Chapter Two: The Fragrant Steamed Bun That Brought Tears to My Eyes!
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What? Hungry and hallucinating? Just as Zhao Zheng was puzzled, a semi-transparent panel appeared before his eyes. Damn. A golden finger every transmigrator must have? But since there were people around, he suppressed his excitement without showing a trace, and looked at the panel:
[Common firewood, ten jin, five li per jin.]
[Deposit/Retrieve or Sell?]
Zhao Zheng thought for a moment, and the wood disappeared; the freshly chopped firewood appeared inside the system space.
[Calculating storage fee...]
Zhao Zheng was startled. Storage fees? “Sell!” he said.
[Ding, sale successful!]
Suddenly, five large Kang Tongbao coins appeared out of thin air in Zhao Zheng’s hand. At the same time, the system panel changed again, adding a system store.
The goods were dazzling, encompassing everything imaginable.
The currency system was based on the Great Kang Dynasty’s framework.
After studying for a while, he understood this was a trading platform where he could store, retrieve, and list items for sale.
With this, he finally had the capital to turn his fortunes around.
He could provide a better life for his daughters-in-law.
But first things first, he decided to fill his stomach.
Taking advantage of a moment to relieve himself, he slipped away to a secluded spot and exchanged for a bottle of mineral water and four large steamed buns.
The buns, made from refined flour, carried a unique wheat fragrance that nearly brought Zhao Zheng to tears.
He had never tasted steamed buns so delicious.
He devoured them all in one go, drank half the bottle of water, and then let out a satisfied burp.
Immediately, he returned to his spot and resumed chopping firewood.
However, there wasn’t much firewood left in the area. Before the villagers finished chopping it all, he needed to cut more to exchange for money—there was still much he wanted to do.
Just as Zhao Zheng was working hard, an old man approached.
“Old Zhao, you sure know how to take advantage. This path was opened by me. Who told you to chop my firewood?”
“This mountain is ownerless. Just because you say you opened it, does that make it yours?” Zhao Zheng looked at Liu Lao Si, his neighbor. They had a decent relationship before, but after his eldest son intercepted Yang Zhaodi, Liu harbored grudges and constantly spoke ill of him behind his back.
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When both his sons were alive, Liu didn’t dare confront him openly, but after his son died in battle, he immediately started bullying him.
“Everyone saw it. Do you even know the rules?”
Liu Lao Si’s voice was loud, attracting the attention of bystanders.
When they saw Zhao Zheng, they began mocking him.
“Oh, Old Zhao, why didn’t you send your son to chop firewood?”
“His son died in battle, no heirs!”
“Now his dream of being an official is shattered. Who told him to be so foolish, listening to his brother and sending both sons to the army? Serves him right to have no heirs!”
“He still has two daughters-in-law. Since they’re not married yet, it’s not impossible for him to benefit from his sons!”
Several women laughed mockingly.
Zhao Zheng was furious. His former self loved drinking and gambling and often dragged their husbands into trouble. Each of them hated his previous incarnation with a passion.
When the Zhao family met misfortune, they cheered and seized the opportunity to trample him.
“Old Zhao, didn’t you hear what my father said?” Liu Tieniu stormed over with a firewood knife, looking ready to attack.
“Old Zhao, we’re neighbors. I don’t want to quarrel. You go over there,” Liu Lao Si said, pointing to a barren area with little firewood.
Villagers in ancient rural areas had little education; even when wrong, they could claim some right.
If he backed down today, Liu Lao Si would only become more brazen in the future.
With a sharp chop, Zhao Zheng struck the tree.
“Fine, if you want to fight, then fight. It’s ownerless land—whoever comes first owns it. Your name isn’t written here.”
“If you’re not convinced, let’s go see the village elder. My son died for the country, and you dare to bully me? If the village elder does nothing, I’ll take it to the county official and ask face to face if I can chop this ownerless forest!”
Zhao Zheng feigned an emotional outburst and tried to drag Liu Lao Si to see the village elder.
Liu Lao Si was a scoundrel who knew he was in the wrong; he dared not go to the village elder.
Although Zhao Zheng’s character was flawed, he was, after all, the father of a soldier who died serving the nation.
If this issue reached the village elder, Liu would surely get scolded.
“Old Zhao, I’m joking. The village elder is elderly; don’t bother him!” Liu Lao Si said.
“Your joke isn’t funny at all!” Zhao Zheng refused to relent.
The crowd fell silent.
When did the once timid Old Zhao become so assertive?
An old woman whispered, “Surely it’s because his son died and he’s been shaken. We’d better keep our distance to avoid provoking him.”
Liu Tieniu realized this too and blocked Zhao Zheng’s path awkwardly.
“Uncle Zhao, let’s talk this through!”
Zhao Zheng acted like a rogue, demanding compensation for emotional distress.
Seeing Liu Lao Si caught in his own trap, he reluctantly handed over half a flatbread to Zhao Zheng to settle the matter.
The bystanders laughed and mocked Liu Lao Si for losing out.
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After father and son slunk away in defeat, Zhao Zheng worked even harder chopping firewood. He sold some as he cut, earning thirty wen and still holding fifty jin of firewood.
The area had been cleared; what remained were weeds, worthless and poor for burning.
He loaded the firewood properly and, once he was far enough away, stored it in the system space.
Otherwise, the long mountain trail would wear him out.
Considering the injury on his head, Zhao Zheng also purchased anti-inflammatory medicine for thirty wen. If the wound got infected, he might not die but would lose half his vitality.
By the time he neared home, dusk had fallen.
He retrieved the firewood and checked the storage fee—only one wen.
“Not expensive!” he muttered.
A faint light flickered inside the dark house.
Zhao Zheng pushed open the door to find Yang Zhaodi and Zhang Xiao’e lying on dry straw.
Placing the firewood by the hearth, he said, “We have firewood now. We can warm ourselves tonight. Xiao’e, you light the fire.”
As he spoke, he exchanged the last four wen for four large white steamed buns and handed them to Yang Zhaodi.
Looking at the soft steamed buns, even softer than snow, Yang Zhaodi felt as if she were dreaming.
She silently wondered what had come over her father-in-law; his change was too great.
Before, if there was good food, he always ate it himself and never cared for the two of them.
Now, not only did he travel far and wide to chop firewood, but he also saved the delicious buns for the two daughters-in-law.
She couldn’t help but burst into tears, eyes brimming with emotion.
Zhang Xiao’e lit the firewood and, seeing the buns handed to her sister-in-law, swallowed hard, but nervously looked at Zhao Zheng.
“Father-in-law, you eat first.”
Zhao Zheng took off his shoes and said, “I’ve eaten. You two eat.”
“Father-in-law says so, eat up,” Yang Zhaodi encouraged, and only then did Zhang Xiao’e take a bite.
The soft texture made Zhang Xiao’e break down in tears. It was the best meal she had had since marrying into the Zhao family.
Zhao Zheng was deeply moved too. Just one steamed bun was enough to bring the two women to tears.
If he gave them meat in the future, how excited would they be?
Exhausted, Zhao Zheng neglected to wash his feet and crawled into the foul-smelling quilt. Poor families had no such luxuries.
“You two eat your fill and then come up to sleep.”
Hearing this, Yang Zhaodi blushed and said, “Father-in-law, we can just sleep on the floor!”
“The floor is damp and cold. Even with firewood, you’d catch a cold. If you get sick, I don’t have money to treat you!” Zhao Zheng said sternly.
Zhang Xiao’e, afraid of him, didn’t dare argue.
“Sister-in-law, let’s... let’s go to bed. Don’t make father-in-law angry!”