little son-in-law

When there is no snow in Yunzhou in winter, the weather is relatively mild, but when it rains and snows, it is cold and clammy, and the moisture penetrates into the bones of the people. No matter how many thick cotton robes you wear, at least For Mo Nanjin, this is the case. Old injuries recur frequently. He tosses and turns all night and cannot sleep. Sleeping together, he didn't dare to put more charcoal pots in the room, for fear of hurting the child, so every time this time came, he could only have fun in bitterness, carry two books, and roast chestnuts by the charcoal pot, at least to pass some time.

But this time it was okay. Although it was uncomfortable as usual, it was not very serious. In the middle of the night, I slowly fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning, the chestnuts in the charcoal basin had turned into ashes. If it works, it was specially prepared by Imperial Physician Xu according to his body when he was in the capital, and it warms the heart.Needless to say, the most important thing is that the piece of blood jade in his bosom is warm and warm, and when placed against his chest, the tiny heat flow from his chest to his limbs will relieve a lot of pain in his body.

Since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, the Mo family has started to prepare new year's products one after another, such as bacon, cured fish, sausage, cured chicken, sauced duck, etc., as well as the indispensable rice cakes for every family. The Mo family makes them every year. Two kinds, glutinous rice and yellow rice.Gold and silver colors, festive and auspicious, these are all vegetarian, and some will be steamed with peanuts or glutinous rice and red dates at the end of the year.

Today Yuyang and Mingyue are going to make fried goods, fried tofu balls, lotus root balls, meatballs, spring rolls, eggplant boxes and fish. The meat stuffing is marinated with pepper water and a little soy sauce in advance. It tastes fresh and doesn’t taste too bad If it is greasy, add eggs, minced green onion, ginger, and salt, mix thoroughly, and minced other fillings, put it in your hand and squeeze it, and a ball will come out.

The meatballs just out of the pan are the best, but they are so hot, Mo Nanjin picked up a plate and left them for a while before daring to serve them to the children.It is estimated that there are a lot of small traders going to the fish pond to stock up today, so I will go there early tomorrow morning to take care of them.The remaining four, Mo Nanjin, ate some meatballs and were ready to go out to the market.

The snow on the street is not very thick because everyone has just cleaned it in the morning, and you can still see the color of bluestone slabs. There are many people in the market, shoulder to shoulder, and they are washed away before walking ten feet away. Yes, Nangong Qiuhu and Rongxi together, and the rest of Mo Nanjin and Xiao Mo together, have long thought that this will happen, the division of labor has long been determined, Rongxi and the others volunteered to buy fireworks and red lanterns .

The things Mo Nanjin wants to buy this time are very fragmented. Xiao Mo specially carried a bamboo basket on his back. The hot melon seeds, peanuts and walnuts on the roasted goods stall are just out of the pot. These things are cheap. Pine nuts and almonds and the like will not work.Except for peanuts, Mo Nanjin ordered a little of everything. Peanuts are available at home. On the twentieth episode of the twelfth lunar month, Yuyang had already been fried. Roasted goods stalls, fruit stalls, and candy stalls were all lined up, very far apart. Recently, the fruits are common, and there is nothing rare. Mo Nanjin bought some oranges and apples, maltose, sesame jelly, popcorn candy and some preserved fruits at the candy stand. The stall owner also had some homemade For the brewed honey, Mo Nanjin ordered a jar of jujube flower, which tasted very sweet.

After buying the honey and paying the money, just as he turned around, he saw a fat lady squeezing in next to her, holding a huge basket full of vegetables and meat in her hand. Seeing the battle, Xiao Mo hurriedly took Mo Nan away. Jinhu was next to him, joking, with this weight, if you bump into the young master, even if the young master can bear it, the child in his stomach can't bear it either.

Xiao Mo was so frightened all morning, always like an old hen, Mo Nanjin couldn't bear to see it, this place is just above the head of the market, and further inside, there are jugglers, food stalls, fabrics The stalls, etc., are of various types, and the more you go in, the more crowded they are. At the end is the place selling chicken, duck, fish and vegetables, which is the most crowded place, because I missed the New Year’s Fair, and I have to wait until the tenth day of the first month. There are people going to the market to sell things in Wucai, and there are many customers on the New Year's Day, vegetables and meat, so don't prepare too much. When the guests come, they are going to make a joke. According to the experience of previous years, it is easy to squeeze in there, and if you want to come out It's difficult, it's a waste to wear any good clothes there, and you won't be able to see the original clothes when you come out.Originally, I planned to go there to buy some vegetables today, but looking at it like this, let's forget it.

Mo Nanjin knew what Xiao Mo was worried about, and didn't want to cause him any more trouble, so she said, "Okay, I'll invite the God of Wealth and the Door God later, buy red paper, and I'll go home and write Spring Festival couplets. If you come to buy it, you can’t finish it, so I’ll ask Ming Ting to accompany you after lunch.” It’s said to invite the God of Wealth and the Door God to buy New Year pictures, and everything else is easy to say, only the picture of the God of Wealth and the Door God are in it. For the sake of respect, you must say please Go home, of course, add more money, it would be even better if you can invite a God of Wealth to go home as an offering, but the latter depends on fate. He is not in the mood for making special offerings or something like this.

The pictures of the God of Wealth and the Door God are indispensable. In addition, Mo Nanjin chose two new year pictures, one is a pair of fat dolls in red bellybands holding a carp, and the other is a group of boys flying kites in spring. Not to mention the painter, it's just the gorgeous color that makes people feel a tacky joy when looking at it.

Couplets and window grilles are together. Mo Nanjin only needs red paper. Many stalls don’t do this kind of business because they don’t make much money. Mo Nanjin found a familiar one. The stall owner happened to look up, saw him, and greeted him with a smile, "Brother Mo, are you buying red paper again this year?" Although the words were questions, the tone was very affirmative, so before Mo Nanjin could answer, he Then he continued: "Brother Mo, this year's winter jasmine that I purchased is of the highest quality, it won't fade even when it rains, I'll show you."

Mo Nanjin smiled and said: "Yingchunhong? That's naturally good." In fact, he knew that this Yingchunhong could barely be regarded as average, but it was not bad compared with the golden red used by ordinary people, at least it faded very evenly , not like a bit of golden red, which was washed by the rain, and the traces, even the words, were muddy.

After reading it for Mo Nanjin, the stall owner asked cautiously: "Brother Mo, I'll cut the paper for you here, why don't you write two Spring Festival couplets for me? Brother Mo's handwriting is good, I'll keep it and stick it on my door. Face." The Spring Festival couplets on their stalls are all paid to ask the private school teacher in the town to help write them. Those who do this kind of business know a little bit of Chinese characters and read them to the customers, but he doesn't know if the Chinese characters are good or not. One year, I got acquainted with Mo Nanjin. Seeing that his family wrote Spring Festival couplets by themselves, I cheekily begged Mo Nanjin to write two for him. Unexpectedly, someone was very fond of it, and even praised him for something he couldn't understand. The final bid was quite good. With this opportunity, he moved his mind. Every time Mo Nanjin wrote Spring Festival couplets, he asked his brother to bring them to him. Sell ​​it in the county town, where there are many literate people, and it really makes more money than a stall.

Mo Nanjin knew there was something strange about it, so she didn't point it out, she agreed, and asked, "What do you want to write this time?"

The stall owner looked excited, and quickly said: "Anything can be said, Brother Mo will do it."

Mo Nanjin thought for a while, picked up some happy and auspicious words and wrote two pictures. Before leaving, the stall owner was very happy and gave him another six or seven large window grilles.

I passed by the tofu workshop on my way home. I saw that there were quite a lot of people inside, so I went in and ordered a plate of tofu, as well as some fried tofu and tofu skin. I agreed to pick it up in the evening.

The wind felt a little weaker, but the snow was falling one after another, and it was getting bigger and bigger. When people walk in this snow, and occasionally turn around, they can't see their own footprints at a little farther away, and they are soon covered by the heavy snow. Mo sent Mo Nanjin home, put down his things, warmed himself up by the fire, turned around and went out again with the money bag, the first day had the best things, there was room for selection, no one wanted to miss it, Yuyang and the others were still busy in the kitchen , Mo Nanjin took the children to the main room, cleaned up the table, and prepared to write Spring Festival couplets. The little guys all put on big woolen clothes today, and they were all fat and fat, as cute as fluffy balls. Looking outside Xue was staring at Xue, her buttocks were like needles, and she couldn't sit still for a moment. Mo Nanjin brought some sweet potatoes and taro to simmer for them, and it was only after a while that they calmed down.

Mo Nanjin's Spring Festival couplets hadn't finished yet, Ye Qing came over, it turned out that the last big fat pig kept by his family was going to be slaughtered today, come to ask Mo's family what to do, the family always needs to buy meat, Mo Nanjin thought He said, it's better to go out and buy it than to buy it nearby, and it's fresh when it's slaughtered, so I agreed to go and have a look together.

The Sun family's pig is really not small, it weighs five or six hundred catties. Apart from Mo Nanjin, several of Ye Qing's uncles are also there, so if you calculate it like this, one hundred catties for each family is enough. It's a rare New Year Everyone just opened their bellies to eat once, and no one was too stingy. Because of Ye Qing's relationship, they asked Mo Nanjin to help write Spring Festival couplets every year, and they were extra modest when dividing the meat. He got a very good back elbow, a small half rib, and Ye Qing secretly made a large piece of pig intestine.

Lunch was egg dumpling and green vegetable soup. Rongxi and Nangong Qiuhu came back with a lot of fireworks and red lanterns in their arms. They specially bought two string whips for the children. They were thin and lit and didn’t make any noise. It emits small cold fireworks, which can't hurt anyone, and it's specially for children to play with. Needless to say, Jingzhi and Xingzhi, even Yunzhi dares to hold it in his hand and play with it.

The snow stopped for a while at noon, and the children on the street were laughing and clamoring. When the three little guys heard it, they couldn't sit still anymore. They couldn't wait to go outside the gate with a small whip to find someone to play with. Ming Ting came back By then, it was already mid-afternoon, and the snow was falling heavily again. He met Xiao Mo on the road and helped carry a lot of vegetables. The two of them put the things in the vegetable cellar for storage.

At that time, Mo Nanjin was brewing rice wine with Nangong Qiuhu in the kitchen. The temperature inside is high, and the rice wine can be fermented for three or four days. , boiled in hot water, marinated with rice wine to prepare braised pork, everyone in the family loves it, and it can be kept for a long time.

According to Ming Ting, just today, there were more than 700 catties of live fish and more than 500 catties of lotus root in the fish pond. It is estimated that there will be more tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow should be lighter.

On the morning of the 26th, the snow was a little lighter, and Mo Nanjin continued in the main room the Spring Festival couplets that he hadn’t finished writing yesterday. In addition to his own, some of them were written for the help of familiar neighbors. It's not a waste of time to look up and see down. Mo Nanjin agreed to them all. Of course, when they came to pick them up, they didn't empty their hands. They brought some fruits and homemade food, which were worthless. Yes, that's what it means.

"Your willow-style regular script is a bit like your father." Thin but not weak, with a strong character.

Mo Nanjin blotted the ink on rice paper and put it aside to dry. Hearing this, he said with a smile: "The enlightenment master is the father." taught.

Nangong Qiuhu saw that he kept moving his wrists, so he took the initiative to say: "I haven't written Spring Festival couplets for many years, let me write the following ones." In the past Chinese New Year, in order to reward the ministers, he wrote two couplets by himself as a reward, But such a homely thing, I really haven't written it.

Mo Nanjin was naturally happy, so he gave up his seat and stood aside to study ink. Nangong Qiuhu's calligraphy was not like his. His appearance was cold and elegant, but his fonts were wide open and unrestrained. Mo Nanjin thought, maybe only those who have really held that position have the kind of bearing that the whole world is in their chest.In any case, having such two fathers is something to be proud of.

But when he saw the sentence written by his father, he couldn't laugh anymore, "Father, they don't understand what you said." Many people are illiterate, so they won't understand the explanation of such polite words.

Nangong Qiuhu stopped writing, looked at the words under his hand, he was speechless, it seemed like this.

"Forget it, Dad, don't be sad, I don't dislike it, let's post this Spring Festival couplet by ourselves." Mo Nanjin hugged him on the shoulder and comforted him not very sincerely.

Nangong Qiuhu glared at him with a smile. He found that Xiao Jin was getting more and more open in front of him, which meant that he was really slowly accepting him. This is a good thing, and he can regain the father-son relationship. He can't hope anymore.

Today is Xiao Mo and Rong Xi going to the market. With Xiao Mo here, Mo Nanjin is not afraid that his father will be tricked. Last time the two fathers went to buy fireworks, and when they came back to ask the price, it was three times the price of others. , although the folk customs here are still pure and kind, but it’s nothing to make money if you don’t make money. If you ask for a false price, you won’t bargain, so you really can’t blame others.Today I bought pig's trotters, fat chicken, and rare fresh shrimp, shellfish and sea fish. I bought everything I needed to buy, and I didn't lack anything.

The wind and snow stopped on the night of 26. On the 27th, the sky finally cleared up. The sky was blue and clear. There were countless icicles of uneven thickness hanging down from the eaves. When the sun came out, it slowly melted, like it was raining. , On this day, Mo Nanjin went to the fish pond and paid wages to the hired workers. In addition, each person was given two more fish and five catties of lotus root. Give them an extra month, which is considered a red envelope. I handed over the two Spring Festival couplets I wrote to them. The fish and lotus root are almost sold out. Occasionally, one or two small vendors will come. Da Zhuang can handle it by himself. It was shipped away in two days. I am 27 years old, and it is time to rest. I have been busy for a year.

In the afternoon, I prepared a gift and sent it to the Yun family. I heard that the old lady of the Yun family has not been in good health since the third lady got married. Mo Nanjin and Yu Yang made a special trip to visit the inner courtyard. Several braziers were lit in the old lady's room. The doors and windows were closed, and it was so hot that it was almost impossible to breathe.Yun Luochuan, the third young master of the Yun family, was with him in the inner room. He was studying in a school in the capital. Take the official career path.

Mo Nanjin and Yuyang went in and chatted with them. The old lady looked fine, but her spirit was much worse than when they met last time. She often said the next sentence and then forgot the last sentence. Otherwise, he repeated one sentence many times, pulled Mo Nanjin by the sleeve, and asked him several times if he had seen Yun Ziyi in the capital.

"Old lady, didn't the third sister just ask someone to bring a message back, saying that the capital is fine, but that is at the foot of the emperor, and any scenery is more beautiful than our country." Yun Luochuan smiled apologetically at Mo Nanjin, Explained a sentence: "The third sister followed the old lady since she was a child, and the old lady liked it the most. After the third sister got married, the old lady felt uneasy. She missed the third sister day and night, and this is the root cause of this disease. However, Brother Mo You and my sister-in-law don't have to worry too much, the doctor said, when the weather is warmer next spring, the condition will get better."

Compared with Yun Sichuan's shrewdness and Yun Qingchuan's aloofness, Yun Luochuan has more of a literati's bookish air, but at a young age, he speaks so quietly, he is a good seed for an official, Mo Nanjin thought to himself , but still nodded on the face and said a word of comfort.

He didn't have any serious grievances with the Yun family, and now seeing their always nice old lady as ill, he felt uncomfortable, and on the way out, Yuyang also sighed for a while.

Back home, Rongxi and Nangong Qiuhu obviously had something to do with him and called him into the room.

"Jingshen sent some things from the capital, and they should arrive tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." Before Mo Nanjin could ask, Nangong Qiuhu said.

Mo Nanjin smiled and said: "What do I think, give it away as soon as you give it away, we just use it." It's not someone else's.

"There is one more person who came with me." It was Rong Xi who said this.

"Who?" Mo Nanjin had a bad feeling.

"Prince Ren, Nangong Ningge."

"Why is it him? Didn't we promise to meet Yuyang in the next year?"