This year's cold winter seems to be quite stubborn, even if it has begun spring, the slightest wisps of cold still drill into the neck, and you have to wrap it tightly in cotton jackets and pants when you go out. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there was another snowfall, and the ground in front of the house and behind the house was frozen hard, and the sun shone on the people with a trace of coldness.

Chen Xuejiao sat under the eaves of the North Wing House like a rice dumpling wrapped layer by layer, and watched Qi Ping and the big egg throw snowballs with her hands. In the yard, diapers were drying on the ropes, and Cai's mother brought a large bucket of boiling water and was instructing Xuewa on how to scald, how to rub, and how to clean. Li helped to dry, and Mrs. Cai grabbed Li as if she had met a bosom friend.

Cai's daughter was very depressed. Mrs. Chen drooped her face, and accused Cai of being a dead star, a good boy. In addition to the confinement of the second daughter-in-law in the Chen family, the Li, Zhang, and Cai families have never opened a small stove, and they eat the same big pot of dishes. Cai's shed so much blood, coupled with his depressed mood, he had already lost his body, and Zhao, who was in charge of the kitchen in the upper room, saw the wind and steered, but he could follow to spoil Cai's with all his might. Chen Zifu mentioned a few words slightly, and Mrs. Chen raised her eyes and scolded: "Which woman doesn't give birth to a child, and she doesn't give birth to a golden egg, so you have to be so careful." ”

Cai Shi beat the bed angrily, and the milk was depressed in his heart, and the doll was hungry every day. Wenying gave the doll a pair of silver bracelets to live a long life, and Wen Yan did not show her face from beginning to end.

Cai's mother came to Chen's house to see her daughter, and when she saw that only Xuewa's half-grown child was serving her mother for confinement under the guidance of her eldest aunt Li, she couldn't help wiping away a handful of tears. The girl is not favored at home, that is also born by her mother, and when she arrives at her mother-in-law's house, she is not spoiled by her mother-in-law, Mrs. Cai showed up when she was a child and followed Mr. Cai to sell sesame oil, walked the streets and alleys to raise a sharp mouth, stood in the yard and scolded everyone in the upper room with her waist crossed. It is like a storyteller, with a plot, a twist, a shock, and without a dirty word.

The last slap made a big deal to ask the girl to split up the family.

After a courtyard of people, Mrs. Chen shrunk in the house and didn't come out, or did Mr. Chen have an old face and pay for his parents' shortcomings.

The Cai family is a small business, and the money is looser than that of ordinary croppers. If it weren't for Mrs. Cai's coming to see her daughter every once in a while and sending some frozen fish with pig's trotters to Cai's stewed soup, her milk would probably have dried up.

Mrs. Cai spat at the upper room. What about the biological one, it's not the same heart, but it's not as enthusiastic as the two mother's brothers. She also has a mess at home, if it weren't for the help of the big house, her daughter might not know what her life would become, and no one took Xuewa's hand and whispered to her: "In the future, you will only give your aunt and a family, and the others are white-eyed wolves, so don't pay attention to them." ”

Outside, the merchant's shout, "Rouge gouache." Fresh goods from Yangzhou", "Osmanthus head oil feeding, picking the first wave of osmanthus in autumn, smearing it on the head is fragrant", "Jasmine powder, rubbing it on the face is white"...... The voice is crisp and loud with a continuous tail, revealing a flamboyant tongue.

This merchant has never been here before, since the fifteenth day of the first month. He would come to the village every day and shout, either at noon or at dusk. Carrying the burden through the village, he finally stopped in the open space in front of the Chen family's courtyard, put down the burden and sat on the stone pier to do business.

In his burden there were not only rouge gouache, but also all kinds of things, two hollow carved colored porcelain vases with colorful stones, and fragrant flowers for vases. There are also colored bird feathers tied with hair keys, five-colored hundreds, stone bones, and a small bamboo cage hanging on one end of the guts, which contains two crickets. He took a sorghum stalk and stirred it through a hole in the cage. The two crickets of the amusement erect their whiskers and fight.

Qi Ping and Big Egg threw snowballs and went up with the other children to see the two crickets huddling and biting on the frame.

There are many big daughters and little daughters-in-law in Maoshan Village, and there are not a few people who love pretty, and they have to go to the town to buy some gouache and rouge every day. In the first two days of the little merchant, the big girl and the little daughter-in-law surrounded the burden and were fascinated by the rouge gouache. The merchant is a black-faced, peach-eyed young offspring, who loves to talk and laugh, and he praises those sisters with honey in his heart, and he is good at talking, and he spares a few pennies from time to time, so the two loads of goods are quickly sold out. But he can't stand it every day, rouge gouache head oil is not food, a box of province can be used for a year, and the furniture is not loose in the hands of farmers, that is, the business is good for the first two days, and only people look at it every day after tomorrow, but no one buys it.

Rao this, this merchant still can't come every day. Occasionally, when the sun is good, even the goods are not sold, so I put the burden away, lean on a pile of firewood at the door of Chen's house, squint my eyes slightly and bask in the sun, and then pick up the burden when it is dark.

Chen Xuemiao was standing in the sunniest place in the southeast corner of the courtyard to wash her hair. She wore a turquoise waist-pinching jacket with a pink flowered skirt underneath, rubbed balm on her head, and carefully combed out the snow-white foam with a comb. Hearing the shouts of the merchant outside, the hand holding the comb paused, then pulled the comb off and put it on the chair aside, and kneaded it briskly with both hands with a handful of green silk, and the bubbles on his hands shone in the sun.

Chen Xuejiao sat under the eaves, and when she raised her eyes, she saw Xue Miao, she rinsed off the foam on her head, forgot to end the basin, walked by Xuejiao with brisk steps, and hurriedly went to the upper room.

Xue Jiao only felt strange. Usually, she passed by the door of the north wing and either spat or pouted, and these days she was at peace.

Mrs. Cai came out of Cai's house with a box of lacquered snacks, steamed crispy fruit tarts, plum blossom cakes, rose pine nuts and silk candy, all of which were good snacks from Xiangfu Building, full of a box, and brought directly into the big house for the Xue Jiao sisters to eat. Mrs. Cai returned to the Chen family and watched coldly as the days became more and more prosperous after the separation of the big house. The eldest son Qi An couldn't see it when he was young, but now he is a jade-faced scholar, Xue Jiao is a big idea, and the money in the family is earned by her, and she concludes that she will become rich sooner or later in the future. On the other hand, it is very difficult for my daughter to get pregnant after giving birth to an injured body, how can the villagers set up a door without a son, and the son-in-law is an honest man who can't beat a fart with three poles, how to stand up in the future when the family is separated, and the families in the upper room are like black corns, and without waiting for others to do it, they can use the excuse of not having a son to bully the third room. Cai's heart felt sorry for his daughter, and he thought about it thousands of times. In the future, there is only a big house to rely on, and she can't come often during the confinement of her daughter, and everything is not supported by the sister-in-law of the big house. The son-in-law felt uncomfortable when she saw that she had no son, and she was afraid that he would listen to Mrs. Chen's words and lose face to Cai's family in the future. was pulled by the big brother of the big house. On the one hand, Mrs. Cai was grateful to the big house, and on the other hand, she wanted to win over the big house for her daughter, so she was good to the big house. Every time I send food to my daughter, I give a copy to the big house, which makes Li embarrassed, Li is honestly not stupid, knowing Mrs. Cai's intentions, she takes care of Cai more wholeheartedly than her heart.

In this way, Chen Zifu is grateful for the kindness of his sister-in-law. If there is something to ask for advice in the room, I will discuss it with the two eldest brothers. The relationship between the big house and the third room is getting better and better, and Mrs. Chen angrily scolded Chen Zifu for being a white-eyed wolf.

Mrs. Cai sat down in the north wing, glued a piece of rose pine nut nest silk candy and handed it to Xue Jiao, and praised Xue Rujing for embroidering well. Hearing the shouting of the merchant outside, he took out a few copper plates from his pocket and handed them to Xue Jiao and Xue Wa, patted his thigh and said, "Go, buy some fragrant powder rouge." Girls should dress up. Li stopped: "How old are the two of them, you gave the fruit and money." Mrs. Cai helped the bead hairpin on her head and smiled: "When you are young, you don't dress up, what time do you wait." Their little girls should dress up in order to raise their skins tenderly. This money is not a big money, and it is the right for grandma to make up for their sisters' New Year's money. "Mrs. Cai is a pretty person, with white skin, and she is wearing an autumn-colored armor at such an age. There is a circle of pink flowers embroidered underneath.

Xuewa took the money, gave half of it to Xuejiao, and went to the merchant's stall to see the flowers and powder.

As soon as the two of them walked out of the courtyard gate, they saw Xue Miao dressed up and coming out of the upper room. She had a new dress in a soft silver-red gauze dress and a lilac jacket adorned with jasmine petals. wrung out his hair and pulled it into a blue snail bun one by one, loosely tied it with a plain silver hairpin, and drew his eyebrows, which was indescribably charming.

Xue Jiao didn't dare to be interested in those fragrant powder rouge, but liked the pair of delicate dragonflies woven from bamboo. I took it in my hand and looked at it, asking the price in my mouth, and when I looked up, I saw Xue Miaoying standing at the other end, holding a delicate powder box in her hand, and looking up at the merchant from time to time with a smile in her eyes. The merchant flew left and right with a pair of peach blossom eyes, looked up and down at Xue Miao, and pointed to the incense powder box in his mouth: "This fragrant powder is developed by picking peach blossoms in March, and it is smeared on the face white and red, and the handsome offspring likes this color the most, and the girl is not a flower in the village when he rubs this powder." ”

These words were frivolous, a pair of eyes shuttled back and forth, and Xue Miao stared at him with dead eyes, and her face became more and more delicate. The merchant picked up another box with pink peach blossoms and handed it to her: "This is hair oil, you see your hair is all over the head, it is most suitable to wipe this." If there is no hand, he touched Xue Miao's hand, Xue Miao took it, opened it and smelled it, and her face turned even redder.

Xue Jiao saw it in her eyes, and she only felt her eyelids jump. Xue Miao washes her hair at noon every day these days, and the merchant can't move his legs when he stops at the door of Chen's house, and he vaguely understands things together. Xue Miao's eyes were vivid and clear of the image of a girl in her first love, and she immediately knew in her heart that Xue Miao was twelve years old, and at this age, it is normal for a little affection to have a little affection after seeing peach blossom eyes and sweet words.

Xue Jiao doesn't like that merchant from the bottom of her heart, this is an era that pays attention to fame, he is so big and a lot of Xuemiao, and he is not afraid of ruining the reputation of other girls. Xue Jiao doesn't like Xue Miao, after all, she is a cousin with a surname, if something really happens, the reputation of any girl in their Chen family can't escape.

Chen Xuejiao put down the dragonfly in her hand, walked up to Xue Miao and touched her: "Sister Xue Miao, my grandmother called you just now, why don't you hurry up and take a look." ”

Xue Miaoxu was weak-hearted, she really believed this, took a box of incense powder, threw down the copper plate and ran away, and couldn't help but look back at the merchant at the door.

That glance was brilliant. Xue Jiao remembered that Xue Miao came back from Zhao Butcher's house on the morning of the sixteenth, wearing the clothes of 100,000 night lights, but the clothes were stained with mud and wet dripping, with a white face, no ornaments on his head, only a twisted silver bracelet on his wrist, and no blood on his lips. I heard that it fell into the water when the bridge collapsed, but fortunately I was pulled up by the people on the side of the gang, and I was not injured, but I was frightened.

On the first day of coming to the house, Xue Miao didn't eat or drink much, and began to clumsily learn embroidery, sitting all day. Everyone thought she was frightened and would be fine in a few days.

One day later, the sound of the merchant shouting outside, and her eyebrows were stretched.

Xue Miao walked into the house with the box of peach blossom powder in her hand, and when she saw that Mrs. Chen didn't call her, she went into the room and washed her face, and smeared it in the mirror, the corners of her eyebrows and eyes were really bright like peach blossoms.

Her hand was touched by the merchant, and at this time she only felt a burning heat on the back of her hand, burning hotly, until her heart.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, after she finished watching the lights, the hulala bridge collapsed, she was squeezed into the water, and when she was struggling to call for help, the merchant stretched out his burden and handed it to her, and pulled her up at once.

Her whole body was drenched with water, and the merchant took off his padded jacket and wrapped around her.

Her heart was rippling, thinking that she would never see him in the future, but she didn't expect him to come to their village to sell rouge gouache, and just stop the burden at the door of Chen's house. Not for her, for which. (To be continued......)