shen Ning was teaching Chen Xiaoya and a few others how to write words in the sand.

Seeing Shen Jin and his brothers from afar, Shen Ning stood up and waved, “Shen Jin, Shen Yin, come here quickly!”

Shen Ning stopped writing and turned her head, seeing Shen Jin and his brothers coming over. But today, why did they seem so listless? They were walking unusually slowly, not charging forward like usual.

Apart from the time when she invited everyone for sugar water and didn’t call Shen Jin, Shen Ning had never seen Shen Jin look so downcast before. Shen Yin and Shen Tie also seemed strange, glancing at her courtyard from time to time.

Shen Ning was puzzled, “What are you guys doing?”

Seeing the three brothers not saying anything, she wondered, “Did you guys get scolded at home?”

As soon as she said this, Shen Yin and Shen Tie’s eyes floated around, looking at each other, and finally all went to look at Shen Jin.

Shen Jin, who had been silent all along, now had a face as unpleasant as he had never had before.

At eight years old, you could be very naughty, but you also knew what you should understand. So Shen Jin was very clear about why his mother had asked him to do this.

When Shen Ning and even Chen Xiaoya and the others looked over, Shen Jin’s face felt like it was being scraped by something sharp, from his forehead to his cheeks, to his ears, and down to his neck, all covered by clothing, feeling a burning sensation.

He regretted coming here like this. His mother asked him to do something like this, he shouldn’t have come, he should have avoided it, then he wouldn’t be embarrassed like he was now.

But Shen Jin inexplicably thought of the day when Shen An saved him a piece of preserved pork wrapped in a lotus leaf and quietly brought it to him.

He also thought of how he had pestered Shen An the day before, saying he didn’t know what pastries tasted like, and the next day his sister-in-law brought back two pastries from the county. When they were called to wash their hands, each of the kids got a small piece.

There was also meat porridge, crystal dried fruits.

Even at the banquet in the house, his sister-in-law made sure Shen An invited them to join, setting a table just for the children, full of delicious food, saying it was a thank you for their help.

And there was the jar of sugar water that Shen Ning asked Shen Yin to bring down for him yesterday. Although he didn’t ask for it at first, and Shen Ning even made him nearly cry before giving it to him, the sugar water was very sweet when he finally had it. He could tell it had a lot of sugar in it.

He thought of all these things along the way and ended up coming here like this.

Now being stared at by everyone, he felt dumbfounded.

The eight-year-old child already knew embarrassment. He subconsciously didn’t want his mother’s thoughts, what Li had said, to be known by others.

But looking at Shen Ning, who still didn’t know anything, he didn’t know where he got the courage from. He gritted his teeth, pulled Shen Ning, and headed towards the other side of the courtyard.

Shen Ning was puzzled.

“Where are you taking me?”

Do we have such a good relationship?

Shen Jin didn’t say anything either. He pulled her to the other side of the courtyard and walked a bit further inside. He looked around again to make sure no one was following before looking at Shen Ning. He moved his mouth several times, then finally asked in a hushed voice, “Is your family making something to sell in the county?”

Shen Ning’s pupils contracted slightly.

Seeing her reaction, Shen Jin knew that what his mother said did have a basis. He pursed his lips and said, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but take care of your home. If you’re alone at home, it’s best to lock the door.”

Leaving behind only this sentence, afraid that Shen Ning might ask more questions, he didn’t dare to stay any longer and turned around and left.

Shen Yin and Shen Tie were still standing where they were before, looking towards the corner of the house. When they saw Shen Jin coming out, both brothers looked at him, wanting to ask something. But Shen Jin called out to them and left, pulling one with each hand, and went down the hill.

Down the hill?

Chen Xiaoya and the others were a bit confused. They realized what was happening and wanted to ask, but Shen Jin walked very fast. In a blink of an eye, they were almost at the foot of the mountain.

Shen An came out from behind, and Chen Xiaoya couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong with Shen Jin? Why did he just leave after coming? Did you two have a fight again?”

Shen Ning looked down the mountain and shook her head, “No.”

…

More than an hour later, Sang Luo returned from the mountain with Shen An. Shen Ning went back to the house and told her sister-in-law and second brother about this.

Sang Luo’s eyebrows twitched slightly, “Is this Shen Jin’s exact words?”

Shen Ning nodded, “He didn’t let me ask any questions after he finished speaking. He just pulled Shen Yin and Shen Tie and left. Sister-in-law, do you think Uncle San and Auntie San know about us making tofu?”

“It’s not surprising if they know.”

Sang Luo reckoned that sooner or later this day would come. When they first started making tofu, they had planned to sell it in the countryside, so they hadn’t expected to keep it a secret for long.

During the busy farming season, they had set up a stall next to the butcher’s shop and were seen by the wife of the Zhou family’s village head. Although she had been mentally prepared for the villagers to find out, unexpectedly, the Zhou family didn’t say anything about it.

Later, when they went to sell in various villages with Chen Youtian, they thought they wouldn’t be able to keep it secret for more than a few days. But then there was the tax collection incident, and Chen Youtian only sold for a few days before stopping. They only went to sell a bit when there was a market day.

As a result, everyone in the village wasn’t doing well financially, and even fewer people went to the market. The Zhou family, who would go to the market, didn’t say anything, and they managed to keep it a secret until now.

She said, “Look after the house these days. I’ll go to the county tomorrow, buy some locks. It’s about time to replenish the big materials at home.”

Originally, they had saved some money to make quilts and mattresses first, but Shen Jin wouldn’t have reminded them for no reason. It was almost certain that Li had set her sights on their little livelihood.

The millstone and soybeans were fine. Even if they were found out, at most they would just make soy milk. As long as they hid the brine and gypsum well, tofu and dried tofu wouldn’t be easily discovered.

It was the dried jujubes, konjac, and gourd that couldn’t be discovered. She went to the mountain during the day to get fresh goods and dried semi-finished products, all of which were in the kitchen and backyard. These things absolutely couldn’t be found, otherwise, she wouldn’t have to take the fruit peels and pits to dig a hole and bury them in the mountain every time.

These three items didn’t seem conspicuous, but their profits were greater than the three kinds of bean products combined. The only disadvantage was that the raw materials were all found in the mountain and didn’t last long.

The more inconspicuous they were, the less they could be found by others. Everyone knew that these things could make money. There was no need for her, Shen An, or Shen Ning to pick them up.

Sang Luo was really annoyed. If they had the ability, they would split the house so messily, they shouldn’t covet their food.

What do they want anyway?

The next day, Sang Luo was going to the county. After finishing her work in the evening, she took out the jar from under the bed and counted the money with the two younger ones.

Since they had paid off the debt to Dongfu Restaurant, the three hundred and forty cents from the plain tripe was now theirs to keep every day. The dried tofu sold well in the county too.

Not only did Qin Fangniang and Gan’s wives receive orders from two major restaurants, but also Feng Liuniang, who had been criticized by her sister-in-law at home as not as good as Gan’s and Qin Fangniang. When she turned around and returned to the county, she gritted her teeth and

 found some small snack shops to sell to, and she also found several regular customers.

But here they had a limited amount, with only four boards of dried tofu sold every day, totaling two hundred and fifty-six cents, and they had to negotiate with each other about splitting it. That made three hundred and eighty-four cents a day.

As for tofu, because they were really busy, they reduced the amount of tender tofu after adding old tofu, balancing it out, and didn’t earn much more.

So, only selling plain tripe and the goods ordered by three families, Sang Luo could earn more than nine hundred cents a day. But because the price of grain had skyrocketed, although the price of soybeans hadn’t been affected much, Sang Luo also felt a sense of crisis. Recently, she had taken orders from the three families, forty percent of which were beans, and didn’t fully charge. As a result, the amount of money they actually received for soy products was only three hundred and eighty-eight cents a day.

Adding the plain tripe, they earned over seven hundred and twenty cents a day.

In these days, except for buying a large jar and two sifters from Dongfu Restaurant, they hardly spent any money. So, the jar under the bed was really heavy at the moment, full to the brim.

Considering that the quantity was not small at first sight, Sang Luo simply took out the jar and brought it to the kitchen. Under the oil lamp, she poured it out on the table. The three of them sat around the table and counted the money.

Wow, after they were all counted, it was a total of six guan, with several tens of cents left.

Sang Luo’s mood, which had been messed up by Li, suddenly brightened.

“Tomorrow, I’ll see the price of the locks and buy a few more… ” Thinking about it, she realized that the courtyard outside needed to be locked, and there were too many semi-finished products in the kitchen and backyard to be locked. There were also all the belongings of a family in the main house, which also needed to be locked.

Wouldn’t that be four locks?

Looking at the pile of money, Sang Luo’s mouth twitched. She always felt that locks wouldn’t be cheap, but when she estimated the price of a kitchen knife, they shouldn’t be more expensive than a kitchen knife.

With this in mind, Sang Luo put the dozens of cents into her purse. As for the rest of the money that had been strung together, she found two pieces of old cloth and divided the money into two bags. Along with the jars of jujube candies and sour jujube cakes she was going to bring the next day, she stuffed them into the carrying basket. She placed some lotus leaves on top and added two handfuls of wild vegetables before considering it complete.

It was really burdensome to carry, and the purse couldn’t hold it all.

Sang Luo thought to herself as she packed, tomorrow’s spending would rely on these copper coins. Buying locks, buying large materials, and needing to buy two more jars, as well as some cotton, grains, and flour, would probably leave nothing left.

As for the silver from Yongfeng Restaurant, she had to save it slowly. She couldn’t leave herself with no money at all. Silver had a small volume and high value. Keeping silver was the right thing to do.

Seeing his sister-in-law only putting two jars into the carrying basket, Shen An looked puzzled as he glanced at the other two jars of sour jujube cakes and jujube candies on the shelf, “Sister-in-law, aren’t you taking those two jars?”

Sang Luo shook her head, “No, it’s not easy to find sour jujubes and jujubes now. We’ll save those two jars for later and send them to the county in a few days.”