The Spirited Daughter-in-law and the Mountain Man

Wang the Cripple was astonished to see her buying so many pots, “The wife of the Xiao Family, you’ve spent quite a bit of money.”

Su Qingyue chuckled, “They are all necessary for our household, I am buying them now since we have the money.”

Wang the Cripple was by no means a fool, “Your family just repaid Granny Sun five taels of silver, and you ran out of money a few days ago, now suddenly you have enough to buy so many pots, that’s some quick money-making. These pots and jars, they must cost over a hundred cents, right?”

“One hundred and twenty cents.”

“All from selling the ferns this morning?

Su Qingyue wasn’t hiding anything, “Yes.” She had the oil and salt hidden inside the pots, Wang the Cripple didn’t see them, otherwise, he would definitely have been more surprised.

“You’re really good at making money. I never expected your ferns to sell so well…” Wang the Cripple sighed in admiration.

Su Qingyue went to the not-too-far-off steamed bun stall, spent two cents, bought two big steamed buns, handed one to him, “Grandpa Wang, this is for you.”

“I couldn’t.” Wang the Cripple quickly waved his hand. He was quite pleased with her respectful address. There were many uncouth people in the village who simply called him Wang the Cripple outright.

“You’ve brought the cow’s cart all the way here, we haven’t had our midday meal yet, having a steamed bun is only right.”

“Then, thank you.” Wang the Cripple thought Su Qingyue was quite polite, regardless of how she looked, she was a good person.

Once Su Qingyue got on the cow’s cart, Wang the Cripple began to drive it back to the village.

Once they entered the village, quite a few people saw them. Some even came up to ask, “Wang the Cripple, why did you buy so many pots?” “They’re not mine, they were bought by the wife of the Xiao Family.”

“Where did she get the money from?”

“From selling stir-fried ferns.”

“My goodness, that must have made her over a hundred cents…” Several villagers started a discussion.

The road leading to the Xiao Family’s house was in poor condition, so Wang the Cripple just leisurely drove the cart into the Xiao Family’s courtyard.

The three men in the master bedroom saw from the window that their wife was back and even brought back so many things, they knew their wife’s vegetables had been sold. They were happy about it, but even if they weren’t sold, they would be very pleased as long as she got back safely.

Wang the Cripple went out of his way to help carry the pots and jars into the Xiao Family’s kitchen, and Su Qingyue handed him fifteen coins.

“Ten coins would be enough.” Wang the Cripple was an honest man — he ate her steamed buns, and as fellow villagers, he wouldn’t rip people off.

“We agreed on fifteen coins, I can’t give less than that.” Having paid this money, she now only had twenty-four coins left to buy garlic and radish to accompany tomorrow’s stir-fried ferns.

Wang the Cripple took the money and said, “The Xiao Family’s wife, if you need a cow’s cart in the future, just give me a shout.”

“I should be thanking you for the money-making opportunity.” Wang the Cripple then led the cow’s cart away.

“Oww…oww…” From the secondary bedroom, the little one knew his owner had returned and was whining in an infantile tone.

Su Qingyue didn’t have time to bother with him right now. It was probably about one o’clock in the afternoon. She had cooked a bit extra for breakfast, just in case she didn’t get back in time to make lunch, so the three men at home wouldn’t be left hungry.

Now that she had returned, she set about cooking lunch.

Then she prepared the medicine decoction for Second Brother, and administered acupuncture to him and Third Brother. Afterwards, she dealt with a basketful of medicinal herbs that had been neglected from the day before. The ones needing sun-drying were spread out on the drying rack in the backyard, and those for juicing were left in the storage room.

Carrying two empty bamboo baskets, she rushed back to where she had foraged for ferns the day before.

In the evening, she returned home with a load of ferns. With the remaining twenty-four cents, she went to Aunt Zhang’s family to buy garlic and radish, and also returned the bowl of salt she had borrowed, leaving herself with not a single cent to spare..