Ch. 46..50: The Princess of Northern Land Chapter 46-50

Chapter 46 Jealousy(2)_1 “Alright.” Lin Changshu agreed.

They rubbed themselves with medicinal liquor they had at home, and only then did they feel their injuries start to ease.

“What happened?” The patriarch asked as he entered the house, panting with two children in tow, along with the folks from the Bai Family.

“Oh, it hurts.” Lin Yanzhi burst into tears when he saw the injuries on Lin Changshu’s face.

“It’s just a minor flesh wound.” Lin Changshu responded awkwardly. Seeing her son crying so fiercely, Guo Huiniang had no choice but to go calm him down.

“How did you get hurt so badly?” Seeing the bruises on the pair’s faces, Bai Dazhuang asked anxiously.

Because Lin Changshu and Wu Dayou returned at noon, with their injuries clearly visible, everyone in the village knew they had been assaulted. Thus, when the members of the Bai family returned from the fields, they also came to check on them, and saw the patriarch returning home with two children carrying baskets before even entering the house.

Seeing their concern, Lin Changshu explained the incident once again.

“Those people are under the control of Lai Zi Li, just a bunch of desperados. Your business is in a precarious position.” Bai Dazhuang furrowed his brows after hearing the story.

Like them, he also frequently sought work in the market, so he understood the kind of people there.

“Bai brother, I have a favor to ask.” Lin Ziyin started, smiling.

“Go ahead.” Bai Dazhuang looked at her and asked.

“We have an agreement with the meat vendor in the market. Could you perhaps go and inform them that we’ll pick it up on the fourteenth? We can’t go there right now.” Lin Ziyin said embarrassingly, “None of us can go there for the time being.”

“Alright, I will head to the market this afternoon.” Bai Dazhuang agreed straightforwardly.

“Serves them right.” The village wasn’t very big, so Yan soon got word that Lin Changshu had been assaulted at the market. Upon hearing this, she laughed gleefully.

“Mom, why are you happy?” Ma Zhicai furrowed his brows, looking at his mother, “If they’re out of business, how will they repay our silver?”

“If there’s no silver, they can pay back with their land.”, Yan said nonchalantly. The Lin Family had faced a series of misfortunes, and their resources were drying up. However, the three acres of paddy fields they had left were prime assets.

She had wanted them for a while. If the Lin family couldn’t come up with the silver to repay their debt, using the land to compensate would be perfect.

Upon hearing this, Ma Zhicai’s furrowed brows relaxed a bit, and he didn’t say anything more.

The villagers gradually came to visit Lin Changshu and Wu Dayou, under the guise of concern. After everyone had left, it was almost dark.

“This is the money for selling tofu and braised pork, amounting to slightly over two taels.” Lin Changshu handed the money bag to Lin Ziyin.

“Grandpa, big brother, give these forty coppers to the miller, and say it’s for renting the millstone.” Lin Ziyin counted the coppers and handed them to Lin Changshu. “Use the rest to buy back the jars tomorrow.”

“Alright. I’ll give you the rest when we get back.” Lin Changshu agreed.

The patriarch didn’t object. Ziyin was considerate. Even though villagers might be simple, when it came to money, suspicion could creep in over time.

Renting with silver was different.

After dinner, the patriarch and Lin Changshu took the forty coppers to the house of Elder Barbarian at the village entrance.

The Barbarian family’s life was only slightly better than the Lin family’s. The five members of the Barbarian family opened their eyes wide in shock when they saw the forty coppers brought by the patriarch and Lin Changshu.

The patriarch voluntarily explained the reason for the coppers.

“We cannot accept this.” The Elder Barbarian was poor, but honest. Upon hearing it, he attempted to return the coppers to the Lin family. “It’s just borrowing the millstone. We’re not using it either, we can’t accept these coppers.”

“You take it. I feel better using the millstone this way. If you’re willing to continue lending the millstone to me, then you must take this money, for at least a few months.” They exchanged words up to the entrance, and the Elder Barbarian felt rather embarrassed, with his family members also trying to return the coppers.

Next door lived the Ma family’s second wife, the high-cheekboned woman from the Bao family. The Barbarian family didn’t have a courtyard, so what happened on this side could be clearly heard from next door. When the Lin family gave the Elder Barbarian forty coppers, saying they wanted to rent the millstone, Bao’s eyes turned red from envy and she almost wished she could run over and snatch the coppers herself.

Chapter 47 New Product (1)_1 “I’ve clearly got money, yet I still have to owe someone else silver, pretending to be poor and oblivious everywhere. People like this can’t be indulged. They’ve got no shame and want to ruin other people’s reputation. Only because we’re honest folks do we end up being repeatedly deceived by such beasts.” Unable to get the silver, Ma Family members stood at the door and loudly insinuated this.

Their household didn’t have a courtyard, so both the retreating workers from Old Man’s house and Lin Changshu and the old master heard her words. They also saw her caustic face and all were abruptly stunned.

“Take it, or we’ll be upset,” Lin Changshu’s face was still bruised and looked a bit ghastly in the moonlight. “We’ve used your things, so we should, of course, give you silver. One should be conscientious. If you don’t accept it, we won’t feel at ease using it. Our Lin Family has always been honest and upright, not like some beastly families who might appear human on the outside, but are no good deep down. We of the Lin Family don’t take advantage of others. Those beastly people are still not contented and make a ruckus everywhere. But of course, one can’t expect a beast to understand reason.”

Though his words didn’t contain any curse words, they were directed straight at the Bao Family.

The Bao Family lady’s face instantly turned green and red. However, the Old Man’s family couldn’t help but want to laugh.

The Lin Changshu of old would never utter such harsh words. But these past few days, dealing business with Lin Ziyin, has enlightened the honest man: constant concession in front of evil people isn’t a good strategy.

Lin Changshu wasn’t a fool to begin with, his previous silence and taciturn demeanor were because he carried too much burden and simply didn’t want to argue with people.

“Who are you scolding?” Mrs. Bao was fuming.

“I scold whoever is acting beastly.” Lin Changshu gave her a glance, “Grandfather, let’s go home.”

Mrs. Bao wanted to rush over, but Ma Erliang came out and quietly stopped her, “Can’t you see Lin Changshu is fuming? You think you can fight them both?”

Mrs. Bao glances to see her two boys are asleep, while Ma Erliang is always cunning, when it comes to a fight, they would definitely be at a disadvantage. Therefore, she heavily spat towards Lin Changshu’s retreating figure, “Shameless, serves you right to get thrashed.”

Once the millstone was rented, Lin Ziyin’s heart was at ease.

The next day, although they didn’t need to deliver tofu to the temple, Lin Ziyin was still busy making tofu at dawn.

“What are we going to do with all this tofu?” Facing a large pile of tofu, Lin Zige and Guo Huiniang weren’t as joyful as before, instead they sighed despondently from time to time.

“Sister-in-law, cut all the tofu into chunks this size. Try to cut them as evenly as possible.” Lin Ziyin didn’t stop to rest, as soon as the tofu cooled, she was busy at work.

“I’m going to the head of the village to borrow an ox-cart.” Wu Dayou said, after finishing his tofu soup and wiping his mouth.

“Wait a moment.” Lin Ziyin answered with a slight smile, cutting a large chunk of tofu and placing it in a basket for him, “Take this to the village head for his family to taste.”

“Alright then.” Wu Dayou looked stunned, wasn’t it said that the tofu would be kept a secret? However, after seeing Lin Ziyin’s smiling eyes, he seemed to understand, “Elder Uncle’s mouth is tight, he won’t go around spilling the beans.”

Lin Ziyin nodded, cut another piece for Lin Changshu, “Brother, take this piece to the Bai family.”

Lin Changshu also agreed, the Bai Family had helped them by explaining their situation to the butcher and the temple yesterday, so this favor needed to be returned.

“Sister, bring me the wooden box.” Lin Ziyin said to Lin Zige.

Lin Zige didn’t understand why she had cut all that good tofu into chunks and was feeling vexed. Hearing her request, she unenthusiastically passed the wooden box to her.

Chapter 48 New Product (2)_1 “Spread clean straw in the wooden box.” Lin Ziyin was busy but exhilarated.

“Alright.” Lin Zige complied and swiftly laid down the straw.

Lin Ziyin arranged all the chunks of tofu on the straw, then she covered the tofu with another layer of straw, placed another layer of tofu, and repeated this for three layers before finally finishing with closing the lid, “Sister, carry the wooden box to the side.”

It wasn’t that Lin Ziyin was trying to shirk physical labor by ordering Lin Zige around, but because her health was so poor that she really couldn’t do it even if she dared to. Nevertheless, she persisted in exercising every day.

“Okay.” Lin Zige placed the wooden box to the side with some effort.

The three women had been busy all the morning, but finally, they managed to slice up most of the tofu and store it away.

“Sister, we’re back.” Because Lin Ziyin could cook delicious food, upon their return, Lin Changting and Lin Yanzhi would always look for her first.

“Okay, for lunch, we’ll have deep fried tofu and potato stewed meat.” Lin Ziyin said.

Aside from beans, their house also boasted an abundance of potatoes. When she first saw the potatoes, Lin Ziyin was stunned. It hadn’t occurred to her that she would find this kind of foreign food in this era.

“Okay.” The two kids happyly agreed.

“Grandpa, who in the village has rice wine? Can you help me buy some?” Lin Ziyin came out of the kitchen and addressed the old man.

“No need to buy, we have some at home.” The old man answered after glancing at her.

He placed the pig feed under the shadow of the wall to avoid the sun, and then fetched water to wash his hands.

“We should go up to the mountain this afternoon.” Lin Ziyin said with a smile.

“Alright, your brothers are back too, we can all go together.” The old man agreed, thinking that she probably wanted to find some medicinal herbs or wild vegetables.

At lunchtime, Lin Ziyin not only cooked meat and tofu, but also fried kidney and pork intestines, and everyone including Wu Dayou, who had just arrived, had a hearty meal.

“Going to the mountain? I’ll come too, maybe I could even hunt some game.” Wu Dayou was anxious for an opportunity to return the favor. Despite his thick-skinned nature, he couldn’t comfortably continue to eat for free at the Lin’s household forever.

As for staying at the Lin’s and helping out these past few days, he personally didn’t think it was a big deal.

“I’m coming too.” Lin Changting quickly expressed his intent to join them.

“Me too.” Lin Yanzhi joined the chorus.

“Fine, you can all come.” Upon seeing the eager look in the children’s eyes, Lin Ziyin was unable to say no.

“Taking them to the mountain will be troublesome and we won’t get anything done.” Guo Huiniang expressed her disapproval.

“It’s okay, the brother can watch over them.” Lin Ziyin responded, smiling.

In the end, they decided to bring the two little ones along.

The children were so excited they didn’t know how to express their feelings, and they ran wildly around the village.

When the villagers saw this, they shook their heads in disbelief.

“Have the Lin’s gone mad from poverty? They’ve just been beaten up because of their small business, and now they’re acting so merry, could it be they’ve been knocked senseless?”

But Lou Zheng, who had received the tofu, didn’t feel the same way. At noontime, his family cooked the tofu with vegetables and found the tofu to be so smooth, almost comparable to eggs.

Lou Zheng’s eyes lit up. No wonder people at the market were envious for the tofu.

“The Lins may be on the rise.” Lou Zheng sighed, “They’re the ones kind-hearted enough to bring something over. Everyone here keep your mouths shut, don’t just gossip.”

“Yes, Dad.” His son replied. Everyone in the family agreed. In Lou Zheng’s household, his word was law.

“In the future, get to know the Lin’s a little better.” Lou Zheng instructed, “This afternoon, pull out some of our vegetables and bring them over.”

“Dad, I’ll bring it over this afternoon.” The eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Wei, wasn’t a pushover. Upon hearing her father-in-law’s words, she agreed at once.

Chapter 49 Guest (1)_1 This time, the Lin family headed up the mountain with a clear objective. Since Lin Yanzhi was too small and could hardly keep up, Lin Changshu and Wu Dayou took turns carrying him up the mountain.

“Harvest all these water knotweeds,” Lin Ziyin swiftly instructed the family.

“Alright, leave it to me.” Wu Dayou was initially planning to hunt a few game in the mountain with Lin Changshu, but since they were accompanied by two youngsters, he decided to help Lin Ziyin with the work instead.

Lin Changting, who turned six this year, often took on the responsibilities of an adult due to the family’s poverty and the need to care for Lin Yanzhi. After they reached the mountaintop, he promptly started helping Lin Ziyin with the foraging.

There’s strength in numbers. In less than an hour, Lin Ziyin and Wu Dayou’s baskets were filled with the valuable things they had found.

“Sis, there are fish!” Lin Changting exclaimed excitedly once they got to a stream.

“Fish.” Lin Yanzhi hadn’t seen the fish, but he always echoed his older brother regardless of the topic.

“Let’s head back down. These are just guppies, barely enough to get caught in your teeth,” Wu Dayou joked, grinning. “If you want fish, I can catch a few for you in a couple of days.”

“Fish doesn’t taste good; it’s too fishy. Just coax him as you wish,” Lin Changshu defended his brother from his friend’s teasing.

“Brother Wu, can you catch fish?” Lin Ziyin’s eyes lit up at the possibility.

“I can’t promise a large amount, but I can certainly catch a few fish,” Wu Dayou answered cheerfully, “Your big brother can too.”

When they were kids, whose mischievous antics didn’t involve catching a few fish in the river?

“If you can bring me a few, I can cook them for you. I guarantee there won’t be any fishy smell,” Lin Ziyin said with a smile, already stepping toward the stream.

Indeed, the mountain streams were filled with fish, but none of them were big. As Wu Dayou had stated, they’d hardly make a dent in filling one’s stomach.

Regardless, Lin Ziyin was delighted. The taste of mountain fish was undoubtedly more unique than those from elsewhere.

“Let’s catch some with baskets and take them home. I’ll make fish dumplings for you tonight,” Lin Ziyin proposed cheerfully.

“Alright.” When Wu Dayou heard there was food involved, he got straight to it and began catching fish using the empty basket Ziyin carried on her back. The stream’s fish might be small, but they were not few. In a short time, by employing rustic methods, he managed to fill half the basket with fish.

“That’s enough,” Lin Ziyin said, beaming.

With that, they all set off back home.

“Lin Lao Master, Ziyin, you’re back!” As soon as they returned home, Lin Ziyin saw a group of people sitting in the house, sharing laughter with Guo Huiniang and Lin Zige.

She recognized the mother and daughter-in-law from the Bai family, but she wasn’t familiar with the other older woman and young woman.

“This is Mrs. Zhang from the Lou Zheng family, and this is her daughter-in-law. You should call her Sister Zhang from now on,” Guo Huiniang introduced.

“Poor child, you must be tired.” Everyone in the village knew about Lin Ziyin’s misfortune, so Mrs. Zhang didn’t find it strange. Instead, she comforted Ziyin, holding her hand and speaking a few reassuring words.

Lin Ziyin offered a polite smile in response. She didn’t wish to become too familiar with people she didn’t know.

“How did you catch so many tiny fish?” Mrs. Bai looked at the basket Wu Dayou put down, and couldn’t help but laugh as she asked.

Wu Dayou grinned in response, “Splurged a little on a craving. Saw them in the stream and decided to catch ’em.”

“Fish, little fish.” The moment they got home, Lin Yanzhi and Lin Changting fetched a basin to put the fish in.

Chapter 50 Guest (2)_1 Upon seeing this, Zhang and the others speculated that the Lin Family must have caught the fish because the children loved it.

“It’s getting late, we need to return home to cook dinner, so we won’t disturb you further. Oh, Ziyin, Auntie won’t stand on ceremony with you. I’d like to take some leftover bean pulp back to make veggie pancakes,” White Auntie said with a chuckle.

“Sure, we have plenty of it at home,” Lin Ziyin laughed as he replied.

“I’ll pack it up. Aunt Zhang, you should take some back too. Although it’s nothing special, it tastes great when made into pancakes with vegetables,” said Guo Huiniang, a clever woman who further ingratiated herself to the Wu family members following the intimacy shown by White Auntie.

“Great, thanks. We’ll take some back to try,” said Aunt Zhang, looking at the Bai family’s blunt demeanor and then agreeing with a laugh.

Both families took some bean pulp and then went back home.

“They brought over a lot of vegetables, shall we make some bean pancakes tonight too?” Zige asked.

“No, tonight we’ll make mixed fish pies.” Laughed Lin Ziyin, “I’ll do it”.

Zige glanced at the small fish in the bucket. She wanted to say that this mixed fish was too fishy and virtually inedible.

But seeing Lin Ziyin’s enthusiasm, she swallowed back her words.

“I just need a bit of leftover dough. Sister-in-law, you can use the rest of the dough to make some buns,” said Lin Ziyin. “Let’s make tofu buns.”

Guo Huiniang and Lin Zige agreed and then quickly busied themselves.

Lin Ziyin personally cleaned the innards of the small fish and then used the remaining pot to make a mixed fish pie.

At night, the table was graced with a large basin of mixed fish, as well as some pickled vegetables. The staple food was millet porridge and buns, along with the pie.

“It smells so good.” Wu Dayou complimented, “Master Lin, please.”

It was the Lin Family tradition that no one would eat until Grandfather Lin had picked up his chopsticks. Even the youngest Lin Yanzhi was aware of this rule.

“Alright, let’s eat.” Since Lin Ziyin had mentioned earlier that they needed rice wine and wine in the next few days, the three men, though tempted, refrained from drinking.

“It’s really delicious,” Lin Changting raved, with the others chiming in.

“Sister, how come there’s no fishy smell at all?” Lin Zige asked while eating.

“It has star anise in it,” Lin Ziyin replied. The mixed fish was indeed fragrant. Although having water pepper mixed in, to her who was used to eating bland food, the dish was still far from perfect without the addition of chili pepper.

But since everyone else in the Lin Family loved it, Lin Ziyin decided not to dwell on the absence of chili pepper any longer.

The mixed fish dish had stirred up the interest of Lin Changshu and Wu Dayou in fishing. The next day, after finishing their tofu making, the two men, together with their two sons, went out fishing.

By noon, they returned with several large fish weighing around three to four catties each and some small fish.

“I want to have a feast of…” Before Wu Dayou could finish, there was a knock at the door.

Lin Changting ran to open the courtyard door, “Who are you guys?”

Everyone in the Lin family was standing in the courtyard. Hearing Lin Changting’s questioning, they all lifted their heads to look over.

Seeing the newcomers, everyone was so surprised that they couldn’t utter a word.

“Amitabha.” The newcomers were two monks, standing besides them were two young men wearing white robes, one of whom was the person who had rewarded Lin Ziyin at the market last time.

“Master, what can I do for you?” Lin Ziyin asked.

“We came to buy some tofu to take back,” one of the monks replied, pressing his palms together.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve used all the tofu we made today for our own lunch. If you need it, you can come tomorrow,” Lin Ziyin replied with a faint smile.

“Amitabha.” The other monk folded his hands and said, “Then please prepare an additional thirty catties for us. We will come to collect them tomorrow.”

“Good, it can be prepared by tomorrow morning. By the way, I’ve also developed a new type of bean product. I wonder if you would be interested in ordering some?” Lin Ziyin asked with a beaming smile.

“Err…” The young monk was a bit perplexed.

“Let’s do this, give us ten catties first. We can decide if we want more after tasting it.” The other monk found a compromise.

Throughout the entire episode, Lin Ziyin had not paid any attention to the two young men outside the gate.