With a heavy clatter, Bai Da-zhuang dropped a cloth bag onto the table in the main room.
The sound startled Little Fuyuan, and her eyes flew open.
What did Eldest Brother just put down?
“Grandmother, Father, Mother—the money from selling the wild boar meat is all in here,” Bai Da-zhuang announced.
He had gone to town early that morning with his second and third brothers. After selling half a side of wild boar meat, they hadn’t even stopped for lunch before rushing back home through the wind and snow.
Old Mrs. Bai reached out and hefted the bag. It was heavy. She pulled out a silver ingot and held it up against the light reflecting off the snow outside to check its quality. A look of pleasant surprise spread across her face.
Mrs. Zhen and Bai Muban were equally stunned. They hadn’t seen such a large piece of silver in years.
Normally, the tuition fees for Bai Er-zhuang were paid in small shards of silver and copper coins. Even when Bai Muban and his wife had spent a year doing odd jobs in Huai City, the meager silver they earned had vanished before they could even save it.
Bai Zhaomei, Er-lang, and San-lang crowded around Old Mrs. Bai, their eyes fixed on the silver. It was the first time they had ever seen such a large, solid silver ingot.
“Grandmother, can I touch it?” Bai Zhaomei asked in awe. “How many taels is this worth?“
Old Mrs. Bai wasn’t stingy and handed it over to him.
Bai Zhaomei took the silver and gingerly stroked it. Feeling that wasn’t enough, he even put it in his mouth and gave it a bite.
“It’s so hard!” He winced as his teeth throbbed from the effort.
The sight made everyone burst into laughter.
“I want to touch it too!”
“Let me feel it!”
Da-lang and San-lang both clamored for a turn. Bai Zhaomei passed it around to the little ones, and they even let Er-lang, who was still lying in bed, have a feel. The entire room was filled with warmth and joyful chatter.
“Alright, that’s enough. You’re going to rub a whole layer off that silver,” Bai Da-zhuang said, looking at his fifth brother, son, and nephews with feigned disdain. What a bunch of rubes, he thought.
In truth, it was his first time seeing such a large piece of silver as well.
Back in town, when he first heard the price the buyer offered, he thought he had misheard. When he saw the man actually pull out the silver, his hands had trembled so hard he nearly dropped it. He had been in a daze the entire way back.
He had kept the silver pressed tightly against his chest; every time he felt the hard weight of it against his skin, his heart skipped a beat. Of course, he couldn’t let anyone know that. He had to maintain his image as the “worldly” eldest brother of the Bai family.
Bai Muban gazed at the silver happily. He hadn’t seen silver this heavy since he was a child. He never imagined that such wealth would appear in the Bai household again within his lifetime. This single piece of silver was enough to cover a farming family’s living expenses for an entire year.
Bai Muban looked over at Mrs. Zhen, who appeared quite calm. A wave of heartache washed over him. To the Mrs. Zhen of the past, this amount of silver wouldn’t have been much at all. The life she had lived with him was like mud compared to the clouds of her former status.
I’ve truly wronged her all these years, he thought.
Nestled in Mrs. Zhen’s arms, Little Fuyuan’s large eyes flickered with curiosity as she stared at the silver.
So, this is what ancient silver looks like!
It was her first time seeing it. To her, it was like the “New Year’s money” she used to get—it could buy candy, bubble machines, and Barbie dolls.
“Ee-ya, ah-ya…” Little Fuyuan giggled at the silver, making happy little noises.
“Are you a little money-grubber? Look how happy you are seeing silver,” Mrs. Zhen said, caught between laughter and tears.
“Ee-ya, ah-ya…”
Little Fuyuan wanted to say: Yes, yes! How could I not be happy seeing money? Money can be exchanged for so many delicious treats and fun toys!
“Give this silver to Little Sister. All the money in our house was brought here by her,” Bai Zhaomei said. He had been completely brainwashed by the idea that his sister brought luck to the family. He firmly believed they only had meat to eat and silver to spend because she had arrived.
“Your sister is still small; she has no use for silver yet,” Mrs. Zhen said, hugging her daughter.
“Then I’ll earn even more silver for her to spend in the future!” Bai Zhaomei promised, grinning at his sister.
Okay, okay! Fifth Brother is the best! Little Fuyuan beamed at him.
“How much did everything sell for in total?” Old Mrs. Bai asked.
Bai Da-zhuang pointed to the silver and then to the cloth bag on the table, beginning to give an account to the elders.
“Grandmother, Father, Mother—the half-side of wild boar sold for fifteen taels, and the pheasants fetched four taels. I bought a hundred catties of sorghum flour, fifty catties of white flour, fifty catties of millet, and ten catties of rapeseed oil… Oh, and as Mother instructed, I bought fifty catties of cotton and two bolts of cloth. I also bought five catties of fruit snacks for Grandmother. It’s all piled in the kitchen, not yet unpacked. After all that, we have fourteen taels and nine hundred and sixty copper coins left.”
As Bai Da-zhuang reported the figures, Old Mrs. Bai, Bai Muban, and Mrs. Zhen nodded continuously.
However, when she heard they had bought five catties of fruit snacks for her, Old Mrs. Bai grew anxious. Why did they have to treat her like she was so precious? She was just a village old-timer with one foot in the grave—what was she doing eating fancy snacks?
“I’m an old woman; I don’t care for those snacks,” Old Mrs. Bai said grumpily. But seeing Da-lang and Er-lang beside her swallowing their spit, her heart softened. Her tone mellowed as she added, “Distribute them among the children.”
Bai Zhaomei and the others let out a cheer. They had only tasted snacks from the town’s pastry shop once before, and that soft, sweet taste had been so good they had almost sucked their fingers off.
Upon hearing there were snacks, You Jingui’s eyes lit up. She rubbed her belly and said, “I’ve been craving fruit snacks these past few days. It must be the daughter in my belly acting up.”
Old Mrs. Bai shot her a sideways glance. “There will be a share for you.”
“I plan to use the cotton to make a thick quilt for Mother, and with the rest, we’ll make a new padded coat for everyone in the family,” Mrs. Zhen said to Old Mrs. Bai with a smile.
“You don’t need to report everything to me. This home is yours too. You’ve thought it through well; the children’s coats really do need replacing,” Old Mrs. Bai said. But when it came to her own quilt, she turned stubborn. “I’m halfway to the grave and resistant to the cold. No need to waste cotton on a thick quilt for me.”
Mrs. Zhen nodded with a smile, knowing that while the grandmother’s words were blunt, her heart was kind—she wanted to save the cotton for the rest of the family. Mrs. Zhen listened to her mother-in-law, but she fully intended to make that thick quilt regardless.
The children cheered again. Snacks to eat and new clothes to wear?
What kind of divine life is this? This must be how the Village Chief’s grandson lives!
Seeing the children in their tattered coats with the old cotton batting poking through, Xie Chuntao couldn’t help but feel her eyes grow red. She wasn’t afraid of poverty, the cold, or a hard life—she just couldn’t bear to see the children suffer.
Old Mrs. Bai looked at the silver on the table and said seriously, “We made a lot of money this trip, thanks to that big wild boar, but luck like that only comes a few times. Silver doesn’t last forever if you aren’t careful, and the New Year is approaching. We must spend this sparingly.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Old Mrs. Bai emptied the copper coins from the bag and handed them, along with the silver, to Mrs. Zhen.
Although Old Mrs. Bai managed the household, she had always felt that the daughter-in-law should handle the money. In the past, there was no money to speak of, but now that they had this sum, Mrs. Zhen should be the one to allocate it. Furthermore, Mrs. Zhen was now a mother-in-law herself; it was only right to bolster her authority in front of the younger generation.
This was called respect.
Seeing Old Mrs. Bai handing her the money, Mrs. Zhen waved her hands in refusal. It wasn’t that she was being lazy; she simply felt that since her mother-in-law had managed the house for a lifetime, it was only logical for her to handle the distribution. They weren’t some noble household fighting over domestic power.
Since coming to the Bai family, even though life was poor and Old Mrs. Bai had a sharp tongue, the family was harmonious. She had never felt her life was miserable.
“Alright then.”
Old Mrs. Bai realized her daughter-in-law wasn’t suited for financial management and didn’t want to press her. She figured she would train her granddaughter-in-law to take over in the future.
Old Mrs. Bai put the silver ingots away and divided the nine hundred and sixty copper coins into two portions, handing them to Xie Chuntao and You Jingui.
“This money is for the two of you. You are both mothers now; you should have some coins in your pockets. You can save it as your private stash, buy things for your own rooms—do whatever you like with it.”
Xie Chuntao was both shocked and delighted, hesitating to take it. You Jingui, on the other hand, snatched her portion nimbly, though she felt it was too little.
Old Mrs. Bai glared at Xie Chuntao, prompting the eldest daughter-in-law to finally accept the money.
Xie Chuntao’s eyes turned red with emotion. She began calculating in her head: she wanted to make a pair of padded shoes for her husband and padded trousers for her two sons. She also wanted to buy something for her own parents. Since marrying into the Bai family, she had rarely been able to buy gifts for them, and her parents, understanding her hardships, had never asked for anything.
“Thank you, Grandmother. Thank you, Father and Mother,” Xie Chuntao rose to thank her elders.
You Jingui secretly cursed Xie Chuntao for being so short-sighted. What is this measly amount of money supposed to buy?
“Grandmother, can’t you give me a bit more?” You Jingui asked brazenly, reaching out for more money.