Jewel took out a pouch of broken silver pieces she had saved for household expenses for her father.
"This is a bit of loose silver, about six or seven taels. Dad, you keep it for buying food and clothes. I'll use the rest to start the restaurant."
Even if they didn't save much, this amount would cover their living costs for at least a month. After she earned more from her business, she could always give her father more.
"Alright. When it comes to outside matters, you make the decisions," her father said as he accepted the silver. Then he pushed the breakfast closer to her. "Hurry and eat before it gets cold."
Just as they finished eating, there was some noise from the main room. Jewel guessed her husband was awake and brought him some hot food from the pot.
"You didn't go to town, wife?" Xavi asked when he saw she wasn't out.
"I was worried about you. I want to take you with me," she said, placing breakfast on a small table by the bed, just like she did the night before. "It's not far. We'll ride the ox cart. Once we get to town, we'll buy a proper carriage and then take care of business."
Jewel helped him pick out clean clothes from the wardrobe and fetched warm water to wash his face. She also changed the medicine on his injured right arm.
After freshening him up, she went to prepare the things they needed to bring to town.
Xavi sat at the kitchen table after eating, sipping warm brown sugar water. He had wanted to help his father-in-law clean up, but the older man wouldn't allow it. He just made him sit and drink.
He glanced at the steaming meat buns on the table, covered with clean white cloth, and suddenly remembered something.
Quickly, he turned his body, hiding from his father-in-law, who was busy at the stove, and stuffed two meat buns into his sleeve.
When Jewel finished packing, she called for Xavi. He answered and left the kitchen.
At the same time, in front of the Li family's gate, Ansu came out with the same old basket filled with wilted vegetables.
Xavi walked up and slipped the buns into Ansu's hands.
"Brother An, take these. Eat them quickly so your wife doesn't see."
Ansu was confused at first, not knowing what Xavi was up to. But when he saw the food, he didn't know what to say.
"This isn't right. You should take it back."
Ansu knew the Jewel he had heard of in the past wasn't the kindest woman. He was afraid if Xavi took food from the house, she'd be angry, and it would cause trouble.
"It's okay, Brother An. Just take it," Xavi said.
While they were still going back and forth, Jewel came out of the house. When Xavi saw her, he stopped talking and shoved the buns into Ansu's arms before walking away.
Behind him, Ansu stared at the warm, delicious buns in his arms, and his eyes started to tear up.
Jewel's father had actually seen Xavi sneak the buns. He had been watching from the gap in the door the whole time.
Jewel noticed her father acting sneaky by the door and asked what he was doing. When he explained, she finally understood what had happened.
Since Xavi just wanted to secretly help out their struggling neighbor, Jewel didn't object.
From then on, every morning, Xavi found small ways to sneak food to Ansu, who passed by the door each day. In return, Ansu always brought an extra bundle of firewood when he went out collecting. He handed it to Xavi whenever he received the food.
Ansu was a single father to a six-month-old baby boy. Thanks to Xavi's kindness, he had enough to eat and could produce enough milk. His baby no longer cried from hunger every day.
—
Jewel and Xavi arrived at the edge of town in their ox cart. A stone marker at the side of the road had three big words: "Yuan'an Town."
Jewel asked a passerby for directions to the carriage sellers and brought her husband along. Soon they arrived at the most well-known shop in town: "Yuan'an First Carriage House."
As they stepped in, a salesperson quickly came up to greet them.
"Good day! Are you looking to rent a carriage?"
Carriages were expensive, and most customers rented instead of buying. The shopkeeper had been there a long time and rarely saw people buying outright.
"No, I want to buy," Jewel said.
The salesperson brightened up immediately. "Then you've come to the right place! We have carriages for carrying goods, for travel, all types—whatever you need."
The owner approached them with a wide smile. "Why don't you come to the back and take a look at our storage? We've got more styles there."
Jewel followed with her husband while the shop owner kept chatting excitedly. But she wasn't really listening. Instead, she noticed that Xavi had been staring at one particular carriage ever since they walked in.
It was beautiful and spacious, clearly designed to appeal to a man's taste. No wonder her Xavi liked it.
Jewel thought for a moment—maybe she should buy two carriages. One for home, so Xavi and her father could use it whenever they needed to go out. The other for her business, to transport supplies or go on trips for work.
So she decided to buy the one Xavi liked. With two carriages, everything would be more convenient—whether it was her traveling between home and the restaurant, or her family coming to visit her shop.
"Xavi, do you like that one?" she asked.
Seeing they were speaking privately, the owner wisely stopped talking and gave them space.
"I was just looking," Xavi said shyly. "It's pretty…"
Just looking?
Jewel didn't believe that for a second. His eyes said otherwise.
Besides, she knew how men were. If they said no, they meant yes. If they said they didn't want something, they usually did. She knew her husband too well.
He just didn't want her to spend too much money. That's why he didn't ask for it.
The owner, watching from the side, sighed. Judging from the couple's conversation, he thought the expensive carriage wasn't going to sell again.
Jewel didn't say anything more. She asked the owner to show her some carriages for transporting goods. Before long, she found one that was perfect for the restaurant's needs.
"We'll take this one," she said. "Please have it delivered to Xie family village, to Jewel's house."
"And we'll also take the one my husband was looking at earlier. Please get all the accessories ready. We'll pay right away."