Lu Yu was also surprised. However, Qin Xiaozhou was eating and drinking well in the county town, but only brought back a few meat buns to appease them. There was still a child under one year old at home. How could she eat and drink so comfortably? So she whispered, "These were sold by my nephew. His wife doesn't seem like a good person."
"No wonder." Zhao Fen's face darkened. Marrying a bad wife ruins three generations. How unlucky their family was to marry such a selfish shrew. "Sigh, it's all my fault for being in poor health. It has prevented Dayun from getting married and also caused you to be jilted."
Lu Yu shook her head, unable to offer any words of comfort. She would be seventeen in a few months, and if she wasn't married by eighteen, she would be forced into an arranged marriage by the government. Who knew who she would be paired with? Five years ago, Cuihua, the daughter of Grandma Ajin, was married off to a widower. That man beat her every day and wouldn't even let her come back for the New Year. The last time she saw her was during the Mid-Autumn Festival last year. Cuihua couldn't take the beatings anymore and ran back from the man's house, skin and bones, her head cracked open, her face covered in blood, and bruises and pinch marks on her arms and neck.
If I were to marry someone like that...
Lu Yu lowered her head; she would rather die! She'd rather drown herself or hang herself.
Qin Xiaozhou rummaged through the dusty earthenware pot in the corner of the kitchen, washed it clean, took out a large bone and put it in the mud stove in the kitchen to simmer. He cut the meat in half, setting aside the part to eat that night, and poked a hole in the other two pieces with a knife, threaded palm leaves through them and hung them under the eaves. The weather was still cold, so they wouldn't spoil if left overnight and eaten the next day.
She lit a fire in the stove, washed the large pot and put a ladle of water in it, cut the oil frying pan into small pieces and put it in to render oil. There wasn't much water left in the water tank, so she took advantage of the break while the oil was rendering in the large pot to go to the back of the house to fetch water.
The aroma of pork bones wafted out, surprising Lu Yu and Zhao Fen. After exchanging bewildered glances, they came out of the house to see what was going on. They saw pork bones simmering in the stove, the water bubbling and the aroma of meat filling the air. Both of them couldn't help but swallow their saliva. They also noticed that oil was being rendered in a large pot, and the kitchen cabinet was filled with rice and flour.
Zhao Fen's eyes widened. "What? Why is there so much rice, flour, and meat?"
How much money did this cost?! The Lu family hasn't had this much stuff in over a year.
Zhao Fen then wondered where the money to buy these things came from. The bamboo shoots dug yesterday and Da Yun's baskets should not be enough to buy these things. Moreover, in the past two years, in order to pay for their medical treatment and support the whole family on her own, she has been extremely frugal and would definitely not be willing to buy so many nice things. Da Yun is very frugal, so where did the money come from?
"Red dates! Brown sugar!!" Lu Yu exclaimed in surprise as she took two packages out of the cabinet. "They weigh several pounds, and there are peanuts too."
Zhao Fen rushed over to see what was going on and was also stunned. Rice and flour could be a luxury, after all, there was so much that it could last for more than a month if we were careful with our diet, but brown sugar was a luxury item. Two pounds of meat could buy one pound of brown sugar. "Where did Dayun get the money? Could he have done something bad?"
The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. She put the child in Lu Yu's arms and was about to go to the bamboo forest behind to look for someone when Qin Xiaozhou came back carrying water and poured it into the vat. She casually said, "Refine the oil in the pot and keep an eye on the fire."
She couldn't bring herself to call her "mother".
Zhao Fen was extremely anxious and flustered. She mustered up her courage and asked, "Xiao Zhou, did you buy red dates and brown sugar?"
Qin Xiaozhou wanted to take a bath tonight, so she picked up a bucket and fetched some water while she was at it. "It's for replenishing qi and blood, and the peanuts are too."
Where did the money come from?
"I earned it." Qin Xiaozhou didn't take it seriously. Then she realized that Zhao Fen might have misunderstood where the money came from, so she patiently explained about the recipe. However, she didn't say how much money she had earned. "Don't worry, the money came from honest and upright sources."
Zhao Fen's anxiety finally eased a little, but she still needed to find an opportunity to quietly ask her eldest son to confirm.
Lu Yan and Lu Yunxing returned carrying bamboo shoots. They could smell the aroma of meat from afar. Lu Yan sniffed and her mouth automatically produced saliva. "Second brother, whose family is stewing meat? It smells so good!"
She wanted to eat it too.
Lu Yunxing lowered his head in shame. He was fourteen years old and still staying at home, not earning a single penny. "I'll go to the city to find work tomorrow."
Even if it's only twenty coins a day, it's enough to feed my younger siblings meat twice a month. The more I think about it, the more feasible this idea seems. "I'll ask Brother Sanshu tonight. Now that the New Year is over, there's no work in the fields. He might have to go to the county town to find work."
People from the village who go to the county town to find work all go to the docks to carry heavy loads. There are two large docks on the east and west sides of the county town. I heard that business was very good more than ten years ago. In the past few years, there have been two consecutive years of severe drought, which has affected all areas and made life difficult for every family. More and more people are going to the docks to find work, but there are very few docks hiring. Before, carrying heavy loads would earn 30 coins a day, then 25 coins, and now I heard that it only earns a little over 20 coins.
People who haven't been to school can't find other jobs and can only work hard at the docks or build houses and move timber for others, which are all exhausting jobs. However, when the crops in the fields in the countryside wither and the harvest is bad, it's good enough to have any work at all, so they have no right to be picky.
Lu Yan naturally knew the situation in the county town and the hardships of being alone away from home. Her second brother was only fourteen years old and thin; how could he possibly carry such a heavy load? But she couldn't bring herself to stop him, because if they didn't have enough money, her mother and younger brother wouldn't be able to afford medicine and might die.
My younger brother is weak and he's almost a year old. He can't sit up or crawl, and everyone in the village says he won't survive. My mother holds him every day, afraid that he'll die in the blink of an eye.
As they entered the courtyard, the aroma of meat became even stronger. Ah Jin ran over from next door and clung to the fence, drooling, "I want to eat meat! I want to eat meat!"
Grandma Ajin chased after him, trying to pull her grandson back. Ajin, six years old and sturdy, was like a little cannonball, knocking his grandmother to the ground. He ran into the Lu family's kitchen, reaching out to lift the lid of the ceramic pot, shouting, "I want to eat meat! Big bones!"
He originally had an older sister and a younger sister. His older sister was sold last spring, and his younger sister was sold in winter. Now, Ajin is the family's darling. They give him all the good food. He has a domineering personality!
Ah Jin got burned and cried loudly!
Lu Yu couldn't stop him, and Lu Yunxing hurriedly put down his basket and ran inside, "Ah Jin, Ah Jin, the kitchen is dangerous, let me help you rinse your fingers with cold water!"
"No, no, I want to eat meat!"
Grandma Ajin rushed in and saw her beloved grandson crying. Her heart ached terribly, and she picked him up to comfort him. "The Lu family's child is burned! How did you manage to watch the stove?"
Ajin wouldn't listen at all and struggled to eat meat. Ajin couldn't be held by its mother and was hit several times.
Grandma Ajin then discovered that the Lu family not only had big bones stewing in the clay stove, but also oil rendering in a large pot. The pot was almost full of oil, fragrant and shiny. Not to mention the children, even the adults couldn't help but swallow their saliva. Her eyes darted around and she said, "You didn't watch the stove properly and burned my precious grandson. You have to compensate me. Give my grandson a bowl of meat as an apology!"
Lu Yan and Lu Yunxing also discovered what was in the kitchen and were immediately surprised.
Lu Yu was holding her breath, her eyes red. She was quietly tending the fire and mending clothes in the kitchen when A Jin rushed in and lifted the lid, burning herself and then blaming it on their family. How could there be such an unreasonable person!
"He burned himself, what does it have to do with our family?"
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