Chapter 7: A-mei’s little head half poked out quietly…
Zhou Ye, who was the last one to enter the house, was also recalling the scene when Lin Shu got off the car just now.
Her skin was as white as cream and as white as snow, her face was as rosy as a peach, her waist was as thin as a willow, but she couldn't carry anything with her shoulders or hands, and she looked like she wasn't capable of working. Such a woman should be kept in the inner boudoir of a wealthy family.
Zhou Ye felt a headache when he thought that a girl like this might live here forever.
I'm afraid she didn't come to the Lin family to be a daughter, but to be an ancestor. Uncle Lin and Aunt He have to support her.
Lin Shu's sweet words made Lin Dashan and He Guixiang smile happily. But after the initial excitement, embarrassment became apparent.
At this time, smoke was rising from every household, but He Guixiang was worried about the rice jar at home. The jar was still full of rice, but it was all coarse rice.
She went to the town today to buy medicine for Xiao Pu. She couldn't stop having the medicine, so she had to buy more after she finished it. After buying the medicine, she had only a few coins left in her pocket, so she decided to buy some needles and thread.
If she had known her daughter was coming back, she would have bought a liter of rice.
White rice is refined rice with the bran removed, while the villagers eat brown rice grown by themselves. This year's rice has not been planted for two months, and the rice they eat is all stockpiled from last year.
"Head of the household, my daughter just came back and I'm afraid she won't be used to the rough rice we have. We've saved ten eggs and were thinking of selling them at the market next time. Why don't I take them to the village head's house and ask them to exchange them for half a dou of polished rice?"
In those days, eggs were a rare commodity. If you took them to the market, one could be sold for five cents, and ten eggs could be sold for fifty cents. But the fine rice in the grain shop was also expensive, ten cents per liter, and one hundred cents per dou. Ten eggs could only be exchanged for half a dou of fine rice.
Lin Dashan was silent for a long time before nodding and saying, "Let's change it. The medicine I bought this time will last me half a month. I'll find a way to save up for the next medicine."
Zhou Ye happened to hear this as he was passing by the kitchen. He said to them, "Uncle, aunt, don't worry about the money for Xiao Pu's medicine. I'm going to the mountains again to find some mountain products to sell in town."
The mountain he was talking about was not the mountain behind Tianshui Village, but the deep mountains three miles away. The people of Tianshui Village seldom go into the deep mountains. Even if they go, they just walk around the periphery, chop firewood, pick mushrooms, etc.
But others didn't dare to go, but Zhou Ye did. Back then, he led his whole family to escape famine, and he crossed several mountains on the way. It was no problem for him to stay in the mountains for ten days or half a month.
"Aye, there are many poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts in the deep mountains, so you'd better stay away from there." He Guixiang knew his abilities, but now she treated Zhou Ye as half a son and didn't want anything to happen to him.
Thinking of Lin Shu, who had just returned, He Guixiang's mind became active again. She knew very well what kind of man a country woman wanted to marry: one who was strong and could endure hardships. Not to mention Tianshui Village, there was no one in the surrounding area who was stronger than Zhou Ye.
Originally, she had prepared Zhou Ye as a child for A Yao, but now...
I just don't know what my daughter is thinking, and whether she looks down on a rough guy like Zhou Ye.
Lin Dashan was a strong-willed person, but he was convinced by Zhou Ye, an outsider. "Uncle won't say anything soft-spoken. You can do it yourself. If you have the energy, go ahead. But you have to put yourself first. I'm counting on you to help me cultivate the few acres of land at home."
Other people's fields couldn't be weeded even after weeding every day this month, but he and Zhou Ye cleared all the weeds in just two days. Firstly, their fields weren't large, only five mu, and secondly, they both worked quickly, so they could both relax for the next few days. After a day off, Lin Dashan could even find a day job in town and earn a few dozen copper coins.
"Don't worry, uncle and aunt, I know what to do." Zhou Ye's stomach growled as soon as he finished speaking, and a look of embarrassment appeared on his face.
"Look at me, I was so busy talking that I neglected to cook. I was already late today. I'll wash the rice and cook a pot of porridge on the stove." He Guixiang said cheerfully. She didn't mind Zhou Ye eating too much, because he could do the work of three people.
Nine out of ten households in Tianshui Village live in mud-covered thatched houses, so the stoves are not in the kitchen, but built in the courtyard outside the house, and then a simple shed is built to shelter from rain. After the brown rice porridge is cooked on the stove outside, He Guixiang goes to Zhang Lizheng's house with a basket of eggs.
Zhang Lizheng's family is a wealthy family in the village. If anyone in the village has surplus fine rice, the first family the villagers think of is his.
After He Guixiang left, Lin Dashan and Zhou Ye were not idle either. One chopped grass to feed the chickens, and the other went to the yard to chop firewood.
While the family was busy with their own things, Lin Shu was looking at her new home.
The walls were made of thatch, but they were built very tightly and covered with a thick layer of mud. At first glance, the walls looked more like earth walls mixed with thatch. The four corners and roof of the house were made of wooden frames, and the roof was covered with thick thatch, which did not leak any air. It was stronger than she thought.
The furnishings inside the house were simple. In the main room, there was a half-worn square wooden table and two benches. One of the benches had a broken leg, which had been patched with bamboo tubes. It was surprisingly stable to sit on, but it looked a bit out of place.
On the side walls, there were two straw raincoats hanging on the left and right, each with a bamboo hat buckled on top. Apart from that, there was nothing else, as clean as her pockets.
There was a doorway on each side of the main hall, connecting two bedrooms. When Lin Shu's eyes swept across the doorway on the left, she suddenly met a pair of eyes.
The owner of the eyes seemed frightened and quickly retracted the half-protruding head.
After a while, half of the little head quietly popped out again.
Unexpectedly, Lin Shu's gaze was still fixed on the same spot, not moving away at all. Her eyes suddenly widened when they met hers.
"Little sister, why are you hiding? Am I so ugly that I can't show myself to people?" Lin Shu blinked at her.
Lin Xiaopu is nine years old this year, but because of the frailty he had since the womb, he looks only seven years old like a normal child. His little face is thin, which makes his eyes look big and black.
Hearing this, she shook her head with a tense face, very quickly, as if she was afraid that if she shook it a little later, Lin Shu would misunderstand her.
"Then give me some compliments for being pretty." Lin Shu climbed up the pole with a smile.
Lin Xiaopu opened and closed her mouth several times, and whispered under Lin Shu's expectant gaze, "Sister, you look pretty."
In Tianshui Village, people like to use the word "A" to express affection. Lin Shu followed the local customs and quickly changed her tone. "Oh! Sister, your little mouth is so sweet. I'll make some candy for you later!"
Lin Xiaopu looked at her, his big eyes flashing twice, bright and clear.
Lin Shu's heart softened. He was so cute when he was still a skinny little boy. Now that he has some flesh on his cheeks, he will be so adorable that her heart will flutter.
Include the feeding plan in your notebook!
Lin Xiaopu was shy, but Lin Shu managed to coax her into talking a lot and found out everything she could.
Take the Lin family's kinship, for example. Her father had three brothers, the second oldest. Her eldest uncle had three sons, the eldest just married this year, and his wife is pregnant, making them the largest family. Meanwhile, her third uncle had only one son, three years older than Xiao Pu.
Lin's father passed away early, and for many years the old woman had been the sole head of the family. While she was alive, she favored the eldest son's family. Three years ago, when she was nearing death, she divided the family property. Of the family's 20 mu of land, the eldest son's family received a full 10, seven of which were paddy fields. Of the remaining 10, her father and third uncle each received 5. Furthermore, the old woman left the family home to her eldest uncle's family, leaving her father and third uncle's family with only a few dollars to settle down.
And this is the result of the heroine's insistence on reason.
For a low-income farmer who could hardly save a few copper coins throughout the year, two hundred yuan might seem like a lot, but they had to build a new house, buy pots, pans, and other items, and there was also a small medicine jar at home that was completely inadequate.
Fortunately, the heroine Lin Yao is a capable person. She is good at needlework and can earn a lot of money by embroidering some handkerchiefs and purses and selling them in the town. She is also very good at budgeting. Before the family split up, she was careful not to hand over all the money she earned to the government. Over time, she saved a considerable amount of money.
After the division of the family, the family actually lived a better life. The father, who had been foolishly filial, also came to his senses because of the obvious partiality shown by the old woman before her death.
Later, Lin Dashan, feeling suffocated, bought Zhou Ye, who was fleeing famine, with a bag of coarse grains. His intention was obvious: he had no son, but he could find a live-in son-in-law!
As soon as Zhou Ye came into the family, they had a laborer, and their lives became much more comfortable than before. If it weren't for Lin Xiaopu's regular payments for medicinal herbs, the family would have already lived a comfortable life.
Lin Shu stretched her neck and stole a glance at the burly man chopping wood in the yard. She whispered, "So your brother A'ye has only been home for less than three years? He doesn't look like someone who would starve to death, so why did he sell himself to our family?"
Firewood was piled in a corner of the courtyard. Zhou Ye rolled up his sleeves and chopped the wood with a clean, sharp movement. The veins in his arms throbbed with his movements, brimming with savage strength. With one blow of the axe, the thick log split in two with a smooth motion.
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
