Chapter 17: Trial Sale

When the freshly prepared cold jelly was placed before them, the others hesitated to move. Qin Huiyin urged, “Try it!”

Li Taohua picked up a strip and cautiously put it in her mouth.

“How is it?” Qin Huiyin looked at Li Taohua with expectant eyes.

Delight sparkled in Li Taohua’s gaze. “It’s delicious.”

The jelly had been chilled in well water, icy and refreshing, and paired with her specially blended sauce, the flavor was simply divine.

Qin Huiyin was not at all surprised by such praise. She picked up a piece of pig’s ear and placed it in Li Taohua’s bowl. “Try this as well.”

The pig intestines and pig’s ear had both been sliced into fine strips, then mixed thoroughly with the cold jelly’s seasoning. The aroma alone made one’s mouth water.

“It’s so delicious, absolutely wonderful.”

“You two should try some as well,” Qin Huiyin said to the pair beside her.

Tang Luwu and Tang Yixiao picked up their chopsticks and began to eat. Like Li Taohua, they first sampled a small bite, only believing her words after tasting it for themselves.

It wasn’t that they doubted Li Taohua’s judgment, but rather that she doted so much on her daughter that they thought perhaps her praise was exaggerated out of affection.

“Uncle Tang, what do you think?” Qin Huiyin called out.

Tang Dafu was chewing on pig’s ear, and with his mouth still full, he mumbled, “Tastes great.”

“Well then, eat more. I’ll need your help later!”

Li Taohua asked, “He can’t even get out of bed—how can he help you?”

“I want to take these things to the town and sell them. What do you think, Mother?”

“How do you plan to sell them?” Li Taohua did not answer directly, but questioned her about her plan.

“We’ll sell half of what we’ve just made, three coins a bowl. If customers want to add braised meat, they pay extra. I’ll need Uncle Tang to whittle some wooden sticks for chopsticks. They only need to be single-use, not as fine as our usual ones—just two thin strips that can pick up the jelly.”

“What about bowls for serving?”

“No need for bowls—it’s too much trouble and not worth the effort. We can make bamboo tubes instead; the mountain is full of bamboo, easy to gather.”

“Alright, I’ll go up the mountain with you later,” Li Taohua agreed.

“I actually meant…” Qin Huiyin was a bit embarrassed. “That all of us should go. Many hands make light work!”

Li Taohua looked at the Tang siblings. “Would you be willing to help?”

Qin Huiyin added, “It won’t be for nothing—I’ll pay you for your labor, how about that?”

Tang Luwu waved her hand anxiously. “No need for pay. We’re family; we ought to help.”

Tang Yixiao remained silent, lowering his head to eat the jelly. He needed a large sum for medicine every month, so the fact that this mother and daughter didn’t resent him for being a burden was already kindness enough—how could he ask for wages?

After being useless for so long, Tang Dafu was nearly overwhelmed to be told he was needed. He repeatedly promised he would whittle sturdy, practical disposable chopsticks.

So Li Taohua and her daughter, together with the Tang siblings, headed up the mountain. The villagers gathered to discuss what they might be up to.

“Li Taohua bought meat—my son Er Gou was so envious he cried. That woman is so stingy; Er Gou waited at her door for ages and didn’t even get a whiff of meat.”

“Good thing your son didn’t eat any—who knows what trouble he’d get into. The Tang family’s in such dire straits, yet she’s got money to buy meat. Who knows if that money’s clean?”

“Didn’t they say she sold her own clothes for the meat?”

“Selling your own clothes just to buy meat—what kind of decent family does that? That vixen must be scheming to seduce some man again. You’d best keep an eye on your husbands—if they’re late coming home, she’ll probably lure them away.”

“Isn’t Li Taohua being a bit too good to those Tang siblings? When she married Hunter Song, she was never this kind to Song Ruizhe, that strange little boy.”

“What’s so odd? The Tang family has Tang Yichen, the best scholar in the area. Song Ruizhe has a strange temper and is deathly unlucky—who wouldn’t want to avoid him?”

“Poor Song Ruizhe.”

“You pity him? He can kill a wild deer with one punch—can you?”

Everyone fell silent.

After Hunter Song died, Li Taohua sold the land to Song’s brother while Song Ruizhe was in the mountains searching for his father’s body. When he returned, he didn’t cause a scene—he simply drove the mother and daughter out. At just fourteen, he was already taller than his father. Ever since then, he kept to himself, becoming more and more withdrawn.

Qin Huiyin led her family up the mountain to cut bamboo and shape bamboo tubes. She was an adult woman, but had never done such labor before; she grew tired after only a short while. The other three were only teenagers. They were used to chores, but this kind of hard work was still exhausting for them, and they struggled through it.

Qin Huiyin almost wanted to give up. She noticed broad-leafed plants all over the mountain—if properly cleaned, the leaves could be used as makeshift containers, though they weren’t very pretty. She decided to make only fifty bamboo tubes, then pick some leaves to wash as backup. If the tubes ran out, the leaves would do in a pinch.

By the time they returned from the mountains, it was already late. The house had an oil lamp, prepared for Li Taohua’s and sometimes Tang Yichen’s use. But in recent times, to save on expenses, they’d take to resting as soon as darkness fell and rarely lit it. Tonight, Li Taohua used up the last of the lamp oil, and at last they finished preparing everything needed for the next day.

For the first trial sale, Qin Huiyin used just one jin of pea starch to make the jelly, then chilled it in the water jar, ready to take to town the next day. One jin of pea starch made six or seven jin of jelly—she hadn’t weighed it exactly, so she couldn’t be sure. But by her estimate, filling the bamboo tubes, it should yield fifty servings. The braised meat could be served with the jelly or sold separately. It wasn’t a large amount, but it would still turn a small profit.

That night, Qin Huiyin lay in bed, restless and unable to sleep. In modern times, she only needed to livestream online; she had never tried running a business. Starting over in another identity, she was both nervous and excited.

Tang Luwu was also awake. Earlier, Qin Huiyin had said everyone would go to town together to sell jelly and would be paid for their work. Although Tang Luwu hadn’t thought to ask for wages, the prospect of doing business for the first time left her uneasy.

“Luwu, do you think we’ll succeed tomorrow?”

“Your jelly is so delicious, Yin—of course it will be popular.”

The next morning, Qin Huiyin was roused by sounds outside and hurried to get up. She’d been up late with insomnia, so she slept especially deeply and didn’t even notice that Tang Luwu had already risen.

Li Taohua had breakfast ready. Seeing her awake, she said, “Still sleepy? You can rest in the cart later. For now, wash up and get ready to leave.”

Qin Huiyin glanced at Tang Yixiao’s patched clothing and resolved that, once they earned some money, she would buy him two new sets, even if the fabric was poor—it would be better than clothes full of mends.

Only Tang Yixiao’s clothes were so patched. Tang Dafu, having worked outside, still dressed decently. Tang Yichen, as the teacher’s favorite, had new clothes made for every season by the teacher’s wife. Tang Luwu now wore clothes that Qin Huiyin had taken in for her, which were still presentable.

After these days together, Qin Huiyin felt that Tang Yixiao’s attitude toward her was beginning to change. He did as she asked, no longer saying hurtful things to rile her. Since he was so obedient now, she ought to reward him, so he would continue to cooperate in the future.