Chapter 22 Business is booming
Du Min paused. He knew Meng Qing was playing him; she wouldn't easily destroy the two receipts. He was just unwilling to give up and wanted to test her. He knew what she was gambling on. Unfortunately, there was really no genuine affection in this family; it was all scheming.
"Second sister-in-law, you must hide this well and not let outsiders see it," Du Min warned her. "If you ever need my help in the future, you can exchange this for it."
Meng Qing lowered her eyes and pondered. This cooperation would benefit both parties, and she would also make a profit. There was no need to be greedy anymore, so she reluctantly gave up this temptation.
She said earnestly, "Third brother, you're overthinking it. I asked for this because I don't trust the character of your Du family. It's only for self-preservation, not for personal gain."
Du Min sighed. What he couldn't get in exchange meant he would have to pay a greater price. The longer she refused to make a move, the more he would have to fear her.
“My word always stands, and my sister-in-law can come to me anytime to honor it,” he reiterated.
Meng Qing smiled slightly and stopped arguing.
"Did my parents agree to my suggestion?" she asked.
Du Min glanced at Du Li, then turned to look at her, and asked with amusement, "Didn't anyone tell you?"
Meng Qing did not answer.
Du Min shook his head. This family was already broken apart, scattered and no longer a family.
"I agree. They'll discuss the details later; I won't interfere," Du Min replied earnestly. "Second Sister-in-law, I'm going back to the academy tomorrow. Would you like to come with me?"
Meng Qing nodded, "Your second brother will take me tomorrow. He'll come back after the Dragon Boat Festival."
"Amin is back? It's been so long since I've seen you. Have you lost weight? Your second sister-in-law hasn't taken good care of you." The cousin-in-law who lives behind the Du family came over to visit.
"Sister-in-law Yun is mistaken. Summer clothes are thin, which makes one look even thinner," Du Min denied. He walked over to Du Li, picked up a lotus seedpod and peeled it, chatting casually, "How many kilograms of silk did your family harvest this year?"
"More than nine pounds."
"That's a lot, enough to weave eight bolts of silk. It just means you and my third aunt will have to work hard and won't have a moment's rest all year round."
Farm women have to help in the fields during busy farming seasons, and only have time to spin thread and weave silk during their spare time. It takes one person 30 to 45 days to weave one bolt of silk, and an average farming family can produce ten bolts of silk a year.
“You have to be busy to make money. While your nephew is still young, let’s save up some money and send him to a private school in a couple of years. He likes to draw and write. If he’s successful, he can be like you and won’t have to suffer the hardships of farming.” My cousin’s wife smiled sweetly as she talked about her child.
Old Du had a bright son who excelled in his studies. He would tell everyone how highly regarded his son was by the teachers at the academy, and he would often dream of his son passing the imperial examinations and becoming a member of the elite, living a life of luxury with servants and fine clothes. He was incredibly successful in Dujiawan, and the villagers envied and envied him. Harboring resentment, they all sent their sons to elementary schools to test their abilities.
In recent years, the village has seen a surge in academic activity, with everyone wanting to raise a son or grandson like Du Min.
“I met Master Guo, who taught me, at the bookstore a few days ago. He said that half of the students in his private school are surnamed Du, and that the people of Dujiawan are farsighted. He said that this generation has a broad vision and the next generation is sure to be successful. I was happy for several days after hearing him say that. With a few more successful people in the village, we can help each other in the future when we are in officialdom.” Du Min said these nice words.
“Yes, yes, yes, I heard the storyteller say that the prominent families in Chang’an have many successful people. In a hundred years, your Du family will also become a prominent family.” Sister Yun said excitedly.
This... Du Min never dared to hope for it, nor did he dare to even think about it.
"Amin, come in, I have something to tell you," Du's mother called from the courtyard.
"Sister-in-law Yun, I'm going inside for a bit. Would you like to come in and sit for a while?" Du Min asked.
"I won't go in. I'll talk to your second sister-in-law. You go ahead and do your work."
Meng Qing: ...
"Sister-in-law Yun." She stepped forward and greeted her, holding her child.
"Oh, this child looks just like you." Sister Yun teased Wangzhou, "So delicate, like a little girl. Tsk tsk tsk, those eyes crinkle into crescents when they smile, so adorable. Is the child shy? May I hold her?"
Meng Qing was annoyed. She thought to herself, "You were just criticizing me for not taking good care of your Dujiawan's Golden Phoenix, and now you're all smiles and wanting to hold the child?" She stared at her for a moment, but she didn't seem to dislike her.
"It's alright, not too shy." Having raised children before, Meng Qing knew that a two-month-old baby wasn't yet at the stage of being shy around strangers, so she didn't lie about it and handed the baby over.
Sister-in-law Yun touched the child's clothes and realized something was wrong. "These are silk clothes?"
“It’s made of cloth by my mother.”
"Is this the kind of material called kudzu cloth? I've never seen it before. One year, I heard an official who collected silk taxes say that kudzu cloth was more expensive than silk cloth. Is that true?"
"Yes, kudzu cloth is lighter and more breathable than coarse silk, and it is more expensive. Fortunately, the child is small, so we can afford a foot or two of kudzu cloth."
Sister-in-law Yun rubbed the fabric; it was so smooth and must be comfortable to wear. She sighed and thought how lucky the child was. Then she asked about the important matter: "Is your family's business busy lately?"
"I'm a bit busy. Why are you asking this, Sister Yun?"
“My elder brother’s mother-in-law is dying, and his brother-in-law is a village head. He’s been told for a while that we should give a generous gift at the funeral to make it look respectable and not embarrass him. I went back to my parents’ home a few days ago and saw that my mother was worried about this. I remembered that your family sells funerary objects, so I wanted to ask you what they have and what the prices are,” said Sister Yun.
Upon hearing that business had come in, Meng Qing immediately greeted them warmly: "We have wreaths. Each wreath is made of at least five hundred pieces of paper money glued together, and it stands taller than a person. When your elder brother comes to pay his respects, he can carry two, which will certainly reflect his status as the village head's brother-in-law. We also have paper figures, which can be made into boys and girls, or servants, to be burned to serve the old lady. We also have paper oxen and donkeys, which can be burned to serve as the old lady's mounts. As for the price, wreaths and paper figures are cheaper. Ordinary wreaths are five hundred coins each, and those with specific color and style requirements are one string of cash each; paper figures are two hundred coins each."
Sister-in-law Yun hesitated, "It's quite expensive."
"After all, paper isn't cheap. My cousin will be starting elementary school in a couple of years. You probably know that even ordinary hemp paper costs one coin per sheet."
Upon hearing this, Sister Yun immediately nodded, "That's true, I know that, paper is really expensive."
"Only when it's expensive can it be used as money."
“What you said makes sense. I’ll go back to my parents’ home in a couple of days and talk to my brother and sister-in-law about it.” Sister-in-law Yun handed the child back to Meng Qing.
Meng Qing took the child and said, "On the seventh day of the fifth lunar month, the father of Master Chen from Renfeng Lane will be buried. There are many funerary objects made by Meng's paper horse shop at Master Chen's funeral. If your elder brother is worried, he can go to the city to take a look that day."
“Okay,” Sister Yun agreed.
"What are you doing out again?" Du's mother asked unhappily.
“Call my second brother and sister-in-law for dinner,” Du Min said.
"Don't go out. If you go out, she'll keep bothering you. She's so simple-minded, what's the point of talking to her?" Du's mother didn't like this niece-in-law. She really didn't know if she was pretending to be stupid. Sometimes her words were so hurtful, and other times she could say a few reasonable things. This person was straightforward and simple-minded, and didn't even realize she had offended people. Du's mother often felt wronged and angry in front of this niece-in-law.
Du Min didn't listen. He went out and called out, "Second brother and sister-in-law, dinner is ready. Sister-in-law Yun, come and have some too. We made some chicken soup."
Du's mother's face darkened.
"No, no, I'll go back to eat," Sister-in-law Yun replied. She then grabbed Meng Qing and chuckled, "Sister-in-law, if my brother mentions your name at the paper horse shop, can he get a discount?"
"Yes, I'll talk to my parents when I get back to the city tomorrow."
Having achieved her goal, Sister Yun left in high spirits.
"Let's go eat first. We can peel the rest after we finish eating," Meng Qing called to Du Li.
"What did she say to you? You're laughing so hard your teeth are showing," Du's mother asked stiffly.
"Don't ask, you'll just think it's bad luck if I tell you." Meng Qing went to wash her hands.
Upon hearing this, Du's mother indeed showed disgust. She glared at Du Li, who was the one who had brought back this unlucky thing.
Du Li was used to it; he would see it but pretend he didn't.
After a long day of turmoil, Du Min was finally able to sit down and have a proper meal. Only then did he realize that he hadn't eaten or drunk anything since breakfast, and he hadn't felt hungry. It seemed he was angry.
Meng Qing held the child in one arm and used chopsticks to eat meat with the other. The old hen, which had been stewed for two or three years, had been stewed for half a day until the bones were soft but the skin was still crisp. The more she chewed, the more fragrant it became.
"Free-range chickens taste better. The chickens at my house are raised in a coop, and the meat isn't as fragrant," Meng Qing said.
Upon hearing this, Li Hongguo immediately became alert, fearing that Meng Qing would use the third brother's name to steal chickens from the house. She preemptively asked, "Sister-in-law, a few days ago, didn't the second brother bring a basket of eggs to the Meng family?"
“No, he was pushed at the ferry crossing, and his basket of eggs was smashed to pieces. The basket was unusable, and even after washing it, it still smelled terrible and attracted a lot of flies and mosquitoes. I told him to throw it away,” Meng Qing said very sincerely.
Du's mother glared at her, and seeing her unfazed expression, she became furious and couldn't help but say, "Whoever eats my eggs is shameless."
Meng Qing's face turned cold as she stared at her.
"Mother, didn't I say it was broken? Why are you bringing this up again?" Du Li said angrily.
"I didn't scold you, why are you jumping around like that? If it's broken, fine, but if it wasn't broken, whoever gets the egg in their stomach is shameless." Du's mother got even more worked up.
Meng Qing picked up the bowl and drank half a bowl of chicken soup in one gulp. She looked at Du Min and asked, "Third brother, does the chicken soup that sister-in-law made smell good?"
“…It smells good.” Du Min answered cautiously.
"It's more fragrant than the chicken soup I make, so it must be the chicken. When we leave tomorrow, we'll catch five chickens to take with us. I'll cook one for you every few days, so that when we come back next time, no one will say I didn't take good care of you and that you've gotten thin." Meng Qing calmly performed her cultivation technique. She glanced at Du's mother and asked with a smile, "Mother, are you willing to let your youngest son eat the chickens at home?"
Du's mother was speechless; her lips twitched, but she couldn't utter a single word.
"I……"
"Third brother," Meng Qing called out lightly, "you are the golden phoenix of our family. It's just a few chickens. Don't feel guilty."
Du Min didn't dare offend her, so he kept quiet.
"Catch five chickens for me tomorrow morning, tie them up, and take them with you," Meng Qing told Du Li.
"Okay." Du Li hurriedly accepted the order, feeling incredibly satisfied.
“If Third Brother wants to eat chicken, he can come back and eat it. Who knows how many of the chickens you caught will end up in his stomach?” Li Hongguo tried to struggle.
"Alright! Let's eat." Father Du quickly interrupted. He wasn't in a position to scold his daughter-in-law, so he could only glare at his wife and rebuke her, "You really never learn."
Now look what's happened, another five chickens have been lost.
If we keep talking, we'll lose five chickens every month.
Meng Qing knew when to stop and happily drank a sip of chicken soup.
Li Hongguo's eyes turned red with anger. She glanced at Du Ming and saw him chewing chicken bones with a loud smacking sound. She stomped on his foot hard.
Du Ming cried out in pain. Du's father glanced coldly at Li Hongguo and said, "Eat your fill and then get out."
Li Hong really did go out.
Du Ming hurriedly followed her out. Li Hongguo was wiping away tears in the yard. She cried and scolded, "All you know is how to eat! You don't even know how to speak up for me. The chickens in our house are all fed by me and my two children, and in the end, the eggs and meat end up in other people's mouths."
"Alright, alright. You have fifty or sixty chickens at home. How much are the earthworms and worms you dig up worth in grain? The rice bran and inferior beans you feed the chickens are all from our own farm. That's the main food for the chickens and ducks." Du Ming was annoyed that he couldn't even get a proper meal. He was too lazy to coax him anymore and said, "Why did you suddenly bring up eggs? You're just making trouble for no reason. Your parents have been turning a blind eye to it. Fine, fine. If you want to eat eggs and chickens, you can hatch a few more broods of chicks another day. I'll build a chicken coop for you to raise separately."
“You should mention it to your father. The 100 mu of land under your name can’t be given to the second son.” Li Hongguo remembered this. Du Ming’s 100 mu of land had been allocated, and Du Li currently only had 50 mu. He couldn’t be allowed to take advantage of him.
Du Ming agreed and took her back to the house for dinner.
"Alas!" Du Min sighed.
"What are you groaning about? Eat your food." Father Du picked up a spoon and scooped two spoonfuls of chicken for him.
Du Ming took the spoon and scooped two spoonfuls for himself, then handed the spoon to Li Hongguo and asked, "Dad, what about what happened this afternoon? After the harvest, all one hundred acres of land under my name will be mine, right?"
"As long as you can manage, not to mention your hundred acres, you can even farm my hundred acres." It wasn't that Du's father looked down on him; his eldest son wasn't incapable of enduring hardship. It was just that he couldn't stand seeing him working while others were idle. After the autumn harvest, everyone in the village was free, but he was still working in the fields. He would probably quit.
Du Ming indeed fell silent.
"Second son, I'll give you all fifty mu of your land. If you think it's too little, I'll rent you some of the land under my name for twenty wen per mu," Father Du said, turning his head.
“No need, fifty acres of land is enough for me to keep busy,” Du Li refused.
Meng Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
Du Min looked at her and realized his father's favoritism. One was given away, and the other was rented out. No wonder his older brothers were making a fuss.
"What do you want to do with these fifty acres of land?" asked Mr. Du.
"I haven't decided yet." Du Li didn't want to talk about it. Just then, the child started whimpering and wanted to sleep, so he took the child and carried him out to lull him to sleep.
Meng Qing had finished eating. She put down her chopsticks and bowl, and Li Hongguo saw this and said, "I cooked the food, so I shouldn't be the one washing the dishes."
“I’ll wash them,” Meng Qing replied. “I’ll go get water to wash the baby first, and then I’ll clean up the dishes later.”
As a result, Meng Qing didn't wash the dishes either; Du Li washed them. After cleaning up, he groped his way into the chicken coop in the dark. Chickens are blind at night, so they wouldn't run away no matter how he touched them. He carefully selected one rooster and four hens.
*
The next morning, after breakfast, Meng Qing, Du Li, and Du Min left home with the clucking chicken.
After a two-hour boat trip, they arrived at the ferry at noon. Meng Qing called to Du Min to get off the boat: "Come on, let's go to my house for lunch."
“I’m not going. I’ll eat at the academy,” Du Min refused as usual.
Meng Qing pointed to the sky and said, "By the time you get back to the academy, all that'll be left is swill, no food at all. Come on, you've already taken on this responsibility, it would be a waste not to go out and eat something."
Du Min thought about it and realized that it was true. He got up and got off the boat.
However, no one was home at the Meng family's house. Meng Qing unlocked the door and went inside, only to find the stove cold and the dishes from breakfast still soaking in a basin. Too lazy to light a fire, she decided to take Du Li and Du Min to a teahouse for tea-soaked rice.
The rice in the tea house is Taihu glutinous rice. The rice steamer is skilled, and the rice is sticky yet each grain is distinct. The freshly steamed glutinous rice is drizzled with tea made from ground scallions, ginger, dates, orange peel, mint, lotus seeds, and fresh tea leaves. It is served with a pickled plum and some pickled vegetables, making it an extremely refreshing meal.
"The tea masters here are quite skilled at brewing tea." Du Min was very satisfied with his meal.
"Are you full?" Meng Qing asked.
Du Min nodded, "I'll treat you next time."
“Okay. Come here whenever you’re craving something delicious, and I’ll cook you something nice, or I’ll take you and Mengchun out to eat. If your second brother comes, I’ll ask him to call you over so you can have an extra meal,” Meng Qing said.
Du Min avoided it like the plague, and he refused clearly: "No, please, I don't need it. I don't have much of a appetite, I can eat my fill at the academy, so don't bother me. Second brother, I won't get involved in family matters anymore, so don't come looking for me again."
Since neither of them is sincere and they are all scheming and manipulating each other, they shouldn't bother with these petty tricks to win people over; he doesn't care.
"What if they used your money? And they didn't even tell you?" Du Li asked.
Du Min said coldly, "Do you have to talk to me like that?"
“I asked seriously,” Du Li said.
Du Min ignored him, and he got up and stormed off.
Du Li glanced at Meng Qing, she smiled, and he smiled too.
The couple left the teahouse with their child and headed to the paper horse shop. Meng's parents and Meng Chun were all busy at the paper horse shop. After Meng Qing left yesterday, the shop received five orders, and the deposits for each order were ten strings of cash.
“The old lady of the Yu family in the rice market has passed away. His relatives have come to order a paper sedan chair, a paper ox, six wreaths, and four paper figures. These things need to be delivered before the seventh day after her death. Time is tight, and we’ve been busy at the paper horse shop except when we’re sleeping,” Meng’s mother said. “It’s a good thing you didn’t stay at your husband’s house for long. You should hurry up and help make the paper ox. They don’t want a white ox; they want a black one, the same color as the paper horses from the Chen family.”
Meng Qing looked at Du Li, "Master Yu from the rice market? You remember him, right? He almost became your father-in-law."
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