Chapter 14: A Foothold

Chapter 14: A Foothold

Ding's face froze as she searched for an excuse to refuse. Over the past few years, she had managed to marry off several of her daughters in grand style, partly due to her own savings, but also because of the monthly rental income from Shen Er’s shop, which accounted for about thirty to forty percent. Having enjoyed the profits for three years, she suddenly felt a pang of heartache at the thought of returning it all.

To her surprise, Shen Dalang suddenly spoke up generously, "We never intended to keep it. Ji Geer was still a child, and your shop was entrusted to us to manage in the past few years. Since it was rented out, we had to hold onto the income for him. Now that you're back, it should naturally be returned to you..."

This enraged Ding. She still had one daughter left to marry! The dowry money hadn't been fully saved yet, and now, a perfectly good shop was being given up just like that? She couldn’t help but give Shen Dalang a hard pinch under the table, causing him to grimace in pain, but he still managed to finish his sentence, "Over these years, with you gone, no one brought it up, and I almost forgot the bond between brothers. Now that you're back, I remember all the things my younger brother used to do..."

His voice faltered, choked with emotion.

Shen Miao was also surprised. The last part about her father had such a profound impact on Shen Dalang? He suddenly burst into tears, sobbing as he spoke, "Wait here, I’ll fetch the land and property deeds, and I'll also pack some silver for you..."

Before he could finish, Ding kicked over Shen Dalang’s chair, grabbing his ear in a fit of rage, "Shen Dalang, have you lost your mind? What nonsense are you spouting? Your brother’s shop burned down to a charred skeleton, and even if you wanted to sell it, it would be difficult. The land and property deeds are one thing, but giving away silver? You'd better ask my rolling pin if it agrees first!"

Shen Dalang trembled under her scolding, not daring to say more, and scurried back to the main room to fetch a paper package. Shen Miao took it and saw that it was indeed their land deed and property deed.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

She had retrieved it. This trip wasn't in vain. With these documents, she, Ji Geer, and Xiang Jieer finally had a place to stand in Bianjing.

As for the three years' worth of rent, since it had already gone into Ding's pocket, it would be difficult to sort it out clearly. This was also why Shen Miao didn't bring up the issue of the rent.

Recognizing when to quit, she decisively left with the two children. Ding, her face pale with anger, didn’t even see them off. It was Shen Dalang who escorted them to the door. Shen Miao told him not to bother, but he grabbed her hand.

Glancing around furtively, he quickly slipped a roll of copper coins into Shen Miao’s sleeve and then darted away, "I won't see you off, hurry back!"

Only a fool would turn down free money, especially from Shen Dalang. Shen Miao didn't hesitate, swiftly tucking the coins into her sleeve.

After all, this was what Shen Dalang owed Ji Geer and Xiang Jieer!

She clutched her sleeve tightly and hurried the children back by carriage. She had stayed too long at Shen Dalang’s house, and if the South Vermilion Gate of the inner city closed, they wouldn't be able to return.

Fortunately, the journey back was smooth. Once home, Shen Miao pulled Ji Geer under the quilt to count the money. She had been afraid of being robbed along the way, clutching the oil-paper package so tightly that it was crumpled. Unwrapping it, she found two neatly wrapped strings of coins, totaling two thousand wen!

For Shen Dalang, this was a drop in the bucket, but for Shen Miao and her siblings, it was a godsend.

The shiny new coins made all three of them light up. Shen Miao discussed with Ji Geer, "Let’s use one string of coins first to fix the walls and doors of our back hall. Otherwise, we can't close the doors at night, and with only two children and a woman at home, we might attract thieves."

"Sister, you're right to worry," Ji Geer agreed, but he also lowered his head uncomfortably, "I just regret being too young to guard the house for you."

"I appreciate your concern, but at your age, you don’t need to push yourself so hard," Shen Miao said to him earnestly, "You're already very mature for your age."

Ji Geer shook his head, feeling that he could do too little.

"We’ll save the remaining string of coins for your future studies," Shen Miao allocated the money and then took the children out for dinner, also buying some things they would need for setting up a stall in a couple of days. They also needed to find Shen Dalang to fix the backyard’s doors, windows, walls, stove, and roof.

From her visit to the night market the day before, Shen Miao already had a good sense of the commercial layout around the Golden Beam Bridge.

She had also decided what to do temporarily.

***

Bianjing was in the late spring season, with warm breezes and sunny days, the willow trees shrouded in mist. The night market didn't close until the fifth watch, but before dawn, the streets were already bustling with the morning market.

The calls of vendors and porters moving through the morning mist woke Shen Miao. She was still drowsy, hugging the quilt and staring blankly at the bed for a while before fully waking up.

To set up the stall as soon as possible, she had kept Ji Geer and Xiang Jieer busy for two whole days, turning them into her child laborers, helping with all the work inside and out.

Over the past two days, she had first found Shen Dalang and then had him recommend a good bricklayer. After agreeing on the price and calculating the wages, she left Ji Geer and Xiang Jieer at home to supervise the workers. Shen Miao had prepared a large pot of Luohan tea and a pot of thick millet porridge with lean meat, letting Ji Geer and Xiang Jieer serve the workers morning tea and breakfast while they oversaw the completion of the courtyard repairs.

Shen Miao went to the Street Administration Office, paid fifty wen, and registered, effectively obtaining the so-called "Bridge Market Business License." Twenty wen was for the rent, and thirty wen was a kickback for the Garrison Troops at the Street Administration Office.

Many of the green-clad Garrison Troops at the Street Administration were troublemakers and scoundrels, having secured their positions through family bribes. When Shen Miao went to conduct her business, she endured some verbal harassment. Fortunately, the current Prefect of Kaifeng was an incorruptible official like Judge Bao, so these Garrison Troops dared not lay a hand on her. After a few teasing remarks, they let her be.

Shen Miao brushed off their words like the barking of dogs and calmly finished her task. At the Street Administration, she received a green-painted wooden plaque marked with the red characters "Bing Zuo Wu," which she assumed was the identifier for her small stall.

She then went to scout the location. Counting five bridge piers from the "Bing" marker, she found a narrow patch of open space, barely a foot wide. Apart from this spot, everything else was tightly packed, leaving no room for anything else.

Coincidentally, this spot was right next to the plump woman selling fragrant drinks, whom Shen Miao had previously inquired about. The woman recognized her and, noticing the wooden plaque in her hand, asked cautiously, "Madam, you asked me so many questions earlier—was it for this? What are you selling?"

Shen Miao smiled and replied, "I’m selling baked cakes. Eating cakes makes one thirsty, so a bowl of your fragrant drink would be perfect, wouldn’t it? It’s fate that we’re neighbors, complementing each other’s trades."

The plump woman then relaxed, and her gaze toward Shen Miao became less hostile.

After completing the formalities, securing her stall, and smoothing over neighborly relations, Shen Miao went to buy the ingredients she needed for her stall the next day: flour, rice, scallions, spices, condiments like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, as well as pork belly, sesame, Chinese cabbage, eggs, chicken, red beans, and various pork offal like intestines, liver, and kidneys.

She ended up spending a large chunk of her remaining dowry.

With so many items, she hired a porter to haul everything home.

After calculating, she found that repairing the courtyard walls and doors had cost 913 coins; a cart of charcoal cost 200 coins; purchasing ingredients cost over 300 coins; adding earlier expenses, she had spent a total of two strings of coins!

She was financially strained, living off dwindling resources.

Shen Miao sighed and patted her now-empty money pouch.

When she returned home, she brought some fresh fruits from the market and visited the Gu family. She asked Aunt Gu if she could borrow their handcart for a bit the next day. Without hesitation, Gu Tusu agreed and even offered to deliver it early in the morning, saying the cart was too heavy for her to handle alone.

This made Aunt Gu glance repeatedly at her son’s eager behavior.

Shen Miao noticed this and quickly expressed her gratitude, adding, "I must also thank Brother Gu for telling me about Old Man Yang across the Jinliang Bridge, who’s an excellent carpenter. I’ve ordered a handcart from him, so I won’t have to trouble you like this in the future."

Before Aunt Gu could respond, Gu Tusu chimed in, "It’s no trouble at all. If you need anything in the future, just say the word."

Noticing Aunt Gu’s slightly stiff smile, Shen Miao hurriedly left the Gu household, thinking it best to avoid troubling Gu Tusu too much in the future. Though she felt she had done nothing wrong, she couldn’t help but worry about others’ perceptions, especially as a "divorced woman." It was better to keep her distance.

But at least, her preparations for setting up the stall were almost complete.

When Shen Miao returned home, the backyard wall was still under construction. She had agreed with the bricklayer to build a sturdy three-layer earthen and stone wall. The parts of the old wall that hadn’t collapsed were completely torn down, so the cost was naturally higher than for a regular earthen wall. But she wanted the wall to be durable, so she decided to spend more money upfront to prevent future repairs.

For the courtyard gate, she had Old Man Yang choose a thick and sturdy walnut plank, which was quite pricey. But Shen Miao loved the beautiful grain of walnut wood, and its high hardness made it resistant to scratches, moisture, and termites. In her previous life, her mother’s dowry included a set of walnut furniture that stayed as good as new even after decades of use.

The leaking beams and roof of the kitchen were also repaired. For the kitchen door, she chose cheaper pine wood, which was lightweight, easy to work with, and half the price of walnut.

Shen Miao’s renovation work couldn’t escape the notice of her neighbors. Curious onlookers gathered, chatting and gossiping while secretly pitying her: "…Did you know? Shen Da Jieer was sent back by her husband’s family."

"Why did her husband divorce her?"

"I heard it was her mother-in-law’s decision. Her scholar husband… cough… has a habit of sharing a bed with his mother…"

"Heavens, how could such a beast exist?"

"Exactly! Now she’s left with no support and has to raise her younger siblings… Her uncle is no good either, not caring for his own brother’s children…"

Shen Miao innocently rubbed her nose. Were these aunties talking about her a bit too loudly? She could hear every word clearly through the half-built wall.

But she pretended not to hear, as such gossip didn’t harm her.

She wasn’t afraid of being talked about or pitied.

This was also why she had to leave Jinling. Kaifeng was Shen Da Jieer’s hometown, and the neighbors in the alley had known the Shen family for decades, watching her grow up. Most of them bore her no ill will.

Shen Miao observed the progress on the courtyard wall a bit longer. The mason Old Man Yang had found for her was surnamed He, a master craftsman in his fifties who worked with great skill and efficiency. In under half an hour, he tore down the old wall, and by noon, he had already rebuilt half of it.

She called out, "Master He, when you finish here and have some free time, I’ll come over to discuss how to build that earthen kiln."

"Master" was a respectful title for craftsmen during the Song Dynasty. This Master He was a man of few words, simply nodding before continuing his work. It had been agreed upon earlier that he would not only build the wall and repair the roof for Shen Miao but also help construct two stoves and one earthen kiln.

Shen Miao just wanted to make sure they didn’t forget amidst their busy work. After saying this, she returned to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients.

In the kitchen, she had already managed to prepare half of the ingredients in advance. As she tied up her sleeves, she rotated her wrists and stretched her muscles.

Then, with one hand, she pulled up the knife from the chopping board, and with a flick of her wrist, the blade spun in the air, gleaming brightly.

Today, she had to prepare lunch for over a dozen people. To make it delicious, filling, and affordable, she’d have to really show her skills.