On the Meng family's side, however, all was calm and peaceful.
In the first few days, A-Mian's family was a little worried, fearing that something bad might really happen.
Yuan Hua often inquired about the Zhang family's activities and brought back a lot of gossip.
The Zhang family was shrouded in gloom; they had lost face terribly this time, and remained secluded at home for several days. Passersby watching the spectacle from outside the courtyard walls could only hear the intermittent sobs of a woman, which continued for several days.
Amian was also very confused: "Zhang Yixing didn't seem that upset about failing the exam, but Lu Weiwei is so heartbroken. What does this have to do with her?"
"If you were his wife, wouldn't you be heartbroken if your husband failed the exam?" Yuan Hua asked, her mouth dry as she gulped down a large cup of tea after returning from her inquiry.
Amian said, "That's his business. But if I were his wife, I would have him teach me to read, and that would really be my business."
Unlike the Zhang family, the Meng family had no serious scholars. When Meng's father was an apprentice blacksmith, he learned about a hundred commonly used characters, which he later taught to his children. However, this method was unsystematic, and the teaching was rather haphazard. For example, Meng Da and Meng Er could recognize some characters, but they couldn't write them.
Meng Chijian was a little better, but he was more like "drawing characters" from memory than "writing".
Meng Jing was too young then, and even when she grew up, she was still very playful. Like A Mian, she could only count.
The whole family couldn't find anyone who could properly teach Ah Mian to read, and besides, most people thought that reading was useless—women can't take the civil service exam, so why bother?
Yuan Hua claimed that he could read, but when he wrote Arabic numerals and simplified Chinese characters, everyone laughed, saying that they looked strange and couldn't understand them at all, and that he was just bragging.
In short, this was just another of Ah Mian's wild ideas.
"You want him to teach you to read?" Meng Chijian, who had been silently picking beans nearby, suddenly said, "He's not the only one in the world who can read. Besides, he's so unruly and failed the exam, so his studies must be bad. He'll only mislead students. I'll go to town this afternoon and ask if there are any female teachers."
It's better not to mention it, but once it's brought up, he actually feels that the idea is not bad.
I don't expect her to become an official, but being literate and reasonable will definitely be beneficial. Maybe it will even enlighten Ah Mian?
"No, that's throwing money into the water!" A-Mian objected. She had heard Zhang Yixing talk about the cost of schooling, which was definitely an expense that a farming family or a small craftsman's family could not afford.
Brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and books are all consumables, and all are quite valuable, comparable to money-devouring beasts.
Investing so much and getting no return at all, this is a bad business.
Meng Chijian lowered his eyes.
He will surely find a way to get A-Mian to learn to read.
Anyway, it's definitely more useful than that dog of a scholar.
Meanwhile, A-Mian and the others had already shifted the topic to the upcoming autumn harvest.
The weather has been excellent lately, not as hot as before, and grain prices are generally quite low after the autumn harvest...
Perhaps then we'll be able to eat refined white rice...
Just then, the wooden door was suddenly banged on, and Aunt Wang from next door said urgently, "Hey, Meng San, the villagers are saying that a group of government officials went straight to your shop!"
Now everyone was filled with apprehension and looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Okay, thank you. We'll go see what's going on."
In the chaos, everyone still followed the plan they had discussed beforehand. Meng Jing was sent to inform her second brother's family to hand over all their valuables to A Mian and have her take A Dou to hide them at the foot of the back mountain. Yuan Hua and Meng Chijian went into the city together to deal with the officials.
They were gone for a long time, and they didn't return until dark.
"If something really happens, take the money and go to the Wen family in the city..." Remembering the instructions, A-Mian repeatedly combed the mane on A-Dou's back with her hand.
About an hour later, Meng Jing came running up, panting, "A-Mian! Okay! Time to go home for dinner!"
They hurried home by moonlight. Meng Chijian and Yuan Hua were both home, and they both looked very tired.
"It's nothing serious, not what you think. The government urgently needs a batch of iron swords and bows and arrows. Half the deposit has been paid, but the deadline is very tight. They need to finish making them and deliver them to the town next door the day after tomorrow."
After explaining the situation in a few words, Ah Mian was finally relieved.
After putting away the valuables, they discovered that Meng's mother had already prepared the dough, rolled out many thin dumpling wrappers, and even cooked soup with fresh ginger and pork bones.
Amian ran to the chicken coop, took three or four eggs, and combined them with a small basket of eggs she had saved up earlier. She quickly made a bowl of scallion and egg filling, and Meng Jing followed suit and started wrapping them.
Then they took out a small jar, removed the pickled cabbage from it, and washed it clean.
Meng Chijian rested for a moment to catch his breath, then took out a piece of pork hind leg meat from the straw basket. Because they arrived late, the market had already closed, and only this lean meat, which was hard to sell, was left. If they just stir-fried it, it would not only have little oil, but also taste very dry.
However, it's perfect for making dumplings.
He picked up a cleaver and began to mince the pork.
In no time, the dumplings with scallion and egg filling and the dumplings with pickled cabbage and pork filling were cooked.
"We won't be able to sleep tonight. We have to go back to the city to catch up on our work after we finish eating. Your second brother's family will come over to take care of you later."
This time, Meng Jing didn't throw a tantrum, and A Mian nodded obediently.
If you don't do a good job serving the government, you'll lose your head.
Meng Chijian had his own selfish motives. He wanted to ask A-Mian to take her to the city as well, since there were bamboo mats in the shop where she could sleep, making her work less boring. However, he also thought that traveling back and forth like this would be very tiring, and not getting enough sleep at night might hinder her growth, so he ultimately didn't say anything.
By this time, the pot, which had been filled with cold water twice, was boiling, and the dumplings were tumbling around like little gold ingots.
Amian was greedy. She used the biggest bowl to scoop up the dumplings, carefully carried it to the table, picked up a dumpling, blew on it repeatedly, and couldn't wait to put it in her mouth.
I don't know why, but when something bad happens while living with the Meng family, the food is actually better than usual...
"It's pickled cabbage!" she exclaimed excitedly. "...It's not very salty, it tastes really good, it must be salt! There's none of the bitterness of rock salt..."
Meng Chijian was not to be underestimated either. His bowl was practically a basin. He just sat next to A Mian and ate as if it were a game. In the blink of an eye, more than ten dumplings disappeared.
Yuan Hua thought to herself, "What a useless couple!"
However, this is not the time to argue; if we don't grab it now, we really won't get it!
Yuan Hua quickly filled a bowl, took a bite and praised it highly. This stuff was much better than the "handmade dumplings" he had ordered takeout from several times before. Not only was the skin thin, but it was also fresh and appetizing!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
