W Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Pregnancy Mole 2

He initially thought that Shen Lai was wearing the cloth strip on his forehead for aesthetic purposes, never expecting it was to cover up the pregnancy mole.

He was wondering why Shen Lai was covering it, and relevant memories surfaced in his mind.

A Ge’er’s pregnancy mole is extremely private and must be covered after the age of ten.

No man other than their future husband is allowed to see a Ge’er’s pregnancy mole.

The location of each Ge’er’s pregnancy mole varies. Those on the body are easier to conceal with clothing.

If it’s on the face, ears, hands, or other hard-to-cover areas, they can only use something to hide it.

Wealthy families buy special creams for concealment, while poorer families simply use mud or soot.

After Shen Lai lifted the cloth strip, he expressed more envy.

“Eldest brother-in-law, you and Xiaoxiao are so lucky that your pregnancy moles aren’t on your faces, so you don’t have to go through the trouble of covering them like I do.”

Ling Xing rummaged through the original body’s memories and moved his tongue.

The original body’s pregnancy mole was on the root of his tongue, and you could feel a slight bump if you touched it gently with your fingertip.

But it really didn’t need to be specially covered. Who would randomly pry his mouth open to look at his tongue root?

Shen Xiaochun and Shen Xiaoxia, the siblings, were cowering aside, listening to the conversation between the two and not daring to interrupt.

Ling Xing could understand the two children’s fear and timidity.

This place was really unfriendly to women and Ge’ers. Cao Manyue was divorced and brought her children with her, but entering the Shen family, no matter how difficult it was, was still a place to shelter from the wind and rain and have a hot meal.

After all, they didn’t have Shen family blood, and Cao Manyue was afraid that the Shen family would dislike the two children.

If they really kicked the two children out, Cao Manyue would have no way to stop it.

What Ling Xing didn’t know was that Cao Manyue would repeatedly warn the children in private to live cautiously.

Never make the Shen family unhappy.

The children were already suppressed and disliked by their former grandparents. After coming to the Shen family, they had to be even more careful.

It would be strange if they could relax.

Since the children were afraid, Ling Xing didn’t intentionally try to talk to them. It was better to let them be than to force a conversation.

Besides, Shen Lai was too talkative, and Ling Xing was already having a little trouble keeping up with him.

Since he had to chat anyway, Ling Xing guided Shen Lai to talk about local prices to help him understand the situation.

This place was called Yunshui County, Yunxia Town, and Xiao Liucun.

It was a place that was neither north nor south, and the main crops grown were sorghum, millet, soybeans, and wheat.

There was also rice, but that was only grown on the big estates. Ordinary families didn’t have the money to divert water for irrigation, and rice seeds were also very expensive.

Wheat was grown more often, and coarsely ground flour was the cheapest.

It was six Wen per catty, and it contained a lot of bran. The flour porridge they ate today was made with this kind of flour.

Finely ground flour cost twenty Wen per catty. It didn’t have much bran, but it was a bit grey. The most expensive was finely ground white flour at thirty-five Wen per catty, which had no bran at all and was very white.

Sorghum, millet, and soybeans were even cheaper, only five Wen per catty. But rice was very expensive. Even old rice cost sixty Wen per catty, not to mention new rice, which was double the price.

As for meat, beef was quite cheap, only twenty Wen, which was a price fixed by the government.

Anyone who sold it at a higher price would be arrested and beaten.

But cattle could not be slaughtered unless they died of old age or disease.

This low price was set to prevent people from stealing and killing farm cattle for profit. If there wasn’t much money to be made, naturally no one would risk taking such a big risk.

Pork was thirty-five Wen per catty, mutton was forty Wen per catty, and chicken, duck, and goose were twenty-five Wen per catty. Fish was the cheapest meat, at twelve Wen per catty.

But very small fish could be sold for one Wen each.

Shen Lai counted on his fingers, and he felt a little regretful when he mentioned chicken, ducks, and geese. “It would be great if we could raise these at home. Chicken eggs could be sold for one Wen each. Duck eggs and goose eggs are bigger, so they’re two Wen each. If you buy them, you have to pay double.”

The Yu Dynasty had only been established for a short time, and prices were very high, but ordinary people didn’t earn much money.

In the village, people usually bartered goods and rarely used copper coins.

Even during the monthly village market on the fifteenth, people would use goods to trade if they could, instead of using copper coins.

In the villagers’ eyes, money was very precious. It came slowly and went quickly.

They couldn’t spend it easily, or it would be gone.

In addition to the monthly village market, there were also town and county markets during festivals.

Shen Lai had only been to the village market and one town market, and he had never been to the county market.

He only knew that the county market was the most lively and was held every three months on the first day of the month.

Ling Xing had a general understanding of the prices here and asked Shen Lai what kind of food was sold at the market.

“Sugar figurines, candied hawthorns, malt sugar, sorghum candy, sesame candy, peanut candy…”

After saying a string of sweets, Shen Lai drooled, and Shen Xiaochun and Shen Xiaoxia also drooled.

Candy was delicious and tempting.

Ling Xing wanted to find a handkerchief to wipe their mouths, but he saw that the three of them had already wiped them with their sleeves.

He could only sit still and continue listening to Shen Lai.

“Noodles, baked cakes.”

Ling Xing waited for a while, “That’s it?”

Shen Lai nodded, “Yes.”

“Buns, steamed buns, wontons, dumplings, don’t they have any?”

Shen Lai was a little strange, “Are these foods from your hometown, Eldest Brother-in-law?”

Ling Xing was stunned and carefully recalled.

No, there were none of these in the original body’s memories.

There were no various snacks either. The food here was scarce and the dishes were monotonous, somewhat like the Han Dynasty in his previous life.

Ling Xing’s eyes lit up, and he was a little excited.

He could make money!

He knew the recipes for many delicious foods. Even if he couldn’t make them taste exactly right, they would still be novel. What’s more, the food he made tasted quite good.

After being pleasantly surprised, Ling Xing became listless again. According to the prices Shen Lai had just mentioned, he couldn’t even sell buns.

He didn’t have a single Wen on him, and the Shen family didn’t have the money to support him.

Alas, a single Wen could stump a hero. Couldn’t the heavens inexplicably drop a few taels of silver for him?

Ling Xing suddenly thought of something and asked Shen Lai, “Do you have tofu?”

Shen Lai said, “Eldest Brother-in-law, do you want to eat tofu? When Second Brother and the others come back from selling firewood, I’ll ask Mother for money to buy it in the village. The tofu made by Wang Fulang’s family is good, and you have to go early to buy it. The other families’ tofu isn’t good.”

Ling Xing waved his hand, so there was already tofu…

He was thinking that if there wasn’t, he could grind soybeans into tofu. Although it was tiring, the cost was low.

Moreover, according to Shen Lai’s meaning, there was more than one family selling tofu in the village, so even if he made it, he probably wouldn’t be able to sell it.

Ling Xing propped his head up and thought for a while. If it really didn’t work, he would write a recipe and sell it in town or the county to at least have some capital.

But he had to discuss this with the Shen family first, because the body he was wearing was a Ge’er, and he couldn’t do business alone.

Ling Xing was determined to make money. Living on wheat bran porridge was okay for a day or two, but not for long.

People would develop problems.

“By the way, Fifth, don’t sleep in the main room anymore. Sleep with me.”

The bed in the east room was quite big, and it could easily sleep three people. Adding one more Shen Lai wouldn’t be a problem.

The Shen family didn’t mention this to Ling Xing, but Ling Xing couldn’t really pretend he didn’t see it.

He would be living here for a long time and didn’t want these small things to wear away the Shen family’s care for him.

Hearing that he could sleep in the room, Shen Lai was so happy that he almost jumped up.

He leaned close to Ling Xing and rubbed against him, acting cute and smiling so wide that his mouth couldn’t close. “Eldest Brother-in-law, you’re so good!”

Ling Xing also preferred Shen Lai’s straightforward nature. He smiled and told him to put his hands in the quilt to keep warm.

Near noon, the rest of the Shen family came back.

Xu Youfang heated water and poured it for everyone to drink to warm their bodies.

“How did the sales go?”

“They lowered the price to seven Wen per bundle.”

Shen Chengshan frowned, and there were already deep lines between his eyebrows. As the head of the family, the burden on his shoulders was not light. Life smoothed out his edges and corners, and it also deepened the wrinkles on his face and whitened his hair.

Xu Youfang sighed worriedly when she heard the price.

The weather was still cold, so firewood was selling at a good price. Although it wasn’t as good as during the New Year when it sold for twelve Wen a bundle, it could still sell for nine or ten Wen.

There was no shortage of firewood in the summer, and a bundle of firewood was only five Wen.

“This is one hundred and forty Wen, take it. Xing Ge’er’s health is not good, so get another dose of medicine for him to take.”

The four of them had made twenty bundles of firewood in the morning, and Shen Hui had made twelve bundles alone.

Shen Chengshan gave all the money from selling firewood today to Xu Youfang. Herbs were very expensive, especially in winter, when the prices were doubled compared to other times.

The last dose of medicine for Ling Xing cost one hundred Wen.

Xu Youfang didn’t say no and counted out the full amount of money. “Okay, I’ll go to the neighboring village this afternoon to ask Doctor Sun to come.”

The old couple made the decision to use most of the money to buy medicine for Ling Xing, and Shen Hui and Shen Gui’s wives didn’t say anything.

Cao Manyue not only didn’t mind, but also said, “Mother, Eldest Brother-in-law’s health is weak. Should we put a charcoal basin in his room tonight to warm him up?”