The night passed in silence.

Early the next morning, Zhenniang woke up early. Hearing the familiar knocking sounds from the water cypress at the city gate, she knew the Tiger Stove’s water would soon be boiling. She got up, dressed, and prepared to fetch hot water.

As usual, she washed up by the large vat at the kitchen door, then picked up the large copper kettle, intending to go next door to her grandparents’ place to take their copper kettle along for hot water as well.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she went over, she saw her father kneeling at their door. “Father, Mother, I’m leaving.”

“Go then, and don’t come back until you’ve made something of yourself.” The door remained tightly shut, and after a bout of coughing, Old Master Li’s hoarse voice came from within.

“Yes, I understand,” Li Jingfu responded, then shouldered his bundle and strode out of the courtyard.

Only after Li Jingfu left did the door open. Grandmother Li, and Madam Wu, supported Old Master Li as they stood in the doorway. Madam Wu complained, “You stubborn old man, Jingfu is already getting on in years. Why must you drive him away? Couldn’t he just find some work locally?”

“Cough, cough, cough…” Old Master Li coughed, and Madam Wu quickly patted his back. After catching his breath, he said, “It’s all because you spoiled him. His reputation is already ruined here locally. What work could he possibly find? If he doesn’t make something of himself now, his whole life will be wasted.”

Old Master Li’s words were followed by another bout of coughing.

“But you didn’t have to say ‘Don’t come back until you’ve made something of yourself.’ Everything’s easy at home, but life outside is full of difficulties. Every year so many people from Huizhou go out to do business, but how many succeed? Aren’t you cutting off his path of retreat?” Madam Wu complained.

“You women know nothing with your limited vision. I deliberately cut off his retreat. He’s wasted all these years, and his spirit has been worn down. Without pushing him to the edge, how will he ever pull himself together?” Old Master Li said urgently, but speaking quickly brought on another coughing fit.

“Alright, alright, the spring morning is cold and damp. Let’s go back inside and take care of your health. We’ve already pawned our two coffin boards to help pay Zhenniang’s betrothal gift return. If anything happens to you now, we’ll just have to roll you in a mat and throw you outside the city for wild dogs,” Madam Wu sighed.

“You talk too much. Listen, don’t go spreading this around,” Old Master Li said sternly.

“Tsk, I know, I know,” Madam Wu waved her hand, then muttered, “You’ve been clever all your life but foolish this once. Do you think people won’t know just because we don’t talk about it? Jingfu’s wife isn’t stupid. She knows exactly what valuable things we own. Besides those two coffin boards, what else do we have?”

“You…” Old Master Li became agitated; this old woman always liked to argue with him.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. Let’s go back inside.” Seeing him struggling to breathe again, Madam Wu quickly rubbed his back and helped him return to the room.

Seeing this situation, Zhenniang felt it wasn’t appropriate to disturb them. She retreated, carrying her copper kettle out the door. Thinking about the coffin boards the elderly couple had mentioned, her eyes grew moist with moved gratitude. This debt of kindness for helping with the canceled engagement to the Tian family had grown quite large.

Leaving the courtyard, she followed the crowd toward the Tiger Stove, but unexpectedly saw her mother Madam Zhao standing under the eaves nearby, her eyes fixed on the distant city gate.

“Sister-in-law Jingfu, I just saw your Jingfu leaving with a bundle. Where is he going?” someone passing by asked.

“Who cares where he goes? It would save trouble if he died out there,” Madam Zhao snapped back angrily after coming to her senses.

Zhenniang’s lips curved up slightly – her mother was just putting up a tough front. Hadn’t she noticed her mother’s reddened eyes?

Madam Zhao went back inside.

At the Tiger Stove, Zhenniang helped Water Uncle with some tasks as usual, but her mind was working on other matters. Because of the Tian family incident, subtle changes were occurring in the family, and hearts were drawing closer together. However, with the elderly being elderly, the young being young, and the sick being sick, making a living was difficult. Zhenniang pondered what she could do to supplement the family income.

“Zhenniang, Zhenniang…” At that moment, a young girl holding a bundle of straw called out to her while jumping up and down at the Tiger Stove’s entrance.

“Yuejuan,” Zhenniang dusted off her hands and ran over, only to be pulled aside by the girl called Yuejuan. Sun Yuejuan was the original Zhenniang’s close friend, the daughter of the Sun family who used to live next door. Although the Sun family had moved away, Yuejuan still often came to visit her. During the time since her transmigration, Yuejuan had helped her become familiar with many situations.

“I brought the straw. Teach me how to weave that insulated bucket!” Yuejuan said.

This insulated bucket was the straw container Zhenniang’s family used for their copper kettle. In her previous life, when Li Zhen had traveled to rural areas, she had seen locals weave dense straw buckets, some shaped like pots, where they would place steel pots containing leftover food inside these straw-insulated containers, which both kept the food warm and maintained a natural ecological flavor.

Moreover, to promote tourism, those villagers developed straw weaving as an art form. Those woven straw items were quite artistic, and when painted, they were all quite beautiful. Li Zhen had been curious and learned a few techniques from the old farmers.

After migrating to this era, since there were no modern thermoses, Zhenniang noticed that the hot water fetched in the morning would quickly cool. So she wove one and wrapped it with a layer of old cotton padding. This way, the hot water from the morning would stay quite hot until evening.

When Yuejuan had come to visit a few days ago, she happened to see this and thought it was excellent, immediately saying she would get some straw and ask Zhenniang to teach her.

“Alright, let’s go to my house,” Zhenniang nodded, then returned to the Tiger Stove, picked up her copper kettle full of hot water, and led Yuejuan back home.

Zhenniang had another idea – she could sell these insulated buckets. Besides some straw, they required almost no materials, but they made daily household life much more convenient.

Of course, in reality, these wouldn’t earn much money, and in this era, household mistresses were all frugal managers. These items didn’t require much skill; anyone who saw one could learn to make it.

Still, selling a few was better than nothing – even mosquito legs count as meat.

Of course, in her heart, what Zhenniang wanted to do was make ink. After all, in modern times she had been a Li family descendant with decent ink-making skills. However, Old Master Li’s position in this trade was somewhat delicate now, and in this era, it was quite difficult for a woman to enter the ink-making industry. She would need to think it through carefully.

Soon, the two arrived at the Li house.

Seeing Zhenniang bring Sun Yuejuan in, Xihuo’er, who had been washing up by the large vat, bounded over in two steps, raising his eyes to examine the corners of their mouths mischievously.

“What are you looking at?” Zhenniang gave him a light smack on the back of his head.

“Checking if anyone’s been eating in secret,” Xihuo’er pouted.

Zhenniang couldn’t help but laugh. This was a habit from her predecessor, who loved to eat and had a bit of cleverness about her, often managing to get some treats but eating them secretly outside before coming home. After Xihuo’er caught her a few times, the little fellow had grown smart, checking every time Zhenniang returned from outside.

“You little rascal, what a habit,” Zhenniang laughed and scolded. Then she winked: “If you behave and help Second Sister with some things, Second Sister will buy you some scallion pancakes.”

With children, if you want their help, you need to offer some sweeteners.

“Really?” Xihuo’er’s eyes lit up.

Zhenniang looked around at the family members in the courtyard – some washing up, some working, some walking around – and said, “Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother, Big Brother, and Sister-in-law are all witnesses.”

“Good! Quick, what do you want me to do?” Xihuo’er was excited.

“Follow me,” Zhenniang gestured.

The three went to a corner of the courtyard, brought over small stools to sit on, and Sun Yuejuan spread out the straw.