Chapter 16
"What kind of reputation? Too great? Disrespectful to elders?"
Sang Luo sighed: "Grandma, I am a widow now, a fifteen-year-old widow, and I still have to raise Xiao An and Aning. It would be great if I had a great reputation."
Sang Luo had only been here for a little over a day, but she could tell that this old lady was tough on the outside but soft on the inside, and had a good heart, so she was willing to explain a few more words.
"As for disrespecting elders, even the little Shen Jin can still call Xiao An and An Ning beggars. I just found out today that he learned this from Third Aunt. I really can't respect him for being unkind. Let him be what he wants with his reputation."
It's not that she doesn't know the importance of reputation in ancient times, but Shen San and Li's actions have all stepped on Sang Luo's bottom line, and she can't respect such people.
Being tactful and flexible also depends on the situation and the person. For people like Shen San and Li, Sang Luo was unwilling to let herself be bound by their reputation and suffer this humiliation.
Besides, the original body followed Li back because she knew her situation and wanted to find a way to survive. But she didn't expect that Li had other intentions when she brought her home, and she ended up dying of illness and starvation. She was the only one who survived because of the body of the original body. She was really being kind and filial to Li, but where did she put the original body who was already dead?
Moreover, Sang Luo believed that she would be able to live a decent life slowly. As for the cases like Shen San and Li, it would be a good thing to sort them out early, so that everyone would know how to deal with them in the future.
When Mrs. Chen heard the words "fifteen-year-old widow", her heart choked.
She was willing to take care of Sang Luo these days, more for the sake of the two children, Shen An and Shen Ning. Now, she really felt some pity for Sang Luo.
He is also a miserable person.
Thinking about the behavior of Shen San and his wife, “Well, it’s better to talk about some things openly today, so that they won’t use the money from the elders to pressure you in the future.”
It can be regarded as an acknowledgement of Sang Luo's code of conduct.
Sang Luo was about to leave when the old lady stopped her and said, "Wait a moment."
Sang Luo looked over and saw the old lady's cheeks twitch, and then asked her: "How did you bring the sugar water to the market?"
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Take the pottery basin with you, and pour the liquid directly into it, and carry it in the backpack."
The old lady didn't say anything after hearing this, she just waved her hand and said, "Okay, go back to work."
Sang Luo said goodbye to the old lady and turned around to go home. Without ginger and cooking wine, the shrimp porridge would taste fishy when it got cold. Besides, there would be a big market tomorrow, so she had a lot of preparations to do.
The old lady watched her walk away and muttered, "Not even enough to hang around on the street."
…
A day passed in the blink of an eye.
The next morning was the day for the village market.
The first time they sold the magic tofu, Sang Luo and the two little ones took it very seriously. In the mountains in August, it was still hot during the day. In order to ensure the freshness of the ingredients, in addition to the leaves which were picked in the evening, Sang Luo got up in the middle of the night to make the magic tofu.
Of course, the two little ones couldn’t sleep either, and they kept running around, following the man in front and behind passing the water spoon.
It is said that one barrel should be divided into two barrels, but in fact, when it comes to actual operation, looking at this house that lacks everything, it is impossible to make too little.
The big market only comes once every five days, and what they do is a no-cost business. If they don't try to do more, they will be doing a disservice to the resources provided by the mountain.
As for whether it would be tiring to carry two buckets of magical tofu, Sang Luo thought it was just a matter of gritting her teeth.
She stayed up most of the night and made two batches, filling four large ceramic basins. At daybreak, the second batch had just solidified, so Sang Luo cut it into square blocks with a bamboo knife and stacked them in two wooden barrels borrowed from the Chen family, a total of thirty-two blocks. She didn't waste any leftovers or scraps, so she put them in together and waited to use them for tasting at the market.
Imagination is wonderful, but when it came time to pick up those two buckets of tofu, even if Sang Luo gritted her teeth, it was useless...
It's really heavy! This thing is so solid.
In the latter years of Sang Luo's previous life, she did not do much strenuous work due to physical reasons. Even though her original body escaped the disaster for several months, the days before the flood could not be described as having everything provided for her. She had even a maidservant to serve her, so how could she be considered a person who could do heavy work?
When they carried the goods from the mountain to the village, before they even reached the village entrance, Sang Luo's shoulders had already started to hurt and she had difficulty walking, which frightened the siblings Chen An and Chen Ning.
"Sister-in-law, how about I go home and get another pottery basin, and give some to Aning and me to put in the backpack?"
Their eldest sister-in-law had been ill before and almost died, and she has only been recovering for two days.
Sang Luo first thought she could do it, but after walking a short distance, she began to feel worried. It seemed that her original body's physique was much weaker than that of her previous life.
It's not that my health is not good, it's just that I was too pampered since I was a child. I rarely walk in my daily life, let alone work and exercise, so I don't have much strength at all.
But the two little ones were not empty-handed today. Each of them carried a backpack on his back. On Chen An's side was a relatively heavy ceramic basin and several bamboo tubes that he had made yesterday. They were filled with sugar water that would be used for tasting for people at the market and clean water for washing hands.
That’s right, it was a bamboo tube made temporarily. Of course, it was not made by Sang Luo, but the old lady asked her son Chen Youtian to make it. Sang Luo gave it to her when she went to fetch the bucket in the evening.
Chen Ning carried half a basket of washed and dried lotus leaves.
There were no plastic bags in ancient times, so she couldn't just let people take the items home after she sold them. After thinking for a while, she walked quite a distance yesterday evening and found a wild pond, where she picked more than 30 lotus leaves and dozens of leaves that were suitable as substitutes for tasting cups.
Sang Luo looked at the size of the little brother and sister. She was afraid that if she pressed them any further, they would not grow any taller. She gritted her teeth and said, "I won't bother with that. I can just take a few breaks along the way."
As he was talking, someone in front of him asked, "Is that Xiao An?"
"It's Uncle Youtian!" Shen An got excited and ran forward: "Uncle Youtian, it's me, why are you here? Are you going to the market too?"
Chen Youtian looked at the little guy, then at Sang, who was carrying the load at the back and seemed to be having a hard time, and thought that his mother was right.
He nodded and said, "I'm going to the market to sell some things too. Your grandma asked me to wait for you at the intersection, fearing that your sister-in-law couldn't carry the load for six or seven miles. I'm here to lend a hand and take care of you at the market."
The latter sentence was spoken to Sang Luo who was carrying things over here.
In fact, his mother's original words were: This Sang is as thin as a stick, but she is very brave. Two buckets, I think she will do something on the way tomorrow! You should take the eggs we have saved to the market to exchange for some money tomorrow. Go early and wait at the entrance of the village. If you see her, help her carry the load and keep an eye on her at the market. Then we won't have eaten half of her fish in vain.
Isn’t it just necessary to do it on the spot?
There was no need to get off halfway. Chen Youtian saw that Sang was already exhausted before she even reached the village entrance.
On the road behind, Sang Luo's bamboo shoulder pole was on Chen Youtian's shoulder, and Chen Youtian's basket of eggs was in Sang Luo's hands.
It was said to be a basket, but Sang Luo saw that there were only a dozen or so.
Either the Chen family didn't have many chickens, and it was hot, so they were afraid that the eggs would go bad, so they had to go there for every dozen or so chickens; or the Chen family didn't need to go to the market today, and they took this trip just to help her.
Seeing that the old lady didn't say a word yesterday, she asked Uncle Arita to make her a few brand new bamboo tubes. The probability of the latter is extremely high.
She was grateful in her heart, but now she felt that any thanks would be empty. Her mouth, which was used to saying sweet words to coax people, became honest and she only said, "Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Tian."
But in his heart, he made up his mind to make good friends with the Chen family. People say that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors. In the Shen family, Uncle Shen's family, who is right in front of him, is not as good as Old Lady Chen, his neighbor.
Chen Youtian smiled and said, "Let's go. We have to hurry up to grab a good seat."
While carrying the load, he saw the green lotus leaves in Shen Ning's backpack, "Are these lotus leaves used to hold this magical tofu?"
Before Sang Luo could speak, Chen Ning nodded repeatedly and told them about how Sang Luo had taken them to find small leaves for the tasting. At the end, she boasted to Chen Youtian with great pride, "My sister-in-law knows a lot!"
When Chen Youtian heard that all the details of the tasting had been taken into consideration, he nodded along with Shen Ning’s words: “It’s quite organized.”
The journey of six or seven miles was quickly completed amid the excited chatter of Shen An and Shen Ning. It was just daybreak when they came out, and when they were a little far away they could only see a shadow of a person. By the time they arrived at the market, the sky was already bright.
The so-called big market is actually a market opened in a large village with a relatively central geographical location in Qingpu Township, which facilitates villagers from surrounding villages to exchange what they have.
"This place is called Sanli Village, named after the distance of three miles from the county seat. Several villages along this line are named after the same word: Sanli Village, Wuli Village, Qili Village, and Shili Village."
Sang Luo only then realized that the market was so close to the county town. She was surprised and asked, "We must have passed more than two villages along the way, right? Where are the other villages?"
Chen Youtian smiled and said, "There are also many places where one clan and one surname live together. Most of these places are named after their surnames, but some are named after mountains, rivers and terrains."
Sang Luo was learning a lot by listening to the lecture. While they were talking, they had already entered Sanli Village. At this time, quite a few people had already come to the market. Some villagers who lived closer to the market had already set up their stalls. Some were carrying loads on their shoulders, some were carrying baskets, some were tied with straw ropes, and some were even just placed on the ground at their feet. There were all kinds of stalls.
Shen An and Shen Ning were so overwhelmed with pain that the last time the little brother and sister came to the market was when Shen Lie was there.
Chen An glanced around the market and pointed to an intersection: "Sister-in-law, there are many people setting up stalls over there, and it's an intersection, should we set up the stall there?"
After asking, they realized that their sister-in-law was not familiar with this place at all. Then, the two children, one adult and one child, all looked at Chen Youtian.
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