13.Baicaotang
Wan Changsheng also knew how to prepare some medicinal herbs, but these Panax notoginseng were of good quality, and he was anxious to prepare some food at home. He had a wife and children, so he would not be panicked if he prepared more food.
After dinner that day, I told my wife about this and of course she agreed. We should definitely exchange these valuable herbs for money as soon as possible since we didn't have much food at home. We would harvest new grain in July and food would be the cheapest at this time.
"Husband, I won't go. I'll grow sweet potatoes at home. You can buy some cloth, green ones are fine, and I'll make you some summer clothes that you can wear in May. You'd better buy some vegetable seeds as well, as we don't have enough at home."
Wan Changsheng agreed with a smile. He was alone at home before, so he did not grow many vegetables. If he grew too many, he would not be able to eat them all. It would be better to plant more sweet potatoes and sell the extra ones directly to the grain store.
"Dad, let me go with you. I haven't been to the county town yet." Ping'an looked at his stepfather with his big, bright eyes. Not to mention the county town, he had only been to the town twice.
Wan Changsheng nodded and said, "My wife, I will take him with me. I just bought some writing brushes, inkstones, and paper. I will teach him some Chinese characters later. Although the Thousand Character Classic and Hundred Family Names at home are old, they can be used temporarily. I will put an old mattress in the cart, so he can lie down or sit on it."
Mei Niang looked at her son and said, "Listen to your father when you go out. There are many kidnappers in the county town, so don't run around."
In fact, they brought a lot of books this time. After all, they were used by her ex-husband. They are still in the box for the time being. Sooner or later, they will have to be given to their son. The books are really too expensive.
During the three years she lived with her ex-husband, she learned some words and taught them to her son, so the child is not completely illiterate.
Wan Changsheng harnessed the cart, spread out an old mattress, and let his son climb onto the cart. He put the fresh herbs he had picked yesterday in a backpack and took them with him, along with the herbs that had been dried in March.
However, these are not worth much, they are just ordinary medicinal herbs. The only valuable one is the Panax notoginseng discovered by Ping An.
This child has a very good memory. As long as he hears something once, he basically remembers it. He is so smart, who knows, he may be able to win the title of scholar or juren in the future and return home.
Wan Changsheng secretly swore in his heart that as long as the child could study well, he would find a way to support him. If that didn't work, he would just go a little further into the mountains and be careful, and everything should be fine.
There are fewer and fewer medicinal herbs in the shallow mountains, and there are not many prey. Small prey cannot be sold for much money, so we have to think of a solution.
The cart quickly left the village. Ping An sat on the mattress, holding the railings with his little hands. The cart had a carport made of thick oilcloth, so it was not afraid of any heavy rain.
There is also a front canopy for the driver's seat, but there is no protection on the left and right. When it really rains, you have to wear a raincoat and a curtain.
There was no transparent glass in the Great Zhou at that time, and he didn't know whether there was any colored glaze. Anyway, he had never seen these things.
The fields on both sides of the road were filled with people doing spring plowing. One acre of land could only yield two to three hundred kilograms of grain, and the tax was 10%. After deducting the seeds, the tax converted into rice cost another 30%.
In this way, even if the yield per mu is 300 kilograms, in the end you can only get 200 kilograms of rice. If the yield is slightly worse, you won't get that much at all.
Rice is 12 wen per pound. Broken rice is cheaper, but still costs 8 wen. Brown rice costs 5 wen.
But brown rice is really irritating to the throat, so no matter how hard life was over the years, the mother and daughter basically switched to eating broken rice and ate less whole rice.
These past two days at my new home I've been eating two-grain rice, which is rice and broken rice cooked together. But my mother has said that we can't eat rice like this anymore.
Money, still have to make money.
Ping'an closed his eyes and thought about studying. There was a private school in his grandmother's village, which was run by the village chief's father.
Mr. He, a scholar, took the imperial examinations for most of his life and finally passed the examination at the age of 40. It is said that he took the provincial examinations twice later, spending a lot of money and suffering a lot. Later, when he realized that he could not pass the examinations, he was old, his grandchildren were grown up, and his family could not afford to support him, so he devoted himself to running a private school.
He heard from his cousin that there were not many people in the village who could read. The better families basically only picked the smarter children who could learn to read and write, and they would study for a year or two at most.
There are only a dozen children in the three or four nearby villages, including the two boys of the village chief.
The only person in He Village who actually studies is He Tao, the eldest son of the village chief. He is fifteen years old this year and has already become a student. He is currently studying in the county school.
You have to read. He knows the characters of this dynasty, which are just ordinary traditional Chinese characters. He learned these traditional Chinese characters very well because he studied ancient Chinese medical classics. He also practiced calligraphy very well, and can write both regular script and cursive script.
In this life, his father died early, his mother was illiterate, and he had never attended private school for a single day, so he could not say that he was literate.
People will think you are a monster.
The future was uncertain and he fell asleep while swaying.
Wan Changsheng didn't listen to the child. He turned around and saw his son's little body curled up. He couldn't help but smile. He parked the car aside and took out a small quilt from the cabinet to cover the child.
Looking at the little person under the quilt, his eyes were full of tenderness.
In fact, he had something he was hiding from his wife.
In the sixth year of military service, the war got a bit serious and there were not enough people, so he went to the battlefield to carry the wounded. He was so unlucky that even drinking water got stuck in his teeth. After a few days, he encountered the enemy's homemade cannon.
The flying stone fragments from the earth cannon injured his lower abdomen and legs. The cuts were quite deep, but they were only superficial injuries after all, not too serious, and healed in less than a month.
But the old military doctor told him that getting married would not be a problem, but it might affect his offspring. He might never have children of his own for the rest of his life. Or he might have children, but not many. It was certain that he would have difficulty in having children.
At that time, he felt like the sky was falling. For a man to be unable to have offspring was like cutting off the family line.
But there is no place to seek justice for this matter. Many people have lost their lives. Since you have no broken arms or legs, you should just smile to the sky.
Now that we are married, there is no impact on our sexual intercourse, which is a blessing in disguise. However, my wife is longing to have two more children, but I am afraid that may be difficult.
When he heard that Mei Niang's husband died early, leaving behind only a son, his heart was pounding. As long as you treat a six or seven-year-old child well, he will slowly forget the past and become your real son.
So, when he made the three rules with the child that time, he also made a small request, which was that the child had to change his name and surname.
If he still calls the child Da Shunzi Da Shunzi every day, the child will never truly forget the past six or seven years, and he will never truly be his son. This is his selfishness.
The county town is an hour and a half away from Wanjia Village. When Ping'an was woken up, he had already arrived at the city gate.
At the gate of the county town, people come and go, which is very similar to the scenes in the costume TV dramas I have watched before.
When passing by the city gate, he saw his father give three cents to the soldiers, one cent to each person, and they had to pay even the pig's bread.
The small cart went straight to Baicaotang. The county town was not small, and the narrow streets turned left and right. A quarter of an hour later, it stopped in front of the medicine hall.
The three big characters "Baicaotang" were hung high above the door lintel, and people came in and out from time to time.
Wan Changsheng carried his son out of the car and handed the fried dough sticks to the waiter beside him. Now that they were here, they didn't have to worry about the vehicle anymore. Baicaotang did a good job in this regard, with someone guarding it.
Wan Changsheng carried the backpack, held the big basket in one hand, and held the child's hand in the other. "Ping An, let's sell medicine first. Dad will take you to the bookstore and eat wontons later. By the way, your mother also asked me to buy cloth for my father and me. If I forget, you have to remind me."
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