Gu Lin took his hand and elbowed his way deeper into the crowd.
Zheng Hao, whose hand was held by Gu Lin, stiffened completely. He felt utterly disgusted, his stomach churning violently as if he were about to throw up.
Although Gu Lin sensed the other person’s repulsion, he did not dare to loosen his grip, terrified that the moment he let go, the other person would be swept away and lost in the crowd.
As they walked, Gu Lin gradually shifted his attention to the small stalls on both sides of the street. Different stalls displayed different things: some sold vegetables, some sold dough figurines, some sold malt sugar, and others sold prepared food. Gu Lin noticed that quite a few people were buying food; several of the pastry stalls they passed were packed to the brim. Even considering the morning market, this clearly showed the purchasing power of the county residents.
Gu Lin’s business ideas grew increasingly concrete.
Seeing that the morning was more than half over and noon was approaching, he pulled Zheng Hao, who had been silent and had not wandered off the whole time, over to a small steamed bun stall and said, “Boss, four meat buns, please.”
The boss wrapped up four meat buns and handed them over, saying, “Eat slowly, guest. That will be eight coins in total.”
Gu Lin paid the money, took the buns, and handed two of them to Zheng Hao, saying, “Eat up. We have been walking all morning, you must be hungry.”
Zheng Hao did not take the buns immediately. He raised his head to look at the ge’er who was much taller than him. All the way here, he had been waiting for the other person to find a chance to ditch him and run away, and he had even prepared countermeasures to ruin the other person’s reputation. But he had not expected that throughout the journey, Gu Lin had kept a firm grip on his hand and never once let go.
Now, Gu Lin was even buying him meat buns. Zheng Hao found himself unable to figure out the person before him.
Gu Lin bit open a bun. His diet for the past two days had been completely bland; no matter how thick the porridge was cooked, without oil or grease, it was still just plain grain. Now that he finally tasted meat, the savory, juicy flavor danced wildly across his taste buds.
Swallowing the bite in his mouth, seeing that Zheng Hao still had not taken the buns, Gu Lin urged, “If you do not eat them now, they will get cold.”
Lifting his hand to take the buns, Zheng Hao bit into the wrapper. His stomach, which had tasted no meat or fat for a long time, craved it intensely. He watched as Gu Lin ate with increasing ferocity, like a wild beast tearing into its prey; before long, the first meat bun was gone.
Gu Lin turned around and bought two more.
Zheng Hao looked away, but Gu Lin placed the buns right in front of him. “I forgot you are still growing. Two probably are not enough for you. Eat.”
Gu Lin only bought two more buns for Zheng Hao not to save money, but because he was genuinely full. The meat buns were the size of an adult’s fist, and with the rich, oily meat filling, Gu Lin felt both full and slightly greasy after eating two.
This time, Zheng Hao hesitated very little and took them directly.
Once Zheng Hao finished the last two buns and looked full, Gu Lin led him to the grain and oil shop.
Stepping inside, Gu Lin saw no other customers, only the shopkeeper standing behind the counter.
The shopkeeper looked up and saw a ge’er and a child. Although both looked ordinary in plain clothing, the shopkeeper did not judge people by their appearance and stepped forward. “What would you like to buy?”
Before the shopkeeper could approach, Gu Lin had already swept his gaze over the prices of most items sold in the shop, and was subsequently shocked by the astronomical price of rice and flour. No wonder the Zheng family only had millet; ordinary commoners simply could not afford rice and flour.
However, what Gu Lin did not know was that millet was already considered top-tier food for ordinary households. Most people subsisted daily on food made from ground powder mixing millet with the husks and hulls of various crops, food that tasted coarse, scraped the throat, and was difficult to digest.
Gu Lin pointed to the millet nearby and said, “Give me one dou of millet.”
After all, he could not afford rice and flour right now. One dou of millet, about fifteen catties, cost only forty-five coins, whereas rice and flour were several times that base price.
“Coming right up.” The shopkeeper picked up a measuring scoop and measured the millet.
Gu Lin looked around and asked, “Shopkeeper, do you sell Sichuan peppercorns here?”
The shopkeeper was visibly stunned for a moment before reacting. “The ge’er means jiao, I presume? If so, I do sell it. Let me finish measuring the rice, and I will show it to you.”
Using a grain scoop, the shopkeeper measured the millet, poured it into a bamboo basket, and then walked behind the counter to pull out a small wooden box.
“This is jiao. Take a look and see if it is the Sichuan peppercorn you are talking about,” the shopkeeper said, opening the box for Gu Lin to see.
Gu Lin looked inside; it was indeed the Sichuan peppercorn he wanted. He asked, “How much does this sell for?”
The shopkeeper held up a single finger. “One hundred coins per tael.”
Gu Lin drew a slight breath. Before buying peppercorns, he had guessed that seasonings like this would be expensive in ancient times, but he had not expected them to be exorbitant to this degree.
The shopkeeper continued, “This jiao comes from the south. Because the journey is long, and it can be used as both medicine and spice, it is extremely precious and somewhat expensive. But do not fear that this old man is tricking you or raising the price deliberately; this is a good item and absolutely worth its price.”
Gu Lin naturally understood the value of Sichuan peppercorns.
Although the price was steep, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Whether his subsequent business venture would succeed depended heavily on the peppercorns. Suppressing his heartache, Gu Lin said, “Give me six taels.”
Just like that, within the span of a single stick of incense, Gu Lin had spent several hundred coins in the grain shop, leaving only twenty-odd copper coins in his pouch.
His heart twitched constantly, aching as if flesh had been sliced off. But when he turned his gaze and met Zheng Hao’s incredulous stare, for some reason, he felt inexplicably better.
This was the first time Gu Lin had seen Zheng Hao display any emotion other than hatred and sarcasm in front of him. He lowered his voice and said, “Once we get home later, I will explain it to you.”
Zheng Hao did not speak.
He felt that Gu Lin was beyond saving. In the past, the other person spent money carelessly, throwing away dozens of coins at most; now, he had become so reckless as to spend an entire month’s provisions for a family of four without even blinking an eye.
Unaware of Zheng Hao’s thoughts, Gu Lin picked up the bamboo basket containing the millet and peppercorns, and took Zheng Hao’s hand to walk out of the city. Just outside the city gate, Gu Lin spotted Second Uncle Zhang waiting with his ox cart hidden under the tree shade not far away.
Gu Lin walked over and, seeing that everyone else had arrived, said somewhat apologetically, “There were too many people earlier, and I could not squeeze my way out. Sorry to keep you all waiting.”
Older Brother Wang curled his lip as if about to speak, but Second Uncle Zhang waved a hand. “It is not noon yet. Hurry up and get on the cart.”
Hearing this, Gu Lin smiled, expressed his thanks, and climbed aboard. The moment Older Brother Wang saw the other person smiling like a blooming flower, his anger flared even higher, but fearing public reprimand, he ultimately held his tongue and said nothing.
Gu Lin naturally noticed Older Brother Wang’s ugly expression, but he ignored him, chatting back and forth with the other passengers on the cart instead.
Upon returning to Lower River Village, everyone got off the cart at the village entrance. Gu Lin first took the copper coins out of his pouch, handed them to Second Uncle Zhang, and walked away directly without waiting for a response.
Second Uncle Zhang looked at the four copper coins in his hand and wanted to call the other person back, but the ge’ers and women on the cart had not left yet. If he specifically called Gu Lin back to return two coins, ugly rumors might start spreading.
In the end, he put the coins away.
Back home, Gu Lin put the items in the woodshed, then went to find Zheng Hao. “There is not much silver left in the house, and I plan to start a small business to make money. Although we will not make a fortune, it should at least be enough to support the two of us. The peppercorns I bought this morning were expensive, but they are the key to making money. I really was not spending recklessly.”
Gu Lin lowered his gaze slightly, earnestly explaining to Zheng Hao.
This money belonged to the Zheng family, and spending it without consulting Zheng Hao first was indeed somewhat unethical. However, faced with the threat of starvation, Gu Lin could not afford to take things slowly and wait for Zheng Hao to accept it gradually.
Zheng Hao looked at him. “You have already made your decision. It makes no difference whether you tell me or not.”
The other person was unusually calm, but alarm bells rang in Gu Lin’s heart. He immediately straightened his expression. “I am very sorry for not discussing it with you before making the decision, but I certainly did not mean to keep it from you intentionally. Besides, this is your home, and I am your family. We are family, and you have the right to know anything I do that affects this household.”
Zheng Hao’s body stiffened slightly.
Watching him, Gu Lin continued, “I hope that in the future, if you have any thoughts, you can express them directly. We are family, and we should communicate more.”
Having said all this, seeing the look of stunned realization appear on Zheng Hao’s face, Gu Lin stepped out of the room, leaving the other person space to think.
Fixing his gaze on the closed door, Zheng Hao did not look away long after Gu Lin had left. The words the other person had just spoken echoed ceaselessly in his mind.
Family?
Reflecting on the events of the day, Zheng Hao felt for the first time that dealing with Gu Lin was tricky.
There had simply been too many surprises today. The other person’s actions always exceeded his expectations, and it seemed he could no longer predict Gu Lin’s next move.
After leaving Zheng Hao’s room, before Gu Lin could return to his own, the courtyard gate was knocked.
Gu Lin walked over and opened it to find a somewhat familiar-looking middle-aged woman standing at the entrance. He could not place her at first, until she spoke and he remembered who she was.
It was the woman who had stepped forward to comfort him the day Liu Sanlai had been forced to kneel to the ground.
Sister-in-law Zhao said to the ge’er before her, “We just picked some fresh vegetables at home, and I brought some over for you and the Zheng boy to try.”
Gu Lin was caught off guard as his arms were instantly filled with vegetables.
Sister-in-law Zhao, straightforward and generous by nature, said, “Let your sister-in-law know if they taste good; there are still plenty more in the patch.”
Seeing Gu Lin open his mouth as if to refuse, Sister-in-law Zhao quickly cut him off. “We are neighbors, it is just a few bunches of greens. You cannot say no.”
Her polite refusal blocked in his throat, Gu Lin felt bad about taking her vegetables for free.
A flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and looking at Sister-in-law Zhao, he asked, “Sister-in-law Zhao, I remember your son is a carpenter, right? Does he know how to make bamboo tubes?”
Sister-in-law Zhao waved her hand dismissively. “What kind of carpenter is he? He never even properly apprenticed; he just messes around on his own.”
Though she did not know why Gu Lin was asking, she still answered, “He does know how to make bamboo tubes. Why is that, Lin-ge’er?”
Hearing this, Gu Lin beamed with joy. “That is great if he knows how. Sister-in-law Zhao, I would like to buy fifty bamboo tubes from your family. How does one coin for two sound to you?”
Sister-in-law Zhao was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then waved her hands repeatedly. “What money is needed for that? Bamboo is everywhere and is not worth a few coins at all. If you want them, just say the word. Dagen made a bunch of bamboo tubes earlier and left them at home; I will go get them for you.”
Without waiting for Gu Lin to respond, Sister-in-law Zhao turned around and hurried briskly toward her house.
A short while later, a young man carrying a large bamboo basket walked out behind Sister-in-law Zhao. She patted him on the back and urged, “Dagen, hurry up and put the bamboo tubes in your aunt’s courtyard.”
Faced with a ge’er of roughly his own age, Zhao Dagen awkwardly addressed Gu Lin as “Aunt,” then carried the bamboo basket into the Zheng courtyard.
Gu Lin felt somewhat awkward being called “Aunt” by a grown man, but with his thick skin, he quickly recovered his composure.
After the other person unloaded the bamboo basket, Gu Lin inspected the tubes inside, then opened his pouch and pulled out twenty-five coins to hand to Dagen. “One coin for two bamboo tubes. Check and see if the count is right.”
Zhao Dagen was momentarily dazed, standing foolishly in place. His mother had not told him that Gu Lin would pay money. He stammered, “They are not worth much coins, just use them.”
Gu Lin frowned at that. He did not agree with the Zhao family mother and son devaluing their own labor, and was determined to pay for them today. Before he could voice his reasoning, Sister-in-law Zhao chimed in, “Why are you being so polite with your sister-in-law? It is just a few bamboo tubes. If you talk about money again, your sister-in-law is going to get mad.”
Then she yelled at Zhao Dagen, “Dagen, hurry up and leave, do not hold up your aunt from making lunch.”
At those words, Zhao Dagen hurried over as if he had just received a lifeline.
In an instant, Gu Lin was unable to stop the fast-departing mother and son. But looking at the back of Sister-in-law Zhao as she left, Gu Lin felt a long-lost warmth.
Never mind, he would just log this amount down and return the favor when the opportunity arose.