On the fourth day after arriving in this world, Qu Qing finally had meat for the first time. When the flavor of the meat spread in his mouth, he was so moved that he almost shed tears on the spot—it was just too delicious!!!
After finishing lunch, Qu Qing and the others were about to continue working their hoes to the fields when they reached the door and saw a peddler in the distance, carrying a large load on a shoulder pole. His eyes lit up, and he immediately called out to him.
“Do you buy hair?”
The peddler looked up at Qu Qing’s bald head, finding it strange, and replied warmly, “Yes, big brother! How much do you have?”
“Just a moment.” Qu Qing said two words and turned back into the house to find the neatly organized and clean hair he had saved, handing it to the peddler.
The peddler weighed it in his hands and offered a price. Qu Qing glanced at Hua Zizhou, who had a clueless expression, and guessed that he probably didn’t know the price of hair either. After all, in ancient times, who would sell their hair for no reason?
After some back-and-forth negotiation over the price, they finally settled on selling the hair for three hundred wen. Just as the peddler was about to leave, Qu Qing said, “Wait, do you have a sewing kit? Also, do you have vegetable seeds?”
The young peddler, who was only about seventeen or eighteen years old, saw the business opportunity and became even more enthusiastic. He set down his load and began to take out items one by one: “I have everything—cabbage, radishes, chili peppers, coriander, cucumbers. What do you want?”
Qu Qing looked over the items he was selling. There were combs, sewing kits, hairpins, and other items for women, along with candies and various goods. He assessed the items while asking, “How much for a pack?”
“The sewing kit is three wen, and the vegetable seeds are one wen per pack.”
Qu Qing secretly compared and realized that the three hundred wen he earned from selling his hair was quite a fortune. So he chose a few of his favorite vegetable seeds and bought a pack of each, along with a sewing kit.
Since arriving here, he had noticed that some of his clothes had small holes. When he wanted to mend them, he searched through the dilapidated thatched house but couldn’t find any thread or needles. As a result, he had to wear the torn clothes uncomfortably while doing work for a few days. As for the vegetable seeds, he thought it wouldn’t do to rely solely on wild vegetables, he also wanted to try planting some himself.
There were also many small toys for other children inside, and nearby, Hua Zizhou, Jiang Zhu, and Qu Xin were all very interested, circling around the peddler’s goods, looking this way and that.
Qu Qing noticed that their behavior was very proper, they just watched from the side without reaching out to touch or grab anything. He wondered if it was because they understood they couldn’t buy anything, which is why they didn’t dare to touch.
Undoubtedly, their curiosity and fondness were quite strong—so strong that if Qu Qing had money, he might consider buying the entire stall just for them to play with.
Qu Qing flipped through the peddler’s items and couldn’t help but pause at a small round mirror. He picked it up and, with some sadness, realized that he had gotten darker in just four days since arriving. As for the glass mirror, he wanted it very much as someone who pays attention to his appearance. However, after asking for the price, he had to reluctantly give it up. Although it wasn’t very expensive, Qu Qing didn’t dare to spend money recklessly. After all, who knows when he might get sick and need money? He didn’t have a stable source of income right now.
“Daddy, there are candies…”
Suddenly, Qu Xin’s eager voice broke through, and Qu Qing looked up to see Hua Zizhou nervously shushing little Qu Xin, telling him not to speak carelessly.
Hua Zizhou didn’t want Qu Qing to think that he and Qu Xin were greedy and hard to support. Facing Qu Qing’s gaze, he quickly explained that he didn’t want to eat anything, just that the little one was curious and wanted to take a look.
In reality, how could they not want to eat? Even Hua Zizhou himself was dying to have some. From childhood to now, he had only eaten candy a few times during the New Year celebrations when his father was still alive. After his father died on the battlefield and the family fell into poverty, he became a burden and hadn’t eaten candy since. The only time he had received candy was during his sister’s wedding, when he got two pieces, which he later shared with the little one.
When thinking carefully, little Mao’er, who has now grown to four years old, had only eaten candy once.
Qu Qing looked at Hua Zizhou and noticed that although he firmly refused to speak, his eyes couldn’t help but glance at the candies wrapped in colorful oiled paper, and he swallowed slightly. Jiang Zhu, on the other hand, was much more straightforward, staring at the candies and snacks in the peddler’s basket, visibly drooling.
Seeing the three of them clearly craving the candies yet not one of them dared to ask for any was simply astonishing.
Qu Qing had never really gone without anything. In fact, one could almost say that before he turned eighteen, he had a relatively good life compared to his peers. During his childhood and youth, he could almost always get whatever he wanted, so he didn’t quite understand why they had such a strong desire for mere candy. After all, it was just ordinary candy.
Was it because they didn’t have any, which made them crave it so much?
Just as the three of them reluctantly left to fetch their farming tools, Qu Qing asked the peddler who was about to leave, “How much are the candies?”
“One wen for two pieces.”
That’s really expensive, seeds are only one wen per pack.
Even so, Qu Qing still bought six wen’s worth, which wasn’t too much or too little. The peddler was somewhat surprised, considering Qu Qing’s appearance, he clearly looked poor enough to sell his hair, yet he couldn’t even bring himself to buy a five-wen mirror, and here he was willing to spend six wen on candy. It was truly unbelievable.
Twelve pieces of candy filled Qu Qing’s hand, and it felt particularly precious, when he craved candy in modern times, carrying a few pounds wouldn’t give him this feeling.
After settling the bill, the peddler left, and the six eyes of the other children fixed on the candies in Qu Qing’s hand, unable to look away, each of them silently wondering if there would be one piece for themselves.
Seeing the adorable yet clueless actions of the children, Qu Qing couldn’t help but smile. He then deliberately moved the candy in his hand from side to side, noticing how the three pairs of eyes in front of him were fixated on the candy.
Hua Zizhou seemed to be able to suppress some of his desires, but the other two little pudding-like kids were practically drooling. Qu Qing teased them for a while, and just as he was about to be overwhelmed by their saliva, he promptly stopped and, with a smile, solemnly distributed the candies evenly among the three of them.
“First, little Qu Xin gets four pieces, then Jiang Zhu, here are yours—four pieces for you too. And Hua Zizhou, you want some as well, since you’re drooling. Here, hold on to them.” As he handed out the candies, he felt like a kindergarten teacher.
When Hua Zizhou heard that he was drooling, he quickly wiped his mouth in a panic, only to realize that Qu Qing was just teasing him.
Qu Qing noticed that Hua Zizhou clearly wanted the candy but was still planning to reject it. He decisively grabbed Hua Zizhou’s hand and placed the candy in his palm, leaving no room for refusal.
Hua Zizhou’s face turned a bit red. Seeing Qu Qing’s hand was already empty, he stammered, “You gave us all the candy, so… what are you going to eat? You should eat it, I don’t want it.”
As Qu Qing counted the 290 wen left in his pocket, feeling the security of the heavy coins, he casually said while walking into the room, “I’ve had cavities before, so I don’t like candy. I bought it for you all anyway, so take it and eat it. Uh, I don’t have much money right now, so I bought a little, don’t mind it.”
He went inside to sort the seeds, then looked around for a place to hide the money. After searching, he found that the wooden box used for storing clothes was the most suitable hiding spot, so he placed all the coins at the bottom of the box. Turning around, he saw the others standing at the door, looking at him in surprise with strange expressions.
Qu Qing scratched his head and hesitantly asked, “Shouldn’t I put it here?”
“Not really,” Jiang Zhu said incredulously, pointing at him. “Why didn’t you hide your money without anyone knowing?”
“My back is facing from you guys,” Qu Qing’s words left Jiang Zhu speechless. Of course, Qu Qing knew what Jiang Zhu meant. After closing the box, he stood up and said to them, “Don’t overthink it. I trust you all, so I don’t need to be on guard. You won’t let me down, right? Besides, this money wasn’t earned by me alone, it’s not just my money, it belongs to everyone in our family. Do you understand?”
After saying this, he felt his words were a bit cheesy. Qu Qing rubbed the goosebumps on his arms, stepped outside, and locked the door. “Alright, let’s go to the fields, there’s still a lot of work to do.”
On the way to the fields, Qu Qing clearly noticed that the two younger ones were bouncing along happily. Hua Zizhou, the older one, managed to hold back but seemed to have a lighter step too. He wasn’t sure if it was because of what he just said or the candy they received, but their moods were certainly lifted.
These little kids really were easily satisfied.
Qu Qing didn’t realize that he had unconsciously started to see Hua Zizhou as a child who hadn’t grown up yet.
Looking at the little group trailing behind him, Qu Qing felt a strange sensation in his heart. Although he had only known them for a week, with Jiang Zhu joining just twenty-four hours ago, it felt like there was an intimate and familiar bond among them, almost like they were a true family.
Could this be what they call fate?
His thoughts jumped suddenly to something important, and he turned to ask the only two adults behind him, “Zizhou, do you know how much a cow costs?”
As soon as Qu Qing addressed Hua Zizhou, the latter became tense, his entire back stiffened, and he replied dryly, “I’ve heard that a calf costs about three “guan” [1]guan In ancient China, the “guan” (贯) was a unit of currency used to represent a string of coins (usually copper cash) tied together by a string through the center hole of the coins. … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3338700_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3338700_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”
“How many wen are there in a guan?”
Hua Zizhou thought it was a bit strange for him to ask this but still answered honestly, “One thousand wen is equal to one guan.”
“And how many taels of silver is one guan worth?”
Jiang Zhu couldn’t hold back any longer and complained, “How can you be so dumb? You don’t even know this? One guan is equal to one tael of silver!”
Qu Qing was not embarrassed at all, and just replied with a clear conscience, “I used to be a spendthrift. I spent a lot of money and never cared about things like one wen or one guan.”
As soon as he said this, they all remembered that the only large brick house in the village had been squandered by Qu Qing, so they instantly believed his words. After all, people speculated that he had wasted several hundred taels over the years.
Qu Qing calculated in his heart that he would need three thousand wen to buy a calf, realizing he was still far from buying a cow. He felt a pang of pain and complained depressedly about why he didn’t get here to the time when the original owner hadn’t squandered the family’s money.
When they reached the fields, Qu Qing suddenly noticed something was off. “What happened to the candy I just gave you? Did you finish it already? I don’t think I saw you unwrapping it.”
Little Qu Xin hesitated for a moment before answering, “I… didn’t want to eat it right away. I was saving it for Dad’s birthday and the New Year.”
Hua Zizhou whispered beside him, “Candy is precious, it’s better to save it for New Year’s and festivals.”
Jiang Zhu also kept his head down and said, “I’m saving mine for later too.”
He thought about how he no longer had a father and that such treats couldn’t be taken for granted anymore, so he should save them.
Qu Qing looked at these semi-grown children who were reluctant to eat even two pieces of candy, feeling an indescribable emotion in his heart.
He walked over, took a piece of candy from Little Qu Xin’s pocket, unwrapped it, and fed it to him. Then he glared at the other two, threatening, “Eat it, or else I’ll feed you one by one later.”
Hua Zizhou’s ears turned bright red, and he hurriedly fumbled to take out his candy, unwrap it, and pop it into his mouth.
Seeing this, Jiang Zhu also took out his candy to eat.
Qu Qing finally felt a bit more comfortable and said to the others, “If you save it and it goes bad, it’ll be a waste. If you like it, I’ll buy you more next time the peddler comes.”
Turning around, he continued digging in the fields, secretly vowing to find a way to earn money, or else life would be too hard.
What Qu Qing didn’t know was that his action of buying candy for everyone except himself touched the others deeply.
If they knew modern songs, they would surely be mentally singing “My Old Father[2]“My Old Father” is a heartfelt Chinese song by Liu Huan, released in 1997, that expresses gratitude and admiration for a father’s love and sacrifices. It reflects on the traditional … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3338700_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3338700_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });” for Qu Qing in their heart.
Qu Qing felt like hitting someone.
References[+]
Wen (文): The basic unit, typically a single copper coin.
– 1 wen = 1 coin.
Qian (钱): Another common unit, often equivalent to 1 wen or 10 wen depending on the context.
– 10 wen = 1 qian (in some cases, ‘qian’ and ‘wen’ were interchangeable).
Guan (贯): A string of 1,000 copper coins (wen), also referred to as a ‘tael’ of silver in some eras, depending on the region.
– 1 guan = 1,000 wen = 100 qian.
In simpler terms:
– 1 guan = 100 qian = 1,000 wen.
↑2 “My Old Father” is a heartfelt Chinese song by Liu Huan, released in 1997, that expresses gratitude and admiration for a father’s love and sacrifices. It reflects on the traditional respect for parents in Chinese culture, resonating with listeners for its emotional depth and nostalgia.
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