42 Chapter 42: Looking for Ramie
Meanwhile, over at the Song family’s house.
As the oil in the oil lamps had been replenished at home, no one went to bed early that night.
Madam Liu and Song Yun had sold six pairs of straw sandals during the day. They were very busy now. After finishing the tasks in the kitchen, they started to weave straw sandals under the oil lamp.
Qin Xiaoyao wasn’t idle either. She teased Song Ye from time to time while she busied herself together with the mother and daughter.
!!
Now that the Chinese yams had been harvested, she felt more at ease and relaxed.
“Tomorrow, I have to go to the mountains to take a look and see if I can find some ramie.” Qin Xiaoyao mumbled as she weaved the straw sandals.
She was thinking about weaving a fishing net.
Yes, she knew how to weave a fishing net.
During the apocalypse, she learned it from an old fisherman she saved.
It was because of the fishing net she had woven that she got a chance to eat meat occasionally during the apocalypse.
If she wanted to earn money now, it wasn’t that easy to go into the mountains to hunt. Hunting for prey depended on luck.
On the other hand, she could try casting fishing nets in the river next to Brook Falls Village.
If she was lucky, she might be able to make a small fortune.
It was just that she didn’t have the materials to make a fishing net at the moment. As for the ramie thread, the ones sold in the grocery stores in town didn’t meet her requirements.
She might as well think of a way to get some ramie, make ramie-cotton thread according to her requirements, and then weave a fishing net.
Although the progress would be slower, it would result in a more useful fishing net.
After all, River Ringwaters next to Brook Falls Village was flowing all year round. It did not even freeze in winter.
If she could make a good fishing net, she could get to eat fish all year round.
Haha! Of course, for now, the main thing was to get the fish and sell them for money at Fortune Mansion.
Sigh! She could only depend on hunting and gathering in the mountains as well as fishing for the time being.
At the very least, she had to pay back the money she owed her father and not worry about her attractive husband’s medical expenses. And once she had savings in her hands, she could then think about running the buying-and-selling business.
Yes, she was talking about some big business deals…
“Ramie?” Madam Liu asked suddenly.
“Sanya, are you looking for ramie?” she asked when she saw Qin Xiaoyao looking in her direction.
“Yes, I am. I want to harvest some ramie to make ramie thread and rope,” Qin Xiaoyao replied.
“Mother, do you know where I can find ramie?”
“I do,” said Madam Liu immediately.
“There’s a mountain behind us. After you climb over it, there’s a lot of ramie at the mountainside.”
“When the villagers want to make ramie ropes, they will go there to cut the ramie and bring it back to make the ropes themselves.”
She had been there before, but her skin was too sensitive and would itch whenever she got close to that place.
She had only been there once before her husband forbade her from going there.
“Alright. Then I’ll go take a look tomorrow.” Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Then be careful. That thing can cause skin irritation. If you find that you can’t stand it, you can hire someone to help you.” Madam Liu reminded her.
The real concern was that although her daughter-in-law was fat, her skin complexion was really good.
Her skin was fair and tender, not inferior to her own skin when she was young.
“No need to trouble others, Mother. Don’t worry. I won’t take risks with my own body.” Qin Xiaoyao smiled and tugged on Madam Liu’s arm, acting like a spoiled child.
It felt good to have a loved one feeling concern for her…
As for being allergic to ramie, such worries did not exist as far as she was concerned.
After all, her body possessed a special ability.
She would not even fall sick, not to mention having skin allergies.
Furthermore, even if she were injured, she would recover very quickly.
The family chatted and spent a long time making straw sandals.
Qin Xiaoyao only urged everyone to wash up and go to bed when she felt it was getting really late.
She then went to take a bath.
When she came out of the bathroom, the moon had already risen high in the sky.
Qin Xiaoyao was about to return to her room.
To her surprise, the lights in her room were still on.
As soon as she entered the room, she saw Song Que turn over on the bed and turn his back to her.
The corners of her mouth curled up into a smile. Once again, she interpreted her husband’s reaction as being gruff on the outside but tender on the inside.
After walking to the bed, she took off her shoes and got into bed.
Then, she blew out the lights and went to sleep.
The moment the light was blown out, Song Que’s eyes darkened.
This woman was really not going to talk to him?
Hmph! If she didn’t want to talk, then so be it! It was best if she held her peace forever and keep holding it until she suffocated to death!
...
The next day, before Qin Xiaoyao left the house, Big Girl Li arrived.
She carried a bamboo basket backpack on her back, in which there was a sickle and a small hoe.
After Qin Xiaoyao explained to Big Girl Li what she was going to do for the day, she took the hemp rope, carrying pole and sickle, and went into the mountain.
On the way there, Big Girl Li told Qin Xiaoyao about what she had discussed with her in-laws last night.
“Daniu has already set off for the town. If everything goes well, he will go to work directly. He can only come back once every ten days.” When she said this, Big Girl Li’s expression became a little downcast.
She had only been married to Daniu for a month, and now they had to live separately for a long time.
Qin Xiaoyao glanced at Big Girl Li.
“What’s the problem? If he can’t come back often in the future, you can go and look for him.”
“Once we’ve gotten our hands on something, we’ll have more opportunities to go to town in the future.”
Big Girl Li was surprised, and then her eyes suddenly lit up.
“Oh yes! I have totally forgotten about this!”
...
Then, she seemed to recall something.
“You just said that we’ll go into the mountains to cut the ramie. Can we eat ramie?” Big Girl Li looked at Qin Xiaoyao with skepticism.
She didn’t think that ramie was edible, but when she thought of the Chinese yam that looked like a stick of firewood, she wasn’t sure anymore.
Qin Xiaoyao was amused.
“Why do you think of eating everything? You don’t cut the ramie for food.”
“It’s to make ramie rope and ramie thread so that I can weave a fishing net.”
Big Girl Li was astounded.
Only then did she remember that Qin Xiaoyao had mentioned that she wanted to go fishing in River Ringwaters.
“You… know how to weave a fishing net?” Big Girl Li looked at Qin Xiaoyao in surprise.
A thought suddenly rose in her mind, and that was: Was there anything that Qin Sanya did not know?
“I sure do.” Qin Xiaoyao replied happily.
“I’m going to weave a bigger net to cast over half of the shallow embankment at the east end of our village.”
“When the time comes, we’ll go and pull up the net every morning and night. We should be able to get some harvests.”
Big Girl Li didn’t think that fish were that easy to catch.
However, when she thought about how it wasn’t complicated to pull in the net twice a day, she didn’t object.
“Alright, I’ll follow Sister Sanya’s instruction!” she responded.
Qin Xiaoyao saw through Big Girl Li’s mood. She smiled and said, “Blood Sisters settle accounts clearly. Since we’ve brought this up, let’s first talk about the distribution.”
“Let’s cut the ramie together and process it together. But I’m the one weaving the net, and I am the one who came up with the idea. When we catch the fish and sell it, we’ll split the money 80-20. I’ll get 80%, and you get 20%.”
“Deal!” Big Girl Li girl replied.
Anyway, she didn’t expect Qin Xiaoyao to catch that many fish.
Qin Xiaoyao smiled and continued on her way.
Soon, the two of them crossed the mountain that Madam Liu mentioned and arrived at the ramie forest.
Without another word, the two of them quickly started working.
Very soon, the two of them had harvested a large swathe of ramie.
“I’ll carry these ramie plants back first. You stay here and continue cutting,” said Qin Xiaoyao when she felt she had enough to carry and stopped cutting.