Zhen Lian of the Red Chamber

Ten or so days passed like this, except for Li Laosan who went out to purchase a few times, the rest of the time they stayed in the house and did not see them interacting with anyone.

Zhen Lian was assigned to do housework every day, plus take care of the horse.

When I wake up in the morning, I have to clean the table and sweep the floor, and then wash the vegetables, wash the dishes and light the fire.Mrs. Li also gave her a small hoe and asked her to turn over the vegetable patch in the yard again and sow some seeds.But she basks in the sun every day in the yard, pointing at Zhen Lian and saying that this is not clean and that it is not turned over.

Zhen Lian watched as her soft and fleshy hands gradually disappeared. The hands in front of her eyes became much thicker. They were no longer white, tender and cute. They became rough and even touched her face.

But thinking of their plan and her own plan, Zhen Lian stopped resisting.Now that I have only done this for a few days, my strength has grown a lot. It seems that my body still needs to be exercised. Otherwise, if they make themselves Miss Jiao and pant after walking three steps, they will not be able to run fast if they have a chance!

That day after Zhen Lian finished feeding the horses, she heard a knock on the door.Mrs. Li heard that she walked out of the kitchen, looked outside the door, and heard that she was still knocking on the door, then turned to look at Li Laosan, and asked, "Do you know who it is?"

Li Laosan also shook his head in doubt, "I don't know, go and open the door! Check the situation." He went down the steps and walked in front of Zhen Lian and said, "Go in!"

Zhen Lian put down the barrel and walked slowly into the kitchen step by step.There was also a small window in the kitchen, so Zhen Lian leaned over the window and peeked out quietly.

Mrs. Li took a few steps to the gate of the courtyard and asked loudly, "Who are you?"

A female voice came from outside the door: "I am the neighbor on the right of your house. My kitchen knife broke just now. I want to ask if you still use it? If you don't use it, can you lend it to me!"

Mrs. Li listened and opened the door.Standing outside was a woman in her forties.

When the woman saw Mrs. Li, she quickly raised a smile and said, "Excuse me, my surname is Wang, and my husband's family name is Ma. Everyone calls me Mrs. Ma." Then she pointed to Mrs. Li with her hand and said, "That's my home! I don't know you How to call it?"

Mrs. Li heard this and said, "My husband's family name is Li."

The old woman said: "Now that we are neighbors, we will have a long relationship in the future. I saw that you are younger than me, so I asked you to call you a sister!"

Seeing that she is so enthusiastic, Mrs. Li couldn't say anything, so she also called her sister.

The mother-in-law's family has lived here for several generations. Although the family is not rich, they can still get by.Mrs. Ma is a person who likes to gossip through the streets and alleys the most. There is nothing going on around here that she doesn't know.

Seeing Li Laosan and the others moved in, I had long wanted to come over to see what happened.Only Li Laosan's family didn't go out very much, and they didn't communicate with the neighbors, so they found an excuse to come here today.

The old woman Ma went on to gossip again, and she felt that she had made enough inquiries.Then he said: "I really need it urgently now, and the man at home is not at home, and we don't know how to do it. It is inconvenient for my daughter-in-law to have a big belly, and I have to take care of her at home, so I can't take it for repairs. That's why I said it shamelessly." open the door!"

After listening to Mrs. Li, she thought that she had already cut the vegetables, and she would not use them for the time being.

Then he said to Li Laosan: "Old man, go and get the kitchen knife!" Li Laosan took the kitchen knife and gave it to Mrs. Ma, who took it with a happy face and said, "Thank you, sister! I will send it back as soon as I finish using it!" Then Thank you and leave.

Seeing her leaving, Zhen Lian closed the door and walked towards the kitchen. She hurriedly ran to the stove to light a fire, looking serious.

Mrs. Li went into the kitchen to wash the rice and put it in the pot. When the rice was cooked, she put it in a round clay pot and covered it.Cooked the dishes again and called Li Laosan to eat.

The daily dishes are vegetarian, even if there is meat, it is still fat. As a carnivore who only likes to eat lean meat, it is enough to eat vegetarian every day!

Zhen Lian ate in small mouthfuls, she didn't have much appetite, she ate a few mouthfuls to fill her stomach and stopped eating.

After eating and washing the dishes, Mrs. Ma also brought back a kitchen knife.

In the next few days, Mrs. Ma came to visit again several times, and Mrs. Li also wanted to hear some news from her, so she invited her in to talk.

This time Mrs. Li didn't tell Zhen Lian to stay away, so Zhen Lian was still outside.Seeing Zhen Lian, Mrs. Ma asked, "Is this your granddaughter? She looks so neat!" She greeted Zhen Lian to go over, and when Zhen Lian passed, she looked at her whole body for a moment, and asked Zhen Lian with a smile: "How old are you? What's your name?"

Afraid of Zhen Lian's nonsense, Mrs. Li immediately replied: "I'm four years old, and my baby name is Lian'er. She's the most mischievous. You'll know when you see her."

When Zhen Lian heard it, she knew that Mrs. Li was telling others about her naughty temper. If she said too much, people would believe it!

He really didn't create a chance for himself to escape at all!

Zhen Lian really didn't intend to run away now, since she was still young, even if she had the chance to escape, everything was still unknown, she was afraid that she would escape from the wolf's den and enter the tiger's den.

Mrs. Ma patted Zhen Lian's hand, smiled and sighed to Mrs. Li, "You are still lucky. The granddaughter looks so iconic, and she is filial and capable. If I have a grandson, I will definitely come to ask for it."

Mrs. Li hurriedly comforted: "Isn't your daughter-in-law going to give birth soon, and she will definitely give you a big fat grandson!"

After hearing this, Mrs. Ma laughed proudly and said: "When she was first pregnant, she liked to eat sour food, and she could eat sour food with relish. I felt a toothache when I saw it. When she was pregnant, her stomach was pointed. , people say that this baby must be a boy, and now you say the same, then it must be!"

He also said that Mrs. Li's family must be invited to Xisanmanyue, and Mrs. Li agreed.

The two talked about the family on the left of Mrs. Li.There is a young widow living in that house. Her husband's family name is Zhang, and everyone calls her Mrs. Zhang.Her husband was a scholar, and died of illness a few years ago, leaving only a few acres of land to live on.Zhang Xiucai also has no parents or brothers, only one sister, who married Zhang Xiucai's good friend Zhou Xiucai.

This lady also has a hard life. Fortunately, she still has a son, who is only seven years old, well-behaved and filial, and can already read and write!He looks so smart, and now he is studying at Zhou Xiucai a few blocks away, so he will be able to support his family in a few years!

Mrs. Zhang became interested, and after talking about the Zhang family, she went on to talk about the family opposite the Li family.There is nothing special about it, except that the houses on the opposite side are all one family, and the four families are brothers, also surnamed Li.The family is prosperous, and each of the four brothers has three or four children.The house opposite Mrs. Li is Mrs. Li.

In the afternoon, Mrs. Ma bid farewell and left.Zhen Lian also got some news from it, but it was useless. Zhen Lian was disappointed and helpless!

That day Zhen Lian was lying down after washing, when she vaguely heard a woman's shrill cry, each sound getting worse and worse.The silence of the night made the sound even more terrifying!

Could it be that something big happened?There was no movement of other people.

Zhen Lian sat up and listened carefully, but she couldn't hear clearly, she lifted the quilt and got out of bed, walked to the window, and listened at the window, the sound got louder, but still couldn't hear other sounds.

The woman yelled so loudly that Li Laosan and his wife must have heard them, but they didn't see them getting up. Zhen Lian thought about it, then went back to bed and lay down, and fell asleep after a while.

In the middle of the night, Zhen Lian was awakened by the sound again, the sound was still ringing, but it was a little softer than before, and the sound was not as loud as before.After a while, accompanied by a shrill scream, a baby's cry of "wahwah" also came.Zhen Lian heard it in a daze, and only then did she realize that she was giving birth. She thought it was domestic violence or committing a crime before!

Early the next morning, the Li family welcomed the beaming Mrs. Ma, who entered the door with a red egg in her hand, and gave the red egg to Mrs. Li, who laughed so happily that she couldn't see her teeth, and said happily, "Sister Cheng, you Ji Yan, my daughter-in-law really gave birth to me a big fat grandson, weighing seven catties? He's fat and fat, so attractive!"

He also took out a few candies and gave them to Zhen Lian to eat.

Zhen Lian then peeled off the outer paper and took a look. It was a kind of red crispy candy with a smell of peanuts.I ate one, and it was really made of peanuts, and it was quite delicious.

Mrs. Li glanced at it and said with a smile: "I heard the sound just after I fell asleep last night. I guessed it was your house. I saw you here today, so I guessed it!" Then asked when it was activated.

"It started in the afternoon, and I hurriedly called Mrs. Wen to come, and I didn't give birth until early in the morning!"

"That's pretty fast!" Li Pozi exclaimed.

"My daughter-in-law is in good health and gave birth to another child. This one is easier. When my granddaughter was born, she stayed in the mother's womb for a full day and night before she came out!"

After finishing speaking, Mrs. Ma turned and went out, "I will stay soon, and I have to deliver red eggs! You have to come after three days!"

Mrs. Li nodded in agreement.Seeing that she went out and went home, she came back.

On the morning of the third day, Mrs. Ma's house became lively, and all relatives, friends and neighbors came to congratulate her.

Mrs. Li also packed dozens of eggs and several feet of fine cotton cloth, put them in a basket and carried them to Mrs. Ma's house, and did not come back until noon.

That day Li Laosan went out and brought back a wooden loom and a lot of cotton, linen and silk threads at noon.After the woven loom was installed in the main room, Mrs. Li took a stool and sat behind the loom, stepped on the pedals below, and quickly started weaving with the silk thread and shuttle in her hand.

After a while, the cloth was woven with the width of a palm. Zhen Lian watched the whole process, but she was still confused and didn't learn anything!It seems that I don't have this cell anymore, Zhen Lian thought indifferently.

Time flies, another month has passed, and the full moon of Mrs. Ma's grandson is coming.The full moon is much more solemn than the third day, and there are banquets and banquets.

A few days ago, Mrs. Ma and her son came to invite Li's family to attend, and Mrs. Li and his wife agreed.As long as the Li family wants to live here properly, they must go to these exchanges of human relations.

Because Li Laosan and his wife were going to Ma's house for a banquet, they were worried that Zhen Lian would be alone at home, so Zhen Lian was able to go out with her.