Chapter 88 Chapter 88 Daily Life
When Fu Lingyou went to the capital, he still brought Fu Lingzhi with him, as well as a few barrels of rapeseed oil and a few bags of rapeseed seeds. Miao Ying was not quite sure about his intentions, but he had no right to comment. Anyway, Fu Lingyou had the final say on this matter.
During this period, he and Huo Xing were rarely together. Huo Xing had to work in the oil press, and he had to stay at home to take care of the two old people. After the weather got cooler, they had to prepare for autumn planting. First, they had to turn the soil and select seeds. Their family now had a lot of land, and Miao Ying could not be lazy anymore, because his grandmother had really aged more obviously in the past two years, and he could not let his grandmother work anymore.
Huo Xing was not at home and his grandmother was in poor health, so the burden of work fell on Miao Ying and Li Hongying.
Xiaolin no longer goes to school and helps with the work. Although he is small, he still helps Miao Ying a lot.
In the end, it was Ye Feng who lent them his cow, which relieved a lot of pressure.
Ye Feng also came to help him with the work: "If my parents hadn't passed by and saw you working that day, I wouldn't have known that your family's fields were not yet finished." He kept talking while working, scolding Miao Ying, "You knew to come and borrow the cow before, but now you really don't consider me a friend, do you?"
Miao Ying quickly raised his hands in surrender: "I just thought that your family has so much land, so I wanted to wait until you have used it up before I come to borrow it."
Ye Feng sneered: "I don't know you yet. If you don't make me something delicious tonight, I'll show you how I'm going to deal with you."
Miao Ying nodded immediately: "Xiao Lin, go home first, find out what you want to eat, prepare it, and wait for me to come back and cook it."
Xiaolin saw that there wasn’t much left, so he packed up his things and headed home.
Ye Feng looked at his small figure: "Xiao Lin is ten years old now, right? He is a sensible boy. Look at my son Erniu, he is about the same age as him, and he is still a silly boy."
Miao Ying smiled softly: "This child is very thoughtful. He has only gotten better this year."
Ye Feng knew about Xiao Lin's situation, of course: "Little brother is like this, but your family treats him as their own child. I believe he will gradually get better."
Miao Ying nodded: "Anyway, we can't let Master down."
"By the way, when will your Huo Xing come back? A young man from my mother's family is getting married, and we need to prepare furniture."
Miao Ying thought for a moment and said, "I'll definitely be back by Mid-Autumn Festival. Is there any rush?"
"I'm not in a hurry, I just want things to get better. The wedding is in the first month of the year." Ye Feng led the cow and walked back while chatting with Miao Ying. He turned his head and looked at Miao Ying, "Aren't you ready to have a baby yet?"
Miao Ying choked on his saliva: "Why are you concerned about my stomach?"
"Didn't your mother urge you?" Ye Feng asked.
Miao Ying shook his head: "Mom, don't rush me. Things like this should just take their course."
"Pay attention." Ye Feng said, "I've been through this before, so you better be careful."
Miao Ying didn't continue the conversation and talked about other things with Ye Feng, avoiding the topic.
He invited Ye Feng to have dinner at home. Xiao Lin came back in the afternoon and said that Ye Feng's mother wanted to eat at home, so Li Hongying went to buy some meat. The family now prefers Miao cuisine, and there is no fatty meat on the table anymore. It is all pork belly with fat and lean meat.
They usually only eat meat once every two or three days, and usually eat some vegetables fried with oil. The two children's favorite food now is twice-cooked pork with chili peppers. It is so spicy that it makes them cry and sneeze. A small bowl of vegetable can make them eat twice as much staple food as before.
This was also the first time for Ye Feng to eat this. Like the two little ones, he was even less tolerant to spicy food. It was so spicy that tears came out, but his hands did not stop moving.
"This thing is so delicious. Can you teach me how to make it?" Ye Feng was still reluctant to eat it. He licked his lips. He wanted to share the delicious food with his family.
Miao Ying did not hide it either. He filled a pot with oil, took a handful of chili peppers, and gave him a lot of chili pepper seeds. He also explained to him how to make it: "You can plant the seeds now, and they will produce fruits all year round."
"Then I won't be polite with you." Ye Feng didn't refuse him, and then asked, "Can you give me some rapeseed seeds? Can I plant some at home?"
After he asked the question, he felt a little embarrassed and blushed for the first time.
Miao Ying thought for a while and said, "I can't say for sure now. How about you wait and ask Master Fu when he comes back from the capital." After all, he had accepted Master Fu's money, so he had to listen to him for the future arrangements.
Ye Feng nodded: "I'm quite embarrassed."
Miao Ying walked him to the door: "That's nothing, we have such a good relationship, I was afraid you would accuse me of hiding something."
"I know the pros and cons of this." Ye Feng went to the side to take the cow home, and Miao Ying also returned to the yard.
Grandmother was sitting in the yard. When she saw Miao Ying coming back, she asked him, "When will Ah Xing come back?"
Miao Ying was stunned for a moment before he said, "Didn't we just say it when we were having dinner? It's probably around the third or fourth day of the Lunar New Year."
Grandma tapped her head and said, "I remember now. Tell me, I'm old and my memory is not good."
"You have a good memory." Miao Ying came over and sat with her. "You even remember that I don't eat fatty meat."
Grandma stroked his hair and said, "You only know how to coax me."
When he turned around, the smile on Miao Ying's face faded a little.
As if to prove her good memory, my grandmother asked again, "Is your sister-in-law from your mother's family going to give birth this month?"
Miao Ying stood up: "Yeah! I was saying that I always felt like something was wrong recently, and it turns out to be this! I don't know if she's pregnant yet."
"When Ah Xing comes back, you two can go back together. Your mother has made some small clothes for you, so take them with you. Also, we have a lot of eggs saved up at home, so take them all with you. You need to eat more eggs during confinement. Also, take a hen. Your mother-in-law and the others took such good care of our family in the beginning. Now that our family is doing better, you should be grateful and repay them."
"I see. Let's discuss what to bring when Huo Xing comes back."
The sky gradually darkened and the night became cooler. Miao Ying lay in the yard, feeling a little worried.
He had never interacted with the elderly before, so when he heard his grandmother say that her memory was not good today, he suddenly panicked, fearing that she had Alzheimer's disease.
But Huo Xing was not at home now, and he was always worried. There was no one to discuss things with, and he always felt like there was something stuck in his chest, and he couldn't let it go, which made him very upset.
When I woke up the next day, the weather was not so hot and there was a little rain falling sporadically. Fortunately, I had turned the soil yesterday, so the time and place were right.
When Huo Xing came back, they also had to prepare to send Huo Xiaobao to Yunshan Academy. Master Song had already written the recommendation document and handed it to Miao Ying. Yunshan Academy recruited new students twice a year, one in February and one in August. There were also age requirements, the youngest had to be over seven years old, and Huo Xiaobao just met the requirements.
Fu Lingyou had told them before that they had to pass the academy's entrance examination before they could enroll. Huo Xiaobao was now with Master Song every day, preparing for the Yunshan Academy's entrance examination.
Miao Ying thought that he was going to go to school, and he had to prepare all the necessary expenses, such as two sets of clothes, a school box, some pens, ink, paper, and inkstone, as well as quilts and mattresses, which was very complicated.
"Your grandmother and I have already made the quilt and mattress. Huo Xing asked for the size earlier, and we have already made it."
Li Hongying sat on the bed and sighed: "This is his first time away from home. I don't know if he can get used to it."
"Children will leave home when they grow up," said Miao Ying.
"I still remember when Ah Xing first brought him home. He was so small and skinny," Li Hongying recalled, wanting to tell Miao Ying about those days. "When I brought him home, his crying was almost gone. I fed him some rice porridge, not knowing if he would survive. Later, I begged the villagers everywhere to give him some milk, and he's grown so big."
"Xiaobao is a good child," Miao Ying said. "He is smart and sensible."
"Why is God so unfair? He has to temper such a good child like this..."
Miao Ying comforted her: "If it weren't for this, Xiaobao wouldn't be able to come to our house."
They talked for a while before Li Hongying asked, "Is Huo Xing coming back today?"
"That should be it." Miao Ying helped her fold the clothes. "Let's steam some buns when he comes back today. The oil residue from the day before is still there."
Although they now have rapeseed oil to eat, they still keep some lard at home. They made lard two days ago, and the oil residue is still there untouched.
"I'll go and mix the dough later."
Huo Xing came back in the evening, just as the buns were out of the pot. Li Hongying gave Miao Ying a hot one. Miao Ying was fiddling with his left hand and his right hand while walking out of the yard. As a result, the bun almost flew away and was caught by one hand.
Miao Ying raised his head: "You're back?"
There was no one around, so Huo Xing picked the man up by the waist and said, "You're back."
Soon Huo Xing heard the noise in the yard, put Miao Ying down, and went back into the house to see his grandmother and mother. The two little ones also came out. Huo Xiaobao hugged Huo Xing's legs, and Xiao Lin called him brother.
They had a very enjoyable dinner. Miao Ying wanted to help clean up, but Li Hongying sent him back to his room. Miao Ying blushed, but he finally obeyed and went back to his room with Huo Xing.
Miao Ying was not the kind of good wife and mother. He packed the bag that Huo Xing brought back by himself. Miao Ying sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed and told him about the recent events at home.
"Brother Feng asked you to help make a set of furniture for the dowry. Do you know how to make it?"
As Huo Xing packed his things, he said, "It's all in Master's booklet. With Xiaolin's help, it will be quick."
"I want to go back to my parents' home in a couple of days. My sister-in-law is about to give birth, so we have to go back and see her."
"Okay. I'll come with you."
"And Huo Xiaobao is going to the academy, so we have to prepare some things for him."
"I'll go shopping with you."
Miao Ying looked at him and always felt that something was different about him.
"I'm going to go take a shower." Huo Xing packed his luggage. "You rest first."
Miao Ying nodded: "Go ahead."
Huo Xing took a quick shower and came back soon, feeling cold and wearing only a shirt.
Miao Ying stood up and he said that something was different about Huo Xing. After this period of high-intensity oil pressing work, the muscles on his forearms became more vigorous.
Miao Ying couldn't control herself and reached out to touch his arm. Touching his arm wasn't enough, so she touched his chest through his clothes. Huo Xing held down Miao Ying's hand that was igniting fire with one hand, and took off his shirt with the other hand, then pulled Miao Ying's other hand and placed it on his chest.
Miao Ying swallowed his saliva and finally decided to enjoy life while he could.
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