The Lady Butcher and the Delicate Bride - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Seeing that her crops were growing fast and well, the heart that Mu Dingxiang had been holding in her throat finally settled back down. The vegetable plot she had planted earlier was already ready to eat; Chu Yu no longer needed to buy greens back from the county. However, Zhu-er mentioned that there were still quite a few insects in the vegetable patch to deal with, so Mu Dingxiang began to harbor thoughts of raising chickens.

Chu Yu herself was a butcher who slaughtered pigs every day, and meat was rarely lacking at home, so there was no need to raise pigs. But raising a dozen or so chickens and letting them out into the fields would deal with the insects and provide eggs. Moreover, since the Chu family was in this small valley and chickens wouldn’t cross the river, they could just ask the Old Vine Tree to keep a slight eye out; there was no fear of the chickens getting lost.

She would have Chu Yu build a chicken coop later as long as it provided shelter from the wind and rain, it would suffice.

Slightly further up from the Chu family’s valley, there was a branched-off small river channel that was blocked year-round, accumulating a lot of silt. This place was quite far from everyone else’s rice fields but very close to the Chu family’s side. This immediately solved the problem of insufficient fertilizer in the fields, making up for the lack of manure irrigation. Mu Dingxiang made it a point to carry five or six shoulder-pole loads to her own fields every day, mixing it into the soil as she filled; the seedlings in the fields grew better and better.

Later, Chu Yu saw this. Because Mu Dingxiang was young, Chu Yu worried that carrying such heavy loads all the time would prevent her from growing tall, and since she had such thin arms and legs, Chu Yu told her not to carry them. She told her to wait until Chu Yu finished work and returned in the afternoon to carry them instead.

Chu Yu got up before dawn every day to handle a pig weighing two to three hundred catties; she certainly consumed a lot of physical strength. How could Mu Dingxiang bear to let her carry mud after returning home? She still stubbornly got up in the morning to carry a few loads. After being scolded by Chu Yu several times, she had to move this chore to the afternoon to do it together once Chu Yu returned.

By now, aside from the seedlings, the weeds in the fields had been cleared completely. Looking at the large expanse of tidy plants across the stone bridge made one feel refreshed and joyful. The only drawback was that as far as the eye could see, there was no trace of human habitation or hearth smoke, which made Chu Yu even more determined to build a house.

The field work was just those few tasks, and Mu Dingxiang was no longer as busy as before. Seeing Chu Yu return, she spoke to her about the matter of raising chickens. Chu Yu naturally had no objections; after a short noon nap, she went to work on the chicken crates, while Mu Dingxiang gathered the clothes Chu Yu had changed out of to take to the river to wash.

There was spring water on the back mountain, but the flow was small. Collecting it in the water vat was barely enough for daily cooking, dishwashing, and bathing, but for washing clothes, the flow was too small to make rinsing and bleaching convenient. Therefore, every time she washed clothes, she still had to go to the riverbank, fortunately, it was only a few steps away.

Since Mu Dingxiang had come over, Chu Yu hadn’t let her help with the laundry at first because her hand was injured. Later, when the hand healed, Chu Yu felt a bit embarrassed about things like undergarments and inner robes, so she had insisted on washing them herself. Recently, the two of them had determined to build a house together and plan for their future life; Mu Dingxiang felt there was no need for such formality between them anymore, so she put the clothes Chu Yu had changed out of at noon into a wooden basin and carried them to the river.

When Chu Yu finished the chicken crates and saw the clothes were gone, she knew the girl had taken them to wash, and she couldn’t help but feel a burst of bashfulness.

Outside the cave hung several long bamboo poles, which the two specifically used for drying clothes and quilts. Chu Yu watched as Mu Dingxiang skillfully shook out her garments one by one and spread them out on the bamboo poles to dry. Especially when she reached a few small inner garments, Chu Yu’s face turned red. She hurried over and said, “I’ll hang these few pieces myself.”

Mu Dingxiang gave her a look: “I’ve already washed them; what are you still embarrassed about regarding hanging them?”

Looking at the young girl who was ten years younger than herself, Chu Yu still felt a bit embarrassed. She forced her gaze away from those small garments, cleared her throat, and said, “Back at the Mu house, did you have to wash the clothes for the whole family?”

At the thought of Mu Dingxiang having to wash such intimate garments for her father and brother, Chu Yu felt very uncomfortable in her heart.

“What are you thinking? I left early every morning to busy myself in the fields. Once the field work was done, I went to help others cut pig grass to earn a few coppers. I only went home at night to sleep; how would I have time to wash their clothes?” Mu Dingxiang didn’t realize Chu Yu would be so sensitive about such a thing.

She added another sentence: “My mother did want me to help wash them together, but I refused. I’d rather spend the freezing winter months working in the fields than touch their clothes. If they aren’t washed clean or get ruined, I’d just be scolded; why would I do such a thankless task? So, besides my own, I’ve only ever washed your clothes.”

Hearing this, Chu Yu’s heart inexplicably felt lightened, but she still couldn’t help emphasizing: “Then in the future, you can only wash my clothes and your own.”

Mu Dingxiang burst out laughing: “Why are you so overbearing? Right now, I naturally only wash the clothes of the two of us. From now on, I’ll be living with you forever, so there will only be us. We don’t have children; whose else’s clothes would I wash?”

At the mention of children, Mu Dingxiang couldn’t help but think of Zhu-er’s innocent remarks from the morning and felt a bit bashful. That little bamboo demon truly was a precocious brat.

Chu Yu looked at Mu Dingxiang’s suddenly flushed small face. Coupled with her skin, which had begun to turn fair over these past few months, and her frame, which had gained some flesh, the whole person actually appeared to have more charm. She was already good-looking to begin with; now, infused with such a glow, Chu Yu actually forgot to look away for a moment.

Being stared at by such a burning gaze, it was impossible for Mu Dingxiang to pretend she didn’t notice. She had to turn her back and finish hanging the remaining clothes, allowing the other person’s gaze to remain glued to her back and shoulders.

Seeing Mu Dingxiang turn around, Chu Yu finally realized she had been staring at the young girl like a fool for a long time. She felt a bit embarrassed as well, rubbed her nose, and went into the cave. She boiled a pot of tea and placed it on the stone table; seeing Mu Dingxiang finish her work, she called her inside.

After pouring tea for the two of them, she took out the money earned today and piled it on the table.

In this region, there were two ways for butchers to slaughter pigs. One was where the butcher was responsible for the slaughter for a fixed fee of three hundred wen, but the owner of the pig had to follow along to the county to sell the meat and collect the money; the butcher helped with deboning, cutting, and weighing, while the owner set the price and took the cash. Whatever was earned went to the owner, and the butcher just earned a fee for the hard labor.

The other way was where the butcher bought the entire pig outright, paying for the live pig by weight. After slaughtering and keeping some of the offal, the butcher took the whole thing to the meat stall to sell, setting their own prices and bearing their own profits or losses.

Chu Yu and Shi Man used the second method, so they had very high requirements for live pigs; the better the pig grew, and the fatter it was, the better it sold. Chu Yu had a sharp eye; the pigs she selected were all top-tier. Over the years, she had long established a reputation; every time she sold meat, it was snatched up quickly.

When people went to her meat stall, they didn’t have to worry about buying meat from dead pigs, sick pigs, or old sows. Sometimes when adults were busy, they would give a few coppers to a four- or five-year-old child to bring back a catty or two of pork, and there was never a mistake.

Although the second method carried more risk, it also earned more money. Every pig could earn about seven to eight hundred wen. She and Shi Man split the earnings 60/40 Chu Yu took six, Shi Man took four.

In the beginning, Chu Yu had insisted on an equal split, but Shi Man knew full well that without Chu Yu, he simply couldn’t do this job. Chu Yu was different; she could start work normally with anyone as a partner. At Shi Man’s insistence, they followed the current split. For all these years of partnership, there had never been a single error. Shi Man could earn two to three hundred a day following Chu Yu and was long since satisfied; if not for Chu Yu, he didn’t know where he would be begging for food right now.

There were many people buying meat in the morning, so the copper coins were tossed casually into a basket. At noon, Shi Man would divide the money and they would each take their share home. Sometimes they were too tired to count and would bundle everything for one person to take back; they would count at night and give the other their share the next day. This was a common occurrence.

Mu Dingxiang looked at the small cloth bag holding a large, full pile of copper coins, and her eyes couldn’t help but sparkle.

“Little money-grubber, open it and count how much was earned today.”

Mu Dingxiang enthusiastically opened the bundle. Seeing the large pile of copper coins, she began to work. she counted very quickly and was done in no time.

“Three taels plus three hundred and fifty wen! Chu Yu, that’s so much money.”

“It’s not that much. You still have to subtract the two thousand five hundred wen I took out this morning. The remainder is the profit from today’s pig. Four parts of that money belong to Shi Man, and the rest is mine,” Chu Yu laughed.

Mu Dingxiang’s mind worked very quickly. Taking a brush and paper, she made a few marks and immediately reached the result: “This pig earned eight hundred and fifty wen. Yours is five hundred and ten wen, and Shi Man’s is three hundred and forty wen.”

Chu Yu was amazed at Mu Dingxiang’s calculation ability. She herself was a rough person who found counting money and math the biggest headache. Shi Man was even worse; every day when they closed the stall, he would make all sorts of excuses not to count the money. It seemed she wouldn’t have to worry about calculating back and forth in the future, as she now had a “manager-wife” at home.

“Little Wood, how did you calculate that? And so fast too?”

“I’m not telling you,” Mu Dingxiang said with a fair bit of pride. It was rare for her to have a skill where she was much better than Chu Yu.

Chu Yu saw the result and merely marveled for a moment; she was actually too lazy to investigate how the girl calculated it. As long as someone was doing the work from now on, that was enough.

“Leave two thousand five hundred copper coins for my capital tomorrow, and go save the rest.”

Mu Dingxiang happily went to find the large money jar. She put five hundred wen in. As for the remaining ten wen, she placed them in Chu Yu’s palm and said, “These ten are a reward for you. Go buy two roasted wheat cakes to eat tomorrow.”

Chu Yu giggled: “You’re quite shrewd, rewarding me with the silver I earned myself. If we were in a wealthy household, you would be a peerless Mistress of the House.”

Mu Dingxiang’s small face flushed. She lifted her chin and said indignantly, “Show me which Mistress of a wealthy house has to do the work personally? Don’t they all unify the household’s silver and then distribute it slowly? Is there a problem with me doing this?”

After her teasing, Chu Yu hurried to curry favor: “No problem, no problem at all. How much incense must the Chu family ancestors have burned in their past lives for me to marry such a good wife, keeping the home in such perfect order? I couldn’t be happier.”

“Look at how insincere you are,” Mu Dingxiang said, but her hands were not hesitant at all. She stood up, chin raised, sealed the lid of the money jar, and carried it back to put it away.

Chu Yu looked at her exposed fair and slender neck. Her heart suddenly tightened, and her throat felt inexplicably dry. She was caught dead-on by the gaze the other person turned toward her. She hurriedly lowered her head, took a small sip of tea, and pretended to look elsewhere as if nothing were wrong yet she didn’t know her heart had suddenly skipped a beat.