The rich aroma of fruit slowly filled the entire room.
The kang (heated brick bed) and floor, which were empty just a moment ago, are now filled with fruit.
The bright red apples, the golden orange pears, and the vivid red dates all looked incredibly fresh and sweet.
Jiayin knew that bringing it out so suddenly was indeed putting the old lady in a difficult position.
But at this time of year, fresh fruit is very expensive.
Especially when transported to wealthy places like Kyoto, many people will surely buy them as New Year's gifts.
Besides, it's such a waste that such a good thing is hanging in the small courtyard with no one eating it.
Although a small courtyard has a certain function of keeping plants in place, whether it is grain or fruit, as long as it is ripe, it will not rot if it is not picked.
But keeping it is useless; exchanging it for silver is of course the best option.
So Jiayin kept a few for emergencies, and picked the rest.
She was only thinking about being self-sufficient at the time, and never thought about making money by growing an orchard.
So, I planted two apple trees and two pear trees in both the front and back yards.
In addition to a crooked jujube tree in the front yard and two chestnut trees outside the yard wall, there's nothing else.
Now, she regretted it. If she had known she would time travel, she should have traveled more.
However, upon closer inspection of the various frozen meats and seafood in the freezer, there were no signs of thawing or spoilage.
She dared not be greedy any longer and fell into a deep sleep.
After all, she was only a little over 100 days old and didn't have much energy. Picking fruit was a heavy burden for her...
Grandma Li was both amused and exasperated to see her granddaughter fall asleep instantly.
She circled around a few times, then quickly opened the door a crack and sent someone to call Li Laosi back.
Li Laosi had only been chatting with his mother next door for a short while when he heard that his mother had something to do, so he rushed back.
Old Mrs. Li pulled her son inside, and before he could be too surprised, she whispered her instructions.
"Don't ask anything. You and your wife sneak over tonight, and we'll pack all these fruits. If your family asks, just say you brought them back from the south."
Then take them with you when you go to Kyoto, and sell them there. If anyone from the escort agency asks, just say that your family picked them from the mountains in the autumn, understand?
Li Laosi nodded blankly, swallowed hard, and finally couldn't help but say something.
"Mom, this is too much. We don't have that many baskets at home."
Old Mrs. Li was also troubled. She took two puffs from her empty pipe and gave some instructions.
"Then go borrow it, leave it outside in the yard, and bring it in at midnight."
“I’m not very familiar with the villagers, but I’m most familiar with my third brother, especially the old men next door. I went for a walk just now and saw a lot of willow baskets in the side room. They must have been woven in their spare time.”
Old Li pointed to the house next door. Old Li was overjoyed. Being so close to the source would solve a big problem.
Jiayin woke up in the middle of the night and before she even opened her eyes, she heard rustling sounds in the house. She thought her house had been burgled.
Upon closer inspection, I saw that Grandma and my parents were packing baskets by the dim light of an oil lamp.
Roughly calculated, there were more than twenty baskets of apples and pears, and more than a dozen cloth bags of red dates.
Grandma Li was busy while patting her lower back, clearly exhausted.
Feeling guilty, Jiayin decisively closed her eyes and continued to pretend to be asleep, but actually went to wander around the space again.
The small courtyard has almost all the things we can use to help the family, but the five acres of land at the back haven't been tended yet.
These five acres of land contain four acres of corn, one acre of potatoes, and a small amount of cabbage, radishes, carrots, and other winter-stored vegetables.
Just thinking about how tiring it would be to pick fruit made Jiayin shudder.
But the work couldn't be neglected, since we still had to work the fields with the family in the spring.
That way it will be easier to cheat and help the family have a bumper harvest.
Fortunately, there are still two or three months until spring, so she can harvest slowly...
The next morning, Zhao Yuru saw that her younger brother and sister-in-law hadn't gotten up yet, so she made breakfast for herself.
Tao Hongying hurriedly came in, yawning, just as the porridge was being served.
"What's wrong? Are you tired from walking? Your eyes are all dark."
Zhao Yuru asked casually, and Tao Hongying, not wanting to lie to her sister-in-law but also because her mother-in-law had told her not to say, gave a vague answer.
"I helped my mother with some chores."
Before Zhao Yuru could ask any more questions, Old Lady Li called out that dinner was ready.
The family sat together drinking millet and sweet potato porridge, accompanied by stir-fried pickled vegetables, shredded cabbage salad, and a basket of two kinds of flatbread.
After putting down her chopsticks, Old Lady Li instructed her fourth son.
"Go to the escort agency as soon as possible and ask when they're leaving for Kyoto. Take all the fruit you brought back with you. There are many important people in Kyoto; we can get a good price and bring in more income for the family."
Everyone listened with confusion, "When did the fourth brother bring back fruit?"
Old Mrs. Li waved her pipe and glared.
"I know that's enough. Why do I need to report anything about family matters to you?"
Everyone fell silent, except for Jiayi, who was excited because he could go to Kyoto with his fourth uncle again.
After finishing his meal, Li Laosi hurried into the city.
The members of the escort agency also wanted to return home early for the New Year, so they decided to set off tomorrow.
So, Li Laosi and Jiayi had only had two good nights of sleep before setting off again, without even seeing Jiaren, who rushed back after hearing the news.
Jiayin only cares about causing trouble and doesn't care about cleaning up the mess.
After sending out the fruit, she just waited for the money to come in; she didn't worry about how to sell it.
Harvesting land is hard work, and she's so tired that she's been sleeping more during the day.
The old lady and Tao Hongying were worried and struggled with the decision, but ultimately decided not to send her to the city for a medical checkup.
However, after eating and sleeping all the time, Jiayin has gained weight again…
Winter is a boring season, especially after drinking Laba porridge.
Outside, water freezes instantly; even going to the outhouse requires a jog, and nobody wants to gossip or make noise.
So, every household huddled together on the warm kang (heated brick bed) and truly began their winter hibernation.
As usual, Li Lao Er taught the children to write and calculate in the morning, while Li Lao San found a few pieces of wood and started banging and tapping them in the main room.
Nail a few small stools down so they're convenient to sit on when you're cooking.
Wu Cuihua caught a cold when she got up at night, and used this as an excuse to stay on the kang (a heated brick bed) for half a month without getting up.
Old Mrs. Li ignored her and only took Zhao Yuru and Tao Hongying to do needlework and sew new quilts.
In order to transport those fresh fruits to Kyoto, almost all the bedding in the house was used to wrap baskets.
As a result, everyone slept directly on mats, without mattresses, and even had to cover themselves with blankets...
The old lady then spent her money to buy a lot of new cotton and coarse cloth.
She sewed four quilts directly, one for each of the second, third, and fourth children plus her, which was very fair.
Jiayin woke up bored and called for her two naughty older brothers to ride her on their big horses.
I walked around inside and outside the house a few times, and I still wanted to go out and take another look.
Unfortunately, I was scared away by the cold wind coming out from under the door as soon as I got there...
Days passed by, and it was soon the 20th of the twelfth lunar month.
While the family was tidying up the yard, sweeping and cleaning, Li Laosi and Jiayi arrived right on time.
Compared to their last escort mission, the two of them clearly didn't suffer as much hardship this time.
Apart from two red patches on my face from the cold, there were no other injuries.
The family ushered them into the house, and Li Laosi began to unpack the packages again.
"Mother, things are expensive in Kyoto, so I didn't buy much. I only bought two pairs of shoes for you and Fu Niu'er."
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