Before noon, all forty leek and egg pancakes prepared by Lin Yao were completely sold out.
Lin Cheng looked at the empty pancake stall with an irrepressible smile on his face. Clutching the heavy money pouch in his hand, he excitedly said to Lin Yao, "I never expected our pancakes would sell so well!"
While tidying up the stall, Lin Yao smiled at her elder brother and said, "Indeed, business was very brisk today. But brother, this is our first day setting up the stall, and everyone is still curious, so we had many customers."
After taking a sip of water, she continued, "Besides that, we still need to calculate the costs. Although the eggs came from our own chickens, we'll need to buy more when they run out. At the market price of two coins per egg, we used ten eggs today, which amounts to twenty coins. The leeks were picked from the mountain and cost nothing, but the oil and flour temporarily cost twenty coins. After deducting these costs, we only made a profit of eighty coins today."
Upon hearing this, Lin Cheng was momentarily taken aback but soon broke into a wide grin. He wrapped the money securely and tucked it carefully into his chest, saying, "Eighty coins is not a small amount! This is much better than hunting. Even if I scramble through the mountains all day, I might not earn this much."
Lin Yao also smiled, "I noticed everyone quite likes these pancakes. In the future, if we prepare more ingredients, we can earn even more."
Lin Yao glanced at Old Woman Li's shop nearby, planning to acquire some tables, chairs, and utensils once the business took off.
Lin Cheng quickly nodded, "Alright, tomorrow I'll get up early to prepare the ingredients, beat more eggs, and buy more flour and oil."
The first day of setting up the stall went much better than Lin Yao and Lin Cheng had anticipated. The three siblings packed up their things and headed back to the village, carrying empty baskets and shoulder poles.
Along the way, Lin Yao discussed with Lin Cheng how much ingredients to prepare in the coming days, while Lin Song skipped along behind them, occasionally picking up small stones from the roadside to play with.
However, upon entering the village, the atmosphere felt somewhat unusual.
The three siblings had always gotten along well with their neighbors. Usually, when they met, neighbors would greet them and exchange a few words. But today, from a distance, people quickened their pace and hurried away upon seeing them, as if avoiding them.
Lin Cheng and Lin Yao exchanged glances, both sensing something was wrong.
As they approached home, the three spotted a person squatting at their doorstep from afar.
"Brother Dazhuang!" Lin Cheng quickened his pace and went forward to greet Liu Dazhuang.
Liu Dazhuang was a well-known hunter in the village. Although he appeared only twenty-four or twenty-five years old, he already had nearly ten years of hunting experience. Ever since Lin Cheng's father went missing, Liu Dazhuang had often taken Lin Cheng hunting in the mountains, teaching him to identify animal tracks and find water sources. The two were as close as brothers.
Today was the fifth day of the lunar month, the day Liu Dazhuang went to town to sell game. When he went to sell his own prey, he would also take Lin Cheng's along to sell, allowing Lin Cheng to stay home and look after his younger siblings.
Seeing them return, Liu Dazhuang quickly stood up and picked up the cloth bag he had placed by his feet. "Cheng Ge, you're finally back!"
Lin Cheng hurried forward, "Brother Dazhuang, you've been waiting a while, haven't you? I was just about to look for you. I got lucky yesterday and caught a pheasant. Could you trouble yourself to take it to the market to sell?" As he spoke, he hurried inside and brought out the wrapped pheasant to hand over.
Liu Dazhuang took the pheasant and noticed the siblings' low spirits. "Why do you all look so downcast?"
Lin Cheng followed Liu Dazhuang's lead and recounted the villagers' strange reactions along the way.
Upon hearing this, Liu Dazhuang's expression shifted slightly. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke up: "It's all because of your aunt! She's always spinning wild tales. When she was chatting with the women under the banyan tree at the village entrance, she claimed that on the day Yao girl went missing, she must have encountered something unclean. She said it was unnatural for someone who'd lost so much blood to go up the mountain the next day as if nothing happened—must be possessed by something. She even insisted that anyone who brings ill-omened things into the village would bring disaster upon us all. She described it so vividly that she frightened everyone."
Lin Yao felt somewhat guilty—Hu Shi wasn't entirely wrong.
She personally didn't care about such rumors, nor did she care about marriage prospects. But these reputation-damaging superstitions had to be addressed, otherwise any future misfortune in the village might be blamed on their family.
Lin Cheng was so angry that veins bulged on his forehead, his fists clenched tightly: "Aunt has gone too far! How could she slander people like this, ruining A Yao's reputation for no reason! When it was clearly her who…"
Lin Cheng stopped mid-sentence. He knew about his aunt's plan to sell his sister as a concubine—if this got out, his sister's reputation would be destroyed.
Liu Dazhuang quickly patted Lin Cheng's shoulder to calm him: "Don't rush, Cheng Ge. Your aunt has always been one to stir up trouble."
Lin Cheng took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions: "Dazhuang Ge, thank you for telling us. We can't let this rest—I must confront Aunt and clear A Yao's name!"
After bidding farewell to Liu Dazhuang, the three siblings returned home with their market stall belongings. Lin Cheng immediately prepared to confront the Lin family's main branch to seek justice for his sister.
Lin Yao grabbed her brother's arm as he was about to charge out: "Brother, if you confront Aunt in this rage, she'll definitely deny everything."
Though furious, Lin Cheng knew his sister spoke sense. Suppressing his anger, he listened to her plan.
Lin Yao leaned close to her brother's ear and quietly outlined her scheme.
Lin Cheng first looked startled, then frowned: "A Yao, this shouldn't become known—it could harm your reputation."
Lin Yao shrugged: "Brother, I've done nothing wrong. What matters now is stopping these rumors. Besides, I have no intention of marrying anyway. I can support myself—why should I marry just to serve some man's whole family, working myself to death for no appreciation?"
Lin Cheng dismissed this as childish talk, but he understood that with this "evil spirit" rumor circulating, his sister's reputation was already compromised.
Collecting his thoughts, Lin Cheng returned to his room and pulled out the deer hide he'd acquired last month.
He and Dazhuang Ge had expended great effort hunting that deer. They'd sold the venison, but kept the soft, thick hide that felt wonderfully warm to the touch. They'd split the hide between them—Lin Cheng had planned to make warm boots for his family and a little cloak for Song'er.
The siblings tucked the deer hide under their arms and hurried to the matchmaker's house in the neighboring village.
They knocked for quite some time before a plump old woman came to answer the door.
As soon as the door opened, Lin Yao spoke first, her eyes reddening, her voice tinged with grievance and urgency: "Madam, I beg you to help us siblings this once. Consider this deer hide as a token of our gratitude. Once the matter is settled, there will be further thanks." As she spoke, she unfolded the deer hide, its fine fur shimmering with a soft luster even in the dimly lit room.
Zhang the matchmaker, being someone whose eyes lit up at the sight of money, instantly brightened upon seeing the high-quality deer hide and eagerly nodded: "Young lady, come in quickly. I can't bear to see a young lady suffer. Tell me, how can I help?"
Hearing Zhang the matchmaker's words, Lin Yao felt goosebumps rise all over her body. "Madam, do you remember Hu Shi?"
Upon hearing the name, Zhang the matchmaker's eyelids twitched slightly. "Hu Shi? Which Hu Shi? I meet so many people in my daily dealings, I really can't recall at the moment."
Seeing her reaction, Lin Yao knew she remembered perfectly well. "Madam, don't beat around the bush with me. A few days ago, the old gentleman in town was looking for a young lady to take as a concubine, and Hu Shi from Huaihua Village came to you. But what you don't know, Madam, is that among the elder and second branches of the Lin family, I am the only girl. Hu Shi is trying to harm you! My elder brother is still alive—how could she have the authority to decide for me? She deceived you into trafficking women, which by law is punishable by exile to two thousand li away! Now, all you need to do is cooperate with us in putting on a show, and this matter can be resolved!"
Although Lin Yao despised these feudalistic ideas, she was merely an ant in this era and had to adapt to local customs. She used the fact that there was still a male head in her household to remind Zhang the matchmaker.
After hearing this, Zhang the matchmaker took the deer hide in her hands and examined it carefully, weighing the pros and cons in her mind. After a while, she said: "Seeing how pitiful you are, young lady, and that you've brought such a fine gift, tell me, how should I cooperate?"
The next day, when Zhang the matchmaker arrived at Huaihua Village, it was a time when many villagers were out and about. The women of each household, having finished their chores, were gathered in small groups chatting.
As soon as Zhang the matchmaker entered the village, she hurriedly made her way toward the house of the elder branch of the Lin family and shouted at the top of her voice: "Hu Shi! You've made me search for you! You agreed to sell me that lovely girl of yours, and you even took the deposit. Why haven't you brought her to me yet? Business must be done with integrity!"
Hearing the commotion, the neighbors gathered around.
Hu Shi had almost forgotten about the matter. At that moment, she was inside the house scolding her eldest son for gambling debts again. Hearing the shouting outside, she panicked and rushed out, intending to close the door.
But as soon as she appeared, Zhang the matchmaker charged forward. "You've made me search for you! You agreed to sell me your girl so I could take her to Hu Yuanwai's house to enjoy a life of luxury. Now Hu Yuanwai has been waiting for days—why hasn't she shown up?"
Hu Shi feigned composure and pointed at the matchmaker, shouting: "You crazy old woman, spouting lies! Where did you come from? What nonsense are you talking?"
Liu Sanniang, who had been watching the spectacle for a while, spoke up: "Madam, I'm afraid you've been deceived. This Hu Shi has no daughters—she only has two sons. As for a girl, the Lin family only has one in the second branch. But how could a paternal aunt sell her own niece?"
At that moment, Lin Yao happened to be passing by. Hearing the commotion, her face instantly turned pale. She rushed over to the matchmaker in a few quick steps, desperately grabbing her sleeve as tears streamed down like a fountain. "Madam, what are you saying? Why would my aunt want to sell me?"
Old Zhang the matchmaker flicked her handkerchief and pretended to be wronged. "Oh, Hu Shi, don't you dare deny it! Just a few days ago, under that crooked old tree at the village entrance, we had a clear agreement. You even took my deposit money. How can you turn around and pretend it never happened now?"
Beads of sweat the size of peas formed on Aunt's forehead. Her eyes darted nervously through the crowd as she flatly denied everything. "Don't listen to her nonsense, everyone! She's just a swindler trying to extort money from me!"
But the villagers glanced at Hu Shi in her drab, gray clothes, then at the brightly dressed Old Zhang the matchmaker, and already believed about seventy to eighty percent of the story. Someone couldn't help but mutter under their breath, "Hu Shi, if there's no truth to this, why would she come to your door? And she described everything so vividly. What exactly do you have that's worth swindling?"
Lin Yao sobbed and sniffled, adding fuel to the fire. "Aunt, I've always respected you as an elder. Even though you've never shown me a kind face, I've never once talked back to you. How could you be so cruel as to push me into a living hell!"
Hu Shi wanted to defend herself but didn't know where to begin. She felt dizzy and lightheaded, the accusations swirling around her ears like a relentless tide. "How vicious, to do such a thing to her own niece!" "No wonder she kept calling Yao a jinx before—she was just plotting to sell the poor girl all along!"