When Tang Mu went out, he carried a small cloth pouch containing over thirty taels of broken silver and three hundred copper coins. Tucked inside his clothes, it bulged noticeably and felt heavy.
Old Shen and Ge Sanniang accompanied him home, admonishing him along the way: "This money was hard to get back. You and your sister must keep it safe. Don't be wasteful, or others might covet it."
Tang Mu repeatedly agreed, appearing calm on the surface, but his steps were actually unsteady. It all felt somewhat unreal to him.
In all his life, this was the first time he had seen so much silver.
When they reached the Tang residence, Old Shen and Ge Sanniang didn't stay long. Patting his shoulder, they reminded him: "Take good care of your A-jie."
Then they each returned home.
After watching the two elders walk away, Tang Mu carefully closed the courtyard gate, bolted it, entered the inner room, and let down the door curtain. Leaning by the kang, he whispered to Tang Wan: "A-jie, are you awake?"
Tang Wan, half-asleep, opened her eyes at the sound. Seeing his nervous appearance, she could already guess what had happened and asked: "Well? Did you get the money back?"
Tang Mu nodded vigorously, pulling out the cloth pouch from his clothes and showing it to her like a treasure.
Tang Wan was slightly taken aback and asked: "How much is this?"
"Thirty-three taels and eight mace," Tang Mu replied, his tone still tense. "Three mace of it is in copper coins, the rest is all broken silver."
Tang Wan glanced outside to make sure the doors and windows were securely closed before getting up from under the quilt. She sat up abruptly, opened the pouch, and looked inside.
The over thirty taels of broken silver came in various sizes, apparently cut from different silver ingots. The irregular pieces numbered thirty to fifty in total, weighing roughly over two catties when roughly hefted. The three hundred copper coins were a mix of old and new, slightly larger than modern one-yuan coins, engraved with the characters "Yuanhe Tongbao." Piled together, they made quite an impressive sight.
Having long been accustomed to electronic payments, Tang Wan hadn't handled cash in ages. Even when living in this era, she had always been poor and had never seen so much money. She hadn't expected over thirty taels of broken silver to make such a large bundle.
"So much…" she couldn't help but laugh.
Tang Mu shared her sentiment and laughed too. But then he swallowed dryly and said hoarsely: "Where should we hide all this money?"
Suppressing her laughter, Tang Wan asked him: "How did the Chen family hide theirs?"
Tang Mu said: "I only saw Chen Wenyan take out an earthenware jar. I don't know where he kept it."
Back when the two families were on good terms, Tang Mu often visited the Chen household. He had never known about this earthenware jar containing so much money.
How could such a wealthy family cry poverty every day and come to them for handouts? What were they thinking?
The more Tang Mu thought about how he used to go hungry to save food for Mother Chen and her son, the more foolish he felt. He became increasingly convinced that A-jie's decision to demand the money back was absolutely right!
Tang Wan then said: "Then let's use an earthenware jar too."
Upon hearing this, Tang Mu immediately began pacing around the room, muttering: "I remember we used to have one. I'm not sure where it is now."
"Don't rush. First, tell me what happened today," Tang Wan said, reaching out to stop him.
Tang Mu then recounted in detail the entire incident—how he had settled accounts at the Chen family's courtyard entrance, how Miao Guizhi had tried to evade responsibility, and how he had publicly read out each item of the accounts one by one. After listening, Tang Wan praised him enthusiastically: "Excellent! Mu Ge'er, you did wonderfully. You've grown up now and have become the pillar of our family."
Tang Mu's face flushed instantly, the tips of his ears burning, but he was genuinely happy inside.
He never expected that he could actually recover so much money, and the family's financial situation suddenly became much less dire.
Scratching his ear sheepishly, he murmured, "It's all because A-jie taught me well…"
Amid their joy, the siblings couldn't help but feel a bit worried.
The money had been retrieved in front of so many neighbors. Although they were all familiar neighbors who knew each other well, the sum was not small after all. People's hearts are hard to fathom, and it was hard to say if someone might harbor ill intentions.
With only two half-grown children in the household, it was uncertain whether they could protect the money.
After some thought, Tang Wan said, "Grandpa Shen and Ge Shenzi helped us a lot this time, and Second Brother Lu saved my life. Now that we have money, let's send them some gifts of gratitude first."
She believed that maintaining good relationships with the neighbors was essential for mutual support. In the future, if they encountered difficulties, others would be more willing to lend a hand.
Tang Mu nodded eagerly, "But what should we give them?"
Tang Wan asked, "How did our family usually handle such situations in the past?"
Tang Mu pondered for a moment and said, "When Grandpa was alive, he would usually buy some food to send—like getting some meat from Old Xu the butcher at the market, along with some flatbreads or steamed buns."
Tang Wan then said, "Then let's do the same."
However, this situation was different from ordinary social exchanges, especially in Lu Zheng's case, as it involved a life-saving favor. Ordinary food didn't seem sufficient to express their gratitude, but buying anything too expensive was tricky—they didn't know what would be appropriate, and they didn't dare to spend too much.
Although thirty-some taels of silver seemed like a lot, with spring plowing just around the corner and expenses piling up, and no additional income coming in, they still had to budget carefully.
After discussing for a long while, Tang Wan finally made the decision: "How about this—tomorrow we'll go to the market and look around, buy whatever seems suitable, and I'll cook it myself. Homemade food tastes better than store-bought, and it shows our sincerity."
When Tang Mu heard this, he opened his mouth as if to say something but hesitated.
A-jie's cooking skills…
To be honest, they were a bit… hard to describe. In the past, it was mostly Grandpa or him who did the cooking.
However, he ultimately said nothing, not wanting to disappoint his sister.
It didn't matter—once they bought the ingredients, he could just help out more.
That day, Tang Mu went to fetch Doctor Wu again, claiming he needed to check on Tang Wan once more, but actually to let outsiders know that his sister had finally woken up.
Doctor Wu took Tang Wan's pulse and, seeing that although she still looked pale and weak, she was at least able to get up and speak, advised her to "eat well and rest properly," which also eased the siblings' worries.
This way, Tang Wan's "recovery" was officially acknowledged, and she could finally move around normally.
Using the excuse of stretching her legs to improve circulation, she toured the small, single-courtyard house with mixed feelings, taking stock of their belongings along the way.
Grandfather was from Qing Zhou. He came to the Northern Border to join the army when he was young and never returned to his hometown for the rest of his life, as there were no other relatives left in his old home. This house was allocated to him after he joined the army—small in size, probably less than a hundred square meters in total.
Though small, it had a well-proportioned layout.
At the front was a small courtyard, with the main gate facing the central hall. There were two small rooms on the east and west sides. The area behind the house was slightly larger—an empty vegetable plot, with an outhouse on the left and a simple shed on the right for storing miscellaneous items.
When they were children, the siblings lived in the west room, while Grandfather Tang stayed in the east room. After Tang Mu turned seven, he began sharing the east room with his grandfather, leaving Tang Wan alone in the west room.
There was no formal kitchen; instead, a stove was set up in the front courtyard. Due to the harsh cold of the Northern Border, the stove was connected to the heated brick beds (kang) in the two rooms via an underground flue, providing warmth in winter. Recently, as the weather turned warmer, there was no need to heat the kang anymore.
There was also a well in the front courtyard, from which the family drew water for drinking and daily use.
Tang Mu rummaged through the storage shed in the backyard and found a small earthen jar. After cleaning it thoroughly, he placed all the money inside, filling more than half of the jar.
Once it was packed, he paced around the house, muttering to himself, unsure of where to hide it.
Tang Wan offered a suggestion: "Keep three taels and eight mace with you for this year's spring planting and daily expenses. Bury the remaining thirty taels in the jar somewhere—dig a hole, hide it, and dig it up again when you need it later."
Tang Mu's eyes lit up; he thought it was a brilliant idea!
He fetched a shovel, went to the backyard under the jujube tree, dug a fairly deep hole, carefully placed the jar inside, filled the hole with soil, tamped it down firmly, and scattered some loose dirt on top as camouflage.
Now, aside from the siblings, no one else knew where the money was hidden.
The remaining three taels of broken silver and copper coins, along with what was left from what Chen Wenyan had given earlier, were placed in a money pouch and handed over to Tang Wan.
"A-jie, you keep these."
After a brief moment of thought, Tang Wan accepted it graciously.
After all, the siblings couldn't just sit back and exhaust their resources. If she wanted to earn more money, she needed some capital in hand.
That night, neither of the siblings slept well.
Tang Wan had been lying on the kang for too long over the past couple of days and found it hard to fall asleep. She couldn't help but recall the conveniences of modern life, but no matter how good it was there, it wasn't her hometown. This was where she was born and raised, and Mu Ge'er was here with her.
Moreover, she had a vague premonition that after returning this time, it might be impossible to travel back to Huaxia again. So, she stopped dwelling on it and slowly began thinking about how to live from now on.
As for Tang Mu, he was too excited, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
He thought that once the spring planting was arranged, the Qingming Festival would follow. He planned to go with A-jie to visit their grandfather's grave and tell him about what had happened at home.
The Chen family turned out to be so wicked—Grandfather had misjudged them. Fortunately, things hadn't turned too bad in the end.
Still, A-jie's marriage engagement had fallen through. What would become of her now?
Not marrying Chen Wenyan was a good thing, but who would A-jie marry in the future? No matter whom A-jie ended up with, this time he would keep his eyes wide open and watch carefully, making sure she wouldn't be hurt again!
Tang Mu drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep, his thoughts fading into obscurity.
…
The next morning, after a simple cleanup and washing up, the siblings each drank some coarse grain porridge, locked the door, and set off for the market.
To be honest, Tang Wan hadn't been eating well these past few days—or more accurately, she was quite unaccustomed to the food.
Aside from the half bowl of steamed egg custard she had upon waking up, the other meals had been nearly unbearable. The coarse grain porridge from this morning, for instance, was almost scratchy on the throat.
Of course, this wasn't due to Tang Mu's poor cooking skills—even if she had taken over, it likely wouldn't have been much better.
The Tang family had been stripped clean by the Chen family earlier, and with the old man falling ill, their savings were completely drained. To save money and survive, they had no choice but to eat such rough grains.
Come to think of it, she really had to thank that scoundrel for not marrying her—otherwise, Tang Wan might have had to emulate the fishermen in Stardew Valley, camping by the little river where she fell in to fish for money to buy food.
While giving gifts to the helpful neighbors was a legitimate reason, Tang Wan mostly wanted to use this opportunity to purchase some proper human-edible ingredients.
The custom in the Northern Border was to hold large markets on days ending in five, but even on ordinary days, the market had plenty of vendors, especially those selling food.
Military Households were actually a bit better off compared to other farming households, so items like rice, flour, cooking oil, pork, and mutton were available daily. In spring, there were also vendors selling wild vegetables, spring sprouts, pickled vegetables, and dried goods, making the market quite lively.
The siblings brought a carrying basket with them today.
Tang Mu initially insisted on carrying it, but even though Tang Wan's current body was somewhat frail, she was already fifteen and had over a decade more life experience. She couldn't possibly bully a child like that, so she insisted on carrying it herself.
Tang Mu clearly wasn't used to this, especially since A-jie had just fallen into the water, and he wasn't sure how much she had recovered. He trailed behind her, hesitant and anxious.
Tang Wan noticed his unease and seriously discussed it with him: "How about we switch when I get tired?"
Only then did Tang Mu nod: "A-jie, you must tell me if you're tired."
"Mm," Tang Wan replied cheerfully.
Following her memories, Tang Wan first went to the grain stalls.
Their coarse grain flour was almost gone, so she bought half a bag. Eaten alone, it was scratchy on the throat, but mixed with refined flour for pancakes or porridge, it was quite good, with a unique fragrance.
She also bought half a bag of freshly ground corn flour, finely milled and golden-yellow, looking fresh and smelling sweetly of corn.
Of course, the most important purchase was several pounds of wheat flour. Rice was rare in the Northern Border, so this would be their staple food going forward.
Next, she went to the neighboring stall and bought half a pound of brown sugar, then picked out twenty fresh eggs.
Finally, she stopped by Butcher Xu's meat stall. Half a side of pork was already partly sold, but the meat looked fresh with beautiful marbling.
After discussing with Tang Mu, Tang Wan decided to give three pounds each to Old Shen and Ge Sanniang's families, and five pounds to the Lu family. She asked Butcher Xu to cut three nice strips of pork belly.
During this era, people preferred meat with some fat—they could render lard at home for cooking.
As the butcher was cutting the meat with his knife, he noticed her glancing at the pig lungs nearby and immediately said enthusiastically, "This set of lungs just arrived not long ago. Would you like it, ma'am? I'll give you a good price."
"I'll take it," Tang Wan said without hesitation.
Watching from the side, Tang Mu silently calculated the expenses and couldn't help feeling a bit panicked.
The money was being spent far too quickly!
However, when he thought about how, if not for Grandpa Shen and Ge Shenzi backing them up, he might not have gotten the money so easily, he felt more at ease.
Her gratitude towards Lu Zheng was completely sincere. If not for him, A-jie might have lost her life.
With that thought, the slight heartache she felt earlier instantly vanished. Instead, she worried whether their gesture was sufficient and asked softly, "Is this enough?"
Tang Wan placed the pork tied with straw rope into the basket, carefully adjusting the eggs' position. Hearing this, she smiled and said, "We're all neighbors here. It's not about how much we give in one go. In the future, whenever our family has something good to eat, we can share more with them."
Tang Mu thought it made sense and fell silent.
After all their purchases along the way, the miscellaneous items added up to nearly six hundred wen!
The basket was packed full. On the way back, Tang Mu insisted on carrying it and found it much heavier than holding the earthen jar, yet her heart felt exceptionally at ease.
By the time the siblings turned into Elm Tree Alley, the sky was fully bright. Many neighbors spotted them and asked, "Wan Niang, you're awake? Are you feeling better now?"
Tang Wan responded gracefully, thanking them for their concern.
No sooner had the siblings passed by than the neighbors began whispering behind their backs. The news of Tang Mu settling accounts with the Chen family and actually reclaiming thirty-three taels of silver yesterday had caused quite a stir.
These past two days, every household in Elm Tree Alley had been talking about it.
At the alley entrance, Miao Guizhi was about to step out when she spotted Tang Wan from afar, perfectly fine and greeting others. Instantly, her chest tightened with anger.
So, this wretched girl had been putting on an act! The moment she got the money, she "woke up."
Miao Guizhi stared fixedly at Tang Wan's basket. Though the March morning breeze was distinctly chilly, the girl's forehead was beaded with fine sweat from the effort.
Who knows what fine goods she bought with that money, making it so heavy!
Author's Note:
[Flop-eared Rabbit Head]