happy old days

Chapter 10

Because Manniang was about to give birth, Mrs. Wang took Jinniang to buy a few pieces of cotton to make clothes for the child. It should have been done a long time ago, but Jinniang was ill before, and this engagement was originally given to Mrs. Wang. Jinniang did it, and when she woke up, the memory of this period was blurred. When Wang remembered it, she realized that she hadn't done it yet.

This time I took Jinniang to the episode, but it also meant to take her to relax. Now that the Yang family hasn't found a matchmaker to propose marriage, Jinniang can still come out.

It was also because Mrs. Wang took Jin Niang to wander around the market slowly, causing her to scatter.

"What is this?" Jinniang saw something familiar in a bag.

The shopper was a man in his 30s, and the stall seemed deserted. It seemed that someone asked, and quickly smiled, "This is dried sweet potato. It's delicious. Sister-in-law, girl, try it. It's very cheap, Liuwen A catty of money."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wang said, "It's so expensive, and the millet is only five cents. You're so dirty, so what's it worth?"

The man blushed a little when he heard that, "Sister-in-law, if it's cheaper, you can try it, it's good as a snack for children."

Seeing Jinniang's bright eyes, Mrs. Wang stretched out her hand and pinched a piece, and put it in her mouth, it was quite hard, but with a burnt sweetness, it was not bad.It is estimated that the children in the family are willing to eat, "Four cents a catty, can't it be less?"

The seller smiled wryly after hearing this, "Sister-in-law, there really can't be any less."

Mrs. Wang shook her head, "It's four fen, you can dig this sweet potato in the mountains, and what you're doing is not a good one, so it's a lot of four fen."

"But it's not easy to find it on the mountain. It's really indispensable."

Mrs. Wang thought for a while, "Nine Wen and two catties."

"middle."

Mrs. Wang took two catties of dried sweet potatoes, and said to Jin Niang, "It's still a bit expensive. There are also some in the mountains near our house, but there are too many wild animals in the mountains, and no one goes in to dig them.

"Is there no human race here?"

"No one grows it. There is not enough grain in the ground. I have never heard of anyone planting it. It was a famine year. I ventured to the mountains to dig it to satisfy my hunger."

Jinniang thought about it, maybe the people here don't recognize it, remember that the book said that sweet potatoes were available in Jin Dynasty, but they were not planted on a large scale, and it seems that they don't know how to plant them.Later, the planting method was introduced from abroad, and it was because of this that the real large-scale planting was carried out. When there is a chance to get some seeds, it is good to plant an acre. I don’t want to sell them, but I just want those sweet potatoes.

The two walked a few more stalls, passed a bookstore, and walked past, Wang stopped suddenly and looked back, "Jin Niang, do you remember the words you learned from your elder brother when you were seven or eight years old?" ?”

Jinniang was stunned when she heard it, maybe she didn't learn many words at the beginning, Jinniang didn't pay attention at all, she didn't remember it at all, she thought she was illiterate, she didn't have this memory at all, but since Wang Shi said so, she went along with it , Knowing characters is better than not knowing, even if there is a difference between simplified and traditional, she can still recognize it.

With that in mind, he nodded, "Remember."

Mrs. Wang laughed when she heard that, "Let's go, mother will buy you a book, you can read it carefully when you go back, you must read all the characters, although it's okay if you can't read, but I heard that the fourth son of the Yang family is betrothed by a Daughter of a scholar, I must understand better. You are younger than her. If Yang’s fourth son becomes a Juren in the future, you will show your timidity in front of her. Besides, when you arrive at the Yang family, she is the sister-in-law, and the housekeeper should be, so you should get to know her better. Anyway. You are young, you have to wait until you get married, it is always good to learn more in the past two years."

Taking Jinniang to the bookstore, Mrs. Wang felt worried. She didn't know a few words, so she didn't know what books to buy, so she turned her head, "Jinniang, pick and see if you like it." It's like buying cloth.

Looking at the books in the bookstore, Jin Niang was as shocked as a magnitude [-] earthquake. The Analects of Confucius, the University, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Thousand-Character Wen and Hundred Family Surnames, all these ancient books that modern people casually mentioned were all there. The space is not the earth, but a planet similar to the earth, because the current dynasty has never heard of it.Jinniang read it a few more times, but there is an anthology of Tang poems here, but there are no words.

Frowning, Jin Niang looked around, she really wanted to buy a historical book, but unfortunately there is none here.

"How much is this?" Jinniang knew that what she needed most was a book like "Thousand Characters and Hundred Family Surnames", so she had to read the characters first before talking.

"Two hundred words."

"It's so expensive." Jinniang couldn't help saying, although she didn't come here for a long time, she knew the purchasing power of money here. Five taels of silver is enough for a year without a big income.These two hundred texts, a thousand-character text, are really a bit expensive.

"Girl, you can't say that. The price of our books here is already fair enough. This edition is a bit rough, and even better ones can be sold for a tael of silver."

Jinniang tugged at Wang's arm, "Why don't you buy it, Mommy?"

Mrs. Wang also frowned. The price was indeed a bit expensive. At the beginning, the eldest son used the old books of his uncle's family Cheng Min when he went to private school, and he only studied for a year.She only knows that books are expensive but not so expensive.

Seeing the hesitation of the two of them, the young man also knew their dilemma. If he didn't really want to be a scholar, who would spend a lot of money to buy books? The books are all old books, why don't you take a look, if there is a suitable price, it will be cheaper." He thought that the two would buy some enlightenment books, and it would be okay to sell them if there were any.

Upon hearing this, Wang said with a smile on his face, "Thank you so much, little brother. We use old books in the same way."

The two of them followed the boy to a corner of the store. There was an old sheet on the floor, and a pile of books were neatly placed on it. Looking at the wear and tear of the books, they were indeed quite old.

"We collected it from the Liu family on the back of the mountain collection. It's a pity that the Liu family has a young child. It's about to take the township examination. He is too hardworking. He went there without being blocked by the wind and cold. There is only one student in his family, so keep it. These books are useless, his old mother was sad and his family was afraid that she would think about others, so they sold all the things in the study. In fact, Liu Xiucai didn't have anything left, only these books."

When Wang heard that the scholar had died and his face was not good, she felt unlucky and decided not to buy it.

But the little guy saw that he was talking too much, so he quickly apologized and smiled, "You two take it slowly." There are not many books in this bookstore, and this bookstore doesn't make much money. up.

Jinniang pulled her mother's hand, "Mother, don't think too much, this book has been passed down from generation to generation. I read a lot of this book, and if I look through it, I might come across a good one. Cheng Hai is getting older, and it's time to learn some characters." , and let him calm down, our family situation is better now, and it is good to send my younger brother to a private school."

As soon as Mrs. Wang listened to it, their ancestors were all farmers, and they really had never produced a scholar. Although Cheng Hai was naughty, he was quite smart. He was seven years old now, so it would be a good time to send him to a private school. If he could understand Be nice, thank God. "Jinniang is right. The rice will be harvested in a few days. After the rice is harvested, he will be sent to a private school. I don't expect him to be the top student in the exam. As long as he can know some words, there will be more opportunities for him in the future."

"Mother said yes." Jinniang squatted down and looked at it. There are a lot of books, in addition to the imperial examination books, there are also some miscellaneous notes.There are hundreds of surnames in the thousand-character script, but some are damaged, and there is also a copy of the Analects.

Suddenly Jinniang stopped and looked at the stacked books, a little unbelievable. "Qi Min Yao Shu" is definitely a big surprise. This is an agricultural book written by Jia Sixie, an agronomist in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The first systematic and complete agricultural book in our country is also the most complete agricultural book.When Jinniang was in college, there was a photocopy of the Qing Dynasty in the ancient literature section of the school library, because her grandfather was still farming in her hometown, so she read it with some interest.Definitely buy it.Jinniang has never wanted a thing like this before. Not to mention the planting part in the front of this book, the food processing part in the back is very useful. Maybe it can be used as a reference for her own life in the future.

Taking a deep breath, Jin Niang turned it up and down, and found that the ten volumes were very complete. After a quick look, there was no reference to what she had read.

The book is very new, and there is no annotation in it. I don’t know how Liu Xiucai got it. It seems that he didn’t read it. Jin Niang sighed. This book is very important to farmers, but unfortunately there are not many people who can read and have no money. To buy such an expensive book, but those who have the strength to buy it and can read it don't go to farm.Buying this book back home is also good for farming at home.

"Jin'er, who is this?" Wang looked at Jinniang with ten thick books and asked suspiciously.

"Mother, I want these ten books, which are very useful."

Mrs. Wang is a little embarrassed, the price of these ten books cannot be cheap.

"Mother—my daughter wants these ten books. Mother will give her a dowry, mother—" For this book, Jin Niang even acted like a baby.

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang smiled and nodded Jinniang's forehead, "Don't be shy, just hang the dowry on your lips, okay, mother, you will buy it, our daughter is married with a book. Look at that talented girl, how dare you look down on you." Mrs. Wang couldn't help laughing at her daughter, Jinniang felt a little helpless, even if she read this book, she would not be able to become a lady of the family.

Ten books cost Mr. Wang a tael of silver, and Mrs. Wang was very eloquent about the price. This book is much thicker than the thousand-character text. The young man is not well-known for reading that book, and it is sold cheaply.Jin Niang and the others didn't know, the shopkeeper came after they had left, and asked the clerk to sort out the pile of books and set a price, except for the basic three-character classics and hundreds of surnames, some commonly used and somewhat worn-out books, the price was reduced However, the prices of other books are more expensive than those sold at their stalls.The little guy was so scared that he didn't dare to say that he had sold ten books, but only said that he had bought two Analects, but the book shopkeeper didn't take over, and the matter was over.Jinniang had missed it.

It cost a tael of silver at once, Wang frowned all the way in distress, and felt a little regretful after walking a few steps, and wanted to go back, but seeing Jinniang happily holding the book, she didn't say anything.

When she got home, Jinniang took the book and went into the room, flipping through it excitedly, the traditional characters in the vertical row had no punctuation, it was still very difficult to read.After turning two pages, I thought about the historical issues here, and recalled it carefully. Jinniang really doesn’t have much memory. She just remembered that when she was ten years old, she heard her elder brother talk about ancient times. It was at that time that it died, but what happened later is not very clear. I thought about it too much, and I didn't think of anything. Forget about history, it has little to do with her. Maybe this is the so-called parallel space.

Ever since she bought the books, Niang Jin took the time to read them every day. Father Chen also knew this set of books, but unfortunately he was not very literate, so he couldn't read more than one page, so he put it down. When my mother read it aloud, I felt a lot of emotion in my heart.When Jinniang got married, Father Chen had almost listened to the part of farming, but he didn't listen to the part about livestock breeding and non-staple food processing.

(End of this chapter)