Seeing Mrs. Shen's expression of displeasure, Han Xiying became more and more energetic. She changed from the little peacock who was just a moment ago to a chirping old crow.
"Grandma, ever since I learned that my grandma's ancestors were anti-Japanese heroes, I've become more and more worried that my sister is so obsessed with Japanese embroidery and doesn't know how to restrain herself after marrying Brother Gu, which will offend grandma. I took advantage of that to bring her When Zheng Yatou, a Japanese painter, went south to work, she wanted to persuade my sister. Unexpectedly, my sister became furious and threw a dozen embroidered cloths in front of me, accusing me of being a frog in the well and not being able to distinguish between beauty and ugliness. Although I was impatient at the time, I still looked at it. After clearing a few, there was the strange chimney-like mountain, the woman with a wooden comb in her forehead, and the most terrifying thing was that there were all kinds of cats, just like the ones I saw Azhen and the others embroidering in the tailor shop today. Same."
Mrs. Shen frowned and listened, then interjected: "Aren't there many cats in Suxiu?"
Han Xiying said with an exaggerated expression: "Where is that kind of cute Su embroidered cat! The cat embroidered by my eldest sister has a cat head, but the body is a human body covered by smoke and holding a ghost fire. It is indistinguishable from goblins and ghosts. To.”
At this time, Han Xiying was confusing right and wrong without any hesitation.
In fact, the eldest sister Han Ximeng neither "threw" nor "reprimanded" at that time, but calmly told her sister that the cats painted by Japanese Ukiyoe painters had the appearance of powerful and strange gods, just like the cats in our Han Chinese's Shanhaijing. , birds, beasts, fish and insects will also grow human heads, hands and legs, and have the power of gods and demons.
It is just a custom that the people of a country like, so there is no need to be alarmed.
But Han Xiying's whole body was burned by the fire of jealousy mixed with the burning righteousness, and she didn't think that she was fabricating anything.
She just kept trying to escalate her sensational remarks in order to increase Shen's attention.
As expected, Mrs. Shen's always kind eyes gradually lost their calmness.
She said worriedly: "Ah Ying, your eldest sister, a good lady, how can you think of these ghostly embroidery, but fall under the spell of the people in her house?"
The person in the room naturally refers to Zheng Haizhu.
Han Xiying adjusted her tone to a self-consciously unlucky tone: "Grandma is right. I thought the person named Zheng was a little weird early on."
Mrs. Shen nodded and said: "Logically, she is a young and single woman. Since the elders in the clan have agreed on the marriage, she should happily marry into her husband's family and have someone to rely on for the rest of her life. But she insists on obeying some kind of self-disobedience. It is a custom in human relations to bring a half-year-old nephew out to make a living. She is from Fujian, and Fuzhou and Guangzhou are not far away. She has to travel across mountains and rivers to come to our Songjiang, and she also plunges into your Han family. Look at the people who are related to her There is something fishy about the people and things she does. Could it be that she is a witch? "
Han Xiying rolled her eyes and said in horror: "Grandma said this, I remember that Mr. Lu just now, at first glance, I was surprised that a man is fairer than our women. Now that I think about it, he Could it be that the man surnamed Zheng used witchcraft to charm him into the school, just to use magic to absorb his vitality, so Mr. Lu's complexion is extremely pale."
With a "pop" sound, the string of Buddhist beads in Shen's hand fell to her feet.
The middle-aged woman stroked her front and recited the Buddha's name repeatedly, and said in a trembling voice: "Ah Ying, Ah Ying, this blue sky and white sun, oh, my heart is getting cold."
Han Xiying hurriedly picked up the string of Buddhist beads and asked Shen to hold it while sitting next to her and patting her back.
Shen rolled the beads twice, took a few deep breaths, and gradually calmed down.
She sighed and said, "It just so happens that the old lady in our family pays special attention to the one named Zheng."
Han Xiying volunteered and said: "My eldest grandma is the head mother of the family. Naturally, I don't want my sister to marry the person named Zheng into the Gu family. I'd better report it to my second uncle and second aunt. It's just that she was hanging out with men in school, but she didn't do it." To avoid the eldest grandma and me, with such character, it would be more appropriate to break away from the Han family as early as possible."
But Mrs. Shen continued to sigh: "Your eldest sister has fallen under her spell. I'm afraid that after getting married, even if she doesn't come to Gu's house to serve your sister, your sister will still have to go out and get along with her and make trouble. God is not a god, ghost is not a ghost. Alas, my uncle and I have no children in this house, and we always regard my nephew Shou Qian as the eldest grandson of the Gu family. This is really, really..."
Mrs. Shen turned around, stared at Han Xiying with sincerity and said: "Ah Ying, I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you today. We two are so in love with each other. How I wish it was you who married Shou Qian." This is a good girl who is well-behaved, smart, and sensible."
Han Xiying's eyes suddenly lit up.
Immediately, I felt that my joy was too obvious, so I quickly changed my eyes to my nose and my nose to my heart, and twisted the handkerchief with both hands, showing off my shyness.
Mrs. Shen asked in a low voice with the tone of a mother comforting her daughter: "Do you also have A Qian in your heart?"
Han Xiying bit her mouth and said "hmm" like a mosquito.
Mrs. Shen was silent for a long time, and then spoke again: "I understand, my dear. My good child, you are alone at home. Don't rush to come forward. If you see something out of the ordinary, make a note of it in your mind and tell me. That’s good. Let me think of something.”
When Han Xiying heard this, waves of gratitude came to her heart again.
My own mother, Mrs. Yang, is now becoming more and more hostile to her second eldest uncle and eldest daughter-in-law, as well as her eldest daughter-in-law, Han Ximeng. However, she is incompetent and only knows how to vent her anger on her daughter. She often scolds her for being brave and incapable of dealing with the dead girl named Zheng. , to avenge his uncle.
On the contrary, Shen, who was not related by blood, was worried about her situation.
She then pretended to be a pioneer for the king and said earnestly: "I listen to you. By the way, the A-Zhen today was originally introduced to Songjiang weavers by my mother from Huizhou. Do I have any idea?" I will also give her the clothes I wear, and she has always been grateful to me. Because she is also good at embroidery, this time my second uncle gave the tailor shop to my eldest sister as a bride, so he gave it to her as well. She didn't look good today, so she turned around I’ll ask her.”
Mrs. Shen agreed: "You are such a kind-hearted child. If A-Zhen is suffering from anything, please let me know."
"Grandma, the first few households are my family's silkworm farmers who have been harvesting cocoons. Grandma should go and have a look." Outside the sedan, Cuiliu, Shen's personal maid, reported softly.
Mrs. Shen opened the sedan curtain and said, "Da Fen will accompany me. Cuiliu, you follow the sedan and take the third lady back to Han Mansion."
Cuiliu and another maid named "Da Fen" responded.
Han Xiying said curiously: "I heard that the smell of the silkworm house is very strong. Grandma can just ask the woman in charge to check it out. Why should I go there myself?"
Shen shook his head: "Your second uncle is in the cotton cloth business, so naturally he only sees cotton. But your eldest sister, who works in embroidery all day long, can't live without silk threads for a moment, and doesn't know what happened in the three counties this year. It's very abnormal. What?"
…
"Is the silkworm thing abnormal?"
In Han Ximeng's boudoir in the Han Mansion, Zheng Haizhu, who had returned home late, ate a bowl of wontons in a hurry and heard the eldest lady talking about this news.
Han Ximeng was unrolling the long embroidery scroll that was about to be sent out under the lamp. While looking at it, he said: "You went to Yuegang. I don't have a right helper. I have been working on this embroidery all day, just like a hermit in the mountains who doesn't know the outside world." Feng Yun. Today I went with my aunt to worship the Buddha, and I met Miao Atai in the temple. She said that recently in many silkworm households, the silkworms did not spin silk after they were in clusters. "
The upper cluster is an important part of sericulture.
After the silkworms mature, silkworm farmers will use materials such as straw and wheat straw to fold them into partitions, allowing mature silkworms to spin silk and form cocoons inside. This is the "upper cluster".
The Susong-Hangjiahu area, where the sericulture industry is flourishing, has a lot of rain in April, May and June, which is often the wettest season of the year. Although silkworms are afraid of light and prefer shade when spinning silk, it will definitely not work if the clusters become moldy. Therefore, silkworm farmers will heat a small charcoal pot under the layers of bamboo plaques where the tufts are placed to keep the tufts themselves relatively dry.
This kind of bamboo plaque in the silkworm room is called "foil", and the behavior of warming the fire on rainy days is called "moxibustion foil".
Zheng Haizhu then asked Han Ximeng: "Did the moxibustion foil be improperly released and the charcoal gas was released, which made the silkworms stiff?"
Han Ximeng shook his head: "There were twenty or thirty silkworm farmers involved in the accident. They have been raising silkworms for several generations. How could they be so careless? Even if there are some children and grandchildren who neglect their duties and are idle, it won't be like this for every family, right?"
Zheng Haizhu asked again: "Then, could there be something wrong with the mulberry leaves?"
