The autumn harvest is over, winter is slowly coming, white snow slowly covers the earth, moistening the soil, and every household begins to burn coal for heating. Although burning coal costs money, because this year's autumn harvest is abundant, everyone has a happy smile on their face. Except for the Wei family.
Old Mrs. Wei sighed and lay on the warm pit, beating her chest from time to time. "This year's harvest is so good, but our family's income is not much higher than in previous years. I'm so angry."
Due to the lack of labor, Mrs. Wei could only hire outsiders to help with farming. She sold the excess grain and deducted the employment fees paid this year. She found that her income was not much higher than in previous years.
"Third brother is too much and refuses to come back to help. Otherwise, how could our family have so little money this year," Wei Laichun was dissatisfied.
"The third brother is really so impersonal. Even if the family is separated, we are still one family." Wei Dagen was also very dissatisfied.
Wei Sigen didn't feel anything about this. He only cared about one thing, "Mom, is the money this year enough for me? Did you say you would give me more money? I have a friend who plans to introduce a high official for me to make friends with. , I can’t afford to miss out on this fee.”
Wei Laichun also said quickly, "Mom, there's still me. I don't care. You promised to make two new sets of clothes for you."
Wei Dagen didn't say anything, because his mother would never miss him for his daily expenses, so he didn't need to speak out for reminders.
Wei Ergen didn't say anything either, but that was because it was useless to say anything because none of the income earned by his family would be spent on him. He didn't dare to be dissatisfied and complain, he was just sad for his child, because he was not valued as a father, and neither was his child. Alas...
Mrs. Wei felt a headache as she stroked her forehead. She thought her income would be much better this year, so she agreed to all their requests. Unexpectedly, her income was not much better than in previous years.
"I know, don't argue, I won't miss you anymore." Although she said this, Old Mrs. Wei felt a little guilty. Thinking of putting herself in such a predicament, San'er, she became very angry. "San Gen will be here from now on." I can’t rely on you anymore, I pretend I never gave birth to this child, it’s so cold-blooded.”
"Mom, don't be angry, it's not worth it to make yourself angry for this kind of person," Wei Laichun comforted, "The third brother doesn't even know what he thinks? Do you really think that you can rely on him after giving birth to a son? Don't even look at his son's body. No matter what, it’s all a matter of whether he can grow up. When the time comes, don’t look back and ask us for forgiveness and shelter.”
"That's your nephew, what nonsense are you talking about," Old Mrs. Wei scolded. Although she was partial and dissatisfied with San'er's family, she was not cruel enough to curse her own grandson's longevity.
Wei Laichun felt aggrieved, "Mom, I'm dissatisfied for you. I'm not wrong. The third brother fell out with us because of his son. He didn't even look at Brother Yu's body, in case something happened. , Third brother’s things will not go back to our house in the end, after all, third sister-in-law has had nothing to do for many years.”
Because Mrs. Wei didn't want to talk about it anymore, the topic quickly moved to other places. However, the speaker was unintentional and the listener was interested. No one noticed the thoughtful expression on Wei Dagen's face.
At the same time, while every family in the village stayed at home for the winter, Wei Sangen's family went out to the town.
The potholed dirt road made the oxcart sway and bumpy, making it very uncomfortable.
On the bullock cart, Wei's mother leaned closely against Wei's father, covering her mouth with her palms and exhaling to keep warm. Wei Cheyu sat opposite her, and Wei Zhenzhen sat diagonally opposite her.
Mother Wei looked at the weather, which was so cold that her teeth were chattering, and she wished she could shrink into a ball. Then she looked at her son opposite, who was sitting upright in such weather. She couldn't help but worry and said, "Yuzi, Are you OK."
Wei Cheyu thought his mother was worried about his health, so he comforted him, "Mom, I'm fine."
"are not you cold?"
"...I'm okay." Wei Cheyu actually felt cold, but the experience of his previous life had made the awareness of maintaining posture deep into his bones, so he couldn't do the behavior of shrinking into a ball.
"Can you bear it? Come over here and let me hold you. It will keep you warm." Mother Wei broke away from Father Wei's arms and opened her hands to let Wei Cheyu come over.
Wei Cheyu calmly dodged and refused firmly: "No, mother, I'm not cold, I don't need it."
"Are you embarrassed to hug Mom?" Mother Wei asked, "How about you hug Zhen Zhen? You are all children anyway."
Wei Cheyu: "..."
Wei Zhenzhen turned her head obediently and asked weakly, "Brother Yuzi, do you need it?"
The gentle smile on Wei Cheyu's face suddenly stopped, and he said with a stiff smile, "No, I'm not cold."
Wei Zhenzhen didn't insist and nodded indifferently to show that she understood. Anyway, she just wanted to show off in front of her parents.
At this time, Mother Wei suddenly asked: "Zhen Zhen, are you cold? Do you need to hug your brother Yuzi to keep him warm?"
This time it was Wei Zhenzhen's turn to freeze, and she replied in a weak voice: "Mom, no need, I'm not cold."
Seeing this scene, Wei Cheyu couldn't help but smile.
Although the weather was cold, he felt extremely warm inside, a warmth he had never felt in his previous life.
"Really?" Mother Wei doubted, "Actually, you two kids really shouldn't go out in such a cold weather. Wouldn't it be better to stay at home?"
Wei Cheyu: "Mom, I want to go to the bookstore."
"Wouldn't it be better to wait until the weather gets warmer?"
"I have nothing to do at home anyway. Maybe I can find some cheap books. I heard from my husband that bookstores have cheap books for sale from time to time." This is of course a lie, and it is Wei Cheyu's reason for going to the bookstore, but Wei's father and Wei's mother I don’t know much about this, so I don’t have any doubts.
The ox cart arrived in the town soon. Wei's father thanked the ox driver, and after paying the fare, he planned to go to the inn to sell the game. Wei's mother was worried about the children, so she planned to follow them to the bookstore.
"Mom, just follow dad to the inn. Don't you want to find out the news? I'll be waiting for you to come back in the bookstore. It's safe here and nothing will happen." Wei Cheyu advised. He didn't want his mother to follow him. This wouldn't work. It is convenient for him to inquire about information.
This time he came to town with him because he wanted to find out about the book copying market. He wanted to know which books had the highest prices and were purchased in large quantities, so that he could go back and copy books.
Mother Wei hesitated for a while and then said at the door of the bookstore, "Then you promise not to leave the bookstore and wait inside for me to come."
Wei Zhenzhen nodded, "Mom, I promise to take good care of Brother Yuzi."
Wei Cheyu: "..."
Hey, hey, let’s turn it around, he is the elder brother, okay?
However, in Wei's mother's heart, Wei Zhenzhen's words were obviously more important. After hearing Wei Zhenzhen's words, Wei's mother left without any further hesitation.
Wei Cheyu: "..."
I don’t know if it was because it was winter, but there was no one in the bookstore. When Wei Cheyu and the others went in, there was only someone sitting at the counter who didn’t know whether he was the boss or a waiter. When he saw them coming in, he stood up and immediately yelled: “Whose kid is this? This is not a place for you to have fun, get out quickly."
Wei Cheyu bowed his hands and said, "I'm sorry, sir, we're not here to have fun. We want to ask our brothers at home whether your shop accepts hand-written books."
"Do you, your brother, want to make money by copying books?"
"Yes, so I would like to know what types of books your store accepts."
The bookstore owner pointed to a shelf of books by the window and said, "Collect all the books in this row, but if you can't read them, let your brother come over and ask them yourself next time."
Wei Cheyu walked into the row of bookshelves, pointed at them and said, "Do you accept all the books between "Three Thousand Classics" and "On the Way of Learning"? How much is each book? Are the prices charged for these books the same?"
The bookstore owner was greatly surprised. He looked at the clothes of the two children in front of him. They were wearing monotonous homespun robes. They looked more like farm children than scholars. He didn't expect that they could read.
So he became interested and explained carefully, "Look at the handwriting. If the writing is good and the number of words copied is many, then there is a possibility of one tael of silver. But if the handwriting is average, even if the number of words copied is many, it may be just one tael." Worth ten cents or less.”
Wei Cheyu took out the paper hidden in his sleeve, opened it and showed it: "Where is this font? Copy the book "Zhou Shi Zuo Zhuan"."
"Zhuo Shi Zuo Zhuan" is the book with the most words on the shelf.
The bookstore owner couldn't help but praise, "Great calligraphy!"
Looking at the beautiful and neat fonts on the paper, his attitude became more relaxed and he said softly: "Little brother, go back and tell your brother that if all future books are in this font, I will charge the highest price. If it is If you copy "Zhuo Shi Zuo Zhuan", I can give you one tael of silver."
"Okay, I'll go back and tell my brother."
Wei Cheyu put the paper back into his sleeves, and then continued to ask the bookstore owner some questions, and the bookstore owner patiently answered them one by one.
Wei Cheyu didn't notice Wei Zhenzhen, who had been quietly listening to their conversation. Her eyes became brighter and brighter as she listened. After he finished questioning, he turned around and saw Wei Zhenzhen looking at him with eager eyes like a puppy, and asked enthusiastically : "Brother Yuko, can you really make that much money by copying books?"
"……Yes."
"Can I copy it too?"
Wei Cheyu looked at the shining eyes in front of him and couldn't bear the blow, so he responded gracefully: "Yes, but the boss said that the handwriting must be good, and they will not accept the ugly handwriting."
"I can practice. You can see if you can do it then." To be honest, Wei Zhenzhen was not interested in reading and writing at all, but when she heard that she could make money and help her parents reduce their burden, she burst out interested in reading and writing. Unprecedented enthusiasm.
Wei Cheyu fell silent.
He found that his subconscious was not looking for a reason to refuse, but thinking about the feasibility. Even though this feasibility cost time, money, and energy, and was not the best option, thinking that it was what she wanted to do, he actually felt that it was feasible. Yes, I want her to try it.
Wei Zhenzhen didn't notice Wei Cheyu's complicated mood. When she saw him nodding in agreement, she was immersed in her own world, her eyes curling up in excitement.
