Chapter 127 Chapter 127——
After returning from the county town, Lin Chuntao did not go home, but went directly to her uncle's house halfway.
When she got home, her aunt-in-law and others were turning over and drying bean sprouts. The entire yard was covered with bean sprouts, spread tightly.
Lin Chuntao stood at the gate and peeked in, smiling and calling out, "Aunt, Second Aunt, are you drying the beans?"
The aunt-in-law and the others turned around and saw Lin Chuntao at the door, their faces full of surprise.
"Chun Tao, come in quickly."
Second Auntie laughed and said, "Sister-in-law, take the bean sprouts. Chuntao won't be able to move."
The eldest aunt said as she packed up: "The sun has been nice these past two days, making it a great place to dry the bean sprouts in the yard. Your second and third aunts and I have picked all the bean sprouts."
After clearing a path, the aunt walked to the gate. She looked behind Lin Chuntao, probably looking at Lin Chunxing and Lin Chunhe. Seeing no one, the aunt asked, "Where are Duo'er and Chunhe? Didn't they come?"
Lin Chuntao said, "No, Duo'er and Chunhe are at home, Chunxing is busy in the county town, I came here alone."
"Why don't you bring them with you, kid?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I went to the county town and came here directly from there. When I'm not so busy in a few days, I'll let them come over to play."
The aunt-in-law looked at her carrying a backpack with a few pieces of cloth on it. She didn't know what was in it, but it must be quite heavy. Lin Chuntao's forehead was sweating. She hurriedly led the person into the house and took the backpack down.
When she lifted the basket, she realized it was indeed quite heavy. Her aunt said, "Why didn't you let Xiao Pei carry it when he came back? You carried it yourself, sweating all over."
My aunt-in-law kept muttering, put away the backpack, and went to the cupboard to get a bowl. She made some honey and made a bowl of water and brought it to her.
Lin Chuntao wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was indeed a little thirsty, so she took the bowl and gulped down half of it.
My aunt brought her a stool and said softly, "Sit down and rest for a while. Are you hungry?"
Lin Chuntao waved her hand: "I'm not hungry, just a little thirsty."
"I'll make you another bowl after you finish drinking it."
Lin Chuntao: "Thank you, auntie, this bowl is enough."
As she spoke, she picked up the bowl and took two more sips, looking at the yard. Her uncle and his family were not at home, and neither were her older cousins.
"What are uncle and the others doing?"
"I went into the mountains to chop wood. I had nothing to do these past two days, so I thought I'd chop some wood to dry."
Lin Chuntao nodded, and her aunt looked at her and asked, "How's your corn? Can you break it?"
"It's almost done. Some of the leaves have turned yellow, but some are still green."
The aunt-in-law said, "A few days ago, your uncle said that he would be busy at our house in a couple of days. If you happen to be ready to break corn, he would come over and help you break it."
Lin Chuntao: "I think I'll start breaking it in four or five days."
"There's been little rain this autumn, so I'm worried about a rainy winter. I'm going to pick them quickly if I see they're ready, otherwise they'll get wet and won't be easy to dry when I take them home."
"good."
After chatting for a while, Lin Chuntao asked about the pepper seeds. Second Auntie laughed and said, "Chuntao, where did you buy those seeds? Not only do they germinate quickly, but they seem to be growing very fast too!"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "That must be because the weather has been good recently. Have you transplanted the plants yet?"
Aunt-in-law: "It was transplanted a long time ago, and now it has grown quite tall."
"Have all the aunts transplanted the plants?"
My aunt smiled and said, "No, there are too many for us to plant, so all the relatives took some to plant."
Lin Chuntao nodded and said to them, "When the peppers are red, please call me, and I'll pick them according to the market price."
"Well, I've already told those who grow peppers not to waste the fruits after they've grown."
This is indeed the case in rural areas. It is common for vegetables such as peppers to go bad and rot if they are not sold after being grown in excess.
Lin Chuntao planted this pepper specially. She can collect it and make sauce when the time comes, which will be all money.
As the aunt-in-law spoke, she took Lin Chuntao to the fields at the entrance of the village. The pepper seedlings were growing well, as were the dandelions. Although they were still small, they had been planted in a large area and looked very pleasing to the eye with their lush green color.
After walking around the fields, my aunt-in-law went to her own vegetable garden, picked a few cabbages and brought them back, and also picked a bundle of pea tips.
The eldest aunt and Lin Chuntao said, "Your second aunt and I made a lot of corn cakes a while ago. You can bring some back and share them with Chunxing and the others."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "We made some, and we haven't finished eating them yet."
My aunt smiled when she heard this and said, "I even made some extra on purpose, thinking of bringing some to you."
Lin Chuntao: "A few days ago, I saw that it was ready to eat, so I broke off some tender corn. I couldn't finish it, so I ground it and made pancakes." After saying that, Lin Chuntao asked: "Aunt, do you guys dry-dry potato chips?"
"We dried it, and we got a lot of potato flour. Did you not dry it this year?"
Auntie asked Lin Chuntao, and she replied, "Originally I wanted to cut some and dry them, but I've been busy every day until now."
"I'll decorate it for you when you get back."
Lin Chuntao was not polite at all. She smiled and thanked her aunt. Her aunt said, "It's just some potato chips and potato flour. Why are you being so polite to us?"
Lin Chuntao said, "You're welcome. If you were, I wouldn't say anything."
After returning from the vegetable garden, Lin Chuntao took the cloth off the backpack, put the two earthenware jars in the backpack on the table, and took a small colander from the wall and grabbed some milk mushrooms to keep.
She said to her aunt, "Aunt, I've cut up two pounds of mutton for you, and there's also some soup. You can cook it and eat it later."
When they heard it was mutton, my aunt and the others widened their eyes. My eldest aunt opened the lid of the earthenware jar, and half of the jar was filled with mutton, and the aroma was fragrant.
"So much, how much did it cost you?"
Lin Chuntao said, "Not much. There are many people at home, so I just want to try it."
The second aunt also leaned over to take a look, her pupils shocked.
"Chun Tao, you've done too much."
Lin Chuntao said, "Not much. Just mint and dipping sauce. They were given to me by the mutton seller. I think they taste pretty good." As she spoke, she walked over to the cloth. Lin Chuntao bought five pieces of cloth, two of which were dark in color, suitable for making pants or men's clothes, and three in green, lotus pink, and beige, which were also good colors for making children's clothes.
Thinking that winter was coming, she also weighed six pounds of cotton and brought it back. They could make clothes or shoes with it.
It would have been more convenient to have them made directly in the shop, but if she asked them to go to the shop to measure and make clothes, they would definitely not go, so she thought it would be better to just buy some cloth and bring it over. There would be tailors in the village or nearby, and the labor cost would be much cheaper than that of tailors in the county town.
"Aunt, I bought some cloth. I don't know if you like the colors I chose, but Chunxing and Duo'er like these two colors. I thought my cousins might like them too, so I made some clothes for them."
Yangrou and the others were just a little surprised. They thought that Lin Chuntao was going to take the cloth back to make clothes for herself and never thought that it was for them. They felt dizzy at the moment.
After listening to Lin Chuntao's words, it took a while for her to come back to her senses. The aunt-in-law said, "What are you doing, kid? You have to buy cloth and meat. You are not well off after just building the house. This money is not easy to earn, so you have to spend it frugally."
"Besides, how could my sisters need so much cloth to make clothes?"
Lin Chuntao said, "Aunt, you and uncle can make them too. As a filial piety to my elders, I should have finished the clothes and sent them to you. Unfortunately, I'm not very skilled in sewing. I'm afraid the clothes won't fit and the fabric will be wasted. So I have no choice but to send the fabric to you. Aunt, you can make them. They'll be the right size and comfortable to wear."
The aunt said, "No, I don't want this cloth. Take it back and make it for Chun Xing and Chun He."
Lin Chuntao: "I've made them all. I've made clothes and shoes for Chunxing, Chunhe, and Duoer. Winter is coming soon, and I've bought some cotton. Since I'm not busy now, you can go get them made, aunt."
Hearing that she had bought cotton, the aunt-in-law frowned and looked at her and asked, "Did you pick up any silver on the road?"
"Such a waste."
Lin Chuntao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she also knew that her aunt was worried about her spending so much money, so she could only say, "I didn't see any money, but I've been selling that sauce for a month. I went to get the money yesterday and came back. After deducting some of the miscellaneous items, I still made a little profit. Aunt, don't worry about the money. If I didn't have enough money, I definitely wouldn't be able to afford it. Just buy it and use it with confidence."
The aunt patted her gently, her voice a little choked. "I know you can make money, but you have to work hard to earn it. People in the village used to tell your uncle that you made a lot of money by picking mushrooms and selling them in the city. He was unhappy when he heard it, thinking that you worked hard to earn that money. At your age, you still have to support your sisters. Nothing is easy. It's all because we are not capable enough and can't help you."
As her aunt spoke, her eyes turned red. Lin Chuntao also felt a pang of pain in her heart. She turned around, hugged her aunt, and comforted her, "The difficult days are over. Now the hardship has ended and happiness has returned. Don't worry, you won't have to suffer hardship anymore. There's also a piece of good news I forgot to tell you. Pei Ying, didn't he say he was an orphan? Turns out he wasn't. He came to Yizhou because of a conflict with his family. His whole family moved there. He came to see me at home a few days ago. He's quite wealthy."
Just as they were still feeling sad about the hard times in the past, Lin Chuntao started talking about Pei Ying, and they were stunned.
"Is this true?" My aunt-in-law looked incredulous.
Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "Of course it's true. How could I possibly deceive you about this?"
After hearing what Lin Chuntao said, the aunt pulled her to sit down and asked, "So, are you and your mother-in-law getting along well? Is Xiao Pei going back?"
Lin Chuntao shook her head: "If he doesn't go back, he will live at home with me."
"As for my mother-in-law, she seems quite gentle. We'll know if we get along after we get to know each other. But it doesn't matter. We're not going back to live there."
The eldest aunt nodded and said, "Although his family is rich, it's better not to go back and live there. If you take Chun Xing and the others to your husband's house, you won't be able to be free."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Because Pei Ying's matter diverted her attention and she knew that Lin Chuntao and the others were well off, the aunt took the cloth and cotton.
Lin Chuntao did not stay any longer. She wanted to go home to see if the charcoal kiln could be used. She left in a hurry, regardless of her aunt's and other people's requests to stay.
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