stingy landlady

Chapter 14 Reading

The fifth brother went into the inner room and immediately felt much warmer. He greeted Dazhu's family with a smile.

After Dazhu gestured for the fifth brother, Wang Yiyun, to sit down, he said, "Fifth brother, what are your second brother and sister-in-law up to again? Why can't they have a peaceful life instead of causing trouble!"

Wang Yiyun replied, "Sigh, eldest brother and sister-in-law! Second sister-in-law said that it's almost New Year's and the whole family needs to make new clothes. Mother's idea is that this year's expenses are too high, so we should make do. But neither of us is willing to give in!"

"We have a large family but little income, which is hard on our parents!" Dazhu had already separated from the family and didn't want to get involved too much.

"Never mind all that! If you find that room too noisy, just come sit here. We brothers don't even have time to have a proper chat all year round."

"Okay! Just don't find me annoying, big brother and sister-in-law!" Wang Yiyun said with a smile.

“We don’t mind at all, Uncle Wu, please come and visit whenever you have time.” Guizhi brought over some frozen pears at some point. “Uncle Wu, have some frozen pears.” She said, picking out a large frozen pear and handing it to Wang Yiyun.

Then he distributed the frozen pears in the basin to his family.

"Thank you, Sanya! Big brother, your children are all so capable! Big brother and sister-in-law have done a great job raising them!" Wang Yiyun praised his nieces.

"Not at all! My eldest brother only has a few daughters. If they didn't work, your sister-in-law and I would be too busy to handle everything. But none of them are lazy," Dazhu said modestly.

"Fifth Uncle, are you tired of studying? I also want to learn to read! I don't recognize any of those signs in town! Sigh!" Guizhi pretended to sigh.

“It’s alright, I just rest when I’m tired. Sanya wants to learn to read, so you’d better study hard! Come to the old house tomorrow, and your fifth uncle will teach you,” Wang Yiyun said.

I thought to myself that Sanya is old enough not to make a fuss anymore.

"Really! Then I'll go see Uncle Wu tomorrow! Thank you, Uncle Wu!"

“That won’t do! It will disturb your studies!” Dazhu interjected, turning to scold Guizhi:

"You child, how inconsiderate! Your fifth uncle is going to take the imperial examination next year, you can't disturb his studies!"

Guizhi said disappointedly, "Oh! Then forget it! Fifth Uncle, I'm sorry, I didn't know I was bothering you!"

Wang Yiyun asked with a smile, "Will you make noise when I'm studying?"

"No, Fifth Uncle! I'll definitely keep quiet!" Guizhi quickly assured him.

"Alright! Then come find me tomorrow, and I'll teach you to read!" Wang Yiyun then looked at Dazhu: "Brother, I think Sanya is a sensible child. I'll be home before the New Year, so I'll teach her to read. It'll be good if you can understand some contracts and such when you go out to do things in the future!"

"Yes, yes! Dad, I will definitely study hard! After I learn it, I will come back and teach my eldest sister, second sister, and fourth sister!" Guizhi said earnestly.

"Sanya, you can go study, but you mustn't bother your fifth uncle. Fifth brother, that would be a burden on you!" Dazhu was also happy. Being able to read and not be illiterate was wonderful for the family. They just hadn't had the opportunity, and of course, had never dared to even think about letting the girls go to school.

As soon as Er Ya woke up in the morning, she asked, "Third Sister, when are you going to learn to read?"

Guizhi thought for a moment and said, "I need to take the bean sprouts to town to sell today. I'll go after I get back from town."

"Mother, if bean sprouts sell well today, we also need to buy soybeans," Er Ya reminded Li Shi.

"Have all the people in the room on the east side started soaking?" Li asked.

"We didn't finish soaking them all; there are still about thirty pounds left. After sorting them out, we soaked less than twenty pounds," Daya replied.

"Ask your father later, see what he thinks. Is it better to buy the soybeans in the village or in the town?" Li said.

“It’s cheaper to buy from the village, and you can get freshly harvested this year. People from our own village shouldn’t mix in pebbles or anything.” As Er Ya spoke, she thought of something else: “I’m just afraid that if people find out we’re selling bean sprouts, everyone will start growing bean sprouts to sell.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it; that’s how business is. Everyone wants to make money. Anyone can sprout bean sprouts, but whether they grow well and sell is not something everyone can do,” Guizhi encouraged.

"Let's not think about that too much for now, let's just sell today's rice!" Daya said, going to the outer room to wash the rice and vegetables. Li Shi also went out with Er Ya. Guizhi played with Siya on the kang (heated brick bed).

After filling the food box, they drove the oxcart to the house at the east end of the village. There, they moved the bean sprouts from the small vat to a water bucket, which was easier to carry. They covered them with a quilt and placed it on the oxcart to prevent them from freezing. They also soaked five catties of the beans they had already selected.

The oxcart swayed and rattled into the town. As always, the group split into two: one sold boxed lunches while the other introduced their bean sprouts.

The weather was cold, and there were no fresh vegetables. Bean sprouts were brought out, and the price seemed reasonable. People were buying two or three pounds at a time, and it seemed like the bean sprouts were sold out in just a few shops. They hadn't even finished selling the boxed lunches yet. Da Zhu, seeing this, was immediately filled with confidence. He hadn't expected bean sprouts to be so popular.

After selling the boxed lunches, the father and daughters gathered together and exchanged information. They calculated that they had sold thirty-three catties of bean sprouts for one hundred and sixty-five coins. This year's harvest was good; freshly harvested soybeans were three coins a catty, so five catties of soybeans were fifteen coins, resulting in a net profit of one hundred and fifty coins. They looked at each other and smiled.

Dazhu said, "Let's go buy another big vat and take it back. We'll grow more bean sprouts before the New Year, and sell them to pay back your grandparents."

Da Zhu raised his whip with obvious joy. This farmer was so happy he wanted to shout it out, but he was in town, with people coming and going. Finally, another opportunity to make money! There's always a way out!

Dazhu knew that his grandparents were under pressure to stop Erzhu and his wife from selling boxed lunches because they were worried their business would be taken away and they wouldn't be able to support their children in the future. They could suppress their own family from doing it, but who knew if they'd still be selling the same thing after the New Year? And if they didn't sell boxed lunches, what would they do?

Dazhu kept his head down and worked silently, not because he didn't know, but because he often thought about it. When Zhao and Qian inquired about the recipe and profit margins for the boxed lunches, they had several nightmares. In one dream, an oxcart brought the boxed lunches to town, and they saw several people selling them, while they couldn't sell a single one. They would wake up in a cold sweat, but dared not say a word. Li, being a stay-at-home mom, knew nothing about the business, and with the children still young, Dazhu was even more worried about putting pressure on them. He, as a grown man, felt he had to support the family, especially as the eldest son, whose sense of responsibility was stronger.

The daughters suggested growing bean sprouts to sell, just hoping to earn a little money. What if it worked? They never expected it to be so successful!

Dazhu, beaming with joy, led the children to buy meat, vegetables, and large vats, his whole being radiating happiness.

On the way home, Dazhu hummed a little tune for the first time ever. Seeing their father's excitement, the three sisters no longer felt cold and laughed and joked their way to the house in the east of the village.

The group worked together to carry the large vat into the house. Guizhi said to Dazhu, "Father, turn it upside down." The others were puzzled, but they did as they were told. "Father, eldest sister, second sister, we have to break two holes in the vat. It will leak when we grow bean sprouts!" The two sisters looked at each other, and Dazhu also looked reluctant. The vat, which cost several hundred coins, hadn't even been used yet, and they were going to break it first, deliberately breaking it.

Guizhi laughed at them: "Father, eldest sister, second sister, you can't catch a wolf without risking your cubs, right? Hahaha!"

"You silly kid! Fine, I'll smash two holes, and we'll make money off the bean sprouts from now on!" Dazhu said, then found a hammer and smashed the bottom of the vat.

"How many more soybeans should we soak, Sanya?" Dazhu asked Guizhi for her opinion, as was his habit. He knew that his daughter was a woman of her own mind.

"Dad, I think we should soak another ten pounds! We can't get fat overnight. If we put too many soybeans in the big vat, the bean sprouts won't grow well and won't be plump." As Guizhi spoke, she went to look at the big vat that her grandparents had previously discarded. The bean sprouts inside were growing well, and they should be ready to eat in another two days.

I poured water into the large vat and the jar, and the bean sprouts in the jar can be taken to town to sell tomorrow. I soaked another ten pounds of soybeans, but then I checked the soybeans I soaked this morning and they're not ready yet. I only have about ten pounds of soybeans left in my pocket; I need to go buy some.

Back home, they heard that Zhao was still upset and had made a scene in the old house again after getting out of bed. The old man, seeing that this was going on and on and interfering with his fifth son's studies, told the old lady to give Erzhu one tael of silver, saying they could buy whatever they wanted.

Erzhu and Zhao Shi happily took the silver and went to town. They didn't run into anyone and didn't say anything. Daya and Erya hurried off to tell Li Shi the good news, while Guizhi ignored everything and ran straight to the old house.

"Grandpa, Grandma! Fifth Uncle!" Guizhi greeted softly as she entered the house.

"Sanya's back!" the old man said.

Wang Yiyun nodded and beckoned her over.

The old lady lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), covered with a thin quilt, ignoring Guizhi.

"Fifth Uncle, what's wrong with Grandma?" Guizhi asked softly.

"I'm angry!" Wang Yiyun mouthed, but no sound came out.

"Come here, Sanya, today your fifth uncle will teach you to read." Wang Yiyun spoke up this time. He then took out a copy of the Three Character Classic, an elementary book that he had specially found for today.

"At the beginning of life, people are inherently good!" Wang Yiyun taught Guizhi to recite it and to recognize each character one by one. He had never raised a child before, and he thought that since he had just learned the Three Character Classic, Guizhi should be able to learn and recognize characters by reading it along with him.

Wang Yiyun had long forgotten how long it took her to learn the Three Character Classic. Fortunately, Guizhi wasn't a real child; she was afraid of appearing too slow and causing Wang Yiyun to lose patience. So she learned very quickly. Some passages she had memorized before were recalled after her fifth uncle read them aloud. Compared to simply recognizing characters, she learned very quickly. Recognizing characters was fast, but writing them was a different story. That's where practicing calligraphy came in.

“Sanya, you should learn to read first. I don’t have any extra brushes, ink, paper, or inkstones for you to use,” Wang Yiyun said.

"Fifth Uncle, how much does a cheap set of writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone cost?" Guizhi asked, puzzled. You see, in modern times, pens and paper are used freely, and many children don't appreciate them.

“Sanya, even a cheap set will cost at least four or five taels of silver. The expensive ones can cost tens or hundreds of taels. It’s not that your fifth uncle is stingy, it’s just that your fifth uncle doesn’t have the means for that right now!” Wang Yiyun explained to Guizhi.

"Wow! So expensive! I can only read. After I learn to read, can I read Uncle Wu's other books?" Guizhi stuck out her tongue, thinking, "I don't have any money. I have to work hard and earn lots of money." Actually, Guizhi wanted to read books even more.

“Of course you can. You can read the books here, but the only requirement is that you cherish them and don’t damage them. Do you understand?” Wang Yiyun said.

"Yes, yes! Thank you, Fifth Uncle. I can read and memorize by myself. I will definitely cherish the book and not damage it in the future." Guizhi nodded and promised.