“If only we could have noodles like this every day!” Qi Zhiqing said with emotion.
Yan Shu saw the hope written all over Qi Zhiqing’s face and paused for a moment, but quickly understood.
Such a simple request, yet for them, it was a luxury.
In this ancient time, there were no high-yield seeds, and with all sorts of heavy taxes and levies, the poor worked day in and day out, yet could only eat coarse grains and mixed flour—barely enough to fill their stomachs.
Fine white flour was reserved for the New Year, and for Qi Zhiqing’s family, it was even harder!
But now that she was here, none of that was a problem!
She said with great confidence, “Don’t worry, from now on we’ll have white flour and white rice every day.” After saying this, she noticed Mrs. Han staring blankly and added, “Mother, you should drink yours while it’s hot!”
Though she didn’t understand how she had ended up in this alternate era, since she was here, whether or not she could return, she needed to make the best of the present and not shortchange herself.
Now that Doctor Shao had arrived and was quite skilled, that man probably didn’t need her to treat him anymore. So she would raise this family well, make them plump and healthy, ensure they’d never worry about food or clothing, and then that man would repay her kindness by letting her leave.
Mrs. Han’s body trembled slightly. She looked up at Yan Shu, then quickly lowered her head and ate.
Her heart was bitter. She hadn’t expected her daughter-in-law to have such grand ambitions—to eat white rice every day. The family did have silver now, but how could they not use it carefully?
Though her son Xiao no longer needed silver for treatment, in the future they’d have children, and Shan would need silver to marry. She couldn’t bear to see Yan Shu squander it all.
Thankfully, Shan was holding onto the silver for now!
She’d have a good talk with Shu later—this wasn’t how one managed a household.
As for Qi Zhishan, he furrowed his brow at her words. His sister-in-law wanted white flour and white rice every day, but his eldest brother was still unconscious. Even though they still had ten taels of silver, eating white rice every day wouldn’t last long!
It seemed that once the house was fixed up, he’d need to venture deeper into the mountains.
Yan Shu noticed everyone’s expressions turning somber and assumed they didn’t believe her because of their current hardships, so she didn’t say more and lowered her head to drink her noodles.
It must have been because she was so hungry—Yan Shu found that the plain noodles carried a faint wheat fragrance, tasting slightly sweet and quite delicious.
“Sister-in-law, take this silver,” Qi Zhishan said, handing over the silver wrapped in a tattered cloth.
Mrs. Han was startled. She had thought Shan would give it to her!
Qi Zhishan met Mrs. Han’s gaze and lowered his head.
He wanted to give it to his mother, but she was soft-hearted. If Grandmother pressured her, she might hand the silver over.
Today he could see that his eldest sister-in-law was formidable. Without her, they probably wouldn’t have gotten even a broken-down house.
Yan Shu took it and said, “Perfect, now we have silver. I plan to tear down the old courtyard entirely and build a tiled house.”
Hearing that she intended to use the hard-won money to build a brick-and-tile house stunned everyone.
Qi Zhishan looked up and asked, “Sister-in-law wants to build a house?”
“Yes. The old house hasn’t been lived in for years—setting aside whether you’d be comfortable, autumn has just begun, and in a little over two months it’ll be winter. When winter comes, the northwest wind here is especially fierce; it could even blow the roof off.
By then, finding help to repair it might not be easy. So it’s better to build the house early, and it’ll also keep anyone from coveting our silver.”
Qi Zhishan nodded. As the saying goes, don’t flaunt your wealth. Everyone knew about their ten taels of silver, and the family had no one in charge. Rather than letting the ruffians in the village and beyond scheme over it, it was better to build a house!
As for the future, once his eldest brother woke up, and with him around, life would only get better.
So he nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll listen to you, sister-in-law!”
Seeing that her second son had agreed, Mrs. Han could only stay silent.
Qi Zhishan finished his meal quickly. He stood up, went back to his room, and brought out a string of copper coins. Blushing, he said, “Sister-in-law, I haven’t saved much, but use this for now.”
Yan Shu saw there were over a hundred copper coins and smiled as she took them. “How is that not much? Second brother, you’re impressive—you can earn money now. From now on, our family will rely on you!”
Qi Zhishan heard no trace of belittlement in Yan Shu’s tone, only praise, as if he had accomplished something great. His face grew even redder, but his chest couldn’t help puffing out with pride as he said shyly, “Alright, I’ll work hard.”
Not long after, Qi Wuniu returned. Qi Zhishan took Mrs. Han and Qi Zhiqing to tidy up the house, leaving Yan Shu at home to brew the medicine and care for their eldest brother.
In the main house, Old Madame Qi and the others watched Mrs. Han coming and going—not only had she gotten to eat, but she’d also brought a doctor so quickly. With a smile on her face, Mrs. Han cursed a couple of times in the yard before turning and going inside. She said to Old Mr. Qi, who was puffing on his pipe, “Old man, I just saw Mrs. Han leave with the doctor, smiling. Do you think Zhixiao might be out of danger?”
Old Mr. Qi paused, furrowed his brow, then took another drag of his pipe. He shot Old Madame Qi a glare and said, “What’s the use of saying that now? The ties are already cut!” With that, he angrily tapped out his pipe and scolded:
"You say you, you old woman, how can you be so muddled? If you don't want to see them, just split the family. If Zhixiao turns out not to be dead after all, with his past service as a Baihu in the army, he's sure to earn silver, and then we'll find a way to get some of it.
But now? You've cut ties. Tell me, if Zhixiao makes it big later, what does that have to do with us?"
Old Madame Qi, hearing Old Mr. Qi say this, felt some regret too, but his disdainful tone made her angry, and she talked back: "The physicians in the prefectural city all said Qi Zhixiao can't be cured and will die sooner or later. If I don't cut ties with them now, am I supposed to keep letting them eat our food and drink our drink?
Besides, that brat Qi Zhishan just went out and found a physician not long ago—that physician is definitely a swindler trying to cheat Mrs. Han out of her silver. Qi Zhixiao is surely going to die! No, I can't let him die in our house." With that, she headed outside.
Just as she reached the door, she collided with Mrs. Chen. Both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were stout and plump, but Old Madame Qi's lower body was unsteady—she stumbled back two steps, tripped over the threshold, and fell flat on the ground, her face scrunching up in pain.
Mrs. Chen hurried over to help her up, asking, "Mother, are you alright?"
Old Madame Qi shoved her away in fury, scolding, "Why are you walking so fast? Rushing to be reborn? Don't you watch where you're going?"
Mrs. Chen was pushed to the ground, but since she had been at fault for bumping into her mother-in-law, she quickly got up and supported her, saying, "Mother, it's just that I saw the pigs haven't been fed yet and the pigpen hasn't been cleaned—the pigs are squealing in the pen, so I came to ask what to do."
Hearing that her precious pigs hadn't been fed, Old Madame Qi stood up with Mrs. Chen's help while scolding, "Where's that lazy woman Han? She's always running outside every day. What a worthless wretch—daring not to feed the pigs? I say she's just asking for a beating!"
Mrs. Chen helped Old Madame Qi sit down on a stool, awkwardly let go of her hands, then glanced at Old Mr. Qi. Seeing him snort coldly, she said weakly, "Mother, you forgot—we just cut ties with Sister-in-law. She certainly won't do these chores anymore."
Old Madame Qi was stunned for a moment, only then remembering that all the household work had been done by Mrs. Han and her family before. Now that they had cut ties with Mrs. Han, who would do the chores from now on?
She glanced at Mrs. Chen, who was nearly as plump as herself, and scolded, "Then what are you standing there for? Why don't you hurry up and feed the pigs and chickens?"