One pot of soup, Qin Yao routinely divided it into five bowls, ensuring each person had three or four pieces of egg flower in their bowl.
The taro was already roasted; it had been buried in the fire in advance when cooking. Once the dishes were done, the taro was also cooked.
The remaining half handful of greens from yesterday, Qin Yao stir-fried with a little bit of oil. It was a small bowl, but it looked green and appetizing.
Food with oil and salt is clearly different, Qin Yao remarked, "Dinner is served." Besides the sounds of eating, there were no other noises in the house.
After dinner, Da Lang automatically cleaned up the dishes and took them to be washed thoroughly.
Qin Yao moved the grass rope to the door and, using the torchlight at the door, continued to weave straw sandals.
The children in the house licked the oil smudge off their lips, eagerly doing whatever they could, hoping for another good meal like this tomorrow.
The encouragement from food filled everyone with energy.
In the morning, Qin Yao took Da Lang and Second Lang up the mountain to chop wood and stockpile firewood.
In the noon, she wove straw sandals at home; in the afternoon, once villagers finished their farming tasks and returned home, she would take the straw sandals to the village well to sell.
Every couple of days, she would go to South Mountain alone, dig enough taro for three days, and spend the remaining time either weaving straw sandals or on the way to sell them.
The first batch of customers who bought straw sandals realized that Qin Yao’s sandals were comfortable and sturdy, and wanted to buy a pair for their family. However, the size didn’t fit, so they placed several orders.
Thanks to Qin Yao’s strength, her woven grass ropes were tighter than others, well-controlled in tension. The resultant straw sandals used more material than others and were sturdier.
Liu Huolang took the four pairs of straw sandals Qin Yao had entrusted him to sell to the town, and a sharp-eyed farmer quickly bought two pairs to take home.
Five cents per pair, Liu Huolang made half the profit; for the remaining two pairs, he actively promoted them and soon sold them.
Those who hadn’t bought yet asked when he would return, as they also wanted to buy them.
Thus, Qin Yao received orders for five pairs of straw sandals each for men and women from Liu Huolang and settled the payment for the previous four pairs, totaling ten cents.
The sales in the village over the past two days were decent, with twelve pairs sold between existing stock and preorder orders, earning thirty-six cents.
Adding the ten cents from this time and the remaining five coins from before, Qin Yao now had a total of fifty-one copper coins.
Fifty-one cents seemed like quite a lot now, but it wasn’t enough to buy even a thin cotton quilt.
Liu Huolang had opened up a path for sales, and although Qin Yao should have been happy, the fact was that the remaining raw materials she had were only enough for the ten pair orders.
Delivering the goods first and settling payment later meant waiting for Liu Huolang to sell them before paying her.
From Liu Family Village to the nearest Jinshi Town, a fast walker takes three hours for a round trip. If she took them to town to sell herself, a whole day’s effort would be wasted.
After weighing the options, she had to let others earn a bit more.
After sending Liu Huolang off, Qin Yao handed six cents to Second Lang, "Liu Huolang is back, go to his house and buy two pounds of brown rice."
Could their meals improve again?!
The four siblings looked over expectantly, full of anticipation.
Second Lang excitedly took the money, ready to bolt towards Liu Huolang’s house.
"Stop!" Qin Yao called out.
No pot in hand, planning to bring the rice back with bare hands?
She signaled Da Lang with her eyes, and Da Lang promptly picked a water jar to lend to his brother.
In the end, he was still a bit uneasy, turned around to look at Qin Yao and softly asked, "Auntie, can I go with Second Lang?"
Qin Yao waved her hand, "Go quickly and return quickly."
Sanlang and Si Niang sat on the small wood block Qin Yao used for chopping wood, resting their chins in their hands, watching their brothers leave with eager faces.
The two of them were young and looked even younger, so Qin Yao didn’t let them work, wanting to nourish their small bodies a bit better.
If conditions allowed, Da Lang and Second Lang should also be cared for, but it couldn’t be helped; given the circumstances now, it was entirely impossible.
These past few days, she was also fortunate to have these two little helpers, or else she would have been completely in the dark, not able to find anyone to ask when wanting to do something.
Da Lang and Second Lang soon bought the brown rice, and the two brothers joyfully headed home. Over these days, with their stomachs full with Qin Yao’s cooking, their facial complexion noticeably improved.
When Liu Bai, leading his son Jinbao, returned from the fields, he saw the two brothers running towards him and was a bit hesitant to recognize them.
He tentatively called out, "Da Lang, Second Lang?"
The two boys paused in their tracks, turned to look, and Second Lang even tightened his hold on the jar in his arms, showing a watchful expression.
Seeing it was their uncle, they finally relaxed.
Liu Bai walked over, suspiciously asking, "What are you two up to? It’s going to rain in a couple of days; have you finished sowing the wheat at home?"
The two boys remained silent, gave him a glance, then looked at Liu Jinbao, turned around, and ran off.
Liu Bai sighed helplessly, feeling inclined to care for these two poor nephews, but seeing the brothers silent and expressionless, he felt like his warm offer was being coldly rejected, which put him in a bad mood.
No matter, let them be. Even their own father doesn’t care!
Liu Jinbao asked, "Dad, we don’t need to go into the fields tomorrow, right?"
Liu Bai responded with a grunt, "No need to go, it’s all planted. After such a busy stretch, we can finally catch our breath."
Liu Jinbao was overjoyed, finally free from farming!
The father and son had worked a whole day in the field. Though Liu Jinbao only lent a hand, the main labor being his father, it was a hefty physical expenditure for an eight-year-old child.
The two returned home hungry, and fortunately, the women had already prepared the meal. Old Liu, Liu Zhong, and Liu Fei returned from another piece of land and entered the house. Without a word, the entire family picked up their rice bowls and started eating.
As they were eating, the courtyard door was knocked on.
Seeing the person who arrived, the Liu Family people were full of surprise.
Standing at the door, Qin Yao pushed Da Lang and Second Lang, who were hiding behind her, forward and patted the backs of the two brothers, "Greet everyone."
The brothers were forced to comply, calling out grandpa, grandma, uncle, aunt, second uncle, second aunt, young uncle, Brother Jinbao, Sister Jinhua, addressing everyone in turn.
The Liu Family, engrossed in their meal, finally realized, standing up together.
Mrs. Zhang tentatively asked, "Third family’s, have you eaten?"
Qin Yao replied, "We have."
When her voice dropped, a collective sigh of relief was heard.
As long as they’re not here for dinner, it’s alright.
Qin Yao also used this opportunity to match the faces of the unfamiliar people in the courtyard.
The round-faced short one was elder sister-in-law He, the sharp-faced tall one was second sister-in-law Mrs. Qiu.
The middle-aged woman who had just asked the question should be mother-in-law Mrs. Zhang.
Leading the two children inside, Qin Yao smiled at the people at the dining table, "Keep eating, don’t mind me, I just have a few things to discuss with the parents and will leave once I’m done."
Old couple’s hearts flickered with excitement; had the third family finally thought of borrowing money to redeem someone?
The old couple put on a puzzled demeanor, signaling the family to continue eating, and called Qin Yao and her two sons into the main room.
Unexpectedly, Qin Yao’s first words were: "I want to buy two acres of wheat seeds from you."
The old couple froze together: The third family not going to rescue anymore?