Clutching her money pouch tightly, Xiaoyue headed straight for the grain store. Inside, she bought ten jin of millet at three coins a jin and another ten jin of cornmeal at two and a half coins a jin, spending a total of two hundred and eighty coins. She then filled the two bags of rice into her basket.
After leaving the grain shop, Xiaoyue remembered the carrying pole. She went to the west end of town and bought a carrying pole from a shop selling farm tools for five coins. Thinking that she wanted to farm, she also bought a large pot, a small pot, a pot lid, a shovel, a spoon, a pitchfork, a hoe, a sickle, a spade, and a pickaxe. Since she didn't have a kang mat at home, Xiaoyue bought one for a total of one hundred and forty-one coins.
Xiaoyue had arranged with the shop owner to deliver the goods. She then bought two small and one large water vats. The large vat cost 200 coins, the middle one cost 100 coins, and the two small ones cost 50 coins, for a total of 400 coins. She also bought two water buckets for 10 coins.
Finally, I arrived at the spice shop and bought two catties of salt, two catties of white sugar, and a bucket of soy sauce for thirty coins.
I also bought a piece of fatty meat, which cost fifty coins to render.
The boss arranged for a car to load everything onto it, and he went home in the car as well. He only had 1.311 taels of silver left from the money he'd spent on the Ganoderma lucidum. Adding the money in his pocket, he had a total of 2.311 taels of silver left.
There were still two taels of silver left at home, but that was left untouched; it was for Ge Sanlin, to save up for his release from bondage.
When they arrived home, Xiaoyue jumped off the bus and carried her things into the house just like the driver. The things were piled up messily on the floor, and Xiaoyue discovered that there wasn't even a cabinet in the house.
The large vat was placed inside the house, and Xiaoyue placed the rice cakes on the curtain she had made yesterday to prevent them from getting damp.
Then he hung the farm tools on the wall one by one.
After everything was tidied up, Xiaoyue started fetching water. She took the newly bought bucket and went to the well to get water. Most families with the means had their own wells, and only a few households needed to fetch water. When Xiaoyue went to fetch water, there was no one by the well except for a few people from the village who were standing on the main street chatting idly.
Xiaoyue didn't look at the others. She filled two buckets with water and then picked one out.
Go back and pour it into the big vat.
Then take out the medium and small vats, put them into the large vat, and wash them thoroughly inside and out.
Then Xiaoyue carried another load of water back and poured it directly into the medium-sized vat.
They carried water three more times, and the large vat was full.
Xiaoyue started mixing mud to prepare for building the stove.
Xiaoyue built a stove in the kitchen, dried the meat over a fire, then took out the large pot and cut a small piece of meat to roast.
After the oil in the pot was heated, Xiaoyue started to fry the oil.
After the oil has been heated and prepared, it is poured into a small, dry jar.
Another small jar contained some seasonings.
After rinsing out all the oil, Xiaoyue washed the rice, added some salt to the oil at the bottom of the pot, and started simmering it.
After Xiaoyue finished her work inside, she went outside to make clay bricks.
Xiaoyue still wanted to build a kang (a heated brick bed). After finishing one piece of clay, she took out the mold and then finished the next piece. She finished five rows in total, with twenty pieces in each row.
After enough to build a kang (heated brick bed).
Xiaoyue went back inside and lifted the lid of the pot, only then realizing that she had forgotten to buy bowls.
Xiaoyue could only stand by the pot with a spoon and eat directly from it. After finishing her meal, she also finished shaping the dough.
Xiaoyue used a sickle to cut up the excess jute bark and added it to the mud. She then applied a thick layer of mud to the walls built of thin wood, from bottom to top, except for the window and door areas, all of which were covered with the mud mixed with jute.
It was already past midnight when all four walls were completely plastered.
Xiaoyue kept a fire burning inside the house to help the mud dry faster.
The next day, after a night's rest, the bricks outside the house had dried, and Xiaoyue built a kang (a heated brick bed), with a hole in the kang leading to the stove. Xiaoyue could then start a fire from the stove.
While Xiaoyue was tending the fire, she also smeared another layer of mud on the inside of the house.
Even the ceiling, the bed, and the stools were covered with a thin layer of smear.
After finishing all that and cleaning up, it was evening again. Xiaoyue planned to go to the village chief's house to ask about building a house and clearing land.
When Xiaoyue arrived at the Xu family home, Old Master Xu and his family were having dinner. As Xiaoyue pushed open the door, everyone in the room looked at her, and she couldn't even see who was inside.
He withdrew, saying, "I didn't expect the Xu family to be eating. I'll come again tomorrow." He awkwardly lowered his head and stepped out of the room.
Upon seeing Xiaoyue, Xu Fan quickly put down his chopsticks, pushed his rice bowl away, moved his stool slightly, and hurriedly chased after her. He saw Xiaoyue walking alone in the sunset, her figure bathed in a reddish glow that made her appear even more solitary.
So, mustering his courage, he quickened his pace, turned around to stand in front of Xiaoyue, and asked her, "I heard about what happened to you. I was thinking of visiting you tomorrow, but I didn't expect you to come today. Tell me, is there anything I can do to help?"
Xiaoyue hesitated for a moment before saying to Xu Fanyuan, "Do you know who in our village can build a house? I want to build one."
Xu Fanyuan frowned and thought for a moment, then said to Xiaoyue, "In our village, it's usually easy to find people to build houses, but you're an orphan girl asking for help. Should I ask around tomorrow?" Before Fanyuan could finish speaking...
Xiaoyue was wondering when she heard the door open behind her. She turned around and saw a woman. The woman was very slender, with an oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, and wore a milky white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) with a light green long vest over it.
With her jet-black hair and large, dark eyes, she smiled at Xiaoyue, but there was no smile in her eyes. Xiaoyue looked at the woman and thought she was there to catch someone cheating. She smiled and said to Xu Fanyuan and the woman, "I've come to see the village chief. Are you having dinner at your house? I'll come back tomorrow."
The woman walked slowly to Xiaoyue, tucked her bangs behind her ear, stood next to Xu Fanyuan, took his arm, and said calmly to Xiaoyue.
"It must be Xiaoyue. We'll be living in the same village from now on. We're already engaged, and Fanyuan and I will get married on the tenth day of the tenth lunar month."
"Congratulations! I'll come again tomorrow." Xiaoyue clasped her hands in greeting. "I will definitely come to the wedding and will bring a gift."
"Then there's no need." The woman tugged at her light green long vest, her long fingernails gripping Xiaoyue's arm, and said softly in a voice only Xiaoyue could hear, "After all, you have no experience with weddings, and I'm afraid you'll be sad if you see me having such a grand wedding."
After saying that, the woman let go of Xiaoyue and then grabbed Xu Fanyuan. Xu Fanyuan dodged the woman's hand at this moment, but the woman held on to Xu Fanyuan tightly. Xiaoyue, of course, also saw the two of them arguing in front of her.
Xiaoyue pretended to swat a mosquito in front of her and sighed, "It's the time of year when there are a lot of mosquitoes. You two shouldn't stand outside anymore. Go back inside. Otherwise, these buzzing mosquitoes are really annoying, aren't they?"
The woman moved her arm and then slapped Xu Fanyuan's arm, saying with a smile, "That's right, Xiaoyue, look at my Xu Fanyuan, he always attracts mosquitoes, all kinds of mosquitoes flock to him."
Xiaoyue wasn't angry when she heard this. She laughed and said, "Fan Yuan is a handsome man in Niukou Village. You'd better keep an eye on him, or who knows which young lady or wife will fall for him."
The woman's face showed anger, and Xiaoyue then waved to Xu Fanyuan and said, "I'll come again tomorrow."
Xu Fanyuan wanted to see Xiaoyue off, but the woman grabbed him and said to Xiaoyue with a smile, "Then we won't see you off."
Xiaoyue went home looking disheveled; it was already dark.
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