The next day, Zhou Guanghai went to find Lin Guihua and told her about the situation at home. Lin Guihua naturally felt resentment toward Zhou Guanghai in her heart.
But she also knew that under normal circumstances, no family would offer such an exorbitant betrothal gift.
She did not dare delay any further. Her appearance was only average—unlike the eldest daughter of the Zhou Family, who possessed striking beauty. Zhou Guanghai was already the best choice she could grasp.
However, this man could not save her from her suffering. No, that would not do. She had never accepted fate.
Although she inwardly cursed Zhou Guanghai’s incompetence, when she lifted her head, she wore a look of utter heartbreak.
She said: “Brother Dahai, are we truly fated to be apart? If I cannot marry you, what meaning is there left in my life?”
After speaking, she covered her face, crying as she ran away.
This made Zhou Guanghai’s heart ache even more. He held his head and struck it in frustration, hating his own uselessness.
Now that there was no “cannon fodder” like him providing resources, it became extremely difficult for Lin Guihua to smoothly marry Zhou Guanghai and escape that wolf’s den of a natal family.
Over the next few days, Zhou Guanghai’s spirits were very low. Old Fourth Zhou Guanghe saw his elder brother looking so lifeless and revealed a look of contempt in his eyes.
He put down his books and went into Mother Zhou’s room to comfort her, acting like a considerate little cotton-padded jacket.
Mother Zhou felt deeply comforted.
The Zhou parents had always been more fond of their youngest son, and after this incident, their hearts leaned even more toward Zhou Guanghe. It was not in vain that they had tightened their belts to support his studies.
Father Zhou and Mother Zhou firmly believed their youngest son would surely become successful.
In the eyes of parents, their own children were always the best.
During this period, troubles at home came one after another. Coupled with the rainy season, the weather was like a child’s face—changing at will. Sometimes rain would fall suddenly and stop just as quickly; at other times, the sun hung high in the sky only for a heavy downpour to crash down, catching villagers completely unprepared.
Zhou Qingling had no chance to enter her storage space to check it, and naturally had no opportunity to go to town to sell the lingzhi mushrooms.
She could only slip into the storage space when going to the toilet to take a quick look. As always, she never dared to underestimate anyone’s intelligence. Possessing treasures required extreme caution.
Zhou Qingling, in both her past and present lives, had been an ordinary person, and she only wished to live peacefully now.
However, yesterday she was pleasantly surprised to discover that two new small lingzhi sprouts had grown on that dead tree stump. It was truly an unexpected delight.
It felt as if a huge prize had suddenly fallen from the sky. This storage space truly was a treasure.
She could not help but giggle foolishly while using the toilet, but once she came out, she returned to being the unremarkable Zhou Qingling. Life was difficult; everything depended on acting.
That morning, it had rained for a while, but by now the sky had cleared again, with the sun hanging high overhead.
The pigs in the pigsty, having not been fed, were snorting in protest. Zhou Qingling slung a basket onto her back and headed up the mountain. Life in the countryside was like this—there was never any time to rest.
After she finished gathering a bundle of fodder, Zhou Qingling placed it into her basket. Before leaving, she looked at the surrounding pine trees with thoughtful eyes.
There were many pine trees on the mountain, scattered sparsely, varying in height. Pine trees produced resin, which had many uses—it could be refined into incense, used in medicine, and even made into candles.
Zhou Qingling’s eyes lit up. Perhaps she had found another way to earn money.
In the countryside, even oil lamps were used sparingly, let alone candles.
She remembered that in ancient times, candles were quite expensive. However, pine resin candles had a fatal flaw—they produced a lot of smoke. Before the discovery of white wax insects in the Song Dynasty, candles were luxury items used only by the wealthy. It was only in modern times, with industrial development and the availability of paraffin, that candle prices became cheap.
At this time, there were no white wax insects and no paraffin. Most candles were made from beeswax.
Beeswax was stable, smokeless, and bright, and emitted a faint honey fragrance—an ideal lighting material. However, its production was low, so it was expensive and only officials and wealthy families could afford it.
Zhou Qingling thought that if she could produce cheaper candles, there would likely be a market for them through her storage space.
She used a sickle to scrape off a large amount of flexible bark from shrubs.
She then found sturdy wood and carved small wooden pegs.
She nailed three pegs into a pine tree trunk at a downward angle, then used thin vines to fix the collected bark onto the pegs.
Since she had no container, she used large leaves to catch the resin. Pine resin was thick and sticky and would not easily seep through.
After finishing this, she used the sickle to peel away the hard bark from the pine trunk and carved downward slanted grooves along the surface.
Then she waited for the resin to seep out.
Using the same method, Zhou Qingling tapped more than ten trees before stopping, leaving them to be collected the next day.
Early the next morning, Zhou Qingling rushed up the mountain full of anticipation. Seeing the orange translucent resin oozing from the grooves on the leaves, she was extremely satisfied.
She collected the resin and stored it in her storage space, then carved another groove beneath each cut.
Reed grass was easy to find—thin and long. After peeling away the outer green layer, the inner core revealed a white strip like cotton thread.
This material was perfect for candle wicks.
After gathering a small basket of wicks, it was enough for about a hundred candles.
Once she finished handling the reed grass, she casually left it by the roadside to dry. Even if others saw it, they would only think it was weeds and pay it no attention. Once dried, it could be used.
At night, after everyone had fallen into deep sleep, Zhou Qingling entered the storage space under the cover of her bedding. When cooking earlier, she had found a broken earthen jar in the kitchen. The countryside never threw things away, which now benefited her.
She poured the resin from the leaves into the broken jar, placed it on the stove, and lit a fire.
Soon, the resin that had already turned into a gel melted into an orange translucent liquid, bubbling as it boiled.
She simmered it on low heat to remove excess moisture.
She then used her tattered undergarment as a filter cloth to strain impurities from the hot resin.
What remained was clear, purified resin.
She took prepared bamboo tubes, dipped the dried reed wicks into the resin, pulled them out, placed them into the center of the tubes, and then poured the still-warm resin inside.
She repeated the process, filling several bamboo tubes in the same way.
The storage space could not solidify the resin, so she had to take the finished bamboo tubes out during the day and hide them in inconspicuous places to dry.
She did not dare stay long inside the storage space and quickly came out after finishing her work.
Compared with the Zhou Family, Zhou Qingling’s life became very full—collecting resin by day and making candles by night.
Half a month later, a great piece of good news struck the Zhou Family, sweeping away their recent gloom.
The matchmaker Liu from town had come to propose marriage for the second daughter, Zhou Qingcha!
The match was with Zhang Youcai from the cloth shop. When Zhou Qingcha saw Matchmaker Liu arrive, joy filled her heart. She knew her recent efforts had not been in vain.
Ever since meeting Zhang Youcai last time, his figure had occupied her thoughts day and night. It was not because he was especially handsome, but because he represented her future life.
Now that she had a target, the question was how to achieve it. She had heard that Madam Zhang had already asked a matchmaker to look for a suitable bride for her son. If she did not act quickly, she would lose her chance and have nowhere to cry.
After much thought over several days, she finally gritted her teeth. As the saying went, meeting once brings three parts affection; without meeting, all thoughts were empty.
Five days earlier, she had gone to the market again. Although she had nothing to sell, she went hoping to encounter Zhang Youcai.
Perhaps heaven was helping her. That day, a troupe of street performers came to town, and she spotted Zhang Youcai in the crowd at a glance.
She immediately approached him. Amid the applause and commotion, she pretended to be pushed, her foot “slipping.” and her body fell into his arms.
Zhang Youcai supported her slender waist and saw a startled yet affectionate face, instantly feeling his body go soft.
One was intentional, the other driven by desire, and things naturally progressed smoothly.
In truth, ever since Zhang Youcai first saw Zhou Qingcha, he had already taken an interest in her. However, after mentioning it to his mother, Madam Zhang disliked her background and wanted a more suitable match.
Zhang Youcai had not expected to meet her again so soon.
Since they had already had physical contact in public, Zhang Youcai, seeing her blushing face, immediately promised to marry her.
Men’s feelings toward women were often that simple and direct.
Although Zhou Qingcha had intentionally approached him, she was still an unmarried young girl. Feeling the warmth of a stranger’s body, her flushed face was not an act.
She did not even know how she made it home, but she knew she had succeeded. From now on, she only needed to learn from Lin Guihua, her eldest brother’s partner. She did not want to become a bargaining object traded for silver—her life would be her own.
She poured Matchmaker Liu a bowl of sugar water. In the countryside, sugar water was a luxury and the highest form of hospitality.
A matchmaker could not be offended, as every family had children who needed marriage arrangements. As the saying went, a man feared choosing the wrong profession, a woman feared marrying the wrong husband. The same applied to marrying daughters-in-law—good women benefited three generations, while a harsh woman destroyed a family.
Everyone hoped the matchmaker would find a good spouse for their children.
Since Zhou Qingcha was still unmarried, she left after serving the water.
Mother Zhou stayed to speak with Matchmaker Liu. Sitting on a small stool, Zhou Qingcha continued weaving the unfinished bamboo basket left by Father Zhou, while listening intently to their conversation.
When she heard the Zhang Family mentioned, her heart finally settled. At that moment, she almost wanted to cry. Only heaven knew how much effort she had spent planning everything while constantly fearing failure.
Fortunately, her efforts had not been wasted.
For the Zhou Family, being able to connect with a wealthy town family was naturally a blessing, and they would not refuse.
After the matchmaker left, Zhou Qingcha’s status in the family rose second only to Old Fourth Zhou Guanghe. The second daughter had truly brought honor to the family.
The only dissatisfaction in Mother Zhou’s heart was that the Zhang Family did not offer much betrothal money.
Was this looking down on them? But there was nothing to be done—the difference in wealth between the two families was too great.
Because of this, Zhou Qingcha understood that in the future, she would need to serve her future mother-in-law well. Her life would be held in that woman’s hands; she was marrying upward.
Afterwards, the Zhou Family and Zhang Family repeatedly tested each other’s limits.
In the end, the betrothal gift was set at three taels of silver plus a bolt of fine cotton cloth. Mother Zhou felt it was little, but did not dare object further, fearing the engagement might fall through and bring great shame.
She wanted more money, but not at the cost of breaking the engagement.
Once the arrangement collapsed, her daughter would surely resent her for life, and she still hoped her daughter would support the family in the future.
Mother Zhou was not short-sighted; she understood that there would be many future ways to benefit from her daughter.
The wedding was set for one month later. Although Zhou Qingcha had not yet reached marriageable age, the Zhang Family wanted the marriage to happen early since the groom was older.
That night, the Zhou couple lay in bed speaking.
Father Zhou said: “This marriage for the second daughter is a good one.”
Mother Zhou responded with a soft “Mm.” also showing satisfaction.
“How much dowry should we give her?”
Mother Zhou had already decided. “Give her one hundred copper coins as pocket money, let her wear the new clothes from the in-laws when she leaves, and pack her current clothes and bedding as well. Does that sound acceptable?”
Father Zhou nodded. “Mm, that’s already quite a lot.”
Zhou Qingling lay on her hard wooden bed, thinking about everything that had happened these days.
Truthfully, she felt fortunate. Fortunate that her second elder sister, Zhou Qingcha, had not used her schemes against her. The reason was likely that the other two children in the Zhou Family were boys; schemes against them would have been useless.
As for her, she was already at the very bottom of the Zhou Family, doing the most work, eating the least, and even wearing clothes passed down from Zhou Qingcha.
It was not difficult to see that Zhou Qingcha was someone who was ruthless toward others and even more ruthless toward herself, acting with clear purpose and profit in mind.
She always chose whatever was most beneficial to her.
Once she was confident of success, she acted decisively and struck precisely.
Zhou Qingling did not believe for a moment that her second elder sister had truly “just happened” to meet Zhang Youcai without any planning behind it.
Tsk. Such a young woman, yet already so deeply calculating. Not someone to be trifled with.