When Shen Ruo returned home, he found several aunts already waiting in front of the house. Some carried baskets in their hands, some had bundles on their backs, and a few were sitting on the benches that Li Shantao had set out, chatting idly.
As soon as they saw Shen Ruo, one of the more impatient aunts immediately stood up and said enthusiastically, “Ah! Ruo’er, you’re finally back! Come and see if my cloth can be exchanged for a big rooster!”
“Let’s look at my cloth first, mine is better.”
“Why should we look at yours first? I’ve been waiting here the longest! Do you even understand first-come, first-served?”
It looked like they were about to start arguing, so Shen Ruo intervened: “Aunts, don’t be anxious. There will be enough for everyone.”
He had already told his family last night how to organize things today. Seeing each aunt holding a small twig from Li Shantao, he said, “You all should have gotten the twigs my mother gave out. One mark means first in line, two marks means second, and so on.”
The family didn’t have pens, ink, or paper to make numbered tickets, so this was the only way to organize the line.
There had been fifteen aunts watching yesterday, and ten had arrived now. With so many people, things could easily get chaotic.
Li Shantao, following Shen Ruo’s instructions, handed out the twigs to each aunt in order of arrival, and the scene was much calmer than before.
“What’s this? Why did Dashan’s family only give me one twig? I thought they didn’t want me here and almost threw it away!” one aunt complained.
“You didn’t listen carefully. She said it’ll be useful later. If you don’t want it, trade with me, I still have thirteen marks to wait for.”
“I’ve got two marks, haha.”
Shen Ruo repeated the rules for them: “The cloth we want to exchange includes new full pieces, larger scraps, and some old cloth. I’ve told you before, it must be clean, old cloth can’t be torn, and cloth washed thin to the point of nearly falling apart won’t be accepted either.”
“Yes, I remember! I’ve chosen mine carefully. All of it can go straight to the scale,” one aunt said with a smile. She had brought the most cloth among all the aunts, so the fattest hen would surely be hers!
Shen Ruo’s lips curved slightly: “Since you say so, please put your bundle down and lay out your cloth for everyone to see as a reference.”
Confidently, the aunt set her bundle on the ground, untied it, and carefully spread out the cloth.
Although Shen Ruo was exchanging cloth with the villagers, he wasn’t going to take just any rag. If he accepted without checking, he’d be the one getting cheated!
He had proposed this exchange partly to support the village. After all, Shenjia Village was really poor, and many families hadn’t eaten meat in months.
“Hey! I only have one mark, so I should go first, right?” the aunt holding a twig with a single mark complained angrily.
Shen Ruo had originally planned a “[1]“Kill the chicken to warn the monkey” is a Chinese idiom (杀鸡儆猴). It means punishing one person publicly to frighten or warn others so they won’t do the same thing. The idea comes from … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1842829_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1842829_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });kill the chicken to warn the monkey” moment, after all, not everyone could be confident enough to claim that the cloth they brought could go straight onto the scale.
Since this aunt volunteered so eagerly, Shen Ruo decided not to hold back.
“Alright then, you go first.”
The aunt rolled her eyes dramatically. “I came first, so I should go first.”
Shen Ruo smiled but said nothing. He took the bundle she brought, opened it, and spread it on the ground so all the other aunts could see.
ᘻᘿᓍᘺ
“This piece won’t do, it’s been washed too thin, it would tear if you tug it.”
“This one’s been nibbled by a mouse. You think you can trick me with this?”
“This is supposed to be new cloth? It’s been used and washed several times and is all wrinkled like dried vegetables.”
“This one… it’s torn in the middle with visible patching around it. Where did you even get this?”
Shen Ruo began inspecting each piece one by one. Some that were obviously ruined he immediately set aside. Every time he picked up a piece, he commented on it so the aunts would know why it was acceptable or why it wasn’t.
“Tsk tsk tsk, Liu Sanniang, looking at your cloth I can already tell it’s no good. Look at that piece, it’s falling apart, and you still want to exchange it for meat and eggs?” one outspoken aunt remarked.
“Ruo Ge’er checks so carefully! My eyes aren’t what they used to be. I better go pick through my cloth again,” another aunt quickly made an excuse, placing her twig on the empty ground and starting to sort through her cloth.
The aunt holding the single-mark twig was already red-faced with embarrassment. She straightened her neck and said, “How was I supposed to know some of this cloth wouldn’t pass? But there’s plenty that’s good! Surely you haven’t mixed in torn cloth, I just don’t believe it!”
A few other aunts who were already sorting torn cloth immediately fired back: “Half of yours is bad! How can you criticize others? My eyesight’s failing, so maybe a few slipped in, but you’re young and your eyes are worse than mine!”
“You…” Liu Sanniang was fuming, her face red and neck tense, but Shen Ruo continued inspecting each piece. Everyone could see clearly what passed and what didn’t. Since she knew she was in the wrong, she suddenly found herself unable to argue.
This was exactly the effect Shen Ruo wanted. Now everyone began checking their own cloth carefully. If everyone inspected this thoroughly, would anyone even get a good night’s sleep tonight?
Shen Ruo reminded them again: “As I said before, new full cloth can be exchanged for meat at the town’s rates. Dried ducks and roosters are two pounds of cloth for one pound of meat; hens are four pounds of cloth for one pound of meat. Each is limited to one bird. Old cloth can be exchanged for eggs, one pound of old cloth per egg, up to five eggs.”
“Aunt, the cloth you brought is all old scraps. I’ll have my mother weigh it,” Shen Ruo said, piling up the usable cloth and calling his mother over.
Since hearing about Shen Fugui sneaking into the house, Li Shantao had spent every free moment with Xiao Yuntun. Now that she had to leave the house, she immediately told Liu Shan to watch him. As for Ergou, ever since he got a response from Yuntun while playing with the little straw grasshopper, he was practically obsessed. He had gotten up early just to play with his little brother, not thinking about running off to find other kids.
Early in the morning, Li Shantao had gone to the village head’s house to borrow a weight for the scale. Now that she had come out, she quickly picked the usable cloth from the pile, bundled it up, and hung it on the iron hook of the scale.
On the other side was the weight. She adjusted its position by hand, stood back, and when the scale balanced, she called Liu Sanniang over.
“We’re two taels short of two jin,” Li Shantao said.
Shen Ruo replied, “Then let’s exchange it for two eggs. I’ll go get them.”
The surrounding aunts craned their necks to watch and nodded in agreement.
“Impossible!” Liu Sanniang had estimated that her bundle of cloth should be enough to get at least five eggs. Even after removing some pieces, she thought she should get three or four, but in the end, it was less than two, she couldn’t accept it.
“Oh, Liu Sanniang, don’t be so fussy. With that pile of torn cloth, it’s already generous of Ruo Ge’er to let you exchange anything,” an aunt muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.
But Liu Sanniang ignored her and grabbed the scale to weigh it herself. It still came out to one jin and eight taels. If she moved the weight back another two taels, the scale would tip so much the weight would almost slide off!
Shen Ruo had already taken out the two eggs and handed them to her. “Here, aunt.”
Liu Sanniang felt a pang of regret for her cloth, it was still good enough to patch clothes. Now she could only get two eggs, and it hurt her heart.
Reluctantly, she took the eggs and muttered, “Those torn pieces could still be used… just cut them a little, and they’d be fine.”
Shen Ruo said nothing, people like her always looked for loopholes, and reasoning with them was useless.
“Always trying to get something for nothing! It’s already generous of Ruo Ge’er to exchange with you, and you still want more. Tch!” the confident aunt who had claimed her cloth could pass the scale scolded.
Liu Sanniang was clearly greedy and dissatisfied. She didn’t even realize how poor the quality of her cloth was. She owed it to Shen Ruo’s patience that he hadn’t thrown her out. Exchange for meat or eggs? “I’ll give you nothing!”
The other aunts whispered among themselves, making Liu Sanniang even more embarrassed. Her face burned with shame.
She sat down on a nearby bench, holding an egg in one hand, and snorted: “I want to see what good cloth you all brought!”
After one aunt demonstrated, most of the others went off to find a space to sort their own cloth. Only four aunts remained.
Shen Ruo asked, “Who’s second?”
“That’s me, Ruo Ge’er,” the second aunt replied. She didn’t go to the side to sort her cloth. As soon as she heard Shen Ruo call, she opened the bundle she had brought.
A little embarrassed, she said, “I only brought old cloth… I just want to exchange it for a few eggs.”
“Alright, let me take a look.” Shen Ruo and Li Shantao split the pile into two and began inspecting.
Although this aunt had brought only old cloth, it had been washed very clean, none of it was so thin it was see-through, and she had trimmed off uneven edges. Each piece was cut into small squares, some big, some small, neatly and uniformly, giving a very tidy impression.
Only a few aunts were watching, and seeing Shen Ruo and Li Shantao examine each piece silently, they knew immediately that this aunt’s cloth was all usable.
Liu Sanniang’s eyes widened. She insisted on finding flaws, could it be that someone hadn’t mixed in any damaged cloth? She didn’t believe it!
As soon as Shen Ruo picked up a piece, Liu Sanniang jumped up and exclaimed, “This one’s no good!”
“The edges are too thin, and several threads inside are broken,” she said, sounding suddenly confident. See? There’s always someone trying to sneak in bad cloth!
Once she got going, Liu Sanniang couldn’t stop. She even picked out two flawed pieces from the ones Shen Ruo had deemed acceptable.
“This one’s so old, how can it be okay?”
“Oh, there’s a tiny hole in this corner! Not very obvious though.”
Shen Ruo didn’t stop her, barely suppressing a laugh.
Liu Sanniang was inspecting more carefully than he was, what a free pair of extra hands!
The aunt whose cloth had been challenged examined the rejected pieces. Indeed, they had minor issues. She said, “Alright, I’ll take these three pieces home. Sorry, Ruo Ge’er.”
Shen Ruo thought the flaws were minor, most of the pieces were still usable, but Liu Sanniang’s determination to find faults was impressive. He didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm. High standards meant better results for everyone.
He nodded and smiled. “It’s fine. Your cloth is clean and well-prepared. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about; I said it could be exchanged for eggs.”
Hearing Shen Ruo’s praise, the aunt couldn’t help smiling, her fondness for him growing rapidly.
Li Shantao weighed the cloth, just over five jin: “Five jin and one liang.”
Shen Ruo added two more pieces, and it balanced perfectly at five jin. He returned the extra cloth to her. “Old cloth exchanges for eggs is capped at five. This is just right. I’ll go get the eggs for you.”
The aunt gasped softly, her face lighting up with happiness.
Liu Sanniang, however, felt a sour twinge. She was envious but didn’t dare complain further, after all, the cloth the other aunt had brought really was better than hers.
The other aunts had mostly finished sorting their cloth, and now, one by one in order, they began the inspection. There were so many people that Shen Ruo and Li Shantao were sweating profusely from all the work.
Just as they were inspecting, more people arrived, and Li Shantao went to fetch more sticks.
Rural folks weren’t so particular, Shen Ruo simply wiped the sweat off his sleeve. Around him, several aunts were growing impatient; after all, every household had chores waiting at home, and staying here meant falling behind.
Shen Ruo said, “We’re already on the fourth person. We can probably get through three more this morning. If anyone at the back has urgent matters at home, they can go first and come back when it’s closer to their turn. I’ll have Ergou announce from the drying yard so everyone knows which number is up, and you can time it accordingly.”
The drying yard was at the very center of Shenjia Village, right next to the Shen family ancestral hall. It was a place people often visited, and whenever the village elders or the headman had important announcements, they would gather there.
“This is a good plan, Ruo Ge’er. I’ll head home first,” said one aunt, getting ready to leave.
Shen Ruo reminded her, “Don’t lose the stick; it’s your proof.”
“Got it!”
Suddenly several people left, and the space in front of the house cleared. Now only Liu Sanniang and another aunt whose cloth was being inspected remained.
Liu Sanniang couldn’t let up. Her eyes were sharp during the inspection, missing no flaw at all. Shen Ruo even thought of giving her a “Star Employee” certificate.
With his mother handling the inspections here, Shen Ruo went into the inner room. Everyone at home had chores to do, and little errands required Ergou’s help.
Inside, he saw Liu Shan feeding goat’s milk to Xiao Yuntun, while Ergou lay by the bed, watching intently.
Xiao Yuntun’s jaundice had mostly cleared, and his skin was still pale with a rosy glow. Watching him slurp the milk was enough to make anyone feel delighted.
Yuntun was multitasking, drinking while keeping his eyes open, looking around. When he saw his father, he stopped drinking and started babbling, “Ah-woo, ah-woo.”
Shen Ruo didn’t really know what the “ah-woo” meant, but as a doting father, he just assumed it was him calling “Papa.”
“Papa’s here! Yuntun has been so good this morning, no crying at all,” Shen Ruo said, approaching and showing some affection, planting a kiss on his cheek.
Yuntun’s mouth was squished out of shape by the kiss, but he still laughed, his eyes crinkling with delight.
Shen Ruo’s heart melted. My little one is just too adorable!!
“By the way, Ergou, your little uncle needs your help,” Shen Ruo said, explaining the task. It wasn’t difficult, the drying yard was close by, and although Ergou was only four, he was already very reliable.
Ergou patted his chest confidently. “Don’t worry, little uncle! The buns are all on me!”
Shen Ruo corrected him: “It’s ‘on you,’ not ‘buns.'”
Ergou scratched his head. “But Brother Dahu said it like that.”
Shen Ruo couldn’t help laughing and ruffled Ergou’s hair. “Then Dahu said it wrong.”
“Our Ergou is amazing! He can already help his little uncle,” Liu Shan praised.
Ergou beamed with pride and nodded solemnly. “I’ll go to the drying yard now and tell them, it’s almost the fifth turn.”
He hadn’t learned to count formally, but kids have excellent memory. After Shen Ruo repeated it a few times, he remembered, then bolted outside.
When Ergou reached the drying yard, a passing ox cart didn’t even register with him. He raised both hands to his mouth and shouted loudly, “It’s almost the fifth turn! Remember to come!”
Some aunts nearby were chatting. They were a bit impressed but didn’t understand exactly what “the fifth turn” meant.
No one asked Ergou; they just assumed the child was playing. Only the aunts who knew immediately passed the message along, estimating when it would be their turn.
On the passing ox cart sat two weary elders. The man in gray cotton clothes said, “Did I just hear the voice of Shen Feng’s ge’er?”
“No way! Old man, your hearing’s gone!” replied the old woman with her hair wrapped in cloth, crossing her arms. The cart was piled high with goods, and she kept glancing back to make sure nothing fell.
The ox cart slowly drove into Shen Hong’s yard and came to a stop.
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