Chapter 17: Chapter 17: How Tragic Chapter 17: Chapter 17: How Tragic Ye Xinyan was in the Western Market, hawking goods for sale. Whenever someone asked about the price, she would go to great lengths to persuade and lower the price, determined to sell one or two items.
Fortunately, their goods were all practical and not worn out or unusable, and the prices were indeed pitifully low. Usually, after a few more words from Ye Xinyan, people would make a purchase. In the end, Ye Xinyan would also ask if they needed furniture or anything like that, saying they could be brought over to take a look, and the prices were very cheap.
Over four or five days, Nanny Jin prepared dry food and clothing at home, while Qi Younian repaired a single-wheel cart. Taking advantage of this time, Ye Xinyan sold all the household and furniture items from both families.
The people in the large courtyard were extremely surprised by Ye Xinyan’s actions. The young wife was indeed capable, managing to sell all the old household goods. Later, many neighbors came over upon hearing the news to look at the items and inquire about the prices, and if they liked what they saw, they bought quite a bit.
Qi Younian’s house, full of items including furniture, pots and pans, and even clothes and bedding, along with the things Ye Xinyan bought after moving in, amounted to quite a lot, yet altogether they sold for just over five hundred wen.
With this five hundred wen, they could buy several tens of catties of assorted grains, enough for ten-plus days’ food for the three of them.
Once all preparations were in order, it was nearly the end of the first month of the lunar year.
To avoid bidding farewell to neighbors and stirring up sentimentality, they left the house early that day before dawn, with their simple belongings bound to the single-wheel cart. Dressed neatly, the three left the courtyard while everyone else was still asleep.
Qi Younian pushed the single-wheel cart for a good distance out of the alley before stopping. Using the first light of dawn, he turned and looked back at the worn and patchy streets for a good while before muttering, “Let’s go.”
Ye Xinyan didn’t ask any questions, only paused and looked back as Qi Younian did, heeding the old man’s call before stepping forward again.
Indeed, unlike the two of them, Grandpa Qi had lived here for over a decade and must have had deep feelings for this place.
They left the city through the eastern gate with the first crowd of the day, heading in the direction of Yuyuan Prefecture.
This journey was different from when Ye Xinyan and Nanny Jin traveled alone as women; with Grandpa Qi accompanying them, they encountered fewer troubles on the road. Furthermore, Qi Younian had spent many years abroad, traveled to many places, and had more experience with journeys.
The three were genuinely an old man, a woman, and a child, reliant entirely on walking and also pushing a cart, which meant they couldn’t travel far in a day.
Qi Younian planned the journey. Based on their walking speed, it would take at least two months. However, Ye Xinyan felt that Old Master Qi, after all, was not spared by age, and they couldn’t rush the journey. So this two-month estimation was probably still too short.
Pushing the single-wheel cart also required skill, and this task was mainly done by Grandpa Qi. To lighten Grandpa Qi’s load a little, Ye Xinyan earnestly learned for several days and gradually took over, pushing for a while to give the old man a break.
In the beginning, the three of them would be exhausted after a day and could not cover more than twenty li. After an adjustment period, they gradually became accustomed to the daily trek after seven or eight days. Even so, they could only cover thirty-plus li a day. Although slow, Ye Xinyan still tried to persuade Qi Younian to arrange good rest times and not to exchange rest for distance traveled.
Qi Younian was getting on in years and was the main laborers behind the cart. Nanny Jin was also not young, and Ye Xinyan truly feared that rushing on the road would exhaust them and make them ill. With their tiny sum of silver, even if they planned the cheapest accommodations, there was little left. If they had to pay for medical treatment, it would quickly be used up.
As the weather gradually warmed, whenever they rested on the road, Ye Xinyan would dig up wild vegetables from the roadside grass to add variety to their monotonous diet of dry food.
The wild fields now had dandelions poking their heads out. With an egg added, boiled into a wild vegetable soup and eaten with steamed buns, it was a way to supplement various trace elements and dietary fiber, amounting to a healthy diet.
Nanny Jin and Grandpa Qi didn’t understand Ye Xinyan’s practice. Digging up wild vegetables, as they thought, was to save on food expenses. But why continue eating eggs non-stop?
In their minds, wild vegetables were something one would eat only when there was no rice to fill their stomachs, not fit to be a proper meal. Eggs, on the other hand, were a different story, as they were not something a poor person could afford.
But when they set out on their journey, the division of labor dictated that Ye Xinyan would take care of all the food and drink. Although the food prepared by Ye Xinyan might not have tasted great, it was an undeniable fact that they all remained in good health, and the cost of food was certainly not high.
The two of them felt puzzled, but Qi Younian being a man simply let the thought pass in his mind and didn’t dwell on it further. Nanny Jin, however, was different; if she had doubts, she naturally voiced them.
Ye Xinyan answered with a smile, “Wild vegetables may not taste as good as the vegetables we’re used to eating, but their efficacy is no joke. Take dandelions, for instance, not only can they be consumed, but they also have medicinal value.”
Ye Xinyan had her own way of thinking.
Eating wild vegetables could not only save money but was also beneficial to their health, much better than just gnawing on mixed grain pancakes and cornbread. As for eggs, they were only two wen apiece, and having one a day in the vegetable soup meant spending just sixty wen in a month, much cheaper than medicine.
This continued journey of more than twenty days saw them cover less than one-third of the distance.
Ye Xinyan, although outwardly she kept reassuring Qi Younian and Nanny Jin, was beginning to worry about the remainder of the journey. How many years would it take for them to reach their destination? After all, they were not on a pilgrimage; they did not have such strong faith to sustain them.
Moreover, if they continued , by the time they reached Eastern Yu, would they not look as wretched as beggars? How much face would Grandpa Qi lose in front of the fellow villagers? Returning home in ragged clothes, looking gaunt and feeble… surely the greeting they would receive would be one of sympathy, pity, and contempt?
She didn’t mind for herself, but for Grandpa Qi, coming home after so many years, only to face such gazes was truly disheartening for her.
Over these days, staying in inns had cost nearly eight taels of silver for the three of them. At this rate, by the time they returned to Grandpa Qi’s hometown, they wouldn’t have any money left to even put up a decent front, assuming no mishaps occurred on the road.
At noon, the trio sat on the roadside, holding their bowls and eating wild vegetable soup with mixed grain pancakes. Ye Xinyan pondered the upcoming challenges.
The cart they used for this trip was equipped with a pot and a simple stand that could be set up at any time to boil soup and porridge; the cornbread and mixed grain pancakes were made in stores or borrowed from the homes of fellow villagers.
As Ye Xinyan chewed on the dry, hard pancakes, she thought about Grandpa Qi’s return. Perhaps she should discuss with him the possibility of settling in one of the busier towns they passed through, to do some trading for a year or half, make some money, and then continue home?
Or they could stop staying in inns. With the weather warming up, they could consider sleeping in dilapidated temples. That way, upon reaching Eastern Yu, they could use the money saved from lodging to buy some clothes, purchase gifts, and hire a horse-drawn cart to return home, putting on a façade for Grandpa Qi for a while?
But the question was, could Grandpa Qi and Nanny Jin endure not staying in inns anymore?
It was nearly the end of the second month, and while there were not many travelers on the road, there weren’t few either. But there was hardly anyone as down-and-out as they were.
Others also stopped to rest along the way, carrying proper cooked food with them. Anyone traveling long distances at least had the physical strength or led a donkey, or rode in an ox cart.
Pushing a single-wheeled cart for a long journey was unique to the three of them. Furthermore, cooking by the roadside with wild vegetables picked from the wayside—how miserable can it get?
It was miserable enough, yet they even encountered spectators. What a world… well, that something—of course, who the onlookers are also matters.