When Wang Shuping returned home, the three clan elders had already left. Wang Wenhe was lying on the bed, Wang Shenshi and Wang Yan were standing beside the bed, Wang Wenhe's face was pale, and he was obviously furious. Wang Shuping's daughter-in-law, Wang Qianshi, was walking into the house with a bowl of medicine. Wang Shuping was terrified: "What's wrong, dad?"
Mrs. Wang Qian said in a low voice: "Father feels uncomfortable. I just asked Grandpa Sun to come and see him. He said that I was angry. Aunt Wang ran to Wang Dafu's house to make trouble, and even ran over to let my father make decisions, but was chased away by my mother." out."
Wang Shuping said in a cold voice: "What kind of master is she going to do! It's true that they have everything!"
Seeing her son come back, Wang Chen's tears came out again, and she said to Wang Wenhe who didn't say a word: "I just said that the people in that family can't be counted on. If you don't listen, look now, the family People can pour dirty water on our family at will, and you have nothing to do with them. Are you still the patriarch?"
Wang Shuping took the medicine bowl from his daughter-in-law, and walked to the kang: "Mother, don't talk about it, Dad is also feeling bad. Dad, drink up the medicine, brother Yan, help grandpa get up."
Wang Yan helped his grandfather up, and Wang Shuping fed his father the medicine. After drinking the medicine, Wang Wenhe coughed a few times, feeling very depressed.
Wang Shuping handed the empty bowl to his daughter-in-law, rubbed his father's chest, and didn't let his son or daughter-in-law avoid him. He said, "Brother Yan, there is something in Daddy's lap, take it out."
Obediently, Wang Yan took out a paper-packed thing from his father's arms, smelling the smell of medicine, Wang Chenshi wiped away tears: "What is it?" Wang Qianshi also came over curiously.
Wang Shuping didn't explain, and said again: "Brother Yan, open it."
Wang Yan put the paper bag on the kang and opened it. Seeing the beautiful wild chrysanthemums in golden yellow, everyone else was stunned, Wang Yan raised his head: "Father, is it a chrysanthemum?"
Wang Shuping still didn't explain, and said: "You count to eight, and go with your mother to soak four glasses of water, and soak them in boiling water."
Wang Yan's eyes were full of doubts, but he still counted eight flowers, and went out with his mother on the kang. Wang Chenshi asked, "Is this what Ishii gave you?"
Wang Wenhe moved his hand. Wang Shuping continued rubbing his father's heart, and said, "Yun'an did it. Mother, take a look."
Wang Chenshi picked up one and was surprised: "It's dry. Did you dry the chrysanthemum?"
"It's not that simple."
Wang Chenshi smelled it again, it was very fragrant, and said: "It doesn't smell like it was directly dried, and it will have a musty smell."
Wang Shuping sighed: "The Ishii family really has brains. If your father hadn't always favored that family, would Ishii and his family be estranged from your father and our family? Why did they sell the prescription to the old man?" The Zhao family, isn't it because your father always favors that side?"
Wang Shuping persuaded: "Mother, Dad is also thinking of our family, so don't be angry. Every time I go there, Shi Jing and Yun An are very polite. This chrysanthemum tea was forced on me by Yun An, saying it was for me. Brother Yan drink."
"Ah? Why is it for Brother Yan?"
Wang Shuping smiled, but still didn't explain.
Wang Qianshi and Wang Yan came back, Wang Yan's face was full of novelty, and Wang Qianshi's face was also full of freshness. She put the tray on the side of the Kang. On the tray were four cups of water, and in each cup were two beautiful bright yellow chrysanthemums. The wild chrysanthemums on the mountain in Xiushui Village are so big that two of them can be soaked in a cup. The taste is bitter with a special sweetness, and because Shao Yun'an has treated it with Lingquan water, it has a special fragrance.
"Father, is this a chrysanthemum? Can you soak it in water?" Obviously Wang Yan had already tasted it, so he picked up his own cup.
Wang Qian said: "Father, mother, the water soaked in this chrysanthemum is very strange, you should try it."
Wang Shenshi looked at his daughter-in-law and grandson, picked up a cup, Wang Shuping picked up another cup, blew on it, and fed it to his father: "Father, you should try it too. This chrysanthemum clears heat and relieves heat. You are busy recently, so this is the best drink." .”
This time, Wang Wenhe didn't refuse any more, and opened his mouth to take a sip. The water was a bit hot, and he didn't drink much, but the water he took in had a strange taste that he had never tasted before, bitter and sweet coexisting. Only then did Wang Shuping explain: "Yun'an said that this chrysanthemum tea clears the liver and eyesight, dispels the wind and clears the heat, and it can be brewed and drunk at any time, just like tea. I insisted on taking a pack and said it was for Brother Yan to drink. Where can I not I know they are for you, father. You are angry, and you can drink some chrysanthemum tea and feel angry. Father, don't blame Shi Jing and Yun'an, it's a shame that Yun'an came here today, otherwise we don't know someone You're doing nonsense in your name."
Wang Qian hurriedly persuaded her mother-in-law in a low voice, and asked her husband to continue talking. Wang Shuping fed his father another sip of chrysanthemum tea, and said, "Father, Yun'an and Shi Jing have also thought of this kind of thing, they are just afraid that someone will make trouble, especially the ones from his big house. The prescription was sold to Uncle Zhao. Otherwise, how could they not want to keep it themselves for such a lucrative business. They originally wanted to give it to me, but Yunan asked me, if they moved out of Wang Zhisong and asked you for the jam recipe, I don’t know how to answer him if you give it or not. He asked me again, if I sold this jam for money, will you subsidize it to that company? I don’t know how to answer him. I don’t want to, but Dad , you do."
When Wang Chenshi heard this, she covered her chest: "You are such an idiot! If someone has money, you dare not give it to our family, and you know that you will give it all to the family who are not familiar with it!"
Wang Yan hurriedly supported her grandma, and interjected: "Grandpa, everyone in our private school knows about Uncle Wang. Some people asked me if I knew each other, and they said they were all from Xiushui Village. Fortunately, Cong Bo told them that I was with Uncle Wang's family. It's just a family, don't get close, otherwise I will be laughed at."
Wang Yan wanted to say this a long time ago, but seeing how annoying his father and grandfather were, he didn't dare to say it.
"Look, look!" Wang Chenshi wanted to beat the old man a few times to wake him up, and said angrily to Wang Yan: "What Uncle Wang! Call him Wang Zhisong!"
Wang Shuping didn't expect that the news about Wang Zhisong would be spread to ordinary private schools, so it is conceivable that Wang Zhisong might be extremely "famous" in the county.
Wang Qian asked anxiously: "Then Ishii gave you this chrysanthemum tea, do you want our family to make it?"
Now the most eye-catching person in the whole village is not Wang Shijing's family, but Li Zheng's family!
When Wang Qianshi asked, Wang Chenshi also looked at Wang Shuping anxiously. Wang Shuping was a little helpless: "Ishii and Yun'an have this plan, but they are worried..."
There is no need to say more about what to worry about. Wang Shenshi couldn't bear it anymore, and beat Wang Wenhe: "Are you still facing that family member! Besides causing trouble for you, what else will that family member do! What else will that family member do!"
After being signaled by her husband, Wang Qian hurriedly stopped her mother-in-law, with the same anxiety on her face. Wang Wenhe said, "I can't ask for this prescription."
Wang Shenshi almost didn't come up in one breath, tears came out, Wang Qianshi was also extremely disappointed and depressed. Wang Wenhe raised his hand: "Listen to me." After taking a few breaths, he said, "I am indeed partial to Dali's family, and I really mean that Zhisong can win the Wang family's reputation and support us in the future. People of this family. I am indeed not fair to the Ishii family. Now, Ishii gave me the recipe of this chrysanthemum tea, and I want it. Then our family will be poked on the back of the family in the future. If that is the case, still I don’t know how much dirty water will be poured on our house.”
Wang Shenshi burst into tears, and Wang Shuping said: "Father, your concerns are right. When Shi Jing and Yun An told me, I also refused. Now that Uncle Zhao's family has started, they can also do business with peace of mind. Earn money, I think this chrysanthemum tea is rarer than jam, and it can also cure diseases, so you can only earn more, it’s cheap, we can’t have it.”
Wang Qianshi was also very disappointed, and her eye circles couldn't help turning red. Wang Wenhe was very happy that his son understood him, and he patted his son's hand: "Shu Ping, father told you to be wronged. In the future, father will not be confused about some things. Let's not envy others for making money, you take good care of Brother Yan." child to adulthood."
Wang Shuping nodded, and Wang Yan swore, "Grandpa, I will study hard."
Wang Wenhe patted his grandson's head, his eyes filled with relief.
※
This storm is over. The punishment of Wang Dafu's family was also ignored. However, many people satirized Wang Dafu's family openly and secretly, including his father Wang Benchang. It's reasonable to ask others for a prescription to make money. Whoever has the ability to make money will dare to use it in the future? Isn't that obvious to make people worry about it? Even if it belongs to the same clan, the clan rules do not stipulate that this craft has to be shared with the clan for free.
Naturally, Wang Dafu's family couldn't lose face, not to mention they had a quarrel with Mrs. Wang, the two sides tore their faces apart, and many private affairs of the house were revealed by Mrs. Wang's broken mouth. Wang Chenxiang and Wang Guozhaodi were very close on weekdays, and they would gossip about everything in the two families, and Wang Guozhaodi told Granny Wang that the shrew character of Mrs. Wang was unique in Xiushui Village. The mother-in-law can't beat her at all. Afterwards, Wang Benchang severely reprimanded his daughter-in-law.
But no matter how thunderous and lightning it was outside, Wang Zhisong sat alone at home and could not be shaken. He lost face in the county school and didn't want to hear gossip from the villagers. He has already agreed with Mrs. Wang that he will live in the county after three months and ask Mrs. Wang to rent a house for him. Mrs. Wang saved some money, but it would still be difficult for her to rent a house for Wang Zhisong in the county, so how could she not hate and miss Wang Shijing's family spending a lot of money.
If the land in the field cannot be planted in time, next year's harvest will be a problem, and the money earned will be less. Mrs. Wang took the three taels of silver from Wang Wenhe and hired people, each with twelve cash a day, not including food, but covering the woodshed. No one in the village was willing to do it, and Mrs. Wang followed Wang Shijing's example and went to the county to hire refugees. Such a small amount of money does not include food, and it takes a whole day to work. Few people are willing to do it, but it is still a bit too difficult to take up the job. However, the ones who took over the jobs were those who were not physically strong, and it was difficult to find a buddy at ordinary times.
When someone was hired, Wang Chunxiu stopped working, and Wang Zaizheng hid back home. Mrs. Wang didn't force them. After all, it cost money, so she definitely couldn't make her family work more. Mrs. Wang hired five people, one of whom was a woman, and Wang Chunxiu even asked them to wash clothes for the whole family. The woman refused to do it, and she agreed to farm, but she didn't say she wanted to wash clothes. How could he be so shameless for only giving twelve coins a day. But Wang Chunxiu said that if you don't do laundry, you don't want to get paid. It was almost winter, and in order to earn some money for the winter, the woman gritted her teeth and endured it.
The five hired talents recognized five people who were refugees like them and were working in the fields at Wang Shijing's house within two days. Upon questioning, the family does not include food and lodging, and all farming must be done within 20 days, but there are 60 cash a day, and a deposit of one tael of silver is also paid. This is also going to work in the field, so the difference in wages is too big! Later, they heard from the "villagers" that the family they worked for was so harsh that they even wanted to rob their son's family of money. Out of good intentions, the hired workers at Wang Shijing's house reminded them not to get paid for their work.
Now those five people panicked, especially the woman who had to do laundry for Mrs. Wang's family. Together, the five people stopped working and went to Mrs. Wang's house together to ask for processing money and a deposit first. The woman also asked not to include laundry. This time they quarreled again. Mrs. Wang and Wang Chunxiu said, don’t think about processing money, and don’t even think about getting paid if you don’t finish the work; the other party also said, don’t work if you don’t pay a deposit.
The two sides quarreled furiously, which naturally attracted crowds of onlookers. Wang Zhisong knew that his mother wanted to save money to rent him a house in the county, so she didn't care. In his opinion, they are just homeless refugees. If someone is willing to hire them, they should be grateful. If his family doesn't hire them, where will they go to earn money. Wang Zhisong has been safe since as long as Shao Yun'an doesn't go to the county school to make trouble, and he doesn't provoke Shao Yun'an.
With this quarrel, the villagers of Xiushui Village refreshed their understanding of Mrs. Wang's family. I usually go to the county to do a part-time job. If I am busy from morning to night, I will have to pay about 20 yuan a day, including food. Wages have to go up during the busy season. With a wage of twelve cents, these people still have to work before dawn and rest only after dark. Can Mrs. Wang make more money? And when the woman started arguing, the villagers even sighed.
The wages of twelve cents have to be paid for washing clothes for the whole family, especially when she heard the woman yelling that Wang Chunxiu's menstruation pants should be washed by her, and the villagers' booing, mocking, and embarrassing voices almost drowned Wang Chunxiu. Later, some people said that Wang Chunxiu used to ask Nizi to wash her trousers soiled by menstrual events, and in exchange for many big girls, daughter-in-laws and old aunts giving pointers. A woman's dirty trousers are either washed by her own mother or by herself. How can I let others wash them carelessly, and even give them to an ignorant little girl? It's really shameless.
When the quarrel was extremely intense, Wang Shuping came. When he came, everyone fell silent. Although Wang Wenhe's prestige in the clan has declined, Wang Shuping has always been very prestigious among the young people in the clan, and the elders of the clan are also very optimistic about him. Wang Shuping is likely to take over the post of patriarch in the future. As soon as Mrs. Wang saw Wang Shuping, she asked Wang Shuping to comment on her. Unexpectedly, Wang Shuping just glanced at her indifferently, and opened his mouth: "Is Zhisong at home?"
Mrs. Wang was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously said, "Zhi Song is studying in the room."
Wang Shuping: "He can still read in the chaos outside? Call him out."
Mrs. Wang was not happy: "Why are you calling him. He doesn't understand these things, so he just studies hard."
Wang Shuping didn't argue with Mrs. Wang, but shouted: "Zhisong, come out."
Wang Shuping spoke, and Wang Zhisong, who was pretending to be deaf and dumb in the room, had to respond, and he came out of the room. Wang Wenhe looked at him and said, "Zhisong, your eldest brother has been separated, your second brother is in prison, your father is getting old, and now you are the only one in charge of the family, and you still have the heart to study when there is such a commotion outside?"
Wang Zhisong frowned slightly, and said, "Mother is in charge of hiring workers. Besides, the wages of twelve cents a day are not small. There are so many refugees in the county, and they don't want to do it, so naturally some people are willing to do it. "
The woman immediately yelled, "I have to wash your family's clothes for twelve cents a day, and you have to wash your eldest daughter's dirty pants, no one is willing to do it!"
Wang Chunxiu hid back into the house shamelessly. Wang Zhisong's eyes flashed disgust, and he didn't know what the disgust was. He said, "You don't want to, but if you don't wash it, can my sister force you?"
The woman pushed back: "If I don't wash it, your sister will say that she won't be paid! I heard that you are a scholar, why are you so unreasonable!"
Wang Zhisong couldn’t hear anyone “insulting” him with his status as a scholar. He said coldly, “It’s because you didn’t ask clearly before going to work. It’s my sister’s fault. After you wash your clothes, the work in the field will be natural. It’s just that there are few jobs, they are all jobs, and they have to pick and choose. If you don’t want to, you just don’t come.”
"you!"
The woman couldn't say no to Wang Zhisong and cried.
Wang Shuping looked at Wang Zhisong blankly, and said, "Zhisong, my father took three taels of silver to hire someone for Aunt Wang. There are five of them, each of them costs 12 Wen a day, and five of them cost 60 Wen. Three taels of silver can be hired. They do 50 days of work. This is not counting as Uncle Wang, and your family has cattle. I would like to ask, who has enough land in the village with cattle so that six people can work for 60 days? Even if there is no cattle, 50 days is enough too much."
As soon as Wang Shuping said this, Wang Zhisong's expression changed, and Mrs. Wang also felt guilty. The villagers were all startled, and someone shouted: "Could it be that this is to covet the patriarch's money?!"
"Aunt Wang, you are too good at calculating. The patriarch gave three taels of silver to help your family hire people, and you still want to earn a share. You are counting all the wages of your family Are you inside?"
Wang Zhisong couldn't get off the stage in an instant. Wang Shuping was right in front of him. How could the old lady Wang, who had been acting out of character, dare to tease him, and said, "They are willing to do it for 12 cents a day, and I have to take the initiative to increase the money?"
"It's you who said that you can only give 12 coins a day! You won't give any more! We still have to pay for food!" The five people immediately shouted, "If it wasn't for the winter, who would take it!"
Mrs. Wang immediately had something to say: "Then you are willing to accept it!"
"You old woman is too unreasonable!"
Wang Shuping asked the five people aloud, "How long have you been employed?"
"Fifteen days."
"Wow!"
Immediately someone commented: "It's only 900 Wen in 15 days, Aunt Wang can spend more than two taels of silver!"
Mrs. Wang couldn't hold her face any longer, even Wang Zhisong couldn't hold it anymore. The woman cried: "It is said that scholars are reasonable, how can you scholars be so black-hearted."
Wang Shuping directly reached out to Mrs. Wang: "Aunt Wang, 900 Wen is not much, and my aunt should not be short of it. My father is sick and needs to see a doctor to get medicine. Since my aunt can afford the cost of hiring someone, then return the three taels of silver." give it to me."