Concubine

Chapter 22
Mother Yang squinted her eyes for a while, maybe it was because of the dim light, or maybe it was because of old eyesight, she couldn't be sure if it was real money, she looked at Feng Xiaoxue, hoping to find the answer from her eyes.She hadn't seen so much silver for a long time, except for the silver that she got together when she married her son.Life is hard now, and there are one or two hundred copper coins, which can make the old lady happy for a long time, not to mention the 17 taels of silver, which is equivalent to seventeen thousand copper coins.

Feng Xiaoxue was not sure if it was true, and what Yang's mother saw in Xiaoxue's eyes was confusion and excitement.Then he picked up a small piece and put it between his teeth and bit it lightly, then pondered for a while, his eyes lit up immediately: "Really! It's true!" He asked trembling nervously, "Son, where did you come from?" So much silver? Could it be that you are going to steal again..."

Feng Xiaoxue said: "Mother...don't think about it, your husband is not that kind of person!"

Yang Qiuchi took out the pawn ticket from his arms: "Mother, I pawned the tiger's skin I killed today for ten taels of silver. This is the pawn ticket. You take it. There are also five taels that I helped the county magistrate today. The master solved the case, the county magistrate rewarded me, and the remaining few taels were given to me by Song Zhixian's daughter."

Yang's mother was dubious, and squinted at Yang Qiuchi, hoping to see whether it was the truth from his eyes.

From Yang's mother's distrustful eyes, Yang Qiuchi understood that the disobedient person he replaced by resurrecting his body was not a good bird. He did everything by cheating and abducting, but his skills were not high, and he didn't get much money after all. Still living a poor life.

Yang Qiuchi looked at Yang's mother sincerely: "Mother, what I said is true, if you don't believe me, you can go to check the pawn ticket, you can ask the county magistrate or the policemen present at that time, and Song Yuner..."

Seeing that Yang Qiuchi was in a hurry, Yang's mother didn't seem to be cheating, so she hurriedly said: "Mother believes in you! Mother believes!" and took Yang Qiuchi's hand, "Son, mother is happy, my son is promising, How could mother not be happy!"

Feng Xiaoxue said: "Yes, mother, let's go home and have dinner. Husband has been tired all day."

"That's right! Look at me, I'm so confused!" Mother Yang laughed.Holding Yang Qiuchi's hand, he walked quickly to the house.

Not far from the entrance of the west city, there is a dilapidated house with narrow passages and piles of various messy things. Mother Yang and Xiaoxue walked along the alleys with ease, but Yang Qiuchi was not familiar with the terrain. With one foot lowered, he repeatedly bumped into things on the side of the road.

Feng Xiaoxue said: "Husband, follow me, so that you won't bump into me." Yang Qiuchi felt a little embarrassed, but he didn't want them both to worry, so he followed Xiaoxue carefully, and sure enough, all the way Go, barely knocked anything down.

After walking for a while, Xiaoxue let out a long sigh of relief: "I'm home!"

Yang Qiuchi stopped and looked up. In front of him was a dilapidated small courtyard, surrounded by a half-person-high fence made of branches of different lengths.Mother Yang pushed open the fence door, turned her head and said, "Son, come in quickly."

"Hey!" Yang Qiuchi agreed, and walked into the yard. The little black dog wagged its tail and followed Yang Qiuchi. Feng Xiaoxue entered the yard with the basket, and closed the fence gate with his hands back.

With the help of the neighbor's light not far away, Yang Qiuchi looked around.

The yard is small, but very flat and clean. There are two wooden houses in the middle. A small pile of firewood and a few boards are piled up at the corner, and two long wooden benches are placed beside them.Mother Yang went to the door, took out a key from her pocket, opened the door gropingly, turned her head and said, "Son, wait for mother to go in and light the lamp." stand up.

Yang Qiuchi walked into the room and looked around.This is a very small suite, with two rooms inside and outside, the outside one is a large water tank on the left hand side of the entrance, next to a simple stove, two black pots, one big and one small, covered with wooden pots.Next to it is a big table, which seems absurd, but it is actually a shelf made of two wooden boards and a few roots.There is a cutting board on it, and several bowls and chopsticks are neatly stacked beside it.

There was some firewood piled under the stove.There was a small low dining table in the center of the room, and an oil lamp was placed in the center, and the soybean-sized flame gave off a dim and soft light.Against the wall inside is a bed with patches on the thin quilt.The door leading to the inner room was closed, and a curtain of blue cloth washed white was hung on it.

Mother Yang took a small bench and handed it to Yang Qiuchi: "Son, sit down quickly, you are tired, mother will cook right away."

Feng Xiaoxue had already put the basket on the small dining table, brought out the big porcelain bowl of stewed tiger meat and put it on the table, when she heard Mother Yang talk about cooking, she quickly picked up the firewood and said, "Mom, let me do it."

Yang Qiuchi sat on the small bench, he was deeply shocked by the poverty of this family, and he has not yet recovered from the shock.

Feng Xiaoxue skillfully lit the fire, poured a ladle of water from the water tank into the pot, covered the pot with a lid, put a small porcelain pot on the chopping board, picked up a small half bag of rice next to it, and scooped it out of it. I took a scoop, thought about it, poured back a small half, and poured the rest into the basin, then scooped out half a scoop of chaff from another small bag, and was about to pour it into the basin. He made a major decision, poured the half scoop of coarse bran rice back into the bag, scooped half scoop of rice from the rice bag and poured it into the basin again.

Seeing her tossing back and forth, Yang Qiuchi asked in puzzlement, "Xiaoxue, what are you doing?"

Feng Xiaoxue was a little embarrassed: "You came back safely today, and my mother and I are very happy. Let's eat white rice today instead of bibimbap."

Mother Yang nodded: "Yes, I will eat white rice today."

When Yang Qiuchi heard this, tears were about to flow down. What kind of family is this? Even eating white rice has to go through a fierce ideological struggle.He waved to Feng Xiaoxue: "Come here!" Feng Xiaoxue looked at Yang Qiuchi suspiciously, put down the porcelain basin, took a stool and sat beside Yang Qiuchi.

Yang Qiuchi held the hands of Mother Yang and Feng Xiaoxue, blinked his moist eyes: "Mother, Xiaoxue, I swear, from today on, I will let you all eat white rice every day!"

Yang's mother patted the back of Yang Qiuchi's hand: "Okay, okay, as long as my son is promising! Mother is happy!..." She raised her sleeve and wiped her tears.

Feng Xiaoxue also looked at her husband happily. He has been married to Yang Yuzuo for almost four years, and he has not lived a good life. Yang Yuzuo has never had a good face towards her. After meeting someone, she treated herself much better, and became considerate, Feng Xiaoxue felt as if she was about to explode with joy in her heart.

Yang Qiuchi doesn't like to be sensational, seeing Yang's mother crying, he deliberately changed the topic: "Mother, what's my name?"

This question is so naive, but Mother Yang felt from this question that her son might be really scared this time, not only did he not recognize his mother and daughter-in-law, but he couldn't even remember his own name.Mother Yang said distressedly: "My son, you didn't go to school for a few days when you were young, so you didn't get a name. At that time, your father and I were afraid that you would not grow up, so we named you Yang Shitou. I hope you grow up well." Solid."

ah?Yang Shitou?Not much better than that dog leftover, Yang Qiuchi smiled wryly: "It's so ugly, I don't want it, I want to change my name!"

Yang's mother said: "Okay, change, what's the name?"

"Call it Yang Qiuchi, it's a good name."

Mother Yang thought for a while, and said: "This name is good, but it sounds very polite, we are ordinary people..."

"What's wrong with the common people? The common people can only be called Gousheng? Stone? I want to be called Yang Qiuchi!"

Feng Xiaoxue said: "Mother, the name my husband chose is nice, much better than the original one, so let's call it this name!"

Although Yang's mother felt that the name was too gentle and unsuitable for her son's status as an apprentice, but since the son liked it, the daughter-in-law also liked it, so she said, "Okay, I'll tell them tomorrow that you changed your name. .”

Yang Qiuchi asked again: "Mom, what happened to me?"

Seeing their mothers talking, Xiaoxue stood up to wash rice and cook.

Mother Yang wiped away her tears: "This morning you delivered the funeral for Wang Dahu's family. Not long after you left, someone came and said that not long after the funeral procession went up the mountain, a black wind blew you up into the air, and then disappeared. Yes. Your daughter-in-law and I thought you must have fallen to your death somewhere, and we cried so hard that day..." The words choked up again.

Feng Xiaoxue continued while washing rice: "Later, I heard that the arrester came to the house and said that you were back. My mother and I were so happy that we were going crazy, and my mother kept thanking God!"

Yang's mother nodded: "Yes, God has eyes, so our Yang family has no heir. If you leave without leaving a heir, I will, how can I feel sorry for your dead father!"

When Feng Xiaoxue heard this, her face turned pale, she lowered her head, and her drooping eyelashes flickered.

Yang Qiuchi asked: "Mother, how many years have Xiaoxue and I been married?"

"Four years!" Yang's mother sighed, "Xiaoxue has been unable to conceive a child, mother is going to die of anxiety."

(End of this chapter)