When Madam Yu returned home that evening, she also had a taste of the perilla-flavored river snails.

Being someone who loved both sweets and spice, she was completely conquered by the flavor of the dish and couldn’t stop praising Qin Rong while eating.

“Ah Rong, your cooking has gotten even better!”

Qin Rong laughed, “Well, your daughter is amazing!”

At that moment, Madam Yu truly felt that leaving that marriage had been the best decision she ever made.

Not only did she now have her own little space, but she had also picked up embroidery again.

Though the daily work at the embroidery workshop was tiring, she was learning from highly skilled embroiderers, and she could clearly feel that her embroidery skills had improved significantly.

“Ah Rong, don’t overwork yourself at the stall every day.”

Qin Rong handed her a cup of tea and smiled. “Mother, I know what I’m doing. I earned two strings of coins today. I was thinking, since we still lack many household items, I’ll save up a bit and go buy what we need soon.”

Madam Yu hadn’t expected Qin Rong to earn so much in just one day—it was nearly half her own monthly wage.

“You actually made that much?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“That’s wonderful! My daughter is truly capable. I can’t fall behind either—this spring, I’ll find a way to get new clothes for all three of you girls.”

Madam Yu didn’t feel the least bit disheartened by her daughter’s success.

On the contrary, she felt proud and uplifted.

Who said girls were useless?

Qin Yue quickly added, “Mother, I’ll contribute the money I earned from tying knots. Let me help too.”

Madam Yu originally wanted to refuse, but seeing that Qin Yue was sincere, she accepted warmly. “Good. The four of us—mother and daughters—will make this life a good one.”

There was one thing she didn’t say aloud: “Let that scoundrel Qin Tiezhu’s whole family regret it for the rest of their lives.”

..

The next day was overcast, and it looked like it might rain—the worst weather for running a food stall.

Qin Rong and Xiao Shan set up early, hoping to sell out their fish balls and pumpkin flower cakes before the rain arrived.

Business was good.

The little food stall was already gaining some regular customers, and at this hour, fish balls sold particularly fast.

While Qin Rong was still busy selling, a sharp and mocking voice rang out nearby: “Well, well, look who it is—if it isn’t my dear cousin!”

Qin Rong looked up and saw several young women gathered around her stall.

The one who had spoken was Qin Lian, the daughter of Qin Laoniang’s youngest son.

Just hearing her name made Qin Rong want to roll her eyes.

Qin Laoniang had always been blatantly biased, especially toward her youngest son, Qin Tieshan.

Once, a scholar had casually praised Tieshan as being “clever,” and from that moment, Qin Laoniang and her husband were determined to send him to school.

But Qin Tieshan was never cut out for scholarly life.

After years of study, he never even passed the county-level exam. When the family finally couldn’t afford his schooling anymore, he took a job as manager at a restaurant in town.

To be fair, after years of schooling, he could read and do arithmetic, which made him competent for a manager role.

Eventually, he moved to town with his wife, daughter, and son.

Ever since moving, Qin Lian had acted like she was now a city girl.

Every New Year when she returned to Qin Family Village, she’d wear a look of constant disdain—complaining about everything and everyone.

That might have worked on the original Qin Rong, but this Qin Rong wasn’t so easy to push around.

She cast Qin Lian a cool glance and ignored her completely.

Just then, an old customer came by to buy pumpkin flower cakes, and Qin Rong quickly packed them up with practiced ease.

Feeling snubbed, Qin Lian scowled and snapped, “Qin Rong, I’m talking to you—are you deaf?”

After finishing up a fish ball order, Qin Rong finally looked at her and said coolly: “Never seen someone so desperate to be disliked. You talk to me, and I pretend not to hear—that’s me sparing you the embarrassment. If I don’t feel like replying, why are you still sticking around, begging to hear something unpleasant?”

Qin Lian hadn’t expected Qin Rong, who used to be quiet as a mouse, to suddenly be so sharp-tongued.

She was stunned into silence.

The girl next to her, seeing that a street argument wasn’t a good look, tried to smooth things over.
“Lian-meimei, let it go. No need to argue here—you’re in the middle of marriage talks.”

That brought Qin Lian back to her senses.

She was indeed at a critical stage in a courtship, and it wouldn’t do to ruin her reputation now.

The match being discussed was with the youngest son of the grain shop owner on West Street.

At that thought, Qin Lian shot one last look at Qin Rong and turned away with the others.

Hmph!

She was going to marry into a wealthy family, and someone like Qin Rong would never have that kind of luck in ten lifetimes.

Qin Rong couldn’t care less about that kind of girl. If they were rude to her, she wouldn’t go out of her way to be nice either.

Perhaps due to the weather, today’s food sold slower than the previous day, and it wasn’t until almost noon that everything was sold out.

“Big Sis Rong, I talked to my mother already—she told me I must not slack off at work from now on,” said Yu Xiaoshan while helping pack up the stall.

Qin Rong nodded. “That’s good. With your help, I can save a lot of effort. Oh right, tomorrow’s the big market day—I’ll go take a look around first. Here’s twenty copper coins. Go buy some steamed buns. Let’s just have a simple lunch tomorrow.”

“Alright.” Yu Xiaoshan took the coins and pushed the cart toward the steamed bun shop.

…

In Lirong Town, there was a small market every fifth day, and a big market every fifteenth. During these larger markets, farmers from all around would bring their goods into town to sell.

It was rare to catch a big market day, and Qin Rong wanted to see if there was anything new worth selling.

Tomorrow was a great opportunity to earn some real money.

It was peak peach season, and over in the western market, a few stalls were selling peaches.

Qin Rong examined them carefully—each peach was large and full, and as she leaned in, a light sweet peach aroma lingered at the tip of her nose.

“Young miss, I picked these peaches before sunrise, so they’re super fresh. Want to take a few home?” the cheerful auntie selling peaches called out with a grin.

“How much are they?” Qin Rong asked.

“Two copper coins each, honest price.”

Qin Rong gave one a gentle squeeze—still a bit firm, which meant they’d keep for a few more days. She nodded and said, “Auntie, I’ll take ten.”

“Alright!” the peach seller beamed as she handed over the fruit.

These peaches could be used to make white peach milk tea, honey peach cakes, peach jam, peach jelly, or even peach wine. But what Qin Rong planned to make was white peach milk tea.

It wasn’t hard to prepare and was perfect for selling at a food stall. Whether served hot or cold, the flavor was great. But while she had the peaches, she was still missing fresh milk.

Qin Rong walked through the western market thoroughly and finally found an old man at the far end of the street who was selling fresh milk.

“Uncle, how much is your milk?”

“This small bucket is fifty copper coins.”

Even though Qin Rong already knew milk was expensive in ancient times, she was still shocked by the price—just a two-jin bucket (about 1 liter), and it cost fifty coins.

Seeing her wince, the old man explained, “Fresh milk’s rare these days. This price is already quite fair.”

Qin Rong quickly ran some calculations in her head.

Milk tea didn’t require that much milk, and a two-jin bucket would be enough to make a fair number of drinks.

Plus, since tomorrow was a big market day, there would be plenty of travelers and merchants around. If she could sell out, there was definitely profit to be made.

“Alright, uncle, I’ll take one small bucket.”

“Good! If you need more in the future, just come to Feng Daniu’s place on Lingshui Lane, East Suburb.”

Qin Rong smiled and nodded in agreement.