An old woman complained, "It's not worth it to have to return a pottery jar just like the people in Lotus Village."
The pottery jars they used were exquisite, not the coarse pottery commonly used by people in the countryside. Just for that reason, they felt it wasn't worth the money.
The three village chiefs didn't say anything after hearing about the situation. Village Chief Tang only offered half price for the transaction with their team, and the hand warmer didn't need to be replaced with a clay pot, which was indeed cheap.
They can understand this situation. Being the decision-maker in the team doesn't mean you can make decisions for everyone. Everyone needs to survive, and once interests are involved, it's inevitable that they will resist being managed.
When the Anping Village Alliance saw that the transaction price was only slightly lower, they dispersed and no one made any trades.
It's not worth spending money to buy a nice jar in exchange for a new hand warmer. It's better to take it to Ma'ao Village and see if we can get some more things in return.
At the Chen family home, Daya was adding charcoal to the hand warmers for her three great-aunts. Looking at the nearly empty charcoal, Daya was worried.
Their family has never skimped on charcoal, nor dared to. Without charcoal for heating, it's very cold.
The charcoal I burned myself didn't burn very well; a batch would only last for half an hour at most.
Charcoal fired in an earthen kiln is more durable; one batch can last for half a day.
Unfortunately, the charcoal from the last kiln operation was long gone, and it's unclear when the team will be able to start the kiln again to burn charcoal.
At this moment, Old Xu and his men came over carrying loads of charcoal.
"Da Ya, call your dad and the others out to weigh it. It's fifty jin in total."
Daya said happily, "You've already weighed it, there's no need to weigh it again. I'll go get you the food."
The house the Chen family chose this time was a six-room mud house with a small courtyard, which was a front yard surrounded by a fence.
Behind the house was an abandoned vegetable garden, the kitchen had collapsed, and the roof was dilapidated, but such a house was considered good in this village, and it was usable enough.
Chen Nong was building a stone stove, and hadn't gathered any firewood yet, but Da Ya brought out four piles of bonfires, which they could use for now.
A young man who was helping them carry the load saw them busy and asked, "Farmer Chen, when you've finished cooking the cactus soup, would you like to treat us to a bowl?"
Chen Nong replied, "Okay, bring your own bowls then."
Upon hearing this, the group was overjoyed; they were in luck today.
After exchanging for food, Xu Laoda and his group went back first. The charcoal didn't belong to their team; it was Village Chief Tang who asked them to help with the trade.
Of course, they also get the benefits; they get a share of the food.
The food distributed naturally had to be handed over to the team so that everyone could eat together in a large pot. With so many people in their team, they couldn't always rely on the Chen family.
Old Man Chen and his companions were discussing the prices at Chen's small shop.
There were no stools or tables in the room, so Daya put out two wooden beds.
Several old men sat on the edge of the bed, with hand warmers on their laps, and a wolfskin skirt covering their hands and hand warmers. If you ignored the environment, it would be incredibly pleasant.
Old Man Chen shouted outside, "Call Da Ya and Xiao Bao in."
After Daya and Xiaobao came in, Old Man Chen asked Xiaobao to bring out a portion of radishes and Daya to bring out a portion of potatoes.
Originally, Old Man Chen wanted Xiao Bao to save the radishes, but now, they had to take them out and eat them.
Xiao Bao's meat bun production is stable, but Daya's silly girl is a bit of a problem. She said it would be ready in five days, but it's been delayed and it's still not finished.
Their only source of meat is hunting near Sha Niu's place. When their food supplies run out, they have to eat sparingly.
Da Ya didn't have many potatoes, so she didn't waste energy points taking them out. Now that her grandfather asked her to take them out, she used one energy point to take out one serving.
Xiao Bao took out three radishes, which were white and plump, very large, and had emerald green leaves, making them look very appealing.
Daya brought out a long bunch of potatoes, one by one. People who had never seen them before gathered around and picked one up to examine it closely.
Daya, Old Man Chen, and Xiaobao have seen potatoes in Mini World, but when they are planted, they are harvested one by one. If there are many, they will be marked with numbers.
Unlike now, where one serving comes out and there's a whole bunch, they're very curious.
"So potatoes come in a big bunch, not one at a time."
"And there's a radish, a huge one!" Xiao Bao exclaimed in surprise.
Old Chen packed the potatoes into a plastic bag, took a scale he borrowed from the team, weighed them, and happily exclaimed, "Four jin!"
Then he broke off the radish leaves, weighed it, and exclaimed in surprise, "Nine pounds! This one radish is enough for three pounds!"
Xiao Bao exclaimed happily, "I want to eat radish! I want to eat radish!"
Old Man Chen laughed and said, "Alright, alright, I'll make you some radish and pork rib soup later."
In the Chen family's courtyard, most of the space was occupied by children.
Mrs. Zhou said with a heavy heart, "Those who have finished making the cactus soup should go outside to drink it. My family still has work to do, so don't take up our seats."
Several embroiderers from the Chen family gathered around the fire, doing their embroidery while watching the spectacle.
They also received cactus soup, two bowls each, which their families packed up and took home.
Sanya had long ago prepared a large stone pot of cactus soup for her family to enjoy slowly.
A little girl, licking a short bamboo tube, came over with longing eyes. She had already finished her share of cactus soup, but she still wanted more.
Wu Hua called out, "Come on, I'll get you a bowl."
The child happily said, "Thank you!"
Er Ya removed the roots from the amaranth, picked it out, washed it, drained it, and took it to her second aunt.
The second son's wife had already started heating the oil in the wok, but since there were no side dishes or seasonings, she could only stir-fry some amaranth first.
Heat the oil and add the drained amaranth. Stir-fry over medium-high heat.
Stir-fry tender leafy vegetables quickly. Once they are softened, add salt and let them release their juices before removing them from the pan and plating.
This big pot filled two plates, but it still wasn't enough for them, even with so many people.
There are also amaranths that have been washed and drained and are ready to be stir-fried.
Er Ya placed the stir-fried amaranth on a bed made of several baskets.
Seeing the red broth from the stir-fry, Er Ya couldn't resist picking up some with her chopsticks and eating it.
After finishing the amaranth, she couldn't resist trying the stir-fried radish leaves.
Mmm, they're all delicious.
With so many people in the Chen family, it's clear that the second son's wife wasn't the only one cooking; they set up several stoves and divided the cooking duties among themselves.
Sihua brought over the two plates of sweet potato leaves that her mother had stir-fried. Before she could even put the dishes down, Erya reached for her chopsticks.
Sihua said, both amused and exasperated, "Erya, there will be food later, no need to rush."
"Food's ready! Hurry up and get your food from the team! Today we have cactus soup, amaranth soup, perilla soup, and radish soup!"
"First come, first served. Those who don't get one will have to wait until tomorrow." Several teenagers outside shouted happily.
Da Ya shouted, "Chen Nong, Zhou Kai, you two go and get the soup."
Zhou told the embroiderers to go home and eat first, and then come back after they finished eating.
In the end, Chen Nong and Zhou Kai only managed to get the cactus soup; they didn't manage to get the rest.
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