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

Chapter 35 Wild Osmanthus

Daniu said cheerfully, "Miss Fuyu, you are too polite. Anyway, I have nothing to do these days, so I will chop more firewood while the weather is good."

Xie Fei asked, "There is less farm work after winter. Are you guys staying in the farm and waiting for spring?"

Da Niu wiped his sweat and said, "That won't do. There are several mouths to feed at home, young and old, so we can't be idle. After the busy farming season, the monthly salary from the Pei Mansion will be even less, so we have to find a way to make money."

Most of the men worked at the docks moving goods and could earn a lot of money at the end of the day.

However, the competition is fierce, and anyone with a little strength is scrambling to do the job, so the wages are getting lower and lower.

The farm was better off this year. Apart from the share of the bear meat sold earlier, the women also got jobs from the Pei residence with the help of Xie Fei, which greatly reduced their burden.

After a few casual words, Daniu left with his shoulder pole.

Fu Yu said as she stacked the firewood, "Girl, these people have a hard time too. Look at Brother Daniu, there are blood marks on his shoulders from being worn out."

Xie Fei said: "I just made some ointment, you can give it to Madam Zou."

"Yes."

The next day, Xie Fei and Fu Yu went to the mountains again to collect herbs, dig wild vegetables, chop firewood, and brought back a basket of tung fruit.

Then the two of them collected all the tung fruits in the woodshed and transported them to the town to find someone to press the oil.

After a busy day, we earned more than 100 kilograms of tung oil.

Fu Yu said happily, "From now on, we can use tung oil to light up the night, read books, and grind medicine."

Xie Fei said: "Are you lighting for reading? Or for playing?"

Fu Yu smiled apologetically and said, "But girl, it's too early to sleep."

In autumn and winter, it gets dark early, and poor families have no candles or oil lamps for lighting, so they always go to bed early.

Fu Yu was young and not very sleepy. If he went to bed too early, he would toss and turn and couldn't fall asleep. He would rather go to the woodshed and play with the rabbits.

Now that there is enough tung oil this year, I wonder how late she will play before going to bed.

After returning home, Xie Fei mixed the lacquer he had bought earlier, tung oil and cinnabar to make a paint.

When Yuan San comes back, he will paint the newly made tables, chairs and benches.

"I dug a charcoal kiln in the mountains and tried burning charcoal first," he said as he painted. "I hope it won't be too cold this year, otherwise the girls won't want to go out."

Xie Fei asked, "Why? Does the weather show that this year is colder than last year?"

Yuan San is a man with a special ability.

He was very good at observing the sky. Sometimes he could tell which direction a heavy rain would come from by sensing the wind direction. He could also tell when it would rain by looking at the distribution of stars and the shape of clouds.

Or if you encounter a wild animal in the mountains, you can look at its footprints and feces and tell whether the coming year will be a good harvest or a disaster.

But what he said was almost correct, like a charlatan.

He said that tomb robbers must understand Feng Shui and gossip, which frightened Xie Fei.

Yuan San said: "The farm is located in the mountains, so it is colder than the capital. I am afraid it will be even colder this year with a lot of rain and snow."

Xie Fei was glad that he had foresight, "Then I have to pile up more firewood. If there is not enough charcoal, I will use firewood to burn."

Yuan San smiled, subconsciously rubbed her head as he did before, and said lovingly, "Our girl is really smart."

Fu Yu saw this from the side and sighed slightly.

If the girl had not been forced to marry into the Pei Mansion, actually...

There are miserable people everywhere in this world.

Yuan San wanted to make charcoal, so he built a wooden shed next to the charcoal kiln and lived in it, guarding it all day. Xie Fei and Fu Yu went to see it, and seeing the simple environment, they were a little worried.

"Your place is far away from people. What if you encounter wild beasts?" Xie Fei asked.

Yuan San didn't care, "Then there's meat to eat again."

"I'm telling you seriously," Xie Fei said, "Why don't you come back to the farm at night?"

Yuan San pointed at the charcoal kiln and said, "Once the fire starts, even the mountain king will have to give way."

Xie Fei had no choice but to ask Fu Yu to use local materials. He dug up a lot of herbs to mix with the medicine. On the one hand, they dried and burned them, and on the other hand, they sprinkled the medicinal juice everywhere. Wild animals with a keen sense of smell could not stand this stimulation and would stay away from it.

As soon as the medicine juice was poured out, the wild beast did not come, but Yuan San himself started sneezing continuously.

Xie Feiqi asked: "Is your nose more sensitive than that of a wild animal?"

Yuan San said meaningfully, "I have good eyes and ears."

Before Xie Fei could think about it, he heard Fu Yu shouting in the distance, saying that there was wild golden osmanthus.

It is the flowering season in the mountains, and osmanthus and chrysanthemums are everywhere.

Fu Yu came across a few osmanthus trees, took off her shoes and quickly climbed up, picking flowers while saying, "Girl, these flowers are so fragrant, let's pick them and dry them, and make tea or sachets, how nice is that?"

Xie Fei said: "Yes, it can be used to make wine or cakes."

She watched as people picked the floating jade with their bare hands. Not only was her speed slow, but a lot of it fell to the ground.

Returning to the charcoal kiln, she called out, "Big Head, do you have a cleaner cloth?"

Yuan San knew that she was going to pick osmanthus flowers, so he found some cloth and scissors and went with her.

The two of them spread the cloth under the osmanthus tree. Yuan San cut the osmanthus branches, and Xie Fei plucked the flowers and shook them on the cloth. With division of labor and cooperation, they were much faster than Fu Yu.

Fu Yu picked for a long time, turned around and saw that the cloths of the two were covered with it, and couldn't help but said angrily: "Okay, girl, you actually asked for help! Third brother Yuan, you are also biased, you only help the girl and not me!"

Yuan San said: "You are no different from a monkey. Look at how many osmanthus flowers have fallen under the tree?" What a waste!
Fu Yu saw the same thing and jumped down from the tree to help Xie Fei pick the fruits.

Several trees were soon eaten up. Afterwards, Yuan San burned charcoal in the mountains, while Xie Fei and Fu Yu returned contentedly.

These osmanthus flowers cannot be exposed to the sun. After picking and cleaning, they should be immediately dried on the kang, otherwise the fragrance will be lost.

For a moment, the whole yard was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus.

When Sun came, she saw that Xie Fei had many sweet osmanthus flowers and shouted, "Mrs. Xie, you went to the mountains to pick flowers yourself? What use are these flowers? How much can they be sold for? Look at you, you are covered in grass debris. How can you still look like a concubine of a noble family?"

Xie Fei didn't care, he put away all the dried osmanthus flowers and said, "I have nothing to do, I can go to the mountains and pick some flowers to make sachets, and even save the money for spices."

Sun said, "You are really frugal. A concubine like you has all kinds of spices. Do you need to use flowers to make up the number?"

Xie Fei sighed, "I am just a concubine, so I am naturally not as good as the main wife. I should save as much as possible."

After that, she continued, "Last time I told you about your Dalang's marriage, what do you think?"

Sun said quickly: "If my wife is willing to find a girl for my son, it will definitely be a great blessing for us!"

Xie Fei said: "It's a pity that I'm not the eldest lady, so I don't have a say and can't assign many tasks. Otherwise, your son is young, handsome, and suave, and he would be more than qualified to be a first-class maid."

Sun thought about what this maid looked like.

She must be very charming, hardworking and worldly-wise.

Not to mention, that monthly salary is equivalent to what the mother and son would earn from working hard for a year.

(End of this chapter)