Toward evening, Jiang He came back from collecting pigs. After hearing that Song Shi’an had caught a wind-cold and even developed a high fever, he privately gave Jiang Chun a talking-to.
He said that son-in-law Song’s body was weak. It was one thing for her to go crazy by herself, but she even dragged him to be crazy with her. So now, look what happened—tossed the man into falling ill, right?
Jiang Chun: “……”
She didn’t know whether it was because wiping Song Shi’an’s body gave rise to some amorous thoughts, but somehow, hearing what her dad said made her ears feel so… impure?
But the matter of Song Shi’an catching a cold truly couldn’t be separated from her. After all, she was the one who forcibly dragged him into the courtyard to admire the moon.
So she could only obediently stand in front of her father and accept the scolding.
And when Jiang He proposed that he would go to town to sell meat the next day, and let her stay home to take care of Song Shi’an, she didn’t dare raise any objections.
Early next morning, Jiang Chun helped with slaughtering the pig, loaded the pork onto the flat cart, and then sent Jiang He off.
Watching Jiang He push the flat cart, each step taken with heavy effort, she suddenly felt that the household needed to purchase a mule cart.
One, it would make it more convenient for father and daughter to go to town to sell meat every day; two, just looking at Song Shi’an’s weak and sickly body, he would definitely need to go to the medical hall frequently in the future.
Always borrowing village head Zou’s mule cart wasn’t a long-term solution either. If, like yesterday, someone else happened to borrow it, they’d have to go disturb the clan head.
She took stock of the silver money on hand. The existing savings couldn’t be touched—those were to be saved for Song Shi’an’s medicine and for unexpected household needs.
The only usable funds were the silver money she got from the sign-in system.
After a few sign-ins, the silver money she directly received from the money house amounted to about one string of coins, which is one tael of silver.
Also, on the day she went to the county town to pick up soybean oil, she pawned a pair of gold earrings and silver bracelets for eight taels and four qian.
Adding up all the silver money, it was nine taels and four qian.
But a strong adult mule that could immediately pull a cart would cost ten to twelve taels, with the exact price depending on its build and coat color.
A double-wheeled flat cart with a rear bucket and guardrail would cost three to five taels, depending on the wood used and craftsmanship.
So, the price of a mule cart would range between thirteen and seventeen taels.
Clearly, the silver money she had wasn’t enough. She could only keep saving.
Still, this sign-in system was quite useful. In just such a short time, she had saved almost ten taels of silver.
And that’s not even counting the medicinal herbs and spices stored in the system’s warehouse.
It’s just that these items were rare—selling them at a low price would be a pity. It was better to store them for now.
Sure enough, people had to have money in hand. After taking stock of her savings, Jiang Chun was extremely pleased.
She swayed her way into the west room, beaming at Song Shi’an, who was sitting leaned against the quilt, and said, “Husband, I bought a bit of bird’s nest. Should I stew a portion for you to nourish your body?”
Bird’s nest is measured in zhan [盏, zhan, a small portion or serving; literally means “cup” or “bowl”]. One slice equals one zhan.
Song Shi’an nodded: “I’ll trouble you then.”
He originally didn’t take it too seriously. Although bird’s nest was expensive, dried bird’s nest is light in weight. If it was only a few zhan, it’s not something a family like the Jiangs couldn’t afford.
However, when Jiang Chun brought over the stewed red date bird’s nest and placed it on the heated brick bed table, he casually glanced at it—and instantly, his pupils quaked.
This wasn’t some ordinary bird’s nest.
It was blood-red bird’s nest. [血燕燕窝—blood swallow bird’s nest, a rarer and much more expensive form of bird’s nest, often reddish due to the nesting environment]
Blood swallow bird’s nest is the most precious, just one zhan is worth two or three taels of silver.
That wasn’t the key point. The key point was that blood swallow bird’s nest is extremely rare—there’s a price but no market. Even high-ranking officials and noble families don’t have much of it. Ordinary wealthy households, even if they get their hands on some, wouldn’t consume it themselves, but would use it as a gift to foster relationships.
He dared guarantee, don’t even mention Hongye Town, even in Hongye County, or even in the prefectural capital of Qizhou, there’s absolutely no way there’s blood swallow bird’s nest for sale in any shop.
But Jiang Chun actually said she bought it herself…
Could it be that she got connected with her relatives or friends from her previous life? And those relatives or friends just happened to come from noble backgrounds, so they were able to help her obtain blood swallow bird’s nest?
But if she was of noble birth, then she should know that blood swallow bird’s nest is rare, and someone like him, who also came from nobility, would surely recognize it. Wouldn’t she be afraid of arousing his suspicion?
He calmly swept his gaze over her face, thinking: this person really does have quite a few secrets on her.
Jiang Chun, a modern person who had only eaten bird’s nest once or twice, how could she tell the quality of bird’s nest? She figured, since it was a sign-in reward, then she’d just stew it for him to eat.
Fortunately, she was generous toward Song Shi’an. Whenever she had something good, she’d think of him. Otherwise, if she had taken this blood swallow bird’s nest to the pawnshop in Hongye County to sell, she might’ve attracted attention and brought trouble.
Song Shi’an knew that his own body was weak and needed good tonic foods to nourish it. But the Jiang family’s financial ability was limited—it was already very admirable that they were willing to pay for decoction medicine to nurse his health. He couldn’t push his luck and demand more.
But now that Jiang Chun had a way to get her hands on such fine tonic goods like blood swallow bird’s nest, naturally he wouldn’t refuse it.
Her efforts—he remembered them all, and once they returned to the capital, he would pay her back double.
Jiang Chun plopped herself down onto the edge of the kang, picked up the spoon in the bowl and stirred it a bit.
Once it had cooled to warm, she picked up the bowl, smiled at Song Shi’an and said, “Husband, you don’t have strength in your body, let me feed you.”
Song Shi’an quickly declined: “There’s no need. I feel much better today, and I still have the strength to eat a bit of bird’s nest.”
“You sure?” Jiang Chun swept a glance over him, and snorted, “This bird’s nest is super valuable—just one zhan costs two to three taels of silver. If you spill it, I swear I’ll strip your pants and spank your butt!”
She casually made up a price—but unexpectedly, she hit the mark.
Song Shi’an: “……”
It wasn’t that he was afraid of getting his pants stripped and butt spanked. It’s just… he genuinely wasn’t too sure he could hold that heavy, thick porcelain bowl steadily.
Cough, forget it. Actually, he really was kind of afraid of getting his pants stripped and butt spanked, because that was exactly the kind of thing this completely unrestrained person would actually do!
He helplessly said: “Not all that sure…”
Jiang Chun rolled her eyes at him, scooped a spoonful of bird’s nest, and brought it to his lips.
Song Shi’an parted his lips and took the spoon into his mouth. With a sweep of his tongue, he scooped the shredded bird’s nest, red date slices, and soup into his mouth.
Jiang Chun pulled the spoon back, looking at him with an eager face, and asked, “Husband, is the bird’s nest I stewed tasty?”
“Tasty.” Song Shi’an nodded, then hesitated for a moment, and as casually as possible added, “If the bird’s nest is torn along the grain into strips before stewing, the taste would be even better.”
Jiang Chun: “……”
This guy was phrasing it gently, but he was clearly saying her method of preparing the bird’s nest was wrong, right?
She actually didn’t know about this. There was no “Xiachufang” [下厨房, a modern Chinese cooking app/website] here for her to look up recipes.
But she was someone who could advance or retreat as needed, so she immediately smiled and said, “Alrighty then, I’ll listen to Husband. Next time I stew bird’s nest, I’ll tear it into strips along the grain.”
When Song Shi’an said that, he had actually been a bit worried, afraid she’d become embarrassed and angry, fly into a rage, and smash the bowl of blood swallow bird’s nest on the ground.
That would be simply too much of a waste of heavenly treasures.
Who knew that she would actually have such a good temper—this truly left him a bit surprised.
Jiang Chun scooped another spoonful of bird’s nest and brought it to his lips.
A big bowl of bird’s nest, in no more than half a kezhong [roughly 15 minutes], had all gone into Song Shi’an’s belly.
After feeding Song Shi’an, Jiang Chun cooked a bowl of noodles for herself, cracked in two poached eggs, and then in just three swipes and five bites, polished everything off clean.
After the meal, she soaked the clothes Song Shi’an had sweated through yesterday into a wooden basin, preparing to wash them clean for him.
Who would’ve thought that just as she poured the water in, the main door banged open—and her younger female cousin Jiang Liu ran in covering her face, crying, while wailing:
“Big Sis, Big Sis, please save me! My grandma wants to sell me!”
Jiang Chun: “???”