Chapter 121: Chapter 71: Closing the Business, Sun Liu’er Gets Married

Juhua thought to herself, ’The bigger this business gets, the more troublesome it becomes, and the harder it is to manage. Mom was right; there really is nothing easy in this world.’

After venting for a bit, Mother Yang felt much better. From now on, she wouldn’t have to wake up early to rush to the market with a carrying pole. She felt a wave of relief wash over her.

She shoveled a mouthful of rice into her mouth and asked, “What about all that pork offal and the pig heads we’ve saved up? We were planning to sell them next spring.”

Qingmu, however, had already thought it through and said confidently, “Don’t worry about that. We have to clear new land early next year, don’t we? We’ll have to hire help. If we serve them all proper pork dishes, how much would that cost? We can just use this to feed everyone, and we won’t have to worry about not having enough dishes. Besides, we won’t be able to buy pork offal this cheap again—this year, everyone who butchered a pig kept the offal and head for themselves and only sold the meat.”

Mother Yang’s eyes lit up, and she said joyfully, “Oh! How could I have forgotten about that? You’re right, buying food for all those helpers would cost a fortune. This saves us all that money!”

Juhua laughed. “It’s not too much at all. If we hang it in the cellar, it’ll last until April or May of next year without spoiling.”

The three of them broke into cheerful laughter.

Mother Yang savored the steamed pork her daughter had made. “Hua’er,” she said to Juhua, “coating the pork in this layer of rice flour makes it so delicious. All the fat from the meat steams out and gets absorbed by the flour. Just look at it—so moist, golden, and glossy. It smells amazing!”

Qingmu chimed in, “Amazing! The rice flour smells great, and the pork smells great, too.”

Juhua said with a grin, “And it’s not greasy at all this way. Mom, Brother, try the greens layered underneath. The fat dripped down and soaked into the leaves, making them incredibly savory, fragrant, and tender.”

As she spoke, she used her chopsticks to give each of them a large leaf of the napa cabbage from beneath the steamed pork. She then rolled up a leaf for herself and popped it into her mouth. An explosion of fresh and savory flavors filled her senses!

Qingmu’s face was covered in a huge grin as he ate. It wasn’t even the New Year, yet his family had already enjoyed all sorts of meats and dishes they’d never been able to afford in years past, and the flavors were better than anything he had ever tasted. He had never lived such a good life. This was going to be the most prosperous New Year he’d ever known.

He looked at Juhua and Mother Yang, a warm feeling of happiness welling up and filling his heart to the brim. Even after he finished eating, he stayed in his seat, just listening to his mother and sister chat. He listened quietly as they talked about nothing in particular, just idle gossip, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave. He savored every word.

Mother Yang suddenly remembered something. She glanced at Qingmu, hesitated, then decided to ask, thinking that both her son and daughter were sensible. “Liu’er is getting married tomorrow. Should we give a wedding gift?”

You couldn’t blame her for being hesitant. Village arguments often blew over quickly—people could be at each other’s throats one day and fine the next. But her fight with Liu’er’s mother had been vicious, and they still weren’t on speaking terms. That’s why she was unsure about giving a gift. Besides, the fight had started because of the rumor about Qingmu and Liu’er meeting in private. If they presented a gift, would Liu’er’s mother just throw it back at them and cause a scene?

Juhua looked at Qingmu, wanting to hear his opinion.

Qingmu was silent for a moment, then said, “Let’s send a gift. It wasn’t a big deal in the first place. We’re all neighbors here; we can’t be enemies for life. We’ll do what’s proper. If her mother is foolish enough to throw the money back, she’ll be the one to lose face, not us. If we don’t give anything, it’ll look like there really was something going on between me and Liu’er. That would only start more gossip, with people saying we’re so upset about her wedding that we couldn’t even bring ourselves to give a gift.”

Juhua smiled. “Brother’s right. When a girl gets married, everyone offers their congratulations unless they’re mortal enemies who never speak. We don’t have to go ourselves; we can just ask Third Uncle Zhao to take the gift for us. We’ll give whatever is the customary amount. If Liu’er’s mother is still so foolish, then we simply won’t associate with them anymore. People will criticize her, not us.”

Mother Yang nodded. “Alright, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll have Zhao San take thirty cents over.”

Juhua asked in surprise, “Only thirty cents? But the person delivering it gets to attend the feast. Won’t they lose money on that?”

Mother Yang shook her head, sighing as she looked at Juhua. “How much do you think it costs to host a feast? They’d be lucky to have a couple of pounds of meat per table. The rest of the dishes are cheap. How could they possibly lose money? We’re simple country folk. Where would we find that much money to give as gifts?”

Juhua quickly stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. For a moment, she had forgotten that their lives had only just started to get better. In the past, forget thirty cents, they would have had to hold on tightly to even ten cents. She made a mental note to herself, ’Don’t forget the hard times. Don’t say something careless and make people laugh, thinking our family is rolling in money now.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep