The Farm Girl and the Executioner (Rebirth) 26p2

Chapter 26: Making a Good Plan p2

Hu Guiying later ate half a flatbread and a bowl of porridge by herself before she stopped, rubbing her stomach. She said she was so full she couldn’t eat dinner.

Lin Shuang quietly asked her in the kitchen, “Are you here to tell Huaizhen to go for an execution tomorrow?”

Hu Guiying was astonished. “How did you know?”

“Huaizhen only does one thing at the yamen. If it’s not for an execution, what else could it be?” Lin Shuang said. “Normally, the cases that require beheading are all carried out in the autumn. Weren’t they all arranged a few days ago? Why is there a new one?”

“Sigh,” Hu Guiying sighed. “Ordinary cases have to wait until autumn, but there are some special cases that can be executed immediately.”

“What kind of case is it?”

“It’s a servant from a large household who killed his master. It caused a public outrage. He was arrested yesterday morning, reported to the prefecture at night, and just now, the prefecture gave the approval to execute him directly. The higher-ups said that the time for today has passed, so they want him dealt with at noon tomorrow.”

A subordinate attacking a superior, a lowly person attacking a noble. Once the evidence was conclusive, they would be beheaded immediately.

“Why would the servant kill his master for no reason?”

“I heard privately that he was abused to the point of being covered in wounds and couldn’t take it anymore, so he attacked his master and strangled him to death.”

Hearing this, Lin Shuang’s heart also sank.

For lowly servants, even if their masters wanted to beat or kill them, they could only obey. Once they resisted, they would be dealt with directly, without any questions asked.

This servant was in such a situation.

And in her past life, at the Qin residence, wasn’t it the same for her? She had married into the Qin family as a concubine for a chongxi marriage, and her deed of sale was held tightly by Old Madam Qin. After Qin Chong’s death, she could only be a servant, enduring beatings and scoldings, and they could even poison her, break her legs, and put her in a coffin, and she could not resist or seek justice.

If Jiang Huaizhen knew she was going to behead such a person, who knows what she would think.

Lin Shuang was a little worried, but she was powerless.

Jiang Huaizhen returned at the third quarter of the Hour of the Wei. Her basket only had a few sparse herbs, and her clothes were torn in several places.

As soon as she entered, she was pulled aside by Hu Guiying, who whispered the matter to her.

After listening, her face showed no expression. She just lowered her eyes and hummed in agreement, indicating that she understood.

Only then did Hu Guiying say, “Sister Shuang made flatbreads just now, and I ate a whole one. I was so rude. I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”

Hearing that Lin Shuang had made flatbreads, Jiang Huaizhen’s throat clearly moved. She had left without eating anything in the morning, and now it was past noon. She was starving.

Seeing that the message had been delivered, Hu Guiying smiled, bid her farewell, and left on her horse.

Jiang Huaizhen changed her clothes and went into the kitchen. Lin Shuang had already set the porridge, side dishes, and sauce flatbreads on the table. After she sat down, she went straight for the sauce flatbreads.

Before she had even swallowed the first bite, she stuffed in the second, one after another, clearly very fond of the taste.

Lin Shuang sat beside her and watched her eat. Thinking of the few herbs in her basket, she was afraid of making her uncomfortable, so she didn’t discuss her morning trip up the mountain. She just thought that after a few days of peace, she would have to go for an execution again tomorrow. She didn’t know if her state of mind would be affected.

But she had no solution for these things for the time being. All she could do was to make sure she ate and drank well.

So that night, another large gray rabbit was on the dinner table.

They had just eaten one last night. Old Madam Jiang couldn’t sit still and nagged, “You’ve earned a few coins, and you’re already eating like this, with fish and meat every day. Don’t you know how to save?”

Just as Lin Shuang was about to speak, Jiang Huaizhen looked at the old woman and said, “Grandma, I’m craving meat.”

Hearing this, Old Madam Jiang’s open mouth immediately closed, and she fell silent.

Her granddaughter wanted to eat meat. As her grandmother, it was bad enough that she couldn’t afford to buy her meat. The rabbits from the mountain didn’t cost any money. How could she stop her?

This child had been busy for the past two years for her old bones, and she had eaten very frugally. How could she be so harsh as to not let her eat meat?

Seeing the old woman fall silent, Lin Shuang couldn’t help but smile secretly, lowering her head so she wouldn’t see the corner of her mouth curve up.

It wasn’t until they were about to go to bed that Jiang Huaizhen gave Lin Shuang a string of copper coins, a total of five hundred.

Lin Shuang was astonished. “What is this money for?”

Yesterday at the Everlasting Peace Apothecary, the two of them had had a small tiff over dividing the money. In the end, Lin Shuang hadn’t given her any, and the rest was still with her.

Now there was a new income. Where did it come from?

“I went up the mountain this morning and sold the game I hunted.”

“What did you hunt?”

Jiang Huaizhen hesitated for a moment and didn’t answer.

Lin Shuang remembered the torn spots on her clothes when she returned and her hair stood on end. “Did you go and catch a snake again?”

Jiang Huaizhen said, “I didn’t actively look for it. It came to me. I can’t just let the money go. I just used a forked branch to pin it down. It couldn’t escape, and I caught it—”

Lin Shuang’s natural fear of snakes made her not even dare to imagine the scene, let alone ask what kind of snake she had caught. She quickly interrupted her. “Stop, stop, we’re not discussing this. How much did you sell it for in total?”

“One tael.”

That was a lot of money. Lin Shuang was taken aback. “Then what about the other five hundred copper coins?”

“You were so keen on that large, flat-bottomed pot for making flatbreads. I went to the blacksmith’s shop and ordered it. I paid a deposit of one hundred copper coins, and the remaining four hundred will be paid upon delivery, so I won’t give it to you.”

Hearing that Jiang Huaizhen had ordered the frying pan, Lin Shuang was stunned. For a moment, she didn’t know what to feel.

A pot for five hundred copper coins was a considerable expense for a family like theirs, especially with the old woman still sick.

But she couldn’t blame Jiang Huaizhen, because this was the first time someone had spent money on her.

In her past life, Jiang Huaizhen had also spent money on medicine for her, but that was a necessity of life. This pot now was purely out of her own liking.

How could she not be moved?

“You really are…” Lin Shuang’s nose grew hot. “If Grandma knew you spent this money, she would definitely scold you to death.”

Jiang Huaizhen said, “Don’t let her know.”

“When the pot is delivered, how can you hide it from her?” Lin Shuang said, her tone a mix of reproach and worry.

“She scolds me for many things. One more won’t make a difference.”

Lin Shuang was amused by her attitude and asked, “Then what’s the meaning of these five hundred copper coins? Didn’t we say yesterday that only the money we earn together would be divided into three parts? I didn’t participate in you catching that creature.”

Jiang Huaizhen paused for a moment and said, “You’re good at managing the household. You take it.”

Hearing her say this, Lin Shuang was happy but still said proudly, “So you admit that I’m your family now?”

“Ever since you were registered, I haven’t treated you as an outsider…”

“Then does that mean I can discipline you like a wife, as it’s written on the household register, and manage the family’s money?” Lin Shuang teased her.

Jiang Huaizhen had come to the valley at the age of three and had spent most of her time with her grandmother. She had a cold personality and was a blank slate when it came to love.

Perhaps it was because she was getting older that she was beginning to be aware of some vague things. She knew about human relationships and had heard of the saying that men and women should get married when they are of age, but when it came to marriage and love, she only knew the surface and not the inside.

Now, hearing Lin Shuang say this, her face flushed slightly. “We are both women. How can we be husband and wife? But if the relationship between a husband and wife is about managing money… you can do as you please. I have no objection…”

Lin Shuang chuckled. “The relationship between a husband and wife is not just about managing money.”

Jiang Huaizhen sat on the edge of the bed, her face red, not knowing what to say.

Lin Shuang unceremoniously took the five hundred copper coins and looked at the wooden figure still standing there. “I’m not teasing you anymore. You’ve been tired all day. Aren’t you going to bed? You have a task tomorrow.”

Jiang Huaizhen said “oh,” took off her shoes, and got into bed.

But just as she lay down, Lin Shuang turned on her side and said, “Since you’ve let me manage the money, let’s make a new plan.”

“What kind of plan?” Jiang Huaizhen asked.

“This money still has to be divided into three parts.”

Hearing her go back to the three parts from yesterday, Jiang Huaizhen fell silent again. Lin Shuang reached out from under the quilt and pulled her sleeve. “Not the three parts from yesterday. The three parts I’m talking about are for three different uses. One part is for medical expenses, not just for Great-grandmother, but also to set aside some in case we get sick or injured.”

Hearing this, Jiang Huaizhen’s originally tense lips relaxed, and she continued to listen to her explain. “The second part is for living expenses, mainly for food, clothing, and shelter. If we save more in this part, we can spend more. If we save less, we’ll live more frugally.”

“And the third part?” Jiang Huaizhen was clearly very interested in her idea and turned her head slightly, looking at her through the dark night.

“The third part is for making money with money.”

Seeing Jiang Huaizhen’s confusion, Lin Shuang smiled. “It’s for business. If we process medicinal herbs to sell, we’ll need to invest in some tools, or we might need to buy other herbs. These expenses will come from the third part.”

“Or, for the flatbread pot you ordered for me, if we go into business, we’ll need to invest in white flour, spices, charcoal, and so on. These expenses will also come from this part.”

Jiang Huaizhen nodded. “I understand. If the third part has one tael of silver, then our business costs also have to be kept within one tael, right?”

“Yes. Even if it exceeds, we can’t rob Peter to pay Paul. That way, even if the business fails, it won’t affect our medical expenses or our daily lives.”

Jiang Huaizhen thought for a moment and said, “This is a good method. Then how should we allocate the three parts of the money?”

“The allocation of these three parts is not set in stone. Right now, Grandma is not well and is still taking medicine, so this part will definitely have to be allocated more,” Lin Shuang said. “My initial allocation is fifty percent for medical treatment, twenty percent for living expenses, and thirty percent for business. What do you think?”

Jiang Huaizhen found Lin Shuang’s idea very novel and was clearly a little excited. She said, “Alright.”

With that, she lifted the quilt and got up.

Lin Shuang asked, “You just lay down. Why are you getting up again?”

“I’ll get the money I have left and give it to you to allocate together.”

“What’s the point of getting money in the middle of the night? Just do the math in your head. As long as it’s right, it’s fine.”

Jiang Huaizhen said “oh.” “I still have one tael and four hundred copper coins.”

Lin Shuang calculated, “The herbs we sold yesterday brought in one tael and over three hundred copper coins. We spent one hundred and fifty, and with what was left over and what you just gave me, that’s one tael and seven hundred and eighty copper coins.”

“So together, we have three taels and one hundred and eighty copper coins. According to what we just said, half of it will be for medical expenses, which is one tael and five hundred and ninety copper coins. I’ll make up the difference for you later. You’ll be in charge of this money, and it can only be spent on medical expenses. If you have any other expenses, you can come and get it from me.”

Jiang Huaizhen didn’t refuse this time and said “alright.”

She was a little excited. Because of Lin Shuang, she knew for the first time how to plan her life, and she wasn’t flustered at all.