Chapter 24 Can rice be fried?
The villagers were discussing who to invite.
Dong Li looked at the closed gate and sighed deeply. He didn't want to do this if he could.
Wen Zhenyi saw that everyone in his family was in a bad mood and was extremely angry. "Don't be so angry. I'm not possessed by something evil. Just let them come and check it out."
Ma Yinghe held her hand tightly. "Yiyi, you don't understand. Some Taoist priests will do things that go against their conscience in order to show off their abilities. I'm afraid he will frame you."
"Mom, I know all their tricks, and I will expose them to their faces."
Mrs. Wen looked at her with some confusion: "You know?"
"Some of these Taoist priests are truly capable, just like the wandering Taoist priest you met thirteen years ago. The incompetent ones just rely on some small tricks to fool people and make some money."
Old Man Wen was still worried: "I'm just afraid they'll do something dirty."
Wen Yongnan looked at Wen Zhenyi and said, "If they dare to do anything to you, I will fight them."
"Yes, I will protect you." Wen Yongman's little face was particularly serious.
Wen Zhenyi didn't want them to worry too much, so he changed the subject: "Grandma, how much did we earn today?"
"I bought more materials today, so I'm five cents less than yesterday. I made a profit of one ounce and eight cents today."
"Grandma, I still have two taels here, which you didn't count." Wen Zhenyi said as he took out two taels of silver from his belt and handed it to her.
Old Lady Wen took the silver, smiled and touched her head: "Thanks to our family Yi Yi, our lives are getting better and better."
Old Man Wen nodded: "That's right."
Wen Zhenyi decided to make some fried rice tomorrow so that he could have more energy to deal with the Taoist priest tomorrow.
"Grandma, we don't have enough japonica rice at home. We may need to go buy some."
"Will you need it tomorrow?"
“Today we’ll steam a lot more, and tomorrow we’ll sell fried rice.”
"Can rice be fried?" The family members looked puzzled.
"Sure, how about we have egg fried rice this afternoon?"
"OK."
The task of buying rice was left to Wen Chengwen.
Wen Zhenyi planned to rest for a while, and when he got up, he went to the river to wash the clothes he had taken off.
After resting, she carried the wooden basin and prepared to go to the river.
"Yiyi, where are you going?"
Wen Zhenyi turned to look at Ma Yinghe: "Mom, I'm going to the river to wash clothes."
Ma Yinghe reached out to take the basin from her hand: "Let mother wash it, you rest well at home."
"Mom, I'm getting moldy from staying at home all the time. I'm going out for a walk."
Ma Yinghe was helpless seeing her like this: "Don't go too deep, don't run too far."
"I understand." After saying that, he walked out and headed towards the river.
The river in the village is neither far nor near from their home. Usually, they go to the river to wash clothes because they find it troublesome to fetch water from the well.
When she arrived at the river, there was no one there. Villagers usually came to wash clothes in the morning and dried them in the afternoon when the weather was good.
There are very few people like her who come to wash clothes in the afternoon, and you only meet a few occasionally.
I brought a few soap beans from home, soaked them in a wooden basin, and waited for a while until they became soft. I crushed them with a stone and they became natural laundry detergent.
The river water here is very clear. You can see the bottom at a glance and even see the fish swimming in the water.
She took off her shoes and socks, rolled up her trouser legs, found a clean stone to sit on, and put her feet in the water. The cool feeling was very comfortable.
At this time, she heard someone coming behind her. She turned around and saw a little girl about her age walking towards her with her head lowered and holding a wooden basin.
When he saw her, he was obviously stunned for a moment, hesitated for a while, and then walked over.
Wen Zhen saw that she had no intention of talking, so he didn't say anything. He just noticed that her clothes had a lot of patches on them.
There were some purple bruises on the rolled-up sleeves, apparently caused by a beating.
She squatted a little distance away from Wen Zhenyi, lowered her head, took out a wooden stick from the basin, and hit the clothes.
Wen Zhenyi looked at the soap beans that had been almost soaked, took them out, smashed them with a stone, and rubbed them in water, and a lot of foam appeared.
She walked over to her with a basin and said, "I have some soap water. It will be cleaner if you use this."
The girl was startled when she heard her sudden words. When she looked up at her, Wen Zhenyi found that there were slap marks on her face, and her cheeks were red and swollen.
"No, that's not necessary." The girl's voice was so soft that you couldn't even hear it if you didn't listen carefully.
Wen Zhenyi squatted beside her: "If you don't wash it clean, you'll be beaten again when you go back."
The girl clenched some wooden sticks in her hands, lowered her head and said nothing.
Wen Zhenyi poured some soapnut water into her basin, then took his own basin and prepared to go back to wash clothes.
"Thank you, thank you." The girl thanked him in a low voice.
Wen Zhenyi didn't answer, returned to where he was, and began to rub his clothes.
Neither of them spoke anymore, and all they could hear was the sound of the river flowing and the clothes being washed.
Wen Zhenyi finished washing the clothes and put on shoes and socks. The girl's clothes were not washed yet, so she turned around and left without saying anything.
Ma Yinghe saw her coming back: "You're back."
"Mom, I met a girl about my age by the river."
"There are many girls in this village who are about your age." Ma Yinghe said as she took out the clothes from her basin, shook them out and hung them out to dry with hers.
"I see she has quite a few injuries on her body."
Ma Yinghe paused for a moment: "What does it look like?"
"He was shorter than me, with sallow skin and was very thin. He had been slapped in the face, so his facial features were barely discernible."
Ma Yinghe sighed: "The girl you are talking about should be Zhu Tao."
Wen Zhenyi didn't know anyone in the village. She only knew the few people she knew after she recovered. "Mom, do you know her?"
"She's also a poor child. Her family favors boys over girls, including her mother. Two years ago, when her mother hadn't given birth to a son, her life was hard, but it was better."
"When her brother was born, she became a complete servant in the family. She was responsible for taking care of her brother, doing housework, and doing all the housework. If her brother was unhappy, he would beat and scold her."
Wen Zhenyi frowned slightly: "They are my own children, do I really have to mistreat them like this?"
Ma Yinghe touched her head and said, "For ordinary people, girls are just money-losing goods and will belong to others in the future."
"Mom, are grandpa and grandma like this to you too?"
"They don't have any. Now they live in the county with your uncle. In the past few years, they have come to see you whenever they are free. If they don't have time, they will buy you some good things from the county."
Wen Zhenyi looked at her with a smile: "Mom, you haven't told grandpa and grandma that I'm fine yet."
Ma Yinghe slapped her forehead and said, "If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. I'm going to town tomorrow and I have to send someone a message to them to make them happy."
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