Chapter 63 Chapter 63 See through.
"How come you come home every now and then, and your boss isn't annoyed?"
Jin, who was cooking breakfast in the kitchen, heard the noise and came out, looking a little unhappy.
It was when Jun's uncle was still alive that he used money and connections to find a job for Ji Fu as a carriage driver in the wealthy family of Qiao. He earned 300 yuan a month and received extra rewards during festivals. The masters didn't go out, so he could use the job to chat and eat.
During busy farming seasons, I can bring the truck back to transport rice for my own family, which is much more respectable than doing hard labor.
"If you're angry, I don't want you to do this job anymore. Where else can I find such a good job?"
As Jin was speaking, she helped to remove the cart shaft so that the ox could eat grass and drink water. However, she saw that the cart frame at the back was made of old wood.
Normally, the ox cart that Ji Fu drove back was made of red lacquered wood at the back, and when it was sunny, it could be covered with a roof to provide shade. It was much more respectable than this shabby cart. He muttered:
"This cart is broken, and the ox is skinny. Where is the strong, big, black-nosed ox from the past?"
Ji Fu walked in with a gloomy face, and heard Jin nagging, saying:
"You woman, you have a lot to say, are you going to let me live in peace?
This truck is used by my boss to transport goods. I just came back from another county, transporting goods for my boss. I've been traveling all day and night, so I need to take a break."
As he spoke, he fell onto the bed in the east room and began to snore.
Jin's cow was fed grass and had breakfast prepared. She called him to come and eat, but he didn't move.
He slept until the afternoon, then went to the kitchen to rummage through the cupboards and overturn the pots to find something to eat.
Ji Zhi, who had just returned from playing outside, said:
"Go, cook some rice for the old man and make two dishes for him to eat."
"Oh, how about a houttuynia stew?"
"A little more vegetarian, and a little egg soup, and don't mix beans with the rice."
Ji Zhi agreed and went to light a fire. He took two eggs from under the bed as Ji Fu had said, steamed a bowl of egg soup, poured some lard on it, and brought it to the main room on the dining table.
Over there, Ji Fu was already lying on the mat waiting, eating voraciously.
Ji Huhai also craved the greasy and fragrant chicken egg soup, so Ji Fu scooped two spoonfuls for him to eat, and ate the rest himself.
Ji Zhi went in and out, carrying the bedding that was drying outside into the house, and then he remembered to ask:
"Aunt, when are you going to the county? I want to take your car and go to the county to sell chicken eggs."
She didn't want to let her family know that the eggs were sold in the county, as she would have embezzled at least half of the money. But now that the second wife had brought it back, there was nothing she could do. She could only ask Ji Fu to take her with her, no matter how much money she embezzled, to go shopping in the county.
Ji Fu had finished eating when Ji Huhai picked up the empty egg soup bowl and scraped the egg foam off the sides with his spoon. Seeing this, Ji Fu said,
"Look at how your mother lives her life at home. Even a bowl of chicken soup tastes so good to me."
After hearing what the second daughter said, he pulled his face down and said in a serious tone:
"Why go to the county? Tell the market official to arrest your daughter and sell her in the local market. We don't expect her family to make any money. In the future, she should marry well like your sister."
Ji Zhi hesitated and whispered:
"I saw Sister Xu selling tofu in the county before, and she wasn't caught. Uncle, you are familiar with the roads in the county. If you can tell me where I can go and where I can't go, I don't think I will be caught..."
Ji Fu said: "Why are you learning from that fatherless and motherless person? If he wants to go to heaven, you have to go to heaven too. If a woman is in charge of the household, the stove will fall down and the house will collapse."
Jin came in from outside, listened to the general situation, and said:
"Since she wants to go, you can take her with you. After all, she can go by ox cart, which is not very strenuous, and the chickens can be sold at a good price."
Ji Fu said, "What do you know, woman? If you get caught, you'll be blackmailed. You'll have to pay for the chicken eggs, so how can you expect to get a good price? Just go to the market and sell it honestly. I have to deliver the car to the owner, so I don't have time to bother with her."
Jin was worried about delaying Ji Fu's regular business. Last month, most of the money Ji Fu took home was missing. She heard that it was because he missed work and his employer deducted his monthly salary. After all, this driving job was more important, so she didn't help.
Ji Zhi had no choice but to give up and not go to the county.
"You want to buy a pottery well ring?"
At the kiln, Wang Dianji heard the news and smiled happily.
Ji Xu was led to the kiln to see the pottery well ring custom-made by another county.
Nowadays, the kiln business is getting better, and bricks and tiles have started to be stacked outside again. Half of the servants who were previously laid off have been hired back, and Chen Che'er is one of them, doing the work of firing the kiln.
The fired pottery well ring was a hollow column, four feet high, eight feet wide and long in diameter, dark brown in color, with thick columns. It had to be tied with a hemp rope and put on a shoulder pole, with two people carrying both ends to be carried out of the cave.
Wang Dianji said: "It is different now than in the past. It is popular to dig deep wells. Even in droughts, water can still seep into the wells.
In my opinion, burning ten well rings for you will be enough. Let's do it the day after tomorrow. When they are done, I will send my boy to deliver them to you."
Ji Xu said, "I'm not very familiar with these things, so I'll just follow what Wang Dianji said. I have one more question: Wang Dianji, do you have any acquaintances in the well?"
Digging a well is a demanding job. How deep to dig, how to place the well ring, setting up the well shed, and installing the capstan are all done by specialized well diggers.
The public drinking water well in Benguli has been used by several generations. No one knows where the well digger was found. Every year at the beginning of autumn, the village invites people to dredge the well. The Chen family is not familiar with this matter, so Ji Xu came to buy the well ring and asked about the well digger who did the job.
Wang Dianji was puzzled and said, "I don't know about that. The Gan family's well has been there since I was a kid. Every year at the beginning of autumn, they dredge the well by hanging a young man down with a rope. If you want to find someone who dredged the well, I can help you. But the well digger..."
Perhaps you could ask around in your village if there's anyone who's dug a well recently. I'll ask around for you tomorrow to see where the outsider who comes here to buy a well ring is looking for a well digger."
Ji Xu came out of the kiln and thought about it along the way.
You can go find Bao Yu and ask him. The Feng family does have a well for drinking water. I vaguely remember that it was dug by Aunt Xu.
If it doesn't work, I'll go to the tofu shop tomorrow and ask the customers who buy tofu.
"Is it settled? How much did it cost?"
Luo Shuangniang was waiting for her outside. Ji Xu's belongings from selling tofu were still in the cart. When she saw her come out, she asked with a smile.
"One thousand coins, and I bought ten well rings." Ji Xu got into the car and replied.
Luo Shuangniang said, "It's expensive, but it's worth it. My family still has to buy water from the shop at the end of the alley. It costs a lot of money every month. It's better to have our own well."
"Sister, has the well been circled?"
When he returned home, Ji Feng came to ask about it. After hearing about it, he hurried to tell Ji Zhu.
Ji Xu picked some fresh vegetables from behind the house, told his sister where to go, and then went to Feng's house.
"Your turnips are growing really well, round and plump. Mine are infested with insects, and when you pull them out they're as thin as a mouse's tail."
Bao Yu held a bunch of turnips she brought and led her into the main room to sit down.
"My sisters were diligent in weeding, so I didn't have to worry too much. It's all thanks to them."
As the two chatted, Ji Xu naturally asked about the well digging.
Bao Yu said: "Then you have come to the right place. The water well in my house was dug by my aunt Jun. The water tastes very sweet. When she comes back, I will ask for you.
You said you have dug a well for your family, you are more successful than many other young men."
The two chatted for a while and then parted.
That night, the Feng family gathered in the main hall for dinner. On the table were two plates of vegetarian dishes and a plate of shredded pork with turnips.
Nowadays, the Feng family no longer raises a herd of pigs. There is only one pig left in the pen, and it is even coarser than the ones they used to raise.
In winter, there are no fallen fruits on the back mountain for the pigs to eat. Their meat has been lost, but we are reluctant to kill them and keep them for breeding and giving birth in the future.
The pork on our dining table is still bought from Butcher Li, and the shredded meat is much thinner than before.
Feng Xingba greedily picked at the shredded pork and ate it. When Aunt Xu saw the dish, she asked:
"Where did the turnip come from?"
Bao Yu said, "It was sent by Xu Nu. I heard that her family wants to dig a well. Mother, where did you find a well digger to dig our well? Please introduce him to Xu Nu. She came to me today to ask about this matter."
Feng Fuzhen, who was standing by, changed his expression and said:
"No wonder she sent us turnips to show her courtesy. I never see her sending anything like that normally. She even came to our house to show off by digging a well."
Bao Yu said, "Fuzhen's words are very harsh. She just wanted to ask for information. She is sensible and would not come empty-handed. Even if she doesn't have this dish, mother has always been fond of capable girls like Xu Nu. We are from the same village, so how can I not tell her?"
Aunt Xu said, "Okay, tell her to go to Xinghua Lane in the county and find a well digger named Li. He dug our well."
"mother……"
Feng Dayi wanted to say something when he heard this, but Xu stopped him with a word: "Eat."
After the meal, Bao Yu cleaned up the dishes and Feng Er followed to help.
Seeing this, Aunt Xu looked uncomfortable. Feng Da found a moment when no one was around and asked Aunt Xu:
"Mother, why did you introduce that Li Jing man to Miss Xu?"
I remember that my family was cheated by Li Jingren in the past. He asked for a high price and his work was not done properly. The water in the well was still muddy for half a year. We had to find another well digger and he renovated the well. Only then did we get the well we have now.
Xu's face darkened and she said:
"Your sister-in-law, relying on her origins in Shengchangli, looks down on our family. Last year, when Mr. Bao celebrated his birthday, she gave me several hundred coins, saying she wanted to buy her grandfather a piece of chicken-crowing cloth.
I heard later that she didn't spend the money on the chicken-crowing cloth at all. What she gave was a birthday peach. How much money could she spend on a Xu girl?
She embezzled hundreds of dollars from our family without a word. No wonder she's in cahoots with the girl. At the end of last year, we lost money selling grain, but she didn't use any of it to help the family. She's not on the same page with our family, but she's on good terms with that girl."
This matter happened when grain prices fluctuated. She heard people from Shengchang Village talking about it at several gatherings in the village pavilion. At that time, Xu was beating her chest and regretting the loss she had made from selling grain. When she heard this, she felt uneasy.
Now he said, "What I said is true. We originally went after Li Jingren. Isn't she capable? She even dug a well. Let her suffer the same loss we suffered. I think she will be able to handle it better than us."
He then ordered, "The second son doesn't know about this, so don't tell him. He and his wife are in the same boat."
The next afternoon, after Ji Xu had finished selling tofu, he came out of the West Market Gate and said to Luo Shuangniang at the market gate:
"Mr. Luo, do you know the man named Li Jing who lives in Xinghua Lane?"
"A person from Lijing?" Luo Shuangniang was a little surprised when she heard that.
Ji Xu explained: "The well has been built, but the well digger has not been found yet. Look, there is a sweet well in the home of a fellow villager, and I am looking for him to dig it.
I thought that he was the one who dug the well at home, and it just so happens that he lives in the same lane as you, so I want to ask, where exactly is his house? I'll go look for it right away."
How could Luo Shuangniang not hope for good things when she was doing her business as a carriage driver? Moreover, she had such an easy-going employer that he was willing to give the lard dough to Douzi, so he said:
"I do know where his house is, but... do you really want to ask him to dig a well? Many families have come to his house to make trouble, saying that the well water is too little and muddy, and they want their money back. I've encountered many such incidents in the years since I got married. I'm afraid you must have misheard. How could the well of your fellow villager be dug by this Li Jingren?"
She couldn't misunderstand it. Bao Yu came to tell her personally, saying that he had specifically asked his aunt, and was it Aunt Xu who lied to her?
Just as she was about to deny the idea, she remembered something while holding the wheelbarrow in her hand. It was that day when the city official stopped her and wanted to confiscate her belongings. She felt something was wrong.
It's assumed they hadn't spoken a word upon entering the city. How could the clerk, just by looking at the cart, have known it contained tofu? How could he have simply come and demanded it? If someone had already sent a letter describing their group, that would have been possible.
That day on the road, they met the Feng family's ox cart and chatted with Aunt Xu for a while. Later, their ox cart was faster and entered the city first.
"Girl?" Luo Shuangniang called out when she saw that she had been in a trance for half a day.
Ji Xu was not in a position to tell her what he was thinking, so he said:
"Perhaps I misheard you, so I must ask you if there are any other well-dwellers in this county."
"Look! What is that person carrying?"
"I've seen them. They're well rings. There are about ten of them. Who in Benguli has dug a well there?"
In the fields, there was a lot of chatter.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
