Village Flowers and Female Scholars

After returning to the thatched shed, the heat on Xie Yan's face gradually subsided. She held the back of her hand and gently pressed it against her cheek, feeling a little annoyed at her reaction just now.

After thinking wildly for a while, Cao E had already packed all the tableware and was preparing to cut pork chops and fry oil by the firelight.

"Mother, if it's getting dark, let's save it for frying tomorrow, it won't be dark in the middle of winter."

"It's getting ready for winter now, the days are short, it's not too late to see the darkness, and there's a fire in the stove, so you can see it clearly. It's just a matter of cutting the suet. After cutting, put it in the pan and fry it slowly. It's on fire."

Xie Yuangu was also sitting by the fire, playing with Da Mao in his arms, turned his head and said to her: "I'm not sleepy, I'm frying oil with my mother."

Xie Yan thought for a while and said, "Okay then, I'll fetch water to wash."

It is inconvenient during the daytime. Nowadays, in ancient times, people would gossip if they washed their hair and were watched.

Now the conditions do not allow it, and it is impossible to wash it out, so let's bear it for another ten days.

First, I washed my hair with acacia near the spring, and then carried the water to the small grass shed to clean it. After a long time, I came out with wet hair.

"Hee hee, sister is also wearing new clothes."

"Does it look good?" Xie Yan poured the water into a low-lying place not far away.

"It looks good!" Xie Yuangu replied without thinking.

It's not that he was perfunctory, although Xie Yan is now wearing a set of rough linen clothes that are convenient for work, but the linen clothes are clean and tidy without a single patch, and the color of the clothes is warm under the reflection of the fire. It made her face more fair and handsome.

"Small mouth is really good at talking, sister will bring you delicious food when she comes back tomorrow."

"Sister is so kind." Xie Yuangu put down his big hair and hugged Xie Yan, making the big hair on the side jealous, barking twice.

The night was falling, and the sky was getting darker, only the fire in front of the thatched shed was still burning, and the oil on the stove was sizzling, and the oil was almost fried. Then, put the whole pot aside and let it cool.

The siblings continued to warm up, and Cao E went to wash up after finishing her work.

The wind was relatively strong at night, Xie Yan looked at Xie Yuangu whose face was flushed by the fire and asked, "Is it cold?"

"It's not cold at all. In the past, there was only a thin one. Now there is an inner coat inside and an outer shirt outside. It is soft and comfortable, and it is not cold at all." Xie Yuangu touched the clothes on his body, unable to put it down .

"It will be winter in two months. It may snow and it will be even colder. In the past few days, my sister has picked all the mushrooms on these mountains, and I will buy more cotton coats for each of our family later. "

"Cotton coat!" This is something Xie Yuangu dare not even think about. It was fine in summer in previous years, but it is different in winter. When you go out to work during the day, the wind in the field is howling, and you sleep in the woodshed at night with a mattress underneath. It was made of straw, and the thin quilt on it couldn't hold the warmth at all. The three of them could only squeeze back to back to absorb each other's heat. They didn't feel warm at all even if they wore two or three pieces of tattered clothes.

Now hearing Sister talking about cotton clothes, Xie Yuangu couldn't help but get excited: "Sister, I should have come out of my grandfather's house earlier if I knew it. Once we come out, we will have everything."

Tong Yan Tong Yu, Xie Yan naturally didn't take it to heart, with the character of the original body, she definitely couldn't do such a thing as encouraging her mother to separate. People's fate may be even worse.

Just as the siblings chattered for a while, Cao E also cleaned up, Xie Yuangu praised again, and Cao E showed a rare shy smile.

A family of three wearing new clothes surrounded the fire with happy smiles on their faces. Xie Yan found a place on the edge of the land, burned the straw, and gave the three of them the clothes they wore from Cao's house. Set fire to it.

Xie Yuangu ran over with Da Mao, and added a few handfuls of hay to the fire, while Cao E sat by the fire in front of the thatched shed, looking at this side from a distance, the flickering flames could not see the expression on her face. It was real, but the jumping flames were reflected in the bottom of her eyes, lighting up a touch of tenderness in the corners of her eyes.

Xie Yuangu, who has always been shy and timid, was particularly excited during the burning of old clothes. In his opinion, by burning all these, the past can be burned, and those cousins ​​who bullied him in the past will no longer I won't come to bully him anymore, and the days of anxiety in the past will also divide them.

During this day, not only did they eat delicious pork, but they also wore new clothes that they had dreamed of for a long time. The three of them slept very soundly throughout the night.

When she woke up in the morning, Cao E steamed a few steamed buns brought by Zhuang Xiucai last night, Xie Yan took one, and was about to go up the mountain with a basket and sickle on her back.

Xie Yan had already told her mother yesterday, let her and Yuan Gu stay at home, there is still money hidden under the thatched shed at home, and new clothes and cloth have been bought, and now the thatched shed will collapse with a slight push, in case something happens People, if you poach all the money, it will not be worth the loss.

She had searched all over the mountain behind Cao's house before, and today she tried her luck from the mountain behind her new home.

After the poisonous mushroom incident a few years ago, and few people in Shangyan Village recognized herbs. Apart from chopping firewood, few villagers set foot in the mountains to find wild goods. If there is no accident, there should still be many harvest.

As expected, Xie Yan walked all the way up, and it didn't take long to harvest. Although there are no rare medicinal materials such as Ganoderma lucidum and ginseng, there are still some fresh and precious fungi, and some common medicinal materials can also be picked I have gained a lot, and after two or three hours, the small backpack behind me is also full.

After going down the mountain, I took a shortcut and went straight to the town. I first went to Jixiang Restaurant to sell the mushrooms, and then went to Huimin Pharmacy to deliver the remaining herbs.

Shopkeeper Zhang of the pharmacy was smiling when he saw her entering the door. It seemed that yesterday's clump of Ganoderma lucidum also brought him a lot of fortune.

Seeing Xie Yan put down the basket, she couldn't help but glance inside.

Xie Yan smiled and said: "How can there be such a good thing, you can pick ginseng and ganoderma every day, if this is true, the hills near us will be trampled down."

Shopkeeper Zhang smiled sarcastically: "Isn't it just in case you have better luck."

"I also think I'm lucky, but before good luck arrives, you shouldn't dislike my herbs, right?"

"How can it be?" Shopkeeper Zhang hurriedly called her, and gave her the process one by one.

Xie Yan counted it. Today’s harvest is not bad. In the past, it was more than 100 to 200 yuan, but today it can be more than [-]. Think about what Cai Chu said yesterday. The wages of the workers who come to build the house do not include food. With thirty cents a day, I can earn as much as six or seven people a day, so I can no longer dislike myself for making money too slowly.

You must know that the work of picking herbs and mushrooms in the mountains is already a costless business, and you don't need to invest in it. You can do it with your physical strength and ability to distinguish medicines.

It's a pity that after sweeping these hills, the wild goods will be picked up, and they have to find other ways to make money.

Xie Yan was thinking about buying a pottery jar for oil. After leaving the pharmacy, she went to the grocery store. She bought a jar the size of a watermelon, barely enough to fit in the back basket, and then bought a catty of meat to wait for the evening. Improve the food, and then set foot on the way home.

Now the matter of the house is already in the works. When the house is built and there is no shortage of housing, as long as there is no shortage of food and clothing, then the days to come will be happy.

Thinking about it in my heart, I also feel that life is moving forward, and I am full of energy.

It’s just that when we first arrived at the entrance of the village, we ran into a gossip duo who like to get together——Ms. Zhang and Mrs. Hua. As soon as they saw Xie Yan, they rushed up to greet her, pulled her and hurriedly said: "Miss Jin, hurry up!" Go back and have a look. Mrs. Cao just went to your homestead to trouble your mother. I don’t know what she said and started arguing. Mrs. Cao and your mother got into a ball by their hair. With a ruthless hand, the old woman asked Cao Xiaotao to be her helper, and she was even more defeated in one fight. At that time, your mother was cutting clothes in front of the thatched shed, but the grandparent and grandson snatched a roll of cloth, Mr. Cao Tai wanted to go into the thatched shed to search, and forced your mother to threaten with a knife, so the two cursed and left."

Xie Yan didn't expect that in just two days, Mrs. Cao would dare to come to her door to grab things in broad daylight. In the ears of the Cao family, they thought it was because of the matter of the two taels of silver that they came to find fault.

After thanking the two women, there was wind under his feet, and he hurried home.

It didn't take long to come to the homestead. From a long distance, I saw two people sitting in front of the thatched shed. I took a closer look at the mother Cao E on the left, who was lying on her knees and shrugging her shoulders, as if crying. There was an old lady, Granny Yu, who was turning her head to comfort her.

Xie Yan ran towards her mother in three steps and two steps at a time. When Cao E, who was lying on her knees, heard the hurried footsteps, she reacted quickly and raised her head suddenly. After Xie Yan took a closer look, she found her Walking up, he was clutching the new ax he just bought yesterday.

She hurriedly said: "Mother, it's me, I'm back."

Cao E let go of her hand, dropped the ax to the ground, and said to Xie Yan with tears in her eyes, "Jin'er, it's useless to be mother, mother didn't help you guard this house."

Hearing what her mother said, Xie Yan thought inwardly that something was wrong. Could it be that the silver in the thatched shed was robbed? Fortunately, when I went to find Cai Chu yesterday, I took two taels and put it on my body, otherwise the eggs were put in one basket. To be bad.

But now is not the time to think about money, comforting mother is the most important thing, put down the basket, knelt down on the ground and hugged Cao E's arm and said: "Mother, it's okay, it's fine if you're fine, we can earn more money if we don't have money." , my daughter is very capable, and it won't be long before I can earn back the original amount."

Only then did Cao E realize that her daughter had been misunderstood. She shook her head and said, "It's not about the money. The money is not lost."

"The silver is not lost, so why are you so sad—by the way, Gu'er, did they snatch Gu'er away? No, I will find someone to snatch Gu'er back. Don't worry—"

Seeing Xie Yan's furious look, Granny Yu hurriedly said: "You child, let your mother speak slowly, Gu'er is at my house, when the old lady Cao attacked your mother just now, this little guy stepped forward to stop her. He was slapped, and I asked Wan'er to take him back to apply medicine."

Xie Yan was not happy because the money was not lost, her mother and younger brother were bullied at home, this incident undoubtedly added fuel to the fire, and her chest heaved and blue veins popped out of anger.

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