old grace

Xie Qinghe's new skin was just when he was young and growing up, his stomach growled when he woke up, and the two steamed buns he ate in the morning were not enough to make him hungry.

He turned over on purpose, and the three sisters of the Jiang family were alarmed immediately. Jiang Yuanniang and Jiang Erniang all surrounded them to greet each other, but Jiang Youniang stood on one side resentfully.Hearing that her younger brother was hungry, Jiang Yuanniang immediately went out to fetch food. Mrs. Zhang yelled loudly: "He said he wanted to eat the wine made by his second sister. Why are you here to show off? Show off your ability?"

Xie Qinghe found it extremely harsh.

Jiang Erniang and Jiang Youniang seemed to be used to Zhang's pickiness, and they were indifferent to the reprimands outside the door.

Not long after, the door of the room was pushed open, and Mrs. Zhang came in with a decoction, and said, "Zhouer, drink up the medicine quickly. Keep it warm in the water for you. Mother feels it will be fine, and she will get bored after one mouthful... "

The pitch-black bowl of medicine in front of him exuded a bitter smell. Xie Qinghe was hungry and just wanted to eat. Just by smelling the smell, he could imagine how sour a bowl of medicine would be.However, since he pretended to be sick, he could only drink the medicine bravely.

Here, Xie Qinghe drinks the medicine, while Mrs. Zhang points to Erniang and asks: "You go and make wine for my brother."

Jiang Youniang took advantage of the situation and slipped out with her second sister.

Leaving Mrs. Zhang to greet Xie Qinghe with his cold and warmth, full of heart and soul, my dear mother's son, Xie Qinghe did not change his face and pretended to be a snake.He didn't feel much love from Zhang's words. What Zhang loved was his son, either Jiang Yingzhou or Jiang Rongzhou, it doesn't matter which one, just the son.

Not long after, Jiang Zhanwen also came in.

He first asked about his son's illness, tried to express his love, and then turned around and asked where Zhang's clothes and socks were.

It turned out that An's family had a distinguished guest, and they had been entertaining them for several days.This kind of banquet needs to be both lively and respectable. There are not many children in the direct line of the family who have won the stage. It is very sought-after for a scholar who is famous and famous to be invited to a banquet as a companion.

One must pay attention to his image on such occasions, once showing his ugliness, his future livelihood will be very dangerous. Therefore, Jiang Zhanwen must not make mistakes.

Mrs. Zhang had no choice but to put down her son and wait for her husband to go out.

Xie Qinghe heard her yelling outside the door again: "Young lady? Hurry up and go in and guard your brother!"

Jiang Yuanniang said, "Mom, I'm here."

Xie Qinghe didn't think he was pretending to be serious, and he didn't look like he was going to be sick. How could it be that he couldn't leave people around him?Wave after wave has never stopped.

After Jiang Yuanniang entered the door, she pointed to the various parcels on the table and said, "This is brown sugar, this is red dates, and this is longan—longan is not cheap, you have to eat carefully. There is also a pack of white fungus, which is moist For the lungs, melt them with a little lard to cook well... This is the Huizhou ink you want, Shezhou inkstone, Huzhou pen... The test basket you want, there is no one in the town, change Minger brother-in-law's shop to a buddy Buy it in the county and bring it back to you."

After pointing out the packages on the table, she walked to the bed, took off the delicately embroidered purse around her waist, and took out a bank note.

Before Xie Qinghe could speak, she raised her index finger in a silent gesture, and whispered, "You take your own flowers."

Xie Qinghe looked at the elder sister.Jiang Yuanniang is not as good-looking as her two younger sisters. She has curly and thin eyebrows, and her face is like a silver plate, full of gentleness. She is seven years older than Jiang Yingzhou. Jiang Yingzhou grew up with her behind her back. Emotions are especially different.

Unlike Jiang Erniang who doesn't wear makeup, Jiang Yuanniang seems to be married to a wealthy husband's family. Her face is painted white, and her cheeks are flushed. It looks like the most fashionable makeup for women at present-a poor family The woman in this class is sweating all over her face as soon as she works, how can she have the conditions to apply makeup?

Jiang Yuanniang returned to her natal home with her makeup on. Everyone thought she was living a very good life, a pampered wife and lady.

She was sitting beside Xie Qinghe's bed, and Xie Qinghe could easily hear her breathing.However, the five senses and six senses of this skin are too ordinary, and Xie Qinghe is not sure. Taking advantage of the fact that the brothers and sisters of the poor family are not very guarded against men and women, after receiving the bank note, he deliberately took Jiang Yuanniang's hand and said: " Ever since I was a child, my elder sister loved me the most."

Jiang Yuanniang didn't notice that her younger brother held her hand, and said with a smile: "You grew up behind my back, if I don't love you, who should I love?"

"My sister got married back then, and the family didn't give much money to the box. My sister should also leave some money for herself. Now she is single and has her brother-in-law to take care of her. When she has a child later, his brothers and sisters-in-law are all grown up, and the family is afraid of being divided. It doesn't cost a lot of money, but I still need to study and marry a wife, it's like running water, my sister should save some money." Xie Qinghe has already detected Jiang Yuanniang's pulse, so these words are not aimless.

Jiang Yuanniang's well-behaved eyes suddenly turned red, and she tried not to shed tears, and said with a concealed smile: "You are thinking too far. You also know that your brother-in-law has two sons in front of you, and you don't have to worry about no one to support your family. I really don't want to have a baby... Which woman is not a ghost to have a baby?"

While talking, Erniang Jiang came in with the brewed wine and said, "Sister, Dad asked if you are going back? He happened to take your car when he went to An's house."

Jiang Yuanniang was taken aback, stood up quickly, and said, "Okay. Then I... brother, sister will go back first, you are doing well."

Xie Qinghe nodded: "Sister, go slowly."

Seeing the bowl of hot and sweet fermented rice brought by Jiang Erniang, Xie Qinghe felt even worse.At this moment, there is still a bitter taste of soup and medicine in my mouth, and I will immediately have another bowl of sweet-looking wine, even the gods can't stand it!

"Eldest sister said she brought me cat ears, second sister, open it for me to eat." Xie Qinghe resolutely survived.

Jiang Erniang put the wine on the bedside table and looked at the paper bag on the table.Things like pen, ink, paper and inkstone are easy to divide. Brown sugar, red dates and white fungus are all wrapped in the same oil paper, so you can only look at them one by one.Except that the brown sugar is lighter and not easy to confuse, the red dates, longan and white fungus look like cat ears, not to mention that Jiang Yuanniang also bought some things like wax gourd candy and orange peel candy.

After finally finding the cat ears her brother wanted, Jiang Erniang picked up a few pieces with a handkerchief and said, "You are sick, so eat less."

If Jiang Yingzhou was bound to get angry, Jiang Erniang spoke with trepidation, but Xie Qinghe just nodded without any words of protest.Seeing her younger brother obediently eating the cat's ears, Jiang Erniang felt that her younger brother was sick, sensible and cute, and her eyes were filled with relief.

"Second sister doesn't think it's strange?" Xie Qinghe asked suddenly.

Erniang Jiang pursed her lips and smiled: "It's not surprising. Our younger brother has grown up and is sensible. That's great."

Xie Qinghe: "?"

Only then did Jiang Erniang realize that she had misunderstood her feelings: "Uh, what are you talking about?"

"The eldest sister came to visit and brought me brown sugar, red dates and longan? If I don't explain this clearly in advance, my brother-in-law's family may think that the second sister gave birth to a child, right?" Xie Qinghe said suspiciously.

"This brown sugar and red dates are good things for nourishing blood, and dried longan is also a top-quality nourishing product. It's not easy to get. Do you think the things bought by the eldest sister are not good? She came to the house today and left 20 taels of silver. If you want to eat ginseng, you can eat as much as you want." That's enough, she has never been stingy with you." Jiang Erniang complained for the eldest sister.

Xie Qinghe pursed his lips, really unable to move.

Jiang Yingzhou thought his second sister was cunning, but Xie Qinghe really didn't realize it. Isn't Jiang Erniang just a fool?

He lifted the quilt out of bed, walked to the desk, and wanted to pick up a pen to write, but the inkstone was clean, so he picked an ink stick and added water to dissolve it a little bit.He was proficiently grinding ink with his wrist hanging, Jiang Erniang was confused: "You are still sick, it will not be too late to work hard tomorrow."

Xie Qinghe wrote a prescription for the postpartum care of a woman, and handed it to Jiang Erniang together with the bank note from Jiang Yuanniang, saying: "Second sister will have time tomorrow, so go quietly to the shop to grab two medicines and send them to eldest sister."

"Ah? Is the elder sister sick?" Jiang Erniang thought of Jiang Yuanniang's thick powder, and then looked at the brown sugar and red dates piled on the table. At this moment, she suddenly understood the reason, "Oh! This is... alas!"

She dried the ink on the prescription with her mouth, folded it up and put it in her arms, and suddenly realized.

"How do you know? The prescription you wrote?"

Xie Qinghe casually took out a book from the bookcase and said: "I have been studying for so many years, and it is common for people to see patients. If you are worried, take the prescription I wrote and ask the doctor before taking the medicine. The doctor said he can catch you and catch you again."

Xie Qinghe grabbed out a copy of "Zhouyi Justice", which had nothing to do with medical skills and pharmacology. Jiang Erniang couldn't read big characters, so she only saw the thick side of the book, and she was immediately in awe: "Yes, there is everything in the book, I know that too .” Immediately bowed to his younger brother.

Xie Qinghe told her again: "Since the elder sister doesn't want to disclose this matter, the second elder sister should also keep the secret for her."

Miscarriage is definitely one of the most unlucky things for a woman these days. Not only her husband's family hates it, but if a woman who has had a miscarriage soon goes to her natal family, her natal family will also be deeply dissatisfied, thinking that she has brought the bad luck back to her natal family.Jiang Erniang knew her parents' bitter temper, how dare she speak up?She raised her index finger, indicating that she would never reveal her sister's secret.

As for how did the younger brother know about the miscarriage of the elder sister... The younger brother can even prescribe medicine, so he must learn to look, hear and ask?

Jiang Erniang's mind slowly turned around: "Then why...you still want to invite Doctor Qiu?"

Doctor Qiu is good at medicine, but my younger brother is not good at medicine.Should I find an excuse to ask my eldest sister out and take her to Dr. Qiu for a consultation?

Xie Qinghe looked at the bowl of fermented wine that looked sweet for a long time before he said slowly, "What does Second Sister think?"

Jiang Erniang looked at him blankly.

Xie Qinghe got up and walked in front of her, and gently hugged Jiang Erniang into his arms in a posture that did not conform to common etiquette, and said as softly as possible: "Second sister, I know everything. We will never go back to the Xu family. Yes. With your younger brother around, no one can bully you."

Jiang Erniang pushed him away in surprise, her eyes were full of panic and covered her smile, but she looked like she was about to cry: "What are you talking about? I have already left the court and am from the Xu family. Outsiders call me Mrs. Xu, Aunt Xu, Xu Jiang Shi...I...I..."

Seeing Xie Qinghe's eyes without a hint of joke, Jiang Erniang's years of pent-up pain flowed down her tears, but she couldn't wail, she just said dryly: "No, you don't understand, you are still young. If I go home, the young lady won't be able to say a good kiss, and you won't be able to marry a good wife... Your brother-in-law is really, really good... Whatever I want, he will follow me..."

Xie Qinghe understands Jiang Erniang's struggle.

The Jiang family seemed to have no shortage of food and clothing, but the life of Jiang Zhanwen and Jiang Yingzhou had exceeded the normal level of family expenses.If the Jiang family wanted to provide Jiang Zhanwen, Jiang Yingzhou and his son with a high-quality life, they must squeeze Zhang and his three daughters' food and clothing.

Jiang Erniang also worked hard all day long in her natal family, eating rough tea and light meals, and was picked on and reprimanded by her mother-in-law everywhere.

After marrying into the Xu family, the work is done in the same way, because the family has a small population, and the mother-in-law loves to chatter but is also a real diligent person. Therefore, after Jiang Erniang is married, it is not as hard as when she was in the pavilion.What moved Jiang Erniang the most was that eating at her in-law's house was very equal.

On the day of the wedding, my husband said that if I had a bite to eat, I wouldn't ask you to drink soup.Therefore, in the mother-in-law's house, either the mother-in-law eats meat alone, or the whole family eats meat together. When there is no mother-in-law and husband eating, she is alone.

Therefore, even if the husband had the problem of beating his wife, Jiang Erniang endured it quietly and did not tell anyone.

——Is your mother’s family better than your husband’s?Don't you get beaten at your mother's house?Mrs. Zhang never relents when she beats her daughter!

Anyway, I can still eat well at my in-law's house, and I can also pay some money from my in-law's house to supplement my father and younger brother.Isn't it better than staying at your mother's house?

Jiang Erniang didn't have many choices.No matter whether she is in her natal family or in-law's family, in the court or married, she is constantly enduring hardships and working hard, and she has never lived a day of being pampered and pampered.

Jiang Erniang shed a lot of tears, Xie Qinghe wiped her face and said, "I'll tell my second sister a story."

Jiang Erniang was completely confused by him and looked at him blankly.Why tell a story again?

"Once upon a time there was a good girl who was entrusted to no one, and suffered a lot in her in-law's family. She wanted to go home with Li, but her in-law's family disagreed, and her natal parents refused to accept her. At this time, the younger brother who was raised by her said, Sister, come to your house, I will support you for the rest of my life. My sister trusted my brother's guarantee, and after leaving her husband's house, she lived with her brother and lived a happy life." Xie Qinghe said.

Jiang Erniang was shocked and amused at the same time. She felt that the story was extremely absurd, and she also had an inexplicable expectation.

However, Jiang Yingzhou is really not trustworthy.Jiang Erniang would rather believe her husband who beat her up and coaxed her softly than her younger brother.Which family's daughter-in-law is not beaten?At least her husband kept his word. He never treated her badly when he gave her food, and he was never ambiguous when he spent money on her.

younger brother?The younger brother is unreliable.

Jiang Youniang came in with a needle and thread. It was getting dark now, and she wanted to use the light in Jiang Yingzhou's house to make needlework.Who knows that when she entered the door, she found that her sick brother was not asleep, so she turned around and was about to leave—the younger brother's light should not be exposed, and Jiang Yingzhou forbade her to come and excuse him.

Even if she moved a small bench and sat outside the window, Jiang Yingzhou would be disgusted and said, how can I study quietly when someone is guarding her?

In fact, Jiang Yingzhou didn't want to study at night at all, and he played with his feet when he lit the lamp at night.

Jiang Youniang was so angry that she quarreled with him, and was dragged by the eccentric Mrs. Zhang to kneel in the porch for most of the night. From then on, Jiang Youniang never dared to borrow the light from Jiang Yingzhou's house.

Xie Qinghe remembered that Mrs. Zhang had asked Jiang Youniang in the morning, had she finished embroidering the handkerchief?Said to be handed over.

If it wasn't for the rush, Jiang Youniang would not have dared to come in.

He just wanted to leave Jiang Youniang to sit down in the room. Jiang Youniang had already seen Jiang Erniang's wet eyelashes, and rushed in immediately, frowning and asking: "What are you going to do again? The second sister came home to take care of you kindly, you made her cry What? What the fuck did you say?"

Jiang Erniang is used to suffering all her life, and she won't cry when she is reprimanded, but she can't stand being cared for.

What the younger brother said just now made her cry, and the younger sister rushed in to defend her. She lost her voice for a moment, and only said that it's okay, no, tears fell down again, and she could only hold her younger sister. hand, telling her not to quarrel with her younger brother.

Jiang Youniang was simply accumulating old and new grudges, wishing to scratch Jiang Yingzhou's hole, her voice was naturally sharp: "What the hell are you..."

"Are you going against the law? You refused to let go yesterday, and my younger brother fell ill, and you still want to make trouble!" Mrs. Zhang slammed the door open, holding a feather duster in her hand, and waved it at Jiang Youniang, "You alone Women, don’t know how to be gentle and quiet, quarrel with brothers every day, do you know that men are superior to women, do you know what respect is—”

Mrs. Zhang has already rushed to the front, Jiang Erniang hastily protected Jiang Youniang, but she didn't know that the feather duster was clamped by Xie Qinghe.

Everyone was stunned.

Mrs. Zhang stared blankly at her son for a moment, then suddenly asked: "Son, let go quickly, is it broken?"

Xie Qinghe didn't let go, confiscated Zhang's feather duster, and said with a cold face: "Mother, you have a loud voice, which makes my ears hurt. It doesn't matter if you have hands, now I have a headache."

Mrs. Zhang also knew that she had a loud voice, and immediately said awkwardly: "Ah? Ah. Then do you want to lie down? Ask your second sister to press it?"

"It's getting late, mother should go to bed early after dinner. The second sister will take care of me. The third sister will read a few books to me later and put me to sleep." Xie Qinghe said.

Mrs. Zhang was about to ask Younger Niang to cook a fire for dinner, and wash her feet after dinner, but she didn't know that her two daughters were requisitioned by her son.

The sky is big and the earth is big, except for her husband, her son is the biggest.Mrs. Zhang also vaguely felt that her son was dissatisfied with her and became closer to her daughters.However, she didn't think much about it.She is the mother, the mother-in-law of the son's future wife, the grandmother of the future children, and the only mistress of the family.

Occasionally, she was pissed off by her son, and she turned around sullenly and left. Before leaving, she gave the young mother a hard look: "If you want to quarrel with your brother again, you will smash your hands."

The malice in these words was too terrifying, Jiang Youniang had never seen such a terrifying mother, she flinched uncomfortably.

It wasn't until Mrs. Zhang left that Xie Qinghe put the feather duster on the side of the table and looked at the palm of his hand by the light.

Mrs. Zhang was really cruel when she beat her daughter.Xie Qinghe only saw a red and swollen blood purlin in the palm of his white hand, and the skin was torn at the place where the force was the heaviest.If this hits a girl with delicate skin, I'm afraid it won't go down for a few days.

Jiang Erniang also took a closer look, and actually took off the purse on her waist, poured out a little medicine powder and applied it: "Fortunately, it is left-handed, so it won't delay writing."

Jiang Youniang looked at her, then at Xie Qinghe, and suddenly asked: "Second Sister, is the hemostatic medicine in your purse?"