Chapter 43

Although canned fruits do not have the same taste as fresh ones, the fibers of the peaches are coarser. Even after being cooked in syrup, the peaches do not turn mushy; instead, they have a crispy and refreshing sensation when bitten into.

Moreover, with the dry autumn weather, the sweet juice instantly dispels any fatigue caused by the dryness.

"This…" Wang Yuanwai couldn't help but take another bite of the peach, savoring it slowly in his mouth. He initially thought that the peach jelly was already very good, but he didn't expect the canned peaches to be even more delicious!

Before Song Zhiyuan arrived, Song Dingxiang had already instructed him. He recited, "Originally, my daughter wanted to share this recipe with you, but peaches are not widely grown in the northern regions currently. Additionally, they require careful storage as any accidental leakage of air could spoil the entire can of peaches. Transporting them is also troublesome, as continuous shaking and bumping can cause the can to lose its seal... Moreover, this recipe is something she heard from southern merchants, and it's likely already known in the south, so she didn't offer it. However, if you like it, I can have my son bring it to you daily."

Wang Yuanwai, known for his kindness, felt reassured after hearing this and said with a smile, "How can this be? I already have enough cans. Moreover, your small business with the ceramic jars and sugar is not cheap, and you are just earning an honest living. If my wife and mother-in-law like it, they can send the maid to buy it."

Song Zhiyuan added, "My daughter mentioned that although these canned fruits are good, pregnant women should not eat too much in one meal due to the high sugar content. Just consuming a few slices is enough. Once the can is opened, it should be consumed quickly."

Wang Yuanwai smiled and said, "Thank you for informing me. Because my wife is pregnant, she is cautious about everything and avoids overly sweet or cold foods in her daily diet. But thank you for your kind intentions. I have accepted your hospitality for so long without being of much help; I really feel guilty."

Song Zhiyuan hastily replied, "The fact that you are willing to have an exchange with my family every year is already a great help. Where would we dare to ask for anything else?"

Wang Yuanwai laughed heartily and said, "Regardless, our families have established a relationship. I will keep an eye on your shop in the town, so rest assured, no one will come to cause trouble."

"Thank you, Lord Wang!" Song Zhiyuan was extremely happy.

His son, who was not yet ten years old, worked in the town every day, making it quite troublesome for him and Fang Shi to worry. Although Song Dingxiang said there was no need to worry, the shop was not far from Wang Yuanwai's house, and Wang Yuanwai had promised to take care of it.

However, because he had not visited last time, he still felt a bit uncertain. Now that Wang Yuanwai had personally offered to help take care of the shop, how could he still feel uneasy?

After leaving Wang Yuanwai's house, he went back to the shop to give a few instructions and decided to sell the canned goods in a few days.

Song Houtou responded one by one, assuring Song Zhiyuan and his grandpa to relax.

Song Zhiyuan used the money from selling scarves to buy a lot of items for the workshop, including four large pots for boiling wool, four spinning wheels, and materials for nitrate. The miscellaneous items not only cost more than nine taels of silver but also required additional expenses.

"It's like spending money like water." More than ten taels of silver vanished in an instant, leaving Song Zhiyuan in disbelief.

Song Xingyi felt energized after leaving Wang Yuanwai's house and laughed, "Are you still complaining? Did your daughter not earn you some silver? We have to dig lotus roots these days, and in a few days, when the frost arrives, we'll have to harvest cabbage to make spicy cabbage. Isn't that all money-making?"

Song Zhiyuan chuckled and after a while said, "Second daughter said if the spicy cabbage sells well, we can establish a workshop in the future. We won't grow so many cabbages ourselves then, just have them collected from the village. With so many household chores to attend to now, coupled with farming, we might be too busy. It's not worth it if we end up too exhausted."

Song Xingyi sat silently in the carriage for a while and then said, "Ah, how long has it been? I feel like we're living the life of old landlords already. Where do farming families not cultivate land?"

Song Zhiyuan replied, "We are cultivating land, but we are leasing it out to others. We have to manage a lot of household chores at home, right? When the weather gets cold, I have to slaughter pigs with my son all over the place. My older brother and two nephews not only help with feeding and slaughtering pigs but also provide physical labor for various tasks. I estimate we won't have a break this winter; when spring comes, we'll be back in the fields. If we work so hard, someone might get tired, right? And Dingxiang said that if the lotus roots grow well, she plans to establish another lotus pond next year... Dad, you are the backbone of our family; you must not overwork yourself."

Song Xingyi listed the household tasks and realized that they were indeed earning more silver, but there were also more chores. They weren't afraid of hard work, as exchanging physical labor for silver was just fair trade. But if they ended up exhausted, it would be a loss.

"Looking back, if things really get tough, we can lease out the land. We also have a lot of fallow land to tend to. We harvested a lot of buckwheat this year, which we can't sell but only use for ourselves. Later, we can exchange it for some buckwheat noodles. If the canned goods sell well, we can plant more next year. Oh, I didn't even think about it before, but there is so much work to be done inside and outside our household." After calculating all the tasks, the old man finally realized just how much work was waiting for the family.

Even the strongest person would be exhausted from such an overflowing workload.

Song Zhiyuan laughed and said, "That's right, Second Daughter said that these glove scarves will probably last a few years. We also have to sun-dry soybean paste in spring, make autumn soy sauce, and chili paste. There are also many cabbage fields and chili fields to look after. After planting winter wheat, we have to prepare for the coming winter, but we also need to dig lotus roots, make spicy cabbage, and fermented vegetables. The tofu needs to be cooked as well. Next year, there's the lotus pond to dig, lotus to plant, and the orchard to tend to. Even in the coldest two months of winter, we might get a bit of rest, but we still have to take care of the wool workshop... Father, think about it, if we keep going like this non-stop, who wouldn't be exhausted?"

In this case, grains are actually the least profitable, but people cannot do without food, and the annual rent also has to come from the grains. In order to make money, the family's land has to be leased out.

However, Song Xingyi decided not to lease out all the land; he had to keep two acres specifically for planting peanuts and melon seeds, which would be roasted for the hard-working children to eat throughout the winter.

As for the fallow land, planting buckwheat for another year and also growing some grains and vegetables was necessary. After another year, when the tax exemption period ended, they would still have to pay taxes; if not managed properly, they would incur losses.

In winter, the family still had over twenty pigs. These pigs were usually slaughtered and sold for meat, and when the weather turned cold, there would be more people buying pork, which would keep the second son extremely busy.

As he leaned back in the carriage and pondered, he realized that in the past, they had always felt busy throughout the year, but the income was not substantial. Most of the money was saved up for their youngest son's education.

Fortunately, the eldest and second son were both sensible and didn't make any trouble.

Now that Dingxiang had come up with ways to make money, the daily flow of income into the family's second son's household was steady. However, they had not forgotten the eldest son's family and continued to support and help them.

The eldest son didn't envy them at all, and every day, he would get up before dawn to cook and feed the pigs, showing a much stronger work ethic than before.

If anyone in the village lived comfortably, it had to be their own family.

As Song Xingyi thought about this, he couldn't help but smile.

*

Due to the need to clean up the new yard for the wool workshop, Song Zhiyuan had to move their little secret with his daughter to another location. The empty large vats could be easily moved around, but once they were filled, it would be hard to hide them.

Fang Shi circled the vats several times, giving her husband and daughter a disapproving look.

Song Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I didn't want to upset you by wasting things, that's why we wanted to take them out before telling you."

"Oh, stop it. You just don't want me nagging you, right? Whenever I nag, don't I still help you in the end? Go away, seeing you just annoys me," Fang Shi was indeed a bit angry.

Song Dingxiang hastily explained, "Mom, this time it was my fault with Dad. Actually, Dad and I wanted to surprise you. It's just that the plan changed unexpectedly, and it was my plan that caused the change, but Dad ended up taking the blame, which I feel really bad about."

"What surprise? What more surprises do I need? Just watching you bounce around all day is surprising enough for me. You go and be close to your dad!" Fang Shi jabbed Song Dingxiang's head and walked away to attend to other tasks.

Song Dingxiang stuck out her tongue at Song Zhiyuan, and Song Zhiyuan smiled bitterly, saying, "Oh no, your mother will nag at me again tonight."

"Hehe," Song Dingxiang said, "Dad is used to it anyway. Hurry up, let's move this vat to the backyard."

With the workshop set up, Fang Shi, Zhang Shi, and Sixth Grandaunt all helped to hire workers. Meanwhile, Song Zhiyuan took Song Zhicheng and his sons and nephews to dig lotus roots at the lotus pond.

The lotus pond was in a low-lying area, making it difficult to drain the water. However, with the dry autumn weather, the water level had gone down significantly.

Song Xingyi decided to have a pit dug next to the lotus pond to store water, as they would need to dig the lotus pond again next year. Taking advantage of the current absence of freezing temperatures and the availability of labor in the village, they started digging to use a portion of the lotus pond.

After draining the water, the lotus pond was muddy, and many fish were stranded. The small fish were picked up and put into the nearby water pit, while the large fish were sold on the spot.

Many people from neighboring villages came to watch the commotion and bought a couple of "scholar blessed" fish to make soup.

Digging lotus roots was a physically demanding task, especially at this time when the mud and water were bone-chillingly cold. Without waterproof pants, it was very tough.

Song Dingxiang was worried that her family would get too tired and develop chilblains, so she hired more workers to take turns getting into the water to dig lotus roots. Before getting into the water, they would drink a large bowl of burning hot liquor and have ginger soup after coming out of the water, making it more bearable.

At first, they lacked experience in digging lotus roots and broke several long roots. Due to the hollow center of the lotus root, broken ones were hard to clean and were not marketable. Once they became more skilled, long, chubby lotus roots covered in fresh mud were tossed onto the shore, delighting onlookers.

Some people from the town had heard in advance and came by with carts to purchase lotus roots. Street vendors were also waiting nearby to help out.

After a day of digging, they managed to harvest over a thousand pounds of lotus roots, with most of them being sold on the spot.

The Wang family also arrived early; Steward Wang Quan waited with a horse-drawn carriage and bought a hundred pounds of lotus roots at once.

Watching the Song family selling fish and lotus roots, with one hand delivering goods and the other hand receiving money, made others envious. Especially Zhou's fat wife, who kept muttering while glaring at Song Dingxiang busy in the crowd: "greedy wolf, even the daughter-in-law you marry is a greedy wolf. If I were her mother-in-law, I should be the one receiving all that money."

Some nearby people heard this and just scoffed. Zhou Yinuo had been missing for several years, and the incident of the village chief having issues with the Zhou family due to the family division was still fresh in people's minds.

Yet this old lady kept calling others greedy wolves just because she was upset at her daughter-in-law.

The last two to three hundred pounds of lotus roots were stored in the cellar. There were still many small lotus roots left in the lotus pond, which didn't need to be touched as they would sprout new lotus roots next year.

By channeling water into the pond, the tender lotus roots could spend the winter well when the ice formed on the surface.

Wash away the thick mud from the fresh lotus roots, revealing the white segments inside. Peeling off the skin and taking a bite, it was both crispy and sweet.

In the evening, Song Dingxiang personally cooked lotus root stew with pork ribs, sweet and sour lotus root slices, spicy cold lotus root, and braised fish, satisfying the whole family.

*

The next day, someone came to buy lotus roots, and Song Dingxiang sold around two hundred pounds but refused to sell the remaining ones. With so many people in their family, the hundred pounds of lotus roots were not enough to sell as they needed some for gifts.

This made her realize the production output of the lotus pond and people's demand for lotus roots, thinking about how many more lotus ponds to dig next year.

The wool workshop hired around ten women to help pick and process wool, boil and remove wax and grease from wool, spin yarn, and make leather. They were all skilled and clean.

After completing the tasks, they also taught them how to knit gloves and cut leather. Only those who learned quickly and knitted well were able to take work home to avoid wasting high-quality wool and cashmere.

Sharp-eyed Zhang Shi and Fifth Grandaunt caught two girls hiding cashmere wool threads and immediately fired them, ignoring their pleas.

"These wool threads are sent all the way from the northern lands, and the gloves made from them are for keeping soldiers warm. How dare you steal them? It seems like nobody in your family serves in the military, so you don't need these things to keep warm," Fifth Grandaunt scolded.

She was sharp like Fang Shi, Zhang Shi, and Sixth Grandaunt. While she lived alone, her straightforward nature prevented anyone from provoking her. She was specifically brought in this time to oversee the women's work and make some money while supervising.

First Song Lao Da and Second Song Lao Er's wives were old and unable to do such meticulous work, so they let the daughter-in-laws try. Those who passed the test could stay and earn a few coins.

However, Third Song San's wife, Gao shi, wanted to join but was not allowed by Fang Shi, who only accepted their two most hardworking daughter-in-laws and didn't even let their daughter, Jiaoxing, inside.

Fang Shi was still furious whenever she thought of what their family had done, so allowing their daughter-in-laws to work was already a great favor.

*

In Song Dingxiang's household, they cleaned up the east wing room where Song Junli and his wife used to stay, and along with Song Zijing and some nimble companions, they made spicy cabbage. After the first frost, they harvested heaps of Chinese cabbage.

Song Dingxiang and Song Zijing mixed large amounts of seasoning and had others evenly spread it on the blanched cabbage. To avoid hurting their hands, Song Dingxiang specially had flat wooden spoons made for spreading the sauce. Although not as fast, it did the job well.

The marinated spicy cabbage was placed in a large vat for fermentation, and it would be ready for sale in half a month.

Apart from the spicy cabbage, they also ordered lots of tofu from the tofu workshop. They would cut it into small pieces, put it in straw to ferment, and once it formed a lovely fuzz, they would pickle it, turning it into tender and fragrant sauce tofu.

The rest of the tasks included making the yearly Eight Treasure dish, pickled vegetables, various pickled cucumbers, and pickled eggplants. These pickled vegetables were the most popular in town and were typically bought in several pounds at a time, requiring frequent trips to replenish the stock in town.

While others were preparing for winter, their family was busy year-round, and even with the onset of winter, they remained bustling with activity.

Moreover, because Song Dingxiang's family did not work alone but instead invited people from the village to help, they were deeply thankful to anyone who could lend a hand. Song Xingyi especially enjoyed going out to chat with others at this time, listening to the villagers' praises, which made him feel as though he had tasted honey.

With the help of others, when the first snowfall came, another batch of gloves was sent to the northern lands. Soon after, five carts of wool arrived.

They were familiar with the merchants who came to deliver the wool. One of them smiled and said, "This is the last trip of the year, as it's difficult to collect wool during the war in the north. However, we should be able to collect another batch in the spring next year, and we'll have to trouble Young Madam Song."

"What trouble is there? Just the thought of everyone being able to wear gloves without freezing their hands comforts me. However..." Song Dingxiang looked worried, "Is there still no news from Zhou Yinuo?"

The merchant chuckled, "The old general didn't say, so there's likely no news. Young Madam Song, rest assured. I heard the old general praise young General Zhou as a capable person, so he should be fine."

Song Dingxiang exclaimed, "Young General Zhou?! He... is already a general?"

The merchant replied, "Not officially, but that's how everyone refers to him. It seems your husband is doing well there. But I'm just a merchant, so I only know so much."

After treating the merchant to a meal and giving him some canned spicy cabbage and lotus roots as a return gift, Song Dingxiang sent him off. After he left, Fang Shi anxiously asked, "Still no news from our son-in-law?"

It had been six months since they received a letter, and everyone at home was worried.

Shaking her head, Song Dingxiang said, "The old general didn't provide much information, just reassurance that Zhouzi cannot communicate often due to his mission. He doesn't know the details either. I also wrote a letter to the old general when sending the gloves, so he probably hasn't received it yet."

"Oh, my heart is pounding, I can't help feeling uneasy. Lately, I don't know what's wrong, I keep waking up at night..." Fang Shi patted her chest, took a deep breath, and said, "There's no news, dead or alive... We have the heavens protecting our family, he will be fine! It's just that the New Year is approaching, and for some reason, I feel a bit uneasy in my heart."

"Mom, you're overthinking it." Song Dingxiang tried to comfort her, "Everything is going smoothly at home now, so there's no need to worry. Maybe you're just tired these days; a good night's sleep will help."

Song Zhiyan's pork stall is busy these days. Fang Shi simply handed the child over to Li shi to look after and went with her sister-in-law to the stall. As long as the pigs were slaughtered, the two women could cut and sell the meat, but they no longer helped with the chopping of the meat fillings because they simply couldn't keep up.

Many households started slaughtering pigs before the New Year. Song Zhiyan often stayed out for several days and couldn't return home.

Fang Shi, who may have been feeling uneasy sleeping alone recently, had Song Dingxiang to keep her company at night.

In the middle of the night, Fang Shi suddenly woke up and woke Song Dingxiang, "Second Daughter, I dreamt about your elder sister. She kept crying in my dream and wouldn't say anything else, just crying."

She was sweating and her face didn't look good.

Song Dingxiang quickly went to fetch warm water from the outer room to wipe her face and softly said, "Mom, you're just thinking too much about my elder sister. Let's go see her tomorrow."

Fang Shi shook her head, "Why go during this non-holiday time? There's no need to bother her in-laws. It's only a little over half a month until the New Year, right? She'll come over then."

After wiping her face and drinking some water, she lay back down, "Your elder sister's child is already four years old. When she came back last year, she said she would start educating him when he's five or six years old, send him to school. But her mother-in-law is so stingy, she probably has to pay for the schooling herself. If only your elder sister lived next door, it would be easier for her to visit every day, without the need to travel far."

Although she married to the neighboring village, the distance between the villages was not short. It took an hour to travel back and forth, and it was not easy to visit regularly.

Song Dingxiang also felt that Fang Shi might be tired recently, especially with her father not at home, causing her to have trouble sleeping. Little did they know, before the New Year even arrived, they received news that her sister Song Yulan had an accident!

——— Author's Note: Yesterday, after a long day of shopping, I was so tired that when I returned, I planned to take a break and then work on writing, but before I knew it, zi had slept through to the next day = =