When Chen Ye heard that Hu wanted him to ask for the second wife's parrot, he became unhappy and said, "It's someone else's thing, and their children like it too. Why should I give it to you?"
She also said that his two brothers were very good and always remembered the friendship that he had supported them. The third wife built a big house for them, and the second wife's life had just started to get better, so she often sent food and drinks to her family, and also sent so much satin. She was told not to be so short-sighted and ask for everything. If she continued like this, it would weaken their brotherly love...
As Chen Ye and Hu were talking, Chen Agui came in and said, "Mom, just listen to my advice. It's not good for you to always ask your uncles for things. Dad and I work day and night, and we haven't wronged you and your sisters. Our family is now a wealthy family in the village. Just give Dad and me some face. And Aju, mom has to teach her a lesson."
Chen Agui is a quiet person and it is rare for him to say so much.
Chen Ming said, "Agui is right. You should keep Aju under control. She is almost ready to find a husband, but she is still so ignorant."
When Mrs. Hu thought about this, she endured for a while before suppressing what she wanted to say.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, as long as Luo Mei and Luo Kaicheng didn't come to play at home, Chen Dabao would go to the east end of the village to collect firewood. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon, he would collect more to save for when they went to the city at the beginning of next month, so that his grandfather would have something to burn. Sometimes Chen Afu would go with him after he finished his work.
After the 20th day, although a lot of corn stalks were pulled back to the yard, they were not dry yet. They had to wait for a few days to dry thoroughly before they could be burned as firewood.
If the little brother and sister came, Dabao would play with them, and Chen Afu would also prepare some food for them in various ways.
That night, the first autumn rain came. It drizzled all night.
The next day, when Chen Dabao finished writing the characters, it was already 9:00 p.m. Seeing that Luo Kaicheng and his sister had not come, he took Zhuifeng to the village to invite Xiao Shitou and Sixizi to go collect firewood together. Xiao Shitou and Sixizi's families did not need them to collect firewood, but they were willing to follow Dabao to play in the woods.
Chen Ahfu advised, "The ground is still a little wet, why don't we go tomorrow?"
Dabao shook his head and said, "No, we need to save more firewood for grandpa."
Chen Ahfu had no choice but to let him go. Qiqi and Huihui wanted to join them, but Chen Ahfu said, "If you want to play, just fly a few circles in the sky, or go to the forest in the mountains. Stay away from people and don't get caught."
After hearing this, Qiqi and Huihui spread their wings and flew high into the sky.
Chen Ahfu took the clothes she had made for Yang Qian to the east room of the old courtyard to make them. While she was working, she talked to Chen Ming and Wang.
At this time, Mrs. Hu came. She did not knock at the door, but directly opened the fence door and came in.
Wang had no choice but to welcome her into the east room.
Chen Afu had already put the satin for making small clothes into the kang cupboard. He was very depressed. Using his own satin to make clothes was like being a thief.
Mrs. Hu was in a rare good mood today. After chatting with them for a while, she said, "Hey, where are the two birds in your house?"
Wang said, "I went out to play."
Mrs. Hu smiled and continued, "I will show my second uncle and his wife a way to make money, so your family will have a better life in the future. I heard from my fifth son that he has a friend in the county who particularly likes talking parrots, and asked me to help him collect them. He said that one parrot is five taels of silver. Tsk tsk, two parrots is ten taels of silver, and this money is enough for your family to earn for more than a year. How about letting my fifth son use his connections to help you sell the bird? For us country people, the most important thing is to have enough food and clothing. How can we have the spare money to keep pets like the rich people do?"
Chen Ahfu, Chen Ming and Wang Shi cursed inwardly, did they think they were fools? Qiqi and Huihui could talk a lot and even knew the way home. Such smart parrots should be the most expensive birds in the bird market, each of which could be sold for at least several hundred taels of silver.
They have a deep affection for the two birds now, and will not sell them no matter how difficult the family situation is, not to mention that they are not short of money now. Tangyuan offered a high price to buy them, but Dabao was reluctant to sell them.
Chen Ming refused directly, "Thank you, sister-in-law, for thinking of us when you have this way to make money. But these two parrots are like our family now, and we can't bear to sell them no matter how much money we get."
Wang added, "We don't dare to sell them either. Manager Luo told my Dabao that his young master likes these birds, and when his little sister comes to Tangyuan in the future, Dabao will have to take them to play with his little sister."
Mrs. Hu frowned and said, "I know you have curry favor with Manager Luo, but you won't bring him up for such a trivial matter, right? My fourth brother-in-law is an official in the government office. Last year, he accompanied the county lieutenant to Manager Luo's house for dinner, but we didn't always bring it up. No matter how close you are to Manager Luo, have you ever been to Luo's house for dinner? Can you compare to my fourth brother-in-law's relationship with him? What do you mean his young master likes it so much that he has to play with this bird? I heard that there are so many birds in rich families that they hang all over the yard. The master of Tangyuan is such a rich family, how can the young master still care about these two broken birds of yours? My fifth son was kind enough to help, but you took it for granted."
She really thought that the master of Tangyuan would not care about these two birds, and she definitely did not expect that these two birds would be sold for a huge amount of money, otherwise she would not be so calm. Hu Laowu told her that he could sell these two birds for 25 taels of silver each in the county. He kept 20 taels and gave the remaining 30 taels to Hu. Hu thought that she would keep 20 taels for herself and give 10 taels to Chen Ming, which was already good. Who would have thought that his family was still unwilling to sell.
Chen Ming said slowly, "We are not trying to take advantage of others, and we don't need Hu Laowu's kindness to help us. These two birds are like our family members, and we will not sell them no matter how much money we are offered."
Seeing that Mrs. Hu was about to say something, Chen Ahfu said with a half-smile, "Aunt, my grandma told us that if you come to my house again to piss off my uncle and make him sick, let us tell her and she will set rules for you. If you go too far, she will tell my uncle that you are the one who bothered my third uncle crying for the house."
Hu's heart sank. How could the old lady and the second wife know about that? It seemed that the third brother was not an honest man either. It was a pity that she had always praised him.
She was so angry that she stared at Chen Ming and asked, "Second Uncle, before the family split up, my sister-in-law served you wholeheartedly. Why are you so ungrateful that you let your daughter treat me, your aunt, like this?"
Chen Ming laughed sarcastically and said, "Sister-in-law, I have always remembered my eldest brother's kindness, and I have always remembered your love. Before we separated, you served me very well. If you had not been so virtuous in those years, I would really be as embarrassed as my third brother in some matters."
He emphasized the word "serve".
Mrs. Hu then remembered how she had scolded Chen Ming before the family division. Over the years, she often talked about how she served her uncle, and after so long, even she herself mistakenly believed that she had been so virtuous in the past.
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