Fan Shiqing raised his eyebrows, "I'm not lying to you, I'm just a beggar."
Xu An looked around on the cart and called Xu Ping to flip the cart, "My eldest brother is going to have dinner at my sister-in-law's house and asked us to bring out some meat. Hey, what is this?"
She dug out a few books wrapped in oil paper and touched them a few times, and she knew what they were.
Xu Ping also realized: "Are you the wife my elder brother invited back?"
Fan Shiqing gave up his position, thinking that these two children were indeed smarter than Xu Ling.
Xu Ping stared at him again and again, always feeling that the person in front of him seemed familiar.
I think I saw his brother when he was in jail!
Xu Ping said in surprise: "You are sitting with my eldest brother..."
"Hush!" Fan Shiqing quickly stopped what he was about to say and replied, "Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore. From now on, you must worship me as your teacher and call me master."
Xu Ping and Xu An were so happy that they quickly called him: "Master!"
Fan Shiqing also agreed, and Xu Ping and Xu An dug out some braised pork pastries from the car, muttering about which ones to bring and which ones to leave out, and they decided after a while.
Pushing the trolley to the kitchen, the two of them helped Fan Shiqing to take him to Gu's house first, and then to the village to buy wine and fish.
When Fan Shiqing arrived at Gu's house, he was naturally greeted warmly.
Gu Litian invited him to sit down and served him tea and snacks. He was not at all as cold as when Fan Shiqing didn't come.
After all, Fan Shiqing is a scholar. If he really educates the children of the Xu and Gu families, their fate will also change.
The women went to work in the kitchen and prepare dinner, while the men sat in the main room chatting.
Xu Ling asked his father-in-law how much the tax will be this autumn. Gu Daliang sighed: "It's the same as last year, tax three per ten, but I heard that it might be different next year."
"Why, is it possible that we have to charge more?"
"The weather got colder this year than last year. Last year, there was a severe drought in Jiaozhou and the grain harvest was poor. Although it is cold here, it will not be a drought. Last year during the summer harvest, didn't we harvest 10% more grain?"
Gu Litian doesn't understand government affairs, but he understands the world. This is like a family with two sons. The eldest son is poor but not hungry, and the second son is so poor that he is about to starve to death. At this time, he always has to take some food from the eldest son's hands to support the second son.
The people's understanding is simple and unpretentious. Even if they complain in their hearts, no one will listen to them.
As soon as Fan Shiqing sat down, he drank tea and ate pumpkin seeds. The pumpkin seeds were dried by Mr. Liu on the roof and were fragrant.
He can't keep his mouth shut.
Hearing the conversation between the Gu family and Xu Ling, I thought to myself that although these people were born in the countryside and had not read much, their conversation was quite interesting.
Although ten taxes and three taxes are considered small, one acre of land does not yield much rice. The Gu family has six and a half acres of land, two acres of dry land, one and a half acres of wheat, half an acre of beans, and the rest is planted with rice. .
Four and a half acres of rice, the land with the highest yield, yields only 126 kilograms of grain.
After paying the autumn tax, we still have to select good rice for planting next year. There is really not much food left to feed the family.
However, Gu Litian can use reeds to weave coir raincoats and straw sandals. In winter, when there is no work to do, he cuts reeds and makes things. Liu and Li Cuicui can also weave cloth. In the spring, they also raise silkworms. The family raises chickens and ducks that lay eggs and sell them for money. Gu Daliang will also go out to find work.
Lianhuawanzi relies on water, and the family is hardworking and capable, so they will never go hungry.
As long as other families in the village don't have a lazy and gambling family like Xu Ling, they won't be able to survive.
To put it bluntly, if Xu Ling’s family is so lazy, wouldn’t they starve to death?
Everyone chatted from east to west, and then talked about the autumn festival in the village.
"I saw people in the village digging lotus roots yesterday. If we have time later, let's dig some and bring them back." Gu Litian was very happy to see Xu Ling getting better.
Autumn hunting is a long-standing collective event in Lianhuawanzi. As mentioned before, Lianhuawanzi got its name because there is a large pond here, a ten-mile lotus pond, where a lot of lotus roots can be dug every autumn.
This lotus root pond does not belong to any one family, but is shared by two or three nearby villages. Anyone can dig it. Therefore, after each autumn harvest, after harvesting grain and paying taxes, free up time to come and take advantage of the water in the pond. Not many people dug lotus roots.
Some people dig them up and carry them to sell elsewhere, while others dig them up and eat them at home.
As long as lotus roots are not damaged, they can be stored for a long time. In winter, when there is nothing to eat, this is the best meal.
In previous years, the Gu family and his son would dig lotus roots, but this year Xu Ling was also invited.
When Xu Ling heard this, he immediately agreed. He had already had the idea of lotus root. He just took advantage of this free time to research, what is sour lotus root and lotus root powder? If he can really figure out something, maybe it can be like Dingping In this way, the whole village can become rich.
Xu Ping and Xu An also clamored to go together. When Old Man Fan heard that there was lotus root to eat, he also wanted to see it.
"It's time to eat! Clear the table!" Mrs. Liu shouted, and the men immediately got to work, sweeping away the melon seed shells, putting away the tea bowls, and setting up the stools.
The two children also went to help serve the dishes, take the bowls and divide the chopsticks. Li Cuicui was three or four months pregnant and was not pregnant yet. When she went to work, Gu Daliang stopped her, so he just did it.
Today's meal is cooked by Gu You and Liu, and they don't know how to cook it. It's so delicious!
Xu Ling had eaten good food outside, but no matter how good the food was, it seemed that it was not as tempting as the food at home.
He hurriedly picked up the soup basin before Gu You. The kitchen was in a mess, and no one noticed that he scratched Gu You's hand.
"Thank you for your hard work, Yuanyuan."
Gu You's face was slightly red, and he couldn't tell whether it was from anger or from shyness. He glanced at him with moist eyes and raised the corners of his mouth to reveal a smile.
Xu Ling chuckled, feeling hot in his heart, and quickly asked her to take off her apron and walk ahead.
He was still a little unsure of Gu Tao's true thoughts about him, but he thought that his change was obvious to all, and maybe Gu Tao had already forgiven him.
There were six dishes and one soup on the table. The tender pumpkins freshly cut from the garden were fried together with local eggs. Liu's own salted duck eggs were freshly taken out of the ash jar and cut into two halves. There was a lot of oil flowing out of the plate, which made Xu Ling drool.
Not to mention Fan Shiqing, this old man's eyes were straight.
Crucian carp stewed with tofu, braised donkey meat, cold pig ears, and a pickled cabbage and egg drop soup will whet your appetite.
The family does not eat from two families, but sits at the same table. Eleven people are crowded, arms touching arms and legs touching legs. The men sit on one side, pouring the hot rice wine into the hot bowl, pushing the cups and changing them. Light.
The women take care of the children, and the men pick up food for their wives and children from time to time.
This dinner lasted for an hour, until the men were so drunk that they seemed to take the opportunity to say the things they usually kept in their hearts.
Fan Shiqing had already fallen down drunk, and Xu Ling was also drunk and drowsy. He quickly begged for mercy because he couldn't drink anymore.
Gu Litian, who has always been rigid, laughed and scolded: "You bastard, you're pretending to be drunk again!"
The lively atmosphere is enough to keep the cold wind out of the door.
