Winter is about to begin, and although the sun is shining, the morning air is still a little cold.

Chen Xuejiao slept very deeply last night, dreamless all night, and woke up before the sun came out. Because she thought that she was going to have a large-scale pickled salted duck egg today, she got up excitedly as soon as she opened her eyes.

After washing, Li took Xue Rujing and made breakfast.

Chen Qi'an and Chen Qiping set the table.

Li's cooking skills have always been first-class, and with the fact that she has been singled, no one is watching in her own pot house, and she has spent time cooking all kinds of meals for several children. After less than a month of separation, several children have grown meat than before, especially Chen Qiping, who used to have a contour on his bun face and had loose meat, but now he has grown firm meat. Xue Ru, Jing Hao and Xue Jiao's body bones have also grown flesh, but the hair is still as yellow as before, Li is always thinking about how to make the hair of the three girls become black and thick, and the yellow hair is about to fall when they say goodbye.

When setting up breakfast, Li inadvertently talked about it, his brows furrowed slightly, and it seemed that he really cared about it.

Chen Xuejiao thought about it, and told Li that she had seen it in books, if you want to have black and thick hair, eat more sesame seeds and drink more soup made from big bones.

Li's eyes lit up when he heard this: "This is easy to do, sesame seeds are ready-made at home, go to the town to buy big bones, wait until your uncle goes to the town to pull pickle jars, you follow by the way to buy some big bones and cut a few catties of meat." ”

"Okay."

"It's time to eat, Qi Ping is going to call your uncle and two cousins to eat." Li took out a drawer of steamed buns with chopsticks, placed them in a frame braided with sorghum stalks, and said, "Your eldest uncle is an idle man, so he got up early to feed the horses. Now he's chopping wood for us outside. ”

As he was talking, Li Yuntian came in with Li Dazhuang and Li Danian, they had just finished chopping firewood, and there were beads of sweat on their foreheads. Chen Xueru hurriedly took the basin and fetched water, Li Yuntian washed his hands and face, and Jinghao had already handed over a snow-white towel.

"Big brother. Hurry up to eat, and I didn't cook anything delicious. Li greeted.

"Okay, you first put a bowl and send it to Qi An's father, the sun is good today, I will finish eating, I will carry Qi An's father to the yard to bask in the sun." Lying in bed all the time without seeing the sun is not a method, and it is not good for the body. Li Yuntian pulled a chair and sat down at the dining table and instructed Li.

The breakfast was very rich, the white steamed buns that had just come out of the cage, and the thick porridge that was boiled. Two large bowls of spiky side dishes, a large bowl of spicy stir-fried cabbage, a large bowl of stewed pumpkin, and a stack of pancakes, a plate of green onions, and a hard-boiled egg per person.

Chen Xuejiao helped Li to clip a little of each dish, put it on a plate, and served it to Chen Xiucai.

Everyone is well fed. began to divide the work.

At this moment, the door was pushed open. Then there was a burst of laughter.

Chen Xuejiao came out and saw that it was her aunt who helped her grandmother into the house, and her grandfather stood aside with his hands copied, followed by Qiao's, Li Chanchan, and Da Niu. There is also a strong black man pulling a flat cart into the yard, and his uncle Zheng Huozi and cousin Dongping are helping to push the cart.

Chen Qiping, Chen Qi'an, and Li Dazhuang all ran out.

"Grandma! Grandma"

"Grandpa! Grandpa"

"Auntie! Mother!"

"Auntie, uncle!"

The whole courtyard was filled with lively greetings.

Li Shi greeted him with a smile on his face. Let everyone into the north wing.

Chen Xuejiao looked directly at the black and strong man, and she was not sure what to shout.

"Xuejiao, why don't you know me, I'm your brother-in-law, and I still hugged you to buy candy when I was a child."

"Hello uncle. It's not that I don't know each other, but my uncle hasn't come to my house for a long time, so I miss it in a panic. Chen Xuejiao smiled sweetly.

Mrs. Li said to Li, "...... So coincidentally, I met Wenying's family at the intersection. Your second sister-in-law went to her mother's house, and your third sister-in-law has a body again, so a few of us came to give your family a hand. ”

"Oops, I have a nephew again!" The mother's family has a strong population, and the Li family is also happy.

"It's not like it, but I'm looking forward to having a granddaughter, and there are many people to accompany Chanchan and Nini." Li Shi took Li Chanchan's hand and said with a smile, and there was light on Qiao's face.

Seeing Chen Xuejiao standing aside, Li took Chen Xuejiao's hand and asked in detail about the matter in Weishan Lake: "...... I heard your uncle say that you are promising, and your heart is so strong to live at such a young age. ”

Wen Ying and Qiao Shi also followed Mrs. Chen to make fun, and they were embarrassed to praise Xue Jiao.

At this time, Old Man Li walked in, and as soon as he entered the courtyard, he did not go to the north wing, but went to the upper room. Although the daughter is separated, she lives in the same yard with her in-laws, and the ceremony cannot be abolished, so it stands to reason that she should go to the house to see her in-laws first.

Old Man Li is a straightforward person, and he brought a jar of burning knife wine to Old Man Chen. After a few words with Mr. Chen in the upper room, he felt that the atmosphere was not quite right, so he made an excuse.

"Why, why did you come out so quickly when you got to the upper room?" Mrs. Li asked.

"Isn't the girl's house busy? When I have time, I will talk to my in-laws well. Old Man Li was vague.

Mrs. Li's eyes were gloomy, she was worried that her daughter would be restrained by her mother-in-law again.

In the end, the mother and daughter are connected, and Li knows what his mother is thinking, so he comforts him with a smile: "Mother, since you divide the family, it is comfortable to live a poor life." Recently, there was something going on in the room, and my father and mother were very worried, so I didn't talk to my father well. ”

Li's face was a little brighter, and he still wanted to say a few words to his in-laws, and then he thought that Wen Ying was still beside him, no matter how old man Chen was also her father, he definitely didn't want to listen to an outsider accusing the Chen family, so the words came to his mouth and slipped into his stomach.

Qiao's was a cheerful one, and he opened his mouth and said: "It's for the second brother of your family to borrow usury, and the old daughter-in-law told me." ”

Li Shi was silent, and Wen Ying was not shy about it, so he took a sip and said, "It's not." ”

A few people took advantage of this topic to pull away.

Li Yuntian came in and asked Li: "Who else besides Xuejiao will go to the town with me to pull pickle jars?" ”

The conversation was interrupted.

"I'll follow Brother Li." Zheng Huozi stood up, "It's next door to our shop, and acquaintances are good at bargaining prices." ”

With the help of the second aunt and grandmother's family, the manpower is much more abundant.

Li Yuntian still didn't forget to carry Chen Xiucai out of bed. Chen Xuejiao, Chen Xueru, and Jing Hao set up chairs and thick felt blankets in the sunniest place, and Li Yuntian put Chen Xiucai firmly on it. Chen Qiping took out a few of Chen Xiucai's favorite books from the bedside. It was placed on another chair for Chen Xiucai to read.

Because the pickle jar had to be pulled by a horse-drawn cart, the duck eggs in the carriage had to be freed up first. Grandma's family, the second aunt's family, Chen Qi'an, Chen Xueru and Wang Jinghao all rolled up their sleeves and carried duck eggs out of the carriage one by one. Duck eggs are fragile, so you have to be careful when carrying them, Rao is like this. Inevitably broke more than a dozen, Chen Xuejiao felt distressed. The crushed duck eggs are placed in a bowl and saved for the noon stir-fry.

There was a lot of strength in the crowd, and soon, the duck eggs of both carriages were poured into the courtyard. Lifting the wheat grass in the basket, a piece of snow-white and pale green duck eggs appeared, emitting a moist glow in the sun, Chen Xuejiao's eyes were bent, this is a sharp weapon for making silver.

Wait for the carriage to vacate it. Li Yuntian and Zheng Huozi respectively drove a carriage to the town to pull pickle jars, Chen Xuejiao climbed into Li Yuntian's carriage, and Chen Qiping had been following like a little tail and climbed into Zheng Huozi's carriage.

Walking to the entrance of the village, he met Zhao Yiming, it turned out that he heard that Chen Xuejiao was back, and he came to Chen's house today to help with the work by the way.

"Xue Jiao. What are you going to do when you just come back? Zhao Yiming asked.

"Go to town and pull pickle jars and pickle salted duck eggs." Chen Xuejiao said with a smile.

Zhao Yiming looked at Chen Xuejiao's crooked smiling eyes. There were waves of splashes in my heart, and I begged: "I will go with you too, anyway, I came to your house to work for your family." ”

Chen Xuejiao smiled, it was just right to have one more person to work, so she nodded and agreed, and Zhao Yiming climbed into the carriage excitedly.

After the separation, the country life was more comfortable. You can be bold in doing anything, you don't have to be taboo to go to the room, and you usually have relatives and friends to help, and you have to be more moisturized and moisturized in life. The more Chen Xuejiao thought about it, the happier she became, seeing the fields on both sides of the Xiaohuai River. The idea of buying land came to my heart, and when the duck eggs were sold for money, the first thing was to buy land, and the land I bought from now on belonged to my own family, unless the world was in chaos, no one could take it away.

The vendor who sells pickle jars is called Lu Er, and he is next door to Zheng Huozi's grocery store. From the outside, Lü Er's porcelain shop looks like a small shop, but after passing through a door, you enter the courtyard at the back, where all kinds of pickle jars, jars, and wine jugs are placed. These porcelains were all transported from the south, and there was only one shop in the whole town, and the pickle jars in the ten miles and eight towns were all bought from him.

Li Yuntian and Zheng Huozi helped select 50 clay pots with good sealing, which are stronger and more durable than simple porcelain jars, and their short and chubby appearance are as simple and lovely as big dolls. This kind of jar has a wide mouth, pickled duck eggs are easy to hold and put well, and the lid is also clay, if the lid is not well sealed, it can also be pasted with mud.

Chen Xuejiao is very satisfied with this kind of jar.

"Fifty jars." Chen Xuejiao took out the money from her pocket.

Li Yuntian and Zheng Huozi smiled and watched Chen Xuejiao bargain with Lu Er, and the jar that was originally ten cents a piece was won by Chen Xuejiao for eight cents.

"Your niece is amazing, she is so good at settling accounts at such a young age." Lu Er took the money and said to Zheng Huozi with a smile.

Zheng Huozi and Li Yuntian laughed.

"Buy fifty first, and maybe thousands or hundreds later." Chen Xuejiao swore and said.

Lu Er was even more impressed by this girl.

"If you can't finish your car, I have a car here to make deliveries." Lu Er made a big deal, and he was naturally happy in his heart.

Lu Er personally delivered the goods, which reduced the trouble of coming to the place.

Li Yuntian, Zheng Huozi, Zhao Yiming, and Lu Er helped load the car, and Chen Xuejiao counted beside him. The road leading from the town to Maoshan Village is not easy to walk, the potholes are all mud roads, and I am afraid that the carriage will break the jar by bumping, so Lu Er found a hemp rope and tied it carefully.

In the end, Lu Er sent two more, a total of fifty-two jars, and the three carriages were just fitted.

After West Street, Chen Xuejiao bought three catties of pork, three catties of big bones, two catties of bean sprouts, and two catties of tofu according to Li's instructions.

It was already half a morning after arriving home, and Li Danian, Li Dazhuang, Old Man Chen and other male laborers helped unload the jar, and Li sent Xueru to invite Lu Er to tea.

At this time, Huang Xiucai, Huang Dragonfly and Jia's sister-in-law also came to help.

Chen Xuejiao smiled and said to Huang Xiucai: "Uncle Huang, you don't need to work, you just need to chat with my father." ”

Saying this, he had already made tea, placed a table and a chair beside Chen Xiucai, and invited Huang Xiucai to sit down. Huang Xiucai thought about it for a moment and agreed.

Chen Xuejiao knew that although Chen Xiucai was born in the countryside, he still had the breath of a scholar, and the ordinary Zhuang family couldn't chat with him, and he stayed at home all day, just afraid that his body would not be well nourished and his spirit would be sluggish. It just so happened that Huang Xiucai came, and listening to his father's tone yesterday, he and Huang Xiucai were sympathetic, so Chen Xuejiao simply arranged for the two Xiucai to talk together.

Although the newly bought jar looks clean, Chen Xuejiao is still not at ease. As the saying goes, people take food as their day, and they must not be sloppy in what they eat, especially the hygiene of food.

After all the jars were placed in the yard, Chen Xuejiao arranged for everyone to clean them, and after cleaning and wiping them, they disinfected them with wine.

Chen Xuejiao, Chen Xueru, Wang Jinghao, Li Chanchan, Da Niu and Huang Dragonfly unconsciously gathered in a pile of work, girls can't help but like to talk about girls' secrets together, and the atmosphere is very harmonious. The Li, Mrs. Li, and Qiao's women are grouped together, and they are talking about the shortcomings of some parents. Chen Qi'an, Zhao Yiming, Li Dazhuang, and Li Danian were divided into a group, and talked about interesting things about Weishan Lake while brushing the jar.

The courtyard was in full swing.

"Oh, it seems that I'm here for now, it's a really prosperous day!" A loud voice rang out suddenly.

Chen Xuejiao turned around and saw a middle-aged man in black clothes with a big belly walking into the courtyard uninvited.

"Oh, Uncle Li, Aunt Li, are you all at your daughter's house?" The middle-aged man said heartily.

Old Man Li and Old Lady Li nodded slightly towards the visitor, but their faces were indifferent.

"Who is this?" Chen Xuejiao asked Li Chanchan softly.

"It's the old man with big ears in our village, who specializes in borrowing usury." Li Chanchan said quietly.

"The second uncle just borrowed his money, and he came to the house that day to ask for money, but you didn't see it." Chen Xueru pointed to the upper room, "It's here again today." (To be continued......)