On this day, Yang Lihua was busy sorting out the account books at home, preparing to pay the women in the village.
Some of the women couldn't wait any longer and, regardless of the cold weather, gathered together to chat and suppress their excitement.
Aunt Tai San brought a bowl of soybean paste to Liu Dongniang and said with a smile, "I heard that your soybean paste is almost gone? I still have some at home. I'll give you a bowl to try."
Liu Dongniang smiled innocently and replied, "Thank you, Third Aunt. We have almost finished our soybean paste. Everyone in the village says that your soybean paste is the best. After the New Year, when I put the soybean paste into the jar, please come and give me some advice."
"Oh my!" Third Aunt laughed exaggeratedly and said to the other women, "Listen, Dong Niang is much more powerful than before. She speaks so sweetly, she makes me want to bring my own big jar of soy sauce here right now!"
Everyone laughed and responded.
"You become like the people you follow!"
"That's right. The eldest sister-in-law is now half a businessman. The second sister-in-law is with her all day long and is more eloquent than before."
"No, no, I'll send my girl here to work in a few days. I don't ask for any wages, I just want her to learn some skills."
"My family too, my family too."
Women are all people-loving. They seem to be joining in the fun, but in fact they all have some real thoughts in their minds.
Let's not talk about anything else, just look at the sisters Chunhong and Erya. When they first came to Tai's house, they were as thin as monkeys, and they were timid in what they said and did. Now, wherever they go, they have become beautiful young ladies with good figures, bright eyes, and they speak frankly and act efficiently.
The most important thing is that the two sisters have learned a lot of skills. Chunhong can embroider, Erya can cook, and they are especially good at using an abacus to do accounting.
A girl like this would be fine even if she married into a wealthy family in the city and became their daughter-in-law!
The biggest wish of a girl from a farming family is to marry into a city. Not only will she live a good life, but her family will also be proud of her. She can even receive support and care from her husband's family...
Just at this time, Chunhong came from the front yard holding Zhuzhu's hand. Zhuzhu ran to her mother, hugged her thigh, and acted cutely in a baby voice.
"Mom, are you done with your work? Can you play with Zhuzhu?"
Yang Lihua bent down, picked up her chubby daughter, and gave her a loving kiss. Finally, she jokingly said to everyone, "You can see, I only have this one precious daughter and I don't have time to spend with her. Don't even think about forcing your daughter on me and making me tired of teaching her.
"Besides, nowadays, the girls in the village have the skills to weave cashmere clothes and trousers, and they have also earned a thick dowry for themselves, so they will not have to worry about marrying into a good family in the future."
The last sentence touched everyone's heart, and everyone laughed.
"That's right. I just bought two pieces of good material for my girl the other day. It's enough to make four thick quilts."
"Yeah, show it to me some other day. I'm also thinking about preparing something for my eldest girl."
Seeing that everyone had changed their minds, Yang Lihua called Chunhong to come forward and start paying their wages.
After receiving the heavy silver and copper coins, the women no longer had the heart to gossip. They happily went home to tell their families the good news.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the Tai family's backyard finally became quiet.
Liu Dongniang breathed a sigh of relief and helped take her niece. She complained to her sister-in-law, "These people in the village are getting lazier and lazier. Now they even abandon their own daughters to us."
Yang Lihua smiled and replied, "If it were any other day, it wouldn't be a big deal to spend a few more words to teach the girls. But now I have to take care of the ice sculpture business in the city and start buying New Year's goods, so I really don't have the time."
After saying that, she scratched Zhuzhu's nose and coaxed her daughter.
"Mom still needs to look over the account books. Do you want to go make dumplings with Auntie, or have some snacks here?"
"I want to help my aunt make dumplings!" The fat girl smiled slyly, and her chubby hands hugged her aunt's neck tightly.
She didn't want to help at all. She just wanted to stay with her aunt and eat dumplings as soon as possible.
Yang Lihua did not expose her little thoughts, and let Liu Dongniang smile and carry the fat girl to the front yard.
Sure enough, the fat girl didn't even touch the rolling pin before a piece of dough was stuffed into her mouth. Then she happily stuck it on a tree branch and started roasting it at the stove door.
Sesame Ball followed beside, lazily wagging his tail and sweeping some of the firewood to be burned in to avoid scalding the greedy fat girl!
Soon, the small piece of dough was baked and became the size of a date, and was a little burnt.
The fat girl pinched off a piece and stuffed it into her mouth. She refused to spit it out even though her teeth were grimacing due to the heat. Sesame Ball grinned with glee, but the fat girl also stuffed a piece into his mouth.
So, the girl and the dog both had black mouths with big white teeth.
Liu Dongniang occasionally looked up and saw it, and laughed so hard that her stomach hurt. She was just about to pull out a handkerchief to wipe the fat girl clean when a guest came to the courtyard gate.
Erya ran to open the gate of the courtyard. It turned out that Madam Min had sent a maid to bring snacks and small things to Zhuzhu.
Yang Lihua hurried out from behind to entertain the guests, and Liu Dongniang also quickly cleaned up the beads.
The old woman was someone who was useful to Madam Min. Knowing that her master valued the Tai family, she spoke to her in a familiar manner.
"Madam, it's been a while since you last visited us. Our Madam always mentions you twice a day because she really misses you.
"Our young lady is the same. Whenever she has something delicious or fun, she always leaves a portion for Miss Zhuzhu. Look, today our young lady got two wonderful kites, and she urged me to come and give them to her."
After saying that, she signaled the little maid to bring up a butterfly kite.
The craftsman's craftsmanship was obviously good. The butterfly kite was very light and the rare colors were also bright, which immediately won Zhuzhu's favor.
"Mother-in-law, please go back and thank sister Min on my behalf. When Zhuzhu has something fun, keep it for her too!" The fat girl hugged the butterfly kite and smiled with her big eyes curved. She looked very cute.
Yang Lihua couldn't help but scold, "This girl is so rude!"
The old woman laughed and replied, "Our young lady will be even happier if she knows that Miss Zhuzhu likes it."
Yang Lihua asked a few questions about Mrs. Min's health and took out a newly sewn six-sided rabbit fur hat.
"If you didn't come today, I would have found a free time to come over and sit with you. The weather is getting colder, so I made two hats and gave one to Miss Min for fun."
The old woman quickly took it in her hands and liked it more and more the more she looked at it.
The hat was made of bright red brocade divided into six pieces, lined with white snow rabbit fur. The fur had a two-inch wide brim and six red strings hanging around it, with a rabbit hair ball strung on every other section.
If you wear it on your head, the fur ball will sway back and forth when you walk, which must be beautiful and lively.
"Oh, Madam, what a clever idea! Our young lady will definitely like it. I'm afraid we can't find such a nice hat in our county."
"It's just a little thing, for Miss Min to match her jacket and skirt." Yang Lihua replied modestly with a smile.
The old woman put away her hat and, seeing that there was no one around, she whispered something else.
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