After the meal, Lin Fengnian went to the fields, while Lin Fengshou took Lin Fengyao to catch rabbits. Song Anxin did not take Lin Fenghe to pick mushrooms as usual.
She was worried that Zhang Mei wouldn't be able to handle the large number of people delivering duck eggs today.
After finishing some chores, Lin Fenghe cherished the Three Character Classic and read it word by word, occasionally squatting down to write or draw.
After Zhang Mei finished washing the clothes, she took out the fabric and started cutting and making clothes, with Song Anxin helping out.
Sure enough, before halfway through Chenshi (7-9 AM), around eight o'clock, people came to Song Anxin's courtyard. It was the village head's wife, her eldest daughter-in-law Chunhua, and several other women.
Song Anxin stood up to greet her: "Auntie, what brings you ladies here?"
The village head's wife said, "Originally, I wanted to take some duck eggs with my daughter-in-law to sell in the county, but then I heard from San Gui's wife that your family buys duck eggs, so I brought them here. These other wives did the same."
Song Anxin couldn't help but admire Aunt San Gui, who truly lived up to her reputation as the village's loudspeaker, as even the village head's family knew about it.
Song Anxin and Zhang Mei led the person to the main room and efficiently began to count the number of duck eggs, exchanging money for goods on the spot.
The village head's wife looked at Zhang Mei, who was counting duck eggs, and said, "Meizi, you've gained some weight in just four or five days. You look much better, though."
Zhang Mei smiled shyly and didn't say anything. Since she married into the family, her husband had been very considerate, and her mother-in-law never let her do any heavy work. At most, she could wash clothes and cook. She wasn't even allowed to go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables.
Unlike before, when she had to fetch water, work in the fields, and do all the housework, busy from morning till night, if she did anything wrong, she would inevitably be beaten and scolded, and wouldn't even get to eat.
She eats three meals a day in this house, with plenty of white rice and occasional meat dishes—how could she not gain weight? She feels like she's living like a goddess, and she wakes up laughing in her dreams every night.
Song Anxin smiled and agreed with the village head's husband. Indeed, Zhang Mei was not as thin as when she first arrived, but she was still far from being fat.
After all the duck eggs were counted and the money was paid, she said, "Thank you, Auntie and the other girls, for supporting my small business. Auntie, you must help me spread the word. Your word carries weight, and I believe everyone will trust that I do business honestly."
Song Anxin didn't forget to praise the village head's wife. Everyone likes to hear good things. With the village head's wife promoting the business, everyone believed her family's claim of collecting duck eggs more, since the original owner of this body was really notorious in the village.
Upon hearing this, the village head's wife's wrinkles immediately blossomed into a smile, and she said, "Don't tease this old woman. I don't have any authority. I think you're becoming more and more capable, Fengnian's mother. Don't worry, your aunt will definitely speak up for you. Leave this to your aunt."
Song Anxin received a positive reply and smiled as she saw the village head's wife and her entourage out.
Several more groups of people arrived in the morning, and Song Anxin and Zhang Mei received them in an orderly manner, counting the number of eggs, paying for them, and placing them away.
The morning passed in this way, and the number of duck eggs was pleasing. A total of more than 300 duck eggs were collected, and Song Anxin spent more than 600 coins.
It was almost noon and no one was coming anymore. Song Anxin asked Zhang Mei to cook first while she took stock of the accounts. She had spent 3 taels and 110 wen in the county town. In addition, she had returned 1 tael to the Zhang family, paid back the money to Brother Lin and his wife, and spent more than 880 wen on collecting duck eggs, buying basins and pottery jars. Now Song Anxin only had 3 taels and 700 wen left.
Song Anxin lamented her empty wallet, saying that starting a business is not easy!
At this moment, Lin Fengshou returned with Lin Fengyao, beaming with joy. They even made a special rabbit cage, and would lock any rabbits they caught inside.
"Mommy, Mommy, look! There are five today!" Little Lin Fengyao happily hopped and skipped as he showed the rabbit cage to Song Anxin.
Lin Fengshou said, "Erxi and Dongzi also caught four."
Song Anxin patted Lin Fengyao's head and said, "Alright, I know you guys are very capable. Hurry up and put the rabbit back in its burrow, wash your hands and eat."
The two happily agreed. Song Anxin looked at the rabbit hutch in her yard, which was fenced off. Inside the hutch were several small houses that the boys had carefully built with wooden planks. There were already three rabbits before, plus the six from yesterday and the five from today, making a total of fourteen.
In her past life, she had read a news story about a farmer who picked up two rabbits, intending to keep them for the New Year. However, a few months later, the rabbits gave birth to several more, which suddenly multiplied into hundreds, far exceeding what they could eat, leaving the farmer both amused and exasperated.
She believed that her family would soon have many rabbits, which would mean a steady stream of money. Cough cough, I'm getting ahead of myself; it's still a long way from turning that into cash.
Lunch consisted of stir-fried wild vegetables, mushroom and egg soup, and braised pork with preserved mustard greens. The braised pork with preserved mustard greens was made by Zhang Mei. Since she started using more seasonings, the taste of my version is now comparable to hers and is very delicious.
Song Anxin was very satisfied and teased, "I didn't realize you had such potential as a cook, Meizi."
Zhang Mei said embarrassedly, "How could I be a good cook? It's all thanks to my mother's excellent teaching."
The young men were unhappy, but Lin Fengshou said, "Sister-in-law, don't look down on yourself. If I could open a restaurant, I would definitely let you be the chef."
“That’s right, Meizi, your cooking is just as delicious as Mother’s!” Lin Fengnian said.
Lin Fenghe and Lin Fengyao also expressed their agreement.
Song Anxin smiled but didn't say anything. She really wanted to train this daughter-in-law well. In the future, she would definitely open her own restaurant, and the core technology would naturally be in the hands of her own family.
Song Anxin realized that she wanted to do too much: salted duck eggs, mushroom cultivation and rabbit meat making, building houses, and now opening a restaurant. The road ahead is long and arduous!
After the meal, Song Anxin instructed Zhang Mei to render the five catties of pork cracklings. Well water is not as good as refrigerator for preservation, so it shouldn't spoil. Anyway, it's probably no one will come to deliver duck eggs at this hour.
Song Anxin didn't rest either, thinking that she should go up the mountain to pick mushrooms as soon as possible and then come back to help Zhang Mei collect duck eggs. Anyway, the mountain was lush with trees and quite cool, so she took Lin Fenghe up the mountain.
Seeing how diligent his mother was, Lin Fengshou didn't rest either. He took Lin Fengyao up the mountain to catch rabbits. After watering and weeding the vegetable garden in front of and behind the house, Lin Fengnian followed his mother up the mountain to chop firewood and pick mushrooms.
Around Shenshi (3-5 PM), Song Anxin led Lin Fenghe down the mountain. Lin Fengnian spent some time chopping firewood, saying he would fill his basket with mushrooms before returning. Lin Fengshou and Lin Fengyao had long since gone off to some secluded corner to catch rabbits.
When Song Anxin returned home, Zhang Mei had already rendered the pork cracklings and was busy cutting cloth and making clothes. The tempting smell of pork cracklings could still be faintly smelled in the yard.
Seeing Song Anxin return, she quickly stood up and said, "Mother, you're back so early."
He then quickly went to the kitchen and took out a bowl of pork cracklings mixed with white sugar.
"Mom, Third Brother, you two eat quickly, it's still warm from the pot." She knew her mother-in-law also liked this.
Song Anxin put down her basket and said, "Yes, I was thinking of going down the mountain as soon as possible to help you collect duck eggs. Perfect timing, I'm actually a bit hungry. Fenghe, let's wash our hands and eat some pork cracklings together."
Lin Fenghe was only thirteen years old and had only eaten pork cracklings once. He excitedly agreed and went to wash his hands.
The three of them squatted down together, holding the bowl of pork cracklings and eating. It looked a bit comical from a distance. Song Anxin didn't understand why they were eating like that, but it tasted quite different, like she was back in her childhood. She even left half a bowl for her three sons who hadn't returned yet.
Zhang Mei said while taking small bites, "Only two families brought forty duck eggs this afternoon. I still have more than four hundred coins left. Mother, I'll give them to you now."
When Song Anxin left at noon, she left five hundred coins with Zhang Mei as funds for collecting duck eggs.
Song Anxin waved her hand and said, "Keep it on your person. You'll be responsible for collecting it when I'm not around. Just keep a good record."
Zhang Mei was flattered. What mother-in-law would give several hundred coins to her daughter-in-law? Her mother-in-law trusted her so much that Zhang Mei's hand holding the money bag was trembling slightly.
She said, "Mother, I'm scared, I can't remember."
Song Anxin smiled and encouraged her, "Then study hard. If you can do math well, you'll be able to keep good accounts."
Zhang Mei solemnly agreed, determined to study even harder in the future and never let her mother-in-law down.
No one came to deliver the duck eggs until it was time to make dinner. This was normal, as quite a few people had already delivered them in the morning. In addition, most farmers prefer to do important things in the morning.
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