At the right time, Qiao Zhang washed and placed the dishes and chopsticks, greeted the deacon in the stove room, and went out to return home while the corner door was unlocked. Qiao Zhang's is a domestic servant in Ningfu, every day he is coming and going, helping to pick vegetables and wash dishes in the kitchen of Ningfu and do some chores, giving a salary of 200 Wen a month, and serving food in Ningfu at noon.

The corner door is open in the alley, out of the long alley is the street, Ningfu is in the most lively area in the east of the city, at this moment the shops on both sides of the street are brightly lit, and the guys in front of the store are shouting hard to attract customers, which is more lively than during the day. The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon, and the major shops have bought a large number of new goods, taking advantage of the festival to make a handful. Most of the people have to work during the day, but they have more leisure at night, and the whole family, old and young, men, women, and children, go out of this house and enter that house in groups of three or five with great interest.

A group of beautifully dressed little girls came out of Buzhuang, smiling and passing by Qiao Zhang's side, and walked to the next rouge shop. When passing by, there was a burst of incense, and Qiao Zhang's smelled the fragrance of osmanthus head oil, and her husband had bought a bottle two years before the invasion of the Hu people, and a bottle of thirty wen was expensive.

In the past, the footsteps of Qiao Zhang's who passed by Buzhuang always had to slow down, and even couldn't help but walk in, touch the bright, silky fabric, and make comparisons on the body, imagining how beautiful and moving they should be wearing such a dress. But today, no matter how tempting the guy in front of the store was, Qiao Zhang kept walking by all the time, and he didn't even turn his head to look inside.

The heavy weight in his arms was the reward given by the Ning Mansion, although he only got the minimum of 200 Wen, Qiao Zhang was very satisfied. Some envy the kitchen lady Zhao Huang who also works in the kitchen, she got 500 Wen, she is also a domestic helper who is coming and going, the cook is two levels higher, and the people on call can cook and only wash the dishes, I heard that the domestic servants got 800 Wen, and those stewards even got a tael of silver, and there are not many good masters like the Ning family.

Now there are mercenaries recruiting honey fruits everywhere, and I heard that there are forty or fifty wen a day, Qiao Zhang's family is a little tempted, but thinking that people can't do without credit, the Ning family's work is long-lasting, and there are rewards on the family festival, which is not bad.

Qiao Zhang walked briskly to the street, turned into an alley at the end of the street, and lived in the middle of the alley, knowing that the family was waiting for her to eat. On both sides were low mud and stone houses, with lights leaking out, and yellow lights shining obliquely on the broken bluestone slabs, which made Qiao Zhang feel very warm.

Standing in front of his door, he stretched out his hand and pressed the copper coin in his arms, Qiao Zhang's reached out and pushed open the courtyard door, and the sound of "squeak" alarmed a pair of children waiting in the house, and the five-year-old daughter ran out and shouted happily: "Mother is back." Eight-year-old son, Cowboy, followed closely behind the girl and greeted her.

Holding his daughter's hand and touching his son's head, Qiao Zhang asked, "Are you hungry?" She knew that no matter how late it was, the family would wait for her to come back before eating.

"I'm not hungry", my daughter Lancao grabbed her mother's big hand with her little hand and said, "Mother, my brother took me shopping, there are a lot of things on the street." Qiao Zhang lowered his eyes, his eyes met his daughter's big eyes, which were shining, and his family said that his daughter's eyes looked like themselves and were good-looking.

A smile appeared on Qiao Zhang's face, her daughter's hand tightened, her voice was a little longingly low, and she said softly: "Mother, I saw the sugar gourd, it is red and gorgeous, but it looks good, as long as it is two pennies, there are many of them." ”

The daughter obediently didn't say that she wanted to buy it, which made Qiao Zhang's heart a little sad, her eyes were moist, and she clenched her daughter's hand and said, "Let your brother take you to buy it tomorrow, and the two of you will eat it separately." ”

"Okay", Lancao laughed happily and said, "I eat one, my brother eats one, my mother eats one, my father eats one, and my grandfather eats one." ”

The daughter counted happily, and the son interjected, "There is one more." ”

Qiao Hei stood in front of the door, smiling innocently, this man was as his name suggested, with a dark complexion and a tall figure. After returning home after the war, the government gave the family 20 acres of land, although the land is six miles outside the east city, and the fertility is not good, but the family has something to rely on.

The mother-in-law died of illness when she fled from the famine, and the family's land was cultivated by her father-in-law and husband. This year, the government wants to "combine taxes into one", and they have to pay 25 wen tax per mu of their own land, which together is 500 wen. At first, my father-in-law and husband sighed, and they couldn't eat enough again, so they went to Ningfu to work as a helper to subsidize the family, and the family always had to live.

This year, God is beautiful, one acre of land received one stone and eight buckets of grain, the market price of 200 wen and one stone, combined with the income of 7,200 wen, and paid the field tax, but it is really like the government said that there is no other miscellaneous donations, and the government officials do not ask for it, and I heard that the conscription is also folded in the field tax, which is more than 2,000 wen more than in previous years. The father-in-law said that when there is a good day, the court is wise, and the people have a good life.

Qiao Zhang entered the door and shouted "Dad" to his father-in-law who was sitting at the table.

"Well, I'm back, let's eat." Old Qiao answered and beckoned his family to dinner.

Qiao Zhang took out the money from his arms, and the copper coins of 200 Wen Huang Cancan were piled up on the table, which made people's hearts move.

"Where did the money come from, it's not yet time to pay your salary." Qiao Hei asked in surprise.

"The reward given by the Ning Mansion said that it was a holiday, which made everyone happy." Qiao Zhang smiled.

"The Ning family is really a living bodhisattva", Lao Qiao sighed, and said in a low voice: "Zhang's, what are you piling up on the table, hurry up and put it away, I don't know if the wealth is not exposed, hurry up, don't let people see it." ”

For the caution of the father-in-law, Qiao Zhang disagreed, since the arrival of Lord Jiang disposed of a group of servants, the security of the Huiye Mansion is good, it is said that the officials caught the thief The official palace has a reward, these officials wander around the streets and alleys every day, hoping that there will be thieves.

Untie the cowhide rope that tied the money, take off the two copper coins and hand them to his son, Qiao Zhang instructed: "Take my sister to buy sugar gourds tomorrow, don't drop it." ”

The son nodded happily and held the money in his hand, and the daughter pulled her brother's sleeve tightly, for fear that he would run away alone. Qiao Zhang smiled, took another piece and handed it to his daughter, and then put away the money and entered the house.

Retrieved the key from the innermost clothes in the closet, pulled out the wooden box under the bed and opened it, and there was a small red box under the pile of miscellaneous items, which was her dowry box back then. Use the key to open the copper lock, and there is a pile of yellow and clear copper coins inside, as well as two small ingots and one tael, a total of 7,846 Wen.

Sold 20 stone grain for 4,000 Wen, paid 500 Wen for the field tax and left 3,500 Wen, the melon field planted by his father-in-law and husband sold melons for 3,800 Wen, and his salary for this year was 1,400 Wen, and he spent more than 700 Wen on buying some things during this time, Qiao Zhang's heart is clear, and it will never be wrong to count the things twice a month.

Put the one hundred and ninety-seven wen in his hand, Qiao Zhang calculated for a long time, but he couldn't count the number, he was in a hurry to eat, and he didn't have time to count, anyway, it was more than eight taels. Closing the lid, the box was almost full, and Qiao Zhang thought it was time to change to a larger wooden box.

There are meat and vegetarian dishes, meat is a fish, Huazhou people don't eat much fish, it is cheaper than beef and mutton. Seeing that the children were eating happily, Qiao Zhang's carefully picked the fish bones for his son and daughter, and at the same time thought in his heart that it was time to buy something at home for the holiday.

The food is good, the children have grown, and the original clothes can't be worn, so everyone should make a new dress and keep it for the New Year; The clothes on the father-in-law and husband were patched and patched, and it was time to change; The daughter is a girl, can not always wear the old clothes of the brother to change the small, should be for her to pull the cloth jacket, two days ago I went to the Fuhua cloth village to see, just arrived in Fangzhou material, really beautiful, if you pull a few feet to make new clothes, walking on the street will definitely attract people's eyes.

Qiao Zhang thought about it, his face was red, and it became brighter and brighter under the lamp. Qiao Hei glanced at his smiling wife, and his heart moved. The wife is a great beauty in the village, after marrying herself, she has suffered a lot, and she has worked hard to earn money to help the family in Ningfu, and this year the family has earned more money, and she should buy something for her wife, the bottle of osmanthus oil she bought three years ago has long been used up, and the empty bottle is not willing to throw away, and she has seen her wife secretly take it out and smell it a few times; As for the clothes on the body, the twenties are the time when I love to dress up, and I am invisibly much older in the self-dyed gray cloth.

Lao Qiao is actually not old, only forty-eight years old, but he has experienced three wars in his forty-eight years of life, and he finally suffered the ups and downs until today, and he feels that there is hope for the future. There are fish and vegetables on the table, and millet porridge with white flour buns in his hand is really called a fragrant. The son and daughter-in-law are harmonious, and the grandchildren and granddaughters are obedient, so that the days are called living.

Hearing that his daughter-in-law was going to buy new clothes for herself, Lao Qiao said with a dark face: "The clothes on my body can still be worn, what do you do so diligently, you can't find the north if you have two money." ”

Finding that his tone was too heavy, Lao Qiao reached out and touched the head of his grandson next to him, and said, "Change the two babies into new clothes for the New Year, you husband and wife are cost-effective, I don't need it." ”

Qiao Hei saw his wife's swollen and red face, lowered his head aggrievedly, and hurriedly said: "Dad, look at what you said, we have all changed into new clothes for you to wear old clothes, and the neighbors are not allowed to poke our backbones." ”

Lao Qiao was happy in his heart, his face was not revealed, and he taught with a straight face: "You can't just look at what you are doing, the cowboy is big, and he has money to let him know two words, which will be useful in the future." ”

Qiao Zhang raised his head and said, "Dad, what you said is true." When I was delivering food in Ningfu today, I listened to the old lady of the Ning family discussing with the guests about what kind of academy to run, if I sent the cowboy to study, I don't know how much it would cost? ”

Lao Qiao said in a sullen voice: "No matter how much you have to send it, this is the family's thoughts." Hei'er and I worked harder, opened more wasteland, planted some melons and fruits, and saw that the price of melons and fruits would have to rise after this formula, which was more cost-effective than farming. I plan to free up two acres of land at home next year to grow melons, which should be able to earn more. ”

Qiao Hei put down the bowl and said excitedly: "I heard that Jiang Jianshi's family was also poor when he was young......

The more the family talked, the hotter and hotter, and turned their eyes to the cowboy, who didn't know what his father and grandfather were talking about, biting the white bun and looking up at the mother from time to time.

The yellow light reveals a beautiful hope. There are countless lights in Aino Castle, all of which are flashing with the joy of hope.