Chapter 180 Sun Shuiqin Regrets It

The lively celebration of the house-raising ceremony has come to an end.

Old Man Zhao asked people to help carry the tables and chairs back to their homes, while Old Woman Zhao called on a group of women to clean up the mess. These women didn't help for nothing; there were leftover dishes on the table, which they divided up. In those days, leftover food was considered a delicacy.

Zhao Youyin and Zhao Youcai stayed behind to help deal with the wild boar. This wild boar was thin but meaty, and they estimated it to weigh about 300 jin (150 kg).

Pork, pork bones, pig's head, pork chops, pig's feet, pig's blood, pig's internal organs... each part is kept separate.

Wen was also helping with the cutting and sorting.

Sun was pregnant and couldn't see these things, so she sat on the side and helped clean the pig's internal organs.

She didn't want to help, but if she didn't, she would feel embarrassed to ask for some meat back.

As she washed the pig's stomach and intestines, she mentally calculated how many pounds of meat she should ask for. Half a pound should be about right. There were four people in the three households, and half a pound of meat would be enough for each person to eat several bites. She just didn't know if her sister-in-law would be willing to share half a pound...

As she was making her plans, people from the village gathered around.

Aunt Wang handed over a dozen or so coins: "Grandma Dashan, how about eighteen coins a pound for wild boar meat?"

Pork in town costs 20 coins per pound, while wild boar costs 18 coins – that's a very fair price.

Cheng Wanwan took a knife and cut off a piece of meat, more than enough, and handed it to Aunt Wang. Then she pointed to the pig's blood basin next to her and said, "If the children like to eat pig's blood, they can take some home. It's free."

"Oh, then I won't stand on ceremony."

Aunt Wang wasn't really impolite; she took two pieces of pig's blood and then stopped.

The village head's wife took out more than twenty copper coins: "Give me a pound and a half, I'll make dumplings when I get home."

"Grandma, I want a pound too, with lots of fat."

"I want a pork bone, can you make it cheaper?"

“My daughter-in-law just gave birth, and I need to make pig's feet soup to help with lactation.”

"..."

Many villagers came to buy meat, but not every household had extra money to buy meat. In the end, they sold seventy or eighty jin (35-40 kg).

Sun originally wanted to ask for half a pound of meat directly, but now she was too embarrassed to ask.

Everyone else is giving her money, but she's taking it for free. If word gets out, she'll be too ashamed to show her face.

"Second Uncle and Third Uncle, thank you for your hard work." Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, "And Second Aunt, thank you for staying to help. Otherwise, I don't know how long I would have been busy. Please take all these things back with you."

In a winnowing basket, there was a large lump of pork, weighing about seven or eight pounds, a large bowl of pig's blood, two pork ribs, a pork bone, and a large pig's trotter.

Zhao Youyin immediately waved his hand: "There are plenty of people who want wild boar meat in town. Let Er Gou take it to town to sell. We'll feel more at ease once we have the money in our hands. We can't let you eat it for free."

"Second brother, this is also a kind gesture from my sister-in-law," Sun said with a smile. "The children haven't eaten meat in so long, they should have some."

My sister-in-law is so generous; she gave me seven or eight pounds of meat. All that agonizing over was for nothing.

Cheng Wanwan said, "If Second Uncle and Third Uncle feel bad about it, then please help me carry a load of firewood over."

There are two temporary stoves in the yard of the new house. The dry firewood piled up has been burned out. They have just started to braise the meat. At least one load of firewood is needed to finish braising the hundred pounds of meat.

Without saying a word, Zhao Youyin and Zhao Youcai got to work, eventually carrying two loads of firewood and neatly stacking them in the yard.

Cheng Wanwan was busy here, checking on the progress of the new house from time to time. After the beam was raised, the next step was to lay the tiles. One tile after another was put on, and slowly it began to look like a home.

In the entire Dahe Village, there are nearly two hundred households, but in reality, only seventy or eighty households have the means to build adobe houses; most still live in thatched huts.

Her house is more spacious than the adobe house of the headman, because there is space reserved for windows in each room. It is not only spacious, but also very bright. It is square and bright, and is considered to be the best house in Dahe Village.

Sun Shuiqin stood silently at the entrance of the new house.

She initially chose Zhao Shagen as a second choice because she disliked that Zhao Ergou's family didn't have a house to live in.

If she had known this would happen, she would never have...

She bit her lower lip, looked up, and saw Zhao Ergou walking quickly towards her.

Zhao Ergou walked quickly, his eyes fixed ahead, as if he hadn't noticed her presence at all.

"Brother Er Gou".

Sun Shuiqin couldn't help but shout out.

Zhao Ergou frowned sharply: "What are you doing here? Shagen has been looking for you everywhere."

"I……"

Sun Shuiqin was speechless.

She didn't know what she was doing here. She just regretted marrying Zhao Shagen.

Zhao Shagen wasn't as good-looking as Zhao Ergou, nor as smart. He was always acting silly and didn't know what he was having fun about. She found life very boring.

"Actually, I..."

She spoke again.

Cheng Wanwan's voice came from the courtyard: "Ergou, come here quickly."

Zhao Ergou didn't look at Sun Shuiqin again and strode inside: "Mom, what are you doing here?"

Cheng Wanwan didn't mention Sun Shuiqin's matter; she believed Er Gou could handle it properly.

She began, "The pork offal we already had, plus the game that Hunter Zhao brought, totaled seventy catties. We still have about one hundred and twenty or thirty catties of wild boar left. With so much braised meat, can we sell it tomorrow?"

Zhao Ergou nodded: "Of course, Manager Yang of Zuixianlou said before that he can eat 300 catties a day."

He was busy building the house before and didn't have enough manpower. After moving into the new house, he plans to increase the daily output of braised food from 70 to 80 jin to 300 jin, or even more.

The more you sell, the more money your family earns, and the sooner you can buy a shop.

During this period, he sold seventy or eighty catties of braised food every day, earning about two taels of silver. He gave all the money he earned each day to Cheng Wanwan, after buying some good food for his family. In total, he had accumulated more than twenty taels of silver.

After people make money, they feel more confident and their horizons gradually broaden.

At this point, Zhao Ergou was completely different from the Zhao Ergou that Cheng Wanwan had just met.

No, it should be said that all four children in the family, as well as the eldest daughter-in-law, have changed, and this change is positive.

Nearly 200 pounds of braised food were cooked in two pots at the same time, and the work didn't end until late at night.

The next day, before dawn, Zhao Ergou and Shen Zheng took an oxcart to town.

Shen Zheng was going to Ping'an Town to go home and explain the matter to his father. Zhao Ergou originally wanted to go separately from him, but for some reason, he decided to go to the county government office with him.

The oxcart went to Ping'an Town first, and when it arrived at the town gate, the sun had not yet risen.

Because Zhao Ergou had to deal with the owner of the restaurant, every time he came to the town, he wore the new clothes that County Magistrate Shen had given him last time.

Fearing being outdone, Shen Zheng also put on new clothes. The fabric for these clothes was bought by Cheng Wanwan after the last autumn harvest, and Wu Huiniang sewed them in her spare time.

The two arrived at the entrance of the county government office and walked in without any hindrance.

At this moment, Magistrate Shen was handling official business in his study when he heard from his subordinates that his son had returned. He quickly got up and went out to greet him.