Mrs. Wu continued to hold a bowl of porridge and eat steamed buns, and then put on a chopstick of sauerkraut. Not to mention, the sauerkraut pickled by the eldest daughter was really delicious.
After hearing that three chickens were to be killed tomorrow, the ones who were most excited were the few. No, Lin Yuanhuai and Lin Yuanbai could not wait to count the chicken thighs tomorrow.
Lin Yuanqiu also came closer, but heard Lin Yuanbai ask, "Third brother, third brother, will our family have twelve big chicken drumsticks tomorrow?"
"Yes, that's right, there are twelve!" Lin Yuanhuai grinned from the corner of his mouth to his ears as he said it.
There were three chickens in total, but there were twelve legs. Lin Yuanqiu couldn't help but want to laugh, "Third brother and fourth brother, three chickens have six legs. You both counted them wrong."
Wrong number?
Lin Yuanbai was confused. He stretched out his fingers and counted each one twice, and then confirmed, "That's right, that's twelve big chicken legs!"
After saying that, the little guy slid down the stool, then pointed to his two short legs and said, "Look, aren't there two legs here?"
As he said that, he stretched out his arms and pointed to each other, "Here! Aren't there two more here?"
Can this also be considered a leg?
Lin Yuanqiu was dumbfounded. Isn't this the root of a chicken wing?
…
At the end of the year and on New Year's Eve, it's time for family reunion.
With the sound of crackling firecrackers, the New Year's Eve dinner on the 30th of the twelfth lunar month was finally served to the children's expectations.
Braised pork, sauerkraut and tofu, radish stewed with meat bones, roasted whole fish, fried radish slices, steamed eggs, and two bowls of chicken. Eight large bowls filled the table.
According to her mother-in-law's wishes, one of the three chickens was left to entertain her sister-in-law and the others on the second day of the first lunar month. Zhou made the other two chickens in two flavors, one stewed and the other stir-fried.
Zhou's cooking skills are unparalleled. When the cooked chicken was served, several children gathered around the table and refused to move.
Seeing the children and grandchildren in the hall, Old Lintou felt happy, waved his hand, and started eating!
Before the words were finished, several of the little ones, including Chun Yan and Chun Cao, all moved very quickly. After climbing onto the bench in twos and twos, they sat down and waited, because next, their milk would definitely be divided into big chicken legs.
Sure enough, Mrs. Wu took out the warm clay pot from the room, opened the lid, and divided the chicken legs inside with chopsticks.
First the eldest grandson Lin Yuanfeng, then the second grandson Lin Yuansong, then the eldest granddaughter Chunmei, then the second granddaughter Chunxiu, then Lin Yuanhuai, Lin Yuanbai, Lin Yuanqiu, and finally Chunyan and Chuncao.
From big to small, there are not many.
Lin Yuanfeng blushed a little. He was going to be fifteen soon. How could he have the nerve to share the chicken drumsticks with his younger siblings?
When Mrs. Wu saw this, she smiled and said, "Why are you blushing? As long as you haven't married a wife, you are still a little kid in your eyes."
After the New Year's Eve dinner, it was time to watch the New Year's Eve.
The three brothers took their wife and children to their parents' house, and the main room was immediately packed.
Mrs. Wu asked the children to get on the kang quickly. It was very cold today and the kang was warm so they would not be afraid of being frozen. Then she took out melon seeds and peanuts from the kang cabinet for the children to eat.
Lin Dazhu went to the kitchen and brought a charcoal basin over, so that Mrs. Zhou and the others would not have to worry about stiff hands while doing embroidery work.
Although the weather has been cold these days, the three sisters-in-law have not stopped their embroidery work. They will embroider a few stitches whenever they can.
As for Feng, in addition to busying himself with what he has on hand, he also shoulders the responsibility of ensuring that no mistakes are made and that fabrics and embroidery threads are not wasted.
In this way, the three sisters-in-law, plus Chunmei, worked together harmoniously. In a few days, they had made more than a dozen finished products.
Wu, who was worried at first, finally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the finished embroidery.
To be honest, Wu's sleeping time has been shortened a lot since she bought the embroidery thread and embroidery cloth. She often tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. She was really worried that the embroidery she made would not be sold, and she was afraid that the one tael of silver would be wasted.
But now, Wu feels that there is little chance of losing money.
Lin Yuanqiu didn't know when he fell asleep. Anyway, it was warm on the kang. When he was woken up by the sound of firecrackers, it was already midnight.
Then I saw the eldest aunt and the second aunt each carrying a pot full of dumplings, watching them steaming. Thinking of the third brother and the fourth brother, Lin Yuanqiu hurriedly turned to look beside him. Sure enough, the two of them were also sleepy-eyed, and it seemed that they had fallen asleep just now.
After eating dumplings, everyone went back to their rooms to sleep.
Lin Sanzhu ran back to the room, brought the quilt over, and wrapped the three children back in turn.
This back and forth operation made Lin Yuanbai and Lin Yuanhuai envious. They were still young, afraid of the cold, and didn't want to walk.
Lin Dazhu and Lin Erzhu couldn't help laughing at the envious gazes of the two. The two brothers picked up their youngest sons, then untied their cotton-padded clothes, held him in their arms, and quickly carried them back to the room.
…
When Lin Yuanqiu opened his eyes again, it was already bright. He seemed to have thought of something. Lin Yuanqiu hurriedly reached under the pillow and found a hard red paper bag. When he opened it, he saw two copper plates. This was him. It was the first time since Lin Yuanqiu came here that he had his own small private house.
Lin Yuanqiu was thinking about whether to ask his mother to make him a small purse, when he heard Lin Yuanbai's loud voice coming from the window, "Brother Gouzi, get up quickly, we have to kowtow to grandma and celebrate the New Year and earn red envelopes!"
Yes, earn red envelopes!
I almost forgot about it.
As a farm boy in ancient times, Lin Yuanqiu felt that he might only have pocket money in his account during the New Year and holidays.
So, don’t miss it.
Thinking of this, Lin Yuanqiu hurriedly sat up, took the cotton-padded jacket from the quilt, and quickly put it on.
"Brother, brother, wait for us!" Chunyan and Chuncao, who also heard the shouts, hurriedly got out of the bed.
Worried that the two of them were freezing, Lin Yuanqiu hurriedly handed the clothes to them, "Don't worry, you two put it on slowly, my brother will wait for you."
A quarter of an hour later, the three siblings held hands and walked to the main room together.
Wu and Lao Liu had already prepared the red paper packets. Now seeing that their grandchildren had all arrived, they took out a stack of red paper packets from their pockets and held them in their hands.
Lin Yuanfeng was the first to step forward, first bowed his hands, then knelt down, and then kowtowed, "My grandson wishes my grandma a happy New Year. I wish my grandma a happy new year and good health!"
Wu and Lao Lin smiled and each handed their eldest grandson a red paper envelope.
Lin Yuanfeng was followed by Lin Yuansong, and then Chunmei Chunxiu. By the time the round was over, the New Year's Day breakfast was already ready.
After breakfast, the boys at home followed their father and went to the clan one by one to pay New Year greetings, first to several elders in the clan, and then to the clan leader.
There are no red envelopes for kowtowing to these people for New Year greetings. This is understandable. After all, there are more than 100 people here. If we give red envelopes, it will be more than 100. Who can afford it.
After walking around, Lin Dazhu led the team to Lin Jincai's house. For New Year's Eve, a New Year's greeting from the uncle's house is definitely indispensable.
Lin Yuanqiu didn't see Lin Wenjin, so he probably hadn't returned yet from his New Year greetings.
Compared with the coarse cloth jackets worn by Lao Lintou and his wife, the fine cotton material worn by Lin Jincai and Jin looked much better.
Looking at the furniture in the room, they are all painted, and there are two plum vases placed on the long table at the top.
Comparing this with the main hall that didn't even have a long room, Lin Yuanqiu could understand to some extent the old Lin's difficulty in letting go of his parents' partiality and the alienation of the relationship between the two brothers.
You said, they are both born to the same parents, but the treatment they receive is so different, it makes no one feel comfortable.
Therefore, many conflicts between sisters and brothers are entirely caused by the failure of parents to keep a bowl of water straight.
…
The start time of ethnic studies was set on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, so after the Lantern Festival, Lin Yuanqiu resumed getting up early to go to school every day.
After more than twenty days of vacation, when the students came back to school, they seemed to be a lot more relaxed.
Master Wang was used to it, and he knew how to bring back the wild spirit. No, he first memorized the text, and then checked the homework. Then those students who couldn't memorize the text and those who didn't complete the homework were all slapped. "I hit the ruler. Now, nothing is loose anymore.
After school, Lin Yuanqiu did not go home first, but went to Master Wang's place. Lin Sanzhu had already cut the papers for him to copy the Four Books and Five Classics at home. At this moment, Lin Yuanqiu went to find his master, just to borrow the books he wanted to copy.
It is said that only by being prepared can you avoid danger. Now that I have learned more than half of the Thousand-Character Essay, I have to prepare the books I want to learn next in advance, so that I will not worry about not being able to make the trip.
…
Chapter 22 Village Gossip
Zhu Zi said, first read "The Great Learning" to determine its scale, secondly read "The Analects" to establish its foundation, secondly read "Mencius" to observe its progress, and thirdly read "The Doctrine of the Mean" to seek the subtleties of the ancients.
Master Wang agrees with this. Just like what his master said back then, "The Great Learning" is like the blueprints and steps for building a house. Only by learning it well can you build a solid house.
So, he handed the university to Lin Yuanqiu and told him to copy it slowly and make sure not to miss any words.
Lin Yuanqiu bowed and took it, then carefully put it into his book bag. After thanking his wife again, he turned around and hurried home. He couldn't wait to read it.
It's no wonder that Lin Yuanqiu is so eager. Just because he wants to buy new books and can't afford them, he is almost emptying out the three hundred thousand at home. This makes him, a book lover who once had four large bookcases, very embarrassed.
Lin Yuanqiu felt that at this time, he was like a shriveled sponge, eager to inhale fresh water to fill himself up.
Seeing his son entering the room quickly, Lin Sanzhu wondered, shouldn't he go to the latrine immediately if he couldn't hold back his urine? So what was the dog doing when he burst into the room?
With this thought in mind, Lin Sanzhu followed him in. But when he saw his son holding a book and flipping through it, he hurriedly turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him.
His dog is studying hard, so I can't disturb him anymore.
…
After the first lunar month, the weather gradually became warmer. Old Lintou took out the rice seeds he had saved last year and carefully picked them up. He kept the plump ones and picked out the shriveled ones to feed the chickens. The seeds were about to be sown. These tasks had to be done early. Just be good.
In the past few days, people in the village have begun to dig the land one after another. The richer families will use money to hire oxen to plow the fields, while those with tighter funds will naturally take turns digging with hoes.
The Lin family belongs to this group who are short on money. No, for several days, the three brothers Lao Lintou, Lin Dazhu, as well as Lin Yuanfeng and Lin Yuansong were almost all busy in the fields.
According to the previous situation, Zhou, Liu and Feng will definitely have to go to the fields to help, but now, the embroidery work is the most critical time, because this batch of embroidery is about to be completed, and now the whole family is How could they be asked to hoe the fields when they were anxiously looking forward to the profits?
Didn't you notice that in the past few days, Mrs. Wu led a few children to the mountains to pick mushrooms?
After the beginning of spring, mushrooms begin to appear on the back mountains. These days, except for rain, women in the small mountain village go to the mountains to pick mushrooms almost every day, which can be regarded as a dish for their families.
If someone collects a lot, they can send it directly to the town to sell it. The copper coins sold can be used to buy salt and oil, which is very good.
Seeing that Mrs. Wu always led her grandchildren up the mountain, the accompanying aunts and aunts were a little strange. Why didn't they see Mr. Zhou and the others when they were digging in the ground? Why couldn't they see them when picking mushrooms?
So Wu, what are your daughters-in-law doing sitting at home all day?
Wu was hesitant and didn't know how to answer. Naturally, she would not tell others. Her three daughters-in-law were all busy at home doing embroidery work.
But how should I put it? If only one daughter-in-law was at home, Mrs. Wu could still say that she came to Guishui and felt uncomfortable, so she let her rest at home.
But there are three of them now. It can't be such a coincidence. The three daughters-in-law came to Guishui at the same time and they all felt sick to their stomachs.
Seeing Mrs. Wu's hesitant look, the aunts and ladies who asked the question began to wonder in their hearts what important things could be done to make people who should be working in the fields rest at home.
Looking at Mrs. Wu's face, there was no worry at all. The aunts and aunts, who seemed to have thought of something, immediately slapped their heads and knew, they finally understood why the three daughters-in-law didn't go out.
I'm afraid it's all there. The reason why it didn't show up must be because I'm getting older and I'm afraid the fetus won't sit properly, so I'm keeping it at home for the time being.
