Fields of Gold

Yu Xiaocao earnestly asked, “The next time you kill a pig, can you leave me the pig blood, pork tripe, and pig intestine? I can give you the money for it……”

Butcher Wang was very curious and puzzledly asked, “What do you want these things for? Little girl, these things are both smelly and dirty. They really don’t taste good!”

Yu Xiaocao mysteriously smiled and said, “I know, but I have a use for them. How about this? I will place an order on those items for two copper coins. You usually throw those things out, but if you sell it to me, you will earn an extra two copper coins!”

Butcher Wang’s business was pretty good, so he didn’t care for an extra two copper coins. He smiled and said, “Okay, okay! I will keep those items for you. But you don’t need to pay for it. Consider it as a gift from this uncle. If your family needs to buy meat in the future, just remember to take care of my business. That will be enough.”

“Do you want me to use straw ropes to tie up the pig head for you? I will also go to the house to get some pork tripe and pig intestines for you!” Butcher Wang didn’t forget to get some rice straws to carefully make a cushion inside Xiaocao’s basket. He feared that the pork tripe and intestines will dirty the fish on the bottom of the basket. 

Xiaocao allowed him to also put the pig head inside the basket. She considered this to be a rewarding journey because she had profited a lot. After that, she spent another ten copper coins to buy a jar of soybean oil. The basket was stuffed to the brim with items, so it was quite heavy. Little Shitou picked up a wooden stick from the roadside. Utilizing the stick, both the older sister and younger brother carried the basket together. On their way home, they walked and took occasional breaks from carrying the basket. Because of this, they didn’t get home until it was afternoon.

They had just walked to the entrance of the village when they saw a familiar figure pacing back and forth. The small shadow underneath its foot followed the figure as it wandered back and forth. When the little roe deer saw the sister and brother, it took the initiative to run over to them. First, it ran over to Xiaocao’s feet and acted like a spoiled child, rubbing its head against her leg a few times. After that, it ran over to Little Shitou to play with him. 

“Haha! Tiny, we haven’t seen each other for half a day, did you miss me? Our Tiny is the most sensible for coming over and greeting us. Second Sister, I’m afraid that we don’t even know where your Little Glutinous Dumpling has run off to. Father is right! It’s hard to get a stray kitten to become close to you!” Little Shitou held the little roe deer as it licked his face. His face was covered in saliva, but he was still taking pleasure in it. 

The mini golden kitten that the little divine stone had taken the form of was very proud and haughty. It didn’t pay heed to anyone from the family besides Xiaocao. Little Shitou wanted to get closer to it but he was scratched by its claws, leaving behind a few red marks. Little Shitou loved the kitten but he also feared it. Thus, he would always make sour remarks about it. 

Xiaocao found the situation to be rather funny. She pinched Little Shitou’s face and said, “What? Has Little Glutinous Dumpling offended you again? You really are too much for holding a grudge against a kitten!” 

Ever since the little divine stone had a physical form, it would bring its real body, the multicolored stone, out to look for the spring water with the most amount of spiritual energy in the forest. Every day, it would leave early and come home late. It would soak in the spring water for the entire day and obediently return home at nighttime. 

Xiaolian, who had been pacing around the entrance of the village for a long time, gasped for breath as she ran over. She took over the basket from her siblings and was astonished when she felt the weight of the basket. 

When they went out, the basket wasn’t this heavy. So, when Xiaolian felt the weight of the basket, she thought that they didn't sell any of the braised chicken giblets. She comforted her younger siblings, “Tonight, there will be a lot of fine food! The small piece of chicken gizzard that we tasted yesterday was tasteless. But tonight, you’ll be able to eat your fill. Little sister, thanks to your blessing, our dinner will be more sumptuous than the New Year’s!” 

Xiaocao was just about to lament about her appetite when Little Shitou was unable to wait any longer. He noisily shouted, “Eldest Sister, all the braised food dishes we have brought there today were sold. We didn’t even have enough to sell! Guess how much money we have earned? Quickly guess!” 

“You sold everything?” Xiaolian opened her mouth in surprise, “Do I really need to guess? I was the one who had divided the servings of braised food. When I was dividing them up, I counted a total of sixty servings. So, it would be sixty copper coins at most, since it only cost one copper coin each. But, did you guys really sell everything?”

When Xiaocao saw the uncertain expression on her sister’s face, she giggled. She replied, “We sold everything in less than half an hour! We didn’t even have enough to sell! Many people, who either bought or didn’t manage to buy our food, asked me if I would still be selling tomorrow! Even a steward, who had come from the capital, praised the taste of our braised food!”

“That’s great! But unfortunately, Auntie Zhou’s family doesn’t often have the chance to kill that many chickens…” On one hand, Xiaolian was very happy with the results from today. But on the other hand, she felt regretful because it was just a one-time business opportunity.

However, she quickly pulled herself together. She weighed the heavy basket in her hand and asked, “Little sister, what did you buy? You didn’t spend all of the sixty copper coins that you earned, did you? No wonder Mother always says that you can never save any money……” 

“I didn’t! I only spent sixteen copper coins! This time, we have earned back the money that we spent. In the future, we will only be gaining profits when we sell. When we have enough money later, we should also make a hut at the docks, selling all kinds of braised food!” Xiaocao patted the place where her purse was placed. She was confident in her braised food business. 

“Xiaolian, Xiaocao, and Little Shitou, where did the three of you come from?” The village idiot’s wife had her eyes fixed at the heavy basket in Xiaolian’s hands. She was full of laughter when she asked. 

The village idiot’s wife was a famous gossiper in the village. She and Madam Li were quite a pair since their ability to gossip were on par with each other. 

Xiaolian didn’t want to pay her any attention. In a perfunctory manner, she replied, “Little sister had said that she wants to take a look at the dock. So, I made Little Shitou take her there. Auntie, my little sister, and brother haven’t even eaten breakfast yet. We will be going first……” 

The village idiot’s wife looked at the three siblings’ backs as they hurriedly left. Her mouth twitched and scoffed, “You brought a basket to play at the dock? I don’t know what kind of good things are in that basket! By the way, didn’t Li Guihua complain that the money her father-in-law and husband brought home was less than before? Could it be that Old Yu secretly gave his fish to the siblings? No! I have to go and tell her! 

The village idiot’s wife went to find Madam Li, adding oil and vinegar as she told her the story. When Madam Li heard the story, she became extremely angry. Good! No wonder they were earning less and less money from selling fish recently. It turned out that they have been supplementing the second son; that group of rubbish and invalids.

Xiaocao and her siblings had just reached home and hadn’t even put the content of the basket in their kitchen, when Madam Li arrived right behind them. 

She boldly and confidently kicked open Xiaocao’s family’s front door. If their front door wasn’t newly built, it would have probably been broken by Madam Li’s kick. She hadn't even entered the door when her pheasant-like voice loudly shouted, “Second Brother in-law, come out! We have already separated our households yet you’re still clinging onto the old man, trying to suck his blood dry! Do you still have a conscience? Quickly bring out what you have taken from him!” 

Yu Hai, who was making bamboo utensils in the courtyard, was stunned and at a complete loss about what she was yelling about. He replied, “Eldest Sister-in-law, you can’t make irresponsible remarks. After separating our branch, I haven’t taken anything from your family. When you accuse other people, you need evidence!” 

“Humph! You didn’t take money or things from the family? Then how did you build this house? How did you build those pieces of furniture? Don’t tell me that all of that was supplemented from Second Sister-in-law’s family? We all know the situation with the Liu Family. How are they able to give you a dozen or more taels of silver? Do you want evidence? Good! The items in that basket are evidence!” 

Madam Li looked around the courtyard with her triangular eyes. Then, as if she had gotten evidence that she could use against them, she pointed at the basket that Xiaolian had just put down while coldly sneering.

Fortunately, Xiaocao’s family lived some distance from the fishing village. There were only two to three families living nearby. Otherwise, with Madam Li’s loud voice, it would’ve attracted a crowd of people to come here and watch the show. Even so, their neighbor from the west side, Madam Mao leaned in front of her front door, trying to eavesdrop on what was going on. Madam Fang also came over and tried to convince Madam Li in a low voice. 

Fortunately, today was the day that Madam Liu went to town to help people wash their clothes. Otherwise, she would have been angered by Madam Li’s words. 

Xiaocao, who had been drinking a bowl of warm boiled water, poured the water on the ground when she heard Madam Li’s accusations. The warm water had almost landed on Madam Li’s foot. Xiaocao bluntly said: “Do you want to calculate? Okay! Then let’s carefully calculate! Disregarding everything else, just the money earned from the game that my father hunted in the mountains and sold were worth more than ten taels a year, right? I won’t mention anything too long ago, so let’s calculate it from when Little Shitou was born. In the six years since Shitou was born, my father has given grandmother at least sixty taels of silver. After subtracting two taels each year for expenses, there should be at least fifty taels remaining. Furthermore, there was still the money earned from selling fishing. Even after using them for daily expenses, there should still be some money leftover. 

“Yes, we have spent over a dozen taels for my father’s injury. Let’s just round it up to twenty taels! Then there should still be around thirty taels remaining at home. When we were separating from the family, how much did we get? When we separated our branches, it was as if you were trying to get rid of beggars, giving us only two taels of silver. 

“The house we lived in was broken and water easily leaked in. The food that we got from splitting the household wasn’t even enough to eat for half a month. What is two taels of silver enough to do? If it’s not for my maternal grandmother borrowing some money for us and all the uncles from the village helping us rebuild the house, we would still be living in that run-down house that has cracks and leaks rain! 

“Are you saying that Grandfather is giving us money? Even if other people don’t know how much they earned from selling fish every day, but wouldn’t Eldest Uncle know? If Grandfather takes his hard-earned money to supplement us, would Eldest Uncle not complain? Wouldn’t he tell you?” 

After being rebuked by a little girl, Madam Li’s face turned from red to pale. However, she couldn’t defend herself and refute her claims. She was right. Her father-in-law might feel sorry for his second son, but her husband was always there when he went fishing and selling fish. If the old man had subsidized them, her husband might help him hide it once or twice. However, if it continued for a long time, he would definitely have some complaints. 

Then… what about the basket that was full of things that the village idiot’s wife was talking about? With her brother-in-law’s current situation, it was impossible for him to buy so many things. When Madam Li thought up to this point, she was immediately full of life again like she was cockfighting: 

“Are you saying that Father-in-law didn’t supplement you with anything? Then what is in that basket? Weren’t you just crying about how you didn’t even have enough to eat? Then where did you get the money to buy so many things? If you have the guts, open the basket and let this old lady have a look. Just what is inside?” 

Xiaocao sneered and asked wickedly, “Eldest Aunt, are you sure you want to take a look?” 

“Of course, I want to take a look! That is the evidence that Father-in-law is being partial to your family!” Madam Li jumped as she hooted and the fats on her face trembled along with her movements. Her face right now looked really similar to the pig head that Xiaocao bought today.

“Okay! If that’s the case, I will fulfill your wish!” Xiaocao bent over and opened the basket. She took out the pig head from inside the basket and using some force, she threw it at Madam Li.

Madam Li only saw a black shadow flying at her, so she subconsciously reached out her hands and caught it. She lowered her head and looked at the thing she was holding. Oh my mother! An ugly pig with its eyes rolled to the back of his head so only the whites of his eyes were showing. It was staring straight at her…

“Ahhhh——” Madam Li screamed as she quickly threw the pig head away.

“Didn’t you want to see it? I’ll let you look! I’ll let take a look!” Xiaocao was thinking, if it weren’t for Madam Li who had pushed the original host of the body to death, perhaps she wouldn’t have transmigrated. Maybe, the Lin Xiaowan from the modern world wouldn’t have died. As she thought about it, the resentment in her heart increased greatly. She grabbed the stinky pork tripe and pig intestines and threw them directly at Madam Li’s face.