However, there was one matter that troubled her greatly—where could she hide these copper coins.
There were many people in the household and very little space. She shared a room with her second elder sister, Zhou Qingcha. Inside the room were only three pieces of furniture: two wooden plank beds and a half-meter-high trunk. Everything was shared. There was simply nowhere to hide anything.
She did not dare to place the money in the chicken coop or the pigsty either, fearing that the pigs would root it out or the chickens would scratch it out. That would be disastrous.
For now, the only option was to hide it in the back mountain.
And so, she went up to gather things for about ten days. During this period, she could not go to town every day either, as there was much work at home. Sometimes she went every other day, sometimes once every two days.
She never underestimated anyone’s intelligence, especially Mother Zhou’s pair of eagle-like eyes.
Every day, how much rice Zhou Qingling took, even an extra handful—Mother Zhou could detect it with precision. This made her even more careful in her actions.
After several days, she had earned a total of 128 wen.
Using torn clothing as an excuse, Zhou Qingling borrowed needle and thread from her second elder sister, Zhou Qingcha.
She sewed an inner pocket inside her underpants. She laid out five copper coins, stitched them down with a few simple stitches, and fixed them in place so they would not clink together and make noise. These five coins were kept for emergencies.
In truth, she had wanted to hide more, but conditions did not allow it. She simply did not earn enough to exchange them into silver coins.
After finishing the sewing, she wore the money pouch inside her undergarments, layered beneath the pair she was currently wearing.
This money was her lifeline. Without money on her body, she always felt like duckweed drifting without roots. Every day she would touch it once, and only then would she feel an inexplicable sense of relief. The remaining copper coins were buried again in the back mountain.
The fields had already been fertilized, so there was no need to work there for the next few days. The whole family rarely had a few days of rest, but Zhou Qingling’s chores did not lessen at all.
Today was market day. Mother Zhou took the eggs she had saved to town to sell, and when she returned, she bought half a jin of pork. The whole family finally had meat to eat for once, and everyone looked forward to it greatly.
That day, Mother Zhou personally cooked. In the countryside, stir-frying was rarely done, as it consumed too much oil and was not filling enough. Most meals were boiled.
After the water came to a boil, sliced pork was added into the pot, along with some leafy greens. In this way, the broth carried a bit of oil for everyone.
When Mother Zhou brought the dish to the table, Zhou Guanghe excitedly picked up his chopsticks, waiting for his parents to give the signal.
“At last, we’re eating meat again.”
“All right, all right.” Mother Zhou said, tapping Zhou Guanghe on the forehead with indulgence as she saw his greedy expression. “You act like you’ve never eaten before.”
She picked up her chopsticks, placed a few slices of meat into Father Zhou’s bowl.
“Eat. You’ve all been hungry all day.”
As soon as Father Zhou spoke, several pairs of chopsticks shot toward the meat. The chopsticks nearly flew.
Zhou Qingling only quietly ate the coarse bread in her hand. Even without looking, she could feel Mother Zhou’s eagle-like gaze fixed on the meat in the bowl.
She was certain that if she dared to pick up even one slice, Mother Zhou would immediately strike her chopsticks down, and a scolding would surely follow.
Second elder sister Zhou Qingcha only took one slice and then stopped. That was because she could do embroidery and bring income to the family. In such a household, resources were limited—if one person took more, others would get less. Especially in a family lacking wealth, this was even more obvious.
After the meal, Zhou Qingling began cleaning up the table.
Mother Zhou was very satisfied with her youngest daughter’s behavior. Having once been a young girl herself, she feared her daughter might grow distant from the family in the future, so she spoke in a teaching tone:
“Eating too much or too little—what matters is moderation. Good days are saved grain by grain. A girl must be diligent and know how to manage a household. Only then can she marry a good husband. Otherwise, being lazy and gluttonous will prevent you from finding a good family and ruin your whole life.”
Zhou Qingling had not expected Mother Zhou to be such an expert in emotional manipulation. After all that speech, she gained nothing and instead had to be grateful that she had not been allowed to eat meat.
In truth, she did not care. Once she became the head of her own household in the future, what good things would she not be able to eat? The important thing now was patience. Only by not attracting attention and not being guarded against could she act unexpectedly later.
The constraints placed on women in this feudal society were too many, and she had been born into a family that did not value her. If she wanted the life she desired, she could only proceed step by step.
In the kitchen, Zhou Qingling washed the dishes while listening to the voices in the courtyard. Mother Zhou sounded cheerful.
After listening carefully, she realized that her elder brother had found someone he liked.
In rural areas, the restrictions between men and women were not as strict. Girls like Zhou Qingling, who worked in the fields every day, had to go out to earn their keep. Unlike delicate young ladies in the city who rarely stepped outside, country children often ran and played together when young. As they grew older, they became more restrained. If two people took a liking to each other, as long as a matchmaker came to propose marriage, it was considered proper procedure.
From what she overheard, the girl was the eldest daughter of the Lin family, named Lin Guihua.
Night fell.
Zhou Qingling lay on her bed, half asleep and half awake. Suddenly, she remembered why the name Lin Guihua sounded familiar.
So she had actually entered a book.
A novel titled The Happy Times of a Farm Girl After Marriage.
This book described Lin Guihua’s daily life after marrying into the Zhou family. The female lead lived with her husband Zhou Guanghai’s family. Although there were conflicts and difficulties, life was ultimately harmonious and happy.
Lin Guihua was also from Yangliu Village, born into an extremely patriarchal family. She had many siblings—she was the eldest, with four younger sisters and three younger brothers.
From a young age, she knew her parents could not be relied upon. As long as the bride price was high enough, her parents would not care about her life or death. So she worked hard, earning a reputation in the village for being diligent and capable, hoping to find a good marriage in the future.
She did not care about the bride price at all. Whatever silver or goods were offered, she did not want them, because they would never reach her hands anyway. To her, she was no different from an object being priced and sold. She only wanted a man who treated her well.
As she grew older, she eventually chose Zhou Guanghai.
There were three reasons.
First, the Zhou family’s conditions were relatively good in Yangliu Village. Although they supported a younger brother studying, which was expensive, it was still a gamble. If he succeeded in the imperial examinations in the future, it would bring honor to the whole family.
Second, Zhou Guanghai truly treated her well. He cared for her. Over the past two months, he had given her bird eggs, and the two of them had even secretly roasted a wild chicken in the back mountain. That was the first time she had eaten meat since she could remember.
Third, at this point in the story, Zhou Guanghai’s younger sister, Zhou Qingling, happened to go up the mountain and, by luck, found a lingzhi mushroom.
Country children did not understand medicinal herbs. The original owner merely found it interesting and played with it casually.
Lin Guihua happened to see it. At that time, her younger brother had once suffered a serious illness. Her father was away doing corvée labor, so she accompanied her mother to the town clinic to get medicine for her brother.
She vaguely remembered that the old physician had taken a yellow-brown round object. Just a small slice of it had cost two taels of silver.
This hard object looked slightly smaller than the one at the physician’s shop, but even though Lin Guihua did not know what it was, she knew it was valuable.
She deceived the original owner, saying the object was inauspicious, and threatened her not to tell anyone. Otherwise, if the villagers found out she had brought something unlucky into the village, she would be drowned in a pig cage. Terrified, the original owner quickly threw the lingzhi away.
Afterward, the female lead secretly found Zhou Guanghai and told him she had discovered a treasure. The two of them quietly sold it and obtained 60 taels of silver.
Later, they did not hide it from Father Zhou and Mother Zhou, because once they began spending money for future affairs, it would be impossible to conceal it. Moreover, Zhou Guanghai did not dare hide such a large matter from his parents.
However, the two of them secretly kept 10 taels and did not tell the family the true sale price.
Only the couple and Father Zhou and Mother Zhou—four people in total—knew about this. Even the original owner living under the same roof did not know.
In the Zhou family, Lin Guihua naturally rose in status. Anyone would be happy—before she even officially married in, she had already brought such immense wealth into the family. Zhou Guanghai treated her even better afterward, believing she was a lucky star.
Later, the two of them opened a shop in town. Although they did not become extremely wealthy, they lived comfortably and peacefully. How fortunate it was.
In the village, who would not envy them? Who would not praise Lin Guihua for her good fortune?
After that, the story barely mentioned the original owner anymore. All the sweetness belonged to them, while she gained nothing.
How unlucky.
And now she had become the cannon fodder who delivered the “equipment” in this story.
After calming herself, she thought: if she ever found the lingzhi, there was no way she would give it away. Was silver not bright enough, or were chicken legs not delicious enough?
Zhou Qingling decided that tomorrow she would go to the place mentioned in the book and take a look.
She lay on the bed and exhaled slowly, carefully recalling every detail about herself in the story.
Her thoughts kept turning throughout the night, and she did not sleep well. After the rooster crowed for the first time, she got up.
As usual, after finishing her chores, she said to Mother Zhou:
“Mother, I’m going to the back mountain.”
Mother Zhou, who was mending clothes in the room, responded.