The yard is still divided into a front yard and a back yard. The original front yard of the old house has almost been doubled, and with the newly built yard in front of the three rooms, there are three or four acres of land, which is luxurious! The backyard is still facing the lake, and it is no smaller than the front yard. In autumn and winter, when the lake goes down, there will be a lot of fertile land!

Yu Hai found the village chief before pulling the yard and offered to pay for the land, so as not to let some people in the village raise opinions.

The village chief also has his own considerations, and now Yu Hai's connections far exceed that of him, who is the village chief, not only has the god-relatives who are generals, but even the future head of the Zhou family treats him differently. It is said that Princess Jing, who built a courtyard in Xishan, also likes the little girl of Yu Hai's family. Friendship with such a person is only good and no harm. Maybe one day it will be useful to others.

At first, he was reluctant to accept the money from Yu Hai to buy land. Later, after Yu Hai laid out the reason, he symbolically accepted a little silver. The price of homestead in the village is already low, and the village chief deliberately lowers the price, which is almost like giving it away for nothing. Yu Hai said that he had written down this favor.

Time flies, and time is hard to stay. In the blink of an eye, the autumn harvest has passed, and winter has quietly arrived. Families in Dongshan Village began to stock up on firewood and grain for the winter. Due to the severe drought in the northeast, there was no harvest of grains, which also affected the grain prices in the north, and the white flour of milled rice has risen all the way, and even the coarse grain has risen a little more than last year.

The eldest son of the village chief, who was doing business in other places, sent back news that the drought in the northeast had a great impact. Although the emperor allocated food for disaster relief, what really went to the people was not enough to support them through the cold winter. The people of the Northeast, who had relatives elsewhere, packed up their belongings and ran away. Refugees are also beginning to appear everywhere.

Fortunately, although there is less rain in the summer, it is relatively uniform and has little impact on crops.

Unconsciously, it was the day when Xiaocao's sister-in-law Yu Caidie got married. The day before the wedding, relatives and friends have to add makeup. Although he has a grudge against the Zhang family, Yu Hai is Caidie's second brother after all, so naturally he will not block his sister on a happy day.

On the first day, Yu Hai took his little daughter to the town. He wanted to buy a pair of silver bracelets for his little sister, but he didn't believe his vision, so he brought Xiaocao with him.

Xiaocao has no ill feelings towards this cowardly and kind-hearted sister-in-law. I heard that the family of the sister-in-law who is going to marry is doing well, and the Zhang family, who is full of young sons, will definitely not prepare too much dowry for the sister-in-law. In ancient women's families, the dowry represents the importance that her mother's family attaches to her, and it is also her confidence in her in-law's family.

In addition to a pair of dragon and phoenix bracelets, Xiaocao chose a pair of hairpins and a pair of red coral earrings. I didn't expect Tanggu to be near the sea, and coral jewelry is still quite expensive. A pair of coral earrings with a red color are actually more expensive than the dragon and phoenix bracelets and hairpins combined. However, a few dozen taels of silver is really nothing to the current Yu family.

After thinking about it, I went to the next door of the melon shop and chose a few sizes, all of which were muslin cloth that the Zhuang family was reluctant to wear. The godmother said that the married girl must have a few pieces of fabric to press the bottom of the box!

In Tanggu Town, Yu Hai's father and daughter also encountered some unkempt refugees. He was placed outside the city gate by the newly appointed county magistrate, lived in a simple shack, and ate porridge from some large families. The winter days in the north are long, and I wonder if these people will be able to survive the long and harsh winter......

Yu Hai stood for a long time in the refugee gathering place, almost carefully surveying everyone, as if looking for something. Xiaocao thought that his father was sympathetic, so he bought some coarse grain steamed buns and asked the steamed bread shop to send them over. It's not that she can't afford to buy white-flour steamed buns, but she still understands the truth of Mien's fight against Mi Hat.

There were not too many refugees outside Tanggu Town at this time, and Yu Hai distributed the steamed buns to everyone one by one, in exchange for countless words of gratitude. During the distribution of steamed buns, Xiaocao noticed that his father inquired about Liu Hu from time to time. Who is Liu Hu? Why does Dad care about him so much?

Back home, at dinner, Yu Hai sighed and mentioned his sister who married far away from the Northeast: "My hard-working sister has not heard from me for several days. I don't know what the situation is in their village, will they be like those refugees, living without a place to live......

Liu comforted softly: "Don't worry, those refugees have no relatives to vote for. Dongshan Village is your eldest sister's maiden home, you are her own brother, if she really can't get by, it is impossible not to come back. ”

Yu Hai shook his head slowly and said, "You also know that my eldest sister hates the Zhang family in her heart, even if she asks for food outside, it is impossible to come to the door." Although I have already sent a letter to tell her that we have separated from each other, I am afraid that she will flee elsewhere in order not to cause trouble to me, who is a younger brother......"

"Probably not. If it were me, for the sake of my children to suffer less, I would also choose a place I am familiar with! Wait, maybe your sister is already on her way! "The eldest sister has three children, the youngest is only one year older than the stone, and she shouldn't care about her children for the sake of backbone.

Xiaocao thought for a while and said, "Dad, is my eldest uncle's name Liu Hu?" ”

Yu Hai nodded heavily. Her guess was really good, today in the refugee camp, my father is inquiring about the news of my aunt's family.

There was no word for a night, and the next day was the day when Yu Caidie added makeup, and Yu Hai originally planned to put down his things and come back. But many families in the village came to add makeup after looking at his face, and when they saw this, they said a few words, and when they saw that, they couldn't get out of their bodies for a while.

Yu Caidie's handkerchief and the daughters-in-law of the good people in the village all gathered around the east room and congratulated her. Yu Caidie's face was red, and she lowered her head shyly, occasionally showing a shy smile.

Her dowry was placed in the main house, six in all. In the countryside, it is quite handy. After all, she is a daughter, although the Zhang family is distressed about money, she will not be harsh on the dowry. These six dowries, in addition to the dowry given by the man, she added ten taels of silver to it, and also gave a box gift of six taels and six dollars.

When Yu Hai came to add makeup, Zhang did not go out. When the men went out into the courtyard, the little girls and the daughters-in-law gathered around. Yu Caidie's good sister Li Xiaomeng joked with a smile: "Caidie, look at what good things your second brother has added to you, such a bulging bag!" ”

Another round-faced little daughter-in-law said: "It's definitely not bad, Brother Dahai's family is the second family in our Dongshan Village to live in a blue brick house!" That house is similar to that of the rich people in the city, with cornices at the corners! How magnificent! ”

Li Xiaomeng nodded and said with a smile: "Yes! Oh, yes! I heard that the yard alone is several acres of land! Brother Dahai grows early-maturing vegetables in his yard and makes a lot of money. At the beginning of next spring, I will definitely earn more than last year! ”

A daughter-in-law who obviously has pink eye pouted her lips and said with a sour meaning: "If you have money, you may not be willing to give it!" Look at the old flower cloth wrapped on the outside, I don't know what year it is. I don't even want to carry the burden, can the things inside be good? ”

Zhang stood silently behind the crowd with no expression on his face. Suddenly, her expression became a little hideous, and she stepped up with an arrow, squeezed out a smile at the girls and daughters-in-law, and said loudly: "Caidie, look at what good things your second brother has added to you!" ”

Her voice shook the ears of the people in the house, and even the men in the yard could hear it clearly. Zhang originally thought that what she did when she was young was exposed, and Yu Hai had a grudge against her, and he would definitely not send anything good. She just let everyone in the village know that when Yu Hai is rich, he looks down on his father, mother and younger siblings, and sees how he will behave in the village in the future.

She quickly opened the old furoshiki, and the red, blue, and flower rulers inside were exposed, and there were five or six kinds of them. A little daughter-in-law exclaimed and picked up one of the muslin cloths with red flowers on a blue background, and said in a loud voice: "Wow! It's muslin! ”

"I'll see, I'll see!!" Li Xiaomeng squeezed over, touched it lightly with his hand, and said enviously, "Really! Look at this feel, this pattern...... The muslin I saw last time in the cloth shop didn't feel so good, and it cost 50 yuan for a foot! This piece of cloth is less than six feet, and if it is finer, it can make a surplus of clothes. ”

"Tsk! Six pieces of muslin, six feet each...... Not to mention that it costs four or five taels of silver, Brother Dahai is really generous! The round-faced little daughter-in-law carried a piece of muslin and rubbed it gently, reluctant to put it down for a long time.

Yu Caidie watched from the side, with a smile on the corner of her mouth and tears in her eyes. She turned her back and gently tested the corner of her eye with a handkerchief: the second brother is still the second brother who hurts her......

Li Xiaomeng looked through each piece of cotton cloth, and suddenly a delicate wooden box fell out of the innermost piece of cloth. She quickly fished it in her hand, and she almost didn't fall. Looking at the beautifully carved box, she knew that the contents were expensive, and she couldn't afford to pay for it!

"What is this?" The girls and daughters-in-law all gathered around and looked at the box in Li Xiaomeng's hand curiously.

"I know! Last time I went to the town to catch the market, I got separated from my family, and somehow walked to Dongcheng District, where the house is so magnificent! Among them, there is a shop that sells jewelry, which is the largest and most magnificent in it. The noble lady who came out of it wearing silk and satin, and the girl under her hand was holding such a box. I quietly inquired, and the cheapest silver earrings in them cost a couple of taels of silver!! "It's the youngest daughter of the village chief's family, who is one year younger than Caidie, and has already said that she will get married next month.

Li Xiaomeng's hand holding the box trembled, it was so dangerous! Luckily, I didn't fall!

The youngest daughter of the village chief's family urged with great interest: "Xiaomeng, open it up and take a look!" ”

"Look at what! It's just a pair of earrings in the sky, and a few taels of silver is worth your chatter! Seeing that he couldn't make Yu Hai lose face, Zhang's old face full of wrinkles was like a shoehorn, and he reached out to pick up the jewelry box in Li Xiaomeng's hand.