Seed dealers in ancient times

Zheng Jiang stopped and went back to the yard, only then remembered that he was going to buy some flour and came back. There was nothing to eat at home.

The master's family wanted to provide a meal for the servants who went to work every day, and Zou Yun didn't come back at noon, so he was the only one eating lunch.

Left and right are for him to eat by himself, but he is not in a hurry to cook. He thought about killing and removing the feathers of the chicken first, and he only ate fish at home yesterday. The chicken has been cleaned and smoked on the stove, so it can be kept for a long time.

As he spoke, he put the old hen in the yard and went into the house to get a kitchen knife.

As soon as he took out the knife, Zheng Jiangting heard the crowing of a rooster. The old hen, who seemed to have died before, came back to life, running and jumping in the yard, writhing and rotten from the rain A firewood pile for long worms.

Zheng Jiang stopped to take back the kitchen knife, and snorted: "You are quite good at playing dead, I am afraid that you are colluding with the peddler to extort money. Let me keep you for a while, it is best to lay eggs, otherwise the pot can be cooked for you at any time." Hot water."

Instead of killing chickens, he went out to buy some grain and rice noodles. He was hungry after a busy morning, so he found a rice and grain shop nearby in the outer street of Qingwu Lane, bought two catties of white noodles, and added Some simple cooking seasonings, which can be finished with one hand, cost more than 40 Wen.

I was thinking of buying some lard back home, but there is no fishy food in the daily food. After a long time, I was really panicked. Besides, I don’t have any oily smell from time to time, and I don’t have the strength. As a result, I asked the price of lard. , so he gave up buying ready-made ones, and planned to go to the butcher market to buy some fatty meat to boil oil himself when it was empty.

There is not much money left from selling grain before. If it is used up in one day, I am afraid that I will have to borrow money to live on in a month. Slowly.

His mind was clear, but when he went out, he saw a pear seller again. He thought that Chu Xian was coughing so badly every day, and he asked him to cook some pears with rock sugar, but he didn't know if he cooked them.

But after thinking about it, brother Xian is not good at cooking, let alone stewed pears with rock sugar. He subconsciously wanted to pay for it, but suddenly his neck got a stalk. This little brother is very bad, and he was worried about his mind before. Qiaoqiao would be suspicious when he was pointed at by others in the street, but unexpectedly, his people were much more popular than him. Not only was he fine, but he even teased him in reverse.

He is the most vengeful, and he hasn't forgotten about it.

"Little brother, buy some pears. The stall will be closed at noon. It will be cheaper for you to take them all away."

Zheng Jiangting turned a deaf ear and strode forward.

"Count you two coins for one, five for nine coins! It turned out to be three coins for one!"

It's so cheap, it's not easy for the old man to go out to do business with a burden: "Wrap it up for me!"

"okay!"

In the end, I bought all the pears, and I had to buy some old rock candy out of my own pocket to go back.

In the afternoon, Zheng Jiangting was kneading the dough while stewing the pears. Rock sugar was put in the pears, and the sweet fragrance came out. His stomach was growling when he was hungry, so he didn’t even bother to knead the noodles. After kneading the white noodles, he simply Slice the dough directly into the water, and cook a bowl of sliced ​​noodles.

Throwing away a handful of green vegetable leaves and pairing it with yesterday's fish soup, Zheng Jiang sat down and ate a large bowl happily. He thought it tasted good, and there was still some fish soup. He kept a ball of noodles awake and waited for Zou Yun to order When the worker came back, he also cooked a bowl for her.

It has been raining for more than half a month, and the sun finally came out today, but the weather is not necessarily warm. It is already October, and the coldness of early winter has been exposed early. This winter, it is likely that we will not be able to escape a few heavy snowfalls. .

Zheng Jiang stopped thinking that he had to prepare some dry firewood for a charcoal fire before the winter. There was not much firewood in the stove, and the firewood stockpiled in the courtyard could only be burned for ten days at most. But it is a daily necessities.

Many things are more convenient for living in the city than in the countryside, but for poor people, there are many more inconvenient places, just like the firewood that needs to be used every day can be found in the village by going up the mountain. What is missing is the things in the stove, but the people in the city have to go to the countryside to collect firewood by themselves, or spend money to buy firewood and bring it into the city.

Firewood is not expensive, and you can buy three or four bundles for ten renminbi, but the family is not rich, so how can you afford to buy firewood so extravagantly.

Zheng Jiangting thought that since he had nothing to do in the afternoon anyway, he might not have much free time when he went to work, so he might as well go to the village to get some firewood while the weather is good today.

As soon as he said it, he changed into crisper clothes, used a hemp rope to keep the hatchet at his waist, and set off with empty hands.

Yangmu Village is the closest village to Jincheng, and it can be reached within half an hour's walk. Before entering the city, I was a villager in Yangmu Village, and I am no stranger to going back to the village to collect firewood every year.Not only that, Yangmu Village was a big purchasing point when Zheng's father shipped goods in the past.

When Zheng Jiang stopped at the village, it was already four quarters. He didn't dare to delay, and went straight to the mountain in his memory to cut firewood.

This year's season is not good, there is a lot of rain, many trees on the mountain are washed to death, firewood is easy to collect, but many villagers can see that this year is going to be very cold, and there are many more people going up the mountain to cut firewood than in previous years.

Zheng Jiangting had just cut a bundle of firewood when villagers came up the mountain. It was originally a single sound of chopping firewood, but it became noisy when there were more people. He glanced at the person from a distance. He was a young man with a knife It's neat, and a large bundle of firewood was piled up in just a quarter of an hour.

The villagers seemed to have sensed the gaze behind them, stopped their work, tore open the bamboo tube and drool, and greeted him: "Brother, you are from the city... Eh? Zheng Jiang Ting? Are you Zheng Jiang Ting?"

Zheng Jiang frowned, he really didn't know who the honest and honest man in front of him was, so he said: "Yes."

The man ran over enthusiastically: "I am Da Chai! Do you remember? When you lived in the village, we often went fishing in the river."

Zheng Jiang stopped raising his eyebrows, carefully searched the memory of the original body, and thought for a while, and it really reminded him.Da Chai and Zheng Jiangting are the same age, originally called Cai Lin, because he is better at chopping firewood than ordinary people, so the big guy called him Da Chai.

When he was a child, Yuan lived in the village, and lived closest to Dachai's family, so the relationship was naturally the best, but later Yuan went to school and studied, and gradually became more angry, so he didn't want to hang out with Dachai, and moved to the city There will be less connection in the future.

The deepest memory is that once Da Chai touched a lot of bird eggs in the mountains, followed his family to the city to go to the market, and ran excitedly to Qingwu Lane to find Yuanshen, but Yuanshen hid in the place because he thought Cai Rin was shabby. The house refused to go out, and the two of them had no contact with each other after that.

After the accident happened to the Zheng family, Yuanshen went back to the village many times and never saw Cai Lin again. He never thought that Zheng Jiangting would meet him again. If Yuanshen really met him, he must have mixed feelings.

He warmly said: "I remember, why don't I remember, your kid has grown taller and stronger, I haven't seen you for several years, I almost didn't recognize him."

Cai Lin was very happy, and kept pushing the bamboo tube into his hand: "Drink water!"

Seeing that Zheng Jiangting took the bamboo tube and drank the water, it seemed that the unhappiness in his childhood had disappeared, Cai Lin smiled honestly, sat down on the woodpile, and talked about the past.

"Since your family moved to the city, my father was forcibly conscripted and sent to the front line in the second year. Not long after, bad news came back. The court gave some money as compensation. My mother cried day and night, and her body was all day I was weaker than one day, and I went the next year. I didn’t know what to do in the village by myself, and it was uncomfortable to stay in the village all day. I thought about my strength, so I went out and ventured out. Later, I took the rest of the family’s belongings. When I arrived in Lincheng, I met someone who introduced me to an errand, and ended up taking all the money away from me."

It was a sad experience, but Cai Lin said with a smirk: "I have to blame me for being stupid. I can't go back after I lost all my money. In the end, I could only do physical work at the pier. I wandered outside for a few years and only returned last year. village."

Zheng Jiang stopped hearing the words and patted Cai Rin's generous shoulders, and didn't know what to say to comfort him. Speaking of which, Yuan's family is also silent, and everyone can only choose to laugh it off. Must not go on.

Cai Lin said: "I'm fine, but you. After I returned to the village, I heard from the folks that your family is not doing well."

"It's all over, and we still have hope."

Cai Lin nodded: "That's the reason!"

The two chatted and chopped firewood together, chatting about things in the village and the city.

"This winter is going to be cold, and I have finished clearing up my several acres of land. These days, I am chopping firewood and sending it to the city for sale. This year's firewood is the best for sale. If you want firewood, you don't have to travel all the way from the city to collect it." , I’ll bring you some to the city without charging you.”

Zheng Jiang felt that this person was too real: "How can it be done, I can come and fight when I have free time."

"Why are you being polite to me? When Aunt Zou bought you brown candy when you were young, she would miss my part. Now that I'm back, I can help if I can. It's not a big deal. If you really have If you are free, why don't you plow the few acres of land in your family, plant some small vegetables, and take care of one or two when you have free time. Well."

Zheng Jiang stopped hearing the words, but he really thought about it. Since there was land, wouldn't it be possible to grow things in the space after farming? He left a mind and planned to come back in a few days to see the land , then you can make a good plan.

Because he still had to rush back to the city, Zheng Jiangting didn't dare to stay longer. After cutting four bundles of firewood, he prepared to get the firewood down the mountain and go back to the city.

Cai Lin said: "It's all here, cut some more and go back. I have a bullock cart at my place, and I will send you into the city soon."

"That's all, you take the things I cut back to the city, and I live in the village around you, so it's convenient to come and chop firewood."

Zheng Jiangting was about to refuse, but Cai Lin had already enthusiastically picked up four bundles of firewood, and the hospitality was irresistible, so the two men each carried four bundles of firewood and went down the mountain, filling up the ox cart, and it was just right for the two of them to sit in the front .

Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the village, he would meet an enthusiastic villager. Zheng Jiangding felt that his luck was really good, and he felt happy.

All the way back to the city, sitting in a bullock cart was much faster than walking on feet. When he returned to Qingwu Lane, Zou Yun hadn't come back yet.

Zheng Jiangting originally wanted to give Cai Lin some money as a thank you, but Cai Lin refused to accept it, so he simply jumped on the bullock cart and pulled the cow and left. Zheng Jiangting really couldn't help him, so he had to chase after him two steps , and shouted from a distance: "Thank you! Next time I go to the city, I must come to my house for tea!"

Cai Lin waved his hand: "OK!"

Zheng Jiangting picked up the firewood outside the courtyard and was about to go in when he heard the door of Brother Xian's house opening. After a while, Brother Xian opened the door.