Since her niece said so, Li Xiaomei was no longer worried. After getting along with her for half a year, she knew that this child was a person with her own ideas, so she stopped talking and lowered her head to start picking beans!

After the aunt and niece picked out all the rotten beans in the wooden basin, they soaked them in clean water!

After the black beans had been soaked for three or four hours, Li Yan poured the soaked beans back into the pot and steamed them!

After the beans are steamed, pour them into a sieve and place them outside to dry the moisture on the surface!

While waiting, Li Yan found a large wooden basin, put some wheat bran at the bottom of the basin, and finally padded it with clean gauze. After the beans were dried, she wrapped the dried beans tightly with gauze and pressed them with stone bricks!

Li Xiaomei stood aside and watched her niece busying herself: "Is this all right?"

Li Yanyao shook her head: "It's still early. Let the beans ferment for three days. I have to go to the city to buy some ingredients tomorrow!"

That day, Li Erlang returned much later than usual. Looking at his wife and daughter who were waiting for him, Li Erlang said, "From now on, you don't have to wait for me. The city has started planning to build a market, and the county magistrate has entrusted many matters to me. I might be back even later in the future!"

Lin: "After the beginning of spring, the days are getting longer and longer, so it's okay to eat later!"

Seeing that he couldn't persuade his wife, Li Erlang signaled to his daughter beside him, saying, "Go and persuade your mother quickly."

Li Yan smiled and said, "Dad, don't worry about us. Mom will make arrangements!"

"Let's eat!" At this time, Li Xiaomei brought the food over, steamed eggs with green onions, steamed bacon, pickles, and the staple food was still millet porridge.

At noon, Li Erlang just ate some food sent by the county government. How could the food without much oil be compared with the food at home? At this time, when he smelled the fragrance of the food, he felt his stomach was empty!

Li Yan looked at the untouched egg custard on the table and scooped a large spoonful for each of them. "The chickens we raised last year have started laying eggs. Starting tomorrow morning, Mom will boil an egg for everyone in the family!"

After all, they were used to hardship, so Lin and Li Xiaomei quickly refused. They hadn't even earned back the money from raising chickens yet, so why were they eating it themselves?

Li Yan said without letting anyone refuse: "Mom is pregnant, Dad has to work hard to prepare for the market, and Aunt has to get up in the middle of the night to grind tofu. I'm still a child, so just listen to me!"

Although raising chickens is for making money, Li Yan cares more about the health of her family.

Finally, Li Erlang made the final decision: "Just do as Yan'er said. Only with a healthy body can you earn more money!"

Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, Li Yan followed Grandpa Li to the foot of the mountain. On the uncultivated wasteland, the uncles and aunts in the village gathered together. They were holding shovels, rakes and other tools, waiting to start work.

Seeing Mr. Li, Li Wenjian asked, "Uncle, is it a good idea to dig a pond in this place?"

Mr. Li nodded and began to assign tasks in an orderly manner, dividing them into groups of several people.

Each group was responsible for digging an area, and everyone cooperated with each other. Some people were responsible for digging, some were responsible for cleaning, and some were responsible for moving the soil.

The shovel dug up the hard soil, and the rake dug out the roots that were rooted in the soil.

Li Yan watched Old Man Li leading the uncles and aunts in the village to work in an orderly manner. She stood on the edge of the field and watched for a while before going to do other things with peace of mind.

Today is market day, and Li Yan plans to go to the city to prepare the ingredients for making soy sauce, and also visit her uncle on the way!

I have been busy planting medicinal herbs these days and I don’t know how my uncle’s injury is going!

Li Yan returned home and said something to Lin, then left the house and headed towards Rongcheng.

When Li Yan was about to reach the dock, the sharp-eyed Tietou spotted his favorite sister from a distance. He happily stood up and waved in Li Yan's direction: "Sister Erya!"

Li Yan looked up, waved to Tietou in response, and trotted to the dock. At this time, there were already three or four people on Zhou Lao's boat. After Li Yan got on the boat, Zhou Lao did not wait any longer, and rowed the bamboo raft towards Rongcheng.

Tietou was very happy to see Li Yan. He staggered in front of Li Yan and shyly called out, "Hello, Sister Erya!"

Li Yan hadn't seen the child since the Lantern Festival. He seemed to have become much stronger. Li Yan reached out and rubbed Tietou's head, then held him in her arms and sat down in front of her.

When Old Man Zhou saw his grandson sitting down in front of Li Yan, he stopped worrying about the child and focused on rowing the boat!

At this time, a woman spoke up, "Uncle, I heard that your family's fish was contracted to a restaurant in the city last year. I guess you must have made a lot of money. Why are you still bringing your children to work on the boat?"

"Look at what you said. If I could earn money, why would I endure this hardship? I can only barely support my family."

The woman thought about it and advised again: "Uncle, you should find another wife for Dalang, so that there will be someone to take care of the family, and you don't have to drag this little one out all the time!"

These words really hit the nail on the head for Old Man Zhou. He had mentioned this to his eldest son several times, wanting to find a matchmaker to intercede on his behalf, but he always shook his head and refused.

When asked if he had found someone he liked, he remained silent for a long time. If pressed, he would only say, "Look at the state of our house now. We have to fix it up first!"

After hearing his son's words, Old Man Zhou felt relieved. After the spring plowing was over, he would prepare to start building the house!

At this time, another woman asked, "Uncle, I heard that the dock outside the city is hiring workers recently? Is it true?"

Old Man Zhou nodded and said, "It started yesterday. Did you see those boats at the dock just now? They were all picking up people to work!"

Just now, when standing at the dock, Li Yan did see quite a few ships docked there, which was indeed a lot more than in the past!

I originally thought that there were probably too many people at the market today, and they were all picking up people to work in the city!

Everyone has been busy sowing seeds recently and has no time to go to the city.

I had just finished the spring plowing, and since there was a market today, I planned to take the eggs I had gathered at home to the city to sell in exchange for some oil and salt!

The woman carrying the basket of eggs asked hurriedly, "Uncle, do you know how much it costs per day?"

Before Old Man Zhou could reply, a plump woman said, "My husband and eldest son signed up for work yesterday. They said they would pay ten cents a day. If you have skills, the pay would be even higher!"

After hearing this, the woman with the basket wanted to go back home and call for help. Her family had at least three strong laborers. If they all came out to work, they would earn at least 30 cents a day. How many eggs would she have to sell to earn that much?

The woman thought to herself, "I must find out after I get ashore whether he still needs anyone!"