Village Flowers and Female Scholars

Xie Yan knew that even if the old man Cao promised to give him half a day to dig herbs every day in front of everyone, but now that he has been humiliated, he will definitely give their mother and son a bad face when he goes back.

She doesn't care about this anymore, anyway, she will leave this house sooner or later, as long as she can give her half a day now, even if she doesn't give food, she can still ensure that her mother and younger brother are full.

The most important thing is to use this half-day to go up the mountain to pick up wild goods and sell them, as much as you can sell.

There is a lot of rice piled up in the warehouse, no one to help, Xie Yan helped her mother to spread the rice on the wooden frame bit by bit, after it dries, the millet can be threshed, after the millet is threshed, the rice is pounded, and there are many more The work must be busy, and the mother and daughter were so busy in previous years. The people of the Cao family, except for cutting rice, worked together for a day and a half, and then disappeared.

Over the past few years, Cao E and her daughter have been doing farming and threshing. The Cao family is used to being at ease, and they don’t think it’s so busy during the busy farming season. Guys like Cao Xingshou and Cao Xingyue also have a lot of time to hang out outside. .

The rice in the field has not been harvested yet, and the rice has to be harvested after drying.

When she was in the grain farm, Mrs. Cao still walked around to look around and pick thorns everywhere, but when it was the turn to cut rice in the field, she disappeared.

Cao E has long been used to this, working silently with a sickle, only thinking that if she works more, her daughter will work less. It's just that this large field can be cut all at once.

Xie Yan pulled her mother under the shade of the tree and said, "Mother, you are not tired after work just now, drink some water and rest for a while."

"It's okay, mother is not tired, you worked hard to dig the medicine in the morning, you will rest for a while, mother will cut more."

Cao E is only 33 years old, and she is considered the best-looking among the Cao family's children. Although she was not popular at home when she was young, she did not live too badly after marrying into Xie's family and before giving birth to Xie Yuangu. , it’s just that after being driven back for several years, he was tortured by the Cao family every day, and then he started to get rough, and his skin turned dark, because he was used to being scolded since he was a child, and he looked like he had no aura. The temperament is not up, although the appearance is good, but it is also the one that is easily overlooked.

"They are all resting at home now, you didn't eat anything in the morning, I brought you buns." Xie Yan pulled her mother to the back of the tree, and quietly stuffed her with a soft bun.

Cao E touched the steamed stuffed bun that was still warm with her daughter, feeling mixed emotions in her heart, and wanted to stuff it back for her, and said in a low voice: "Mother is not hungry, you can eat."

Xie Yan pressed her hand and said: "Mother, do you know how much money I got from selling wild goods this morning, more than 100 copper coins, plus yesterday's, it's almost two hundred, you know, the second uncle went to the store in one day Killing pigs with Butcher Dou only costs ten copper coins a day, so you are still worried that we will be so poor that we will have to beg for food after we leave Cao’s house.”

Xie Yan never forgets to do ideological work for her mother. You must know that in the past 30 years, because of Cao Wang's death and Xie Rongsheng's death, this woman has been burdened with too many crimes and pressures that she should not have borne. Cao E really felt that she was an ominous person, and it would not happen overnight if she wanted to rebuild her self-confidence.

Cao E lowered her head and carefully ate the buns. She only felt that she was full after living in the Cao family for these two days, but she never thought that she was only 15 years old when she could bring all this. daughter.

She is also reluctant to let such a child leave her side, but if she doesn't leave, the Cao family doesn't know how to abuse her. It's better to go to the Fang family than to stay in the Cao family. It's a pity that Jin'er was born as a daughter He couldn't make his own decisions, otherwise he could count on her along with Gu'er.

Thinking of it this way, I feel a little regretful in addition to suffering.

Because the incident in the morning alarmed Li Zheng, the old man Cao didn't say anything, but felt very uncomfortable in his heart, the old lady Cao is a person who can speculate on her old man's mind, and she didn't let Cao Xiaotao come at noon Deliver meals.

If it wasn't for the steamed stuffed bun, and after such a high-intensity work in the afternoon, no matter how tough a person is, he might faint from hunger.

When she went back, Xie Yan told her mother to pretend to be weak, if she still looked alive and well, sooner or later people would find out about Baozi.

The two returned to the firewood room, opened the door, and saw Xie Yuangu lying on the rice bed with his eyes closed, pretending to be sick, his eyelids still trembling. Yuan Gu opened his eyes in an instant, and when he saw his mother and elder sister came back, he immediately sat up, not looking sick.

"Sister, you are back."

"Well, is it boring?"

Xie Yan said as she untied the turban on her head, while Cao E silently took the herbal medicine her daughter picked up in the morning and chopped it up, half of it was left to dry and the other half was left to be boiled to drink with the three of them. The daughter said this medicine Not only for fever and cough, but also for strengthening the body, drinking half a bowl can also be good for the body.

Early in the morning, I went to the mountain to pick mushrooms, and in the afternoon I had to accompany my mother to dry and harvest rice. It was impossible not to be tired. Xie Yan took off her shoes and lay down on the rice bed. Seeing this, Xie Yuangu quickly moved over and said to her : "Sister, lie down, and brother will beat your back for you."

Xie Yuangu was not yet five years old, Xie Yan didn't treat him as an outsider, seeing that he was so sensible, she turned her back to let him hit his back with a hammer. Although he didn't have much strength, it was much more comfortable to hit him like this.

The siblings quarreled for a while, and when they heard footsteps outside the door, Xie Yuangu hurriedly lay back on the bed and pretended to be asleep.

There was only a squeak of the chaimen door being pushed open, and Cao Xiaotao's impatient face was at the door.

"Next time, I'll get it myself. I'm tired of cooking and feeding pigs all day, and I have to deliver food to you. Instead, I'll serve you."

Xie Yan sat up from the bed, looked at the little porridge in the sea bowl, and her face darkened: "The three of us, mother and son, haven't eaten a grain of rice all day, and we are drying and harvesting, so this little porridge can't satisfy our hunger at all. How can you work if you don't have enough to eat!"

Cao Xiaotao sneered and said, "This is what Azu ordered, I dare not scoop up too much."

In the past, it was mostly Cao Xiaotao who withdrew it himself, and the old man Cao and his wife also turned a blind eye, but now it was the old man Cao who took the initiative to order only such a small amount, so Cao Xiaotao was not to mention how happy he was.

Hearing what she said, Cao E and Xie Yan instantly understood what the old man Cao meant. Was it because Xie Yan made a fuss in the morning because he purposely took the matter that Li Zheng brought to his heart, and deliberately made Cao Xiaotao not give the mother and daughter the three of them? Deliver food.

Cao E's face was a little pale, and she never thought that her father would be so cruel. In the past, it was the old lady Cao who came out to sing bad faces. He never expected that his heart was like a bright mirror, and it got worse.

Xie Yan sneered and said, "Since Grandfather ordered us mother and son to only drink half a bowl of porridge a day, if we fainted in the field and Uncle Lizheng and other villagers intervened, we can only tell the truth, the villagers know You treat our mother and son so harshly, I am afraid that no one is willing to marry their daughter into our family, and it will be even more difficult for your good brother to marry a daughter-in-law in this life."

Cao Xiaotao's face changed instantly when she heard this: "You little bitch, what nonsense, my brother can't marry a wife, it's because you bastards came back and ruined our family's reputation, Azu and Grandma took mercy and kept you Come down, if someone else's house would have kicked you out long ago."

Xie Yan pushed back without even thinking about it: "Let's go, who wants to stay in your house and serve you as a cow or a horse? I have long wanted to go."

Cao Xiaotao didn't like her even more: "Go, who cares about you staying, maybe you will kill other people when the time comes—"

Before he finished speaking, he heard a shout outside the door, but he didn't know when the old man Cao had already stood outside.

"It's good for you to come to deliver the food. I came here to quarrel with your sister-in-law. How did I tell you in the past, everything is happy at home and everything is noisy, how decent is it!"

Old man Cao always said that he was the only one at home, Cao Xiaotao dared not talk back to him, dared not answer a word, put half a bowl of porridge on the table heavily, turned around and was about to go out.

Who ever wanted to thank Yan but grabbed her sleeve and said: "Don't rush away, let Azu see how you delivered food to us, the three of us don't even get half a bowl of porridge, and we can't wait until noon." No one brought us food, my mother almost fainted from hunger on the field."

Cao Xiaotao snatched back her hand and was about to speak, but was stopped by the old man Cao: "Why are you still standing here in a daze, why don't you go back and bring the leftover porridge to your sister-in-law and the others, stay at home every day I don’t do anything, I can cook a meal for as little as I can, and I even forget about delivering the meal.”

Cao Xiaotao opened her mouth wide and couldn't say a word, stomped her feet and ran out fiercely.

Xie Yan didn't know what the shriveled old man in front of him was thinking. He didn't come out like this because he lost face in the morning and wanted to scare their mother and daughter.

"Children are ignorant, so as an adult, don't always worry about her. Don't always talk about family affairs. Outsiders will think about other people's families. Don't let everyone know about trivial matters." Cao said. The words were directed at Cao E, but her eyes were gloomyly fixed on Xie Yan.

Cao E was busy with her own affairs as usual, and she answered with a hmm from her throat.

Xie Yan sneered in his heart, what a cheap old man.

But he still pretended to be aggrieved and said: "Azu, it's all Jin'er's fault. You can tell us, but we have never talked about the family affairs outside. This time, Gu'er is really seriously ill, and the family has no money to treat her." , so I had to go up the mountain to dig for medicine, if something happened to Gu'er—"

"Okay, it's just you who have a lot of things to do." The old man Cao interrupted impatiently. He could tell in the morning that the little girl in front of him was the one who made the big trouble. Seeing that she was not as aggressive as before, he was very unhappy. She was thinking about when the Fang family would come to propose marriage, and only then would she be able to feel at ease after accepting the betrothal gift.

Xie Yan hated being interrupted in the middle of her speech. She was born in a modern egalitarian society, which made her particularly displeased with this stubborn old man in front of her. But now that her wings are not strong enough, she dare not show her edge too much, but she still does not forget to fight for half a day for herself .

"In the next few days, I will go to the mountains to dig medicine. I would like to ask Azu to tell my grandmother that I will take care of Gu'er as soon as possible, and I will try my best to help the family. Please rest assured, Azu."

Old man Cao felt relieved when he saw that she was no longer as aggressive as before, and he agreed to this matter in front of Li Zheng before, so he responded calmly.

Xie Yan got the answer, secretly happy in her heart, she just wanted to save money quickly, and leave Cao's house as soon as possible when she finds an opportunity, and find another way out.