Chapter 124: The Fallout

“Haw…”

Third Uncle Tang brought the ox cart to a stop and waited for Li Taohua to open the gate in the fenced courtyard.

Li Taohua jumped down from the cart and saw several people squatting outside the gate. She looked at them in confusion. “Is there something you need?”

The women were all simple, timid folk who usually took a detour whenever they saw her. Yet today, they were actually squatting outside her home.

Their faces flushed crimson. They nudged one another back and forth until, at last, they pushed the oldest among them forward.

The woman said hesitantly, “We wanted to ask whether there’s any work today for Iron Bull’s wife and Three Jin’s wife. We usually help them out.”

Three Jin’s wife was Wang Juying. Stammerer Zhang’s given name had originally been Three Jin, because he had weighed only three jin when he was born. Later, because he stammered whenever he spoke, everyone gradually forgot his real name.

“We still have some organizing to do here. If we need anything later, we’ll contact them. For now, you only need to wait for their notice,” Li Taohua said.

Qin Huiyin climbed down from the ox cart and said to the women, “Aunts, could you move aside for a moment and let the cart in first?”

The women awkwardly stepped aside, looking extremely ill at ease.

“If anyone in your families knows how to catch fish, you can catch some small fish and shrimp for me. I’ll pay one copper coin per jin.”

“Yes, yes! The fish traps I make are excellent. I never miss. How much do you want?” the oldest woman asked excitedly.

“Fifty jin, perhaps.” Qin Huiyin smiled. “I’ll trouble you all.”

“It’s no trouble at all. We’ll go catch them right now.” The women ran off excitedly.

Li Taohua laughed. “I think you’re about to become their God of Wealth.”

“This is mutually beneficial. They can earn a little money to make a living, while we can use the goods they provide to expand our business. Everyone benefits, so we can work together more often.”

Third Uncle Tang drove the ox cart into the courtyard, then began unloading everything.

After Li Taohua and the others had finished moving the goods, they were exhausted.

Third Uncle Tang stayed behind to repair the misshapen cooking pots, while Li Taohua went to Carpenter Zhang’s home to discuss having the folding tables and chairs remade.

Qin Huiyin and the siblings Tang Lüwu and her younger brother cleaned the cluttered pushcart, then took out the wooden bowls and washed them thoroughly.

They drew some water from the well and examined it. It was much clearer now. It still could not be consumed, but it was perfectly suitable for washing things.

A newly dug well had to be used often. The more it was used, the clearer the water would become.

Before long, Li Taohua returned with some bad news.

“Carpenter Zhang’s family is in complete turmoil. We’ll have to find someone else to make the folding tables and chairs.”

“Looks like we’ll have to go to town and find a carpenter,” Qin Huiyin said. “What happened to his family?”

“Carpenter Zhang and Dazhu are fighting over separating the household. The old woman keeps threatening to kill herself, while all their relatives are cursing Carpenter Zhang and his son for being heartless. They say the carpentry trade was passed down by his father, and now that he’s learned the craft, he refuses to support his mother and younger brother. Carpenter Zhang was so furious that he nearly chopped off his own hand with a knife in a fit of anger. Luckily, someone stopped him.”

“Shameless,” Third Uncle Tang said as he hammered the bottom of a pot. “Those so-called relatives are only there to watch the spectacle. The worse the family quarrel becomes, the happier they are. Anyone with eyes can see what is really going on in the Zhang family, yet they still help the old woman bully Carpenter Zhang.”

“The old woman has completely broken Carpenter Zhang’s heart,” Li Taohua said. “She still wants to rely on Zhang Lei to support her in her old age? She can forget it. Zhang Lei can barely support himself.”

“That’s what happens. The older some people get, the worse their judgment becomes.” Third Uncle Tang shook his head. “If you ask me, he should simply leave that house and find another place to live. Let them divide the household or not—it makes no difference. He just shouldn’t live under the same roof with them anymore. Given enough time, the old woman will realize how important her honest eldest son and daughter-in-law were.”

“Third Uncle, there aren’t many people as clear-headed as you,” Li Taohua said. “By the way, dear, will we still need mushrooms after this?”

“We’ll still need mushrooms, and we’ll also need earthenware jars. Mother, you and Third Uncle should make a trip to the pottery kiln. I’ll stay here and prepare the fermented black beans,” Qin Huiyin said.

“Good. What about those ‘clamping insects’—the crabs you mentioned? Do we still need them?”

“Not urgently. We’ve already made quite a lot of crab roe sauce in reserve. We can make more once the shopkeeper places a larger order. I’ll find Sister-in-law Xiang and Sister-in-law Wang later and explain the mushroom arrangements. Mushrooms aren’t available all the time. We can gather them several times now, but when demand increases, we won’t be able to supply enough. That’s why I want to teach them how to grow mushrooms.”

“You’re going to teach them to grow mushrooms? When you brought it up the other day, I thought you intended to grow them yourself,” Li Taohua said in surprise.

“I considered that, but the more I thought about it, the less practical it seemed. Our time is already very limited. If we insist on doing everything ourselves, even adding twelve extra hours to every day wouldn’t be enough. We need to let others share in the profits and give them a chance to earn money. That will make things easier for us and improve our relationships with everyone.”

Third Uncle Tang nodded in agreement. “The girl has a good head on her shoulders. As your family’s life improves, people will eventually grow jealous. If everyone becomes prosperous, even those consumed by envy won’t dare scheme against so many people.”

“There’s one more thing. Your uncle has been injured and probably won’t be able to help much. Are we still going to build the house?”

“We are.” Qin Huiyin did not hesitate. “Tomorrow, we’ll ask the village chief to rent us one of the village houses. We’ll clean out the place we’ll be staying temporarily and move over whatever we can. Once we’re settled, we’ll leave construction of the new house to the village chief’s son. Uncle Tang is injured, so he should rest without worry. We’ll put the village chief’s son fully in charge of the new house and give him a generous fee for his trouble. He should then do his best to make all the arrangements for us.”

Li Taohua felt a headache coming on.

There were simply too many things to deal with.

Still, with Qin Huiyin here, she felt inexplicably reassured.

Third Uncle Tang repaired the misshapen cooking pots first, then took Li Taohua to the pottery kiln to select the next batch of earthenware jars they would need.

Once Qin Huiyin had finished her work, she left the siblings Tang Lüwu and her younger brother at home to watch the place, then went to find Xiang Chuntao and Wang Juying.

Xiang Chuntao and Wang Juying had heard that several sisters-in-law and aunts they were close to had gone to catch small fish and shrimp. They had been planning to join them, but Qin Huiyin arrived at their door.

“Little Sister Huiyin, what brings you here?” Xiang Chuntao threw aside the fish trap in her hands and hurried over warmly.

“Sister-in-law, there’s something I’d like to trouble you with,” Qin Huiyin said with a smile.

“Why call it trouble? Just say the word and your sister-in-law would brave fire and water for you.” After saying this, Xiang Chuntao realized she had exaggerated. She smiled sheepishly. “Don’t laugh at me. I’m not very good with words and can be a little foolish.”

“You’re a truly clever woman. How could you be foolish? The thing is, sister-in-law, we’ll definitely need mushrooms. Tomorrow, I’ll still have to trouble you with taking some people into the mountains to gather them for me. The price will remain the same. But we’ll need mushrooms regularly from now on, and it won’t be easy to keep searching the mountains like this. I want to teach you all how to grow them. Ask around and see which sisters-in-law and aunts are interested. If anyone is willing, have them all wait at your home for me tomorrow after you finish gathering the mushrooms.”

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