Chapter 31: I Will

Wen Yu'er and her two companions returned home. She immediately took out the nine-plus taels of silver from her pocket and placed them into Aunt Guihua's hands. "Mother, please take this money."

As soon as they had returned and she explained the origin of the funds, Wen Shengli and his wife were so overjoyed that they jumped up and pulled her out the door. Aunt Guihua held the silver, her eyes reddening. "This... we had clearly agreed before that the money you earned from your embroidery would be yours to save. Yet, last time, when your brother was injured, you used up all your savings. And now, again..."

"Mother, what nonsense are you talking about?" Wen Yu'er said urgently. "We are mother and daughter! And he is my own brother! It is only right that I, as his sister, provide the money to help him when he is injured."

"Right now, the family is short on money, so it is natural for me to help. I am not an outsider; I am a part of this family!"

Aunt Guihua nodded with a smile. "In the future, your father and I will definitely make up this dowry money for you."

Wen Yu'er blushed instantly, pouting her small lips. "What dowry? I'm still young."

Aunt Guihua teased her with a smile, "You're not young anymore; you're already fourteen."

***

Having received a hen and fifteen chicks, Madam Lin was overjoyed. Seeing his wife smile so happily for the first time, Old Man Wen could not stop grinning either, and he began to build a chicken coop.

This day felt truly surreal. They had earned over forty taels, forty catties of grain, a few catties of meat, a chicken, and a brood of chicks. It was so wonderful it felt like a dream. If it were truly a dream, she hoped she would never wake up.

Old Man Wen and his wife happily worked on the coop. Since the family was weaving winnowing baskets, Old Man Wen had cut a large bundle of bamboo the day before, so they had the materials ready at hand. The two of them worked together, one shaving the bamboo and the other binding it, laughing all the while.

***

Wen Ye was utterly exhausted these past few days; her hands felt as if they were falling off. She pulled Wen Lan back to their room early, lying on the bed and unwilling to move. Wen Lan, however, was incredibly excited and had already picked up a plain handkerchief, ready to start working.

"Just lie down for a while!" Wen Ye said, speechless.

"No, I have to work hard to make money." Wen Lan had become completely obsessed with wealth.

"Rest for a moment; we aren't embroidering kittens anymore."

Only then did Wen Lan feel unsure of where to start, her heart itching as if a cat were clawing at it.

"Second Sister, how are we cooking the meat tonight?" Wen Yuan poked his head through the doorway, looking expectant and drooling.

Wen Ye thought for a moment. "How about braised pork ribs? Are you hungry now?"

***

Wen Yuan nodded hesitantly. "I only had a bowl of wild vegetables for lunch."

Only then did Wen Ye remember that the family had run out of grain long ago. She quickly flipped herself up. "Come on, let's go cook."

Wen Lan finally remembered as well and hurried to join Wen Ye in the kitchen.

Wen Ye picked up the ribs, intending to make braised pork ribs to satisfy Wen Yuan’s craving, only to discover that aside from a little lard and salt, there were no seasonings in the house. Wen Ye felt dismayed, so she used the ribs as a soup base and sent Wen Yuan to Aunt Guihua's garden to pick two bitter melons.

Soon, a fresh, savory aroma drifted through the air. Madam Lin and Old Man Wen, who were building the chicken coop, immediately stopped their work, their stomachs rumbling.

"Father, Mother, dinner is ready!" Wen Yuan came running from the kitchen, beaming.

Madam Lin and Old Man Wen walked into the main room to find five bowls full of wontons, along with a dish of stir-fried bitter melon with pork belly. The fatty, lean pieces of meat made their mouths water.

The Wens had never seen such a generous portion of meat before. They sat down quickly and, not fearing the heat, rushed to eat a wonton. Then, they were so moved they were nearly in tears.

"Delicious... this is my first time eating wontons." Wen Yuan gasped from the heat but kept eating.

Wen Yuan usually hated bitter melon, but today, stir-fried with meat and glistening with oil, he ate it with great relish and fell in love with it from then on.

Madam Lin hesitated after eating a few wontons, and seeing that Wen Yuan’s bowl was already empty, she tried to scoop her own into his.

Wen Ye said, "Mother, just eat your own. There is plenty more in the pot! Besides, it's hot, and if we don't finish it, it will spoil later."

"Okay, okay," Madam Lin replied. The couple then ate their fill.

Old Man Wen felt full and guilty at the same time. He had never experienced such luxury—wontons, pork rib soup, and a full plate of stir-fried bitter melon with meat. He thought to himself that they must not spend so extravagantly in the future.

***

The next morning, Wen Ye was so exhausted from the previous days that she was sound asleep in bed. She didn't wake up until she smelled breakfast at noon, rubbing her eyes as she rose.

"Little Sister, you're awake." Hearing the movement, Wen Lan ran in. "Let's eat quickly, and then we can get to our embroidery."

Wen Lan was entirely consumed by the thought of earning money. She had been thinking about embroidery since she woke up, but since Wen Ye had said they wouldn't embroider kittens anymore, she hadn't dared to start. She was anxious but didn't want to wake Wen Ye.

"Alright, alright, let me wash up first."

***

After washing, Wen Ye went to the main room. On the table were two bowls of white rice, a large plate of winter melon stir-fried with pork belly, and a bowl of pickled vegetables sent over by Aunt Guihua.

Eating the bland winter melon in the intense summer heat, Wen Ye had no appetite. She mixed her rice with the winter melon juice and pickles, feeling full after just one bowl. Wen Lan was even faster and had already begun clearing the bowls.

"Where are Father and Mother?" Wen Ye asked.

"Father went to work in the fields. Mother went to wash clothes, and Yuanbao followed her, saying he wanted to catch fish."

After cleaning up, they saw Wen Yu'er walk in. The three of them busied themselves in the main room as they had in the past. Wen Ye brought out the thirty plain handkerchiefs and silk threads she had gotten from the embroidery shop yesterday.

"Ye-ya, are the three of us really just embroidering these thirty?" Wen Yu'er asked anxiously.

"These aren't for you to embroider products on; they are for you to practice with," Wen Ye said. "Handkerchiefs with small animals don't fetch high prices. To make real money, we must go for high-end, elegant, and sophisticated designs. We can embroider round fans or screens."

Wen Lan and Yu'er gasped. "That won't work. Screens require advanced needlework. Those are the secret techniques of master embroiderers, and we don't know them."

The handkerchiefs they had embroidered before used simple flat stitches that anyone could do. As Shopkeeper Liu had said, high-end embroidery required specific techniques to create gradient effects, making the patterns vivid and lifelike. Otherwise, they wouldn't fetch a good price.

"I know them," Wen Ye said.

Wen Lan and Yu'er were stunned.

"Little Sister, how do you know these things?" Wen Lan wondered. "And those paintings from before..."

Wen Ye had already prepared her explanation. "When I fell into the water last time, didn't I almost die? After I passed out, I visited a fairyland and learned many things from the immortals. Painting, embroidery, cooking... I even learned how to read. I learned everything."

Wen Lan and Yu'er stared in shock, finding Wen Ye's story too bizarre. But if it weren't for that, how would their little sister know such things?

As normal people—and as ancient folk who had never encountered modern "transmigration" novels—they naturally couldn't conceive of such a concept. Rather than suspecting she had been possessed by a monster or doubting she was their real sister, anyone else would assume it was a sudden change in personality brought on by surviving a near-death experience, which was common enough. And since their little sister spoke of a miraculous dream, they were even more inclined to believe her.