Chapter 91
Grandma Zhou didn't respond to him, only saying, "It's the New Year, and instead of spending time with your family, you come here to talk nonsense."
"You still have the nerve to talk about the New Year? If you hadn't taken the money, my children wouldn't even have winter clothes, and we wouldn't even be able to afford a piece of meat on New Year's Eve!" As he spoke, he went into the house, clicked his tongue when he saw the salted meat and radish on the table, and picked the salted meat out of the bowl.
"I'll take this meat with me. You're too old to eat much." He glanced around the room again, didn't find anything valuable, muttered something unlucky, and left.
As they reached the door, he added, "Remember to prepare lucky money for your great-grandchildren. Also, don't go to collect money next time. Your legs aren't strong enough; if you fall or bump into something on the road, no one will take care of you."
Chen Qing watched his departing figure, gently helped Old Madam Zhou up, and finally understood why she had told him to hide the fresh meat. Old Madam Zhou patted his hand: "Let's go, let's go eat."
Chen Qing ate what was a very sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner for him. Grandma Zhou kept piling meat onto his plate, while she herself only ate radishes and drank some radish soup.
After dinner, Chen Qing boiled water, thinking that he should take a good hot foot bath on New Year's Eve.
After finishing all that, Grandma Zhou leaned against the bed. The window, which had been repaired, was still a bit drafty. Chen Qing pulled the blanket tighter around her: "I'll fix it again tomorrow."
Grandma Zhou took out a purse from under her pillow and handed it to Chen Qing: "I embroidered this a few days ago. There are two in total, one for you and one for A Yuan."
Chen Qing took it: "Thank you, Grandma."
Grandma Zhou smiled and said, "Go to bed early. There's no need to stay up all night. We don't have that custom."
Chen Qing nodded and groped his way back to his room in the dark. Although it wasn't snowing, it was still freezing outside. There was no money at home to buy new clothes, so Chen Qing had made a cotton-padded jacket himself from Zhou Yuan's clothes. Although it was Zhou Yuan's clothes from several years ago, it fit Chen Qing just right because he wasn't very tall.
Chen Qingguo had a decent year; at least he had a place to shelter from the wind and rain. His hands were a little itchy from the chilblains, but he never stopped sewing. He could sell a handkerchief for three coins, which was their meager income, barely enough to make ends meet.
But life was still very difficult, and they could only afford to eat meat during the Lunar New Year.
Chen Qing was curled up on the bed, his hands a little stiff. Just then, Grandma Zhou came in, leaning on her cane: "Xiao Qing, you can rest during the New Year."
"I have nothing to do anyway." Chen Qing rubbed his hands together. "Are you going out?"
"I'm going out for a bit. You stay home and take good care of yourself." Old Mrs. Zhou got up, and Chen Qing saw her to the door. Looking at her trembling back, and remembering the few coins left in the house, he felt that she should find some work to do.
In this world, even if there are job openings elsewhere, men are given priority. Men or women can only find washing jobs, which pay little and leave their hands constantly peeling and frostbitten.
Although he has lived here for almost half a year, he has not made a single friend, and he has hardly even met any people in the village. Without going out and socializing, he will not find a way to make money.
But interacting with strangers is harder than climbing to heaven for Chen Qing.
Chen Qing sighed.
When Grandma Zhou returned, Chen Qing wanted to ask if he could find any work to do, and Grandma Zhou patiently explained it to him.
Yizhou Prefecture is rich in medicinal herbs, but not every family can afford to cultivate them. There is a very large medicinal herb field on the other side of the dam outside their village. The medicinal herb field belongs to the Chen family, the richest family in the town.
“I mentioned earlier that some people were digging up medicinal herbs over the dam. Sometimes when they were being planted in the medicinal herb fields, the herbs might have fallen off or been blown away by the wind. The ones that grow outside can be picked up by someone and sold for money.”
"Doesn't anyone steal it?"
"Silly child," Grandma Zhou laughed at him, "There are more than a dozen thugs working over there in the herb field."
Chen Qing looked up: "Are they hiring in the medicinal herb fields? I think I'll have to find some work when spring comes."
Grandma Zhou looked at him and said, "No need. A-Yuan will send money back in March."
"But..." He also heard some of what the person who came that night said. It seemed that the money Zhou Yuan sent back had all been taken by that person, and his grandmother had received it once and then bought him back.
"Why don't you just go ahead of them? That's how I got mine last time," Grandma Zhou joked, trying to make the best of a bad situation. "That's A-Yuan's second uncle."
Chen Qing responded with an "oh," then lowered his head and remained silent.
Grandma Zhou pulled him up: "In the spring, the medicinal herbs in the fields are in a hurry to be harvested. If you want to work, I'll take you to try."
Time didn't pass quickly. Chen Qing counted on his fingers until the sound of a gong came from the village, announcing that the medicinal herbs in Master Chen's herb field were ripe and they needed to hire workers to dig them up. Chen Qing quickly told Old Lady Zhou, who, leaning on her wooden cane, took him to the herb field.
After dropping the person off, Grandma Zhou went home. She had caught a chill from the late spring cold and was coughing a bit.
Chen Qing had thought the medicinal herb field was only a few acres, but when he arrived, he discovered that it was a vast medicinal herb field that stretched almost to the horizon. The mature medicinal herbs in this area were called Ophiopogon japonicus. Chen Qing looked around and saw a sea of green, which seemed to bring a bit of life to this desolate spring day.
The selection process for people working in the medicinal herb field is very strict. Most of them are chosen from those who have worked here before. Only when there are not enough people will new people be selected. Chen Qing mingled in the crowd, waiting for people to be called one by one. Afterwards, some people dispersed, but there were still many who had never worked here before waiting in line.
The person in charge was writing down names on the side and had everyone introduce themselves. When it was Chen Qing's turn, the person in charge gave him a second look, and Chen Qing's toes dug into the ground.
Chen Qing pinched his index finger with his thumb, leaving a deep mark, and his voice sounded like it was being squeezed: "Chen, Chen Qing, is from the Zhou family in the village, Zhou Yuan's husband. My husband has gone to join the army, so I, I'm here to find work."
He spoke the word "husband" with a hint of shame, his cheeks flushed.
"Go wait over there." The steward drew a name on the list and pointed to the side, telling him to wait there.
After everyone had registered, the manager announced the remaining batch of people to be recruited.
Fortunately, Chen Qing was inside.
This job will last about a month, with ten coins a day and one meal provided. Work starts at dawn and ends at dusk, with less than a quarter of an hour for lunch. It's a long and tiring job, but you can earn three hundred coins a month, which is the most money Chen Qing has ever earned.
Chen Qing was excited to go home tomorrow to tell his grandmother the good news. His grandmother smiled and said, "It's because Xiao Qing looks like a hardworking and down-to-earth person."
Because he was able to earn money, Chen Qing's steps were much lighter when he went home. He was already thinking about how to spend the three hundred coins. First, he would take his grandmother to get some medicine, then have a good meal, and then save the money so that he wouldn't be caught off guard when he needed it.
Grandmother was also very happy. Chen Qing remembered that the lard jar only had a thin layer left when they used it to cook dinner. He had been saying he wanted to buy more lard, but he didn't have enough money, so it was just talk.
Chen Qing arrived at the medicinal herb field early the next morning. It was still dark. Chen Qing didn't eat breakfast at home. He figured that they would provide a meal for lunch here, so he didn't want to eat the grain from home.
After entering the medicinal herb field, the men dug in front with hoes, while Chen Qing squatted behind to pick up the herbs they dug up. Everyone else was chatting and laughing while working, but Chen Qing remained silent the whole time.
He looked at the man wielding the hoe and remembered the day they talked about wages. The hoe-wielder would get fifteen coins. He wasn't fast, and he often joked with the people next to him. He would only move faster when the supervisor came.
Chen Qing felt that he could do the job, but he didn't dare to tell the person in charge, so he could only accept the status quo.
As the sun rose, Chen Qing felt a bit hungry. He had been bent over all morning and was quite tired and thirsty. It was his first time going out to work, and he had no experience. He didn't even know to bring a water bag, and now he was so thirsty that his mouth was parched.
Finally, lunchtime arrived. At Aunt Sun's suggestion, he brought a bowl. Everyone was lining up to get their food. Even standing on tiptoe, Chen Qing couldn't see what the food was. When he got closer, he realized it was mixed grain rice. The side dish was braised pork with radish, with only a layer of oil floating on top. He couldn't see any meat, just a few pieces of pickled vegetables.
When it was Chen Qing's turn, there was a piece of meat in the serving spoon, but the person serving the food shook their hand, and the piece of meat fell down.
Chen Qing: ...
Chen Qing sat on the edge of the field, holding his bowl. He felt so weak he could barely eat, but if he didn't eat, he wouldn't be able to work all afternoon. Fortunately, the food was simple, but it tasted pretty good. Chen Qing even found a piece of meat under the radish slices, which cured his earlier unhappiness. The sauce from the stir-fried radish and meat wasn't too hard to swallow when mixed with rice, and although the pickled vegetables were salty, they were still good for eating with rice.
Before long, people started urging him to get back to work. Chen Qing quickly finished all the rice in his bowl, found a place to put the bowl down, and continued working.
By 5:15 PM, Chen Qing felt as if his body had split in two. He was so sore that he couldn't even walk. He was exhausted and thirsty. He thought about going home so he could drink water, but he still had to settle his wages for the day.
The wages here are paid daily, which is why everyone wants to work here.
After waiting in line for a while, it was Chen Qing's turn. Holding his ten coins, he felt all his fatigue disappear.
As darkness fell, Chen Qing ran as fast as he could with the huge sum of ten coins in his hand. When he got home, his grandmother was waiting for him at the door.
Before Chen Qing could speak to her, he ran to the water vat and, without even using a ladle, began to drink water from the edge of the vat.
He didn't sit down on the edge of the water vat until his belly was bulging from drinking.
Grandma patted her head: "Oh dear! I knew I forgot something, I didn't prepare a water pouch for you."
Chen Qing grinned foolishly: "Do you have a water bag at home?"
"Yes, it's from A-Yuan's old days. I'll go look for it." With that, she leaned on her wooden stick and went into the house, lit the oil lamp, and began searching for the water bag that Zhou Yuan had used.
Fortunately, Grandmother had tidied up Zhou Yuan's things very well and quickly found Zhou Yuan's water bag. Chen Qing wanted to go and wash up, but Grandmother wouldn't let him and told him to rest.
After his grandmother finished washing the water bag, Chen Qing went to drink some water. Then he handed the money he had received that day to his grandmother, his eyes sparkling: "Grandma, here you go."
Grandmother refused to accept his money, saying only, "This is money you earned yourself, keep it for yourself."
Chen Qing knew that the family was out of money, otherwise his grandmother wouldn't have coughed for several days without buying medicine. He took five coins from his grandmother and said, "Grandma, go buy some licorice root to make tea tomorrow. You cough every night when you sleep."
Licorice is not a valuable medicinal herb; it can be bought for just a few coins.
Grandmother patted his hair: "Good boy, then Grandmother will accept it."
I don't know if it was the effect of the licorice, but my grandmother's cough wasn't as bad for the next two days.
Chen Qing had already gotten used to the work in the medicinal herb field, and he was very happy to receive ten coins every day. His little piggy bank could now be shaken and make a sound.
He believed that things would definitely get better and better. Occasionally, before going to bed at night, he would think about Zhou Yuan, who was fighting on the battlefield. He had heard from the steward that day that some of the herbs they picked would be sent to the battlefield. He wondered if Zhou Yuan would ever encounter the herbs he had picked.
On second thought, I felt it wasn't a good idea. Herbs are only needed when someone is injured, so I hope he doesn't need to use them!
Chen Qing fell asleep while thinking about it. No one ever entered his dreams, and he always slept soundly through the night until dawn.
A note from the author:
Aqing: When my husband comes back, he'll make you all red bean paste, red bean paste!
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