Zhang Mei was surprised that her mother-in-law had bought her new clothes again, and shook her head vigorously, saying:
"Mother, I don't want it. Keep it for you to make your own clothes."
She did want to wear this pink dress, but in this ancient era, she was already a mother of four and a mother-in-law. Song Anxin sighed inwardly.
“This color is no longer suitable for me. I bought it especially for you, so please wear it.”
The eldest daughter-in-law is very frugal. The light red dress that was bought for her last time was something she couldn't bear to wear except on her wedding day. She still wore her tattered and patched clothes every day.
When Zhang Mei heard her mother-in-law say that her mother had specially chosen this for her, she was extremely grateful to her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law was so good to her, and she was determined to be filial to her in the future.
Lin Fengnian's clothes were altered from his deceased father's. Fengshou wore his eldest brother's clothes, and Fenghe wore his second brother's clothes... and so on. There were no special undergarments.
The boys had never worn new clothes before, and they carefully touched the brand-new fabric.
Lin Fengshou said, "Mom, you're so good to us. You even thought of us when you bought clothes. This blue one is a great choice. You have such good taste!"
Lin Fengshou already knew that his mother liked to exaggerate, so he couldn't resist praising her now that he had the chance.
Song Anxin was very pleased and immediately smiled with her eyes crinkling.
Upon seeing this, the others immediately joined in the praise.
"Mother, this blue suits me well. You have a good eye for choosing."
"Mom, this black cloth feels so soft! You really know how to buy things!"
"Mother, what you've done... what you've done..."
Lin Fengyao realized that his older brothers had already said almost everything, and he couldn't think of any other words of praise. He was so anxious that his tongue was practically spinning.
Song Anxin was amused by them and said with a smile, "Alright, stop praising your mother here, wash your hands and hurry up and eat."
Zhang Mei had already prepared lunch and was keeping it warm, waiting for Song Anxin and the others to come home. The dishes were simple: stir-fried wild vegetables, stir-fried mushrooms, and radishes that Sister-in-law Lin had brought over that morning.
Actually, Zhang Mei still had the eggs she received as gifts last time, but she couldn't bear to cook them.
However, the group ate meat buns that Song Anxin had brought from the county before the meal, so they didn't think much of it. Eating meat buns and having rice to eat was something they wouldn't have dared to dream of before.
Song Anxin thought to herself how lucky she was that she had bought meat in the county that morning, otherwise she would have had to eat vegetarian meals every day.
Fortunately, the rice was white rice, good new rice, and very fragrant. Adding these wild vegetables also gave it a unique flavor.
After the meal, Song Anxin instructed Lin Fengshou to go to the Zhang family and give the one tael of silver they owed to Zhang's brother and sister-in-law. As for why she didn't let Lin Fengnian go, Song Anxin really didn't want the Zhang family's brother and sister-in-law to make unwarranted connections.
After finishing their meal, everyone was busy. Lin Fengnian and the two younger children watered the vegetable gardens in front of and behind the house. The weather was very hot, and the newly planted seeds needed plenty of water to germinate.
Inside the main room, Song Anxin and Zhang Mei were tallying up the duck eggs that the villagers had brought that morning. Only two or three households had brought them that morning. The first two were Aunt Zhao and Granny Han, who had spoken up for Zhang Mei at the beginning of the village. The third was a family that knew Sister Lin well; they brought thirty duck eggs, which cost exactly sixty coins.
Adding the ten duck eggs that Sister-in-law Lin had given her earlier, and the twenty that she had received as gifts, there were a total of sixty duck eggs. It seemed like a lot, but it was far from enough to do business. However, Song Anxin wasn't in a hurry. Once Aunt Sangui spread the word, people would keep coming to deliver duck eggs.
“By the way, Mother, my uncle’s family sent over three more wooden basins this morning, asking if we still want them?” Zhang Mei asked from the side.
“Yes, I’ll go talk to your aunt later,” Song Anxin replied.
Brother Lin has already sent nine wooden basins. These aren't the large bath basins, but medium-sized ones. Nine aren't nearly enough; she needs to take advantage of the good weather to cultivate more mycelium. After all, mushrooms on the mountain are free.
He calculated the time; if he planted the mushrooms after the mycelium was properly cultured, it would be almost winter by the time the mushrooms grew. Fresh vegetables were scarce in winter, let alone mushrooms, which were only available in spring and autumn.
Then we can sell it for a lot of money.
Song Anxin walked out of her own yard and arrived at the gate of her neighbor Lin's yard, calling out, "Sister-in-law, are you home?"
When Sister-in-law Lin heard that it was the second son's wife's voice, she quickly came out to respond.
"Oh, it's your sister-in-law, come in quickly."
Song Anxin stepped into Sister-in-law Lin's yard. It was noon. Brother Lin was not in the fields but repairing farm tools. Lin Erxi and Dongzi were building rabbit burrows, and there were four rabbits they had caught that morning next to them.
Seeing Song Anxin come in, she quickly and happily called out, "Second Aunt, Second Aunt."
They felt a sense of familiarity with their second aunt now.
Song Anxin smiled and nodded at them, then called out to Brother Lin, who was repairing farm tools nearby, "Brother, your pot is very well made. Could you make fifteen more?"
Brother Lin was quite surprised. He had already sent several over, and one for each person in the family should be enough. So he asked, "Fengnian's mother, what do you need so many basins for?"
Song Anxin didn't intend to hide anything from them, and said with a smile, "I want to grow mushrooms myself, and these pots are for cultivating the spores."
"What?! Sister-in-law, you can grow mushrooms? That's amazing! These mushrooms are of good quality and can sell for a lot of money."
Sister-in-law Lin exclaimed in surprise.
Brother Lin nodded and said, "Alright, Fengnian's mother, I'll go cut down some trees this afternoon to make you some more. Wooden basins are very simple. Not counting the time it takes to cut down the trees, I can make four a day, and it will only take four or five days."
Song Anxin happily thanked Brother Lin, then took out the money she had prepared and said, "This one or two taels of silver is what you and your sister-in-law lent me before. Please keep it safe, sister-in-law."
Then he took out another string of coins and said, "Here is forty-five coins, for the wooden basin. Brother and sister-in-law, please don't refuse, otherwise I won't let you make the next wooden basin. I'll go to the county to buy one. I can't keep taking advantage of you, can I? Brother also spent time and effort."
Upon hearing this, Sister-in-law Lin felt it would be difficult to refuse. Buying it in the county would cost even more money, and she couldn't offer much help anyway, so she had to save her younger brother and sister-in-law some money.
Sister-in-law Lin took the money and said embarrassedly, "The style of this thing your brother made wouldn't fetch a good price even in the county. Look how much money we charged you."
Song Anxin was relieved to see that Sister-in-law Lin had accepted the gift. Although Brother Lin's wooden basin was not as exquisite as the ones sold in the county, it was more than enough for cultivating fungi.
In the county, such a wooden basin would cost about four coins, but he charged Brother Lin three coins each. It seemed like Brother Lin was making a profit, but she didn't have to carry these basins back from town, saving her travel expenses. Moreover, Brother Lin would take the time to make them for her, so she wasn't losing out no matter how you looked at it.
So he said, "I think your carpentry skills are quite good, but you haven't studied for long enough. If you spend more time figuring it out, you'll be just as good as the carpenters in the county."
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