"What should we do tonight?" Chun Xiao was at a loss.
"You've lost your quilt, so naturally you'll go back with us. What else can you do?"
"I still have some wood left that I'd like to burn in the next couple of days, and test the firewood's temperature. Now that this thing is gone, the loss has already been done, and we have to find a way to make up for it."
"You cook yours. Your mother and I will accompany you. We will go back together tonight. Tomorrow, we will ask Dashan and Dahe to go to the town to buy you a mattress and cloth. Don't buy grain. We have some at home. If you want to eat fine grains, we can bring them over. We are used to eating coarse grains."
"Let's buy some food. Not so much, just about 30 kilograms each." Chunxiao tried to cheer herself up and looked at Zhou. "Mom, don't be sad. If it's lost, it's lost. Just consider it a loss to ward off disaster."
"You're quite open-minded." Zhou felt heartbroken when she thought of the things she had lost, but she also thought that Chunxiao was right. If something was lost, it had to be replaced, otherwise the loss would be even greater. "From now on, someone has to stay at home. If we all go there tonight, there will be no one left at home!"
"Oh my god, this house has been searched thoroughly. What's left are things that others don't want. What's there to guard? Even if I leave the door open, no one will come in. Do you think that thief is stupid?"
"I'm talking about your charcoal. You didn't start the kiln today so no one knows about it. If you did, someone would still need to watch over it. What if someone curious wants to come in and take a look?"
"No, mother. Now everyone knows that the house has been robbed. Who would dare to break in at this time? Aren't you afraid of being caught? Wait until the door is repaired and the main door is closed. Besides, we will leave tonight and I will come early tomorrow morning. Nothing will happen." Chunxiao felt that he was like a thief just burning charcoal.
"Old woman, Chunxiao is right. The thief will definitely not come again today."
"You say this now, but you will regret it when thieves really come." Zhou said this, but she felt in her heart that there would be no thieves coming today. Since Chunxiao wanted to burn charcoal, the sooner the better. Zhou asked the old man to watch in front, and she and Chunxiao closed the back door and went to the backyard.
She decided to burn the wood at home in two batches. She built seven earthen kilns in sequence, depending on the amount of wood. She asked Zhou to help her get a bundle of firewood from the kitchen and start the eighth kiln. The first seven were her experience, so while they took longer, she felt confident. The eighth, however, was a bit of a challenge. She saw the first kiln already starting when the first one hadn't even started. This threw her off a bit.
In the middle of the meal, Zhou went to the kitchen to cook. She asked Shuwen to go home and get the flour. The meal was simple, so Zhou just fried a few pancakes. This was mainly because Chunxiao was too busy and didn't have time to eat the soup. While eating the pancakes, Chunxiao called Yan Dashan to the backyard.
She gave Yan Dashan the remaining three taels and four coins of silver she had today. "Brother, I'd like to trouble you and my second brother to go to town for me tomorrow. Please help me buy three mattresses from the mattress shop. One is 7 catties, one is 5 catties, and one is 3 catties. Buy last year's old cotton. We asked at the grocery store yesterday, and last year's old cotton was 60 wen per catty. If the mattress shop is more expensive than this, go to the grocery store. Remember, it's last year's old cotton. 60 wen per catty of cotton, this is 1 tael and 20 copper coins."
"You said it so clearly, I'll remember it."
"Also, buy another piece of dark coarse cotton cloth for a quilt cover, and half a piece of white fine cotton cloth. These two items will cost one ounce and five cents of silver. Also buy 30 catties of fine flour, and use the rest for refined rice."
"Don't buy the fine cotton cloth. You made me two undershirts, but I don't have any to wear. I'll give them to you when I get home. I have some myself." This half piece of fine cotton cloth cost 700 coins, more than 3 taels of silver. It really hurts. "You should save some coins for easy use."
Chunxiao thought about it and decided that she really couldn't spend money recklessly now. "Okay, then, let's not buy the fine cotton cloth for now. We'll buy it when we have more. Then we'll buy 50 kilograms of fine flour and 50 kilograms of refined rice each. That way, there won't be anyone to worry about at home. If things don't work out, I'll just keep the food with my eldest brother. I have about a hundred copper coins left, not much. You can give it to me when you come back."
"Okay, I've got it all down." Yan Dashan collected the money and repeated Chunxiao's words in his mind. "I'll tell Dahe about it when we get to the front later. If we both remember it, we won't miss anything."
In the evening, Yan Bingfa and Zhou stayed to accompany Chunxiao. The charcoal was burned early today, and the first seven would be almost done by around 10 o'clock now. The eighth one was sealed early, and she didn't know how long it would take to open it. She planned to open it an hour later to see how much time it would take.
Yan Bingfa had already planted the two orange saplings that Chunxiao had bought earlier at the two corners of the fence in the backyard. This way, they would not take up space and would not affect yard work in the future.
"Dad, I have a plan in mind and I'll tell you tomorrow." Chunxiao was sitting by the fire, warming herself by the fire and looking at the kiln.
"What plan? Why do we have to talk about it tomorrow? Why can't we talk about it now?" Every time Chunxiao said this, she had something on her mind, and Yan Bangfa couldn't help but feel curious.
"I haven't confirmed it yet. I'll take a look tomorrow morning." Chun Xiao smiled. "If it's feasible, Chun Shang will be busy."
Although Yan Bingfa was curious, he didn't want to ask too much since his daughter didn't say anything. But Zhou Shi became interested. "What's going on? Why are you being so mysterious? Is it something good?"
"It's hard to say whether it's good or not now. We'll know when the time comes."
"This child is playing such tricks with his parents. You have lost several taels of silver today, but I don't see that you are sad at all." Zhou felt that Chunxiao was heartless and didn't know whether such a temper was good or bad.
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