Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 10: What Right Does She Have to Call My Father ’Honey’!!
Chapter 9
What Right Does She Have to Call My Father ’Honey’!!
Xiaolin lay sprawled next to her father with a full belly. Having eaten her fill, she felt too lazy for the many chores that awaited. The little one rolled over to snuggle against her father’s leg before looking up to ask,
"Father, when will you buy the land? We also need to fertilize and prepare the soil."
Her small hand playfully poked her father’s side, making Tianrong lean down to look at his wide-eyed child.
After preparing the soil at home the other day, she had asked her father to sell the remaining Lingzhi mushrooms because she feared they would be hard to sell once dried. The pharmacy might need to slice and dry them before selling, which was outside her expertise. Fearing wastage, she thought it better to sell them. They fetched about nine hundred taels of gold, enough to buy land and sustain a lifetime.
"Indeed, how many mus of land do you think we should buy?" His large hand tenderly stroked her small head.
"A lot," she replied.
"Is that so? Alright, I’ll visit the village head to hire people to help clear the grass and prepare the soil."
Tianrong moved to the end of the platform for a moment when a plump little kid clung onto his back.
"Is Uncle Hao coming along?"
"I will. Let me just go back home to get some money first. Let’s meet at the village chief’s house then."
"Alright."
After Liu Hao left, Tianrong carried the little ’piggy’ into the house to grab some money, leaving Tianchen to sleep with Xiao Zhong at the front of the house.
Xiaolin looked around the village curiously. Her home and Grandma Liu’s were on the outskirts, so neighbors were few. The village comprised about thirty households, each separated by simple bamboo fences.
Though the houses were adequately spaced for easy visits, the occasional trees lent a modestly cool and pleasant shade. Some families kept two to three chickens for eggs and ceremonial offerings during New Year, given their modest means.
Walking through the village, her father led her to a notably larger house, adorned with decorative flowers. The curious child peered around, intrigued by the larger and more ornately decorated home.
"This house is so big, Father. The head of the house must be very busy."
"It’s because a lot of people are living in this house. How many people live in this house?"
Xiaolin nodded understandingly as her father called out to someone inside the house. Soon, a slender woman with delicate features came to open the door gracefully, casting a quick glance at Xiaolin’s father before lowering her gaze with a faint smile.
Xiaolin squinted at the woman but remained silent, merely observing her. The woman’s fidgeting and shifting gaze, as well as her unease, were quite glaring to Xiaolin.
"Ah, is it Lua Mei? Is your grandfather home?" Tianrong asked casually, not noticing the woman’s glances.
"He’s inside. Please, Tianrong, come in," the young woman gestured for them to enter.
As she led the way, she frequently looked back at them, her face flushing slightly. Xiaolin, observing this, frowned, moving her face out from behind her father to rest her chin on his strong shoulder, making a stern face. However, it seemed the young woman didn’t pay much mind to the little girl.
"Please wait here, Tianrong, dear. I’ll go call my grandfather. He’s currently weeding the vegetable garden at the moment," Lua Mei said shyly, lingering her gaze on the man of her affection for a moment before heading to the back garden to fetch her grandfather.
Xiaolin was set down on the bench at the back of the house. Standing with her arms crossed and a sulky face, Tianrong chuckled softly at his daughter’s adorable demeanor.
‘What right does she have to call my father dear!!’
Xiaolin glared after the retreating figure of the slender woman, visibly displeased, puffing up in indignation until Tianrong had to ask,
"What’s bothering you, Xiaolin?"
The father gently patted her head and he nudged her softly.
Xiaolin then pouted, burying her face into her father’s chest in a bid for comfort, unwilling to share her father with any other woman except her mother!
"What’s up with Xiaolin, Brother Rong?" Liu asked, coming up behind them, noticing the little girl snuggled against her older cousin’s chest.
"She’s probably fuzzy from being so tired. It might be because she’s sleepy and that’s why she’s grumpy. It’s past her nap time already."
Xiaolin internally retorted that it was that woman who annoyed her! How dare she cast such looks at my father! Humph!
Before the two men could continue their conversation, an elderly man approached them. They exchanged brief greetings before sitting down to talk more inside the house.
"Where would you like to purchase the land?" Luo Han asked. It was rare for villagers to negotiate land purchases since even earning enough for daily expenses was challenging, let alone saving for additional land.
"I would like the land adjacent to our current property, extending to the stream and including the side areas as well, please, Grandfather Luo," Tianrong responded, with his daughter whispering in his lap.
"And I would like about ten acres around my house," Liu Hao added.
"Hmm, lands in our village aren’t too expensive compared to other places. It’s only ten taels of silver per acre, with a processing fee of fifty brass coins per transaction. The land you want is available; there are two acres behind your house, and for the side areas, you can decide how much you want," the elder spread out a map for Tianrong to see.
Xiaolin got up to look at the map with interest. The elder explained that the areas marked in red were already owned, and the side of her house was still entirely available. She whispered to her father to take ten acres on each side for now and consider more in the future.
Luo Han watched the little girl whisper to her father affectionately. His house was filled with boys who grew less affectionate as they aged. He wished for a little granddaughter to dote on as well.
"We’ll take the land behind and on both sides, ten acres each," Tianrong concluded.
"Alright, that’ll be 22 mu for you, plus the processing fee, coming down to a total of two taels of gold, twenty taels of silver, and fifty brass coins. For A’Hao, it’s one tael of gold and fifty brass coins."
Luo Han didn’t inquire where the two young men got the money to afford such a purchase. He merely prepared the paperwork as required, knowing them since they were young and confident they wouldn’t engage in illegal activities.
The two young men counted out the money, handed it to the elderly man, and waited for the documents for a while, not forgetting to tip him an extra hundred brass coins for tea. They then returned to Xiaolin’s modest home to await official confirmation from the authorities in three days.
Luo Mei watched Tianrong’s strong figure with longing eyes, unaware of the fiery gaze from the little piggybacking on her father’s back.
Upon returning home, Xiaolin was laid down for her nap on a daybed with a gentle aroma at the front porch, while the three men congregated at the back to butcher the plump pig. Xiao Zhong also took his midday rest in his straw bed.
A shichen later, Xiaolin was woken up, groggily washed her face with her mother’s help, and then rushed to the backyard to observe the men cutting the meat and chatting spiritedly.
"Father, don’t leave the pig’s liver, lungs, heart, and intestines," the little girl ran up, not too far from her father.
"Can those be eaten, my child?" Tianrong turned to see his daughter nod vigorously, her cheeks wobbling.
"Can we not eat something else, little Xiaolin?" Tianchen asked excitedly. He enjoyed the unusual dishes his niece prepared, eagerly anticipating possibly new and exotic meals.
"They are edible. But I don’t know how to prepare them."
"That’s alright. This will do for now." Tianchen picked up the heavy pig liver to put in a wooden bucket along with the lungs, heart, and intestines. He looked slightly displeased but trusted his little niece and awaited eagerly.
After washing the pig’s organs several times, Xiaolin instructed her mother to stir-fry the pig liver and heart with wild onions found behind the house. The lungs would be boiled with lemongrass to remove the smell, served with a spicy dipping sauce. There was also marinated pig intestines for grilling, exuding a delicious aroma. Not to forget, the pork neck for grilling.
Xiaolin watched the grilling intestines and pork neck, dripping fat on the red-hot coals, sizzling continuously. She, like her young uncle, swallowed her saliva heavily at the tempting smell.
"And what shall we do with all this pork meat, child? There’s so much of it, we surely can’t finish it all," Hui Ning lifted her daughter, asking the little girl who always had innovative ideas.
"Slice it and then dry it," Xiaolin cuddled into her mother’s soft side affectionately. "Cut it into finger-sized strips, both in thickness and length. Then marinate it with salt, pepper, chopped garlic, and dry it in the sun for one day before storing it in jars, Mother."
"Wouldn’t the pork spoil, little Xiaolin?" Liu Hao asked, using a straw to playfully smack Tianchen’s hand, which kept sneakily snatching grilled pork.
"Nope. Our village has cool weather all year round, so fresh food keeps for a while. My dried marinated pork might last about a month, though I doubt it will last that long since it’s so delicious, hehe."
Upon hearing this, the adults chuckled affectionately. Hui Ning and Old Lady Liu then went into the kitchen to chop the pork and put it in a bucket. Some of it was also set aside for Tianchen to take to the village chief and Hui Ning’s old home, where only Old Man Hui and his wife lived.
Originally, Tianrong had invited the elderly couple to live with them, but they declined, fearing they would be a burden since Tianrong also had another younger brother. Nonetheless, the considerate son-in-law regularly shared some food with them.
"Don’t forget to invite the two elders for dinner at our house, Xiao Chen. But it’s okay if they can’t come," Hui Ning reminded her brother-in-law.
"Understood, Sister-in-law."
Tianchen, drawn by the smell of the grilled pork, hurriedly set off so he could return quickly to enjoy the grilled pork.
"Uncle Hao, is the grilled pork ready yet?" The little girl stood beside her large uncle, eagerly watching the juicy grilled pork. Liu Hao chuckled softly before slipping a small piece of pork into the little girl’s mouth.
Xiaolin chewed happily, contentedly watching the grilling pork until Tianchen returned with the two elders from the Hui family. All the food was ready to eat.
"Grandpa! Grandma!" The little figure dashed excitedly toward the kindly old couple. Since falling ill and being possessed by the spirit of a young woman, she hadn’t visited her grandparents yet, but she remembered them as being very kind.
"Has little Xiaolin gotten chubbier?" Hui Song, a man nearing fifty, bent down to pick up the round little child and kissed her fondly. Having worked hard since he was young, he looked older than his age.
"You’re here too, Aunt Liu?" Zhang Ruo greeted the elderly woman sitting on the porch.
"Come on, A’Ruo, A’Song, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, even though we live in the same village," Mrs. Liu waved them over.
"My wife and I have been busy with our vegetable garden at home, we haven’t been going out much," Hui Song said as he placed his granddaughter on the porch, looking at the unusual dishes that smelled so enticing it made their stomachs growl.
"How did you manage to catch a wild boar?" Zhang Ruo turned to ask his son-in-law. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"We went into the woods looking for forest goods. Lately, we haven’t been catching much fish, so we stopped going out to sea."
"That’s good. The sea is unpredictable; it’s good to take a break."
"But I want to eat grilled squid again, Father," the little one clung to her father’s shirt, batting her eyes coquettishly.
"Me too, big brother," Liu Hao joined in.
"You’re acting like a child, craving only for food," Tianrong lightly tapped his brother’s head.
"Alright, let’s eat first, everyone, then we can talk," Hui Ning suggested with a chuckle, generously scooping rice into small bowls for everyone.
Xiaolin savored the grilled pork delightfully. This was the first time she had eaten meat since arriving here, having almost exclusively eaten fish to the point of almost being able to breathe underwater.
Everyone especially enjoyed the stir-fried liver and heart with wild green onions, though they favored the liver more, especially the three elders who were starting to lose their teeth. The younger men couldn’t stop picking at the crispy grilled intestines, a perfect match for the spicy dipping sauce and likely a good snack with alcohol.
The Liu family elders left, promising to come back the next day to help chop the pork and dig for sweet potatoes in the forest. They also took a large piece of pork home to cook for the next day, leaving only the Hui family elders behind.
Tianrong came out with a bag of money, containing ten taels of gold, and handed it to his father-in-law, but Hui Song hesitated to accept it.
"What’s this?"
Before going into the forest to dig for sweet potatoes, I came across Lingzhi mushrooms. They are rare herbs and fetch a high price. Please keep this money for the upcoming winter to avoid hardship.
"Do you think we can’t take care of each other?"
"Father, how about this, if you’re reluctant to accept the money now, we’re planning to build a new house and we’d like you and mother to move in with us," Hui Ning held her parents’ hands, knowing they were stubborn about accepting help. Previously, their family barely made ends meet, but now they had saved a substantial amount of money and wanted her parents to live with them. Her husband agreed.
"That’s impossible... A’Chen still needs to marry, and then..."
"Uncle Hui, my brother and I lack elders in our household. Sometimes when we can’t make decisions about some things, wouldn’t it be better to have you with us? If I get married, we could just build a small annex for my wife and me," Tianchen added.
"Honey..." Zhang Ruo nodded in agreement, wishing to spend her old age caring for her grandchildren too.
"Alright, it’s up to you all. But there’s no need for a big house. Just because you’ve sold some herbs for a good sum doesn’t mean you should waste it," Hui Song sighed, secretly pleased that his descendants hadn’t forgotten about their elders but also not wanting to be a burden, hence his reluctance to move.
"I plan to build it with five rooms, in case Xiaolin gets siblings, and for A’Chen when he gets married, I’ll build another separate house."
Before leaving, the two men loaded a sack of rice and two sacks of sweet potatoes on a cart to deliver to Hui’s house. Seeing this, the elderly couple sighed with a smile.
Returning home, Zhang Ruo found the same bag of money hidden in the sack of rice, containing ten pieces of gold, nearly giving the elderly couple a heart attack. They hurriedly locked their house tightly, fearing someone might see.
-----
Read ‘Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family’ before anyone else with more Chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en
