Madam Zhan's eyelids twitched sharply as she snapped, "If you hurt your sister-in-law's hand, I'll skin you alive."
Zhan Qingrou: "..."
She glanced at her mother, who was looking at her with undisguised disgust, her eldest brother with a dark, stormy expression, and her second brother, whose face was completely impassive. Her shoulders slumped, and her heart turned ice-cold.
Fine, it was all her own fault for running her mouth and annoying her eldest brother, now the whole family didn't dote on her anymore.
Cheng Yao watched the little girl looking utterly dejected and held back a quiet laugh. "Come help me out, and you'll still be my good kid."
Zhan Qingrou's eyes lit up instantly. "Sister-in-law, you're not mad anymore?"
Cheng Yao smiled softly. What was there for her to be mad about? The one who was angry was someone else entirely.
"Come on then."
"Sister-in-law isn't mad anymore!" Zhan Qingrou hopped around like a cheerful little bird.
Suddenly, she remembered something. "Sister-in-law, what's a durian? Is it covered all over with sharp thorns?"
Cheng Yao paused for a moment. "It's a fruit that smells both fragrant and stinky. Most people don't like it, don't bother asking about it."
But Zhan Qingrou was a curious little one. The more she was told not to ask, the more interested she grew. "What do you mean, 'fragrant and stinky'? Is it both fragrant and stinky at the same time? There's such a strange thing in this world! Sister-in-law, where is it? I want to try it."
Cheng Yao smiled without giving a reply, then turned around and called a few people over to help make candied hawthorns.
She first taught everyone to string the pitted hawthorns onto bamboo skewers, five pieces per skewer.
Then she took out the white sugar she had bought from the market — this was the cost investment she had mentioned earlier.
She poured the sugar and water into a pot, turned on medium heat, and did not stir while it heated, only gently shaking the pot from time to time.
After the water boiled, she turned the heat down to low, letting the sugar dissolve completely until the syrup thickened, turned amber in color, and started to form big bubbles.
Once the syrup was ready, she kept the heat on low, tilted the pot to gather the syrup in one place, then rolled the skewered hawthorns over the bubbling surface of the syrup, so they were evenly coated with a layer of sugar.
The last step was to set them on a plate and wait for them to cool down.
Cheng Yao was completely focused on the whole process, and did not notice the sweet, sour, tempting aroma drifting through the air, making both adults and children swallow their saliva nonstop.
This street snack was something they would have turned their noses up at before, but now it had become the most delicious treat they could ever hope for.
Cheng Yao handed a skewer to every single person there.
The candied hawthorns, wrapped in glistening sugar crust, tasted sweet, sour, and crisp the moment you bit into them, so good it almost brought people to tears.
"This is amazing! It's the best candied hawthorn I've ever eaten in my life!"
"Yao'er is a living Bodhisattva!"
"She knows how to do everything! Following her, we might actually make it to the Nine You Prefectures alive!"
Everyone was wearing cotton-padded clothes that did not fit them well but kept them warm, eating hot congee and roasted yams. A festive, joyful atmosphere spread through the whole group.
Many of them started crying halfway through their bites.
The more bitter and hard the journey had been, the happier they felt right now.
Fifth Grandfather asked Cheng Yao, "Hao Ting’s wife, are you planning to sell these candied hawthorns at the market too?"
"Yes, tomorrow after we deliver the grapes, we'll start selling them. If they sell well, we can pick more to stock up, and sell them as we travel along the way."
"That's wonderful." Fifth Grandfather saw how happy everyone was eating, and quickly said, "Everyone, stop eating now, every bite you take is money! Save them for tomorrow's sales!"
Cheng Yao laughed. "No, everyone, keep eating. Help me test the sweetness, see if I need to adjust the ratio of sugar."
Fifth Grandfather nodded, his eyes glistening with tears.
There was no need for any testing at all. She was just making an excuse to let everyone have the candied hawthorns for free.
This Hao Ting’s wife was truly such a kind soul! If their family had married her earlier, with her intelligence and wisdom to guide them, maybe Zhan Haoting would never have suffered such a terrible fate!
Cheng Yao handed the last skewer of candied hawthorn to Zhan Haoting, then stepped aside to let others take over.
"Alright, all the aunts and sisters, you can all try making it yourselves now. Count up the total number once you're done, and we'll sell them all together tomorrow."
She had no intention of being a servant running around doing all the work, so she happily stepped back to let everyone take charge.
She took out the rest of the money, combined it with the money from the day before, and divided it out, so each person got around a hundred copper coins.
Everyone was so moved that tears streamed down their faces.
This tiny sum of money was nothing to them before, they used to tip their servants dozens of times more than that.
But they had long lost their former status, reduced to exiles. Not to mention a hundred coins, they could not even earn a single copper coin on their own.
Most importantly, this money was not charity. They earned it with their own labor. It represented dignity, and hope.
"Hao Ting’s wife, you are the savior of our entire Zhan clan."
At that moment, the hearts of every single person in the Zhan family were more united than they had ever been before.
Zhang Dapeng was huddled in a corner, watching Cheng Yao being surrounded and praised by the crowd, his face dark and sullen.
None of the money made it to his hands, none of the good food was shared with him, not even a single skewer of candied hawthorn was passed to him. The whole group was cheering and celebrating, and no one even glanced his way.
He was completely isolated.
All of this was the fault of that lowly woman Cheng Yao!
A young man who could not stand him skulking in the shadows like a venomous snake deliberately walked past him, crunching his candied hawthorn loudly, and said in a mocking tone,
"Oh my, if it isn't Constable Zhang? Didn't you say we'd all freeze to death and starve out here? But look at us, we're already eating fragrant rice, and now we get to have sugar too. Hey, why aren't you eating any candied hawthorn? Is it not to your taste? Or do you just prefer to eat cold northwest wind?"
Zhang Dapeng was so furious his whole body trembled, but he had no retort to make. His resentment towards Cheng Yao grew like wild poisonous weeds in his heart.
On the other side, Zhan Jinmo was staring blankly at Cheng Yao, his eyes full of undisguised adoration.
Under the moonlight, she glowed with such vitality that she seemed to sparkle. All the clansmen's eyes were fixed on her.
The old elders stroked their beards with relieved looks, the young men stole glances at her secretly, and the women looked at her with loving eyes, as if she was their most precious treasure.
She was the bright moon of their clan, the hope of everyone, held gently in the palms of all their hands...
Looking at this dazzling woman that shone like a star, he could not bear to tear his eyes away, and was completely lost in the sight of her.
Feng Xianxian, however, was staring at him. Her nails dug deep into the palms of her hands.
She had noticed the change in him these past few days, and knew he had developed feelings for Cheng Yao.
Right now, watching Cheng Yao being adored by everyone, and seeing the unhidden deep affection and admiration in his eyes, the jealousy in her heart burned like oil had been poured onto a fire, burning away every last bit of her reason.
She roughly dragged Zhan Jinmo into the shadows, her voice shrill. "Zhan Jinmo, that's enough! I am your lawfully wedded wife!"
Zhan Jinmo looked at her, disheveled and wild-looking like a madwoman, and thought of all the ridiculous scenes she had caused along the journey. The last bit of patience and affection he had for her was completely gone.
His eyes turned ice-cold. "Yes, I have had enough!"
Zhan Jinmo roughly shook off Feng Xianxian's hand, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper written in charcoal from his chest, and threw it in front of her. "This is the letter of divorce! From now on, we have nothing to do with each other anymore. I hope you will take care of yourself."
"A... A letter of divorce?!" Feng Xianxian was struck by lightning. She could not believe it as she picked up the paper, and saw the clear words "divorced" written on it. Her whole body froze.
She had quarreled with him many times, but she never once thought Zhan Jinmo would actually divorce her!
