Rehe, Caojia Courtyard, under the corridor of the East Courtyard.

Cao Hao looked at the chessboard, shook his head and said, "It's 'even three' again!" I can see that this backgammon is the 'first move' to win. This has been three losses and three wins, lady, are you still fighting? ”

Chu Yu saw that her husband was not interested, put down the chess pieces in his hand, and said: "Why don't you rest first, calculate the time, my wife will enter the palace to greet the Queen Mother, and she will come back." I don't know how dinner was arranged in the kitchen. ”

Cao Hao stood up and stretched his waist, feeling lazy and indescribably comfortable.

He paced to the corner of the courtyard and looked at the sunflower seedlings inside, which were already half a person tall.

"In the end, it is later than the capital, the sunflowers in the capital, there should be buds at this time." Cao Hao touched the blade and said to Chu Yu.

Chu Yu heard her husband mention the capital and said, "Now that we are all out, there are only Sister Amethyst and Sister-in-law Tian left in the house, which is strange and lonely." As she spoke, she stood up.

Seeing this, Cao Hao stepped forward to support him and said, "Tired of sitting?" Want to hang out? ”

"Hmm." Chu Yu nodded and said, "After sitting for a long time, it's boring, I want to see what God blesses them do." ”

Just now, when the husband and wife started to play chess, Qi Niang took Tianyou and Hengsheng to the garden to play. Because a few maids followed and watched, they were not afraid of bumping into them.

When Cao Hao heard this, he helped his wife, and the husband and wife went to the garden together.

Not far away, next to the swing, there were a few maids around there, and the cry of a child could be faintly heard.

When Chu Yu heard this, he couldn't help but worry, and his feet had already sped up.

It was Tianyou who was crying, Qi Niang was beside him, he was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks, and coaxed: "What is there to be afraid of?" It's just a big vegetable worm.,This is seen.,If you don't pay attention.,Boiled into a vegetable.,Just add meat, isn't it? It tastes alive and tender, and it's better than pork. ”

It's okay if she doesn't persuade her, so if she persuades like this, Tianyou stretched out her little hand, covered her mouth, and cried even more fiercely.

It turned out that Qi Niang took Tianyou and Hengsheng to play in the garden and saw this small vegetable patch. Qi Niang brought their brothers over and pointed them out one by one, which one was a little cabbage, which one was a radish seedling, which one was an eggplant seedling or something.

Tianyou and Hengsheng grew up in the inner house since childhood, where have I seen these, and I feel very novel when I hear them.

Tianyou remembered that his grandfather had taught "hoeing the grass in the afternoon, sweat dropping into the soil", pulled Qi Niang, and asked which one was the seedling and how to "hoe the grass".

Crops and vegetable fields are not the same thing at all, Qi Niang had to shame him and let him pull out the weeds in the vegetable field.

When the maids and mothers-in-law who followed saw it, they had to stop them. There are two reasons, it is not good to let the young masters do "chores", and they dare not let them make trouble in the "vegetable field" of the uncle and grandmother.

Tianyou felt the novelty and pulled Hengsheng two to pull weeds in the vegetable field.

The first time I did this, how could I tell the difference? Taking advantage of Qi Niang's lack of attention for a while, Tianyou had already pulled out several little cabbages.

Qi Niang saw it, and before she could say something wrong, a vegetable insect the size of a small thumb crawled from the heart of the vegetable to Tianyou's hand.

Although I have seen some small ants, small bees or something, but it is the first time I have seen a big vegetable insect like this, and I am so frightened that my little face is pale and I can't stop crying.

Cao Hao and Chu Yu approached, knowing the reason, and seeing the "culprit" in Hengsheng's hand, they couldn't cry or laugh.

Chu Yu touched his son's little head and said, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, this one doesn't bite, isn't my brother not afraid?" ”

When Tianyou saw his parents coming, Xu was a little embarrassed, stopped crying, and sobbed for a while.

Hengsheng lifted the vegetable worm and said, "Brother, this doesn't bite." If it dares to scare the elder brother, the younger brother will eat it. As he spoke, he raised his head and put it in his mouth.

Cao Hao hurriedly stopped him, even if he was brave and ate this, it was a bit crazy.

Hengsheng only thought that his father was interested in this bug, and stretched out his hand to hand the bug to Cao Hao.

Cao Hao secretly complained in his heart, when he was a child in his last life, he cried when he saw insects, because he was not less teased by his sister-in-law.

Although I am not afraid now, such a thing squirms in the palm of my hand, and it makes people numb.

It's just that in front of his wife and children, there is no reason to be timid, Cao Hao can only use this fat vegetable insect as a toy, and said to Tianyou: "Look at the fierce, it only eats cabbage and dew, and it is vegetarian." ”

"Monk, Uncle Zhiran?" Tianyou saw his father holding the insect and saying this, his eyes were shining, and he said.

Where is this, Cao Hao can only admire the child's imagination is wild and unlimited.

The big vegetable worm lay in Cao Hao's hands for a while, refusing to settle down, squirming and crawling.

Cao Hao's body stiffened, smiled at Tianyou, and said, "It's soft, it feels like kraft candy, do you want to take it for a while?" ”

It is rare for his father to have such a "gentle" tone, and God bless the ghost nodded in a daze.

Cao Hao was overjoyed in his heart, and immediately stretched out his hand and put the vegetable insect on the palm of Tianyou's hand.

Tianyou only woke up at this time, looking at the green worm, his small mouth cracked, and he was about to cry again.

Cao Hao was also a little unbearable, "coughed", and said: "Come out and walk around for a while, this insect is also homesick, Hengsheng, help your brother put this insect back." ”

Tianyou listened, as if he had found a savior, and looked at Hengsheng with a smile.

Hengsheng picked up the worm and asked Cao Hao puzzledly: "Father, didn't Sister Qi Niang say that this is better than pork, don't you eat it?" ”

Cao Hao pointed to the vegetable patch and said, "It's so small, I'll eat it when it's bigger." ”

Heng Sheng nodded his little head vigorously, took a few steps forward, and put the vegetable worm in his hand back into a small cabbage.

Tianyou heard his father and younger brother say that they wanted to eat this, and his little hands covered his mouth tightly without squeaking.

Qi Niang saw the interaction between father and son, and was very curious, so she came to Chu Yu's side and said in a low voice: "Grandma the county lord, why does Qi Niang look at Cao Ye with some lack of confidence?" This young master is afraid of insects, like who is coming? ”

Chu Yu listened, thinking about the scene of her husband coaxing her son, and just laughed.

Cao Hao heard Qi Niang's muttering, turned around and knocked her on the head, and said, "If you bring them naughty in the future, you should be more careful." Look, this good little cabbage, let them pull out several pieces. ”

"It's tender, and it can make soup." Qi Niang replied unconvinced.

Cao Hao was really bored, seeing that Qi Niang had already taken a step ahead of herself, she took God to bless them to experience "farming", and she also came to Xunzi's interest.

Especially these two little guys are picky eaters, and the picky eaters are no less picky than Cao Hao, who is a father.

Don't eat tofu, bean sprouts, don't eat cabbage, rape, celery, Tianyou doesn't eat beef and mutton, Hengsheng doesn't eat duck, don't eat fish.

Looking at Tianyou and Hengsheng's dirty little hands, Chu Yu squatted down and wiped them.

Cao Hao saw it in his eyes and asked his sons: "Is it hard to pull weeds, is it tired?" ”

"Not tired." The two shook their little heads and replied in unison.

Cao Hao pointed to the vegetable patch, and then asked, "What if they are all pulled?" Not only do you have to pull weeds, but you have to bend down, catch insects one by one, take a kettle to water them, and so on. ”

Little brother, you look at me, I look at you, but there is no movement.

Cao Hao raised his eyebrows, and when he saw Wu En beside him, he called her aside and commanded in a low voice, "Take someone to the street, pick a miscellaneous grain shop, and pick the lowest price grain to buy two." I'm looking for a pickle shop, and I'm buying some of the cheapest rotten pickles. ”

Although Wu En didn't know Cao Hao's intentions, since Cao Hao commanded, he responded and asked, "Uncle, how much do you buy?" ”

"How much?" Cao Hao hesitated, and as his parents arrived in Rehe one after another, there were many people living in this courtyard, fifty or sixty people.

"Five buckets of grain for each kind, and two jars for pickles." Cao Hao thought for a moment and said, "Go find Zhang Yizhi's silver and ask him to arrange a car to take you there." ”

Wu En answered, and Cao Hao and Chu Yu took the children back to the East Courtyard.

Chu Yu asked someone to change their clothes and wash their hands, and Qi Niang also cleaned up here, and then brought two plates of dumplings for them to eat.

Qi Niang is greedy, with a smile on her face, and said while eating: "There are so many dim sum in the north. On our side, it's not like this when there are snacks, most of them are things in the sea. Needless to say, fish and shrimp, all kinds of shellfish and crabs are fat. ”

Tianyou and Hengsheng listened to it with taste, and they couldn't eat the gluttony in their hands.

Tianyou took a bite and put it down, while Hengsheng took it in his mouth and broke it into pieces.

Cao Hao saw it in his eyes and didn't say anything; Chu Yu frowned and said, "Don't wait to spoil things, be careful to let your grandfather see that you don't like it, and teach you a lesson." ”

Tianyou cautiously peeked at his father's face, and saw that he didn't mean to blame, so he coquettishly talked to Chu Yu and said, "Mother, my son doesn't like to eat sweets, so he can't eat them." ”

Hengsheng also giggled and said to Chu Yu: "Mother, it's broken, feed the fish......"

"Didn't you just say that 'hoeing' is not easy, and I don't know how to cherish food." Chu Yu was disgusted, pulled Cao Hao's sleeve, and said, "The forehead also said a few words, so that the two of them don't remember their surnames for a long time." ”

If you cherish food, the husband and wife have not only said it once, but the child does not know that making a living is difficult, so he has no concept of cherishing thrift.

This truth is that the half-grown child Fang Qiniang also knows: "The county lord's grandmother, the two little young masters are clothed and fed, and they don't know the suffering of the people. If you nibble on a few nests and drink a few vegetable porridges, you will know that this dim sum is a delicacy in the world. ”

What she said was just what Chu Yu had only heard.

The children were overjoyed and stayed in the house for a while, and Tianyou and Hengsheng encouraged Qi Niang to go to the school to compete with the Ren brothers.

Thinking about what Qi Niang just said, Chu Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Edon, if you don't wait for your sons to be older, you can take them out of the door." Even if you don't go to farming and studying, you have to know how to make a living. In the end, if you only know minced meat, then it is our sin to be parents. ”

Hearing this, Cao Hao nodded with a smile and said, "It's hard for you to be a mother, and you can still think of this." If you are someone else's house, you will spoil excessively, and you will not stop if you are not used to becoming a waster. ”

"Even if I don't say it, I won't let my sons do that." Chu Yu looked at her husband, her eyes full of trust.

In Cao Hao's heart, he was thinking about the "feast" menu in the evening.

Although it was afternoon, it was just right.

Chu Yu looked out the window and said to Cao Hao: "Forehead, let someone cut a watermelon and send it to the front yard?" Don't play in the heat. ”

Cao Hao shook his head and said, "Don't, don't fight in the future, good conduct has to be raised." From now on, let them know that their livelihood is difficult. ”

When Chu Yu heard this, he couldn't help but be surprised, and said: "On this hot day, we can't let the children be thirsty." ”

Cao Hao said: "It's cool and white, it's fine; The children outside still drink cold water from the well......"

* On Rehe Street, Wu En stood in front of a small grocerie shop with two noodle pockets, followed by a teenage girl, Qing'er.

"Sister, why don't you go to the shop across the street, that shop is big?" Qing'er looked at the palm-sized face and asked curiously.

Wu En said with a smile: "Uncle let me pick the cheapest, the store is big and bullies customers, and things will be expensive." ”

At this time, I heard someone behind me: "Look, how many times have you come out?" Pretending to be knowledgeable, isn't it? ”

Wu En sighed helplessly, turned around, and said, "Uncle Man, Ancestor Man, didn't you come out for a stroll, then what are you doing with us?" ”

Standing in front of her was Cao Hao's little servant Cao Xiaoman.

Because Cao Hao was on vacation, Xiaoman had no errands and was idle. When he heard that Unn was coming out, he followed the car and came out together.

Seeing Wuen's helpless appearance, Xiao Man hugged his chest and said, "Isn't it ungrateful?" I forgot who taught you Chinese back then. At that time, no one could stretch their tongues straight, and I still cried when I said it? ”

Seeing that he said the embarrassment when he was a child, Unn said with a smile: "After serving you, how many times have I talked about this matter." ”

Xiao Man put down his arm, with a smile on his face, and said, "Sister Wuen, I haven't asked yet, why did the uncle think of supporting you to come out and buy this?" As he spoke, he pulled his pocket from Un's hand and said, "What to buy, tell my brother, and my brother will buy it for you." ”

Watching the two of them talk interestingly, Qing'er was beside her, pursing her lips and laughing.

Wu En was a little embarrassed and said, "Master Man, in the end, he is older, not as good as when he was a child." In the future, the titles of 'brother' and 'sister' will be exempted. ”

"What's there? Do you want me to call you sister? Even if your grandmother wants to lift you up and give you a long month of silver, your age is still there. If you want me to call you sister, don't even think about it. Xiao Man was confused, and he didn't feel that there was anything wrong.

Although they are all members of the Cao family, Xiaoman's identity is different from others.

It is true that he was born to the Cao family, but he is also one of the only two families in the house who were given the surname by the ancestors of the Cao family.

His grandfather, Cao Fu, was the former great housekeeper in the south of the Cao family, and now he has a house in the outer city for retirement; Although his eldest uncle Cao Yuan is the second housekeeper of Cao Mansion and is under Cao Zhong, Cao Zhong is already old, and Cao Yuan is mostly in charge of affairs in the mansion; His father, Cao Fang, has been with Cao Hao since more than ten years ago, and he is the person Cao Hao can use.

Cao Xiaoman is himself, he was on an errand at the age of seven, and he has been a scholar for Cao Hao for more than ten years now. His aunts and cousins also married many other families in the house, including a cousin-in-law, Zheng Hu, one of the Cao family's foreign stewards.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that as long as there is no errand and he survives until he is old, Xiaoman designates that he will also inherit his father and become the chief housekeeper of Cao Mansion.

In the past two years, it is not one or two who are worried about saying goodbye to Xiaoman.

Cao Fu still pressed it, saying that since he was on an errand for his master, there was no reason to enjoy happiness early for his own use, and he wanted his grandson to wait until he was twenty, and the masters would not give someone to say goodbye.

The girl in the inner house knows that her uncle is not interested in beauty, and the status of the grandmother is noble, even if she wants to take a concubine, there is a row of big girls in front of them.

No one dares to risk the dream of flying on the branches and becoming a phoenix, but they inquire about this in private, and talk about the situation of the manager.

Cao Xiaoman is the fragrant gluttony in their mouths.

Because Cao Xiaoman is familiar with Wuen, it has also attracted many people's sideways, for fear that Wuen will get the moon first near the water, which will make Wuen cry and laugh.

That's why Uen said these things that need to be avoided, just because he was afraid of leading up to right and wrong.

At this time, Xiaoman has already entered the multigrain shop. Unn had no choice but to take Qing'er to follow up.

The shop was originally small, with two layers of wooden planks, a lot of dustpans for beans, and sacks for grain underneath, all open.

Seeing half of the people he didn't know, the black faces, and the slightly pungent moldy rice, Xiao Man couldn't help frowning, turned back to Wuen, and said, "How did you get here to buy things?" ”

There was only an old man in his fifties in the shop, and he didn't know if it was a guy or the owner.

Seeing the guests, the old man stepped forward and asked, "Girl, this young man, do you want to buy rice or noodles?" ”

Xiaoman wanted to ask Ouen to change places, but Wuen had already stepped forward, looked at the rice noodles on the display, and asked, "Shopkeeper, which is the cheapest rice and noodles in this shop?"

Although Wu En is a girl, because she has been by Amethyst's side since she was a child, and she has followed Cao Hao and his wife when she is older, she has a diet and clothing degree according to the example of a second-class maid, and she looks more decent than ordinary young ladies.

Hearing that she asked about the cheapest grain, the old man pointed to a sack by the door with a little hesitation, and said, "This is aged sorghum noodles, which are the cheapest in the noodles, and each bucket is forty wen." Speaking of this, he pointed to a dustpan next to him and said, "This is filled with large broken grains, and each bucket is cheaper than sorghum flour, which is the cheapest in rice." ”

"Big Break?" Xiao Man grabbed a handful and said, "Isn't this a dry bud grain?" ”

"It's the bud grain, it's dry and rolled with a mill, and the skin is removed, that's it." The old man said.

"Forty wen, thirty-eight wen?" Unn looked around and asked, "Nothing cheaper?" ”

When the old man saw Wu En like this, he pulled out a broken sack from the door and said, "This is some old rice that has been eaten by insects, it is considered to be processed, and it is twenty-five wen per bucket, and it can't be cheap anymore." ”

Unn stepped forward to see that the rice was sorghum and exuded a pungent smell.

When I grabbed it, I saw that in addition to being eaten by insects, there were a lot of sand grains in it.

"Shopkeeper, is that also cheap?" Unn asked unrelentingly.

The old man wondered tightly, looking at this girl's dress, it doesn't look like she can't afford to buy food?

However, he has been doing business on this street for decades, and is notoriously honest, living on a small profit.

Therefore, since he was a guest and wanted it cheaper, he had to take out the half bag of wheat bran noodles that he had kept to help the neighbors, and said, "Girl, this is wheat bran, if it is mixed with other noodles, it can also fill your stomach." Don't dare to eat it directly, it's easy to get belly. ”

"How do you sell it?" Unn asked.

"It's the same as that rice, let's give twenty-five wen." The old man said, seeing that Wu En was about to make a counteroffer, he hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Girl, little old man never lies in this deal. That's the lowest price. If the girl didn't believe it, she would have inquired all over the street, and other people's families would no longer have such cheap food. ”

When Wu En heard this, he seriously asked Qing'er to go to two shops and ask if there was any cheaper rice noodles than this.

One less time, Qing'er came back.

What the old man said was true, in other grain stores, there was less grain than fifty wen.

Unn asked the old man to weigh five buckets of each of them, put them in a bag, and settled the account of two hundred and fifty wen.

Xiao Man saw that Wu En really bought it, he was already a little dumbfounded, looked at his noodle pocket, and said, "What are you doing when you buy this?" This, feed the pigs, and the pigs won't eat it. ”

Wu En glanced at Xiao Man and said, "Master Man, before I was brought back by my uncle in the early years, I didn't eat as well as this." In the year of the famine, the common people are afraid that they can't even afford this. ”

Xiao Man was stunned, and said with a smile: "Speaking of which, it's still our lord and uncle to be generous, and the family has never seen this." ”

Unn asked the old man to help introduce a cheap pickle shop, and after a few people left the multigrain shop, they went to the pickle shop again, and bought two jars of rotten pickles for 80 yuan, and then got in the car and went home.

Xiao Man sat across from the coachman, and the smell of the pickles made him pinch his nose. He thought about it, but he couldn't help but persuade through the curtain: "Sister Wuen, don't take this errand of going out to buy in the future." It's good to save money, but if you save so much, you may not be able to leave it down......"

Un just laughed, knowing that the more he answered, the more energetic he became, so he didn't squeak.

Back in the courtyard, Unn asked Xiaoman for help and called a few mothers-in-law to send things to the kitchen. Cao Hao was already waiting in the kitchen, and when he saw the materials coming, he had a smile on his face.

He became a member of the heart, and asked Uen to go to the market to buy some common rice grains in the people's homes, hoping to let his sons change their tastes and come to the "dinner table" education.

Although he had already prepared in his heart and knew that there were no good goods, Cao Hao was also quite surprised after seeing the half of the bag of wheat bran and moldy rice.

These things, the cooks have seen them, but they have not done them, looking at Cao Hao, waiting to show them.

Just as it was "remembering the bitter and sweet", Cao Hao "coughed" and said: "Rice is used to stuff dry rice, and noodles are used to make nest heads." Shredded pickles after washing......"

After Cao Hao finished speaking, he heard a cook whisper: "Uncle, there are maggots in this pickle......

Cao Hao stepped forward to see it, and the wriggling on the half pot of rotten pickles that was poured out was not maggots, what was it?

Cao Hao couldn't help but take a step back and said, "Pickles, blanch and shred...... By the way, that, you have to pick a clean ......."

Although the food is not good, Cao Hao no longer has any appetite.

However, since you want the little ones to "remember the bitter and sweet", you can't eat coarse grains, otherwise the sons will probably use it as a new snack......

(To be continued)