The oxcart drove smoothly towards Linjia Village and arrived home just in time for noon. Sister-in-law Lin had already gone home to cook.
Without delay, Song Anxin stepped into the kitchen, thinking of making the pork belly first.
Zhang Mei had just finished cooking. Since her family had eaten breakfast, she didn't prepare lunch so early.
Seeing her mother-in-law's posture and the meat in her hand, Zhang Mei knew that her mother-in-law was definitely going to make braised pork again, so she said:
"Mom, let me do it. You must be tired after you just got back. Please rest."
Without waiting for her mother-in-law's approval, she took the meat away. Zhang Mei would never have dared to do this in the past.
Now she knows that although her mother-in-law looks fierce, she is actually very kind-hearted.
Song Anxin didn't mind. Let her do what she wants. After all, his daughter-in-law was virtuous and hardworking, so he could only enjoy the blessings of his mother-in-law.
Song Anxin went to the main room and took out everything from the basket. She gave each person a string of candied hawthorns, and also gave some to Lin Erxi and Dongzi. She had been teaching them recently, and their relationship had grown stronger. It wasn't much money, so Song Anxin certainly wouldn't be stingy.
So he asked Lin Fengyao to take the two strings of candied hawthorns and the half-pound of meat to Lin's sister-in-law's house:
"Just tell your aunt that it's a reward for helping out."
Lin Fengyao immediately ran off in a flash.
"Mom, why did you buy me this candied hawthorn? I'm so big now."
Lin Fengnian scratched his head sheepishly while holding a string of candied hawthorns.
“Yes, Mother, you can buy it for my third and fourth brothers. I’m all grown up now, I don’t eat this kind of childish stuff,” Lin Fengshou chimed in.
"I've grown up now, I don't need to eat anymore..." Lin Fenghe said sweetly.
Song Anxin laughed. These hypocritical little brats, look at them, their eyes are practically glued to this candied hawthorn.
She said, "Oh, you've all grown up, do you even know what candied hawthorn tastes like?"
The three of them shook their heads in unison. Song Anxin tapped them on the head and said, "That's settled then, you can eat whatever I bought for you."
But you can't eat it now; you can save it for a snack this afternoon. Lunch is coming up soon, so you don't want to miss it. There's braised pork today too.
The boys thought that a few candied hawthorns were nothing; they could eat them and still have a good meal. Besides, there was braised pork today, so they could easily eat three bowls of rice. But they still obediently listened to their mother and carefully put the candied hawthorns away.
Song Anxin took out two more spinning tops and said, "Look, these are for you to play with."
Unlike modern toys, there aren't many different kinds in ancient times. After looking at them, only these four toys seem suitable for the four boys.
The three of them looked at each other and didn't know what to say. Their mother really treated them like children... This feeling was actually quite nice.
Soon the family started eating lunch. Zhang Mei's braised pork was very fragrant, even surpassing her usual skill. This daughter-in-law has quite a talent for cooking.
The four boys ate heartily, and Song Anxin was already used to their starving appearance.
At the dinner table, Zhang Mei said, "Mom, a lot of people came to deliver duck eggs this morning. Luckily, Auntie was here, otherwise we really wouldn't be able to handle it all."
Song Anxin nodded and asked while eating, "How many duck eggs did you collect today? And how many did you pickle?"
Zhang Mei said, "I remember it all. This morning, there were a total of 568 pills, which cost 136 coins. I only have a little over 100 coins left."
Yesterday afternoon, my aunt and I pickled two large jars of duck eggs. This morning, because we were busy collecting duck eggs, we only pickled one jar.
Lin Fengshou, while eating heartily, looked up and said, "Mother, we don't have much money left. What if so many duck eggs are delivered?"
"How about I tell those aunties that our family won't accept them anymore?" Lin Fengnian suggested.
Lin Fenghe, who was standing to the side, said slowly, "I don't think that will work. We've only been doing this business for two or three days. If we want to continue doing this business, we'll have to keep doing it for a long time."
Otherwise, if others can't figure out when we accept deliveries and when we don't, they won't know whether they should deliver to our house or not.
Lin Fengyao rolled his eyes and said, "I think Third Brother is right."
Song Anxin really enjoyed the feeling of discussing things together with her family.
She doesn't follow the rules when eating and often chats with the younger children, encouraging them to express their thoughts. Gradually, the younger children open up.
Lin Fenghe's thoughts were the same as hers; although the third child was young, he had quite a few insights into things.
She said, "I also think Feng He makes sense. The village's duck eggs have probably been almost all collected. It will take some time for the ducks to lay eggs again and collect a certain number. There won't be that many eggs being sent over in the future."
I earned one tael and six mace of silver today selling medicinal herbs in the county. Although I spent some on selling salt, I still have almost one tael left, enough for us to collect duck eggs for the next twenty days or so. After the duck eggs are sold in twenty days, we'll have some silver too.”
Everyone was relieved to hear what their mother said.
After lunch, Zhang Mei also received a candied hawthorn. Zhang Mei was a little confused as she held the candied hawthorn.
Her mother-in-law was so good to her. She even got a share of the steamed buns bought from the county, and she got clothes that were specially chosen for her. She felt like she had fallen into a paradise. She wanted to be filial to her mother-in-law for the rest of her life, no, not even in the next life.
After lunch, Song Anxin rested for a while before taking the boys up the mountain.
Yesterday, I spent a lot of time digging for he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum), and I didn't pick many mushrooms. I was thinking of coming down early to help Sister Lin and Zhang Mei pickle salted duck eggs, otherwise it would take a long time to pickle so many salted duck eggs.
Life is busy, but Song Anxin is at peace. Here he has family, he is no longer fighting alone, and life is full of hope.
As the sun set, just as Song Anxin had expected, no one delivered the salted duck eggs in the afternoon. After finishing the last jar of salted duck eggs for the day with her family, Song Anxin saw Lin Dasao and the others off.
When Sister-in-law Lin left, she said to Song Anxin:
"Sister-in-law, please don't send such expensive things to our family again. We haven't even started earning money yet, why are you giving us hard-earned money? You even bought things for the two little ones. If you keep doing this, I won't ask for your wages anymore!"
Song Anxin smiled gently at Lin Dongzi and asked, "Dongzi, are the candied hawthorns delicious?"
As soon as Lin Dongzi mentioned candied hawthorns, his mouth watered and he slurped them up: "Delicious, thank you, Second Aunt."
"No need for thanks. How about coming to your second aunt's house every day to help her prepare duck eggs?"
Lin Dongzi nodded quickly: "Okay, I'll come to my second aunt's house to help every day from now on. I'll also cut lots and lots of grass for your rabbits to eat."
Looking at Lin Dongzi's obedient appearance, Song Anxin couldn't help but pat his head and said to Lin's sister-in-law:
"Look, this is called food temptation! This way, Dongzi and Erxi will come to help me every day, and they won't even ask for wages. I'm making a profit!"
Sister-in-law Lin covered her mouth and laughed: "I can't argue with you. Dongzi is no help at all. He always runs away after working for a short while."
"Alright, you don't need to see me off anymore. It's just a short walk. I need to get back early to cook so Erxi and Dongzi can come over to study later."
The Song family also started cooking. Around 5:45 AM, the Song family had finished dinner. The boys helped clean up the dishes, and Song Anxin was in the yard preparing what she would be teaching that day.
Just then, Lin Shitou walked in from outside the courtyard gate, carrying a rabbit in his hand.
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