His son Xiaodoudou ate with relish. The grasshopper sauce in front of him was specially fried by Xiaocao for the children. No chili was added, but a little sugar was added. The salty aroma was slightly sweet, and it was very popular among children. Xiaodoudou served with grasshopper sauce and ate a large piece of pancake. When he was walking, he was so stretched that he couldn't move anymore, so he was carried back by his mother.
Back home, Yu Bo lost his temper at his old mother, saying that he had worked so hard in Fucheng, but was held back by his old mother. Now the prince of the county has a bad impression of him. Even if he passes the exam in the future, it will be difficult for him to get a big backer like Prince Jing's mansion. After speaking, he burst into tears like a child.
Mrs. Zhang's paws went numb. Her original intention was to help her son, but she didn't want to be clever and was misled by cleverness. She looked at her little son who was crying uncontrollably, her eyes were also red, she stomped her feet, and said, "Mother, go to plead guilty to the county prince, and say that these are all mother's ideas, and it is mother who dragged you down! Let the prince of the county change his opinion of you!"
Mrs. Zhao hurriedly dragged her mother-in-law, filled with resentment, and secretly scolded this pig teammate, but she had no choice but to persuade her in a virtuous and virtuous manner: "Mother, don't meddle with you, and leave a way for the husband!"
"Why are you talking, I'm helping Xiaobo..." Mrs. Zhang stared at Mrs. Zhao fiercely with red eyes.
Seeing the thick gums in the corners of the country mother-in-law's eyes, Mrs. Zhao quickly turned her eyes away, and persuaded herself: "Mother, the county prince seems to be a soft-hearted master. If you kneel in front of him and don't get up, he will Instead of feeling sorry for you, she thinks that Mother is threatening him. I'm afraid it will have the opposite effect."
Mrs. Zhang suddenly became at a loss: "Then... what should we do! Just let him misunderstand our Xiaobo like this!"
After all, Mrs. Zhao is a talented daughter, and she came from a family of poetry and books. She thought for a while and said: "The only solution for now is to do nothing! After letting this matter fade away, Xianggong will take the opportunity of seeing his father-in-law, Show your good side more. After a long time, you will see people's hearts. At that time, the county prince should change his opinion on Xianggong! Xianggong, the most important thing for you now is to study behind closed doors at home. The prince of the county will definitely treat you differently!"
Yu Bo wiped away the teardrops from the corners of his eyes, sniffed his nose, looked at Mrs. Zhao gratefully, and said, "Young lady is wise! Yes, the county prince also said that the most important thing is true talent and learning. I will definitely pass the exam next spring." A good grade to prove my talent!"
After that, Yu Bo studied hard behind closed doors at home, never leaving his books except for eating and sleeping.
Mrs. Zhao is a little clever. She saw that Erbo's children liked Xiaodoudou very much, so she took her son to Erbo's house every few days.
Xiaodoudou also likes the second uncle's house very much. Every time he goes there, sister Xiaocao will bring him delicious food. Sometimes it’s a plate of fragrant fried grasshoppers, sometimes it’s a deliciously roasted sweet potato, sometimes it’s a piece of boiled corn, and sometimes it’s a handful of salt-and-pepper sunflower seeds.
Sunflower seeds were also brought back from the West by King Yang, and he gave Xiaocao a few to plant under the wall in the backyard. When the plague of locusts came, Yu Xiaocao ripened them with the help of Xiaobutianshi, and obtained four to five catties of sunflower seeds after drying. After saving some for seeds, she fried the others one after another as snacks. After tasting the taste of fried melon seeds, Mrs. Liu hid two catties of sunflower seeds, saying that she would fry them to entertain guests during the Chinese New Year.
Zhao's female celebrity is good, the flowers and plants embroidered are lifelike, and Xiaolian and Xiaocao are presented with a handkerchief each. Xiao Lian asked her aunt to teach her how to embroider. She left early and returned late every day, and only had time to learn at night. Mrs. Zhao came over for an hour every evening to teach Xiaolian how to embroider with all her heart.
The Yu family didn't let her teach for nothing. Because Xiao Lian closed the stall a little later, Yu's dinner time was a little later than many other families in the town. When Mrs. Zhao came over with Doudou, it was just in time for Yu's family to have dinner, so they asked the mother and son to eat dinner at Yu's house from now on.
At first, Mrs. Zhao politely refused, saying that she had already eaten. Like most villagers in Dongshan Village, Mrs. Zhang eats two meals a day. One meal is at ninety o'clock in the morning, and the other meal is at three or four o'clock in the afternoon. It was already past seven o'clock in the evening when Yu's old house had dinner. She said she had eaten it and it was fine.
Yu Xiaocao had long been able to figure out from Xiaodoudou's mouth when and what did the two of them eat for dinner? Mrs. Zhang's dinner is a bowl of porridge for each person and a small dish of pickles. I ate it at three or four o'clock, and it was almost digested by seven o'clock. Therefore, Xiao Doudou looked at the pancakes with more white flour and less flour, and all kinds of delicious dishes on the table, and she was already in a hurry.
Yu Xiaocao knew Zhao Shi's temperament, she didn't like to take advantage of others like Li Shi, so she didn't feel bad towards her. Little Doudou, who was originally fat and white, has turned into little bean sprouts from hunger, which made her feel a little unbearable. No matter how hard it is, you can't suffer children, can you
So, Xiaocao persuaded: "Little aunt, if you teach us women's reds, you can be regarded as half of our master. Treating master to a meal is what disciples should do. Don't refuse anymore. If you are so polite , Xiaolian and I have the nerve to trouble you?"
Mrs. Zhao couldn't shirk it, so she sat at the table with her son and ate something. The next day, she postponed her visit by two quarters of an hour, planning to wait until Yu's family had dinner before going there.
Who knows, as soon as she entered the courtyard, Yu Xiaocao touched her rumbling belly and said, "Auntie, can you come here earlier next time? We're so hungry that we're going to faint."
Seeing that the Yu family sincerely entertained him for a dinner, Mrs. Zhao accepted it gratefully. After a few dinners, Mrs. Zhao gained a new understanding of the background of Erbo's family.
After experiencing the locust plague just now, whoever doesn’t tighten their belts can deal with every meal they can, especially dinner, they go to bed after eating, and don’t need to do any physical work. Most people eat a thin meal .
As for Yu Hai's family, they were still full of big pancakes, eating at least four dishes and one soup every day. Moreover, there are more white flour and less coarse grains in the pancakes, so sometimes they just use white flour to roll out the noodles. Every three days, there are even a few plates of fried meat, which are said to be wild game hunted by King Yang. Sometimes wild boar, sometimes wolf, sometimes hare and pheasant.
Half a month later, my son's thin face became round and cheerful. Every day without being led by her, I ran to my second uncle's house early, caught grasshoppers and fed chickens with brothers Shitou and Fang Ping, touched snails and fried them, or went to the sea to collect shellfish with the children in the village. When dreaming at night, they all shouted "Brother Shitou, I dug a clam..."
Although the son was dark, his body was getting better and better, and his appetite was getting better and better. For the sake of her son, she had the cheek to have dinner at the second uncle's house. Erbo's family is very kind, and most of the time they will let her bring some food to her husband, but there is a requirement: it must be eaten into the stomachs of the three of them.
After a month, all three of them gained weight and their complexions improved a lot. When Mrs. Li saw her, she pointed at Sang and cursed Huai Huai in the courtyard and yelled: "Some people look Qinggao. I didn't expect to hug other people's thighs and lick other people's feet! They take the leftovers from their food, the smelly ones, and take them home. !"
Although Mrs. Zhang has some complaints about Mrs. Zhao's running to the old house, she can bring her son some delicious food every time. Seeing that her son had grown some flesh, she turned a blind eye. If someone is willing to help her raise her son and grandson, she has nothing to lose, so why not do it
Hearing Mrs. Li's bitter words, Mrs. Zhang yelled at her: "If you have the ability, you can hug other people's thighs? Just like you, you were kicked out before you entered the door. If you have no skills, don't Shouting out here!"
Mrs. Li closed her mouth. What the mother-in-law said was also true. Ever since she ran into Yuhai's melon field in the middle of the night last year, causing many unripe watermelons and trampling on many melon seedlings, she was no longer welcome in the Yu family's old house. Sometimes she went over cheeky and wanted to pick green onions or vegetables, but she would be driven out by that powerful Yu Xiaocao. After the mother-in-law reconciled with her father-in-law, she has drawn a clear relationship with the old house, let alone take advantage of a penny.
Every night, she secretly watched Mrs. Zhao bring back the food through the crack of the door, she couldn't help swallowing, and secretly scolded Yu Hai's family for their influence, and would curry favor with the third child. It must be thinking that the third child will become a high-ranking official in the future, and he will be able to enjoy the glory! What's the use of scolding again? As for her man who can't kick a fart with three legs, he can only watch others eat and drink spicy food.
Just when most people in Dongshan Village could only eat one thin meal a day, and some people might go hungry in a few days, there was exciting news from the pier—a fleet of ships headed to the south to purchase cheap food, came back! !
After Yangjun Wang got the news, he rushed to the pier to preside over the overall situation. The guards under him had long been on standby at the pier to prevent the hungry people from rioting due to scrambling.
The officers and soldiers of the house guards also helped to maintain order. Most of the port has been built, and the grain was moved to the completed shops by the stevedores on the docks, and the shops were opened for sale the next day.
The other batch was transported by the officers and soldiers to the warehouse of the government office in the town, and it was planned to open warehouses in Tanggu Town and the port for sale at the same time. The price of grain was set at about the same level as before the disaster, five cents a catty for coarse grain and ten cents a catty for fine grain. The food is sold strictly at the original price purchased, and the cost of transportation and the wages of the personnel are all borne by the imperial court.
After the news came out, villagers from many villages came all night and formed a long line in front of the shop. Dongshan Village, because of the Yu family's relationship with the county prince, was the first to get the news, so they were able to stand in the forefront of the long queue that never came to an end.
The fleet of hundreds of ships brought back enough food to supply the victims in the disaster area, so the purchase was unlimited. Some people are frightened by hunger, thinking of hoarding more food at home, they spend all they have at home to buy cheap food.