Chapter 25: Earn Money
Grandma Su paid one hundred copper coins as a deposit for Su Guilan. Only if Su Guilan fills up the manure pit at Su Yaoguang’s home can the money be refunded to her.
Su Guilan had been gone for several days with no intention of coming back to carry water. The more Grandma Su thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She personally went to Su Guilan’s husband’s home to find her, only to discover that she had gone out claiming to be ill, saying she wouldn’t be back for the next few days.
Grandma Su was also stingy by nature; how could she not understand Su Guilan’s intentions? Since she couldn’t find her, and she wanted to get the one hundred copper coins back soon, she could only have Grandpa Su and Second Uncle Su fill up Su Yaoguang’s manure pit. Of course, she could also order Su Yaoguang to refund the money to her. But that girl Su Yaoguang was getting harder and harder to deal with. As soon as she threatened her a little, she would cry, make a scene, and threaten to hang herself, as if her biological grandmother was deliberately bullying her while her biological mother was away.
Su Yaoguang looked at the fully filled manure pit, smiled, and returned the one hundred copper coins to Grandma Su, saying loudly, “Grandma, you’re so good to Auntie. Next time Cousin comes to my house to jump into the manure pit again, for your sake and Grandpa’s, I won’t charge him money.”
Grandma Su glared at Su Yaoguang in anger. She wanted to say something, but when she saw Zhou Wangshu sharpening a knife in the courtyard, she suddenly felt a chill on her neck and could only slink away dejectedly.
Grandpa Su and Second Uncle Su each carried five loads of water. Not only were they exhausted, but they also picked up a stench, and had no mood to tangle with Su Yaoguang; they just wanted to go back and rest soon.
After this incident, Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu enjoyed a few days of peace. Taking advantage of these peaceful days, the two made a batch of face cream and other items.
Market day came again, and Su Yaoguang took Zhou Wangshu into the city.
Zhou Wangshu carried the back basket, with wild mushrooms covering the top to conceal it.
When the two got on the ox cart, there were many people from the same village on it. They were curious about what Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu were carrying and wanted to lift the back basket while talking, but Zhou Wangshu stopped them verbally.
“Auntie, these are freshly picked mushrooms. We’re planning to take them to the city to sell, one copper coin each. If you want to buy some, we’ll give you a discount: two for one copper coin.” Zhou Wangshu said, opening his palm and looking expectantly at the auntie opposite him.
The auntie’s expression became awkward: “These things are everywhere on the hills, and you’re still charging me money? You must be crazy for money!”
“Auntie, you can’t say that. The mushrooms are very tasty; we’ve been eating them for three or four days straight,” Zhou Wangshu said. “We’re taking them to the city to sell precisely because we can’t finish them all. Our cornmeal at home is also gone, so we’ll use the money from selling mushrooms to buy cornmeal and hold out until Mom comes back.”
“Your family conditions are so tough?” the auntie said. “Yaoguang girl, mushrooms aren’t worth much. You’d be better off learning midwifery from your mom.”
“Which unmarried young lady learns midwifery?” the auntie nearby said. “Does she still want to get married?”
“She’s already bought herself a little husband. She just needs to wait for this little husband to get a bit older, and they can have the wedding ceremony. Yaoguang’s little husband, don’t you think what I said makes sense? Even though Yaoguang only spent ten copper coins to buy you, you’re still a young man who needs to eat! Given her family’s current situation, I’m afraid they can’t afford to keep you.”
“I eat very little and am easy to keep,” Zhou Wangshu said, looking at Su Yaoguang. “Yaoguang, you can’t sell me. I can help you with work.”
Su Yaoguang touched the top of his head and said to him, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t sell you. As long as you don’t want to leave, I won’t chase you away.”
The women of all ages on the ox cart: “…”
This little husband really looks good. Besides his outstanding appearance, he also has a sweet mouth and knows how to coax people, but…
He’s not as capable as Xiao Yanci!
After getting off the ox cart, Su Yaoguang got off first. When she turned to move the back basket, Zhou Wangshu had already taken it down.
The two went to the rouge shop first, took out her newly made face cream for the shopkeeper to try, and explained the benefits of these items to him.
After listening, the shopkeeper asked indifferently, “How much do you plan to sell them for?”
“The small bottle is five hundred wen, the medium bottle is one tael of silver, and the largest bottle is two taels of silver,” Su Yaoguang introduced the prices.
The shopkeeper applied a bit on the back of his hand, pushed it away, smelled it under his nose, and said with a pout, “We have a dedicated master; every box of cosmetics we make is top-quality. Looking at you two, I’m afraid you’ve never even used cosmetics. Our shop is the best and biggest in the city. Our goods aren’t cheap, and the customers who come and go are all wealthy people. With your outfits, you’ve probably never seen the things in our shop. The stuff you made yourselves—you might dare to use it, but I wouldn’t dare to sell it to my customers. Take it away; don’t disturb our customers.”
“Shopkeeper, you really won’t try it?” Su Yaoguang asked.
“Take it away. Don’t block my customers’ way.”
Su Yaoguang took the trial bottle of face cream from the shopkeeper’s hand, packed up the back basket, and left that rouge shop.
She stood huffily under the eaves and said to Zhou Wangshu beside her, “I don’t believe there’s no discerning rouge shop owner in this city.”
In fact, there really wasn’t.
The two visited five or six rouge shops, from large to small, and not a single shop was willing to take her goods.
She felt somewhat defeated.
“Wangshu, do you think my prices are set too high?”
“No,” Zhou Wangshu said. “It’s that they have no eye for quality.”
“You’re right,” Su Yaoguang said. “Wangshu, since no one will take our goods, we have two paths ahead. One is to slink back home dejectedly and come to the city another day to find laundry work, earning one copper coin per piece of clothing. The other is to sell the goods ourselves.”
“Of course, choose the second.”
“You think we should choose the second?” Su Yaoguang hesitated. “But I have no confidence.”
“When you were making that face cream, you were glowing all over. As long as you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything.”
“You support me?”
“Of course.”
“Then if I ask you to help later, you will help me, right?”
Zhou Wangshu fell silent.
For some reason, he always felt like there was a trap waiting for him ahead.
He looked at the young girl in front of him.
The girl, who had been downcast just a moment ago, was now blinking a pair of bright eyes at him, waiting for him to nod.
He seemed to have no other choice; besides nodding, he could only nod. He couldn’t refuse her request.
“I will.”
“Follow me.” Su Yaoguang pulled Zhou Wangshu into the ready-to-wear clothing shop opposite.
Chun E was lying on the counter asleep and was woken by the footsteps. She jerked up, instinctively put on a smile, and greeted drowsily, “Distinguished guest, what do you need? Our shop has all kinds of clothes. Do you want undergarments or outerwear?”
The ready-to-wear clothing shop’s business wasn’t good. Recently, a huge ready-to-wear clothing shop opened in the city with the latest styles, snatching away all the business from the other shops. Chun E, as one of the shop owners, was also greatly affected.
