Tang Tian clung tightly to her mother as well, seizing the opportunity to push her luck.
“Mother, I know many more methods like this! Perhaps the old man who taught me these skills was the God of Wealth!”
Li Qiushuang immediately covered her daughter’s mouth, nervously glancing around before lowering her voice to admonish her.
“Don’t ever say that again. What if some villain hears and tries to harm you? Also, teach me the bean sprout growing method. From now on, if anyone asks, just say it came from me, understand?”
Tang Tian nodded, burying her little head in her mother’s embrace.
Ah, how wonderful it feels to have a mother’s love!
Li Qiushuang stroked her daughter’s hair, which was gradually regaining its dark color, then turned to her sons.
Tang Hai, having eaten his fill, had run off to gather hawthorns again, while only Tang Chuan nodded solemnly. “Mother, I’ve been feeling much better these past few days. I can help carry water.”
Li Qiushuang firmly refused, but her smile grew even brighter.
The household had gained a way to earn money, and her sickly son was miraculously recovering. Life was truly getting better and better.
Thinking back to when she had been trapped in despair and nearly taken the children with her to death, she couldn’t help but feel ashamed…
The autumn wind grew stronger with each passing day. The withered crops in the fields had all been gathered, and the morning frost made the distant landscape resemble an old man with vitiligo, evoking an inexplicable sadness.
Li Qiushuang gave fifty catties of coarse rice to Second Grandpa Li, requesting his help in distributing it.
Although she was raising three children alone, without a man in the household, it wasn’t appropriate for her to deal directly with the villagers.
Second Grandpa Li particularly appreciated her discretion and was willing to assist. Moreover, Li Qiushuang never visited empty-handed—this time she had brought a large bowl of chicken soup whose aroma made the children in his household linger nearby, refusing to leave.
Second Grandpa Li coughed twice, somewhat embarrassed.
Pretending not to notice, Li Qiushuang said, “Second Uncle, I plan to take the children to town tomorrow. Chuan Ge’er needs to have his pulse checked and get medicine. As for Hai Ge’er… I’d like the doctor to examine him again to see if his mental condition can be treated. May I borrow your family’s cart? Would you have time to spare?”
The Li family had many descendants and had already prepared all their firewood. Before Second Grandpa Li could respond, Second Grandma Li took the bowl of chicken soup and said with a smile, “Of course! Actually, Tie Niu’s Mother and I were planning to go to town too. We have two rabbit pelts saved up—we’re hoping to sell them for some money to buy oil and salt.”
Having received confirmation, Li Qiushuang chatted for a while longer before returning home.
Unexpectedly, the next morning, not only did Second Grandma Li and her eldest daughter-in-law Lan Cao arrive, but her eldest son Li Jin also came along, smiling honestly as he pulled the cart behind him.
With such strong additional help, Li Qiushuang breathed a sigh of relief. She brought out the household quilts to pad the cart, carefully wrapping Tang Chuan and Tang Tian securely before the group set off.
As for Tang Hai, though the boy wasn’t mentally sharp, he was physically strong. Not only did he not need to ride in the cart, he even helped Li Jin pull it…
When they reached the county town, the two families agreed on a meeting time before going their separate ways.
At Huichuntang, Doctor Cui checked Tang Chuan’s pulse, then proceeded to examine Tang Hai. In the end, he repeatedly expressed amazement at their conditions.
“Sister-in-law of the Tang Family, I consider my medical skills to be quite competent. I had a clear understanding of your two sons’ illnesses. But in such a short time, Chuan Ge’er’s cough has improved by thirty percent, and even Hai Ge’er’s pulse no longer feels sluggish—it seems much clearer. This… have they taken some miraculous cure?”
Li Qiushuang instinctively hid her little daughter behind her and explained with forced courage, “Doctor Cui, you jest. Our family’s situation… as you know, even if there were miraculous cures, we couldn’t afford them.”
“Perhaps… perhaps the children have been eating well, dressing warmly, and haven’t been scolded or beaten lately. With their minds at ease, their illnesses have improved.”
Doctor Cui frowned, then finally nodded after a long pause.
“What you say makes sense. Worry, anxiety, and fear are indeed detrimental to illness, while the opposite naturally brings benefits.”
Li Qiushuang, afraid that further explanation would only lead to more mistakes, hurriedly urged him to prescribe medicine.
Doctor Cui, delighted by this unusual case, prescribed seven doses of medicine for Tang Chuan and even carefully turned Tang Hai’s head into a pincushion with acupuncture needles. In the end, he charged only five hundred wen for both consultation and medicine.
Of course, as part of the discount, Tang Hai would need to return for acupuncture every seven days, and Tang Chuan would need regular pulse checks.
He was treating the two boys as peculiar cases for long-term observation!
Even as Li Qiushuang and her children stepped out the door, he chased after them to remind them not to forget their appointment dates.
Li Qiushuang, clutching her daughter with one hand and dragging her two sons with the other, fled at top speed!
Tang Tian couldn’t help giggling, Tang Chuan kept pace with his mother, and Tang Hai occasionally rubbed his head, feeling as if some silver needles were still stuck there…
Under the pale late-autumn sun verging on winter, the mother and her three children sprinting through the streets created an oddly comical scene!
Old Liao, idly sweeping with a feather duster, was startled when he received the breathless “big customers.”
Soon after, he cheerfully sold them twenty sieves, forty pieces of coarse gauze, several clay pots, kettles, willow baskets, and large bundles of oiled paper…
As the sun slanted westward, Li Jin pulled the cart while Tang Chuan and Tang Tian sat amidst the pile of clutter, looking particularly small.
Second Grandma Li bought three jin of salt and two jin of new cotton, carefully placing them in a basket she carried on her back, refusing even her daughter-in-law’s offer to help.
She kept glancing at the items on the cart, her heart aching with dismay.
Even if the Tang Family sold those found books for silver, they shouldn’t squander money like this.
How many mouths did they have to feed that they needed twenty sieves!
No wonder the Old Tang Family Matriarch used to constantly scold her eldest daughter-in-law for wasting family resources—now, without her mother-in-law’s restraint, she was even more unrestrained!
Li Qiushuang naturally noticed but only quickened her pace without saying a word. Some things were better left unexplained—the more you clarified, the more complicated they became. It was wiser to keep quiet from the start.
Make a fortune quietly!
These five words were especially fitting for a widow and her children like them.
Though Tang Tian’s mind brimmed with money-making ideas, her small body was only four years old. After a long day of running around, she was utterly exhausted.
Now, nestled in her eldest brother’s arms, she fell sound asleep to the rocking of the cart.
Tang Chuan wrapped most of the quilt around his sister to block the cold wind, then turned to look at the sieves and clay pots on the cart, his heart burning with anticipation…
Though harsh winter was approaching, for their family, it felt like a vibrant spring where everything flourished.
That night, Tang Tian led her mother into the cellar.
It must be said that Shopkeeper Old Liao knew how to run a business—his shop was fully stocked, carrying not only soybeans but even managing to produce over ten catties of mung beans.
Tang Tian bought them all in one go, planning to implement a “tiered approach.”
Soybean sprouts, being cheaper, would be sold to ordinary townsfolk at two coins per catty, aiming for small profits but quick returns.
Mung bean sprouts would be priced at five coins, targeting the premium market—restaurants, inns, and wealthy households.
Thus, Li Qiushuang, now demoted to her daughter’s little apprentice, carefully sprouted five catties of mung beans and five catties of soybeans, watering them three times a day—morning, noon, and night—while also managing three meals a day and making shoes. She was so busy she couldn’t catch her breath.
Little did she know, rumors were slowly spreading in the village, and they were growing uglier by the day!