Anyway, Zhou Chengkang bought snacks and fabric embroidery thread for her and the children with the money he brought, and he didn't pay for the expenses during this period.
"It's a lot of money." Zhou Chengkang led Xi Yu and said in a low voice, "There are so many people living in the inn, eating and drinking, and what's more, all the money picked up by the elder brother in front has been returned. Because some of them were bought by them." After buying the jewelry, my sister-in-law even went to pawn the jewelry. It is said that she bought it for seven or eight taels of silver, and finally got four taels of silver. It probably cost more than twenty taels."
"They should have quite a lot left from earlier, and later sold the yard..."
Li Qinghe raised his eyebrows, "Should there be any left?"
"Even if there are leftovers, there shouldn't be much left." Zhou Chengkang said casually, "They have skills, so as long as they are still there, they will definitely not starve to death."
This is also true, that tofu can make a lot of money in a year.
The atmosphere was not bad, and Mrs. Mei was very happy. Although the money was spent, the person was rescued. Zhang Haiyao was also very happy. She went to the county town this time and stayed at home for two days, so she could continue to come and go again. It didn't matter to Li Qingmiao, but it was always a good thing that someone returned safely after being away for nearly two months. The only one who was unhappy was probably Boss Zhou.
He huddled in a corner and ate in silence. He didn't talk much, he ate voraciously. He lost a lot of weight, so he must have suffered a lot.
When someone asks a question, he just answers, and never takes the initiative to speak.
It doesn't matter to everyone if you don't like to talk, but after spending such a lot of effort to rescue people, you don't even say thank you, and you always feel uncomfortable.
However, this is my elder brother, what else can I do
At most, there will be less communication in the future.
After a meal, Li Qinghe helped clean up the dishes and planned to go home after finishing.
But it might as well be that there was a sudden quarrel in the main room, it was Zhou's mother's voice, angry and puzzled, "If you don't go, what are you doing if you don't go?"
Then there was Boss Zhou's gruff voice, "I farm the land. Anyway, the land is enough to feed our family after the separation."
When Li Qinghe and two entered the door, they saw Mrs. Mei covering her face and crying in the room, and Xili next to her was also frightened. This child has been taken by Mrs. Mei recently. After going to the county town, so many people together did not treat her badly He, however, was also affected by the tense atmosphere. He was so frightened that he was about to cry, his eyes were red.
When Mei saw him, she hugged him, and the mother and son began to cry.
"What's the matter?" Zhou Chengkang asked aloud, "It's a good thing that big brother is back, this time it's a narrow escape, just live a good life in the future."
I really didn't say this, but fortunately, I met the magistrate of Lin County, and Zhou Chengkang was the guarantee. Zhou Chengwen must not have killed anyone, so I will investigate thoroughly. If it were a county magistrate who was not so patient, with the idea that he would rather kill by mistake than let it go, Boss Zhou would never come back.
You know, the two robbers were sentenced to be beheaded by Qiu Ri. If Lin Zhixian hadn't been sitting on it, he would have been in death row waiting for Qiu Ri to be beheaded.
It's still not allowed to collect corpses!
Boss Zhou was standing by the table with a serious face and confronting Zhou's mother, but now he squatted down suddenly, holding his head and crying.
The family of three cried, and Zhou's mother's eye circles were also red.
Zhang Haiyao quietly touched Li Qinghe's side, and said in a low voice, "Just now my sister-in-law said that she will start selling tofu tomorrow, but my brother is not willing."
Boss Zhou over there howled, "As soon as I went to the street, so many people stared at me! Some even came up and asked me if I had killed anyone? They said I had been in prison for two months... Call me a thief!"
Hearing what he said, Li Qinghe realized in his heart that he probably couldn't accept the strange eyes of everyone.
But in fact, people are just curious.
Live your own life, it will be fine after a while.
She thought so, and Zhou's mother over there had already said so, "It's just that promising. It's not that I want to force you out, but if you don't go out, others will be more curious and ask the bottom line. If they ask you, just say it. Yes That thick-skinned guy, who lived in prison for two months, is still bragging capital, why is it so hard to accept it when he comes to you?"
"When you picked up those bags of silver, didn't you ever think that today would happen?"
"Don't mention that money." Boss Zhou yelled, "The thing I regret most in my life is picking up those bags of money!"
"No matter how much you regret it, it has already happened, and I didn't let you pick it up." Zhou's mother was not afraid of him, "What's the use of you being fierce with me? If you have the ability to go out and be fierce to others!"
She looked at the mother and son who were crying in each other's arms, and scolded, "Meihua, you will make tofu tomorrow morning and give it to him. If you don't go, get the hell out of here. See if you have nothing to eat or drink. Do you want more?" Face? Let me see, it's just idle!"
Li Qinghe and the two secretly backed out and went home.
"Elder brother still feel embarrassed?" Quite surprised.
But thinking about it again, no one can say that he is hypocritical since the matter did not fall on him. After all, for the simple village, whether he is really guilty or not is a matter of discussion for two months in prison. And in the eyes of the villagers, anyone who goes to prison is not a good person.
"It will be fine after a while." Zhou Chengkang disagreed.
What Zhou's mother said was right, he didn't want to go, it was not the end of the day.
The more it is at this time, the more open and frank it is. According to their previous intentions, they still want to send Xili to study in the town in the future. If Boss Zhou is guilty now, it will inevitably make people look sideways when Xili is in the town in the future. Besides, if you only farm the land, it may be very difficult to support a scholar.
The more frank he is now, the less people will talk about it in the future.
The next morning, because Zhou Chengkang hadn't come back for a long time, many things in the house needed to be added, so the two went to the town early in the morning. When the carriage came, he hurriedly waved, "Fourth, take me for a ride."
When others came up, Li Qinghe asked curiously, "Where's your carriage?"
Boss Zhou was silent for a while, "It's sold."
In fact, I can't blame her. Zhou Chengkang hasn't mentioned this yet. In fact, when the husband and wife are alone, they don't talk much about other people's families, especially the boss Zhou.
Seeing him walking on the road now, Li Qinghe just asked casually. Seeing Boss Zhou's complexion was not very good, she knew that she had said something wrong, and she was really embarrassed in the carriage, so she went outside to sit with the father and son.
When they arrived at the entrance of the town, Zhou Chengkang put down the people. Zhou Chengkang saved the carriage and took his wife and children to the street. Today’s fair was very lively in the town, and the autumn harvest will start again in a while. Now these people are busy preparing farm tools at hand. Quite lively.
The family of three went shopping for half a day, bought things, and went to the jewelry store in the town. It's not for buying things, but Xu's side asks them to send a few letters back every year.
Sometimes when Li Qinghe came to town, he would stop by to ask, this time he really did.
Take it and open it, Xu's letter said that after the autumn harvest, she will bring Bin'er back to live for a while.
Since she left the town, the mother and daughter have not seen each other for several years, and Li Qinghe misses her quite a bit. The man asked them to look at the jewelry, but the two refused with a smile. Zhou Chengkang brought some for her when he came back earlier, and the ones in the town were inferior to those in the county in terms of workmanship and style.
After going out, the family of three planned to go home. It was already noon, and there were many fewer people on the street. When the two arrived at the entrance of the town, they carried Xi Yu into the carriage. Li Qinghe bypassed the carriage from the other side, and suddenly saw a person squatting in front of her. She was so frightened that her heart jumped. People, she was a little speechless, "Brother, why are you still here?"
The one squatting behind the carriage was Boss Zhou. The two buckets of tofu next to him were still full and hadn't moved at all.
"I..." Boss Zhou tugged at his hair, "I dare not go over."
Zhou Chengkang stretched out his hand to pull him, "Actually, you are worrying too much, not many people know you." He picked up Tofu and dragged him to the entrance of the town. Many people are going home now, and there are many people passing by. Seeing all the tofu crowding up, within a few breaths, half the barrel was sold.
On the other hand, someone found out that it was Boss Zhou, and asked him with a smile, "Are you all right? They say there are no beds in the prison, is it true?"
Just curious, no malice.
Boss Zhou felt better, and besides, he learned to greet people with a smiling face in business, so he couldn't keep a straight face, so he forced a smile and said, "If you don't have a bed, you can sleep on hay."
Hearing this, everyone around shook their heads, "It's a shame, but it's summer, if it's winter, wouldn't it be cold to death?"
Zhou Chengkang only helped him for a few breaths, and then returned home with his wife and children.
In the days that followed, Boss Zhou went there every day, from the embarrassment at the beginning to the calmness later. After a long time, I found out that what his mother said was true. People asked and asked, and when their curiosity was satisfied, they stopped asking.
In the blink of an eye, in mid-July, the villagers began to dig sweet potatoes. This thing is indeed full, but it is also laborious, and it has to be dug out of the soil one by one. The advantage is that the dug soil has been turned over again.
Li Qinghe still hired people, just the two of them couldn't do much.
Busy and busy, the autumn harvest is over, and the cellars and warehouses of each family are full. In fact, after having sweet potatoes, no one in the village is really hungry. Even in the town next door, or even the county seat next door, with sweet potatoes, they can fill their stomachs even in difficult times.
Farmers have worked hard for a year, in fact, to fill their stomachs.
On an autumn night, Xu's carriage arrived.
Seeing you again after a few years, there are a few wrinkles around Xu's eyes, and Bin'er has grown taller, it seems that nothing has changed.
It was already night when they arrived, taking advantage of the moonlight to enter the door, Mrs. Xu sent the coachman away, leaving behind a woman and Bin'er's book boy.
Ask Mrs. Chen to prepare hot water for them to wash, and then go to the kitchen to cook for them.
After washing, Xu leaned against the door of the kitchen in a muslin shirt, and watched her cook with a smile, "Qing He, I'm sorry."
Li Qinghe was startled, and couldn't help laughing, "Mom, why would you say that?"
Mrs. Xu didn't answer these words, and smiled, "Fortunately, I see that you are doing well, so I am relieved."
There is no way to answer these words. The mother and daughter are very close after not seeing each other for several years, and they will be out of touch if they talk about it. Li Qinghe changed the topic and asked with a smile, "How long do you plan to stay?"
"What? Are you going to drive me away when I just arrived?" Xu asked back with a smile, and she became more serious after asking, "In the future, I may have to live in the village instead of going to the county town."