After dinner, it was already late. The family gathered in the main hall to talk.
Zheng Yu was not in a very good mood because of what happened at the dinner table. The main hall was not very warm, and grandpa and grandma did not burn charcoal pots, but the main hall was connected to the stove, and Zheng Xiu lit firewood in the stove, so it was not too cold. Zheng Xiu handed him the hand warmer she brought from home, then hugged him and chatted with him.
Zheng Yu secretly glanced at his father who was talking to his grandfather, and quietly asked his sister: "Did I say something wrong just now? Will my father beat me again when I get home?"
Zheng Xiu asked next to him: "Then do you know you are wrong?"
Zheng Yu nodded and whispered: "I know I am wrong. My sister taught me not to hit people in the face and not to expose their shortcomings when scolding them. I shouldn't have said that. I was just too angry..."
"Yes. That's true. Besides, grandpa and grandma are a family to us. There's an old saying that goes, a son doesn't dislike his mother's ugliness, and a dog doesn't dislike his family's poverty. When you said that just now, didn't you dislike grandpa and grandma as well?" Zheng Xiu actually couldn't stand the second wife's behavior of relying on her parents for support, but grandpa and grandma were the elders after all, and what her brother said just now was disrespectful to the two elders. Fortunately, grandpa only taught the second wife a lesson and didn't say anything to him.
"Then sister, can you let dad remember this beating and beat him after the New Year?" Zheng Xiu agreed, touching his little head. Although her father didn't say anything just now, Zheng Xiu knew that her father would definitely be unhappy. If it were in her own family, he would have taught her brother a lesson long ago. However, although her father was strict with her brother, he would consider the child's face outside. Whenever her brother did something inappropriate, his father would scold him after returning home.
Zheng Xiu was talking to her brother when she felt other people's gazes. She raised her eyelids calmly. The second family was sitting opposite her. Zheng Xian was glancing at her from time to time. Following her line of sight, Zheng Xiu found that she was not looking at a person, but the hand covering Zheng Yu's mouth.
This thing was indeed a bit eye-catching, but Zheng Xiu made it for her brother and wanted him to use it, so she let Zheng Xian look at it.
Zheng Xian carefully looked at the fiery red handcuff in Zheng Yu's hand. Zhu, who was sitting next to her, naturally noticed her abnormality and turned to ask her, "What are you looking at?"
Zheng Xian pouted and said, "Look at the handcuff in Zheng Yu's hand. It's made of fiery red fox skin."
Zheng Rong was still brooding over what happened at the dinner table. He just wanted to eat a chicken liver, but his grandfather scolded him loudly. He felt extremely wronged. When he was at home, all the delicious food in the house was his, let alone a chicken liver! Zhu was only concerned with comforting Zheng Rong, and didn't pay attention to the hand cover. After hearing what she said, she looked over. It wouldn't be a big deal if she didn't look, but she was shocked when she saw it. The material was very expensive! She couldn't tell how much it cost, but she knew that she had never used such a good thing in her life.
"Xian girl, how much do you think that thing cost?"
Zheng Xian shook her head, "I don't know, but looking at the craftsmanship, it's not something that my elder sister can make. I think it must be expensive, at least... ten taels of silver." She didn't have any idea about this kind of fur material, and she had already said the highest price she could think of.
The more Zhu looked at it, the more upset she felt. Her youngest son wanted a set of "Zhihezhai" four treasures of the study, but it only cost two taels of silver. The family has been arguing about it since the beginning of the year, but they still haven't been able to buy it. The four treasures of the study are things for serious use, and her family doesn't have the money to buy them. The
eldest wife only paid half a tael after knowing about it. Now they actually bought such expensive things for a child! The more she thought about it, the more jealous she felt. Just as Zheng Ren and Old Man Zheng and Old Lady Zheng in the room had just finished talking, Zhu smiled and said, "Auntie, this handcuff looks brand new. Is it newly bought? I haven't seen this material before."
Zheng Quan was peeling peanuts and melon seeds on the side. When he heard his wife say this, he raised his eyelids to take a look, but didn't care much.
Zheng Ren said indifferently, "Someone gave me fox skin a few years ago. I wanted Xiu to make a shawl out of it. But she was stubborn and refused to take it. So she cut a hand cover for us. Not only Ayu, I have one too."
Zhu was even more surprised. She thought that the hand cover must be very expensive. It turned out to be cut from a whole piece of fox skin. She felt that the eldest wife was wasting a gift. She said hesitantly, "How much does it cost..."
Old Lady Zheng was also a person who would feel sorry for things. She took a look at Zheng Yu's hand cover and said, "Big brother, you can't spoil the child like this. If you sell this material, you will get a lot of money. Why did you use it like this?"
"How can you sell something that was given to you by someone else for money?" Zheng Ren frowned, not wanting to explain any more.
Zhu then took Zheng Rong to her knees and said, "Alas, our Arong has a miserable life. How could he be born in my belly? He wanted a set of four treasures of the study but our family couldn't afford it. He could only watch his cousin use such good things."
"Okay, stop nagging. Whatever the eldest brother has is his business." Zheng Quan was a lazy person who didn't want to take care of things. He just watched his eldest brother's face getting more and more unhappy, and was worried that Zhu really annoyed him. You know, the family's food and drink still depended on the eldest brother's financial support. If he was unwilling to pay for it in the future, his family's life would be even more difficult.
Zhu stiffened her neck and retorted, "What's wrong with me just saying a few words? Isn't the child your own? Don't you feel sorry for him? Alas, my poor Arong..." She was about to cry.
"The four treasures of the study that Second Aunt said Arong wanted, are they from 'Zhihezhai'?" Zheng Xiu asked.
Zhu thought that she was willing to pay for it by asking this, so she stopped crying and said, "That's right, the things there are the best and most suitable. Arong will go to school at the beginning of the year, so of course he can learn well with good things."
"Haha," Zheng Xiu laughed. The whole family was attracted by her laughter. After she finished laughing, she continued, "As far as I know, the things in 'Zhihezhai' are good, but they are not cheap. Although there are not many educated people in our village, there are still a few families, but no one except my father can afford those things. Even Mr. Zhang from Uncle Li Zheng's family didn't say he wanted to use those things. Second aunt wanted to give it to Arong who will be enlightened in the next year..."
Zhu muttered in defense, "I haven't been to school, but I have heard the saying 'get twice the result with half the effort'."
At the beginning of the year, she was so nagging, and Zheng Xiu knew that according to her father's temper, although he was impatient, he would most likely not be able to defeat his soft heart and buy it for Zheng Rong. Didn't you see that grandpa and grandma didn't say a word? They probably hoped so in their hearts. Even if her father disdained the second wife, he had to compromise for the sake of his parents.
Zheng Xiu said seriously: "Since Second Aunt said so, then we really can't save the money. I gave grandma half an ounce of silver before, so the rest will be paid by my family. But I have to say this in advance, Arong must study hard after he goes to school. If he doesn't study well..."
Zhu was delighted and said quickly: "Okay, he will definitely study well. If he is naughty again, I will be the first to not forgive him."
"Second Aunt said this in front of the whole family, you can't regret it when the time comes. In the future, every New Year, my father will naturally test Arong's homework. If he doesn't study well, he will be punished." Zheng Xiu thought that even if her family had to pay, she couldn't let others take it so easily.
When Zheng Rong heard the word "punished", he remembered that he had heard Zheng Yu say that his father would punish him with a cane, so he refused to do it. When Zhu heard that Zheng Xiu was willing to pay, she didn't care about him at all and agreed immediately: "Okay, Xiu is right. If Arong's grades are not good, uncle will just teach him."
Zheng Xiu finally gave up. After all, it was his father who had to pay for the trouble because he couldn't save face. So he might as well make it clear in advance that his family paid for Zheng Rong to buy the four treasures of the study. It was an investment. If Zheng Rong didn't study well, then he should just accept the punishment! She had disliked that naughty child for a long time. If he doesn't study well after going to school, then he should just wait for the cane to be beaten! After saying this in front of grandpa and grandma, she didn't believe that when his father wanted to teach him a lesson, no one would dare to stop him.
Zheng Yu wanted to laugh, but couldn't. His face turned red.
Zheng Xiu turned around and smiled, "Since we are buying sets for Rong, then Dad, let's buy a set for Yu as well."
Zheng Ren naturally agreed.
Zheng Yu was a little worried for a moment, and whispered, "I, I don't want it, what if I can't learn it..." He didn't want to be beaten.
Zheng Xiu smiled and stroked his head, "It's okay if you can't learn it, A Yu is so smart, even if you don't know how to learn it, Daddy can teach you." He didn't mention that he would be punished
if he couldn't learn it. Zheng Rong was even more annoyed when he heard it. No matter what, they bought the same four treasures of the study. If he couldn't learn it, he would be taught a lesson, but Zheng Yu didn't know how to learn it, but it was okay! He immediately acted like a piece of candy on his mother.
Zhu was very happy because she had just gotten what she wanted. She ignored her little son who was making trouble and scolded him lightly, "You will be a big boy after the New Year and go to school. You can't be so unruly!"
Zheng Rong was just a little boy. Without Zhu's protection, he really couldn't make any trouble. The atmosphere in the house returned to normal.
Finally, it was midnight. Zheng Ren and Zheng Quan finished setting off firecrackers at the door. Zheng Ren took Zheng Xiu and his sister home. They were going to set off firecrackers at home.
Zheng Xiu had prepared the firecrackers at home and hung them on the doorposts on both sides. Zheng Ren took the firecracker and lit it. There was another crackling sound. After the firecrackers were all set off, the family of three came in together.
In the countryside, people are particular about staying up all night, but they don’t have to wait until dawn. After midnight, the younger ones go to bed first. There are only three people in their family, so they don’t follow so many rules. After the family washes up, Zheng Ren shoos his two children back to the house to sleep.
Zheng Yu was particularly quick that day. After washing up, he was the first to crawl into the bed.
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