Chapter 12:
“Dad, this bamboo basket is full of shepherd’s purse on top. I saw that we cut some stew meat yesterday and thought we could bag dumplings!”
“Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eating! Wishful thinking, no share for you!”
Zhou Shi added a sentence!
Old Man Li glanced at her and immediately shut up!
“Dad, there are other things below too!”
“Look!”
She removed the shepherd’s purse on top, revealing a snake skin bag wrapped in a large tree leaf inside.
Luo Zhi’er uncovered the leaves. “Dad, this bag contains wild honeycomb. It should yield ten or twenty pounds of honey juice!”
Old Li Tou’s eyes lit up. This was good stuff!
Li Zhenzhu was the happiest. This honey juice was so sweet; she loved drinking it.
It was sold in town, but Mom wouldn’t bear to buy it.
Looking at the honey juice seeping from the snake skin bag, her eyes gleamed…
In this era in the rural area, there wasn’t much good stuff to eat. Even having a bag of white sugar made people envious and drool…
Let alone so much honey!
“Hmph! That’s more like it!”
Seeing Liuliu standing by swallowing saliva, Luo Zhi’er first broke off a piece and fed it to her mouth. It was so sweet her eyes curved happily…
“Thank you, Third Aunt.”
“Liuliu is a good girl!”
“Dad, here for you! You and Mom can mix it with water to drink!”
She gave the rest all to the head of the Old Li family!
“Hey!”
Old Man Li hurriedly took it.
He shouted for the oldest brother to fetch a wooden basin and the belongings for filtering honey juice…
Chen Shi pursed her lips. Seeing Zhou Shi’s face soften a bit, it seemed this third sister-in-law was going to safely pass again. So how to handle them sneaking crispy lard residue?
Originally, she also looked down on it. What honeycomb?
Wasn’t it just honey?
It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen it before!
There was plenty sold in town, just had to buy it with silver, and it was watered down.
She couldn’t ask Mom for everything either. After all, living under someone else’s roof, and the younger sister-in-law wasn’t easy to provoke…
Drawing closer for a look, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes!
Surprisingly, there were several large pieces of honeycomb. This could filter out quite a bit of honey juice, worth at least a few hundred cash at least!
This honey juice was not only sweet but also good for the complexion. She must drink some later…
A group of little radish heads followed Li Daqiang to watch extracting the honey. The four boys couldn’t help but dig a lump with their fingers and stuff it in their mouths from time to time, earning a good scolding from Zhou Shi chasing them…
Li Gui also ran out, couldn’t help swallowing saliva. “Mom, I’m tired from studying and my mouth is bitter. Can I mix some of this honey with water to drink first!”
“Hey, Mom will go mix honey water for you right now. You go back to studying!”
Zhou Shi bustled off happily to mix honey water for her youngest son!
“Mom, I want to drink too!”
Li Zhenzhu hurriedly followed after her butt and ran inside…
It made the oldest brother Li Daqiang, who was doing hard labor, furrow his brows tightly in anger.
Luo Zhi’er then emptied out all the things from the bamboo basket one by one: some mushrooms and acorns, wood ear mushrooms, and such.
They felt the honey was the most valuable; they just looked at these things.
“Tch, nothing valuable either?”
Xiao Zhou Shi was a bit disappointed.
“Dad, this termite mushroom can be mixed with animal oil and fried to make termite mushroom oil. It’s very delicious and fragrant.”
“Wife thinks, since we don’t lack lard at home, we can make termite mushroom oil to sell in town. It will surely earn silver.”
Old Li Tou’s eyes brightened. In this world, who didn’t want a livelihood to earn silver? It’s just that who would pass on their own things to others?
This termite mushroom oil seemed pretty good. Right, but…
“Third Wife, this termite mushroom oil is really edible?”
Don’t poison someone to death.
“Dad, rest assured. I’ll make some right now for you to taste first. If you’re not reassured, wife will taste it first. If it’s fine, then you try…”
“Ai, ai!”
This method is good. Third Child hunts, and his family really has quite a lot of animal oil!
“And these acorns…”
“Hehe, Third Wife, just forget about these acorns! We’ve all eaten them before—they’re both bitter and astringent. Who would buy them if taken out?”
“Exactly, even pigs won’t eat them!”
Xiao Zhou Shi immediately chimed in!
“Dad, when the acorns are dried, I’ll make you a delicious dish—absolutely not astringent or bitter!”
Old Man Li chuckled. This daughter-in-law of Third Child thinks about food all day long, which is pretty good. We’ll talk about it later!
“Dad, have you eaten yet?”
“Heh, not yet!”
Speaking of this, he and Third Child were truly dissatisfied. They had originally sold for silver and wanted to buy a bowl of noodles in town to eat before coming back!
Zhou Shi said they had to go home to refine oil!
She also said there were three wives at home, so the meal must be ready. Third Child hunting is not easy—why spend that silver?
He was also someone who had been frugal all his life. Thinking about it, there were many places at home that needed silver, and he was still thinking of rebuilding the house together…
Many people in the village had built houses, some even blue brick tile houses, while his family was still living in the old house, an earthen house that leaked when it rained…
Oldest Brother was about to start school soon, which would cost another twenty taels. After selling the wheat, it would probably still fall short!
Saving a little is a little, so he gave up the idea of eating noodles. Second Brother had a face full of displeasure, but he pretended not to see it…
His stomach was so hungry it felt like his front chest was sticking to his back. They had come back miserably and run into this situation…
If this termite mushroom oil she mentioned really worked out, wouldn’t it be a way to earn silver?
Eldest Sister-in-law’s two kids, and Second Sister-in-law’s oldest, had all reached the age to study.
Oldest Brother and Second Brother had mentioned it to him several times.
It had already been delayed for a year…
This termite mushroom oil might just solve his urgent problem!
Luo Zhi’er saw Old Man Li’s face turn ashen, his expression changing, probably in a bad mood. “Dad, you rest first. Your daughter-in-law will go make you something delicious!”
With that, Luo Zhi’er turned to instruct Zhou Shi: “Eldest Sister-in-law, please help me pick and wash these matsutake mushrooms. Second Sister-in-law, please go to the vegetable garden and pull some scallion greens and garlic sprouts, and some ginger!”
“Dad, my clothes are dirty. I’ll go change and then make the meal!”
“Ei!”
She prepared to go to her own room…
“What? This little wench, who is she bossing around?”
Xiao Zhou Shi was furious!
Chen Shi was also nearly tearing her handkerchief to shreds!
Luo Zhi’er stopped, lowered her eyes, and suddenly said to Old Man Li: “Dad, with so many mouths to feed in this family, sometimes one daughter-in-law just can’t manage everything alone.”
“Just like today, Dad, you came back and there was no food to eat.”
“Your daughter-in-law hopes that Eldest Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law can also take on what they should do—make meals and do housework when I’m not around, instead of just waiting for me to serve everyone alone…”
Old Man Li’s cloudy old eyes looked at her meaningfully. This Third Wife actually said these words? She knew how to fight for maximum benefit for herself…
She used to seem silly and honest, but this family really had no rules anymore and was getting more and more out of hand.
Without Third Wife, wouldn’t they have gone hungry?
His eyes in the shadows were unreadable in depth, and he said sternly,
“What are you standing around for? Us big men are all hungry with our front chests sticking to our backs. Third Wife is right—you don’t even care about your own men. What did we marry you women for? Just to eat rice?”
He also conveniently scolded Zhou Shi along with them. Zhou Shi was unhappy but didn’t dare retort!
“If that’s the case, then let Old Zhou Family and Old Chen Family come pick up their people!”
The two sisters-in-law trembled in fear and went to work reluctantly…
