Share Your Wealth With Me
The next day, Jiang Yimian took the remaining soap to the town, while others continued to work on reclaiming the wasteland in the small low-lying land.
Not many people went to town today. Jiang Yimian and several people from nearby villages took an ox cart and went to town silently.
She thought that there would be fewer people in Qinghe Town, but unexpectedly, it was still bustling. Although it wasn’t as crowded as Market Day, it was still very lively.
Vendors on both sides of the street were selling their goods with all their might, seemingly competing to see whose voice was louder.
Jiang Yimian went straight to Huichun Hall.
As soon as the shop assistant saw her, he quickly greeted her, “Jiang Girl has arrived.”
Jiang Yimian nodded, took out the soap from her back basket. The assistant carefully checked them, confirming that there were no errors, and gave her two silvers.
After receiving the silver, she was about to leave, but the shop assistant quickly stopped her, curiously saying, “Girl, where do you live? In case there’s news about the shop, where can we find you?”
Jiang Yimian thought for a while before saying, “There’s a konjac tofu stall on East Street. On Market Day, I or my family will be there. If there’s any news, you can go there.”
The shop assistant then made a note of it.
As soon as Jiang Yimian walked out of Huichun Hall, Chen Guixiang pulled Li Chunhua and followed her, her eyes full of resentment.
Last time, this little hussy caused her to make a fool of herself in front of Little Zhang, resulting in the gossiping women in the village laughing at her every time they saw her, making her afraid to go out.
Today, she finally came out early to avoid the villagers, but she ran into that little hussy again.
She was determined to teach that little hussy a lesson today.
Thinking this, she quickened her pace.
Li Chunhua, beside her, was full of doubt. Seeing her mother walking faster and faster, she flung her hand away and said dissatisfiedly, “Mother, what are you doing? Didn’t you say you were going to buy cloth for me to make clothes?”
Chen Guixiang glared at the people in the crowd and whispered, “See, it’s that little hussy who made me lose face in front of Little Zhang, which caused the villagers to laugh at me. Today, I will let her know that an outsider cannot ride on our heads.”
Saying this, she quickly followed.
After leaving Huichun Hall, Jiang Yimian noticed someone following her. She didn’t mind and just wandered around the street. After a while, she saw a pork stall.
There weren’t many people in front of the pork stall at the moment, and there weren’t many pieces of meat left, all of which were not very fresh. Fortunately, the weather was still cold, so they wouldn’t spoil easily.
There was still a lot of meat in the cellar, so she wasn’t in a hurry.
She walked straight over, and the middle-aged man standing behind the stall smiled and said, “Girl, what do you want to buy?”
Jiang Yimian casually looked around, her gaze falling on the pig fat hanging beside the stall. She curiously asked, “How much is this pig fat?”
As soon as she finished speaking, a sarcastic voice came from behind, “Refugees are refugees. So poor, they can’t even afford meat, yet they want this unwanted stuff.”
Jiang Yimian glanced at the person who came, saw that it was Chen Guixiang, and raised her eyebrows.
Behind her was a young girl with a pretty appearance but a look of disdain in her eyes. She immediately understood that this person was Li Chunhua.
The person who coveted the Green Brick house of the refugee.
She calmly said, “Yes, do you have money to share with me, to buy three catties of meat for me?”
Chen Guixiang choked, obviously not expecting this answer. After a while, she reacted and cursed, “Little hussy, you wish! Why should I buy meat for you?”
Her family couldn’t even afford to eat meat, let alone buy it for this little hussy. She spat.
Jiang Yimian then continued coldly, “Then what I buy is none of your business.”
Chen Guixiang was startled, and Li Chunhua was also stunned, but the middle-aged man behind the stall burst out laughing.
This only angered Chen Guixiang, her face turning black. She pointed at Jiang Yimian and angrily said, “Are you shameless? Asking me for meat? If your family is so poor, don’t come out.”
Li Chunhua’s pretty face was also full of disdain. She immediately said angrily, “Mother, don’t mind this poor refugee. If she can’t afford it herself, that’s fine, but now she’s even begging.
These refugees are all the same, all beggars. They are unwanted in their own village, so they go to other villages to beg for food.”
Jiang Yimian frowned, coldly looking at the two people in front of her before calmly saying, “To my knowledge, there should have been no one with the surname Chen in Qinghe Town before. It was only ten years ago that people with the surname Chen from other prefectural cities fled famine here, and only then did Qinghe Town have the Chen surname.
Li Chunhua, if I remember correctly, your mother and your maternal grandfather’s family are all surnamed Chen, right? So does that mean they are also beggars? Giving birth to you, a begging little beggar?”
Being called a little beggar, Li Chunhua couldn’t bear it for a moment, and cursed, “I spit on you, you are the beggar, the one begging for food. I am from Qing Stone Village, you outsider refugee don’t know where you came from, you are the one begging for food, you lot of refugees are all beggars.”
Passersby stopped in their tracks upon hearing this, their eyes on Li Chunhua and her mother changed.
A woman couldn’t bear it and immediately cursed, “What nonsense are you two talking about? Refugees are beggars, then everyone on this street is a beggar.
Who doesn’t know that this place Qinghe Town used to be wasteland, whose ancestors didn’t flee famine from other places? You two, taking advantage of being locals to bully others, are you shameless?”
Another man with a full beard rolled up his sleeves and cursed, “Two stinky women looking for death, why are those who flee famine beggars? If you’re not happy with outsiders in the village, you tell the government! Shameless, bullying people in the street, I’ll beat you up!”
As the onlookers grew, each face filled with anger, Chen Guixiang and her daughter’s legs went weak. They immediately dared not shout anymore and repeatedly begged for forgiveness. However, the onlookers completely ignored them and continued to close in on them.
Many of them were refugees who had fled from other places, already feeling uncomfortable having just arrived in unfamiliar villages. Hearing the locals call them beggars made them even more upset.
Seeing that the two had angered the crowd, Jiang Yimian didn’t even look at the people surrounded by the crowd and left directly.
This little episode didn’t leave any ripples in Jiang Yimian’s heart. She continued to wander the street, listening to the lively calls of the vendors and the restaurants and teahouses along the street.
Qinghe Town had recovered well. Many shops had opened, although there weren’t many customers, it was no longer apparent that this place had been looted by the rebel army.
After walking for a while, Jiang Yimian saw another pork stall.
After asking the price of the pig fat, she bought ten catties, costing a total of thirty wen.
In this era, many people didn’t want this stuff. Only poor families would occasionally buy some to make lard and taste the meat.
Slightly wealthier people would buy meat. Lard and cracklings rendered from fatty meat were the most fragrant, while pig fat was somewhat dispensable.
After buying the pig fat, Jiang Yimian also bought some colorful pigments.
In this era, most pigments were extracted from plants or minerals, all-natural, and very suitable for making soap.
When Jiang Yimian returned to Qing Stone Village, it was not yet noon. She didn’t sell anything today, so she didn’t waste much time.
Little Zhang was currently holding a handful of fried soybeans, eating while talking to several women. Seeing Jiang Yimian carrying such a large piece of pig fat back, she exclaimed, “Jiang Girl, why did you buy so much pig fat? This could buy several catties of meat, right?”
Others also looked over, silently sighing in their hearts, this Jiang family must not be doing well either; they can’t afford meat, so they can only buy some pig fat to satisfy their cravings.
Jiang Yimian responded, didn’t explain much, and walked straight towards the foot of the mountain.
Little Zhang’s gaze lingered on the pig fat Jiang Yimian was carrying.
Although pig fat is cheaper than pork, it’s still from a pig, at least three or four wen per catty. This much must cost a lot of copper coins.
She hadn’t tasted meat for a long time; getting some pig fat to make lard and satisfy her cravings would be nice.
Thinking this, she quickly chased after her.