Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 26: Just In Time!

Chapter 25

Just In Time!

Just in time for lunch, Hui Song and Zhang Ruo returned from another field, where they had been cutting grass for their plump cow. Since moving to its new barn, the cow rarely went out to play, preferring to stay inside all day; at most, it would come out to drink water from the trough outside.

"Why don’t you go out and play? You just sleep all day," Hui Song addressed the round cow, which came out to rub its head against his leg, while he carried the grass to store in a room next to Xiao Zhong’s barn.

Moo~

Xiao Zhong vigorously rubbed its head against Hui Song’s leg. It was probably itchy from its horns growing in, making it prefer to rub against a human instead of the wooden pen post, which could be painful.

"Enough with the rubbing. Go out and play," Hui Song instructed, tying a loose rope around Xiao Zhong’s neck before leading it outside. The plump cow happily waggled its tail and followed.

"Xiao Zhong!" Xiaolin, who had come out for a stroll, saw the round cow and immediately ran to hug it.

Since Xiao Zhong had been staying in the pen, she hadn’t seen it much. She had been too busy with daily chores, and Xiao Zhong might have been too fond of its new home.

"If you’re free, take him out for a run. It’s been lying around all day; I’m worried it might get sick," Hui Song suggested to his granddaughter. He removed the rope from Xiao Zhong’s neck since it started to act lively upon seeing its young owner.

"Of course, Grandpa," Xiaolin replied with a wide smile. She led the way to the riverside lawn, with Xiao Zhong hopping and following closely behind.

"Come on, Xiao Zhong! Faster!" The chubby girl ran ahead, looking back to see Xiao Zhong following her closely.

Moo!

The plump cow overtook its young owner, making Xiaolin laugh loudly as it jumped around playfully.

Hui Song watched his granddaughter’s back before heading to the front of the house, drawn by a shouting voice.

"Oh, A’Ou, what brings you here?" Hui Song greeted the boy from their village. He opened the gate and invited the visitor into their home.

"My mother sent me to buy some sweet potatoes. Do you have any left?" The skinny young boy asked.

"There’s plenty left. How many jin do you want?"

"I’ll take twenty jin, please," the young boy handed over a bundle of money to Hui Song.

"In that case, follow me," Hui Song pocketed the money and led the young boy back to his son-in-law’s old house, where they stored the sweet potatoes.

Given the vast quantity of sweet potatoes, spanning tens of thousands of kilos, they were also stored in the firewood shed and his old house. Hui Song helped the young boy fill his basket with sweet potatoes, generously throwing in a few extra. The boy thanked him profusely before heading home.

He was grateful for the Tang family’s kindness in selling the sweet potatoes at such a low price to the villagers, even though they could have sold them for much more in the city.

"Where’s Xiaolin, Dad?" Hui Ning asked her father upon seeing him return. Hui Song placed the bundle of money on the table, noticing his daughter’s hands were stained.

"She went out to play with Xiao Zhong. But what are you guys up to?" Hui Song frowned, looking at his daughter and wife spreading a thick, orange-red sauce over white radishes.

"We’re making pickled vegetables, Xiaolin’s recipe. We’ve already made a big jar. Mom tasted it and liked it, so she wanted to make more. We were worried we wouldn’t eat all the fresh radishes in time; we still have so many left."

"It’s delicious, you know, different from the pickles we’ve made before," Zhang Ruo said, offering her husband a radish soaked in the sauce. Hui Song looked skeptical.

"Is it not spicy?"

"Not spicy at all, just the color looks a bit scary. I’ve tasted it," Zhang Ruo reassured. Hui Song took a bite and nodded approvingly.

"Does it have to be white radishes?"

"We also used turnips and green onions. There are many cabbages left in the dry food storage room, but I don’t know what Xiaolin plans to do with them," Hui Ning mentioned. She winked playfully at him as he crouched down and nudged his wife to give him another piece of radish.

"Let’s try using it. Cabbage leaves are crisper and thicker than Chinese cabbage. Slice it into smaller pieces and mix it with this pickling juice. I think it’ll be delicious, especially with grilled pork,"

"I was thinking the same, Uncle," Tianchen, who had been lounging nearby, suddenly got up excitedly.

"You really are something! Scaring an old man to death. Can’t you get up gently?" Hui Song playfully smacked the young boy’s head, startling everyone around.

"Sorry, Uncle. But we don’t have any fresh pork. Should Sister-in-law stir-fry it with salted pork belly instead?"

"Good idea! I agree. Let’s prepare it for lunch then, A’Ning."

Zhang Ruo shook her head at her mischievous uncle and nephew, who thought of nothing but food all day.

She sighed deeply before telling her daughter to start preparing lunch, as it was nearly midday and her son-in-law would be returning soon.

Xiaolin, who had been playing with Xiao Zhong until her stomach was nearly empty, came back home. Earlier, she had dropped Xiao Zhong off at his pen. The fat cow began to eat more grass nowadays, only mooing for milk once or twice a day.

"Mommy," Xiaolin called to her mother, who was washing cabbages at the water tank behind the house.

“You’re back already? Wash your face and hands quickly. I’ll prepare lunch for you soon," Hui Ning put down her work to wash her daughter’s face.

"Go dry off and wait in the living room, okay? Mom will cook in a jiffy."

"Okay," the plump child hurried off to her bedroom to clean up.

Since moving into the new house, she had started sleeping alone, wanting her parents to have some privacy. She hoped for a little brother or sister with plump cheeks to play with.

Xiaolin rolled around on her bed, her little mind filled with thoughts of the upcoming winter and the snowfall, different from where she used to live. She had never traveled abroad either.

"I wonder how cold it’ll be. Will we have enough firewood? And what about dried food?" pondered the plump child, her brows furrowed.

Even though she had her father build a firewood storage almost as big as the house, not to mention several jars of dried food stored in the pantry next to the kitchen, thick blankets, and several sets of winter clothes prepared by her mother,

"Oh, right, I haven’t gathered the old coconuts yet. I’ll ask if Uncle wants to gather them after lunch," she nodded to herself, planning to also check on the Ling family’s hut.

Initially, her father had told them to stop working to prepare for winter, but they insisted on continuing. Perhaps because the Ling father and son were fond of their dried squid, they were determined to dry squid non-stop. Her father even lent Ling Heng a boat to catch squids.

She had canceled the dried food business because everything was too rushed; if she were to sell, it would only last a few days. She decided to wait until everything was more settled before starting the business again.

"Xiaolin, it’s time for lunch," her mother called from outside after she had been rolling around for a while. The plump girl climbed down from her bed and went out to have lunch.

"Eat first, dear. Your father isn’t back yet. Once you’ve finished, you can take your afternoon nap," Hui Ning prepared a small meal for her daughter, while the rest would wait to eat with Tianrong since they weren’t very hungry yet.

Xiaolin looked at the kimchi stir-fried with salted pork belly and also seaweed soup with thinly sliced radishes.

"This is dried fish soup with seaweed and radishes. Mom remembers you mentioned it long ago," Hui Ning pushed a small bowl of soup towards her daughter.

"What about the fish?"

"I grilled the fish first, thinking it would bring out the aroma, but it fell apart when boiled. It didn’t look good. I guess I grilled it for too long. Before adding the seaweed, I had already removed the fish. Or do you want to eat fish?"

"No, it’s good this way. But you should strain the soup to remove any bones, so we won’t have to worry while eating," the child shook her head, her cheeks wobbling. She inwardly praised her mother’s quick thinking. She had seen a Korean video making dried fish and seaweed soup that looked delicious.

"I’ll try to make it next time. Now, eat up," Hui Ning got up to help her mother with pickling vegetables but was held back by the firm grip on her shirt.

"Make sure Uncle eats lunch too. I’ll take Uncle to gather coconuts," she insisted.

"Alright."

The uncle and niece hurried through their lunch before the chubby child was lifted onto the cart. Tianchen pushed the cart towards the beach happily, as he hadn’t been out much lately. Even though he usually didn’t go out for leisure, at least he got to visit the beach.

"Shall we go to the hut first or gather coconuts?" The young boy asked halfway through the journey.

"Let’s go to the hut first. After gathering the coconuts, we can head straight home."

Tianchen pushed the cart to the hut, where they saw Ling Hai and Ling Han busy laying out squid to dry, and Mi Hua and Ling Heng were sitting in front of the hut, cleaning fresh squid.

"Ah, A’Chen, Xiaolin, what brings you here?" Ling Heng greeted them.

 

“Xiaolin just came to look around. Uncle, do you still not have enough dried squid?" Xiaolin asked innocently. Mi Hua laughed upon hearing this.

"The three greedy fathers and sons wanted to stock up on a lot of dried squid. They even told me they wanted to eat dried squid soup every day," Mi Hua finished, causing the father and sons to blush. They felt a bit embarrassed but couldn’t help it; they really liked dried squid soup.

"It’s not good for your health to eat too much of anything, Uncle. Try to eat something else sometimes. As for the dried squid, eating it once every two or three days is enough."

"Listen to her, you all. Does it have to take a little girl like Xiaolin to teach you?" Mi Hua looked at her husband. She’d been eating dried squid every day until she almost turned into dried squid herself.

"Alright, alright, thank you so much, Xiaolin. And what have you brought with you? Where are you planning to go?" Ling Heng looked from his frowning wife to Xiaolin.

"We’re going to collect some coconuts. I want to gather some in preparation for making something to eat during the winter."

"Then let’s go. The quicker you collect, the quicker you can return home."

The uncle and niece bid farewell to the Ling family before setting off for the natural coconut grove without an owner.

Upon arrival, Xiaolin pointed out which coconuts to collect for Tianchen to put in the cart. Some were almost ready to sprout, and she avoided those with roots already.

"Can we eat the ones on the tree, Xiaolin? There are some shorter trees over there," Tianchen pointed to a small but heavily laden coconut tree, worried it might break under the weight.

"Aromatic coconuts! Collect them, Uncle! Collect a lot!"

The plump girl ran to the aromatic coconut tree and instructed Tianchen to pick almost ten coconuts. On the way back, they didn’t return to the beach because there was another exit.

Her round eyes scanned around curiously. Besides the numerous coconut trees, there were various other plants, some familiar to her and others not. But there were some she knew very well!

"Uncle, stop! Stopppp!"

Tianchen braked the cart nearly tumbling over. He walked over to his niece, who was excitedly staring at a particular tree and dancing joyfully.

"You arrived just in time~"

"What are you doing, Xiaolin?" Tianchen approached his niece, curious about her excitement. He alternated his gaze between the dark green leaves of the tree and his niece, who was singing in an unfamiliar language and dancing non-stop.

“You arrived just  in time~   Yay yay~  Besides wiggling their bottoms, they were also shaking their bellies.  Tianchen scratched his head because he didn’t get an answer, and could only stand and watch his niece sing in an incomprehensible language and dance non-stop

"Collect it now!" Xiaolin, tired from dancing, looked up to tell her uncle, who was just watching.

"Collect what?"

"This, look! Break off a branch. Collect a lot. I want to dry it for eating in winter," she pointed at the tree in front of them.

"The thorny tree here?"

"It’s a kaffir lime tree, Uncle! We can use it in tom yum soup; it’s very delicious! Before we didn’t have any, so we couldn’t use it."

Hearing that it could be used to make delicious food, Tianchen quickly broke off three or four branches of kaffir lime leaves. Xiaolin, with her sharp eyes, spotted a small green plant not far from the kaffir lime tree.

"Holy basil! Uncle! Pull this plant out too," the plump figure ran and pointed at the holy basil, which was growing abundantly. Tianchen walked over and pulled out nearly ten plants.

By the time the uncle and niece emerged from the coconut forest, it was late afternoon. Upon their return home, they were scolded by Hui Ning for disappearing for nearly a shichen.

The small and large figures sat glumly at the back of the house as they were punished to shell soybeans from their pods.

"Uncle, don’t be sad. Tomorrow, you catch some shrimp, and I will help make something delicious," the plump girl whispered to her sullen young uncle. Hearing his niece’s words, his eyes lit up.

"Are we using the plants we collected today?" He asked, smiling widely when he saw his niece nod.

"Yes!"

"How should we prepare it? Boil it or stir-fry it? Maybe make some tom yum as well?"

"That’s a good idea, Uncle! As for the holy basil, we should stir-fry it. Right, we haven’t made oyster sauce yet!" Xiaolin realized amidst her busy schedule with the new house, digging sweet potatoes, and selling goods, they hadn’t prepared the sauce.

"Shall we ask your aunt to help collect it later? So we can gather a lot?"

"Let’s do that," the plump girl nodded vigorously.

"Then, I’ll catch shrimp for you early tomorrow," Tianchen worked cheerfully. When his niece asked to go pick kaffir lime leaves, he quickly encouraged her to do so.

Xiaolin then dragged the kaffir lime branches and an empty basket to sit not far from her uncle, carefully plucking the kaffir lime leaves into the basket one or two at a time.

Hui Ning, who came out to secretly watch the uncle and niece, sighed. She stood with her arms crossed, watching for a while before returning inside.

"How much did we earn from selling the sweet potatoes, dear?" Hui Ning asked her husband, who was sprawled in the living room.

"Two hundred taels of silver. I didn’t exchange it for gold taels," he got up to fetch the money pouch to hand to his wife.

"If we sell out, we might earn several gold taels next year. Let’s plant more next year," Hui Ning looked at the silver taels in the pouch excitedly.

"Hmm, I’ll teach the villagers to plant too. I’ll see if we can buy from them and then sell it in the city. But if anyone wants to sell on their own, that’s up to them."

Tianrong had been thinking for several nights. Although he was willing to share the sweet potato planting method, he also wanted to get something in return. Widespread cultivation meant he would have competitors.

"Many will likely be happy to sell to us because some people have never sold anything. They don’t know how to get customers and some are hard to talk to," Hui Ning smiled wryly. Even though their village was harmonious, there were some they didn’t get along with.

"Never mind. Just teach those who are good to us. If others want to copy us and do it themselves, we can’t stop them," Tianrong sighed before laying his head in his wife’s lap, looking at her with adoring eyes that made Hui Ning blush.

"Xiaolin has been sleeping in her own room for several days now. How about we give Xiaolin a little sibling?"

"You really say the naughtiest things!" She slapped her husband’s shoulder with a thud, nearly dislocating Tianrong’s shoulder.

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