Chapter 16
Sun Yiming, too, was thinking about escaping.
But he knew that if he went outside with a bruised, swollen face, he would be laughed at to death, so he gave the idea up.
When he was hungry, he went to the kitchen to take a look. The porridge was already burnt and the buns were cold. Though he wanted to heat them up, he realized that he didn’t know how to make a fire.
In the end, he ate cold buns and cold porridge.
This was the first time.
In the early days, he had his mother and sister-in-law at home. Later on, after he got married, Han Qiao never let him go hungry.
She would never leave him at home and go back to her mother’s house with their daughters.
They beat him up and even made him sleep in the study.
All of this gave him a very bad feeling about what’s to come…
After the carriage entered the small town, it slowed down and, as promised, dropped the three of them off at the door of the house.
When the carriage stopped there, Han Qiao had her three daughters carry the things in.
She herself had a piece of bacon, ten eggs and five big pumpkins. The aunties and uncles also given them two pumpkins. With more than ten big pumpkins, they wouldn’t go hungry for a long time.
However, Han Qiao planned to make steamed buns out of the pumpkins and see if they could be sold.
She gave the coachman the money for the ride.
“50 cash total. Thank you very much.”
“It was my pleasure,” the coachman said with a polite smile.
Coachmen deserved the money they earned; it was a hard job.
“If I ever need your services again, I’ll let you know,” Han Qiao said.
“Okay, but make sure you let me know a day in advance, otherwise I might be somewhere else.”
Han Qiao nodded.
The coachman saw that all their belongings had all been unloaded, so he drove the carriage home.
Now, after he found a place for the horses to graze, he would be off to the fields to work.
These days, it was hard to earn money. It was even harder for those who had no financial support or those who were illiterate.
After Sun Xiu opened the door, Sun Yi and Sun Ke promptly carried the things into the courtyard.
There were thirteen big pumpkins, each of them weighing more than ten catties. They were stacked in what looked like a giant pile of gold.
“Mother…” Sun Ke called out softly.
Han Qiao scratched her nose. “Tonight, I’ll make you bacon and steamed eggs.”
“Okay, okay, okay,” Sun Ke quickly responded.
She was full of smiles.
Although she had eaten bacon at her grandparents’ house earlier, she only had two pieces.
The meat in the bowl was gone.
Sun Yiming came out of the study and stood under the eaves, looking at his wife and children. “You’re back.”
The three children answered vaguely. They moved things and ran away. No one approached him.
Han Qiao looked at him indifferently. “How many copies did you make?”
“I didn’t slack off today. I finished twenty-three” Sun Yiming puffed out his chest with pride..
When Han Qiao heard this, she calculated how much the twenty-odd books could be exchanged for. Now that she had the money for the pots and pans, her attitude naturally improved. “That’s good. You can have a few more pieces of meat tonight.”
“Do you have any wine?” Sun Yiming asked hurriedly.
“Why? You gonna get drunk and beat us again?” Han Qiao said coldly.
Her eyes glared fiercely at Sun Yiming.
Sun Yiming’s reaction was one of fright. He quickly explained, “No, it’s not that.”
“That’s good. Now go back inside and write some more for me.”
After Han Qiao finished speaking, she forgot about Sun Yiming and went back to the kitchen. She asked Sun Xiu and Sun Yi to dig out a pumpkin and put it into the pot to steam.
Then she took out all the flour she could find.
“Mom, are you going to make all of them into steamed buns?” Sun Xiu asked with a frown.
“Yes. Now steam the pumpkin. Later, you and Yi will make another trip to the bookstore.”
She knew forcing Sun Yiming to make the copies would only last so long.
No one knew when a catastrophe would come. She had to have plenty of money just in case.
Sun Xiu and Sun Yi nodded quickly.
They understood why Han Qiao was so urgent about it, so they didn’t ask any more questions.
After the pumpkins were cut up and steamed, Han Qiao went to the study.
Sun Yiming was writing rapidly.
When this man was serious, he wasn’t actually that bad. But when he was drunk and hit his wife and child, he could be really ruthless.
When Sun Yiming saw Han Qiao enter the room, he raised his head to talk to her. Han Qiao was glaring at him with fiery eyes, so he soon buried his head and continued to write.
Han Qiao went forward to check the copies of Thousand Character Classic that Sun Yiming had already written.
Sorting out all the pages, she counted a total of twenty-five books.
She picked them all up and left the room. Sun Xiu and Sun Yi were already waiting.
Han Qiao handed the stack to them. “Be careful on the road.”
“We will.”
The two sisters went out together. Han Qiao then went to grind up the steamed pumpkin and let it cool down for a while before adding the flour.
They had no yeast back then, so making steamed buns was a little complicated. The flour was a little coarse, but it smelled really good.
Han Qiao wasn’t about to use all the flour. If the steamed buns couldn’t be sold, then they would go to waste.
The well-made dough was put in the pot to ferment.
She then turned around to fill the water tank.
Sun Ke was standing in the corner of the room, torturing ants.
After the water tank was full, Han Qiao went off to tidy up the house again. She swept the inside and outside of the central room and wiped it clean.
Sun Xiu and Sun Yi returned.
Sun Xiu handed the money to Han Qiao first thing, who took the money and stuffed it in her purse.
“Let’s make the steamed buns now.”
The four of them got busy in the kitchen. They had no steamer at home, so they placed the buns on a bamboo rack in the pot to steam. This way they could steam twelve buns at a time.
By the time the buns were done, Sun Xiu had already washed the basket and prepared some gauze.
After the buns were done, Han Qiao took one and tore it up for her three daughters to taste. She tasted a piece herself, too.
“Mother, it tastes great. It’s very sweet. “Sun Ke enjoyed the taste so much, she didn’t want to swallow it.
Sun Xiu and Sun Yi, too, found it delicious.
Han Qiao took a bite. It was very chewy and fragrant.
“Mother, how much could we sell one for?” Sun Xiu asked.
“Go out onto the streets and shout, ‘steamed buns! two cash for one! three cash for two!’.”
Sun Xiu and Sun Yi didn’t find anything shameful about this at all. All they cared about was making money.
The two sisters walked out of the house. Sun Xiu was a little shy, but Sun Yi shouted loudly, “Steamed buns! Get your steamed buns here!”
“Steamed buns! They taste great!”
When Han Qiao heard them shouting, she froze in the middle of kneading.
She was hearing the voices of children who had experienced hardship and suffering. They would do anything in order to survive, without a hint of pretension.
She kneaded another twelve buns and placed them in the pot.
Sun Ke lit the fire.
Han Qiao and her daughter were dripping with sweat. It was very hot.
Sun Yiming came and stood at the door of the kitchen. He asked softly, “You told Xiu and Yi to go out to sell steamed buns?”
Han Qiao wiped her brow. “I think selling food is better than making paper dolls for coffins. What do you think?”
“…”
Sun Yiming opened his mouth but didn’t know how to answer.
“I work hard to copy books. I can earn money to support my family.”
“Yes, you can, but I think you should be more worried about all that money you borrowed from your brother. If he comes to ask for it, how are you going to repay him?”
“…”
When Sun Yiming heard that, his face turned pale. “You…you know about that?”
“Sun Yiming, who knows how much bad karma I have accumulated in past lives to marry a scumbag like you. You’re a scumbag, good-for-nothing! You’re a beast, a pig! You’re a dog!”Han Qiao cursed angrily.
She grabbed Sun Yiming’s collar and dragged him into the courtyard.
Sun Yiming quickly begged for mercy. “Don’t hit me. I’ll get back to copying. I’ll go back to the study to copy more books right now.”
Han Qiao’s hand froze in mid-air.
Then, she slowly released her hand. “Then go!”
Sun Yiming crawled back into the study and slammed the door shut. Back against the door, he felt his heart pounding out of his chest. Pure panic consumed him.