012, request [participation request]
012, request [participation request]
Chen glanced at her nephew sitting in front of the stove, but said nothing. Her husband and son were still asleep inside, while the two men from the third room had already gotten up to work. She had also noticed that, aside from her youngest nephew, who often came to the kitchen to help her mother, the other men, including her husband and son, stayed away.
Chen felt a little sad when she thought about how she had gotten up early to work with a big belly, but was scolded by her mother-in-law just because she was a little slow in getting dressed, while her husband was still sleeping soundly in bed.
Cooking for a family of more than 20 people is not an easy task. You have to cook a big pot of porridge alone; you also have to wash and cut the vegetables, then boil the cut vegetables, squeeze out the water, and make vegetable steamed buns with coarse grain flour. There is a lot of work involved.
The two adults and two children aged seven or eight worked continuously for half an hour without stopping.
The one who has it relatively easy here is Lu Mingfei, who is in charge of watching the fire.
Lu Mingfei looked at the two cousins who were only three or four years older than him, and who were already so skilled at work at the age of seven or eight. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Most women born in this era are very unfortunate, especially girls born in poor families. Before they get married, they work from dawn to dusk at home. After they get married, they still work from dawn to dusk. Their whole life is like an old ox, working from the age of three until the day they die. Only when their lives end can the days of suffering end.
After the steamed steamed buns were put into the pot, Liu Sanniang, Chen and the others were finally able to stop and rest.
Chen patted her aching waist and glanced at her third sister-in-law Liu. After a moment's hesitation, she finally asked, "Third sister-in-law, yesterday I heard from Third Uncle that the hairpins you made are selling very well. I wonder... could you teach us and we'll follow you and make them. When we're done, Third Uncle can take them to the city to sell together?"
"Sit down and rest for a while." Liu Sanniang noticed her aunt holding her waist and moved a stool over for Chen to sit on. She hadn't expected her sister-in-law to ask her to learn how to make hairpins. For a moment, she didn't know whether to agree or refuse. This was a skill she had developed herself, and she was the only one in the family who could make it. No one else could.
Lu Mingfei, who was sitting on a small stool, heard the voice of his fourth aunt and subconsciously looked up at his fourth aunt and two cousins, then turned to look at his mother, wondering how his mother would respond to the request made by his fourth aunt.
Liu Sanniang considered her words for a moment before telling her aunt and two nieces, "Qilang's father probably won't be able to go to the city to sell his goods anytime soon. I don't know how long their work will last, as winter is almost here..." Winter would mean it would be difficult for them to even leave the house, let alone go to the city to do business. Even if they set up a stall in the city during the winter, they wouldn't sell anything in a day because everyone who went shopping would be staying at home.
"If we make a lot of hairpins and keep them at home, but can't sell them, we'll have to spend money to buy needles, thread, and scraps of cloth." In fact, Liu Sanniang was a little hesitant at the moment, wondering whether she should teach this craft to others, even though that person was her sister-in-law.
When Chen heard what Liu said, she thought her sister-in-law was unwilling and a look of disappointment appeared on her face.
Liu Sanniang noticed the expressions of her sister-in-law and two nieces, and finally softened her heart and agreed, "If you want to learn, I can teach you how to do it. But you need to provide the cloth and needles and thread yourselves, okay?" After all, she still felt sorry for the two girls in the fourth room. She thought that if she taught her two nieces how to make hairpins, they would have a skill in the future, and maybe their lives would be better when they went to their husband's family.
"Okay, okay, fine, no problem. We'll provide the cloth and needles and thread ourselves." When Chen heard that Liu was willing to teach the three of them, mother and daughter, how could she not agree, as it only required some scraps of cloth, she quickly agreed.
The two little girls next to them smiled when they heard their aunt say that she was willing to teach them how to make hairpins.
Hearing his mother agree, Lu Mingfei wasn't surprised at all, because he knew his mother was a kind and gentle woman who never knew how to refuse requests. Otherwise, she wouldn't be the most hardworking and selfless person in the family. However, he didn't think his parents' kindness was wrong. To be kind to others is to be kind to oneself. To have a way forward for others is to have a way back for oneself.
***
After breakfast was ready in the kitchen, the other people in the family got up one after another.
This morning, the men in my family had to go to the landlord's house to work, so they got up early, had breakfast, and went out. Many people from their village also went to work there. The men from the same village met at the village entrance and went to the place where they would work today.
When his eldest grandson was going back to the city to study, Old Man Lu personally escorted him to the village entrance. Just as the village oxcart hadn't left, he asked his grandson to get on it, paid the fare, and told the driver, an acquaintance of his, to take his grandson to the city.
Many people in the village knew that the eldest son of the Lu family was studying in the city. When they saw Old Man Lu sending his eldest grandson to ride in the ox cart, an aunt who was already sitting on it said to Old Man Lu with a smile: "When your eldest grandson passes the imperial examination and becomes an official, you will enjoy a happy life."
Old Man Lu smiled and waved his hand, saying that it all depended on his eldest grandson's luck.
Lu Zhiyuan found a place on the ox cart and sat down with his box of books in front of him. He was not very familiar with the people around him, so he did not chat and laugh with them like his grandfather did.
Looking at the old man talking to someone, he felt that this old man, wearing patched clothes and straw sandals, who looked like a farmer in the countryside, was embarrassing him. He did not show any disgust on his face, but just said to his old man, "Grandpa, you can go back. You don't have to see me off."
"Okay, grandpa will leave right away." Old man Lu said he was leaving, but his feet did not leave immediately.
Instead, he waited until the ox cart had moved away and his eldest grandson was out of sight before he turned around and walked back slowly.
***
By the time the family had finished breakfast, it was already bright outside.
The men were out working, but the women at home still had a lot of work to do. Today was the turn of the third and fourth rooms to cook, so after everyone had breakfast, Liu Sanniang and Chen Shi had to collect the dishes and wash them in the basin.
The sisters Sanhua and Sihua, who had just been beaten in the morning, knew to help with housework actively this time without being called.
While his mother was working, Lu Mingfei would follow her around and help carry things. He noticed that several of his second cousins had gone out to cut grass for the pigs, carrying baskets on their backs. Only his first cousins disappeared as soon as they finished their meals, running out to play. However, he also knew that his grandmother always turned a blind eye to the first cousins' grandchildren and did not require them to help with housework. If his cousins dared to be so lazy, they would definitely be beaten and might even go hungry for two meals.
So because of this "tradition" in their family, the two little cousins followed suit and didn't help much with housework.
The main reason was that his second aunt and younger aunt were not pushovers. The second and fourth wives each had only one son and a bunch of maids. In this situation, the only male heir was definitely a treasure. If the old lady dared to ask the male heirs of the second and fourth wives to do housework, his second aunt and younger aunt would definitely bring up the fact that none of the four sons of the first wife helped with housework. Therefore, his eldest aunt did not dare to say anything, and the old lady also tacitly agreed that her grandsons did not have to do housework.
However, during the spring plowing and harvest season, the whole family, regardless of gender, age or status, had to go to the fields to work. During this special period, no one was exempt from this. But now that the busy farming season has just passed and there is no work in the fields, the boys in the family have completely let go.
Lu Mingfei didn't care whether his cousins did the housework or not. He just felt sorry for his mother, so since he could walk, he would follow his mother and help her with the housework within his ability. However, most of the time, his mother felt sorry for him and always asked him not to do it.
After washing the dishes and cleaning up the yard at home, Liu Sanniang prepared to go to the stream with her aunt to wash clothes.
Noticing that her two nephews from the second and fourth wives were looking for her children, Liu Sanniang said to them, "Qilang, your fifth and sixth brothers, go play. Your mother and your fourth aunt are going to the stream to wash clothes. You guys stay home and play. Don't go too far. Got it? Don't go to the stream to play. It's dangerous there."
"Okay, I got it. Mom, you go ahead. My fifth and sixth brothers and I will be playing near our home." Lu Mingfei received glances from his two little cousins and knew what they were looking for him to do.
After his mother, aunt and two cousins went out, he and his two cousins went outside. After meeting up with a few friends in the village who often played together, everyone went to the fields.
Now the crops in the fields have been harvested, and all you can see at a glance are bare fields.
It's a pity that these lands belong to the rich people in Kyoto Prefecture, not to the villagers. Lu Mingfei felt a little sorry. If the farmers had land, no matter how difficult life was, it should be better than it is now, right?
A group of them came here, forming teams of three or two to start digging pits. However, these pits were not dug for fun, but to trap birds.
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