Chapter 33 1/2

Shen An looked at the cleared plot and readily agreed, “Sure, but it’ll only be for the next couple of days. My family doesn’t have many pig oil dregs left. But come back tomorrow. You won’t get any today anyway; we’re preparing dinner.”

He knew his wife had said they needed more supplies today. He also wanted to go find some persicaria tomorrow and have his wife take it to the county to sell. Shen Jin lingering around would just be a hindrance.

“Dinner so early?” Shen Jin looked at the sky, muttered to himself, but he had been working for quite some time and was tired. Besides, he had already eaten some pig oil dregs. Since he couldn’t finish clearing another small plot today, he would have to wait until tomorrow to eat again anyway. He patted his buttocks. “Then I’ll come back tomorrow morning.”

He picked up his hoe and left.

Shen Yin and Shen Tie were thinking of clearing a little more, but when they saw their third brother, then their second brother, complaining about the incomplete work today, and that they could still enjoy pig oil dregs because they were obedient, they quickly stopped. They bent down to pick up small pieces of wood, pretending that they had just decided to do so. “Okay, second brother, sister-in-law, we’re going back.”

Seeing Shen An nod and Shen Ning smile, they finally dared to leave, dragging Shen Tie along.

…

Sang Luo was reminded by Shen An’s mention of dinner. She looked at the sky, rolled up the well-woven mat, and went back into the house. She emptied a basket and put a clean, empty clay basin inside, along with the cloth bag used to store grains in the house.

They were out of rice at home, so she had to borrow a stone mortar from the Chen family to grind rice before dinner. She also had to return the liter of rice she owed them from before.

Thinking about the amount of fairy tofu she needed to make tonight, she added the large piece of cloth she had exchanged for at the market a few days ago to the basket. She needed to borrow Chen’s scissors to cut the cloth. She already had needles, so she planned to use the freshly woven hemp thread to finish the edge of the cloth tonight while it was still bright, so she could easily replace the old filter cloth with a large new piece tonight without much effort.

Since she needed to borrow scissors to cut the cloth, Sang Luo decided to rummage through the scraps of cloth she had bought at the county cloth shop earlier. She picked out two pieces of plain-colored but thick and appropriately sized scraps of cloth. She also hurriedly sewed a purse to carry the money. Having too many copper coins in her pocket was inconvenient. She was afraid they might accidentally fall out.

After tidying everything up, she carried the empty basket out. Shen An also thought of going to get some persicaria, so he left Shen Ning to look after the house and hurried out.

The Mrs. Chen couple knew Sang Luo would come to grind rice in the afternoon, so the old man didn’t go out in the afternoon. After a brief conversation with Shen An about the general construction plan, the size, and what they needed to prepare, the old man’s suggestions were pretty much in line with what Mrs. Chen had said. The main materials, wood and yellow clay, were readily available in the mountains. What Sang Luo needed to prepare on her own were straw for making adobe bricks, rice husks for smoothing walls, and reed mats and straw for repairing the roof.

These things didn’t cost much money. The difficult part was the convenient drainage system for the shower room that Sang Luo wanted to build.

With a house made of yellow clay, everything else was fine, but Sang Luo’s requirement for a water-draining system from the inside couldn’t be met. Even if she was willing to spend money to pave the floor with bluestones, if the rammed earth walls and foundation were soaked with water all year round, they would crumble and collapse in a few years.

In the county, they could build brick and tile houses, but the cost was too high. In Sang Luo’s situation, she didn’t want to attract attention, nor did she want to go through the trouble of building a separate bathing room at this time. In the end, she decided that the bathing room would be built with yellow clay, just like the kitchen. They would buy a bathtub and have someone carry and pour water for them, which was a bit troublesome but manageable.

They would also buy a toilet to put in the corner of the bathroom, so their family would have a clean toilet to use.

As for the current makeshift outhouse located some distance from the house on the mountainside, Sang Luo asked Chen Youtian to clean it up, and naturally, all the manure inside was given to the Chen family.

When Chen’s old lady heard this, she gave Sang Luo a look that said, “You’re really a spendthrift woman.” “Don’t you need to grow vegetables? With your mountainous land, if you don’t use manure, what can you grow?”

Thinking about how dirty the toilet was, Sang Luo shook her head vigorously. “No need; I’ll just use some green manure. I’ll use animal manure when we open up more land on the other side of the mountain in the future.”

The old lady didn’t quite believe it anyway, convinced that Sang Luo just found the manure dirty and smelly. She thought to herself that it was no wonder Sang Luo’s previous attempts at growing vegetables failed miserably. She was annoyed. “A farmer who finds manure dirty and smelly, is that reasonable? You’re lucky you have the skill to make fairy tofu; otherwise, you’d be starving.”

She harbored doubts about whether Sang Luo could successfully grow vegetables this time. She didn’t want Sang Luo to waste the few packs of vegetable seeds she had given her, only to end up with nothing to eat. However, since it was someone else’s business after all and Sang Luo had other means of making a living now, the old lady didn’t say much more. Once she confirmed that Sang Luo really didn’t want the manure, she agreed to take care of cleaning the outhouse.

“I’m not taking advantage of you either. You don’t need to look elsewhere for the straw and bran needed to build the house. When the time comes, you can pick up the straw from the haystack at my house. As for the bran, you’ll have to provide a few meals. You’ll probably be able to save quite a bit, and if the bran you’ve saved isn’t enough, you can come to me for the rest; consider it an exchange for the manure.”

Sang Luo finally didn’t have to be pressured by the old lady to use manure in the vegetable garden near the back of the house, and someone would help clean up the outhouse that was pressuring her from just a meter away. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Feeling quite happy, she went home with the pounded rice and cut cloth.

Before the sun set, she would lock the edges and sew them. Not only would she save a lot of effort making fairy tofu tonight, but she also had a money pouch now. As for Shen Ning, she received a large towel.

Yes, the remaining large piece of linen was cut into a relatively square large filter cloth, and the remaining small piece was used as a bath towel.

Bathing while wearing clothes, returning home in wet clothes, and directly changing into dry clothes without even using a towel… Who would understand this kind of life except those who lived it?

This large piece was given to Shen Ning, and she herself and Shen An didn’t miss out either. They each picked two slightly larger pieces from the scraps, which were relatively soft, and each used one.

“In a few days, our family will need to cut more filter cloth. By then, I’ll cut two more pieces, and then each of you will have one.”

Shen An waved his hand repeatedly. “Sister-in-law, I don’t need it; this piece is already great.”

He felt that the piece Sang Luo gave him was already very good and soft to the touch.

Sang Luo looked at the tiny piece and smiled. “You’re quite good at living, as long as you’re happy.”

It was fine for now, but she’d try it in the winter?

But there was no need to say this. She’d change it for him when it got cold. Simple living was also a good virtue.

With a happy mood, knowing they would soon have a kitchen and a small courtyard, the three of them cooked half a pot of white rice porridge for dinner, accompanied by pickled radish skin from noon, cold fern tips, and cold horse tooth amaranth. Each person had a small bamboo tube as a bowl, squatting together to enjoy the dinner.

While eating, Shen An still had a feeling of unreality.

“Sister-in-law, are we really going to build a kitchen and courtyard?”