The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

They kept walking and walking all day long, and after a month, the exile team finally arrived in the north. When they arrived in the north, the weather was already very cold, with a big temperature difference between day and night. Fortunately, Xia Mianwan had prepared cotton clothes early, so no one in the Zheng family suffered from the cold.

After Zhao Erhu handed in his nameplate, the three families of Zheng, Zhang and Chu were arranged to live in Liusha Village. Liusha Village was a newly designated village in the north, inhabited by retired veterans and some exiled prisoners who had committed minor crimes.

It is no longer suitable to build a house at this time of year. You can only wait until the beginning of next spring to build a house. The village chief Liu Ruhai thought for a while and said, "The weather now is not suitable for building a house. There are four houses in the village. You can choose to rent them or buy them directly."

Old Mrs. Zheng asked, "Excuse me, village chief, are there any houses among these four that are suitable for our family of ten?"

Liu Ruhai pondered for a while and said, "The house at the end of the village has seven rooms, a kitchen, and a front and back yard. It should be enough for you to live in."

"I wonder what the rental price will be and what the selling price will be?" asked Old Mrs. Zheng.

"The rent is three hundred coins a month, and the selling price is ten taels of silver." Liu Ruhai said, stroking his beard.

Mrs. Zheng thought about it and decided that it would be better to buy it directly. This way, she wouldn’t have to build a house in the spring and could just start farming.

"Let's buy it." said Mrs. Zheng.

Liu Ruhai nodded, took the silver handed over by Zheng Xiaoqi, and then led the Zheng family to the house at the end of the village.

After seeing the house, everyone in the Zheng family was a little surprised. The house was much bigger than they imagined. The front yard and the back yard were both square, and there was a small river running through the front door. Although the house was far away from other villagers in the village, it was relatively quiet. The house was built at the beginning of the year and was originally intended for the relocated veterans to live in. However, Liusha Village was considered a relatively remote village. Those veterans had other better places to go, so they did not come to Liusha Village again. As a result, these houses were left empty.

"Village chief, thank you so much, it's very nice here!" Old Mrs. Zheng bowed to Liu Ruhai and said.

Liu Ruhai said hurriedly, "I don't deserve it. Tomorrow you can find someone and I will go with you to write the document. As for the farmland, you have seen that the harvest from the farmland in the north is very small, and there is no ready-made high-quality farmland. It is not easy to buy even if you have money. If you are willing, you can buy some wasteland and reclaim it yourself."

Zheng Xiaoqi cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your advice, Village Chief. We understand."

Liu Ruhai had a good impression of the Zheng family. After all, they had lived a life of luxury in the past, but now they had fallen into such a situation. It was really admirable that the Zheng family could still remain neither humble nor arrogant.

"You're welcome. I'll go back now. You can come to me if you have anything else."

"Thank you!"

After Liu Ruhai left, Zheng Xiaocheng also came over with his donkey. After Xia Mianwan checked every room, she said to everyone, "Grandma, mother, aunt, Lingwan, Xiaocheng each have a room, Xiaoqi and his wife have a room, and I will live in a room with Chen Ge'er and Yu Jie'er. The room on the east side is a little bigger, so I'll live there. Is this okay?"

Everyone else thought that the summer hibernation night arrangement was a good idea.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Xia Mianwan said, "Then let's clean up the house quickly during the day. I heard that the temperature difference between day and night here is very large, and it will be difficult to clean up at night."

Old Madam Zheng nodded and said, "Mianwan is right. Let's quickly clean up the house. Mianwan, you can arrange it."

Xia Mianwan checked the luggage and said, "We don't have any tools yet, so Xiaoqi and Xiaocheng should go buy some necessary tools during the day. If you don't know what to buy, go ask the village chief. Firewood is necessary, otherwise we won't be able to start a fire today."

"it is good!"

Xia Mianwan wondered what was missing, so she took out ten taels of silver and handed them to the Zheng Xiaoqi brothers, "You can use them to buy things for the family first, and we can deal with the rest after we have cleaned up the house."

Zheng Xiaoqi and Zheng Xiaocheng took the silver and drove away in the donkey cart.

"Except for grandma, Brother Chen and Sister Yu, the rest of us should clean the room and make the beds first." Xia Mianwan said.

"Then do we still have to buy bedding? Where can we find sheets and quilts?" Zhou was the first to think of this.

Xia Mianwan smiled and said, "Mom, we have all these. After we clean them up, we can just lay them out."

Seeing how meticulous Xia Mianwan was, Zhu couldn't help but praise him, "Thanks to Mianwan for doing things in a systematic way, otherwise we really wouldn't even have a clue."

After they discussed the matter, they started to take action.

Xia Mianwan handed Chen Ge'er and Yu Jie'er to Old Madam Zheng and said, "Chen Ge'er, Yu Jie'er, follow Grandma. Mother will go and clean up first."

"Yes, mother." Chen Ge'er and Yu Jie'er answered in unison. After this journey, the two children have become much more sensible.

Seeing the two little kids being so well-behaved, Xia Mianwan couldn't help but pinch their faces. Although she had provided support throughout the exile, the journey was difficult. Not to mention the two kids and old lady Zheng, even she looked pale and had lost a lot of weight. She would have to nourish herself well after settling down.

Their house is half a quarter of an hour's walk away from the nearest villager, which is really far away.

Xia Mianwan rolled up her sleeves and took a wooden bucket to the river to fetch some water. The women in the Zheng family had always lived a life of luxury and didn't know what to do for a moment. Zhou and Zhu looked at Xia Mianwan helplessly. Zhu and Zheng Lingwan were better, knowing to pick up the teapot and boil water first.

"Mother, aunt, after the water boils, you can take the cloth and wipe the room first. Then my sister-in-law and Ling Wan can help clean up the kitchen." Xia Mianwan said.

"it is good!"

With the rules in place, Zhou and Zhu knew what to do. Seeing this, Xia Mianwan quietly walked aside and simply ate instant noodles at noon.

Xia Mianwan found the iron pot unloaded from the donkey cart, boiled some hot water, and started to cook the noodles. But trouble came. Xia Mianwan had no idea what to put the noodles in, so she could only find an excuse to go to the supermarket to look for bowls and plates that could be used temporarily.

There were a lot of bowls, plates and chopsticks in the living area of ​​the supermarket. Xia Mianwan searched for a long time and finally found some bowls and plates that were antique and not so modern.

After the noodles were ready, Xia Mianwan invited everyone to the main hall to eat. Of course, there was not even a table in the main hall, so everyone just sat on the floor without paying attention.

"Mianwan, your bowls and plates are very beautiful. Where did you get them?" Zhou asked.

Xia Mianwan smiled and said, "Every time we arrive at a post station, we can receive the things Cui'er prepared for us. Isn't that enough?"

Zhou nodded and praised: "Cui'er is truly a rare loyal servant."

"Sister-in-law, this noodle is so delicious, and I've never seen it like this before. What is it?" Zheng Lingwan asked curiously as it was her first time eating instant noodles.

"Cui Er said this was brought from the Western Regions and has been preserved for a very long time. Let's try it."

"Brother Chen, Sister Yu, come to mother's side. Mother has prepared small bowls for you. You must learn to eat by yourselves from now on. Do you understand?"

"I know, mother!"