Chapter 59
After dividing the silver, everyone, weighed down by their heavy copper coins, returned to their respective homes.
Fu An and Fu Ning, the siblings, were lying on their grandmother's bed, their feet in the air, swinging back and forth.
Their gently swaying feet reflected their current joy.
Both siblings were counting the copper coins in front of them: ten, twenty...
Fu An counted his own, then turned to look at his sister's.
As his sister counted each coin, he helped call out the numbers.
"Eight coins, nine coins, ten coins..."
After counting, Fu An realized he had ten more coins than his sister.
He looked at the small pile of coins in front of him, then at his sister's coins.
After hesitating for a moment, Fu An counted out five coins from his own pile and added them to his sister's.
Fu Ning looked up at her brother with wide, bewildered eyes.
Fu An said, "Brother has fifteen coins, and now sister has fifteen too. Now we both have the same amount."
Upon hearing this, Fu Ning pondered for a moment, then broke into a brilliant smile towards her brother.
Luo Shi, watching her grandchildren on the bed, their faces full of innocence, also smiled.
She glanced at the two strings of copper coins in her hand, and after a moment's thought, decided to hide these two hundred plus coins with the twenty she had received from Liu Niang.
"I'm just an old woman and don't need much money. Better to save it. I can take it out when Erlang and his wife need money."
Meanwhile, after Fu Zhen brought all the money back to the room, the couple quietly looked at the thousand or so coins on the bed.
After a while, Fu Zhen regained his composure and said, "We owe seven hundred to my brother's wife. If we keep about five hundred, what do you think?"
Wen Xing was startled and asked in confusion, "Should we keep that much?"
Fu Zhen explained, "After all, the household essentials and clothing we've had so far were bought with my brother's wife's money. We shouldn't continue to spend her money under the pretext of repaying her."
Realizing the situation, Wen Xing agreed, "Yes, we have to provide for An'an and Ning'ning, and show filial piety to mother. We need to keep some money aside."
Fu Zhen glanced at the shaky bamboo bed and added, "And we need to replace this bamboo bed."
Wen Xing looked at the bed and blushed, recalling the incident that night.
He really had a knack for bringing up the most awkward topics!
She scolded playfully, "Don't talk about that."
Fu Zhen sighed inwardly.
Although forbidden to speak of it, he still pondered the matter in his heart.
——Fu Ning was still young, but Fu An was growing up and would need his own room.
The neighboring room, previously used for storing herbs, was now empty. He figured it might remain so for a while, perhaps they could let their son stay there temporarily...
As Fu Zhen seldom showed his emotions, Wen Xing remained unaware of the numerous plans in her husband's mind.
She pushed aside her embarrassment and knelt down to count the copper coins.
Each string of copper coins was worth a hundred, so the couple didn't need to count precisely; they just took seven strings.
After taking seven strings, Wen Xing glanced at the remaining money, roughly five hundred coins.
It still felt surreal to her.
"Dalang, I still feel like I'm dreaming. Could you pinch me to see if it hurts?"
Fu Zhen looked at his wife's slender arms and legs, thinking that a real pinch might leave a bruise.
He sighed, "It's not a dream. We don't have to worry about meals or our household registration anymore."
Still finding it hard to believe, Wen Xing pinched her husband, her eyes filled with hope, "Does it hurt?"
……
Fu Zhen felt no pain, only a slight tickle: ...
But to avoid further questioning, he nodded without changing his expression: "It hurts."
Reassured, Wen Xing then joined her husband in taking the money to his brother's wife.
Yu Ying had put the evening's fleeting romantic atmosphere out of her mind and shared her thoughts with Fu Wei, "Currently, no merchants are buying our herbs, but we should still gather them. It's okay to stockpile, although we certainly can't do it as frequently."
"Although we have a bit of money now, it's not enough to purchase large quantities of herbs."
Fu Wei, aware that her stockpiling herbs was for precaution, agreed, "So, what are your plans going forward? Will you make facial creams?"
Yu Ying nodded and said, "I'll try it out, make some and see how it goes. I sold two jin of herbs to Luo the shopkeeper. It's not much, but enough to make many facial creams without overstocking."
Yu Ying dared not stockpile too many herbs at once, knowing their high cost. She sold them for just fifteen or twenty coins per jin, but buying them cost forty coins per jin. Too expensive.
Fu Wei: "It's always good to be cautious."
After some thought, he warned, "Today, while gathering herbs, I saw many villagers outside the courtyard. They all saw the Fu family selling so many herbs. Remember, the wealth of one arouses the envy of many. Be careful."
Recalling the covetous looks she had seen that day, Yu Ying felt a myriad of worries.
At that moment, the eldest brother and his wife came to repay their debt.
Outside the room, they returned the money and were about to leave when Fu Wei suddenly came to the door, leaning on his crutch.
He asked, "Could my brother and sister-in-law come in for a moment to talk?"
The couple nodded and entered. Fu Wei, slowly placing down his crutch, took a seat and said calmly, "After today, the whole village knows the Fu family has made money and helped the He and Song families. This will likely cause discontent among the villagers and lead to troubles."
Fu Zhen replied, "I'll be more vigilant in the coming days."
Fu Wei added, "That's one thing, but there will also be many who will come asking for help or to borrow money. Will you help, or lend?"
Fu Zhen thought for a moment, then said honestly, "If it's someone like Song Sanlang, I'll probably help, but only within my means. Besides, in Lingshui Village, I'm only really close to the Song and He families."
Wen Xing also shook her head, saying, "I won't do it either."
Hearing this, Fu Wei suggested, "But inevitably, some will harbor resentment. So, to appease them for now, tell them we'll consider buying herbs from them when we deal with bigger trades in the future."
Fu Zhen nodded, "We'll say that, then."
Fu Wei further advised, "Also, patrol our fields more frequently. If necessary, build a thatched hut there and have the families take turns guarding."
Hearing his younger brother's words, Fu Zhen understood that some people, long trapped in hardship, had become warped. If resentment arose, they might not confront directly but could resort to sordid acts to vent their frustrations.
"The He family is busy fetching He Erlang these few days, and won't have spare time. I'll join Song Jun and patrol the fields once or twice overnight."
Yu Ying cautioned, "If you encounter any danger, don't worry about the fields. Your safety is the priority."
Fu Zhen nodded in agreement.
After the discussion, the eldest brother and his wife left.
Once they were gone, Fu Wei turned to Yu Ying, "What I said earlier isn't a long-term solution. Instead of being constantly on guard and appeasing them, it's better to give them some hope."
He pondered for a moment and continued, "Lingshui Village is too poor. The people live in such poverty, like hungry wolves in winter. If someone else has meat in their bowl, they will covet it. And now, we are the ones with meat. Come winter, there will be deaths from starvation, and desperate people can do anything."
Yu Ying understood Fu Wei's concerns.
She considered moving to Yu County to avoid the villagers, but their fields were still in Lingshui Village. Moreover, envy is inevitable wherever one goes. Constantly hiding isn't feasible.
After some thought, Yu Ying decided, "When chaos ensues, there will be a shortage of herbs. Various powers may pay high prices for them. It's worth the risk. Even if we don’t earn much, it could secure us a safe haven."
She decided to gamble, renting fields and paying villagers to plant herbs before any unrest.
Once the herbs were harvested, she would buy them all.
If the gamble paid off, they might safely navigate the unstable times. But if things went awry, she could lose all her money.
Fu Wei nodded, "Exactly my thought. Instead of guarding against the villagers, it's better to use their labor to grow herbs, especially those that can be harvested within a year. The barren land doesn’t require food tax and is cheap to rent. Though cultivation is harder than on fertile land, if they can endure the hardship, they'll have their share."
Yu Ying pondered the intricacies of the plan for a long time before saying, "We should discuss this with the village head and let him initiate the proposal."
Fu Wei agreed, but then added, "We should do this, but not right now."
Yu Ying, slightly surprised, asked, "Why not?"
Fu Wei simply replied, "Wait a bit longer."
Raising her eyebrows in confusion, Yu Ying inquired, "Wait for what?"
Fu Wei's dark eyes looked at her, slowly opening his mouth to say, "We wait for an opportunity."
Yu Ying, seeing his mysterious demeanor, couldn't help but wonder what kind of opportunity it could be.
Could it be related to that letter of his?
A month ago, Yu Ying had sent his letter to Yu County.
Fearing it might be intercepted if known to be from the Fu family, Yu Ying had cautiously entrusted Chen, the shopkeeper, to deliver a gift and find a courier for it.
And that letter was indeed sent to Wuling County.
Addressed to “Yunhai Bookstore” in Wuling County, for Huo Buming.
The name Huo Buming hardly seemed like a real person's name.
He didn’t elaborate, and Yu Ying didn't ask about the opportunity either. After all, the matters discussed earlier needed thorough consideration and time to prepare. Waiting a bit seemed fitting.
The next day, Uncle He and Auntie He set off on foot to Yu County to start preparations for retrieving He Erlang from the quarry.
Since the ox-cart wouldn't go to Yu County until the next day, and Luo, the shopkeeper, mentioned staying there for two days before leaving, Yu Ying didn't rush to Yu County to purchase herbs from him.
Meanwhile, the news of the Fu family selling a large batch of herbs spread far and wide.
The people at the Yu County Medical Hall, knowing that the Zhao surname pharmacist would return to Yu County in October, were all inquiring about where the Zhao pharmacist would stay.
Today, someone found out where the Zhao family's herbalist was staying, originally planning to stake out the inn for the Zhao herbalist.
It was an opportunity to meet with the Zhao herbalist or Manager Luo, to negotiate the sale of medicinal herbs.
But after staking out for half a day, they saw Manager Luo arrive with two horse-drawn carts full of sacks outside the inn, calling for people to move the sacks inside.
Being herbalists, the contents of those sacks were self-evident.
Those lying in wait realized instantly that someone had beaten them to it.
They hurried back to inform the head of the medical hall.
The head, about forty years old with a goatee and dressed in plain robes.
Hearing that the Zhao herbalist had already purchased the herbs, he frowned in puzzlement, "I had people watching the medical halls in Yu County, but there was no word of anyone preparing a large batch of herbs. Whose herbs could they be?"
After pondering, he instructed someone to inquire discreetly at the other medical halls.
However, the information they got was that none of the halls had done business with that herbalist. The buyer was an unheralded woman.
News of Yu Ying's significant herbal transaction spread rapidly, reaching the villagers in nearby villages, who were all abuzz about the prowess of this new wife from the Fu family.
Some were optimistic, but most were skeptical.
When villagers from nearby came to sell herbs at the medical hall, they also mentioned the incident.
Within a few days, the story of Yu Ying had spread among several medical halls.
The staff at the medical hall gradually began to investigate information about this woman.
Chapter 59
After dividing the silver, everyone, weighed down by their heavy copper coins, returned to their respective homes.
Fu An and Fu Ning, the siblings, were lying on their grandmother's bed, their feet in the air, swinging back and forth.
Their gently swaying feet reflected their current joy.
Both siblings were counting the copper coins in front of them: ten, twenty...
Fu An counted his own, then turned to look at his sister's.
As his sister counted each coin, he helped call out the numbers.
"Eight coins, nine coins, ten coins..."
After counting, Fu An realized he had ten more coins than his sister.
He looked at the small pile of coins in front of him, then at his sister's coins.
After hesitating for a moment, Fu An counted out five coins from his own pile and added them to his sister's.
Fu Ning looked up at her brother with wide, bewildered eyes.
Fu An said, "Brother has fifteen coins, and now sister has fifteen too. Now we both have the same amount."
Upon hearing this, Fu Ning pondered for a moment, then broke into a brilliant smile towards her brother.
Luo Shi, watching her grandchildren on the bed, their faces full of innocence, also smiled.
She glanced at the two strings of copper coins in her hand, and after a moment's thought, decided to hide these two hundred plus coins with the twenty she had received from Liu Niang.
"I'm just an old woman and don't need much money. Better to save it. I can take it out when Erlang and his wife need money."
Meanwhile, after Fu Zhen brought all the money back to the room, the couple quietly looked at the thousand or so coins on the bed.
After a while, Fu Zhen regained his composure and said, "We owe seven hundred to my brother's wife. If we keep about five hundred, what do you think?"
Wen Xing was startled and asked in confusion, "Should we keep that much?"
Fu Zhen explained, "After all, the household essentials and clothing we've had so far were bought with my brother's wife's money. We shouldn't continue to spend her money under the pretext of repaying her."
Realizing the situation, Wen Xing agreed, "Yes, we have to provide for An'an and Ning'ning, and show filial piety to mother. We need to keep some money aside."
Fu Zhen glanced at the shaky bamboo bed and added, "And we need to replace this bamboo bed."
Wen Xing looked at the bed and blushed, recalling the incident that night.
He really had a knack for bringing up the most awkward topics!
She scolded playfully, "Don't talk about that."
Fu Zhen sighed inwardly.
Although forbidden to speak of it, he still pondered the matter in his heart.
——Fu Ning was still young, but Fu An was growing up and would need his own room.
The neighboring room, previously used for storing herbs, was now empty. He figured it might remain so for a while, perhaps they could let their son stay there temporarily...
As Fu Zhen seldom showed his emotions, Wen Xing remained unaware of the numerous plans in her husband's mind.
She pushed aside her embarrassment and knelt down to count the copper coins.
Each string of copper coins was worth a hundred, so the couple didn't need to count precisely; they just took seven strings.
After taking seven strings, Wen Xing glanced at the remaining money, roughly five hundred coins.
It still felt surreal to her.
"Dalang, I still feel like I'm dreaming. Could you pinch me to see if it hurts?"
Fu Zhen looked at his wife's slender arms and legs, thinking that a real pinch might leave a bruise.
He sighed, "It's not a dream. We don't have to worry about meals or our household registration anymore."
Still finding it hard to believe, Wen Xing pinched her husband, her eyes filled with hope, "Does it hurt?"
……
Fu Zhen felt no pain, only a slight tickle: ...
But to avoid further questioning, he nodded without changing his expression: "It hurts."
Reassured, Wen Xing then joined her husband in taking the money to his brother's wife.
Yu Ying had put the evening's fleeting romantic atmosphere out of her mind and shared her thoughts with Fu Wei, "Currently, no merchants are buying our herbs, but we should still gather them. It's okay to stockpile, although we certainly can't do it as frequently."
"Although we have a bit of money now, it's not enough to purchase large quantities of herbs."
Fu Wei, aware that her stockpiling herbs was for precaution, agreed, "So, what are your plans going forward? Will you make facial creams?"
Yu Ying nodded and said, "I'll try it out, make some and see how it goes. I sold two jin of herbs to Luo the shopkeeper. It's not much, but enough to make many facial creams without overstocking."
Yu Ying dared not stockpile too many herbs at once, knowing their high cost. She sold them for just fifteen or twenty coins per jin, but buying them cost forty coins per jin. Too expensive.
Fu Wei: "It's always good to be cautious."
After some thought, he warned, "Today, while gathering herbs, I saw many villagers outside the courtyard. They all saw the Fu family selling so many herbs. Remember, the wealth of one arouses the envy of many. Be careful."
Recalling the covetous looks she had seen that day, Yu Ying felt a myriad of worries.
At that moment, the eldest brother and his wife came to repay their debt.
Outside the room, they returned the money and were about to leave when Fu Wei suddenly came to the door, leaning on his crutch.
He asked, "Could my brother and sister-in-law come in for a moment to talk?"
The couple nodded and entered. Fu Wei, slowly placing down his crutch, took a seat and said calmly, "After today, the whole village knows the Fu family has made money and helped the He and Song families. This will likely cause discontent among the villagers and lead to troubles."
Fu Zhen replied, "I'll be more vigilant in the coming days."
Fu Wei added, "That's one thing, but there will also be many who will come asking for help or to borrow money. Will you help, or lend?"
Fu Zhen thought for a moment, then said honestly, "If it's someone like Song Sanlang, I'll probably help, but only within my means. Besides, in Lingshui Village, I'm only really close to the Song and He families."
Wen Xing also shook her head, saying, "I won't do it either."
Hearing this, Fu Wei suggested, "But inevitably, some will harbor resentment. So, to appease them for now, tell them we'll consider buying herbs from them when we deal with bigger trades in the future."
Fu Zhen nodded, "We'll say that, then."
Fu Wei further advised, "Also, patrol our fields more frequently. If necessary, build a thatched hut there and have the families take turns guarding."
Hearing his younger brother's words, Fu Zhen understood that some people, long trapped in hardship, had become warped. If resentment arose, they might not confront directly but could resort to sordid acts to vent their frustrations.
"The He family is busy fetching He Erlang these few days, and won't have spare time. I'll join Song Jun and patrol the fields once or twice overnight."
Yu Ying cautioned, "If you encounter any danger, don't worry about the fields. Your safety is the priority."
Fu Zhen nodded in agreement.
After the discussion, the eldest brother and his wife left.
Once they were gone, Fu Wei turned to Yu Ying, "What I said earlier isn't a long-term solution. Instead of being constantly on guard and appeasing them, it's better to give them some hope."
He pondered for a moment and continued, "Lingshui Village is too poor. The people live in such poverty, like hungry wolves in winter. If someone else has meat in their bowl, they will covet it. And now, we are the ones with meat. Come winter, there will be deaths from starvation, and desperate people can do anything."
Yu Ying understood Fu Wei's concerns.
She considered moving to Yu County to avoid the villagers, but their fields were still in Lingshui Village. Moreover, envy is inevitable wherever one goes. Constantly hiding isn't feasible.
After some thought, Yu Ying decided, "When chaos ensues, there will be a shortage of herbs. Various powers may pay high prices for them. It's worth the risk. Even if we don’t earn much, it could secure us a safe haven."
She decided to gamble, renting fields and paying villagers to plant herbs before any unrest.
Once the herbs were harvested, she would buy them all.
If the gamble paid off, they might safely navigate the unstable times. But if things went awry, she could lose all her money.
Fu Wei nodded, "Exactly my thought. Instead of guarding against the villagers, it's better to use their labor to grow herbs, especially those that can be harvested within a year. The barren land doesn’t require food tax and is cheap to rent. Though cultivation is harder than on fertile land, if they can endure the hardship, they'll have their share."
Yu Ying pondered the intricacies of the plan for a long time before saying, "We should discuss this with the village head and let him initiate the proposal."
Fu Wei agreed, but then added, "We should do this, but not right now."
Yu Ying, slightly surprised, asked, "Why not?"
Fu Wei simply replied, "Wait a bit longer."
Raising her eyebrows in confusion, Yu Ying inquired, "Wait for what?"
Fu Wei's dark eyes looked at her, slowly opening his mouth to say, "We wait for an opportunity."
Yu Ying, seeing his mysterious demeanor, couldn't help but wonder what kind of opportunity it could be.
Could it be related to that letter of his?
A month ago, Yu Ying had sent his letter to Yu County.
Fearing it might be intercepted if known to be from the Fu family, Yu Ying had cautiously entrusted Chen, the shopkeeper, to deliver a gift and find a courier for it.
And that letter was indeed sent to Wuling County.
Addressed to “Yunhai Bookstore” in Wuling County, for Huo Buming.
The name Huo Buming hardly seemed like a real person's name.
He didn’t elaborate, and Yu Ying didn't ask about the opportunity either. After all, the matters discussed earlier needed thorough consideration and time to prepare. Waiting a bit seemed fitting.
The next day, Uncle He and Auntie He set off on foot to Yu County to start preparations for retrieving He Erlang from the quarry.
Since the ox-cart wouldn't go to Yu County until the next day, and Luo, the shopkeeper, mentioned staying there for two days before leaving, Yu Ying didn't rush to Yu County to purchase herbs from him.
Meanwhile, the news of the Fu family selling a large batch of herbs spread far and wide.
The people at the Yu County Medical Hall, knowing that the Zhao surname pharmacist would return to Yu County in October, were all inquiring about where the Zhao pharmacist would stay.
Today, someone found out where the Zhao family's herbalist was staying, originally planning to stake out the inn for the Zhao herbalist.
It was an opportunity to meet with the Zhao herbalist or Manager Luo, to negotiate the sale of medicinal herbs.
But after staking out for half a day, they saw Manager Luo arrive with two horse-drawn carts full of sacks outside the inn, calling for people to move the sacks inside.
Being herbalists, the contents of those sacks were self-evident.
Those lying in wait realized instantly that someone had beaten them to it.
They hurried back to inform the head of the medical hall.
The head, about forty years old with a goatee and dressed in plain robes.
Hearing that the Zhao herbalist had already purchased the herbs, he frowned in puzzlement, "I had people watching the medical halls in Yu County, but there was no word of anyone preparing a large batch of herbs. Whose herbs could they be?"
After pondering, he instructed someone to inquire discreetly at the other medical halls.
However, the information they got was that none of the halls had done business with that herbalist. The buyer was an unheralded woman.
News of Yu Ying's significant herbal transaction spread rapidly, reaching the villagers in nearby villages, who were all abuzz about the prowess of this new wife from the Fu family.
Some were optimistic, but most were skeptical.
When villagers from nearby came to sell herbs at the medical hall, they also mentioned the incident.
Within a few days, the story of Yu Ying had spread among several medical halls.
The staff at the medical hall gradually began to investigate information about this woman.
