Su Muyao?
The little baby's eyes widened, and as if realizing something, he shouted to Grandma Su, "Spare the duck!"
Good heavens! Now it can even understand the language of a duck?
Isn't it said that only spirit creatures can do it? This native duck can do it too.
However, she quickly calmed down. Since she could understand the language of the white wolf and the tiger, it didn't matter if there were more ducks.
This duck had been living with her for almost half a year, so it could be considered a companion. Since the duck had cried for help, she couldn't just stand by and watch it die.
Grandma Su remained unchanged, gazing at the little dumpling at the door.
The little dumpling was still standing blankly at the door, seemingly lost in thought.
My granddaughter just said to spare the duck, and I don't know what to do with the knife in my hand.
"Sweetie, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
Su Muyao then came to her senses, "Grandma is alright, can we not kill this duck?"
"What I mean is that I won't kill any more. This little duck is my friend. If I want to eat meat, I'll ask Xiaobai to catch some for my family."
Grandma Su released her grip on the duck's wing, and the duck, terrified, hid behind Su Muyao, trembling with fear.
"Little master, save me! I'll sing for you every day from now on!"
The duck, desperate to survive, tried its best to please the little person in front of it.
Listening to the duck's hoarse and unpleasant voice, Su Muyao thought, "Nobody would believe you can sing."
Seeing that the old lady didn't say whether she agreed or not, Su Muyao stepped forward and grabbed the old lady's sleeve and shook it.
"Grandma, I really love this duck, please don't kill it, okay? Please~"
Looking at the tiny little girl in front of her, with that pitiful, adorable, and spoiled look, Grandma Su's heart almost melted. She wished she could hold her granddaughter in her arms and kiss her to her heart's content.
Besides, we've had plenty of game at home lately, so there's no need to kill this duck. He nodded in agreement.
Su Muyao brought the ducklings into the yard, and Grandma Su caught another chicken and plucked its feathers.
Su Muyao watched from the yard for a while and was relieved to see that although the chicken was flapping its wings, it showed no sign of speaking.
Looking at the duck in front of him, he thought it was quite a wonder: "Why can't other animals talk? Only you can."
"Little master, little master, when you gave that big white wolf water that day, some water spilled on the ground."
Finally, I drank it. After drinking it, I felt my previously muddled mind suddenly clear up, and then I had my own understanding.
Su Muyao nodded, "I see. It seems the spiritual spring water has quite an effect!"
When my second aunt's parents came to visit, they naturally brought some melon seeds, peanuts, candies, and the like.
Su Muyao sat on the stool, eating candy and swinging her legs with her eyes half-closed.
The couple over there looked at their adorable child.
You hug me, I hug you, Su Muyao is also helpless.
Finally, just when Su Muyao could no longer bear it, the old couple finished their meal and went home, and she was able to quiet down.
“Old man, we still have some money on hand. In the spring, we’ll send all the kids to school, and we’ll still have a lot of money left over.”
"Instead of saving this as a dowry for our precious baby, we might as well buy some land. In the future, all of this can become part of our precious baby's dowry, and we can also grow a lot of food in the meantime."
Su Muyao listened intently with her eyes shining. With land, she could plant all sorts of seeds after spring. She couldn't just stay idle like this forever.
Old Man Su wanted to go to the village chief's house to ask about Su Muyao, but Su Muyao insisted on going with him. Old Man Su couldn't refuse her, so he took her along.
After arriving at the old village chief's house, I briefly inquired whether anyone in the vicinity was planning to sell land.
If anyone has land for sale, please go and tell them.
Their family only has six mu of land, which isn't much. They usually grow one season of rice and one season of wheat.
Rice yields are only about 200 jin per mu, with better varieties reaching 300 jin. Wheat yields are even lower, around 200 jin per mu. After deducting taxes, there's not much left.
Now they're saying they'll raise taxes by another 10%, which is basically making it impossible for ordinary people to survive.
In good years, if people are well cared for, they can barely make ends meet; but in bad years, many people starve to death.
The old village chief searched around and discovered a five-acre field right behind the hill, a prime piece of land, which had been temporarily allocated to a few widowed and orphaned families in the village.
These five acres of land were originally left behind by the elderly, single men in the clan after they passed away.
Their custom is that if a person has no descendants, their house and land will belong to the clan after their death.
If anyone wants to buy it again, they can sell it from within the clan, and the money will be distributed to poor families or elderly people living alone in the village.
Su Muyao was naturally very tempted by the three acres of land that were connected together, as the old village chief had said.
The two had only planned to let them know in advance so they could be notified if there was any land available later, but they didn't expect that their trip would not be in vain.
In the end, these five acres of top-quality farmland cost a total of 25 taels of silver.
Five taels of silver per mu is a relatively low price. The main reason is that the village sees that Xiao Fubao wants to buy it, so they naturally can't ask her for a higher price.
Some villagers were envious, but what could they do? Apart from gossiping behind each other's backs, they didn't dare utter a single word in public.
There are one or two gossipy women who, if they say something unpleasant, will basically be surrounded and attacked by the others.
After all, the benefits that the Su family brought them were immediate. No matter how envious they were behind their backs, they couldn't say a word against it openly.
Every village has one or two mean-spirited old ladies, but even the most mean-spirited family in the village wouldn't dare say a single bad word about the Su family.
...
Lunar New Year's Day
Before dawn, Su Sanlang and Wang Taoxiu began to give each of their two sleepy children two pieces of cloud cake, symbolizing a happy new year.
After finishing her cake, Wang Taoxiu got up quickly and went to the kitchen to help boil water.
As soon as I entered the kitchen, I saw my mother-in-law already busy at work, boiling water and cooking dumplings and glutinous rice balls.
These all have a story behind them, symbolizing a smooth and prosperous new year, and family reunions.
Su Muyao knew she couldn't stay in bed today, so she pulled her brother to get up quickly.
I put on the new clothes and pants that my mother had put by my bedside last night, and also put on the beautiful tiger-head shoes. After thinking for a moment, I ran to the closet and took out the tiger-head hat and put it on as well.
The new cotton-padded coat is a bright red cotton-padded jacket with five auspicious symbols embroidered on the back. The collar and cuffs are also trimmed with soft and beautiful white rabbit fur.
After getting dressed, Su Muyao went to wash up.
After washing up, I hadn't played with my older brothers for long when I heard my grandma calling out, "Come and eat dumplings!"
Grandma Su came out of the kitchen carrying a large basin of dumplings and started calling to a few mischievous boys in the yard.
After placing them on the large table in the main room, he turned around and went back to the kitchen to fetch several bowls of glutinous rice balls.
Each bowl contains only four glutinous rice balls, symbolizing that everything goes well and all wishes come true.
Su Muyao felt that there were quite a few customs and etiquette in ancient times.
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