Chu Ren paused, knowing that Mrs. Wang didn't understand what he meant, and then said: "Auntie, I mean, if there is a way, we can go back to the old house and live like before, that's okay."
When Wang heard this, he immediately retorted: "How can that be true? Your background as a coffin maker will have a greater impact on your future career in the imperial examination. Have you forgotten? You can't think about this anymore in the future. You should study hard now, and you will stand out in the future. No better than anything else!”
"Auntie..." Chu Ren lowered his head and was silent for a long time, seeming to be thinking about whether he should tell Wang the truth for the sake of the family.
After a long time, he decided to wait and see for a while. After all, the old house was not stable: "It's okay. My son is going to school."
"That's it, please read it carefully, and grandma will go out first."
Mrs. Wang has always believed in her son the most, so naturally she would not wonder about Chu Ren's strangeness. She just thought that he was caused by rumors recently and was worried about the cost of studying in the future.
Uncle Chu was drying the rice brought back this year in the yard. When he saw Wang entering Chu Ren's room for a long time before coming out, he had been very worried about Chu Ren's condition recently, so he hurriedly walked over and asked in a low voice: "What did Arendo say? "
Mrs. Wang sighed and was about to speak when she saw her youngest son Chu Zhi running towards Chu Ren's room. She quickly stopped him and said, "Why do you always run into your brother's room? He is studying hard and old age bothers him!"
Chu Zhi shook the book in his hand and said, "Mom, sir, I have left homework today and asked me to preview tomorrow's article. I don't quite recognize some of the words, so I want to ask my brother."
Chu Zhi is fourteen years old this year and is learning calligraphy from a teacher in the village school. However, he is not as smart as Chu Ren was, so Uncle Chu and his wife did not pay much attention to his studies.
Mrs. Wang habitually pushed Chu Zhi back: "Why ask? It's just the little things you have learned. It is your brother's turn to teach you. Tomorrow you can ask the teacher in the school by yourself. Take what I have." Copper plate, don’t ask him, who will go with it!”
It wasn't until her youngest son left that Mrs. Wang told Uncle Chu about Chu Ren again: "Aren must be worried about the cost of going to the town in the future. He has random thoughts and said that it would be great if he could return to his old home."
"Return to the old house?" Uncle Chu's eyes lit up after hearing this, and then dimmed: "Wouldn't that affect Aren's career?"
"That's right. I told him to stop thinking nonsense in the future!"
When Mrs. Wang said this, she suddenly pointed at Uncle Chu and said, "You can't even think about it! Aren is more important than anything else. I'll put an end to your desire to inherit the coffin shop!"
Uncle Chu's face darkened: "If I didn't regard Aren as more important than anything else, I wouldn't have agreed to the separation of the family in the first place. I still can't think clearly about this!"
"As long as you think clearly, I'm just reminding you, no matter how much money you earn from selling paper, how much will you earn if you can become a master in the future?"
Uncle Chu was touched by what he was thinking just now. He felt a little embarrassed and turned around to work.
Mrs. Wang stopped refuting him and went on to talk about business: "It seems that we need to sell some of the harvested grain quickly to get some money back, then go to the old house to get some, and let Aren return to town quickly." Yes, otherwise it would be too much for him to study in this village!"
Hu's shop in Wufang Village has not been open since it was besieged by a group of villagers that day and lost a lot of money. Not only is it not open, but people keep hearing about it every day and come to refund their money. After finally withdrawing everything that should be withdrawn, Hu Shun and Huang Liang had a big quarrel!
The shop has been open for more than a month. Not only has he not made a penny, but he has also lost a lot of money. Hu Shun feels that Huang Liang is all to blame for this. If he hadn't come up with bad ideas and refused to listen to his own dissuasion, how could he have caused what happened today? This situation!
However, Huang Liang felt that the shop had made a big deal of his own trouble. He didn't blame Hu Shun for losing all his money. He refunded everyone's money without asking him. Hu Shun instead put all the blame on himself.
Even the other members of the Hu family criticized Huang Liang. If it hadn't been for this cousin who was said to be very capable in the town, how could their house have been smashed for no reason, and now even a yard would be destroyed by villagers. Pointing and pointing, I wish I could bury my head in the soil!
In the end, Huang Liang promised to compensate the Hu family for their losses, and repeatedly promised that it was just a temporary miscalculation. As long as he followed him, he would definitely make a lot of money in the future, so the matter was temporarily resolved.
Huang Liang knew that this shop might not be able to open for a while now. Even if they opened their doors normally to sell goods, no one would come to buy the same two items. The top priority was to create something like the Chu family did. New tricks will do.
The Chu family's paper money shop suddenly became popular three or four days before the Winter Clothes Festival. People who had already bought from the Hu family before and had their money refunded, and those who came to buy just before the festival, all rushed into the Chu family's shop. .
Even with the help of Chu Xiuxiu, Chu Sanshu and Chu Li, the young couple couldn't handle it at all. Fortunately, the Shen family heard the news, and cousins Shen Songjie and Shen Zeqi rushed over to help, and finally managed to survive the past few days before the Winter Clothes Festival. Come over.
Different from the Qingming Festival and the Ghost Festival, the Winter Clothes Festival lasts from the first day of October to the fifteenth day of October. So even if it is already the beginning of October and has passed the peak of selling paper money during the Winter Clothes Festival, there will still be many people buying it every day. paper money.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Shen Songjie helped clean the shop and was about to leave when Shen Luzhu mysteriously pulled him aside.
Shen Luzhu pulled his second brother outside the courtyard gate and stood behind the firewood pile on the other side of the shop. He stood on tiptoe and looked at the village road opposite. He didn't see Chu Yi who had gone to fetch water. He was relieved. He and Shen Songjie bit their ears.
"Second brother, don't come tomorrow..."
"Otherwise I wouldn't have come!"
Since the peak of the Winter Clothes Festival has passed, Shen Songjie and Shen Zeqi have taken turns to help. Today is Shen Songjie, and tomorrow it will be Shen Zeqi.
"Then you tell your cousin not to come either..."
Shen Songjie raised an eyebrow, what's the matter, he came to do a favor, why was he still being disliked?
"Lu Zhu, my eldest brother said you were a bad learner, and I tried to speak for you, but look at the result, what are you doing? Killing the donkey?"
"Second brother, can you please listen to what I have to say first, and then tell me what kind of metaphor you are using? Second brother is willing to be the one, but we don't have anyone to accompany you!"
After Shen Luzhu finished speaking, he stood on tiptoes and looked towards the road.
When Shen Songjie saw Shen Luzhu's behavior, he became even more curious: "It's so mysterious and you have to carry someone behind your back. What on earth do you want to say, sister?"
"Second brother, can you and your cousin quietly go to town tomorrow and help me buy some things?" Shen Luzhu said, taking out a note from his sleeve and handing it to Shen Songjie.
"Milk, flour, sugar... nothing special. What are you doing quietly?"
"The sixth day of the lunar month is Chu Yi's birthday. I want to make something for him. Second brother, please don't send it here after buying it. Take it home for me first, and then put it quietly in the shop for me at night, okay? I'll put the key there." Under the stone that is usually used to lean against the door."
When Chu Yi was born last year, his shop was busy during the Winter Clothes Festival, and due to customs in Daqian, Shen Luzhu simply cooked birthday eggs and longevity noodles for Chu Yi. This year, Shen Luzhu wanted to surprise Chu Yi!
Shen Songjie naturally agreed: "Sure, there's nothing wrong with this!"
"Then I'll trouble you, second brother. These are very important. Second brother must help me buy them!" Shen Luzhu said while pointing to several things on the note for Shen Songjie to see!
"Second brother has taken note of it, don't worry!"
"There is also a second brother. Remember to call the eldest brother on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. All the cousins will come over to have a drink!"
"Well, I can't forget it. I'll leave first, otherwise my brother-in-law will be back soon!" Shen Songjie said, shaking the note in his hand, and walked out of the firewood pile first.
When Chu Yi came back from carrying water, he didn't see Shen Songjie, so he asked his wife who was locking the shop: "Second brother is gone?"
"Well, I just left. I see that there are not as many people in the past two days as before the holiday, so I told my second brother that they don't need to come to help anymore."
Chu Yi nodded and waited for Shen Luzhu to enter the courtyard. He followed his wife: "Okay, listen to A Zhu. After the Winter Clothes Festival, call the brothers home for a drink."
Shen Luzhu turned around and looked at Chu Yi with a smile: "Chu Yi, we are really a pair of little mandarin ducks who have a good understanding of each other! I just told my second brother that I wanted to invite them over for a drink, but it's not after the holiday. You Guess what day it is?”
Chu Yi filled the water jar under the kitchen window, and Shen Luzhu wiped his sweat with a handkerchief. Chu Yi bent down and bowed his head to accommodate his wife's height, and asked in a deep voice: "Is there a reward for guessing correctly?"
"Well..." Shen Luzhu pretended to be embarrassed: "Okay, for the sake of my husband-in-law, you are so good-looking, you can have it!"
Chu Yi also followed his wife's example, frowning as if he was trying to think of the answer: "On my birthday?"
"Wow! My husband, you are so awesome, you actually guessed it right!"
"Then what's the reward?"
Shen Luzhu raised his chin, full of pride, and said to Chu Yi: "As a reward... give me a kiss, do you want it?"
Chu Yi finally laughed uncontrollably, took his wife into his arms, and whispered in her ear: "Okay."
Then he left a kiss on Shen Luzhu’s earlobe!
When the shop was closed in the afternoon on the fifth day of the lunar month, Shen Luzhu deliberately snatched Chu Yi's last cleaning job, locked the door himself, and hid the key in the place he and Shen Song had shared.
When the sunset completely disappeared, two tall and thin black figures approached the Chu family's shop carrying a lot of things. They took out the key from under the stone, tiptoed and put the prepared items in, and then twisted it. Get out, lock the door, and put the key away. The cat bent his waist and walked quietly for a long distance, then finally straightened up again and ran quickly to the other side of the river.
Late at night, Chu Yi felt his wife in his arms move and seem to sit up. He closed his eyes and reached out to Shen Luzhu: "What's wrong?"
"It's okay, I'll get up and drink some water, and you can go back to sleep."
Chu Yi was still confused, so he stood up and got up: "I'll get it for you."
Shen Luzhu hurriedly pressed his shoulders: "No, I still want to relieve myself. You can go to sleep quickly."
Shen Luzhu put on his coat and saw that Chu Yi seemed to have fallen asleep again in a daze. Then he quietly left the house, holding the sides of his coat with both hands and wrapping it tightly around himself, and walked towards the shop outside the courtyard.
The candles were lit and the shop suddenly became bright. Shen Luzhu checked the items sent by his brothers and found that nothing was missing. He was about to start making a birthday cake for Chu Yi.
Fortunately, when Chu Yi built the shop, he built a stove in the house. She secretly hid some pots and pans here yesterday. Now it is very convenient for her to operate it late at night, and she does not have to worry about making any noise. , woke up Chu Yi.
Eggs, milk, sugar and flour are mixed together to make a batter, which is heated and steamed in a pot over water.
There was no cream, so Shen Luzhu used white jelly and milk to make milk pudding. He hollowed out the center of the cake embryo and poured in milk pudding and various diced fruits. A simple version of the pudding cake without cream was ready.
It sounds easy, but Shen Luzhu has been busy until the sky turns slightly white, and then he is done! Not caring to catch up on his sleep, he ran to the kitchen to make longevity noodles and eggs for Chu Yi.
As usual, Chu Yi reached out to find his wife beside him when he was half awake in the morning. After touching it, he found that the quilt next to him was already cold. No one was there?
Chu Yi suddenly woke up!
Last night, A-Zhu seemed to have gotten up and said he was going to drink water, and then fell asleep again. Could it be that...
