In the first few days, Xue Changlin stayed by his brother's side all day, for fear that he would feel uncomfortable. But later, seeing that Xue Changshan's spirit was getting better day by day, he took the initiative to take over the task of preparing medicine for his brother. In addition to daily He made medicine and food, took care of his brother's daily life, and even cleaned two yards. Everyone in the Chu family tried to stop him several times but to no avail, so in the end they had to let him go.
Days passed day by day, and by the end of March, Xue Changshan finally no longer felt weak and could get up and walk around the yard alone. After drinking the decoction for more than half a month, he finally stopped with the doctor's permission. He only needs to pay attention to his diet in the future. It won't be a big deal.
After his health recovered, Xue Changshan planned to take his younger brother away from the Chu family. They were kind enough to take the brothers in and hired a doctor to treat him, but they couldn't stay here forever. That narrow alley was their home. .
Xue Changlin naturally knew what his brother was thinking, so he asked his brother if he could stay a little longer. He wanted to wait until Chu Li came back from school and say goodbye to him before leaving.
Over the past half month, Xue Changlin and Chu Li have established a good friendship. Chu Li is fourteen years old this year, and Xue Changlin is twelve. The two are similar in age, and they quickly got to play together. After returning home from school every day, Chu Li would go to the west courtyard to find Xue Changlin. The two would sometimes chat, sometimes play, or help the young couple do whatever work they could. Later, Chu Li actually taught Xue Changlin how to read.
Although they will still stay in this county in the future and will always see each other, Xue Changshan understands his brother's thoughts. This half month has been a sweet dream for them. Now they are friends, but they are gone from here today. , when we meet again in the future, one is a student in the county school, and the other is a beggar begging on the street. Their moods are always different, and it is time to say goodbye to each other, not only Chu Li, but also everyone in the Chu family. So he nodded in agreement.
Before Chu Li returned home from school, Chu Yi came to the west courtyard first and found the two brothers: "The doctor said you can stop taking the medicine, but you still have to pay more attention to it. How do you feel? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere else? "
Xue Changshan shook his head: "I don't feel any discomfort anymore. Thank you, Boss Chu, and your family. It's really troublesome for you these days. Don't worry, we will leave after my brother and Chu Li say goodbye."
Chu Yi knew that the other party had misunderstood what he meant, so he didn't explain anything. He just waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about it for now. You have been here for so long and we haven't said a few words. Do you want to talk to me?"
Although Xue Changshan was a little confused, he still nodded.
"Are you and your brother from our Xing'an County? But what happened to your family that led to this?"
"No, I just remember that our family was in a place called Changling Village. My mother fell off the cliff when she went to pick mushrooms on the mountain. Not long after, my father married his stepmother, and the stepmother gave birth to a younger brother. The family We were poor and had no money to support our stepmother. I was seven years old and could help with the housework, but Changlin was still young, only four years old. My father and stepmother wanted to sell Changlin for some money.
I refused, so I kept chasing the bullock cart of Renyazi. I ran for a long distance, but my father didn’t catch up with me. Later, Renyazi also kidnapped me and got into the cart. He was blindfolded and rocked all the way. We walked staggering for a long time, and then we changed carriages, but we no longer had to blindfold ourselves. There were many people on the carriages, including adults and children. We could only get a sour steamed bun or half a bowl of porridge every day. The elder and I Lin is a young man, and he often can't even get a piece of sour steamed buns. One day the carriage suddenly stopped. It was very chaotic outside. There were sounds of fighting and killing everywhere. Someone jumped out of the carriage and ran away. We didn’t know what happened, so we followed him and begged for food all the way here. . "
Xue Changlin was still young at that time and had no memory of these things. He had never heard his brother mention it, but every time he asked about his parents, his brother would tell him that their mother-in-law was a very good person. My mother-in-law couldn’t help but blush after hearing this. It turned out that he was sold by his own father. Read the book
Xue Changshan's voice was trembling when he spoke. Chu Yi reached out and patted him on the shoulder: "It's over now. What are your plans for the future?"
To be honest, Xue Changshan doesn't know how the two brothers will go in the future, or they have never considered this issue. The future is illusory to them. They might as well think about where to beg to fill their stomachs today. , come true.
Seeing that Xue Changshan didn't speak, Chu Yi said again: "If you don't have any plans yet, I have an idea. Do you want to hear it?"
"Okay, Boss Chu, tell me."
"If you don't have anywhere to go for the time being, why not just stay at home."
The brothers couldn't believe their ears, the Chu family actually wanted to keep them!
"But it's not for nothing. I know some carpentry and coffin-making skills. I can teach you. In the future, you can also make a living as a casual worker. If you don't like it, you can stay in the shop and help."
This is the result of the discussion between the young couple and Uncle Chu a few days ago. The two children are not bad in nature, and they are very sensible in repaying their kindness. If they are allowed to continue to make a living on the streets like this, I am afraid it will be a pity for them. Good boy.
That's why Chu Yi asked a lot of questions today, thinking that no matter whether the brothers want to go home or do something, they will help as long as they can. If they really don't have any plans, then they can stay at home and control what they do. When it comes to business, the two brothers will never be treated badly.
Seeing that the two brothers were a little stunned, Chu Yi was not in a hurry and just said: "Don't be in a hurry, you two think about it carefully and come to me after you think about it."
After saying that, Chu Yi got up and left the house where the two brothers lived in the west courtyard, intending to give them some time. Unexpectedly, the two brothers ran out before anyone could reach the door in the middle of the east and west courtyards.
Xue Changshan pulled his younger brother and knelt in front of Chu Yi: "Master, please bow to me."
After saying that, he kowtowed three times solemnly. After kowtowing, Chu Yi pulled the two of them up and said, "Okay, let's live here with peace of mind from now on. Keep your body strong first, so that you can work more easily in the future." .”
Chu Yi went to discuss the issue of stay and stay with his two brothers. Everyone in the Chu family gathered in the shop to wait for the news. When someone came into the shop from the inner courtyard, Shen Luzhu hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "How is it? What do the brothers say?"
"Azhu will be a master's wife in the future."
After receiving the affirmative answer, Shen Luzhu was naturally happy. In addition to being happy that his two good children no longer had to suffer anymore and could learn a craft to make a living, he was also happy that the opening of his own coffin shop seemed to be on the agenda.
Shen Luzhu knew that Chu Yi liked carpentry work and making coffins. Therefore, when he bought these two houses in the county, he thought that the west courtyard should be reserved for Chu Yi to open another coffin shop later. But if Chu Yi was the only one making coffins, he would probably be very tired. Taking on two apprentices now was a good start. Shen Luzhu also planned to find some permanent workers for Chu Yi in the future, so that he could continue to do what he likes. Son, it would be the best if you don't feel so tired.
He said that he wanted to teach the Xue brothers how to make coffins, but he couldn't rush it. It was Qingming Festival and the work in the shop became busy again, so Chu Yi took the two brothers with him to help them learn when they were busy. When he was free, he would teach them some theoretical knowledge about carpentry work. In the evening, when he was free, he would also ask Chu Li to teach the two brothers how to recognize some simple words. For a while, Chu remembered the funeral. It was so lively.
Speaking of Qingming Festival, something unexpected happened to the young couple. As early as mid-March, Jiang Quan had already led a convoy to deliver the prepared paper money to the county town one after another. Most of the paper money was Only a small part of the paper ingots are retained for subsequent sale to retail investors as copper coins and burned paper.
But one day at the end of March, another shop owner suddenly came to wholesale copper coins and burnt paper. Since they didn't want much, the young couple thought it was strange, but they didn't think much about it, so they sold it to him. But they didn't know what happened next. Why, people keep coming and want to wholesale some copper coins and burn paper.
This has to make the young couple suspicious. You must know that the Yang family's prices are cheaper than their own. Why do these people come to buy their own expensive products if they don't have access to cheap products?
Could it be that the Yang family's products are sold out? But the Yang family has been doing paper money business for a year or two. They don’t understand why they need to stock up in large quantities before the Qingming Festival. They will definitely arrange their own workshops in advance to rush work, so how can they run out of stock.
Uncle Chu simply had nothing to do. When he took Chu Xiuxiu out for shopping, he stopped by and asked the neighbors. Only then did he find out that the workers in the Yang family's workshop had actually started going on strike years ago. It was said that it was because of the Yang family's Withhold wages.
The two sides were in a stalemate, and there was even a dispute with the Yamen some days ago. Although the Yang family finally paid back the wages they owed, most of the workers still quit their jobs. The Yang family had no choice but to recruit new workers, but this reputation for withholding wages Outside, the recruitment process was not going smoothly. Moreover, the newly recruited workers had to relearn production techniques, so naturally they could not keep up with the old workers.
Therefore, during the Qingming Festival, the output of the Yang family workshop was extremely low. Not to mention the copper coin burning paper, even the yellow burning paper output was less than half of the usual volume. The shops selling paper money in the county could not get the goods, so naturally they He ran back to Chu's house to ask.
But the young couple never expected that such a thing would happen. The workshop in the backyard of the old house did not produce much copper money burning paper. They couldn't sell it at Chu Ping's shop in the countryside. However, if you want to buy more paper ingots, This was enough, so on this Qingming Festival, the couple's paper ingots were sold extremely hotly in the county town.
The Chu family closed the shop every day and happily counted the money, but the Yang family over there was even more uncomfortable. The old man of the Yang family had a stroke and was bedridden years ago, and his health has not been very good. I had it several times, causing the condition to keep coming back and forth without getting better.
Nowadays, the strike of workers in their own workshop has become public knowledge. Those workers actually quit their jobs after receiving their wages. In the eyes of the Yang family, this kind of behavior is clearly a deliberate revenge. Otherwise, why not sooner rather than later? , happened to make trouble before the Qingming Festival, but I was angry because the matter had already been brought to light in the Yamen. The Yang family could not make trouble or complain, so they could only accept their fate and pay for it. It was true that eating Coptis chinensis for a mute would lead to suffering. Can't say.
During this period of time, the old man of the Yang family couldn't eat anything. Whenever he closed his eyes at night, his mind was filled with things about the workshop. Sometimes he was unwilling to think about how to take revenge, and sometimes he was worried about when the workshop would be able to resume normal operations. The more he thought about it, the more he thought about it. The angrier I get, the more I think about it, the more irritated I am, and how can I get any sleep?
Being in such a depressed mood and not eating or sleeping, even a strong body may not be able to bear it, let alone the old man of the Yang family who is nearly 70 years old and his body is not as strong as before.
Sure enough, within five days, the old man of the Yang family was getting worse and worse. He could still be helped out of bed and walked around, but now it was difficult to even support his body and lean against the bed.
Fortunately, the Yang family learned to be smart this time and didn't tell the old man yet. The Yang family had worked hard to steal back nearly 80% of the business they had stolen from Chu Ji's funeral.
