My humble days in ancient times

Although Huang Guiyun's egg pancakes ultimately failed, she still managed to earn a few taels of silver during those ten days. Having tasted success, she spent her days thinking about ways to make money. But making money wasn't easy. Suddenly, she thought of Xu Ruyi's rice dumplings, and she began to think about them again.

One day, while washing clothes by the river, Huang Guiyun saw four siblings picking reed leaves. Suddenly, she understood. She had seen customers throw long, single leaves on the ground after eating zongzi (rice dumplings). What else could they be but reed leaves?

So I went to pick some and took them back to think about it. On the way, I happened to meet Xu Ruyi and his four siblings.

Xu Ruyi found that she had picked a basket.

Huang Guiyun seemed not to see them, turned his head away and walked away angrily.

Xu Ruyi also lamented: "I've been focusing on myself all day. I'm obsessed with money."

Huang Guiyun returned home and began to work on it, but the leaves were too stiff and wouldn't yield. Soaking them in water still didn't seem to work. She was so angry she was spinning around. Forget it, she decided to just go out and visit some friends.

Days passed and the Dragon Boat Festival soon arrived. The brother and sister set up a stall for a day and made a lot of rice dumplings at home.

Xu Ruyi looked at her brother and sister, who were making dumplings just as fast as she was, and said, "It's true that fewer people make food easier, and more people make work easier. Look at Ruyuan, she'll be a good cook in the future. She makes great dumplings."

Xu Ruyuan was very motivated after being praised.

Xu Qinghe said: "My two sisters are not bad."

Xu Qingyan ran over and said, "Make room for me. I want to make zongzi too."

Xu Ruyi stepped aside and said, "Then you can learn from me first... First, take three small leaves and spread them out, then roll them up like this. Then put in the soaked glutinous rice and a jujube. Cover the rice with the leaves, then fold the leaves and wrap them around, then tie them up with a string."

Xu Qingyan listened attentively, but his hands betrayed him. He tried several times but failed, damaging several leaves in vain. He left in a huff and ran to the village to play with his friends.

After wrapping the dumplings, Xu Ruyi put twenty of them in a basket, which suddenly felt heavy. She went to Xu Xiaohua's house next door and took out ten dumplings. Grandma Wu evaded the question, saying, "Two is enough. This is too many."

Xu Ruyi smiled and said, "Then you and Xiaohua can eat slowly."

Xu Ruyi went to Aunt Zhang's house again. Aunt Zhang took out one and started eating it. "It smells delicious. I was wondering, girl, how come you are so skillful?"

Xu Ruyi smiled and said, "If Aunt Zhang likes it, please eat more."

Aunt Zhang smiled brightly: "This one is enough to fill me up." Maybe they were so delicious, she ate two in one go. Aunt Zhang felt a little embarrassed: "Now I can eat my dinner too."

The two laughed for a while and chatted about some family matters before Xu Ruyi went back.

Xu Qinghe wasn't resting either. He sent ten zongzi to Uncle Zhang's house next door. He sent four to Xu Dachuan. He also sent some to his grandparents.

Li smiled and said, "I often go to your place to eat in the mornings. I've already eaten. Why don't you save some to sell tomorrow?"

Xu Qinghe said unperturbed, "It's rare for me to be at home today, so I have to treat myself. I'll let you guys eat as much as you want."

The siblings took ten more to the village head. Uncle Li and his family tasted them and nodded in agreement. They also gave some to the three villagers who had helped find the siblings and to Uncle Xu, the oxcart driver. After the whole process, the siblings' legs were sore.

Xu Ruyi, who was lying on the bed, also sighed: I finally got a day off, but I didn’t expect to still be tired.

Xu Ruyi couldn't sleep and began to wonder whether to set up another stall or choose to sell chili oil!

Xu Ruyi told Xu Qinghe about his idea. Xu Qinghe thought about it and said, "Let's set up another stall."

Xu Ruyi said, "Okay."

Xu Ruyi thought for a moment and said, "I also want to buy another carriage."

Xu Qinghe thought about it and said, "Let's buy a donkey cart. Donkeys can still work. We don't have land now, but we'll always have it."

Xu Ruyi thought about it and agreed, mainly because she didn't want to reject her brother's idea.

At dawn the next day, Xu Ruyi and Xu Qinghe set out for the market. Along the way, Xu Ruyi was very excited, thinking that with a donkey cart, she could not only carry goods but also people, making it convenient to go anywhere.

Arriving at the market, the two went straight to the livestock market. Xu Ruyi carefully selected the donkeys and chose a strong one with shiny fur and bright eyes.

The astute boss saw that it was two children who came to buy the donkey and there was no adult with them, so he started to ask for a random price: "This good donkey costs twenty-three taels."

Xu Ruyi saw through the boss's thoughts and deliberately flashed the innocent eyes of a ten-year-old child: "Boss, we are still young, give us a discount, how about fifteen taels?"

The boss took a deep breath, thinking that this girl was really bargaining hard, so he deliberately said: "You bargain too much, so much at once, I don't know what to say."

Xu Ruyi smiled and said, "Boss, since we are sincere in buying this, how about adding another 16 taels?"

The boss was unmoved: "I will lose a lot of money at this price. No way."

"Seventeen taels, if the boss doesn't want to sell it, forget it. We don't have much money on hand." After saying that, he pulled Xu Qinghe and prepared to leave. Unexpectedly, after taking a few steps, the boss called them back.

The boss brought the donkey over, put the rope in Xu Qinghe's hand, and sighed, "This donkey has earned you nothing."

Xu Ruyi smiled and said, "Thank you, boss uncle. We also need to buy a shed."

The boss was afraid that they would bargain blindly, so he said directly: "It's one tael if it's close, two taels if it's good, no bargaining."

Xu Ruyi was amused by the boss's funny appearance and took out some silver to give to the boss. The boss breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the silver.

The boss helped them harness the donkey cart and taught them how to drive it. The brother and sister took a long time to learn before they could drive the donkey cart away.

In the county town, Xu Qinghe drove his donkey cart with trepidation, fearing he'd hit pedestrians. But once outside the city, it was like a horse unleashed; with a flick of the whip, the cart took off. Xu Ruyi sat by the window, watching the receding houses and trees, feeling elated.

As soon as they arrived at the village entrance, the villagers sitting under the large locust tree at the entrance were attracted by the donkey cart. Everyone looked over, especially when they saw Xu Qinghe, they all had an expression of disbelief. Having an ox in the village was already impressive, let alone a donkey cart.

Old Li asked, "Qinghe, did you buy this donkey cart?"

"Yes, my sister and I just bought it in the county town." After saying that, he waved goodbye to Old Li and drove away.

The donkey cart was the first of its kind in Xujia Village. Huang Guiyun, who was in the crowd, was extremely jealous: How come they could earn so much money and buy the first donkey cart in Xujia Village, but she couldn't?

The crowd exploded when Xu Qinghe drove his donkey cart out of the village entrance.

Old Li praised: "The disciple is better than the master. I never thought that the first person in our village to buy a donkey cart was still a child."

Widow Wang also agreed, "Isn't it? Look, it shows that their egg pancake business is doing well and they can make money."

Aunt Li also sighed: "Before the family split up, I was worried about how these children would make a living. I didn't expect Ruyi and Qinghe to be so good. They are not afraid of hardship and can find ways to make money. They actually support the family."

Everyone nodded and said, "That's right!"

The more others praised Xu Ruyi, the angrier Huang Guiyun became.

Someone asked Huang Guiyun: "You can make money selling egg pancakes, why did you give up halfway?"

Huang Guiyun was angry but didn't show it on his face. He said, "I can't bear the hardship of getting up early and going to bed late, so I can't earn this kind of money!"

Others asked, "Then why didn't you let Xu Shi go?"

Huang Guiyun tried to suppress her anger and said, "He is not reliable. He is shy and embarrassed to set up a stall."

Everyone laughed when they heard this, knowing in their hearts that the main reason was that the food she cooked was not tasty, as they had heard from Widow Wang in private a long time ago. But no one exposed her to her face.