Chapter 710: Stone Grinding Labor
Translator: Endlessæantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Shen Qiuhua was worried that Lan Ruozhu would tire himself out. She remembered when her daughter first introduced him to the family. The young man looked weak, which made Shen Qiuhua’s heart ache for him.
Lan Ruozhu noticed Shen Qiuhua’s worry and felt a warmth in his heart. He said, “Your tea is excellent, Godmother. I feel energetic after drinking it.
“l want to help make glutinous rice balls because I’ve never made them. I think it would be interesting. Besides, cooking isn’t too tiring.”
Shen Qiuhua saw Lan Ruozhu’s excited expression. She smiled and nodded, saying, “You can help, but you must tell me when you’re tired, okay?”
“l know.” Lan Ruozhu smiled and went to the kitchen to help Su Binglan.
Meanwhile, Shen Qiuhua went to the room she had arranged for her Godson to stay. She took the blankets and mattresses she had prepared and placed them on the heated brick bed.
She had dried the blankets and mattresses in the sun a few days ago. That way, they would not be damp and comfortable to use. Shen Qiuhua even brought firewood to the room for the brick bed.
She added half the firewood to the furnace underneath, then put the dried blankets and mattresses onto the bed. After unfolding the blankets, she covered the mattress so the heat would not dissipate.
She then added charcoal to the furnace after lowering the fire. That way, the bed would retain the heat. Although she typically used more firewood, she feared it would burn too quickly and the heat would dissipate.
Therefore, she replaced the firewood with charcoal immediately after. That way, the charcoal’s embers would retain the heat longer.
Lan Ruozhu could sleep on a warm bed when he went to rest later that night. After all, sleeping on a warm bed during winter felt more comfortable.
Afterward, Shen Qiuhua returned to the living room. At that moment, Su
Binglan had already scooped out the glutinous rice and removed the water.
Liu Yinyin looked at the rice and asked, “Sister, should we go to the village’s mill to make the glutinous rice flour?”
Su Binglan replied, “We don’t have much rice, so let’s grind them with our stone mill.’
Su Wenzhe raised an eyebrow. “That’s right. We can use the stone mill like how we ground soybeans last time. Let me do it, Sister. I know how to do it.” Speaking of the stone mill made him reminisce. The family used to soak and grind the soybeans at home to make tofu. Although Su Wenzhe was busy, he never felt tired because the family could make a decent living with tofu.
He would leave home to sell tofu daily, then bring home his earnings for the family to count together. The whole family could not stop smiling back then.
‘It’s nice to use the stone mill again because it reminds me of when we first learned about tofu. We started improving our lives then. Now, our days and food are much better.’
Su Wenzhe smiled when he reminisced.
Liu Yinyin said, “I’ll help you.”
“All right.” Su Wenzhe nodded.
The husband and wife ground the soybeans together in the past. Later, they went to sell tofu while Shen Qiuhua and Su Fengmao ground the soybeans at home.
However, the older couple had nothing much to do at home after Su Binglan built the tofu factory and hired workers.
Liu Yinyin and Su Wenzhe remembered the older couple having a hard time. Their hearts ached for Shen Qiuhua and Su Fengmao because grinding the soybeans was cumbersome.
Fortunately, Su Wenzhe and Liu Yinyin were more capable now, and the older couple could relax.
The Su family’s house was vast. They did not have the tofu factory when Su Binglan built this house. Therefore, the house had a stone mill.
Su Binglan smiled when she saw her brother and sister-in-law using the stone mill. She also reminisced about making tofu. “We used the stone mill when we first made tofu.’
Lan Ruozhu became curious as he had never seen such an apparatus.
Su Binlan noticed her brother’s expression and knew his thoughts. She laughed and said, “Do you want to check it out, Brother?”
“Yes, I’d like that,” he wanted to tell her that but did not know how. Fortunately, Su Binglan knew his thoughts and took the initiative to ask.
‘My sister understands me perfectly.’
Lan Ruozhu followed Su Binglan to the stone mill. At that moment, Su Wenzhe and Liu Yinyin had already started grinding the glutinous rice.
Lan Ruozhu found their actions novel.
‘That’s the labor and wisdom of the commoners.’
Lan Ruozhu approached the stone mill, asking, “Sister, can I try it?”
Su Binglan instinctively motioned to stop her brother, but she remembered he had recovered fully.
Lan Ruozhu could not do anything last time because of his condition. The people around him would stop him from doing many things because of his poor health.
‘l shouldn’t treat him like a fragile child. He’d be depressed if I did.’
With that thought in mind, Su Binglan nodded. “All right.”
She turned to Su Wenzhe and said, “Big Brother, stop. Let Brother Ruozhu try the stone mill.’
Everyone in the Su family instinctively listened to her. Once she spoke, Su Wenzhe and Liu Yinyin stopped and moved aside for Su Binglan and Lan
Ruozhu.
Su Binglan scooped the glutinous rice into the bowl while Lan Ruozhu pushed the stone mill. Lan Ruozhu looked surprised, his face glowing. He had never done such a thing, but it felt exciting.
However, it also showed him how difficult things were for the commoners. After all, using a stone mill required strength. One would quickly feel exhausted after using it for a while.
Lan Ruozhu had just heard his sister talk about how the family ground soybeans with the stone mill.
‘Did they spend all day grinding soybeans? They did that every day, right?’
Lan Ruozhu grew upset when he thought of this. His heart ached for his sister and all the villagers who had to do such work.
Su Binglan looked at the stone mill and added the glutinous rice. Then, she placed the rice paste into a large bucket and said, “For ordinary villagers, stone milling is challenging.
“However, some families can afford a donkey. They would tie the donkey to the stone mill, and it would walk around the mill to push it. Still, those who couldn’t afford a donkey had to do this manually.
“We were initially reluctant to buy a donkey. When we earned enough money, I didn’t want my parents to work so hard anymore, so I bought a donkey to help rotate the stone mill.
Now that I think about it, having cattle can help plow the land. It’ll be easier during spring plowing..”