“Hmph, why aren’t you talking anymore? Did I hit a nerve?”
Liu Cuirong popped a shrimp into Yun Xiaobao’s mouth, her eyes darting towards Hu Xier.
“Look at you, all covered in dust. If you weren’t crawling through cornfields, how could you have gotten like this?”
“Father and the others move bricks every day, and they’re not as filthy as you…”
Hu Xier lowered her head, her fingernails almost digging into her flesh.
She wished Liu Cuirong would die soon, preferably struck dead by lightning from the heavens…
“Mom, look at her shifty eyes, she’s definitely up to no good!”
“From now on, you need to keep a close eye on her, tie her up with a rope if you have to, so she doesn’t bring shame to our Yun family!”
Liu Cuirong became more animated as she spoke, as if she had already caught Hu Xier seducing a man…
“Alright, alright!” Old Man Yun glared at Liu Cuirong and refilled his small wine cup. “Say a few less words!”
He hated noisy chatter while eating.
It spoiled his mood for drinking.
“Daman, Erman, we’ve picked through most of the bricks and tiles. Load the newly selected bricks onto the carts tomorrow morning and transport them to the construction site at the village entrance…”
Working on the mountainside every day had almost driven the three men insane.
Every time a few stones rolled down from the mountain, Old Man Yun would lead the charge, terrified of being buried.
“Father, there’s still a lot of wood in the ruins, aren’t we going to collect it?”
Yun Daman’s face was flushed from drinking. He let out a burp, “Burp, those purlins and timbers are still quite intact. It’s a waste to leave them there…”
“Yes, Father, look at the grand mansion Young Master Xiao is building, it will probably require a lot of wood!” Yun Erman chimed in.
Old Man Yun slurped his wine and shook his head, “No, no, that place is too dangerous. What if something else happens?”
He wasn’t willing to risk his life for a bit of wood…
He wanted to live a few more years.
Little Xi Tian sat on a stool, swinging her short legs.
She had to admit, the river shrimp and crabs her second sister-in-law bought were very tasty.
After the large white amur was steamed, sprinkled with minced garlic and chili, and drizzled with hot oil, it smelled absolutely divine…
Gu Shi’s teeth weren’t very good, so she had Jin Huaihua fry some egg paste, wash some green onions, and eat it with cornmeal pancakes.
Just then, Fu Daqiang and his wife walked in.
They were here to deliver tofu.
“Oh my, you’re already eating. I was thinking of bringing you two pieces of tofu to make soup!”
Fu Daqiang’s mouth watered as he looked at the table full of river delicacies.
The couple felt very guilty. They hadn’t known that Zhao Guihua had fainted in the kitchen, and when Xue Ling had called them, they hadn’t understood the implication…
So they specifically brought two pieces of tofu as an apology.
“Daqiang, sit down and have a drink?” Old Man Yun said.
“No, no, I’ve already had my drink!” Fu Daqiang waved his hands repeatedly.
He wanted to drink, but his wife wouldn’t allow it…
She was afraid he’d drink too much and wouldn’t be able to get up the next day, affecting his tofu-making.
Liu Cuirong scanned Fu Daqiang and Wang Suzhen with a wary gaze.
The river delicacies she had bought were not for just anyone to eat.
“Guihua, are you alright?”
Wang Suzhen rubbed her hands. “Daqiang and I were dizzy from working, we didn’t even know you fainted. Please don’t mind us, okay…”
Zhao Guihua smiled faintly. “I’m fine, it’s not your fault!”
These two were quite kind-hearted.
“Alright then, have this tofu with some sauce. The weather is hot, if you don’t eat it today, it’ll turn sour by tomorrow morning!”
Wang Suzhen placed two large blocks of tofu on the dining table.
Gu Shi smiled and said, “You’ve troubled yourselves again. Xier, go pour some tea, and get some dried mushrooms for Sister-in-law Suzhen to take back…”
She couldn’t always accept free tofu.
These mushrooms were collected by Yun Daman last year. After drying, they had been hanging in the storehouse.
The Yun family had a lot of dried goods, including dried beans, dried crabapples, and dried mushrooms, stored in a large vat…
Dried beans could be stewed with pork ribs or pork, and dried mushrooms could be stewed with young chickens or geese, which tasted absolutely divine.
Dried crabapples were eaten as snacks, sweet and sour, and the ladies in the county town were most fond of them.
Recently, the family had been busy with work, and the men hadn’t had time to go into the mountains to collect wild goods…
He heard that Old Man Yan from the village had collected a sack of poplar mushrooms a few days ago.
He had also dug up quite a few medicinal roots like Astragalus and Phlomis.
The county town’s medical clinics would come to Dashui Village every year in July, August, and September to collect medicinal roots.
The more they dug, the more money they earned.
Some families made a living solely by digging medicinal roots and didn’t even bother planting fields…
After Fu Daqiang and his wife left, Old Man Yun sighed, “When the house is built, we’ll have to go into the mountains to collect some wild goods too!”
“Otherwise, once it freezes, we won’t be able to collect anything!”
“Father, Sister likes dried crabapples, let’s collect more this year!” Yun Erman said with a smile.
He still remembered the dense, bright red crabapple forest he had seen when they first moved to Dashui Village…
“Alright, this year we’ll get ten sacks, enough for Sweet Baby to eat her fill!” Old Man Yun, who had been drinking non-stop, grinned and laughed heartily.
Little Xi Tian: “…”
Daddy, I’m still a baby, I can’t eat that much!
Besides, that patch of crabapple trees was moved from her space.
When the villagers found it, they went on a wild picking spree, and now it was probably just bare branches…
“Eat apples!” Little Xi Tian said crisply.
She planned to bring out apple trees. After eating too many crabapples, she needed a change of taste.
Gu Shi rubbed Little Xi Tian’s head and asked with a smile, “Does daughter want to eat apples?”
“Mmm, apples are delicious!” Little Xi Tian nodded emphatically.
She could make apple salad, apple preserves, and so on…
And she could even sneak out the juicer to make apple juice for her family.
It was refreshing and quenched thirst, much better than crabapples.
“Daman, why don’t you go to town tomorrow and buy a few apples for Xi Tian?” Gu Shi said softly.
Dashui Village had apple trees, but it wasn’t the season yet, and the apples hadn’t grown.
The apples in the county town were all transported from other places…
“Okay, I’ll go buy them early tomorrow!” Yun Daman said with a simple smile, his belly bulging.
Liu Cuirong’s eyes lit up when she heard this. “And buy two pounds of candy, Xiaobao wants to eat it!”
Yun Daman: “…”
Just stop it, who wants to eat it, don’t you know yourself?
“Why are you all looking at me?” Liu Cuirong’s face darkened. “My money was all spent on fish and shrimp, did you all eat it?”
Hmph, stingy. If you have the ability, none of you should eat, let yourselves starve.
The whole family: “…”
Hu Xier ate her meal quietly, not saying a word.
The Yun family didn’t have many strict rules, so the two maids were allowed to eat at the table.
Jin Huaihua looked at Xier with concern, her eyes filled with anxiety and melancholy…
She hoped Xier would behave herself and not cause trouble outside.
As night deepened, after the Yun family finished their dinner, they went to rest.
Meanwhile, in Xiao Jinheng’s room at the neighboring Du Lao San’s house, bursts of laughter could be heard.