A Timely Wife

There were too many people who came to feed the two little guys. Cheng Dong listened to the midwife's yelling inside, and found it very interesting. It seemed that the midwife could say some auspicious words no matter what the visitors added. Just add a ladle of water, and the midwife said: "Long flowing water, smart and clever." If you throw a few longan, the midwife will change an auspicious saying: "Longan longan, even three yuan."

Chengdong found it very interesting. It is no wonder that modern people use the words "three aunts and six wives" to describe those who can speak well. Midwife is one of the professions among the six wives. , White can be called black, and you can eat a full stomach with just one mouth, which is also a skill.

After adding the pots, the midwife began to officially wash the two children. Ordinary people would prepare a clean mallet for the midwife to stir in the copper basin, but Li Qi prepared a silver braze. I have been a mother-in-law for decades, and this is the first time I have seen such a particular family.

The midwife picked up the silver drill and stirred it in the silver basin, and sang in her mouth: "Stir it once, stir it twice and stir it three times, the elder brother leads the younger brother to run away. Seventy children, eighty children, crooked children, naughty children, Xilihulu They're all coming!" Cheng Dong's mouth twitched as he listened in the warm pavilion, it was all a mess, these two brats alone were enough for him, if there were a few more, he might as well go to heaven, dare to marry in this place The daughter-in-law is just to give birth to a lot of sons.

The midwife in the main hall didn't know Chengdong's thoughts, so she asked Li Wushi and Li Chenshi to stand in front of her with the two children in their arms, and poured some water on the two children's heads with their hands, the two little guys didn't cry Instead, they laughed out loud, as if they thought it was fun. The happier the two children laughed, the more impatient the midwife was. Generally, the children of other families started crying when the cold water just touched them. Why did the children laugh instead? Hehe, still laughing so loudly, if they don't cry, they are about to cry. According to the custom, it is unlucky not to cry.

Fortunately, the midwife didn't struggle for too long, because after a while, the two children were very unhappy when they saw that the midwife stopped watering them, and burst into tears one after another. The two children cried, and the midwife breathed a sigh of relief. It's done.

Then the midwife continued to bathe the two children, and while washing, she read: "Wash the hair first, and become a prince; wash the waist second, and one generation is taller than the previous generation; wash the eggs, and become the magistrate; wash the ditch, and become the magistrate." .The people in the main hall probably only watched the two children, and didn't pay attention to what the midwife said. Cheng Dong was lying alone in the inner room, bored, and then heard this amazing lyrics. The front was quite normal, that egg, Could it be the meaning that I understand, who told me that the ancients were very conservative, what should I say if the little girl washes three, washes milk?Cheng Dong wiped his face, feeling that his dirty thoughts were really bad.

After bathing the two children one by one, the midwife set fire to the wormwood balls and placed them on the foreheads of Li Cheng and Cheng Li with ginger slices as a support, symbolically burning them with the wormwood balls.So I began to comb and dress up the two children. Of course, the so-called combing and dressing up are just actions, and there is no real thing. Of course, I still have to say congratulations, just listen to the midwife singing while doing the movements: "Three combs Wearing a red hat when you grow up; draw your eyebrows on the left, and your temples on the right, find a daughter-in-law to live in Sicun; brush your teeth, rinse your mouth, and talk to people to avoid embarrassment."

Then he picked up the boiled eggs placed next to him and rolled them on the faces of Li Cheng and Cheng Li respectively, singing: "Roll the eggs on the face, the face is like egg skin, the willow red is like white, you are really a lover." After washing, he slapped each of the two children three times with a green onion, saying: "One dozen are smart, and the second dozen are clever." Then the midwife called Li Ruosong and asked Li Ruosong to throw the green onion on the ground. Put it on the top, and waited for Li Ruosong toss the green onion up, the midwife continued, "Three dozen are extremely clever."

Afterwards, the midwife picked up the weight and put it in front of Li Cheng and Cheng Li, gestured a few times, and said, "Although the scale is small, it weighs a thousand catties." She then picked up the lock and gestured three times, and said, "You have grown up, your head is tight, your feet are tight, and your feet are heavy." Tight, tight."Finally, I used a small bronze mirror to shine on the little buttocks of the two little guys, and said: "Use a precious mirror to shine on the buttocks, and the shit in the daytime will be clean."This is not over yet, and finally the midwife picked up a bunch of pomegranate flowers made of paper and stuffed them into the oven, saying: "Gardenia, jasmine, peach, apricot, rose, tuberose, flower scar bean The rash is sparse."At this point, the two children's baths are considered to be finished, but this is not the end. The midwife put the thirteen statues of the gods and the money and food for worshiping the gods together with the incense sticks, and personally sent them to the yard to be solemnly incinerated. The silver chopsticks prepared before were thrown into the fire with the statue of the father and mother of the bed, and he sang: "The father and mother of the bed are surnamed Li, and the adults and children will be handed over to you; give more boys and less girls." Use a red paper bag, press it under Li Ruosong and Cheng Dong, and say: "The father and the mother will guard the head of the bed for a long time, and the adults and children must keep safe."

Afterwards, the midwife greeted Li Qi and others with a "congratulations". At this time, it was time to give money. Li Qi was not stingy, so he wrapped two ingots of silver ingots in a red envelope, two thousand copper coins on a red string, and a basket of eggs and jewelry. A set, a bag of rice, and a bag of Xiguo. The midwife smiled from ear to ear when she took the things, and poured out baskets of baskets of sweet words, so I got a few taels of silver as a reward. At the luncheon, although the Li family has few servants, there are many strong men in the Martial Arts Hall. Although they were soldiers of the Zhou family before they came, they have now become the guards of the Li family. It is their turn to go on stage at this time. .

One dish after another was served on the table non-stop. For today's three banquets, Li Qi spent a lot of money. Twenty tables were prepared for the wine table. Except for the main table, each table had eighteen dishes, ten Two meat dishes, six vegetarian dishes, enough wine and water, if you run out of it, someone will bring it to you.

The best thing about the countryside is that there is no need to distinguish between male and female seats. Unlike in Songjiang Mansion, the girls in the city do not leave the house without leaving the house. The girls in the country have to do housework, deliver meals to Shimoda’s father and brother, and ask for help. When picking wild vegetables in the mountains, you will pay attention to it, but you will not be so particular about it.Especially after Chengdong insisted on opening a women's school, the defense of men and women was not so strict. The teacher of the women's school is Li Wu, who is also a lady from a family. When I was young, I invited a husband at home. It can be obtained, and Li Wu's father who passed away was originally a Juren, and he loved his only daughter very much, and taught her to read and write. This is also the reason why Li Wu and Li Qi have a good relationship for so many years. The husband and wife There will always be topics to talk about, so Li Wushi doesn't understand anything about what Li Qi says, and the two will occasionally make gestures.

In addition, Mrs. Li Wu has been the head of a big family's housewife. She manages the house well, and makes great efforts to keep all housekeeping affairs in order. Among other things, the girls in the village will always marry in the future. If they can learn how to be two-handed housekeepers The ability is enough for them to benefit for a lifetime.Of course, it was not so easy to recruit students at the beginning of the women's school. After all, the Li family had no daughters, so there was no way to send girls to the women's school to take the lead. After the village head sent both of his daughters to the women's school, Talents in the village sent their daughters over one after another.

It's not that there are no gossips, the Li family ignores them, whether it is good or bad, you can experience it for yourself. When these families who send their daughters to the Li family find that their daughters are getting better and better in craftsmanship and can read and read like boys, even the housekeepers start After looking good, the people who didn't send it to them naturally regretted it. Fortunately, the Li family didn't embarrass these people too much, and the Li family also accepted it when they sent it.

Since then, under the subtle influence of the Li family, Liujiagou began to change little by little. In nearly a year, the changes in Liujiagou can be described as earth-shaking.

In the fields, as long as it is not the busy time of farming, you will no longer see children running around with bare buttocks. As long as they can take care of themselves, basically all children will enter Yueweitang, and those who are not interested in reading will enter Yanwutang. Interest classes are also in full swing, and every time it is class time, the whole village echoes with the sound of children reading aloud.

During the busy farming season, the Yueweitang and Yanwutang will have a busy farming holiday. They study every morning and go home in the afternoon to help with farm work. Dozens of people belonging to the guard team in the Yanwutang are also arranged to help the lonely elderly in the village. , The guards will also go up the mountain to chop firewood and carry water from the river, all of which are voluntary to help. Of course, the daily food is much better than other times. Such a guard has more or less the appearance of Chengdong's ideal soldier.

There is also the caravan. Since the establishment of the caravan in Liujiagou, with the help of Liu Cheng, the business has been getting better and better. Chengdong also quoted the gimmicks of later generations, which were only made by the guards going into the mountains from time to time. Things are enough to support all expenses.

The current appearance of Liujiagou, no matter who looks at it, will find it amazing. Fortunately, Liujiagou is located in a remote place.However, in Chengdong's view, the changes in Liujiagou were still too slow, and did not meet his previous expectations, including the progress of the martial arts hall, which was really slow. If defined in four words, Chengdong I think it should be a waste of time.

In particular, the military industry that Cheng Dong is most interested in has completely stagnated during the period of waiting for delivery at his nest home. There are not many people who are willing to learn blacksmithing. This kind of person is almost impossible to find in a small village like Liujiagou, so in the end, Chengdong had to be the leader alone.