Lin Dan was awakened by a burst of piercing cries, and when he stared at it, he saw that the little woman had already dyed her temples and her face mask was vicissitudes of life. She seemed to have aged ten years in the blink of an eye. Right kneeling two eights. The nine-year-old child kept calling the little woman to be a mother.
It was only then that Lin Dan realized that it wasn't that the little woman was getting old in the blink of an eye, but that she had been sleeping for too long, and ten years had passed in a flash. The little woman's house is more dilapidated than ten years ago, and there are white flags hanging on the beams, and two coffins are placed in the middle of the main room. Actually, both the parents-in-law and the mother-in-law have passed away. No wonder she cried so miserably. But what about the talent? The scholar who was supposed to be the mainstay of the family was nowhere to be seen. Only the neighbors came and went, helping the woman with various chores.
Lin Dan did not rashly ask about the situation of the family, but just watched silently. Seven days later, the woman's in-laws were buried in the ground, and the neighbors came one after another to ask the woman for the debts. .
The woman had neither the physical strength nor the skills to make a living, so she had to sell the family's fields and pay off the money owed for the burial of her in-laws. Seeing her frowning all day, the two children asked her what to do in the future. She only said that in the future, when Daddy returned home as a high official, he would naturally redeem all the fields in the family, and everyone's life would be much better than now.
The two children fell asleep with longing, but the woman covered her face and cried bitterly in the dead of night. She has long lost news of her husband, so how does she know if he can come back. If he could go back, ten years later, why didn't he go back? His parents are here, and his home is here. He only needs to follow the village road to return. How could it be delayed for so long? No matter how inconvenient it is, it would be nice to have someone send a letter!
Could it be that he encountered an accident outside, and it is already separated from heaven and man? Thinking of this, the woman cried more and more sadly, thinking that the family's fields were gone, and she would not be able to eat in the future, and she was even more worried.
Lin Dan couldn't stand it any longer, and said slowly, "Can you read?"
The woman was in shock and looked around, but she quickly recalled what happened ten years ago. She nodded and said, "I can read. You, are you still here?" In the past ten years, she has called this remnant soul many times, Didn't get a response, thought she either left or dissipated on her own, so she kept this still valuable jade pendant, thinking that if the husband is in urgent need in the future, he can use it for a few silver flowers. Unexpectedly, Xianggong left home one afternoon and never came back, and disappeared inexplicably.
"I originally thought about going to the town tomorrow and taking this jade pendant as a gift. My family is impoverished now, have you seen it?" the woman said cautiously.
Lin Dan's tone was calm: "With me here, this jade pendant is a priceless treasure. Why do you give up on the bottom line? I'll teach you a few ways to survive, so let's save you from trouble for the time being."
"Also ask the gods for advice!" The woman was already drowning, but if there was a driftwood, she would hug it regardless, and she would be afraid that Lin Dan was just a ghost. She hurriedly enshrined the jade pendant on the altar and worshipped again and again, thinking that she still had some incense candles at home, so she went to get it.
Lin Dan stopped her, "I don't need to make offerings, just grab a pen and paper and write down my words. I'll teach you several embroidery techniques, and I'll give you some medical principles. You can sell embroidery to save money, and If you can treat the neighbors and consolidate your connections, you can survive on this land.”
"Thank you gods for teaching me!" The woman quickly found the pen and paper left by Xiucai, and recorded Lin Dan's words in crooked words.
The two taught one and the other studied, and a year passed without knowing it. The woman was very savvy and quickly mastered several embroidery techniques and simple medical treatments. Not only did she pay off her family's debts, but she also saved some money. She also gained a lot of prestige for treating illnesses and saving people on weekdays. Orphans and widow mothers have never been bullied by their neighbors, and they even sent their eldest son to a private school to study and write.
Lin Dan is very knowledgeable and often teaches two children through the mouths of women, so the children grow up very well. The boy is extremely smart, he was born at the age of ten, and has a bright future in the future; A good hand at home.
Seeing that the woman's life was getting more and more prosperous, Lin Dan fell into a deep sleep again. It was another five years after opening his eyes, and he was woken up by a burst of crying, but he saw that this small mountain village had completely changed, and there were floods everywhere. In the mud left behind after the retreat, many corpses were lying in the muddy water, and they were soaked.
The surviving neighbors knelt in front of their homes and cried bitterly. Fortunately, the woman's children are still there, but they have lost a lot of weight. The once bright eyes are now covered with despair and death.
"Mother, what should we do in the future?" After five years, they asked again helplessly.
The woman's answer did not change: "It will be fine, when your father becomes a high official, he will come back to pick us up."
No, this small mountain village is already a highland, but it is still hit by floods. It can be seen that this entire state and pasture land cannot escape disaster. It is impossible for the court not to know about such a big thing, but as long as that Xiucai becomes an official, he can get news, but until now there is no news of him, it can be seen that he is either dead, or he will die as a woman and children, so what? Will be back? Lin Dan saw it through, but didn't say it, just reminded lightly: "Be careful of the epidemic, I will teach you a recipe for preventing and treating the plague, you can remember it..."
The woman has long been used to her elusive appearance, and even if she is surprised, she does not show it on her face. As long as the remnant soul is still there, she has the backbone, so she immediately went to the mountain to dig some herbs and returned to prevent the outbreak of the epidemic. Under her guidance, the survivors of this small mountain village also buried the bodies of their relatives in time, cleaned their houses, killed snakes, insects, rats and ants, and drank herbal juices to strengthen their bodies every day.
When the surrounding towns and villages were hit by the epidemic, only this small mountain village was very peaceful. More than a month later, the imperial court dispatched a large number of troops to confine the towns and towns where the epidemic was discovered. Anyone who tried to escape would be shot mercilessly with bows and arrows. Only the people in the small mountain villages escaped.
When everyone heard the news, they respected the woman even more, and delivered anything delicious to her house. The number of people who came to see a doctor was one after another. Those who had money paid more for the consultation, and those who had no money paid more for the consultation. Meaning, even so, the woman earned back her lost wealth in a very short period of time, and followed Lin Dan's advice to present the medicine to cure the disease to the imperial court.
The cure of the plague was undoubtedly a huge political achievement, so the county magistrate happily reported it to the prefect, and the prefect reported it to the governor... After March, in the sound of gongs and drums, the local county magistrate personally gave the woman Two hundred taels of silver, a land deed for 100 mu of fertile land, and a commendation order signed by the emperor himself were sent.
The woman's reputation in the local area was unprecedentedly high, and the house destroyed by the flood was rebuilt into a large brick house. In a few years, her son may be able to become a scholar, a scholar, a scholar, and then enter an official career; her daughter Will marry into the local famous family, live a life of fine clothes and jade food. As long as nothing goes wrong, the rest of her life should be peaceful and happy.
Lin Dan watched carefully for a while, and then became a little drowsy again. At this moment, a fellow businessman from abroad brought back news to the woman that she had seen her husband Xu Zuguang in the capital, and he was riding a tall horse. , wearing a green official robe, it should be soaring.
The woman was very excited when she heard the news, and when she even took out 10 taels of silver to reward her fellow villagers, she packed up her luggage and went to the capital to find her relatives when she got home. Not only did her children have no objections, but they were ecstatic. For more than ten years, whenever something was difficult in the family, their mother would tell them - it doesn't matter, when Dad becomes a high official, everything will be fine.
So there is a father who is a high-ranking official who has become the obsession of the children. Now that the obsession has come true, how can they still be sensible
Lin Dan has repeatedly warned women not to talk about the words "official father" all the time and to teach children to be independent Extremely paranoid when things happen. In her opinion, she is not the pillar of the family, only her husband is, even if this person has been absent for more than ten years.
"This matter should be discussed in the long run," Lin Dan said solemnly, "After more than ten years, it is impossible for him to be alone. Now that he has become an official, it is normal to have wives, concubines and children at home. If you go rashly, you will learn that He has set up another door, so what should he do with himself? If you want me to say, you can pay to hire a businessman to help you inquire about the news, and then talk about other things later. You have taken root here, with reputation, connections, If you have family wealth, it’s better not to leave unless you have to. Here, you are Lady Lin, whom everyone respects. When you go to the capital, who knows who you are?”
"What you said is wrong. Where is the husband, where is the place where my children and I take root. The so-called marrying a chicken follows a chicken and a dog follows a dog. This is the case. You don't know my husband, he is the most upright, and He has a deep love for me and will never marry another wife and concubine. If he doesn't come back, there will be difficulties for him. Why don't I take my children to find him and give him a surprise." The woman said with conviction.
Lin Dan knew that the woman had been dizzy by that Xu Xiucai and could not listen to the persuasion, so he kept his mouth shut.
The woman was cruel, and this time she vowed to find her husband, otherwise she would never return to her hometown, so she sold the house and land, leaving no way for herself and her children. Lin Dan tried to persuade several times to no avail, so he could only sit on the sidelines, and just before he set off, he said: "You can leave out everything else, but the tablets of your parents-in-law, your marriage certificate and your husband's marriage certificate, the court's award order, these three You must not lose anything. The road is difficult and dangerous, you are a weak woman, and you cannot protect a pair of children. Why don’t you spend some money to hire a caravan to give you a ride.”
The woman seemed to be fed up with Lin Dan's sermons, so she did not respond, but silently did as she did. Seeing that she put the marriage certificate into the package at will, Lin Dan said again: "The marriage certificate and the awards will make you hide it better. I remember that there are traps under these two tablets, so you can hide them there. If you don't have the marriage certificate, you can go here. The future is still unknown, without the award order, it will be difficult to gain a foothold, so it is better to be careful."
The woman pouted impatiently, but she still pulled away the pedestals of the tablets of the father-in-law and mother-in-law, and hid the commendation order and the marriage certificate in the mezzanine.