Chapter 106 Chapter 106 Technical Activities
The county examination will be held on February 18th.
There were only a few days left before the county examination. After registering, Fu Wenxiao stayed at home and studied peacefully, waiting for the examination.
Yu Li became busy again.
At dinner that day, she said to Zhou: "Mom, I won't be back at noon recently. You don't have to cook for me. I'll be back in the evening." Then she added, "I might be back late in the evening."
Zhou asked with concern: "But what's the matter?"
Fu Wenxiao also looked over, wondering what she was busy with recently.
There is no news from Xuan Huaiqing yet, so she should not be asked to go and suppress the bandits.
Yu Li glanced at the people at the table and said, "I'm going to learn some technical skills."
Zhou was confused. "What kind of technical job is this?"
Fu Wenxiao also looked puzzled, and the two children were even more confused. The whole family was looking at her.
Facing so many eyes, Yu Li said calmly, "It's a technical job related to pigs! Brother Zhang promised me years ago that he would teach me. Starting tomorrow, I will go to the village with him to collect live pigs and learn by the way."
Zhou was confused. What exactly was this technical job related to pigs?
She really couldn't think of it.
Fu Wenxiao finally thought of something, his face froze and he closed his mouth silently.
This kind of thing... forget it, let’s not ask.
Afterwards, Zhou still found out from Yu Li what technical work she was going to learn.
She had a dazed look on her face, looking at the girl in front of her. She was standing there gracefully, as pure and beautiful as the apricot blossoms on the branches. It was really hard to associate her with something like pig slaughtering.
Why would a nice girl like her learn how to slaughter pigs?
Zhou finally understood why she hadn't said it clearly before. It was indeed not appropriate to talk about such things carelessly during a meal.
She couldn't help but ask, "Li Niang, why do you want to learn this kind of... technical work?"
This is the first time I've seen a girl take the initiative to learn this. After all, some men are shy about this kind of thing, let alone girls.
"Because you can make money." Yu Li said, "This is a technical job, you must learn it."
She can kill pigs, so how can she not castrate them?
In fact, if necessary, she also wants to learn how to treat pigs. There is a profession called veterinarian in this world. Veterinarians treat livestock. Pork is so delicious, so it is okay to learn how to treat them.
Zhou was at a loss for words. So you think you can't learn any technical job related to pigs?
-
Zhang Fu thought so too.
A few days ago, when Yu Li suddenly asked him when he would teach her how to slaughter a pig, he was speechless.
But he had already accepted her apprenticeship gift and had eaten the meal she invited him to. He couldn't break his promise, so Zhang Fu said, "When I went to the countryside to collect pigs recently, a villager asked me to help slaughter a pig. I'll take you there in a few days."
After hearing this, Yu Li agreed and then asked himself if he needed to prepare anything.
"Prepare for what?" Zhang Fu didn't understand at first.
Yu Li said: "For example, a knife specifically for slaughtering pigs. I'll go to the iron shop to make it custom-made." He already has a butcher knife, and he also needs a pair of butcher knives.
Zhang Fu was speechless because he had never thought of teaching her how to slaughter a pig, so he had never thought of preparing anything for her.
Finally he waved his hand and let her do it herself.
Today, Yu Li went to the iron shop to pick up the pig-slaughtering knife she ordered. She directly ordered two pairs.
When Zhang Fu saw the pig-slaughtering knives she brought back, he was a little confused, "Li Niang, why did you order two?" Is it necessary to prepare so many?
Yu Li glanced at him and said calmly, "It's better to be prepared."
What does it mean to be prepared?
Somehow, the man in the butcher shop felt a chill all over his body and inexplicably felt a little creepy when he looked at the two pig-slaughtering knives.
Maybe they were overthinking it.
After lunch and a short rest, Zhang Fu went out of the city to collect pigs from a nearby village.
In the past, Uncle Luo always accompanied him, but today, Yu Li was accompanying him.
Zhang Fu looked at the girl in the skirt. Although she was dressed very simply and didn't even have any jewelry on her, she could attract a lot of attention just by standing there.
"Li Niang, why don't you change into men's clothes?" he suggested, saying that men's clothes should be less eye-catching.
Yu Li was puzzled, "Why?"
"Girls... generally seldom learn this." Zhang Fu said euphemistically. In fact, not only girls, but also men seldom learn this.
Yu Li didn't care, "There is no distinction between men and women in terms of profession."
Zhang Fu felt very comfortable to hear this. According to her, being a butcher was certainly not a lowly job. She had never looked down on those professions that were considered lowly in the eyes of the world.
Finally, seeing that she had no intention of changing, he said nothing more.
The two came to a nearby village, and Zhang Fu took her directly to a villager's home.
It was not yet spring ploughing time, and the villagers were idle. When they saw Zhang Fu, they knew he was here to buy pigs. Zhang Fu had a good reputation among the people in this area. Everyone knew that he gave a very fair price when buying pigs, unlike those livestock dealers who always kept the price very low.
They were just a little confused as to why a girl came with him today.
Wasn’t the man who came with him in the past always a tall, thin, middle-aged man?
When they arrived, the family was already waiting for them to help slaughter the pig.
Seeing that he brought a girl with him, the host was a little surprised. He looked at Yu Li in confusion and found that the girl was very pretty. He didn't know why she came.
It was not until the girl followed Zhang Fu to slaughter the pig that she finally realized something and her master was stunned.
Zhang Fu was also a little embarrassed, but seeing that Yu Li looked serious and was obviously treating it as a serious job, he did not think too much about it and while he was slaughtering the pig, he explained the precautions to her.
After reading it once, Yu Li felt that this job was quite simple. All it required was speed, accuracy, ruthlessness and steadiness.
This family has five piglets to be castrated, and they will sell a few of them after they are castrated.
After Zhang Fu had castrated three piglets, Yu Li said, "Brother Zhang, I'll castrate the rest!"
Zhang Fu hesitated, "Do you know how to do it?"
Yu Li said: "I think so."
“Should” again?
When she went to the county town to look for work, she wanted to do the job of butchering pigs. He asked her if she could do it, and she said she should be able to do it. As a result, she really could do it and did it very skillfully.
Zhang Fu decided to castrate the remaining two piglets for her.
The owner was a little worried, "Will this girl really be able to do this?" Don't let her hurt his piglets accidentally.
A piglet can be sold for a lot of money.
Although Zhang Fu was not confident in his heart, he would definitely support Yu Li in front of outsiders: "Don't worry, my sister is very smart. She can do this job very well. There is nothing she can't learn."
The owner looked at him hesitantly, feeling that something was odd.
By the way, does such a beautiful girl really want to learn how to butcher pigs? In his entire life, he has never seen a girl doing this.
It's just that this girl doesn't care about doing this, nor does she care about other people's opinions. It seems that it doesn't matter...
Yu Li ignored her master's hesitation. She walked over and picked up a piglet.
The piglet she caught was very well-behaved the whole time, and didn't even make a sound. The owner didn't think much about it, but Zhang Fu finally realized that the pigs were very well behaved in front of Li Niang. At this time, seeing the piglet in her hands, it was so well-behaved that it didn't even move.
Yu Li pressed the piglet, which was as quiet as a chicken, onto the ground covered with dry straw. She didn't even need to use her feet to press the piglet down. The piglet just stayed in the same position, waiting to be castrated.
When Yu Li took action, the little pig didn't say a word and just let her be castrated quietly.
The host was stunned.
Comparing to the three piglets struggling and crying miserably when Zhang Fu was castrating the pigs just now, looking at this girl again, the piglets were so well-behaved in her hands that they made no sound before or after the castration. Even after the wounds were covered with firewood ash, they lay there obediently without making any grunting sounds.
After successfully castrating one, Yu Li moved on to the next one.
She worked very quickly and didn't spend much effort the whole time. If Zhang Fu hadn't known that she had never done this before, he would have thought she was a skilled pig butcher. She did a better job than those pig butchers who had been doing this for decades.
Even the owner couldn't help but ask: "This girl...did you do this before?"
Zhang Fu: "... this is her first time, and she's learning it for the first time today." He added, "But she is really good at dealing with livestock. No matter what kind of livestock it is, they will behave themselves in front of her."
When saying this, Zhang Fu felt that Yu Li might really be suitable for this job.
The owner hesitated for a moment, then praised: "Then she is really gifted!"
Zhang Fu: “…” There’s no need to brag about this kind of thing.
When they left, the owner paid them for the pig castration and said to Yu Li, "Girl, if we have piglets in the future, I will invite you to come over."
The owner felt satisfied seeing that the two piglets she castrated did not suffer too much.
Pigs are such precious livestock, so of course we hope that they will suffer less when they are castrated and grow up smoothly.
Yu Li agreed immediately and said, "Tell Brother Zhang when the time comes. If I'm there, I will definitely come."
"Okay, okay."
Then Zhang Fu and Yu left for another house.
Just after the Chinese New Year, many villagers went to bring piglets back to raise. These piglets have generally not been castrated, and many families need to castrate their pigs recently.
Zhang Fu saw that Yu Li did a better job than himself, and because the pigs were very well behaved in front of her, it would allow them to suffer less when being castrated, so he decided to let her do it.
The villagers found it unbelievable that a young girl would do such a thing and were very distrustful of her.
After they watched her castrate the pigs, they all felt that she was an expert in this business and decided that if they had piglets at home in the future, they would definitely ask her to come and castrate the pigs.
Look at the piglet that was castrated. It didn’t even cry out, so it must not feel any pain.
They were also happy to see that the piglets suffered less.
It was almost dark when the two men finally left with a few pigs they had collected that day.
Yu Li did not go back to the county town with Zhang Fu. They separated halfway and she went straight back to Qingshi Village.
When I got home, it was completely dark.
Zhou had been waiting for her to come back, poured hot water for her to wash, and took out the warm food from the pot, while asking, "Li Niang, is everything going well?"
"It went smoothly. The piglets were all very quiet when they were castrated. It didn't take much effort..."
Fu Wenxiao just came in, and when he heard this, his face stiffened slightly.
Zhou wanted to ask something, but when she saw him, she shut up.
This kind of thing... ahem, it’s better not to say it in front of my “son”, it feels embarrassing.
When Fu Wenxiao sat down, his expression had returned to normal. He smiled and asked her how her work was today and whether she was tired.
"It's not tiring, it's quite interesting." Yu Li's eyes sparkled, "It turns out that castrating a pig is so simple. I have already learned it. Brother Zhang said he would take me to other villages to castrate pigs tomorrow."
Today she had slaughtered almost all the piglets in that village, and would go to another village tomorrow.
"They are all very happy to let me slaughter pigs. They say that my skills are good and the piglets are very obedient. They will suffer less and will grow up healthy in the future."
For the villagers, a pig that can grow up healthily is a considerable income.
They are very concerned about the piglets they raise at home and will take care of them if they are cold or in pain.
Fu Wenxiao was silent for a moment, then said, "Very good."
Yu Li nodded with a smile and went on to eat.
**
In the following days, Yu Li followed Zhang Fu to the countryside to collect and slaughter pigs.
At first, Uncle Luo and the others would ask how Yu Li was doing, but after listening, they also fell silent.
Time flies, and the county examination is almost here.
Yu Li was also concerned about this matter. In order to help Fu Wenxiao pass the county exam smoothly, she had been very diligent in transferring her supernatural powers to him recently, just to make him healthier.
Before the county examination, they discussed whether to live in the house in the county town.
The main thing is that during the county exam, candidates have to go to the examination hall early in the morning to line up to enter. If they rush there from the village, they have to get up in the middle of the night. If they don’t get enough rest, Fu Wenxiao’s body may not be able to hold on.
Yu Li suggested: "The house in Shuying Lane has been cleaned and the bed has been made. Only some cabinets, tables and chairs have not been made yet. We can live there for a few days."
Zhou said, "Then you and Xiaoge'er can go over and live there. Let Xiaoge'er have a good rest."
Now Fu Wenxiao was going to take part in the county examination. Even though she was very confident in his knowledge, Zhou was still afraid of disturbing him, so she did not suggest moving at this time.
There is no rush to move. Let's wait until after the county exam.
Fu Wenxiao knew that they cared about him, so he naturally had no objection to this arrangement.
The day before the county examination, they packed up and headed for the county town.
Yu Li had to work in the butcher shop in the morning. He went back for lunch at noon, and in the afternoon he and Fu Wenxiao took Zhou's packed luggage and took a boat to the county town.
The boat they were on belonged to Wang the Boatman. Seeing that they were still carrying luggage, Wang the Boatman became puzzled and asked them where they were going.
Yu Li said: "My husband will take part in the county exam tomorrow, so we will stay in the county town tonight."
Wang Yugong was extremely shocked, "Fu Shulang is also going to take part in the county examination?"
He couldn't help but look at Fu Wenxiao. Although everyone called him Fu Shulang, because of his poor health, they never thought that he could take the imperial examination. But he didn't expect that one day, he would really have to take the county examination.
Does he have to take the imperial examination in the future?
Thinking of the scholars in the eldest branch of the Yu family, especially the eldest son, Yu, who had failed to pass the examination for many years, he could only place his hopes on his two sons.
The two brothers of the Yu family should also suffer this year, right?
I don’t know how knowledgeable Fu Shulang is and whether he can pass the exam. It would be funny if he could pass and the two brothers of the Yu family failed.
The more Wang Chengong thought about it, the weirder his expression became.
He couldn't help but glance at Fu Wenxiao, thinking that Fu Shulang was handsome, and his demeanor made him look like someone who could read books.
No matter how you look at it, he is much better than the Yu Jingde brothers, which makes people feel that he can definitely do it.
When sending the two men to the county town, Wang the boatman said two auspicious words and wished Fu Wenxiao success in the imperial examination.
Fu Wenxiao thanked him with a smile.
Yu Li also thanked Wang Xiegong.
Wang the boatman stood there and watched them leave, feeling emotional. Although he didn't know how knowledgeable Fu Shulang was, he was indeed humble and polite. Even a boatman like him, he did not look down on him. His attitude was as gentle as always, which made people feel at ease.
**
It was already evening when they arrived at Shuying Lane. Yu Li opened the door with his key and went in.
She put down her bag first, went to the well in the yard to fetch water, and prepared to boil some hot water for washing.
When she boiled the water and entered the room, she saw that Fu Wenxiao had already sorted out the luggage in the bag and laid out the bedding in the cabinet.
Since they are coming to live here, Yu Li will buy some daily necessities and put them here when he has time these days.
The weather is still cold now, so a thick quilt is definitely necessary.
Yu Li stood at the door and watched him make the bed. He suddenly said, "Why don't I sleep in the wing room in the front yard tonight."
She suddenly remembered that there were two rooms in the front yard.
Although there are not many rooms, there are two more than the house in the country, so she can move to the front yard.
Fu Wenxiao paused and said gently, "I just checked. You only bought two sets of bedding and quilts. The other set is placed in mother's room. It is prepared for her. If you sleep in the front yard, there will not be enough bedding and quilts. And isn't it too late to buy now? I'm afraid the shop has closed."
Yu Li blinked and realized that he had not thought it through.
She only bought two sets of bedding, one of which was for Zhou. If she used it like this, it wouldn't seem like a good idea, right?
She quickly put the matter aside and said, "Then I'll go buy it tomorrow."
Fu Wenxiao didn't say anything. After making the bed, he asked her where she wanted to eat.
It was almost time for dinner, and apart from a large pot for boiling water, nothing else was prepared in the kitchen, so it was impossible for me to cook.
Fu Wenxiao looked at Yu Li and felt that they couldn't be expected to cook for the two of them. She had never cooked at home and he hadn't learned how to cook yet.
"Let's go to Brother Zhang's house!" Yu Li said without hesitation, "Brother Zhang knows that we are going to stay in the county town today, so he asked us to go to his house for dinner tonight."
Fu Wenxiao nodded slightly, "Then go ahead."
But just as they were about to go out, there was a knock on the door.
When he opened the door, he found that it was Mr. Wang.
As soon as Mr. Wang entered the room, he said, "Brother Fu, sister-in-law, you haven't had dinner yet, right? Come to my house tonight for dinner."
As he said this, he looked at the yard again and found it empty. He could also see that there were not many things in the hall either. He knew that the house had not been fully prepared yet. The two of them were just here to stay and had not officially moved in.
Mr. Wang said, "I have many rooms at home. If you don't mind, you can stay at my house."
He really hoped that they could live in the Wang family so that he could chat more with Brother Fu.
Fu Wenxiao said: "Thank you for your kindness, Brother Wang. We can live here."
Yu Li didn't say anything. Living in your own house must be more comfortable than living in someone else's house.
Since Mr. Wang came to invite them personally, the two had no choice but to go to Wang's house for dinner with him.
When he was going out, someone happened to come out from next door. He was a young man in his early twenties. When he saw Mr. Wang, his eyes widened immediately.
"Mr. Wang!"
Mr. Wang took one look at him, recognized him, and said with a smile, "So it's Mr. Song."
Scholar Song was very excited as he did not expect to meet Mr. Wang here. But when he saw the young couple beside Mr. Wang, he was stunned.
"Mr. Wang, who are these two..." Song Xiucai asked with a red face.
Mr. Wang smiled and said, "These two are my brother and sister-in-law. They live here. You will be neighbors in the future. I'd like to trouble Mr. Song to take care of them."
Song Xiucai said hurriedly: "This is what I should do, what I should do!"
After saying goodbye to Mr. Song, the three of them went to the Wang family.
When they arrived at the Wang family, it happened that Mrs. Wang was in good spirits that day, so they went to pay their respects to her.
They came to the Wang family twice, but because Mrs. Wang was in poor health, they never went to visit her. It was not good for her after all.
Mrs. Wang was also very happy to see the two young people with outstanding looks.
As he got older, he began to like these good-looking and energetic youngsters. Especially when he knew that Yu Li had saved his sister, Old Madam Yao, he liked her even more. He kept talking to her and asked his son and daughter-in-law to entertain them well.
Mr. Wang and his wife naturally agreed.
After talking to Madam Wang, dinner was ready.
After dinner, the two said goodbye and left.
Although Mr. Wang wanted to stay a little longer, he thought about the county exam tomorrow, Fu Wenxiao's poor health, and the fact that he had to get up early and have a good rest, so he had to see them off reluctantly.
When we returned to Shuying Lane, it was already late.
The water that was boiled previously has cooled down and needs to be boiled again.
This shows the defect of not having an experienced elder to help at home. If Zhou was here, even when she went out, she would put a few firewood and burn it slowly, so that they would have hot water to wash when they came back.
Yu Li was a little flustered. He suddenly realized that the basin and bucket he bought had not been washed. Then he found that the bathroom did not have the fat beads for washing. He quickly went to the cupboard to find them. He was busy all over.
She frowned and said, "When mom is not around, I always feel like nothing goes well."
Fu Wenxiao also wanted to help, but she pushed him aside, "You still have to take an exam tomorrow, don't get tired."
He had no choice but to sit in front of the stove and help light the fire. He smiled and said, "If mother knew that we couldn't live without her, I'm afraid she would come with us next time."
Yu Li said: "That's even better. I feel at ease with her around."
Unconsciously, she had become accustomed to Zhou's care.
In fact, it would be better to say that she is taking care of the Fu family than to say that they are taking care of her and she is responsible for protecting them.
Yu Li sighed, finally realizing that she was not good at taking care of others. She was good at fighting and killing, but in real life, she really didn't know how to take care of others.
She thought she had prepared everything in the house, but when she moved in, she found that something was missing.
She wrote it down and went to buy it tomorrow.
After they washed up, they could finally lie down on the bed and have a good sleep.
Hearing the sound of turning over on the other end, Yu Li asked, "You can't sleep? Are you nervous?"
He has to take the county exam tomorrow, so it's normal for him to be nervous, right?
Fu Wenxiao said: "I'm not nervous, I just want to see you."
"Why are you looking at me?" Yu Li wondered. It was so dark, could he see clearly? He always felt that his words were weird.
His chuckle rang out in the darkness, and I heard him say, "Even though I can't see you, Li Niang, I feel at ease as long as I think of you being here, and I can sleep soundly."
Hearing this, Yu Li frowned.
Does she have to continue to live in the same room with him in the future, so that he won't sleep well and lose his health?
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