Master Zhu had some doubts.
Tang Quan, however, was overjoyed.
Wen Qing had already boarded the bus back to the county town, and half an hour later, she arrived at Aunt Xiao's tailor shop.
Aunt Xiao's tailor shop was bustling with people coming and going.
"Aunt Xiao," Wen Qing called out.
Aunt Xiao looked up when she had a chance to speak: "Oh, Wen Qing, you're back."
"Okay." Seeing Aunt Xiao selling fabric, shoes, and sewing clothes, Wen Qing went to help without saying a word.
As the number of customers gradually decreased, Wen Qing suggested, "Aunt Xiao, how about we hire another person for our shop?"
"Hiring people?" Aunt Xiao was surprised. She was busy, but none of the tasks were urgent, and she wasn't overwhelmed. Besides, Yao Shiling would come over during the off-season.
"Hmm." Wen Qing nodded: "Let's find someone around my age. Aunt Xiao, what do you think of Bao Hong, the shoe repairman's granddaughter?"
"Baohong doesn't know how to sew clothes?" Aunt Xiao said.
Wen Qing smiled and said, "But she's pleasing to the eye, clever, and perceptive. Isn't that enough?"
"But……"
"Aunt Xiao, I'd like to get some clothes from the garment factory to sell in the shop," Wen Qing said, "to pair with the shoes I make."
“Sell clothes?” Aunt Xiao immediately objected: “Selling clothes is definitely not going to work. Nowadays, everyone buys fabric to make clothes. Very few people buy clothes directly. Besides, the sizes are different. Who would want them? They definitely won’t sell.”
Wen Qing smiled. In the past, that was indeed the case. Every household made clothes from cloth, and there were few finished garments. However, with the development of the country and the improvement of living standards, people no longer adhered to the essential attributes of clothing, accessories, and other items. They gradually began to pursue aesthetics, and some products even reached the point of being in short supply.
Wen Qing doesn't know much about other industries, but in this one, she wants to seize the opportunity so that at least her mother and younger brother can live a life free from financial worries.
“Aunt Xiao, trust me, we can definitely sell them. We can take twenty pieces first and see how it goes,” Wen Qing said.
Although Aunt Xiao was reluctant, since Wen Qing had suggested it, she had no choice but to give it a try.
The matter of hiring Bao Hong, the granddaughter of the shoe repairman, was settled just like that.
After Wen Qing explained Bao Hong's job duties to Aunt Xiao, she left the matter of hiring people to Aunt Xiao to discuss with the shoe repairman. Wen Qing also informed Aunt Xiao that she wouldn't be coming to the county town for the next three days.
Aunt Xiao asked in surprise, "Did something happen at home?"
Wen Qing said, "It's nothing much. My family is busy planting corn and sweet potatoes, so I'm just helping out. I also cook sometimes."
“Farming is a busy thing. Okay, you go ahead and do your work. I'll look after the shop. Don’t worry,” Aunt Xiao said with a smile.
Wen Qing nodded: "Thank you, Aunt Xiao." Then she left Aunt Xiao's tailor shop and walked towards the dirt road.
After walking for half an hour, she arrived at Shuiwan Village. However, instead of taking the detour past the shoemaker, she went directly to Aunt Wang's house at the east end of the village.
Previously, there would always be a few neighbors enjoying the cool shade under the trees at the intersection, but today there was no one there. This didn't surprise Wen Qing at all; the straw stacks had all been burned, so who would have the leisure to enjoy the cool shade and gossip?
As Wen Qing passed by Aunt Wang's house, she caught a glimpse of her empty yard, but could hear the sounds of crying coming from inside.
Wen Qing didn't stop walking and went straight back to her own courtyard.
Before Wen Qing even entered the courtyard, her neighbor, Sister Zhou, came out from the yard. Upon seeing Wen Qing, she politely asked, "Wen Qing, you're back from work?"
"Hello, Sister Zhou," Wen Qing replied with a smile.
After exchanging a few polite words, Sister Zhou returned to her own home.
When Wen Qing entered the courtyard, she saw Yao Shiling sitting there tending to sweet potato vines. Clumps of green vines, each with a clump of soil underneath, were being arranged by Yao Shiling into a bamboo basket.
"Mom," Wen Qing called out.
Yao Shiling looked up and then smiled: "Wen Qing is back."
"Hmm." Wen Qing walked over, sat down next to Yao Shiling on the stool that Sister Zhou had sat on, and reached out to grab a sweet potato vine on the ground.
Yao Shiling reached out to stop her: "Don't touch it, it's all mud, I can do it myself."
"It's nothing." Wen Qing reached out and grabbed a handful, mimicking Yao Shiling's actions in a very convincing way. Wen Qing asked, "Why are there still sweet potato vines?"
"These are sweet potato seedlings that were stored in the cellar in the spring. If we plant them now, when there isn't enough wheat to eat in the winter, we can grind sweet potatoes and corn into flour to help us get through the winter and make it to the next wheat harvest," Yao Shiling said.
Wen Qing bent down to straighten the sweet potato vines and stack them in the bamboo basket. Listening to Yao Shiling talk about these little things in life, which she had never heard before in her previous life, she felt very warm and fuzzy. Then she asked, "Mom, what is Sister Zhou doing here?"
"They asked us to lend them sweet potato vines to grow sweet potatoes."
"They don't have any?"
"Yes, they were all roasted to death."
"How did it get roasted to death?" Wen Qing asked, puzzled.
Yao Shiling looked at Wen Qing and said, "Have you forgotten? There was a fire yesterday."
Wen Qing then remembered.
“Sister Zhou’s cellar was dug shallowly and was right next to the inner courtyard wall, while the straw stack was at the outer wall. When it was burned, it baked the cellar and killed all the sweet potato vines!” Yao Shiling said, “Now, we’re about to plant sweet potatoes after the wheat harvest, but we don’t have any vines, so we have to come here to ask for some. Luckily, I got a lot in the spring.”
After hearing this, Wen Qing nodded repeatedly, and then asked, "Sister Zhou has suffered such a great loss, Aunt Wang doesn't plan to compensate her?"
Upon hearing Wen Qing mention Aunt Wang, Yao Shiling quickly looked outside the yard and whispered, "What compensation? This morning she went to the village chief's house to make a scene, saying that Erhuzi didn't have any straw stacks and that the wind blew them away."
"Pfft." Wen Qing couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Is that even possible?"
Yao Shiling said, "That's not all. They said their family suffered serious losses and wanted the village chief to submit a report to the higher authorities, saying that their family was in need and hoping for six months of relief from the higher authorities."
"What did the village chief say?"
"The village chief said that even with all this relief, the country's grain reserves wouldn't be enough to feed everyone."
“That’s right,” Wen Qing replied.
Yao Shiling stood up, picked up another empty bamboo basket, and continued stacking sweet potato vines: "We got a bad experience at the village chief's house this morning, and then we went to the second team leader's house. The team leader is much tougher than the village chief, and he gave the couple a thorough dressing down. Aunt Wang cried and screamed for a long time. The village chief made them compensate us for the damage to the straw stacks of six or seven families, but Aunt Wang slapped her thigh and said that the strong wind blew the straw stacks down, and it had nothing to do with their family. If anyone should compensate, let God compensate."
Wen Qing wanted to roll her eyes when she heard this; how could Aunt Wang have come up with such a reason?
"In the afternoon, the corn and sweet potato farmers came back from the fields. Wang Da and Aunt Wang saw this and realized that they still had two acres of land that were empty, but all their corn seeds had been burned and they had no sweet potatoes either. So they asked their neighbors to lend them some, but no one was willing to lend them any. They all said that they had just enough to plant and didn't have any extra."
Aunt Wang was anxious. She couldn't possibly plant beans; bean yields were low, while corn and sweet potatoes yielded high yields. After the wheat was harvested, corn and sweet potatoes could last for a while, but beans wouldn't last long. Aunt Wang had borrowed from everyone in the village, but no one was willing to lend them money.
"They did it themselves." Wen Qing asked, "Did they borrow our house?"
Yao Shiling: No, I guess I wouldn't dare to lend it.
"Not necessarily," Wen Qing said thoughtfully.
Just then, Wen Liang returned carrying a bundle of grass, followed by Wen Peng, who was covered in sweat.
"Big sister!" Wen Peng ran over with great enthusiasm.
"Sister, you're back," Wen Liang said, carrying the hay on his back as he headed towards the cowshed.
Wen Peng, holding a straw hat, came over excitedly: "Big sister, look what I caught!" Cicada nymphs, also known as cicada shells, are the precursors to cicadas. They live in the soil, and after breaking through the ground, they climb up trees, shed their shells, and become cicadas. This shell is called a cicada shell, or cicada shell. Wen Peng especially loves to look at the ground; if she sees a small hole, she pokes it with her hand. If she pokes it open, there's probably a cicada shell inside. Cicada shells can be used in traditional Chinese medicine, and every year people come to collect them. Wen Peng said they'd be worth forty yuan per jin (500 grams), but after collecting cicada shells for two years, she hasn't even collected a jin.
"Why are there so many?" Wen Qing asked.
Wen Peng said, "It rained in the grove today, and they all crawled out, so I caught them."
“You’re not doing anything productive,” Yao Shiling said of Wen Peng.
Wen Qing smiled and said, "Mom, this is a big deal—filling our stomachs!" Then she asked Wen Peng, "Would you like some stir-fried calamari?"
"Yes!" Wen Peng's favorite thing is eating.
"Okay." Wen Qing stood up, took the straw hat from the monkey, and said, "Mom, I'm going to cook now."
"Mom, I'll go start the fire." Wen Peng followed closely behind Wen Qing.
That evening, Wen Qing made stir-fried wild boar, stir-fried chili with bean paste, corn porridge, and coarse flour pancakes.
The aroma of the deep-fried pheasant was irresistible, and as soon as it was placed on the dining table in the yard, it attracted the attention of the neighbors.
"Wen family member, what are you eating? It smells so good!"
"It smells so good."
"..."
This time, Yao Shiling didn't eat behind closed doors, nor did she ask Wen Liang and Wen Peng to put it away. After all, calamari is not a rare creature, so she said frankly, "Wen Peng caught a few calamari during the day, and Wen Qing just stir-fried them."
"Can you stir-fry calamari?"
Yao Shiling said, "Of course." So she picked out two for the neighbors to try. After praising them, the neighbors said, "This calamari must have used a lot of oil, right? It's delicious, but it absorbs too much oil. One serving is enough to stir-fry vegetables for two days."
Yao Shiling said with a smile, "Wen Qing's cooking is so economical."
Wen Peng sat at the table, pouting unhappily.
Wen Qing reached out and pinched his cheek. Neighbors can be good or bad; if you don't get along well, you'll end up like Aunt Wang, always finding fault with you. If you do get along well, you'll be like family. Wen Qing wanted Yao Shiling to have a few neighbors who were like family, so that she would feel much more at ease about home while she was away at high school in the city. Therefore, she didn't object to them visiting.
"Have two more," Yao Shiling said.
"No, no, it cost a lot of oil to fry, you guys eat it yourselves," the neighbor said.
Yao Shiling enthusiastically gave two more to her neighbor, and the neighbor started chatting with Yao Shiling. Wen Qing listened while drinking her porridge.
The neighbor was talking about Aunt Wang's situation. They said she was crying at home again because she didn't have money to buy corn seeds and sweet potato vines. The villagers, seeing how poor her family was, deliberately refused to lend them any. Aunt Wang was crying in desperation.
"Serves you right!" Wen Peng said in a low voice.
Wen Qing glared at him, and he immediately fell silent.
The meal was spent listening to gossip. That evening, while making shoes, Yao Shiling said, "When Aunt Wang does evil, she's despicable, but when she's pitiful, she's quite sympathetic. Are these two acres of land going to lie fallow for a year?"
Yao Shiling sighed again and again.
Wen Qing didn't react at all, and was seriously making shoes with a thimble on her index finger.
Yao Shiling asked, puzzled, "Wen Qing, what are you thinking?"
Wen Qing: "What are you thinking? What does their wasteland have to do with me? Do you expect me to carry all the corn kernels from home to them? Besides, we help in an emergency, not in a long-term relationship. I'll remember your kindness and hold you accountable. Mom, let's not rush, let's wait."
The next morning, Wen Qing did not go to the county town, which greatly surprised Yao Shiling, Wen Liang, and Wen Peng.
"Big sister, why aren't you making money anymore?" Wen Peng asked.
Wen Qing said, "I'll rest for two days and then farm with you."
"Did Aunt Xiao agree?" Yao Shiling asked.
"I agreed."
"That's good." Yao Shiling did not object.
So, the family of four, leading the ox, with sacks, bamboo baskets, corn kernels, sweet potato vines, water, steamed buns, soybean paste, sickles, and other items slung over its back, marched in a grand procession from the east end of the village, heading eastward. Along the way, they met many neighbors, who all greeted them politely.
"Going to plant corn?"
"It'll take a day to plant, right?"
"Wen Peng seems to have gained weight!"
"..."
Yao Shiling responded with a smile to each one.
Whether it's the media coverage of the fire two days ago, the attitude of the village chief and team leader, or the lingering heat from yesterday's few clumps of sweet potato vines and a few fried magpies, the villagers now view Wen Qing's family very differently. Before, they were wary, inquisitive, and amused; now they are friendly, envious, and approving.
“Look, Wen Qing’s bamboo baskets are full of corn kernels and sweet potato vines.”
"That's right. We borrowed our sweet potato vines from Yao Shiling. Yao Shiling is a really nice person. She lent them to us as soon as we asked. I used to think she was fussy and arrogant, but now I see she's actually quite easygoing."
“Yesterday I went to her house, and she gave me a few deep-fried prawns to eat. They were so oily, they were practically dripping with oil.”
"Don't you know? Wen Qing earns ten yuan a month in the county town, enough to afford oil."
"..."
The neighbors were saying this, and the news eventually reached Aunt Wang's ears.
Aunt Wang turned and went into the house to find Wang Da: "Tiger's dad, have you heard? Wen Qing's family has a lot of unused corn kernels and sweet potato vines. Why don't we go and borrow some? Anyway, we don't need many seeds per acre."
Wang Da immediately straightened his face and scolded, "Go ahead and borrow it! Have you forgotten how you insulted them? See if they'll lend it to you or not. Don't let them spit in your face! Have no shame!"
"What should we do then? Give up our two acres of land?"
"How can I get them? Where can I find seeds?"
Aunt Wang turned around and said, "I'll go to Shanwan Village to try and borrow some." With that, Aunt Wang headed towards Shanwan Village, where she had a few childhood playmates, thinking she could definitely borrow some.
Wang sat in the room with a worried look on his face.
Meanwhile, Wen Qing's family was preparing tools in the field and starting to dig holes to plant sweet potato seedlings.
Yao Shiling took a hoe and tilled the ground, while Wen Qing and Wen Liang squatted by the ground planting sweet potato seedlings.
Wen Peng led the cow to graze by the ditch: "Mom, Aunt Wang went to Shanwan Village."
Wen Qing glanced up, but Aunt Wang, with her chin held high, headed towards Shanwan Village, not even glancing at Wen Qing's house.
"Let your cattle graze," Wen Liang scolded Wen Peng, then settled down to plant sweet potato vines.
They planted until noon, and the five-tenths of an acre was finished.
The Wen family of four sat under the shade of a tree at the edge of the field, eating steamed buns dipped in soybean paste, while Niu'er lay beside them, dozing off with his eyes half-closed.
A gentle breeze was blowing, and the grass smelled fresh. Far from feeling hot, it was quite comfortable and pleasant.
Wen Peng munched on his steamed bun, looking around for birds and cicada shells. Suddenly, he said, "Mom, Aunt Wang is back from Shanwan Village. Why is she back so early? Why didn't she eat in Shanwan Village before coming back?"
“Pengpeng, you talk too much,” Wen Liang said to Wen Peng.
Wen Peng retorted, "Second Brother, I haven't said a word all morning, how am I talking too much?"
Wen Liang ignored him.
Wen Qing smiled and patted Wen Peng's head, then looked up at Aunt Wang. In the morning, Aunt Wang had left with her chin held high and her hands empty, but now she was coming back with her head down and her hands empty, as if she had suffered some injustice. She wiped away her tears with her head down and then hurried home.
Wen Qing looked at Yao Shiling.
Yao Shiling looked at Wen Qing.
The mother and daughter looked at each other, understanding each other without saying a word.
In the afternoon, when the family of four returned to the village after planting corn, they heard that Wang Da and Wang Aunt had not only argued but also fought. The team leader came to mediate, and after the fight was resolved, the couple asked the team leader to borrow corn kernels and sweet potato vines. The team leader had no such things; his own family was so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat, let alone have any extra to lend.
Later, the team leader couldn't bear to see Aunt Wang's two acres of land lying fallow, so he offered to lend them beans to plant. Aunt Wang cried and said, "Beans have a low yield, and we won't have any flour to eat."
The team leader asked which families had sweet potato vines and corn kernels. Most families genuinely didn't have any, a few families had some but kept them for their own consumption, and a few families were afraid that if they lent them to Aunt Wang, she wouldn't pay them back.
Therefore, in the end, Aunt Wang's family still got nothing.
As night fell, Erhuzi's crying could be heard again from the east end of the village.
“Aunt Wang beat Erhuzi again,” Yao Shiling said.
Wen Qing continued cutting the cloth, saying, "I heard it."
Yao Shiling hesitated for a moment: "Wen Qing, how about I give our few ears of corn and a basket of sweet potato vines to the team leader, and have him give them to Aunt Wang's family? We can't let two acres of land go to waste. If we give them to the team leader, we won't be afraid they won't return them."
Wen Qing retorted, "Why should I? I'm not Guanyin Bodhisattva. She insulted my people, burned my haystacks, and instead of offering compensation, she claimed the fire was caused by a strong wind. After all this, I'm still going to lend her grain? Am I crazy?"
"Hey, why are you talking like that, young lady?"
"Am I wrong?" Wen Qing asked with a smile.
Yao Shiling had nothing to say. Wen Qing was right, but Yao Shiling was just too soft-hearted.
Wen Qing began to hum a little tune.
Yao Shiling: "..." Without realizing it, Yao Shiling had come to regard Wen Qing as the head of the household. When Wen Qing said he wouldn't lend her the money, she didn't take the initiative.
Another day passed, and then it started to rain. The villagers of Shuiwan Village were overjoyed, saying that the rain was good and timely, and that not only would the beans grow well, but the corn and sweet potatoes would also produce more.
Many villagers gathered together, chatting and calculating how many kilograms of corn and sweet potatoes they could harvest, and they were very happy.
Only Aunt Wang looked at the rain with a sorrowful expression until the rain stopped one day.
Aunt Wang paced back and forth in front of her own house for at least half an hour before finally taking a step and walking to the Wen family's courtyard. She stood at the gate for a while, then turned back, and then ran to the Wen family's gate again. After going back and forth several times, she finally mustered up her courage and was about to knock on the wooden door when she suddenly heard a horn. Aunt Wang was startled and turned around to see a black car slowly driving in from the east end of the village.
Whose car is this?
"Mom! I saw a car!"
"Oh my, it's a car! This is the first time I've ever seen one."
"..."
Villagers came out of their yards and houses to watch the car. The car drove straight toward the Wen family's gate. Before anyone could react, the car door opened and a string of firecrackers was thrown out, exploding with a loud crackling sound.
Aunt Wang was so startled that she fell to the ground, but she quickly got up and ran away again.
"What are you doing?"
"Who is this?"
"Hey, the car's parked at Wen Qing's house!"
Why did you stop at Wen Qing's house?
"..."
Almost all the villagers of Shuiwan Village turned out and rushed to Wen Qing's courtyard in an instant.
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