Tang Tian pretended not to notice, deftly ladling out four bowls of chicken soup while casually remarking, “Of course not. My father is busy marrying the Princess—how would he have time to come here? Besides, with my grandmother watching over things, I doubt even a single chicken feather could reach our home! Second Brother and I found this while gathering firewood—the vines had trapped a pheasant’s leg! Many villagers saw it and were practically drooling with envy!”
Li Qiushuang breathed a sigh of relief, unsure whether she had been hoping for something or feeling disappointed.
But before she could dwell on it, a bowl of soup was thrust into her hands. An indescribable aroma forcefully invaded her nostrils, making her instantly forget everything else.
After taking a sip of the hot soup, she felt as if under a spell, completely unable to stop.
It was delicious, incredibly delicious!
The unique tenderness of the chicken, the fragrance of the fat, and a rare sweetness—it was as if even the delicacies at an immortal’s banquet could be no better.
Tang Chuan and Tang Hai clutched their ceramic bowls, gulping down the soup as if they wanted to bury their faces in them!
Tang Tian had intended to savor it slowly, but after four years of deprivation, her stomach had become a bottomless pit that could never be filled when encountering good food…
By the time the pot of chicken soup was completely finished, all four of them had round, full bellies. They glanced at each other, slightly embarrassed.
Seeing her foolish son about to lick the empty pot after finishing his own bowl, Li Qiushuang quickly stopped him.
She wanted to advise her daughter not to go up the mountain tomorrow, but the lingering rich aroma made her feel guilty, so she silently gathered the bowls and chopsticks to wash them.
It seemed that ever since her daughter supported her decision to divorce, she was no longer the one in charge of this household.
She didn’t know whether this was good or bad, but as long as her daughter was happy, it was fine.
As a mother, even if she couldn’t offer much else, she still had her life. If worse came to worst, she could sacrifice herself to protect her daughter…
After night had fully fallen, Li Qiushuang lit firewood in the kang stove, adding a little warmth to the empty room. By the dim light, she took out the needlework she had retrieved earlier that day.
Tang Hai had claimed a ceramic bowl, clutching it tightly as if still relishing the memory of the chicken soup.
Tang Chuan used a bundle of straw to spread boiled Gu Kang paste layer by layer onto worn coarse cloth.
Meanwhile, Li Qiushuang stacked these coarse cloth pieces together, pressed them firmly, and once they were dried by the heat, she would cut them into shoe shapes. Then, using thick needles and coarse thread, she would densely stitch them together to form shoe soles.
This was the work Second Grandpa Li had managed to secure for her by swallowing his pride today. As long as she delivered one hundred pairs per month, the Wei Suo would provide fifteen jin of Gu Kang and five jin of coarse rice.
Gu Kang consisted of the outer layers of coarse rice and rice husks left over from milling. It was rough on the throat, hard to digest, and made bowel movements extremely difficult. But steamed into Bran Cakes, two a day could barely fill the stomach, allowing one to struggle through another twelve hours. Moreover, there were also five jin of coarse rice to occasionally make porridge.
Therefore, Li Qiushuang was quite satisfied and worked with increasing efficiency.
Tang Tian rummaged through a basket on the floor and asked, “Mother, Second Grandpa is amazing. Did the Wei Suo advance the Gu Kang and coarse rice?”
“Yes,” Li Qiushuang couldn’t help but smile. “Your Second Grandpa has some old comrades who are very helpful. We must work hard and not embarrass him. In the future, when our family’s situation improves, we must be filial to him.”
“Understood, Mother.” Tang Tian moved the basket intending to place it against the wall, but Tang Hai, thinking his sister was hiding something delicious, rushed over and overturned it.
Startled, Tang Tian failed to stop him and ended up with both hands plunged into the Gu Kang, her palms stung by several small hard objects.
She fished them out and discovered they were soybeans!
“Oh, Mother, there are soybeans here!” Tang Tian exclaimed with delight.
But Li Qiushuang stepped forward, snatched the soybeans, and threw them into the stove. “These are for feeding horses in the military camp. People can’t eat them! Last year in the neighboring village, someone died from diarrhea after eating them!”
Died from diarrhea?!
Tang Tian pressed, “Soybeans aren’t poisonous. How could someone die from diarrhea? Was it because the soybeans weren’t cooked properly and they drank cold water afterward?”
“Who knows!” Li Qiushuang, fearing her daughter’s stubbornness, quickly warned, “Anyway, these things are inedible. Don’t mess with them. And keep an eye on your second brother—don’t let him put any in his mouth!”
Tang Tian blinked her large eyes, her small face full of obedience, and agreed readily.
“Understood, Mother. I definitely won’t mess with them!”
Li Qiushuang watched for a while, and only when she saw her daughter truly leave the bag of Gu Kang alone did she feel relieved and go about her work.
But little did she know that the soybeans in the Gu Kang were quietly collected into the Space late that night.
At the first light of dawn the next day, Li Qiushuang was busy with chores again. Tang Tian, using gathering firewood as an excuse, successfully took Tang Hai into the mountains once more.
The winter was bitterly cold. Without enough firewood, even with food, one could freeze to death. Especially when heavy snow sealed the mountains, a warm Huo Kang was the hope for survival.
Li Qiushuang wanted to go with them, but she had just taken on work from the military camp, and since many villagers were heading into the mountains, the two children wouldn’t be entirely unsupervised, so she had to let it go…
Tang Tian led her simple-minded brother deep into the mountains, avoiding everyone. She caught another pheasant, tossed it into the Space, and gathered a large bundle of dry firewood.
Tang Hai, impatient with his sister’s slow pace, picked her up and placed her on the firewood, then strode homeward at a run!
Chicken soup, delicious chicken soup, here I come!
Tang Tian clung tightly to the firewood, wary of falling off—her gluttonous brother wouldn’t even notice—while pondering a way for the family to prosper, one that was both inconspicuous and highly profitable.
And it all started with a single soybean sprout!
In these lean years, the poor faced the constant threat of starvation. But for wealthy families, their worry was never about going hungry—it was about not eating well!
In summer, they could irrigate their vegetable gardens with deep wells and add leafy greens to their meals. But in autumn and winter, they had to rely on meat or dried vegetables, with no fresh produce in sight.
If bean sprouts were introduced—edible stir-fried, stewed, in soup, or cold-tossed—they would be immensely popular, with no worry about sales.
One jin of soybeans, when watered and sprouted, could yield seven to eight jin of bean sprouts. The cost of soybeans and water was almost negligible. No matter the price set for bean sprouts, it would be a guaranteed profit, even a huge one!
For the Tang family to quickly achieve a life free from want of food and clothing was no longer just a dream!
Upon entering the village, Tang Tian took out a few chestnuts from the Space. Villagers craned their necks to look, their envy evident once again.
But as good as chestnuts were, they weren’t pheasants. While everyone admired their find, no one was overly jealous, merely asking Tang Tian where she had found them.
Tang Tian mumbled a few words and was soon left behind by her second brother.
She finally managed to catch up to her foolish second brother by scurrying along on her short legs, only to see a familiar carriage parked in front of their house!
Her face immediately changed color, and she pushed open the courtyard gate and rushed inside!