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墨書 Inktalez
Xiao Lihua listened to Xie Youshun and tightly held his hand, feeling less afraid inside.
The couple felt closer after this incident.
No matter what happened, life had to go on. Xiao Lihua and Xie Youshun continued shopping. Since they didn't have much silver, they went to Money Exchange to convert some banknotes into Silver and Copper Coin.
Xiao Lihua expressed her desire to buy some Fine Noodles and white rice. Although eating coarse grains is beneficial for health, having it too often can be tiring. She thought it would be nice to change things up a bit, especially since her current body was somewhat weak. Stone and Wood also looked frail; even though Xie Youshun appeared tall, he was quite lean. It would be better for them to gain some weight. She planned to cook delicious meals for her family so they could all get a bit chubbier.
Xie Youshun nodded but thought it would be inconvenient to carry everything back today since there was no Village Ox Cart available.
Xiao Lihua suggested, "Let's buy a cow and an Ox Cart! Don't worry about where the money comes from; we can just say we saved someone today, and they rewarded us! If we buy the cow, it will make traveling easier in the future and save us transportation costs. Plus, we can use it for farming; it can plow the fields and help bring food home. We won't need to rent someone else's cow anymore, and we could even rent ours out."
"You're right, wife. Let's go buy a cow and an Ox Cart."
"Then let's go!"
Seeing that Xie Youshun agreed, Xiao Lihua happily took his hand and laughed when she noticed he seemed a bit shy about being pulled along.
The couple went to the place selling Cattle. Here, they sold not only cows but also donkeys, horses, and sheep, divided into sections. Xiao Lihua felt envious of the donkeys and horses; riding in an Ox Cart was never as comfortable or fast as being pulled by them. Most importantly, it didn't feel as impressive. However, given their current situation at home, they didn't really need a horse cart; buying one would attract too much attention. It was better to spend their money on something useful first.
But when she saw the sheep, Xiao Lihua wanted to buy one. Sheep Milk is very nourishing for the body. In her previous life, she had seen children who grew up drinking Sheep Milk, looking plump and fair like the children in traditional paintings. Adults benefited from it too; it strengthened the body and improved beauty. Xiao Lihua touched her face; although it was still relatively fair, she could feel herself starting to become like a worn-out woman of old age—ancient women tended to age quickly.
As a woman, she remembered how a certain Mistress had once pointed at her nose and said that even if she could have children, her prematurely aging face would make any man leave her. This thought bothered her as she glanced at Xie Youshun, realizing she needed to take good care of her appearance in this life. So she told Xie Youshun that she wanted to buy a sheep.
After listening to Xiao Lihua talk about the benefits of Sheep Milk, Xie Youshun nodded in agreement. He thought his wife's animated expressions were quite lovely; previously, she either argued with him or sat silently with an icy demeanor. This new version of her was much more appealing; he wanted to agree with whatever she said.
With her eyes sparkling with joy, Xiao Lihua led the way to buy the cow first.
Xie Youshun quickly picked out a young adult cow with precision during bargaining, reducing the price from twelve taels to ten taels. At this time, cows couldn't be casually slaughtered, so they needed to obtain a paper contract proving that this cow belonged to the Xie Family. Afterward, they went to buy an Ox Cart, where they received a whip as a bonus. Both of them smiled at their new possession.
When they arrived at the sheep seller's place, Xiao Lihua chose a mother sheep that had just given birth to two little female lambs. The mother sheep was white while one lamb had a black spot on its left front leg and the other had a black spot on its forehead; they looked very cute. There weren't many sheep for sale because mutton had a strong flavor and people often complained about the taste of Sheep Milk, so they weren't very expensive—two large taels for all three sheep.
Feeling sorry for the two lambs and not wanting them to tire from walking, she placed them in a basket while tying the mother sheep behind the cart. The mother sheep obediently followed along as the lambs bleated.
After buying cows and sheep, they also purchased some meat and offal bones before heading off to buy rice and noodles.
At the grain store, they bought a bag of rice, a bag of Fine Noodles, half a bag of cornmeal, half a bag of millet, and finally ten pounds of mung beans. They loaded everything onto the cart before heading over to the grocery store for oil, salt, and other essentials like Sichuan peppercorns and spices. They also bought a pack of brown sugar and a pack of white sugar.
At the Snack Shop, she bought some snacks and candies, having them packed into several small bags. Besides giving some to her two sons, she also needed to send some to the old house. No matter how strained their relationship was, she still had to show filial piety; otherwise, people would talk if they saw them buying so many things without giving anything to the elders. Additionally, she had to send a portion to Wang Dashan's family, as they had helped them quite a bit.
Xie Youshun felt comforted seeing Xiao Lihua being so thoughtful.
Thinking that since they were buying things, they might as well get everything at once to avoid drawing attention by coming back again, they also picked up pots, bowls, and other household items. Soon, the cart was filled to the brim.
"Alright, that's enough for today."
Xiao Lihua finally satisfied her shopping craving. Having lived a frugal life in this world until now, it felt good to buy something freely; indeed, having money was nice.
Xie Youshun looked at the cart full of items and felt happy. He thought today felt like preparing for the New Year, even more festive than that time because today his wife was shopping. She kept smiling, unlike before when her face was often long and she would leave in a huff if anything displeased her. They would have to pull her back, and she would go home angry, refusing to come along again, which made her even more upset at home and ruined their New Year celebrations.
At that moment, Xiao Lihua's stomach growled twice, and Xie Youshun couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"What are you laughing at? I don't believe you're not hungry."
Xiao Lihua shot him a glare, thinking that he looked better when he smiled and showed his teeth.
Xie Youshun continued to smile but stopped at a stall selling steamed buns. He ordered four steamed buns and eight dumplings—four meat and four vegetarian. After paying, he handed one meat dumpling over to Xiao Lihua. She finally smiled; she didn't want the meat one since she wasn't used to eating fatty dumplings at this time. Even if the pork was all-natural now, she still didn't like fatty meat. So she chose a vegetarian dumpling instead and gave the meat one to Xie Youshun.
As Xie Youshun drove the cart while eating his dumpling, the two hurried back on the Ox Cart.
With the Ox Cart moving quickly and their spirits high, it felt like they arrived at the village in no time.
It was just past noon; everyone had just finished lunch and were wandering around digesting their food. As Xie Youshun drove back with a cart full of goods, he immediately attracted everyone's attention. It was clear that this was a new cart; some guessed it was bought by Xie Youshun and jokingly asked when he had purchased an Ox Cart since they all had no idea. When they heard him say he had just bought it, they were all stunned and then filled with envy and jealousy. In the entire village, there were only a few families with oxen; either they were well-off now or had been well-off in the past. One ox could be worth two rooms and an acre of land—that was real wealth!
Xie Youshun had just split from his family; aside from dividing up land and taking some belongings, he hadn't received a single silver coin. He borrowed money to buy a house. Now everyone in the village knew about it, yet within less than a month, he had bought an ox and sheep along with a cart full of goods—it was truly enviable and made people curious about where he got the money.
Shuanzi and Lock also saw this scene; they bit their fingers in amazement before quickly running home.
"Grandpa! Grandma! Fourth Uncle bought an Ox Cart and brought back sheep!" Shuanzi gestured excitedly with bright eyes.
"There are many things on the cart! I smell snacks! And dumplings—meat dumplings!" Lock added eagerly.
Xie Shengcai and Wang Clan were stunned upon hearing this; they found it hard to believe, but those two children wouldn't lie about something like this.
Ruyi chimed in from the side: "Dad! Mom! Where did Fourth Brother get all that money? Cows are very valuable! If they can afford to buy one along with sheep and a cart full of goods, it seems like they have quite a bit of silver—they're really willing to spend!"
Ruyi was also curious and felt a bit displeased because Fourth Brother had given her the ten taels of Silver that should have been hers as part of the family division for her dowry. Some people envied her, but others were gossiping, saying she was taking advantage of her brother and sister-in-law. Moreover, she had never liked Xiao Lihua, so when she heard they had money, her first thought was about where the money came from, followed by her unhappiness.
Wang Clan slammed the table and said, "Exactly! Where did their money come from? They just divided the family and suddenly have Silver; they must have hidden private savings! No wonder Auspicious said they had private money and went to search their house. I didn't believe it then, but it seems to be true! I wronged my daughter!"
At that moment, Li Family rushed in and said, "Mother, look! I told you they had private savings!"
Xie Shengcai quietly interjected, "It might not necessarily be private savings; it could be from another source. You all shouldn't make a fuss; if it's not what you think, it would be embarrassing. Besides, Fourth Son has contributed quite a bit to the family over the years, more than other children. If he has private savings, so be it. Can we as Parents really hold that against our child?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Clan shot Xie Shengcai a glare and said, "It's unacceptable for him to hide private savings from me! He may have contributed a lot, but who made him earn it? Moreover, his wife just sits around doing nothing and adds chaos to the household. What good does his contribution do? He’s just handing over his wife's share! It's much less than what the others contribute!"
"Isn't Fourth Brother's Wife what you just mentioned?" Xie Shengcai replied. Thinking about this made him feel guilty towards his son. Fortunately, Fourth Brother's Wife had improved; otherwise, he would have carried that guilt to his grave.
Wang Clan felt guilty and huffed in silence.
Back in the day, Xie Family spent all their money marrying off three sons. By the time it got to Fourth Son, Ruyi fell ill again and they had no money left. So when they heard that Xiao Lihua's family asked for a small bride price, they immediately married her off. It was only after marrying her that they realized Xiao Lihua had such a bad reputation. It was indeed strange that they hadn’t investigated more thoroughly.
Li Family said, "Father, Mother, let's not talk about the past anymore. Fourth Brother and his family are wealthy now; instead of assuming it's private savings, why don't we ask how they earned it? If we could earn some too, life would be better for us, right? Besides, what harm is there in checking up on them? We are just concerned."
Wang Clan nodded in agreement. Xie Shengcai added, "What’s there to check? We’d just become a laughingstock; don’t forget you can’t even think about entering Fourth Son’s door. Go back home!"
Li Family pouted. Although she looked down on her father-in-law who feared his mother-in-law, as a Daughter-in-law she didn’t dare to retort. She turned around and left to tell Sister-in-law and Second Sister about this matter.
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