Alas, studying is too expensive.
Lin Sanzhu was a little discouraged and thought about whether he should go back and talk to Gouzi, or else we should stop studying.
Shopkeeper Gao put the inkstone back into the counter.
Looking at the figure walking away at the door, shopkeeper Gao couldn't help but sigh in his heart, how difficult it is for a poor family to raise a scholar, so he probably gave up.
After an empty trip today, Lin Sanzhu was a little depressed. He touched the remaining copper plate and wondered whether he should use the money to buy a meat bun for his child.
However, I have three children, and buying one bun is not enough.
Lin Sanzhu thought about it, shook his head for the last time, and walked quickly towards the dock.
Even though I'm here, I can't help but walk for more than an hour if I don't earn a few bucks to go back!
…
After breakfast, Lin Yuanqiu took out the few words he wrote yesterday, picked out the one with the least blur of ink, and put it in his book bag. Then he left the courtyard. He wanted to visit Mrs. Wang.
We have already learned about the Three Character Classic: silkworms spin silk and bees make honey. In at least half a month, the entire book should be finished.
Young children are taught three hundred thousand words. After reading the Three-Character Classic, the next thing they must learn is the Hundred Family Surnames and the Thousand-Character Classic.
Under the current situation, it was unlikely that his father would buy the two books back, so Lin Yuanqiu wanted to go to Master Wang and ask if he could lend himself these two books to copy.
Anyway, I have pens and ink at home. Apart from paying attention to ink control when making rice paper, there should be no problems.
Mrs. Wang was in the house with his old wife. The couple had also had dinner and were taking out the chessboard and preparing to play a few games.
Seeing Lin Yuanqiu coming over, Master Wang was a little surprised. After so many days of teaching, this was the first time a student came to see him.
It’s no wonder that Master Wang was surprised. Every student in the clan school would be like a mouse to a cat after seeing him, let alone take the initiative to get close to him.
No, Mrs. Wang on the side was also full of surprise.
If he were a real five-year-old child standing here today, then Lin Yuanqiu would definitely be afraid of Master, but the problem is not that he is an adult soul in his thirties, what should he be timid about.
After the student salute, Lin Yuanqiu took out the big calligraphy he had written from his book bag.
Mrs. Wang reached out and took it, unfolded it and looked at it carefully.
Well, not bad. Although some of the gestures are blurred, the fonts are neat, which shows that they were written seriously.
Seeing the admiration in Master Wang's eyes, Lin Yuanqiu's confidence in being able to borrow the book increased.
"Master," Lin Yuanqiu bowed his hands and said, "The student would like to ask you to borrow a copy of Meng Yang's book."
Mrs. Wang was stunned at first, and then couldn't help but become happy.
Co-author This child came here today with his own handwriting. He wanted to tell the master that his handwriting was good enough to copy books, and then ask the master to lend him the book.
Looking at Lin Yuanqiu with hopeful eyes in front of him, Master Wang suddenly felt that he had been arbitrary before.
Although the road to the imperial examination is difficult without money, but with firm perseverance, perhaps this difficulty is just an experience.
…
It gets dark very early in winter, and as it approaches the hour of the hour, the sky starts to get dark gradually. The children who have been running around all day have already returned home.
At this moment, every household is filled with smoke, and the entire small mountain village is enveloped in the aroma of rice.
On the path at the entrance of the village, a thin figure walked closer and closer. It seemed that the person was holding a piece of pork in his hand. Although he looked a little tired, the smile on his face was so bright.
…
Chapter 15 Braised Pork
Today at the dock, Lin Sanzhu gritted his teeth and carried a total of seventy-eight sacks. This time he chose the one hundred catties. Carrying three sacks counted as one penny, and seventy-eight sacks, that is twenty-six coppers.
Lin Sanzhu found that even if he could earn a penny by carrying three hundred kilograms, carrying a bag of one hundred kilograms would definitely be much easier than carrying a bag of one hundred and fifty kilograms. It has been shortened a lot.
Also, as the weight on your shoulders becomes lighter, your steps will naturally become faster.
After settling his wages, Lin Sanzhu was going to go to the bun shop to buy buns and take them home as planned, but when he passed by the pork stall, he immediately changed his mind.
Xu was closing the stall, and the price of pork that originally cost seven cents per catty dropped to six cents.
Lin Sanzhu did the math. A steamed bun costs one penny, and a pound of pork costs six cents. Sixty dollars can only buy six steamed buns, but a pound of meat can make a lot of steamed buns. If you add some cabbage to the meat, the buns will The steamed buns produced must have several curtains.
Therefore, Lin Sanzhu believes that as long as his head is not caught in the door, he will definitely choose to buy pork and make it at home.
In this way, not only can the children eat it, but even the adults in the family can enjoy it.
So Lin Sanzhu went to the pork stall and asked the butcher to cut him a strip.
Unexpectedly, the butcher cut it down and weighed it on the scale, and found that it was one pound and six taels.
Sixty taels per catty, that's ten copper coins. Oops, it's too much. Lin Sanzhu's head shook like a rattle.
But what to do? The meat that had already been cut could not be put back. Seeing that the customer had a tendency to turn around and leave, the fat-faced butcher had to give up another penny. In the end, he only charged nine penny for a pound of pork.
As Lin Sanzhu touched the copper plate, he laughed in his heart. Haha, this piece of pork was really a good deal.
…
Mrs. Wu dragged the bamboo broom and circled it back and forth in the courtyard.
It was getting dark soon, and the bad thing hadn't come back yet. Wu gritted her teeth, thinking that she would have to beat her son until he cried for his father.
Wu's menacing appearance made Lin Yuanhuai, Lin Yuanbai, Chunmei Chunxiu and others who were standing at the door of the house, ready to take a look at the excitement, all hide back in the room.
In their opinion, the third uncle must be beaten severely today.
Lin Dazhu and Lin Erzhu smiled and shook their heads. The kids are still a little tender.
You guys really want to hit someone, it's obviously getting dark, so I'm worried about why your third uncle hasn't come back yet, okay?
Besides, even if we really have to fight, it's okay. With your third uncle's ability to escape, you can escape three feet away like a dog after two hits at most.
I have to say that experience has led to the conclusion that the person who understands me best is my son.
No, by the time Lin Sanzhu patted the courtyard door and shouted, "Mother, I'm coming back," Mrs. Wu had long forgotten the gnashing of teeth just now. After throwing away the "weapon" in her hand, she ran to open the door happily, "You This piece of shit came back after it was already dark. If you get angry, I will slap you to death!"
Although he said this, the quick action of opening the door only made a few children look at him for a moment.
"Mom, look what my son bought you!" Lin Sanzhu raised the pork in his hand high.
What are you buying? Mrs. Wu looked at her third son's hand and saw that she had only given him two cents in the morning. What else could the third son buy?
But when she saw clearly the piece of pork Lin Sanzhu was holding in his hand, she shouted in surprise, "Oh, where did such a big piece of pork come from!"
What, pork?
Uncle San is back from buying pork?
Before Wu finished her words, she heard a creaking sound of the door opening, and then a group of little guys headed by Lin Yuanhuai quickly ran out of the house.
"Uncle Third, have you bought pork?"
"Uncle Third, I want to see the pork!"
"Wow, what a big piece!"
"Oh oh oh, there is pork to eat! There is pork to eat!" Chun Yan and Chuncao couldn't help but clapped their little hands.
"Hey, my grandson wants to eat pork!" Lin Yuanbai said pitifully.
Lin Yuanqiu nodded. Oh my God, he hadn't smelled meat for a long time.
"Eat whatever you want!" Mrs. Wu took the meat from Lin Sanzhu's hand, "Didn't your mother already steam the buns? We'll eat the meat tomorrow!"
With that said, he carried the pork and walked to the main room.
Wu planned to marinate such a large piece of pork with salt, and then cut off a small piece every day so that he could eat it for many days.
For little children, delicious food is right in front of them. How can they bear it until tomorrow? When they see the milk, they pick up the meat and leave without saying anything. Suddenly, their little faces suddenly turned into "bitter melons".
Not only were the children unhappy when they heard that they would eat it tomorrow, but even Lin Sanzhu wasn't willing to do it. The reason why I bought meat today was not to satisfy everyone's greed.
Besides, Lin Sanzhu was very familiar with his mother's "sparing" way of eating. He said that eating little by little would not be as satisfying as a feast.
"Mom, you bought the meat to eat. What are you waiting for to do tomorrow? It won't be fresh by then."
Originally, he was thinking about making steamed buns, but since the buns have been steamed, he can just braise them.
As Lin Sanzhu spoke, he took the pork back from his mother's hand. When he saw his elder sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, and Mrs. Feng were nearby, he hurriedly handed the meat over.
Feng's reaction was the quickest. She took the pork handed to her by her husband and rushed towards the kitchen like flying.
Mrs. Zhou and Ms. Liu quickly followed, and the sisters-in-law prepared to cut the meat quickly before their mother-in-law could stop her.
And the few little ones, who were originally surrounding their own milk, immediately changed to guarding the door of the kitchen, looking nervous for fear that the pork would be snatched away.
Mrs. Wu was really angry and funny, but more importantly, she felt distressed. It’s no wonder that the children would protect their food like this. The last time they ate meat was in mid-autumn in August.
Forget it, she won't be this annoying bad grandmother anymore. With a wave of her hand, Wu just boiled it all!
When the three sisters-in-law heard this, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief. After all, there is a difference between mother-in-law speaking and making one's own decisions.
The little kids finally felt at ease and couldn't help but smile.
Mrs. Zhou is a quick person. After washing the pork in water, she used a kitchen knife to cut the fat and lean parts into pieces. As for how big the pork should be cut, she was also particular. There were seventeen people in the family. At the very least, it was necessary to ensure that everyone Only if people can be divided into two pieces.
After washing up, Lin Sanzhu went to his parents' room. Old Lin saw the tired look on his face and saw that the patch on the back of his clothes had opened again, so he knew that his youngest son must be carrying sacks again.
Wu wanted to say something distressed, but she immediately remembered what the old man had just said to her.
Also, the third child has finally grown straight, and he can't hold him back.
"Mom, do you have any thicker old clothes here? Give me one." Lin Sanzhu asked.
Wu was puzzled, "What do you want old clothes for?"
"Put it on over your cotton-padded clothes to prevent the burlap bag from scratching your clothes."
He saw many people dressed like this today.
Old Lin was stunned, "Are you going to the dock tomorrow?"
Yeah, Lin Sanzhu nodded, "My son wants to buy an inkstone for Gouzi."
He had to take advantage of the abundant cargo at the dock a few years ago and carry it for a few more days. Today, he heard from Lin Shi and the others that in about ten days, the river would be frozen and the boat would not be able to sail by then, and there would be no cargo to carry. .
