Pushing the wheelbarrow, Chen Jie quickly returned to the village.
The county where Chen Jie lived was called Mianshui County, adjacent to a tributary of the Yangtze River. It governed eight large towns, each consisting of three to five villages.
For example, Chen Jie was from Mianshui County, Xiantao Town, Xiantao Village, and under Xiantao Town, there were also the villages of Upper Peach, Zhongtao, and Lower Peach.
Chen Jie soon returned to his own village.
When Chen Jie returned with the wheelbarrow from outside, all the villagers stared at him in shock because he bought so many things this time, an entire wheelbarrow full.
And the cart was loaded with good stuff, bags of grain, huge chunks of pork fat laced together with twine, and various cooking oils, salt, sauces, and vinegar. This whole collection probably cost two or three taels of silver.
This Chen Jiusi was getting prosperous!
Chen Jie passed through the village under the envious gazes of the villagers.
"Uncle Erba,"
Chen Jie saw Chen Erba on the road and called out. Chen Erba immediately exclaimed, "Jiu Si, what's the deal?"
Chen Jie replied, "Oh, we ran out of food at home, so I bought some."
With that, he continued on his way home. Meanwhile, not far away under the base of a big tree, another uncle of Chen Jie, Chen Sanliu, was complaining about how Chen Jiusi squandered his uncle's legacy, claiming regret that the legacy wasn't left to him instead. *If it had been mine, I certainly wouldn't let it go to waste.*
A few people listened to Chen Sanliu's complaints, smiling outwardly but inwardly filled with disdain, *Why would it belong to you?* *Mr. Chen had his daughter to think of. Plus, with your cold-hearted nature, if the legacy fell into your hands, it would be like throwing a meat bun to a dog, never to return. You couldn't care less about Chen Jiusi's life.*
Even though they knew, they maintained a facade of harmony as neighboring villagers, laughing it off.
Just then, Chen Jie passed by with the wheelbarrow, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"Hey, look, it's Chen Jiusi."
"Hey, it really is Jiu Si. He, he's gotten rich, hasn't he! Look at all these things he's bought, bags and bags of grain, how much does this all cost?"
"Yes, and just look at the pork. Chen Jiusi has really struck it rich!"
"This load must be worth two or three taels. When did Chen Jiusi become so wealthy?"
"What's so strange about it? A skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. With how deep Mr. Chen's roots run, even if he loses it all, isn't it normal to have a few taels left? Who knows where he might have found something valuable?"
"That's true!"
As they talked, Chen Sanliu's eyes bulged.
How did his family still have money?
How could Chen Jiusi squander so much and yet still not go broke? How much money did his uncle leave him?
*If only that money were mine.*
Jealousy turned Chen Sanliu's eyes green. Listening to the words around him, he snorted, "Hmph, such a squanderer! Even if he has money, he shouldn't spend it like that! How can you eat meat like that in a farming family? He just doesn't know how to live."
The people relaxing together heard the jealousy from a distance.
They exchanged glances silently.
Chen Jie didn't care what others said, pushing the cart straight to his own door. As soon as he reached the gate, he saw Ruirui sitting on a small stool, fixated on something on the ground.
After a while, she seemed to notice something, and picked up a bit with her fingers, putting it in her mouth and savoring it, muttering, "Little ants, don't get lost, or you'll be eaten!"
"Ruirui, I'm back,"
Chen Jie called out. Ruirui looked up at the doorstep, noticed Chen Jie immediately, and then her eyes were drawn to the things on the small pushcart.
"Meat!"
Ruirui stood up immediately, ran over quickly, and started shouting about the meat, but once she got to him, she quickly changed to, "Brother-in-law~"
Anyone who didn't know might think she loved her brother-in-law a lot.
The courtyard gate opened, and Chen Jie maneuvered the cart in. Ruirui, fixated on the cart's contents, yelled, "Sister, brother-in-law is back!"
"Brother-in-law bought so many things back!"
Hearing this, Su Yunjin came out of the house just in time to see Chen Jie and the things on his cart, her face full of shock.
"What?!!"
She knew that there wasn't a cent at home, so where did Chen Jiusi get the money?
She couldn't believe it.
Chen Jie said nothing else, directly handing the condiments to Daisy, saying, "Help carry these inside."
"Okay!"
Daisy was ecstatic, grabbing the condiments and helping Chen Jie carry things in.
Chen Jie hoisted a bag of rice, then grabbed a hefty piece of pork, and headed inside, saying to Su Yunjin, "Don't just stand there, help move these!"
Su Yunjin hesitated for a moment, then quickly said, "Okay~"
And joined in to help. Soon everything was inside, and Su Yunjin finally asked, "Where did this come from?"
Chen Jie chuckled, "Haha, I got lucky today. Found a ginseng plant on the mountain, sold it in town for some money, and bought this rice and flour."
After speaking, Chen Jie pulled out a handful of broken silver from his pocket, about eight cents' worth, and said, "This is the remainder, you keep it!"
"Me!?"
Su Yunjin was stunned, and Chen Jie smiled, "Yes, you're my wife, what's mine is yours!"
With that, Chen Jie went back out to move more things. Su Yunjin looked at the silver in her hands and was dumbfounded, with the phrase echoing in her mind: *You're my wife, what's mine is yours.*
*Wife?*
She looked back at Chen Jie, who was still moving things, and at Su Yunrui, who was as happy as a little butterfly, and tears fell again.
*It's not that she liked crying; she had simply endured darkness for so long that this small ray of light moved her to tears.*
*It wasn't about the money; it was the fact that Chen Jie thought of her. More moving was the fact that he spent the money on much-needed food for the family rather than gambling.* *He really had turned over a new leaf.*
"Sister, brother-in-law bought so much meat, why are you still crying?"
Daisy saw her sister secretly wiping tears and asked in confusion. She usually cried when hungry, but with food here, she didn't understand.
Chen Jie finally brought everything into the house, where there was a cellar once used to store cabbages. As he put things in, he looked at the pork and said to Su Yunjin, "Cut a bit for salted meat, and render the rest for lard."
Su Yunjin nodded. Chen Jie found a knife and began cutting up the fat. First, he cut a substantial slab of pork belly, about five pounds, for salted meat.
Then he cut two pounds of belly to give to Uncle Erba.
He then started cutting the pork fat into large pieces, cleaning and rendering them for lard residue.
Daisy practically watched the whole process from beside the stove, asking every few seconds, "Brother-in-law, is it ready?"
Chen Jie couldn't help but laugh at Daisy's eager expression, while Su Yunjin said, "It's not that quick."
Daisy pouted, saying, "Why isn't it ready yet?"
Chen Jie said nothing, watching as the fat slowly rendered into lard, turning a crisp golden brown, and knew it was done.
He used a slotted spoon to scoop out three pieces, blew on them, and gave one to Daisy.
Daisy couldn't wait to stuff it into her mouth, oil dribbling down her chin. Chen Jie ate a piece himself, savoring its deliciousness.
With the last piece of pork crackling left, Chen Jie picked it up and offered it to Su Yunjin.
"Try this."
Su Yunjin hesitated for a moment but didn't refuse, biting into the pork crackling that Chen Jie offered. She accidentally touched his finger in the process.
Suddenly, her face turned red...