The Blessed

“Do you think this agreement will work?”

Before long, the shopkeeper handed a new agreement to him. It didn’t have many changes, only added the clause about the extra amount he had to supply and one tael of silver for one jin. Ling Jingxuan quickly viewed it, took over the seal and pressed his fingerprint, which indicated that their partnership had been established.

“Now that the matter is settled, I will not disturb you more. The restaurant is still busy.”

The shopkeeper took out yesterday’s agreement and tore it before Ling Jingxuan. After putting away the new agreement, he was about to leave. Ling Jingxuan hurriedly said, “Jingpeng? Jingpeng?”

Until this time he was aware that his younger brother had already kept drifting away. Glancing at the bundle in his arms, Ling Jingxuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Just a hundred taels of silver! Come oN!

“Jingpeng, Jingpeng…”

“Ah? You called me?”

Under Jingxuan’s push and shove, Ling Jingpeng finally came back to himself, but still it was only confusing feeling in those pair of bright eyes.

Ling Jingxuan shook his head helplessly, “They are leaving. You take them to carry the jam in the cellar.”

“Oh, then this… here you are!”

The puzzlement in the eyes instantly wore off, Ling Jingpeng couldn’t help blushing. He ran away with his head down after stuffing the bundle to Ling Jingxuan. The two servants of Shopkeeper Zhang then followed behind. Ling Jingxuan gave a slight smile, “Sorry to make you laugh. You know, my younger brother has never seen the outside world. So he was a bit in a gaffe.”

But at least he is better than his little bun, and it would be a shame if he also fell down like his little bun.

“Never mind. Never mind. Young men, I know. They need experience and toughening. Oh right, brother Ling, there’s something you don’t know. Yesterday a plague outbroke in Pingan Hall in the town. The county magistrate hurried over taking the yamen runners. It’s said that the village that kid lives in has been quarantined. Fortunately Pingan Hall brought out the prescription for the precaution and treatment in the first place and the plague didn’t spread out. You’d better go to the town and buy a few doses of herbs. And, the county magistrate also brought the news about conscription. A war broke out at the front line, so the Court decides to draft temporarily. Every family with two or more 14 to 35 laborers has to offer one. I heard you have two younger brothers, so you’d better make preparations ahead. I’m afraid soon the official announcement would be issued to all villages.”

When Shopkeeper Zhang said the former part, Ling Jingxuan still looked unconcerned. When he came to the drafting part, Ling Jingxuan abruptly frowned. He didn’t care at all, since he was way below the standard for sure. But his younger brother would be dangerous. Given the whole family’s ignorance of his parents, plus yesterday’s thing, once the announced was issued, they’d definitely let Jingpeng go! Damn it! Why does it come at such a time? In times of cold arms, being a soldier means death!

Unaware of the murderous feeling under his eyes, Shopkeeper Zhang only thought he was worried as he was frowning there. So he hurriedly told him the remedies. All years’ battles, the national treasury has been in short supply, and the military expenditure is also very tense. So money and soldiers are both very important.

“Hmm, thank you for letting me know, brother Zhang.”

Withdrawing the killing feeling in the eyes, Ling Jingxuan cupped his hands and already wore a faint smile on the face. In the world, there’s no absolute good or bad thing. It might be a good chance for them. Who knows?

“You are welcome, brother Ling. I am just telling you it. You don’t have to thank me.”

On hearing how they called each other, one could tell their relationship had gotten one step closer. For this, Shopkeeper Zhang was very happy. He really liked this young man everyone called monster. He didn’t know why. He always had a strange feeling! This man isn’t a walk-over.

“Haha… I got nothing here, only got some mushroom I picked in the mountain to show my gratitude. Please take them with you.”

Hearing that, Ling Jingxuan also did not say much. He stood up and picked up a broken dustpan from the cupboard aside, where he got those mushrooms that had been soaked with the water from the Crescent Spring aired in. They were still very fresh now.

“What?! Mushrooms?”

Shopkeeper Zhang excitedly grabbed the dustpan, picked up one with his trembling hand to sniff, after quite a while, he turned to Ling Jingxuan and asked gingerly, “Can you distinguish mushrooms?”

Nodding, looking confused under that pair of phoenix long and thin eyes. Even a common person could distinguish those edible mushrooms from those poisonous ones, right? Let alone he is a skilled doctor and a killer.

“How can that be? Do you have any idea how precious mushrooms are? In the capital they even have a profession called mushroom identifier, only working for those big restaurants and big families. Even they would make a mistake sometimes and pick those poisonous mushrooms. Almost every year, people would die of it. It’s said mushroom identifiers only run in the family. They wouldn’t teach an outsider. How did you learn it?”

Hearing here, Ling Jingxuan finally know why he was so excited, and also suddenly remembered that when he picked mushrooms for the first time in the mountain, the little bun also said those mushrooms are poisonous and what he picked them for. At the time, he only thought the little bun was too small, so he didn’t know mushrooms are also edible. Heihei…can he say he has found another way of making a fortune?

“When I was a kid, I once met a traveling barefoot doctor who taught me science and how to distinguish mushrooms.”

Ling Jingxuan fabricated a character, anyway, no one would really go check it, right?

“No wonder. Brother Ling, you are really lucky. If you can pick more mushrooms later, you must send them to our Xinyuan Restaurant first. Don’t worry, I will give you a good price.”

The shopkeeper did not think so much. He patted his shoulder and laughed, but still did not forgot to pull a piece of cloth from his chest to wrap all the mushrooms in the dustpan. Those are something good!

“Well, thank you, brother Zhang. It seems they are finished with the jam. Let’s go and have a look.”

Now was not the season of mushroom proliferation. Ling Jingxuan did plan to say more about it, only with one hand behind his back, while the other making a ‘please’ gesture. The shopkeeper held that bundle of mushrooms cheerly, with undisguised satisfaction under his eyes.

Under Ling Jingpeng and a few guys’ working together, one hundred jars of jam were soon move out, and they also weighed the fish by the way, a total of 35 fish, one hundred and thirty jin, ten copper coins for one jin, one thousand three hundred in total. As the shopkeeper was about to pay, Ling Jingxuan suggested he pay every tens day to save trouble, as he thought anyway it was a long-term supply. What reason did the shopkeeper have to say no?

“Daddy, daddy… is all this money ours?”

After seeing off the shopkeeper, the two brothers turned back and walked to the room. Before they stepped in, Ling Wen holding the bundle ran out, with Ling Wu with a face of excitement following behind.

Looking at his moneygrubber face, Ling Jingxuan couldn’t help smiling. After holding their hands to walk into the room, he said slowly, “Yes, it’s one hundred taels of silver. Shopkeeper Zhang has signed a long-term agreement with me. And we’d have more one hundred taels of silver! Not only that, he even booked our fish. He’d send someone here to fetch the fish every morning. And those mushrooms, he said those are something good, even more expensive than meat. He said if we can pick more, we must sell them to him. Then we got another income. So you’d feel more secure now, right?”

Alas, his sons love money, and as their dad, he could only manage to make money.

“Really?! If so, we’ll stop eating the mushrooms and sell them for money.”

Hearing this, Ling Wen made a decisive decision.

“Huh?”

Ling Jingxuan only felt dark before his eyes, the corners of the mouth could not help twitching, “Well, Xiaowen, you know, mushrooms are the only nutritious food in our family. How can we sell them all?”

When can he raise them into meat stuffed buns?

“Don’t worry. I have thought it through. Daddy, didn’t you say mushrooms are more expensive than meat? Then we use the money we earn from those mushroom to buy two piglets. We can butcher them after they grow big enough for New Year!”

Seeing he was saying it so clearly and logically, Ling Jingxuan only wanted to hit on a piece of tofu to kill himself! Why did he tell him mushrooms could sell for money? How about now? The only fairly delicious food was gone!

“Daddy, that’s a good idea. Buy piglets! I want to eat pork!”

The two buns did not notice their dad’s frustration. The big bun was offering his plan while the small bun circled around the room, clapping. Ling Jingxuan felt soft and collapsed onto the table feebly. One is a money slave, while the other a big foodie. Troubles never come singly, right?

“Haha…big brother, I think that idea would do. We can also buy some little chickens to raise. They can lay eggs. But Xiaowen, you can’t sell those eggs. We should keep them for nutrition. Look at your skinny body! Even if you don’t consider it for yourself, you should consider it for your dad and Xiaowu.”

Ling Jingpeng, who sensed everything under his eyes, could feel how his big brother felt, really! But…in the future, he’d definite forbid his kids to contact Xiaowen much. His stingy character is really annoying, though it’s really funny sometimes.

“I, I know.”

Being taught by his uncle, even if he didn’t consider it to that level, he still couldn’t help blushing.

“Haha…”

Ling Jingpeng could not help laughing, holding the belly. He bet if he didn’t remind him ahead, his little nephew would definitely plan to sell those eggs.

After giving a hard stare at his uncle who already had no image due to his wild laughing, Ling Wen then found his ‘dying’ dad. Taking a look at the shining silver in the hand, and thinking of what he just said, Ling Wen suddenly felt kind of guilty. He walked over to pull a corner of Ling Jingxuan’s robe and said gingerly, “Daddy, are you mad?”

“Ah? No, I just think it’s not a bad idea to reduce expenditure. If we want to get rich, we’d better mainly focus on increasing income and reducing expenditure. Xiaowen, do you still remember what I told you? Before doing anything we must have a healthy body. Look at us, all so skinny, like only a bunch of bones left. Whatever we do, we’d pant like a dog. We were poor before and we have no right to complain. But now we are rich. And we’d make more money in the future. Shouldn’t we loosen the criteria and eat something good?”

With his head tilted, Ling Wen’s black eyebrows were furrowed and loosened from time to time, as if he was thinking over what he had said. After quite a while, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, saying it was like cutting his flesh, “Then we’ll buy wheat flour and rice to eat, and buy some meat from time to time, does that work?”

“Hmm, that’s more like it. Not only meat, we have to eat one egg a day. I also plan to go to the town to buy a milch cow or goat. You are five years old, but still look like three or four. You know how daddy feels? Daddy is a doctor. So about food, leave it all to daddy. I told you, I’d raise you into super meat stuffed buns! Give me that chance!”

It’s really not an easy thing that the big bun would made concession. Ling Jingxuan’s depression got dispelled immediately and he also tried to seize back part of power in the family, no more. His son being stingy may be a good thing, isn’t it? At least they could save money, right?