Chapter 139 Pox
Song Yuntang searched all the way, but not only were there no vacant shops, but even the alleys were occupied by some small vendors.
What she can think of, others can naturally think of as well, although the things they sell are not satisfactory.
"Sister-in-law, why are you here?"
Suddenly, he heard a voice and looked back. It was Xu Qingye's younger brother Xu Wencheng, whom he had met once before in Lushan Village.
Xu Wencheng was only one year younger than Song Yuntang, and he felt embarrassed to call her sister-in-law.
Song Yuntang smiled and said, "I came here to look for a shop. What is Wencheng doing in town?"
Xu Wencheng patted the straw paper wrapped in his arms and said, "Aren't you and big brother going to get married? When mother came to town to buy things, she forgot to buy some red paper, so she asked me to buy some for her."
Then he asked, "Didn't I hear from my eldest brother that my sister-in-law has already opened a shop in town? Why are you looking for a shop again? Did something go wrong with the previous shop?"
He had to find out clearly so that he could report to his eldest brother and ask him to support his sister-in-law.
Song Yuntang hurriedly shook his head.
"No, I wanted to do some other business here at the academy, but I didn't expect it would be so hard to find a shop."
Xu Wencheng patted his chest and said, "My eldest brother is familiar with this place. Why don't I ask him to come over tomorrow after I go back? With him by my side, my sister-in-law won't have to worry about anything."
Xu Wencheng is extremely confident in his elder brother's abilities.
Song Yuntang shook his head. "He came to me for a few days and he must be very tired. I'll do these little things myself. Anyway, I already have a shop now. If I can't find it, I won't force it. I'll find it slowly."
After all, finding a shop is not something that can be done overnight.
She had already prepared herself mentally.
Xu Wencheng was very pleased to see that Song Yuntang would consider his elder brother's health.
"I see that my elder brother is getting better these days, so it should be no problem for him to accompany my sister-in-law to find a shop." He looked up at the sky, "Mom told me to go back early after buying things, so I won't talk to my sister-in-law any more. Be careful."
After saying that, he left in a hurry.
…
It was already the 9:00 p.m.
After searching for the whole morning without any results, Song Yuntang gave up looking for a shop and went home to pick up four portions of medicinal materials for making shampoo. Along the way, he bought some ingredients for sour plum soup at Baicaotang and set off for the farm.
"Tang'er is here." The cousin from my uncle's family greeted Song Yuntang in a wooden shed not far away.
She responded with a smile and went into the yard.
Since the renovation of the courtyard began, the workers who originally made bamboo pots in the main room moved to the wooden shed.
Song Jinsheng was quite quick. Song Yuntang had just given him five taels of silver yesterday, but today he had already bought the bricks and piled them at the foot of the courtyard wall. However, the people who had been repairing the house were still in the mountains building the chicken and duck pens these two days, so they had to wait two days before laying the bricks.
"Tang'er, I thought you weren't coming today."
Song Jinsheng came out of the kitchen, took the medicine bag from Song Yuntang and put it into the house.
"I will definitely come and take a look at the place where I plant the pepper seeds. Has my second brother helped me to net it up?" Song Yuntang said as he went to the kitchen. The fire in the stove had been extinguished and the water for shampooing had been boiled.
"The nets have been put up and the plants have been watered. If Tang'er is worried, you can go check them out."
After Song Jinsheng came out of the house, he went straight to the kitchen and scooped out a bucket of shampoo water from the pot so that it could cool down faster.
"By the way, Tang'er, Song Zhimei has gone to the Huang family. She probably won't be able to jump around anymore in the future."
Song Yuntang was a little surprised.
"She became Huang Heyu's concubine?"
Song Zhimei's looks are just average, but I didn't expect Huang Heyu to be so tolerant of appearance.
Song Jinsheng hummed.
"She was not disciplined herself. After Second Aunt learned about this, she used it as a threat to negotiate with the Huang family and asked them for 20 taels of silver as a betrothal gift, thinking that Huang Heyu touched Song Zhimei because he liked her. But the Huang family didn't care about Song Zhimei at all. Because she was a decent girl that they had touched before, they were only willing to pay 3 taels of silver."
Song Yuntang just thought he was listening to an interesting story.
"And then?"
"Later, my second aunt and the Huang family argued for a long time. In the end, the two families each took a step back and brought the person in for five taels of silver."
Song Yuntang laughed, "Second Aunt, this step back is a bit too big."
The original twenty taels became five taels. I'm afraid Song Zhimei didn't get a penny, right?
"Who said it wasn't? Whether it's marrying a wife or taking a concubine, there is a sequence. They got it wrong. It would be strange if the Huang family didn't take advantage of them." Song Jinsheng said, took the hoe and went to work in the house.
It was still early, so Song Yuntang cleaned the small pot next to him and soaked the ingredients for sour plum soup.
While the shampoo water was cooling down, Song Jinsheng used a shovel to smooth the floor of the house so that he could directly apply mud and lay blue bricks.
Song Yuntang went to the mountains to check on the progress of the construction of the chicken and duck pens. When he came back, he was just in time to make the sour plum soup.
After boiling for half an hour, he turned off the fire and added some of the rock sugar he brought to the sour plum soup. After it melted, he scooped it out in a bowl and took it to the spring. He placed it in the spring near the crevice of the rock to cool for half an hour, and then brought it back down the mountain.
It was almost noon now, the sun was directly overhead, and the workers gradually returned to the courtyard to enjoy the cool air, sitting there chatting while waiting for their meals to arrive in the kitchen.
When Song Yuntang walked in with the sour plum soup cooled with cold water, the originally noisy courtyard suddenly became quiet.
As soon as she saw it, she smiled and said, "I just made some sour plum soup. Everyone come and have a taste. It can help relieve the summer heat."
How would these farm guys know what sour plum soup is?
But after eating the braised pork and stir-fried pork intestines made by Song Yuntang yesterday, I was convinced that everything she brought was good stuff.
Everyone drank a bowl and praised the food as they drank.
Song Yuntang also took a bowl and tasted it. It tasted better than the one he bought in the county before. In the hot weather, a sip of it made people feel refreshed.
She decided that this business must be done!
The workers' meal was almost ready, and it was inconvenient for her to stay here any longer, so she filled two clean bamboo jars with the remaining sour plum soup and went to town.
She could handle it easily outside, but she still had two dogs to take care of at home.
As soon as I arrived at the official road, I saw a pale woman walking listlessly towards Cile Town. Her eyes were empty and her eye sockets were a little red, as if she had been crying. She was holding a thin child in her arms.
The child was motionless, as if he was asleep.
But when Song Yuntang saw the blisters on his face, he knew that it was not as simple as just sleeping, and judging from the child's condition, it seemed to be quite serious.
“Is your child sick?”
When the woman heard the voice, she turned her head woodenly. When she faced Song Yuntang, her eyes gradually focused.
She glanced at the child in her arms, took a few steps back, and moved away from Song Yuntang, "Miss, please don't get too close to us, lest my child's disease infect you."
Her voice was a little hoarse.
I thought Song Yuntang would leave immediately after hearing her words, but she said, "Your child has smallpox, not a terminal illness. You don't have to be too sad. As long as he gets timely treatment, he will recover."
If she hadn't seen the woman's disheartened look, she wouldn't have said this.
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the woman seemed to see hope and knelt down with the child in her arms.
"Please save my child. Whether my child can recover or not, I will work like a cow or a horse to repay you."
Looking at the mother and son crawling not far away, Song Yuntang frowned.
"Where are your family members?"
The woman choked up and said, "My husband's family learned that the child was sick, and they were afraid that the child would be infected. They wrapped him in straw and threw him into the mountains when I wasn't paying attention. After I found out, I insisted on finding him and bringing him home. He got angry and divorced me. Now I can't go back to my parents' home. I have no money and nowhere to go."
The only thing to be thankful for was that the child was not taken away by any wild beasts in the mountains.
But even so, she was divorced and had no ability to find a doctor for her child.
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