Chapter 39 Shameless

The Wens felt the wontons in their mouths suddenly lose their savor.

Old Third Wen muttered in a low, stifled voice, "The man selling steamed buns this morning said he’s planning to make it tomorrow, too."

Mrs. Lin sighed lightly. "It seems no profitable trade lasts for long."

Wen Ye smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's not that serious. This is just healthy competition. We have the skill, so we have nothing to fear."

Mrs. Lin nodded. There was no point in worrying now. They had already earned nearly two taels of silver from this, and she was content with that.

The family finished their lunch and bought the vegetables needed for the next day, just as the clock struck the hour of Shen (3:00 PM). Old Fu had made an extra trip to pick them up and take them home.

"Ye-ya, will others really copy us tomorrow?" Mrs. Lin asked on the ox cart, looking worried.

"Whenever something becomes popular, others are bound to imitate it. But we have our secret recipe; we aren't afraid," Wen Ye replied, yawning as she leaned back against the cart.

"Then how much should we prepare for tomorrow?"

"We’ll stick to 300 catties. We can't handle any more than that."

Old Fu chuckled. "So you're selling cold-dressed salads? I've heard all about it. How did you come up with that, Ye-ya? You're truly clever."

"Oh, poverty is a great motivator—it forces one to rack their brains!"

"Haha!" Old Fu glanced at the basket filled with vegetables and rubbed his hands together. "Say... are you looking to buy vegetables? My family grows quite a lot. I’m not sure if you’d be interested?"

"Yes, of course! What do you have?"

"I have a ridge of bird's-eye chilies, a ridge of cucumbers, and a patch of peanuts... I'm not sure if you need peanuts?"

"We do!" Wen Ye’s eyes lit up. "I almost forgot; we were just lacking peanuts!"

Boiled peanuts were great for salads, and fried peanuts were even better—they added such an aromatic crunch to the dish. Wen Ye chatted and laughed with Old Fu all the way back.

***

Back in the village, the family locked the door to count their earnings. Aside from their costs, they had made a full one tael and five hundred copper coins.

Just as the family was rejoicing, a laugh rang out from outside. "Duoshi! Mrs. Duoshi! Why are you keeping your doors locked in the middle of the day?"

The family was startled, and Wen Yuan hurriedly swept the money into a cloth bag. Once everything was tucked away, Mrs. Lin opened the door. "Oh, it’s Er Gou’s mother. What brings you here?"

Er Gou’s mother, who had shared their ox cart back to the village last time and had asked them about embroidery work that could earn 500 coins, walked in without a hint of hesitation and plopped herself onto a chair.

"I heard in town yesterday that someone was selling some kind of cold-dressed salad that tasted amazing. I saw it was you today, but I was in a rush to see the doctor and didn't get a chance to go over."

"I heard the people in town were scrambling to buy it. You must have made a fortune, right?"

Mrs. Lin gave an awkward smile. "Just a bit of hard-earned money."

"So, how much?"

Mrs. Lin froze. Feeling annoyed, Wen Ye interjected, "We haven't calculated it properly yet. After all, we have to spend money on vegetables and oil."

Seeing their reluctance, Er Gou’s mother became even more convinced they had struck it rich, perhaps making one or two hundred coins a day. "How do you make that salad? Teach me, won't you? The weather has been hot lately, and I’m craving something sour and tangy."

Wen Lan and Wen Yuan pulled long faces. Wen Ye sneered inwardly—where did she get the nerve?

Mrs. Lin frowned. "Er Gou’s mother, my Ye-ya spent a long time perfecting this. We can't teach it."

"Oh, come on, it’s just some mixed vegetables. Why can't you teach it? How stingy," Er Gou’s mother said with an exaggerated look of disbelief.

Mrs. Lin and Old Third Wen were soft-hearted and didn't know how to refuse.

Wen Ye smiled. "You’re quite generous yourself, Er Gou’s mother. We’re currently short on cucumbers; could you give us some for free?"

Er Gou’s mother shrieked, "Why should I give you my cucumbers for free?"

"Exactly. Why should I give you our secret recipe for free?" Wen Ye stared right back at her.

Er Gou’s mother was shamed and angry. "I was only asking! If you won't teach it, then don't. No need to be so passive-aggressive."

Having lost face, Er Gou’s mother grumbled and left.

Mrs. Lin and the others let out a sigh of relief. Wen Yuan spat on the ground. "How shameless!"

"Let's ignore her. Let's get back to preparing for tomorrow! If anyone else asks, Father, Mother, just tell them you don't know how it's done and that it’s all my doing," Wen Ye said.

Mrs. Lin clutched her chest and nodded. "Let's finish counting quickly; we still need to go collect the vegetables!"

The family closed the door and returned to their work.

***

Er Gou’s mother left the Wen house muttering curses. She happened to run into a friend and recounted the incident. The woman replied:

"Oh, I’ve had it today. When Mrs. Duoshi saw I was from the same village, she even gave me some for free."

"Actually, it’s nothing special. It’s just some cucumbers, bamboo shoots, and the like, blanched in hot water, then mixed with minced garlic, ginger, chilies, soy sauce, and vinegar, with plenty of oil. It’s easy to figure out once you see it."

"It's that simple?"

"What else? I saw it clearly. No need to stir-fry or stew, just add the seasonings and mix. It’s just that no one had ever thought to mix vinegar and chilies together before, so people found it novel and tasty."

Er Gou’s mother curled her lip. "And here I thought it was something precious. Turns out it's so simple, yet they were acting so high and mighty about it."

"Exactly."

Outside of Er Gou’s mother, the rest of the village knew by now that Old Third Wen’s family was doing business in town, and word was that business was booming. That afternoon, two other groups came to inquire about the salad. Old Third Wen deflected, claiming he didn't know how it was made—that it was all Wen Ye's tinkering.

Those two groups realized it was a polite refusal, and unlike the shameless Er Gou’s mother, they simply smiled and went home.

***

In the afternoon, Old Third Wen went to tend the fields, while Mrs. Lin and Wen Lan busied themselves with needlework. Wen Ye took Wen Yuan out to collect vegetables.

They bought 10 catties of cucumbers from Wen Yu'er’s house—the last of their harvest. Then, they went to Old Fu’s house to collect 20 catties of cucumbers, 10 catties of bird's-eye chilies, and 10 catties of peanuts.

Old Fu’s prices were the same as Wen Yu'er’s: 2 coins per catty for cucumbers, and 3 coins per catty for chilies and peanuts.

Old Fu accepted the 100 coins with a beaming smile. Vegetables had been hard to sell this year, and finally offloading these few ridges of produce lifted a great weight off his heart.

Wen Ye said, "The price I gave you, Uncle Fu, is the same as what I pay in town. If we buy from others later, the price won't be the same. Please don't mention this to anyone else."

Old Fu felt he had gotten a great deal and promised repeatedly, "Don't worry, don't worry."

Since she relied on Old Fu for transport every day, Wen Ye needed to maintain a good relationship with him. Once she had been selling for a while longer, she would buy her own ox cart to make travel easier.

***

The next day, Wen Ye prepared another 300 catties of salad for the market.

This time, someone had set up a salad stall right across from them, another one diagonally across, and even the wonton stall next door had started selling salads.

"Cold-dressed salad! Sour, spicy, and refreshing!" the two stalls opposite them were already shouting.

"Small bowl for 3 coins, big bowl for 5 coins! If it doesn't taste good, you don't pay!"

"Salad, salad! We also have cold-dressed wontons—the only ones in town!"

Although they already had customers lining up, seeing three new stalls selling the same thing made Mrs. Lin and Old Third Wen’s expressions change.