Chapter 48: The Secret's Out... The Bing Brothers Discover the Recipe Belongs to Bing Wengu...

"Jin Ge, what are you drawing here?" Nan Dalang asked Nan Jinping, noticing she'd been sketching all morning.

"I'm keeping accounts. The household accounts have been off these past few days, so Da Lang taught me a few accounting methods," Nan Jinping replied earnestly as she recorded.

"But this doesn’t look like the accounting method used in the shops. Even illiterate as I am, I know the account books don’t look like this. Yours is too simple, barely even looks like writing," Nan Dalang said, skeptical of his brother-in-law’s knowledge. It wasn’t that he looked down on him—everyone knew Bing Dalang wasn’t exactly book-smart.

"I know the accounting method the bookkeepers use too. Da Lang taught me, but it’s too complicated. What I’m writing now, Da Lang says, is called Arabic numerals—simpler, faster, and clearer at a glance." Arabic numerals had already been introduced by then, though they weren’t widely used; the common practice was still to write out numbers in characters.

"Brother, if the family needs to draft a contract, I won’t use Arabic numerals to avoid misunderstandings and disputes. This is just for our own household to see."

Nan Dalang didn’t press further.

By nightfall, the three Bing brothers who had gone out to sell tofu returned one after another. By now, the three had stopped going out together.

At first, it worked fine—with no other tofu sellers around, even if all three Bing brothers went to the same village, they could sell out. But later, as the excitement faded, tofu became harder to sell. One brother struggled to sell his share, let alone all three.

So they split up, each carrying tofu to different villages.

Bing Silang skipped dinner for now. Seeing the light still on in Bing Wengu’s room, he walked over and called through the window, "Big Brother, are you still up?"

Bing Wengu heard him and grunted dismissively.

"Big Brother, I messed up the accounts again. Can you teach me how to do them properly?" Bing Silang pleaded.

It wasn’t just Bing Silang—the other two Bing brothers also frequently messed up their accounts. They paused at the doorway, waiting for their eldest brother’s answer.

"Studying. No time," Bing Wengu replied immediately.

Bing Silang scoffed. "Come on, who knows if you’ll even pass? Instead of wasting time reading, why not teach us brothers some proper accounting? There’s actual cash on the line."

Bing Wengu still relied on them, so he couldn’t leave his brothers totally ignorant. But he had no patience to teach the Bing family himself. "Let your brother-in-law teach you. He’s learned from me."

Bing Silang just wanted to stop making mistakes—he didn’t care who taught him. "Fine."

"Later, teach them. Include the women of the household too," Bing Wengu said to Nan Jinping.

"Qian Shi and the others might refuse," Nan Jinping worried.

Bing Wengu didn’t give a damn whether Qian Shi learned or not, but Aunt Bing and the other women—Zhou Shi, Liang Shi—needed to.

"Then tell them that if they don’t learn, and only the men in their families do, they’ll never catch their husbands cooking the books to cheat them. What if the men use the embezzled money for bad things, like sneaking around with other women? They’ll get scared and agree to learn."

Nan Jinping stared at Bing Wengu, mouth agape. "You’re downright evil."

Bing Wengu raised an eyebrow. "Took you long enough? I’m even evil to myself, let alone them."

Remembering how this man had taught her ruthless methods to control him, Nan Jinping fell silent.

Sure enough, at first, the women balked. But once Nan Jinping repeated Bing Wengu’s words, they quickly agreed. Aunt Bing and the other Bing couples were all persuaded one by one with the rhetoric Bing Dalang had taught her.

It wasn’t that Bing Dalang wanted to make life difficult for the Bing family—they simply had to learn. They didn’t need to be scholars, but at the very least, they couldn’t remain illiterate.

Bing Wengu would inevitably enter officialdom someday. Ideally, the Bing family would become his support. But even if they couldn’t rise to the occasion, they couldn’t remain ignorant—otherwise, a single contract could ruin them.

Ideally, the Nan family would learn too. Bing Wengu was somewhat satisfied with how the Nans had handled the recipe matter and was inclined to use them.

As for why he had Nan Jinping teach instead of doing it himself—partly, he couldn’t be bothered. But more importantly, he wanted to subtly build Nan Jinping’s standing.

Between a teacher and students, there is a natural authority. Maintaining this relationship over time subtly fosters greater trust and respect for Nan Jinping within the Bing family, without needing to force it.

Nan Jinping taught the Bings just as Bing Wengu had taught her—multiplication tables, Arabic numerals, and written characters.

Bing Silang found Arabic numerals simple and didn’t see the point in learning characters.

Nan Jinping explained, "They work for us, but others may not understand them."

Bing Silang shot back, "I keep accounts for myself. That’s safer for me—if others can’t understand, they won’t know how much money I have."

Nan Jinping kept her cool and explained patiently, "But you’ll have to do business with others eventually. What if someone hands you a contract you can’t read and swindles you?"

Bing Silang dismissed it, "I’m just a tofu peddler making small deals—what contracts do I need?"

"Of course you do," Nan Jinping said. She used to be tongue-tied. If Bing Silang had argued like this back then, even if she knew he was wrong, she wouldn’t have known how to counter him.

But after spending so much time with Bing Wengu, who explained things step by step, Nan Jinping found she had learned how to persuade people based on their personalities.

"Right now, you’re selling tofu door-to-door, but someday you’ll expand beyond the village. What if you land a deal with a tavern or restaurant willing to buy tofu from you regularly? Without a contract, what then?"

Nan Jinping knew that talking about the Bing brothers making big deals would only make them scoff. Deep down, they didn’t believe they could ever run a large business—it was just pie in the sky. So she couldn’t oversell it; the Bings weren’t ready to buy that yet.

Of course, this approach of "selling the right-sized dream" was also something Bing Wengu had taught her.

But talking to the Bing brothers about supplying tofu to shops and eateries in town didn’t feel like an impossible dream to them—it was something they could actually imagine achieving one day.

"At that point, would you sign a contract? If not, verbal agreements aren’t protected by law. What if they go back on their word? Would you really let a golden opportunity slip through your fingers? And if you did sign a contract, would you dare? If you can’t read, even with witnesses, how would you know they’re not scamming you? What if they’re all working together and hand you not a partnership contract but an IOU? You wouldn’t even know. What if you accidentally signed yourself into crippling debt you could never repay in your lifetime?"

Bing Silang thought seriously and came up with an idea: "I could hold off on signing and bring the contract to my eldest brother first."

He thought that even if Bing Wengu wasn’t book-smart, he should at least recognize the words and tell the difference between a partnership contract and an IOU.

But Nan Jinping shot that down. "You have to understand that business moves fast. Overnight, everything could change. Not to mention, there’s more than one tofu peddler out there—everyone’s watching each other, afraid someone else might get ahead. If someone sees you securing a big deal, they might swoop in overnight with a lower price and sign the contract before you do. Then that unsigned contract is just scrap paper."

That left Bing Silang completely speechless.

"If you were literate, you could sign the contract on the spot. Even if someone tried to steal the deal, it wouldn’t work. With the contract in place, whoever breaks it has to pay—what’s there to fear?" Nan Jinping concluded, "Imagine one day you actually strike a deal with the biggest tavern in town, only to lose it because you didn’t sign in time. Wouldn’t that make you want to tear your hair out?"

Qian Shi pictured it and nearly choked on her own frustration. "We have to learn. No question."

In the end, the entire Bing family followed Nan Jinping’s lessons—even the three-year-olds were held in laps to listen, picking up whatever words they could.

After a few days of teaching, Nan Jinping was the first to notice the change in the Bing family. She went home and strong-armed the Nans into learning too. When they refused, she used the Bings as an example.

She even warned that if the Bings, who were technically working for the Nans, were learning so diligently, there might come a day when Bing Wengu decided they were more reliable than the Nans. He might take back the recipes and make the Nans work for the Bings instead—would they like that?

The Nans certainly didn’t, so they reluctantly joined the lessons. To formalize it, Bing Wengu set a rule: whether from the Nan or Bing family, everyone had to stop work by mid-afternoon and spend an hour learning at the Bing household.

The Bing brothers initially resisted, but considering the safety risks of returning too late, they eventually agreed.

As for the Nans, they started making tofu early in the morning and were busiest before noon. By evening, they had little to do, so they raised no objections.

After the Nans opened wholesale sales, business went well. Their stored soybeans ran low, so they began buying from the village at the same price as in town. The villagers were happy to sell to them, though the Nans could only take a few liters a day.

Li Shi glared as Miao Shi shelled out hundreds of coins in just a short while, her eyes burning with envy.

Carrying her own sack of soybeans, Li Shi shoved her way through the crowd.

"Miao Shi, I’m here to sell soybeans. Weigh mine first!" Li Shi declared, tossing her basket of soybeans onto the ground with a thud.

Without even glancing up, Miao Shi replied coolly, "We’ve got enough for today."

Li Shi bristled immediately. "I’ve already carried them here. Just take them! Your family makes tofu every day—what’s a few extra liters of beans to you?"

Miao Shi said indifferently, "We’ve got enough. There’s nothing I can do."

Li Shi fumed, "Miao Shi, are you doing this on purpose? You just don’t want to buy from my family!"

She had assumed Miao Shi would at least consider their shared village ties, but Miao Shi bluntly confirmed, "Exactly. We don’t want your beans."

Li Shi was stunned for a moment before shouting, "Why not?"

"Because it’s our money, and we’ll buy from who we want!"

"You—" Li Shi trembled with rage. "Why hold a grudge against us? Your son-in-law was the one who had eyes for my Erniang—what does that have to do with her? It’s not like she seduced him!"

"Pah!" Miao Shi spat right in Li Shi’s face. "Shameless! Why don’t you take a piss and see what you look like! Your Erniang’s the type who’d sell her soul for a copper! Throwing herself at men to be a concubine—no real man would touch her! And my son-in-law is a scholar—he’d never stoop to your Erniang’s level, that loose, fickle woman!"

Li Shi exploded like a cat with its tail stepped on. "Miao Shi, don’t you dare slander us! It’s your son-in-law who’s shameless—a rotten old cabbage trying to chew on fresh greens! If he had any decency, he’d have withdrawn the betrothal without us saying a word. My Erniang wanted nothing to do with him, and he tried to force her by threatening to kill himself! A man of such vile character—thank the heavens my Erniang didn’t marry him!"

Now Miao Shi was furious too. She lunged to claw at Li Shi’s mouth. "That’s a damn lie! My son-in-law never threatened anyone—he couldn’t bear your family’s insults! You’d rather hand your daughter to some old coot than a proper scholar—what kind of humiliation is that? No spirited young man could endure it!"

In a flash, Miao Shi yanked Li Shi’s hair and slapped her twice. Li Shi fought back just as fiercely.

In the past, no one would have intervened—villagers would’ve just watched the spectacle. But now, the Nan family’s standing in the village had risen, and people still hoped to sell their soybeans to them. Several women quickly stepped in to separate the two.

Since this was happening at the Nan household, Gu Shi, seeing her mother-in-law involved, rushed over. Playing peacemaker, she still managed to land a few kicks on Li Shi.

The villagers also took sides, and soon Li Shi was overpowered.

Li Shi was used to being the village tyrant—when had she ever suffered such a loss? Fuming and near-hysterical, she realized the whole village had turned against her. Seething, she stormed off to town to find her Erniang.

The Zhao family’s gatekeeper sneered down at Li Shi, treating the mother of his master’s concubine with disdain. Only when Li Shi greased his palm with coins did he bother announcing her.

Li Shi waited forever, freezing her bones stiff, before Li Erniang finally emerged gracefully.

Even in winter’s bite, Li Erniang flaunted flimsy robes. She shivered before even speaking. "Mother, why have you come? I told you not to visit unless it’s important."

"It is important!" Li Shi said urgently. "Erniang, did you know the Nan family has started a tofu business?"

Li Erniang’s delicate brows furrowed. "How’d the Nan family get their hands on that recipe?"

"Who knows? They’re keeping it hush-hush—won’t spill a word."

Li Erniang fell into deep thought.

Watching her daughter’s expression, Li Shi ventured cautiously, "Erniang, what if we report them to the authorities? One sniff from the law, and they’re done for."

Li Erniang said, "Can you guarantee it? False charges mean fines or worse—jail time. You think you’d last a day in jail at your age?"

Li Shi shrank back. "At my age? I’d never make it. Then... you report them, Erniang."

"Mother!" Li Erniang snapped. "I’m just a concubine here! If I drag the family into court and shame them, do you think the master would keep me? What would become of me then?"

Li Shi mumbled, "I just wanted to avenge you. Seeing the Nan and Bing families thrive—how can you stand it?"

"Still, no." Li Erniang was firm. "The master’s got coin to spare, but not face to lose. The main wife already hates my guts. If I jump at the chance to bury myself in a lawsuit, she’d ruin me. I won’t gamble my neck on that."

"Then we just let it go?" Li Shi grumbled.

"Absolutely not!" Li Erniang’s gaze turned frosty as she sneered, "Mother, when you go back, just say this..."

The more Li Shi listened, the brighter her eyes became, until they gleamed alarmingly by the end.

"If it isn’t the Bing brothers—Erlang, San Lang, and Silang!" Li Shi deliberately waited at the village entrance and rushed up when she saw the three Bing brothers. "You three are so diligent! Even with a goose that lays golden eggs at home, you still work so hard to earn money."

It was just past dawn, and villagers were already up, jostling noisily at the Nans’ place to buy tofu, everyone eager to be the first to sell.

The Feng family, Bing Erniang's in-laws, were also present. These brothers knew well the feud between the Bing and Li families. Now, rather than eating from the Nans’ table, they were effectively eating from the Bings’, so they naturally sided with the Bings.

The Feng brothers glared at Li Shi, and Feng Sanlang, the son-in-law, waved her off like a pesky fly. "Scram! We have tofu to sell and no time for you."

The Bing brothers ignored Li Shi, pretending not to hear.

Undeterred, Li Shi dogged their steps, continuing, "Such cold weather, carrying tofu around to sell—how exhausting! I see your hands are frostbitten, and your feet must be too. I wonder if you can even afford medicine. It pains me to see. If my family had the tofu recipe, we’d never give it to in-laws and let our own children suffer."

Bing Silang frowned. "Beat it! Quit your yapping, or I’ll beat you."

Li Shi wasn’t afraid. "I’m not lying. Go ask the Nan family—where did their recipe come from? Was it from your eldest brother? See if they dare deny it!"

Bing Silang scoffed. "You’re full of hot air. I know my eldest brother. If he had that recipe, he’d have used it long ago when we were starving."

Frankly speaking, even if not for the Bing family, for his own sake, he’d have shared it. With that recipe, even if a knife were held to the Li family’s throat, they wouldn’t have dared break off the engagement with Bing Wengu.

Li Shi’s eyes darted slyly. "You don’t know, do you? That recipe was a gift from that nobleman last time. Bing Dalang kept it from you and gave it to the Nans."

She clicked her tongue at the Feng brothers. "Hey, Feng boys, better suck up good to Bing Dalang. If you please him, maybe he’ll throw you a bone too."

Bing Silang grew exasperated. "You’re spinning tales. What a waste not being a storyteller."

"I’m not lying! I heard it myself—Nan family’s Xiao Geer telling Miao Shi and her husband." Li Shi vowed, practically raising her hand to heaven. "If you don’t believe me, I’ll confront them right in front of you."

Shadowing the Bings, brushing off their glares, she shouted as they passed the Nan house, "Miao Shi! Nan Sanlang! Come out! The Bing brothers are here to settle accounts! How do you live with yourselves, using Bing Dalang’s tofu recipe for profit?"

The Bing brothers rushed to cover her mouth, but Li Shi, despite her limp, darted like a sparrow.

After several shouts, neighbors emerged, and the Nans could no longer pretend not to hear. They reluctantly came out.

Li Shi set her fists on her hips. "I heard it myself—your Jin Geer told you in the kitchen that the recipe came from Bing Dalang! You even said, 'Keep this from the Bings, or they’ll burn the place down!'"

The Bing brothers turned beet-red. "Uncle, Aunt Nan, don’t listen to her! She’s trying to drive a wedge between us. We’d never think that way!"

The Nans forced a laugh, avoiding eye contact.

Li Shi thrust her hand up. "I swear! I heard Jin Geer say the recipe came from the Nans. Let my Erniang be thrown out by the Zhao family and die alone if I lie! If you’re not guilty, Nan family, swear it!"

Back then, oaths meant something—though Li Shi certainly didn’t.

The Nans dared not swear, fearing retribution.

Li Shi crowed. "See? They’re scared! They won’t swear!"

The Bing brothers noticed the Nans’ evasiveness, and their guts twisted.

Bing Sanlang narrowed his eyes. "Uncle, Aunt Nan... what’s going on? We’re family. We trust you—just say the word, and we’ll believe you."

Li Shi immediately said, "Miao Shi, swear by your Jin Geer. If there's even a single false word from you, your Jin Geer and the eldest son of the Bing family will surely grow estranged, their marital harmony ruined, and in the end, he'll be driven out of the Bing family, left alone and destitute, suffering a miserable fate."

The Nan couple, being too honest, stood open-mouthed, unable to utter a word. Or perhaps they cared too much about Nan Jinping and refused to swear using their own Jin Geer.

At this point, even the dimmest of the Bing brothers could see something was amiss.

Bing Sanlang stared fixedly at the Nan family. "Uncle and Aunt Nan, give us a straight answer."

Miao Shi could only say in the end, "Go ask your eldest brother."

It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck the Bing brothers out of a clear sky, leaving them reeling with shock. The three Bing brothers abandoned their carrying poles and baskets on the ground, racing home in a frenzy.

The Feng brothers were stunned, never expecting things to take such a turn. After recovering, they exchanged glances and chased after them.

Halfway there, Feng Sanlang signaled to Feng Si Lang, who hurried off to the Feng household to inform Bing Erniang.

Equally dumbstruck was Li Shi, who stood rooted to the spot, as if dumbstruck.

Li Shi muttered in disbelief, "How can this be? How could there be such a fool as Bing Da Lang in this world, willing to give away his family's golden goose? This is absurd, impossible."

Wang Shi, watching the drama unfold, nudged Li Shi. "What’s your game? Didn’t you already hear about this?"

"I didn’t," Li Shi replied blankly, as if her soul had left her body. "I didn’t hear anything. I just wanted to sow discord between the Nan and Bing families."

Of course, Li Shi didn’t believe the Nan family’s recipe had come from Bing Wengu, but that didn’t stop her from spreading lies.

People are inherently greedy. Even if the recipe wasn’t from Bing Wengu, as long as the Bing family grew covetous, they’d kick up a storm.

Eventually, the Nan family would refuse, creating a rift between the two families that would inevitably affect Nan Jinping and Bing Wengu’s relationship. What Li Shi wanted was discord between Bing Wengu and Nan Jinping, their affection soured. She couldn’t stand how well Bing Wengu treated Nan Jinping now.

In short, as long as Nan Jinping and Bing Wengu suffered, Li Shi and Li Erniang would be satisfied.

Li Shi hadn’t expected to get under their skin enough to drive Nan Jinping and Bing Wengu to divorce or anything drastic—just to needle them.

But no matter how she schemed, she never imagined her spur-of-the-moment lie would turn out to be true.

"This can’t be. How could something so absurd happen in this world?" Li Shi now refused to believe it. "If I’d known Bing Wengu was such a fool, why would my Erniang have broken off the engagement? If we hadn’t, that tofu recipe would be ours, and our family would be rich!"

The thought that she’d personally thrown away her family's ticket to wealth made Li Shi dizzy. With a loud thud, she collapsed stiffly onto her back.

Meanwhile, all hell broke loose in the Bing household. Bing Sanlang sprinted home like a madman, kicked open Bing Wengu’s door, and roared, "Out with it, Bing Wengu! Did you give the Nan family that tofu recipe?"

His furious shout rocked the entire Bing household, and in an instant, all the Bings crowded into Bing Wengu’s room.

Nan Jinping stood ramrod straight in the center of the room, head bowed, as if guilty of some unforgivable crime.

In contrast, Bing Wengu didn’t even rise from his lounging position on the couch, one leg propped up, his posture lazy. He didn’t seem like someone being accused but rather like he was casually enjoying the spectacle.

Bing Wengu spoke softly and gently to Nan Jinping, "My husband, sit down. Why are you standing?"