Chapter 14 Going to the County
Seeing her like that, Yang Zhou sighed. It was such a coincidence that less than half a year after the engagement, Li Youshan got into trouble.
But at that time, her elder sister said that the son of a grocery store owner in town was looking for a marriage partner. Of course, she wanted her daughter to marry someone better. What future would she have by working in the fields?
He was also afraid that the other party would cancel the engagement and find another one as soon as the accident happened, and would be drowned in the spit of the villagers, so he was hesitant.
Now is a good opportunity. The engagement has been going on for a year but no proposal has been made. Which girl can wait?
Li Wanyue was divorced and the Li family was in debt. Li's mother appeared gentle on the outside but was fierce on the inside, so no one could say anything when she proposed to cancel the engagement.
Wait for the boss to come back and ask him to persuade him. If you miss this opportunity, it will be difficult to find another one in the future.
－－－
As the sun sets, wisps of smoke rise from the quiet little village.
All the people who were busy outside returned home.
Li Wanyue sat in the yard. What she saw before her were not tall buildings, but layers of green mountains with a thin mist lingering around them, like an ink painting.
Li Dachuan, Li Erhu, Li Sandong and several children ran into the yard with cheerful laughter, and she couldn't help but smile.
Ignoring living conditions and material aspects, this pastoral life is still very comfortable.
She doesn't have any grand ideals, she just wants to live a comfortable life, have a healthy family, and have enough savings to worry-free.
But her current life is still far from her goal.
Li An ran to Li Wanyue holding something that looked like a dead tree and said, "Aunt, what is this? Uncle San found it when he was chopping wood in the mountains."
Li Wanyue took a look and replied, "This is a deer antler. It falls off naturally after aging."
Li Sandong was surprised: "Can a deer's horns fall off by themselves?"
"yes."
Li Dachuan said, "Isn't that just a bone? I told him it was useless, but Sandong insisted on giving it back to the kids to play with. What's so fun about it?"
Li Wanyue: "Brother, this deer antler is also a good thing. It can be used to make glue. Deer glue can be used in many places. When we go to the town or county, we can ask the pharmacy or grocery store. Maybe they will buy it."
"How did you know, little sister? I've seen this antler before, but you didn't tell me." Li Dachuan was surprised.
Although this thing is rare, it can be seen occasionally. If he had known that it could be sold for money, he would have picked it up when he saw it before.
Li Wanyue coughed and said, "Didn't Gao Zhiyuan tell me this? Otherwise, I wouldn't understand. The only benefit of staying at their house for the past few years is that I learned a lot of words and read some books."
"Little sister, can you read?" Li Dachuan almost screamed in shock.
Li Wanyue was frightened by his scream, and then she felt several searchlight-like eyes staring at her.
Even Zhao Suying and her elder and younger sisters-in-law, who were busy in the kitchen, stuck their heads out to look.
Li Wanyue thought to herself that in this era, in a mountain village like this, being able to read would earn you admiration.
"Yes. Tomorrow when I go to the county town to relocate my household, I'll take a look at the prices of books. I'll teach Xiaolan and the others how to read first, and when I earn some money, I'll send them to school."
In Li Wanyue's memory, it seemed that the characters in Gao Zhiyuan's books were written in traditional Chinese characters, but she couldn't remember it clearly. If it was traditional Chinese characters, she wouldn't worry.
She was also very interested in traditional Chinese characters in her previous life. She started learning calligraphy at the age of six and has been practicing for more than ten years. It is not a problem for her, but she still needs to buy a book, after all, the teaching needs to be more rigorous.
Li Xiaolan, Li An and other children jumped up excitedly. It was great that they could also learn to read.
In the kitchen, sister-in-law Wang Guixiang said with a smile: "My little sister has really made progress. She can even read and write."
Zhao Suying was happy but also sad. It was such a loss for her daughter to waste three years of her youth just to learn to read and write.
Thinking of this, I greeted Gao Zhiyuan's whole family again in my heart.
Few farmers are willing to light oil lamps, let alone candles. Most of them finish their meals and clean up before dark, and go to bed directly after dark.
After the family had dinner, the children tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, imagining the scenes of themselves reading and learning to read.
Uncle Dazhu, the youngest son of my second grandfather in the old house, went to the town to study two years ago. His teacher gave him a nice name, Li Xiangyu, and he can only come back for two days every month.
Seeing him wearing a scholar's gown and occasionally saying a few words from the book, the children in the village were all very envious, but he never paid any attention to them, saying that they were just peasants.
My aunt said that she would teach them to read and write, and they would be able to understand the sentences in the books in the future.
Li Wanyue also couldn't sleep. There were no toiletries. When she wanted to brush her teeth, there were only willow branches. When she wanted to take a bath, she could only take a basin of water to the room and wash herself simply.
Seeing my hands covered with grease no matter how I washed them, I thought about it and grabbed a handful of wood ash to wash them. Only then did I feel less greasy.
I used a comb to comb my hair, but it was so frizzy that it took me a long time to comb it.
No, she must go to town tomorrow to see if there is any way to make money. If she continues like this, she will go crazy.
Shampoo, soap and toothbrush are must-buys.
Toothbrushes have existed since the Tang Dynasty, so I think there should be some here too.
Li Wanyue lay on the bed and sighed. Her seven-digit savings, mobile phone, her apartment, a certain Tiger car, her cloud-shaped bed, silk quilt, her skin care products and cosmetics, her King of Pesticides, her collection of movies and TV series, her best friend, alas.
As I was thinking, I fell asleep.
The next day, just after daybreak, the whole mountain village woke up with the crow of roosters.
Li Wanyue rubbed her eyes. Oh, this biological clock made it impossible for her to sleep in.
There were sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen.
Breakfast is brown rice porridge, a plate of stir-fried vegetables and dark-flour steamed bread.
Li Wanyue looked at Li Youshan and said, "Dad, after dinner, let my second brother go to Kaoshan Village to find Zhang Laizi and ask him to come and plow the land."
"Can he come? He doesn't cultivate his own land anymore?"
"His land is worked by his wife and his brother's family. He has never touched it. If you want him to work, you don't have to be polite. Just go and call him. This is said in front of the people in their Kaoshan Village. If he doesn't come, go find their village chief."
"OK."
Li Wanyue ate a few bites and then went out with Li Dachuan and Li Sandong.
When she reached the gate of the next courtyard, it was wide open. The old woman in the courtyard looked at her, then turned to the middle-aged woman and said coldly, "Second brother's wife, you lazy woman, it's already so late and breakfast is not ready yet.
You can't see clearly what's going on at home. If you want to be the Good Fortune Fairy, you have to check if you have any copper coins. Your family is already living in a tight spot, and you're still giving duck eggs to others. Do you think that the other person, who has ten taels of silver, would be interested in your duck eggs?"
Zhou Chen paused while mixing the chicken food, and stood up. Just in time, she saw Li Wanyue and her two siblings passing by. She whispered, "Mom, Aunt Li is very kind to us. Last time when the wooden ox was injured, they also brought eggs. I just picked up three wild duck eggs and gave them away. It didn't cost any money from my family."
The old woman glared at him and said in a sharper voice, "What? You dare to talk back after doing something wrong? I am the one who makes the decisions in this house. You have to ask me before you take out even a single duck feather, let alone duck eggs. Hurry up and cook. If the golden and silver cows wake up and have nothing to eat, I will tell you how I will deal with you."
Li Dachuan advised the three people who had already walked away, "Don't pay attention to her, little sister. You know that the Zhou family's mother-in-law is just a dog's mouth, barking for no reason. The second sister-in-law of the Zhou family has been a neighbor of our family for many years and has always had a good relationship. It's because of the mother-in-law Qian that mother doesn't dare to go to the Zhou family to look for her."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
