Chapter 13: Cousin Qin An

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Qin Laotou’s younger brother was named Qin Xiaocun, and together with Zhu Erhong, they had three children.

The eldest was Qin Shuli, who now worked as an accountant in the county town.

The second was Qin Shuda, who farmed in the village.

The youngest was Qin An.

The reason the two brothers, Qin Laotou and Qin Xiaocun, grew apart was money.

A few years back, Qin Xiaocun and Zhu Erhong had sacrificed to send Qin Shuli to school, and the whole family lived hand to mouth. When Qin Bing got married, Qin Xiaocun and Zhu Erhong only gave five wen as a wedding gift. Qin Laotou and Wang Xiuqin didn’t say anything, thinking they had it hard.

Later, when Qin Shuda married, Qin Laotou and Wang Xiuqin gave two hundred wen, intending to help out their younger brother a bit.

After that, when Qin Shuli saw no hope in the imperial exams and, on the recommendation of his private tutor, took a job as an accountant at a brick kiln in the county town—and married the daughter of an old scholar from the countryside, whose family was fairly well-off—Qin Laotou and Wang Xiuqin gave fifty wen at the wedding.

By then, Qin Shuli was already earning wages, so they gave more than usual out of family sentiment.

One year after Qin Shuli’s wedding, Qin Wen married, and Zhu Erhong still gave only five wen as a gift. Wang Xiuqin was displeased.

Even the most ordinary friends and relatives would give at least ten wen; who was the five wen supposed to shame?

Moreover, Qin Shuli earned over two taels of silver a month, and Qin Shuda worked in the fields during busy season and did odd jobs in town during the off-season. That couple couldn’t possibly be so broke as not to give at least ten wen.

From then on, the relationship between the two families cooled.

A couple of years later, Wang Xiuqin had a fall. To pay for her medical treatment, the family finances were drained. At that time, money was tight, so Qin Laotou went to borrow from Qin Xiaocun.

But Qin Xiaocun and Zhu Erhong broke down in tears, complaining that they had emptied their savings to send Qin Shuli to school. Now that the eldest brother had asked to borrow, they couldn’t refuse, but they had no more to give. In the end, Zhu Erhong only handed over five wen, infuriating Qin Laotou, who turned and walked away.

From then on, the two families barely interacted.

When Qin Jin got married, Qin Shuli and Qin Shuda had already separated their households. The day before the wedding, Qin Shuda came over to help with chores and gave a twenty-wen gift on the wedding day.

Qin Xiaocun and Zhu Erhong, as usual, gave five wen, then brought Qin Shuli’s wife and children to the wedding feast.

Wang Xiuqin was annoyed but couldn’t drive them away, so she simply ignored them.

The past grievances weren’t Qin An’s fault, but now, seeing Qin An sweating heavily, his face flushed yet lips pale, Qin Jin couldn’t stand by and watch—he had to lend a hand.

Qin An stopped, fanned himself, then shook his head and whispered, “Thanks, Jin-ge. But no need, I can grind the flour myself.”

“Go stand under the tree and talk with Miao-ge,” Qin Jin said, still holding the millstone handle.

At that moment, Ye Miao came forward, took Qin An’s arm, and smiled, “An-ge, let’s wait over there.”

Qin An saw that Qin Jin was sincere in helping. He breathed a sigh of relief, thanked him, and followed Ye Miao to stand not far away under the willow tree.

He truly was struggling.

His eldest brother Qin Shuli worked at the brick kiln in the northern part of the county town. Because of the long commute and the need to watch over the kiln, Qin Shuli stayed in town most of the time.

That day, Zhu Erhong had gone to deliver a change of clothes to Qin Shuli. Usually, on such days, she would be in a good mood. But today, when Qin An returned from the fields, he found her face darkened.

Not understanding why Zhu Erhong was upset again, he quietly kept to himself and prepared the meal as usual.

After finishing, he placed the food on the table. As he reached for a corn cake, Zhu Erhong suddenly slammed down her chopsticks and started accusing him, saying how Qin Jin, a lazy good-for-nothing, could make money, but he couldn’t even get married—how could he have the face to eat?

She berated him fiercely, snatched his chopsticks, and pushed him to grind the flour.

He only ate a palm-sized corn cake at lunch and was starving.

He turned to Ye Miao, who was holding his arm. He opened his mouth hesitantly: “Miao-ge…”

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“Call me Miao-ge. I’m actually a year younger than you. It feels awkward if you call me brother,” Ye Miao said with a smile.

Hearing this, Qin An laughed too. “Miao-ge.”

Ye Miao nodded. He had seen Qin An twice before while washing clothes by the river and knew his situation. Seeing Qin An so exhausted in the midday heat, he understood Zhu Erhong must have been giving him a hard time again.

As fellow young men, Ye Miao sympathized with Qin An, but with Zhu Erhong, a woman who only sought to climb socially, there was nothing anyone could do.

“Miao-ge, your family business must be thriving, right?” Qin An asked suddenly.

Ye Miao nodded. “It’s alright.”

“I wish your business prosperity and your earnings to grow,” Qin An said, pointing to the millstone. “I’ll sweep the flour—I don’t want Jin-ge running around.”

The millstone’s grinding surface was large; one person had to sweep the flour as it was ground. Qin Jin’s help pushing the mill was already much appreciated; he couldn’t ask him to both push and sweep.

Ye Miao was a bit puzzled but followed along. Qin An wouldn’t say more and instead changed the subject: “I heard you’re good at sewing. If I have time, could I ask you to teach me?”

“Of course,” Ye Miao immediately agreed.

Qin An smiled gratefully.

Ye Miao waved it off; it was nothing. He had no peers to play with in the village, so he’d be happy to teach An-ge sewing.

Qin An quickly finished grinding two sacks of flour, thanked them again, and pushed his cart away.

Qin Jin and Ye Miao then started grinding their own flour.

It was scorching hot, and the millstone was under the blazing sun. By the time the flour was finished, Qin Jin’s clothes were soaked through.

When they returned home, Qin Jin drew water to wash up, changed into dry clothes, and felt much refreshed.

He squatted by the courtyard gate, drawing on the ground with a stick.

Ye Miao, curious, bent down to look and asked, “Jin-ge, what are you drawing?”

“A small cart,” Qin Jin explained.

The daily demand for tofu pudding was increasing, as were the pea cakes and dried tofu sheets. Carrying everything by hand was exhausting, so he wanted to make a small cart.

With little money on hand, he couldn’t afford the common snack carts from his previous life—and didn’t need one either.

He planned a simpler cart.

Its shape resembled a courier’s cart but with only two wheels, front and back, and instead of a flat platform over the wheels, there were two round barrel racks.

This vegetable-harvesting cart was designed for orchards and vegetable fields—compact but capable of carrying much. Buckets placed on the racks stayed steady and wouldn’t slip, perfect for his current needs.

To show Ye Miao, he even made a crude model on the spot with small sticks and hemp rope.

Ye Miao was amazed, examining it carefully several times before looking at him with admiration. “Jin-ge, you’re truly clever. If our parents had sent you to school, you’d probably be a scholar by now.”

Definitely better than Qin Shuli.

Qin Jin chuckled. “I’ve been thinking about it for days. Besides, it’s uncertain if I can even build the real thing.”

“Let’s find a carpenter in town. City carpenters have good skills; they can surely make it.”

If the carpenter couldn’t, they’d find a blacksmith. Such a useful cart must be made—it would save Jin-ge a lot of effort.

“Need to save up some money first. We don’t have enough silver now,” Qin Jin decided.

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But if the frame was made of iron, the price would be much higher.

In the end, earning more money was the priority.

Soon it was early morning again. He and Zhao Feng went to Zhang Qi’s house to pick up tofu pudding.

Two hundred fifty wen could buy two hundred seventy-five jin of tofu pudding. He and Zhao Feng each carried two buckets, but four buckets couldn’t hold all the pudding, so Zhang Qi and his wife helped bring the rest.

Yesterday, they delivered tofu pudding to the Old Courtyard. Today it was Qin Wen’s and Qin Li’s families’ turn—both good older brothers, so everyone was treated equally.

They made a total of fifty-five jin of dried tofu sheets.

They kept six jin at home and took the rest to sell at the city gate.

Today he carried two woven baskets because one basket couldn’t hold so many pea cakes and dried tofu sheets.

He had changed his advertising line: dried tofu sheets could be eaten cold, stir-fried, stewed, or used as filling—whether for dumplings or buns, the taste was nearly as good as meat.

His loud advertisement and free samples attracted waves of customers.

Zhu Erhong stood at a distance, staring at the tiny but constantly busy stall, grinding her teeth in frustration.

She had thought Qin Jin’s small business was just a minor venture, only earning a few copper coins, so she hadn’t cared much.

But when she had delivered clothes to Qin Shuli yesterday, she caught sight of Qin Jin’s stall by chance—and that glance made her eyes burn with jealousy.

Thinking yesterday was just a coincidence, she came to observe again today.

Now her eyes truly felt as if they would bleed!

Wasn’t this effortlessly surpassing her family?

Her face stretched long with resentment. After watching a while, she turned and went home.

Meanwhile, Gu Nan had arrived early at Wuligou.

Hearing from Ye Miao that dried tofu sheets could be used as dumpling filling, he had originally planned to buy three jin but ended up buying four. If Shen Yucheng hadn’t tipped him off yesterday, he might have bought all six jin.

Ye Miao was amazed—who could spend dozens of wen daily on these foods?

It was as prosperous as the Ye family’s old days.

At noon, when Qin Jin returned, he told him what Gu Nan said: Gu Nan’s father-in-law was willing to sell three hundred jin of peas. If Qin Jin had time, he could go to Wangjiatun to find Wang Yongshu.

The price was three wen and three li per jin—seven li cheaper than the grain shop.

This price matched the grain shop’s purchase price, making Qin Jin very happy. Seven li cheaper per jin meant saving two hundred ten wen on three hundred jin.

That was a substantial amount!

Saving money was earning money!

After lunch, he wheeled out the cart from the Old Courtyard, preparing to go to Wangjiatun to buy peas.

Ye Miao wanted to follow, but he and Zhao Feng refused.

After several attempts to persuade, when Ye Miao finally changed his mind and Qin Jin and Zhao Feng were about to leave, they looked up to find Zhu Erhong standing at the door, smiling.

He was a bit surprised. “Auntie, what are you doing here?”