The wooden box was about half a foot long, and was cushioned with a piece of bright satin, on which was placed a wooden hairpin and a pair of earrings.
The hairpin is made of old peach wood and is dark brown overall. The head of the hairpin is a hibiscus flower, the root is covered with silver, and the stamen is embedded with a hibiscus stone the size of half a fingernail.
The hibiscus stone is of good quality. Although it is not big, it is very transparent. The texture is round and the color is delicate, just like a delicate blooming hibiscus flower, living up to the name of its hibiscus stone.
In terms of color matching and craftsmanship, it can be regarded as the top grade among wooden hairpins.
The pair of earrings are also made of the same material as the hairpin. They are in the shape of water droplets. They look simple and elegant, yet charming. My daughter's family will like it when they see it.
Zhao'er is also a daughter's home, and she likes beautiful things, but she is too busy in her day and she was too poor before, so she can't afford such things. At this time, there were so many pieces of jewelry in front of her, which were bought for her by the little man, and she felt a sense of joy inexplicably.
Seeing the happy look between her brows, Xue Tingxiang breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that she would say that he wasted money again.
Just thinking about it in my heart, I heard Zhao'er ask: "How much did it cost to buy it, it's definitely not cheap, right?"
Xue Tingxiang wanted to say a few or dozens of words, but it was obvious that she would not believe it, so she could only tell the truth.
As soon as I heard that it cost a tael of silver, Zhao'er felt a pain in her heart, but the pain was not obvious. It's also that she makes a lot of money in business these days. She spends all the money with a tael of silver, and she has a dozen taels and only spends a tael. The psychological feelings of the two are different.
She also wondered where the little man got the money. He spent a lot of money on copying the book. Could it be that he copied another book
Thinking of this, she was a little moved, and said, "Is it the money I made from copying books? Just buy it when you buy it, and I'll supply you later."
"I do not want!"
Zhao'er was still thinking about whether 'I don't want' or not, and heard him ask again, "Do you like it?"
She raised her head to look at him, the little man's eyes were dark and bright, with a wet feeling like a little puppy. It reminded her that when she brought back Hei Zi, who was a son of a bitch, from the Jiang family, Hei Zi looked at her like this, and even licked her palm with her pink tongue.
Now that Heizi has grown into a big dog, and the little man has grown up, he knows that he is distressed and will buy hairpins to honor her.
Zhao'er couldn't help but reached out and rubbed his head: "I like it, but I like it. It's just that I don't have pierced ears, so I can't wear these earrings."
When Xue Tingxiang was so rubbed that she wanted to shake her head, she heard what she said, and subconsciously looked at her earlobe.
Zhao'er's earlobes are very cute, fleshy, and crystal clear. In the old country folk saying, people with such earlobes are blessed.
He had a feeling that he wanted to bite on it, and felt inexplicably tight: "May I help you put it on?"
"Wear it now? Look at how messy my hair is."
"I'll put it on for you!"
Seeing this, Zhao'er could only say goodbye, and put his head to where Xue Tingxiang was. Seeing that there was some disagreement, she squatted down again.
Xue Tingxiang took out the hairpin from the box and inserted it along her bun. And the back end, the more you look, the more beautiful it looks. Until Zhao'er couldn't help but asked, "Are you all right?"
He hurriedly retracted his hand and coughed to cover up: "Okay."
"Does it look good?" Zhao'er stood up and turned her head awkwardly. This is the first time she wears this kind of hairpin from her daughter's house. Before, she used to tie her hair with a headband.
Even though the hairpin was not heavy, she just felt as if the weight on her head suddenly increased.
"Don't you think it's weird?"
Xue Tingxiang shook his head: "It's beautiful."
"That's it." She still couldn't help but went to the mirror at home to take a look.
The mirror is very old and broken, and the mirror surface is full of prints. In addition, due to poor workmanship, the light is not very clear, and the shadow is blurred. Zhao'er looked at it again and again, but still couldn't see clearly, so she put down the mirror in discouragement and said, "I'm going to cook, you rest in the room for a while."
She put the box on the kang table, took a piece of meat from the basket under the square table, and went out.
Zhao'er and Zhou's voices came from the yard, Xue Tingxiang took out his book and read it. Even though there are dense small characters in front of her eyes, her thin white neck and cute earlobes always appear inexplicably.
For dinner, Zhao'er made oily pork, stewed tofu with yellow croaker, fried white song and yam slices, and made a pot of rice. It's white rice. Xia County doesn't produce rice, so Zhao'er bought it at the rice shop with money. Not willing to buy more, I bought five pounds.
The portion of the dish is a bit too much, Zhao'er took a big bowl out, and put the rest in another bowl. At this time, there was a noise in the yard, but it was the father and son of the big house who came back.
"Zhou Shi, hurry up and cook."
The Zhou family had already prepared the dishes, and the rice was cooked in the pot, just waiting for the father and son of the big house to come back to cook the dishes. It just so happened that the trick was finished at the moment, so she gave the stove to her.
It took Zhao'er twice to bring the food back to the house. She asked Xue Tingxiang to eat first, and she went to the kitchen to bring the bowl of meat dishes to the main room.
In the main room, Mr. Zhao was pulling Xue Juncai to ask questions.
Zhao'er walked in and said to Elder Xue who was sitting on the kang with a smile, "Grandpa, I made some dishes and gave some to you and Grandma, as a tribute to me and the dog."
"You've got your mind, let's have dinner together."
Zhao'er smiled and shook his head: "No, I still have a bowl left. The dog said that he was hungry when he came back. I was planning to wait for Juncai to come back. Who would have thought that he would come back so late, so I made the meal ahead of time. I have eaten it now, I will go back to the house to eat, thank you grandpa."
Mr. Xue didn't say much, and Zhao'er turned around and went out.
Back in the second house, Xue Tingxiang hadn't moved his chopsticks.
The four dishes on the kang table were neatly arranged, and the rice was served, one bowl in front of each person.
Zhao'er took off her shoes and got on the kang, and said, "Why don't you eat?"
"I'll wait for you."
"What are you waiting for, let's eat."
The two were eating, and Zhao'er asked him about things in the academy, such as how well he slept, whether there was anyone bullying him, and trivial words about whether the husband was strict or not.
Xue Tingxiang said everything.
Glancing at her, he hesitated and asked, "Are you doing business with Jiang Wu now? The clothes are not sold out yet?"
Zhao'er gave him a chopstick dish: "It's sold out a long time ago, so I brought back two more bags. You don't know, those clothes sell well and make a lot of money."
Of course Xue Tingxiang could see that, with Zhao'er's temperament, if she hadn't made money, she wouldn't have spent money recklessly. However, Zhao'er is not a squeamish person. She is just used to planning. After all aspects are accounted for, she will spend when there is excess.
"After this trip is over, don't go." He said casually.
"Why?"
why? He definitely wouldn't say that he ate that Jiang Wu's vinegar.
"You are a woman, and you usually run outside, which makes it easy for people to gossip."
Zhao'er put down the bowl in his hand: "Who is gossiping, did you listen to what Ama said? You don't know her temper. It's not pleasing to both of us, so she's staring at us to pick on us."
Xue Tingxiang's voice was muffled: "I didn't listen to anyone. Our family is not short of money now. Why do you have to go out so hard."
"I don't think it's hard work. We're short of money, but you don't think so. Do you think studying light beam repair is enough? Do you need money to buy books? I want money. You forgot that my uncle went out to take the exam, at least 20 taels of silver will be spent. I also plan to build a house in the open space. Our family has only one room, and it will definitely not be enough to live in in the future. Live with them Together, we usually go in and out under the eyelids, and it’s inconvenient to do anything…”
"I can earn all of this, and I don't need you to work around like a woman!" Xue Tingxiang's voice was a little louder.
"You can earn? How can you earn? Copy books?" Zhao'er looked at him very seriously: "Actually, I don't want you to copy that book. What you should do now is to study hard in the academy, although I don't know what big It makes sense, but I also know you can't turn it upside down."
"It's called putting the cart before the horse."
"Yes, you shouldn't put the cart before the horse. You must focus on the key points. The reason you are asked to go to the school is to study hard, not to copy books for money."
"Copying books will not delay my studies."
"Anyway, you don't have to worry about family affairs, and you don't have to worry about making money. You can study hard."
Xue Tingyan sighed and looked at her: "Zhao'er, you like silver so much? You can earn silver slowly, you don't have to strain yourself so tightly."
Zhao'er was shocked, and after a while, she lowered her eyes and said, "I like silver." I like it, I like it very much.
The two of them didn't talk anymore, because Zhao'er's expression and attitude were enough to tell him that she didn't want to talk anymore, and Xue Tingxiang didn't dare to say any more even though she had a thousand words.
After dinner, Zhao'er tidied up the kang table and took out the bowl to wash.
Xue Tingxiang wanted to help her, but she refused.
The main room has already eaten, it is very lively, and it seems that the courtyard is quiet.
Zhao'er poured a basin of water and threw the bowl in it. She stared blankly for a while before she moved.
She likes silver, and has liked it since she was a child.
When the couple died, no one knew what Zhao'er had gone through. The warmth brought to her by the second room and the couple was too short-lived. The joy of those warm laughter was clearly still in front of her eyes, but it was gone all of a sudden. She didn't have time to be sad, she had to start struggling to earn what she deserved.
From the funeral to the erection of the monument, the tricks at that time were like a mad beast who could not provoke her. After everything was over, she finally regained her senses, but it didn't take long for her to discover that the couple in the big room were different.
It was only now that she regained her instincts and remembered that her greatest wish was to have a lot of money. In fact, many problems can be solved with money, but without money, all tragedies happen.
For example, her sister was sold, for example, she was almost sold, but she was bought by the second family and her husband, such as the death of the second house and her husband, such as all the contradictions in the Xue family.
Short of money
In fact, there is no shortage of them now. After these few business trips, in just ten days, Zhao'er also earned a dozen taels of silver after deducting what was distributed to Jiang Wu.
Enough for her and the little man for a year. When the grain is collected during the autumn harvest, the family will not be short of money, but Zhao'er still feels that it is not enough.
…
In the main room, there was a table of people eating.
Today, the Zhao family deliberately bought meat and killed the chicken. The food was not bad, but the bowl of vegetables that Zhao'er brought was not as popular.
It is also a trick to cook, and the craftsmanship is good. The oily meat is oily and smooth, with black fungus and cabbage, and a lot of small red peppers. It tastes spicy and fragrant. The whole family stretched out their chopsticks intentionally or unintentionally, and in a while, a bowl of dishes was gone.
Yang was about to stretch out his hand to pick up the dishes, but Xue Qinghuai picked up the last chopstick in an uninteresting manner. She was a little unhappy: "This trick is too chicken thief. When you make it, you can hide it in the house and eat it. So many of us only carry this bowl."
Xue Juncai was there when he was sending the dishes to his son just now, and he whispered, "Mother, eat as much as you want. What are you talking about?"
Mrs Yang would also be interested, and hurriedly said: "Mother is not just saying something casually. By the way, mother, do you know what Zhao'er is doing recently? Why can't I see her every day."
As soon as she mentioned this, Mrs Zhao answered: "Who knows what she is doing, she can't see anyone all day long, and she'll be back when it's getting dark." After speaking, Mrs Zhao got angry and went to tell Mr. Xue. : "This family is now separated, and I can't control anyone. I said a few words to her before, but she still blocked me with words. Which women's family is like her. They don't go home every day, and they usually follow a big man in and out. Yes. Then what is Jiang Wu's idea in the Jiang family, isn't it because he likes the trick?"
Old Master Xue reprimanded: "What are you talking about! I heard the fourth child say that Zhao'er seems to be doing business with Jiang Wu." Xue Qinghuai, who was named and surnamed, nodded hurriedly.
It's also a coincidence. Before, he went to other villages to sell goods. He shouted for a long time and no one came out. Later, he realized that everyone was in the wheat field.
Looking at it in the past, it is estimated that most of the people in the village have come, and it is crowded with people. The men were all squatting outside chatting and smoking, the children were playing next to them, but the women had no idea what they were doing in a pile.
I only knew that after a while, I heard a woman in the crowd shouting: "Head of the house, bring the things here."
The head of his family immediately stood up and pulled out a basket from behind his buttocks. The others in the crowd laughed at him: "I don't know how much your family has lost. Look at what you have brought with you this time."
The man chuckled: "My mother is not a prodigal, she usually picks it up, it's not something this lucky little brother is good for, after buying this time, our family doesn't have to worry about it for a few years. ." Having said that, the man walked over with the basket.
It's also strange, before they were crowded as if they were robbing money, but now the man asked someone to help hand the baskets inside, but they all stopped and handed them in one by one.
Xue Qinghuai was surprised, what the hell is this robbing? Only later did he find out that it was a robbing of clothes.
It is still the clothes sold by Zhao'er, together with Jiang Wu.
However, these Xue Qinghuai did not say anything, only said that they saw Zhao'er and Jiang Wu doing business.
"Besides, Zhao'er is Gou'er's daughter-in-law. When Gou'er passes fifteen, the two will have a marriage marriage. No one in the village knows that Jiang Hai was with the second child, and Jiang Wu and Zhao'er grew up together. The big one, how can a girl's family do business, and Jiang Wu can be at ease, don't think about it."
Zhao Shi snorted and said nothing.
"And the eldest daughter-in-law, Zhao'er doesn't have much choice in her work. She didn't eat it herself, so she gave your mother and me a bowl. Such a big bowl also cost a lot of meat, and there are too many of us. If any of you have this kind of filial piety one day, your mother and I will both be happy to lie in the coffin with our eyes closed."
Mr. Xue drank some wine, and his face was black and red, but he could see that he was very happy. The family separation had always been on his mind, he was afraid that several sons would be divided because of the separation, and just taking advantage of this, he rarely beat the big room, which was considered a statement.
Yang Shi originally wanted to instigate, but who knew that it would be boring to ask for it, and was beaten by her father-in-law, so she didn't dare to say a word immediately.
Xue Qingshan said on the sidelines: "Dad, don't worry, who dares not be filial to you and your mother, I can't spare him the first one."
"That's fine."
Old Man Xue glanced at him, then took a sip of the wine glass, and that's all.