Chapter 122
Lin Chuntao smiled upon hearing this. How the Chai family's sauce was sold was none of her business. If Chai Xingyu could handle it properly without affecting her sauce sales, then so be it.
Let the Chai family handle their own affairs. If Chai Xingyu can't handle it well and his shop has to close down, then her sauce is already well-known, so she can continue selling it at a stall, even if it's a bit more work for her.
But judging from Chai Xingyu's words, his parents were still on his side and helping him, so the situation Lin Chuntao was thinking of probably wouldn't happen.
After they arrived home, Chai Xingyu and the others didn't rest for long. They packed the soy sauce jars, tied them up, and hurriedly went back to weigh and count the contents. Lin Chuntao went with them on another trip.
When she finished her work, Pei Ying and Lin Chunxing were almost done as well. Lin Chuntao decided to wait for them and went to the market with her basket on her back. When no one was around, she exchanged five dou of rice and some spices from the system.
When she returned after making her rounds, Lin Chunxing had also finished packing up her stall, and Pei Ying and the others were washing their hands outside.
On the way back, Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying talked about making boots.
"Two hundred and eighty coins a pair. I paid a deposit of fifty coins this morning. We'll go measure our feet tomorrow morning and make one pair for each of us."
They had previously mentioned making boots, but the shop was closed when they went there, so they bought cloth shoes instead. Lin Chunxing thought they wouldn't make boots anymore, but unexpectedly, Lin Chuntao went and placed an order.
Speaking of which, I still can't bear to wear those two pairs of cloth shoes; it would be such a waste to use leather ones.
"Sis, we have two pairs of shoes to change into, right?"
"Aren't we still saving money to open a shop?"
Lin Chuntao said, "It doesn't matter if the shop is a few days earlier or later. It's fine to wear cloth shoes when it's sunny, but they get wet easily when it rains. If the shoes are wet, your feet will definitely not be warm. I think it's better to make a pair and keep them."
Lin Chunxing felt she couldn't refute Lin Chuntao's words, but still thought it was a bit too expensive.
Pei Ying looked at Lin Chunxing's furrowed brows and knew that Lin Chuntao hadn't told her sisters about the silver notes. If she had known there was so much money in them, she certainly wouldn't have been so reluctant to part with them.
After thinking for a moment, he said to Lin Chunxing, "Your sister is right. Leather boots are more comfortable to wear in winter when it snows or rains. I have some money here, so don't worry about the money. Just do it."
Lin Chunxing nodded.
She wasn't worried about the money, she just felt it was too expensive and it hurt her to spend it.
However, it wasn't that they didn't want what Lin Chuntao had arranged; they just accepted it.
Lin Chuntao also said, "We'll go to Chai Xingyu's sauce shop tomorrow to settle the accounts. He should give us some money back. We sold quite a lot of sauce this month."
Pei Ying didn't pay much attention to the sauce. Chai Xingyu had given her a fifty-tael advance payment, and she still wanted to get some money back.
"Did they sell this much sauce this month?"
Seeing Pei Ying's surprise, Lin Chuntao said, "I heard Zhang Qingqing mention that people from other counties have also come to pick up sauces, but our county alone can't sell that many."
Pei Ying said, "I see."
Lin Chunxing was happy to think that money would come into the family again, and temporarily put aside her reluctance to part with it.
At home, Lin Chunhe had already steamed the rice and washed the vegetables, and Lin Chuntao cooked the vegetables and started eating.
Lin Jialang and the others cleaned the backyard this morning and dug up some yellow clay to carry back.
The villagers, seeing them carrying yellow clay, asked curiously, "Jialang, are you going to build a wall?"
Lin Jialang replied, "No, I want to dry some mud bricks."
The person who asked the question didn't press the matter further. Every household in this village dries mud bricks, and they are used to build stoves, walls, and chicken coops, so it's nothing new.
Lin Chuntao taught everyone how to burn charcoal, but he also had his own selfish motives. He wanted to build the kiln early so he could burn charcoal and take it to the county town to sell.
Even if many people in the village burn charcoal to sell later, he can find some buyers in advance, making it easier to sell later.
So when people don't ask, he doesn't explain why he's drying mud bricks.
They separated due to a fight and built a stone wall in the middle. They were busy in the backyard all morning. Lin Miaomiao and the others were very curious, but the wall was a little too high. If they didn't stand on a stool, they could see this side. Lin Miaomiao called Niu Hongxi over to take a look. Niu Hongxi glanced at it and said irritably, "Just cleaning up the backyard, what's so interesting? I guess they just think the backyard is dirty and messy."
Lin Miaomiao thought for a moment and realized they weren't trying to trap her, so she stopped paying attention.
In the afternoon, Lin Chuntao went to check on the charcoal kiln. The kiln was still quite hot to the touch, and the temperature was still very high. The seals were also very tight. It should be ready to open the kiln in another two or three days.
In those ancient times, although there were no telephones or the internet, there were plenty of lazy men who wandered around villages to sunbathe.
Before Lin Chuntao could even tell Aunt Guizhi about Lin Shuilian's ex-husband's family, people in the village already knew.
When she returned from inspecting the charcoal kiln, a woman looked at her with delight and asked, "Chuntao, is your Aunt Guizhi inside?"
Lin Chuntao said, "She's at my house. Does your aunt need to see her?"
The woman laughed and said, "Great news! Come on, let's go to your house to talk about it."
Lin Chuntao didn't want to take people to the backyard where they worked to chat, so after leading them in, she called out to Aunt Guizhi and the others, "Auntie, take a break and go to the front yard for a drink of water."
When Sun and the others saw who came in, they didn't know if it was something important, but since Lin Chuntao had called out to them, they didn't say much, packed their things, and followed her to the front yard.
There were still some corn pancakes left from a few days ago. Lin Chuntao took some out and steamed them, and brought out some melon seeds for everyone to sit and eat.
As soon as everyone sat down, the woman said to Aunt Guizhi, "Guizhi, I have some good news for your family. Do you want to hear it?"
Aunt Guizhi frowned. "What good news from my family that I don't know about?"
"I heard that Shui Lian's husband was beaten up and thrown down, his leg was broken, and now he's paralyzed in bed."
The woman chattered away, grinning with her big teeth, looking at Aunt Guizhi with great excitement.
However, Aunt Guizhi's expression changed as soon as she heard the first sentence, and Lin Shuilian, who was sitting in the back, also looked over with a blank expression.
The scumbag got his comeuppance, which sounds satisfying, but it just sounds so awful coming from this person.
Lin Chuntao chuckled upon hearing this, "Auntie, what are you talking about? What do you mean by 'Shui Lian's husband'? They're divorced, and they'll each marry other and have nothing to do with each other anymore. They're just strangers who have no connection."
Seeing that Aunt Guizhi and Lin Shuilian looked unwell, the woman said awkwardly, "I was just thinking that he is the biological father of the two children."
Upon hearing this, the old lady next to her waved her hand and said, "Old Mu's family, what do you mean by biological father? Both children have the surname Lin now, so they don't have a biological father."
The woman paused for a moment, noticing everyone's displeasure, and said, "Auntie, that's not what I meant. I just thought that the heartless man finally got his comeuppance. I came to tell Guizhi that the Tian family was swindled out of everything. I heard that the old lady even jumped into a latrine last night to be taken to the city to be rescued. I don't want her to come looking for Shuilian again."
Aunt Guizhi smiled slightly upon hearing this, "It's really kind of you to go to the trouble of reminding us."
The woman said, "We're all from the same village, why be so polite?"
Lin Chuntao: "..."
Aunt Guizhi: "Yes, we're all from the same village. If you go out and tell others, don't mention Shuilian's family. My Shuilian and that person are divorced, with the village head and the head of the village as witnesses, and there are official documents with the official seal. They are two completely unrelated people. If you say this, you'll ruin my Shuilian's reputation."
Aunt Guizhi spoke calmly, but her tone was not pleasant. The woman said, "It's my fault for speaking too quickly and saying the wrong thing. I certainly wouldn't say that to other people."
Aunt Guizhi looked at her and said, "If I hear this outside, I'll come looking for you."
The woman waved her hand: "No, I certainly wouldn't say that."
She came to talk about this with great enthusiasm, but ended up upsetting Aunt Guizhi. Everyone was unhappy to listen, and she was embarrassed. She left before Lin Chuntao even finished steaming the corn cakes. Lin Chuntao saw her off and locked the door before returning.
Grandma and Aunt Guizhi said, "The retribution is what the Tian family deserves. No matter how much they regret it, the child's household registration is in our family, and they can't take it away."
Aunt Guizhi took a deep breath and said, "It's infuriating and disgusting to think about. Why didn't I just throw him to his death? Even if he were dead, it wouldn't be this disgusting."
After listening to Aunt Guizhi's words, Lin Chuntao thought for a moment before saying, "This person is so well-informed? When we went to the county town this morning, we saw that old lady being sent there. I even caught a glimpse of her. She looked like she was about to die. I was wondering why her good son wasn't there."
"So he broke his leg."
Hearing Lin Chuntao speak, Aunt Guizhi chimed in, "The whole family is heartless and rotten; even God can't stand it anymore."
Lin Chuntao said, "I heard the people who went with her advising the old woman to think more positively. Apparently, the woman was a swindler. The old woman had saved more than ten taels of silver, and not only was it all swindled away, she cried and said that even the chickens in her house were swindled away."
Hearing this, Aunt Guizhi thought of the old woman's face and felt relieved.
Lin Chuntao said, "You all stay here during the day, so let Hu Zi and the others play in the yard and not go outside."
Madam Sun said, "They should be alright these next two days, since they can't move around much. In a few days, that old hag might really want to come and ask for her grandchildren. We should talk to the children about it."
As everyone was talking, the cornbread was steamed and heated up. Lin Chuntao brought it out, ate two by herself, and then went back to the backyard to do her work.
In the evening, the two children came to the backyard. Aunt Guizhi spoke to the eldest son, telling him and his sister to play at home or here for the time being. If anyone from their grandmother's side came looking for them, they were not allowed to go with them. They had to come back and tell the adults, and to keep an eye on their younger sister.
Lin Hu nodded. Back then, his father used to beat his mother all the time. If he tried to stop him, he would get beaten too. His grandmother always called him stupid, saying that when his father was angry, he didn't know to stay away. But it was his mother who was being beaten. How was he supposed to avoid it?
After their mother took them back to their maternal grandparents' house, some children in the village cursed them for not having a father. They didn't care. Their maternal grandparents treated them very well, and their great-grandmother would often cook sweet egg soup for them. Their maternal grandmother and mother earned money every day for their work, and their third aunt Chunhe would give them candy. They could live such a good life without a father, and they would never want a father in their entire lives.
The child only had these thoughts in his mind. He could tell that his grandmother was afraid that they would be taken away, so he comforted her, "Grandma, don't worry, I will take good care of my sister. Even if they come looking for us, my sister and I will definitely not go back with them."
Aunt Guizhi looked into his eyes and felt relieved. She patted his head.
"Tiger is sensible now. Take good care of your little sister. In a few days, when Grandma has some free time, she will take you to the county town to make winter clothes."
As evening approached, the sun began to set.
Aunt Guizhi and her daughter Lin Shuilian each led a child home as the sun set. Lin Jiahui led the mule beside Sun Shi, a happy smile on his rosy cheeks.
Lin Chuntao watched them walk away, closed the back gate, checked that the stove fire was out, and then returned to the front yard.
Tomorrow she's going to settle the bill and also take Lin Duo'er and Lin Chunhe to get their feet measured and boots made.
Lin Chunxing found out, but Lin Duo'er and Lin Chunhe didn't. When she heard that she had paid the money and would do it tomorrow, Lin Duo'er almost jumped up.
I was happy making boots and clothes. I tried on the clothes after they were finished, and the same went for the shoes. After trying them on, I put them away.
Lin Chuntao looked at them and smiled, "I'm going to wear new shoes tonight after I wash my feet. Are you going to wear them too?"
The three sisters looked at each other, then looked at Lin Chuntao and nodded vigorously.
"If that's what the older sister wears, we'll wear it too!"
Lin Chuntao: "Then bring a basin to scoop water for washing your feet."
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