Chapter 577: Farm Woman 5
While Tan You was on a big shopping trip in town, Daya and An Wen, who had stayed home, followed her instructions. As everyone gradually headed out to the fields to work, the two went to the Zhuzi family’s home and, just as they’d hoped, traded two Copper Coins for a small ladleful of coarse rice.
That price was far too low to get that much grain; in truth, it was the villagers’ way of helping them out. It was just that Daya and An Wen were still too young to understand these subtleties.
"When is Mom coming back?" Erya asked, her eyes filled with anxiety as she drank a rice porridge so watery you could see your reflection in it.
Due to their family’s poverty, frugality was ingrained in their bones. When making the porridge, Daya had used only a small handful of rice—just enough to ensure her family wouldn’t starve.
Sanya’s lips trembled, on the verge of tears, but Daya put on a stern little face. "No crying. Crying will only make you weaker."
"In a little while, I’ll do the watering, and you two will pull weeds." Daya thought for a moment before adding, "An Wen will help me carry the water."
The water they used every day was fetched from the river, a chore that used to fall to their parents and older brother. Now that her father and older brother were gone and her mother was in town, little Daya felt, ’I have to be the one to support this family.’
Tan You got home in the mid-afternoon. This time, she had mainly purchased raw materials for making soap, but she had also picked up some rice, flour, grains, and oil on the side. ’After all,’ she thought, ’the house is missing just about everything.’
Since the weather was currently hot, she could hold off on fabric, buying only what was urgently needed for now and gradually acquiring more later. All in all, there was a mountain of things to do, such as renovating the house and purchasing furniture.
But the most urgent priority was to keep the family fed. In short, the people had to come first.
Luckily, on her way back, Tan You came across a donkey cart returning to the countryside. After paying the two-Copper-Coin fare, she was finally able to catch her breath. Just looking at the old donkey, however, made Tan You’s mouth water. ’I want one too.’
’Who would have ever thought she’d one day be drooling over an old donkey?’
After getting off the cart at the entrance to the village, Tan You struggled onward with the heavy basket on her back. She had barely taken a few steps when several small figures came rushing toward her from the distance.
"Mom!"
"Mom’s back!"
"Aunt!"
An Wen and Erya were the fastest runners. Daya, having to keep an eye on Sanya, inevitably fell behind. The four children surrounded Tan You, and their adoring gazes made her heart melt.
Since they were near the foot of the mountain with no other villagers around, Tan You didn’t hold back. She stuffed a large bag of baked flatbreads into An Wen’s hands and placed a big slab of pork fat into Erya’s, instantly feeling her basket lighten considerably.
"Meat! We’re having meat today!" Erya cried out, before quickly lowering her voice.
Tan You lowered her voice as well. "This isn’t exactly meat, it’s pork fat. I’ll make you some pork cracklings when we get home."
Daya came over, leading Sanya by the hand, her little brow furrowed in a tight frown. "Mom, we don’t have any money."
"We’ll talk at home," Tan You said.
’She certainly didn’t have that traditional quality of silently enduring hardship and making selfless sacrifices. Raising kids in a new era naturally called for a new-era style. For instance, Tan You wasn’t going to hide everything from the children; they needed to be aware of the family’s affairs.’
With two of the children helping to carry the load, the group soon returned to the Chen family’s old house. The moment they stepped inside, Daya firmly bolted the courtyard gate, as if afraid someone might come by.
’She had just seen it—there was Silver at the bottom of Mom’s basket!’
Inside the main hall, Tan You placed the basket on the table in the center of the room. "Have a look for yourselves. I’m going to get a drink of water. If you’re hungry, go ahead and eat the flatbreads. I bought the meat-filled kind especially for you; they should still be warm."
Erya was the first to reach out and touch one. "They’re still warm!"
As she spoke, she started handing out a meat-filled flatbread to everyone. Tan You shot her a look. "Sanya can’t finish a whole one, so you all can split hers. I’m not eating anyone’s scraps."
’She could accept raising kids, but eating their scraps? That was something Tan You would never, ever do.’
Sanya looked at the meat-filled flatbread, which was almost as big as her face. Then Erya said to her, "Sanya, let’s share."
Daya looked at An Wen. "Let’s share one. We need to save room for the meat tonight."
An Wen naturally had no objections. By the time Tan You came back into the main hall, each of the four kids was holding half a flatbread, their little faces glistening with grease. The basket, however, remained untouched by any of them.
Tan You didn’t comment. After sitting down and eating a whole flatbread herself, she wiped her hands.
"Today, I went to town and sold some recipes. I made one hundred taels of Silver."
Daya was the first to react, clapping a hand over her mouth. "One hundred taels? That’s so much money!"
"Father wasn’t even guaranteed to make five taels of Silver in an entire year!"
An Wen was also staring at Tan You, his eyes wide with astonishment.
Tan You poured the Silver out onto the table. After counting it once, she pushed half of it in front of Daya. Daya stared at Tan You, completely bewildered, clearly not understanding her intention.
Tan You said, "You’ve always been careful and tight-lipped. From now on, you’ll manage the family’s money."
Daya hesitated. "I’m afraid I won’t do a good job."
Tan You had no intention of discouraging her. "No one is born knowing how. You just have to learn slowly. There are only a few of us, and it’s just this much Silver. You think you can’t handle it? I’m sure you can."
Fired up by Tan You’s pep talk, Daya nodded vigorously. "Mom, I won’t let you down!"
Tan You chuckled softly. "From now on, whenever we earn Silver, half of it will go into the family fund. Daya will be the one to manage the fund’s accounts. Erya and Sanya, you’re both still small, so you can learn about this when you’re a bit older."
Chewing on her flatbread, Erya mumbled, "Mom, I don’t like doing sums. It makes my head hurt."
Tan You wasn’t in a rush. "Then we’ll figure out what you like to do later on."
She counted out from the remaining Copper Coins and gave five to each of the four children as an allowance. "This is for you, your very own spending money. You can use it to buy things or save it up—it’s completely up to you. I won’t interfere."
Erya was ecstatic. "For real? Mom, you’re really giving me money?"
"Yes, once I give it to you, it’s yours," Tan You said softly. "I also bought some small pouches; you can divide them up. But I have to warn you all: don’t flash your wealth. If other people find out we have money, it could easily bring trouble to our family."
"Just think about how your father and your big brother died. You know what you need to do, right?"
The children immediately sat up straight. "We know. We won’t tell. We won’t say a word."
Erya added, "Besides, we don’t have any good friends. Who would we even tell?"
"It doesn’t matter whether you have friends or not," Tan You corrected her. "You can’t tell anyone."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Tan You gestured to the Silver in front of her. "I have other uses for this money. The weather is warm now, but it will get colder, so we’ll need to buy new clothes. The house also needs to be renovated, and it would be best if we could buy a cow or a donkey."
An Wen pursed his lips. "Aunt, a cow costs about fifty taels of Silver."
"Then we’ll look into a donkey," Tan You said. "There’s no rush. If we buy all these things now and our lives suddenly improve too much, it will easily make others jealous. It’s best to enjoy your meat in your own bowl, hidden from view."
"People don’t get so envious or feel things are unfair when everyone is on more or less the same level."