"Uncle Zhou, do you think there will be people who are rushing to come to us this year?"

"Probably not this year. Haven't you heard that in order to prevent the spread of the plague a while ago, dozens of nearby villages were organized, and each village sent 30 laborers to patrol the surrounding area, and no outsiders were allowed to come closer? ”

"No, isn't there no plague?"

"It happened, but the scope was very small, and the control was good, so there was no large-scale transmission. It is estimated that more than a dozen villages will also organize personnel to inspect, and they will not be disbanded lightly. After all, our area is pretty good. Barely able to survive the winter and catch up with the summer grain harvest. If you let the strangers come to trouble, it will be chaos. ”

"Thank goodness, Lian'er and my sister don't have to worry about it anymore."

Qinglian said loudly like a little adult. Shopkeeper Zhou laughed when he heard this, and said:

"You two sisters are assertive, you bought so much rice in advance, and now the rice is much more expensive."

"Uncle Zhou, how much is the rice now?"

"No one has sold two dollars or a stone. By this time, it will be clear whether money or food is important. ”

"It's up to two pennies and a stone?"

Ran Er asked in surprise.

"I'm afraid it will go up, and now there is no market. It is estimated that around the Spring Festival, there will be many families running out of food, and it is not uncommon to have three or four hanging coins at that time. When I was a child, I encountered a cheap year, and the rice was sold for fifteen yuan a stone, and how many people starved to death. ”

The sisters were even more astonished when they heard this, and finally asked:

"Uncle Zhou's business is okay?"

"The business of the hotel is nothing more than making more money and making less money, and now it is lighter than before."

"Are the sour bamboo shoots still good to sell?"

"Don't say it, other dishes are not easy to sell, but your sour bamboo shoots are all like to eat, and they are cheap, and they can be sold out before the Spring Festival."

"That's good, I'm afraid of adding a burden to Uncle Zhou. Does Uncle Zhou still accept eggs? ”

"Are the chicks starting to lay eggs in the spring? Accept, I just ordered one of you, and you can't open a restaurant without eggs. ”

"In that case, let's give Uncle Zhou two for three cents."

"Hehe, Ran'er is quite kind. Don't worry, Uncle is not short of that penny, how much money was used before, how much is still how much it is now, and you don't have a few chickens in total. ”

The rice harvest has failed for two consecutive years, prices have skyrocketed, and eggs have already risen to two cents a piece. Shopkeeper Zhou didn't want to make Ran'er cheap, so he didn't agree to Ran'er's price reduction.

Ran'er and Qinglian are also worried about the price of goods rising again, and they came to Yangzhuang to catch the market today in order to buy the New Year's goods as soon as possible, so as not to get more expensive in front of them. Pork can't be bought early, it will be bad. Ran Er and Qinglian bought more than 20 catties of pork fat and went home to boil oil. Salted salt, rapeseed oil, etc. were bought. Because I don't know what the situation will be next year, after the sisters sold the sour bamboo shoots this year, they have already made a new dress, and they don't plan to add another one for the New Year. Ran'er bought some cotton again, so that she could go home and dismantle and wash the cotton clothes of the two.

After buying something, the two went back. On the way, I saw that everyone was preparing to plant winter wheat, and I was also a little excited. This year's land is wet, even if it does not rain in winter, it is estimated that there will be a good harvest of winter wheat. The ten-stone rice bought in two installments is only enough for the sisters to eat until next summer.

After lunch, Ran'er led Qinglian to Grandpa Li's house in Xia Village, wanting Grandpa Li to help pay attention to whether to plant winter wheat or not. Grandpa Li listened to the intention of the two sisters, and said directly to Ran'er:

"If you want to plant, based on experience, I think I can harvest it this year."

"Then we have to trouble grandpa to help us buy wheat seeds, and we have to trouble grandpa to cultivate the land."

"That's not a problem, the wheat seeds and the ploughing are all left to grandpa. Recently, I heard that Xiao Ran'er was so scheming at such a young age, did she buy a lot of rice in advance? ”

"Yes, grandpa. It's not that Ran'er has a scheming. It was my mother who told Ran'er before her death, saying that it could not always be a good year, and it had been smooth for seven or eight consecutive years, and it was inevitable that there would be uneven years of drought and flooding. ”

"How can there be so many crooked hits? You two sisters go back and wait, and in a few days I will take the time to plant the wheat in those two acres of paddy fields. ”

Back home, Qinglian said to Ran'er:

"Sister, what if Grandpa Li doesn't charge us again?"

"Don't worry, Grandpa Li will accept it this time."

"Why?"

"Grandpa Li's family is not well-off, and knowing that we are not short of food to eat now, we will naturally collect wages."

Before dinner, the sisters began to boil oil first, and more than 20 catties of pork fat boiled 17 or 8 catties of lard. Coupled with the dozen catties of rapeseed oil bought from Yangzhuang, Ran'er estimated that he should be able to eat until the beginning of spring. As soon as the sour bamboo shoots were sold in the spring, there was money to buy them again.

A little black dog picked up from Uncle Li Cheng has now grown into a half-sized dog, and Ran'er and Qinglian named the puppy "Little Black". Xiao Hei is not as sensible as Rhubarb, but when Ran'er boils oil, he always turns around and keeps screaming, and asks Qinglian to beat him out with a burning stick.

The eight hens bought in the spring began to lay eggs in August, one every other day, and one in a month, and the three old hens, in a month, could lay thirty or forty. Ran'er considered that the two sisters were growing up, so they discussed with Qinglian to boil two eggs every morning, one for each person.

Wheat is planted around the autumn equinox in the north, and it is more than ten days later in the south of the Yangtze River. At the end of August, Grandpa Li and Uncle Li Shun came together to help Ran'er plant the two acres of wheat. Sure enough, as Ran'er guessed, just a little concession, Grandpa Li received Ran'er's salary of 50 wen and 60 wen of wheat seed money. The fertilizer was also brought by Grandpa Li, and a total of 150 yuan was collected.

During this period, I heard Grandpa Li say that the people who organized in the summer to prevent the spread of the plague did not disperse, and continued to patrol the surrounding area, no longer letting the wasters come in. Ran'er and Qinglian really put their minds at ease. Since planting winter wheat, Ran'er and Qinglian have gone to Yangzhuang every 40 days to deliver eggs, and the rest of the time they stay at home.

Qinglian helped Ran'er unpack and wash the cotton clothes, bedding, etc., and when it came to the beginning of winter, it was all packed up, and when Ran'er and Qinglian went to the third anniversary grave for their mother, they deliberately put on the cotton clothes that the sisters had dismantled and washed, and wanted to show their mother.

The two sisters are used to telling their mothers, and the two of them will tell their mothers everything in the past six months. Especially when it comes to the cotton clothes on the two of them, not only Qinglian is proud, but Ran'er also feels very proud. This is the first time Ran'er has smiled and spoken in front of her mother's grave. After a few incidents, Ran'er and Qinglian already decided in their hearts that their mother was by their side, but they couldn't see it, so the grief of her mother's death gradually disappeared in their hearts.

When they saw the paper ashes flying in the air again, the mood of the two sisters also danced. With the pleasure and steadfastness of her mother always taking care of herself, the two sisters went home with a smile.