Chapter 29: Still Popular p1
At the second quarter of the Hour of the Wei(1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.), they returned home.
Old Madam Jiang was surprised to see them back so early, and even more surprised to see that the baskets were empty.
“You sold everything?”
“A flatbread for forty copper coins, the price of over three catties of meat, and people still bought it?”
Lin Shuang smiled. “We sold it in small pieces. One piece for five copper coins, and people still bought it.”
The old woman fell silent.
After a busy morning, they were starving. They would have liked to eat the flatbreads they had made, but there were none left for them.
Lin Shuang simply made some white porridge and stir-fried some vegetables to fill their stomachs, then went to catch up on sleep. She had woken up early and had been tired for most of the day. She was exhausted now.
Jiang Huaizhen washed the frying pan, cutting board, and small table, cleaned the wheelbarrow, and left them under the eaves to dry.
She then took the dirty clothes they had changed out of to the stream to wash. By the time she had hung them up to dry, Lin Shuang was awake.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?”
She had woken up at the same time as her this morning.
Jiang Huaizhen shook her head. “I’m not sleepy. I’ll just go to bed early tonight.”
With that, she took out the cloth bag she had used to collect the money this morning and poured it out on the table. “I haven’t counted it yet. I was waiting for you to wake up so we could count it together.”
Thirty flatbreads at forty copper coins each, they both knew how much they should have.
But who didn’t love counting money? Especially with a table full of copper coins, it was a joyous sight.
Old Madam Jiang also came to join in the fun.
She found some hemp rope and strung the coins together, one hundred at a time. In total, there were twelve strings, but the last one was three copper coins short of a hundred.
Jiang Huaizhen was a little annoyed. “Someone must have shortchanged me. I didn’t even notice.”
“It’s just a few copper coins. It’s not a big deal.”
The old woman produced three copper coins from somewhere. “Here, make up the difference to complete the string.”
This was the first time the old woman had so “clearly” supported their business, and with “real money” at that. Even Jiang Huaizhen couldn’t help but beam, her face full of joy as she took the copper coins, strung them, and tied them up.
Lin Shuang smiled. “Grandma, with this support, our business is bound to be a success.”
Old Madam Jiang hadn’t expected to earn so much money.
Even with so many strings of money right in front of her, she still couldn’t understand why people would rather eat flatbreads than meat. Of course, the flatbreads were delicious, but no matter how good they were, they were still flatbreads, not meat.
Lin Shuang took out her small notebook and said to Jiang Huaizhen, “As we agreed, the money we earn will be divided into three parts. Of today’s money, six hundred copper coins will go to your emergency fund, two hundred and forty will be for daily expenses, and three hundred and sixty will be for continuing the business.”
By this calculation, the emergency fund was now 2690, and the daily expenses were 1040.
As for the business part, when they went to pick up the pot yesterday, they had also bought fifty catties of white flour and two hundred copper coins’ worth of sauce. They had just bought another hundred catties of white flour on their way back, leaving only 154.
Fortunately, thirty percent of today’s income had been allocated to it, bringing the total to 514.
Old Madam Jiang didn’t understand what they meant by the three parts of the money and couldn’t help but ask, “What is this money being divided for?”
Jiang Huaizhen then explained the financial plan that Lin Shuang had made with her two days ago.
The old woman had never heard of such a thing in her life and found it very novel, but more than that, she felt at ease.
She was also a little guilty. Although the two children had earned the money together, it was ultimately Lin Shuang’s idea. Her own granddaughter had at most contributed some labor. She was worried that Lin Shuang would be unwilling to share the money with her granddaughter or would give her less.
But now, it seemed that this girl was sincere about living a good life with them. All the funds were planned out clearly, and she had even given the largest portion to her granddaughter.
“I was worried that you two would get carried away and invest all the money. If you lost it, you wouldn’t even have money for food.”
Lin Shuang said, “How could we? Food and medical treatment are the top priorities. We can’t touch that money right now, no matter what.”
Hearing her say this, Old Madam Jiang was completely relieved and said “good” several times.
She secretly praised the girl’s intelligence and good heart. On top of that, her own granddaughter had been kind to her. Otherwise, if the two of them were together, her own foolish granddaughter would be eaten alive.
Lin Shuang didn’t know what she was thinking and said to Jiang Huaizhen, “Sixty catties of dough wasn’t enough to sell today. Should we make a hundred catties tomorrow?”
Jiang Huaizhen nodded. “As you wish.”
After counting the money, they had to start preparing the sauce and oil pastry for the next day.
It was almost December, and the weather was getting cold. These ingredients could be prepared in advance.
As for the flatbread dough, they would make it the next morning. With the old dough starter prepared the night before, the dough would have risen just right by the time they reached the stall.
Jiang Huaizhen couldn’t help with these chores, so she continued to weave her bamboo mat. The large bamboo mat was almost finished. She wanted to finish it tonight and put it away, so it wouldn’t take up half the main hall and make it difficult to walk.
Making sauce was something you got used to after the first time. It wasn’t difficult for Lin Shuang, and she finished it, along with the oil pastry, in less than an hour.
When she was done, she remembered that the kang they had built a few days ago was ready to be used.
She couldn’t wait to show the sharp-tongued old woman the results. She excitedly carried some firewood to the stove outside, lit a fire, and heated the kang.
While the kang was still heating up, she first spread a layer of dried straw on it, then a bamboo mat on top of the straw, and finally a mattress. The bottom two layers were for insulation and moisture-proofing, and also to increase comfort. The straw itself would not come into direct contact with the fire, so it would not catch fire.
Seeing her busy, Old Madam Jiang, as expected, began to nag.
After two quarters of an hour, the surface of the kang began to warm up.
The firewood in the stove outside crackled, and the smoke and fire were drawn into the flue.
The old woman couldn’t resist. She hobbled over, trembling, and poked the edge of the kang with her cane.
“All this fuss. Can this old woman’s bones withstand being roasted like a pancake?”
Lin Shuang smiled. “Why don’t you feel it?”
“Feel it, then,” Old Madam Jiang snorted, and her withered palm touched the mattress on top.
By now, the heat from the straw mat underneath had seeped through the mattress and was beginning to feel warm.
Winter was approaching, and the weather was indeed cool. Old people were prone to feeling cold, and the moment she touched the warmth, she felt a sense of comfort spread through her body.
Now, her mouth was no longer so sharp.
“It’s quite warm.”
Jiang Huaizhen, who was in the main hall, heard them talking and also came over to take a look.
She touched the mattress, and a smile appeared in her cool eyes. “It’s warm. It must be very comfortable to lie on.”
“Let’s heat it up first to dry the moisture from the mattress before you lie on it. But you can go up and feel it,” Lin Shuang said.
Jiang Huaizhen was still in the same clothes she had worn back from the city. She shook her head. “I’ll roll around on it tonight after my bath.”
Old Madam Jiang said, “This kang is so big, it can sleep four or five people horizontally. When it gets cold and snows, we can all come and sleep on it together.”
Lin Shuang had originally thought the same. “We’ll come over when it gets cold. If we get on the kang now, we’ll sweat at night.”
After about an hour, the entire wall had become dry, and even the room had become warm from the heated kang. Lin Shuang then helped the old woman up to experience it, and it was indeed very comfortable.
The old woman said with a heartache, “How much firewood does it take to burn for a whole night?”
Lin Shuang comforted her, “If you fill the stove before you go to sleep, it will stay warm until it gets cold. It doesn’t take much firewood. Besides, isn’t cutting firewood for cooking and heating?”
Even if cutting firewood was tiring, it was the children who did it. She hadn’t contributed any effort. After saying this, Old Madam Jiang fell silent.
She had already experienced it. If they really stopped heating it, she would be reluctant.
“Doctor Xue said he was coming to see this heated kang. I wonder when he’ll come?”
“Winter is coming, so I think it will be in the next few days. We should help him make a few kang boards in advance, so we don’t have to make the adobe bricks when it’s time to build the kang and have to wait for a few days,” Lin Shuang said.
With that, she remembered that the old woman’s seven doses of medicine would be finished tomorrow, and she would have to go for a follow-up the day after. She could talk to Doctor Xue about the kang then.
“Alright, you two figure it out,” Old Madam Jiang said, lying on the kang without moving.
