Chapter 69: Sharing a Pair of Pants

Sang Luo planned well. In the next few days, she would make some hawthorn cakes to sell.

Before going to bed at night, she made fairy tofu. She also processed the hawthorns she had picked in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the rain started pouring heavily in the middle of the night.

Sang Luo woke up from her sleep, first startled, then remembered that the house was well built and the kitchen was large enough. The hawthorn cakes were not like before, left to dry outside, but were now drying in the kitchen. They would be moved to the backyard rack in the morning.

She felt fortunate. If the cakes were left outside on the tree branches like before, the batch made today probably would have been ruined by the rain.

The rain was heavy, and Shen An and Shen Ning woke up as well. Shen Ning rubbed her eyes and was confused for a moment, then realized it was raining outside and immediately became awake.

“Sister-in-law, will the chickens and ducks outside get wet?” She wanted to get out of bed and check outside.

Sang Luo hurriedly stopped her, saying, “Don’t go out now. The roof of the chicken coop is wide enough, covered tightly with banana leaves, and the bottom is elevated with bamboo fencing and straw. Don’t worry, they won’t get wet. But if you catch a cold from getting wet, it’ll be troublesome.”

Shen Ning immediately became obedient upon hearing this.

Getting sick was uncomfortable, and they couldn’t afford to see a doctor. A few years ago in the village, a child disappeared after catching a fever from a cold.

The three of them sat on the bed, unable to fall asleep for a while.

Shen An asked, “Sister-in-law, with such heavy rain, will we still be able to sell tofu tomorrow?”

Although everyone had already given the money, they could have just made the tofu and delivered it. But how would Aunt Arita and the others sell the tofu?

Sang Luo was also worried.

The soybeans had already been soaked, so they couldn’t just leave them. If they soaked for too long, even if they changed the water frequently, the beans would easily spoil.

They could make dried tofu, but that would take more time and effort, and it wouldn’t last long in storage. Plus, they had promised to deliver fifty pieces of tofu to Xu, the shopkeeper, early in the morning.

It was their first business deal, and it was a stable and daily large order. Qin Fangniang shouldn’t miss it.

“Each household should have raincoats. The tofu carrying pole itself has a board to cover it, and the wooden barrels have lids. When loading onto the cart, cover it with something, and it should be fine. It’s just that the road today will be difficult to travel.”

Ten miles away, Sang Luo murmured, “I hope the rain will stop when dawn comes, or at least become lighter.”

Seeing the two children not asleep, Sang Luo told them to stop worrying and rest well.

After about two hours, the even breathing of the two children could be heard from the adjacent bed. It was understandable. These two children were worried about the tax collection yesterday and hadn’t dared to sleep much. They got up early to help grind tofu with her and didn’t rest during the day. How could they not be tired?

The first crow of the rooster sounded. Since waking up to the sound of rain, Sang Luo had been lying in bed with her eyes closed, not sleeping soundly. She got up cautiously without waking the children and went to the kitchen, lighting the oil lamp to start grinding tofu.

She hadn’t been grinding for long when there was a knock on the courtyard door. It sounded like Chen Youtian. Sang Luo rushed to open the courtyard door, holding a piece of wood.

Chen Youtian was worried that Sang Luo might not know about the heavy rain today and came to inform her early. All three families had agreed, so tofu would be made today, and the men would help pull the cart to the gate of the county town.

Sang Luo smiled and said, “We’ve already started. Come a bit later, and you can pick it up at the usual time.”

Chen Youtian was relieved, and without delaying Sang Luo, he went back wearing his raincoat and straw hat.

Back home, Mr. and Mrs. Chen were both awake, along with Mrs. Tian Fangniang, waiting in the main room. When Chen Youtian came in, they all asked how it went.

Chen Youtian said, “We’ve already started. I figured we wouldn’t miss the appointment with Shopkeeper Xu, so we decided to keep our promise.”

As he took off his straw hat and raincoat to hang them on the wall, he added, “Alie’s wife works hard for this little money. It’s barely dawn yet, right? I estimate it’s just past the ugly hour. She’s already busy in the kitchen with the lamp lit.”

In comparison, if it weren’t for weather like rain, they could sleep for an extra hour and a half when they sold their goods.

Mrs. Chen sighed, “Money earned is hard-earned, and it’s not easy.”

It was even harder without men in the household.

She didn’t say the latter part of the sentence.

People’s hearts are biased. At first, when Sang Luo couldn’t stand up for herself, she felt that Sang Luo was dragging down Shen An and Shen Ning. At least, if she hadn’t come, the two children wouldn’t have been separated immediately.

Later, when Sang Luo stood up for herself and treated Shen An and Shen Ning well, Mrs. Chen was happy for them. Dependent on each other, they could survive.

However, as time passed, Mrs. Chen grew closer to Sang Luo. Seeing her being affectionately called “grandma” by Sang Luo, she treated her like a granddaughter. When her son told her that Sang Luo was already busy making tofu in the kitchen, she felt uneasy.

If there was a man in the house, why would a woman need to endure this?

Sang Luo said she was a widow, but she was still a young woman… Mrs. Chen stopped her thoughts abruptly. She didn’t dare to think further.

If she continued to think like this, should she find another husband for her? What about Xiao An and An Ning?

She knew she shouldn’t think about it, but her mind didn’t listen. When she returned to the room and lay down, Mrs. Chen couldn’t sleep peacefully, tossing and turning.

Mr. Chen turned his head to look at his wife and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Mrs. Chen couldn’t say, “It’s nothing, just feeling shallow. Once awake, I can’t sleep anymore. You go ahead and sleep.”

How could she dare to say that she had just entertained the thought of Sang Luo remarrying?

Ah, such thoughts can’t be entertained, can’t be entertained, it’s difficult either way.

…

Sang Luo was completely unaware that Mrs. Chen had lost sleep for her and Shen An and Shen Ning. After making tofu, she handed it over to Chen Youtian and his group, who were braving the rain. Seeing that the two children hadn’t woken up, she didn’t bother making breakfast and went back to bed to catch up on sleep.

She slept until the sun was shining brightly outside. The rain seemed to have stopped. When she turned her head to the side, she saw that the two siblings were already awake.

She got up from under the quilt and walked out. Shen An, standing outside the kitchen, saw her and his eyes lit up. He smiled, “Sister-in-law, you’re up? Aren’t you going to sleep a little longer?”

The two siblings realized they had overslept after getting up. Sneaking into the kitchen quietly, they saw that many of the buckets and basins were missing, and there was a basin of freshly made tofu residue on the table, knowing that their sister-in-law had done all the work overnight.

They felt guilty.

Just yesterday, they said they could help earn money to support the family, but today they overslept.

Sang Luo smiled, “I’m not going back to sleep. Have you both had breakfast?”

Shen An shook his head, “An Ning just finished making it. We’re waiting for Sister-in-law to wake up before eating together.”

Saying that, he turned and went back to the kitchen to fetch a few clean white reed roots for Sang Luo, “Sister-in-law, you freshen up. I’ll go get the porridge ready. We’ll be able to eat soon.”

Sang Luo thanked him, took the white reed roots, and went out. Shen Ning was outside feeding their ducks and chickens. When she saw Sang Luo, she felt a bit embarrassed, “Sister-in-law, Brother and I overslept this morning.”

Sang Luo just smiled and said, “I purposely didn’t wake you up. You both never seem to get enough sleep. If you’re too short, it won’t look good.”

“Huh? Is there really such saying?” Shen Ning widened her eyes, looking serious, “Then Sister-in-law, you should also sleep a bit more.”

Sang Luo: …

A well-placed jab.

The original body was only fifteen years old, well, in a little over two months, she would be sixteen, and she wasn’t really tall. Sang Luo estimated she was at most around 1.58 meters, thanks to the good care she has received since childhood.

Thinking about it, fifteen or sixteen years old is still a time when one can grow taller. With good luck, one could even continue growing for two or three more years.

This made sense. She nodded, “You’re right. Starting today, let’s not wait until dark to make our fairy tofu. We’ll make it earlier. With this weather, I think making it earlier won’t affect its freshness. And we won’t be able to sell fairy tofu for much longer. After selling the last ten days or so, we’ll start going to bed early at night, aiming to get more than four hours of sleep.”

Shen Ning happily nodded in agreement and then earnestly said to Sang Luo, “We’ll go to bed early too. Sister-in-law, when you wake up in the morning, don’t quietly get up. Let Brother and me know so we can get up too. It’s too painful for one person to grind tofu. It hurts the arms too much.”

Who grinds it knows best.

Sang Luo smiled, “Okay, I just saw that you two didn’t sleep well yesterday. I’ll call you from now on.”

In a family, everyone should contribute together. Sang Luo didn’t have the sacrificial spirit of a motherly figure.

Shen Ning smiled with her eyes bent, “Then Sister-in-law, hurry up and freshen up. I made something delicious for breakfast.”

It wasn’t until Sang Luo entered the kitchen that she realized what Shen Ning meant by “something delicious.”

Tofu residue cakes.

“I used some leftover flour from last time and added an egg. I learned from you, Sister-in-law, how to make fried tofu residue balls. This doesn’t use much oil, just a little bit to fry, Sister-in-law, taste it.”

Sang Luo had to admit that Shen Ning, this little girl, indeed had some talent in cooking.

She had only fried tofu residue balls once during a banquet, and Shen Ning wasn’t even present at the time. She just thought they were delicious and asked how they were made afterward. Today, she understood the principle and came up with a different method, making pancakes out of it.

Sang Luo tasted a piece, raised her eyebrows, and gave Shen Ning a thumbs up, “Delicious!”

Shen Ning was elated to receive praise, her face never lost its smile, “Then I’ll make it for Sister-in-law again in the future.”

There was only one small square stool available at the table now, so Sang Luo sat on it while the siblings stood and ate. Even so, they enjoyed their meal.

After breakfast, Sang Luo stood up briefly and took out the pants she hadn’t finished yesterday. In less than half an hour, she finished sewing them and let the little ones try them on.

Shen An happily went into the house and soon came out wearing his new pants. He looked around and couldn’t hide his excitement, “Sister-in-law, these pants fit perfectly. Can I go into the mountains with you today?”

“Sure,” Sang Luo smiled, “I left some room at the bottom of the pants, and they’re double-layered. When you grow taller, we can let them down a bit more. Let’s wait a bit before going into the mountains. I see the sun is coming out. Let’s wait for it to dry up a bit, and the air won’t be so damp. Also, this season is perfect. After the rain, there should be some mushrooms growing in the mountains. Let’s go and see if we can pick some mushrooms later.”

She used to live in the mountains. When the rice was ripe and it rained, you could find a lot of black fungus. They were especially abundant. In her original world, good quality black fungus could sell for quite a price, ranging from thirty to fifty or sixty yuan per kilogram.

She didn’t know if this time and space had this thing. Trees and plants were not much different. Sang Luo felt that there was a good chance they did.

Shen Ning was particularly excited when she heard they were going mushroom picking. Her eyes lit up, but then she remembered she didn’t have long pants to wear and felt disappointed, looking at Shen An expectantly.

Shen An, who had been eagerly waiting to go into the mountains, hesitated when he saw his sister’s pleading eyes.

Seeing his sister’s pleading eyes, he relented. “How about I let you wear these new pants for a day?”

Sang Luo: … ???

Save her, she was grateful that in this time and space, in this era, or rather, in the preceding dynasties, there were already underpants because of horse riding. Although they were very different from modern underwear, they were indeed underpants. Otherwise… the scene was so beautiful, she dared not imagine it.

Moreover, Shen An’s words inexplicably reminded Sang Luo of the past, when poor families shared one pair of pants among brothers because the family only had one pair of pants that could be worn out in public. Whoever went out wore it.

So, was their family now so poor that they had reached the point of sharing one pair of pants as in the stories??

It couldn’t be, really couldn’t be. Shen Ning, the little girl, would just have to wait for the next trip to the mountains!

No, she must strive to get out of poverty quickly!!!