Peasant Girl Bookseller

Chapter 13 New Questions

When Mai Xiang was thinking about it, the old lady scolded: "Stop thinking about it as soon as possible, what kind of job is it for you to be that maid of honor, if you don't see your child for a year, don't talk about it, how can you die if you don't serve your master well?" I don’t even know about it. I was lucky enough to survive until the day when I was released from the palace, and my daughter has come out to be an old lady, so it’s hard to hire a good family.”

"Mom, don't I understand this? Aren't they all poor?" Mrs. Zhao touched her stomach and sighed.

Mai Xiang didn't bother to listen to their chatter, and felt that apart from the old lady and aunt who had some knowledge, the rest of the women in this family were a bunch of short-sighted and foolish people, including the original old lady of course.Mai Xiang closed her eyes and went straight to sleep.

The next morning, the Zhao family gave everyone a meal of porridge and sent everyone away. Several sisters of the Zhao family hugged each other and cried bitterly. Life is usually difficult, and they have never lived alone. They wanted to visit It's not easy, I can only wait for February [-] to meet at my mother's house, talk about myself, and pour out the bitterness of this year.

As soon as Mai Xiang and the others left the village, they saw Ye Dafu picking up a pair of baskets and waiting, so Mai Qing and Mai Lu ran over.

"How was the temple fair yesterday?" Mrs. Zhao's first concern was whether the family had received money.

"Not great, only sold triple-doubles."

"It takes a lot of work to weave these straw sandals. No one wants a pair for two yuan. A basket as small as that can be sold for more than twenty yuan. Hey, the rich are different from the poor."

When she got home, neither the Qian family nor the Sun family came back. Zhao went to the room to say hello, and then went into the room and lay down. After walking for more than half an hour, she couldn't take it anymore.

Just as Mai Xiang was about to lie down, Jiufeng came over and asked what was interesting about Mai Xiang's visit to grandma's house this time.

"Grandma, we're going to Changning Town. My aunt bought us a piece of Shaqima in Changning Town. It's really delicious." Mai Huang hurriedly said.

"You just know how to eat." Jiufeng pinched Maihuang's little face.

"By the way, old lady, we also saw a big family buying maids and slaves, it seems to be the Tong family." Mai Huang hurriedly told what she saw in order to show that she didn't just know how to eat.

"The Tong family? I know this family. Their ancestors are the same as ours. They used to be under the banner of the Han army under the Xianglan banner. They seem to know our family too. It's just that they got up in seven or eight years." Jiufeng heard about the Tong family from her brothers and her father, so she knew something about it.

"Grandma, how do you know it's only been seven or eight years?" Mai Xiang asked.

"We came out in the seventh year of Qianlong, and now it's only 16 years of Qianlong, so it's seven or eight years. But according to my father, the Tong family had a solid foundation. The first batch of flags were either the family's solid foundation. Those who buy property, or the family is too poor to survive.” Jiufeng counted from seven to 16 years of Qianlong with his fingers.

After hearing this information, Mai Xiang kept thinking about the major events in the history of this period. Unfortunately, she studied science in high school and finance in college, so the history is almost blank. She still knows a little bit, and with the flood of Qing palace dramas, she is relatively familiar with the history of the Qing Dynasty.

Suddenly, Mai Xiang's heart skipped a beat. In the Qing Dynasty, during the Qianlong period, at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain, Cao Fuzi, Huangye Village, my God, can't it be such a coincidence?The next door to my house is the great writer Cao Xueqin?

But, how can we confirm whether the other party is Cao Xueqin?After all, he is not the only one with the surname Cao, and Mai Xiang is entangled again.

"Mai Xiang, what's the matter with you? What are you thinking by yourself?" Jiufeng glanced at Mai Xiang who was out of state, and couldn't understand.

"Ah? It's nothing. I thought I went to visit the master's house next door with my mother yesterday. His daughter-in-law seems to be good at sewing. Have you visited?"

"No, my mother never took me there once? I have met his wife a few times, and she even came to see you."

"Why don't the two of us go to his house together." Mai Xiang became curious and felt itchy.

"This?" Jiufeng hesitated.

"I'm going too." Mai Huang was anxious.

Mai Xiang dragged Jiufeng out and went to the next yard, and happened to see a carriage in the yard, Jiufeng quickly pulled Mai Xiang back and turned around, saying: "There must be a distinguished guest at his house, let's not bother."

Mai Xiang also knew that it was really not the time, so she had to suppress her curiosity and go home.

For two days in a row, Mai Xiang didn't find a chance to go out, because Ye Dafu took Wufu to go hunting in the mountains, and Qian and Sun had not returned from their natal family, and the family affairs could only be on Dafang's side, while Zhao's In this situation again, Mai Xiang had no choice but to follow Mai Huang to take over the housework.

Fortunately, there is not much technical content in the cooking of vegetable paste. The steamed buns have been steamed a long time ago. It is not difficult for Liu to take them out according to the number of people every day to heat up the wheat fragrance.

The most difficult thing was lighting the fire, and Mai Huang was there to help. After watching it for a few days, Mai Xiang learned everything.

Mrs. Qian came back on the third day, and Mrs. Sun came back on the fifth day. In the past few days, Ye Dafu had taken Wu Fu up the mountain twice, and only brought back two rabbits.

The first dinner the whole family got together again, seeing that everyone had almost eaten, Sun suddenly looked at Ye Tiezhu and said, "Father, I want Mai Miao to go to school for a few years, okay?"

"Study?" Ye Tiezhu was stunned. No one in the Ye family could read and no one had ever studied.

"It's like this. This time I took Mai Miao back to my natal family, and my natal brother's children were also sent to private schools. I see that those who have studied are different from those who have not. They will go to the city or town in the future. Find a buddy to do, and those who have studied are smarter..."

Mrs. Sun didn't finish her sentence when she was interrupted by Mrs. Zhao, "Study? How much money do you get?"

"Sister-in-law, the child has gone to school, and he will earn money quickly in the future. A man from my natal village who worked as a clerk in the capital came back and said that he can earn 15 taels of silver a year. If he does well, the shopkeeper will give it to another at the end of the year." A red envelope, isn't it better than letting the children farm at home?" Mrs. Sun rolled her eyes at Mrs. Zhao.

Mrs. Qian didn't speak, she wasn't like Mrs. Zhao talking nonsense. If Mrs. Sun spent her own money to send her child to a private school, she would have nothing to say. If she wanted to pay from the public, I'm sorry, and the order of rotation should be her family's. Wheat to go.

"Father, everyone in my natal family has said that Mai Miao is a smart child. If the child is successful, if he can come back as a scholar, isn't it also a glory for the old Ye family?" Sun got Ye Tiezhu's pulse. .

"I have no objection to sending the children to school, but you know the conditions of the family. We don't have any money in our hands. These two days, your father got angry because of Wufu, forcing Dafu to bring Wufu into the house. I've been to the mountain twice." Liu Shi spoke first.

"Yeah, the third family, you are capable, and it is your blessing to be able to confess your children. Your mother and I are still discussing. When you all marry wives, our Ye family will also build a family tree. Said It seems that it is all thanks to your mother, who has opened up branches and leaves for our Ye family, and the Ye family is no longer an orphan for me." Ye Tiezhu sighed.

"Father, it's easy to fix the family tree. When Mai Miao starts studying and can write, we don't need to ask outsiders to do it. We can do it ourselves. Daddy, do you still remember your grandfather's name?" Sanfu asked.

Only then did Mai Xiang know that the ancestors of the Ye family were surrendered after the Qing army entered Sichuan. At that time, Sichuan suffered a large-scale massacre by the Qing army, leaving only a ten-year-old child in the Ye family who survived for unknown reasons.Later, for unknown reasons, he entered the Xianglan Banner and became a soldier, and followed the Xianglan Banner back to Beijing.

Strange to say, since the ancestor of the Ye family surrendered, the population has not been prosperous, and for three consecutive generations, they all left a young son or a posthumous son and died in battle.

The third is Ye Tiezhu's father, who died in a war during the Kangxi period. He was just born at that time, and his mother passed away when he was ten years old.Fortunately, they were still in the flag at that time, and they had a certain amount of money and food every month, so they didn't suffer much.

Ye Tiezhu's curse was broken in the hands of Ye Tiezhu. Ye Tiezhu's wife, Mrs. Liu, gave birth to eight sons in one go. Although five survived, the Ye family has indeed prospered. That's why Ye Tiezhu chose out flag.

Because the treatment of their banner membership had dropped a lot at that time, the population of the bannermen was increasing, and the number of soldiers was fixed. Only Dafu could fill the vacancy in the family. Raising such a large family was stretched everywhere. He thought it was time to leave the banner With these children, can't you set up a family business?Unexpectedly, it was not as good as when he was in Qi, Ye Tiezhu also felt a little ashamed of his children.

"Father and mother, what I mean is, can the family bear part of Mai Miao's study, and we can bear part of it by ourselves. We really can't afford it. The child is not our husband and wife. After studying, it is the responsibility of the whole old man. The glory of the Ye family, isn't it?" Unwilling to give up, Sun put forward her idea.

Seeing that Zhao Shi was about to bluff again, Mai Xiang tugged at her sleeves to keep her from speaking.

"Why, dead girl, don't let me talk, do you know how dangerous it is for your father to go hunting in the mountains? Do I worry about being at home all day long? Why should your father work so hard to earn some money, and we have nothing? I'm not willing to give up flowers, I can't speak for marrying a wife for Wufu, but I definitely don't agree with studying for Mai Miao." Zhao broke free from Mai Xiang's hand and yelled.

"Sister-in-law, what you said is a bit too much. What is the money earned by the elder brother? The elder brother has earned money, but your family also has many children. Isn't the second blessing of our family working hard every day outside? How is the family?" Can farm work be separated from our two blessings?" Mrs. Qian also began to show her merits.

"Elder sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, if you want to say this, I have to talk about it carefully. What is my family Sanfu doing less than everyone else? We only have one child in our family. What did we say?" Mrs. Sun was not that slow either. Soft-spoken tone.

When Mai Xiang saw this, she simply ignored the Zhao family, let's make trouble, let's make trouble, it's better to separate the family when the trouble grows, and the family doesn't have to think about running away.

(End of this chapter)