Chapter 226

Since several families were partners in making the sauce, and the county now had a steady stockpile, cooking two batches a day was enough for each household. Adding the job of collecting mountain goods on top of that still kept everyone busy.

Chen Guizhi even sounded out Lu Liu about the arrangement, and he had no objections.

The reason he’d first approached Chen Jiu so eagerly was because their families had ties. As long as Chen Jiu was willing to maintain a good relationship, having him come over to work was no problem at all.

Chen Jiu could identify wild mushrooms, but his family didn’t own a proper scale. Doing this job now basically meant borrowing the use of the Lu family’s courtyard. He would come to work there during the day, and anything the yard couldn’t hold would be hauled over to his and Wang Meng’s place to dry. When it came time to deliver the goods, the two households would take them out together.

For this work, Wang Meng even cleared out a spare room and built a new awning.

Once March passed, summer wasn’t far off. The weather became unpredictable, and rain came at a moment’s notice. Having an awning made collecting goods much easier.

Li Feng came by to take a look and copied the idea, putting up an awning in his own courtyard.

He built his by putting up wooden posts beside the shop entrance, laying a top beam across them, then covering it with straw mats to shelter that patch of open ground.

Lu Liu watched with a cheerful grin, his hands busy stitching needlework.

Chen Jiu sat on a small stool picking through mushrooms. “They’re just looking for trouble,” he muttered.

Lu Liu was used to him picking at everything and replied without blinking, “How is making money considered trouble?”

That was exactly how Chen Jiu saw it—he was just a hired hand. It made sense for Li Feng to build an awning since it was for his own business. But what was Wang Meng doing putting up a straw shed at home? Even tidying up a whole room? Anyone who saw it would laugh at him for taking this job too seriously.

Lu Liu had no idea what Wang Meng was thinking, but praising someone’s devotion to their spouse never went wrong.

He told Chen Jiu, “Da Meng definitely cares about you. You cook sauce, he runs around collecting jars for you. You collect mushrooms, he cleans out rooms and puts up awnings. All of it is for your sake—who would laugh at that?”

Chen Jiu snorted, lifted the bamboo tray in his hands, and went over to find his aunt, ignoring him.

Lu Liu wondered if he had said something wrong again and upset him.

It didn’t matter—they were often like this. As long as they maintained their current friendship without yelling or arguing, it was good enough. He certainly wasn’t going to chase after him to coax him.

Seeing the awning finished, he set his sewing aside and went inside to pour Li Feng a big bowl of hot tea, letting him drink and rest a bit.

Now that he wasn’t short on clothes to wear, Lu Liu was making shoes. The last time he saw Li Feng come down the mountain, his feet had been swollen, and he didn’t even have a proper pair of shoes. It had made his heart ache. He couldn’t help him that day, so he wove him a pair of big straw sandals to get by. Now that he finally had some free time and the season was about to change, and after being nagged by his family into making himself two new sets of clothes first, he had started again on the shoes.

When Li Feng finished up on that side, Lu Liu pulled him over to sit on a small stool and try on the shoes.

He had already stitched the soles and uppers, and only loosely basted the ends together—it needed to be tried on so he could adjust the size and height.

The shoes were made according to Li Feng’s swollen feet, so the length was definitely enough. The key was the height of the upper. Li Feng had a high instep—if the upper was too low, it would squeeze his foot. Lu Liu made the uppers roomy, checking the height against his foot so he could trim them later. If the heel and instep were too loose, the shoes wouldn’t grip well and would be uncomfortable.

He was making one large pair as backup, and another pair of new cloth shoes to actually wear.

Li Feng had been running to the county often lately—not just delivering wild mushrooms and game, but also collecting vegetables from everyone’s gardens as they ripened.

Going to the county meant dressing decent. He didn’t want Li Feng to feel embarrassed when he ran into Ge-fu and ended up comparing poorly.

From last year to early this year, Xie Yan had always worn drab colors, and they hadn’t thought much of it when they met him.

But now that Xie Yan was attending school, he was well taken care of, his clothing brighter and made of better fabric.

Mountain folks like them didn’t compare materials, but at the very least they should look clean. Anything too old or too worn was better left for working at home.

Once both pairs were tested, Lu Liu marked them with charcoal and could continue sewing.

With nothing else to do for the moment, Li Feng pulled over another stool and sat beside him to talk.

“You feeling okay? There are a lot of mixed smells in the yard—does it make you uncomfortable?”

He always worried Lu Liu might get nauseated from the gamey scent; that’s why he collected all wild game outside and never had anyone bring it straight to the house.

But people passed through constantly, and hunters returning from the mountain often walked by. The smell always drifted in.

Lu Liu was doing fine. He’d been eating well, sleeping well, and had nothing weighing on his mind. His appetite had been shaky for a while, but after adjusting his meals, he could now eat to about eighty percent full without trouble.

The courtyard did smell a bit, but he was used to it.

He also wanted to print and sell more booklets. Many people in the village had asked, but he’d run out of paper and couldn’t keep up.

“Da Feng, next time you go to the county, buy some paper and ink. I need a new thimble too, and get some white thread while you’re at it. I was looking at our picture books—those are all sewn with white thread.”

He had been sewing books with coarse hemp thread, gray and unattractive.

Li Feng agreed, then asked, “Craving pig’s feet? Want some braised pork knuckle?”

Lu Yang had sent plenty of food; they weren’t short on everyday dishes. But those richer cuts were rare treats. Every time Li Feng asked, Lu Liu would practically drool.

Li Feng also told him roasted pig head was delicious, pig ears too. Lu Liu nodded slightly, hungry but trying not to look too greedy, and mindful of the cost. “Didn’t we just have some? Let’s wait a bit.”

Li Feng wiped his mouth; Lu Liu wiped his own. He hadn’t drooled at all!

“You’re terrible,” Lu Liu huffed.

Li Feng asked again, “You want it or not?”

Lu Liu nodded honestly. “I want it.”

Li Feng insisted he name what he wanted to eat.

Lu Liu, just as mischievous, said, “Chicken.”

Li Feng immediately lost his smile, poked his cheek, and went back to work.

The vegetables in the field were ready, so he started by cutting the chives.

After finishing his own, he hitched up the mule and shouted through the village, letting people know to cut their chives if they wanted to sell. They tied them up with rice straw.

Winter vegetables were the only ones that fetched a good price. The rest of the year, everything was cheap.

Since someone was collecting, everyone pitched in to sell a little and make some pocket money. No one would haul such small amounts to the county themselves—it wasn’t even worth a meal.

A bundle of chives weighed just over a pound; counted as a pound, each bundle went for two wen.

Families tied the bundles so they weighed more rather than less—shorting weight ruined one’s reputation.

When Li Feng collected in the village, he bought at one wen and five per pound. Ten pounds earned him five wen.

There wasn’t much profit here, but it added up.

Lu Yang counted it as wages for him, just like Lu Song’s vegetable collecting—two trips per day was one rate, staying out all day was another. Since it couldn’t be divided as a partnership, Li Feng relied on this small margin to save money.

He didn’t mind. It was helping out, after all.

San Miao had been going up the mountain for full days lately. With Sanli’s belly growing, he couldn’t go deep anymore and pestered Da Qiang to take him along to dig out wild beehives.

Da Qiang’s hunting grounds had plenty of hives. Wild bees didn’t attack small animals without reason, and there was plenty of good stuff to be found. As long as they drove off more of the bees, the big earnings were within reach.

Da Qiang didn’t bother discussing prices with him—just like when they hunted wild boar, they would split the profit based on how much work each of them did.

He also needed to deliver firewood to Boss Ding and had arranged a day to go to the county with Li Feng.

Once those two went up the mountain, Yao Fulang and Miao Xiaohe were free and came over to play with Lu Liu.

As soon as they arrived, they praised Lu Liu’s elder brother up and down, making Lu Liu grin from ear to ear.

He worked fast. He’d been house-bound since he was young—maybe not skilled in everything, but his hands were clever. After finishing Li Feng’s spare pair of shoes and his new pair, he started on a pair for his older brother.

They had swapped clothes and shoes before, so he used the old pair as a size reference and began stitching new soles.

Yao Fulang, who lived nearby, stopped by often. Seeing him still making shoes, he couldn’t help but marvel, “How many pairs do you even need?”