Mrs. Zhao's eyes widened.
Why couldn't she understand what this boy from the Cheng family said? Are all scholars so bitter?
Cheng Zhao carried two boxes and cages into the house.
Mrs. Zhao grabbed Cheng Wanwan and said, "Boss, wife, how long will your nephew live here and when will he leave?"
Cheng Wanwan knew that the old lady had committed another problem, and said helplessly: "Mom, don't worry, Zhao'er doesn't live and eat here for free, there are things for him to do."
Mrs. Zhao didn't believe a word of this.
The boy from the Cheng family is tall, but with thin arms and legs, he is too thin. What kind of work can he do?
Also, what do scholars do? Shouldn’t they go to the town and study hard?
She had never been to Chengjia Village and knew that the scholar examination would be held next year. Is the boy from the Cheng family not planning to become a scholar?
Mrs. Zhao was full of doubts, but later her water started to boil again, so she had to go to Gu Zaoli first.
Cheng Wanwan asked Cheng Zhao to help filter the ice powder. This work was not tiring and did not hurt the hands, but it was time-consuming.
Cheng Zhao obediently followed behind. He saw a large stall of work in the yard, and thought to himself that it was not easy to make ice powder. With so many people, it only cost three cents a bowl. He had to help his second aunt to do a good job. .
He sat on a piece of firewood and bent over to filter the ice powder. After working for a while, he felt a soreness in his back. This work was much harder than reading and writing.
But he did not dare to complain and continued working without saying a word.
Old Mrs. Zhao was sitting next to her. She had disliked Cheng Zhao before, but now she felt that the child was quite pitiful.
How can I do such rough work when I am studying?
This is the future scholar. He suffered a lot at the Zhao family. Will he come back with revenge in the future?
Thinking of this, Mrs. Zhao quickly took the things from Cheng Zhao's hand: "Cheng family boy, you go read a book, I will do this work."
The old lady was so strong that she couldn't help but steal the things.
Cheng Wanwan smiled secretly. The old lady was a typical arrogant person, but she actually didn't dislike Cheng Zhao that much.
Cheng Zhao was at a loss.
He came to his second aunt's house to repay the repair fees that his second aunt had paid for him over the years.
No matter where he went, he couldn't find a job that paid five taels a month. The second aunt was trying every means to favor him, and he also wanted to do something within his power.
Cheng Zhao walked to the front yard and saw Zhao Sidan feeding the chickens. He said, "Let me help you."
Zhao Sidan took out the little bit of rice cereal left in the morning and said, "Cousin, go and feed Xiao Hei. He is in the kennel."
Cheng Zhao took the rice cereal and walked to the edge of the kennel. There was a dog a little bigger than a palm sleeping inside. Xiao Hei smelled the fragrance and came out wagging his tail. However, his hind legs had not fully recovered and he walked with a limp. Lame, little tail wagging.
The end of its tail is black, very black.
Cheng Zhao frowned slightly. Why does this puppy seem different from other dogs?
Not allowing him to think too much, Zhao Sidan took him to dig wild vegetables in the mountains.
Cheng Zhao took the basket and walked away with it.
People in the backyard couldn't help but talk about him.
"It doesn't matter that the boy from the Cheng family is good at studying, but his hands and feet are still so diligent."
"I heard he is eighteen years old. I wonder if he is married?"
"Even if you don't get married, don't worry about it. I will become a scholar next year, even if I marry an official wife."
"A scholar doesn't have to kneel down when he sees the county magistrate. From now on, he won't have to pay taxes on his fields. If a scholar comes from his family, his ancestors must have made green smoke."
Cheng Wanwan felt regretful in her heart.
The Cheng family is indeed disgusting, but Cheng Zhao is very good, and being framed and unable to participate in the college examination should become Cheng Zhao's biggest regret in his life.
She wanted to help, but as a peasant woman, she had no way to help. Fortunately, there were still more than half a year before the hospital exam, so she could slowly think of a way.
After washing the ice powder, Zhao Youyin and others left.
Cheng Wanwan and Mrs. Zhao were filtering the ice powder. It was not a simple task to filter out all seventeen buckets of ice powder.
Mrs. Zhao finished filtering a bucket and felt dizzy from exhaustion: "It looks very simple. Why are you so tired? There are so many pots. How long will you be busy?"
Cheng Wanwan slapped her back: "We'll be busy until midnight at the latest. I have my mother to help me today, and Dashan and the others will also come to help later. I should be able to finish it by dark."
Mrs. Zhao smacked her tongue. The whole family was so busy that they didn't want to sleep now.
She paused and said: "This filtering is not a complicated matter. I will find two people to help you."
Cheng Wanwan laughed: "Mom, thank you very much. A bucket of three pennies was filtered out. Do you think this price is okay?"
In the past, Mrs. Zhao would have scolded her eldest daughter-in-law for being a spendthrift, but after today's exhaustion, she knew that these jobs were really tiring, and three pennies a bucket was not too much of a spendthrift, but she planned to Find some old ladies who have nothing serious to do at home to do the work, and give them two cents.
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "It's up to mother to make the decision. I will listen to mother."
Mrs. Zhao was particularly satisfied with how obedient she was, and went back to find someone with her hands on her waist.
Cheng Wanwan felt more and more that this mother-in-law was cute. Her mother-in-law looking for someone was much more reliable than her own.
From now on, the job of filtering ice powder can finally be handed over, and she will have more time to do other things, such as going up the mountain to make money... After buying wires, solar panels and pregnancy pills, she has less money on her hands. One third must be made up for.
After a while, Mrs. Zhao came over with two old ladies from her family named Zhao. She chose people with good eyesight. The three old ladies sat down and chatted while filtering. Their movements were very quick and easy. You won’t ask anything you shouldn’t, and the atmosphere in the backyard is very harmonious.
Before it was time to cook dinner, the three old ladies had finished their work. When it came time to pay the wages, Old Mrs. Zhao had fourteen cents, including two cents for boiling water, and the other two old ladies had twelve cents each. The three of them went back satisfied with the money.
Each wooden bucket in the backyard is filled with water, and then the ice powder bucket is put in. The spring water is frozen overnight and sent to the town tomorrow morning.
When the sun set in the west, Zhao Sidan and Cheng Zhao came back with their backpacks.
"Mom, my eldest cousin and I found a lot of mushrooms. We can eat mushrooms at night!"
Cheng Wanwan walked out of the house and saw that Cheng Zhao's blue and white academy clothes were covered with yellow mud and looked dirty.
This must be the first time this child has gone up the mountain to do this. The mountain road is not easy to walk on. He probably fell down. He is a good scholar, but he was led astray by Sidan.
However, scholars should not just stick to reading. If they see more, they will have different insights.
Cheng Wanwan took the two baskets and took them into the kitchen. There were a few mushrooms, some of which were slightly more expensive, and she threw them all into the mall. She cleaned the others and planned to make mushroom egg soup and then fry them. A wild bracken is used to cook corn porridge as usual. The rice soup cooked in the porridge is poured out to feed the puppies, and a little milk powder is mixed in when the opportunity arises.
During dinner, Wu Huiniang stood up and sat at the dining table.
There were seven people sitting at the short, square dining table, which was a bit crowded and very lively.
