The round-faced young lady nodded and said, “Of course we’ll drink. Sister Jiang, if you want some, then come over, sit down, and stop talking. If you don’t want any, you can step aside.”

It was clear that these young ladies subtly regarded the round-faced one as their leader.

When she stepped past the Jiang family’s young lady and sat down, the others followed and took their seats as well.

The Jiang family’s young lady found it a bit embarrassing, but since the elders at home had instructed her not to leave just like that, she had no choice but to awkwardly sit down beside the round-faced young lady.

Qin Rong and Qin Yue brought out bowls of white peach milk tea for the girls. “Please enjoy.”

The young ladies thanked them, then elegantly picked up their bowls and began to drink.

The first sip was sweet, the second refreshing—sip after sip, and before long they had each finished a bowl.

“So good!”

Several of the girls immediately asked for another bowl—except the Jiang family’s young lady.

She would never admit that it tasted good.

She just licked her lips and stared blankly at her empty bowl. How did I finish it so fast…?

After these girls left, more customers came sporadically.

By then, they had sold over a dozen more bowls of milk tea and a few servings of the spiced river snails. Almost everything they had prepared for the day was sold.

There were still a few bowls of white peach milk tea left, but Qin Rong didn’t plan to sell them.

Madam Yu liked it too, so she planned to bring the rest to the embroidery shop and share it with Madam Yu and the shopkeeper.

As for the last two or three portions of perilla-flavored river snails, she would have Yu Xiaoshan bring them home so the family could taste them too.

Qin Rong quickly did the math:

Fish balls brought in about twenty to thirty copper coins.

Pumpkin blossom cakes earned eighty copper coins.

Perilla snails earned eighty copper coins.

White peach milk tea brought in about 180 copper coins.

Altogether, they made 570 copper coins after deducting the cost of ingredients.

Qin Rong took out 40 copper coins and gave 20 each to Yu Xiaoshan and Qin Yue. “You both worked hard today. Take this—it’s your wage.”

Qin Yue quickly refused. “Sister, I really don’t need it.”

“How can you say that? You helped, and you should be rewarded. I may not earn much now, and there’s a lot we still need at home. But in the future, when things are more stable, I’ll pay you even more,” said Qin Rong.

Yu Xiaoshan had also wanted to decline.

His older brother worked at the docks and only earned thirty coins a day—and that didn’t include meals.

Helping Qin Rong wasn’t hard work, and she fed him too.

He felt bad taking more money.

But he knew Qin Rong’s personality by now—if she said she’d pay, she meant it.

“Thank you, Big Sister!” Yu Xiaoshan said sincerely.

Seeing him accept the money, Qin Yue also took hers.

She carefully tucked the twenty coins into her money pouch.

Yesterday, she had just sold some hair ties.

After handing over the required amount to the household, she had five coins left.

Now she had twenty-five coins of her own—her very first bit of personal savings in her whole life.

“Ah Yue and Xiaoshan go pick up Ah Yi. I’ll have the fish vendor deliver the fish directly to our home,” Qin Rong instructed.

“Okay!”

Qin Rong looked at the sky and worried it might rain.

Spring rains could come in an instant, and she had no desire to get soaked.

She picked up her pace and reached Li’s Embroidery Shop in less than half an hour.

Since it was market day, the shop was full of customers.

Manager Liu was so busy her feet barely touched the ground, yet she still wore a cheerful smile while tending to the clients.

Qin Rong made her way to the shop’s back door, where an older maid stood guard. If you wanted to speak to an embroiderer, you could let the maid know.

“Granny Li, could you please call my mother, Madam Yu?”

“Wait here.”

Before long, Madam Yu came out.

Seeing her daughter suddenly appear, she immediately worried something had happened at home.

Her expression turned anxious. “Rong’er, what is it? Did something happen at home?”

Qin Rong quickly said, “It’s nothing. There were a few servings of white peach milk tea left, so I brought them for you, Mother.” She had set aside a portion for Madam Liu, the manager, since she had always treated her mother kindly.

The remaining two servings would be for her mother to distribute as she saw fit.

Madam Yu felt quite gratified.

She patted Qin Rong’s head and said, “Our Rong’er has worked hard.”

“It’s not hard, Mother.”

When she was about to leave, Qin Rong also gave Granny Li a small piece of pumpkin blossom cake—it was just a leftover fragment, not even a full piece.

Granny Li hadn’t expected to get a share and happily accepted the cake Qin Rong handed her.

She even scooped up a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds to give to Qin Rong.

“Granny roasted these—let the girl have a taste.”

“Thank you, Granny Li!”

…

Madam Yu brought a bamboo tube of the milk tea for Manager Liu, kept two bowls for herself, and gave a tube each to Madam Yang, who had taught her a lot about embroidery, and to Madam Chen, who was also close to her.

But not everyone in the embroidery workshop was pleasant.

Madam Zhou, who came from a better-off farming family and whose embroidery skill and talent were far inferior to Madam Yu’s, had always looked down on her and tried to outshine her in everything.

That day, when Madam Yu brought the white peach milk tea, Madam Zhou made a few sarcastic remarks.

Madam Chen tried to speak up for Madam Yu, only to be ridiculed by Madam Zhou as well, making everyone speechless.

Madam Yu ignored her.

Just because Madam Zhou married into a slightly better-off family didn’t mean she was superior.

Madam Yu earned her money through her own hands and felt no shame in that—she didn’t consider herself beneath anyone.

By the time Qin Rong returned home, her clothes had already been dampened by the spring rain. It looked like she wouldn’t be able to set up her stall tomorrow.

She told Yu Xiaoshan to go back first and decided not to make the remaining fish balls.

Thankfully, she hadn’t planned to make too many, since it was right after the market fair.

Knock knock knock.

Someone was knocking at the door.

Qin Rong opened the door to see it was Uncle Wu Fu.

“Uncle Wu, what brings you here?”

Wu Fu put down the basket on his back and said, “Yesterday, I took the little one from home to dig up some spring bamboo shoots. These were sent by the master.”

Qin Rong was surprised at the full basket of bamboo shoots. “This is too much…”

“Not at all—not at all! Just a token of thanks for the white peach milk tea that day.” Wu Fu chuckled as he handed over the basket.

“Then I won’t be polite. Thank you, Uncle Wu.”

Turning around, Qin Rong caught sight of the cured meat hanging under the eaves to dry, and an idea came to her: she would make a fresh bamboo shoot and cured pork stew.

She called over Qin Yue and Qin Yi to help peel the bamboo shoots.

There were about ten catties (around 5kg) of shoots in the basket.

She planned to peel half—five catties—for the stew.

She had just bought a new clay pot yesterday, and now it was finally going to be put to good use. fresh bamboo shoot required slow simmering, making a good clay pot essential.

There was already one pot at home, so she decided to cook two pots at once.

After all, since Master Wu had sent over so many bamboo shoots, she couldn’t possibly just accept the favor without returning something.

“You give me a peach, I’ll repay you with a jade.”