Chapter 173

Chapter 173

Moving isn't something Lin Fengdie can decide on her own. Li Shi and Uncle Lin are the ones making the call.

Li Shi is more easy-going. She doesn’t really care where they live, and moving here might even allow them to build a bigger house.

With more space, it would be more convenient for them to work.

Uncle Lin is attached to the house emotionally and doesn’t want to leave. He and Uncle Lin are different. He was pampered by Grandma Lin since he was young, and the old couple lived with them for a long time.

The house holds sentimental value for him.

Houses are funny things. If no one lives in them, even the best house will lose its vitality and soon become dilapidated.

Lin Taohong took the socks and looked at them. "They feel very warm, but they won’t be easy to wear with shoes."

Lin Chunyan liked them too. She planned to wear them when she slept at night so her feet would stay warm all night.

She was tired of her feet always being cold.

Lin Fengdie didn’t come just to give them the socks. After finishing the bread, she said, "Big sister, do you have time now? My father said he needs to see you. He’s still busy with his work."

Lin Chunyan stood up and followed Lin Fengdie outside, asking, "Why does Uncle Lin need to see me?"

"It seems to be about Ju Miao’s father."

Ju Miao’s father wasn’t too bothered when he found out Uncle Lin didn’t want to teach him. He had expected it.

Being older, he had experienced much and was no longer the type to complain about small matters.

By the time you’re forty, you understand your place in life, and people tend to get wiser as they grow older.

Of course, not everyone becomes more understanding. Some live in a way that others envy.

Ju Miao was worried her father might feel bad and said that their pig pancreas soap didn’t need a box. "They value our soap, not the box."

Ju Miao’s father smiled, thinking that if Uncle Lin didn’t want to teach them, he could slowly figure it out himself.

Most villagers know a bit of carpentry, but their work is pretty crude.

Ju Miao’s mother didn’t stop him either and later told Ju Miao and Xiu Jier, "It’s his only dream in life. Now that our family is doing well, let him do what he wants."

Who knew that just a few days later, Uncle Lin and Lin Chunyan would show up, offering to teach him?

It wasn’t just him. Li Youde and Heizi from Lihua’s family would also come to learn.

Uncle Lin found out about this when Silang blurted it out during an argument. "Big sister has helped that Madam Huang set up an arithmetic class and taught so many people. What’s the point of hiding a simple carpentry skill? Even if I learn it, I’ll teach Heizi and the others."

He also said, "Dan the Kid said that even if I can’t learn the porcelain-making skill, he’ll teach me after he learns it."

Uncle Lin felt like the world was spinning, and he got a pounding headache. "Where have you all been acting so recklessly? Those are how we make a living. How can we just teach them to others casually?"

"If we don’t teach anyone else, are we just going to work ourselves to death and let these valuable skills disappear?"

Uncle Lin didn’t understand Silang, and Silang didn’t understand Uncle Lin. The father and son parted unhappily again.

However, the fact that someone was willing to learn carpentry did bring Uncle Lin some comfort. He stubbornly thought that since Silang was so unreasonable, he might as well not teach him.

Li Shi added, "We can’t keep fighting like this every day. If he doesn’t want to learn, why push him so stubbornly?"

Uncle Lin thought about it overnight, and the next day he sent Lin Fengdie to find Lin Chunyan.

The two of them then went to the houses of Li Youde and Heizi. When they heard that they could learn carpentry from Uncle Lin, their families were overjoyed.

"We should properly hold a formal apprenticeship ceremony for this."

Ju Miao's father also agreed, nearly kneeling before Uncle Lin.

Considering their ages, Ju Miao's father was quite a bit older than Uncle Lin, and his son was already married.

This startled Uncle Lin, making him step back in alarm.

But Ju Miao's mother grabbed Uncle Lin, saying, "Uncle, this is something we should do. Our whole family remembers your kindness!"

She was about to kneel too, but after much commotion, they finally left their house. Heizi’s parents and Mrs. Zhao all rushed to Uncle Lin’s house, carrying several festive gifts.

The villagers who stayed home from work came out to watch the excitement. When they heard that Uncle Lin had taken them on as apprentices, they all became envious.

Uncle Lin earned quite a bit every month!

Who would have thought that Uncle Lin, once mocked for being a kept man, would have such a day.

"I see Yan Niang running back and forth behind the scenes; maybe she’s the one who brought this matter up."

Lin Chunyan overheard and quickly clarified, "You don’t need to blame everything on me; this was all my uncle’s idea."

"Everyone in your family is good." Naturally, they excluded Elder Lin from this thought.

They thought this privately but didn’t dare say it in front of Lin Chunyan.

Far away, Elder Lin sneezed and tightened his cotton jacket as he entered his house.

The house was cold too, and Shi Niang’s face darkened when she saw him come back empty-handed.

"Why didn’t you bring anything back?" She held back for a long time but couldn’t help but ask.

Life was hard for poor couples, and although Elder Lin used to have some money, after having a son, he moved houses and bought new things with Shi Niang, who also wanted to hold a banquet. With the disaster in the north, his business suffered some losses, and he was left with no money.

"You good-for-nothing woman, why are you always lazy at home? I have to do everything myself. How can you be like this?" Elder Lin became a little angry after being scolded and found everything about Shi Niang unpleasant.

At that moment, he thought of Mrs. Zhang. Although she was lazy, loved to boast, and was very stingy, there was one good thing about her—she knew how to take care of herself.

If she had given birth to a son, he wouldn’t have had to move away from his hometown.

Every time the New Year approached, Elder Lin felt very uncomfortable.

Shi Niang was not a soft target either, and she glared at Elder Lin, "Now you look down on me? It wasn’t like this before! You sweet-talked me into having a son with you, and now you don’t even know who you are!"

Shi Niang’s family was nearby. She had originally followed a traveling merchant, but after that person lost contact, she set her sights on Elder Lin, thinking he was easy to handle.

After having a son, she became the legitimate wife.

Shi Niang never thought she had done anything wrong. After all, if you don’t look out for yourself, no one else will.

She stood up and pretended to walk out, muttering, "Did you give all the money to your former two daughters?"

Elder Lin quickly waved his hands to deny it, "How could I give it to them? They’re not even part of our family; they might have already been married off."

Shi Niang paused in her steps, "You’re right, it’s strange. Why didn’t they come to cry to their real father and ask for more dowry?"

Lin Laoda sneered, "Don't try to deceive me. I took all the money from the house when I left. They didn't have a single penny for a dowry."

Shi Niang finally felt relieved but started to worry again as she looked at the leaky house. "How can we go on like this? Look at your son suffering. Don't you feel sorry for him?"

Lin Laoda felt sorry, of course. His son was almost two years old, and he had been carefully taking care of him since birth, so the affection was deep.

"Should I write a letter back home and see if the other families can lend us some money?"

"Yes, didn't you say that the daughter-in-law married into the third branch knows a craft? She probably has quite a bit of money."

These words were spoken by Lin Laoda, who was complaining about how his mother had arranged for Uncle Lin to marry Li Shi, while Mrs. Zhang couldn’t measure up.

After the couple finished talking, they shivered and climbed into bed. Their younger son opened his eyes drowsily and cried out to Lin Laoda, "Dad, you said you'd bring back a pastry for me to eat. I'm so hungry..."

Lin Laoda was also very hungry, and the quilt wasn't very warm, but hearing Lin Guangzong's whimpering voice made him feel sorry. He quickly picked him up and comforted him.

"We need to write that letter soon."

---

After a full day of slaughtering pigs in Qingshan Village, Butcher Zhang stopped by Lin Chunyan’s house to drop off the promised basin of pig’s blood.

He wasn’t alone; the old lady from the family whose pig he had slaughtered came along and invited Lin Chunyan's family to the feast celebrating the pig slaughter.

Mrs. Zhang didn’t come out when she saw Butcher Zhang; she listened from behind the window.

Butcher Zhang didn’t stay long, leaving after the delivery, but the old lady continued to chat with Lin Chunyan.

"Without your help, we wouldn’t have been able to raise pigs again. It’s been years since we last kept pigs."

After the pig was slaughtered, apart from some meat left for the family, everything was sold to the people on the mountain. Sang Zhu'er and Second Aunt Lin weighed the meat and paid them on the spot.

This quick payment earned the old lady's family quite a bit of money, and they offered to treat them to a meal.

Second Aunt Lin wasn’t in the mood to go and politely declined.

However, she didn’t dare delay her work any longer and chose not to visit Erlang, having already ignored him at home.

"Yan Niang, should we make hams or smoked meat?"

Lin Chunyan thought for a moment. "There are still many pigs raised on the mountain. I think we should start with smoked meat."

Smoked meat was made every year using the pine and cypress branches from the mountain, so Second Aunt Lin agreed. "Alright, I'll find someone to start the work tomorrow."

Being busy with work occupied her mind quite a bit, helping her avoid thinking about troubling matters throughout the day.

As Second Aunt Lin returned home, she thought about doing more work the next day.

Second Uncle Lin was at home working with the rich mud, which had been dug out from the pond and was particularly fertile, excellent for farming.

"What are we eating later?" Second Uncle Lin noticed Second Aunt Lin's improved mood and felt better himself.

There's no hurdle that can't be overcome.

Second Aunt Lin understood Second Uncle Lin's glance and smiled back. "Do you want to eat fish again?"

Second Uncle Lin's expression changed immediately.

In the past, fish could only be eaten when the fish pond was harvested during the New Year, but now, with Sanlang's business, they ate fish much more often.

Uncle Lin was so tired of fish that he didn’t even want to eat it anymore.

Second Aunt Lin chuckled, "Then let’s have some pig blood instead; that old woman just brought it over."

Lin Chunyan’s family didn’t rush to eat the pig blood and decided to deal with the loaches first.

Although Mrs. Zhang still couldn’t eat, Uncle Lin had given them quite a lot of loach. After some thought, Lin Chunyan processed all of it.

Since it was winter and the loaches wouldn’t spoil in the cold, they processed them and planned to take them to Lin’s establishment the next day.

Wang Yingniang was waiting for Lin Chunyan to teach her how to make meat floss petit cakes. She watched eagerly as Lin Chunyan finished with the loach before finding the time to come over.

By this time, it had grown dark.

"Time flies by so fast," Lin Chunyan remarked as she sat by the stove, suddenly aware of how quiet it had gotten outside.

Making meat floss petit cakes required whipping egg whites, but without an electric mixer, they had to do it by hand in the kitchen. After working for a long time, their arms became sore before they managed to whip the eggs properly.

"This is too much work," Lin Chunyan said, wiping the sweat from her brow.

Wang Yingniang agreed, "But it looks so delicious. I had no idea egg whites could be whipped to be so fluffy."

When they pulled them out of the bread kiln, a few of the cakes had collapsed, and the shapes weren’t as pretty.

But despite the effort, the taste more than made up for it. Even though they were full from dinner, after tasting the meat floss petit cakes, they couldn’t help but eat more.

Mrs. Zhang felt better and had an appetite, but she couldn’t stop eating. Lin Chunyan let her have two and told her they could make more next time.

"Never mind then, we watched you make it just now, and it was really exhausting."

Just tasting it was satisfying enough for them.

Lin Chunyan was left both amused and helpless. "It’s just some effort."

For a cook, the greatest joy comes from seeing others enjoy the food, especially when cooking for family.

"By the way, if the meat floss petit cakes are difficult to make, there’s always the meat floss pastry. A bite full of meat floss, and it’s much easier to make."

Wang Yingniang’s eyes lit up, no longer feeling tired, and urged Lin Chunyan to make it for her.

"First, we need to prepare the dough, just like we did for those chrysanthemum pastries and red bean cakes, but this time we’ll use meat floss as the filling."

Then it would go into the bread kiln to bake, and halfway through, they would flip it to ensure even baking.

Wang Yingniang understood. "That’s really not difficult. I’ll make the dough early tomorrow morning."

The next morning, Wang Yingniang got up early. Once the dough had risen, she divided it into roughly equal portions.

The first time, she only made about twenty.

She didn’t add any salad dressing to the meat floss filling because the oil content was too high. Not to mention, if Mrs. Zhang saw it, she would exclaim. Even Wang Yingniang herself couldn’t bear to use it.

The meat floss filling was a bit dry without the salad dressing, but she wrapped it up anyway.

The taste turned out to be quite good. When broken apart, you could see the layer of meat floss filling. She thought that if she gave it to Lady Zhu, she would probably like it very much.

"It would be even better if we added something extra to the filling." Wang Yingniang furrowed her brow, pondering with great distress.

Lin Chunyan smiled, "Actually, it's quite tasty as it is. But if you really want to add something, you could try salted egg yolk."

Wang Yingniang nodded vigorously after hearing this, "Yes, we used this kind of filling when we made mooncakes before."

Lin Taohong was just eating and, before leaving, still remembered to stuff a few into her pockets.

As soon as they arrived at Lin’s establishment, Da Zhuang, Hu Zi, and Sun Anyuan from the security escort company arrived, carrying quite a few food baskets in their hands.

It was time to buy supplies.

When they went out, they brought all the necessary food for the journey, trying to avoid buying anything on the road for fear of being drugged.

They had come to make purchases before every trip, and Tutor Duan had a good idea of what they needed, so he started to discuss with Da Zhuang.

Lin Chunyan took the opportunity to give the kudzu root powder to Sun Anyuan and, after thinking for a moment, said, "Would you like some loaches? We've caught quite a lot, and they can be dry-fried to last a day or two."

Before Sun Anyuan could reply, Da Zhuang already responded loudly, "That would be wonderful! We were just saying we should bring more buns, ham, and pickled vegetables. The loaches would be perfect."

Hu Zi also nodded, "Let's have some more roast duck for lunch here. I haven't had enough yet."

Sun Anyuan nodded directly, "We'll eat here, and later we'll bring some back for the other brothers."

When Ma Shi heard this, her mouth fell open. The people from their security escort company were quite capable of eating, and one roast duck per person wouldn’t suffice. She had basically sold out of ducks for the day.

The ducks raised by Sister Wei Ruo were now grown, but still insufficient to meet the demand at the establishment. They had to continue buying from Ye Xianhan's village.

At first, when their village took on this task, they were so excited they didn’t know what to do with themselves, afraid they wouldn't get a turn and letting the Village Headman collect the ducks from each household.

Over time, the Village Headman knew which households raised good ducks and which didn't. Wanting to keep the business going long-term, he naturally stopped accepting ducks from those who weren't good at it.

They had also taken in the down, but after soaking, there was always a persistent odor, and it made people appear quite bulky, so it wasn't that popular.

Lin Chunyan used the down to make a quilt and thought that if there was any extra, she could make a vest.

When Ma Shi found out, she also learned from Lin Chunyan's method and made a quilt for Hui Jier and Lan Jier.

It was said that once covered, it kept them so warm at night that they didn’t need to use a charcoal brazier.

After a short while, the roast duck was brought to the table. Da Zhuang and Hu Zi’s focus immediately shifted, and they began to eat heartily, too distracted to ask for anything else.

Sun Anyuan continued to discuss with Tutor Duan, thinking that since this trip was to a faraway place, they would naturally need more supplies.

"That place is much warmer than here, and there might be some new foods."

Tutor Duan said with a smile. Every time Sun Anyuan would ask if Lin Chunyan needed anything brought back, and since the security escort company had helped deliver goods before, it wasn't out of line to say this.

Sun Anyuan then looked at Lin Chunyan.

Lin Chunyan was actually quite clueless about where exactly it was. The farthest she had ever been was the county town.

However, she didn't have much desire to travel.

Firstly, these days were not peaceful. Their town was far from Bian City and had a place like Tongshan, which made their lives prosperous. No other place could offer such a good life.

Secondly, there was no shortage of bandits on the road, and you might lose your life without even knowing what happened.

To travel, you would need to either hire a reliable escort or have a group of servants accompany you.

Even Jiang Jinyao needed the protection of the escort bureau when she came to their town.

Li Niangzi mentioned that Jiang Jinyao initially wanted to travel for experience, but Li Daniang was worried, so she could only stay within the vicinity of Bian City.

After some thought, Lin Chunyan said, "Of course, if there are fresh things, we'll bring some back. If it's on the way, we can also get some seaweed."

Seaweed harvested from the sea can be roasted and mixed with sesame seeds to make seaweed flakes.

With meat floss pastry, it's natural to eat it with seaweed.

Sun Anyuan quickly noted it down, thinking that even if it's not on the way, they had to get some seaweed.

Da Zhuang and Hu Zi were enjoying their meal when Mr. Zhao walked in and caught sight of them.

"Eating roast duck?" He greeted Da Zhuang and the others, "You're making me want to eat it too."

"Then sit down and join us," Da Zhuang generously invited.

Mr. Zhao regretfully shook his head, "I have something to take care of today, so I can't eat here; I need to head over to Old Man Qin's place."

"Do you still have any of yesterday’s meat floss bread?" Mr. Zhao had come to buy that bread.

Apart from sending it to Old Man Qin's father-in-law, he also wanted to send some to his two sons.

Since the school hasn’t closed for the holidays yet, he still has two more days to deliver.

He couldn't really let a dispute over food cause a rift between father and sons.

"So, you’re the one delivering this time?" Mrs. Zhang chatted with him. "Last time, Old Man Chen came to buy things for Old Man Qin's father-in-law."

Old Man Qin slipped and fell while fetching wine during the snowstorm, injuring both himself and Old Man Liu.

Old Man Liu was fine and even got to eat Liu Daniang's specially kept spicy hotpot.

Old Man Qin, however, had it much worse; his family blamed his injuries on his excessive drinking.

His family decided to curb his drinking habit by only letting him eat nutritious, light meals.

Being a food lover, Old Man Qin found it unbearable and eagerly awaited visitors.

Old Man Chen, who was also a food lover and his in-law, brought many things whenever he visited, which relieved Old Man Qin's immediate needs.

Eventually, Old Man Qin even started requesting specific dishes, asking Old Man Chen to bring certain things when he visited.

Over time, his family objected, and Old Man Chen started taking the items himself when he visited.

Old Man Qin had no choice but to turn to Mr. Zhao.

They were both food lovers who had known each other for many years, and Mr. Zhao, putting himself in Old Man Qin's shoes, found it too hard to bear.

So, he started running errands for him.

Unfortunately, the meat floss bread was only sold the day before and hadn't been made today.

"If you’re not in a rush, there will be meat floss pastries at the Clear Breeze Building tomorrow—they’re just as tasty."

Mr. Zhao immediately brightened up, no longer in a hurry to leave. "Then I'll eat roast duck here before going home."