The village women all wanted to see if what Qin Sang said was true or false. Despite her usual sharp-tongued and mean nature, they all stepped into the courtyard one after another.
The sight that met their eyes stunned them all. The men who had gone to help were each holding a dry rice ball in one hand and an egg in the other.
The men also exchanged glances, holding their food and swallowing hard, yet no one started eating. Qin Sang was distributing the rice balls:
"Sorry, we don't have enough bowls and dishes at home. Fortunately, it's summer, and the rice cooked a while ago is still warm, so rice balls are convenient.
I hope you all don't mind. There are more rice balls after you finish these. Here are some pickles; please help yourselves."
In these times, everyone just puts a few grains in water, cooks it, drinks it to fool their stomachs and sleep. Who could afford to eat dry rice?
A woman spoke up:
"Sister-in-law Tian, you're so generous today, treating everyone to dry rice balls. Do you still have grain left at home? Don't eat it all today and then have to borrow grain from the villagers tomorrow.
In these times, no household has extra grain. Even if we wanted to lend you some, Sister-in-law Tian, I'm afraid we couldn't."
Qin Sang knew that the impression the Original Body left on people wouldn't change overnight. She also didn't want others to think her family was easy to bully or push around. She just needed them to know she wasn't as bad as before.
Qin Sang swept a glance over the group of women who had just entered through the gate. The husbands of these outspoken village women hadn't gone up the mountain to help. Now, with all this talk of borrowing grain, they were simply jealous seeing her treat the helpers to dry rice balls today.
There was no need to be polite with people who couldn't bear to see her family doing well:
"When have I, Qin Sang, ever asked to borrow grain from you before? Borrowing grain isn't such a big deal.
As long as you borrow and return it, it's fine. My little treasure is still a scholar in the making. He will pass the imperial examinations and become an official in the future. Is it worth ruining his reputation over a few pecks of rice or a few pounds of grain from the village?
Today, everyone braved the summer heat and danger to go up the mountain to find my granddaughter. Even if I have to drink thin gruel every day from now on, I'm willing. Everyone, eat without worry."
Her words still carried the same disdain the Original Body had for the villagers. This familiar Qin Sang made those outspoken women withdraw from the courtyard, disgruntled.
Tian Yougen and the others who had received rice balls and eggs stopped worrying about anything else and started eating heartily:
"So fragrant..."
The sound of swallowing was so loud that the women outside the courtyard couldn't help but swallow their own saliva.
After making sure everyone had a rice ball in hand, Qin Sang finally distributed them to her own family. Fortunately, the Original Body had enough authority in this household. The two daughters-in-law hadn't been afraid of wasting food and hadn't cooked enough, so after everyone got one rice ball, there were still plenty left.
Third Brother and his Wife finished one and took another. The eldest brother's family and the fourth daughter ate their rice balls, chewing in tiny bites. Qin Sang estimated that if they chewed any more, it would start fermenting and turning sour.
So, she shoved another rice ball into each of their hands:
"Hurry up and eat. If you don't finish it, it'll spoil by tomorrow. No wasting."
Eldest Girl looked at the two large rice balls in her hand, somewhat bewildered.
After seeing off Tian Yougen and the others, the family began cleaning up the courtyard. Usually, this was the eldest brother's family's job. The fourth daughter occasionally helped, but Qin Sang would absolutely never lift a finger. Now, she was helping too, which instead made Zhou Dahua extremely uneasy:
"Mother, you've been tired all afternoon. Please rest. I'll handle this."
Qin Sang wasn't doing heavy work anyway; she was just putting the low stools that had been brought out back into the main room:
"It's fine. Let's finish quickly. Later, we need to make some mugwort sticks to fumigate the house, and I'll need your help for that."
Chopping and grinding would require effort.
There wasn't much work, and it was soon done. Because there was a scholar in the family, they had an oil lamp prepared. They all sat in the main room to make the mugwort sticks.
The two sons, one with a firewood knife and the other with a kitchen knife, chopped the mugwort. Without a medicine grinder, they could only use a wooden club to pound the chopped mugwort leaves again. Fortunately, it hadn't rained here for a long time. After picking, they had sun-dried it in the courtyard for quite some time. The mugwort was dry, and with the pounding of the club, it was almost completely crushed.
Third Brother's Wife watched from the side, somewhat dissatisfied:
"Mother, is this mugwort useful? Can it really repel mosquitoes and insects?"
Qin Sang was teaching Eldest Girl how to roll the crushed mugwort with large leaves. Hearing Third Brother's Wife's question, she didn't even look up:
"It not only repels mosquitoes but also dispels cold and evil. For someone like you who is pregnant, fumigating the room with mugwort every day can also help protect the pregnancy. When it's time to give birth, drinking water boiled with mugwort can expel cold, making childbirth less agonizing for women."
Third Brother's Wife was half-convinced, half-doubting:
"Mother, you understand traditional medicine too?"
Qin Sang directed Eldest Girl to roll up a mugwort stick. Although the strength was a bit lacking and it wasn't rolled tightly enough, they could make do with it for tonight.
Qin Sang was really afraid that directly lighting the mugwort would burn down the few thatched huts at home:
"Your Late Father-in-law brought back some medical books before. It was written in them, just as I said."
Third Brother's Wife was even more surprised:
"Mother, you can read medical books?"
Qin Sang glanced up at her, not flustered at all:
"I can't read them, but your Late Father-in-law could. Isn't it possible he read them to me?"
Third Brother's Wife didn't dare ask any more. She was very good at reading expressions. Her Mother-in-law was clearly angry that she had implied she was illiterate.
That night, Tian Dazhuang held his wife and daughter, lying in the shed in the backyard. Although the straw still pricked uncomfortably, he felt incredibly at ease. There were no mosquitoes buzzing around his ears and body, and the strong scent of mugwort leaves diluted the stench of feces and urine from the neighboring latrine.
Eldest Brother's Wife also couldn't sleep. In her mind, a sharp-tongued, mean Mother-in-law and a gentle, kind one kept alternating. She turned over and hugged her daughter, who had almost been lost, tightly in her arms.
Eldest Girl also couldn't sleep. Her mother was holding her too tightly. This was the first time in her life she hadn't gone to bed hungry. If only Grandma could stay like this forever...
In the room on the right, Zhao Huan pulled her husband and whispered:
"San Gui, what do you think Mother means by all this? I'm a bit confused."
She was answered by Tian Sangui's exhausted voice:
"I'm dead tired from running up and down the mountain several times today. Let's sleep. You have a child in your belly too. Zzz..."
Zhao Huan looked at the man who was fast asleep, clenched her fist, and gently punched him before lying down.
Tian Sijin also couldn't sleep. Because today her mother had told her not to sleep in the woodshed anymore but to sleep with her. She kept her eyes tightly shut, pretending to be asleep, afraid that if she upset her mother, she would get beaten.
Qin Sang also couldn't sleep. Tian Wenmo was studying in town. He only came back when there was a major market day, three times a month. He had only been gone for three days this time, which meant Tian Wenmo didn't yet know that his biological grandmother had fasted for two days for his writing materials and had passed away.
The eldest brother's family's sleeping arrangements were too crude. They could manage in summer, but they absolutely couldn't sleep in that shed in winter. One snowfall, and the family of three would probably turn into ice sculptures.
Today's grain at home should be almost used up. She really didn't want to eat that grain mixed with sand, stones, and bugs anymore. Looking at the system Mall in her mind, she wanted to eat white rice, she wanted to eat meat buns...