Lucky husband

After two days of Muxiu, Li Chengshi only had time to order a bone chopping knife and a meat chopping knife, and he would take them home when he went to Muxiu next time. Anyway, these two things are not needed at home for the time being.

The knife problem was solved, and Mrs. Li began to put the matter of buying food on the agenda.

In order not to arouse the suspicion of the villagers, she went there by herself, bought only once, and bought a lot of fine grains mixed with coarse grains.

At that time, when the people from the grain shop drove old lady Li back in an ox cart, someone in the village saw it and asked her why she bought so much grain.

Old Madam Li curled her lips and said, "The family has distributed the food. I don't want to prepare more food for myself. Otherwise, what if some unfilial sons don't give my mother food!"

The women in the village listened to Mrs. Li's words and said with a smile: "Hey, Mrs. Li, what are you talking about? Who doesn't know that the third child of your family is filial to you and Mr. Li, and pays five hundred renminbi to you two every month?" Woolen cloth."

When the family was separated, the paperwork was written. It not only wrote the details of the separation, but also wrote about the old man Li and the old lady Li's future care. Li Chengshi's filial money was also written on it.

Mrs. Li frowned and continued: "The boss, the second child and the third child have given money to my wife every month, but I feel flustered because there is no food in the house. Seeing that all the members of Chun Geng's family can afford to eat, I am so worried I have to buy some more quickly and put them away.”

When the women in the village saw the faintly ostentatious expression on Old Madam Li's face, they suddenly felt uncomfortable.

The separation of other families is always a commotion. When the Li family separated, the brothers still loved each other very much. Now the life of the old man Li and the old lady Li seems to be better than before. Who can tell? think!

After saying a few words, she didn't want to see Mrs. Li again, so the woman found an excuse and left.

Spring plowing and autumn harvest are the most tiring. Even people who only eat porridge every day will cook dry rice during these two periods of time so that the men who work can be full and strong, so this woman has no doubts about Mrs. Li's words.

To be honest, her family's food has also been reduced by more than half after a winter and spring plowing. If the family has spare money, she would like to buy more food for the house, so she can feel at ease.

Mrs. Li complained and showed off all the way, and finally deceived the villagers, so her family didn't have to worry about it so much.

Although Li Chengzhi has a flexible mind, he doesn't pay too much attention to these aspects, let alone Bai Xiuhe. Now that she is so busy selling rice noodles every day, she has no time to pay attention to whether there is more or less food in the room where the food is kept at home.

Half of March has passed, and it is indeed like in Li Mingjin's dream, not a single drop of rain fell.

When Li Chengshi came back from the county seat, he brought back four knives wrapped in coarse cloth, two bone-chopping knives, and two meat-chopping knives.

The knife was wrapped in cloth when walking on the road, and when he returned home, it was almost time for the villagers to go back to their homes for dinner, and he met few people along the way, so Li Chengshi didn't have to think about how to tell the villagers that he had it in his hand This bunch of stuff.

Li Chengshi walked into the courtyard and shouted, "Mom, I'm back."

Granny Li's eyes lit up when she saw the shape of the thing he held in his hand: "Just come back, just come back, you come into the house with me."

After returning to the house and closing the door, Li Chengshi put the knives on the cabinet and untied the thick cloth that wrapped them.

The machete was about arm's length to the hilt, and the butcher's knife was a little shorter, and they were both thick and sharp.The back of the knife was polished white, and the light coming in through the window shone straight on the blade. After moving it a few times, the whole room was illuminated by the light on the knife.

"Okay, okay." Mrs. Li smiled and narrowed her eyes happily. With these knives, she didn't have to worry too much about the beasts coming down the mountain.

Li Chengshi waited for Mrs. Li to look at a few knives and then suggested: "Mother, let me wrap these knives with coarse cloth and put them in the cabinet for you first?"

The blacksmith said that he took his apprentices to work hard for a few days to make these knives.

Mrs. Li stepped aside a bit: "Well, put it away first, don't tell the news that our family bought a knife, otherwise it will be remembered by others in the future."

Li Chengshi carefully wrapped the knife with a thick cloth, put it under the box according to Mrs. Li's instructions, and pressed it to the bottom of the box.

After packing up these knives, Mrs. Li took Li Chengshi to talk about the recent discussion in the village because of the delay in rain.

"Third son, the experienced elders in the village have already started to worry, saying that the harvest will not be good if there is no rain this year. I discussed it with your father. If there is still no rain in four or five days, we told the village that there may be a drought. "

"Didn't there be a heavy rain when your daughter-in-law was pregnant with Kang'er last spring and summer? It was brother Jin who said it, and he went to remind Bai Sangui and Niu Silang. At that time, both of them thought it was your father who said it was going to rain. , I discussed it with your father, so I will tell you something, and try to make everyone believe that your father is accurate with the weather."

"This matter is your father who took the credit for brother Jin, but there is no way, whoever asks your father to come forward to do this is the most appropriate thing, you have to explain brother Jin clearly, and you can't let him talk nonsense in the village, you know .”

Li Chengshi listened to the old lady Li's rambling, nodded and agreed: "Mother, don't worry, I will talk to brother Jin well."

After spring plowing ended without rain for more than ten days, not only Shanghe Village noticed something was wrong, but other villages also noticed something was wrong, as well as Zhao Chengze, the magistrate of the county.

Just like what Li Chengshi had thought at the beginning, after Zhao Chengze noticed that it hadn't rained for a long time, he asked his county government servants about the situation in Changping County before, and took his master to the fields to ask the farmers.

The conclusion he drew was not very good. Zhao Chengze was very worried. He sent people to nearby counties, prefectures, and government offices to inquire about the situation the next day to see if this was the case. Those who left have not returned yet. Don't know what's going on outside.

Zhao Chengze didn't know, but Li Chengshi knew in his heart that, like Changping County, there was no rain.

Talked to Mrs. Li, Li Chengshi left the main room, just walked to the door of the left wing, old man Li and Li Chengzhi came back with empty buckets.

Li Chengzhi originally planned to go back and continue selling rice noodles after the spring plowing was over, but it hasn't rained since the spring plowing, so carrying water to irrigate the fields every day is a big project.

It was impossible for Li Chengzhi to leave all these things to the old man Li alone, so he discussed with Bai Xiuhe and continued to hire Li Caoye, while he stayed at home to farm and take care of the family.

"Father, brother." Li Chengshi called to them, stepped forward to take the empty bucket from old man Li's shoulder, and asked, "Are you still going out to water it so late?"

"Yeah." Old man Li replied, he put down the empty bucket and went straight into the house.

Because he knew that there would be a drought, old man Li thought that watering more might make the crops grow faster in the field, so he took his son out to water once every morning and evening.

Li Chengzhi and Li Chengshi put the empty bucket in the corner of the eaves together, and said to Li Chengshi in a low voice: "Third brother, it hasn't rained recently, and dad sees that the crops in the field are not growing well because of lack of water, so he doesn't sleep well. , you came back just to persuade him, if it doesn’t rain, I’ll just carry more water to irrigate the ground, don’t worry too much about his age.”

Old man Li was not worried because there would be no rain, he was worried because he knew that a drought would happen. Li Chengshi knew what was going on, but he couldn't explain it to his elder brother, so he only agreed: "Well, I know, when I eat later Let's have a couple of sips, so that Dad can relax."

Coincidentally, on the way back, Li Chengshi met a wine seller and ordered a small jug of wine, which he could take out to drink a few glasses to relieve his fatigue.

After dinner, old man Li drank and went to bed early, and old lady Li brought Li Chengzhi, Bai Xiuhe, Li Chengshi and Jiang Zhiyun together in the main room to discuss the important matter of buying food for the family.

Granny Li looked very serious. She looked at the young pillars of the family and said, "It hasn't rained for more than ten days. No one can say what will happen this year. Our family must start stockpiling food."

"Hoarding food? Mother, is it so serious?" Li Chengzhi asked in surprise.

Old lady Li nodded: "Just because it doesn't rain during this period, this year's grain production will have to be reduced. If there is a drought, if we don't buy grain back in advance, we won't be able to buy grain with the money. Your father is the same idea."

Li Chengzhi felt that his parents must have thought about such a big event, he had no experience and just listened to his parents: "Enen, we all listen to you."

"I think the main force for buying grain is Xiuhe and the third child. The third child is convenient for shopping in the county town. Xiuhe goes to the county town every day to sell rice noodles and brings the grain back along the way." Mrs. Li explained her arrangement.

There are five grain shops in the county. Mrs. Li asked Li Chengshi to buy two bags of one-hundred-jin grains from each shop, and buy them every other day. The five grain shops rotate for ten days, and can buy three rounds a month. Before the price of grain rises, you can buy at least [-] catties.

Li Chengshi went to buy grain after the county government went to work at night, and in the morning before the county government went to work, he transported [-] catties of rice to the noodle stall, and Bai Xiuhe was responsible for pulling it back.

In this way, they can buy a lot of food and save a lot of money by transporting food in pieces.

If it doesn't rain for another ten days, half a month or even a month, everyone realizes that they have to start hoarding food, and they can just spend money to buy a high price of food to hide it from others.

After discussing how to buy food, Mrs. Li took out all the money in the family. Except for the coffin book of the old couple and the money for buying the knife before, she now has a total of 15 taels of silver.

Take out four and a half taels of silver to buy three hundred catties of white rice, another four and a half taels of silver to buy three hundred catties of white flour, and four taels of silver to buy one thousand catties of fine cornmeal. , there is still two taels of silver left, and she can go and buy some cornmeal and sweet potatoes after the food price rises.

In this way, Mrs. Li has no extra money in her hands. Li Chengzhi and Li Chengshi looked at each other and reached a consensus.

Li Chengzhi said: "Mother, Xiuhe and I have earned some money by selling rice noodles during this period, we will take out ten taels of silver and buy more grain back."

Li Chengshi also said: "Mother, Yunniang and I have saved some money these days, and we will also take out ten taels of silver. Mother, you should keep more money in your hands."

Mrs. Li planned to use 15 taels of silver to buy food in total, and her two sons said they would take out [-] taels, which resulted in an extra five taels. Well, you don’t need to take so much, just give the family five taels of silver, and the disaster will pass, there is no need to use all the money in the family to buy food.”

"Boss, the two children of Mingde and Mingli will continue to study, and you must keep money in your hands."

"The same goes for the third child, brother Jin's dowry and Mingkang's money for studying, you should save more."

After talking about how to buy food, Mrs. Li asked her son and daughter-in-law to go back to their respective houses to sleep.

Author’s gossip: Thank you Meiyan y () for supporting me)