ATPnovel Chapter 43 Aunt Slin's Dilemma
Chapter 43 Aunt Slin's Dilemma
The eastern shore of East Lake is where Duanpo Village is located.
Aunt Silin got up before dawn today, wanting to find a good spot in the lake area at the entrance of the village.
The area at the village entrance doesn't resemble that lakeside area.
The water here is extremely deep, a still, stagnant bay with limited aquatic vegetation and even fewer fish.
Now that everyone in the village is competing in this area, Aunt Silin knows that she will have to work several times harder than before.
As she walked through the alley, the images of Roger and his two companions subconsciously came to mind.
Now everyone in the village knows that the "Three Musketeers Blacksmith Shop" is making a lot of money.
Aunt Slin also heard from her son Giss that a longsword they forged could sell for a hundred silver dinars!
This was a price she had never imagined!
I thought that a few dozen or tens of dinars would be the highest price ever, but I never expected that a sword could be this expensive!
Aunt Slin's mindset has undergone some changes. She used to get along very casually with Roger and the others.
Back then, the three boys still needed her financial support. She could step into their open doorways at any time, and even explore their inner rooms, and no one said anything to her.
But now, she felt inexplicably embarrassed to visit again... The three poor boys who used to rely on her for a living have suddenly become the richest people in the whole village!
As she walked out of the alley and onto the main road of the village, Aunt Silin glanced instinctively toward the end of the village, and that glance left her stunned.
At the entrance of the blacksmith's shop, Roger and his two companions were shirtless, with a coarse cloth on their shoulders, each carrying a huge log weighing about a hundred pounds, doing something she didn't understand.
Out of curiosity, she stopped and watched for a while. She saw the boys carrying logs, squatting down and standing up again and again.
"Are these three kids crazy? Why are they wasting their energy like this? They have so much strength they don't know what to do with it?"
She lingered for a little while longer, no more than half a minute, and the first to stop was the young man named Roger.
Roger stood the log upright on the ground, panting heavily.
The two men, Virgil and Gold, gritted their teeth and persevered, showing no intention of stopping to rest.
In the distance, Rogge clearly noticed his presence, and the boy waved and greeted him.
Aunt Silin paused for a moment, then waved in response. She stopped looking and headed towards the village entrance.
"These young people don't know how to conserve their energy! They just do these foolish things!"
Having lived most of her life, she believed that everyone's daily strength was limited; fishing required strength, and so did farming.
Effort should be spent on useful things, not on meaningless activities that are wasted.
Then she thought to herself, there must be a reason and a way for Roger and his friends to make so much money!
"Could it be that these kids are practicing some kind of skill?"
"Like what Geese told me when he came back... the kind of training they do in the militia?"
"Should I have Geese learn from him?"
Thinking that this matter would be beneficial, Aunt Slin's thoughts immediately turned to her son, Gis.
She didn't want her son to end up like her, only knowing how to farm and fish, with his harvest entirely dependent on the weather!
Aunt Silin also harbored a strong ambition, which is why she sent her son to the militia, hoping he would achieve something in the future.
In her opinion, given Gis's physique, she dared not hope to be with the lord, but if she were taken in as a personal guard by that lord, she would never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of her life.
……
As dawn broke, more and more villagers appeared along the way; she wasn't the only one who got up early.
In the past, when we met in the morning, we would usually greet each other with a smile.
But today, everyone looked solemn, their brows furrowed tightly, and even acquaintances only nodded in response.
Having lost the duel, the village's most fertile area was given up, and for those who made a living by fishing, losing the lake bay made their livelihood several times more difficult!
When Aunt Silin arrived at the shore, it was already crowded with people. Hundreds of small boats from various households were all crammed into the dock.
Aunt Slin's heart sank. The dock was bustling with people, and the once harmonious neighbors had now become competitors.
After much difficulty, they boarded their own small boat and arrived on the lake.
One network, two networks...
The sun rose from the eastern lake, climbed higher and higher, and then gradually sank in the west...
……
In the evening, on her way home, Aunt Silin shook the fish she had caught in her basket. She used to carry this basket on her back when she went home…
But today's harvest was pitifully small!
After a whole day of work, the fish we finally caught were less than a tenth of what we had earned!
This amount of fish isn't even enough for Gis to have a meal!
The villagers nearby weren't in much better shape; their sighs and groans drifted over on the wind.
"How are we supposed to live like this? The lake bay area is gone, and so many people are still fighting over the fish in this stagnant pond..."
"If we lose another forty workers next week, how will we survive?"
Hearing these sighs and lamentations, and thinking about how she would still have to pay 10% of the taxes for Gangde Village when the crops were harvested, Aunt Jis felt a deep sense of despair.
Worry about the days to come hung over Aunt Slin's heart like a dark cloud.
She somewhat regretted having spent several months' worth of dried goods to have that longsword forged at Rogge's blacksmith shop!
If Geese hadn't been given that longsword, would he have volunteered...?
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been injured so badly!
Perhaps, even a village duel wouldn't be a loss!
The village had sold out of the lake area, and her family's stock of goods had been completely depleted, catching her off guard.
But Aunt Silin is a person who is open-minded.
Gis's longsword is definitely worth more than a hundred dinars!!
"I wonder if I can still get that price if I go to the walled city..."
……
Arriving at the fork in the road leading home, I looked up and saw the blacksmith's shop at the end of the village open as usual.
Aunt Silin stopped in her tracks, hesitating whether she should take a look.
For some time now,
Carrying a basket full of fish home, she would make a detour, passing by the Three Musketeers blacksmith shop, and leave a small bowl of fresh fish in their shop as a token of her appreciation...
But now, she looked down at the basket in her hands, where only small fish and shrimp were laid at the bottom!
Aunt Slin was a little curious about what those three boys were doing at that moment.
How did they suddenly become so rich?!
She earned more money than she could ever save in a lifetime with such ease?!
Curiosity acted like a tether, and Aunt Slin unconsciously began to move forward...
The further she went, the more she smelled a rich aroma of meat, the scent becoming increasingly clear!
"It smells so good... stewed mutton? These kids are actually eating stewed mutton!"
Even though she hadn't eaten it for many years, she still vividly remembered the aroma of the mutton!
Saliva kept flowing, and she subconsciously swallowed. But Aunt Silin stopped in the shadow of the blacksmith's shop door.
Aunt Slin suddenly hesitated, considering whether to turn around and leave before they were fully visible at the door...
But it was too late!
The gap in the door panel was wide enough for light to pass through, and Roger had already noticed the familiar shadow at the doorway!
Roger whittled two chopsticks himself, and carrying his bowl, he walked and ate as he reached the door.
"Auntie Slin! What brings you here!"
Roger's exclamation startled Slin, who had her back turned.
"what!"
"I...I came to see you all!"
As Aunt Slin spoke, her gaze involuntarily locked onto the ceramic bowl that Roger was holding as she turned around!
A bowl brimming with chunks of mutton!
Pure stewed mutton, without any plant tubers or roots!
This bowl is the portion that the two of them shared when their son, Gis, was still a little boy a few years ago!
"Please come in! Please come in!"
Roger felt it was somewhat impolite to greet people while eating.
He pressed the chopsticks on the bowl with his thumb, holding it with one hand.
With his other hand, he helped Aunt Silin carry her basket and invited her inside.
Roger was slightly taken aback by how light it was.
Without giving it much thought, he greeted Aunt Silin inside as usual.
Aunt Slin entered the blacksmith's shop, and the scene before her made her eyes widen in astonishment...