Chapter 30 – Someone Places an Order

When Shen Nian asked who else had sent people to kill him, Mu Feng was momentarily at a loss for how to answer.

Even if it hurt Shen Nian, he had to accept the reality.

After a brief silence, Mu Feng finally spoke. “It was the Fourth Young Master.”

The Fourth Young Master was the eldest son of the stepmother.

“Shen Ke?” Shen Nian hadn’t expected that.

Or rather, it wasn’t that he hadn’t expected it—but that he had been deceiving himself, unwilling to admit it!

Ever since they were little, he had always treated Shen Ke like his own brother, thinking of him in everything.

After their mother passed away, Madam Liu came into the household and treated Shen Nian even better than her own son. Shen Ke would also call him “Big Brother” affectionately all the time, making him believe that the mother and son genuinely cared for him. He had let down his guard and accepted them.

Later on, their relationship had grown even closer, like a real family.

Even after learning about Madam Liu’s schemes, he had never blamed Shen Ke for them.

He always thought Shen Ke was unaware of it all. Even when he got angry, he had pleaded for him, saying it was all his mother’s foolishness and that he had no intention of stealing the heir’s position.

To him, Shen Ke had always been the big brother he loved the most!

And the result? Ha.

He should’ve realized it sooner—how could Shen Ke, raised by someone like Madam Liu and the one who stood to gain from seizing the heir’s position, possibly not know what was going on?

For all he knew, he might have been part of it from the start.

Shen Nian clenched his jaw and said nothing for a long time. His fists tightened again and again before he finally let go.

He took a deep breath and regained his usual composure.

Xia Tian was right. At this point, hatred was pointless. The best revenge for them now was to live well and make it back safely.

Shen Nian didn’t respond for a long while, making Mu Feng uneasy. “Shen Nian?” he called softly.

“I’m fine. Go to sleep. I should’ve figured it out earlier.”

Inside the room, the two were having this conversation, but Xia Tian was completely unaware. She had fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

The next morning, she got up early as usual and prepared breakfast for the three of them. After eating, she picked up her carrying pole and headed for the town.

Mu Feng wanted to escort her, but she refused.

As if! Going alone meant that when no one was around, she could stash the heavy baskets in her space and travel light. If someone went with her, she’d have to carry everything slowly the whole way.

With the nourishment from the space, her body was getting stronger by the day. Now, even while carrying her load, she could make it to town in just over half an hour.

As soon as she arrived at her stall, a group of people surrounded her. Most of them were returning customers.

She quickly packed the braised goods for them, and by the time this group had left, the pig intestines and dried tofu were sold out. Only about half of the pig head meat remained.

Xia Tian had just sat down to catch her breath and sip some water when a well-dressed middle-aged man in a long robe approached her stall.

“Young boss, do you still have any pig head meat left?”

She put down her cup and stood up with a smile. “A few more jin left.” As she spoke, she lifted the cover on the basin. “How much would you like?”

“Only a few jin? I’ll take all of it!” The man glanced at the basin—sure enough, there wasn’t much left.

“All of it, huh? This braised meat is twenty wen per jin.”

Xia Tian quickly confirmed the price, afraid he didn’t know.

“I know, go ahead and weigh it.”

“Alright, just a moment.”

Xia Tian swiftly weighed the meat, wrapped it in oiled paper, and seeing that there was quite a bit, placed it in a small bamboo basket for him.

“It’s six jin and two liang in total. I’ll round it down to six jin. That’ll be 120 wen.” She handed over the basket.

The man was pleased with her honesty—she’d even rounded the price down—and his impression of her rose immediately.

He didn’t leave right away and instead asked, “Young boss, can I place an order with you? I’m the steward of the Wang family in town. The day after tomorrow is the master’s birthday. Your braised meat is delicious, and it would make a great addition to the feast.”

Hearing someone wanted to place an order made Xia Tian happy. “How much would you like?”

“Thirty jin of pig head meat.”

Xia Tian did a quick mental calculation—thirty jin was doable—so she agreed. “Sure! What time do you need it?”

“Our banquet is at noon. I’ll send someone over in the morning to pick it up when you’ve set up your stall.” He then added, “By the way, what should I call you?”

“Just call me Steward Wang.”

“Alright, Steward Wang. I’ll have it ready on time. Just send someone to pick it up.”

After agreeing with Steward Wang, Xia Tian quickly packed up the stall to restock.

She brought the six sets of previously ordered pig intestines and one pig head with her, then bought four large pig heads from two other stalls.

She also asked the two butchers to save any pig intestines and pig heads for her from now on.

Seeing fresh ribs on one stall, she bought ten jin of those and five jin of pork belly. The stall owner was so pleased with the bulk purchase that not only did he round down the price, he also gifted her the leftover pig heart, liver, and five large leg bones.

This was a big customer—he had to keep her happy!

Xia Tian thought, since she had the space anyway, buying in bulk was no problem. She could cook it and store it inside, and it would stay just as fresh.

Passing by the tofu stall, she picked up her pre-ordered ten jin of dried tofu and ordered ten more jin for later. She planned to braise extra batches when she had time and store them in the space, so she’d always have some ready to restock.

As for the baskets and woven goods Shen Nian had made at home, they weren’t convenient to store in the space in case someone noticed they were missing.

So she took the opportunity during the market trip to buy several more to keep in her space for storage use.

Since she’d be storing cooked food in the future, she also bought ten large wooden barrels and ten large wooden basins from a general store.

In a secluded alley, she transferred everything into her space, keeping only two baskets on the pole.

She also visited a carpenter’s shop and bought several large, three-tiered wooden shelves. She had them delivered to an empty alleyway, waited until everyone left, then stashed them in her space. That way, organizing things later would be easier.

She stopped by the grain shop and bought fifty jin of rice and fifty jin of flour.

Now that they had one more person at home, the rice and flour were disappearing faster.

After buying everything, most of the money she’d earned over the past few days was pretty much spent.

It was getting late, so Xia Tian rushed home.

By the time she got back, it was likely past ten.

Mu Feng wasn’t home, and Shen Nian was reading in the room.

Seeing Xia Tian return, Shen Nian set down his book and came out.

“Big Brother Shen, you must be hungry, huh? Someone placed an order today, so I was held up in town.”

“No worries, no rush.”

“Ah, I forgot to buy a teapot!”

Seeing Shen Nian reminded her—she’d completely forgotten! She’d broken the teapot yesterday.

Looks like she should keep a few extra sets in her space just in case.

Seeing how startled she looked, Shen Nian couldn’t help but smile.

Not seeing Mu Feng, Xia Tian asked, “Where’s Mu Feng?”

“He went up the mountain.”

After she left this morning, Shen Nian had gone with Mu Feng to visit Mu Yang’s grave. Mu Feng, feeling low, said he was heading up the mountain to see if there was any game.

Shen Nian understood what he was going through, so he didn’t disturb him and came back first.

Xia Tian nodded, indicating she understood.

It was getting late, so she hurried into the kitchen. “Big Brother Shen, have a seat. I’ll start cooking.”

“Alright, take your time—no rush,” Shen Nian replied, walking over to the apricot tree. He picked up his knife and resumed splitting bamboo strips.

His favorite thing these days was weaving all sorts of things from bamboo.

And this kind of life—simple, comfortable, and most importantly, peaceful—was something he had never experienced before.

Xia Tian started steaming rice and used the water from rinsing it to soak the pig intestines, so they’d be easier to clean after the meal.

She quickly went to the backyard, picked a handful of greens, snipped some scallions, and gathered some chives. After washing them, she placed them in a basket.

She took out the pork belly and cut it in half, putting the rest into the space, then started cooking red-braised pork.

Once the pork was done, she plated it, then quickly stir-fried pig liver with chives, blanched some greens, made a cold bamboo shoot salad, and whipped up a simple egg drop soup.

Just as she was serving the food, she heard the courtyard gate creak open, and someone walked in—carrying something huge on their shoulder.