The three of them could hardly believe it…
The three of them could hardly believe it. After all, for farming families like theirs, earning silver was incredibly difficult. Even saving a single copper coin was an immense challenge.
Could they really earn so much just by selling some fruit?
“It’s true, Grandfather, Grandmother,” Su Tao repeated, seeing their disbelief.
Truth be told, even she had found it hard to believe at first. The money seemed to come too easily, feeling unreal. But during the journey back, she gradually calmed down.
She recalled Fifth Sister’s words to her, and the more she thought about them, the more sense they made. Wasn’t it true that where there was demand, people were willing to pay? Those on the boat, having traveled for so long, naturally craved fresh fruits and vegetables!
However, Fifth Sister had also cautioned that their good fortune this time was due to luck, allowing them to fetch such prices. It was likely that others, seeing how much silver they had earned, would imitate them tomorrow.
This was one reason Su Tao managed to calm down quickly.
Chen Shi seemed dazed upon hearing this. “So much silver… all earned by Si Ya and Fifth Girl? Mother, Father, pinch me. Am I dreaming?”
“It’s real, Mother. Now that we have silver, we can take Grandmother to the Yiguan,” Su Li interjected, noticing everyone lost in their own thoughts.
Su Laotou snapped out of his stupor as if waking from a deep dream.
“Right, right, let’s go. I’ll borrow the mule.”
This time, Wu Pozi didn’t object. Though she wanted to, she hadn’t fully processed what had happened.
However, as soon as Su Laotou stepped out, he ran into Liu Shi, who had brought Li Chunhua with her.
It should be noted that the Li and Su families had once been on good terms, especially after Su Fu had saved the father and son of the Li family. The two households frequently visited each other.
Their relationship soured when Liu Shi heard rumors—from who knows where—that Old Li had special feelings for Chen Shi. Despite Old Li’s repeated sworn denials, Liu Shi refused to believe him. Compounding matters, during that period, Old Li had sent many gifts to the Su family as tokens of gratitude, each delivery feeling like a stab to Liu Shi’s heart. Seizing on the rumors, she publicly confronted Chen Shi, leading to the break between the two families. However, this rift was only between the households; the bonds between the Li father and son and the Su father and son remained as strong as ever.
“Uncle, going out so late? Business?” Remembering her purpose for visiting today, Liu Shi forced an unnatural smile.
“What do you want?” Due to past events, Su Laotou had little fondness for this woman, and his tone was cold.
“It’s just… well… are Si Ya and Fifth Girl here?” Liu Shi glanced around, wearing a guilty expression.
Seeing her like this, Su Laotou knew she had something to say. “They’re inside,” he replied.
He then ushered her into the inner room. For now, he wasn’t in a hurry to leave, instead keeping a close watch on Liu Shi to see what trouble she might stir up.
It wasn’t that he was overthinking things. Liu Shi was known not only for pinching pennies but also for being unreasonable and domineering, often twisting facts to suit her narrative.
Meanwhile, Liu Shi felt awkward facing the Su family, especially upon seeing Chen Shi, whom she couldn’t bring herself to look directly in the eye.
As the saying goes, those who wrong you often know better than anyone how unjustly they’ve treated you. In the case of the past incident, she was well aware that Chen Shi and her husband were innocent. Yet, she had deliberately acted otherwise for a simple reason: she couldn’t bear to part with the meat and vegetables given to the Su family.
Whenever her husband brought meat to the Su Family, even though the Su family would eventually invite them to eat together, Liu Shi felt as if a knife were twisting in her heart, utterly unwilling. And whenever she tried to stop him, her husband would say that the Su family had saved him and their son’s lives.
Helpless, Liu Shi thought it over and came up with a plan. Later, just as she had anticipated, the two families cut ties. She had gloated for a long time, relieved that she no longer had to send things to the Su family.
Although her husband still interacted with Su Fu, as long as no gifts were sent, it was fine.
Now, Liu Shi entered and first feigned concern for Wu Pozi’s foot. Seeing that no one paid her any mind, she finally stated her purpose.
“Ahem, well, Uncle, Auntie, your Fourth Girl and Fifth Girl must have told you. I came thinking… since this matter was discovered by both families, it’s best not to let others know. Let’s keep it among ourselves, don’t you agree?”
So that was it. Su Laotou had just heard from Su Li and Su Tao that Li Chunhua had also been with them. He just hadn’t expected Liu Shi to show up so quickly and say such things. Shouldn’t they be the ones saying this? With Liu Shi’s character, they should be the ones afraid she might blab. Though he thought this, his face showed nothing.
“Naturally.”
Selling the fruit could earn silver, so the fewer people who knew, the better.
Seeing this, Liu Shi cautiously glanced at Chen Shi and added, “Then I thought, the longer the night, the more dreams—why wait? It’s still early today. Why don’t our two families go pick those fruits together first, then take them to sell tomorrow? We can split the silver half and half. What do you think?”
Good heavens, so this was Liu Shi’s scheme—to use the Su family’s labor to pick the fruit and then split the profits equally?
Since when was anything that easy?
Even Su Li couldn’t help but marvel at how such a shameless person existed in the world.
Meanwhile, Li Chunhua, who had come with her mother, tugged at Liu Shi’s sleeve and whispered pleadingly, “Mother.”
But Liu Shi brushed her off. “Uncle, Auntie, what do you think?”
Wu Pozi, lying on the bed, nearly laughed in anger. She stopped Chen Shi from stepping forward to chase Liu Shi out and said, “Stone’s Mother, we can pick the fruit together, but the silver from selling it must be divided per head. If you agree, we’ll work together. If not, you can leave.”
“Oh, and don’t worry—as long as you don’t spread word that the fruit can be sold for silver, we certainly won’t either.”
Wu Pozi was shrewd; she saw that Liu Shi’s real purpose in coming was her fear that the Su family would reveal the secret.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Liu Shi dropped her pretense. “Since Auntie says so, I’ll trust you. Chunhua, let’s go.”
She had no desire to work with the Su family. Her proposal was just to take advantage. If the Su family agreed, fine; if not, she had no intention of partnering with them anyway. Why share profits when she could earn silver on her own? Wouldn’t that be foolish?
Liu Shi came and went in a hurry.
However, her visit served as a reminder to the Su family.
“You go pick the fruit first. We can deal with seeing the doctor tomorrow,” Wu Pozi said.
According to Liu Shi, they planned to pick the fruit that very night. To prevent them from taking everything—after all, this was about earning silver—Wu Pozi couldn’t afford to delay.
However, this proposal was rejected. In the end, the Su family discussed and decided to have grandfather Su Laotou take grandmother Wu Pozi to the Yiguan, while Chen Shi would take Su Li and Su Tao to pick sour jujubes.
Su Li never expected things to turn out this way—having to go out again right after returning home.
But earning silver was indeed urgent.
So, led by Chen Shi, Su Li and Su Tao each carried a basket and set off in the twilight.
The three of them walked quickly and soon reached the spot they had discovered at noon. Unexpectedly, Liu Shi and Li Chunhua had arrived even earlier. By the time Su Li’s group arrived, they were already picking under the tree. Seeing Su Li and the others, Liu Shi sped up her picking, eyeing them warily as if guarding against thieves.
…
Fortunately, besides that tree, there were others. Perhaps because the path was remote and sparsely populated, the trees grew densely, so many sour jujube trees remained undiscovered. There was one every stretch of the way, though some were dangerously close to cliffs and had to be skipped.
With more people, Su Li’s group ended up gathering far more than Liu Shi’s—enough to fill two and a half baskets.
It must have been around 20 to 30 jin.
As it grew dark, Chen Shi and Su Li grew increasingly fearful. Though there was moonlight, the mountains were full of wild beasts. After discussing it, they decided to return the next day and headed home.
Over the following days, Chen Shi and the two girls went out daily to search for and sell fruit. Just as Su Li had predicted, after seeing Su Li’s group sell their fruit, others began to imitate them the very next day. With Liu Shi and Li Chunhua joining in, the fruit prices soon dropped, and sour jujubes eventually fell to just ten wen for a large basket.
Luckily, Su Li and Chen Shi later found several other rare fruits in the mountains, and in the end, they still managed to earn three qian of silver.
In contrast, Liu Shi earned less than 100 wen over those few days—not even as much as Li Chunhua and Su Li’s group had made in a single day.
But for Liu Shi, earning any silver at all was a triumph. Even one wen was money, and she was thrilled. Not only did it not cost anything, but she could also earn silver. Even if it didn’t sell, she could keep it for her family to eat—what could be better?
If not for that Liu Shi, they might have earned even more.
At the Su Family home, Chen Shi counted the copper coins, secretly fuming. Not just her—other vendors also thought Liu Shi had something wrong with her head.
Instead of working together to earn silver, Liu Shi insisted on disrupting the market with low prices. If others sold for 30 wen, she sold for 20; if others sold for 20, she sold for 8. Over time, prices kept falling. In the end, Liu Shi was smug, having driven everyone else away. She was truly foolish, malicious, and utterly detestable.
Chen Shi was speechless.
“Mother, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.” Su Li entered Chen Shi’s room. “What is it?” Lately, Chen Shi had witnessed her younger daughter’s eloquence. She didn’t know how someone usually so tongue-tied could be so sharp when selling—able to sell what others couldn’t, and at higher prices too. Thanks to her younger daughter, they had earned so much silver, and without realizing it, Chen Shi had come to rely on her more.
“I want to make food to sell at the Ma Tou.”
Su Li had actually been wanting to discuss this matter with Chen Shi for a while. However, with her grandmother Wu Pozi still at the Yiguan requiring daily expenses, and fruit picking needing manpower, she had temporarily set the idea aside.
In Su Li’s view, selling fruits wasn’t a sustainable long-term plan. To become prosperous, they needed to explore other ventures—like setting up a food stall, opening an eatery, or even running a restaurant.
Her ultimate goal wasn’t just to earn petty cash; she wanted to buy a house, purchase shops, acquire hundreds of acres of land, hire people to farm it, and live a better life.
Of course, these were just thoughts she kept to herself. If she voiced them aloud, Chen Shi and the others would probably think she’d gone mad.
“Sell food?”
“Yes, what do you think, Mother?”
“What kind of food did you have in mind to sell?” Chen Shi had noticed food vendors at Ma Tou over the past few days, but she never imagined her youngest daughter would entertain such an idea.
Su Li explained her plan to sell boxed lunches:
“I was thinking we could prepare the food at home in the morning—keep the dishes and rice separate—then take them to Ma Tou to sell. We could charge 10 coppers for one meat and one vegetable dish, and 15 coppers for two meat dishes and one vegetable. What do you think, Mother?”
Chen Shi’s first reaction was, “Can we really make money this way?”
Besides, where would they get the silver to buy meat?
All their household funds were insufficient for Wu Pozi’s leg treatment. They’d even sold some new rice a couple of days prior. The Yiguan was truly not a place for ordinary folks—although they provided their own meals, they still spent dozens to hundreds of coppers daily. Chen Shi was already agonizing over whether to borrow from her maternal family.
“Of course we can, Mother.”
“Enough, stop letting your mind wander.” Chen Shi felt her youngest daughter had become restless from going out lately, hence these peculiar ideas.
Did her daughter really think selling food was that simple?
How naive!
While Chen Shi couldn’t deny that her daughter’s cooking had been quite to her taste recently, that didn’t mean they could rely on this skill for livelihood. In Chen Shi’s view, proper chefs all knew how to prepare eight to ten dishes—how could her daughter’s handful of secretly learned recipes compare?
Chen Shi found it unrealistic.
“Alright, if you have nothing to do, go help your fourth sister feed the chickens.”
Taking good care of the chickens was the real priority—at least the eggs could be sold for silver.
Seeing that Chen Shi didn’t believe her, Su Li knew this matter couldn’t be rushed. She needed to find another approach—and soon enough, an opportunity would present itself.