The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

As noon approached, the number of vendors on the dock dwindled.

Before leaving, Aunt Li took one last look. Seeing the basket full of vegetable dumplings, she 'kindly' encouraged them, saying, "Wow! So many left! Are you open for business yet?"

"Two have been sold," Shen Wan said. These two were bought by a kind older brother who saw the three of them looking pitiful and couldn't refuse them.

"Oh, you've sold two so early in the morning? Well, keep up the good work, I'm going home now." Aunt Li said with a knowing look, pushing her cart away gleefully.

"Sister, what should we do? Nobody's buying!" Shen Wan looked at the vegetable dumplings in the basket with a troubled expression.

It's past lunchtime now, and although there are still a few people on the street, there are far fewer than during mealtimes.

"Gurgle!" A loud cry suddenly reminded Shen Cao that they had gotten up early in the morning and it was past noon, so it was time for lunch.

“It’s okay, if we can’t sell them, we’ll eat them ourselves,” Shen Cao said, handing a few vegetable dumplings to her younger siblings.

They had been traveling since early morning and hadn't eaten yet; both of them were starving.

They took the vegetable dumplings and began to wolf them down.

"Don't rush, eat slowly, there's plenty more to go." Shen Cao handed the two of them water.

Wei Jie was walking down the road with a worried expression, looking around to see where he could find food.

There was a problem with the cargo on board today, so we missed lunch.

The master gave him one tael of silver and asked him to buy food for the workers on the ship.

There were at least twenty or thirty people on the boat. He had already searched all the remaining stalls, but he still hadn't found food for ten people, and he only had less than a hundred coins left.

Just as he was worrying, he saw two little children sitting under the shade of a tree, each holding a vegetable dumpling and eating it with great relish, which made him want to eat some too.

"Little ones, where did you buy these vegetable dumplings?" Wei Jie didn't even ask if they were tasty; as long as they filled his stomach, that was enough.

Upon hearing the man speak, Shen Qing and Shen Wan understood his meaning, immediately put down the vegetable dumplings they were holding, and led him to their own stall.

"Sister, this uncle wants to buy vegetable dumplings." Shen Qing said happily as soon as she saw Shen Cao.

Shen Cao looked at the person who came over. He was dressed in clean cotton clothes without any patches, so he must be someone in charge.

"I'd also like to ask you, uncle, how many would you like? Our vegetable dumplings are cheap and delicious, I guarantee you'll want more after you try them."

Wei Jie pretended not to hear Shen Cao's words. How delicious could a grass dumpling be? It was as if he had never eaten it before.

He wouldn't have bought these vegetable dumplings if he hadn't been desperate for food; something is better than nothing.

"How much do you have left?" Wei Jie asked.

Shen Cao opened the basket and counted, "There are nineteen left."

Wei Jie thought for a moment. Nineteen steamed buns, two for each person, wouldn't be enough, but it was better than nothing. He would go and buy some more steamed buns later.

"Wrap them all up for me." Wei Jie waved his hand and took them all.

Upon hearing that the other party wanted it all, Shen Cao and the others were overjoyed and quickly wrapped up the rest for the visitor.

"Here you go, come back when you've had your fill."

Wei Jie thought to himself, "If I hadn't really run out of options, I definitely wouldn't have come to buy this, and I definitely wouldn't have come back."

After buying all the food, Wei Jie headed towards his own boat.

After Wei Jie left, Shen Cao and the others prepared to pack up and go home.

There were twenty-five vegetable dumplings. Two were eaten by our own family, and the rest were all sold out.

I earned forty-six coins today. Although it's not much, it's still some income.

The three of them happily went home. On the way, they came across a butcher shop, where Shen Cao spent twenty coins to buy a pound of pork fat.

Seeing the unwanted pig offal on the pork stall, Shen Cao asked, "Brother, how much is this pig offal?"

"Seven coins a pound, do you want some?"

Shen Cao waved his hand, and after asking about the price of the pig offal, he left with a pound of pork fat he had bought.

Although pig offal is cheap, it's quite troublesome to prepare. Besides, I don't have much capital right now. This pound of pig offal will shrink by half after preparation. I only have 26 coins left from today's earnings. I'll buy it again when I've earned more money in the future.

Moreover, given the current market conditions, Shen Cao is thinking of waiting until her vegetable dumpling business stabilizes before launching new products; there's no rush now.

The three of them happily made their way home.

Before I even got home, I saw a lot of people gathered in my yard.

Upon seeing this, the group jogged into the courtyard.

"Father, Mother, we're back!" the three of them called out.

Upon hearing the voices of her three children, Shen's mother immediately stepped out from the crowd.

"You've worked hard, how are you doing?"

Shen Cao looked at the people in the yard but didn't answer. She pulled back her younger siblings who wanted to show off.

Although Shen Qing and Shen Wan were puzzled, they listened to their sister's words.

When Aunt Li, who was in charge, saw that Shen Cao and the others had returned, she immediately came over.

"See, I told you so. The three children of the Shen family went to the county to sell food to earn money."

"They have spare money to make food and sell, so how could they not have money to pay me back? Besides, it's only right to pay back debts."

“I say, Yu Niang, it’s not good to lie!” Aunt Li said to everyone.

“Aunt Li, my family really doesn’t have the money to pay you back. These children are just selling cheap food.”

"It's not worth much money."

"Pah! I bet you don't want to pay me back!" Aunt Li said angrily to Shen's mother.

"Don't worry, we'll pay you back as soon as we have the money," Shen's mother pleaded.

"If it really doesn't work, please give me a few more days, and I'll try to raise the money to pay you back."

“Aunt Li, I don’t think the Shen family are the kind of people who won’t pay back their money. I even saw them picking snails and clams from the river to eat a couple of days ago.”

That stuff, nobody eats during famines, and they're just scavenging for it. I bet they're starving. Please be lenient with them for a few days; we see each other all the time.

Shen Cao saw that it was the uncle who had eaten the snails and clams she had cooked in the field that day who spoke up for her family.

"You old fool, don't forget we're related by blood. How dare you speak up for someone with a different surname? What benefits did you receive from them?" Aunt Li said, looking at Uncle Li.

"I don't care, I'll give you three more days. If you still don't pay me back in three days, I'll report you to the authorities," Aunt Li said as if she were doing her a favor.

Upon hearing Aunt Li's words, Shen's mother said, "Thank you, Aunt Li. I will pay you back the money even if I have to sell everything I own in three days."

Shen Cao looked at the situation in front of her without saying a word.

How could she not remember that the Shen family had borrowed money from Aunt Li's family?