"Yo, Mr. Song, what's going on? …… Why are you so happy? Hou Qiaomei laboriously poured half a bucket of water into the cauldron, ready to start boiling water to wash clothes, and when she turned her head, she saw Song Wenru walking from the alley with a spring breeze on her face, holding a horse-faced skirt in one hand and a few pieces of paper in the other, and her steps seemed extremely brisk.

"My son has a letter!" Song Wenru shook a few letterheads in his hand, with infinite joy on his face.

"Yanliang, that kid has a letter? …… That's a good thing! Hou Qiaomei put down the bucket, straightened up, and said with a smile: "You don't need to worry too much about it now." What, is he going to go home on vacation? ”

"Nope." A hint of disappointment flashed in Song Wenru's eyes, "He was transferred to serve in Xizhou." ”

"Xizhou? …… What kind of place is that? ”

"In India." Song Wenru explained softly: "A satrapy located on the northwest coast of India. ”

"Yo, if you're in India, you don't need to fight."

"......" Song Wenru was stunned for a moment when she heard this, then shook her head and said, "Perhaps, there is no need to fight." But ......, who could have imagined about the army? ”

"Alas, pity such a beautiful woman, the man died early, and he didn't remarry, and he finally brought up his son with a handful of and urine. But he never thought that when his son grew up, he would not be troubled, and he would go to serve in the army. …… What do you call it? This made Mr. Song worry all day long. Hou Qiaomei watched Song Wenru leave with her heart full of concern, and said sympathetically.

"You know what!" Hou Qiaomei's husband Chen Chunquan secretly withdrew his gaze and said with a straight face: "That kid in Yanliang came out of the military academy and is a serious officer, not an ordinary soldier. People were transferred from sandbanks to India, and that was a promotion. I can't say, there will be a big general in our yard in the future! ”

"Whether it's an officer or a small soldier, on the battlefield, guns don't have eyes, and they are specially designed to avoid officers."

"You mother-in-law, accumulate some virtue in your mouth!" Chen Chunquan glared at her, "In the past, that child in Yanliang called your aunt one by one, and also helped bring a few boys in our family. ”

"I ...... I didn't curse Yanliang's child, I just ...... It's just that it's still dangerous to be a soldier, and if the guns are bumped, wouldn't Mr. Song be sad to death! …… Hey, ......, my mouth! Forget it, taking advantage of the good weather these days, I still quickly washed the pile of clothes. This old old, small one, a lot of dirty clothes, is enough to work! ”

During this period, laundry is undoubtedly an extremely heavy job, requiring a lot of heat energy, as well as a larger workspace and a longer period of time. Because, on weekdays, whether it is an adult or a half-grown child who can do things, they are very busy, and they can't take time out to wash the clothes they change every day.

A diligent woman will start by inspecting the garment for holes and fabric rips, any tiny rip will quickly turn into a large hole during the intense washing process. Therefore, it is important to quickly sew the area that needs to be sewn before washing. Next, sort the garments by the degree of soiling and the type of fabric. In general, woolen garments are more delicate to care for than cotton and linen, and some types of cotton fabrics are more resistant to scrubbing and twisting than others.

Once repaired and sorted, most of the fabric will be soaked, and when the clothes are soaked, it will not take much effort and effort to clean.

In the process of washing clothes, women in Qi are actually similar to women in other countries, they will use washing sticks to stir or pound clothes, just like washing machines in later generations, and the clothes are cleaned by strong stirring in water. However, the difference is that women in Qi use soap more often, or soap (which is only used by families with better conditions), to wash off collars, cuffs and other key areas that are prone to oil or sweat.

Oh, by the way, soap is very poor when used in cold water, so in order to wash the clothes better, women will boil a large pot of hot water in advance, so that the soap can better interact with the dirt.

In the period of industrialization, when the pace of life and the intensity of work were increasing day by day, the middle class and a large number of working classes gradually formed to wash their clothes once every seven or eight days. Although laundry days usually last for several days, as they also include paddles and ironing of washed clothes. For some large households, this routine may be less common.

In this era, the decrease in the frequency of washing clothes also proves the prosperity of the Qi people from one side. Because, people are washing batches of clothes every time, rather than one or two pieces of clothes that need to be changed at any time, and the ordinary people of Qi have enough clothes to change and wash clothes, so they will postpone the time of washing clothes.

Obviously, if a person only has two or three sets of underwear and wants to keep it clean, he must wash his clothes frequently. If you brag that you only do laundry three or four times a year, you're telling someone that your entire family has enough changes of clothes in a few months. Some clothing, such as diapers and sanitary napkins, of course have to be washed immediately after use, but sheets, duvet covers, towels, shirts and skirts can be piled up and waiting for a slightly free day to be washed intensively.

In those countries and regions where the means of subsistence are extremely scarce, it is impossible for ordinary people to even have more than one set of clothes, and for them, changing clothes is an extremely unrealistic thing. Unless, the family washes their clothes overnight and lies naked in bed overnight, so that they can change their clothes the next morning - most likely, the clothes are still wet.

In the city, if you have a big enough wallet, you can take it to the laundry or a part-time laundry worker in the community instead of washing the large amount of laundry that has accumulated at home. Despite the long duration and low pay, the job is easy to get started and requires little in terms of capital investment and training. It is also a profession that combines work and family, and women who work at home can work part-time as laundry workers while taking care of young children, and occasionally have older children help with them.

It is said that some greedy businessmen have also taken a fancy to the expanding laundry industry - there are 30,000 women in Daxing City alone, who are engaged in full-time or part-time laundry work, and they are agitating various research institutes and machine factories to experiment with the production of a steam washing machine to replace the traditional manual laundry work, trying to use the machine to liberate a large number of laborers from laundry work.

However, once this move is implemented, it will undoubtedly be opposed by the majority of full-time/part-time laundry women. Because, the birth of this kind of machine, its high price will inevitably discourage ordinary families, unable to afford, only those large laundries have the financial resources to buy. At that time, manual laundry will inevitably be eliminated by machines, which will reduce an additional income for ordinary families or women who lack skills in the laundry industry.

As for what kind of changes will happen to the laundry industry in the future, Song Wenru, as a primary school teacher, does not care much. Now, in addition to worrying about her son who is far away in Shazhou, she also feels a little helpless and hesitant about a guest who suddenly arrives at home.

"You know that gambling is a harmful thing, so why do you have to get involved?" Song Wenru looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with a solemn expression, and scolded fiercely: "The sins you have created, bear them yourself, don't want to hide overseas and run away!" ”

"Sister-in-law, save me." Li Dewu fell to his knees, tears and snot flowing, and begged: "If I don't pay five hundred yuan, those people will beat me to death if they find me." …… Even if they could spare my life, they would definitely be sold to overseas plantations or mines, and they would be tortured to death! ”

"Xiao Wu, you said that you are looking for something to do in Daxing, although you can't be rich and expensive, but it will definitely be no problem to feed a family of five. But why would you want to gamble? …… Nine out of ten bets are lost! Song Wenru said hatefully: "It's good now, you even went to a loan shark to gamble." …… You're taking yourself to your death! ”

"Sister-in-law, I was wrong!" Li Dewu stretched out his hand and slapped his face vigorously, "I am also blinded by lard, and I believe what others say, saying that there is an inside story in the ball game, and I want to fight big and win wealth for the family." Sister-in-law, I really know it's wrong. You save me, those people have already taken care of the rented house where Xiaoping and a few children live, if they can't pay them back, I'm afraid there will be an unforeseen danger! In Daxing, you are the only one who can save our family......"

"But ......" Song Wenru was both angry and helpless at this time.

Li Dewu is the youngest brother of her husband's family, probably spoiled by his parents since he was a child, his personality is biased, he does not like farming, and before he is 15 years old, he went to Daxing to beg for a living. Working in the factory, I can't stand the strict control inside, I do chores in the shop, and I don't like to be called around all day long, so I go to the trading company to work as a miscellaneous guard, and I hate running around, and I'm afraid of accidents by boat.

A few years ago, I got an errand in Daxing Tiansheng Ball Club, responsible for maintaining the safety and order of the court, and occasionally helped the audience to buy yards and bet.

Under the influence of hearing and seeing, he even followed others to gamble on football and horses, and spent almost all of his monthly salary, so that a few members of the family always had a famine and no source of livelihood. Song Wenru, as the daughter-in-law of the Li family and Li Dewu's sister-in-law, for the sake of her dead husband, has to help from time to time.

But today, in order to be small and big, this guy actually listened to other people's rumors, borrowed loan sharks to gamble, and wanted to turn over the book in one fell swoop and make a fortune.

Five hundred yuan, this is an ordinary family without eating or drinking, and it takes more than three years to save so much savings!

As a senior primary school teacher, Song Wenru's monthly salary is only fifteen yuan, which is considered to be a middle-income level in China, even so, if she doesn't spend a penny, she will have to save for more than 30 months.

Of course, her son Li Yanliang, as an army officer, also has a monthly salary of 12 yuan, and almost no expenses in the army, all of which are sent to her through bank drafts, so that she can save almost 200 yuan every year. The savings over the years add up to nearly a thousand yuan, but this is all prepared for his son's future marriage and marriage.

“…… You can go to the police. ”

"Sister-in-law, it's useless." Li Dewu looked at Song Wenru pleadingly, "Those people will use all kinds of means to make our life worse than death." Even Xiaoqing and their children may not let ...... go. Sister-in-law, save us! I swear that I will go to work in peace in the future, and I will definitely pay you back when I earn money. Sister-in-law......"

"......" Song Wenru sighed wordlessly, and then said hatefully: "Okay, I'll lend it to you." But I'm going to pay it back with you! ”

"Sister-in-law......" Li Dewu wanted to dissuade him, but seeing Song Wenru's resolute expression, he opened his mouth and didn't dare to make a sound, but he was grateful and didn't say anything, and his face showed an expression that was more ugly than crying.