Village Flowers and Female Scholars

He had a fever last night, now it is noon of the second day, Xie Yan has been awake for half a day, his stomach is empty.

It was still raining outside, and with the sound of heavy footsteps, Xie Yan knew it was his tricky cousin Cao Xiaotao.

It was previously rumored that Brother Cao Eke, Cao Dalang died in his 20s, leaving behind a pair of children. This Cao Xiaotao is Cao Dalang's posthumous son.

The old man Cao and his wife had three sons and a daughter.

Cao Dalang died young and left behind a pair of sons and daughters.

Cao Erlang took Dou Tuhu's daughter and had a son and a daughter. Now the eldest son is married and has children.

Cao Sanlang, at 35, is still a bachelor.

The youngest remaining daughter is the original owner's mother, Cao E.

Not counting Cao E's mother and son, the Cao family has 11 members.

Now the old couple of the Cao family are still alive, so they haven't separated yet. They live and eat together in the same family, and Cao Xiaotao does the cooking.

Cao Xiaotao was influenced by the old couple of the Cao family since she was a child, and always believed that her father Cao Dalang was killed by Cao E.

In addition, Cao Dalang's wife, Liao, remarried not long after Cao Dalang's death, leaving the two brothers and sisters alone. Skimp.

And all of this, Granny Cao saw it.

Just because Cao E was driven back to her natal family, the old Cao family was ashamed, and she herself vented her anger on the mother and son. As for Cao Xiaotao's attitude towards them in the past, she also turned a blind eye. one eye.

Seeing that the door was pushed open, Cao Xiaotao walked in with a face full of displeasure, and put a small cup of porridge heavily on the wooden pier. The porridge spilled out because of her big action, and Cao Xiaotao didn't bother to pay attention, saying: "I pretend to be sick all day and do nothing, but I can eat."

Xie Yan has closed her eyes since she entered the door, pretending to be unconscious.

Cao E looked at the spilled clear porridge, her heart ached, and she heard Cao Xiaotao's harsh words, and then thought of her daughter accompanying her in the field to harvest in the rain yesterday, while Cao Xiaotao, who was two years older than her, was idling at home It's so uncomfortable that I can still say such words now.

Her chest was heaving up and down, but even so, her lips twitched a few times, and in the end she didn't say a word, her eyes revealed pleading, she only hoped that Cao Xiaotao would leave soon so that she could feed her daughter porridge.

Cao Xiaotao looked at the bitter look on her sister-in-law's face, then at the siblings lying on the floor of the woodshed, muttered a bit of bad luck and went out.

A small cup of porridge is divided into three bowls, but it is only three and a half bowls of porridge.

Cao E lowered her head and divided the porridge into small bowls with red eyes, but she only divided two bowls. She took a spoon and tried to scoop up the porridge that had just been spilled on the wooden pier, but it was all in vain. The white porridge has already penetrated into the cracks of the wooden pier.

I had no choice but to lean down/body up and lick the porridge left on the wooden pier so as not to waste it.

After finishing all this, Cao E sat down by the bed with a bowl in hand and said, "Jin'er, get up and drink the porridge first."

Xie Yan had already seen all of Cao E's actions, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Although the Cao family is cowardly, there is nothing to say about her love for her son.

She struggled to sit up and said, "Mother, you can also drink some of this porridge. After taking care of Gu'er and me all night, this iron body can't stand it."

Cao E shook her head and said: "Mother is useless. She can't protect you two. Mother is still full. Now that you are in good health, you can't lose money. Drink quickly."

Xie Yan had no choice but to take it, looking at the clear porridge in her hand, she couldn't help but feel sad, and gently instigated half a bowl before handing it to her.

"Mom, I just woke up, I really can't drink that much, it would be a pity if I vomited, you drink the rest, Gu'er hasn't woken up yet, don't let him wake up and you fall down."

Her daughter was always considerate, so Cao E didn't know why, but she couldn't help it, so she had to hold back her tears and finish the rest. The remaining bowl of porridge was waiting for Xie Yuangu to wake up so that he could fill his stomach.

Cao E turned around and continued to change the wet towel for her son, then reached out to touch his forehead, and said with some uncertainty, "Jin'er, has Gu'er's fever subsided, and his body doesn't seem to be as hot as in the middle of the night?"

Yuanshen's mother had never been assertive, and Xie Yan recovered some strength after drinking half a bowl of porridge. She sat up and leaned over to touch Xie Yuangu's forehead, making sure that the temperature was only slightly higher than normal.

She nodded and said, "Well, it's not that hot anymore, it should be almost ready."

Hearing her words, Cao E seemed to have taken a reassurance, wiped away her tears and said, "Heaven has eyes, so I didn't take your siblings away, otherwise I wouldn't be alive."

Hearing Cao E's dejected words, Xie Yan leaned on the grass pier behind, listened to the pattering rain outside, and said casually: "Mother, do we just cling to the Cao family and continue to live like this? "

Hearing what she said, Cao E looked out the crack of the door in some horror, and when she saw no one, she lowered her voice and scolded: "Jin'er, you are so burnt out, how can you say such a thing, now your grandfather's family is willing to It is already a great favor to take us in, otherwise we, mother and daughter, would have no land and no unique skills, and Gu'er is still young, and our family has a bad reputation now, and we may not be able to support ourselves even if we live outside Own."

Then he continued: "Even though the food and housing are simple now, there is at least a shelter where you can rest your stomach. What else can you be dissatisfied with?"

Xie Yan looked at the wet marks that remained on the wooden pier, then looked down at his tattered clothes, and said with a wry smile: "Mother, what is the difference between living on the street and begging for food?"

Cao E listened to her words, pain flashed across his eyes, and he murmured: "Who told me and your brother are ominous people..."

But I don't know what I thought of, and when I turned my head, there was another gleam in my eyes.

"Jin'er, that Saburo of the Fang family has already been selected as a child student, and it will be a matter of time before he is admitted to the scholar. You have been engaged since childhood, and now you two are not young. It won't be long before the Fang family will come to your door Propose marriage, your good days are not far away."

Only then did Xie Yan recall that when Cao E returned to Shangyan Village with a pair of children, there was a Fang family in the neighboring village, who was poor and gave birth to three boys. It's too bad.

After knowing Cao E's situation, and looking at Xie Jinniang, who was only ten years old at that time, she was so fair and clean, I couldn't help thinking of her.

After all, the daughters of ordinary people, who would be willing to marry poor people like them.

Seeing that the Fang family did not dislike the unknown identity of his daughter's family, old man Cao agreed, and picked a youngest of the Fang family who was about the same age to settle the marriage.

I never thought that a noble son would come from a poor family.

Fang Wenbo went to school at the age of 13 because of his poor family, and was a child at the age of 16.

Looking around, there are not many children who were hit by a child at the age of 16.

Since then, villagers in the village can't help but look at Fang's family differently. It's no wonder that Cao E has such expectations.

Xie Yan didn't immediately break her mother's illusions. She had seen Fang Wenbo, and she seemed to be a heartless person.

The Fang family is not a good bird either, now that Fang Wenbo has been admitted to Tongsheng, and the position of scholar is not far away, the Fang family will definitely think his life is more precious, and as the Fang family rises, they will only look down on the three of them in the future.

If there is no accident, it won't be long before they will receive the news that the Fang family is going to withdraw their marriage.

Xie Yan knew that before that, she had to find a way to find a way out for her family of three, otherwise they would be in a very bad situation if they were divorced.

Just when she was thinking wildly in her mind, there was a humming sound next to her, and she turned her head to see that it was her younger brother Xie Yuangu who woke up slowly.

Cao E's face showed joy, and she hurriedly rushed over, hugging her son and wiping away tears again.

Xie Yan looked at the little boy who was less than five years old in front of him, with a morbidly cute face with a reddened face.

Xie Yan was brought up by her grandma since she was a child, and she has no brothers and sisters around her. She can't help being envious when she sees sisters in other people's families. Now seeing Xie Yuangu's face flushed, thin but not cute, she can't help feeling jealous pity.

The younger brother of the original body was rumored to kill his father when he was born, and he was disliked by everyone. Children of the same age bullied him because of his background, which resulted in his timid and cowardly character. Every time he went out, he hid timidly. Behind Xie Jinniang, she was very pitiful.

Fortunately, Yuanshen also defended this younger brother, and when the children next to him scolded Babaxing or threw stones at him, she would turn back fiercely.

It's just that the three of them are outsiders in this village, and even their mother is looked down upon by others, not to mention that they are two little puppies, so it is common for them to be bullied.

"Mom... is sister okay..."

The young brother just woke up and remembered thinking about his sister. Xie Yan felt warmer and became more determined to take the mother and son out of the desperate situation. She sat up straight and smiled at Xie Yuangu: "Gu'er, Sister is already well, just waiting for you to get better soon."