Chapter 128 Asking for help
"Mrs. Li, just accept it. If you don't choose me, I don't want you to give me a return gift." The He family's daughter-in-law insisted.
"That's right, we are not that kind of people." Someone else echoed.
Qin Fangci just listened to such words.
Yuan wanted to take it back, but was stopped by Qin Fangci's eyes. After most of the people at the door had left, Qin Fangci closed the door and started to scold them.
"The little kid can't tell the difference between polite words, and neither can you?"
"Mother," Yuan smiled awkwardly, "I think they are all very sincere."
"Then you should carefully identify what is true and what is false."
Yuan lowered her head and said, "I know, I know. Don't worry, mother. I won't accept things from others casually."
…
It was still late at night, and the wind was blowing, bringing a chill.
Hu Hui yawned as he sent his wife to the door of Lao Li's house, where he met two other women who came together.
Mrs. Liu joked, "Oh, it's still the eldest brother of the Hu family who is considerate. My husband sleeps like a dead pig. He probably doesn't even know I'm back."
Mrs. He agreed with a smile, "I asked my husband to see me off last night. He said that our houses are only a few steps away and asked me to come find you. What's there to give me as a gift? Men are just different."
Hu Hui's face turned red, but it was dark and he couldn't see.
Boss Li opened the door and yawned loudly at the same time. He was so sleepy that he couldn't even open his eyes.
"Yongkang, come and help me carry the beans to the mill."
"Okay, I'll be right there." Luo Yongkang was worried that Old Li's family didn't have enough shoulder poles, so he brought his own from home when he came.
"Come with you two to help. There are four buckets of water over there. Each of you just needs to carry two and a half buckets." Boss Li looked at the three women. Originally, one would be enough, but if he only took one away, he was afraid that someone might say something unpleasant, so it was better to ask two women together.
"I'll go with the He family today and change people tomorrow."
Second Sister Liu responded, "Okay, I'll listen to Sister Hu."
The four of them carried some bean juice and drove the donkey to the mill.
Yuan came out yawning and took Mrs. Liu to the kitchen.
"You guys just light the fire, boil the soy milk, and remove the dregs. My mother will do the work of making tofu."
Mrs. Liu Ersao understood that making tofu was a family skill that could not be passed on to others, so she would not look at it carelessly for a while.
Liu Ersao sat at the stove door and quickly lit the fire. With the firelight, the kitchen became brighter.
Yuan was sitting on the inside, leaning against the wall and taking a nap.
I was so sleepy every day that my brain couldn't work. Fortunately, my mother-in-law asked someone to come back to help.
Mrs. Liu Ersao was no longer sleepy, and was mainly thinking about making money, which made her very energetic.
Taking advantage of the moment when she was not busy, Liu Ersao kept an eye on the fire in the stove to prevent it from going out, while chatting with Yuan.
"Bai Liang's family, you need a lot of firewood to make soy milk, right? Do you have enough firewood at home?"
Yuan dazedly opened her eyes and said, "Don't even think about sending anything to my house. My mother won't accept it."
I just promised my mother-in-law.
Mrs. Liu pulled the corner of her mouth and said, "That's not what I meant. I just wanted to ask if your family buys firewood?"
Yuan waved her hand and said, "Where can we buy firewood? The children collect it from outside every day."
The two chatted casually until Hu Hui's wife came back with He Dasao carrying soy milk.
Yuan suddenly opened her eyes and said, "It's alive."
"Pour the soy milk in, don't let it get burnt..." Yuan folded her hands and gave orders, looking like a villain who had succeeded in taking charge.
"It's ready to be served. Just strain out the dregs...put the dregs over here, and use that bucket to catch the soy milk."
Luo Yongkang brought back the second load of soy milk. Yuan clapped her hands and said, "That's it. You guys keep going. I'll go wake up my mother. You just need to bring out the soy milk. No one is allowed to come and look."
Hu Hui's wife and the other two nodded to show that they understood.
Qin Fangci had already woken up and was getting dressed. She responded as soon as Yuan came in, which scared Yuan.
"Hey, mom, you're awake. Can I go back to sleep?"
My mother-in-law said last night that if we hired someone back, there would be no need for so many people to waste time. We could take turns sleeping, and when the butcher delivered the meat at dawn, she would have to clean the meat, braise it, and cut it. My mother-in-law didn't let my sister-in-law do any work this month.
Life is really good. She gave birth to two boys but they were not in time. She wanted to have another one, but the head of the household was too tired to work every day.
I don't know what he is busy with outside. He delivers dried meat once every two days and brings some braised meat to the town in the evening. How can he be that busy?
Qin Fangci walked out and said, "Go ahead."
When Yuan received the order, she thought that Li Laoer didn't need to go to the county town today, otherwise she would wake him up. She turned around and saw that the kitchen was brightly lit, so she decided to forget it.
There are many people in the family.
Qin Fangci went to the yard and touched the wall of the soy milk bucket. It was still a little hot.
Without an accurate thermometer, Qin Fangci spent a long time trying to figure it out. Now she has finally mastered it and can tell whether the temperature is appropriate just by touching the wall of the barrel.
Luo Yongkang picked up another load of soy milk and brought back a load of water.
Boss Li was dozing off beside the millstone, watching the donkey pulling the millstone, occasionally adding a bucket of water. He was thinking, if only his mother could invite someone back, then he wouldn't have to get up in the middle of the night.
The busy time passed quickly, and when the daybreak came, all the tofu was made.
Qin Fangci went back to the house and took out the money. She counted out fifteen coins and handed them over. "You've all worked hard. Go back and have a rest."
The people who received the money were very happy. They drank hot soy milk here and could go back to sleep without eating anything.
"Auntie, you're too polite. Shall we come again tomorrow?" asked Mrs. He.
"Come back tomorrow. If there's a day when you don't need to come, I'll tell you in advance. If you have anything to do, tell me in advance."
Several people nodded in unison. Second Sister Liu couldn't help but ask Qin Fangci again, "Aunt, do you want to buy firewood?"
Luo Yongkang, who was standing at the back, pricked up his ears. He still had a lot of firewood stored from last winter.
"A load of firewood costs two cents at the market. They're all in the village. My family can only charge three cents for two loads. If you can sell it at that price, you can send it over."
Liu Ersao thought it would be better to send it to the town to sell for a few cents, so she smiled and said nothing.
After seeing off a few people, the butcher and the tofu seller came together.
Boss Li brought the donkey back, fed it some bean dregs and fodder, and then went back to the house to take a nap. He was snoring in his sleep.
Qin Fangci also returned to the house tiredly. Li Yulan and Daya took over from Qin Fangci to register people for buying tofu on credit.
When Li Lao Da went back to the house to sleep, Li Lao San went to the fields to drain the water. Wang Shi went out to pull weeds.
Leave the two children at home and San Ya will take care of them later.
Li Laoer got up and roasted the pig's head while Erya took out the ashes from the stove and let them cool down while she cleaned the pig's offal.
Then they mixed pig feed to feed the pigs and chickens. Dadan and Erdan drove the ducks to the fields and kept an eye on the water in their own fields to make sure it was not blocked.
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