In his previous life, Xu Ling read Song Lian's "Preface to Ma Sheng in Dongyang", which described the difficulties of studying. One of them was that books were expensive and poor families could not afford them, so they often had to copy notes by hand.
With modern technology, pens, inks, paper and inkstones are so cheap that many people cannot imagine that in ancient times, many scholars had difficulties because they could not afford books.
It's freezing cold and the north wind is biting. Fan Shiqing was lying on the cart, with only his nostrils exposed for breathing. Even so, he still found it difficult to breathe.
Not to mention Xu Ling, whether he was pushing or pulling, he had to move forward against the wind.
The weather was gloomy, and it got dark early. They took a boat from Lingbao Town to Qinghe Town. It was already afternoon when they got off the boat. They pulled the cart and walked outside the city. It was almost dark.
Xu Ling took Fan Shiqing to Lijiazhuang.
Mrs. Li's son is back.
This was the first time Xu Ling saw the backbone of the family.
Mrs. Li became more and more haggard and asked Xu Ling and Fan Shiqing to enter the courtyard. The originally clean courtyard now had leaves blown to the ground and there seemed to be a lot less chickens in the chicken coop.
Xu Ling and the two entered the house. Mrs. Li went to the kitchen and brought back some dry firewood, lit the fire, built a tripod with wood on top, and placed a pottery urn that could be used to boil soup and water.
The tiger head was sitting by the fire with a runny nose. When he saw outsiders coming, he quickly ran into the next room.
Xu Ling followed him, opened the straw curtain, and greeted the man of the house.
Li Dayong was lying on the bed, his face darkened. He didn't know whether it was because the light was too dark or he was sick. Hutou climbed on tiptoe on the bedside, whispering to his father.
Xu Ling looked at the man and explained his identity and purpose, "I'm doing business with my uncle, and I can't get home in time, so I'll stay here for the night."
Li Dayong is also a kind person. He heard his mother talk about Xu Ling many times, coughed a few times, weakly and enthusiastically asked Xu Ling to stay the night, and said that Hu Tou just said to him: "He still remembers you as Uncle Zaozi. "
Xu Ling smiled, took out the rice, grains, meat and vegetables from the trolley, distributed them to Mrs. Li, and asked her to cook a hot meal.
Li Dayong got up from the bed and went to the fire with them to warm themselves.
Only then did Xu Ling realize that he was extremely thin and had some difficulty walking.
He quickly asked what was going on.
Li Dayong sighed: "I got sick while digging river silt, and I won't get better."
Hutou sat next to his father, very well-behaved.
Xu Ling looked a little sad and comforted: "Brother Li, don't say that. You have children and a mother at home, and they will definitely be fine."
Fan Shiqing wrapped his clothes tightly, retracted his hands into his sleeves, listened to Xu Ling and Li Dayong's chat, and soon dozed off.
After a while, Mrs. Li prepared the rice. She rolled the noodles with eggs, put in the cabbage leaves that Xu Ling brought, and sprinkled with some chopped green onion. Just looking at it made people appetizing.
Mrs. Li cut a bowl of the braised pork that Xu Ling bought in Lingbao Town and placed it in front of Xu Ling and Fan Shiqing.
The tiger head stared at the plate of meat and swallowed, but did not clamor to eat.
Xu Ling put the meat in front of their grandparents, took big mouthfuls of noodles and praised: "Since the last time I ate the noodles you made, I always think about this bite when I go out. It feels like I'm home."
Fan Shiqing became more active as soon as it was time to cook the rice, and it wasn't too hot. After blowing it twice, he couldn't wait to eat it in his mouth. He didn't forget to agree with Xu Ling: "It's really delicious!"
Old Mrs. Li was so praised by them that she couldn't help but feel less worried on her face.
Li Dayong also greeted happily: "If you like it, feel free to come to my house if you pass by in the future. My mother is the best at making noodles!"
Xu Lingdao: "Aunt Li's craftsmanship is really impressive. In my opinion, she can go to the town to set up a stall and open a small shop. The business will definitely be prosperous."
Li Dayong smiled bitterly, "How can I have money?"
Hu Tou was picking up noodles, but his eyes were looking at the plate of braised pork. Seeing this, Xu Ling turned his chopsticks over and gave each of Hu Tou and the others a chopstick, "Eat all of them, you're welcome!"
Xu Ling thought for a while and said, "Brother Li, your village is not far from Qinghe Town. If you start doing business, it will be much more convenient than ours."
"Well, if you believe me, we can cooperate."
There are vegetables in Xu Ling's space. Although he has to rest at home, he has to sell other vegetables.
I made an agreement with Wang Shuanbao to deliver vegetables once every half month. Since I have to pass through Qinghe Town anyway, why not give him a favor and wholesale some vegetables to Li Dayong and let him sell them in Qinghe Town.
Mrs. Li's face showed joy, and Li Dayong was even more happy, and he quickly agreed.
People who eat a meal sweat. When it was time to go to bed, Xu Ling and Fan Shiqing slept in the same room. The cart was also pulled into the room and placed next to the bed.
Mrs. Li used the fire in the main room to boil hot water, mixed the water and brought it inside for the two of them to wash their faces and feet.
When it was time to go to bed, the surroundings became quiet, and Xu Ling was almost asleep. Then Fan Shiqing muttered, "It's just your kindness."
Xu Ling was awakened by him and felt sleepy: "What? Is his bed not warm, or is the noodles not delicious?"
"There are many people in the world who deserve to be pitied. Can you help me?"
Fan Shiqing has known Xu Ling for the past few days, and he has discovered that this person has too many good intentions.
If he hadn't been kind enough to help that so-and-so Liu Niang, how could he have ended up on death row? Fan Shiqing thought he had a long memory, but who knew he was still nosy.
Xu Ling listened impatiently to what he said, so he wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and turned over, "It's better to help when I see you than not to help. If you don't help, you should be in Yizhuang now instead of blabbering here."
Fan Shiqing was speechless.
Early the next morning, when it was still dark outside, Xu Ling heard the sound of "bang bang bang" chopping things coming from the kitchen.
He couldn't sleep for long in a day, and he didn't feel sleepy when he woke up.
Seeing that old man Fan was still asleep, he got up, got dressed, and went out to see.
It turned out that Mrs. Li had killed a chicken early in the morning. The chicken stewed in the pot was fragrant, steam filled the small kitchen, and the kitchen was very hot under the light of the fire.
Mrs. Li made the noodles and chopped cabbage on the chopping board. When she saw Xu Ling coming, she said embarrassedly: "Brother Xu, did I wake you up?"
Xu Lingshen said: "What are you doing? If I had known you were going to kill the chicken, we would have left last night!"
The chickens in Mrs. Li's home are used to lay eggs and sell them for money. It's such a difficult situation in the first place, why waste it on him.
The old man said quickly: "This chicken can't lay eggs. Feeding it is a waste of time. I might as well kill it for you to eat and replenish your body."
Xu Ling sighed, Mrs. Li was trying to please him. He brought a little hope to this family. If he couldn't grasp it, this family might really be doomed.
He said nothing more, washed his hands and wanted to help Mrs. Li make dumplings, but Mrs. Li rushed her to burn firewood for the fire.
When Hu Tou woke up, he smelled the aroma and ran to the kitchen. When he saw the round dumplings on the chopping board, he jumped up and down with joy.
Shouted: "Dad! It's Chinese New Year! Grandma is making dumplings!"
The children, unaware of their sadness, took this meal as a signal to celebrate the New Year.
