Chapter 440: The Donkey
After distributing the money, Qian took out a five-liang silver ingot from her cloth bag and handed it to Zhou Xi, saying, "This is the silver that the fourth brother borrowed from you for his wedding. I'm returning it to you."
Zhou Xi took it with a smile, "Thank you, mother."
Qian looked at her with satisfaction and said, "The Dragon Boat Festival is coming the day after tomorrow. This year, the family has made such a large sum of money. You and your sisters-in-law should go shopping in the city and buy some brighter fabrics. Then you can ask your third brother and sister-in-law to teach you how to sew clothes."
When the daughters-in-law heard that they were going to the city, they couldn't help but look at their husbands. Xiao Qian bumped into Zhou Dalang, and Fang pinched Zhou Silang.
Before Zhou Silang could open his mouth, Zhou Dalang had already asked, "Mom, shall we all go to the city tomorrow?"
Old Zhou looked at his wife.
Qian looked at Manbao first and asked, "Manbao, do you want to go later?"
Manbao said dejectedly, "Master said there will be no holiday for Dragon Boat Festival."
Qian nodded and said, "Then I won't go. You guys go."
The children cheered and the daughter-in-law had a bright smile on her face.
Qian smiled and said, "Third and fourth wives, please leave the child at home. It would be bad if such a young child were to catch a cold if taken outside."
Qian reached out to He.
He immediately gave the five heads in her arms to her mother-in-law.
Qian smiled and said, "Children are not allowed to leave the village before they are one year old."
All the daughters-in-law of the Zhou family knew this rule, even Fang knew it, because when she just came out of confinement, she wanted to take her child back to her parents' home, but Qian refused to let her go, saying that if she really wanted to go back, Zhou Silang should take her back.
Go early and come back early, but the children cannot be taken out of the village.
Not only can they not be taken out of the village, but a hundred days ago, they cannot even go to places a little far away from the village.
Especially on the mountain behind the house, during the busy farming season some time ago, He carried five chickens on her back to mix chicken feed, but there was no one at home, so she just let the chickens crow and didn't send it to the back room.
If she went, she would have to leave the five heads in the house or give them to her to take care of.
In Qian's words, there are evil spirits in places far away. Adults can be safe, but children must not be contaminated by these evil spirits.
This is the parenting guide that has been passed down orally in the Qian family for many years.
Old Zhou sat gloomily, and Qian said to him, "You and the children should go to the city to have a look."
Old Zhou said unhappily, "No! What would I do in the city?"
Qian said helplessly, "Go buy me two sets of cloth. The weather is getting hotter and hotter. Buy me some cloth to make clothes, and buy yourself two sets of clothes. Also buy some hairbands for Manbao. This child can't tie his own hair."
Old Zhou became cheerful again and asked, "What color do you want?"
"What other colors can I wear? You can buy whatever you like, and buy me some yarn..."
Old Zhou listened carefully, wrote down everything, and then took a silver ingot from Qian. He looked at the silver and asked, "Why do you need silver to buy such a small thing?"
"You forgot, our cattle are still on credit. When you go to the county town, you'd better go and see if you can pay back the money on credit."
Manbao immediately said, "Mom, let me return it."
Before Qian could say anything, Old Zhou said, "No, no, this cow is for our family. How can I ask you to pay it back?"
Old Zhou was now very confident. "It's not like we're short of money at home. You can keep the five taels of silver. It will be useful for buying books, pens, inkstones, and paper in the future. By the way, Bao'er, are you still using the book copied by Mr. Zhuang? Why don't we just buy some ourselves..."
"No," Manbao flatly refused. "The teacher said that he likes to copy books for me. If he copies one book for me, I have to return two, and he can give them to two more people."
"There are still people buying books from Mr. Zhuang now."
"Yes, there's not much work to do in the fields right now. After our morning classes, the teacher will ask us to go to the classroom and some of our former senior students will come to audit."
Sometimes when no one came, Mr. Zhuang would move the classroom back to the courtyard after class. But sometimes the classroom was quite cool and Mr. Zhuang was too lazy to move it back and forth, so he asked them to go to the courtyard to move the tea sets and other things to the classroom.
Since he only taught these three students, Mr. Zhuang became much more relaxed and enjoyed teaching them while drinking tea.
Old Zhou listened and thought that Mr. Zhuang was a really nice person, especially since he insisted on teaching on a holiday like the Dragon Boat Festival.
Then Old Zhou looked at his wife and asked, "Do you think we should buy some more things from the city for Mr. Zhuang? If we only send eggs..."
Qian thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Zhuang's current clothes are all made by the Bai family. We can't make better ones, but no one makes shoes and socks. Why don't you buy some better materials and make him a few sets of shoes and socks at home?"
Qian smiled and said, "Especially shoes. Didn't Manbao say that Mr. Zhuang liked to go to the fields with them for lessons the other day? Walking on the ground requires a lot of wear and tear on shoes. The soles need to be thick so that they are comfortable to walk in."
Old Zhou, now that he had money, was a little more generous. He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll buy it for you."
That's how it was settled.
Qian collected the remaining silver ingots and let everyone go.
Old Zhou helped Qian put all the silver ingots in another bamboo box and then hid it under the bed.
But before going to sleep, he couldn't help but take a look under the bed.
Qian was amused and said, "Don't worry, thieves don't dare to come to our house, and mice can't take away the silver. Go to sleep peacefully, and someone from my parents' home will come tomorrow."
Uncle Qian said he would come to my house the next day, and sure enough he came again the next day.
But today they entered the village in broad daylight. When they entered the village, the villagers had just finished breakfast and the weather was not hot, so the village was very lively.
Some were hoeing the fields or weeding in the vegetable garden, and there was a long line of people washing clothes by the river. When the Qian family entered the village carrying bags and baskets, everyone in the village, young and old, saw them.
When walking by the river, the wives from Qianjia Village or those who are related to the people in Qianjia Village would greet them, and then their eyes would pass over their baskets and bags, with curiosity in their eyes.
Didn't you come yesterday? Why are you here again today?
This time, the Qian family came to see the child, so they did not hide anything and generously showed everyone the meat in their hands, the noodles in the bag, and the eggs in the basket.
Originally, it was planned that Aunt Qian would bring Second Aunt and Third Aunt, and at most a few daughters-in-law or children. However, last night, Uncle Qian felt a little uneasy while lying in bed, and he had some issues to discuss with Old Zhou, so they decided to come together.
When Uncle Qian San saw that his eldest brother was going to Qili Village, he immediately expressed his willingness to go too.
(End of this chapter)
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