Chapter 48 Chapter 48 Little Wood
After learning from Master Ning what to prepare, Miao Ying went ahead to prepare it. Shu Xiu originally needed dried meat, but there was none at home, so he simply went to the butcher to buy meat. Huo Xing was helping in the fields, as the corn needed to be fertilized soon.
Miao Ying went to the butcher and bought a nice piece of fatty meat. Thinking that his family had not eaten meat for a long time, he also bought a piece of pork belly, preparing to go home and stir-fry some pork belly, as he had been craving it for a long time.
There is celery at home. Ye Feng gave them a lot of vegetable seeds before. They also opened a vegetable plot on their homestead. The vegetables grew very well and could provide them with their daily needs.
While they went to work, Miao Ying cooked at home, because he was not strong. In the past, he could also carry manure, but now he even had to go with his mother to fetch water.
Because they need to cook some oily dishes for work, they are very frugal with rapeseed oil. They usually don’t use it if they can. But today they have to use it to stir-fry twice-cooked pork, which is fragrant and delicious.
Cook the pork belly in a pot, cut it into thin slices and stir-fry in oil to release the fat. No other seasoning is needed. Then add the cabbage and add some salt when serving. The homemade cabbage twice-cooked pork is ready.
Of course one dish was not enough. He had just brought back some celery. He put away the good-looking ones and cooked the ugly ones and made a cold dish. He also steamed brown rice and made a vegetable soup.
After the seedlings are cooked, go and serve them the meal.
The family sat in the field to eat. The field had just been watered and smelled very strong, so they ate on a ridge far away.
Huo Xing sat quite far away from Miao Ying, fearing that his smell would bother him. Miao Ying didn't mind and even helped hoe the fields for a while after eating. His grandmother and Li Hongying both told him to go home quickly because the sun was too strong and Miao Ying's face would turn red if exposed to the sun for too long, and it would start to peel and crack if exposed to the sun for too long.
Miao Ying had no choice but to go home and watch them continue working in the fields.
In the afternoon, he went to pick up Huo Xiaobao to take home. After reading for a period of time, Huo Xiaobao had become much calmer and no longer as noisy as before. On their way home, Huo Xiaobao told Miao Ying what they had learned today as usual, and said that Master Ning seemed unhappy today.
Miao Ying certainly knew why he was unhappy. He knew that a good seedling might not have a good future, and any teacher would be unhappy.
"Then can you bring some candy to comfort Master Ning tomorrow?" Miao Ying said softly.
Huo Xiaobao nodded and looked at Miao Ying again: "Master Song said that if I want to go to school in the county town in the future, he will help me write a letter of recommendation."
Miao Ying nodded: "Of course, our Xiaobao is a good student, so of course he should go to a better place to study."
Huo Xiaobao smiled shyly: "I will study hard and become the top scholar in the future."
Miao Ying felt a little bitter after hearing this. He patted Huo Xiaobao's head and said, "Then I'm really looking forward to having a brother who becomes the top scholar."
The next morning, after Huo Xiaobao went to school, they took the prepared things and went to Carpenter Yao's house. Grandmother wanted to go with them, but because the journey was too far, she had to give up.
When they arrived at Carpenter Yao's house, the sun was already high in the sky. Miao Ying was afraid of the sun, so when they came to a lotus pond, Huo Xing picked a lotus leaf and made him a small hat to wear on his head.
When they arrived at Carpenter Yao's house, the door was closed. Just as they were about to knock, the door was opened from the inside. Carpenter Yao's little brother's face was full of tears. He didn't care who the visitor was, "Save Grandpa, please save Grandpa."
Huo Xing quickly put down what he was holding and walked into the room. He saw that Carpenter Yao's face was red with fever and there was vomit beside the bed. Li Hongying said that he had heatstroke and asked Huo Xing to move him to a ventilated place first and then get him some water for a cool compress. She asked Brother Yao for needle and thread, tied his fingers and bled him. The blood was all black.
Li Hongying was not in a position to do it herself, so she asked Huo Xing to help scrape his elbow. It took a while for Carpenter Yao to wake up.
The first thing he did when he woke up was to gently touch Brother Yao's head and whispered that Grandpa was fine.
Then he opened his eyes and saw the people in the room. He still remembered Miao Ying and Huo Xing, so he said again: "I really can't make what you want."
Li Hongying was the elder, so it was of course her who spoke about the matter of becoming Huo Xing's apprentice. This was also her second time to become Huo Xing's apprentice.
Carpenter Yao's expression was blank for a moment, and then he said in a trembling voice, "I can't teach him anything."
"What if you hire him as a handyman?" Li Hongying said, "He's got plenty of strength and can handle any heavy or strenuous work, so you can have some relief."
Carpenter Yao sat up. He was already old, and this illness had severely weakened him. Looking at the young man standing beside his bed with red eyes, he sighed and said, "I can teach you carpentry, but you have to promise me one thing."
Huo Xing nodded: "Please speak."
"I'm afraid I won't live long. You have to promise me that after I die, your family will provide Xiao Mu with food until he reaches adulthood and is able to live on his own." He could clearly feel that his body was failing. Judging from the faces of his family, they were not the kind of people who would act cunningly and deceitfully. Such a request was actually unreasonable, but he really had no other choice.
Miao Ying nodded quickly: "That's no problem, it's just a child, we can raise him up."
So Carpenter Yao sat up straight and Huo Xing kowtowed to him three times.
The matter was settled and Miao Ying breathed a sigh of relief. Huo Xing had already done what an apprentice should do and started to clean up the house.
Their house was quite big, but it was filled almost entirely with wood. The other side room was a small wooden room filled with many small gadgets, all of which were toys made for him by Carpenter Yao.
Miao Ying was still worried about Carpenter Yao's health, so he asked Li Hongying to stay here to take care of Xiao Mu, while Huo Xing and Miao Ying took Carpenter Yao to see a doctor.
Xiao Mu stood there and watched them disappear before he returned to the yard and rubbed his eyes.
Li Hongying hugged him and patted his back gently: "Don't worry, they are taking grandpa to see a doctor."
Carpenter Yao's home was some distance away from the county town. Huo Xing carried Carpenter Yao on his back, seemingly not tired at all. They arrived at the county town clinic, got the medicine and paid for it. Miao Ying then went to buy some meat and vegetables before returning to Carpenter Yao's home.
Carpenter Yao was lying on the bed, and Xiao Mu was fanning him with a fan. Miao Ying found their family's small pot and stove and cooked a meal for them.
Little Mu buried his head in his food and ate very quickly. Miao Ying could tell at a glance that this child had never eaten delicious food on a daily basis. Miao Ying softened his heart a little and picked up some more food for him.
It was at the dinner table that Carpenter Yao talked about his family affairs.
Originally, they had a skill to rely on, and should have lived a good life, but Xiao Mu's father was not cut out to be a carpenter. No matter how Carpenter Yao taught him, he was very resistant and objected, and all he thought about all day was eating, drinking and having fun.
Xiao Mu's father is the late son of Carpenter Yao. He always wants the best for this child, but it is this kind of doting that harms him.
His wife passed away early, and he, a rough man who only knew how to work, didn't know how to raise a child, so the father and son were like enemies.
Later, when his son met Xiao Mutou's mother, he seemed to have calmed down a little, but that was only before Xiao Mutou was born.
After Xiao Mu was born, he returned to his old ways, neglecting his children and becoming addicted to gambling. He lost all the family fortune in this gambling. Xiao Mu's mother couldn't stand it and left. He also had his legs broken by debt collectors and died a few days later.
Only Carpenter Yao was left with a young boy named Xiao Mu to depend on. He had not paid off his debts, and those people wanted to sell Xiao Mu to a brothel, but because Xiao Mu was too young, they kept him with Carpenter Yao.
He worked day and night, and any money he earned would be taken away by debt collectors, so the grandfather and grandson lived such a difficult life.
Carpenter Yao knew that he would not live long, and he was afraid that the small piece of wood would be sold by those people after his death, so he kept holding on to his breath.
Li Hongying looked sad. She was also a person whose life was ruined by gambling, so when she saw Xiao Mu, she touched his hair lovingly.
Huo Xing started learning carpentry skills from Carpenter Yao. He had some basic skills. When he was in the mountains, his master also taught him how to make weapons nearby, so using a knife was not a difficult task for Huo Xing.
But carpenter's work requires precision, and Huo Xing had big hands and was clumsy, so he was hit by Carpenter Yao's stick many times.
Carpenter Yao was also afraid that his skills would be lost to others, so he taught from the basics and taught in great detail. However, the more detailed the teaching, the more scolding Huo Xing received.
Even though Huo Xing was a very calm person, after being scolded for a long time, he began to want to give up.
But this thought would always disappear completely when Miao Ying came to see him with something in hand.
Because he was an apprentice, Huo Xing lived with Carpenter Yao so that he could take care of Carpenter Yao and Xiao Mu on a daily basis. Therefore, Miao Ying would visit them every now and then with delicious food.
Xiao Mu also liked Miao Ying very much. He would stare at the road almost every day. Huo Xing would stare with him, but he would be slapped on the back of his hand by Carpenter Yao after watching for a while, so he had to look away.
Huo Xing looked at his sunburned face, and felt more sorry for him than wanting to see him, so he asked him not to come so often.
Miao Ying looked at the things Huo Xing had made for practice and said, "You're making rapid progress."
Huo Xing was a little embarrassed: "Not that good."
"It's not that it's not that good, it's very bad. How could there be someone as clumsy as you?" Carpenter Yao blew his beard. "Even small pieces of wood can be made better than you."
Miao Ying stood in front of Huo Xing and said, "He has made a lot of progress."
Carpenter Yao waved at him, telling him not to be an eyesore here. Miao Ying went to cook for them again and brought a lot of dishes.
The weather is very hot now, and there is basically no work to do in the fields. My grandmother and mother are mostly doing needlework at home, and Miao Ying is not making sugar as often. The pace of life seems to be gradually slowing down.
Huo Xing learned carpentry from Carpenter Yao when the weather was the hottest. He was scolded every day in the beginning, but now he is scolded once every three days. It is considered a great improvement.
As the weather got hotter, Miao Ying came less often, so Huo Xing cooked meals for the three of them, and Xiao Mu was looking forward to Miao Ying's arrival even more.
After two months of study, Huo Xing finally got his first job, helping an elderly man in the village to make a new hoe handle.
It looks simple and is actually not difficult, but Huo Xing still received a lot of scolding. In the end, when he finished it, he only received a passable evaluation from Carpenter Yao.
Huo Xing was not annoyed. This job required patience, and patience was the most he had.
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