The little fool lay sprawled inside the room like a hedgehog, the silver needles in his back still needing to remain in place for a while. Shen Ning took the opportunity to hurry through preparations for making sugar.
She found the old, broken funnel at home, gathered some clean, dry rice straw, and rinsed it again. After pouring out roughly five jin of brown sugar and finishing the preparations, she returned to Xiao Nanchen’s room.
With her white sugar on her mind, she worked briskly. Holding him down, she pulled out the silver needles one after another in rapid succession. When she reached the acupoint at the very end, over his coccyx, she once again tugged down the trousers that had somehow been pulled up a little at some point and removed the needle.
“If the silver needle is crooked, it could leave you paralyzed, just like Old Dengk’s family’s little dog that drags itself around by crawling on its legs. Oh, if A-Nan wants to crawl around dragging his legs like that dog, then keep pulling up your trousers.”
Xiao Nanchen: …
This woman was dead!
After frightening the little fool, Shen Ning pinched the waistband of his trousers between two fingers and pulled it back up. Then she turned and walked out of the room without looking back.
On the brick bed, His Highness Prince Ding closed his eyes tightly and drew a deep breath.
It was all for the sake of his legs. He would endure it for now!
Shen Ning had no idea how complicated her patient’s feelings were. She devoted herself wholeheartedly to making white sugar.
For someone who had once held a doctorate in chemistry, the process was incredibly simple. She poured the brown sugar she had bought into a pot and began boiling it over the fire. Once the brown sugar had turned into a thick syrup, she stuffed the clean funnel full of rice straw.
She poured the thick syrup into the funnel. Then she picked up the evenly stirred yellow-clay slurry beside her and drizzled it little by little over the congealed brown sugar…
After a while, muddy water began dripping from the bottom of the funnel. It gathered in the wooden basin below, more and more, more and more… As the yellow-clay water inside the funnel gradually sank and disappeared, white sugar crystals were revealed.
Shen Ning happily whistled. Success!
She repeated the process with the remaining half of the brown sugar, turning it into white sugar as well. After impurities had been removed, ten jin of brown sugar produced more than seven jin of white sugar. In other words, the brown sugar she had bought for less than one tael of silver could be sold for seventy taels of silver.
This was much easier than hunting. Sure enough, knowledge was wealth!
After putting the white sugar away in the cabinet, Shen Ning heated some water and washed up.
She had barely stopped all day. If not for her abundant energy, she probably would have collapsed from exhaustion. After washing her face, she applied a thick layer of the scented balm she had bought to her face and the backs of her hands. Soon, the stinging caused by the dryness and roughness disappeared.
Afterward, she sorted through everything she had bought in the county town that day.
She slept extremely soundly… until, just before dawn, she was woken by cold rainwater falling onto her face.
It was raining, and the roof was leaking!
Fortunately, she had put the white sugar in the cabinet.
Since she could not sleep anymore anyway, Shen Ning got up and put the bedding away in the cabinet as well. She looked up at the still-leaking roof, sighed, and placed a porcelain basin on the brick bed to catch the rainwater.
Fortunately, the rain was not heavy. Otherwise, the house might have collapsed.
Thinking of this, she felt incomparably impressed by the original Shen Ning’s persistence. Even though she knew the other person looked down on her, she had spent money and effort to curry favor with him for more than two years. She had spent all her silver on someone else and had not even had time to deal with her own leaking roof.
It was still early. The little fool had purged the poison from his body yesterday, so he was certainly still asleep. Shen Ning got up, washed, and then went into the kitchen.
She planned to make sugar-filled shaobing. Crisp, fragrant, and slightly charred on the outside, with sweet syrup inside—just thinking about them made her hungry.
After kneading the dough, she wrapped the white sugar directly inside and stuck the pieces to a pan that had been lightly greased. After turning them over several times, the shaobing gradually became golden brown. Once they were done, she ate two herself and drank a bowl of egg-drop soup. She left the rest of the shaobing warming in the pan, then went out and headed toward the village headman’s house.
Shen Ning planned to find someone to repair the house.
She was going to the village headman because she did not know much about the craftsmen in the village. The village headman often handled this sort of matter, and craftsmen were also easier to manage when hired through him.
When she arrived at the village headman’s house, Shen Ning placed three paper-wrapped sugar-filled shaobing on the table and said with a smile, “Uncle De, I made some sugar-filled shaobing. Let Yu and his two sisters have a taste.”
Sugar was a precious thing to begin with, and these were made with white flour at that. Zhao De’s originally stern expression immediately softened. He then advised her, “Without Zhao Mu, life will probably be difficult for you from now on. You should still manage your household frugally.”
Shen Ning immediately replied, “Uncle De is right.”
After the polite exchange, she explained why she had come and asked Zhao De to help her hire some craftsmen.
Zhao De pondered this. After a moment, he said, “As it happens, Laotie’s group is finishing up the house they’ve been building in Shihe Village today. How about this? I’ll speak to them. They can start on your work immediately afterward.”
Shen Ning thanked him repeatedly.
Zhao De continued, “But you need to settle the wages in advance. Laotie and the people he brings are all skilled workers. In Shihe Village, they’re paid thirty-two wen a day.”
Shen Ning thought for a moment. “I’ll pay thirty-eight wen and ask them to work harder and speed things up. Uncle De, do you think that will be all right?”
Zhao De immediately nodded. “They certainly won’t have any objections to that price. You go back first. Later, I’ll…”
Before he could finish, another figure walked in.
“Old Brother Zhao, are you home?”
It was Shen Ning’s first-ever acquaintance after arriving in this world—the mother of Pei Yuanzhou. What was her name again? Fan Ru?
When Fan Ru saw Shen Ning, she immediately smiled broadly. “Madam Shen is here too… Old Brother Zhao, I’ve come to ask you for a favor.”
After that simple greeting, Fan Ru did not look at Shen Ning again. She walked straight over to the village headman, as though she and Shen Ning were nothing more than ordinary fellow villagers, with none of the intimacy she had once shown when she pulled Shen Ning along to work.
Shen Ning had never really intended to do anything with the mother and son of the Pei family. After all, she had not been the one treated like an ox or horse, and the original Shen Ning had been the one who, despite being a married woman, insisted on going to their home to curry favor. It had merely been a case of one person being willing to hit and the other being willing to endure it.
She was just about to leave when she happened to notice Mother Pei glance in her direction, looking as though she were terrified Shen Ning would cling to her shamelessly.
Shen Ning stopped in her tracks. She was not leaving now.
Then she heard that, by coincidence, Mother Pei had also come to ask the village headman to help her hire people to repair her house.
The village headman gave an exasperated laugh. “This really is unfortunate timing. I’ve just agreed to help Shen Ning. In all the villages nearby, the only skilled workers are Laotie’s group. If you want them, you’ll have to wait until they finish the work at Shen Ning’s house.”
Fan Ru immediately grew anxious. “Old Brother, how can we wait? The roof is leaking, and it’s affecting my Yuanzhou’s studies.”
The village headman thought for a moment. “Then find someone else. Zhang Sheng’s group in Bai Family Village should have some free time recently.”
Mother Pei was unwilling to accept that either. “Are they not as good at their work as Laotie?”
The village headman was helpless. “You don’t want to wait, and you’re unwilling to use someone else. Then what exactly are we supposed to do?”
Mother Pei paused, then said, “It’s simple enough. Madam Shen probably isn’t in any hurry. Unlike our Yuanzhou, who needs to hurry and study. Why not have them work for us first, then send them to Young Madam Shen’s house afterward?”
The village headman frowned. “There has to be an order of precedence.”
Fan Ru smiled. “Oh, it’ll be fine as long as Madam Shen agrees… What do you say, Madam Shen?”
Mother Pei had never imagined that Shen Ning would refuse. After all, for more than two years, Shen Ning had always humbled herself before her and obeyed her every word. Forget asking them to repair their house first—even if they had asked Shen Ning to build the house for them herself, she probably would have agreed immediately.
Shen Ning had never been willing to let go of any opportunity to build a connection with their family.
However, as soon as Mother Pei finished speaking, Shen Ning shook her head.
“No, I’m in a hurry too.”
Shen Ning smiled sweetly. “There’s nothing I can do to give way to you.”
Fan Ru’s expression stiffened, and her gaze at Shen Ning immediately turned ugly.
Now that she had no hope of entering the Pei family, was she deliberately trying to make things difficult for them?
Heh…
Mother Pei turned her head and asked the village headman directly, “How much is Madam Shen paying?”
The village headman was puzzled. “Thirty-eight wen. Why?”
Mother Pei smiled. “How about this? I’ll pay forty-two wen. Old Brother, ask Laotie and the others which family they’re willing to work for first.”
The village headman froze. “This…”
He wanted to say that this was inappropriate, but she was voluntarily offering a higher price. He could hardly stop Laotie from making more money.
Just as the village headman hesitated, not knowing how to respond, Shen Ning spoke.
“So the Pei family’s Auntie is already this wealthy?” Shen Ning asked. “Then when are you going to repay the silver you owe me?”
Fan Ru froze. “W-What silver do I owe you?”
Shen Ning widened her eyes. “What? You even forget when you borrow money? Come, let me calculate it for you. Around the beginning of winter the year before last, Pei Yuanzhou needed to pay his tuition, and you fell ill. There wasn’t even a bundle of firewood in your home. You borrowed two taels of silver from me to get through the winter. Is that right?”
Fan Ru had nearly died of illness that time. Everyone in the neighborhood knew it, and Shen Ning had cared for her for almost a month.
“Later, during the New Year of that same year, you said there wasn’t enough silver in the household to get through the holiday. Pei Yuanzhou needed a long gown for his studies, and you wanted to have one made for him, so you borrowed another two taels and five qian from me…”
“Last year, when Pei Yuanzhou’s teacher returned to his home village, his fellow students went to see him off and needed to give him a gift. You said ordinary things would look too shabby, so you borrowed three taels of silver from me. I think you said you were going to buy some kind of stick of ink?”
The more Shen Ning spoke, the worse Fan Ru’s expression became. By the time Shen Ning deliberately counted everything off on her fingers, Fan Ru’s face had already turned faintly green.
“That makes twenty-one taels and three qian in total. Auntie, you know I need to repair my house too. Since you’re not short of money, why don’t you return the silver to me?”
Fan Ru’s mouth moved. She instinctively wanted to deny it, but Shen Ning had described every incident clearly. How could she deny the debt?
“Auntie was just so generous about raising the price to snatch the craftsmen. I assume you’re not short of money. What is this? Could it be that you’re planning to renege on your debt?”
Shen Ning spoke leisurely. “I heard Young Master Pei is going to become engaged to the Li family’s daughter. Her father passed the metropolitan examination and is going to become an official, so they certainly won’t lack silver. If you don’t have the money to repay me, why don’t I go ask Miss Li whether she’s willing to repay her future husband’s debt?”
Fan Ru’s head jerked up. “Who said I wouldn’t repay you? Didn’t we just finish discussing things here? I was planning to speak to you about it anyway. Who would have thought you couldn’t even wait a moment?”
Shen Ning let out an “Oh.” “It’s been more than two years, and you never mentioned it even once. I suppose I’m the impatient one… I couldn’t even wait until the third year.”
Fan Ru’s face shifted from white to green. Understanding immediately dawned on the village headman, and he deliberately asked, “Then shall I tell Laotie and the others it’s forty-two wen?”
Fan Ru immediately said anxiously, “No need. We’re not in such a hurry either. Let Madam Shen go first.”
With that, she hurriedly turned around to leave. Shen Ning called out, “Then I’ll go home with Auntie now to collect the money. After I receive it, I still need to come back and pay Uncle De in advance for the workers’ wages, as well as the bricks, tiles, and timber.”
Fan Ru secretly gnashed her teeth. “Come if you’re coming. Why are you shouting so loudly?”
Shen Ning did not care about her attitude. Smiling sweetly, she followed behind Fan Ru. Whenever they encountered someone, she called out loudly in greeting.
“Morning, Auntie Rong. I’m going to the Pei family. Auntie Pei is repaying the silver she owes me and asked me to go collect it.”
“Good morning, Third Granduncle. Oh, I’m going to the Pei family. Auntie asked me to come collect the silver she borrowed from me back then. Honestly, I told her it wasn’t urgent, but she insisted on repaying me today.”
By the time they reached the Pei family’s home, half the village knew that Mother Pei owed Shen Ning silver and was repaying it that very day.
Fan Ru was furious enough to grind her teeth, yet she still had to force a smile as she dealt with the neighbors. Once they arrived home, she went inside with a cold expression to retrieve the money.
Pei Yuanzhou was just about to leave for the county school. When he saw Shen Ning, he immediately frowned.
But Shen Ning was blocking the doorway, leaving him no way to avoid her. Pei Yuanzhou could only patiently ask, “Madam Shen, is something the matter?”
Shen Ning glanced at the male protagonist of the original story. “Oh, nothing much. Auntie is repaying the silver she owes me, so I’m here to collect it.”
Her expression was casual and her tone lazy. Her eyes were not clinging to him as they had in the past. Only then did Pei Yuanzhou realize that the widow before him seemed somewhat different from before.
She was no longer wearing that exaggerated, ridiculous attire, either.
At that moment, Mother Pei hurried out and stuffed several ingots of silver into Shen Ning’s hands. “Here… From now on, everything between us is settled. You have no further connection with the Pei family.”
This silver had been brought by Li Yushi to repair their house. The Li family’s father had remained in the capital and had become more financially comfortable. Although he had not yet settled a residence and could not immediately bring his daughter there, he had sent silver back.
Fan Ru had finally managed to cry poor and “borrow” thirty taels from Li Yushi to repair the house, only for nearly all of it to be taken away by this widow!
How hateful. Back then, Shen Ning had been the one to eagerly send the silver over. Now she insisted on taking it back. If not for her son’s future imperial examinations and the importance of his reputation, Fan Ru would never have given it to her so easily.
Bah! This shameless hussy actually dreamed of her son. Had she never looked at herself in a puddle?
Mother Pei’s expression was ugly and her tone mocking. “From now on, Madam Shen, don’t come to my house unless you have business here.”
Some nearby neighbors were craning their heads over to watch the spectacle, their ears pricked up.
Shen Ning weighed the silver in her hand and called out with a smile, “Of course. Now that the debt has been settled, I’m perfectly satisfied. I certainly don’t expect someone like Auntie to remember how she was helped for more than two years. From now on, we needn’t associate with each other.”
With that, she turned and walked away.
Mother Pei’s face turned green from the retort. When she saw the surrounding neighbors pointing discreetly and whispering among themselves, she angrily turned around and slammed the door shut.
“Mother, I’m going to the county school.”
Pei Yuanzhou said this and went out with his books.
He had also seen the neighbors whispering among themselves, but he paid no attention.
Country bumpkins were the most ignorant people, like mayflies drifting with the current. He did not care in the slightest about their gazes or their gossip, just as he had never cared about the attentiveness and flattery of that married woman.
He had already made his attitude clear. She had insisted on coming to him and serving him like an ox or horse. If she was treated coldly, how could she blame anyone else?
If she did not respect herself, how could she expect others to respect her…