Chapter 59 Shepherd's Purse and Tofu Soup
The division of the Wang family's property went smoothly. Madam Wang was a magnanimous person. After the division, Madam Lin made a special trip to visit her daughter and also paid a visit to Madam Wang.
"I'm not a very particular person. A few words from others won't hurt me in the slightest. My own life is the most important thing." Madam Wang looked at Madam Lin with a smile. "Since you've come today, in-laws, would you please stay for dinner?"
"No need to trouble yourself, I have many things to do at home. Business is busy these days, and I can't leave anyone for a moment. I just happened to be passing by and thought I'd check if Xia He had been neglected in any way." While saying this, she secretly wanted to see how the Wang family had divided the spoils and whether they had treated Xia He unfairly. Lin Shi stood up, saying, "It's getting late, I'll head back now. Please come visit us sometime, in-laws."
Madam Wang smiled and said, "Xia He, see your mother off."
When her mother-in-law spoke, Lin Xiahe quickly followed. After leaving the gate, Lin Xiahe led her mother to her courtyard. "Since you made a special trip, take a look around. It's the same as before, still the same houses."
She immediately sensed her mother's thoughts; her mother wouldn't be at ease without a closer look. "Why didn't Mianmian and the others come?" she wondered, missing her family.
“Mianmian started a food delivery service. The family is very busy now. Your brothers deliver groceries every day, running around, and their legs are almost broken. Later, they couldn’t handle it all, so they asked Wang’s Sizhu and Chunsheng, as well as Dahu, to help with the deliveries.”
“Dahu is only eight years old, how can he run errands?” Lin Xiahe looked at her mother in surprise.
“Eight years old isn’t young anymore. When you were eight, you were already doing odd jobs for others. Let Da Hu go for jobs that are nearby, so he won’t have to go too far. The same goes for the others; if they have time to run errands, they’ll give you a penny for each dish.” When Lin Shi talked about money, she wished she were twenty years younger. But she was getting old, and after delivering the errands a few times, her back ached and she kept rubbing her lower back, so her youngest daughter wouldn’t let her do it anymore. That’s why she had time today.
Lin Xiahe also wanted to help, "Mother, Wang Chuang has gone to school. Anyway, there's nothing to do at home, so why don't we..."
“You don’t need to say it, I know what you mean, it definitely won’t work. If you have nothing to do, you can set up a stall to sell braised food yourself, it’s not appropriate to come back to help your parents’ family. Otherwise, what will your mother-in-law and the others think?” Lin shook her head, “No matter how busy the family is, you don’t need to come back to help, just spend a little more money to hire someone.”
Madam Lin walked around the courtyard, checking the rice jar and the bedding in the wardrobe. After inspecting everything, she felt relieved and prepared to leave. "My son-in-law has gone to the academy. Don't just ignore everything. It's getting warmer soon, so make him some new clothes and have someone send them over. When he sees the new clothes, he'll think of you. If you think of him, he'll think of you. Marriage is all about mutual support, understand?"
She wished she could tell her daughter all the life experiences she had accumulated over the past forty years, but unfortunately, her mind wasn't working that well, so she could only say whatever came to mind.
"Alright, no need to see me off. I'll have someone send you some dried bamboo shoots another day. Homemade dried bamboo shoots are the best for braising meat." Madam Lin patted her daughter's hand. If they didn't leave now, it would really be too late.
Lin Xiahe saw her mother off at the door and watched her walk away before reluctantly returning to the house.
When she opened the rice jar to prepare the meal, she found a money pouch inside, containing a few pieces of silver, about five taels in total.
"mother!"
Lin Xiahe ran to the door again, but there was no one there, only some unfamiliar passersby.
She didn't even notice when her mother put the money in.
Looking at the money pouch in her hand, Lin Xiahe felt a pang of sadness. She had money to spend, she had money, so why give her more money?
Why give money?
Mrs. Lin knew that her daughter had just gotten married and had some money, but she just wanted to give her peace of mind.
The Wang family has four sisters-in-law, while the other three sisters-in-law have even more substantial wealth. Even though they have separated their households, they still get together sometimes.
When women sit together, they always talk about food, clothing, and daily necessities. Even if one person is innocent, won't the others be?
Mrs. Lin didn't want her daughter to be in dire straits. The money wasn't much, but it was within her means.
When they arrived at the market, they saw that most of the customers were already seated at the stalls. Before they even got close, they rolled up their sleeves and said loudly, "Qianqian, I'll take care of tidying up. You go and help chop the vegetables."
She took the rag and quickly wiped the table. When she looked up, she saw Manager Luo, who hadn't been there for several days, and hurriedly went up to greet him, "Manager Luo, what would you like to eat today?"
"Young Master hasn't had much of an appetite lately. How about a light yam and lean pork soup, and some hot and sour shredded potatoes?" Before Luo Da could finish speaking, he interrupted Lin Shi, "It's like this, our young master is getting engaged and would like to invite you to the engagement banquet. Do you have the time?"
"Yes, we do! Others might not know, but your family definitely does!" Madam Lin said with a smile, offering her congratulations. "This is wonderful news! Which family's daughter have you chosen?"
"You'll find out when you get there; the date is the 26th of this month. Now that it's agreed, I'll go back and give you an answer." Not wanting to gossip about his master, Luo Da took the dishes and left.
Mrs. Lin happily told her youngest daughter about it, "The Luo family borrowed money from us. They have a happy occasion, so we have to do our best."
"Of course." Qiao Mianmian thought of the sickly Young Master Luo and hoped that he would get better.
As they were talking, Lu Zhao and Ouyang Yi arrived again. Lately, Ouyang Yi had become a regular customer at Qiao Mianmian's place. "What would you like to eat today? We have fresh shepherd's purse, which can be used to make tofu soup. Would you like to try some?"
Every time Qiao Mianmian asked this question, Lu Zhao would say yes, and today was no different. "And another pan-fried small mixed fish."
He saw that the small, mixed fish in the basin looked very fresh and should taste delicious.
"Alright, please sit down first." Qiao Mianmian turned her head and said, "Mother, Lord Lu wants to pan-fry small fish. Please kill the fish first."
She washed the pot, rinsed the shepherd's purse, and chopped it finely. After the water in the pot boiled, she first added the tofu (she used soft tofu), and when it looked almost cooked, she added the shepherd's purse and cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.
Once the soup reaches a certain thick consistency, it's ready to serve. No complicated seasonings are needed; simple salt and lard allow the shepherd's purse and tofu to bring out their best. The smooth texture of the tender tofu, combined with the unique fragrance of the shepherd's purse, makes it difficult to discern the flavor in just one bite. After a few bites, the taste gradually comes to mind, and half the soup is already gone.
"Lord Ouyang, please save some!" Qingjiu hurriedly scooped a few spoonfuls for her master. "My lord, please eat quickly. You always take such small portions. What if you lose weight?"
Looking at Qingjiu's increasingly round face, Lu Zhao said, "No matter what, I won't lose weight."
The fact that he could gain weight from drinking so much liquor shows that he ate quite a lot himself.
"That's not necessarily true." Qingjiu ate quickly, finishing three bowls of rice, and patted her belly contentedly. "It's so nice not having to cook for myself. Now the Qiao family can even cook dinner. I've gained a little weight recently."
“Not just a little.” Ouyang Yi put down his chopsticks and said, “Young Master Qingjiu, look at your belly, and then look at mine. You used to be as skinny as Lord Lu, but now you’re just like me.”
Qingjiu refused to believe it. "Impossible! We're still different!" He absolutely refused to believe he was as fat as Ouyang Yi!
Ouyang Yi shook his head at the green wine, "It's just self-deception."
Qiao Mianmian overheard the conversation between the three people and glanced at Qingjiu, only to find that Qingjiu was also looking over.
"Miss Qiao, you've always been honest. Tell me the truth, am I really as fat as Lord Ouyang?" Qingjiu said indignantly.
Qiao Mianmian glanced at Qingjiu, then at Ouyang Yi, and smiled reassuringly, "You two aren't fat, you're just a bit well-off. But being able to eat is a blessing, and most people can't develop this kind of physique. Don't worry, you're not fat."
"Look, even Miss Qiao says I'm not fat!" Qingjiu was completely relieved.
Qiao Mianmian's gaze finally fell on Lu Zhao. They were eating the same thing, so why was Qing Jiu visibly getting fatter, while Lu Zhao hadn't gained any weight at all?
She thought to herself that it was a good thing Lu Zhao hadn't gained weight, otherwise he wouldn't look good.
After seeing Lu Zhao and the other two off, Qiao Mianmian busied herself for a while before preparing to pack up her stall.
They tidied up the stall, and the Qiao brothers came over to pull the cart.
Qiao Jiawang pulled from the front, while Qiao Jiaxing pushed from behind. He sighed, "If only we had a shop, we wouldn't have to drag tables and chairs to set up our stall every day. These things are so heavy that it's hard to push them."
Lin said from the side, "We're in the food business, so we need a lot of space. For a shop in our market, we need at least two storefronts. The rent is estimated to be two to three taels of silver, and that's considered cheap. If we didn't have any more debts, we could really rent a shop. Let's just bear with it for now and pay off the debts eventually."
Their family could afford the rent, but Lin wanted to save more money. Even if they saved one tael of silver a month, it would still be twelve taels of silver a year. For an average family, the total cost of food, clothing, and other necessities for the whole year wouldn't even amount to twelve taels of silver.
The Lin family understood Lin's frugality.
After returning home, Lin calculated her income for the day and took out thirty taels of silver. "Mancang, take this money to my second brother and pay him back. That will leave only my parents and the Luo family with the money."
It's not good to bother the Luo family with money like this, giving them ten taels today and twenty taels tomorrow. Lin plans to repay them in two installments, one hundred taels each time.
If her own parents suffer a little loss, and she keeps dragging it out, then her children are here to collect debts from her past life, and she's a debt collector herself.
Qiao Mancang: "Second brother, you don't need the money right now. How about we pay it back to the Luo family later?"
“Even if they don’t need the money urgently, we should still pay it back first. That way, everyone will feel better. Otherwise, we owe our second brother money, but we’re eating and drinking well at home every day. What do you expect him to think?” Madam Lin urged. “Go and come back quickly. You have to do delivery work this evening.”
Qiao Mancang then took the silver and went out, but at the door he ran into Xu Kuan. "It's Brother Xu, what brings you here?"
"I... I'm... it's nothing." Xu Kuan shook his head before saying this and hurried home.
After watching Xu Kuan and her father walk away, Qiao Mianmian returned and said, "Mom, let's find a few more people. Dad and the others are running delivery every day. They can't keep up after a while."
She later learned that food delivery also existed in ancient times, but it was only available in some large restaurants and not in small taverns, because everyone relied on small profits and quick turnover.
“I’m looking. I’ve already told the neighbors that anyone who’s free can come and help,” Lin said. “Our family only does delivery work at noon and in the evening, earning two or three coins a time. People only come to earn some pocket money when they have nothing else to do. Nobody does this full-time.”
After all, the Qiao family's current output isn't large enough to generate substantial income, and the Qiao family also provides deliveries themselves. The people helping out can make three or four trips a day, which is considered a lot.
Qiao Mianmian thought so too. Relying solely on her two legs, she couldn't make more than a few trips in a single midday.
But her father and brothers had other things to do during the day, and they were busy from morning till night. Eventually, they couldn't take it anymore.
Qiao Mianmian wanted to make money, but the health of her family was more important. She suddenly thought of her two cousins from her second uncle's family, "Mom, how about we ask my cousins Yinshan and Tongshan to help us?"
Each delivery requires at least two dishes, which earns two coins. If you make four deliveries a day, you can earn eight coins. In a month, you can earn two to three hundred coins.
Lin had considered her family, especially her second brother's family, but she hesitated, "Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"
At times like this, she always thinks a lot. Would her brother-in-law and his family be unhappy if her family earned this money? After all, they also have children.
"What's wrong with it?"
Qiao Mianmian analyzed, "My second uncle's sons, Jiacheng and Jiaxi, are both learning a trade, and my third uncle's son, Jiasheng, has been doing gardening since elementary school. They all have something to do. Even if they didn't learn a trade, they could still earn extra money. It's not spring planting season yet, so my cousins can only forage for food in the mountains and don't earn much. Think about it, my second uncle is in such a difficult situation, yet he still went to bring you money. For that kind of friendship, you should at least help him out, right? Or do you think that what others say is more important than your own brothers?"
"You silly girl, is that what I meant?" Lin Shi was about to lose her composure when she thought of the seven taels of silver.
Qiao Mianmian persisted, "Mom, we have to pay back the money we owe, but we have to figure out how to pay it back. Dad has to go slaughter pigs before dawn, my eldest brother has to collect pig offal from house to house, and my second brother helps with chopping and cooking vegetables. They all have a lot of work to do. Let them rest a bit, and when the busy farming season comes and our cousins come home, we can grit our teeth and keep working."
At times like this, Qiao Mianmian would cling to Lin Shi's arm and plead, "My dear mother, if you don't object, it means you've agreed. Okay, I'll bring it up later, and I promise I won't put you in a difficult position!"
"Huh?"
As soon as Lin turned around, Qiao Mianmian had already run away.
Qiao Mianmian knew what Lin was thinking; it was a blended family, so many things were more sensitive.
But she felt that neither her grandmother nor her father were petty people.
During dinner, Qiao Mianmian brought up the matter, "After half a month of this, my brothers and my dad have obviously lost weight. I've been cooking so many delicious things and I'm still losing weight, which shows how tired I am. Grandparents, I'm thinking that money should be earned slowly and steadily. If any family member gets sick from overwork, wouldn't it be a waste? Don't you think so?"
Zhang had no objections. She had seen how hard the younger generation had worked. She glanced at her daughter-in-law and, seeing that she didn't say anything, knew that her daughter-in-law already knew about it. "Our Mianmian is so considerate. I think it's great. Sizhu and the others aren't free every day. Sometimes they're too busy, and I want to help deliver things, but alas, I'm too old to run around."
As she spoke, she glanced to the side and said, "Husband, don't you think so?"
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Qiao Youfu had nothing to say. Even if he wanted his other grandsons to earn this money, it was impossible. His other grandsons were all learning a trade, a trade that would sustain them for a lifetime. They couldn't give it up for a small amount of money.
With neither of the elders objecting, Qiao Mancang was even less likely to object. "Second Brother's family has it tough. If we can relax a bit, Yinshan and the others can earn some pocket money. It's a win-win situation. Yinshan is already twenty-one and still hasn't settled down. Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law must be very anxious."
Speaking of this, Lin was equally anxious, "Then I'll go tomorrow. I'll have Xiangyang tell him that I'll bring the two brothers here tomorrow, I don't know when."
Just as Xia He was getting married, there was an extra room in the house that the Yinshan brothers could live in.
She glanced at everyone and, seeing that they had moved on to other things, continued eating.
The Qiao family had just finished eating when Xu Kuan arrived again. This time, he called Qiao Mancang out. Qiao Mianmian curiously peered through the door, and Qiao Jiaxing followed along, but they still couldn't hear what they were saying.
When Qiao Mancang returned, Qiao Mianmian immediately asked what happened.
"Nothing much. He asked me about setting up a stall at the market, saying he was bored and wanted to find something to do," Qiao Mancang said.
Qiao Jiaxing didn't understand. "Is setting up a stall really that embarrassing? He came this afternoon, and he's here again now, but he doesn't even dare to go inside. Is he afraid we'll laugh at him?"
"If there's anything funny, we all make a living by setting up stalls ourselves." Qiao Mancang clicked his tongue. "Stop gossiping about other people's business. Aren't you tired enough today? Go wash up and go to bed!"
The brother and sister said "Oh" and went to wash up.
The next day, when they set up their stall, they saw that Xu Kuan had already set up a table next to Qiao Mancang's meat stall with the four big characters "Letter Writing Service" written on it.
When Xu Kuan saw the Qiao family arrive, his forehead turned red to the back of his hands, and his body stiffened and he didn't move. Lin asked him several questions, and he only knew to reply with "hmm".
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