Now the people in the village are all actively hoarding grain, and those who have tight money in hand are definitely not just the Old Woman Chang’s family. There must also be people with the same idea as her, wanting to borrow money from the Jiang family.
So when Jiang He came back from collecting pigs, Jiang Chun sent him off in a grand way to go borrow money from Clan Leader Jiang Zhaonian and Village Chief Zou’s family.
Jiang Zhaonian’s house, of course, was a smoke bomb. Jiang Zhaonian was Jiang He’s paternal uncle by blood, and he had always been partial to Jiang He, his big nephew. Jiang He also didn’t need to cover up in front of him—just speak the truth directly.
As for Village Chief Zou’s family, if he found an excuse and refused to lend, that was for the best. If he agreed to lend, then Jiang He would just accept it.
Anyway, among villagers, borrowing money doesn’t come with interest. When the famine is over, Jiang He can just return the money and casually give a thank-you gift, that’s all.
In any case, whether or not they could borrow money wasn’t important. What was important was Jiang He going around borrowing money—this behavior would show that their family was truly dirt poor, that they didn’t even have money to buy grain.
This way, it could cut off the villagers’ idea of borrowing money from the Jiang family.
Moreover, when Jiang He told lies, he wasn’t the least bit guilty. After all, those five hundred taels of silver notes and fifty taels of gold counted as windfall money, and couldn’t be touched easily. Their family’s current savings only had about four taels left. Weren’t they dirt poor then?
Jiang Chun was pounding rice, handling family visitors, and only got a breather by mid-afternoon.
She walked into the west room and saw Song Shi’an sitting upright at the kang table, holding a brush, coloring the painting.
The coloring of the whole painting was already at the final stage—only a small piece in the upper right corner was left empty.
She didn’t make a sound to disturb him and sat by herself on the edge of the kang, quietly watching him work.
Song Shi’an’s long eyebrows extended into his temples, and below them were a pair of extremely aggressive phoenix eyes. When his face had no expression, it appeared cold and distant, even with some severity.
Jiang Chun thought she probably had a hallucination last night. That person who had big teardrops falling from the corners of his eyes definitely wasn’t him!
How could such a person possibly cry over a quarrel or argument with her?
But in fact, that’s exactly what he did.
What did this show?
It showed that he really loved her to death. (T/N: LMAOO)
Jiang Chun covered her face, feeling her cheeks a little hot. How could she deserve this? How could she make Song Shi’an, this beautiful, strong, tragic male supporting character, act like this?
Song Shi’an was immersed in coloring and didn’t notice Jiang Chun entering. When he finished the last stroke, he placed the brush into the inkstone, then looked up.
Right at that moment, he happened to see Jiang Chun with both hands covering her blushing cheeks, her head shaking back and forth like a rattle-drum.
He said indifferently, “What are you shaking around for? Doesn’t your head feel dizzy?”
Jiang Chun stopped shaking her head, then reached out to hold her forehead, putting on a weak appearance, and in a coquettish tone, acted spoiled and said: “Aiya, husband, my head is so dizzy, quickly help me.”
Song Shi’an: “……”
Even though he knew she was deliberately putting on an act, his whole body’s bones still couldn’t help but soften.
He stretched out his hand with difficulty to support her shoulder.
Jiang Chun followed the momentum and fell onto him.
In the next instant, the two of them toppled backward together.
Fortunately, behind them was a pile of bedding made from two quilts and two mattresses stacked up into a bedding mountain. Song Shi’an’s back directly leaned against it.
Jiang Chun’s mouth twitched.
She had only lightly leaned onto him, didn’t even use any strength—how come she just pushed him over like that?
She strongly suspected this guy was playing the porcelain trick [碰瓷 — refers to someone faking an accident to claim compensation], but she had no proof.
But since the person was already pushed down, why should she still be polite? She decisively reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest.
While yelling: “Aiya, from this fall by husband, my head hurts even more now.”
Song Shi’an’s face was slightly red.
He had been focused on coloring the painting for over an hour; maybe his legs had gone numb. He had wanted to help her up, but not only did he fail to support her, he also ended up falling over together with her…
He closed his eyes briefly and said: “Let go of me, I’ll help you up first, otherwise I can’t get up.”
Jiang Chun hugged even tighter, making a soft noise: “Why get up? Isn’t it just fine to lie here like this?”
Song Shi’an lowered his eyes to look at her, patiently coaxing: “It’s broad daylight, don’t act so clingy, be careful father comes back and sees.”
Jiang Chun caught the loophole in his words, grinning and countering: “According to husband’s meaning, it’s fine to act clingy at night then?”
Song Shi’an gave a light hum: “If I say it’s not fine, you won’t act clingy then?”
Jiang Chun responded decisively: “That’s impossible.”
“You better let go,” Song Shi’an tried to persuade again.
Jiang Chun finally spoke the truth: “Don’t worry blindly, I’ve already sent father to Sixth Grandpa’s house and to Village Chief Zou’s house to borrow money, he won’t be back anytime soon.”
When Song Shi’an heard this, he immediately stopped talking.
He didn’t ask her why she sent Jiang He to borrow money from those families—Jiang Chun had been pounding rice by the stove in the main room, so he had heard all of old woman Chang’s words, word for word.
The reason she did this was most likely to pretend to borrow money and act poor, so as to completely cut off the villagers’ idea of borrowing money from the Jiang family.
The two of them just quietly embraced like this.
Neither of them brought up the matter of him shedding tears last night, as if it had never happened.
But both of them understood his feelings for her.
So, even though the two of them appeared as usual on the surface, ultimately, things had changed.
There was an added mutual understanding and tacit connection between them.
At this moment, there was no kissing, no sweet words spoken, just quietly lying together, eyes closed in each other’s arms, yet it felt incomparably peaceful in the heart, as if the soul had found its home.
Then, the two of them fell asleep together.
Jiang He returned from Village Chief Zou’s house, holding the ten taels of silver that Village Chief Zou had lent, and called out for his daughter in the courtyard. After shouting several times, no one responded. He pushed open the door to the west room and took a look—he was so startled that he immediately backed out.
Blushing, he cursed quietly in his heart—this young couple hugging and sleeping together in broad daylight, luckily the one who came back was himself. If it had been an outsider…
Although the villagers never knocked when entering through the main gate, once they entered the courtyard, they would raise their voices to shout for the person, and generally wouldn’t directly enter someone else’s room.
But not everyone followed these rules—there were also those who would directly barge into other people’s rooms.
So when Jiang Chun woke up in the evening, Jiang He found an excuse to call her aside, hesitating to speak but still reminding her: “In the future, if you and your son-in-law take a nap during the day, remember to latch the main hall’s door.”
Jiang Chun blushed and answered: “Understood, Dad.”
Although Jiang He didn’t say it directly, it was obvious he had pushed open the west room’s door and seen her and Song Shi’an hugging and sleeping together, otherwise, why would he bring up such a thing out of nowhere?
Although both of them were fully clothed, and being seen wasn’t that big of a deal, it was still a bit shameful.
She ran back to the west room and decisively dumped the blame onto Song Shi’an: “Tell me, why didn’t you insist on making me let go of you earlier? Now look, we got seen by Dad hugging and sleeping together—what a loss of face.”
Song Shi’an: “……”
Being seen by the father-in-law while hugging and sleeping together was indeed a bit shameful, but how could this blame be dumped onto him?
Hadn’t he tried to persuade her earlier? Wasn’t it her who insisted that Jiang He wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon, so he didn’t insist further?
But he didn’t say a word.
After all, in any case, she was always in the right—no matter how he tried to argue, he couldn’t out-talk her.
Even if he could out-talk her, it would be useless—she could still act shameless and make a scene.
Choosing to argue with someone you would never win against—in the end, you’ve already lost before it even started.
He had experienced this firsthand last night, and he had no intention of going through it a second time.
Seeing that he stayed “guilty” and silent, Jiang Chun let the matter drop.
She even turned around and comforted him: “Forget it, forget it. So what if Dad saw it? What’s the big deal? Don’t be fooled by him righteously criticizing me—he’s probably overjoyed inside, thinking that there’s hope for hugging a grandchild.”
Song Shi’an: “……”
It would have been better if she didn’t try to comfort him.
His medicinal soup for nurturing the body had to be taken for a full year—this was only the second month, and for the next ten months, there wouldn’t be any “bedroom activities.”
Jiang He wanting to hold a grandchild—he was afraid that would have to wait.
But time, this thing—say it’s slow, and it’s slow; say it’s fast, and it’s actually fast. In the blink of an eye, it was already the twelfth lunar month.
The county magistrate, Lu Zhengheng, wasn’t like those other magistrates or county heads who sat idle and ate their salary. He personally reached out to the big families in the county city and raised a large amount of grain, which was used to distribute porridge to the refugees.
When the refugees heard that there was a way to survive here, over the past two months, more and more refugees had arrived in Hongye County from Yanzhou Prefecture. Outside the county city, there was a pile of crude shelters that the refugees used as makeshift homes.
Last month, Jiang Chun had risked a trip to the county city to get medicine for Song Shi’an. The city gate was so packed that there wasn’t even a place to step down.
She had no choice but to turn back a few li, leave the mule cart at the village chief’s home in a small village, and walk into the county city.
Because she had the household registration paper from Qizhou Prefecture, with “Jiang Chun, Hongye Town, Daliushu Village” written on it, the soldiers guarding the gate exchanged glances, felt she couldn’t be provoked, and immediately let her through.
She observed the situation in the city. Because the refugees couldn’t enter the city, the conditions inside were still pretty good, everything orderly.
Since that was the case, she simply detoured to the pawnshop and pawned the pair of jade bangles she got as a check-in reward from the jewelry shop last time, receiving twenty-eight taels of silver.
If it were in the past, the price wouldn’t just double—at the very least, it could have been pawned for thirty or forty taels of silver. But now times were hard, the pawnshop was pressing down on prices fiercely, and the old shopkeeper also wore a “pawn if you want, don’t pawn if you don’t” expression. She could only grit her teeth and accept it.
Of course, after coming out, she didn’t forget to check in at the pawnshop.
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Hongye County Pawnshop】. Gained: 1 red-gold inlaid ruby ring, 1 Ru kiln pastel Magu Offering Longevity teacup, 2 pairs of silver chopsticks.]
The corners of Jiang Chun’s mouth nearly bloomed into a smile. Reaching level 3 was really awesome—she could draw out three rewards at once! Although it was just a chance and depended on luck, she and Hongye County’s bazi [eight characters of birthdate; a form of destiny compatibility in Chinese metaphysics] were very compatible. Checking in at stores in the county city, while it wasn’t guaranteed to max out the rewards every time, most of the time, she could still draw them out.
It was much stronger than checking in at Hongye Town.
She hoped her bazi would also match well with the capital, since barring accidents, she’d be living in the capital for the rest of her life.
She happily went around to check in at the other stores in one go.
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Hongye County Bookstore】. Gained: 5 sticks of pine soot ink, 3 jars of pigments, 8 bamboo brushes.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Hongye County Blacksmith】. Gained: 1 iron shovel, 1 iron kettle, 1 iron pot.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Hongye County Jewelry Shop】. Gained: 1 gold hairpin, 1 pair of silver lilac earrings, 1 pair of bead flowers.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Hongye County Cloth Shop】. Gained: 6 bolts of fine cotton fabric, 8 jin of cotton, 3 bolts of silk.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Hongye County Money Exchange】. Gained: 820 copper coins.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Hongye County Pharmacy】. Gained: 5 jin of bay leaves, 6 jin of star anise, 8 liang of bird’s nest.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Hongye County Medical Hall】. Gained: 4 jin of cinnamon bark, 5 liang of banlangen (Isatis root).]
After checking in at the medical hall, she lifted her feet and walked inside.
Being able to enter Hongye County City this time—who knew what the situation would be next time.
So she found Doctor Cao and directly had him prepare six months’ worth of medicine.
Anyway, Qizhou Prefecture was located in Lu Province, and the winter-spring climate was dry. There was no worry of the medicinal herbs getting damp or moldy, so getting a larger batch to store at home wasn’t a big problem.
Since the ginseng slices obtained from check-in had already been used up, the medicine price returned to three taels per month. Six months’ worth of medicine was a full eighteen taels.
The twenty-eight taels of silver exchanged for the pawned jade bangles disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only ten taels left.
Thirty packets of medicine per month, a total of one hundred and eighty packets for six months—there was no way her bundle could hold them all. In the end, it was Doctor Cao who asked a shop assistant to bring her a piece of coarse hemp cloth used for drying herbs, so they could wrap it up properly.
It was also thanks to this coarse hemp cloth from Doctor Cao, with its sparse weave and large gaps unsuitable for storing grain. Carrying the bundle on her back, when she squeezed her way out from the city gate, those refugees only gave her a glance before ignoring her.
Of course, having the coarse hemp cloth bundle was one thing—her outfit today also contributed greatly.
She wore the rough, dirty clothes she only wore when slaughtering pigs, covered in both bloody stains and mud, so dirty that the original color of the clothes couldn’t even be seen.
Her face, neck, and hands were all smeared with black ash. Her hair hadn’t been washed for a whole week on purpose and was tousled into a chicken’s nest.
She looked even more like a refugee than a refugee. When refugees saw her, they had to hold their noses and make way.
This hard trip to the county city, besides buying medicine for Song Shi’an, also brought back quite a few spices from the medical hall and pharmacy.
Li Shi wasn’t wrong when she said—nowadays, grain prices were skyrocketing. The price of wheat had risen from six hundred wen per shi to one tael and eight hundred wen per shi, tripling in price.
How could farmers still bear to feed grain to pigs? They were all selling pigs, even the ones not yet fully grown were sold off.
After entering the twelfth lunar month, it became increasingly difficult for Jiang He to collect pigs. He often went out for an entire day and still couldn’t get a single pig. Their family’s meat stall also changed from opening daily to opening once every three days.
This pig-slaughtering and meat-selling business was getting harder and harder to do. Jiang He felt that this wouldn’t do—he had to think of another way to make money. They couldn’t just sit and eat away the mountain.
Just as it happened to be nearing the end of the year, and Jiang Chun also had spices on hand, why not braise some meat and sell it?
Jiang Chun was swift and decisive—once she thought of it, she did it. The next day, during the pig slaughter, she directly kept the pig head and the pig offal. When she returned from town after selling meat, she began the preparation work.
Dehairing the pig head was relatively troublesome—first it had to be scalded, then painstakingly scraped. But this wasn’t difficult for Jiang Chun, after all, she was strong.
It was washing the pig intestines that truly disgusted her—rubbing them with wheat bran, soaking them in salt water, and finally blanching them with white liquor. She busied herself for most of the day, and it wasn’t until nightfall that she finished processing everything.
She was nearly exhausted to the point of collapse, her waist almost unable to straighten up.
She also made the house reek with all sorts of strange smells. When Song Shi’an came out to use the latrine, he was holding his nose.
As he passed by her, he even shot a sharp-tongued remark: “Even if the family is poor, you still can’t cook shit to eat.”
This made Jiang Chun so angry she nearly fell over backwards.
She roared, “Who’s cooking shit?! I’m blanching pig intestines, you phony vegetarian monk! If you don’t understand, don’t talk nonsense!”
If his body weren’t so weak, she would have smacked him over already, then knelt down to beg him not to die. She would’ve given him a proper beating.
She decided then—these pig intestines, she would braise them for herself and Jiang He to eat. They absolutely wouldn’t be sold cheap to others.
Unless she herself wanted to eat braised pig intestines, otherwise she would never wash pig intestines again.
It was too troublesome and couldn’t even sell for a good price, why bother?
She did want to have another way to make money, but it wasn’t to bring herself trouble.
Just braising pig head and heart-liver-lungs was much more convenient.