Chapter 47: Buy a Pig

"Mom, let me accompany my uncle. Those people can't stand seeing you doing well, and they are eager to find something to throw dirty water on you." Daya said in a deep voice.

Lu Qiniang thought for a moment and said, "That's right. I'm fine, but I'm really worried about affecting your father. He's an official after all. So, tomorrow you accompany your uncle to take a look, and come back and tell me if anything happens. Give him the five taels of silver; he earned it."

She originally wanted to return the indenture contract to Xiao Yan.

But Xiao Yan said that as a serious criminal of the court, he could not be redeemed as a slave.

Lu Qinniang could only transfer his indenture to someone else.

Lu Qiniang said, then she should take it.

"good."

But the next day, Xiao Yan said he didn't want the five taels of silver at all.

"I've been disturbing you for so many days and have caused you so much trouble. I can't ask you to pay for the money I paid for selling my body." Xiao Yan looked at Lu Qiniang with a smile on his face. "Qiniang, see you later."

He left this door today and had no intention of coming back.

Lu Qiniang watched him leave, holding five taels of silver in her hand, and stood at the door for a long time...

At noon, Daya came back.

"How is it?" Lu Qiniang asked.

"When Liu Xing heard that his uncle had come to seek refuge with him, he was extremely happy. He said that his parents had left behind an old house in Jinmafang and asked his uncle to live there first."

"Then it's not too far from our home, maybe less than two miles." Lu Qiniang asked.

"It's very close, we'll be there in a moment. I'll be back after helping my uncle clean the room. Don't worry, he'll let you rest assured."

"I didn't expect Liu Xing to be such a good person." Lu Qiniang said, "It's good that he settles down. Daya, wait until this afternoon and take Erya and Sanya with you to send him some firewood, rice, oil, salt, and other things, as well as bedding..."

She carefully considered what she needed in order for Xiao Yan to truly settle down.

"good."

So, Daya took her two younger sisters and asked Tiezhu next door to help push the cart, and they pushed a lot of things over.

Lu Qiniang moved back to her own room.

At night, when Ah Huang habitually barked in front of the kang, waiting to go to sleep, Lu Qiniang felt a sense of emptiness in her heart and scolded her with a smile, "Don't even think about coming up here again."

Zhang Heyao doesn't like dogs.

He dislikes dirt and the hair that dogs shed.

Lu Qin's mother's stomach growled.

She didn't eat dinner at night.

She was hungry, but she had to hold back.

She ran to ask Dr. Hu how to lose weight as quickly as possible.

Doctor Hu said unhappily, "Eat less!"

So now she only eats one meal a day, and at night she is so hungry that her internal organs feel like they are fighting.

But she always thought about what Grandma Sun said, about how she had embarrassed Zhang Heyao back then.

Now she understands.

She knows her shortcomings and will always work harder to do better.

If you can't avoid embarrassing him, then try to embarrass him less.

Now Lu Qiniang has no way to go out to find work every day because there are almost always people at home from morning to night.

Various neighbors, including Zhang Heyao’s classmates who hadn’t been in contact for eight hundred years, now came to visit.

Lu Qiniang was so exhausted from dealing with it every day that she finally locked the door early in the morning and went out with her daughters.

"Mom, let's go to the rouge shop." Erya suggested.

Since she knew Zhang Heyao was coming back, she didn't go to work for a single day and quit her job directly.

But she was always thinking about buying rouge.

"No." Lu Qiniang said, "I'm going to buy a pig."

"Buy pigs?" Erya looked at her in shock. "Mom, what are you thinking? My dad is a high-ranking official, and you still want to raise pigs?"

"I'm bored." Lu Qiniang said, "I've been stuck at home these past few days, talking about the same old things. I'm really fed up. I have to find something to do."

Erya: "Aren't you born to be a hard worker? You don't know how to enjoy the blessings you have. Do you want my father to make you a golden hoe so you can hoe the fields at home?"

"A golden hoe is not as useful as my iron hoe for digging the ground." Lu Qiniang snorted coldly and glared at Erya. "I admit that when I first heard the headman say that your father was an official, I couldn't keep my composure. He was too arrogant. But-"

She changed the subject and said a warning, "Even if your father becomes a high-ranking official, he will definitely be a great official. He won't take a single cent that he shouldn't take. Our family doesn't have much money, so we have to live a down-to-earth life in the future. I don't want your father to be forced to embezzle and abuse the law because he has no money in the future, and then be caught and beheaded..."

That's terrible.

Erya scoffed, "Mom, if that's what you say, who would want to be an official? Regardless of whether I'm an official or not, I still have to work at home and raise pigs. If I become an official, the family will be short of labor!"

"But there's still a salary, isn't there?" Lu Qiniang said, "But things are so expensive in the capital, and the salary for an official isn't much. It's not like you haven't been to the Zhou Mansion before. With such a large family and business, doesn't the Second Wife have to repay the loans in order to survive?"

"Besides, officials are supposed to serve the people, not get rich. Otherwise, what's the point?"

Anyway, she thought that if there was a need for money, she would make it, and she would let Zhang Heyao be incorruptible, a good official, an honest official who could not be criticized, and serve the people.

"A good reputation can't be eaten." Arya muttered.

"A good reputation can't be eaten. But people should also have ambition. If you only know how to eat, what's the difference between you and a pig?" Lu Qiniang said righteously, "Er Ya, don't act so arrogant. We will live the same way as before."

Let’s wait until Zhang Heyao comes back.

They can’t float up to the sky before people come back.

So do what you should do. If you miss the season, it will be difficult to do anything else and the whole year will be wasted.

Arya: "I really don't want to raise pigs anymore..."

"No need for you to feed her. You can learn some needlework from your eldest sister. I thought that as a daughter of an official, you will have to go out and meet people, and you can't be covered in dirt and know nothing. First learn some needlework and cultivate your temperament. Later, when your father comes back, I will see if I can hire a teacher for you. You must study, you must study..."

"I know, Mom." Erya looked unhappy.

Daya followed behind holding Sanya's hand, patiently explaining to her sister everything they encountered along the way.

The price of pork has not come down at all, and it is still about four hundred coins per head.

Lu Qiniang gritted her teeth and bought twelve.

If it were before, she wouldn't dare to leave any money in her hand.

But now, Zhang Heyao is coming back, which gives her some confidence.

Let’s buy all the pigs first. We have gathered a lot of things at home, enough to last for a few months.

She refused to accept any money given to her.

She also weighed the gifts given to her carefully and confiscated any valuable ones, but she accepted all the gifts within her daily interactions and kept a record of them.

Fourteen of her chicks hatched, and they were so cute and furry.

Lu Qiniang kept them indoors temporarily because it was too cold outside.

She warned Ah Huang not to touch them, and while feeding the chicks, she lamented, "It's a pity they haven't grown up by Qingming Festival. When your father comes back, I'll have to go out and buy chickens. He loves the chicken soup I make the most..."

Late at night, thousands of miles away, Zhang Heyao took a bowl of chicken soup from the maid and waved his hand to signal the maid to leave.

He drew aside the curtain and walked lightly into the room.

The curtain was opened and the cold wind blew in.

The charming woman leaning on the couch tilted her head and smiled at him, "Yao Lang, you're back! I've been waiting for you so long I'm almost sleepy!"