Rebirth Farmhouse

Chapter 121

After breakfast that day, Mrs. Liu took Xiurong to the market to buy chopsticks and other daily necessities, and let Liuxu lead Xiuqin and Xiuyao to rub eyes, spin yarn, and weave gloves at home.

Mrs. Liu thinks those gloves are very good, it is too cold in winter, wearing them can keep you warm when working, especially for those men who go out to repair rivers and dig canals, she wants to weave a few pairs to send to Daye and Ergui when the time comes .In such a cold day, they must have frozen their hands again. In previous years, they would bleed from the cracks every time, which made people feel distressed.

When Mrs. Liu took the third sister out, Xiuyao helped the eldest sister get some cotton, looked at it, and came back and said, "Elder sister, there is not much lint left, we have to gin and pop the cotton."

Xiuqin said: "Let's go to Third Grandpa's house to gin and pop cotton."

Farmers are slack in winter, and most people will try their best to find something to do.Some weaved mats and cattail socks like old Qintou and Qin Dafu, others weaved all day long like catkins, and others embroidered like Liu Shi.There is also Lao Liu's family who help people turn the mill, and the third grandfather's family who help people gin and pluck cotton for extra money.Anyway, hard-working people don't want to be idle, and try to find something to do.

Xiuyao and Xiuqin packed two bags of cotton, Xiuqin carried them, and they went to the third grandpa's house.

The third grandfather lived in the northwest of the village. When the two went there, the third grandfather was ginning cotton seeds, the third grandmother was rubbing her eyes, and the whole family was helping.

The two sisters said hello respectively, and then put the cotton down.

They are familiar with the rules of ginning and popping cotton, which is similar to that of a mill. If you don't want to spend money, you can use cotton as the top.Anyway, the third grandpa's family is just idle and looking for something to do, so that they can help people gin and pop cotton, and earn some money, but the income is not much. Hurrah is inconvenient.

Xiuyao said to Xiuqin: "Sister, you go home, I'll just wait here."

Xiuqin looked at it and said, "Alright, I'll go back to spinning, and when you're done, call me at home."

Qin Tian, ​​the third grandpa's grandson, said: "It's okay, sister Xiuqin, go back, I'll send you there later."

Xiuyao still wanted to stay, she wanted to see how cotton seeds were ginned and flicked in ancient times, she said to Xiuqin: "Sister, go home, I want to play here for a while."

It was rare for Xiuqin to listen to her little sister talking about playing games, she smiled and said: "That's also good." After talking, she walked back on the snow first.

Xiuyao saw a hand-made machine for ginning cotton seeds in Grandpa San's house, and it was operated by a single person. She was very interested and went over to check.

The third grandfather operates a very simple hand-made machine. There are two shafts on the wooden frame, the upper one is controlled by the right crank, and the lower one is controlled by the left pedal.When the right hand and left foot move at the same time, the upper axis and the lower curved board will move in the opposite direction.Then he fed the cotton in with his left hand, and crushed it with two shafts. The cotton seeds fell into the inner basket, and the cotton fell into the outer basket.

Xiuyao had fun watching it, but she found problems when she watched it. First, she looked tired, and second, her speed was a bit slow.

The third grandfather glanced at her and said with a smile: "Yaoyao, it's such a cold day, go home and wait, the kang is so warm with a quilt."

Xiuyao smiled and said, "Third Grandpa, I see you are ginning cotton. It's quite fun. It's okay. I'll wait."

The third grandpa smiled and said: "Then you have to wait. I'll give you the rubbing after this. Your two bags must weigh at least [-] to [-] catties. It will take several days."

"Ah? How many days?" Xiuyao was taken aback when she heard this, she didn't expect it to be so slow!

The third grandpa said: "It's not what it is. My rattling in such a day is less than ten catties. Why, is it waiting to be used at home?"

Xiuyao shook her head quickly, "No, I still have some at home, I just want to spin some for a while." The lint is light, and there are still a bunch of twisted eyes at home, and my sister's spinning can also be used for a while.

She was just surprised that the work efficiency was so low. She didn't believe that the ancient cotton gins with large hydraulic spinning wheels and looms would be so backward, and she always felt that there was something wrong.

"Third Grandpa, is there any family that can gin cotton with several people, and the cotton can be ginned quickly and in large quantities?" When Xiuyao was collecting textile materials, she saw a history book that said there was a big churn, with three or four people The operation is faster and much faster than this kind of cotton gin machine operated by one person, but it is a pity that it was not popularized later.

The third grandfather shook his head, "I haven't seen it before, everyone uses this." He stopped and stretched his arms, Qin Tian came over to take over, "Grandpa, rest."

The third grandfather handed it to him, "Oh, my back hurts after a day, it's so tiring."

Xiuyao asked curiously, "Third Grandpa, you're so tired and don't make much money, why are we still helping people gin cotton?"

The third grandpa took a break to smoke a pipe, and said with a smile: "Anyway, if you are idle in winter, you are idle. Most households share a cotton gin with several households. It is enough for them to work on their own, and there is no need to come to our house to gin cotton. But we also need to use it at home, and some people who don’t have a cotton gin, or are too busy to gin cotton, come to us. Anyway, it’s not expensive, and they’re easy.”

It’s not expensive, Xiuyao just feels too tired and too slow, but for things like cotton ginning, those who have looms at home, and those who consume a lot of cotton, probably have their own cotton gins, no matter how bad it is, Several will share one.Therefore, the third grandfather was just idle to help out. If he really was full-time cotton ginning, he would starve to death.

She diligently helped Qin Tian pass the cotton, and asked, "Brother, how many catties of cotton can yield a catty of lint?"

Qin Tian said casually, "Three catties."

Xiuyao did the math, ten catties of cotton a day can produce a little more than three catties of lint, which is really nothing.How much you can earn when you are exhausted is nothing more than a little cotton. If it exceeds a certain price, people would rather make it at home.

Xiuyao couldn't do it for a while, so she said goodbye and went home.

The snow outside the gates of the people’s houses has been swept away, but the road is full of white snow everywhere. The streets with many pedestrians are trampled slippery, and the small roads with few pedestrians are full of footprints, and there are even plum blossoms. Dog paw prints, or bird footprints, look very cute.

Xiuyao walked with one foot deep and one foot shallow, for fear of accidentally falling.The northwest wind was blowing, and her forehead was so cold that it hurt like a knife. When she was almost home, she tightened her clothes and quickened her pace.

Suddenly, a person next to the haystack came towards her, which made her stagger in fright, and sat down on the ground with a "plop".Looking up to see that it was Sun Dacheng, she complained: "Uncle Sun, what are you doing? You scared me to death."

Sun Dacheng came to knock on the door before, but was rejected by Liu Xu, and almost splashed water on him, but he refused to leave just like that.He stretched out his hand to pull Xiuyao up, "Yaoyao, help me persuade your aunt. After you persuade me, you will be my great benefactor. I will do whatever you ask me to do in the future."

Xiuyao curled her lips, remembering her aunt's words, and hummed: "You go, I don't want to talk to you."

Sun Dacheng was dumbfounded when he heard that, Xiuyao used to call him little uncle, but now he is called Uncle Sun, and he was very kind to him before, but now he is almost like Liu Xu.He was puzzled and said: "Yaoyao, why are you treating me like this? Aren't we fine? I still want to enter that blessing bean, I won't leave."

Seeing that he refused to leave, Xiuyao didn't want to talk to him, and went straight home. Sun Dacheng pulled her away when he was a little anxious, "Yaoyao, Yaoyao, you must have misunderstood something, you can't do this." If you are like this, How can I chase after my wife!

At this time, the door creaked and was pulled open. Liu Xu stood at the door with brows bristling, and angrily said: "Sun Dacheng, you dare to come!" Turning around, he grabbed a ball of snow from the base of the wall and threw it at Sun Dacheng. He didn't dare to hide, let alone get close, and kept his head down, the ball of snow fell on his forehead.

Xiuyao was afraid that her aunt would make too much noise and attract the attention of the neighbors, so she quickly stopped her and pushed her back home, and then said to Sun Dacheng: "Uncle Sun, go back quickly, it's snowing."

The already gloomy sky became even darker, and snowflakes fell again. Sun Dacheng estimated that he had walked for a long time to arrive, and if he went back, it would probably be dawn.

Sun Dacheng pursed his mouth, looked like he was about to cry, and looked at Liu Xu eagerly, "Liu Xu, why didn't you listen to me. You even instigated Yaoyao not to listen to me, and misunderstood me." Talk to Xiuyao.

Liu Xu stared at him coldly, afraid that he would run into Xiuyao, "You're going to kill me."

Sun Dacheng did not dare to approach.

Liu Xu dragged Xiuyao into the door, closed the door, and said to Xiuyao, "You are not allowed to talk to him anymore, do you hear that he dares to tease you, it's really boring."

Xiuyao whispered: "Auntie, did you misunderstand, Uncle Sun didn't do anything to me." He just talked to her, seeing that she was a little anxious to leave, it was a normal reaction, she didn't have the tendency to molest young children Well, my aunt was a little startled, and she felt that my aunt might have misunderstood something. She didn't think Sun Dacheng was that kind of person.

But my aunt's reaction was so intense, it's better for her to take her time.Xiuyao persuaded Liu Xu to go home. At this time, the snow had grown even bigger, and it was fluttering like cotton wool.

Xiuqin worried: "Mother and Xiurong haven't come back yet, it's almost noon."

Liu Xu and Xiuyao were also worried, Liu Xu said, "I'll pick it up."

Xiuyao stopped her, "That can't be done, I'll go." As she said that, she was about to go out.

Liu Xu and Xiuqin stopped her at the same time, "You can't do it." What's wrong with this girl, but she regards herself as an adult older than them.

Liu Xu said: "Let's wait a little longer, there are quite a few people going to the market, it's okay, maybe the road is not easy to walk, so slow down."

Both Xiuqin and Xiuyao finished the meal, and after waiting for a while, Liu Shi and Xiurong still didn't come back, they couldn't wait any longer, Xiuyao and Xiuqin were going to pick them up.At this time, there was a knock on the door, and it was Xiurong's hurried voice, "Sister, Yaoyao, open the door quickly."

Xiuyao ran out hurriedly, opened the door and saw that Sun Dacheng was supporting her mother, and Xiurong was carrying a small bag, which contained these purchased things, covered with a bundle, and a layer of snow fell.

Xiuyao hurried to help Liu Shi, "Mother, what's the matter with you?"

Xiurong said: "While going downhill, my mother slipped and sprained her ankle. I happened to meet Uncle Sun. He helped me to help my mother back."

Xiuyao took a look at Sun Dacheng, and Sun Dacheng said: "Yaoyao, help your mother in, I'll go and invite the doctor." She was about to leave.

Mrs. Liu hurriedly stopped him, "Dacheng, you don't need to hire a doctor, it's fine, I'll just go home and rest."

Xiuyao looked outside, it was snowing heavily, and there was no one on the road, Sun Dacheng helped his mother back, he didn't walk a long way, probably no one would see him gossiping.She was a little afraid of some gossip women in the countryside, who often gossip for the sake of gossip, for fear that there will be no gossip, and they will make up things out of nothing.

Sun Dacheng didn't dare to go in, Liu Shi glanced at him, "Dacheng, it's such a cold day, you should come in and have a rest."

Sun Dacheng immediately said cheerfully: "Second Sister, don't bother me." He made a bow and followed him in.

Liu Xu and Xiuqin both came out, Xiuqin helped Liushi in, Liuxu wanted to chase Sun Dacheng away again, Liushi shouted: "Stop making trouble, it's so cold, come in quickly."

Xiuyao thought it was snowing heavily and there was no one around, so she wanted to close the door, but when she got to the gate of the courtyard, she found a woman looking inside.

Xiuyao immediately asked loudly, "Who is it?"

(End of this chapter)