Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Misty morning light. The sun spreads down,...
Misty morning light.
The sunlight spread down, as if it was particularly loyal to Song Fuxue, casting a layer of light golden light on his pale and handsome cheeks.
"Our Songji pies have thin crusts and lots of fillings. They taste delicious. You can buy one to try first."
Song Fuxue pursed her lips and chuckled, then began to greet another big brother who came to visit.
He is very flexible. He is used to quoting from classics, but the diners cannot understand him. He tries hard to change his language into plain language, which makes his speech more elegant.
Song Mian's nose was sweating.
Her father sold it very well.
She was amazed by the eloquence.
They prepared five pounds of meat filling, which was sold out quickly.
but--
"Hey, isn't this our Editor Song?" A sarcastic voice sounded from the crowd.
Song Mian looked over and saw a man in brocade clothes standing there, looking at him with an angry look on his face.
She took a step forward, her heart tightening, fearing it was an enemy. She stood in front of Song Fuxue and asked gently, "Sir, is there anything I can do for you?"
Her father is injured now. If he gets beaten again, even spiritual springs will be difficult to heal.
Seeing her like this, the man in brocade clothes looked even worse, and his folding fan slammed in his hands.
"Song Xiaoer! You've really made it!" The man's face darkened as he threw a handful of copper coins onto the pie stand and sneered, "You were so noble back then, but now you've fallen on hard times?"
The copper coins rolled and jingled, some fell on the table, and some fell on the ground.
Song Mian looked back at her father nervously, but saw Song Fuxue's expression remained unchanged. She methodically picked up the copper coins and put them into the money box. She then wrapped all the pies in lotus leaves and said in a clear voice, "Sir, here are your pies."
The man in brocade clothes stared at him with fire in his eyes and anger on his face.
"Song Xiaoer! I'll wait for you to kneel down and beg me!"
Song Fuxue: "Yeah."
The man walked away with the pie in a rage.
Song Mian looked at Song Fuxue's expression and didn't dare to speak. The two of them packed up the stall in silence.
When she moved the chopping board away, she saw a silver ingot underneath. She immediately put it back and poked her father with a look of shock on her face.
Song Fuxue lowered her eyes and said softly, "Put it away, it's okay."
Song Mian:!
She was now filled with doubts.
Just waiting for him to give her a good answer.
Song Fuxue put the cart away with her, a smile on her face: "Let's go buy some things, buy a few more wooden barrels for bathing, and buy some rice. If the sales continue to be so good, we won't have to eat brown rice anymore."
Song Mian listened and a smile appeared on his face. From this perspective alone, it was indeed a great joyous event, very good.
"Well, when I see brown rice, I feel miserable and don't want to eat it."
The two went to buy rice, thinking about their relatives at home, who had been tortured in prison for so long and were very weak. They really couldn't bear the mourning period and abstain from meat. So they simply bought a big and strong rooster and stewed it at home to nourish them.
After buying everything, the two of them didn't dare to delay and headed home immediately. The closer it got to noon, the hotter it became.
When he got home, he saw a group of people gathered in front of the door. Song Mian's heart tightened and he felt a little scared. He looked at Song Fuxue and walked back quickly.
"What's wrong?" Song Fuxue asked the people outside.
"The Song family is teaching their children to read. Let's listen to the scene."
Song Fuxue: ...
My heart, which had been hanging in the air, was finally put down.
I thought it was the Jinyiwei who made a surprise attack.
Song Mian was also frightened and his heart was pounding. He was very nervous. Seeing that nothing was wrong, he was relieved.
"Has everyone in your family, young or old, men or women, ever been educated?" Aunt Zhao was lying on the fence, and her eyes lit up when she saw Song Mian.
"Yeah." Song Mian responded cautiously.
Logically speaking, the Song family had just been beaten up, so it was not appropriate for them to show off.
But then I thought, if I make a fuss in the village, I would probably be just a stranded turtle to the higher-ups, not worth mentioning.
She put the cart in the corner and covered it with straw. Only then did she notice that it was Song Zhuo who was teaching Song Chi to read.
Songjia Village has a strong academic atmosphere. It used to have a clan school. However, when Emperor Shunde was cleaning up the village, even the clan school was cleared out. The Jinyiwei turned into a demolition team and didn't even leave a bench.
Now if you want to study, no teacher dares to come to Songjia Village.
You can only find a way yourself.
Others don’t know, but the people of Songjia Village, as the main branch of the Song family, although Song Zhun’s main branch was chopped to pieces by the emperor, the villagers are all related to him in various ways, and some are even closer than the fifth degree of mourning, so they naturally know their details.
For example, Song Fuxue was the top scholar, Song Zhenge was last year's third place scholar, and Song Zhuo was the third place scholar.
There is no one more suitable to be a teacher than them.
When everyone saw that the children had gone out to play and the weather was getting hot, they all dispersed.
Song Mian entered the room, poured two bowls of water, added two drops of spiritual spring water, gave one bowl to her father and one bowl to herself, and drank it in gulps.
"It feels so good." She didn't dare to drink water outside for fear of inconvenience in going to the toilet. She had been warming herself by the fire by the pie stall, and her throat was so thirsty that it was smoking.
The same is true for Song Fuxue.
The two of them slumped in their chairs and didn't speak for a long time.
After a while, he took out the money box and began to count the copper coins.
Seeing the money, Song Mian instantly came to her senses. She sat up straight, bowed to the money box, and then opened it with a solemn expression.
"One, two, three...three hundred coins!"
Song Mian counted them three times, his eyes brightening the more he counted. Someone buying two would be short a penny, but the man in brocade clothes just threw out a handful of money and made up for it.
After all the calculations, I can make about 150 cents profit from five pounds of meat.
It is enough to live on, and you can also save a little money for emergencies.
This is really great.
Song Mian reverently handed the money box to Gao Xiu and said happily, "Leave it to the ancestor for safekeeping."
Gao Xiu black line.
"You should keep the money you earn yourself! Since you're in charge of making money, you don't have to get involved in household chores. Leave it to the family to manage the distribution. We can't ask you to go out and sweat, and come back and sweat again. That would be too hard."
Gao Xiu leaned on a cane and looked at everyone present with a dignified gaze.
"Wenlan, what do you think?"
"My granddaughter-in-law thinks it's great."
"Where's the third brother?"
“No problem!”
As for the opinion of her biological father Song Fuxue, she ignored it.
"Use half of the money you earn for living, and keep the other half to save for your dowry." Gao Xiu made arrangements again.
Song Mian: ...
Why save for a dowry?
When you are happy, you always say things that spoil the mood.
"Yeah." She nodded.
Did she dare to resist? No.
After saying this, everyone sat in the main room without moving. Gao Xiu pondered for a while and finally spoke.
"Although we can make money, our scale must be limited to earning no more than one or two taels of silver a day. It is enough to have cotton cloth to wear and meat to eat. We can forget about the usual delicious food. If our political enemies find out that we are living a carefree life, they will find trouble with us."
Song Fuxue's relaxed expression disappeared.
That's true, they can only be content with a small fortune.
Six years later, when the new emperor ascends the throne, their Song family will rise again.
"So you want to live a life of 'picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and leisurely gazing at the southern mountains'?" Song Mian asked.
Song Zhen Ge smiled when he heard this and nodded, "Yes, the best is 'grass flourishes, bean sprouts sparse'."
Song Zhuo curled his lips: "How miserable."
Song Fuxue patted his head and said, "It's time for you to practice 'don't be distraught over poverty, don't be anxious for wealth'."
Song Zhuo curled his lips again: "Not really."
Being able to make money by selling pies is like removing a huge mountain from their heads. Now that there is no survival crisis, everyone looks much more relaxed.
Song Mian also felt much more relaxed.
The life of ordinary people in the city may not be bad.
"I bought a chicken and we'll stew it for lunch." Song Mian said with a smile.
If you want to eat this, you have to make it in advance.
"Who would do it?" she asked.
Those who looked at the sky looked at the sky, those who looked at the ground looked at the ground, and those who looked at the grass looked at the grass, but no one dared to respond.
Song Mian: ...
Okay, a bunch of people who have no ability to survive.
Gao Xiu stepped forward with a complicated tone: "I'll teach you."
Song Mian stepped forward, holding her arm, and said with a smile, "A veteran is worth two. No wonder they say an old man in the family is like a treasure. My dear grandma, what would I do without you?"
Gao Xiu patted her head: "You're talking nonsense."
But he couldn't help but force a smile on his face.
In ancient times, if you wanted to eat chicken, you had to start by killing it. Song Mian was a little afraid, but when she imagined the chicken in her hand as the emperor who made her life miserable, she instantly became murderous.
"Just towards the throat, right?"
"right."
Song Mian stepped on the wings with his feet and asked Song Zhuo to hold the chicken head. He was so determined that he cut it off with a knife.
The fat rooster flapped its wings twice, clucked twice, and then died.
After all the blood has drained out, put it in a large wooden basin, pour hot water on it and start plucking the hair.
How terrible! She can even kill a chicken.
"I'll leave the glorious task of plucking the chicken feathers to you, my good brother!" The chicken feathers were smoked by the heat, and the smell was so stinky that it irritated the throat.
Song Zhuo turned pale.
But I still plucked the hair honestly.
"Alas, a tiger in dire straits is bullied by chickens." He sighed endlessly.
While he was plucking the feathers, Gao Xiu began to teach Song Mian how to stir-fry chicken.
"Stir-frying chicken is very simple. Just blanch it in water and add onions, ginger, and garlic to remove the fishy smell. Then stir-fry it in a pan with oil, add some spices, and pour some water. Once it's cooked through, it will taste delicious."
Song Mian looked at the naked chicken, feeling a little lost as to where to start. She looked to Gao Xiu for help: "Grandpa, how do I chop it?"
Gao Xiu: ...
She took a deep breath, feeling helpless.
"Just chop it up with your eyes closed."
Song Mian: Oh.
She still followed the direction of the bones in her memory and tried to chop towards the joints. If the newly bought knife broke, she would have to spend money to buy another one, which was really not cost-effective.
Marinate the chopped chicken with peppercorns, green onions and ginger, then take out a large bowl to knead the dough.
"What are you going to do with the dough?" Wenlan asked.
"I plan to stick a circle of small steamed buns on the edge of the pot. When they are full of the broth from the stewed chicken, they will surely be delicious." Song Mian replied.
Song Fuxue:?
His son Mianmian is both smart and capable.
As they were doing this, they heard the copper bell hanging on the door ring. They looked outside and saw an old man with white hair and beard standing at the door, looking inside curiously.
"Old man, is there anything I can help you with?" Song Fuxue stepped forward to greet him.
The old man looked at him. He was wearing a blue cotton gown, with scars on his exposed skin. He was very thin and it was obvious that he had been tortured.
But he was tall and thin, standing straight like a bamboo.
It also reveals a bit of proud and unyielding character.
"I am Song Zhiwen, the head of Songjia Village. I wanted to come and see you. If there is anything you are short of, I will prepare it for you." The old man replied with a smile.
"It's Uncle Song. Please come in." Song Fuxue smiled and quickly made way.
Song Zhiwen laughed and walked into the yard with his hands behind his back.
At a glance, I saw the chaos of them killing chickens.
Song Zhenge walked around in a circle, then slapped his head and remembered that he had no teacups or tea leaves at home, so he naturally had no way to pour tea for the guests.
"This is Uncle Song, the village head." Song Fuxue introduced.
Several people greeted each other quickly.
Song Zhiwen is a typical farm boy, with a face tanned by the sun and slightly yellow teeth showing when he smiles.
"It's good to go back to Songjia Village. We're all together, and there's still a long way to go. What obstacles can't be overcome? When your father resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown, he also stayed there for ten years. But he spent all day running around in the fields and loved traveling, saying he wanted to understand agriculture. Besides, no one can be down and out forever. As long as you have the will, there will always be a day when you can take off."
He tried to comfort him earnestly, fearing that the young man would become depressed and jump into the well again. If that happened, he would not be able to face his ancestors after his death.
Song Fuxue hummed softly. He didn't want to explain to others why he jumped into the well earlier, so he took over the conversation and said, "You're right. Besides, I have ancestors above me and a little girl below me. How can I bear to die again?"
Song Zhiwen nodded continuously: "That's right. You are the pillar of the family, so you can't bend your spine."
As he spoke, he looked around like a thief and lowered his voice, "I brought you two taels of silver. When the weather gets colder and the storm has died down, you can buy whatever you need. We won't suffer any hardship!"
Under the shabby wooden table, a handful of silver coins was forced into Song Fuxue's hand.
"Don't refuse. When I was dying of illness, it was your father who hired a doctor for me. I owe him a huge debt of gratitude."
Song Fuxue felt warm in his heart and smiled: "If I can recover, I will repay your kindness a hundredfold."
"Why are you being so polite? It's all about breaking bones and tendons. Besides, I chose this shabby place for your family. I feel guilty about it, but I have no choice to deal with the task from above." Song Zhiwen explained quickly: "Although the thatched cottage is shabby and the tables and chairs are broken, it is at the west end of the village. If a stranger comes from the official road, he will have to pass through the village. Everyone will help keep an eye on you. Besides, there is still vacant land around. Once you close the door, you can live the way you want. There is a lot of vacant land around, which is convenient for reclaiming wasteland and growing vegetables. I have considered every aspect."
After hearing what he said, Song Fuxue realized the beauty of this place and quickly nodded to express her gratitude.
"Then Grandpa Song, please stay here for dinner today and try our cooking. I want to stew a chicken." Song Mian, who was overhearing, said hurriedly.
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