There was no ladder at home, so Lu Yangyuan said to use a stool to hang it up. Now it’s fine; we can borrow Mr. Ding’s ladder, and he will personally hang up the sign.
This sign was truly impressive. Mr. Ding looked at it again and again. The owners of the neighboring shops came out to see it and joined in.
Lu Yang introduced a few small businesses to Wu Pingzhi, saying they were custom-made at the Wu family tailor shop.
“It was done in about ten days. Take a look—they even embroidered the food I sell here! Those buns, those steamed buns—oh my, they look just like the real thing! Even though my mountain produce isn’t out yet, they’ve embroidered it too. I won’t say more—just look at those rabbits and mountain chickens. Even the snake embroidery doesn’t look scary; it looks strangely appetizing. I want to eat them. I saw them yesterday and loved them so much, but unfortunately the shop wasn’t open, and I was so hungry I couldn’t sleep all night!” I don’t know, I haven’t had a meat bun in days, and I’m really craving one.”
Unfortunately, Lu Yang woke up late, and the buns hadn’t been steamed yet.
Mr. Ding looked at him, and Lu Yang couldn’t help but laugh.
“Alright, I’ll call you big brother! Don’t expose me, I’ll bring you some buns myself later!”
The first customer of the day, Mr. Ding wanted to make the sale happen. Since the buns weren’t ready yet, he bought two flower rolls to tide him over.
Mr. Ding smiled and agreed.
Before the New Year, Lu Yang asked him if he wanted some wild game. He had asked his family, but no one was interested.
Now he was craving it. He was tired of eating radishes and cabbage, and he had bought some mountain produce to try, but it was just ordinary stuff and didn’t satisfy his craving.
He had only gone to the lamb soup restaurant twice, but it was very expensive, and as a businessman, he couldn’t afford to eat there often.
Li Feng is one of the best hunters in Li Village, so Lu Yang didn’t even need to ask—he just said, “Yes, definitely!” Usually, he was the one who made them.
Lu Lin still needed to practice his skills, and Zhao Peilan wanted to learn so that if Lu Lin couldn’t come, she could make them too.
Moreover, after they moved to the county, the shop opened early, and they couldn’t just wait for Lu Lin to come.
Lu Yang taught her in the back, while Xie Yan watched the shopfront.
Lu Lin and his wife got up early, didn’t slack off, and arrived at the shop at about the same time as usual to help out.
Seeing this, Xie Yan quickly told Lu Yang to go back to the house and take a nap.
Lu Yang stood on the ground, jumping around energetically. It was broad daylight, so there was no way he could sleep.
With some free time, he decided to tidy up the shop and make room for the mountain goods.
He went to get some red paper to fold small red envelopes and used red string to make a copper coin bracelet. People say that this kind of bracelet wards off evil spirits.
Lu Yang pondered for a long time, and every time he pondered, Xie Yan grew anxious.
“The doctor told you not to worry too much. Why are you still thinking about this?”
Xie Yan picked up the brush and wrote the character “Fu” (meaning “good fortune”) on the outside of the red envelope.
With good fortune on his side, everything would go smoothly, whether it was family, career, emotions, or health.
……………………..
During the first month of the lunar calendar, Lu Liu was busy for several days.
On the first day of the New Year, his mother and Shun moved down the mountain.
During the New Year celebrations, his mother stayed at home while the three of them went out to pay New Year’s visits.
Shun Ge liked the hustle and bustle and would always follow his two older brothers out every year. This year, only Li Feng took him along.
Li Feng was well-liked and one of the leaders of the mountain hunters, so the men who hunted with him all invited him to drink.
The snacks in the village were mostly like that—just enough to make up the numbers. They were meat dishes, so you had to eat slowly and savor the flavor. The snacks were just for show; you couldn’t eat them greedily and make others feel poor.
Therefore, during the New Year period every year, these men would gather together and talk about whose wife or husband was stingy, whose wife or husband was a miser.
Lu Liu, being new to the area, didn’t understand much, but he listened to Li Feng’s words. During these few days of feasting, he was awarded the title of “most stingy person,” which made him happy, as he felt he had saved money for his family, and he smiled every day.
Chen Guizhi said this was a good quality. In rural life, what’s the point of being extravagant and generous? When your own family can’t even eat their fill, why worry about what others eat?
On the second day of the New Year, Lu Liuchu and Li Feng packed their things and took the opportunity to visit their in-laws.
They first went to Chenjiawan and also paid their respects to Chen Daxiu.
Wang Meng and Chen Jiu also returned to Chenjiawan, and the two families took the same path.
Chen Jiu didn’t want to talk to Lu Liu, and Lu Liu didn’t approach him, so he listened to Li Feng and Wang Meng talking.
In the days leading up to the New Year, Li Feng went to the mountains almost every day and dug up a lot of bamboo shoots.
The salt packets he scattered bore fruit, and he hunted two sheep.
Lu Liu knew how to remove the gamey smell, so he cut a small piece of lamb meat to try.
Li Feng told him to say it, so he said it all.
Li Feng called out to Chen Jiu again, “Brother Jiu, have you learned it? Making lamb soup at home saves money. Keep some meat for yourself to eat, and you can also nourish your body.”
Chen Jiu finally replied slowly, “I didn’t understand.”
He had never cooked lamb before.
Lu Liu explained again, this time in more detail.
Chen Jiu muttered under his breath, occasionally saying “uh-huh.” He didn’t argue with Lu Liu today.
They went to the Yue family first, and the two parties parted ways shortly after entering the village.
Chen Lao Ye waited until the New Year arrived, saw the two of them, and mentioned the tofu shop again.
He had mentioned it to Lu Yang last time, but there was still two taels of silver missing. This time, when they met, Lu Liu was unaware of it, his eyes clear. Chen Lao Ye thought he was pretending and didn’t want to acknowledge the debt.
Life in the village was tough. After the children were married off, the family didn’t live in luxury.
They were not accustomed to the customs of the village. They were reluctant to give away things that could be sold for money, but they accepted gifts from others without hesitation. They considered themselves superior to the villagers because they had returned from the county, which made many people unwilling to associate with them.
Lu Sanfeng was full of resentment at home, and when she went out, she spoke in a strange and unpleasant manner.
The two sons at home, despite being grown men, refused to do chores like splitting firewood or carrying water. Every time this happened, there was an argument at home.
Chen Lao Ye was a man who valued his reputation. In the past, he had always delegated these unpleasant tasks to Lu Yang, maintaining his image as a kind and generous person.
Constantly being gossiped about behind his back, with unrest at home, and worried about the expenses, Chen Lao Ye kept backing down, lowering the price again and again.
At first, he wanted them to take ten taels, then three taels, then two taels, and this time, it was one tael and three mace.
