Chapter 44
Fu Wei had trouble falling asleep because of the faint herbal fragrance lingering in his nostrils and the warm and soft jade so close to him.
In the next room, Mr. and Mrs. Fu Zhen couldn't sleep either.
Firstly, I was returning home and seeing my loved ones, and I was having a hard time calming down. Secondly, I couldn't sleep because of the big changes at home.
Fu Zhen started doing hard labor to support his family at a very young age, and when he married his wife, he almost emptied the family's savings.
The ability to build an extra thatched hut was also thanks to the help of Uncle He and Song Sanlang.
Before other houses were built, he went to do hard labor. When he came back several years later, it was also the time when Fu Ning existed.
However, Fu Ning's health has not been very good since he was born. He has to be fed with soup and medicine all the time, so his family is almost penniless.
Fu Zhen worked even harder, but due to his status as a low-class person, he could only get a meager wage.
When his wife was going to serve in the army, Fu Zhen gave almost all the money he earned from work to his mother, and then went to serve in the place of Erlang.
Fu Zhen would serve in place of Erlang, firstly because he felt guilty towards Erlang, and secondly because his wife was too weak and was forced to serve in the quarry. If she didn't have someone to accompany her, it would be difficult for her to survive in such a harsh place.
Now that he is back, Fu Zhen sees that life at home has improved, and he feels a lot of emotion in his heart.
He rested his head on his arms, and his wife beside him tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.
"What?" he asked.
Hearing her husband's voice, Wen Xing turned around. Not wanting to disturb her mother-in-law and two children, she lowered her voice and replied, "I can't sleep."
After a moment's thought, she added, "Dalang, I'm delighted to have you back, but after all that joy, I can't sleep when I think about how I owe my sister-in-law such a huge favor and how I'm going to repay her."
Fu Zhen was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Don't think about it. You won't be able to come up with any conclusion even if you try. Go to sleep and think about it tomorrow."
After a moment of silence, his wife beside him called out softly, "Da Lang."
"Um?"
"Then should I follow my sister-in-law tomorrow and help her when she needs help?"
Fu Zhen thought for a moment and replied, "If you want to follow, then follow."
After a while, he called out again, "Da Lang."
Fu Zhen replied patiently, "Yeah."
Wen Xing quietly hugged her husband's arm, just like she did in the quarry, so that she would feel safe.
Her voice was soft and light: "I don't have to go to the quarry anymore. I'm so happy. I'm happy to be home, happy to see my mother-in-law, happy to see An'an and Ningning. Everything seems like a dream. I'm afraid that when I wake up, I will be back to that dark place in the quarry."
Fu Zhen sighed and whispered, "I'll never go back. Don't think too much. Go to sleep."
"Um."
*
The next morning, when Yu Ying opened her eyes, she found herself close to Fu Wei. She was confused for a moment before coming to her senses.
She turned her head to look at Fu Wei who was still sleeping nearby, her face slightly blushing.
She stood up quietly and got out of bed.
After getting out of bed, she simply combed her hair and left the room.
As soon as Yu Ying left the room, Fu Wei slowly opened his eyes, with a faint dark blue tint under his eyelids.
Fu Wei, who had not slept all night, secretly exhaled and then closed his eyes to catch up on his sleep.
When Yu Ying came out of the house, she saw smoke rising from the kitchen, and there was a pile of firewood on the side of the kitchen.
When Yu Ying was washing up, she found that the water tank was still full.
The eldest sister-in-law came out of the kitchen and saw Yu Ying. She hurriedly said, "Sister-in-law, you can have breakfast soon."
Yu Ying responded, and after washing up, Fu An, Funing and Luo Shi also came out of the house.
Fu An yawned and called out to Yu Ying, "Good morning, Auntie."
When he saw A Niang, he paused and called out again: "Good morning, A Niang."
When Wen Xing heard the word "Mother", the smile on her face suddenly brightened, and she responded in a gentle voice, "Good morning."
At this time, Fu Zhen came back from outside carrying a bunch of firewood and put it on the firewood pile.
Fu An hesitated for a moment, then called out somewhat stiffly, "Good morning, Dad."
Hearing the voice, Fu Zhen turned to look at his son and nodded.
Breakfast is almost ready, it's wild vegetable porridge.
Maybe my sister-in-law has always lived a hard life, so she is very frugal and there are only a few grains of rice in the porridge.
Yu Ying didn't say anything. She brought a bowl of porridge and planned to bring it into the room for Fu Wei, but when she opened the door and saw that he was still sleeping, she closed the door without waking him up.
His fracture has begun to heal, and the injured area may feel itchy during this period, so he may not sleep well at night.
Yu Ying put the porridge in the kitchen and then went into the house to drink it.
After drinking half a bowl of porridge, Yu Ying said to her elder brother and sister-in-law, "Brother and sister-in-law, please rest for two more days and then go into the mountains to collect herbs the day after tomorrow."
Fu Zhen said: "It can be done today."
Yu Ying shook her head slightly and said, "I have to go to Yu County today. Besides, Uncle He and Aunt He have been traveling for several days and need a day or two to recover."
At this point, Yu Ying said, "I haven't explained to my elder brother and sister-in-law why we picked herbs, so I'll give you a brief explanation now."
She went on to explain, "I'm currently trading in some medicinal herbs and have signed a contract with a dealer. Several hundred kilograms of herbs will be delivered in October. During this time, I'll also be looking for other small dealers to do business with. So, I'll probably be quite busy going into the mountains to collect herbs during this period."
Fu Zhen probably learned from Uncle He and Aunt He's words on the way that his brother's wife was a capable woman who had the ability to identify herbs and cure diseases. So when he heard that his brother's wife said she was in the medicinal materials business, he was not too surprised.
"If there is any heavy work, just let me do it." Fu Zhen said.
No matter how much work you do at home, it is not as good as the hard work in the quarry.
Yu Ying said, "Because the mountains are quite dangerous, it might be safer if you go in with me, big brother."
The eldest brother of the Fu family is tall and strong, and it is much safer for him to go into the mountains than for Yu Ying to go alone or with Uncle He.
Originally, Yu Ying was afraid that buying a Hsinchu bed for her family would cause trouble, so she discussed with Uncle He to send it to his house first and then send it over in the evening. But now, seeing the strong physique of the eldest brother of the Fu family, she is not worried anymore.
Fu Zhen nodded: "Just call me if you have any work."
Hearing this, Yu Ying simply told him her future plans: "Besides the herbs, I plan to rent a few acres of land and hire people to grow grain and herbs. But the month for growing rice has passed, so I'll plant herbs first. Only by planting herbs can I keep growing them and ensure their quality. Even if I don't go into the mountains in the future, I can still trade in herbs."
The main thing is that in a year or two, the world will be in complete chaos, and food and medicine will be in urgent need.
She had to store as much food and medicinal materials as possible in this period of time which was neither long nor short.
But judging from the current situation, you still need to have money first.
When Mrs. Luo heard that Liuniang wanted to rent a few acres of land, her heart suddenly jumped. She asked worriedly, "After redeeming Dalang and Xingniang, will there be enough money to rent the land?"
Yu Ying said truthfully, "I previously sold precious medicinal herbs and set aside some money to rent the land. But before, I was alone and worried that I wouldn't be able to handle it, so I didn't bother to start it. Now that my elder brother and sister-in-law are back, I have people who can help me, so I can't put it off any longer."
Wen Xing listened to what her sister-in-law said and was surprised at her ability. At the same time, she also developed admiration for her.
Yu Ying didn't know what her sister-in-law was thinking, so she continued, "I'm going to the county town today. I want to send some jelly to Huo Yachai, and I want to ask about the land lease."
Of course, Yu Ying has another thing to do.
After finishing the porridge, Yu Ying asked again, "I still need to sell some things, and I might need a helper. Brother and sister-in-law, do you want to go to Yu County with me?"
Wen Xing glanced at her husband beside her, and thought of what her mother-in-law said yesterday, saying that she would listen to her sister-in-law from now on. After hesitating for a moment, she replied, "I will listen to my sister-in-law."
Fu Zhen didn't agree. "Aunt Cuilan came looking for trouble yesterday, and I don't think she'll let it go. I stayed at home to protect her so she wouldn't come looking for trouble."
Yu Ying thought that Aunt Cuilan had been tricked and might really come to cause trouble, so she nodded.
But when Wen Xing suddenly heard that her husband was not going, her heart skipped a beat. She turned her head and looked at her husband eagerly, with a hint of uneasiness in her eyes.
Fu Zhen knew that his wife was overly dependent on him, but they were not in the quarry now, and she had to slowly adapt to being alone without him. So he lowered his head, drank the last mouthful of porridge, and pretended not to notice that she was looking at him.
Wen Xing wanted to discuss with her brother's wife whether she could help at home, but she didn't know how to start. After holding it in for a long time, she finally went out with her brother's wife.
Yu Ying knew her sister-in-law had also considered backing out because her brother wasn't going. But today, she wanted to buy some cloth to make clothes, so she needed someone who knew how much cloth was needed. Otherwise, if she bought blindly, she would worry about wasting money and not having enough.
Besides, Wen Xing thought she would go to Yu County on foot, but unexpectedly she had to go there by ox cart. She had no money and was in a difficult situation, so she didn't get on the ox cart.
Her face flushed, and she whispered to her sister-in-law, "I can just walk there."
Yu Ying understood her sister-in-law's predicament and pulled her onto the ox cart, saying, "There's still a lot to do. If we walk, we don't know how long it will take us to get there."
As he said this, he handed two copper coins to Uncle Chen.
Uncle Chen took the copper coin and saw that the woman next to Madam Yu looked unfamiliar. He smiled and asked, "Have you brought your family back?"
Yu Ying replied, "Thanks to the help of Shopkeeper Chen, I was able to bring my elder brother and his wife back home. I will definitely thank Shopkeeper Chen in a few days."
Uncle Chen smiled and said, "The bamboo bed is ready. I'll come back half an hour early today and send it to Lingshui Village for you."
Yu Ying quickly agreed and expressed her gratitude.
Wen Xing waited until her sister-in-law finished chatting with the old man driving the ox cart for a few words before she gently tugged at her sleeve.
Yu Ying turned her head and met her elder sister-in-law's bright eyes. Then she heard her elder sister-in-law whisper to her, "Sister-in-law, I will pay you back for the car fare."
After thinking for a while, he said, "I will pay back the ransom money slowly."
Yu Ying smiled and replied softly, "Okay."
Seeing her sister-in-law so easy to talk to, Wen Xing felt close to her. Thinking of her sister-in-law's kindness, her face became serious and she thanked her sincerely: "Sister-in-law, thank you so much for helping me and the Fu family. If you need anything in the future, you can let me help you."
Yu Ying: "I really need your help with something."
Wen Xing blinked: "What help?"
Yu Ying asked, "Can sister-in-law make clothes?"
"Yes."
After her sister-in-law agreed, Yu Ying breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, there was someone who knew how to make clothes.
Although she can do some sewing and mending work and can make cloth bags, she is really not good at making clothes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
