For dinner, Qin Yao made boiled taro.
Although she brought back two bags full of taro, there are five mouths to feed in the house, and each is as hungry as a ghost. Around fifty pounds of taro were eaten in two meals, and surprisingly, only half is left.
Qin Yao restrained herself, not daring to eat too much; otherwise, with her eating till she's eighty percent full, half might not have been left.
Having eaten their fill, Da Lang and the others found out there was only a little food left, feeling somewhat regretful for not holding back.
Qin Yao didn't think too much of it; there are still plenty of taros in the mountains, and if all are dug up, they should last a month.
In the short term, she doesn't have to worry about starving.
But the taros can't be stored under current temperature and humidity conditions; she can only dig them up as needed.
Qin Yao is relieved that no one eats them here; otherwise, this free food supply would be a bust.
At night, Qin Yao, after eating and drinking her fill, started crafting straw sandals by the torchlight.
At first, she was a bit clumsy, but once she got the hang of it, her hands moved quickly.
The Dragon and Phoenix twins yawned repeatedly, and Qin Yao told them to go to sleep, but they refused, eagerly watching the straw sandals in her hands, waiting to wear new shoes.
Qin Yao felt both tenderness and helplessness, letting them be.
The villagers here have no nightlife whatsoever; to save lighting costs, they sleep once it's dark.
Liu Ji's family lives in a remote area, surrounded by silence, only sporadic wild animal calls from the mountains could be heard.
Perhaps influenced by this atmosphere, Da Lang and Second Lang suddenly thought of their irresponsible father who was carried away by someone, and timidly glanced at Qin Yao, wanting to speak but hesitating.
Finally, Da Lang couldn't resist and was about to ask Qin Yao when they could redeem their father, when Qin Yao finished the first pair of straw shoes and handed them to him.
"Respect your elders, this pair is for Da Lang first." Qin Yao, having said that, picked up the straw rope and continued to weave the second pair.
She was quite tired this day; she planned to rest after finishing a pair for herself.
Da Lang swallowed back his question, yet seeing the tightly woven, sturdy and comfortable straw sandals, he excitedly picked them up from the table, measuring them beside his feet under his sibling's envious gazes.
It was unclear if it was intentional or not, but the size was just right.
These were thong sandals, although nowhere near cloth shoes, they were already the best for Da Lang who had nearly no shoes to wear.
He picked up the sandals, looked at them again and again, and finally held them cherished in his arms, planning to wear them after washing his feet clean tomorrow.
Although Second Lang and the two siblings were envious, knowing they would each get a pair, they patiently waited.
Unfortunately, Qin Yao only made two pairs tonight.
The three siblings regrettably went back to their rooms to sleep, looking forward to tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Qin Yao put on new straw sandals, ate two leftover boiled taros from yesterday, and then went out with a hoe.
Liu Da Lang woke up by the noise of her getting up, wanting to go with her, but Qin Yao refused.
She was quicker by herself; if Liu Da Lang followed, she'd have to divert her energy to take care of him.
Qin Yao went and returned early, digging up two bags of taros and came back.
Her current goal is to quickly nurture her body back to health; the wild animals in the mountains are let off for now. Once her body recovers and her equipment is ready, she'll deal with them later.
So after digging enough taros for three days, she decisively descended the mountain.
After all, health is the capital for revolution; she must not overstrain her body just yet.
The children at home had already prepared breakfast and waited for her return to start eating.
This was indeed unexpected for Qin Yao; she didn't anticipate that the four siblings would make breakfast and wait for her.
Perhaps because she brought back the food, it was defaulted that she had the distribution rights.
The leftover taro from yesterday was boiled in half, approximately eight or nine pounds; Qin Yao divided the majority, the four children were divided according to their appetite.
Si Niang clung to Mother, occasionally feeding her a bite.
Qin Yao took a small bite meaningfully, making the little girl smile so widely her eyes curved, her head snuggling against her back, happily nibbling on the sweet, glutinous taro.
After breakfast, under the three children's expectant gazes, Qin Yao picked up the straw rope and started her day's work.
This time, with more time, she completed three small pairs of straw sandals in a day, and even made an extra pair in adult size.
The children carefully washed their feet clean, changed into new shoes, and walked around the courtyard with satisfaction.
In their eyes looking at Qin Yao, the stepmother, there unconsciously emerged a kind warmth they themselves hadn't realized.
Second Lang walked with new shoes over, and looking at the extra pair of straw sandals, tentatively asked:
"Auntie, can I take this pair of shoes to the village to sell them?"
Qin Yao's first reaction was surprise, "These can be sold?"
Second Lang also wasn't sure, but he wanted to try, "Even if they can't be sold for money, exchanging them for some vegetables for the family is still good."
Qin Yao didn't expect this kid to have such business acumen, or perhaps poverty compelled them to learn survival skills early.
Qin Yao nodded and agreed.
Second Lang joyfully called his elder brother and the Dragon and Phoenix twins, and the four siblings cautiously carried the pair of straw sandals and walked towards the busiest well in the village.
The water tank at home was empty again, so Qin Yao picked up the lonely bucket in the corner, locked the door, and followed behind the four siblings, incidentally fetching a bucket of water.
She didn't have any expectations that they would sell the straw sandals, but didn't interfere, instead quietly observing.
Unexpectedly, after Second Lang called out, some people actually gathered to look at the straw sandals, and after some bargaining, exchanged them for a bunch of greens and a gourd.
The four siblings were overjoyed and hurriedly carried the traded vegetables to Qin Yao to claim credit.
Qin Yao smilingly gave the four a thumbs-up, looking at the back of the woman who traded them for the sandals, an idea formed in her mind.
Perhaps she could make more straw sandals and trade them with the villagers for some living supplies.
Things like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, pots, and pans, farm-grown vegetables — they might have extras, and she desperately needed them.
The poverty of Liu Ji's family, Qin Yao had vented enough about yesterday.
The whole house couldn't put together five complete sets of bowls and chopsticks, there was only one bucket for drawing water, the water tank was tiny beyond belief, she had to fetch water four or five times a day to have enough, which was very time-consuming.
"Let's set a small goal first, exchange for a wooden bucket and a carrying pole."
In the early morning, Qin Yao stood with her hands behind her back, delivering a speech in front of the four siblings, looking very much like a military training instructor.
Da Lang and Second Lang nodded solemnly, full of vigor.
The Dragon and Phoenix twins, still young, followed suit, nodding their little heads with a serious demeanor.
Qin Yao curved her lips into a smile, looking at Da Lang and Second Lang, "Let's borrow some straw from your grandfather's field, when we earn some money, we'll pay back the capital, what do you think?"
The brothers exchanged a glance, didn't hesitate at all, and turned to run towards Old Liu's field.
A family of five, with clearly defined roles.
Da Lang and Second Lang were responsible for transporting the raw materials, Sanlang and Si Niang handled the preprocessing, and Qin Yao was responsible for twisting straw ropes.
In less than a day, the yard in front of the house had a large roll of straw rope piled up, enough to make at least ten pairs of straw sandals.
By sunset, Da Lang and Second Lang returned breathlessly empty-handed to report: "Auntie, all the straw in the field has been transported!"
Qin Yao looked at the large roll of straw rope beside her, then at the pile of straw inside the house, nodded, relieved them of their transport duty and reallocated them to the straw rope guiding team, aiming to get the first batch of straw sandals ready by tomorrow morning!