Yoshida Mii

Chapter 11 Debt
Li's hand patted Dong Bao's back in shock and stayed in the air for a long time. Dong Bao stared fixedly at Li with his big black and white eyes. She offended the young master of the Wang family in the city. I will recommend her a job again. If she is asked to work as a maid again to earn money, she will have to sell it elsewhere.

"Then Chen Yazi is a kind person." After a long while, Li Shi said in a muffled voice, then patted Dong Bao on the back, and said in a low voice: "Don't tell your grandma about this, it's going to rot in your stomach, understand? ?”

Although Huang didn't plan to sell Dongbao, if she knew that Dongbao was driven back, she would have to lose her temper.

Dong Bao nodded, "I know, so I'll tell mother about it." Thinking of what happened at noon again, Dong Bao said: "Mother, you saw it when you were eating noodles at noon, and my second uncle and aunt wanted to sell it. Me, Da Mao is usually very stupid, he never thought of selling me to pay off his debts and buy him white flour buns, it must have been taught by his second uncle and aunt, and he said the words through Da Mao's mouth."

"Don't be afraid." Li Shi comforted, "Your mother is not confused, you have seen it too, she didn't answer."

Dong Bao didn't say a word. Although she didn't know that Huang's idea was to decide whether to sell her based on the harvest of this year's summer grain, the attitude of her second uncle and aunt made her feel vigilant.

"Mom, I mentioned a few words about my father today, and my grandma couldn't bear to sell me. She still misses my father's affection and remembers that he is her son. But my father is no longer here. After all, the dead are not as important as the living. The third uncle is here While studying, my second uncle gave birth to two grandchildren for her, if the family is in trouble, maybe she will listen to my second uncle and sell me for money!" Dong Bao said softly.

Song Xiucai is dead, but the family life has to continue, the second uncle's family is unwilling to pay debts, and the third uncle has to spend money to study. When these practical problems are put before Huang, for her son and grandson, life As the head of the family, the Huang family would definitely not care about the dead.

Li's eyes became flustered, "This... can't be, your grandma... you can't..." She couldn't continue, because Huang did have the idea of ​​selling Dongbao at one time, and she had a rare fight against it Once, Dong Bao was not sold after fighting with his life. It is really difficult to say what will happen in the future.

Dong Bao sighed in her heart. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that her future was bleak. The ancient countryside was beautiful and the environment was good, but her life was not good at all. The most important thing was that even the most basic personal rights were not guaranteed. As a slave, this life is probably over, life and death are not up to her.

She has been making tofu and selling tofu with her father since she was a child. Even when she first arrived here, she didn't have much fear. She has hands and feet, and the technology of making soy products. She believes that she can take Li with her wherever she goes. Live a good life.But the premise of all this is that she is an independent and free person. If she becomes a maid who sells herself into slavery, she may be beaten to death or resold if she says a wrong word, and everything will be out of the question.

If Mrs. Li had been more aggressive, aggressive, and unreasonable, she wouldn't have to worry so much. After all, Mrs. Li was her mother. If the mother disagreed, grandparents, grandparents, and second uncles could override her own mother to make the decision?But Li Shi didn't have a son, and the low self-esteem and depression accumulated over the years made her sensitive and cowardly. She was used to listening to the Song family. The price that should be paid for not giving birth to a son.

Mrs. Huang is also used to ignoring Mrs. Li's opinions. She doesn't regard Mrs. Li as a person at all. In her eyes, Mrs. Li is just a slave who works hard and only needs to be fed.If a slave owner sells a slave's daughter, does he need to ask the slave for his opinion?
"Nanny, what can't she do?" Dongbao said close to Li's ear, his voice was also full of fear, "Mother, you have to think of a way, if Nanny wants to betray me, it won't be like this time It's the same, if she wants to sell for more money, she will definitely not sell me to any good place."

Li Shi was completely panicked, her arms around Dong Bao trembled, tears fell from her eyes, and fell onto the pillow made of rags. She suddenly thought that her daughter was still so young, so she must be scared. This mother can't be afraid and cry again, doesn't it make the girl even more afraid.

"Don't be afraid." Mrs. Li gritted her teeth and said, "If she dares to betray you, mother will kneel at the door of the village chief's house, begging him to uphold justice, and mother will kneel at your aunt's house in Liu Lou, begging your aunt to come forward, your aunt He is a sensible person. Bao'er, don't worry, mother will guard you in this life, if she can't protect you, mother will die with you, it's not cheap for them!"

If Dongbao had something, she would not want to live anymore. This life is too bitter. If she couldn't let go of Dongbao in her heart, she would have jumped into the river at the entrance of the village. Maybe let her have a good pregnancy in her next life.

Dong Bao buried her face on Li Shi's thin shoulders, her nose was sore, and her tears couldn't help falling down. She thought, Li Shi is so cowardly, such a submissive person dares to fight to the death for his daughter, although Dong Bao was unfortunate enough to be born in With such a family, fortunately, she still has a mother who is dedicated to her.Dong Bao thought of her mother in her previous life. If she hadn't been so partial to her son and guarded against her daughter, she wouldn't have worked so hard just to catch her breath, which led to her passing away at a young age.

Now that I think about it, I am also ridiculous and pathetic. In order to make my eccentric mother look down on me, I worked desperately. Why bother? After dying once, she also figured it out. Life is only a few decades, so naturally she should cherish it. Time, try to love those who love yourself, as for those who don't see her in their eyes, there is no need to take them seriously.

"En." Dong Bao replied with a thick nasal voice, "I will not be separated from my mother either." Only at this meeting did she truly feel that she was Song Dongbao, a peasant girl.

Dong Bao thought of Huang's scolding Li, and always casually scolded her for having a crooked mind and wanting to leave the second house. The scolding was so harsh and ugly. In the final analysis, she was afraid of Li's remarriage.Dongbao is the granddaughter of the Song family and can't leave, but Li's husband can remarry after one year of filial piety, and the Song family can't stop her.Without Mrs. Li, the family would lose a labor force capable of holding up half the sky. It would be better to count on money falling from the sky than expecting Second Aunt Song to work.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid." Li Shi comforted Dong Bao, her own tears couldn't stop falling, but she didn't dare to let her daughter see it.

Dong Bao took a few deep breaths before gradually calming down the turbulent emotions in his heart. He suddenly remembered a practical question and asked, "Mother, how much do we owe him for doing things for Dad?"

Mrs. Li didn't expect her daughter to ask this suddenly, and she felt relieved. Her daughter was old enough to worry about family affairs, so she told Dong Bao seriously. She remembered these debts clearly and would write them every day. It flashed through my mind countless times, she is an honest person, and she always feels uneasy when she owes money to others, "I owe four taels of silver and three taels of silver in total. , a tael of silver from your sister-in-law Hehua's house, and two shillings from your uncle's house..."

No matter how poor Dongbao's father was, she was still a scholar, and the funeral was too shabby. Excluding the gift money she received, she still owed a lot of debts.There are no rich people in Tagouji, and the four taels of silver and three hanging money are borrowed from many families. In the eyes of the honest and kind Li, borrowing money is a small matter, and the debt of favor is the most difficult. Return it.

For the penniless Dong Bao and Li Shi, it is really a huge debt. For the two rural women who only know how to farm and work, they really don't know How to pay back the money.

Dong Bao thought about it silently, and asked suspiciously: "Mother, my grandma didn't pay a penny for my father's work? Is it all borrowed money?" No way, even if the scholar's father didn't sit in the restaurant these years, There is also a fixed income for a month to give to Huang's. How come he is at the end of his life, and even borrowed money for his own funeral.

Mrs. Li also has doubts in her heart, but she has no right to speak in the Song family. On the surface, Mrs. Huang said that she is tight and has no money. The third son of the Song family who was studying in the town had no money to study and had to go home.However, Mrs. Li was used to obedience, and she didn't dare to question her mother-in-law. After hesitating, she whispered to Dong Bao: "Your third uncle is studying in the town, and his board and lodging are all in the town. It costs a lot of money. Your grandma let him Concentrate on studying and never let him worry about money, your father failed the exam, your grandma thinks that your father is worrying about family affairs and distracted from studying."

It seems that Huang is determined to confess a champion, otherwise he will not give up!Dong Bao pouted, and there was nothing wrong with investing in their children's education, but with the absence of Xiucai's father, the Song family lost their biggest source of income and had to sell their daughters to pay off their debts. Dong Bao scoffed when he wanted to support Uncle Song to study.

Seeing that Dong Bao remained silent, Li thought she was worried about the family's debt situation, so she patted Dong Bao's back with a smile, "What do you worry about as a child? Mother worked hard for two years, the first two years Heavens, your grandma bought two piglets on credit, and my mother will raise the pigs well, and when the pigs are sold in the twelfth lunar month, the money will be earned back."

What Li said lightly, Dongbao knew in his heart that money is not so easy to earn for farmers. Farming has to pay taxes. In this era, the yield per mu is low, and working hard for a year is just barely making ends meet. Besides, the Song family has a lot of land and little land, making life difficult.Raising pigs is even more difficult. Pigs also need to eat, and they have to beware of pigs getting sick. Once they get sick, the initial investment will be in vain.

"Mother never thought of doing business to make money?" Dong Bao asked tentatively. She didn't dare to say directly that she wanted to sell tofu to make money. In Dong Bao's memory, no one in the whole Tagouji made tofu. The little girl never If you have been out of the village, how can you know how to make tofu?

(End of this chapter)