big sister headed home

Chapter 25

"Sister, how can you earn money by digging herbs? Next time you go up the mountain and take me with you." The two of us will definitely dig more herbs." Dou Qing's eyes lit up when he heard that herbs can be sold for so much money.

Dou Hua was stunned when she heard this, and said in her heart, your elder sister, I am half a fool digging medicine now, if I can't see the herbs glowing, I wouldn't be able to tell which are herbs and which are grasses, especially the beasts and ants in the mountains, If it doesn’t work out, I’ll lose my life’ She’s just relying on her extraordinary five senses to predict the danger in advance and dodge it’ But later, she’ll get to know the medicinal herbs clearly’ But I can teach a few little ones’ Let them understand Herbal knowledge is also good.

"I can't do it next time, I have to wait 'how about this, after the elder sister digs the herbs and comes back' I will teach you to know the herbs first, and only after you know the herbs can you dig the herbs." Dou Hua said.

Dou Qing was a little disappointed. She thought she could help the eldest sister, but it still didn't work.

Seeing Dou Qing disappointed, Dou Hua said again, "There are not only herbs on the mountain, but also ferocious beasts, biting insects, ants and poisonous snakes. You’re still young, don’t worry, when you get older, the elder sister will take you there. Not only can you make money by digging herbs, but you can also make money when the crops are planted. Have you seen the few plants I brought from the mountain? It’s a wild fruit that grows in the mountains, called lantern fruit, it’s delicious, and I’ll grow more of it in the future, and when it bears fruit, I can sell it in the city and exchange it for money.”

When Dou Hua saw the foreign girl from the mountains, she thought about it. Since this kind of wild fruit can be transplanted and planted in modern times, it can also be planted in ancient times. It’s just that people at this time didn’t expect it. The fruit of foreign girls is delicious and delicious. It has certain medicinal uses. If the planting scale is large and the yield is high, it should be able to sell for money. Rich people in the city are very rare fruits.Especially now that people pay more attention to farming and mulberry, but not so much on fruits. There is no large-scale orchard planting. Fruits have always been scarce, and they are usually consumed by the rich and wealthy.

In Dou Hua's eyes, this foreign girl is not bad as a fruit, but the name of foreign girl here is a bit awkward, so Dou Hua called the other name of foreign girl Lantern Fruit, which is festive and appropriate. That fruit is not It looks like a little lantern.

"Really, big sister, the fruits of those plants can also be sold for money?" Dou Qing was happy again when he heard that the fruits could be sold for money.

"Of course, when these plants grow up a bit, they will bear fruit. I think we can eat them in June and July, but if you want to sell them for money, it's not enough to just have a few fruits, you need to grow more. If you plant a lot of fruit and have a high yield, you can sell it for money." Dou Hua said, she also understands now that she will not be able to count on these lantern fruits for a while, and she will have to look at them later, even if she can't sell them for money, plant them. It's also good to come out and give some snacks to the little ones. The fastest way for her to get money now is to dig herbs.

"Then let's grow more varieties in the future." Dou Qing said.

"Okay, I sold a lot of money this time. Each of you will give you twenty coins. Here, take them all." Dou Hua counted out twenty copper coins from the scattered copper coins and gave them to several younger brothers and sisters. The younger brothers and sisters were also happy, and each held their own copper coins and put them away properly.

After sharing the money, Dou Hua took out some old books bought from Wang Xiucai's house. There were six books in total, all of which were books for beginners, such as the Thousand-Character Classic, the Three-Character Classic, and Hundred Family Surnames. Relatively simple words, suitable for use when just entering school.

When Dou Hua bought a donkey before, Wang Xiucai was only willing to charge eight taels of silver. Later, Dou Hua asked him if he had any books that were not in use, and she could buy them too. Wang Xiucai was very grateful and picked six books from his bookcase. Although these books are old, they are well preserved and not damaged. The covers of the books are covered with book covers. It can be seen that the owner of the books cherishes these books very much. Even if they are not used now, they are carefully kept.

Wang Xiucai was very grateful to Dou Hua, because of her, his donkey was saved from slaughter, so he thought of giving these books to Dou Hua as a gift.

But Dou Hua understands that studying these days is quite expensive. This seemingly inconspicuous book is not cheap. If you really want to buy it, you can buy two books at most for one tael of silver. It's worth three or four taels of silver.

Dou Hua didn't want to take advantage of others. She knew in her heart that Wang Xiucai was spending money now, and he would definitely need money to go to Beijing for the exam, otherwise she wouldn't sell the donkey, so she took out two liang of silver to make up the whole thing, and bought this a few books.In fact, she also had a small calculation in her heart, thinking that she should invest in human favors now. This person is a scholar, and he has some knowledge in conversation. Give him a personal favor, if there is a chance to meet again in the future, you can talk about things, this is Dou Hua's little thought.

"Sister, did you still buy books? Is this a lot of money?" Dou Qing carefully touched the book cover and asked. He had studied for two years before, but he stopped studying. The few books he bought at that time were sold to others. people in the village.

"This is a gift from the donkey. The one who sold our donkey is a scholar. They have nothing else at home, but they have a lot of books. I just heard that my younger brother wants to study, so he gave me a few books. Qing'er, aren't you literate? Take the time to teach Cui'er, Lin'er and the others, not to mention being able to read as a scholar, knowing a few words, knowing your own name is good, by the way, I will follow suit from your elder sister." Dou Hua said.

In fact, Dou Hua had read these books before, and she was relieved that most of the characters in these books were in traditional characters. When she was Chen Siwei, she compared simplified and traditional characters, and most of them knew them. Yes, and these books are all enlightenment books. Most of the characters in them are simple, and she basically knows them all. The reason why she wants to learn to read is also for the convenience in the future. You can read and read in an open and honest manner, and others will not say anything.

"Hey, okay, I've learned all these books, and I still remember them." Dou Qing agreed, and the younger ones were very happy to hear that they could read and write. They surrounded Dou Qing and clamored for him to study. After a while, The unique sound of teenagers reading aloud resounded in the room, and the young ones listened carefully...

Before buying donkeys and noodles, it cost less than 11 taels of silver, and there were more than a dozen taels of scattered silver left. Dou Hua didn’t want to fix it. I was afraid that when I used it, I would take it out and drill holes. All I wanted were scattered silver coins. Most of them are copper plates, which are the most convenient to spend, and ordinary people have no use for silver at all.

Put away the 15 taels of silver and the [-] taels of silver left by Dou's parents before, as a deposit, and carefully wrapped it up. Dou Hua chose a suitable place and hid it carefully, fearing that it would be discovered , and used some miscellaneous things to cover it up, leaving only some money from the previous leather and medicinal herb sellers to stay with me, but about five taels, enough for a long time as usual expenses.

In fact, there are not many places where money is used in farm life. The food at home depends on the production of the field, and each household has a variety of vegetables, so there is no need to buy them. Whereas the place where money is used to eat is to cut meat and buy some oil and salt. Soy sauce and vinegar, which are convenient to wear are cloth and cotton, and most of the others are self-sufficient. Farmers don’t spend money casually, and try to save money as much as possible, in preparation for the two major spending items in the future. One is the dowry of the girl’s family The second is that the new house for men to marry also has a dowry gift, which alone accounts for the largest expenditure of farmers.

However, it is not easy for farmers to earn some money. After paying the tax on the food, it is good to have enough leftovers to eat. It is really pitiful that there is very little that can be exchanged for money. The dowry of the girl’s family and the bride price of the boy’s new house are all a little bit less. Eat frugally, accumulate over time, and accumulate slowly.

Dou Hua thought about saving more money, so that whether it was her younger brother marrying a daughter-in-law or younger sister, she would be able to afford the bride price and dowry, so that she would not be looked down upon by jokes.

Dou Huaguang was thinking about the marriage of her younger siblings, and obviously forgot about the marriage talk that Dou Sishan and his wife mentioned before. In her opinion, no one would agree to her harsh conditions, probably the one who liked it. My idiots would be scared away, so I didn't take it to heart at all.But soon things went out of her expectation.

In the past few days, Dou Hua is only doing some housework at home, or going to the fields to weed, and has not gone into the mountains. Although digging herbs is a good way to earn money, it cannot be done every day. Dou Hua plans to go once every ten days and a half months , In this way, you can sell it at a good price when you go to the pharmacy. Everything is the same. If there are too many things, they are worthless.

In addition, the family has added a donkey, which is the most valuable property of the family and the most important labor force. It will be indispensable for farm work in the future, so it must be taken care of carefully. Dou Hua is not afraid of anything else, but those who like to take advantage, such as him The uncle's family, taking advantage of her absence, took the donkey away in the name of borrowing the donkey, and it would not be so easy to come back.

So Dou Hua spends most of her days at home, taking care of the vegetable seedlings in the yard, cleaning the rabbit pens and the excrement pulled by donkeys. Rabbit feces are very smelly, so Dou Hua has to clean them twice a day to collect the rabbit feces. Outside the yard, there are dug manure pits tens of meters away. These are pits dug specially for composting. Human feces and livestock manure will be transported here, and the ash left over from cooking and burning will be sprinkled on the manure. mask the odor on the surface.Retting in the wind and sun for a period of time is the best farm fertilizer in Shangdi.

Sometimes Dou Hua would go to the wheat fields in the field to weed, and people were kept at home, so she would tell her immediately if there was anything.

The story of Dou Hua's family buying a donkey spread throughout the village within a few days. The village was originally small, so whoever's family has something new spread the fastest

Dou Sishan came here once, he first looked at the donkey when he entered the door, walked around the donkey a few times, looked at the fur, teeth, and hooves, and swept his whole body up and down several times, finally nodded, saying that Dou Hua has good eyesight, so he bought this one Although the donkey looked thin, it was healthy, and it was a donkey in the prime of life. It had a big frame and a strong body. It was definitely a good choice for its work. I asked how much it cost. After spending twelve taels, I bought a donkey, and nodded, indicating that the purchase was worth it.

Dou Sishan only asked about the donkey, but did not ask Dou Hua where the money for the donkey came from. However, Dou Hua briefly talked about the donkey and the money for the donkey. She only said that part of it was left over from the family, and the rest was that she was lucky enough to dig up medicinal herbs and sell them for money. Dou Hua was not lying, but she just concealed the fact that she had dug up wild ginseng.

Dou Sishan was very worried when he heard that, "I dug up the herbs, so you must have gone up the mountain, you girl, you are really too courageous, the deep mountains and old forests are so easy to go, I have to drag a few village people to go up the mountain As for people, you dare to go by yourself, and you are not afraid of losing your life. You say you, why are you so uneasy. Sigh, if something happens to you, how can you let your uncle and I talk to your father? Mother confessed."

Dou Sishan said the lesson, felt pity in his heart, kept shaking his head and stomping his feet, blaming himself very much.

"Uncle, I'm careful. Look at me, I'm fine. Don't worry, I will definitely be careful. I still have a few younger siblings to raise, so I won't be so ignorant." Dou Hua kept He lowered his head and listened carefully, seeing that his uncle blamed himself so much, he quickly explained.

"Don't try to coax me with sweet words. I don't know yet. There are many tigers, leopards, wolves, insects, ants and poisonous snakes in the mountains. If you don't pay attention, you will kill people. If you say it so easily, the mountains are full of treasures." , people in the village have already entered the mountain, and they are still waiting for you to dig the medicinal herbs and sell them for money." It was a rare time for Dou Sishan to be harsh, and he wanted to give Dou Hua a good word to tell her not to be arrogant.

"What my uncle said is that Dou Hua is wrong, and I know it's wrong." Seeing Dou Sishan's reluctance and making it clear that he wanted to teach herself a lesson, Dou Hua hurriedly bowed her head and admitted her mistake. Listening, she knew in her heart that her uncle was worried about her , I didn't deliberately want to embarrass myself.

Seeing Dou Hua admitting his mistake, Dou Sishan heaved a sigh of relief, "It's good to know that you are wrong, don't go into the mountain by yourself in the future, if you really want to go into the mountain, come and tell my uncle, it's better than you alone Hu Chuang is good."

"Well, that's good, I will go into the mountains with you, uncle." Dou Hua nodded in agreement.

"But you girl is not really lucky. You went into the mountains without any accidents. You also dug up medicinal herbs and sold them for money. You only spent ten taels of silver to buy a donkey in the prime of life. You are so lucky. The third brother and the third sister-in-law must be protecting you in the spirit of heaven." What?" Dou Sishan sighed and continued,
"That's right, girl, uncle, I didn't just come here to look at the donkey. There is one more thing. A few days ago, I told you that a family in Jiangjiazhai wanted to come to our house to propose marriage to you. Then you proposed A bunch of conditions, I also replied to your sister-in-law Caiyun, I thought this would not happen, who would have thought that she would be willing, tsk, this is great luck, now that the third brother and the third sister-in-law are not here, your brother-in-law I'll make the decision for you. It's a good day to find someone to watch. The eighth day of next month will be a good day. I have already agreed with your sister-in-law Caiyun to be the matchmaker of the two families. People from Jiangjiazhai will come over by then. An engagement ceremony."

(End of this chapter)