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Song Jingyun had two more bowls of food. That night, as he lay on the bed platform, he found it hard to sleep.
One, because he was full.
Two, because he couldn’t stop thinking about the braised pork.
It was truly delicious, no matter how it was prepared.
Licking his lips, he turned to Jiang Mixia and spoke softly, “Should I go fishing again tomorrow?”
Was this husband of hers addicted to fishing?
Jiang Mixia raised her eyebrows, “We have enough fish at home for a few days. If we catch too much, it might go bad. If we turn it all into salted fish, that’s fine. But with the weather getting hotter, it might not taste good.”
“I don’t want to eat fish,” Song Jingyun shook his head.
“Then what’s your plan?” Jiang Mixia pondered. “To sell them for money?”
“Yeah, to buy pork,” Song Jingyun replied honestly. “I want to stew braised pork to eat.”
Alright, he was craving braised pork.
But it wasn’t entirely Song Jingyun’s fault for craving it. If possible, she would also want to eat braised pork often.
“It’s still some time before the next market. The fish we catch will have to be preserved, and selling it later won’t be as fresh. Besides, selling fish today wasn’t smooth. Even selling to Fuyun Restaurant was just a stroke of luck and not a long-term plan. Relying solely on this probably won’t make much money,” Jiang Mixia said. “We need to think of a different approach.”
“Do you have a plan?” Song Jingyun asked.
“Let me think about it, and then we can try it out to see if it’s feasible,” Jiang Mixia replied, stifling a yawn. “But for now, I need to sleep.”
Working from sunrise to sunset meant rising early, and with the sun rising early, she, too, had to rise early. Jiang Mixia was truly exhausted, her eyelids fighting to stay open.
Without sufficient sleep, her brain simply wouldn’t function.
“Okay,” Song Jingyun lay back down.
However, his eyes blinked for a while before finally closing.
After finishing breakfast, Jiang Mixia saw Jiang Youcheng starting to weave baskets and approached him. “Dad, although the woven baskets made from the reeds sell well, the selling price isn’t high. We work hard for several days and don’t earn much. Since you have this skill, why don’t we try making something else?”
“What do you have in mind?” Jiang Youcheng, using all his strength, was bending the reeds into basket bottoms in a circular pit on the ground.
“How about trying to weave some bamboo baskets?” Jiang Mixia suggested. “The bamboo baskets sold in town are much smaller than our reed baskets, yet they are not cheap. They sell for thirty coins each. Even a small bamboo needlework basket costs ten to twenty coins. It’s less strenuous to weave one large bamboo basket than a reed one.”
“There’s a large bamboo forest at the foot of the mountain behind the village, and the bamboo there is easy to cut. We can go and cut some bamboo, split it into strips, and weave some fine items. We could earn more money that way,” she proposed.
Jiang Youcheng paused, looking hesitant. “It sounds good, but I’ve been weaving reed baskets for years. It’s a coarse craft. I’m afraid I can’t weave something so delicate.”
Could he really excel at such a skilled task?
This response was expected by Jiang Mixia.
After doing the same work for so long, it’s natural to become habituated to it and refrain from trying anything else. At the same time, a strong sense of self-doubt can develop due to one’s circumstances.
Especially in such a strictly hierarchical era, rigid adherence to traditions has deeply rooted itself, causing many to lose the ability and willingness to attempt and break through.
“Your reed baskets are woven so well, you certainly have a skillful hand. I believe you could easily handle this. Let’s give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, we can reconsider,” Jiang Mixia smiled. “Besides, weaving reed baskets is labor-intensive. Many times, we want to help you, but we can’t. We can learn to split bamboo strips and weave them. We can also learn the craft of basket weaving from you. In the future, the whole family can join in. It will definitely ease the workload.”
“If it doesn’t work out, Dad, you can continue weaving the reed baskets, and I can take Jingyun to cut bamboo at the back. When we return, we can give it a try. If it works out, we’ll continue. How does that sound?”
Yesterday, Jiang Mixia had also surveyed the market in town, considering her own situation. She didn’t have any remarkable skills that could surpass those of the locals in this era. However, being a modern person, she had a flexible mindset. She felt that the path to prosperity could begin by combining and modifying the skills currently possessed by the family.
“I think our daughter is right. Let’s give it a try. If it works out, great. If not, there’s no loss. It’s just a bit of extra work for us. Are we, as farmers, afraid of a little extra work?” Liu Shi chimed in.
With the conversation having reached this point, Jiang Youcheng didn’t want to disappoint his daughter and simply nodded. “Alright, let’s give it a try.”
“In that case, I’ll go with Jingyun to cut the bamboo,” Jiang Mixia said, fetching a machete and two sturdy hemp ropes to tie the bamboo.
Her daughter was strong, and her mind was clear. The mountain behind the village wasn’t far, and they could easily cut a couple of bamboo poles and return. Liu Shi still cautioned them, “Cut a few poles and come back. Don’t get greedy or venture too far. There are many wild things in the mountains, so be careful.”
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Jiang Mixia nodded repeatedly, leading Song Jingyun out of the door.
The mountain behind the village was at the northernmost edge, not too far away, just about half an hour’s walk.
Speaking of the mountain, it stood out quite distinctly. The neighboring mountains generally sloped gradually outwards from their bases, becoming rugged and difficult to traverse a few miles away. However, this particular mountain seemed to rise abruptly like a spring shoot from the ground, surrounded by flat land until it suddenly soared at its base.
Stretching northward, it connected with several other peaks, some tall, some short, forming a continuous range. It was said to be home to various birds and animals, and there were individuals from nearby villages who made a living by hunting in the mountains.
Due to the steep terrain and rugged paths in the mountains, it was largely unexplored, and people usually ventured there in pairs to avoid any mishaps.
However, Jiang Mixia and Song Jingyun were only gathering bamboo along the periphery, not venturing deeper into the mountains, so there was no need to worry about safety issues.
Wild bamboo, unattended and unrestricted, had grown extensively outward from the base, densely reaching high into the sky, obscuring the sun from below.
Jiang Mixia found several thick and straight bamboo poles and began to work with her machete. Song Jingyun, also armed with a machete, imitated Jiang Mixia’s actions, striking at the base of the bamboo in front of him.
“Thud!”
The force of the blow left Song Jingyun’s hands numb, and the machete lodged deep into the bamboo, requiring significant effort to pull it out.
Another strike, and the same result followed.