The mulberry life of a small peasant girl

Chapter 45

On the opening day, Aunt Zhang brought several daughters-in-law to support her and bought some candy for her grandchildren. Other children saw it and yelled for their parents to buy candy. Many, after we meet, we will buy them at Zhangji grocery store, so we don’t have to wait for the market.

The business of the grocery store is not very good, but it is not bad either.There are hundreds of households in Zhangjia Village, the demand is very sufficient, and the money returns quickly. The shop can earn one or two a month, while Zhang De only needs to go to Longqing City twice a month to sell goods. This is really a source of money. good business.

The eldest brother of the Zhong family heard that the younger sister opened a grocery store again, and he hauled a truckload of goods in a few days.It is said that it is old cloth, and there are many rich merchants in the border town. Instead of selling Chen cloth in your own store to lower the customer level, it is better to sell it in your sister's village, which will make more money.

Zhang De only had three taels on hand, and these three taels were used as operating funds, so it was really difficult for him to accept this batch of cloth at once.Knowing that his brother-in-law is straightforward, Zhong Quanjing proposed a cost price and asked Zhang De to sell it on his behalf. The extra money would be his labor fee.

Zhong Caixin felt that since the eldest brother shipped a batch of cloth every month, it would be better to sell them other things from the grocery store, and save the trouble of selling the goods by himself, and compared to selling the goods by himself, the wholesale price of the eldest brother Obviously cheaper.

In this way, Zhang Ji's grocery store has more complete items, and the clothes are really attractive to the aunt and aunt.Although the old cloth is old, its color and style are much better than ordinary dyed cloth, and the price is only a few cents more than ordinary dyed cloth. Everyone is willing to go to Zhang Ji to tear the cloth.I don’t know how the news spread that Zhangji grocery store had Chen cloth for sale. Recently, more and more people from other villages came to buy it. Even as time passed, everyone knew the time when Chen cloth arrived. The courtyard was so crowded that not only the cloth could be sold, but also a lot of other things by the way.

The fourteenth of every month is the day when the grocery store sells old cloth uniformly, which is the day before the monthly market, which was suggested by Zhong Caixin.Nuanbao also put forward an idea of ​​getting as much as you buy: if you buy more than [-] cash, you will get a hair rope, if you buy more than [-] cash, you will get a wooden spoon, if you buy more than [-] cash, you will get a pair of wooden bowls and chopsticks.

The wooden spoon and wooden bowls and chopsticks are all made by Nuan Bao. Zhang De was curious about Nuan Bao's carpentry skills, so he helped her and asked, "How can Nuan Bao know how to make wooden spoons?"

Nuan Bao made up an excuse a long time ago. She was only eight years old before, and natural and man-made disasters continued one after another. She had no time and did not dare to do outstanding things. Now she has finally settled down. She will continue to do carpentry in the future. If suddenly She can sculpt complicated works, so others treat her as a monster, so she thought to start with easy things first, so that after a few years, everyone will get used to it, and at most they will only praise her for her talent in carving.

"When I was in my hometown, there was an uncle who knew this craft. When he was teaching young apprentices, I often went to play. I learned a little more after watching a lot. Moreover, the spoons and bowls and chopsticks are very easy, just practice more. "

Zhang De nodded, "That's right. As long as you know the truth, you'll understand. Tomorrow, I'll go up the mountain to cut some wood and come back. You can do it slowly. It doesn't matter if it breaks. Anyway, it's not for sale, it's just a gift."

Carpentry is not like woodcarving. This job hurts the hands. The delicate skin on Nuanbao's hands has a layer of calluses. The distressed Zhong Caixin cried out for suffering.However, she is not afraid. In order to successfully display her carvings in front of them in the future, she has to start from a low level, and it should be practiced after a long time of not doing it.

In October, Mrs. Zhang finished harvesting the soybeans and corn, plowed the land deeply, applied another layer of fertilizer, and finally returned the land to Zhang De.As the end of the new year approaches, the business of the grocery store becomes more prosperous. Since Nuanbao and Xiaofu are peasant girls, there is no rule of not seeing outsiders, so the four of them guard the store in the straw shed, and Zhong Caixin keeps bowing and looking up while searching Putting up the feet to pick up the goods, I was dizzy from one high to one low, and fell on Nuan Bao next to me.

This fall is a happy event.It has been a year since the little uncle came back, and the little aunt once again reported that she was pregnant, and the four-year-old Mantou finally had a younger brother or sister.

Besides Zhang De, Xiao Fu was the happiest one.She hugged the little boy and hid in the corner of the wall, and asked quietly: "Mantou, you will have younger brothers and sisters. If everyone likes younger brothers or younger sisters, will you like them too?"

Mantou is a quiet and quiet kid, but that doesn't mean he is stupid. On the contrary, he is very angry, and asked Xiaofu: "Miss sister, of course Mantou likes younger siblings, doesn't it mean that Miss sister doesn't like it?"

Seeing that Mantou wasn't jealous at all, Xiaofu couldn't help asking himself, could it be true that her sister said she was stingy.Sure enough, children are the most annoying thing, Er Niu will only treat her well, hehe.

Zhong Caixin was pregnant with her second child at the age of 25. Zhang De was even more nervous than the first time. He immediately ordered his wife to rest at home and take care of Man Tou. Nuan Bao and Xiao Fu were selling groceries outside, while he was busy with farm work.

Nuanbao is good at counting, sitting on a stool and counting money while planing wood, Xiaofu is very active, and when someone comes to buy things, she rushes about happily, and even yells "big sister, big brother" to the person who comes, quite a few five The 60-year-old women like to tease her the most, and Nuan Bao thinks that they are just because of Xiaofu's words: "Oh, I haven't seen you for a few days, the eldest sister is young and beautiful again, and I don't even recognize Xiaofu. What, candy winter melon come for a catty? "

I am Cheng Yi's dividing line
It was snowing heavily, and the shoals, streams, and grasslands were all covered with ice and snow. In this weather, the big tribes of the Yi country most liked to come to challenge.

The kingdom of Yi and the kingdom of Yong have fought once since the time of the last emperor, and it has been decades since the Taiping period, and the kingdom of Yi also promised to withdraw its troops and relocate the land for thousands of kilometers, and they will not invade each other. There is even a caravan from the kingdom of Yong entering the plain In the intercommunication market, the barbarians traveled thousands of miles to sell their goods.

If Emperor Dayong hadn't been greedy this time, the peace might have lasted longer.

Qin Chengyi happened to lead a team to patrol the border every four days, with 15 people in each team, each equipped with a horse, a bow and arrow or a spear. Captain Qin Chengyi carried a beacon with him, and gradually moved from south to north.

There are many merchants passing through the Yi Kingdom at the border. Some of the Yi merchants are tribal aristocrats, and some are wandering civilians.Therefore, there have been many resident civilian merchants on the border, specializing in providing high-quality cold-proof fur and snow plants with unique effects for the soldiers of the enemy country on the opposite side.

Qin Chengyi looked sideways at the large and small tents where he was stationed. There were dots of white tents all over the endless snowfield. He thought, taking advantage of this winter, he would replace all the food, cloth, and herbs he had accumulated with furs, because he will return home at the end of his term in August this year. home.

In the first year of coming here, in addition to training soldiers in spring, summer and autumn, they hunted on the grasslands. The meat they hunted was eaten by themselves or exchanged for food with the people in the camp.In the second year, he discovered that if he exchanged all the low-grade furs for food, and then saved them in winter to trade them for the grasslands with the barbarians, the furs of ferrets and red foxes in the mountains were more valuable.In the past three years, the furs he exchanged were all stuffed into the black cloth bag where he put his clothes when he arrived. He only waited for five years to pass before he could sell them all at once when the team returned to Beijing.Without the layers of exploitation and deductions in the middle, I believe this batch of high-quality furs will definitely be sold at a good price.

The team crossed tent after tent, among them were old people with crimson faces and naughty and immature children. They carried kettles on their heads, held bowls in their hands, and were wrapped in bloated fur of various colors. They were different from the common people of Yong Kingdom. He is fierce and savage but also kind and enthusiastic, especially these innocent civilians who live at the bottom and still smile.

Among these civilian Yi merchants, there is a well-known medicine doctor, who was said to be from the Yong Kingdom, but later became the son-in-law of the Mu Lian family for some reason, and settled in the Yi Kingdom ever since.The Yi people seldom know medicine, because there are not many medicinal herbs in the snow field. They believe in the gods and think that the gods bring them everything, and all the filth, such as disease and death, are punished by the gods. If you are saved, if you still die, it is a sin that cannot be forgiven by the gods.But the emergence of this medicine doctor undoubtedly saved many patients with acute fever and cold, so everyone respected him as the leader.

A woman's eager cry was heard from a distance: "Aye, Aye!"

Everyone looked back at the tent in the middle of the snow field. At this time, a burly man walked out of the tent. His face was covered by a squirrel fur scarf, leaving only a pair of eyes and a nose. source go.

Qin Chengyi and his group were also attracted by the shouting. When they got closer, they found that a three-year-old child was held in his mother's arms. The child's right cheek and neck were scalded, with large blisters. A piece of crimson.

The man named Ayer asked the woman to put the child down, and he raised the child's head to check for injuries.

The woman didn't wait to ask questions, she said the child's situation: "I just went around the fire pond to boil water, but I didn't see Qing Yuan beside me, and when I turned around to pour water, it hit Qing Yuan's face, Aye, what should I do now? "

Mu Lianye took off the child's outer fur coat. Fortunately, it was covered by the fur, and the hot water could not seep into it, so the body was fine.

"Get some clothes to put on first, otherwise it will be bad if you catch the cold." He then ordered his wife who was following behind: "Zhen'er, bring the anti-scalding cream and dressing gauze from the second layer of the medicine cabinet."

Qin Chengyi was riding on a tall horse, looking down at the man kneeling on the mattress, the voice seemed familiar.

Mu Lianzhen trotted over, unscrewed the lid and handed the plaster to her husband.

Mu Lianye applied the ointment to the child's wound, and the cold feeling stopped the child's crying, and the woman thanked him crying.

"Aye, is the child okay? How about leaving a scar for this injury?"

"It's nothing. Children grow up fast. This medicine has the effect of promoting blood circulation. When the scars get bigger, they will fade. Don't worry, girl. Apply this medicine once a day. Remember to be careful when cleaning it. The water from the blisters will flow out."

As he spoke, he unrolled a roll of gauze, wrapped it around the child's neck three times and tied it lightly, cut out a piece of the remaining gauze, and pasted it on the child's right face.

Qin Chengyi took a good look at Aye's hand. There was a deep scar on the junction of his right thumb and index finger. Its shape and size were similar to the scar of his deceased father, but there were more subtle scars on the back of his hand. engraved.

When Mu Lianzhen saw that her husband was well healed, she held his hand, and the two walked back slowly.

As the temperature rises in spring, barbarian merchants have to avoid the cold winter and have to migrate on a large scale. They need to go north to the deep plains. After the snow melts, there are more natural resources there, and they will come back next winter with exchanged goods.

The night before the migration team left, Qin Chengyi made an appointment with Mu Lianye.

In the early morning of the second day, Qin Chengyi galloped to the grassland alone on a horse and watched him leave from afar.

"Goodbye, father."

The prairie in July is still hot in the morning and cold in the evening, but this territory has undergone major changes.Unbearable to be harassed and obstructed by the soldiers of the Yong State for several years, the Yi State finally agreed to sign a tribute contract with the Emperor of the Yong State, and hand over furs, good horses, etc. every year.The conscripted soldiers were finally able to withdraw from the camp and leave the border that had been bound for five years.

In September of the golden autumn, all the troops registered and disbanded outside the border. Qin Chengyi signed the certificate of survival and headed towards Kyoto with his burden on his back.He is 22 years old, and he can't wait any longer. He only hopes that Nuan Bao is waiting for him.

Successfully sold dozens of top-quality furs at the branch in the capital, exchanged them for light silver bills, bought a horse at the horse market, and embarked on the journey home.

And Zhong Caixin, who was far away in Zhangjia Village, also gave birth to a baby boy in August. After a hundred days of the baby, people returned to their hometown one after another, and Zhangjia Village experienced another round of sorrow and joy.Qin Chengyi finally came to Nuan Bao's house a hundred years ago, and knocked on Zhang's door with a rippling smile.

(End of this chapter)