Chapter 36

The family enjoyed a satisfying lunch.

It was both painful and satisfying.

The pain came from how much oil Jiāng Wǎn had used while frying the pancakes and stir-frying the food. The satisfaction came from how good the food actually tasted.

Yīn Huaishan and his wife had come to trust her cooking skills, but they didn’t dare let her back into the kitchen too easily. After the meal, they noticed that the oil jar had visibly lost a significant amount of oil.

Seeing how concerned her uncle and aunt were, Jiāng Wǎn felt that she probably wouldn’t be able to cook freely until she and her mother started preparing meals on their own.

In the evening, the mother and daughter returned early to their small stone house. With the sky still somewhat bright, Jiāng Wǎn took a small stick and began learning characters from her mother.

Whether her writing was good or not didn’t matter; the key was to recognize the characters. No matter the era, knowing how to read and write was essential.

Tonight, she learned twenty characters, which was her limit for the day.

The characters here had so many strokes, making it really difficult to remember them.

“Mother, luckily you still have some memory from when you were young. Otherwise, we would really be in the dark,” Jiāng Wǎn said.

“It’s okay, as long as we’re together, we’re not afraid of anything,” Yīn Huaixi said confidently. Over the past few days, she had been gathering herbs from the mountains in her spare time and selling some, saving a little money. Once her daughter’s business took off, she planned to open a small pharmacy in the village, taking on a few apprentices to pass on her medical skills.

“Ugh… You don’t like learning medicine. It’s hard to find a good apprentice, and it’s giving me a headache just thinking about it.”

“Hehe, Mother, I really can’t learn it. We’re not familiar with this place yet, but once we are, I’ll help you find some good apprentices. I promise I’ll find you a good one.”

“Alright, I’m waiting for your good apprentice,” Yīn Huaixi said, laughing. She didn’t take it too seriously, but little did she know, her daughter would later indeed find one for her.

They slept soundly that night. The next morning, the mother and daughter planned to wake up early to help with the cooking, but when they woke up, they found the sky dark and rainy, with a steady downpour outside.

This was the first rain since they had come to this world. Without straw hats or raincoats, they couldn’t even leave the house.

Jiāng Wǎn had been hoping to gather more conchs when the tide receded, but now that was impossible. According to modern weather standards, it was a moderate rain, and going to the seaside to gather shellfish was out of the question. She couldn’t even go to her uncle’s house.

After all, she had only just recovered from an illness and couldn’t be exposed to wind or rain.

“Mother, it seems we need to buy a small stove for the house. That way, on rainy days, we can cook something ourselves,” Jiāng Wǎn suggested.

“Alright, I’ll go to the city to buy one once the rain stops,” Yīn Huaixi replied.

She also thought about buying a few washbasins and cabinets. As the weather got hotter, even after bathing at her mother’s house, they would still end up sweating through the night. Having a basin at home would make it easier to wash up and get ready in the mornings.

As for the cabinets, the house was too small, and they couldn’t leave food on the bed. A cabinet would be very necessary.

Sighing, she thought the house was still too small. Maybe they could ask the village chief for a piece of land and build two rooms?

Before she could discuss this with her daughter, she suddenly saw someone running down the road carrying a bundle of large brown leaves.

“Big Brother!” she called out, quickly stepping aside to let him through, but her big brother didn’t come in.

“I’m all wet from the rain, so I won’t come in. Here are the eggs and corn porridge that your sister-in-law made for you and Wanwan. Eat them first, and if the rain stops, you can head over. If it’s still raining, I’ll come by at noon.”

Yīn Huaishan said as he placed the basket inside the house and turned to leave.

Yīn Huaixi noticed that although her big brother’s pants were clean, his clothes were covered in moss and mud, suggesting that he had been on the roof of the house, possibly fixing a leak.

Looking back at their sturdy little stone house, she suddenly felt that it was actually quite nice. No matter the wind or rain, they had nothing to fear.

“Wanwan, come and eat!”

The thick corn porridge with fragrant eggs was a rare breakfast in the village.

Sòng Wénhuì, their aunt, often reminded her younger sister that good health was essential, and once you’re healthy, you can do anything. She had been nagging her to take care of her health before worrying about anything else. Plus, most of the family’s money came from her younger sister and niece, so that’s why she made this meal.

Only Jiāng Wǎn and her mother ate this good meal. In the yard of the other family, the three of them didn’t have boiled eggs, and the corn porridge was just a watery broth. The sound of raindrops leaking into the house made it feel even more desolate.

Since it was raining, there was no work to be done. Yīn Huaixi and her daughter took the time to thoroughly clean the house, wiping down the places where the rainwater had collected.

By noon, the rain had lessened a little. Yīn Huaixi went alone to her brother’s house to return the earthen jar and basket. She was surprised to find the old village chief there.

Seeing the beads of rain on Yīn Huaixi’s head, the village chief frowned and repeated his earlier advice.

“You shouldn’t think that because the rain has lessened, it’s going to stop. This is just the beginning. It’s going to get heavier over the next couple of days, so it’s best not to go out.”

As he spoke, he heard the sound of rain dripping inside the house and seemed a little helpless.

“Old Yú’s house is old, and if the rain gets heavy, it could be dangerous. You should go to the little stone house to stay for now, and we’ll wait until the rain stops.”

The old village chief was just giving a reminder. After saying that, he left for the next house. The remaining four family members stared at each other for a while, without speaking.

“Big Brother, since the village chief said so, I think we should take advantage of the break in the rain and head over to the little stone house,” Yīn Huaixi said.

The little stone house was small, but it was enough for her, her sister-in-law, and her niece to sleep in. The only problem was that her big brother might have to sit by the door.

Yīn Huaishan immediately shook his head and refused.

He was a man, how could he share a room with his sister and niece?

“Your sister-in-law and A Ning can go; someone needs to stay at home. It’s just a little rain; it’s fine,” Yīn Huaishan insisted.

Yīn Huaixi wanted to convince him further, but her big brother was determined to stay at home. In the end, she had no choice but to take her sister-in-law and niece back to the little stone house.

Before they left, the two women boiled all the remaining eggs at home, leaving a few behind while taking the rest to the little stone house in case the rain got worse and they couldn’t make a fire to cook.

Luckily, they had boiled the eggs, or else the family would have gone hungry for the next two days.

As the old village chief had said, the rain was only temporarily lighter for a short while, and then it got heavier, falling in sheets as if the whole sky was covered with a curtain of rain. Even with a raincoat and a straw hat, a few steps outside would leave you drenched.

Fishing boats were docked, and the sea-gathering stopped. No one in the village was moving.

The heavy rain lasted for two days, and only on the third day did it start to ease up.

Sòng Wénhuì, worried about her husband, wanted to go back and check on him as soon as the rain lightened. Yīn Huaixi was also concerned, so she reminded the two girls to lock the door before heading out with her sister-in-law to check on her big brother.

Not far from home, the two women froze in their tracks. They saw that the earthen wall of the yard had collapsed, and one of the rooms had lost an entire wall.

Sòng Wénhuì’s face turned pale in an instant.