Chương 27: Chapter 27: Who would eat vegetables if they had money?

"How could they not have any money?" Lady Han's words left Lady Zhang feeling very surprised as she asked, "They even have a donkey cart, how could they be out of money? Can you buy baked bread without money?"

"Hmph, the only thing of value in their household is that donkey. Second Uncle is already fifty-seven, and without that donkey cart, he might not have been able to return at all. To ensure a smooth return, they probably spent all their savings to buy the cart," Lady Han said with disdain.

"Yesterday, when they were taking things out, I was right there watching. A cart full of old things, rough porcelain bowls, old pots, bedding patched up, not a single decent piece of clothing."

Lady Zhang glanced at the baked bread in her daughter's hands and asked, "So how could their family afford to sell baked bread to eat?"

Lady Han laughed and said, "Because they don't even have the necessary kitchenware to cook at home. They probably thought of the hunger after half a day's travel, and the prospect of having to drink wild vegetable and mixed flour soup, so they steeled their hearts and bought the baked bread. If they were truly wealthy, they would buy two pounds of cooked meat, several large meat buns, wouldn't they?"

Thinking about it, Lady Zhang realized it was true. If they had money, they would certainly buy fragrant braised meat and meat buns to satiate their cravings. How could those delicacies be compared to baked bread?

She had seen it just now, in the three rough porcelain bowls in Second Uncle's home, it was indeed filled with wild vegetable and mixed flour soup, and she could even recognize them as purslane. If one could afford to eat well, who would eat wild vegetables to stave off hunger?

...

Qi Younian had planned to eat lunch and then, taking advantage of some free time in the latter part of the day, to fix the courtyard door. Ye Xinyan stopped him from doing so, and after the three of them had lunch, they indulgently took a nap, almost an hour, before getting up to repair the door.

Ye Xinyan was not boasting; she truly was able to assist Qi Younian. By nightfall, the two had fixed the courtyard door. Not to say the repair was perfect, but at least the door could be securely closed and bolted now.

After finishing the work, Nanny Jin had also prepared their meal. She reheated their leftover buns from lunch, cooked some mixed flour soup, and made a cold dish with the green vegetables that Great Uncle had sent over in the afternoon.

Ye Xinyan, eating the meal prepared by her own home, smiled with contentment in her eyes.

Since she arrived in this era, she had only spent one day at Duke An's Mansion, and although she was well-fed and well-cared for that day, her mind was only focused on how to escape before the delivery to the ancestral temple. She didn't feel a sense of belonging at all. She just felt it was a prison that devoured people, without any sense of home.

Afterward, it was more than half a year of hiding and wandering, constantly fearing her true identity would be revealed, or encountering robbers on the road, which was even more unsettling.

Only yesterday had she truly gained her own home, albeit simple and dilapidated, but here, she had a legitimate identity, a rightful place to stay.

And now, having eaten a meal made by her own household, she finally felt at peace. From now on, she could calmly think about how to make money, to completely transform these days without social security, and improve her life.

After dinner, the three discussed that Qi Younian could fix the doors and windows satisfactorily, but the house lacked furniture. If they were to make all the needed furniture, relying solely on Qi Younian would take too long and be too exhausting.

Qi Younian repeatedly stressed that he could make simple furniture, but Ye Xinyan wouldn't agree at all. Qi Younian was nearly sixty years old, and the journey had already taken a toll on his strength. Now was the time to rest and recuperate, not to rush into more laborious work.

Ye Xinyan said, "If you exhaust yourself to illness, the cost of medical treatment, medication, and suffering can't be offset by a few pieces of simple furniture."

In the end, they decided that chairs, stools, and the shed for the livestock would be Qi Younian's task, while they would hire a carpenter for the chests, cabinets, and tables for the house.

It was getting late, and since talking further would only waste lamp oil, the three of them went to bed early.

The next morning after breakfast, Qi Younian first went to the main house and greeted Qi Yougui, telling him that the family had settled in and there was no need to worry. He also inquired whether there was anyone in the village skilled in carpentry.

Qi Yougui, who had already eaten breakfast, simply took Qi Younian to find the village's Carpenter Wang and asked if Carpenter Wang had time to take on work in the next few days.

In the main house's yard, the other family members were busy preparing to work the fields.

Lady Han scoffed and complained to her husband, Qi Dagen, "Father really, Carpenter Wang is from our own village; anyone could tell you where he lives, was there a need to lead him there personally? We still have so much work to do in the fields, and Second Uncle should know that the farming season waits for no one, even if he hasn't been farming these past years."

Qi Dagen glared at her and rebuked her roughly, "Second Uncle has been away for years and only returned the day before yesterday, he's not familiar with the village affairs, and doesn't know many people. What's wrong with Father leading him to find someone? Mind your own business!"

Lady Wang didn't scold Lady Han, but urged them instead, "Enough talk, get on with the field work."

Yesterday, after hearing from her daughter-in-law that Qi Younian had bought pancakes to eat by himself, Lady Wang felt uncomfortable.

No family was wealthy, and the old man always thought of helping his second brother. The food he had sent over yesterday was scrimped from their own rations. But it seemed that his elder brother wasn't on his mind at all; having money to buy pancakes, yet only thinking of eating them alone.

The more Lady Wang thought about it, the more displeased she became. Although she had already declared to her old man that they should not think of taking anything more from their home for Qi Younian, and the old man had not said a word at the time, the discomfort in her heart had not subsided.

While Qi Younian went to look for a carpenter, Ye Xinyan was at home cleaning the broken rice. After washing it, she soaked it for half a Shichen Chinese Time. Using this half-hour gap, she cleaned up the small stone mill she had bought.

Nanny Jin, while sewing a cotton quilt, curiously watched Ye Xinyan to see what she could make from this broken rice and what exactly rice tofu was.

Indeed, Ye Xinyan wanted to make and sell rice tofu.

The rice tofu she wanted to make was different from the firm and cubed rice tofu that people usually referred to. The rice tofu she had eaten with her grandmother as a child was very soft and smooth, similar to the semi-solid state of tofu pudding.

Making rice tofu was simpler than tofu pudding, and it utilized the ingredients to their fullest. The entire rice milk could be turned into rice tofu, unlike making tofu, which required filtering out the solids, leaving only the soy milk for use.

Being in the initial stage, they had little Silver Coin on hand, so using broken rice to make rice tofu would keep costs much lower. If the rice tofu sold well and they ran out of broken rice, they could also use regular rice to make it, which would improve the texture.

The stone mill was clean, and the broken rice was soaked. The small stone mill didn't require anyone else's help and could be operated by her alone. Once the rice milk was ground, while waiting for it to settle, Ye Xinyan built a fire to simmer dipping sauces and fry chili peppers.

Using lime to solidify the rice milk was slightly better than using alkaline water; Ye Xinyan had already prepared the lime water.

Outside, Qi Younian and Carpenter Wang had finalized the various pieces of furniture needed. Since they hadn't prepared their own wood, they also bought the wood from Carpenter Wang's stock.

By the time he had settled the matters and returned, he saw his granddaughter busy at the stove in the outer room.

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