HBWnovel Article 9
Article 9
Looking at Song Jiaojiao's thin and weak appearance, Cheng Yun regretted not being home yesterday.
“Sister-in-law, I know about what happened between you. I went into the mountains yesterday and didn’t come back until midnight, so I didn’t go to bother you. It’s good that you’ve broken off ties; things will get better in the future.”
"Cheng Yun, it's alright. It's all in the past now. I'll raise the children well from now on and won't live like I did before, aimlessly drifting through life." Song Jiaojiao opened the door, took out a stool, and placed it in the yard to greet him.
"Come on, you've been waiting a long time, haven't you? Have a seat."
After all, this isn't China, an era where reputation is valued more than life itself; it's better to avoid trouble.
Wang Hefan took out the revised documents from his pocket and handed them to Song Jiaojiao: "Mother, the household registration has been transferred, and I've also changed the names of my eldest and second younger sisters. Please check if they're correct."
Although the original owner had forgotten her past, she naturally remembered what she had learned. Therefore, everyone in her family knew that she was literate, including the people at the Wang family's old residence.
Song Jiaojiao took the document and opened it to read: the head of household is Wang Hefan, his mother is Song Jiaojiao, and his sisters are Wang Muqing and Wang Muxue. They currently reside in Qingshui Village, Yunshui Town, Tongan County.
This small piece of paper is crucial. Without it, one is an unregistered person, who can only be arrested by the government, forced into labor, or enslaved, with no freedom whatsoever.
Looking at the document, Song Jiaojiao breathed a sigh of relief. From now on, she wouldn't have to worry about anything when doing things; she had finally taken the first step.
"Okay, Mother will put it away in a bit. Brother Cheng Yun, what brings you here today?" Song Jiaojiao put the document into her bosom, which was actually placed into her spatial storage, and asked with a smile.
"I mainly came here to bring you some wild game. This is what Fan and I caught in a trap we dug in the mountains. I was worried that Fan wouldn't be free today, so I went to check on it. There were two rabbits, so I brought one to you. If I hadn't gone to check on it, it might have become food for other wild animals."
Cheng Yun lifted the rabbit in his hand, estimating that it would weigh about three or four pounds of meat after skinning. He handed it to Wang Hefan.
"Thank you so much, Brother Cheng Yun. You've been a great help. He Fan really didn't have time today." Song Jiaojiao looked at the rabbit in her hand, smiled, and thanked Cheng Yun.
"Hehe, it was just a small matter, nothing serious. Now that the things have been delivered, I'll head back first." Cheng Yun chuckled, scratching his head, displaying a somewhat simple and honest demeanor typical of a farmer.
"Sit a little longer, we'll have dinner at your sister-in-law's house tonight," Song Jiaojiao said quickly as she stood up.
"No, sister-in-law, there's still some leftovers from lunch at home, and it'll spoil if we don't eat it soon in this weather. I'm going back now, don't bother seeing me off." Cheng Yun waved her hand, then turned and quickly left, as if afraid she wouldn't be able to leave at any moment.
"Alright then, you definitely have to stay for dinner next time," Song Jiaojiao called out as she watched Cheng Yun's retreating figure.
"Understood." Cheng Yun's voice came from afar.
“Mother, I spent half a tael of silver today. I bought twenty catties of brown rice and twenty catties of cornmeal, which cost three hundred and sixty coins. One catty of lean meat and one catty of fatty meat cost forty-eight coins. I added two coins and the shopkeeper gave me two big bones, which cost fifty coins. The general store of Uncle Fuyou only had seven or eight kinds of seeds, which cost one hundred and fifty coins. I bought one catty of coarse salt for fifty coins. Uncle Fuyou also secretly gave me a seed that I had never seen before. I also brought two taels of brown sugar for you to nourish yourself, which cost sixty coins. It’s all here. In total, I spent one tael and one mace and seventy coins. The rest of the money is here.” Wang Hefan recounted his expenses for the day in detail and took out the remaining money from his pocket, handing it to Song Jiaojiao.
Song Jiaojiao took the money, thinking, 'I haven't even bought anything yet, and half of it is already gone. We're lacking everything at home. Luckily, my space upgraded today, so I can take out ten taels of silver. But I still need to go to town tomorrow, otherwise it'll be hard to explain taking out this money.'
"Mom, everything's in the basket. The scallions, ginger, and garlic on top were given to me by Grandma Li. I'm going to go prepare the rabbit now." Wang Hefan pointed to the basket, picked up the rabbit, and went to the well.
Song Jiaojiao glanced at the basket on her back and began to tidy it up. At the top of the basket were the scallions, ginger, and garlic that Aunt Li had given her—not much, about two ounces of each. Below was a cloth bag, about a third full; opening it revealed seeds, which Song Jiaojiao set aside separately. She then took out two pieces of meat wrapped in banana leaves and two bones, saying, "
"Little sister, do you know how to render lard? Take this piece of fat and render it into oil. Soak the bones in water first."
Mu Qing took the meat and said, "Mother, I know how to cook it. Slice the fatty meat, wash it with water, pour a small amount of water into the pot and cook it together with the fatty meat until the oil becomes clear."
"Yes, you go and get it done. We'll have braised rabbit for dinner tonight," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile and a nod.
Then she carried the brown rice and flour from the basket to the kitchen, saying, "Little sister, help me start the fire. I'll make you something delicious tonight."
"Okay, Mother, don't worry, I'll do a good job of tending the fire." Mu Xue answered cheerfully and loudly, radiating joy.
Song Jiaojiao pinched Mu Xue's nose and left the kitchen. She saw that Wang Hefan had almost finished preparing the rabbit by the well, so she said, "Hefan, once the rabbit is ready, chop it into small pieces and soak it in water. I'll take care of it later."
"I understand, Mother," Wang Hefan replied to Song Jiaojiao without looking up.
Song Jiaojiao walked towards the place where the seeds were kept, took the seeds, and went into the inner room. After closing the door, she entered the space.
Song Jiaojiao first looked at the changes in the space. She saw that the outhouse and warehouse had doubled in size, and the yellow land had increased from half an acre to a full acre. The overall space had increased considerably.
Song Jiaojiao randomly scattered the seeds to one side, then took the seeds that Wang Fuyou had given to Wang Hefan separately, examined them carefully, and seeing nothing different, planted them separately. The space showed no reaction, indicating they weren't rare plants.
Song Jiaojiao looked at the sweet potatoes she planted last night. They had already grown quite a few leaves, and she estimated that she could cut off the leaves and plant them tomorrow.
Song Jiaojiao went inside and put the documents and silver on the table. "Sigh, I have no choice but to leave them like this for now," she thought. Going to the foot of the bed, she saw a silver ingot lying on the floor. "That must be ten taels of silver," she said. She picked it up and put it with the loose change she had just received before leaving the space.
As he walked, he sighed, "What a pity, we can't raise animals now, otherwise we could raise so many fish in that river."
"As long as the host works hard to cultivate and finds rare seeds, raising animals will be a piece of cake. Not to mention chicks and fish, even tigers and lions can be raised." Flying Tiger's smug voice came, not forgetting to remind Director Cui and Song Jiaojiao to find rare seeds as soon as possible.
......
Song Jiaojiao ignored Fei Hu and went to the backyard to take a look. She remembered that the previous owner of the house seemed to have raised chickens and pigs. Song Jiaojiao wanted to see if the chicken coop and pigsty were still usable. If so, she would buy a few chickens tomorrow. The children were malnourished, and they still needed to keep the eggs.
There was a hole in the outer edge of the chicken coop, but it wasn't a big problem. After a meal, Hefan could fix it and it would still be usable. The pigsty was fine, showing how much care the original owner had taken. Even the pig troughs were still intact, and there was a pit dug at the back of the pigsty specifically for storing pig manure, which is excellent for making fertilizer.