North and South groceries

In mid-August of the lunar calendar, the summer sowing has long since ended, and the autumn harvest has not yet begun. In this slack season, the Yao family finally arranged for Yao Maoyun's wedding to be the daughter of the old man Liu's family in Shizigou.

This girl is also the eldest daughter in the family. She is eighteen this year, she looks good, and she works neatly. Whether it is housework or farm work, she is a good hand.

Originally, based on her character and appearance, it should not be difficult to find a similar family, but the reason why she didn't get married until she got through it was because her family was dragging her down.Shizigou is a remote village, with not even much decent land, but his family has given birth to a bunch of children. Others are afraid that she will still take care of her mother's family after she gets married, and take things from her husband's house to her mother's house.

Aunt Liu survived until the [-]th and [-]th years, when no serious people came to ask about it. Many people in their village said that she would probably be a concubine for others in the future, and that she would be a concubine for others. The experienced old bachelor and old pervert mess up their minds.

Who would have thought that in the end she would be favored by Yao Dalang of Xipo Village. That Xipo Village is so rich, and there are no ladies in this village who would want to marry in Xipo Village. Among the few young gentlemen, besides Luo Sanlang, Yao Dalang is the most favored.

On the day of the wedding banquet, everyone in and outside the village was full of joy, and because Luo Yong was still in his filial piety, he didn't go to join in the fun.

I heard people say that Shizigou is too remote, and the mountain road is too steep, and the ox cart can't go up at all. After the wedding procession left, the bride followed them down the mountain on two legs, until she reached the side of the road at the foot of the mountain. Only then got into the Yao family's bullock cart.

These days it is not popular to sit in a sedan chair, Luo Yong remembers those big red sedan chairs that don't have flowery head covers, and the bride doesn't wear a red dress, but a turquoise dress, with a round fan slightly covering her cheeks.

Yao Dalang was wearing a ochre-colored robe, and the two of them stood together, they were also a refreshing young couple.

If they were in a wealthy family, they would buy a red dress for the groom and a blue dress for the bride. This is the legendary red man and doll girl, but for the Yao family, a brightly colored red robe is still unaffordable and impractical.

In a small village like theirs, such an arrangement is quite respectable. Most people in their village were married in linen clothes and short brown knots. When it was more difficult in the past, some families even had decent clothes Can't make up the fabric.

The Yao family now owns fields and land, and is also engaged in tofu business. In addition, his yard has always provided board and lodging for some vendors, because living in the village is cheaper than living in Xu’s guest house. Many small vendors who come and go often still choose live in the village.

Even if you can only earn a few pennies a day, it will be considerable if you accumulate it over time.After all, in these years, it is not easy for every household to earn some money. For example, in Shizigou, there are almost no other sources of income except food, poultry and eggs, so every household is very poor.

The Yao family had a banquet, but the Luo family couldn't go because the funeral period was not yet over. Firstly, it was not in accordance with the etiquette, and secondly, it was not good for the host family.

But even if the people don’t come, the gift will always come. At this time, there is no such thing as gift money, at least in their village. When everyone goes to have wedding wine, most of them take some grain, rice noodles and eggs.

Luo Yong steamed a pot of jujube bean cakes with Erniang and the others, and when the banquet started, they also brought them a few hot dishes, which was quite a lot, so Siniang didn't use it that night. It's time to cook.

Speaking of it, Si Niang has been much more relaxed recently, because the pig-raising helper Yu Matchmaker said earlier that she would introduce to his family has already started work at this time. In this way, Peng Er is free. Just help from the yard, and the burden on the shoulders of the Luo family brothers and sisters was suddenly lightened.

·

"Grandmother, there's jujube bean cake today." In the evening, a little girl about ten years old came out of Luo's yard carrying a covered basket made of sorghum stalks. In front of the circle, he lowered his voice and said excitedly to the woman who was working.

"Put it in the house first, and eat after I tidy up here." The woman laughed.

"Mother, hurry up." The little girl kept urging.

"That's all right." There wasn't much work in the first place, and the Luo family's big and small pigs had been fed three times today, so she just wanted to tidy up the pigpen.

The mother and daughter were introduced by the matchmaker Yu. When the two of them first arrived, Luo Yong hesitated to let such a clean mother and daughter live next to the pigsty every day. , doing the work of feeding pigs, I always feel a little inappropriate.

But the matchmaker Yu also said that Mrs. Zheng was quick-witted, and that it was not easy for a girl to support four children in her family alone. Luo Yong thought about it, and finally nodded.

In the past few days, Luo Yong invited a few Dinghu people to build two adobe houses on the side of his yard, facing the direction of the pigsty, next to the outer wall of the yard. After all, the utility room over there didn't even have a kang. , it’s okay to barely live in now, but it’s not easy to live in when winter comes.

As for letting the mother and daughter live in the Luo family's courtyard, Luo Yong never thought about it, and the Zheng family may not really want to live in it, after all, he still has a ten-year-old daughter with him. Gossip, you won't be able to find a good family in the future.

"Aniang, this jujube bean cake costs one penny and one yuan, and it has to be during the five days. I heard that at Xu's guest house, a small plate costs ten pennies." During the meal, the little girl said Chewing the food in his mouth, his eyes seemed to be stuck to the jujube bean cake, and he couldn't pull them out.

"If you like to eat, then eat both of these." Zheng slowly picked up a chopstick of green vegetables and put them in the bowl. Her body was a bit damaged due to long-term malnutrition, and she worked all day today. She didn't have much strength in her body at this time.

"...Let's leave it to sister and brother. I have eaten enough these few days." The girl thought for a while, then shook her head and said.

"How can they eat?" Zheng Shi was amused and somewhat relieved.

"Let those Dinghu people help us pass a little bit. They come into the city every day." Her daughter said.

"Don't cause trouble for others. They don't know if they don't come out to pick it up if they haven't passed the letter. Why don't they ask people to send the things home? They don't know where our family lives." The Luo family's food is really good, It's not that Mrs. Zheng has never thought of giving some food to the eldest daughter and youngest son in the city, but it's such a long journey, and he is not familiar with those people. It would be too much for the central people to send her home.

"..." The little girl fell silent.

She and A Niang work for the Luo family in Xipo Village. They don't have to worry about anything else except feeding the pigs. The three meals a day are prepared by the Luo family, as long as they put their own dishes in a basket and carry them over in advance. When the Luo family cooks, they will make an extra portion for their mother and daughter, and they will eat whatever the Luo family eats.

These days, she is full every day and eats a lot of good things. Today, there is a wedding banquet, not only the dishes on the banquet, but also the date bean cake that she misses so much. My sister and the others eat it again in the city. What is it, probably Zanmen pancake dipping sauce again, and at most some vegetable soup.

"When you stay here for a full month, then Erniang will come over." After a while, Mrs. Zheng said.

"Huh?" The little girl didn't realize it. That's not what they said earlier. A Niang said that Er Niang is getting married soon, so she should seldom show up outside. With her at home watching Saburo and Goro, A Niang can rest assured , the reason why I brought myself here is because she is young but has strength, can help with work, and is a girl, so it is convenient to sleep in the same bed with A Niang, why has she changed her mind now?

"Tell her to eat better, so she can find someone else in the future." Zheng said.

"Oh!" The little girl grinned and readily agreed.The Luo family's food is delicious, but as long as it is the siblings in the family, no matter who eats it, she will not feel disadvantaged.Anyway, it is impossible for their sisters and brothers to come all over. A Niang also said that if so many children come together, the host will definitely not want them.

"You can eat these two cakes today." Mrs. Zheng was very pleased that her daughter was so sensible.

"Ma'am, you can eat it too. There are brown sugar and red dates and eggs in there, which can make up for it." The children in their family have never had the habit of eating alone.

The mother and daughter had dinner, cleared the table, washed the dishes, washed up a bit, and then rested.

The little girl was careless, she helped with some chores today, she had enough to eat at night, she lay down on the bed, and soon fell into a deep sleep, Mrs Zheng had something on her mind, so she couldn't fall asleep for a while.

There are some things that Zheng did not tell her daughter.When the wedding team entered the village today, she also saw that Mrs. Liu is a lucky one, marrying a young man like Yao Maoyun, she will not have to live a hard life in the future.

The Yao family is very good. They planted a lot of fields, and they have earned a lot of money in the past two years. They even have a cart. In addition to Yao Maoyun, there is a younger brother who is only 12 years old this year. Originally, there was a second younger brother who was one or two years younger than Yao Maoyun. The two brothers worked together all day long and had a very good relationship. Unfortunately, a mudslide buried them two years ago. Life must be more prosperous than now, and it is also because of this, that old man Yao doesn't swear anymore, I heard that he has a bad temper...

Seeing that Mrs. Liu got such a good marriage, Zheng's heart was inevitably a little moved. When she took over her eldest daughter, if she could find a good family in Xipo Village, then thank God.

She knows that her daughters are not the best looking, the youngest one has a smile on her face, the older one, at a very young age, already has a sad look on her face, and she is a reserved one. , and was born in a family like theirs, it is very rare to find a good family.

There is no way, this is life...

When they really couldn't live on, the older one was afraid that he would sell her. In the end, Mrs. Zheng sold the eldest daughter of the uncle's family. As an aunt, she sold her niece with her own hands. He said that she was sold because she was the eldest in the family, but in fact, he had no selfish intentions.

That was a clever girl, as if she had expected it a long time ago, from the beginning to the end, she never said a word of complaint to her.

Since that girl left, her younger brother has also become taciturn. He used to be such a sweet child, who yelled at his aunt and aunt all day long, and even without Ye Niang, he would still be smiling all day long.

The same goes for my own parents. Since that incident, the whole person has become dull.But it's also helpless, people come here like this, thinking back then, Zheng Shi himself had never been innocent, and now he looks at what he looks like.

Now, there are only four children left in their family. The eldest is the eldest daughter of the Zheng family. She is fourteen years old and is called Erniang. Their siblings have been living with the children of the uncle's family, so the ranking is also the same. , men and women are not separated.

Erniang is Sanlang, the youngest son of the uncle's family, who is ten years old this year. Sanlang is Siniang, Zheng's second daughter, who is a few months younger than Sanlang and is also ten years old. The last is Goro, the youngest son of Zheng's family, who is eight years old this year.

In order to feed these children, Mrs. Zheng also risked her life to go out to work. In recent years, many merchants from other places have come to Lishi County. To solve a big problem, some poor women in the city earn money by helping people wash clothes.

On the banks of the Sanchuan River, you can see many women doing laundry every day. Since the spring of this year, Mrs. Zheng has been doing that job for half a year, but she has earned some money. It is very hard work, and she is immersed in the cold water every day. , the body is still a little unbearable.

Matchmaker Yu is very enthusiastic and helped her find such a good job. Raising pigs is a physical job, but it is much better than doing laundry for others and earns more. If you can keep doing it, your life will be very stable of.

The owner's family is even better. Although there are no adults in their family, the brothers and sisters can live a decent life and treat their mother and daughter very generously, unlike some families in the city who always confront each other. Hired workers yelling and drinking, which has never happened in the Luo family.

And that Peng Er, really a lucky one, even though he bought it, he can eat and live with the Luo family brothers and sisters, just like a Luo family.

Zheng thought of her niece and wondered if she, like Peng Er, could be sold to a good family and treated kindly by her master.

He also thought that if he continued to work in the Luo family for a long time, at least he would have some affection. If he could find her niece in the future, could he ask Luo Sanlang to come forward to help her to save her? People bought it back, and I heard that this is how Mrs. Wang's eldest son bought it.

I just hope that the child must be alive, nothing else matters, as long as he is alive...