??Chapter 19: Chapter 019: Truly Capable_1
Chapter 19: Chapter 019: Truly Capable_1
Muniang carried a basket in her hand and also held a basin filled with clothes, covering them with a cloth to avoid covetous glances like what had happened yesterday.
Upon arriving at Mr. Xue’s house, Madam Bai was sowhat surprised, for Muniang had always been a reclusive sort who rarely visited other hos or greeted people, so it was unexpected for her to co calling today.
Despite being taken aback, Madam Bai quickly welcod her guest, her face beaming with a smile, “What brought you here today? Just yesterday, my old man was talking about you!”
Muniang smiled, “I am on my way to wash clothes by the river and stopped to check on you. What did Grandpa Xue say about ?”
“What could he say but praise? He ntioned you’ve made good money, bought many nice things for your household—word has spread throughout the village.” Madam Bai spared no praise, “I missed out yesterday, didn’t get to see all your goods. My old man described them so vividly, claid it was the kind of stuff we’d hardly see in a lifeti.”
Muniang smiled and was about to downplay it when she heard a hearty laugh, “Is that Muniang? Co in and sit down.”
Old Man Xue was sitting on the threshold, tinkering with his big fishing net. Upon seeing Muniang, he imdiately got up, set aside the net, and welcod her inside.
Muniang stepped into the house and saw Madam Bai about to pour tea for her, but she quickly stopped her, “No need, no need, I’m just sitting for a bit before I leave. I still have to wash clothes, please rest.”
They were country folks, simple in nature, not keen on empty formalities, so when Muniang said no, Madam Bai stood down.
Muniang found this mode of interaction particularly relaxing. Being with simple people changed one’s mindset, and she thought of Erliang and smiled silently.
“This is the rice and pork I promised to bring Grandpa Xue when I saw him yesterday,” Muniang said as she placed the basket on the table and lifted the coarse cloth.
Madam Bai’s eyes lit up with surprise as she looked at Muniang and Old Man Xue, wondering why her husband hadn’t ntioned this to her.
Old Man Xue hurriedly pushed the basket back, “I was just trying to support you against that overbearing Mrs. Liang yesterday. I never really expected anything in return. Life is tough enough for you, and now that you’ve managed to get so things, you should keep them for yourself.”
“We have plenty at ho; this is nothing to us. Grandpa Xue, you’ve often helped our family, and you helped
out of a bind yesterday. If I didn’t show my gratitude, I would be disregarding propriety,” Muniang said firmly, leaving Old Man Xue no room to refuse, and he reluctantly accepted.
Looking at the white, fine rice, Madam Bai clicked her tongue in admiration, “This is so fine rice. I’ve never had rice like this in my life. Muniang, how did your family suddenly beco so wealthy to sell such good goods?”
Muniang smiled, “I earned the silver myself.”
“I heard yesterday that you took two sacks of hawthorn berries to sell in town. You didn’t make this money from selling hawthorn, did you?” Madam Bai asked in surprise.
“Hawthorns are both sour and astringent; naturally, nobody would buy them. I processed them a bit, and that made them sell well. I’ll bring so over for you to try in a few days.”
Old Man Xue stroked his beard with a look of amazent and curiosity, “Girl, you really are capable.”
He suddenly leaned closer to Muniang, lowering his voice, “You, catching fish with such precision in the river last ti, claiming it was luck—were you trying to fool ?”
This tone still carries a bit of the old man’s banter, like a playful old child.
Muniang chuckled, “You can’t hide anything from you.”
Mr. Xue humd, “I knew it, nobody is that lucky.”
“But if you want to learn, I can teach you, as long as you help
keep it a secret.”
“Really?” Old Man Xue’s eyes widened in disbelief, “That’s a unique skill! If you could live well off this technique, why would you teach it to
for free?”
Muniang wasn’t planning to get rich off this trick—money ca too slowly that way, and besides, she had no desire to go spearfishing in the river every day.
As they were talking, they heard Zhang’s voice from outside the door, “Mr. Xue, ti to go fishing, are you coming?”
“Aye, I’m coming right now,” Mr. Xue quickly responded, and then he rembered that today he was supposed to go net fishing with Zhang Qin.
Muniang also stood up, “Then let’s wait until you have so free ti to teach . You go ahead with your work, I need to wash so clothes.”
Old Man Xue nodded again and again, hurried out the door with the fishing net on his shoulder, and walked away with Zhang Qin. The spry steps he took made it hard to tell that he was a man well into his sixties.
Madam Bai tsked at his retreating figure, “That old man, at his age still not acting his age, really getting more childish the older he gets.”
But Muniang suddenly thought of what Erliang might be like when he grew old and couldn’t help but laugh.
By the ti Muniang got to the riverbank, it was late morning, and many won were gathered there washing clothes while chatting casually. As Muniang arrived, the won around her imdiately ca over with their basins.
“I heard about it yesterday, that you and your husband sold two bags of hawthorn in town and bought a big cartload of nice things. Is that true?” Mrs. Lanhua asked with disbelief on her face.
“Yeah, yeah, Mrs. Ji was ranting in the village the other day, saying that you and your husband were so poor you even picked hawthorns to sell. She didn’t expect you could actually sell them, what happened there?” Mrs. Liang, who had just argued with Muniang yesterday, quickly joined in like she was suddenly on Muniang’s side, with Mrs. Ji, yesterday’s “ally,” now just “that woman” in her mouth.
Muniang sneered inwardly, so people only see profit, their ability to change faces is truly unparalleled.
The surrounding won all crowded around as if Muniang was so kind of newfound land, each one looking at her with a desire to know.
Muniang had no choice but to say, “We really were desperate; all the wild fruit on the mountain had been picked clean, and I couldn’t find anything else to sell for money, so we picked two bags of hawthorn and tried our luck in town. As it turned out, there was a restaurant that was looking to buy hawthorn, so I sold it to them.”
“Two bags of hawthorns, no matter how you sell them, can’t fetch that much money. There were many valuable things on your cart,” Mrs. Liang was obviously skeptical, her tone aggressive and insistent on getting to the bottom of it. Why should Qiao Muniang be able to get rich, and she couldn’t?
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