I'm already a concubine, who wants to fight with you?

Chapter 34 Firewood
Mother Liu always felt that it was inappropriate to leave the Sun mother and son on the farm, but as Xie Fei said, they were not the supervisors of the Pei Mansion, so what could they do to these two?

However, the look on Xie Fei's face showed that Mother Liu didn't seem to care about the mother and son.

"If my little girl has an idea in her mind, I won't say anything more."

Xie Fei still just smiled and asked about other things.

"It's autumn now, and winter is coming in the blink of an eye. I wonder if it will be very cold in winter on the farm?"

Mother Liu hesitated for a moment and said, "I want to ask, how can we keep warm in the village when winter comes?"

Xie Fei nodded in agreement.

In the past, when Xie Fei was in the Xie family, he could get charcoal fires from people everywhere, so even if he didn't go out for a whole winter, he wouldn't be very cold.

She is afraid of cold, so she is worried that this winter will be difficult.

Mother Liu didn't know whether Xie Fei lived in poverty or wealth in the Xie family before, so she just told her the news from the village truthfully.

"Our farm is small and can't produce charcoal, so we don't need to supply charcoal to the Pei Mansion. Before winter, the men will go to the mountains to cut trees for firewood in their spare time. After winter, we rely on this firewood to keep warm."

For many poor families, even firewood is precious and it is impossible to burn it in a brazier all day long to keep warm.

Instead, after cooking and boiling water, they would collect any unburned ashes in the stove, put them in the stove to simmer, and the family would stay by the stove.

Because the farm is close to a mountain, the men can go to the foot or hillside of the mountain to chop firewood from time to time, and occasionally carry a few loads to sell in the town or city.

Xie Fei asked again, "Is the firewood burned over an open flame? Is charcoal expensive?"

Mother Liu answered them one by one, "If there is not much firewood, we naturally don't want to burn it with an open fire. Most of the time, it is only possible when the villagers gather together. As for charcoal, the price varies from year to year, but it is always expensive."

This charcoal must be made from hardwood. It must first be cut into blocks and then burned in a charcoal furnace. After cooling, it is mixed with mud and carbonized with dry sulfur in a charcoal kiln. It must be sealed at the right time. The final charcoal is the one that wealthy families use.

The materials are strictly selected, the production is complicated, and naturally expensive.

As for the more precious things like Rui charcoal, Feng charcoal, and Yin Gu charcoal, ordinary people have never seen them.

Xie Fei felt a little worried after hearing this.

The temperature in the mountains is already lower, and she doesn't have a precious item like a fox fur coat. What should she do in winter?
Mother Liu saw her concerns and said, "Don't worry, young lady. The men in the village will go out to chop firewood and send some to you. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be enough firewood for the winter."

Xie Fei said, "My girl and I can do other things, but chopping wood is a bit troublesome, so I'll leave it to you."

She didn't give any other instructions, and Mother Liu left quickly.

Yuan San came out of the house and sat down next to her.

"Why ask them for help?" He is good at hunting and chopping wood.

Xie Fei said: "If I don't tell them, they will inevitably become suspicious when they find more firewood in the yard."

Yuan San thought about it and said, "You are afraid of the cold, I'd better try to get some charcoal."

"No need. It's really cold. Let's buy some charcoal." Xie Fei now has more than a thousand taels of silver in her hands. She is a wealthy woman at least.

Yuan San looked at the weather. It was just after the Mid-Autumn Festival and the mountain was already getting cold. He didn't know how cold it would be when winter came.

"I'm afraid charcoal won't be cheap this year, so I'd better go to the mountains to pick some wood and burn it myself."

Xie Fei asked in surprise: "You can also burn charcoal?"

Yuan San said: "I will learn secretly and dig a small charcoal kiln in the mountains. If there is any excess, I can sell it."

Xie Fei thought about it and said, "Then go and learn. When it's time to burn charcoal, Fu Yu and I will come to help."

"It would be best if you don't make trouble." Yuan San did what he said and left. Fu Yu went to collect herbs nearby, and Xie Fei was making ointment alone, which was a rare leisure time.

There are many medicinal herbs in autumn. Fu Yu collects them and Xie Fei dries them or makes ointments. If he comes across some precious ones, he will keep them for later use.

She was free here, but the Pei Mansion was in chaos.

The cause was that when paying respects in the morning, Miao embarrassed Xiao Shirong in person.

Not only did he ridicule Xiao Shirong for being infertile after being married for several years, he also made outrageous remarks, saying that Pei Yuan promised that after she gave birth to a son, he would divorce Xiao Shirong and make her his legal wife.

In front of all the concubines, Xiao Shirong's face seemed to be slapped.

But Miao was favored by Pei Yuan and was pregnant, so Xiao Shirong could do nothing about her.

After the concubines left, Xiao Shirong kicked the table again in anger.

"Bitch! You ungrateful bastard, you really forgot how you fawned on me when you first entered the mansion!"

Mother Tang knelt aside, feeling very upset.

"It's all our fault that we were only concerned with dealing with the Xie family's bitch, and ignored the fact that there was such a vixen around our master!"

Xiao Shirong also felt extremely regretful and said, "The concubine of the Xie family couldn't even stir up trouble, and this bitch actually climbed over my head?"

She wondered why Miao had been a law-abiding lady in the past and respected her as a noble lady. She also thought Miao was stupid and of low status, so she didn't take it seriously.

Now, as soon as Miao became pregnant, she thought she was superior to others and immediately dropped her previous respectful attitude and started to show off in front of her.

Divorce her?
Haha, a stupid playboy, a brainless and domineering lowly concubine, did he really think that she, Xiao Shirong, was a soft persimmon?
Xiao Shirong calmed down, but his eyes gradually became vicious.

"When mother-in-law returns to the Buddhist temple, go and find the one on the farm for me."

Why not take advantage of this opportunity and kill two birds with one stone!
At the farm, Xie Fei started preparing firewood early.

Although Yuan San wanted to burn charcoal, the charcoal fire was used for heating.

She had to prepare some firewood for boiling water and cooking, so that she wouldn't have to go to the mountains in the snow to chop firewood during the coldest time of winter.

Fu Yu came back from picking herbs and saw Xie Fei cleaning under the eaves of the back wall. She said, "Miss, what are you busy with?"

Xie Fei said as he swept the floor, "Make room for the firewood."

"Isn't there a woodshed there?"

"How can there be enough firewood for one room?"

Fu Yu was speechless.

Her daughter is good in every way except that she likes to plan ahead too much. Sometimes she is so cautious that it is unbelievable.

There was no other choice, Fu Yu put down his backpack and started to clean up.

Xie Fei said, "Let's go collect herbs tomorrow and pick up some tung fruits along the way. We can squeeze the remaining ones into oil and use them until next year."

"Yes, tung oil has a wide range of uses. Let's make two oil-paper umbrellas and cover the wooden sheds with a layer of oilcloth." Fu Yu also discovered that there has been a lot of rain this year, and it would be inconvenient to go out without an oil-paper umbrella.

Next, the chicken coops and rabbit houses must also be waterproof and windproof, otherwise they will freeze to death when winter comes.

The two of them were sweeping the eaves of the back wall, and just in time, Da Niu came to deliver firewood, so they piled it up.

Fu Yu said politely, "Brother Daniu, thank you so much for bringing us a load of the firewood you worked so hard to chop."

(End of this chapter)