farmer's little girl

Chapter 105 Buying Someone, Leaving Again

Zhou Jin only stayed at home for one day before returning to the county.

He was worried about Lu Jiaoyue's return to report her safety, but Mei Zhuangyi was still in the county, so he couldn't be left alone.

The grains brought back this time were still sold to several grain companies that we cooperated with last time. As for the silks, satins, tea leaves and other things that Mei Zhuangyi brought back this time, because Qi Chunshang and Liu Congfa threaded them, I am not afraid that they will not be found. next home.

For many days, Zhou Jin left early and returned late every day.In fact, in the past, he would probably stay in the county, and would not come back until he was busy for a while, but now that Lu Jiaoyue is pregnant, he is really worried, so he can only run around every day.

Although it is okay to leave the daughter-in-law at her natal home, but Zhou Jin always feels that it is not good to have troubled the old father-in-law's family for so long before and now that he has come back.Mei Zhuangyi was also very happy to learn that his niece was pregnant, so he shared most of the tasks so that Zhou Jin could go back to accompany his wife when he had time.

The days went on like this day by day, busy and fulfilling, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Finally, before Futian, Zhou Jin and Mei Zhuangyi sold all the goods in their hands.

This time, they earned more money than last time. Before going out this time, because of the previous experience, Hu San and the others took out their wealth and joined the team.Except for those who gave too much to Hu San, the two of them divided equally, and each of them could get almost 2000 taels of silver.

Holding a thick stack of bank notes, Lu Jiaoyue was a little restless.

She has never seen so much silver!
It feels unsafe to put it in the kang cabinet, and it feels uneasy to put it in my own dowry.Sitting on the sidelines, Zhou Jin watched his daughter-in-law amusedly wandering around the house, trying to find a suitable place to put the silver, so he couldn't help but walk up to her and said, "Okay, don't bother, I'll find a place for you."

Then he moved the footrest in front of the kang, exposing a piece of ground under the footstep.When repairing the house before, Zhou Jin specially asked someone to lay a layer of bluestone bricks in the house, so that you don’t have to worry about getting mud on your feet, and the ground in the house is dusty every day.

At this time, there were two small holes in the ground, Lu Jiaoyue didn't understand what it meant at first, until Zhou Jin stretched out two fingers, inserted them into the two small holes, lifted up gently, and lifted a A square hole is exposed on the bluestone bricks.

The hole was also made of bluestone bricks, and was separated by wooden boards to prevent moisture. Lu Jiaoyue didn't know that there was such a place in her home.

"When the house was being repaired before, my eldest brother said that there are usually several such hidden compartments in the homes of wealthy households to store important things. He helped to make this place at the beginning, and only he and I knew about it. Before Because there is nothing important at home, I forgot to tell you about it, and you will put the land deed and bank notes at home here."

The hidden compartment is one foot square, just enough to fit a small box.

Seeing this, Lu Jiaoyue couldn't help smiling, "Brother really thinks that this place is the best place to hide things."

As she said that, she turned around and carried out the small box that usually put the money out of the kang cabinet, put the money bills in neatly, locked it, and carried it away again to put it away.

Zhou Jin saw that she was bending over to let her go, so he quickly grabbed her, "I'll do it, you're not afraid of showing off."

Lu Jiaoyue smiled awkwardly, she was impatient for a while, but she forgot about it.

Zhou Jin put the small box in, put the bluestone bricks covering it back, and put the pedals in place, then straightened up, and said apologetically, "But you won't save this money for long. Uncle has to go to the south, and then he will use it to make capital."

"Go again? Isn't it the only trip this year?"

"Zhuang Yi wants to take advantage of the good year and make another trip, so that he can live a stable year at home when he comes back." In fact, Zhou Jin did not tell the truth. The reason why Mei Zhuangyi is so active is because A new partner has been added.

Regarding the partnership with Wang Yao, Zhou Jin was noncommittal, but he and Mei Zhuangyi had already discussed it, so let's see the situation first.They are not fools, and it is impossible to trust each other just by a few words from others. The trust between people needs to be established little by little. Before he and Zhou Jin can really trust Wang Yao, precautions are inevitable.

So Zhou Jin had to go on this trip, he was worried that Mei Zhuangyi was alone.

Now that the partnership intention has been decided, the next step is how to partner.

Because the capital in their hands is limited and cannot be compared with those big merchants, Wang Yao can't afford much capital except for people and ships, so what they have to do now is to slowly accumulate with what they have now. capital.Mei Zhuangyi came up with the idea that he and Zhou Jinchao would take the lead in bringing merchants from the north to the south to sell goods, and they would get a lot of money from it, and sell some goods back along the way.In this way, both ends can make money, and it is just around the corner to put aside others and do it alone.

Zhou Jin now has only a half-knowledge about business matters, and Wang Yao is a complete layman, so naturally he can only listen to Mei Zhuangyi, and what he said is indeed quite reasonable.Therefore, Zhou Jin might not be able to stay at home for a long time, and after about half a month, he will go out again.

"I should be able to come back soon after going out this time. I am familiar with the way. I will definitely come back before you give birth, but I am afraid I will wrong you." After a pause, Zhou Jin explained: "It's hard work. In the past two years, when the road runs smoothly, I will stay with you at home from now on..."

Lu Jiaoyue felt a little uncomfortable, so she didn't speak.

I can understand it, and I can understand it, but I still feel very reluctant in my heart after all.In fact, sometimes a woman's heart is really small, she doesn't need to be rich, she doesn't need rich clothes and good food, she just needs a man who can accompany her every day and be safe and secure.But how can everything go well in the world, men have ambitions and ideals, but as a wife, how can they cut off his wings, Dapeng is wrong, but she wants to let him be a sparrow.

Zhou Jin took her into his arms, followed her back comfortingly, and said with a wry smile: "Actually, I don't have much ambition. In my early years, I lived a muddle-headed life with no goals, no ambitions, and no tomorrow after today. So All I thought about was not to be hungry, and to support my sister so that she would not be angered by her in-laws. Later, with my own efforts, my sister's life became better and better, and I gradually didn't want to think about it, but there were so many people around me. A group of brothers who have to eat and support their families, just want everyone to support their families together..."

"I'm not as good as your little uncle. He seems to be careless, but in fact he has a lot of ideas in his heart. I went out to do business with him these two times. I met a lot and encountered a lot of things. Only then did I discover the outside world. It’s so wonderful. I will be a father in the future, and we will have many children. I just want the children to ask me, Dad, what is it like outside? The child and I will suffer in the future, so I have to make more money while I am young. When our child grows up, I will live in the country with you, a small landlord, and live a stable life. As for the outside world, it is up to them Go wandering..."

That afternoon, Zhou Jin talked a lot, and Lu Jiaoyue just quietly leaned in his arms and listened to him.

Hearing his vision and plans for the future, listening to him tell his own thoughts, and even hearing a lot of Zhou Jin's things that she didn't know before, she also heard a lot today.

My restless heart gradually calmed down.The blueprint for the future is so beautiful, what she should do is to work hard with him to create a happy future.

Knowing that her son-in-law will leave again in a while, Mei felt a little uncomfortable.

This daughter-in-law is pregnant, and the man is running around outside without accompanying her. Does she still look like a husband and a father?

But Mrs. Mei will definitely not say this in person, and can only be depressed in her heart.

Mei Shi is a person who can't hide her emotions, and everyone can see her displeasure.Due to guilt, Zhou Jin couldn't say anything, so he could only curry favor with his mother-in-law.Lu Jiaoyue was also quite guilty, because when the man talked about this in front of his family, she helped him to speak, and her mother's face turned dark at that time.

As for Lu Guangyi and Guiya, they could only worry on the sidelines. After all, this is a matter of the younger sister's family, and besides Lu Guangyi who can understand, Guiya actually doesn't understand.You can't wait for the child to be born for anything, and you have to let the daughter-in-law at home be pregnant with Liujia, and you have to worry about his outside affairs, and it's not a lack of money.

Therefore, men and women are born with different ideas and different positions.

Lu Minghai is on the side of the son-in-law, and he is also a man.

"That's why you women are petty. If Jinzi stays by Yue'er's side all day, but you can't make a big fortune, I guess you don't want it even more." When the couple were alone, Lu Minghai said this to Mei. explain.

"I wish he could be by our daughter's side, and live a poorer life." Mei insisted.

Lu Minghai glanced at her, "Yes, if you are poor, you will be poor. From now on, other people's daughters-in-law will wear gold and silver, and your girl will wear coarse clothes. They will eat sweets and spicy food, and your girl will eat bran and swallow vegetables. Their grandsons will go to school. After studying, you will have great abilities, and your grandson will spend his whole life facing the loess and the sky with his face planing in the fields."

Mei said in a huff: "Can you speak?"

"Am I wrong? It's rare that Jinzi is meticulous and considerate, and he is kind to our daughter. He is still a self-motivated person. Do you want your son-in-law to be like the mangy king in the village? He knows how to rub his teeth all day long. Shaking around, not doing business and sneaking around to harm neighbors, daughter-in-law ran away hungry, and the children in the family are like little beggars?"

Well, now Mrs. Mei stopped talking.

Compared with Wang Laizi, Mei suddenly felt that her son-in-law didn't know how much better he was.

"But Yue'er's belly is so big."

"Didn't they say that they must come back before Yue'er gives birth? Besides, can he help Yue'er give birth by staying at home? If you are worried about your daughter, didn't we take good care of her before?"

Mei shrugged her lower lip and stood up, "You can say everything, I'm too lazy to talk to you."

That being said, when eating at night, Mei specially made two dishes that Zhou Jin likes to eat.

Is it sunny?
The following young people looked at each other, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.Mei's is now the barometer of Erfang's family. If she is unhappy, the whole family will feel bad about it.

Two days later, Zhou Jin came back with a woman and a little girl.

When Lu Jiaoyue asked, she realized that this was Zhou Jinmai who came back to serve her.

Zhou Jin has long wanted to buy someone for his family, anyway, the family is not short of money, and it's not that they can't afford someone to take care of their daughter-in-law.But firstly, it was in the countryside, so it was a bit eye-catching to buy someone to wait on, and secondly, I was too busy to forget about it.Now that he was about to travel far away, he couldn't always rely on his mother-in-law to take care of his pregnant daughter-in-law. The mother-in-law's family also had a lot of work to do, so he went to the county to buy two people back.

Looking at the old and the young, Lu Jiaoyue couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed, and said to Zhou Jin, "I'm not a rich young lady, how can I have someone to wait for me!" She has lived two lifetimes, and she has never bought anyone to wait for her. In the previous life, after Du Lian passed the Jinshi examination, although there were two people in his family who served him, those two people were hired, and they were not serving her, they were both serving Du Lian and Widow Du.

These two people were very knowledgeable, seeing that the daughter-in-law of the master's family did not want them, they immediately knelt down with a plop and begged Lu Jiaoyue to give them something to eat.

They are all hard-working people, and no one would sell themselves if they had no other choice.

The old and the young are grandparents and grandchildren, the old woman's husband's family name is Cheng, and the little girl is her granddaughter, named Xiaocao.The two originally had a happy family, but an accident took the lives of Mrs. Cheng's son and daughter-in-law. Mrs. Cheng's old man couldn't bear the blow and fell ill immediately.

This illness has dragged on for several months. They are all countrymen, and their families are not rich, so how can they bear this.After spending almost all the money in the family, the old man Cheng was not spared, leaving behind his grandparents and grandchildren.

Mrs. Cheng first experienced the pain of losing her son and daughter-in-law, and then lost her husband. Without her granddaughter, she would not be able to survive, and wished she could leave with the old man right away.But the granddaughter is still young, so she can only hold on.

At first, I thought that this was already miserable enough, but I didn't know that the house was leaking and it was raining all night. Seeing that the Cheng family had no men, several uncles of Mrs. Cheng came to the door.It's beautiful to hear that she wants to take care of her grandparents and grandchildren, but after getting the Cheng family's house and land, she turned around and kicked them out.

The grandfather and grandson wandered outside for many days. Seeing that they were about to starve to death, Mrs. Cheng took her granddaughter to a dental shop and sold herself.There is very little money for selling herself, but on one condition, she wants to stay with her granddaughter.

Looking at the old and young at the dental shop, it was quite a headache at first, but Zhou just came in to buy people.I don’t want anyone who is too young, or someone with inflexible hands and feet, or someone who thinks too much, it’s better to be honest and willing to work. Anyway, they live in the country, and he didn’t point out what kind of dexterous person he wants to find for his wife, as long as there is no extra. It would be great if I could help the mother-in-law take care of the daughter-in-law.

Zhou Jin has stayed in the county for a long time, and he knows that some people's minds cannot be suppressed by a contract of selling their lives. If he has time at home, he can naturally teach himself.But now he can't stay at home for too long, so he still has to pick something that suits him.

So Yaxing brought the grandfather and grandson out, and Zhou Jin saw that it was quite suitable.Although Mrs. Cheng is a bit older, her hands and feet are quite flexible, especially since Lu Jiaoyue is pregnant, and she needs such an elderly woman to watch by her side.Although the little girl was a little younger, she was almost ten years old, and it was okay to help with odd jobs, so she bought the two of them.

After hearing this, Lu Jiaoyue sighed endlessly.

"In the future, if there is anything at home, let the two of them do it. Don't bother our mother all the time. Our parents also have a lot of things to do, and there is still such a big mess at home." Zhou Jin said after letting Cheng's mother-in-law, grandson and grandson go out .

Lu Jiaoyue nodded.

"Don't be too soft-faced, do what you need to do. I bought people to use for you, not to be your ancestors. You should know that if they don't come to our house, they won't be too easy elsewhere. If it weren't for this I happened to go there this time, and the dental shop will probably drive them away." The dental shop is not just in charge of people's meals, and this old and small shop is obviously not easy to sell, so how can they stay for a long time.

Seeing the man's attention to detail, Lu Jiaoyue laughed a little and said, "I'm not a child, I understand this."

Zhou Jin nodded her little nose, "I know you understand, but I also know your character, soft-hearted, thin-skinned. You must know that people's hearts are unpredictable. At first you gave in because you were polite, but after a long time, you will let them I don’t know where I am. You shouldn’t be unclear about the truth of Sheng Mi’s kindness and Mi’s hatred. I told you their specific situation to let you know that without our family, they would be living on the streets. It’s not for people to sympathize of."

Lu Jiaoyue nodded repeatedly, "I understand, I understand."

"Well, these two people will be under your control from now on." Zhou Jin thought to himself that even if his daughter-in-law couldn't stand up, he would still be able to watch over him for the time being.

It's not that Zhou Jin's grass and trees are all soldiers, but that Lu Jiaoyue is not the same as usual, he really can't let go.At the same time, I want to go to my mother-in-law later and explain that although the old father-in-law and his family are kind, none of them are stupid.Especially Gui Ya and Lu Guangzhi, with these two people helping to watch, Zhou Jin was very relieved.

Soon the couple in the second room knew that Zhou Jin had bought someone for the family. Although they felt somewhat uncomfortable, the person had already been bought back, so they couldn't give it away.

Especially these days, buying a person is like buying land. It is a private property right. Only rich families can buy someone to take care of themselves. The son-in-law can buy someone to take care of his daughter. The second-bedroom couple are also very happy.

That's why Zhou Jin mentioned the matter in the middle, and Mrs. Mei agreed immediately, patted her chest to reassure her son-in-law.

The two men exchanged glances. For other aspects, Mei Shi is really reassuring, but for the matter of people's hearts——

After that, Zhou Jin took the trouble to mention it to Lu Guangyi and his wife, and also to Lu Guangzhi, and then he was about to set off.

On the day of departure, according to the old practice, Zhou Jin left while watching Lu Jiaoyue fall asleep.After Lu Jiaoyue woke up, seeing Cheng's mother-in-law, grandson and grandson looking at her worriedly, she immediately understood.

After all, she had the experience from last time, but she didn't cry out, but her heart was heavy for several days.

After Zhou Jin left this time, Lu Jiaoyue did not move back to the second room.

After all, she is a married girl, how could she stay in her mother's house all the time, before Zhou Jin was not at home, and Lu Jiaoyue was pregnant again, so no one took care of her.Now that the family has bought two people, the grandfather and grandson seem to be honest and hardworking people, so Lu Jiaoyue doesn't plan to go back to her mother's house.

Mrs. Cheng is really diligent, she is a good hand inside and out, and she has winks, she doesn't need Lu Jiaoyue to order anything, she just does it herself.Although the grass man is thinner and cannot do heavy work, he can still do some small chores.

In particular, Mrs. Cheng is good at cooking at the stove, and she can cook all kinds of food at her fingertips, no worse than Mei's at all.Lu Jiaoyue especially likes to eat her small wontons in chicken soup, and she can eat a big bowl in one meal.And the cat ears she made are also delicious. Knead the noodles and pinch them into cat ears the size of a fingernail. Deep-fry the onion and ginger in a pan. After the water boils, throw the cat ears in.When the pot is about to start, chop up the leaves of the green vegetables and put them in, and add a few drops of sesame oil. It tastes light and delicious, and it also nourishes the stomach.

In fact, cat’s ears are a unique food in the north. It takes a little effort to make them delicious, and the noodles must be neither soft nor hard.The owl ears made by some people taste no different from gnocchi soup, without the strength of the idea, the taste will be much worse.

In this way, being raised by Cheng's mother in different ways every day, although Lu Jiaoyue seldom went to Erfang's house for dinner, her complexion became better and better.Whether this pregnant woman is well-fed can be seen from her face. For example, there are some young daughters-in-law in the village who have to go to work in the fields when they are pregnant. No one cares about what they eat every day. It is considered good if they can eat an egg on weekdays. That's right, he has a yellow skin and thin skin, and his face is gray and gloomy.

And Lu Jiao ate differently every day, her whole face looked rosy, rosy, and she was well-fed.

They are also pregnant, why is it that I am much worse than others?
Qiu Cuihe looked at Lu Jiaoyue, her eyes couldn't stop being sour.

The reason why the two met was also related to the matter of serving wine at Lizheng's house.

Lizheng is highly respected in Daxi Village, he is kind, and he is not partial or selfish. People in the village will give him a thumbs up when they mention him, saying that it is a blessing for the whole village to have a good Lizheng in their village stall.

No, the little grandson of Lizheng's family, Manyue, naturally wanted to set up wine, and everyone from the whole village came.

Zhou Jin was not at home, so Lu Jiaoyue, as the daughter-in-law of the Zhou family, naturally wanted to visit.You must know that when Zhou came to Daxi Village to settle down, Lizheng neither used an official tone nor made things difficult for him. He did everything he could to help.At this time, don't say that you need to give a big gift, you have to do the scene that should be done.

Today, Lizheng's house is very lively, and there are people in and out of the yard.

Lu Jiaoyue had a big belly, and the head of the Zhou family seemed capable, so Li Zheng's eldest daughter-in-law welcomed her into the house.

Before coming here, Lu Jiaoyue had already thought about what kind of gift to follow, it was too simple to offer, Zhou Jin had long said that she would like to thank Li Zheng, but never took the opportunity.But it's too eye-catching, maybe there will be those shallow-sighted people talking about the Zhou family's dog legs and fawning on Li Zhengjia.

After thinking about it, Lu Jiaoyue chose a piece of fabric that Zhou Jin had brought back from the south this time, and made a whole body of clothes for Li Zheng's little grandson who just turned one month old.

The bright red Shoulu gold-patterned satin is smooth to the touch. On it is a small dress with slanted breasts and buttons, and below it is matched with a pair of small trousers of the same color.Not only are there some that are being worn at this time, but also a set of exactly the same little padded jacket and padded trousers, so that they can be worn after autumn.

Seeing these two small clothes, Cai Shi, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Lizheng family, who is also the mother of the little baby in the full moon today, smiled until her eyes narrowed.While touching it, she praised Lu Jiaoyue for her good craftsmanship.It's really good, the clothes are not too big, they are very delicately made, where in the countryside can a baby boy have such small clothes.

And carefully, as the daughter-in-law of Lizheng's family, her vision is naturally not like that of ordinary country women.It's not that I haven't seen good fabrics before, the key is Lu Jiaoyue's hard work.It's hot now, so I'm wearing this thin suit. When it's cold, I'll just put on the padded jacket and padded trousers.Especially the little padded jacket and padded trousers look bigger than the ones you are wearing now. People who don't care will not do this.

"Jiaoyue, thank you very much. The clothes are really well made. Ordinary people don't have such good craftsmanship. I have heard people say that you have good needlework. I just heard about it before, but now I can see it. These clothes are really not bad compared to those sold in the embroidery workshop in the county." When he said the last sentence, Mrs. Cai looked at the other people in the room and said.

(End of this chapter)