Chapter 575: Peasant Woman 3
The unspoken message was that Tan You shouldn’t drive him away; he would pull his own weight. Tan You didn’t dislike him. ’After all, those heavy emotions belonged to the original owner. What do they have to do with me?’
So Tan You said, half-jokingly, "That’s why you need to eat until you’re full. How can you have any energy to work if you don’t?"
"Our family may be poor, but we’re not at a dead end yet. We’ll find a way."
Daya said softly, "Mom..."
The word "Mom" gave Tan You a headache. She looked up at the children. "Don’t worry. Our family has been through a major upheaval, but it’s because of these events that our mindset has to change."
The children looked like they only half-understood. Tan You sighed. The eldest, Daya, was only seven, and An Wen was just six. The other two, Erya and Sanya, were five and three. They were all still at a muddled, innocent age.
Perhaps sensing the great calamity that had befallen their family, all the children had grown quiet. After dinner, Daya and An Wen washed the bowls together, and Tan You boiled a pot of water.
"’The weather’s hot, so everyone needs to wash their hair and bathe every day,’ Tan You said, her face stern. ’I don’t think I’m a neat freak, but after going half the day like this, I really can’t take it anymore.’"
After scrubbing the children clean, Tan You took a long, satisfying bath herself. As she washed, she took stock of her situation. ’This family really is missing everything.’
’The world isn’t in chaos yet, so I need to find a way to save up some Silver. But this house is so empty that even a rat would find nothing to steal. How is a family of five supposed to survive?’
’And I have to find that ’Auntie’ Chen Cui. She caused so much trouble for this family, just dropping a child off for no reason. Didn’t she ever think about the village gossip?’
’When it comes down to it, the root of all our problems is Silver. But where can I get any? I have ideas—a food business, making soap, opening a teahouse—but business requires startup capital. Where will I get that first pot of gold?’
’That first pot of gold...’
Tan You sighed. ’Maybe I should go to town tomorrow and see? I wonder how much money the original owner even had.’
At that thought, Tan You shook out her wet hair and started searching for the original owner’s money stash. She eventually found a small jar buried beneath the kitchen stove.
The children gathered around. How could they not, with all the noise Tan You was making?
Tan You didn’t hide it from them. "You’re all part of this family, so when something happens, we should discuss it together. Right now, we’re going to count how much money we have. We need to figure out how to survive."
Daya and An Wen, being older, understood the situation better. The rims of their eyes turned red.
Tan You tipped the small jar over. After counting everything, she couldn’t help but sigh. "We’re so poor. So poor that all we have is twenty Copper Coins."
What did twenty Copper Coins even mean? One tael of Silver was worth 1,000 Copper Coins, and a single meat bun cost three. You could think of one Copper Coin as being roughly equivalent to a dollar.
And this family only had twenty Copper Coins. Tan You took a deep breath. ’We really are destitute.’ But on second thought, the original owner’s family already had an immense burden. They had to support five children, including An Wen, and two elders. With An Wu now deceased, the load was anything but light.
To have saved even twenty Copper Coins, they must have scraped every last bit together. ’I really shouldn’t expect too much. Besides, a living person isn’t going to just die from a full bladder, are they?’
With that thought, Tan You carefully put the twenty Copper Coins away. "I’m going to town tomorrow to figure something out. While I’m gone, you all take care of the vegetable garden."
"And another thing, stay away from the river. If anyone sneaks off to the river, they’ll get a thrashing from me when I get back."
Tan You’s eyes landed on An Wen. He immediately shook his head. "Auntie, I won’t go to the river alone."
"You’re not allowed to go in a group, either," Tan You said, staring at him. "You’re too little. The river is dangerous."
"I understand." An Wen could only nod. ’Auntie was never this fierce before,’ he thought, his heart pounding with anxiety.
"It’s getting late. Get some rest. I have to be up early tomorrow." Tan You placed the small jar behind the stove. Now that it was empty, she figured she could just leave it there.
Erya and Sanya stuck close to Tan You. "Mom, I want to sleep with you."
Tan You took a deep breath. "Alright, come on then. An Wen, can you sleep by yourself? Are you afraid?"
An Wen remained silent. Tan You got the message. He was scared.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Tan You glanced at Daya. "I remember we have a long bench and some wooden planks. Daya, can you help him set up a little bed by the window? Would that be okay?"
She directed the last question at An Wen. He immediately nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Auntie."
Tan You said, "Alright, hurry up and get to bed. Stop dawdling."
’I’m not one for sentimentality. To be honest, I’m still figuring out this whole ’raising kids’ thing myself.’ But the one thing she knew for sure was that she would never, ever raise them to be spoiled mama’s girls like Liuu Yuming. That would be a cardinal sin.
Tan You woke up bright and early. It wasn’t her internal clock, but the heat. The weather was already sweltering, and with several girls pressed up against her, her neck was slick with sweat.
She gently moved aside Erya’s and Sanya’s arms, then shifted Daya’s leg off her stomach. Tan You changed into the most presentable outfit she owned and went to the kitchen to wash up.
’I’m going out to earn a living, not to beg. Even if I’m penniless, I have to look clean and presentable.’
By the time Tan You came out from washing up, Daya and An Wen were also emerging from their room, rubbing their eyes. They both stared, a little stunned, when they saw her. Daya felt that her mom seemed completely different, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on how.
Tan You looked at the two older children. "I’m going to town. I should be back this afternoon. If you get hungry..."
Remembering they had no food left, Tan You pulled two Copper Coins from her pocket. "Soon, the other villagers will be heading to the fields. Daya, you and An Wen should go to Zhuzi’s house and trade these for some rice."
Daya understood. "I know, Mom."
Tan You ruffled her hair. "I’m off to town, then. It’ll only get hotter if I wait any longer."
Watching Tan You’s figure recede into the distance, An Wen suddenly asked, "Will Auntie come back?"
Daya shot him a glare. "Of course Mom will come back! She has us. She won’t abandon us."
Truth be told, Daya didn’t like An Wen. In the past, Old Chen and Old Mrs. Chen had always protected him, so Daya and her sisters rarely spent time with him. He had lived separately with the old couple.
But Daya also understood that her father and brother would never have died if they hadn’t been searching for An Wen’s birth mother, their aunt Chen Cui. A child can’t grasp complex ideas like indirect responsibility; all she knew was that ever since An Wen arrived, her family’s life had gotten worse and worse.
An Wen vaguely sensed Daya’s dislike and didn’t try to get close to her. Instead, he just picked up his small bamboo basket and went out to gather firewood. ’Auntie said we have to work if we’re at home,’ he thought. ’I’m still little, so all I can do is gather as much firewood as I can.’