SLH | Chapter 42

Inspecting the Clay Pots

“Wife, you rest, I’ll do it.”

The skimmer in Song Tingzhu’s hand was taken by the man. Watching his husband bend down to scoop the grain, Song Tingzhu couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile.

Ever since he shared his thoughts with his husband yesterday afternoon, his husband had been even more attentive than before. Truly, he was treated like a precious treasure, afraid of being broken if held, or melting if tasted. This morning, he had been teased quite a bit by Xiaomei.

Seeing the wind picking up, Liu Hu turned to his wife and said, “It’s getting a bit chilly. Wife, go inside and change into something warmer.”

“Okay.”

With just seven or eight days until the start of winter, the weather was getting colder by the day. The Liu family’s house hadn’t been repaired yet, and winter was bound to be tough.

Song Tingzhu changed his clothes and took out the money box to count.

There were four taels of silver left; he wasn’t sure if it would be enough.

After thinking for a moment, he took out three taels, leaving a bit more than one tael just in case.

“Husband,” he called out in the courtyard.

“What’s up, wife?”

“Winter is almost here, and the house hasn’t been repaired. We only have three taels of silver. Do you think it’s enough to fix the house?”

“It’s enough.” Liu Hu put down the skimmer and carried the large bamboo basket full of grain to dry in the sun.

“We don’t need to hire people from town. Tomorrow I’ll ask Brother Tian for help, and with our dad, the three of us should be able to fix it in less than a day.”

Song Tingzhu felt relieved, “Once this batch of wine is brewed, we’ll earn back the money next year and have some extra to build a new house.”

During dinner, when Ruan Xiulian heard that Huzi and his husband were going to repair the house, she took out one tael of silver, and Tang Chunxing added half a tael. Together, the family gathered four and a half taels to repair the house so it would be airtight, ensuring the family wouldn’t freeze this winter.

A few days later, Ma Guangzhong’s kiln was also rebuilt, just waiting for the clay to be fired.

At the same time, the grain drying in the Liu family’s courtyard was almost ready.

“Sister-in-law’s husband, is this grain dry enough to start brewing?” Liu Xiaomei asked, touching the grain.

After soaking the grain, they spent a morning steaming it. Yesterday’s weather was bad, with rain at night, but today the sun was out, so it was finally dry.

Song Tingzhu checked the grain and nodded, “It’s ready.”

Liu Xiaomei was delighted, and Xia Ge’er, who was playing with clay figures, had bright eyes as well.

After lunch, the family skipped their nap and went to the courtyard to start brewing wine.

For every hundred pounds of grain, five taels of yeast are used. The yeast balls are crushed and mixed with the grain in proportion, then sealed in large jars with oil paper to ferment for over a month, creating the wine mash.

Mixing the grain in several large jars was hard work, and Ruan Xiulian and the others were exhausted, their arms too tired to lift. Meanwhile, Liu Dasheng and his son were sweating profusely as they worked.

“Father, second brother, take a break and have some water,” Liu Xiaomei called from the kitchen with tea.

“Okay.”

The father and son wiped the sweat from their foreheads, drank the tea in one gulp, and rolled up their sleeves to get back to work.

Ruan Xiulian laughed, “Let them work. Men are strong, and this is nothing compared to working in town.”

Song Tingzhu nodded, but seeing his husband’s sweat-soaked clothes, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.

“Mom, I’ll take some coins to Uncle Zhang’s and get half a pound of meat,” he said.

“Sure, get some fatty meat for making buns, so they’re nice and oily.”

“Okay.”

Liu Xiaomei quickly added, “Sister-in-law’s husband, I’ll go too!”

“Xia Ge’er wants to go too.”

A moment later, Song Tingzhu, holding Xia Ge’er, went with Xiaomei to Uncle Zhang’s house.

“Zhu Ge’er, Xiaomei, I heard your family is going to brew wine. Is it true?” A few curious aunties approached them on the road.

Song Tingzhu didn’t intend to hide it, so he nodded, “Yes, we’re going to brew wine.”

The women were shocked, “No wonder you were collecting all that grain.”

“My goodness, brewing wine isn’t easy. Some people can’t even make rice wine at home.”

“Exactly, I’ve heard that those who make wine keep the recipes tightly guarded, taking them to the grave rather than letting anyone learn.”

This was true. The wine recipes Song Tingzhu found in books were all incomplete. Profitable skills are never easily shared.

“Success is uncertain, but if it works out, you can come to our house for wine. It’ll be cheaper than in town,” Song Tingzhu said with a smile.

The women grinned from ear to ear.

“That sounds great.”

“Zhu Ge’er, you all get busy. I still need to feed the chickens and ducks, or they’ll cause a fuss.”

“I should head back too, while it’s still warm, to change some cotton and make winter clothes.”

Song Tingzhu took note of their words and, after they left, asked Xiaomei, “Xiaomei, where in the village can we buy cotton?”

Liu Xiaomei thought for a moment, “The Liang family at the east end of the village, and Uncle Liu Yan’s family planted cotton this year. I’m not sure about others.”

Song Tingzhu nodded, bought the pork, and then went with Xiaomei to visit Uncle Liu’s.

The Liu family hadn’t planted much cotton this year and didn’t plan to sell, but since Song Tingzhu asked, they set aside a few pounds for him.

Last time, when the Niu family falsely accused their head of stealing grain, if it weren’t for Zhu Ge’er speaking up, they would have been labeled as thieves.

Leaving the yard, Song Tingzhu saw Zheng Yun wanting to walk them out, so he said, “Auntie, no need to see us off, please go back.”

Zheng Yun stopped and smiled warmly, “Alright, come visit us when you have time.”

Back at the Liu house, Ruan Xiulian saw her son-in-law bringing back a big bundle of cotton and took it, saying, “I was just telling your sister-in-law that we’d go to the Liang family for cotton tomorrow.”

She hefted it, “I’ll make winter clothes for you and Huzi, and what’s left will be added to old clothes to keep the wind out.”

Song Tingzhu didn’t refuse, “Thank you, Mom.”

Everyone in the family had winter clothes. His husband’s clothes wore out faster from working in town, and the cotton clothes made years ago were already worn out, so he had been wearing fake cotton clothes.

When he was drugged and sent to the Liu family, Madam Song naturally didn’t prepare winter clothes for him.

Last year, he was unwell and stayed in bed until spring, so he didn’t need winter clothes then.

“We’re all family, no need to worry about it.”

Ruan Xiulian had Xiaomei put the cotton away and took the pork with her eldest daughter-in-law to the kitchen to make buns.

Dinner was lavish, with big meat buns and stir-fried radish with cured meat. The family ate their fill, and even Song Tingzhu, who usually ate little meat, had a big bun. Now too full to sleep, he lay in bed whispering with his husband.

“Uncle Ma sent word that the clay pots will be ready in two days. We should go check them out. If they’re not good, we’ll need to make them again.”

“We’ve gathered enough grain for now. Let’s not collect more. We don’t have much money left, and we should save some for emergencies.”

He leaned on his husband’s shoulder, speaking softly.

Liu Hu tucked him in and replied, “Alright, I’ll announce it in the village tomorrow.”

If they didn’t give notice, people would gossip. A shout by the big banyan tree would spread the word through the village.

Song Tingzhu yawned, feeling sleepy, and nestled into his husband’s warm embrace, falling asleep peacefully.

The next morning, when everyone heard the Liu family wasn’t buying grain anymore, those planning to sell that day regretted not doing it sooner, feeling like they’d lost money.

The Liu family was unaware of this, busy dealing with the accumulated grain in their yard.

The remaining eight hundred to a thousand pounds of grain couldn’t be processed in one day. It would take at least two or three days. Today, they soaked it thoroughly, planning to steam it the next day.

Ruan Xiulian and Tang Chunxing knew what to do, so Song Tingzhu didn’t oversee it. After breakfast, he went with his husband to Shanghe Village.

Half an hour later, at the Huajia kiln.

“Zhu Ge’er, do these clay pots look good?” Ma Guangzhong asked, pointing to the first batch of test-fired pots.

“Uncle Ma, please wait a moment.”

Song Tingzhu picked up a pot to inspect it. The size was right, and the inscriptions were decent, but the texture was too rough, too ordinary, barely suitable for holding clear wine.

He pointed out the issue, and Ma Guangzhong looked troubled.

“The nearby villages only have this kind of coarse clay. We can’t make better pottery.”

Ma Guangzhong was skilled, despite not having worked in a kiln for over a decade. Only about ten percent of the test batch cracked, a feat even seasoned potters might not achieve.

From Aunt Huang, Song Tingzhu learned that Uncle Ma was a master potter in his youth, but even the best craftsman can’t work without materials.

After pondering, he said, “How about this, Uncle Ma? Let’s order two hundred coarse clay pots for now, and we’ll fire more once my husband and I find better clay.”

“Alright.”

The couple didn’t stay long and soon left.

On the way, Liu Hu remembered something, “Wife, I know where there’s good clay.”

“Really?” Song Tingzhu glanced at his husband.

The man nodded, “Granny Chen’s family has a bamboo grove. When Grandpa Chen was alive, Dad often took me and my brother to dig clay there. I remember the clay behind the bamboo grove felt different, finer than elsewhere.”

Song Tingzhu’s eyes lit up, “Do you know where Granny Chen’s family lives?”

“No rush, let’s eat first,” Liu Hu said, holding his wife’s wrist, “Are you tired from the walk?”

“I am,” Song Tingzhu replied with a smile, “Then I’ll listen to you and rest before we go.”

“Uncle and Aunt are back~”

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Xia Ge’er ran into their arms.

Liu Hu picked up the little guy, “Don’t bother your uncle, let him hold you.”

Xia Ge’er pouted, “I won’t bother Uncle.”

Song Tingzhu chuckled, speaking for the little guy, “Yes, our Xia Ge’er is the most well-behaved and sensible.”

The little guy beamed at his words, reaching out to hold Song Tingzhu’s hand, “Xia Ge’er likes Uncle the most~”

Liu Xiaomei came out of the kitchen with bowls and chopsticks, exposing him, “Just now you said the same to Aunt when she played string games with you.”

“I like Aunt and Uncle, and Uncle, Grandpa and Grandma, and Great-grandparents…”

The little guy counted on his fingers, making the whole family laugh.

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Author’s Note: Here it is, here it is, as long as there’s no leave, there will be updates~ [Heart]