“The key problem now is that we don’t have a scale,” Qianhua suddenly remembered the most important weighing tool still hadn’t been solved. “I asked around in town—buying a scale would cost at least one tael of silver. Our family can’t afford that for now. Does anyone in the village have a scale we could borrow?”
“The village head’s family should have one,” Liu-shi suggested. “Every year during tax collection, the village head helps the county magistrate weigh grain at villagers’ homes. I’ll go borrow a scale from him.”
“Alright. Then please hurry and borrow the scale. I’ll go up the back mountain to gather more firewood. Once we pick up the iron stove tomorrow morning, we’ll be able to go to the county city to set up a stall the day after tomorrow.”
Qianhua went to the back mountain and brought back several bundles of firewood. By the time she returned, it was already past five in the afternoon, and Liu-shi had also come back with the scale.
Qianhua helped tend the fire while Liu-shi prepared dinner.
That afternoon, the few of them had eaten all five jin of roasted chestnuts without leaving a single one behind. For dinner that night, however, there was food left over for the first time in ages.
After washing up, Liu-shi and Liang Lao’er went to bed early.
Meanwhile, Qianhua was in her room doing body stretching exercises. She stretched for nearly an hour before lying down to sleep.
Stretching before bed was a habit she had formed in her modern life. Dancers needed to stretch frequently to maintain flexibility.
When they were still living in the old house in a small partitioned room with her parents nearby, she hadn’t had the space to stretch.
Now that she had her own room, she stretched for about an hour every night before going to sleep.
Dance was one of her passions. Even after coming to this world, she had no intention of giving up this skill.
The original owner of this body had excellent flexibility—it was practically a dancer’s body. Even if she couldn’t earn money through dancing right now, she would continue practicing.
Early the next morning, Qianhua went to town to retrieve the iron stove.
The family of three sorted through the remaining chestnuts at home, selecting them by size.
Liang Lao’er was responsible for cutting small slits into the chestnuts. They needed to finish all preparations today so they could head to the county city early the next morning to set up their stall.
“Dad, just slit fifty-five jin of chestnuts,” Qianhua said. “I plan to take fifty-five jin to the city tomorrow to test the market.”
“Got it,” Liang Lao’er replied happily.
Since injuring his leg, he had been bedridden for months, unable to do anything. He had always felt guilty.
Now that he could finally help out, his whole demeanor brightened. This was the power of feeling useful.
Only when a person feels needed and valuable can they become confident and truly happy. Liang Lao’er’s renewed energy came precisely from this sense of worth.
Qianhua took a knife and went to the back mountain to cut some thin bamboo. She had Liang Lao’er shave the bamboo into many slender skewers—similar to modern toothpicks, though longer.
She planned to use them the next day to skewer chestnut pieces for customers to sample.
Liu-shi and Qianhua also gathered more firewood from the mountain. This would be enough to last them several days of selling.
That night, the family went to bed early.
Qianhua only stretched for half an hour and forced herself to sleep early as well.
They would need to wake up before dawn tomorrow to go to the county city—sleeping late wasn’t an option.
At dawn the next day, before the sky had fully brightened, the world outside was still gray and dim.
Liu-shi had already gotten up to wash and tidy herself, then went into the kitchen to make breakfast.
That day she made coarse-grain flatbreads, deliberately preparing twice the usual amount.
After breakfast, two flatbreads would be left at home for Liang Lao’er, while she and her daughter would take two with them to the county city as travel rations.
“Dad, stay home today and slit the remaining chestnuts,” Qianhua said while eating. “Mom and I will go to the county city first to see how well the chestnuts sell. If sales are good, you can come with us tomorrow to help.”
Today she was dressed as a young man again. In this wretched feudal society, it wasn’t appropriate for women to openly show themselves in public, so she followed local customs.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you,” Liang Lao’er said. “Should I slit all the remaining chestnuts?”
“Yes. Slit as many as you can. If sales go well, I’ll bring more to the city tomorrow.” Qianhua was full of confidence in sugar-roasted chestnuts—she believed they would definitely sell.
After breakfast, Qianhua went to Old Man Wang’s house to rent an ox cart. Since they had quite a lot to bring, she asked him to drive the cart directly to their home.
Seeing business come knocking, Old Man Wang immediately drove his ox cart to Liang Lao’er’s house.
He helped load the heavier items—iron stove, firewood, chestnuts, sand—onto the cart.
Qianhua and Liu-shi each carried a bamboo basket on their backs.
Liu-shi’s basket held a small jar of syrup, a small jar of oil, the iron spatula, the scale, bowls, and other small items.
Qianhua’s basket contained the thin bamboo skewers Liang Lao’er had prepared, two coarse-grain flatbreads, a water flask, oil-paper wrappers, a kitchen knife, and other necessities.
Once everything was loaded, Qianhua and Liu-shi climbed onto the ox cart.
“Grandpa Wang, our things take up extra space. I’ll give you one more copper coin,” Qianhua said, handing him five coins. “Please take them.”
Normally, the fare to the county city was two copper coins per person. Since they had so many goods, she decided to pay extra.
Old Man Wang tried to refuse several times, but eventually accepted.
That day, apart from Qianhua and Liu-shi, no one else from Yunfeng Village was heading to the county city.
Along the way, Old Man Wang picked up several male passengers from other villages—regular customers who went to the city for work every day, waiting by the roadside each morning and returning on his cart in the evening.
Upon arriving in the county city, Qianhua chose a spot along a busy street and asked Old Man Wang to stop. She unloaded and arranged the items.
“Grandpa Wang, where do you usually wait for passengers?” Qianhua asked sweetly. “When we’re done, we’ll take your cart back.”
“I wait under the western city wall,” he replied. “The last trip back to the village is at You hour (around five in the afternoon). Don’t miss it. When you’re done, go there and call for me—I’ll bring the cart over to pick you up.”
Probably because she had paid the extra coin, Old Man Wang thoughtfully offered to come fetch them.
“Alright, thank you in advance, Grandpa Wang.”
After Old Man Wang drove away, Liu-shi set the iron pot onto the stove and started the fire.
Qianhua poured the sand into the pot. It was sand she had already roasted at home and had turned dark black.
She didn’t plan to roast too many chestnuts in the first batch—about ten jin would be enough. It was their first day doing business, and she didn’t yet know what to expect.
As the fire grew stronger, Liu-shi began stirring the sand. The swish-swish sound echoed nonstop.
This immediately caught the attention of the neighboring vendors.
On the left was an uncle selling masks; on the right was an aunt selling fruits and vegetables.
Both stared over curiously, wondering what good stuff this “mother and son” were cooking.
Before the sand had even heated up, the infamous Young Master Cai—the one who collected protection fees—appeared.
“A new face, huh? You’ve heard of me, Young Master Cai, right? Do you know the rules for setting up a stall here?”
With a blade of foxtail grass dangling from his mouth, Young Master Cai spoke to Liu-shi with a roguish expression. Behind him stood three to five lackeys.
Liu-shi was nothing more than a rural woman who had barely entered the county city a few times in her life. How could she have seen a scene like this before?
She stared blankly at Young Master Cai, so frightened that she couldn’t even hold onto the spatula—it slipped from her hand and fell straight into the pot.