Chronicle of Farming in Muxianfu

Chapter 53 A Well-off Life
Sitting on the wooden chair at the door, Wen Bo saw the carriage approaching from a distance in the afterglow of the setting sun. The wrinkles on his old face were smiling like a blooming chrysanthemum. He hurried in and went to the big kitchen to announce that dinner was ready.Aunt Guo was busy leading the three little girls, Xiao Qing and Miao Miao worked together to bring down the steamed bun drawer from the cauldron, the white, fat and cute big steamed buns were densely packed into the drawer cage, just looking at it made people drool , Xiaoan washed her hands early, took a wicker basket, quickly picked out the steamed buns, touched her earlobe from time to time, relieved the burning fingers, bared her teeth and cracked her mouth, making the two of them go to wash the vegetables again. The girl giggled.Aunt Guo was stir-frying the bean sprouts in the big pot, sighing in her heart, Madam is smart, soak a pot of soybeans overnight, grind them, filter them, boil them, sprinkle some stone powder, and it becomes smooth and smooth. Delicious tofu nao, squeeze out the water from the upper mold to make tofu, and then compact it to make tofu.But if you put it in a warm place and water it several times, white, fat and slender bean sprouts will grow. Cut a few slices of fat meat and stir-fry it. I'm worried.She thought so in her heart, but the actions of her subordinates did not delay at all. Guessing that the heat was almost ready, she waved the shovel a few times and put the vegetables into the big basin.With the stewed cabbage, tofu and pork belly just now, and the bubbling bone soup on the big stove next to it, a sumptuous dinner is ready.

No matter how many people can eat this kind of food a few times a year, she cooks three meals a day. Occasionally, she can't help but feel sorry for Madam when she calculates the monthly expenses for just one item of food. , not to mention the large quantities of fabrics and various daily necessities purchased every season...

Aunt Guo shook her head, beckoning the maids to quickly set the table and chopsticks.I was thinking about telling everyone to do more for my wife, and I should be more serious when I practice calligraphy at night, maybe I can help my wife share more things in the future.

Qiufen was also busy in the small kitchen, and Xia Zhi was helping her while reciting formulas.

Since returning from buying books, pens and ink, Mu Ai called the whole house together, and announced that Butler Guo would be the teacher, and the East Wing would be used as a school. Every day after dinner, half an hour would teach calligraphy and half an hour would teach simple arithmetic.She originally had the idea that everyone would be able to write their own names, and that it would take only a short time to handle the silver.Unexpectedly, everyone's enthusiasm was so high that they were reluctant to use the Four Treasures of the Study. They folded tree branches to make pens, and filled wooden trays with sand to make paper.

After two consecutive months like this, even if the field started to get busy, no one proposed to stop studying at night.Mu Ai is very happy. Although she doesn't know why everyone is so enthusiastic about learning, she has studied for more than ten years, and the impression that "children who love learning should be rewarded" is deeply rooted in her heart.So, the night before yesterday, I told the housekeeper to take a surprise test.

Except for Ouyang himself who was illiterate, the nine men, including Wen Bo, could read more than 100 characters on average, adding and subtracting within [-] was not a problem.Mu Ai originally thought that Ah Da and Ah Er were a bit clumsy and might not have any good results, but they were not much worse than the others. Later, the housekeeper explained her confusion. It turned out that the two of them supervised each other to practice whenever they had time every day. Writing, talking about how to become a learned person after being literate, and it is easy to find a daughter-in-law.This idea made Mu Ai dumbfounded, but she was in a good mood, what a simple and straightforward person, they must choose their daughter-in-law carefully in the future, otherwise, they will really be a shrew, and the two of them will not be bullied to death.In terms of being top-notch, among the nine, Mu San was the best in arithmetic, and his calculation speed within a hundred was very fast. Mu Liu knew the most characters, reaching more than two hundred, which is quite good.As for the female side, the average level is similar to that of the male side. Among them, the winter solstice is the best in arithmetic, and Xiao Miao can read a lot of characters.

As soon as Mu Ai was happy, she gave each of Mu San Mu Liu [-] Wen, Dong Zhi and Xiao Miao each a piece of cotton cloth, and they were allowed to choose the color from the storeroom, and the rest of them were also rewarded with a bowl of braised pork.This made everyone who was a little discouraged because they didn't get the prize immediately laughed, especially the two brothers Ah Da and Ah Er. They have great strength, and of course they eat a lot. Every time I think about it, my mouth waters. The taste is so delicious. Thinking that I can eat it again tomorrow, how can I be unhappy.Among these people, only Xia Zhi was unconvinced, and complained angrily that she was too nervous and didn't perform well. Mu Ai knew that she was too hot-tempered, so she smiled and promised her that if she came out on top next time, she would be rewarded with an extra piece of fabric.So, in the past few days, she has been chanting the words she has learned or practicing counting whenever she has time.

Autumn Equinox listened to her chanting, secretly chuckled, Xia Zhi saw it, blushed, and shouted coquettishly, "Dead Autumn Equinox, you are laughing at me again. I won't tell you when I get the fabric."

"Okay, okay, my good sister, my sister, I was wrong, I must firmly support my sister's study, and I will never dare again, okay?" Autumn Equinox coaxed her, but her eyes were looking at the pot Soup.This fish head tofu soup was taught to her by my wife a few days ago, and she will teach it to the chef in the restaurant when she is going to Xiao's mansion in half a month, so every time she makes it, she pays close attention to the small details such as the heat.

Xia Zhi knew that the work in her hands was important, so she didn't bother her any more. He picked up the bowls and chopsticks to be used for a while and scalded them with hot water. Madam was very concerned about eating. Dead mice, and haven't eaten much for two days.Only then did the whole house know the reason for the last hunger strike. Steward Guo waved his hand and led everyone in the house to search the courtyard within [-] meters until he was sure that there was nothing stolen.Since then, several people have been more careful to keep clean, eating and utensils are even more careful.

In the study room, Mu Ai stretched her waist in a long and unremarkable way, lying on the table for too long to flip through books, her neck and shoulders were a little sore.Chun Equinox, who was sitting across from her writing a pen, had long been used to seeing his wife like this, and did not show any surprise, but still carefully checked the records in his hand with a gentle expression.In the past few days, Madam asked Xia Zhi, Autumn Equinox, and Winter Solstice to help pick rice seeds when she was free, and then pulled herself to start sorting out the planting techniques of several new vegetables to be planted.Madam took the book she couldn't understand to read, and she was responsible for copying down the sentences Madam asked.Counting the dozens of cards in hand now, there are nearly [-] cards in total.She would read it over and over again every night, and would ask Madam if she didn't understand, just because she was worried that unnecessary mistakes would be made, because these are the things that Steward Guo will refer to when leading people to farm in the future, and she must not deal with them carelessly.

(End of this chapter)