Xu Zifan wove four more bamboo hats in the afternoon, adding to the four his father had woven earlier, making a total of eight hats, all of which were sold that evening. In this world, rice cost twelve coins per dou (斗), or one coin per jin (斤), and pork cost twelve coins per jin. Xu Zifan estimated the price and priced the hats at six coins for men's and eight coins for women's. He was confident that the weaving method wasn't something everyone could figure out on their own, and even if they could understand it by taking it apart, the villagers wouldn't be willing to dismantle it. He mainly relied on the freshness of the hats to sell to people from surrounding villages, earning back the money for his medicine. He figured that clever people would imitate them later, so this price was just right.
For Xu's parents, earning 52 coins in one night using a few straw hats was an unexpected surprise, and they slept soundly that night. When other villagers returned home, they talked about the Xu family. Some said Xu Zifan had found ways to earn money, some discussed whether he knew how to treat illnesses, and others said he was going to become a doctor instead of taking the imperial examinations. In short, they felt he was quite different from what had been circulating in the village lately.
The women chatted even more. In their minds, Xu Zifan was someone who knew nothing but studying, and even studying was just a way to be lazy—utterly useless. But what they saw today made them somewhat puzzled. During the day, while working in the fields, Su Qianyun clearly implied that Xu Zifan was stingy for refusing to weave hats for them, arguing with his brother and sister-in-law over trivial matters, showing no manners. But later, listening to Xu Zifan's words, it was clear that Su Qianyun had asked him for hats and then given him a cold shoulder. Fearing a rift between the brothers, Xu Zifan quickly wove four for them.
What's going on? They thought about it carefully, and it seemed that Su Qianyun hadn't said anything bad about Xu Zifan. After Xu Zifan arrived, Su Qianyun didn't explain anything either, so it seemed like Xu Zifan was right. Why didn't Su Qianyun say anything when they were speaking ill of Xu Zifan?
Furthermore, they all felt that Xu's parents were too biased, forcing the eldest and second wives to fight over dividing the family property. But judging from Xu Zifan's words, after the division, the third wife's family didn't even have enough food. This scholar had even started thinking about weaving straw hats to earn money, which showed that they were really struggling financially. Back then, when Xu Zifan said that his parents and Xiaolian were all living with him, something felt off. He had an older brother and sister-in-law, and a second older brother and sister-in-law. He was a weak scholar, unmarried and without a career, so why was he the one supporting his parents and unmarried sister?
Previously, everyone thought Xu Zifan was being unreasonable and that Xu's parents were biased, so the family split up, which should have made the eldest and second wives feel better. But upon closer inspection, the split seems wrong! It feels like the eldest and second wives disliked them and separated them. Even after the split, the eldest and second wives should still send something to their parents every year, but who knows if they actually do? Even if they don't, Xu's parents wouldn't make a fuss about it.
Xu Dalang even offered to bring him grain and help him move goods at the dock, which showed he had a conscience. Xu Erlang didn't even say a word of politeness. No wonder Xu Zifan said his elder brother was good to him; it seems his relationship with the second wife isn't so great.
The various accounts, with some twists and turns, have aroused great curiosity about the conflicts between the different branches of the Xu family. This is precisely the purpose of Xu Zifan's special trip to the fields to say those things; he thwarted the transmigrated woman's plan to subtly mislead others from the very beginning, thus sparking everyone's curiosity. With curiosity comes investigation and observation, and the emergence of people with different opinions, preventing them from quickly labeling the third branch of the family based on hearsay.
As for what tricks the transmigrated woman might use, he didn't care. His body was almost fully recovered, and his ability to change his image would definitely not be slower than the transmigrated woman's. At that time, who would still think there was something wrong with them? The different branches of the Xu family could just go their separate ways.
Because of Xu Zifan's move, Su Qianyun sensed a change in the villagers when she went to the fields the next day. Before, when people tentatively asked her about any conflicts in her family, they mostly inquired about whether Xu Zifan had any faults, whether his parents were biased, whether Xiaolian was immature, or whether Cai was mean-spirited. But now, people had lost that inclination and were more curious about why the three families couldn't get along. Some even said they thought Xu Zifan and Xiaolian were quite sensible and filial, and treated their brother and sister-in-law well. She didn't know what to say.
It was definitely not going to work to deliberately mislead anyone anymore; that would be too contrived. Su Qianyun could only put on a bitter face and say, "We split up the family simply because the tree has grown big and branches have spread. Our parents hope that we can establish our own households as soon as possible, and perhaps we can have better development."
A woman asked her, "Are you sure nothing's wrong? You haven't looked well these past few days. I thought it was because of the family division dispute."
Su Qianyun shook her head. "No, I was probably just feeling a little unwell. I feel much better today."
"Oh, I see. It seems we misunderstood Uncle Xu and Aunt Xu. We thought they were biased. If you ask me, a family that gets along well shouldn't split up. Taxes and corvée labor will be problems in the future. How can life be so easy after splitting up? A family living together happily is what makes life prosperous."
The women were actually quite sensitive. They had just been talking badly about the third wife yesterday, but today they had completely overturned those claims. Even without any evidence, some of them felt that talking to Su Qianyun was strange and didn't want to chat with her anymore.
Su Qianyun felt a little annoyed, but it was just a small village, so let them think what they wanted. Anyway, after making money in business, her family would move to town, so there was no need to waste time on these people.
There's no need to do so much work in the fields every day; a quick stroll through the fields during your free time is enough. After two days of work, Xu Zifan was feeling better and wanted to go to town. Besides weaving exquisite food boxes, he had also woven several elegant bamboo ornaments, quite suitable for a scholar—inexpensive yet refined. Xu Zifan placed them in front of his parents and said, "Dad, Mom, let's take these with us to town. I'll ask my classmates if they want them. If anyone likes them, we can weave more when we have free time."
Xu's father hesitated and said, "Isn't it inappropriate to ask your classmate? It's not good for you."
Will it have any impact?
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "What impact will this have? Studying and taking the imperial examinations both cost money. If they really think money is worthless, then they're just being hypocritical. Let them be poor scholars for the rest of their lives and see if they'd be willing. Dad, if we encounter that kind of person, we should just ignore them. Most of them are reasonable. There won't be any other impact. We don't sell in large quantities, so we're not considered merchants, and it's fine."
The two elders agreed when they heard him say that, and told him to rest early and take a donkey cart to town early the next morning. Xiao Lian looked at them hesitantly, and Xu Zifan noticed this and asked, "Xiao Lian, do you have something to say? Just say what you want to say, there are no outsiders here."
Xiaolian said shyly in a low voice, "I...I also want to go to town."
Xu's mother instinctively said, "Your father and third son went to take care of important business. What are you going to do there?"
Xu Zifan thought for a moment. The little girl was fourteen, a lively age. Staying at home doing housework all day meant she had no chance to broaden her horizons, which wasn't good. So he said, "Mom, let's all go together and do some shopping. Anyway, there's nothing urgent at home, so let's all go together?"
Xiaolian looked at Xu's mother expectantly. Seeing this, Xu's mother said helplessly, "Alright, let's go together then. Go to bed early, or we won't go tomorrow."
"Okay, I'm going to sleep now!" Xiaolian stood up with bright eyes, said happily, and ran back to her room.
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "Dad, Mom, there are only four of us in the family. From now on, we can live each day however we want. Isn't that great? I've been laughing more these past few days than before."
"You're full of twisted logic," Xu's mother said, then went back to her room with Xu's father. But Xu Zifan's words, "You've been laughing more these past few days," were deeply imprinted in her mind. Was separating the family really the right thing to do? It seemed that Cai Shi and the two children had been laughing more these past few days, and the second couple was also quite busy and lively. If they were happy like this, that was good; from now on, they could each live their own lives.
The next morning, when they got up early to leave, they found that the second wife and her husband were also going to town. Su Qianyun made some pastries to take to town to sell, saying she wanted to see if she could make some money. Xu's mother asked in surprise, "You can make pastries?"
Su Qianyun smiled warily and said, "I've seen others make it before, and I just figured it out myself. My child said it was delicious, so I thought I'd try it in town. If I can sell it, it'll be a good source of income."
"Oh, that's good." Xu's mother had lived under the same roof with this daughter-in-law for nine years, yet she had never tasted a single pastry made by her, and didn't even know she could make them. She couldn't say she felt bad, but she just couldn't feel close to this daughter-in-law.
The group, carrying their belongings, headed towards the village entrance. A round trip cost one copper coin per person, and the Xu family paid six coins. A villager traveling with them noticed and asked in surprise, "Why are you all going to town? What's going on?"
Xu's mother waved her hand and said, "We're just going for a stroll, and maybe we can exchange the things we've woven for something. The second son and his wife are going to sell food."
"What kind of story is this? Xu Erlang's family can make pastries? They look pretty good."
The donkey cart started moving, and the people on it began to chat. Su Qianyun breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Xu's mother and Xiaolian weren't interested in her pastries. She was really worried that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law would take a liking to them and want to learn how to make them. However, she would have to keep her earnings a secret to avoid being coveted.
Shao Hua scanned Su Qianyun's pastries and asked Xu Zifan, "[Do you need a complete guide to pastries? Or recipes for the eight major cuisines? In many novels, time travelers make money from these.]"
Xu Zifan quickly said, "No, I'm really not interested in this. It's not my style at all."