It was not until Shen Qing and Song Kaiji put clothes on her and carried her to the vicinity of the farm that Zhang Sujuan began to feel a little bit of reality.
She had only seen the house in front of her in TV dramas and some ancient towns. The blue bricks and gray tiles were arranged in an orderly manner. The memorial archway in front of the house was even more simple and solemn. A young man in ancient costume and shorts, about sixteen or seventeen years old, came out from the corner door next to her, carrying a bucket of dirty water to dump. When he saw Shen Qing, he immediately said happily, "The master is back!"
He shouted to the courtyard, and immediately two guys came out with a simple sedan chair, ready to take Zhang Sujuan from Song Kaiji's back. Zhang Sujuan felt uncomfortable: "No, no, it's only two steps away, I can walk there..." Why did she need someone to carry her? It was really hard for people in modern society to accept this!
Shen Qing looked back at the way they came. When he built the manor, he didn't know that the cave was invisible to others, so he kept it a distance away from the manor, fearing that the servants would accidentally break in. The cave was about ten minutes away from the manor, and they had to climb down from the banyan tree. Zhang Sujuan had a lame leg, so she had to be carried by Song Kaiji.
Later, the road from the village to the cave can be repaired, and a step can be built to make it convenient to go to the cave. The entire Dongshan was bought by Shen Qing. Now the villagers of Lantang Village are also accustomed to it and no longer come here.
Zhang Sujuan said she didn't want to ride in a sedan chair, so the boy handed the dirty water to the two boys and helped her in. Miao Chunlei also got the news in the yard, and came up to greet Quan Jieer, saying affectionately: "Oh, this is my in-law, I finally meet him!"
Zhang Sujuan looked at Quan Jie'er in her arms. She looked like Song Kaiji when he was a child! This must be Song Kaiji's biological child. The feeling of unreality surged again, but she was more happy and surprised. She was prepared for Song Kaiji and Shen Qing to be together without children. She said that it was fine as long as her son was happy, but in fact, she still felt a little disappointed. Now looking at Quan Jie'er, the last bit of regret disappeared completely.
"Oh, mother-in-law, please let me see my precious granddaughter!"
The two mothers circled around Sister Quan, and the strange feeling was soon eliminated because of the child. They were not difficult to deal with, so even if they could not find many common topics for a while, it was not difficult to get along with them. Besides, with Sister Quan around, there was no end to the things to talk about even if they just talked about Sister Quan!
"I just found out about these two children today. I'm already a grandmother." Zhang Sujuan's eyes moistened as she spoke. After the end of the world, her relatives and family members became fewer and fewer. Except for Song Kaiji, there was no one else. The birth of Quan Jie'er not only made her feel the continuation of her bloodline, but also gave her hope for the future.
Her granddaughter. Zhang Sujuan caressed Quan Jie'er's face lovingly, feeling a little sad that Old Li never saw their granddaughter until his death. Little did she know that, somehow, Li Aiguo's obsession had saved the child and Shen Qing.
Miao Chunlei knew that Shen Qing and the others were leaving to pick up Zhang Sujuan, so she had already packed up the third room. She lived in the west room and vacated the east room for Zhang Sujuan. She arranged all the furniture and furnishings in a perfect manner. Song Kaiji was afraid that Zhang Sujuan would not be used to it on the first night, so he talked to her for a long time.
"Now I know what secret Qingqing had that she didn't want to share with you." Zhang Sujuan said with emotion. She had been here for almost a day and was still shocked. If she were Shen Qing, she would also have to be cautious and not share her secrets with others easily!
But now Shen Qing finally told Song Kaiji, gave birth to a child for him, and took her in. Zhang Sujuan took Song Kaiji's hand and told him, "Mom was wrong before. Qingqing treats you really well. You must treat her well in the future."
"Mom, I am good to Qingqing, and it has nothing to do with how Qingqing treats me." Song Kaiji showed a sweet smile on his face: "I like him, so I will treat him well. Even if he treats me the same, I will still treat him well, because I love him and it is my business."
Zhang Sujuan was so full of love that she had nothing to say. She knew that she was just saying nonsense, just giving some advice. Her son's heart was in Shen Qing's hands, couldn't she see it?
"But I will definitely be extra nice to Qingqing in the future," and he had to do it openly, for outsiders to see. "Qingqing suffered a lot when I was not around." Song Kaiji told the story about Shen Qing getting pregnant before marriage, which was rumored in the village.
Zhang Sujuan understands very well! A single woman in the village got pregnant - no, a single man got pregnant - uh, a single boy... Zhang Sujuan still has a hard time accepting that there are boys in this world and that they can have babies.
After all, it was a person who got pregnant, so it was so unpleasant to hear! Not to mention the ancient times, people were also drowned in spit in the 1980s and 1990s! Zhang Sujuan also grew up in the village when she was a child, and she knew it very well: "That's right, you have to give Qingqing Zhuang face outside, let people know that we mother and daughter value Qingqing, otherwise when Sister Quan grows up, she will be looked down upon by others!"
"Who dares?" Song Kaiji said proudly, "Our Qingqing is very powerful here."
Having said that, Zhang Sujuan and Song Kaiji still made an agreement that Zhang Sujuan would show up on the day of Lian Ou's wedding to give Shen Qing face.
The mother and son talked for a while, and it was late at night before Song Kaiji returned to their room. The room was brightly lit with candles, and Shen Qing was sitting at the table, picking out some jewelry. When she saw Song Kaiji coming, she hurriedly said, "Come and help me decide what I should give to Ou'er when he gets married?"
There are only a few families in the village with whom he has good relations and is close to, and Lian Ou can be considered a good friend of his now, but it seems inappropriate to give him too expensive a gift.
Song Kaiji came over and helped Shen Qing choose carefully. He also took out the jewelry in his own space for Shen Qing to choose with him. However, Shen Qing looked at him sideways because of his straight male aesthetic: "Forget it, forget it, don't mess with me. What kind of taste do you have? Go to bed first."
"I have a very good eye!" Song Kaiji held him tightly and refused to go to sleep first: "I have a bad eye, how could I like you? I have a sharp eye."
Shen Qing couldn't help but be amused by him. Finally, after choosing and choosing, Shen Qing was dazzled by the choices and picked a pair of very heavy silver bracelets: "How about this one? Second Aunt Lian has always been worried that the monk treats Ou Ge'er badly. If something really happens, Ou Ge'er can just exchange these bracelets for money."
But Second Aunt Lian was really worrying too much. Ou Ge'er's marriage was arranged in a hurry, and the auspicious dates were squeezed together. The wedding was scheduled for the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the betrothal gifts were not delivered until the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, but the whole village came to watch the excitement. It was because the betrothal gifts were too heavy in the village! The two men carried a heavy load, which was filled with tea, sesame, dried shrimps, seasonal fruits, six pieces of fine cotton cloth, and two jars of good wine. According to the rules, the man's mother or elders should give the girl and the boy a gift. Ming He was an orphan who was abandoned at the temple gate. He tried his best to ask the abbot of the village in front of the temple to come forward.
The abbot's face flushed red. He didn't expect that a monk like him would be involved in such worldly affairs. It would be fine if the stinky boy returned to secular life, but he was also dragged to be his in-law. But this was the child he had raised since he was a child, and he had done so much for the temple. The old abbot couldn't bear his pleading and finally agreed.
The old monk knew some medical skills and was quite respected in the village below. Now he was seen sitting at the top with an embarrassed look on his face, and Ou Ge'er was kneeling at his feet. The people in the village who were watching the fun burst into good-natured laughter, followed by a burst of exclamations.
The old abbot took out a hairpin from his sleeve. It was made of gold! It was a small phoenix head with a pearl in its mouth. Although it was not very big, it was a style that the country folk had never seen before.
Judging from the size of the hairpin, it must be at least two taels. One tael of gold equals ten taels of silver, which means twenty taels of silver. And the betrothal gift Ming He sent to the Lian family also contained twenty taels of cash wrapped in red cloth! Just for this trip, he would have spent fifty taels of silver.
Seeing the golden hairpin, Miao Hexiang's expression finally improved sincerely. Not to mention that the old abbot inserted the hairpin into Lianou's hair and instructed in a gentle but loud voice: "Although Minghe has left my temple and is no longer a member of our Buddhist sect, I raised him and gave him his surname. Now he asked me to preside over the wedding and recognize me as an elder. If he treats you badly in the future, just come to the temple and tell me."
Lian Ou's face turned red, and he agreed despite his shame. Miao Hexiang was also relieved, and later said to Lian Ou: "Mother doesn't look down on him for returning to secular life, but firstly, he is much older than you, and I am afraid he will deceive you by relying on his experience. Also, he is an orphan, without a home or roots, and if he bullies you, your father and I will have no place to complain."
Nowadays, people in the village try to marry nearby, and are not willing to marry their sons and daughters far away, just to know their roots! If there is no harmony after marriage, the wife's family will know where to fight. This monk has no roots. If he pats his butt and runs away, who can their family go to for justice? Now that the old abbot has made a promise, Miao Hexiang is relieved. If Ming He treats her son badly, he will definitely overturn the entire Miaoqian Village!
Lianou leaned on Miao Hexiang's legs: "Mom, I saved you for my own good. But Huiming...Brother Ming, I know he treats me with sincerity."
After confessing in the woods that day, Ming He later told him that he had liked Ou Ge'er for a long time, but he also knew that he was too old and a monk, so he was not worthy of her, and he could only escort Lian Ou and Lian Rong home from a distance. It was when Wang's nephew bullied Lian Ou, Lian Ou's reputation was ruined and he could not get a good marriage, that Ming He decided to return to secular life.
In addition, there were rumors that Qingger's man was a monk who had returned to secular life, which gave Ming He another push.
Miao Hexiang touched Lianou's hair and said, "Of the betrothal gifts he sent, your father and I will keep the food for ourselves. We don't want any of the betrothal silver or jewelry. You can take them all away. I'll keep two pieces of fine cloth for your two nephews to make clothes, and two pieces of satin for you." She turned around and took out a box from the kang cabinet. There were some loose silver and two silver bills in it. Miao Hexiang counted them, divided the silver into three parts, took out one of them and said, "We were in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare the dowry. This silver is for your dowry. If you need anything after the marriage, you can buy it yourself if you have money on hand - don't buy too much. Minghe has no roots in the village, so you two should be frugal. It's more important to buy some land."
Lian Ou's eyes were moist. He knew that his mother had been disapproving of this marriage for his own good. "Don't worry, mother. I will live a good life. Big Brother Ming told me that he has no family. From now on, he will just treat you and my father as his real parents. He will work with me to take good care of you."
Although she said that she didn't have enough time to prepare the dowry, Miao Hexiang still got a lot of red paper and red silk to decorate the house. Ever since the day Shen Qing gave birth, there was a coup in Lantang Village, and the government took many people away. The atmosphere in the village has been gloomy. Now, because of Lianou's wedding, the village has finally regained some vitality.
It is always a happy event when someone gets married in the village.
This was also the first year that Quan Jieer was born. Shen Qing's heart became soft and superstitious after she had a child. She brought a few taels of silver and distributed Laba porridge in the city and under their memorial archway on the Laba Day. In Anping County, the porridge was distributed next to the flower sausage shop, and homeless people and residents in the city could come to get it. Under the memorial archway, it was for the poor people in the nearby villages. As long as they didn't come with a bucket, they would fill up a large bowl or a small pot.
Not to mention the families in Lantang Village who had made enemies with Shen Qing, the poor people in the nearby villages kept praising Shen Qing as a good person. Even villagers from Xiahe Village and Xiaoji Village, which were farther away, came in groups to get porridge. When one pot was finished, a new pot was immediately brought out. Sometimes they couldn't make it in time, but there were people who organized the discipline and arranged everything properly so that people would wait on the side.
At this time, someone started chatting: "Look, isn't that Mrs. Wang from Xiaoji Village? How dare she come to Mr. Shen's house to get porridge?"
"Her family is barely making ends meet, how can she still care about this bit of face? I just don't know if Mr. Shen will give it to her."
"Maybe. Mr. Shen is so kind. Just now, when his stepmother, Widow Li, came, he gave it all to her. Mr. Shen is not the kind of stingy person."
"Shh, don't talk nonsense. What stepmother? Mr. Shen doesn't recognize her at all! She's just an ordinary villager from Lantang Village!"
Mrs. Wang lowered her head, listening to everything that was said around her. She was really afraid that Shen Qing would recognize her and not give her the porridge. After Wang San left, life at home became very difficult. The four sons were beaten with sticks and could not go to the fields. Those who had been angry with her before took the opportunity to retaliate. The work in the fields was delayed in the early spring, and the poor harvest made it even harder to make ends meet.
But Shen Qing's life was getting better and better. Previously, he had said that he would open a chicken farm in their Little Chicken Village to supply fried chicken chops to Shiqu Village. But later, it was abandoned. The village chief was snobbish and was afraid that Shen Qing would dislike them, so he almost drove them out of the village.
Wang Pozi was really scared, and she didn't dare to hate Shen Qing at all. Looking at the memorial arch awarded by the county magistrate, the clean and pretty maids wearing thick cotton clothes and scooping porridge, and the legendary noble man Shen Qing who was a hundred times better than her son... She felt sour in her heart, and finally realized that their family really couldn't get close to Shen Qing, and it was wishful thinking to want to get close to Shen Qing.
After a while, Shen Qing helped the two brothers carry out a large pot of porridge. The porridge was made of white rice, glutinous rice, millet, red dates, red beans, black beans, chestnuts, and peanuts. It didn't contain any precious ingredients such as lotus seeds, longans, and white fungus, but it was thick and cooked well. The sweet aroma wafted several feet away.
The people waiting immediately gathered around him, saying auspicious words. Behind Shen Qing followed a very handsome man, who wiped Shen Qing's sweat and massaged his shoulders. He was so attentive that the villagers were amazed.
Someone whispered something in Shen Qing's ear, and Shen Qing glanced in the direction of Wang Pozi. Wang Pozi's heart sank to the bottom. Their family was really struggling to make ends meet. They had been living on radishes and cabbages for several days, and only had a little bit of real food left to save for the New Year.
However, when it was her turn, Shen Qing did not say anything, nor did he even look over here, but stood with his man and talked intimately. The maid who scooped the porridge had a red face from the cold, and she filled the pot she brought with two or three scoops of the palm-sized spoon.
Wang Po carefully carried the porridge back. It was cold in December, so the porridge could be slightly frozen and divided into several portions. Then add water to thaw it, and it could be eaten for a long time. Maybe it was because of the cold wind, Wang Po's nose felt sore from the cold, and tears fell, mixing into the pot of rice porridge.
"Our Qingqing is really a kind-hearted man." Song Kaiji followed him back to the yard. Shen Qing felt a little embarrassed by being called this. These villagers were really capable of saying anything disgusting. He just wanted to accumulate some merits for his daughter. If he was selective about giving out porridge, he would be afraid that his heart was not sincere.
Besides, he had met Wang San before.
This is also about Shen Qing's business, which has begun to develop slowly towards the capital city. After the Xie brothers and sisters got acquainted with Shen Qing and Lin Ning, they asked Shen Qing to advance some wages and then ask County Magistrate Lin to help redeem their relatives.
It is unknown where they were sold to, but it is known that there were two older sisters who were sold to the Jiaofangsi in the prefectural capital. It was a pity that before entering the Jiaofangsi, they could still make some moves, just like the chief clerk intercepted and sent them to the hands of the gold-toothed man. But once they entered the Jiaofangsi, their names were registered, and it was difficult to redeem them as official prostitutes. Lin County Magistrate, a county magistrate of a small county, could not reach the prefectural capital.
Instead, the Xie brothers and sisters went to meet the sisters in the Jiaofangsi, and the whole family cried. Shen Qing and Lin Ning couldn't bear it, so they gave a few things to bribe the mother inside and let the Xie sisters do some innocent work.
After a while, they actually got a business: Isn't it true that good people get good rewards? The velvet flowers and pearl hairpins made by the hairpin girls that Shen Qing kept in the last days were exquisite and cheap, and the girls in the Jiaofangsi liked them very much. Shen Qing opened a separate route and asked the Xie brothers and sisters to deliver goods to the Jiaofangsi. Occasionally, he could meet his sisters, and because of the Jiaofangsi in the prefecture, he got the business of the brothels in Anping County and several nearby counties.
Now the sisters in the Jie family no longer have to serve others. They only need to follow their mothers and be responsible for purchasing jewelry in the building - this was only possible because Shen Qing spent money to give gifts to his mother.
It was in the brothel in the city that Shen Qing met Wang San. He was delivering wine to the brothel, wearing a brand new and clean coarse cloth with no patches on his body. There was a girl in the brothel who looked like his lover, who came out to see him off and talked to him for a while. When the girl went back to the brothel, Wang San saw Shen Qing and immediately tensed up. He pulled Shen Qing away from the brothel and went to a teahouse opposite: "Why did you come to such a place?"
Shen Qing looked at him with a smile: "I'm here to deliver the goods, too."
Wang San looked at Shen Qing for a while, and his tense body suddenly relaxed. Once, when he had just escaped from home, he had thought about making a living outside, earning money and going back to marry Shen Qing - he had some obsession with Shen Qing.
But when he saw Shen Qing again today, Wang San suddenly felt that he didn't want to marry Shen Qing, he regarded Shen Qing as a spiritual support. A brother could be so brave and live a good life. If he could learn from this brother, his life would be better.
Now his life has really improved. He came to the capital with that little money, and first worked as a laborer, carrying bags and delivering goods. Later, because he was honest and willing to work hard, he won the favor of the wine shop owner, who hired him as a clerk to deliver goods to the wine shop. Now he has no worries about food and drink, and has saved some money, so he can still find a lover in a brothel.
When Wang San saw Shen Qing again at this time, he realized that it was no longer important for him to marry Shen Qing or not. He still liked girls more, like the one he had in the brothel. Moreover, Shen Qing had said long ago that people looked down on him, but it was just his obsession. But Wang San was also very relieved at this moment, and thanked Shen Qing sincerely: "I want to thank you very much. If it weren't for your words at the beginning--" Wang San smiled, and the words were not very nice, "you woke me up. I am still struggling in the quagmire at home, and I would not be where I am today."
Shen Qing shook his head: "That depends on you to figure it out. The good life you have today is all thanks to your own effort. I haven't helped you at all." He didn't know why, but sometimes when he saw Lian Ou, Ruyi, Li Jiaofeng, and Wang San, seeing these people breaking free from the past, getting out of the quagmire and getting better and better, Shen Qing would feel a sense of relief from the bottom of his heart.
The two chatted for a while, but since they were not familiar with each other, there was not much to say. Before parting, Shen Qing said, "You live in the city, it is convenient. There is a pair of sisters named Jie in this building. If there is anything that can be of help, please help me take care of them."
Wang San looked at Shen Qing seriously and bowed slightly to him: "Don't worry, I will definitely keep it in mind."
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