Shen Yu didn't mind her innocent remark and just laughed, "We used to use a mattress, but later when conditions improved, we started using cotton quilts."
Little Fu Bao picked some fruit from the backyard, which Niu Mei Hua had picked. After washing it, Little Fu Bao ran to the room prepared for Ji Ying and said, "Big sister, have some fruit!"
Ji Ying had met Xiao Fubao before, but they weren't familiar with each other and didn't talk much. She just thought the child was really cute and liked him at first sight.
Ji Ying took a piece of fruit and ate it.
Ji Duo also took a fruit.
Taking bite after bite, Ji Ying's small eyes lit up, and she said:
"Auntie, your fruit is so sweet!"
"If you like it, then take a few more!" Chen Yu smiled and turned to go to the room where pickled products were made.
Xiao Fubao said, "Sister Ji Ying, Brother Ji Duo, let's go watch my dad release fish fry!"
Ji Ying asked with admiration, "Your family raises fish?" Her family didn't; her father's things were all gifts from her uncle, the emperor.
The three little ones, carrying a bag of fruit, dragged Niu Baolan, Niu Meihua, and Sang Rong along to Guhu Lake to watch Niu Da release fish fry.
Niu Da threw a lot of fish fry into Guhu Lake, probably tens of thousands of them. In the past, when Zhao Lizhang raised fish, he made some money in the first year, but half of them still died. In the following two years, however many he raised, all died.
Not only did he lose his ancestral wealth, but he also owed two hundred taels of silver. After moving to Guhu, he was able to pay off this debt.
Right now, the family doesn't even have money to send their children to school. If those pearls belonged to her family, they wouldn't have to worry about food and drink for the next ten years.
Huang Jingui had three children, the second of whom was a girl. She had always disliked her, feeling that the reason her family had lost so much money was because of this girl.
If it's a boy, even if we lose money, it won't be because the son is the one who brings misfortune.
“She’s a girl, and you’re a girl too. She has five daughters! Why can’t you bring any good fortune to our family? You’re just a money-losing burden!” Huang Guihua said, pulling at Niu Daidi, who was working.
"You're not even as good as your older and younger brothers. At least your older and younger brothers can carry on the family line. What can you do besides eat?"
"Mom, Mom, please stop hitting me!" Zhao Zhaodi cried and pleaded.
After Huang Jingui beat her daughter, she still felt unsatisfied. Her first child was a big, healthy boy named Guangzong. She had been hoping to have only sons, but her second child was a daughter.
In her mind, raising ten sons would be good, while raising one daughter would be a waste of money.
Unfortunately, five years after she was born, Bao Guhu not only lost all of their ancestral wealth, but also caused her health to deteriorate after giving birth to her youngest son.
"Go to Guhu Lake and bring back a few lake shells. If you can find pearls, you can have some bamboo shoots after your brothers have finished eating the meat."
Huang Jingui spoke with an air of charity.
When Zhao Zhaodi heard that there were bamboo shoots to eat, her eyes lit up. "Mom, I'm going to catch bamboo shoots right now, oh no, I'm going to catch seashells! I'll catch lots and lots of seashells!"
She is only five years old, and it is very dangerous for her to go to the river. However, she has not eaten for several days. The last time she ate was the day before yesterday when guests came to her house.
When guests come, she not only gets to eat, but her mother also gives her meat to eat, and then tells people that she loves this daughter the most, but no matter how much she feeds her, she can't get enough meat to eat.
Zhao Di really hopes to have another customer.
The two-year-old little brother, not understanding anything, just clapped his hands and said, "Oh, there's shellfish meat to eat! There's shellfish meat to eat!"
Zhao Zhaodi went to Guhu.
Huang Jingui threw all the dozen or so seashells that Zhao Zhaodi had found at Zhao Zhaodi's face with all her might, and Zhao Zhaodi's five-year-old face instantly turned bruised and purple.
"You useless brat! There's nothing inside these dozen or so seashells! You're not eating tonight!"
Those seashells were later retrieved from the lake by Niu Da; some were dead and hadn't been cleaned up yet.
Huang Jingui picked up the seashells and said with a smile to her youngest son, "Tonight, Mom will stir-fry seashell meat for you and your older brother!"
"Zhaodi, girls shouldn't eat clam meat, it will give them a stomachache, so you shouldn't eat!"
Huang Jingui had heard that the meat of dead clams shouldn't be eaten, but in the past, when there wasn't much food, the whole family ate the meat of dead clams and nothing serious happened.
The children rarely eat meat these days.
Zhao Zhaodi's eyes were lifeless, and she remained silent.
Village Chief Zhao has also returned.
However, he clearly didn't care whether Zhao Zhaodi ate or not. He only put a piece of clam meat into Zhao Guangzong's bowl and poured half a plate of clam meat into Zhao Yaozu's bowl.
The family of four enjoyed a happy meal together.
Zhao Zhaodi went next door to ask for food. Seeing how pitifully hungry she was, Aunt Hu from next door gave her half a white flour bun, saying:
"Don't let your father and mother find out!"
Zhao Zhaodi nodded vigorously: "Thank you, Grandma Hu."
Aunt Hu would occasionally give Zhao Zhaodi some food, but there were only the two of them in their family; her husband, son, and daughter-in-law had all died.
Her grandson is only ten years old. She makes a living by weaving straw sandals. She often eats only one meal a day to save money for her grandson's schooling.
Zhao Zhaodi ate steamed buns.
Huang Jingui grew angrier and angrier thinking about the three strings of pearls that Niu Dajia had obtained. Guhu Lake clearly belonged to her family. "Dad, we must get that money back from selling the pearls!"
“What do you want? You have the nerve to ask for something that someone else found in their lake?” said Zhao, the village chief, who was always very concerned about his reputation.
“When we were raising fish, several fish died in the first month. Now that they’ve cleaned up Guhu Lake, we’ve raised fish there for more than half a month and not a single fish has died! This is unfair.” “Anyway, they’ve already cleaned up Guhu Lake and changed the water source. If we take it back, raise fish there for a year, and make some money again like we did in the first year!”
Golden Osmanthus Road:
"Father, that's three hundred and sixty-two taels of silver!"
“How can I, a grown man, step forward? Besides, where would we get the money to subcontract it again?” said Village Chief Zhao. Three hundred and sixty-two taels of silver—he, a grown man, was naturally tempted, but he couldn’t cause trouble himself.
"You're just a village head, and you can't even handle this? You need to give him money? If you can't handle it, why don't you go find Magistrate Wang? He loves to seize land and shops. The Niu family only produced two scholars. What good are scholars?" Huang Jingui's words were disdainful and somewhat sour.
“Those were golden copper coins and gleaming silver!” Huang Jingui exclaimed.
Village Chief Zhao was somewhat tempted.
"Just look at the taxes the Niu family pays to us every year—it's a huge sum! If they raise all the fish in Guhu Lake to adulteration, what will become of them?" "If his brother passes the imperial examination next year, you, the village head, will probably have to be very careful around him!"
Huang Jingui immediately hit Zhao Lizhang's weak spot.
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