Chen Xuejiao glanced at the stone that was chopping wood to boil and wash duck eggs, and the stone stopped what he was doing and went to the north wing, and when he came out again, he had an account book, a pen and a copper coin.

"Second girl, please take a look." Shi held the ledger to Chen Xuejiao with both hands

Chen Xuejiao took it and flipped it over. This apricot blossom is indeed capable, and the general little daughter-in-law with neat hands and feet is not as good as her, in the past two months, in addition to the mother of Xianglian, who is an expert in work, she has cooked the most salted duck eggs and received the most wages.

In addition to her nimble hands and feet, she has a large family to feed behind her, and she can only rest for a moment. Other female workers only work half a day a day, and the rest of the time takes care of the family, but the apricot blossom is different, she is on the whole day, this is not counted, after work, she has to go to the field to dry more, work in the field until the moon rises, to rush home to pick up the family to take care of a few younger brothers and sisters, to cook for the father and mother who are not angry.

Such a kind and virtuous girl is left in an ordinary family, and the threshold of the family is squeezed by the matchmaker, and she has to settle down early.

Xinghua saw Chen Xuejiao looking at the account book seriously, and there was still a glimmer of hope in her heart, which recorded not only her salary, but also the number of duck eggs she pickled every day.

"I see that you receive sixty wages a month." A girl can earn 60 yuan a month, which is already very remarkable, with the price of Xuzhou Mansion, 60 yuan can buy 30 bags of rice, which is barely enough for a family. Chen Xuejiao spread out the account book and looked at Xinghua with bright eyes, "This salary is not small, where did your money go?" ”

The wages of the female workers in the salted duck egg workshop are all paid by Chen Xuejiao on a monthly basis, and Xinghuaniang and Xinghua's father have approached Xuejiao before. picked out and gave them Xinghua's wages directly, but Chen Xuejiao categorically refused, although Xuejiao knew that in the end, nine out of ten of the money fell into the hands of Han Laojiu and his wife. But she still insisted on giving her salary directly to Xinghua.

Xinghua was stunned, she didn't expect Chen Xuejiao to ask this question. Of course, her money has been given to her parents, she can't and dare not give it, if she doesn't give it to her for fear that her parents will make trouble, she will not only have no face but even the opportunity to work, as for what her parents did with the money, she knew very well in her heart. Although I was sad and cried, I wiped away my tears and continued to give them the money, and I could only complain that I had done a lot of evil in my previous life. to be born under such parents.

Facing Chen Xuejiao's inquiry, Xinghua hung her head and was silent.

Chen Xuejiao stared at Xinghua for a while, knowing that she handed over her wages to her parents who did not act. With a long sigh in her heart, she knew it. It's just a vain question.

"Apricot blossoms. I know you are filial, but there must be a limit to filial piety, can you never marry for the rest of your life? Can you stay by your parents' side for the rest of your life? Or are you coming to your in-laws' house, and you have to give everything you have to your parents as you do now? Filial piety is a good thing, but you also have to plan for yourself. Chen Xuejiao didn't blame Xinghua's practice, nor did she blame Xinghua's parents, she just clicked and stopped. Remind Apricot Blossom that it's time to plan for herself. If Xinghua completely cut off contact with her parents, it would be impossible. Whether it is Guda or modern times, even if you meet a bad parent, once the child and the parents break off the relationship, public opinion saliva can drown you. What's more, Xinghua is just a little girl, and marrying into her in-law's family is another thing, and it is impossible for her to get rid of such parents now, but it is not too difficult to plan for herself.

Xinghua didn't expect that Xue Jiao would say such a thing to her, which was almost heartfelt, and generally only sisters who were extremely familiar with her would say sincere things such as marrying and planning.

It's not that she hasn't thought that no matter how virtuous, kind, hardworking and capable, when she gets married, others still value her family. According to her situation, a good family is only afraid that it is delusional, and a withered family or a widower with a dead daughter-in-law may still be possible.

Complete sadness welled up, and tears welled up in the corners of Xinghua's eyes.

Chen Xuejiao knew that she was in her heart, and she could only say it here, and it would depend on everyone's creation in the future.

"Xinghua, this is two months' salary, one hundred and twenty wen, you can take it." Chen Xuejiao added a sum to the account book, and the stone beside her had already handed over a string of money.

Xinghua stared blankly at the string of money and did not accept it, she knew that she could no longer work in the salted duck egg workshop.

"Sister Xuejiao, I beg you for the last time, you just let me continue to do it, I promise not to let my father and mother make trouble." Xinghua cried and grabbed Chen Xuejiao's sleeve.

Seeing Xinghua's pitiful face, Chen Xuejiao was not soft-hearted, but she knew that her family was in business, not charity, and Han Laojiu and his wife were two landmines that could be detonated at any time, and they might go to the salted duck egg workshop one day to make trouble. Chen Xuejiao has a reason for this conclusion, since Xinghua worked in the salted duck egg workshop, Xinghuaniang always got into the crowd, always complaining that the Chen family went to the house to pick the door, and used her daughter as a coolie, and only gave so much money a month.

"Xinghua, can you persuade your parents? If you can really persuade your parents, your parents are not like that. Chen Xuejiao hardened her heart and closed the account book.

Apricot blossom's tears fell.

Chen Xuejiao didn't look at her with a cold heart, she had to do this thing, if Li or Xue Ru were to deal with it, most of them would be soft-hearted.

Xinghua cried for a while and saw that Chen Xuejiao was still resolute, so she had to desperately stop her tears, wiped her eyes, and suddenly knelt down to kowtow to Chen Xuejiao: "Sister Xuejiao, you pulled me when I was in the most difficult time, no matter what, I have to thank you well, if you didn't accept me as a worker, I would probably be sold by my father and mother to people in the city." ”

"What are you doing here?" Chen Xuejiao hurriedly pulled the apricot blossom up.

Xinghua bit her lip and struggled to kowtow to Chen Xuejiao, her face full of tears.

Chen Xuejiao sighed secretly in her heart, and suddenly remembered something. When Xinghua came to work in the salted duck egg workshop, first, she valued her character and worked reliably, and second, her father and mother wanted to sell her into a big family, and at that time she promised to work to pull her. Now, because of her father, the workshop can't take her in, which is really not Chen Xuejiao's original intention.

This time Xinghua went home, Chen Xuejiao was also worried. Her father and mother were trying to sell her.

Chen Xuejiao weighed it in her heart and said to her: "Xinghua, what should you do at home." Don't always think about your own parents. If people are incapable, even if they have a good father and mother, they will not be able to rely on it. If you have ambition, why don't you be alone? You see Lan Niang at the head of our village, who was divorced by her mother-in-law's family, and now works in my family's embroidery workshop, and has adopted a daughter, relying on a pair of hands. It's a better life than the average person. If you take the idea yourself, your father and mother can't be your master, as long as you don't want to. No one can sell you anymore. ”

Xinghua heard the sentence "As long as you don't want to, no one will sell you" raised her head and looked at Xue Jiao fixedly.

Chen Xuejiao saw that her mind was lively, and she made up her mind. Xinghua is not a person who has no ideas. It's a pity that I was born in such a family.

"Look at it, although you don't work in our salted duck egg workshop, you can still do work for our family." Chen Xuejiao also just thought of an idea to pull apricot blossoms, "My pickled salted duck eggs have to boil a lot of hot water every day, and the firewood is always not enough. If you are diligent in your hands and feet, it is not a problem to earn forty or fifty yuan a month. ”

Xinghua was only crying before. Thinking that the work of the salted duck egg workshop was lost, there was no way to make money anymore, and when I heard Chen Xuejiao say this, I didn't expect that there would be such a way to make money, so I was about to kowtow when I was happy, and Xuejiao stopped me again.

"Sister Xuejiao, if you really can, I will definitely chop the best firewood and send it to you, and don't use it at the market price, it's nothing cheaper than the market price."

Although there is no shortage of firewood in the countryside, at the intersection, in the field, and everywhere, the firewood for a meal will be settled, but the water used to clean the salted duck eggs can be boiled with ordinary firewood, but it is not possible, and only pine branches on the mountain can be used.

The mountains in Maoshan Village are full of pine branches, but ordinary people are reluctant to collect firewood, and most of Chen Xuejiao's firewood is bought from the market.

Xinghua only felt that Chen Xuejiao was a bodhisattva, and Songzhi was not easy to get, and the only thing she needed was a handful of strength. Xinghua does rough work all year round, and she doesn't feel tired of carrying firewood from the mountain, so she makes money just like playing. In addition, her father and mother basically didn't care about her business, just asked her for money, she went to the mountains to collect firewood, and secretly sent it to the Chen family behind her parents' back, so that her parents would not come to the Chen family to make trouble if they couldn't see her.

After dealing with the matter of apricot blossoms, Chen Xuejiao went to the workshop to take a look again. The other female workers in the workshop knew that Xinghua was gone, and in addition to feeling sorry for her, no one said that Chen Xuejiao was unsympathetic, and only scolded each other in private that Xinghua's father and mother were not a thing. People are doing serious business, and they are sent to several batches of customers every day, in case the apricot blossom father and mother come to make a fuss, whether the business should be done, the people in the village know who they are, but these foreign customers don't know.

Back in the North Wing, Chen Xuejiao told Li, Xueru, and Jing about Xinghua.

"Apricot blossom crying...... Alas, we just closed the window, and I didn't listen to her cry, for fear that I would be soft-hearted......" said Lee.

"She's a good one, but her parents are like that, not to mention, Han Laojiu and his wife can be regarded as lucky." Chen Xuejiao added.

“…… That's fine, selling firewood is also a livelihood, thanks to her strength. When Li heard that the apricot blossoms were cut and sold to the salted duck egg workshop, he nodded again and again and praised Xuejiao's proper arrangement.

They all live in a village, and who is not tall and long, if they can help, they will help, and they can be regarded as accumulating good fortune.

Seeing that the sun was about to set, Li got up and went to the pot house to arrange dinner.

Although Shi Shi can also cook, Li still likes to do it herself, she does everything to cook dishes and noodles, and Shi is only responsible for cooking pots.

"There is still the last autumn eggplant in the vegetable garden, I will pick them all today, Qi Ping has been nagging to eat fried eggplant boxes for a long time, and I will make an eggplant box today."

The eggplant box is a dish that every household in Maoshan Village loves to eat, the eggplant is washed and cut into thin slices, drained the water, the fat and thin pork belly is chopped into fine powder, put into the middle of two slices of eggplant, wrapped in noodles, put it in the oil pan and fry it until golden brown and take it out, it is very fragrant to eat dry, and the taste of simmering vegetables is better than that of dry eating.

But not every family makes a meal every three or five days, eggplant is extremely oil-absorbent, and a meal of eggplant box is fried, and the oil used is the amount of vegetables that are fried for five days on weekdays.

In previous years, when there was no separation, Mrs. Chen thought that the eggplant box cost oil, so she only asked Li to fry a dish for her alone, and at that time, Qi Ping was in tears, and Li secretly stuffed him with a piece, but also to prevent her mother-in-law from finding out and scolding.

Now that the conditions at home are good, the eggplant box has become an extremely easy dish to eat in the Chen family's big house, although it is easy, but everyone is not tired of eating, and the Li family has to fry a pot every time to fit a few children's mouths.

"Mother, I see that there are still a few tender pumpkins at home, why don't you fry some pumpkin balls by the way, I want to eat meatballs." Chen Xuejiao hugged Li's arm and coquettishly.

"Okay, anything, we can fry it if you want to eat it." Li nodded Xue Jiao's forehead happily.

"In the fried capers, meatballs and eggplant boxes are oiled, which can relieve greasy." Chen Xueru mentions.

This capers were not available in previous years, or Xuejiao's own way of eating, at first the family was not used to eating it, but now they all love to eat it.

"Mother, I'll pick eggplants." Chen Xuejiao likes to pick vegetables the most, and she pulls up the basket while talking.

After a few steps, I arrived at the vegetable garden, where Chen Xuejiao's vegetable garden was divided into three pieces, one for growing chives, leeks, onions and garlic, one for growing seasonal vegetables, and the other for beans and loofahs. It's late autumn, except for eggplant and peppers, all the summer vegetables have dried up, the bean rack and the loofah stand have been removed, and the ground is now planted with cabbage and Chinese cabbage.

Chen Xuejiao bent down and picked eggplants one by one.

"It's unlucky!"

Chen Xuejiao raised her head and saw Chen Xuejiao wearing a red plum blossom skirt standing in the vegetable garden in the upper room, this vegetable garden was originally connected, and it was only separated when the family was separated, so Xue Miao was very close to Xue Jiao, she squinted her eyes and looked at Xue Jiao, which was obviously scolding her.

"But no, it's so unlucky, you can step on shit wherever you go." Chen Xuejiao replied with a smile.

"Humph!" Chen Xuemiao twisted her body and was pulled by the fence to grab her skirt, and with a force, the corner of her skirt was pulled apart with a "zila" sound.

"Well deserved!" Chen Xuejiao smiled secretly in her heart.

After a while, I saw Chen Xuemiao striding into the vegetable garden of Chen Xuejiao's house with her skirt, and the corners of her skirt were fluttering in the wind.

"When will you be able to pick the vegetables?" Chen Xuemiao bit her lip, and her tone was not so high-flying.

"I can leave whenever I want!" Chen Xuejiao rolled her eyes, who are you, why should I tell you.

Chen Xuemiao stood still, her eyes suddenly looking at the wall in the backyard. Chen Xuejiao took a closer look, this place is extremely secret, ordinary people will not notice, what is Chen Xuejiao standing here for, following her line of sight, Chen Xuejiao found that her line of sight was facing a plane tree behind the wall.

Could it be "Xuejiao, where are you picking vegetables?" (To be continued......)