At the entrance of Yunshui Village, a mule cart approached from afar, and the familiar figure on the mule's back was none other than Shen Xuan.
Upon seeing Shen Xuan return, the villagers excitedly gathered around him, scrutinizing his expression while tentatively asking,
"Shen Xuan? You really went to set up a stall today?"
"Is business good in Lezhou City?"
"Did you make any money today from your stall?"
It was, after all, Shen Xuan's first day setting up a stall, and the entire village, whether watching for entertainment or hoping to see him fail, had been discussing it all day. By now, they naturally wanted to know the outcome.
"It's alright," Shen Xuan replied, driving his mule cart, after some thought.
"After deducting costs, I can earn seventy to eighty wen a day." He deliberately held back, only revealing a fraction of his earnings, not daring to claim he made nothing.
After all, his future living expenses in the village couldn't stay at the same standard as before.
When the villagers later saw him in new clothes and buying things, they'd know he was earning money from his stall.
Earning seventy to eighty wen a day was on par with the village gentry, which was already quite good.
Indeed, as soon as Shen Xuan finished speaking, the villagers' eyes widened, and they exclaimed in disbelief, "Eighty wen a day? You're not bragging, are you?"
"Eighty wen a day means you could earn two guan a month, right? That's twenty taels of silver a year, enough to buy four or five mu of land!"
"Setting up a stall to sell tea, is it really that profitable? Shen Xuan, a Ger, can actually earn this much!"
"That's because Shen Xuan is capable. He made the stall cart himself and ran to the city. I couldn't do it; those lords in the city, my legs would turn to jelly just looking at them. I wouldn't dare speak to them, let alone do business."
Upon hearing that Shen Xuan was earning money, the attitude of most Yunshui Village residents changed significantly towards him.
While the village generally only valued men, the fundamental reason was that men, being physically stronger, took on most of the money-making tasks in the household, thus having higher status.
For example, Aunt Zhang, who sold tofu, was as capable as any man. She made and sold tofu herself. In the village, no one dared to speak ill of her.
And Shen Xuan, ever since escaping the Wang family's control, his life had visibly improved day by day.
Now, being able to go out and set up a stall to earn money was also very commendable. Those villagers who had previously spoken sourly about him now changed their tune, praising him profusely.
Especially the elders in families, they even used Shen Xuan as a standard to lecture their wives and children at the dinner table.
Whenever Shen Xuan was mentioned, they'd tell their wives or Ger to learn from him, to find a rich husband, go out and set up a stall to earn money, and properly show filial piety to their parents.
With Shen Xuan's success, Wang Xiaolian in the entire village was arguably the most upset person.
He and Shen Xuan were both Ger, the same age, and had lived together in the Wang family for so long, always being compared by the villagers.
Now, Shen Xuan was constantly praised, and soon he would be mentioned in the same breath as "better than" Wang Xiaolian.
Wang Xiaolian even heard others discussing how he was less capable than Shen Xuan while he was bringing food to his elder brother in the fields.
Fortunately, he was getting married at the end of the month, just waiting for the Sun family to pick him up as a scholar's husband, which was why he endured these gossips.
***
Compared to Wang Xiaolian, the fate of Zhong Xiaomei from the Zhong family was even more tragic.
After Brother Zhong went missing, the Zhong family said they would marry her off to that old widower. It was only because she was fourteen, still too young, that she had to stay home and work for two more years.
At the Zhong family's dinner table, there was a plate of stir-fried fresh bamboo shoots and a plate of stir-fried shepherd's purse, both picked by her that morning.
The meager, watery dishes offered no appetite. Only the four boiled eggs on the table added a touch of meat.
However, Zhong Xiaomei dared not touch these four boiled eggs. They were prepared for her father and younger brother, two each, which was the Zhong family's rule.
Zhong Xiaomei ate a few bites of stir-fried shepherd's purse and pulled half a sweet potato from the steaming pot next to her.
She had dug it up that morning, and it was steamed with bean rice to make a meager meal. But before she could put the sweet potato into her mouth, Aunt Zhong snatched the half sweet potato from her hand and said,
"Eat, eat, that's all you know how to do!" She continued, "There's only one sweet potato in total, half for your father and half for your brother. Where's your share?"
Normally, Zhong Xiaomei would have endured it, but after hearing a few days ago that her family was going to marry her off to that old widower, Zhong Xiaomei felt she couldn't bear it any longer.
She looked at her younger brother, who was eating eggs, and felt a wave of injustice. She said, "My brother has eggs to eat; he wouldn't even look at this half sweet potato! This is my sweet potato that I dug; can't I even eat it? Why are you so biased?"
"A married daughter is like water poured out – once she's gone, she's gone for good; sooner or later, you'll belong to someone else."
Aunt Zhong, hearing Zhong Xiaomei talk back, grew even angrier. "If you want eggs, go ask that widower Chen's family for them!"
She added, "His family has lots of land and lots of food. If you're like Shen Xuan, capable of coaxing him to give you money to buy a mule and a cart, and you go set up a stall to earn money, you'll naturally have a good life!"
That widower Chen was eighteen years older than Zhong Xiaomei, looking almost as old as her father. Zhong Xiaomei already didn't want to marry him, and hearing Aunt Zhong's words made her heart grow even colder.
She couldn't eat anymore, threw down her chopsticks, and rushed out. It was almost dark now, and the distant mountain forest was eerily dark.
Yet, no one from the Zhong family came out to stop her. She only heard Aunt Zhong inside the house say, "Such a temper for a girl! We'll see how her husband's family deals with her after she's married!"
Then she heard her father, Zhong Dalang, say, "Don't mind her; she'll come back obediently in a while. What kind of behavior is this, throwing a tantrum just because an elder says a few words?"
Her brother had already gone missing, and her parents had only looked for him for one day. If she went missing, her parents probably wouldn't be sad; they'd only regret not getting the five taels betrothal gift.
Zhong Xiaomei's heart completely froze, and she walked away, tears streaming down her face. She didn't know where she was going, but her mind was filled with what Aunt Zhong had said about Shen Xuan being capable of earning money from his stall, so she headed towards Shen Xuan's residence.
***
Meanwhile, these past few days, Shen Xuan had been busy with his stall, and Xue Fenglin's leg was getting better, so he voluntarily took on the task of buying groceries in the village.
Xue Fenglin couldn't cook, but he had learned how to simply wash rice and cook meals by watching Shen Xuan.
So, every day, he would prepare the rice at home and wash and pick the vegetables, just waiting for Shen Xuan to return and start cooking.
With Xue Fenglin helping with some housework, Shen Xuan had to admit he felt much more relaxed.
After dinner, Xue Fenglin would take over washing the pots and pans, not letting Shen Xuan lift a finger.
Although it was said that a gentleman stayed away from the kitchen, Xue Fenglin felt for Shen Xuan's hard work and certainly wouldn't let him do heavy chores after a day of labor outside.
Shen Xuan was happy to relax. After eating and drinking his fill, he walked into the courtyard to stroll and aid digestion.
It was already dark, and apart from the light from inside the house, only the moon and stars in the sky provided faint illumination.
Combined with the croaking of frogs and chirping of insects in the grass, it felt exceptionally serene.
As Shen Xuan was enjoying the cool breeze of late summer, he suddenly heard a faint crying sound from a corner of the bushes outside the courtyard.
The crying sounded particularly mournful in the darkness, making one's hair stand on end. If it were anyone else, they might have thought they encountered a female ghost or a legendary snake spirit.
But Shen Xuan was bold. He immediately held up his oil lamp and went to investigate, and indeed, found Zhong Xiaomei sobbing with her knees hugged to her chest in the bushes.
When Shen Xuan was foolish in the past, Zhong Xiaomei had often snatched things from him. So, facing Zhong Xiaomei, who had once bullied him, Shen Xuan honestly couldn't feel much goodwill.
But it was late, and the village roads were dark. Zhong Xiaomei was just a fourteen-year-old girl, and her brother had just gone missing.
Shen Xuan was afraid she'd get lost too, so he planned to take his oil lamp and escort her back. To his surprise, Zhong Xiaomei refused to go, instead dropping to her knees before Shen Xuan and hugging his leg, crying,
"Shen Ger, please save me! I don't want to marry that widower Chen."
Shen Xuan had also heard about the Zhong family's plan to marry Zhong Xiaomei off to widower Chen.
Seeing her crying hysterically, he felt quite sympathetic. Brother Zhong and Zhong Xiaomei were both victims of the feudal customs of the Great Jin Dynasty.
As a soul who had received a modern education, how could Shen Xuan just stand by and watch? However, marriages in the Great Jin Dynasty were always decided by the parents.
This was a marriage arranged by Zhong Xiaomei's parents, so how could he, an outsider, interfere?
So, Shen Xuan helped Zhong Xiaomei up and said,
"This is your Zhong family's matter; how can I save you? You should go back and talk to your parents properly."
To his surprise, Zhong Xiaomei replied, "Shen Ger, they won't listen! But if I can earn money like you, they won't bear to send me away. After all, I can earn silver for the family."
She continued, "Please, teach me! Let me work with you! I also want to learn to set up a stall in the city and earn money like you! My parents are very materialistic. As long as I can earn money, they definitely won't force me!"
Shen Xuan fell silent, his gaze fixed on Zhong Xiaomei's face, pondering for a long time...
Zhong Xiaomei was actually telling the truth. The Zhong couple wanted to marry her off to the old widower just to get the five taels betrothal gift.
If Zhong Xiaomei herself could earn that much money, the Zhong couple would probably wish she never married and worked for the family for free, so how could they force her to marry outside?
However, Shen Xuan earned money from his stall through his unique recipe, and he certainly couldn't let others learn it. So, how could he teach it to Zhong Xiaomei?
Yet, Zhong Xiaomei had finally come up with the idea of earning money herself, and she was pleading with him like this.
Shen Xuan found it psychologically difficult to simply ignore a girl of middle school age like her. After a long internal struggle, Shen Xuan sighed and said to Zhong Xiaomei,
"Alright, don't worry. I'll help you think of ways to earn money first."
Zhong Xiaomei immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Shen Xuan in gratitude, saying as she kowtowed,
"I don't seek great wealth, or to earn more than you, Shen Ger. I just need my parents to see that I can earn money so they won't force me to marry widower Chen!"
Shen Xuan smiled at this and helped Zhong Xiaomei up. "Alright, starting now, whenever you have free time, come to my house daily to help with laundry, chopping firewood, and other odd jobs. I'll give you two wen a day, which should shut your parents up. As for other things, I'll help you figure them out later."
Two wen a day was the same wage villagers earned doing labor for the gentry, and the work was much easier than farm labor.
In fact, Shen Xuan's household now, including Xue Fenglin, only consisted of two people and no land, so there wasn't much work to do at all.
Shen Xuan arranged this job for Zhong Xiaomei partly because he felt it wasn't good for Xue Fenglin, who was clearly a young master from a wealthy family, to be chopping firewood and doing laundry daily, and partly simply to help Zhong Xiaomei.
This way, Zhong Xiaomei could earn some money in between doing chores for the Zhong family, and the Zhong couple probably wouldn't be so harsh on her.
Furthermore, while he couldn't let Zhong Xiaomei get involved with the Honey Scholar Tea business, it wasn't impossible for her to earn money in the city.
Shen Xuan remembered that Zhong Xiaomei was quite good at needlework and often used to make shoe soles with Brother Zhong to sell at the village entrance.
There were many embroidery workshops in Lezhou City, and Shen Xuan had seen some women go there to pick up items to take home and make, earning dozens of wen.
If Zhong Xiaomei could also learn embroidery skills and take on needlework jobs in the city, she could earn at least five or six taels of silver a year, making the old widower Chen's five taels betrothal gift irrelevant.