According to the past habits of the couple, after the Qingming Festival, they would close their shop for a while, sometimes for ten days, and sometimes they might wait until after the Dragon Boat Festival before reopening.
This year's situation is a little different. Chu Li is now studying in a private school in the county town. He has fixed holidays every month and on various holidays. If he stops business in the shop and returns to the village, he will have to ask for a long leave for Chu Li. , although the family did not expect Chu Li to take part in the imperial examination in the future and come back with any honors, but it was not good to always take leave to miss school when it came to reading and literacy.
After much thought, the young couple decided to wait until around the Dragon Boat Festival before returning to the village to live for a while. Since they did not plan to return to the village for the time being and they were still in the county, there was no need to close the shop.
Although the shop was open, it was the Qingming Festival after all, so both retail and wholesale business were very deserted, and sometimes not even a few people could enter the shop in a day.
As soon as the shop was free, Chu Yi focused on teaching the Xue Changshan brothers, from the most basic classification and characteristics of wood, types of coffins, to the types and uses of tools, and techniques for joining various types of wood. Wait, when Uncle Chu is not out shopping and playing chess, he will also tell a few children about his experiences in the early years.
Either in the shop, in the west courtyard, or in Chu Li's study in the east courtyard. During those days, Shen Luzhu could always see them studying everywhere in the house. At first, he curiously took Zhengzheng and Lihua to listen. , but unfortunately she didn’t have any talent for being a carpenter. Apart from some easy-to-understand stories about her experiences with Uncle Chu, the rest made her feel dizzy and lamented that she was really not a good student.
For this reason, Chu Xiuxiu once comforted her and said: "My cousin is already very powerful. She is the most powerful woman I have ever seen. If we learn the carpentry skills again, how will ordinary girls like us live?"
Shen Luzhu turned his eyebrows and joked with a smile: "With looks like ours, Xiuxiu, we don't have to make other people's work. My cousin, I love you so much when I see you. Come and give me a hug."
"My cousin is used to making fun of me."
Perhaps it is because she has been around Shen Luzhu all year round and has been influenced by it. Today's Chu Xiuxiu is no longer the pitiful, inferior and precocious little girl she used to be. She is still quiet and reserved when outsiders are around, but in front of her own family, she will He is much more lively and cheerful. He learned reading and literacy from Shen Luzhu. Although his literary skills are not as good as those of Chu Li who has been studying with his husband, he has read at least dozens of travel notes and biographies over the years. His horizons and opinions are beyond those of ordinary farmers. There are many girls.
The seventeen-year-old girl is now even more graceful and graceful, with a good personality, good knowledge, and good cooking skills and female celebrities. Such a good girl, if the Chu family hadn't told her that she wanted to stay with her for a little longer. In the year, Chu Xiuxiu herself had no idea of getting married at the moment, and she kicked out several matchmakers who didn't understand what they were talking about, fearing that all those who didn't come to propose marriage would have stepped down.
However, although Shen Luzhu couldn't learn, he found that someone was listening with great interest. This person was not Xue Changshan, nor Xue Changlin, nor Chu Li and Chu Xiuxiu. It was actually the child Chu Chen who was carried over by Shen Luzhu to join in the fun.
Shen Luzhu first discovered that Chu Chen, also known as Zhengzheng, was really listening attentively. The reason was that Shen Luzhu was a little sleepy and wanted to tease his fat son who was standing aside. When he turned around, he saw him holding a rattle. Trance.
Thinking that Zheng Zheng was just as bored as himself, Shen Luzhu reached out to hug him, intending to take him back to the inner courtyard to play, so as not to disturb Chu Yi and the others for a while, but Zheng Zheng, who was picked up by A Niang, didn't seem to care. He was willing to leave, twisting his body to go back. Chu Yi noticed this, thinking that his son still wanted to play in the shop, so he reached out and took it: "Azhu, go and have a rest, I will just watch."
Chu Yi carried Zheng Zheng back to the chair where he sat and was about to put his son aside and tell him to play by himself. Unexpectedly, Zheng Zheng went to find a comfortable position and sat astride his father's lap. , after sitting down, he raised his head and looked at Chu Yi, pointed at the Xue brothers in front of him and said, "Speak."
As if urging his father to continue, the young couple were a little surprised when they saw it, but Chu Yi didn't think deeply about what such a young child could understand. He probably just found it interesting, so he laughed and continued.
Later, Shen Luzhu discovered that his fat son was a little strange.
Almost every time I took him to listen and have fun, Zhengzheng listened with great concentration. Later, even if Shen Luzhu didn't go, as long as Zhengzheng heard Chu Yi's lecture, he would run over by himself.
Zheng Zheng is only over two years old. Shen Luzhu wouldn't believe it if he said he could understand things that he couldn't quite understand. But if he said he didn't understand anything at all, he could follow it from the beginning without crying or fussing. By the end, it was truly magical.
As time went by, seeing Zhengzheng did not affect Chu Yi and the others, so Shen Luzhu got used to it and stopped trying to figure out what was in his son's little head.
Chu Yi also laughed and joked with his wife: "There is nothing wrong with this. I have learned a craft since I was a child. If I can't read in the future, I won't have any skills. At least I won't starve to death."
Shen Luzhu had never thought about what Zhengzheng would do when he grew up. After all, he was still too young now. She didn't care whether he would be a carpenter or open a teahouse, but she just couldn't imagine it. The soft and cute meat buns in front of her Son, what will it look like when you pick up tools to make a coffin from now on?
The Chu family's carpentry class lasted until the end of April, when the family planned to return to Kaoshan Village to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, and then stopped temporarily.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, the private schools in the county gave a five-day holiday to the students who did not participate in the current imperial examination. Chu Yi also took a few days before and after Chu Li to make up one ten-day holiday. On the last day of April, the family closed their doors. Went to the shop, took a little luggage, and took the carriage back to Kaoshan Village.
Naturally, they were also accompanied by Xue Changshan and Xue Changlin. Originally, these two brothers did not want to follow Chu Yi's family back to their old house. They said that they would just stay in the county town and wait for the master's family to come back. They would clean, wash, and light a fire to cook. Everything was done, so Chu Yi and Shen Luzhu were told not to worry. They also said that the shop didn't need to be closed anymore, and the two of them might be able to sell some money in this ten days.
Naturally, the young couple could not agree to the proposal of the two brothers. They were celebrating a big holiday and they were masters and wives. How could they leave two children alone in the shop? What had happened? What happened to the two brothers? The young couple couldn't resist it, so in the end they happily followed them back to the Chu family's old house.
When Chu Yi returned to his old home this time, in addition to celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival and visiting relatives and friends, he also wanted to take brother Xue Changshan to the mountains near the village to see all kinds of wood with his own eyes, and then go to the village by the way. He went to the blacksmith's house in his hometown and customized a pair of handy carpentry tools for each of his two apprentices.
Although the two of them had just started to learn, they only knew a little bit about it, and they were not even getting started. It was still early for them to start making objects themselves, but Chu Yi felt that if they just listened to his theories all day long, they would not be able to experience it with their own hands. However, even if the two brothers are still very interested, their enthusiasm will be worn out sooner or later.
Around the Fourth Festival, the business in the shop is not busy. Since he plans to reopen the coffin shop, he has to start preparations now. He can also make coffins while looking for some ordinary wood and bring them with him. The brothers practice their skills and learn by doing, so they can understand and accept it better.
When it comes to opening a coffin shop and making coffins, the most important thing right now is wood. With a stable supply of wood, the Chu family can make enough coffins in advance for display and selection when they open. When they were not separated earlier, the Chu family made Most of the wood for the coffin was found from the nearby mountains. Chu Yi still planned to do this. However, delivering wood from the mountain village to the county town was more troublesome than delivering paper money. They had to discuss this matter with Jiang Quan. , and Lin Ji will discuss it.
As soon as the Chu family's carriage drove into the boundary of Kaoshan Village, it still attracted a lot of people to watch. Although the people in the village were no longer as surprised as before, they still couldn't help but come up to inquire and ask. Asking about the current situation of the Chu family, and chatting with other villages in the future, is also a way to brag.
After everyone exchanged greetings and chatted, they got some shocking news.
"Aunt Liu, have you heard about her? The Chu family is really awesome. The carriage was rented last time when I came back, and some people in the village used it to talk about it. It's only been a few months. Look, , I have already bought my own carriage and horse!"
The person who was replaced by Aunt Liu was sitting by the big stone by the river washing clothes. It had been two days since the Chu family came back. How could she not know about this, so she and Gang just walked over with their clothes in their arms.
Aunt Ma came and started chatting.
"How could I not know? On the day the Chu family returned to the village, I happened to see him on the village road, and even talked to Chu Yi, the second son of the Chu family! You don't know, I saw him in his family, and he even There were two young men who had never seen each other before. They thought it was strange and asked, guess what? Those two were actually his disciples. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tell me about the Chu family. It’s getting more and more weird now. Same!"
What Aunt Liu said has been spread in the village for a long time now, but Aunt Ma's focus is a little different: "Why do you still call Chu Yi the second son of the Chu family? Be careful that others won't be happy to hear it." .”
"What's wrong with this? He's the second son of the Chu family."
Aunt Ma shook her head and said: "Aunt Liu, why don't you understand? Look at who in the village now mentions Boss Chu's family. They exclude them when talking about the Chu family. Isn't it because they are afraid that the Chu family will hate them?" Well."
"I screamed like that that day, and I didn't see Chu Yi being unhappy. He's being generous, so he won't be able to do that."
"Anyway, just pay more attention in the future. Let's not talk about this. I also heard a big gossip. Did you know that the Tang family in Hexi Village opposite, there was a big joke in their family..."
While the village was still discussing Chu Yi's recruitment of disciples with great interest, the young couple and their whole family were sitting in the yard of the grandfather's house next door, drinking herbal tea, eating cakes and chatting in the cool air. This is about the Tang family in Hexi Village.
I am not talking about this just for gossip like others. It is said that this matter has something to do with the Chu Ping family. The Tang family had discussed marriage with Chu Ping earlier, and later the young couple was implicated in the banknote case. , the one who broke off the engagement in fear was the Tang family who sold fish in Hexi Village.
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