The woman was shocked when she heard Li Zheng's words, and knew that she had upset Li Zheng and the others. So, she obediently took out the sticker and didn't dare to say a word. Li Xiaoyang took the big red bronzing word Geng post handed to him by Li Dad, and stepped forward to stuff it to Wang Tu, who always kept his head down and kept silent.

As soon as he took the crumpled Geng post in the woman's hand, Li Xiaoyang saw that the corner of the post was nowhere to be found. He opened it and found that the missing corner was his sister's name. He angrily displayed the Geng post in front of everyone, and asked loudly:

"Whose Geng post is this, where did you pick it up? Even if it's in tatters, it doesn't even have a name. Are you planning to deceive us, the patriarch and Lizheng? ”

When the onlookers saw the miserable post, they all sighed. Everyone began to talk about it. Those who knew the law said loudly: "Emperor Taizu made the law back then, and all the male and female Geng posts represent their identities, and they all have the seal of the government on them. Whoever deliberately destroys Geng Ti shall be punished with 20 canes and three months' hard labor. ”

Hearing this, Li Xiaonuan suddenly realized. It turns out that this Geng post can also be used as an ID card. Come to think of it, that Emperor Taizu should be a fellow villager. Li Zheng heard that the man put this matter on the bright side, and he could only deal with this matter together.

He said to the woman who was already frightened: "Wang Huang, you also heard that." Since you dare to do it, you must bear the consequences. Now, please ask the elders of both sides to sign the resignation document first. ”

Li Xiaoyang handed the damaged Geng post to Li Zheng, took the resignation document from Li Zheng's hand, and read it aloud. Before Dad Li got sick, the family conditions were fine, and Li Xiaoyang was sent to school.

The document is decent, and there is no opinion from both parents. First, Li's father pressed his handprint with Li's mother. After that, the mother and son of the Wang family trembled and pressed their handprints.

Li Zheng took the paperwork and looked at it, put it away with satisfaction, and then said: "The paperwork is signed, and when I get it to the government and seal it, I will send a copy to each of you." ”

Li Zheng saw that the matter of retiring from his relatives was done, so he asked Li Xiaonuan to help his parents back to the house. He asked Li Xiaoyang to stay, and said to him and the mother and son of the Wang family: "You go to the yamen with me, and we will finish everything while it is still early today." ”

When the woman heard that she was really going to go to the yamen, she was so frightened that she knelt directly on the ground, and kowtowed to the two of them to admit her mistake. But the law is unforgiving, and as soon as she made trouble before, the two of them planned to punish her in order to achieve the effect of killing chickens and monkeys. Therefore, neither of them paid attention to her.

When the woman saw that the two could not make sense, she knelt down in front of Li's father and mother again, and begged them not to pursue the matter. Li Mu is the most straightforward and rushes to speak. He bluntly refused: "What's the use of what you ask us, you are now violating the law of the land, and we can't control it." Besides, you deserve it, you deserve it. ”

After listening to Li's mother's words, the woman sat down on the ground. Wang Tu, who had been silent, came over at this time and changed his previous shrinkage. He helped the woman up, made a big bow to Li's father and mother, and said apologetically:

"Uncle and aunt, it's all the fault of the younger generation, please don't blame your mother. It's just that she is bitter in her heart that she will do such a wrong thing. The juniors hereby apologize to your family, and the juniors are willing to bear all the guilt. ”

Father Li and Mother Li didn't want to deal with Wang Tu at all, so neither of them said anything. Seeing this, Li Xiaonuan and Li Xiaogang helped the two back to the house. After coming out, she said to Wang Tu, who was still standing in front of the house:

"We accept your apologies. It's just that what your mother did was wrong, and you have to understand that. No matter how bitter she is, she can't toss irrelevant people. Also, after reading books for so many years, you should be able to distinguish right from wrong. Don't let your mother fiddle with you all day long, you have to live for yourself. Don't really think that your mother is so wrong that you can't save it, then it's too late to regret it. ”

Listening to Li Xiaonuan's words, Wang Tu was thoughtful. He picked up the woman who was already sluggish and followed the village chief and his party away. Li Xiaonuan grabbed Li Xiaoyang and explained to him:

"You tell the village chief and Li Zheng that it's all over the place. As for hard labor, let it be spared. They are all from the villagers, and if we can't do things absolutely, that's not good for our reputation. ”

Li Xiaoyang nodded, indicating that he understood, and then trotted to follow the village chief. The onlookers saw that there was no excitement to see, so they dispersed in twos and threes. On Tuesday, Aunt Huang and Aunt Huang also came to say goodbye. Li Xiaonuan wanted to keep people, but there was really nothing to entertain at home, so he could only send them out apologetically.

When he came back, Xiao Gang was coming out of the kitchen with a wooden pallet. On the tray, there are two bowls of porridge and a small plate of wild vegetables. Li Xiaonuan smelled as if there was some meat, so she leaned over to take a look. Sure enough, in those two bowls of porridge, there was minced meat and boiled.

Xiaogang smiled and said to Li Xiaonuan: "Sister, this is the porridge that Erquan's sister-in-law boiled for her father and mother, and there is minced meat in it." On Tuesday, my aunt also brought me 20 eggs, and I beat one into my father's bowl to make up for them. ”

Li Xiaonuan patted Xiao Gang's head with a smile and said, "Okay, you can send it to your father and mother while it's hot." lest the porridge be cold and the eggs will be fishy. ”

Seeing Xiao Gang walking into his parents' house with brisk steps, thinking of his gluttonous appearance just now when he sniffed the aroma hard, Li Xiaonuan sighed. It is said that there is no filial son in front of the bed for a long time. This Li Dad has been sick for a long time and has no relatives in front of him.

Li Xiaonuan walked into the kitchen and re-boiled the pot of porridge that was originally intended to be used for breakfast. She looked at a small basket of eggs on the board, gritted her teeth and hit two of them. She thought: in the future, she will definitely not let the people in her family starve. Isn't it just eggs, I'm afraid that the family will not be rare by then.

After opening the eggs evenly, Li Xiaonuan sprinkled the chopped wild vegetables on the board into the pot. After the porridge had been tumbling two or three times, the fire was stopped. She put a little salt while it was hot and mixed it well, and then found a clean wooden basin to put the porridge on.

Although the Winter Food Festival has passed, this era, even in the southern region, is still a little cold in the morning and evening. Li Xiaonuan stepped out of the kitchen, looked at the somewhat gray sky, and felt that there would be rain today. She tightened the thin cotton clothes on her body, grateful that cotton had been introduced to China a long time ago.

When he walked to the door of his parents' room, Xiao Gang came out with empty dishes and chopsticks. When he saw Li Xiaonuan, he stretched out the dishes and chopsticks to her. Li Xiaonuan felt very comforted when she saw that the two large bowls of porridge had been eaten. At least the parents are less pretentious and easier to get along with.

She took the tray in Xiao Gang's hand and said to him, "I've made breakfast, and when you finish eating, I'll send some to Xiaoyang." Forget it, I still have some private rooms there, you give them to Xiaoyang, and ask him to buy some food on the street for Lizheng and them. ”

Xiao Gang nodded in response, and ate the porridge quickly, not feeling that Li Xiaonuan was cooking so much, wasting the eggs that made up for his father's mother's body. He is only eleven years old, usually does not talk much, and looks simple. Only the people in the family know that under the gentle appearance, there is a heart with seven tricks.

While Xiaogang was eating porridge, Li Xiaonuan returned to the room and took out a small cloth bag from the foot of the bed. Inside is the private house that the predecessor has saved for ten years, one tael, three dollars and twenty-two cents. Li Xiaonuan directly took out the largest string of 1,000 Wen, thought about it, and took the small silver horn of the three coins. She casually took a worn-out lotus bag from the side of her pillow.

handed the purse to Xiao Gang, and Li Xiaonuan explained to him carefully: "You asked Xiaoyang to buy some meat and snacks for Li Zheng and the others as a thank you gift." Then invite them to eat noodles at a noodle restaurant and cut a pound of braised pork. The rest of the money was paid for the consultation fee owed to Lang Zhong first. If there is more, grab some medicine and bring it back to Dad. ”

Xiao Gang took the money bag and listened carefully with his ears pricked up, for fear of missing something. After Li Xiaonuan finished speaking, he repeated it, and after confirming that it was correct, he grinned. Li Xiaonuan was warmed by this smile, touched his head and said, "Buy two pieces of tofu and come back, let's make crucian carp tofu soup tonight." ”

Xiao Gang smiled even more happily, and he carefully put the money bag away. After jumping a few hard, making sure that the money bag would not be thrown off, he ran away like a gust of wind. Li Xiaonuan looked at his back with a smile, a little helpless. Looking up at the sky, he secretly blamed himself for forgetting to let him take his robe.

Fortunately, this place is not far from the government office, just by the city gate. Walk for a quarter of an hour on the official road, and then go more than 300 meters to enter the city. Li Xiaonuan walked into the kitchen and filled a bowl of porridge to drink. The rest was buckled under the large bamboo cover, and the kitchen was cleaned up.

After putting the washed dishes and chopsticks in the cabinet, Li Xiaonuan put the dozen eggs into the jar under the desk. This was given by Aunt Tuesday. There is also a pound of brown sugar and a large bag of red dates on the board. It was the village chief who asked Fangfang to bring it. Li Xiaonuan put them all into the jar on the top of the cabinet.

In addition, there are two big crucian carp brought by Li Shuhua, two catties of small yellow rice given by Granny Zhou next door, dried vegetables, hairy potatoes and so on given by kind-hearted villagers. Li Xiaonuan sorted them one by one. She swore in her heart that she would repay those who gave charcoal in the snow a hundredfold.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Li Xiaonuan boiled a large pot of water. I thought that if the brothers were unfortunate enough to get caught in the rain, they would be able to take a hot shower as soon as they came back. When she saw that the kitchen was done, she planned to tidy up the house. It's a pity that this family is so poor that they don't have to clean it up. She went to the utility room behind the hall to look at the grain.

These days, the family has been drinking rice porridge, which is still very thin. Come to think of it, there isn't enough rice at home to eat. Now, before the seedlings are planted, it will take three or four months before they are harvested. If there is no food, the family will have to eat wild vegetables and go hungry.

Sure enough, in the utility room, there was only about 100 catties of millet left. There are five people in the family, and the Xiaoyang brothers are the best time to eat. If the family is allowed to eat dry rice and eat a full meal, this hundred catties of millet can be eaten in more than half a month. As for the more than 30 catties of soybeans, they were directly ignored by Li Xiaonuan.

Coming out of the utility room, Li Xiaonuan quietly went into her parents' room to take a look and found that the two were sleeping sweetly. It seems that the big stone in the heart should be removed, and the spirit has been relaxed. In the past ten days, Li Xiaonuan first fell seriously ill. Then, all kinds of unbearable rumors flew around. As parents, the two must be very anxious.

Li Xiaonuan gently closed the door of her parents' house, moved a stool and sat down on the eaves, thinking about her future life. How can this day continue, in order to help parents take care of their health, in order to plan the future of their two younger brothers. In Li Xiaonuan's view, this qiē depends on money.

Just, how do you make money?

At present, this family has a lot of foreign debts, and it is impossible to come up with the capital to do business. As for what the novel says about buying recipes and the like, it is very unreliable for Li Xiaonuan. Because, her cooking skills are ordinary, and there are very few types of cooking. Moreover, the family is about to run out of food, which is the key.