Chapter 38 - Two-in-One Sister-in-Law, I'll let Brother Zhang...
The younger sisters readily agreed.
Hearing the unanimous reply, Lin Chuntao was in a good mood and smiled.
Whether they know how or not, the three younger sisters never refuse to do their own thing.
Pei Ying cut the cloth quickly, and after finishing, she took it out of the house and gave it to them separately.
Although Lin Chuntao said she sewed her own clothes, Pei Ying still asked, "Can you sew everything?"
The younger sisters nodded. "Yes."
Pei Ying nodded slightly and went to help Lin Chuntao cook. Lin Chunxing went back to the house to get a needle and thread, threaded the needle, and began to attach the new cloth to the old clothes, and then started sewing.
Pei Ying glanced at it casually, and her eyes widened immediately.
He asked Lin Chuntao, "Is it okay for the younger sisters to sew like that?"
Lin Chuntao turned around and laughed when she saw it. Not only would the loose threads be ugly, but they would also be easily snagged. If they were to be snagged by tree branches while going into the mountains, the piece of cloth underneath would definitely be torn off as well.
Pei Ying looked at Lin Chuntao and said, "Go and get your clothes, I'll teach them a bit."
Lin Chuntao put down her things and went inside to take out her clean linen clothes.
Lin Chuntao looked at Lin Chunxing and the others and said, "You guys can't sew that. Wait a minute, learn to sew from your brother-in-law."
When Pei Ying went to get the needle and thread, her younger sisters had already unstitched the stitches they had just made and were sitting obediently on the stools waiting.
He taught them how to turn old clothes inside out, and how to sew two pieces of fabric together so that the seams wouldn't look obvious. The girls learned very carefully and sewed very diligently. It wasn't until Lin Chuntao started cooking the stir-fried pork with chili peppers, and the aroma filled the whole yard, that they all looked up.
"Sister, is it ready to eat?"
Lin Chuntao nodded. "Alright, let's tidy up, wash our hands, and eat."
For dinner, Lin Chuntao cooked a cabbage and stir-fried pork with chili peppers.
After eating here for so many days, Lin Chuntao has figured out how everyone eats vegetables and rice. There aren't too many vegetables, but if you're cooking meat or eggs, you need to make a larger portion so that everyone can eat.
"It's that fragrant stir-fried pork with chili peppers again," Lin Duo'er said, referring to the dishes served at the lunch banquet.
"I wonder who prepared the banquet for Qiao'er's family. The pig liver was not very good; it felt like a waste."
As soon as Lin Duo'er finished speaking, Lin Chunhe said, "Are you stupid? They did that on purpose."
Lin Duo'er looked completely puzzled.
"Why do that? Nobody will eat it."
Lin Chunhe said, "We haven't gone out to eat at banquets much. Qingqing said that almost every family does it that way. If no one is eating, then you don't need to buy a lot of food."
Lin Duo'er tilted her head and thought about it, and it seemed to make sense.
Seeing her sister's expression, Lin Chuntao said softly, "It's because everyone is too poor now and doesn't have enough money for big meals. But this feast has to be held, so to make it look nice, it has to have meat dishes. It's a joyous occasion, and the host certainly hopes that everyone will eat and drink well before going home. Don't make malicious assumptions about the host."
The younger sisters nodded obediently upon hearing this.
But when Lin Duo'er thought about the pig liver and recalled what Lin Chuntao had made before, she still felt it was such a waste. It was such delicious food, but they had to make it taste bad just to make it look nice. It was such a waste.
After dinner, they were busy sewing clothes, so they left the tidying up to Lin Chuntao.
Everyone took their stools and went to the yard. Lin Chuntao washed the dishes and pots, while Pei Ying taught her younger sisters and sewed for Lin Chuntao.
After sitting for a while, Lin Chunxing suddenly remembered what Lin Qingqing had said during the day.
"Sister, Qingqing asked us where our clothes were made today. She said they look really nice and she wants her mother to buy fabric and make them for her too, so she wants to have them made for her during the New Year."
Upon hearing this, Lin Chuntao glanced at Pei Ying and then smiled, "Just tell Qingqing that any tailor can make it. If she likes our style, she can just tell the tailor."
Lin Chunxing nodded. "Okay, then I'll just say that next time she asks me."
They simply lengthened the existing clothes and pants, without sewing too much. By the time the moon reached the rooftop, the group had completed their task and were done.
Lin Chunhe said with a smile, "I need to go and change it to try it out."
He then jogged into the house, quickly changed, and came out.
The sleeves are of normal length, but they are still a little uncoordinated. After all, it is a small size garment that has been lengthened, which makes the collar a bit narrow. However, it looks much better than the previous half-length style.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It's alright, just wear it for now."
“Then we’ll wear these when we go into the mountains, and wear our new clothes when we don’t.” After Lin Duo’er finished speaking, her eyes lit up and she laughed, “Hey, does that mean we’ll have two sets of clothes?”
Lin Chuntao smiled slightly upon hearing this.
"Hmm, that makes two sets of clothes now."
The next day at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), Lin Chuntao woke up naturally.
She had just sat up in the dark when she heard the system announce: "Host, there are many broom fungi eight miles away today."
Hearing the interjections in its report, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "You seem to be in a good mood today?"
"My mood is the same every day."
Lin Chuntao shook her head helplessly, "Speaking of which, you broadcast this every day at the same time. What if you stop broadcasting when the mushrooms are gone? I won't be used to it."
"The host can also take the initiative to contact me. I can wake you up as usual the next day. Besides, when it snows heavily in winter, I will also notify the host to go hunting. Wild rabbits and pheasants are both fine."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I don't know how to do that."
"Host, the people around you know how. Just follow them and catch them for you."
Hearing this, Lin Chuntao chuckled.
"That's a really clever idea."
"Thank you, host. I am indeed very smart."
As they chatted back and forth, Pei Ying was already at the door when Lin Chuntao got up and went out.
She looked up at the sky; the moon was still there, but dark clouds were rolling in. Pei Ying also looked up and said in a low voice, "It looks like it's going to rain today."
"It's possible. Let's hurry and pick the mushrooms first. If it rains heavily, we can carry them back to eat; if it doesn't rain, we can carry them to sell."
Pei Ying nodded, helped her take the basket and bamboo basket, and the two went out of the courtyard together.
Halfway there, the moon hid behind the clouds, and suddenly it became dark.
Pei Ying took out a tinderbox and handed it to Lin Chuntao, "Take this with you, just in case it's too dark and you can light it up."
Lin Chuntao took it and asked, "Do you have any more?"
"There's one more."
She thought to herself that if Pei Ying didn't have her, she would return it to him. The system's guiding arrow was lit up, but Pei Ying couldn't see it. She didn't actually need any tinderbox.
But since he gave it to her, she accepted it.
When they reached the fork in the road, Lin Chuntao carried her basket into the mountains, while Pei Ying headed towards the county town.
The system reported that the broom mushroom was in a pine forest. Broom mushrooms are also called coral mushrooms. Once you find them, there are many of them. They are also larger than the single mushrooms and are not easily broken. After picking up the broom mushrooms, it was still dark and the basket was not full. Lin Chuntao asked the system to continue to provide her with light. She crouched down and continued to look for mushrooms in the mountains.
By the time dawn broke, Lin Chuntao had already climbed to another hilltop.
Her carrying basket was full, and her bamboo basket was full too.
The basket contained mostly coral fungi, with the rest being some green-headed fungi and milk-cap mushrooms.
It was still early before she arrived at the market, so she sorted and piled up the various mushrooms from her basket and bamboo basket.
Aunt Guizhi arrived right after I finished.
"Chuntao, why are you up so early today? I've been looking around all the way here, hoping to see you."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I saw that the weather wasn't very good, so I hurried."
As she spoke, she went over to help lead the mule and let Aunt Guizhi unload the mule cart.
After putting down the mule cart, Aunt Guizhi pulled the mule over and tied it to the post at the back.
The two of them packed the vegetables into the basket together. Lin Chuntao said with a smile as she packed, "I went to the field yesterday and saw that the vegetables I planted have sprouted. I estimate that we can eat them in a month or so."
Aunt Guizhi asked in surprise, "I was so busy that I forgot to ask you, what vegetables did you grow?"
"I planted some bamboo leaf vegetables, cabbage, pumpkin, cucumber, red amaranth, carrots, and peppers."
“You also planted chili peppers, a little late. I can’t sell all of my chili peppers. When they turn red, you can come and pick them and take them back to dry.”
Hearing what Aunt Guizhi said, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I want to make some sauce in a few days. Auntie, call me when you pick the sauce."
"Okay, I'll call you then."
After the two finished their work, the market gradually became more crowded, and some regular customers had already come to their door.
Lin Chuntao sells mushrooms, and Aunt Guizhi sells vegetables in bamboo baskets. People who frequently come to the market are already familiar with the place and can buy directly from them when they need something.
That morning, Lin Chuntao and Aunt Guizhi sold mushrooms and vegetables, respectively. Their business was always good. Fortunately, Aunt Guizhi only sold a little each day. She wasn't greedy, otherwise she would easily incur the jealousy of the vegetable sellers at the market.
They learned that a basket of vegetables could sell for twenty-five coins, so they tried to do the same, but almost no one bought any, saying they didn't need that many vegetables.
Some curious people even bought a basket from Aunt Guizhi's stall, only to find that her basket contained a little of everything but not much of anything, and was not worth twenty-five coins at all. They realized their problem: there weren't enough kinds of vegetables to go around.
Some people think about planting a variety of vegetables next time they plant, while others are mean-spirited and start to criticize when customers pick up the bamboo basket of vegetables, saying that they bought it at a loss and it wasn't worth it.
When the old lady selling mutton pies mentioned it to Lin Chuntao and the others, Aunt Guizhi was a little unhappy. Lin Chuntao looked at the old lady and said, "I guess this customer didn't buy that person's stuff, right?"
The old woman's eyes lit up and she laughed, "How did you know, young lady? You seem a little unhappy. The vendor is angry too. He said he kindly reminded the person but didn't appreciate it. He deserved to be cheated."
Lin Chuntao couldn't help but laugh, and Aunt Guizhi looked at Lin Chuntao in confusion.
"How did you guess that, young lady?"
"Just guessing," Lin Chuntao replied casually with a smile. It wasn't until the two packed up and left that Aunt Guizhi asked her, "You didn't tell that old lady the truth, did you?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said to Aunt Guizhi, "It was indeed a guess, but people have a strange mentality. I can feel that I lost out and that I did something wrong, but others can't say that. If someone tells me that I bought something at a loss, I will hate the person who said it."
Hearing Lin Chuntao's words, Aunt Guizhi said in a low voice, "But what that person said is also true. If you calculate it carefully, it's still a loss."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Auntie, that's not how you do it. There are a lot of people at the market in the morning, but most of them come with a purpose, not just to stroll around. After buying their groceries, some women still need to go back and cook. They buy a little here and a little there, and when they get home they find that they forgot to buy scallions, ginger, or garlic, and they might get upset. But your basket has everything, so it saves you time and effort. And who makes it so easy for you? It's you! Would any one of the vegetables in your basket be enough to cook a bowl of food? Yes, it would, and there would be no waste. No waste means saving money!"
Aunt Guizhi was dumbfounded by Lin Chuntao's confident words.
She said in a low voice, "To be honest, I've always felt that this basket of vegetables is overpriced."
Lin Chuntao replied with a smile, "That's true, we even provided them with some conveniences."
Aunt Guizhi was thus persuaded by Lin Chuntao.
"Do you want to go find Xiao Pei?" Aunt Guizhi asked her after the two returned the scales.
"I'm going."
Aunt Guizhi said, "Then you go ahead, I won't go with you, I need to go to the cloth shop."
"You want to buy fabric?"
Aunt Guizhi nodded. "I haven't seen your Sister Shuilian for a long time. I was thinking of buying some cloth to make a set of clothes and sending them to her."
"Then I'll go with you."
"No need, go find Xiao Pei."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "He's busy too. I just thought there wasn't much to do at home recently, so I waited for him to come home with me. I'll go with you to buy fabric first."
Aunt Guizhi took her arm and patted the back of her hand.
"Okay, can you help me choose a color?"
Aunt Guizhi originally had a son and a daughter. The son was the eldest, and the daughter was the second.
I heard that there was some trouble in the village a few years ago, so they sent the child away. He was originally going to stay with a relative, but he ended up being raised by someone else. When Aunt Guizhi and her husband went to pick him up, the child complained that his father was mute and refused to come back even if he died.
Hearing his son's harsh words, Lin Shan dragged Aunt Guizhi back home.
They don't want their son anymore; they'll have another one.
But he never had children and never got pregnant again. He only had a daughter who resembled her father. She was also mute. When she was young, he was afraid she wouldn't find a good family to marry into, so he arranged a marriage for her early on. When she came of age, she got married.
Now the children are four or five years old.
When they arrived at the fabric shop, Aunt Guizhi said that Shuilian liked purple the most, so she chose a smoky purple cotton fabric.
After buying the cloth, Aunt Guizhi drove the mule cart home, while Lin Chuntao went to find Pei Ying.
At the meat stall, Zhang Bao was buying meat, specifically a rib. Upon hearing this, Pei Ying took a knife and began cutting the meat, slicing off a rib along with the meat, and handed it to He Lan.
As soon as the meat was handed over, Zhang Bao pointed at Pei Ying with a look of surprise and said, "Oh, you're working here?"
Helan raised an eyebrow slightly, then looked at Pei Ying.
Pei Ying recognized him; this was the man who had gone to the Lin family to propose marriage that day.
But he looked at Helan and shook his head, "I don't know her."
Zhang Bao thought Pei Ying didn't remember, so he reminded her, "You don't remember me? I was the one who went to the Lin family to propose marriage last time, Zhang Bao."
"We'll be going to your house later. When are you leaving? I'll take you back in a donkey cart."
Pei Ying frowned and said calmly, "You've mistaken me for someone else. I don't know you."
Seeing his cold and indifferent expression, Zhang Bao's face darkened slightly, still somewhat unwilling to give up.
"Young man, are you still pretending not to know me? Lin Xian'er is your aunt, right? I might even be your uncle in the future."
"I don't know him."
Zhang Bao scoffed dismissively. He heard He Lan announce the weight and price, counted the money and handed it to He Lan, then gave Pei Ying a deep look before carrying the meat away.
He had only taken two steps when he encountered Lin Chuntao walking towards him.
Zhang Bao frowned as he looked at her, then turned back to look at Pei Ying.
"Are you Lin Xian'er's niece?" Zhang Bao asked.
Lin Chuntao looked at Zhang Bao, who was carrying a piece of meat, and replied calmly, "You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not him."
Zhang Bao let out a cold hiss, his face full of doubt and displeasure.
"What's wrong with you Lin family members? On one hand, you're hinting that I should buy meat and cloth to present as betrothal gifts, and on the other hand, you pretend not to know me when we meet outside!"
Lin Chuntao frowned, implying that buying meat and cloth was the proper way to present the betrothal gifts? Who in the Lin family came up with this despicable idea?
"We've severed ties with the Lin family; we have no connection whatsoever."
Zhang Bao frowned, his face full of disbelief.
"Sever ties?"
"A few little brats had a fight with their family and they've cut ties? Parents and elders aren't something you can just cut ties with like that!" Zhang Bao muttered as he turned and walked away, while the people around him looked at Lin Chuntao with curiosity.
As he got closer, Helan asked in a low voice, "What's going on? Are they looking for trouble?"
Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "It's all the fault of my stepmother. This man has now taken a liking to my aunt, but the old lady disapproves because he's too old. Shouldn't she be going to the house to mediate again?"
Her first sentence was vague, but Helan, being a woman herself, understood immediately: this meant that her stepmother wanted to marry them off after entering the family.
"I remember you said you had several younger sisters?"
Lin Chuntao nodded, "Yes, I have three younger sisters, but it's okay. We've separated and live separately, and our household registrations are all different, so it won't affect us."
He Lan visibly relaxed upon hearing this and smiled, "That's good."
They were still talking when Little Bell ran out of the house.
"Sister Chuntao, you're here."
Lin Chuntao looked at her and asked with a smile, "You didn't go out to play?"
"I've been waiting for you today."
Helan laughed from the side, "This brat, she's been asking why you haven't come yet all morning."
Lin Chuntao looked at the little girl and smiled, "Go get a bamboo sieve. I found some very pretty coral fungus this morning. I'll have your mother stir-fry it for you later."
"Wow, what is coral fungus?" Little Bell asked curiously. Lin Chuntao urged, "Bring out the basket to show us."
The little girl dashed into the house and quickly came out with a bamboo basket.
Lin Chuntao picked the broom-shaped mushrooms from her basket and put them into a winnowing basket. Xiao Lingdang squatted down beside her, staring at the mushroom with many small branches on it, the tips of which were a little bit reddish-brown. She exclaimed, "It looks like a pink tree!"
Looking into her bright eyes, Lin Chuntao knew that this little girl really liked it.
After she finished picking them up, Lin Chuntao told her to take them back inside. Helan said from the side, "Madam Lin, why did you bring so much? I'll give you money."
Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "It's enough for one meal. I just thought the coral fungus looked nice and that Little Bell might like it, so I left some for her. It's a friendship I formed with her while playing with pebbles. What would it be like if I took money from her? Don't give me any."
Helan had already picked up the copper coins, but put them back after hearing her words. Just then, Xiaolingdang came out of the house, and Helan said, "Xiaolingdang, your Aunt Lin gave you something. Aren't you going to thank her?"
"Thank you, Sister Chuntao."
Lin Chuntao smiled and patted her head, "You're welcome."
Helan sighed and looked at Xiaolingdang, saying, "You should call her Aunt Lin."
"I want to call her Sister Chuntao."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Okay, call me whatever you like."
Helan said, "Sister, don't spoil her. It's messing up the generational hierarchy."
Lin Chuntao looked at Helan and said, "It doesn't matter, let's each do our own thing."
Seeing Lin Chuntao's casual attitude and the two of them squatting down to play with pebbles again, Helan could only smile wryly.
After a short while, the market became less crowded, and all the meat for the day was sold out, so Helan packed up and closed the stall.
Pei Ying set aside two jin of pork foreleg meat early this morning, with four parts fat and six parts lean.
This morning it was mutton rice noodles again. Everyone was buying them by the bowlful. The shopkeeper gave them a discount. He really likes the noodles, but he's getting a little tired of the mutton flavor.
Thinking about the taste of what Lin Chuntao made yesterday, he felt a little craving to eat it.
"Let's go buy a few more kilograms of rice noodles."
Lin Chuntao had the same idea. Yesterday, Lin Duo'er said she wanted to eat more, so she planned to buy two more pounds.
As they approached the rice noodle shop, Pei Ying looked at Lin Chuntao and hesitated several times before speaking.
Lin Chuntao raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"
"There is something I would like to trouble you with, my wife."
He spoke politely, and Lin Chuntao laughed, "Why are you being so polite? Just say what's on your mind."
Pei Ying said, "I think the rice noodles you cooked yesterday were better than the mutton rice noodles. Recently, Lao Zhang and Lao Zhao, who work at the shop, have both treated me to breakfast. Could you please cook a clay pot of rice noodles for me tomorrow so I can bring it to the shop for breakfast?"
Hearing this, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "You're taking this so seriously, I thought something big had happened. It's nothing. Just buy enough noodles, and I'll make the soup and cook the noodles tomorrow morning. You can bring them to the shop."
Lin Chuntao agreed, and Pei Ying smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, my lady."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It's nothing, don't be so polite."
Pei Ying's cooking skills were not good, so he almost always ate Lin Chuntao's cooking at home. It was fine for him to eat alone, but since he was inviting someone to eat and was going to trouble Lin Chuntao to cook, he naturally had to get Lin Chuntao's permission first.
After Chuntao agreed, he immediately bought six jin of rice noodles.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Didn't Chunxing want to learn how to make it and sell it at the market? You can let them taste it and see what their feedback is."
Pei Ying smiled and nodded.
As the two walked back to the village entrance, they encountered Zhang Bao and Matchmaker Qian, who were sitting on a donkey cart.
As soon as the matchmaker saw Lin Chuntao, she called out, "Chuntao, have you picked any mushrooms lately?"
Lin Chuntao replied, "Yes, but they're all sold out."
"Oh my, you're even carrying it all the way to the county town to sell?"
"If you can save two jin for me tomorrow, I'll go to the market to get them from you."
The old lady came to buy something from her, and Lin Chuntao was still very friendly, replying softly, "Sure, ma'am, you'd better come early, I usually go home as soon as I'm done selling."
Where do you set up your stall?
Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "There's no fixed place. We'll just set up wherever there's space available when we go."
"Then I'll go and find you again tomorrow morning."
After the old lady finished speaking, the group entered the village together. When they arrived at the gate of the Lin family's courtyard, Zhang Bao got off the donkey cart. He saw that Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying did not stop at all and went straight through the gate.
Zhang Bao frowned slightly: "This..."
The matchmaker said in a deep voice, "They've separated; they've moved out on their own."
As for the reason, Matchmaker Qian didn't say, only saying, "Quickly grab your things and knock on the door."
Yesterday's fight shattered the morale of the Lin family.
Under the bright blue sky, the whole family was either sitting or lying down. Except for a few children who were carrying baskets up the mountain to collect firewood and cut pig feed, the adults were all listlessly lazing around at home.
Tian kept coming in and out, cursing and swearing, but no one paid any attention to her.
There was a knocking sound at the door, which continued in waves, but no one got up to open it. After a while, Yang's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had realized something, and she hurriedly came to open the door.
Upon opening the courtyard gate, they found Zhang Bao and Matchmaker Qian.
She looked at the meat and cloth in Zhang Bao's hands, and welcomed him in with a smile.
Hearing the commotion in the courtyard, everyone sitting or lying down inside came out of the house. Matchmaker Qian greeted the Lin family warmly, saying, "Everyone's here."
Hearing that familiar yet irritating voice in the backyard, Madam Tian rushed out. Before she could even curse the matchmaker, she heard the matchmaker enthusiastically call out to her, "Sister-in-law Tian, I've asked the Zhang brothers to bring you some gifts today as a token of my respect."
Tian looked at the things in Zhang Bao's hand; there was meat, cloth, and some snacks.
Seeing the children and daughters-in-law in the yard with their eyes shining, she was furious and yelled, "I have sons and grandsons, I don't need anyone to take care of me! Get out!"
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