Zheng made a simple cabbage and radish soup that night, and cooked millet porridge with the remaining yellow rice. She threw the sweet potatoes into the stove and roasted them until they were charred on the outside and tender on the inside. When they were hit with a wooden stick, the dark outer skin immediately fell off, revealing the inside. Yellow and fragrant sweet potato meat.
The half-grown children gathered around the boiler, grinning as they heated up, and cheered loudly with excitement. A simple roasted sweet potato was their rare and delicious snack.
Early the next morning, Mrs. Lin gave Boss Lin five taels of silver and asked him to go to the town to buy items for his new home.
The pots and pans in the kitchen, firewood, rice, oil and salt, thick beddings to prepare for winter, the oil paper on the windows has fallen off and needs to be replaced...
After counting each piece, it turned out to be a large amount of money. Mrs. Lin specially ordered to buy some mugwort to disinfect the new home and drive away pests such as snakes, insects, rats, and ants.
Boss Lin took his daughter-in-law Zhang, tied up the big ox, dragged it onto the wooden cart, and went into the town to buy.
Those who stayed had another big project to do, repairing the peeling fence outside the yard and the gaps in the earthen wall of the house.
Lin Laosan wanted to borrow utensils from his neighbor's house in the east. He remembered that when he went there yesterday, there was only a widow and an unmarried girl who was seventeen or eighteen years old. The mother and daughter depended on each other, but he, a grown man, rashly interrupted. It always feels a little inappropriate.
So today this important task was handed over to Zheng and Xiao Xiangyun.
Although they are neighbors, they are actually separated by four to five hundred meters. The Lin family's new yard is indeed a bit remote, but it is clean and backed by mountains and forests, which is convenient for hunting and, if you are lucky, you can also pick up mountain products.
A small courtyard of a small house was surrounded by airtight. Aunt Zhuang and her daughter Qingniang were doing embroidery in the courtyard. When they saw a new neighbor knocking on the door, holding a white and soft baby in her arms, she hurriedly welcomed them. Go inside.
"Excuse me, sister-in-law. Our family has just moved here and we want to repair the fence of the yard. I wonder if my sister-in-law has a shovel at home. It would be better if she has a scraper and a plane!"
After hearing this, Aunt Zhuang ran to the utility room and came out with a shovel in her hand.
"I don't have scrapers and planes at home. If you need them, I can help you borrow them from Lao Cao's house across the street. His father used to be a mason, so he must have these things."
Mrs. Zheng hurriedly thanked her, feeling grateful for her new neighbor's kindness.
Seeing that Qingniang kept staring at Ah Bao, her eyes bright, and she obviously liked children, she moved her daughter towards Qingniang's direction.
Xiangyun is a ghostly spirit who knows how to order dishes. Qing Niang looks good-looking, with a pair of almond-shaped eyes as smart as a mountain deer. Her skin is fair, and her simple bun is only tied with a silver hairpin, revealing her slender figure. She has a slender swan neck and is very beautiful. She is prettier than any girl the Lin family has seen along the way.
She swayed her chubby little arms like lotus roots, sneered in Qingniang's direction, and kept saying "Na...Na..." wanting her to hug her.
Qing Niang was flattered. She had never held such a small child before. She was fussy for a while before she learned from Zheng how to hold the child's buttocks.
Aunt Zhuang teased Xiangyun by snapping her lips: "This girl is really well-raised. She must be more than two months old. She has thin skin and tender flesh. She is so handsome!"
After asking Zheng to rest in the yard, he set off to borrow tools from Cao's house.
The farmer's small courtyard is tidy and tidy, and the small area is divided in an orderly manner. Half of it is a flower garden and the other half is a chicken coop.
There is an embroidery on the small stone bench in the center, and a pair of unfinished mandarin ducks are embroidered on the big red scarf.
"Oh, you are embroidering a red hijab!" Mrs. Zheng said in surprise, with a smile on her face, "Congratulations, you are getting married. Ah Bao, please enjoy your sister's happiness."
Xiangyun rubbed Qingniang's face very cooperatively, smiling so hard that his gums were exposed. When he wanted to kiss the beautiful sister again, he suddenly found that the girl in front of him didn't show much joy. Even the eyes that were smiling just now, now It also dimmed.
Qing Niang's lips curled up with effort, but her smile did not reach her brows: "Thank you, it's not a big happy event. Girls will eventually get married when they grow up."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zheng also noticed that something was wrong. How could a woman to be married have such an attitude towards getting married? Either she is marrying someone who is not a human being, or her heart belongs to someone else...
She couldn't say much. After all, the two families had just met and didn't have much friendship yet.
Just at this time, Aunt Zhuang came back, followed by two young adults. One was in his twenties, with healthy wheat-colored skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he was very energetic. One of them looked familiar, as he was on the field ridge yesterday. , the man who showed the way to the Lin family.
They had shovels and scrapers in their hands. When they saw Zheng, they nodded and said hello, saying they were here to help renovate the wall.
When Mrs. Zheng heard this, she was overjoyed and hurriedly greeted the two of them to go home. She kept saying words of thanks and almost forgot that her daughter was still in Qingniang's hands. She turned around to take Xiangyun and bid farewell to the Zhuang family.
Xiangyun lay on A Niang's shoulder and saw Qing Niang who was standing in the yard and suddenly hurried to the door in two or two steps.
She thought that the beautiful sister couldn't bear to leave her. Just when she was about to give Qing Niang a big smile, she saw the young man at the back of the team turned his head and looked at Qing Niang. She didn't know what kind of look it was, but Qing Niang was anyway. His eyes turned red on the spot.
At the entrance of Lin's courtyard, Lin Lao Er and Lin Lao San had prepared enough soil and found a lot of solid stones, waiting to reinforce the wall. They saw two young men coming back behind Zheng. Startled.
I heard that the two of them were here to help repair the courtyard wall. Everyone was very happy and said a lot of thanks.
While they were busy, they got to know each other's situation. The man and his younger brother were named Cao, and they lived in the southeast of the village. All the brothers and sisters in the family were married, except for the youngest brother who had never been engaged. His parents had passed away many years ago, and the younger brother was considered He was raised by Cao Tongguang. Because he didn't get married, he now lives with his brother and sister-in-law. There are four people in the family.
Lin Laosan also briefly introduced the population of his family, which made Cao Tongguang envious.
"Your family is better. There are many men and children, so the work can be done quickly."
Mrs. Lin was preparing lunch with Mrs. Zheng in the yard. When she heard this, she turned around and said.
"The children are noisy and have no quiet time all day long. Although there are only a few people in your family, I see that you two brothers have talents. You will not worry about being prosperous in the future. Your brother is also handsome. I'm afraid... There are many young ladies who like it, right?"
The young man who had been immersed in his work looked up and saw everyone's eyes falling on him. He couldn't hear what everyone was discussing, but it was related to him, and he blushed for a moment.
Only then did everyone realize that this young man had not said a word since he entered the yard, and they suddenly felt a little strange.
