While A-Mian was in a daze, she suddenly felt the person next to her turn cold and tense up.
"What are you looking at me for? Hurry up and get dressed and go to sleep!" Meng Chijian threw her onto the wooden bench, scolded her a couple of times, shoved the door open, and left.
His sudden change left A-Mian completely baffled and unable to understand it.
She put on her undergarments, casually picked up a few straws, and began braiding rabbits while drying her hair.
After her hair dried, A-Mian went to sleep. Before going to bed, she curiously opened the window and looked out.
Why is Meng Chijian out fetching water so late at night instead of sleeping?
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she suddenly felt a chill creep in, making her shiver. Lu Amian kindly offered him some of her blanket, saying, "Why are you taking a cold shower in this weather..."
Meng Chijian remained silent for a moment after hearing this before saying calmly, "Save some firewood."
He tucked her blanket back in with his large hand, leaving only her rosy cheeks exposed, her glossy black hair spread out on the pillow. Ah Mian slept curled up like a little shrimp.
Seeing her sleeping so soundly, he couldn't help but grit his teeth.
The next morning, Meng Chijian announced that he would be going on a "journey through the countryside" in three days, which would take about ten days.
"Going to the countryside" is a tradition of the blacksmith shop, and A-Mian had seen it before.
Whenever the blacksmiths came to a village, they would set up their anvils and then strike the stone repeatedly with their blacksmith's hammers, making a "clanging" sound.
The villagers knew that the blacksmith had arrived, and their broken pots and hoes that needed mending could finally be saved.
This time, the Meng family wasn't just helping people with repairs. "There are forty or fifty villages around here, big and small. It's spring planting season now, and the farmers are too busy to go to the city. They're also in a hurry to use tools like hoes, sickles, and shovels."
So this time, when he travels from village to village, he plans to bring ten flat pickaxes, five pointed pickaxes, and a number of sickles, shovels, plows, axes, etc., to sell as he goes.
They also need to requisition A-Mian's donkey, A-Dou.
"Huh?" A-Mian was startled when she heard that it was related to her. She was worried. "Don't bully A-Dou on the road. A-Dou loves to eat tender grass and also loves to eat soybean meal."
However, soybean meal was only a leftover waste from her family's tofu-making process; it's no longer available. Perhaps she can find it in other villages?
Meng Chijian glanced at her indifferently, "Yeah, I know. Your precious donkey is the most important thing."
Ah Mian felt a little annoyed by his rather strange tone.
She thought people could take care of themselves, but Adou couldn't, so why did she say that? Besides, she didn't ask for money from Adou (if it was ten coins a day, it would be a hundred coins in ten days!), which was already very kind of her.
"With you gone, we won't have to ask Second Brother's family to take care of us again, will we—" But Meng Jing's lament was about something else entirely, "This year, with A-Mian here, we don't need them to come, right..."
Meng Chijian said, "I'm even more worried with her here." It's naturally not feasible for him to go on a long trip with only women and children at home.
“I’ve already arranged with their family to take care of you for ten days, as well as Uncle Wang’s family from next door. Aunt Wang will be bringing goat milk during the day.”
Although the Meng family has split up, it doesn't mean they've become mortal enemies. At this point, we should still lend a hand if we can, especially since Meng Chijian is not one to let people work for nothing.
Seeing that her resistance was futile, Meng Jing pulled Ah Mian aside and whispered, "My second brother is alright, but I hate my second sister-in-law the most, you have no idea—"
Amian whispered in her ear, "You're talking badly about the adults again. Your third brother will be angry if he hears you."
"...Hmph, you'll understand when the time comes!"
The two whispered among themselves. Meng Chijian was busy getting ready to open the shop and needed to get this batch of goods out in the next few days.
After thinking for a moment, he asked A-Mian to buy food for ten days. Since he wasn't home, naturally no one could bring back vegetables, meat, and fruits from town every few days.
"Here is one tael of silver. You and Meng Jing go together. If you get thirsty or hungry at noon, go to a restaurant for a meal, understand?"
"Huh?" Ah Mian hurriedly shook her head, "Where would we get so much food and drink!"
Meng Chijian suddenly became very good-natured, holding her head to stop her from shaking it incessantly, "Didn't you hear people talking about the food in the restaurant before, and you couldn't even walk away just by hearing about it?"
He's been so busy lately, otherwise he should have taken her.
That time, someone outside the fabric store boasted that he had eaten at a restaurant, and quite a few people were listening, but Meng Chijian didn't believe it.
He saw Ah Mian, a tiny little person, listening to others talk about those delicious things, her face full of envy, and she kept swallowing her saliva.
She looked so pitiful! It was just that they were taking advantage of Ah Mian's lack of worldly experience and deliberately making fun of her!
"This money is for me to buy groceries and food, and it's all under my control, right?"
“Well, when we get to the restaurant, order whatever you want,” Meng Chijian said. “If it’s not enough, just say you’ll put it on the tab at the blacksmith’s shop in the west of the city. When I’m not home, you’re the master of this house, understand?”
Lu Amian held the two taels of silver and nodded earnestly.
After feeding the chickens and washing their clothes during the day, the young women would ride their donkeys into town.
However, their return surprised Meng Chijian greatly.
Adou's truck was loaded with a full load of goods!
Ah Mian didn't go to the restaurant at all; she was currently happily carrying the things she had brought back.
—Half a carcass of pork, plus a bucket of pig's blood as a gift! A cured duck, ten catties of fried rice, ten rolled pancakes, two catties of fried tofu, three catties of radish, a bunch of bamboo shoots, ten large fresh duck eggs, two large cabbages, a jar of salt, and a bamboo basket of green beans. Finally, there was more than half a basket of newly sprouted shiitake mushrooms and fungi that she had picked as she walked at the foot of the mountain.
As Meng Chijian helped carry the food, he teased her, "I'll only be away for ten days, how can you possibly finish all this?"
Ah Mian was sweating profusely as she worked, saying, "Not only do we need to eat, but I also need to cook side dishes for you."
Meng Chijian was taken aback.
"I didn't know what you liked to eat, so I bought it according to my own taste." Lu Amian was in a panic. She would have to deal with the food for the next two days, otherwise a lot of it would spoil.
"Xiao Jing, go and cook dinner first!"
She had already started cleaning the shiitake mushrooms, and A-Mian also picked out the mushrooms she recognized. Others might not know which ones were edible, but she knew very well.
"Let's dry them all day tomorrow, then you can take some with you. These are on the way; just boil some water, throw them in, and you'll have hot soup—it's very delicious!"
“No need for all that trouble. I used to just buy some biscuits before I left. You…” Meng Chijian looked at the wooden hairpin in her hair and slowly approached her.
However, Ah Mian turned around with a puzzled look on her face, "It's no trouble, I'll eat it myself too."
"..."
"I have a lot to do tomorrow. I need to make smoked sausage, dried radish, spicy cabbage, stir-fried spicy green beans, and pickled salted duck eggs... You'll have to wait until you come back to eat these. But take the salted duck with you on your way, along with fried rice and rolled pancakes."
Lu Amian rushed to the kitchen again, "We're having stir-fried pork blood with chives tonight! Xiao Jing doesn't know how to make this! You know, you need to use salt water to make the pork blood coagulate—"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
