Chapter 20

The pottery basin, the same kind as the one at the Chen family’s house, cost thirty-six wen each at the general store. Sang Luo haggled with the shopkeeper, finally getting him to agree to reduce the price by two wen.

Sang Luo bought one pottery basin and two and a half liters of grain. Just a moment ago, she was worried about the weight of the fifty-two copper coins in her pocket, but now they were all spent, leaving her with nothing.

However, when she held the newly bought pottery basin and the grain inside it, the feeling of regret disappeared, replaced by a sense of satisfaction.

Finally, there’s food and some household items.

Shen An and Shen Ning also came over, touching the pottery basin and the grain inside it, feeling extremely satisfied.

“Big sister-in-law, let me hold it.”

“No, I want to hold it!”

The siblings argued over who would hold the pottery basin.

Seeing this, Chen Youtian’s heavy expression softened slightly. “Isn’t it heavy to carry all the way? Put it in the bucket; it’s easier to carry.”

But Shen An shook his head repeatedly, laughing foolishly. “Uncle Arita, it’s not heavy. If I can’t carry it later, then you can help me.”

Shen Ning chimed in, “Me too, me too. If the second brother can’t carry it, I’ll help. Second brother, let’s take turns carrying it.”

The siblings had already decided who would carry the pottery basin first and who would carry it later.

Sang Luo watched with amusement and let them be. As she held the pottery basin filled with rice, her gaze fell on the butcher’s shop across the street.

It seemed like it had been a long time since the original owner had tasted meat. Just thinking about it made Sang Luo’s stomach churn with an intense craving.

Sang Luo thought about the single jar of salt seasoning in the thatched hut. Just looking at the butcher’s shop made her uncontrollably salivate.

It seemed that the original owner hadn’t tasted meat since fleeing the famine. Just thinking about it made her stomach churn uncomfortably.

Tomorrow, she must find a way to earn more money.

With this in mind, Sang Luo asked Chen Youtian, “Uncle Youtian, doesn’t the butcher’s shop sell meat on market days?”

Chen Youtian, upon hearing her question, subconsciously looked over and saw Sang Luo staring at the butcher’s shop, her eyes practically turning green with longing.

He hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Yes, with dozens of villages around, this is the only butcher’s shop. They sell meat every day.”

As the siblings, carrying the pottery basin filled with rice, listened to their big sister-in-law’s inquiry about the butcher’s shop, their attention finally shifted from the newly acquired household items and grain to the butcher’s shop across the street.

“Gurgle,” they both audibly swallowed saliva.

“Big sister-in-law, do we still have money?” The siblings didn’t understand the value of money, but they knew that the pottery basin and the grain they were carrying were quite expensive.

Sang Luo shook her head decisively. “No, but we can earn more.”

Shen An seemed a bit dazed. He looked at the butcher’s shop, then lowered his head to look at the grain he was holding, swallowing saliva twice before saying, “Big sister-in-law, meat is expensive. If we have more money later, let’s buy more grain.”

He was truly starving.

After days of eating nothing but bran and husks, he had had enough. Only grain could give him a sense of security.

But meat… Just thinking about eating meat made his mouth water uncontrollably, and he couldn’t even swallow properly. The feeling of craving mixed with hunger made him feel anxious and desperate.

Shen An uncomfortably averted his gaze, fixing it on the grain inside the pottery basin. He repeated to himself in his mind: Grain is good; grain is the best; there’s nothing better than grain!

Shen Ning was even worse than her elder brother; her gaze stuck on the meat on display across the street, unable to move. She swallowed saliva several times.

Sang Luo patted the siblings gently. “We’ll buy more grain and eat meat slowly. Don’t rush. Eating meat too quickly isn’t good. We’ll buy some fatty meat later to render oil.”

Living on vegetables alone for years without any oil would have taken its toll on their bodies. Just by looking at their dry and rough hair, Sang Luo could tell.

“Let’s go. When I earn more money next time, we’ll buy meat. By then, I’ll make you some fried oil cake.”

Just when Chen Youtian thought Sang Luo was being a bit too extravagant about buying meat, he saw the three people looking thin and emaciated, and he realized he had misunderstood.

Yes, after Shen Lie left for military service, the lives of these two children visibly worsened compared to before. This year, without Shen Lie and with the two children being separated from Sang Luo, their situation was probably even worse—they probably couldn’t even afford oil anymore.

Watching the two children walking on either side of Sang Luo, one drooling while chatting happily with their elder sister-in-law, and the other smiling and nodding at them, Chen Youtian responded with a grunt and quietly followed behind, carrying the load.

As they walked, memories of his eldest son, who, like Shen Lie, had been conscripted to the front lines and never returned, resurfaced. He had thought it had been a long, long time since he dared to think about it, but in that moment, the sadness that had been suppressed and concealed suddenly burst forth like a breached dam, overwhelming him.

Walking a few steps with the load, he quickly lifted the hand that had been resting on the shoulder pole, pressing the palm against his eye socket. It took him a while to suppress the surge of pain, and when his vision cleared, he continued forward.

…

Approaching Shili Village, it was already mid-morning, with a bit more to go before reaching the village entrance, but Sang Luo halted her steps.

She pointed to a small path leading into the mountains beside them. “Uncle Arita, I’ll take this path back. Let’s part ways here. Thank you for today. Please take the bucket back by yourself, and I’ll send the other clay pot to your home later.”

Chen Youtian was momentarily puzzled, thinking the mountain path would make the journey longer, but soon realized something and nodded. “Alright.”

Setting down the bucket he was carrying, he took out the large wooden spoon and a few bamboo tubes Sang Luo had brought herself and handed them to her. Then they parted ways, each heading in a different direction.

Shen Ning was a bit puzzled. When Chen Youtian had walked a bit farther away, she whispered, “Elder sister-in-law, why are we taking the mountain path?”

Sang Luo glanced at her without answering, instead asking Shen An, “What do you think, Xiao An?”

Shen Ning turned to look at her elder brother.

Shen An looked at the clay pot in his arms and replied, “Doesn’t the elder sister-in-law want the villagers to see that we have money to buy grain?”

Sang Luo smiled at his cleverness.

Shen An only needed to see his elder sister-in-law’s reaction to know he was right. Being just a child, he couldn’t help but burst into a smile.

Though Shen Ning wasn’t as observant and thoughtful as Shen An, she wasn’t foolish either, especially since her elder brother had reminded her of this just the day before. Looking around, she lowered her voice and said, “Elder sister-in-law, we shouldn’t let the villagers know that we’re making money selling fairy tofu, right?”

This kid is quite clever.

Sang Luo found it amusing, pinching Shen Ning’s nose. “Very clever!”

She picked up a branch from the roadside to beat the grass, leading the siblings along the mountain path as she said, “Our home is too small, without even a courtyard wall. We should avoid drawing attention if possible.”

Hearing this, the smiles on the siblings’ faces gradually turned into expressions of concern.

Seeing this, Sang Luo found it somewhat amusing and comforted them, saying, “But there’s no need to worry too much. Our village has few people, and not many go to the market. It’s only held every five days, so it’s not so easy to bump into others. And even if we do, it’s not a big deal. They won’t figure things out quickly, but being watched by others is always troublesome. We’ll have to be discreet in our actions from now on, then things won’t be as easy as they are now.”

The worry on the siblings’ faces eased a bit, and they nodded in unison, “We’ll be careful, elder sister-in-law.”

As they walked along the mountain path, Sang Luo picked up some leaves whenever they passed by a fairy tree.

Seeing Sang Luo collecting leaves, Shen An looked around and found a spot to set down the clay pot he had been carrying all along. He and his sister then helped gather leaves, asking curiously, “Are we going to eat these for lunch?”

Sang Luo shook her head, “We just had breakfast. We can’t rely on these for every meal. For lunch, we’ll cook sorrel porridge.”

With their current living standard, they couldn’t afford to eat white rice, but drinking some porridge was acceptable.

Shen Ning glanced at the basket Sang Luo had put on the ground and asked tentatively, “Elder sister-in-law, can we have stewed eggplant?”

Though the siblings had eaten eggplant before, it had been months ago. Eggplants weren’t rare; every household in Shili Village grew them. However, they didn’t have any themselves.

Now that they had eggplants at home, they naturally felt a bit greedy.

Sang Luo smiled at Shen Ning, “Are you craving eggplant, Aning?”

Shen Ning nodded vigorously, “It’s been so long since I’ve had it. Stewed eggplant is delicious.”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but swallow saliva.

Seeing her reaction, Sang Luo chuckled and said, “I’m craving it too. But stewed eggplant is only delicious when it’s cooked with oil and sauce. Without them, it’s just boiled eggplant in water. If we eat it like that, it would be a waste of these eggplants.”

“So let’s not have eggplant today.”

Seeing the visible disappointment on Shen Ning’s face, Sang Luo smiled and continued, “When I buy some meat, we’ll render the fat and cut some lean meat into minced meat. We’ll stew the eggplant with the minced meat, and we can also add some shredded perilla or mint leaves. I guarantee you’ll find it so delicious you’ll want to swallow your tongue.”

Shen An and Shen Ning were already salivating just from hearing about it.

As the weather was hot, dishes couldn’t be kept for too long. Would my elder sister-in-law be buying meat in the next few days?

The siblings exchanged a glance, neither daring to ask, afraid they might misinterpret or put pressure on Sang Luo.

Shen An changed the subject, “Elder sister-in-law, what are we gathering these leaves for?”

Seeing the expressions on the siblings’ faces, Sang Luo didn’t say anything, simply answering Shen An’s question with a smile, “We’ll use them to make some fairy tofu, which we’ll give to your grandparents at Chen’s house in the evening as a thank-you for Youtian’s help today. We shouldn’t let him do all that work for us for nothing.”

The siblings nodded repeatedly. If it weren’t for Grandma Chen lending them the pot and bucket, they wouldn’t have been able to handle things today. They wouldn’t have earned enough to buy a clay pot, two liters of grain, and also eggs, burlap, and several vegetables.

Thinking of vegetables naturally led them to think of the minced meat eggplant that Sang Luo had just mentioned. Their mouths started watering again, and their cravings surged.

Seeing them so excited, Sang Luo didn’t tease them further and said, “Moreover, we’ll go to the market again tomorrow. We’ll see if we can earn enough to buy meat.”

The siblings almost simultaneously looked up at Sang Luo, their eyes shining brightly. Shen Ning suppressed her joy and said, “But tomorrow isn’t market day, elder sister-in-law.”

Sang Luo nodded, “That’s why we won’t make too much. We’ll make twelve pieces, pack them in a clay pot, carry them in a basket, and sell them in Sanli Village. We’ll earn money for buying meat and sauce.”

“I see, just like peddlers!” Shen An’s voice was filled with excitement. Sanli Village was much richer than their village. Today, so many pieces of tofu sold out within an hour, and many people still didn’t know about this thing.

Shen An felt that even if it wasn’t market day, they could still sell out.

Thinking of this, he started picking leaves faster, discussing with Sang Luo, “Elder sister-in-law, why don’t we make a little more, like sixteen pieces? Just enough for two clay pots. You can carry one, and An Ning and I can carry the other. We’ll take turns like we did today!”

To earn money to buy meat, oh, Shen Ning nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes, I can carry it.”

Seeing the shining eyes of the two siblings, Sang Luo looked at the earthen pots they had carried back all the way today. These two kids were even more capable than she had imagined.

Sang Luo raised her eyebrows. Perhaps… it could work?

If the two kids really couldn’t carry it, she could carry one of the clay pots for a while.

So she nodded.

The two children almost jumped for joy, but they remembered what Sang Luo had told them: to keep quiet about making money. Suppressing their desire to cheer, they happily jumped in place.

Shen Ning approached Sang Luo, feeling a strong desire to be close to her elder sister-in-law.

The elder sister-in-law was really great!