The fish had been sold, so uncle Jiang Sanlang and his nephew packed up their things and drove home.
After returning to the old house, Jiang Sanlang carried a bundle of straw to feed the donkey, fished out a three-pound green carp from the water tank and gave it to his nephew, asking him to return the donkey cart.
Then he gave the herbs he bought to his eldest sister-in-law and said, "The doctor in town is busy and refuses to see patients, so I picked up two sets of typhoid fever medicine. One set is for your second brother, and you can boil one set for your eldest brother."
Zhou nodded, took the medicine bag and hurried to the kitchen to find the medicine pot to boil the medicine.
Jiang Sanlang entered his eldest brother's room and saw him lying on the kang groaning with a wet towel on his forehead.
Seeing his third brother coming in, he struggled to sit up and asked, "How much did you sell it for?"
"I haven't counted yet." Jiang Sanlang put the purse on the table: "I'll call my second brother and we'll count together."
As the saying goes, brothers should settle accounts clearly. It is impossible for Jiang Sanlang to count the money by himself. Even if the eldest and second brothers are sick, they have to be present to watch.
Not long after, Jiang Erlang came, coughing all the way while covering his mouth.
Jiang Dalang had already climbed up from the kang, and the three brothers gathered together to count money.
"A total of seven thousand one hundred and thirty-four coins! Oh haha, we're rich, cough cough cough..." Jiang Erlang laughed and coughed.
Jiang Sanlang also laughed and said proudly: "If three big fish hadn't died, there would be more."
Jiang Dalang was very happy, rubbed his hands and said, "How about, just like last time, give 300 coins to Dad and Mom, and 300 coins to Yingbao, and divide the rest among the three of us brothers?"
Jiang Erlang had no objection. He didn't go to sell fish this time and felt that he had contributed less, so there was nothing wrong with dividing the profits this way.
Jiang Sanlang naturally wanted to give more to his daughter. After all, the bait belonged to his daughter. Without the bait, in such cold weather, he couldn't catch any big fish, let alone small shrimps.
But he didn't want to speak first, nor did he want to let them know more.
Well, three hundred is fine. Yingbao is still young and can’t keep too much money in her hands.
Anyway, her dowry would be saved by him as her father, and giving her this money was just to make her more financially comfortable and save some pocket money.
After all, most of the children in the village don’t have a penny when they reach their teens, like my second nephew.
As a result, each of the three brothers received 2,178 coins, which was almost as much as their family's income for half a year.
When Jiang Dalang got the money, he felt like his illness was almost healed.
Erlang was not to be outdone. He returned briskly with the heavy copper coins in his arms.
When he got home, he handed all the copper coins in his arms to his wife Leng, and said with a smile: "Today, Sanlang went to the town and sold 7,000 coins. Ahem, we each get more than 2,000 coins. You keep them and go back to the town to buy two pieces of cloth. Ahem, you and the children can also make new clothes for the New Year."
Leng took the copper coins, counted them, and frowned, "Erlang, this is not right. Since my third brother sold 7,000 coins, why did we only get 2,178?"
Jiang Erlang coughed again and said, "Give three hundred to my parents as a gift, and give three hundred to Yingbao. The rest will be divided into this many naturally."
Leng was unhappy: "It's right to honor our parents, but why give it to Yingbao? What did she do to deserve so much money, the same as our parents."
Jiang Erlang frowned, and was about to say that Yingbao had attracted the big fish, and that Yingbao had also given him the bait. But he remembered what his third brother had said that day, and was unable to explain to his wife for a moment, so he said, "This is how my eldest brother divided it. Besides, Sanlang made money for us brothers, so what's wrong with giving Yingbao some?"
Leng was unhappy when she heard this. "What do you mean Sanlang is helping me make money? You are brothers, isn't that what you should do? Besides, if you didn't help, how could Sanlang catch so many fish by himself? This is obviously the eldest brother and the third brother colluding to bully our family!"
The share given to the parents-in-law will be left to the first wife after they die.
As for the money that was given to Yingbao, how could a little baby who was only half knee-high spend so much money? In the end, it was still given to the third wife.
Jiang Erlang got angry when he heard this, "What nonsense are you talking about! What do you mean by collusion? If your words get out, how can we brothers get along? Cough cough cough"
"Why are you talking nonsense?" Leng's eyes were red. "You are bullying our family. It was the same last time. You gave us two or three hundred less, but you can't always bully people like this."
As he said this, he held his confused three-year-old son in his arms and started to scold him: "Dad and Mom have always favored the eldest and third brothers, and you, the second oldest, are superfluous. Now, even your brothers are bullying you..."
Jiang Erlang frowned, "You're talking nonsense in front of the child? Ahem, it's not your turn to comment on my parents and brothers."
Seeing that her husband was not on her side, Leng became even more annoyed and began to curse, "You are a coward. You can only act arrogantly at home when you are bullied. If you have the ability, go out and act arrogantly. I am so unlucky to marry a useless man like you..."
Jiang Erlang couldn't argue with her and couldn't explain, so he raised his hand in anger as if to hit her.
“Hit me if you want!” Leng held her son in her arms and rushed towards her husband. “Just beat me to death. Wuuuuuu, I can’t live like this anymore. I won’t live anymore…”
The three-year-old Hu Zi was so frightened that he started crying loudly and struggled to get out of his mother's arms.
Jiang Erlang was furious. He hugged his son and yelled at his wife, "That's enough! If you don't want to live, get out!"
Leng, who was crying with her face covered, trembled when she heard the words, turned around and threw herself on the kang, crying loudly.
"Okay, okay, go ahead and make a fuss. Cough cough cough..." Jiang Erlang realized that he had just said something wrong, so he picked up his son, turned around, walked out of the room, and went to lie down in the west room.
He was so angry that he felt dizzy and his illness seemed to have worsened.
Not to mention the chaos in Jiang Erlang's family.
As for Jiang Sanlang, he handed the money to his wife when he got home. Suddenly, he remembered that he had not bought the New Year goods he promised. He slapped his forehead and apologized to Chunniang, "I forgot about it because I was busy. Hey, why don't I go to town to buy it in a few days?"
Chunniang smiled and said, "If you forgot, then forget it. Yingbao was still mumbling today that she wanted to go to town. You can take her with you next time you go."
"Okay." Jiang Sanlang looked around and didn't see his daughter, so he asked, "Where is Yingbao?"
"I went out to play with Dani and Erni."
Chunniang picked up her eldest son and fed him.
I have eaten a lot of fish these days and my milk is sufficient. The two babies eat and sleep alternately, and they have gained weight. Their little faces are round and they have double chins. It is difficult to hold them.
Jiang Sanlang looked at his son with a loving face. He reached out and poked his little face, laughing.
The little baby was poked, let go of the pacifier and turned his head to look over, as if in silent condemnation.
Chunniang slapped her husband's hand away and glared at him, "Xiaowu is still waiting to be fed, don't bother him, let Xiaojie finish eating quickly."
Jiang Sanlang picked up his little son who was lying beside him and waving his hands, and teased him with "oh" sounds.
Chunniang was feeding the baby while chatting with her husband, "It's been strange these past few days. Many kids in the village are rushing to give Yingbao gifts. She's not happy if she doesn't accept them. I don't know what that means."
"Hmm?" Jiang Sanlang turned around and asked, "What did they send?"
"Egg white flour pancakes and the like, they are all fine foods anyway," said Chun Niang.
Jiang Sanlang laughed: "Who are you that are so willing to give up?"
Egg white flour pancakes are a rare commodity, and children from ordinary families may not eat them once in several months.
Chun Niang said unhappily, "Who knows whose child it is? I guess the bunch of naughty kids who follow Ying Bao every time have come to give it to him."
"It's nothing." Jiang Sanlang smiled and shook his head, not taking it seriously. "At worst, we can make something delicious and let Yingbao return it."
However, it is normal for children to play around and give each other gifts to show their friendship.
What's more, the deer raised by his daughter is a treasure in the hearts of all the children in the village. Sending some food is just an attempt to please them.