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Yingbao paused, then continued, “Once you’ve made some money, you can pay me back.”

Chen Zhao nodded, came forward to tightly hug Yingbao, and thanked her in a lowered voice, “Thank you for still being willing to help me.”

She had been rather unfriendly to Yingbao in the past, even hoping for misfortune to befall her.

However, when her mother was imprisoned, she didn’t hate Yingbao at all, secretly hoping that she would never return.

She estimated that her elder sister, Chen Wan, probably felt the same. When their mother died, Chen Wan didn’t shed a single tear.

Yingbao silently pushed her away. She reached into her bag and pulled out a silver ingot worth five taels and handed it over: “Now that everyone is idle, go ahead and build a stove.”

Sugar icing and sesame seeds can be bought at the marketplace, and sesame oil—used for frying sugar cakes—is sold at Brother Daniu’s oil mill.

After taking the silver, Chen Zhao nodded her head, turned, and ran off.

A few days later, Chen Zhao began selling fried sugar cakes as expected.

Chen Feng’s Family chased her to the market to berate her long and hard, saying if her actions brought trouble to their father’s honor, she would not be spared.

Chen Zhao hardened her heart and stood against Chen Feng’s Family, completely ignoring her, no matter how much she yelled.

Chen Xu followed behind his second sister, helping to stoke the stove’s firewood.

Yingbao came by to see them, and bought a few sugar cakes.

But Chen Zhao pushed the money back saying, “Just take them, Xubao frequently eats at your home—we can’t have you paying.”

Yingbao insisted on giving it to her: “If you don’t take the money, I won’t buy them, and it won’t be good for me to come back next time.”

Seeing her insistence, Chen Zhao finally took the money.

Today was the first market day after the big flood, and there were many people out shopping.

Some of the young women and brides were enticed by the smell of the sugar cakes and couldn’t resist buying one or two to taste.

The children and young women from Dongchen Village and Xichen Village also came to join in the fun. They had pocket money and also bought the sugar cakes, one after the other.

For a while, Chen Zhao could hardly keep up with the demand.

After watching for a while, Yingbao bought some things in the market before heading home.

Her Mother Chun was sitting in the yard sorting through chives with her mother and sister-in-law, getting ready to make dumplings. She saw Yingbao and asked, “What did you buy?”

Yingbao gave one of the sugar cakes to her, then gave one each to the grandmother and aunt.

“Oh, who made these? They’re really not bad.” Chun nibbled at the sugar cake after wiping her hands on her apron.

Her grandmother and aunt agreed: “Indeed, they’re not bad —crispy on the outside and filled with sesame and sugar.”

Yingbao also took a bite: “They’re made by Chen Zhao—I taught her.”

“Why would you teach her this?” Chun asked, shocked. “Would Chen Feng’s Family be willing to let her granddaughter sell things?”

“Whether she’s willing or not, she has to be.” Chen Zhao wouldn’t submit easily; she was determined to struggle against Chen Feng’s Family to the end.

Yingbao was very familiar with Chen Feng’s Family. They put great emphasis on appearances, and now that their son had passed the scholarly exams, they saw themselves as better than others. They’d rather be rattlingly poor than show their faces in trade. However, when money really runs short, they too have to compromise.

Of course, in her past life, Chen Feng’s Family was not poor at all; they had hundreds of acres of land, most leased to tenant farmers and they had even bought a house in the county town for their second son.

Aunt Xu chimed in, “What’s wrong with doing business? The Feng Family’s Chen is the same.” Previously, Aunt Xu also went to the market, and happened to see Feng Family’s Chen going to scold Chen Zhao with a bamboo stick.

After Grandmother finished eating her sugar cake, she wiped her hands with her apron and said, “Perhaps they don’t want their daughter to be seen in public. That girl must be about eleven or twelve years old, it’s indeed inappropriate for her to do business alone.”

Grandmother Xu’s thoughts are insightful. In her opinion, the world is filled with wicked hearts, and girls should honestly stay at home. Even if they do business, they should be accompanied by family members. Otherwise, what happens if they’re bullied by bad people?

Chunniang glanced at her young daughter and thought that her daughter has been helping her cousin with his business since she was very young and had even made Scholar and Scholar Erquan extremely rich. She found it unbelievable, so she didn’t think there was anything wrong with a girl doing business.

Seeing them chatting leisurely, Yingbao held the odds and ends she had bought and brought them into the room. She took out the things for her mother and stashed the rest away in her treasure cave.

Then, she took a small shovel and a backpack and went out of the house.

Taking advantage of the soft ground and the mild weather, she wanted to plant more trees around the village.

She also wanted to sow medicinal herb seeds in the uncultivated lands, like marigold, thistle, atractylodes and other common yet miraculous medicinal materials, she wanted to sow as many as possible.

She took a pile of saplings from her own orchard and put them in the backpack. As she was about to leave, she heard someone calling her from behind, “Yingbao, what are you doing?”

Turning around, Yingbao saw Master Zhou Wuchang, and answered, “I am going to plant some medicinal herbs.”

Zhou Wuchang walked over with his hands behind his back, followed by his eldest pupil, Zhou Hao. “Master will accompany you.”

“Okay.” Yingbao picked up the shovel and led the way.

The three of them arrived by the soapnut trees in the village. Yingbao put down her backpack and began to dig the soil to plant kudzu vines.

The reason Yingbao chose to plant kudzu vines by the soapnut trees was firstly because kudzu vines have many uses, and secondly because they grow very quickly, often flourishing within a year.

Moreover, their roots, stems and flowers are all excellent medicines for cooling the blood and detoxification.

Zhou Wuchang was interested in watching his young disciple planting and told his senior disciple, “Why don’t you help your junior sister with the work.”

Zhou Hao responded and took the shovel from Yingbao’s hand to dig holes.

Yingbao planted the kudzu vines in the holes he had dug.

After watching for a while, Zhou Wuchang asked, “Yingbao, why are you planting these?”

Without looking up, Yingbao replied, “These grow quickly and can climb up the soapnut trees within a year. With their protection, it won’t be easy for outsiders to get in.”

With the kudzu vines entangled in between the soapnut trees, the gaps between the trees would be even smaller, to the point where even a cat can’t get through.

Zhou Wuchang laughed, “What if someone sets fire to them?”

“The villagers aren’t blind, they’ll definitely see it.” Yingbao replied, “If foreign enemies attack, we can pinpoint their direction.”

“If they are truly foreign enemies, they won’t just set fire in one place, they will ignite all sides.” Zhou Wuchang said.

After thinking for a while, Yingbao said, “If it comes to that, there will be many people, and I have a second countermeasure.”

Zhou Wuchang was curious, “What is it?”

“Run towards the area without fire.” Yingbao responded earnestly, “If we really can’t escape, I’ll get the villagers to my house and defend together.”

Zhou Wuchang laughed, “Is that your plan?”

“Yes.” Without ever having experienced war, Yingbao couldn’t come up with a better plan to fend off enemies.

“Let me tell you what to do in case of foreign invasion for your greatest chance of winning.” Zhou Wuchang gazed at the lush soapnut trees in admiration.

Yingbao looked up, “Tell me, Master.”