Old Lin Spicy River Snails opened for business, and right from the start, they landed a big order. Apart from the four copper coins spent on buying a bowl, they earned a full twenty copper coins. Father Lin and his sons looked at each other, their eyes meeting as if to ask when copper coins had become so easy to earn. It all felt somewhat unreal until Lin Yuhe called out twice.
"Changan, collect the money—ten copper coins, Changan." Lin Yuhe finished scooping the snails and noticed that her two younger brothers and Father Lin had fallen silent. She reached out and tugged at Lin Chang'an's sleeve.
"Oh, right, Sis." Only when Lin Chang'an heard the sound of copper coins clinking as they dropped into the money box did he truly feel that they had earned money—they were making a fortune.
Although they had given away a bowl of snails, and some people who tasted them left without buying, either because they couldn't bear to spend the money or because they were short on cash, there were also those who weren't short on money and ordered one or two bowls.
Some left without anything to hold the snails, while clever folks went to buy bowls from the noodle shop across the street, prompting the shop to bring out a stack of bowls and set them out.
Finally, the ladle for scooping the snails hit the bottom of the bucket. "Folks, today's snails are sold out. There are no more."
A sharp-eyed person pointed into the bucket. "Little girl, you're talking nonsense. There must be at least two bowls left in that bucket. It's not like we won't pay you."
"Please forgive us, Uncle. These last two bowls are reserved for my own family."
Lin Yuhe planned to visit her older brother, who worked as a waiter, later and save a bowl for him. The other bowl was for her younger uncle, who sold meat in town.
Her maternal grandparents' family had always been very kind to them. Although her younger uncle ran a butcher shop in town, he earned his money through hard work. All her uncles lived with her grandparents and hadn't split the family.
Mother Lin didn't want to be accused by her aunts of freeloading, nor did she want to put her grandparents in a difficult position. They rarely visited their maternal grandparents' home and never went there to buy meat.
"But we've waited so long and didn't get to buy any. Isn't that a waste of time?" Many of the villagers waiting to buy snails voiced their complaints.
It was their first day setting up the stall, and they weren't sure how business would go, so they had brought relatively few snails.
"Folks, we'll be back tomorrow. Just look for our Old Lin Spicy River Snails sign. We're truly sorry for today."
Lin Yuhe asked her two younger brothers and Father Lin to pack up while she herself bowed respectfully at a ninety-degree angle to the customers waiting to buy snails. Seeing her sincerity and realizing there were no snails left, the customers grumbled but promised to return tomorrow.
After seeing off the last group of customers, Lin Yuhe left Father Lin to watch over the bucket while she took her two younger brothers shopping in the street.
The family's flour had been nearly used up over the past two days, so the first priority was to restock their food supplies.
"Shop assistant, how much is this white flour? How about cornmeal? And this rice…" Lin Yuhe entered the grain shop and asked about the prices of everything.
The shopkeeper glanced at her—a young girl, not very old, dressed neatly but accompanied by two boys wearing patched clothes that were clearly altered from adult garments.
"Little girl, this isn't a place to play," the shopkeeper signaled to his assistant to usher them out.
"Shopkeeper, isn't this a place that sells rice, flour, and grains? If I want to buy something, shouldn't I be allowed to ask the price?" Lin Yuhe wasn't angry.
It was already decent of the shopkeeper not to chase them away immediately. In any era, people judge others by their appearance first—there was nothing to be upset about.
"Little miss, white flour is twelve copper coins per jin. Rice comes at several prices—the best japonica rice is fifteen coins, and there's also aged rice and broken rice, priced at ten and eight coins respectively."
The young shop assistant patiently quoted the prices for her. The cost of rice varied greatly. She walked over to the rice jar, reached in, and grabbed a handful. Even though it was aged rice, it didn’t seem to affect its edibility.
"Little brother, I’ll take five jin of white flour, five jin of aged rice, and two jin of japonica rice," Lin Yuhe quickly decided on her purchases and paid.
The shopkeeper, seeing that all three of them were empty-handed and having just shooed away customers earlier, felt a bit embarrassed. "Assistant, give them cloth bags for the grain. Consider it a gift."
"Thank you, shopkeeper," Lin Yuhe said. In truth, after paying, she realized she hadn’t brought anything to carry the grain in. She hadn’t expected the shopkeeper to be so considerate and decided she could come back another time.
"Little brother, could you help us carry this to the market? Our family is waiting for us there."
The shopkeeper glanced around the empty shop, then at the three children, and nodded to the assistant.
"Changping, lead the way for him."
After paying for the grain, Lin Yuhe thought about how the copper coins she’d earned from selling snails had shrunk by more than half. It pained her deeply, but some things simply had to be bought. After walking around, she felt there were so many things she needed.
It’s best not to go shopping—once you start, you just keep buying. By the time she felt she’d bought enough, there were less than a hundred copper coins left in her pouch.
"Sis~ stop buying, let’s go!" Lin Changan deeply regretted not being the one to take everyone to find Father Lin. He could barely carry everything anymore—his sister wanted to buy anything she laid eyes on.
Lin Yuhe, still somewhat reluctant, rubbed her nose. Fine, she’d come back another day. She still had things to do!
When the two of them returned to Father Lin, both he and his son were nearly stunned by the load Changan was carrying. How many copper coins must this have cost!
Father Lin, who had never once criticized Lin Yuhe, muttered under his breath, "No family could afford to raise someone who spends money like this."
His words made Lin Yuhe frown. "Dad, what did you just say about me? I didn’t hear clearly. Say it again."
Father Lin shook his head repeatedly. "Nothing, I didn’t say anything. You must have misheard."
His sons looked at him with disdain. If either of them had acted like this, their father would have kicked them long ago.
"Alright, Changping, come with me to deliver the snail meat to Little Uncle," Lin Yuhe said. If they didn’t go soon, the town market would close.
"Wait a moment," Father Lin hesitated for a long time before speaking up. "Leave your pouch here." His daughter was heading to the butcher shop, and meat was expensive. He was afraid that by the time Lin Yuhe returned, there wouldn’t be a single copper coin left.
Lin Changping carried a full bowl of snails as he followed Lin Yuhe toward the meat stalls. The vegetable sellers and butchers weren’t in the same area—it was quite a distance away.
From afar, they could hear Little Uncle’s booming voice. "Big sister, look, I’ve given you a generous weight. Take it, and come back if you want more meat!"
There weren’t many people buying meat in the town, perhaps because the market was about to close. Lin Yuhe saw that there were no customers left at Little Uncle’s stall.
"Little Uncle!"
Lin Yuhe’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. Bai Ziqi, who was tidying up the meat stall, looked up and saw his niece, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. He quickly put down his tools and walked to the front of the stall.
"Hahaha, Little Yuhe! Wife, Yuhe is here!" he called out, turning to his wife, who was assisting him.
Excited, Bai Ziqi walked up to the meat stall and reached out to hug the little girl he had watched grow up, but seeing his greasy hands, he withdrew them and instead lightly flicked Lin Yuhe’s forehead with a bent finger.
“Uncle, that hurt.”
When Auntie heard Lin Yuhe had arrived, she came out just in time to see her husband flick the little girl’s forehead.
“Move aside—do you even know your own strength?” she said, pulling Bai Ziqi away.
“Oh, I’ve missed you so much, sweetheart,” Auntie exclaimed, enveloping Lin Yuhe in a warm bear hug that made her blush a little.