Chapter 30: A Salted Fish Has No Ambitions

Qi Wu had only apprenticed with Carpenter Liao for a few years. Though he only specialized in making coffins, he sure had a lot to say about woodwork.

He was the type to learn slowly but work diligently. He hadn’t memorized all those old sayings from his master, but when it came to smoothing and finishing wood, he had definitely mastered the craft.

Some particular families wouldn’t allow even a single nail in their furniture, so he was also skilled at crafting mortise-and-tenon joints.

{T/N: A mortise and tenon joint is a classic woodworking method where a tenon (a projecting piece) fits snugly into a mortise (a matching hole) on another piece. It’s strong, resists pulling apart, and is widely used in furniture and timber frames.}

The Qi brothers were tall and strong, and Qi Wu often went far into the mountains to cut wood himself, dragging it back to practice. All the tables, benches, and beds in his house were homemade, with a plain and unpretentious solid wood style.

Yan Lao’er was very satisfied. All he wanted was a simple cart shed—no fancy embellishments, just something sturdy and durable. That was his only requirement.

Qi Wu was a bit nervous.

He didn’t know how to carve decorative patterns, or how to polish and varnish. Everything he made looked plain and clunky, just like the man himself.

Few people in the village interacted with his family. Yan Lao’er was the first person to come and commission something from him.

“Brother Yan, my master made coffins… You… don’t find that unlucky?”

“Promotion and prosperity! Auspicious as can be! Come on, Qi Wu, take a look at the design I drew—see if you can build it?” Yan Lao’er didn’t waste words and directly showed him the blueprint.

This was a collaborative masterpiece from him and his daughter—a real labor of love!

Qi Si and Qi Wu both looked on with newfound respect.

Yan Lao’er could actually draw woodworking plans?

Qi Wu, ever the honest man, said, “Brother Yan, I don’t know how to read and I can’t interpret plans. Could you just describe what kind of cart shed you want?”

Qi Wu had glimpsed his master’s blueprints before: dense with words and only tiny diagrams, which he could barely make sense of.

How could he not look? He and his daughter had racked their brains over this!

“Qi Wu, listen. What I want is a shed that can hold weight on top, preferably matching the existing cart frame. It should be sturdy enough that a few people could lie on it, with railings around the sides—about four feet high.

Sounds simple enough, right? Just a few pieces of wood.”

Qi Si leaned in, “Brother Yan, this sounds like you’re building a tall-legged bed up there.”

Yan Lao’er let out a surprised “Huh?” and examined the drawing closely. It really did look like that.

“Exactly! Just make the legs longer so people can move around underneath. Then add railings to the bed. On top, I want to store straw, grain, iron pots, luggage, and such. Seems simple enough, right?”

Qi Wu nodded. “It’s doable, but Brother Yan, once this is built and loaded with everything you mentioned, won’t it be too heavy for the ox to pull?”

“Don’t use solid lumber! Use thin wooden slats for the railing, and make the bed from planks pieced together—not full-size boards,” said Yan Lao’er.

Cutting corners.

Qi Wu understood and started to think it over in line with Yan Lao’er’s ideas.

And truth be told, this would make it a lot lighter.

“Also, my cart’s a two-wheeled ox cart. I’m worried it’ll be unstable with so much weight on top. Let’s add two more wheels—turn it into a four-wheeled ox cart.

Qi Wu, look at this other drawing. Hook up a small flatbed cart behind, secure both carts together with boards, and that’s it!”

Qi Si, Qi Wu: …

Qi Wu said, “Brother Yan, making one from scratch might take too long. We do have a bigger flatbed cart at home. I’ll test later if it can be connected.”

If it had been someone else, they definitely wouldn’t have indulged Yan Lao’er in this nonsense.

But since Yan Lao’er had come to Qi Wu—his first ever custom order—the honest man couldn’t refuse.

Not just Qi Wu and Qi Si—Qi Da even came over to help.

Yan Lao’er didn’t have anything urgent to do, so he stayed to lend a hand.

…

Li Xuemei and her husband had spent the previous night stuffing everything from the house into cloth bags.

Mostly various seasonings. To save effort, they mixed the salt, ground peppercorn, and chicken bouillon into one bag. Chili powder and cumin went into another, fragrant and spicy together.

That second mix was Yan Lao’er’s insistence. His daughter loved roasted meat. With just those two things, any meat would taste great.

One must have dreams. Who knows? Maybe one day they’d achieve meat-eating freedom.

Old Yan didn’t ask where the rice, flour, and vegetables came from. As long as they had a legitimate source, he didn’t care. Only the toilet paper was too embarrassing to show.

It couldn’t be exposed at all—too white, too eye-catching.

Now after every… major life event, the family had to dig a hole and bury the evidence.

Yan Lao’er had smuggled in a bunch of straw, and now Li Xuemei was doing the final packing, stuffing the bundles full with it.

No choice. They were selling too much empty space. Later, whenever they wanted to take anything out, they’d need a cover story.

When Yan Yu came hopping home, she saw the house full of large and small bundles.

At first glance, it looked like they owned quite a lot.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Li Xuemei asked her daughter.

“Fantastic! Mom, beds are just so comfortable!” Yan Yu answered earnestly.

Li Xuemei laughed. “You sure had it easy. Look at your dad and me, busy till just now finishing the packing.”

Yan Yu asked casually, “Where’s Dad? Off again?”

“He’s at the Qi family’s place, working on that cart shed you two designed.”

“Haha! Mom, I bet Dad hasn’t eaten breakfast. I’ll take him some later.”

“He’ll survive skipping a meal. If you want to go, go ahead, but don’t bring anything with you.

Those Qi brothers are honest folks. If you bring food, they’ll definitely insist on hosting your dad for a meal, and it won’t just be one bite. Villagers always serve their best dishes to guests.”

Li Xuemei used the chance to teach her daughter.

“Got it! I’ll go later.” Then she suddenly remembered something. “Mom, about those hard-to-read characters on the bamboo slips, I’ll copy them down and go ask Uncle.”

Li Xuemei thought for a moment and asked, “Xiao Yu, what do you think about just giving the bamboo slips to your uncle? I was thinking, we could say your dad stumbled upon them by chance. After all, Yan Lao’er still has the title of a scholar. It wouldn’t be too out of place.”

Yan Yu shook her head like a rattle drum. “Mom, this is Bamboo Slip Three! Later there’ll be Bamboo Slip One, Two, and then Handwritten Copy One, Two, Three… Once we have more, we can bring them all out together.

For now, I’ll just take a few characters to ask. Uncle won’t suspect a thing. He’ll probably think it’s from some obscure book. I’ll also casually reveal that your daughter knows how to read.

Mom, I don’t want to stay illiterate forever.”

Li Xuemei pulled her over and started redoing her hair, softly saying, “Xiao Yu, you know… In ancient times, even the most talented women rarely had chances to show their skills…”

She was worried her daughter might end up frustrated.

“Mom!” Yan Yu suddenly turned around, eyes wide in mock horror. “What are you saying? You don’t think I have some grand ambition, do you? I don’t! Absolutely not!

I just want to be literate, read some books, do a little writing and drawing so it’s not surprising to people—just like the cart shed Dad and I designed. Use my little brain a bit so it doesn’t get rusty.”

Li Xuemei breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Yu hugged her tightly, her face bright and cheerful. “Let’s just let Dad support us! He’ll work hard outside making money, and we’ll stay home, beautiful as flowers, hahaha! Mom, don’t you think this sounds great?”

Li Xuemei couldn’t help laughing. “Sounds perfect!”

(End of Chapter)