Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 12: It’s a Good Thing They Don’t Eat All the Shrimp in the Sea

Chapter 12: It’s a Good Thing They Don’t Eat All the Shrimp in the Sea

Chapter 11

It’s a Good Thing They Don’t Eat All the Shrimp in the Sea

The task of chopping sweet potatoes was paused as everyone gathered at the back of the house. The Tang brothers took on the duty of grilling skewered shrimp and salt-baked fish, while little Xiaolin and Hui Ning went into the kitchen to make spicy dipping sauce, boil mantis shrimp, and cook more rice due to the increase in people.

Xiaolin also taught her mother how to make a seasoning sauce from the few scallops they had collected. The scallops were chopped and fried with a little oil, then simmered with water and salt until thickened. Lacking sugar, they ended up with a saltier oyster sauce substitute.

"Mother, after we finish making the sweet potato flour, shall we go sell grilled squid in town?" Little Xiaolin clung to her mother’s leg, looking up with hopeful eyes.

"Do you want to be a little merchant, huh?" Hui Ning bent down to look into her daughter’s round face with affection.

"Yes, Mather. Xiaolin doesn’t dream of becoming rich from trading; I just don’t want to eat porridge where you can’t even see the rice grains again."

Hui Ning looked into her daughter’s pleading eyes with pain. She bent down to hug the little figure, swaying her gently from side to side.

"So, do you want to sell only grilled squid?"

"I want to sell grilled squid, grilled shrimp, and salt-baked fish too," she pondered adorably.

"And how shall we sell them, my dear? Prepare everything at home first, then set up a stall to sell?"

"We’ll order a special grill and a steel grate for grilling. Oh right, we’ll need charcoal too."

"But charcoal is very expensive, darling. Usually, only nobles or wealthy families can afford to use it."

"I know how to make charcoal!"

After finishing the conversation with her mother, the little one ran out to the backyard. She saw her uncle secretly enjoying the grilled shrimp deliciously, while her father watched, swallowing his saliva.

"Dad, won’t you try some?" The plump figure approached her father, who lifted the little girl to sit on his lap.

"Dad isn’t as gluttonous as your uncle. Let’s wait and eat with everyone," he replied, watching his brother indulge.

"Just kidding!"

Giggling, little hands covered her mouth upon seeing the gluttonous gaze of her uncle, though his hands kept peeling the shrimp nonstop.

"Actually, Father, I want to make charcoal."

"Xiaolin, making charcoal isn’t something you can just decide to do," he said, patting the small head of his daughter who looked up at him with wide eyes.

"How about this? Father knows someone who sells charcoal at a cheap price in the next town. Shall I take you there to buy some?"

"Is it expensive, Dad?" Xiaolin asked excitedly.

"He told me that a sack of low-quality charcoal costs only eighty epa."

"Great! Xiaolin wants to sell grilled squid."

Tianrong laughed until tears formed. Just for the sake of selling grilled squid, his little daughter wanted to make charcoal herself? She’s truly adorable.

"Alright, let’s finish our home chores first, then we’ll go buy the charcoal, okay?"

"Yes, please! Let’s buy a lot."

"Understood, little lady."

"Big brother, shall we go out to sea tonight? I’m already craving Xiaolin’s grilled squid," Tianchen said, dropping the shrimp shells and scooting closer to his brother.

"Let’s finish up those fifteen sacks of sweet potatoes first. Don’t be too greedy."

Xiaolin sat giggling, enjoying the sight of her uncles bickering. She thought she would have to make charcoal to grill squid for sale. Was it really necessary to invest so much just to sell grilled squid? Xiaolin was really going big.

Hui Ning and Liu Hao returned just in time for lunch. Hui Ning mentioned that in about three or four days, his friend would come to survey the area for building their house. Barely finishing his sentence, he hurried to the backyard, lured by the tantalizing aroma.

The grilled shrimp was devoured almost completely by the four men, luckily leaving some for the women and the little girl. Otherwise, Xiaolin would surely be in tears. The little girl stared at the pile of shrimp remains in front of her, bewildered.

"Tomorrow, I’ll join the shrimp catching," Liu Hao proposed after the meal, rubbing his slightly protruded belly, a sensation he was unaccustomed to. Not just feeling stuffed but even reaching fullness was a rare occurrence.

"That was just from one pool, Liuhao. If we collect from several places, we’ll surely fill many buckets," Tianchen, the glutton, said with sparkling eyes.

"Auntie, please save some for Xiaolin to sell too," the little girl pouted. Without her intervention, these people might just eat all the shrimp in the sea.

"Oh, my dear Xiaolin, we must gorge on the delicacies until we’re fed up with thinking of sharing with others," the young man teased, poking the chubby cheeks of his niece. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Hmph!" The little girl folded her arms, looking sulky. Tianchen then lifted her onto his lap.

"There are plenty more shrimp in the sea. Some days, we catch more shrimp and squid than fish for sale. Xiaolin doesn’t have to worry about not having enough to sell."

"Alright then."

"Now, gentlemen, once you’re done resting, let’s help grind the sweet potatoes," Zhang Rua approached the four men who had claimed their resting spots on the platform in front of the house.

Given the house’s small size compared to the number of people, Hui Ning spread straw mats beside the platform for the men to grind sweet potatoes. Everyone started working diligently, leaving only Xiaolin and Xiao Zhong idle.

"Let’s go for a walk, Xiao Zhong."

Moo!~

Xiao Zhong jumped out of its bed happily. It had been days since it had gone for a walk. Over the past half a month, Xiao Zhong had become significantly chubbier. Living well and exerting little effort had nearly turned it from a cow into a pig.

"Come on, Xiao Zhong," Xiaolin waved at her little friend.

Xiao Zhong frolicked around the backyard, enjoying its time on the two mu of land not entirely devoted to growing soybeans, leaving space for Xiao Zhong to graze.

The little cow grazed on the tender grass tips, its tiny tail wagging happily. Little Xiaolin sat watching Xiao Zhong from under a tree, reminiscing about the many historical novels she had read.

Most heroines in those stories were clever and knowledgeable, capable of becoming wealthy and fortunate enough to befriend high-ranking individuals. However, she personally thought that being the center of attention often came with complications in life. Thus, she decided against living that way.

She wasn’t exceptionally intelligent or creative. She was just an ordinary girl who didn’t excel academically and didn’t possess inventive thoughts. All she ever wanted was to live a peaceful life surrounded by nature, hoping her life wouldn’t encounter any chaos from now on.

Lost in her thoughts for a while, Xiaolin eventually fell asleep. When she woke up, she found herself on the platform in front of the house, her usual daytime sleeping spot, with Xiao Zhong also resting in its bed.

"Are you awake, child?"

"Mommy," she stretched out her arms before being picked up by her mother, who refreshed her with a wash.

"How did I get back?"

"Your father saw you were gone for too long and went to look for you," hearing this, she hugged her mother, nestling her chubby cheek against her mother’s slender shoulder.

"I’d like some sweets, please."

"We don’t have any sweets left at home. Shall I make you some?" Her mother gently combed through her hair, tying it into two round buns resembling steamed buns.

"Do we have any sweet potato flour and wheat flour left?"

"There should be some sweet potato flour left, and your father bought wheat flour along with fifty catties of rice recently. What do you want to make?"

"Could you steam some sweet potatoes for me, please, mommy? I want to make sweet potato treats."

"Of course, dear."

The mother and daughter headed to the kitchen. They peeled and chopped sweet potatoes for steaming. The little girl instructed her mother to prepare three small cups of wheat flour and one small cup of sweet potato flour, adding a pinch of salt. They lacked sugar because she had forgotten to ask her father to buy some. Unsure about the proportions but aware of the ingredients, she wondered if the treats would be edible.

"After the sweet potatoes are cooked, mash them well and mix with the flour," Little Xiaolin instructed.

"And then what?" Hui Ning looked at her little daughter with a smile.

"Take the mixed dough and shape it into small balls, about the size of a thumb, and then fry them."

"Perfect! We still have a lot of pork fat left from last time since we’ve only been eating grilled and steamed food." Hui Ning chuckled. Lately, the family had developed a taste for sun-dried pork and grilled fish, steamed fish.

"Sun-dried pork fried is also very delicious, Mother."

"That’s true. Everyone seems to like grilled pork so much that I never thought to fry it. Tonight, I’ll make some for us to eat."

"That would be great!"

Xiaolin happily helped her mother with the mashing and mixing of the dough. The fragrant purple sweet potato treats were brought out to the front of the house, attracting the gluttonous men of the household who quickly gathered around.

"What kind of treat is this, child?" Hui Ning was the first to inquire.

Xiaolin called it "quail egg treats." Hui Ning carefully divided some onto a plate for her mother-in-law and herself, cautioning them to be careful of the heat.

"Is this your handiwork, little Xiaolin? Then it must be delicious." Tianchen, the family glutton, was the first to pop a treat into his mouth, only to spit it out immediately because it was too hot.

"Blow on it first, Uncle!" The little girl laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.

"It’s really good, Xiaolin. Could we also sell these? We have plenty of sweet potatoes." Liuhao commented after devouring several pieces.

"These treats need a lot of oil. Do they sell pork fat in the city, Father?" Xiaolin approached her father, who was busy enjoying the treats.

"Yes, they do, but people in the city don’t usually eat it. We might get it for free."

"That would be great! But first, we need to order a stove, a grilling grid for the squid, and a small frying pan for making these treats."

"Anything for you, my little girl."

After a satisfying dinner, with the two brothers bringing home plenty of fish, Xiaolin asked her mother to prepare a spicy fish dish and fried sun-dried pork to eat with dipping sauce and fresh vegetables from the Hui Ning household. Content with a full stomach, they all had a good night’s sleep till morning.

In the morning, Xiaolin went to the city with her parents. Tianrong wanted to take his wife out for a walk in the city, while the rest stayed home to process more sweet potato flour as they still had many bags left.

The little girl, excited about the trip, sat eagerly in the cart. She had grown quite accustomed to being doted on and was thrilled about the outing. Watching others heading to the city too, she offered to buy something for her mother.

"Mother, do you want anything? I’ll buy it myself." Hui Ning, amused by her daughter’s eagerness to purchase something for her, chuckled softly and affectionately stroked her little daughter’s hair.

"I don’t need anything, darling. Weren’t you going to order a stove made?"

"Yes! I want an iron stove. Is it expensive, Father?" The little girl stood up on the cart, gripping the wooden edge, waiting for her father’s response.

"For us now, it’s not too expensive. The western part of the province has several large iron mines."

"That’s great! Then let’s go order the stove right away." Tianrong picked up his little daughter and, holding his wife’s hand, walked into the blacksmith shop. The workers rushed to welcome them warmly before inviting them into the reception room.

"What would the master like to order?" A craftsman from the shop came out to greet them after being informed by the workers.

"I would like to order a stove made of iron, a grilling grid, and an iron pan."

Master Zheng furrowed his brows at the request. He had never seen such items before. Stoves were usually made from bricks or stones, and he was unfamiliar with what a "grid" was, only somewhat recognizing what a pan was.

"Could I have some paper and a brush, Uncle?" Xiaolin looked up with her big, innocent eyes.

Zheng Luan looked down at the cute little girl with her round cheeks and felt a wave of affection. He had longed for a daughter among his three sons and was deeply moved by her presence.

"Of course, little lady. A’Jiu, prepare the materials."

"Understood."

Zheng Luan ordered a worker before turning back to the little girl, making Tianrong feel protective and lifting his daughter onto his lap. The head craftsman, realizing his over-attentiveness, pretended to sip his tea.

Once paper and a brush were ready, Xiaolin began to draw the designs she wanted. First was a long stove measuring 3 chi1 by 1 chi (1 chi is approximately 23 centimeters), and also a charcoal stove for frying treats, drawn similar to the charcoal stoves from her previous world.

Next, she designed an iron pan with a diameter of 2 chi, with handles on both sides for ease of use, and another with a handle for home use. Lastly, she sketched a grilling grid the same size as the stove but with slightly protruding handles.

Zheng Luan was astonished by the neat and orderly drawings of the plump little girl. Although not as elegant as a scholar’s, they were easy to understand. Indeed, she had practiced drawing on the ground in front of her house several times before coming.

"Uncle, can you make these?"

"Of course, little lady. How thick would you like them?"

"Both stoves should be sturdy, about as thick as my little finger. The pans should be the same, but a bit thinner than the regular pans you sell, because I want them to be lightweight and easy to handle."

"Sure thing, I’ll make them for you."

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