Chunxiao returned to the end of the village in the little light before dark.
When she got home, she put all the dishes in the kitchen and started to make a fire to boil water. She was really unwilling to not have firewood to burn charcoal today, just like not being able to pick up money on the ground. Seeing the firewood piled half a wall high in the kitchen, she suddenly had an idea. She would pick out some big pieces of wood from these firewoods, maybe there would be the kind she wanted.
She searched for a long time by the firelight. Perhaps the dense wood was difficult to burn, so they didn't chop much, but fortunately she still found a lot, enough for two kilns. Delighted, she moved all the wood she needed to the backyard in the dark. After washing it, she built a fire in the backyard and continued making charcoal for the day.
She has to get up early tomorrow to go to town, and the wood must be dragged back as soon as possible. Today's wood is more than last time, so it should be enough for a few days. However, it will rain in a few days, so it would be best if she can continue to go up the mountain to chop wood during these few days. It would be great if someone can help, but she can't talk about this now. If not, she can ask her sister-in-law to borrow two children to help watch the wood while it is drying, and she can continue to go up the mountain.
While looking at the fire on the mound, she was thinking about tomorrow's arrangements. At around 10 o'clock in the evening, she collected two more mounds of charcoal. Now these charcoals were money, so how could she not be happy to see money? Although she had to stay up late every day in the past few days, she was very happy because she could make money by staying up late.
The next morning, she got up at dawn again. Just like yesterday, she packed her things and went out with a basket of charcoal on her back. The difference was that she didn't have a penny with her today. She originally wanted to bring a few copper coins with her, but after thinking about it, she realized she didn't have any extra copper coins, so she gave up.
Arriving in town, she headed straight for Fuqiu Lane. Her first stop was the family who had sold charcoal the day before. The same old man opened the door and seemed a little surprised to see her. Chunxiao asked if they still needed charcoal.
"This charcoal is pretty good, young lady, but the charcoal at home can only be used for two days. If you want to sell it, come back tomorrow."
Although she hadn't sold any of her charcoal today, she was still happy that she had a place to buy it tomorrow. Fuqiu Lane was so big, and it looked like it wouldn't be hard to sell the charcoal. She would always be able to find a buyer. After saying goodbye to the old man, she wanted to try her luck with Manager Liu.
Unexpectedly, she was stopped halfway. Other residents saw her selling charcoal and asked for the price.
She still quoted 60 coins, but for some reason, the man who wanted the charcoal bought her basket of charcoal without bargaining, and she got a total of 2 taels and 7 coins of silver.
This time the backpack was still taken away. Considering that she had earned so much money, she didn't care about the 14 cents. She just needed to buy another backpack later, so she put the money into the pocket of her cotton jacket and only had one cent of silver in her hand.
Selling charcoal was a good business. As she emerged from the alley, she spotted another cart selling charcoal. They were charging 60 wen per jin (100 jin) or more, and 70 wen per jin (100 jin) for the bulk. She then realized how her charcoal was selling so well; it turned out her price was the wholesale price. But she was quite content with 60 wen.
She wanted to go shopping at the market. The fire was about to start, so she had to buy something. She had seen someone selling backpacks at the market before, but she had almost forgotten about it.
She arrived at the market empty-handed. First, she spent 12 wen on a backpack. Then she bought some dried wild mushrooms, which were not expensive at more than 8 wen a jin (2 jin). She saw someone selling oranges for 7 wen a jin (7 wen). She tasted one and found it quite sweet. She didn't know the typical price of these oranges, having never bought any before, but since she saw them, she decided to buy some. She ordered 5 jin (2 jin) and went home happily.
It was still early when she got home, so she put her things in the cupboard and put the money in the jar. She changed into a thin layer of clothing because she would be dragging wood soon, and it would be too hot if she wore thicker clothes.
She went straight to where the wood had fallen, and, following the same method as last time, it took her an hour to finish. The sun was already high in the sky, and she was a little exhausted, so she needed a break. She had already used pig skin to cook a pot yesterday, so to save time, she simply mixed some flour and some cabbage, lit a fire, and made a small pot of noodle soup.
Chunxiao found the noodle soup so delicious for the first time. Although it only had some cabbage and no egg, it was still much better than the hard-to-swallow porridge and the glutinous rice balls. She took a short break while eating. After finishing her meal, she started chopping wood.
The tools worked well and the work was done efficiently. By 2 o'clock, all the wood had been chopped. She felt a little exhausted and wondered if she could continue chopping wood up the mountain.
After spreading the wood on the yard, she took five tangerines and placed them on the table in the main hall, then carried the basket on her back and went to her eldest brother's house in the village.
Tian was cooking pig food. Seeing her carrying a basket on her back, she asked, "Are you going up the mountain again?"
"Yes, sister-in-law, I want to ask Shuwen and the others for help." She looked at the three children sitting in the yard. Fortunately, they were at home and not out playing.
"Auntie, what do you want from us?"
"I've dried a lot of wood on my open space. I'm worried someone will take it if it's left there for a long time, so I want them to keep it for me."
"I thought it was a big deal. Okay, let them go. There's nothing much for them to do at home."
After getting Tian's consent, Chunxiao handed the key to the house to Shuwen. "There are five tangerines on my aunt's table. One for each of you five," she whispered in his ear. "Please keep them safe for me. I'll prepare delicious food for you later. But don't tell anyone, or they'll be gone."
Shuwen nodded happily when he heard it, "Go ahead, I promise to take good care of you."
"If I'm not back by dinner time, you don't need to watch. Remember to come back for dinner and don't let your mother worry."
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