Chapter 47

The stone mill had already been selected in advance, costing two hundred and sixty-five copper coins, which included the wooden base frame used to place it. In the shop, Sang Luo haggled with the stone storekeeper for a good fifteen minutes, successfully getting him to throw in a stone mortar for free.

The stone mortar was not small at all, easily more than three times the size of the ones sold nowadays for mashing garlic. For a household of just their few members, if they ever forgot to husk the rice on any given day, this could be used as a temporary substitute and would get the job done.

With the wooden buckets, carrying poles, and baskets rearranged and stacked neatly on the cart to clear up space, the storekeeper and his assistant helped place the stone mill onto it.

This thing was truly hefty. However, because it could be disassembled and reassembled, an ordinary farm woman should be able to lift it with a bit of effort. But carrying it all the way up the mountain would be quite difficult, which made Qin Fangniang finally understand why Sang Luo had specifically reached out to her and asked her husband to help carry it.

After purchasing the stone mill, the money Qin Fangniang had handed over, along with the cash Sang Luo had originally tucked into her sleeve pocket, were completely depleted, and she even had to count out dozens of extra coins from her own purse. Still, having things this much lighter and easier was genuinely comforting.

She went over to pull the cart: "Let's go buy some millet next. Moving into a new house means living a good life from now on, and the first order of business is to make sure the rice jar is full. We also need to buy a bathing tub; starting today, I'll never have to take baths in the stream with my heart in my mouth again."

Qin Fangniang burst into laughing upon hearing this, and she didn't let Sang Luo pull the cart: "You're not as steady at pulling the cart as I am. The county town is all paved with flagstones, so it's easy to pull. Once we get out of the town later, you can help me push from behind."

Pulling the cart forward herself, she picked up on the previous topic: "Taking baths in the small stream is never comfortable, and it's always nerve-wracking."

"Did you used to bathe in the stream too, Auntie?"

"I did. Back in the year we first fled the famine, we had nothing we needed back then either. Those days weren't much better than what you and your family went through before, and we only managed to build a life bit by bit."

Chatting about the past events of fleeing the famine, the two of them went to the grain shop and the carpentry shop. They bought a sack of grain, and Sang Luo's long-desired bathing tub was also secured.

With so many items, it took quite a bit of effort when loading the cart. The assistant at the carpentry shop even found a roll of straw rope to bind the four sides tightly, making sure nothing would spill over even if the cart came to a halt on a slope, and only then was everything considered properly settled.

Qin Fangniang looked at the cart overflowing with goods. Except for the two buckets, the pair of carrying poles, and the back basket which belonged to her family, everything else was procured by Sang Luo: the stone mill, the wooden bucket, the grain, the bathing tub, and a few fluffy yellow ducklings that kept chirping cheerfully. She sighed with emotion: "Your family's life is finally starting to take off."

Sang Luo also felt truly fulfilled from the bottom of her heart. Having a house and grain, facing mountains right outside the door, a spring beside the house, raising a few chickens and ducks in front of the house, planting a few patches of vegetables behind the house, and being able to earn a few taels of silver—living such a life, what more could one possibly be discontented with?

...

Back in the village, Sang Luo first carried the wooden bucket and the newly bought ducklings home. Chen Youtian was busy in the courtyard; seeing her return, he knew it was time for him to go haul the rest of the things. After asking a question for confirmation, he put down his work and headed down the path toward the foot of the mountain.

Sang Luo put down the bucket. Before Shen An and Shen Ning, who came hurrying over, could even get close, they heard a crisp sound of continuous cheeping. The eyes of both siblings lit up: "Eldest Sister-in-law, did you buy ducks?"

Sang Luo lifted the back basket containing the three small ducklings out of the bucket: "That's right, excited?"

No one could resist the charm of fluffy little creatures in their infancy.

The two little ones were indeed overjoyed. Squatting beside the back basket, they peered right inside. Shen Ning had already reached out to touch them, gently brushing the head of a little duck. Filled with overwhelming delight, she turned to Sang Luo and said: "Eldest Sister-in-law, I know how to raise ducks. The chickens and ducks at home were fed by me before, so I'll take care of these."

"Alright then, these three little ducklings will be entrusted to you from now on. You two go find some fine grass to line the duck nest; later on, we'll build a proper duck nest together. I still have to head down the mountain two more times because there are things waiting to be moved."

As she spoke and prepared to leave, Shen An hurriedly asked what else needed to be brought up. Sang Luo thought for a moment: "The bathing tub. Well, actually, Xiao An, come with me and help me carry it."

Shen An gave a quick acknowledgement and stopped squatting to look at the ducklings, rising to his feet to follow Sang Luo out.

The wooden bathing tub was not the deep kind. Carrying it alone was not entirely impossible, but doing so for long periods was no light task, whereas carrying it together made it much easier.

...

When Chen Youtian saw that the item Sang Luo had wanted him to help move yesterday was a stone mill, he was momentarily stunned. By the time Sang Luo arrived, he asked his wife: "How did she think of buying a stone mill?"

This thing was not cheap at all.

Qin Fangniang shook her head and said: "She only said it would be useful, and that we'll find out why in a couple of days."

Hearing her say this, Chen Youtian didn't ask any further. The stone mill was divided into upper and lower millstones. He weighed the upper millstone in his hands; it was manageable. After saying a word to Qin Fangniang, he picked it up in his arms and left. After walking just a few steps, he ran into Sang Luo and Shen An coming up from behind. Seeing that Chen Youtian had already taken the stone mill, Sang Luo asked: "Uncle Youtian, are you alright carrying that all by yourself?"

Chen Youtian nodded: "I can manage it."

Sang Luo didn't say any more and went with Shen An to carry the bathing tub. On the way back, she met Chen Youtian and told him to wait a moment so she could help carry the lower millstone together with him.

As for the sack of millet, it was left for Qin Fangniang to pull back on her cart, and Sang Luo would go over later to mill it into rice before bringing it back.

After Chen Youtian brought the stone mill back, he helped assemble the mortise-and-tenon wooden base frame. After asking Sang Luo where she wanted it placed, Sang Luo pointed to the innermost corner of the kitchen, and the two of them carried it over together, setting up and installing the stone mill in place.

Once the work was done, he said: "Xiao An's bed has also been built by me. Since you're just back at the right time, take a look at which spot in your room you'd like it placed, and once the space is cleared, I'll come help you put it together."

Everything was made with mortise-and-tenon joints, and right now it just looked like a pile of scattered parts. If he didn't help assemble it and left Madam Sang to do it herself, she would probably spend half a day trying to figure it out.

"The bed is already made so quickly?" Sang Luo was somewhat pleasantly surprised, and said: "The room was cleaned up early this morning, let's put it together right now."

With that, she went to help Chen Youtian carry the bedboards and bedposts.

Ah, they truly deserved to be called bedposts; the four legs of the bed were complete cylindrical columns sawed from a single piece of timber, with grooves carved into the top, which must be the legendary mortise-and-tenon structure that was much sturdier than nails.

Once all the parts were moved into the room, Chen Youtian assembled them while Sang Luo watched from the side. Sure enough, it was completely seamless!

Four wooden pillars and boards of varying thickness were tapped and fitted together in Chen Youtian's hands, forming a bed in no time at all.

The bedboards were laid out one by one, and Sang Luo went over to test it with her hand. It was sturdy to the maximum.

She gave Chen Youtian a thumbs-up: "Uncle Youtian, your craftsmanship is truly beyond reproach."

Wasn't this infinitely better than the three benches and few bedboards that Third Uncle Shen had allotted to them back then?

As for Third Uncle Shen, he was her biological uncle, and she truly lacked the words to evaluate him.

Chen Youtian just smiled upon receiving the compliment. He packed up his tools and said: "My family has clean straw. Later on, you can go fetch a bit of it to spread on the bedboards before putting the mat over it, so it will be softer to sleep on. You don't need to go buy a mat in the market either; my mother is weaving one at home right now and it should be finished soon. Consider it a housewarming gift for your new home, and she'll probably send it up to you around dusk."

Old Madam Chen had stepped inside this thatched cottage before, and she was crystal clear on what kind of bed was in there. With such a narrow bed squeezing three people together, when the weather grew hot, they would probably wish they could sleep sideways.

Therefore, there was no need to be particular about the timing of gift-giving; once the bed was made and the mat was woven, it would naturally be sent up.

Hearing that the old matriarch was even weaving a mat for them, Sang Luo was slightly stunned. To say she wasn't moved would be a lie, and precisely during such exceptionally touching moments, words of gratitude refused to come out.

She smiled: "Our Xiao An is truly blessed; he'll be able to sleep in a new bed tonight."

Chen Youtian smiled and remembered another matter, saying: "Right, regarding the chickens you wanted to raise, my mother went to ask around. The Lu family can spare two, and another family in the village can also spare two. If you can manage to raise four, you can buy them from both families. If you can't raise that many, you can just pick one from each family. They're all well-raised birds."

Sang Luo chuckled: "Today is really wonderful, with both chickens and ducks coming to settle in their new home. Uncle, I'll go down the mountain with you then, just in time to pick up the chickens. Also, please leave your tools here for me to borrow for a bit; I'm thinking of building a chicken coop and a duck shelter out of bamboo."

There was no way Chen Youtian would refuse: "Alright, then I won't tidy up here and will head back first. Just use those things as you see fit, and bring them down to me when you're done. You can tidy up the remaining pieces of wood yourself later—they'll come in handy whenever you want to make something in the future."

Sang Luo agreed and asked Chen Youtian to wait for a moment while she went inside to fetch her old cloth bag. As she stepped out, she happened to run into Shen An and Shen Ning, who were returning with fine dry grass. Sang Luo said: "Just in time. Ah-Ning, stay at home, and Xiao An, come with me to your Grandma Chen's place to fetch some straw."

Shen An didn't know yet that his new bed had already been put together; hearing only that his eldest sister-in-law was taking him along to help out, he dumped all the dry grass in his hands onto his sister and turned to follow his eldest sister-in-law down the mountain.

When they reached the Chen family house at the foot of the mountain first, it happened to be just right. The old matriarch had literally just finished weaving the mat. Seeing Sang Luo and Shen An arrive together with Chen Youtian, she smiled and said: "You've come at the right time. This mat is a gift for you; since you're here, you can carry it back yourself."

She then turned to ask Chen Youtian: "Is the bed put together properly?"

Chen Youtian nodded: "It's all set up. Just spread some straw and lay down the mat, and it's ready to use."

Shen An's eyes lit up: "Uncle Youtian, my bed is already finished?"

When he left the house earlier, it was still just a pile of scattered timber.

Chen Youtian smiled: "It's done. Perfect timing, go ahead and carry the straw back yourself. Your eldest sister-in-law still needs to go buy chickens, so she won't be able to carry straw right now."

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Chen smiled and said to Sang Luo: "Then you wait a moment, Xiao An, come with me, Grandma will pull out some straw for you."

"Okay!" Shen An responded cheerfully, threw a word to Sang Luo, and bounced happily as he followed Old Madam Chen outside.

Their family finally had a new bed! And chickens would be coming very soon too—he simply didn't know how to contain his joy!