After the Scholar Rejected Me, I Married the Rogue and Got Rich - Chapter 14

Before even entering the village, a loud argument and crying could be heard, and a crowd of people could be seen gathering around.

Lin Sang and Lin Song looked in the direction of the sound and saw Chen Xiaoman hurrying towards them. Upon seeing them, she immediately ran over: “Sang Sang! I went to your house to look for you but you weren’t there. I guessed you went into the mountains! Go and see if there’s any trouble at someone’s house!”

The three of them squeezed through the crowd and saw Zhao Pozi, the village’s notorious shrew, standing with her hands on her hips, yelling at a crying young woman on the ground: “…jinx! Bare-weather hen! How many years have you been married into our Zhao family? You can’t even give birth to a son! All you do is eat for free and dawdle at work! I think you deserve a beating!” As she spoke, she reached out and pinched the woman’s arm.

The woman just cried and didn’t dare to talk back. Her husband, Zhao Pozi’s son, stood aside with his head hanging down, not daring to utter a sound.

The surrounding villagers were talking about it:

“Oh, Granny Zhao is at it again. How many times has this happened this month?”

“Poor Chuncao, she’s such an honest and capable woman…”

“What kind of family did she marry into? To have such a mother-in-law and a husband who can’t even stand up for himself, it’s like falling into a fire pit!”

Lin Sang and Chen Xiaoman felt heavy-hearted watching this scene. As women, they also felt bad seeing it.

Lin Song was small, so he squeezed to the front and could see everything clearly.

He listened to Granny Zhao’s foul language and watched the wife crying helplessly and the man being too cowardly to utter a word. His brows furrowed tightly.

He suddenly squeezed back to Lin Sang’s side, grabbed his sister’s arm, tilted his little face up, and said to Lin Sang in a tone more serious than ever before:

“Sister! Did you see that? That guy is so useless! He can’t even protect his own wife!”

He clenched his fists, raised his voice slightly, as if trying to persuade his sister, or perhaps to encourage himself: “Big sister, you can’t marry into a family like this! If… if anyone dares to bully you like this, I… I’ll fight them to the death! I’ll protect you! I’m really strong now, and I can even practice martial arts!” As he spoke, he puffed out his still rather thin chest, his eyes filled with the unwavering determination of a young man.

Chen Xiaoman was amused by Lin Song’s sudden “declaration” but also touched. She patted his head and said, “Oh my, our Song-ge’er has really grown up. He knows how to protect his sister now!”

Looking at her younger brother’s tense yet earnest expression, Lin Sang felt a surge of warmth wash away the gloom that had settled in her heart from witnessing the misfortunes of others.

She took her brother’s hand in return and said gently, “Okay, I’ll remember that. With Song-ge here, no one will dare to bully me.”

Lin Song seemed relieved to receive his sister’s response, but he still stood close to Lin Sang, as if he could protect his sister behind him at any time.

Watching the ongoing farce, he added indignantly in a low voice, “Anyway, I definitely won’t be like that guy in the future! Brother Zhou said that a real man should stand tall and protect his family!”

As Lin Sang listened to her brother’s words, Zhou Han’s angular, sometimes fierce face involuntarily appeared in her mind.

What would a man who is strong and upright in the outside world and silently clears the thorns from your path at home be like if you got married? Would he become as cowardly as Zhao’s son or as mean as Granny Zhao? This thought flashed through her mind, causing her heart to be inexplicably in turmoil for a moment.

The two lost interest in watching any longer and returned home with mixed feelings. Chen Xiaoman went home alone, while Lin Sang took her younger brother into the courtyard.

Wang was preparing dinner in the kitchen when she saw them return. She quickly said, “You’re back? You must be exhausted. I’ll cook dinner, you go and rest.”

Lin Sang responded, but didn’t stop there. She called on her younger siblings to bring out today’s harvest.

Wild vegetables and mushrooms were spread out in a winnowing basket, waiting to be dried tomorrow; wild fruits were given to Lin Miao to wash carefully; and finally, there was the chestnuts left in the basket. Thinking of the sugar-roasted chestnuts she had eaten in town before, Lin Sang had an idea.

She poured the chestnuts into a basin, washed them clean, and then used a knife to make a deep cut on the swollen back of each chestnut—this was to prevent them from bursting open when frying.

She heated up a large iron wok, poured in the drained chestnuts, added a small amount of salt and a tiny bit of sugar powder that she was reluctant to use, and began to stir-fry them continuously.

Gradually, the chestnuts in the pot heated up, making soft crackling sounds. The cuts slowly opened, revealing the golden, soft chestnut meat inside. A rich aroma, a mixture of caramel and the natural sweetness of chestnuts, filled the entire kitchen.

Lin Song and Lin Miao were attracted by the aroma and peered eagerly from the kitchen doorway.

Wang also came out to smell the fragrance, sniffed, and exclaimed, “Wow, this smells really good!”

Once the chestnuts were roasted and ready to serve, Lin Song couldn’t wait to grab one. It was so hot that she tossed it back and forth between her hands, but she couldn’t resist taking a bite. She stuck out her tongue and mumbled, “Delicious! Big sister, so delicious! Sweet and fluffy!”

Wang also tried one and nodded repeatedly: “Sangsang, you have a talent for cooking.”

Taking the opportunity, Lin Sang asked, “Mother, what do you think about us taking these roasted chestnuts to town to sell?”

“Go sell it?” Wang was stunned, as if she had heard something unbelievable.

Having lived most of her life, her deeply ingrained beliefs were farming, paying taxes, saving money, and buying things; she never imagined that she could become the one “selling things.”

“Mother, look,” Lin Sang pulled Wang Shi down to sit, counting on her fingers, “These chestnuts are ones we picked ourselves in the mountains, they’re free. The only cost is this salt and sugar. The cost of one batch is at most two or three coins. I’ve inquired, and roasted chestnuts in town sell for eight coins a pound! Since it’s our first day, we’ll sell them cheaply, even if it’s six coins a pound. This batch can make three or four pounds. After deducting the cost, we can earn at least twenty coins a batch! If we can sell two or three batches a day…” She paused, looking into her mother’s eyes, “Wouldn’t that be more than what Father and the others earn doing odd jobs in the winter?”

As Wang listened to her daughter calculate each item, her eyes gradually widened.

Good heavens! If you can earn a few dozen coins a day, that adds up to… She quickly calculated in her mind, and it really was more than what a man could earn by doing manual labor!

She recalled that every winter was the hardest time in previous years. Her family was poor and couldn’t afford charcoal, so they had to conserve firewood. It was bad enough that the adults’ hands and feet would crack from the cold, but the children’s little faces would turn red from the cold, which broke her heart to see. If only she could really make money from this…

Thinking of this, Wang slapped her thigh and made up her mind: “Alright! If you want to do it, I support you! Go and give it a try!”

“Mother, you’re so kind!” Lin Sang smiled, then discussed the details with Wang Shi. “The people who sell roasted chestnuts in town set up a small pot and roast them on the spot. The aroma can travel far and wide, attracting people. We should do the same. The chestnuts need to be processed in advance. Tomorrow morning, we’ll take a pot, firewood, and seasonings with us. Let Song Ge’er come with me. He’s clever and can help me start the fire and call out the sales pitch.”

“Okay! Let’s do it this way!” Wang was a straightforward person. She didn’t even bother to eat and immediately called on the whole family to work together to clean the chestnuts and make slits in them.

She then pulled Lin Song aside and carefully instructed him to be more clever tomorrow and listen to his sister.

Lin Song’s face flushed with excitement as he patted his chest and assured her, “Mom, Big Sister, don’t worry! I’ll definitely do my best!”

The family worked late into the night before having dinner and going to bed.