Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Chuntao, sell me your bamboo basket of mushrooms...
Aunt Guizhi's husband Lin Shan is a mute, but fortunately he has a skill, so he weaves backpacks, baskets, winnowing baskets and other things at home, and Aunt Guizhi takes them to the market to sell.
People in the village often came to her house to buy these utensils. She was a little surprised to see Lin Chuntao and the others coming, because she had just heard that the sisters had been kicked out.
"Aunt, we came to see if we could buy a backpack."
Aunt Guizhi smiled and said, "Come in, I haven't been to the market in the past few days, I'm still indoors..."
Lin Chuntao followed her into the house. All the woven backpacks were in one room, big and small, very complete.
There are also some winnowing baskets and small bamboo baskets, all of which are woven very well. There are no thorns when you pick them up, and they are polished very finely.
She picked out one that would fit their backs and asked for the price.
Aunt Guizhi said, "We can sell this basket in the county town for eighteen cents, but if you are from the village, fifteen cents is enough."
"Okay, I'll take this." After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Aunt Guizhi asked with a smile, "I heard from the villagers that you sisters have split up and settled down?"
Lin Chuntao nodded, "Yeah."
Aunt Guizhi asked again, "Is one enough for you? If not, pick two more." Lin Chuntao looked at her and smiled, "Not today. We don't have enough money. Come back later."
Aunt Guizhi said, "If it's not enough, you can owe it to me first, and give it to me later when you have more. Do you want a dustpan? And this small bamboo basket is very useful for picking mushrooms."
Lin Chuntao looked at the bamboo basket that could be carried and asked the price. Aunt Guizhi handed it to her and said, "If you need it, this is for you."
She didn't have the habit of asking for things for free, so she hesitated to take it. Aunt Guizhi smiled and said, "Take it. It won't sell for much. Use it as a loan to buy a backpack. Come back if you need a bigger backpack later."
Lin Chuntao smiled and took it. "Thank you very much, Auntie. We don't have anything right now and are in need of a lot of supplies. I'll come back to you when I see what I need."
"Okay, if you need any bamboo weaving, just tell me."
After paying the money, taking the backpack and carrying the small bamboo basket, they left Aunt Guizhi's house. The sisters were extremely happy.
"Sister, Aunt Guizhi gave us a bamboo basket. We can carry it when we go mushroom picking."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go into the mountains to pick mushrooms soon."
The sisters happily returned home carrying their baskets. The yard had been swept clean and a bamboo broom was standing in the corner. It was obvious that it was made by Pei Ying.
Lin Chuntao was in a good mood and shouted, "We're back."
Pei Ying came out of the house and looked at them carrying baskets and small bamboo baskets. He asked, "Did you buy a small bamboo basket?"
Lin Duoer interrupted and replied, "No, we bought a backpack because of the small bamboo basket Aunt Guizhi gave us."
Pei Ying curled his lips slightly and looked at Lin Chuntao, "Do you have anything else to do later? I want to set a trap for that pheasant."
Lin Chuntao replied: "Nothing, we can go together."
"Let's go into the mountains and look for some mushrooms so we can fry them and eat them tonight."
Hearing about catching pheasants reminded them of eating chicken. The third and fourth sons were both filled with anticipation. Lin Duoer stood in front of Pei Ying, looking up and asking, "Brother-in-law, are pheasants easy to catch?"
Pei Ying said, "It's OK, not difficult."
"Then can we eat the chicken if we catch a pheasant?" Lin Duoer asked.
Pei Ying didn't answer, but looked at Lin Chuntao. Lin Duoer immediately understood, "Sister, can we kill and eat the pheasant if we catch it?"
Lin Chuntao looked at this glutton, feeling somewhat helpless: "Come back tonight to make lard. I'll make lard rice. Do you want to eat it?"
"Eat!" Lin Duoer responded while jumping up and down. Lin Chuntao picked up the backpack and called out to Lin Duoer, "Take your little bamboo basket and go."
Before leaving, Pei Ying went back to the house and got the butcher knife. He also took out a bamboo tube from his bag. Inside the bamboo tube was a handful of wheat. This was his special tool for catching pheasants.
After locking the door, the few of them walked towards the mountains with great interest.
After entering the mountain, Pei Ying went to look for pheasants. They agreed that if they didn't meet them in the mountains, they would wait at the entrance at the foot of the mountain.
While teaching her sisters the method, Lin Chuntao crouched down and crawled into the woods.
From time to time, the exclamations of Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer as they found mushrooms could be heard.
In less than an hour, they had picked up a full bamboo basket.
However, there are a few of each kind of mushroom, which are quite diverse and suitable for keeping for yourself.
Lin Duoer looked at the juicy mushrooms and pursed her lips greedily: "I wonder if my brother-in-law caught the pheasant."
Lin Chuntao looked at the sky and saw that the sun was setting. She called her sisters to go down the mountain and wait for Pei Ying.
At the foot of the mountain, in Lao Lin’s field.
I went back at noon and attracted the matchmaker Qian.
Tian had no choice but to bring Lin Xian'er, who never went to the fields, to the fields.
The matchmaker, like a piece of dog-skin plaster, also followed directly to the field.
Standing on the ridge, they surrounded Lin Xian'er and praised how good the Zhang Bao family was, how loving Zhang Bao was, and how she would be blessed with endless happiness if she married into his family.
It was the busy farming season, and every household was working in the fields. They just listened to the matchmaker's nonsense all day long.
Someone couldn't stand it anymore and laughed, "Auntie, that man is so good, why don't you marry your daughter to him and enjoy the good life?"
Matchmaker Qian laughed and said, "I am not so lucky. I don't have any daughters, only several sons. You don't believe me when I say this man is good?"
"If it's not good, could Mrs. Tian ask me to bring her to her eldest granddaughter to propose?"
Tian's face turned red, but this was not just Tian's fault, it was the whole family's fault. The whole family blushed and felt ashamed after hearing this.
Matchmaker Qian had no intention of letting them go and continued, "Mrs. Tian is just reluctant to let her daughter get married. Please help me persuade her. Seventeen is not young anymore. It's the right age to find a husband. If you miss this opportunity, you'll miss it forever."
"We can't help you with that. We don't have a sharp tongue like you, the matchmaker."
Everyone chatted with each other intermittently.
That afternoon, Matchmaker Qian spoke tirelessly on the ridge of the field. The villagers had fun watching her all day, while the people of Old Lin's family suffered humiliation all day.
When everyone was about to finish work and go home, they turned around and saw Lin Chuntao and her sisters coming out of the woods.
He was carrying dry firewood in his backpack and holding a bamboo basket full of mushrooms in his hands. Everyone was shocked.
"Chun Tao, did you pick these mushrooms in the mountains up there?"
Seeing that it was someone from the village, Lin Chuntao smiled and replied, "Yes, auntie."
The man stared at their small bamboo baskets and said enviously, "Oh, you picked so many. What kind of mushrooms did you pick up?"
"It's a bit of both. There's a bit of both the blue-headed fungus, the pine-hair fungus, and the earth-striped fungus. It's quite mixed."
"Your cousins went up there several times but didn't see any mushrooms. You guys are the ones who know how to pick them up."
After the woman finished speaking, Lin Chuntao looked up and saw the children of Old Lin's family looking at her intently. She raised her voice and replied, "My sisters and I had nothing to do, so we wandered around in the mountains. We wandered around for quite a while and only found this little."
As Lin Chuntao and the others were talking as they walked, matchmaker Qian hurriedly called out, "Chuntao, wait a moment."
Seeing the matchmaker running up while shouting, Lin Chuntao stopped in her tracks. The old lady looked at the mushrooms in Lin Chuntao's bamboo basket with shining eyes. "Tao girl, you have so many mushrooms that you can't eat them all. Sell half to me, an old woman."
There weren't many mushrooms in this bamboo basket, probably only about four pounds. After washing and frying them, it might only be enough for the five of them to eat. Lin Chuntao didn't really want to sell it.
But the old woman seemed to want it very much, and she had no shortage of money, so she casually asked, "How much will you give for half?"
Matchmaker Qian smiled and said, "How about five cents?"
"It's not very good. I want to save this money for food." Lin Chuntao said indifferently.
Seeing that Lin Chuntao was unmoved by her five cents, matchmaker Qian raised the offer to eight cents.
It looked like she really wanted to buy it. Lin Chuntao pursed her lips and said, "Half is at least two kilograms, twelve cents. I'll give you half."
Everyone hissed at the price, and Matchmaker Qian fell silent. After a long pause, she said, "Okay! Twelve cents."
After saying that, the matchmaker took out a cloth bag from her sleeve. Lin Chuntao squatted down and picked up half of the mushrooms in the small bamboo basket and gave them to her. After all, she was paid for it, and the wild mushrooms were not very tasty, so Lin Chuntao did not pick any for her. The old lady looked at the juicy mushrooms in the cloth bag and happily counted out twelve copper coins to Lin Chuntao.
"If you pick up mushrooms in the future, leave some for me and I can give you the same price."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "This is the price for the old lady's mixed mushrooms. If they were all the same kind, it wouldn't be this price."
Matchmaker Qian looked up at her and said quietly, "I know, I know. It's just that I'm old and it's not convenient for me to go into the mountains."
After getting the mushrooms, he stopped talking about matchmaking and turned around to say to Mrs. Tian: "Mrs. Tian, I have to go home and cook some mushrooms. Come back in a few days."
As he spoke, he walked away briskly, carrying the cloth bag. Lin Chuntao frowned. Did it seem inconvenient for him to go into the mountains because he was old? Was it because picking mushrooms in the mountains would delay her matchmaking and making money?
That small bamboo basket of mushrooms was sold for twelve cents. Everyone present was envious. They had never thought of picking mushrooms to sell. Every year when the mushroom season came, they would pick them, wash them, and eat them directly.
You know, if these mushrooms can be sold at this price, what else can they eat?
I secretly decided in my heart that I would let the children go into the mountains to pick mushrooms tomorrow.
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