Thank goodness the farmhouse and rooms were made of earth, otherwise, if it were modern concrete blocks, she wouldn’t even be able to make a hole.
Fortunately, she was clever. The underground was warm in winter and cool in summer. During the hot summer days, storing things underground was much cooler than outside. Moreover, the jars contained wine which, when sealed and combined with low temperatures, helped the food to absorb flavors better.
"Mom, these things need to be stored in a very low-temperature place for easy preservation, and since our house doesn’t have an ice cellar, we can only store them . And there’s no place to dig outside, so we have to do it inside."
Ms.Wang scolded, "You’re always so sneaky! Don’t think I don’t know you. You just don’t want the people from the principal wife’s side to touch your stuff."
Yang Chuxia chuckled at her words.
"Mom, sister!" Yang Qingrui, who was outside, heard laughter coming from inside and called out.
Yang Chuxia heard it and went to open the door to let him in.
"Sister, where’s the stuff? I want to see it." Yang Qingrui looked around and found only some clean small fish and shrimp on the table.
"Look at your head, it’s meant to be eaten, not seen. In half a month, you’ll be able to eat it."
"Hehe, sister is so secretive; I’m guessing it must be delicious."
Ms.Wang watched her children play, shook her head, and returned to the table with the small fish and shrimp. "Xiaxia, should I spread these out to dry outside?"
"Yeah, just lay them out in the winnowing basket. With the good sun these days, they should be almost completely dried in just two or three days." Yang Chuxia looked at it – there weren’t many fish, and after eating some shrimp at noon, there wasn’t much left. It was just enough to spread out in the winnowing basket.
"Alright, I’ll take it outside. We should make use of sunlight while we can."
Watching Ms.Wang’s retreating figure carrying the winnowing basket, Yang Chuxia’s nose inexplicably soured. She felt touched by the trust that Ms.Wang and Yang Dachuan had in her. Not to mention Ms.Wang, but Yang Dachuan had spent almost six or seven hundred wen to buy those things. Knowing that rice only costs ten wen per catty, this was equivalent to sixty or seventy catties of rice. Yet, Yang Dachuan didn’t ask a single question and brought everything back.
Even after seeing the items, Ms.Wang didn’t know what Yang Chuxia wanted to do, but she just laughed and made a comment.
This kind of trust and love made her incredibly grateful. With such loving parents, it’s fair to say that the original host was fortunate, just unlucky in life. Now, it seemed like she benefitted from all this, but she would still be good to these parents and her siblings, and protect them as they grew up.
"Sister, are we going back tomorrow?" Yang Qingrui asked if they were going to the small beach on the west side again.
"Yes, of course, we’re going!"
"Okay, then, let’s sleep early tonight."
Yang Qingtong, who was nearby, heard and came running over, "Sister, take me with you. I can work too."
"It’s too far. You’d better not go." Yang Chuxia disagreed. Although scavenging work was doable for children, the beach was too far away, and mornings started too early. In her past life, children this small would be in school, so she couldn’t bear taking her little brother out with her.
As for Yang Qingrui, he was a brother and a future pillar for the family, so he had to start learning how to stand on his own now.
"No, I want to go too! You guys are all working; I want to work too." Yang Qingtong was a stubborn child. If he said he wanted to go, he insisted on going. Seeing that Yang Chuxia didn’t pay any attention to him, he went to find Yang Qingrui. "Brother, can you guys take me with you? I can pick things up too, and if I help you guys, won’t it be faster?"