As the village head, Ma Sanye often mediated disputes in the neighborhood. He took a glance at the severity paper and turned to ask Madam Wu.
“Was this personally written by Qi Boli?”
“It is, but…” Madam Wu did not expect Qi Qingyao to immediately retrieve the document. She felt embarrassed.
“But what? You’ve signed this severance paper yourself and your fingerprint is even on it. You can’t possibly have been forced to do this!” the village head exclaimed, exasperated.
A busybody in the crowd joked sarcastically, “Wu Yulian, didn’t you previously say that Eleventh Daughter was no longer a fool and had decided to turn her life around by herself, hence why she severed ties with your family?”
“You all only wanted to sever ties to get rid of these bastards. Who would expect her to no longer be a fool? Hahaha.”
“How funny. Aren’t you trying to take advantage of her now? How amusing!”
…
The laughter and their mockery filled their ears, causing embarrassment to rise in Madam Wu’s and Madam Guo’s faces. Madam Guo wanted to hide in a hole.
Madam Wu gritted her teeth, extended her neck out, and spoke defensively.
“So what if we’ve signed a severance paper? Our Qi Family raised her for so many years. Are you telling me she doesn’t have to repay her debt? So what if we just want a little pork? This is our own family matter, do any of you people have the right to yap away about this?”
“Woah, now you’re getting angry…” Old Man Yang’s wife said cynically.
Madam Wu glared at Old Man Yang’s wife and turned to look at Qi Qingyao as she said firmly, “Qi Qingyao, don’t play possum! If you don’t give me any meat today, I won’t leave.”
Qi Qingyao paid no heed to Madam Wu.
She swept a glance across the crowd of bustling villagers, a plan forming.
She smiled calmly and generously.
She clapped her hands, motioning for the villagers to direct their attention to her.
Her voice was full of passion.
“My dear villagers, we’re all from the same village. If you want some meat, a catty of meat in the market is 2 Mace. How about this? I was only planning to sell this boar at the market tomorrow. Since everyone has come over here, I’ll offer a lower price to everyone. A catty of meat will be 1 Mace of silver. Those who want to buy it, please be quick.”
Catching free-range meat in ancient times was unlike modern captive farming. The meat yield was not too high. A person who specialized in rearing pigs was called a swineherd. On top of that, pigs usually ate filth, so nobles and rich landlords avoided eating pork and ate beef and mutton instead. For the rich, pigs were usually used as sacrificial offerings.
For peasants, a regular household’s yearly income could only afford to buy three pigs.
A Tael was the equivalent of ten Maces or a thousand copper-cash. A Tael was also equal to a string of Maces.
A Mace was a hundred copper-cash.
A copper-cash was almost 2 RMB cents.
To reiterate, a catty of pork was 2 Maces. It was not cheap.
It was normal for tenants and the poor to not be able to afford pork.
When the villagers heard what Qi Qingyao said, they were stunned for a moment.
Everyone turned their heads, exchanging glances with each other.
“You’re really going to only charge us one Mace?” Someone suddenly stepped forward to inquire.
“We’re all village folks. Even if you didn’t come here, I would have asked you all.” Qi Qingyao laughed in a relaxed manner as she said casually, “Everyone is aware that I only have my small four walls, and I’m impoverished. I don’t even have a mouthful’s worth of grains in my rice jar. Even though that’s the case, I don’t wish to earn from my fellow villagers. So I’ll offer everyone a price at just A Mace of silver. Those who wish to buy, please line up.”
When she finished speaking, without caring what the villagers thought, Qi Qingyao gave Si Jin instructions.
“Si Jin, slice two catties of meat for the village head!”
Si Jin followed orders and cut a string of meat neatly. Without weighing it, he hung the meat on a straw rope and gave it to Qi Qingyao.
Qi Qingyao smiled delightfully and politely delivered the meat to village head Ma Sanye with both hands as she said, “I wasn’t sure if I could borrow the village head’s weighing scale…”
