Xiao Qiao enters the farm gate

The fat aunt was very happy to learn of their intentions, and decided to charge less money.

In ancient times, there were many taboos and particularities. The fat aunt was a widow, and generally could not attend the wedding banquet. It was unlucky and the host did not like it.But yesterday they got married, but the fat aunt went.

Originally, the fat aunt was thinking about the same clan, and planned to come back after paying the gift money, instead of going to the banquet, but Grandma Chun from the same village dragged him in, but Qiao Mo saw him again and welcomed him into the banquet.Maybe Qiao Mo didn't know about those taboo customs, but Lin Zheng knew and knew that Aunt Fat was a widow, but he didn't say anything.

Aunt Fat suddenly felt very grateful in her heart, so she stayed to help after the banquet.

Lin Zheng guessed the reason why Fat Auntie was so enthusiastic, but Qiao Mo didn't know.He didn't say anything about the discount offered by the fat aunt, thinking that when he came to pick up the clothes, he would pay the original price, which was a lot of money.

"Auntie Fat, these are the shoes that have been measured. Ah Zheng and I have a pair for each of us. They are made for spring wear. Clothes made of these three materials are for spring wear. The blue ones are made for Ah Zheng, and the emerald green ones are for A Zheng. The one is mine, and this blue one is for me to make a jacket, so let’s do it first. I know that Fat Auntie is good at craftsmanship, the jacket should not be too bulky, and the cotton does not need to be too thick. Does Fat Auntie think there is enough cotton?"

Qiao Mo made a special trip to ask Lin Zheng to bring the cotton bought in the county earlier, and pack it separately. This small part weighs about three catties.He had figured it out himself, with a cotton jacket and trousers, he would rather be richer than run out of time.

The fat aunt looked at the quality and weight of the cotton, and said with a smile: "How can I get so much cotton? Three catties of cotton are enough to make several pieces. Cotton clothes can be half a catty at most, and cotton trousers can be counted as half a catty. One catty is enough." gone."

"Oh." Qiao Mo didn't know this, laughed dryly, took about two catties of cotton, put it into another bag, and picked it up to make a quilt after a while. "Then trouble the fat aunt."

The fat aunt smiled and said, "Don't worry, you will pick up the jacket at twelve, don't rush to wear the rest, I will make them for you before the year."

After coming out of Aunt Fat's house, the two stopped by old man Zhang's house.

Old man Zhang also has a foreign surname, and he has a good handcraft of plucking cotton to make quilts, and the nearby villages love to look for him.Old man Zhang made the cotton quilt when we got married, and only gave a deposit. Come here today to settle the bill.

The quilt was made very thick, wide and long, because it was too cold in winter, and if it was thin, it would not be able to withstand the cold at all, and Lin Zheng was so big, two people sleeping together couldn't be covered by a big quilt.According to Qiao Mo's visual inspection, it was a 1.8-meter quilt.

Old man Zhang pays five cents per catty for playing cotton, and their quilts weigh ten catties, and the labor costs alone cost fifty cents.At the beginning, because of the rush of time, the cotton was taken directly from the old man Zhang, and the price of the cotton was 550 Wen, and the total was [-] Wen.

I paid a deposit of [-] Wen before, and I will pay another [-] Wen.

Qiao Mo left another bale of cotton and weighed it. The weight difference of two cents was nine catties.Qiao Mo then said to make a thin quilt weighing three catties and eight feet long to be covered in hot summer, and another quilt weighing five catties to be covered in spring and autumn.

When he got home, Qiao Mo took out the wooden box that contained the gift money yesterday and began to settle the accounts.

Country people have a lot of fun eating banquets, most of the visitors are from the same village or neighbors, and relatives and friends also give gifts according to their distance.Qiao Mo only knew that there were a lot of people who came yesterday, and the exact number is probably not even known to Lin Zheng and Li Amao. After all, there are five tables of running water seats, and the gift money is not based on the head, but on the basis of the household.

The wooden box is full of copper coins, most of which are new copper coins, which can be regarded as intentional.

Lin Zheng handed over the hemp ropes, and Qiao Mo stringed them together while counting, and he wore a hundred of them in one string.At the end of the count, there were three strings of money on hand, and another fifty were not stringed, so a banquet was held, and a total of 350 cash was collected as a gift.

Thinking about the expenses spent for this wedding, and looking at the things in front of him, Qiao Mo was indeed a little disappointed.

Lin Zheng noticed it, and explained: "People in the village are like this when they give gifts. If it wasn't for the fact that it's not good-looking to come to the door empty-handed, the running water mat shouldn't accept gift money in the first place. My father's family is small, and the same great-grandfather's family is only five now. family, plus the patriarch and a few virtuous elders, there are no more than ten families in Grandma Li's family, and there will be gifts ranging from twenty to thirty. , just one or two words is a meaning."

After Lin Zheng said this, Qiao Mo was immediately surprised. Could it be that he came to almost half of the village yesterday?

In a blink of an eye, it was time to go to the county seat.

Lin Zheng got up before dawn, and Qiao Mo also woke up whenever there was movement around him, looking at the dark sky and the howling north wind outside the window, he really didn't want to leave the warm bed.

Lin Zheng fetched hot water and brought it in. Seeing him leaning against the head of the bed and falling asleep, he hesitated whether to wake him up.

"Ah Zheng?" Pian Qiaomo's ears were sharp, and when he heard the door open, he opened his eyes, cheered, rubbed his eyes, and struggled to get dressed.

"Or you can sleep a little longer, and it's the same if you go later."

Lin Zheng felt sorry for him, and Qiao Mo didn't know it, but he shook his head: "It's better to go early, otherwise it's not easy to sell a load of firewood. If you have more time, I'll go around a few more places, and come back sooner after I'm done. "

These words are half true and half false. Qiao Mo doesn't care about the time of day when he has to do things, but selling firewood is different.Although firewood is in short supply in the cold weather, if you go late, you may not be able to find a good buyer. It is not easy to walk on the crowded street with a truck full of firewood.

Lin Zheng knew that he always had ideas, so he stopped trying to persuade him. He hurriedly went to the kitchen to heat up two steamed buns, and poured him a bowl of hot water.Although it is simple, it can fill the stomach and warm the body, otherwise it would be unbearable to go all the way to the county.

Qiao Mo didn't pay too much attention. He just put the steamed buns in boiling water, and finished eating them in a while, with a layer of sweat on his head.

"Let's go."

Lin Zheng had already harnessed the car, and Qiao Mo was wrapped in an azurite cloak and sat firmly on the front of the car full of firewood, waiting for Lin Zheng to sit up with a whip, and then leaned over.

There was still silence in the village, only the sound of wheels being pressed against the ground.

"We have to get a car in the future, and it's not good to borrow someone else's." Besides, borrowing a car is not free, and you have to pay the "car rental fee".

"En. Don't talk, be careful to drink the cold wind." Lin Zheng deliberately sat forward, which could help him to protect him from the wind.

For Lin Zheng's thoughtfulness and caring, Qiao Mo's heart warmed, and he got closer to him.

Along the way, Qiao Mo almost fell asleep. When he arrived at the county town, it was already dawn, and there were already many people coming to the market.When I saw Lin Zheng handing over sixteen copper coins to the soldiers at the city gate, I couldn't help being a little puzzled, because I didn't pay the money when I came back.

Seeing his question, Lin Zheng didn't think much about it. He just pretended that he didn't understand these things, and explained: "Normally, there is no charge, but today's big fair requires a city fee. One person is three renminbi, and the two of us are six renminbi, and the other ten renminbi It's the firewood tax."

Qiao Mo analyzed it in his heart and understood it as the cost of urban sanitation and maintaining law and order.After all, there are many people in Daji, and it is easy to cause trouble. The county magistrate can't let it go. If he manages it, he has to use people and money, but he can't pay for it from the people.

As for the firewood tax of ten cents, he really has no idea.

"Ah Zheng, how much can this car of firewood sell for?"

"Nowadays, a bundle of firewood costs three Wen, and this car has fifty bundles, worth 150 Wen." Lin Zheng already knew what he meant, so he said, "The firewood tax is only an approximate amount, unlike other salts. For expensive things like wine, tea, etc., like others who come to sell eggs with baskets on their shoulders, it depends on how much the eggs are, and the charge varies from a few yuan to a dozen."

Qiao Mo looked around, and sure enough, many came to sell the dry goods made by farmers with baskets or carts, and most of them went to the city for a few copper coins.

Lin Zheng said while driving the car: "They have to find a special place to set up a stall when they enter the city, and they have to pay the stall fee when the time comes."

"Where are we going then?"

"Go to Qingsong Tea House. I used to deliver firewood a few times a month. The business of the teahouse is very good and it needs a lot of firewood."

Qingsong Tea House is one of the best and most popular tea houses in the county. Not only are there often storytellers and opera singers stationed there, but the tea houses also offer good teas and fruit snacks.Now it's the cold winter, most of them are idlers, and it's not interesting to stay at home, so I like to invite you to this teahouse for entertainment.

The business of the teahouse is good, so there will be more firewood needed, and Lin Zheng also estimated this point.