Chili seedlings

After they saw the village chief off, Little He was still there, his face beaming. "In a few days, I'll be going to work off my labor quota. They provide food and lodging there, so I won't be back for a while. If you need more firewood, miss, let me know soon."

No wonder he was smiling so happily. Food and lodging were included.

Su Yuhe gave a casual reply, saw Little He off, and returned to the study, where she picked up her brush and continued copying books.

Lu Mingyi ground ink beside her and spoke hesitantly. "Wife, let me go work. Any amount we can save on the payment would help."

The other two pricked up their ears. Without even lifting her head, she said, her mind already made up, "We're not short of those four taels. It's enough for you to manage things at home. You don't need to worry about earning money."

"But..."

Su Yuhe interrupted him, found a blank book on the desk, then took the book she had finished copying out of her stationery box and handed it to him. "If you have nothing to do, copy books with Mingxi."

Printing was not well developed, and most books were copied by hand. Common books were easy enough to find and not particularly expensive, but uncommon ones were hard to obtain even for a thousand gold pieces.

Ever since she had begun copying books for a living, she had made an extra copy whenever she had time. The bamboo bookshelf behind her still held many sole copies she had not finished transcribing before returning the originals. Those could only be kept, taken out occasionally to relieve her boredom, or saved for her children to read.

Now that everyone at home could read and write, they could finish copying a few books and sell them for some money if they found a buyer later.

Lu Mingyi accepted them with both hands and looked around. One side of the desk was piled with books and writing supplies, while someone sat on each of the other three sides. He carefully set down the two books in his hands and silently cleared a space.

He went to the kitchen, brought back a stool, and sat down to copy with the other three.

It had been a long time since he had written anything. The chilblains on his hands and his stiff knuckles reminded him at every turn that he was no longer the person he had once been.

His hand suddenly pressed too hard, and ink soaked into the paper. He stared blankly at the ink stain.

A pair of hands drew the book out from under his hand. Instead of the scolding he had expected, there was only an indifferent female voice. "I forgot you still had chilblains. Wait until they've healed completely before you write."

Lu Mingyi rose in a panic, threw out an "I'll go cook," and fled.

Su Yuhe looked at his retreating figure in confusion, unsure why he had reacted so strongly. Just as she was about to lower her head and resume writing, Lu Mingxi suddenly stood up. "I'll go tend the fire!"

As though afraid someone would beat him to it, he hurried out after his elder brother.

She and Meng Zhixian exchanged a puzzled look, then returned to copying books.

Meng Zhixian had not bathed in three days. For the sake of a hot bath, he copied books with all his might. He no longer had any thought of flattering his wife, only a craving for money.

He had just heard the conversation between his wife and their guest. Four taels of silver would pay for more baths than he could count.

Without those four taels, he might not even get to bathe once every seven days.

Fortunately, after so many busy days, he was finally close to finishing the book.

Once he received that half-tael of silver, the first thing he would do was bathe.

Even Lu Mingyi would not be able to stop him. He had earned money for this family. Surely a hot bath was not too much to ask?

By mid-March, after several days of waiting, the village chief still had not come to collect the money, while the vegetables, rice, and flour at home were nearly gone. She took the two books she had copied and the one Meng Zhixian had copied and boarded an ox cart for a trip to town.

Only after collecting four and a half taels of silver at the bookshop did she recover from the anxiety of having an empty purse and urgently wanting to earn money.

Ever since people had learned that the great cold of two hundred years ago might return, the cotton cloth and batting at the fabric shops had been snapped up.

Su Yuhe also rather wanted to buy a bolt of cotton cloth to take home and make a few outfits and a quilt herself. On second thought, if ordinary people were being told about the great cold, that meant everyone still had time to prepare.

It was March now, and the weather would grow warmer afterward. By summer, those scrambling to buy cotton cloth and batting would have bought most of what they needed. Perhaps prices would not be so outrageous if she waited until then.

Su Yuhe headed toward the market. It happened to be market day, and there were far more vendors than before.

As usual, she bought a dozen or so heads of cabbage. There were also quite a few wild greens this season, none of them expensive, so she bought plenty, enough to stir-fry four or five plates and eat for two days.

After she put all the cabbages into the basket on Lu Mingyi's back, the vegetable vendor held up two seedlings with somewhat wilted leaves and asked her, "Want these? A trading caravan brought them back. I'm selling them cheap."

Su Yuhe glanced at them, uninterested. "What are they?"

"I don't know either. I heard they bear bright red fruit. They'd look nice planted at home or by the door. They're supposed to be edible too, but very spicy."

Something stirred in her mind. Did that description not fit chili peppers?

She took them and looked them over. Without any fruit, she could not tell whether they were the chili peppers she had in mind. She put them back and asked with apparent indifference, "How much?"

The vegetable vendor sprinkled a little water over them and hesitantly named a price. "Ten wen?"

"Ten wen for two is all right, but they're so wilted, who knows whether they'll survive?"

"You must be joking, miss. It's ten wen each. They cost me twenty wen when I bought them from the caravan. If you weren't a regular customer, I wouldn't sell them at such a low price."

Su Yuhe dusted off her hands and walked toward the next stall. "All right, then. Looks like they and I weren't meant to be."