"Why?" Shen Nian didn't understand.
"Think about it – we don't farm the land, nor do we have any source of income. What would we live on?"
Shen Nian covered his lips with his hand and coughed lightly. "We have enough money."
Uh…
Suddenly feeling like he was showing off!
"That won't do! I just told you this afternoon that we need to keep a low profile." Xia Tian continued analyzing for Shen Nian, "We know we have money, but we can't let the villagers know!"
"If we eat and drink well every day without earning any money, people will immediately realize our family isn't short of money. It would be bad if bad people started eyeing us."
Shen Nian thought to himself that he wasn't afraid of being eyed.
Ordinary petty thieves couldn't do anything to him anyway.
"Also, when your younger brother found someone to arrange a marriage for you, he said he was worried about you, his older brother, so he took out the family's last thirty taels of silver to get you a wife.
Hear that?
The last of the money was used to get you a wife, so you're broke now." Xia Tian particularly emphasized the words "broke."
Seeing Shen Nian momentarily stunned, Xia Tian felt somewhat amused.
"Mu Yang…" Shen Nian murmured.
Xia Tian was taken aback. Was Mu Yang Shen Nian's younger brother?
Seeing Shen Nian's mood drop, Xia Tian comforted him softly, "Brother Shen, is Mu Yang your younger brother? Don't be sad. Qingming Festival is in a few days. Let's buy some joss paper, prepare some good food, and go visit him."
"Mmm," Shen Nian nodded gently.
Seeing that Shen Nian was feeling better, Xia Tian didn't continue the topic.
After chatting for a while about today's market experiences, prices, and what she had bought and how much she spent, Xia Tian noticed Shen Nian looked tired. She went to fetch water, they washed up, and then each returned to their room to rest.
For several days in a row, Xia Tian went up the mountain early in the morning. After digging up most of the bamboo shoots from that bamboo grove, the courtyard was filled with drying bamboo shoots before she finally settled down.
During this time, she also gathered plenty of firewood, completely filling the shed in the southwest corner of the courtyard.
Whenever she got tired from work, she would take a sip of the Spiritual Spring Water and instantly feel fully revived. Now she felt like she had endless energy every day, and even some of her old injuries seemed to have disappeared.
Some of the vegetables planted in the vegetable garden had already sprouted. Since it hadn't rained these past few days, Xia Tian had been carrying water to irrigate the fields.
Shen Nian's coughing had improved a lot over these past few days, with only occasional coughs heard.
The severe condition like that day never reappeared, and he no longer looked sickly.
It seemed that the few drops of Spiritual Spring Water secretly added to the teapot daily were quite effective. Given more time, she believed he would fully recover.
Worried that Shen Nian might become suspicious, Xia Tian would occasionally dig up some Ku Cai to make cold dishes and brew water with picked dandelions every day, mainly to deceive herself.
If Shen Nian recovered later and became suspicious, she could say it might be due to the Ku Cai and dandelions. After all, traditional Chinese medicine is profound and extensive, so he wouldn't be able to verify it. Hehe!
To make this excuse plausible, Xia Tian also dried the extra Ku Cai and dandelions so she could continue brewing water for Shen Nian even after the season passed.
Amid the busyness, Qingming Festival arrived quickly.
Today was the fifth day of the month, which was the market day in Qingquan Town.
Xia Tian took Uncle Liu San's ox cart early in the morning to town to purchase items needed for grave visiting.
Since it was Qingming Festival today, almost every household would prepare joss paper, incense, candles and other items for grave visiting.
Another market day arrived, with many local businesses setting up stalls right outside their shops for customer convenience.
Xia Tian joined the crowds in purchasing incense sticks, joss paper, and visited a pastry stall to select several varieties, buying small quantities of each.
Spotting a wine shop, she entered and bought a small jar of liquor to bring along for the grave visit later.
The meat bought during last market day had long been finished, so she returned to the butcher's stall for a pound of pork belly and two large marrow bones.
She also got a portion of pork intestines, remembering how well the braised version had turned out last time and noting how much Shen Nian had enjoyed it.
With household salt running low, she bought two pounds of fine salt for 140 wen. Salt was truly expensive. Since they still had some coarse salt at home, she didn't purchase more – the coarse salt from ancient times contained many impurities that weren't good for health. She decided she'd buy coarse salt later if needed for pickling vegetables.
On her way back, she encountered a tofu stall and bought two pounds of bean curd.
Having completed her shopping, she reached Uncle Liu San's ox cart, finding few people gathered there yet. The ox cart typically departed only when full. Seeing it was still early, Xia Tian decided not to wait. After greeting Uncle Liu San, she began walking home.
With her abundant energy, she had no fear of the journey. Her pace wasn't much slower than the ox cart's, reaching home in about two hours.
When she'd left in the morning, Shen Nian had still been asleep. She had prepared breakfast and kept it warm in the pot before heading to the market.
Returning home, Xia Tian found Shen Nian sitting at the doorway, splitting bamboo with a dagger – bamboo she had cut from the mountain yesterday.
Thinking how the household lacked various items, she had gathered bamboo to weave necessary utensils herself, thus saving money despite Shen Nian's claims of having ample funds. After all, household management required careful long-term planning.
After greeting Shen Nian, she went to the kitchen to prepare simple offerings to bring to the grave for Shen Nian's younger brother to sample. There wasn't enough time for her specialty braised dishes this time – she'd have to bring those on the next visit.
Xia Tian checked the cupboards to assess available ingredients. Working efficiently, she prepared sautéed pork belly with pickled vegetables, scrambled eggs with chopped chili, and cold dressed shredded bamboo shoots. Together with the purchased pastries, she set aside portions in small dishes, creating four plates in total.
After sharing the meal with Shen Nian, Xia Tian packed the prepared items in a basket and set out with Shen Nian to visit Mu Yang's grave.
Mu Yang's burial site was located on the mountain behind their house, reachable in under fifteen minutes.
Xia Tian unpacked the basket, arranging each item carefully on the clearing before the tombstone.
Shen Nian hadn't uttered a word since their arrival.
Ignoring his silence, Xia Tian lit the incense sticks and crouched down to burn joss paper. As she burned the paper, she murmured, "Mu Yang, I'm Xia Tian – the bride matchmaker found for your brother Shen Nian with your money. Though we never met, rest assured I'll take good care of your brother."
"Please watch over him and help him recover soon. If you need anything over there, you can send dreams to your brother."
"Well, perhaps send them directly to me instead. Your brother isn't much of a talker – even if you visited his dreams, he probably wouldn't mention it."
"Sister-in-law doesn't know what foods you preferred, so I've prepared simple offerings. Please make do with these. I've brought wine too – later I'll have your brother share a drink with you."
"Time was tight today, so I couldn't prepare braised dishes. I'll bring some when we visit next time."
"Let me tell you, my braised dishes are exceptional – even your brother enjoys them very much."
"Don't worry, your brother is in my care and will definitely get better. He's already improved a lot these past few days."
"Over there, don't be frugal with money. If you need anything, just send us a dream and we'll burn it for you."
Shen Nian listened to Xia Tian's endless murmuring until all the sadness in her heart had been chattered away.
Mu Yang used to be just like this – once he started talking, he'd never stop. Now she'd finally found a kindred spirit.
Shen Nian crouched down and burned joss paper together with Xia Tian.
After the joss paper had burned out, she took the wine jar, opened it and poured some as an offering before the tombstone, then took a sip herself before placing the remainder in front of the grave.
Xia Tian used chopsticks to take some food from the dishes and placed it beside the wine jar. Only then did the two of them pack up and head home.