Chapter 10

Chapter 10

On market day, the town was bustling with people, shoulder-to-shoulder in a lively and crowded scene.

Whenever two or more people gathered, and one seemed to be selling something, it would attract others to come over.

The love for watching excitement is a habit ingrained in our ancestors' bones.

Some found the twelve-wen handkerchiefs expensive, while others thought they were worth it.

Lu Yuan's first customer bought two handkerchiefs at once.

Another twenty-four wen came in, with an eight-wen share.

Lu Yuan's mood lifted immediately.

If all the embroidered handkerchiefs and pouches were sold, she could earn back the silver she had to share with Old Lady He.

Thinking of this, Lu Yuan worked even harder.

With three people in front of her, she pitched eagerly: "The embroidery patterns on my handkerchiefs are the most popular styles in the city. In the city, they cost dozens of wen apiece, but the journey is too far. With a sick person at home, it’s inconvenient to travel far, so I have to sell them nearby."

"Only these few are left. If you want to buy, hurry up. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until next month when I set up shop again."

An older middle-aged woman picked out a pouch and bargained for a bit. Lu Yuan ended up knocking off one wen.

After getting her first sale and selling two embroidered handkerchiefs and a pouch in a row, Lu Yuan’s confidence grew. While promoting, she also called aloud: "Exquisite embroidered handkerchiefs and pouches, the latest styles from the county town. Come take a look!"

Embarrassment didn't matter now; what mattered was the silver—the kind that could buy food and meat.

A few more people gradually drifted over.

Old Lady He’s embroidery skills were indeed outstanding, with exquisite needlework that people loved.

In no time, only one pouch remained in the basket.

She stopped someone who was about to leave and said, "This is the last pouch, selling cheap. It was originally twenty wen, but now it’s only eighteen. Buy one!"

The girl had already been admiring it for a long time but found it too expensive and hadn't purchased it.

Hearing she could save two wen, she was tempted but tried to haggle for an even lower price: "I’ll take it for seventeen wen."

Lu Yuan: "No, no. Eighteen wen is already very cheap. The shops sell these for twenty-five wen!"

The girl haggled a while longer but, seeing that the price couldn’t be lowered further, finally bought it for eighteen wen.

With all the embroidery sold, she wrapped the copper cash in the cloth that had held the embroidery. Just two hundred coins had a satisfying weight.

Feeling the weight, Lu Yuan was pleased.

She calculated silently: Adding the seventy wen from selling the cloud ears, she had a total of one hundred eighty-six wen.

After deducting Old Lady He’s share, sixty-six wen were hers.

With a smile on her face, Lu Yuan asked a passerby for directions to the clinic and headed off happily for Wu's Clinic.

Passing by a tea stall, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but swallow.

After walking all this way and calling out for so long, her throat was dry. But seeing that a bowl of tea cost one wen, she resisted the urge.

Coming out of the clinic, she saw someone selling soy milk and gave in and spent one wen on a bowl.

Compared to tea, soy milk was at least made from grain. A bowl of soy milk could at least help fill her up.

However, the soy milk in this era had a grainy texture, not ground finely enough, and wasn't very flavorful.

Despite this, people still bought bowls one after another, both to quench their thirst and fill their stomachs.

Watching the people drinking soy milk, Lu Yuan started forming an idea.

Making soy milk wasn’t that hard. She often made it to drink and had mastered a few techniques to make it creamier and more aromatic.

The only difference was no blender; she’d have to use a stone mill.

The liquid food Qi Cheng ate was made from polished rice, which meant there was a stone mill available in the village.

With a plan in mind, she immediately took action, checking with several vendors at the market about the price of soybeans. Some sold for four wen per jin, others for five.

Clearly, the five-wen-per-jin beans were of better quality and fuller. She only picked the good ones, not the cheap ones.

Lu Yuan bought two jin of beans, planning to test it out. If business was good, she would buy more later.

After looking around, she also found someone selling polished rice, one wen cheaper than what the old lady had said. But upon closer inspection, the husks weren't completely removed, so she still had to buy from the shop.

Goods in the town were concentrated in one area, which made shopping quick.

After buying the rice, she went next door to ask about the price of salt and was surprised to learn it cost twenty-four wen per jin—much more expensive than grain.

No wonder Old Lady He was reluctant to use salt and only gave her a little after hearing she would buy some.

Lu Yuan didn’t have much money and couldn't afford to buy too much, so she only bought six liang (approximately 300g), spending nine wen.

A bowl of soy milk, two jin of beans, and nine wen worth of salt—twenty wen were gone in an instant.

Lu Yuan sighed again at how fast money went.

Next, Lu Yuan came to a meat stall.

Meat was expensive: pork fat cost twenty wen per jin, fatty meat fifteen wen, and lean meat twelve wen.

The marrow bones and blade bones on the cutting board were cleaned thoroughly. Marrow bones with marrow cost two wen each, and blade bones one wen.

Spine bones were hard to pick clean and cost four wen per jin. One jin of spine bones could yield about two more liang (100g) of meat.

Lu Yuan bought one marrow bone.

Putting the marrow bone in her basket, she turned and saw large intestines thrown in a wooden tub, emitting a sour, foul smell.

Modern pigs are fed feed, but ancient pigs ate all sorts of things, making their intestines extremely pungent.

Moreover, without various seasonings to remove the odor and taste, she couldn’t possibly make good-tasting offal.

Lu Yuan silently crossed out the idea of making money by braising offal.

Old Lady He’s tasks were all completed, and it was about time to head back.

But where was Huang Lan?

She had just wandered around the market but hadn’t seen her.

Lu Yuan took another careful look around, but still couldn't find her. Maybe she already went back?

As noon approached, the sun got hotter.

Lu Yuan searched the market a couple more times but still didn't see Huang Lan, so she gave up looking. Since the roads were still busy, she figured she'd head back first.

When she reached the town entrance, she saw Huang Lan waiting in the distance.

Huang Lan was looking down, holding some grass, weaving something.

Lu Yuan hurried over and said, "I looked everywhere for you at the market just now. I thought maybe you'd already headed back."

Huang Lan replied, "I was worried I'd spend money if I stayed at the market, so I didn't stick around. After leaving town, I remembered I had to wait for you, so I came back here to wait. I also took the opportunity to weave a couple of grass hats."

As she spoke, she handed one to Lu Yuan. "The sun is strong, so I grabbed some reeds by the river and whipped up two simple hats. This way, we won't get baked like charcoal in a stove on our way back."

Lu Yuan had just been worrying about the intense sun, and here someone was offering a pillow just as she was dozing off.

Huang Lan was pretty handy. Though the hats were a little loose, it was impressive that she made two so quickly.

Although Huang Lan's downside was that she gossiped a bit, she was a really good person.

The afternoon sun was blazing, so the two walked slowly, occasionally stopping to rest in the shade under trees.

It was almost Shenshi (3–5 p.m.) when they finally saw Weishan Village.

Lu Yuan was breathing hard from being tired, while Huang Lan shook her head beside her and said, "That’s odd. You walked so much during the famine, yet such a short distance now shouldn’t tire you out like this."

Lu Yuan also didn’t understand why, even though it was the same body, the difference was so great just because a different person was inside now.

As they neared home, Lu Yuan started fishing for information, asking Huang Lan, "Sis, has Second Brother Chen ever mentioned anything about Qi Cheng to you?"

Huang Lan had just wiped off her sweat when she heard this question. She froze, her first thought being that Su Shi had found out she’d been gossiping about Qi Cheng’s... functionality and size.

No, she would never admit to spreading that!

Huang Lan turned her head, put on a smile, and said, "No, he never mentioned anything about Qi Cheng to me. Not a thing!"

Lu Yuan didn’t want to point out how awkward Huang Lan looked.

Playing dumb, she said, "Then, when Second Brother Chen returns, could you ask him for me? When he was taking care of Qi Cheng before, did Qi Cheng ever blush or show any other reactions?"

Huang Lan, who spoke before she thought, immediately blurted out, "Didn’t he already have a reaction?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized what she’d said and covered her mouth.

Lu Yuan was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up.

Yes, someone who was completely brain dead wouldn’t be able to have an erection.

Only if the brain retained some consciousness and the body was stimulated would there be a physiological reaction.

She couldn't believe she'd missed that.

Lu Yuan suddenly started smiling, leaving Huang Lan bewildered. "Sister, what’s wrong? Why are you suddenly smiling?"

Lu Yuan shook her head. "Nothing."

Huang Lan was sure something was up.

It seemed like Su Shi had started smiling right after she mentioned Qi Cheng’s... reaction. Could it be...?

Huang Lan immediately stopped her improper and vulgar train of thought.

Lu Yuan didn’t notice Huang Lan’s complicated expression, her mind fully occupied with the realization that Qi Cheng was conscious.

Since he was conscious, how could she stimulate him to awaken his nerves and possibly bring him back to consciousness?

When they returned to the village and reached the fork in the road, Lu Yuan and Huang Lan split up.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, both children ran over to her. Qiu Hua stumbled and fell but got up without crying and still rushed to her mother’s side.

Lu Yuan was exhausted and terribly thirsty. After brushing the dirt off Qiu Hua, she went to the kitchen and chugged a full bowl of water before finally feeling better.

When she came out of the kitchen, she didn’t see Old Lady He, so she asked Chun Hua, "Where’s Grandma He?"

Chun Hua replied, "I don’t know. She just went out."

Seeing that Old Lady He wasn’t around, Lu Yuan thought of going into Qi Cheng’s room.

Leaving Chun Hua and Qiu Hua outside, she quietly slipped into Qi Cheng’s room.

Closing the door behind her, she walked to the bedside and carefully examined Qi Cheng, who showed no change. She then crouched by the bed, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Qi Cheng, can you hear me?"

"If you can hear me, listen carefully. If you’re conscious, as long as you want to live and believe you can wake up, there’s a chance you will. But if even you have no will to survive, no one else can help you."

Lu Yuan watched him for a while longer, but not even his eyelashes moved. She had no way of knowing if he’d heard her.

She sighed and stood up.

There was no telling when Qi Cheng was in a deep coma or when he was conscious. All she could do was repeat these words to him from time to time over the next few days.

Having said what she needed to, Lu Yuan turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

The sounds from outside seemed unable to penetrate the room, and silence settled once again.

The person on the bed remained as still as if unaware of the outside world, sleeping deeply and peacefully.

But no one knew that beneath that calm, his mind was active.

Qi Cheng had heard the widow’s words, and his heart was stirred for a long time.

Did he still have a chance to wake up?

But how would a widow who had fled famine with two children know such things?