Chapter 124: The Taizhou Rental Granary

Wu Wei listened to the story and fumed with anger, her teeth grinding in frustration. She’d only ever read about such despicable customs in books, yet they’d nearly befallen Embroider Maiden herself!

What on earth had their Wu family taken Embroider Maiden for?

Not only did they covet her otherworldly embroidery skills, but they also wanted to bind her completely—turn her into a lifelong drudge for the Wu household, force her into widowhood, even into raising children as a widowed mother?

What nonsense about “continuing the family line.” Put politely, they were a local businessman from some township; bluntly put, they were nothing more than a dirt-poor rich bully. They truly fancied themselves emperors, demanding a girl from a respectable family enter a ghost marriage with their dead son and live out her days as a grass widow?

Seeing the dark expression on Wu Wei’s face and her fists clenched white-knuckled at her sides, Embroider Maiden hurriedly placed her hands over Wu Wei’s fists and coaxed her softly. “It’s all in the past now. Look at me—I’m perfectly fine. Those are ancient history. Our family’s days are getting better and better. There’s no sense in letting old grievances upset us and harm our health. What we need to focus on right now is finding ways to sell my embroidery samples, fetch good prices for them, earn more silver, and stockpile more grain. If disaster really strikes, we can save one more person that way.”

Wu Wei listened to Embroider Maiden’s words, and the tension in her body gradually eased. She let out a long breath. “Discussing this just among our little family of three behind closed doors won’t get us far. I’ll go find Second Brother-in-law and see what he thinks. The Zhang family are old pillars of the village, with relatives everywhere and wide connections. We need their input on this.”

“Go ahead, then,” Embroider Maiden said. “Tonight, I’ll slice some salted pork and fetch a frozen fish from the ice cave. We’ll make something nice. Mother hasn’t seen Second Sister in days, either. Hitch up the ox cart and head over. The weather’s mild today—not too hot. See if Second Sister can bring Zhuzi along too. It’s been ages since we’ve seen him. I miss the little fellow terribly.”

At the mention of family, the worry faded entirely from Embroider Maiden’s face, replaced by a warm glow. Wu Wei and Old Lady Liu caught her mood, and smiles broke out on their faces as well.

Wu Wei gathered up the notes she’d written on grain prices and bound them into a ledger. She stowed the household accounts in the secret compartment of the cellar, slipped on her shoes, and headed out to hitch up the cart. She drove the flatbed wagon pulled by Big Yellow down the mountain and straight to the Zhang family home.

Neither Old Man Zhang nor his son were at home. With the recent poor weather, even Old Man Zhang—lame as he was—had gone out to the fields.

Old Lady Zhang pulled Wu Wei aside for a long, warm chat. When she heard that Old Lady Liu was missing her daughter and that her niece wanted to see her nephew, Old Lady Zhang agreed with a beaming smile. She had Second Lady Liu pick up the child and go ahead with Wu Wei. A little later, Old Lady Zhang herself would head to the fields to bring lunch for the men and pass the word to Zhang Shuisheng on the way. He’d head straight to Wu Wei’s home after finishing in the fields.

Second Lady Liu climbed onto the ox cart with the baby in her arms. Before they left, Wu Wei asked, “Auntie Zhang, is our surplus grain going to hold out?”

“Don’t you worry, Weiwei,” Old Lady Zhang replied. “Our cellars are stuffed to the brim. Your uncle said…” She trailed off suddenly, stepped close to Wu Wei, and lowered her voice to continue. “Your uncle said that even without your mother-in-law’s warning, this year was bound to be a drought. Luckily, our two men have been working nonstop, irrigating the fields day and night, and they’ve salvaged a decent crop that way. Some of the lazier families have lost whole patches of grain seedlings to the drought; they’re replanting now, but who knows if it’ll be in time. Your uncle says we should take advantage of the low grain prices while we can. We have some savings, so in a few days—once the seedlings are growing strong—he’ll send Shuisheng to the market to buy a few more shi of grain and store it in the wooden barrels in the firewood shed. You all should prepare too. Don’t just stock up on grain—buy plenty of seed while you can. If the drought hits hard this year, seed will be impossible to find anywhere. Sigh.”

Hearing this from Old Lady Zhang eased Wu Wei’s mind considerably. The Zhang family had helped her and Embroider Maiden so much; they were truly good people at heart. She hated to think of them suffering through a natural disaster.

“Auntie Zhang, we’ll be off then. Keep up the moxibustion on Uncle Zhang’s leg. Better yet, call in the old village doctor for some acupuncture. He’ll get better.”

“I know, dear. Off you go.”

Wu Wei drove the ox cart away, and Second Lady Liu chattered nonstop the whole way, filling her in on recent happenings in Zhang Family Village. Half of it was complaints about the scant rainfall this year—grain seedlings dying off left and right, forcing replanting, and no one knew when the busy season would end.

Second Lady Liu said with a worried frown, “This little one still can’t be away from me long, or I’d head to the fields myself. Every bit helps, right? Father-in-law’s leg trouble has dragged on for years. It’s a shame—he’s at that age and still has to toil in the dirt.”

“Second Sister, you’ve got connections all over. When folks come by to chat, urge them to stock up on grain if they have any spare cash. Don’t say too much—just mention the little rain, the poor crop growth, and worry there won’t be enough come harvest in the fall.”

“I get it. I know what to say and what to hold back,” Second Lady Liu said. She bounced the chubby boy in her arms. “When you grow up, you study hard now, or you’ll toil away your whole life, rolling up your pant legs to wrestle mud every day. Got it?”

Zhuzi was too young to grasp such “profound” advice. He just giggled at his mother’s antics, waving his pudgy lotus-root arms gleefully.

Before long, Wu Wei had driven the ox cart back to the little courtyard. Old Lady Liu was out in the yard, kneading dough on the table.

“Mother! Little sister! I’m here!” Second Lady Liu called out the moment she stepped into the yard, her voice full of energy.

Old Lady Liu kept kneading as she said, “Hurry and bring Zhuzi closer. Let me have a good look at him.”

“Mother, you go rest. I’ll handle the dough.”

“Nonsense. A daughter coming back home is an honored guest. You go help Third Girl chop the filling. We’ll have vegetable dumplings tonight. We still have plenty of lard residue from rendering the pork fat the other day, and it’s time to finish off last year’s vegetables from the cellar. The new crop will be ready soon, so I’ll have Third Girl sort through the radishes and cabbage down there—wash them, shred them, blanch them—and we’ll make vegetable dumplings!” Old Lady Liu’s vegetable dumplings were steamed dumplings much like buns, but made with only partially leavened dough, which kept them better.

Second Lady Liu called Embroider Maiden out to the yard to wash the vegetables. She spread a blanket nearby and set Zhuzi down to bask in the sun. Farm children weren’t raised so delicately.

Embroider Maiden, concerned the dogs’ paws might scratch Zhuzi, had already tied up all four dogs well ahead of time. The three women worked together, and the yard rang with laughter and cheerful chatter.

Second Lady Liu marveled at how she could visit her parents’ home so often these days. She’d truly earned her place at her in-laws’. Now, for any major decision, her father-in-law even had her mother-in-law come consult with her first, treating her like half the lady of the house.

Embroider Maiden savored the family reunion too. “Second Sister, I’m planning to get back to needlework soon. I’ll make up some samples first and have Weiwei take them to Clear River County to check prices. Want to come along?”

“Me? Needlework?” Second Lady Liu laughed. “Mother-in-law handles most of ours. With a renowned needle artist like you from our family—famous for miles around—I never bothered much with it myself. No thanks. Oh, right—Weiwei, I heard from your Second Brother-in-law that you froze a whole ice cave full of ice? Has it melted yet?”

Old Lady Liu answered, “Not a bit. It’s nice and cool in there. Any fresh meat or fish we have goes straight into the ice cave.”

Second Lady Liu clucked her tongue in amazement and insisted she had to go see the ice cave sometime.

Wu Wei noticed the firewood pile running low, so she took Big Yellow to the back mountain. She’d felled a few trees there earlier to dry in the shade, and by her calculations, they were about ready now.

…

As the sun dipped toward the horizon, wisps of cooking smoke rose from households across the village below, visible even from Wu Wei’s courtyard. The vegetable dumplings were all wrapped and ready, the vegetables prepped as semi-finished ingredients—just waiting for Zhang Shuisheng to arrive, at which point everything could go into the pot for a quick meal.

Zhang Shuisheng went home first to change into clean clothes before coming over. After days of farm labor, he was noticeably darker and leaner than he’d been the previous winter.

Old Lady Liu felt a pang of heartache for him. She shooed her two daughters into the kitchen to steam the dumplings and stir-fry the vegetables.

Wu Wei sat in the yard, chatting idly with Zhang Shuisheng. The crops in the Zhang fields weren’t doing well either—shorter than at this time last year, despite twice the labor.

Zhang Shuisheng’s face was etched with worry. There was no gainsaying it now. He sighed to Wu Wei, “Looks like your mother-in-law called it right. This winter’s going to be rough. Is your family’s grain holding out? I’m planning to hit the market in a few days and buy some more.”

“That’s exactly what I had in mind too. Rest up first, Second Brother-in-law. We’ll talk it over properly after dinner.”

…

Zhang Shuisheng wolfed down more than twenty vegetable dumplings in one go, a sign of how worn out he truly was. Embroider Maiden had packed some extras for him to take back to his parents. Whether it was the Liu family or Embroider Maiden’s own home, they’d received so much help from the Zhangs over the years. A small gesture of thanks was the least they could do.

The whole family gathered in the east room. Wu Wei brought out her ledger and explained the grain prices she’d tracked for the year. Then she said gravely, “Second Brother-in-law, have you considered what happens if disaster really strikes? How many in our village will starve? And… if the surrounding villages have poor harvests too, can families as small as ours really defend a full granary?” The Zhang household had only five members in all: Old Man Zhang with his bad leg, Zhuzi still in swaddling clothes. In theory, any three able-bodied men could overrun their defenses.

Zhang Shuisheng’s expression shifted. Unlike Embroider Maiden, he didn’t view the world through rose-colored glasses. He understood the brutal realities that would follow in the wake of disaster.

“Little Sister, do you have any ideas?”

“This year’s weather has been unusually hot. In a few days, I plan to head to Hundred Flavors Building and discuss the ice business first—lock that down. Then I’ll go to Returning Spring Hall and buy some ready-made pills: ones for clearing heat and reducing fever, treating diarrhea, and handling external injuries. I’ll stock up on those. I’ll also get some colorful threads. Embroider Maiden wants to pick up her handicrafts again, make some embroidery samples for me to try selling in Clear River County. I can ask Zhang Cheng about it. If it works out, that’ll be a nice chunk of income. The rest… I plan to exchange it all for grain.”

Wu Wei had thought it through carefully. With the pittance of silver in her hands, she didn’t have nearly enough to mass-produce chemical fertilizer. Even if she succeeded in developing it, not everyone would believe in its effectiveness. Far better to convert everything into food.

“All into grain? What about buying a shop? Didn’t you say money makes money?”

“Second Brother-in-law, when disaster strikes, a shop isn’t worth a dime. Survival comes first.”

“But aren’t you worried that so much grain will draw the wrong kind of attention? I say, just buy enough to feed the family. Don’t court disaster!”

“I’ve already considered that. I plan to rent a warehouse in Taizhou Prefecture—one with a solid reputation, ideally a century-old firm. Taizhou Prefecture is guarded by Prince Yi’s mansion troops, so ordinary refugees won’t dare make trouble there. With dedicated guards watching the warehouse besides, I’m confident it’ll be safe.”