After dinner that night, everyone sat in the lobby drinking tea to help digestion. There was a stove in the main room, making it warm, and the biting cold wind outside did not affect the people in the room at all.
"Wouldn't it be a waste to give such good fabrics to Dani and the others to make clothes? Aren't they good enough wearing Dongmei's old clothes? Young girls dress up too well, and their hearts are wild. I think it would be better to use this fabric to make some new clothes for Xiaobao and Aiguo and the Party."
Old Mrs. Miao and Gu Dongmei sat aside, touching the brand new pieces of cloth curiously and said with heartache.
There were six or seven pieces of cloth on the small table. In addition to the ones given by Gu Xiashi, there were also some that Jiang Yilu added with the help of Gu Xiashi. They were all the most common blue, green and gray cloths.
Over the years, Jiang Yilu has become accustomed to the practice of smuggling things out of the space bit by bit. Of course, every action is done very carefully and does not attract anyone's attention at all.
After hearing what her mother-in-law said, Gu Dongmei frowned. Why should the cloth bought by her own brother be used to make clothes for those two boys? She put down the cloth in her hand awkwardly, and her face looked a little unhappy.
"Mom, Dani is not a child anymore and now lives in the city. If she doesn't have new clothes, people will look down on her. How will she find a partner then?" She licked her cheeks and said to Old Mrs. Miao.
"Grandma, my brother and I have clothes. These cloths were bought by Uncle Shitou for my older sisters. How can they be used to make clothes for us?" Jiang Aiguo grabbed his younger brother who wanted to run over to touch the new cloth, and said sensibly.
Jiang Dachuan was sent to a farm in Heilongjiang Province for reform as soon as his leg injury healed. He was eventually sentenced to four years in prison. Two years have passed now. A year ago, Fan Xiaojuan remarried a widower in his fifties from the same county, who was said to be a worker. There were three sons and two daughters left by his ex-wife at home. Fan Xiaojuan had no time to get along well with the latter children and had long forgotten the two sons who stayed in Qingshan Village.
After the great changes in the Jingfeng family, Jiang Aiguo seemed like a different person. In order to please the people in the eldest branch of the Jiang family, he voluntarily helped Dani and Erni with their work every day. Old Lady Miao tried to stop him several times, but Jiang Aiguo still helped. Over time, even Jiang Erni, who was the most hostile to the two brothers, eased her relationship with him.
Jiang Aidang was still the same lazy and greedy as before, but with his older brother's restraint, he no longer dared to bully his sisters as before and became much more honest.
Jiang Yilu thought that if those people would stop doing things to provoke him in this life, perhaps they could get along peacefully.
"I want to wear new clothes--" Jiang Erni pouted. These were bought by her uncle for her sisters, so why didn't he make clothes for them?
Jiang Erni is now fourteen years old, a half-grown girl, and because she follows Bai Fangqiu around the mountains every day, she is dark and thin. But a little girl of this age also knows that she needs to be beautiful, and she tightly grasps a piece of dark green cloth with one hand, and refuses to let go for a long time.
"You silly girl, you're only a few years old and yet you already know how to talk back to adults." Old Mrs. Miao pretended to hit her, but Jiang Erni looked at her stubbornly, not moving.
"Sister-in-law, girls will naturally become beautiful when they grow up, and it was Shitou who bought the fabric for them, so make a set of clothes for each of them."
Normally, Bai Fangqiu shouldn't have spoken about such family matters, but Jiang Erni was his apprentice now, and he couldn't just watch the girl get beaten.
“How is this the same? This——” Just as Mrs. Miao was about to retort, she was interrupted by Jiang Yilu’s words.
"Grandma, my uncle said that I must see my older sisters wearing new clothes when I go back to my grandma's house during the Chinese New Year. What if my uncle is unhappy and doesn't take me to the city anymore?"
She pretended to be dissatisfied and pouted her little mouth, which made Mrs. Miao, who loved her grandson dearly, panic immediately.
"Okay, okay, let's do it, let's do it everyone." Once Jiang Yilu took action, Mrs. Miao had no choice but to compromise.
Erni winked at her brother, and Jiang Yiliu also winked when Old Lady Miao wasn't paying attention. Erni covered her mouth and held back her smirk, knowing that with her little brother around, her grandmother had no other options.
"There is so much cloth. I'll measure it carefully and use it sparingly. I can always make a few more clothes for Xiaobao." Although Mrs. Miao was relieved, she still had the idea of giving some of the good cloth to her beloved grandson.
No one cared about this insignificant idea. Erni and the others were satisfied with having new clothes, so what if the rest of them made a few small clothes for the younger brother?
Several little girls cheered and asked their mothers to help them measure their sizes and discuss clothing styles.
"We still have some cloth coupons at home. Let's go to the city tomorrow to exchange them all so that everyone can make new clothes this year." Old Mrs. Miao estimated the cloth coupons in her hand and said. It's impossible for all the girls in the family to wear new clothes while the men are still wearing last year's old cotton-padded jackets.
"That's fine, sister-in-law. I have some cloth coupons here. I'd like you to make a new cotton-padded jacket for Ruan Ruan. The extra cloth will be my thank you for your trouble."
Ruan Yuanjiang took out a thick stack of cloth coupons and a big unity from his pocket. Old Mrs. Miao took it and saw that these cloth coupons and money were enough to make Ruan Ruan more than a dozen sets of clothes.
"This is too much. Ruan Ruan, a child alone, doesn't need so much cloth." Old Mrs. Miao is greedy, but she is not that greedy. Her old man treats them as brothers, and she can't cheat him like this.
"I see your clothes are quite old. These fabrics are enough to make each of you a set of clothes with some extra. I might as well make another set of clothes for you."
Ruan Yuanjiang thanked him repeatedly: "Then I'll trouble you, sister-in-law."
Old Mrs. Miao shook her head. Even so, she still made some money and could make an extra set of clothes for Xiaobao. The old lady was very happy and would never feel annoyed.
Old Lady Miao and Gu Dongmei were busy measuring everyone. Jiang Yilu took out the ancient book from the big pocket of his cotton-padded jacket and handed it to Bai Fangqiu, asking him to help take a look.
"This book..." Bai Fangqiu carefully took the tattered ancient book handed to him by Jiang Yilu, leaned close to the kerosene lamp and read it carefully, nodding and shaking his head from time to time.
"Grandpa Bai, which dynasty is this medical book from?" Jiang Yilu looked at his expression with some confusion, feeling like a kitten scratching its head.
"This book is a classic work of ancient Chinese medicine, 'Qian Jin Yao Fang', written by Sun Simiao, a genius doctor in the Tang Dynasty. 'Qian Jin Yao Fang' is a famous book handed down from generation to generation, with a total of thirty volumes. If I am not mistaken, this volume should be the twenty-sixth volume, which mainly talks about diet therapy and health preservation." Bai Fangqiu's eyes never left this medical book. He explained to Jiang Yilu while flipping through it carefully.
"But..." Before Jiang Yilu could get excited, Bai Fangqiu's subsequent words shattered his expectations.
"This book is not the original. It should be a copy copied by later generations. Qianjin Yaofang is a medical classic that has been passed down in an orderly manner. There are many handwritten copies of it. I even have an ancient book in my hand, which is better preserved than this one."
It turns out that picking up treasure is not that easy. Jiang Yilu originally thought that he had found some treasure, but he didn't expect it to be just an ordinary medical book, which made him somewhat disappointed.
"Grandpa Bai, do you need this medical book? If not, I'll just throw it away." Jiang Yilu said angrily. Of course he wouldn't really throw it away, he just wanted to put it back in the space to avoid any trouble.
"You still want to throw it away? It's a waste of talent. I only said that this medical book is an ordinary manuscript, but I didn't say that the book has no value." Bai Fangqiu said with a smile, praising the medical book in his hand.
The unexpected turn of events really describes Jiang Yilu's current mood. His originally dim eyes suddenly brightened up and he looked at Grandpa Bai expectantly, wondering where the value of this ordinary manuscript came from.
"The original owner of this ancient book must have been an old doctor of high moral character and prestige. After he obtained this Thousand Gold Prescriptions, he marked many annotations on it, which almost condensed all his research. In the second half of the book, he added half a volume of medicinal diet recipes, all of which I have never heard of. I am not as good as him in the exquisite use of medicines—"
It is said that food supplements are worse than medicine supplements. The old doctor who wrote these prescriptions has obviously achieved the ultimate in this regard. The more Bai Fangqiu read, the more ashamed he felt.
I originally thought that he was far superior to ordinary people in traditional Chinese medicine, but now it seems that there is always a mountain to climb and he still has a lot to learn.
"Where did you find this ancient book? Are there other volumes?" Bai Fangqiu thought, there are a total of thirty volumes of Qianjin Yaofang. If the ancestor also made comments on other books, it would be a great discovery for modern Chinese medicine.
"I found this on a garbage dump when my uncle and I went to the county town. I could read some of the words on the book and knew it was a medical book, so I picked it up. It was the only book in the garbage at that time." Jiang Yilu replied calmly. Going to the recycling station to find goods was a secret between him and his uncle. Even if Grandpa Bai was a good man, he couldn't tell anyone.
"What a pity..." Bai Fangqiu sighed, thinking that this book might have been lost by some people in the county who were afraid of getting into trouble. These days, everyone regards Chinese medicine as a scourge, and most of the other medical books were probably destroyed in this catastrophe. If Xiaobao hadn't picked up this book out of curiosity, this treasure would probably have disappeared in the torrent of history.
"Grandpa Bai, is this medical book valuable?" Forgive Jiang Yilu, he is just an ordinary man. In this life, he just wants to make a lot of money so that his family can live a happy and prosperous life.
"A priceless treasure..." Bai Fangqiu said, "But this book is worthless these days. Otherwise, even if you open a herbal medicine shop, it would be enough for you to make a lot of money."
Bai Fangqiu's ancestors were imperial doctors, and later opened their own pharmacy and made medicinal food. During the Republic of China, he made a fortune with these two shops. He was experienced in this area. Unfortunately, all businesses are now state-owned, and private transactions are not allowed. If you are caught, you will lose your head.
"Xiaobao, let me borrow this book from Grandpa Bai for a few days. I will translate it into simplified Chinese. Some of the pharmacological viewpoints in this book are really brilliant. I would like to study them for a while." Bai Fangqiu said a little embarrassedly, holding the booklet and refusing to let go.
Jiang Yilu was more than happy to get it, since this book of recipes was of no use to him for the time being anyway, and Grandpa Bai would give it to his second sister after he had studied it thoroughly. All he wanted was the half volume of medicinal recipes at the back.
Just because you can't do business now doesn't mean you can't in the future. Jiang Yilu remembers the craze for health preservation in later generations. If this medicinal food is really as exquisite as Grandpa Bai said, it is a priceless treasure.
Jiang Yilu only regretted that there were still nearly ten years before the reform and opening up. Now he had treasures but could do nothing with them. Not only the recipes for medicinal diet, but also the antiques in his hands could not be exchanged for much money in the 1970s and 1980s. It seemed that he had to think of a reliable way to make money in those years.
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