Chapter 3 Asset Inventory: Twenty-eight copper coins divided into three portions
"You can do some handicrafts."
Yao Xiaoyu didn't know much about the outside world, but while keeping vigil, the original owner heard the deacon and the accountant report the expenses, which included the cost of folding tin foil.
In Shanghai, the butlers are not the housekeepers of modern anime, but rather people who deliver obituaries or death notices. This is often a hereditary job, passed down from the second or third generation. They may not be familiar with the relatives and friends of each family, but they certainly know them.
The term "accountant" does not refer to the ancient Chinese accountant, but rather to the person who handles important family matters such as weddings and funerals.
"Grandma, how much money do we have left?"
Yao Xiaoyu thought for a moment and then asked.
Their family had once been wealthy. Although Yao Ping'an could no longer support the household and Yao Tianrui, who was considered the pillar of the family, was still young, it wouldn't be difficult for them to find a shop with acquaintances to do some handicrafts to earn money.
However, there are differences between different types of handicrafts. Tasks like pasting matchboxes, cutting envelopes, and sewing hairnets can be brought back to do without a deposit, but you can only earn a meager living. However, if you want to earn more money, such as helping to rush-make clothes when the tailor shop is too busy, then you need to pay a deposit.
Previously, Yao Daniu controlled the family's finances, but later Zhou Chunhua took over managing the money. The Yao family only knew that the family was in financial difficulty, but they didn't know the extent of the difficulty. It was only because the original owner went along to sign the IOU that they got a glimpse of the situation.
Things are different now than before.
In the past, with Yao Daniu supporting the family, Yao's parents could live comfortably, and the third generation of the Yao family could gradually grow up. But now, the Yao family can only make a living by working together.
Not letting your family know the truth is sometimes not a good thing.
Like her younger sister Yao Xiaoli, after her family ran out of money, she transferred from a primary school that cost 6.7 yuan per semester to a primary school that cost 2.5 yuan per semester.
She was unaware of the family's deteriorating finances. She had cried several times in the past two months and often craved meat and eggs. But she wasn't an unreasonable child; she just wanted the life she was used to, unaware that her family could no longer afford it.
Yao Xiaoli's eyes widened. She knew that the family's situation was not good, but she had no idea how bad it was. The worst outcome she could think of was that they wouldn't have money to buy pastries and sugar figurines, and they wouldn't have new clothes for the New Year, but they would always have money to eat meat. But judging from her sister's tone, the family seemed to be in much worse shape than that.
Yao Xiaoyu took a couple of breaths, and seeing that Zhou Chunhua's expression was gradually softening, she added fuel to the fire with Yao Tianrui's words:
"Brother, how much money do you think we have left?"
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Yao Tianrui looked bewildered, but still answered instinctively:
"There must be at least a hundred silver dollars."
When Yao Daniu was in the third grade of elementary school, he said that he had saved a large sum of money for his schooling. Although he hasn't talked about it much in recent years, he feels that some money has still been saved. It's just that his grandmother is worried that she won't be able to earn money in the future, so she hasn't taken the money out to use now.
"There aren't that many."
Zhou Chunhua instinctively retorted, but Yao Xiaoyu remained silent, simply watching her grandmother quietly. The two looked at each other for a while, and then Zhou Chunhua sighed, her face showing worry and bitterness.
"It's time to say something."
Zhou Chunhua left a sentence and hurriedly went back to her room. A moment later, she came out again with a thick stack of papers in her hand. These were the IOUs that Yao Xiaoyu had signed when she helped Yao Xiaoyu pay off her debts.
"Jingle bells—"
A small handful of copper coins were placed on the table, looking rather pitiful.
“I paid the rent yesterday, and these twenty-eight copper coins are all I have.”
Looking at the thick stack of IOUs, Yao Xiaoyu felt the veins on her forehead throbbing. The impact of an IOU that only existed in her memory was different from that of one that appeared in reality. The numbers she had written down stroke by stroke floated back and forth in front of Yao Xiaoyu, making her feel dizzy.
"Xiaoli, bring me your unused notebook and a sharpened pencil."
Yao Xiaoyu didn't disturb Zhou Chunhua's money distribution. She quietly told her younger sister to get paper and pen, saying that a bad pen is worse than a good memory, and that recording expenses would make it easier to manage income later.
"I don't have any unused notebooks, can I use a used one?"
Yao Xiaoli asked in a low voice. Yao Xiaoyu looked at the tension in her sister's eyes and nodded while feeling sad. A notebook only cost two copper coins, but the family didn't even have a spare one.
In the past, the Yao family not only had white paper, but also fountain pens and calligraphy brushes, which were stored on special shelves. Yao Ping'an loved calligraphy and used Huzhou brushes, Huizhou ink, and Duanzhou inkstones. Even the paper he used for writing was top-quality Xuan paper. Unfortunately, due to war and bandits, all of these items were sold off one by one.
"Second sister, here you go."
Yao Xiaoli ran very fast and quickly brought over the notebook and pen. The pencil was almost worn down, with the tip only about two millimeters above the wood, but it could still be used to write, so Yao Xiaoyu didn't rush to sharpen it.
"This is the fee to be paid to the parking lot tomorrow. We have to pay first before we can pick up the cars."
Zhou Chunhua pointed to the thirteen copper coins she had separated and said, "The car rental fee is usually between one and one and a half cents. The rules vary from car rental company to car rental company. Zhou Chunhua went to several car rental companies and finally found that although the price of this one was a bit high, it was clean enough, so she settled on it."
Twenty-eight copper coins were already a small amount, and fifteen looked even more pitiful. Everyone's expression turned serious, but Zhou Chunhua hadn't finished speaking yet.
"The rice in the kitchen is only enough for two days, the vegetables are all gone, and we need to replenish the seasonings and firewood."
The crowd's faces grew increasingly pale, but Zhou Chunhua resolutely took the copper coins one by one.
"Vegetables cost one copper coin."
Fourteen.
"Firewood costs one copper coin."
Thirteen.
"egg……"
As soon as Zhou Chunhua uttered those two words, she was met with unanimous opposition, including from Yao Xiaoli, who had been clamoring for steamed egg custard just two days prior.
One silver dollar can buy more than 150 eggs, but that's the price for buying them in bulk. They buy them one by one, and a larger egg costs one copper dollar.
I can't afford it, I really can't afford it.
Amidst the objections of the crowd, Zhou Chunhua withdrew her hand. Just as the people in the courtyard were beginning to relax, Yao Xiaoyu spoke up:
"Grandma, besides vegetables, you should also buy some tofu every day."
Yao Xiaoyu had already secretly observed that, apart from Zhou Chunhua who still had some flesh on her body, everyone in the courtyard was very thin. Although there was no mirror, looking at her own stick-thin hands, which were just like Yao Tianrui's, she probably wasn't much different from these thin people.
They all need to supplement their nutrition, and soy products are the cheapest source of plant-based protein.
"Tofu is good for your health and makes you less likely to get sick. Even if you eat it every day, it will only cost you thirty copper coins a month. But if you get sick while trying to save that money, the doctor's house call fee will be more than that."
A few months ago, Yao Ping'an fell ill. The doctor's house call fee was only a few cents. Later, because his condition did not improve, he invited a famous doctor to come to his home. The fee was calculated in silver dollars, and the cost of seeing a doctor and buying medicine was calculated separately.
After calculating the costs, although everyone was still distressed about the expense of buying tofu, they didn't object anymore. They thought the subtraction of copper coins was finally over, but the next second, Yao Xiaoyu dropped another bombshell:
"Grandma, can you buy the cheapest fish for one copper coin?"
Yao Xiaoyu couldn't remember which document she had read that salmon was particularly cheap in this era, perhaps due to improved technology or something. In any case, it was the first choice for families with limited budgets to eat meat. However, she wasn't sure if there were any cheaper fish available in this era, so she chose to ask Zhou Chunhua for help.
"The doctor said that Father is weak and needs to eat some meat or an egg every day, otherwise he will get sick again and it will not be cured by a hundred silver dollars."
Yao Xiaoyu's body had not yet fully recovered, and her voice was still breathless. But reason does not depend on volume. After everyone belatedly remembered the doctor's advice, they lost the confidence to argue. Yao Ping'an looked at his daughter with tears in his eyes.
Yao Xiaoyu avoided Yao Ping'an's touched gaze with a little guilt. She explained that she was not only concerned about the father's health, but also because Yao Ping'an was the type not to eat alone. Even if he ate most of the fish and meat she bought because of his health, the Yao family would still get a share.
She's so weak right now, she's panting and really needs nutrition.
"You can buy Japanese fish, but a copper coin can only buy some small pieces at most."
Zhou Chunhua frowned and said, "Eastern fish is also called samon fish. It is a red salted dried fish. Five copper coins can buy a large portion, but the fishmonger is good-natured. If you say a few more words, you can buy some scraps for one copper coin."
"That doesn't matter. If we cook it in the porridge, it will save us the money of buying salt."
Seeing that Zhou Chunhua didn't object to cooking salted fish porridge, Yao Xiaoyu felt even happier, but then she wanted to sigh—her family was really too poor, and they were so excited about even a little bit of meat.
No one objected to not buying salt. Although salt wasn't expensive, it still cost several copper coins each time, so saving a little was always a good thing.
After deducting the money for buying meat, they only had eleven copper coins left on the table that they could freely use. They were also grateful that there was a well in the yard, as they still needed to set aside some money to buy water for the public stove.
Tiger Stove is a shop that specializes in selling boiling water. Usually, one copper coin buys ten scoops of water. If someone only needs two scoops at a time, the shopkeeper will give them back eight water tokens, which they can then use to exchange for water when they come back.
"It's alright, at least we're not in debt."
Yao Tianrui looked at the twenty-odd copper coins that he still had to divide into three parts, and tried to comfort himself, but the sound just seemed ethereal. Yao Xiaoyu cast a pitying glance at her older brother, and after confirming that Yao Tianrui couldn't even touch her when he rushed over, she waited for Zhou Chunhua to detonate the last earth-shattering thunderbolt.
“This is our family’s money, and this is the debt the Yao family owes.”
"What?!"
The simultaneous screams startled the sparrows on the roof. Yao Xiaoyu sat up straight, preparing to record the total amount of debt. There is a difference between having a good memory and being able to remember everything at a glance. Compared to a rough estimate, she prefers precise numbers.
Finally able to share the burden, Zhou Chunhua began reading out the debts on the slips of paper one by one before anyone could react. Yao Xiaoyu had used a combination of text on top and numbers on the bottom when writing the debts. Zhou Chunhua was illiterate, but she could still recognize Arabic numerals.
Zhou Chunhua read them out one by one, while Yao Xiaoyu wrote them down quickly. Each number wasn't too large, but after she finished reading them out...
"A total of six hundred and seventy-two yuan and fifty-four cents."
Everyone's vision went black. The Yao couple helped each other to avoid falling to the ground. Zhou Chunhua sighed. She had already sold everything she could, but Yao Daniu had borrowed far too much.
"Tomorrow I'll go to the He Family Bookstore with my older brother and ask them if they need any books copied."
Yao Xiaoyu brought the asset inventory to a close, and everyone dispersed, but a weight remained on their minds regarding the 600-plus yuan.
A note from the author:
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The information I found about Japanese fish listed it as costing one copper coin, but most records from the Republic of China era seem to say five copper coins. I'm not sure which is correct, so I'm assuming one copper coin could buy scraps.
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