in spring

Chapter 225
The destination of Chunying and his party was assigned to Zhuangzi in Daxing, which was only two or three hours away from the capital, and arrived in half a day.

Zhuangzi is not big, with only about ten hectares of land, thirty or forty tenant farmers, the main crop is not grain, but mulberry trees, and there are dozens of acres of land planted with japonica rice for the daily consumption of the Houfu, and a few acres of melons and vegetables are the farm. The people in it digested it by themselves.In addition, there is also a pond sugar in the village, and some fish are raised every year, and in autumn and winter, they are salted into dried fish.

Among the farms owned by the Hou Mansion, this place is neither the richest nor the largest. The population is small, and the things produced here are nothing special except mulberries.The Xishan Zhuangzi managed by Mr. Lu and the Shunyi Zhuangzi managed by the wooden steward produce more grain, melons and vegetables, as well as various flowers and dried fruits, while fresh fruits, fish and shrimps are transported by Zhuangzi's special boat from the south. These are the places that are often mentioned. The dried fish produced in Daxing Zhuangzi is just an addition to the servants' meals in the mansion.

Chunying entered Zhuangzi, got out of the car, and looked around all over, and found that the tenants and foremen here were incomparably dressed with those in the city, and her family was wearing jackets made when the family was poor in the old year. , Compared with the foremen who came to take over, it is not bad, so we know that this is a poor place.She whispered to Shi'er in a low voice: "I thought I would go to the Zhuangzi in Hejian Mansion. Why have I never heard of it?" Shi'er replied in a low voice: "The village in Hejian is lively, but here is poor and remote. The old ladies and wives don't like to eat mulberries, so the fruits produced here are just sold outside. In a year, except for the porridge in the house, which will use the japonica rice here, no one mentions the people in this village. .I feel that the wife is uneasy and kind!"

Chunying's heart sank, and when she took another look at the low, dilapidated houses around her, she felt that her prospects were bleak.If no one in Hou's mansion mentioned this Zhuangzi, and no one paid attention to the people in Zhuangzi, how would she go back to the city?However, it would be a good thing if the stewards here had the right to release people from their citizenship.

But as soon as the steward came out to talk to An Sikui, Chun Ying knew there was trouble.An Sikui called that person "Uncle Cousin", he was so affectionate, his mouth was as sweet as honey, he was a completely different person from when he was playing around in the back street of Hou's Mansion.He kept saying bad things about Lu and Wang's family in front of the steward, and also pointed out the fact that one family was named Wang and the other was not liked by his wife.Judging by the face of that "uncle cousin", it is obvious that he also believed it.Lu Wang's family looked at each other a few times and sneered slightly.

Since Xiaotang arrived at Zhuangzi, he walked around with great interest. When he came back, he saw that An Sikui was still talking, and said, "Master An, why is it so important that you have to finish it all in one breath? People are starving to death. Let's eat first!" Then he smiled at the steward: "This is Steward Cao, right? I'm an errand for Grandpa Xu in the East Mansion, and this is the first time I've come here to play. Is there anything new in the village? How about you tell me?"

That Guanshi Cao was still impatient at first, until he said that he was a member of Director Xu of the Eastern Mansion, then his expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly asked: "What orders does Director Xu have?" "I don't have any orders." Xiaotang smiled , "It's just that Uncle Wang... and Grandpa Xu have known each other for decades."

All the children of Hou's family are old acquaintances!However, as soon as Xiaotang said this, Manager Cao looked at the Wang Lu family and his eyes changed, and greeted with a smile: "In that case, why don't you come to my house for lunch first? Everyone came in a hurry, and the houses and beds are still available." I haven't cleaned it up yet." An Sikui was dumbfounded, and stretched out his hand to grab his "cousin", but he ignored him, and only asked Xiaotang to go first, and then came to help Uncle Wang himself.

When Chunying and Shi'er saw each other, they were a little surprised. When they arrived in front of the small courtyard of the Cao family, when the steward went to order the cooking, they quietly pulled Xiaotang over and asked him what was going on.

Along the way, Xiaotang was already well-acquainted by Chunying and Shi'er, and because Ms. Wang and Aunt Wang knew that he was an orphan, they talked about him distressedly for a long time and asked many sweet words. Come over, heard the words and said with a smile: "Is this... I often hear Grandpa Xu talking about some unreliable names of stewards who should be replaced. Among them is the steward Cao of Daxing Zhuangzi. I guess there is a reason?" Chunying and Shi Er was at a loss when he heard this, and could only guess that Guanshi Cao probably had something in the hands of Director Xu?

As soon as Guanshi Cao came back, he heard Xiaotang's words, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He smiled obsequiously and invited Xiaotang to come in for tea.Lu Yougui thought that he still had to live on someone else's land, so he bowed politely and thanked him, and hinted to his wife to stop secretly complaining and disgusting, and pretended to be kind.Although Lu's mother was not convinced, she couldn't overcome her husband's insistence, so she had to force a smile and talk to Mrs. Cao.And the two sisters-in-law of the Wang family have already served Uncle Wang to take his seat.The scene in the house was very harmonious, and it was only during the meal that Chunying realized that Shi'er's uncle had disappeared.

Not long after, the Second Uncle Wang appeared and brought back a young daughter-in-law in her 20s to greet Uncle Wang.It turned out that this third sister-in-law Zhao was the niece of her aunt's aunt's family, and her husband worked as a supervisor in this village.Chunying once again saw the "strength" of the Wang family, and secretly admired it in her heart: Sure enough, the big family is well-deserved, and even such a remote farm has relatives...

After a meal, Cao Guanshi had already figured out where to place the people, and he suggested very earnestly that there was an empty yard in the village, next to the warehouse, and the place was big enough for two families to live in. There is no one here, so we need to tidy up a bit.Although we couldn't guarantee one family and one courtyard, we couldn't vacate so many vacant houses for a while, so we had to wait until the beginning of next spring to ask someone to build a new house.

Boss Wang didn't say a word.Two families live in the same yard, he is naturally not very happy, there are ten people in it!What's more, there are men and women in it, and there are young girls.This place is not comparable to the compound in the back street of the Hou Mansion, where all the people live in the same clan.However, he also felt that his family would not stay in the village for so long, and would have to wait until the beginning of spring to build a new house. He wondered, should he ask the Zhao family to borrow two houses?
However, Lu Yougui felt that it was enough to have enough rooms to live in, it was just a stopgap measure, and it was not that he had suffered hardships before, besides, now that Guanshi Xiaotang is under Manager Xu, he treats them very politely , They demanded too much. When Xiaotang left, I don't know if Guanshi Cao will turn his face!Whether it's the Wang family or the Lu family, they don't have deep friendship with Mr. Xu, so it's better to be humble.

So Guanshi Cao's suggestion was approved when the Wang family did not raise any objection and Lu Yougui agreed with it.

The next step is to clean the house and move the luggage.Chunying took a closer look at the yard, and felt that it wasn't too bad, but there was a lot of straw on the ground and there was no furniture in the house.Fearing that this is a haunted house, she inquired about it from Aunt Zhao, and she knew that this was the house of an extinct family. Because there were no heirs to inherit it, it was abandoned. The people in the village usually used it as a temporary warehouse. A place to store agricultural implements and grain sacks, as well as for hired laborers to rest.Fortunately, the collected grain was distributed to every household except for the one that was going to be sent to the Hou's mansion. There were only a few bags of flour left over from the old year in the corner of the house.With a wave of Guanshi Cao's hand, the flour returned to Lu Wang's family.The Wang family only glanced at it and didn't move.Chunying thought that as long as it can be eaten, it might come in handy, so she mentioned it to her father, and then the father and daughter moved the flour to the kitchen together - in fact, it was just a straw shed built in a hurry, and there were two under the shed. kitchen.

Immediately, Wang Lu and his family started to tidy up and clean up the yard. Uncle Wang and his elder son and his wife lived in the two side rooms of the main house. The kitchen and firewood room had been re-pasted for the two girls, while Shi'er's elder brother was sent to the Zhao family.

Mrs. Zhao San enthusiastically sent thick quilts and a set of pots and pans, etc., and said: "The countryside is not as warm as the city. If you don't have enough bedding, just come to me for it. If you don't have enough winter clothes , just look for me. They are all relatives, there is no need to see outsiders. I will send some food and melons later, otherwise you will not even be able to make dinner in the cold weather!" After speaking, he smiled at Cao Guanshi: "Mr. Cao, look... Shall we let them rest for two days, and then arrange work? Anyway, the autumn harvest is over, and the melons and vegetables in the field have also been planted, and the composting work will be done by the farmers themselves."

Cao Guanshi's face was a little stiff, he answered vaguely, and invited Xiaotang to his house for dinner.It was getting late at this time, and it was too late to enter the city, so Xiaotang agreed to go, and An Sikui, who was left out, saw his eyes burning.

This night, everyone is making do with it.Chunying only felt that the wind was extremely cold in the autumn night, and secretly thought that she would get an extra quilt tomorrow.Shi'er next to him moved, turned around, and asked in a low voice, "Chun'er, tell me...has the third young master heard about us at this time?"

Chunying rolled up the quilt tightly: "I don't know...you should have heard of it?"

"How soon will he transfer us back..."

Chunying thought for a while, then sighed: "Don't have too much hope, you also saw what happened to Manru last time, he won't fight against his wife, even if he wants to transfer us back, we have to live a little longer." Let's see how busy the mansion is during the new year..."

Shi'er flattened his mouth: "I've never lived in a house like this...I saw a mouse when I was washing the dishes after dinner! It was as big as my foot! It scared me to death...Lamp oil candles or something , but not enough, when I entered the house just now, I could only take advantage of the moonlight, so I almost didn't fall!"

Chunying laughed when she heard that: "I'm better than you. When my family lived in the compound, the house was quite old, but it's much better than here. If we tidy up tomorrow, we can live comfortably some."

"What is this all about... I really should let that bastard Cui Manru taste it! And that bastard surnamed An! He grabbed my clothes for a long time today. Go and burn it!"

Chunying buried herself in the quilt with a muffled laugh, Shi'er patted her a few times embarrassedly, and murmured: "Third young master, help us go back quickly..."

Chunying was startled, but she stopped smiling.Is Shi'er too dependent on the third young master?

But she also understands.Before coming here, she never expected the condition of the village to be like this, perhaps because the production of this village is less than that of other places?But she really didn't want to stay in such an environment.I don't know what tasks their family will be assigned, but I just hope it won't be too miserable.

It's ridiculous, her family is obviously rich, but they can't spend it openly, let alone let others know, it's so depressing!Chunying only hoped that she could find a way to get out of the country as soon as possible, so as not to be angry with those stupid and arrogant villains again!

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but think of Hu Fei and what he said last night when he held her hand.Her heart beat half a beat inadvertently, and her face became slightly hot. She quickly retracted her head into the bed, only to realize that the room is pitch black now, and Shi'er can't see herself, so she thought it was funny again, and turned her head for a while. Look, Shi'er has fallen asleep and is purring lightly.

Turning over again, she held the hand held by Hu Fei last night, and kept thinking, why didn't he come today?Was it a temporary delay?Or something unexpected?Maybe... just overslept?
She laughed quietly, then suddenly became worried again.Hu Fei never overslept, and he left quite early last night, what happened to stop him from coming to see him off in time?

Actually... She doesn't mind that much, if he really has something important to do, she will still be considerate, after all, the business is important, anyway, he also promised to come to the village to visit him.

But, then again, when he went south, she sent him all the way to the pier...Of course, she didn't use this to ask for the so-called fair treatment, but anyway, he also said hello, or sent someone to come send a message...

Chunying fell asleep in a daze amidst this repeated entanglement.

(End of this chapter)