The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 239: Chapter 239: Limited Spots

The gossip snowballed. People who had been ready to pay up started to hesitate, wanting to wait and see if the Hu family would lower the price.

But to everyone’s surprise, not only did the Hu family not lower the price, but new information spread that very day—franchise opportunities for the hot and spicy soup were limited to only ten people.

That was enough to make many people antsy.

The first person to show up at their door with the money was Aunt Wang.

She felt a little awkward.

In fact, she and her husband, Wang Min, had already talked it over the night she got back from the Hu family’s home. Wang Min often traveled for work and had a broader perspective on things, so he agreed without much hesitation.

They dug out their family’s meager savings of silver, planning to deliver it to the Hu family first thing the next morning.

But then the village erupted over the matter. Everyone was saying the Hu family’s price was too high, outrageous even. Since they weren’t selling the soup themselves anymore, why not teach it to their fellow villagers for a cheaper price, or even for free? Then the villagers would at least have something good to say about them.

Some went even further, cursing that Widow Xie’s entire family had become money-grubbers. After running a stall for a few days, they’d forgotten their own ancestors and now only recognized silver.

Aunt Wang thought these people were being utterly unreasonable, driven mad by greed.

’When she sent her own Da Wa to a shop to be an apprentice, he had to work for three years without pay. For just five taels of silver, you could learn the Hu family’s "golden combo." Not only would that skill benefit you for a lifetime, but even if too many people started selling it in Juyong Town, you could always go sell it in other towns in the future.’

’Don’t the elders always say that with a good trade, you can make your way anywhere in the world without fear?’

She understood the situation perfectly. The only reason she’d hesitated was the fear that the Hu family might cave to the pressure and lower the price. If she rushed to be the first one to pay, wouldn’t she be losing out?

Thankfully, Widow Xie didn’t bring any of that up. She simply took out two sheets of paper and had Hu Liang read them to her.

Aunt Wang didn’t really understand all this business about agreements, but when she heard Hu Liang explain that it was to protect the interests of both parties, she felt that the Hu family was very proper in how they handled things.

She happily pressed her thumbprint on the papers. After setting a time for the lessons, Aunt Wang left the Hu family’s home, beaming.

Those who had been keeping an eye on the Hu family’s home immediately spread the news.

With Aunt Wang leading the way, no one made an issue of the price anymore.

As they watched more people go into the Hu family’s home, those who had been on the fence became as anxious as ants on a hot griddle. They were either scrambling to convince their families or rushing to scrape the money together.

Mrs. Zhu was one of them.

She’d recently come to a realization. ’I can’t put all my eggs in Ji Liantang’s basket. Even if his passing the Scholar exam is a sure thing, after that he still has to test for scholar and Advanced Scholar. When will it ever end?’

When she heard that for five taels of silver one could learn to make the Hu family’s "golden combo," she was immediately tempted.

The problem was, she had no money.

’But I have a brain!’

At the dinner table, Mrs. Zhu brought the matter up.

After listening, Granny Kang slammed her chopsticks down with a CLACK. Her face grew so long it nearly touched the floor.

"Five taels of silver? You might as well just go rob someone! We don’t have it! You do nothing all day, and your father and I, at our age, still have to support your whole brood. Now you want to dig into our coffin money? Third Son, I don’t think you can keep this wife of yours!"

Granny Kang had been bottling up a storm of anger lately and was just looking for a place to unleash it.

Now, Mrs. Zhu’s demand for money reminded Granny Kang of her own nearly empty money box. She glared daggers at Mrs. Zhu as if she were her mortal enemy.

Mrs. Zhu pouted unhappily. "Mother, that’s a nasty thing to say. What do you mean, ’support our brood’? It’s not like we don’t work..."

She shouldn’t have brought that up. The moment she mentioned work, Granny Kang exploded.

Before, she never had to worry about anything, whether in the fields or at home. But now, everything depended on her.

She especially felt the importance of the eldest son’s family during the summer harvest.

But it was too late for regrets. The family had already split, and on such ugly terms. She couldn’t possibly ask them to come back and help with the work.

As for relying on her two remaining sons...

In truth, the county school, just like the academy in town, gave students a break specifically so they could go home and help their parents with the harvest.

But Ji Liantang was busy preparing for his exams and didn’t come home at all.

Not that it would have been much use if he had. What could you expect from someone who’d never worked in the fields a day in his life?

And Granny Kang couldn’t bear to let her precious son’s hands—the hands he used for his studies—get stained with even a speck of mud.

And so, the only labor left in the entire Ji family was the third son’s household.

Although their three children were also put to work in the fields, they weren’t much help. And as for Ji Lianhuai and Mrs. Zhu, they were both as stubborn as lazy donkeys at a mill—they wouldn’t move when led and would back away when prodded.

By the time other families had finished their summer planting, the Ji family, relying on them, hadn’t even finished half of their harvest!

And to top it all off, they got caught in that torrential downpour. How could Granny Kang not be furious?

With their old bones, she and Ji Qingshan were nearly worked to death that season—half from exhaustion, and the other half from pure anger!

"You and the Third Son should search your consciences! If you two had just worked a little faster, would those last few acres of grain have been soaked by the rain?! This was already a lean year, with harvests down thirty percent from usual. But our family? We lost half of ours! We’re all going to be begging on the streets soon, so where are we supposed to get money for you to squander!"

At the mention of this, Mrs. Zhu felt a pang of guilt and didn’t dare talk back.

Her eyes darted around, and she put on a fawning smile. "Mother, why are you so angry? I only want to learn the ’golden combo’ because I see how desperate our family’s situation is this year. I want to help share your and Father’s burden. Besides, doesn’t everyone say it was Ji Huan who taught them? The Hu family might charge others five taels, but would they dare charge us?"

Granny Kang’s chest started to ache again.

’If that jinx really did teach the Hu family how to make that ’golden combo,’ then fine, let them make a fortune from their stall,’ she thought. ’But now that they’ve stopped, they’re still going to make a killing from it.’

’All of that should have belonged to the Ji family!’

’Mrs. Zhu is right. Our family should learn it too. Once we learn it, we can set up a stall in town, and we’ll have a steady income. Then the Fourth Son won’t complain to me anymore about how his food and clothing at the county school are inferior to everyone else’s.’

Granny Kang gritted her teeth and made a decision. "Go learn it!"

"Well, Mother... you know how that damn girl treats me. She practically wants to kill me on sight. Do you really think she’ll let the Hu family teach me? But you and Father are different. If you two say something, she wouldn’t dare to disobey."

To put it bluntly, Mrs. Zhu didn’t dare to show her face. She was trying to push Granny Kang and Ji Qingshan to go be her vanguards.

Granny Kang thought about it. ’That makes sense. It’s true Mrs. Zhu is shameless, but when it comes to being unreasonable, she’s no match for Ji Huan.’

"Then you go and tell her! Say it’s an order from me and your father. Tell her to teach you!"

Mrs. Zhu was so taken aback she almost rolled her eyes right there at the table.

’That time Ji Huan scared me into screaming my head off with a knife, Granny Kang has been holding it over my head ever since.’

’Wasn’t she scared too? Why else would she be beating around the bush instead of just getting to the point?’

"Mother, what I was thinking is..."

CLACK!

Ji Qingshan, who had been silent until now, slammed his chopsticks hard on the table. His tone was foul.

"It’s almost the eighth month. The Fourth Son’s exams are right around the corner. No one is to cause any trouble, and you are especially forbidden from provoking *her*!"

Everyone at the table knew exactly who he meant.

The moment Granny Kang remembered her son’s important exam was approaching, she fell silent.

Ji Lianhuai was oblivious to everything, simply picking food from the various serving bowls.

Her own two daughters and son took completely after their father, keeping their heads down and eating from start to finish. They were completely useless.

Mrs. Zhu didn’t dare to argue with Ji Qingshan, so she had no choice but to reluctantly swallow her idea.

The only sound in the room was chewing.

But suddenly, Ji Qingshan lost his appetite.

In the past, everyone had envied him for the large, bustling Ji family.

When all the branches of the family gathered, two tables weren’t even enough to seat everyone. The adults were boisterous, and the crying of the children was a nuisance.

But now, they couldn’t even fill a single table. It was quiet, and he felt a sense of emptiness.

He sighed, making a decision in his heart. After the Fourth Son passed the Scholar exam, the first order of business would be to arrange his marriage.

Official honors were important, but continuing the family line couldn’t be delayed either.

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