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“Our cassava needs to be taken care of,” said Ye Caiping. “It’ll go bad if we leave it any longer.”
Yan Fang nodded in agreement, thinking about the eight hundred jin of cassava they had at home, her eyes crinkling into a smile.
“With this rough rice and the cassava, we’ll have enough to eat until the New Year. After the wheat harvest, our food supply will be secure.”
The Ye family members all smiled upon hearing this.
Just a month ago, they were worried about food, but now their granaries were overflowing.
All thanks to Ye Caiping!
Old Man Ye looked at Ye Caiping with a face full of admiration. Even Ye Yong, Ye Xuan, and Ye Jinhua had a change of heart towards her.
Du Shi was even more overjoyed because they wouldn’t have to be taken advantage of by Li Zhiyuan’s education anymore.
Their harvest wouldn’t be taken away, leaving them with only a small portion, to feed the bottomless pit that was the Li family.
As long as her younger sister didn’t marry another leech, their lives would only get better.
“Mother, from now on, we shouldn’t mix rice bran in our meals anymore,” Ye Caiping said. “Just cassava or radish, we’ll have enough to eat.”
“Yes, yes.”
The next day.
Although the weather had turned cool, the autumn air was crisp and clear, a perfect time for drying.
Every household was busy drying cassava, creating a festive atmosphere throughout the village.
Early in the morning, Yan Fang went out to borrow a cleaver and a sickle.
Everyone in the village knew that the Ye family still had a lot of cassava to process, and they didn’t feel envious. After all, they had also received a full field of cassava, reaping the benefits in abundance.
Those who were asked readily lent their tools, and some even offered to help.
Yan Fang politely declined, thanking them for their kindness.
With the tools in hand, the Ye family closed their doors and began processing the cassava.
After two days of hard work, they finally sliced all the cassava into pieces, filling six large baskets.
Old Man Ye chose a secluded riverbank and soaked the six baskets of cassava in the water.
Fearing that someone might steal the cassava, he arranged for Ye Erquan and his three grandsons to take turns watching over it. One person during the day, two people at night.
Soon, it was the Ninth Day of the Ninth Lunar Month, the Double Ninth Festival.
On this day, Yan Fang decided to cook a pot of rice with the remaining rice, locking the rest away in the room, saying it would be saved for the New Year.
Ye Caiping didn’t have time to deal with these trivial matters. She was planning to set up a stall tomorrow, so she had to prepare her ingredients today.
After lunch, Ye Caiping took Ye Jin’er to town to buy things.
Only the two of them were on the oxcart.
“Bajin, I need to be in town early tomorrow to set up my stall,” Ye Caiping said to Ye Bajin. “Can you take us to town? I have a lot of stuff, so I need a separate trip. I’ll pay you 20 copper coins for this trip.”
“20 copper coins?” Ye Bajin was so excited he almost stopped the oxcart.
He usually only carried eight or nine people on a trip, and even on the morning trip, it wasn’t always full. Not everyone was willing to spend money on an oxcart ride to town.
Twenty copper coins were equivalent to the fare for ten people!
“Sister Caiping, you don’t need to pay that much. Just pay according to how many of us there are,” Ye Bajin urged.
“No, I have too much stuff, and it takes up space. Besides, I need a separate trip for just us. If someone else wants to get on, I can’t allow it. Twenty copper coins is for a private hire.”
Ye Bajin was so delighted he didn’t know how to respond, stammering, “Well… okay. What time are you leaving tomorrow?”
“We’ll leave as soon as it gets light, around the hour of the rabbit (5 AM). You can wait in front of my house for me. We should be able to get back before noon.”
Ye Bajin calculated in his mind and became even more willing.
If he took Sister Caiping to the town, he could also pick up the morning passengers on the way back, perfectly timing it.
Ye Bajin grinned all the way.
As they passed by Wang Family Village, an auntie and an old man got on the cart.
The woman from Wang Family Village addressed Ye Bajin, “People from Qinghe Village, what’s going on with you lately?”
“I was up in the mountains gathering pig feed, and for several days now I’ve seen young men from your village digging up poisonous roots on our East Mountain! And each time, they avoid eye contact.”
“These poisonous roots are toxic from root to tip. What are you digging them up for? I asked a couple of them, but they wouldn’t answer and just turned and left. It’s really strange.”
Qinghe Village and Wang Family Village are neighbors, one located south of Niutou Mountain, the other to the east.
Qinghe Village’s activities generally focus on the south, while Wang Family Village is to the east.
Besides the cassava forest near Qinghe Village, there are some scattered cassava plants on the mountain.
The people of Qinghe Village already know how to eat cassava, so they’ve been searching all over the mountain for it.
The Wang Family Village woman’s words stumped Ye Bajin.
He stammered, the method for detoxifying the cassava is Ye Caiping’s secret; he can’t decide to tell it.
Furthermore, if he told, wouldn’t the villagers blame him?
Before he could look at Ye Caiping, the old man from Wang Family Village coughed dryly, “They’re digging up the poisonous roots to poison rats; Qinghe Village has had a terrible rat problem lately.”
“Oh, so that’s it. Speaking of which, Sixth Uncle, your granddaughter married into Qinghe Village, right? I saw her back yesterday; she must have mentioned using the roots to poison rats.”
Wang Liuye didn’t answer, his gaze shifting nervously to the trees by the roadside.
Ye Caiping’s eyes flickered, her heart understanding.
Someone from Qinghe Village had already told their family or relatives about the detoxification method.
This Wang Liuye must be one of the first to be told!
Now he’s trying to take advantage of the situation before it spreads, digging up as much cassava as he can. Of course, he won’t tell the village women that cassava is edible.
Soon, they arrived at the town.
After getting off the cart, Ye Caiping and her daughter immediately went to the grain shop.
They bought a pound each of noodles, dried mushrooms, peanuts, dried daylily, bean curd skin, and dried chili peppers.
Next, they went to the butcher shop.
Beef was too rare and expensive, they couldn’t afford it, and there wasn’t anywhere to buy it.
Ye Caiping only bought 5 jin of lean pork as a substitute, and also spent 5 wen(Copper Coins) to buy a whole pig head bone that no one wanted and a large bone that had been cleaned.
Then she bought 30 coarse porcelain bowls of two sizes, as well as two large baskets and two large wooden buckets that were half a person’s height.
The owner of the wooden bucket shop also used hemp rope to tie two shoulder straps to the buckets so that they could be carried on their backs.
The mother and daughter put the ingredients and bowls into the large buckets, each carrying one.
Ye Jin’er asked, “What are we selling? Is it steamed buns, steamed dumplings, or noodles and wontons?”
“None of those. I’ll make them for you tonight, it’s some kind of soup.”
“Then we need to buy some tables and chairs, and bowls and chopsticks. But… how do we wash after the customers have eaten, where do we get water?”
Ye Caiping already had a plan: “We can buy some dry lotus leaves to put underneath, and replace them with a new one after each meal.”
Ye Jin’er’s eyes lit up: “The wonton stall in front does it the same way.”
The mother and daughter bought one hundred dry lotus leaves and then returned to where the ox cart was parked.
Ye Bajin quickly took their large wooden buckets: “If you need to buy large items, why didn’t you tell me, I could have driven the ox cart.”
“Then I won’t be polite, I also need to buy a few tables and chairs.”
“Let’s go!”
Ye Bajin drove the ox cart and finally stopped at the place where furniture was sold.
Ye Caiping bought a long table to hold the seasonings. Then she bought ten small stools and a small square table.
The small square table was detachable. With a simple twist, the four legs could be removed. It could be assembled with ease, making it very convenient.
The tables, chairs, and wooden buckets took up most of the ox cart. When the two from Wang Family Village returned, their faces were black with anger, they could only squeeze themselves onto the edge.
Ye Jin’er took a deep breath, seeing so many things, no wonder her mother had to spend 20 wen to hire a cart.
Note:
Characters
Other Characters:
Heigou – Ate poisonous roots
Heigou’s mother
Doctor Zhao
Zhao Facai – Neighbor
Village Head Ye- Sometime Ye Lizheng (Lizheng is a title that refers to Village Head/Chief)
Ye Bajin – Village Head’s Son
Fubao – Village Head’s Grandson
Tie Niu and Zhuzi – two women who helped Caiping
Ye Bajin – Son of Ye Lijeng
Liu Decai
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Dashu Town
Li Family Village
Wang Family Village – Neighboring Village of Qinghe Village
Niutou Mountain
Great Zhou Dynasty