Yu was still crying and sobbing. Zhou Cheng got annoyed and cursed, "Crying all day long, doesn't she feel bad about bringing bad luck?"
The eldest daughter-in-law has become much more assertive these days, while Madam Yu is always worrying about this and that and doesn't care about anything at home.
The eldest daughter-in-law took over the housekeeping duties.
She's annoyed now. Her mother-in-law hasn't been in a good mood since she arrived, and she even dreams about her third brother getting into high school.
Although her family doesn't say it, people outside are saying that her mother-in-law has gone mad.
If my third brother doesn't pass the imperial examination and marry a daughter of an official, he'll never recover from his madness.
Zhou Ling'an stepped forward to comfort her: "Mother, I will continue my studies. Don't worry, I will definitely pass the imperial examination for you in the future."
Song Ning was unaware of the Zhou family's affairs. After eating, she went down to the cellar to take a look, and then squatted in the yard with Liu Yuelan to tidy up the firewood. Before long, Aunt Zhao and Madam Sun arrived.
It's a sunny day today, and with the sun shining, it doesn't feel so cold anymore.
Not long after we started, we heard someone shouting in the distance.
Zheng Gaoyi was waving to them, with two mule carts following behind him.
The people in the courtyard stood up to greet him, but Zheng Gaoyi quickly waved his hand and said, "There's no one else here, so let's skip the formalities. The charcoal has arrived; let's tell everyone to come and collect it."
Upon hearing that there was charcoal, they forgot all about firewood and spread the word.
Zheng Gaoyi didn't skimp on the amount this time; he asked for a full fifty catties from twenty households.
To be honest, this was Song Ning's first time seeing charcoal here, and he didn't know what the quality was like.
High-quality items are expensive, so only wealthy people can afford to burn them; ordinary people don't have that luxury.
Of course, they also sell them on the street, but the smoke from those sold on the street is too much; before the house can even get warm, people are already dead.
One family arrived, each carrying a basket, and Song Ning organized them into a line.
Each household used two and a half pounds of charcoal. Song Ning also reminded them that when burning this stuff, they must pay attention to ventilation, otherwise they could easily lose their lives.
Everyone nodded to indicate that they had remembered.
In the end, the charcoal was collected, but no one burned it.
They'd never burned this stuff before, and they couldn't bear to part with just two and a half pounds of it.
It's only the beginning of winter now; we'll burn it when the weather gets colder.
Song Ning didn't burn the fire because he didn't want to open the windows. The wind outside was gusty at night, and if he lit the brazier and then opened the windows, it would be even colder.
Now, all she has to do is heat up the kang (heated brick bed), cover herself with a down jacket over the quilt, and sleep with only her eyes and nose sticking out; the bed is very warm.
Or if it gets too cold, she'll crawl into the space and go back to her big bed to sleep.
Thinking of this, Song Ning became even more greedy. She wished she could bring Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan into the space as well. Otherwise, she felt uneasy enjoying it alone.
On winter mornings, dawn breaks late. Song Ning woke up when she heard someone passing by outside.
The moment I woke up, I shivered. The fire in the stove was long gone, and my feet were icy cold. I quickly shrank back.
It was just dawn outside, and Song Ning didn't even get out of bed before she flashed into her spatial dimension.
As soon as you step inside, you feel how wonderful the world is.
Song Ning turned her head, and her mood instantly brightened.
Cotton actually grew in her field!
I ran over and looked at them again and again; they were so beautiful, blooming in clusters and bunches.
With a gentle touch, a large pile of cotton appeared at Song Ning's feet.
I touched it, and it felt so soft.
Picking up the seeds, Song Ning immediately planted them on all four plots of land. This winter, she would finally have cotton-padded clothes to wear.
As Song Ning touched the cotton, she sighed inwardly: "Space, I admit I raised my voice at you a bit before, but you still love me."
But here's the problem: how is she going to take this thing out?
Before she could think much about it, there was a noise outside. Liu Yuelan had gotten up early to start a fire for her.
Liu Yuelan was afraid she would get cold, so she would get up early every day to light a fire in her room before letting her get up.
After she finished starting the fire here, Song Dahai started a fire in the kitchen as well.
The kitchen is always the warmest place when I'm cooking.
The family of three sat around the stove. Liu Yuelan ladled out a bowl of egg drop soup and handed it to Song Ning: "Quick, drink this to warm yourself up."
There's no shortage of food in the kitchen now. She still has a large basket of eggs in her space, enough rice and flour, and the grain subsidies from before. They have more grain than they can eat.
For breakfast, besides egg drop soup, there were also steamed buns. Liu Yuelan took out the meat she had stewed the day before, heated it up, and put it in the steamed buns. She ate her fill.
Liu Yuelan is used to being frugal, and Song Ning is afraid that she will be reluctant to eat this or that, so he "threatens" her that if she doesn't eat it, he will throw it away. This frightens Liu Yuelan, so now she tries to cook delicious food in different ways.
When it's cold, eating well helps you stay warm.
Song Ning took a sip of soup and said, "Dad, Zhou Ling'an will be coming again today. You can teach him how to drive the carriage then."
"OK."
"Mother, when you have time, cut some cloth. We'll make a few more pairs of shoes and clothes in a couple of days. If there's anything you're unsure about, just call Sister-in-law Sun."
Liu Yuelan put down her bowl and asked, "Why do we need to cut cloth again? Didn't we just have new clothes made last time?"
Song Ning whispered something, and Liu Yuelan and Song Dahai were taken aback.
"real?"
Song Ning nodded: "Parents must keep this a secret. Things haven't been decided yet. Once Zhou Ling'an learns how to drive a carriage, we'll go to Jiangning County."
She needed a pretext to take out her cotton.
Several cotton sellers in Jiangning County could be her customers.
"Why haven't I heard you mention this before?" Song Dahai asked.
Song Ning can lie without batting an eye: "I didn't say anything before, but I'll know the result when I go next time."
Although I know my daughter is capable, I still haven't gotten used to it after all this time.
I never imagined that even cotton could find a way to get ahead.
They hadn't seen that kind of thing in a long time.
After calming down from her shock, Liu Yuelan thought of another question: "That thing is expensive, can we afford it?"
"Don't worry, Mother. I've met that person before in Shanhe Town. I helped him before, so he said he would give us a discount."
Liu Yuelan hugged Song Ning tightly, doting on her immensely. If Song Ning weren't almost thirteen years old, Liu Yuelan would definitely have given her a kiss on the cheek.
In winter, there's not much to do, and the things in the cellar don't need to be watched every day. People basically don't need to go out and just stay at home. After a while, some people can't stand it.
When we were fleeing famine, all I could think about was when we could settle down. Now that we've settled down, I feel restless and stifled.
But it's cold, and I can't stand being outside, so I have to stay home.
Only Zhou Ling'an consistently visited the Song family.
After two days, Song Ning finally understood one thing: Zhou Ling'an really only knew how to study, and was incredibly stupid at everything else.
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