The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 9: Egg Porridge

Chapter 9: Egg Porridge

Song Yuyan carried the rice home and put it away, then returned to the doorway. It was late, and leaving Tang Zhi, a young girl, standing alone in the dark seemed unsafe. Tang Zhi was puzzled by her return but didn’t say anything.

When Tang Haogen’s rough voice came from the alley, Song Yuyan felt relieved and went home, closing the courtyard gate.

Tang Zhi walked to Tang Haogen’s side and said, “Big Brother, is everything okay with the vegetable garden? Go rest now.”

Tang Haogen smiled and said, “Everything’s fine. Has Ye’er gone to sleep?”

“She’s asleep. Before she slept, she was still asking why Big Brother wasn’t back yet!”

“Then you should go rest too. Don’t ruin your health at such a young age.”

Song Yuyan heard the warm and caring words between the Tang siblings and felt a slight envy.

She was an only child. Though she was pampered when young, her family was strict and didn’t let her become spoiled. Her parents had high expectations for her but rarely cared about her feelings. Most of the time, she found peace only when immersed in the world of crafts or knowledge.

____

The stars shone brightly in the sky, but the Song family’s small courtyard was shrouded in darkness. Song Yuyan, relying on memory, found the little lamp oil the family had, poured it into the lamp, and lit it with a flint.

She first checked on Song Yuban and Song Yuzhuan’s sleep, then went to the kitchen to store the rice and boiled some water to wash herself.

There was no bathroom or bathtub. The original owner’s only way to bathe was to use water in a corner of the kitchen.

In summer, cold water was fine, so she washed every few days. In autumn and winter, she needed to heat water and bathed only every ten days or half a month, usually just wiping herself down.

After Song Yuyan brushed her teeth and washed, she heard the night watchman’s call. In Beijing time, it was almost one in the morning. By then, common folk were already asleep, while thieves began to stir.

Song Yuyan had no intention of getting involved. After treating a small wound on her foot, she went to sleep in the storage room next to the kitchen.

The Song family’s courtyard had two bedrooms: one next to the main hall and one next to the kitchen.

When Song Yuyan’s uncle was alive, there were three rooms. Besides the main house, the two little ones shared one room, and there was a storage room. The original owner lived in a house in the village.

After her uncle died, Aunt Wu Shi brought her to live here and made her sleep in the western storage room.

That same year, a natural disaster struck, and the western house was blown down by the wind. Aunt Wu Shi didn’t want to spend money to repair it, so she let the two little ones sleep with her and gave the kitchen-side room to the original owner, which also served as the new storage room.

After Wu Shi took the Song family’s wealth and left, the original owner didn’t bother moving to the main house. She wasn’t picky, and every time she went to the main house, she thought of Wu Shi’s face, which made her feel uneasy.

Lying on the hard bed, Song Yuyan touched the straw mat beneath her. A scene from today flashed in her mind—almost every household here wove straw mats.

Combined with the original owner’s memories, she understood. This was Cixi County, part of the coastal city Mingzhou. Mingzhou had Mingzhou Port, one of the three major foreign trade ports.

As a major port, foreign trade was thriving. Merchants from Goryeo and Japan loved buying tea, porcelain, silk, and bamboo or wood products.

Among them, Mingzhou’s straw mats, called “Ming Mats,” were a popular specialty. Many women and children wove mats in their spare time, sold them to big households, who then sold them to foreign merchants.

Though a mat earned only a few coins, it helped support the family.

The original owner had seen her mother weave Ming Mats since childhood and learned how to do it from watching in the market, but she lacked patience and never wove mats for money.

Song Yuyan was different. Her grandfather was the secretary-general of the handicraft committee, and she grew up exposed to various traditional cultures and crafts, including bamboo and straw weaving.

In a couple of days, when Aunt Fierce’s worker returned from leave, she’d need to find new work. For the family’s financial stability, she needed to explore more opportunities.

With a plan in mind, she fell asleep peacefully.

____

Meanwhile, the Tang family’s lamp was still lit. Tang Zhi mentioned Song Yuyan’s unusual behavior today to Tang Haogen, who was quite surprised.

But he was carefree and laughed, saying, “Why not believe she’s truly turned over a new leaf? She’s a Song family member and has read the sages’ books. She might slack off for a day or two, but not her whole life.”

Tang Zhi snorted, “No need to praise her. She only attended a few years of basic school. Everything she’s done these years has disgraced the sages.”

Tang Haogen said, “You know the county school is in ruins. I could study only because the Song Clan’s charity school accepted outsiders, so we can’t forget that kindness. By the way, the salt isn’t worth much, and she gave you too much money. Return some to her.”

Tang Zhi replied, “No way, Big Brother. It’s not that I’m greedy for her money, but we can’t spoil her. If I settle accounts with her today, she’ll start taking advantage tomorrow. I won’t keep the extra money, though. When she messes up again and her family can’t make ends meet, this money will come in handy.”

“Alright, you decide. Go sleep early. I’m heading to the vegetable garden.”

…

The next morning, Song Yuyan woke groggily to the sound of roosters crowing all around. Staring at the worn-out roof, she instantly became alert.

She had transmigrated yesterday, and none of this was a dream!

System: “Morning, Yam!”

Song Yuyan smiled and said, “Call me that again, try it.”

System pouted, “I’m just being friendly!”

Song Yuyan said expressionlessly, “Use a different name, and I might not mind you bringing me here without permission.”

“Big Sis Yam? Medicine? Little Yuyu?”

As if chilled by an icehouse, the system timidly changed its words: “Little Song Student.”

Compared to the previous names, this one seemed normal enough, so Song Yuyan ignored the system.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she carried a bucket to the nearest charity well to fetch water.

The so-called “charity well” was a public well dug by the government. People could fetch water for free, and it was closer and safer than the river.

The original owner had a bad reputation, evident in fetching water—neighbors in line greeted each other and helped one another, but when Song Yuyan went to fetch water, they avoided her.

Song Yuyan wasn’t one to force friendliness, so she ignored them. After several trips, she filled the household’s water jar.

By then, Song Yuban and Song Yuzhuan, the two little ones, were awake. Seeing smoke from the kitchen, they sneaked in and saw the rice in the jar. Their eyes widened.

“You don’t need to stare at me like that. I told you, I worked for Aunt Fierce, and this is what I bought with my wages.”

Song Yuban stayed silent. Song Yuzhuan sucked his fingers, eyeing the porridge in the pot.

Song Yuyan took them to brush their teeth and wash their faces. Both resisted, so she used the same scare tactic her parents used on her when young, saying bugs would grow in their teeth, crawl into their stomachs, and cause pain…

Having experienced stomachaches, the two little ones believed their past pains were due to “tooth bugs.” They brushed their teeth more diligently than anyone.

Song Yuyan went out again and bought two eggs. She cracked them into the porridge, stirred, and added a pinch of salt, making egg porridge.

With little money left, she needed to buy straw for weaving mats, so they ate simply for now.

Though simple, the taste was good, and the three siblings ate their fill.

Song Yuyan gave the two little ones safety instructions as usual, then went out again. It wasn’t time for work yet, so she headed to the straw market outside the county.

The original owner’s memories showed few markets or towns, but some places were already taking shape, like the straw market or village fairs.

To buy straw for mats, Song Yuyan had to go to these places. Mat straw grew in water-rich marshes or paddies, and some farmers harvested and sold it.

There were many types of mat straw, like rush, cattail, salt grass, and horse orchid grass.

Besides straw, she needed white hemp for the mat’s ribs. Yellow or green hemp could work, but they were less tough than white hemp.

Since Song Yuyan planned to make mat weaving a long-term business, she wouldn’t cut corners and ruin her reputation.