from widow to dame

Chapter 20

Su Huiniang has always believed that if she wants to be able to stand in a place, she must have her own interpersonal network, otherwise if something happens, she won't even have a helper.She is a widow in name, and it is not easy for her to have much contact with the unmarried girls in the village, but it is fine.Her target is the third aunt and Mrs. Hua Hua, because she has met them a few times, and she has a better understanding of their personalities. The third aunt is enthusiastic, but she likes to chatter, and Mrs. Hua Hua is not bad, she is a very honest person .

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, when relatives and old friends visited each other, Su Huiniang took Mrs. Lin, mother and daughter to the third aunt first.The rural people are generally hospitable, and Su Huiniang didn't go empty-handed, she brought a large pot of soybean sprouts grown by herself.When the third aunt saw it, she sighed in amazement on the spot and said that she had never seen such a thing since she was a child.Su Huiniang explained the method of growing bean sprouts without hiding her clumsiness. She is not afraid of being learned by anyone, because Wangjia'ao does not produce soybeans, and these are only half bags she bought in the town.

There are mostly sauerkraut, potatoes, and potherb mustard on the dining table in rural winter. It is extremely difficult to see a fresh one, but this soybean sprout is tender and crystal clear. It is attractive to look at, and the method is also simple. The third aunt happily accepted it, and decided to copy a dish for her old man tonight.After coming out of her place, Su Huiniang and Mrs. Lin went to Mrs. Guahua again, and also presented a basin full of soybean sprouts.Aunt Osmanthus was naturally very happy, Su Huiniang chatted with her for a while, she was very clever, and the words she said were really pleasing to the ear, after a chatter, she was introduced as a confidant by Aunt Osmanthus, it was a shame that they met each other too late a feeling of.Before leaving, Su Huiniang gave another red envelope to Sister Osmanthus's daughter, Xiaoman, who had five eldest sons. Needless to say, Sister Osmanthus was more satisfied.

Of course, after coming out of the two places, Su Huiniang also got some useful information.For example, it seems that Wang Erlang will stay at home temporarily, and will not return to town until the county examination in March.At this time, when Darui was just being built and a thousand wastes were waiting to be built, the imperial examination system was not as precise as it was 60 years later, only divided into three sessions, the county examination, the government examination and the general examination, corresponding to Tongsheng, Xiucai and Juren respectively.In particular, the examination is held in the capital every year, and if one gets the name on the list, one can enter the court and become an official.

After hearing this, Su Huiniang thought, if Wang Erlang devoted himself to reviewing his homework, he might not come to bother him again. As for Mrs. Pi, they don't have to worry, they hope that Wang Qilang will never go back!If this is the case, there will be no movement in the Wang family for the next few days. Su Huiniang will occasionally see Tian and others when she goes out. She has made up her mind that when the weather gets warmer, she will build a wall to get out first. , save seeing their faces again.

Time passed by little by little like this, and after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the year was over.In this way, Su Huiniang put all her heart and soul into the Chen family's wedding dress. Since she had already placed a guarantee, she should try her best to sew it.The style of the wedding dress she made is very different from the current popular style. When the Tartars ruled the world, the Han people were widely persecuted, and there was a gap in the cultural tradition. This can be seen from the wedding ceremony. When the couple gets married, the woman only needs to wear a one-piece red robe, which is so simple that it looks ugly.Because Darui has not been established for a long time, most of the brides of other families still wear it like this, but obviously, the Chen family is not satisfied with this "simple", so Su Huiniang made major changes to the whole wedding dress , she referred to the styles of wedding dresses decades later, and adopted a "three-piece suit". The innermost piece is a pleated red dress with a wrap around the waist, and a coat with wide sleeves hanging down to the floor. It is a cloak of colorful clouds reflecting the sun, and there are many kinds of happy patterns and flowers embroidered on it. This is a very exhausting job, and it has to be done slowly. In this way, Su Huiniang does housework every morning, and every afternoon When I was doing wedding dresses, my life was tight, but I didn't feel at ease.

Thanks to the success of Su Huiniang's "bean sprout diplomacy" policy, both the third aunt and the sweet-scented osmanthus sister-in-law began to communicate with their family frequently. Out of friendship.Lin is no longer always staying at home without leaving the door. In this village that is actually very strange to her, Lin's expression is also more obvious when she has a friend who can talk to her. Wipe a cheerful smile.And Su Huiniang herself has a good relationship with Mrs. Osmanthus, and now the other party only has one daughter, and she has revealed to Su Huiniang about her eagerness to have a son.

Su Huiniang also asked her about Wang Qilang. To her surprise, it seemed that everyone in the Wang family knew that Wang Qilang was not Pi's biological son. It was just about who his parents were and why they gave the child to him. The reason why the Wang family was raised is unknown to everyone.

The days are calm, steady, and trivial.But there are also some good things happening, such as Su Wen's body. Since moving to Su Huiniang's place, Su Wen said goodbye to eating bran swallowed vegetables. He prescribed tonics for him, and she secretly replaced the water for decocting the medicines with cold spring water in the space every day.Su Wen's body really improved a lot after being raised in this way, his face was no longer so pale, and he basically stopped coughing at night. Su Huiniang stipulated that he should walk on the ground a few times a day, and gradually Su Wen's spirit became stronger and stronger. Come more and more, Xi's Lin's Amitabha's simply don't know what to do.In contrast, Wang Qilang has changed a lot. Su Huiniang doesn't let him run outside now, and urges him to read and write every day.This child is really smart, he can memorize all the new words that he has handed over a few times, and after two months, he can recognize all the "Tongmeng".It's just that he doesn't know how to write very well. Every time at this time, Su Wen, who was reviewing homework with him, would turn pale, annoyed that his face would turn pale, and he practiced secretly.

The spring was cold and steep, the ice and snow melted, and it was March in a blink of an eye.On this day, the Wang family was buzzing with joy and excitement from morning to night, and the noise could be heard from a long distance away, but it was some kind of "farewell banquet" that Mrs. Pi had organized for her second son.Su Huiniang couldn't help laughing when she heard these three words, thinking: I haven't passed the exam yet, so there's such a big fanfare, if I pass the exam, Mrs. Pi will have to poke a hole in the sky.Seemingly hearing the lively sound, a look of sadness flashed across Su Wen's face, Su Huiniang's heart moved, but she knew why.Su Wen is 13 years old this year. However, he has already obtained the qualification of a child student. It is not easy for him at this age. Don't you see that Wang Erlang is now 24 or [-], and he can only be considered a child student.It's just because Su's father passed away, his family was in decline, and his health was not good, so Su Wen's studies were delayed and he couldn't improve.

Su Huiniang smiled and told him that he would also be asked to go to the school in the town to study when the flowers bloomed, on the condition that his body must fully recover.Su Wen was overjoyed when he heard this, thinking of his sister who worked so hard to support the family every day, and now she had to support her own education, she was even more grateful to Su Huiniang, and the relationship between siblings was one step closer.This made Wang Qilang next to him very tasty, but when he thought that if Su Wen went to study in the town, Sister Hui would be his alone. Thinking of this, Wang Qilang's mood suddenly improved, and he even had feelings for Su Wen Got some good colors.

As the old saying goes, the more smug people tend to die the sooner. When this saying is applied to Wang Erlang, the more he wants to be a scholar, the more he will fail the test.Not surprisingly, Wang Erlang failed again!Compared with the scene of rushing to the examination room, Wang Erlang's appearance when he came back was so gray that it made people laugh.I heard that Mrs. Pi fell ill because of this... The above news was exclusively revealed by Mrs. Osmanthus. Su Huiniang said that she was very happy to hear it. That night, she cooked four small dishes and drank a pot of tea happily. .

As the weather warmed up, Su Huiniang thought of raising some chickens. Don't underestimate this business. If the family can have twenty hens that lay eggs, among other things, this year's oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar will be rich. Landing.As soon as she said it, she first sorted out a row of chicken racks, and brought back a litter of chickens to the third aunt, a total of 22 chickens, fluffy, yellow and tender, leaning together, not to mention how cute they are.

Su Huiniang is not very good at raising chickens, but Mrs. Lin knows it!Now that Su Wen's health is getting better, she doesn't need to worry too much, so she starts to have time to take care of these chicks every day, and the feed that Su Huiniang feeds the chickens is also mixed with space-produced food from time to time After eating the vegetable leaves, the chickens responded very well and were full of energy. All 22 survived and began to grow up gradually.

Time passed gradually like this, and when the weather was getting warmer day by day, the Chen family's wedding dress was finally completed.Su Huiniang picked a date and went to the Chen Mansion in person.It was the same mother who stood at the door to pick her up. Surprise flashed in her eyes when she saw Su Huiniang.It seemed to be strange how the poor and ugly girl had changed so much a few months ago?

Obviously, Su Huiniang's wedding dress was highly appraised and affirmed by Mrs. Chen's family. Looking at her happy face, she knew how satisfied she was with this dress.

"Go and show it to Miss, so that she won't be restless all day long." Then, Mrs. Chen smiled and said to Su Huiniang: "Miss Su, go too, and let my daughter try it on herself. If there is something that doesn't fit you You can change it immediately.”

Su Huiniang was right after hearing this.

(End of this chapter)