He then split half of them into several smaller ones, with each long bamboo strip about a finger-width wide.
He quickly split the whole bunch of bamboo into long strips of equal size.
Su Qingyue saw how skillful he was in breaking the bamboo and wondered, looking over at the other two, “Second brother, fourth brother, do you both know how to weave bamboo baskets?”
Xiao Yishan replied, “I can weave them, but not as delicately as third brother. It might just be a little slower.”
Xiao Qinghe said, “I wove a few long ago, but I’ve forgotten. Third brother can give us a refresher, he’s the best at it.”
Qingyue glanced at Yuchuan with suspicion, “Who would have thought, third brother, that you had the skill to weave baskets?”
“Most villagers know how to weave them. We don’t use them much on a daily basis, and we can’t sell the baskets we make. But now that someone is buying them, it’s good. If it weren’t for your third brother’s skill, Aunt Zhang wouldn’t have given me this job. After all, who would buy those baskets if they’re not well made?”
Su Qingyue huffed, “Didn’t you say Aunt Zhang was only giving us this job because of me?”
“That’s true too.” He wasn’t lying, “There are many others in the village who weave good baskets. Aunt Zhang’s relative is also skilled in the craft. She originally planned on giving the relative a hundred baskets to make, but she changed her mind in consideration of you and gave our family fifty instead.” As he split the bamboo, he continued, “My wife, Aunt Zhang is truly good to you. Just now, aside from our family, she was the one who defended you the most.”
Xiao Yishan remarked, “Aunt Zhang has always been fair in her dealings.”
“I think she’s extra kind to my wife compared to others.” Chuan added while Qinghe nodded, “It’s because my wife is a good person.”
Su Qingyue and second brother, fourth brother, under the guidance of third brother, carefully made the baskets, and the atmosphere was no longer tense. It became quite happy and harmonious.
Third brother cooked dinner, killing a chicken and adding vegetables. He said he wanted to fatten her up.
The bright moon hung high in the sky with scattered stars against the dark blue backdrop shining brightly.
Su Qingyue saw the three men move a pile of bamboo strips into the master bedroom to weave baskets and couldn’t help but say, “You don’t have to work so hard, didn’t our family receive some silver taels?”
Xiao Yuchuan smiled at her, “That’s money you earned, my wife. It’s different from the money your husband earned.”
“It’s all family money; there’s no need to distinguish between you and me.” She glanced around at the peeling walls in the room, where there wasn’t enough space, “Second brother, third brother, fourth brother, I think it’s time to spend some of our family’s money. As we have some money now, naturally, we should improve our lives. Don’t you think we should build a new house and buy some fields?”
The three men fell silent for a moment, and then Xiao Yishan spoke up, “Yue’er, since you earned the money, why don’t you keep it as your private money…”
She shook her head, “The whole purpose of earning money was to make our family live better.”
“But…” Xiao Yuchuan wanted to say something, but Su Qingyue interrupted, “Third brother, since I have control over the money, I’ll decide to build the house and buy the fields together.”
The fact that she was considering the family’s well-being moved the three men to tears.
She asked softly, “How much silver would we need to buy land for building a new house?”
Xiao Yishan inquired, “Yue’er, wouldn’t it be better to tear down our old house and rebuild it without buying new land?”
She replied, “Although our yard is big enough, it would be better if it were even bigger. I want more space to dry medicinal herbs. Why don’t we buy a new piece of land to build a new house and keep the old house for storing things in the future?”