The dolls were ready. Jian Ning dotted their eyes with ink and asked the four children to choose their favorites. Dabao chose Sun Wukong, Da Niu chose Zhinu, Er Niu chose He Xiangu, and San Niu chose Chang'e. Jian Ning briefly told the four children the stories of the four dolls. Children are usually interested in mythological dramas. After listening to them, the four children looked at the dolls in their hands and were overjoyed.
Ding Youtian also listened with great interest. He had been thinking about something before and didn't pay attention to what Jian Ning was making up. But after listening, he looked at the dolls in the hands of the four little ones, and each one was lifelike and vivid.
After a moment of hesitation, he came up with an idea. He looked at Jian Ning with a smile in his eyes and said, "Madam, you are really skillful, but did you learn this from someone in the past? I wonder if you would be willing to teach this skill to someone in the village who is willing to learn. Then we can buy it at a low price and then sell it in the town or Jinmen County. What do you think?"
“…Let’s talk about it later.”
This bastard is truly a bastard. He can easily figure out how to make money. If he were born in her past life, Jane Ning had no doubt he would be a truly rich, handsome, and successful man. It seemed she had to reassess Ding Youtian. He wasn't completely useless; he was still somewhat useful.
Ding Youtian was looking at Jian Ning as if she were a treasure. He had another idea in mind and asked with a smile, "Your wife's hometown is in the south, right? Is it in Dayan Kingdom?"
They couldn't understand what Jian said when she first came to the Ding family, but Jian could understand a little bit of what they said, so he was not sure whether his wife was from Dayan Kingdom.
Jian Ning pretended to think deeply, shook his head, frowned, and said, "It's not Dayan Kingdom. I only know it's in a place very far away. Our place is called Nanwan Village. Later, it was flooded. Many families were washed away with their houses and people. The rest escaped, but many people died along the way..."
She squinted her eyes, as if she was trapped in unforgettable past events. Her whole body was shrouded in light and shadow, and the light blurred the marks on her face. From where Ding Youtian was standing, her profile was extremely beautiful and otherworldly, but also carried a hint of unspeakable pain.
In the past, he only thought that Jian was quiet and gentle, with eyes like a rabbit in the forest, always full of anxiety, which made people feel pity. He always unconsciously wanted to protect her and make her happy, and the same was true at this moment.
"Madam..." To cheer Jian Ning up, he added, "Luckily, your family has escaped. Don't dwell on the past. What's important right now is our family's livelihood. I have an idea. Besides fortune-telling, Blind Liu occasionally tells stories in the tavern. If I write down your stories in a storybook and exchange them with him, wouldn't that give me the capital to start a wine-making partnership? What do you think?"
Jane Ning's eyes lit up. This bastard was really cunning. She immediately became interested. "Okay, I've heard a lot of stories since I was a child. I'll ask you to write them later. Or why not just write one now and take it to him tomorrow to lure him into a partnership. If he wants the subsequent books, he has to pay for them, or you can just deduct the money from his wine money."
She immediately got to work. Since there was no paper at home, Jian Ning chopped some bamboo and started writing from the first episode of Journey to the West. She held Sanniu in her arms as she spoke, ensuring she wouldn't miss a beat. The family gathered around her, listening intently. Even after she finished two episodes and the bamboo ran out, the four little ones were still awake and kept pestering her to continue.
"Let's talk about it tomorrow. Let's go to bed."
Jian Ning pushed the four little ones into the quilt. Seeing that there was not much straw left, she and Ding Youtian continued to weave a few more straw mats before going to bed.
It's late at night.
The four little ones had already fallen asleep.
Ding Youtian also fell into bed and fell asleep, but Jian Ning, who had been busy all day, could not fall asleep for a long time. The night in the mountain village was particularly quiet. The wind blew in through the cracks in the wall, carrying the fragrance of soil. Her mind was filled with messy thoughts, and she fell asleep only in the second half of the night.
After falling asleep, she had a dream. She dreamed that she was in a room with many of her former comrades-in-arms in the room. She could see them, but they could not see her. No matter how she shouted, no one paid attention to her.
Just as she was wondering, the scene flashed and a bed appeared in front of her. On the bed lay Wu Yanxu, the captain of their special police team. He lay there motionless with a nasogastric tube inserted.
What's going on with the military team?
Just as Jian Ning was about to go forward to see what was going on, he suddenly heard the sound of hurried horse hooves.
The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, more and more real, and then she woke up from her dream... In the distance, there was really the sound of horse hooves coming towards Dingjia Village.
Ding Youtian was also awakened. There was rarely the sound of horse hooves in the countryside, let alone at this time.
He turned over and sat up, lighting the oil lamp.
Seeing that it was almost dawn outside, Jian Ning covered his mouth and yawned, ready to sleep for a while. He closed his eyes and thought of the dream he had just had, and he lost his sleepiness all of a sudden.
The sound of horse hooves stopped on the other side of the hill.
In a moment, a woman's heart-wrenching cry pierced the night sky, followed by the crying of several children.
"It's Sister Tian! Could something have happened to Brother Ma?" Jian Ning threw off the quilt and got out of bed. She remembered what Da Niu said, that Brother Xiaodou's father was called away by people from the yamen, and most likely something had happened.
She put on her clothes and opened the door. Ding Youtian quickly took the lamp and followed her. There were a few dim lights on the road moving towards the slope.
"...His father, you just gave up like that, leaving us orphans and widows behind. How are we going to survive..."
Tian cried so hard that many villagers were awakened. The originally quiet mountain village gradually became lively, with the sounds of creaking doors opening and dogs barking one after another.
When Jian Ning arrived at the Ma family's house, several villagers had gathered at the door. When she went in, she saw Ma Fuquan lying on the temporarily removed door panel like a bloody man. His left shoulder and waist were wrapped in thick white coarse cloth, which was soaked with black blood. His face was also black, and it was obvious that he died of poisoning.
There were several other men in the room who were dressed in night clothes like Ma Fuquan. One of them looked very imposing, like a leader. Even though he was wearing the same clothes as the others, one could tell at a glance that he had a unique temperament.
There was also an old doctor carrying a medicine box, who was advising Tian to mourn less.
Tian lay on Ma Fu's body and cried bitterly. The three Ma brothers knelt beside her, crying loudly. Jane Ning's eyes were filled with tears.
The dead cannot be brought back to life, and everyone was urging Tian to mourn less and not to damage her health by crying. Jian Ning was also there to offer her advice. She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she vaguely saw Ma Fuquan's eyelids twitch. Instinctively, she lifted his eyelids and looked, then suddenly exclaimed, "Brother Ma isn't dead. His pupils haven't fully dilated yet. He can still be saved!"
Tian's crying stopped abruptly.
"How ridiculous!" The old doctor, the owner of the town's Puren Tang Clinic, angrily replied, "I've been practicing medicine for decades. Are you questioning me, young lady? It's possible that I can't even diagnose whether a person has died or not."
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