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Chapter 49 1/2
The answer came soon enough.
As Sang Lou sat on a low stool in the courtyard, using straw to weave nests for the ducks, she noticed two little figures peeking into the courtyard through the door. When they saw her, they quickly smiled to please her.
“Big Sister-in-law, do you still want the pretty stones?”
It was Shen Tie with a slightly cute childish voice.
Shen Yin disappeared for a moment and soon returned dragging a low dustpan to the door. When Sang Lou walked over to take a look, she saw a shallow layer of dozens of goose eggs inside the dustpan.
“Did you pick these?”
The two little ones nodded in unison. “Do you still want them?”
Sang Lou smiled, “Yes, bring them all into the courtyard.”
She helped lift up the dustpan. Although it wasn’t heavy, it was still a bit cumbersome for the children.
Shen Yin and Shen Tie heard Sang Lou calling them inside, and the two brothers turned to look outside the door.
Sang Lou raised her eyebrows but hadn’t looked outside yet when she heard Hu Zi’s voice from outside, “Shen Jin, are you also delivering stones? Why are you standing outside?”
Shen Jin: …
Sang Lou couldn’t help but smile.
She stepped out of the courtyard and glanced outside. The five children carrying baskets, lifting dustpans, and walking alongside were all there to deliver goose eggs. Shen Jin was standing at the corner outside her courtyard, seeming obedient now.
Hmm, it’s rare that this little troublemaker would feel embarrassed to come into my courtyard? He’s usually quite thick-skinned in front of Shen An and Shen Ning.
Among the five children, Sang Lou recognized Er Niu and Hu Zi, but there were three smaller ones she didn’t know.
Er Niu and Hu Zi were already quite familiar with Sang Lou by now, so they didn’t feel shy. They brought things to the door and greeted Sang Lou with a smile, “Big Sister-in-law, we’ve brought the stones.”
Sang Lou smiled, “Thank you. Come on into the courtyard. How did you all know my family needed stones?”
Hu Zi smiled happily, scratching his head, “We saw Xiao An and An Ning looking for stones in the morning. When we heard that Sister-in-law needed stones to pave the courtyard, we joined in the search. We found some in the morning and these are from the afternoon.”
The little guy was quite familiar, inviting his little brothers to carry things into the courtyard. Then he pointed to the three boys next to him and said, “Big Sister-in-law, this is San Niu, Er Niu’s younger brother. These two little ones are Shitou and Ah Xu, my younger brothers.”
Sang Lou smiled as she listened to his introductions and then asked the older ones, Er Niu, Hu Zi, and Shen Jin, who was standing at the courtyard door, to take the younger ones to wash their hands at the mountain spring.
The three new little ones from the Lu and Shi families didn’t understand, but Er Niu and his friends, who had been helping out here for a while, understood perfectly well. Shen Jin’s ears even twitched happily.
Ah, these kids are so familiar with this routine!
When the big sister-in-law asks you to wash your hands, it usually means there’s food!!!!
Her heart was about to burst with excitement. Where was the timidity from earlier about not daring to enter the courtyard?
The five familiar ones eagerly headed to wash their hands. But they realized something when they arrived at the mountain spring. Wasn’t the spring next to Shen An’s house different now????
There were bamboo pipes added, the water pool was enlarged, and there was even a stone slab where a person could stand comfortably by the water. On the high mud mound next to the water pool, there were many flowers and plants planted.
Of course, these things weren’t important in the eyes of the children. What mattered was the food. After washing their hands quickly, they rushed back.
Just as Shen An and Shen Ning returned with wild vegetables and grass seeds, they saw a group of little friends gathered outside their house.
Sang Lou saw Shen An and Shen Ning coming over, perfect timing. She waved for the little siblings to come over, whispered for them to wash their hands, then went inside to get a few pieces of crystal fruit cakes and gave half a piece to each of the children.
The first thing that crossed Shen An and Shen Ning’s minds was calculating the value of the fruit cakes!
But seeing several baskets and dustpans in the courtyard filled with round and attractive goose eggs, they knew they had been searching for quite a while today too. They knew how difficult it was to find stones that were small, beautiful, round, and similar in size.
Shen An nodded, taking Shen Ning to wash their hands. After briefly meeting their little friends, the two siblings laughed and made faces. Then, they quietly told everyone to wait and returned to their house after washing their hands.
Soon, Sang Lou came out with a few pieces of fruit cake and handed them out to the children.
Sang Lou heard Shen Ning say, “These are called crystal fruit cakes. They cost five cents each in the county, quite valuable. Since there aren’t many, I’ll give each of you half a piece.”
The little ones cheered in excitement. Snacks bought from the county!
Sang Lou glanced over but didn’t pay much attention; she sat down and continued to weave her grass nest.
Weaving a straw duck nest wasn’t complicated. It had two openings, one large and one small, forming a round shape with a bottom and a top. As long as it didn’t get wet in the rain and was lined with soft, dry straw, it was perfect for chicks, ducklings, kittens, or puppies.
The group of kids got their fruit cakes and couldn’t wait to put them in their mouths. Er Niu was the first to thank Sang Lou. The other kids, who had been eagerly eyeing the crystal fruit cakes, also followed suit and thanked her.
Sang Lou smiled and said, “You’re welcome. Enjoy your snacks and go play.”
With that sentence, it was as if they had received permission. They didn’t hold back anymore and took a small bite as soon as they got their hands on them.
Snacks from the county were so delicious that one couldn’t bear to eat them all in one bite. Of course, they had to taste it first.
With that first bite, they realized that the moment of craving wasn’t when their mouths watered the most. It was when they tasted the crystal fruit cake that their mouths flooded with saliva.
“Tangy and sweet!”
“So delicious!”
“Really tasty!”
Shen Tie and the kid named Shitou couldn’t even be bothered to talk. They just swallowed their saliva and took another bite. The youngest one, named Ah Xu, took a small bite, couldn’t resist, and took another one. When there was half of the cake left, he looked at it for a while, reluctant to eat it, and quietly tucked it into the pocket of his coat.
As Sang Lou weaved the grass nest, she occasionally glanced at the satisfied faces of the children eating, and she couldn’t help but smile.
Shen Jin had sharp ears. While eating the crystal fruit cake, he even heard the sound of chickens and ducks from the backyard. He leaned over to Shen An and asked quietly, “Shen An, did your family buy chickens and ducklings?”
Shen An nodded, “Yes, we did.”
Hu Zi interjected, “The chickens were bought by my family, right? I heard Grandma Chen came to our house this morning and asked.”
Shen An replied, “I’m not entirely sure. Grandma Chen helped us find them, I think.”
“Well then, the chickens from my family are very strong and easy to raise.”
Shen Jin looked envious. “That’s great, you have chickens and ducks now. You’ll have eggs to eat in the future, and your sister-in-law always buys you all sorts of delicious things.”
He had never seen snacks from the county before.
Seeing Shen Jin’s expression of regret for not being included, Shen An couldn’t be bothered to respond.
He looked at the stones everyone had brought to the yard. The family’s baskets couldn’t fit any more goose eggs. He poured the goose eggs brought by his little friends into the corners of the yard, one basket at a time. Then he said to them, “Alright, thank you all for today. You’ve been out all day, so go home now. I’ll help my sister-in-law with the chores.”
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Well, the mystery of the “goose eggs” has been solved, lol.
At this point, Shen Jin must be truly wishing he could just live with Sang Luo’s family. Since that can’t happen, though, I’m pretty sure he’ll opt for visiting almost everyday, especially if there’s food, lol.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀