The Lin family was very poor—so poor that they often didn’t know where their next meal would come from. Yet, everyone in the family doted on Lin Yuhe, doing their best to give her whatever little good things they had. This slowly made her accept this family from the bottom of her heart.
The sky gradually darkened, but Uncle Lin, who had left before dawn, still hadn’t returned home.
"Changping, go to the village entrance and see if you can meet your uncle. Why hasn’t he come back at this hour?" Grandma Lin was a little worried about her youngest son.
"Got it, Grandma," Changping ran out. Not long after, the sound of a wheelbarrow could be heard—it seemed Uncle Lin was back.
"Grandma, we’re back," Changping helped Uncle Lin push the cart inside.
"Why are you back so late today? I was worried you might have run into some bad people!"
Grandma Lin took a half-worn cloth towel from the clothesline and dusted off the dirt from Uncle Lin’s clothes.
"Mother, there aren’t that many bad people around. I’m fine—I just went to one more village today and bought some new things in town," Uncle Lin said, taking out a cloth bundle from his pocket along with a small handful of copper coins.
"Mother, this is for you. Besides buying a few things, I earned a bit more today. Here are ten copper coins for you—I’ll keep a little for capital," he said, counting out ten copper coins from the bundle and placing them in Grandma Lin’s hand.
In the Lin family, only Uncle Lin Fan had attended school for a few years. Later, as children were born one after another, the family could barely afford food, let alone spare money for schooling.
Although the others hadn’t gone to school, they all knew a few characters, thanks to Uncle Lin teaching the children whenever he had time.
"Good, good. I’ll save this for you, and when we’ve saved enough, we’ll find a matchmaker to get you a wife," Grandma Lin said. At the mention of finding a wife, Uncle Lin blushed all the way to his neck.
He quickly picked up a washbasin, scooped two ladles of water, and splashed it on his face to cool down. "Look at this child—he blushes every time we talk about finding him a wife."
"Alright, you know he blushes easily, so stop teasing him. Let him wash up quickly and come eat. It’s almost dark," Grandpa Lin chided Grandma Lin for nagging Uncle Lin again.
Dinner was just a bowl of corn porridge for each person. Mother Lin served the porridge and gave Lin Yuhe an extra boiled egg.
Seeing there was only one egg, Lin Yuhe offered it to Grandma Lin. "Grandma, you’re an adult and must be tired of eating eggs. You’re the only girl in the family, and you’re still sick—you should eat it."
Before she could finish speaking, the egg was pushed back to her. With no other choice, Lin Yuhe peeled the egg, broke it into several pieces, and placed one piece in each family member’s bowl.
"Let’s all eat together," she said, taking out two meat buns from the cupboard that her younger brothers had bought especially for her. She broke them into pieces as well, giving one piece to each person.
Although her throat was still a little hoarse and sore, she could speak much better now. "The buns were bought by my brothers," Lin Yuhe didn’t forget to give her younger brothers credit.
"Our Yuhe is back, and she’s become even more sensible," Uncle Lin said, reaching into his peddler’s pushcart and pulling out three pieces of candy.
"You’ve all been good. One piece of candy for each of you. This candy is something new I bought today—it cost quite a few more copper coins than the usual kind. Try it after dinner."
Uncle Lin spoke to the three siblings as if they were little children, even though they weren’t much younger than him. If Lin Yuhe counted her age from her previous life, she could have been old enough to give birth to someone his age.
Lin Yuhe was very curious about what made this candy so special. In her previous life, she had exceptional culinary skills. In her free time, she would bake cookies and make candies and snacks at home, then bring them to the office to give to her secretaries, receiving plenty of praise.
She unwrapped the packaging paper to find a sugar lump made by boiling flour and sugar together—utterly lacking in technical skill, which left Lin Yuhe somewhat disappointed.
"Uncle, I know how to make this candy. Was it expensive to buy?" Lin Yuhe said casually.
"Yuhe, what did you say? Did I hear you right? You said you know how to make it—really? This candy is terribly expensive," Uncle Lin stared at her intently. Precisely because it was expensive, he had only stocked ten pieces.
"You really know how to make it? This candy costs one wen for two pieces wholesale, and I sell it for one wen per piece."
Uncle Lin's quoted price was likely quite high. Lin Yuhe had no understanding of prices; she had never even handled copper coins before.
Upon hearing that such a small piece of candy could be sold by Uncle Lin for one wen—as expensive as an egg—the two younger brothers immediately placed their candies in front of Uncle Lin.
"Uncle, we don’t like eating candy. You can sell it!" But Uncle Lin still gave the candies to the two brothers. "No matter how expensive, as long as Uncle has it and you want to eat it, then you shall have it."
"Uncle, I’ll make some for you tomorrow. It’ll be much cheaper than what you buy from the shops in town, and you can earn more. But you’ll need to invest upfront."
As she spoke, Lin Yuhe slipped back into talking about investment from her past life and setting up factories, once again adopting that strong businesswoman demeanor, leaving the whole family stunned and bewildered.
"Yuhe, what is 'investment'?" Mother Lin asked whenever she didn’t understand, unlike others who just listened as if it were a story.
"Investment means you need to prepare the things required to make the candy in advance, like flour and white sugar." Mother Lin seemed to understand and nodded repeatedly.
"Good niece, I’ll invest. Let’s partner up—you make it, and I’ll handle selling it. How about that? We’ll split the profits fifty-fifty," Uncle Lin immediately declared his willingness to invest.
Lin Yuhe glanced at this Uncle Lin. He had the makings of a businessman—he understood investment and the profits from making and selling candy as soon as she mentioned it.
"Uncle, you don’t need to split it fifty-fifty with me. Once we earn some silver, use it to find us a pretty aunt," Lin Yuhe teased Uncle Lin playfully, just wanting to see him blush.
"You little rascal," Grandma Lin poked Lin Yuhe’s forehead.
"Alright, we’ll talk more tomorrow during the day. Let’s eat now, or it’ll be too dark to see soon," Grandma Lin didn’t want to light the lamp for dinner, wasting lamp oil.
Even though it was just a bowl of wild vegetable porridge that couldn’t fill them up, the family didn’t waste a single drop. Father Lin, who had worked in the fields all day, even rinsed the pot with water and drank the rinse, wasting nothing.
Seeing her eldest son work hard every day yet still go hungry, his body dark and lean, Grandma Lin wiped away a tear, went into her room, took out a cornbread bun, and pressed it into his hand.
"Eat it, then go to bed early. Once you fall asleep, you won’t feel hungry anymore. You can eat again tomorrow morning."
Grandma Lin gave Father Lin an extra bun, unafraid of others accusing her of favoritism.
"Haitang, tomorrow morning when cooking rice, grab an extra handful of rice for the pot. After eating, leave the pots and bowls unwashed until tomorrow—don’t waste lamp oil. Everyone, go to bed early and wake up early tomorrow to work."
After saying this, she didn’t look back at her children and grandchildren sitting around the table, still hungry, and returned to her main room.
Once again, Lin Yuhe witnessed the poverty of this family. Grandma Lin talked about washing bowls, but in her view, everyone’s bowls were licked so clean they could be used again tomorrow without washing.
The family quickly finished their meal, washed up, and returned to their rooms, truly not wasting any lamp oil as Grandma Lin had said.
"Get up, get up! Why aren't you up yet today, Second Son? If you're any later, you won't be able to cover many villages." Before dawn, Lin Yuhe was awakened by Grandma Lin's loud voice.
"Mother, I'm getting up now. I won't be going to the villages today. Keep your voice down, or you'll wake Yuhe."
After Uncle spoke, the noise in the courtyard indeed grew much quieter.