Half an hour later, Jian Ning called Erniu back and asked her if she knew where she was wrong. She answered well: "I shouldn't have said that Sister A'man was stupid. When my mother was telling me about Journey to the West, she said that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I won't point out other people's weaknesses in the future."
"Okay, it's not enough to just know that you're wrong, you have to do it. Mom hopes you won't make the same mistake again this time, can you do it?" Erniu has a lot of problems and is what worries Jane Ning the most. Like Zhu Bajie, she admits her mistakes better than anyone else, and she makes mistakes more than anyone else.
Seeing her sweaty head, Jian Ning felt distressed, but her hands were covered with flour and she couldn't wipe her sweat. When she was about to ask the big girl to wipe her sweat, Ah Man took the initiative to come forward and wipe her sweat with her own handkerchief.
Erniu said, "Sister Ah Man, thank you. I was wrong. I shouldn't have laughed at you."
Ah Man shook her head and said with a smile, "It's okay, I'm not angry anymore. I'll go with you to change clothes. I can help you. Sister Meixiang taught me how to dress, and I know how to do it."
The two children went happily hand in hand.
The dumplings were almost done, and Jian Ning asked the eldest and second daughters to call the Chang family's children to come and eat together. Chang's husband Ding Pingshun took the village head's ox cart to the town to sell vegetables in the morning. He is still taking medicine, but he is feeling much better now.
Country people are used to being hardworking, never lying down if they can sit still. He couldn't stay idle at home, so he took over all the vegetable fields that Chang had planted. Every day when he went to town, he would first deliver vegetables to Zhang Mazi. Zhang Mazi's restaurant used to have a regular vegetable deliveryman, but now they all used Ding Pingshun's.
Of course, he wasn't just considering Jian Ning's face, but also Pu Ren Tang's. He was a well-connected businessman, and Yang Jinyu's father was an official in Beijing. He bought vegetables from anyone, no matter who they were; the store would need them anyway, and having more connections meant more opportunities in the future.
After selling the remaining vegetables, Ding Pingshun waited in town for Ding Sheng and Dabao to finish school, and then returned with them. He brought lunch from home, so only Daya, her two younger brothers, and her youngest sister, Xiaoya, were left at home for lunch. Whenever Jian Ning cooked something delicious, she would send Daya to call them over to eat together.
"I want to go too." Sanniu picked up Yuanbao and wanted to go with them. As soon as she left, A'man also clamored to go. In the end, the four children went together, talking and laughing.
At the foot of the hillside where the old house was located, Old Dingtou was annoyed by Meng's chattering and had to go out to get some peace and quiet. He walked to the old house unknowingly, saw Da Niu and the others coming out, and saw Er Niu looking at him. He waved to Er Niu as if possessed by some unknown force.
Erniu didn't see who he was at first. She just saw someone standing there and glanced at him unintentionally. When she saw him waving at her, she recognized it was Lao Dingtou.
"Oh, I need to go to the toilet. You guys go first, I'll come later." Erniu said, holding her stomach.
"Okay, go quickly, we'll leave first." said the big girl.
After they left, Erniu hesitantly walked towards Old Dingtou. She seemed to have seen Old Dingtou smiling at her earlier. In her mind, the grandfather gave her the same feeling as a god. Everyone in the family respected the grandfather! Moreover, the grandfather had never been mean to her.
Erniu always remembered the time Ding Gui and Ding Quan were drinking rice soup in front of her and Sanniu, the two brothers deliberately slurping it loudly, making her drool. That day, Ye came home from work in the fields and saw it. He glared at Ding Gui and Ding Quan, scolding them for drinking it behind their backs instead of showing off in front of them, and ordered them to give the rest to her and Sanniu.
Although Ding Gui and Ding Quan were naughty and drank it all in one breath so she didn't taste it at all, she remembered how good the master was to her.
Grandpa is not grandma. She hates her grandma, but never hates grandpa.
She walked over, looked at Old Ding, and finally called out, "Master, you called me?"
When Old Ding heard her call him "Grandpa," he almost burst into tears. He regretted it so much! He regretted that he shouldn't have been so hasty in separating the fourth branch, and shouldn't have refused to give them land after that. He knew that separating the fourth branch would be a loss for them, so he didn't have the nerve to ask the village head or the clan leader to come as witnesses. He was also worried that his fourth son would refuse to leave.
But ask yourself, if Si'er's family were to separate and become completely destitute, could he, as a father, watch them starve to death or freeze to death?
cannot!
He just wanted to force his fourth son to become independent. Aren't many people forced into independence? Even the current emperor was one of them!
Old Ding was no ordinary, uninformed villager. Back when he was only seven or eight, his father had worked as a hired hand for a wealthy family that had retired to their hometown during the off-season. He had even gone with his father two or three times. His father's greatest wish was to send him to school. If it weren't for the war, when his father received his wages from his employer and the money he had intended for his education was stolen by soldiers on his way home, he too would have become a scholar.
If he had been educated, how could he be the old farmer digging for food in the fields today?
Old Ding still remembers that when the whole family was fleeing the chaos, his father pushed a cart and cried out to the heavens: "God, I'll fuck you! Is it possible that my Ding family can't produce a scholar?"
His father worked as a hired hand in a wealthy family. He had seen the lives of the rich and knew that the only way for country folk to change their fate was through education. Before his death, he was still muttering that he had not been able to let his son study. He told Old Dingtou that when he got married and had children in the future, he must make sure that his grandchildren studied.
Old Dingtou himself actually doesn't have so many thoughts. As someone who has lived through war and famine, his biggest wish is to have a stable meal to eat until he is old.
Later, he married Meng. Not wanting to live up to the old saying that people of the same family are alike, Meng happened to be a generous person with some knowledge. There was a woman in her village who had worked as a nanny in the home of an official of the previous dynasty. She often talked to Meng about the prestige of the wives of noble titles. She herself had witnessed the style of the wives of noble titles when she went to burn incense. After listening to what Liu the Blind said, she kept urging him to send Si'er to study.
Even though Si'er was unpromising and useless, Old Ding was really trying to force him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have invited the village head and the clan leader to be witnesses. He wanted to have a backup plan, so that if Si'er's family got stuck, he could help him and avoid empty talk from the other families.
Yes! That’s what he thought. He was doing it for the good of his son, Si’er. The more Old Ding thought about it, the more excited he became. The more he thought about it, the more regretful he became. Why didn’t he think of this reason earlier?
It was all that stinky woman Meng's fault. She kept nagging him all day and led him astray. He kept hoping that Si'er's wine wouldn't sell and that he would dump the wine in his hands so that they could laugh and vent their anger.
Who knew that Si'er's wine would be so popular now, with carriages carrying it arriving all day long? Not to mention the wine, the villagers alone could earn countless silver dollars from selling beans, water chestnuts, and game. What was the hundred taels he was given?
It doesn’t matter!
He couldn't think about it. The more he thought about it, the more he felt wronged. It was no wonder that the old woman scolded him at home all day long. Fortunately, he thought of a good reason today. What's the big deal about breaking off the engagement letter?
Even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected!
He didn't believe that his son Si'er would be so heartless. In the past, whenever he beat up Meng, Si'er would cry and help Meng beat him up. As long as he put aside his fatherly attitude and talked things through with Si'er! Talk it through! Si'er would definitely change his mind. There was still hope, there was still hope. Everything was still in time.
"Master, you want to ask me something?"
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