Ma Erniang's Splendid Pastoral

Chapter 51
Seeing that there were no outsiders in the small courtyard at last, Ma Dalang walked to the gate of the fence and knelt down to repair the gate.

Masanlang pulled his calf, went to pick up the little stool he threw just now, picked it up and stroked it carefully, "It's not broken."

Ma Min'er smiled at him and said, "Little brother, you were awesome just now."

"Second sister, don't you think I can't throw it too far?"

"No, well thrown, you didn't look at them. Did they run away in fright?"

"That's right!" Ma Sanlang, who had been tense and afraid, was relaxed by Ma Miner's compliment, and his small face no longer wrinkled into a bitter gourd.

Xiao Yue'er saw the third brother picking up the stool, she bent down to pick up the stool by her feet, her little mouth was pulled high.

"Yue'er is also very brave."

"But I hit my leg." Ma Yueer said in a low voice.

"Uh..." The Ma family looked worriedly at the youngest, Ma Siniang. Ma Qifeng stepped forward to pick up the little daughter, and stretched out his hand to look at her legs, "Where is it important?"

Xiao Yueer shook her head, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Yue'er, my good daughter." Ma Qifeng hugged his daughter tightly in distress.

Seeing that the little girl was fine, Ma Min'er started to tidy up inside and out, there were not many things, and they were all made of wood, and nothing was broken, tidying up and putting them back together as if nothing had happened.

The family sat on the porch, staring blankly into the distance.

Mrs. Ma stood at the door of the room, staring blankly at the back door of the yamen, her whole body was filled with a decadent atmosphere, "I thought the most frightening thing in this world was beheading, but I didn't expect..."

Ma Yihui stood in the middle of the backyard covering his face with his hands, as small and sad as a poor abandoned creature.

Suddenly, there was a noise in the backyard, and they came back?Mrs. Ma raised her feet instinctively, but she lowered them while she was raising them, and straightened her body. Her noble lady-like demeanor returned, as if the old lady who was slumped and depressed just now was not her.

"Mother... Mother..." Ma Qimeng cried to his mother.

"What's the matter with Meng'er?" The imposing old lady was beaten back to her original shape by her son's two cries, and hurriedly took a step forward.

"Mother, the sixth child is crazy, he is crazy..." Ma Qimeng felt his heart still beating violently.

"He, he went crazy when he was here that day!" the old lady comforted her son.

"Yeah, Ma Liu's family has gone crazy for a long time, what did I do with you just now?" In the crowd, Ma Laosi murmured.

Everyone entered the yard one after another and sat on their own grounds. For a while, the backyard of the yamen was so quiet that even a needle could be heard.

Guo Li's family has been quietly paying attention to the yard next door. At the beginning, the family cleaned up together, inside and out.

Until noon, after sitting for a long time, the eldest brother of the Ma family stood up and went into the room. After a while, he came out and said something to the children: "I'm going out."

The four children stood up together and sent their father to the intersection. She was not at ease, and followed to the intersection. When she returned to the yard, she couldn't help asking: "Second mother, where is your father going?"

"County city!" Ma Erniang sighed softly.

"Going to the county seat is..."

"Find a job."

"Can... can you find it?" Guo Li's eyes lit up. If the eldest brother can find a job, she can also go to the county to find a job.

Ma Miner shook her head, "I don't know."

"Oh."

"Aunt Guo, I want to go around the village, do you want to go?"

"Go..." There is no land, no livestock, nothing at home, Mrs. Guo Li is worried about having nothing to do, so she nodded quickly.

Because they took the knife in the morning, as Ma Miner expected, everyone in the village avoided their brothers and sisters. Even the people who came to help build the house didn't seem to know their family, seeing them go around far away.

Alas... Ma Miner sighed deeply.

Ma Qifeng hurried on with his embroidered handkerchief and sachet. An hour later, he arrived at Pingding County, entered the city gate, and asked where there was an embroidery workshop.

After walking one side of the village, Ma Min'er had no choice but to go back. When she was about to reach the village, Aunt Shi couldn't hold back and talked to her, "Little lady, those people in the morning are..."

"It's my uncles."

"For what?" Mrs. Shi asked.

Ma Min'er replied: "The emperor asked our Ma family to go to Yunshui Town. We had houses, land and food, but the yamen didn't give them anything. They got angry and bullied my father."

"Why do you want to bully your father?" Aunt Shi was embarrassed to ask, but the child could not help but ask.

"Bully my father and mother to protect me!" Ma Min'er lowered her head sadly.

"No wonder..." Aunt Shi is a simple rural woman. Ma Min'er described Ma Qifeng's situation in the simplest and most straightforward terms, which is not only easy to understand, but also easier to sympathize with.

"Little lady, how will you live after you have no land?" Aunt Shi was worried for Ma's family.

Ma Min'er asked: "Ma'am, does the small area around my cabin belong to us?"

"Of course the surrounding area belongs to you." Aunt Shi replied affirmatively.

"That's great." Ma Min'er said: "I see the weather is good, I want to grow some vegetables, I want to find some vegetable seeds, ma'am, do you know who has more vegetable seeds?"

"This... I'm afraid it won't be too much!"

"Oh!" Ma Min'er smiled slightly, "Ma'am, you are an old man in the village, if someone has it, please tell me, I will buy it with copper."

Buying seeds with money?Aunt Shi was a little surprised, usually in the village, every household, if anyone has seeds, they would ask each other for some, never heard of buying with money, or they came from other places.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to trouble you." Seeing that the other party was silent, Ma Min'er said with a smile.

Aunt Shi nodded, "Okay, if anyone has extra seeds, I'll send you a call."

"Thank you ma'am."

"Young lady, you are welcome."

In Pingding County, Ma Qifeng found several embroidery workshops before selling handkerchiefs and sachets.

"Did you sell it for your wife?" the shopkeeper of the embroidery cabinet asked casually while looking at the embroidery.

"No, I sold it for my daughter." Ma Qifeng replied in a low voice.

"You... daughter?"

"Ok!"

The shopkeeper of the embroidery cabinet raised his eyes and looked at the handsome young man in front of him again. He looked young, and it was surprising that his daughter could embroider such a good handkerchief.

Ma Qifeng felt guilty when the woman looked at him, and turned his face away slightly.

In a certain street not far from the embroidery workshop, several people were wandering, one of them snorted, "Isn't that the capital exile who won Brother Liang!"

"Where is it?" Liang Shixing asked quickly.

"Entered the embroidery workshop."

Liang Shixing frowned and then opened, opened and then condensed, "This guy has some gambling skills, and he actually won back Shen's shop that day!"

"Brother, you have already called him brothers and sisters. If you ask him to come to you, he won't come. He doesn't know how to flatter you!"

Liang Shixing squeezed his chin, "This guy used to be the son of a high official in Beijing, so it's normal to be a little arrogant."

"Brother, but his family is in ruins. Isn't it easy to deal with him?"

Liang Shixing clicked his tongue: "I heard that the magistrate of Xing'an City was once a student of his father, and he has to weigh it."

"It's true that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse."

"Of course." Liang Shixing smiled crookedly.

"This style is quite new." The woman praised, "It's a pity that in the year of disaster, I can only give you ten coppers for this veil."

"Sister-in-law, look at it."

It's good to do business with men, it's refreshing, it's not like a woman grinding around for a coin, which is annoying.

"Your embroidered handkerchiefs and sachets, whether in patterns or colors, are all good. I won't underestimate your price, and I will come to our embroidery workshop next time." The shopkeeper of the embroidery cabinet also said cheerfully.

"That's good, thank you, sister-in-law." The embroidery work was done, and the money came in, which made Ma Qifeng who was in a bad mood happy.

The woman smiled, and after thinking about it for a while, the total price of several rust products came out, "92 coppers in total."

Ma Qifeng said: "Sister-in-law, just give me seventy coppers, and for the remaining 22, I will get some fabric and silk thread."

"Okay, okay." The woman happily took out the fabric and silk thread for him to choose.

After a while, Ma Qifeng finished his work. With Tongzi, he was settled. He just wanted to buy rough noodles. After thinking about it, he should go to the town to buy it. Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds to connect with feelings?

Just as he was about to turn onto the street, someone grabbed his arm, "Brother Ma, you are not authentic!"

(End of this chapter)