Chapter 59

The next morning, after Zhou Lin had breakfast, Mu Jin took out eighty coins from the money pouch under the bedding and handed it to him.

"Twenty coins is your allowance. The remaining sixty coins, remember to buy mutton and offal when you come back. This piece of cloth is for Si'er's dowry. At breakfast, he said he wanted to dye it pea green. Go to the dye shop at noon."

Dyehouses usually dye first, and you pay when you pick up the cloth. Because of this, Mu Jin didn't give Zhou Lin the money that the dyehouse needed.

Zhou Lin accepted the money and cloth, and nodded slightly.

He made a plan in his mind: working at the Zhao family mansion wouldn't require much money, and he would carefully save the allowance that Mu Jin gave him.

After finishing his work at the Zhao residence, he would take some time to carve some wood carvings, sell them, and save the money to buy Mu Jin a pair of silver bracelets.

Ever since Mu Jin married him, he had been thinking about buying jewelry for his husband.

Now that I have pocket money, I can do more chores so that I can buy it for him at the end of the year.

Unaware of his intentions, Mu Jin helped load the washed vegetables onto the cart and watched it drive away before returning home.

When Mu Bai got up this morning and was eating breakfast, she would look up every now and then to glance at Zhou Lin, her eyes filled with apology.

After Zhou Lin went to town, he hesitated before walking up to Mu Jin.

"Brother, I'm...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those things about your husband last night."

He knew in his heart that Zhou Lin treated Mu Jin well, and he wondered how upset he must have been to hear him say those things.

Mu Jin smiled and patted his head.

"It's alright. Your brother-in-law isn't a petty man, and he's not angry with you. But you should have just said it to him directly."

Mu Bai kicked at the pebbles under his feet, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Mu Jin smiled. Yesterday, Mu Bai had simply said what he couldn't say directly.

"Alright, stop thinking about nonsense. Your brother-in-law was perfectly fine this morning."

"He's really not angry?"

Mu Jin shook her head. "Would I lie to you?"

Mu Bai breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the bamboo basket, and said cheerfully, "I'm going to find my second brother and the others to cut pig feed."

Mu Jin nodded. He had thought about it yesterday too. Blood ties and family affection were truly something that was hard to sever completely.

Sometimes, when he thinks of his mother who left him, even though more than ten years have passed, a slight ripple of emotion still stirs in his heart.

However, despite the ripples, the debt of gratitude for their lives remains. In the end, Zhou Lin was not abandoned or lost. It is only right that he should contribute some money or effort to support his parents.

But that's all there is to it. As for him to wholeheartedly show filial piety to Zhou Wushi and Zhou Laosan, that's out of the question.

They wouldn't contribute much money or labor; it was like how they supported Zhou Lin—just enough to keep him from starving.

The sun is gradually rising. It rained yesterday, so there will be plenty of mushrooms and wood ear fungus growing in the mountains today.

Because of the water, Mu Jin, fearing the vegetables at the bottom would rot, picked the ones that hadn't been picked yet, together with Bai Qiqiu.

In summer, farmers have no shortage of vegetables; they can't eat them all, but it's difficult to sell them.

Because most villagers pickle or dry the vegetables to preserve them for longer before eating.

Although there are many people in the family now, after deducting the vegetables from the vegetable garden that are sent to the town, there are still some left over.

In the hot summer, even pickled vegetables can only be kept for five or six days.

Mu Jin didn't want to go through all that trouble; she would simply feed the leftovers to the poultry and livestock.

However, thinking about how Zhou Lin loves pickled vegetables, especially when drinking porridge, the sour and spicy flavor is very appetizing.

After harvesting the vegetables, Mu Jin went to Mujia Village and bought two rough pottery jars from Zhou Fuhu's porcelain kiln for thirty coins.

According to Zhou Si, there is a flower nursery in Gujia Village, which is run by Zhou Fuhu's husband. There is also a small market at the entrance of the flower nursery, where all kinds of things are sold.

Hibiscus put the jar into the basket, and thinking that the porcelain kiln was not far away, she went to take a look.

The flowerbeds were in full bloom, and many carriages were parked at the entrance. The coachmen, with handfuls of melon seeds in their pockets, chatted and waited for their masters to come out.

Not far away was Zhou Fuhu's house, with its magnificent red-lacquered gate and two imposing stone lions at the entrance.

Mu Jin looked on with envy, truly a case of the same surname but different fates.

He didn't even ask to live in such a large house; he would be content with just a few brick and tile houses.

After watching for a while, the gate suddenly opened, and two adorable little children, about five or six years old, dressed in silk, ran out.

An aunt came out right behind him and said, "Young master, slow down."

Judging from the appearance of the two children, they were clearly pampered and spoiled. Compared to the yellowish-black children running around the village, they were much fairer and more delicate.

After watching for a while, Mu Jin felt more and more that she still needed to save enough money before having another child.

The two little children called out "Little Daddy" and ran into the flowerbed with smiles.

Unconsciously, the corners of Mu Jin's mouth also curled up along with their smiles.

As Zhou Si said, the small market at the entrance of the flower nursery was indeed full of things, and there was even a noodle stall selling dried noodles.

The dried noodles look like they're mostly refined flour, and the noodles are rather white. Buying them would make them easy to cook.

Because Mu Jin needed to save money, she didn't buy things casually just for convenience.

After wandering around for a while, I bought a bag of fried sugar cakes that Mu Bai and Wen Zhaoran liked, and carrying the bamboo basket, I went home.

There were six sugar cakes in the bag. When Mu Jin got home, she called Bai Qiqiu and they each ate one while it was still hot.

The rest will be left for them to eat when they come back after cutting pig feed.

Hibiscus put the sugar cakes into the cupboard, then quickly took the jar to the riverbank, washed it clean, and laid it out in the yard to dry.

Bai Qiqiu had already washed the picked vegetables, moved the dining table out into the yard, and put the vegetables on it to dry.

Hibiscus went back to the kitchen, took out the salt and wooden basin, and turned the vegetables on the dining table over.

Dry the cucumbers and green beans, cut the cucumbers into strips and the green beans into sections, put them in a wooden basin, and rub them with salt.

Add ginger, garlic, and chili peppers. Since Zhou Lin likes spicy and sour flavors, Mu Jin also added a little vinegar.

Put the vegetables into the jar, cover it, and there's no need to add water to seal it.

We can eat when Zhou Lin comes back in the evening.

When Mu Bai and Wen Zhaoran returned, they brought back a basket full of pig feed and a lot of wood ear mushrooms.

"Brother, I just happened to come across a piece of rotten wood with quite a few wood ear mushrooms growing on it. I'll go home later, cut off a piece of cured pork, and make stir-fried wood ear mushrooms with cured pork for lunch."

Mu Bai put the pig feed aside, his face full of longing for the stir-fried cured pork and wood ear mushrooms.

Mu Jin shook her head. "Your brother-in-law bought some meat last night. We ate a simple lunch today to save room for the stewed mutton tonight."

Mu Bai was disappointed, but still obediently nodded.

"I bought some sweet cakes, they're in the cupboard, go eat them." Mu Jin poked his cheek and smiled.

Mu Bai's expression immediately brightened, and he happily went to take out the bag of sweet cakes from the kitchen.

At noon, Mu Jin made eggplant noodles with gravy and gave each person a poached egg.

“Brother, we’ve saved up about twenty eggs at home, but it’s too hot to keep them. It would be better if your husband took them to town to sell tomorrow.”

Bai Qiqiu slurped up a mouthful of noodles, saw the egg inside, and smiled.

Mu Jin nodded, peeled a clove of garlic, and ate it with her noodles.

The days when the air is filled with the fragrance of locust trees are almost here, and the winter wheat will soon be ready for harvest.

The wheat in his field missed this crop; it was planted late and won't be harvested until autumn.

Perhaps due to the lack of moisture from the winter snow, the wheat in the fields is not growing very well.

Yesterday's heavy rain came just in time; the wheat seedlings in the fields were well-watered and looked to be growing much better than before.

Zhou Si and Mu Lingyun's wedding date was drawing ever closer.

Before the wheat harvest, Zhou Si got married and moved out. Zhou Wu's family would probably have to call Zhou Lin back home to help with the farm work.

Mu Jin had a plan in mind. If Zhou Wushi could provide two shi of wheat, he could go and help out.

Bai Qiqiu's half-acre of ramie is almost ready for summer harvest. These days, he is eager to get back to work, looking like he wants to avenge his past grievances.

Having broken off the engagement with Zhou Qiang, he naturally wouldn't go to help out in the Zhou family's fields anymore.

With him at home, even if Mulan goes to the Zhou family to help out, she doesn't need to worry too much about the fields.

After lunch, the group got busy again, cutting more pig feed, drying it, and storing it so the pigs could eat it in the winter.

Even the firewood at home needs to be chopped; in the fields and vegetable gardens, there's work to be done everywhere you look.

Farmers never have a chance to rest except during the winter months when the Lunar New Year is approaching.

This time, Zhou Lin was a bit smarter. He bought mutton, put it in a basket, and covered it with another basket.

In this way, no one else can tell what's in the basket below.

When he returned home, his sons eagerly awaited the arrival of the basket in Zhou Lin's hands.

From morning till night, I've been looking forward to this mutton soup tonight.

Since offal was cheaper, Zhou Lin bought more, while there seemed to be less mutton and mutton bones available.

However, in summer, one should not eat too much mutton; being able to taste it is already quite good.

After the mutton stew was finished, it was completely dark. Mu Jin lit the oil lamp and shielded it with her hand to prevent it from being blown out by the wind.

The mutton soup was milky white, and its aroma filled the entire kitchen. The group set out the bowls and chopsticks much faster.

A wind picked up outside, and dark clouds obscured the moon; it looked like another heavy rain was coming tonight.

Mu Jin put down the oil lamp and gently closed the kitchen door.

Soaking bread in mutton soup and eating it with garlic cloves creates a truly unique flavor.

Mu Jin and Zhou Lin didn't know about this way of eating before; they learned it from Wen Zhaoran and Bai Qiqiu.

Mu Bai's eyes darted around twice, and he followed suit, raising the bowl before putting the steamed bun into it, facing Zhou Lin with an extremely sincere expression.

“Brother-in-law, I apologize for my careless words yesterday. I hope you won’t be angry with me.”

Zhou Lin hurriedly waved his hand and picked up the bowl, saying, "It's flat, it's flat."

Mu Jin teased, "If we weren't family, we wouldn't say such things. Your brother-in-law is even worried that you won't like him."

Zhou Lin took a sip of mutton soup and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I know I have many unpleasant aspects, Bai'er, what you said is just the truth."

Mu Bai smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, my second brother and I really think you are a good person. When we were at home, our uncle also praised you to us. As long as you treat my brother well, in our hearts, you are the best brother-in-law."

Mu Jin chuckled, nudged Zhou Lin, and whispered, "Did you hear that? They consider him their best brother-in-law."

Zhou Lin's face flushed slightly.

Zhou Si sighed and laughed, "Eat quickly, and get back inside before the rain starts."

The group laughed heartily, and the slight discomfort they had felt yesterday vanished with the laughter.

The last ray of moonlight was obscured, and raindrops began to fall.