pastoral life

The fact that Xue Gui came to the door that day reminded Mingzhu that maybe Xue Mingzhu really had such a thing as a jade ring before she crossed over, otherwise Xue Gui would not have come to the door and wanted the jade ring very clearly, but I don't know that this thing is for the former Mingzhu hid it by herself, or asked Xue Da, the Zhao family, to search for it.

That's it.

Anyway, it's useless to think about things that shouldn't be his now, so it's better to think about the present moment.

That day, Mingzhu tried to make a cold cake, although the temperature of the water tank was not low enough, it was finally done. She took out a small bowl and filled a bowl with the boiled brown sugar water. , both adults and children love to eat, especially when they go home after a busy day to spend summer.Wang Xiaohu just watched and couldn't taste it, and when he was really slanderous, he watched Mingzhu eagerly and followed him everywhere. Seeing how pitiful he was, Mingzhu poured less brown sugar water and gave him a small bowl.

"Go and brush my teeth immediately after eating, and if I catch you secretly asking others for candy, do you think I will spare you?"

Mingzhu patted Xiaohu on the forehead, and the latter happily ran to the next door with a bowl in his hand to show off. Mingzhu looked at the boy's back and was very happy. It was only when Wang Xiaohu turned out of the yard that he couldn't see him, then he remembered that he hadn't given it to Jiang. The family sent some to try something new, thinking of this pearl, he turned around and brought a pot, and asked Wang Dahe to bring brown sugar water to visit Aunt Jiang's house together.

"Mingzhu, what delicious food did you get?"

Uncle Jiang was walking back with a hoe on his shoulder, so he saw Mingzhu leading a few children standing at the door of his house.

"Tossed some summer things, Xiaohu and the others love to eat them, I think your family's little ones should also like it, no, I will give it to your family to taste, and I will send some later if they are happy. Come."

"Oh, you kid, tsk tsk, why didn't you see this good craftsmanship when you were young, walk around, old man, I'm thirsty, it just so happens that you are happy to bring me something to drink."

Uncle Jiang has been eating the food Mingzhu sent over recently, the old man likes sweets, and the things Mingzhu sent are just to his taste, and now it is even more rare to see fresh ones.

After entering the house, the children from the Jiang family and the Wang family had already surrounded Aunt Jiang and clamored for bowls and chopsticks. The aunt laughed and cursed and went to get the things cheerfully. Mingzhu just took advantage of the time Putting things on the table, reddish-brown translucent brown sugar water was placed next to Bai Shengsheng's cold cake. The contrast of light and dark made people feel much cooler at first glance.

"Why didn't your Chuanzi come here?"

Mingzhu returned while helping the auntie to serve cold cakes,

"Seeing that Qiu Wei is coming, isn't it? Although I didn't think about it this time, Mingchuan still reads more books, otherwise I won't get anything in the end, and I won't even practice my hands."

Uncle Jiang nodded, touched the tobacco rod on his waist to light some dry tobacco, Xiaoxi saw it with sharp eyes and hurried over to grab it.The little girl didn't like the smell, and every time he saw Uncle Jiang smoking, he either hid away or came to grab the cigarette stick, and the uncle formed a habit of taking out the cigarette stick to tease her every time he saw her. The old and the young ones robbed me and hid for a long time, and finally ended up with Xiaoxi snatching the cigarette pole and putting it under the bed to hide. Mingzhu didn't stop watching it, she just smiled and called:

"Eat it quickly. It's just taken out of the water tank and it's freezing. It won't taste as good if it's slower."

It is said that everyone in this room eats around a small square table, and stands when the stool can’t fit, or just takes the bowl and squats on the threshold, the posture of eating can be varied and varied, There is no etiquette, it is all the way life should be.

"Mingzhu, come outside, let me tell you something."

After eating, Mingzhu wanted to help clean up the bowls and chopsticks, but Uncle Jiang called him to go out to talk, so Mrs. Jiang cleaned up alone. Wang Dahe was the oldest and always wanted to be more sensible. Seeing the situation, he hurriedly helped pass the bowls and chopsticks. The aunt kept praising him.

There was still some light in the yard and the road could barely be seen, Mingzhu wiped her hands and followed the uncle until she sat down on the bench in the center of the courtyard.The old man took out the tobacco leaf and smelled it, then touched the belt with his hand and missed it, and then realized that the tobacco rod was still hidden under the bed, so he simply withdrew his hand and endured it for a while.

"Mingzhu, you may not have much impression of the Xue family in Zhaojia Village. When your parents were around, you seldom moved around, but because of your aunt's relationship, I have come into contact with the old man a few times."

The old man put his hands on his knees, probably thinking about whether it is appropriate to talk about the Xue family in front of Mingzhu.

"Master, I'm not afraid of your complaints. The Xue family has a lot of troubles, so it's inevitable that some people with small vision will be greedy for cheap. Otherwise, your father would not have moved to Chuanshandang and stopped contacting people for more than ten years. It's not that the uncle is too thoughtful, really. It's that family that's hard to deal with, you have to be on guard in the future, Xue Gui's matter was supposed to come from the Xue family to test the waters, so don't worry, don't let anyone take advantage of it. "

Uncle Jiang can't go on talking about this part, after all, Mingzhu is also surnamed Xue, so if he babbles more, it will appear to be a bit alienating relatives with the same surname, and it would be a great sin to put it outside.

"Master, don't worry, I will remember it in my heart."

It's really not easy for outsiders to intervene in this matter. If Uncle Jiang didn't really feel sorry for this child, he wouldn't have told Mingzhu about it. It's a hard rule set by his ancestors not to have the same surname as Dao. It's not easy for Uncle Jiang to do this. up.Mingzhu accepts this love, but she can't help but feel a little uneasy.

In the ancient times where the surname was greater than the sky, as long as he was a descendant of the Xue family, he would not be able to compete with the Xue family. Fortunately, now that he married into the Wang family, he was regarded as a member of the Wang family. Bian should have already removed him from the genealogy and he cannot be disposed of at will, but the relationship is still there, so the Xue family can't practice it at will? The word "filial piety" alone can crush him to death.What's even more unfortunate is that he still doesn't know who are the relatives of Xue's family, and he doesn't know why those relatives came to torment him.If it is because of the ancestral Yuhuan Mingzhu, he is willing to spend money to avoid disasters, but the bad thing is that he is a half-way monk, so he doesn't know if there is such a thing.

Turning off the lights at night and curled up on the bed, Mingzhu turned over and looked at Wang Mingchuan's sleeping face. The latter seemed to have sensed something and hadn't woken up yet, so he reached out and pulled the person around him into his arms.

Pearl sighed.

If Wang Mingchuan of Qiuwei could pass the exam this time, many things would be avoided, but he had put too much energy in maintaining his livelihood and delayed his studies. Even if there is a big reason at home, it has to be weighed.

The next morning, Mingzhu went to cook with her dark circles under her eyes. He didn't dare to tell Wang Mingchuan what Uncle Jiang said last night. It can be regarded as peaceful, whether Xue's family will come to pick things up or not is up for debate.

The days of passing through Shandang still maintained the harmony of the past. Mingzhu’s cold cakes were warmly welcomed as soon as they were launched. Both Tangpinzhai and Yunlaifang said they would purchase them, and the splits were all based on thirty-seven. Need to work harder, the water tank can't meet the demand, Mingzhu simply asked someone to hang a shelf with a rope under the well, and put the cold cakes down in buckets after they were ready.There are always one or two wells around the farmyard. There is one under the citrus tree next to Wang's house, and one under the soil slope in front of Jiang's yard. There are shelves on both sides to put cold cakes into it every night, and Fang Tiezhu will drive the ox cart in the morning Then take it out and transport it to the city, and get water during the day without any delay.

The operation of Yunlaifang has been on the right track. Because it was positioned as a high-end store from the beginning, the decoration in the store is also very elegant. The nobles who come here feel that they are decent and spend money and don’t care about the extra star. Therefore, for Yunlaifang’s special food, I always order one or two of them every time I come. Many people asked me that the delicious dry cakes I ate earlier were gone. Now that the cold cakes have been launched, they just make up for the dry cakes. free time.Because it doesn't take up your stomach and relieves heat and fatigue, this cold cake sells better than dry cakes. When there are more people buying it, Yunlaifang discusses with Mingzhu to buy more, but now the production has reached the end Well, they only have a few ox carts and the weight they can pull is limited. As far as the current conditions are concerned, there is really no way to make progress.

Mingzhu stomped her feet.

Let's scale up!

There were more people who came to deliver the goods earlier, and the villagers he came into contact with gradually increased, but he was able to pass by seeing a few people with good hands and feet under the daily screening.Mingzhu didn't want to show up, so she dragged Li Sanniang and Aunt Jiang to be lobbyists, promising each of them a salary of one tael a month, and leaving in the afternoon after finishing work without delaying family affairs.This condition can be considered generous anywhere, so the other party agreed very readily, as long as they asked to bring the children of the family to work together, Mingzhu was naturally happy, after all, there were more children in the family, and the younger ones of the Wang family also had companions Son.The girl's family was led by Xiaoxi to pick leaves for copper coins, and the boy was led by Dahe to pick thorns and dragon beans on the mountain. After getting along for a long time, the children of the Wang family can get along better in the village.

There are enough manpower to make cold cakes, but the ox carts for transportation are not enough. Fang Tiezhu himself introduced two people. There was some unhappiness over there, and the two were a little embarrassed when they came over, but seeing that the Wang family treated them like ordinary people, they gradually let go.The monthly half-hanging wages are really quite a lot, and occasionally they can give some snacks to take back to their wives and children, plus Fang Tie Zhu praised the Wang family so much by the side, the two people in Xiawan also changed their image of the Wang family. Quite a few, even the family members stopped talking about the Wang family with others, which was a pleasant surprise.

Because Mrs. Jiang and the others were the first batch of veterans, they helped Mingzhu a lot on weekdays and took care of the newbies, so Mingzhu insisted on giving them a raise. In the end, Mrs. Jiang and Sanniang gave them two Two, Fang Tiezhu also paid one tael per month, but he still said that he was paid the same as ordinary people.

The small business grew slowly like this, and the money in hand increased again. This time, it was directly full of five earthen pots. Mingzhu asked Wang Mingchuan and Fang Tiezhu to accompany him to several banks with trepidation to deposit them separately. , until the bank note was wrapped in oiled paper and stuffed at the bottom of the box.

However, Mingzhu later found out that he was not at ease when Nima was exchanged for bank notes.

The direct result is that Wang Mingchuan has started to worry again in the past few days. Instead of getting up at night and looking under the bed to look at the earthen jar, his wife just turned over and got out of bed and ran to rummage through the box. Turn out the bank notes one by one and count to eight before giving up.Mingzhu also knew what was wrong with her, so she reviewed and made sure, but at night, she still counted the bank notes unshakably. Seeing Mingzhu's increasingly fragile nerves, Wang Mingchuan felt heartbroken, and finally held Mingzhu down again, not wanting him to do it again. Go rummage.

"Mingzhu, can we discuss something?"

"Buy land again, can we plant it?"

"No."

Wang Mingchuan lowered his head and pecked lightly on Mingzhu's lips.

"Let's raise some dogs to guard the gate."