The Family Had Split, Why Should I Care if They Go Broke? - Chapter 13

Xu Zhichun said to the two of them, “There’s a saying, ‘husband and wife are one.’ Strictly speaking, we shouldn’t hide a money-making method from our own husbands. But think about it—if he knows, and then his parents, brothers, and relatives ask him, should he say it or not? If he says it, then everyone will know, and our business will be hard to run. If he doesn’t say it, people will blame him. So, why not just start by not telling them at all? If anyone asks, we’ll just say that the three of us women are making a little pocket money for ourselves, just small-scale work. That way, no one will have the nerve to covet it, right?”

“Besides,” she continued, “this is also our chance to stand tall. If we can earn our own money, will the men at home still dare to look down on us? If we hold a money-making skill in our hands, that’s our confidence—wherever we go, we won’t have to be afraid. If we want to buy something, we just buy it. As long as we like it, that’s enough. No need to deliberate over and over and then ask a man for permission. Isn’t that better than anything else?”

Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu’er suddenly understood.

“Sister-in-law Zhichun is right. Earning our own money gives us confidence. This is something others shouldn’t meddle in.”

Aunt Zhu’er nodded in agreement. “That’s exactly it. Once Zhichun explained it, I understood. Xiaoyan might not realize it, but for me—it’s not like my man treats me badly. Still, when I want to make a new dress or buy a pretty pair of shoes, I have to think it over and over before telling him, afraid he’ll say no. If I could make my own money, why would I need to ask? I’d just buy it myself!”

Zeng Xiaoyan laughed. “Actually, I’m the same. My man doesn’t have much money, but when I was still at my parents’ house, if I wanted to buy something, I had to first go out of my way to please my father. Only after he was in a good mood would I dare bring it up. And even then, I couldn’t buy anything too nice—if I did, my stepmother would be displeased, and in the end, the thing wouldn’t even end up with me. But if I could make my own money—”

Her eyes lit up, and she straightened her back, raising her voice by three degrees. “Why should I care what they think!”

Finding comfort in each other’s hardships, the three women sighed together, encouraged one another, and their bond grew stronger.

Xu Zhichun finally relaxed. Now that they had settled the profit-sharing method and the confidentiality rule, everything else was a minor issue. After some discussion, everything was decided.

Xu Zhichun smiled. “When my little prodigy comes back, I’ll have him write a contract and put all our agreed terms in writing. The three of us will press our fingerprints as seals. From then on, we’ll follow the contract. If anyone breaks the rules, she’ll have to compensate the other two and withdraw from the partnership. As the saying goes, ‘Without rules, nothing can be done properly; even real brothers settle accounts clearly.’ We’re not doing this for anything else—just to show that we’re all open and honest. That way, we can all feel at ease in our hearts. That’s the way to make this last.”

Zeng Xiaoyan readily agreed. “You’re right. I’ve seen it many times in my family—relatives and friends turning against each other over money. Often it’s because accounts aren’t clear, and over time, small quarrels grow into big problems. Sooner or later, it blows up. If we keep things clear and follow the rules, isn’t that better?”

Aunt Zhu’er, good-natured as ever, chuckled. “I don’t understand much about this stuff, but if you both say it’s good, then it must be good.”

Xu Zhichun clapped her hands and laughed. “Then it’s settled. Once the contract is ready, we’ll ask the chief to check it for us in private. If he says it’s fine, we’ll put our seals on it, and ask him to help keep it a secret.”

And so, they decided to act immediately. That afternoon, the three of them began making konjac tofu.

Xu Zhichun suggested making some square wooden molds to help shape the tofu nicely—appearance matters when selling something.

Aunt Zhu’er promptly took her home to choose wooden boards and strips from the side room. Her husband was a carpenter, so they had plenty of such materials.

Xu Zhichun was delighted. She selected enough to piece together three sets of molds, nailed together with bamboo nails—perfectly usable.

They had about thirty-one or thirty-two jin of konjac. The process—peeling, dicing, grinding into slurry, mixing with alkaline water, shaping, boiling, and rinsing—could be done alone in the evening by Xu Zhichun.

Fortunately, there were three of them. In just over an hour, they had finished. If she had done it alone, who knows when she would’ve been done.

Besides, as a young widow not even twenty, going into town alone to sell goods could easily attract trouble—trouble she couldn’t afford to risk.

While cutting the konjac, Xu Zhichun deliberately set aside five or six jin of the snow-white konjac core and ground it separately. She boiled a pot of water, then used an awl to pierce many tiny holes in the bottom of a water ladle. Scooping up the snowy-white konjac slurry, she let it stream like rain into the boiling water through the holes. Aunt Zhu’er, following instructions, stirred slowly with chopsticks. Snow-white konjac threads, as fine and round as rice noodles, danced in the boiling water.

Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu’er gasped in amazement.

“Wow! What’s this? It’s so white and beautiful!”

“This looks delicious! Amazing! Sister-in-law Zhichun, people from your hometown really have clever hands.”

Xu Zhichun smiled. “This is called konjac noodles. You can stew them in soup or serve them cold—they have a different taste, crisp and refreshing. We’ll sell these too.”

Konjac noodles—perfect for oden or spicy hot pot.

They could also be turned into spicy snack bites.

Even in modern times, they were hugely popular, so there was no way they wouldn’t sell in ancient times.

After scooping them out, they cooled the konjac noodles in water, drained them, and then tied them into knots—because knotted konjac noodles have more character.

The three of them worked together, and soon it was done.

For the best taste, konjac noodles should be spicy. If they’d had soy sauce, they could have chopped fresh red chilies, fried them in oil, and made a simple chili sauce to dip the noodles in. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any.

So instead, they heated some chicken broth and cooked a few konjac noodles to try them that way.

Sure enough—they were crisp, refreshing, and addictive.

Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu’er both praised them endlessly.

“Oh no, I need to get back!” Zeng Xiaoyan suddenly slapped her forehead.

She had planned to send half a bowl of chicken and broth to her family after lunch, but now it was almost dinnertime.

Aunt Zhu’er also laughed hurriedly. “I should go too. The chickens and pigs at home need feeding, dinner needs cooking, and I still have to water the vegetable garden!”

The three of them made plans for tomorrow’s outing, then cheerfully went their separate ways.

Once they were gone, Xu Zhichun quickly gave her chickens and two pigs a big meal.

Seeing that the pigs were clearly fatter, their coats shinier and smoother compared to the rough bristles they had before, she felt deeply satisfied.

After that, she took out half of a young, wild rooster from her warehouse, cut it into pieces, washed them, and put them into a clay pot with water to stew—it would be dinner for her and her little brother tonight.

Zeng Xiaoyan carried home a basket with a bowl of chicken soup and a bowl of konjac tofu. Even though half a chicken wasn’t much meat, it was still enough for the whole family to have a taste.

But as soon as she mentioned it, her second sister-in-law, Lady Zhao, exploded.