Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 62 - 60 Buying Little Pigs

She happily ran home with her loot.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

When she got home, she untied the grass ropes from the chicken’s legs and put them in the chicken coop, then carried the eggs into the house.

She lit the kerosene lamp, warmed up two cornbread rolls, and cooked a pot of cornmeal porridge.

Just as she expected, before she even finished her meal, Mother Shen arrived.

“Yunfang, are you eating?”

“Oh, Mother is here, please come inside,” Shen Yunfang quickly shoved the last spoonful of porridge into her mouth, then stood up and ushered Mother Shen into the house.

Mother Shen sat down on the kang bed and looked around. It had been almost a year since she last visited the third child’s home. The child really was capable; the house was cleaner than when her mother was alive.

“Yunfang, I heard you wanted to buy some piglets, didn’t I?” Mother Shen quickly got to the point of her visit.

“Yes, I saw that your old sow had a litter before New Year’s, I’m not sure if there are any left now,” Shen Yunfang said as she sat down on the kang and talked with her. There were a few other households in the team with old sows, but since her own relatives had piglets, it wouldn’t look good to buy from someone else’s house without asking Mother Shen first.

“There are some left; you asked just in time. If you waited a couple more days, there might have been none left,” Mother Shen said with an “aren’t you lucky” expression, “You know, I don’t know what happened, but there weren’t many in the village who dared to raise pigs before. Last year, when the country directed each household to raise pigs, there was much grumbling, but this year, people reserved several piglets before they were even weaned. Wang the cripple’s family and Shen Big-butt’s family both said they want to raise an extra one this year. Ah, I was worrying that this litter wouldn’t go around; it’s difficult when they’re all neighbors, I can’t decide who gets one and who doesn’t.”

“Haha, now that people’s lives are better, even though we don’t have much money in the countryside, if we have leftover food, we have it. If it’s not good, we still get by somehow. Once people are fed, they start craving meat,” Shen Yunfang followed up.

Actually, that’s how it is. Raising pigs isn’t hard, just put in the effort. Plant a few ridges of sweet potatoes in the spring, gather more pigweed diligently in the summer, and they’ll fatten up without much trouble.

“Exactly, that’s the spirit. But we’re family after all, and if you want to raise pigs, even if I had to turn away others, our own family would come first,” Shen Da Nai assured as she held her hand.

“Then I really have to thank you, Da Nai,” Shen Yunfang said gratefully. No matter what, as long as there were pigs for sale, it was all good.

“Thank what? We’re all family here.” Shen Da Nai’s smile grew broader. “Yunfang, how many do you want to buy?”

“Two,” Yunfang replied. She hadn’t eaten most of the sweet potatoes from the autumn harvest. There must be six or seven hundred pounds of them, and with the old potatoes, it should last until summer. By then, her earthworm breeding would take off, and she should be able to cover the feed costs.

“Two? That’s going to be difficult. Oh, how about I turn down the ones from my maternal family’s village as well?” Shen Da Nai feigned difficulty.

“There’s no need, Da Nai. If it’s too much trouble, just sell me one; raising two by myself would be a bit difficult.” Seeing her act all vexed really got under her skin. If you want to sell, just say so; why put on such a performance? And it’s not like I have to beg her for it, right?

Shen Da Nai’s face stiffened, not expecting the young woman to speak so out of turn, “It’s no trouble, no trouble at all. We’re honest relatives, after all. I have to make sure you’re satisfied.”

“You know, Da Nai, even saying I would buy two is stretching it. With the way things are at home, even one would be tough. So this is better. I’ll buy one, and you can sell the other to your maternal family’s village. That way, you won’t offend anyone, and we’ll all be happy,” Shen Yunfang said with a smile, secretly feeling smug. She was certain that Shen Da Nai couldn’t sell the piglets. She should have been counting her blessings coming across a buyer like Yunfang, yet here she was still putting on an act. What was the point?

Shen Da Nai’s face changed, but then she softened her tone, speaking to Shen Yunfang with a hint of sorrow, “Ah, Yunfang, to be honest. I really don’t want to sell the piglets to the folks in my maternal family’s village. You don’t know, they are so poor they’re practically naked. If I sold the piglets to them, I’d have to let them buy on credit. Do you think it’s easy to raise a sow for a year? I rely on selling a few piglets to make some money. If I can’t get that money back later, wouldn’t I be at a loss? So when I heard you wanted to buy, my heart was set on selling to you.”

Whether Shen Da Nai was telling the truth or not, Shen Yunfang felt that things were settling down just fine. After all, she really did want to buy the piglets.

“I see. So, Da Nai, how much are you selling the piglets for?”

Shen Da Nai, seeing that Yunfang was inquiring about the price, knew there was hope and beamed with a smile, “The piglets at my place are raised very well. Just a month old and they’re already over twenty pounds each. Others I sell for five hundred yuan per pound, but if you’re buying, I’ll let you have two for twenty-five.”

“That expensive?” Yunfang wasn’t sure if the price was high or low, but out of habit, she had to say it was expensive, the better to haggle from there.

“Not expensive, really not expensive. I’m only offering this price because we’re all honest relatives. To outsiders, it would be cut and dry. Whatever the scale says, that’s the price; I wouldn’t even round down for them,” Shen Da Nai persuaded with her glib tongue, urging Shen Yunfang to fork over the money.

Yunfang believed that part; knowing her aunt’s nature, she was only ever likely to ask for more, never less.

“It’s not that, Da Nai. I just don’t have that much money on me,” Yunfang clarified.

“How much do you have then?” Shen Da Nai asked anxiously.

“Just twenty-four,” Yunfang said, spreading her hands.

One yuan short!

“All right, go ahead and give me twenty-four for now. You can owe the one yuan, and pay me back whenever you can, Da Nai trusts you. I’m off now, and I’ll bring the pig over in a bit. Get the money ready; it can’t be any less,” Shen Da Nai slapped her thigh decisively and started to leave as she spoke. By the time she finished, she had already walked out the door.

Shen Yunfang nearly stumbled over. This worked too?