When they got home, Gu Nian’an happily built a little nest for the puppy. Since it had cost eleven coins to buy, he named it Eleven.
Gu Nianzhi went back into the house and brought out some of the original owner’s clothes that had several holes in them, spreading them inside the nest as padding. From that moment on, Eleven officially became a member of the family.
That afternoon, when Madam Liu returned, she saw the kitchen piled high with goods.
“Mom! We earned another six taels today! Big Sis said we have twelve taels now!”
Even though they’d spent some money, they were still rich!
Hearing this, Madam Liu smiled with relief.
Over the past few days, she’d dried a lot of wild vegetables too—nearly two full sacks. Looking at the grain stacked on the ground, she finally felt at ease about getting through the winter.
“Mom, we also bought some fabric. Could you make two outfits for each of us?”
Gu Nianzhi placed four bolts of cloth into Madam Liu’s room. She didn’t know how to sew, so this task could only fall to Madam Liu.
“So much cloth!”
This was far too much!
“Nian’an, even if each of you gets two outfits, four bolts is still too many!”
And there was cotton cloth too!
In her whole life, she’d only worn cotton during the few years she worked as a maid.
“Mom! Not just the two of us—we’re making clothes for all three of us. Two sets of underclothes and two outer garments each.”
“I get some too?”
“Of course! We’re family—sharing blessings and hardships together!”
At those words, Madam Liu’s eyes instantly reddened.
She nodded again and again, carefully stroking the off-white cotton cloth.
“The shopkeeper even gave us some fabric scraps.”
Gu Nianzhi carried in a large bag of leftover cloth pieces. She didn’t know what they could be used for, but since they were free, she’d taken them.
“That shopkeeper is truly kind! These scraps are all fairly intact—they’re perfect for making shoe soles. Enough for three pairs!”
Only then did Gu Nianzhi realize that the shopkeeper probably hadn’t been worried about her ability to pay. She must have been trying to gently dissuade her from spending so much on cotton cloth.
“Mom, just decide however you think best.”
The mother and daughter left the room. Gu Nian’an, still unaware that he’d soon be getting new clothes, squatted on the ground happily teasing the puppy.
“Why did you buy chickens and a dog?” Madam Liu asked, puzzled.
Her daughter knew they would have to leave this place next year. Wouldn’t it be a pity to buy animals they couldn’t take with them?
“Mom, we still have more than half a year. Life still has to go on. Hens can lay eggs, and in winter we can slaughter them for soup. As for the wolfdog, it’ll grow up soon—then it can guard the house. When wild animals come down from the mountains in winter, it’ll alert us.”
Madam Liu felt her daughter made sense. She went over and patted Eleven’s head, then called the siblings to help build a simple chicken coop using wood and fencing.
“Our family is finally living steadily now.”
In less than half a month, they had their own house, warm quilts, enough grain to eat, three rabbits, two hens, and a puppy. In the village, this already counted as a middle-class household!
After finishing their chores, Madam Liu cooked a pot of rice in a clay jar. She then asked Gu Nianzhi to cook while she hung up the pork belly to smoke and dry for later.
Gu Nianzhi used the radishes bought that day to stew a pot of ribs in a clay pot, and fried chives with the wild chicken eggs she’d picked up earlier.
The three of them sat around the stove, happily eating this hard-won food.
After dinner, it was still early. They sat in the courtyard, enjoying the cool breeze blowing down from the mountains.
“Mom, does anyone in the village have unused tables or stools to sell? Let’s buy a set. We can’t keep eating on the ground every day.”
Old furniture would be cheaper—and they wouldn’t feel bad leaving it behind next year.
“Alright.”
Then Gu Nianzhi added,“Tomorrow I plan to cut some wood in the mountains. If you have time, Mom, ask around among the families we’re close to and see if anyone can weave fencing. We should enclose the courtyard—it’ll feel safer.”
Even if the fence didn’t do much, having a courtyard would bring peace of mind. Three bare houses sitting alone at the foot of the mountain felt too exposed.
“Okay. I remember Uncle Daniu can weave fences. I’ll ask him tomorrow.”
Truthfully, every time Madam Liu came home and saw the wild grass everywhere and the forest right beside them, she felt uneasy too.
With the next day’s tasks arranged, the family went to sleep peacefully.
The following day, Gu Nianzhi took Gu Nian’an to cut wood in the nearby forest, while Madam Liu went to buy a table.
By noon, Madam Liu had already cooked: wild vegetables stir-fried in pork fat, radish and rib soup, and a large bowl of white rice.
The table had been bought—old but intact and perfectly usable. There were six stools, small and finely made.
“The table and stools were sold to me by your Brother Dajiang’s wife. She only charged fifteen coins. As for the fence, Uncle Daniu can weave it and deliver it tomorrow. How much do you want?”
Gu Nianzhi thought for a moment and decided to make the courtyard larger.
“Fence everything except the grassy area. Fence the vegetable patch behind the house too.”
That meant a courtyard of over sixty square meters and a vegetable patch of more than eighty—quite a lot of fencing!
“We shouldn’t let Uncle Daniu work for free. It’ll probably take him two or three days. In town, labor costs twenty-five coins a day. Mom, give him twenty coins, plus ten jin of coarse rice and some dried wild vegetables.”
Giving more goods and less cash would make it look like they’d scraped everything together—fair to Uncle Daniu and less likely to provoke trouble from the old residence.
“Alright.”
After lunch, Madam Liu went to tell Uncle Daniu. Despite their repeated refusals, she left the goods behind.
At the doorway, Aunt Daniu slowly closed the door as she watched Madam Liu leave.
“Madam Liu is a good person. When you weave the fence, make extra and send it over. I remember they came to borrow fencing from us once before—they must need it.”
Uncle Daniu nodded and headed for the bamboo grove to start cutting bamboo.
With his son and daughter-in-law tending the fields, and with grain and money already delivered, he naturally prioritized Madam Liu’s work.
When Madam Liu returned home, the siblings were hammering wooden stakes into the ground one by one.
Seeing the large iron hammer in Gu Nianzhi’s hands, Madam Liu assumed she’d bought it in town and didn’t ask.
“Mom, are you going to pick wild vegetables again?”
Seeing Madam Liu carrying her basket and preparing to head up the mountain, Gu Nianzhi stopped her.
“While there are plenty of wild vegetables, we should gather as much as we can. We won’t worry about food this winter—these can be saved for next year.”
Gu Nianzhi knew Madam Liu was doing everything she could to stockpile food.
But wild vegetables alone wouldn’t amount to much, and under such a blazing sun, she didn’t feel safe letting Madam Liu go alone.
“Mom, our clothes are completely worn in and filthy! We feel bad even sleeping in them on the quilts. Why don’t you make the clothes first?”
Madam Liu looked at the two children, then down at her own grimy skirt. It really was quite dirty.
They couldn’t afford oil for lamps, so sewing could only be done during the day.
She put away the basket and took out the cotton cloth.
She knew the children’s sizes well enough to start sewing without measuring.
But…
There were no needles. No thread. And no scissors.
Madam Liu looked at Gu Nianzhi helplessly.
“Nianzhi… we don’t have any sewing supplies.”
Seeing Madam Liu’s aggrieved expression, Gu Nianzhi felt awkward.
She had forgotten to buy them.