"Go ahead and eat. We had breakfast earlier — porridge as well."
Zhao Jinyi noticed the girl's expression and thought she might be shy around strangers, so she said, "We still have chores to finish, so we'll head off now. Eat your porridge before it goes cold."
Zhao Jinyuan quickly stood up. "I'll come help you."
"You're welcome to help, but finish your porridge first. We'll go on ahead."
The three of them left, and only then did Zhao Jinyuan carefully pick up the bowl and bring it to her nose.
The smell was wonderful. When had she last had rice porridge? Last New Year, she thought.
And it hadn't been this thick.
Could she really have rice porridge every day here? If so, she would work as hard as she could, every single day.
Up before dawn, not to bed until after dark.
Before she knew it, the entire bowl was empty — so clean it might have been washed, though in truth she had licked it.
The bowl was Zhao Baihui's own, the large one he normally used, which held more than the others.
Jinyi had been worried Jinyuan would be hungry and had made extra on purpose.
Jinyuan's little belly was gently rounded now. Her stomach was full, but her mouth still wanted more.
With wild optimism, she felt certain she could manage two more bowls.
Even if it killed her, she would finish every last drop first.
It was simply too good.
"Elder Sister, the master is back — I'll go open the door."
The door swung open and Zhao Baihui walked in carrying a cloth bundle.
Jinyuan jumped to her feet. When she noticed how thoroughly she had licked the bowl clean, she was afraid of being laughed at, and her face flushed crimson.
It was only because she had just bathed, she told herself — otherwise no one would have been able to tell whether she was blushing or not.
"Nothing wrong with being clean like this — comfortable for you, pleasant to look at for everyone else."
"Come here, all of you. I had some good news today, so I bought you all something."
Zhao Baihui set the bundle on the table and unwrapped it, revealing a roll of coarse cloth and a small assortment of needles and thread.
"This cloth cost three hundred and eighty wen. Jinyi, do you think it's enough to make each of you a new garment?"
"Money's been a little tight lately, but once things ease up I'll buy you patterned cloth to make proper clothes."
Jinyi had never expected Zhao Baihui to buy cloth for them. A rush of joy and bittersweet emotion welled up inside her at once.
Hearing what followed, she quickly dabbed at the corners of her eyes and tried to dissuade him, "Master, please don't buy any more — this is plenty, truly it is."
Jinyi had never dared to dream of owning new clothes.
Children from ordinary farming families might go years without a single new garment.
Life was hard for common farmers, and they watched every coin by instinct.
Children grew fast, and a new piece of clothing wouldn't last more than a few years.
And that was for boys.
Girls had it worse — dressed in hand-me-downs from older brothers or younger ones, because ordinary families couldn't afford to make distinctions between boys and girls.
Most daughters in ordinary households only wore their first new garment on the day they were married.
There were even those who couldn't manage that.
All of them — she and the other girls — had come from desperately poor homes. Had they not been sold, they would likely have belonged to that latter group, going to their weddings without so much as one new stitch to their names.
How could they not be moved, then, when Zhao Baihui bought cloth to make them new clothes?
"It's just a bit of cloth — no need for all that. Don't cry. Jinyi, tell me honestly: is there enough?"
Jinyi did a quick calculation. "Just about, I think. Should be enough for four."
"'Just about' means not quite enough. Fine — I'll pick up another hundred wen's worth tomorrow. No point scrimping and ending up with clothes that don't fit. That would be embarrassing."
"Or each of you could skip one sleeve and go around with a bare arm like a monk?"
The girls all burst out laughing. Jinwen pictured it and laughed even harder. "Even so, we'd be nuns, not monks!"
"So that's your ambition, is it? All right — I'll shave all your heads bald when we get around to it."
"No, no, no!" The girls clapped their hands over their heads as though a real villain were about to make good on the threat.
"Well, at least you won't be bored now. Leave the field — we'll be moving before long."
The girls chattered away excitedly over the cloth. Zhao Baihui had no idea how to sew and no interest in finding out, so he retreated to his own room.
"Now that Jinyi and the others have cleared their probation, and once Jinyuan does the same in a few days, the daily stipend will be fifty yuan — equivalent to five hundred wen."
"Two days will come to one tael of silver. Current daily expenses run thirty to forty wen — not a heavy burden."
"The plan can move forward, then."
"Find a suitable location, buy a few acres of land, build a house, hire hands to clear and farm the land, and keep my head down and grow from there."
"System, find me a prime piece of land nearby!"
[Selecting a suitable village site within a hundred-li radius costs 100 yuan. Confirm?]
"Never mind — no money right now. I'll wait a few days."
By afternoon, Jinyi had finished cooking and came to knock on Zhao Baihui's door to call him to dinner.
On the table sat a wooden basin piled with a dozen coarse-grain flatbreads, a plate of stir-fried greens, a pot of soup, and a small dish of pickled vegetables.
Jinyuan stared at the spread, astonished.
The flatbreads had no wild greens or scraps mixed in at all?
And the stir-fried greens and soup were visibly glistening with oil.
Surely only a landlord's household could eat like this.
This meal must have cost a dozen wen at least.
Yet to her surprise, the master sat down at the table with an unmistakable look of displeasure.
He pulled a long face and asked, "Jinyi, have we run out of rice? Why has the standard dropped? And why isn't there any shredded meat in the greens?"
Jinyuan was so frightened she didn't dare even breathe.
Jinyi stood up anxiously and explained, "Master, you brought Jinyuan home today, and then you bought all that cloth, so I thought… I'm sorry, Master. We still have eggs — let me fry a couple for you."
Seeing the fear on all the girls' faces, Zhao Baihui silently reproached himself and softened his tone. "Fry a few extra — enough for everyone. I've told you before, I have money, there's no need to worry. You little penny-pincher, fretting over nothing."
A short while later, Jinyi brought out the fried eggs and placed two in Zhao Baihui's bowl, one each in the others' bowls, but set none aside for herself.
Zhao Baihui sighed. The girl was punishing herself.
He picked one of his own eggs out and placed it in Jinyi's bowl.
"Don't say a word. Just eat."
Jinyi obediently sat down and bowed her head so no one would see her reddened eyes.
Each egg cost roughly three wen; five eggs came to fifteen wen.
Jinyuan could scarcely believe that she would ever in her life deserve meals like this.
Her first day in the master's household, and the whole of it felt like a dream.
After the meal, she followed the three elder girls back to the west room and they resumed their sewing.
When darkness fell, there was an oil lamp in the house, but no one lit it. They lay down early.
The broad communal sleeping platform had more than enough room for all four girls.
Wrapped beneath quilts that were worn but thick and warm, the little girl's fearful, anxious heart was filled with a sense of safety.
"If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up."