Seeing the Xiao Niang looking at her with a smile, he immediately changed the topic awkwardly. "Um, what about Yu Ming?"
"And in the front yard? Where did you go? Why don"t you go take a look and see if there"s anything you can help with? "
Xiao Niang continued to busy herself with the tasks at hand. Recently, she didn"t have much money at home, so she had to work harder.
"Alright, then Auntie, I"ll go get busy." Luo Manman had to be more diligent in eating other people"s residences.
"This kid is pretty diligent." Xiao Niang looked at the frail and weak figure and laughed.Now, he had a wife, and the next step was to hug his big grandson. Xiao Niang looked forward to the future of harmony between families, and grinned.
The Xiao Clan had two courtyards that were divided into the front courtyard and the rear courtyard. The back courtyard was where they raised chickens and had some firewood piled up. The area was quite wide and it was possible to dry clothes there.The front yard was relatively narrow, so Xiao Yiming would normally work in the front yard.
When Luo Manman arrived at the front yard, she immediately saw a scene like this. The big tree that was carried back in the morning was lying on the ground, and at this time, it was lying quietly on the ground as it was cut into pieces.Xiao Yiming was holding a small saw made from a knife, meticulously sculpting the wood. On the bench beside him, there were a few finished products: a wooden spoon and a wooden spatula.
Luo Manman walked over, and picked up the spoon, inspecting it carefully. The spoon was shining because of the grinding, so it was not possible to tell that he had such a good workmanship.
"Wife, you"re here." At this moment, Xiao Yiming was in the midst of forging a wooden bowl. While busy doing this, he felt a gaze on him, and when he raised his head, he realized that it was his wife.
"You did all this?" Luo Manman asked?
"That"s right, how does my wife feel about this job?" Xiao Yiming showed her two rows of pure white teeth as she asked.
"The workmanship is pretty good. One look and it"s obvious that it"s been many years."
"My wife has good eyesight. It has been almost ten years, and this is how I relied on to eat. I usually make some small wooden products for household use and sell them in the market, in exchange for living expenses."My wife, don"t worry. Although my family is poor, I will work even harder and not let you suffer."
Self-confidence flashed past Xiao Yiming"s eyes as he lifted up his cooking skills. When he spoke later, his eyes were filled with determination.
"I"m sorry, I dragged you down." Luo Manman was slightly sorry.That"s right, her benefactor had spent so much money on her.
Originally, she was sensitive to the matter of washing clothes and rhododendron by the stream, so she couldn"t ask any questions.
"My wife, don"t say that." Xiao Yiming stared at her and giggled a few times before starting to get busy again.
An entire morning pa.s.sed and Luo Manman saw two more finished products on the table.
Xiao Yiming"s blade technique was superb and his movements were nimble. In the morning, he had completed four different products.
They were a wooden spoon, two wooden shovels, and a wooden bowl.Seeing that he had not rested for the entire morning, his large hands continued to busy themselves.
Earning money was not easy, Luo Manman did not know how much these things could sell for, but she had to adapt to life here as soon as possible and think of a way to get rich.In the blink of an eye, it was already noon. Xiao Niang"s figure already appeared on the kitchen stove.
The Xiao Niang took a few branches and brought them to the cave.Seeing Luo Manman coming over, she wiped away the sweat on her forehead and said: "Manman, the food is almost ready. You, can eat it right now."
Luo Manman blushed. She thought, as a new wife, shouldn"t she take the initiative to do these ch.o.r.es? She couldn"t do nothing, so she decided to let the Xiao Niang do them.
However, she hadn"t used this stove yet. She could only secretly learn in her heart to avoid making a joke when the time came.
Luo Manman fixed her gaze on the table, and cut half of the vegetables. She hurriedly said, "Then I"ll cut the vegetables.""Sigh, that"s good. Later, when you cook, I"ll start the fire." The Xiao Niang said.
Fortunately, Luo Manman would usually cook at home, so she cut vegetables quite neatly.
There were two pots on the stove, one big and one small. The big one was cooking, while the small one was used for cooking.The pot is already hot, the Xiao Niang said. "Manman, the seasonings are all on the left side of the stove. See that? "We can cook now."
"Ah, auntie, I saw it." Luo Manman looked at a small wooden box placed beside the window that was specially used to store seasonings.
Inside, there were a few boxes, which Xiao Yiming probably made as well.
He recalled Xiao Niang"s usual method and found some oil in the pot. This oil was fried with rapeseed, so it didn"t have much to eat.
Luo Manman scooped a spoonful of oil and poured it into the wok.
When the temperature was about right, he put the chopped vegetables in and began to stir-fry them with a wooden spatula.When the stir-frying was almost done, he sprinkled some salt and seasonings on it, and a bowl of fragrant green vegetables was ready to be stir-fried.
Fortunately, she got used to it pretty quickly.
After the stir-frying was done, Xiao Niang said, "Manman, arrange the tableware for us. I"ll go get Yiming to eat."
"Alright, auntie." Luo Manman took three pairs of chopsticks from the stove, and when she was about to take the rice out of the pot, he realized that there was a bowl of salted meat on top of the pot.After filling up the bowl with rice, he placed the meat and vegetables on the table. Seeing Xiao Yiming coming over, he sat down and started to eat.
Xiao Yiming immediately stuffed the two pieces of meat into her bowl and said: "You"re too skinny, come and eat more."
Luo Manman shook her head: "Too much, I can"t eat this much."
That"s right, there were only a few pieces of salted meat in the bowl. The Xiao Clan probably wouldn"t normally be willing to eat them.Xiao Yiming laughed and gave Xiao Niang another piece of meat, "Mother, eat some meat. "After a period of time, our family will need to eat meat more often."
"Son, it"s been hard on you." Xiao Niang felt his heart ache.
"Mom, it"s not hard at all. Who let me be the pillar of the family?"Xiao Yiming held onto the vegetables and said unclearly, "These should be roasted by vines, it"s pretty delicious, and a bit too much oil."
Luo Manman was annoyed, she had already released very little, "Oh, that, I will take note of next time."
"It"s fine, let"s eat more. Wait for your husband to earn more money, we don"t need this." Xiao Yiming had always been a straightforward person, he would say whatever he wanted to say.
After finishing his meal, Luo Manman took the initiative to clean up the tableware, "Um, auntie, you go back to work, I"ll wash the bowls."Xiao Niang thought to himself that he could embroider more flowers today, so he did not fight with her over it. "Alright then, Manman has worked hard for you."
"Of course, of course." It"s not like she doesn"t know how to embroider flowers. She had to get something that she could do.
It had been two or three days since he came to this house, and Luo Manman had started to familiarize himself with it.
The Xiao family didn"t have any fertile fields, they only had two vegetable fields. Normally, they would grow their own dishes and cook for themselves, but eating meat was extremely rare.Xiao Yiming relied on his skills to support his family, and sold these handmade groceries in the town during the five-day market.
And Xiao Niang also started to embroider to take care of the days after she finished her daily ch.o.r.es.
Usually, only bean curd, pickled vegetables, cuc.u.mber, Luffa and other vegetables, meat on the table is rare.
Luo Manman was able to eat a few mouthfuls of meat these few days, showing how nice the Xiao family was to her.Luo Manman on one side had just washed the dishes, but the Village Head Home on the other side had just started eating.
Four dishes were placed on the small round wooden table. They were the stir-fried meat of tree mushrooms, boiled tofu, egg and tomato soup, and a bowl of fried fish.
Unlike the Xiao family"s poverty, Village Head Home was extremely rich, so the food they cooked was even richer.By this time, Ye had already filled three bowls of rice, which was different from the brown rice the poor people ate.
The Village Head Home was so big that houses, furniture, and even rice were all much better than normal families.
"Rhododendron, what"s wrong? You always have a face when you come back in the morning, who gave you such a hard time?" The Ye family had given birth to a man and a woman, and their son had already made his own family.
On the other hand, this daughter of hers was pretty and smart, and was even more so her heart and soul. It was painful to the bone.The cuckoo stuffed a piece of meat into her mouth and said angrily, "Isn"t that the new wife of the Xiao family? She doesn"t know how to appreciate favors, hmph …"
"Cough, cough, cough …" It can"t be that you"re worrying about your husband, so how can he give you face? " The Village Chief took a sip of his wine, feeling a little disappointed.
It wasn"t easy for him to find a good marriage for his daughter, but she just didn"t listen.
"Father, why do you say that about me? Who is thinking about the Xiao family? Hmph …" The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.Thinking about Xiao Yiming"s usual att.i.tude towards her, hmph … What"s so great about that? Buying an ugly daughter-in-law is like keeping a treasure, leaving her, a village flower, to be kicked in the head by a donkey.
"Since the Xiao family already has a wife, don"t think too much about it. You should listen to your father"s arrangements. You aren"t young anymore. If this goes on, don"t say that the Qian family won"t take you in."
"Alright, mom, I"m full now. I listen to you recite all these everyday, so it"s not annoying at all. Can"t I just listen to you, my daughter?" After throwing away the cuckoo bowl and chopsticks, he angrily returned to the house.
"This girl is getting more and more outrageous. She"s throwing her face away in front of her father." The Village Head shouted in anger.
"Head, don"t be angry. Your daughter has thought it through. This is a good thing. Quickly choose a good day or else you will be in trouble."When the Ye family thought of that rich betrothal gift, they could even smile in their dreams.
Xiao Yiming continued to busy himself with his small stuff.
spent the entire afternoon staring at these wood products and thinking. Although Xiao Yiming"s cooking skills were not bad, the things he could produce were too simple. She thought about how to design and sell more wood products in order to get a good price.
In the evening, the sunset had dyed the horizon, and the clothes hanging on the bamboo poles in the courtyard had already dried.
Luo Manman packed her clothes and returned to her room to see Xiao Yiming taking care of a hen.
There was steam rising from the wooden basin on the ground. There were a lot of chicken feathers in the basin. It seemed like they had just been killed and shed.
The Xiao family only had a total of six hens, and they were all meant to lay eggs. How could they kill one?
Seeing Luo Manman coming over, Xiao Yiming pointed to the mushroom at the side and said: "Manman, this is the mushroom Mother has just harvested, it"s fresh, go wash up, we"ll eat chicken stewed with mushrooms tonight."