CH 6

Chapter 6: A Dream of Foreseeing the Future.

Because they didn’t spend too much time in town, when Shen Yu’an and the others arrived home, Shen’s family had just started preparing for lunch.

Obviously, the people who were busy in the yard didn’t expect them to come back so early. They were stunned when they saw the three of them push the door open, and then looked at them expectantly.

“How did the sales go?” Zhao asked eagerly.

Upon hearing the question, Shen Ming happily grinned and took out the silver he had wrapped in a cloth bag from his pocket.

Seeing his foolish appearance, Shen’s grandmother quickly leaned out to look outside. Then, she slapped Shen Ming on the head and scolded him angrily, “You fool! Don’t you know not to show money outside before closing the door to keep it from being stolen?”

Shen Ming quickly rubbed his head while dodging and apologizing with a smile, “Mom, it hurts, it hurts!”

Shen Yu’an also thought Shen Ming looked silly when he smiled. Her second uncle had a particularly simple and honest appearance when he smiled, but he didn’t look too bad since he had a well-proportioned face.

Shen Yun then walked behind and closed the door. Both Song and Zhao didn’t feel like cooking anymore and were curious about how much money they made, so they followed the group into the main hall.

This time, Shen Ming successfully took out the silver from the cloth bag and placed it on the table. Glancing at it, there were nearly twenty taels of silver in total, scattered about, and a ten-tael silver ingot lying on the table, which was a pleasing sight.

Seeing her family’s excited faces, Shen Yu’an’s mood also improved a lot. She pretended to take out the silver that had already been placed in the space from her basket and also put it on the table.

Wow, the Shen family couldn’t take their eyes off the table.

There were a few silver ingots on the table, one, two, three… twenty!!!

There were exactly twenty of them, along with some scattered copper coins on the table. Zhao eagerly reached for one, bit it with her mouth, and then smiled.

Shen Yuxuan explained as she watched their happy faces, “The ginseng sold for a total of 900 taels of silver. The larger one was sold for 400 taels of silver, and the two smaller ones, with younger age, were sold for 250 taels each. In addition, I brought 29 jin and 3 liang of loquats, and the shopkeeper saw that my ginseng was of good quality, so he rounded up the price and gave a fair price of 25 wen per jin. Therefore, we sold a total of 900 taels of silver and 750 wen.”

“Wow, so much!” The Shen family was shocked. They thought even if it was expensive, it would be at most one hundred taels of silver. Who would have thought that it would increase several times over.

Shen Yun also pointed to the silver on the table and said, “My second brother and I sold a roe deer, a wild chicken, a wild rabbit, and loquats that we brought. In total, we got eighteen taels and nine hundred ninety wen. However, we just came back and bought five catties of pork at the meat market for one hundred wen. The rest is all here.”

Although the amount of money mentioned by Shen Yun is not as shocking as what Shen Yu’an said, it is still enough to make the Shen family happy.

Although Shen Ming and Shen Yun often go hunting in the mountains, they cannot catch game every day. At best, they can catch a wild chicken or rabbit to feed their family or sell to earn a few copper coins.

The Shen family members were all beaming with smiles, and Shen’s grandmother even hugged her fifth and sixth grandsons in her arms, beaming as she said, “Thanks to the hard work of our little girl, our income has increased so much. Next year, we’ll send our third and fourth grandsons to the town school, and when things settle down a bit, we’ll send our fifth and sixth grandsons too, and strive to do better than your uncle and become a juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations).

Our little girl has grown up, and although we all want to keep her with us for a few more years, we have to arrange a marriage for her first. So let’s take out 200 taels of silver as her dowry. Does everyone agree?”

After finishing her words, Grandma Shen looked around at the people in the room. Everyone had different expressions, but no one objected. They were just shocked that Grandma Shen had given so much money as a dowry for Shen Yu’an. After all, in the village, it was already considered good if a girl had two taels of silver when she got married.

It must be said that Mrs. Shen is excellent in treating the children at home, and Shen Yu’an strongly agrees with her use of knowledge to change the family’s situation.

However, when he thinks about what is about to happen, Shen Yu’an falls silent again…

Xiao Zhang Shi was the first to notice Shen Yu’an’s emotional changes, and she spoke up with some concern, “Yu’an, what’s wrong with you?”

After briefly struggling, Shen Yu’an decided to tell her family about the upcoming event. It was something they would have to face sooner or later, so it was best to plan ahead.

However, she still found an excuse in her heart. In order to make everyone trust her words more, Shen Yu’an put on a worried look and said, “When I was unconscious after falling into the water a few days ago, I had a dream.”

All eyes turned to her, as if asking what kind of dream it was.

“I dreamt of an old man who told me that a natural disaster was about to happen, and that we should prepare more food,” Shen Yu’an said. As she looked at everyone’s faces, she could tell that they were skeptical.

But Shen Yu’an remained calm. Speaking about the matter made her feel less anxious, so she continued, “I didn’t believe it at first either. But when I went to the town today, I saw too many beggars there. I asked the owner of the pharmacy a few questions, and he said that these beggars came from nearby counties. I even gave some coins to ask those beggars, and they confirmed that there is a severe drought in the area. The crops are not growing, and they have no way to survive, so they came here to beg for help.”

“There were indeed a lot more beggars in town today, and I even asked my second brother about it,” Shen Yun nudged Shen Ming with her elbow as she spoke.

Shen Ming quickly nodded in agreement.

Seeing that her family was starting to loosen up, Shen Yu’an decided to add one last push.

“And…” she began, and all eyes turned back to her, watching as she held out her palm in the air, wondering what she was about to do.

Shen Yu’an awkwardly chuckled at her family and said, “The old man said he gave me a treasure box and I was wondering if I could conjure up some things from it.”

Shen Yu’an dared to do this because she had learned from the memories of the original owner that the Shen family was trustworthy and wouldn’t betray her. Even if she was betrayed, she had the ability to protect herself.

The Shen family’s faces were even more colorful after hearing her answer, and their various expressions mixed together, making it quite comical.

Shen Yun thought to himself, “Did Yu’an hit her head when she fell into the water? How can someone so young be so silly!”

The other members of the Shen family also had similar thoughts, and even planned out a series of actions for what to do after Shen Yu’an couldn’t get married.

If Shen Yu’an knew what they were thinking, she would definitely roll her eyes at them.

Everyone continued to stare at Shen Yu’an’s hand, their expressions complex.

Feeling the tension in the air, Shen Yu’an decided to produce something to satisfy the audience. She pretended to concentrate and suddenly produced a big red apple in her hand.