Gu Qingzhu is indeed in trouble.

At the end of the day, the black-brown silkworm eggs were successfully hatched, and the three mulberry skin thick papers wriggled black and ugly ant silkworms like ants, black and pressed, there were more than a thousand, and these little things were born half an hour later, they could open their mouths to eat mulberry leaves.

Don't look at them don't look good, but they are very picky about eating, a mulberry bud leaf has not yet grown, thin and small, and the big leaf is old, the meridians are too thick, therefore, they only eat the third leaf from the top bud counting, this leaf is yellow with green, with oily light, is the most tender piece on a mulberry, although it is not said to be one in a hundred, but it can be regarded as a careful selection of materials.

Fortunately, the ant silkworm is still young, although it is such a picky eater, it does not eat much, looking at the entire mulberry garden, choosing such a leaf, it can still be satisfied, Gu Qingzhu carried the bamboo basket out, and picked back half of the basket after a while.

Cut each mulberry leaf into small squares and pile a knuckle-high plaque on the silkworm plaque so that the ants and silkworms can be placed.

Gu Qingzhu carefully held up a piece of mulberry paper, hung the paper upside down above the silkworm plaque, the ants and silkworms on the paper couldn't hold it, and fell on the mulberry leaves one after another, some refused to come down by themselves, and they had to use silkworm chopsticks to tap on the back of the paper to drive them down, as for those who were energetic, escaped from the mulberry paper, and ran to the bamboo dustpan to wander around, they had to use goose feathers to invite them to the silkworm plaque.

Releasing ant silkworms is a meticulous job, Gu Qingzhu is light and patient, Qingying is eagerly watching from the side, she has already said to the eldest sister that these silkworms will be fed by her in the future, at this time, the little person's heart is full of excitement.

The ants and silkworms of the three mulberry paper were released, and I saw that the ants and silkworms as black as threads in the silkworm plaque were all burrowed in the mulberry leaves and gnawed unceremoniously.

This plaque of mulberry leaves is enough for them to eat for a day, Gu Qingzhu supported the silkworm frame in the silkworm room, and put ten rungs on it, don't look at these silkworms are only so big at this time, but when they eat day and night for four or five days, their body shape will change drastically, and then they will have to divide the foil.

Gu Qingzhu took Qingying out of the silkworm room, and did not forget to sprinkle quicklime at the door, which was both moisture-proof and insecticidal.

The big bag of rice husks that Liang Mancang bought back for her was still piled up in the firewood room, she had to burn it into charred chaff and prepare it for the silkworms, Qingying was full of thoughts about the silkworm baby at this time, and refused to leave home, Gu Qingzhu had to leave her in the courtyard, sit under the loquat tree and play with the little turtle, she carried the rice husks on her own, and took a handful of dried mulberry strips to burn in the field.

The burnt chaff is not actually burned by an open flame, just a fire, the rice husk is piled on top of the paste, not completely burned to ashes, at this time, almost every family in Gujiaao raises silkworms, and there are many pits of burnt chaff in the field, if you are lucky, maybe someone has just burned it, as long as you add some dry branches to continue to burn.

It's just that it's hard to wait for the scorched chaff, because it's not a big fire, the smoke is particularly heavy, if it's a tailwind, it's better to stand upwind to avoid it, if it's a small whirlwind, it's choking people anywhere within a hundred steps.

Today, the weather is sunny and cloudless, the leaves of the big elm tree are not moving, a large area of wasteland is shrouded in white smoke, and a few busy figures can be faintly seen, and the sound of coughing comes and goes.

Gu Qingzhu found a pit at the edge, lit a handful of thatch, and put the firewood on it, and the orange flames suddenly burst up, seeing this, she hurriedly covered it with several layers of mulberry leaves, so that she could not only simmer the fire, but also not extinguish it, and finally spread the finely broken rice husks on it, and suddenly, the smoke was abundant.

Exiting a few steps, he found a stone and sat down, Gu Qingzhu waited patiently.

"Qingzhu, have you already burned the chaff?" Behind him, Gu Daya's grinning voice came.

"You're here too, I'll help you." Gu Qingzhu looked back and said with a smile.

Gu Daya has three acres of mulberry orchard at home, and in previous years, she had to raise two silkworms, so she also used a lot of scorched chaff.

After the two were busy, they washed their hands in the stream, sat on the stone, and Gu Daya took out a handful of fried broad beans from her pocket, and the two ate them separately.

"I haven't seen Zhao Di for a few days, is she still helping you pick tea at home?" Gu Qingzhu chewed on broad beans and asked.

"These days, the price of tea is getting lower and lower, and it is almost impossible to sell for any money, but the fresh tea in the tea garden is not picked, and my mother feels that it is a pity.

This morning, the ants and silkworms at home suddenly hatched, and they were in a hurry to do a lot of things, and my mother saw that she was really too busy, so she called Zhaodi to pick mulberry leaves in the garden, and sent me to burn the chaff. Gu Daya lowered her head and peeled the shell of the broad bean.

"Aunt Sun doesn't take Zhaodi as an outsider." Gu Qingzhu chuckled.

"Zhao Di has a soft temperament, what my mother says is what, she obeys her words, which is very in line with her temper, at this time, my mother must have compared her with the Peng family girl many times in her heart, maybe how to regret it." Gu Daya raised her slender eyebrows and smiled.

"What did the Peng family say later?" Speaking of this, Gu Qingzhu couldn't help but ask more.

"Two days ago, the flower matchmaker came to a trip, saying that the rice and wheat or something, the Peng family has eaten it, and it can't be returned as it is, even if you buy food, you can't find someone to send it, so you have to convert the money to offset the account, my father took the money, and returned it to my uncle's house without covering the heat, and my uncle's cousin got married next month, and I have come to urge it several times, and I almost fell out." Gu Daya broke a dog's tail grass and said a little depressed.

"The Peng family is shrewd, the little abacus is clanging, and the current food price is much lower than when they first withdrew from their relatives." Gu Qingzhu snorted disdainfully.

"My brother was dismissed, my father felt embarrassed, he couldn't hang his face, where did he think of the loss of money, but it's okay to retire, such a snobbish girl, not to mention my brother, even our whole family can't afford it. Nowadays, we all think that Zhaodi is the best, especially my brother, I look at her differently when I look at him. Gu Daya covered her mouth and grinned.

"In this way, now, just wait for Brother Qingshan to get better, in other words, Uncle Zheng is not a difficult person to speak, and he will definitely not care about the previous things." The three girls are generally big and very good, Gu Qingzhu is naturally happy for Zhao Di.

"My brother is almost recovered now, and he doesn't have to lie in bed all the time, thanks to Brother Mancang who helps him train every night with the methods in the army, and in another ten days and half a month, he will be able to be the same as an ordinary person." When Gu Daya said Liang Mancang's name, she buried her head, her eyebrows and eyes were shy, and her cheeks were slightly red.

"Really? That's great news. Gu Qingzhu's eyes lit up and he said happily.

"My father is also aggrieved for my brother's affairs these days, and he has been depressed for a long time, if my brother is well, he will naturally be happy." Gu Daya held her cheeks and said that Gu Shifu was the backbone of the family, and she was most concerned about this girl, so Daya felt very sorry for her father.

Gu Qingzhu got up and looked at the rice husk, which was almost burned, and the two of them used small sticks to remove the burnt rice husks and spread them on the ground to dry.

Gu Daya's was about to burn for a while, so Gu Qingzhu sat down to talk to her again.

"I heard Da Mao say that the chickens raised by your second uncle's family, during the Qingming Festival, froze to death in the rain, and the creditor put all this account on his head, and now he is profitable, and he owes about one hundred taels before and after, which will be returned to the year of the monkey!" Gu Daya smacked her tongue and said.

"No wonder this month, when my grandma came to ask for food, she asked me to give her money in the future, so that's the case." Gu Qingzhu raised his eyebrows and said.

"Qingzhu, you must not give money, your second uncle is a bottomless pit, and how much money you have is not enough for him to lose." Gu Daya grabbed her arm and said anxiously.

"I know, don't worry, I won't give it to him." Gu Qingzhu patted her hand and said.

While the two were talking, the eldest girl's burnt chaff was also burned, and Gu Qingzhu helped her spread it out.

"I have to wait for this, Qingying is home alone, you can go back first." Gu Daya looked up at the sun, and it was about the time to cook lunch.

Gu Qingzhu nodded, gathered the scorched chaff, packed it in a cloth bag, and carried it home.

On the way back to the village, she saw a tall man in front of her, walking with a strange pot on his head.

"Brother Mancang!" Gu Qingzhu ran a few steps in surprise and chased after him.

The man put down the pot, revealing a dark face, and sure enough, it was Liang Mancang.

"The people at the blacksmith shop really didn't fool us, they said that they would pick it up in five days, and they really got it, you see, is it what you want?" Liang Mancang handed the pot to Gu Qingzhu to see.

"That's it!" Gu Qingzhu looked excited, took the pot and looked inside and out, very satisfied.

"The pot made of pig iron is weird and heavy, so I'll take it." Liang Mancang saw that she was carrying a basket of things, so he took the pot and put it on her head.

The two walked together, and met people from the village on the way, and everyone took a few more looks at the strangely shaped pot.

"Yo, what are these two people doing, do you want to eat in a pot?" Mrs. Ma walked towards her with a broken bamboo basket, and she didn't have anything good to say as soon as she spoke.

Hearing this, the villagers in the vegetable field next to them all stopped and looked in surprise, with inquiring expressions on their faces.

"You can do something serious except talking nonsense all day long!" In front of the villagers, being slandered like this, Gu Qingzhu was so angry that his face changed and stepped forward to question.

"You guys did it, and you didn't let people say it?" Mrs. Ma's face was full of contempt.

"What have we done, tell me about it!" Liang Mancang put the pot on the ground and stepped forward to look at her.

"You...... You ......" Mrs. Ma was oppressed by his powerful momentum, and she was speechless for a while.

The first two times, Gu Qingzhu and Liang Mancang thought that she was old, but they didn't study it deeply, but they were despised by this old woman, and they repeatedly came to provoke them, and now they are reversing black and white, Liang Mancang made up his mind to teach this old lady a lesson in public.

He snatched the bamboo basket from her hand and threw it to the ground, and a few garlic sticks fell out of it, and Mrs. Ma was stunned by him all of a sudden.

A few steps away, Wu hid in the crowd to watch the excitement, but happened to be discovered by Mrs. Ma, she grabbed and said: "Wu, you came just in time, your granddaughter is amazing, I just said a word, she instigated him to smash my basket!" ”

"How can you be so unruly!" Wu took out the posture of an elder and frowned.

At this time, there were more and more onlookers, and the Wu family rarely seized the opportunity and vowed to suppress Gu Qingzhu.