In the evening, Jiang Sanlang returned home and handed eight hundred coins to his wife, "This is the money from selling the deer."
Chunniang took the cloth bag of money, poured out a pile of copper coins, and was surprised: "So many?"
Jiang Sanlang smiled complacently and took out a few strings of money from his pocket, "Here are more than seventy coins in change. Leave them with me. I'll go to the town tomorrow to buy a few more old hens for you to eat during your confinement."
Chunniang was shy. She turned around and locked the heavy copper coins into the box, whispering, "It's still early. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"It's getting late. The doctor said we should prepare early."
Not only food, but also bedding, baby blankets, diapers, and pads, etc. Nothing can be missing.
Not only can it not be less, it has to be double, alas.
Jiang Sanlang turned his head and didn't see his daughter, so he asked, "Where's Yingbao?"
"I went to my eldest brother's place. He said he wanted to learn to read from Yuanbao."
"Hey! Our daughter is really capable." Jiang Sanlang said with a smile: "How old is she? She is so eager to learn?"
Chunniang glared at him and said, "Yingbao learned quite a few words a few days ago, and even wrote them for me with a tree branch. They looked very good, and even better than Yuanbao's."
"Really?" Jiang Sanlang pretended not to believe it. "I'll test it when she comes back."
The couple chatted for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, Jiang Sanlang got up and went to his eldest brother's house to pick up his daughter.
At this moment, Yingbao was watching Yuanbao reciting the Three Character Classic. The little deer was lying at her feet, sleeping peacefully.
In the kitchen, Mrs. Jiang, who was washing the pots and dishes, felt quite strange:
What's wrong with my youngest son today? He is so hardworking.
After school, he started writing big characters, and then read books. He read for half an hour without a break. If it wasn't for dinner time in between, she would have worried that her son's throat would be sore from reading.
Uncle Jiang and Old Man Jiang were quite relieved.
My youngest son (grandson) finally found ways to make progress.
Maybe their family will have a student in the future.
In Uncle Jiang's eyes, Tongsheng is already a remarkable person. In the future, he can not only be a teacher in the village, but also be a shopkeeper in the county town. At the very least, he can be an accountant.
Chen Changrong, the eldest son of Chen Laoshuan in Xichen Village, was an accountant for a wealthy family, earning 20 to 30 taels of silver a year. Although his family also farmed and paid taxes, with this huge income, their life was very comfortable.
By then, Yuanbao will also work as an accountant for others and earn money just by sitting in the house without having to hoe the fields or be exposed to the sun and rain.
Wow, that kind of life is the most fulfilling.
You can’t blame Uncle Jiang for thinking this way. In fact, every farmer who works in the fields for a living has a dream of living in a county town.
Old Man Jiang was different from his eldest son. He didn’t think so far ahead. He simply thought that his grandson had changed his procrastination habits and started to be diligent and motivated.
This is a good thing.
"Better than his uncle when he was a child." Old man Jiang gave a fair evaluation, "Although the third uncle is smart, he doesn't need to study hard."
Jiang Liu rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "You can praise me if you want to. Why do you praise one and then criticize another?"
Old man Jiang coughed and turned his head away awkwardly.
In the side room, Yuanbao finally memorized the entire Three Character Classic and turned to look at his little cousin, "I've finished memorizing it."
Yingbao immediately clapped her hands and praised: "Brother Yuanbao is really awesome! I will go to the school with you tomorrow morning, and Xiaolu will lead you."
Yuanbao smiled and nodded vigorously, "Okay!"
Jiang Sanlang entered the house and waved to his daughter, "Yingbao, go home quickly."
Yingbao responded, picked up the deer, and walked out with her father.
Uncle Jiang stood at the door, his dark face smiling like a flower, and said to his niece, "Yingbaoer, come to your uncle's house tomorrow to listen to Yuanbao's reading."
"Yeah." Yingbao agreed ten thousand times.
Because she will be able to write openly soon.
Although she learned to read in her previous life, she was not good at writing, which was a big flaw in her life.
So she must learn well from Yuanbao and practice writing beautiful handwriting.
When her younger brothers grew up, she taught them how to write and memorize at an early age, so that they could become high-ranking officials in the future and no longer be bullied by others.
…
The days and months passed like a flash, and more than two months had passed in a flash.
The weather is getting colder, the leaves are starting to fall, and the Cold Clothes Festival is approaching.
The apple seedlings planted by Yingbao have grown to eight feet tall, with strong trunks and robust branches, becoming true small fruit trees.
Jiang Sanlang and his wife were amazed at how fast the sapling grew, even faster than the paulownia tree.
The little deer at home has grown a lot. It was named Yoyo. It is strong and docile. It always follows Yingbao everywhere, treating her as a companion.
After the autumn harvest, Jiang Sanlang bought two old hens and a rooster. Together with the original two, there are now five chickens in the family.
With Yingbao's careful feeding, the last two old hens also started laying eggs, one per day, all with double yolks.
Jiang Sanlang and his wife were stunned.
But they didn't make it public, not even telling the eldest wife.
"Sanlang, don't you think it's strange?" Chunniang sat on the edge of the kang, sewing a bellyband for the baby and chatting with her husband.
"The hens you bought were all old hens that didn't lay eggs, but Yingbao started laying eggs after feeding them for a while, and they lay double yolk eggs every time."
"That's because Yingbao often digs earthworms for it to eat." Jiang Sanlang sat on the bench and wiped the arrows one by one.
When it snows this winter, he will go to Nanshan to hunt rabbits and provide a treat for his family.
If you are lucky, you can hunt a few and take them to the market to exchange for some pork or mutton.
"But why don't other people's chickens lay double-yolked eggs?"
Chunniang found it magical. "Big brother's chickens also feed earthworms. Doesn't Dani dig for them with Yingbao every day? Now that the weather is cold, I heard Dani say that she has five hens and only collects two eggs in three days."
Jiang Sanlang was speechless.
But he couldn't admit that his daughter had any magical powers.
He smiled at his wife and teased, "Are you saying that you are going to lay double-yolked eggs like an old hen?"
Chunniang's face darkened, she spat at her husband and kicked him lightly with her foot, "What nonsense are you talking about."
Jiang Sanlang chuckled and reached out to touch her huge belly, "Come and take a look, our little Shuanghuang, your mother is bullying your father."
"You're so unruly." Chunniang curled the corners of her mouth and ignored her husband.
Jiang Sanlang stared at his wife seriously and sighed, "Chun Niang, why do I think you are getting more and more beautiful?"
Chunniang blushed and turned aside, "You are already a yellow-faced woman, what's so good about you?"
Jiang Sanlang clicked his tongue twice, put down his bow and arrow, stretched out his hand to pull his wife over, and pointed: "She really looks better now, with fair skin, almost catching up with Yingbao. She used to have freckles here and there, but now they are gone."
"Really?" Chunniang touched her face, unable to believe it.
Which woman doesn't care about her appearance
"Yeah." Jiang Sanlang nodded. "I thought you didn't go out much, so your skin became white, but when I saw my second sister-in-law standing next to you yesterday, she looked like charcoal in contrast."
Jiang Ersao gave birth the year before last and has been taking care of the baby at home for almost one or two years and has rarely been out of the field. Her skin color used to be similar to that of his wife, and it should not be much different now.
But the comparison between the two yesterday gave Jiang Sanlang a strong visual impact.
His wife is so beautiful, more beautiful than when she was young, and her complexion and skin are nothing like those of a country woman.
"You're talking nonsense. Be careful that your second sister-in-law hears you and scolds you." Chunniang glared at her husband, but she was happy in her heart.
There was no bronze mirror at home, and the only bronze mirror that came as a dowry was sold a few years ago. I exchanged it for bowls of medicine to drink. Thinking about it now, it really made me dizzy.
Normally, when she combed her hair, she would just casually twist it in front of the basin. As she was a pregnant woman, she seldom went out, so she didn't dress up.
After being praised by my husband today, I feel a little excited.
"I'll go to the market tomorrow and buy you a bronze mirror in town."
Jiang Sanlang also realized his negligence. He hugged his wife apologetically and said, "Buy a few more head flowers for you and your daughter to wear. It will look festive."
Now that all the flowers have withered, the women's hair is smooth.
He remembered that women in the county all wore silk flowers, which looked exactly like real flowers and were bright and eye-catching.
Chunniang smiled. "Buy another piece of cloth for Yingbao, and make her a new cotton-padded jacket while I am free now."
Since the daughter came to their house, she mostly wore Da Ni and Er Ni's old clothes.
Although she embroidered and altered the old clothes, trying to make them look almost as good as new ones, or even better, they were still old clothes after all.
So Chunniang always felt that she owed her little girl.
"Yeah." Jiang Sanlang agreed, "It's time to make new clothes for Yingbao."