Chapter 59 2/2

When he went back, he told his own parents and wife about this: “The Sang family is really something. She even knows how to read and write. She had me help make a sandbox for the two children to learn their characters. Xiao An and An Ning are really lucky. Not only is their courtyard nice, but she also laid a stone path and even decorated it with flowers.”

Mr. Chen, Mrs. Chen, Qin Fangniang, Chen Ershan, and the little maid: ??

How do you arrange flowers on the road?

Of course, they didn’t forget about the main business. As they were leaving, Sang Luo asked Chen Youtian if he wanted to carry a burden and sell tofu in the surrounding villages.

Originally, the business at the market was for Mrs. Chen, but since the big market only happened every five days, Sang Luo tried it herself these past few days and found that selling tofu in the village was also feasible. It could bring back some beans in exchange.

Sang Luo’s idea was that even if they brought back beans, it didn’t matter. Soybeans could be exchanged for tofu with her. If there were too many, she could even buy them.

If she bought all the soybeans exchanged for tofu from a dozen or so villages, it wouldn’t be too much. Making tofu would consume most of them.

When Mrs. Chen heard this, she happily slapped her thigh: “Of course, it’s fine. When it’s busy on the farm, I’ll go, and when it’s idle, you go. Our family is starting to earn a living in two ways.”

The old lady spun around happily at home: “How can I thank her?”

The old lady felt that the luckiest thing in her life might have been when she helped Sang escape starvation by delivering two liters of rice and two blocks of malt sugar in the middle of the night.

…

The next day when Qin Fangniang went to pick up the goods, she saw it in a faint light.

So that’s how they arrange flowers.

The women from the three families went together, of course, along with Chen Youtian. Qin Fangniang and Chen Youtian went to the county with the shelf cart Chen Youtian had. The three of them walked together. As for Chen Youtian, he was also there to pick up the goods. He had told Sang Luo yesterday what he needed, and today he brought the linen cloth his mother had cut, which was today’s payment for the goods.

The Gan family only knew that the Chen family had two stalls.Chen Youtian did business in the surrounding villages. They envied this but also knew it couldn’t be compared. They vaguely heard that Sang had almost starved to death. It was the old lady who saved her life by sending sugar and grain up the mountain in the middle of the night.

That kind of bond can’t be compared.

Before the Gan family and Feng Liuniang left, they told Sang Luo that they would decide on tomorrow’s tofu after today’s return from the county. Sang Luo naturally had no objections. As long as she had enough time to pick the leaves of the immortal tree, soybeans were currently enough. She decided to order the portions of Qin Fangniang and Chen Youtian this afternoon as well.

…

Just as dawn broke, the little maid also came to the small courtyard, looking for Shen Ning.

Staring at the goose egg stone path in the courtyard for a while, she exclaimed, “So that’s how they arrange flowers.”

Shen Ning also liked the stone path laid out by their family’s efforts: “Isn’t it beautiful? My sister-in-law taught us. When it rains, walking on this path into the house, our shoes won’t get dirty easily. We’re also planning to lay a path from the courtyard to the water pit outside.”

The little maid was extremely envious: “Beautiful! And you’re planning another one. Do you have enough of those beautiful stones? Let me help you find them.”

But Shen Ning shook her head: “The ones outside the gate don’t need to be so small and pretty. My sister-in-law said it’s okay to pick slightly larger ones, any shape will do as long as one side is flat. When we piece them together into a path, it will still look very nice.”

Exquisite has its own beauty, and simplicity has its own mood.

Well, Shen Ning didn’t quite understand this sentence, but as long as it looked good, it was fine.

“Does your sister-in-law still teach you to recognize words? What words do you recognize?”

“Names, mine and my second brother’s. The word ‘Chen’ is too difficult, but I already know ‘Ning.'”

As she said that, she eagerly led the little maid to the courtyard, took out her small sandbox, and drew a crooked ‘Ning’ character with a tree branch.

Although the little maid didn’t know what the use of recognizing words was, seeing her friend so happy, she also envied her from the bottom of her heart: “I don’t know how to write my name.”

Shen Ning thought for a moment: “When I learn to write my name, I’ll ask my sister-in-law to teach me how to write your name next time. Then I’ll teach you.”

“Okay, okay.” The little maid was very happy: “Then I’ll help you pick stones.”

“Large chunks, plenty everywhere.

As the two little girls chatted, Shen Ning remembered something and asked the little maid curiously, ‘Have you seen Shen Jin recently?’

It’s been a few days since they visited our house, which is unlike Shen Jin’s temperament.’

The little maid nodded in response to the question, ‘Yes, I have. Except for Shen Tie staying home to take care of Tian Ya’er, both Shen Jin and Shen Yin have been sent to the fields to work.’

The little maid leaned in closer to Shen Ning and whispered, ‘On the day we had a feast at your place, Shen Jin got beaten up when he went back. Although it seemed like just a couple of hits, I heard it. The next day, he was chased to work in the fields.’

Shen Ning didn’t know why her third uncle and aunt beat someone this time, but since the little girl started living a good life, she no longer had to endure her third uncle and aunt’s temperaments. Being busy every day, she had long stopped caring.

As for Shen Jin working in the fields, well, it’s not surprising. He and his second brother have been assigned various chores since they were seven.

Shen Ning didn’t think much about it.

As the two continued chatting, Shen Ning watered the plants and moved her beloved sandbox back. Then, she took the little maid to pick wild vegetables to feed the chickens.

The little maid wondered, ‘Didn’t you see your second brother?’

Shen Ning closed the courtyard door and replied, ‘He’s busy.’

As for what he’s busy with, she didn’t mention a word.

What’s he busy with? He’s behind the courtyard door, drying hawthorn cakes.

In the backyard, Shen An and Sang Luo were also drying things. They had placed a few large round winnowing baskets on raised stones on the ground. Hearing the sound of the courtyard door closing, Shen An said, ‘Sister-in-law, we need to buy a few more winnowing baskets. These aren’t enough; we can’t make too many at once.’

He glanced at the size of their backyard and said, ‘We need four; if we fully utilize the backyard, we can dry four at once.’

Sang Luo smiled, ‘Four won’t be enough. Let’s make some racks and stack them; we can fit over a dozen that way.’

‘What kind of racks?’

Sang Luo roughly gestured, ‘Let’s think about it later.’

Four won’t be enough; she still needs to store dried konjac.

Konjac isn’t something you can only make immediately after digging it up; you can also cut it into pieces and dry it. Dried konjac can be stored for a long time, and when you want to make konjac tofu, you just need to grind it into powder with a stone mill, and you can use it directly.”

“Once all the hawthorn cakes were dried, they carried a pottery basin out, closed the door to the backyard, and after washing the basin, the couple started piling up a bunch of wood in the yard, two novice carpenters huddling together to figure out how to build a rack.