Carpenter's Lady

Chapter 64

The spring sun shone warmly in the small courtyard. Girls in twos and threes were swinging, kicking shuttlecocks, and throwing sandbags.

"Aunt Liu, what's today's dessert?"

Xiao Maolin watched Aunt Liu come over with flat tofu, stopped swinging on the swing, and ran over in two or three steps.

We all know that she is the daughter of Mrs. Li's family, plus Maolin is lively and quick-witted, so the girls in class B all follow Maolin as their leader, and they all follow to join in the fun.

There was a girl in a pink dress and a butterfly headband who couldn't help but leaned out from among the female students, tiptoed, and stretched her neck to look into Aunt Liu's arms.

"Oh, TangGao, if you pull my new jacket again, I won't forgive you!"

"Michael, don't be angry, I forgot again." The little girl in pink immediately let go, apologetically apologizing.

"Pfft! You two are really screaming like that. Next time Aunt Liu makes bee sugar cake and mille-feuille oil cake, won't we all be hungry for it?" Zhang Mu couldn't bear it when he heard it at the entrance of the courtyard. Live laughing.Unexpectedly, Aunt Liu is really talented in cooking, and the dim sum she makes is really delicious in color, fragrance, and every time the little girls hooked up, they can't bear to leave the kitchen every time they take a cooking class.

Glancing at the slightly open half window upstairs, I didn't expect Hua Niangzi to be so generous. She subsidized 500 taels to prepare a snack for the little girls every day.

"Auntie, I'm still called Tang You!" Xiao Maolin shouted from the kitchen door.

"Go crazy, see your mother come out later, you can't even touch candy, you're still oily!"

"Auntie, I can touch it, I can touch it, I have sugar cake and mille-feuille."

Xiao Maolin retreated into the kitchen as he spoke.

Upstairs, in a room on the north side of the second floor, the lady of the Hua family looked at a group of girls downstairs who were carved in pink and jade. The sun shone on their dresses like a layer of gold powder, as they ran, overflow Sheng Hui, "Hua Yi, don't you realize that life seems to be much better?"

The maid standing behind looked at the master's cheeks that were getting more and more rosy under the sun, and said with a smile, "This place is much more lively than the mansion, no wonder the lady wants to come over!"

"I heard that the youngest son of the Ding family is going to take the provincial examination, but is he going to Taizhou?" Hua Niangzi asked casually.

"Yes, ma'am, do you want your servant to make arrangements?"

"No need, there is still an exam at the top of the township exam! It's early!"

Going to the capital would take at least three years!
"My maidservant understands. According to Aunt Liu, what I'm doing today is hot dried silk. This maidservant will bring some to Madam soon." Huayi saw that the chimney in the kitchen had started to smoke, and estimated that it would only take a quarter of an hour. After tea, you can start the pot.

"Isn't this something that Deyilou is good at? Why did Aunt Liu go to steal the teacher again? Her skills are somewhat better than the cooks in the house, and this little lady of the Ding family is really capable."

"Isn't that right, that nanny came out of Yunyanghou's mansion." Hua Yi leaned closer to Hua Niangzi's ear and said.

"Okay, you just listen to these things, don't inquire about them casually."

Seeing that her master was frowning, Hua Yi felt displeased, so she had no choice but to agree.

Xiao Maolin in the kitchen watched Aunt Liu cut a few pieces of tightly pressed dried tofu into thin slices with a sharp knife, and then cut them into thin shreds. Add fragrant sesame oil, salt grains, dried shrimps, shredded ginger, minced green garlic, stir well with chopsticks, and shout: "Auntie, I want more, or the little gluttons in my stomach won't be full!"

"Hey, there's a new word for this one, let's bring it to your auntie!" Aunt Liu looked at Xiao Maolin swallowing hard, and couldn't help feeling soft-hearted again. In a small bowl on the side. "Don't let your mother catch you! The previous one almost took your mother's hand!"

The lady of the Li family didn't want Maolin to be treated too differently from other girls, and was dissatisfied that the wives always gave their daughters a small meal, especially Aunt Liu's!She saw that her daughter was almost turning into a little pig!

Maolin pulled it off in two or three mouthfuls, licked his lips, and wiped it with his small hand worriedly, "Auntie, do you see any spots on my teeth?"

As he spoke, he gritted his white teeth and showed Aunt Liu.

"No, go out at ease!"

"Hey, I'm going to find my aunt!"

Aunt Liu looked at Xiao Maolin's loose bun and shook her head helplessly. No wonder the lady of the Li family was so worried.

Zhang Muzheng was chatting with Tanggao with Tanggao. Tanggao was the niece of some shopkeepers in the bookstores in front. Her surname was Dai, and her name was Xiangyi. Qianlayer was the daughter of Qu’s family, a steamed stuffed bun shop on Dongbian Street, named Qucao, and Maolin. At the same age, they are very troublesome on weekdays. They are much more lively than girls from other families. The ladies do not want to restrain them too much. They also turn a blind eye on weekdays, but they are relatively well-behaved girls. , I am afraid that the family style is more serious, and it is not easy to go to free-range.

Ding Erniang came over smelling the fragrance, and when she saw her daughter-in-law, she smiled and said, "Oh, Xiangyi and Xiaocao are so cute today, and I'm not satisfied with the yard going crazy."

The two little girls stuck out their tongues and hid behind Zhang Mu.

"Mom, are you busy ahead?"

Ding's bamboo shop has opened, and the goods are similar to those in the town in the past. Zhang Mu didn't dare to move in the nursery, thinking he'd better wait for a while.

"There aren't many people, so you can rest at the back, Azhu is leaving soon, I'll come over and ask Aunt Liu to make some very hungry pastries, and deliver them to him tomorrow morning." Thinking of his son being there again After living in Kuan's small house for three days, Ding Erniang felt that her whole heart and lungs were tied together with worry.

"Mother, Ah Zhu has gained a lot of weight in the past two months. It's okay to stay up for two days. Scholars will suffer from this." , What fell was a difficult three years.

Early the next morning, the whole county was boiling, and it was the day when students were sent to catch the exam every three years. The shops along the road near the city gate had prepared firecrackers early in the morning. When the carriage of Huishan Academy passed by, they heard With the sound of "cracking" firecrackers and the exploding red clothes and confetti flying all over the sky, Zhang Mu accompanied Ding Erniang to wait for A Zhu at the gate of the city early in the morning.

It is said that returning home with rich clothes and honoring the ancestors, scholars in ancient times were also divided into factions. A person in the officialdom came out of one place, and not only his clan, but also fellow villagers who were officials in the officialdom were blessed.

After greeting the dean, Ah Zhu got off the carriage and saw four members of the family standing near the city gate. It seemed that several of the family's wives followed and hurried over.

"Father, why are you all here?"

"Heh, we didn't just come to see you," Ding Erniang stuffed the Kuai Lan into A Zhu's arms, "Hey, I asked Aunt Liu to make this for you, even the thousand-layer oil cake I bought a dozen or so, and you will share some with your classmates later."

"Hey, it smells so good!" Azhu took it and wanted to lift off the white gauze on it.

"Brother Ling, be ashamed!"

Ah Ling looked at the little girl who was looking at him with black lines on her face, why didn't she find Mrs. Li's daughter so naughty in the academy before!He had no choice but to withdraw his hand embarrassingly.

Looking at the carriage going away, Zhang Mu suddenly missed the days of studying in the past. With a flash of inspiration, he asked Wu Ling beside him, "Sir, you should also study hard and go to get a good reputation, okay?"

"My lady, do you want me to take the exam?" Wu Ling looked at his daughter-in-law, his eyes moved down a little.

"Look at the gentleman, don't you want to?" Even if she can't pass the exam, with her wisdom, she should be able to teach a scholar to come out, right?
"My lady, I'm not qualified. The moment I walked into the court, not only the inheritance right of the Wu family's property, but also the career path was deprived." Wu Ling looked at the carriage that was no longer visible in the academy, and his voice was a little bleak.

Seeing his daughter-in-law looking at him expectantly with wide eyes, he also wanted to work hard to earn fame and come back, but all this has long since become impossible.

"It's okay, Mr. Xiang, let's work hard to be a rich man!" Zhang Mu just mentioned it casually, seeing that Mr. Xiang was in trouble, he quickly patted his chest to comfort him.

Wu Ling held her hand, nodded with a smile, he knew that his wife would never dislike him no matter what.

On the afternoon when Ah Zhu left, Wu Ling also rushed to Taizhou City.

News came from the Zheng family that Mrs. Zheng was not well.

(End of this chapter)