take a wife to support the family

Chapter 35

Lily didn't have any "little scholar" in her mind, so she asked a casual question, but seeing that Qingsong didn't answer, she didn't take it seriously.

But Qingsong looked at his eldest sister with worried eyes, not knowing whether to say something or not.But the idea he was talking about was quickly broken by the ginger soup brought by Lily. He squeezed his nose and drank the ginger soup, sweating a little from the heat, and left the "little scholar" behind.

Seeing that Qingsong was so hot, Lily stuck out her tongue, and drank a bowl herself. The brown sugar was sweet, and the ginger was hot and warm. The taste was a bit strange, but the aftertaste was surprisingly good.

The more flowers and sachets are sold, the more money Lily accumulates and the more confidence she has.Many people in the town wanted to imitate her, but they couldn't follow the law, and the business was still not as prosperous as hers.

According to word of mouth, her reputation has changed from a flower seller in Qingliu Town to a "Peach Blossom Lady". People who don't know think she is so beautiful, and come here to buy flowers because of her name. Only when they see the real person are they disappointed.

Fortunately, these people will always be settled by Lily in the end, happily buying flowers and returning to the city, and don't feel that their trip was in vain.

For some reason, Lily always felt that she was likely to meet someone recently, and it was none other than the proud scholar she saw arguing with someone one day.

And it's not her illusion, the scholar always looks at her intentionally or unintentionally.She doesn't look good, but she is thin and small, and looks easy to be bullied, so she lacks a sense of security and is always very sensitive to such malicious gazes.

Lily had no time to ask Mrs. Sheng if she knew the scholar, and she meant to find out the other person's details. If the other party really had any bad thoughts, she should be prepared.

Mrs. Sheng said with a smile or not: "You mean 'little scholar'?"

"Little scholar?" Lily was stunned for a moment, only to realize that the little scholar her younger brother asked about was this strange scholar, so she couldn't help but become more vigilant.

This "little scholar" is also a member of the Liu family, named Liu Rulong, and now he is studying in the Liu family private school.Because she is quite spiritual in reading, Mr. Liu thinks highly of him, and even the townspeople are full of hope and respect for her.

Xiao Xiucai is 19 years old this year. He is said to be a scholar, but in fact he has no fame yet, he just passed the Tongsheng Examination.Ordinary people, frightened by his reputation, would always describe this person as a Wenqu star descending to earth.

But Mrs. Sheng was the maid who served Master Liu back then. From the time Master Liu was taking the boy's exam to the exam for Juren, she had seen many scholars along the way, and mere boy students were not in her eyes.

"In my opinion, it doesn't matter whether people read or not, what matters is whether they understand the truth." Mrs. Sheng smacked her lips. , Juren, who in this town is still in his eyes?"

Aunt Sheng told Lily a lot of things about the little scholar who was in the eyes of others, because Liu Rulong was young, good-looking, and had a bright future, and there were no girls from all over the world who did not fall in love with him, so Aunt Sheng wanted to emphasize to Lily This point prevents her from being deceived by the little scholar's appearance.

Lily thought to herself, I don't know what people's aesthetic standards are at this time, Xiao Xiucai looks so strange, they still think it's a good-looking talent; her Song Haonian is so good-looking, but some people think he is not majestic enough...

She is married, so naturally she has no idea about Xiao Xiucai, knowing that there are many suitors for Xiao Xiucai, it is really unlikely that she will fall in love with a married woman like herself, and what happened before is probably an illusion of her own.

Leaving a few flower baskets for Liu's house, Bai said goodbye to Aunt Sheng and decided to go to the butcher's shop.

The butcher's shop was on the east side of the town, and Lily had to go further east to buy meat.

She was thinking about whether to buy some fatty meat to cook lard at home, or to buy some ribs, which most people at this time would look down on, and cook pork rib soup at home, when suddenly her eyes dimmed.

When Lily looked up, she almost thought that there was a bamboo pole standing in front of her!
She stepped back a little, only to see a person in front of her - "little scholar" Liu Rulong. "What's your business? Today's flowers are sold out. If you really want to buy them, I'll leave you an extra basket tomorrow."

Liu Rulong looked at Lily with deep pain and regret: "You... are you doing well?"

Lily was taken aback, afraid that the big girl had something to do with Liu Rulong in the past, but she went through the memory twice, but she couldn't remember it, so she felt that this little scholar was a bit abnormal, maybe she was just stupid in reading, " If you have nothing to do, don't get in my way."

Liu Rulong was taken aback for a moment, he didn't expect Lily to dare to speak to him like this.He is going to be the champion in the future, who doesn't respect him in the town?Even Mr. Liu was courteous to him, and those big girls and young daughters-in-law even blushed when they saw him and wanted to pounce on him...

Lily's indifference made Xiao Xiucai very surprised and hurt. He was stunned for a long time before he found what he wanted to say: "Did Song Haonian treat you badly? I won't let him go!"

Lily looked at the little scholar as if looking at a fool: Who is this person, I'm afraid he is not a fool, right?
Not to mention that Song Haonian is very kind to Lily, even if Song Haonian really treats Lily badly and tortures her at home, her father and her brother Qingsong should be the ones who come out in front. Want to get ahead?

What's more, when the big girl jumped into the river and lay on the bed dying of illness, why didn't the scholar give alms of porridge and food?When she had no money and was starving to death, why didn't this little scholar give her a penny and a bowl of rice?

Now that she has made a living by herself, this person jumped out to slander Song Haonian, pretending to uphold justice for her.If Mrs. Sheng hadn't explained the little scholar's life experience in detail, Lily couldn't help but suspect that this man is a white gang who only makes a living by cheating women into soft food.

Lily's face darkened: "Are you unreasonable? It's none of your business how my man treats me? My family's Chinese New Year is very good, please get out of the way, or I'll be rude!"

Liu Rulong gave way quickly while heartbroken: "You were not like this before..."

He remembered that in the past, this woman always blushed when she saw him, and if she was more elegant, he would also like to make her look as red as a peach blossom on an adult's face, although this peach blossom is not very pretty, and he doesn't like it.

But it's one thing for him to despise him, but it's different for her not to take him seriously. He, Liu Rulong, will be a promising person in the future, and he will never allow a woman to be disrespectful to him!

Liu Rulong talked to himself, but changed his mind after a short while, and wanted to grab Lily's arm.

Lily's heart is not good. Her physical strength is not very good. Even in her prime, she can't compare with a man in her prime. If two people fight, she must suffer.

She dodged and yelled loudly: "What are you doing!"

"What are you doing!" Suddenly a rough voice sounded from behind, Xiao Xiucai was startled, and stepped aside, while Lily breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly walked towards that person.

It was Song Dagui, the owner of the butcher shop who spoke.Counting that he and Song Haonian belong to the same family, Lily opened her mouth and called "Brother Song", telling him that she wanted to buy some meat, without mentioning little scholar.

Song Dagui was tall, black and fat, with a mustache spreading all over his face, Lily thought, he looks like Zhenguanxi who was beaten by Lu Zhishen, or Li Kui on Liangshan, in short, he can't be Song Haonian under his beard Such a handsome face.

Compared with Song Dagui, Lily's figure was like a child. She nervously lowered her head and walked aside. Song Dagui strode back to the butcher shop, picked up the bone cutter and asked her how much meat she wanted.

Lily asked for two catties of the cheapest pork ribs, and another catty of fat.She was frightened by the little scholar just now, and needed something more to reward herself.

Song Dagui cut the meat and strung it up with hemp rope, put it into the bamboo basket that Lily carried with him, and asked in a rough voice: "Da Nian's family, can you go home alone?"

Lily was about to answer that she could, when she suddenly turned her head and saw Xiao Xiucai poking her head not far away, she didn't dare to speak.

Song Dagui strode towards Xiao Xiucai with a knife in his hand, and asked him why he pestered his younger brother's daughter-in-law.That little scholar was most unwilling to deal with Song Dagui, who insulted the gentlemen. Seeing him striding forward aggressively with a knife in his hand, the villains in the books he read in the past flooded his mind, his legs trembled like chaff in fright, and Song Dagui couldn't come near him. , and ran away in a flash.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Song Dagui a thousand times. Song Dagui smiled and said, "It's nothing. I have something to tell him when I come back from New Year's Eve."

Lily carried the meat back home, and hung the ribs in a cool and ventilated place under the eaves to prevent rats from stealing them. Looking at the oil jar, the oil had almost bottomed out, and the lard was gone long ago.

Lard is not as healthy as clear oil, but it is cheaper and tastes better.Most people these days have to worry about malnutrition, so they are not afraid that eating more lard will cause three highs, so Lily plans to cook more lard.

One catty of fat fat is finely cut into dices the size of a thumb belly, and there is also a large pot. Put it in a clean pot, pour water on it, and let the water cover the surface of the fat fat to a finger height.

Cook the meat on high heat, and the water will boil soon. Lily carefully skims off the dirty foam on the surface, and then just watch the pot not overflowing or mushy.

The aroma of meaty oil gradually diffused, so rich that it couldn't be melted away. Lily took a deep breath, swallowed a big mouthful of saliva, and all the gluttons in her stomach were hooked out.

Not long after, even the neighbors nearby came to see what she was doing and why it was so fragrant. They found that Lily was cooking lard, and the neighbors chatted for a while, then swallowed their saliva and left.

The fire boiled until the pot was boiling, and the fat in the fat melted into the water first, and as the water slowly boiled dry, the lard also began to solidify.

If all the water dries up, the oil will be burnt. Lily guessed that it was almost the same, so she removed the fire and let the water in the pot evaporate further with the residual heat of the stove, and the lard slowly solidified in the pot.

After cooling down completely, Lily got a pot of baishengsheng lard with a layer of water floating on the surface.After draining the water, Lily began to scrape the pure white lard into clay pots for storage. A catty of fat could boil seven or eight taels of lard, which she ate for almost a month.

The fat that has not been fully cooked forms a layer of lard residue on the bottom of the pot, and the particles are reduced to the size of a fingernail, crispy and crispy.Lily found another jar to hold lard residue, which is a rare delicacy, and she was reluctant to waste it.

(End of this chapter)