Chronicle of Farming in Muxianfu

Chapter 23
"Li Sheng? Ah, it's the birth of a son, and it's my son who sent a letter?!" The old lady took a while to realize, tears flowed from her eyes, and she reached out her hand to get the letter, but she was so trembling that she couldn't pick it up.

It's been seven or eight years, and this is the first time my son has sent a message back. Although the old lady usually doesn't say anything, she really misses it very much.She knows what kind of temperament her son is. She has been cowardly and bullied since she was a child. When she was almost 20 years old, she asked someone to marry him a daughter-in-law in a neighboring village.After getting married, the old lady occasionally heard her daughter-in-law yelling at her son, but she pretended not to hear it, thinking in her heart that her son was soft-tempered and had a powerful daughter-in-law. In the future, when the old couple left, they could also help support the family.As a result, the daughter-in-law gave birth to Shuan Shuan for the first time, and after a year, she couldn't make it through when she gave birth to the second child, and went to Huangquan with her unfavorable grandson.According to the rules handed down by the ancestors, such a dead body with two lives is regarded as a violent death, and cannot enter the ancestral grave, so it has to be burned and thrown into the river along the water.

The old man felt sorry for his grandson, and when he got angry, he followed him.Not two months later, the old lady hadn't calmed down yet, the recruiting in the city was poor, and her son was surprisingly tough, so he joined the army after being burdened. From then on, she was the only old woman left in the family who worked hard to support her little granddaughter. grow up.For so many years, she always wanted to find someone to visit her son, but her family was poor and couldn't afford the extra money for travel expenses.A few days ago, after hearing Mu Ai's explanation about planting rice next year, she was thinking that if she really made money, she would ask someone to go there. Unexpectedly, her son suddenly wrote a letter.

Mu Ai took out a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped the old lady's tears, and the third aunt also helped to persuade her.After a long while, the old lady calmed down a little. After taking the letter, she didn't open it right away.Instead, he asked the black and thin man, "My old lady will call you "auntie" because of you, so I ask you to call you "nephew, nephew, it's hard work for you to travel so far to deliver the letter. It's already noon, you must not have eaten." , my granddaughter is good at handicrafts, let her make you something to eat, and I will also write a letter to my son, and I will trouble you to bring it back, okay?"

The man cupped his fists and said boldly, "Ma'am, you don't have to be polite. We are brothers in the same barracks. It's easy to send a letter. I'm really hungry, so I'll bother you. If you have any reply, please wait." Write slowly, I will be on my way back from Kao City tomorrow."

"Okay, okay, nephew, take a break here. Xianxian, hurry up and make some food, remember to make more meat, your uncle ate meat, so he has the strength to go on his way." The old lady immediately got up .

Third Aunt Liu was also a wink, she hurriedly said that she was still busy at home, dragged the old lady to say a few words, and went back.

Mu Ai added another half pot of mung bean water to the uncle, and then followed into the old lady's room. The old lady was holding Shuan Shuan to wipe her tears, but the envelope was still intact. Mu Ai knew that she was waiting for her Read to her.

Without saying much, he took out the letter paper inside, glanced at it briefly, and frowned slightly, "My lord, please accept the worship of the unfilial child. Due to the inconvenience of transportation, I haven't communicated with my mother for several years, and I am worried about it. The son is unfilial. , when she was away from home for three years, she married Gu, a daughter of a good family. She has a son, who is only four years old, and she failed to report to her mother in time. The department wants to replace people over [-] years old, and my son is lucky to be one of them. I hope that I will return home with my wife and children at the end of the year, reunite with my mother, and fulfill my filial piety. I am very happy, and I will tell my mother. I hope my mother will be healthy. .

Sincerely, Unfilial Son Li Sheng

Hundred Flowers Calendar 430, August [-]th

After reading the letter, Mu Ai looked at Shuan Shuan, who was obviously forgotten by his father, still in a daze, while the old lady who heard that the Li family's incense would continue was already weeping with joy.She suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart... Sighed slightly in her heart, she should stop thinking about things that didn't happen, turn around and put down the letter and go out to cook. After all, she is an outsider. As for these housework, let the old lady take it easy Explain to Shuan Shuan.

Walking around in the kitchen, Mu Ai was thinking about what dishes to arrange. There were a lot of things in the space, but most of them couldn’t be taken out, so I could only cook a piece of spinach, mixed with shallots and tofu, and put it in the kitchen. A piece of fish was caught in the water pool and braised in brown sauce, and finally a braised pork was made.The staple food is pork pie, which is delicious and hungry.

When the old lady pulled Shuan Shuan out of the room, she had already placed the dishes on the stone table in the yard. There were trees in the shade to block the sun, and it was much cooler than the house.The old lady sat down to accompany the guests, and Mu Ai wanted to avoid suspicion according to the rules, so she took a quick bite in her room with Shuan Shuan.Thinking of the three people coming back home, the house will definitely not be enough to live in.When she first came, she was recuperating in the old lady's room, and the old lady had been squeezed into the same room with Shuan Shuan.After she recovered from her injury, she cleaned up the ear room where the sundries were kept and lived in it.By the end of the year, Shuan Shuan's room may have to be given over to his father and stepmother, so she will be squeezed into this small room with Shuan Shuan?

So building the house quickly and moving out became her urgent task.The blueprint of the house has to be sorted out quickly, and I have to make arrangements to go to Kao City again in these two days.

After the meal, Mu Ai swiftly cleaned up the dishes and saw that almost every dish was eaten. She smiled slightly. There is a saying in modern times that empty plates are the best compliment to a chef. These empty plates are Doesn't it mean that she is also a good cook.

The uncle who delivered the letter saw her smile and misunderstood that she was laughing that he ate too much, and his face was a little embarrassed. They were soldiers, they used to eat a lot, and today's dishes were so delicious, they ate them all before they knew it. "Ma'am, have you finished writing your old reply letter? I want to rush back to Kao City before dark."

"Ah, I don't need to write the letter. If it is convenient for the eldest nephew, I can help the old lady bring a message to my son, just say, I will wait for him to bring my eldest grandson back!" The old lady smiled when she mentioned her grandson.

The uncle who delivered the letter didn't delay, he got up and was about to leave and go on the road, Mu Ai hurriedly stopped him, went back to the kitchen and quickly filled a cloth bag with the extra pies he had prepared just now, took out two taels of silver from the space, and politely handed them out together give him.

Only then did the old lady remember that she was only interested in being happy and forgot to give others some hard-earned money.Thanks to the thoughtfulness of the granddaughter, when she saw that the guest refused to accept it, she just stuffed it in a package for him, and then sent him out the door with thanks.

The uncle who delivered the letter had no choice but to salute with his fists cupped, promising to bring the message with him, and flew away neatly on his horse...

On the official road leading to Kao City, Mu Ai was lazily lying on the bullock cart, watching the retreating scenery on both sides, and chatting with Er Niu about the house. She entered the city today, of course she still dressed as a man, so she She is not afraid that others will see her disorderly appearance at this time.As for Erniu, her honest and reliable image has already taken root in her heart. He has seen her turn rice out of thin air, and the sunflowers she planted grow a foot tall overnight, and he is not surprised at all. Normal people see it.

(End of this chapter)