Chapter 76 Chapter 76
After the autumn harvest, the pork business at the stall became much better.
Farmers have to change jobs during the autumn harvest. Today you help a few close families harvest the grain, and tomorrow you go to help another family.
This way, the harvest can be done much faster, and the workers don't have to be paid, but whoever harvests first still has to be responsible for one day's meals.
Although hiring people like this doesn't cost any money, the food must be prepared properly. Everyone is doing hard work. If you only provide some vegetables and water that are not enough to fill them up, people will think you are stingy. Who will be willing to exchange jobs with you in the future?
Not to mention killing chickens and geese to eat, at least you have to get a few pounds of fresh meat to enjoy the greasy taste.
During the autumn harvest, villagers came to the house every day to make requests. The Zhang family wanted three pounds of pork and one piece of pig liver, and the Li family wanted a pair of heart and lungs and two cubic meters of pig blood.
Kang He and Fan Jing killed a pig outside and brought it back to the village. They immediately sent the pork to the families who had ordered it. When the harvest was good, the village could consume thirty or forty kilograms of meat.
People in the neighboring village also ordered pork from the Fan family because the journey to the city was too far and would take too long. Kang He would then drive his car and have someone deliver the pork to the village. Sometimes he would also bring salt and sauce to those villagers who were too busy working in the fields to go to the city.
Many people thanked him and loved buying pork from Fan's house.
After the autumn harvest, farmers had extra money, and the pork business was no longer in decline. Villagers became more generous than usual, and more families were willing to eat meat.
In addition, in the cool and refreshing autumn season, people from both inside and outside the city gather here to entertain guests or do business.
Of course, if you want to do business, you have to buy meat. One day, Kanghe sold two fat pigs at a time. They were ordered by the people who wanted to do business with him.
After noon that day, Kang He leisurely cut a bowl of pork sashimi with even fat and lean meat, added salt, pepper and spice powder and mixed them well.
He took the clean sausage casings and started stuffing sausages with Chen Sanfang in front of the shop.
"This fresh meat is very fragrant with the pepper powder. It looks delicious even raw."
Chen Sanfang sniffed the pork that had been covered with spices to remove the fishy smell, and it smelled of a spicy aroma.
This sausage is stuffed and taken home to be smoked with pine needles in the yard. It can be stored for a long time and can be eaten during festivals. It is also not bad to cut a plate of it to serve guests when they come home.
Kang He said, "I put a bowl of fresh meat and malt sugar in it to make it sweet. I also chopped some pork ribs, cut them into finger-length pieces, pickled them with spices, and stuffed them into the intestines to make pork bone sausage."
"You have so many tricks. Just listening to them makes me drool."
Fan Jing casually asked to go over and help, but the two men refused, fearing that he would feel uncomfortable if he smelled the meat odor for too long.
He went to the stove at the back to boil some water and made a pot of tea. When he came out, he heard voices. He Xiaoqiu had arrived.
"Why are you here at this time?"
He Xiaoqiu greeted Kang He and Chen Sanfang and walked into the shop.
He comes here often and is familiar with the place.
"I sent the handkerchiefs my mother made to the cloth shop. The chrysanthemums are in full bloom this month, and they need handkerchiefs with new chrysanthemum patterns for clothes. The cloth shop wanted them urgently, so I hurriedly made a few and sent them over."
Upon hearing this, Chen Sanfang tilted her head and walked into the room: "Xiaoqiu, is your mother still embroidering?"
"Well, the braising liquid made money, but I also advised her not to do it anymore. She might damage her eyes. It's enough to pay for Dad's medicine. But she just likes to do some needlework to pass the time, so I just advised her to do less and take some time off."
"Your mother is very skilled and can do a lot."
He Xiaoqiu smiled and said, "She would be so happy to hear your wife praising her like this."
As he spoke, he took out a round basket and said to Fan Jing: "When I have some free time, I also made a few small clothes. Take a look and see if they suit your taste."
Fan Jing saw He Xiaoqiu open the basket lid, and there were a few pieces of clothes as big as small beans in it, and the material felt so soft.
"I cut out the pattern. The little tigers and rabbits embroidered on it, and the flowers and leaves were all embroidered by my mother."
"How can I wear all these clothes?"
The two maids Zhen'er and Qiao'er at home made them, and Chen Sanfang also made them, but he had never done anything yet. He had thought that since Kanghe would no longer teach how to slaughter pigs, he would make a few more when he had more free time. Now he has more than ten pieces piled up.
He Xiaoqiu said, "Don't think it's too much. Children change every day. They like to spit at one o'clock, so their clothes need to be changed frequently."
Kang He listened to the two people talking excitedly, and came over with his dirty, greasy hands to take a look.
The tiger head embroidered on the bellyband is lifelike, not as scary as a real tiger. It is fat and round, and it looks very cute when children wear it.
"It's so well made. The eldest child can wear it and store it carefully. The second child can wear it in the future."
He Xiaoqiu covered her mouth and laughed. Fan Jing glanced at Kang He, but didn't respond to him and packed up the small clothes.
Chen Sanfang was delighted: "Sanlang is right."
After talking for a while, He Xiaoqiu went home.
Chen Sanfang also liked this child very much. He thought he was hardworking and capable, and had a good temper. It was a pity that he had to suffer such a bad thing.
When the man left, he also gave him a jar of honey, and the two of them pushed and shoved each other in the shop for a long time.
Fan Jinggang put the basket of small clothes under the counter so that he could take it home when he left. When he turned around, he saw a bag of salt and a jar of sauce on the table.
This guy was so busy flirting with Chen Sanfang that he even left his belongings behind when he left.
"When he's not far away, I'll send it to him."
After Fan Jing finished speaking, he took his things and left the shop. Kang He asked him if he wanted to go together, but he waved his hand.
When He Xiaoqiu reached the main street, she remembered that the things she bought were left in Fan Jing's shop. She needed sauce to make the stew, so she said she would go back and get it.
When he turned around, he saw a skinny man with rat-like eyes hiding beside a shop on the alley, as if looking at him.
His heart tightened, and he quickly pulled up his headscarf, lowered his head, and walked quickly to the other end of the street.
When he turned around again, he found that the man was actually following him. Now he knew for sure that he was the one following him.
He Xiaoqiu's heart was in his throat. He trotted forward and was about to go into an iron workshop. He looked back carefully, but the man was gone.
"Ouch, ouch, let go!"
Fan Jing grabbed the man by the collar and threw him into a small alley. "Why are you following him?"
The rat-eyed man's collar was stuck on his neck and he couldn't breathe. He thought he was being tricked by a tall man.
He loosened his collar and was about to beg for mercy when he turned around and saw that it was a man. He started to get aggressive again: "Who am I following and why should I report to you? Who are you?"
Fan Jing's eyes turned cold. He didn't want to waste any more words with this local hooligan. He was about to draw the knife from his waist.
When the man saw that Fan Jing had a stern face, was very strong, and carried a knife, he immediately became afraid.
"My dear brother, I won't dare to do it again. Don't bother with it."
Fan Jing scolded him coldly: "If you teach me to do this again, it won't be so easy next time."
The man nodded repeatedly and ran away dejectedly.
Fan Jing put away the knife and walked out of the alley. He Xiaoqiu, looking silly, was still looking around in front of the ironworks.
He strode forward.
"You drove that man away?"
He Xiaoqiu spotted Fan Jing coming this way at a glance, breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly trotted over to meet him.
Fan Jing handed the thing in his hand to He Xiaoqiu and responded softly.
He looked at the man's pale face and ordered a bowl of sweet soup from the sweet water shop on the street. The two of them sat at the table in front of the shop, and he pushed the sweet water in front of He Xiaoqiu.
This is not the first time such a thing has happened today. The city is overcrowded with people and there are many idle hooligans gathered here.
He Xiaoqiu was delivering braised food to the city, and he went in and out of the county town much more frequently than before. He had been followed by people like this a few times, and although he was safe, it was still very scary if it happened all the time.
"You know how these hooligans dare not provoke me easily, so why do they always follow you?"
He Xiaoqiu took a spoonful of sweet water and put it into her mouth. The sweet taste made her panic a little less.
He looked at Fan Jing and said, "Because you are a butcher? Everyone knows that butchers are powerful and dare not offend them easily."
Fan Jing said, "I don't wear the name of a pig butcher on my face, so how would strangers know? Even if they don't know what I do, ordinary people will think I'm not someone to mess with."
"You, a fine creature, with a turban wrapped around your face, would be hard for anyone to bear a second glance at even if they weren't paying attention. If they were to pay a little more attention, they'd see you acting timidly, and it would be easy for them to harbor evil intentions."
He Xiaoqiu felt warm in his heart when he heard Fan Jing talk to him so much, and he knew that what Fan Jing said made sense.
"I can't do it as well as you."
"I'm a weirdo, and you should just be like everyone else on the street."
Fan Jing was silent for a moment and told He Xiaoqiu about what happened to Sun Dasheng in the mountains.
Sun Dasheng is such a shameless person who only does things that violate the law. If he shows any fear towards this coward, this man will definitely catch him.
The more you encounter people with bad intentions, the tougher you should act. You should let the bad guys know that you are powerful. Even if you can't defeat them, you will definitely make them lose a layer of skin.
Blindly being afraid will not make the bad guys soften their hearts and let you go, but will instead encourage them to play tricks on you.
He Xiaoqiu was very surprised. She didn't expect that Fan Jing had also encountered such a bad thing.
He whispered a few words to comfort Fan Jing.
"I wouldn't take it to heart. Besides, the grass on his grave is already a foot high."
Fan Jing said: "Let the past be the past, don't let the future suffer from it."
He Xiaoqiu nodded.
"Well, from now on I'll also tie a knife to my waist so that people will be scared when they see me."
Fan Jing said, "Can you use a knife?"
He Xiaoqiu shook his head honestly.
Fan Jing opened his mouth to say that he didn't know how to use a knife, but hanging it on his body would not only fail to scare others, but he might also get into an argument with someone and end up hurting himself.
But he didn't say it in the end. He felt that He Xiaoqiu might really need it.
He wore a headscarf even in the hot summer months, not because he loved wearing the headscarf, but because it was a kind of dependence and reliance.
When he was young, the old hunter died. He was suddenly alone in the mountains. He had to hold his big bow when he went to sleep at night.
Fan Jing paused and said, "I'll take you out of the city and give you a knife tomorrow."
He Xiaoqiu's eyes lit up: "Really?"
"Um."
Fan Jing sent He Xiaoqiu to the city gate, watched her get on the donkey cart, and then returned.
But he did not return to the shop, but went to the blacksmith's shop, picked and chose, and finally chose a knife.
When he felt his wallet to pay, he found that he only had a few loose coins on him, which was not enough. He went back to the shop and called Kang He for the money.
"I always tell you to keep some money on you in case you need to spend a lot of money, but you never listen to me."
Kang He wondered why this man had been gone for so long and still hadn't come back. It turned out that he didn't have enough money to buy something.
He took out the copper coins, asked which ironworks it was, went to settle the bill, and got the items back.
Since Fan Jing married Kang He, he gave away his savings and never cared about money again.
He seldom bought things, and Kang He was much more thoughtful than he thought, so he didn't have to worry about anything.
Kang He came back in just two quarters of an hour. He was holding a new knife and asked Fan Jing, "Why did you want to buy such a delicate kitchen knife?"
The handle is sturdy, the knife is slightly blunt, and it comes with a leather sheath.
If you say it's exquisite, it's also a bit fierce. If you say it's fierce, the knife is not grand enough.
Fan Jing said, "It's for Xiaoqiu."
Kang He was surprised when he heard this: "But his birthday is coming soon? Why would you think of giving him this gift? I'm afraid it won't touch his heart."
Fan Jing said: "He wanted it. He asked others to follow him."
Kang He's brows furrowed when he heard this: "These people really have no sense of law. They deserve to be taught a lesson!"
Fan Jing thought that the government could not handle such matters, and all they could do was to encourage those idle hooligans to find a proper job so that they would not be idle all day and disrupt order.
The next day, He Xiaoqiu came to the shop early with new braised sauce.
Kang He and Fan Jing almost didn't recognize He Xiaoqiu when they saw her. For the first time ever, she was not wearing a headscarf.
He was born with a pair of peach blossom eyes, fair skin, red lips and white teeth, and had a very handsome appearance.
Chen Sanfang was also amazed, and exclaimed a few times. He pulled He Xiaoqiu to look at him carefully and praised his good looks.
He Xiaoqiu hadn't taken off her headscarf for a long time, and she was already a little embarrassed. Chen Sanfang's praise made her cheeks even redder.
Fan Jingjiao, on the other hand, made him feel at ease. He just glanced at the man twice without saying much, then took out the knife he had been promised yesterday from its scabbard.
He Xiaoqiu held the knife and looked at it, and asked doubtfully: "Chopstick... kitchen knife?"
Fan Jing said: "It's easy to use and it can bluff people."
"These things are just external objects. If you really want to scare people, you still need your own aura."
He Xiaoqiu thought it made sense. If you are always busy at the stove, you must know how to use a kitchen knife. This knife is bigger than the ordinary knives you carry with you. It is scary enough just to pull it out.
Moreover, for someone like him who has no martial arts skills, the less he can wield a knife, the more he can scare ordinary people.
He tied the knife around his waist with great joy, and immediately felt as if he had been given a layer of protection.
When he came, he was like a thief. He felt uncomfortable when anyone looked at him and his heart was beating fast.
Now it was fine. When people looked at him, he felt nervous and subconsciously wanted to touch the knife. When people saw his action, they quickly looked away.
In the first few days, He Xiaoqiu was still not used to it and just held on. But as time went by, he gradually became less afraid.
That day, he counted the money he earned from the September braising stall in the shop and took the He family's share.
Just when he was happy about earning money, he saw two disgusting faces coming into his house from a distance.
The Lei couple came to his house again.
Since the two families stopped communicating, He Xiaoqiu hasn't seen these two people for a long time.
When he suddenly saw someone coming towards his house and saw that familiar face, he couldn't help but think of the past. His heart was churning and his legs were a little weak.
"Hey, Xiaoqiu is back."
He's mother wanted to chase the two people away, but she couldn't scold them, and she could only make short sounds in anger. The Lei couple pretended to be deaf and pretended not to hear them.
When Old Man He came out to scold him, the Lei couple responded, "Brother He is feeling better now. His voice seems to be stronger now."
"Now your He family is doing well again, business is picking up again, Brother He can get out of bed and walk around on his own, even Xiaoqiu has taken off her turban and can marry a man again."
The husband of the Lei family looked at He Xiaoqiu who had just come home, and said with a very venomous and strange tone: "It is only our Lei family that has such a prudent and kind child become addicted to gambling and lost his life since we married Qiu Ge'er..."
As he spoke, he wiped his eyes.
He's father was so angry that he yelled, "You have no shame. You still have the nerve to come to my house and say these things? Get out of my house!"
Father Lei said, "We are relatives after all. Brother He, you are really disheartening to be like this."
"Who are you and your relative? We would have separated long ago!"
He Dad was so angry that his face turned red. Zhishi coughed: "Don't come to my house and mess around again... cough cough cough..."
Seeing this, He Xiaoqiu hurried forward and smoothed He Old Man's chest.
He had figured out that the Lei family came to his house deliberately to annoy him. At first, his father was seriously ill in bed and he had no business to do, so the Lei family disappeared quietly.
Now, seeing that his family was in such a difficult situation and was trying to get out of it, he felt unwilling to accept it and couldn't bear to see them doing well. He also wanted to make his father sick with anger.
He yelled at the two men: "Are you going to leave or not?"
When the husband of the Lei family saw He Xiaoqiu cursing with red eyes, he knew this boy's temperament well. He knew that this boy was like a rabbit, smart but docile.
When he saw people getting angry, he showed no fear at all, but instead acted arrogantly and lectured them:
"Xiao Qiu, we came to visit your father and mother out of kindness. It's not a big deal if your father and mother say something unpleasant, as we are of the same generation. But how can you, a junior, say such disrespectful words to the elders?"
"It seems you've completely forgotten about the past, and even our Xiao An. Now you've found a new husband and are planning to marry her off again, yet you're being so rude to us elders? If people know about your behavior, they won't want you."
He Xiaoqiu was filled with disgust after hearing this: "Whether I marry again or not, it's none of your business to say anything about me here!"
Seeing this, Lei Dad said earnestly: "If Xiao An hadn't done it for you and the child, how could he have fallen into someone's trap and lost his life in the end?
"My family has also done something wrong to you. Xiao An shouldn't hit you, but you tell me, what a good and virtuous brother you are? Your husband is in trouble, and you refuse to help him. Do you treat him as a family member?"
"If you ask me, Xiao An is a good-tempered person. He only fought with you because he was furious. Men in other families would beat their husbands and wives when they were drunk, but only our family tolerates you like that. It would be fine if you didn't remember the good thing, but why are you so fierce?"
He Xiaoqiu was so angry that his whole body was shaking. To this day, they still flattered him and told him his faults, blaming him for Lei Xiaoan's gambling addiction that squandered the family's money and even his life.
A man who can hit his pregnant wife, is he kind? Tolerant? Who is tolerating whom?
If we don't teach them a lesson today, they will probably be haunted by such villains for the rest of their lives.
He clenched his fists suddenly, and the fear and hatred in his heart turned into strength in an instant.
"If you still want to come to the He family and mess around like this, I'll tell you to get out. Since you're so reluctant that you can't even lift your feet to get out, then why not just leave your hands and feet here!"
After saying that, He Xiaoqiu quickly drew out the knife from his waist and rushed towards the Lei couple.
The two men from the Lei family never thought that He Xiaoqiu would use a knife. Look at the cold light of the kitchen knife in the cold hand. It was not a fake knife played by a child. It rushed towards them like that. The two men were frightened and jumped two meters away.
"You're crazy, brother! Pointing a knife at your elders!"
The Lei couple were used to seeing He Xiaoqiu being obedient, so they had never seen him act like this. They both ran away, cursing as they ran: "If I'm going to punish you today, I'll have you brought to the government, beaten with a stick, and thrown into jail!"
"I'll punish you two with a stick and throw you into jail. I'll teach you two a lesson today!"
The Lei couple rushed out of the He family and saw He Xiaoqiu still chasing them with a knife. They were so scared that their legs went weak and they dared not speak harshly to He Xiaoqiu anymore.
People were crying and shouting, "They're going to kill people! They're going to kill people!"
He's father and mother were also terrified. They had never seen their brother act so ferociously. They shouted to get out, fearing that something bad might happen.
The farmers in the fields were startled when they saw the people running around, and the taro in their hands fell on their feet.
He Xiaoqiu chased them all the way to the village main road. The two men ran as if they had lost their lives. Even at their old age, they could still run very fast. He was tired from running, so he stopped and gave up.
"Are you Brother Qiu?!"
The farmers in the fields were shocked when they saw that it was He Xiaoqiu holding a knife on the village road.
Everyone knew He Xiaoqiu's character before. She was so gentle and kind, but she didn't dare to meet strangers. Now she dared to use a knife.
"Maybe the Lei family is here to cause trouble again. These two people are not the kind to live peacefully. One of the He family members is sick and the other is mute, yet they want to bully others. They've already divorced and they're not relatives."
"Who says it isn't?"
"But Xiaoqiu has become quite formidable. He's become so aggressive after doing business with that butcher in the city!"
He Xiaoqiu knew that the villagers working in the fields were all talking about him, but he didn't care. When he saw his parents chasing after him, he comforted them with a few words and went back to his parents' home.
After this incident, the Lei couple were so frightened that they had nightmares every night and both fell ill. When Lei's father went home that day, he found that he was so scared that half of his pants were wet.
The people in the village were joking around, and they all said privately that He Xiaoqiu's temperament had changed again and he was now very vicious.
Although He Xiaoqiu had never seen anyone say such things to his ears, he knew that they must be talking bad about him behind his back because the villagers were always afraid of him when he went out.
However, He Xiaoqiu was not afraid of people saying he was fierce. Rather than being fierce, he was more afraid of people saying he was cowardly.
Regarding this matter, he actually straightened his back.
One day, it was no longer him who looked at others in fear and timidity, but others who were afraid to look at him.
In October, the sweet-scented osmanthus trees in the city bloom fragrantly.
I heard that a young scholar had emerged in the west of the city. He was so young, just over thirty years old, that it caused quite a stir, and many families in the city asked for invitations to visit him.
Humanity has a bright future. Gentlemen want to make friends with him, and merchants want to seek his protection. After all, ordinary people pay heavy taxes, and merchants like those who run tea, porcelain, silk, etc. pay even heavier taxes.
Yipao, who was good friends with Kanghe, came to brag to him about how great Xinjuye was and asked Kanghe if he wanted a post from Xinjuye's family.
"I'm going to hold a banquet at my house in the winter month. I'm inviting many people. It doesn't matter whether you're a businessman or a farmer. I have an invitation. If you want to go, just give me this amount."
Kang He saw the runner making a three sign with him. He took out a bag of roasted chestnuts and shared it with the runner: "You can't have abalone at Ju Ye's house. Three strings of chestnuts is too expensive."
Pao Xian clicked his tongue.
"Thirty?!"
Kang He exclaimed: "You really think highly of me."
"That's a Ju Ye family. How many Ju Ye are there in our county? Moreover, he is so young and got married. There is no guarantee that he won't get a government position in the future."
Kang He listened to the excitement and said, "That Ju Ye doesn't even know me. What's the point of me spending so much money to get a head?"
"Go in and make yourself familiar with the place. If the opportunity arises, you might even be able to have a say. Master Ju will remember you. It will give you an extra opportunity in the future, right?"
Pao Xian said: "If you go, you may not get the opportunity, but if you don't go, you won't have any opportunity at all."
Kang He laughed and said, "Everyone is busy and bustling about for profit. If you want to be noticed by a promising young man, you have to have something worth looking at. What can ordinary people like us have to offer? Even if we try our best, no one will take us seriously."
Pao Xian said that Kang He didn't know how to calculate. There were so many people outside asking for the post, and if they didn't get along well with him, they wouldn't come to ask him.
Kang He was not angry after hearing this. When the man left, he gave him a pork bone.
Fan Jing came out of the shop and slept in the small room for a while.
Now that her pregnancy was obvious when she wore outer clothes, Kang He didn't let him slaughter pigs anymore. He hired a butcher who had no experience in the pork business to help him slaughter pigs.
Kang He took Fan Jing's hand and sat him down, and told him some interesting things that the general would listen to.
He said, "No wonder my aunt insisted that Brother Daxin study. It would be a real honor to pass the exam."
Fan Jing said: "Those who succeed are few in number, so it is a great honor."
Kang He smiled and touched Fan Jing's belly: "Let's send the baby to school in the future."
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