When the little beggar woke up, Jiang Sheng leaned over and asked, "Little brother, how old are you? Where is your home? What's your name?"
The beggar stared blankly without answering a single question.
Zheng Ruqian poked her and said, "He's not your little brother. Just look, he's clearly older than you."
"No, he's younger than me," Jiang Sheng insisted stubbornly. She already had four older brothers and wanted a little brother.
But when the little beggar stood up, he really was half a head taller than Jiang Sheng. She pouted.
Oh well, just another older brother.
Jiang Sheng didn't have many virtues, but she accepted reality quickly. She immediately changed her words, "Fifth older brother, are you hungry?"
The beggar nodded blankly.
Jiang Sheng brought over the leftover vegetable mush from breakfast and warmed it up. "Eat a little."
The beggar's eyes widened as he looked at the vegetable mush of indistinguishable ingredients. He took it with trembling hands.
"Fifth brother, you must be cold," the thoughtful Jiang Sheng said. She immediately took off her last cotton-padded jacket. "Wear this. It's super warm."
The beggar's hands shook even more violently. This ill-fitting, grimy cotton jacket, this desolate broken-down temple, these unfamiliar people.
"Fifth brother must have just recovered from a fever, that's why your hands are weak," Jiang Sheng said. She grabbed the vegetable mush back and found a relatively clean spoon to scoop up a mouthful and swiftly fed it to the beggar. "I'll just feed you."
The viscous liquid filled his mouth.
The beggar's expression gradually changed, as if he wanted to vomit but forcefully held it back.
Oblivious, Jiang Sheng happily finished feeding him. "Fifth brother likes the vegetable mush I make!"
Xu Mo nearly choked on his water. He swallowed with difficulty and looked at the beggar. "You had a fever. My sister saved you."
The beggar's gaze fell on Jiang Sheng.
Jiang Sheng patted her chest proudly. "We all saved you together."
She pointed to herself and her four brothers, briefly introducing them.
Chang Yan was silent and taciturn, only nodding.
When she introduced Fang Heng, he stared at Fang Heng for a long time.
Bewildered, Fang Heng asked, "Do you recognize me?"
Chang Yan shook his head and lowered his eyes.
"Alright, to celebrate Fifth Brother joining us, we'll have meat for lunch today," Jiang Sheng said happily, recalling the two taels of meat she got from the county yesterday.
The other brothers' expressions changed.
If Jiang Sheng's doughy noodles were barely edible, her meat was terrifying.
"I'm going to the village to change Zhou Zhiqiang's bandages," said Wen Zhiyun, grabbing the medicine box.
"I'll help carry the medicine box," Fang Heng followed closely behind.
"I'm going to collect mushrooms," Zheng Ruqian tucked his tail between his legs.
In an instant, only Xu Mo and Chang Yan remained in the lively broken-down temple.
Jiang Sheng pouted. She looked eagerly at her two brothers. "Eldest Brother and Fifth Brother are the best. I'll go cook meat soup for you."
Xu Mo smiled wryly, wishing he could stand up...
At noon, no matter how busy they were outside, they had to return to the broken-down temple for lunch.
In the end, Jiang Sheng's meat soup still entered the stomachs of several brothers.
After barely finishing eating, someone came from the village entrance.
It was Auntie Zhang from the east side of the village. She peeked into the broken-down temple.
Seeing Chang Yan, her eyes lit up. "Oh my! Whose child is this? How can he be so handsome?"
Jiang Sheng immediately stood up to shield Fifth Brother behind her. "He's my brother."
"Yet another brother?" Auntie Zhang's eyes widened. "Jiang Sheng, how many brothers do you have exactly?"
Although Jiang Sheng was young, she was clever. Why would she tell outsiders these things?
But she didn't want to offend anyone either. Her eyes darted around and she changed the topic. "It's noontime, Auntie. Have you eaten? Did you come to see me about something?"
Only then did Auntie Zhang slap her thigh. "I heard you have cotton jackets for fourteen wen each. Do you have any left? Get me one too."
Indeed, nothing beats a cheap price.
Jiang Sheng regretted ordering too few. She considered getting fifty or sixty next time. "We're out for today, but Auntie, if you want one, I'll bring some over tomorrow."
Auntie Zhang slapped her thigh again. "Alright, I'll come get one tomorrow."
After sending Auntie Zhang off, Jiang Sheng was extremely excited, wishing she could take out all the family's money to buy cotton jackets in bulk.
Xu Mo was copying books. He kindly reminded, "There are only about a hundred families in the village. How many can afford to buy cotton jackets?"
Even if Shi Pu Village had a market, it was very small. Thirty to fifty jackets could saturate it.
If they really bought a hundred or so jackets in bulk, they might take a loss.
But Jiang Sheng already had plans. She put her hands on her hips. "Then we'll go sell them in town."
"What if the town is also saturated?" Xu Mo asked again.
Jiang Sheng was stumped. Shi Pu Town had four villages. Assuming each village could purchase thirty jackets, they could only sell about one hundred and twenty jackets total.
Cotton jackets weren't food or drink. Once people bought one, they could wear it for three to five years.
Xie Yang County was big, but buying goods wholesale then reselling in the county wouldn't make money.
Could selling cotton jackets really stop at one hundred and twenty?
Jiang Sheng crouched on the ground, deep in thought.
Suddenly, Chang Yan spoke up, "We could sell in other towns."
Jiang Sheng immediately jumped up, eyes shining brightly. "Fifth Brother makes sense. Although other towns are farther away, we have a donkey cart."
As long as they were willing to travel, they could go anywhere and sell anything.
"Fifth Brother is amazing, Fifth Brother is so smart," Jiang Sheng said, rushing to Chang Yan and planting a kiss on his pale face.
She excitedly ran off, probably to help Zheng Ruqian collect mushrooms, preparing to go to the county seat tomorrow.
Chang Yan was left standing there, his pale cheeks slowly turning as red as a big apple.
Xu Mo watched with a faint smile.
That afternoon, the siblings worked hard together but only collected one basket of mushrooms.
Jiang Sheng wanted to go to the county seat tomorrow and also send more mushrooms to You Ran Ju.
But mushroom yields were limited. They had combed through almost all of Shi Pu village, only collecting one carrying basket.
"Is this too little to send to You Ran Ju?" Zheng Ruqian scratched his head.
"But the village is out of mushrooms," Jiang Sheng spread her hands helplessly. "We can only wait for the uncles to go up the mountain and gather more tomorrow."
Zheng Ruqian sighed.
Jiang Sheng shook her head.
The other brothers remained silent.
Suddenly, Chang Yan spoke up again, "Can we collect other things?"
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