While the sisters-in-law were eating breakfast at the noodle stall, Old Man Zhao had already sold the eels.
He had originally planned to take Zhao Feng to the eastern part of town to try his luck, but halfway there, a middle-aged man who looked like a steward stopped them.
From what the man said, he was a steward from a restaurant in town. He had just come out of the market and happened to be walking behind them. He became very interested after hearing Zhao Feng muttering all the way about the big eel.
Since someone asked about it, Old Man Zhao immediately found a corner, lifted the lid of the wooden bucket, and showed him the large eel inside. After that day, his grandsons had searched all the farmland at home and caught more than twenty eels. Together with the big one, the quantity was quite impressive.
However, eels were usually just food for poor farmers and not considered valuable. The smaller ones were just extras—the main thing he wanted to sell was the big one.
Old Man Zhao smiled honestly and rubbed his hands. “This big one was caught by my grandson. We even broke the ridge of the field to catch it—it took a lot of effort. I’m not bragging, but you need luck to catch something like this. Who knows how long it has lived? The elders in the village say it’s just one step away from becoming a spirit. It must be very nourishing.”
The steward couldn’t help reaching out to grab it. Before he could touch it, the eel—which had been lying still in the bucket like it was dead—suddenly twisted its body violently, banging loudly against the wooden bucket, full of energy.
The steward became even more satisfied.
“Old man, name a price. I’ll take this big eel.”
The excitement on his face was obvious. As for talk about it becoming a spirit, he just treated it as a joke and didn’t take it seriously. But eel was warming and nourishing, good for restoring energy, and its meat was tender. He remembered that the old master of his employer liked this kind of food. If he bought this big eel and sent it to the old residence, and if the old master liked it, he would surely be rewarded.
Old Man Zhao didn’t really want to name a price himself. He had never sold eels before—how would he know how much they were worth?
Since he wasn’t confident, he didn’t want to speak. He was afraid of losing out, but also afraid that if he asked too much, the other party would just walk away.
He hesitated and stayed silent. The steward looked at him but couldn’t read anything from his wrinkled face. Thinking he was just timid and inexperienced, he said, “Old man, I won’t bother weighing them. One price—I’ll give you one mace of silver. Sell me this whole bucket of eels.”
When Zhao Feng heard “one mace of silver,” his eyes lit up, then dimmed again.
Only one mace? He thought it could sell for two.
Old Man Zhao silently put the lid back on the bucket, lifted the carrying pole, and said stiffly, “Please step aside. I’m in a hurry. I won’t joke around with you.” Then he turned to leave with Zhao Feng.
The steward didn’t expect him to refuse. He froze for a moment, then saw that he was really leaving, not pretending. He quickly shouted, “Wait! Hey, wait! If you’re not satisfied with the price, we can negotiate. Why leave just like that?”
He chased them for half a street before finally stopping them. He looked a bit unhappy. “You old man, you’ve got quite a temper. Business is about discussion—who acts like you, turning away at the slightest disagreement?”
Old Man Zhao stopped and deliberately acted like an unreasonable, ignorant farmer. Sticking out his neck, he said, “I’m just a poor farmer. What do I know about business? You’re a big steward, yet you only offer one mace. Doesn’t seem like you really want to make a deal.”
“This thing of yours may be rare, but it’s still just a common farm product—found everywhere in the fields, not very valuable. One mace is already a fair price,” the steward said, feeling that this old man was difficult. Normally, a farmer would immediately sell a bucket of eels for one mace of silver.
One mace was not a small amount. Farmers might not eat meat even a few times a year, and in town, twenty-five copper coins could buy one jin of meat.
Something so common being sold for one mace of silver was already great luck. It was only because he happened to come across them—otherwise, no one else would even bother looking.
“Give me a fair price and I’ll sell,” Old Man Zhao said, not caring what the man thought. He figured, if it was really so common, why would the man stop him and argue for so long?
Seeing that he wouldn’t budge, the steward felt annoyed but didn’t show it.
Since he had overheard their conversation, it meant they were heading in the same direction—toward the eastern part of town. After talking for so long, he realized the old man was shrewd. In that area, no matter which wealthy household he approached, as long as the price wasn’t outrageous, this bucket of eels would likely be sold.
There was no shortage of rich people in this world. The richer they were, the more they valued rare things. Even if they didn’t eat it, they might keep it just for fun.
“Four mace of silver. Not a bit more,” the steward said firmly. “Old man, think carefully. No matter what, it’s still just an eel. It won’t extend your life. You won’t lose at this price.”
Old Man Zhao seemed convinced. After a moment of hesitation, he smiled honestly and said, “Alright, four mace. I’ll sell it to you.”
If not for what had happened earlier, he would have gone to the eastern part of town to try for a higher price. But now, with those gold items in his clothes—things that clearly belonged to wealthy families—he felt uneasy. It was better not to go there and risk trouble.
“Good, you’re sensible.” Seeing he wasn’t greedy, the steward smiled and took out some silver pieces, counted them, and handed them over.
Since he hadn’t brought a bucket, he asked Old Man Zhao to go with him to the restaurant.
Old Man Zhao agreed. He already had the money, so walking a bit more didn’t matter. He was quite willing.
They didn’t talk on the way. When they arrived, the steward ignored them and went straight into the restaurant with his hands behind his back.
“You wait here. Don’t go anywhere,” a servant instructed, then carried the bucket to the kitchen.
After about fifteen minutes, he came back with the empty bucket.
After the exchange was complete and the money settled, Old Man Zhao didn’t mind their cold attitude. He took Zhao Feng and quickly left.
On the way back, they didn’t even stop to buy anything. They returned to where they had separated earlier. From a distance, they saw Zhao Xiaobao sitting at the noodle stall, holding a large bowl and drinking soup. Old Man Zhao couldn’t help smiling.
“Boss, four more bowls of plain noodles,” he called out as he walked over with Zhao Feng.
Zhao Xiaobao had her whole face buried in the bowl. Hearing his voice, she quickly looked up. Her mouth, greasy from eating, broke into a wide smile. “Father, Feng, you’re back!”
“Father, did you sell them already?” Mrs. Zhu asked, surprised they returned so quickly.
“Mm.” Old Man Zhao wiped the sweat from his neck with a towel. The weather was very hot. “Met a steward from a restaurant on the way. He probably heard the third child talking and bought them after asking a few questions.”
As she listened, Mrs. Zhu took out a cloth and wiped Zhao Xiaobao’s mouth. She didn’t ask how much they sold for. It must have been decent—otherwise, he wouldn’t be willing to eat noodles in town when they still had coarse grain cakes in the basket.
It took four hours of mountain roads to get from Wanxia Village to Tongjiang Town. They had set out before dawn and arrived close to noon after some delays. Adults could endure it, but children couldn’t—they needed to eat, and they still had hours of walking ahead to return home.
Normally, if it were just Old Man Zhao and Zhao Dashan, they could walk faster. That was why they usually didn’t bring women and children—the journey was long and tiring.
While they were talking, Zhao Dashan, who had gone to the docks, also returned.
Once the noodles were served, the family stopped talking and focused on eating, slurping noisily.
They were really hungry.
After finishing a meal that was somewhere between breakfast and lunch—coarse grain cakes and noodles—it was already noon. Not daring to delay further, they paid and hurried to buy supplies.
First, they went to the pork stall. The oil jar at home was almost empty, and Wang had specifically told them to buy some fat pork, whether or not they sold anything.
Old Man Zhao, carrying silver, felt warm inside. Unfortunately, they arrived too late—the fat pork had already been sold out early in the morning.
Pork cost twenty-five copper coins per jin. Thinking about the money they had found and earned today, and seeing his young daughter looking at him eagerly, his heart softened. He waved his hand. “Boss, give me two pieces of pork belly. One fattier piece, cut four jin; one leaner piece, cut two jin. Make sure the weight is correct.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t cheat you,” the butcher said enthusiastically. He hadn’t expected such a big customer at this hour.
He selected some meat and quickly cut a large fatty piece with his sharp knife.
People in the countryside lacked oil, so they preferred fatty meat over lean. The butcher cut one fatty and one lean piece, which satisfied Old Man Zhao.
Six jin of pork cost one hundred fifty copper coins. After paying, Old Man Zhao persuaded the butcher to give him two large bones that had been cleaned of meat. They could be crushed and used to cook soup at home, adding some oiliness—barely counting as meat.
They put the meat into Mrs. Zhu’s basket, then went to buy coarse salt. The price had risen—from thirty-eight coins per jin to forty-five. That was a significant increase.
Old Man Zhao felt heavy-hearted, but he had no choice but to buy it. Who knew whether the price would rise or fall next time? Life for ordinary people was hard. With this year’s drought, the harvest was poor. They had hoped for tax relief, but when it came time to pay taxes, they realized they still had to pay everything.
And salt—its price didn’t rise in normal times, but during disaster, it suddenly became more expensive.
Someone else was getting richer from this.
This immediately wiped away the excitement he had felt from the unexpected fortune. He decided to treat the eel money as something gained for free. Since coming to town wasn’t easy, he bought more this time so they wouldn’t have to come again soon. He bought two jin of coarse salt, spending ninety coins.
Next, they went to a general store and bought two packs of malt sugar. Mrs. Zhu bought needles and thread. Wang had also told them to buy a new pair of scissors. Altogether, they spent another forty-two coins.
Including the noodles—five coins per bowl of plain noodles, seven coins for shredded pork noodles—the total for food was twenty-seven coins. Anything with meat cost more.
Spending money was easy; earning it was hard. In just a short time, most of the eel money was gone.
Zhao Dashan and Mrs. Zhu felt pained watching the money go, even though it wasn’t theirs directly.
“Father, that’s probably enough. We should head back, or we’ll have to walk at night,” Zhao Dashan said.
Old Man Zhao thought about how the rest of the family at home were still eating thin porridge. With the gold hidden in his clothes giving him a strange sense of unease, he wanted to turn it into something tangible to feel at ease.
“Let’s go to the grain shop and buy some flour. Your mother can make noodles, and we’ll chop some meat for sauce. Let’s have a good meal as a family,” he said, wiping sweat from his face with a smile.
Zhao Dashan immediately stopped worrying about money and nodded happily. “That sounds good. The whole family can enjoy it.”
Mrs. Zhu also smiled. “If the boys at home knew Grandfather was thinking of them, they’d be so happy.”
This year’s weather had been bad, and the crops were not growing well. The family—adults and children alike—hadn’t had a proper good meal in a long time. Only Zhao Xiaobao’s food was carefully prepared. The rest mostly ate wild vegetables with thin porridge. Being half full was already good enough.
They bought coarse flour, since fine white flour was too expensive. It cost eight coins per jin. They bought six jin, spending another forty-eight coins.
With so many people at home, Old Man Zhao didn’t hold back today.
The basket grew heavier, the purse lighter, but his heart felt more satisfied.
In this trip, they sold a bucket of eels for four mace of silver, and spent more than three mace on goods.
In the end, with a few dozen copper coins left, Old Man Zhao happily bought three sticks of candied hawthorn for his precious daughter after she sweetly begged him.
Zhao Xiaobao paid five coins, and he added one more, making six in total.
After buying everything, they didn’t dare delay any longer. They put a straw hat on Zhao Xiaobao, placed her in the basket on Zhao Dashan’s back, and under the blazing sun, the whole family left the town.