Xu Ming’an looked at the bulging money pouch filled with copper coins, his eyes full of admiration. He had never expected his little sister to have such a talent for making money. Her earlier obsession with gambling had simply led her down the wrong path. Now that she had given it up, she was finding a successful livelihood with ease.
“Mother, Little Sister really is amazing.”
Xu Mingzhu gathered the leftover trimmings after weighing the meat. “Mother, Second Brother, let’s go. These scraps can’t really be sold, so we’ll keep them for ourselves. Let’s get something to eat before heading back to the village.”
“Alright.”
“Excuse me, do you have any braised meat left?”
Xu Mingzhu looked up at a middle-aged man dressed like a scholar. She recognized him as the owner of the bookstore nearby.
“I’ve been smelling the aroma of your braised meat all morning. I kept meaning to come buy some, but the crowd was too thick, and I couldn’t squeeze through. I finally saw fewer people around, so I came over to ask.”
Xu Mingzhu replied apologetically, “I’m sorry, we’ve sold out. If you’d like some, I’ll save a portion for you tomorrow morning.”
“But isn’t there still some left?” The middle-aged man pointed at the pile of leftover trimmings.
“To be honest, those are just scraps left over from weighing the meat. They don’t look very presentable, so we were planning to keep them for ourselves.”
“That’s fine. Weigh them all out for me. I’d like to try this braised meat that’s got everyone in town fighting over it.”
Since he insisted, Xu Mingzhu found it hard to refuse. She weighed the remaining scraps and packed them for him.
“How much do I owe you?” the man asked.
“It’s a total of three liang of pork offal. Normally it would cost thirty copper coins, but you can just give me twenty.”
The man smiled, took out a small piece of silver from his robe, and handed it over. “No need to give me change.” With that, he turned and walked back into the bookstore.
He left before Xu Mingzhu even had a chance to tell him she owed him change.
“Little Sister, is running a bookstore really that profitable? He casually paid several hundred copper coins for twenty copper coins’ worth of meat.”
Xu Mingzhu laughed at herself. “Second Brother, in the world of wealthy people, what we work hard to earn in a year probably isn’t worth much at all. Let’s do this: tomorrow morning, we’ll set aside a portion of braised meat and deliver it to him. We’ll treat it as making up the difference for today’s payment.”
“Alright.”
Today, Xu Mingzhu had earned five taels of silver. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before she could repay the money she owed and redeem Daya. Then she would have fulfilled her responsibility to the original owner of this body.
When they returned to the village, Xu Mingzhu bought several jin of wheat and soaked it in water.
“Little Sister, what are you doing?” Madam Zhou felt a pang of distress. Wheat was valuable food. Soaking it in water seemed like such a waste.
“Sister-in-law, I once heard people at the gambling house say that this can be used to make liquor. I want to try it. If it works, we might be able to make even more money.”
“What? Liquor?” She had heard of rice and sorghum being used to brew alcohol, but wheat too?
“Sister-in-law, you’ll see once it’s finished. But I’ll need your help keeping an eye on it.”
Seeing that Xu Mingzhu wasn’t joking, Madam Zhou put aside her teasing. “Alright. I believe you. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll keep watch over it.”
“Big Sister-in-law, these barley grains need to soak for a full day. Once they’ve swollen, pour out all the water and spread them on a clean bamboo mat to dry. Just spread them in a thin layer. And remember to keep them in a cool, well-ventilated place.
“Spray them with warm water once in the morning and once in the evening. Just enough to moisten them. Keep the grains damp but not dripping wet. After about two or three days, tiny white sprouts will emerge from the barley, and then I can start brewing liquor.”
Madam Zhou nodded. “Alright, I’ve got it.”
The next day, Xu Mingzhu and the others brought three large basins of braised meat and set up their stall at their usual spot.
“Mingzhu, it seems like there are even more customers today.”
Xu Mingzhu nodded. “No matter how many people come, just remember what I told you, and things won’t get chaotic.”
“Got it.”
Madam Xu and Xu Ming’an had been a little nervous at first, but Xu Mingzhu’s calm and composed words instantly gave them confidence, as though they had found their backbone. They each returned to their assigned tasks.
Xu Ming’an first carried a portion of braised meat to the bookstore, then hurried back to help package customer orders.
Some people in line were familiar, while others were new faces. The moment they got their food, they couldn’t wait to start eating. Some even squatted by the moat, reading books while enjoying the braised meat.
After serving several waves of customers, more than half the meat in the wooden tubs had already been sold.
The bookstore owner walked over. “Your braised meat is quite good. Give me another two liang of meat, and two liang of pork offal as well.”
“Coming right up.” Xu Mingzhu weighed everything out for him.
“How much?”
Xu Mingzhu shook her head. “No need. There’s still credit left from the money you gave yesterday. I’ll just deduct it from that.”
The bookstore owner glanced at her and took out another piece of silver from his robe. “It’s not easy running a small business. Take it.”
Xu Mingzhu didn’t argue any further and accepted the money, treating it as a tip.
By noon, they still hadn’t sold out. The family grabbed a simple lunch and planned to stay until they sold the remaining stock, then head home.
As Madam Xu cleaned up around the stall, Xu Ming’an tugged at Xu Mingzhu’s sleeve. “Little Sister, did you see the storybooks those people were holding? I wonder whether that general ended up dying or not.”
The moment she heard that, Xu Mingzhu knew he meant the story the customers had been discussing earlier. “You like reading those?”
Since there were no customers at the moment, she added, “Why don’t you go buy a copy?”
Xu Ming’an’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Xu Mingzhu hadn’t realized her second brother had such a hobby. Then again, their entire family was cannon-fodder characters in the novel. Their only purpose seemed to be contrasting the beautiful love story of the male and female leads.
“Really. Let’s go buy one right now.” Xu Mingzhu gave Madam Xu a few instructions before heading to the bookstore.
Inside, row upon row of shelves were packed to the brim with classics, histories, collections, poetry anthologies, and popular storybooks. Thread-bound volumes were stacked neatly everywhere. The scent of ink mingled with the smell of paper, drifting through the air. Scholars in plain robes stood on both sides, browsing through books. When they saw Xu Mingzhu and her brother enter, most of them looked at them with thinly veiled disdain.
For the first time, Xu Mingzhu truly felt the scholarly class’s contempt.
Since the novel’s world revolved around the imperial examination system and the belief that “all professions are lowly except scholarship,” it was only natural for these educated men to think highly of themselves and look down on common farmers.
The bookstore owner was sitting leisurely behind his desk. When he saw them enter, his eyes went to their empty hands first, and his expression shifted slightly.
“Are you here to buy books or writing supplies?”
“Books.”
“You can read?”
Xu Ming’an scratched his head awkwardly. After hearing the customers discuss the story so enthusiastically earlier, he had forgotten he couldn’t read. Embarrassed, he tugged at Xu Mingzhu’s sleeve. “Little Sister, forget it. I won’t read it.”
Xu Mingzhu patted his hand and turned to the shopkeeper. “What? Do you think people who can’t read aren’t worthy of coming in here?”
“Not at all,” the owner replied. “I’m just curious. What book are you looking for?”
Xu Mingzhu remained expressionless. “Second Brother, what’s the title?”
Xu Ming’an’s face reddened. “I don’t know the title. It seemed to be about a general… fighting battles… and then… I don’t know what happened after that.”
Xu Mingzhu had no idea how the shopkeeper managed to identify the book from those four vague clues.
Yet he did. “Here. This is the one you’re talking about.” He handed over a book. “One tael of silver.”
“What? One tael?” Xu Ming’an’s eyes widened instantly. Noticing the looks people around them were giving him, he hurriedly covered his mouth.
Good heavens! A single book cost one tael of silver. They worked so hard selling braised meat and only made a few taels a day, yet this one book alone cost an entire tael.
“Let’s go. We don’t want it anymore.”
Xu Ming’an grabbed Xu Mingzhu and tried to leave.
But Xu Mingzhu didn’t move. Instead, she picked up the book and flipped through it. The story was about a young general conscripted into the army who gradually rose through the ranks to become a pillar of the nation.
That was it? And it cost a whole tael of silver? At that moment, she felt that she shouldn’t have gone into the braised-meat business at all. She should have sold storybooks instead.
Seeing her finish skimming through it so quickly, the bookstore owner assumed she couldn’t read.
“Madam, I admit your braised meat is delicious, but that’s not how books are meant to be read.”
Worried that she might stain the pages with oil, he reached out to take the book back.
Xu Mingzhu snorted dismissively. “Isn’t it just another old, worn-out story? I don’t even need to read it to know exactly how it begins and ends.”