Chapter 60: Are All the Village Chiefs Going?

Woodworking isn’t difficult for those who know it.

But the first part of that saying is — it’s difficult for those who don’t.

This task was different from the simple and rough work of constructing a chicken coop, where they just pounded the structure into the ground and used hemp ropes to secure the joints.

The uncle and niece looked at each other, a bit perplexed at first.

Sang Luo began, “First, it needs three vertical posts.”

Shen An suggested, “How about four posts? Our table has four legs, and four posts seem more stable.”

Sang Luo shook her head, “You’re mistaken there; a triangle is the most stable shape.”

Young Shen An acquiesced: If sister-in-law says so, then she must be right. Everything sister-in-law insists on is right!

He immediately nodded in agreement, “Okay, three posts!”

“Each layer should be connected and secured with horizontal wood.” Sang Luo, who had seen plenty of modern assemble-it-yourself furniture, was quite certain about this, "Making mortise and tenon joints isn’t hard; we just need a model first. I need to calculate the dimensions.”

As they spoke, she said, “An, bring out your sand tray so we can draw it up.”

Shen An hurriedly went to fetch the sand tray, soon returning with it. He smoothed out the sand, and the two of them crouched beside it, sketching and measuring, even taking serious measurements of the circular winnowing baskets inside.

After drawing for a while, Sang Luo looked at the pile of uneven wood and suddenly shook her head, “I think using bamboo poles would be easier and more convenient.

Bamboo is hollow, right? Using thick bamboo poles for the three main posts, we just need to saw notches where the joints should be, and insert the horizontal poles. Isn’t that simpler than using wood?

Once the design and dimensions were settled, and upon Shen Ning's return, Sang Luo and Shen An set off with a curved knife to cut bamboo. After much effort, they dragged back two bamboo poles and proceeded to work on them outside the courtyard.

After calculating the dimensions and referencing the drawings on the sand tray, constructing a simple four-tiered triangular drying rack turned out to be not too difficult. The main challenge was the time it took. Sawing the vertical posts and horizontal bars was repetitive work, and unlike last time, they didn't have to split them. After almost two hours of effort, they successfully completed the first rack, thankfully without getting splinters this time. However, it seemed a bit unstable. If one pulled on a vertical post, could it easily collapse?

Sang Luo, Shen An, Shen Ning: ...

All three looked bewildered.

“We need a force from the outside to hold the three posts together, right?”

“It should... be?”

"See, this is where directly driving the posts into the ground while building the chicken coop came in handy; we definitely wouldn't have this issue now.”

They stared, no, pondered over the triangular rack, trying to figure out how to securely fix it from the outside.

Use bamboo nails?

Sang Luo was afraid that driving a bamboo nail might split the entire post.

When Chen You Tian returned with his empty tofu carrier, he saw the Shen family outside their courtyard, all three intently staring at a bamboo rack.

"What are you all doing there?"

At the sound of his voice, all three of them turned around simultaneously.

An expert has arrived!

“Uncle You Tian, come have a look at this, how do we fix it?”

“Uncle You Tian, please help us figure this out.”

Their voices echoed in unison.

Chen You Tian approached, set down his load, and studied the bamboo rack: “This won't work with two layers like this; it’s not stable. What are you making this for?”

Sang Luo almost gave him a thumbs-up: “You're really an expert, spotting the problem right away. We’re making a drying rack. We plan to place those large circular winnowing baskets I bought inside, to save space and dry more items.”

Chen You Tian thought to himself that she was the real expert.

But how much stuff did they have to dry that they needed to build a drying rack for winnowing baskets?

Considering the variety of items they were selling daily, Chen You Tian didn't ask further. He figured it must be for some food preparation, and such a setup in the backyard was to keep prying eyes away.

“It’s actually quite simple.” He walked closer, took a bamboo stick to measure the size of the rack’s horizontal bars, then selected one of Sang Luo’s unused but trimmed bamboo poles. He started sawing, making a notch in the thick bamboo, then measured and sawed another section. After shaping both ends, he called out to Shen An, “An, go light a fire.”

Shen An hurried into the kitchen for a fire starter, while Shen Ning helped build the fire pit. Soon enough, they had a fire going.

Chen Youtian heated the cut bamboo over fire, bending it as he heated it.

It was only then that Sang Luo understood; bamboo can be bent after heating.

She had forgotten that bamboo can be bent by heating it over fire.

After processing the two bent sections, Chen Youtian removed the horizontal bar Sang Luo had originally used and asked her and a few others to help steady several vertical poles. He fit one pole securely into a bent section, adjusting the curvature precisely, then did the same with the second bend, inserting the narrowed ends of the bamboo into holes in a third pole and securing them with bamboo plugs for reinforcement.

The problem that had puzzled them for a while was directly solved.

Sang Luo didn’t ask Chen Youtian to work on the top layer; she could handle that herself.

Smiling, Chen Youtian set down his burden and confirmed the amount of tofu needed for the next morning, “I'll pay with soybeans, and I'll bring the goods to you later.”

After thanking him, Sang Luo watched Chen Youtian leave.

……

The Zhou family.

Zhou Village Chief's wife told her husband, who just came back for lunch, "I bought tofu today. Guess from whom I purchased it?"

Zhou Village Chief glanced at her and said, "From the Chen family, or perhaps from the Shi and Lu families. It’s just one of these three."

Zhou Village Chief's wife: ...

"You're spot-on. It was Chen You Tian. He was selling it from a carrying pole through the villages. When he reached Sanli Village, I ran into him. There weren't many left; I bought two pieces. He was open about it, saying it was Sang Luo looking after their family business."

She paused, then added, “You know, Chen You Tian's wife mentioned working with Sang in the county selling wild vegetables. Was it this business? So, doesn’t that mean the Chen family now supports two stalls?”

Zhou, the village chief, hummed in agreement, “It's not surprising. Wasn't there a rumor before that Sang almost starved to death? When Shen An went down the mountain to borrow grain from his uncle, he couldn't even get the door opened. In the end, it was the Chen's who voluntarily lent grain and sugar, and brought it up the mountain, saving Sang's life. Repaying a life-saving debt, taking care of them is only right.”

It shows that what goes around comes around.

Mrs. Zhou, envious, commented, “They must be earning quite a bit, with two stalls running daily. The Chen family is on the rise.”

Zhou, looking out at the sky, murmured, “Rising is good. Only when you are doing well can you put down stable roots and withstand storms.”

Mrs. Zhou gave him a playful scowl, “What are you always muttering about?”

Enthusiastically, she suggested, “Do you think we could also ask Sang to help sell tofu for us? We could have Sanlang take it to the county. The county is big; surely it wouldn’t interfere with Sang and Chen You Tian's wife's business, right?”

After asking for a while, her husband didn’t respond.

Seeing him lost in thought, she nudged him, “What are you daydreaming about? I'm talking to you.”

Zhou came back to reality, “What did you say?”

Mrs. Zhou repeated her suggestion, and after some thought, Zhou shook his head, “It's not our turn yet. There’s the Shi and Lu families ahead of us. The Chen family already manages two stalls. Wouldn’t the Chens and the Shis, who helped with the house construction, be taken care of first?”

Mrs. Zhou was skeptical, “Really? With so many people, isn’t Sang selling by herself now?”

Zhou chuckled, “It's easy to find out. Why don’t you ask Qi Sao? See if the Shi and Lu families have approached Qi Ge for help, and that will clarify things.”

To travel to the county, one inevitably has to go through the village chief. If the Shi and Lu families were setting up stalls in the county, they would undoubtedly have to make arrangements with the village chief.

Mrs. Zhou, upon hearing this, agreed but casually remarked, “I was just speaking offhand, no need to actually go ask Qi Sao about it.”

Despite saying so, she went out that afternoon and returned with an air of confirmation, “You were spot on. The Shi and Lu families had indeed approached Qi Ge for assistance with their stalls right at the start of the busy farming season. One is Mrs. Gan’s and the other is Mrs. Feng’s.”

Zhou, the village chief, smiled, “You asked Qi Ge about it?”

Mrs. Zhou shook her head, “No, I asked Qi Sao. Qi Ge has gone to the county, said he was summoned there, along with all the other village chiefs.”

Zhou's expression changed subtly, his hand, which was resting loosely on the table, tensed, “All the village chiefs have gone?”

Mrs. Zhou, puzzled, replied, “Yes, isn’t that normal? Whenever there’s something to be done for the higher-ups, all the village chiefs are summoned, right?”

Zhou closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed his forehead, remaining silent for a while.

Mrs. Zhou, sensing something was off, inquired, “What’s wrong? Qi Ge going to the county isn’t unusual, is it?”

Zhou waved it off, “Nothing, perhaps I’m just overthinking.”

After a moment, he cautioned, “If any grain merchants come by, we’re not selling our grain this year.”

Mrs. Zhou’s casual demeanor vanished, and she asked with a serious tone, “What’s going on?”

Zhou shook his head, “I'm not sure, it's uncertain. I’ll wait for Qi Ge to return and ask him. Anyway, let’s not sell our grain this year.”

“Not even if they offer a high price? I heard in Sanli Village today that the grain merchants are offering 73 wen per dou for sun-dried grain.”

This price was already higher than the current selling price in the grain store. Hearing the news, the general store in Sanli Village had already raised its prices.

Zhou's expression grew graver upon hearing about the increase in grain prices, shaking his head, “No, not selling. Even if they offer 173 wen per dou, we can’t sell. We need to keep all our grain this year.”

Mrs. Zhou nodded, somewhat dazedly agreeing with her husband. She didn't press further on the reason but made a mental note of his words, “Alright, I’ll tell our eldest and the others too. We won’t invite any grain merchants to our home.”

They would wait for Qi Ge to return in the evening; her husband would surely confirm the news and then inform the family.