Song Anxin quickly suppressed her lip and said:
"Mom, do you have one? Fengyao, you're mistaken. Did you enjoy going to the county town today?"
When his mother mentioned the county town, Lin Fengyao forgot to ask any further questions and immediately began to tell his mother about the fun things that had happened there.
Lin Fenghe felt that her mother seemed to be laughing at her uncle.
Lin Fengshou also chimed in, "Mother, today I pushed our family's braised delicacies out, but the restaurant owner didn't order much because it's offal. We ordered a total of 38 catties today, and the deposit was 342 wen. We also bought two sets of offal for 100 wen, so we have 242 wen left. Mother, it's all yours."
Song Anxin was very pleased to see that Lin Fenghe's points were all well-reasoned:
"Well done, Harvest is really starting to look like a business."
Lin Fengshou was overjoyed to hear his mother's affirmation. This was the first business deal he had closed on his own, and his mother praised him for doing a good job.
At this moment, a person walked in from afar through the courtyard gate. She carried a basket and entered the courtyard, saying:
"Aunt Lin and Sister Mei are here. I've come to deliver the duck eggs."
Her eyes, however, kept darting around, looking at Song Anbang to the side. This person was none other than Liu Xiuhong.
Zhang Mei went up to greet her: "Xiuhong, you're here. Let's go to the main room. I'll check the number of duck eggs and give you the money."
Liu Xiuhong smiled and followed Zhang Mei into the main room, but her eyes kept glancing at Song Anbang.
Song Anbang was completely unaware of all this. Song Anxin sighed that her younger brother was really oblivious to emotions; he probably only had passion for books.
It wasn't that there weren't girls in the village who liked Song Anbang, but they all secretly watched from afar. But she would come to his yard every now and then under the pretext of delivering duck eggs, and she would even personally make a trip to deliver just three or four eggs.
The most coincidental thing is that Song Anbang was always there every time she came, making it hard not to suspect that Liu Xiuhong had found out about it beforehand.
Liu Xiuhong remembered that she had gotten married several years ago, but her husband died in an accident a few days after the wedding. Her husband's family thought that she was a jinx and that was why their son died, so they cursed her every day.
Unable to bear the insults from her in-laws, Liu Xiuhong pleaded with her parents, who then intervened and arranged for her to return to Linjia Village. However, due to her reputation as a jinx, no one has dared to propose marriage to her since, and the situation remains unresolved.
His age is about the same as Song Anbang's.
At this moment, Song Anbang walked up to Song Anxin, took out a blue purse, and said:
"Sister, this is the six hundred coins I earned from copying books. Here you go."
Song Anxin asked in confusion, "Why are you giving me money?"
Song Anbang: "I eat and stay at my sister's house, so I should pay for my lodging and meals. Sister, please don't think it's too little."
Song Anxin was amused by his words and said, "Is your older sister so stingy in your eyes that she won't even give you a little food and lodging?"
"No, sister, it's me..."
"Alright, you've been teaching Fengnian and Fenghe to read and helping my family with chores. This little bit of food and lodging has already covered the cost," Song Anxin said.
At this moment, Liu Xiuhong had somehow walked up to Song Anxin and Song Anbang, and seeing the purse in Song Anbang's hand, she said:
"Hey, Young Master Song, I see your purse looks a bit worn. Why don't you give it to me and I'll fix it for you? I'm very skilled with my hands."
As he spoke, he reached for the purse in Song Anbang's hand.
Song Anbang was taken aback by Liu Xiuhong's sudden action. Song Anxin quickly snatched the purse and said coldly:
"Eldest daughter of the Liu family, it's not good to just take a man's purse like that. Don't ruin your reputation. You should leave quickly after you deliver the duck eggs, or your family will worry."
Liu Xiuhong, having failed to snatch the purse and further embarrassed by Song Anxin's words, glanced at Song Anbang and said with a forced smile:
"Well then, Young Master Song and Aunt Lin, I'll be going now."
Even as he reached the door, he didn't forget to turn back and glance at Song Anbang.
Song Anxin thought Liu Xiuhong was really too bold. Not only did she come over to talk to Song Anbang on her own, but she also wanted to take his purse back to mend it. If someone saw this, Song Anbang would have no way to explain himself even if he had ten mouths.
Seeing that her silly younger brother was still in a daze, she tossed him the purse and said:
"Stay away from the girls in the village from now on, especially those who deliberately try to get close to you. Be sure to protect your own things. You are going to take the imperial examinations, so you must value your reputation."
Even the slow-witted Song Anbang understood after his older sister's blunt explanation. He said:
“Sister is right, Anbang understands, thank you for reminding me.”
Song Anxin waved her hand and said, "We're siblings, no need to be so polite. Anbang, where are those pens and paper you bought?"
Because they needed to deliver braised food for tomorrow, they were running low on spices and bay leaves at home, so Lin Fengshou took Lin Fenghe and Feng Yao up the mountain to pick some.
Song Anxin, Song Anbang, and Zhang Mei were cutting red paper in the main room.
Song Anxin compared the sizes of the duck eggs and said to them, "This size should be about right. Anbang, write words like 'wealth,' 'reunion,' 'peace,' 'promotion,' and 'smooth sailing' on each piece of paper you cut out."
Twelve sheets per group, then group them and put them away neatly, understand? Meizi, you're in charge of cutting the paper.
The two agreed in unison and began to work seriously. It must be said that Song Anbang's elegant calligraphy was extremely beautiful. Wrapping it on salted duck eggs would definitely raise the price of the salted duck eggs.
After explaining the situation, Song Anxin took a blueprint and went next door to find Brother Lin. Brother Lin was in the yard fiddling with his woodworking tools, seemingly pondering something.
She went in and said, "Big brother, I'm here. What are you doing?"
Lin Erxi popped her head out from behind and said, "Second Aunt, you're here. My dad is studying what Grandpa Bai talked about before."
I didn't expect Brother Lin to be so diligent and eager to learn.
"Brother, I want to make a wooden hand-held box. Do you think you can make it like this?"
Brother Lin took the blueprints and saw that the wooden box was quite unique. It had a handle on top and a double-doored box at the bottom. Inside, there were two layers, each with six long oval holes, which seemed to be used to store things.
He said, "It doesn't look difficult, I'll give it a try. Fengnian's mother, how big should the round hole inside be?"
Song Anxin said, "This is for storing salted duck eggs. We'll wrap them in red paper before putting them in. You can try holding a duck egg in front of you to show me."
The honest man didn't ask many questions and started studying the blueprints.
Lin Erxi looked at the blueprint and said, "Second Aunt, this box is really beautiful. It would be a waste to use such a beautiful box to hold salted duck eggs."
Song Anxin smiled and said, "It's all about looking good in clothes. Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse. That way, people in the city will buy it!"
Lin Erxi said happily, "I understand. People in the city care a lot about face. This is how they show they have face, right?"
"You're right. Erxi is getting smarter and smarter after reading books," Song Anxin said.
Lin Erxi suddenly became shy and said, "That's all thanks to my uncle, the young scholar, for teaching me so well..."
Song Anxin: "........."
And what about me? It's true what they say, some people forget their old loves for new ones.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com