Early the next morning, the day after the house was finished, Liang Lao’er’s family got up at dawn to pack their belongings and prepare to move out.
Old Madam Liang gave them some basic necessities: the two wooden plank beds they had originally slept on, along with the bedding that went with them; three old, worn chairs; and as for a table, she gave them a broken one that had been sitting in the woodshed for many years.
They also received a rusty pot, a kitchen knife, three sets of bowls and chopsticks, one tael of salt, a hoe for farm work, a wooden bucket, and a handful of other odds and ends essential for daily life.
As for chickens, Old Madam Liang said the old hen had to be kept for laying eggs and couldn’t be given away.
There were only a few roosters left, and since Wenzhi studied hard, they were to be slaughtered for him when he returned from school to nourish his body. In the end, not only did they get no chickens—they didn’t even get a single egg.
Qianhua didn’t feel like wasting words arguing with the old woman over such things.
Liu-shi, because she was moving to a new home, didn’t bother to argue either.
She thought to herself that no matter how hard life became, it couldn’t be worse than being tormented by her mother-in-law in the old house.
Liang Lao’er wanted to argue a bit—he really wished he could take a few chickens to help his daughter recover—but once the old woman brought up Wenzhi, he had no choice but to give in.
After all, Wenzhi was the only scholar in the family.
Liang Lao-da pushed the family handcart, preparing to help deliver everything to the thatched house.
Of the original 150 jin of grain, only a little over 70 jin remained.
This was thanks to Liu-shi mixing chestnuts into the rice when cooking; otherwise, with more than twenty mouths to feed twice a day, the grain would have been eaten up long ago.
Liang Lao-da piled the remaining grain onto the cart.
The two bed planks were dismantled and loaded as well.
After all the miscellaneous items were packed, he realized that a single cartload was enough.
There was a bit of space left, so since Liang Lao’er’s legs weren’t in good condition, Liang Lao-da let him sit on the cart and ride along to the new home.
They didn’t have many clothes. The winter padded garments were bundled and stacked on the cart. Qianhua carried one pack with her summer clothes, while her mother Liu-shi carried two bundles containing her own and Liang Lao’er’s summer garments.
Before leaving, the three of them knelt to Old Master Liang and Old Madam Liang to bid farewell.
Old Madam Liang hid inside her room and didn’t come out—she had grown increasingly displeased with the second son’s family.
Old Master Liang, however, seriously offered a few words of advice, telling Liang Lao’er to live well after moving out.
Zhu-shi didn’t come out to see them off either. She had no affection for their family and even wished they’d leave as quickly as possible. Why would she bother to send them off?
Wenzhi had gone to the town academy early in the morning, and Wenyong was already out working in the fields.
Only Chen-shi came to see them off, holding her son Wenjie’s hand. She told her second sister-in-law to come chat whenever she had time, and Liu-shi agreed. Both women knew in their hearts that after the family split, everyone would be busy farming—there would hardly be time for casual visits.
When Liang Lao’er’s house was under construction, a wall had also been built in the old house between the east and west rooms. Chen-shi and Wenjie now lived in the west room.
After kowtowing, Qianhua and Liu-shi followed the cart to their new home.
As Qianhua’s family stepped out of the courtyard and left, Old Master Liang stood at the gate watching them walk away, his emotions complicated.
As the head of the family, he felt regret that the household had split like this. But for Wenzhi’s future, he had no choice. All he could do was hope that his second son’s family would live well on their own.
When they arrived, Liang Lao-da helped unload and organize everything. He put the grain in the kitchen, carried the table and chairs into the main room, assembled the bed planks and placed them in the two bedrooms. Once the large items were settled, he pushed the cart back home.
Liu-shi needed water to cook. Since Liang Lao’er’s legs were injured, she had no choice but to carry the single wooden bucket Old Madam Liang had given them to the nearby stream, bringing back half a bucket of water.
Fortunately, the stream was close to their thatched house, making water easy to fetch. Otherwise, with Liu-shi’s limited strength, even drinking water would have been a problem.
After bringing the water back, she scrubbed the rusty pot several times, set it on the newly built clay stove, and began cooking porridge.
They had woken up early to move and hadn’t eaten anything yet.
There were no vegetables planted here yet, so they could only make do with coarse rice porridge.
Qianhua helped make the beds and organize the clothes. By the time everything was mostly done, the porridge was ready.
The family sat together around the old table in the main room and drank the coarse rice porridge.
Though they lived in the simplest thatched hut, Liu-shi felt freer and lighter than ever before. In a good mood, even the plain porridge tasted sweet, and she drank an extra half bowl.
Liang Lao’er felt his wife’s happiness and found his own appetite improving as well.
Since Qianhua had fallen into the water and then had her engagement broken off, the family had been shrouded in gloom. Neither of the couple had felt like eating properly. Today, however, they finally drank porridge until they were full.
Only Qianhua found the coarse rice porridge truly hard to swallow.
During the house construction, they at least had vegetables to eat with chestnut-mixed rice. Now there weren’t even vegetables.
Still, she forced herself to drink it. If she didn’t eat, she’d go hungry.
This family was simply too poor. With just over seventy jin of coarse rice, eating twice a day—even as thin porridge—they could only last two or three months.
And yet she didn’t want to drink thin porridge every day. She wanted fragrant white rice, meat, and three meals a day.
Earning silver had become an urgent priority—there were far too many things the family lacked.
After breakfast, Liu-shi took a hoe to turn the soil in the backyard so she could quickly plant vegetables.
Liang Lao’er, leaning on a crutch, went to Zhang Laodi’s house next door and asked him to help cut some wood and bamboo from the mountain.
He borrowed Zhang’s machete, planning to make a wooden spatula for cooking and three bamboo cups for drinking. When the family split, Old Madam Liang hadn’t given them any utensils or cups.
Though Liang Lao’er’s legs were injured, his hands were very skillful. He knew how to weave bamboo baskets and the like, and he could easily make small items while sitting on a stool.
Zhang Laodi lived just over a hundred meters away—their closest neighbor.
Their house was near the village edge and close to the mountains, where homes were sparse, with fifty to a hundred meters between households. Some neighbors were even half a li apart.
Qianhua liked this very much. It meant that whatever she tinkered with at home wouldn’t easily be seen by outsiders.
Zhang Laodi’s parents had both passed away. He had three older sisters, all married off. His household consisted of himself, his wife Cui-shi, and their son Zhang Hu. They had also had a daughter, Zhang Fang, who had married into another village earlier that year.
Cui-shi was warm-hearted. Knowing the family had just moved and hadn’t planted vegetables yet, she picked a basket of seasonal produce from her backyard—radishes, lettuce stems, and leafy greens—and brought it over. Qianhua’s family was deeply grateful.
“Dad, since your hands are so skillful, can you also make a wooden bathtub? I want a big one for bathing. Could you make one for me?”
Seeing that her father could make spatulas and cups, Qianhua assumed he could make a bathtub as well. At the old house, she had only been wiping herself down with a cloth before changing clothes. As a modern person with a strong sense of cleanliness, she really couldn’t stand not being able to bathe.
“At your dad’s skill level, I can only make small things like these. If I made a bathtub, it would definitely leak. A wooden tub needs to be made by a professional carpenter,” Liang Lao’er explained while working.
“Which carpenter in the village has the best craftsmanship?” Qianhua asked.
“If we’re talking skill, Carpenter Sun is the best—and his prices are fair.”
Remembering the one tael of silver she’d gotten from Jiang Lin, Qianhua asked for Carpenter Sun’s address and went to hire him to make a wooden bathtub. To her, bathing was a serious matter.
Seeing how difficult her situation was, Carpenter Sun didn’t charge much—only five copper coins: three for labor, one for wood, and one for tung oil. The tub needed to be coated with tung oil to make it waterproof.
One tael of silver was equal to one thousand copper coins. After spending five on the bathtub and another five to rent Old Man Wang’s ox cart, Qianhua still had 990 copper coins left.
On her first day after transmigrating, Cousin Wenyong had gone to the county town to buy medicine for her, owing Old Man Wang the ox cart fee. Her father had said they would repay it double later.
Normally, an ox cart ride to the county cost two copper coins per person—four for a round trip. Qianhua gave Old Man Wang eight, but knowing her family’s situation, he refused to accept double payment. After some back-and-forth, he only took five.
Carpenter Sun finished the wooden bathtub the same day and delivered it that evening.