The road to wealth of a peasant widow

The next day was another busy day. The three of them continued to go up the mountain to cut trees, and the two children left at home also had a hard time.

In addition to doing housework and taking care of their younger sister, Chang'an and Changfu also have to cut the branches they dragged back yesterday into appropriate lengths and spread them out in the backyard to dry.

The weather is getting colder day by day. Maybe it will snow one day, and it will be inconvenient to go up the mountain then. So, while the weather is still good, we should cut more branches and store them at home.

That day, when Chen Cui and her friends were dragging branches home, they met a villager who was chopping wood in the mountains.

The man was tall but thin, wearing a worn cotton coat. He was busy working with an axe in his hand. When he saw Chen Cui and the other two, he stopped.

"I was wondering, I saw tree branches and twigs being chopped off in some places recently, but I didn't know whose family did it. Turns out it was your family!" This is a person of the same generation as Liu Eryong in the village. In theory, the two are cousins, but they are already five generations apart and their blood relationship is very distant.

"Brother Tieniu, you're back?"

When Chen Cui saw Liu Tieniu, she remembered that he was also one of the people who went to perform labor service this time. Now he appeared on the mountain, so he must have returned home after completing his labor service.

"Yes, everyone in our village has returned. Logically speaking, the work this time should be okay and not too hard. Who would have thought that Eryong..."

Liu Tieniu looked regretful and sighed, "Sister-in-law, Eryong is gone. If your family needs any help, please ask Changping to come to our house. I can't do anything else, but I can still use my strength."

Chen Cui nodded: "Thank you, Brother Tieniu. Things are okay at home now. The child's uncle is also here to help. I will let you know if I am too busy."

When they were almost home, they met three or two villagers coming down the mountain carrying firewood.

These were the people who had gone to perform corvée labor with Liu Eryong. Now that the corvée labor was over and they had returned home, they all went up the mountain to prepare firewood for the winter.

It seems that next time I go up the mountain it won't be as quiet as before. I might run into villagers often. Their large-scale tree cutting will sooner or later attract the attention of someone with ulterior motives. I don't know how long they can keep their charcoal burning a secret!

Fortunately, they are still in Rexiaoli. The villagers are wary of them and most of them will not take the initiative to interact with them, and no one will visit their home easily.

Liu Eryong's 100th day of mourning will be on the seventh day after the Chinese New Year. By that time, the charcoal burning incident this year will probably have come to an end, so he won't have to worry about other people's investigation.

Chen Cui felt a little relieved, but she still felt a sense of urgency and couldn't help but speed up her pace.

Over the next five days, they went up the mountain to cut trees every day, carried the branches back home and piled them in the backyard.

Of course, during this period, I would inevitably meet villagers who were also going up the mountain, but I would just say hello and pass by.

Thanks to her home being at the foot of the mountain, she didn't have to pass by the villagers' homes, so she wasn't seen by more people and aroused everyone's curiosity.

When enough branches piled up in the backyard and there was almost no more space, they stopped cutting trees and started a new round of charcoal burning.

Several people in the family have been taught now and are very familiar with the process of charcoal burning. Even Changfu can complete a charcoal pile by himself, but he lacks physical strength and his progress is a little slow.

Compared with going up the mountain to cut trees, burning charcoal at home can be considered a kind of rest. After all, the labor intensity is much lower.

Over the past few days, Chen Cui's palms have been covered with calluses, and her entire hands have become rougher. Her skin is extremely dry, and there are many tiny wounds on the surface, which hurt when exposed to water.

Changping's hand was not much better. Only Chen Dahe, who was used to doing heavy work at home, could bear it, but he looked a little haggard.

Chen Cui wanted to make some nutritious meals to replenish her body, but apart from eggs, the only things at home were the dried food that Chen Dahe had sent her last time, and she had almost finished them these days.

She decided that the next time she went to the county town to sell charcoal, she would look around more and see if she could buy a few egg-laying hens. The chickens at home laid too few eggs, which were not enough to eat.

The cows in Muramasa's family have adapted well to the home. After all, the room next to the kitchen was originally used for people to live in, so how could it be bad to use it for cows?

The cows living there can eat, drink, sleep, and poop a lot. It has only been a short time, but the cow dung cleaned up has accumulated into a pile.

Before it snowed, the children cut a lot of grass for the cows. They cut it into small pieces with a guillotine, piled it up, and let it ferment slowly, saving it for use as feed when the weather got colder.

The area of ​​the backyard shed is limited, and only more than 20 charcoal piles can be piled up at a time, and more than 700 kilograms of charcoal can be produced each time.

Chen Cui decided that she couldn't just burn it once and send it to the county town. She had to make at least two trips, saving more than a thousand kilograms for each trip.

After two attempts, they packed all the charcoal into bags and baskets, piled them onto ox carts, and set off for the county town.

This time Changping stayed at home, and only Chen Cui and Chen Dahe, a brother and sister, went because the car was too full and could not accommodate three people.

Chen Cui and Chen Dahe were also sitting on the front edge of the car with their legs hanging outside.

It was still late at night when they set out. The weather was colder than before. They could feel the cold wind blowing on their faces when they walked on the road. Chen Cui took an old mattress and wrapped it around the lower half of their bodies to at least block the wind.

They wore masks that Chen Cui had made overnight, which covered their mouths and noses. They also wore scarves around their necks, wrapped several times around them, to block the cold wind from blowing in through their necks.

Chen Dahe also wore simple cotton gloves on his hands, without separate fingers, also made by Chen Cui.

Despite the heavy protection, they still felt cold and the cows walked very slowly. When they reached the county town, it was already daybreak and the city gates were open.

As usual, the two went to have breakfast first and drank some hot soup to warm themselves up. Then Chen Cui asked Chen Dahe to wait at a street corner while she carried half a basket of charcoal to another shop to inquire about the price.

Just like the name of Boss Chu’s Chu’s Grocery Store, this store is called Chen’s Grocery Store. You can tell at a glance that the owner’s surname must be Chen.

Chen Cui entered the store, found the charcoal on display, and asked the price: "Brother Xiaoer, how much is this charcoal?"

The person guarding the shop was a young man in his twenties. He sat behind the counter with a plate of peanuts in front of him, and he would put one into his mouth from time to time.

Hearing Chen Cui's question, he glanced at her sideways and took a closer look at her dress. Her clothes were shabby and she looked poor. She didn't look like someone who could afford charcoal, so he spoke lazily.

"Sister-in-law, this charcoal is only used by wealthy families. Your family doesn't need it. You should look for something else you can afford!"

Chen Cui felt a little angry when she heard this. They set out from home in the middle of the night, pulling a cart of coal to the county town. Their hands and feet were numb from the cold. Now they just came into the store to ask the price, but they met such a person.

Just because she looked poor and didn't look like she could afford charcoal, the boy refused to tell her the price and asked her to look at other cheap products. He was really looking down on people!