"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, there are still 330 coins left, the cost of the medicine. We agreed to split it in half with you."
Wei Yuyan counted out 330 coins and handed them to Sister-in-law Xiuhua.
"Sister-in-law, I'm not going to share that. I absolutely cannot accept it. Let's all make money together."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua refused to accept the 330 coins, saying that she had earned so much entirely thanks to her younger brother and sister-in-law's guidance.
"Alright then, I won't share with you this time, but you have to share with me next time you come with me."
Wei Yuyan couldn't refuse her sister-in-law Xiuhua, so she had no choice but to put the money away.
"Of course, I'll be unhappy if you don't share with me next time."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law joked.
"I'm going to buy some meat now, and then I'll be back. You can go too."
Wei Yuyan was going to buy meat to cook at home, and frying the small meatballs would take quite a while.
"Let's go, leaving Brother Lifu here alone."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua handed the silver to Zhang Lifu. She only had a few dozen coins on her to buy meat, as she felt it was unsafe to keep so much money on her.
"He should be here soon too."
The weather has been good lately, and business has been particularly stable. If it rains, we pack fewer items to avoid not being able to sell them.
The two bought meat and walked along the road. Wei Yuyan thought for a moment and then told Sister Xiuhua not to tell Sister Zhang about this.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, don't tell Brother Licai and the others about how we split the money from picking medicinal herbs."
Even though they're all doing work for me, I'm afraid they'll overthink things.
Wei Yuyan thought that if they knew, they would definitely feel resentful. Their wages were already different, and now they were being given preferential treatment.
"Okay, I understand. If she asks me how much the herbs sold for, I'll say I got a few dozen coins."
When Sister-in-law Xiuhua was drying medicinal herbs, Zhang Dasao and her husband saw it, but Sister-in-law Xiuhua said she was drying them for Wei Yuyan.
"Hmm, or maybe next time we can bring Sister-in-law Zhang along and give her some extra help too."
Wei Yuyan knew that Zhang Dasao and his wife were very simple and honest people, and she was willing to help them become rich like herself.
"Well, then our families will all have to become the men who stay at home and the women who work outside."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law wanted all the women to go dig for medicinal herbs to earn money, while the men stayed home to wash clothes, cook, and take care of the children.
"Then Lifu will have to wash your feet every day from now on, right?"
Wei Yuyan joked.
"Yes, that's right."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua laughed when she heard this.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, the rice is almost ripe. When are you planning to harvest yours?"
Sister-in-law Xiuhua had previously planted one mu of double-cropping rice, but it seems she planted the rice earlier than Wei Yuyan.
"Let's start in a couple of days, after the market. What about you?"
Sister-in-law Xiuhua thought that one mu of land would be easy, so she went to sell steamed buns by herself and asked Lifu to call Licai so that they could harvest the crops in less than a day.
"Then I'll be a few days later than you. I'm planning to hire people to do it. You also need to sell steamed buns, so I don't need your help."
Wei Yuyan firmly refused to let them help with the harvest. Last time, they had to run back and forth between the two places and had lost a lot of weight.
"Okay, then you can hire someone to do it. I'll come and help you with the shelling when I have time."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua was thinking that since her sister-in-law was a woman at home all by herself, it would be inconvenient to ask other men to do the work. So she went over to help, and no one would gossip.
"Okay, we're home."
Wei Yuyan nodded, seeing that they were almost at the village entrance.
Back home, Wei Yuyan quickly chopped a pound of pork belly and added cabbage and taro to make it more flavorful and more substantial.
I fried them and then braised them; they were incredibly fragrant. I also stir-fried some water bamboo shoots and sweet potato leaves.
The water bamboo shoots were dug up by the river yesterday; they were especially crisp, just like bamboo shoots.
"Wow, fried meatballs."
As soon as Qianqian saw the meatballs, she was so happy that she immediately ran to the water to wash her hands.
"Eat more, you haven't had meat for several days."
Wei Yuyan put small meatballs into their bowls and watched them eat with relish, which made her feel hungry too.
"Sister-in-law, I'd like to bring a few for Little Fatty to eat later."
As Xiao Lei ate, he suddenly remembered his good friend Xiao Pang.
"Xiao Lei, your sister-in-law has a question for you. Xiao Pang's family is also quite well-off."
I see you often bring him food. Does he ever share his family's good food with you?
Wei Yuyan suddenly remembered that she had never seen Xiao Pang invite Xiao Lei to his house for dinner.
His family can afford to send him to school; their conditions aren't bad. Little Fatty is also tall and big; he doesn't look like someone who doesn't eat well.
Although our family is better off now and we don't need this much, we shouldn't let ourselves be taken advantage of.
"Actually, when our family was struggling to get enough to eat, he often helped me out."
When we were eating cornmeal every day, if his family occasionally had white flour steamed buns, he would secretly hide half of one for me.
He would secretly hide a piece or two of meat for me when there was meat to eat. Later, when our family's conditions improved, the food at his house couldn't compare to ours, so he stopped bringing it with him.
Xiao Lei knew that Xiao Pang's mother didn't want Xiao Pang to have any contact with him.
When her family was poor, she knew that Xiao Pang had helped her, so she scolded him and disliked him even more.
But Xiao Pang still firmly chose to be his friend, and now Xiao Lei often brings Xiao Pang delicious food.
When Little Fatty's mother found out, she no longer objected to the two of them seeing each other, and she even smiled when she saw Little Lei.
"Okay, I understand. You know it yourself."
Wei Yuyan saw that Xiao Lei was smart; he understood these things without her having to tell him.
In the afternoon, whenever Wei Yuyan had time, she would fry the remaining two pounds of pork belly in oil to preserve it.
After frying, it is cooked with dried vegetables and seasoned, and two pounds of pork belly becomes three bowls of braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens.
"Xiao Lei, let's invite Xiao Pang over for dinner tomorrow. There'll be braised pork belly."
Wei Yuyan told Xiao Lei in the evening.
"Thank you, sister-in-law."
Xiao Lei was overjoyed. At noon today, he thought his sister-in-law had something to say about him always bringing food to Xiao Pang, but now it seems she didn't.
"Don't mention it, Qianqian. You probably won't bring your classmates, will you?"
Wei Yuyan thought that Xiaoya's family also had meat to eat, and Jiaojiao had someone bring her food.
Qianqian's mouth was full of food, so she couldn't speak and could only shake her head.
The next day at noon, Wei Yuyan cooked braised pork with preserved mustard greens, as well as scallion pancakes and water cabbage.
At noon, Little Fatty arrived as promised, but he brought something with him.
"Sister-in-law Wu, my mother asked me to bring you lotus roots."
Little Fatty was carrying a vegetable basket containing several plump lotus roots.
"Wow, did you grow these?"
When Wei Yuyan saw the lotus root, her mouth watered. She had wanted to eat it for a long time, but she had heard that no one in the village grew it.
“My maternal grandmother grew a lot of these and sent some over. My mother said I’m always eating at your house, and I feel bad about it.”
Little Fatty put the lotus root on the ground, his attention already drawn to the braised pork with preserved mustard greens on the table.
"Thank you, go eat now."
Wei Yuyan got a bowl and chopsticks for Xiao Pang and told him to serve himself rice, since they were already familiar with the house.
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