But, I’ve heard ancient books were really expensive. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ Novᴇ(l)Fɪre .ɴᴇt
The ancient characters were traditional, quite different from what she had learned. She could guess the general meaning, but living again as an illiterate after many hard years was truly frustrating for her.
As it got darker, Sanhu and Little Hu came back from outside, covered in mud, carrying water buckets.
As soon as he entered the door, Little Hu asked Erhu, "Second brother, where’s little sis?"
Erhu showed no concealment of his disdain, "Look at you, covered in mud. Why look for little sis before cleaning up?"
"I want to show little sis the fish I caught!" Little Hu said proudly, smiling with his eyes. The bucket was half full of fish, the result of his and third brother’s work for most of the afternoon.
Gu Nian had just walked out from inside, "Wow! Third brother and little brother, you’re amazing! Where did you catch so many fish?"
Especially with all that mud, as if you just rolled out of a mud pit.
Little Hu grinned as he proudly said, "Just from the lotus pond. There’s not much water left, and lots of fish were jumping around. Many people in the village went to catch fish too."
While Little Hu was bragging, Sanhu had already taken a towel and some soap and urged Little Hu, "Hurry, go wash up."
"Oh." Little Hu responded and walked outside.
Being covered in mud, it would waste a lot of water to wash at home, so the two of them went straight to the river.
That big wild boar had completely changed the frugal life of the Lin Family, they ate meat every meal, fearing it would spoil if not finished.
Plus a pot of milky white fish soup, the meal was truly satisfying.
The continuous good weather broke, and early in the morning, the air was filled with thick fog.
"After so many sunny days, it’s finally going to rain. Rain is good; after this rain, the rice in the fields will start to ear. Heaven, show us some mercy, after working hard for a year, we rely on these things!" Lin Sanshui stood in the courtyard, looking up at the sky, speaking with anticipation.
Mrs. Jiang was at the kitchen door picking vegetables, seeing this scene, she said: "I was thinking the time is about right for Erhu to sell cold noodles in town; with this rain, it’ll surely be delayed again for a few days."
"That’s nothing to worry about!" Lin Sanshui disagreed as he looked at her, "We live off the grains from the fields; nothing is more important than a bountiful harvest. No matter how much money you earn, without enough grain, you’ll still go hungry!"
Mrs. Jiang gave him an annoyed look and didn’t continue the conversation.
Gu Nian had stayed up reading until late last night and thus woke up late as well.
However, she silently made a decision in her heart.
Gu Nian went out once and came back with a cloth bag in hand.
After breakfast, she kept busy in the kitchen by herself, and even though Mrs. Jiang didn’t know what she was doing, she was turned down when she offered to help.
Even Sanhu and Little Hu were kept outside by Gu Nian.
Only the aroma occasionally wafting from the kitchen kept tempting their appetites, making them drool with greed.
Gu Nian took the bamboo basket from home and had Erhu carry it together to Nan Jin Yu’s place.
Nan Jin Yu’s courtyard wasn’t large, and Wuxin and Wuming could barely live there, adding two cooks made it crowded.
However, these matters didn’t trouble Nan Jin Yu at all; Wuxin casually bought the neighboring courtyard, specially reserved for the kitchen and to house the two cooks.
Thus, for Wuxin, this was already a huge concession for their master.