Chapter 100 - To Drop In (1/2)

When they exited the city, Yu Hai saw someone selling hot cakes and so he bought some. Everyone in the family had already gotten used to Xiaocao needing a meal at this time. By the time they got home, they would have likely missed the meal time. His daughter was probably dying of hunger now.

Xiaocao sat on the donkey cart with her back against the bag full of cotton. Her legs dangled down the sides of the cart as she nibbled on the delicious hot cake. She looked leisurely and content.

“Brother Dahai, Xiaocao!! I saved you two a spot, come quickly!” Outside the town gates, Madam Fang had been waiting on Old Zhang’s ox cart for a while. It looked like business had gone well today for her as the baskets in her hands were completely empty. Both the eggs and live chickens had been sold out.

Old Zhang gaped in astonishment when he saw Yu Hai leading the donkey cart. He tapped his tobacco pipe on the side of his cart shaft and sad, “Ah, Dahai! Where did this donkey cart come from? Did you guys actually buy it?? It’s not that I’m trying to criticize you but when you’re buying a donkey, you should choose one that is plump and healthy…this donkey, are you sure you can keep it alive?”

Yu Hai smiled, “Uncle Zhang, although this donkey is on the thin side, it is quite lively. I previously was able to spend several days with a person versed in veterinary medicine, and when I saw that this donkey didn’t have any critical defects, I knew that it will be fine after nursing it for a few days. If the donkey wasn’t skinny, how could I get it for a good, cheap price?”

Old Zhang then asked how much they had spent on the donkey and cart, and Xiaocao told him they had only spent three taels. The old man nodded his head, “Three taels for all of this is not considered expensive. It would probably cost the same amount of money to commission a donkey cart. Even if the donkey is unable to survive, you guys wouldn’t be losing out too much anyway…Brother Dahai, did you buy this donkey cart for…”

Whenever Old Zhang was not hauling firewood to town, he would bring people from the villages to town for a fee. On a good day, he could even make twenty to thirty copper coins. When he saw Yu Hai’s donkey cart, the first thought that came to his mind was, ‘Is Yu Hai trying to cut into my business bringing people to town? After all, a donkey cart is definitely faster than an ox cart.’

Xiaocao smiled and hurriedly dispelled his fears, “Grandpa Zhang, isn’t Shitou studying at school in town now? With a donkey cart, it will be a lot easier to visit him. We have also grown some vegetables in our front and back courtyards. In the future, it’ll be easier to sell those vegetables in town with a cart.”

When Old Zhang heard the little girl chattering about this and that but not mentioning anything about using the donkey cart to carry people into town, he was able to dispel his worries.

On the road home, Yu Hai was afraid that making the thin donkey work too hard would cause it to become exhausted, so he adamantly refused to sit on the cart. Despite all her efforts, Xiaocao was unable to convince him. She only managed to make him compromise and had him sit on Old Zhang’s ox cart. The donkey was very perceptive and blindly followed the ox cart from behind. Other than a slight break in the middle to give the animal another drink of the mystic-stone water, contrary to Yu Hai’s fears, the donkey didn’t collapse from exhaustion.

Xiaocao’s family lived at the foot of the West Mountains, so they had to traverse through more than half of the village when coming back from town. The news that Yu Hai’s family had bought a donkey cart had traveled throughout the village before the two of them had even got home.

Madam Li teetered on her bound feet as she trotted back home. When she told her mother-in-law what she found out, she also added her own embellishments. After her failure the last time she tried to scheme against the second branch, she had learned her lesson. This time, she decided to make her mother-in-law attack the second branch by stating that her father-in-law was subsidizing them. They had only split off from the main family for a short period of time, so how could they possibly buy a donkey cart?!

When Madam Zhang heard Madam Li’s accusations, her sparse eyebrows immediately snapped together in a frown, “They bought a donkey cart? You’re certain?”

Madam Li nodded her head furiously and replied, “I am absolutely sure. The whole village knows already so they’re only hiding it from us! Mother, just think about it, one donkey costs around five to six taels. When Second Brother-in-law split from the family, his leg was also injured, so how would he be able to earn the money to buy a donkey and cart? Perhaps Father is privately…”

Madam Li didn’t elaborate further beyond that point but Madam Zhang clearly understood what she was implying. The old woman stated hesitantly, “I’m in charge of all of the money at home! If you said that the old man had around a dozen copper coins in his hand, that would be believable. However, if you’re saying that he has a few taels to subsidize Second Son, then I don’t think that’s possible!”

When Madam Li saw that her mother-in-law hadn’t flown into a rage as she would like, she started to become anxious, “Mother, if it were not for Father privately subsidizing them, Second Brother-in-law’s family wouldn’t even have enough food to eat. How could they possibly have the money to buy a donkey cart? We’ve been catching fewer fish these days, but what about before? When Second Brother-in-law’s leg was still good, he always gave the money he earned from selling game to Father. If he didn’t give all of it to you and had about eight to ten taels on hand, maybe…”

“Ah, what!!” When Madam Zhang thought that the old man was sneakily giving money to Second Son’s family behind her back, anger bubbled within her until it exploded. She violently threw her sewing from her hands into the basket and screamed, “I thought it was fishy that Second Son didn’t make a fuss when we were splitting the family! Apparently he had been greasing up that stupid old man on the down low! That’s not okay, they need to spit out whatever they had swallowed earlier!!”

Madam Zhang stomped furiously towards the road leading to Xiaocao’s family’s home. Madam Li smirked proudly as she wiggled her fat waist from behind. When Old Yu’s eldest brother’s, Yu Lichun, eldest daughter-in-law, Madam Liu [1], saw the expression on the two women’s faces as well as the direction they were headed, she knew they were going to cause trouble for Yu Hai. As she silently cursed in her heart, she hurried back to the village to find Old Yu, who was playing go.