Was Zhao Huan really concerned about that one Copper Coin? She was concerned about her status in this household.
Why did Eldest Girl have one, but she didn't? Didn't this mean her status in this family was even lower than Eldest Girl's?
Qin Sang wasn't about to indulge her unreasonable pestering. She slapped her chopsticks down on the table with a sharp crack.
Tian Sijin immediately put down her bowl and chopsticks, even holding her breath lightly.
"Can you eat or not? If you can eat, then eat. If you can't, then go back to your room.
Before you married into my Tian Family, you should have been clear. My Tian Family is not a wealthy, aristocratic household. Marrying in made you a farmer's wife, not a pampered young mistress waiting to be served.
Today's money is a reward for work beyond regular chores. It's only because these mugwort leaves can be sold for money that there's a reward for everyone.
Go ask around the Neighboring Villages. Is there any daughter-in-law who does nothing, yet dares to stretch out her hand asking her Mother-in-law for money?
If you want to go out and spread this, fine, go right now.
San Gui, take your wife back to her parents' home."
How would Tian Sangui dare? If his own wife went back to her parents' home, whether he'd still have a wife was questionable, let alone that his wife was carrying his child in her belly.
He also didn't dare to defy Qin Sang. He could only stuff the two Copper Coins he had received all at once into his wife's hands:
"Huan'er, sit down. Getting upset isn't good for the baby later.
Mother isn't wrong either. Just stay home, rest during your pregnancy, and eat well.
Your man will earn money for you.
Come on, come on, rice soaked in Chicken Egg Soup, it's really fragrant..."
Tian Sangui had always been sweet-tongued, and when it came to coaxing his wife, he spared no effort.
Seeing she really couldn't get any more, Zhao Huan seized the opportunity to back down and sat down, the two Copper Coins tucked into her palm.
Qin Sang picked up her chopsticks to eat again. Only then did the others feel at ease and start eating. Seeing that the eldest brother's family only ate rice without touching the dishes, Qin Sang used a ladle to scoop a large half-bowl for each of them. The eldest brother's family ate until they cried.
Qin Sang didn't have a big appetite. Eldest Brother's Wife was frugal by habit, reluctant to use oil and salt. If not for being truly hungry from climbing the mountain, Qin Sang wouldn't have finished even one bowl of plain rice.
Third Brother's Wife said nothing, fiercely drinking three bowls of Chicken Egg Soup and downing two large bowls of plain rice.
The ingredients were still too few; she desperately wanted to eat meat.
After the meal, Qin Sang took advantage of the darkness to tidy up the mugwort leaves collected today with the eldest and third sons. As long as they didn't see, Qin Sang sold the mugwort leaves in her hands to the Mall. The mall coins balance quickly rose to fifty...
"Sister-in-law Tian?" A voice startled Qin Sang, who was in the middle of selling things.
Turning around, it was none other than Hunter Xu.
Qin Sang hurriedly stood up, not knowing if Hunter Xu had seen the mugwort leaves in her hand vanish into thin air just now. She pretended nothing was wrong and greeted him:
"Hunter Xu, what brings you here so late?"
Hunter Xu stood outside the courtyard, not coming in, and just said:
"Sister-in-law Tian, I came to apologize on behalf of my Hu Zi's thoughtlessness. If he hadn't acted on his own today, he wouldn't have caused you to ask the whole village for help. Here is a Salted Chicken. It was hunted during my last trip into the mountains, salted, and it's still good. Please accept it, Sister-in-law Tian."
Both Tian Dazhuang and Tian Sangui saw the Salted Chicken in Hunter Xu's hands. They instinctively swallowed their saliva and hurried off to gather the mugwort leaves.
Qin Sang walked to the gate with a smile and waved her hand:
"Oh, Hunter Xu, I haven't even prepared a thank-you gift to thank your Hu Zi for taking care of my Si Jin. How could I blame Hu Zi? My Si Jin returned safely, all thanks to Hu Zi's familiarity with the mountains. I can't accept this Salted Chicken. Please take it back."
Hunter Xu was very surprised by the change in Qin Sang's behavior now. In the past, if the Xu Family wasn't falsely accused and bled dry by Qin Sang, she would never have let it go.
Now that Qin Sang treated people and handled matters so reasonably, Hunter Xu finally set aside the worry he had been holding.
Qin Sang was a widow, and Hunter Xu was also a widower. Since Qin Sang wouldn't accept it, Hunter Xu couldn't force it on her. He walked a few steps over to Tian Dazhuang:
"Da Zhuang, I see Si Jin and Eldest Girl are both so thin they look skeletal. Take this Salted Chicken to nourish the two children."
In the village, only Hunter Xu's family could eat meat regularly. He and his son often exchanged some game with villagers for grain and vegetables, but they had never exchanged with Qin Sang's family.
Previously, Qin Sang looked down on Hunter Xu. When Hu Zi went into the mountains, he wouldn't pass by the village end; he would take a detour every time, afraid Qin Sang would see him and accuse him of eyeing the chickens in her yard.
This was also why no one in Qin Sang's family saw Hu Zi when he took Si Jin up the mountain.
Tian Dazhuang declined, saying he couldn't accept it:
"Uncle Xu, how can we take your Salted Chicken? This pheasant could be exchanged for several pounds of grain in Town. Mother said not to take it, so we can't."
Hunter Xu pushed it back, insisting on stuffing it into Tian Dazhuang's hands:
"It's just a Salted Chicken. There's more at home. For my family to eat these, it's simple—just one trip into the mountains provides enough for several days. Take it, take it."
Tian Dazhuang withdrew his hand. Beside him, Tian Sangui swallowed his saliva and reached out to take it:
"Elder Brother, Uncle Xu said his family doesn't lack meat. With Uncle Xu's skills, eating as much meat as he wants is easy.
Uncle Xu said it's to nourish Eldest Girl and Si Jin. Just accept it. Pushing it back and forth, people might think you're looking down on it.
I thank Uncle Xu on behalf of Eldest Girl and Si Jin."
Qin Sang really admired this third son, using his nieces and sister as a pretext for his own craving for meat.
However, seeing this Salted Chicken, Qin Sang also wanted meat. She asked:
"Hunter Xu, does your family have any other salted meat? Or fresh meat?"
Probably everyone in the household except herself was malnourished. Today in Town, Qin Sang had been thinking about buying some meat to nourish the family, but the weather was too hot and she couldn't buy any. She had only just transmigrated and hadn't remembered that his family had meat to exchange.
"Only salted meat is left. In this weather, it doesn't keep, so my son and I don't go into the mountains every day. Coincidentally, these past two days... we haven't gone up the mountain. If you want fresh meat, Sister-in-law Tian, I can check the traps on the mountain tomorrow morning to see if we've caught any rabbits or pheasants."
These past two days were spent busy helping Qin Sang search for someone. Qin Sang knew this well, and coupled with her genuine gratitude towards him, she smiled and said:
"Alright then. If there are Wild Rabbits tomorrow, please exchange them with my family first. By the way, how are Wild Rabbits and pheasants exchanged?"
Before Hunter Xu could answer, Tian Sangui, who was standing nearby, spoke up:
"Mother, Uncle Xu's game is usually exchanged with the village for grain. A pheasant is exchanged for three pounds of Millet, a Wild Rabbit for one pound. Uncle Xu, I remember correctly, don't I?"
Hunter Xu scratched his head: "Yes, that's right."
Qin Sang thought to herself that this third son had probably been craving meat for a long time, remembering the prices so clearly.
But everyone in this household had no oil in their bellies; who wouldn't crave it?
"Alright then, it's settled. If there are no live rabbits or pheasants, Da Zhuang will still have to go to your house tomorrow to exchange for two Salted Chickens."
Hunter Xu agreed before heading home. Qin Sang returned to the courtyard and continued selling mugwort leaves in the dark until she rounded up the balance to a neat one hundred, only then stopping.
Inside the house, Eldest Brother's Wife was leading Eldest Girl and Si Jin in grinding Charcoal Powder. A Small Stone Mill was placed on a large wooden stump. Eldest Brother's Wife slowly turned the millstone, Si Jin fed charcoal pieces into the mill's eye beside her, and Eldest Girl used a small bamboo basket to catch the Charcoal Powder underneath the mill. With the rustling sound of the millstone, fine Charcoal Powder was swept into the bamboo basket. There was already a small half-basketful.
Qin Sang told them to stop working, hurry to wash their hands and faces—they had all turned into little smudged cats.
Nearby, Third Son's Wife fanned herself with a Palm-leaf Fan and said:
"I did offer to fan them, but they refused. They said the fanning would blow the Charcoal Powder away and told me to sit farther away."
Qin Sang glanced at her. The Oil Lamp on the table flickered, casting long, stretched shadows on the earthen wall:
"Do you want a reward?"
Third Son's Wife didn't speak. Qin Sang saw through her little scheme:
"Fine. Tomorrow, your elder sister-in-law and Si Jin will be rubbing Mugwort Fluff. You'll be responsible for grinding Charcoal Powder with Eldest Girl."
If Qin Sang didn't make it clear, tomorrow Third Son's Wife would dare to ask her for money after just a few waves of the fan.
Wishful thinking.
Third Son's Wife looked at Qin Sang, then at the Stone Mill:
"But I'm still pregnant with a child! You want me to grind with a Stone Mill?"
Qin Sang didn't mince words either:
"Isn't Eldest Girl there? Eldest Girl is only five years old. Eldest Girl, tell Grandma, can you handle the task of grinding Charcoal Powder?"
Eldest Girl looked at Third Aunt, then at Grandma who was looking at her kindly. After thinking for a moment, she immediately nodded:
"Grandma, I can do it."
Although she was also afraid of Third Aunt, she wanted Grandma to smile at her even more.
Qin Sang affectionately patted Eldest Girl's little head. Such a sensible child—if she were in modern times, she'd definitely post a video on TikTok or WeChat to show off.
Third Son's Wife was furious but had no choice. She got up angrily and went back to her room.
While they were talking, Eldest Brother's Wife had already cleaned up the Stone Mill and Charcoal Powder and brought in a basin of water. Water was precious now; this water was leftover from cooking and washing vegetables. After washing their hands, it would be used to water the vegetable garden in the backyard. Every drop had to be fully utilized.
Qin Sang pulled Eldest Girl close, took the child's two little paws, and stretched them into the basin to help scrub them:
"Eldest Girl, do you want to sleep with Grandma and Auntie tonight?"
Eldest Brother's Wife, who was holding the Pottery Basin, almost lost her grip. The water in the basin sloshed, nearly spilling out.
"Mother?"
Qin Sang looked up and gave her a reassuring glance. It was no wonder Eldest Brother's Wife was so flustered; the Original Body really hadn't acted like a human.