Chapter 20
The same earthenware basin as the one used by the Chen family cost thirty-six cents each in the grocery store. After much persuasion, Sang Luo only managed to get the shopkeeper to give her two cents off.
Sang Luo asked for a clay basin and two and a half liters of millet. The fifty-two copper coins that she had thought were too heavy just now had not even warmed up in her sleeve pocket when she had spent all of them in the blink of an eye.
But when she held the newly bought ceramic basin and the millet in it, this feeling of heartache disappeared, and was replaced by a natural sense of satisfaction.
Finally I have food and property.
Shen An and Shen Ning also came over, touched the pottery basin and the millet, and were extremely satisfied.
"Sister-in-law, let me hold you."
"I'll hold you. I'll hold you."
The brother and sister were fighting over holding the clay basin.
Seeing this, Chen Youtian smiled a little, "How heavy must it be to carry all this time? Put it in the bucket, it won't be hard to carry it."
Chen An, however, shook his head repeatedly and laughed foolishly: "Uncle Youtian, it's not heavy. Please help me pick it up when I can't hold it anymore."
Shen Ning hurriedly said: "There's me, there's me, if the second brother can't hold it anymore, there's me, second brother, let's take turns holding it."
The brother and sister have already decided who will hold the front part first and who will hold the back part.
Sang Luo found it funny and let them do as they pleased, handing the pottery basin to Chen An. Her eyes fell on the pork shop opposite the grocery store.
I don't know how long it has been since my body last touched oil and water. Just seeing the pork shop, an extreme feeling of hunger surged over me.
Sang Luo remembered that there was only a can of seasoning, salt, in the thatched house, and she couldn't help swallowing when she looked at the pork.
It seemed that the original body had not tasted meat since fleeing the famine. Just thinking about this made his stomach churn and feel uncomfortable.
Tomorrow, tomorrow she will definitely find a way to get some more money.
Thinking of this, Sang Luo asked Chen Youtian: "Uncle Youtian, doesn't this pork shop sell meat on market days?"
When Chen Youtian heard her question, he subconsciously looked over and saw Sang Luo staring at the pork shop with her eyes turning green.
He was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, there are dozens of villages around, and this is the only pork shop that sells meat every day."
The two little siblings, who were holding a clay basin filled with rice as if it were a gold ingot, heard their sister-in-law asking about the butcher shop. Their attention was finally diverted from the new belongings and food in the house. They turned to look at Sang Luo, and then looked at the pork shop across the street.
He gulped and obviously swallowed.
"Sister-in-law, do we have any money left?" The brother and sister didn't know how to count yet, but they knew that the pottery basin and millet in their hands were very expensive.
Sang Luo shook her head decisively: "It's gone, but I can still earn it."
Shen An was a little dazed. He looked at the butcher shop, then lowered his head to look at the food in his arms. He swallowed twice before saying, "Sister-in-law, meat is expensive. If you have more money, you should buy food."
I'm so hungry.
He was tired of having to eat bran or having nothing to eat. Only food could give him a sense of security.
But meat. Just thinking about the word "eating meat" made his saliva flow and he couldn't swallow it in time. His stomach also churned and he felt anxious and hungry.
Chen An looked away in embarrassment and fixed his gaze on the grain in the pottery basin, repeating to himself in his heart: Good grain, the best grain, there is nothing better than grain!
Chen Ning was even worse than his second brother. His eyes were glued to the meat counter opposite him and he couldn't move them away. He swallowed several times.
Sang Luo patted the two little ones and said, "Buy food and eat meat. Take your time. You can't eat meat in big mouthfuls. You need to buy some fat to make oil."
If you only eat wild vegetables and never eat any oil or water for years, your body will break down.
Just look at the two little ones’ dry, yellow, and rough hair.
"Let's go. I'll buy some next time when my sister-in-law earns some money. Then I'll make some oil residue for you to eat."
Chen Youtian, who had just heard Sang Luo talking about buying meat and thought that the Sang family was a bit extravagant, realized that he was wrong when he saw the three people who were so thin that they looked like refugees.
Yes, after Chen Lie went to serve in the military, the lives of these two children have obviously become much worse than before. This year, Chen Lie is gone, and the two children were separated from the Sang family and probably won't even have a chance to eat with them.
Looking at the two children walking on both sides of Sang Luo, they swallowed their saliva and talked to their sister-in-law with a happy face, and then turned around to greet him. Chen Youtian responded, picked up the burden and followed silently behind.
As he walked, he thought of his eldest son who, like Shen Lie, was conscripted to the front line and never came back. He thought that it had been a long, long time since then, so long that he didn't even dare to think about it. But at this moment, the sadness that had surrounded, blocked, and hidden him in the past suddenly broke through the dam and hit him all over.
He walked a few steps carrying the load, then quickly raised his hands that were originally on the pole and pressed the base of his palms against his eye sockets. It took a while to relieve the pain, and his vision became clear again before he continued to move forward.
…
It was already mid-morning when they were almost at Shili Village. There was still some distance to the village entrance, but Sang Luo stopped.
She pointed to a small path leading into the mountain and said, "Uncle Youtian, I'll go this way. We'll say goodbye here. Thank you for today. Please carry the bucket back yourself. I'll send the other pottery basin home later."
Chen Youtian was stunned for a moment, thinking that the mountain road was even longer, but he soon realized something and nodded: "Okay."
He put down the bucket he was carrying, took out the big wooden spoon and several bamboo tubes that Sang Luo and the others had brought with them and handed them to her. Then he said goodbye and went his separate ways.
Shen Ning was a little confused. After Chen Youtian walked a little further away, he looked up and asked in a low voice: "Sister-in-law, why do we have to take the mountain path?"
Sang Luo looked at her and didn't answer. She asked Shen An, "What do you think, Xiao An?"
Shen Ning turned around to look at his second brother.
Shen An looked at the pottery basin in his arms: "Sister-in-law, don't you want the villagers to see that we have money to buy food?"
Sang Luo curved her lips and smiled.
This kid is really smart.
Shen An only needed to look at his sister-in-law's reaction to know that he had answered correctly. After all, he was still a child, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Although Shen Ning was not as thoughtful and observant as Shen An, she was not stupid either. Moreover, her second brother had just told her the day before, so she looked around and lowered her voice and said, "Sister-in-law, we can't let the villagers know that we make money by making fairy tofu, right?"
The kid is quite clever.
Sang Luo was delighted and pinched Chen Ning's nose: "How smart!"
She broke off a branch from the roadside to cut grass, and while leading the brother and sister to the path in the mountains, she said, "Our house is too small, and we don't even have a courtyard wall. We should avoid being noticed if we can."
When the brother and sister heard this, the smiles on their faces gradually turned into worries.
Sang Luo was amused when she saw this and consoled them, "Don't worry. There are not many people in our village and not many go to the market. The market is held every five days, so it's not easy to run into them. It doesn't matter if you run into them. They can't figure it out in a short time. But it's always troublesome to be watched by others. You have to be secretive in the future and it won't be as convenient as it is now."
The brother and sister thought about how their sister-in-law added wood ash water to the tree leaf juice. Indeed, no one would have thought that the key to the magical tofu was this step.
The worry faded a little, and the brother and sister nodded in unison: "Sister-in-law, we will pay attention."
Walking all the way into the mountains, Sangluo picked leaves when she saw a magical tree.
Chen An watched his sister-in-law picking leaves, looked around, and found a place to put down the pottery basin he had been holding, and helped pick leaves with his sister. While picking, he asked curiously: "Are we going to eat this for lunch?"
Sang Luo shook her head: "We just had it this morning, how can we eat this for every meal? Let's cook some sunflower porridge for lunch."
With today’s living standards, we can’t afford white rice, but some porridge is ok.
Shen Ning glanced at the backpack that the sister-in-law had placed on the ground, and asked tentatively: “Sister-in-law, can you eat stewed eggplant?”
It’s not that the two kids haven’t eaten eggplants before, but that was several months ago. Eggplants are not a rare commodity, and every household in Shili Village grows them, but they don’t have any.
Now that I have eggplants at home, I naturally feel a little greedy.
Sang Luo looked at Chen Ning with a smile: "A Ning is craving for eggplant?"
Shen Ning nodded fiercely: “I haven’t eaten it for a long time, stewed eggplant is delicious.”
As he spoke, he swallowed.
Sang Luo burst out laughing, and when she saw the little girl blush, she said, "I'm greedy too. Stewed eggplants are delicious, but they are only delicious when they are added with oil and sauce. If there is only salt, it will become boiled eggplants. It would be a waste of these eggplants if we really eat them like this."
"So let's not eat eggplant today."
Seeing the girl's obvious disappointment, Sang Luo smiled and said, "When I buy some meat, I'll use the fat to make oil, cut some lean meat into small pieces, and stew the minced meat with the eggplant. I'll also find some basil or mint leaves and chop them up and sprinkle them in. I guarantee that you'll be so fragrant that you'll want to swallow it."
Shen An and Shen Ning were so greedy that they wanted to swallow their tongues just by listening to it.
It’s hot and vegetables can’t be kept for too long, so will sister-in-law buy meat in the next two days?
The brother and sister looked at each other, and neither of them dared to ask, for fear of misunderstanding and putting pressure on their eldest sister-in-law.
Chen An changed the subject: "Sister-in-law, then should we pick these leaves?"
Sang Luo saw the expressions of the little brother and sister. They didn't ask, and she didn't say anything. She just followed Chen An's question and smiled and answered: "Go back and make some fairy tofu, and send it to your grandpa and grandma Chen in the evening. It's a thank you for Uncle Youtian helping us carry the burden twice today. We can't let him make this trip for us in vain."
The brother and sister nodded repeatedly after hearing this. If it weren't for Grandma Chen lending them the basin and bucket, they wouldn't be able to set up their stall today. How could they have earned enough money to buy a ceramic basin and more than two liters of millet, as well as eggs, linen and several dishes?
When I thought of the dishes, I naturally thought of the minced meat eggplant that Sang Luo had just mentioned. My mouth began to salivate again and I was so greedy.
Sang Luo found it funny and stopped teasing them. She said with a smile, "Besides, let's go to the market again tomorrow and see if we can earn enough money to buy meat."
The two little brothers and sisters almost simultaneously raised their heads and looked at Sang Luo, their eyes sparkling. Chen Ning suppressed her joy and said, "But sister-in-law, tomorrow is not a market day."
Sang Luo nodded: "So let's not make too much, just twelve pieces, and then put them in a ceramic basin and carry them in a backpack. We can sell them in Sanli Village and earn enough money to buy meat and sauce."
"I know, just like the peddler!" Shen An's voice was full of excitement. Sanli Village was much richer than their village. So much tofu was sold out in an hour today, and many people didn't know about this thing yet.
Shen An felt that even though it was not a market day, he would definitely be able to sell them.
Thinking of this, he picked the leaves faster, and while picking, he discussed with Sang Luo: "Sister-in-law, why don't we make more? Let's make sixteen pieces, which is exactly two pottery basins. You carry one, and Aning and I carry one. Just like today, Aning and I will take turns carrying them!"
Make money to buy meat. Shen Ning on the side nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes, yes, I can carry it.”
Sang Luo looked at the two little ones with bright eyes, and then looked at the earthenware basin that the two people had carried back today. These two children were more capable than she had imagined.
Sang Luo raised her eyebrows, as if...it's okay?
When she really can't carry the two children, she should be able to walk for a while with a clay basin in her hands.
So he nodded.
The two kids almost jumped for joy, but they still remembered what Sang Luo had told them, that they should make the money quietly and not let anyone else know. They suppressed the cheer that was about to come out of their mouths and jumped for joy several times on the spot.
Shen Ning was close to Sang Luo, and at this moment he especially wanted to get close to his sister-in-law.
Sister-in-law is so nice!
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