Zhao Xian smiled, told the village head to wait a moment, and went into the room.
A moment later, he came out of the room, holding a scroll in his hand.
This scroll was made last night. If the village head doesn't come today, he's planning to go find him.
At that time, paper had already been invented, but its quality was not very good and it was not widely used. Some characters were engraved on wooden or bamboo slips, and when they were bound together, they became Jian Shu (a type of ancient Chinese writing system).
Some important things were written on silk, which became scrolls.
"Village head, this scroll records the blueprints and construction method of the waterwheel. I am now giving this scroll to you, and you are now authorized to build the waterwheel. You can build the waterwheel with this scroll, and you don't need to ask me anymore."
Upon hearing this, the village headman immediately became excited. At that time, the village headman was equivalent to the village chief and was usually a respected person in the village, but that did not mean that the village headman was very knowledgeable.
It was widely acknowledged that the scholar was highly learned, and the village head, having received the scholar's scroll, had the privilege of making waterwheels, allowing him to manufacture them with confidence and boldness.
The village head bowed deeply to Zhao Xian. The scholar had given him a scroll of silk, which was a great honor. He was determined to do this well and benefit the people.
Just then, Li Chun'e came out of the kitchen and was stunned to see the village head bowing to Zhao Xian.
The official in charge was the highest-ranking official she had ever met. For such a high-ranking official to bow to her son meant that her son held a very high position in the village, which made her very proud.
The village head didn't notice Li Chun'e approaching. He was in a hurry to get back to making the waterwheel, so he and the carpenter quickly left.
At this moment, Zhao Xian suddenly remembered the half bowl of brine salt at home. He quickly threw that stuff away, because if his mother continued to use brine salt to cook, the dishes wouldn't taste good.
"Mother, do we still have the brine at home?"
"I just threw it away. There was a lot of coarse salt left over from making kimchi, which can be used for cooking."
"Just throw it away. I'll buy some fine salt to cook with next time."
“I think coarse salt is quite good. It’s not bitter at all, and using coarse salt to cook will save a lot of money.”
Zhao Xian thought to himself that the coarse salt he bought from the system was better than the refined salt sold by the salt merchants in town.
Soon, the aroma of fish wafted from the kitchen. Zhao Xiaosheng and Zhao Xiaoshan, who were chopping wood at the door, were so tempted that they swallowed hard. They had eaten meat yesterday and fish today; they felt like they were dreaming.
Zhao Lingling had no interest in sorting wild vegetables anymore; she ran into the kitchen.
The ten-pound fish filled a whole pot. Thanks to the seasonings purchased from the system, the fish was delicious and flavorful. Seeing that the sauce had reduced, Li Chun'e began to take the fish out of the pot.
She first filled two bowls, then put the remaining fish pieces into a ceramic basin. After that, she could start making the other dishes.
Zhao Xian asked his younger sister to deliver a bowl of fish to his grandparents first. Zhao Lingling, eager to eat the fish as soon as possible, ran all the way with the bowl in her hand.
The elderly couple lived with their youngest son, Zhao Youcai, who was under forty years old and already had three daughters: Zhao Dani, Zhao Chunhua, and Zhao Xiaomai.
Zhao Dani is sixteen years old this year, which is the age to get married. Chunhua and Xiaomai are fourteen and eleven years old, respectively.
The old lady got angry whenever she saw her three granddaughters. The eldest and second wives had both given birth to boys for the Zhao family, but the third wife had given birth to three girls.
"You useless money-losing girls, you can't do any farm work, you can't even dig up wild vegetables to feed the pigs. I've told you so many times, if there's even a single blade of grass in the pig feed, the pigs won't eat it. I think this pot of pig feed is for you three girls."
As the old lady was cursing, the courtyard gate was pushed open, and a fragrant aroma of fish wafted into the yard.
"Grandpa and Grandma, my older brother caught a big fish, and Mom asked me to bring a bowl over. I'm going home to eat fish now."
Zhao Lingling handed the bowl of fish to the old lady and then ran outside.
The old lady had just said something when Zhao Lingling had already disappeared without a trace.
The aroma of the fish quickly attracted people in the yard, but Zhao Dani didn't come over. She was carefully sorting wild vegetables, preparing to cook another pot of pig feed.
“Mother, I think this is a bit strange. Zhao Xian is just a scholar. How could he catch fish? He wouldn’t even pick up a fish if it were lying on the ground.”
Besides, my second sister-in-law came to borrow flour yesterday but failed. Why would she bring fish today? She never brings anything good; she always saves the best food for the scholar.
The speaker was Wu Guihua, the old lady's third daughter-in-law. She felt that the old lady was very biased, secretly giving all the good food to the scholar's grandson and never giving any to her granddaughters.
"Shut up." The old lady glared at her third daughter-in-law, and Wu immediately shut up. In this family, the old lady had absolute authority.
The old lady looked at Chunhua and Xiaomai, who were drooling, and immediately picked up her bowl.
"When the third brother comes back from his farm work, I'll let each of you have a piece." After saying that, he took the bowl into the kitchen.
Grandpa Zhao sat on a bamboo chair, smoking his pipe. He had eaten fish before, but the fish his second son's wife brought was too fragrant. He had never smelled fish that smelled so good before, and he wanted to try it later.
Zhao Lingling returned home breathless, thinking that she could finally eat fish, but unexpectedly, Li Chun'e handed her another bowl of fish.
"Give this bowl of fish to your eldest uncle," Li Chun'e instructed.
Zhao Lingling was a little annoyed that she had to make another trip, but she still carried the bowl and ran towards her uncle's house.
When Zhao Lingling ran back covered in sweat, the food was already on the table. There was fish, steamed buns, and several vegetarian dishes for lunch. She had never eaten such a meal even during the Chinese New Year.
Zhao Chun'e couldn't help but feel a little sorry for herself after eating so much good food in one meal.
Whenever a family in the village had something good, they would take it to the town to exchange for some coarse grains. With these life-saving items and some wild vegetables, they could get through the famine.
But these past two days, they've been eating whatever good food they can get their hands on without thinking about the consequences. It's like they don't want to live a normal life, but I can't say anything to my eldest son.
Her eldest son cared for her and her younger siblings, which should have been a cause for celebration, but she still felt uneasy.
Seeing that half of the fish pieces in the ceramic basin were gone, Li Chun'e quickly took the rest away. If they kept eating like this, the basin of fish would be finished very soon.
She needs to save some for the next meal; she can't eat it all at once.
Zhao Xian smiled but didn't say anything. Now that he had the market trading system, his family wouldn't go hungry anymore, but he couldn't let anyone know this secret.
"Brother, when can we eat kimchi?" Zhao Lingling finally finished eating and patted her bulging belly.
"It can be eaten in three hours, but to get the best taste from the kimchi, it's best to wait until tomorrow morning."
"Brother, are we making kimchi again tonight?" Zhao Lingling continued to ask.
"Of course we will make it. In three hours, we will be able to taste the kimchi, and we can take it to town to sell tomorrow morning."
Upon hearing this, the group immediately became excited. If they sold kimchi tomorrow, wouldn't they make money?
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