Finding a shady spot, Xu Lao Nian’er took out the dried meat Old Mrs. Xu had specially prepared for them. The father and his two sons rested while chewing on the meat.
“Dad, why are the Ci Nen Ya here so big and tender?” Xu Dazhu looked at the three back baskets with a smile—their harvest today had been exceptionally good.
Xu Lao Nian’er glanced at the Ci Nen Ya grove ahead and then at the entrance they had come through. “We’re deep in the mountains now, and with those withered vines outside, it seems this place has gone unnoticed. Plus, this valley is sheltered from the wind and a bit warmer, so the Ci Nen Ya here probably grow faster than those outside.”
Xu Dazhu’s question was casual, and Xu Lao Nian’er’s reply was just as offhand.
Xu Er Zhu was thinking about how to carry more wild vegetables back when Xu Lao Nian’er stood up and urged the brothers to shoulder their back baskets and head down the mountain.
Just as the Xu family men were engrossed in picking wild vegetables in the valley, a crowd had gathered at the entrance of Fu’an Village.
“Tie Niu, are you heading to town too?” At the village entrance, Granny Li, Li Qing’s grandmother, carrying a basket, greeted Sun Tieniu as he approached the ox cart with his back basket.
Sun Tieniu nodded, walked to the ox cart, and unloaded the back basket from his shoulders onto it. “Auntie, are you going to town as well?” His tone was full of curiosity.
It wasn’t just him—others nearby shared the same doubt. Fu’an Village was quite a distance from town; even by ox cart, it took nearly half a day. Villagers usually waited until mid-month to take the Village Chief’s ox cart together when they needed to buy or sell goods in town. The round trip cost two copper coins, and belongings were placed on the cart while people took turns riding. If there were too many goods, no one could ride to avoid overburdening the ox.
In the past, only relatively well-off families could afford the ox cart ride. For families like the Li Family, who struggled to fill their bellies with whatever food they could find, how could they have anything extra to sell in town?
Granny Li didn’t mind the implication in Sun Tieniu’s words—their family’s situation was indeed difficult. But now, things were different. “Qing Wazi caught a few rabbits in the mountains and skinned them for several Tu Pi. He also collected a basket of Ye Ji Dan. I thought I’d trade them in town for some coarse grains.”
Those nearby nodded in understanding; their own reasons for going to town were similar to Granny Li’s. Some had brought not only pelts and eggs but also prepared rabbits and pheasants. Though meat was tasty, it spoiled easily in the warm weather, so trading it for grain ensured it lasted longer.
Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, the Old Village Chief called out and cracked his whip in the air. The old yellow ox, hearing the command, started moving, pulling the heavily laden cart out of the village. Aside from a few elderly women riding on the cart, the dozen or so slightly younger folks walked behind it.
Thinking of the grain they could exchange for, everyone wore smiles. The elderly women on the cart chatted idly, and eventually, the conversation turned to Lao Xu Jia. “Speaking of which, Lao Xu Jia is truly blessed. Yesterday, my son said he saw that big tiger from the mountains drop a Yang Gao Zi at their home again.”
“Indeed! Who knows how much virtue the Xu ancestors accumulated to have such a Fu Bao born into their family.”
“Still, we can’t put it that way. It’s more accurate to say our Fu’an Village is blessed to have this little lucky treasure born among us. Look at all we have on this cart—isn’t it all thanks to that little bundle of fortune?”
“If you ask me, as long as this little lucky treasure is here, our village will only get better. We’ll never have to live in poverty like before again!”
An elderly woman grew visibly excited, her voice rising unconsciously.
No sooner had she spoken than her companion tugged her sleeve sharply, frantically signaling with her eyes to draw attention to the Old Village Chief seated at the front of the oxcart.
Though her words held truth, it was improper to voice them in the Old Village Chief’s presence—it implied he’d been ineffective all these years as village chief, letting villagers grow poorer, while a mere infant brought more benefit!
Finally realizing how offensive her remark sounded, the old woman slapped her own mouth in frustration.
Would this mouth of hers ever learn to hold its tongue?
After this incident, the women fell silent, fearing someone else might blurt out similarly tactless remarks.
Meanwhile, the Old Village Chief driving the cart showed no reaction to their conversation.
The cart carried more goods than usual, so the chief paced the ox slowly to avoid straining it.
They arrived in town slightly later than usual.
After the chief parked the cart, everyone agreed to reconvene there in two hours. They shouldered their back baskets and scattered toward their respective destinations.
With his back basket secured, Sun Tieniu headed straight for the town’s largest clothing store.
When he emerged, the rabbit fur and pheasant feathers from his basket had vanished, replaced by seven hundred copper coins tucked in his chest pocket.
Rubbing the outline of the coin-filled pouch through his clothes, Sun Tieniu grew intensely nervous.
Seven hundred coppers! How long had it been since he’d seen so much money?
Carrying the remaining eggs and rabbit meat, he took a few steps before compulsively checking his chest pocket, terrified of pickpockets.
In this anxious state, he reached the entrance of Yuelai Restaurant just in time to see a waiter seeing Granny Li off.
As Granny Li departed, Sun Tieniu hurried forward and stopped the waiter turning back inside.
“Brother, are you still buying game?”
The waiter glanced at Sun Tieniu’s back basket and smiled. “You’re from Fu’an Village too?”
Nodding urgently, Sun Tieniu worried the restaurant might have enough supplies already. He quickly swung the basket forward to display its contents.
“Look, brother—everything’s cleaned and prepared properly.”
The waiter peered into the basket as directed.
Though not as fine as the older woman’s delivery earlier, the quality was decent.
Knowing the manager wanted extra game for an important guest from the county, the waiter didn’t turn Sun Tieniu away. He asked him to wait briefly before fetching the manager.
Standing in a drafty spot, Sun Tieniu caught wave after wave of fragrant food aromas from the restaurant.
He’d only eaten two boiled pheasant eggs for breakfast before the journey.
After a morning’s work, hunger gnawed at him.
Now, breathing in the restaurant’s savory scents, he felt saliva pooling in his mouth.
The dishes at this restaurant are really different from home cooking! Even with the same ingredients, the food here just smells more fragrant!
Just as Sun Tieniu was struggling to swallow his drool, the waiter from earlier finally reappeared.
“Carry your things and follow me!”
Swallowing another mouthful of saliva, Sun Tieniu quickly hoisted his back basket onto his shoulder.
Once the items in the basket were exchanged for money, he would also order a dish at the restaurant to try, to see if the food here truly tasted as good as it smelled!
Thinking this, Sun Tieniu followed the waiter to the backyard of the restaurant.
The head chef came out to inspect the quality of the meat and eggs, then weighed them.
In the end, the items in Sun Tieniu’s back basket were exchanged for one and a half taels of silver.
Holding the money, Sun Tieniu followed the waiter out, a grin spreading so wide it nearly reached his ears.
The waiter glanced back, saw his smile, and couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Speaking of which, your Fu’an Village really is different. Lately, our boss has been trying to buy wild game everywhere but can’t get any. In other villages, people hunt just enough for themselves, but your village actually sells it all. Could it be that wild game is especially easy to catch over there?”
As he asked this, a glint flashed in the waiter’s eyes. Sun Tieniu didn’t notice it and just grinned foolishly.
“It’s not easy either. We have Big Bugs and Snow Wolves in our mountains! Not long ago, someone had their leg bitten off by a Snow Wolf.”
Though he didn’t fully grasp the deeper meaning behind the waiter’s words, Sun Tieniu instinctively didn’t want to reveal too much about the village’s situation.
The Xu family’s Fu Bao was their village’s secret—it couldn’t let outsiders know.
After all, the resources in the mountains were limited. They were just enough to sustain their small village of Fu’an. If people from other villages found out and came to compete, what would they have left to eat?
Hearing about tigers and Snow Wolves, the glint in the waiter’s eyes and the smile on his face vanished again.
It seemed there really were fierce beasts in the mountains near Fu’an Village. The few others who had come to sell things earlier had said the same, so it probably wasn’t a lie.
Perhaps Fu’an Village just had more skilled hunters!
Thinking this, the waiter escorted Sun Tieniu to the entrance.
Hearing someone call for him, the waiter immediately turned around, his expression instantly shifting into a welcoming smile as he hurried toward the customer.
Sun Tieniu didn’t feel slighted at all. He simply hoisted his back basket and quickly left the restaurant.
Originally, he had planned to try the restaurant’s dishes, but he had secretly glanced at the menu on the wall earlier.
To his surprise, he realized that with the money he had now, he couldn’t even order three dishes at this restaurant.
This money was meant to feed his entire family—he couldn’t just spend it all to satisfy his own cravings.
In the end, he spent five coins on a bowl of small wontons at a wonton stall and another coin on three steamed buns from a nearby pancake stall.
Little did Sun Tieniu know that because of this bowl of wontons and three steamed buns, he almost cost his entire family their lives.