The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Dividing the Silver

The rumors swirling around Ji Huan fell apart on their own, and those who had been waiting to laugh at the Hu Family’s expense were now green with envy.

The people involved, however, couldn’t care less. Right now, they were crowded around the table, three pairs of eyes fixed on the two silver ingots sitting on top.

"Are these really silver ingots?"

For many common people, they might go their whole lives without ever seeing silver, let alone a silver ingot.

"I never imagined I’d see a silver ingot in my lifetime... It’s so plump and pale, it looks prosperous all on its own..."

Widow Xie murmured, reaching out for a touch, but she stopped just short, afraid she’d accidentally stain it with the sweat and grime from her hands.

Hu Liang was also dazzled by the brilliant silver glow, staring in a daze without saying a word.

’Why didn’t they give us silver notes?’ Ji Huan thought. ’Or even broken silver would have been fine. They gave us these huge lumps. It looks impressive, but it’s completely impractical in the countryside.’

She looked at the two dazed figures, snapped her fingers, and announced, "Alright, now for the most exciting part—splitting the silver!"

Widow Xie and Hu Liang were snapped out of their trance by her voice, both feeling a little embarrassed.

They were used to being poor, so it was inevitable they’d lose their composure seeing so much money at once. Luckily, it was Ji Huan; anyone else would have laughed at them.

"Now, how should we split it..." Ji Huan propped her chin on her hand, her fingers tapping a steady rhythm on the tabletop.

They had actually briefly discussed how to split the money once before. Ji Huan’s original idea was to take a thirty percent share.

Widow Xie’s family had provided more manpower. Besides her and Hu Liang, Hu Ximei was in charge of meals, and Hu Dacheng ran errands and did odd jobs—all of that had to be accounted for. If they split it by headcount, even thirty percent for her would be too much.

Besides, the Hu Family was in a difficult situation. They had so many children and a paralyzed elder. On top of that, Hu Liang needed to formally propose marriage after the New Year. Each and every one of these things required money.

Her family was just her and Dabao. Other than building a house, she didn’t have any major expenses. Of the fifty taels Zhen Jili had given her before, she still had twenty taels untouched. Adding a thirty percent share to that would be just about enough.

But Widow Xie and Hu Liang absolutely refused to agree.

The idea for the dehydrated vegetables was Ji Huan’s, the initial capital was hers, and she performed the most crucial step. How could they have the face to take seventy percent?

Ji Huan then proposed a sixty-forty split, but that was also rejected, and the matter was left unresolved.

"How else could we split it? Just pay us wages like you did for Aunt Gao and the others!"

As a village woman, Widow Xie had no concept of partnerships or shares. From the very beginning, she believed her family was just working for Ji Huan.

Besides, she had already calculated it. The wages for her and Hu Liang together should come out to several taels of silver, which was no small amount.

Hu Liang said nothing, thinking his mother was too naive. ’As if Wan would agree to that.’

Sure enough, Ji Huan swept one ingot toward herself and pushed the other toward them, saying decisively, "To keep things harmonious, let’s not argue or concede anymore. I won’t mention a forty-sixty split, and you don’t mention a seventy-thirty split. Let’s just go fifty-fifty!"

Never mind Widow Xie; even Hu Liang was stunned.

In his mind, he had expected that getting even a ten percent share of the profit would have been great.

At most, a twenty-eighty split: they’d get twenty percent, and Ji Huan would get eighty.

’Fifty-fifty? How much would that be!’

Seeing they were about to refuse again, Ji Huan raised a hand, signaling for them to listen.

"Hu Liang worked the hardest this time, Aunt Xie, you can’t deny that, right? At first, he was running all over the place collecting vegetables. Later, even though he didn’t have to run around, countless people came to our door every day to sell their produce, and he had to greet them, weigh everything, and settle the payments. Before we even started, I told Liangzi in private that this wasn’t about anyone working for someone else, but a partnership we’d do together. This fifty percent doesn’t just include wages for you, Dacheng, and Ximei. It’s also Liangzi’s dividend. He needs this to get married! You can’t refuse for him. You don’t want to see him and that Miss Cao have to keep dragging things out, do you?"

Ji Huan had struck a nerve. Widow Xie, who had been so resolute just a moment ago, instantly wavered.

She opened her mouth, then turned to look at Hu Liang, clearly leaving the decision up to him.

Ji Huan looked at him too. "Liangzi, this isn’t being greedy, and there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You earned this with your own sweat. Are you going to deny your own hard work?"

Hu Liang lowered his head in silence for a moment. Then he looked up, reached out, and clenched the silver ingot tightly in his palm.

"Wan, I..."

He had already thanked her before. But even saying it a hundred more times now wouldn’t be enough to express a fraction of the complex emotions he felt.

’Wan was right. This was what I deserved, and I won’t deny my own efforts. But at the same time, I know that Wan was the one who gave me this opportunity.’

"One hundred taels. After taking out the thirty taels of initial capital, that leaves seventy taels. Split evenly, that’s thirty-five taels per family. Once we get this money changed, I still owe you fifteen taels."

Ji Huan, having failed to slip it past him: "...Alright then."

’Hu Liang only knew some simple abacus calculations before. He just recently started learning arithmetic from me. How is his mind working so fast!’

With the silver divided, Hu Liang went to open the door.

Hu Dacheng and Hu Ximei, along with Xiao’an and Hua, were all crowded by the door. Only Dabao was sitting primly on a stool at the kitchen entrance, clutching his little tiger.

Ji Huan had told him to sit there and wait for her, and he truly hadn’t moved an inch.

Hu Dacheng had been trying to eavesdrop. He couldn’t hear clearly, but he could guess that the family had definitely made a lot of money this time!

He chuckled, scratching his head. "Second Brother, when are you taking us to town? I want to eat candied haws, and I also want..."

Before he could finish, Hu Liang said, "If you want to eat, buy it yourself."

Hu Dacheng’s face fell immediately. "You can’t do this, Second Brother! We already agreed! You said you’d buy us good things to eat when we made money. How can you go back on your word!"

He turned around in a huff, his pout so pronounced you could hang an oil pot from it.

"Who’s going back on their word!" Hu Liang smacked him on the back of the head. "Your Sister Wan said that you and Ximei both contributed this time, so you’re getting paid wages too. You’ll have your own money, and you still want someone else to buy you food?"

Hu Dacheng spun around in a flash. "Really? For real?"

Hu Ximei couldn’t believe it. "I get some too? But I didn’t do anything..."

"Who says?" Ji Huan smoothed the small braid on her shoulder. "If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have even had a hot meal to eat. Your contribution was huge."

"But my cooking isn’t very good..." Though she said that, her face flushed with happiness. She secretly resolved to learn how to cook properly in the future, to at least be worthy of the wages she received today.

Meanwhile, after getting an affirmative answer, Hu Dacheng had already run three wild laps around the courtyard. He then screeched to a halt in front of Hu Liang, holding out his hand for his wages.

Hu Liang said irritably, "I don’t have it now!"

"You’re trying to back out of paying! Sister Wan is the one giving us the wages, you can’t get out of it!"

"Who would bother trying to cheat you out of your measly bit of money? I don’t have any small change right now..."

This was also a problem giving Ji Huan a headache.

"Does your family have tools for weighing and cutting silver?"

Large silver taels weren’t suitable for common transactions. For convenience, they were often cut up with sharp tools into small pieces for circulation.

"You mean a small steelyard scale and steel shears, right?" Hu Liang’s older brother had once worked as a waiter in a county town restaurant, so he knew a little about these things.

"Why would we have things like that? Only the big businesses in towns, or the Money Shops and silversmiths, would keep them on hand."

Hu Liang could see she also wanted to exchange for broken silver, so he offered, "I’m going to the county town tomorrow. I can stop by the Money Shop to get some change. How about I get some for you, too?"

Saving herself a trip was, of course, a good thing.

However, she felt like something was a little off.

Ji Huan propped her chin on one hand, thoughtfully circling Hu Liang and sizing him up.

"Why are you suddenly going to the county town, Liangzi? I remember you can get change in the local town, too. And you said stopping by the Money Shop was just ’on the way,’ which means—you have another reason for going, don’t you?"

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