W Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Digging a Pit

The gate to Scholar Lu’s home was wide open. The courtyard was clean and tidy, and a woman was sitting on a small stone stool, preparing vegetables.

Seeing a shadow from the corner of her eye, she looked up and greeted them with a practiced smile, “Are you here to find someone or inquire about the private school?”

Ling Xing said, “We’re here to inquire about the private school.”

The woman nodded, putting down the vegetables in her hand. “Please come in and sit. I’ll go call him.”

Ling Xing and Shen Hui entered the courtyard and sat on the other two stone stools. Soon after they sat down, the woman came out with a thin, middle-aged man with a goatee.

“This is Scholar Lu. If you have any questions about the private school, just ask him.”

After speaking, the woman picked up the vegetable basket and went to the courtyard gate, leaving them to talk.

“Scholar Lu, greetings.”

Ling Xing and Shen Hui stood up and bowed slightly. Although Scholar Lu didn’t show much expression, and could even be said to be stern, he was very polite.

“Please, sit down.”

Scholar Lu’s small courtyard was clean and tidy. Even though the teacher wasn’t there, the sound of reading could be heard from the house.

The voices didn’t sound very old.

Ling Xing was quite satisfied with this private school. He planned to let Ling Yue study there for a while, and if he thought it was good, he would continue.

If he didn’t like it, he would look for one in town.

After deciding, Ling Xing told Scholar Lu about Ling Yue’s situation.

Hearing that Ling Yue had started reading at the age of three and could recite the “Thousand Character Classic” completely, Scholar Lu stroked his goatee, very satisfied with Ling Yue’s first impression.

“If possible, bring the child to see me tomorrow.”

Ling Xing thought so too. After agreeing on a time to meet tomorrow, he and Shen Hui left Xiao Liucun.

“Second Brother, if you want to study and take the imperial examinations, do you need to find a private school?”

The students studying with Scholar Lu were generally younger, so it might not be suitable for Shen Hui. Just as he was about to ask Shen Hui if he wanted to inquire about the private school in town tomorrow, Shen Hui said, “No need. Before the incident at home, the teacher once told me that I could take the exam.”

It was just that plans couldn’t keep up with changes. That year’s imperial examination was not held due to the turmoil, and he hadn’t thought about taking the exam again in the past ten years.

“I’ve read the books Wang Juan sent, and they’re very suitable. I’ll buy some writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones tomorrow, and I can study on my own.”

Just taking the children’s examination to enter, Shen Hui had no problem at all.

Becoming a Xiucai [scholar who passed the county level exam] was a bit difficult given his current situation, but he had already found a teacher for himself.

People in the village might not know Wang Juan’s true identity, but he had encountered Wang Juan and his husband with the previous county magistrate when he went to the county to sell game some years ago.

The elderly county magistrate bowed to Wang Juan, and he recognized through lip reading that the other party called him, “Lord Wang.”

Then he was stopped by Wang Juan, who said that he was no longer an official and could not be called that anymore.

Shen Hui didn’t see anything more.

According to the laws of the Great Yu Dynasty, a Juren [person who passed the provincial level exam] could participate in the selection of officials, and without great merit, he could at most become a county magistrate.

And to be able to have a county magistrate respectfully call him superior, Wang Juan must have been a Jinshi [person who passed the national level exam] before.

Shen Hui wanted to participate in next year’s imperial examination and wanted to obtain the title of Xiucai. Only Wang Juan was most suitable to teach him.

Knowing that Shen Hui knew what he was doing, Ling Xing didn’t say anything more.

The two returned home and busied themselves.

Now that the weather was getting hotter, Shen Gui’s vegetable field was full of vitality.

Seeing Ling Xing return, he quickly pulled him to the vegetable field, planning to sell vegetables.

“Big Brother Husband, what price should I set for these vegetables?”

Shen Gui took great care in tending to the vegetable field, watering, catching insects, and applying fertilizer. He did everything diligently.

The land also gave Shen Gui the best reward. The leafy greens were all green and lush, and the cucumbers and tomatoes bearing fruit were also growing very well.

Just looking at the quality, it was no different from the carefully selected vegetables in a boutique supermarket in his previous life.

However, because the insects were caught by hand after all, and no pesticides were used, there were still some wormholes.

But Shen Gui’s family of four caught insects diligently, so there weren’t many wormholes.

“Pick out the vegetables with good quality and sell them to larger restaurants and taverns to see. You can set the price one or two Wen higher. For the lower quality ones, set up a stall and classify them, arrange them neatly, and sell them according to the market price.”

Shen Gui repeated Ling Xing’s words and nodded happily.

Then he squatted on the ground and grabbed the radish greens nearby. “These spring radishes are growing well. Little Five pulled one and shared it with Xiaochun and the others. They all said it was juicy and sweet. I’ll pull out two at noon and shred them, add salt, and mix them as a dish.”

Ling Xing had bought a lot of seasonings to make soup dumplings. “I’ll make it. I’ll make something different to eat.”

Hearing that there was something delicious to eat, Shen Gui was happy again. He liked the food that Big Brother Husband came up with from time to time. The taste was never bad.

After pulling out two radishes, they went to the kitchen and washed them clean before cutting them into small pieces. Just as Shen Gui said, the radishes were growing well and were juicy.

There was still some white sugar at home, so Ling Xing planned to make sweet and sour pickled radish slices.

After cutting the radishes, add salt and let them sit for two quarters of an hour to remove some of the water.

When the time was up, squeeze out the water, add salt, sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar to marinate.

Stir well, cover, and let it sit, then start cooking brown rice.

Shen Gui also pulled some water spinach, washed it clean, and sent it to the kitchen to cook.

Ling Xing chopped some garlic and made garlic water spinach with lard.

At lunchtime, the Shen family finally didn’t have to eat old, bitter wild vegetables anymore.

The water spinach had just grown and was fresh and delicious. The vegetables were crisp and refreshing, with a strong garlic flavor and the aroma of lard. The sweet and sour pickled radishes were appetizing and went well with rice. The sweetness was memorable for the Shen family, who rarely ate sweets.

Although they were all vegetarian dishes, Ling Xing was willing to add sugar to the radishes and lard to the water spinach, so the taste was no worse than meat dishes.

Along with the dishes, Shen Lai ate a large bowl of brown rice with a “huff huff” sound, and even Ling Yue was eating a little anxiously, which showed that the taste was really good.

The sweet and sour pickled radishes were the most popular. Ling Xing also thought they were delicious.

He said, “Fourth Brother, I’ll pull out two more radishes from you this afternoon. I’ll make some sweet and sour radishes and send them to Qing Brother’s family.”

They sent a lot of books yesterday, which Ling Yue could use, and Shen Hui could also use.

The family now knew that Shen Hui was going to participate in the imperial examination, and Shen Gui and his wife were also prepared to tighten their belts to support their Second Brother’s studies.

Second Brother was smart, and Big Brother always said that Second Brother was a pity, otherwise he could have taken the imperial examination and become an official.

Hearing this a lot, Shen Gui also felt sorry for him.

Because he had a good foundation, it wasn’t too late to pick it up now.

In Shen Gui’s view, the family shared honor and disgrace, and there was no such thing as who took advantage and who suffered.

If he really passed the imperial examination and became famous, he, as a younger brother, would also enjoy the blessings and be honored.

Shen Gui said, “Those books are good things. What are these vegetables? Big Brother Husband, just take them. I’ll cover the vegetables for his family.”

Shen Chengshan also said, “Fourth Brother is right, Xing Brother, you should make more and send them to the couple.”

Ling Xing nodded, thinking that Xie Qingya liked to eat the things he made, and with Shen Chengshan’s words, he might as well make some more pickled vegetables to send.

Thinking of the tender little cucumbers growing on the melon vines, he also thought that pickled vegetables were very suitable.

Cucumbers of different degrees of maturity had very different tastes after being pickled.

Ling Xing preferred tender cucumbers, which had a crisp and juicy taste. And they were quick to pickle, only taking two or three days.

“Then I’ll pick some tender cucumbers and make a pickled vegetable for his family.”

Shen Gui naturally agreed. After eating, he pulled Ling Xing to the vegetable field to choose vegetables.

After pickling the radishes, Ling Xing processed the tender cucumbers.

First, pickle them with salt, then mix and soak them with boiled soy sauce. Add appropriate seasonings to the soy sauce according to your taste. Ling Xing made a soy sauce flavor, adding some white sugar to enhance the flavor.

After turning them over a few times, pour the tender cucumbers and soy sauce into a small jar.

That was for pickling vegetables at home, cover it, add water to the bowl-shaped opening, and it was airtight.

Rural families only add coarse salt when making pickles and seal them in a pickle jar to eat in winter.

Real, delicious pickled vegetables had to be bought from a pickle shop.

They were good things that people in town could afford. Unless they were entertaining guests and wanted to save money, rural families wouldn’t specifically buy pickled vegetables.

Ling Xing put the jar in a cool and ventilated place first and would send it to Xie Qingya after it was done in three days.

The sweet and sour radishes could be sent today.

Xie Qingya was extremely happy to receive Ling Xing’s food.

He loved the food Ling Xing made the most. Although it wasn’t exquisite, it had a unique flavor.

“I left some soy milk, you can take it back and drink it.”

Xie Qingya brought out a pottery basin of soy milk and cut two pieces of tofu for Ling Xing.

Seeing that he really had no hands to take them, he even helped send them to the Shen family.

After returning home, Ling Xing started making pig skin jelly.

Because he was going to sell it tomorrow, he made a total of ten catties.

One portion had more water, making six catties of pig skin jelly, which was used to wrap soup dumplings. The other portion had moderate water, making four catties of pig skin jelly, which was sold separately when cut open.

The cost of pig skin jelly increased linearly after adding spices and seasonings, at six Wen per catty.

Ling Xing planned to sell it by the ounce, one Wen per ounce.

Buying two ounces and dipping it in seasoning was also a dish, enough for one person to eat.

Potato starch didn’t need to be made separately, the amount he made before was enough for a while. Ling Xing planned to get up a little earlier tomorrow to knead the dough.

The meat filling had to be chopped and stored tonight, otherwise it would be too late tomorrow.

Seeing that the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the meat wouldn’t last long, Ling Xing wondered if he should buy ice.

After finishing his work, Ling Xing went to the house to do the math.

Because the soup dumplings were small, ten could be made in one steamer, they cooked quickly, and the number sold was more than buns and steamed buns.

However, he used some flour before, and the pig skin jelly was limited, so today’s soup dumplings only used a total of sixteen catties of flour.

Looking at the 1,694 Wen in the money box, excluding the free samples, about 847 soup dumplings were sold properly.

This calculation was easier than buns and steamed buns. The pure profit was exactly half of the income.

Excluding the stall fee, he earned 827 Wen a day.

He also had to go to get medicine for Ling Yue tomorrow. One dose of medicine was 50 Wen, enough for two doses, which was one day’s worth.

The money he earned before, plus the money Shen Hui earned from hunting and selling game in the mountains in the middle, was all used to treat Ling Yue’s injuries.

The remaining bit was also spent on buying raw materials for making soup dumplings and renting a stall these past two days.

The 1,600 Wen in his hand was all of Ling Xing’s property.

……

Ling Yue’s leg injury needed to be rested and couldn’t be moved in the early stage, but now it needed appropriate exercise.

The work of taking Ling Yue to walk and move was taken over by Shen Lai.

Because the medicine he drank made his voice ugly, Ling Yue rarely spoke.

He was now in the courtyard, holding on to the wall, walking a little tired, and he was too embarrassed to ask Shen Lai to stop.

The main reason was that at the beginning, Shen Lai didn’t know the reason for Ling Yue’s voice and thought that his voice was so harsh and laughed at Ling Yue.

Then Ling Yue always kept it in his heart. Even if Shen Lai later knew that his voice was made like this by bad people, he was too embarrassed to speak more.

Afraid of being laughed at.

Although Shen Lai looked carefree, he was actually very careful.

Seeing that Ling Yue’s forehead was sweating and his breathing was disordered, and his delicate eyebrows were tightly frowned, he immediately stopped.

“Are you tired? Then let’s rest for a while.”

Ling Yue breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and didn’t say anything.

“Why don’t you say anything?”

Shen Lai had observed in the past few days that this A-Yue was good at everything, but he was a silent person. He only said two sentences when Big Brother Husband was there. Usually at home, he wouldn’t say anything if he could.

He wouldn’t even respond when he called him. He had to limp and lean against the wall and walk out, then use expressions to ask, “What’s the matter?”

Shen Lai thought that Ling Yue and his mother were two extremes.

His mother used her hands instead of her mouth, and Ling Yue would definitely not open his mouth if he could do it with action.

Because the weather was hot today, it wasn’t cool even near dusk, and the air was stuffy.

Therefore, the amount he walked was the same as before, but it was more tiring.

As a result, Ling Yue persevered and didn’t ask him to stop.

Shen Lai reached out and poked Ling Yue’s cheek, which had grown some flesh. It was soft and felt good.

“You must not bury anything in your heart. You have to say it.”

Shen Lai gave Ling Yue an example, “I used to be provoked by the children in the village and fight with them. But I didn’t tell my parents the reason, so my parents thought I was naughty and mischievous. It was Brother Husband who found out that I was wronged and helped me out. Later, my parents knew that there was a reason for my fights before, and they never said anything about me because of this again.”

Ling Yue pursed his lips, thinking that no wonder Shen Lai had never been seen playing with other people, he was always playing with Xiao Chun and Xia Xia at the door of his house.

Under Shen Lai’s curious gaze, Ling Yue moved his mouth and turned his head away.

Who knew that Shen Lai would also move with him, staring at him with his round eyes. Ling Yue’s eyes fell on the hairband tied on Shen Lai’s forehead, and he turned back a little embarrassed.

Shen Lai also turned with him again.

Ling Yue had no choice but to whisper, “You don’t like my voice.”

After drinking medicine for a period of time, Ling Yue’s voice was much better than it was at the beginning.

But compared to the sweet and crisp voice of a normal five-year-old child, Ling Yue’s voice was much hoarser.

Shen Lai was stunned, when did he not like Ling Yue’s voice?

The insensitive Shen Lai hugged his head and thought for a while before he remembered what was going on.

“I didn’t laugh at you on purpose that time, because your voice did sound strange. I didn’t know the reason, so I laughed, but I really didn’t mean any harm.”

Shen Lai looked at Ling Yue slowly lowering his head, looking disappointed and sad, and he was a little flustered.

“I didn’t laugh after I knew the reason. A-Yue, I’m sorry, don’t be sad, forgive me this time, okay?”

Ling Yue could hear the sincerity in Shen Lai’s words and knew that Shen Lai wasn’t deliberately mocking him.

He didn’t blame Shen Lai for that laugh, but he also felt that his voice was ugly and didn’t want to speak.

“I don’t blame you, Little Five.”

Shen Lai breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good, I’ll take you to walk again.”

“Okay.”

The two children started walking around the yard again. Ling Xing withdrew from behind the door of the main room and sighed.

Ling Yue was inferior.

He couldn’t help but worry whether Ling Yue could really adapt after going to the private school.

After all, his voice was like this, and it wouldn’t get better for a while. It needed long-term treatment to get better.

When studying in the private school, he had to speak out, and there were many people who he didn’t know. The reactions of those people after hearing Ling Yue’s voice would probably stimulate him…

Sigh, worry.

*

The soup dumpling business the next day was even better than yesterday. The owner of the painting shop heard that Ling Xing was back setting up a stall, so he went to line up early in the morning to buy food.

He had eaten the buns and steamed buns at the store on Ma Oil Street, but they weren’t as delicious as before.

There was a stall selling dumplings and wontons that was good. The small wontons were bite-sized and very delicious.

The dumplings were also delicious, not only were they good to eat directly, but they also had different flavors when dipped in seasoning.

He had eaten them for two days in a row. If the stall owner hadn’t not set up a stall today, he wouldn’t have come to the soup dumpling stall.

The soup dumplings were out of the steamer, and the owner of the painting shop bought ten.

He hadn’t eaten them before, but he saw several familiar faces in the line, looking forward, so he knew that the small stall owner’s food this time must be good.

As expected, the soup dumpling skin was thin and the filling was big, and the soup was rich, delicious, and incomparably mellow.

Delicious!

However, in addition to soup dumplings today, there was another food on the stall.

Pig skin jelly.

Ling Xing still continued the previous method, starting with free samples.

It was useless to say flowery words, he had to let the diners choose for themselves.

Pig skin jelly had to be matched with dipping sauce. Ling Xing made a simple one himself, with soy sauce, vinegar, and minced garlic, and dripped two drops of sesame oil to add fragrance.

Now that the weather was getting hot, the pig skin jelly was crystal clear, chewy and smooth, and it was even more appetizing with the dipping sauce.

Cold dishes were very popular in summer, and the pig skin jelly tasted good and the price was cheap, so it sold very well without accident.

Four catties of pig skin jelly sold faster than soup dumplings.

Ling Xing also gave away dipping sauce recipes, reporting the basic ones, and added, “Those who like spicy food can add some chopped peppers.”

After saying this all morning, his mouth was dry and his tongue was parched.

Fortunately, he brought water in a bamboo tube.

He made less pig skin jelly today just to see if it could be sold.

After confirming that it could be sold, he could make more tomorrow.

After selling the soup dumplings, Shen Hui and Ling Xing quickly packed up the stall.

They hurried back to eat lunch earlier so they could take Ling Yue to Xiao Liucun.

After putting the things in the warehouse, Ling Xing looked at the old man sitting next to him.

“Grandpa, I want to ask, why haven’t I seen Li Sanlang these days?”

Li Huiyuan had helped him a lot before. He was still thinking about asking Li Huiyuan if he had any taboos and making him some pickled vegetables to send him.

But since that day at the county government, he hadn’t seen him again when he came to the warehouse.

The old man looked Ling Xing up and down, with some scrutinizing meaning.

No matter how you looked at him, he was a Ge’er [a third gender]. Why was he inquiring about an unmarried man?

He wanted to say that the world was going downhill, but Shen Hui’s gaze scared him into shutting up.

After clearing his throat, he still told the truth, “He’s going to take the exam in March next year, so he went home to concentrate on studying.”

It was May now. It was indeed difficult for ordinary people to take the Tong Sheng [passed first level of imperial exam] exam and become a Xiucai [person who passed the county level exam]. This time, it was Li Huiyuan entering the examination room again after many years of silence.

If he didn’t do well in the exam, the title of child prodigy that year would become his joke.

Thinking that Li Huiyuan was also under a lot of pressure, Ling Xing didn’t ask any more questions.

It’s better not to disturb him now.

The two bought their things and left the town, and found that there were many people gathered at the city gate.

Xu Qi led several subordinates to maintain order, loudly scolding people not to get close, and drawing out his sword to force them back.

Only then did the crowd quiet down.

The small official surrounded by the crowd continued to point at the notice pasted on the city wall and said, “The method of fermenting dough is to have a dough starter…”

Ling Xing was shocked after listening for a while.

Isn’t this the fermentation recipe he gave to the county magistrate!

Didn’t the county magistrate say that it would be useful to send it to the capital? Why was it made public now?

Ling Xing and the others listened to the end with the crowd before they understood what was going on.

According to the small official, His Majesty obtained a recipe for fermenting dough. In order to benefit the people, so that they could eat fluffy and soft food with a small amount of flour, he decided to make it public.

He ordered all prefectures and county governments to inform and popularize it all by the beginning of next year at the latest.

Ling Xing’s mind turned around. Without the emperor’s order, it was impossible for County Magistrate Lin to agree to give it to the Zhao family.

So…

County Magistrate Lin had known for a long time that His Majesty wanted to popularize dough fermentation.

That day, County Magistrate Lin actually tricked Zhao Ping and deliberately didn’t say it.

Now that the fermentation method was made public, Zhao Ping’s bun stall would have many competitors.

He himself didn’t have any real skills. If he didn’t even have the special thing of the fermentation recipe, it was impossible to get rich slowly by selling buns and steamed buns.

Ling Xing’s mood became joyful when he thought that the Zhao family didn’t get any good from him, and he pulled Shen Hui away.