RPAGF Chapter 31 New Home, New Life!
Chapter 31 New Home, New Life!
Although they are all simple vegetarian dishes, her skill in controlling the heat and seasonings is remarkable. The aroma is irresistible even before the dishes are taken out of the pot, whetting one's appetite.
It's a bit of a shame that the seasonings weren't complete; there was no ginger or garlic, no soy sauce or vinegar, and no cooking wine. Otherwise, she could have made a cold black fungus salad.
She served out three bowls of vegetables and quickly cooked corn porridge.
The meal is finally ready!
Lin Shuisheng lost his father at a young age, leaving only his frail and sickly mother, who was constantly taking medicine, to depend on him. The family was poor and had no money. Lin Shuisheng was in his mid-twenties and still unmarried. He, the grown man, had always been the one to cook, though his cooking skills were rather mediocre.
The aroma of the delicious food made his stomach rumble, which made him quite embarrassed.
He immediately praised, "Tang's cooking is so delicious."
Shen Xiaotang smiled slightly, "Haha, thank you for the compliment, Uncle Shuisheng. Eat more later and see how my cooking is."
After Liu helped her daughter bring the vegetables and pancakes over, she took out a bowl, scooped out a little of each of the three dishes, put two pancakes on top of the vegetables, and then ladled out a bowl of corn porridge.
"Shuisheng, your mother is home alone. I don't know if she has eaten. It's almost mealtime. Hurry up and take it to her."
Lin Shuisheng was slightly taken aback, and immediately refused, "Sister-in-law, when I went home to fetch water just now, my mother was already preparing lunch. She must have eaten by now, so there's no need to bring it to me. Let's eat together."
Qingchuan and his wife had been tormented in the Shen family for years, and had never had enough to eat. On their first meal after separating from the family, they cooked a feast to treat him, using so many ingredients at once, and then sent some to his mother. How could he possibly accept it?
Liu shoved the bowl into Shui Sheng's hands. "Your mother isn't well, and it's not good for her to cook for herself. We make a lot, so take some to her so she can try it. Since we'll be cooking here from now on, invite her over to eat with us tomorrow, so we don't have to cook two separate meals."
"Sister-in-law, how could I possibly accept both food and gifts? Besides, my mother is definitely not going to come."
Shui Sheng declined several times, his face turning red.
Shen Qingchuan patted Shuisheng on the shoulder, "We've been brothers since we were kids. You've helped me and your sister-in-law a lot over the years when we were working in the fields. A bowl of rice is nothing, so don't nag."
"Well then, I won't stand on ceremony."
Shuisheng was very happy to bring his mother home with the food, knowing that she could enjoy such delicious food.
……
After working on it for half a month, the new house is finally finished!
The house consisted of two large rooms, three of which were connected to a small kitchen. The yard was built high and had two large wooden gates.
Liu cleaned the house spotlessly, and Shuisheng helped them move their belongings. Although Mr. Shen and Mrs. Sun were unwilling, they had already signed the division of property documents and could only watch helplessly as the eldest son's family moved the grain away, took a pig, and carried away two chickens.
The house construction cost four and a half taels of silver for bricks and tiles, and another six hundred coins for miscellaneous items, totaling five taels of silver and one hundred coins. Shen Qingchuan gave Shuisheng an additional tael of silver as wages.
Shui Sheng thought there was too much of it and refused to take it no matter what.
“Brother Qingchuan, you know what the wages are in town. You only get forty coins a day even if you work yourself to death. I worked for you for half a month, and that was with rest periods. You even provided lunch for my mother and me. I would be ashamed to death if I really took that money.”
Shen Qingchuan looked disapproving. "These days you've been working tirelessly from dawn till dusk to build our house and help us move. You've put in much more effort than you would working for the landlord in town. Besides, you deserve some credit for our successful division of the family property and the distribution of so many things."
He pretended to break his ribs and got an extra three taels of silver from his father for medicine. He was only able to get away with it thanks to Shuisheng's help.
After much back and forth, Shui Sheng finally agreed to leave only half a tael of silver.
After Shui Sheng left, Shen Qingchuan sat in the courtyard, sighing repeatedly.
"This Shuisheng is too honest. Doesn't he know his own family's situation? Can't he think more about himself and save some money to get married?"
Liu agreed, "What you said makes sense. It's just that the Shui people are honest and willing to help us. Otherwise, even after we separated from the family, we would still have to live with our parents for a few more months."
After feeding the chickens, Shen Xiaotang walked towards her parents and said somewhat apologetically, "Dad, how about Mom and I get up early tomorrow morning to go to town to buy some meat and some cakes, and send them to Uncle Shuisheng so that he can improve Xiangqin's life a bit?"
Xiangqin's grandmother is physically weak, takes medication year-round, has poor family meals, and has low immunity, which is actually a vicious cycle.
"He won't accept more wages, so we have no choice but to accept it. Alright, you and your daughter can go tomorrow morning. Dad and Yu'er will stay here to look after the house."
When Liu heard that she could also go to the market in town, she immediately became excited.
"Dad, I can go to town too? Am I dreaming?"
Growing up, she had many siblings, and her family was so poor that they could barely make ends meet. After marrying into the Shen family for six or seven years, she had endless farm work and tofu to make every day. Let alone going to the market in town, even if she sat down to rest for a while, her mother-in-law would find out and scold her for being lazy.
Seeing his wife so happy, like a child, Shen Qingchuan felt a pang of guilt.
“Fengniang, I’m sorry for making you suffer because of me. You haven’t even been to town since you married me.”
In the past, the couple had no savings. Even if they went to town, they had no money to buy anything. What was the point of going out if they didn't spend money?
Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "You two are a couple, what's there to be sorry about?"
Shen Xiaoyu stammered, "Dad, Mom, I...I want to go too, I'll be a good girl."
Mrs. Liu hesitated, unable to refuse her obedient and well-behaved youngest daughter.
"Mother, let Xiaoyu go too. We're not going to buy anything else anyway, just some meat and some cakes, it'll be fine."
After hesitating for a moment, Liu nodded in agreement, "Alright, then let's take Yu'er and the three of us go to the market in town together."
At night, Shen Qingchuan no longer needed to pretend to have broken ribs. Under the moonlight, he quietly built a pigsty and a chicken coop in the corner of the yard, thinking that with two chickens laying two eggs a day, his two daughters could eat a boiled egg every day to nourish their bodies.
He plans to buy a few more piglets and raise another flock of chickens. Once he's financially secure, he'll let his wife and daughters go to the market every two weeks.
The next day.
The family got up early. Shen Qingchuan made a table and four chairs so they wouldn't have to squat to eat anymore.
After Liu finished cutting pig feed and returned home, she threw the feed into the pigpen. When she went into the house, she saw her husband had finished making a set of tables and chairs, and she felt a little scared.
“Dad, you’re still injured. If people find out you’ve been building pigsties and chicken coops and making tables and chairs, we won’t be able to keep this a secret.”
Shen Qingchuan sighed, "I'm just bored and itching to do it. I won't do it anymore. I'll be idle at home for three months, so you'll have to take care of the housework."
“What work is there at home? It’s just four acres of dry land. What’s so hard about it? Before we separated the family, we did much more. Now we can finally catch our breath.”