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

Chapter 9

That day, Shen An and Shen Ning not only had lunch, but they also had something delicious that even their Uncle Shen, Aunt Shen, Shen Jin, Shen Yin, Shen Tie, and Shen Tian had never tasted before!!!

Who would have thought that leaves picked from the mountain, combined with some plant ash, could produce something so delicious!!!

The two siblings, who had been living in fear for the past few months, were overjoyed.

What did this mean? It meant they would never go hungry again!!!

For a moment, their eyes were filled with admiration as they looked at Sang Luo. Their sister-in-law was truly amazing, truly wonderful!

Their faces, which had looked like little refugees, were now filled with smiles. Shen An smiled as he ate, but tears almost welled up in his eyes. He had been so scared before, and now his nose was tingling.

The three of them shared the bowl of sugar water mixed with fairy tofu. After finishing it, Shen An looked at the other bowl and then at Sang Luo, tentatively asking, “Sister-in-law, can we give this bowl to Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen?”

He had a conscience.

Sang Luo smiled, “Of course, but we must keep the recipe for this secret. We’ll try selling it at the market the day after tomorrow. We need to earn some money to buy food. If the recipe gets out, this stuff won’t be worth anything.”

Although the immortal tofu was delicious, it couldn’t replace rice. Money and food were the top priorities for survival.

Shen An and Shen Ning understood this very well. They had seen how this stuff was made with their own eyes. Without hesitation, they nodded in agreement, “We understand. We won’t say anything!”

Thinking about being able to exchange this stuff for food made them smile even wider, almost to the point where they couldn’t see their eyes.

Seeing that the two understood, Sang Luo smiled and cut the other bowl of tofu into small pieces, poured sugar water over it, and personally carried it. The three of them went into the village together.

It was noon, and everyone was either resting or preparing to rest. There was no one on the village road.

The door of the Chen family’s courtyard was slightly ajar, and there were two children in the courtyard. The older boy looked to be about eleven or twelve years old, and the younger girl was about five or six years old.

As soon as the three arrived at the Chen family’s gate, the Chen siblings spotted them. The younger girl, especially happy, called out to Shen An and Shen Ning with a little childish tone, then ran over.

The older boy called into the house, “Grandpa, Grandma, Sister-in-law Sang, and Shen An and Shen Ning are here.”

The Chen family was not sleeping yet, and they came out of the main hall. Old man Chen and Mrs. Chen walked out, followed by Chen Youtian and his wife, Qin Fangniang.

“Why are you here?” Mrs. Chen asked as she approached, her eyes falling on the bowl of jade-like substance in Sang Luo’s hand. “What’s this?”

“It’s something I made to eat, and I brought it over for you and your family to try.”

People who had almost starved to death last night, Shen An had come begging for food at their house, and now he was bringing them something to eat?

Mrs. Chen and Old Man Chen were a bit incredulous.

Mrs. Chen lowered her head to look at the jade-like substance in the bowl. Could it be made from the rice she had sent over?

It didn’t seem likely. With just that little bit of rice, Sang Luo wouldn’t be calculating so carefully to save some for herself. How could she still afford to send some over to them?

In the blink of an eye, the old couple’s minds turned over several thoughts. Mrs. Chen declined, “Given your current situation, you should keep the food for yourselves. Wouldn’t it be better for you, Shen An, and Shen Ning to have a few more mouthfuls? Why would you still send it to us?”

Sang Luo smiled. Although Mrs. Chen’s tone wasn’t particularly gentle when speaking to her, she could still sense the kindness in it. She placed the bowl in the old lady’s hands and said with a smile, “Thanks to your sugar and food deliveries last night, I’ve recovered a bit. This was made from things in the mountains, so it didn’t cost any food. You, Grandpa, Uncle Arita, Aunt Arita, and the two younger siblings can also try my cooking. It’s just a little gesture from me and Shen An and Shen Ning.”

Mrs. Chen’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

Could Sang Luo speak like this?

She didn’t have much interaction with Sang Luo, and in her memory, she was quite shy, always smiling faintly and not saying much.

Mrs. Chen looked at the contents of the bowl and then at her granddaughter next to her, who was listening to Shen An and Shen Ning talking excitedly about how delicious the food was, saliva almost dripping down. It was as if her granddaughter’s eyes were hooked onto the bowl like a fish on a hook…

“You’re thoughtful. Then, I won’t be polite. Sit inside for a while. I’ll clear the bowl.”

Seeing her grandmother accept the food, the little girl was almost cheering, but she suppressed it because Sang Luo was there. However, she couldn’t hide her excitement as she chattered with Shen An and Shen Ning.

Qin Fangniang brought a stool to the door of the main hall and invited Sang Luo to sit.

Sang Luo thanked Aunt Arita and went to sit down. She greeted Uncle Arita before turning to old man Chen and asking, “Grandpa, there’s another thing. Is your flax processing tool available now? If it’s not in use at the moment, I’d like to borrow it from you in a couple of days.”

In August, every family was busy weaving cloth, so there was less flax stripping and processing.

Old man Chen’s face was weathered, but he was easy to talk to. “It’s idle now. It hasn’t been used much lately. If you need it, you don’t have to wait two days. I’ll bring it to you now, and you can take it back with you later.”

With that, he went to find something for Sang Luo.

Mrs. Chen poured the contents of the bowl into her own bowl and cleared Sang Luo’s bowl. Having heard the conversation in the kitchen, she came out with an empty bowl and asked Sang Luo, “Are you preparing clothes for autumn and winter?”

During the conversation, Mrs. Chen glanced at Shen An and Shen Ning, noticing their patched clothes, especially when they were so short that their wrists and ankles were exposed. It wasn’t a problem now when the weather was hot, but when it cooled down, their clothes wouldn’t be enough, especially living up in the mountains, where it would be colder than outside. These two kids’ clothes wouldn’t withstand autumn.

Sang Luo shook her head. “That’s something to consider later. Without a weaving machine, we can’t make cloth. I just cut some wild hemp and thought of trading hemp fiber for some household utensils at the market. I won’t hide it from you. Regarding the thing I sent you just now, I plan to make some to sell at the market. But as you saw today, we hardly have anything at home. Even if we want to make something, we don’t have any decent containers.”

Mrs. Chen’s expression visibly softened with each word Sang Luo spoke. Hearing the latter part, and recalling what she saw when she visited early this morning, she understood. She praised, “Planning ahead is right. That’s how you get by in life, adding to your possessions little by little. The days will get better gradually.”

She continued, “If you’re planning to sell food, there’s a market the day after tomorrow. You don’t need to wait to trade hemp for household items. If you need pots or jars, I’ll rearrange things at home. I don’t have many extras, but I can lend you one or two to use for a few days.”

Waiting for the hemp to be traded for money would take until the next market day to get some hemp thread to exchange for things. Then, taking it back to make something to sell would have to wait until the following market day. They only had a market every five days here. How could they afford such a delay?

Sang Luo’s gesture of bringing gifts was partly to sincerely thank the old couple, and partly, she also had plans to borrow some things. Hearing Mrs. Chen’s offer, she smiled and smoothly accepted, “That would be great, then. Thank you in advance, Grandma.”

Her smile was sweet, making Mrs. Chen look at her several times.

Both loved saying thanks. Compared to when they split up, where they were so thin they barely resembled humans and didn’t look good with their makeshift wooden racks, they seemed to have lost weight and gained more sharpness in their actions and words. People subconsciously ignored their thin faces, as it’s not uncommon to be that thin nowadays.

Especially that sweet smile and the ease in her actions, which were quite different from before.

Mrs. Chen couldn’t help but wonder. It had been a few months since she last saw her. Did she have a makeover? But then she thought again. She hadn’t interacted with Sang Luo much in the past. Maybe she was always like this, but she was especially silent before because of the major changes she went through?

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