Peasant woman

Chapter 50

Seeing that the snow outside is getting heavier every day, Xu Cao and Fugui haven't gone out for the past few days, and all the things that need to be prepared at home are complete, some pastries and candied fruits are prepared for the New Year's greetings of the children.

This year's snow is much less than last year, so it's no problem to go out or visit.Xu Cao steamed buns and steamed buns on the 27th and [-]th, and also made some steamed meat and potatoes.

On the day of 29, I cleaned all the sanitation inside and outside the house.

After dinner at 29, Mrs. Li hugged Xiao Shan, Erya Sanya and Father Xu all came over after a while.The family ate cakes and fruits around the charcoal fire, chatting happily, and they didn't all dispersed until Haishi.

The next day it was New Year's Eve, Xu Cao reheated some steamed buns, steamed potatoes and steamed meat, and had a full breakfast.After breakfast, the village was busy with posting New Year pictures.After posting the New Year pictures, Xu Cao took some cured fish and steamed meat, and then followed Fu Gui back to Yang's house with Miao Miao.

This year's New Year's Eve, we have to get together for a New Year's Eve dinner at night, and those who live in separate families naturally have to go home early to help.Xu Cao and the others lived very close to the Yang family, and they arrived in a short while.

The door of Yang's courtyard was wide open, and there was a lot of noise inside, and the whole family was rushing in.

Yang Dapeng, the second son of the Yang family, and Yang Xiaotong, the third son, were busy sweeping snow in the yard. Seeing Fugui and Xu Cao, they smiled and said, "Brother, sister-in-law, you are back, go inside and do it, it's too cold outside."

The two brought Miao Miao into the house, and Xu Cao asked Miao Miao to come in to see Xiao Osmanthus, while she went into the kitchen to help.

The kitchen is full of women, Chen Shi, Shen Shi, Niu Shi, and Xiao An.Seeing Xu Cao coming in, the daughters-in-law and sisters were all smiling, Chen's face was a little gloomy, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but before she could say it, Xiao An on the side said, "Mother, it's Chinese New Year's Eve today! Yes, sister-in-law and elder brother are back, and our family is reunited."

After being reminded by Xiaoan, Mrs. Chen shut up. Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, if something happens to her, the old man might go crazy and go crazy with her again.She could tell that the dead old man was so kind to the woman's son and daughter-in-law, so he really remembered her.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, the more ugly Chen's face became.

Xu Cao didn't care about this, and handed the cured fish and bacon to Shen Shi, and said with a smile: "Second brother and sister, this bacon can be fried with anything, and the cured fish can be fried and eaten with oil." .”

Shen took it with a smile, "The food made by my sister-in-law is delicious, and the bacon and cured fish smell delicious."

Mrs. Chen snorted, "She makes delicious food, why don't you go with her!"

Shen looked at Xu Cao in embarrassment.

Fortunately, Mrs. Chen knew how to measure it, so she didn't say anything more.

Prepare to eat, worship the ancestors, and then go to the grave. After these things are busy, it is already Shen Shi.Some people in the village have already started to set off bamboo firecrackers. After the bamboo firecrackers are set off, it is naturally the New Year's Eve dinner.

After Old Man Yang set off the bamboo firecrackers, everyone brought dishes to the table and had a New Year's Eve dinner.

Except for Mrs. Chen's ugly face, everyone else was chatting and laughing, and it was very lively. Even Xiao Osmanthus was carried to the table by Mrs. Niu.Little Osmanthus fragrans is also a few months old, smelling the smell of adults' food, she makes a fuss, twists and turns in Niu's arms, looking like a little glutton.

Smiling, Niu dipped a little soup with his chopsticks and licked it for Xiao Osmanthus. Xiao Osmanthus sucked a couple of mouthfuls, closing her eyes and enjoying herself, which made everyone laugh.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, several women were busy clearing the dining table, and then burned a pot of firewood in the main room, and everyone talked and laughed around the brazier.After eating the New Year's Eve dinner, it is the New Year's Eve. The whole family chats together, talking about interesting things and knowledge from previous years, waiting for the arrival of the end of Haishi.

The little guys couldn't survive for such a long time, so they huddled together on the kang and fell asleep.

At the end of Haishi, after setting off firecrackers, Xu Cao and Fugui went back with Miaomiao in their arms.

After that, on the first and second day of the Lunar New Year, we would visit relatives and visit each other for New Year's greetings.Xu Cao didn't have any relatives, so he just went back to his mother's house. In the next few days, the children in the village came to pay New Year's greetings. Xu Cao's pastries and fruits were considered good things. a handful.Because of the delicious pastries and fruits, many children came to Xu Cao's house to pay New Year's greetings.Miao Miao was also very happy to see so many children, talked a lot, and became acquainted with the children in the village.

It stopped snowing in the third grade of junior high school.

When the glutinous rice balls are eaten on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the year is considered to be over.

After the new year, it is almost time to start working in the fields. The fields need to be plowed a few more times, so that the crops that grow can be more fertile.

Xu Cao stayed at home to study her potatoes when she had nothing to do. The weather in this place is quite cold, and the potatoes can barely be harvested twice a year. She plans to put the potatoes in the house to grow seedlings earlier, so that when others start to grow seedlings, she You can transplant potato seedlings into the ground, and you can harvest a period of time earlier than others. This period of time is money.

It's almost mid-February now, and I won't be planting spring potatoes until at least March and beyond.

Just do it, Xu Cao is quite familiar with indoor seedling raising, which was the easiest subject back then.

I found some broken pots everywhere, and Xu Cao was busy. I cut the potatoes into pieces, wrapped them in plant ash, and planted them in broken pots filled with soil, just pay attention to the moisture and temperature. .

It was written that Tudou fully occupied two of Xu Cao's rooms.

By March, her potato seedlings had grown so tall that when others started planting potatoes wrapped in plant ashes, she had already transplanted the potato seedlings in the house into the field.

She also told Mrs. Li about this method, so the potato fields in the village belonged to their two families. The other people's fields were all bare land, and the fields of their two families were already full of green potato seedlings. Look at them. It's really endearing.

When the village saw this, they all came to ask Xu Cao how he did it. Xu Cao didn't hide his secrets and told everyone about it, but it was too late, and he had to wait until next year for the experiment.

It didn't take long for Xu Cao to hear from Shen that Xiao An was about to get married in two months, and the date had already been set.

Two months passed quickly, and Xu Cao was also very busy during this period, busy with carrying piglets, chickens, and tending the fields.Fugui was busy hunting in the mountains, and all the game money sold was given to Xu Cao for collection.

Fugui has good hunting skills. When he is good, he can earn two or three taels of silver a month, and when he is not good, he can earn one tael of silver.One tael of silver this month is already a lot for the villagers.

Xu Cao didn't know how to spend money except to buy some white rice and white noodles every month. Seeing that Xiao An was about to get married, she went to the town to choose a pair of bracelets for Xiao An, and planned to give it to her.Xiaoan is a good sister-in-law, and she is Fugui's only younger sister, so naturally she should be treated well.

What I chose was a pair of silver bracelets and a phoenix hairpin. The phoenix hairpin is very beautiful and made of gold thread.

After paying the money, Xu Cao started to wander around the town. She didn't have anything to buy, she just tore some cloth to make clothes for Miao Miao.Miao Miao is a little girl, and Xu Cao hopes that she will dress beautifully and eat white and tender.

While walking around, Xu Cao suddenly felt that the cloth bag on his wrist was ripped off.Panicked, she turned her head and looked over, and saw a thin figure running towards the side alley carrying her cloth bag.Without even thinking about it, Xu Cao rushed after him.

The little thief's steps were a little weak, and he didn't run very fast.Xu Cao cursed secretly in her heart, and said in her heart, if she has such a poor physique, she also imitates others to grab things, isn't this courting death?
Soon, Xu Cao followed the thief to a dilapidated private house.The little thief turned around and found that Xu Cao had followed him. He was so frightened that he stared at Xu Cao.

Seeing that the little thief stopped, Xu Cao also stopped and looked at the little thief carefully.

The little thief was a boy, about eleven or twelve years old, dressed in shabby clothes, covered in patches, and very thin, holding her cloth bag tightly.The little thief looks quite handsome.

Seeing the terrified face of the little thief, unlike someone who often steals, Xu Cao couldn't help but frowned, and said coldly: "You little thief, do you know that you will be put in prison for robbing people! You will also suffer Damn, you don't want to live anymore?"

The little thief looked panic-stricken, "I... I didn't rob you on purpose, can you not sue the authorities?"

"Of course not!" Xu Cao snorted, "Give me back the things!"

The little thief hesitated, Xu Cao took a step forward, trying to snatch back his cloth bag, which contained the bracelets and phoenix hairpins bought for Xiao An, and the cloth for Miao Miao's clothes.

Seeing Xu Cao approaching, the little thief was terrified and was hesitating what to do when the dilapidated room behind him suddenly opened from the inside, and an equally thin little girl walked out. The little thief was about the same size.

Both Xu Cao and the little thief were stunned, especially the little thief, whose face was full of panic.

The little girl saw the cloth bag tightly held in the hands of the thief, her complexion sank, her already pale face became even paler.

Seeing the little girl's appearance, the thief burst into tears, "Wow, sister, I was wrong, I was so scared, that's why I did something bad, woo, sister, don't be angry, I I dare not, I will return the things to others right away." He said and threw the cloth bag tightly in his arms into Xu Cao's arms.

Xu Cao frowned and wondered, what's going on?
(End of this chapter)