Peasant woman

Chapter 47

After lunch, Xu Cao took out the leftover chicken bones and fed them to Xiaobai and Heizi.Xiaobai has been eating well during this period of time, with plenty of oil and water, and his weight has soared upwards. He is no longer the small, short and thin little dog of the past, and has become much stronger.Heizi still looks the same, with shiny fur, always a calm look, eating chicken bones is much more refined than little Bai.

While eating, Xiaobai guarded the food, growling subconsciously, until Heizi let out an impatient cry, then it seemed to wake up, looked up at Heizi, and seemed to be eating more honestly.

After cleaning up, Xiao Shan went back with the half pot of stewed pheasant with potatoes. Xu Cao was afraid that he would fall on the road, locked the courtyard door, and took Miao Miao to Xu's house.

There were only two girls and three girls in Xu's house. Seeing Xu Cao, the two girls rushed out and smiled happily at Xu Cao, "Sister, you are back, Xiaoshan will go to your house to eat again."

Xu Cao took out the pheasant stewed potatoes and egg pancakes that had been knocked into the basket, "Erya, Sanya, are you hungry, here are some egg pancakes, you two can eat them separately, the pheasant stewed potatoes and pancakes will wait for Dad to come tonight." Mom, can I eat again when I go back?" She made a lot of egg pancakes, and they were still warm even now when they were placed in a basket and covered with a white cloth.

Erya Sanya nodded, and then started to eat egg pancakes.One person was full after eating three sheets, and the two girls thoughtfully put the pheasant stewed potatoes in the kitchen and covered them.

The two houses built by Mrs. Li and Mr. Xu are big and spacious. There is a main room and a back room in the two houses. There are four rooms in total, enough to live in.The former thatched house was converted into a kitchen and a utility room, and the house was kept very clean, thanks to Erya and Sanya.

Xu Cao walked around the room before saying, "Erya, Sanya, where did mother go?"

Father Xu knows where she has gone, now that the farm work is over, father must have gone to the town to find work.Mrs. Li should be quite leisurely these few days, not going out.

Erya and Sanya moved a few twigs to the center of the courtyard, and then said: "Mother left after sending Xiaoshan to you, and we don't know where she went."

Mrs. Li was not at home, so Xu Cao sat in the middle of the yard and asked Miao Miao to read with Da Shan.

Miao Miao can write her own name, and she can memorize the Three Character Classic. Xiao Shan is playful and doesn't learn as much as Miao Miao.Erya and Sanya would read a few words with her when they were free.

After more than an hour, Mrs. Li came back.

Seeing Mrs. Li was sweating profusely and had a dark face, Xu Cao couldn't help asking: "Mother, where did you go? Why did you come back with a dark face?"

Mrs. Li glared at her, "Aren't you fat? Even your mother dares to joke?"

"Mom, how dare I."

Mrs. Li snorted, her expression was still a little ugly, and seeing Xu Cao's worried look, she said, "It's nothing serious, it's just that your grandma sent someone to look for me."

grandmother?Xu Cao didn't have much impression of this grandma, not only grandma, but also her two uncles and aunts.

Xu Cao still knows something about Mrs. Li. Mrs. Li originally came from a nearby village. It seems that she sold it to Father Xu because of the poor conditions of her family. Since then, Mrs. Li has had no contact with her mother's family.Mrs. Li is the second child in the family. She has an older sister, a younger sister and two younger brothers.

Xu Cao's grandma was the real patriarch. She sold all the daughters in the family and threw them out, so she was very rare for the two youngest sons.Both Li's eldest sister and third younger sister were sold to others as concubines, and they have not returned to their natal homes for many years.Grandma and the two little uncles hadn't thought of them all these years, so it might not be a good thing to suddenly send someone to look for Mrs. Li.

Sure enough, Mrs. Li continued: "I went to your grandma's house, and she asked me for potatoes and money as soon as she opened her mouth. Tell me, how can there be such a mother who has ignored her daughter for more than ten years, but now thinking of her own daughter, she also asks for things. Da Ya, do you think your grandma is too much? She is a mother. Why is she like this? Before you got married, no matter how poor our family was, I never thought of selling my daughter. When I met your father, I reckoned that I was also sold by her to be a concubine back then!"

"Mother, didn't you still think about selling the second and third girls to a rich family to be maids?" Although Mrs. Li is indeed much better than that grandma, she also had bad intentions.

Mrs. Li blushed, and wanted to pinch Xu Cao again. Thinking that she was married, she was too embarrassed to do it again, and said angrily: "At that time, mother just wanted to sign Erya and Sanya to sign the contract of living, sign After four or five years, when the time comes, it will be more decent to marry someone from a rich family! Besides, I’m just talking casually, so I’m really not willing to let the two girls go. You...you actually say that now Mother..." Li Shi's eyes seemed to be a little red.

Xu Cao knew she had said the wrong thing, and quickly apologized, "Mom, I didn't mean it, don't blame me, I know you would never do such a thing. By the way, grandma asked you for potatoes and money Did you give it?" She found that her mother's temperament seems to be much better now, thinking about it, she used to be poor, but now that her life is better, her temper is naturally much better.

Mrs. Li wiped her eyes, and then said: "Of course I didn't give it to me. I only have potatoes left to plant next year. The first time I give money, there will be a second time. She treated me like that back then, and I don't have a penny." No." She originally planned to give some, after all, she was her own mother, but after seeing the greedy appearance of the two younger sisters and daughter-in-law, she knew that if she gave it this time, there would be a second and third time, so she quickly refused .

"Then grandma must be very angry?" Xu Cao didn't like the grandma she had never met in the legend.

"She's angry, what can I do?" Li Shi's voice was muffled, and she panicked with discomfort.

Xu Cao hugged Xiao Shan and Miao Miao sat with Li Shi for an afternoon, seeing that Li Shi felt much more comfortable, so she took Miao Miao back.

As soon as she got to the door of her house, she saw someone sneaking around the door of her yard, Xu Cao shouted, "Who! What are you doing!" She said and protected Miao Miao behind her.

The sneaky figure froze for a moment when he heard the voice, but instead of leaving, he walked towards Xu Cao.Xu Cao was nervous, and she didn't feel much tighter holding Miao Miao's hand.

The figure walked to Xu Cao's side and said, "Are you girl Xu Cao?"

Xu Cao was vigilant, "Who are you?"

When the man walked in, Xu Cao realized that it was a man in his 30s, with a very ordinary appearance and not very tall, and his face seemed familiar.Xu Cao couldn't help but sized him up again, only to realize that this person's face was vaguely similar to her own mother Li's.She suddenly understood, she was afraid that the people from grandma's family would not be able to get cheap from Mrs. Li, so let's coax her to come.

The man smiled at Xu Cao and said, "Oh, you're really girl Xu Cao, right? I'm your uncle."

"Nonsense, where did I get an uncle? Are you a rich uncle?"

The man was a little embarrassed, and touched his nose, "Girl, I am really your uncle, I am your mother's younger brother, because I misunderstood something, I haven't looked for you all these years, but now I have found you."

Xu Cao sneered in her heart, thinking she was a fool.

Ignoring the man, Xu Cao went to the gate of the courtyard and opened it, Xiaobai and Heizi inside rushed out immediately.Seeing the two dogs, Xu Cao warned herself that one must be kept in the yard and the other outside the yard in the future, lest anyone with malicious intentions come to visit.

The man seemed to want to follow Xu Cao into the yard, but he didn't dare to move when he saw the two dogs surrounding Xu Cao.

Xu Cao went into the yard, glanced at the man, and said coldly: "If you don't leave, I will let the dogs bite people, but I have never heard my mother mention that I have an uncle, so don't lie to me! "

The man had a bitter face, "Girl, I'm really your uncle."

"Don't leave yet!" Xu Cao said angrily, "Xiaobai, Heizi..." Before the last words were finished, the man had already fled away in a panic.

Xu Cao closed the courtyard door and sighed inwardly. She was afraid that the cheap uncle came to the door for potatoes. It seems that other villages have noticed this thing. Fortunately, she sold the potatoes to the people in the village, so that other villages can be counted. It is impossible to ask for anything cheap.The people in the village don't want to harm their own interests.

After Fugui came back in the evening, Xu Cao mentioned this matter to him, Fugui worried and said: "I'm afraid they will come again, I don't think I will go hunting in the mountains these few days, so I can stay with you at home .”

Xu Cao smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? Anyway, we sold all our potatoes to the people in the village. We'll know about it as soon as we inquire about it. What can that person do to me?"

"It's better to be careful." Fugui didn't want his daughter-in-law to be hurt.

Fugui didn't go hunting in the mountains for the next few days. During this period of time, the prey stored was almost enough for them to eat for the winter.Seeing that the weather was getting colder and colder, the two got up early the next day and went to the town to buy some carbon.

Sure enough, as soon as the two of them came back from town in the afternoon, they saw the man squatting not far from her house.Because Heizi was lying on his stomach outside the yard, the man didn't dare to walk around the gate.Seeing Xu Cao, the man hurriedly stood up, walked towards Xu Cao, and said with a smile: "Big girl, you are back, this is wealth, right? Not bad, not bad, uncle is relieved to see that you are doing well."

Xu Cao sneered, this man is really thick-skinned.

Fugui looked at the man in front of him with a serious face, "Who are you? What do you want my wife for?"

"I..." The man paused, "I'm the big girl's uncle, you can just call me uncle."

Fugui pursed his lips and remained silent.

Xu Cao got a little impatient and asked Fugui to bring the charcoal into the house, then turned to the man in front of her, "What's the matter with you? I asked my mother, but she said I don't have any uncle!"

The man didn't seem to expect that his second sister would be so cruel, and she would deny them if she said she didn't recognize them.Hey, he can't help it, otherwise he won't be pestering Xu Cao, and the old lady ordered that he must get a hundred catties of potatoes from here to go back.

The man said nah: "Second sister must have misunderstood, what happened back then..."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Cao interrupted her impatiently, "If you have something to say, just say it."

"Big ya, it's actually like this." The man thought for a while, it's better to just let it go, "Big ya, I heard that your village planted potatoes this year, right? Don't worry, I won't take advantage of you , shall I pay you according to the market price?"

Xu Cao smiled, "Market price? Since you know potatoes, you should also know that I sold all of them to the villagers, and I have nothing left. Besides, it's almost winter now, and there are no green vegetables on the market. My potatoes are not cheap."

"Then...how much is it per catty?"

Xu Cao said with a smile: "Fifty Wen a catty, if you want, I can give you a few catties, but it's not too much, just like two or three catties."

The man's face was a bit ugly, what did he want for two or three catties?And it's so expensive? "Girl, it's too expensive. If it costs twelve Wen a catty, I'll ask for a hundred catties." But he found out clearly that the big girl sold it to the village people for twelve Wen a catty. of.

"Fifty Wen is not expensive. If you don't believe me, go buy it from the villagers and see who will sell it to you? And I really can't get a hundred catties. I only have a few dozen catties left here. Next year, even one mu of land I can’t even plant them, and giving you two or three catties is already my limit.”

The man's face became even more ugly. Although he expected that the girl would not have many potatoes left, he never thought that there would be less than a hundred catties. He couldn't let the big girl give him all the potatoes, hey, mother also Really, seeing that the second sister's life is getting better now, why bother if she insists on getting involved?
"Uncle, if you don't buy it, please don't come next time. My dog ​​can't tell the good from the bad. Anyone who wanders around my house will be bitten by it. Don't come here again in the future." " She didn't intend to recognize this kind of relative.

The man smiled awkwardly at Xu Cao, then turned and left.

Looking at the man's back, Xu Cao knew that he would definitely not come again in the future.

"How are you leaving?" Fugui walked out holding Miaomiao in his arms, and he was relieved to see that she had left.

Xu Cao nodded, "Well, let's go, let's go in the house too, the weather is getting colder and colder, let's have a pot tonight, and call Mother and Xiaoshan over."

"Okay." Fugui grinned foolishly.

(End of this chapter)