Zhou Lili was obviously a little scared, slumped his shoulders, and nodded in a lower voice: "Good, good, good!" Thank you, Brother Dazhi, I promise that after this time, I will never come to you again to ask for anything. ”

Only then did Zhou Dazhi retract his sharp eyes, turned around and took out two loads of millet from the warehouse and gave them to Zhou Lili.

Xiao Qiongzhi felt that her heart was dripping blood.

Among the more than seven quintals of grain at home, subtract the one load that borrowed Zhou You's seed, subtract the three loads that will be handed over soon, and then subtract the two loads that were just given to Zhou Lili, which means that there is only one load left in the end.

In the more than three months since she came here, she has noticed that although the family eats potatoes and sweet potatoes as miscellaneous grains from time to time, she still has to eat at least half a basket of rice milled out of millet every month.

Also, after handing over the imperial grain last month, there was no rice to eat at all, and I was always eating potatoes and sweet potatoes, and, a few days ago, I had eaten all the potatoes and sweet potatoes in storage.

In other words, between now and next year's autumn harvest, there will be only a load of grain left at home, which can be used to cook and satisfy hunger.

What does this mean? This means that you will soon run out of food and starve to death!

What to do?

Her original plan was to sell some of the grain first, and then use the money from the sale to do something to make money.

Now, with only such a small amount of grain left, it will definitely not be able to be sold, and the plan to do business can only be temporarily ruined.

You'll have to get enough to eat first.

When she thought of this, she happened to see Zhou Dazhi carrying a hoe on his back, and a small basket was obliquely picked up on the handle of the hoe, ready to go out.

Because of the early delivery of fifty percent of the emperor's grain last month, the potatoes and sweet potatoes in the field had to be dug up and eaten with mixed grains.

Xiao Qiongzhi was a little curious and asked him, "Dad, where are you going?" ”

Zhou Dazhi glanced at her with some shame and said, "Zhi'er, I'm sorry, I just broke my promise in front of you, and there is not much food left at home, so I plan to go out and rummage in the potato field to see if I can find some small potatoes." ”

"Dad, it's okay, that Zhou Lili is a scoundrel, it's a good thing that you can completely settle the grievances with him this time. I'll accompany you to find small potatoes, I have good eyes, and it's convenient to find small potatoes. Xiao Qiongzhi said, and prepared to go out.

Zhou Dazhi hurriedly stopped her: "Zhi'er, you are the lifeblood of your father and mother, how can you work?" Moreover, it has been raining for several days recently, and there is mud everywhere outside, wet and slippery, I can't walk very steadily, you are still young, and your legs are not strong enough, I am afraid that I will fall down as soon as I go out, so I still stay at home with your mother. ”

"Oh, okay then." Xiao Qiongzhi forgot about the stubble that had been raining for days.

She turned around and went to the back room to watch Chu Yunniang do needlework.

Chu Yunniang is skillful, not only the clothes are very good-looking, even if it is embroidered on the handkerchief and patched on the clothes, it is very good-looking, Xiao Qiongzhi once wanted to learn her craft.

But Chu Yunniang was reluctant to teach, saying that Xiao Qiongzhi was her lifeblood, and as long as she was there, Xiao Qiongzhi didn't need to do anything.

It's a strange thing.

After all, in this feudal era, as long as it is a family with a daughter, it stands to reason that the family has to find a way to arrange to learn some female celebrities.

She wanted to figure out what was going on, moved a small bamboo stool, sat next to Chu Yunniang, and knocked on the side: "Mother, I heard from dogs and stones that people in the village marry daughters-in-law, the first requirement is to look good at giving birth and raising, and the second requirement is to be able to make clothes and patches." People like me who are too thin to make clothes or patches will not be able to marry when they grow up! ”

"You say, if I can't get married, what should I do?"

"Zhi'er, don't believe what the dog and the stone say, whether the girl's family can marry well depends on whether she has a good father. And your father loves you as much as his mother, and he is very capable, and sooner or later he will get ahead, and when the time comes, your marriage will definitely be very good. Chu Yunniang was confident.

Xiao Qiongzhi thought about his impression of Zhou Dazhi for more than three months, and felt that although he was just a farmer, he seemed to be very cultured in his speech, very measured and methodical in his actions, and seemed to have some martial arts.

He is in Zhoujia Village, he is an outsider, but his prestige is very good, the people of Zhoujia Village, the first trust is the patriarch Zhou Yuandong, and the second trust is him.

Moreover, today, judging from the news revealed in the conversation between him and Zhou Lili, his original identity should be relatively high.

Perhaps, being his daughter is more promising.

When Xiao Qiongzhi thought of this, she couldn't help but be interested: "Mother, why did my father come here from Chujing for a long time and thousands of miles to follow Zhou Laojiu before?" ”

Chu Yunniang shook her head: "I don't know, your father didn't tell me, I only know that your father didn't plan to live in Zhoujia Village for the rest of his life, and in the future, he will find a way to get ahead and return to Chujing." ”

"I see, I see." Xiao Qiongzhi had a bottom in her heart and didn't ask any more.

At noon, Zhou Dazhi came back and brought back a basket of cleaned small potatoes, which was quite fruitful.

Chu Yunniang was taking Xiao Qiongzhi to cook in the kitchen.

Zhou Dazhi put down the basket and came to Chu Yunniang to discuss: "The sun is very strong outside today, and the road surface has been relatively dry, I plan to borrow the patriarch's ox cart and go to the countryside in the afternoon to hand over the rest of the imperial grain." ”

"Yun Niang, didn't you say last time that you wanted to buy a few catties of cotton and make cotton clothes and shoes for Zhi'er? Why don't you take this opportunity to take your branches and go to the countryside with me. ”

"Okay." It's about to be winter, and Chu Yunniang has been pretending to make cotton clothes and shoes for Xiao Qiongzhi in her heart, so she immediately responded.

Soon, Xiao Qiongzhi and Chu Yunniang rode Zhou Dazhi's ox cart to the township.

This township is called Quanpi Township, which is relatively small, and the main block, from the street to the end of the street, is run through by a stone road of less than 500 meters.

On both sides of the stone road, there is a small civil structure shop, the goods in it are very simple, mainly household goods, from the ox cart to look over, there is nothing to see.

The township granary, which is responsible for collecting imperial grain, is located in the east of the township.

Several shops selling cotton and cloth in the township happen to be opposite the township granary.

Today is a sunny day after more than ten days of heavy rain, and there are many people who rush to the township to buy daily necessities, but there are few people who hand over the imperial grain, so there is no need to queue up as usual.

Chu Yunniang simply took Xiao Qiongzhi, waited until Zhou Dazhi handed over the imperial grain, and the whole family went to the store that sold cotton and cloth together, and selected cotton and cloth for Xiao Qiongzhi to make cotton clothes and cotton shoes.

By the way, she took out another embroidered handkerchief and asked each cloth shop whether the store needed to buy the embroidered handkerchief and at what price.

As a result, a shop was willing to buy the handkerchief she embroidered, and offered to provide fabrics, patterns, yarns, and silk threads for making handkerchiefs.

It's just that he requires that every piece of embroidered handkerchief must be of the highest quality, and for each piece of embroidered handkerchief, he is only willing to pay a copper plate for manual fees.

Xiao Qiongzhi usually noticed that Chu Yunniang embroidered this kind of high-quality handkerchief, it was very hard, it would be good to be able to embroider one side in a day and a half, but the price given by the store was too cheap, so she persuaded Chu Yunniang not to take this job.