Chapter 23: Follow My Lead

Old Mother Miao had grown much thinner, her eyes resting on Liang Yunqing with a look of tender affection.

"Naturally, this is to fulfill my earlier promise. I am bringing you and Yuanbao here today to familiarize you with the business of selling siu mai. Starting tomorrow, I will provide the wrapped siu mai, and it will be up to you and Yuanbao to sell them. You will buy them from me for two wen each and sell them for three; the extra wen will be your profit, and it has nothing to do with me."

As the words fell, Old Mother Miao’s mouth hung slightly agape in disbelief. When Liang Yunqing had said she would take their grandmother-grandchild pair under her wing, it had not been an empty promise after all.

"How could I possibly do that? No, no, I am a useless old woman. I would be more than happy to help you sell the siu mai for free, but I cannot take your money."

"By helping me sell the siu mai, you are helping me in return. I have too many things on my hands now to manage the stall myself. Or would you prefer to see someone else snatch my business away?"

Upon hearing this, Old Mother Miao’s eyes widened as she retorted, "Let’s see who dares to steal your business! I would sooner die than let that happen."

Liang Yunqing nodded and patted Old Mother Miao’s shoulder to comfort her. "In that case, my siu mai business will depend on you. Consider the money you earn as my gift for buying clothes for Yuanbao."

Old Mother Miao finally shed tears. Choking with emotion, she took Yuanbao’s hand and prepared to kneel, but Liang Yunqing caught her and stopped the gesture.

She introduced the two to Li Pinghua, and under Li Pinghua’s disgruntled gaze, they familiarized themselves with the procedure for selling the siu mai. Since there were few of them today, they were sold out by noon. Liang Yunqing left the wooden table with Old Mother Miao and agreed on a time for the next day's delivery before leaving with Li Pinghua and the others.

On the carriage, Li Pinghua and Liang Zhiyan continued to mutter their dissatisfaction; the mere thought of handing the siu mai business over to an old woman made them angry.

"That is enough. I have my own arrangements for doing this. The two of you only need to finish making the siu mai in the evening and deliver them; you can come back afterward. With the time you save, you can focus on the Sichuan peppercorn business. Are you worried you won’t make enough money?" Liang Yunqing said in a flat, indifferent tone.

"Yes, yes, we were just talking. The peppercorn business is certainly the priority," Li Pinghua replied obsequiously. She knew full well what was most profitable and wished she could clone herself to earn even more.

Out in the fields, Liang Mingxue frowned, wondering if he had made a mistake. Was this fertile black earth truly their own plot? They hadn't used any fertilizer yesterday, and in recent years, every family’s harvest had been poor—let alone having fertilizer, they couldn't even afford to raise poultry, and people were barely able to fill their stomachs. Where would they get fertilizer?

Liang Youyong reached out and grabbed a handful of the moist black soil. Smelling the slightly acidic scent emanating from it, he thought, is this not the finest fertile soil?

Beside them, Lady Chu was about to tell the first lie of her life. She paced back and forth, feeling nervous. But remembering her daughter’s instructions, she finally tightened her face and spoke to the two men.

"Husband... the ancestors of the Liang family visited me in a dream last night. They said that because our lives are so difficult, they specially sent a sweet rain to bless our land."

The sudden explanation made both men in the field look up in confusion. However, seeing how honest Lady Chu had always been, Liang Mingxue found it hard not to believe her. He asked for details about the dream several times, but found no inconsistencies in her story.

Liang Mingxue finally wore the expression of one who had received a divine favor. Although Liang Youyong found it somewhat inexplicably strange, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed in all seriousness.

Seeing that they had finally believed her, the heavy weight on Lady Chu’s heart lifted. She turned her back to wipe the sweat seeping from her forehead.

The three of them spent the day transplanting all the peppercorn trees from their home into the field. Along the way, they searched the surrounding forests for more, modeling them after the wild peppercorn trees they had found, and planted those as well.

The one-mu plot was now neatly planted with over seventy peppercorn trees of varying sizes and heights. Everyone felt uncertain; no one had ever cultivated these trees before, and they didn't know how to fertilize or water them, so they picked up their hoes and headed home to wait for Liang Yunqing.

The two groups met right at the gate of their house. Seeing their sweat-drenched appearances, Liang Yunqing knew the peppercorn trees had been planted.

In the courtyard, Grandmother Wang had already prepared the meal. A pot of thin wild vegetable gruel was placed on the table. Liang Yunqing looked at her grandmother helplessly. "Can't we have something better? Isn't there rice and flour in the kitchen?"

"The rice and flour must be saved for the siu mai."

"Sigh, I’ll do it."

Liang Yunqing was too tired to scold her; after all, the entire family had lived through poverty, and even though they weren't struggling anymore, they still found it difficult to enjoy themselves. She walked to the stove in the kitchen.

Lady Chu came in to help light the fire. Liang Yunqing skillfully mixed the flour with water and kneaded it a few times. She left a basin of thin batter to the side, boiled pumpkins and wild vegetables in the pot, and then pulled the batter into strips and tossed them into the soup.

She added Sichuan peppercorns and wild mountain peppers for seasoning, and a pot of soup fragrant with a spicy aroma was ready. The others outside the courtyard crowded into the kitchen with their bowls, each scooping up the noodle strips.

When everyone tasted it, they immediately let out cries of astonishment. Liang Yunqing watched their unrefined reactions with a hint of resignation. This was only the simplest seasoning; if she could find oysters to refine oyster sauce later, she wondered how crazy these people would be.

By the time they were full, it was already dark. Liang Yunqing took Lady Chu and stepped out.

The others in the house began a new round of work. Li Pinghua organized the remaining ingredients, estimating they could make another 200 siu mai. Their last purchase had cost 500 wen, borrowed from Liang Yunqing, and there was 896 wen left in the business capital.

The 200 siu mai for tomorrow would earn another 400 wen. She felt pained; if she sold them herself, she could make 3 wen per siu mai, but unfortunately, handing them to someone else meant only 2 wen. Still, thinking of the peppercorn business, Li Pinghua finally calmed down.

On the small path, Lady Chu recounted everything that had happened in the field during the day. Liang Yunqing was surprised to find that her mother actually had a talent for lying. She had only instructed her to find an excuse for the black soil, but she hadn't expected her to come up with such an unassailable one.

Lady Chu’s expression remained somewhat listless. She looked at Liang Yunqing, who was now walking with her head held high and full of vigor, and the confusion in her eyes deepened. But thinking of her daughter’s current abilities, she put her thoughts aside and simply asked, "Qing'er, but why did that land turn into black soil?"

Liang Yunqing blinked and looked at her. "Didn't you say it yourself, Mother? It is the protection of our Liang ancestors."

Lady Chu paused, then lowered her head and gave a soft laugh. "Yes, it is their protection."

Liang Yunqing brought Lady Chu to the gate of Auntie Ma’s courtyard, where the sound of a baby crying could be heard. She reached out and knocked on the door. It took a long time for a middle-aged man to pull the gate open. When he saw it was Liang Yunqing, he froze.

"Uncle Daniu," Liang Yunqing greeted him. This was Auntie Ma’s third son.

Daniu looked at them with a troubled expression, glancing back frequently at the sound of the wailing child. He said apologetically, "My baby won't stop crying. Is there something you need?"

Liang Yunqing knew it wasn't the right time for a conversation. She listened to the baby’s cries and asked, "What happened? Is the child unwell?"

Daniu lowered his head in defeat, the exhaustion in his eyes impossible to hide. "The baby’s mother has no milk, and after drinking cow's milk, the baby developed a fever."

Liang Yunqing raised her eyebrows. She pushed open the courtyard gate and said to Daniu, "Let me take a look."

"Eh, this..."