"You can eat whatever you want. Two wild geese are very expensive. I asked your second brother to take them to the county seat and sell them today."
How could people like them be willing to eat such good food? It would be more economical to exchange it for a few copper coins.
After dinner, Xiao Changhe assigned today's tasks.
Xiao Song, Xu Zhengxiang and Yang Feng went to the field with him. Xiao Mu went to the Yamen to change the marriage certificate and sell wild geese. Xiao Jing went to school. As for Ye Luoxin, he stayed at home to recuperate for the time being.
"I can work too."
Ye Luoxin rushed to say it before everyone started.
"How much work can you do in the field with your small body? You should take good care of yourself at home, so as not to get seriously ill later and spend more money." Xu Zhengxiang said.
Xiao Changhe also agreed: "Our family has a lot of hands, and I won't miss you. Just listen to your mother and raise them at home."
"You stay home."
Xiao Mu said expressionlessly: "There are flat baskets in the warehouse for drying herbs. When the sun comes out, you move the baskets to the yard. The herbs inside will be dried in the sun for two days."
"Okay!" Ye Luoxin nodded quickly after hearing this.
"We won't be back for lunch at noon. If you are hungry, just heat up two steamed buns to eat. There are pickles in the kitchen jar, and there are leftover meats and vegetables from yesterday in the basin under the curtain. You can heat them up if you want to eat." Feng also instructed.
"Okay!" Ye Luoxin responded.
After a while, everyone in the family left, and the lively yard suddenly became quiet.
Before the sun came out, Ye Luoxin went to the kitchen to wash the dishes and chopsticks she had used in the morning, then found a rag and tidied up the kitchen thoroughly.
The medicine cooked for her had cooled down. She picked up the medicine bowl and drank it all in a few mouthfuls.
…
On the road in the field, Xiao Changhe said to Xu Zhengxiang: "After a while, the second brother will go and change the marriage certificate, and then girl Luo Xin will become our real daughter-in-law. There is no room for maneuver on this matter, and don't think about anything else." ”
"What am I thinking?" Xu Zhengxiang said coaxingly: "I just felt that the Ye family was bullying others too much, and I couldn't bear it. Besides, isn't it the daughter-in-law you specially selected? She will change her whenever she says, but you won't Feeling uncomfortable?"
"The second child told me yesterday that we should not embarrass her. I want to choose a good wife for him, but I have to respect his wishes. After all, he is..."
Xiao Changhe didn't say half of the sentence, but Xu Zhengxiang understood it clearly.
She said: "I am not the one who cannot tolerate others. Besides, didn't Master say yesterday that this girl is a blessed person? As long as she lives a good life, I have nothing to say."
"How can I not worry about you doing things!" Xiao Changhe smiled, "Our family has been grateful to you in these years."
He sighed: "It's hard to live a better life. I owe another 20 taels of foreign debt. I must pay it back and try to pay off all the debt before the end of next year."
When the foreign debt was mentioned, Xu Zhengxiang frowned again: "Twenty taels of silver! Even if we sell the autumn grain, we can only have ten taels left at most. The second child's family still needs to see a doctor and get medicine, and the third child still has to study. The second child still has to go to school. It’s good to be able to dig out some more expensive medicinal materials, otherwise I’d really have to tighten my belt.”
"The boat will naturally go straight when it reaches the bridge. Let's wait and see." Xiao Changhe comforted his wife.
As he spoke, he reached the end of the land.
It is the busy farming season, and people in the village come to the fields early.
After greeting those who were close by, the Xiao family stopped talking. Each person had two ridges of land and started working.
…
After noon, Xiao Mu rushed back from the county government office.
As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Ye Luoxin holding a rake and carefully picking up the dried herbs.
The sun shone on her face, and was reflected by the fine beads of sweat, making the tiny hairs on her temples clear.
A few beads of sweat slowly rolled together, all the way down along the eyebrows and cheeks, and flowed deeper down the white neck.
Xiao Mu suddenly felt that the sun was too strong today, making people feel hot all over.
He coughed twice unnaturally, then raised his legs and continued walking inside.
Ye Luoxin looked up and stood up quickly after seeing Xiao Mu: "You're back!"
"Um."
Xiao Mu didn't say much, but his eyes were fixed on Ye Luoxin's hand.
"I saw that Ligusticum Chuanxiong was mixed with woody aroma, so I thought of picking out the woody aroma." Ye Luoxin explained somewhat at a loss.
"Do you know herbal medicine?" Xiao Mu frowned.
"No, I don't know him very well." Ye Luoxin immediately realized that she had exposed a flaw. The original owner should not know about herbal medicine.
"My mother taught me something when I was little, but I only remember a little bit."
Xiao Mu knew it well, and could accurately identify Ligusticum chuanxiong and Muxiang. I'm afraid he knew more than just a little bit.
"Since you know each other, pick out all the woody scents and put them in a flat frame alone."
This time, it was Xu Zhengxiang who helped dry the herbs, mixing the woody scent and Chuanxiong together.
He originally thought that he would find time to pick them out when they were dry, but now that Ye Luoxin was with him, he saved a lot of trouble.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Ye Luoxin a few more times.
Ye Luoxin lowered her head to lift the basket, but the movement was too fierce. She felt as if her eyes were going dark and she was about to fall forward.
Xiao Mu quickly threw away the things in his hands, took two steps forward, and caught the person.
Before closing her eyes, Ye Luoxin was still thinking, it's over, it won't fall down, it will be too embarrassing!
Unexpectedly, the next moment, her body fell into a broad embrace.
The arms holding her were very strong, and the steady heartbeat stopped in her ears, making her blush unconsciously.
After the dizziness dissipated, Ye Luoxin quickly stood up and explained: "I just squatted for too long and I feel a little dizzy."
"Yeah." Xiao Mu still had no expression on his face and said, "Don't worry about choosing, just go back to the house and rest."
Ye Luoxin stood still and didn't move.
Xiao Mu looked at her and saw her staring at the things he had just thrown down on the ground. He went over to pick up the bag and hid it behind him guiltily: "It's nothing, it's all for home use."
"Oh!" Ye Luoxin nodded.
She just saw a beautiful wooden hairpin and looked at it a few more times.
Xiao Mu sent the things into the main room, turned around and came out. He saw Ye Luoxin still standing in the yard, so he said, "I'm going to build a cage by the river. Do you want to go with me?"
Hearing this, Ye Luoxin's eyes immediately lit up.
"Go!" Her voice was clear and her eyes were smiling. Xiao Mu was stunned for a moment.
The two people came to the river one after another and walked to the place where Xiao Mu got down into the underground cage.
He asked Ye Luoxin to stand on the shore, while he took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trouser legs, and walked to the middle of the river.
He followed the mark to find the stone holding down the rope of the underground cage, lifted the top of the underground cage, and soon dragged a ground cage made of bamboo strips to the shore.
Ye Luoxin had seen others build cages before, but they were all made by others, and she always watched from a distance.
This time she was finally able to get up close and personal. She couldn't restrain her curiosity and stared at the mouth of the cage without blinking, as if some treasure would be drilled out of it.
Xiao Mu returned to the shore, found a flat area, lifted the middle part of the ground cage, turned the mouth of the ground cage downward, and then shook it continuously to shake out the contents.
A few palm-long fish and a few shrimps came out first, and Ye Luoxin quickly reached out to pick them up.
Just as she was happily picking it up, a long black eel slipped out like a snake, landed on the ground and kept twisting, which startled Ye Luoxin.
Then two, three, four... By the time Xiao Mu stopped, there were eight giant eels on the ground that were as long as arms.
