The banquet was very lively and smooth, most of the people in the village came, and the old village chief also came, and at the same time brought two large jars of wine, and the men just took advantage of this to have a good drink.

The original prepared grain, meat and vegetables were not enough at all, so the old lady went to the town again, and also 'borrowed' a lot of vegetables and pickles from the daughter-in-law who had a good relationship with the village, and even put the wild vegetables pickled earlier for the winter on the table, so that everyone could barely eat and drink!

So busy and busy, until the sun was about to set, the drunken men were helped back by their respective families one after another, Ling'er followed the old lady to clean up the yard until dark, and then invited the daughters-in-law who helped during the day today to have dinner, and sent them to the door one by one, and the feast was really over.

The old lady returned to the newly built east house, sat on the edge of the bed tiredly and kneaded her sore arms and knees, and the father on the bed said, "Old woman, thank you for your hard work!" ”

The old lady laughed and said, "What's so hard? It's a great joy for us to move to a new house, and if this kind of good thing happens every day, I'd rather work hard every day! ”

Ling'er stepped forward to help the old lady and said while beating her shoulders: "Mother, it costs money to hold a banquet, how can you stand it if you make trouble like this every day?" By the way, mother, how much did you spend on buying grain, meat and vegetables today? ”

The old lady thought for a while: "Fortunately, it cost 800 wen for the first time, and about 500 wen for the second time!" ”

"Ahh So much! Mother, you are really willing, if you have the money to invite someone to dinner, it is better to use it to build two more rooms, or take it to make a few decent pieces of furniture! It's not a good deal! Don't hold this kind of banquet again! ”

"Heh, you girl, you're really out of the eye! You only see the money we spend, haven't you seen other people's uncles and aunts give gifts when they come? Not to mention anything else, the two jars of wine sent by the old village chief are worth one or two silver! ”

Ling'er pursed her lips and muttered, "What if it's worth more?" It's not that the drunkards drank it up, I haven't even tasted a drop! ”

The old lady shook her head funny, but she didn't know how to persuade this hard-mouthed little girl, and the old lady said: "Ling'er, Dad knows that you are now enlightened, smart, and will feel sorry for your father, but you can't be too careful, you have to know how to be grateful!" If it weren't for everyone to take care of us over the years, our family would have no roots and no roots, and we don't know where we can drift and how many days we can live?

In the past, when other people's houses in the village were built and capped and housewarmed, your mother and I also took you to congratulate us, and they entertained us with good wine and meat. Our family is poor, and it is rare to hold a banquet, so the last time you opened the door, it was still the food and meat dishes that the big guys put together! Now that we have some money on hand, we should naturally treat people well, you know? ”

Daddy's thoughts Ling'er was naturally clear, and she was not easy to contradict, so she nodded honestly: "Yes, Ling'er knows!" Mother, we only have two taels of silver left, bought food, made winter clothes and quilts, can there be any leftover? ”

"Yes! Don't worry, Ling'er, my mother has already summed it up, and I guarantee that your flower padded jacket is indispensable! ”

Ling'er laughed dryly, "That mother must remember to buy me paper, ink, pen and inkstone!" ”

"Hehe, okay, no problem!"

The next day, the family took out the gifts they received yesterday to count and classify, in fact, the villagers did not give many gifts, yesterday the people who ate sat for a few rounds, not to mention there were twenty tables, but these gifts are not like there are fifty or sixty households.

Ling'er muttered in her heart: These people deliberately came to eat mixed rice, right? No wonder there are so many more than last time, these things together can have three or five hundred Wen is good, the banquet is really a loss, next time it must not be done, to do it only familiar with the acquaintance, have contacts or have helped people, lest those who usually see and greet do not fight, as soon as there is a cheap to take advantage of the people who fish in troubled waters!

Ling'er thought so in her heart, but she didn't stop in her hands, and sorted the gifts separately, because the things were too miscellaneous, and there were four or five dustpans in the newly built hall, millet, brown rice, polished rice, wheat, beans, and vegetable seeds...... All sorts, and it seems that these multi-dustpans are not enough! No way, let's make do with it!

After the grain inventory is completed, it is estimated that the most millet is the most, about forty or fifty catties; brown rice is second, about twenty or thirty catties; Everything else will not add up to more than twenty pounds. If this is counted as silver money, two cents a pound of millet is counted as a hundred wen; Brown rice is three cents a catty, which is fifty cents; The others are neutralized, counting five wen and one catty, which is also one hundred wen, for a total of two hundred and fifty wen. Plus a few pieces of vegetable bacon, it should be able to have 300 Wen.

The old lady seemed very happy, and said happily: "There are so many things, enough for our family to eat for a month or two!" Ling'er, come, help my mother put things in the bag! ”

Ling'er carefully poured the grain into the bag with a dustpan and asked, "Mother, we mixed all the grain together, and we didn't keep an account, I don't know which ones were sent by which family, how can we repay the gift in the future?" ”

The old lady paused, looked at the father inquiringly, and the father thought for a while, "Yes, I should have found a literate person to write down the account!" ”

The old lady put down the cloth bag and stood up: "Alas, it's all because I'm happy and confused!" In the past, there were not many people in the village who had dealings with us, and we could generally remember a rough idea, who knew that so many people came yesterday, and I forgot about this stubble when I was in a hurry! Dad, we've dismantled everything, what should we do? ”

The two of them were sad for a long time, and they couldn't think of a better way, and the father said, "Otherwise, let's return the gift according to the usual practice in the future!" ”

Ling'er disagreed: "Dad, mother, that's not good, right?" I obviously saw Aunt Zhu's family of six people coming, and only two catties of millet were sent; Grandma Huzi's family came to the family of three, and they sent five catties of millet, two catties of soybeans, and a piece of bacon at once! If both families want to return the same gift, even if Grandma Huzi's family doesn't care, we won't go over in our hearts! ”

The two nodded in agreement when they heard this, and then they looked sad again, and Ling'er deliberately had to mutter: "Alas, if only I could be literate and keep accounts!" ”

The second elder looked at Ling'er, and the father sighed: "Yes, it's a pity that our family is illiterate, if there is a literate person, there will be no such things!" Damn, why don't I take Ling'er to the old village chief's house later? ”

The old lady thought for a while and said, "We haven't prepared anything, so how embarrassing is it to go empty-handed?" The old village chief also sent two large jars of wine yesterday! I think I'd better wait for the next time I catch the market, and I'll go back when I have my gifts ready! ”

Ling'er was relieved, and saw that there were several wooden boxes in the corner of the wall where the congratulatory gifts were stacked, as if they were used for decoration. She opened them one by one, three of the boxes were indeed snacks, and the last black box was left, Ling'er was immediately startled by the contents as soon as she opened it, she threw away the box with an exclamation, and the contents rolled out.

When my father heard this, she said, "What's wrong?" ...... "When the old lady saw the things on the ground clearly, her face turned white with fright!" Ling'er, who reacted, hurriedly sat down, rushed over to pick up the things on the ground and was about to throw them out.

"Wait!" Daddy shouted, "Ling'er, bring it to me!" ”

Ling'er looked at her father and saw that his face was serious, so she had to find a piece of straw paper to pick up the thing. Dad took it and looked at it for a moment, wiped it with straw paper again, and said with a sigh of relief: "Ling'er, damn, it's okay, it's just a few sweet potatoes!" ”

"Sweet potato!" Ling'er leaned over to see that Dad had already wiped off the ink on it, and with a slight stroke, the sweet potato juice slowly leached out, and it was indeed a sweet potato!

Ling'er patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief, when she opened it, the sweet potato was painted with ink on the facial features of the person, coupled with the red sweet potato skin, at first glance, it looked like a little person used to prick a needle in witchcraft, so she and the old lady were scared!

Ling'er gritted her teeth and said: "Which bastard sent this kind of thing to scare people, let me know that I will definitely not be able to spare him, hum!" ”