Chapter 37
Shen San and Li Shi didn’t know that their son already wished he was someone else’s child just for a few bites of food.
The couple had been at home for half a day, one sitting under the eaves of the main room, and the other doing things in the yard. Anyway, they spent most of their time in the yard, which was the best place to be seen if anyone was coming from afar.
Qin Fangniang is back, so Sang should be back too.
Both husband and wife were paying attention to the outside world, but they had different thoughts.
Li was nervous. She didn't want the man to come to her house for real. She didn't want to be attached to the eldest son's wife.
Shen San is different. His thoughts are a little complicated. He and Li can be so compatible as a couple. It can only be said that birds of a feather flock together. The two people's reactions to many things are surprisingly consistent.
It's like not wanting to keep an idle person, or like bringing in a Sang, and then throwing the entire main house to Sang, dividing it up, and thinking that this is doing justice to one's conscience.
In fact, even if two people have slightly different opinions on certain things, in the end one will always be assimilated by the other, it just depends on which one has a stronger will.
At this moment, Shen San and Li are consistent in one thing, and what has not changed is that he is still unwilling to do anything that will lose money.
This is human nature.
Of course, today, his nature lost and his face as a man prevailed.
Just think about it, when he goes out and meets someone from the same village, the way they look at him, that half-smile, the way they ask him specious questions in person even though they know the answer, and the way they mutter something behind his back, and as soon as he turns his head back, they immediately stop talking and change the subject.
Who wouldn't understand?
Who can bear it?
Shen San hadn't been out for a day, and he felt that the whole village was watching his fun.
This was even harder to accept than the last time Sang Luo had a fight with them in front of the courtyard gate. Last time, they were only watching a few families in the neighborhood, and the separation had happened a few months ago. The fact that Sang almost starved to death was something that Shen An, Shen Ning, and Sang said themselves. Who saw it? Isn't this full of life here?
Shen San himself didn't believe it, so he certainly didn't think anyone else would believe it.
But this case is different.
The eldest family was going to build a house, but it was not he, the only elder, who took the lead, but the Chen family next door who helped to take the lead.
This was a huge slap in the face.
Even if he is not willing to do anything for the eldest branch of the family, it does not mean that his face as an elder and as a man can be trampled in the mud and the whole village has to watch, step on him, and crush him.
This really wasn't possible. It made Shen San feel uncomfortable all over, as if he had been stripped of his clothes. He could no longer straighten his back and walk out of the gate of his house like a man.
So Li did not hope that Sang Luo would come, but Chen San did. He hoped that Sang Luo would come and give him a way out and save his face.
Even if he just runs around and helps out for a couple of days, he will still be able to hold his head high.
The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. As time went by, this anxiety became more intense.
Shen San couldn't sit still anymore, he stood up and paced in the yard with his hands behind his back.
Just as I passed the gate, my eyes subconsciously looked outside the yard, just like the countless times I had looked outside in the past half day.
But who did he see when he looked out?
Sang family!
Shen San suddenly became excited, but then quickly calmed down, pretending that he didn't see Sang Luo at all. He continued to pace to the chair outside the main room and sat down.
It's like drinking a bowl of cool water in the hottest days of summer, all the anxiety is instantly soothed.
The corners of his lips curled up subconsciously.
It's good that she's here. He has been thinking about how to strike the right balance so that he can teach her a lesson without going too far, so that he can get the job done smoothly.
Then he immediately went around to each household in the village to let those who laughed at him see that it was he who had to take charge of such a big event.
He also thought, if Mrs. Sang's words were pleasing to his ears and she knew how to respect her elders, why not help her for a day or two more?
There is no stove over there, can we prepare the food here?
After all this, no one in the village can talk back at him anymore, right?
He quickly weighed the degree of this help in his mind, and his fingers couldn't help but tapping on his leg.
When Li saw that his expression was not right, she glanced outside and saw Sang Luo.
She immediately became alert, and thinking of the quarrel between her and Sang a few days ago, some anger flashed in Li's eyes.
Why should she rely on others for help in building the house? If Sang dares to come in, how shameless would she be!
The couple each had their own thoughts, and then they watched Sang Luo get closer and closer, and then she walked past...!!!
Shen San stood up suddenly, walked a few steps to the gate of the courtyard, looked outside, and saw Sang Luo went straight into the Chen family next door.
At that moment, he couldn't even control his expression, and his face looked extremely ugly.
Especially when he found that the two families next door might have seen Sang Luo before them and had been waiting to watch the fun, and now they saw his reaction, Shen San felt even worse. He turned around and left, not even staying in the main room, and went straight back into the house.
It was rare that Shen San was so angry that his eyes were almost black, but Li almost laughed out loud in the yard.
Mrs. Sang did a great job. She knows her man too well. He has lost face this time. It will be useless for the eldest son to ask for help from heaven in the future.
Her mood, which had been gloomy all day, finally brightened up.
…
Sang Luo went to see Old Lady Chen to ask for help in arranging meals for the next day.
Old Man Chen was there too, so he said, "Tomorrow we will mainly cut down trees. If we finish the work in the morning, we will go to Beishan to dig mud for you in the afternoon. The better yellow clay in our village is basically in Beishan. They will bring their own axes and dustpans and poles for carrying mud. I didn't call them much. Auntie You Tian has told you about it, right?"
Sang Luo nodded, "I told you so."
On the way back from the county, Qin Fangniang had already told her which families to invite and how many people each family would send.
One family's surname is Shi, and the name of the family is Shi Erlang. He is the only young and strong man in the family now, so he will come alone to help. The other family's surname is Lu, and the Lu family is quite large, so two brothers will come to help when the time comes.
Including the Chen father and son, there are five people in total.
Sang Luo said to Old Lady Chen, "Grandma, I have to set up a stall and I can't leave my work. I'll leave the food to you. I bought some millet today and you can use it first. I'll buy some more millet from the county tomorrow. In addition to the rice, I'll give you twenty-five yuan a day. Please help me buy some meat and vegetables to prepare the food."
"How much?" Mrs. Chen was shocked. "There are five of us, including your family, so there are eight of us. Twenty-five dollars for vegetables. Are you asking us to eat meat as a meal?"
"Besides the expensive meat for making oil, good meat with the right amount of fat and lean meat is only 15 cents per pound. Are you planning to buy a pound of meat a day?"
Old Man Chen thought Sang Luo was young and didn't know what was going on, so he hurriedly said, "Alie's wife, the village provides meals to those who help build the house, usually each family provides it according to their family conditions, but meat is usually cut into some vegetables when cooking, and it counts as a meat dish. As long as the rice is enough to fill you up, having meat in the dish is a good treat, not a big cut of meat."
Mrs. Chen also said, "Eggs cost one cent each, and they can be considered meat dishes. Vegetable dishes are cheaper. For the eight of you, we can cook a rich meal. Five vegetables for one meal, two meals a day, three or four cents is enough. You don't need to buy them anywhere else, you can buy them at my house.
You invited not many people, only five. Xiao An and Xiao Ning are still children and can't eat much. They don't need so much money in one day.
For two meals a day, half a pound of meat is quite decent. You can also buy some pork liver and pork heart, which are also meat dishes, but are much cheaper. If you think about it this way, fifteen dollars a day will be enough.
If you trust me, you can give me fifteen cents a day. I think it should be about right. If it's not enough, I'll ask you for more. If there's any left, I'll return it to you."
The old lady taught her how to spend less money to prepare a relatively decent meal. Sang Luo laughed and said, "I can trust no one, but I can trust you. But it's not eight people eating, but twelve people. You and your aunt can also bring your two children to eat with us."
Mrs. Chen was stunned for a moment, then waved her hand: "No need for that. We are lending you the kitchen for your use. It's no big deal for the whole family to eat together with you. We can just cook something simple at home."
Sang Luo said half in anger and half in disapproval: "You are being too polite, aren't you? There are four adults in your family, three of them are helping me with the work, and my aunt is also setting up a stall with me, and I am such a fussy person? Are Erlang and Xiaoya short of food? Besides, aren't the two children also busy? They went to my house to open up the land, don't tell me you don't know anything about it."
Mrs. Chen: ...
"That's not the case. Building a house is expensive, so how can we afford to eat your food?"
Not to mention anything else, strong laborers have big appetites, and there is a lack of oil and water in normal times. If they cook white rice, each of them can eat one liter of rice a day. Five people means five liters. If there are twelve people, even if they save some to eat, the consumption will not be less. I am afraid that the bucket of millet that Sang bought today will be left with only chaff at the end of the day.
Before she could finish her grumbling, Sang Luo hugged her arms and said, "Thank you, Grandpa, Uncle and Auntie for all your considerations and hard work for me. Please don't refuse. If you really want Auntie and the children to eat alone, then I won't be a human being anymore. I won't be able to come to your house in the future."
Oh my god.
The old lady could never endure such a situation.
Her son and daughter-in-law won't act coquettishly with her.
This is terrible.
The old lady can no longer speak.
Sang Luo was still waiting with raised eyebrows.
Mrs. Chen: "Okay, okay, let Erlang also carry mud for your family."
Sang Luo smiled, poured the twenty-five coins that had been counted out of her purse onto the table, and pushed them to Old Lady Chen: "Then it's still twenty-five coins, just keep it."
Mrs. Chen hurriedly shook her head: "That's not necessary. We women and children don't sit at the table. We can just pick up some vegetables and eat them under the table. We can just add two vegetarian dishes. Why bother spending that money?"
How much food has she consumed in these few days?
The old lady thought about how she was soft-hearted and wanted to help Sang Luo, so she gritted her teeth and added the second liter of rice.
Now, there are six people in their family. Even if we count her who helps with cooking, there are only three people working and taking care of six people's meals. Building a house cannot be completed in a day or two, especially when there are not enough people, the construction period will be delayed.
Mrs. Chen herself felt that she must have been stunned by Sang's little arm and soft voice before she agreed.
Thinking of this, he hurriedly added: "Our whole family will eat with us, so I won't charge you for the vegetarian dishes. There's no need for so much."
After a while, he counted out eight coins and pushed them back to Sang Luo: "Take it back, or I'll start a fire myself."
Sang Luo: ...
What can I say about this old lady? She really doesn't want to take advantage of others.
In other words, almost all members of the Chen family have inherited the temperament of the old lady and the old man.
She looked at the old lady, and the old lady looked at her. Finally, Sang Luo gave in and said, "Okay, I'll leave it to you. I'll trouble you and Grandpa to help me take care of it."
He collected the eight coins that the old lady pushed over to him and put them into his purse.
Mrs. Chen smiled: "That's right, otherwise I won't be able to eat in peace. Leave it to me without worry. I won't interfere with your daily business of selling tofu."
Old Man Chen's weather-beaten face also showed a smile: "We will cut down trees and carry mud tomorrow. When you come back in the afternoon, we will mark out the foundation. The day after tomorrow morning, you just need to go to the county, and you don't have to worry about this."
It was decided that construction would start tomorrow, and Sang Luo brought up another matter.
"Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, which happens to be the Sanli Village Market. My aunt and I are both setting up stalls in the county right now, so we can't take care of the business at the market. I want to ask, when you go to the market to buy vegetables tomorrow morning, would you like to bring a dozen or twenty pieces of fairy tofu to try selling at the market? This won't take up much time, and you can sell it while you're there."
Mrs. Chen's eyes lit up. "Why not? I don't have much stuff to bring. I can go early and come back early. I won't be late for shopping or cooking."
Sang Luo curled her eyes and said, "Okay, I'll go get some ingredients later and bring out the portion you'll be selling tomorrow morning tonight."
As he said this, he was about to leave.
Mrs. Chen was about to nod, but then she thought of something and called Sang Luo to ask her to wait a moment.
She went back to the house and soon came out with a small cloth bag, saying, "I didn't think of this before. If you go into the mountains, the mountains near the village won't matter. If you go deeper, especially to places with dense vegetation, sprinkle a little more of this on your trouser legs and shoe uppers. This stuff is effective in repelling snakes."
Sang Luo was surprised: "There is such a good thing?"
Mrs. Chen smiled and said, "It's not a valuable thing. If you need it, come back to me when you're done."
Her father on her mother's side was a hunter, and this was a folk remedy passed down from her mother's side. Unfortunately, the drought that year attracted bandits everywhere, and everyone fled. She was separated from her mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, and she has no idea whether her father, mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are still alive or where they are now. There is no news from them at all.
This anti-snake medicine is only used when the family goes into the mountains to look for wild fruits every autumn, so Mrs. Chen had never thought of this before.
Sang Luo was very happy. With this thing, she dared to go a little deeper. She thanked him repeatedly and said with a smile: "I am just begging for food in the mountains. I will not be polite to you. Please don't think I am annoying when you come."
Mrs. Chen smiled and said no, so Sang Luo said goodbye and happily went back with the bag of snake repellent powder.
Mrs. Chen waited until she left before she said to Old Man Chen, "They are so kind, they are always thinking of repaying the little favor they receive. Those two did such a ruthless thing before, I wonder if they will regret it later."
The couple, naturally, refers to Shen San and Li from next door.
It is not known whether she regrets it or not, but there is no need to wait for the old lady to say something vague. The next day, Li was very angry.
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