In the afternoon, the carriage stopped in front of a picturesque and quaint mansion. Written in gold letters on the plaque at the front entrance were two words - Ji Mansion.
Here was a place most people dared not walk in with their heads raised, and she was the same. She still can't walk in through the front door with her current status, but it doesn't matter; she will soon be able to.
Accompanied by the maid, the girl entered Ji Mansion by the side door.
In the simple and clean courtyard, the girl saw Mrs. Ji, who was enjoying the plum blossoms.
Mrs. Ji was dressed in a purple blouse, a lotus-colored skirt, and a pearl on her forehead. She was elegant and distinguished, with extraordinary bearing.
"Xi'er greets the old lady, the old lady Wan Fu Jin." The girl kowtowed respectfully, demure and gentle.
Mrs. Ji smiled: "Sit down. The plum blossoms are in bloom. Accompany me to have a look."
"Yes." The girl answered, looking at the delicate plum blossoms. Shyness flashed across her eyes; as if watching the flowers reminded her of their owner.
The maid moved an embroidered stool and placed it next to Mrs. Ji’s wicker chair. The girl sat down gently and gave the mahogany silver brocade box in her hand to the servant woman. "Xi 'er just came back from the bodaiji* and had nothing to bring, so she bought some snacks for the Old Madam." The maid opened the food box and presented it to Mrs. Ji.
(T/N: Bodaiji - Temple for the ancestors.)
Mrs. Ji has seen the world before, and this little trick is not enough to surprise her. She just looked at the girl's face and tasted it briefly. But after a single bite, her expression changed.
The girl looked at Mrs. Ji's reaction and smiled gently: "Is it to the Old Madam's taste?"
Mrs. Ji finished eating a whole red bean glutinous rice cake and picked up the second one: "Where did you buy it?"
The girl smiled and said, "I bought it in Rhino Town."
"Rhino Town?" Mrs. Ji paused with the sweet cake in her hand and looked at the servant woman on the side. "Is it the one we passed by last time?"
"Exactly." The servant woman replied
The girl froze for a moment: "Old Madam, have you been to Rhino Town?"
"Asking if I have? I met a great fortune there!" Mrs. Ji smiled brightly, and before the girl could ask her about the fortune, she turned the conversation, "Let me ask you, if I choke because of food stuck in the trachea, how should it be handled?"
The girl thought for a while: "If determined that it is in the trachea, cut the throat and take out the foreign body."
Mrs. Ji muttered: "She said the same at the beginning."
"She?" The girl looked at Mrs. Ji in confusion.
Mrs. Ji told the girl that she had almost choked to death: "...Fortunately, I met an expert. Otherwise, you might not see me anymore."
The girl looked shocked, and hurriedly straightened up to examine Mrs. Ji's throat. Mrs. Ji smiled and said: "You don't have to look; it wasn't cut. Else, how will I be able to sit here and talk with you?"
The girl sat back, embarrassed: "Xi'er is stupid. But... may I ask, how did she take out the foreign body without cutting your throat?"
Old Madam Ji said: "She just pressed me a few times, and I vomited it out."
"How many times? Could it be Qigong?" the girl asked suspiciously.
(T/N: Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) is an ancient Chinese exercise and healing technique that involves meditation, controlled breathing, and movement exercises. <--Credits: livescience.com)
Mrs. Ji shook her head: "I don't know about this."
The girl lowered her eyes and smiled slightly: "No matter what, it's good that you are all right."
Old lady Ji looked at the little rabbit in her hand and said: "This snack is good. If only he were here, I’m sure he would like it too."
The girl's lowered her eyes to cover the disappointment in her heart: My Lord... hasn't come back yet.
***
Qiao Wei took the silver and left the forest.
The cage was hidden in a gorge and was difficult for ordinary people to notice. Only foraging animals can find it with their strong sense of smell. How did the person who left the money find it?
Could it be Xu Dazhuang?
Xu Dazhuang has been hunting for many years. It seems that it is not difficult to find one or two traps with clues. But... he can hunt himself, so why buy the prey from someone else's cage? And for the sky-high price of two silver taels too.
The cage was filled with bait for hares and pheasants, so only those animals could’ve been be trapped in it.
A hare is worth about a hundred coppers in the market, and a pheasant only eighty coppers. A single silver tael is about one thousand coppers! And with two of them, you can buy ten hares and twelve pheasants!
It was Xu Dazhuang who had told her these prices, so he would never give so much money if he’d bought them.
But if it wasn't Xu Dazhuang, who would come into this forest?
Qiao Wei couldn't figure out the reason by the time she reached her yard, so she stopped pondering.
Aunt Luo was in the middle of tallying the day's accounts, so she didn't notice that Qiao Wei had come back empty-handed: "...We sold for a total of 120 coppers. How were they sold, again?"
Qiao Wei reached for the wood planks and charcoal pencils and said while drawing: "We sold fifteen individually, three coppers each, so a total of forty-five coppers; also sold ten sets of two each for a total of fifty coppers; someone bought ten, so I gave her one for free, for a total of twenty-five coppers. Thus, the money is only for 49 pieces."
(T/N: Remember Ch13 - "You get one for three coppers and two for five coppers. And if you buy ten, you will get one free.")
Aunt Luo understood as soon as she looked at the picture: "So there is one more? Didn't you make fifty?"
Qiao Wei said: "When there were five left in the end, I only received money for four and gave her one for free."
"Ah, yes, yes, " Aunt Luo nodded, then paused and looked at Qiao Wei in surprise: "How come you remember it so clearly?"
She used to be called a walking computer in the past. She had no problem memorizing those precise medical data, let alone this.
She smiled and said, "I was born with a good memory."
Aunt Luo said with pride, "My daughter is so capable!"
In the afternoon, Qiao Wei's customized bed arrived, and the other party asked if it needed to be assembled. Qiao Wei said: "Does it cost extra money?"
"Yes." The other nodded.
Qiao Wei shook her head: "No need, I'll do it myself."
Those people didn't believe that a little woman could do carpentry work and stood there waiting for Qiao Wei to cough up the money ask for their help. But Qiao Wei went into the house and installed the bed in less than a quarter of an hour!
Everyone was stunned.
In the evening, the children slept in the new bed and did not want to go back to the kang.
Since Qiao Wei had bought the bed for herself, it was not big and was cold. The two children had to squeeze in. She said that she will sleep on the kang instead, but then the children crawled back onto the kang.
She understood; the little guys just wanted to sleep with their mother.
In the end, the three of them fell asleep on the warm kang...
The next day, Qiao Wei got up before dawn. Yesterday, she'd made fifty, and it was sold out in a quarter of an hour. Today she made one hundred and fifty - hundred red bean glutinous rice cakes and fifty sweet taro snowballs.
(T/N: I'm not a Chinese native, so I don't really know what these dishes actually are. "一百个红豆糯米糕，五十个香芋雪球。" This is the original sentence, so if anyone has any idea about them, leave a comment, and I'll upload some images for all of us to drool over.😋)
The price is the same as yesterday. It is still one for three coppers, two for five coppers, and one free for buying ten.
After breakfast, she and Aunt Luo took the children to the town in Shuan Zi's carriage and rented yesterday's booth for twenty coppers.
As soon as she took out the snacks from the basket, she was surrounded by a group of people.
"You're finally here?"
"I've been waiting for a long time."
"Is it still five coppers today?"
Qiao Wei smiled and answered one by one.
"Give me four."
"I want four too."
"If I take ten, will I get one free?"
Yesterday, quite a few of them bought one by one. But today, most were taking four each, especially the red bean glutinous rice cakes, which were selling quickly because of the repeat customers.
The sweet taro snowball was a new item. As usual, Qiao Wei cut a few for everyone to try, and many bought it after trying it. Those who couldn't try it saw the others buying so many and started lightening their pockets.
The scene was so clamorous that the owner of the opposite teahouse was surprised: "Is it so delicious? Xiao Liu, you go buy two."
Xiao Liu hurried over to buy. But by the time his turn came, it was already sold out.