Pushing the wheelbarrow, Chen Jie quickly returned to the village.
The county town where Chen Jie lived was called Mianshui County, adjacent to the Mianshui, a tributary of the Yangtze River, governing eight large towns, each of which was composed of three to five villages.
For instance, where Chen Jie lived in the Mianshui County, within Xiantao Town, was Xiantao Village, and under Xiantao Town there were Upper Peach, Zhongtao, and Lower Peach, three villages.
Chen Jie quickly made it back to his own village.
When Chen Jie returned pushing the small cart from outside, all the villagers were shocked as they looked at Chen Jie, because the things Chen Jie had bought this time were too much, a whole small cart full.
Moreover, the cart was loaded with good stuff, bags of grain, large chunks of pork fat tied with hemp rope, as well as various oils, salts, sauces, and vinegars, which altogether probably cost two or three taels of silver.
Chen Jiusi has made money!
This is how Chen Jie pushed his cart, passing through the envious gaze of the villagers.
"Uncle Erba."
On the road, Chen Jie saw Chen Erba and called out; Chen Erba immediately exclaimed, "Jiu Si, what's all this?"
Chen Jie said, "Oh, we ran out of food at home, so I bought some."
He continued his walk home, and just then, under a big tree not far away, another one of Chen Jie's uncles, Chen Sanliu, was saying how Chen Jiusi had squandered the family fortune, and if only the uncle had known, he would have preferred the legacy for himself, as he would not have let the family heritage decline.
A few people listened to Chen Sanliu's grievances, their faces smiling benignly, but inwardly they were contemptuous: why should they? Mr. Chen had a daughter, why would he give his belongings to you? Besides, with your callous and heartless ways, if those things ended up in your hands, it would truly be throwing a meat bun to a dog, never to return. Could you really care about Chen Jiusi's wellbeing?
However, though they knew, being neighbors, they had to maintain surface cordiality and all just laughed it off.
Just then, as Chen Jie was pushing his wheelbarrow past, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"Hey, look, Chen Jiusi."
"Hey, it really is Jiu Si, he—he's struck it rich, look at all the stuff he bought, sacks of grain, buying it by the sack, how much money that must be!"
"Yeah, look, there's pork too, Chen Jiusi has really hit the jackpot!"
"This cart, it's not two or three taels, since when did Chen Jiusi become so rich!"
"What's so strange about that, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse; Mr. Chen's fortune is thick, even if he squandered it, having several taels of silver left is quite normal, right? Who knows, in some hidden corner, touch around, and you can find something valuable?"
"That's true!"
As they conversed, Chen Sanliu's eyeballs nearly popped out of his head.
How on earth does his family still have money?!
Chen Jiusi squanders so much, can't he deplete it all? Just how much did his uncle leave behind!
If only that money were mine.
Chen Sanliu's eyes turned green with envy. Hearing the surrounding people's comments, he snorted disdainfully, "Humph, a profligate! Even if he has money, he shouldn't spend it like this! Living as a farmer, can meat be eaten like that? He doesn't know how to live."
Several others seeking coolness heard his envious tone from afar.
They exchanged glances with one another, saying nothing.
Chen Jie didn't care what others said and directly pushed his cart to his own doorstep. Just as he arrived, he saw Daisy sitting on a small stool at the front door, focusing on something on the ground.
After looking for a while, it seemed she saw something, pinched a bit of it, popped it into her mouth, savored the taste, and mumbled, "Little ants, don't get lost, or you'll be eaten, yo!"
"Ruirui, I'm back."
Chen Jie called out, and Ruirui, sitting at the doorway, looked up and suddenly saw Chen Jie, then her eyes were immediately drawn to the items on the small cart.
"Meat!"
Ruirui stood up all at once and hurried over, initially shouting 'meat,' but as soon as she approached, she exclaimed, "Brother-in-law~"
Anyone who didn't know would think she really adored her brother-in-law.
The courtyard gate opened, and Chen Jie pushed a cart in, Ruirui stared at the things on the cart and shouted, "Sister, brother-in-law is back!"
"Brother-in-law has brought back a lot of stuff."
Hearing this, Su Yunjin came out of the house just in time to see Chen Jie, and the goods on his cart, her face full of shock.
"What?!!"
She knew all too well that there was no money at home. Where had Chen Jiusi gotten the money from?
Her face was a picture of disbelief.
But Chen Jie didn't say anything else, and simply handed the condiments to Daisy, saying, "Help bring these into the house."
"Okay!"
Daisy was thrilled, happily taking the condiments and helping Chen Jie carry them inside.
Chen Jie lifted a bag of rice, then carried a large piece of pork towards the house, and said to Su Yunjin, "Don't just stand there, help carry things!"
After hesitating for a second, Su Yunjin immediately said, "Okay~"
With that, she went over to help with the things, and soon all the items were brought inside the house. Only then did Su Yunjin ask, "Where did all this come from?"
Chen Jie laughed and said, "Hehe, I was lucky today. I found a ginseng on the mountain and sold it in town for some money, and bought this rice and flour."
After saying this, Chen Jie took out a handful of broken silver from his pocket, which was about eight cents, and said, "This is the leftover money, you keep it!"
"Me!?"
Su Yunjin's face was a picture of shock, but Chen Jie smiled and said, "Yeah, you're my wife, what's mine is yours!"
As he said this, Chen Jie continued to carry things outside. Su Yunjin, holding the silver in her hand, was completely stunned, her whole mind echoing: You're my wife, what's mine is yours.
Wife, huh?
She turned her head to look at Chen Jie, who was still carrying things, and at Yun Rui, who was as joyful as a little butterfly, and tears slid down once again.
It wasn't that she liked to cry, but having experienced darkness, she was so moved by this bit of light that she couldn't help but weep.
She didn't really care about the money; what mattered to her was that she was in Chen Jie's heart, and she was more moved that he didn't gamble away the newfound money but instead bought the much-needed provisions for the house—he truly had changed for the better!
"Sister, brother-in-law bought so much meat, why are you still crying?"
Daisy saw her sister secretly wiping away tears and asked, puzzled. When she cried, it was usually from hunger, but there's food now, why the tears? She didn't understand, didn't understand at all.
Finally, Chen Jie had moved all the things into the house. There was a cellar inside, once used for storing cabbage, and he put the items inside. Chen Jie looked at the pork and said to Su Yunjin, "Cut some of it for salted meat, and use the rest for rendering fat."
Su Yunjin nodded her head. Chen Jie found a knife and began to butcher the pork, first cutting off a large piece of pork belly about five pounds in size to make salted meat.
He then cut off another two and half pounds for Uncle Erba.
Then he started to cut the pork fat into big chunks, wash them clean, and begin rendering the lard.
Daisy almost the moment the meat went into the pot, was perched on the stove, asking every few seconds, "Brother-in-law, is it ready?"
Chen Jie, seeing her craving look, couldn't help but laugh. Su Yunjin on the side said, "It doesn't happen that fast."
Daisy pouted, "Why isn't it ready yet?"
Chen Jie didn't say anything, just watched as the fat in the pot gradually shrank, rendering the lard and turning a golden-brown; that's how Chen Jie knew it was ready.
He scooped out three slices with a colander, blew on it to cool it down, and gave Daisy one slice.
Daisy couldn't wait to stuff it into her mouth, eating with her face all greasy. Chen Jie also ate a piece, hmm, truly delicious.
Looking at the last piece of pork crackling left, Chen Jie picked it up with his hand and passed it to Su Yunjin.
"Try it."
Su Yunjin was slightly taken aback, but she didn't refuse. She opened her mouth and bit into the pork crackling passed by Chen Jie, accidentally touching his fingers.
The moment she did, her face turned red...