Yao Jinling didn’t have even a single copper coin on her right now. When she had first gotten married, she’d dared to go head-to-head with Cai Chunhua because she had ten taels of silver in her hands. Now that she had no silver, she didn’t dare clash with Cai Chunhua anymore. All the household silver was in Cai Chunhua’s control.

If she had silver in hand like before, she would’ve already hired an ox cart to go to town. Now, she wanted to bring more rice to her family, so she scooped out a lot with determination, and now she could only bend over and carry it all the way to town.

The whole way nearly exhausted her. She walked and rested, walked and rested. She finally saw the big gate of her parents’ house. “Father! Eldest Brother! Are you home?”

Yao Mazi saw his daughter return with a large sack on her back and a box of candied fruits in her hands. He beamed with joy and received them. “What’s all this? It’s so heavy.”

“Dad, I brought some rice from home. Isn’t it expensive to buy in town?”

Yao Laoda also quickly came out to welcome this promising younger sister. She even had a box of candied fruits in her hands! Yao Laoda took it and immediately opened it to share and eat.

When Yao Mazi saw all that rice, his smile was so wide that the wrinkles on his face all squeezed together. “Dazhi’s mother didn’t say anything to you?”

“Hmph, that old woman can’t control me.”

At noon, Yao Dasao even specially cut some meat and stir-fried a meat dish. In their household, only this younger sister was successful. Once Zhao Dazhi passed the scholar exam, they would also bask in the glory. Not to mention anything else, ever since Yao Jinling married Zhao Dazhi, who in the alley didn’t look up to them?

On the whole table, there was just this one meat dish. There were still some half-grown kids in the house, and as soon as the food was served, it was snatched clean. Yao Jinling firmly picked up a chopstickful for herself. These days, Cai Chunhua hadn’t bought any meat. The table was always full of greens. Now she could finally get a taste of meat.

Yao Jinling burped from eating, wiped her mouth, and finally said why she came. “Dad, is there still any silver at home? Lend me ten or twenty taels, so I can give them to Dazhi to use.”

“What? Why do you need so much silver!”

Yao Dasao had just been happily cooking for her younger sister-in-law, but when she heard that she had come to borrow silver, her expression immediately changed. She had already been upset about the ten taels of silver given as dowry, and now she was here asking for more silver again.

Yao Mazi also didn’t really want to lend it. “Didn’t I already give you ten taels of silver as dowry? You already spent it all this fast?”

“Dad, no one in our family has studied, so you wouldn’t know—brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones are all expensive. My dowry was already used up by Dazhi.” Yao Jinling only said she used it for Zhao Dazhi, without mentioning at all that she had also spent a fair amount on food and drink for herself.

“Jinling, can’t you see how difficult things are at home right now? It’s all because of arranging a match for Dazhi’s younger sister. Your brother and I had been working just fine at Master Gao’s household, but not only did we get thrown out, we even got beaten up. You wouldn’t believe it—the bruises are still on my body.”

Yao Mazi and Yao Laoda had been working for the rich landlord Master Gao in town, doing labor jobs. When they saw that Master Gao was interested in taking a concubine, they thought of Zhao Dazhi’s younger sister and planned to introduce Zhao Yueniang to Master Gao as a concubine, hoping to earn a few taels of silver as a matchmaking reward.

Master Gao was indeed generous. Right away, he promised a betrothal gift of twenty taels of silver, plus five taels of silver as a matchmaking gift to their family. Everything was almost settled—until Zhao Yueniang ran off. Meanwhile, Cai Chunhua managed to get twenty taels of silver from elsewhere.

As for their own family, the girl ran away, the marriage wasn’t sealed, and not only did they lose the five taels of matchmaking silver that had been agreed upon, but Master Gao thought the father and son were toying with him. They were beaten up and kicked out, and even lost their jobs.

There were several mouths at home waiting to be fed—Yao Mazi truly didn’t want to lend out any silver.

When Yao Jinling saw her father’s face darken, she started speaking again. “Dad, Dazhi is definitely going to pass next year. Let me tell you this in secret—don’t spread it around. Dazhi said the silver is gonna be given to a Juren. By next year, once the Juren confirms it, it’ll be a done deal.”

Yao Mazi was somewhat tempted when he heard that. “Really?”

“Really! My in-laws have already spent thirty to forty taels of silver—it’s just a little bit more now. That Xiucai will be your son-in-law next year!”

Yao Jinling got a little anxious, afraid her father wouldn’t lend her the silver, so she deliberately exaggerated how much silver had already been spent.

Yao Mazi turned to look at his son. “Laoda, what do you think?”

They were just laborers working in a landlord’s household and didn’t really understand anything about scholar lords or successful exam candidates, but hearing how convincingly Yao Jinling said it, he started to be swayed. If they lent a hand today and Zhao Dazhi passed next year, wouldn’t he remember their kindness? Their family would gain face, too.

Yao Laoda spoke. “I’ve got ten taels—take it and give it to Dazhi.”

Yao Laoda’s wife was unhappy. She pulled his sleeve with a stern face. “We barely have any savings left. Now that you and Dad both lost your jobs, we still have mouths to feed at home.”

Yao Laoda glared at her. “What do you women know? Once Dazhi passes next year, won’t our family gain face too? They’ve already spent thirty to forty taels—what’s this bit more?”

Yao Mazi also clapped his hands and stood up. “I’ll give you ten taels too. Take it.”

Yao Jinling let out a happy “Ai!” and laughed like a chrysanthemum blooming in the autumn air.

Yao Jinling took the silver and hired an ox cart to head back. The silver her father and brother gave her included some taels and a few strings of copper coins. Yao Jinling secretly hid two taels of silver on her person and only said she had borrowed eighteen taels when she got back.

When Yao Jinling got home, she handed the eighteen taels of silver to Zhao Dazhi. Zhao Dazhi didn’t even want to stay at home for a moment—he took the silver and hurried off. “Mom, Jinling, I’ll hurry and send it to the Juren. I’ll be back in a few days.”

“Dazhi, Dazhi, come back early.”

Cai Chunhua snorted. “Come back early? He should stay longer with the Juren—that’s the right way.”

Yao Jinling now had two taels of silver tucked in her bosom, and her back was straighter. She no longer had to look at Cai Chunhua’s face to eat. “Hmph, this silver was borrowed from my maiden family. Once Dazhi passes next year, we’ll have to return even more to my family.”

“Dazhi is my son—whatever silver he gets belongs to my family.”

Yao Jinling directly pushed the eyesore Cai Chunhua out of the main hall and slammed the door shut with a bang, making Cai Chunhua curse and yell in the courtyard. Yao Jinling couldn’t care less. She thought that once Zhao Dazhi became a scholar next year, all those wealthy merchants and landlords trying to curry favor would definitely send silver their way.

A few days later, after two bouts of rain, the weather gradually turned colder. Zhao Yueniang had previously mentioned to her brother that she wanted to wash more pig offal so she could earn a few more copper coins.

Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan hadn’t agreed. The weather was getting colder. If they brought back too much and waited until winter, even if they used hot water to wash it, her hands would crack open from the cold.

Only then did Zhao Yueniang give up on the idea. Her brother embroidered, and she cleaned the house spotless while taking care of the pigs and chickens.

Zhao Yueniang opened the chicken coop door and went in to collect eggs. It had gotten a bit colder recently, and the chickens weren’t laying as many eggs. She was only getting two or three a day. Today, she searched the coop for a while and only found two eggs. She couldn’t help but mutter, “Why aren’t you all laying eggs?”

Just as Zhao Yueniang was about to leave, she suddenly heard the chirping of chicks coming from the chicken coop. She bent down and saw a fluffy little chick poking its head out from under a brooding hen’s feathers.

Zhao Yueniang quickly shouted, “Brother, brother, come look! Our little chicks hatched!”

“Really?!”

Lin Yu put down his embroidery hoop and hurried to the backyard. He crouched down with Zhao Yueniang and saw a deep brown chick with mottled stripes peeking out from underneath. Lin Yu’s eyes curved with joy. “We’ve got a chick! It hatched from our own coop!”

“Mm!”

The two of them were very fond of the newly hatched chicks, and they squatted on the ground watching for a long time before standing up. Lin Yu had a smile at the corners of his mouth, “The weather isn’t very cold right now, so it should be fine.”

“Brother, how do you feed the chicks? What do they eat?”

“Just sprinkle some millet tomorrow, that’ll be enough.”

Lin Yu was happy today and personally cooked a braised rabbit for dinner. These days, whenever Wei Qingshan had time off, he would run into the mountains to hunt some wild chickens and wild rabbits, and such. Mainly, he was trying to catch wild rabbits, wanting to get more rabbit skins to make Lin Yu a piece of clothing to wear—so he wouldn’t be cold during the winter.

These days, wild rabbits and chickens have been a constant supply at home. Wei Qingshan would take some to sell in town and leave some for home consumption.

As soon as the sound of the mule cart was heard from outside, Lin Yu hurriedly came out to greet, “You’re back.”

“Mm, business was still pretty good today.”

Lin Yu helped carry down the chopping board, wooden bucket, and such from the mule cart, while Wei Qingshan led the mule to the backyard, fed it hay, and gave it water.

Wei Qingshan carried the wooden bucket away to rinse it. “Why are you so happy today?”

“How could you tell?”

“From the moment I came home, the corners of your mouth haven’t gone down.”

“Is it that obvious?” Lin Yu lightly coughed to cover his smile. “Our little chicks hatched today! I figure by tomorrow the hen can take them running around in the chicken pen.”

“Oh, that fast?”

“You call this fast? I’ve been anxious these days, afraid that when our chicks hatched, the weather would already be cold. It would be hard to raise them.”

As soon as Wei Qingshan came back, Lin Yu was circling him. The two of them squatted together, washing the wooden bucket. If not for the oil on his hands, Wei Qingshan really wanted to rub his little husband. Just a few little chicks could make him this happy.

Zhao Yueniang was stoking the fire in the kitchen. Hearing the two talking, she also smiled. Her older brother used to be silent and taciturn when he was at the Zhao family, but she had found that after getting married, not only had his personality become more lively, but he even spoke more.

Seeing her older brother’s life getting better and better, Zhao Yueniang felt truly happy inside.

Zhao Yueniang poked her head out from the kitchen, “Brother, the meal’s ready.”

“Alright, I’ll go bring the dishes.”

Just as the two finished washing the wooden bucket, Lin Yu washed his hands and went to bring the food. He had cooked red-braised rabbit, stewed winter melon, and also made a sauerkraut meatball soup.

Zhao Yueniang helped set the bowls and chopsticks and served the rice, and the three of them sat around the table to eat.

After the weather turned colder, the sun began setting earlier, and once it got dark, they would go to bed early after dinner.

After a day of resting at home, they slaughtered another pig. Wei Qingshan drove the mule cart to town. Shi Xiaoliu had been waiting at the street corner early on. “Uncle Wei, you’re here!”

Shi Xiaoliu quickly carried down the wooden bucket for the stewed offal and efficiently set up the stall.

Just as Wei Qingshan was cutting meat for customers, a beggar ran up, “Boss Wei, Miss Qingyi said she’s waiting for you outside town this afternoon.”

“Got it.” Wei Qingshan gave the beggar two copper coins. The beggar left in high spirits.

Looking at the beggar running off, Shi Xiaoliu remembered himself. Back when he was a little beggar in town, he was always bullied by those big beggars. Luckily, he later met his mother, Uncle Wei, and Lin Ama.

Business at the stall was still good today. Even though the braised offal stall had been running for quite some time, they only had a limited amount each day—if people didn’t come early, they wouldn’t be able to buy any.

Wei Qingshan’s meat stall also did well. By the time the sun began to set in the afternoon, they could pack up and go home.

Wei Qingshan closed up shop and drove the mule cart out of town. He wasn’t surprised that Qingyi was looking for him—doing this kind of business in town always required some tricks.

Qingyi was waiting for him under a big willow tree. Seeing Wei Qingshan approach, she threw him a cloth bag. “You finally came. I’ve been waiting for you half the day. This is your share.”

Wei Qingshan sat on the mule cart and didn’t get down. He just opened the cloth bag to take a look. “So much.”

“Mm, eight taels. Fifty-fifty split.”

Originally, they had agreed on a sixty-forty split—Wei Qingshan forty, Qingyi sixty. But once Qingyi had the silver in hand, she just split it evenly. Aside from what Zhao Dazhi spent on food and things, they had gotten a total of sixteen taels of silver from him.

She had coaxed out from Zhao Dazhi’s mouth what had happened in the Zhao family. That Zhao Dazhi’s family was truly disgusting—not only did he pocket all of his cousin’s betrothal gifts, he was even thinking of selling his own biological sister.

“How’s Zhao Dazhi doing recently?”

“Still at my place. He doesn’t have much silver left. I’ll kick him out in the next couple of days.”

Wei Qingshan cupped his fists toward her. “Many thanks.”

Wei Qingshan drove the mule cart away, and Qingyi also leisurely left.

That night, Wei Qingshan handed the eight taels of silver to Lin Yu for safekeeping. Lin Yu was very surprised. “Where did so much silver come from?”

“The Zhao family took twenty taels from us. I had someone get some of it back.”

“Ah?” Lin Yu was wearing only a white single-layer garment, his hair was loose, and he was kneeling on the bed with his eyes wide open, looking particularly well-behaved. “How did you get it back?”

“Just keep it. Don’t worry, they won’t know.” Wei Qingshan didn’t want to dirty Lin Yu’s ears with such filthy matters, so he didn’t explain.

Lin Yu was a bit suspicious, but obediently didn’t ask further. He carefully put the silver away. “Then should we tell Yueniang?”

“Just say we pulled some strings and got eight taels back from the Zhao family.”

“Alright.”

Lin Yu looked at Wei Qingshan with sparkling eyes. To say he didn’t feel pained about spending twenty taels was a lie, but compared to Yueniang, silver wasn’t as important. Now that some silver had been recovered, to say he wasn’t happy would also be a lie.

Lin Yu looked at Wei Qingshan with a face full of admiration, his eyes filled with Wei Qingshan’s reflection. “You’re amazing.”

With the little husband’s hair let down, he looked really obedient—how could anyone resist? Wei Qingshan blew out the oil lamp and pushed down his little husband. Lin Yu was startled and obediently wrapped his arms around Wei Qingshan’s neck. “No… don’t bite my neck, it’ll… it’ll be seen.”

The next day after Wei Qingshan left, while Lin Yu was sitting in the courtyard embroidering, he told Zhao Yueniang about recovering the eight taels of silver. He knew Yueniang appeared fine on the surface, but in her heart, she hadn’t gotten over it. That’s why he told her, so she wouldn’t keep brooding over it.

Zhao Yueniang looked completely disbelieving. “Brother, they gave us back the silver? You’re not lying to me?”

Zhao Yueniang knew the character of Zhao Jiazhu and Cai Chunhua—once silver was in their hands, getting it back was harder than ascending to the heavens.

“Your Qingshan-ge had someone get it back. Just know that. Don’t tell anyone.”

Although Zhao Yueniang didn’t know what method was used, she nodded firmly. “Brother, I understand.”

Zhao Yueniang wiped her tears. “Brother, no matter what method Qingshan-ge used, as long as we could get some silver back, that’s good. Otherwise, I’d never be able to feel at ease for the rest of my life.”

Lin Yu wiped Zhao Yueniang’s tears. “Alright, it’s all in the past. We must be happier from now on.”

“Mm!”

Lin Yu put down the embroidery hoop in his hand. The strange sensation made him shift uncomfortably. Yesterday, he hadn’t let Wei Qingshan bite his neck, so he had bitten all over his body instead. When he got up in the morning, even his ankles had teeth marks.

Thinking of this made Lin Yu blush uncontrollably. He coughed lightly and stood up. “Yueniang, how about we go take a walk on the back mountain?”

Anyway, he couldn’t sit still to embroider right now—might as well go out for a walk.

Zhao Yueniang wiped her tears and stopped crying. “Alright.”

The two of them carried baskets on their backs and brought along a small shovel. It was already late autumn, the wild grass was all withered and yellow, and there weren’t many edible wild vegetables left. In winter, they’d only have dried vegetables to eat. Lin Yu felt a bit lucky—fortunately, he had planted some pumpkins and winter melons this year, so they wouldn’t have to eat only dried and pickled vegetables all winter.

The two of them slowly walked along the back mountain carrying their baskets. The heavy burden in Zhao Yueniang’s heart suddenly lifted, and she felt much lighter, even showing a smile on her face. “Brother, there really aren’t many wild vegetables left now, they’re all old.”

“It’s fine, I just brought you out for a walk.”

The two stepped over fallen leaves. Lin Yu straightened up the withered branches, and Zhao Yueniang came over. “Brother, it looks like it’s wild galangal!”

Lin Yu thought it looked like that, too. He pulled on the stalk and lifted it—wrapped in the soil were a few crisp and tender wild galangal roots. “It really is wild galangal. Growing up in a place like this, no wonder no one saw it.”

Wild galangal, also called ghost ginger, likes to grow on grave mounds and such places. Even if it grew in such places, country folk with nothing to eat would still dig it up. Lin Yu found it off-putting—he wouldn’t take it even if he saw it. These few plants grew in a ditch, which was why no one had dug them up.

Zhao Yueniang had already put down her basket and started digging. It was easy to pull—they came right out with a bit of strength. Lin Yu’s back was sore, and he didn’t dare to bend over much, so he had to keep his back straight while pulling, then toss the galangal into the basket.

Zhao Yueniang found his strange posture odd. “Brother, what’s wrong with you? Are you uncomfortable?”

Lin Yu’s face turned crimson. “No, nothing. Just sore from sitting and embroidering.”

“Then you rest. There aren’t many anyway, I’ll dig them up quickly.”

“No, it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt much.” Lin Yu didn’t even dare to raise his head when asked—he blamed himself for indulging too much yesterday and letting Wei Qingshan mess around.

Zhao Yueniang wouldn’t let him help anymore. She quickly dug up all the galangal herself. She clapped the dirt off her hands and stood up. “Alright, Brother, let’s go back.”

The two of them only found a bit of galangal on their walk around the back mountain, filling about half a bamboo basket. It could be stir-fried or pickled.

They couldn’t just return with that, so on the way back, they gathered some firewood to carry home.

In town, after Zhao Dazhi lost the silver, he was kicked out by Qingyi. He made a scene, banging on the door, and was beaten up by two tall, burly men and thrown out onto the street.

People on the street pointed and whispered about him. Zhao Dazhi covered his head with his sleeve, not daring to show his face. He didn’t even dare go home—his face was covered in bruises, and he couldn’t explain it if asked.

After Qingyi got rid of Zhao Dazhi, she hid away. Anyway, things would calm down in a few days. That day, she was carrying a basket and buying rouge and face powder on the street when a man with messy hair grabbed her, “Qingyi, Qingyi.”

Qingyi was startled. When she saw it was Zhao Dazhi—who still hadn’t gone back to the countryside after three days—she pushed him away. “Get lost!”

“Qingyi, Qingyi, you said you liked me. Didn’t you say you’d follow me for a lifetime? Let’s go back, okay?”

Qingyi showed a look of disgust. “What, go back with me so you can spend my silver and let me feed you? You actually believed the words of someone in my line of work?”

Zhao Dazhi had gotten used to living it up in Yanghua Alley. How could he be willing to go back to the countryside? All he thought about now was following Qingyi—big fish, big meat, fragrant incense, and soft quilts—how could he possibly want to leave?

Zhao Dazhi pestered Qingyi, not letting her go. Yao Laoda, who was squatting by the street waiting for a job, happened to see this scene. He looked at the man tugging on the woman—he looked like Zhao Dazhi. No, wasn’t his brother-in-law supposed to be studying at the home of a Juren? How could he be this filthy and tangled up with a woman on the street? And that woman clearly worked in that line of business.

Yao Laoda watched for a while before daring to confirm it. He stepped forward and grabbed Zhao Dazhi. “Brother-in-law, what are you doing here?”

When Zhao Dazhi saw it was Yao Laoda, he struggled to free his arm and tried to run. Zhao Dazhi, tangled up with a courtesan on the street—how could he be allowed to leave? Besides, Zhao Dazhi had taken twenty taels of silver from his family!

“Zhao Dazhi, you tell me clearly! Haven’t you been studying at the Juren’s house these days?!”

Zhao Dazhi acted like a rat with its tail stepped on and desperately ran, “I’m not—I’m not Zhao Dazhi!”

Qingyi was laughing so hard on the side she couldn’t straighten up. “So, Zhao Dazhi, turns out I’m that Juren, hahaha. He’s been with me these days.”

Only then did Yao Laoda understand what had happened. He slapped Zhao Dazhi across the face. “You took the silver and went whoring!”

Yao Laoda grabbed Zhao Dazhi by the collar and dragged him home. Those twenty taels of silver from his family couldn’t just go down the drain.

He dragged Zhao Dazhi back home. When Yao Mazi heard that the silver wasn’t used for the Juren but had been taken by his son-in-law to spend in a brothel, he was so angry his vision went black and he collapsed.

The Yao family was thrown into chaos. The Yao family’s daughter-in-law was wailing and screaming, grabbing Zhao Dazhi and demanding he return the twenty taels of silver to the family. Zhao Dazhi’s face had already been clawed into streaks.

Yao Laoda helped his father up and pinched his philtrum, and only then did Yao Mazi slowly come to. The Yao house was in an uproar—adults were crying and howling, children were crying in a group, and neighbors were all craning their necks to look in.

“What happened?”

“Seems like their son-in-law took the silver and spent it in the red-light district.”

“Didn’t the Yao family say their son-in-law would definitely pass the imperial exam next year?”

“Pass the exam? He’s the top scholar of the powder-scented district, hahaha!”

More and more onlookers gathered. After Yao Mazi regained consciousness, he tied up Zhao Dazhi to get an explanation. That silver couldn’t just disappear—it had to be reclaimed. So it had all been lies!

Yao Laoda and the Yao family’s eldest daughter-in-law went along too. Several half-grown children were left at home. The three of them pressed Zhao Dazhi as they headed for Dali Village.

On the way, Yao Mazi didn’t hold back, hitting Zhao Dazhi with a stick again and again. “Who let you go to that kind of place! Who let you go to that kind of place!”

Although Zhao Dazhi was beaten, he still looked down on these mud-legged peasants. He was a lofty scholar!

Plus, after being flabbergasted senseless in Yanghua Alley these past days, his temper had been fluffed up as well. Back in Yanghua Alley, who didn’t flatter him? Who didn’t respectfully call him Scholar Sir? And now this illiterate mud-leg dared to hit him?

“You dare to hit me? I’ll be a scholar in the future—you dare to hit me?!”