Yang Cui cooked pickled fish, which once again made the neighbor's child cry with envy. Wang Yuhe threw another tantrum at home, feeling even more resentful towards Yang Cui.
The next morning, the sisters Xiaotao and Xiaoli brought over some perilla leaves, which were washed clean. Yang Cui gave them the money and told them that the purchase of perilla leaves would be suspended for two days.
Yang Cui then spread the perilla leaves out in a winnowing basket to dry.
Soon the porcelain shop delivered the remaining jars, and Yang Cui paid the balance. She then took her two maids to start making perilla-dried plums and perilla-dried peaches and ginger, as the remaining ingredients at home had to be used up and could not be wasted.
Now everyone in the village knows that Yang Cui does business with the Star Gazing Tower, so it's not surprising that carriages come and go from her house.
After the porcelain shop's carriage left Yang Cui's house, Madam Fan immediately chased after it, her expression haughty: "Hey, you there? Stop right there!"
"What's up?"
"How much did that bitch...that woman pay you for the things you gave her earlier?"
The shop assistant sized up Fan Shi, then clutched her money bag and asked warily, "Why are you asking about this? Do you want to buy it?"
"Can't I at least ask about it if I don't want to buy it?"
"Why are you asking if you're not buying?" the shopkeeper said irritably, cracking his whip on the ground and driving the carriage away.
The whip nearly struck Madam Fan, startling her so much that she stumbled back several steps. Enraged, Madam Fan jumped up and down, yelling at the departing man, "In such a hurry to be reincarnated, you bastard! Do you even know who I am?"
Although she didn't know exactly how much money Yang Cui had spent, the respectful way the porcelain shop assistant treated her made Fan Shi believe that Yang Cui had spent a lot of money, and she became even more curious about her methods of making money.
Fan sent Lin Daya to learn the technique, but unexpectedly, Yang Cui chased Lin Daya away without giving her any chance. Lin Daya was so upset that she burst into tears.
Fan was both anxious and angry, and secretly questioned all of Yang Cui's ancestors. Not only that, Fan also pinched Lin Daya's arm several times: "You useless thing, you can't even handle this simple matter! Besides eating, what use are you?"
Lin Daya cried loudly in pain. She hated Fan Shi and resented Yang Cui at the same time. She felt that if it weren't for Yang Cui, she wouldn't have been punished by Fan Shi.
Many villagers came to Yang Cui's house, their faces full of flattering smiles. They sat in Yang Cui's house for a while, chatting and subtly inquiring about Yang Cui's business dealings with the Star Gazing Tower.
Yang Cui wasn't stupid, so she naturally wouldn't explain things clearly to them. Seeing that they couldn't get anything useful out of Yang Cui, the villagers had no choice but to give up for the time being.
In the evening, just as Yang Cui finished work, Zhou Huangshi came to visit.
Zhou Huangshi and the village chief's wife, Zhou Zhuoshi, are sisters-in-law and live close by. Today, after learning that Xiao Tao and Xiao Li were picking perilla leaves to sell to Yang Cui, she brought this bowl of pickled radishes over, hoping to make a good sale so that Yang Cui would think of her family if she had any good opportunities in the future.
Yang Cui returned two handfuls of dried perilla and plums to her. Zhou Huangshi tasted them and praised Yang Cui for her skillful hands.
The first batch of dried perilla plums has been drying for two days and is almost ready. Yang Cui plans to take some into the city tomorrow to find buyers, and also to check on the sales of perilla peaches and ginger at the Star Gazing Tower.
The next morning, Yang Cui carried a jar of dried perilla plums in a basket to the county town.
When Fan saw Yang Cui leave, she immediately ran to her house. At that moment, Er Ya and San Ya were carrying baskets, preparing to pick some perilla leaves.
Fan Shi had a fierce appearance, and in the past she would beat and scold Er Ya and San Ya, so Er Ya and San Ya couldn't help but back away whenever they saw her.
"You ungrateful wretch, you good-for-nothing, you don't even know how to greet your grandma."
Sanya called out timidly, "Grandma."
Er Ya is very stubborn and won't call out to anyone.
Fan angrily reached out and pinched Er Ya's arm a few times: "You wretched girl, you don't even greet your grandmother, are you mute? You ingrate! If I had known you would be like this, that bitch should have drowned you in the chamber pot when she gave birth to you!"
"Waaah..." Er Ya was in excruciating pain and wailed loudly.
Lin Niu rushed over immediately: "Yuhua, stop twisting your head, business is more important."
Only then did Madam Fan let go.
Lin Niu asked Er Ya and San Ya, "Tell Grandma, did your mother make a lot of money?"
Er Ya and San Ya immediately shook their heads in denial.
"Tell me the truth, or I'll show you what I'm capable of!" Madam Fan threatened.
Lin Niu Shi: "You all better tell the truth, or your grandma will whip you with a thorny branch until your buttocks are all bruised and battered."
"I...I don't know." Er Ya was both surprised and frightened.
"You brats..." Madam Fan was filled with rage. She looked around, preparing to find a handy tool to beat them up.
Lin Niu Shi pulled Fan Shi aside again and changed the subject: "What did your mother sell to the restaurant? How was it made?"
Fan threatened again, "Tell the truth, or I'll beat your butts to a pulp!"
Er Ya and San Ya were so frightened that they took several steps back.
"Speak!" Madam Fan said sternly.
Er Ya and San Ya kept their mouths tightly shut.
Enraged, Madam Fan slapped Er Ya across the face: "You brat, are you going to talk or not?"
"Ah..." Sanya burst into tears in fright.
Er Ya cried so hard she almost choked, and it took her a while before she let out a deafening wail.
"We can't let anyone know about this." After saying that, Lin Niu Shi quickly covered San Ya's mouth, and Fan Shi covered Er Ya's mouth. The two of them dragged the two children into the house.
"Stop crying! If you cry again, I'll whip you with this thorny branch!" Madam Fan threatened.
Er Ya and San Ya dared not cry loudly, but sobbed softly, their faces covered in tears, with the slap mark on Er Ya's face being particularly obvious.
Lin Niu Shi: You two hurry up and tell me, how did your mother make the things she sold to the Star Gazing Tower?
"We don't know, we don't know, sob sob sob..."
Seeing that the two children were unresponsive to reason, Madam Fan pinched them hard, pinching Er Ya and then San Ya. Da Ya was blocking the doorway, so Er Ya and San Ya couldn't run out.
"Trying to run away again!" Madam Fan gritted her teeth and gripped the two children even harder.
The two children screamed in agony.
Lin Niu Shi: "You should tell the truth, or you'll get beaten."
The two children cried loudly and didn't answer.
At this moment, Madam Fan noticed that the next room was locked and suddenly asked, "What's in there?"
In Fan's memory, this room had never been locked before, but now that it was, she felt there must be something good inside.
Er Ya and San Ya are still crying.
Lin Niu said, "Since it's locked, how could the key be given to the two maids?"
"Then what should we do?"
Lin Niu's eyes darted around: "Yuhua, did you leave something behind when you moved?"
Madam Fan immediately understood Madam Lin's meaning and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, let's quickly break down the door and go in to get the things I left behind."
Upon hearing this, Er Ya and San Ya immediately stopped crying and rushed over to block the doorway.
Er Ya and San Ya's actions convinced Lin Niu and Fan that there were valuables in the room, which further strengthened their resolve to break down the door and go in to take them for themselves.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com