Rebirth in Famine: She Thrives by Lucky Space

Chapter 53: 53 This is happiness

The aroma in the room had faded a lot. Jiang Xinyu scrubbed the pot and started boiling water.

Even her hair smelled of oil and smoke today; it needed a wash.

At seven in the evening, the door was knocked on.

Jiang Xinyu welcomed them in, and two middle-aged men pushed carts with three snakeskin bags on them.

”Xinyu, this is my big brother.”

”Auntie, uncle, let’s go inside to talk; it’s too cold outside.”

The three followed Jiang Xinyu into her parents’ old room.

Jiang Xinyu set down the kerosene lamp, ”Auntie, uncle, let me pour you some water to drink.”

”No need, Xinyu.

My big brother and the others have already pushed the cassava flour and vermicelli here.”

”That’s really kind of you two uncles. How much did you bring? How do you want to exchange?”

”Little girl, we’ve brought over a hundred pounds of cassava flour this time. And twenty pounds of vermicelli.

The yams you provided, we have looked at them — honestly, they are about the same as sweet potatoes; you should know that a pound of sweet potato yields about two ounces of starch.”

”Uncle, I don’t understand this. Just tell me how to exchange.”

”Well, it should be five pounds of sweet potato for one pound of starch, but given the current situation, what do you think of exchanging three pounds of yam for one pound of starch?”

”Uncle, how should the vermicelli be exchanged?”

”For vermicelli, it’s also three pounds for one pound.”

”Alright, one hundred and twenty pounds exchanged for three hundred and sixty pounds?”

”Yes, we are not tricking you, truly.” This starch is still from two years ago; it’s not uneatable, but indeed too wasteful if kept as is — better to exchange for yam.

Jiang Xinyu smiled, ”I understand. I can tell uncle is an honest person. But I don’t have a scale here. Let’s start moving from the cellar first.”

The man who hadn’t spoken all along jumped into the cellar with a flashlight; the two people above helped and Jiang Xinyu didn’t need to get involved.

”Uncle, how much do you think this pile of yam weighs?”

”Around four hundred pounds.”

Jiang Xinyu was certain about this middle-aged man; she also thought it was around four hundred pounds.

”Uncle, since that’s the case, you should take all of it back; I can’t let you suffer too much loss.”

”Little girl, this—?”

”It’s okay, uncle. You made the trip with these carts, which isn’t easy.”

”Auntie, I’ve prepared ten yams for you, don’t dislike them, and don’t refuse — you’ve been running around for me.”

”Xinyu, Auntie will accept it now. When life gets better, Auntie will repay you.”

The two men next to her nodded in agreement, ”Yes, when life gets better, we won’t forget this.”

Jiang Xinyu nodded with a smile, entered the room, and brought out a basket with over ten yams.

The two middle-aged men helped Jiang Xinyu carry the bags of starch and vermicelli inside, then left after saying goodbye.

After seeing them off, Jiang Xinyu took a bath. When her hair was dry, she lay in a warm bed thinking about making sausages tomorrow; with the meat and starch available, although there were no green onions or fresh ginger at home, there was ginger powder in the pantry — that would have to do.

The more she thought, the more delightful it seemed; this kind of life was desirable.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, she began preparations.

Without a funnel, she used a bottled water container and prepared two large stainless steel basins.

Then she started chopping the meat stuffing; as long as there was meat in the vermicelli sausage, it was fine. So Jiang Xinyu chopped five pounds of lean and fatty meat into stuffing.

Then divided it into two basins and started mixing the starch water. With lots of seasonings in the pantry, she added cooking wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken essence, salt, and sugar making two large bowls.

She found the small intestines and filled them segment by segment.

Once filled, steamed them. During steaming, she poked them with a toothpick to release air.

Once cooked, they were taken out to cool in the basin.

Throughout the day, both pairs of small intestines from two pigs were filled, feeling satisfied.

Without the means to make pure meat sausages, she settled for vermicelli sausages.

Today’s aroma wasn’t as fragrant as yesterday’s, yet for now, it was still noticeable.

Jiang Xinyu knew there were many children at her door, but she had no capability to offer food. Having given once, not being able to keep giving would be troublesome, so she steeled herself to feign ignorance.

With five days left before heading to the county, she thought about braising the innards the next day, liking to have things planned out in advance.

On the fifteenth, Jiang Xinyu did not attend the village’s sacrificial activities and set out early.

She carried an empty basket, and upon arriving at the town’s market opened it to place the clay pots, stone basins, and wicker covers inside.

Checking the time, it was nearly eight. Would the carpenter be arriving soon?

At a quarter past eight, Jiang Xinyu’s feet were nearly numb with cold before seeing a donkey cart hauling a large wooden barrel.

”Girl, you’ve been waiting long?”

”Yes, Master, let’s go.”

Riding the donkey cart was quite comfortable, provided you could overlook the weather.

By the time they reached the county, it was nearly ten, and they paused at the entrance. Jiang Xinyu helped carry the wooden barrel inside.

”Master, this bath barrel is quite hefty; I can’t move it alone in the future.”

”It’s made with quality material. I crafted a base for it — place it on top and you won’t need to move it, just pour water directly.”

”Alright, for now, without a bathroom, I’ll have to keep it in the bedroom.”

The remaining foot basin, large wooden basin, and such didn’t require Jiang Xinyu to move.

After handing over the remaining thirty yuan and bidding farewell, she shut the door. She took out the altered heated bed cover, along with curtains and door mats to store in a cabinet.

Finishing everything took until noon; she had a meal at home and planned to visit Wang Ailing at the textile factory in the afternoon.

With her job starting soon, she’d bring firewood and a few odds and ends along.

After circling around her house, she felt solid; she was a homeowner now. In her past life, feeling like a floating duckweed was rooted in not owning a home.

At one in the afternoon, she locked her door and headed for the textile factory.

At this time, she didn’t know what shift Wang Ailing was on.

”Jiang Xinyu?”

”Secretary Qian? Is this your recent return?”

”Yes, you? Coming for?”

”I’m here in the county for some errands, first thought to see my sister from the village.”

”Oh? Aren’t you going to visit Director Wei?”

”I assume you’re all very busy; I wouldn’t want to disturb.”

”It’s alright; you haven’t seen Director Wei probably because you missed him — he just returned too.”

”Oh, then I’ll go see the Director.”

Wei Kaiyun noticed Jiang Xinyu entering as he knocked, finding her transformation quite significant.

”Director Wei, I’d like to invite you for dinner; do you have time?”

”Inviting me for dinner?”

”Yes, to express gratitude, inviting you to dine at my home tonight — we butchered a pig on the eighth of the lunar month.”

”That would be fantastic. I’ll come over after work; you’re not inviting your sister and me as an afterthought, are you?”

”Director Wei, how could you think ill of me? I specially came to invite you to dinner.”