Idle Gossip
While Liu Yingqu was studying here, Liu Yunyuan sold the mushroom recipe for ten taels of silver.
Ten taels! Ten thousand wen! Liu Yunyuan remained calm on the surface but clutched his pocket tightly, afraid someone would steal it.
Liu Yunyuan returned and discussed with Aunt Tan about safely storing the ten taels. Aunt Tan's face was full of shock: "Ten taels? For just one recipe?"
"Yes, mother. I just brought the mushrooms I processed at home and cooked a batch for them," Liu Yunyuan smiled broadly. "I've never seen so much silver before."
Farmers earn only three or four taels a year from harvesting crops. Supporting Liu Yingqu's studies often left the family with no extra money. Aunt Tan and Liu Yunyuan had to do odd jobs during the off-season.
"Second brother also said to go pick herbs in the back mountain to sell in town. The boss who bought the recipe said we could sell mushrooms to him in the future," Liu Yunyuan felt hopeful about life.
"Good, Yunyuan. The fields are busy lately; I'll take care of the crops. You must keep your activities in the back mountain low-key to avoid jealousy," Aunt Tan reminded after her happiness, thinking of social etiquette.
"I know, mother," Liu Yunyuan replied.
Everyone in the village couldn't hide when life got better. For example, Aunt Tan always smiled, and Liu Yunyuan went to the back mountain to pick herbs and bitter mushrooms, then to the county town to sell them. This coming and going was eye-catching.
They still had a scholar to support at home; there was no spare money to go to the county town.
The villagers whispered: "Has the Liu family gotten rich?"
"Aunt Tan works in the fields, Liu Yingqu studies at the academy with no time, only Liu Yunyuan goes to the back mountain."
They spoke with intent and listened with intent. Villagers secretly followed Liu Yunyuan to observe. After a few days, news about stir-fried mushrooms spread from the county town.
"So mushrooms can be sold for money?"
"Then what are we waiting for? Free things growing on the mountain can be sold."
"Liu Yunyuan even picked herbs to sell at the pharmacy; I once saw him in the county town."
Aunt Wan hurriedly sent her son, daughter-in-law, and daughter to the mountain to pick mushrooms. If they didn't go now, there would be none left once more people came!
Mushrooms sold for ten wen per jin; their eyes were all red with excitement. They still had to pay taxes for farming, barely making any money all year round. Now, just from mushrooms, they could earn ten wen, which was like free money.
Everyone in the village went out to pick mushrooms on the back mountain, and some even pulled up grass there to sell at the pharmacy. The pharmacy clerks could tell the difference, so the gossip from the clerks didn't affect them at all.
That night, Liu Yunyuan returned home feeling a bit down. The whole village knew about the mushroom business, so they didn't pick many that day on the mountain.
"Yunyuan, this is already much better than before," Aunt Tan comforted him. "Your second brother told you to sell the prescriptions earlier, and now you've earned quite a bit."
"Mother, I was just overthinking," Liu Yunyuan said sheepishly. He just wanted to earn a bit more money. These mushrooms would be discovered sooner or later; they had already taken advantage.
Sure enough, after a while, people from several villages learned about the mushrooms and rushed to their own back mountains to pick them. As supply increased, the price dropped from ten wen per jin to five wen per jin, and it looked like it would keep falling.
"Mother, take this white flour bun. I'll visit big brother's place at noon," Liu Yunyuan said as he put on his clothes, tied his hair neatly with a band, looking clean and tidy, carrying ten eggs in a vegetable basket.
There were three old hens and six chicks at home, so they had a steady supply of eggs. Eggs were considered meat and were popular among rural folks.
"Alright, go see what's going on," Aunt Tan said, her palms soft and tender. Her eldest son, Liu Yunhua, was a gentle and kind boy at home, married to a peddler from the west village. They loved each other, and Aunt Tan was happy for her son, but she worried a bit since she hadn't seen him for some days.
Liu Yunyuan left with the basket. The west village wasn't far; it took about an hour to walk there. When he left, there weren't many mushrooms left on the village's back mountain. They only needed a child and an adult to pick them, chatting as they held their bowls.
"Poor Bai Zhi. When he went to deliver candles to the Gu family, he was chased away."
"Bai Zhi just sells candles. The Gu family bought from someone else who kindly sent some over, so why chase him away?"
"He's a widower; life isn't easy for him. The Gu couple was a bit too much."
Liu Yunyuan hurried on with his basket, thinking that if his second brother heard this, he wouldn't feel sorry. His second brother was quite the flirt.
Arriving at the west village, Liu Yunyuan entered a tall courtyard where an old lady was sunbathing. Hearing the noise, she squinted and asked, "Who is it?"
"I'm Liu Yunyuan. I brought eggs to see my big brother," Liu Yunyuan cleverly raised the eggs in his hand.
Old Lady Gao immediately smiled, "Since you're here, why bring things?"
Liu Yunyuan didn't take the comment seriously. Old Lady Gao called Liu Yunhua out. Seeing his big brother, Liu Yunyuan grabbed his hand, "Grandma Gao, I want to talk to big brother."
"Go ahead, go ahead," Old Lady Gao didn't stop them.
The two went inside Liu Yunhua's house.
"Yunyuan, why are you here?" Liu Yunhua asked. "Did something happen at home?"
"No, big brother, I missed you. You haven't come for a long time," Liu Yunyuan coquettishly said to Liu Yunhua.
Liu Yunhua looked a bit melancholy. "I've been busy with family matters lately."
Liu Yunyuan's sharp eyes noticed bruises on Liu Yunhua's wrist and asked, "Big brother, how did you get those injuries?"
Liu Yunhua hastily pulled down his sleeve to cover the bruises. "I fell a few nights ago because I couldn't see the road well when I got up."
"Big brother, you should apply some ointment. The bruise is quite big. By the way, I have something for you."
Liu Yunhua was glad to see his younger brother becoming livelier than before and smiled, "What is it?"
"Twenty wen to keep," Liu Yunyuan put the money in Liu Yunhua's palm. "Second brother gave it to me."
Liu Yunhua wanted to refuse, but Liu Yunyuan insisted, "I eat and dress well at home; I don't have much to spend money on."
Then Liu Yunyuan told him how Liu Yingqu had driven Old Deng away.
Liu Yunyuan vividly recounted, "I was stunned at the time. Looking at second brother, I thought scholars really are different. I felt second brother should study. I couldn't explain it, but second brother is different from others around him, especially outstanding."
Liu Yunhua also smiled, his face less gloomy. "Yingqu has grown up and is so capable."
The two brothers chatted some more. When Liu Yunyuan opened the door to leave, Old Lady Gao stood at the doorway.
"I wanted to ask, Yunyuan, will you eat here at noon?" Old Lady Gao smiled kindly.
"No need, I'll eat at home," Liu Yunyuan said, startled by Old Lady Gao standing at the door.
Back home, Liu Yunyuan felt uneasy about Old Lady Gao standing at the door and told Aunt Tan, "Mother, something feels off."
Aunt Tan, hearing about Liu Yunhua's injury, felt a bit sorry but wasn't concerned about Old Lady Gao. "Old Lady Gao just happened to stand there, wanting to keep you for lunch. What could go wrong?"
"When Gao Da married Yunhua, she really liked him. Yunhua was so obedient and lovable," Aunt Tan said.
Aunt Tan went back to her chores. Liu Yunyuan kept this in mind, planning to tell Liu Yingqu when he returned.
After Liu Yunyuan left Gao's house, Old Lady Gao changed her expression, looking at Liu Yunhua with disgust. "Why are you standing there? Do you think you're some young master? Hurry up and work! Always running to your mother's house. Why don't you complain? You're useless, only my grandson was kind enough to marry you!"
"You should be grateful!" Old Lady Gao viciously hit Liu Yunhua's head with a wooden paddle.
"I'll go do it right away," Liu Yunhua dared not resist.
He was naturally obedient and resigned. Old Lady Gao was an elder, and with the accusation of being childless, he felt hurt but had to endure.
"Your mother’s family is just deluded, showing off eggs like they’re rich."
Old Lady Gao shook her head and sneered, "Your Liu Yingqu failed the exam three times and still hopes to pass this time? Ridiculous."
"With relatives like you, who would want to associate? A bottomless pit! A money-eater!"
Liu Yunhua opened his lips but said nothing, lowering his head to work.
Gao Da returned from work in the morning, wiping sweat, noticing Liu Yunhua's lack of reaction, and said to Old Lady Gao, "The mushrooms on the village's back mountain are all picked today. There’s no more profit to be made."
"Good grandson, you must be exhausted," Old Lady Gao said affectionately, then scolded Liu Yunhua, "Why aren’t you cooking yet, lazy boy!"
Liu Yunhua responded and started cooking, wiping tears as he worked.
Gao Da had married Liu Yunhua because he was gentle, obedient, and handsome, but he didn’t produce children and was like a dead fish in bed.
He was only good at working efficiently.
Thinking of how much effort he put into marrying Liu Yunhua, Gao Da felt uncomfortable inside.
Gao Da asked, "I heard Liu Yunyuan came to see him?"
"He brought a basket of eggs to help the family nourish themselves," Old Lady Gao said with a smile.
Gao Da, who usually didn’t help Old Lady Gao nag Liu Yunhua, surprisingly advised, "Grandma, you should be more restrained. I heard the mushroom picking started from Liu Yunyuan, and Old Deng was driven away by Liu Yingqu."
Although Old Deng left grumbling, everyone could see he fled in panic. At first, only Liu village talked about it, but as more people came, the news spread to other villages.
Old Lady Gao shouted, "I'm not afraid of him! A fake scholar who failed three times! Does he dare hit me? If he causes trouble, he'll lose his reputation!"
