Ye Yunniang was unhappy, but she wouldn't object to Cai Damei's decision.
Ye Yunniang was in charge of cooking. She made some adjustments to the recipe for the cornbread, using less cornmeal/taro flour and more wheat flour.
I put different vegetables in the cornbread each time.
These vegetables were all bought by Ye Yunniang at the market early in the morning.
As he walked to the alley entrance carrying the basket, he was stopped by Niu Dajiao.
"Madam Ye, buying groceries? What are you buying?" Niu Dajiao asked, reaching out to rummage through the basket Ye Yunniang was carrying on her arm.
"Don't rummage through other people's things." Ye Yunniang stepped back to avoid Niu Dajiao's outstretched hand.
"Madam Ye, your family is really doing well. You can even go grocery shopping. Unlike us, we can only eat dry cornbread with cold water every day," Niu Dajiao sighed.
Ye Yunniang ignored her and left from the side.
Niu Dajiao had finally managed to stop Ye Yunniang, so why would she let her go?
"Madam Ye, you are the kindest of all. Lend me some grain. Save my grandson," Niu Dajiao said, revealing his purpose.
"There's no food," Ye Yunniang refused to lend any.
“Your family has enough money to eat meat and dried scallops, how could you not have grain? I won’t lend you more, just 200 jin.”
200 jin! Ye Yunniang laughed speechlessly.
"Big-Foot Niu, don't force me to take action."
As Ye Yunniang spoke, she reached into the basket she was carrying.
Niu Dajiao followed Ye Yunniang's hand and saw the sickle in the basket.
He stepped back, saying, "You, if you won't lend it, then don't. Why did you have to use a knife?"
Niu Dajiao looked at the sickle in Ye Yunniang's hand, and her dead memories returned.
Niu Dajiao ran quickly into his yard and slammed the gate shut.
Ye Yunniang stared at the Ma family's gate for a while, then gripped her sickle and walked home.
At my doorstep, I ran into Hongyan, who was carrying a child from the end of the alley.
When the little boy saw Ye Yunniang, he opened his mouth and exclaimed "Ah!"
"Tuantuan, good." Ye Yunniang put away her sickle and reached out to touch Ma Tuantuan's little face.
Even during famine, the children were still able to grow up plump and healthy; Hongyan and Ma Kouzi took great care of them.
Tuantuan's little face rubbed against Ye Yunniang's hands, giggling happily.
"Come sit at my house for a while," Ye Yunniang invited.
"Okay. I'm getting a little tired of carrying her." Hongyan carried Tuantuan and followed Ye Yunniang into the house.
Ye Yunniang invited Hongyan into the main room to sit down while she went to the kitchen to fetch tea.
"It's cold, have a cup of hot tea to warm yourself up." Ye Yunniang reached out and took Tuantuan into her arms.
Hongyan picked up the cup and took a big gulp.
"Yesterday I saw Niu Dajiao and Liang Maimiao talking. I vaguely heard your name. You should be careful."
"You're too late."
Hongyan was stunned for a moment, "It's too late, Niu Dajiao came looking for you."
Ye Yunniang told Hongyan about how Niu Dajiao stopped her at the alley entrance to borrow grain.
"She deserves to be hungry. She's so short-sighted, she even sold the family's grain." Hongyan spoke of Niu Dajiao with disdain.
"Sell?" Ye Yunniang was very surprised. At this time, food was life itself.
“Some people don’t have enough food, while others have too much. So they sell it privately to outsiders, charging 5 to 10 coins per pound more than at rice and flour shops.” Hongyan didn’t say that she was initially tempted to sell some herself when she heard this.
Ma Kouzi tried to dissuade her, telling her to think more about the children.
"Big-Footed Niu knows you have grain. That means the whole area knows."
Those petty thieves might sneak over any night. Be extra vigilant at night.
"Put a few more mousetraps behind the gate and the courtyard wall. Also, get some chili powder and sprinkle it on people..." Hongyan said, describing some of the tricks she used in the past.
“Okay, I’ll go buy it tomorrow.” Ye Yunniang listened attentively to what Hongyan said.
"I'm just glad you don't mind my bad advice."
After Hongyan and Ma Kouzi got together.
Ye Yunniang's attitude towards Hongyan was always indifferent; she neither pitied her nor inquired about her.
Hongyan liked Ye Yunniang's attitude and was never stingy when she could help.
After seeing Hongyan off, Ye Yunniang found a whetstone and sharpened her knife by the well.
"Yunniang, what are you sharpening your sickle for?" Granny Xu came in carrying buckets of water on a shoulder pole.
The weather is dry, and the water level in the wells has dropped sharply.
The Xu family runs a business and uses a lot of water. Since their own well doesn't provide enough water, they come to the Li family to fetch some.
"Let's go to the outskirts of the city to dig for wild vegetables. We don't have much food left at home, so we'll dig up some wild vegetables to mix with our meals."
"You're out of food at home?"
"Not much left." Ye Yunniang continued sharpening the knife.
“My family is setting up a stall, so we prepared a little extra. I’ll give you a bag.” Granny Xu calculated that the Li family, mother and daughter-in-law, had been making them come to fetch water every day. Even if they didn’t pay, she could still give them a bag of grain.
"No need. My family already has people asking to borrow grain. If we take it from Aunt Xu's family, they're probably going to block our door," Ye Yunniang politely declined.
Who asked you to borrow grain?
"Big-Foot Niu said my family had been cooking braised pork and making dried scallops the other day. We must have plenty of grain at home." Ye Yunniang was sharpening her knife with her head down, not noticing the change in Granny Xu's expression.
That evening, Ye Yunniang talked to her family about Niu Dajiao and told them to be careful.
The next day, when Ye Yunniang went to buy groceries, she made a special trip to the blacksmith's shop and bought about twenty mousetraps.
Both the front and back yards need to be used.
"You placed it too close to the wall. A thief might jump down and miss it," Tong Mo reminded Ye Yunniang from behind.
"Pingping is back." Ye Yunniang got up and went to the front yard.
That heartless man Bao Min actually sent Pingping to Changxiang County, which is under the jurisdiction of Jiangcheng, to check the accounts.
Thinking of her own child, who was working so hard at such a young age, Ye Yunniang felt heartbroken.
"No, Pingping went to Changxiang County and ate some delicious food. Thinking of you all, she bought two baskets and asked me to bring them back."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
