Then, they heard Xue Sifu’s voice from the courtyard, “Wang, can you share some of the leftovers for me? My brother and sister are here.”
“Alright. Usually, your house is far away, so you can’t take it back even if I give it to you. It’s rare for someone from your family to come today, so I’ll give you more.”
That was probably Wang’s voice. he sounded very forthright.
“Thanks, Wang.”
“You’re welcome.”
Then, there was no more sound.
Xue Yan and Jiang Yue stood in the alley, looking at each other. After a while, Xue Sifu came back with a wrapped clay pot in his hands. He gave it to Xue Yan while speaking, “These are the leftovers from the restaurant this afternoon. It’s still better than the food at home. take it back and give some to Grandpa, understand?”
“Okay, Sifu.” Xue Yan carried it with one hand and took off the basket with the other.
Jiang Yue silently nodded.
Xue Sifu quickly helped him take the basket off. “I haven’t asked, why are you two here? Is the family okay with you being here? You’re even carrying a basket on your back. What’s in the basket?”
“Jiang Yue and I came to town to sell moonbelly, so we came to see you. What’s there to worry about?” Xue Yan said honestly. “I’ve been holding onto Jiang Yue, I won’t lose her. In this basket, there are things that Jiang Yue and I bought to make a fire piston, and also two packets of pastries given by the manager of Lakshimi Restaurant. Under the cloth is a hundred silver, and also, I have five hundred silver notes in my pocket.”
When he heard the word hundred silver, Xue Sifu, who was about to flip through the basket to see what was inside, stopped.
When he heard that his younger brother had five hundred silver in his pocket, his eyes bulged.
“What did you say?” he scratched his ears after a long while.
“The moonbelly mushroom was sold for six hundred silver.” Xue Yan said, very concisely.
Xue Sifu stopped again. It was as if his entire body had stopped moving.
Jiang Yue didn’t say anything. She only removed the cloth in the basket and revealed a hundred silver.
Xue Yan silently took out the silver notes from his chest.
It was indeed a full six hundred.
Xue Sifu jumped in fright.
“Quickly put it away, quickly,” he said immediately, afraid that someone would see it. He quickly covered it with the cloth again and put the five hundred back into Xue Yan’s arms.
“Let’s go somewhere quieter.” Afraid that people would see and hear him, Xue Sifu led Jiang Yue and Xue Yan into the depths of the alley.
Xue Sifu clearly still couldn’t react in time, “What exactly is this moonbelly thing? Why is it so valuable?” He was only paid 450 a month as a waiter in this restaurant.
Before Xue Yan and Jiang Yue could answer, Xue Sifu asked, “That’s right, last time Tian also said that Wufu beat up a blind bear and sold it for a hundred silver. Was that true?”
“It’s true. but that money bought eight acres of good land, so there’s not much silver left.” After a short pause, Xue Yan answered, “As for the moonbelly mushroom, you can think of it as a rare mushroom. When Jiang Yue and I were digging for wild vegetables, we found a large patch of it by accident. So we picked it and sold it.”
“I’ve never even heard of such a thing.”
“I’ve read about it in a book before. Fortunately, the restaurant knew me, and the price they gave me was fair,” said Xue Yan.
Xue Sifu replied, “I know that Shopkeeper Qiao of Lakshimi Restaurant. Our manager hates him to death because his offer is the fairest in the town. Everyone sends almost everything good to him and asks him to buy it. Right, eat up, have you had lunch?”