The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 34 - Is this something you’re qualified to ask about
34: Chapter 34 Is this something you’re qualified to ask about?
34 -34 Is this something you’re qualified to ask about?
Some people who considered themselves to have a decent relationship with the Wang Family started to inquire, “Aunt Zhang, I heard that you sold some Yellow Pine Mushrooms today?
And to the tavern in town, no less?
You must have made quite a bit of money, right?”
Old Granny Zhang knew she couldn’t keep it a secret with so many prying eyes, so she casually brushed it off, “Hmm, a few days ago our Zhuzhu was lucky.
She took a few kids to the mountains and stumbled upon some.
Today, taking advantage of market day, we didn’t have any connections and didn’t know who to sell to.
It was Zhuzhu who was clever enough to approach the tavern, and luckily the shopkeeper was collecting them.
If not for that, we might have come back empty-handed.”
“Aunt Zhang, I saw your basket was filled almost halfway.
That must have been at least half a jin.
You must have gotten two or three taels of silver for that, right?
I saw you were quite generous with slicing several jins of pork today.
Looks like becoming rich really does change a person—”
“Nonsense, it’s just that the kids at home were craving some meat, and everyone’s been working hard these days.
We simply bought a bit of meat to nourish the family—” Old Granny Zhang flatly denied.
But no one believed her.
Seeing Old Granny Zhang’s beaming face and her backpack filled to the brim, they guessed she must have made quite a bit of money, which was why she dared to buy so much.
The shrewd ones began eyeing Wang Yongzhu.
This second daughter of the Wang Family was known for her lazy and gluttonous ways, but it seemed her luck was unexpectedly good.
Others would go to the mountains for years without finding a single Yellow Pine Mushroom, yet she had found quite a few.
If it was really such good fortune, then no wonder Old Granny Zhang doted so much on this old unmarried daughter.
Along the way, Old Granny Zhang was exuberant, with everyone crowding around her, indirectly probing where Yellow Pine Mushrooms could be easily found, and whether there were any tricks to it.
Old Granny Zhang was clueless.
She couldn’t even count the number of times she had gone up the mountain in her lifetime, yet she had never once come across Yellow Pine Mushrooms.
How could she have any experience to share?
Not to mention, if such a stroke of good fortune ever happened and she did have some secrets, why would she share them instead of silently making a fortune herself?
She was not that foolish!
Therefore, she mentioned nothing about it, only saying that it was her old unmarried daughter who had the good fortune.
Precious things like these only appeared to those with luck, she said.
Seeing that nothing could be learned from Old Granny Zhang, some turned to the silent Wang Yongzhu, thinking the young maiden would be easy to coax into talking due to her thin skin.
The old Wang Yongzhu might indeed have been easily swayed by a few words, but the current Wang Yongzhu, no matter how much people asked, only played dumb.
If pressed, she would say she didn’t know herself, that she simply walked around the mountain and happened to find them.
This frustrated those trying to get information out of her to no end.
The journey back to the village passed with much excitement and before they realized it, they had arrived back home.
At the entrance of the village, the brothers Jinpan and Jinguan had been waiting eagerly, eyes fixed on the mountain path, anticipating the return of their grandmother and aunt with the pork.
From a distance, they saw figures approaching from the mountain.
Their aunt’s figure particularly stood out among the crowd, and they spotted her at first glance.
The two little Beans ran over excitedly, and upon drawing closer and seeing Old Granny Zhang with a smile on her face and the heavy basket on her back, they knew what had happened.
Cheering, they began to circle around Old Granny Zhang and Wang Yongzhu.
Too timid to question Old Granny Zhang, they clung to Wang Yongzhu and wouldn’t let go, “Auntie, auntie, did you buy the pork?”
Wang Yongzhu nodded.
On their way back, they had ridden in an ox cart for half of the journey until the owner encountered someone who wanted to rent it.
Since they were all part of the same community, of course, she wouldn’t stand in the way of him making money.
Even Old Granny Zhang, in her good mood from the day’s earnings, didn’t mind.
Walking the second half of the journey, Wang Yongzhu felt as if her legs weren’t her own.
She found even speaking difficult and just wanted to go home and lie down for a while to recover.
Seeing Wang Yongzhu nodding, confirming that they had indeed bought the pork, the Little Beans reached an all-time high of excitement, so much that they ignored her tired expression and kept pestering Wang Yongzhu, “Auntie, auntie, was the market fun?”
“Old Granny, Old Granny, did you cut some big fatty meat?”
“Old Granny, next time you go to market, can you take me with you, please?”
“Take me, take me—”
…
Wang Yongzhu felt like her head was about to explode from the noise, and as she rubbed her forehead and was about to speak, she heard Old Granny Zhang’s robust scolding.
“You ungrateful little brats, what’s all this noise about?
Can’t you see your aunt is exhausted?
All you think about is eat, eat, eat!
Has this old lady starved you, or have I ever left you wanting for food?
You just got a few days of smiles, and now you’re ready to tear the roof down, aren’t you?
You’ve got no sense at all.
We’ve come back from the market, toiling hard, don’t you see we’re carrying things on our backs?
Are those eyes just for show?
Don’t you know to take the things from us?
How did I end up raising a bunch of you who only know how to eat without working!”
Jinguan and Jinpan were used to being scolded and didn’t feel ashamed or annoyed, after all, they were getting meat to eat, a few scoldings from granny didn’t make them lose any flesh.
They happily took the basket off of Old Granny Zhang’s back, almost hopping and skipping as they headed home.
Since the work in the fields was almost done, everyone was also eager to see what Old Granny Zhang and Wang Yongzhu had brought back from the market, so they had tacitly decided to finish up early and head home.
Jinhua was with Jinshao in the yard, and from afar, she heard the laughter of Jinguan and Jinpan, peered out, and saw the two brothers carrying the basket towards home, with granny and aunt trailing behind them.
She quickly told everyone in the courtyard, “Granny and aunt are back!”
Then she dashed out the gate to greet them.
When Old Granny Zhang and Wang Yongzhu entered the house, they saw several Little Beans circling the basket, eagerly looking on, not daring to reach for the coarse cloth that covered it.
Lady Jiang had already prepared two big bowls of warm water, which she handed to Old Granny Zhang and Wang Yongzhu, and then brought over hot water for them to freshen up with.
The whole family soon gathered in the main room, waiting for Old Granny Zhang to share the spoils.
When the coarse cloth covering the basket was lifted, the sharp-eyed spotted a large chunk of evenly marbled pork belly and a big bone.
Instantly, smiles appeared on everyone’s faces, for this was genuine meat.
A few children couldn’t help themselves and secretly swallowed their saliva, unable to take their eyes off the prize.
It was Lady Lin who first swallowed her saliva quietly and then tentatively asked, “Mother, did you sell all the Yellow Pine Mushrooms?
You must have made a good sum of money, right?
That meat must weigh two jin at least; I reckon that’s dozens of Large Coins.”
Old Granny Zhang’s face darkened, and she put the pork back into the basket before barking, “You still can’t close your yap when there’s meat, can you?
What business is it of yours how much money I made?
It’s not like you picked the mushrooms.
You should be content with getting a couple of pieces of meat tonight thanks to your little aunty.
Is that even your place to ask?”
Lady Lin felt so wronged, why shouldn’t she ask?
She had long been scheming in her heart; those Yellow Pine Mushrooms should have sold for at least three Taels of Silver.
Adding up to what the old couple had saved, it should be more than enough to build new houses for Jindou and Jinhu.
In the village, building a house didn’t cost much; you could just offer two meals to those who came to help.
Once the new houses were built, if they worked hard for another year, Jindou’s expenses for getting married could be covered.
For years, the two of them, along with Jindou and Jinhu, had worked tirelessly in the fields.
Year in and year out, the fruits of their labor had all gone into their mother-in-law’s pocket.
