Chapter 10: Family Assets

“Huh, if I hadn’t been here a few times, I really wouldn’t believe those two had just recovered from a serious illness.” Sun Laifu clicked his tongue in wonder. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen sick people before; in the past, whenever someone in the village recovered, they would look like they’d been peeled of a layer of skin. Even if they weren’t reduced to skin and bones, they certainly wouldn’t be putting on weight like these two little ones. Not only that, but their complexions were rosy and healthy, and they even seemed to have grown quite a bit taller.

Sun Laifu grew increasingly curious, unable to stop himself from staring at the children.

Wen Youshan knew that Chen Ningya didn’t like interacting with outsiders, and fearing that she would become unhappy if Sun Laifu stayed too long, he hurriedly asked, “Just tell me, what are you here for? Don’t you have to work the fields today?”

Sun Laifu snapped out of his daze and hurriedly handed his basket to Wen Youshan. “It’s my mother. She heard your two kids were sick, and since our hen happened to be laying eggs, she told me to bring a few over, and pick some wild vegetables for you while I was at it.”

Wen Youshan took a look, took out the wild vegetables, and handed the eggs back to Sun Laifu untouched. “Times are tight at your place, too. Usually, Auntie can’t even bear to eat the eggs herself, yet she sent so many over today. I can’t accept these with a clear conscience. You take them back quickly—eat them at home or sell them, it doesn’t matter. Oh, right, I caught two wild rabbits yesterday, and there’s half of one left. Take it back; you can make a soup for the elders and the kids.”

Game wasn’t exactly a rarity in the village. After all, Fushan Village was nestled in a mountain gully, and any child raised in the village knew how to hunt; it was essentially a side job for the villagers. However, everyone’s ability varied. Skilled hunters could take down large game like wild boars, while others struggled even to catch a pheasant.

The Wen family lived halfway up the mountain where the farmland was insufficient. Relying solely on the harvest would lead to starvation. Although Wen Youshan knew a bit of carpentry and could save some money by taking on small jobs throughout the year, his income was unstable—sometimes more, sometimes less. Half of the Wen family’s income still came from him hunting in the mountains and fishing in the water. The Sun family lived at the foot of the mountain and had more land than the Wen family; they were busy with farm work all year round, so Sun Laifu had very limited time to go into the mountains. Naturally, his hunting skills couldn’t compare to Wen Youshan’s.

Seeing the half-rabbit, Sun Laifu hurriedly shook his head in refusal. “Don’t do that. I came to deliver eggs. If my mother finds out I didn’t deliver the eggs and instead came back with half a rabbit from your place, she’ll skin me alive! You hurry up and take the eggs back to nourish the kids.”

“One look at them and you can tell they’ve been well-nourished lately. Hurry up, don’t pester me.” Wen Youshan put the items into Sun Laifu’s basket without room for argument and pushed him down the mountain.

Sun Laifu looked up to Wen Youshan like an older brother and always listened to him. Hearing this, he could only leave with a silly grin. Before leaving, he called out loudly to Chen Ningya, “Uh, Sister-in-law... sorry, I’m heading off now.”

Chen Ningya, who had just stepped out of the kitchen, looked confused. Seeing the handful of wild vegetables in the yard, she asked, “Did he bring wild vegetables?”

“No, he brought eggs. I didn’t take them, just took a handful of wild vegetables. Everyone has a hard time getting by, and with things the way they are right now, I didn’t feel right taking them.” Wen Youshan felt a bit uneasy saying this, fearing Chen Ningya might be unhappy. He knew that women in the village valued these petty gains the most. Previously, when he had sent a nest of wild duck eggs to someone and they refused, the woman of that house had cursed her husband to high heaven after he left. He could still hear the scolding even when he was almost home. Ever since then, he understood that there was an art to giving gifts; one couldn’t just follow one’s own whims.

Chen Ningya nodded slightly, noncommittal. “Then clean up the wild vegetables. Let’s have some wild vegetable porridge for lunch.”

The Wen family used to eat two meals a day, and whether it was the children or the adults, they just filled their stomachs with water. Before her misfortune, Chen Ningya had been used to three meals a day. Now, she wanted to slowly change the Wen family’s eating habits. No matter what, they couldn’t go hungry—otherwise, how would the children grow and the adults work?

“Alright! I’ll get right on it.” Wen Youshan was pleasantly surprised by Chen Ningya’s reaction and became even more enthusiastic in his work.

By evening, Chen Ningya habitually headed toward Zhang’s room. Just as she reached the doorway, she saw Wen Yuanliang holding his quilt, looking at her with bright, wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Ningya was a bit stunned.

“Mother, my younger brother and sister are better now, so I can come back to sleep,” Wen Yuanliang replied, looking up. He no longer felt resistant toward this mother of his, but he still couldn’t bring himself to be close to her; even his speech revealed a hint of awkwardness.

However, Chen Ningya was already satisfied with this. Thinking that the child had always lived in this room, she nodded and stepped aside to let him in. “Then Mother will go back to her room to sleep.”

Wen Youshan, who had been listening with his ears pricked up in the courtyard, grinned from ear to ear. Although they were still in mourning and couldn’t do much, holding a soft, warm body was still better than sleeping alone.

The result of Chen Ningya returning to her room was that Wen Youshan was back in the room before 7:45 PM. Fortunately, she hadn’t paid much attention to such things in the past, so she didn’t ask any questions.

Seeing that the two children were already asleep and Chen Ningya showed no signs of wanting to sleep, Wen Youshan asked curiously, “Wife, aren’t you going to sleep yet?”

Chen Ningya nodded, opened one of the only two locked cabinets in the house, and took out the bundle given by the magistrate. She whispered, “I was too busy before and didn’t look closely at what was inside. Since we have some free time tonight, I need to sort through it properly.”

As she spoke, Chen Ningya opened the bundle and discovered that it contained two sets of clothes that were eighty percent new. She remembered wearing these clothes while recovering at the medical clinic. She hadn’t expected Shen Bian to be so thoughtful as to return the things she had used. Besides the clothes, there were two pieces of cotton fabric—not large, but not small either—enough for her to make a set of undergarments for everyone in the family. Aside from that, there was the pouch of silver and two strings of copper coins.

Seeing Chen Ningya pour out the silver, Wen Youshan hurriedly said, “I took two taels from it when we went to town to hire the doctor. The children’s medical treatment cost eight hundred wen, and buying rice and grain cost another five hundred wen. There are seven hundred wen left; I put that money in the cabinet separately.”

Chen Ningya counted it up and looked up, saying, “So Magistrate Shen gave ten taels of silver and two strings of coins, right?”

Wen Youshan nodded repeatedly.

“This little bit of silver won’t do much!” Chen Ningya muttered, frowning.

Without a word, Wen Youshan got up, rummaged through the cabinet for a long while, and brought out a tattered cloth bag. “This is all my worldly possessions. There are five taels of broken silver and three strings of coins. I’m giving it all to you.”

Chen Ningya looked at Wen Youshan in shock.

Wen Youshan said sheepishly, “In the past, Mother kept our family’s money. I only saved a little bit myself. Before Mother passed away, she gave all the money to me. It’s just... a bit little.”

Chen Ningya nodded dumbly. It was truly little. For a family of seven, all their savings combined didn’t even reach ten taels. The children’s illness and the doctor’s visit had cost nearly one tael. No wonder they said the poor couldn’t afford to get sick.