Miao Chu

Chapter 109 Carpentry
After delivering the letter to various places, Cheng Erniang hurriedly took it home to Song Miao.

Xiaolian, who was peeling garlic, suddenly perked up her ears upon hearing the news. She tried to interrupt several times, but couldn't find a way to get in the conversation because her mother and Song Miao were talking non-stop. She was getting anxious.

After a while, when Song Miao finished reading the letter, she couldn't help but sidle up to her and ask, "Sister, is this the same letter that my uncle used to send back?"

He added, "My mother has a box specifically for storing letters my uncle sends back. Should we put this one in too?"

Cheng Erniang laughed and scolded, "Fool, this is a letter from someone else to your sister, not from your uncle."

Then she turned to Song Miao and said with a smile, "I told her that when her uncle was in the state school, he would sometimes come home and teach her to recite poems and recognize characters. This child has always complained that she doesn't remember the characters and poems she learned when she was two years old, and she is eager to ask Xiao Jian to teach her again."

"Unfortunately, ever since we entered the capital, the Imperial Academy has been very strict, and Xiao Jian hasn't had much time to go out. She's been thinking about learning to write by herself using letters."

Xiaolian's face and ears turned red instantly. She covered her face with her hands and turned away, calling out "Mother" in a muffled voice.

What was said unintentionally was taken seriously by the listener, and Song Miao immediately called out, "Xiao Lian."

The child immediately ran over, blushing.

Song Miao said, "Your uncle is studying and doesn't have time right now. I'll teach you to read first. Are you willing?"

Xiaolian's eyes sparkled, and she hurriedly responded before rushing off to see her mother.

Song Miao then said to Cheng Erniang, "Having a skill is of course the most important thing, but if you can also learn to read and write and learn accounting, you won't be afraid of going hungry anywhere, and you'll have a clear plan for starting your own business in the future."

Cheng Erniang was both surprised and delighted, saying, "How can this be? I'm just afraid she won't learn it well, which would be a waste of your efforts, young lady!"

Song Miao laughed and said, "Why can't we do that? If she learns a few characters a day, she'll have over a thousand characters a year. Why wait for her uncle to teach her? By the time we get there, it'll be dark! Who knows when that will be?"

He added, “Not only Xiaolian, but Second Sister is also learning. If this restaurant really succeeds in the future, and we need to hire other people to supply goods and handle the comings and goings of customers, won’t we need your help? It can’t be that I do all the purchasing and bookkeeping myself, can it?”

For once, Cheng Erniang, usually so composed, had tears in her eyes and said, "This...this has troubled you, my lady!"

He couldn't help but say, "I'm not afraid of being laughed at by my wife, but I've been watching my younger brother study since I was little, and I've learned a few words from him. But I haven't used them for a long time, and I haven't had time to pay much attention to them. I learn them and then forget them, forget them and then remember them again. As for Xiao Jian's letter, I asked someone to read it for me, and I also tried to read it myself, but unfortunately I can't remember it!"

He then hurriedly told Xiaolian, "Quickly kowtow to your sister and acknowledge her as your master."

He added, "I'll cut some meat for my wife another day; it's a proper gift to pay my respects and offer tuition!"

Song Miao felt confident in her ability to be the teacher, so she didn't refuse. She sat down, accepted Xiao Lian's greeting, and then looked at Cheng Erniang, saying, "Second Madam, aren't you going to bow?"

Cheng Erniang was taken aback.

Song Miao said, “When it comes to learning, master and disciple do not distinguish between seniority. They choose the best and follow it. Although you are a few years older than me, if you want to pay your respects, I dare to accept it.”

Overjoyed, Cheng Erniang stepped forward and performed the apprenticeship ceremony for Song Miao on the prayer mat.

After the two finished their prayers, Song Miao immediately took out a pen and said, "On the first day, let's ignore everything else and learn to write our own names."

To save ink, she didn't use any ink, but dipped her brush in clean water and wrote Cheng Erniang's full name, "Yueying," along with the character "Lian." After writing all three characters, she took the hands of the mother and daughter and led them through the strokes of the brush, deliberately asking, "I'll only show you once, can you remember them?"

The mother and daughter quickly gathered around, their hands tracing the words written on the white cloth.

Xiao Lian was both anxious and flustered, and said, "Why is there so much mystery surrounding my name!"

She then asked, "Mother, is it too late for me to change my name now?"

Cheng Erniang also said, "Madam, the character 'Lian' in Xiaolian's name is quite difficult to remember—it won't be visible once the cloth dries!"

Song Miao simply told the two not to panic, and added, "The characters have their own forms."

As she spoke, she broke the character "莲" (lotus) into two parts, saying, "The lotus is the fruit of the water lily, with grass as its head. The lotus pods inside the lotus seedpod are connected like a honeycomb. Taking this meaning, there is a '连' (connected) character under the grass."

Fuzhou is the hometown of lotus seeds. The mother and daughter had seen many lotus pods and naturally knew what they looked like, so they immediately understood.

Song Miao then broke the character "连" apart, with "人" on the left and "车" on the right, and pointed to the stall lane on the side: "Look, when we push our carts out to sell in the morning, don't we have to hold onto the crossbar under the cart and push it forward?"

As for the vehicle, it refers to the carriage. Compared with the carriages seen on the street, it is indeed a square wooden carriage with windows, which is very easy to remember.

After dissecting the character for lotus, Song Miao wrote a small seal script version of the character and said with a smile, "Look at this 'cart' on the right. Doesn't it look like a lotus seedpod? Once it matures, it will grow tall, often with lotus leaves above to cover it, unfallen stamens below, and long stems in the middle..."

Upon looking at it, the two found it to be quite vivid, and they each memorized it.

Song Miao said, "We'll learn these three characters today, and I'll test you again tomorrow night."

So when the day was over, the mother and daughter sat on the bed, and for fear of damaging the sheets, they lifted the soft covers and muttered to themselves, tracing patterns on the bed frame with their fingers, afraid that they would forget everything they had learned that day when they woke up.

The mother, believing herself to be older and more sensible, was bound to learn faster than her daughter.

The daughter thought that since she had eaten the most chicken hearts the day before, she should be much smarter and couldn't be slower than her own mother.

Both of them secretly fought for their pride, and in their dreams, one of them dreamed of lotus flowers and lotus pods.

***
Everyone went to sleep that night, but around midnight, there were sudden claps of thunder and torrential rain. Fortunately, when they woke up, the rain had subsided a bit.

Because the rain was only weak and not stopping, by the time Song Miao and Cheng Erniang finished setting up their stall, delivered the food, and returned from the vegetable and meat shop, the ground in Suanzao Lane was already soaked with water up to their ankles.

The two men were carrying their own belongings and couldn't easily hold up an umbrella, so they wore raincoats and straw hats. By the time they got home, they were both half-soaked and hurriedly went to change their clothes.

Seeing the heavy rain and the water accumulating in the alley, Cheng Erniang couldn't help but worry, "If this rain continues, I'm afraid there will really be a flood!"

Song Miao said, "Our house is on a hill, so we're not afraid of rain getting in, but it will definitely be inconvenient to get in and out. We'll have to stop doing business for now."

Cheng Erniang was most afraid of hearing that last sentence, so she quickly said, "Even if I'm wearing wooden clogs and it's hard to push the cart, I can still carry breakfast out on my back. There's no need to stop the business so soon, is there?"

Song Miao said, “There are rumors that the rain this year is not good and there may be a major flood. When I was a child, the water level rose to my waist. If it rises above my waist, you can’t walk on the streets and alleys. You can only travel by boat.”

“Let’s go with the boat. I’ve been thinking about this lately. My wife said last time that business with students was bad and we should raise prices. But we’re still doing business with the patrol officers and government officials, aren’t we? A little higher is fine. We’re not making extra money. Our costs are just that high. Do you think they’ll stop eating when the water rises? We can still do business…”

Song Miao shook her head and said, "Even if you are determined to go out, the floods will make it impossible to buy anything in the vegetable and meat shops. We will have to stock up on food that can be stored for a long time so that we don't go hungry. Where will we get the ingredients to cook for them?" She added, "That day has not come yet. Maybe we are just worrying unnecessarily."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Erniang could only sigh. After a while, she said, "In that case, I'll tell you in advance, madam—don't pay me wages. There's no reason to expect payment for doing something!"

Song Miao hadn't expected Cheng Erniang to be so worried about her, her employer, being taken advantage of. She couldn't help but laugh and say, "If there are people outside who don't know the situation and hear Erniang talking, they'll probably think that I've exploited you to some extent!"

He added, "I have my own plans. Just take it easy when you're free. You'll have plenty to do in the future."

As the two were talking, they watched as the raindrops grew larger and larger, gradually becoming a downpour.

Cheng Erniang was worried and said, "With such heavy rain, I don't know if Young Master Han will be able to come for dinner."

Upon hearing this, Song Miao stepped out of the door and under the eaves. Just as she was about to speak, she saw a person carrying an umbrella coming from afar amidst the pouring rain.

An extremely large and thick black oiled paper umbrella completely blocked the rain from its surface, which then poured down again, enveloping the person like a half-circular curtain.

The person walked steadily, wearing long boots, and stepped on the puddles without splashing.

As the man drew closer, Song Miao saw that he was dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, with leggings on his feet, a bundle slung over his left shoulder, and a rather large oilcloth bag in his left hand.

In such heavy rain, no matter how good the umbrella or how long the boots, they can't provide complete protection.

Seeing that the man's clothes and trousers were quite wet, and that he had come in the rain, he was not at all disheveled or awkward in his movements, but rather seemed to be indifferent to the rain.

Song Miao stood at the door for a few breaths, the moisture and dampness making her clothes feel damp. She quickly took a step back, waited a while, and then greeted, "It's raining so hard. Young master, you've come from afar. You must be tired. If you had known, you could have told me and changed the date."

The person who came was naturally Han Li.

He saw Song Miao from afar, a smile already on his face. As he approached, he called out, "Stopkeeper Song." After hearing what she said, he replied, "There's food for another day, and food for today. How can you lump them together?"

Song Miao couldn't help but smile.

Seeing that the person had entered under the eaves and was about to close the umbrella, she took it from him, shook off the water droplets, leaned against the door, and invited him in.

Han Li entered the house and saw that everyone was in the hall. He first bowed to Cheng Erniang and greeted Xiao Lian. Then he handed the oilcloth bag in his hand to Song Miao and said, "It's not good to come empty-handed, so I only brought some small things."

Song Miao accepted the clothes with both hands, thanked her, and said, "There are no men's clothes at home, so this is what Young Master Han is wearing..."

Han Li said, "I have brought clean clothes myself, all I need is an empty room."

As he spoke, he took the bundle off his left shoulder and placed it on a bench to the side.

The bundle hit the bench with a dull thud, as if it contained something heavy.

When Han Li opened the bundle, it contained all sorts of tools, including adzes, hammers, chisels, and planes—all used by carpenters.

He said, "Did you see the letter that I asked Cheng's wife to bring back yesterday? I need some planks and timber, but I was in a hurry and don't know how much you can find."

Song Miao said, "My parents had some wood stuffed under the bed in their room, but I don't know if it's suitable or enough."

He couldn't help but say, "Young master, you work very hard in the government office. It's rare for you to have some free time to come as a guest. There's no need to go to such trouble..."

Before she could finish speaking, Han Li said, “I don’t know much. I may not be good at other things, but I do have something I can do. I don’t care about what you’re good at. My only skill is carpentry, which I learned in elementary school. Back in the countryside, I saved up money by making cabinets and furniture for people. Now I’m just making a few tables and chairs for you. If you don’t want them, I have nothing else to exchange for a hot meal.”

He added, "Besides, working in the government office is exhausting. It's rare to get out and do some familiar things to refresh your mind. That's what real rest is all about—I should thank stall owner Song."

Song Miao had intended to ask if there was any money left over from the money he had given her last time, but Han Li's words at this moment completely severed any connection between the two parties regarding business and money, leaving her unable and unwilling to speak.

Imagine if she brought her cooking utensils and went to someone's house to cook, only to be refused by the other party and offered money to get rid of them. How would she feel?
With that thought in mind, Song Miao immediately agreed and said with a smile, "Then thank you very much, Young Master Han. My home has been lacking tables and chairs for a long time. I didn't expect that I would be waiting here for you to do something for me!"

As she spoke, she led the person to the backyard and to Mr. and Mrs. Song's room.

The room was filled with many broken tables and chairs, as well as some miscellaneous items.

Song Miao pointed to the space under the wooden bed and said, "There's some wood underneath, but it's not any good quality."

He was about to reach in and pull her out.

Han Li then stopped her, saying, "Go ahead and do your work, I'll take care of things here."

He added, "I don't know how many tables and chairs can be gathered here; I'm afraid it won't be finished in half a day."

Song Miao smiled and said, "According to local custom, when a carpenter comes to your home, the host family usually provides meals. It just depends on how many days of leave you have, young master, and how many days of work this will take."

After she finished speaking, she bowed and asked him to come and call her anytime if he needed anything before heading to the main hall.

When Cheng Erniang saw Song Miao return, she couldn't help but say, "I never imagined that Young Master Han, who was so good at studying, would also be skilled in carpentry!"

He added, “In our village, carpenters are highly sought after. Even apprentices are eager to become carpenters. They’ll work for three to five years for free. If you’re not quick-witted enough, the master craftsmen won’t teach you easily. I don’t know where he finds the time to study and learn a trade at the same time!”

Song Miao said, "Young Master Han is intelligent and hardworking."

She then briefly mentioned what she had overheard inside the government office discussing this person's conduct and daily routine.

Not only was Cheng Erniang speechless, but Xiao Lian, who was holding the tea and about to send it to the back, was also stunned.

After a few sighs, Cheng Erniang noticed it was getting late and hurriedly asked, "Shall we start cleaning the snails now?"

At this point, Song Miao was no longer in a hurry to make soup.

She glanced at the snails sticking to the side of the bucket, then at the eels beside her, and said, "Let's eat snails tonight. We bought an old hen today; it needs to be stewed for a long time to be fragrant."

As she spoke, she wrapped the eels in a cloth, grabbed a few thin, long eels, tossed them onto the cutting board, and slapped them with a knife, instantly stopping the wriggling eels from moving.

"Let's make eel rice for lunch."

　Turn to the next page, there's a surprise picture!
　　(End of this chapter)