CH 4

After applying the medicine, Yu Dameng went to town to do some work, and Qiao Yuan actually wanted to follow him and take a look. However, the commotion on the night of the original body’s wedding was so big that it was estimated that the village had already spread rumors. If he went out with the injury on his neck, it would be even harder to explain. Therefore, he was afraid he couldn’t leave the house before his injury healed. Qiao Yuan stood on the porch and looked a little melancholic as he watched Yu Dameng’s departing figure. 

Lin Cuifen was sewing clothes in the hallway of the main room. Seeing him standing there dryly, she waved her hand and said, “Yuan Ge’er, come over here.” 

Qiao Yuan approached and asked, “Mother, what’s wrong?” 

“Originally, you should have returned home yesterday, but considering your physical condition, I spoke with your grandmother and uncle, and we all agreed to wait until you recover before you go back.”  

When it came to this matter, Lin Cuifen was still very upset. When she went to visit Qiao Yuan’s grandmother and aunt, Qiao Yuan’s aunt immediately agreed to her request. She was even more polite than before and didn’t even ask about Qiao Yuan’s situation. 

She was considering whether to tell Qiao Yuan about this matter, but unexpectedly Qiao Yuan said indifferently, “Mother, my uncle’s wife is afraid that you will come to ask for the betrothal gifts!” 

“This poor child,” Lin Cuifen sighed softly, “Don’t worry, as long as you and Dameng live well, our family will never do anything to harm you.” 

Qiao Yuan nervously touched his nose. He had talked about the possibility of divorce with Yu Dameng just yesterday. So he quickly changed the subject and asked, “Mom, what kind of chores do we usually have to do at home?” 

Lin Cuifen thought for a moment and explained all the household chores, “Fetching water and chopping wood are done by your father and Dameng, feeding the chickens are done by Liu Ge’er. The twins take care of feeding the pig, and I will only do some sewing and cooking. From now on, you will help me with cooking, and only wash your and Dameng’s clothes.” 

Upon hearing that there were pigs to feed, he became interested. He had never seen a live pig up close in modern times. “Do we still have pigs to feed at home?” he asked. 

Lin Cuifen became a little excited when talking about this, “Yes! That old sow is still pregnant with piglets! She’ll probably give birth in the next few days!”  

Seeing Qiao Yuan’s curiosity, Liu Ge’er volunteered to take him to see the pigs. Qiao Yuan then realized that there was such a large area behind the main house, surrounded by a fence, with a large vegetable garden and pig pens.  

The old sow was lazily sunbathing, and her belly was unusually large. Just as Qiao Yuan was about to take a closer look, he was stopped by the twin brothers, “You’re not allowed to look!”  

“Fourth brother, fifth brother, why are you like this!”  

“You traitor!”  

So, the obedient and gentle Liu was successfully provoked to tears by the two mischievous brothers. The scene was chaotic for a moment, and Qiao Yuan’s head was spinning. He had to use his trump card, “Brother Yuan will make you some snacks to eat!”  

Liu Ge’er immediately stopped crying as expected, and pitifully sobbed, “Brother Yuan, can you still make some snacks?”  

The child was too well-behaved, and Qiao Yuan unconsciously softened his tone, “Of course, big brother can make many delicious snacks.” Qiao Yuan glanced at the two mischievous children and added, “But I won’t give any to your fourth or fifth brother.”  

Liu Ge’er nodded as he laughed through his tears.  

The twin brothers both snorted heavily, indicating that they didn’t care. 

After Qiao Yuan took Liu Ge’er away, Yu Shanwu curiously asked, “Brother, what kind of snacks do you think he’s going to make?”  

“You only know how to eat!” Yu Shanwu was slapped hard by Yu Shanwen.  

Yu Shanwu expressed why he is always the one getting injured! The only one younger than him in the family is Little Liu, but he happens to be a ger and cannot be hit or scolded.  

After chatting with Liu Ge’er, Qiao Yuan learned that the popular desserts in this time and space were mostly traditional Chinese ones such as Osmanthus Cake and Green Bean Cake, which were quite expensive and unaffordable for ordinary families. Only the Yu family had been able to live comfortably recently after paying off their debts, and Liu Ge’er could occasionally enjoy some of these desserts thanks to the support of his loving older brothers.  

Qiao Yuan roughly had an idea in his mind. He didn’t have any capital at the moment, so if he wanted to do business he would have to start with a more popular route.  

The kitchen conditions were simple, and the only brown sugar left was from the previous Ghost Festival1中元节 (zhōng yuán jié) – This is a traditional Chinese festival that falls on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. It is also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival. when sugar cakes were made.  

After some thought, Qiao Yuan decided to make the simplest red sugar steamed cake. He cracked two eggs into a rice bowl, beat them with chopsticks, and added an appropriate amount of brown sugar. He considered that the steamed cake should be fluffy and not have a noticeable difference in texture between coarse and fine flour, so he added a bit coarser flour.  

The weather was hot, and the speed of natural fermentation was also fast. In less than half an hour, the batter started to rise. Qiao Yuan sprinkled a handful of red dates on top and put the batter in the steamer.  

After about fifteen minutes, the red sugar steamed cake slowly began to rise, and its fragrance gradually emerged. The aroma of eggs mixed with the scent of dates, sweet and delicious, had already wafted out of the Yu family’s door, attracting the cries of children from neighboring households.  

Liu Ge’er was circling around the stove with a greedy look, and Lin Cuifen was also attracted over. Only the stubborn twin brothers refused to bow their heads. 

Qiao Yuan couldn’t be bothered to argue with the little kids. He tasted a bite of the food he had cooked and found that the taste of the ancient grains was not bad. He cut a piece for everyone, and Yu Shanwu immediately took his. However, Yu Shanwen refused to take it, so Qiao Yuan had to force it on him and instructed them, “You two go outside and eat where there are more children.”  

The twins were puzzled and confused. Yu Shanwen quickly reacted and asked, “Do you want to sell this?”  

Qiao Yuan nodded and sighed in his heart that the intelligence of these twins was completely on different levels.  

As soon as he heard that he could make money, Yu Shanwen became serious and took Yu Shanwu out with him.  

Before they could even invite their friends over, the neighbor from the east side of the Yu family, Grandma Jiang, brought her grandson to their door and exclaimed, “What are you cooking? It smells so good!”  

The Jiang family has always had a good relationship with the Yu family. Lin Cuifen hurriedly took a piece of steamed cake from the kitchen and went out, “Grandma Jiang, Yuan Ge’er is messing around and calling it steamed cake.”  

Grandma Jiang’s grandson, Jiang Yunshan, was hesitant to accept it, but Lin Cuifen smiled and stuffed it into his hand, “Xiaoshan2Nickname, literally means Little Shan, don’t be polite to auntie.”  

Jiang Yunshan glanced at Grandma Jiang and only took a bite after seeing her nod. His face instantly lit up and he exclaimed, “It’s really delicious!”  

The child was well-educated and even held out the cake to his grandma, insisting that she try it. Grandma Jiang took a small bite and found the fluffy and soft texture perfect for her current dental condition. The egg flavor was mixed with the fragrance of jujube, and she immediately fell in love with it, asking, “How much does this sell for?” 

Lin Cuifen was startled and quickly said, “If you want to eat it, just take it. We still have some at home, and since we are neighbors in the same village, why should we charge you?” 

Grandma Jiang only had one son, but he worked in the city and didn’t need this little bit of money. She was generous with her food and drink on ordinary days. “I want to buy a few more pieces and let my old man and son and daughter-in-law taste them. I know you have a good heart, but we can’t take advantage of you for nothing!”  

Lin Cuifen stubbornly couldn’t refuse and had to nod in agreement, but she didn’t know what price she should sell it for.  

When Qiao Yuan heard that the deal was going to be made, he found a handkerchief in the kitchen and wrapped it around his neck. He hurried out to greet Grandma Jiang and said, “How about one wen per piece?”  

The price was just calculated by Qiao Yuan.3I don’t know how to math so I didn’t double check the calculation. Let’s just assume that there’s no error in the author’s calculation. He used three eggs and about one jin4A jin is an ancient Chinese unit of weight, equivalent to about 500 grams. of flour to make fifteen pieces. The eggs were from the chickens at home, and if bought at market price, they would cost about seven wen each. The dates were harvested from the family’s tree and sun-dried. Coarse flour costs two wen per jin, while fine flour costs five wen per jin. Including the amount of brown sugar used, the cost of this batch is around six and a half wen. 

If he sells it, he will further reduce the proportion of eggs and fine noodles to control the cost within 6 wen. By doing so, for this basket, selling at one wen per piece, he can earn about nine wen.  

Grandma Jiang agreed immediately. In her opinion, this piece was quite large, had eggs, dates, and a sweet taste, and was a good deal. The taste was also good, and it was much cheaper than the pastry shops in the city. She immediately took out six wen.  

Lin Cuifen was shocked, did she just make money?  

Qiao Yuan took the money and went back to his room to get a large porcelain bowl to fill with steamed cakes for Grandma Jiang. “Grandma Jiang, there’s nothing at home that can be packed up for you right now, so please take this bowl with you for now.” Qiao Yuan said as he casually added the piece of cake that Lin Cuifen had just given to Grandma Jiang to taste. “This piece is on me, consider it my filial piety to you.”  

Grandma Jiang smiled and said to Lin Cuifen, “Yuan Ge’er is so good, you are blessed.”  

Lin Cuifen recovered her strength and helped Grandma Jiang out of the door. “I have to say, this child is quick and diligent in his work. I am completely satisfied with him. It’s just the rumors outside, sigh!” 

Grandma Jiang comforted her, “Just live your own life behind closed doors, don’t worry about what others say.” In her heart, she also thought that it didn’t seem like Yuan Ge’er committed suicide just because she didn’t want to marry Dameng. There must be something else going on.  

Qiao Yuan flipped the six coins he had just received in his hand, feeling very pleased. This was the first bucket of gold he had earned in this other world!  

Liu Ge’er was also very happy and said in a soft voice, “Brother Yuan is really amazing!”  

Qiao Yuan pinched his little face and said, “You deserve the most credit!”  

Lin Cuifen returned from Grandma Jiang’s house with an empty bowl, and Qiao Yuan was about to hand over the six cents.  

However, Lin Cuifen didn’t want his money at all. “You can keep the money you earned yourself. You don’t have to contribute to the family, and your father can still earn money. ”  

Qiao Yuan sighed, Lin Cuifen was really a sensible and good mother-in-law.  

The first pot only had three pieces left, but the ingredients were sufficient. Qiao Yuan decided to leave them for the children at home to eat. He immediately started preparing the second pot. After all, it was the first day and he didn’t plan to steam too much, not knowing if it would sell well or not. 

When the twin brothers brought all their friends who came to ask for money back home, Qiao Yuan was still awake. To entertain the impatient children, Qiao Yuan told them a story: “Once upon a time, there was a monkey who jumped out of a crack in the rock…”  

A group of children gradually became fascinated and asked all sorts of strange questions. Qiao Yuan patiently answered them one by one, and Lin Cuifen increasingly felt that Qiao Yuan had a good temperament. 

Let me know if you find any errors so I can fix them.

If you like my translation, a cup of coffee is very much appreciated. I will post a bonus chapter for every five kofis received. Thank you!