Chapter 45 Chapter 45 Become a Disciple

A little later, a rich aroma of meat wafted from the west room.

The aroma of meat filled the entire Yu family's home, and the people in the first and third rooms who were eating were distracted.

Especially in the eldest house, because tonight's meal was cooked by Yuqin, she had just learned how to cook, so it was good enough that she could cook it, let alone make it delicious.

Of course, it’s just cooking a pot of vegetable soup and cutting pickled cabbage into shreds. It requires very little technical skills, so there’s no question of whether it tastes good or not.

People in Qingshi Village like to cook vegetable soup in the summer. They just boil a pot of water, throw the washed vegetables into the pot, and when the vegetables are cooked, they take them out of the pot and put them in a bowl. The combination of vegetables and soup can quench your thirst.

The Yu family doesn’t even use salt.

Because salt also costs money, as long as the pickles are salty, there will be no shortage of salt.

Chen's mother and her two children all looked pale after eating.

If they were in the county town, they would not eat so little. Even if they were to cook vegetable soup, they would add a few drops of sesame oil and beat an egg to add flavor. The pickles would be cut into small pieces and fried with pork scraps. The taste was so fragrant and oily that they could eat several bowls of rice.

But in the village, the Yu family has always eaten this way.

Now Mr. Yu and his wife live with the eldest wife. With the old lady watching them, they are definitely not allowed to eat like they did in the county town. There are only vegetables and pickles, and at most a steamed egg or something, nothing more.

The aroma of the meat at this moment is so appetizing.

"Mom, I want to eat meat." Yu Jingzong complained, "I haven't had any meat for a few days since I came back."

Just by eating green vegetables and pickles, I feel like I have turned into a vegetable, and I look green and lush.

This is also the reason why he didn't want to stay in the village and wanted to go to the county town with his father.

Chen said nothing but glanced at Old Madam Yu.

Old Mrs. Yu was also absent-minded and didn't see her look, otherwise she would have been angry.

She sniffed the rich aroma of meat and muttered, "The second brother and his family are so unfilial. They didn't even serve us a bowl of meat when the family cooked it. It's true that after the family split up, they became too independent and don't know how to be filial to their elders..."

She became angrier and angrier the more she spoke. She slammed the chopsticks in her hand on the table and stood up.

"No, I have to go check it out."

But just as she stood up, she remembered something and sat down again.

Seeing that everyone in the room was looking at her, Old Lady Yu turned to Yu Qin and said, "Mother Qin, go find your second uncle and ask him what kind of meat they are eating today."

This obviously meant that Yuqin was asking him to ask for a bowl of meat.

Isn't it normal for me to ask the son who has separated from the family for a bowl of meat?

When Mr. Yu heard this, he didn't say anything, but his eating speed slowed down.

Yu Jingzong looked at his sister expectantly.

Yu Qin was stunned for a moment, then said hesitantly: "But, Li Niang seems to have not left yet..."

She didn't dare to go, for fear of being beaten by Yu Li.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Yu Jingzong also shrank back, and Chen's eyes dimmed.

Old Madam Yu knew that Yu Li had not left yet, so she did not dare to go over. She said, "Just go if she tells you to go. Can she still beat you?"

Yu Qin thought to herself, she really knows how to fight.

Yuqin had to listen to grandma's words. She had no choice but to put down her bowl and chopsticks and go to the west room.

**

The west wing only had two narrow and dim mud houses. Because of the separation, a lot of things were piled up in the house. There was no place to even step. It was naturally impossible to eat in the house.

Fortunately, at the urging of his daughters, Yu Lao Er built a simple shed and a mud stove nearby yesterday, and now the people from the second room are eating next to the shed.

Sitting on the open air, bathing in the sunset glow and feeling the evening breeze is a unique experience.

Everyone in the second house eats meat.

The meat is stewed very fragrantly. It is stewed with homemade soybean paste from the farmer, and fresh bamboo shoots, black fungus, etc. are added to it. It is soaked in gravy and looks very generous.

Yu Li brought back a lot of meat, but Yu Jin couldn't bear to eat it all at once, so he only cut one-third of it and stewed it, and marinated the rest with salt. He would make it into jar meat tomorrow. This way, it can be stored for a long time without worrying about it going bad in the hot weather.

When Yuqin came over, she saw the people from the second room eating meat with big mouthfuls, and she couldn't help swallowing her saliva secretly.

In the past, it was the people in the eldest wife's house who ate meat, especially during festivals. The meat dishes were placed in front of the people in the eldest wife's house. The people in the second wife's house were far away and could only eat pickles. They didn't dare to pick up their chopsticks, otherwise they would be scolded by the old lady.

They didn't think there was anything wrong at the time.

Now the situation has changed. The people in the second house eat meat to their heart's content, but when it is their turn, they don't even have a bite of meat to eat.

She even came to ask the second wife for meat.

Yuqin's cheeks turned red and she felt extremely embarrassed. If she hadn't been afraid of being scolded by the old lady, she would have wanted to turn around and leave.

When they saw Yuqin coming, the people in the second room paused while eating and no one spoke.

Yu Laoer and his wife are dull characters. They usually bury their heads in work and seldom communicate with others. Now that they have separated, their characters have not changed much. When they saw the niece of the eldest wife coming over, they didn't even say hello.

If the old lady were here, she would probably call them lumps of wood again.

Yu Li glanced at her and continued eating.

Yu Yin and Yu Zhu looked at their two sisters without saying anything.

In the end, it was Yu Jin who took the initiative to greet her, "Sister Qin, why are you here?"

Yuqin's eyes kept drifting to the pot of meat on the table. The meat was stewed with soybean paste and was bright red in color. It looked extremely tempting and made her even more greedy.

"Grandma, let me see what kind of meat you guys are making here..."

After hearing this, Yu Jin and others understood that they wanted to eat their flesh.

According to the rules, even though the family has separated, filial piety to the elders is still essential. Whenever a family cooks meat, some must be served to the elders to show filial piety.

Otherwise, if you eat meat but don’t offer some to your parents, you will be called unfilial.

This is the truth, but Yu Jin is really unwilling to do so.

So she said, "This meat was brought back by my sister. Are you sure grandma really wants to eat it?"

Yuqin: “…”

Yu Qin looked at Yu Li who was concentrating on eating, and saw that she didn't even look at her, as if eating was the most important thing in life.

She mustered up her courage and said, "Leave my mother..."

Yu Li looked up at her, "What's the matter?"

The person was obviously still the same person, but for some reason, Yu Qin instinctively felt a sense of fear.

Maybe it was because the scene of Yu Li forcing her father to kneel was too impressive, or maybe it was because of the horrific violence of her kicking Shi Ji to pieces, and Chen Jicheng and Yu Jingzong were both slapped away by her...

Yu Qin didn't dare to look into those eyes, feeling timid, "No, nothing, you guys eat slowly, I won't disturb you!"

Seeing Yu Qin walking quickly, the people in the second room fell silent and looked at Yu Li.

Anyone with eyes could see that Yu Qin was scared away by her.

Yu Li picked up some meat with his chopsticks and said to them, "Why are you looking at me? Eat!"

The three Yu Jin sisters listened to her and continued to eat meat happily, not caring at all about Yu Qin's coming and going, or what her coming here represented. They were even happy that they didn't have to share the meat.

It’s not that they are stingy, but they feel unhappy when they think about the past festivals when the family would slaughter chickens and pigs, but the second wife couldn’t even have a piece of meat to eat and could only gnaw on chicken bones that had been cooked countless times.

They are all members of the Yu family. Everyone else can eat it, so why can’t they eat meat?

They also wanted to pick up the meat with their chopsticks, but grandma immediately scolded them for being greedy, lazy, and only wanting to eat meat every day. Where would there be so much meat for them to eat?

Obviously there is a lot of meat...

Yu Lao Er whispered, "Li Niang, how about... sending some meat to your grandpa and grandma?"

He knew that the meat was brought back by Yu Li. In his mind, Yu Li was a married daughter, and returning to her parents' home was like being a guest. Therefore, it was not easy to give away the things she brought back casually, and that was why he did not propose to send the meat to the eldest house.

But now that Yuqin is here, shouldn’t I give her something as a gift?

Liu said nothing.

She ate her meal in silence. Although it was mixed grain rice, it was dry and tasted delicious.

Of course, this meat is more fragrant. It was brought back by her daughter. In her heart, she was actually reluctant to give it away, but she was used to silence, used to accepting everything, and didn't say anything.

Yu Li looked up at him and said calmly, "Dad, if you want to send meat over, just send it over next time you buy meat."

Yu Lao Er: “…”

Although this was his own daughter, Yu Laoer still felt inexplicably guilty and short of breath.

Finally, he lowered his head and ate silently, and no longer mentioned the matter of sending meat.

Yu Jin pursed his lips tightly and swallowed the smile that was about to come out of his mouth.

When the family was divided, she went to get the land deeds and silver money that the second branch got in person. After all, her parents didn't dare to face the angry old lady and were afraid of being scolded by her, so they asked her to go and get it.

Anyway, if the old lady dared to scold her, she would complain to her sister, so the old lady never dared to scold her again.

After getting them, Yu Jin did not give them to them, but kept them for himself.

The strange thing was that they didn't even ask her for it and tacitly agreed to let her keep it.

As a result, Yu Laoer and his wife were just like before the family split up, with no money at all, let alone buying meat. I was afraid that Mrs. Yu would never be able to eat the meat sent by her second son in her lifetime.

Yu Li turned to Yu Jin and said, "Since we have separated, it is not good to live together. Do you want to build a new house?"

The west house is too shabby to be a place to live in for a long time.

Yu Jin said, "We need to build a house, but we don't have money right now. Twenty taels of silver won't help us much. Let's wait until I make some money before we build it." Thinking of what Yu Qin had just done, she added, "But we can spend some money to build a wall here to separate it from the other side, and then open a door here. We can use this door in the future, and it won't cost much money this way."

She pointed to the shed and the courtyard wall in the past.

Seeing that she already had an idea, Yu Li nodded, "Okay, let's do it this way first."

This way, whenever the second wife eats some meat, someone from the other side will come and ask for meat, which is really annoying.

Yu Laoer and his wife listened to their eldest and second daughters discussing the house and wall building. The two spoke very naturally, as if they were the ones in charge.

The two looked at the mixed grain rice and meat in the bowl, but in the end they still said nothing.

-

On the other hand, Yu Qin didn't get any meat, so when she returned home she was naturally scolded by Old Lady Yu, who despised her for being useless.

Yuqin felt aggrieved and said, "This meat was brought back by Li Niang. If grandma wants to eat it, you can ask Li Niang for it."

Old Mrs. Yu: “…”

Old Mrs. Yu immediately became angry and pointed at her and scolded her, saying that she was disrespectful to her elders and dared to talk back.

Yu Qin had never been scolded like this before. Her eyes turned red. She suddenly stood up and ran back to her room, burying herself in the quilt and crying.

Old Madam Yu became more and more angry and cursed: "As a grandmother, how can I say anything to her? She is a daughter of a landlord, and her temper is too bad. If she gets married in the future, which mother-in-law will be able to tolerate such a small temper? No, no, this temper must be changed..."

Chen was afraid that she would really make her daughter suffer, so she quickly said, "Mother, Qin Niang just couldn't see it right away. I'll go and persuade her. She respects you, don't think too much."

She was also annoyed. The old lady herself didn't dare to offend Yu Li, so she couldn't eat the meat and could only vent her anger on her daughter.

Even though she understood it in her heart, she couldn't say it out loud and had to coax him.

After just a few days, Chen was exhausted and wanted to take the children to the county town.

Old Mrs. Yu was still unhappy and kept cursing.

Especially when he smelled the aroma of meat that was gradually fading in the air, he felt even more uncomfortable, and then he cursed even harder.

The third roommate was also eating. He had been eating without any appetite because of the aroma of the meat. He was thinking whether he should go and get some meat to stew tomorrow. But when he heard Mrs. Yu's scolding, he immediately understood.

This probably means he didn't get any meat to eat.

The people in the third house felt relieved, thinking that with Yu Lizhen in the second house, who would dare to beg for meat?

It would be better to go cut some meat and cook it yourself to satisfy your craving.

**

After having dinner at Yu's house, Yu Li helped clean up the house before leaving.

When we returned to the Fu family, it was already dark.

Zhou lit the oil lamp and sat there embroidering the table screen. Seeing her come back, she asked, "Li Niang is back. Are you hungry? Do you want me to make you something to eat?"

Before leaving, Yu Li told her that he would have dinner at the Yu family's place tonight, but Zhou was still worried that she would be hungry.

After all, she has a big appetite and I was worried that she wouldn’t have enough to eat at her parents’ home.

Yu Li said: "Mom, no need, I'm full."

Her three younger sisters are all adorable. Knowing that she has a big appetite, they are also worried that she won’t have enough to eat.

Now that they have separated, they can be the masters of the household and can cook however they want. Yu Jin cooked a big pot of mixed grain rice and let Yu Li eat as much as she wanted without being stingy at all.

So she really ate until she was 80% full tonight and was not hungry at all.

Yu Li went into the main room to pour some water. After drinking it, she sat opposite Zhou.

Zhou couldn't help but look at her.

"Mom, my third sister wants to learn embroidery. Can you teach her?" Yu Li asked straight to the point. "If you are willing, I will ask her to bring a gift to become a disciple. If you are not willing, I will ask her to go to the embroidery workshop in town to learn."

There are embroidery workshops in the town that teach women how to embroider, but you need to have connections and pay a sum of money.

Of course, they only teach simple things. After all, embroiderers make a living from this craft and they are worried that they will teach their disciples something that will starve them to death.

Zhou was just stunned for a moment, then a little amused.

She knew that Yu Li was a straightforward person and would say whatever he wanted to say. It was very comfortable to get along with such a person, but if someone was more sensitive, they would probably feel uncomfortable.

Zhou was a gentle and kind person, always thinking the best of others. On the contrary, she liked Yu Li's personality, as she didn't have to guess and it was pleasant to get along with her.

"Let her come over. There's no need for any apprenticeship gift." Zhou said gently, "When I was learning embroidery, I didn't give any apprenticeship gift. The embroiderer taught me out of pity for me. She said that it's not easy for girls to survive in this world. If you have a skill, you can have more ways to make a living..."

I don't know what she was thinking about, but a sad look appeared on her face.

Zhou never thought of hiding her craft. If someone wanted to learn it, she would be willing to teach.

In fact, she was willing to teach the girls in the village how to embroider, but...

She sighed in her heart. Qingshi Village was very remote, far away from the capital. Life here was peaceful and comfortable, but she still didn't dare to do anything to attract attention.

Yu Li looked at her quietly without saying anything.

Zhou quickly came back to her senses and smiled at her, "You can ask your sister to come over tomorrow."

Yu Li nodded, "Thank you, mother."

"Why thank you?" Zhou didn't care. "I am still happy to teach your sister. I have seen your third sister's embroidery work. She is very thoughtful and the colors are well matched. This alone proves that she has a talent for embroidery."

She actually had high hopes for Yu Yin, but she had no relationship with the Yu family before, and with the situation of the second branch of the Yu family, it was hard for her to say anything.

Now that Yu Yin wants to learn embroidery from her, she will definitely be willing to teach.

There is also the relationship with Yu Li, which requires even more teaching.

That's settled.

The next day, Yu Li came back from the county town and brought Yu Yin to see Zhou, and asked Yu Yin to give a gift as a disciple. Although Zhou said it was not necessary, Yu Li and Yu Yin insisted and felt that the gift must be given.

For this reason, Yu Yin gave the two taels of silver that the third house returned to her to Yu Li, asking her to help buy the gift for becoming a disciple.

Of course, there was no need for so much silver to buy gifts. Only half a string of silver was spent. Yu Li asked Yu Yin to keep the rest and asked her to pay more attention if anything happened to Zhou in the future.

People of this era attach great importance to the master-disciple relationship, which can be said to be half a child-child relationship.

Yu Yin learned embroidery from Zhou and was nominally Zhou's apprentice.

Knowing that Yu Yin wanted to learn embroidery from Zhou, the people in the second house were naturally happy. Even Yu Laoer and Liu couldn't help showing their joy.

This is a craft. Not only can you make money, but if you have this skill, you will have more options when looking for someone in the future. After you get married, your husband's family will also look at you with more respect.

-

When Yu Yin was learning embroidery from Zhou, Zhou's desk screen was finally finished.

Not only her desk screen, but Fu Wenxiao's book was also copied.

Now that Yu Li was working in the county town, she had to go back and forth every day, so Zhou gave her the table screen she had made and asked her to help take it to the embroidery shop to sell it.

She spent half a month embroidering this table screen, putting a lot of thought into it.

The main reason was that Fu Wenxiao had been in good health for the past half month, so she didn't have to worry about him. With Yu Li helping with the housework, she could lend a hand if there was anything going on at home.

As Zhou became more and more frugal, she spent more time embroidering the table screen. At the same time, she also wanted to earn more money. The family could not rely solely on Yu Li to earn money, and she was worried that she would be tired.

In the evening, Fu Wenxiao handed her the book he had copied and asked her to take it to the study in the county town the next day.

Yu Li wrapped the schoolbook with cloth and put it in the backpack together with Zhou's desk screen.

She had no hope for how much money Fu Wenxiao could make from copying books, thinking that he copied them despite his illness, so she had to encourage him no matter how much money he made.

It's better than the three scholars in the Yu family who never thought of copying books to make money to share the family burden.

When Boss Yu was studying, he turned a deaf ear to the world outside the window and focused on reading books of sages. He never brought a penny home.

After failing the examination for the title of a scholar several times, he finally gave up and went to work as an accountant in a rice shop in the county town. Only then was he able to take some money home.

After finishing work the next day, Yu Li went to Jinhua Embroidery Shop first.

When Yu Li walked in, the shop assistant at Jinhua Embroidery Shop saw her and his eyes widened.

He still remembered the last time Yu Li beat someone in the embroidery shop. The memory was so vivid that he couldn't help feeling a little afraid when he saw her again.

This girl was so majestic when she beat people. Look at the boy who was beaten, his face was swollen like a bun. It must have been so painful.

But it was that guy who started the trouble first, so he deserved to be beaten. Even if I report to the police, he would ignore me.

Of course, it is rare to sue the government after being slapped. After all, ordinary people these days rarely dare to deal with the government, and rarely would they sue the government unless they have no other choice.

The shop assistant welcomed Yu Li in, and when he learned that she was there to sell embroidery work, he quickly handed her over to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper was calm and asked her when he saw her, "Why are you here, young lady? Has your mother-in-law finished embroidering the table screen?"

Rather than Yu Li beating people, he remembered more that Yu Li's mother-in-law, Zhou, had excellent embroidery skills and was waiting for the table screen embroidered by Zhou.

Yu Li took the table screen out of the backpack and asked the shopkeeper to check it.

After the shopkeeper saw it, he was very satisfied and said, "I will offer six taels of silver for this table screen. If your mother-in-law has time in the future, ask her to embroider more."

He also had some discerning eyes. The more he looked at the exquisite embroidery technique, the more he felt it resembled the techniques in the capital, and not those here. He couldn't help but wonder if the girl's mother-in-law had been to the capital before and learned from the embroiderers there.

Yu Li didn't expect that there was one more tael than the expected five taels, so he couldn't help but look at him in surprise.

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This table screen is very well embroidered, and the price is reasonable."

Such a table screen, if sold in the city, can be sold for twenty or thirty taels, which is several times the price. Of course, there is no need to tell her about this, otherwise if the girl knows, it will be bad if she is unwilling to sell the table screen.

Yu Li got six taels of silver, and then bought some material and embroidery thread.

The shopkeeper was very generous and only charged her the purchase price, and even gave her a lot of cloth for free. These cloths were also good things for poor families, and usually they had to be bought with money. Now the shopkeeper gave them to her as a bonus.

After leaving the embroidery shop, Yu Li went to the study in the county town.

There are several study rooms in the county town. The one she is going to is called "Jinxian Study Room", which sounds very grand.