Chapter 31

Ji Jiu, who had spent 10 taels and 500 baht on just two things, felt pain all over her liver, kidneys, and stomach. She could only complain in vain about the necessary things but the price was really cruel.

 Right now there are only 19 taels left in her pocket and another 958 baht. Yesterday she bought a lot of things for the house, but she thought about making her pencils. So she went to the blacksmith shop again.

 Ji Jiu walked around and looked at the various items. She found a sharp iron handle that could pierce wood so she picked it up and inspected it. She saw that it was the right shape and size to use. Ji Jiu immediately went to buy another hammer. After getting the item, she went to calculate the money. Both of them were not very big and she only paid 1 tael of silver.

 Ji Jiu, who had received all the items, hurriedly pushed the car back home, afraid of spending too much of her own money, not enough to pay for the house first.

 It was only after noon when she arrived home. Aunt Qiao hurriedly brought warm food for Ji Jiu to eat first. She sat and ate in a good mood. Even though she had lost money, she still had delicious food to eat at her house. She was satisfied.

 Aunt Qiao and her daughter finished all the work in the house. She then asked Ji Jiu if there was anything else for them to do. Ji Jiu couldn't think of anything right now. At first, she wanted to take them both up the mountain. But in a few days the work of sowing the seeds will be finished. Ji Jiu didn't take them away yet, seeing that there was nothing to do. Aunt Qiao also brought some embroidered handkerchiefs to sell. She had some money left before her daughter got sick so she bought some cloth.

 Ji Jiu saw that the mother and son had something to do, so she went to find some hard wood at the foot of the mountain and burned it to make pencil lead. Not long after searching, he found a few pieces of wood. The jiu is cut into sections that are sized enough to be sharpened into fillings the size of the steel bar to be pierced. She dug a not-so-big hole behind the house and burned it, as she had read about from her working days. Because the size of the tree is not large In the evening, she would turn on the stove and see if it was usable or not.

 Ji Jiu then took the piece of wood that was to be used as a pencil handle and cut it into sections so that she could hold it comfortably. In this era, doing anything is difficult because the equipment is not ready. So Ji Jiu made a larger pencil than he had ever used before. She had calculated that if she drilled and hammered the wood, the wood would not split. Jiu sharpened about 15 sticks in total. With his limited woodworking skills, So she took a long time until evening.

 Aunt Qiao and Uncle Yu walked over to look at her sometimes. Seeing that she had done something they didn't understand, they didn't disturb Ji Jiu.

 Ji Jiu went to turn on the stove and saw that the pencil lead was already black. She was afraid that the ink would be brittle and would break easily if she burned it for too long, so she hurriedly put out the fire and brought up all the ink. Ji Jiu brought all the charcoal into her room first, including the 15 sticks she had sharpened. The remaining sticks she placed in the home instead Because she was afraid that Aunt Qiao would mistake it for firewood.

 Finished packing, she went to sit and eat with Aunt Qiao and Uncle Yu. She took a shower and washed her hair before going to bed. Aunt Qiao sees Ji Jiu taking a shower and is afraid that she is not clean. She hurriedly invited her daughter to take a bath before going to bed. Both mother and daughter had long noticed that Ji Jiu took a bath every evening before going to bed. They decided to follow suit. Because they had just gone through a drought, they were so used to conserving water that they forgot that they had to take a shower to clean their bodies.

 The next morning Ji Jiu woke up with two mothers and children. She was not very tired yesterday so she woke up early. Ji Jiu tells Aunt Qiao to prepare a heavy meal for breakfast. No need to save on food If they run out of ingredients, just tell them and then go buy new ones. She must eat until she's full so that she has energy and a smooth brain when working.

 Ji Jiu saw the mother and daughter busy in the kitchen. So she went to look at the herb garden and the chickens in the coop. She saw that the chickens were getting fatter. Ji Jiu planned to buy more chicken food so that she wouldn't have to buy it as often. Ah Yu liked to feed the chickens. Ji Jiu told her that there was no need to save or the chickens would be hungry. Ah Yu, who had been saving rice for the chickens, did as Ji Jiu said. She also likes fat cocks. Moreover, the boss has ordered her to do well.

 Ji Jiu finished looking around the house and walked in to eat breakfast with the mother and daughter. Not long after they were eating, the rain started pouring down without saying anything. It was good that Aunt Qiao and Uncle Yu had helped do her laundry since yesterday. Otherwise, we would have to wait for the rain to stop again before washing and drying. After eating, she proceeded to make pencils by drilling into the handles of all 15 pencils first. Then, she measured the size from the steel drill and sharpened all 15 charcoal leads. Total of 50 bars separated from charcoal The sticks she had burned were all finished and it was past noon. Ji Jiu saw that the rain didn't seem to stop so she put the finished pencil into her room first. Then he came out to eat lunch with the mother and daughter. Both of them refused to eat before her. So she didn't want to force them. They said that they usually only ate breakfast and dinner all the time, so they weren't hungry for lunch.

 As soon as the stomach skin is tight, the eyelids suddenly droop. Ji Jiu, who couldn't do anything while it was raining, went into the bedroom. Ji Jiu, mother and daughter, had nothing to do. Let them rest comfortably.