After finishing all that, she hurried to the river to fetch water. Once the water was ready, she went to haul yesterday's wood. There wasn't much wood yesterday, and it was just noon when she finished. Everything was arranged perfectly. On the table in the main hall were the ten buns she'd bought this morning. But how to give them to Zhou and her family was a problem. She had forgotten that there were eleven people in her eldest and second brothers' families, and she only bought ten. Even if she didn't eat them, there was one less. She decided to give them to the younger ones. Five today, five tomorrow.
With all this in mind, she started to light a fire and cook. Cooking with only one pot was inconvenient, and she'd have to order another one tomorrow after selling the charcoal. For lunch, she made a pot of mushroom soup, adding some sliced radish, which cooked until soft and delicious. After dinner, while the fire was still burning, she filled the pot with water and placed five steamed buns in two bowls to warm them in the pot.
She went to the yard to rummage through some wood and was ready to go up the mountain after finishing all these things. However, before she set off, the five little guys came and started calling "Auntie" from a distance.
"Oh, Auntie, why is your forehead injured?" Shufeng was the first to scream.
"Did you fall on the mountain?" Shu Duo walked up to her carefully, "Does it hurt, aunt?"
"That's a really stupid question. It must hurt if you're injured."
“Auntie, where did you fall? Why are you so careless?”
"Auntie, let Pan'er blow your dick for you."
Several children surrounded her, asking her questions one by one, leaving her no chance to speak. She finally found a moment to speak, "Why did you come here today? I'm not hurt, don't worry. I just accidentally bumped into a tree. Look, I've applied some medicine."
A few children came closer to take a look, and when they saw that the medicine had indeed been applied, they calmed down and stopped asking questions.
"Didn't you say you were going up the mountain to chop wood these few days? We're here to help you keep an eye on it."
"Auntie, the oranges yesterday were really delicious."
Chunxiao felt that this was the key point. "Auntie is out of oranges today. Would you like to help?"
"We'll help even if there are no oranges." Several children replied in unison.
Chunxiao smiled and said, "Although Auntie doesn't have any oranges today, I bought some meat buns and they're warming in the pot. Auntie is going up the mountain. If you're hungry later, you can take one and eat it yourself. Don't steal others', understand?"
"Really?" Shuwen's eyes lit up.
"Auntie, are there really meat buns?"
"The meat buns are delicious."
Chun Xiao nodded complacently. "When did Aunt lie to you? It's in the pot. Be careful when you take it. Don't drop Aunt's bowl. Don't eat now since you just finished your meal. Eat when you're hungry later. Keep the keys Aunt gave you. There are only two sets of keys. If you lose one, you won't have a spare. Okay, I won't say any more to you. I'm leaving now."
"Aunt, go ahead. We will definitely guard the door for you."
"By the way, if Auntie comes back late, you can go back by yourselves. Don't tell anyone about the buns, and don't tell anyone about Auntie's forehead injury. Do you understand?"
The children nodded obediently. They thought their aunt was amazing as she could give them delicious food every day. It would be great if they could help every day.
Chunxiao went up the mountain and only felt the severe pain in her waist when she was working. "Damn it!" she thought. "Two taels of silver is really a bargain for them!" She cursed the Cao family mother and daughter in her heart while she worked hard to chop trees. "I sell cartloads of trees, but I can't even afford to sell a basket of trees for others." "Human greed is like a snake swallowing an elephant. I don't know how many people I have bullied in the past."
This back injury was quite serious, especially when she bent over to drag the tree, it hurt a lot. She endured the pain and pushed the tree stump down again and again. Finally, she was afraid that it would get worse, so she went down the mountain when the sun was about to set. When she came back, the little ones had not left yet and were carrying wood home.
"You guys go back quickly, I'll handle the rest myself."
"It's okay, auntie, we'll be done moving soon, and then we'll leave." Chunxiao went back to the house and took out 20 coins and gave them to Shuwen. "Here are 20 coins. Grandma gave you the money to buy a backpack for me. Please take it back to me and don't lose it." She handed him a lantern and said, "I'll return yours too. I went to bed early and won't need it anymore."
Shuwen took the money and the lantern and left with his younger brother and sister.
Chunxiao closed the yard door and started to boil water in the kitchen. There was not even a hot water bottle here, so she could only apply hot water with a towel little by little.
By the time the Yan brothers had finished clearing their land, Chunxiao had already made several trips to the town to sell charcoal. Now, in addition to the eight taels and eight qian of silver, she had earned nearly another seven taels, all of which she placed in a jar beside the cabinet. The thatched shed was filled with wood.
On the second night after they finished work, it started to rain. Chunxiao woke up and felt the air was particularly cold. She opened the door and found that it was raining outside. She quickly ran to the back of the yard with her hat. Fortunately, the rain was not heavy. The earthen mounds were already dried and hardened, and the drizzle did not wash them away all night. She hurried to the haystack outside the house, picked up some grass that was not wet inside, and spread it on the outside of the two earthen mounds, praying in her heart that the rain would not get heavier.
It was raining and it was impossible to go to the town. Chunxiao began to worry about the wood in the straw shed. Although the straw shed was big, it could not withstand so many woods. If it rained heavily, some of the wood would definitely get wet, and the charcoal could not be burned if it got wet.
Chunxiao then began to carry the wood back to the utility room. Fortunately, the rain was not heavy and the distance was close, so she only got a little wet, which was basically not a problem. She spent the whole morning moving the wood. The wood weighed at least a few hundred pounds, so it was still very difficult to move. Fortunately, her back injury had almost healed, otherwise it would have been very difficult.
The wound on her forehead has already scabbed over. She was afraid that Zhou would find out and ask about it, but she has been going out early and coming back late every day in the past few days and has no time to report to her parents. Well, it won’t be too late to go after the scab falls off.
At noon, she had no time, so she cooked white rice in the kitchen. After the rice was cooked, she added some shredded radish and some cabbage. Although the dishes were not very good, she still had a delicious meal. She had not eaten white rice like this for a long time.
She went to bed in the afternoon. She didn't feel cold when the sun was out, but when it rained, she felt shivering when sitting outside. Her cotton coat was too thin. She had been freezing like this every winter before, but she didn't want to be cold again this winter. When she went to town again, she would buy cloth and cotton to make thick cotton coats for herself and her family. What is money used for? Money is used to improve life. Otherwise, what is the point of making money?
In the evening, she braved the rain to collect the two bags of charcoal. Fortunately, she had taken timely precautions in the morning, so the charcoal was not wet and was burned. It was a blessing that no waste was caused.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
