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Sun Ergou had inquired and found out that one day’s worth of food cost five coins. A single meal amounted to about one and a half coins.
Considering the richness of the meals, Sun Ergou felt a bit guilty about the low cost.
Forget about the meat; just the scallion oil pancakes and porridge alone would cost more than one and a half coins.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Sun Ergou refrained from picking up the meat and eggs with his chopsticks, silently enjoying a few bites of the cold bamboo shoots salad.
Since the bamboo shoots were likely grown in their garden, they probably didn’t add extra expenses, helping to save a bit.
The Jiang family could see and likely understood Sun Ergou’s reasons for his restrained behavior.
Jiang Youcheng handed Sun Ergou two large pieces of pig head meat, saying, “Eat, don’t be shy.”
“Uncle Cheng, I…” Sun Ergou felt a bit embarrassed.
“Eat more. You need to be strong to help us watch over the workshop. If someone tries to cause trouble at night, how can you handle it if you’re weak like a bean sprout?” Jiang Youcheng said. “This meal costs just a few coins. If you do your work well, you’ll help our family earn more money.”
Sun Ergou agreed with Jiang Youcheng’s reasoning and started eating the pig head meat in his bowl.
Surprisingly, the pig head meat tasted delicious, with a hint of sweetness. Sun Ergou squinted his eyes in enjoyment.
After spending a few days at the workshop, Sun Ergou became more familiar with the various tasks. From cleaning the workshop yard and making tea to assisting with loading and unloading goods and running errands for the workshop assistants, he handled everything well.
The workshop staff’s impressions of Sun Ergou improved, and even the entire village began to see him in a new light.
“Has Ergou eaten?”
“Ergou, take a moment to go to the workshop and tell Banggu to have lunch at his uncle’s place since no one is home.”
“Ergou, I can’t reach that. Can you climb the tree and get my cat down for me?”
“Ergou…”
Sun Ergou’s smile grew wider.
Sun Zhuzi visited Sun Ergou daily, noticing he had visibly gained some weight. Sun Zhuzi jokingly said, “The food at the workshop seems too good. Maybe I should go cry to Sister Xia and ask her to let me work at the workshop too?”
“Come on now,” Sun Ergou playfully punched Sun Zhuzi.
Given Sun Zhuzi’s well-off family background and being the only child, it was unlikely he would be allowed to work at the workshop in Jiang’s village.
Sun Ergou knew Sun Zhuzi was just joking.
Sun Zhuzi chuckled and then asked Sun Ergou, “You’ve been at the workshop for so many days. Do you need to go back home and inform uncle and aunt?”
“There’s nothing much to say. There are no secrets within these villages, my parents probably already know. They’re probably quite pleased right now,” Sun Ergou replied with a smirk.
Not having to rely on his family for food was indeed a significant advantage.
Sun Zhuzi, aware of Sun Ergou’s family situation, didn’t press further and instead chatted about other things until it grew dark, then headed back to Sun Ergou’s village.
After dinner, Sun Ergou tidied up and went back to the workshop. He made sure everything was secure, locked all the doors of the workshop and its buildings before finally feeling at ease to return to his room and sleep.
Under the moonlight, with stars scattered sparsely, the night was alive with the high and low chirping of summer insects and the fluttering of birds.
Sun Ergou groggily got out of bed.
The hot weather and the long conversation with Sun Zhuzi in the afternoon, then after that they had fried sauce noodles for dinner.
Liu shi, being warm-hearted, served him generously, and Sun Ergou ended up having two bowls. By bedtime, feeling a bit thirsty, he drank a large jug of cold water.
As a result, his stomach was uncomfortable, forcing him to get up during the night.
Awoken by the urge to urinate, Sun Ergou, feeling somewhat helpless, didn’t bother with the light. Instead, guided by the dim moonlight, he went outside to the corner of the yard where the outdoor toilet was located.
Upon entering the outdoor toilet, Sun Ergou heard faint rustling sounds.
Subsequently, he noticed a shadow descending from the wall.
A thief?
Sun Ergou was instantly wide awake, forgetting about his own needs, and cautiously left the toilet to investigate.
The shadow skulked around the yard before heading towards the largest storage shed.
A real thief!
It was audacious for someone to be stealing at this hour!
Sun Ergou, previously engaged in petty theft himself, now found a thief targeting him, which infuriated him.
However, upon further thought, he felt something was off.
This was a bamboo weaving workshop, with the storage shed housing various bamboo baskets and containers.
While some of the waterproof styles were relatively valuable, they were still just bamboo products. The most expensive one would only be worth a couple of hundred coins, and they were large and heavy.
Even if the thief managed to steal a few, the shed was locked every day, making it challenging for an ordinary person to access.
Yet, the figure headed straight for the storage shed…
If it wasn’t a thief, then perhaps they were here to cause damage!
As Sun Ergou pondered, he saw the shadow take something out of their pocket.
Moments later, he noticed a faint red glow.
A matchstick!
They were indeed here to set a fire!
Sun Ergou quickly grabbed a piece of bamboo nearby and a half-finished bamboo basket from the yard. Carefully, he approached the shadow. When he reached behind the figure, he swiftly placed the bamboo basket over their head and struck their knee with the bamboo stick.
Caught off guard, the shadow winced in pain, their knee giving way as they knelt to the ground.
Seizing the opportunity, Sun Ergou swung the bamboo stick at the shadow while yelling at the top of his lungs, “Help! There’s a flood at the workshop, a flood!”
In the dead of night, if someone were to shout “Thief,” others might be confused about whether to intervene. But if it was about a flood, it was a different story.
In rural areas where households were close-knit and stored grains, with farmland nearby, a flood could spell disaster for a family or even the entire village.
True to his expectations, Sun Ergou’s cries of “flood” not only brought Jiang Mixia and her family rushing over but also prompted many others to grab buckets and basins and hurry to the scene.
Frantically asking, “Where’s the flood? Where’s the flood?”
“It was nearly flooding, but I managed to stop it in time,” Sun Ergou gasped, halting his actions.
It was then that everyone noticed a person curled up on the ground in front of Sun Ergou.