“Mother, I think it’s actually a good thing that Qingyan and the other two cut ties with their family. They’re living quite well on their own now, and they don’t have to be beaten or scolded anymore,” said Tieniu.
Tieniu added from the side, “Yes, my sister is right. Before, Qingyi didn’t even dare to play with me because he was afraid his grandmother would scold or hit him.”
In the evening, the surroundings gradually darkened, and the small thatched hut was already pitch black. The three siblings were lying in bed.
Liu Qingyan said, “Qingyi, Qingyou, come back earlier tomorrow after going up the mountain. Sister is going to town to buy some farming tools and seeds. In a while, we’ll need to start planting.”
Qingyi worriedly asked, “Sister, can you carry them alone? Should I go with you?”
“I can carry them. Our land isn’t much, so we don’t need to buy too many seeds,” Liu Qingyan replied, thinking to herself that if Qingyi came along, she wouldn’t be able to use her space.
The night passed without dreams. At dawn, the sky had just begun to lighten, and the children were already up and busy.
Breakfast was coarse flour pancakes and egg-and-wild-vegetable soup. They ate until full, but only one egg was added—Qingyou couldn’t bear to use more and wanted to save it for the next meal.
Children who had suffered too much hardship were very frugal.
Liu Qingyan took Old Man Wang’s ox cart to town. She greeted everyone on the cart warmly, and everyone praised her for being sensible.
Aunt Liu curiously asked, “Daya, I heard you changed your name. What was it again? I didn’t remember it clearly.”
“Aunt Liu, my name is Liu Qingyan,” she replied.
“Oh right, Qingyan. What are you going to town for?”
“I’m going to buy some farming tools and seeds. We’ll be planting soon, and our home doesn’t have anything yet,” she said.
Another aunt asked concernedly, “Qingyan, has your head injury healed?”
“Aunt Zhao, it’s much better now. There’s no other choice either—there are no adults at home, only us three children. Even if it’s not fully healed, we still have to work,” she answered.
Everyone chimed in one after another:
“These children are really capable. Their future will definitely be good.”
“Yes, did you hear? The Liu family—their former grandmother’s household—had a huge fight yesterday.”
“What happened?”
“Well, it’s because Qingyan and her siblings moved out, and there was no one left to work at home.
The old lady herself never works. She made the eldest daughter-in-law do it, but she was also lazy and full of fat from doing nothing.
The three sons were also extremely lazy and pushed all the work onto the third daughter-in-law.
But now it’s said that the third daughter-in-law found out she’s pregnant and finally gained confidence. She no longer wants to suffer in silence, so the whole family started arguing.
The third son sided with his pregnant wife, and they nearly came to blows.”
“That family deserves it. They bullied those three children. Now Qingyan and her siblings don’t have to suffer anymore.”
Liu Qingyan thought to herself: No wonder when she passed by the old Liu residence earlier, she saw chaos in the courtyard and heard the old lady yelling. Let them deal with their own mess—she had no energy to care about them right now.
Listening to these interesting gossip stories along the way made the journey far from boring.
Soon they arrived in town. The original owner had never been here before, and this was also Liu Qingyan’s first time.
Ancient towns were quite lively, with stalls lining both sides of the streets selling all kinds of goods.
She inquired about shops selling farming tools and seeds and learned that tools had to be bought at the blacksmith’s shop.
There were ready-made tools like lei si (a farming implement similar to a hoe used for turning soil and sowing seeds) and sickles.
Liu Qingyan politely asked, “Uncle, how much is this sickle? And how much is that farming tool?”
“The sickle is 30 wen each, and the farming tool is 40 wen each,” the blacksmith replied.
Liu Qingyan didn’t expect them to be so expensive—iron goods in ancient times were indeed costly.
She also noticed a dagger nearby. It looked ordinary, so she casually asked, “Uncle, how much is that dagger?”
“Little girl, you probably can’t afford this one,” the man said.
He glanced at her worn clothes and knew she likely couldn’t afford it, but he was still polite and not contemptuous.
She thought it must be expensive anyway, but she still wanted to know.
“Uncle, please tell me the price.”
“This dagger may look ordinary, but it’s extremely sharp. It costs 3 taels of silver.”
“Oh, then I’ll come back to buy it when I have enough money. For now, I’ll take one sickle, one farming tool, and one woodcutting knife. Could you give me a discount? As you can see, my family is poor.”
The man sighed. “It’s not easy for a child like you to be out buying things. The total is 95 wen—just give me 90 wen.”
“Thank you, Uncle. You’re such a kind person. I’ll come back to buy from you again.”
Her sweet voice made the man smile from ear to ear.
“You little girl really has a sweet mouth.”
Thinking that they didn’t even have a cutting board at home, Liu Qingyan went to a general goods shop and bought one.
There were many items inside, and she wanted to buy more, but she didn’t have enough money. The family still lacked too many things—she would slowly add them over time.
She then went to the seed shop. Not knowing how many seeds were needed per acre, she politely asked, “Shopkeeper, how many mung bean seeds are needed per acre?”
“About 5 jin per acre,” the shopkeeper replied.
“Then how much are mung bean seeds per jin?”
“12 wen per jin.”
“But in our village, mung beans are only 8 wen per jin. I know your seeds are better quality, but could you give me a discount?” she said carefully.
The shopkeeper replied, “Little girl, our seeds are large, high-yield, and sprout quickly. That’s why they’re more expensive. The 8-wen beans from your village won’t yield as much.
Where are your parents? Why are you buying seeds alone?”
“My parents are gone. I’m raising my younger siblings,” she said.
The shopkeeper sighed. “What a pitiful child. Life must be hard for you. Alright then, if you buy 5 jin, I’ll reduce 3 wen for you. Do you want any other seeds?”
“Thank you, Uncle. I wish you great prosperity,” she said sweetly. “I’ll look around some more.”
Liu Qingyan, who had no farming experience in her past life, asked about any seeds she didn’t recognize.
She realized her family didn’t even have a vegetable garden, so she could grow things in her space instead.
In a small inconspicuous corner, she pointed at some unknown seeds and asked, “Uncle, what kind of seeds are these?”
“Oh, those were brought by foreign merchants and sold to my relative. He didn’t know what they were for either.
No one here recognizes them, so naturally no one buys them. I was planning to return them if they still don’t sell.”