The Daily Life of Farming and Raising Children in Ancient Mountain Residences

Chapter 26

“Of course you can. These were meant as snacks for you and Xiao An. You can decide for yourselves.”

Old Mrs. Chen had said not to bring anything over, and Sang Luo hadn’t prepared to bring anything this time either. But when it came to the relationship between children, it was naturally up to the children themselves.

When Shen Ning heard Sang Luo’s approval, she happily went to get a small bamboo tube and put in two pieces, then thought about it and put in two more. Feeling like she might have taken too much, she carefully explained to Sang Luo and Shen An, “I’ll bring two more for Brother Ershan.”

Ershan was the second son of the Chen family and Xiao Ya’s elder brother.

Shen An naturally had no objections, and the siblings both looked at Sang Luo.

Sang Luo smiled, “I said you decide, but take two more. You can’t just watch Ershan and Xiao Ya eat.”

It was a suggestion for the siblings to have another piece later.

Shen An and Shen Ning both smiled, not because they could eat another piece themselves, but because in the past, Second Ershan and Xiao Ya would share with them. This time, they could also share with their little friends, and the excitement in the hearts of the two children was indescribable.

As excited as they were, Shen An stayed behind to watch the house. The belongings in the house were all precious to him now.

So Shen Ning only brought five pieces of pork dregs in her small bamboo tube. Holding her bamboo tube, she followed Sang Luo towards the Chen family’s house.

……

The sun in August was too intense at this hour; it wasn’t a good time for farm work. Most of the men in the households were still resting, while the women were busy with tasks such as spinning and weaving.

The Chen family was no exception.

When Sang Luo brought Shen Ning to the Chen family, Shen Ning greeted Old Mrs. Chen and quickly joined the little girl beside her to chat in whispers. Soon, the two girls ran out.

Sang Luo didn’t pay much attention. While Mrs. Chen was busy arranging chairs for her, she took the old lady directly to the main hall and explained her purpose.

Mrs. Chen was stunned for a moment and didn’t react. She thought there was something wrong with her ears.

“You want me to sell ‘Fairy Tofu’ for you?”

“Yes, whether it’s you or your daughter-in-law who sells it, for every piece sold, I’ll give you half a penny. How about that?”

Why would she even need to ask? It was like winning the lottery.

But Mrs. Chen didn’t understand.

“It’s only one market every five days. Can’t you sell it yourself? Then you won’t have to share the profit.”

Sang Luo shook her head. “I’m not asking for help at the market. When we go into the county town, your family provides people, and I’ll go by myself. It’s like having an extra stall, selling separately.”

Mrs. Chen instantly understood. San Luo had tried the waters these past few days and found it feasible, so she wanted to expand her business.

This Third family…

Mrs. Chen looked at her. “Entering the city requires an entrance fee. If you expand your business and can’t sell everything, what then?”

Sang Luo patted her chest. “I’ll take care of it. I’ll cover the entrance fee.”

For Sang Luo, ‘Fairy Tofu’ had almost no cost, so she said this without any pressure. However, thinking of another matter, she became serious and said, “Of course, if we want to set up a stall in the county, we also need to obtain a passing permit, which requires a formal fee of five pennies. This is something your family will have to cover.”

The passing permit was somewhat like a letter of introduction in the late 1970s or 1980s. In this era, there were strict controls on population movement, and to enter a city or pass through a checkpoint, you needed a formal document verifying your identity. Different classes of people used different documents, and for common people, it was called a passing permit.

To enter the county town, the passing permit needed to be drafted and signed by the local magistrate, then sent to the county office for verification and sealing before being issued.

If one wanted to leave the county or go to another province, it would be even more complicated, requiring reporting to the state government’s household registration office before being approved.

Five pennies was not a small sum of money for rural folks, but fortunately, it was valid for three months. Mrs. Chen gritted her teeth and nodded.

Without someone offering her a money-making opportunity, helping to cover the entrance fee, and then spending money to arrange the passing permit, she didn’t have such a big face.

With determination,Mrs. Chen said, “That’s natural. We’ll find the village head to arrange the passing permit. We can go today, and it should be ready by tomorrow afternoon. Would you like to come with me to the village head’s house later?”

Sang Luo hesitated a bit, not for any other reason but because she had already spent all the money she earned today.

“Tomorrow then.”

Mrs. Chen looked at her. “Is the money not enough?”

Sang Luo nodded. “I’ve already spent what I earned today on some things.”

Since it was decided that Sang Luo would sell things, it was better sooner rather than later. Making money a day earlier meant recouping costs a day earlier. Mrs. Chen was generous. “I’ll advance it for you. Once you have money later, you can pay me back. Otherwise, it’ll be another day’s delay.”

With this offer, it wasn’t a matter of lacking the ability to pay it back. With just a day’s turnover, Sang Luo didn’t hesitate. “Alright, I’ll go back home later to get my household register and then come to find you.”

Mrs. Chen nodded and asked, “Besides providing manpower, what else do you need? If you need buckets and basins, my family can lend them to you first. Take a look and see if there’s anything else you’re missing. If we have it, we can lend it to you.”

In fact, this was no longer just lending to Sang Luo. Both families were benefiting from this arrangement. Sang Luo making more ‘Fairy Tofu’ meant more profit for them too. After all, if she helped with one stall, it was a per-piece settlement. Selling two more pieces would mean she could earn an extra penny.

Mrs. Chen understood this very clearly. It wasn’t just about helping Sang Luo; it was about helping herself!

Thinking that Sang Luo could sell more than thirty pieces in just one hour at the local market, Mrs. Chen suddenly felt motivated.

It was good for the old lady to support Sang Luo like this. She smiled and said, “Even if you didn’t ask, I would have offered to lend them to you. We have two buckets, and if your family has small carrying baskets, we can lend you two more. We also have two clay pots at home. If I were to carry everything alone, I wouldn’t be able to carry both clay pots with baskets, so using a carrying pole would be better.”

Seeing her clear plan,Mrs. Chen nodded. “Alright, we have all those things. I’ll have my daughter-in-law go with you to help carry the things over.”

Sang Luo interrupted her, “No need, Grandma. These things are not heavy. I can carry them back by myself. When we decide to go to the county, early in the morning before dawn, whether it’s you or your daughter-in-law who goes with me to the county, just bring a carrying pole over to my house when we go. Then I can carry the things.”

She stacked the water buckets and small carrying baskets, lifted them up, said goodbye to Mrs. Chen, and left.

Qin Fangniang came out of the western room in a daze and saw Sang Luo carrying their buckets and baskets out, while her mother-in-law sent her to the courtyard. When the old lady came back, she curiously asked, “Mother, did you just call me?”

In fact, she was more curious about what Sang Luo was doing here.

This wasn’t the first time she had borrowed things, but her mother-in-law had never been so enthusiastic as to send someone out of the courtyard before.

Mrs. Chen smiled brightly and said, “Good news.”

As she spoke, she walked inside. Once inside the main hall, she said to her daughter-in-law, who was following her, “Didn’t you envy Sang Luo for setting up a stall and making money? In a couple of days, I’ll let you go with her to set up a stall too.”

Qin Fangniang:?????

Mrs. Chen smiled slyly, “She’s here to ask us to help her set up a stall in the county to sell ‘Fairy Tofu’. For every piece she sells, we get half a penny.”

Qin Fangniang’s eyes widened, “Half a penny for each piece sold? Mother, is this true?”

Mrs. Chen gave her a sideways glance, “Do you think I’m joking because I’m full?”

Qin Fangniang smiled brightly, “Mother, that’s not what I meant. I just didn’t expect such a good thing to fall into our laps.”

Thinking about how Sang Luo sold more than thirty pieces in just one hour at the local market two days ago, she knew it would sell well even in the county. Even if she didn’t have Sang Luo’s eloquence, she could still sell thirty pieces, albeit taking a bit longer. She could easily sell thirty pieces in a day. That would earn her over ten pennies in a day.

Not to mention ten pennies, even if she earned just ten pennies, it would still be worth it.

In these times, apart from raising chickens and weaving cloth, there weren’t many ways for women to earn money. Even raising chickens had its limits because livestock also needed to be fed.

For Sang Luo to offer this opportunity was like a pie falling from the sky, landing squarely in their laps. It ignited a fire of excitement in Qin Fangniang’s heart.

Seeing her daughter-in-law’s beaming smile, Mrs. Chen said, “If it wasn’t for her lack of strength, she wouldn’t need our help. When you go with her in a couple of days, be smart. Carry the heavy stuff yourself. When you’re in the county, whatever she gives you to sell, you sell it. Don’t think that just because you carried it, you get to sell it. And when she comes back, if she’s bought anything, help her carry it too.”

Qin Fangniang nodded, “Mother, I understand.”

Mrs. Chen didn’t say much more to her daughter-in-law. She turned around and went back inside to unlock the door and find her daughter-in-law’s household register, waiting for Sang Luo to come and go together to arrange the passing permit with the village head.

As Mrs. Chen was flipping through the household register, a loud wail erupted outside.

She hurriedly walked out, and just then, her granddaughter ran in, her eyes brightening when she saw her grandmother. She called out, “Grandma!” and rushed toward Mrs. Chen.

“Slow down, why are you running so fast?” Mrs. Chen said anxiously, but before she could finish her sentence, the little girl had already reached her and grabbed her sleeve, trying to make Mrs. Chen bend down.

Instinctively, Mrs. Chen bent down, wondering what was going on outside. Before she could ask, she smelled a hint of fragrance, and something was shoved into her mouth by the little girl.

Without needing to look, Mrs. Chen knew it was lard. She couldn’t spit it out because it had already touched her saliva, but she also couldn’t bear to swallow it. It was a dilemma.

“Where did you get this?” Mrs. Chen asked.

“From Sister An Ning. Big Brother asked me to bring some back for Grandma and Mom to taste.”

“Why didn’t you eat it yourself? Did you thank Sister Aning?”

“I did thank her. Sister An Ning gave me four pieces, but Big Brother didn’t eat them, so I saved one for myself.” As she spoke, the little girl turned around and ran to Qin Fangniang, pulling her mother to bend down and holding up the lard, ready to stuff it into her mother’s mouth.

Qin Fangniang quickly turned her head away and used her hand to block, saying, “Mother won’t eat it. You keep it and eat it with your big brother.”

As they were pushing away, the next door started wailing, “Shen Ning is eating lard scraps; how can our family not have any? Mother, when did we render lard?!”

Mrs. Chen could clearly hear that it was Shen Jin.

Mrs. Chen looked at her granddaughter suspiciously and asked, “Did he see you eating the lard scraps?”

The little girl shrank her neck, feeling guilty under her grandmother’s gaze, and honestly explained, “I took Aning to find my big brother. We didn’t know he was playing in the reeds nearby. When he tried to grab the bamboo tube containing the lard scraps from Aning, my big brother just pushed him away.”

She added, “He didn’t hurt him, just pushed him away. He didn’t let him bully Sister An Ning.”

Mrs. Chen could imagine the scene.

Fortunately, Shen Jin was only interested in eating. He saw Shen Ning and the kids next door, Chen Er and the little girl, eating lard scraps together, one piece in each person’s hand, standing a little closer, and the smell nearly drove him crazy.

When Chen Er pushed him away, he didn’t take it to heart. He just kept pestering his mother to buy meat and render lard.

Behind him, Shen Yin and Shen Tie, who were not even as tall as an adult’s thighs, were also licking their lips and following along.

“Are you sure the lard scraps were from Shen Ning? Not from the Chen family?” Mrs. Li didn’t quite believe it.

Shen Jin said, “I heard it with my own ears; it was Shen Ning’s!”

The six-year-old Shen Yin and the five-year-old Shen Tie also chimed in.

Mrs. Li’s eyes flashed with doubt. After thinking for a moment, she realized that she hadn’t smelled the scent of rendered lard from the next door these past few days.

She frowned and looked at Uncle Shen, “Where did they get the money to buy pork?”

Uncle Shen, who had been scolded by Sang Luo in front of both the neighbors and Mrs. Chen recently and had his secrets exposed by Mrs. Chen, felt annoyed when he heard about the situation on the main branch.

“Who should I ask? Who knows how she got those things? We can’t even afford grain to eat, let alone pork.”

Mrs. Li muttered to herself, “Come to think of it, they’ve been quite stubborn these past few days. The two brats haven’t come over to ask for food.”

Seeing that his parents were just blabbering nonsensically, Shen Jin started wailing again, “Mom, I want to eat meat, I want to eat lard scraps!”

Mrs. Li was annoyed by the noise and turned her head to scold, “Enough, stop making noise. It’s just lard scraps. We’ll render lard at home later.”

“When is later? Since we’re going to render it anyway, Mom, you can render it tomorrow.”

Mrs. Li was frustrated, “Who said we have to render lard whenever someone asks for it? It’s scorching hot these days, don’t you know it will go bad?”

Then there was another round of wailing and crying from the other side, with the older ones leading the younger ones, making such a racket that it seemed like the roof could be blown off.

Mrs. Chen sighed internally. How could such a small thing as a piece of lard scrap make them cry so much? How could this be good in the future?

Mrs. Chen chewed on the lard scrap in her mouth. Hmm, it was really delicious.