Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Lingzhi, take this money, and when you get married...
Sun thought about this decision for two days.
She and Xiao Dashi have been arguing about this matter these past two days. Xiao Dashi said that Lin Qiuran should give birth to the child. Xiao Xun is already dead, and it is not easy for him to leave behind a descendant. He can abort the child. This is God's will. He has hands and feet, so it is not a problem for him to raise his grandson.
Sun was naturally willing to give birth to the child, but Lin Qiuran had only been married for a little over two months and now he was gone. How would she live in the future? The child had a good temper, and besides, giving birth was like walking through the gates of hell for a woman. If something happened, Sun would really be unbearable.
Even though Xiao Xun was gone, they still had to live a good life. She was forty-two, and Xiao Dashi was forty-three. If they really gave birth to a child, even if they died early, they would still miss the child in the afterlife. So Sun and Xiao Dashi discussed adopting Lin Qiuran as their daughter and arranging for her to remarry. They didn't ask for anything else, just that she come back to visit them once a year and be with them until their death.
Xiao Dashi lowered his head and said nothing. Finally, he nodded, and that was how it was done.
Lin Qiuran was stunned. She thought Sun was going to tell her to give birth to the child. She was wondering how to refuse, but she didn't expect to hear this.
Xiao Dashi remained silent, so Sun continued, "Over the past few decades, our family has saved over seven taels of silver. We gave you two taels as a betrothal gift, and spent some on the wedding banquet. Now we have five taels left. We'll use two taels to buy you a dowry, and leave the rest for us two old folks to live on in our old age. What do you think?"
Lin Qiuran nodded, "Dad and Mom, since I'm married into the Xiao family, you two will always be my parents."
Sun wiped her tears again and said, "You are a good wife and a good child. It is Xiao Xun who is unlucky."
Death is like the extinguishing of a light; there's nothing that can be done about it. Lin Qiuran offered a few words of comfort, and the two of them returned to their rooms. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her original dowry wasn't much, and if the Xiao family gave her a dowry, it would definitely be better than marrying off from her parents' side. From Liu's tone, it seemed her original sister-in-law wasn't easy to get along with.
If only she could leave the child behind and stay in the Xiao family, that would be fine. Sun was kind-hearted, and being the daughter of the Xiao family would definitely be a good choice. Making money anywhere was fine, but if she wanted to keep the child, she had to keep it.
No way, no way.
The next day, Sun and Xiao Dashi went to the fields.
Death is like the extinguishing of a light, but life must go on. Sun had been so busy grieving for the past two days that she hadn't even gone to work. It was summer now, and the fields needed to be weeded regularly, otherwise the crops wouldn't grow tall.
The Xiao family had three mu of land where they planted rice. After breakfast, the two of them went to the fields. Lin Qiuran stayed at home. She got up later, so there was rice left in the pot for her, three eggs.
She thought that after she didn't want the child, Sun would no longer care about her and would not eat meat every day, but she was still the same as before.
She planned to cook some food for the two of them at noon. She looked around and saw that the two chickens at home had finished eating, but there was still some rice and flour in the grain jar, and there were vegetables in the vegetable garden in the backyard. With a general idea in her mind, Lin Qiuran went to pick vegetables.
She didn't know much about Xiaojia Village, but it was surrounded by mountains. It had been hot these days, but the climate was still suitable because of the mountains. However, she didn't know whether it was located in the south or the north.
The Xiao family's vegetable garden is at the back, surrounded by a fence. The garden is very tidy. Sun is a person who lives a good life.
Lin Qiuran picked a small pumpkin, a bunch of green onions, and a few peppers. Then he went to the well to wash and pick vegetables. Now that he had to eat and use the Xiao family's food, he certainly couldn't just eat and not work.
While washing the vegetables, she glanced at her belly. This child was quite tough. The original body fainted for a whole day due to the shock, but this child was fine.
Near noon, Sun was rushing back from the fields. On the way, she met many women who were delivering food to the fields. The others looked at her but didn't dare to speak to her. It was an aunt who had a good relationship with the Xiao family who spoke up, "How are you going back?"
Sun said, "I'll go back and take a look."
In fact, she went back to cook, but others would definitely say that her daughter-in-law didn't care about anything at home. For a daughter in the village, getting pregnant and giving birth is not a big deal, but Sun was reluctant to let her do it and would rather do it herself.
But as soon as she entered the house, she smelled a fragrance and saw smoke coming out of the Xiao family's chimney.
Lin Qiuran prepared the meal, but she didn't know where the Xiao family's land was. Fortunately, Sun came back and said, "Mom, I made lunch."
Sun sniffed and felt deeply moved. If only Xiao Xun hadn't left, what else could she expect with such a wife?
Sun wiped her eyes, turned away and said, "You're not feeling well, so just lie down at home. Why would you do this?"
Lin Qiuran said, "I have nothing to do anyway, so I made some pumpkin pancakes and fried some pumpkin. You and Dad can try some."
The Xiao family eats three meals a day: thin porridge in the morning, two kinds of flour pancakes or two kinds of rice at noon, mostly mixed with potato rice and potato flour, and still thin porridge in the evening.
But Lin Qiuran had been eating well these past few days, with white rice and stewed chicken for lunch and dinner, and eggs for breakfast. She didn't want to just eat and not work, and cooking wouldn't be tiring.
Sun smiled. "Okay, next time you can eat it right after it's cooked. I'll put it in the pot and take it to your father. Just leave the bowl in the pot. I'll come back and wash it." Sun quickly left with the meal, and Lin Qiuran sat down to eat. She had eaten three eggs that morning, so she wasn't really hungry yet. Pumpkin pancakes are made with pumpkin flour and eggs. Grate the pumpkin and mix it together to adjust the flavor. The fried pumpkin pancakes are crispy, tender, and fragrant.
The fried pumpkin contained bacon, which was hung from the beams of the house. She sliced the bacon and stir-fried it to release the oil, then took it out and stir-fried it with minced garlic and chili peppers. She then stir-fried the pumpkin and bacon together. It smelled spicy and went very well with rice.
This is a seasonal dish. The pumpkin cannot be eaten if it is a little older. As long as you still have the cooking skills, you will definitely not starve to death in the future.
Meanwhile, Sun was carrying a bamboo basket filled with rice back to the fields. When someone looked at her along the way, she would say it was cooked by her daughter-in-law.
There's been a lot of gossip going on these days about the Xiao family. Some say they're unlucky, others say Lin Qiuran is a jinx, and if that's true, then wouldn't they be jinxes for children? Besides, even the horoscopes were compared before the marriage was even discussed, and that's just gossip.
If she shows people that Lin Qiuran can cook now, it will be easier for her to remarry in the future.
When they got to the field, Xiao Dashi was still wondering why Sun had come so quickly. Sun said, "Qiu Ran made lunch, come and eat."
The two of them hadn't eaten much in the past two days, feeling uncomfortable and unable to eat at all. But when Sun took away the gauze covering the rice, Xiao Dashi couldn't help swallowing. He hadn't eaten anything in the past two days, and his stomach was flat for two days. This meal looked good.
Sun handed over a pair of chopsticks and said, "Eat quickly. We still have to weed after we finish eating."
Xiao Dashi nodded and took a piece of pumpkin pie. It was crispy and salty, with a nice aroma. The fried pumpkin was even better, with bacon inside. As he ate, he couldn't help crying. If his son were still alive and his daughter-in-law was filial, what else could he ask for?
Seeing him like this, Sun felt bad too. "Don't think about it anymore. I'll build a cenotaph for Xiao Xun in a few days and invite the villagers to come."
Xiao Dashi wiped his eyes and nodded.
The food was delicious, but they both had no taste. After Sun finished eating, she washed the bowl by the well, and the two of them cut grass for another half day. After the sun went down and everyone else in the fields had left, they headed back.
The Xiao family's land was far away, next to a forest. To get back home, one had to go through the woods. It was dark in the ground, so Sun walked carefully. As she walked, she tugged at Xiao Dashi's sleeve and asked, "Dad, what do you think that is?"
Xiao Dashi looked in the direction he was looking and saw something that looked like a mushroom, orange-red in color. Sun ran over to take a look and saw that it seemed to be a Ganoderma lucidum.
Ganoderma lucidum does grow on the mountains near Xiaojia Village, and there are herbalists who specialize in collecting it. Xiao Xun had seen people collecting it when he was hunting before, but it is difficult to find. Scarcity makes things valuable, and if you really collect it, you can sell it for a high price.
Sun found the basket she brought for lunch, picked the Ganoderma lucidum and wrapped it in cloth. It was a good thing.
The old couple felt nervous and looked around to see that there was no one around, so they quickly ran home.
Lin Qiuran cooked porridge with sweet potatoes and rice in the evening. He didn't cook any dishes, but made some pickles.
Sun cooked two more eggs for Lin Qiuran. She quickly finished eating and showed Lin Qiuran the Ganoderma lucidum covered with a white cloth. "Qiuran, your father and I picked it up on the road."
Lin Qiuran took a look at it in the candlelight. The umbrella cover was reddish-brown, semi-circular, and very smooth on the surface. It was about the size of her hand and didn't look real.
Lin Qiuran asked, "Is this Ganoderma lucidum?"
Sun said, "It's next to a tree on the road. I saw it from a distance. I'll sell it tomorrow."
Xiao Dashi coughed twice. Sun turned around and saw that Xiao Dashi had been winking at her.
Lin Qiuran also saw it, she lowered her head and said, "Mom, it's getting late, I'm going back to the house first."
In fact, she knew without Xiao Dashi making any gesture that these were picked up by the Sun family and had nothing to do with her.
Seeing Lin Qiuran return to the house, Sun glared at Xiao Dashi and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Xiao Dashi said in a muffled voice: "Why are you saying this?"
They are all going to abort the child and remarry, so what does it have to do with Guan Lin Qiuran? We must always be on guard against others.
Sun said, "Why can't I tell you? When Qiuran gets married, she'll be marrying off to the Xiao family. We have no children, and if we're not kind to Qiuran, she won't have anyone to see her off in her later years. I'll sell this thing tomorrow and give the money to Qiuran as a dowry!"
*
The next day, when Lin Qiuran woke up, there were still three eggs in the pot. She sighed softly. She planned to wait for someone from her parents' home to come and talk to Liu about remarrying in the Xiao family.
To be fair, Sun has a very good personality, but it's a pity...
At noon, Sun came back from outside and Lin Qiuran had also prepared the meal. Today he made eggplant with green peppers. The eggplants were steamed and the peppers were roasted over fire. After the skin was roasted into tiger skin shape, it was torn into strips and finally mixed together with the eggplant. There were not many seasonings. Lin Qiuran used minced garlic and chili peppers and simply adjusted the taste at the end.
The staple food was pancakes made of sweet potato flour and white flour, but she didn't know where the two had gone, so she could only wait at home.
Sun came back in a hurry and closed the door when she got home.
Sun: "Qiuran, Lingzhi mother was sold yesterday for ten taels of silver. Take this money, and your life will be easier when you get married."
The author has something to say:
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Cub: I brought rations [starry eyes]
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