Chapter 97 - Building a house combining two buildings, construction begins...

When she returned, Pei Ying and Lin Chunxing were already cooking.

Lin Chuntao was running around all day, so much so that she was a little dizzy.

Pei Ying chopped some minced meat and made a steamed egg custard with minced meat. Lin Chunxing stir-fried some pork cracklings with bok choy. There were still some pea shoots left from this morning, so Lin Chunxing chopped two tomatoes and cooked a tomato and pork skin pea shoot soup. Finally, she stir-fried twice-cooked pork.

Lin Chuntao sat down to rest, while Lin Chunxing stood by the stove and asked, "Sister, did you need to fry the meat you made this morning a little longer to get it a bit more caramelized?"

"Yes, stir-fry until it looks slightly yellow, then you can add the sauce and salt."

Lin Chunxing smiled and said, "Okay, I think the twice-cooked pork this morning was even better. I'll try to see if I can make it."

Lin Chuntao said, "This is simple, I'm sure I can make it."

Lin Chunxing curved her lips into a smile. It was strange, really. They had seen what Lin Chuntao made. The process was exactly the same, and the ingredients were the same, but it was still very difficult to make the exact same taste and texture. At most, they could only make it about 70 or 80 percent similar.

The soup noodles are not much different because the soup base and the meat filling are fixed.

After a busy day, Lin Chuntao was already feeling hungry.

Seeing that the dishes were almost ready, she got up, grabbed a bowl and chopsticks, scooped up some rice, and began to eat heartily.

After dinner, Lin Chunxing asked, "Sister, are you going to the county town to buy vegetables and grains again tomorrow?"

"Um."

"We don't have much rice and flour left." The main issue is the food rations. Providing rice is too conspicuous. Yizhou is rich in buckwheat, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, which are the staple foods for most people. Although rice is also grown, the yield is low and not much is harvested. People can't eat rice every meal. They only cook rice occasionally for festivals.

Lin Chuntao could exchange rice from the system, but if she fed so many people with rice every meal, the news would spread far and wide in just a few days. Building a new house already attracted envy, and doing this would only cause more trouble. So she decided to make buckwheat rice and corn rice as staple foods for everyone.

The staple food is easy to decide, the rest is the dishes. Since there are many people eating, we have to cook large batches of dishes.

With so few dishes available, Lin Chuntao felt that it was difficult to decide on the menu.

After dinner, Lin Chuntao went to digest her food and happened to meet Aunt Guizhi, who was also on her way.

"Chuntao, I was just about to go to your house to look for you," Aunt Guizhi said, then asked, "I didn't have time to ask you during the day, but if you're going to work tomorrow, aren't you supposed to cook for people? Did you ask someone to cook for you?"

"I originally wanted to ask my aunt for help, but I invited my uncle and the others. She also has to take care of her children at home, so my aunt and the others came to help."

Aunt Guizhi said, "That's good. I was thinking that if we didn't have enough people, I would call your sixth grandma to come and pick vegetables for you."

"Sixth Grandma has to take care of Sister Shuilian. Is she feeling any better? I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to visit her."

Aunt Guizhi said, "She's much better physically, and she seems to be in a much better mood too."

Lin Chuntao nodded slightly, "With fewer worries, one will naturally feel more relaxed. Once you've recovered, everything will be fine."

As the two walked and chatted along the country road, Lin Chuntao asked, "Auntie, there's something I'm unsure about. Could you give me your opinion?"

"How should I prepare the dishes for everyone, including both meat and vegetables? I'm thinking of one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and a soup. Do you need to prepare a soup?"

When Aunt Guizhi heard this, she thought of the dishes Lin Chuntao had made when they were planting corn. The meat was meat, and the vegetables were vegetables.

"When you say one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, do you mean one dish made entirely of meat, and then two separate stir-fried vegetables?" Aunt Guizhi asked. Lin Chuntao naturally nodded, "Yes."

Aunt Guizhi said, "There's really no need to make soup. People don't usually drink soup much. If you really want to make soup, you can make a pot of sour soup for everyone."

“But you can’t be so particular about this dish. If you make a whole pot of pure meat, how much will that cost? You can put some other side dishes in the meat dishes and cut some meat into the vegetable dishes as well. It will look like all meat dishes, which will look better and save you some money.”

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Then I'll go back and think about the menu. I feel like I can't come up with any dishes."

Aunt Guizhi said, "Make more rice. People who do heavy work can eat more or less vegetables, but they can't eat less rice. Two dishes are enough. Two dishes on top of rice are enough."

"Oh right, you need a large steamer, right? I forgot to bring it. I'll get it for you in a bit."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I'll go get it with you when we get back, thank you, Auntie."

Aunt Guizhi patted her arm and said softly, "Why are you thanking me?"

The two chatted for a while before strolling back. Lin Chuntao followed to Aunt Guizhi's house to get the large steamer. The two children were playing around the old lady in the yard. It was getting dark, and Uncle Linshan was packing up his things.

At Lin Cunzheng's house, everyone sat and rested in the yard after dinner.

Chen Dongniang laughed and said, "Tomorrow I'll be at home with this bunch of little brats."

Sun teased her, "Wouldn't it be good if you played the role of the children's leader for a few days? Chun Tao originally wanted to ask you to help with cooking, but this has led to the departure of your father and Chang Zong."

Lin Chuntao had told her that Lin Changzong and the others would help her dig yellow clay and would even pay her. It was estimated that it would take ten days to half a month to dig, and her family would save up a lot of money in the meantime.

Chen Dongniang said, "I'll go help out after I finish my chores at home."

Madam Sun nodded and said, "Chun Tao was so busy today that she barely had time to breathe. Even after finishing her accounts, Madam Meng stayed behind to help her make steamed beans."

"Speaking of which, Chunhe is not bad. I used to think she was quiet and didn't talk much. But today, Chuntao is out, and she's the one who's taking care of everything at home."

Madam Hu said, "I feel that Chunxing and Chunhe are capable enough to handle things. Duo'er is a little younger, but she is obedient and follows her older sisters to do things."

Lin Cun was sitting in the corner smoking his pipe, vaguely recalling the time when his sisters brought their bedding to him to seek justice.

"Chuntao is the one with the best ideas; she's helping them get back on their feet."

The old man suddenly interjected, and Sun, who was standing next to him, smiled. Looking at her own children, she thought to herself that later she would let them learn some skills from Lin Chuntao.

Lin Chuntao carried a large steamer back, which surprised Pei Ying, who then hurriedly took it down.

"Why didn't you call me when you went to borrow the steamer?"

Lin Chuntao said, "I didn't go to borrow the steamer. I was just having a light meal when I ran into Aunt Guizhi. We chatted for a bit and I borrowed her big steamer."

"I also asked about cooking."

Pei Ying asked, "What do you mean?"

"My aunt said that two dishes, one meat and one vegetable, would be enough. She told me to steam more rice, because people who do heavy work need to eat more to feel full."

Pei Ying smiled and said, "Auntie is right. Those who do heavy work outside can eat two bowls of rice with just one spoonful of vegetables. The rice is more filling than the vegetables."

"That's good too, I feel like I can't make that many dishes."

Pei Ying washed and dried the steamer as well, and Lin Chuntao said, "Then I'll go early and come back early tomorrow morning, buy some meat and grain and come back."

Pei Ying said, "I'll also tell Manager He to come back soon."

"You have to see how things go. If Manager He arrives late, you'll have to watch the stall first."

As they were talking, Lin Chuntao went to find four pieces of cloth to sew four small cloth bags for use when digging the foundation the next day.

Pei Ying sewed quickly, and only after she had finished sewing one hole did Lin Chuntao fill the rice and copper coins into the container. After that, she took it to Pei Ying to seal the opening.

After tidying up and putting things away, the group also prepared the vegetables and meat that Lin Chunxing would need for the next day before washing up and getting ready for bed.

Before going to sleep, Lin Chuntao and Lin Chunhe instructed each other: "If my uncle and his family come early tomorrow morning, they will bring some people to help us dig yellow clay. I have also invited my great-grandfather and my eldest uncle Changzong to come and have the people my uncle and his family bring go with them to dig."

“I’ll try to get back as soon as possible. If Sister Yu and the others who came today also arrive early, then you can have them clear out the homestead first, and we can start construction when I get back.”

Lin Chunhe nodded obediently, and Lin Chuntao said, "Everything else is normal. Give Jia Hui some money and make yourself some breakfast."

Lin Chunhe smiled and said, "You don't need to tell me, I'll make something to eat."

Lin Chuntao couldn't help but laugh out loud, "I was afraid you'd forget because you were busy, and that you'd be hungry."

"That's absolutely impossible!"

Her firm tone made Pei Ying, who was standing next to her, laugh out loud. The construction of the new house was starting tomorrow, and no matter how busy or tired they were, they were still very happy!

The sisters were exhausted after a long day and fell asleep quickly after lying down.

At 3:00 AM on August 28th, the system kept shouting for a long time, calling for green-headed mushrooms and pine needle mushrooms. Lin Chuntao thought that she would pick them today but not sell them. On the first day of work, she would bring them back as vegetables.

In the morning, Lin Chuntao carried a basket on her back and a bamboo basket into the mountains, while Lin Chunxing and the others led Aunt Guizhi's little mule into the city.

She was so busy that she picked them up quickly, and it wasn't even dawn when she finished picking the mushrooms indicated by the arrow.

When she arrived in the county town, the sun hadn't even risen yet; this was the earliest she had ever arrived.

Liu Zi and the others haven't returned from delivering the meat yet. Lin Chuntao needs to buy a lot of meat today, and she also needs to take some back tomorrow. That way, if she's busy tomorrow, she won't have to rush to buy meat early in the morning.

A rib, including the meat and bone, weighs about thirty pounds. Lin Chuntao bought one rib, a bucket of pig's blood, and a bundle of pig's liver. He Lan hadn't arrived yet, so Lin Chuntao left the money with Pei Ying. Zhang Dayong looked at the weight on the scale and waited for He Lan to arrive before calculating the amount for her.

Lin Chuntao brought a wooden bucket to hold the meat. She cut the pork into two pieces and put them directly into the bucket. She wrapped the pig liver in lotus leaves and stuffed it next to her.

The bucket of pig's blood and the mushrooms in the basket were neatly placed on the mule cart.

Lin Chuntao went and bought several wooden basins to use for holding vegetables.

After buying the vegetables, she went to the grain store. She bought some buckwheat noodles and some cornmeal. She just went through the motions. After leaving the grain store and walking a while, seeing that no one was around, she opened the control panel and redeemed one and a half shi of buckwheat noodles, one shi of cornmeal, and one shi of rice, filling the entire mule cart to the brim.

Before heading home, Lin Chuntao went to a dried goods store and bought some dried bamboo shoots, dried green beans, and dried wood ear mushrooms.

The old lady at the dried goods shop was preparing to dry sauerkraut. Lin Chuntao watched as she took the sauerkraut out of the jar. It was a huge head and looked very sour.

She hadn't made much left, so she'd have to make more when she got back.

She tentatively asked, "Shopkeeper, do you sell pickled cabbage?"

The old lady waved her hand: "I'm not selling it. I'm keeping it for myself."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Sell me a few. This pickled cabbage looks very sour. I tried to pickle it before, but it didn't turn sour, which was a waste of my cabbage."

The old lady frowned slightly upon hearing this. "What did you do wrong? Pickled cabbage will be sour no matter how you pickle it."

Looking at her, a young woman, the old lady asked, "How many do you want?"

"Sell me fifteen or sixteen trees," Lin Chuntao said, taking a wooden basin downstairs. She scooped some water from the old lady's basin to wash it, and the old lady put sixteen trees into her basin, also adding a few spoonfuls of sour soup.

"Don't throw this soup away! Go get some vegetables and use this soup to make more soup. It'll definitely turn sour!"

Lin Chuntao quickly expressed her gratitude, saying that the old lady was truly kind-hearted.

"The vegetables cost four coins a pound. I'll charge you for the vegetables, so you give me twelve coins."

"Okay, thank you, Auntie!" Lin Chuntao said, counting out the money and handing it over. She then put the wooden basin on the mule cart, washed the other wooden basin, covered it with the basin, and finished. Only then did she pull the mule cart home.

The sun had just risen, and Yu Meixi and Sun Hu, along with a large group of more than a dozen people, arrived in two bare carts carrying people, and three mule carts to help Lin Chuntao haul yellow clay.

My uncle and aunt were also a group of people, carrying straw and hoes.

When they left the village, the villagers asked where they were going. The eldest aunt and the others replied with some pride, "Axiu's family, Chuntao, is building a new house, and we're going to help."

The person asking the question thought that Xu Xiu had been gone for many years, and the Lin family had also encountered trouble, leaving only some children behind. How could they have the money to build a new house?

People wondered and asked, and the eldest aunt said, "The sisters are very skilled, and they make some food to sell in the county town."

"Oh dear, that's terrible."

The eldest aunt said, "It's hard work, getting up early and working late every day."

After they left, a woman standing nearby said, "Ah Xiu's daughter seems quite capable. I was eating potatoes at Tianzhu's house earlier, and Tianzhu's wife brought out some sauce. It tasted amazing, and she said it was made by Ah Xiu's daughter."

"It tastes even better than the ones I bought in the county town?"

The people around were somewhat incredulous, "It's that delicious?"

"It's really delicious, fragrant and spicy, and so smooth. Just a little bit on the potatoes is so fragrant." She swallowed as she spoke, and said, "I'll ask Sun Qin in a couple of days if I can have some."

A bystander laughed and said, "Don't go empty-handed, or Sun Qin might get angry and scold you."

The man's cheeks flushed slightly. "I can give her eggs in exchange."

They were all people who had gone to the fields to cut pig feed, and they chatted for a while before walking away.

Lin Chuntao had a lot of stuff to carry today, so she didn't ride on the mule cart. Instead, she led the mule, so she returned a little slower.

When she arrived home, the house was bustling with activity. Her great-grandmother and Aunt Guizhi were already working, and Lin Cunzheng and his uncle had just finished chatting and were preparing to dig up yellow clay together. Yu Meixi and Sun Hu had just arrived and greeted everyone.

Lin Chunhe hadn't had a chance to follow the arrangements Lin Chuntao had made yesterday when Lin Chuntao returned.

Everyone stared wide-eyed as she pulled the mule cart full of grain and meat, especially the workers. Getting paid was one thing, but they were also very concerned about what they would eat each day. If the employer was stingy and didn't provide any food, they would be so hungry and dizzy that they couldn't continue working.

Looking at the meat and grain in Lin Chuntao's bucket, they felt that they wouldn't go hungry while working here.

Yu Meixi looked at the pig liver, meat, pig blood, and sauerkraut. She hadn't had a chance to say it yesterday. Usually, when they cooked for the workers, two dishes were enough. They would add some meat and a little oil if they were generous with it.

She helped carry the things, and once inside the house, she started talking to Lin Chuntao about the dishes. Lin Chuntao said directly, "Sister-in-law, making two dishes shouldn't be too few, right?"

Yu Meixi said, "Not too many, not too few, two will do."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I forgot to ask you yesterday what everyone likes to eat on a regular basis. Today, I bought some buckwheat noodles and cornmeal."

"That's all. Buckwheat noodles can be used to make pancakes, and cornmeal can be used to make steamed rice."

Lin Chuntao nodded slightly and then said, "I made two buckwheat dumplings a few days ago, they were quite delicious, I'll make some for everyone to try."

Yu Meixi smiled and said, "You can arrange it, little sister."

Lin Chuntao put her things away, went out to greet everyone, exchanged a few polite words, and then called for the work to begin.

Everyone then went about their own business.

Lin Chuntao won't go over the digging of yellow clay anymore; Lin Cunzheng and Lin Changzong will keep an eye on it for him, and his uncles are also there, so he doesn't need to worry too much.

She had to go and oversee the digging of the house site.

There were still a lot of thorns and weeds next to the plot of land where the house was built, and Yu Meixi and the others planned to clear away those miscellaneous things first.

The aunts helped prepare the dishes. For lunch, Lin Chuntao planned to make a stew of dried potatoes and green beans with meat, and a stir-fried cucumber with sliced ​​meat. Both dishes would contain some meat and some vegetables.

Lin Chuntao asked her aunt and uncle to help her soak dried green beans, peel potatoes, and cut meat.

She quickly scooped out the buckwheat noodles, sprinkled water on them while stirring them in the winnowing basket, making half a basket of buckwheat dough balls.

The large steamer was cleaned, and after she finished preparing it, she poured the contents into it.

There were a total of fifteen people in Yu Meixi's group. Her uncle and his group brought three people, so there were six of them, making nine in total. There were also seven people, including Lin Changzong and his group who were digging soil. That made thirty-one people in total. Since they were so busy, they ate whatever the workers ate. Including the five of them and Sun Shi and the others, there were almost forty people eating.

Lin Chuntao took a deep breath and looked at her aunt, asking, "Aunt, this should be enough for forty people, right?"

The steamer was a large one, almost full, and my aunt nodded.

"That should be enough."

Lin Chuntao started steaming the rice, went back into the house to get the four money bags, and said to her aunt, "Aunt, please keep an eye on them for me. I'm going to check on the land plot."

"Go ahead, we'll get it for you."

With so many people and so much chaos, Lin Chunhe hadn't even started making the steamed beans yet. Lin Duo'er was also following Lin Chunhe. Lin Chuntao was going to the homestead area, and they actually wanted to go see it too, but it wouldn't be appropriate if they went too, since there was no one else at home.

Lin Chunhe had no choice but to pull Lin Duo'er along to prepare to rub the beans, to get them out first and steam them later.

When Lin Chuntao arrived, Sun Hu and his group were already cleaning up the house site, and many villagers were standing not far away, watching.

Building a new house is always a lively affair, but Lin Chuntao's house was especially bustling, with twenty or thirty people working on it. They had never seen such a large-scale event before.

Niu Hongxi and Lin Miaomiao were also there.

Sun Hu said yesterday that they would be back in a few days, and Niu Hongxi never expected that they would come to build a house for Lin Chuntao.

He only realized what was happening when he saw a dozen or so workers coming to work today.

He walked to the edge of the land plot, looked at Sun Hu and asked, "Brother, we have two cedar trees to sell. When can we cut them down?"

Sun Hu looked up and saw Niu Hongxi, and said with a smile, "Let's wait about twenty days."

Niu Hongxi frowned slightly. "Can't we chop them down these next two days?"

Sun Hu: "I've been too busy these past two days, I haven't had a moment to spare."

Niu Hongxi glanced at Lin Chuntao not far away and said, "Brother, with so many of you, you can cut down the tree in an hour. It won't delay anything."

Lin Chuntao had her back to Niu Hongxi, and Yu Meixi was standing in front of her.

As soon as Niu Hongxi finished speaking, Yu Meixi saw a hint of disgust flash across Lin Chuntao's eyes. She raised her voice and said, "Brother, we all got paid to work today. Do you want to pay us for two more hours of work so we can go cut down trees for you?"

"Furthermore, we only buy trees, we don't cut them down; you'll have to hire someone to cut them down."

After hearing Yu Meixi's rather impolite words, Niu Hongxi turned and left.

Yu Meixi asked, "Chuntao, does this person have a grudge against you?"

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "No, in fact, he is from another place. He is now my cousin's husband, but our family doesn't get along. A long time ago, my sisters and I cut off ties with our elders and stopped having any contact with them."

Yu Meixi was stunned for a moment, and Lin Chuntao said, "The old house we live in upstairs was lent to us by the village head, which is why I'm in a hurry to build a house, so that it can be completed as soon as possible and we can move into our own home."

Yu Meixi never expected there to be such a past. She said, "Don't worry, sister, we'll work overtime for you and try to finish building it as soon as possible."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Thank you so much, sister-in-law. You've gone to so much trouble."

After the homestead was cleaned up, Sun Hu carried a half-bucket of grass and wood to mark the lines, and the workers began to drive stakes and pull lines.

The first foundation they dug was for the main house. After digging it down, they buried four small cloth bags in it before starting to tamp the soil.

Lin Chuntao watched for a while and then came back; she had to come back to cook dinner.

When she returned, her aunt and uncle had already peeled most of a basin of potatoes, and the green beans were soaking in water, but they hadn't even started cutting the meat yet.

Lin Chuntao cut the meat into chunks; the stewed potatoes had square pieces of meat, while the cucumbers had slices of meat, with less meat slices in the cucumbers.

After cutting the meat, she scooped in some cold water and sliced ​​some ginger to soak it in, hoping to remove the blood and fishy smell.

Lin Chuntao went to the field to pick cucumbers. She picked some from her own field and some from Aunt Guizhi's field. She set an example, and then her second aunt took over and continued cutting.

Lin Chuntao went to prepare the ingredients for stewing the meat.

Steam was billowing from the large steamer on the stove. Lin Chuntao lifted the lid to take a look and found that the buckwheat dumplings had changed color. Lin Chuntao went to get a large winnowing basket, and her aunt came over to help her carry them out.

Lin Chuntao used a rice spoon to break it up, sprinkled some water on it, and then poured it back in.

"How much longer do we need to steam it?" Aunt Lin asked. Lin Chuntao replied, "Steam it for another 15 minutes. We didn't set a specific time. We just checked and tasted it. If the top was cooked, the bottom would definitely be ready too."

Rice was being steamed on the stove, so Lin Chuntao had to start another fire in the yard and take out the large iron pot.

The vegetables can be cooked later; the two dishes won't take long.

But the oil at home was almost gone, so she had to cut the lard and render it first. With two cleavers, her aunt cut potatoes and Lin Chuntao cut the lard.

She was quick, and before long, the whole yard was filled with the aroma of rendering lard.

At the meat stall, Pei Ying gave He Lan the money to buy meat that day, and then told her that they needed to come back early to finish building the house.

Helan looked at the money in his hand and was both amused and exasperated.

"You know how to slaughter pigs yourself. If you need a lot of meat when building a house, why don't you get a pig and slaughter it? It's more cost-effective!"

Upon hearing Helan's words, Pei Ying was stunned, as if suddenly realizing something. Helan asked, "Are you and Madam Lin so busy that you've lost your minds?"

Pei Ying sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "I was so busy choosing the date yesterday, and we're starting work today. I had no idea about this at all."

Helan said, "Go to the pen in the backyard and pick one. I'll charge you a labor fee; I won't make money off you."

Pei Ying nodded, gave He Lan the money for today's meat, and then went to the backyard to weigh the pig. He Lan charged ten coins per catty for the pig, and the pig weighed 213 catties. The estimated meat yield was about 150-160 catties, but there were many miscellaneous items, so it was definitely more cost-effective than buying meat every day.

Pei Ying didn't bring any money today; he'll give the pig's money to He Lan tomorrow.

He tied the pig with a rope and drove it back.

When Pei Ying drove the pigs home, Lin Chuntao was stunned.

Pei Ying relayed He Lan's words to Lin Chuntao, who laughed and said, "I was indeed too busy to think straight. Manager He is such a kind person."

Pei Ying nodded slightly; the people of Helan were indeed quite nice.

Lin Chuntao didn't put the pig in its pen; instead, she tied it to the bamboo fence at the back of the house and gave it some pig feed.

Lin Chuntao had just poured the rendered lard into an oil jar.

It was almost time, and the dishes were all prepared.

Lin Chuntao heated the oil in the wok and was just about to stir-fry the vegetables when she heard Yu Meixi's voice coming from outside.

"Spring Peach Girl! Spring Peach Girl! Great news! We've found water!"