The story of the struggle of the poor girl who crossed

Chapter 23
Fahrenheit couldn't help exclaiming: "Hey, Mai Xiang, is this too much? Or, just raise a hundred?"

Mai Xiang: "Mother, not much at all, such a big mountain has more than 500 acres, and three hundred chickens are raised, not many at all!"

Cattle and cattle eat a lot, so in order to allow the grass to recuperate, they must be grazing in different areas.However, the main food of chickens is worms, even if they eat grass, it is only a little bit, but there is no need to keep them in different areas, so that chickens can run all over the mountain.

After planting grass, Mai Xiang invited fifty or sixty farmers to dig a lot of thorns and hedges in other mountains, and planted a circle around her own mountain.At several exits, earth bricks were used to surround the wall with a height of one person. No matter whether it was chickens, cattle or sheep, they could not get out.

Moreover, people were invited to build cattle pens, sheep pens and chicken pens at the foot of the mountain.Today, everything is ready and only owes the east wind.

Chang's final decision: "I just listen to Mai Xiang. It was Mai Xiang's idea to buy this mountain. What to raise and how much to raise, this child must have been successful long ago. Just listen to her, there must be nothing wrong !"

Fahrenheit was speechless: "..." Mother-in-law, just spoil her!This child is only 12 years old, how can she be the master of the house?

Liang Gaoshan nodded: "Well, what mother said is that now our family is headed by Mai Xiang, so let her decide!"

Hey, my dear father, you are so kind to me!
There is a little person cheering in Mai Xiang's heart.

In order to gain her father's trust, no matter what, she has to make achievements and lead her family to live a good life.

Tomorrow is the day to go to the market.

On this day, Liang Gaoshan went to borrow the ox cart from the village chief's house.For three hundred chickens, many large chicken coops had to be installed, and Mai Xiang and Liang Gaoshan alone could not pick them up from the market.

With the ox cart, Chang also went to Jishang. She is good at picking chicks, which can prevent sick or bad ones from being picked.

Today is a big market, there are quite a few people selling chickens, and the three of them quickly bought enough for [-] chickens.Mai Xiang said again: "Grandma, don't buy thirty more hens!" There are no hens, only chicks. I guess the chicks will be scared, right?

Mrs. Chang nodded: "Yes, that's good! In this case, there will be chickens that lay eggs!" Anyway, with such a big mountain, there are plenty of places.

Mai Xiang said to Liang Gaoshan: "Father, we always borrow the ox cart from the village chief's house, this time we will buy some gifts to send to the village chief's house."

Liang Gaoshan: "My good boy, you should be thoughtful and give some gifts to the village chief's family. Tell me, what would you like to give?"

Mai Xiang: "The village chief likes to drink, so just buy a small jar of five catties of lotus white, two catties of pork belly, two packs of dim sum, and a medium bolt of blue cotton cloth!"

Mrs. Chang smiled gratifiedly: "Well, Mai Xiang is reliable, and she is really thoughtful. The village head will probably be very happy to give such a gift!" Such gifts are estimated to cost three taels of silver, which is relatively heavy It's a gift.

Liang Gaoshan said with a smile: "Okay, let's do it like this! Mai Xiang, you and grandma will wait here for a while, and Daddy will come as soon as he goes!" After speaking, he took a big step and disappeared into the crowd. Went to buy gifts.

On the way back, Liang Gaoshan said: "In ten days or so, our family will also buy cattle to raise, and then we will buy an ox cart. In the future, we won't need to borrow the ox cart from the village chief's house. "To be honest, he was very embarrassed to borrow it all the time.

Mai Xiang: "Daddy, if it's okay, you can go and look for sheep to see where there are sheep for sale, preferably the kind of sheep that are specially used to produce wool."

Liang Gaoshan: "There is no such sheep, at least in our place, there is no such sheep. In our place, the sheep are all killed for food. I know a place, seventy or eighty miles away, and I heard that there are almost every household in that place. They all know how to raise sheep. When the time comes, I’ll call you Uncle Tian Sheng and Uncle Mao Lin, and we’ll go there to buy them together!”

It's a pity that Mai Xiang doesn't have one that specializes in producing hair, which is really a pity!However, it doesn't matter too much, it is also possible to raise food sheep.

In a blink of an eye, ten days passed.

Liang Gaoshan called Shang Tiansheng and Maolin, got into a bullock cart, went to a distant place, bought twenty lambs, five ewes, and one ram.Two days later, he went to the market again and bought five calves, two cows, and a bull.

So far, almost all the money in the family has been used up, leaving only five liang of spare silver.The five liang of silver was hidden by Huashi, and she looked at Mai Xiang warily: "Don't make a fuss about the five liang of silver, it's for saving lives!"

Mai Xiang couldn't laugh or cry: "Mother, I won't ask you for five taels of silver, don't worry! Tomorrow, I will go up the mountain to dig herbs, and I will earn my family's living expenses!"

There are more than 600 taels of silver, and now there are only five taels left. It has to be said that Mai Xiang's heart is also pounding.Before, she seemed too extravagant.

After the money was spent, she suddenly realized that she had forgotten a big event, a very important event.

The second brother Banxia is almost ten and a half years old now, and he should have been sent to school a long time ago!Fortunately, there is still time, and the private school in the neighboring village only needs two taels of silver a year, and the payment can be made in two installments, that is, once every six months.

Mai Xiang didn't have any money at hand, so she had no choice but to borrow from Huashi: "Mother, I plan to send my second brother to a private school, so I can borrow two taels of silver from you."

Fahrenheit was taken aback by her, and quickly waved his hands: "No, you asked for two taels of silver when you opened your mouth, and now there are only five taels of silver left, which is for saving lives! Your second brother is ten and a half years old, and now he is only It’s too late to go to enlightenment! Moreover, he doesn’t look like a student!”

After hearing her words, Mai Xiang couldn't help but widen her eyes.

She never expected that Huashi, who has always loved his children very much, would object to sending Pinellia to study!

Sure enough, I heard Fahrenheit say again: "What book are you studying? With your second brother's ability, you can't pass the examination as a scholar. Sending him to a private school is a waste of money! Besides, he is over ten years old. If you stay at home, you can still do a lot of work!"

Mai Xiang was taken aback, and quickly distinguished: "Mother, the second brother is not stupid at all. As long as he is willing to work hard, a boy student can definitely pass the exam. Besides, it is not necessary to take the imperial examination, and send the second brother to study. I am I hope he can read a few words, so he won't be blind!" In fact, she wanted to say that she could be a scholar.However, she didn't want to put too much pressure on her second brother.

Fahrenheit gave her a blank look, and said disapprovingly: "What's the point of being admitted to Tongsheng? Nothing can be exempted, the land still has to pay taxes, and labor and military service can't be exempted either. What's the use? Besides, Most of those who went to study have no conscience."

Mai Xiang was dumbfounded when she heard that: What do you mean by this?

Mrs. Chang interjected: "Mai Xiang, what your mother said is that there are really few people who have studied and have a conscience. Let's just talk about your uncle. Back then, our family was exhausted. I was frugal, and I even sold my dowry, and finally confessed him. He was admitted as a scholar, and spent money to help him marry a wife. He actually listened to that wicked woman and resolutely followed us. separated."

After a pause, Mrs. Chang sighed again: "Separate the family, let's separate. He still dislikes me because I have small feet and can't do farm work, so he doesn't want to support me. I said, if this is the case, then I and your grandfather will be with your parents." Live together. However, that wicked woman refused to be beaten to death. She insisted on asking your grandfather to live with their family. This is because your grandfather is strong and capable of doing a lot of farm work. Your grandfather is also an ear Soft, after being coaxed by others, he agreed to live with that family. But, what is your grandfather's life called? If there is anything delicious and delicious, your aunt will send your grandfather to work, Then the whole family secretly ate and drank spicy food."

Speaking of this, Chang couldn't help wiping away tears: "During the severe drought, your brother Huang Lian was about to starve to death. Grandma wanted to borrow a catty of broken rice from your uncle to make rice porridge for your brother. Your aunt said The words sent me away. Alas, speaking of it, it was a tear! The more educated this person is, the more he has no conscience! What is the use of sending children to study? What are the benefits? can't get it."

After hearing what grandma said, Mai Xiang couldn't help feeling very sad.However, no one can shake her determination to send her second brother to school: "Grandma, even though that's the case, it can't be beaten to death with a single stick. There are many people who have gone to school and gained fame." People are good people. I won't talk about others, but I will talk about the second brother. He is a child with a good character. Grandma, what do you think?"

Chang sighed: "What you said is that Banxia is a good boy." Perhaps, this child will still be a good boy after going to school and gaining fame?Ban Xia's character is much better than his uncle.So, is it possible to trust this child?
Mai Xiang: "Grandma, the second brother is a diligent and honest person, different from the uncle. I heard that the uncle was a cunning person when he was very young. Moreover, after he entered the private school, he never I have done any kind of work. Today's uncle is a person who doesn't know the grain and doesn't work hard. The aunt is vicious and powerful.

If the eldest aunt was a little better, it would be impossible for the uncle to be so heartless.In terms of the character of the second brother, even if he becomes a high-ranking official in the future, he will still be a person with a conscience.Grandma, we can't give up eating because of choking, and we can't stop the second brother from going to school because the uncle has no conscience!Based on what I know about my second brother, as long as he works hard, he should be able to be admitted as a scholar! "

Chang's heart was moved by the words.Then he sighed again: "Oh, what you said is right, you can't stop Ban Xia from going to school just because your uncle has no conscience."

Fahrenheit's attitude is still very firm: "How can a scholar be so easy to take the exam? Your uncle started school at the age of five and passed the exam twice in a row. To take the exam for a scholar once, you have to spend five or six taels of money. Money, you emptied your grandparents' family. Because your uncle was required to be a scholar, your father didn't even have the chance to read, and your grandmother asked your uncle to teach your father how to read, and your uncle didn't even have time Refused for an excuse!"

After all, she still wanted to say that people who went to school had no conscience.She didn't want to send Banxia to school, for fear that Banxia would become a heartless person who would not even recognize her parents.

Mai Xiang was a little dumbfounded: "Mother, don't keep mentioning Uncle, Uncle is Uncle, Banxia is Banxia. What a good child Banxia is, Uncle, how can he be compared with Banxia? Let me say it again, The reason I want to send my second brother to school is just to hope that he can read a few more words. There are people who can read at home, so we will not be deceived when we go out in the future!"

(End of this chapter)