Chapter 39 3/3

When Mrs. Chen prepared breakfast, she intentionally left some good food for two people. When she saw someone returning, she busied herself reheating and serving it.

Sang Luo stopped her, saying, “Grandma, it’s terribly hot today. Eating something cold would be fine.”

After washing her face and hands with Qin Fangniang, they sat down comfortably to eat. Mrs. Chen sat on the side, taking out the money earned from selling fairy tofu and the extra money from buying vegetables today as a way to settle the accounts.

Sang Luo didn’t accept it, suggesting saving it for buying vegetables the next day.

By this time, the business matters were settled, and Mrs. Chen finally told Sang Luo about the morning’s incident.

Sang Luo was neither surprised nor unsurprised. With the memories of the original owner, she knew a bit about Mrs. Li’s temperament. She didn’t care much about Uncle Shen and Mrs. Li’s reactions; everyone minded their own business. If she had to cater to the thoughts of such unreasonable people, wouldn’t life be too stifling?

She usually avoided trouble, keeping herself healthy. Sang Luo, who had suffered enough from illnesses in her past life, didn’t want to create problems for herself.

She assured Mrs. Chen that she didn’t need to worry, putting Mrs. Chen’s mind at ease.

Without lingering, Sang Luo left after the meal, carrying the newly bought pair of dustpans home. Along the way, she inevitably attracted attention from the villagers. Unlike before, this time, many people greeted her proactively.

They smiled and called her “Mrs. Alei.”

Sang Luo didn’t recognize who they were, but she smiled in response to anyone who greeted her, not wanting to offend anyone.

Upon returning to the thatched cottage, she could see, from a distance, four trees lying on the ground outside the door. The branches and leaves were likely removed in the mountains. Just by looking at the bark, Sang Luo couldn’t recognize the type of tree, but she knew it was thick enough.

Turning to look behind the house, she saw all seven kids there. Due to Mrs. Chen’s words, she glanced at Shen Jin, whose eyes, after a few hours, no longer showed any signs of crying, and he seemed to be enjoying himself digging the ground.

As usual, Shen An and Shen Ning were helping with the chores. When Sang Luo returned to the house, she asked Shen An, “Did you tell your cousins to stop digging here? If not, they might be in trouble when their mother finds out. She won’t hesitate to punish them.”

Shen An made a helpless expression. “I told them this morning, but they didn’t listen.”

Shen An felt he might not have chosen the right time. He had just given them a big piece of braised pork with preserved vegetables. Could that really stop them from coming?

Sang Luo chuckled. “Then let it be.”

After all, they were her own children. Would Mrs. Li really be so ruthless, despite her annoyance?

She decided not to worry about it.

Perhaps because her body was also weak, from dawn until noon, Sang Luo was extremely tired. Seeing that the bamboo basket in the house was full, she pushed aside the wild vegetables on top to reveal the densely packed leaves of the “Fairy Machine” tree underneath.

Feeling relieved, Sang Luo handed the two newly bought dustpans to Shen An. “Clear a small piece of land. Tomorrow we can bring some humus from nearby trees for planting soil, and we can start seeding appropriate vegetables according to the season.”

Shen An looked at the two new bamboo dustpans with great joy and readily agreed, “I’ll prepare enough soil tomorrow and clear a piece of land. I’ll ask Mrs. Chen how to plant whatever we need. Sister-in-law, you’ve worked hard all day. Rest soon.”

His implication was clear: Sang Luo shouldn’t worry about this.

Sang Luo smiled. She indeed needed a nap, even if it was just for a quarter of an hour. It would relieve much of her physical fatigue. She asked Shen An to wake her up in a while, and after having a short rest and digestion, she closed the door and lay down on the bed, closing her eyes to sleep.

With a clear mind and free of distractions, she fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. When Shen An came to wake her up, Sang Luo woke up slightly, feeling much less exhausted.

Looking at the sky, it seemed to be late afternoon, around two o’clock. Sang Luo took out the bag of snake repellent powder given to her by the old lady yesterday and sprinkled some on her pants and socks. Then she tied them tightly with strips of cloth.

She emptied a bamboo basket by moving the leaves of the “Fairy Machine” tree into an empty wooden bucket. She took a sickle and a stone axe, the only two tools available in the house now, and after informing Shen An, she went out into the mountains.

The ingredients for fairy tofu were seasonal, and they wouldn’t be sellable after about a month. She had to go into the mountains to find profitable mountain products.

Seeing Sang Luo leave, Shen Jin approached Shen An again. “Is my sister-in-law going to the mountains to find wild vegetables again? What kind of wild vegetables does she want? I can help pick some.”

 That “sister-in-law” and the overly familiar tone irritated Shen An, who gave him a cold look and pushed away the head that leaned toward him, saying, “Mind your own business.”

Just giving him food wasn’t enough; now he wanted to snatch his sister-in-law away.

Seeing Shen An’s grumpy expression, Shen Jin thought to himself that he was being stingy. Why couldn’t he call his sister-in-law “sister-in-law”? He made such a sour face at just one word.

But he dared not say this aloud. Shen An had saved him most of the braised pork with preserved vegetables that morning, and he remembered that well.

…

Sang Luo was unaware of the petty squabbles between the two kids. With the snake repellent powder given by the old lady, she finally ventured beyond the surrounding mountains today.

She picked up a bamboo branch, removed the leaves and smaller branches, leaving only the main stem, and headed into the mountains. She didn’t linger on the outskirts but headed straight for areas she had never explored before.

There were obviously fewer people walking inside. Initially, there were traces of paths made by others, but as she went further, the vegetation became denser, and it was much more difficult to walk than in the surrounding mountains.

Things would dart past her feet frequently, causing the grass and leaves to rustle wildly. Sometimes she could see it was a two-legged snake; sometimes she couldn’t even make out what it was before it disappeared.

Despite having the snake repellent powder, Sang Luo remained cautious. She slowed her pace, carefully stepping over the grass and leaves beside her before moving forward.

It was indeed challenging to walk, but the resources in such areas were obviously much richer than those regularly frequented for firewood and timber. Especially for someone like Sang Luo, who had spent several years living in the mountains in her past life and had semi-playfully documented mountain life and the local resources on a small website to earn some money, it was like finding treasures all over the mountain.

For example, at this moment, let’s see what good things she has found.

Konjac!

Does Wei Long know? Konjac slices, vegetarian tripe, and Konjac jelly!

Sang Luo’s eyes lit up!

She approached to take a look and confirmed that, even across different times, it was indeed the same species. Looking around, she saw there were two large patches of them as far as her eyes could see.

Now, in the middle of the eighth lunar month, it was almost time for harvesting. However, Sang Luo resisted the urge to pick them up. Firstly, there were too many people and too many prying eyes at home. Secondly, she didn’t have the appropriate tools for harvesting and processing.

To store them properly, they needed to be peeled, cut into pieces, sun-dried, and then ground into powder. If stored correctly, they could last for a year. Sang Luo didn’t think her bamboo knife could handle this task. She decided to wait until tomorrow, borrow a hoe from the Chen family, and borrow a kitchen knife as well.

Finding Konjac put her in a good mood. As she continued deeper into the mountain, her expression relaxed. However, she hadn’t gone far when she seemed to spot something else from afar.

Clearing the grass with her foot and using the sickle to push away the entangled branches, she approached and confirmed she hadn’t seen anything wrong: Chinese dates.

At this time of year, Chinese dates should be ripe. As she got closer, she saw some fully ripe ones fall to the ground, bringing a smile to her face.

That’s it! These were the good things she could bring back today!