The honest man jumped to his feet and asked Song Anxin, "Sister-in-law, are you serious? Can I really become a carpenter?"
Song Anxin was startled by him, and after composing herself, she said, "Yes, brother, you've only studied carpentry for less than a year and you can already make basins, buckets, and chairs. That shows you have a lot of potential to be a carpenter."
Song Anxin said this not because Brother Lin was just saying it politely when he helped her with the basin, but because she genuinely believed it.
Although Brother Lin's wooden basins weren't as well-made as those sold in the county, they were still smooth and burr-free, and they were bound with bamboo strips. She thought that if she brushed on a layer of tung oil, she could sell them for a lower price in the county.
Brother Lin was immediately filled with energy and strode off: "Fengnian's mother, you wait at home, I'm going up the mountain to cut down trees right away. Erxi and Dongzi, come on, let's go help!"
Lin Erxi and Dongzi hadn't even finished building their rabbit hutches when their fathers dragged them up the mountain.
Sister-in-law Lin said, both amused and exasperated, "Sister-in-law, you don't know that your eldest brother has wanted to be a carpenter since he was a child, but the family needed him, so he had to give up his apprenticeship and come back home. After you praised him like that, I guess his desire to be a carpenter has been rekindled."
Song Anxin remembered that after the original owner's father-in-law died, her mother-in-law fell ill and never recovered. At that time, the original owner's husband had just joined the army, and Brother Lin, who was studying carpentry outside, had to come back to support the whole family.
He's someone who gave up his own dreams for his family. Song Anxin sincerely hopes that Brother Lin can study hard and fulfill his dream.
After returning home, Lin Fengshou also came back, but Song Anxin did not let him take Lin Fengyao up the mountain to continue catching rabbits.
Instead, he had them cultivate the bacteria with him. Practice makes perfect, and by the third time, Song Anxin wouldn't even need to say a word.
Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengshou were responsible for collecting the necessary materials, Song Anxin and Zhang Mei were responsible for boiling water, soaking the materials in it, letting them cool, and then tearing them into pieces, while Lin Fenghe and Lin Fengyao were responsible for trimming the mushroom stems.
After Song Anxin and Zhang Mei finished their work, they would come to help them, since several baskets of mushrooms were quite a lot. Everyone in the family was busy in an orderly manner.
At Shenshi (3-5 PM), several women arrived at the gate of Song Anxin's courtyard. The one leading them was Aunt Sangui, who asked, "Is anyone home?"
Hearing the sound, Song Anxin, who was cutting mushrooms, came out from the backyard. Mushrooms are usually buried directly in a basin after being cut. The backyard is relatively shady and suitable for cultivating spawn, so the basins for cultivating spawn are usually covered with straw and placed there.
Seeing that it was Aunt Sangui leading several women, each carrying a basket, Song Anxin knew that Aunt Sangui had brought her duck eggs.
Song Anxin greeted them with a smile, "It's Aunt Sangui, and Aunt Ergui, Aunt Dafu, and all the sisters-in-law."
Several women also greeted Song Anxin. Including Aunt Sangui, there were a total of six women brought by her.
Aunt Sangui spoke first: "Fengnian's mother, didn't you say you wanted to collect duck eggs? Look, we've brought all the duck eggs, quite a lot. Can you accept them?"
"Buy! Buy as many as you can." Song Anxin called Lin Fengshou and Zhang Mei over to check the number of duck eggs, and then calculated the money herself and gave them to the people.
Aunt Sangui brought twenty duck eggs, two coins each, forty coins in total. Aunt Dafu brought eighteen duck eggs, for thirty-six coins. Aunt Ergui brought...
In the end, Song Anxin received ninety-eight duck eggs, totaling one hundred and ninety-six coins, which she readily paid.
The women's eyes narrowed into slits with smiles as they received the money. Aunt Sangui said, "This is much more profitable than selling them in the county town. Okay, from now on, I'll bring all my duck eggs here."
The other women echoed this sentiment, and Song Anxin smiled as she saw them out the door.
Suddenly, the family had over 150 duck eggs, filling the bamboo basket to the brim. Lin Fengnian saw this and couldn't help but worry, "Mother, what if we end up with eggs that are ruined?"
Lin Fengshou wasn't worried: "Don't worry, brother. There's definitely no such thing as a salted duck egg that oozes oil in the county. Besides, it's salty and oily. You like salt and oil, right? It won't go unsold."
Song Anxin was also full of confidence in her salted duck eggs, believing that there was a reason why this delicacy had been passed down in China for thousands of years.
The mushrooms we picked have been mostly cut and buried in the basin. With so many duck eggs, we can start making the first batch of salted duck eggs.
The younger children were particularly interested and had been wanting to know how these oily salted duck eggs were made.
Song Anxin arranged for Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengshou to dig red soil on the hillside, while she and Zhang Mei, along with Lin Fenghe and Feng Yao, were responsible for cleaning the more than 150 duck eggs and then drying them in the sun.
The weather was too dry, and the red soil was not easy to dig. The Lin brothers spent a lot of effort digging two loads of red soil. They brought the red soil back and put it in the yard. One of them was responsible for breaking it up, and the other used a sieve to sift out the fine red soil.
Next, she needed to mix the red soil and salt together in a large basin. Since she only had a large basin for bathing at home, Song Anxin was reluctant to use it to pickle salted duck eggs. Fortunately, she still had two basins left for cultivating mycelium.
So Song Anxin took one of the basins and put it in, using a ratio of about two large bowls of red clay to one large bowl of salt.
I put in about four large bowls of red clay, two large bowls of salt, and some wood ash to sterilize and disinfect. Then I added water and stirred it well, and that's how I made mud.
Next, roll the dried duck eggs in red clay until each egg is completely covered.
And so the family started rolling duck eggs. Lin Fengyao thought it was quite fun, so he smeared some red mud on Lin Fenghe's face. Lin Fenghe's fair face immediately looked like it had been covered in makeup, which made everyone laugh.
The family worked diligently. In this way, all ninety-eight duck eggs were coated with red clay and placed in a large earthenware jar, beginning their pickling journey. The mouth of the jar was then filled with the remaining red clay and sealed.
The children gathered around the earthenware jar filled with mud and duck eggs, looking on incredulously. Lin Fengshou asked, "Mother, will the duck eggs ooze oil like this? When will they be ready to be pickled?"
Lin Fengyao licked his lips and said, "I really want to taste what this oily duck egg tastes like!"
Song Anxin smiled and replied, "It should be ready in about twenty days."
Lin Fenghe stared at the earthenware jar used for pickling salted duck eggs and said, "Mom, do we need to pickle a lot more salted duck eggs? We only have three large earthenware jars left at home."
It was only after Lin Fenghe's reminder that Song Anxin realized she needed to buy several more earthenware jars, as the project would be quite extensive later.
Lin Fengshou's eyes darted around, and he thought of something and said, "I remember there's a pottery kiln nearby. Buying earthenware pots there will definitely be much cheaper."
He volunteered, "Mom, I'll go buy it now."
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