Qi Ning lifted the curtain and entered the bedroom, Qiao Niang had already changed her clothes and fell asleep with a quilt, and a little guy with vernix on her face was wrapped into a dumpling and placed beside her.

Qi Ning looked at the chubby little thing lightly, and Aunt Qi came in and said, "Girl, hug, be happy, you will also give birth to a big fat son during the New Year." ”

"I won't hug him, don't wake him up, I'll hug him in a few days when he grows up." Qi Ning tried for a long time and didn't dare to touch it.

"Girl, you're tired." Qiao Niang woke up and said weakly.

"You lie down well, tomorrow I will ask Second Brother Zhu to kill a few chickens, and then go buy some eggs, you eat hard, and raise your body strong."

"No need to kill chickens, girl, my mother-in-law has already bought eggs, and she has also bought two old hens from the village to put in the backyard. Girl, don't break the bank. ”

"Don't worry about it, just eat well, don't starve this fat boy." Qi Ning was really the son of a rare Qiaoniang, but he didn't dare to touch it, so he only gently groped his little face with one finger.

"Girl, give the child a name." Aunt Qi said.

"Well, it's called Qi Changsheng, right? If he grows up and is willing to study, I will send him to study, and give him a slave status, maybe he can also get a name. ”

Qiao Niang struggled to sit up: "Thank you, girl." Aunt Qi also smiled and thanked her.

"Qiao Niang, lie down, you have a good rest, I won't come after washing three, I'll come back in a few days." Aunt Qi stays here to serve your mother and son, and when the child is full moon, she will go back to the store. ”

Qi Ning helped Qiao Niang lie down, talked with her, and saw that Qiao Niang slept before Qi Ning went home.

Tie Niu stood anxiously at the door and looked around, and when he saw Qi Ning coming out, he walked a few steps to greet her: "Girl, you're hungry, my sister has cooked." Let's go back to dinner. ”

"You can eat first, don't wait for me."

"I'm not hungry, I'm waiting for the girl."

"We, Iron Bull, have really grown up." Qi Ning smiled and touched his head.

Early the next morning, Tie Niu carried a basket of bamboo shoots on his back and left in the carriage from the village into the city, and Qi Ning went up the mountain to let Zhu Xiuwu kill a hen every other day and asked Qi Zhong to bring it back to Qiao Niang, and sent it to Qiao Niang out of confinement.

Zhu Xiuwu said excitedly: "I have lived for 30 years, and it is the first time I have met such a benevolent and righteous master as a girl, and it is a blessing for all of us to be able to work for the girl." ”

"Second Brother Zhu is polite, how hard you have worked these days, let Qi Zhongchang go back to see Qiao Niang. Your eldest son is also thirteen, let him work in the mountains in the future, let him herd ducks, and his salary is 500 yuan a month. ”

"Thank you, girl, don't worry, I'll let him do a good job."

Qi Ning went back to work with Handong, in the past few days, they have pickled twenty-four or five jars of bamboo shoots, and the bamboo shoots have dried a lot, and the people in the village have started to get busy one after another, so Qi Ning has suspended the collection of bamboo shoots.

In the evening, Qi Ning and Handong returned to the city with a cart of jars and baskets, and asked the housekeeper to buy a silver lock, a pair of silver bracelets and two muslin cloths to send to Qiao Niang as a congratulatory gift for washing three.

The housekeeper came back from Zhujia Village to report, and Qi Ning asked, "How did Yu'er arrange it?" ”

"The old slave sent her to the tooth shop, and told the girl all the words to the tooth shop. He promised to find someone for Yu'er to marry from afar. I gave twenty taels of silver, and I returned it to my account. ”

"Well, you go get busy." Qi Ning softened a little again.

Early the next morning, Qi Ning went to Yahang alone, Ya Yu sat in the lobby and drank tea leisurely, and saw Qi Ning kneeling down on one knee with a smile on his face.

"The little one has seen Mrs., Mrs. Jing, please take a seat, I heard a few days ago that you married a thousand households, and the little one is trying to wait for you to come to the door another day to congratulate you."

"Thank you, uncle, please get up, don't want these vulgar gifts in the future, did you sell the person that my housekeeper sent yesterday?"

"Haven't made a move yet, is there something to ask Madame?"

"You must find a serious family for her to marry, and you can't sell it to those dirty places."

"Madame, don't worry, Steward Jing said yesterday, Madame is benevolent and righteous, in the past, it was okay if the master didn't kill her, and Madame still wanted to find someone to marry her. It's really hard to find a good person. ”

"You just have to look for it, if the price can't be sold, I'll find some to make up for you, but one point must be far away, and you can't let her come back."

"Madame, don't worry, I will sell her as far as I can."

"Okay, I still want to buy some shops or land, do you have a suitable one?"

"The price of land in our Qing'an has risen sharply during this time, and there is no more nearby, but there are still a few on the mountain." Yayu personally brought Qi Ning tea.

"Do you sell them at the docks?"

"Don't even think about it, the river was crowded many years earlier, far from the wharf, it was not worth building a house, and the buyers and sellers couldn't get by."

"Where are you talking about the mountain?"

"It's the mountains behind your bamboo mountain in Zhujia Village."

"Isn't that the mountain of Zhujia Village?"

"That's right, but Zhujia Village doesn't have a title deed, it's just next to Zhujia Village, and the people in the village have always regarded it as a firewood mountain."

"I've been to that mountain, and there is nothing valuable on the mountain, it's not as good as my bamboo mountain, and there is a spring in the good one."

"Yes, but this mountain is cheap, only one or two halves of silver per acre of land, and the deed can be made directly in the yamen, if the lady buys it and goes directly to the yamen, I will not draw it, so I will give you this news in vain."

"Hey, I don't spend money, and I can pick the wild fruits on the mountain, so you can help me ask for good fields and shops."

"Okay, I'll be the first to tell Madame if there's a sale."

"Thank you, uncle, I'll go first, you must be more concerned about Yu'er's affairs, she is here to give her some better food these days."

"The little one knows that Mrs. is kind-hearted, but these unruly subordinates are like the white-eyed wolf who can't get enough to eat, no matter how good you are to them, she doesn't know how to be grateful." The tooth squire followed and sent out.

"I'm just doing my last bit in front of her parents, and I can't tell if it's good or bad in the future. You're busy, I'll go first. Qi Ning went out in a depressed mood and wandered aimlessly along the street.

When Jing Su Xiumu came back, Qi Ning dragged him back to Zhujia Village, got off the carriage and didn't enter the door, directly bypassed Zhushan, and arrived at the foot of the mountain behind.

"This is the mountain you were talking about?" Jing Su looked up and glanced around.

"These are all official families, and they can be sold, I want to buy the two next ones, but I can't think of what to do with them after thinking about it for several days?"

"I said, you have an idea about our business, if you like it, you can buy it, don't be afraid, even if you spend all the money, where will I be."

"Then you can't spend money blindly, no, I'll think about it again, let's go up and have a look."

Qi Ning dragged Jing Su's hand along the path to the mountain, this mountain is the mountain where Qi Ning came to pick fruits last year, the vegetation on the mountain is luxuriant, there are a lot of bamboos, many trees, and shrubs, the north and west sides of these two mountains are still mountains, and the people hired by Qi Ning also went to pick fruits last year, saying that there are wild things infested, and there are fewer people who go to the mountains inside.