Having just arrived in the county town, everything here felt unfamiliar. It filled her with both curiosity and fear. When she saw the neatly dressed passersby without a single patch on their clothing, she felt embarrassed by her own patched and worn outfit. She didn’t even know where to place her hands and feet, and she was nervous when asking for directions.
But now, watching her sister sit there happily devouring all the food, Yu Jin suddenly felt calm.
Even though the county town was unfamiliar, her sister was here.
As long as her elder sister was here, she wasn’t afraid of anything.
The meat buns were dense, and the wontons were quite filling. After eating one bun and one bowl of wontons, Yu Jin was already stuffed.
She rubbed her belly and said, “Elder Sister, I probably won’t be able to eat lunch.”
If she were alone, she’d think this one meal would be enough for both lunch and dinner, saving her some food.
Yu Li didn’t seem to mind. “Then just walk around the county town more. By noon, you’ll be hungry again. Then you can eat more meat.”
As she spoke, she glanced at her sister, reached out to pinch her cheek, which was soft and plump, and looked satisfied.
Over the past few months, not only had Yu Li worked hard to eat well, but her three younger sisters had also been eating better. They were no longer as frail and skinny as when they first met and had grown into the healthy physiques that girls their age should have. It was a good improvement.
Yu Li took Yu Jin through the streets of the county town, looking around as they walked.
When they passed stalls selling candy, roasted sunflower seeds, sesame cakes, and sugar-oil pancakes, she bought some of everything and shared them with her sister.
“Elder Sister, I can’t eat anymore…” Yu Jin said with difficulty.
She never thought there’d come a day when she’d look at a pile of delicious snacks and say she couldn’t eat another bite. But her sister really bought too much—her basket was almost overflowing.
Earlier, she had been puzzled why her sister carried a basket out with her. Now she understood—it was to hold all the things she bought.
Watching her sister spend money like water, Yu Jin went from being surprised to gradually feeling numb, though she couldn’t help but feel a little worried.
She seriously doubted whether her sister earned enough in a day to cover her expenses.
Yu Li said, “Don’t worry. I just want you to try them. I can finish the rest.”
Yu Jin: “….”
As for her sister’s doubts, Yu Li replied, “You’re right—it’s not enough. But it doesn’t matter. Your brother-in-law makes money, and his money is my money.”
The family still had a “golden nugget” to support. Once Fu Wenxiao’s health improved, he would earn money for her to spend, so Yu Li wasn’t worried. She bought whatever she wanted, fulfilling the goal she had set the first time she came to the county town: to shop freely and without restraint.
More importantly, using her abilities left her exhausted and hungry—she needed to eat more to recover.
“Ah?” Yu Jin’s eyes widened. “Brother-in-law actually knows how to make money?”
She hadn’t expected it. Her brother-in-law, a frail man rumored to be so sickly he couldn’t leave the house, and even suspected by others to be too ugly to be seen, could actually earn money?
Didn’t her elder sister say that the Fu family’s food had been eaten up by her, and they didn’t have much silver left, so she needed to find work?
“Of course!” Yu Li said matter-of-factly. “He’s a scholar, and scholars are great at earning money.”
Yu Jin countered with solid evidence: “Our eldest uncle, eldest cousin, and second cousin are all scholars too, but they don’t seem to earn much money.”
If they could, the second and third branches of the family wouldn’t need to keep supporting them.
Eldest Uncle worked as an accountant in a rice shop and earned three taels a month.
Three taels was quite a lot.
However, it was said that Eldest Uncle had to rent a house in the county town, spend money on food, and buy supplies like brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Those three taels were far from enough to cover his expenses. As a result, he barely contributed to the shared family funds each month, which didn’t qualify him as someone good at earning money.
“He’s different!” Yu Li frowned. “Don’t compare Eldest Uncle and the others to Xiao Ge’er. They’re useless—studying was wasted on them. Xiao Ge’er is what a real scholar should be.”
Yu Jin was full of questions and didn’t quite understand what her sister meant.
What exactly was the difference? Was a “real scholar” only someone who could earn money?
In the end, Yu Jin only came to one conclusion: her brother-in-law was indeed very good at earning money.
Even though she didn’t know how he managed it without leaving the house, her elder sister probably wasn’t lying—there was no need to.
So now, as she watched her sister spend money extravagantly without a care, treating money as if it were nothing, Yu Jin couldn’t help but feel that it all made sense.
Her sister was right—Brother-in-law’s money was her sister’s money. Spending her own money was perfectly reasonable. If the money ran out, she could just have Brother-in-law earn more!
—
The two sisters walked across a river running through the town. Standing on the arched bridge, they could see small boats weaving through the water below. The boats were piled high with all kinds of goods, and the boatmen paddled while calling out to sell their wares.
If someone on the riverbank wanted to buy something, the boat would stop, sell its goods, and then continue onward.
Seeing this, Yu Jin said, “Elder Sister, I used to envy Boatman Wang. I heard he earns quite a lot in a day. With that boat, he’s made enough money to send his children to school, which is much better than our family.”
“Back then, I also wanted to go out and find work. Anything would’ve been fine. I wasn’t afraid of hardship or exhaustion, as long as I could earn money to fill our stomachs…”
Yu Li patted her on the head. “You can still do that now.”
“Yes!” Yu Jin looked up and smiled at her sister. Then she said, “Elder Sister, you seem to have grown taller again.”
Her elder sister had only been a little taller than her before, but now she was almost half a head taller.
Yu Li replied, “You’re only fourteen and still growing. You’ll get taller too.”
Her younger sisters would probably grow to about 1.6 meters (5’3”) in the future.
In Qingshi Village, a girl reaching 1.6 meters was already considered quite tall.
Yu Jin pursed her lips into a smile, glancing again at the small boats weaving along the river and the unfamiliar surroundings. Her heart filled with both joy and anticipation.
After crossing the bridge, they walked further along the road, eventually arriving at the county town’s wharf.
The wharf was always bustling with activity, a lively scene tinged with the hardships of lower-class laborers.
Yu Jin observed the busy dock workers, then glanced around and said, “Elder Sister, look at those dock workers. They all do heavy labor and don’t make much money. They’re frugal with food and drink, just like Father and Third Uncle. During the farming off-season, when they come to the county town to find work, they usually bring their own dry rations. Otherwise, they just go hungry because they can’t bear to spend money on food.”
Yu Li gave a soft hum, waiting for her sister to continue.
“In the past, I thought the food sold in the county town was too expensive. Even the food at street stalls isn’t much cheaper. What if I made some coarse grain rice balls and sold them in the county town? If I set the price lower, they’d probably sell.”
“Rice balls?” Yu Li asked.
She’d eaten many kinds of food before but never rice balls. Did that mean pressing rice into a ball? The idea didn’t exist around here.
Yu Jin thought for a moment and said softly, “Yes, you cook coarse grain rice, mix it with some sauce to add flavor, and then wrap it in a leafy green. It becomes a ball, so I call it a rice ball. Of course, it’d be even better if the rice balls could include something extra inside.”
“Meat’s too expensive, so adding meat wouldn’t be cost-effective. But you could add other things, like boiled, soft beans. If you peel them, season them, and stuff them into the rice balls, they’d taste great. Oh, and you could also add a slice or two of braised offal. Offal isn’t worth much, though spices are pricey. But one pot of braising liquid can prepare a lot of offal. Adding some braising liquid to the rice balls for extra flavor would make them smell amazing…”
Yu Jin mumbled as she spoke, her eyes growing brighter and brighter.
She turned to Yu Li, her excitement evident. “Elder Sister, what do you think about me selling rice balls here?”
“I think it’s a great idea!” Yu Li encouraged her. “You should give it a try.”
Yu Jin, though filled with uncertainties, felt a surge of courage and hope from her sister’s encouragement. “Then I’ll give it a try.”
As the sisters spoke, a commotion erupted near the wharf.
They turned to look and saw a steward eagerly welcoming a young man in luxurious attire. The young man had a sleek, polished appearance and carried himself with an air of arrogance. He was accompanied by two yamen officers who followed him like attendants, making the young man appear even more imposing.
Yu Jin froze for a moment, puzzled. She couldn’t figure out who this young man was to have yamen officers serving as his entourage.
It was clear from the yamen officers’ demeanor that they were trying to please the young man.
Nearby, they overheard someone saying, “Steward Cui is here again. I wonder where he plans to eat today.”
“Hopefully not here. He never pays for his meals, complains about the food, and takes more than we can afford to give.”
“What can you do? He’s the county magistrate’s brother-in-law.”
“Bah, what brother-in-law? He’s just the brother of one of the magistrate’s concubines, not the magistrate’s wife’s brother. How can he be considered a proper brother-in-law?”
“Even so, he’s not someone we can afford to offend.”
“True, we really can’t.”
Just then, a dock worker carrying goods stumbled as he walked, accidentally bumping into Steward Cui. Furious, Steward Cui’s yamen officer lashed out with a kick, sending the worker tumbling to the ground.
The worker fell hard, his head hitting the ground and splitting open, blood flowing freely. He quickly lost consciousness.
The dock steward yelled at the laborer and ordered someone to drag him away. Then he said something ingratiating to Steward Cui, finally calming his anger.
Seeing this, Yu Jin’s face turned pale.
The laborer clearly hadn’t done it on purpose, yet no one seemed to care. As he was dragged away, the blood from his forehead flowed down his face. It was unclear what would happen to him.
The onlookers murmured among themselves, pitying the laborer. However, these people of high status were not ones ordinary commoners could afford to offend, so no one dared to speak up.
“Elder Sister…” Yu Jin whispered, her voice trembling.
Yu Li noticed her pale expression and realized she was frightened. She decided to take her sister away.
But just as they turned to leave, an arrogant voice rang out behind them:
“You two, stop right there!”