The first official reunion dinner when Jiang Yu returned was unusually sumptuous.

It was prepared by Shen Qing.

She had slaughtered a duck as an apology—a duck raised on fish, shrimp, and snails.

She chose to stew it, resulting in a rich, flavorful broth with sweet, tender meat.

She added a pinch of salt to the duck blood, letting it congeal into blocks, then made a dish of duck blood stewed with tofu, using half the tofu.

The other half was soaked in cold water, to be eaten tomorrow—enough tofu to make a meal on its own, leaving no room for other dishes after this hearty feast.

The four pieces of duck were cleaned, then stir-fried with pickled vegetables and plenty of chili peppers, creating a fragrant, appetizing dish.

The aroma of toon (Chinese wild tree) was unique and something she loved.

Her family often made it recently, chopping it finely and mixing with eggs to make toon omelettes.

Mallow leaves were served as a cold dish, and purslane was stir-fried.

These were accompanied by leftover white steamed buns from lunch, and everyone ate with great satisfaction.

It was also the most abundant and fulfilling meal Jiang Yu had had in a long time.

That evening, lying in bed with Jiang Shui, looking at the thatched roof, she still felt like it was all a dream, unreal.

She had truly returned home.

At lunch, she had eaten steamed buns and egg flower soup, thinking the next time she would have a meal like this would be during the New Year.

But to her surprise, there were six dishes for dinner, four of which were meat, plus eggs!

“Xiao Shui, do you… do you usually eat like this at home?” she asked, amazed.

Jiang Shui, relaxing and chatting with her, replied lazily, “No.”

Jiang Yu thought about it.

The two women must have been spreading rumors, and her second uncle had punished them, making them apologize to her aunt.

There was no way they could eat like this all the time.

“The ducks are few, and we need to save some for eggs. Nowadays, no matter how many eggs the chickens and ducks lay, we don’t sell them—everything is kept for the family. Mom says eggs are the best for nourishment.”

She continued, “Normally, we get our fat from eating meat. Mom bought pork belly, lean meat, ribs, and pork. The fattiest part is the lard; no matter if it’s stewed or stir-fried, just adding a bit makes everything smell amazing!”

Weary from the day, Jiang Shui’s voice grew softer as he continued, “Mom has changed, and now the family’s life is better. It’s great that you’re back; we can live a good life together.”

Jiang Yu was silent for a moment before she muttered softly to herself, “Yes, if nothing had changed, I probably wouldn’t have been able to come back…”

–

Since Shen Qing arrived, she felt like a spinning top, busy and rushing around every day, afraid that one day the storm would come and force her to flee the village.

She sold the yellow eels in the bucket, and when she saw her account balance increase by over five hundred yuan, she felt troubled.

Originally, she could make at least a thousand yuan a day, with the addition of small fish and shrimp, nearly two thousand.

The decrease in yellow eels was probably because of the rumors spread by Zhou Chuncao and Sun Xiaomai about her making a lot of money selling them—more and more men in the village started trapping yellow eels.

If they could sell them, they did; if not, they sold them at a low price or kept them for family meals.

Either way, they didn’t lose out.

The third and fourth brothers were now fully focused on making brushes.

Even when she offered extra rewards, they didn’t show much enthusiasm.

She needed to come up with a way to increase the income from the shop.

After all, with so much water in the village, she could make money by selling fish, shrimp, and yellow eels, but in other places, she might not have such easy opportunities.

The food, medicine, and books in the shop were not expensive, but once they opened up tools, especially weapons for self-defense, they would undoubtedly be expensive.

Would she buy them when the time came?

Her shop balance of over ten thousand yuan was far from enough.

Shen Qing went into town carrying an empty bucket, first buying brown sugar, then a kitchen knife.

As she had expected, iron products were expensive, and custom-made knives had to be ordered in advance, unlike common knives like kitchen knives or axes, which were readily available.

With her silver running low, she planned to wait until the second batch of brushes sold before making the order—ordering early meant she could get the items sooner, but she feared the storm would arrive before she could collect them.

She then went to the livestock market to inquire about the prices of horses, cows, donkeys, and mules.

The first one introduced was the horse.

Too expensive!

Horses were fast, but they were pricey—thirty taels each! And there weren’t many to choose from.

Cows, however, could carry heavy loads and travel long distances without difficulty.

They were only eighteen taels, which tempted Shen Qing greatly.

Then came the introduction to donkeys: not only could they carry goods, but they could also pull carts, walk easily on mountain roads or rough terrain, and plow fields or grind flour.

They cost just eleven taels!

For eleven taels, she could take away a strong adult donkey, and with an extra ten taels, she could take two!

Shen Qing:…Stop talking, I’ll buy them! Just the donkeys!

She reached into her pocket, but then reality hit—she didn’t have enough silver.

Her pace of earning silver wasn’t fast enough.

As she left the livestock market with her head down, she looked up at the sky. Seeing it was still early, she turned and went to the Jingya Studio.

The shopkeeper Lin wasn’t there, but fortunately, the young waiter recognized her and greeted her politely.

Shen Qing took the opportunity to ask, “Is there a head constable named Sun in Xincheng, or maybe more than one?”

To avoid making a mistake, she added, “I want to make sure I’m asking about the right person.”

“The head constable is indeed named Sun,” the waiter answered. “As for whether there are others with the same surname, I don’t know.”

Shen Qing understood why Liu Sheng’s sister was only living with the head constable and why the Liu family acted so arrogantly—they weren’t just dealing with any constable, but the head constable!

She continued, “Do you know what kind of person this head constable Sun is?”

The young waiter, flattered by being called “knowledgeable,” eagerly shared everything he knew.

However, the more Shen Qing heard, the colder she felt inside.

He was greedy, unfair, selfish, petty, arrogant…

Shen Qing took the opportunity to ask, “How did he become a constable and then head constable without much ability?”

The young waiter laughed and explained, “Ah, everyone knows it’s because of his wife. Constable Sun came from a poor background, and if it weren’t for his father-in-law’s support, he wouldn’t be where he is now! It’s said that his wife runs the household. When they go out, people show more respect to her than to Constable Sun. At home, he’s all smiles in front of her, and those who don’t know think he’s a good husband!”

The waiter then smirked and added, “But you know what they say about men—when they’re little men at home, they want to be big men outside. If his wife doesn’t give him the tenderness he wants, someone else will!”

Shen Qing:… So he’s living off his wife.

All his resources and wealth came from his father-in-law’s family, yet now that his life was getting better, he’s still so unjust. What was he doing all this time?