Soul Travel: I was bought by the fierce man in the village to farm

In October, the weather finally cleared up.

The sun rises from the horizon and shines on people with a touch of warmth. The wind blows and the cold makes people shiver.

After breakfast, Li Yunshan went to town. She first cooked porridge, and then went to the backyard to feed the chickens.

People here feed chickens with grass in the summer, and when there is no grass in the winter, they feed them chaff.

The so-called bran skin is the layer of skin that wraps the outside of the millet.

The chaff was piled in the shed next to the chicken coop. She dug out a bowl and poured it into the basin. She watched them all start to peck at it and then went back.

Li Yunshan has already risen, and the clay stove in the main room is now smoking.

She shouted, "Eat." Then she went into the kitchen to fry the fish.

Take out the dried fish soaked in warm water in the morning and wipe it dry. Put a little lard in the pot, throw in a few peppercorns, and finally put the fish in and fry it over low heat.

Li Yunshan finished washing and changed into clean and warm clothes.

Mao Xiaofan handed him the rice, but before he finished eating, Li Yunqiang walked in.

He was carrying a basket behind him, and there were soap nuts in the basket.

They had a lot of unsold items last time. Mao Xiaosui asked, "Did we sell ours too?"

"There's no rush." ​​Li Yunshan explained, "It's very cheap to sell them in the town. The soap nuts won't go bad when dried in the sun. It will be the same if you sell them later when you have time."

Li Yunqiang also smiled, "I'm selling it because I don't need it at home, so don't worry."

After dinner, the two of them left. Mao Xiaosui sent them out and blocked the door. Just as she was sitting happily warming herself by the fire, there was a knock on the courtyard door. She felt a thump in her heart, wondering if this crazy woman would come again. Already? Just pretending to be dead, Mao Mingzhu's voice sounded outside.

She responded and hurried over to open the door. Mao Mingzhu was standing outside with a basket in her hand.

As soon as he opened the door, he asked strangely, "Why do you close the door in broad daylight?"

"Come in and sit down." She blocked the door again.

Mao Mingzhu was even more surprised, "Why are you blocking the door? Are you afraid that others will steal it after Li Yunshan left?"

"How did you know he was gone?"

"You saw it, or I could come to you?" Mao Mingzhu sat by the clay stove to warm herself up, shivering from the cold. "You had a fire in your house so early?"

"Is it still early? It's so cold that I can't even speak."

“I don’t even have firewood at home.”

"It's almost winter here, and it's going to snow if we don't clean it up."

"Who says it's not?" Mao Mingzhu sighed, "It rained a few days ago and I didn't care. I have to go in two days."

"Why not prepare in advance?"

"You're lazy. I hit someone when I was in a hurry. I really couldn't bear the cold and that's why I came to your house. It rained a few days ago and I saw smoke coming from your house from a distance."

"Then sit down."

After Mao Mingzhu felt that her hands were no longer so cold, she started sewing.

Mao Xiaosui discovered that she was making shoe uppers, so he asked, "Can my aunt make clothes?"

"To whom? Li Yunshan?"

"Mine." She reached out and pulled Li Yunshan's clothes on her body and said, "I have no clothes to wear, and he went to buy cotton for me."

"It depends on how free I am then. I guess I won't be free. Why don't you ask the old lady to do it?"

"She keeps hitting me. I just blocked the door because I was afraid she would come again."

"It's normal." Mao Mingzhu was obviously not surprised. "We have all been here like this. It will get better as time goes by."

"It hurts when she hits someone."

"Then what can we do? How can you, a granddaughter-in-law, still fight against the old lady?"

"I don't dare." She shook her head hastily, "She's so old."

"What?" Mao Mingzhu was speechless. "If you weren't that young, would you still have to fight her?"

"Then I wouldn't dare."

"As long as you take good care of Li Yunshan," she said in a much lower voice, "How many more years can the old lady live? I can't bear it anymore."

"It's been quite a few years. You see she's in good shape. She'll be fine for at least ten years."

"That's not the case." Mao Mingzhu disagreed, "Wang Qingshan's parents seemed to be in good spirits before, and it would only take a while for them to die."

Mao Xiaosui smiled and suddenly thought of something, "Auntie, you are now a grandma."

"I'm already thirty-five, what's so surprising about being a grandma?"

"Quite young." She smiled.

After sitting for a while, Mao Mingzhu left around noon.

She went to the backyard to feed the chickens and then went to a hut. When she came out, she saw a lean old lady in the distance.

I came home feeling like my butt was on fire, and not long after I heard her banging on the door.

Mao Xiaosui didn't want to go, so after hesitating for a while he went to open the door.

Ding Wenxiu stared at her for a while before asking, "Do you have any salt at home? Let me borrow some."

Mao Xiaosui brought her some, and Ding Wenxiu glared at her before leaving.

It was past lunch time when Li Yunshan came back with the cotton.

While the rice was heating in a bowl on the clay stove, she said hello and went to look at the cotton.

The cotton feels soft, not particularly new, and looks a little yellow.

Li Yunshan washed his hands and ate. Maybe he was hungry and ate quickly. He didn't forget to say, "I'll go to the market tomorrow to buy cloth. It's too expensive in the town."

"Okay." She placed the cotton carefully, sat on the stool and whispered, "Grandma is here."

Li Yunshan stopped eating immediately, looked her up and down, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Borrow salt."

He said "hmm" and said no more.

After eating, he took a nap, and when he woke up, the sun was gone. Li Yunshan began to chop firewood in the yard.

The firewood was piled in the side room. Mao Xiaosui carried him to the side room to pile it up little by little, and then ran back to the house to keep warm before he could chop the second pile.

There was a lot of wood piled in the yard, and I didn't chop much in the afternoon.

She put away the last few and went back to cooking.

In the evening, she ate millet porridge as usual, and she fried soaked mushrooms in lard.

The clay stove in the main room was very warm, so the two simply moved the table to the main room.

Even with a brazier lit, the kitchen was cold for cooking. When she went to bed at night, she asked, "Is there anyone who sells small pots? The kitchen is so cold."

"Yes." Li Yunshan turned over and hugged her, and said confusedly, "It's very expensive. It costs several taels for a pot as big as it is. We don't have enough money this year. Let's wait until next year."

"Is it expensive?"

"Expensive." Li Yunshan was sobered by her question, and he began to calculate carefully, "Of the two pots at home, one of them was from my father when we split up. Later, after it broke, he spent money to re-make it. The other pot was bought by me. Six taels of silver."

"My family only has less than three taels now. I can barely have two taels left over to buy a piece of cloth. Even buying a small one is not enough."

"Then forget it, just make do with it."

"We have a lot of firewood at home, so we should go in and smoke it in advance. We can buy it later when we have money."

She agreed and went to bed early since she had to go to the market tomorrow.