“Come on, everyone—try it! I had a sip in the kitchen just now, and the flavor is really something.
That pure, authentic honey taste—haven’t had honey this good in years.”
It tasted just like the honey from her childhood.
Truly good stuff.
The old man took a sip and was equally pleased. “This is excellent—worth every cent.”
Yuan Zhiqiang already knew it was fantastic. He sipped it slowly. “It’s great for you, Dad—especially with your constipation issues.”
“Really? The honey I bought before didn’t do a thing.” The old man was skeptical.
“Really—I’m your own son, would I lie to you? I’ve used it myself—works great.”
The old man was delighted. Getting older meant bathroom troubles were real—he could squat all morning with nothing to show for it.
After chatting a bit longer, Yuan Zhiqiang headed to his in-laws’ place. By the time he was done running around, it was almost dark.
Back at the ancestral hall
Lin Xiaohe had wiped down the table she’d found and placed it by the bed. It was a bit low, but at least they finally had a table to eat on.
She spread some dry straw on the ground and sat down.
“Sis, this table is really nice—even looks good. And it was free.”
Xiaogu ran her hand over it approvingly. “Now we don’t have to squat while eating. We just need two little stools.
Hehe—I’ll bring a few pieces of candy and ask Xiaoxuan’s grandpa to make us some.”
“Bringing candy’s not enough—take half a jin of meat instead.”
They really did need stools—sitting on the floor all the time wasn’t ideal.
“Okay. Do we have any meat left?”
“Nope, all out. We still have a jin of lard. I was going to render it and store it, but since we already have a set of lard in jars, let’s use that to pay Grandpa for the stools.”
The old man had basic carpentry skills—his stools were functional, if not beautiful.
If anyone needed a stool, they could bring wood and he’d make one.
“We don’t have any wood to offer, so we’ll bring something good instead.”
“Okay—I’ll go now.”
Xiaogu took the jin of lard and sneaked over to the Zhao house.
Granny Zhao was startled. “Oh my—you scared me! I saw a shadow at the door and thought it was a thief—didn’t expect it to be you, girl.”
“Hehe, Grandma Zhao, I need a favor.” Xiaogu grinned. “Is Grandpa Dashu home?”
“He is. What’s up—need something made at home?”
Hearing she was looking for the old man, she knew there was some woodworking needed.
“Hehe, yeah—we need a couple of little stools.”
“Easy enough. I’ll tell him—they’ll be ready for you in a couple days.”
“Thanks, Grandma Zhang. We couldn’t bring any materials, but my sister said this should cover it.”
She pulled out the lard she’d been hiding along the way.
The old lady’s eyes went wide! White, glistening lard—she hadn’t seen that in years!
She swallowed twice before she could refuse. “That won’t do! A couple of little stools—the wood’s free from the mountain.
Why would we need something this valuable? Take it back, child—render it into lard and it’ll last your family a year.”
“Grandma Zhao, I brought it all this way—I’m not taking it back. My sister told me to give it to you—just keep it.”
Xiaogu hid her hands behind her back, refusing to take it.
“I’m heading home now—it’s almost dark!”
With that, she bolted and ran all the way home.
Lin Xiaohe saw her burst in and said helplessly, “What’s wrong with you—a ghost chasing you? Why’d you run so fast?”
“Grandma Zhao wouldn’t take the lard—she even chased me out the door! Good thing I ran fast.”
“Pfft—hahahaha! Alright, alright, let’s wash up and get to bed. We’ve got to get up early tomorrow.”
“Okay—let’s sleep.”
…
“Xiaogu, wake up! We’ll probably have to make two trips today, so we need to get up early.”
Lin Xiaohe dressed quickly and nudged her sister.
“Huh? Why two trips?”
“We’ve got wild greens and mushrooms, plus chickens and eggs—can we carry all that in one trip? We’ll probably need two trips for both sides. Let’s get up.”
“Okay—coming.”
They got up, tidied up quickly, and Lin Xiaohe boiled a pot of water, throwing in a few potatoes and some wild eggs they’d found before.
They’d be ready to eat when they got back.
Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the meeting spot, Yuya wasn’t there.
Usually, Yuya was the one waiting.
Had something happened?
They’d never been to Yuya’s village, so they had no idea where to go even if they wanted to check.
They waited another ten minutes and were about to go looking when they saw her rushing over.
“Sister Lin, I hope I’m not too late! We were ready to come early, but the chickens got loose halfway here and we lost time.
We didn’t want them to die, so we only tied their wings and didn’t put them in bags. Who knew they’d slip free?”
“It’s fine—it’s about the usual time anyway. We just came earlier today.”
Lin Xiaohe checked the eggs—they were all intact.
One layer of eggs, one layer of dry grass, carefully packed.
The chickens’ wings were re-tied, this time securely.
“Looks good. I’ll bring your things over this afternoon.
You two head off—I’ll manage from here.”
Old Man Shen took his granddaughter and left without lingering.
Once they were gone, Lin Xiaohe took her sister’s hand and first brought the chickens and eggs home, then came back for the greens and mushrooms.
“I’ll take the mushrooms and greens to Aunt Fang’s shop first. You stay here and watch the chickens and eggs—I’ll come back for you. We’ll do it in two trips so we don’t crack any eggs.”
“Okay, Sis—don’t worry, I’ll guard our stuff with my life.”
“Alright—I’m off.”
After two trips, they’d gotten everything to the grain and oil shop.
Then two more trips to get it all to their stall.
There were already quite a few customers waiting.
“Oh, you finally made it! I thought you weren’t coming.
Oh—chickens and eggs! That’s wonderful—give me two chickens and thirty eggs.”
The old lady speaking was very familiar to Lin Xiaohe now.
She’d wanted yams the first time but they’d sold out, and Lin Xiaohe had promised to bring some the next day—but then something came up and she didn’t make it.
“Coming right up.”
She grabbed a bag, stuffed the live chickens inside, and counted out thirty eggs.
“Grandma, handle them carefully—eggs break easily.”
“Got it!”
“Oh—I forgot to ask. How much are the chickens?”
Lin Xiaohe slapped her forehead—she hadn’t even thought to find out the price.
Seeing her flustered look, the old lady knew she hadn’t done her research.
“I won’t cheat you, little girl. There are two ways to sell—by weight or by the bird. By weight, they usually go for fifty or sixty yuan per jin. By the bird, around 150 or so.
Your chickens are pretty big—selling by the bird wouldn’t be cost-effective. Try selling by weight.”
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