Chapter 3
An Cai thought that Song Haozhe was just like usual, either going out to play cards or chatting.
Unexpectedly, when Song Zhehao came back, he was carrying a large bundle of willow branches on his back, which he threw into the corner of the yard as soon as he entered the door.
An Cai was puzzled. She had never seen him work before. Why was he carrying these willow branches today? She thought about it and asked.
Song Haozhe said, "I want to use these willow branches to weave baskets."
An Cai asked in confusion, "We have enough baskets at home! And even if we were to weave baskets, we wouldn't need so many, would we?"
Song Zhehao said, "It will definitely be enough for our family. I plan to make some baskets and sell them!"
"What?" An Cai asked in surprise, "How did you come up with such an idea?"
Seeing An Cai's surprised expression, Song Zhehao was not surprised.
In fact, it is not uncommon to make baskets and sell them to supplement the family income when you have free time.
However, the mountain village where the original owner lived had some old customs, which believed that doing odd jobs to supplement the family income was something women should do, and handicrafts like basket weaving were even more suitable for women.
Apart from working in the fields, it is best for a man not to do any other work. Only such a man can have face.
In the past, even if a man wanted to weave baskets for his own use, he would lock the door while weaving, for fear of being seen and embarrassed.
But Song Zhehao was not afraid of losing face and dared to say it out loud. An Cai was so scared that she quickly looked at the neighbors on both sides and signaled Song Zhehao to speak in a low voice. She also said that he should forget about making baskets and selling them, as it would be embarrassing if the villagers knew about it.
Song Zhehao didn't feel ashamed. Instead, he said confidently, "Hey! That's an old custom, an old way of thinking. In today's society, as long as you don't break the law and earn money with your own hands, there's nothing shameful. On the contrary, if you only know how to suffer poverty and let your wife and children suffer with you, and still think you have face, that's really shameful."
After saying this, Song Zhehao sat down on a small stool and began to weave the basket wholeheartedly.
An Cai quickly locked the door, looked at Song Zhehao embarrassedly, and said, "This is a new idea, and you have your reasons, but there are many gossips in the village, and I know people will gossip about it again."
Song Zhehao was not afraid of gossip, and he felt that he was doing nothing wrong. He knew that the new trend would soon spread to the countryside.
But Ancai has lived in the countryside since childhood. Unlike him, she is not a time traveler who has experienced so many lives, so naturally she would not understand.
In order not to let An Cai worry, Song Zhehao said, "Okay! I'll listen to you and keep it secret. Just say it was you who made the baskets. Then we can go to the market and sell them. Okay?"
Hearing this, An Cai didn't object, but hesitantly asked, "Can you do it? We've been married for so long, how come I didn't know you had the skill to weave baskets? Can you sell the baskets you weave?"
Song Zhehao patted his chest confidently and said, "Don't worry. I learned the skill of basket weaving from an old craftsman. I have never used it before. If I don't use it anymore, it will be wasted."
An Cai still didn't quite believe it. She said that cutting willow branches was very troublesome and she didn't want them to be wasted. She insisted on weaving baskets with Song Zhehao. After Song Zhehao persuaded her to go back, she started weaving baskets with peace of mind.
In fact, what An Cai said was correct. The original owner had no special skills, let alone basket weaving. However, Song Zhehao did not lie. He had traveled through time many times and had experience of living in the countryside. He had learned basket weaving from an old artist.
The basket he was most proud of had once been exhibited at an exhibition in Shanghai.
When the willow branches fell into Song Zhehao's hands, he began to shape them into shapes with ease. By the time it was getting dark, several baskets had taken shape.
While An Cai was still in the house, Song Zhehao quietly slipped into the kitchen and started cooking.
After dinner, Song Zhehao moved the willow branches into the house and continued weaving baskets.
An Cai looked at his skillful technique and found that the basket he had woven was indeed compact and sturdy, and looked delicate, as if it should be a decoration placed in the house.
These baskets were woven by Song Zhehu. Because he was in a hurry to produce enough, his craftsmanship was only 60% utilized. But even so, the baskets he wove were unique.
Therefore, Song Zhehao is not worried at all about the sales volume and price of the baskets.
An Cai was pleased with the baskets, and seeing how hard Song Zhehao was working on weaving them alone, she begged him to teach her.
After hearing this, Song Zhehao agreed and patiently taught An Cai how to weave a basket. However, after learning for a long time, An Cai still couldn't weave well and instead wasted several willow branches.
An Cai simply patted pigu and stood up, saying that she was really stupid, and turned back to the kang.
Looking at An Cai's back, Song Zhehao smiled cunningly.
That's right! Song Zhehao knows several knitting techniques, and the one he just taught An Cai is actually a more complicated one.
Song Zhehao was not deliberately playing a prank on An Cai. It was because after all these years of hard work, An Cai's hands were rough, black and yellow. Song Zhehao really couldn't bear to let her do such hand-tiring work.
Originally, An Cai was still waiting for Song Zhehao. As she waited, she fell asleep with Song Miaoer. Listening to An Cai's even breathing, Song Zhehao felt more at ease than ever before.
Late at night, Song Zhehao also got on the kang, covered An Cai and his daughter with the quilt, and then quietly went to sleep beside them.
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During this period of time, Song Zhehao worked in the fields during the day and weaved baskets when he got home. He also took care of half of the housework and did not let An Cai do any cooking.
An Cai is a simple-minded person and is not allowed to do anything. Instead, she becomes anxious and refuses to let Song Zhehao enter the kitchen no matter what.
Song Zhehao quickly called his allies and asked Song Caoer whose meal she would like to eat?
Song Miaoer quickly expressed that the food her father cooked was more delicious.
Song Zhehao raised his eyebrows proudly and said, "Let's stop arguing and just listen to our daughter."
An Cai thought that Song Miaoer's appetite had increased since Song Zhehao started cooking. Seeing that her daughter's dull complexion seemed to have recovered a little, she stopped competing with Song Zhehao for cooking.
Just as Song Zhehao expected, his baskets were popular at the market and were sold out soon after they were put on display. Moreover, the price was more than twice that of ordinary baskets.
After weaving baskets for a month, the family's food improved and I had some spare money. Although the income was not much, it was a considerable income in the countryside of that era.
That day, Song Zhehao put all the money he earned from selling baskets in front of An Cai. An Cai asked him puzzledly what he was doing.
Song Zhehao smiled and said, you have worked hard with me over the years. Although this money is not much, can you buy whatever you want?
Hearing this, An Cai was stunned for a moment, with a look of disbelief on her face, as if the person in front of her was not Song Zhehao.
An Cai's reaction was not an exaggeration at all. You have to know that since the original owner married An Cai, apart from coaxing An Cai with sweet words, even his daughter Song Miaoer never gave her any pocket money, let alone giving An Cai money to spend. Happiness seemed to come too suddenly. An Cai was a little overwhelmed and felt at a loss when looking at the money.
At this moment, a voice from outside the door, "Is anyone there?" broke the almost frozen atmosphere.
Hearing the shout, An Cai seemed startled, and after she reacted, her eyes were slightly moist.
Before they could open the door, it was rudely pushed open and a middle-aged woman with an angry face walked into An Cai's house.
An Cai saw the woman from inside the house and hurried out. The moment she saw the woman in the yard, she stood aside like a child who had done something wrong and called out tremblingly, "Auntie."
The woman's expression didn't improve after hearing this. Instead, she frowned in dissatisfaction and said unhappily, "Hey! I've already come here, and I asked you to greet me at the village entrance. Look at your miserable face, as if you're really uncomfortable seeing me."
Hearing Aunt An's criticism, An Cai quickly denied it and said that she was not unhappy.
Aunt An waved her hand and said, "Come on! I've watched you grow up since you were little, and I still don't know the little thoughts in your heart. You appear to be as obedient as a cat, but you have a lot of tricks in your heart."
After saying this, Aunt An glared at An Cai, walked straight into the house, and said coldly: "I'm here to look for Zhehao. Is he at home?"
An Cai hurriedly asked, "What does Aunt want to see him about?"
Aunt An sneered, "You're not the head of this family. What's the point of telling you? Why are you asking around?"
The two of them were silent outside the room, but Song Zhehao heard everything clearly from inside. Seeing Aunt An acting like the host and bossing around, Song Zhehao felt uncomfortable.
What's more, the person Aunt An was targeting was his wife An Cai, which made Song Zhehao feel even more uncomfortable.
Aunt An in front of him occupies a considerable position in the original owner's memory.
An Cai's mother died early, and she was raised by her father. Her father went out to make a living all year round, and every time he went out, he entrusted An Cai to the care of her only sister.
An's father's sister, An Cai's aunt, seemed to care about An Cai and promised to take good care of An Cai. However, after An's father left, she was always cold and mean to An Cai.
Every time An Cai lived in her aunt's house, she not only could not enjoy the warmth of family love, but had to do heavy housework assigned by her aunt. Once she was negligent or did not do it well, her aunt would always be merciless and would even beat An Cai when she was angry.
Of course, my aunt also had her own excuses for her harsh behavior. She said that Ancai had lost her mother when she was young, and if she didn't teach her to do these things, wouldn't she be despised by her mother-in-law and husband when she married into their family in the future?
It sounded like my aunt was very understanding.
But in fact, the aunt only assigned An Cai to do housework. She never forced her own daughter, and she also said that it didn't matter whether a girl could do housework or not. The key was to marry a good man.
Every time An's father came back, his aunt would exaggerate how stupid An Cai was. It took her a lot of patience and energy to teach An Cai how to do housework.
An Cai wanted to expose her aunt's lies, but she was afraid that it would cause a rift between her and her siblings, and she was also afraid that her father would worry about her, so she silently endured the grievance.
After An Cai got married, she told the original owner the truth. She also said that although many years had passed and she had grown up and married, she was still scared when she heard her aunt's voice.
As An Cai's husband, the original owner not only did not stand up for An Cai, but instead tried his best to please Aunt An and coaxed her around with sweet words.
The original owner did this for his own reasons.
My aunt's beloved daughter later married a small boss of a brick factory and became a wealthy man in the surrounding villages. The original owner used this opportunity to curry favor with my aunt.
As for the various bullyings that An Cai inflicted upon her by her aunt, the original owner never took them to heart. She even advised An Cai that her aunt was her elder, and that she should be more considerate of her and not be too petty.
Now that Aunt An has a rich son-in-law, she becomes even more harsh towards An Cai. On the contrary, she likes the original owner who is good at flattering her.
Thinking of this, Song Zhehao smiled meaningfully and called out to his aunt who was slowly walking into the house, "Aunt, you're here?"
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