Qin Liu asked strangely, "Don't you care about the wheat when it's planted?" Don't do weeding, fertilizing, watering, etc.? ”

Ma Ang raised his eyebrows and looked her up and down, and said, "Sister-in-law knows a lot." Our place is outside the customs, but the terrain is not high, and there is a lot of rain. Watering is not needed. As for weeding and fertilizing, you don't have the manpower at home, so you don't have to work so intensively. ”

Qin Liu nodded, she still had to take care of the family, Erlang was too small to take care of the ground at all. Hiring someone to do the work is an expense, and it's hard to say whether it's worth it or not.

When he got home, Qin Liu was almost paralyzed from exhaustion, but fortunately, Li Laohan had already cooked and the two children were asleep.

Before going out in the morning, she milked some milk and left it, so that Li Laohan was hot and fed Erlang to drink.

Qin Liu gritted his teeth and ate half a bowl of rice, carried Erlang, who was asleep on the kang in the east house, back to the west house, and fell asleep without even washing.

I actually dreamed at night.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, my grandfather took the family to sit in the yard and eat mooncakes and admire the moon. She sat next to her mother, and the mooncakes were flavored with lotus paste, salted egg yolk and meat floss, and five-kernel filling, which tasted very good. She was deeply impressed by the exquisite patterns on the mooncakes.

The eldest uncle cowered and mentioned: "My mother's brother has gone to Beijing and wants to visit your old man's house." ”

Grandfather's face was solemn, and he snorted coldly: "He is an official, as the prefect, he doesn't know how to take precautions, and he asked for relief money in advance to stabilize grain prices and relieve disasters, so that there was a cannibalistic murder in the area under his jurisdiction, and he still has the face to visit the old man?!" ”

The eldest aunt was silent, glanced at the eldest uncle with tears in her eyes, and did not dare to speak again.

After admiring the moon, she took her mother's hand back to the room, and couldn't help but ask her mother, "Why is grandfather so strict?" Uncle is so good......"

The eldest aunt has a gentle temperament, often gives her a lot of delicious snacks, and gets along with her mother very well, she is really a good person.

Mother just said: "Your grandfather is famous for his upright temperament, who doesn't know about the government and the opposition?" The elder brother of the uncle's mother's family did not do well in the evaluation this time, and I am afraid that he will be deposed. ”

She didn't understand it at the time, and she didn't continue to ask.

I just remember that the moon was very beautiful that night, the moon cakes were delicious, my grandfather was very fierce, my aunt was very aggrieved, and there was a place where people ate people.

……

As soon as it was dawn the next day, there were voices outside the courtyard of the Li family.

Qin Liu immediately dressed and got up, and in the hall, Li Laohan was already cooking in front of the stove.

Outside the courtyard, several members of the Ma family were carrying plows, hoes, etc., and were waiting for Qin Liu to work together.

Qin Liu hurriedly invited them into the house to sit, but several members of the Ma family refused, and only stood in the cold and unexpectedly steep courtyard.

Qin Liu was helpless, so he hurriedly took the porridge scooped by Li Laohan, drank it while blowing, and hurriedly went out.

This time, she still went to buy wheat seeds with the Maang brothers, and then returned to the Li family to feed Erlang, and went to the field with Aunt Ma and Sister Ma Feng.

Ma Yue pestered Qin Liu and kept asking questions: "Sister-in-law, is the amount of money that the owner of this grain shop is looking for?" How do I calculate that I am missing five pennies? ”

Qin Liu patiently explained to him along the way, but when he arrived at the ground, Ma Yue was still confused. She found a stick and wrote a few words on the ground, and wrote clearly how many coins of silver she could exchange for, how much wheat seeds were, and how much money she should find.

Ma Yue touched his head, and after being convinced, he shouted happily as if he had discovered a new continent: "Sister-in-law Li, do you know how to read?" Teach us well?! ”

Ma Ang, Aunt Ma and Sister Ma Feng on the side also cast envious and respectful glances.

Qin Liu was a little embarrassed: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say." ”

Aunt Ma came over and slapped Ma Yue on the back: "Work first!" Think about what you have and don't! ”

Ma Yue jumped to the side and argued: "Mother! You don't know, you can read, and those shops in the town are willing to accept them as buddies. Even our brother couldn't even write his name at the beginning, so he was disgusted by the chief! ”

Qin Liu was stunned for a moment, and said, "When the planting is finished, you have time to come to my house, and I will teach you." ”

Aunt Ma and Ma Yue were overjoyed, and Aunt Ma went to slap Ma Yue's head again: "Thank you sister-in-law of the Li family soon!" ”

The four members of the Ma family were even more energetic in the next time. Qin Liu went back when it was almost noon, let Erlang eat and drink enough and then bring the food back to the field, except for sitting on the ridge for lunch, the Ma family was busy all the time.

Qin Liu secretly sighed: This Aunt Ma has a good family education, and the family is honest people!

It took three days to plant the land.

Qin Liu settled 270 wen for Ma Ang according to the salary of 30 wen per person.

Ma Ang wiped his hand on his clothes for a long time, but still refused to take it, he explained embarrassedly: "This ...... Too much. My mother and my sister are only half of each person. The first day can only be counted as half a day......"

Qin Liu saw that his family was in rags, and knew that his family was poor, so he said sincerely: "Brother Ma, you're welcome. This winter is coming, you take the money to buy a few clothes for Sister Feng and them. Our Li family has a hard time, and we will rely on Brother Ma to help us in the future. ”

Maang finally took the money. Now that their family is short of money and food, and winter is approaching, one penny more will give them one more chance to live, so he can't be polite.

Qin Liu calculated the total investment in farming this time.

Five acres of land cost 450 yuan for seeds, and 270 yuan for wages, a total of 720 yuan.

At that time, it is estimated that you will have to ask someone to help with harvesting and threshing, which is also a salary of 270 yuan.

In the future, one mu of land will be counted as 200 catties of grain harvest, a total of 1,000 catties, and a total of 3,000 catties will be calculated according to three cents per catty.

After shaving the expenses, there are two thousand and ten cents left, that is, six hundred and seventy catties of grain, and Li Laohan's ancestors and grandchildren can spread one pound of grain a day, which is enough for them to feed themselves.

Qin Liu counted the remaining broken silver in his hand again and sighed. Money is really unspent!

Ma Yue's interest in literacy reminded Qin Liu that she might not be able to stay here for long. In order to repay Li Dalang and his mother for taking her in, she can teach Li Dalang to read and count, and even if he goes to the army in the future, he can be looked at by the commander if he is educated.

Early the next morning, Ma Yue came to Li's house, brought four eggs, and helped carry water and chop firewood, wash and dry clothes.

Qin Liu was not polite to him, and after finishing his housework, he taught him to read and write with branches on the muddy ground in the yard.

Ma Yue studied seriously, and even Li Dalang, who was only five years old, watched very seriously from the sidelines, using branches to make comparisons on the ground.

Ma Yue was very well-behaved, and slipped home when it was almost lunch time, estimating that the Li family would come over again after lunch, so as not to add burden to the Li family as much as possible.

Ma Yue also revealed that he returned home and handed over the newly learned characters to his brother and sister. Both siblings are quick learners.

Qin Liu has a good impression of the studious and measured nature of the three brothers and sisters of the Ma family. The Ma family brothers and sisters are probably afraid that the three of them will come over and disturb their Li family, right?

In the evening, Qin Liu took two eggs and made an egg drop soup, sprinkled it with salt, and dripped a few drops of clear oil, which made Li Dalang swallow his saliva wildly.

Divide the egg drop soup into four bowls, and strive to have about the same number of egg drops in each bowl.

Li Laohan smacked his mouth and drank the fragrant egg drop soup, and said, "Da Lang, damn it, you give me the remaining two eggs." ”

There were only two eggs, and Qin Liu gave them to Li Laohan easily.

More than 20 days later, Li Dalang came to Qin Liu with two newly hatched chicks: "Mother, look, this is a newly hatched chick!" ”

The feathers of the chick are pale yellow, and the pointed beak is smooth as if coated with a layer of wax, which is very beautiful.

Qin Liu gently stroked the chick, and his heart was soft and soft. Even though the days are hard, the birth of a new life is always a joyful event.

Da Lang and Ji Lang are very kind to these two little chicken babies and often play with them.

The days passed like this, and the weather was getting colder and colder.

Qin Liu occasionally went to the town to buy rice and vegetables, and found that this almost ruined town was actually in a very good location, even if the weather was getting colder and colder, there were some pedestrians passing by.

I heard that several teams of officers and soldiers from the capital came to patrol and took away all the people who stayed in the town without household registration.

From the small talk of the townspeople, she slowly learned the approximate location of the town.

The town is called Shabaozi, and in the jurisdiction of Huailaiwei, it is the only place where the capital leads to one of the important towns of the nine borders - Xuanfu.

More than 50 years ago, the imperial court built three castles in the east, middle and west with Sanhe soil in this vicinity.

Dongbao is what is now known as the sand castle. Not long ago, the East Fort was devastated by the Tartar soldiers, and the road was also damaged, and many pedestrians passing by took a detour to the Central and West Castles. However, Dongbao is still the nearest choice on the road, and some passers-by who are in a hurry and travel lightly still choose to take the sand castle.

With a great location, the revival of the sand fort is just around the corner.

Qin Liu's mind came alive.

The sand castle is now in ruins, and the geographical location is superior, if you can do some business, maybe you can avoid the situation of sitting and eating empty?

When it snowed for the second time, Ma Yue brought a large piece of meat to the Li family.

"My brother and I went up to the mountains to hunt, and we happened to meet a stupid roe deer. My mother said that my sister-in-law had worked hard to teach us brothers and sisters alone, so let me send them over. ”

Qin Liu was not polite, and immediately greeted: "That's it, you go and call your mother, your brother and Sister Feng, and we will make dumplings at night!" ”