"Madam Zhou is the happiest," she said. "We can get at least a few taels of silver each."
Tian Guihua shot her a look of annoyance. "Split what? Eldest daughter-in-law, are you trying to break up the family?"
Break up the family?
Madam Zhou had indeed thought about it. Back when the family was poor, there were too many mouths to feed and too few hands working. If she and Fu Dajin had split off to live on their own, their life would likely have been much better. But now, she realized it was a good thing they hadn’t; otherwise, this money would have had nothing to do with them.
"Mother, I didn't say anything about splitting the family."
"If we aren't splitting the family, why talk about splitting the money?" Tian Guihua retorted coldly.
Fu Dajin hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over. "Mother, no, we aren't splitting. We aren't splitting the family, no matter what."
Tian Guihua gently patted the little baby girl in her arms, unwilling to put her down even though she was asleep. "Has anyone in this family ever talked about splitting up?"
Everyone remained silent. Madam Zhou also kept her head bowed, realizing she had said the wrong thing and not daring to make a peep.
"This money must still be kept by your mother. If you really have expenses, go ask her for it. If your mother thinks it's necessary, she’ll naturally give it to you."
Madam Zhou’s hopes were dashed, and she felt quite disappointed. "Mother, I haven't had a new set of clothes since the year I married into this family."
No one else in the family had any either, except for Fu Qiujiu, who wore new clothes every day. Lady Wu had stitched together scraps of fabric to make her a small outfit, which was both unique and beautiful, along with a pair of little embroidered shoes. Madam Zhou was green with envy.
"The second daughter-in-law hasn't had any either," Madam Zhou added, trying to be clever by dragging Lady Wu into it so she wouldn't be the only one getting scolded. "You haven't worn anything new in a long time, have you, Mother?"
No woman dislikes beauty, especially since Tian Guihua had been quite pretty when she was young, but life had simply been too poor. Now that they suddenly had so much money, Tian Guihua also wanted her children to live a little more comfortably.
"Once these things are actually sold—if they fetch as much as Wujin says—I will let each of you make a new outfit."
Madam Zhou finally managed a smile and gave her husband a wink. Fu Dajin smiled awkwardly; his wife had no other real flaws, she just liked to be a bit calculating.
That night, once everyone else was asleep, Tang Xian called Feng Ji over to ask about the incident during the day.
"I didn't do it! I’m just as puzzled. I saw that wild boar grunting, and then it just dropped the ginseng and ran off."
If it wasn't Feng Ji, could the wild boar actually be able to read the room? Had it become a supernatural creature?
***
The Fu family was truly lucky this time. Unlike the pheasants, rabbits, and river fish, the ganoderma and ginseng were worth a fortune.
Early the next morning, Madam Zhou was making a fuss about wanting to go along. If they were going to sell them, she wanted to pick out the fabric herself; she wouldn't settle for what others chose.
"What about the chores at home?" Fu Baiwan asked, showing a hint of displeasure.
Madam Zhou noticed, but she played dumb. "Isn't the second daughter-in-law still here?"
Lady Wu didn't want to argue with her. "Father, just let the eldest sister-in-law go. I'll watch the house. Mother, you haven't been to town in a long time either, you should go. I'll watch the little sister."
"That's right, the second daughter-in-law is close with the little sister; it's fine for her to watch her."
Tian Guihua’s face remained stern; she also wanted to go see her fourth son. "Since that’s the case, let’s all go. There’s nothing much to look after here anyway."
"Mother... I won't go. I'll feed the chickens, and the vegetable patch needs planting. I'll go turn the soil."
"That’s a man’s job," Tian Guihua glanced at her. "With so many strong men in the family, do we really need you?"
"Exactly, sister-in-law. When we get back, Erjin, Sanjin, and I will have it done in no time."
Madam Zhou glared at Fu Dajin—*you just love showing off, don't you?*
Lady Wu was just making an excuse, but since everyone else was going, she decided to go too, taking Tianfu along to see the world.
However, Tang Xian spoke up at that moment. "Uncle Fu, Aunt Tian, you all go. I’ll stay and watch the house."
"Don't say that, child. We’re all going today," Tian Guihua said softly.
The words "our family" hit Tang Xian like a physical blow, and he almost lost his composure. The Fu family was going to sell things, buy supplies, or just have fun—he didn't need to do either. "Forget it, it's a bit of a long way there and back."
Tian Guihua slapped her forehead suddenly when she saw his slightly pale complexion. "Look at me, I forgot about that. You’re not in the best health, so it’s fine if you don't want to go. Is there anything you want? I can bring it back for you, dear."
Tang Xian shook his head gently; he lacked for nothing.
Seeing there was no point in further discussion, Fu Baiwan turned to get the treasure. Before long, he returned carrying a blue cloth bundle, but he looked at Fu Wujin with a suspicious expression. "This is strange."
Everyone had been discussing what to buy with the money, but seeing his expression, they all turned to look. Madam Zhou nudged Lady Wu with her elbow. "Something didn't go wrong with the treasure, did it?"
Tian Guihua glared at her. "Crow's mouth."
Madam Zhou shut up, crestfallen. Of course, she didn't want anything to go wrong; she was just worried.
Fu Wujin stepped forward. "Father, what is it?"
Fu Baiwan slowly opened the blue cloth. "I remember these things weren't this big yesterday. Look at this—the ganoderma has grown by more than half, and this ginseng seems to have gotten much thicker too."
But that was impossible. Though this was his first time seeing ginseng and ganoderma, he was a farmer, after all. Mushrooms and radishes withered once picked; they didn't continue to grow.
"Wujin, you tell me, what’s going on here?"
Fu Wujin took a deep breath and then shook his head. He didn't know; he hadn't seen anything like this in any medical books.
Standing nearby on the ground, Fu Qiujiu smiled secretly. It was because she had placed the ganoderma and ginseng in her space overnight. Not only that, she had mixed Spirit Spring Water into their large water vat, so the whole family used that water for drinking and cooking. Everyone was getting a dose of Spirit Spring Water, strengthening their bodies.
She really was a clever little thing.
Since even Fu Wujin didn't know, Fu Baiwan set his eyes on his little daughter. "It must be that our family's feng shui is good. These things can even grow after leaving the soil."
Although they didn't understand why, Fu Wujin had good news for everyone: since the ginseng and ganoderma had grown, the price would naturally double.
With Fu Wujin there, the clerks at the pharmacy wouldn't be able to swindle them. However, the Fu family were honest, simple folk who weren't good at haggling—they rarely had the chance to spend money in the first place.
Fu Qiujiu watched as the young clerk and the owner of the pharmacy sang in harmony, trying to drive the price down. Fu Wujin knew the market value but was too tongue-tied to argue. Just as she was worrying that her family would be convinced, Madam Zhou stepped up.
This was the first time Fu Qiujiu witnessed the ferocity of her eldest sister-in-law.
"That's the number. If you don't want them, fine. We only came to your shop because of our history with Doctor Wang. Otherwise, we would have gone to the Li family's pharmacy; they offered us much more than this before."
Madam Zhou gave Tian Guihua a wink. "Mother, forget it. What history? Cold hard cash is what matters. Don't bother with that useless talk."
"Your 'friendship' is worth a thousand taels, but they treat it like dirt. Let's go, let's go."
Tian Guihua was sharp and understood immediately, calling out to the others, "The eldest daughter-in-law is right. Let's go."
The items were truly high quality. Seeing them about to leave, the owner panicked and hurriedly called them back, agreeing to the hundred taels they had mentioned earlier.
"You young woman, your tongue is truly sharp; you don't spare anyone."
Madam Zhou shook her head triumphantly. If they got a few extra taels, everyone would have a share, and she was happy to put in the effort.
Outside the shop, Fu Dajin pinched Madam Zhou’s hand quietly. "Wife, I never knew you had this talent."
Madam Zhou smiled proudly. "I've always had it, but have you ever given me the chance to use it before?"
Back when they were poor, they rarely spent money and hardly saw a few copper coins all year. They were used to haggling when buying things, but raising the price when selling was a first.
Having sold it for nearly half as much again as they had expected, Fu Baiwan was delighted. Looking at his family’s worn-out, ragged clothes, he couldn't blame his daughter-in-law for complaining—other than his little daughter, no one in the family had bought new clothes in years. Their clothes were patches upon patches, and Little Ba and Tianfu were wearing their older brothers' hand-me-downs.
He immediately decided to take the family to the Treasure Pavilion and let everyone pick out a length of fabric to make new clothes.
Madam Zhou followed behind, pouting as she complained to Fu Dajin, "I helped earn an extra ten taels, I should get two pieces of fabric."
Fu Dajin smiled. "Take mine." He did manual labor all day anyway; he couldn't wear new clothes well, so he’d rather his wife be dressed beautifully—it made him look good, too.
"What do I want yours for? I'm just saying that since I contributed, I should get more than the others."
Tian Guihua lowered her voice to save her face. "Who in this family hasn't contributed? The men go out to work and earn money all day, and the second daughter-in-law cooks and feeds the chickens, busy from dawn to dusk. What’s that? Should I give you mine instead?"
Madam Zhou shook her head quickly. "Mother, I was just teasing Dajin."
Tian Guihua knew she had grown up with three sisters where if you didn't fight or compete, you got nothing, so she couldn't be bothered to argue with her.
The clerk at the Treasure Pavilion didn't recognize Fu Baiwan, but he recognized the little milk-bun in his arms at a glance. Such a beautiful child, he would never forget her once he’d seen her. But his smile vanished when he shifted his gaze to the others. "No scrap fabric today."
***
"Who said we were buying scraps?" Madam Zhou held her head high. Now that the family had silver, she had plenty of confidence.
The clerk scanned the group, not saying a word, but his eyes made it clear he didn't think much of them. "Well, go ahead and look, but remember: look only, no touching."
According to Tian Guihua’s temper, if someone looked down on them, they should just leave—couldn't they buy fabric elsewhere? But the Treasure Pavilion’s reputation in town was stellar. Anyone who owned an item from there would become the envy of every woman in the village.
Madam Zhou had already set her eyes on a bolt of fabric, a soft, tender pink. She knew it was high-quality material without even touching it. She didn't care if pink suited her or not; she just thought it looked good.
"I want this one."
"That one is thirty wen per chi." The clerk didn't move; he wanted to scare this group off with the price so they’d know their place.
Madam Zhou curled her lips, her tone bold. "So it's thirty wen? Give me ten chi."
Tian Guihua frowned. Five chi was enough for her height; the eldest daughter-in-law was playing her little tricks again.
"Mother, you didn't say how much each person could get, did you?" Madam Zhou looked at the tender pink fabric, already imagining herself stunning the whole village once she wore it.
What could Tian Guihua say?
"Then everyone choose your own. One piece of fabric per person, enough for an outfit." Tian Guihua, as a mother-in-law, might have had her preferences, but she would keep things fair on the surface. "Second daughter-in-law, you do the same as your sister-in-law."
Lady Wu wanted to say it wasn't necessary, but that would inevitably offend Madam Zhou. "Alright, thank you, Mother. And thank you, sister-in-law."
Madam Zhou wasn't happy; she felt Lady Wu was always looking for a free ride, letting her take the blame and do the scolding while she enjoyed the benefits. Still, she loved this fabric.
"Second sister-in-law, don't pick pink. It would be terrible if we both made the same outfit. Pick a different color." She was afraid Lady Wu would copy her, and then she wouldn't be the only one in the village with that look.
"Understood, sister-in-law. I'll pick this one."
Madam Zhou glanced at it and chuckled. "That's quite nice." In truth, she thought it was ugly—too old-fashioned; it was more suited for their mother-in-law.
Fu Dajin and Fu Erjin had their fabric chosen by their respective wives, while the younger ones were left to Tian Guihua. She couldn't be bothered with the hassle and just picked a bolt of fabric for all of them; the sons weren't daughters, so why did they need to look good? As long as they weren't showing their backsides, it was fine.
She had always told Fu Baiwan to be impartial, but in her heart, she was biased. The sons could pick whatever, but the little daughter’s things had to be special—pink, red, yellow, Tian Guihua picked several colors.
"Mother, didn't you say one outfit per person?" Madam Zhou couldn't miss that her mother-in-law was picking fabric for her little sister-in-law. "Why does the little sister have so many?"
"Qiujiu is only this big; five of her outfits wouldn't equal one of yours."
Tian Guihua glared at her. "If you think it's unfair, then your father and I won't get any, and we'll buy for Qiujiu instead."
"Mother, give mine to little sister too."
"Mine too."
"I don't want any either."
Seeing the younger brothers-in-law all chime in, Madam Zhou pouted; she knew she had offended everyone.
"Mother, you misunderstood. I didn't mean that. I was afraid you wouldn't pick well, so I wanted to help. Little sister, do you like this piece your sister-in-law picked?" Madam Zhou held up a piece of fabric to show Fu Qiujiu.
How could Fu Qiujiu not know her motives? This sister-in-law really couldn't handle a compliment; she had thought her sharp earlier, but now she was just being pathetic.
"Little sister, look at sister-in-law!"
However, Fu Qiujiu ignored her completely and looked elsewhere. Madam Zhou was left standing there in awkward silence, but no one wanted to engage with her. A woman in her twenties, actually fighting a baby for things.
Madam Zhou pouted at Fu Dajin, who could only shrug and offer a wry smile. What else could he do?
"*De-de*!" Fu Qiujiu grabbed a piece of fabric and refused to let go.
Tian Guihua guessed her little daughter’s thoughts. "The brothers already have theirs, Qiujiu."
However, the little girl shook her head.
Fu Baiwan took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow. "Could Qiujiu be wanting to give this to Sijin?"
Tian Guihua was skeptical. "Is that possible? She only saw him that one time, can she remember?"
An eight- or nine-month-old child normally wouldn't remember, but Fu Baiwan felt his daughter was different from others. "She can."
"Really?" Tian Guihua laughed. "You old man, you just think your daughter is special."
Fu Baiwan wasn't humble in front of his family at all. "So what? My daughter *is* special. My daughter is a lucky star."
"I thought she meant Tang Qi. Shouldn't we buy him a piece of fabric too? Everyone in the family has one, except him..."
A piece of fabric from the Treasure Pavilion wasn't cheap. Fu Baiwan gritted his teeth, thinking the boy was a sensible child. "Fine, let's buy one. Treat it as if we bought it for our Qijin, hoping that whoever found him will treat him as well as we treat Tang Qi."
Tian Guihua nodded, though a trace of sadness crossed her eyes. Her little Qi, where was he?
When paying, the clerk saw Fu Baiwan take out a ten-tael silver ingot. He had seen them before, but it was rare to see one in the hands of a poor commoner. He regretted his earlier attitude. "Uncle, our shop has a new batch of jade hairpins; they would be perfect for your wife."
Truth be told, Fu Baiwan was tempted. His wife had been with him for half a lifetime and hadn't owned a single piece of jewelry; now that they had money, it wouldn't hurt to buy one.
Tian Guihua saw what he was thinking but couldn't bear the cost. She pointed to the hairpin in her own hair. "I have a hairpin. My son made it for me by hand; it’s no worse than a jade one, and it won't break. It's just fine."
The clerk hadn't noticed before, but now he saw it was actually a sandalwood hairpin. Such pins weren't cheap in their shop, and this one looked strangely familiar, though the design on the head was different.
Failing to sell the jade hairpin, he turned his attention to Fu Qiujiu. He had heard everyone doting on the little girl earlier. "Uncle, our shop also has silver bracelets—perfect for a baby her size. Would you like one?"
Fu Baiwan was tempted again. Spending money on his wife and daughter was something he was always willing to do. This time, Tian Guihua had no objections. Fu Baiwan asked the others, "I’m buying a silver bracelet for your little sister; you don't mind, do you?"
They didn't mind—of course they didn't.
"Little sister will look great wearing it. Father, let's get the one with the little bell, shall we?"
Fu Baiwan nodded and specifically looked at Madam Zhou. She didn't want it, but she didn't dare say anything at this point—she had already offended everyone once.
"Father, why are you looking at me? I agree to buying it for the little sister." *Honestly, who doesn't know how to suck up?*
The total for the Fu family’s shopping spree was eight taels of silver. Tian Guihua’s heart ached—if they had gone to another shop, they surely could have saved two or three taels. Two or three taels could last them half a year if they were frugal.
***
The Fu family headed in a grand procession toward the Qian Grain Store. When they arrived, Qian Sijin was being berated by Zhao Xiaoyuan.
"Look at you! You can't do anything right, you're a bottomless pit, and we’re just raising a white-eyed wolf. Get out!"
Qian Sijin wanted to leave, but he wasn't staying for the money—he didn't want to watch his parents' hard work fall into the hands of his second uncle’s family. With their habit of skimping on weights and measures, they would ruin the shop's reputation in no time. But when he refused to do it, he got scolded.
"Useless, stupid..."
No mother could stand to hear the child born from her own flesh being cursed like that. Tian Guihua’s heart shattered.
"My dear, what did Sijin do wrong this time? Calm your anger, don't upset yourself." Tian Guihua wanted to get into a fight with Zhao Xiaoyuan, but if she had a moment of catharsis, Sijin would only suffer for it later. So, she had to endure. But she was keeping a tally of every single incident. Once her son realized the truth and came home with them, she would make sure to beat the life out of this fat hag.
Zhao Xiaoyuan’s arrogance had been high, but when she glanced and saw the Fu family—everyone from old to young, a dozen people—she gulped.
"Oh my, you stinky brat, you've got someone backing you up now? What do all these people want?"
Had Tian Guihua not held them back, the Fu brothers would have already rushed over to beat Zhao Xiaoyuan. They didn't think much—they just couldn't stand seeing their brother being bullied.
"We don't want anything, we’re just here to buy some things."
"Buy things?" Zhao Xiaoyuan curled her lips. "I think you’re here to take advantage of us. You want to conspire from the inside and out to empty my shop? Keep dreaming."
"This shop isn't yours," Qian Sijin said.
"And it's yours? You stinky brat, go take a piss and look at yourself in the reflection. Do you really think you’re a seed of the Qian family?"
"This was left to me by my parents," Qian Sijin said, head bowed.
"Your parents? That belongs to my Fubao’s eldest uncle and aunt."