TSWPF – Chapter 46 Stolen

After leaving Fumanlou having agreed to cooperate with them, Li Qingling still felt a little dazed.

She turned to look at Liu Zhimou and asked him to pinch her to see if she was dreaming.

Honestly, she had never expected the egg pancakes to be noticed by Fumanlou. What she had imagined before was: once she saved enough silver, she would rent a little shop to sell egg pancakes.

Before she could even settle the shop plan, big business had come to her door — which surprised her a lot.

Liu Zhimou shook his head amusedly and flicked her forehead. “Awake now?” Earlier, when she’d been dealing with Fumanlou, she’d acted so composed that he’d been fooled into thinking she wasn’t excited by all this. But as soon as they stepped outside, she changed completely.

Silly and giddy…

Still, that version of her was very cute.

Li Qingling held her stinging forehead and let out a silly little laugh, her eyes sparkling. “From now on, even if we don’t work, we’ll still have an income.” But she only imagined that for a moment — money still had to be earned. She couldn’t rely only on Fumanlou’s share. To put it bluntly: what if Fumanlou went under? Where would she get silver then?

It’s always good to prepare for a rainy day.

“Do you really think that?” In his eyes, Li Qingling was not someone who could sit idle. She didn’t seem like the sort of woman who’d depend on Fumanlou’s cut for a living.

If she were that kind of person, she wouldn’t have so many ideas for making money.

Hearing him ask, Li Qingling honestly shook her head. “I have ambition. That little share wouldn’t satisfy me.” In any era, more money is better — nobody complains about having too much.

Money isn’t everything, but without it, you really can’t do much.

Especially in this time: without money you can’t even secure food and warmth.

If the Li family had had money to buy grain back then, the original owner wouldn’t have lost her life over a bit of food.

For the sake of her family’s children, she had to work hard to earn money.

Liu Zhimou smiled at her. He liked seeing that light in her eyes — it made her seem full of life.

“Do whatever you want to do. I’ve got you.”

Although his shoulders weren’t broad now, he still wanted to hold up a sky for her so she had no worries when she went out into the world.

Hearing that, Li Qingling glanced at him gratefully and asked, “If I’m so conspicuous, would you mind?” This era could be harsh toward women; that was why, when she’d been at Fumanlou, she’d relied on Liu Zhimou to step forward for her.

Liu Zhimou shook his head calmly. “If I minded, I wouldn’t have let you set up a stall.” He didn’t want to cage Li Qingling’s freedom. He wanted her to be herself, to live happily.

He had a feeling Li Qingling wasn’t the sort of woman to stay home and tend to husband and children. Forcing her into that would make her miserable. So why force her? Let her go out and try things; when she’s tired, she’ll come home of her own accord.

Li Qingling looked at Liu Zhimou with deep feeling, eyes shining. How lucky she was to have met him.

If she’d met some conservative-minded man who only wanted her to stay home and take care of the family, none of her plans would have been possible.

“Thank you…” — thank you for supporting me like this, thank you for standing so firmly behind me. With you here, I can boldly go after my dreams.

Seeing what she felt, Liu Zhimou smiled gently, stroked her head, and didn’t say more.

Li Qingling smiled back, took Liu Zhimou’s hand, and strode toward the place selling chicks.

This time she really went all in — she would raise a lot of chickens, especially hens, so she could supply eggs to Fumanlou.

Imagining money rolling in, Li Qingling’s heart burned with excitement.

She wished the chicks they bought would grow up and start laying eggs in just a few days.

With her spirit-water tending, her chicks would grow faster than normal.

“How many chicks do you want to buy?” Liu Zhimou asked, watching her pick and curious.

Li Qingling was carefully choosing chicks, picking the livelier ones.

She didn’t look up when he spoke, and answered, “Our place at home isn’t big. I want to start with fifty. After we expand the house, we’ll raise more.” Then she told the woman selling the chicks, “Auntie, please pick me more pullets — I want female chicks.”

She wasn’t very knowledgeable and worried she might accidentally pick mostly cockerels; that would be heartbreaking.

The hen-seller squatted down and happily selected fifty chicks for Li Qingling. This was a big sale — the seller’s mood was bright.

“I’ll pick them, little miss,” she said with a toothy grin. “My chicks are exquisite — each one lively, and the eggs they lay are big. Buy mine and you won’t lose out.”

That day the opening of business for her stall had turned into a big sale; the seller was very pleased.

She carefully chose fifty chicks for Li Qingling, mostly pullets and a few cockerels, and generously threw in two extra chicks and gave Li Qingling the chicken cage too.

Each chick cost three wen; fifty chicks cost one hundred fifty wen.

After paying, Li Qingling and Liu Zhimou each carried a chicken cage and left the chick market.

Looking at the little yellow chicks in the cages, Li Qingling was overjoyed.

She vowed to take very good care of these fifty chicks — if she did, they would be a sizeable source of income.

“Do we need to buy anything else?” Liu Zhimou asked, carrying a cage and seeing her looking around.

Li Qingling thought for a moment. They were low on rice at home; they needed rice, oil, salt, and some meat.

She told Liu Zhimou, and he told her to wait at the city gate while he went to buy those things — carrying the cages over would be too tiring for her.

Li Qingling nodded helplessly and gave him the money, saying she’d wait at the gate.

Liu Zhimou reminded her a few things before he left to buy what was needed.

Li Qingling squatted beside the city gate, eyes fixed on the chicks, watching them with delight.

At that moment, an annoying female voice reached her ears.

“Li Qingling? What are you doing here?”

Li Qingling looked up and saw Li Baozhu, with Madam Liu standing beside her.

Seeing the two of them, she couldn’t help frowning — unlucky, to run into them again.

“Waiting for someone,” Li Qingling replied lightly and lowered her head to look at her chicks. She found watching the chicks more pleasing than looking at those two hateful people.

Li Baozhu, offended that Li Qingling had answered so curtly and then ignored her, huffed inwardly. “Li Qingling, what kind of attitude is that?” She’d spoken to her and Li Qingling dared to ignore her? Where did she get the nerve? She should know her place and leave quickly.

Li Qingling really had no words for her. She picked up the two cages and got ready to leave.

But someone wasn’t willing to let it go — Madam Liu grabbed her wrist. “Are those your chicks?” Li Baozhu glanced at the cages and then looked toward Madam Liu. “Grandma, weren’t you planning to buy some chicks too? Since Li Qingling bought them, just tell her to give one of the cages to you.”

Madam Liu stared at Li Qingling’s chicks — they looked lively and very nice. Hearing Li Baozhu’s suggestion, her eyes lit up. After all, Li Qingling was her granddaughter; it would be only right to take one of the cages.

“Xiaoling, you are my granddaughter, aren’t you? The things you bought should be used to show filial piety, right?” Madam Liu said.

Li Qingling nearly rolled her eyes. Why should she give those chicks to Madam Liu? If Madam Liu treated her well, she might — but knowing how badly Madam Liu treated her, why should she obey?

“If you want chicks, go buy some yourself. If you’re late, the good chicks will be gone,” Li Qingling said. In short: buy your own — don’t set your sights on mine.

Li Baozhu grinned maliciously at Li Qingling. “Grandma, it sounds like Li Qingling doesn’t want to give you one; she wants you to spend money on your own.” Li Qingling’s rebuttal would surely anger Grandma.

Sure enough, Madam Liu’s eyes glared angrily. “You really don’t want to give me a cage?” Is this how a granddaughter behaves?

Li Qingling looked at Madam Liu with clear eyes and nodded firmly: “Really, I don’t want to give you the chicks. If you want to raise chicks, buy them yourself.” Seeing Madam Liu even angrier, she smiled. “Grandma, don’t talk about granddaughter or not granddaughter — saying that only makes people laugh.” Claiming she was a granddaughter to get a bargain — what nonsense.

Madam Liu, furious, stepped forward and reached to snatch the chicken cage from Li Qingling’s hand.

Li Qingling didn’t dare struggle — the seller had told her the chicks must not be frightened; frightened chicks are hard to raise.

She took a deep breath and shouted, “Grandma, don’t make a fool of yourself in town. If Grandpa finds out, you know what will happen.” Hoping this threat could still scare Madam Liu.