Chapter 35
On the way to the county town, Qin Fangniang was also explaining to Sang Luo what her father-in-law had told her.
"Originally, we could have found a few more families, but my father just remembered last night that it would be better not to let others know about your making of the magical tofu too early, and to avoid attracting attention. So we didn't find too many people, and only invited the two families with the best relationship with our family. I'm afraid it will take a little longer to build this house."
"By the way, my father told others that the money for building your house was earned from selling wild vegetables in the county. Even if someone in the village is curious, they won't travel all the way to the county to see it, and they won't be willing to spend the entrance fee."
Sang Luo burst out laughing when she heard this: "Grandpa is right. We are just selling wild vegetables. Let's do as Grandpa says. It doesn't matter if it's slow. Can we finish it before the autumn harvest?"
Qin Fangniang nodded: "It's still in time."
If Sang Luo can finish it before the autumn harvest, there will be no problem. Although it will be slower, she will have less trouble.
After entering the city smoothly, the two went to the West Market first. Sang Luo moved all her things into the market, and then Qin Fangniang pulled the cart to the East Market by herself.
Sang Luo made 120 pieces of magical tofu last night. The two of them got 60 pieces each, plus the wild vegetables they brought, and then they went about their own business.
In a blink of an eye, it was noon. Except for two bunches of wild vegetables that were left unsold, all that should be sold had been sold. Sang Luo looked at the few buyers in the West Market and thought that it would be difficult to sell these two bunches of wild vegetables. She simply closed her stall, paid the tax, and went to the East Market to find Qin Fangniang as agreed, carrying her empty bucket and backpack.
The construction of the house will start tomorrow. In the morning, she and Qin Fangniang agreed to go to the East Market to buy some food, and then they can push the empty cart back.
When the two met in the East Market, Qin Fangniang had sold out of her magic tofu and only had a few handfuls of purslane left.
Seeing Sang Luo coming, Qin Fangniang knew it was time to pack up and go back.
It's the middle of the day and everyone is taking a break at home. Who would come to the market to shop?
She collected the money and gave it to Sang Luo. She was a little excited but forced herself to keep her voice down as she whispered to Sang Luo, "I sold eighteen bunches of wild vegetables today, plus the thirty cents from the tofu, for a total of thirty-nine cents. After deducting the city entrance fee and the city tax, I still have thirty-seven cents. I can buy a pig bone today."
Qin Fangniang was really happy.
The money for the magic tofu was limited, and she was slow at calculating. But when she found out at the West Market that Sang Luo had given her sixty yuan, she calculated it all the way, and when she arrived at the East Market, she knew that if she sold all the magic tofu, she would have thirty cents.
As for wild vegetables, Qin Fangniang added one cent to the price every time she sold two bunches, and she added the price silently in her heart.
Now she didn't need to count the money again, she knew exactly how much she had earned today.
Thirty-seven cents. Before Sang Luo came, she was already as beautiful as in a dream.
"Thank you so much." Qin Fangniang was so excited that she didn't know what to say: "This is a huge income for our family."
She didn't know how big it was, and Qin Fangniang couldn't calculate if the number was too big.
She knew that earning nearly forty cents a day was amazing, something she had never dared to think about before.
Farmers rely on the income from the fields throughout the year. Normally, they can only sell eggs once every eight to ten days. Apart from selling grain every year, they never make any big money.
After paying the share of money that should be given to Sang Luo, she held her heavy purse in her hand, thinking about how much money she would be able to earn every day in the future. She was so excited that her heart and hands were shaking.
Sang Luo smiled and gave her a warning, saying, "This is because people are new to this food recently. I guess it will sell slower and less in the future."
However, tofu was added at that time, but there was no need to tell Qin Fangniang about this first.
Qin Fangniang was stunned for a moment, and then a little disappointed, but it was only for a moment, and she quickly adjusted herself: "This is also very good."
It will sell a little slower and in less quantity, but not by much. When a food comes out, there will always be some fixed people who like to eat it. It is good to be able to do business with these people for a long time and in a stable manner.
But when she thought about the fact that the raw materials of mulberry were obtained from the mountains, Qin Fangniang became a little worried. She didn't know whether the thing was available all year round or was seasonal.
But I can only think about this in my heart. She won't ask any more questions that I shouldn't ask.
"Let's go, I'll buy a corn bone, and then we'll go buy some millet."
Sang Luo nodded: "Before buying millet, I thought about buying a rice jar first. There are only two cloth bags at home, which are not very convenient to use."
When she heard that Sang Luo wanted to buy a rice jar, Qin Fangniang nodded and said, "The rice jar is an important item. We have to buy it. We have a rule here. No matter how poor or difficult the family is, we cannot be without a rice jar and a water jar. This is the feng shui of a family."
If they wanted to buy a rice jar, they had to go to the shops on the main street of the East Market. The two of them carried their loads on their shoulders. Qin Fangniang said to Sang Luo as they walked, "When you buy the rice jar, remember to put three coins in it."
This was the first time Sang Luo had heard of this: "Is there any particular reason for this?"
Qin Fangniang shook her head: "I don't know either, but everyone does this. We have an old saying, if you put copper coins in the rice jar, your wealth will never stop. Anyway, it's always right to put some coins there for good luck."
Sang Luo made a note of it and planned to arrange it when she got home.
They each bought a pork bone, and Sang Luo asked the butcher to cut a small piece of lean meat to add to the bone soup. She and her two children had to take care of their bodies, so supplementing nutrition was a daily routine.
After buying the meat, the two of them left the East Market and headed straight for the grocery store on the main street.
The grocery store in the county was much larger than the one in Sanli Village Market. All kinds of pottery alone took up an entire storefront, in all shapes and sizes. There were more than a dozen types of rice jars alone.
Sang Luo was not dazzled by the choices. She only wanted the simplest, most practical and affordable ones.
I spent 89 cents to buy a covered earthenware rice jar that could hold five dou of rice, which was enough for daily use for a family of three. I also weighed some salt.
I asked the shop assistant to help wipe the dust out of the rice jar with a clean cloth, and then moved it to Qin Fangniang's cart, surrounding it with several buckets, keeping it stable.
Now that she had the rice jar, she went to buy grain. This time, Sang Luo had some money in her hand, so she no longer bought by one or two liters, but directly asked for a bushel of grain.
Seventy coins, when you go back you can pound about seven or eight liters of rice. Together with what you pounded yesterday, it should be enough for two or three days if you don't hire many people.
With more than fifty yuan left in her hand, Sang Luo didn't make any more blind purchases. The house would be started tomorrow, so she would have to buy some meat, eggs and vegetables. She also didn't know if there would be any unexpected expenses, so it was better to keep some extra money in her hands for the next few days.
It was already afternoon when she returned to the village. Sang Luo was tired and hungry. Because she had to cook at Chen's house the next day, Qin Fangniang pushed the cart of things back. Sang Luo planned to go home through the small path with only a backpack on her back. She would carry buckets and other things after she rested in the afternoon.
Qin Fangniang can easily deal with everything else except one thing: persistence.
"You can't put the rice jar in my house, it will leak away your family's wealth. When I get home, I will pour the rice into the basket at the door, and I will ask your uncle to send the rice jar home to you."
He is quite superstitious and has a lot of things to say.
Sang Luo thought that it was okay if she didn't know about this thing, but she still had to believe it after knowing it, which would make her feel better, right? She didn't bother to be polite with Qin Fangniang: "Aunt, I'm really tired, so I'll trouble Uncle Youtian to send it off."
Qin Fangniang knew that Sang Luo went to the county town to set up a stall before dawn every day, and that she would not have much time to rest when she returned home in the afternoon before going back into the mountains to look for raw materials, and that she would have to make fairy tofu all night long, so she said quickly, "It's okay, it's not hard work, and you don't have to carry those buckets yourself, I'll ask your uncle to bring them to you, and ask him to pound the millet for you, too. Go home, eat something, and have a good rest."
Sang Luo thanked her, said goodbye to Qin Fangniang, and turned back to the path.
…
Shen San sat at home and waited again and again, but no one from the Sang family showed up. Not to mention the Sang family, even Shen An and Shen Ning had never come here.
When Shen Jin was caught returning home at noon and asked about it, Shen Jin said that he had not seen his cousin's wife all morning.
Chen San and Li had been secretly watching the Chen family for the whole morning, and they had never seen Qin Fangniang come out for a walk. She usually washed clothes, swept the floor, and went to the vegetable garden. Qin Fangniang was famous for her diligence in the village. She was not the kind of woman who stayed in the house to do nothing.
The couple finally believed the rumors that Sang Luo and Qin Fangniang went to the county to sell wild vegetables.
With something on his mind, Shen San didn't even enjoy his nap today. He barely lay down for two quarters of an hour, then turned over and went back to the yard.
It turned out to be the right decision. Not long after he arrived, he saw Qin Fangniang pulling a cart back from afar.
Shen San looked carefully and saw what seemed to be baskets and barrels on the cart. When people got closer, he could see clearly that they were indeed baskets and barrels. There were seven or eight of them at a glance.
Qin Fangniang pulled the cart to the door of her house and called Chen Youtian. The couple was busy doing something, and then Chen Youtian went out with a rice jar. Shen San stood in his yard and looked outside for a long time. He saw that they were going towards Sang and the others.
Shen San stood in his yard for a long time with a sullen face, and saw Chen Youtian going back and forth several times, each time delivering buckets, baskets and pottery basins to the mountain.
He thought carefully, when did the eldest branch of the family become so close to the Chen family?
When Chen Lie was around, he was close to the Chen family’s mountain, but it was not uncommon for the young men in the village to be closer.
After Chen Lie left home, it was the Chen An siblings and the two younger ones from the Chen family who became close.
But it wasn't like this, right? At least the old couple of the Chen family and Chen Youtian and his wife didn't get involved. Especially after hearing the news of Chen Dashan's death, the old couple of the Chen family and Chen Youtian and his wife were very depressed for a few days. They didn't talk much when they saw people, and they rarely smiled. It took half a year for them to get better.
He was close to the Sang family, it seemed... it was after he borrowed food in the middle of the night?
But since the Chen family lent grain to the Sang family, the Sang family should be grateful to the Chen family. Why does this seem so wrong?
Shen San stared in the direction of Chen's house and thought for a long time without figuring it out, then sat back in the main room with a dark face.
…
Sang Luo had no idea that the fact that she was building two rooms would make Shen San and his wife troubled for a whole day. If she knew, she would probably just be confused and say, "What's it to you?"
When she returned home, the piece of land behind their thatched cottage that was being reclaimed was very busy. At a glance, there were seven children scattered in the small field, from tallest to shortest.
She was stunned for a moment, and then inexplicably thought, well, if they are tied together with a vine, they will be the gourd brothers and sisters, seven of them, no more, no less.
Shen An and Shen Ning were the most enthusiastic when they saw her. They put down their stone hoes and ran over to take the backpack and pour water for her, asking her if she was tired and if she had eaten.
Chen Ershan called "Shen Dasao" from afar, and the little girl followed Shen Ning, looked at Sang Luo shyly, and also called "Shen Dasao".
Shen Jin had been taught a lesson by Sang Luo in a lukewarm manner a few days ago, so he felt awkward at the moment. He just paused his hoe and didn't move.
Shen Yin and Shen Tie were not familiar with Sang Luo. Seeing that their brother did not move, the two brothers did not dare to move either.
Sang Luo looked at this group of child laborers. She inexplicably felt like she was the owner of an illegal coal mine.
What to say? It's a bit awkward.
She still knew what was going on with Shen Jin and the other two, but what about Chen Ershan and Xiao Yaer?
Sang Luo half squatted down and asked the little girl who was beside Shen Ning: "Why are you here to help with the land?"
It was the first time for the little girl to meet an adult who would squat down and talk to her at eye level. Being so close made her feel curious, happy, and a little nervous.
"I am good friends with Sister Aning, and I am here to help her." At this point, he felt a little embarrassed: "And the Hu bing, the Hu bing that mother brought home yesterday was delicious, and thank you, Sister Shen."
Shen Jin's ears pricked up: !!!
What Hu Bing? ! ! !
The man who was originally digging the ground stopped digging and looked up at the two people who were talking in the distance.
He moved his lips and wanted to ask, but thinking of the last time when this cousin's wife had replied in a roundabout way with a cold expression, for some reason he didn't dare to.
Shen Jin was sad and angry. Whose sister-in-law is this?
Why did the Chen brothers and sisters all start eating the Hu Bing, but he didn’t even see any crumbs of it?
Not with this.
His last name is Shen, okay?
Cousin, cousin, he’s still my brother.
Looking at Chen Ershan, who was hoeing the ground next to him, he became even angrier.
Contempt! Contempt! Contempt!
He was not bothered by it, and he moved forward with his hoe, and came close to Chen Ershan while Chen Ershan looked puzzled.
Uh, not tall enough.
Shen Jin stood on tiptoe, stretched his neck, lowered his voice and miraculously maintained his momentum: "I obviously ate Hu Bing to work, how dare you look down on me this morning!?"
Chen Ershan: “???”
What are you talking about?
Shen Jin was furious, but couldn't help asking Chen Ershan, "Um, is the Hu Bing delicious?"
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