Chapter 10
When Sang Luo came, she was holding a bowl, and when she left, she directly carried a wooden bucket for fetching water. She placed the bowl she brought with her and the hemp extractor borrowed from Old Man Chen in the bucket, while Shen An and Shen Ning each held a large ceramic basin in their hands.
Seeing that Sang Luo had cheered up on her own, Old Mrs. Chen sincerely hoped that she could provide a good life for her two children, Chen An and Shen Ning, so she was willing to help. She moved things around in her own house and saved up enough to give her the things she needed to do business at the market.
After Sang Luo went to Chen's house, she now had all the equipment she needed for the next market transaction. She was in such a good mood!
After walking a few steps out of Chen's house with the two children, Shen Jin poked his head out from the courtyard of the Shen family next door: "Shen An, why are you going to Chen's house? What are you holding in your hands?"
Shen An glanced at his cousin and said, "I borrowed something."
He didn't even slow down his pace.
Seeing him like this, Shen Jin became even more curious. He ran out of his yard and approached the three people. He came close to the brother and sister and took a look. Seeing that they were holding an empty pottery bowl, he felt bored. Thinking of what he had seen from afar just now, he asked, "What did you send to Chen's house just now? I saw it. There was something in the bowl. It was emerald green."
Chen An pursed his lips subconsciously, his eyes showed a sense of defense, but his voice remained normal, without showing any abnormality, and he said calmly: "Wild vegetable dumplings."
Although Shen Jin didn't think it was the case, he was far away and didn't see clearly. Thinking that Shen An had to go to their house to ask for food, it must be nothing good. He curled his lips and asked, "Why didn't you come to beg for food this morning? My mother said you banged on our door in the middle of the night. Weren't you hungry?"
The word "begging" made Sang Luo frown.
Shen An's focus was not there at all. He just stared at Shen Jin, "So Uncle and Auntie heard it last night?"
Even though he already knew it in his mind, when he heard Shen Jin talking about it, Shen An clenched his hands holding the pottery basin until his knuckles turned white.
If Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen hadn't sent candy and food yesterday, who knows what would happen to the eldest sister-in-law now. At least she would not be able to walk and laugh like she is now, and would not be able to take him and Aning around to find food.
Shen Jin didn't know what the difference was: "I heard it. My mother said someone came to borrow food in the middle of the night. My father specifically asked my mother to leave some food for you this morning. Why didn't you come today?"
Before Shen An could say anything, Shen Ning, who usually looked soft, stood in front of his second brother and retorted: "Grandma Chen borrowed food from us last night. By today, my sister-in-law will be dead, and we are not beggars."
The little girl was not very good at arguing with people. She was obviously very angry, but her words were weak and lacked strength. As she spoke, her eyes turned red.
Sang Luo saw her body shaking and her eyes red, and thought to herself, this child might have tear incontinence.
He rubbed Shen Ning's head soothingly, and said nothing. He just turned to look at Shen Jin and asked, "Xiao Jin is eight years old this year, right?"
Shen Jin looked puzzled: "Yeah, what's wrong?"
Sang Luo curled her lips, but her smile was cold: "Eight years old is not an age for ignorance. Begging is for beggars. Chen An is your cousin. You should go back and ask your parents if what you said just now is appropriate."
She had no interest in disciplining other people's naughty children. After she finished speaking, she ignored Shen Jin's confusion and patted Shen Ning's shoulder: "Okay, in the future, sister-in-law will find a way to make sure you have enough to eat. You don't have to borrow food everywhere. Let's go back."
The three of them left. Shen Jin stood there in a daze for a long time before he came to his senses. Did the eldest cousin scold him for being uneducated? Right? Right!
Shen Jin was also angry. He kindly asked why he didn't come to dinner, but why did he scold him? He gritted his teeth and turned around to run back to imitate his mother, and also let his father listen!
If you don’t want to eat it, then don’t eat it. From now on, don’t even think about borrowing a grain of rice or a ball of rice from them.
Mr. and Mrs. Shen San were just about to take a nap when they saw their eldest son running in and starting to complain.
After hearing this, Li was amused: "Hey, that's what they said themselves. It's better if they don't come. I can save money if they don't come."
Then he looked at Chen San: "Did you see that? I am their aunt. They don't take me seriously because we don't have a proper blood relationship. But you are their uncle. Even if it's just a few wild vegetable dumplings, it's nothing for you as an uncle. Don't worry about it in the future."
He also said disdainfully: "A few wild vegetable dumplings, who cares how precious they are."
…
Things that the Li family didn't value, the Chen family, now that they were all together, valued them to their heart's content.
Farmers originally had two meals a day. How could they eat anything other than mealtime?
But the thing that Sang Luo brought was so novel that no one in the Chen family had seen it before. Chen's youngest granddaughter, Xiao Ya'er, heard from Shen An and Shen Ning that this thing was especially delicious. As soon as Sang Luo left, Xiao Ya'er pestered her grandmother to try a piece first.
You can’t resist the taste of it. It’s green in color and tastes like jelly. How could the farm children in ancient times have ever eaten this?
The little girl's eyes lit up as she ate. She scooped up a piece with a spoon and put it into her grandmother's mouth.
"It's so delicious, grandma, try it too!"
The food was brought to her mouth. After taking a bite, Mrs. Chen found that it was sweet and tasted really good.
In the end, the piece that was originally intended for the little girl to try first ended up being tasted by the whole family together.
The old lady brought the bowl of what Chen Ning called the fairy tofu to the main hall for everyone in the family to taste, and she sighed: "Half of the two small pieces of maltose we sent over last night were melted in sugar water by Sang and mixed into this fairy tofu and sent to us."
There was just something to eat, and Baba sent it over here, and he was willing to mix in that little bit of sugar.
The old lady felt so relieved and felt very conscientious. It was not in vain that she bought an extra liter of rice yesterday.
Chen Youtian and Qin Fangniang also tasted a piece each. They knew it was good stuff, so they refused to eat more and left it all for the two old people and the two children. Qin Fangniang watched her daughter eat with relish, and the pain she felt when she heard that her mother-in-law had sent two liters of rice to the Shen family in the morning disappeared. She praised, "Sang has such a skillful hand. I don't know what made it in the mountains, and what method she used, to make it so beautiful."
Mrs. Chen glanced at her and said, "Don't ask about craftsmanship if it's not our business, or else it will easily offend others."
Chen's daughter-in-law was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly explained: "Mom, I didn't mean that."
Mrs. Chen smiled and said, "I know. I just want to say one more thing. The child will probably make a living from this cooking skill. If they can send things to our house, it means they trust us. Don't say anything when you are outside."
Then he looked at his grandchildren and said, "You too, don't say outside that your sister-in-law Shen prepared this food, okay?"
Qin Fangniang and the two children nodded repeatedly.
…
On the other side, Chen An and Chen Ning followed Sang Luo back in silence. After walking for a while, Chen Ning couldn't help but ask.
"Sister-in-law, can we really eat our own food in the future?"
Today, the eldest sister-in-law turned the leaves in the mountains into food, which was both beautiful and delicious, but Shen Ning was still unsure.
Chen An was happy that his sister was protecting him, but he couldn't bear to see his sister sad and scared. Without waiting for Sang Luo to speak, he advised her, "Why are you afraid? We ate wild vegetables every day before, and now our sister-in-law can make fairy tofu. When we run out of food, we can eat fairy tofu every day. Fairy tofu is so delicious!"
It is much better than boiled wild vegetables.
"And my sister-in-law also said that we can make this thing and sell it for money, and with the money we can buy food."
Sang Luo listened with a smile to the ancient version of the sister-protecting maniac comforting his sister, and affirmed at the right time: "Xiao An is right, the fairy tofu is a good thing, but it is definitely not something you can eat as a meal. But it is true that selling the fairy tofu can buy food."
The eldest sister-in-law and the second brother said this, and Shen Ning's eyebrows relaxed. The future seemed to become bright all of a sudden, and there was hope for the future.
The three of them walked back chatting and laughing. Along the way, they saw some wild onions and purslane, so they picked some and took them with them. When they went to collect the fish baskets in the evening, they would look for purslane intentionally, and the whole thing would make a dish for dinner.
When he got home, Shen Ning's face was no longer worried. He put down his tools and helped Sang Luo peel hemp.
Chen An, on the other hand, kept glancing at the mountain, looked around for a few times, and discussed with Sang Luo: "Sister-in-law, should I go pick some more leaves from the fairy tree? We can cook some more for dinner."
He actually didn't eat enough at noon.
Chen An and Shen Ning had lived with their uncle and aunt since they were young. Chen Lie was just a teenager at that time. Although he could take care of his younger siblings a little, hunting birds and taking eggs in the mountains, catching fish and crabs in the water to secretly add some meals to his younger siblings, the two little ones had never eaten any snacks.
The magical tofu was truly a top-notch delicacy for the two kids who were eating it for the first time. How could they not be greedy? With that bowl shared by three people, they could never have enough.
After listening to his brother's words, Shen Ning also looked at Sang Luo, and was obviously moved.
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Okay, just look around, don't go too deep."
Shen An nodded repeatedly: "No need to go deeper, there are a lot of these things nearby."
Shen Ning couldn't stay any longer, so Sang Luo simply waved her hand: "If you want to go, follow me. I can peel the hemp myself."
Shen Ning's eyes sparkled: "Then I'll go, and find some purslane by the way."
The two little ones ran away happily. As they walked, Chen An whispered to his sister, "Don't break the branches, and pick the good leaves that sister-in-law said. Don't pick them in a scattered manner. Don't let them be scattered all over the place. Otherwise, if nothing happens in the next few days, if the villagers know that we are selling this at the market, they may find out something if they come here for a while."
Shen Ning nodded fiercely: "Second brother, I will remember it."
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