"Ran'er and Lian'er are too worried. Bamboo shoots are only in your area, and pulling fresh bamboo shoots back is the same distance as pulling pickled bamboo shoots from you, and it is not troublesome. Not only is it not troublesome, but it also saves me a lot of trouble. Otherwise, I will pull it back, not only to ask someone to clean it, but also to find a place to put these jars and jars. You know, the places in the capital are not as spacious as you are. The land there is very valuable. ”

Ran Er and Qinglian naturally knew what Yao Wenlin meant, but they didn't want their sisters to worry.

By the end of March, after Yao Wenlin took away the last cart of sour bamboo shoots, the sisters calculated the harvest of this year's sour bamboo shoots. Yao Wenlin sent a total of 300 large jars, plus his own small jars, and pickled a total of more than 2,100 catties of sour bamboo shoots. Among them, Yao Wenlin collected 1,600 catties of bamboo shoots, and more than 500 catties of bamboo shoots behind his house. Yao Wenlin settled all the money with Ran'er at 40 yuan per catty, and did not deduct the penny per catty of fresh bamboo shoots. Because Yao Wenlin had paid a deposit of fifty taels in advance, and finally paid thirty-four taels of silver to the two sisters.

"Sister, we have so much money?"

"Well, with last year's seventy-four taels, we have nearly one hundred and sixty taels of silver. You can buy a good dowry for Lian'er. ”

"Go, I won't marry, what dowry do I want?"

Ran Er was joking, and when she saw Qinglian's very serious appearance, she couldn't help but chuckle.

Indeed, Ran Er and Qinglian now have income from sour bamboo shoots, eggs and duck eggs, lotus roots and fish in the pond, and their lives are stable, and they no longer have to worry about starvation like when they were children. Life is stable, the mood of the sisters is naturally comfortable, and the laughter in the fence courtyard is increasing. What especially made the sisters happy was the wooden statue of their mother, as well as the secret method of locking the soul of the Nine Palaces. According to what Yao Shuangcheng said to the sisters that night, it won't be long before the sisters may communicate directly with their mother.

"Sister, do you think what Grandpa Yao said is true?"

Since listening to Yao Shuangcheng's words, Qinglian has asked Ran'er like this almost every day. However, why not look forward to it, why not worry? It's just that Ran'er still firmly believes that her mother is by her side and has been taking care of them. Regardless of whether she can really communicate with her mother, Ran'er does not doubt the existence of her mother's soul.

"Yes, definitely."

On the day of Qingming, the sisters still went to the mother's grave first, and as usual, they placed sacrifices on the stone table, lit incense and candles, and added new soil to the mother's grave. Now, with the wooden statue of the mother, the sisters no longer speak to the grave. When the three incense sticks are burned, it is the time when the sisters are most looking forward to burning paper money. The ash still flew overhead, hovering, and this time it was noticeably longer than usual. With the surprise in their hearts, Ran'er and Qinglian hurriedly came to the east room of the thatched house, lit three incense sticks in the incense burner in front of the wooden statue of their mother, knelt down at the table, and recounted what had happened recently.

"Sister, look."

Ran Er saw Qinglian pointing to her mother's wooden statue to let herself see, and the two sisters had to look at the wooden statue of their mother almost every day, but Ran Er didn't find anything special.

"Sister, don't you see that the lines on the face of the mother's wooden statue are much more rounded?"

Ran Er looked carefully, and it was really as Qinglian said. I remember that when Yao Wenlin carved the wooden statue at that time, due to the rush of time and the lack of tools at hand, the whole wooden statue of my mother looked relatively rough. Since Ran'er and Qinglian offered the wooden statue of their mother, they no longer touched it lightly. Today, however, it is found that the face of the wooden statue seems to have been polished, becoming somewhat smooth and rounded.

Such a change surprised the sisters. Since then, I have believed that what Yao Shuangcheng said is true, and I have been more diligent in enshrineing the wooden statue of my mother. Learn from Ding Lan, you have to discuss everything with your mother, and you have to tell your mother what happened afterwards.

At the beginning of May, it was time to harvest winter wheat again. As for the three uncles of the Li family, Ran'er and Qinglian knew that each of them had a lot of land, which was enough for them to be busy, so this year, Ran'er and Qinglian discussed that it was better to spend money to hire someone to harvest wheat. Unlike digging lotus roots in winter, this time it is a daily job.

On the day of the harvest, Grandpa Li went to Ran'er's field and went around. Said to Ran'er and Qinglian:

"You'd better hire a permanent worker. Whether it's five acres of paddy fields, ponds, or digging bamboo shoots, raising chickens, etc., it's almost enough to have a long-term worker to take care of it, and when it's really too busy, hire a short-term worker. ”

"Grandpa, is it easy to hire a long-term worker? How much silver do you need per year? ”

"What idlers have is that the wages are on the market, and the wages of a long-term worker for a year are seven or eight taels of silver. If you don't care about food, it will cost you almost a penny a month, and it will be twelve miles of silver a year. ”

"In that case, let's hire one too, but it's better to have someone nearby, not to live in our house."

Qinglian heard this and interjected:

"Don't be young, be old, kind-hearted."

"Hehe, you have a lot of ghost eyes. Okay, wait for grandpa to do what you want, and help you touch one. ”

Just after finishing the wheat field, before he had time to plant rice, Grandpa Li brought in a forty-one or twelve-year-old man who seemed to be the kind of honest and honest farmer.

"Ran'er, Lian'er, this is Zhang Dazhu from Zhang Village, Xixiang. Due to the death of his father and mother, he pulled down the famine and sold all the land in his family to pay off his debts, so he went around helping others. I have agreed with Dazhu about your conditions, and he is willing. ”

"Uncle Dazhu, the salary is twelve taels of silver a year, there are only two people in the family, my sister and me, there is no place for Uncle Dazhu to live, we have to go back and forth every day, if there is anything inconvenient, Uncle Dazhu can say it early, we will discuss."

No matter what Grandpa Li said to Zhang Dazhu, Ran'er still told Grandpa Li about the situation at home and the salary in front of Grandpa Li, in case there was a misunderstanding in the future.

"There's nothing inconvenient, Zhangcun is only ten miles away from here, and I can't get tired of going once a day."

After talking about it roughly, under the witness of Grandpa Li, he wrote a contract for one year, and at the end of the year, if both parties wanted, they could renew it.

The contract stipulates that wages are settled on a monthly basis, Ran'er and Qinglian have a lunch at noon, and there is a certain amount of rituals during the New Year's holidays. It's raining and cloudy, and if there is nothing important to do, Zhang Dazhu can rest at home. The five acres of fields, as well as the work in the pond, are usually cooked by Zhang Dazhu. When you are too busy, discuss with the main family in advance, and Zhang Dazhu is also in charge of hiring manpower.