Xiao Qiao enters the farm gate

After all, it was New Year's Eve, and there was a table full of meat and vegetables. Yingzi's cooking skills were good, and she looked quite appetizing.

Seven people sat around a table.Yingzi shrank his head and didn't dare to move his chopsticks, but Lin Fu was the first to eat only meat. Lin Gui greeted him warmly and warmly, Aunt Lin sat with his back bent and frowning sullenly, while Madam Lin pulled her face , his eyes were only on Qiao Mo's hand stretched out to cut the meat, wishing he could chop it up with a knife.

Qiao Mo doesn't care about anything else, since he's here, let's eat.

"Ah Zheng, try it." Lin Zheng always let him have dinner at home, but tonight, Qiao Mo picked meat clips for Lin Zheng to eat.

Seeing that Ah Mo was so attentive, Lin Zheng's heart melted away, and he didn't even bother to think about the meaning behind his actions.Knowing that Ah Mo doesn't like to eat greasy big meat, he didn't refuse, and ate as much as he got, almost fighting for meat with Lin Fu.

Grandma Lin watched the big pieces of meat disappear into Lin Zheng's mouth, and her heart ached to death. He made these for Agui and Afu.He wanted to stop it, but seeing Lin Gui's expression, he finally held back.

Lin Gui was about to say something to ease the atmosphere, but Lin Fu spoke first.

"Sister-in-law, no matter how much you take care of elder brother, you don't care about me. I also like meat." Lin Fu had already eaten his mouth full of greasy food. He still held the chicken leg in one hand and handed over the bowl with the other, smiling all over his face, no matter how small his eyes were, Can't hide the covet inside.

Qiao Mo's chest rolled with nausea, and he almost vomited.

Lin Zheng clenched his fists, wanting to turn his face.

Aunt Lin's face also changed, but it was Lin Gui who reacted the fastest, and scolded in a cold voice: "Ah Fu, sister-in-law is a guest, so how can I trouble sister-in-law to help you add food. You can tell me what you like, If you can’t reach it, ask the second sister-in-law for help.” As he spoke, he pushed Yingzi who was almost invisible: “Don’t be stupid, I don’t know how to greet my sister-in-law when she comes.”

Because of Lin Gui's words, the anger was dissipated, but the atmosphere was not as good as before.

After finishing dinner hastily, Lin Zheng took Qiao Mo to leave.

"Brother, it's rare for us brothers to get together, let's sit down again. I brought some good tea from the county, and brought it to my elder brother and sister-in-law to taste." Lin Gui enthusiastically persuaded him to stay, and if he couldn't refuse, he went to get the tea.

As the saying goes, you don't hit people with smiling faces when you stretch out your hands. If Lin Gui behaved like this, it would be difficult for the two of them to leave.

Qiao Mo looked at Father Lin sitting at the door, half of his body was hidden in the shadows, his back was even more bent, and he didn't lift his head, just smoking a dry cigarette dully.Except for Lin Fu, who was full of food, and Yingzi, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, only Madam Lin was left.The only voice in the room was Old Mama Lin's voice.

"...Ah Gui is not easy. The purpose of studying hard is not to gain fame and honor the ancestors. If he becomes an official, wouldn't your faces be glorious as brothers and sisters-in-law? If something happens, you can do it It’s not about being rich. It’s just that Ah Gui is in the county town, not only does he need money for his studies, but he also needs to spend money to entertain friends. Money. Once this year is over, Agui will go to the city again, but the family really can’t afford the money. You are big brothers and sisters-in-law, and you are living well. If you lend some money to Agui to study, your benefits will be indispensable in the future .”

It turned out that it was to borrow money, but this old lady Lin really couldn't speak, so she borrowed money as if she was giving them alms.

No wonder Lin Gui wanted to go to get the tea. If he was there, he would never borrow money from them in person because of the noble spirit of the educated people who do not talk about money.Just thinking of this New Year's Eve dinner, which was specially eaten to borrow money, felt like a fly was stuffed in my heart, and it was extremely disgusting.

Lin Zheng's expression was ugly, with anger and disappointment.

If it was a brother in an ordinary family, he would definitely reach out if there was such a thing, but this family has been separated long ago, not in name, but from the heart to the outside, it has really become two families.An old lady Lin is calculating all day long, a younger brother Lin Fu covets his wife, and a father who doesn't do anything, who can pay them without complaint?

Lin Zheng kept teasing and not saying anything, he was already very magnanimous and good-tempered, but unexpectedly it made them push forward.

Qiao Mo knew that it was difficult for Lin to talk about taking care of Aunt Lin, so he said, "It turns out that the elder brother is short of money. We really don't know. Speaking of which, the elder brother is a scholar from our family, so we should support it. Me and Although his eldest brother has no savings, he should show something."

Lin Zheng looked over in surprise, while Madam Lin was full of surprise.

"I don't know how much the big brother wants?"

"... Not much, 20 taels!" Seeing that he was so forthright, Mrs. Lin guessed that he was rich, so she changed the amount.As for why the other party was willing to borrow money, Madam Lin felt that she must know that her family, Agui, was promising in studying and would become a scholar in the future.

20 taels, how dare you open your mouth, how can rural people open their mouths to borrow such a large amount of money.It must have been jealous watching them buy land a while ago.

Qiao Mo snorted coldly in his heart, but sighed on his face, very distressed: "20 taels... If you want one or two taels, you can still get it, 20 taels is too much, and you don't have a lot of money right now." Not waiting for old mother Lin Questioning whether they had the money to buy land, he went on to say: "Don't tell me, Ah Zheng and I have started a small business, and the money has been spent on it, and we have to wait until the new year to deliver the goods before paying the bill. How about this?" , where the eldest brother lives in the county and where he studies, he told us that when he has the money, Ah Zheng will personally send it to him. It won’t be too long.”

Madam Lin hadn't made a statement yet, but Lin Gui came in with a paper bag in his hand: "Brother, this is the best green tea, a gift from a classmate. Brother, you have to try it." Then he called Yingzi to brew it Tea.

Qiao Mo's ears are extraordinary, he had heard movement outside the door earlier, and knew that it was Lin Gui who was eavesdropping at the bottom of the wall.

Appearing here at the right time, cutting off Lao Mama Lin's conversation, apparently because she didn't want Mama Lin to tell Lin Gui's address in the county seat, there are only two possibilities, one is afraid that they will leak the word when they go, and let people know that he is being helped by his elder brother to study. Losing face, the second is what he did in the county, afraid of being known.

Qiao Mo deliberately asked him: "Big brother has been studying in the county for two years. There are several academies in the city. Where does the big brother study? Where does he live? If your elder brother goes to the county, you can go there." look at you."

"Sister-in-law, you're welcome. The house I rented with my classmate is a bit out of the way. My classmate likes to be quiet and afraid of being disturbed. I'm afraid I won't be able to entertain my elder brother. My elder brother is usually busy, so don't waste time for me, lest my younger brother feel guilty." Lin Gui It's clear that he is talking about other things, but the words are beautiful.

Lin Laomo was secretly worried, she agreed to borrow money, and she nodded in agreement, why did her family stop?

"Gui..."

"Grandma, you and daddy are also tired all day, let's go to rest earlier." Lin Gui took the opportunity to help Mrs. Lin, secretly exerting force on his hand as a hint.

Madam Lin resisted being full of doubts and had no choice but to stop talking.

Qiao Mo didn't bother to drink any more good tea, so he glanced at Lin Zheng and got up to leave.This time Lin Gui was polite and didn't hold back too much.

After he got out of the gate, with Qiao Mo's hearing ability, he could still hear Madam Lin asking Lin Gui why he didn't mention borrowing money, her tone was very angry.Although it was because Lin Zheng and his wife had money in their hands and wanted to scrape some money, it was also because Lin Gui spent too much and it was difficult to pay.

I don't know how Lin Gui explained it, his voice was too low, and Qiao Mo and Qiao Mo gradually walked away, so there is no way to know.

When we got home, seeing that Lin Zheng was in a bad mood, he said with relief, "Don't think too much about it, the family has been separated long ago, so how can the elder brother take care of the younger brother's studies? It's our benevolence and righteousness, no matter what others can say no to." Come on."

"I'm not doing it for this." It's not that Lin Zheng was reluctant to part with the money.

"I know." How could Qiao Mo not understand: "It's still the same sentence, the family is separated, and we live our own lives. It's their business to make up their minds, but it's up to us to ignore them."

"I'm just..." Lin Zheng frowned deeply, and finally said: "I just feel sorry for Dad. Dad is getting old, but he is still working on thirty acres of land from morning to night. Lin Fu is only good at eating, drinking and having fun. Yes, Lin Gui not only doesn't help, but also studies in the county. I don't know how much money I spent studying for him."

Qiao Mo could understand Lin Zheng's mood, even if he had a grudge against Father Lin, it was the father and son after all.

"Speaking of which, they have a lot of land. Even if they throw away food for a year, they can save 20 taels. It costs a lot to study, but it should be affordable for Lin Gui."

Lin Zheng snorted coldly: "It's not because he saw us living well, but he deliberately asked for money."

"No." Qiao Mo shook his head: "He wants money, but it's true that Lin Gui spends a lot of money. I have better ears than ordinary people. I heard them talking when I came out. It's true that the family is running out of money."

Lin Zheng was surprised by his extraordinary hearing for a moment, and then threw it away. Anyway, Qiao Mo had more than one or two abnormalities.

"Don't worry about them, go to bed and get up early tomorrow." Lin Zheng thought for a while to no avail, and didn't bother to think about it.He doesn't want to mess with that family anymore.

When he woke up the next day, Lin Zheng was still lying beside him, carefully rubbing his waist.

"It's okay." Qiao Mo felt a little embarrassed, but thinking that he was an old man, he dropped his pretentiousness and got up to get dressed.Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and there are many things to do. If you get up late, you will be laughed at.

Lin Zheng stood up accordingly.

After getting dressed, Qiao Mo was ready to comb his hair.At the beginning, he was not very good at combing long hair, but Lin Zheng taught him by hand, and now he is proficient.For the convenience of work, they all put their hair in a bun and tied it with a hair tie.This time I just sat at the table in front of the window, and I was taken aback when I found the extra thing.

I saw a bronze mirror placed on the table at some point, the mirror surface was very smooth, reflecting my slightly surprised appearance.Qiao Mo saw Lin Zheng standing behind him through the mirror, and immediately understood.I also saw a wooden hairpin in front of the mirror. I picked it up and looked at it carefully. It didn't look like any good wood. It was carved with simple flowing clouds. The carving was not fine, but it was polished very smooth.

"This is..." Qiao Mo had a guess in his mind.

"I'll make you a better one next time." Lin Zheng said as he tied his hair up with his own hands, and it would be appropriate to put a wooden hairpin on his head.

"It's beautiful." Qiao Mo praised him while blaming himself for his carelessness.It was time to prepare presents for the new year, but Lin Zheng, an ancient man, had thought of it, but he had neglected it.