Peasant Girl Bookseller

Chapter 45

When Mai Xiang was questioning Mai Qing and Mai Lu, Mrs. Zhao heard Mai Xiang's voice and beat the kang head next door.

"Da Ya, where did you die? Your second aunt took away everything in the house, go and get it back."

Mai Xiang frowned when she heard this, it seemed that it would be very difficult for Mrs. Zhao to change her temper.

"Big girl, don't listen to your mother, go and call the nanny." Ye Dafu hurriedly shouted from inside.

"I'll go." Mai Qing was about to get off the kang when Mai Xiang held her down.

Mai Xiang entered the next room and said, "Father, when everyone is here, let's call Grandpa, Mammy and uncles and aunts over and explain clearly in person."

Because Mai Xiang guessed that there would be a second time for this kind of thing, she didn't want to worry about this kind of thing in the future, the best way is to let the other party stop thinking about it once.

Of course, it is the best policy to be able to move out and live alone with the family, but Mai Xiang doesn't have the strength at all right now.

"Big girl, tell dad the truth, how did you earn all your money?" Ye Dafu asked suddenly.

"Father, don't you know that I've been selling the little shoe-heel flower baskets you wove? What did Second Aunt say again?" Mai Xiang didn't need to think to know that it was Qian who said some nasty gossip.

"You don't care how the child gets his money. Anyway, the child can earn money. I think this big girl is better than you." Seeing that Mai Xiang was unhappy, Mrs. Zhao said flatteringly.

Mrs. Zhao ate the good food these days, and saw that Mai Xiang bought a whole bolt of cloth today. She has long been convinced of Mai Xiang. You know, she has been married to Ye Dafu for ten years, and she has never eaten so much in total. Many days of full food and buying so much cloth.

"What do you know?" Ye Dafu interrupted Zhao Shi impatiently.

"Father, don't worry, I know what I'm doing, and all my money is legally earned." Mai Xiang knew what Ye Dafu was worried about, and hurriedly said.

Ye Dafu looked at Mai Xiang, nodded, thought for a while, and said, "Son, we should buy less rice and fine noodles in the future. You are still young, so you don't know how hard it is to live at home. Our family has many children, and our foundation is weak. , Try to save some money and save it for emergencies.”

"I know."

Mai Xiang still has 20 taels of silver left, and Cao Xueqin has not asked for medicine money these days. Mai Xiang has to balance the living expenses of both parties, and she is under great pressure.

As soon as Mai Xiang finished speaking, Mrs. Qian and Mrs. Sun entered with their mother Liu in their arms.

"Mother, look, these are the eggs, meat, and bones that Da Ya just bought today. This is their rice vat. Also, look at the fine cloth on the kang, there is a whole bolt." Qian pointed out He touched the things on the kang on the ground and said.

Mrs. Sun looked at the fine white cloth on the kang and the things on the ground, and said, "Mother, these things cost six or seven hundred yuan? You don't know, the food at the elder brother's house is good, every day there is fine grain. Cooked rice, eggs and meat have never been broken, where do you think the eldest brother and sister-in-law got the money from?"

"Nurse, I was going to find you. I want to ask, is this family separated?" Mai Xiang stepped forward to welcome her.

"Big girl, tell me the truth, where did you get the money?" Liu avoided Mai Xiang's question.

"Mommy, I want to know, is this family separated and singled out? Are the things in the house personal?" Mai Xiang asked again.

"Big girl, tell me first, where did your money come from? Did your father keep a private house?" Qian pressed her.

"My mother should know whether my father has kept a private room. I just want to know, Second Aunt can come to my house to pick up things casually, can I also go to Second Aunt's house to search for things casually?"

"Mother, you have to be fair. When the family was separated, we all thought that the elder brother's family was poor and gave all the money in the family to the elder brother's family. Now it's good. They don't do anything every day and eat. It's popular, we're exhausted every day, and we can only drink some water. It's been a few years before we dare to buy a piece of cloth. People can buy whole bolts of cloth. Mother, this must be done today. Let's say you're ugly." Qian said.

Seeing Qian carrying the whole cloth several times, Mai Xiang wondered how she knew that she had bought a whole cloth.She looked at Mrs. Zhao, and Mrs. Zhao quickly waved her hands and said, "I didn't say it. You just pulled a piece of cloth out, and your second aunt came in."

It turned out that when Mai Xiang and Mai Huang entered the door with a piece of fine white cloth in their arms, Qian Shi happened to see it from the window. Qian Shi was still unwilling to take out the money from the stove, so he met Mai Xiang and bought a piece of fine cloth to go home. Naturally, I was curious about where Mai Xiang's money came from, but Mai Xiang and Mai Huang had always kept their mouths tight and couldn't ask anything.

She also saw Mai Xiang and Mai Huang going out one after another, so she hugged Mai Jin and came over to inquire about some news. Qian Shi didn't ask anything from Mai Qing, but saw half a basket of eggs in the basket on the ground And the meat and a few big bones, which Mai Xiang just bought and hadn't had time to clean up.

Qian's heart was unbalanced, why should his family still eat bran-swallowed vegetables, but this Dafang's family can't do without eggs and meat, and what's more, they still eat rice.Where did Da Fang get the money from? Maybe the whole family was cheated by Da Fang.

Indignant, Mrs. Qian argued with Mrs. Zhao and Ye Dafu, excused that her child had no milk, grabbed a few eggs and dug a spoonful of rice by herself and left.

Mrs. Qian took her things and went out. No matter how she thought about it, she felt that something was wrong. Mai Xiang dared to spend money like this. Or Ye Dafu has money in his hand, and he has confidence in his heart, so he doesn't care about the money for medicine.

Based on Qian's impression of Mai Xiang's several fights, Mai Xiang doesn't have the mind of a ten-year-old child, he speaks and acts like an adult, so it is impossible for Mai Xiang to act like a meal money. ignorant behavior.

Then the last possibility is that Mai Xiang or Ye Dafu has money in their hands. Where did the money come from?There are only three possibilities, either Ye Dafu saved his private house, or the Liu family subsidized Ye Dafu privately when the family was separated, or Mai Xiang earned it recently.

After thinking about it, Mrs. Qian went into Mrs. Sun's room.Mrs. Sun happened to be doing embroidery work at home, and she didn't need her to work on the two acres of land in her family, so she basically did embroidery work at home during this period of time.

Mrs. Sun also felt that this matter was rather strange. Mai Xiang, a ten-year-old child, would not be able to earn such money no matter how capable she was. The two sisters-in-law and sisters-in-law checked for a long time, and finally found Mrs. Liu who was in the house.

Mrs. Liu intends to favor the eldest son, but she is not reconciled to being cheated. Ye Dafu has always been her most trusted eldest son. This feeling of betrayal is uncomfortable, so she also wanted to find out the truth of the matter, so she came here with her two daughters-in-law .

"Dafu, tell mother the truth, what happened to your family's money?" Mrs. Liu looked at Ye Dafu and asked.

"Mother, when did I save a private house in my hand? This money is indeed earned by Da Ya." Ye Dafu looked at Liu Shi and said.

"To coax ghosts, big girl, tell me how you got your money? Don't tell me you got it by selling flower baskets." Sun sneered.

"I'm sorry, Third Aunt, I got it by selling flower baskets." Mai Xiang smiled at Mrs. Sun.

"Each flower basket can be sold for less than ten cents. I know how many flower baskets you have sold these days." Mrs. Sun has sold flower baskets by herself, and knows that these flower baskets are not easy to sell, so she obviously doesn't believe Mai Xiang's words. .

"Grandma, we have separated. How and how much money I earned is none of your business, right? I must know how much money my father has earned over the years. How many of them are there?" Hunting together and settling accounts together, they must have accounts, if you don’t believe me, grandma, second aunt and third aunt, you can call the big guys over, and interrogate them, won’t you understand?”

"Why do you ask? I don't mind being stupid. Dafu has always done things frankly, and has never thought about it carefully. If you don't believe it, just ask Erfu and Sanfu." Ye Tiezhu entered the room, followed by Wufu and Bafu.

They just came back from the field, and when they entered the yard, they heard noises here. After listening for a while, Ye Tiezhu knew that it was Qian and Sun who were causing trouble, so he turned around with a dark face.

"Grandpa, you came just in time. Just now, Mai Qing and Mai Lu were looking after the house. The second aunt came to our house and took a few eggs and a scoop of rice without our consent. I want to ask, my parents can't get off the kang , in the future, can anyone come and pick up my things if they want?" Mai Xiang asked hurriedly.

Ye Tiezhu stared at Qian after hearing this.

"Father, I didn't mean it. McGinn has been short of milk these days, and I don't have much money left. I thought that my elder brother's family also eats like this every day. It's not bad, so I borrowed it." A few." Qian Shi timidly explained a few words.

"How do you get it back?" the old man said.

"Why? We even paid a tael of silver for the stove for the elder brother's house!" Qian didn't move.

"Wufu, go and call your second and third brothers back." Ye Tiezhu interrupted Qian.

"No, Dad, I'll pay it back." Qian said hurriedly.

It's a pity that Wufu had already run away in a hurry. As soon as he went out, he encountered a group of Zhao family members coming angrily with shovels and hoes.

(End of this chapter)