CH 8

Chapter 8 –Trip To The City (1)

Auntie Fu is an unscrupulous and unreasonable person who is greedy and petty.  Although her bags look heavy, they are very light.  She does the laundry for the people in the city but is too lazy to do it herself, so she collects them every three days and sends them to the village.  After the laundry is washed and starched, it would be sent back to the city.  After getting paid, she will then collect the next batch of laundry.

However, she never touches the clothes she brings back to the village as they are all handed to her two daughters-in-law.  She is only responsible for collecting the money and checking the clothes to ensure they are clean.

Auntie Fu had often said that she was here to enjoy life.  In her early years, her parents-in-law were gentle and soft-spoken and did not control her much.  She gave birth to three sons and two daughters and when her eldest daughter reached the age of 13, she matchmade for her daughter and married her off.  Her two eldest sons also married young and her youngest daughter, Little Mo’er is only 12 years old now, but she is not in a hurry to marry her off yet.  Since she has daughters-in-law it is enough for her to put on the airs of a mother-in-law.

Because she was used to being the only powerful figure at home, she also acted aggressively outside her home and everyone in the area within the ten-mile radius knew about this shrew.

Uncle Niu could only feel anger in his heart.  He could not reason with her since it was not right to delay the other people going to the city just because of her alone.

Fortunately, there were not many people taking the cart this time.  Since everyone was from the same village and knew each other well, they ignored her display of arrogance.  Otherwise, no one would be able to tolerate her unreasonable temperament.

The ox cart was carrying about 7 to 8 people and except for one man who was accompanying his wife, the rest of the people were children and women who could not walk far or it was inconvenient for them to walk.  In fact, the load was not heavy and when Uncle Niu shouted a command, the four-wheeled ox cart started to move.

The ox cart was very fast and took about an hour or so to arrive at the city gate.  The gray and white city walls stood majestically in front of them.

“For those who want to take my cart back to the village, we will meet at the city gate in two hours.  We won’t wait for those who are late.”

It would be better to ferry another batch of villagers on the return journey home than to go back with an empty cart.

The ox cart would stay for a few hours and there was a shed for the ox cart to park which was located next to the city gate.  The fee was 2 coins a day and if he could ferry 15 people a day with 10 adults in the group, his income for the day would be 25 coins.  After deducting the fodder and rent, he could earn around 500 to 600 coins per month which was more lucrative than farming.

Uncle Niu’s family had a few acres of land that his son and daughter-in-law were taking care of and it was up to them whether the income earned was good or bad.  Every day he drove his ox cart happily and could earn up to 7 to 8 taels of silver a year!

“Grandpa, see you later.”

Shuangming, who felt that he had already grown up, took the initiative to jump down from the cart first before helping his younger sister to climb down the cart.  Then he lifted his hand to wave at the old man.

“See you later, Grandpa.”   Shuangzhen also waved at the old man.

“Bye, bye, Grandpa.”  Little Sister Yue’s saliva kept dripping.

At the age of one, she should be able to speak properly but she was too lazy to speak and would rather not say a word if possible.

Upon seeing the children acting familiar with him and calling him ‘grandpa’, Uncle Niu was so happy that he smiled and promised to buy candy flowers for them to eat.

Before Li Jing’er came out early in the morning, she had taken a few mouthfuls of porridge.  Now she felt hungry and it was not only her but the children also appeared to be lethargic.  She lifted the basket onto her back but was not in a hurry to sell the contents.  She looked around at the nearby stalls and then walked towards one of the stalls that had several pots of boiling soup.

“Boss, give me two bowls of wonton soup, a large bowl of wonton noodles sprinkled with peppercorns…….sprinkle a bit more, and then give me three empty bowls.”

The stall’s business was very good.  After Li Jin’ger shouted her order, she had to wait for quite a while before the food was served.  The soup was very hot so she scooped out the wontons one by one and put them into an empty bowl to let them cool down.  In this way, the children could eat the wontons and drink the soup without getting burned.

Then from her bowl, she picked up some noodles and put them into the bowls of the two older children.  Eating wontons alone was not enough to fill their tummies, they needed to eat some noodles as well.

“Mother, you can eat this.  I can’t finish this much.”

Knowing that his mother has a big appetite and is good at eating, he was afraid his mother would go hungry, so he pushed the noodles back to her.

“Eat……eating more will help you grow tall.  Don’t you want to grow up quickly to protect your mother and sisters?’

Li Jing’er used chopsticks to break up the wontons that had cooled down into halves and then fed the small pieces to the youngest child.

Little Sister Yue did not know how to use chopsticks yet and could only use a spoon to scoop up rice.  As a result, she would usually end up with bits of rice sticking to her face.

“But Mother will be hungry.”  He did not want his mother to be hungry.

Li Jing’er gently tugged at his ears and opened her purse to show him the 50 copper coins inside.

“Mother still has money and I’ll buy meat buns if I’m hungry.”

He grinned when he saw the jingling coins.

“Alright, Mother will eat meat buns and Shuangming will eat wontons and noodles.  Soon I will grow taller than Mother.”

“Yes, grow up quickly!  Then Mother need not have to worry about chopping firewood.”

She hated the task of chopping wood the most.  It was very strenuous and every time after chopping the wood, her arms would feel so sore and painful that she could not even lift them.

In the mountains, there would be an endless supply of dead branches and fallen leaves everywhere.  At normal times, it was enough to use them for cooking but during winter, the weather would be so cold that people could only shiver.  Using the branches for burning would only sustain the fire for a while and they would all be burnt up very quickly.  Since the branches could not keep the fire going for a long time, it was necessary to add branches to the fire continuously.  As a result, she could not rest well at night with the constant moving back and forth.

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So when Autumn arrives, Li Jing’er has to start preparing a lot of wood.

First, the wood has to be dried and then split into small pieces for easy lighting, and then the pieces of wood has to be stacked carefully to prevent them from getting wet.

She is a person who loves cleanliness.  She bathes every day and uses a piece of cloth as a screen to partition off a washroom.  She bought a wooden basin that was about half the height of a person for bathing and also bought each child a wooden tub to let them bathe in it.  As a result, the amount of hot water needed became larger and it was necessary to keep a ready stock of wood in case of emergency.

Therefore, the demand for firewood was very large.  She would chop and chop every day and after being busy for the whole season, it was just enough for one winter.  And if the spring season is colder and longer, then the stock would not be enough.

“Mother, get me a little axe and I’ll help you to chop wood.”

His small arms were strong enough to do a lot of work.

“That’s good, Shuangming is now the elder brother.”

The question is whether he will chop the wood or the wood will chop him……..but looking at his small body, it is better to understand his ability and not create trouble for herself.

“Elder Guo-Guo, Elder Guo-Guo……..”   Little Sister Yue enjoyed her meal so much that she was clapping her little hands.

“It’s Ge-Ge.”  Shuangming was blushing slightly and sounded a little proud as he corrected his youngest sister.  He was very happy to be able to help his mother but did not know that he was being fooled.

Did he get the promise to buy him an axe?

No…….

Let him chop wood?

That’s to be discussed later!

Li Jing’er was good at coaxing children.  The children were coaxed into a daze and all of them became unfocused and confused.  In the end, they forgot what they wanted.

After eating the wontons, the mother and children went to the medical hall first.  In the bamboo basket were some rare herbs as well as two poisonous snakes that were as thick as an arm.  Just the snake venom alone was worth a lot of money.  Li Jing’er estimated that a whole snake could fetch about 20 taels.  With this amount of money, it was enough for an ordinary family to spend for a year if they live frugally.

There were still many snakes in the mountain but she did not plan to catch more.  It would be bad if the ecological balance was damaged.  At first, she caught snakes because she needed the money to make a living and before the snakes hibernated in the winter, she managed to catch more than a hundred snakes.  She sold some of them for money, ate some of them, and dried some to store as food rations.

After all, when she just came to Shuiyuan Village not too long ago, she did not know how long the winter season would last or how thick the snowfall would be and whether the mountains would be inaccessible because of heavy snowfall.

It is always right to prepare a bit more food rations and firewood for winter.

So Li Jing’er only sold poisonous snakes since they could fetch a high price.  As for the pheasants caught by traps and the captured rabbits, she refused to sell them.  The ones that she could skin were skinned and those that could be raised were raised while the rest were all thrown into the cold cave to be refrigerated.  Whenever she needed food, it would be taken out from the cold cave.

However, the most important point is not to reveal one’s wealth.  She is a woman who lives alone with three young children and she would never do anything too conspicuous.  People can be separated into good people and bad people.  In this land, there are lazy people, idle people, and people who want benefits without doing anything……..these are the people she guards against.

Money can be earned slowly and she is not in a hurry.  If people were to take advantage of the night and come into the house, it would not be worth the loss.  She should stabilize her roots before she tries to do other things.

“Madam Li, did you catch only two snakes this time?”

Compared to the past, this is very little because she had once sent twenty snakes at one go.

“The snakes in the nearby mountains are almost gone and I don’t dare to venture deeper into the mountains.  In case I encounter the bears then it would be a trip of no return for me.  Since it is approaching autumn, I have to start preparing food rations for winter.  The wild vegetables and wild fruits in the mountains have to be harvested quickly.  Those that should be sun-dried must be dried and those that should be pickled have to be pickled, otherwise, once the winter snow falls, everything would be covered up.”

If one lives near the mountains, one depends on the mountains and one need not have to worry about food.  However, many things have to be done and as long as one is diligent with his hands and feet, a lot can be gained.  It would not be a problem to survive through winter.

Li Jing’er did not know how to hunt but could track animal trails and it was all thanks to the training she received in the field survival training camps.  She laid traps in the places where the animals usually haunt and would check on them every few days.  She seldom comes back empty-handed and the minimum number of prey caught would be one and sometimes it would be as many as 4 to 5.  Except for the inconvenience due to lack of transport, living in the cave house was quite pleasant.

She lived in the midsection of the mountain where ferocious beasts were not found.  At the most, there would only be weasels and foxes that would leave once they have captured the pheasants.

“Then you must have dried a lot of mushrooms this year!”

The shopkeeper showed his greediness.  Last time, Madam Li had gifted him three catties of dried mushrooms and he had used the mushrooms to stew chicken and the dish tasted very delicious.

Li Jing’er did not intend to hide from him and said.

“Yes, more than 10 catties!  But I don’t intend to sell them because my children love them. When the mushrooms are stewed with rice, grilled, or boiled in soup, they are delicious.  I’ve brought a few catties for you so don’t forget to take them from me later.  I have to take care of my children and I always seem to be forgetful.”