By Jia Xiuzhen

It should have been a lot of leisure in the barren years, but the people in Caotianzhuang were very busy.There was a sock workshop in the Zhuangtou compound. At the beginning, there were all kinds of things. Seeing the number of people who went to work there with copper coins and eating dry food, they didn't have the heart to gossip. Go to work in the workshop.The ladies in charge of the workshop always speak clearly first, as long as they can do the work that should be done on time, they can get the job.

All of a sudden, the gentlemen washing vegetables and cooking have become a scene in Caotianzhuang. There is no way to do it. Who can let the girls, wives, mothers-in-law and mothers go to work?The weather was bad, and after taking the buckwheat and rushing to plant it, there were only some fragmentary farm work left.When he was bored with idleness, the head of the village sent another message, this time he wanted to repair the house, and he would be paid according to the work and take care of the food.With the workshop in front, no one hesitated this time, and they all went to the Zhuangtou compound according to the schedule to wait for the work.

Nanny Xu only told Ji Liang about Li Wan's idea of ​​making a fuss, and Ji Liang laughed that it was Grandma who sent him a new business line.Thanks to his ability to be a master, in ten days or so he was able to calculate the shape of fabrics, so he began to prepare materials one after another. Afraid that Madam Xu would not have a clue, he sent two foremen and a dozen masons and carpenters.

Li Wan's drawing was only a rough sketch, and it was completely unheard of. Ji Liang and Nanny Xu had long been accustomed to it, and only followed her wishes, "Anyway, grandma has money!" All those able to work came, and Yan Jun specially arranged for a few old and weak people who couldn't do physical work to watch the scene, help to boil some tea and pass a message, maybe they paid a few wages.

This day is also considered beautiful, although there are few sunny days, and there is less rain, but a few drops are secretly dropped in the cold, and there are days when there is not a single drop.This house needs to be built as well as a chicken coop and a sheepfold. This house is very trivial, and the two foremen brought by Ji Liang also have to find someone to discuss with them from time to time. It is true that there are many things here that are so fresh that they have never seen it elsewhere.

The days of buckwheat are short, just in time for harvesting before wheat sowing, this busy farming season is also busier than in previous years, and everyone is rushing to work.The sooner you start working, the more wages you will get, not to mention that the work in this village is also in charge of food, so naturally they are willing to work hard.Yan Jun wandered around the venue every day, and he could tell the difference if he worked a lot. Some worked honestly, and others were lazy. He didn't say much, but kept it in his heart.

Finally built all the houses that should be built before mid-autumn, not to mention how big the chicken coop and sheepfold are, the two rows of houses alone make people look fresh.Each row has six rooms facing north and south, but the doors are opened at the east and west ends, and there are also a few small single-leaf doors in the north and south—what kind of standard is this!The bricks used to build the walls are sandwiched with rammed earth, the middle of the double-layer brick wall is filled with yellow mud, the columns are also surrounded by bricks, and the roof is covered with green tiles. The pulped mulberry paper is dazzlingly white.

The house is wider than ordinary houses, and the most eye-catching are the twelve large windows on the north and south sides, which are more than one person in length and width. The large and small window panes are not pasted window paper, but inlaid glass. In this way, the room is naturally bright.It was Li Wan's ingenuity to light the workshop.

There is a kang with fish bones at the bottom, a large fire hole in the east and a small side room, and there are three fire holes in the north, just under the eaves.The blue bricks on the floor are staggered to form a mat pattern, which is also easy to clean. The four walls are painted with a few coats of white ash mixed with grout, and the middle pillars are not separated. A wooden fan can be installed.

The house can be built, and I have tried the chimney flue several times, and everyone who has seen it is full of praise.Even the two foremen who thought they were well-informed also praised the novelty, and asked Madam Xu for the blueprints, only saying that they would build such a house to live in if they had the opportunity in the future.

After finishing the life in Zhuangtou’s yard, seeing that there are still some days before the busy farming season, the Zhuangtou said again, saying that there are still a lot of bricks, tiles, wood and stones left to build the house this time, let’s see who needs to repair the house , the owner is willing to sell at a low price.There are other good things!

Everyone saw the materials brought in to build the house. Naturally, the first-class ones are the best. After hearing this, some people were moved and willing to buy them all, thinking that they could make a small fortune.The head of the village shattered all these thoughts with a sap, and only said that the two foremen would take the experienced workers to see which one needed to repair the house.Even materials and labor can be converted into money or labor to help the village to pay back later.

This time I understood everything. It seemed that it was the kindness of the master's family to help, and several families came to Yan Jun to let the foreman go to the house to look at it.Two or three families started together and repaired almost all the houses in Zhuangzi one after another.There were a few houses that were really in difficulty, so no one dared to think about it. Yan Jun also brought people to find the house and repaired the house.

In the house where one family lived, the mud walls were cracked a lot, so Aunt Xu decided to rebuild a room with mud walls and slabs.The original meaning of that house was to build thatched huts, but how can there be such a house in this village?In the end, it was still on the tiles, so I can't help but thank you a lot.

Madam Xu dispatched someone to report to Li Wan about all the complicated things on her side, and met Daiyu and others playing tricks at Li Wan's place several times, so she couldn't help being curious after hearing it for a few times.Li Wan's Zhuangzi got it from Princess Confidence, everyone knew about it, she didn't hide it, and picked some interesting things to tell them.Xichun heard Li Wan say that he would raise thousands of chickens and ducks, covered his mouth and said, "Buddha and Bodhisattva! How long will it take to eat!"

Daiyu found the weird house interesting, so she asked Li Wan, "Sister-in-law won't live there, so why build such a big house?"

Naturally, Li Wan didn't talk about the glass windows and the kang inside, but only gave a rough idea. After hearing Daiyu's question, he replied: "This farmer's land is limited, and it's not good today. How can I make a living?" , It’s also good to subsidize it.”

Daiyu nodded and said, "I see."

Tanchun said, "What does that have to do with building this house?"

Seeing that everyone was puzzled, Baochai laughed and said, "This workshop has to have a place to work. In the south, there are dozens of looms in some homes, which specialize in weaving, or have a special embroidery workshop, and dozens of people work together. work everywhere."

After hearing this, Li Wan boasted: "Sure enough, Sister Bao has seen a lot, that's exactly what happened."

Baochai laughed and asked, "I don't know what my sister-in-law does for a living?"

Li Wan thought about it for a while, and said with a smile: "It depends on the chance, and I don't know how many people in the village can have leisure, and what can these idle people do." After a pause, he thought of an idea, and smiled. A few people said: "Why don't you join a group, let's see if we can make money!"

Nanny Chang smiled and said, "Grandma really is leading the girls into business, but she coaxed people into the group without even saying a word about her character. It looks like she is cheating money!" They all laughed.

But Li Wan said: "The three cobblers have surpassed Zhuge Liang. I, Zhuge Liang, haven't made up my mind yet. Why don't I go to the cobbler? That's a good deal. Those who want to join the gang don't just need to pay money. You have to help me come up with ideas, manage affairs and settle accounts, and you can’t do anything.”

Daiyu laughed and said, "It sounds like what Mammy said just now is very reasonable. My sister-in-law doesn't even know what she does for a living, but she's thinking about settling accounts first!" Li Wan knocked on her and said seriously, "What do you know? If you are not ready to make money, how can you start a business. Naturally, you should think about making money first, and then talk about what to do.” Seeing her lying like this, everyone was even more happy.

It was just a joke, but two days later, Yingchun came with Xichun, saying that she wanted to join Li Wan's gang.Li Wan was startled at first, but after a little thought, he understood. He smiled and accepted a bag of gold and silver ladles and scattered silver taels from the two of them, and solemnly wrote a deed to become a shareholder.

Yingchun held the deed in his sleeve, and went back to his room with embroidered oranges. Siqi was packing up his things. Seeing Yingchun came back, he looked back, closed the door, and said to Yingchun with a calm face: "Girl, I just After tidying up, most of the auspicious jewelry given by the elders when the girl was young was missing, and now there are quite a few commonly used ones, just, just..."

Yingchun looked at her puzzledly, playing chess was always neat, but now he faltered.Seeing Yingchun looking at her, Siqi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's just that the piece of jade that grandma gave to the girl is missing."

Yingchun was startled, and asked, "I've found them all? I just took them down in early spring." Xiuju hurriedly walked over to the bottom of the makeup box and took out a small sandalwood box. When she opened it, it was indeed empty. A little trembling.

Siqi said: "It was put in that box, I was afraid I might have confused it up, so I searched it all out, but found that there were more things missing." Yingchun remained silent.Xiuju said anxiously: "Girl! I usually take care of these clothes and jewelry, and Siqi and I are in charge of them. Now that there are so few things, we can't explain it clearly. If we can't say it, we have to kick it out!"

Yingchun said slowly: "You didn't take it, how could you be kicked out." Xiuju said with tears: "Who can believe this, the second grandma won't listen to such a statement, unless she got the stolen goods!" Yingchun sighed Said: "Maybe it's because we are pressing for money, I knew it earlier..."

Siqi was on fire when he heard this, and said angrily: "Miss, what are you talking about? What do you mean by urging for money? Isn't that a girl's thing? Why is it that a girl is urging her to ask for her own monthly money and silver? This is also the eldest wife. Telling me to take care of the girl's monthly money, and asking the nanny to hand it over to me is not what I should do? Why did it turn into pressure?!"

After hearing this, Xiuju pulled Siqi tightly. Siqi hated Yingchun's submissive temper the most. Now that she was about to implicate herself, Yingchun didn't say that she took the thief but regretted the unreasonable thing. No matter what, he finished talking in one go.

Yingchun was not angry when she heard this, but said slowly: "On the face of it, it's all mine. She has kept it for so many years, who knows how much is missing, and she will panic if she wants to take it out all at once..."

Siqi wanted to cry, but said: "What is this? It's just that the thief has not come out to become a robber, and there is no one who suffers!" Yingchun sighed and said: "I didn't say she was reasonable, but that's the way she is. thing."

Xiuju said anxiously at the side: "Don't talk about it, what's the use, nothing else, that piece of jade is not easy to get, and it was given by grandma, so what can I do if I lose it like this!" He didn't speak, just looked at Yingchun.Yingchun thought for a while, then Fang said: "There is no evidence..."

Just as he was talking, he heard noises outside, so Siqi cut off Yingchun's words and said loudly: "It was given by the grandma, but the things from the previous dynasty have been taken away now. If something is involved , even if you lose your head!"

Xiuju saw Siqi winking at her, and hurriedly said: "No, this matter is too big, we can't afford it, the girl should hurry up and tell the second grandma, let the second grandma send someone to investigate!" Yingchun was about to speak, but was pulled by Siqi, Xiuju said again: "Girl, then I'll go find Ping'er."

As he said that, he went out, and bumped into the nurse Yingchun who just came into the house.The nanny didn't care about it, she went straight forward and pulled Xiuju and said: "What's the big deal? The second grandma is busy all day. We live here, so we can live in peace and save people Boring! What’s missing and what’s missing, you won’t look for it? Go find Second Mistress!”

Seeing her flustered, Siqi laughed inwardly, but after hearing her last few words, he became angry again, so he sneered and said, "What's the big and small thing? I lost everything in the good house, and that's all. Grandma's things are all gone." It was passed down from the previous dynasty, if it is touched by someone, something will happen..."

The nanny didn't let Siqi finish his sentence, and said anxiously: "Hey! What do you children know! This thing is like this sometimes, the more you try to find it, the more you can't find it. When you don't look for it, on the contrary, Let you see it. The more spiritual things are, the more spiritual they are, so isn’t jade the most spiritual?”

After hearing this, Siqi was about to speak, but was snatched away by Xiu Ju, and said: "Mother's words sound reasonable, girl, let's look for it again, if we really can't find it in two days, we should report it to Second Grandma as soon as possible. Yingchun sighed, looked at them, nodded and said: "Let's do it."

The nanny talked nonsense about the left and the right, and pointed out something and hurried out.Siqi Fang patted the embroidered orange and said, "Why don't you let me talk?! If she didn't steal it, how would you know we were talking about jade? Grandma gave us too many things, so why did she recognize us? Are you talking about that piece of jade?! Dead thief, you should tell Second Mistress about this!"

Xiuju was not angry, and said in a low voice: "We just want to return the things. If we push her, she will throw it all over and refuse to admit it. What can we do with her?" Siqi listened, Although he felt reasonable, the fire in his heart couldn't be suppressed, so he said to Yingchun, "the girl has a saying! If you say you steal the things in this house, you will steal them. There is a saying that 'it is hard to guard against day and night, but it is hard to guard against house thieves'." How will you live in the future?!"

Yingchun pursed her lips and said: "She is my nanny, where is the seniority of kindness, how can I say anything about her? What's more, if she doesn't admit it, she just makes a fuss, isn't it a joke? She admits it, we My own nanny is a thief, isn't it a slap in the face? We can still live a quiet life here for a few days, if it annoys the old lady, let's move back, it's really impossible to live."

Siqi choked when he heard this, but he couldn't think of anything to refute. He just felt his chest was tight, and he squeezed his handkerchief and shouted: "I'm so mad!" and ran out of the house.Xiuju wants to greet her later, but think about it.Yingchun sat blankly by the bed for a long while, finally sighed, and picked up a book to read.