Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 23: What Else Did the Two Uncle and Niece Bring?

Chapter 22

What Else Did the Two Uncle and Niece Bring?

Ling Heng decided to purchase land adjacent to the Tang family’s because it was near a water source. However, the land’s vast size meant the houses were quite spaced out. During this period, the Ling family temporarily stayed in a seaside shack, which was spacious enough for comfortable sleeping, though it got somewhat cold at night.

Once the land deeds were obtained, the men went to cut wood from the forest to build the house. A small house with one bedroom, one hall, a kitchen, and a bathroom was completed within a week. There is also a small shed built separately from the house for storing firewood.

Ling Heng, holding his wife and son’s hands, looked at their new house with deep emotion. The Tang family had been incredibly kind to them, not only assisting in building the house but also sharing a lot of preserved pork belly, dried squid, and dried oysters. This upcoming winter would be the first they wouldn’t have to sleep hungry.

Today marked the housewarming for the Ling family’s new home. Xiaolin’s roundhouse wasn’t finished yet because she wanted a pen for Xiao Zhong, including an open area and a sheltered part for the winter, built to a considerable size to accommodate Xiao Zhong’s growth and any future cattle purchases.

There were also barns for storing dry straw and grass, and a large woodshed, as they didn’t know how harsh the winter would be here. It seemed everything would be completed in about a week.

"There’s no need for a grand ceremony, it’s just going to be a waste," Ling Heng said, looking at the Tang, Hui, and Liu families who had come to congratulate them.

"At least, let’s have a feast. We’ve made food already. I present to you the thick seafood tom yum and grilled salted fish for the kids, plus seaweed soup with grilled squid for everyone," Hui Song suggested. Everyone then gathered in the small hall of the Ling house.

"Thank you so much, everyone, for being so nice to our family."

"From today onwards, we’re neighbors," Tianrong said with a wide smile, their relationship having grown closer since building the houses together.

Xiaolin looked around at everyone, her chubby cheeks trembling. Tianchen, who had been watching his niece for a while, swooped in to pinch her white cheeks.

"Ah! Uncle, let me go!" The little girl struggled against the young man’s stubbly face, her squirming causing laughter.

"Who made you so adorable?" The young man grumbled, wishing he could swallow the cute little lump in one gulp.

"A’Chen, don’t be rude," Hui Ning whispered to her brother-in-law, who then sneakily pinched his niece’s cheeks from time to time.

After blessing each other for a while, everyone began to enjoy the meal together. The Ling brothers, who were once thin, have started to fill out thanks to Xiaolin frequently inviting them to eat together.

The Tang and Liu families warmly welcomed their new neighbors. Laughter and playful fights over food occurred intermittently, especially among the men of the Tang family, Liu Hao, and Hui Song. the Ling family looked on at the lively atmosphere with joy..

Through both good and bad times, the moving into the new house and settling in have been completed. There was about half a month left before we fully enter the winter season.

The drying of seafood continues unabated. At night, the two brothers from the Tang family would go out to sea to catch seafood, while the drying process was managed by the Ling family.

The harvesting of sweet potatoes was scheduled to start tomorrow. Tianrong has asked Elder Lua  to announce and recruit people for sweet potato digging, offering six jin of sweet potatoes as a share. There was significant interest due to the large and vibrant sweet potato field of the Tang family, which was quite eye-catching.

Lua Han made the announcement in the village square, with the Tang family members standing with him. The village of Shenlin consists of about 30-40 households, mainly children and the elderly, as most young men are either conscripted or working in the city or at the docks.

"Tomorrow, the Tang family will start harvesting sweet potatoes. For those who are interested in helping, Tianrong will share five jins of sweet potatoes. Afterwards, if anyone wants to buy some for storage, he will sell it for only five brass coins per one jin. This is a special price for our villagers. If you have some money, consider buying some. It’s cheaper than the low-quality grains sold in the city."

Lua Han spoke clearly and loudly, causing the villagers to discuss among themselves noisily until he had to clap his hands for attention.

CLAP CLAP CLAP!!!

"Alright, let’s quiet down a bit. Does anyone have any questions?" A young man raised his hand to ask, "The share of five jin, is it per person or per household?"

Upon hearing the question, Lua Han turned to the Tang family, and Tianrong stepped forward to answer loudly,

"I will give five jin for one person per day. If the digging takes three days, then you’ll get fifteen jin each. But I’ll only give it to adults. Children are welcome to help, but I won’t count them in the share. At noon, my family will provide a meal and soup, but you’ll need to bring your own rice."

After the discussion, the villagers dispersed, some taking their children with them, at least securing a meal for the day.

The men then grouped together to hunt wild boar again, to provide food for the villagers the next day. Xiaolin wanted to shout after them but they were too quick, almost as if they knew she would tag along.

The chubby girl stood with her arms crossed, pouting almost to her nose. Xiaolin walked back to their new house, seeing her mother sewing winter clothes for everyone in the hall.

"Mother, I have something to talk to you about," she plopped down next to her mother, clinging to her arm pleadingly.

"What is it, my child?"

"I want to collect coconuts to store food for the winter. We haven’t prepared straw and dry grass for Xiao Zhong yet," ever since Xiao Zhong got its new pen, it no longer whined to sleep inside the house.

Because its barn was like its own house, with both open areas to enjoy the breeze and enclosed spaces to block the cold wind.

"We haven’t even bought the land yet," she noted.

"Are you talking about the land to open a food stand? We can buy that later, child. No one is interested in that area anyway. And about the grass for Xiao Zhong, how about we wait until after the sweet potato harvest? With many villagers helping, it should only take a day or two to finish,"

Xiaolin, who nodded thoughtfully, her little head buzzing with what she could do during the snowy season. Surely, she wouldn’t have to spend all day and night coiled up in a room, especially since her father had bought new, soft blankets and mats before moving into the new house.

Their old house hadn’t been torn down yet since her father intended to use it to store sweet potatoes first. The firewood had been fully stocked in the shed, but Xiaolin wondered what else needed to be done.

"Oh right, mommy. Great-grandmother Liu once brought lotus leaves for me. Does that mean we have lotus ponds around here too?"

"Of course, my child. There’s a large pond in the forest, on the opposite side of where we usually go. It’s quite large."

"In that case, shall we go gather lotus roots together, mother? Besides using them for cooking, we can chop and grind them like sweet potatoes to make lotus root flour."

Hearing this, Hui Ning looked at her daughter with interest. Normally, they didn’t pay much attention to the lotus pond, only going once in a blue moon to collect lotus seeds. Most villagers preferred seafood due to their fishing activities, so they rarely consumed lotus products.

"Lotus root flour? Are you going to make desserts with it?"

"We’ll mix it with hot water to make a clear flour paste. Adding a little grain to it makes for a warming breakfast."

Touched by her daughter’s thoughtfulness, Hui Ning affectionately kissed her chubby cheek. Her little daughter was indeed very knowledgeable. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Hehe. Aw, mommy."

"Let’s wait for your father to return before we go. He might get worried if he comes back and finds no one at home."

During this period, Zhang Ruo went to the vegetable plot, which had some harvestable crops. She had begun cutting radish leaves for her granddaughter a few days ago. Xiaolin then asked her uncle to make straw ropes to hang the radish leaves from the house beams to dry, planning to store them in wooden boxes for winter consumption.

Besides hanging leaves everywhere in the house, they also cut radish into long pieces, salted, and dried them. They still had to deal with cabbage and kale, intending to buy more supplies from the city before making delicious pickles.

"And how dry should the radish leaves be?" Hui Ning looked out from the house and saw rows of radish leaves hanging everywhere. The leaves were wilted and unappetizing.

"They should be completely dry and crisp. Then we’ll store them and soak in water overnight when we want to use them, rinse, and then cook."

"Wouldn’t they be too sticky?"

"They might be a bit sticky, mother, but simmering them in soup for a while softens them up."

Understanding, Hui Ning nodded, watching her daughter’s skilled hands at sewing and feeling suddenly drowsy, Xiaolin laid down in her mother’s lap and fell asleep.

Xiaolin was woken up for lunch before she, her mother, and her young uncle set off with baskets into the forest, leaving the men at home to butcher the fat wild boar. It seemed this forest wasn’t often hunted, as they always returned with game every time they ventured in.

Tianchen led the mother and child deeper into the forest, soon reaching a large lotus pond, similar to the shallow waters where they had dug for sweet potatoes. Some lotus flowers were withering, while others bloomed beautifully.

The little girl sat on the bank, cheerfully instructing her mother and uncle to grasp and pull up the plump white lotus roots from the muddy depths. Tianchen pulled something from under the mud and showed it to his niece.

"Is this it?"

Xiaolin’s mouth gaped in astonishment at the sight of the large, plump white lotus root, as big as her father’s leg, nodding her head vigorously until her cheeks jiggled.

"Yes, uncle, please wash the mud off."

Tianchen was about to ask his niece if it was really edible but then closed his mouth swiftly. If his niece said it was edible, it surely must be, and delicious at that.

"Today, we’ll make pork bone soup with lotus root."

Hearing about food, the gluttonous young boy eagerly dived into the water, searching for lotus roots, causing the water to become muddied. Hui Ning could only watch as her brother-in-law was completely overtaken by the power of food.

Xiaolin wandered around the area, hoping to find more items to collect. She noticed something white scattered across the grass under shallow water and among the reeds. The plump figure wanted to investigate but didn’t want to worry her mother, so she returned to sit where she was.

"We’re done, child. We got two big baskets full."

"Mother, can you take me to look over there? I saw something white all over." A chubby finger pointed towards the direction she had just walked back from.

"What is it, Xiaolin?" Tianchen, wet and muddy, asked.

"It seems Xiaolin has found something. Take her to check it out. I’ll watch the stuff," Hui Ning told her brother-in-law, who then led the way followed by the plump niece trudging along.

The little girl asked her uncle to pick up one of the white objects scattered all over for her to see. If it was what she thought, they would have an additional supply!

Tianchen waded through the water, bent down, and picked up something from it. It turned out to be an egg, slightly larger than a chicken egg. He walked back to his niece and presented the egg to her.

"It’s an egg from some creature."

Xiaolin’s eyes sparkled. She hurriedly tapped the egg against a tree to crack it open. Revealing a large, round orange yolk and viscous egg white made her grin broadly.

"Let’s keep it, Uncle! It’s a duck egg!"

"Duck egg?"

"Yes! It’s an animal similar to a chicken, but it can swim."

Tianchen envisioned it, seeming to recall having seen it before. The young man took off his outer shirt, tied it into a simple pouch, and excitedly collected the eggs.

"Can we eat duck too, Xiaolin?"

"Yes, we can. Its meat is slightly tougher than chicken, but it becomes delicious when stewed."

Tianchen’s eyes filled with visions of various dishes, energized by the prospect of a new food source soon to be enjoyed. Fueled by this, he waded through the water, collecting duck eggs until his makeshift bag was full.

"What have you two brought back this time?" Hui Ning, noticing the jubilant demeanor of her brother-in-law, assumed her daughter must have lured her uncle with food again.

The chubby child beamed, rushing to cling to her mother and relay what they found and collected. After hearing the story, Hui Ning shook her head lightly, foreseeing that their home would soon be overflowing with preserved food.

"So many eggs, how are we going to eat them all, child? They will all rot away," Hui Ning looked at the shirt full of dozens of eggs her brother-in-law had brought back.

"We can cook some for the villagers to eat, and the rest can be salted to make preserved eggs," the little girl squirmed excitedly.

"Alright, let’s head back then. We’ve been out for quite some time."

‘jin’ is a Chinese weight unit equivalent to 500 grams.

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