The husband's son-in-law

For more than ten days in a row, it was the Zhang family's yard that gathered together and knocked teeth every day in the village.

Tian yelled in the morning and yelled at noon.

Daniel killed the chicken again?

That's not true, the big cow stewed the rice, and the fragrant smell rushed to my house.

A few days later, Mrs. Tian returned to her mother with her burden on her back, and Zhang Zhuzi went after her.This is the third time, everyone is used to it, but they are still happy to talk about it. It is usually Tian's jokes, but it is Tian's turn.

The joke was over, some said Tian deserved it, and some felt sorry for it, and said that Daniel shouldn't be angry with his mother, if it's chicken or rice noodles, whoever can still eat it.

"What's so pitiful about Zhang's family, it's her son's fault." Brother Xing said bitterly, remembering that when he was not married and at home, Tian's said that he couldn't have a baby because of his small butt.

Brother Xing cried in anger at that time, he was not married yet, so he couldn't interrupt and refute this kind of talk about having a child, otherwise would his reputation still be lost?

Now that Tian's family is being tortured by his son, Brother Xing is very happy, what he hears every day, he is the first to learn from Li Zhouzhou, both of them have been bullied.

Li Zhouzhou knew that Brother Xing didn't love Tian's family, and he didn't like it either, but just hearing about Zhang's courtyard affairs was refreshing, but after hearing too much, he didn't like hearing about it.

It's not that he feels sorry for Mrs. Tian, ​​but the affairs of the family's house. He has nothing to do with how well he lives, and he doesn't want to waste his energy on this family.So he interrupted Brother Xing to watch the excitement, and said: "I want to go to town in a few days, do you want to go?"

"That's right." Brother Xing Huatou immediately followed Li Zhouzhou and said, "If we don't go to the town again, it will be difficult to go if it snows heavily. When did it snow last year? It seems that it hasn't been long since now. In three days, there is not much salt in the house, but is it too early to buy caramel dried fruit?"

Brother Xing was thinking about the mess at home, and said to himself, "I still need to buy some cotton cloth, and I will make new clothes for Yuan Yuan while it is almost a month away from the New Year. It's really fast."

Yuan Yuan is brother Xing'er's son, born last year in Yuan Xiao, who is less than one year old.In autumn, when the air is cold, Brother Xing seldom takes the child out for a spin.

After Brother Xing finished speaking, seeing that Li Zhouzhou was silent, he glanced down, "Is there any movement in your stomach?"

"What's going on?" Li Zhouzhou knew what Xing Geer was asking, but he was embarrassed, with a mature and mature face, pretending not to know.

Brother Xing snorted, "Still pretending to be with me." But he laughed again and said, "It's not urgent. At the time I was married and there was no movement for more than a year. My mother-in-law urged me, and asked from time to time, so I just asked in private. Let me tell you, I was so annoyed at that time, but fortunately my family didn't say much, and I got pregnant later."

Knowing that Li Zhouzhou is a stuffy mouth and doesn't like to gossip, so Brother Xing dared to gossip about his mother-in-law in front of Li Zhouzhou.At that time, he had been married for more than a year and his stomach hadn't moved, and his mother-in-law was still muttering behind Zhang's family's saying that he was not pregnant, and Brother Xing remembered it in her heart.

"I won't talk to you anymore, remember to call me if you are going to the town, I will go back first." Brother Xing rubbed his hands, it was really cold, and walked back holding the clothes basin on the ground.

Li Zhouzhou hummed, and walked towards home with the clothes basin in his hand.

The stick bones at home were boiled clean, and there was nothing left to cook, and the chicken that was killed ten days ago had already been eaten.This time I went to the town to buy more big bones, and——

Li Zhouzhou's ears turned red when he thought of what Xianggong said, and he wanted to buy more dried dates.

After lunch, Li Zhouzhou told his father that he wanted to go to town for two days.Li Da nodded and said, "Go early, the snow will fall earlier this year."

"Then I'll tell Brother Xing in the afternoon to go tomorrow."

Gu Zhaobaba looked at his wife, why didn't he take him with him?Look at poor him, right?

Li Da's face turned away as if he didn't see the little daughter-in-law of his brother-in-law.Li Zhouzhou had no choice but to take the little Xianggong, and whispered: "Xinggong, it's cold and it's getting dark quickly, so I'll go with Brother Xing, go early and come back early."

Gu Zhao knew that his feet were holding him back, so he just wanted to act like a baby with his wife.

"Zhou Zhou, I will miss you."

The corners of Li Zhouzhou's mouth curled up, his husband really looked like a child.

"I'll come back and buy caramel for you to eat."

Gu Zhao: ...

"I'm not a child, so I don't eat caramel." Gu Zhao said seriously.

Li Zhouzhou: "Okay, okay, my husband is not a child, let's not eat caramel, but other things."

It's completely coaxing a child's tone.Gu Zhao leaned against Zhou Zhou Ceng shamelessly, and said, "You clearly treat me like a child."

The couple is sticky here.Li Daya was sore, he picked up the rice in the bowl in twos and twos, and left the sentence, I went out for a walk, took the bowl and put it in the stove first, and then left the yard.

"Is dad angry with me?" Gu Zhao asked his wife.

Li Zhouzhou shook his head, "Father is not angry, father is, is..."

"Father just sees that I'm clinging to you." Gu Zhao leaned against his wife's arm, showing a bawdy expression, and said, "But I just like Zhou Zhou and I just like clinging to you. Don't you like Zhou Zhou?"

Li Zhouzhou's heart was so soft that he hummed earnestly despite his embarrassment.

After eating and tidying up, Li Zhouzhou went to Brother Xing'er's house, and said to his husband, "It's not far, his house is up there, let's just go up the fork where we fetch water."

"Then his house has easy access to drinking water, so it's easier for us to wash clothes." Gu Zhao recalled, according to Zhou Zhou's footsteps, it only took five or six minutes to walk there.

Li Zhouzhou hummed, made hot tea for Mr. Xiang, wiped his hands and went out.

Brother Xing married to this village, her husband's surname is Wang, and his family is considered well-to-do in the village.The two brothers of the Wang family, and a younger sister, got married half a year after Brother Xing married in. Now the two brothers live together with their parents, and they have not separated.

In the village is a prosperous family.

There are many Wang families, and the yard is large. Except for the stove house and the granary, which are made of mud and tiles, the decent houses that people live in are all made of bricks and tiles. Brother's family lives.

Li Zhouzhou raised his hand and knocked on the courtyard door, the one who opened the door was Brother Xing'er's sister-in-law Xu.

"Zhou Zhou, come in and sit down, it's cold." Mrs. Xu enthusiastically led people in.

Li Zhouzhou hummed and called out, "Hi, sister-in-law, I'll talk to Brother Xing." He entered the courtyard.

Hearing movement in the main room, he shouted through the window: "Master, who's here?"

"Aniang, it's Zhou Zhou." Xu replied.

The people inside were silent.Mrs. Xu smiled, changed the subject and said, "Brother Xing is looking after the child in the back room. Do you go and look after yourself, or should I take you there?"

"Don't bother sister-in-law, I'll just go and find Brother Xing by myself." Li Zhouzhou said goodbye to Mrs. Xu, and walked around the main house to the back.

After Brother Xing got married, the number of times Li Zhouzhou came to the Wang family can be counted on his fingers.Because Brother Xing'er's mother-in-law doesn't like him, Li Zhouzhou can feel it, so he doesn't come to him, so as to save Brother Xing'er from getting into trouble.

"I heard my sister-in-law calling your name when I was in the back room. When I came out to see, it was really you. Why did you come here?" Brother Xing knew that Zhou Zhou had nothing to do and didn't like to run to his house.

"My father said the weather was bad, so I wanted to go to the town early to see if you could go tomorrow." Li Zhouzhou spoke while standing under the eaves.

Brother Xing readily agreed to go. Anyway, there is nothing wrong with the work at home, and he can go any day, but he has to ask his sister-in-law to help him watch Yuanyuan for a day, which is also easy to handle.

"Come in for a meeting, ah, my family is not in the house, just me and Yuanyuan." Brother Xing dragged Zhou Zhou into the room for a chat, he was bored at home alone.

Li Zhouzhou then went in.

The room was warm and the kang was set up early. Yuan Yuan, who was almost one year old, was sitting on the kang. He looked like a Yuanxiao dumpling, white and tender. Li Zhouzhou couldn't help smiling when he saw it.Brother Xing grabbed a melon seed and put it on the small table on the kang, poured water again, and said, "It's fun, and I can spit and bubble."

"It looks so good." Li Zhouzhou smiled at Yuan Yuan, but didn't touch it. He was still cold when he came in, and his hands were also ice-cold.

Brother Xing loved it when he heard this, and he was happier than complimenting him, and said: "At the beginning, his father still called him Baner and Tieniu. I'm Pooh, Pooh, and we don't call them these. We are Yuanxiao Yuanzi, white and fat. Isn’t that right?” He said, playing with his son with a rattle.

The children in the village are born with cheap nicknames, tiger head, iron egg, cow egg, scorpion, and bench. A few villages can sing three or four children's voices.

Brother Xing is proud in his bones, his birth is not so ugly.

The two had a conversation in the room, and it was Brother Xing who said it, Li Zhouzhou listened, it was nothing more than something short in the parents, the mother-in-law told him in the morning, sweet egg soup was fed to Yuan Yuan, and the sister-in-law also told him I didn't say anything, my mother-in-law was not happy.

"...I'll buy caramel and bring it back tomorrow, and I'll share it with my sister-in-law first." Brother Xing said.

"My mother-in-law is partial to my husband. I wanted to find a virtuous girl like my sister-in-law for him. Unexpectedly, my husband fell in love with me. Ever since I entered the door, I have always thought of me as a brother. I cook a meal all day long." If you are angry, you have to say twice, if it weren't for the kindness of your sister-in-law, you really haven't made it these days. Speaking of it, your family is better, you are the master of the house, your father doesn't say anything, and your husband-in-law doesn't dare to say anything... ..."

Li Zhouzhou listened all this time without making a sound. When he came here, he said, "My husband has a good temper and treats me well. Don't talk about him."

"Are you really angry? I didn't say anything." Seeing that Zhou Zhou was really angry, Brother Xing quickly said, "Let's not talk about it. I didn't say that. You didn't come to do the laundry. It's what you said." He slipped the words.

Li Zhouzhou frowned, "Who said that? What did you say?"

Brother Xing made fun of him, but this time he couldn't handle it, so he had to tell the truth: "Actually, it's nothing. If you say that your husband is not healthy, and he is thinner, I will say that he is a scholar and is different from us." Then Brother Xing learned not coming out.

Li Zhouzhou could also guess that it was because he joked behind his back that Mr. Xiang was not a serious scholar, and he would not be able to get a good reputation in the future, or that he was not qualified to recruit students in the village to be teachers.

Because there is no fame.

"Zhou Zhou, are you unhappy?"

"No." Li Zhouzhou was calm and said seriously: "If Xianggong wants to study, I will let him study. I don't dare to say anything about the future. I only hope that he will be healthy and healthy."

Brother Xing: "Huh? Your expectation of your husband is not as good as my expectation of Yuanyuan."

Just want to be healthy?

"You don't have any hope of letting your husband take the exam to get a good name?"

Just he was almost pissed off when he heard those learners, if it was his family Yuanyuan, then Brother Xing must have said in front of his son every day that he wanted to win over your father, he must learn to behave himself.

"It's best if you have it, it's okay if you don't have it." Li Zhouzhou said.

Brother Xing was stunned in his heart, maybe he really agreed with what those people in the village said, Gu Zhao couldn't read it, so he said that to save some face.

Forget it, it's none of his business.

After talking for a while, Li Zhouzhou got up and left, making an appointment to leave before dawn tomorrow.Brother Xing sent Li Zhouzhou out, and when he came back, he found that the handful of melon seeds Li Zhouzhou grabbed hadn't been touched, and he ate them all, so he said why his mouth was so dry.

He eats melon seeds and talks at the same time, so why not?

On the way home, Li Zhouzhou was still thinking about what Brother Xing said. He knew that Mr. Xianggong learned about the hanging card on the platform last year. In his heart, Mr. Xianggong was naturally the first one. He can’t be blocked by outsiders’ mouths, just read books. This issue……

When he got home, Li Zhouzhou saw that his husband was still reading, touched the teapot and it was already cold, thinking about boiling some hot water, sitting alone at the table all afternoon, his hands and feet would be cold.

"No need, I always want to go to the toilet after drinking." Gu Zhao noticed it when Zhou Zhou came in, took his wife's hand holding the teapot, touched it, and immediately said coquettishly, "Zhou Zhou's hand is so warm."

Li Zhouzhou put down the teapot and warmed his hands.

After playing around for a while, when it was time to cook, the pot of water was not boiled.

Going to bed early that night, before dawn the next day, Li Zhouzhou woke up at the first sound of rooster crowing and began to clean up. Smoked half of the firewood under the stove, so that Xianggong and father could eat hot porridge when they woke up, and they wouldn't burn the pot dry.

He carried the bamboo basket and opened the courtyard door.

"Let's go."

Brother Xing covered himself tightly, he didn't dare to open his mouth, and the wind entered his stomach every time he spoke.

The two of them walked fast, they were used to it, and they didn't talk and chat on the road. When they arrived in the town, their hair was frozen, and the sun had just come out in the morning.

Brother Xing stomped his feet and said: "I can't do it, I want to drink hot soup first to keep warm, Zhou Zhou, will you go?"

"Then you go, I want to visit the bookstore."

Brother Xing: "I don't know if the door will be opened in the early morning. You can accompany me to drink hot soup first. We will go to the bookstore together later. I will also take a look. I also want to see how old my family Yuanyuan will be in the future." send him to school."

His family, Yuanyuan, is different from other dolls in the village who are rolling all over the floor.

Brother Xing said and dragged Li Zhouzhou to the stall.Li Zhouzhou thought the same thing, guessing too early that the bookstore hadn't opened yet, so he followed Brother Xing to the restaurant.

The two sat down, and Brother Xing ordered a piece of offal soup, which was made from pig offal and sheep offal. It cost four cents a penny and had some meat on it.It was Li Zhouzhou's turn, and Li Zhouzhou only wanted a bowl of hot soy milk.

"It's all out, let's eat something good, it's not like your family can't afford this." Brother Xing said.

Li Zhouzhou shook his head.Brother Xing knew Li Zhouzhou's personality, so he had no choice but to persuade him.The hot soup they ate made them sweat all over, and the chill from their early morning journey was gone.

Li Zhou Zhou is familiar with the way to the book shop.Xing Geer is the first time to go, layman, go to watch the fun.

"If you want to find paper, you need an inkstone, a pen, and an ink ingot." Li Zhouzhou bought it according to what his husband picked out last time, but he bought an extra inkstone, because the one at home is very old.

The buddy recognized him at a glance. This brother looks different from ordinary brothers. His father-in-law is fair and refined. Standing together, he is half a head taller than his father-in-law. Of course, he has a deep memory.

"Come to buy something for your family? Wait a moment."

The clerk picked up the things quickly, and counted the beads on the abacus, "A piece of paper is 150 Wen, and ink ingots are [-] Wen..."

Brother Xing'er listened to the reported amount of money, and slowly widened his eyes.

Why is it so expensive, and it costs so much money.

Is that paper inlaid with gold?

Li Zhouzhou took out the money and looked hesitant.The buddy saw too many people, and he saw at a glance that this brother had something to ask and it was hard to ask, so he took the initiative to ask while packing things, "What do you want to ask?"

"I want to ask, is there a private school in the town? How to learn from a teacher? How much is it?" Li Zhouzhou asked all the questions that he had been pondering since last night.

Like private school, Shuxiu, these are what Li Zhouzhou heard from his mother-in-law Li Guihua.

"There are three private schools in the town, all of which are taught by scholars. Two of them are strict and difficult to get into. The master of the scholar has to take an examination of the school. If he is satisfied, he will die for four taels of silver in a year, and the other will pay three taels of silver."

"I don't know what kind of apprenticeship, but there is always an introducer to recommend."

The clerk finished packing the things quickly, and saw that Li Zhouzhou and Xing Geer were wearing cotton-padded bunt clothes. Although they were washed clean, they looked like they were from the village outside the town. If you come to the town to study, even if you have passed the exam, you will still have to pay for food, clothing and housing on weekdays, if you are closer to the town, you can come here in the morning and go back at night."

Li Zhouzhou thought about Xianggong's physical strength, so of course it would not work.

"I rent a small yard in the town, and there are six taels a year..."

Li Zhouzhou thanked him, took his things out of the bookstore, and the idea of ​​sending his husband to study in the town was half lost. He probably knew the money at home, and he was only in his early twenties. The money he had saved added up. About fifteen or six taels of silver.

If you really grit your teeth and come to town, you can do it, but my husband is alone, and he has food and clothing to take care of.If he followed, father would not be able to take care of all the fields and housework at home.

Li Zhouzhou shook his head, it won't work, it's too hard for Dad.

Brother Xing listened to the clerk at the bookstore today, and he was half relieved to send Yuan Yuan to study before going to eat soup. No wonder Li Zhouzhou was reluctant to part with the four-cent bowl of offal soup.

Just a pen can buy six or seven bowls of broth.

Brother Xing was shocked by the price and didn't speak for a long time. The two walked out to buy salt, vinegar, sugar, cloth, etc., and then regained their senses.

"If your family doesn't study, life may be beautiful." Xing Geer said.Now I feel that the caramel in front of me is not expensive, so I bought more.

Li Zhouzhou didn't say anything, and bought more dried dates, big bones and sticks. These things are easy to put away.

Done shopping.

Brother Xing was compared with the prices of bookstores, and when it came to ordinary supplies, he suddenly felt that they were cheap, and he couldn't help but spend a lot. Thinking that he would be appointed by his mother-in-law when he went back, he didn't dare to say that he would eat a bowl of noodles in the town before going back.Li Zhouzhou was also unwilling to spend money on food, so the two of them carried it on their backs and held it in their hands, and left the town gate before noon.

It was still light in the village.

Li Zhouzhou walked away covered in thin sweat, and just arrived at the gate of the courtyard when he saw Mr. Xianggong.Gu Zhao hurriedly stepped forward to pick up the things in Zhou Zhou's hands, all of which were scratched, and wanted to pick up the things on his back again, but Li Zhouzhou blocked him and said, "Shen."

Gu Zhao: "..." My wife is right, his current physical condition is trash.

"Have you eaten with dad at noon? If I don't eat, I'll make it. What does Xianggong want to eat?" Li Zhouzhou unloaded the bamboo basket and walked in, only to realize that there was brother Xing, "I'm going home first."

"Okay, I'll go back too."

Brother Xing thought as he walked, Li Zhouzhou is beautiful and cost money, he can't do any heavy work, no matter how nice he is to Li Zhouzhou, he can't even carry a bamboo basket, so he doesn't want to give it to him, so Li Be a treasure every week.

Gu Zhaocai noticed that there was Brother Xing, but he didn’t say hello. He felt sorry for his family Zhou Zhou. When he came back at this point, he didn’t have lunch. firewood."

"There is hot water in the pot, you wash it first, the rice is still hot."

Gu Zhao hurriedly washed his wife with hot water, twisted a hot towel and handed it to his hand, "Wipe first."

Li Zhouzhou was actually not very tired, really, he was still sweating all over, but when he saw his distressed eyes, he swallowed it back if he was not suffering or tired, wiped his face, and was massaged by his husband to soak his feet.

After his feet were soaked, Xianggong rice was served.

A bowl of fried pork slices, fried cabbage, hot steamed buns, and multigrain porridge.

"I'm afraid you'll have a dry throat all the way back, so drink some hot porridge to warm your stomach first," Gu Zhao said.

Li Zhouzhou arrived in the town with a steamed bun and a bowl of soy milk in the morning. He was already hungry, so he didn't say much now. He ate it very quickly. Gu Zhao poured hot water for him, afraid that Zhou Zhou would choke on it.

After finally eating and drinking enough, Li Zhouzhou was going to clean up the dishes, but Gu Zhao blocked him.

"Zhou Zhou, sit there for a break, I'll come, there are not a few bowls." Gu Zhao went to wash the pots and bowls.

Li Zhouzhou didn't sit down to rest, he followed his husband to the stove house, and sat in front of the stove, lost in thought.After Gu Zhao finished washing, he boiled hot water and soaked a pot of jujube water. He looked down at Zhou Zhou, his family, and saw Zhou Zhou wiping tears behind his back.

what happened?

"Have you been bullied? Have you been wronged?" Gu Zhao had never seen Zhou Zhou cry.

It was the night of the bridal chamber, the first time he was a bit unfamiliar, he went in clumsily and hurt Zhou Zhou, but Zhou Zhou didn't cry, he even patted his head and coaxed him.

Li Zhouzhou hurriedly wiped away his tears, and pretended nothing happened.

Gu Zhao was rarely serious, and said: "We are a husband and wife, Zhou Zhou, you have to tell me if you are unhappy or unhappy. If you don't tell me, you will keep it in your heart. I feel uncomfortable and want to cry."

"Zhou Zhou, wife, can you tell me? What's the matter?"

Li Zhouzhou bowed his head and blamed himself: "Master, the family has no money and cannot afford you to go to a private school in the town..."

"I can't leave my father alone in the village without help."

Gu Zhao thought it was a big deal, but he didn't laugh when he heard that it was this, he was only full of sadness and endless distress, all for Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou is full of sincerity, and treats him wholeheartedly.

"I know." Gu Zhao reached out to wipe away the tears on Zhou Zhou's face, and said his plan, "I figured out that the family situation is tight, so I never thought of going to town to study, and I was reluctant to part with you. "

"In the past month, I have copied the previous notes. If I don't understand, I plan to bring something to Dongping Village to see the master and ask the master. No matter how bad it is, there is Zhu Xiucai in Shili Village. I will be generous. Make two extra trips with shame, save what you don’t know, and learn slowly, you don’t think I’m stupid—”

Li Zhouzhou immediately said: "Master is not stupid."

"Okay, Xiucai takes the exam twice every three years. I passed the exam last year, and this year is a year off. Next year is next year, but I don't plan to take the exam. I want to learn more and try it next time." Gu Zhao made the plan clear confessed.

If he knew that Zhou Zhou would worry about this for him, he should have said it earlier.

Zhou Zhou cried.

Li Zhouzhou didn't know about Xianggong's plan, and he was a little embarrassed, and shed tears over it.

That night, he washed and went to the kang early in the night, and the oil lamp was still on. Gu Zhao stretched out his hand to unbutton Zhou Zhou's clothes, leaned over, his eyes were full of heat, hot, carefully traced Zhou Zhou's eyebrows and eyes, and kissed one by one.

Li Zhouzhou was shy and said oil lamp.

"I want to look at you."

Li Zhouzhou held back his embarrassment, wrapped his bare arms around his husband's neck, and rolled his legs under the quilt.

This time the quarrel was a bit long and fierce, in the end Li Zhouzhou couldn't help biting the quilt and whimpering softly, but it didn't hurt...