Chapter 63: Can’t Make Many Corn Buns
“I’m straightforward and won’t beat around the bush, so I’ll get straight to the point,” Feng began.
“We are farmers, working tirelessly under the sun and sky, earning our living through hard labor and enduring tough days. This year, having a good harvest is a blessing from the heavens, giving us favorable weather and good fortune.”
“But as there are good times, there will also be bad times. If the heavens decide not to favor us, we could end up with nothing for a whole year, without any food to eat. That’s why living life requires a long-term view, not just thinking about the present but also the future.”
“Take your current situation, for instance. You have some stored grain at home, and you could sell it for some money to buy meat for a few meals. Sure, you can enjoy the treat now and satisfy your cravings, but what about later? What will you do if you run out of food later on? How will you and the four children manage then?”
“So, take my advice: live frugally and don’t spend extravagantly. Don’t use up all your money or eat up all your food. Think about the future, consider the long days ahead. If you don’t, you might be happy now, but when you have nothing to eat later, you’ll be left with nothing but tears.”
“If you wait until things get unbearable before thinking about saving, it might be too late. By then, hungry and desperate, will you drag these four children around begging for food? People in our village are kind-hearted, and they won’t let a widow and orphans starve to death. But everyone’s life isn’t particularly affluent. Giving you a meal means they’ll have to skip one themselves. A meal or two might be manageable, but in the long run, it’ll be too much for anyone to bear…”
Especially her family, being one of the wealthier ones in the village. If Su Mulan shows up with these four children, they’ll have to give them more than others just for the sake of their reputation. And those corn buns definitely can’t be made from coarse flour.
The more Feng thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. “Let me make this clear now. If you don’t learn to live more frugally, and if things become unbearable in the future, my family won’t be able to provide you with more than a few corn buns a day. At most, we might manage to spare two or three for your family. Don’t think our family lives in luxury, we have to send Yonghe to school, and his tuition and daily writing supplies are quite expensive…”
Feng’s words poured out like beans from a bamboo tube, and Su Mulan could only smile wryly as she listened.
So, after all this time, Feng has been earnestly advising her to live frugally and budget carefully, fearing that she might squander her household and end up coming to beg for food with Shuiliu and the others?
It’s true. The first time they met while Su Mulan was heading to the market to sell dried sweet potatoes, Feng expressed these concerns, even discussing it further behind her back.
At that time, Su Mulan had just arrived here not long ago, still carrying a bad reputation. Moreover, dried sweet potatoes could easily be mistaken for those used for grinding flour. Su Mulan didn’t pay much attention to it at the time, thinking that once the misunderstanding was cleared up as time passed and others understood the situation, there wouldn’t be any more misunderstandings.
Little did she expect that Feng would still be worrying about this matter and becoming even more anxious about it.
Anxiety to the point of coming to advise her in person.
At this moment, Su Mulan didn’t know how to evaluate Feng.
If she were to be labeled as an extreme antagonist, she still had concerns about whether Su Mulan would truly reach that point and would be willing to give her two or three corn buns when the time came.