Brother Zhao Jin stood blankly, not daring to answer.
Zhao Liushi said again: "Why don't you think Leng didn't tell me, and let Jiang Zhen burn all the earthen pots at home. Even if you have money now, you can't waste things like this..."
Zhao Jinge still didn't respond, and slowly moved to the bed, intending to lie back on the bed—Jiang Zhen closed the door when he went out, but it didn't stop there. In the case that the door bolt inside was not fastened, the door can be said to be Open with a push.
If his mother suddenly pushes the door and comes in...
Fortunately, Zhao Liushi left after saying a few words without hearing a response. She only thought that Zhao Jinge was still asleep, so she didn't make a sound, so she didn't disturb her son's sleep.
Zhao Jinge sat on the bed and found that his mother was gone, and heaved a long sigh of relief, only to realize that the quilt he was wrapped around was actually covered with black and gray.
After Jiang Zhen lit the fire last night, although he did a simple cleaning this morning, he did not clean up all the ashes on the ground. He was a little frightened just now and accidentally dragged the quilt to the ground.
The quilt was dragged on the ground, and inevitably it would be stained with a lot of ash, and the corners of the quilt are now black...
After wrapping the quilt again and taking the clothes back, Zhao Jinge started to remove the quilt cover after getting dressed, ready to wash it.
At this time, Zhao Liu found that Jiang Zhen not only tossed away a few crock pots last night...
There was less egg oil and bacon in the kitchen, no leftovers, and the bag of charcoal bought with money was gone.
She did smell the faint scent from her son's room last night. The two of them went to cook at night
It's so frustrating!
Mrs. Zhao Liu couldn't be idle, so she took the initiative to wash the rice, but the cook was done by Mrs. Li, the fire was cooked by Jiang Xiaomei, and Ruo'er helped to wash the vegetables.
When Zhao Liu was free, he went outside, only to see his son washing the quilt.
"Brother Jin, I just washed this quilt for you before, why did you wash it again?" Zhao Liushi asked with a frown.
"It's stained with dust." Zhao Jinge said.
Zhao Liu took a look and found that the water he washed was black, and the quilt was probably stained with ashes: "Jiang Zhen came out to wash the sheets this morning because it was stained with ashes, right? Are you? Didn't you knock the copper foot stove over on the bed? You must be more careful in the future."
"Yeah." Zhao Jinge bowed his head and responded, and after hearing that Jiang Zhen had washed the sheets, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Also, don't let Jiang Zhen wash the sheets in the future. When others see it, they will definitely think that we treat him harshly as a door-to-door son-in-law, so he will be a big man to wash the sheets." Zhao Liushi said again, moving a The small stool was going to help Zhao Jinge wash, but after realizing that the water was cold, he frowned again: "Why do you wash with cold water? Are you afraid of freezing on such a cold day?!"
Brother Zhao Jin was driven back to the house, and Zhao Liu asked Ruo'er to wash the quilt together. The two of them were both weak, each holding one end, slowly twisting it up before wringing it dry, and then drying it together with Jiang Zhen's washed sheets.
When Jiang Zhen came back, he saw that the sheets and quilt cover were drying together and fluttering in the wind.
He Xicun doesn't pay much attention to the morning meal. In the past, when Zhao Liu's breakfast was cooked, he always had porridge, that is, the side dishes would be changed every day. There are more patterns.
For example, today, I eat rice porridge with green vegetable buns.
The green vegetables were kneaded by Li's hands with salt last night. After marinating for one night, they have the fragrance of fresh green vegetables, and because the water is marinated and kneaded out, it is not like fresh green vegetables after steaming them in buns. It became soft and rotten and tasted good.
Brother Zhao Jin liked this bun very much, and it was better to eat it with porridge.
Jiang Zhen also liked this steamed bun, and also ate a lot of it. After eating it, he told him that he and Zhao Jinge were going to Fucheng.
"Those goods should be sold quickly." Zhao Fugui nodded and had no objection at all, but Zhao Liushi blamed Brother Zhao Jin: "Why do you have to take Brother Jin? Is he pestering him to go? What? This kid, running outside with a big belly is too outrageous!"
"Mother, it's just to go to Fucheng, it's fine." Jiang Zhendao, Zhao Jinge's situation, it is really not suitable to travel far, but if it is only a day's journey to Fucheng, then there is no problem at all.
Zhao Jinge: "..." Mother, you asked me to follow...
Zhao Liu said a few words to Zhao Jinge, and then began to tell Zhao Jinge what to bring: "If it's cold today, it's best to bring more quilts, mother, and I'll find someone to make some quilts for you, as well as food. to drink, and bring a little…”
Zhao Liu said that he would do it. After breakfast, he called someone he knew in the village to help make the quilt.
Every household in Hexi Village raises silkworms, but they don’t grow much cotton. The quilts they cover are all silk quilts. However, silk is good for quilts, but not suitable for mattresses on the bed, so the quilts are basically made of cotton. made.
When Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge got married, Zhao Liu paid someone to help make thick cotton mattresses and pulled two silk quilts.
After the silkworms raised by the people in Hexi Village form cocoons, most of them will be sold for money, but some will be kept for their own households. They will cook these cocoons in a pot, and then soak them in water for a few days. .
After a few days, the woman or the pair will peel the boiled and soaked cocoon, dig out the silkworm chrysalis inside, and then pull it open and wrap it on the hand. Square silk flakes.
After this thing is dried, it is called a cotton pocket by the people of Hexi Village. When making a quilt or a silk cotton jacket, they will take it out and lay one or two door panels. Finally, two people stand on both sides of the door panel and put the cotton pockets Pull it open, cover it layer by layer on the door panel with the quilt cover, and finally pull out the silk quilt.
The Zhao family has not raised silkworms for many years. Not only did Zhao Liu not prepare a cotton pocket, but he also forgot his skill in pulling quilts, so he spent money to buy a few kilograms of cotton pockets from someone, and then hired a few people to help pull the quilt. Quilt.
Even though the northern silk is very expensive, in Hexi Village, the price of cotton pockets is not expensive. If you find someone to help you pull the quilt, you only need to manage a meal.
Given that the Zhao family's food was so good, the women in the village were scrambling to come.
The Zhao family immediately became lively, and finally Zhao Liu simply found a few cotton jackets and asked people to help them make new ones.
"Sister Liu, your current life is really getting better." Some people sighed when they saw that Zhao Liu was wearing a gold hairpin on his head.
"Yeah." Zhao Liushi said, unable to help but laugh.
"Although your brother Jin's marriage came late, he is lucky, and his life will be better in the future." Another humane said.
When Zhao Liushi heard this, he immediately nodded in agreement.
She didn't want to show off at first, but after being complimented a few times, she couldn't help it: "My brother Jin is lucky, the matchmaker He used to say that it's not easy for him to have children... Look at him. How long has it been since we got married! I'm pregnant!"
"But now, he's really getting more and more squeamish. It was too cold last night, so let Jiang Zhen light a pot for him, and even burn a bag of charcoal."
"In the middle of the night, it's still pork and eggs, and most people can't stand him."
…
Zhao Liushi was talking happily when someone suddenly touched her with his elbow.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Liu asked.
"Zhao Liu, Jiang Zhen treats Brother Zhao Jin well, we know it, but... I just want to tell you the truth... This Jiang Zhen is a big man, or a promising man, you have to be good to him. a little."
"Yeah, I heard that you also let him do laundry... This is inappropriate."
"Don't treat people too badly, or if he runs away..."
…
Zhao Liushi suddenly felt a little wronged.
Zhao Liu was pulled by some of his friends to talk, and Jiang Xiaomei suddenly rushed in from the outside excitedly: "Aunt Zhao! Aunt Zhao, my brother got a horse back! A horse! It's the first time I've seen it. To the horse!"
"Horse?" Zhao Liushi was shocked, and the people who were pulling the quilt were also curious.
"The horse has already entered the village!" Jiang Xiaomei said again.
The people in the room ran out in a hurry. After they went out, they saw a majestic horse standing not far from the Zhao family.
In the countryside of Hexi Village, cattle can still be seen. Although there are no cattle in their village, there are people in the next village who raise cattle.
But horses are very rare, and they can occasionally see horses pulling carriages in the county town.
And this horse, in the eyes of the big guys, is very precious, something that only big families can use, and now, Jiang Zhen has actually brought back a horse!
People were standing far away, and they didn't dare to approach the horse at all, but they were reluctant to leave.
This horse was brought back by Jiang Zhen.
After taking Ma Lian and the carriage back to Hecheng County, Jiang Zhen suddenly discovered that the carriage could not be used here at all.
Not only that, the horse has become very uneasy after sitting on the boat for a long time, but there is no one under his hand who can serve the horse...
Jiang Zhen thought about it, and simply put the horse in foster care in the Zheng family, and chose one person from the people he rescued to learn how to raise a horse from the groom of the Zheng family.
Half a month has passed, and the horse has been raised. The person who serves the horse has become familiar with the horse and can take care of the horse. Jiang Zhen brought the horse from the Zheng family to He Xicun. .
As for the carriage... I couldn't use it for the time being, and I was reluctant to use such a good carriage to load goods, so I left it at Zheng's house.
Jiang Zhen actually got a horse back from the capital! Zhao Liu looked at the horse and felt very proud, but he was a little afraid of horses much taller than himself, so he just didn't dare to go forward...
Before setting off for Fucheng, Jiang Zhen did a lot of things. In addition to bringing the horse home from the county, he also taught the two families a lesson.
One of them is Zhao Liu's family.
When Zhao Liu's family made trouble at the wedding of Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge, they were beaten by Jiang Zhen, and Jiang Zhen also asked them to pay back the money... As a result, they just couldn't pay it back.
Jiang Zhen had a lot of things to do at the time, so he didn't care about them. Later, he went to the capital, and he didn't care about them anymore. It made them have a comfortable life. This time I heard that Jiang Zhen had made money and came back, and he tried to go to Zhao The family hit the autumn wind and asked Zhao Liushi for money.
Although Zhao Liu's family was sold by them at the beginning, they still felt that Zhao Liu's family had to take care of her family when she had money. After all, she was also surnamed Liu.
It's just that they had a good idea, but before they could implement it, Jiang Zhen's men in their village told Jiang Zhen their plan, and then...
Before they could see Zhao Liu, they were beaten by Jiang Zhen's men. Not only that, but the money they borrowed from Zhao Liu was doubled.
This silver, Jiang Zhen found an opportunity to give it to Zhao Liu.
Zhao Liushi didn't know that this was coming back from her own family, and it was considered Jiang Zhenjiao's family. Jiang Zhen had given her money several times before, but he always said that it was family.
Of course, Zhao Liu's family didn't use it much, so he saved them all and wanted to leave them to his grandson in the future.
Jiang Zhen didn't explain to Zhao Liushi, just smiled and went to do other things.
The second family Jiang Zhen taught was Liang Fufa, who once wanted to buy Jiang Xiaomei.
Originally, this Liang Fufa had nothing to do with Jiang Zhen, but... Jiang Zhen accidentally learned that after they didn't buy Jiang Xiaomei, they coaxed a little girl in another village, thinking about marrying someone without spending money , let the little girl make cows and horses for their family.
Jiang Zhen didn't teach him a lesson in person, so he just let his subordinates beat Liang Fufa, let him feel the feeling of being beaten, and learned that his former wife had already hid back to her parents' home and did not want to be with him anymore. After living, he also helped the woman to get a separation document.
Such men who like to beat women might as well let them not marry women!
After Jiang Zhen returned from the capital, he lived in Hexi Village for twenty days, and at this time, it was already December.
It won't be long before the Chinese New Year. If he doesn't sell the goods again... He will stay for the New Year.
With Zhao Jinge and his own fleet, Jiang Zhen left Hecheng County and went to Fucheng.
As the Chinese New Year approached, Fucheng became very lively, and all kinds of things were easy to sell. After Jiang Zhen contacted several businessmen introduced by Zheng Yi, the medicinal materials, jewelry, fur and other items he brought were immediately sold out.
Although the Zheng family lives in Hecheng County, they also have some connections in this Fucheng. Jiang Zhen took Zheng Yi's post, and naturally he was never made trouble. He just unloaded the goods and inspected the goods to get the money, and he would always be delayed in the Fucheng for a few days.
Seeing this, Jiang Zhen inquired about the brick kiln.
There are several brick kilns near Fucheng, and these brick kilns are all under the hands of several big families in Fucheng, and the people who burn the bricks have also signed sales contracts with those big families.
Jiang Zhen made some inquiries, and finally found one of the families. With some effort, he bought two craftsmen who could burn bricks from that family.
The two craftsmen, both surnamed Zhang, are a father and son. The son is only fifteen or sixteen years old and has not yet married, but the father has a wife, and in addition to the eldest son who has been able to follow him to burn bricks, he has five children.
Jiang Zhen bought the father and son, and their relatives also came as a gift.
Jiang Zhen couldn't help but wonder if this family was too good at giving birth and had too many children, that the big family would be willing to sell them to him...
Jiang Zhen thought so, but soon, he knew that was not the case...
The reason why the father and son were sold to themselves is not because they have many children, but because their brick-burning skills are actually not good.
"I haven't studied for a long time, and I often burn bad bricks." The father among the father and son looked at Jiang Zhen with some embarrassment.
If you want to burn good bricks, you have to practice for a long time, but he and his son have just started contact and haven't practiced much.
They fired bricks before, and the fired bricks were often unusable…
Jiang Zhen also knows that people these days are not willing to hand over technology to others, let alone sell technicians to him easily, which is not surprising: "Then can you burn bricks? "
"As long as you grope a little more, it's definitely fine," the middle-aged man said. "I'm just a little inaccurate about adding water." There are experienced masters in their brick kilns, but the masters are not willing to teach him, he You can only find out for yourself.
add water? Jiang Zhen had been to a brick and tile factory before, and he roughly knew how to burn bricks, but he had never heard of adding water to burn bricks.
"Tell me in detail." Jiang Zhen said.
When Jiang Zhen asked, the man began to talk about it in detail, and Jiang Zhen listened to it, and suddenly found out... This ancient brick-burning process is actually more complicated than modern times!
Also, the red bricks used for building houses in modern times were considered inferior in ancient times...
These ancient blue bricks are made after being fired and cooled with water. They are strong and durable, and will not be damaged for thousands of years after building a house, while red bricks are naturally cooled, and their service life is far longer than that of the old bricks. When using green bricks, the requirements for the soil used to make bricks are also higher.
Therefore, in these days, red bricks that are burned will be thrown away as defective products.
Of course, the red bricks at this time, because the brick kiln did not use coal and the temperature was not high, did not have the same color as in later generations. Often, the green was mixed with red. Not only was it not the same color, but also It is easy to break, so it is not the same as the red bricks of later generations.
However, such bricks are actually not unusable.
"After you go back with me, you will start burning bricks. The unqualified bricks burned at the beginning can be used to pave the way." Jiang Zhen said. These two people are just lacking in skills. This skill can always be practiced with practice.
At this time, the big family didn't want to use inferior products, but he didn't mind, just... it would be nice if there was cement.
Jiang Zhen knew that cement was also made of mud, and it was even very simple, but cement was different from bricks and required a formula, so he really didn't know how to burn cement.
Fortunately, even if there is no cement, there are many alternatives at this time.
After buying someone, Jiang Zhen had nothing to do, so he took Zhao Jinge to go shopping in Fucheng.
Jiang Zhen had brought Zhao Jinge to Fucheng before, but at that time the two had no money and neither did they buy anything, but this time it was different.
Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge have already been to the capital, and they have seen the prosperity of the big city, but compared with the capital, their city is completely different, and some things here are very delicate, and the style is even better than the things in the capital. of.
For example, rouge pollen and jewelry, the ones here are no worse than those in Beijing, and the prices are still cheaper.
Jiang Zhen looked around and thought about bringing some back to Zhao Liu.
Zhao Jinge followed behind Jiang Zhen, watching Jiang Zhen pick something, he couldn't help but feel happy, but it was a little strange to see Jiang Zhen didn't think of himself at all.
"Master, what do you think of this bracelet? It's very suitable for this... Shuang'er by your side." Seeing Jiang Zhen asking about the jewelry, the jewelry store took out a silver bracelet suitable for Shuang'er.
"What I want to buy is not for him, but for my mother." Jiang Zhendao asked the shopkeeper to come up with a few more models to look at.
The jewelry Jiang Zhen brought back from the capital was very heavy, but it could not be called delicate. After all, he was only shopping around with Zhao Jinge at that time, and... He felt that the prices in the capital were too expensive.
Those jewelry are good to show off, but they are not suitable for normal wearing. Jiang Zhen planned to choose a few exquisite ones for her this time.
Jiang Zhen asked the store owner to take out a lot of things to look at, and finally chose a pair of golden bracelets engraved with dragons and phoenixes, and bought a small hairpin inlaid with jasper.
After choosing, Jiang Zhen asked the store owner to wrap the items.
"Master, don't you want to help your Shuang'er choose a few?" The shopkeeper asked while bagging, "Your Shuang'er is pregnant with your child. Buying him some jewelry will make him happy."
Seeing that Jiang Zhen had picked out several items for his mother, he didn't think of picking the same thing for Shuang'er who was following him. The pair had no jewelry all over their bodies... The shopkeeper felt a little sympathetic to Zhao Jin-ge.
This pair is ugly, and his husband completely ignores him, which is really pitiful.
Jiang Zhen was taken aback.
He would buy this and that for Zhao Liu's because others had told him that his mother-in-law must please her, so that she could live a happy life.
After experimenting on Zhao Liushi, he found that it was indeed the case.
Zhao Liu's mother-in-law is absolutely very satisfied with him right now.
It's just... He wanted to buy jewelry for Zhao Liu, but he really didn't notice Zhao Jin... After all, even wearing a watch would be troublesome for him.
However, it seems that someone has told him that girlfriends also want to please
"I don't like wearing jewelry." Zhao Jinge said.
"There is no one who doesn't like jewelry, even if they don't like wearing them, it's better to keep them." The shopkeeper said again.
"The shopkeeper, is there a suitable ring for us to wear?" Jiang Zhen asked suddenly.
"Yes, what do you like about this lord?" the shopkeeper asked.
"Let me see." Jiang Zhen said.
At this time, there were very few kinds of jewelry. Jiang Zhen looked around, and finally chose two jade ring faces. Looking at the identical rings, he asked, "Is the craftsman in the store?"
"Yes, the craftsman is right behind." The shopkeeper said, there are several craftsmen who open jewelry shops.
"Brother Jin, wait for me outside, I'll come when I go." Jiang Zhen said to Brother Zhao Jin, and then followed the shopkeeper into the backyard of the jewelry store.
When Zhao Jinge saw Jiang Zhen just gone, he was a little dazed and a little happy.
That ring, Jiang Zhen wants to give him? Two identical rings, does he wear one and Jiang Zhen wears the other
If so, it's really good...
"Sister-in-law, maybe the boss will buy you something else specially." Jiang Ming also followed, responsible for protecting Brother Zhao Jin, and came over at this moment.
Brother Zhao Jin was looking forward to it even more.
However, when Jiang Zhen came out after a while, his expression remained the same, and he didn't even know where the two rings he was holding before had been placed.
"Let's go, it's time for us to go back." Jiang Zhen said, and after he finished speaking, he should go out first.
Zhao Jinge followed, suddenly feeling a little depressed.
The boat was very humid, the place to live was small, and it would continue to sway. This time, when he came to Fucheng, Jiang Zhen took Zhao Jinge to the inn.
After returning to the inn that day, Jiang Zhen treated Zhao Jinge as usual, and still asked Zhao Jinge to eat more fish and less meat, and never mentioned what happened in the jewelry store before.
However, when the two returned to the room, Jiang Zhen suddenly said, "Brother Jin, I have something to tell you."
"What?" Zhao Jinge asked.
Jiang Zhen took out a ring and knelt down on one knee...
Zhao Jinge "thumped" and immediately knelt down toward Jiang Zhen: "You... what are you doing?" Why did Jiang Zhen suddenly kneel toward him? This... this... Brother Zhao Jin felt that he was going to be frightened.
Jiang Zhen: "..." The originally good atmosphere was gone now!
Jiang Zhen sighed: "Brother Jin, you stand up, but I didn't kneel! Look at me, I didn't kneel down on one leg."
Zhao Jinge was still a little uneasy, Jiang Zhen could only help Zhao Jinge up by himself, and then said to Zhao Jinge: "You stand for me, don't kneel!"
Zhao Jinge was still uneasy, but he didn't dare to kneel down.
What is Jiang Zhen going to say? Why are you kneeling down
Jiang Zhen knelt down on one knee again and said to Brother Zhao Jin, "Brother Jin, are you willing to marry me?"
Zhao Jinge was a little stunned, and then said: "Yes."
"I love you, we will be together forever." Jiang Zhen kissed Zhao Jinge's hand, and then put the ring on his hand on Zhao Jinge.
Then, he stood up and gave another ring to Brother Zhao Jin: "Brother Jin, put it on me."
Zhao Jinge nodded and imitated Jiang Zhen to put the ring on Jiang Zhen's hand.
Jiang Zhen kissed Brother Zhao Jin again, feeling very good.
He also suddenly discovered that he didn't even buy a ring, and he didn't propose... After buying the two rings today, he went to a craftsman to engrave the two rings, and one of the rings had a "gold" engraved on it. , on the other ring, a "quake" was engraved, and at this moment, he put the ring engraved with "quake" on Zhao Jinge, and on his hand, he was wearing a ring engraved with "gold".
The marriage proposal was successful, Jiang Zhen wanted to be sweet, Zhao Jinge suddenly asked: "Jiang Zhen, do you want your child to be your surname? It doesn't matter. My parents mentioned it to me in private." Jiang Zhen asked him if he would marry him, and he knelt down. Down, is it because you want the child to have his surname
Zhao Fugui and Zhao Liu didn't really care about this, they were willing to marry him to Jiang Zhen.
Jiang Zhen: "..."
Jiang Zhen spent some time explaining that he didn't mean this, and then looked at Brother Zhao Jin helplessly, and suddenly found that this marriage proposal was a failure, and he was also quite stupid.
He is so stupid... Zhao Jin is already married to him, so what are you tossing about
When he has time, he might as well order a few more braziers, and then eat Zhao Jinge again.
He did what he said, and Jiang Zhen ate Brother Zhao Jin again.
This time, he fell asleep before Zhao Jinge.
Brother Zhao Jin really can't sleep, he... is very happy now.
Although what Jiang Zhen did startled him at first, but after Jiang Zhen explained it, he became happy.
In the dark, he took off his ring, then touched the back of the ring, and sure enough, there was a word there.
That is "Zhen", which is Jiang Zhen's name.
Jiang Zhen wore the same ring as him, and also engraved each other's name...
Zhao Jinge quickly put the ring back on, and was reluctant to take it off again.
At the same time, he also had some doubts... Jiang said "love" him, what does "love" mean