TCFSRMR |Chapter 21

“It’s already this hour, why haven’t they come back yet?” Ever since the three brothers left, Yin Zhaodi had not closed her eyes again.

After finishing breakfast, she was even more anxious, like an ant on a hot pan –

The corn had just sprouted, and the weeds in the fields had only just started to poke up too, so yesterday the loudspeaker had announced that people could go a little later to work.

Of course, there were also the lazy ones who knew that at a time like this there wasn’t anything important to do, and the team leader would just turn a blind eye, so they simply lay in bed a while longer, dragging their feet until the very end before they were willing to haul their farm tools to the fields.

But no matter how much later they dragged it out, they couldn’t go too far, could they? Earlier, they had confirmed with her brother-in-law over and over again, and her brother-in-law’s meaning was that they would definitely be able to get back before work started.

But now, with even the laziest people about to come out to work, Shi Guoan and his three brothers still hadn’t shown even a shadow of themselves.

Could something have happened? Had they been discovered by someone and taken away? Or was it that the soy sauce couldn’t be sold, so they had brought it back and it was too heavy and they were walking slowly?

Thinking this way, she became even more absent-minded, and when she carried her hoe toward the fields, she was also listless.

Seeing that quite a few people were already standing at the field edge, the newly appointed village party secretary Liang Dacheng was also standing there arranging work for the villagers:

“You go over there and weed…”

“The others go fetch water, and fill in the places where the seedlings are missing…”

As he spoke, he just happened to see people from the Shi family, and immediately said:

“You all go help Brother Guoan and the others with transplanting the seedlings…”

While speaking, he raised his voice and began praising them nonstop:

“All of us should learn from Shi Guoan, Shi Guoping, and Shi Guoliang. Look at their awareness. In order to replenish the corn seedlings, they even dragged the jars from home over here, carrying water into the fields jar by jar… Cadres, give the three of them a few more work points each. Enterprise members should also learn from the three of them…”

Suddenly hearing her brother-in-law’s name, Yin Zhaodi, who had been listless just a moment ago, instantly became like she’d been injected with chicken blood. She hurriedly stood on tiptoe to look into the distance, and just in time saw Shi Guoan and his two brothers pulling a handcart over. On the handcart wasn’t that jar they had previously hauled away to sell soy sauce?

Yin Zhaodi was so excited her tears were almost about to fall. Together with Miao Xiu xiu, she went over to take over:

“Big brother, Guoping…”

If last night Yin Zhaodi had thought that if there really was some accident, she would definitely be heartbroken over the wasted sugar; at this moment, however, she felt that if it was wasted, then so be it. As long as everyone came back safely, that was enough.

“Oh my, look at Sister-in-law Guoping, she and Brother Guoping really have such a good relationship. It’s only been a little while since they last saw each other, and she’s already wiping away tears…” someone else was jeering from the side.

If it were usual, Yin Zhaodi, being shy, would definitely hurry off to the side and keep far away from Shi Guoping. This time, though, she acted as if she hadn’t heard it at all, and directly took over Shi Guoping’s job of pulling the cart:

“Now that it’s all been delivered to the field edge, you and Big Brother and Guoliang should rest. Sister-in-law and I, along with Dad and Mom, will transplant the seedlings…”

After being busy all day, they only got home at dusk.

After going from night into day nonstop like that, even a man made of iron couldn’t quite take it.

After Shi Guoan got home, he hurriedly ate a corn pancake, drank a bowl of soup, and then sat on the bed and didn’t want to get up anymore.

Miao Xiu xiu quickly brought him some foot-washing water. Only when she pushed the door open did she discover that Shi Guoan had actually fallen asleep on the bed without even taking off his shoes.

Her heart instantly ached terribly. She hurried forward on tiptoe, helped pull off his shoes, then picked up Shi Guoan’s feet and put them into the basin of hot water she had brought over.

Even though her movements were already very light, Shi Guoan still woke up. Seeing that it was Miao Xiu xiu, he leaned back there again, only reaching into his chest and taking out a cloth money pouch that was already soaked with sweat to hand over, saying:

“Don’t busy yourself. I’ll wash them myself. This money, later, you, with, with Mom and Dad, and the younger siblings, count it…”

But his voice grew softer and softer. In the end he started snoring lightly again.

Miao Xiu xiu forcefully held back the sourness at the tip of her nose, helped wipe his feet clean, then lifted his legs and sent them back onto the bed, pulled over the thin blanket, and tucked him in properly before quietly leaving the room.

When she entered the main room, Yin Zhaodi was already waiting there. The moment she saw Miao Xiu xiu, Yin Zhaodi, who had been pacing in circles nonstop on the spot, suddenly stopped:

“Big sister-in-law…”

Looking at Miao Xiu xiu, she wanted to ask something but didn’t dare –

When the men hadn’t come back, Yin Zhaodi had thought that as long as they could all return safely, she wouldn’t want anything else.

Now that they really had come back safely, she started worrying again. How exactly was the soy sauce they had worked so hard on? Had it spilled on the road? Had they really sold it for money? Could they recover the cost…

Originally she had wanted to ask her husband, but Shi Guoping, the moment he got back to the room, had fallen into a dead sleep. Yin Zhaodi had circled around the bed several times, but in the end she couldn’t bear to wake the man to ask in detail, since he had clearly been exhausted.

She only took Shi Guoping’s clothes over and turned them inside out from top to bottom, but in the end found nothing.

Although she knew that most likely the money from selling the soy sauce was being kept by her brother-in-law, she still couldn’t help being shrouded by a pessimistic mood.

When she saw that Miao Xiu xiu’s eyes were a little red, Yin Zhaodi had not even opened her mouth before tears came down again:

“Big sister-in-law, did it all, all go to waste?”

Otherwise, why would Big Sister-in-law be crying.

Shi Zhongyi and the old lady were also visibly a little nervous. Fortunately, the two elders were both open-minded and feared the two daughters-in-law would be hit too hard, so they hurried to comfort them:

“It’s fine, if it went to waste, then it went to waste…”

“What business doesn’t lose money? They say first time’s the charm, second time’s the skill…”

“Better not do it anymore,” Yin Zhaodi squeezed out this sentence after a long time, “Our family is already not well off. If we still have to lose money…”

What was even worse was that when the men went out, she had really been terrified that something would happen. She kept thinking that if the three brothers were taken away, then the sky would truly fall.

“Cry what for, hurry up and wipe your tears. It didn’t lose money…” Miao Xiu xiu had already felt the thickness of the pouch when she pinched it earlier. How much they had earned was hard to say, but it definitely wouldn’t have lost money.

“Didn’t lose money? How could that be… Big sister-in-law, don’t fool me…” Yin Zhaodi obviously didn’t believe it.

“Why would I fool you?” Miao Xiu xiu said as she took out the pouch and shook it over the kang bed, “Guoan said that all the money from today’s sales is in here, and he told us to count it.”

Yin Zhaodi didn’t even get a chance to speak before she saw the most eye-catching ten-yuan bill. Shocked, her eyeballs almost fell out:

“Big hundred-note, there is a big hundred-note here?!”

Having participated in the soy sauce-making process the whole way, Yin Zhaodi naturally understood that aside from the sugar being bought, the other spices, the bean paste, the small fish and shrimp, all of it hadn’t cost any money. Altogether, all the costs didn’t even come to five yuan! For a moment she stared at that pouch, and her hands were even starting to twitch.

Miao Xiu xiu was still pouring it out, and from time to time one-cent, two-cent, and five-cent coins bounced up. Yin Zhaodi picked them all up and carefully put them together with the other coins.

The coins were one thing, but the paper bills, because Shi Guoan had kept sweating, were all damp and wet.

After the last paper bill was also carefully squeezed out by Miao Xiu xiu, the few of them began counting them one by one.

“Fifty cents, one yuan… sixteen yuan two, sixteen yuan three…”

“Twenty-two yuan three…”

“Here, here there are still two coins…” Yin Zhaodi handed over the two coins she had picked out from the gaps in the mat.

“Then the total is twenty-two yuan, three mao, and two fen…” The old lady made the final decision.

“Twenty-two yuan, three mao, and two fen…” Yin Zhaodi mechanically repeated that number. Her legs went soft, and she sat down on the kang, staring at the paper bills and coins split into several piles, muttering nonstop, “Big sister-in-law, Mom, we must have counted wrong, right?”

This was twenty-two yuan, three mao, and two fen. She had never seen so much money in her life!

“Right, we definitely counted wrong. Let’s count it again…” As she spoke, Yin Zhaodi seemed like she’d been injected with chicken blood, and her spirits were so high they were almost fierce. She spat on her hand and started counting again one by one.

The old lady and Miao Xiu xiu also separated the coins, with the five-fen coins in one pile, the two-fen coins in another, and the one-fen coins in yet another. The few of them, huddled around the kerosene lamp, counted it over and over again without getting tired of it…

“It really is, twenty-two yuan, three mao, and two fen…” After confirming this number, Yin Zhaodi’s throat felt a little dry.

“Mm, it really is, it really is…” The old lady and Miao Xiu xiu were also as happy as children.

“Then doesn’t that mean,” Yin Zhaodi swallowed, “after deducting the cost, this trip of theirs made at least, at least, earned, earned seventeen yuan…”

That was seventeen yuan, not seven mao, and certainly not seven yuan, but seventeen yuan!

As far as Yin Zhaodi knew, a full-time teacher at the village primary school made only a little over twenty yuan a month.

When she learned that, she had been incredibly envious, and she couldn’t help worrying for other people too: more than twenty yuan a month, so much money, how would they even spend it?

Was it that every few days they could eat a piece of fatty meat, or occasionally eat some fine white flour? In the end, her family’s three men had gone out just once, and in one day they had earned about the same as that teacher’s salary for nearly a month!

Facing so much money, Yin Zhaodi really didn’t know how to deal with it. She looked toward the old lady pleadingly:

“Mom, what do we do with this?”

“What’s there to do,” the old lady, after all, had seen some things, and first put the ten-yuan note aside, “We’ll still keep this as capital.”

If this had been before, Yin Zhaodi would definitely have opposed it desperately, but this time she kept nodding –

Five yuan could already earn sixteen or seventeen yuan, so with ten yuan wouldn’t that be thirty-something? Oh my, thirty-something in huge money. She had only once touched that kind of money when she was still a girl, when the Shi family gave fifty yuan bride price, but she hadn’t even had the chance to feel it before her own father took it away.

Over there, the old lady then counted out another six yuan:

“This is the children’s school fees.”

“Okay.” Yin Zhaodi agreed so readily that it was almost cheerful – before, she had never wanted the children to go to school. Apart from feeling that it was useless for girls to study, there was also a more important reason, and that was that the family had no money. Now that there was money, then let them go.

The old lady then split the remaining money into three parts:

“Third son keeps two yuan. I’ll keep it for him. The remaining four yuan, three mao, and two fen, you two each take two yuan, one mao, and six fen, and keep it for buying the children paper, pens, and other little things for school…”

Only after clutching those two yuan, one mao, and six fen in her palm did Yin Zhaodi still feel a little unreal –

At the end of last year, when her father asked her for money to arrange her younger brother’s engagement, she had pooled together almost all the money she had saved by scrimping and saving, and it still wasn’t much more than a few yuan. But after one night of her man running around, she had two yuan, one mao, and six fen?

She looked at the ten yuan and the nine yuan the old lady had picked up with an even more fervent gaze, nodding repeatedly:

“Okay, we’ll listen to Mom. Mom, whatever you say goes…”

After her husband went out to run around a few more days, who knew, she might also have ten or twenty yuan in her hands. Save for a month or so, and even a hundred yuan wouldn’t be impossible!

With that thought, she was actually more eager than anyone else for the three brothers to go sell another load. It was just that Shi Guoan felt that, first, people had just bought the soy sauce and couldn’t possibly have finished it so quickly, so they should wait a few more days; and second, they also had to go over and see the situation, to check whether they had attracted the attention of anyone with ulterior motives.

Otherwise, if they were really caught because of this, it would be more trouble than it was worth.

Yin Zhaodi thought about it and felt it made sense, but then she started talking again about going up the mountain with Shi Ying and the others –

It had to be said, this niece really was different from ordinary people. Before, when she heard people say, “After surviving a great disaster, there must be future blessings,” Yin Zhaodi had still had a few doubts, but during this period, she had become more and more convinced that this was exactly the truth.

Not to mention anything else, just their family’s chickens alone had been especially unusual during this period. By the usual pattern in past years, in weather this hot the chickens should already have been brooding, and laying one egg every day or every two days was already common. But their family’s chickens this year were truly different.

They actually never missed a day. Not only did they lay one egg every day, the eggs they laid were also big and red, and once cracked open, even more amazing, every single one was a double-yolk egg.

Even that big rooster had a comb that grew especially oily and smooth-looking, and anyone who came to their house would praise how well they were being raised!

There were only seven hens in the family, and now every day they could pick seven double-yolk eggs from the nest.

Yin Zhaodi had already made her plans. Apart from setting aside some more eggs for her younger sister-in-law as the old lady had said, the rest would all be salted. If eggs were salted well, the yolk was the best part, sandy and oily, and theirs were all double-yolk eggs. Wouldn’t that be even more fragrant then?

Thinking too about how selling soy sauce counted as a money-making business, and even the things she had disliked before, like Miao Xiu xiu occasionally stewing eggs for the children and the two elders every one or two days, Yin Zhaodi could also accept them calmly now.

The family chickens laying a lot of eggs was one thing. The key was that her niece would also occasionally take the kids up the mountain to gather wild vegetables. Though it was called gathering wild vegetables, every time they came back, not only would the small back basket more or less have mountain mushrooms, there would also be things like wild chicken eggs.

It made Miao Xiu xiu itch with desire, her heart really itching terribly. Unfortunately, she still had to go to work. Where would she get a chance to follow them?

As for Miao Xiu xiu, she always worried that the children were still too young and kept running up the mountain, what if they got bumped or scraped? So from time to time she would restrain them a bit.

Although the family’s days were still a bit tight, everyone’s face was constantly full of smiles.

Even the old lady had some unease in her heart –

If she counted the days, her daughter should have given birth already, so why still hadn’t anyone come to report the good news?

Who knew that this person just couldn’t stand being talked about. That same day, after coming back from working the fields, the children ran over to tell her that their uncle-in-law Li Quanyou had come, and had come to report good news, saying that Shi Rong had given birth to a big fat son.

“Your uncle-in-law came and didn’t even sit for a while before leaving, and he didn’t say how your aunt was doing?” Looking at the two packets of sugar on the kang, the old lady was first pleasantly surprised, then a little puzzled –

Since her son-in-law had come, he should at least have met them, right? Giving birth was like passing through the gate of hell, and her heart had been hanging the whole time.

“He put the things down in the yard and left…” Shi Ying said everything very clearly, “He said he had come on someone else’s cart. That person was in a hurry to leave, so he didn’t go to the fields. He asked us to tell Grandpa and Grandma, and he also said that in two days he would hold the baby’s wine banquet… Time is tight, and the road is long, so you don’t need to make a special trip. When it’s time for the wine banquet, just go together.”

Saying it like that made the old lady feel even worse –

Rongrong was the youngest child in the family, and also the only girl. Wasn’t she the one the old lady worried about the most every day?

During this period, every time she thought about her daughter’s childbirth, she couldn’t sleep. In the end, after her daughter finally gave birth safely, her son-in-law only came to report the good news at this time –

According to the rules here, before a daughter gives birth and holds the wine banquet, her mother’s side has to go take a look once.

“Mom, this is a great happy event, you absolutely mustn’t be upset.” Seeing tears welling in the old lady’s eyes, Miao Xiu xiu hurried forward to comfort her, “Wasn’t it just that the good news came a little late? He definitely didn’t mean it. They say customs differ within ten li. Maybe their side’s rules are different from ours…”

“Yes, yes,” Yin Zhaodi also echoed, and the tone in her voice was even full of envy, “Our Rongrong gave birth to a baby boy. That’s a huge contribution for the Li family, and no matter who it is, they wouldn’t dare treat our Rongrong badly… We’ll be able to see Rongrong tomorrow, Mom, don’t be upset.”

After being persuaded in turn by her daughters-in-law, the old lady finally managed to stop crying. Then thinking that her grandson’s wine banquet was going to be held very soon, she became a little anxious again:

“Hurry and bring over our eggs, count how many there are. If there really aren’t enough, then we have to go buy some right away…”

“…Right, and the baby’s clothes mustn’t be sewn completely finished, we have to leave a few stitches…”

“And our chickens, do you think we should slaughter them, clean them up and take them over, or just catch them alive and send them?”

Hearing the old lady mention chickens, Yin Zhaodi felt a little pained –

She had raised chickens for so many years, and she’d never seen chickens so hardworking. That was seven double-yolk eggs a day. Whichever one was slaughtered, she would feel heartbroken to death.

But she also understood that her younger sister-in-law giving birth was a major event, and if they really didn’t let them be slaughtered, that wouldn’t make sense either, so she tentatively asked the old lady:

“Our chickens are all fat, Mom, what do you think we should…”

“For a woman who has just given birth, an old hen is the most nourishing. Otherwise, catch two live ones to send over, and slaughter two…”

Miao Xiu xiu had only just spoken this sentence when she looked up and bumped into Yin Zhaodi’s aggrieved gaze, one that practically wanted to cover her mouth right away.

After the two of them came out of the room, Yin Zhaodi couldn’t help but begin complaining to Miao Xiu xiu:

“Big sister-in-law, why are you so honest? Our family only has seven hens total…”

There is only one big rooster, and no matter what, it couldn’t be slaughtered, after all it was still waiting to brood next year.

Of the remaining seven chickens, if they really slaughtered four, there would only be three left. It wasn’t really about the chickens, either, it was that those were four chickens laying one double-yolk egg a day.

It wasn’t that she was stingy. It was mainly that Rongrong’s in-laws were from the city. Their whole family was almost all workers, and even the old man in their family had a retirement salary. As for the several sisters-in-law over there, she’d heard that all of them had married very well.

They usually had meat to eat from time to time. Now that Rongrong was their family’s great contributor, were they still afraid she wouldn’t have chicken to eat?

If Rongrong had married into some poor family, then taking a few more chickens would be taking a few more chickens, but clearly people didn’t care about this at all. How could that compare to keeping the chickens for eggs?

This wasn’t just for herself, either. It was really because there were so many children in the family, and if the chickens laid a few more eggs, it could also ease the burden on the family, couldn’t it?

Yin Zhaodi had already begun regretting it. She shouldn’t have waited for her mother-in-law to speak. She should have said first that slaughtering two chickens would be enough.

“That’s not how you say it.” Miao Xiu xiu knew this sister-in-law had no ill intentions, she was just used to being frugal. Back then, she had seen with her own eyes that because she had given birth to a girl and still had eggs to eat, her younger sister-in-law, while in her postpartum confinement, was so moved she cried badly.

“Did you forget when the two of us gave birth? Our mom also slaughtered almost all the chickens in the family… Rongrong’s in-laws may have them, but that’s her in-laws’ things. As the family from her mother’s side, we should at least help our own little aunt stand tall, right? If we bring too little, it’ll only make Rongrong find it hard to deal with people…”

Saying this, she thought even more of her mother-in-law’s goodness –

Because she didn’t agree to marry a farmer, in these past few years she had basically become as if cut off from her maternal family. Having a maternal family was no different from not having one; Yin Zhaodi was even worse. Having a maternal family was not as good as not having one, since her father would practically have liked to move all the things from his daughter’s house to give to his son.

For the two daughters-in-law who had no help from their maternal families, the mother-in-law didn’t show the slightest bit of disdain. No matter which daughter-in-law gave birth, the mother-in-law took care of them with all her heart and effort, bringing out all the good food in the house, fearing they would have their bodies weakened.

Miao Xiu xiu thought of her mother-in-law’s goodness, and so she wanted to be even better to her younger sister-in-law…

Hearing her say that, Yin Zhaodi also fell silent. After a long while, she wiped her face:

“I’ll listen to you, big sister-in-law. You and Mom are both soft-hearted. Dad and Big Brother and the others still have plenty to do. Leave the job of slaughtering the chickens to me…”

They say the children of the poor take charge early. Yin Zhaodi, as the eldest in the family and still an unwanted girl, had been able to do every kind of work since childhood. Whenever there was a holiday, whether it was slaughtering chickens or frying things out of the pot, she would take charge of it all.

“And the meeting gifts for the child…” After coming around, Yin Zhaodi was also generous. “To be honest, big sister-in-law, all I have in my hands is the two yuan, one mao, and six fen Mom gave me some time ago. Even if I give all of it to the baby, as his aunt, isn’t that still a bit little…”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Miao Xiu xiu smiled with pursed lips. “I just heard your big brother and Guoping talking about it. They happen to be going to the county this trip, so they’ll sell soy sauce once more…”

“Big sister-in-law means we can also go together?” Yin Zhaodi’s eyes widened instantly –

During this period, she had truly dreamed of going to sell soy sauce.

“Mm.” Miao Xiu xiu nodded. “It’s just that when the time comes, we and the children will all have to get up early too.”

“What’s so hard about getting up early? I wouldn’t sleep all night and I’d still be fine.” Not thinking that she was already an adult, Yin Zhaodi almost wanted to cheer out loud.

While the two of them were discussing matters, over there Shi Ying also called Shi Ting over to whisper in her ear:

“When Mom and Dad and the others go to work tomorrow, shall we go up the mountain to pick some mushrooms for Auntie?”

Ever since Shi Ying came back, she had clearly become the child king of the family. Whether it was the youngest, Shi Nan and Shi Bei, or the oldest, Shi Ting, they all loved to gather around Shi Ying.

As for Shi Heng, there was even less need to mention it. He basically followed wherever his younger sister went. The way he was, even if it was a mountain of knives or a sea of fire, as long as his younger sister dared to jump in, he would follow along without even furrowing his brow.

At this moment, hearing Shi Ying say she wanted to pick mushrooms for Auntie, Shi Ting naturally nodded eagerly. Shi Jie, though she said nothing, immediately turned around and packed up the few small back baskets.

Only Shi Ying herself had not anticipated that this time, when they said they were going up the mountain to pick mushrooms, they ended up picking up a wild boar!