Chapter 64: Apprenticeship Ceremony
Wen Yongnan looked at Wen Zhenyi, feeling a little uncomfortable: "You are my younger sister, how can I let you make money to support our studies?"
"What does it matter? If no one wants me in the future, you have to support me."
A smile appeared on Wen Yongnan's face: "There's no way Yiyi from our family will be unwanted. If that day ever comes, I will definitely support you."
"I'll raise one too." Wen Yongman also raised his little paw.
Old Mrs. Wen looked at her three children with a smile on her face. How nice!
Old Man Wen yawned and said, "No, I get sleepy easily when I get old. I'm going to take a nap."
"Okay, let's all go to sleep for a while. We have to prepare the ingredients for the daily stall when we get up."
Wen Chengwen and Ma Yinghe went to the town right after their lunch break. They wanted to pick up the mutton and beef offal that they had ordered, and also to buy gifts for their apprenticeship.
Old Man Wen and his friends went to the village to collect potatoes from everyone. They also planned to add a potato chip business tomorrow.
Popcorn is their best-selling snack, and they almost always sell out whenever we bring it there.
Now as summer approaches, the weather is getting hotter.
Wen Zhenyi was thinking about what to cook in the afternoon to whet everyone's appetite.
Mutton offal soup and husband and wife lung slices will only be sold for one day tomorrow. We will have to consider refreshing dishes after that.
Wen Yongman rarely went out to play today, but stayed at home with her in a daze.
Wen Yongnan went to the fields to check on the crops on two acres of land.
"Sister, will we still have rice to eat in the future?"
Wen Zhenyi withdrew his thoughts: "Why do you ask?"
"We only had two mu of fertile land at home, and after paying taxes, there wasn't much left. Grandma and the others gave you rice to eat, and we only ate grains."
Wen Zhenyi had never really thought about this question. Since the day she arrived, she had only eaten rice, so she had never really paid attention to it: "Xiaoman, do you know how much the harvest is from one acre of land?"
"If you have between three and four dan, you have to pay 15 liters of tax every year. If you rent land, you have to pay the landlord one dan per mu."
Wen Zhenyi frowned: "This trip is less than two stones, right?"
"Well, this is when the harvest is good. If there is a natural disaster, there will be no harvest at all."
"Xiao Man, how do you know so much?"
"It was Mantou who told me that Mantou's family only had two acres of land. Since there were more people in his family than us, they rented a few acres."
"So that's how it is."
Wen Zhenyi lowered his head and began to calculate. An adult needs to eat at least 240 kilograms of rice a year, which is two stone. One mu of land is just enough for an adult's food supply for a year.
If you don't rent land and the harvest is good, you can still sell some leftovers.
Their family now has two acres of land, which is indeed not enough for seven people. It seems that they need to buy some good land. Even if they don’t plant it themselves, they can still earn a lot by renting it out.
"Sister, what are you thinking about?" Wen Yongman looked at her for a long time without saying anything.
"It's okay. I'm thinking about other things. Don't worry, you will have rice to eat in the future."
Wen Yongman turned to look at her: "Sister, do you think I've gained weight?"
Wen Zhenyi looked at him and saw that he was indeed a lot fatter and taller than when she came. "He has gained weight and grown taller."
"Hey, I said I've grown taller."
Wen Yongnan went to the room and found out the usable pens, ink, paper and inkstone, intending to save as much as possible.
Wen Zhenyi frowned as he looked at the things on the table: "Brother, are these things still usable?"
Wen Yongnan looked at the broken brush with some insect holes on the pen shaft and some yellowed paper, which felt a little brittle. He was afraid that it would fall apart with the slightest touch.
The cracked ink stick and the chipped inkstone.
This doesn't look like an antique, it looks more like something found in a garbage dump.
"How about giving it a try?"
Wen Zhen saw that he was unwilling to give up and said, "You can try."
Wen Yongnan really wanted to give it a try: "Xiaoman, pour me some water."
Xiaoman ran to get a bowl of water and poured it into the broken inkstone. The water then flowed out from one side of the inkstone.
Wen Yongnan didn't care. He put the cracked ink stick on the inkstone to grind ink. Before he had ground it twice, the ink stick had broken into pieces.
He looked at the pitch-black color in his hand, picked up the insect-eaten brush, tried to dip it in ink, and the brush broke into two pieces with a "snap".
The three looked at the only paper they hadn't tried.
Wen Zhenyi no longer held out much hope.
Sure enough, when I picked up the paper, it was already unusable.
"Brother, buy a new one!"
Wen Yongnan looked at the broken items on the table and nodded helplessly: "This is the only way."
Wen Zhenyi didn't plan to waste it. The broken inkstone could be used to pad the unstable corner of the table at home. As for the other things, they were all good materials for making fire.
When Ma Yinghe and the others came back, they brought back a lot of things.
Wen Zhenyi looked at the apprenticeship gifts they bought with some curiosity: "Mom, what are these?"
"You'd have to ask your father. I don't understand either."
Wen Zhenyi turned to look at Wen Chengwen: "Dad, is there anything special about this?"
Wen Chengwen pointed to the six things on the table and said, "These are called the six etiquettes for becoming a disciple. Without these six things, you can't become a disciple."
"Tell me about it."
Wen Chengwen looked at his daughter, eager to learn, and his heart softened. "The celery symbolizes diligence and a love of learning; the lotus seeds, with their bitter core, represent painstaking education; the red beans represent good fortune. The jujubes represent the hope that students can quickly pass through high school, and the longans represent fulfilled merits."
Wen Zhenyi saw the dried meat and asked: "What does this dried meat represent?"
"It represents the students' wishes."
Wen Zhenyi looked at the bacon on the table. These were all pickled at home, and there was quite a lot of them. She probably guessed that this was the real gift.
Everything else is just empty talk, used to create a good meaning.
After Wen Chengwen finished explaining to her, he put the things into the room and looked at the date. The day after tomorrow was a good day, suitable for becoming a disciple and studying.
Wen Zhenyi didn't quite understand this, but it didn't affect her mood for cooking.
The Wen family started to get busy again. Some materials needed to be prepared in advance, otherwise there would be no time for them to take their time tomorrow.
"Dad, have you talked to the owners of the mutton and beef stalls?"
"We told them we wouldn't go into the water tomorrow. They were quite regretful."
"The taste must not be slow. If we always eat the same thing, our business will not be good." Wen Zhenyi prepared some appetizers in the afternoon: "Grandpa, let Grandpa Shen and others come over for dinner in the afternoon."
"Okay, I'll invite you guys later."
Wen Zhenyi plans to make some spicy and sour potato shreds, cucumber and tomato noodles in the afternoon.
I want to knead the dough well and let it rest so that the noodles will be more chewy when I make them later.
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