《The Sweet Little Fulang》 CH 1 Qingxi Village was very close to the mountain, and was named after the Qingxi River next to the village. The second room of the Shen family on the west side of the village was very lively today. Shen Shunfu had been gone two years earlier. Under the help of his wife, Wei Lanxiang, he found a marriage for his second son, Shen Xuanqing, and married Lu Wen from Anjia village, three villages apart. Lu Wen, the shuang''er child of the Lu family, was notoriously good-looking, and had attended school for a few days in the town. No matter how he spoke or dressed, it was different. He looked good and could read. In Wei Lanxiang''s opinion, he was naturally compatible with her second child, and she asked Shen Xuanqing what he meant. Seeing that her son was willing, she was resolute and promised a dowry of 20 taels of silver. The marriage was given, and today was finally the time to get married. The gongs and drums were beaten, the suona was played, and the welcoming team came back. As soon as they stopped, they were surrounded by people for money, and the shouts and music was mixed together, making it extremely lively. The more people who came to the wedding, the happier the host would be. The Shen family was naturally not stingy with throwing money for the happy event. Someone took out a lot of copper coins from the red cloth and sprinkled it into the crowd. For a time it became more lively, everyone rushed to grab it . Amidst the sound of firecrackers and joyous music, the tall Shen Xuanqing, dressed in a red cloth, took out the bridegroom with a red veil from the sedan chair, walked all the way across the courtyard into the main room, crossed the brazier and worshipped, and led the people go to the new house. He was usually not too expressive. Today was the big day to marry a fulang. Amidst the booing of the young men, Shen Xuanqing''s eyes were full of satisfied smiles. In the new room, Shen Xuanqing led Lu Wen to sit beside the bed, and then went over to close the door. According to their rules here, he couldn''t take off his veil yet, and he couldn''t come in until after toasting to the guests outside. The person beside the bed kept clutching the fabric on his lap after he sat down. Shen Xuanqing didn''t think much about it, thinking that Lu Wen was too nervous. Looking at the thin hands, he thought that Lu Wen was really working at home, and there were old scars on his hands, which should have been scratched. After the marriage was made, someone told him how to marry a young master who couldn''t even work. Wasn''t this nonsense? When looking for a matchmaker to discuss a marriage, the other party said that Lu family''s Lu Wen was indeed a little more delicate. Although he couldn''t do heavy work, he was diligent and quick. He was good at cooking and laundry. The bags of medicine sachets he made was sold in the town, either to earn a little for himself, or to subsidize the family. Shen Xuanqing never thought of letting his fulang do heavy work to earn money to support the family. He even knew how to cook and do laundry. In order to hunt, he often lived alone in a wooden house in the mountains for ten days or half a month. If he couldn''t cook, he could only eat dry food. After he came in, he stood beside the bed for a while and didn''t know what to do, as if he was made nervous by his own fulang. He walked a few steps on the spot, and he didn''t know where to put his hands and feet. If others saw this look, It was necessary to laugh at him a few times. "I''ll go out to toast first." At the end, Shen Xuanqing remembered that there was still this matter, so he raised his feet and went out. As soon as he opened the door, he stopped again, turned around and said to the person beside the bed, "I''ll ask Shen Yan to get you something to eat, so let''s make it for cushion first." Shen Xuanqing saw that he heard it, maybe he was too shy to speak, so he didn''t do what he thought, and closed the door smoothly. After he went out, the people in the room sat stiffly, and when he was the only one left, he seemed to take a breath and bent his back slightly. Not long after, the door was pushed open again, and a girl in a new cyan cloth walked in with the noodle soup. It was Shen Yan, the younger sister of Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing. She looked more than twelve years old, with a round face and almond eyes. She smiled when she saw the newlyweds sitting beside the bed. She was still a little curious about this fulang who she had only met two or three times. He was the best looking. Her brother Lu Wen was already good-looking, and she didn''t know what it would be like today. "Brother Wen, I brought you noodle soup, and my mother asked my aunt who helped the cook to add eggs in it. Eat it while it''s hot." Shen Yan said, and put the bowl and chopsticks into Lu Wen''s hands. No one moved, her hand holding the chopsticks tightened. She smiled and said, "Brother Wen, I''ll go out first. You can just put it on the table after you finish eating." It was not the time yet, and Lu Wen couldn''t show his face in front of outsiders. Shen Yan was young, so she didn''t think too much, so she also closed the door and went out. After there was no one else in the room, the person beside the bed carefully placed the bowl and chopsticks on the edge of the bed, then lifted the corner of the veil and quietly looked around the room. If Shen Yan was present, she would definitely recognize that the person in the room was not the Lu Wen she had seen before. Compared to Lu Wen''s literacy aura, Lu Gu looked very thin and frail because he couldn''t eat enough to work all day. The window of this room was opened to the front yard. Fortunately, in order to prevent the bride and groom from being seen by others, the window was closed, and the window bolt was bolted from the inside. It was very lively outside. Someone was comparing wine with Shen Xuanqing. It should be Shen Xuanqing who finished drinking first, and the crowd burst into cheers. The liveliness of others was terrifying to Lu Gu. He felt uneasy, and when he thought that he was really put into the sedan chair and brought to Shen''s house, his face became even paler. He didn''t know how the Shen family was, but he knew about Shen Xuanqing. Last year, he and several other went to the tofu shop to buy tofu. On the way, there was a fight. Among them was Shen Xuanqing, tall and strong, with a fist in the face, the other person fell down. Lu Gu, who was beaten every three or five minutes, took a step back at that time. If it hit him, it would be much more powerful than his stepmother''s stick and rattan. Maybe he could go to see his mother directly. Someone told him that the man was the hunter of Qingxi Village, and Lu Gu remembered it from then on. Anjia Village and Qingxi Village were not close, but they were not too far. Fortunately, he didn''t encounter them again after two or three quarters of an hour. For Shen Xuanqing, he had few contacts, and he didn''t dare to take a second glance at such a vicious man, but three months ago, the matchmaker told his elder brother Lu Wen about the marriage, and it was Shen Xuanqing. Lu Wen was born to his stepmother Du Hehua and the first man. After the man died, he brought Lu Wen to the Lu family. Lu Gu felt a little startled when he thought of Shen Xuanqing, but when he thought about it, it had nothing to do with him. It was for Lu Wen. What''s more, at home, the stepmother would call him when she instructed him to work, and even his own father didn''t pay much attention to him. He was looking for something, and the work was still good. He was most afraid of starvation and beatings. Lu Wen''s marriage was only known from others. But even if he knew about it, he didn''t even ask a single word when he got home, lowered his head to work and didn''t speak, and tried to keep his movements light as much as possible, otherwise if he was noticed by his stepmother, he would be able to give himself more nitpicking. In the area of ??Fenggu Town, after the matchmaker and the parents of both parties agreed on something, they would also let the two young people meet. There were also rules for seeing each other. You had to meet in another family with a daughter or a Shuang''er. Most of the daughter or Shuang''er was sitting by the window and the other was working. Stayed for a while, so that you could see each other without causing gossip. Logically speaking, how could Shuang''er go to the Hanzi''s village, so when the two saw each other, it was Shen Xuanqing who came to Anjia Village. [Hanzi: the man, husband] That day, Lu Gu was stuffed with dirty clothes by his stepmother. On the way to the river, he saw the tall figure in the distance, so he went around from the other side. The stepmother often scolded him that he was an unlucky ghost. Lu Gu sometimes thought to himself, as if he really had no luck. He was afraid that bad luck would happen to him. If he accidentally angered Shen Xuanqing, he would be beaten. It was miserable, so avoid it if you could. Now, he really was an unlucky person, even the absurd thing of marrying for his brother fell on him, and the stepmother even coaxed him to say that she was kind enough to find a good marriage for him. If it was a good thing, how could it be his turn. He didn''t know what his stepmother was thinking. Although he didn''t know how to read, he also knew that Lu Wen and Shen Xuanqing had asked someone to write a marriage contract. It was Lu Wen''s name, not his, so how dare you made such a mess. It was not that he didn''t understand that the stepmother was just coveting the 20 tasks dowry and didn''t want to return it to the Shen family. It was said that the Shen family gave so much dowry money, and it was a heavy gift in any village, which showed that the family was not thin, and everyone thought that it was a good marriage, but Lu Wen wanted to regret the marriage. Others didn''t know, but Lu Gu knew a little. He overheard the conversation between Lu Wen and his stepmother six or seven days ago. Lu Wen seemed to be in close contact with people in the town. Lu Wen was already engaged. He was really unlucky, and the stepmother discovered this by accident. He thought he was going to be beaten, but when he squinted at his stepmother, she smiled at him and grabbed his hand gently. With a motherly appearance, made Lu Gu terrified. When he heard that he was going to give him Lu Wen''s marriage to the hunter in Qingxi Village, Lu Gu shook his head at that time. The stepmother looked at him, gnashing her teeth and scolding him for not knowing what to do, and she squeezed the flesh on his arm hard, it hurt and made him wanted to pull back, and he didn''t dare to say that he didn''t want to. Since that day, the stepmother stopped letting him go out to wash the clothes and changed things, and he could only stay in the yard to do needlework. The stepmother was still watching him all the time, obviously afraid that he would run away or to tell other people. It was still lively outside. Lu Gu sat on the edge of the bed and didn''t dare to move, but his stomach didn''t live up to his expectations, and was seduced by the smell of meat outside. Early in the morning, he was dragged by his stepmother to wash and put on makeup. He just put on his wedding dress and put him on the sedan chair, without even giving him a stutter. It was not that he didn''t resist, he even jumped over the wall at night the day before yesterday, so as not to be found and beaten to death by Shen Xuanqing after the incident was revealed, but he couldn''t run away. As soon as he ran out of the village in the dark, he was caught by his stepmother and father. In the woodshed, he was gagged with rags, and his cries were gagged in his throat. Fear and despair made him tremble all over, but he was beaten badly. For two days after that, he could only eat rough food every day. He didn''t even have the strength to run far. The noodle soup was hot, with oil and chopped green onions floating in the air. The less onion was just to give a taste, but there was a lot of oil. Shen Yan also said that there was a poached egg lying underneath. Lu Gu looked at the bowl of noodles. He hadn''t eaten such hot noodles for a long time. It was made of fine white flour and even had eggs. He picked up the bowl and took a sip of the hot soup first. The oil, chives and shallots fragrantly entered his mouth. He had only tasted such a good taste when he was a child. There weren''t many noodles, but it was just a pad for his stomach. After the noodles and eggs were in his stomach, Lu Gu held the bowl and was reluctant to put it down so he drank the soup. He was the only one in the room now, no one would take the bowl from him, and no stick would fall, so he sipped such a fragrant green onion soup, trying to remember the taste. With a drip, water fell into the soup, he wiped his tears, thinking that it would be good to eat a bowl of hot noodle soup before he died, at least he wouldn''t be a starving ghost. The one who should in the Shen family was Lu Wen. Once it found out that he was not Lu Wen, they would definitely not give up. Lu Gu had heard more than once that someone beat his wife or fulang to death. In his opinion, Shen Xuanqing was fierce and vicious, and today may really be his death. No matter how much noodle soup was over, Lu Gu felt a little reluctant when he put down the bowl. Hearing that someone outside was making a noise about the bridal chamber, his face turned pale, and he quickly sat back on the bed and covered his head. He clenched the fabric on his leg tightly, panicked and lost, so scared that his body was shaking slightly, but fortunately, the noise outside was suppressed by Shen Xuanqing and a few others laughing and persuading him, saying that the groom was timid and shameless. Boo, his body was not good, he still ate and drank good food and wine outside, everyone fought and drank together, it was lively, and the bridal room gradually subsided, and Lu Gu had a kind of escape from death feeling. But as the guests dispersed after the banquet, the shadow of death enveloped him again. The door was opened and closed, and someone walked towards the bed. Soon, in Lu Gu''s low vision, a pair of boots that were not often worn by farmers appeared. The new boots were large and obviously men''s, enough to see opponent''s physique. Lu Gu was trembling, the knuckles of his fingers clutching the clothes turned white, and the moment the red veil was lifted, his blood seemed to be frozen, and his mind went blank. And Shen Xuanqing, who took off the veil, saw the appearance of the fresh fulang, the smile on his face disappeared, and he suddenly became stiff. CH 2.1 For a moment, Lu Gu forgot to breathe. When he saw Shen Xuanqing''s cold and angry expression, his brain buzzed, and he seemed to have hallucinations in front of him. He had already imagined that he would die under the stick and fist. In a trance, he didn''t know where he was, nor did he know Shen Xuanqing angrily slammed out the door, until an anxious cry rang from the door, which brought him back to his senses. There were several people around the door. After seeing that he was not Lu Wen, Wei Lanxiang fainted. "Mother! Mother, don''t worry, don''t worry." Shen Yan and sister-in-law Ji Qiuyue hurriedly supported Wei Lanxiang who had fallen down. The aunt who helped in the village immediately came over to help, and the Shen family, who was originally happy, suddenly became chaotic. Wei Lanxiang woke up quickly, she took a breath, looked at Lu Gu in the room, and said angrily, "Who are you?" Tears flowed down without knowing it , her eyes widened and it was difficult to breathe. "This seems to be Lu Gu from their family. It was born to Lu Daxiang''s first wife." Lu Gu stammered and couldn''t speak, but fortunately someone helped to recognize him. She was from the village next to Anjia Village and was not married. People used to walk around with the girls from Anjia Village, but after five or six years, she only had a vague impression of Lu Gu, and it took a while to recognize him. Hearing this, Wei Lanxiang became even more angry. For the sake of this marriage, the family had been busy for a long time and didn''t ''t talk about it. She took out 20 taels of honorable gifts, not to mention the things she hired at the beginning. Which one was not money? Beside, since her man died, their family had only been getting better recently. Shen Shunfu accidentally slipped and fell when he entered the mountain in winter three years ago, broke his leg, and fell into the pool of water. Although he fell on the edge of the shallow water, he struggled to climb up, but falling into the biting ice water in the winter was enough for anyone to get fever. His clothes were soaking wet, and he was so cold that he couldn''t crawl out very far with a broken leg. Later, some people in the village who went up the mountain to chop firewood heard a slight movement and rescued Shen Shunfu, who was frozen blue and purple. For this injury, it cost a lot of money just to see a doctor and get medicine, and sold a lot of things. Unfortunately, no one was rescued. All kinds of good medicinal materials were hanged, and it lasted for a month and a half. At the age of ten, Shen Xuanqing worshipped an old hunter in the mountains as a teacher. Fortunately, he had already learned the skill. After his father died, he left the teacher. He went hunting in the mountains by himself. He would go to a nearby town or county as a day laborer to carry a large bag. After two or three years, their hand were not so tight anymore. Life at home was difficult for a while because of lack of money. Fortunately, Shen Xuanqing and his elder brother Shen Yaoqing were both able to live up to their expectations. At that time, they were fifteen and twenty, and they were both young men who had the strength to endure hardships. Seeing that the days were getting better and better, Wei Lanxiang saw that her second son was eighteen, and the marriage should have been settled long ago, but it was only because of the delays in the past few years, how could a good family''s shuang''er or daughters be willing to suffer for someone who had no money. Besides, Shen Xuanqing was only fifteen when he tightened his trousers and worked hard with his brother, and he was only a half-year-old boy. When Shen Shunfu was there, their family life was pretty good, so even Shen Yaoqing had never suffered this kind of hardship when he was fifteen years old. She felt bad for her second son and didn''t want to perfunctory about his son''s marriage, until this year she fell in love with Lu Wen, betrothed him to Shen Xuanqing. The 20 taels of dowry was for Lu Wen who was good-looking and knowledgeable. She spent 20 taels, and the Lu family actually married someone else. How could she swallow this breath? "Let''s go! Go to your Lu family and reason with me. I see what Lu Daxiang and Du Hehua have to say!" Wei Lanxiang pushed away the person who was supporting her, pulled Lu Gu and walked out, very angry, where would she care that Lu Gu was dragged by her and staggered. She walked halfway and said to Shen Xuanqing, "Go, bring me the marriage certificate!" The good marriage had become like this, and the rest of the Shen family couldn''t bear it. After Shen Xuanqing took the marriage certificate, they all went to find Lu''s house. The leftovers in the yard hadn''t been cleaned up yet, and Wei Lanxiang was even more angry when she saw it, knowing that the dishes on the feast today were brought by her son who had been busy for more than a month. Shen Xuanqing had hunting skills, and he spent a lot of money on betrothal gifts. He couldn''t help but be a little tight. In order to save a little on the wedding banquet, he started preparing early. All tables were served with ten dishes and one soup, including stewed chicken nuggets and wild boar, a bowl of sliced ????pig heart and lungs, a bowl of liver miscellaneous, as well as spicy fried rabbit meat and a plate of steamed fish. There were six meat dishes alone. In this way, plus four kinds of vegetarian dishes and an old bowl of meatball soup, it could be said that it was rare and rich. Even in those wealthy villages, wedding events were not necessarily as generous as the second room of the Shen family, and the meat and vegetables were so rich. The banquet hall of their house made many people in the village unable to put down their chopsticks, and their mouths were full of oil. Not only childrens were disregarding their decency, but even some adults were like this, for fear that they would be less than others. And most of the meat dishes were attributed by Shen Xuanqing. In addition to the chickens raised by their family, he beat five or six pheasants on the mountain, chopped them into pieces and mixed them with the chickens, so there was no need to kill the laying hens at home. The rabbit was caught by him in the mountains with two hounds. It was hot in the summer. In order not to let the rabbits and pheasants go bad, Shen Xuanqing put a lot of effort into catching them alive and raising them at home for a while. He also beat the wild boars. The wild boars in the mountains were not easy to mess with, especially the male wild boars with tusks. Fortunately, he was lucky. After seven or eight days in the deep mountains, he used the traps he dug to hack and killed a big one. There were not enough pig hearts, lungs and livers for more than twenty tables, so Shen Xuanqing went to the town to buy some more. As for more than thirty fishes, he caught them in the Qingxi River. It was true that there was no money in the things from the mountains and rivers, but everything was not easy to come by. In order to prepare for these, he didn''t stop for more than a month. He became dark and thin, and he almost fell asleep late at night. However, when he thought of marrying a fulang, he had a face that was not very expressive, but he felt hot, and there was a rush in his heart. Ever since the family had gotten better, Shen Xuanqing still lived in the mountains to hunt. Every time his mother gave him dry food, he would always say nothing. But if he married a wife or fulang, he would be able to eat a mouthful of hot meal. Like other men, he had no other ideas in the past, he only needed to work hard to make the family live a good life. When he got older, he saw people of the same age marrying wife and having children one after another, and his mother kept talking about it from time to time. Shen Xuanqing gradually became interested in marrying a fulang. It seemed to be more lively when two people lived together in the mountains, at least he could talk to someone. So after the marriage with Lu Wen was settled, he didn''t say anything, but he was happy in his heart, and it was worth it no matter how tired he was. Unexpectedly, when the red veil was lifted and saw another shuang''er, all his joy seemed to be drowned out by a basin of cold water , and he didn''t even understand why it happened. Lu Gu was dressed in red, and Shen Xuanqing, who frowned tightly, did not change his clothes, and he attracted attention as soon as he went out. Seeing Wei Lanxiang pulling the bridegroom''s face full of anger, the villagers were puzzled, how could the Shen family be like this on a happy day. At the entrance of the village, they met a few young men chatting, and Shen Yaoqing, who was left behind, said a few words to them briefly, and those people went with them. If you went to other villages to find trouble, you may suffer a loss if you were weak. In addition, it was heard that the people from Qingxi Village had been fooled. These people had a good relationship with the Shen brothers, and naturally shared the same enemy. His eyes were red and full of fear, he didn''t know what to do, and his thin body looked very thin against the loose clothes. This dress was made for Lu Wen. He was thinner than Lu Wen and didn''t fit at all. He poked his head out, and quickly shrank back because of the angry rebuke. A group of people rushed towards Anjia Village. When they arrived at Anjia Village, they saw the bridegroom and the groom in red. Some people were still muttering that it was not the time to return to the door. It was only when they saw Lu Gu''s face that they suddenly realized. He was dragged away almost all the way, and Lu Gu stumbled and stumbled under his feet, but luckily he didn''t fall. The Lu family was not far from entrance of the village, and even if someone wanted to tip them off, it was too late. In addition, the group of young men stared, almost no one wanted to meddle in their business and caused trouble where they could see. The courtyard door was kicked open with a kick, and Lu Gu''s heart trembled. Wei Lanxiang pulled his arm and entered the Lu''s house with an angry face, "From the Lu family, come out for me! " Du Hehua came out of from the window . "Du Hehua! You made it clear to me today that my son married Lu Wen from your family, so how could he become Lu Gu?" Out of anger, Wei Lanxiang, who usually spoke softly, was forced to raise her voice. Let the surrounding Anjia Village people heard it clearly. She took out the red paper on which the marriage certificate was written, unfolded it and said, "It''s clearly written on it, it''s your Lu Wen, not Lu Gu!" "I want to ask you Lu family? What''s your heart?" "Look at our orphans and widowed mothers being bullied? I tell you Du Hehua, you can''t think about it! " Looking at this group of people, she couldn''t help but be afraid, but she didn''t want to be scolded like this. There were so many people watching the fun outside, where should she put her face? She was anxious and embarrassed , and when she saw Lu Gu, she immediately pointed at Lu Gu and scolded: "Well, you shameless, I said that I couldn''t find anyone early in the morning, so it turned out that he carried himself on the sedan chair , you shameless and skinless thing, I will beat you to death today!" Du Hehua was used to taking Lu Gu with anger, and she didn''t hesitate to beat and scold, she picked up a wooden stick in the corner and rushed over to beat someone. As soon as Lu Gu saw the stick, he wanted to hide back subconsciously, and his face was even whiter than before. But when she got to the front, Du Hehua was frightened back by a few young men staring at her. CH 2.2 "Auntie, it''s not me who told you, but if you lie, you will be struck by lightning." Ji Qiuyue, Shen Yaoqing''s wife, saw that she had turned black and white, and she was going to beat someone at this moment "Who didn''t know? His face was made up by the old woman, so is it possible that aunt doesn''t know?" Wei Lanxiang continued to scold: "Are you dead? Let him wear Lu. Wen''s clothes?" Then she asked, "Where is Lu Wen? Let him come out for me, I want to see how talented Lu Gu is, and if he is promoted to become the new fulang, Lu Wen still don''t know?." Ji Qiuyue echoed loudly: "Yes, let Lu Wen come out. Our family married Lu Wen, and Lu Gu will send back to you. Lu Wen has to follow us back." "Let Lu Wen come out." Two aunts who was friends with Wei Lanxiang also pointed to the other side and shouted, "I have never seen Shuang''er married and hiding at home, and replaced by someone else. Your Lu family''s work is really new." Du Hehua couldn''t beat them, and several people have more mouths. Seeing that the situation was wrong, she immediately changed her face, and started crying while sitting on the ground. "You''re a jerk, what kind of sin have I done for you to spread such an unconscionable thing..." She was crying and scrambling, and she didn''t know who she was scolding. She refused to say where Lu Wen was. Most of the unreasonable village women were like this. Ji Qiuyue took it for granted and said, "Auntie, you won''t let Lu Wen come out, but I can go in and find him myself. It''s only right and proper for our new fulang to go back with us." Du Hehua turned a deaf ear, screaming, ooh, ooh, and she didn''t care that she was covered in dust, and she cried more and more terribly. When Ji Qiuyue saw her like this, she knew that Lu Wen was probably not at Lu''s house, but she still didn''t give up. She went in and searched for a circle and came out quickly, not to mention Lu Wen, not even Lu Daxiang''s shadow. "What happened?" Bao Zhiru, the head of Anjia Village, came over after hearing the news, and behind him were some young and strong men in the village. The people of Qingxi Village were blocking the yard. When Du Hehua saw the village chief coming, she immediately cried across the crowd: "They beat people, They beat me. If you don''t come, Third Uncle, I will be beaten to death by them." Bao Zhiru was already sixty-two years old, and was considered to be highly respected in his old age. Because he was the third oldest, the villagers often called him the third uncle, and even the people in the nearby villages called him the same. Wei Lanxiang glared at Du Hehua, took the marriage certificate after Bao Zhiru came, and wiped her tears and cried, "Third uncle, our family married Lu Wen, it''s all written on it, but they married Lu Gu over here , isn''t this bullying?, I can''t take this breath." Bao Zhiru recognized the words, held up the red paper to identify it under the sun, and then looked at Lu Gu who was wearing a wedding dress, his brows wrinkled. It was not easy to handle this, even people in Anjia Village knew that the Lu family was at fault. Bao Zhiru thought about it, it was the Shen family who was justified, and if it really went to the county government office, the master of the government would naturally want Lu Wen to go to the Shen family when he saw the marriage certificate, so he said, "I said Hehua, since they have the marriage certificate to prove it, you can''t be confused." Hearing this, Du Hehua got up from the ground, crying and wiping her tears, "Third uncle, you don''t know, our family Lu Gu is so big, but he has no idea. He doesn''t even have a marriage proposal, and if he drag it on like this, how can I see his mother in the future, if it wasn''t for him, would I be able to give him such a good marriage?" "I was confused for a while, seeing him crying pitifully and softening my heart. I just nodded." "I thought, whoever marry will live behind closed doors. Besides, it''s the same when the lights are blown at night." Suddenly it was brought to him, and Lu Gu was at a loss words, he subconsciously shook his head, that''s not the case, he didn''t ask his stepmother for this marriage. Being so angry because Du Hehua was talking nonsense, Wei Lanxiang scolded directly: "Fuck you motherfucker! Your Lu family fools people and treats others as fools, what''s the same? I''m going to marry Lu Wen so I gave a heavy gift of 20 taels, otherwise who will be taken advantage of!" During the quarrel, Lu Gu didn''t dare to speak, but Shen Xuanqing, who was a few steps away from him, gave him a look, and the tall man''s frowning and cold face made him terrified. He knew at once that Shen Xuanqing was wondering if it was the marriage he asked from his stepmother. Not only Shen Xuanqing, but other people would look at him like this. When he was discovered by the Shen family, Lu Gu was already embarrassed enough. After coming, now the stepmother turned black and white, so that his already crumbling face and dignity had been completely torn apart in front of so many people, and there was no more. "Mother, it''s obviously Brother Wen and the people from the town..." It was summer, but Lu Gu seemed to be shivering from the cold. He didn''t speak loudly, but Du Hehua, who had been paying attention to whether he could talk nonsense, immediately responded. She was furious and scolded: "Oh, you shameless little prostitute! Your short-lived mother is so good, you didn''t learn any good thing, but you learned it thoroughly! I don''t know whose wild seed he is, I kindly raised you, you''re not short food and clothing, but now you''re here to harm our brother Wen." The words "wild seed" completely made Lu Gu''s face lost the blood. Du Hehua scolded him more and more harshly, and even Wei Lanxiang couldn''t stand it anymore. Just when she was about to scold her, she heard Shen Xuanqing speak. "Enough!" He took a step forward, his brows still furrowed, and he said solemnly, "It was your Lu family who regretted their marriage first. Since Lu Wen doesn''t want to marry, I won''t force it. It''s just that the 20 taels of betrothal money can''t be free for you." Wei Lanxiang pointed at Du Hehua and said angrily: "Yes, and the betrothal gift in front of you, which one wasn''t bought with money? Your family Lu Wen received our money and clothes, but the wedding day ran away. If you don¡¯t get married but you take the money, you Lu family will take up all the good things. How can there be such a thing in the world without the king¡¯s law?¡± "We can''t give money to your family, and we can''t even see a person''s shadow so pay back the money!" Ji Qiuyue was also very angry, the more she talked, the more excited she became. Du Hehua blushed when she heard the word repayment, not ashamed, but anxious, that was a full 20 taels of silver, and it was already in her hands, to ask her to return it, it would kill her! "You are small prostitute, I''m talking to your mother, it''s your turn to yell here?" She pointed at Ji Qiuyue''s nose and cursed. Ji Qiuyue didn''t faint from anger, but she was so angry that her face flushed red and she gasped for breath, but Shen Yaoqing hurried over to help her and let her calm down. "Du Hehua, you!" Wei Lanxiang''s hands were shaking as she pointed at Du Hehua and scolded angrily. "Auntie, you can eat indiscriminately, but you can''t talk nonsense." Shen Yaoqing supported his daughter-in-law and looked at Du Hehua, his face was ashen, told her to shut up. Ji Qiuyue was not submissive either, where she ever suffered from this kind of anger, she was originally a lively temperament, she usually spoke lightly and slowly, but now she was getting annoyed and her mouth became even quicker, and she repeatedly scolded: "This one is not a prostitute. Aunt''s Shuang''er are prostitutes, and they are all mixed up with the people in the town, if my aunt is really ashamed, she should hang herself now, otherwise I will be sorry for your Lu family ancestors!" Shuang''er and the girl''s reputations were undoubtedly important. Ji Qiuyue knew this, she just couldn''t bear it. She clearly agreed to marry, but she regretted it, co-authored and played their family like a monkey, and Du Hehua insulted her innocence first. Hearing this, Du Hehua was like a lit cannonball, blushed, scolding and jumping feet: "You bastard, falsely accusing my brother Wen in empty words, see if I don''t tear your mouth apart!" She rushed over and raised her hand to hit Ji Qiuyue, but Shen Yaoqing grabbed her arm and shoved her to the side, she fell to the ground, and immediately burst into tears, shouting that she was going to die, she was going to die. When a group of young men from Anjia Village saw people from other villages moved their hands, they stared at them and were about to fight. Ji Qiuyue saw that they were glaring at Shen Yaoqing, on the other side''s territory, if there was a real fight, only the people from the Shen family would suffer, so she sneered and said quickly: "Sure enough, you are overbearing in Anjia Village.asking for a reason will also be beaten, I see the reputation of your Anjia Village spread out, how many people you want to stab the spine, I don''t believe it, there is no justice in this world!" After all, Bao Zhiru was the chief, he was at a loss with this Lu family, and if they did such absurd things, it would really damage the reputation of their Anjia Village. Besides, if the people of Qingxi Village were beaten today. If they went back and gathered a group of people, things would get bigger. Knowing by the county government, although he was a bit thin, he couldn''t avoid being ridiculed by some people behind his back. He pressed his hand, motioned the people of Anjia Village to calm down, and said, "Okay, alright, this matter already happened. It''s like calling back and forth. If you have something to say, you don''t have to be so angry. " " No, but the money can''t be given to them in vain." Wei Lanxiang wiped her tears and said with hatred. Since it was the Lu family who regretted their marriage first, it was only natural for the Shen family to propose to return the betrothal money. In this way, the matter was over. Bao Zhiru looked at Du Hehua. Before he could say anything, he saw Du Hehua howling, sitting on the ground clapping his thighs and crying: "God damn it, I''ve been in bad luck for eight lifetimes, and this kind of thing happened to me in the morning. You didn''t send it back until now. Your Shen family said that you are a good person, but behind the scenes, I''m afraid that someone has been occupied a long time ago. Ask me for money, how can I live?" Du Hehua cried and cried, not even having a door on his mouth, so she shouted indiscriminately. "Du Hehua! You fart!" When Wei Lanxiang heard that she would frame her son regardless of Lu Gu''s innocence, how could she bear it, she picked up the stick that Du Hehua had just thrown on the ground. Having never suffered from this kind of cowardice, she picked up a stick and hit her. "It''s not good to beat people!" Lu Daxiang''s younger brother Lu Dahe and his two sons were originally watching from the outside. After all, their Lu family didn''t take care of them, but when they saw the fight, everyone in the village watched. Unable to shrink his head, he shoved a few middle-aged men with good relationships and beat them together. Du Hehua usually had a loud voice, but now she was beaten and howled like a pig, causing Lu Daxiang, who was hiding nearby, jumped out, pretending to just come back from work in the field, holding a hoe angrily, he ran into the courtyard gate and scuffled with the people of Qingxi Village. In the blink of an eye, the situation changed. Bao Zhiru was so angry that his beard could lift up. The few young men he brought with him listened to his words and started fighting. There was a mess in the yard, the men scuffled together, and Lu Dahe''s wife and daughter-in-law also came in a hurry, otherwise, they couldn''t watch Du Hehua being beaten and scolded by Wei Lanxiang, Ji Qiuyue and two village women. Before everyone noticed, Lu Gu lowered his head and avoided the crowd. Even if someone knew that Du Hehua was talking nonsense just now, but even his own stepmother said that. What about his stepmother? Du Hehua had raised him for all these years. Okay, acted like a good stepmother. A shuang''er was returned the same day after they got married, and he had no face at all, and now she said in front of so many people that he had lost his innocence. Not long after, someone ran in to the head of the village, shouting, "No, no, Lu Gu jumped into the river!" CH 3.1 Anjia Village was not far from the river, and a red figure on the bank jumped into the turbulent river without hesitation. The river water covered his nose and mouth, and Lu Gu didn''t even have the idea of ??struggling. He was torn by the swirling river water filling his head. His eyes were blurred, and the wedding dress was a bit more cumbersome and heavier than the summer clothes he often wore. After sinking into the water, the fabric became heavy when it absorbed the water, making his light and helpless soul return to its place, hanging in the air, not knowing where to go. His heart gradually sank. If you died, you didn''t need to be beaten anymore. He thought calmly, his body floated down the river, he gradually stopped thinking about things, but in the end, he had a pity idea, unfortunately he died without even a thin coffin, his stepmother wouldn''t pay to give him a coffin. ¡ª¡ªThe people in the yard were still fighting, and Bao Zhiru was so angry that he yelled at them: "Stop, stop me!" As soon as he finished speaking, he heard someone shouted that Lu Gu jumped into the river, and Bao Zhiru quickly said: "Don''t hurry to save people." Life was at stake, and the fighters stopped. Du Hehua got up from the ground and spat blood at Wei Lanxiang''s feet. Half of her cheeks were swollen, and her mouth was still full of blood. Cursing vaguely, she was covered in dirt, but no one else was much better in the chaos. Before Wei Lanxiang could let out her anger, she was slapped again, and she kicked her with her foot. Unfortunately, Du Hehua avoided it. Bao Zhiru was about to go out with the people when he looked back and shouted, "you will get beaten and scolded!" Du Hehua originally wanted to spit again, but she had to swallow it when she heard the words. Listening to a group of people outside running towards the river, because it was Shuang''er who fell into the water, the men from Qingxi Village didn''t go over to join in the fun. It stand to reason that Du Hehua would have to go to see if others didn''t go, but she didn''t, instead she sat aside with her messy hair tucked up. Lu Daxiang didn''t even go, he covered his waist and rib , hissed and inhaled, feeling that the pain was unbearable everywhere. He grinned and glanced at Shen Xuanqing, it was not that he didn''t know, that this son of a bitch had the most black hand, and even picked him up to beat him. He was swearing in his heart, but he didn''t dare to swear out loud. There was always some firewood piled up in the yard of the farmer''s house. Ji Qiuyue helped Wei Lanxiang and two other aunts to sit on the pile of firewood to rest and tidy up. Shen Yan, who was guarded by them after the fight, was obviously frightened. The wooden stick in her hand fell to the ground with a bang. During the melee, she kept crying and calling her mother, and she even took the opportunity to beat Du Hehua a few times. But now, Shen Yan''s wide-open apricot eyes were obviously a bit fearful. She was the youngest in the family, and she was usually well-behaved. Even Ji Qiuyue pinched her round face to tease her when she had nothing to do. It could be said that she was favored. Never seen such a battle at all. Ji Qiuyue was a little frightened when she saw that her sister-in-law had regained her senses, so she patted Shen Yan''s arm to comfort her, her mouth kept going, she looked at Du Hehua and said sarcastically, "People say that Lu Wen is well-bred, but Lu Gu is not. The strange way is, it''s not a mother, and the stepmother didn''t anxious after he jumped into the river. It turned out that the good things in the weekdays were all pretending, but behind the scenes was a black heart." Before marrying the Lu family, they didn''t inquire about it. They also knew about Lu Gu when they had been to the Lu family, but they had only seen Lu Gu in the Lu family several times. they occasionally asked, Du Hehua said that he went to his uncle''s house to play, and they didn''t take it to heart because they were in Anjia Village not for him. When others mentioned Du Hehua, they said that she was good to Lu Gu. As for the occasional beatings and scoldings, who in the village didn''t beat their childrens? Besides, every time Du Hehua hit Lu Gu, if someone saw and heard her, they would say that Lu Gu broke the bowl or made other mistakes. She was in a hurry to move her hand. A farmer was no better than a family in a town or county. No matter dishes or other things, they were few things that couldn''t be ruined. Before today, the Shen family thought that the Lu family was good, but they never thought it would be like this. Let alone at the river. There was no one in the turbulent section, but going downstream, there were people washing clothes in several places, and the red color in the water couldn''t be more conspicuous. In addition, there were shouts from Anjia Village, saying that someone had jumped into the river. Soon, Lu Gu was rescued from the river by two Shuang''er who knew how to swim. He choked on the water. Fortunately, he was rescued in time. No worries about life. A girl picked up the red embroidered shoes from downstream and brought them over. There were a lot of people surrounded by the shore. Lu Gu was wearing a red dress that was wet and dripping with water. Fortunately, the clothes were in good condition, and he wasn''t looked at by the few people who were looking straight at him. "Why are you shaking like this?" Lu Gu''s body was cold, and even Shuang''er who rescued him was puzzled. It was obviously summer, and the sun hadn''t yet set, so even if he fell into the water, it wouldn''t freeze. As soon as he touched his forehead and hands, it was really cold, so a few people hurriedly shouted, "Come back and make a fire and change the clothes." The gate of Lu''s yard was open, and the people from Qingxi Village were still inside. Du Hehua and Lu Daxiang wanted to catch up. People couldn''t beat them for a while, so they had to endure it. And when the eight Shuang''er and girls brought Lu Gu back and put down the people in the courtyard, they kept talking about changing Lu Gu''s clothes quickly. Du Hehua rolled her eyes and cried with half of her face swollen, "There is nothing left at home. All of his clothes were given to him as a dowry, where can I find it now." "Either they said they were bullying people, or if they didn''t take advantage of our Lu Gu and didn''t admit it, how could he jump into the river?." "You fart, obviously you don¡¯t accumulate virtue, and even your own family is framed, and you say that he has no innocence for no reason, it¡¯s clear that you want to kill him.¡± Wei Lanxiang sat down without getting up, but picked up a piece of wood from the ground and smashed it to Du Hehua. Ji Qiuyue also said: "Yes, outsiders dare not say such things. Your family is different from others. You can slander other''s innocence with empty words, and just force the good Shuang''er to this point." Lu Gu''s face turned pale . He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to explain something, his white lips moved, but in the end he didn''t even make a slight sound. Du Hehua''s words made a girl unable to listen, and said, "Auntie, we don''t understand and ignore what you say. You see that Lu Gu''s face is so pale, if he doesn''t change into clean clothes, I''m afraid he will get sick." "Yes, auntie, no matter whose clothes are in the family, you can just find him and put them on." The others also agreed. This group of Shuang''er and girls were all young, their speech was clear and fast, and they were surrounded by their family members. Du Hehua was not easy to have a seizure, so she could only pinch her nose and say, "The door of the firewood house is open." "How can someone lie in the firewood room?" someone said casually. Du Hehua was dissatisfied and said, "Why can''t he lie down?, he is so wet, who will wash the dirty bedding when he is carried into the room?" he might wore a dress in normal times, after all, she could get a good reputation, but today the Shen family made such a fuss, making her lose face and reputation long ago, and when she was beaten, she was full of anger. So except for Lu Gu, everyone looked at Lu Daxiang, and when he was stared at, Lu Daxiang said impatiently, "It''s alright, let''s help him in first." This was the case with fathers. Lu Gu, who was trembling all over, entered the woodshed. Seeing this, Bao Zhiru waved to the men in the courtyard who came back, and motioned for them to come out. The men from Anjia Village and Qingxi Village followed, even Lu Daxiang, and no one had any objection. Shen Xuanqing fell behind, after all the men came out, he kept silent and closed the courtyard door from the outside. CH 3.2 There were no windows in the firewood room, and the door was tattered, but it could be closed anyway, and two people were standing in the door, and the holes were blocked. Ji Qiuyue was sitting on the wood next to the firewood room when she suddenly heard a few exclamations from the firewood room. "Why are you beaten like this?" When she heard these words, she thought that it could only be the black-hearted Lu family who beat him up. The wet clothes were taken off, but Du Hehua never came to bring the clean clothes. A shuang''er in the firewood room looked out of the hole in the door and found that there were no men in the courtyard, so they carefully opened the door and asked. "What''s the hurry, he can''t die." Du Hehua said impatiently, and then walked into the house. "This aunt." Shuang''er who asked the question was also not happy, and muttered. Seeing that there was a gap in the door of the firewood house, there was nothing taboo between Shuang''er and the girl, so Ji Qiuyue went in together. The wet clothes that they took off were placed next to him, and Lu Gu was barely wrapped in the other Shuang''er''s jacket. Because it was summer, no one would wear more clothes, so even if the person in the woodshed wanted to take off his clothes to cover him they can''t. The exposed arms and legs were covered with large bruises, and the severe areas turned purple-black. Lu Gu was curled up, and with a slight movement, his waist and back were exposed. The bruise marks on his waist clearly told everyone that his back was also covered in bruises. It was full of wounds. He was already thin, but he was beaten like this. When he was beaten, he didn''t have much flesh on his body to block his bones. Whoever saw it would feel pity. Ji Qiuyue didn''t have much affection for Lu Gu at first, and felt that the Lu family members were not good things, so they teamed up to deceive them. Now, it seemed that Lu Gu was not that bad. It seemed that the injury of this body was only suffered not long ago. Maybe it was because he was afraid of being beaten by the Lu family that he agreed to marry instead. Even though he knew that the people in the firewood house were kind, Lu Gu felt embarrassed to be watched, and he curled up as much as he could while hugging his legs. Du Hehua threw in a tattered dress, and after resting for a while, Lu Gu recovered and felt a little warmer, no longer so cold, and his strength returned. He could dress himself, and the others went out from the firewood door. Ji Qiuyue whispered what she saw to Wei Lanxiang. Wei Lanxiang just nodded and said nothing. The Lu family and the others couldn''t afford it. Outside the yard, a young man from Anjia Village said a few words to Shen Xuanqing. He nodded, saying that he understood, and then thanked him. Anjia Village and Qingxi Village were not too close, but it didn''t prevent him from getting to know a few people here. Although the relationship was normal, they could exchange news. It turned out that Lu Wen had contacts with the gongzi of the Li family in the town, and it was even seen to have the Li family''s maid delivered him something. The Li family was a wealthy family, and further up, Li Yuanwai in the county town is their own family and had a good relationship with the county magistrate. Du Hehua refused to pay back the money, and looked like she had swallowed it up. It was because of this reliance. There were quarrels and fights. Since the marriage couldn''t be concluded, Shen Xuanqing and Wei Lanxiang discussed it, and they didn''t want to entangle them any more. Who would have guessed that even if Bao Zhiru came forward, Du Hehua would be reluctant to live or die, rolling around on the ground, crying and saying that he had no money, and scolding Lu Daxiang and Lu Gu in his mouth, but Lu Daxiang was a coward. Yes, the dowry money was all in Du Hehua''s hands, and he didn''t know where it was hidden. He just kept patting his legs and pacing, constantly shaking his head and sighing, saying that he had done something wrong. Where was the Shen family willing to make concessions, it was a full 20 taels of silver. The fulang was not married, and was cheated of money. Wei Lanxiang was almost crying, and Bao Zhiru was a witness. Since the Lu family refused to pay back the money, they would repay the debt with things. When the men in Qingxi Village heard that they were going to move the Lu family''s belongings, they were all young people, all of them rolling up their sleeves and gearing up, unable to hide their excitement. Du Hehua was dumbfounded all of a sudden. She never thought that the Shen family would do this, but asking her to take out twenty taels was more painful than cutting her flesh. After such a hesitation, everyone from Qingxi Village broke into the house. inside. Shen Yaoqing strolled around the kitchen, trying to find the place where Du Hehua hid the money, but found nothing. He remembered that Lu Wen was gone, maybe the 20 taels were on Lu Wen. And if the money was really hidden somewhere in the Lu family, Du Hehua would definitely stop him from entering the house, so as not to be found by them, but Du Hehua didn''t do that. In the end, he had to endure the bad breath and started to carry things. Tableware and chopsticks were not uncommon. He simply removed the iron pot from the stove, which was worth a little money. Lu Gu was still hiding in the firewood room, listening to the sound of rummaging boxes outside, and a few men smashing doors and bowls, clamoring that the Lu family didn''t even have any valuables. Lu Daxiang and Du Hehua stopped this and the other, crying. In the end, it was Bao Zhiru who came forward to talk and stop the people who smashed things, saying that they were asked to move things to pay off their debts, not bandits and robbers. Lu Gu regained his senses at this moment, and his mind could turn, but when he heard the voice of his stepmother, he trembled. When the Shen family left, Du Hehua was so angry that he would definitely take her anger out to him. He shrank into the haystack, jumping into a river was the most sturdy thing he had ever done, but once that determination passed, he no longer had the courage to seek death, he just felt tired, and he didn''t know if how long to linger. If it was really good, not bad, Du Hehua cried and scolded him in the firewood room. She couldn''t stop the men who were carrying things, and she was pushed to the brink. The hatred in her heart reminded her of Lu Gu. "You are a murderer, why don''t you die!" She took out a piece of firewood and hit Lu Gu. Lu Gu subconsciously wanted to hide, but when he heard the dead word, the last light in his eyes disappeared. He lowered his head and said nothing, allowing Du Hehua to beat him. The stick that used to hit him came to his head, and Lu Gu was hit by a stick, and his ears were buzzing. After the dizziness passed, he noticed that something was flowing down from his forehead, and soon his cheeks were wet. In a trance, he heard Wei Lanxiang''s angry voice, saying that these things were depreciated and sold, adding up, not even ten taels of silver. Hearing this, Du Hehua threw the wooden stick in his hand, walked out of the firewood room, pointed at Wei Lanxiang with his hands on his hips and yelled at Wei Lanxiang. After scolding, she played a rogue. If Shen Xuanqing took advantage of Lu Gu, the Shen family must give it to him. She said that not a single thing was allowed to be taken away, and she had to compensate Lu Gu for the money that he had been prostituted for. Otherwise, she would shake this matter out and make the Shen family shameless. Didn''t even think about marrying a wife and fulang. Her words were too vulgar, Ji Qiuyue hurriedly pulled her sister-in-law Shen Yan out, so as not to be insulted by these words. How could Wei Lanxiang let her son carry this stigma, didn''t marry Lu Wen, and found another good marriage for Shen Xuanqing in the future, and she must not be ruined by the splashing dirty water. The people watching the fun knew that Du Hehua jumped off the wall in a hurry and started talking nonsense, but even if it was a rumor, once it spread, it could be slanderous. The Shen family was anxious to argue, but Lu Gu, who came out of the woodshed holding the door, spoke first. He glanced at Du Hehua, then Lu Daxiang, then looked at the others in the yard, and said, "I didn''t even say a word to Shen Xuanqing, let alone anything else." Lu Gu''s voice was not loud, because he was a little weak after being beaten again, but as soon as he came out, his face was covered in blood, which made everyone quiet and heard his words. When Du Hehua beat him in the firewood room just now, no one heard it, and it was not a big deal for the mother to beat the child. Who would have known that Du Hehua would be so ruthless. Lu Gu looked at Lu Daxiang and continued to say, "You want to be greedy for those 20 taels. If you don''t want to go back, you will frame the bitter master. How can there be people like you in the world?" Blood filled his eyes, and his eyes were filled with blood . He came down and blinked lightly, his pale lips moved, and he wanted to say something else, but he fell down as soon as his eyes darkened, and he lost consciousness again. "Quick, save people." The yard became chaotic, and the people watching the excitement outside were all startled, thinking he was about to die, but Du Hehua''s face was ashen, and she didn''t see any anxiety. She repeatedly slandered Shen Xuanqing for occupying Lu Gu, which was no different from forcing Lu Gu on the road to death. A shuang''er was told by his family that he had lost his innocence, and it was rumored so that Lu Gu would never think of the day when he would look up in his life. Even Du Hehua mentioned this for his sake, but Lu Daxiang didn''t say a word and let Lu Gu to see this father completely. He couldn''t live, but the Shen family was innocent and had been deceived for no reason. In the chaos, Shen Xuanqing, who frowned, was not far from Lu Gu. At the juncture of life and death, how could he think about so many taboos? He stepped forward in two or three steps and carried Lu Gu on his back with the help of Wei Lanxiang and a few others, ran towards the house of the doctor in Anjia Village. ¡ª¡ªIn the strong smell of medicine, Lu Gu, who had a linen cloth wrapped around his head, opened his eyes. He stared at the roof, and only when he heard the sound of ooh ooh outside did his sluggish eyes move. Someone pushed open the door and came in, and he was relieved to see that he woke up, it was the wife of the doctor, and Lu Gu knew where he was. "Grandma Wang." He called out subconsciously and wanted to sit up. Grandma Wang hurried over to hold him down and said, "Don''t move, rest again, it''s not serious." Lu Gu heard that it was Lu Daxiang who was shouting in pain outside. He had doubts, but he didn''t have the strength to ask again. Grandma Wang heard the movement outside, and whispered to him that Shen Xuanqing had broken his leg, and he was just getting his bone treatment. "Either way, the young man is just too frizzy. When his eyes turn red, he won''t know the severity of his attack." Grandma Wang babbled while pouring water. He helped Lu Gu to drink a few sips of warm water, hesitated for a while, with an unbearable look on her face, and said, "Lu Gu, it''s not that grandma scare you, in the future at the Shen family, remember to stay low and be small, don''t dare to contradict others. Seeing Lu Gu bewildered, she put down the bowl and looked even more indignant: "Du Hehua, who has a black heart, sold you to the Shen family!" CH 4.1 After learning that he was betrayed from Grandma Wang, Lu Gu was stunned for a long time and didn''t recover until a deep voice sounded outside, it was Shen Xuanqing who asked him if he was awake. The doctor''s house was not a hospital where people could live, so he would go back to recuperate when he woke up. The man from Qingxi Village and the rest of the Shen family went back first, leaving only Shen Xuanqing. Lu Gu followed Grandma Wang out, and saw the tall man carrying a few medicine bag. Shen Xuanqing glanced at him without much expression on his face. He only said goodbye to Grandma Wang and the doctor, and went out and walked in the front. Lu Gu subconsciously glanced at Grandma Wang beside him. He was pale and lacking in energy. Grandma Wang couldn''t bear the helpless looks in his lonely eyes, but Lu Gu had already been sold to the Shen family, so he had to go back to them. Outside, Shen Xuanqing didn''t hear the footsteps behind him. Looking back, Lu Gu''s eyes seemed to tremble, and he quickly followed. The two walked one after the other, detoured from the back of The doctor''s house to a path, and this path was closer than the right path. The Lu family lived at the front of the village, so that they didn''t have to see the Lu family again. Lu Gu was in a trance, and the further he walked, he suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of Anjia Village, as if in a dream, he escaped from his stepmother, Du Hehua, but there was no joy in his heart . Shen Xuanqing, who was so tall that he was afraid, didn''t even dare to approach, how would he live in the future?. The sun sank in the west and gradually descended towards the mountain. He followed Shen Xuanqing''s shadow. After he fully understood his situation, he also realized that his trance was not fake, but caused by dizziness. But he didn''t dare to stop, didn''t dare to say anything, he gritted his teeth and followed. Before Lu Daxiang stepped out of the hospital door, he turned his head and stared at Du Hehua, his face was black, but Du Hehua was not afraid at all. Du Hehua only brought him the old patched clothes, the wedding shoes on his feet were still wet, and it was a little uncomfortable to walk, but patience was something he often experienced. He kept following without even saying a word. Shen Xuanqing in the front was carrying the medicine bag. Today was originally the big day for his marriage, but it became like this. No one would look good on him. And the fact that he bought Lu Gu had to start half an hour ago. ¡ª¡ªAfter Lu Gu was carried away by Shen Xuanqing, Du Hehua had a livid face, she was used to beat and scold Lu Gu, who would have thought that being slapped by Lu Gu today, how could she bear it, so she whispered in Lu Daxiang''s ear and said about how Lu Gu made his father embarrassed in front of the villagers, and that they were coveting the money of the Shen family, it was unfilial, and he didn''t take Lu Daxiang seriously. Lu Daxiang was originally unhappy because she beat Lu Gu to the point of blood and made others saw the joke. Hearing this, his face became worse, but he didn''t say anything. His face was calm, and he was about to go to the doctor''s house. After all, Lu Gu was his shuang''er son, and he didn''t even look at him, which would only cause more gossip behind his back. Du Hehua saw his unspoken and useless appearance, and went out to see that wild species. She sneered secretly, walked over quickly, raised her head and squinted at Lu Daxiang and said in a low voice, "You have a good heart, you have raised a good shuang''er, and today, together with others poured dirty water on Brother Wen, you will be able to tell him tomorrow. The ancestors of the old Lu family were scolded, and the ancestors will be annoyed to see him, and I don''t know which wild man''s seed made you a green-headed bastard!" The people from Qingxi Village were still in the yard. Wei Lanxiang looked at the two people at the door and didn''t know what they were saying in a low voice. Even Lu Daxiang, who was about to go out, turned back, took the dry tobacco rod from his waist, squatted on the wall and took a few puffs, the smoke enveloped his hazy folded face, and he looked a little older than before. When he thought of it, Du Hehua''s words made him even more unhappy, and even more hatred for Lu Gu, this wild species. Wei Lanxiang hadn''t left, just to prevent the Lu family from cheating on the account, so naturally they had to guard, the money wouldn''t come back, but they had to take the things. After Shen Xuanqing came back, he learned that Lu Gu had no worries about his life, and the people of Qingxi Village would go back after moving the things. Wei Lanxiang looked at these rubbish things, which were not worth twenty taels at all, but Shen Xuanqing told her to go home, she sighed and had to give up, the Lu family was shameless, and their family had to live a good life. Before the things were moved, Du Hehua blocked the door and wouldn''t let him go, pointed at Shen Xuanqing''s nose and scolded him for being shameless, went out with a disheveled shuang''er on his back, and then scolded Wei Lanxiang and the rest of the Shen family. Lu Daxiang stopped smoking, spit on the ground, got up and looked at Shen Xuanqing with a very bad look, but he didn''t scold, only asked if Shen Xuanqing took advantage of Lu Gu, otherwise, how would he go out carried Lu Gu behind his back? . He no longer trusted Lu Gu, so he naturally wore a pair of trousers with Du Hehua. CH 4.2 His mother and the family were scolded repeatedly, Shen Xuanqing put down the iron pot in his hand, he couldn''t bear it any longer, even Wei Lanxiang couldn''t hold it, and broke Lu Daxiang''s leg in the miserable howl. Du Hehua threw herself on Lu Daxiang crying, and someone outside shouted to send him to the doctor, Lu Dahe rushed in, saw that Lu Daxiang had broken his leg, and shouted that the Shen family wouldn''t be able to go, but when he saw Shen Xuan Qing''s face was gloomy, and he was extremely tall and strong. Those eyes were like a wolf leopard with a fierce coldness, so he suddenly shut his mouth. Lu Daxiang was carried away. Du Hehua was going to follow, but she was afraid that the house would be evacuated. Thinking of Lu Daxiang''s broken leg this time, he would have to spend a lot of money for treatment, plus Lu Gu, he felt hatred in her heart. Lu Daxiang had to spend money, but Lu Gu, at this moment, she wished Lu Gu would die now, and she wouldn''t pay a penny. Since it was Shen Xuanqing''s hands, he must lose money! When it came to money, Du Hehua''s mind turned faster than anyone else, and immediately corrupted the Shen family. Who knew that after she was crying and rushing to attract Bao Zhiru again, Shen Xuanqing kicked the iron pot on the ground, and said in a cold voice that they didn''t want the things. The Lu family compensated him for 10 taels of silver. As for the remaining 10 taels, for the money he bought Lu Gu, and since then the two would no longer communicate. If not, then no one would think about it. Du Hehua was originally unwilling, but after seeing Shen Xuanqing''s cold and terrifying expression, she gritted her teeth and agreed. The reason why she was able to agree was also calculated in her heart. Not only did she keep these belongings, but she could also throw Lu Gu, the death star, otherwise she would have to spend more money to treat the death star. ¡ª¡ª Before dark, Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing to Qingxi Village. The red hanging on the beam on the door of Shen''s house hadn''t been taken off, and the yard had been cleaned up. Wei Lanxiang was out of breath today, and when she came back, she had a stuffy chest and a headache, so she went into the room early to rest. Ji Qiuyue took Shen Yan to clean up in the kitchen, and when she heard the movement, she looked out the window. She lost the usual smile on her face and asked through the window: "Second brother is hungry, Daqing is going to return the table and chairs, wait. We will have dinner when he comes back." "Yeah." Shen Xuanqing agreed, sounding a little dull. Seeing that there were still a few tables in the yard, he was going to move, but after noticing the red clothes on his body, he went to the room to change the clothes first. As for Lu Gu, he didn''t even know where he should stand. Ji Qiuyue saw that his face was terrifyingly pale, and the fine linen cloth wrapped around his head was oozing red blood, and she couldn''t help feeling pity, and said, "There''s no chair, you go and sit first." Lu Gu had nowhere to go. He just sat under the eaves according to her words, his hands and feet were cramped, but he didn''t dare to make a big move. Shen Xuanqing, who had changed into home clothes, saw him when he came out, and didn''t say anything and went to work on his own. As for whether Lu Gu came to the Shen family to live or die, he never thought about it. Although he changed his place, Lu Gu still felt that everything in front of him was unfamiliar, and no one wanted to see him, and they didn''t want to pay attention to him. However, he didn''t feel sorry for himself, and he didn''t understand what it was. He was only at a loss. After thinking about what Grandma Wang said, he decided to be more careful and not make mistakes, especially not to let Shen Xuanqing find out what was wrong, otherwise his legs would be interrupted. The aroma of the food wafted out of the kitchen, especially the smell of meat, which made Lu Gu, who had only eaten a bowl of noodle soup all day, even more uncomfortable. Ji Qiuyue brought out a bowl of egg custard and brought it to Wei Lanxiang''s room. Seeing Lu Gu''s restrained and uneasy look, she sighed in her heart, and then said: "Daqing and the others are coming back soon, you and Shen Yan will bring the dishes first." Seeing Lu Gu hurriedly entering the kitchen, she shook her head secretly, it wasn''t that she deliberately instructed Lu Gu to work, not letting him move, sitting here with eyes full of nervousness , it was really unbearable, it was better to let him do something. Soon, the Shen brothers came back, and Lu Gu and Shen Yan also arranged the meals. In the main room, the Shen family members who sat down one after another were much more silent than before. It was Shen Yaoqing who spoke first and said, "Eat, you can''t go hungry in your own home, and the big things will wait until you eat." Shen Xuan Qing said nothing, but picked up the chopsticks, and Ji Qiuyue moved the chopsticks too. She glanced at the outside yard and asked Shen Yan, "Where''s the person?" Wei Lanxiang fell asleep after eating a bowl of egg custard in the room. She didn''t eat with them, but Lu Gu disappeared. "It was still there just now." Shen Yan also looked into the yard. "You eat first, I''ll look for him." Ji Qiuyue put down her chopsticks again. To be honest, she was so pissed off today that she didn''t have a good appetite. There were no chairs under the eaves, and no one in the kitchen. Finally, she found Lu Gu in the firewood room, pushed open the door and asked, "Why don''t you come to eat?" Lu Gu, who was curled up in the haystack, covered his stomach to keep himself from going. Wanting to eat, he never thought that the door of the firewood room was suddenly opened, he sat up in a little panic, and subconsciously opened his eyes wide to look at Ji Qiuyue. After hearing what Qing Ji Qiuyue said, his expression became more and more panicked. In the Shen family he ate the hot egg noodle soup, which was much better than the watery soup left over from the Lu family, but there were only five bowls, and the five members of the Shen family naturally didn''t have his share. After serving the table, he left the main room, not knowing where he should go. If he was still in Anjia Village, if his father and stepmother would have dinner. He was instructed to go out to work, so he ran to the hillside of the back mountain to pick some wild vegetables. He ate the fruit, but he didn''t dare to run around in the Shen''s house. In the end, he could only find a firewood room to sleep and endure the hunger, and he was able to ease his dizziness. CH 5.1 At the dinner, Lu Gu didn''t dare to come out. After coming for dinner with Ji Qiuyue, he realized that Wei Lanxiang didn''t come out to eat, and that the bowl of noodles that no one touched belonged to him. Shen Xuanqing ate fast, and he finished eating in seconds. He put down the bowl and went back to the room first. After only Lu Gu and Shen Yan were left on the table, he took a breath and was no longer so stiff and nervous, but after all, he didn''t dare to move the dishes on the table, and lowered his head and only ate noodles and soup, which was far better than what he had eaten before. It would be better. Suddenly, there was a piece of pork liver in the bowl. Lu Gu was stunned for a while, and when he turned his head, he saw that Shen Yan held up the chopsticks and hadn''t retracted his hand. "It''s so much, it''s okay for you to eat a few mouthfuls." Shen Yan''s almond eyes were clear, but she seemed a little unfamiliar and cautious because she was not familiar with him. The same was true for Lu Gu, because he was too timid and looked a little dull, even unable to speak. Fortunately, Shen Yan didn''t care about this, she was full and got up to clean up her tableware. Lu Gu hurriedly ate the meat and noodles in his bowl. He was a little bit at a loss, and he felt remorse in his heart. Why did he eat so slowly? If Shen Xuanqing knew about it, he would suffer. He completely forgot that he was late and others ate earlier than him, for fear that if he didn''t work diligently, he only knew that eating would annoy the Shen family. "I''ll wash it." His voice was low, and he gently took the empty bowl from Shen Yan''s hand. When he was in the Lu family, it was often not his turn to eat, but he had to wash the dishes. Lu Wen was determined not to do it, not to mention his half-brother Lu Wu, who now had changed his place. He didn''t dare to slack off. There was a lot of food left over tonight, and the angry Shen family didn''t have much appetite, they were full after filling their stomachs. Shen Yan didn''t grab him. Besides, seeing how pale he was and how thin he was , he seemed to be frightened if she spoke louder, so she didn''t dare to speak more. Ji Qiuyue, the leftover vegetables and meat from the wedding banquet, had already put them away, and Lu Gu put the leftovers in the cage, his eyes fell on the basin that hadn''t been poured after washing the vegetables, and he asked Shen Yan who came after him softly, "Is this the basin? " Seeing that Shen Yan nodding, he put the empty bowls and chopsticks in, squatted down and took the loofah and started to wash. Shen Yan seemed to be curious about him, and squatted down opposite him. Lu Gu spoke less and was timid, but Shen Yan was still a little girl, and she had no bad intentions. She just gave him some meat to eat, so he was not so vigilant and nervous about Shen Yan. He was stupid, and he was afraid of saying the wrong thing, so he buried himself to hide his helplessness. And Shen Yan tilted her head and looked at the bride in front of her. She thought that Lu Gu was not as good-looking as Lu Wen, but her eyebrows and eyes were not that bad, but she was too thin. What a nice person. But when she thought of Lu Wen''s repentance of marriage and Du Hehua scolding them, she felt that Lu Wen was not very good. If she were to meet Lu Wen in the future, she would never give him a good look. How could there be such a person. At this time, Ji Qiuyue came in. She was full after eating a few mouthfuls. She went back to her room and rested for a while. She heard that there was no movement in the main room outside. Seeing a wounded person washing dishes, she wanted to talk to Shen Yan, but she felt really tired today, and Shen Yan was also frightened today, so she stopped talking. Besides, she could also see Lu Gu''s embarrassment. If he didn''t do some work, he probably wouldn''t even know where to put his hands and feet. Washing the dishes wasn''t such a big job. She took another wooden basin from the side, scooped out the clean water and put Lu Gu''s washed bowl into it and rinsed it. Someone helped, and Lu Gu quickly finished washing. Just as he was about to take out the dirty water and pour it out, Ji Qiuyue grabbed it first. He had no work to do, so he stood in the kitchen and stared blankly for a while. Ji Qiuyue put the empty basin away and said to him, "you''re tired today, just scoop some water to wash and go to sleep." Lu Gu, Shen Yan closed the courtyard door, and followed Ji Qiuyue to wash in the courtyard together. Wiping her face and turning her head, she saw Lu Gu''s pitiful and cramped look, pointed to her own basin and said, "How about you use mine?" After speaking, she remembered that there was a new wooden basin for the newcomer in the second brother''s room. But she thought about it again, it should have been for Lu Wen. Although the second brother said that he bought Lu Gu, she really didn''t know what identity Lu Gu was at home. "Forget it, you can use this." Shen Yan couldn''t understand this matter, and there was a bit of sadness on her round face. There were many trivial matters in getting married. The whole Shen family woke up to work from dawn, and in the afternoon, they went to Anjia Village to quarrel and fight with others. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were physically and mentally exhausted. CH 5.2 Lu Gu was the only one left in the courtyard. It was already dark, and the Shen family didn''t light any lights, but there were stars and moons in the sky, which illuminated the yard coldly. A bowl of hot noodle soup with eggs and oily water made Lu Gu, who was often not full, felt a little warmer. He washed his face and looked up at the semi-circular moon in the sky. The surroundings were so quiet that he felt as if he was alone. He was dumbfounded, stared at the bright moon for a long time, and finally thought to himself, wait until the fifteenth full moon to go to the grave, otherwise if he died, no one would go to his mother''s grave. ¡ª¡ª The sun was rising, and the sky was already bright. In the Shen''s firewood room, Shen Yan squatted in front of the haystack, stretched out a finger and gently poked the face of the person in the haystack. Lu Gu, with the blood-stained linen cloth wrapped around his head, didn''t wake up. She was a little startled. She subconsciously reached out and probed his nose for a while, and then she was relieved after breathing lightly. The rest of the Shen family also got up. Shen Xuanqing was washing his face when Wei Lanxiang called him into the room. "Mother." He said while wiping his hands with the towel. Wei Lanxiang leaned on the square pillow and sighed lightly when she saw her second son, and then asked, "What are you going to do with him?" It was self-evident who this "he" was. Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing frowned slightly, obviously not thinking about it. After thinking for a while, he said, "Mother, it''s him." Although it was an expected answer, Wei Lanxiang lowered her eyes in anger. She couldn''t even express her remorse, and her face was full of unwillingness and discomfort. Shen Xuanqing knew what his old lady was thinking. She originally wanted to marry him a good fulang, but he became Lu Gu, but after this incident, he no longer had any thoughts and expectations for marriage, and whispered: " I owe 10 taels of silver from my uncle''s house and said that it will be repaid in May of next year. Let''s not mention this. It will be the New Year''s Day in half a year, and I will need money. When will it be clear?" "Alas." Wei Lanxiang sighed, how could she not understand this truth, she was just unwilling. For Shen Xuanqing''s marriage this time, the 20 taels of dowry could barely get together, but the marriage was not only a dowry, but also other expenses. After the account was calculated, the money in her hand was not enough to see, so she could only borrow from her mother''s family. From the eldest brother got 10 taels of silver. In fact, if Shen Xuanqing was unwilling to ask Lu Gu, it was not impossible to find the money when the debt was repaid, but the men in the countryside who couldn''t marry a wife when they were old would be ridiculed, and the older they were, the worse and would be hard to find. When Wei Lanxiang saw the expression in her second son''s eyes, she knew that he had made a decision. No matter what, it was not too bad to take Lu Gu to make up the number, the money was gone, at least he could get a person. She rubbed her forehead and said, "Okay, I understand, you can go to work." At this point, when Lu Gu was asleep, he became Shen Xuanqing''s fulang, not what he thought last night, he was bought to be The Shen servants of cattle and horses. What Shen Xuanqing didn''t say was that if he changed someone, he wouldn''t necessarily want it. The reason why he recognized Lu Gu was because of the few words of conscience that Lu Gu said yesterday, which made him understand that he was different with other Lu family members. It was precisely because of those words with blood on his face that the rest of the Shen family didn''t have that much resistance to Lu Gu. Besides, he was not the one who broke their hearts and lungs. in the firewood room. The drowsy Lu Gu woke up because of the poke on his cheek. After he saw Shen Yan''s face clearly, he realized that it was already bright outside, and his bloodless face changed a bit with fright, and he was about to get up immediately. Go out to boil water and to work. Who would have known that he got up too quickly, and before he could stand firm, it was black in front of him. If it wasn''t for Shen Yan''s quick hands and eyes to support him, he might have fallen. "What are you in a hurry for? There''s no ghost driving you." Shen Yan was puzzled, she helped him sit down again, and took a few hay from his hair. After the darkness in front of him passed, Lu Gu was no longer dizzy, he stood up. Shen Yan followed him out of the firewood room, and said as he walked, "Your medicine is fried, you can drink it after eating." The yard was filled with an unpleasant smell of medicine, and others helped him decoct the medicine, this matter made Lu Gu very unfamiliar. When he was at home, once he was sick, he would either get over it, or went to the backyard to make medicine by himself, and his stepmother would scold him when the smell of the medicine came out. Shen Xuanqing came out of the room and saw the bloodless face, and his feet froze. Last night, he heard the slight movement of Lu Gu opening the door of the firewood room. At that time, he was upset. He turned over a few times and felt that as long as no one ran away, he wouldn''t care. Besides, it would be inappropriate for a shuang''er to be called into the room by him. As for Lu Gu just woke up just now, he understood. Yesterday, he was hit and his head was bleeding. His body was thin. there was nothing wrong. After seeing Shen Xuanqing, Lu Gu obviously showed a bit of cowardice, and even stopped when he was going to work in the kitchen. At this time, Wei Lanxiang shouted in the room: "Shen Yan, go and put the chicken out, it''s getting late." "I know mother, I''ll go now." Shen Yan replied, and she threw the chicken in her hand and played with it. She took the bamboo basket hanging under the kitchen eaves and walked to the backyard. When she came, she looked at Shen Xuanqing, thinking in her heart what the position of Lu Gu in their house would be in the future. The somewhat familiar Shen Yan left, which made Lu Gu even more uneasy, and almost wrote the fear of Shen Xuanqing on his face. Fortunately, Ji Qiuyue stood by the kitchen window and looked out, and said to Lu Gu, "Wash your face and bring the food in." Shen Xuanqing realized his fear and frowned slightly, but he still entered the main room, otherwise Lu Gu''s head would drop to the ground. CH 6.1 Wei Lanxiang was not feeling well, and today it was Ji Qiuyue who brought her food to eat in the room. Lu Gu was sitting between Shen Yan and Ji Qiuyue, so he didn''t need to be next to Shen Xuanqing, but even so, he was still cautious and didn''t even dare to stretch out his chopsticks. Speaking of which, today''s breakfast was quite rich. There were fish and meat. They were all leftover materials from the wedding banquet, not leftovers from others. It was not easy for farmers. Where could you eat such big fish and meat easily? You couldn''t care about the rest after sitting in the feast, hurriedly poured it into his own bowl and took it away. Now it was summer again, although it was almost the end of summer, but the weather was still hot, and things were easy to spoil, so you had to eat them quickly, so as not to feel bad if they became bad. Everyone on the table had a bowl of chicken soup, which was flattering for Lu Gu, and he became more and more confused. The Shen family bought him probably because he wanted to let out his breath, but since last night, he neither beat him nor scolded him , gave him food, and even gave him a bowl of oily and fragrant chicken soup today. When Ji Qiuyue saw him, he didn''t dare to eat a single bite of the food. She was not angry. After a night of rest, she regained her energy. Just now, she took advantage of Lu Gu''s opportunity to serve food and asked Shen Xuanqing what he meant, and she knew that Lu Gu was the new fulang. Although it was still difficult for her to take a straight look at the Lu family, when she thought about how Lu Gu was beaten up like that, it would be hard to believe if she hadn''t seen the injuries on his body, so she softened a bit and said briskly, "Eat the vegetables quickly, if you eat them later, it will be bad in two days, so hurry up and eat now. " Lu Gu was persuaded, but still didn''t dare to stretch out his chopsticks. Ji Qiuyue didn''t urge him much when he saw this, people''s temperament couldn''t be changed in a moment. Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing ate fast and a lot. After all, young men were strong and had good appetite. "I''ll go to the ground for a walk." Shen Yaoqing stood up first, said to Ji Qiuyue, and left the table. As for Shen Xuanqing, he originally thought that he would stay at home for the past few days after getting married, and waited for the three days to return to the door before packing up and went into the mountain, but seeing Lu Gu bowing his head and didn''t dare to speak, he thought about it and arrived at the backyard. With only the three of them left on the table, Lu Gu''s tense body relaxed a little. "There''s so much more, let''s eat them separately, don''t leave any leftovers." Ji Qiuyue moved the vegetable bowl to the three of them. Shen Yan was full, she had a small appetite, and it was hard to put things in the hot weather now. When she saw that Lu Gu didn''t move his chopsticks, she couldn''t eat anyway, just like last night, she put a few pieces of fish in Lu Gu''s bowl and then the meat. Before Lu Gu ate it, he suddenly saw three dogs running out of the backyard, smelling the smell of meat and heading straight to the main room. The two thin dogs had smooth fur, long legs and slender waists, and were taller than ordinary dogs. At first glance, they ran fast, and the exposed fangs immediately reminded Lu Gu of the words a vicious biting dog. not to mention, a big wolf-dog followed closely behind them, with strong limbs and a well-proportioned body. It didn''t look like a dog, but a half-human tall wolf running out of the mountains. However, compared to the two small dogs, this big dog''s gray-blue eyes drooped slightly. After walking in, its eyes turned around in the main room. Even if it found Lu Gu, a stranger, it just came around and sniffed. It went away, as if it had memorized the smell, and then walked to the shady place under the eaves and lay on his stomach. Both its movements and demeanor seemed very calm, but it was not so scary. When Lu Gu slept last night, he heard a dog barking in the backyard, but he didn''t expect that the Shen family had three dogs, and they were all so tall and so big. "Go!" Ji Qiuyue raised her hand and waved away the two thin dogs that were circling Lu Gu. At this time, Shen Xuanqing came out of the backyard, he gave the drink, and the three dogs followed after him walked outside. When the Shen family saw that he didn''t bring anything else, they knew that they wouldn''t enter the deep mountains, but chased rabbits and pheasants on the periphery. "I''m full." Shen Yan said, and took away the empty bowls. When she came to the kitchen, she added a piece of fine wood under the medicine stove and let them boiled slowly. Half a bowl of mixed rice, a bowl of fragrant and warm chicken soup, Shen Yan also filled him with some meat and vegetables, the first time Lu Gu filled his stomach after a long absence . The stomach was full and warm, and even the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys seemed to be warm, which gave him a bit of energy. Ji Qiuyue was busy in the kitchen after the meal. She was used to it and didn''t let Lu Gu intervene. It happened that the medicine was ready at this time, so she took a bowl and poured it out. The hot medicine was difficult to swallow, so she had to put it aside to let it cooled down. CH 6.2 Shen Yan used a long bamboo pole to drive a group of ducks out of the backyard. Seeing that Lu Gu had nothing to do, she had no one to accompany the ducks, so she asked, "Are you going?" He paid for it at home, and it was natural to work, so Lu Gu followed Shen Yan out of the house in a hurry. "The pond is not far, just behind the house." Shen Yan said as she walked. Qingxi Village was close to the mountain, and the Shen family was the last family in the village. The Qingxi River that flowed out of the mountain was only half a mile behind the house. The two of them could see the river at a glance when they walked behind the house, and there was a small pond. After driving the ducks into the pond, Shen Yan didn''t sit still. She looked for grass that chickens like to eat nearby, especially those with grass seeds, which chickens like to peck. Chopped it up and mixed with the bran to feed the chicken, the chicken was cute when they ate. Seeing Lu Gu swaying when he bent down and stood up, she thought it was because of a head injury. She pointed to a white stone on the edge of the pond where she used to sit and said, "Sit here and don''t move , take a bamboo pole and don''t let the ducks go away. Just let them swim and I''ll go there to cut the grass." Lu Gu sat down, he didn''t dare to be lazy, but as soon as he squatted, his eyes became dark and his head was dizzy, so he had to wait for a while. In the distance, he heard a few dogs barking from the hillside, and immediately remembered the three dogs that followed Shen Xuanqing out . Sure enough, it was them. Walking towards the hillside, more trees would grow, Lu Gu could see Shen Yan''s figure, two thin dogs rushed down from the hillside, thinking that Shen Xuanqing was nearby. Lu Gu didn''t dare to look over there anymore, and looked at the ducks swimming in the pond looking for food. Soon, Shen Yan came over with a bale of grass. Seeing that the ducks were all there, she said to Lu Gu, "Brother Lu Gu, Brother Erqing said the sun is getting hot, so let you go back." It was the first time that Shen Yan called him brother . Even if Lu Gu''s expression was embarrassed. He didn''t say much, just asked: "What about the duck?" Shen Yan pointed to the side of the hill and said, "Just let Da Hui looking at it." Lu Gu followed her finger, and sure enough, the big wolf dog was walking towards the pond. "Da Hui is so smart. The last time Brother Daqing''s jacket fell on the ground, it brought it home." Shen Yan and Lu Gu became familiar with each other, and their words gradually increased. Besides, she met Shen Xuanqing just now. Her brother told her that Lu Gu was the newlyweds, so his identity was naturally different, so she should also talk about family affairs. As soon as the two of them entered the door, Ji Qiuyue saw it and said, "Just right, the medicine is ready to drink." After Lu Gu finished drinking the medicine, he was pulled into the new room by Shen Yan. He knew that this was Shen Xuanqing''s room, and he was at a loss immediately, and he didn''t know why. "Second brother said, let you drink the medicine and sleep for a while, anyway, to recover from the injury." Shen Yan saw that he was still wearing the shabby clothes that Du Hehua gave yesterday, and opened the box dowry to search the new clothes. Farmers didn''t have many good things for dowry, and they usually put the clothes that Shuang''er often wore in his parents'' house, so the dowry looked full. At that time, the Lu family had agreed to give a new quilt, but they were not fooled. Otherwise, the box wouldn''t be too light, and the people who moved it from Qingxi Village in the past would shout about it. Shen Yan only found two pieces of Lu Gu''s clothes in the box, but none of them were winter clothes. How could she didn''t know that they were deducted by Du Hehua. "Are you going to change?" She turned to ask Lu Gu, saw him nodding and said, "Then you can sleep here, or Brother Erqing will scold me when he comes back." Last night, Brother Erqing entered the room, she actually thought that Lu Gu wouldn''t dare to go in, but she and Wei Lanxiang lived in the same room and couldn''t call Lu Gu. If it was cold, there was an excuse, but it was still summer. Besides, she didn''t know what Shen Xuanqing meant yesterday, and her mother was so angry again, how could she dare to make up her own mind. After Shen Yan finished speaking, she went out and closed the door for him. Lu Gu hugged his clothes in panic, unable to figure out why. If he was more courageous, he might have guessed a little bit, but he wasn''t, he could only do what Shen Yan said, after all, it was what Shen Xuanqing meant. When he was about to change his clothes, he glanced at the bed covered with red quilts. It was clean and tidy, far from being soiled by him, so he went to wash his face and hands, and even his feet and calves were washed with water with his hands. There was no cloth towel here, so he had to sit in the courtyard to dry. Fortunately, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing were not there, and the sun was hot enough, so Lu Gu quickly dried. The night before yesterday, when he was still in the Lu family, according to the pre-marriage rules, Du Hehua reluctantly boiled a large pot of water for him, and let him take a bath, rubbing his body all over till red, but also completely clean and light. So when Lu Gu changed into clean clothes and lay down on the side of the bed carefully, he didn''t have so much fear of soiling his new quilt. He lay down, only to feel that the mattress under him was extremely soft, and even had a faint scent. He didn''t know that in order to marry the new fulang, the Shen family added boiled herb water to the water when washing the bed and the mattress. It smelled cleaner and it was a lot of thought. Lu Gu hadn''t slept in such a good bed for a long time. In the Lu family, he and Lu Wen lived in the same room, and there was a broken wooden bed made of stone and mud. Even so, Du Hehua often drived him to the firewood room to sleep. Due to the injury on the forehead, he would feel dizzy from time to time, but he recovered quickly, and he didn''t take it to heart, but now when he lay down, his body and mind were like falling into a soft mattress, and he gradually became drowsy. Lu Gu originally just wanted to lie down according to Shen Xuanqing''s words, so that Shen Yan wouldn''t have to be scolded. He didn''t expect that he would fall asleep, and he slept so deeply that he didn''t even feel anything when Ji Qiuyue came in to cover him with a thin quilt. CH 7.1 Wei Lanxiang sat in the courtyard to breathe and did some needlework. When she saw Ji Qiuyue coming out of the new room, she lowered her eyes and sewed her pockets, and asked, "How have you been seeing him in the past two days? " Ji Qiuyue sat down beside her. Wei Lanxiang took out the half-finished shoe sole from the sewing basket beside her feet and put it away. "Mother, at least be honest, he did whatever you let him do, didn''t say anything, wrote everything on his face, his mind is much easier to guess than that Lu Wen." Ji Qiuyue''s tone was brisk, because Lu Gu was still sleeping in the room, her voice was lower than usual , and she said, "He likes to be clean, and he washed his face and feet before going to bed. I guess he is quite afraid of the second brother." After hearing, Wei Lanxiang shook her head, she had to admit it now, and said, "It''s good to be honest, as long as you do your duty. He can live with your second brother. Well, the courage still need to practice." "That''s right, mother, the second brother is less talkative, he looks like a first-class handsome man, and has a good temper. After waiting for a long time, he will naturally know it." Ji Qiuyue smiled. As she said this, one of her words was for her own family, and the other was that something Wei Lanxiang loved to listen. Sure enough, Wei Lanxiang smiled, and her face was no longer sad. She heard the hens clucking in the backyard and said, "It''s laying eggs. You look at them and pick the eggs, wait until tomorrow. Count ten eggs and then take a piece of meat and go back to see your mother." "I know, mother." Ji Qiuyue said as she got up and went to get the basket hanging under the kitchen eaves, smiling all over her face. Her mother was ill a few days ago, but because she was busy with Shen Xuanqing''s marriage, she only took a quick look. Everyone liked to listen to good things, she picked up what her mother-in-law liked to hear and said a few words, her mother-in-law was happy and she was happy, and Shen Yaoqing was also happy to see her made her mother-in-law happy, wasn''t this better than anything else? Now the weather was hot, the hens didn''t lay eggs well, and the price had gone up. Even in the past, it was not easy to eat. You had to save and sold them. These eggs could be regarded as precious things in the family. You could only eat a lot of things like this when you got married, and they still needed to save the eggs two months in advance for the last banquet. Ten eggs were a rarity anyway. Pork was too oily to eat. If you also brought these eggs, it would be enough to give to her mother to make up her body. Although she was going back to her parents'' house, Ji Qiuyue took these back to save her face, and let her picky little sister-in-law have nothing to say. The others were busy with their own work, only Lu Gu slept all afternoon. When he opened his eyes again, he was stunned for a while before he completely woke up. He looked out of the courtyard from window and someone looked in. When Ji Qiuyue saw him woke up, she smiled and said, "Wake up, let''s have a good meal, I was thinking of calling you just now." The unhappiness at the Lu family yesterday had passed, since Lu Gu was chosen as a fulang, it was better for the family to live in harmony. After breakfast, he went to sleep, woke up and ate again. No one beat or scolded him. This was something that had never happened to Lu Gu, so he quickly went out to help, for fear of making mistake. After thinking about it, Wei Lanxiang finally felt lighter. She was sitting under the eaves and packing up the sewing basket. When Lu Gu came out, he saw her, and his face showed some fear and confusion, and he stopped in place. Ji Qiuyue saw that he was cramped, and remembered that no one had mentioned his affairs to Lu Gu, so she smiled and said, "Don''t call mother yet, mother asked me to steam a bowl of egg custard for you, you can''t let the kindness in vain. " Lu Gu was timid, he was timid only when he was frightened, and usually he would wink, otherwise he would have been beaten and scolded by Du Hehua for excuses. Hearing Ji Qiuyue said this, he opened his eyes slightly, as if he couldn''t believe it, he hesitated and whispered, "Mother." Wei Lanxiang was not someone who was acting like a mean mother-in-law, so she didn''t deliberately make it difficult for Lu Gu. Seeing that Lu Gu was obedient in everything, so she nodded. The quacking sound of ducks came from the yard, Shen Yan carried a small basket, Shen Xuanqing followed behind her, and came back with two bales of grass on his back. Many people didn''t dare to go into the deep mountains, so they often catched hares and pheasants on the periphery. It was because of this that the things on the outer mountains were rarer than before. Shen Yan threw the job of chasing the ducks to Shen Xuanqing, and brought the basket with fishes to Lu Gu. She had mud on her sleeves and pant, but her eyes were bright. She showed the fish in the basket to Lu Gu and said: "Brother Lu Gu, look, this is what Brother Erqing and I caught. We will ate fish soup." There were some loach and small fish with long fingers in the basket. Although the appearance was not good, the fish soup was the best. Delicious, especially loach, it could also nourish the body. CH 7.2 Shen Yan was so happy that Lu Gu hurriedly brought the basin over when he saw that she was going to pour it out, let it for two days to vomit the mud and sand. Shen Yaoqing also came back with the hoe on his back, seeing the mud on Shen Yan''s body, he knew what was going on. Compared to yesterday''s cloudy atmosphere, the family members had a bit of a smile on their faces, it made him also happy, and grabbed Shen Yan''s little braid, asked, "Have you had enough fun?" The family''s situation was not good in the past two years, and Shen Yan also followed suit. She kept ducks and grass every day, and sometimes she had to do some needlework. She couldn''t even find time to play. Today, Shen Xuanqing didn''t catch a rabbit, so he took her to the river to dig for loach. This was a rare fun for her, and she was naturally happy. "Sister-in-law, look at him!" Shen Yan was sore, and she knew that she couldn''t beat him, so her brows were tangled together, and she hurriedly called Ji Qiuyue. With a soft sound of "snap", Shen Yaoqing was hit on the back of the head. After being beaten by his wife, he laughed and stopped messing with Shen Yan. A few loach fluttered in the basin, and the water splashed outside. Shen Yan used chopsticks to dip a few drops of oil into the basin, so that they could spit out the mud. The clouds in the evening were dyed orange, and the wind blew away the heat of the day. The family gathered to eat together, happily and harmoniously, which was a very unfamiliar scene for Lu Gu. In front of him was the only bowl of egg custard on the table, which Ji Qiuyue said was steamed for him alone. Without the distress of yesterday, Shen Yaoqing spoke more, and compared to his eldest brother who in his twenties, Shen Xuanqing, who was five years younger, spoke less prudently. Lu Gu felt that this bowl of egg custard was too precious, and he didn''t dare to eat it at all, so he gave it to Wei Lanxiang and said, "Mother, you eat." Although the voice of calling mother was small , he was still sensible, Wei Lanxiang was in a better mood, she had a two-point smile at Lu Gu, and pushed the bowl back. Because Shen Xuanqing had already recognized Lu Gu as the new fulang, and she wanted him to live with the second child in the future, so she casually said: "No, I have eaten all these days. If you like to eat it, you can eat it, the injury will heal if you eat it, and in the future you will give it to us¡­¡± Having said this, Wei Lanxiang suddenly felt bad, and quickly turned around: "you will make it for our Erqing in the future. It''s all up to you to do the food and laundry." What she originally wanted to say was to give birth to a big fat boy for Shen Xuanqing, but when the words got to her mouth, she knew it was not good, so she hurriedly took it back, but after all she heard it, Ji Qiuyue paused her chopsticks, her eyebrows drooping. "Eat, eat, it''s not good if it''s cold." Shen Yaoqing rounded up the situation, and even put the vegetables in Ji Qiuyue''s bowl as a show of flattery. Lu Gu didn''t know what was going on, so he subconsciously held his breath, for fear that he would say a word or do something wrong and made others unhappy. He didn''t know, Ji Qiuyue had been married for three years, and the family life was good when she first got married, but she didn''t think that when Shen Shunfu was gone, and it became difficult. They couldn''t even eat , and everyone had to work hard to earn money. For money, Shen Yaoqing discussed with her whether or not to have sex. Otherwise, the child would suffer and even adults would be dragged down. It was not easy to raise a child, not to mention for the confinement, and the milk may not be enough, so she hadn''t made any movement in the past three years. Besides, she couldn''t tell anyone about this. she couldn''t say that my family was not living well and they couldn''t afford it. When she said this, Shen Yaoqing had to slap himself a few times. The two of them didn''t say much about this, but the rest of the Shen family knew a little of the reason, but outsiders didn''t. For the farmers, getting married and having children was the same thing. Some gossip also entered her ears, which inevitably made her felt uncomfortable. Fortunately, Ji Qiuyue stopped lowering her head soon, and she regained her spirits. Wei Lanxiang knew she had said the wrong thing, and pushed her favorite dishes over there, saying, "Qiuyue, you like to eat this rabbit meat, eat more." Shen Yaoqing was even more rude, and brought it directly to his wife, causing Ji Qiuyue to scold him. The sun set, and another day had passed. If you didn''t work at night, naturally the lights wouldn''t be lit for a long time. After dark, the Shen family went back to their room to rest and sleep. Lu Gu was lying upright on the bed, his entire figure seemed to be frozen, not daring to move at will. It stands to reason that after marrying, the shuang''er would sleep in the outer side. It was good to make it easier when they needed to pour tea and water for their husband at night, but Shen Xuanqing was used to sleep alone, and he felt uncomfortable when there was a person sleeping in the outer side, so he pushed him in. When entering the room, only the two of them were left when the door and windows were closed, and Lu Gu was almost frightened by the tall and strong man standing beside the bed. Speaking of which, he had never been so close to Shen Xuanqing, and even because of the overwhelming sense of oppression, he didn''t dare to look at Shen Xuanqing''s appearance, until today there was only a vague outline. He probably knew that Shen Xuanqing was cold and fierce, but as long as he didn''t provoke him. As for his appearance, he was busy discussing life carefully, and he had to think about filling his stomach. He didn''t even care what he looked like, let alone others. The two just lay together like this, and Lu Gu was barely breathing. The night was getting dark, and there were a few barks coming from the backyard, which soon subsided. He thought he would keep his eyes open all night, but as Shen Xuanqing by his side didn''t make any big movements, his breathing gradually became steady, letting Lu Lu Gu slowly closed his eyes. The injury on the forehead hadn''t healed yet, making him always felt dizzy, and his body had been depleted due to lack of food in recent years, so even if he slept all afternoon during the day, he finally fell asleep. CH 8.1 Farmers didn''t have a few days of free time throughout the year, and not long after the roosters croak, the Qingxi Village at the foot of the mountain gradually became lively. Lu Gu slept well yesterday, and when Shen Xuanqing moved, he also woke up. After all, he didn''t oversleep, and he couldn''t help but felt a little lucky. The words of Ji Qiuyue and Wei Lanxiang made him realize before he fell asleep last night that although he was sold to the Shen family, he was a little different from the servants of the wealthy families. He still became Shen Xuanqing''s fulang. This was nothing compared to anything else. He never thought that he would still be a fulang one day, so he was a little caught off guard. Shen Xuanqing got up, and Lu Gu also sat up in panic, for fear of being told to be lazy. No one taught him how to serve his husband after he got married, and the hands on the thin quilt clenched subconsciously. Shen Xuanqing put on his shoes and went to the ground. To him, Lu Gu''s existence was very obvious, after all, there was only one quilt at night. At this point, although he had completely falling out with the Lu family, Lu Gu was already his fulang, so it was always inappropriate to hang him in the cold. He stood beside the bed and saw that Lu Gu was nervous and his face turned pale. The linen wrapped around his head was a little loose because he slept all night, so he finally found the words and said, "Wang Langzhong said that today we will change the dressing, get up and pack up, and go there while it''s cool in the morning." Lu Gu nodded again and again, fearing that Shen Xuanqing would be unhappy if he didn''t speak, he hurriedly said in a low voice, "Okay." The fulang was even less courageous than a rabbit and Shen Xuanqing frowned, but fortunately, Lu Gu lowered his head and didn''t see it, otherwise he would be terrified for several days. The Shen family got up one after another to wash up in the courtyard. Even Lu Gu used a new basin and even the green salt to clean his teeth and rinsed his mouth. This was originally prepared for marrying the new fulang. After all, Lu Wen had been studying in the town for a few days, and he had some common things in the town. When he was in the Lu family, the green salt that needed to spend money to buy was not Lu Gu''s share. Afraid that people would say that the his teeth was dirty, he would break the willow branches, bite and chewed one in his mouth to clean his teeth. There was a faint wisp of smoke from the chimney, Ji Qiuyue boiled the water, and by the way, heated some miscellaneous flour steamed cakes . Normally, people in the village only ate two meals a day, unless when were busy with farming they ate three meals a day, and the Shen family had two young men who had a lot of work and had a big appetite. Otherwise, you wouldn''t have the energy to work with an empty stomach. However, this was also because of the banquet recently, so they could eat like this, which would never happen in the past two years. Except for Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing, who ate two steamed cakes, the other four all had half of it . They ate too much oil and meat in the past few days, so they grabbed a bowl of small pickles and ate them. Breakfast in the morning was simple, there was no need to put chopsticks on the table, so Ji Qiuyue directly passed it by hand when she divided the cake, and even small pickles were pinched, and a few people squatted or stand in the yard to eat. Lu Gu held half of the steamed cake. The cake was soft and warm. After everyone else took it, he picked a small pickle from the bowl, imitating the rest of the Shen family to put it in the cake. It was salty and crispy in one bite, but it went well with the steamed cakes. He was able to drink a few sips of hot water and ate so early, and even he had a share, making Lu Gu felt a little grateful while he was panicking. Farmers rarely chewed and swallowed slowly their food, and the steamed cakes were not too big. Shen Xuanqing could solve it in three or two bites, and two cakes were enough for him early in the morning. Lu Gu had been secretly looking at him , and he ate fast, for fear of delaying the time to go out. "Mother, I''ll go to change the medicine with him." Shen Xuanqing said to Wei Lanxiang, and the two went out one after the other. It was early, the sun had just risen. This summer was hotter than before, but Qingxi Village was close to the mountains, so it was still a little chilly in the morning, but it wouldn''t let people freeze. Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing out of the village and met several people along the way. The news of the Shen family spread in Qingxi Village, and everyone was curious. At this time, seeing a strange shuang''er following Shen Xuanqing, they guessed that it was another shuang''er of the Lu family, and they kept looking at him with their eyes. Anyone who shared this kind of thing felt aggrieved, and no one leaned forward to ask, wasn''t this a bad thing, so they just quietly looked at him. Being stared at, Lu Gu''s head lowered. If he hadn''t been able to see Shen Xuanqing''s legs and feet, he would have been trembling with fright. CH 8.2 In the early morning, it was women and fulangs who swept the yard. Not many men came out. Although most of them were looking at Lu Gu, Shen Xuanqing noticed that someone was quietly looking at him. He didn''t like being stared at, so he looked straight at him and asked, "Uncle Lin will you go down to the ground early?" The man shyly scratching his head and laughed haha: "Yes, yes." Although what Shen Xuanqing said was a common question, he knew that he was restrained as soon as he opened his eyes with a wink, and his eyes fell on Lu Gu a lot less. The two didn''t stop, and went straight out of the village towards Anjia Village. ¡ª¡ª In Langzhong''s house, Wang Langzhong took off the blood-stained linen cloth on Lu Gu''s head and put the herbal medicine on his forehead again. [ÀÉÖÐ l¨¢ng zh¨­ng: doctor (Chinese medicine)] He knew a little about the pulse, and gave Lu Gu a diagnosis, then shook his head and sighed: "The foundation is empty, it takes ten days for others, and it takes twenty days for you to recover from the injury, and you can''t make it out for a while." Wang Langzhong was getting old, and seeing Lu Gu was so thin, he couldn''t help but ramble, but Grandma Wang gave him a wink to tell him not to talk, and he stopped his mouth in shock after realizing it, and looked up to see Shen Xuanqing, his expression remained the same, and he was relieved that he didn''t think of abandoning Lu Gu. Most people married a fulang to live a good life. It was not easy for peasants to marry a wife. Few were willing to marry a sick seedling and went back to drag them. Besides, Lu Gu was bought back by others. How could he care whether he could support himself or not, it was good if he was not thrown out. Once the medicine was finished, it was inconvenient to stay, and there were still various things to do when they went back. Shen Xuanqing asked Wang Langzhong when Lu Gu needed to come to change the medicine next time. It was said that the road for the enemy was narrow, and the path they took wouldn''t pass in front of Lu''s house, but who knew, they bumped into Du Hehua. She dig wild vegetables in the field behind the village, which was usually Lu Gu''s job. In her eyes, how could she didn''t complain if she did more work for nothing, and cursed a few words from time to time. She was afraid of Shen Xuanqing. Lu Daxiang was still lying in bed today, and no one would give her a head, so even if she resented Lu Gu, she was like the water mussels in the river, her mouth would be closed immediately, only after the two of them walked away, she turned back and spat on the ground. It was the most incompetent to hit a woman, Du Hehua didn''t even flirt today, and Shen Xuanqing didn''t even bother to look at her. As for Lu Gu, he hadn''t been beaten in the Shen family for the past two days and even had enough to eat. It was a surprise to see that Du Hehua actually didn''t scold him. ¡ª¡ª After returning, only Wei Lanxiang was at home, Shen Yaoqing sent his wife back to her parents'' house, and Shen Yan put the ducks in the pond behind the house. Seeing that Wei Lanxiang was peeling the beans, Lu Gu hurriedly came over to help. He squatted down in a hurry to work. It was Shen Xuanqing who moved a small stool for him to sit down. When he was at Lu''s house, no one would get him a stool, and it made Lu Gu became more and more respectful towards Shen Xuanqing. He understood that the Shen family treated him well today because they were good people, not as dark-hearted as Du Hehua. The days of being beaten and scolded and didn''t have enough to eat had passed. Wei Lanxiang saw that his hands were quick and easy, and he didn''t seem to be lazy or slippery at all, so she felt more at ease. She saw that Lu Gu''s face was much better today than yesterday, and when she saw Shen Xuanqing taking out the medicine bag from the kitchen, she said, "You go to the backyard first to collect the eggs, and come here to fry the medicine, and the rest you don''t have to do it." Lu Gu quickly got up and went to under the eaves of the kitchen to get the bamboo basket, which he saw yesterday when Shen Yan used this to collect eggs. To go to the backyard of the Shen family, you had to enter the road between the mud wall in the east, and it was about half zhang wide, enough for two people to run side by side. Originally, you could go to the backyard by passing through the main room, but most of the houses built in recent years sealed the back of the main room with a mud wall, separating it from the backyard, and the same was true for the Shen family. This was originally a layout only found in villages near Fenggu Town, and slowly spread to the surrounding area. Farmers with a better life like to raise some livestock, and they could sell them to earn more money if they were reluctant to eat them. However, raising livestock meant that there would be smell of feces, and in summer, flies would fly around it. By separating the backyard where the animals were raised from the main room, there would naturally be fewer flies fly in, and the smell of the house would be better and cleaner. The noble people in the town all paid attention to eat clean, and the dirty and dark insects in the food could easily cause people to get sick. Those high-ranking officials had said that now was a peaceful and prosperous year, and these gradually spread, even the people in the village were all willing to be particular about about it, and it would be a good thing to talk with the people in the town. Lu Gu smelled the smell of burning medicine, and he saw grass and ash scattered all over the narrow road on the ground, and some unburned hay stems. He knew that this was used to smoke and the smell could drive away the flies and stop them from buzzing and annoying people here. The three walls in the backyard were all mud walls, not fence walls. It could be seen that the Shen family took great care when building the house. Chickens and ducks were raised separately, and the Shen family''s backyard was quite large. The chicken pen was surrounded by a bamboo fence, and a dozen chickens were digging and pecking everywhere. As soon as Lu Gu arrived in the backyard, he saw the three dogs on a leash, and Da Hui was alert for a moment, but after seeing him, it came back lay on it''s stomach. Only the two small dogs barked a few times. Fortunately, the chicken pen was far away from the kennel, or he wouldn''t dare to go in. There were chicken coops with hay mats and bamboo chicken coops on both sides of the chicken pen, and Lu Gu looked around for eggs. he didn''t know how the hen lay eggs, but he tried to look for one under the chicken coop. If you wanted to touch the eggs laid by others, of course, you had to take advantage when the hens not paying attention. Lu Gu quickly picked the eggs up. The hens flapping their wings but didn''t peck at his hand, and walked away with a cluck. Suddenly, Da Hui stood up, barked in the direction of Lugu. At the same time, Lu Gu''s back was cold, and when he turned his head, he saw that the thin black dog that was supposed to be on a leash had gotten off the rope. The fangs were frightening CH 9.1 The thin black dog ran in a few steps, and jumped into the chicken pen. Lu Gu could almost feel a gust of wind coming towards him. Where he had seen such a vicious dog, even chickens were frightened by the dog, and one of the stupid ones bumped into his leg, making Lu Gu, who was already felt soft became softer. Suddenly after shaking a few times, his whole body trembled unconsciously, and he didn''t even notice that the egg fell on the ground. The Da Hui kept barking, but it was more like in vain to stop the dog. At the critical moment, an angry shout suddenly sounded, it was Shen Xuanqing who appeared at the narrow passage. With this sound , the dog in front of Lu Gu stopped the offensive. The thin dog turned its head and saw that Shen Xuanqing took the shovel against the wall, and was about to hit it aggressively. Its demeanor and posture changed immediately, a few pitiful and weak whines came from its throat, and he shrank to the corner of the wall with its tail tucked. Seeing it flinched and didn''t dare to attack, Shen Xuanqing didn''t hit him, and stood in front of Lu Gu, frowned while trying to see if he was bitten. Da Hui, who had been barking for a while, stopped. It was so loud just now that Wei Lanxiang in the front yard also heard it. She was wondering in her heart. Just as she was about to shout and asked what was wrong, a fulang about her age came in at the gate. He brought a deflated little oil-paper bag and a bundle of wild vegetables. Lu Gu regained his senses, remembered the egg, and never thought that he had nothing in his hands, so he immediately panicked, and when he lowered his head, he saw the egg was smashed to the ground. He didn''t cry when he was almost bitten, but seeing the broken egg made Lu Gu burst into tears. He actually didn''t cry very often. This time he dropped the tears because he was simply frightened. He flinched and looked up at Shen Xuanqing. Tears welled up in the blink of an eye, suppressing the sobbing in his mouth. How could Shen Xuanqing didn''t know his fear, if Shen Yan cried, he still had a way to deal with it, he would just get something delicious and fun, and she would stop, but Lu Gu, he still didn''t know how to prescribe the right medicine. The egg yolk and the white part were all scattered, and he couldn''t pick it up. There was no remedy. Shen Xuanqing shoveled soil from the side and covered the broken egg. He also smashed the eggshell. Once the loess covered it, it was impossible to tell where the egg was. Lu Gu''s tears were still flowing, and he was stunned when he saw this. He looked at Shen Xuanqing''s face with tears in his eyes. "It''s broken, if you don''t tell her , I don''t tell her, my mother doesn''t know, just pretend it''s not there." After seeing Lu Gu''s tears stopped, Shen Xuanqing looked at the corner of the wall again. The black dog was stupid and not sensible, it was not as good as Da Hui, not even the two thin dogs, and because it hunted and bite too much, it was violent, sometimes the temper could only be stopped by him, but in the past few years, it had been trained to hunt with him. There were many benefits. Unexpectedly, the first time Lu Gu came to work in the backyard, its rope loosened. Now that he just got married, he threw out a lot of money. In the past two days, he had to work hard and went into the mountains. Now it was not worth it to slaughter and raised another one, so he would rest his mind for the time being. Besides, the black dog didn''t bite Lu Gu. If it bite, it would be killed regardless of whether it was worth it or not. They had a rule here. The dogs which had seen human blood couldn''t stay. They would become addicted. Shen Xuanqing avoided him and pulled the black dog out of the chicken pen, and whipped the black dog a few times with the rope. Lu Gu wiped his tears, cheered up and continued to look for eggs, didn''t dare to slack off . He turned over the chicken pens and found four in total. If one hadn''t been broken, there would had been five. Lu Gu walked out with the basket and was about to close the door of the chicken pen. Shen Xuanqing stopped him . "I''ll close it after I clean it up, you go back to decoction first." Shen Xuanqing brought the broom over. He originally came to the backyard to sweep the duck and chicken pens. It was hot in summer, so he had to clean up every two or three days. That was why, Lu Gu was not bitten by the dog. in the front yard. Wei Lanxiang was chatting with Zhou Xiangjun, and sighed about the bad news. When Lu Gu came out, she took the basket and took a look. There were only four, and the hens were not laying eggs well. A few were still okay. "This is your third uncle''s wife. In the future, let Erqing take you there to recognize the door. He also has a young couple, so you can be together even if there is nothing." Wei Lanxiang said as she walked towards the kitchen , after putting the eggs, he took a piece of meat and two fish from the urn where the cured bacon was placed. "Aunt." Lu Gu in the courtyard whispered. Zhou Xiangjun smiled, pursed his lips and looked a little shy. "Xiangjun, take this back and cook it for the third child and Yu Ge''er." Wei Lanxiang handed over the meat and fish. Although the fish was not a rare thing, these two had been killed and marinated. Ready-made, you didn''t have to much trouble to process it when you went back. Zhou Xiangjun smiled embarrassedly, but didn''t refuse, and said, "Second sister-in-law bothered." There was work to be done at home, and Wei Lanxiang didn''t let him stay anymore, and said, "It''s getting late, go back and do it quickly, Just in time for lunch." Zhou Xiangjun''s husband, Shen Shunwang, was the third uncle of the Shen brothers, and even if he didn''t come today, Wei Lanxiang would ask Ji Qiuyue to send some to save the heat. CH 9.2 The smell of medicine wafted out in the courtyard. Lu Gu sat in front of the small medicine stove and fanned the fire with a palm fan. Not long after, Shen Xuanqing came over. Wei Lanxiang was busy cutting the meat and vegetables in the kitchen, preparing for lunch. Lu Gu lowered his head and didn''t dare to look around, but Shen Xuanqing walked straight towards him and stood still beside him. Neither of them spoke. Shen Xuanqing paused for a while before taking a thin piece of wood from under the eaves and stuffing it into the medicine stove. The fire in the stove was just right. Lu Gu didn''t understand why he added another one, but he didn''t bother to ask. Still Shen Xuanqing opened his mouth and explained, "I ignite the fire and use it in the backyard." Hearing this, Lu Gu didn''t dare to refuse. He responded, but he could only nod his head, unable to say anything else. After the firewood was ignited for a short while, the two stopped talking again, Shen Xuanqing lowered his eyes, and his eyes couldn''t help falling on the little fulang who was sitting in front of the medicine stove. The sun was just right, and Lu Gu''s complexion was much better than before. Perhaps because of the fire, his cheeks were slightly red. There was a narrow red mark between the eyebrows of shuang''er. It was often said that the brighter the better, it meant that the body was healthy and able to grow. The linen cloth wrapped around Lu Gu''s head blocked his red marks , but Shen Xuanqing had seen it before he was injured. He was too thin, and the red mark was not as bright as Lu Wen''s, but it was not too dim. Shen Xuanqing couldn''t see anything on his face, but his eyes were fixed on Lu Gu''s face. Speaking of which, he just calmed down and looked at his fulang''s appearance carefully. His eyebrows, eyes and facial features were not much different, and he was even handsome. Only, the person was too cowardly and shy, thin and timid, always bowing his head in silence, and walking lightly, it was easy to ignore his existence. Lu Gu became more and more uncomfortable, and the knuckles of his fingers holding the handle of the palm fan turned white, which made Shen Xuanqing realized his rudeness. He lowered his head and paused for a while, Lu Gu was not so nervous anymore. When Shen Xuanqing looked at him, he couldn''t even walk away. Now that he had been bought, Shen Xuanqing wouldn''t be rude when he looked at him for a long time. Before long, he smelled a burning herbal smell, coming from the backyard. After covering the chicken and duck manure pile with soil in the backyard, Shen Xuanqing threw a bundle of green medicinal leaves on top, which could repel flies and insects and also washed away the smell of livestock in the backyard. Kept it for a few days. ¡ª¡ª Only the four of them had lunch in the afternoon. Shen Yaoqing and Ji Qiuyue were still at their parents'' house and wouldn''t come back until evening. Wei Lanxiang mixed brown sugar with boiled water, and divided it into two bowls for Lu Gu to serve it on the table. She and Shen Yan, each drank half a bowl, and another bowl was for Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing. After sat down, she said to Shen Xuanqing, "This is your third aunt who brought it, you two should try it too." Sugar was more expensive than eggs, although it was only a small package, it was also Zhou Xiangjun''s heart. After the wedding feast was over, the Shen family didn''t have to work on the stove or stay to wash the dishes, so he and Shen Shunwang went back early, and went to the field to repair the ridges, missed the matter of going to the Lu family. Seeing that Wei Lanxiang didn''t go out all day yesterday, he saw Shen Yaoqing when he went to the ground, and asked so that he knew that the second sister-in-law was not well. She lay in the house for a day. Lu Gu grew up so old, and he drank sugar water several times when his mother was still there. After smelling the sweetness, he remembered the taste, but he didn''t dare to drink it casually, and pushed it to Shen Xuanqing next to him. Seeing that he was very cautious, Shen Xuanqing took a sip from the bowl, put it in front of Lu Gu, and said, "I won''t drink anymore, you can finish the rest." Lu Gu was not too familiar with such a good thing as sugar water, Wei Lanxiang naturally preferred her son, but because Shen Xuanqing had tasted it himself and it had nothing to do with Lu Gu, she couldn''t say more, and besides Lu Gu was injured, so it would be better to drink a few more sips of sugar water. She was not too reluctant to give up. After the meal, Shen Xuanqing carried the hoe and prepared to go down to the ground. Before leaving, she said to Wei Lanxiang, "Mother, I will go to the mountain tomorrow and come back the day after tomorrow." Wei Lanxiang said, "Well, I will bake some cakes for you to bring." After she finished speaking, she glanced at Lu Gu, who was washing the dishes in the kitchen. She originally married a fulang and wanted him to follow Shen Xuanqing into the mountains, but the wound on Lu Gu''s head was not healed yet. There was no way to follow. The sugar water made Lu Gu sweet from the body to the heart, even his eyebrows and eyes became lively, and his eyes became more radiant. He was in the kitchen himself, and no one saw such a fresh and happy look on his face that had been shrinking and depressed for many years, albeit only for a moment. ¡ª¡ª Before the chicken croaked, the sky was gray outside, and Lu Gu woke up when he noticed Shen Xuanqing''s movement. He knew that Shen Xuanqing was going into the mountain this morning, but he didn''t expect it to be so early. Shen Xuanqing put on his coat by the dim light from the half-opened window, and said, "You don''t need to get up, I''ll get dressed and go." Lu Gu had already sat up, he didn''t know what he was going to do, but he still timidly whispered, "I''ll take you out." Now that Shen Xuanqing was going into the mountain, if he lay down and only knew how to sleep, it may make the Shen family dissatisfied, so even if he was very afraid of Shen Xuanqing, in order to live in the Shen family and not be rejected, he still mustered up the courage to say this sentence. CH 10.1 Chapter 10 Shen Xuanqing washed his face with cold water in the yard, and he was completely awake. When he led the dog from the backyard, Lu Gu had already taken the cloth bag prepared by Wei Lanxiang from the kitchen, which contained the cakes baked yesterday. "Er Qing, take the cake with you." Wei Lanxiang was lying on the bed and heard the movement outside, shouting through the window. "I know, mother." Shen Xuanqing answered. After carrying the hatchet and hemp rope, he took the cloth bag and walked to the door with Lu Gu, said, "I''ll go out, you close the courtyard door and go back to your room." Before, it was Shen Yaoqing who came to close the door, but today was different, it would be Lu Gu. The village was too quiet, so everyone in the room could hear them talking. Wei Lanxiang heard Lu Gu sending her son to the door, and became more and more satisfied with the new fulang. This was how the couple should be. Seeing that Shen Yaoqing didn''t need to go out and closed the courtyard door by himself, he turned over and went back to sleep. The wooden door creaked, and Lu Gu stood at the door. Under the gray sky, the tall and strong man led the three dogs and turned around. Seeing that Lu Gu was stunned, he said, "Okay, come in quickly." Only then did Lu Gu close the courtyard door according to his words, maybe he got up too early, Shen Xuanqing''s low and steady voice made him felt strange, but he was not afraid, just like when he broke an egg, Shen Xuanqing helped him without telling anyone. The man he feared the most was a good man. Lu Gu realized this again. He could vaguely hear the cooing of chickens in the backyard. The rooster hadn''t crowing yet. It was still early before dawn. He went back to the room and lay down. ¡ª¡ª A wisp of smoke curled up. Lu Gu boiled water in the kitchen. Today, there was no need to steam hot cakes. He sat on the small stool in front of the stove and ate the cake while adding firewood. The Shen family needed to drink a bowl of hot water when they wake up in the morning. The doctors here often said that drinking raw water was harmful to the body, so even if the water would become cold after a while, it was boiled water after all, so it was not harmful to the body. Now it was summer, it was more enjoyable to drink after cooling down. The water also boiled after half of the thick cake was eaten. He pushed the wooden pot lid to the corner of the stove with a long spoon. Otherwise, the white steam that came out would burn his hands and arms if he was not careful. Ji Qiuyue swept the yard and came in. Seeing that there were several bowls of hot water on the chopping board, Lu Gu was still scooping the last bowl. Whoever wanted to drink water could just take a bowl and drank it. She sat down and asked Lu Gu, "Will we cook the loach?" At Lu''s house, Lu Gu didn''t dare to touch the food. Du Hehua looked at him closely and even when he went to buy tofu, if you took it back, she had to beat and scolded him if it was slightly broken. It was obvious that the tofu residue was still in the basket. Du Hehua also said that he had no skin and face and dared to steal it. When killing fish and chickens, Lu Gu was sent far away, and he couldn''t come back until the Lu family had finished eating. When he was hungry, he went to find something to eat. He found something to eat. He also ate loach, but because he had no knife or pot, he had to spend half a day wiping the fire with flint, and then pierced the loach with a branch. The whole loach was roasted on the fire, and it was not cooked properly at all. But when he came to Shen''s house, he couldn''t say that he didn''t know anything. This was not free food. Lu Gu hesitated, looked at Ji Qiuyue and whispered, "I''ll try it." Ji Qiuyue knew at a glance that he wouldn''t. Without forcing it, she said, "I''ll teach you. Loach is easy to kill without scales. It''s enough to dig out the belly and clean the contents." She Yan came to join in the fun, and Ji Qiuyue caught her and said, "Wait, you go to dig ginger." Lu Gu was not stupid, he was even smart, especially when he was doing something, he looked at it once, grabbed a loach from the basin, took the knife in Ji Qiuyue''s hand, and learned a lot. He was obviously proficient. "After boil the medicine, take this pot and put the loach to simmer it." Ji Qiuyue took out a black pot and said, "You can just sit outside and watch the fire, you don''t have to do anything else." Lu Gu quickly nodded. He ate meat every day for the past few days, and slept well at night. He looked better than before. The small fishes were too small. After raising it for two days, it spit out the sand. They didn''t even need to open the belly. It was enough to scrape off the fine scales on its body. Shen Yan dug out a piece of ginger from the vegetable field, so that they could get rid of the coldness of the loach. The farmers planted onion, ginger and garlic by themselves, so that they wouldn''t have to spend money to buy them. She went to the kitchen to cut a few slices of ginger, and when she came out, she grabbed a piece of burning wood from under the stove for Lu Gu to light the stove. Lu Gu took the firewood, and at some point a spark fell on his shoe, and he hurriedly brushed it away with his free left hand. Seeing that his feet were still the red embroidered shoes when he got married, Shen Yan asked, "Brother Lu Gu, why are you still wearing this?." CH 10.2 After marriage, they wore red shoes on the day they returned to the door, and they must be put away after that. It stands to reason that this pair of wedding shoes should be worn for visiting relatives during the Chinese New Year, so as to show the identity of the bride and groom. It was not that Lu Gu didn''t know this rule, but he had no other shoes, so he couldn''t go barefoot. After she finished speaking, she also remembered that there were only two summer clothes in the box that Lu Gu brought for his dowry, and there was no pair of shoes, so he couldn''t change them at all, so she said annoyed: "Look at me, I forgot this, wait, I ''ll ask my mother." Hearing this, Lu Gu was startled and wanted to stop her from asking, how dare he asked the Shen family for something. Shen Yan''s voice was not loud, but Wei Lanxiang was sitting under the eaves of the hall doing needlework, and she also looked at Lu Gu''s feet. She heard Shen Yan talking about the dowry box, and she complained to Du Hehua in her heart. It seemed to outsiders that they were not worried about eating and drinking recently, and they also had meat every day. Obviously, they were not poor. As a result, the newlyweds didn''t even have a pair of shoes to change. It would make people laughed when it came out. She was in the charge of the family''s money. She knew how many and it was enough to pay for a shoes. The wound on Lu Gu''s head hadn''t yet healed. Whether changing the medicine or taking the medicine every day was money, although Shen Xuanqing paid for it with his private money, most of the money his son got from selling the prey was handed over to her . How many that left? Now that she had recognized Lu Gu, Wei Lanxiang didn''t want to complain anymore. Although she had never studied, she also knew that a person must have a conscience, and she couldn''t drive Lu Gu out just to save money. Thinking about how to live well was the serious reason. Before Shen Yan could speak, Wei Lanxiang said, "I see, you are busy with your work." Lu Gu was uneasy, Wei Lanxiang shook her head and sighed when she saw him like this. He was too timid, so she had to comfort him: " Don''t worry, you still have your old clothes, it''s just right to cut them to make shoes'' uppers part" Knowing that she was talking about the tattered clothes that Du Hehua gave, Lu Gu didn''t want to throw it away, so he chose to wash it. Just in case you didn''t have any clothes to wear, you could wear it. "Mother, I cleaned that one." He whispered. Wei Lanxiang nodded and said, "It''s just right, you bring it." Even if he was reluctant, Lu Gu went into the room and took it out, Wei Lanxiang asked him again: "How big is your feet, I don''t know if there are any shoes like yours at home ." After hearing what Lu Gu said, she took out Ji Qiuyue''s shoes and asked Lu Gu to compare them on his feet, and said, "you have the same size as your sister-in-law, save trouble and don''t need to cut." She looked at Lu Gu''s body and thought about Du Hehua''s black heart, but the clothes for Lu Gu were good, so she said, "Your black hearted stepmother dressed you well." After listening to her, he thought about it and said truthfully: " This is what Lu Wen doesn''t want." It turned out what Lu Wen wore before , and Wei Lanxiang immediately knew why. Before Shen Xuanqing got married, no matter who asked about Du Hehua, they said she was a good person, and even Lu Gu looked clean. Several clothes that Lu Wen didn''t want supported the scene, and now others had already seen that Du Hehua was not good to Lu Gu. She turned over the ragged clothes and said to Lu Gu, "I can make two pairs of shoes for you, and the rest can be used by Shen Yan. She has grown a lot recently, and her feet have grown too. These days, she always said that her shoes grind her feet." He could get two pairs of new shoes, which were not worn by Lu Wen. Lu Gu said that he was happy, but because of his long-established temperament, he didn''t dare to show his joy at all, so he whispered, "Listen to mother." Wei Lanxiang saw that he was so obedient, and even called mother, and she couldn''t help but gave two more points of love in her eyes. Lu Gu went to boil the medicine and fan the fire. She thought as she did needlework, the material for upper shoes was enough, but some time ago, because of getting married, she used a lot of coarse cloth to make new shoes and jackets for her family. Now the remaining fabric was simply not enough for the soles of four pairs of shoes, so she had to think of a way. ¡ª¡ª Lu Gu drank a whole bowl of loach soup at noon, and Wei Lanxiang specially gave him a lot of it. She said that it would be quicker to make up for his body. This thing didn''t need to be bought, only dug it up by the river. It was not something new, and the Shen family didn''t care who drank more or less. But for Lu Gu, it was very cherished. The white soup was delicious and fragrant only with salt. The loach and small fish were stewed, and even the thorns were soft, which was much better than the one he roasted with fire. After washing the dishes, Lu Gu originally wanted to help Shen Yan chopped the grass for the chickens, but Wei Lanxiang put a large basket on his arm and told him to go out, so he followed up. They could meet people along the road when they walked outside the village. Wei Lanxiang joked with the villagers, and even made Lu Gu recognize a lot of people. Let Lu Gu write down that this was his third uncle''s house. If he wanted to come, he would know the door. Although Lu Gu''s voice was small, he was not ambiguous when he shouted timidly along the way, and he kept all the words Wei Lanxiang said in his heart. He followed Wei Lanxiang all the way to the east without stopping, and suddenly realized that he was going to the town. Fenggu Town was about ten miles away from Qingxi Village, passing through four or five villages. A young man with fast footstep may take two to three quarters of an hour, and the peasant family didn''t go out like a big family with a horse-drawn carriage. If you didn''t hurry, you could take a rest on the way. Lu Gu didn''t know what Wei Lanxiang was doing until she reached the town. She took out the wedding dress that Lu Gu had worn from the cloth-covered basket. She couldn''t use it anymore, so she might as well sell it for some money. CH 11.1 That day, Lu Gu changed out of his wedding dress at the Lu Family. Ji Qiuyue saw it and took it with her when she left. The fabric for the wedding dress was bought by the Shen family, and it wasn''t originally made for Lu Gu. Lu Gu had no idea about the price of the clothes. He just wondered why Wei Lanxiang brought him. Wei Lanxiang took him to talk to the pedestrians on the commercial street to find customers. Fenggu Town was still lively, and there were more opportunities when there were more people. However, there would be a happy event in someone''s home, asked for price, but Wei Lanxiang felt that she gave too little. Even if the dress not new, it was only worn for one day, so how could they sold it at such a low price. "I said that my sister also knows the goods. Whoever sees this fabric can say it''s good. It costs five hundred wen just for the dress. In addition to the embroidery work, you look at the stitches, how much thought it took, let alone you only give two hundred , if you really want it, three hundred." After hearing the three hundred, the bargaining woman pouted, but the material was really good, and the price was cheaper than made it herself. Pressing it again, she picked the dress: "This dress is too big, it will take a lot of work to change it when I go back, and it will take a lot of effort to find similar materials to make the shoes." She said, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the wedding shoes on Lu Gu''s feet, and looked at the pair of linen cloth wrapped around his head. There was a faint blood on the forehead. It looked like he had hurt his head. She seemed startled, and said: "This is what you wore? The dress has blood, didn''t he get hurt, unlucky because of wearing this wedding dress?." Hearing this, Wei Lanxiang immediately became unhappy, pulled back the wedding dress from the woman''s hand, and said, "What is auspicious and unlucky, sister, you want to buy it, just buy it, if you don''t buy it, forget it, what do you say when you''re like this.¡± She turned to Lu Gu and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, don¡¯t sell it, go somewhere else.¡± Lu Gu hurriedly followed, feeling uneasy in his heart, very afraid because of him they couldn''t sell the dress. The woman behind her was a little anxious. She just used the injured shuang''er to attack, so as to reduce the price. If she could win it with two hundred yuan, who would care if it was unlucky or not. She shouted twice from the back, and said to discuss it again. Wei Lanxiang just pretended that she didn''t hear it. Good words made that person''s words sounded too ugly. It was better to find another buyer. The two turned to another street, which was closer to Fangshi. Wei Lanxiang said to Lu Gu, "I''m going to sell this. You wait here, don''t go anywhere." It took a lot of thought, and people could no longer squeeze her to suppress the price. Lu Gu stood where he was and didn''t follow. There were people coming and going around, and he was a little helpless in the middle of it. They walked along the street while selling the dress, seeing Wei Lanxiang walking forward, he hastily followed behind, not too close, only in the range where Wei Lanxiang could be seen. As soon as Wei Lanxiang looked back and saw him, her heart was at ease, so she no longer worried about Lu Gu. After walking around the town for an hour and a half, and finally sold the clothes for 300 pennies, Wei Lanxiang carried the cloth-covered basket tightly and took Lu Gu to the cloth shop. Wedding dress was not as easy to sell as ordinary clothes, and you had to be lucky to meet someone with a happy event. Besides, the rich and wealthy households didn''t like this style of fabric. Only farmers and ordinary people in Fenggu Town would come up to take a look. If it was too expensive, people might as well buy the cloth and went back and made it themselves, so they could only sell it cheap. It was not bad to sell it for 300 pennies, at least she didn''t need to touch the ones she saved. In the cloth shop, Wei Lanxiang spent 80 yuan to buy a piece of rough indigo fabric. The fabric was not as good as the wedding dress, but it was dyed brightly and looked much better and not cheap. When she bought the cloth, she compared it to Lu Gu, but Lu Gu stood still and didn''t dare to move, so he let her compare. After leaving the shop, Wei Lanxiang said to Lu Gu as she walked, "This fabric will be used to make new clothes for you. Can you do the work?" 80 pennies were an incomparably high price for Lu Gu. When he was eleven his mother died, and he hadn''t learned how to sew clothes. After Du Hehua came, he had no chance. Unlike loach, he didn''t dare to waste such expensive fabric, so he honestly shook his head. Making clothes was a big job. Shuang''er, who was seventeen or eighteen years old, hadn''t seen much of the world, and the poor family didn''t have much fabric to waste. Lu Gu was not the only one who was unfamiliar with life. Seeing that he looked a little scared, Wei Lanxiang said "It doesn''t matter if you don''t know. You can learn it slowly later. Your sister-in-law is very good at making waistcoats, but it''s not very capable when you make a full body. Sometimes you need to spend more fabric." Lu Gu couldn''t answer, he just listened carefully, noon was over early, and the two hurried back. CH 11.2 After arriving at Qingxi Village, under the old tree at the entrance of the village, there were a few old wive and old ladies who took advantage of the bright sun, some people from the square line, some people who peeled beans, and gathered to gossip about various people and things in the village. Seeing Wei Lanxiang brought Lu Gu back, the old lady asked face to face, "Lanxiang, what are you doing?" Wei Lanxiang smiled and said, "It''s not a piece of fabric for our Gu Zi, Go back and make new clothes." She took out the cloth from the basket and put it on Lu Gu''s body, and asked a few old people, " Does''t this fabric suit our Gu Zi?" "Oh, it''s really beautiful." "Our little fulang looks really handsome." "This fabric is so bright, it must cost a lot of money." Wei Lanxiang listened to their gossip and said with a smile: "No, only 80 pennies." Smacking their tongues, they exclaimed in unison, "It''s amazing!" "That''s what you''re willing to do." Wei Lanxiang smiled without answering, and asked again, "Grandma Ajin, I remember that you had someone bring the old clothes that you couldn''t sell before, do you have any more?" Grandma Ajin hurriedly put down the chai bean in her hand, she sat in the back, stretched her neck and said, "There''s more." Wei Lanxiang folded the cloth and put it back in the basket, and said, "It''s not much, if there''s more, I''ll give you three pennies, take it and make two pairs of new shoes for Gu Zi." "Yes , there are enough for you." Grandma Ajin stopped peeling the beans, and hurriedly walked with Wei Lanxiang to the village with a dustpan, three pennies. The clothes in her family were said to be old clothes just for face, but in fact they were the tattered clothes that the farmer couldn''t mend and couldn''t be sold to others. In addition to their own, they also picked up the ones that others didn''t want. There were a lot of them, Wei Lanxiang heard that there were a lot of people who buy it and the price was three pennies, to make shoe soles, otherwise who would buy a bunch of rags. Ji Qiuyue was squatting in the yard to chop grass, and when she saw Lu Gu came back with a bunch of rags, she wondered, "Where did this come from?" Wei Lanxiang replied smoothly: "There are no old clothes at home , and I bought it from Grandma Ajin. Make the soles of the shoes for Gu Zi and Shen Yan." The Shen family had made new clothes before Shen Xuanqing got married, so when Wei Lanxiang bought new fabric for Lu Gu and said to make clothes, Ji Qiuyue was not uncomfortable, she also knew that Lu Gu didn''t even have another pair of shoes, so pitiful, he wouldn''t say anything. However, she was a little surprised to see that her mother-in-law was suddenly so interested in Lu Gu. Lu Gu put the rags on the ground and picked them up with Wei Lanxiang. If there was dirty smell, he took them out and put them aside. After that, they washed them with water, otherwise it would be too wasteful. Shen Yan was putting the ducks in the pond, and he took the wooden basin to the back of the house to wash the tattered clothes, and he saw her as expected. "Brother Lu Gu." Shen Yan had just hit a bale of grass, and was sitting on a white stone to rest. When she saw him coming, she shouted and asked what he was doing. Hearing that Lu Gu said that her mother wanted to make shoes for them, she was naturally happy. The busy and steady day passed quickly. After dinner in the evening, Lu Gu washed the dishes as usual, while Wei Lanxiang and Ji Qiuyue visited the village before it got dark. On the way, Ji Qiuyue couldn''t hold back and asked, "Mother, why did you think of making clothes for Lu Gu?" Wei Lanxiang sighed lightly before telling her the reason. Du Hehua was not easy to get along with. After the fight in Anjia Village, Shen Xuanqing injured Lu Daxiang, and Du Hehua cried when she saw anyone, saying that their Shen family was not good person, and even more ugly words were planted on Shen Xuanqing''s head. There had been some gossips in the surrounding villages, and even Zhou Xiangjun heard about it. When he came that day, he mentioned to her that gossip was always bad, even if they were not wrong, but people could talk behind their backs. Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu were splashed with sewage outside by Du Hehua. Let''s not mention other things. Shen Yan was going to get married in the future, so she couldn''t be dragged down and couldn''t find a good family. Now she not only wanted to make new clothes and new shoes for Lu Gu, but also took care of people. No matter who looked at it, they couldn''t say that the Shen family was at fault, and even Shen Xuanqing''s reputation could be restored. Ji Qiuyue suddenly realized that this was true. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went to visit like this. When Wei Lanxiang was talking about marrying Lu Gu, she sighed and revealed that the reason why Shen Xuanqing bought Lu Gu was to save people, otherwise Lu Gu would be ruined by his stepmother. How could he survive, even if he did, it would be as hard as Du Hehua''s hand, and Lu Gu had to be tortured to death in the Lu family. The fulang of the Xia family, who was chatting with her, nodded and sighed repeatedly, saying that it was right, and patted Wei Lanxiang''s hand to comfort her. This fulang of the Xia family was good-hearted and warm-hearted. When he encountered injustice, he always had to say it bitterly. Even if he talked a lot, he could say a word to anyone, and he couldn''t hide it. Told him today so that half of Qingxi Village would know tomorrow. Lu Gu, who was cleaning up in the kitchen, didn''t know anything, but even if he knew, he wouldn''t mind. Shen Xuanqing bought him from the Lu family, and he could eat and slept well here. For him, it was really saved him. Wei Lanxiang was very selfish towards him, but that was different from Du Hehua. Du Hehua only dressed him neatly, but didn''t even give him food. So telling outsiders about that, it could be called telling the truth, compared to those bad things that Du Hehua did, this was nothing. ¡ª¡ª Lu Gu was lying on the bed at night. He was the only one who slept alone tonight. He felt a little more comfortable, but he didn''t dare to move things. He remembered the indigo fabric and the shoes. He couldn''t believe it like a dream. Du Hehua''s words that he once scolded him for not knowing whether or not he deserved to wear new clothes could still be heard in his ears. But now, Du Hehua couldn''t beat him anymore. CH 12.1 Bamboo poles slapped the water surface, the water rose, and a group of ducks quacked and swam back in panic. Lu Gu chased the ducks back, otherwise they would go to the river. Before dawn, Wei Lanxiang took Shen Yan and with the villagers to the town to catch the morning market. He saved a basket of eggs and a basket of duck eggs to sell. There was no need to mow chicken grass in the past few days. The family had chopped a lot of grass. Most of the grass that chickens like to eat near the pond had been pulled up by Shen Yan. If you wanted to find it, you had to go far away. Because he was afraid the ducks would be lost, he didn''t dare to go too far. When the sun was not too hot, he walked back to the white stone and sat down. The sky was blue and the trees were green, the river was rushing, and the sun was shining on his face. He raised his head and narrowed his eyes unconsciously, enjoying the heat of the sun in such silence. In the past, he couldn''t get enough to eat and didn''t wear warm clothes, and there were always harsh scolding in his ears. Sitting quietly like this was rare for Lu Gu. For him, it even seemed like a rebirth. The past all seemed to become distant. During the day, he lowered his eyebrows and pleaded with his eyes, and he didn''t even dare to raise his head. Now, he raised his head to look at the sky, the clouds, and the sun, which was new to him, and gradually lost his mind. Quack''s duck calls brought him back to his thoughts, even if he was alone, he was still a little flustered, for fear of being seen and saying he was lazy. He rubbed his hot cheeks, got up and plucked a kind of grass with slender stalks nearby. You could use this grass to ignite the fire when it dried. Summer was almost over, and it was always right to store more hay while the sun was still bright recently. The grass was too much and too heavy, and the long grass was not strong enough. Although the way back was short, if it was scattered, it had to be re-bundled. It was very troublesome. Lu Gu ran back to get the hemp rope. After taking the hemp rope, he came back and saw that the ducks were foraging for food in the pond, and his heart felt at ease. Just before dinner at noon, he plucked grass and dug up wild vegetables. It could be eaten fresh or dried. This thing grew quickly and abundantly by the water, so he dug a lot and tied it with straw rope and bring it back. Ji Qiuyue saw him rushing back with the ducks, carrying a large bale of grass behind his back, and carrying wild vegetables in his hand, so she hurried over to catch it, seeing so many wild vegetables, she said, "It''s just right, I''ll mix it with miscellaneous flour tomorrow, Steam a pot of steamed buns and eat it." In order to prevent the meat from spoiling, they had been eating meat every day, and today they still had the last bowl of chicken. Now that they could eat meat, they would feel tired after eating it continuously for five to six days, seven or eight days, so they couldn''t help but wanted to eat vegetables. Ji Qiuyue said that she would steam it tomorrow, but the more she thought about it, the more greedy she became. She simply said, "We''ll wash it, and we''ll eat it at night." Lu Gu wouldn''t say anything to her , so he nodded in agreement. After he drove the ducks back to the backyard, he came back to spread the grass out to dry. It didn''t take long for Wei Lanxiang and Shen Yan to come back, and the family washed their hands to eat. CH 12.2 The ducks ate twice a day, got up early and drove them out once, and drove them out again in the afternoon, but sometimes they were too busy to get out, and Shen Yan would go to the pond to cut some water plants and came back to feed them. Today, the journey to town was a bit farther. She was still young, and when she felt tired, she didn''t want to go out to drove the ducks to the pond. She carried a bamboo basket and pulled Lu Gu to go with her to the pond to mow water plants. The two of them worked very quickly. The bamboo basket was full in a short time, and the pressure was particularly firm. Shen Yan didn''t move her back all of a sudden, and was dragged straight back by the weight. Fortunately, Lu Gu supported her from behind. "Too many." Shen Yan said in her mouth, but she also showed a silly smile, her almond eyes curved, innocent and childish. She said that she had to put it down again, and saw Shen Yaoqing in the front of the house, carrying two empty wooden buckets in his hand, came to fetch water from the river. Before he got close, he realized that the basket behind Shen Yan was too heavy, and asked with a smile, "Can''t you carry it?" "Brother Daqing, come quickly." Since there were rescue soldiers, although she could still move her back after persevering, Shen Yan simply threw the job to Shen Yaoqing. "You said that you two, you won''t make it less if you can''t carry it." After he finished speaking, he poked Shen Yan''s forehead, then put the wooden buckets down, and carried the bamboo basket on his back to go back first. Shen Yan and Lu Gu carried the empty bucket, and walked to the river for a while before stopping. The wooden bucket was not too small. According to their strength, they had to hold their breath when it was full of water, and they could lift it up with both hands at the same time. The two of them each had a bucket, they both scooped the water and brought it to the shore. Shen Yan said to Lu Gu, "Wait until Brother Daqing comes over and let him carry it back." They couldn''t move such a bucket full of water, they could only bring half a bucket to carry back, and it was inevitable to make several more trips. Fortunately, fetching water in these villages was usually a man''s job. Before even if Lu Daxiang was old and frail, Lu Daxiang would go there most of the time. Otherwise, the villagers would see him instructed his children to do heavy work such as fetching water. They must say bad things behind their back, Du Hehua didn''t dare to make it so obvious at that time. Shen Yaoqing brought the buckets full of water several times until the water tank in the house was full. Ji Qiuyue washed the wild vegetables, Lu Gu boiled water in the stove, and when the water boiled, he poured the wild vegetables into it, blanched it, and then scooped it into cold water, so it wouldn''t be so hot. After chopping the wild vegetables, she and Lu Gu squeezed the water out of the vegetable with their hands. "I''m going to take the flour." Ji Qiuyue saw that there were not many vegetables left, so she cleaned up the chopped vegetables on her hands, took the bowl to the flour tank and dug four and a half bowls of miscellaneous flour. Lu Gu squeezed the last of the wild vegetables out of water and put it in a basin. Ji Qiuyue would do the mixing by herself. Even at the end of summer, the kitchen would be very hot as long as the fire was on, and both of their faces were sweating. Ji Qiuyue couldn''t keep her hands free, so she raised her arm and wiped it. The kitchen chopping board was right in front of the window. Shen Yaoqing saw her so hot in the courtyard, so he brought a fan and stood outside the window to fan her. Lu Gu didn''t dare to look at the two of them, so he walked out of the kitchen with his brows down. He didn''t know what Shen Yaoqing said in a low voice. Ji Qiuyue raised his voice slightly, and scolded: "Go!" Seeing that there was no other work to do at the moment, He went back to the room to cool off. The window of the room was open, and he could hear Shen Yaoqing and Ji Qiuyue talking and laughing in the yard. He didn''t listen to what the two of them were talking about, his eyebrows narrowed slightly, but he thought of Shen Xuanqing. Unlike Ji Qiuyue and Shen Yaoqing, he didn''t dare to talk in front of Shen Xuanqing at all, and even looked at that tall and strong man and felt terrified. Besides, he was sold to the Shen family, and he originally a fulang who wasn''t married seriously. The difference was that he didn''t dare to think about joking with Shen Xuanqing. In this comparison, he felt that he was the best at the moment. He was not someone who could talk, so he shouldn''t do things that he was not good at. CH 13.1 The night was getting darker, and the moonlight was shining brightly, illuminating the courtyard brightly. Every family in Qingxi Village closed their doors and went to sleep, and the Shen family was no exception. When Lu Gu closed the window before going to bed, he looked up at the night, and the moon would be full on the fifteenth tomorrow. He was a little uneasy at the moment, how should he say that he wanted to go back to the grave? Before he got married, Du Hehua locked him at home and didn''t let him go out. He didn''t have time to tell his mother that he was married. It was one thing to be sold, but it was another thing to tell his mother the truth. The heat of the day dissipated, and the night became cooler. Lu Gu was wrapped in a quilt. He opened his eyes to think about something, and drowsiness gradually came. In a daze, he suddenly heard a few dog barks, from far to near. He opened his eyes again and was sure that he wasn''t dreaming. The dog barked at the front of the courtyard, and there was the sound of paws scratching the door. Before he got up, he heard Shen Yaoqing walking out. "Second brother?" Shen Yaoqing shouted while putting on his clothes. "It''s me, eldest brother." Shen Xuanqing replied, when he came down from the mountain, he let go of the dogs, so he fell behind and let the dog barked at the door. As soon as the courtyard door opened, two small dogs squeezed in, wagging their tails around Shen Yaoqing, and Da Hui followed very steadily. "Er Qing, are you back at this time?" Wei Lanxiang shouted through the window. She sounded a little worried. Usually, he came back during the day, and it was not easy to travel in the mountains at night. Shen Xuanqing put down the things on his shoulders and said, "Mother, I''m fine, I catched a few rabbits , I came back at night, I''ll sell it early in the morning." "Okay, then you go back to the room and sleep earlier." Wei Lanxiang was relieved. Shen Yaoqing tied the dog to the backyard, washed his hands and returned to his room. Shen Xuanqing also quickly washed his face, washing away the exhaustion of the wind and dust along the way. He pushed open the door and saw that Lu Gu was about to put on his shoes, and suddenly realized that he was married, and there would be someone waiting for him when he came back. Lu Gu raised his head when he heard the movement, but he hesitated for a while, Shen Xuanqing entered the room so quickly. Because they were not familiar enough, the two were speechless for a while. Lu Gu didn''t know how to deal with this situation. He seemed a little nervous. Shen Xuanqing closed the door and walked over. It was not the first time for them to be so constrained to sleep in the same bed, so Lu Gu hurriedly moved into the bed to make room. The moonlight was like water, flowing in through the gaps in the windows, making people only felt peaceful, and there was nothing else to say at night. ¡ª¡ª Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing and he took Lu Gu because he was going to pass through Anjia Village when he came back from the town. Lu Gu needed to go to Langzhong''s house to change the wound medicine on his head, and the medicine he took was gone. Shen Xuanqing carried a large bamboo basket on his back, it was full of stuff, and it was sinking when he saw it. In addition to the three fat rabbits, there was also a half-dead deer. He set up a trap in a place where wild boars often haunted in the deep mountains. Except for hunters and herb collectors, few people dared to go there. According to their rules, he deliberately cut a few marks with an axe on a tree near the trap to make marks, people who often entered the deep mountains could understand it and avoided that place. Who knew that the wild boar wasn''t caught. He took the dogs over to take a look, it caught the deer which ran into the wild boar''s territory by mistake. The trap was surrounded by fallen leaves, it was not easy to see the footprints. He had seen the grass and the leaves on the trees being eaten. He knew that the deer who stepped on the trap was not the deer that ate it, there must be an old deer, but only the unlucky little one fell into it, causing the older one to escape. This young deer was not so bad if it was bad luck. It fell and was not pierced by the sharpened wood at the bottom of the pit, but it broke its spine and couldn''t stand up again. After a night, there was not much breath left. He came back last night just to sell this half-sized deer. As for the rabbits last night, he was just guarding against the walls and ears. The rich and wealthy owners of the town liked this fresh deer. This deer was still small, and the meat was naturally tenderer than the old deer. It was not dead yet, and the price could go up. Shen Xuanqing''s footsteps were fast, and it was a little harder for Lu Gu to follow him on the road , but he also knew that wild things were best sold alive. It was Shen Xuanqing who was walking and looking back and saw that he was struggling to follow, so he slowed down. The two of them got up very early, and it was just dawn when they arrived at Fenggu Town. There were people everywhere, and all kinds of shouts were constantly heard. Shen Xuanqing''s pace became slower when there were more people, and he even walked side by side with Lu Gu. There was a tall and strong man beside him, which made Lu Gu felt a little panic but also felt inexplicably stable, all the fear brought by the noisy crowd was blocked by Shen Xuanqing. "It''s here." Seeing that there was an empty space in front of him, Shen Xuanqing simply unloaded the bamboo basket, took a piece of coarse cloth and spread it on the ground, put the three rabbits and young deer on it, and arranged them according to the size in a row. CH 13.2 Unlike the hawkers who walked the streets and alleys, they woke up early and found a quiet place in the market to wait and sold their things to collect the money. People from the yamen would come to collect money. Now that the peace was flourishing, there were occasional evil things, they were needed here. The government office was still quite clear, and there were no evil officials and dignitaries who ran rampant to oppress the small people. If you gave three pennies, you could occupy a place in the morning set. After the person who received the money left, Shen Xuanqing put away the half-sized wooden plaque that had been handed over. If you had a wooden plaque, it would be easier, otherwise there would be too many people who sell things and it was hard to remember it. This wooden plaque was a pair with three numbers on it, one, seven and five written in vermilion lacquer. He only had one of them in his hand. When he left, he would return the wooden plaque and matched it with the other one in the yamen''s hand, and then made a sign on the wooden plaque as the roster. Lu Gu was still breathing slightly, and his cheeks were warm. Seeing him like this, Shen Xuanqing moved a small stone from the corner to let him sit. This was a seller who had been around for a long time, squatting and standing, tired his legs, so he made something. No one wanted to carry such a stone back and forth. Whoever came to sell something, first picked it up and sat down, when he left, someone else would used it. "Sit and rest for a while." Shen Xuanqing said to Lu Gu, after that he stood aside and shouted: "Come and see, the rabbits and deer that were just beaten." Farmers were rarely ashamed to open their mouths when they sold things .You could only eat food if you had money, so most of them could sell with a loud voice, and Shen Xuanqing was no exception. His voice was not too loud or sharp, but this physique stood behind the prey, and everyone knew that he was a hunter. Still a young hunter with steady eyes and handsome looks. Although he was darker and thinner, his face was handsome, and his skin and bones were not bad. Standing here, such a tall and handsome man made people looked at him more. It was such a handsome face, but Lu Gu didn''t dare to look at it, and he didn''t even have this awareness. He only had a cold and vague impression of Shen Xuanqing. It was also the recent interactions that made him knew that Shen Xuanqing wouldn''t hit people easily, so what he thought of as "fierce and cold-hearted" before, now only left out the "fierce". As he was shouting, a middle -aged man approached, he looked like he was in his forties, with a small beard on his chin, and his slender face was shrewd at first glance "how about the deer? " Seeing that he was dressed neatly and thinking that he was the manager of a wealthy family in the town, Shen Xuanqing half-squatted down and replied, "I beat it, it''s still hot, it just died, if you buy it back today , the meat will be the freshest." "Isn''t this deer hurt?" The middle-aged man touched the deer a few times, it was still hot, thinking that the hunter didn''t coax anyone. "The wild boars chased a group deer but didn''t catch it. One of them fell off the cliff and broke its spine. After running for nothing in the mountains these days, I went around and caught it." Shen Xuanqing said a lie without changing his face, and there was some regret in his tone. The wild boars were ferocious and hard to hunt. He set traps just by chance. If he could catch and killed them, he could sell them for money and it could be safer in the mountains. You couldn''t tell people that the prey was picked up for nothing, otherwise the price would be pushed down. The deer skin was still intact without any injuries. The middle-aged man took a look of the deer''s belly, stood up and asked, "How much?" Shen Xuanqing also stood up and replied, "You can give me eight taels." The middle-aged man opened his eyes a bit rounder: "You are also true, you dare to ask for this price. You want eight taels for this ?" "Eight taels are already cheap. A doe can be sell for thirty or forty taels. This deer at least four months, it''s no less than 25 pounds." Shen Xuanqing calmly negotiated the price. The middle-aged man didn''t show weakness, but asked: "How much is the doe, and how much is this? You will need eight taels for these few pounds of meat. Five tasks, if you can, I will give you the money directly. I don''t need to go back to get it." This was quite lavish to say, and to carry so much silver with him, the middle-aged man looked a little smug, and five taels of silver was indeed not a small amount. "You are also knowledgeable. Although the doe is heavy, the meat is not as tender as the young deer. You and the master in your house should know this the most. The deer in the mountains are smart and good at running, and the doe with the cub is even not easy to come out, and it''s usually impossible to hit a young deer, let alone taste it." "People often say that the meat of a cub that has just turned one month is tender, and the ladies and gentlemen in the city love it. We don''t know what it''s like, but the young deer that is only four months old is definitely more tender, so how can the price match the old deer." Doing business was all about being gentle and making money. Shen Xuanqing spoke calmly and gently, his words were clear, neither humble nor arrogant. Seeing that the middle-aged man hesitated, he added: "You asked if this deer is not injured, I think it''s because of your through consideration. This deer skin is so complete that it''s enough to make a pair of deerskin boots for the mansion, and it''s also decent to go out." "Well, you know what I think", nodded with a calm expression on his face, as if he didn''t care much about it, but he was thinking. "The price is still too high, make it less." He said to Shen Xuanqing. "Eight taels of silver are already cheap. If you hadn''t come to ask, I would have sold them for ten taels. In this way, if you buy it, I will give you this rabbit as a snack." Shen Xuanqing grabbed the biggest and fattest one. The size was completely incomparable to the other two, which was enough to show his sincerity. The good result of bargaining was not to suppress the price, but to add something as a compliment. Besides, this rabbit was the gift for the middle-aged man, which made his face grew a lot of light, but he still pretended to think. In the end, he took out eight taels of silver and gave it to Shen Xuanqing, showing his wealth and prestige in front of others, and then he carried the deer and the rabbit and left. Of course, Shen Xuanqing didn''t know that after he went back, he reported to the master of the mansion that he bought it back with 10 taels of silver. CH 14.1 Rich people didn¡¯t care if they ate fresh wild game at the price ten taels of silvers. The meaning was to show that it was rare. Besides, the young deer was delicious, juicy, tender and nourishing. With silver could be won. Shen Xuanqing thought about it on the way here, if the price was suppressed too hard, as long as it was not lower than five taels, at least it would be enough for half of the debt he owed. Even though the middle-aged man was greedy for money, he didn''t dare to go too far. He was greedy for two taels of ten taels, but he didn''t dare to report sixteen taels for eight taels. It was a big deal to get this errand. In the rice shop, Shen Xuanqing borrowed the scales to weigh the scattered silver from the middle-aged man. The rice shop was not far from the stall he and Lu Gu occupied, and Lu Gu was watching alone at the moment. He thanked the shopkeeper and was about to leave when the shopkeeper stopped him and asked how the rabbit was sold. Since he borrowed someone''s scales, he said a cheap price. He got a lot of money today, and a little profit was nothing. Ever since Shen Xuanqing entered the rice shop, Lu Gu looked at there from time to time, and now he was relieved to see him came out. "The shopkeeper needs to take a look, it''s almost time to go back." Shen Xuanqing picked up the bamboo basket and the things on the ground as soon as he came over. Lu Gu obeyed his words and followed into the rice shop. In the end, these two small rabbits sold for fifty copper coins. On weekdays, it wouldn''t be a problem for these two to sell for seventy or eighty copper coins. At least they were caught from the mountains, not common chickens and ducks. Seeing that he sold it so cheaply, the shopkeeper of the rice shop smiled a little more on his already friendly face, and said that if he got any other wild game in the future, he could visit him, and even if he didn''t buy it, he could help and asked the shopkeepers of other shops. He would come over if he wanted to buy rice, it would be cheaper for him. Shen Xuanqing still knew how to talk in the scene, the two regarded each other as their customers, and it was not a disadvantage to be familiar with each other, and it was also an extra friendship, and he left with Lu Gu after a few words of hospitality. With a whole eight taels of silver in his bosom, Shen Xuanqing let out a long sigh of relief silently. Only then did he truly feel at ease, and a sense of joy welled up immediately. It was the first time for him until he grew up so big like this to have this kind of good luck, and even the rest of the family, no one had ever made so much money in one go. When he picked up a young deer in the mountains yesterday, he knew he had hit luck this time, but he hadn''t gotten any money at that time. When the money was not in his hands, he seldom showed it. Not only was he tight-lipped, but he didn''t even have a happy mood. This stemmed from an experience he had when he was eleven years old. For ordinary people, if they got something valuable and wanted to sell it, they would definitely be overjoyed. Even if they knew that the wealth shouldn''t be revealed and they tightly covered the news, they would be excited in private, and Shen Xuanqing was also like this before. He was still young at the time, and his stature and physique were not as good as now. He learned the skills from the old hunter and had a little boxing and kicking skills for a year or so. The first time the rabbit was shot with a bow and arrow. At the age of eleven, it was the first time that the bow and arrow hit the prey. He was naturally excited, and ran to the master with the rabbit. The old hunter was not a serious old man, but a kind old man with red cheeks. Seeing him hit the prey he also said he was great. The hunter hunted something and wanted to sell it for money. After taking it back and showing it to his family, Shen Xuanqing decided to go to the town and sold the rabbit, counting it as the beginning of his career as a hunter. His family members said he could sell it for at least thirty copper coins, and he thought so, but when he arrived in the town, the rabbit buyer saw that he was just a kid, so he was only willing to pay twenty copper coins. He didn''t want to sell it and wanted to leave, but the rogue man held the rabbit in his hand and insisted on buying and selling by force, and the two almost got into a fight. A few peddlers couldn''t stand it anymore, and hurried forward to help, yelling that this was not bullying. The rogue was punished by everyone, and finally he was given five more copper coins. Shen Xuanqing thought that he could sell for thirty copper coins, but only got twenty-five copper coins, and went back with a sullen head and frowning. When the family asked, although he was relieved, they said that he was very promising if he could sell these things. Scoundrels were nothing but hooligans who only bully children and made them angry. Because he was being bullied, Wei Lanxiang specially steamed egg custard for him to reassure him, and secretly gave him ten copper coins to buy preserved fruit and snacks. Fenggu Town was big, and they didn''t know that rogue, even if they wanted to call back to ask for an explanation or vented their anger, they had nowhere to look. Shen Xuanqing later let go of this matter, but the comparison of joy and loss that day was so "tragedy", so that he had a long memory since then. When he went out in the morning, he didn''t tell his family how much the deer could sell. In fact, he and that rogue met once two years ago, near the tofu shop. He was just passing by at first, and recognized the man with the big mole on his face. When he saw the rogue defrauding seven years-old child, he shook his head secretly, it turned out that he was really a wimp who only picked on the weak and easy to bully. The child was playing by the river and caught two big fish. He tied them with a straw rope and took them to go home. The rogue stopped the child and said that he wanted to buy them. Hearing that he could exchange them for money, the child¡¯s eyes widened. He was willing, but the rogue only gave him three copper coins. This price couldn''t attract a seven years-old child. The child curled his mouth and bypassed him. Seeing that he couldn''t be deceived, the rogue immediately snatched them. CH 14.2 Shen Xuanqing saw it clearly not far away, not to mention the old revenge, just robbing children''s things was not something a man could do, so he stepped forward to stop and avenged the past. He wouldn''t repeat the past, but this time he got so much money, the joy in his heart couldn''t be compared with anything else. He thought that the debt of ten taels of silver would have to be saved until May next year, but now it would be almost here. As for Lu Gu, when he heard about eight taels of silver, he felt it was unbelievable. A small deer could be sold for so much money, and if it was exchanged for copper coins, the number of copper coins he got was beyond his counting. Unbelievable at the same time, he also knew that it was Shen Xuanqing''s money, and he had nothing to do with it. But this didn''t hinder the joy in his heart, it was his selfishness, he knew that the Shen family must be happy when they got so much money, and they wouldn''t beat and scold him when they were happy. When they passed by the pastry shop, the shop had just opened, and the clerk was carrying a square wooden tray and putting all kinds of pastries on the cabinet one after another, and the sweet smell wafted out from inside. Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing to a stop. "Pack six pieces of Baiyun Cake." Shen Xuanqing took out a handful of copper coins from his sleeve, counted twenty and handed them to the clerk, then took the oil paper bag from him. Baiyun Cake was expensive, it was ten copper coins for three pieces, it was as delicate as curd fat, and as white as clouds in the sky, it was sweet but not greasy after a bite, and then melted on the tip of the tongue in the mouth, giving people an endless aftertaste. This item was sold well in the town in the past two years. Those with a little money in the countryside would learn how to eat and wear like people in the town, which made other villagers envious. If someone had spare money to buy this and went back, it would be very face-saving. Lu Gu once saw Lu Wen ate this, a cup of tea and three pieces of Baiyun Cake, Lu Wen would cover his mouth with a handkerchief while eating, the gesture of raising his hand was indeed elegant and beautiful, and he ate it. He was guarded by Du Hehua, even if he took a single glance, he was sent to wash the clothes by the river. In fact, he was not greedy, because it was useless to be greedy, it would only make people uncomfortable, so it was better to think about other things. Shen Xuanqing turned around from the door of the pastry shop, glanced at his thin and quiet husband, passed the oil paper bag over, and said, "I''ll share it with my mother when I go back." Lu Gu was flattered, Even if he followed Shen Xuanqing out of the town, he still couldn''t believe it, carefully holding the oil paper bag. It was very light, but it cost twenty copper coins, so he became more and more cautious. On the way back, Shen Xuanqing walked slowly, so Lu Gu didn''t have to hurry. When the two arrived at Anjia Village, this time they were coming from the direction of the town, they could only enter from the front of the village, and the few houses they entered were Lu''s. Now the sun had came out early, and those who should go to the field had already gone to the field. Most of the families in the house were women, children and the elderly. The door of Lu''s courtyard was ajar, but no one was in the courtyard, and no movement could be heard inside. Lu Gu restrained himself after a glance, lowered his eyes and remained silent, no one knew what he was thinking. Shen Xuanqing noticed his expression, but seeing that he didn''t linger and hesitate, he felt relieved. People like Du Hehua and Lu Daxiang were not worth dealing with. Would mess around, the more alienated the better. When the people in Anjia Village saw Lu Gu, they all knew that he had been sold to Qingxi Village. The people who were talking stopped abruptly, and just watched him Walked past with their eyes. Lu Gu had a timid personality, although he was not generous, but he was not awkward or weird either. When he was in the village,when he met any aunt or grandma he would call in a low voice. In the eyes of the villagers, he was not talkative and a little boring, but he was still well-behaved. Now being looked at like this, he hesitated even if he wanted to call out, and since he had already walked over, how could he open his mouth. In the end, Aunt Qin, who was always straightforward, asked him where he came from. It was no different from how he was treated in the past, so he opened his mouth and called someone, saying that he was from the town. Aunt Qin couldn''t help taking a look at Shen Xuanqing. Because of Lu Gu, Shen Xuanqing called Auntie along with him. Aunt Qin was a little surprised, but she still answered with a smile. Then she heard people calling her at home, and she hurriedly said to the two of them: "Auntie has something to do, so I won''t talk." Such a homely conversation made Lu Gu relieved from the uneasiness just now. Wang Langzhong was drying the medicinal materials in the courtyard, and he was very satisfied to see him remembering the days, at least he was concerned about Lu Gu''s injury. Country people had no money in their hands, and they hated the most was injuries and illness. It was okay to get over minor illness and misfortunes, but there were always people who procrastinated until they didn''t heal for a long time, making him, a barefoot doctor, shook his head every time. After removing the linen cloth from Lu Gu''s head, Wang Langzhong nodded and said, "It''s okay, the wound has healed, so you don''t need to wrap it up, just take medicine for a few days." " Don''t get injured again." He told Lu Gu while mixing the medicinal materials. This time they took the medicine for five days. According to Wang Langzhong''s instructions, they would come to check the pulse later. If there was no deficiency of Qi and blood in the inside, they didn''t need to take the medicine. The wound medicine applied on Lu Gu''s head was collected by Wang Langzhong himself from the mountain, it was not a precious medicinal material, and it cost only eight copper coins for two packs. And Lu Gu had to charge money for the medicines he took, because in the prescriptions, besides the medicinal materials he picked himself, there were also money for the medicinal materials collected from others. Every time farmers came to see a him, Wang Langzhong tried to use cheap medicine with good effect, which could be cheaper, but this time Lu Gu suffered a lot of blood from the injury on his forehead. He had to add an expensive one to the medicine, the medicine for one day cost 70 copper coins, and the medicine for the seven days last time was 490 copper coins. However, for these five days of medicine, he took away the expensive medicinal materials and replaced it with the other ones. People often said that seeing a doctor dragged down the family. When Lu Gu saw that Shen Xuanqing had spent so much money, he was so frightened that he was at a loss and dared not vent his anger. CH 15.1 Chapter 15 Not to mention 600 copper coins, when he was in Du Hehua''s hands, Lu Gu had to be beaten for six copper coins. Once he was ill with a cold, and it didn''t heal after several days. Du Hehua found out, and beat and scolded him after he recovered from his illness. Du Hehua was also ruthless, he didn''t hit him in the face, he just pinched his thighs and arms, pointed the stick at his back and stomach, he didn''t dare to say anything, and he didn''t dare to show his injuries to others, otherwise he would be the same. If someone looked at his thighs and arms, his innocence would be gone. Now that he spent more than 600 copper coins, Lu Gu tremblingly looked up at Shen Xuanqing''s face. Shen Xuanqing didn''t have so many copper coins, so he took out a few pieces of silver from his bosom. Seeing this, Wang Langzhong took the scales of the family, said that it was enough for 600 copper coins, so he paid in full. Lu Gu took the medicine handed over by Grandma Wang in his hand, seeing that Shen Xuanqing''s expression didn''t change after he paid the money, and his anxious eyes became a little more stable. He didn''t hear that deep and steady voice until the two of them went out and walked from the trail towards Qingxi Village. "As long as the injury was cured." Shen Xuanqing thought about it, and then said: "The money was spent and then earned it back. If it drags on until it can''t heal, it will really cost a lot of money." Although there was no relationship with Lu Gu, it was possible to live together in the end. Yes, Shen Xuanqing didn''t want him to be so frightened and cowering, he didn''t dare to breathe, and if he didn''t even dare to say a word, then if they went into the mountain, it would be no different from him being in the mountain alone. Lu Gu was stunned for a moment, he thought that even if Shen Xuanqing didn''t hit him, he would blame him, but what he heard were these kind words. "I can work." He muttered, wanting to show his loyalty, but because his expression was too weak and timid, he didn''t have any confidence at all. Shen Xuanqing saw his hard work in the Shen family these days, and replied in a low voice: "Yes, I know." After getting the answer, Lu Gu made up his mind to work hard. It cost 80 copper coins for the cloth, and the medicine today was 600 copper coins. His mother taught him to count money when she was still alive, but because he hadn¡¯t touched anything related to money for a long time, he pondered for a long time in his heart. It was only then that he figured it out, it cost him 680 copper coins in total, and that was not including the food and drink at the Shen family. 680 copper coins was an amount he had never seen before when his mother was around, the more he thought about it, the more surprised and flustered he felt at such a large amount of money. After walking out of Anjia Village, there was another village two miles ahead. There was a gentle slope to the left of the two of them. After going up the gentle slope and going down, you would arrive at the cemetery of Anjia Village, where Lu Gu ''s mother''s grave was located. His pace was obviously slow, and he glanced towards the cemetery . Today was fifteen, and he passed by here again, and he had to help with the work when he went back, so he may not be able to come out like this again. After spending so much money and going to the cemetery to delay the journey, Lu Gu was afraid of being told that things were troublesome, so he couldn''t lift up his confidence, and even directly lost his temper. Shen Xuanqing, who was still walking by, noticed that his expression was getting weaker, so he frowned slightly and asked, "What''s wrong?" As soon as Lu Gu looked up, he saw him frowning slightly, as if displeased, and couldn''t even make up a lie for a while. When it came out, he stuttered in fright and said the truth: "My mother, my mother''s grave was there." Shen Xuanqing stopped and asked, "Want to go there?" Seeing that he had no sign of anger, Lu Gu carefully said: "I want to go there. Go and have a look, it won''t take much time, and I''ll be back right away." Shen Xuanqing didn''t make things difficult for him, Lu Gu was very grateful, but he was stupid and couldn''t speak nice words, he glanced at Shen Xuanqing, hesitant to speak, and then hurried to the cemetery. When he walked down the gentle slope and couldn''t see his figure anymore, Shen Xuanqing remembered that he didn''t bring anything to the cemetery, but then he thought, what he said was to go and have a look, not to go to the grave. They had only been together for a few days, they were not even familiar with each other, and Shen Xuanqing couldn''t say more intimate words, so he suppressed the matter. In front of the grave. Lu Gu knelt down and put a handful of small wild fruits on the ground, which he picked from the thorn bushes at the bottom of the slope in a hurry when he came over. Others burnt paper money when they went to the grave, but he didn''t have a copper coin at other times except that Lu Daxiang would give him three copper coins to buy it during the Chinese New Year. Now at Shen''s house, he was still penniless, he couldn''t even get out a copper coin, and he couldn''t buy paper money, so he put some wild fruits as sacrifices as before. "Mother, I''m married." Lu Gu held back his tears and said in a low voice, saying that the person he married was good, and now he could eat and dress warmly, and that person even bought him a baiyun cake, which he carried in his hand. After finishing a few words, he didn''t dare to delay any longer, kowtowed three times and left. Shen Xuanqing was still waiting for him by the side of the road. Lu Gu wiped off the dirt on his body when he was going uphill, and wiped away his tears. Apart from a little red eyes, there was no other abnormality. CH 15.2 The sweetness of Baiyun Cake made the Shen family smiled, and Lu Gu also ate a piece, the sweet taste made him felt better. Shen Yan was very happy, with crooked smiles, she held Lu Gu''s hand and said, "Brother Lu Gu, let''s buy this next time when we earn money." "Yeah." Lu Gu responded with a small nod, but they knew in their hearts that they couldn''t decide what to buy, because neither of them made any money. After lunch, everyone went to do their own work. Lu Gu washed the dishes and saw that there was nothing else to do at the moment, so he wanted to go back to his room for a rest, but when he went in, he saw half a piece of Baiyun Cake in the bowl on the table. He finished eating his own, and other people generally didn''t enter this room, only Shen Xuanqing''s. At this time, Shen Xuanqing was in Wei Lanxiang''s room, talking about the eight taels of silver. Wei Lanxiang''s eyes widened when she heard this. After receiving the seven taels of silver, she looked at the scattered silver and said to the Buddha: "Amitabha, Amitabha, if you lose, you gain. This was true." She said and couldn''t stop muttering: "People often say don''t do anything wrong, good luck will come, we will earn back the money we got scammed by the Lu family." "I just said, treat Lu Gu better, you still have to do good deeds, don''t be as dark-hearted as that Du Hehua." She was rambling, and hurriedly hid the broken silver. A few taels more would be enough to repay the debt. As soon as the debt was paid off, all the money they earned in the future would be their own. Shen Xuanqing came out when she was hiding the money. The ten taels of silver was borrowed for his married husband, and he was supposed to pay it back, so he gave the money to Wei Lanxiang and handed it over to the public. When he got married, they not only spent the ten taels of silver, but half of the other expenses were from his private money, and the other half was paid by Wei Lanxiang and Shen Yaoqing. Since Shen Yaoqing paid all the money, he couldn''t ask his elder brother to help him paid off the debt. Well, now that he had earned eight taels of silver, he had nothing to hide and had made it clear to his family. He kept the remaining silvers for himself, because he often went to the town to sell prey, and he bought most of the oil, salt and other things that were lacking at home, so he had some money in his hand. When he returned to his room, he saw Lu Gu holding the clothes he had changed last night and was about to go out to wash. The two met at the door, and Lu Gu quickly moved to the side. Shen Xuanqing glanced at the baiyun cake on the table, lowered his voice and said, "I tasted it, it''s not good, you can eat it." Shen Xuanqing kept his voice low so that no one else could hear him. Except for his own mother, no one left him something good to eat. Lu Gu felt an indescribable emotion, but this inexplicable feeling quickly dissipated. In his eyes, Shen Xuanqing was tall and cold. It must be really not delicious, otherwise how would there be leftovers. ¡ª¡ª Days passed quickly, Lu Gu Indigo''s new clothes were ready, Wei Lanxiang followed him first, and made a new pair of shoes. Lu Gu, who worked with shoe soles, and Wei Lanxiang each had a shoe, and the two of them could do it quickly. The weather turned colder, the sun was no longer so hot, and he was free after dinner. He wore new shoes and new clothes, and was led by Wei Lanxiang to visit Aunt Gu''s house in the east of the upper village. Shen''s house was close to the mountain, in the innermost part, going to the entrance of the village was almost like walking around the village. "Aunt Lanxiang, the clothes on the second family''s body were really pretty." Grandma A Jin and the other mothers were chatting and working under the big tree at the entrance of the village, and they all praised Lu Gu who was wearing that indigo dress. "He''s handsome too." Lu Gu was very embarrassed by such a compliment, but Wei Lanxiang smiled from ear to ear, went to Gu''s house after chatting with them a few words. Aunt Gu¡¯s son, Gu Sheng, was a street peddler who sold all kinds of groceries. When there was not enough needlework at home, Wei Lanxiang came to buy some. When they entered, they saw Aunt Gu drying dried fish in the yard, and there was a smell of fish in the yard. She smiled and asked, "Sheng Zi''s mother, do you have any cotton thread?" Aunt Gu said quickly, wiped her hands with the apron tied around her waist, and went into the house to get it. Wei Lanxiang also bought some colored thread, saying that she would embroider a few flowers on the shoes that Lu Gu and Shen Yan made. They didn''t wear gold and silver in the countryside like they did in the county town. A few flowers embroidered on their clothes were considered beautiful. It was true that she came to buy thread, and it was true that she brought Lu Gu to show off in front of people. When Aunt Gu saw the new clothes and shoes on Lu Gu, she naturally wanted to praise him, besides, Lu Gu''s appearance was indeed not bad, and he was pretty and fair, which was made even whiter by the indigo cloth. Recently, Lu Gu ate well and slept well at Shen''s house, he recovered a little complexion, even the red mark between his eyebrows was a little red, white and rosy, wasn''t he a handsome man. Wei Lanxiang took him around the village before returning satisfied. When the two of them arrived at home, Lu Gu looked at the colorful embroidery thread in the sewing basket, his expression slightly concentrated, as if he was thinking about something, but a few dogs barking outside the door interrupted his thoughts. Shen Xuanqing, who had been in the mountain for five days, came back and caught a few hares and pheasants. This was not bad, they were common wild animals, but when he took out the cloth bag at the bottom of the bamboo basket, Lu Gu saw what was in the bag. The strip was moving, and he was startled, it looked like a snake no matter how it looked! CH 16 Chapter 16 Not only Lu Gu, but even Shen Yan hurriedly took a few steps back when he saw the clue, not daring to join in the fun. But because they didn''t see what was in the cloth bag, they couldn''t help being curious , they didn''t dare to step forward and stood away to have a look. Seeing that Shen Yaoqing wanted to open the cloth bag to have a look, Shen Xuanqing stopped him and said: "Five-step snake, snake gall was the most valuable, whether you take it out or not depends on whether it was soaked raw or cooked." Some time ago, Shen Xuanqing passed the medical center in the town , he heard that the price of poisonous snake gall was high, but this time he only caught one. If he took the snake gall and sold the snake gall separately from the snake meat , it would need to soak a snake gall in the strong wine for freshness. Some were not worth it. Although he used to get snake meat to eat, but because he didn''t like it, he didn''t kill the snakes for the galls many times, only twice, none of them were poisonous snakes, and the galls were not that expensive, this time it would be different, in case the galls were broken with a lot of strength, it was ruined. Besides, the long snakes was slippery and cold to the touch, and he didn''t like to touch it, and Wei Lanxiang was especially afraid of snakes. If he kept it at home, he might not dare to leave the house for a few days, so he might as well sold the whole thing. Shen Yaoqing was excited when he heard it, and said: "Snake gall was a good thing, and it was very valuable." After he finished speaking, he asked Shen Xuanqing: " it didn''t bite you, right?" The Five-step snake was a poisonous snake with strong poison. At most, the skill should be better, catching poisonous snakes was always dangerous, if one was accidentally bitten, even one''s life would be lost. Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing stopped rubbing the wild bath beads, turned his head and saw his husband squatting down, thin and small, looking at him timidly. he hadn''t seen him for five days, today Lu Gu was wearing indigo blue clothes, it seemed to be whiter than before, and it seemed to be more beautiful. From Lu Gu''s tense expression, he realized that he had been looking for a long time, so he averted his eyes and said in a low voice, "Scramble another egg. " "Okay." Lu Gu nodded hastily, and went into the kitchen. Ji Qiuyue came out from the backyard to feed the chickens, and saw Shen Xuanqing came back and called him, she was always busy in the kitchen, now she saw Lu Gu like this , she smiled and thought that the young couple finally got along a bit. Lu Gu was uncertain about how to scramble a few eggs for Shen Xuanqing, Ji Qiuyue came in while he was hesitating, and asked him to take four from the basket. "Erqing loves eggs, fried or boiled. For him alone, four should be enough, and there were other dishes." Ji Qiuyue couldn''t stay idle as soon as she came in, and habitually took them from Lu Gu. After chopping vegetables, she didn''t even realize it. After the water in the pot was filled, Lu Gu put six steamed buns on the drawer. Hearing this, he wrote down Shen Xuanqing''s preferences, and nodded in agreement: "Well, it''s enough." "The vegetables were cut, and the eggs were also beaten. Okay, but the steamed buns haven''t been heated yet, so we have to wait." Ji Qiuyue said: "I heard people say that there was a youzhong ladle (ÓÐÖÖÂíÉ×), which was smaller than our iron pot, and has a long handle on the side, which can be placed on the medicine stove for cooking. If you can buy one, it will be much more useful, so you don''t have to wait any longer. " Lu Gu also heard people say that that kind of youzhong ladle Seemed to be called a frying spoon, and it was lighter than a cauldron. He thought Ji Qiuyue was right, so he nodded and chatted with her in a low voice: "It seems quite Expensive." "Of course, it''s made of iron." Ji Qiuyue turned around and said, she thought for a while and then said, "When we get better, I''ll let your Brother Daqing, go to the iron shop in the town to have a look." Everyone Wanted to live a good life, and Lu Gu was also included in her expectation for a better life, causing hope to quietly appeared in Lu Gu''s timid eyes, and he carefully Restrained himself and hid his emotions. The kitchen was busy, and the steamed buns would be slightly hot as soon as the water was boiled. It was not that you had to eat very hot food in winter, so the waiting was not too long. Knowing that the eggs were not fried by Lu Gu, but seeing him serving the dishes and steamed buns for himself, Shen Xuanqing felt differently from before. "Do you want to eat?" He asked Lu Gu. Lu Gu, who put down the steamed bun basket, shook his head and said , "I''ve eaten it, you eat it." After a few days of unoiled rice in the mountains, Shen Xuanqing was satisfied with a bite of scrambled eggs when he came back. He knew how to stir-fry, But because of poor cooking skills, the pot would be burnt when the fire was too high. He felt that it was unpalatable. Sometimes he was busy and hungry and didn''t care about frying. He just boiled the vegetables with water. When they were cooked, sprinkled some salt and mix them. up. In the past two years, his family was in a bad situation and had no money to buy oil. He often ate boiled dishes and occasionally boiled eggs. Now that life was better, he was greedy for eggs fried in oil. Lu Gu felt that it was not good to watch other people eating, so he went to Wei Lanxiang''s room to do needlework. Shen Yan''s shoes hadn''t been made yet, so he had to help. ¡ª¡ª When Shen Xuanqing came back, every time remembered the date, so that he could take Lu Gu to check his injuries. At the laozhong''s house, Lu Gu hadn''t finished his diagnosis. He noticed someone coming in at the door, Lu Wen. CH 17.1 Chapter 17 Speaking of which, when he was in the Lu family, Lu Wen never beat or scolded him, but because of Du Hehua and his substitute marriage, Lu Gu still didn''t want to run into him, and Lu Wen didn''t pay much attention to him. After taking a look, Lu Gu narrowed his gaze, lowered his head slightly and said nothing. "Fortunately, it''s better. Don''t forget to rest and recuperate in the future. You are still young. You have been short-lived in the past few years. Fortunately, no serious trouble has been planted." And the words of Wang laozhong made Lu Wen''s face changed slightly at the door, and thought that someone else words would fall on his mother''s head, didn''t Shen Xuanqing look over now? Lu Wen clearly saw that Shen Xuanqing only looked over after Wang Langzhong had finished speaking. The face of Shen Xuanqing, who had always been good-looking, seemed to be pricked by a needle point, but he never wanted to show embarrassment on his face , maintaining his elegance and composure. "pregnancy shouldn''t be a big problem. You two are still young, and it won''t be too late to get a better baby. It''s good for both adults and those in your stomach." Wang Langzhong said, looking at the red marks on Lu Gu''s eyebrows, and turned Joyfully said to Shen Xuanqing: "If you eat like this, it will be easy to raise, and it will not be a problem to give birth to a big fat boy." It was not easy for a countryman to marry a wife and have children. Wang Langzhong was afraid that Lu Gu would have to rest and make others unhappy, so he picked it up. If you said something nice, if you gave a hope, he could treat Lu Gu more kindly. Besides, he didn''t just talk nonsense, the red mark between Lu Gu''s eyebrows was a little redder than a few days ago, it must be possible to give birth, and this also made him saw that the Shen family seemed to be very kind to Lu Gu. "Then Uncle Wang, don''t you need to take the medicine today?" Shen Xuanqing asked, and he pretended not to see Lu Wen after looking away. "No, go back and relax, eat and sleep well, it''s better than anything else, by the way, don''t be a nonsense." Wang Langzhong waved his hand. People in the towns paid attention to medical treatment, but farmers didn''t have so much spare money, besides, he had been diagnosed, and Lu Gu had no other serious problems, except that he often didn''t eat enough to make his body weak, and he would heal after slowly raising it. "Thank you so much, Uncle Wang." Shen Xuanqing thanked, then Lu Gu got up and walked out with him. Wang Langzhong was not distracted when he was diagnosing the pulse, and explained the matter to Lu Gu, and only now he looked at Lu Wen in the courtyard. "Uncle Wang, my father has finished taking the medicine, so I''ll grab a few." Lu Wen explained why he came without waiting for him to ask, and walked into the main room as he spoke, and moved aside by speaking, avoiding Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu. Lu Daxiang finished taking the medicine yesterday, if he had known that Lu Gu was here today, he should have come yesterday, so as not to run into him. Facing Shen Xuanqing, Lu Wen was a bit guilty. After all, he regretted the marriage first. If he hadn''t seen that Shen Xuanqing didn''t move or speak, he would have just looked at him coldly without even paying attention to him , otherwise he would have just left. Out of Wang Langzhong''s house, for some reason, he was obviously not familiar with him, but Lu Gu felt that Shen Xuanqing was not in a good mood. He knew that it must have something to do with Lu Wen, even when he saw Lu Wen, he remembered the bad things in the past. Lu Daxiang was clearly his father, since Lu Wen followed Du Hehua to remarry , gradually, before he realized it, Lu Daxiang looked like Lu Wen like a real father . Lu Gu was almost eleven years old at that time, although he was not young, but he lost his mother, and his father treated Lu Wen better than him, how could he not feel uncomfortable. Forget about Lu Wen, after that, Du Hehua gave birth to a son. This year, he was only seven years old. This was his own son, and it was not difficult for Lu Daxiang to love him. Lu Wen had been good-looking since he was a child, and his mouth was also sweet. He called daddy and daddy all day long, and when he went out, he said he was my daddy, and even others praised him. This was exactly what Lu Gu didn''t understand, he obviously called him father, and when people asked him when he was out, he also said what about my father, but Lu Daxiang liked Lu Wen even more. Later, he heard gossip from some people in the village, but it was such harsh rumors. He was so shocked that he seemed to understand with a pale face. The gossip from that day was still in his ears, so Lu Gu still didn''t dare to think about it. And Shen Xuanqing, who was walking next to him, hadn''t been with the Lu family for a long time. Seeing Lu Wen he was upset, he naturally had a bad face. CH 17.2 Lu Wen had an affair with other men after he got engaged to him, and within a short period of time, he still couldn''t completely let go of this matter. His mother and his family were so angry that if they continued to fight for a long time, they may not even be able to survive. After three years of hard life, now that they just woke up, everyone in the family had smiles on their faces. He also didn''t want to lose money, so he moved the Lu family''s things and sold them, at least for some money. But Du Hehua''s swearing was too harsh, and Lu Daxiang slandered the innocence between him and Lu Gu in front of everyone, and he became angry from the heart, so he stopped holding back. Shen Xuanqing''s thoughts gradually returned. When she noticed Lu Gu next to him, he thought that his husband was now Lu Gu and had nothing to do with Lu Wen. He felt a little better, and he felt a little bit better than when he saw Lu Wen, overwhelmed by disgust. On the way home, Lu Wen avoided crowded places and tried his best to keep his head down so as not to be noticed. He lowered his eyes and pursed his lips slightly with an unhappy expression. His mother went to do it, and never thought it would end up like that. But when he found out later, he wasn''t too afraid, even if the Shen family really went to the county government, with the Li family around , nothing would happen. The reason why he didn''t directly invite the Li family to come was because he wanted a face. After all, his name was written in the marriage letter, and he wouldn''t let it go unless it was absolutely necessary. Besides, this matter was really disgraceful. It would be a shame if more people knew about it, even the officials in the county. If he regretted it, he didn''t regret it. He was able to agree to the Shen family at that time. Shen Xuanqing was really good-looking, handsome and tall, not to mention the countryside, even in the town. Compared with the villagers who planted food in the crops, the hunter was a business that earned money, otherwise the Shen family wouldn''t have given out a dowry gift of twenty taels. After a few years of hard life, he heard people said that It was ginseng that hung Shen Shunfu''s life after being ill back then, but in the end he couldn''t be rescued. The Shen family owed a hundred taels or more to treat him. But no matter how rich the hunter in the countryside was, it was only a few copper coins , which was incomparable to the young masters in the town, especially the li family was still a wealthy family. If it wasn''t for him living alone in the town, he would be gossiped about, otherwise he wouldn''t come back, and blamed his family for being poor and having no good relatives in the town, otherwise he could stay temporarily, a former classmate''s house for a day or two, It''s okay, but it wouldn''t last long. Li Lang once said that he would buy him a house to live in, but he was so high-minded, how could he let himself lost the reputation because being raised outside, no matter what, he had to be the husband of Li family with matchmaker. It was not that he didn''t know the gossip in the village, but It was easy to deal with. As long as the country people got some benefits, they could talk to him like everything slipped through their fingers. This time Shen Xuanqing came back and stayed at home for three days, which was quite a long time. He didn''t go into the mountain immediately. He sold the five-step snake to the medical clinic in the town. The snake gall of the five-step snake was the most precious among snake galls, and that snake was big and good-looking, and after digging out the snake gall, it could be cooked and soaked in the medicinal wine. In the medical hall, he had just poured the fivestep snake out of his bag, when a fat man with a big head slapped the table and told him to let him go back and drank snake wine to strengthen his yang. In the end, he got two ingots of five taels of silver, which were heavy in his hands, and gave Wei Lanxiang one ingot after returning home. At noon that day, Wei Lanxiang took the chickens and ducks and asked Shen Yaoqing and Ji Qiuyue to look after the house. She took Shen Yan, Shen Xuanqing, and Lu Gu to her natal home, paid off the ten taels of silver. After eating a meal, they felt much lighter on the way back. hunters were richer than ordinary farmers, and they usually just sold some common prey and furs, earning small sums of money, which was not bad. If you were lucky and came across a good thing on the mountain, you could sell it for a lot of money, but it all depended on luck. When borrowing money before, because ten taels of silver was not a decimal number, in order not to make mistakes, but also to let the family breathe a sigh of relief, Wei Lanxiang cautiously promised that it would be paid in May next year, they wouldn''t have to tighten his belt. Also, the winter wheat in the dry land could be harvested at that time, plus what they had saved during this period, it was enough for ten taels of silver. As soon as Lu Gu got up the next day, Wei Lanxiang called him into the room. She looked at Lu Gu, no matter how she looked at him, she felt that Lu Gu was much more pleasing to the eye than Lu Wen. Not long after he got married, the family''s bad luck seemed to be gradually disappearing, and good things came one after another. Although after what happened to Shen Shunfu, how many gods and Buddhas she worshiped and how many kowtows she kowtowed that year, but she didn''t save her man, and she didn''t believe in it in the future, but people were happy on happy occasions, and Lu Gu was obedient and well-behaved. The smile would be bigger. When Lu Gu came out of her room and saw Shen Xuanqing in the yard, his heart began to beat. Mother said that she would ask him to go into the mountain with Shen Xuanqing early in the morning, and said that they would have a good time. After all, there were only two of them in the mountain. No one else spoke. CH 18.1 Although today was not a festival, but because the debts had been paid off, everyone in the family was happy, and it was the first time for Lu Gu to go to the mountains with Shen Xuanqing, so he should eat more carefully. Wei Lanxiang and Lu Gu were doing needlework under the eaves. Seeing that Shen Xuanqing had nothing else to do, she found him another job. She held the sole of her shoe and said, "Go prepare a bowl of mushrooms, and then kill that pheasant. When it''s over, go to your third uncle¡¯s house, picked a winter melon, and today we will have a winter melon stewed chicken.¡± They were busy separately, and when the orange sunset glowed filled the sky, they gathered around the table and ate happily. Stir-fried black mushrooms with garlic slices, mixed with tofu and a pot of stewed chicken, these three items were quite hearty, homemade meals were large, and there were steamed buns, enough for six people. Lu Gu was no longer as cramped and cautious as before, he dared to pick up some food with his chopsticks and ate. The chicken soup was very fresh. After the chicken was scooped up, Ji Qiuyue brought a few bowls over and divided the rest of the soup and finished it, otherwise it would be a pity. The whole family was well fed, and it was getting late after cleaning up. The farmers followed the custom of working from sunrise to sunset, and went back to their houses to rest without even lighting the lamps. Wei Lanxiang still couldn''t sleep, so before it was completely dark, she came to help Lu Gu packed his clothes. "It''s cold in the mountains, especially at night, so remember to cover up with more quilts." Seeing Lu Gu''s three clothes and two pairs of shoes, she pondered for a while and said, "Your clothes are thin and can''t hold you up. I changed it with jacket and brought it for you." "Mother." Lu Gu''s eyes were timid, but after hearing her words, he didn''t know what to say, and finally he called mother in a low voice. Wei Lanxiang saw that he was so obedient, she couldn''t close her mouth with a smile, and hurriedly said: "I''ll prepare the lamp for you and bring it tomorrow morning." But before going out, she said to Shen Xuanqing: "Go to the town to buy some cotton and thick cloth, and then make him two thick jacket to wear warmly." "Mother, you use this to buy, and then make more quilts." Shen Xuanqing knew what she meant, and from his arm, he took out a few pieces of broken silver. The door was open, and the two of them didn''t deliberately lower their voices to avoid anyone. The rest of the family heard it. Wei Lanxiang accepted it with a smile, it was only for Lu Gu to make clothes, and Erqing paid for it, so she could tell the boss. When Shen Yan heard her talking about changing the jacket, she lit a lamp in the room, and the dim candlelight was reflected on the half-opened window, swaying gently with the breeze. Wei Lanxiang dug out the jacket that had been washed before from the bottom of the box, and it was a little small compared to Lu Gu''s figure. It was cold in the mountains, so he shouldn''t wear this to keep out the cold. This one was actually not too thick. The advantage was that the chest and back were filled with cotton, and it even had two sleeves, so he wouldn''t be afraid of freezing his arms. Shen Yan didn''t even ask about making thick clothes. She went to the mountains once, and it was cold at night, especially in autumn, when there was more rain, it would get colder. Lu Gu went to cook and do laundry. Brother Erqing could eat delicious hot food, so hunting would be more exciting, right? Even she knew it, how could Ji Qiuyue don''t know, the clothes that should be made had to be made, besides , it took some hardships in the mountains, and it took a long time just to travel, so she naturally didn''t care. In the room, Lu Gu was supporting the sack, and Shen Xuanqing stuffed the new quilt in the dowry box. He had two quilts in the mountain for a long time. The two sheets could be washed like new . He was busy hunting, and he didn''t even know how to remove and wash the bedding. At most, he took advantage of the sunny weather to dry it, and when it was too dirty, he carried it down the mountain and brought it back for Wei Lanxiang to help to wash. Fortunately, the scooter was big enough, and Shen Xuanqing was young and strong. He was only eighteen years old, and when he was very strong, it was not a problem to pull a load of more than two hundred catties, but the road required more effort than usual. In the dead of night, the lights were turned off, the noise gradually subsided, and the moon gradually moved westward in the sky. A few stars twinkled, and it was almost halfway through the night. Lu Gu, who hadn''t slept well, woke up after noticing Shen Xuanqing''s movement. They cleaned up everything that needed to be cleaned up last night. The two of them woke up, washed their faces with cold water, rinsed their mouths with green salt hastily, and when they were resting on the road, they could eat steamed buns directly without thinking about whether their mouths were clean or not. "Erqing, Guzi, are you leaving now?" Wei Lanxiang called through the window, she thought for a while and said, "I''ll send you two off. " Dahu had been released, and after Shen Xuanqing finished speaking, Lu Gu had finished reciting his bag and carried the egg basket, and he pushed the cart and went out together. Shen Yaoqing sent the two of them out, Lu Gu walked for a while and then turned back, there was no one at the door, under the night, it seemed that only he and Shen Xuanqing were left. The cart squeaked softly, Dahu followed Lu Gu, and the two puppies that had been tied to the backyard for the past few days, and as soon as they were let go, they ran forward, sniffing everywhere, and only stopped when they were far away. Turned their head and waited for Shen Xuanqing to catch up. Gradually reaching the slope up the mountain, Shen Xuanqing reversed the cart, the wheels came to the back, and then put the cloth rope between the two handlebars on his shoulders, so that he could use his body strength to pull the cart up. It was time to use your strength, just kept walking forward, otherwise it would be difficult to push it up with two hands. Lu Gu guarded behind the cart, because he was holding the egg basket in his hand, he couldn''t help to push it for fear of breaking it, so he just looked at it so that nothing would fall. Shen Xuanqing was used to do heavy work with all his strength, and he could pull it without his help, so the two of them went up the mountain just like that. CH 18.2 Although today was not a festival, but because the debts had been paid off, everyone in the family was happy, and it was the first time for Lu Gu to go to the mountains with Shen Xuanqing, so he should eat more carefully. Wei Lanxiang and Lu Gu were doing needlework under the eaves. Seeing that Shen Xuanqing had nothing else to do, she found him another job. She held the sole of her shoe and said, "Go prepare a bowl of mushrooms, and then kill that pheasant. When it''s over, go to your third uncle¡¯s house, picked a winter melon, and today we will have a winter melon stewed chicken.¡± They were busy separately, and when the orange sunset glowed filled the sky, they gathered around the table and ate happily. Stir-fried black mushrooms with garlic slices, mixed with tofu and a pot of stewed chicken, these three items were quite hearty, homemade meals were large, and there were steamed buns, enough for six people. Lu Gu was no longer as cramped and cautious as before, he dared to pick up some food with his chopsticks and ate. The chicken soup was very fresh. After the chicken was scooped up, Ji Qiuyue brought a few bowls over and divided the rest of the soup and finished it, otherwise it would be a pity. The whole family was well fed, and it was getting late after cleaning up. The farmers followed the custom of working from sunrise to sunset, and went back to their houses to rest without even lighting the lamps. Wei Lanxiang still couldn''t sleep, so before it was completely dark, she came to help Lu Gu packed his clothes. "It''s cold in the mountains, especially at night, so remember to cover up with more quilts." Seeing Lu Gu''s three clothes and two pairs of shoes, she pondered for a while and said, "Your clothes are thin and can''t hold you up. I changed it with jacket and brought it for you." "Mother." Lu Gu''s eyes were timid, but after hearing her words, he didn''t know what to say, and finally he called mother in a low voice. Wei Lanxiang saw that he was so obedient, she couldn''t close her mouth with a smile, and hurriedly said: "I''ll prepare the lamp for you and bring it tomorrow morning." But before going out, she said to Shen Xuanqing: "Go to the town to buy some cotton and thick cloth, and then make him two thick jacket to wear warmly." "Mother, you use this to buy, and then make more quilts." Shen Xuanqing knew what she meant, and from his arm, he took out a few pieces of broken silver. The door was open, and the two of them didn''t deliberately lower their voices to avoid anyone. The rest of the family heard it. Wei Lanxiang accepted it with a smile, it was only for Lu Gu to make clothes, and Erqing paid for it, so she could tell the boss. When Shen Yan heard her talking about changing the jacket, she lit a lamp in the room, and the dim candlelight was reflected on the half-opened window, swaying gently with the breeze. Wei Lanxiang dug out the jacket that had been washed before from the bottom of the box, and it was a little small compared to Lu Gu''s figure. It was cold in the mountains, so he shouldn''t wear this to keep out the cold. This one was actually not too thick. The advantage was that the chest and back were filled with cotton, and it even had two sleeves, so he wouldn''t be afraid of freezing his arms. Shen Yan didn''t even ask about making thick clothes. She went to the mountains once, and it was cold at night, especially in autumn, when there was more rain, it would get colder. Lu Gu went to cook and do laundry. Brother Erqing could eat delicious hot food, so hunting would be more exciting, right? Even she knew it, how could Ji Qiuyue don''t know, the clothes that should be made had to be made, besides , it took some hardships in the mountains, and it took a long time just to travel, so she naturally didn''t care. In the room, Lu Gu was supporting the sack, and Shen Xuanqing stuffed the new quilt in the dowry box. He had two quilts in the mountain for a long time. The two sheets could be washed like new . He was busy hunting, and he didn''t even know how to remove and wash the bedding. At most, he took advantage of the sunny weather to dry it, and when it was too dirty, he carried it down the mountain and brought it back for Wei Lanxiang to help to wash. Fortunately, the scooter was big enough, and Shen Xuanqing was young and strong. He was only eighteen years old, and when he was very strong, it was not a problem to pull a load of more than two hundred catties, but the road required more effort than usual. In the dead of night, the lights were turned off, the noise gradually subsided, and the moon gradually moved westward in the sky. A few stars twinkled, and it was almost halfway through the night. Lu Gu, who hadn''t slept well, woke up after noticing Shen Xuanqing''s movement. They cleaned up everything that needed to be cleaned up last night. The two of them woke up, washed their faces with cold water, rinsed their mouths with green salt hastily, and when they were resting on the road, they could eat steamed buns directly without thinking about whether their mouths were clean or not. "Erqing, Guzi, are you leaving now?" Wei Lanxiang called through the window, she thought for a while and said, "I''ll send you two off. " Dahu had been released, and after Shen Xuanqing finished speaking, Lu Gu had finished reciting his bag and carried the egg basket, and he pushed the cart and went out together. Shen Yaoqing sent the two of them out, Lu Gu walked for a while and then turned back, there was no one at the door, under the night, it seemed that only he and Shen Xuanqing were left. The cart squeaked softly, Dahu followed Lu Gu, and the two puppies that had been tied to the backyard for the past few days, and as soon as they were let go, they ran forward, sniffing everywhere, and only stopped when they were far away. Turned their head and waited for Shen Xuanqing to catch up. Gradually reaching the slope up the mountain, Shen Xuanqing reversed the cart, the wheels came to the back, and then put the cloth rope between the two handlebars on his shoulders, so that he could use his body strength to pull the cart up. It was time to use your strength, just kept walking forward, otherwise it would be difficult to push it up with two hands. Lu Gu guarded behind the cart, because he was holding the egg basket in his hand, he couldn''t help to push it for fear of breaking it, so he just looked at it so that nothing would fall. Shen Xuanqing was used to do heavy work with all his strength, and he could pull it without his help, so the two of them went up the mountain just like that. CH 19.1 It was still dark, and the mountains were foggy, if not for Shen Xuanqing and the dog, Lu Gu wouldn''t dare to go up the mountain by himself at this time. The little dog barked twice from time to time, swinging in the open mountain forest. The two of them were still in the outskirts of the forest at the moment. People often came here, and there were few wild animals. There was no need to be afraid of bringing dogs. Those ferocious wolves, tigers and leopards were all deeper and farther away in the mountains. After walking for a quarter of an hour, to the forest with few people behind, the sun would come out, and the things that roamed at night would retreat to their nests before the sun came out , so there was no need to be afraid. It was not impossible to travel during the day, but Shen Xuanqing was used to walking at this time, and it was only half of the morning when he arrived in the deep forest house, and the remaining half of the day was enough to do many things. But at this moment, listening to Lu Gu''s movements behind him, he thought to himself that next time, he should wait until the daytime to leave. Now that he didn''t have to work so hard to pay off the debt, he should take his time and didn''t hurry too much. "These chopped wood piles, keep going forward, and after a few trees in front, you can see the traces of axe cuts on the tree, just follow along." Hearing Shen Xuanqing''s words, Lu Gu''s eyes followed to look at the stake, and he wrote it down carefully. There were still some stepped roads in the front mountain, which disappeared at the back. In order to let him see it more realistically, Shen Xuanqing even told him to go to the front and pointed out the road signs all the way The sun hadn''t come out yet, but it was much brighter than before. It was a struggle to pull the cart to the end, and when they saw a flat boundary, the two stopped to rest, and ate a steamed bun to cushion their stomachs. Stopping and stopping, originally Shen Xuanqing could get there in an hour and half, but today it took nearly three hours to get there because of pulling a cart. Lu Gu looked at the courtyard in front of him, who would have thought that there was such a tall mud courtyard wall in the deep mountain forest, which was higher than the wall of the house at the bottom of the mountain, and even the courtyard gate was tall, so it looked solid. Seeing the surprise in his eyes, Shen Xuanqing opened the door and pushed the cart in, and told him the reason when unloading. His master, that was, the old hunter, lay down early one evening after drinking alcohol. Before it was dark, he heard movement outside. It was an old bear coming from the depths of the old forest. When it came in, it broke into the kitchen outside and ate all the food. The rice and flour were swallowed, the bags of flour were torn apart and scattered all over the ground, the pumpkins and wild fruits were eaten up, and the litter of rabbits that were captured alive to raise them were all killed by the old bear. Meeting a bear in the mountains was not a trivial matter, especially this kind of bear that had lived for some years. It was like becoming a spirit. It could dig out any delicious food, and it looked terrifying. It could cut a person''s head with a claw. The old hunter didn''t dare to make a sound in the room, it kept wandering outside, trying to break into the room, wandered around outside a few times, and slammed into the door, fortunately, the old hunter locked the door with a thick tree trunk before going to bed, and after it hit a few times, it didn''t break open, then walked to the window and smashed the wooden window with its claws. The old hunter''s bed was right under the window. When he realized that the old bear was in front of the window, he quickly turned over and hid under the bed, and he didn''t make any movement. The window was so small that the old bear couldn''t get in, and it didn''t scratch when it stretched its paws in. Maybe it was too lazy to move after eating, so it found a place outside to sleep on its stomach. It snored loudly all night, and the old hunter kept hiding and didn''t dare to move under the bed, it could be described as a night of torment. It wasn''t until dawn that the old bear had enough to eat and sleep, and then the old hunter dared to show his head, and hurried down the mountain while the sun was bright. Fearing that the old bear would often came to look for food here in the future, he called his whole family, four young and strong men in the village who could build walls with yellow mud and straw, and took some twenty dogs with them. Even the dogs from the next village were borrowed, and a group of people brought hatchets, bows and arrows, and marched into the mountain in a mighty manner. Being a hunter was risky, but it earned more money than ordinary farmers. The old hunter was unwilling to give up this work, so he spent a lot of money to build such a high courtyard wall in the deep mountain, blocking the beasts wandering out of the old forest. Not only the courtyard walls, but also some of the houses that were destroyed were repaired. Now this house was given to Shen Xuanqing to live in when he came to the mountains. It was still strong after more than ten years, not only the courtyard walls, but also the beams and wood. The most indispensable thing in the deep mountains was wood, and no one could manage it here. All the huts were built with good wood, otherwise there would be heavy wind and snow in the mountains, and people would go down the mountain in winter, and if the roof collapsed, they would have no place to live when they came up again in the next spring. CH 19.2 Lu Gu''s eyes widened when he heard the old bear coming, obviously he was afraid. He knew the dangers in the mountains before, but he didn''t expect an old bear to come to the place where the two of them were going to live. But after Shen Xuanqing finished speaking, he saw that the courtyard wall was so high, if something really came, it wouldn''t be able to break in, so his heart fell back again. He helped to move the dishes on the cart to the kitchen. He took a look at the mess inside, but he didn''t dare to speak. He frowned and thought he would clean up after breakfast. The two walked on the road for three hours, the mountain road was not easy to walk, Shen Xuanqing was still pulling a cart weighing more than 200 jin, now he was tired and hungry, Lu Gu saw that there was nothing he could move, so he He rolled up his sleeves and got busy on the stove. He brought about a dozen steamed buns from home, and he could eat them as soon as they were warmed up. He picked up well-ripe vegetables, washed them and fried them, and scrambled a plate of eggs. When he was at Lu''s house, he didn''t go into the kitchen very often. Du Hehua was afraid that he would steal food, so she watched closely and didn''t let him touch those things. After arriving at Shen''s house, there was Ji Qiuyue cooking. Eggs were precious, so when he scrambled the eggs, he was very careful, for fear that they would be burnt. Who knew that even with such excessive caution, the eggs still burned a little bit. Lu Gu was so frightened that he quickly took out the eggs, his face was pale, and he didn''t dare to take the eggs out for Shen Xuanqing to see. But he was hungry and wanted to see if the meal was good. Shen Xuanqing pursed his lips slightly and came in. This was the first time he had breakfast with Lu Gu. It was different from at home. But as soon as he came in, he saw Lu Gu standing in front of the stove with a pale face, embarrassed, and then looked at the plate of somewhat mushy eggs, and he knew the reason. sometimes someone cooked messily, even Wei Lanxiang used to burn the pot dry when cooking, and the rice in the pot turned into black burnt, but she couldn''t bear to throw it out, so she insisted on sharing it with the whole family. Shen Xuanqing still remembered the bitterness of that black burnt rice. Although the eggs were burnt, not all of them were burnt. It was much better than his mother''s time. "Let''s eat when we''re done." He took the egg plate and took the steamed bun basket as he walked out. Not being reprimanded, Lu Gu dared to pant, took the chopsticks and followed out with the bowl of green vegetables. The sun was shining, and it was already noon when the two of them arrived here. After eating, Shen Xuanqing didn''t hang around in the mountains like before. He rubbed his shoulders and entered the room. After a whole morning''s journey, no matter how strong a person was, he had to rest for a while . Lu Gu was washing the dishes alone in the kitchen. In fact, there were only two pairs of chopsticks and two bowl. It didn''t take much effort. But he was so careful, after realizing that there was a figure at the door of the kitchen, Lu Gu, who was squatting down to pack firewood, looked up. Shen Xuanqing held a porcelain bottle in his hand, and held it tightly. After Lu Gu looked over, he lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "I can''t touch my back shoulder. You can rub some medicine for me." Lu Gu was stunned for a moment , then reacted, responded in a low voice, and said quickly after getting up: "I wash my hands." That being the case, Shen Xuanqing went back to the room first, and when Lu Gu came in, he hesitated, and took off his clothes. He looked calm and composed, but in fact he was a little cautious in his actions. The young man in front of him was slender and strong, different from the short and stout one, tall and strong, he was indescribably good-looking. Lu Gu didn''t dare to look at him casually, walked behind Shen Xuanqing with his head down, took the porcelain bottle from the table, followed Shen Xuanqing''s whispered instructions, poured the red viscous medicine into the palm of his hand, rubbed his hands slightly to warm them up, and then put the palm of your hand on the red mark on Shen Xuanqing''s back shoulder and rub it so as to dissolve the medicine. It was different from Shen''s house, it was only the two of them here, there was no Shen Yan and Ji Qiuyue who could talk to him, and because he fried the eggs himself, he felt empty in his heart, so he didn''t dare to approach Shen Xuanqing even more , so he simply hid to Clean up the kitchen. It didn''t take long for the medicine to be applied, but it was quite a long time for Lu Gu. Even if they slept together at night, they were both wearing underwear, and he had never seen Shen Xuanqing who was shirtless. He was originally a tall man who he didn''t dare to get close to. After taking off his shirt, his bronze muscles showed a bit of wildness and aggression, which made him even more frightened, almost trembling. Shen Xuanqing was only eighteen years old. He had worked hard in the past few years and honed some muscles that shouldn''t be underestimated. However, he was still young, and he was still a green young man. Even so, it was scary enough for Lu Gu. "Okay ." Lu Gu''s voice trembled a little, and he didn''t dare to touch anymore. Shen Xuanqing''s Adam''s apple moved with his back turned to him, and his voice was deep: "Well, I''ll do the rest." Not only his back shoulders, but also his shoulders were red and worn out, even because his little husband''s hands were light and soft , let him think a little bit more, and then rubbed the wound on his shoulder, but when he heard Lu Gu''s voice trembling slightly, it was obvious that he was still afraid of him, so he stopped thinking about it. Growing up so big, and often doing some physical work, it was common for him to apply medicine for injuries. Sometimes he couldn''t reach it and asked others to help, but other people were not as meticulous and gentle as Lu Gu, and when Shen Xuanqing was asked to apply medicine himself, the ears were slightly red Lu Gu, who was able to escape, returned to the kitchen. And after he walked the mountain road all morning naturally his legs were tired, so he sat on the small stool while the fire was burning to rest. he was terrified, but his palms were scorching hot. The outrageous thing of touching the flesh of a man made him felt terrified. After a while, he realized that it was Shen Xuanqing, not another man. Speaking of it, there was no need to shy away from it. Even though it was the reason, he was still a little at a loss. In the end, Shen Xuanqing was thinking about his tired legs and feet. After applying the medicine and getting dressed, he called him into the room, and they lay side by side side on the bed as they were at the foot of the mountain. CH 20.1 The doors and windows were all open, and not long after noon, the sun was shining brightly, shining in from outside. Shen Xuanqing slept in the west room and the east room was where the old hunter lived before. He was used to live here and never changed it. Because of the coldness in the mountains, only one window was opened on the south wall, the window faced the front yard, and the relatively strong wooden bed in the room was placed on the west side avoiding the window, facing the door horizontally. Lu Gu was lying on the innermost side, there was a narrow gap between the bed and the mud wall, different from that at the bottom of the mountain, Shen Xuanqing''s room had elaborate bed curtains, here was a bare board bed, for fear of soiling the mattress by leaning against the mud wall , it was farther away. The sun shone in through the window, bright and majestic, and fine dust could be seen floating in the beam. It was different from working or standing up. Once he lay down and was under the eaves, he felt cool after a short while, but Lu Gu lay straight and didn''t even move, let alone pull the quilt. He was nervous, and Shen Xuanqing was also a little nervous, and both of them remained silent . The mountain was quiet, but a few dogs barking outside broke the silence. After going up the mountain, the three dogs were not tied up, and they didn''t run around. They just ran and played nearby. When they were thirsty, they went to the river to drink water. Lying down on the ground, Shen Xuanqing knew it was all right after hearing it, but just barked, and stopped paying attention to the outside. He noticed Lu Gu''s stiffness, and remembered that when the two of them slept together at night, Lu Gu was also like this, so cautious that he wouldn''t turn over even if he was asleep, what he looked like when he was sleeping, and what he looked like when he woke up, rarely would change. Feeling cold, Shen Xuanqing sat up and pulled the quilt from the foot of the bed, covering him and Lu Gu. The new quilt was still in the sack, he was still young and childish, and his shyness hadn''t faded away. Shen Xuanqing quietly looked down at the quilt. Fortunately, it had been exposed to the sun a while ago, so it didn''t smell bad or dirty. "Get up early, don''t do anything else today, it''s okay to sleep for a while." After he lay down, he finally found the words. Hearing his deep and steady voice, Lu Gu gradually relaxed for some reason, and finally hummed softly, his stiff body finally relaxed a bit. Chasing the mountain road all morning was not easy for anyone. After relaxing physically and mentally, Lu Gu closed his eyes and gradually fell asleep. Shen Xuanqing also closed his eyes and fell asleep, after a while, when Lu Gu''s breathing became stable, he opened his eyes again. The hand that was pressed against his back shoulder when applying the medicine was so soft that he was still thinking about it in a daze. Lu Gu was sleeping next to him, his arm was not far from his arm, as long as he moved a little, he could touch that hand. The lightly clenched hands were hidden under the quilt, no one could see them, not even the person whose hand was clenched knew. This sleep lasted for more than half an hour. When Lu Gu woke up, his fatigue faded a lot, and his spirit returned. In the afternoon, the sun reached the slanting upper part of the west, and it hadn¡¯t set yet. He boiled medicines for repelling snakes and insects bought by Shen Xuanqing, and stirred it with a wooden stick, and it turned into half a pot of black steaming water. Shen Xuanqing found some unused cloth strips for him, and wrapped them around wooden sticks, so that the potion could be applied to the doors and windows. One layer was not enough, and after it dried a little, he had to apply it twice, so that the potion seeping into the wood, so there was always a smell of medicine, which could prevent snakes, insects, rats and ants from crawling into the room and biting people. These things in the mountains were not the same as outside, they were more or less poisonous, if they were fine during the day, they could be seen, killed and thrown out, but at night, people couldn''t find it when they were asleep, the pain of being bitten was mild, red, swollen and hard for a few days. Needless to say, pain and itching were uncomfortable. Not counting the firewood room, there were five rooms in total including the kitchen and the small room with sundries. They all had doors and windows, and Lu Gu just applied it to all. He bought it with money, and he was not willing to lose, so he went to apply the firewood door again. Although there were no people and no food in the firewood room, if there was something hiding in the firewood and hay, he had to worry about it, so he might as well wipe it all off. The courtyard door was wide open, and he was busy inside. Shen Xuanqing took the shovel outside and dug a narrow hole around the courtyard. The pit was about as deep as the head of the shovel, which was not too deep. He planned to bury the medicine in it. . When he finished digging and sprinkled the medicine powder inside, Lu Gu finished his work and came out. Seeing Shen Xuanqing tilting the medicine bag while walking and pouring it into the pit, he picked up the shovel on the ground, followed behind and began to fill the soil. "No, I do it myself." Filling the soil was a laborious task, so Shen Xuanqing switched with him. Dahui and the two small dogs watched them work, and they seemed to understand what Shen Xuanqing was doing. The three dogs straddled the narrow pit, half playing and half helping, they used their claws to dig the soil, and it looked quite hard. This scene made Lu Gu had a clear and shallow smile in his eyes. He never smiled very often, and now he smiled gently, but it dissipated in an instant. Shen Xuanqing was filling the soil, and because of the actions of Dahui, he couldn''t help laughing, and inadvertently raised his head to look at Lu Gu, and it was this look that made him see that smile. There seemed to be a "Zheng" in his heart that broke the strings, making him stunned in place, and it seemed that there were ripples, stirring up a pool of spring water to ripple. he was used to see Lu Gu''s cowardly appearance. Where Shen Xuanqing had seen this scene before? At a loss, he panicked, and when he came back to his senses at the end, he only knew that Lu Gu was his husband, fortunately, he was his husband. CH 20.2 While Lu Gu was watched by him, he thought he was lazy and made a mistake, so he quickly lowered his head and springkled the medicine, not daring to look at the dog again. There was realgar in the medicine powder, and other medicinal materials for repelling snakes and insects, which could keep the insects out of the courtyard. If Shen Xuanqing was alone, there was no need to buy these, but when buying medicines, he wanted Lu Gu to come up with him. No matter what, the skin and flesh were tenderer than a rough man, so it was always right to have an extra precaution. It took four whole packs of medicine powder to finish this round. Shen Xuanqing was fast when he was filling the soil. After Lu Gu finished, he would step on the filled soil so that the empty soil could be solidified, so that he wouldn''t be afraid when it was rain, the powder was washed away by the rain. After the two of them finished their work, the sun walked to the west again, and without doing anything else today, Lu Gu went to the kitchen to cook. It was autumn here, and they usually ate rice porridge when they got up early. The warm and soft white rice was warm and moist in the stomach. This morning, because they were hungry, they didn''t cook rice and only cooked vegetables. This meal they had time to cook rice porridge. There was not much water in the tank, so Shen Xuanqing carried the wooden barrel to the river to fetch water. There was a low place more than a mile away from the house, which was the Qingxi River that flowed from a deeper place, so it was very convenient to fetch water. After the white rice was put into the pot, Lu Gu put the drawer up, put the steamed buns and four sliced ??pumpkins, added a fire to the bottom of the pot, then turned around and went to the counter to chop vegetables, busy all by himself. Shen Xuanqing ran a few times to fill up the waist-high water tank. At this time, the pot was steaming, and the vegetables were cut. He wiped his hands with his apron, squatted on the ground and added two sticks of firewood. Let the fire simmer for a while longer. Shen Xuanqing, who put down the barrel, glanced at the chopping board. There was only one vegetable, which was the winter melon he picked from his third uncle''s house yesterday. He brought two big ones, one was enough to fry a big bowl, and Lu Gu also cut three Green Chilies, he planned to use chili to fry. they ate stewed chicken yesterday, but today it was normal to switch back to vegetarian. it was like this in the countryside, and eating meat was only occasionally. But for Shen Xuanqing, he was a hunter, and he was different from the man who worked in the crop field. In the past, he himself was reluctant to eat meat in order to sell it for money on the mountain, so he just dug some wild vegetables and cooked them. Now Lu Gu came up with him, you had to prepare something meaty, even if you didn''t eat it all at once, you couldn''t suffer if you could cut a piece of pork or sliced ??meat when cooking. He was so tall here, it was hard for people to ignore him, but fortunately, Lu Gu had work to do, so he wouldn''t be embarrassed by standing still. The pumpkin was steamed, and the steamed buns were steaming hot. When he took out the drawer, he saw that the rice porridge was also cooked. It was so hot that it was hard to eat. Just as he was about to stir-fry the vegetables, Lu Gu scooped out the rice porridge first. Shen Xuanqing had nothing to do, but his eyesight was not bad, so he poured a gourd of water into the pot after he scoopped the rice porridge. Lu Gu scrubbed it hastily, wiped the water in the pot dry with a cloth, and added some firewood to the bottom of the stove. Once the fire was hot, the pot dried up visible to the naked eye, and the cooking was done in one go. Seeing that there was only half of the oil left in the clay pot, Shen Xuanqing thought to himself that the oil would be brought up next time, and there were only the two of them, these would be enough for a while, so no need to worry. He was thinking again, if it was getting colder today, a can of lard would be delicious to cook. Now wild boars were all in the deep forest. If you were lucky, you could meet one. If you couldn¡¯t meet them in half a month, you should go to the town to buy some fat meat and came back. Lu Gu didn''t know what he was pondering about, but he just saw that the dishes were fried and not sticky, and his heart was at peace. During the meal, Lu Gu also picked up a small bowl of pickled vegetables, steamed buns and rice porridge, steamed pumpkin and stir-fried vegetables, one meal was enough to satisfy the two of them. They had eaten early today, and the sun was just about to set when Lu Gu finished cleaning up in the kitchen. Shen Xuanqing didn''t intend to go out to see those traps. Firstly, it was tiring to drive the cart in the mountain road, and secondly, it was because of selfishness. He looked at Lu Gu and couldn''t help wanting to get closer. As for what to do after getting close, he couldn''t think of it himself. With a calm and handsome face with little expression, his heart was tangled and tense. In the end, he couldn''t think of a reason, so he had to give up. "I''m going to set up a net in the river, will you go?" Shen Xuanqing asked, and then added: "Let you recognize the nearby road." Lu Gu came out of the kitchen and was thinking about what to do, when he heard the words, he moved a little, nodded, followed him out together. The river was not far away, and you could see it at a glance to the west from the gate of the courtyard. Two pepper trees were planted on the west side of the courtyard wall. When the trees grew up, they were like a barrier, and the two were not small when they were connected together. It was early autumn, and the green pepper will turn red after a while. Now that they were close, they could still smell a faint numbness. "There were more than 30 miles in there, and you will go deeper into the old forest. Don''t go there if you have nothing to do. The old forest was dense and it was difficult to get out without a dog. I don''t go there often, so don''t go there." Shen Xuanqing carried the net on his back, pointed to the north while walking and told Lu Gu, and finally he also said: "If you have something urgent to go back and you don''t remember the way you come, you won''t get lost if you follow the river. However, some parts of the river are difficult to walk, and you have to detour in the mountains before flowing down." "Yeah, I see." Lu Gu nodded seriously. Dahui and the little dog were eating in the courtyard. They smelled the hot wheat bran and flour mixed with leftover soup in the basin, turned their heads and were reluctant to eat, but Shen Xuanqing went out, obviously there was no bone or stick today, so they had to accept their fate and bowed their heads to eat. Shen Xuanqing never treated the dogs badly. After all, if he wanted them to hunt along with him, they needed to have good physical strength. He could raise the three of them so that their fur were smooth, but they couldn''t gnaw on their bones every day. After he cast his net by the river, the three dogs ran over after eating, and circled around them. Having been frightened by the black dog before, Lu Gu didn''t dare to get close to them, but Dahui was okay, he followed his legs to protect him when he went up the mountain, he seemed very loyal, he even dared to touch Dahui''s head. Shen Xuanqing tied the edge of the net to the big rock on the river bank, and when he came back tomorrow morning, some fish might be caught. The river was rushing and flowing, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone on the water surface, which was really beautiful. The mountains and forests were quiet, and sometimes there was a mellow or crisp bird song, which made people forgot their minds, as if they were in that paradise, far away from the entanglement of the world. CH 21.1 "It''s time to go back." Shen Xuanqing glanced at the western sky, the sun set as soon as it said it was going down, it would be dark soon, the mountains and forests at night were dangerous, it was better to go back as soon as possible. Lu Gu was called back to the world by this sentence, his eyes rolled slightly, showing a little flustered, then he bit his lip lightly, lowered his head to cover up his distraction just now. He was kicked out several times when he was hungry , and when he searched for a long time and couldn''t find anything to eat, he would hold his stomach tightly and stared at the river or the mountains in a daze. As a result, others saw him and laughed at him for being stupid , and he felt embarrassed. It was rarely like that after that. After returning home, a very thick tree trunk leaned against the wall next to the courtyard door. Shen Xuanqing closed the courtyard door, and then struggled to half hug and half drag the heavy long tree trunk against the door. Even the bears couldn''t break through the gate. Ever since the old hunter went through that incident, he even taught Shen Xuanqing how to do it, and he often told him that he must press the door well at night , otherwise he would die. While it was still dark, Lu Gu boiled water for the two of them to wash and wash their feet. It was really cold in the deep mountains, and the cold came after the sun went down. Fortunately, Wei Lanxiang brought him a jacket. The crescent moon hung quietly in the sky, the windows creaked and were closed, and the room became much darker, and only outlines could be seen in the haze. Lu Gu was sleeping in the bed, Shen Xuanqing closed the window and groped into bed. The quilt was lifted and closed again, and there was a warm and tall man beside him. Lu Gu only slept with Shen Xuanqing, and lying next to such a tall and strong man, he sometimes felt oppressed and afraid, and when he was thinking wildly, he once thought about it, could it be that all married shuang''er and girls were afraid of the men around them at night . But these words must never be said to the second person. He was ashamed, so naturally he couldn''t say it, and he didn''t even dare to think about it because he was too outrageous. Both inside and outside the house were very quiet, they covered two layers of quilts, and they warmed up after lying down, and Lu Gu gradually fell asleep. The other person on the bed couldn''t fall asleep for a long time. Shen Xuanqing didn''t know what was wrong with him, listening to the soft and shallow breathing in his ears made him even more impatient. As for what he was impatient with, he couldn''t tell, he just felt like something was missing in his hands, and there seemed to be something in his chest that couldn''t be filled, empty and empty. When the forest became quieter, you could hear the faint rustling of the wind outside. Lu Gu''s breathing was steady, apparently he was in a deep sleep. Shen Xuanqing turned over gently, grabbed the soft hand under the quilt, and gradually clenched it tightly, so that the palm of the hand was at ease. People were greedy, just looked at whether the greed was big or small. He held his hand, and he should have fallen asleep like at noon, but he didn''t know whether it was the long night or something, but the closer he got, he could smell the warmth and softness of Lu Gu''s body, the hotter the bed, it was so clean and soft, the smell seemed to come out more and more. Shen Xuanqing was almost in a mess, he was a reckless boy who was only eighteen years old, and he had never even held Shuang''er''s hand before, let alone facing this charming that only he was aware of. The night blinded the vision, invisible but tangible, since no one could see, it strengthened the courage. When Lu Gu was still at Shen''s house last night, he didn''t sleep well because he was worried about going up the mountain, and today he walked the mountain road for a long time during the day. Didn''t wake him up. After hugged him into his arms, Shen Xuanqing breathed a sigh of relief, his empty chest was filled, and it turned out that people often said the word "satisfied", that''s it. The dew was very heavy in the morning, and it didn''t take long to walk into the grass, and the trousers on the uppers of the shoes would be wet. After Lu Gu woke up, Shen Xuanqing had already dressed and got out of bed. As for sleeping in each other''s arms last night, he didn''t know at all. The usual thing after got up early was to boil water and ate steamed buns, which was no different from that at the foot of the mountain. "I''m late, I can''t make it for lunch, you can eat by yourself, you don''t need to wait for me." Shen Xuanqing carried a long hatchet, a bow and arrow, and a bamboo basket on one shoulder, with hemp rope and a small cloth bag of steamed buns in the basket. The two of them crossed the threshold, and outside the courtyard, he turned his head and told Lu Gu: "There are no wild animals in the forest around here, but don''t run too far, it won''t be too late to go out after I get you familiar with this place." Nodding in response, Shen Xuanqing had nothing to say after explaining, and paused for a while before saying: "Then I''m leaving." After he finished speaking, he didn''t hesitate anymore, and headed to the east, and the three dogs ran towards the forest in a familiar way. Lu Gu watched, the dog barking gradually faded away, and as Shen Xuanqing''s figure disappeared into the forest, he could no longer see him, he felt a bit of emptiness and silence, he was the only one left here. Birds fluttered their wings and the sun rose, bringing some warmth. Lu Gu went back alone, because the sun was not yet bright, he was panicked, turned around and closed the courtyard door, surrounded by high walls, he felt at ease. The front yard was quite big, but it hadn¡¯t been taken care of much. The long and heavy axes were thrown on the ground, and there were a lot of unsplit firewood scattered here and there. Juicy. Lu Gu picked up the ax and leaned it against the wall, and piled the unsplit wood next to the firewood shed, at least they were neatly put together.He either washed or wiped the chopping boards, stoves, pots and bowls in the kitchen, and dusted the small jars of oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. Because it was difficult to transport things in the mountains, except for the water tank, the rice, and flour were all in cloth bags and placed on the mud platform on the other side of the chopping board. Otherwise if there was water on the ground, wetting the cloth bag would easily make the rice and flour damp and moldy, so it was good to put it in a high place. He took a broom and swept the house and the kitchen again. There were many trees on the mountain, but there were fewer leaves in the front yard and the backyard where there was no tree, because the trees around the yard had been cut down to avoid blocking the sun. Enough open space, so that there were no trees blocking the way when you went out. When Lu Gu finished his work, the sun rose and shone brightly on the world, he dared to go out. Seeing that the water in the water tank was low, he went out to fetch water with a wooden bucket, and when he got to the river, he remembered the net that Shen Xuanqing had laid yesterday, not far away. CH 21.2 Sure enough, a big fish was caught in the net. It was too big to get out of the net, so it bumped and stirred wildly. The fish twisted so badly that the water splashed out. The fish hadn''t been caught for a long time, and the strength hadn''t been exhausted yet. The net was not too big, and it could be lowered in the gentle and narrow section of the river where the water and grass were lush. Lu Gu was afraid that the big fish would break through the net and ran away, so he quickly collected the fish. He worked a lot, and he still had some strength in his hands, but the fish was slippery. He was afraid that the net would be broken, so it took him a while to get the big fish out of the entangled fishing net. Now that he caught it, there was no coarse salt to pickle the fish here, and he couldn''t take it down the mountain to sell. He remembered that he had heard people say that the fish stewed with pepper and chili peppers was delicious and spicy. It was time to eat something meaty, and it was cold in the evening, so it was warm to eat a stewed fish. Lu Gu glanced at the fish in the wooden bucket, and thought that there was water here, so it was better to take a knife and killed it by the river, so as not to pollute the yard. It could be said that he was the only one in a ten-mile radius. He took the knife and came over, but the wooden barrel was still in place. This fish was too big, it was not dead right now, it fell out and fluttered on the ground, it was slippery, Lu Gu couldn''t hold it down a few times, let alone kill it, the head of the fish was also big, he slapped it a few times with a knife but it didn''t faint from the shot, so he had to pick up a fairly clean stone and smashed it to death. After dissection and scraping the scales, he cleaned up the big fish. He washed the kitchen knife and the blood on his hands, and went back with the fish in one hand and half a bucket of water in the other hand. There were plenty of meat fish after it was chopped into pieces. Lu Gu used a wooden basin to hold them. After chopping, he didn''t take a break. He carried the wooden bucket and ran a few times, filling the water tank until full. He was busy in and out of the courtyard by himself, and felt the sun was shining brightly in the courtyard, but it was already noon. This meal should be rice porridge, but he added a small handful of rice and a ladle of water by himself, and it was easy to burn the pot. He also thought that rice porridge was good for people, and if Shen Xuanqing wanted to eat it, he could make more, scooped out a large bowl from the pot and put it away. When Shen Xuanqing came back, he even put the bowl in the drawer and heated it up. In the main room, Lu Gu had lunch alone. There was not much rice in his bowl, he only scooped up the thin porridge on it, and the dishes were simple, only half a bowl of pickles, and he ate two steamed buns. Such a simple meal was enough for him. When he could eat in the Lu family, he ate leftovers, most of which were cold, which couldn''t compare to hot rice porridge and hot steamed buns. Shen Xuanqing was not around, so he didn''t dare to eat those dishes. The vegetables they brought were mostly green onions, ginger, and garlic, such as green vegetables, autumn spinach, autumn cowpeas, and winter melons. They would wilt after a few days when they were dug out, and they couldn''t bring too much If there were too many vegetables and they were rotten It was a pity, he had to dig wild vegetables in the mountains in the future. People in the country didn''t feel rare if they ate too much wild vegetables, and the vegetables they grew were expensive. Of course, Lu Gu didn''t dare to eat alone behind his back. The sky was blue and high, and thin clouds drifted past like a light mist. Lu Gu found a hoe to loosen the soil in the vegetable field in the front yard, and ran back and forth three times with the wooden bucket, watering several rows of vegetables. he had been busy for most of the day by himself, and now he stopped, there was silence in his ears, no one''s voice was heard. He put the barrel back to the door of the kitchen, and stood there in a daze after he had no work to do. The secluded forest gave him a kind of hesitation and loneliness, as if he was the only one left in the world, abandoned outside bythe world. Shen Xuanqing would come back. Lonely and helpless, he thought of Shen Xuanqing, and he was firm in his heart, Shen Xuanqing would be back soon. Lu Gu made himself busy again, and there were only ten steamed buns left. Shen Xuanqing ate a lot, and it was not enough for two days. With the pot empty, he started making pancakes. Wei Lanxiang specifically told him to eat pancakes in exchange steamed buns , and he would get tired of eating only one thing all day long. People lived to earn this mouthful of food, not only to be full, but to be happier when they could eat well. Although the thick pancakes he baked were not as fragrant as the oiled shortbread, they were more chewy and more delicious, because they were baked on the bottom of the pan, round and thick, and one was as big as three shortbread. It was also very full, and it was very durable to bring one as dry food when you were on the road. There were five big ones and one small baked in a pot. If you usually ate them, you cut them into four. According to Lu Gu''s own appetite, one fourth of the big pancakes was enough. six pancakes plus those steamed buns were enough for the two of them to eat for several days, so Lu Gu didn''t make any more. It was getting late, so he went outside the door to pick peppercorns, and while there was fire at the bottom of the pot, he started to stew the fish, maybe when Shen Xuanqing came back, he could just eat it. The autumn peppercorns brought here were still green, and they look good together with red dried chili peppers. The autumn peppercorns would disappear after a few days, and only dried chili peppers would be eaten in the future. Although Lu Gu had never stewed fish, he remembered it when Ji Qiuyue stewed spicy rabbit meat. He fried red and green chili peppers and Chinese prickly ash with less oil. The numbness and spicy taste made him cough and teared up. Fortunately, it would be less stronger after pouring the fish meat and adding water. Soon the pot was gurgling, spicy and tangy, and the pot was neither sticky nor spoiled. He was very happy, if his mother was still there, he would definitely say that he was really good. The fire at the bottom of the stove was changed to a small fire, Lu Gu looked at the gate of the courtyard, and there was no one in the forest, not even a dog barking. Waiting was the longest, making people gradually startled. Lu Gu looked at the gate for a long time before going back to add two sticks of firewood. The sun was setting in the west, he added firewood several times, added water to the pot twice, and set up a drawer to heat the rice porridge, but Shen Xuanqing still didn''t come back. Hunting was like this, coming back sooner or later, he told himself, maybe he would see someone when he looked up. The afterglow of the setting sun shone in front of the house, and Lu Gu sat on the threshold with a panicked expression. It was getting dark, if Shen Xuanqing didn''t come back, there were wolves and old bears in the old forest, what if something happened, he didn''t know the way, he couldn''t even find Shen Xuanqing. These terrifying thoughts made his face turned pale, he had no time to think about the fish in the pot now, and for the first time waiting for Shen Xuanqing to return late, he was full of panic. Until a few barking dogs broke the silence of the evening, Lu Gu looked over subconsciously, and saw Shen Xuanqing appearing in the forest, already very close. And when Shen Xuanqing got closer, he seemed to have just realized that he got up and was about to meet him, but he stopped his pace immediately and stood there for a while, finally regained his composure, and said with a trembling voice: "You come back ." Shen Xuanqing had come to the front, and when he heard the words, his eyes seemed guilty, and he said in a low voice, "you have been waiting for a long time." In the forest, he saw Lu Gu sitting on the threshold, thin, gazing at the east with a terrified and pitiful expression, as if he had been waiting there for a long time, and didn''t even react until he came over. Shen Xuanqing, who originally brought back something good, felt a little pain in his heart because of this scene. Although he hadn''t expressed love at this time, but Lu Gu waited for him like this, even a man couldn''t be hard- hearted. This was his husband, but he didn''t take good care of him, which made him felt guilty, so he unloaded the bamboo basket, took out something wrapped in several layers of big leaves from inside, and after peeling it off , a golden honeycomb was revealed. CH 22.1 As soon as you picked up the golden honeycomb, you could see the honey flowing slowly from a small opening. Lu Gu was a little panicked at first, but when he saw that the honey was about to flow down, he quickly turned around while saying: "I''ll go take the bowl." Shen Xuanqing wrapped the honeycomb with big leaves and followed him, the bamboo basket was placed at the gate of the courtyard without carrying it, and said: "There is an empty jar next to the stove, use that." Lu Gu listened to him, took the jar to wash it, and wiped it dry with a cloth towel. Shen Xuanqing took the small wooden spoon on the chopping board, it was used by Lu Gu when making the pancakes, it was not stained like the wooden spoon for cooking, it was relatively clean. The honeycomb was not that hard , and could be cut or squeezed with a wooden spoon. Lu Gu put the small jar on the chopping board, and couldn''t help standing here watching the honey flow into the jar. The two stood together, if it wasn''t for Shen Xuanqing was too high, it would be head to head. The golden honey was bright, and it smelled mellow and sweet. The honeycomb in the mountains were not only on the trees. There were clusters of honeycombs under the cover of weeds and wild flowers. Took the time to find it. Shen Xuanqing found a lump of honeycomb in the grass today, the honey couldn''t flow completely, even after being squeezed, he picked a better place and broke off a piece and handed it to Lu Gu. Seeing that Lu Gu was hesitating, Apparently he had never eaten it, he said in a low voice: "you can eat it, just chew for some sweetness, don''t swallow it." When he was a child, his mother gave him honey water or dipped honey with chopsticks and stuffed into his mouth and let him taste it, but the honeycomb had never been eaten, and when he heard that it was edible, Lu Gu bit it carefully. The mellow and sweet taste made his eyes widen as soon as he took it in, and Shen Xuanqing, who looked at him, smiled unconsciously. Speaking of which, Shen Xuanqing was only half a year older than Lu Gu, and he was young enough that his face was actually a bit green. This smile faded away from his usual stability and maturity, and there seemed to be warmth in his eyes, just like the sun in the sky. It made Lu Gu inexplicably felt at ease, and he didn''t even feel so embarrassed about his clumsy appearance that he hadn''t eaten any good food. He was thinking again, Shen Xuanqing was a good person, and if he was given such a sweet honeycomb , he would not really laugh at him for not eating a good one. "Don''t throw this away, keep it for you to eat every day." Shen Xuanqing broke off a small piece for himself, and put the squeezed and deformed honeycomb into the bowl. The sweet taste overflowed in the mouths of the two of them, and no matter how bad their emotions were, they were appeased. Before Lu Gu finished eating, he asked, "Are you hungry? I stewed fish." As soon as he entered the kitchen, he could smell the spicy taste, but because honey was important, Shen Xuanqing didn''t bother to ask about it. At this moment, he nodded his head and said frankly: "I''m hungry." After running in the mountains for a day, he brought a few steamed buns as dry food. How could he not hungry? Lu Gu didn''t eat honeycomb anymore, and lifted the lid of the pot to bring out the rice porridge, and filled a large bowl of stewed fish. Although it had been stewed for a long time, the pot was not burnt after adding water, only the fish sticking to the pot was a little burnt. Spices and salt had been added, the taste was not too bad. By the time the food was served, it was dark outside. Shen Xuanqing brought the bamboo baskets in and sealed the gate of the courtyard. It got dark quickly, so they had to light the oil lamps that they didn''t usually use. The dogs wandered around, Shen Xuanqing threw a steamed bun into each of them, and let them eat freely, so as not to come over during the meal, and said to Lu Gu: "No need to feed at night, they caught a few big bamboo rats before they came back I¡¯ve roasted it and they ate it.¡± Dahui and the others were used to eat leftovers, and the bones was made for stewed soup and left some meat on top for the three of them to eat, so they got used to eat cooked food, Shen Xuanqing found a safe place to light a fire and roast it at will, and also got some water for himself in a bamboo tube to drink. Farmers'' dogs sometimes couldn''t eat at home, so they would dig outside to find something to eat. The country people had long been used to it, but they could catch big bamboo rats to eat, which was still very powerful in Lu Gu''s ears. The pancakes baked in the afternoon was still fluffy. The thick pancake itself could be eaten cold without reheating. Although the taste of Lu Gu''s stewed fish was not as good as that of Ji Qiuyue and Wei Lanxiang, but this was the first time he cooked it, and it was good to be able to do it like this. he didn''t know if this was the first time for Shen Xuanqing. For him, he could have a bite of hot food and hot dishes after hunting, and he didn''t need to cook it himself. Such a big pancake couldn''t be eaten, at least two or three meals, but with the addition of Shen Xuanqing, there would be only soup left after eating. This soup was so spicy and spicy that the dog poured it all out, as long as the meat was gone, it was not a pity. It was getting dark, and Lu Gu was washing the pots and dishes in the kitchen. He originally could see it by the moonlight, but after a while Shen Xuanqing came in with an oil lamp , and the kitchen was much brighter. "Boil some water. I''ll wash at night. There''s a lot of firewood in the forest." Shen Xuanqing put the oil lamp away, and went to the woodshed to gather firewood after speaking. Because it was something like taking a bath, he didn''t look at Lu Gu''s eyes when he was talking. If he was tired when he came back, he would wash his face and went to sleep, but it would be different from now on .If the body was dirty and smells of sweat, wouldn''t it be dirty to your husband. CH 22.2 The fire at the bottom of the pot ignited again, and the fire was bright and majestic, reflecting on people''s faces. After Lu Gu blew out the oil lamp, he sat back in front of the stove to add firewood. Shen Xuanqing came in with a bamboo basket from the outside, he didn''t know what was going on, and subconsciously turned his face away. Seeing his dazed eyes, Shen Xuanqing''s Adam''s apple moved slightly, walked to the stove and squatted down halfway, and took out the things in the bamboo basket by the light of the fire. On the top was a ball of cloth, which was usually used to spread the prey on the street, otherwise it was directly placed on the ground and soiled, and some people in the town would be picky. Lu Gu originally thought that the cloth ball should be put aside, but he didn''t expect that it wrapped something, which looked like eggs. "I caught a bamboo chicken, the female, and she was so frightened that she gave birth to an egg as soon as I caught it." Shen Xuanqing''s voice was slightly smiling. He put the eggs into Lu Gu''s hands, and took out the hemp rope from the big bamboo basket. Below that was the bamboo chicken. It was not dead yet. Chickens were not very courageous. Although their eyes were open, they were still alive. Besides the bamboo chicken, there were two fat doves and a pair of hares. He shot down the fat doves with a slingshot when he heard the sound. It didn''t move, and it looked like it was dead, but it was just a fake death. Now Shen Xuanqing''s hunting skills were quite good, even the dogs had been trained. The bamboo chickens were only injured in their wings, and they were alive just like the rabbits. In the past, he used to be heavy-handed sometimes, or he didn''t kill the wild animals in time. If the prey was taken out of the dog''s mouth, the prey would be killed. Generally, this kind of food couldn''t wait too long, so you had to go down the mountain to sell it as soon as possible. The living things were easy to handle. After a few days of raising a bunch of things, took them down the mountain and sold them together, saving you a lot of trips. Lu Gu held the egg and watched Shen Xuanqing took out one thing after another, even if it wasn''t for him, but the joy of harvest, just looking at it could make people felt happy. No wonder he had been there all day, these were not a waste of time. He thought about it now, Shen Xuanqing often went into the mountains, so he naturally knew how to avoid danger. He was too scared in the afternoon, and he frightened himself to death. Shen Xuanqing would often go hunting in the future. You had to get used to it. He secretly felt embarrassed, fortunately Shen Xuanqing didn''t know what he was thinking. Shen Xuanqing took out all the things, raised his head after a pause, and said to Lu Gu: "This rabbit is still alive, if it can be kept, it happens to be a pair, and it will be raised to give birth to cubs, and they can be sold when they grow up." Hearing this, Lu Gu hesitated, and asked in a low voice: "Then I''ll weave them a cage to keep them?" He knew how to weave bamboo cages, and when Lu Daxiang couldn''t find a part-time job to do in the slack time, he would go to the mountains to cut bamboo and he had to weave things made of bamboo strips to sell. Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing pushed the rabbit to his feet and said, "Well, I''ll keep it for you. It''s easy to feed. It''s enough to pull some grass outside, and you don''t even need water." There were green grasses everywhere in the forest, There was no need to run far, Lu Gu nodded in response. At this time, the water boiled, and Shen Xuanqing got up first to uncover the pot lid. Seeing that there was a lot of water, his throat tightened, and he turned his head and asked, "Would you like to wash first?" Lu Gu was obviously flustered. When they were at the foot of the mountain, Ji Qiuyue and the others would boil a pot of water and scrub their body every few days. They took advantage of the time when there was no man in the house. After working for the past two days, he must have been covered with dust. If he could scrub it with hot water, it would be great. Moreover, he himself didn''t dare to refuse Shen Xuanqing, so he lowered his head and said "OK" in a low voice like a mosquito. Fortunately, there were only the two of them here, and there was no other movement, otherwise Shen Xuanqing would not have heard it. The two took turns scrubbing in the kitchen. There was a fire burning at the bottom of the stove, and once the kitchen door was closed, it was warm and not too cold. Lu Gu didn''t dare to delay, he lay down first after hastily washing, there was no light in the room, his ears were slightly burning in the night, and it didn''t subside for a long time. While he was scrubbing, Shen Xuanqing waited in the west room and didn''t come out of the room, but for a Shuang''er who didn''t even understand human affairs, being known by a man that he was undressing and scrubbing was enough to make him felt hot and afraid to see anyone. Because Shen Xuanqing washed his hair, he put more firewood in front of the stove and warmed it up for a long time. After a long delay, Lu Gu''s embarrassment subsided after he came in, and he felt sleepy. There were more people in the bed, and they were so close, Lu Gu could smell the wild bath beads in Shen Xuanqing''s hair, it was faint, and it smelled clean. He didn''t dare to wash it in such a cold night, because he was still very cold, so he thought, he should also washed his hair at noon tomorrow when the sun was shining, otherwise if it got dirty, he would be disgusted. It was getting late, and the two of them didn''t speak in the dark, each fell asleep thinking about their own thoughts. In the middle of the night, Lu Gu, who was supposed to be sound asleep, woke up in a daze. He dreamed that his hands and feet were tied up and felt uncomfortable. He never thought that he would find himself in Shen Xuanqing''s arms after waking up. Being hugged by such a tall man, he was so frightened that he immediately woke up, his heart seemed to tremble, and tremblingly tried to roll back from the man''s embrace to his original position, but Shen Xuanqing moved, hugged him even tighter. He clung to that hard and strong chest, broad and powerful, unshakable. Lu Gu was neither tall nor short, he was an ordinary boy, sometimes he could show some height when he met someone who was shorter, but in front of the overly tall Shen Xuanqing, he was like a skinny chick. There was no need to struggle in someone''s arms. His heart was beating incessantly. The heat and oppressive feeling on the young and strong man made him panic. He was nervous in the dark alone, and the person holding him never let go, as if he had fallen asleep, too much didn''t even wake up when he moved around. CH 23.1 Chapter 23 Early in the morning, Lu Gu avoided Shen Xuanqing with his busy schedule. He was hugged to sleep all night, when he woke up in the morning, Shen Xuanqing let him go calmly, but he couldn''t be so calm. he thought Shen Xuanqing was going to take the dog into the mountain again after eating and drinking, but he didn''t go today. The tall young man raised a long machete and said, ¡°There was a bamboo forest not far from here. I''ll go and chop some bamboo. Come back to weave bamboo cages, will you go?" His eyes were full of expectation, he didn''t leave after speaking, he obviously wanted to go together, no matter how stupid Lu Gu was, this could still be seen, he nodded after hesitating. Shen Xuanqing breathed a sigh of relief, he knew what happened to Lu Gu last night, the movement in his arms was so obvious, he could have woken up, but out of some selfishness, he pretended to be asleep and didn''t let go, the softness in his arms allowed him to relax. A good night''s sleep. Lu Gu carried an empty bamboo basket with a hatchet inside, and Shen Xuanqing carried a machete and hemp rope. Although they were in the mountains, they still locked the door. The dog trotted through the woods, sniffing everywhere, and sometimes raised its hind legs to urinate on tree roots to mark it. After walking for about two quarters of an hour, Lu Gu saw the dark green bamboo grove in front of him. Shen Xuanqing said that there were autumn bamboo shoots in it, which were not as crisp and tender as spring bamboo shoots, but they could be stewed with fat dove in soup, and they could be boiled to make pickles, but the two of them only had a pickle jar, and they hadn''t finished eating, so they didn''t need to pickle at the moment. So after arriving at the place, Shen Xuanqing went to cut bamboo by himself. He was looking for bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest. Seeing him walking aside, Dahui followed, and the two dogs scattered in the forest, finding a pothole or something. When they dispersed, they were always where Shen Xuanqing could see them. As for Lu Gu, this bamboo forest was deeper and quieter than the one in the front mountain. The autumn bamboo shoots were quite big, and he took a hatchet and slashed them hard several times before breaking them off. Since it would only to be eaten in soup, one large autumn bamboo shoot was enough, but since they all came here, and he still cut two. He memorized the road to the bamboo forest, so he could come and find it by himself when he wanted autumn bamboo shoots in the future. The long bamboo fell down, making a dull sound in the air, Lu Gu walked over with the bamboo basket on his shoulders, and whispered to Shen Xuanqing who was looking at him: "When I came in, I saw mushrooms outside, I''m looking for it." Shen Xuanqing couldn''t help it, and said: "You shout loudly, let the dog follow you." Taking a dog in the mountains was a reassuring thing, Lu Gu listened to him, and shouted loudly. As expected, DaHui followed him. Someone in the village died from eating poisonous mushrooms. It happened when he was a child. Lu Gu always remembered it, so he only dared to pick what he knew. He was lucky today, he found a cluster of xanthella mushrooms, the florets were so big, one flake can fry for half a bowl, not to mention that there were several flakes in this nest. Looking under the tree, he could still hear the sound of chopping bamboo. He looked back from time to time, afraid that he would not see the bamboo forest if he walked far away. For unfamiliar mountains and forests, it was always good to be cautious, otherwise, if you stray into the dense forest, there would be trees everywhere, and you wouldn''t be able to tell the direction at all, let alone go out. Some mushrooms looked good on the surface, but when they were picked up, insects and ants gnawed them under the canopy, so he threw them away. he walked all the way to search, maybe there were few people in the deep mountains, and the mushrooms hadnt rotted yet, so he found a lot. If he couldn''t finish eating them in two days, he could dry them in the sun and save them for late autumn and winter, not afraid of picking more. When he realized that he couldn''t hear the sound of chopping bamboo, he hurriedly called Dahui to go back. He didn''t feel it when he was looking for the mushrooms, but he didn''t realize that he had walked a long way when he walked back. Before entering the bamboo grove, he saw Shen Xuanqing coming out. Seeing him coming back, his expression didn''t look so bad, and he said, "I''m going to call you." You could only call to find someone in the mountains. Lu Gu brought a dog again, and Dahui''s ears were sharper than a human''s, and he ran towards the sound after a shout . Lu Gu quickly said: "I didn''t pay attention when I was looking for the mushrooms, and I walked away." Afraid of being blamed, he also showed the bamboo basket to Shen Xuanqing, carefully asking for credit. Shen Xuanqing glanced at the mushrooms in the basket, there were quite a lot of them, seeing Lu Gu''s fear, his face became more gentle, and said: "Well, it''s fine, the bamboo was cut, and I''ll tie it up and drag it back." After not being reprimanded, Lu Gu felt at ease, carried the bamboo basket on his back and went into the bamboo forest with Shen Xuanqing. The weight of the six long bamboos was really not light. Shen Xuanqing tied the bamboos together with hemp rope, and carried the bamboo on his shoulders. Of course, this was for him, if it was Lu Gu, it would be heavy enough to carry two bamboos, and the wet green bamboos just cut down were so tall, it really wasn''t light. CH 23.2 Before they got out of the bamboo grove, the two dogs scratched the ground fiercely, and came out with a big bamboo rat out of the hole in the ground. Shen Xuanqing scolded them, the gray and white dog let go, and the black dog took it back. On the way back, Lu Gu looked at the wormwood in the field. When he was in Lu''s house, Du Hehua bought cloth heads and colorful embroidery thread and asked him to make a sachet or medicine pouch. Regardless of the sachet or medicine pouch, he would put some wormwood leaves in it. When Wei Lanxiang bought colored thread that day, he thought about it a little. When his mother was around, she was good at embroidery. She embroidered the sachet and medicine pouch delicately and beautifully, and it sold well in the town, so at that time, his mother had some money in her hand, so that he could live a good life for a few days when he was a child. His mother left early, so that he didn''t learn all the embroidery, but he still had some points, and it was no problem to embroider a medicine pouch, but he didn''t have a copper coin, no money to buy cloth and embroidery thread, and no medicinal materials. He didn''t have the guts to ask the Shen family for money, but after seeing the red goji berries covered with twigs, his heart moved slightly, and he had an idea. Even if goji berries were cheap, they were worth selling more, and there were many good things in the mountains, as long as you worked hard to find them, you could always find some that sold for money. If he could really sell it for money, even if he didn''t buy colored threads, it would at least make Shen Xuanqing happier, and maybe he could be given a few copper coins, so that he would have money. Thinking of this, Lu Gu quietly glanced at Shen Xuanqing who was walking in the front with the bamboo on his shoulders. He was timid and stupid and had no idea, but he had a little selfishness in his heart. He knew that Shen Xuanqing was a good person. If not, he wouldn''t take the initiative to make money like this, or he would be like Du Hehua and took all the money away, he didn''t even have a penny. He secretly calculated in his heart, but he didn''t dare to say anything, he only paid attention to what was on the way back. When he reached the open space outside the courtyard, Shen Xuanqing threw the heavy green bamboo on his shoulders on the ground, and turned his shoulders a few times before opening the lock. The black dog put the killed bamboo rat on the ground, barked several times, and motioned to roast delicious meat for it, but Shen Xuanqing ignored it, opened the door, unloaded the bamboo basket from Lu Gu''s back, and carried it in. "I''m going to kill birds by the river. There''s a medicine stove in the house. You can look for it and use that to make soup later." He said as he took the two fat doves, which were shot down with a slingshot yesterday. It was time to die, just to make a meaty meal. Lu Gu complied naturally, searched around the house according to his instructions, and found the medicine stove covered with a thick layer of dust. This was used by the old hunter. Shen Xuanqing was young and strong. He hadn''t been sick a few times in the past few years. Occasionally, he had a typhoid fever and drank a bowl of ginger soup. The medicine stove was basically never used. It took a long time to cook the stewed soup, and they couldn¡¯t eat it at noon, and the big pot needed to be fried and cooked, so the stewed soup couldn¡¯t be taken up. Fortunately, there was still this thing. The two of them were busy with each other, and the morning passed like this. After lunch, Shen Xuanqing was cutting bamboo outside the courtyard gate. The open space outside was large and spacious. He sat on the stool, thinking of the bamboo chicken, and turned to Lu Gu who had finished cleaning the kitchen. Said: "Look at how the bamboo chicken was doing, and see if it has eaten the chopped chicken grass." Lu Gu went to the backyard to see, last night Shen Xuanqing applied herbs to the bamboo chicken''s injured wings, at least let it live for a few days. It was festering and smelly, and he got some chicken grass when he got up early. Seeing that the chicken grass was less, the bamboo chicken cooed a few times when it saw people coming, and hid in the corner, Lu Gu knew that it was all right. "the chicken grass was eaten, it will also make a sound." He went outside the courtyard and whispered to Shen Xuanqing, but he didn''t leave after he finished speaking, and he seemed to have something to say. The courtyard faced the south, and the sun was very bright in front of the house. Sensing his hesitation, Shen Xuanqing looked up at him and asked, "What''s wrong?" Lu Gu then said in a low voice: "I, I want to boil water to wash my hair." It was not without reason that he was so timid. He would be scolded for using more firewood in the Lu family. Although the Shen family hadn''t treated him badly, but be careful and told him what to do. Shen Xuanqing was working, but he was taking a bath. Shen Xuanqing paused before saying: "Just boil it, enough water, enough firewood." Finally he said in a low voice: "Just do whatever you want, you don''t have to agree with me in everything." These words made Lu Gu Startled for a while, finally with eyes full of gratitude, he whispered again and again: "Okay." The moon set and the sun rose, the cycle continued, and a few days passed in the blink of an eye. Lu Gu gradually got used to the life in the mountains. During the day, Shen Xuanqing took the dog out to hunt, he cooked and waited, and worked to weave bamboo cages in his free time. Taking advantage of the good weather these few days , he even unpacked, washed and dried the bedding. In the past two days, he had been picking wolfberry in the weeds outside. The grass in the mountains was tall and dirty, and he would inevitably bring dust with him when he came back. The embarrassment of that night made him learn to be a good boy. He boiled water to scrub during the day when Shen Xuanqing was away, and the sun was shining at noon, so he was not afraid of the cold after washing his hair. Shen Xuanqing scrubbed diligently so that he didn''t dare to get dirty. Just after noon, the sky changed, dark clouds gathered, covering the sun, the sky was gray, Lu Gu was looking outside the door, not long after he heard a dog barking from a distance, he knew Shen Xuanqing was back. Fortunately, he came back early today, and it started to rain after dinner. The rain was heavy, pattering on the eaves and ground. Bamboo chickens were driven to the firewood house to shelter from the rain, and the rabbit cage was also inside. The goji berries had been harvested from the sun, and there was nothing to be drenched in the yard. Lu Gu had nothing to do, and sat in the main room before dark. Weaving bamboo baskets while listening to the rain, the room was not bright, and he was reluctant to light the oil lamp, so he could only sit here. As for Shen Xuanqing, he noticed the clean smell of wild bath beads on Lu Gu''s body today, obviously after washing, he didn''t want to get dirty in front of his fulang and lost face, so he boiled water and was taking a bath in the kitchen right now. After the head and body were all dry, the kitchen door opened. Lu Gu raised his head subconsciously when he heard the movement, and saw Shen Xuanqing running in from the rain with a few steps. He stopped what he was doing, murmured a few times and didn''t know what to say, and he didn''t dare to look into Shen Xuanqing''s eyes, so he just lowered his head. Shen Xuanqing was not annoyed either, he left early and came back late these days, and he could only hold Lu Gu at night after he fell asleep, and he came back early today, allowing him to spend more time with Fulang, and it was too late to be happy. CH 24.1 Chapter 24 The rain continued unabated, and when the mountain wind blew, the rain drifted into the eaves, making it even colder. The three dogs also hid in the main room to avoid the rain, and found a dry place to lie down. With more people beside him, Lu Gu''s hands in weaving bamboo baskets became more cautious, and he felt a little uncomfortable. Shen Xuanqing was stunned for a moment, feeling that it was not good to stand still, so he moved a bench and sat next to Lu Gu , and also picked up the bamboo strips and said in a low voice: "I''ll do it with you." "Yes." Lu Gu couldn''t say no, with lowered eyebrows, he complied. As long as the words were uttered, he slowly opened his mouth. Shen Xuanqing, who was a little bit at a loss just now, gave up and thought about something to say, and asked about Lu Gu''s livelihood in the past few days. "I see you dried a lot of goji berries." Hearing this, Lu Gu paused his hands, raised his eyes and said nervously, "I heard people say that the medical center accepts it." Shen Xuanqing pondered for a moment, and said, "That''s right, not only doctors, if it was sold in the market and some people buy will buy it, but the price is not high.¡± They could see wild goji berries all over the mountains and plains, and it could be used as medicine, but because people often picked and sold it, it was not a scarce commodity, so the price hadn''t changed. After speaking, he got up to look at the two bamboo plaques of wolfberries on the table. Lu Gu picked them up and they were all big. They were of better quality than those from Qianshan. Even if the price didn''t go up, they were easier to sell. He grabbed a handful and took a closer look, then said to Lu Gu: "I''ll take you to sell it when I go down the mountain." wasn''t that what he had been busy these days? It was a lot calmer than before, and he didn''t feel so cramped when he didn''t speak. A gust of wind blew, carrying the rain and rushing towards the two people in the main room. There was cold rain on Lu Gu''s face and hands, he hurriedly moved the pile of bamboo strips on the ground to the back, he didn''t add any clothes, he felt cold at the moment. After a little effort, there were more and darker clouds in the sky, let alone the main room, and it was not very bright outside, as if it was going to be night. Seeing that the wind was getting stronger, Shen Xuanqing put down the bamboo strips that he had just woven at the bottom, and said to Lu Gu, "It''s cold, let''s go into the house." After saying that, he got up and closed the door of the main room to prevent the rain from blowing in. It was so dark, and the door was closed again, and there was no way to work, so Lu Gu had to follow him into a warmer room. The doors and windows in the room were closed, and the heavy rain outside could still be heard, even the wind was blowing violently. Fortunately, in the deep mountains and forests, they had such a strong house to withstand the wind and rain. Sitting at the table with nothing to do, and unable to see clearly, Shen Xuanqing paused and said, "I''m tired these days, and the rain won''t stop for a while, so why not lie down and rest for a while." This was indeed the truth, in the past, he had to cook in the mountains by himself in the evening, so he would come back earlier, but now that Lu Gu was with him, it saved him the trouble of cooking, and he came back later than before. He went out early and came back late for six consecutive days, and was busy in the mountains, so he should take advantage of the rain today to rest for a while, not only him, but Lu Gu also had to do a lot of things every day, so it would be good for his body to have a free time to lie down and rest. Sleeping on the same bed was a bit customary for Lu Gu, he opened his mouth after hearing this, but finally didn''t dare to refuse, besides, if Shen Xuanqing went to sleep, he would just sit at the table and do nothing, it would be even more stupid. The new quilt was pulled out on the bed. He had washed the old quilt two days ago, and when it was too cold at night, he put the old quilt that had been washed on top of the new quilt, covering with two layers. Right now, he was no more sleepy than at night, Lu Gu was lying in bed thinking about something, Shen Xuanqing said to take him to sell things, then could he bring more, whether it was medlar or other medicinal materials, he had to look for it. The bed was gradually getting warmer, and the other person on the bed was also thinking about something. It was just that as the clean and soft breath from Lu Gu came over again, Shen Xuanqing forgot about the business. It was only been a few days, but he was used to sleep at night, and now he was lying down, with nothing in his arms, and the emptiness was getting bigger and bigger, like blackness swirling in his chest. When it got out of hand, it would swallow up reason. Lu Gu was just a little bit distracted, and suddenly he was caught by the hand leaning on Shen Xuanqing''s side. He was shocked and immediately came back to his senses. Shen Xuanqing''s hands were bigger than his and strong, even the palms were dry and warm, which made him a little frightened, not knowing what this meant. In the past few days when he woke up in the morning, he would always be hugged, but that was only after he had fallen asleep at night, how could it be like this in broad daylight now. Shame made Lu Gu moved his hand slightly, and the big hand holding him was even more forceful, clenched tightly, let him know that Shen Xuanqing didn''t touch by mistake. He had to lie quietly and let his hands be held. Who knew that this was not the end yet, after a while of silence, the tall man beside him turned over and hugged him into his arms. Lu Gu''s whole body was stiff, he didn''t dare to move, he was flustered, he smelled the wild bath beads on Shen Xuanqing''s body, as if he was warmed by the man''s hot chest, he became quite aggressive, it reminded him of that day. The fear that he felt when he helped Shen Xuanqing wiped the medicinal wine. He seemed to hear a soft and satisfied sigh, but he was too nervous to tell if he heard it wrong. CH 24.2 Shen Xuanqing went to school for a few days when he was young, and he knew a few words, but the books he studied were serious books, so naturally he didn''t know the characters of warm, fragrant and nephrite in the obscene songs, he only knew how to hold his fulang so he would feel more at ease and more comfortable, and his head was filled with something. But hugging and hugging, he felt that Lu Gu smelled more and more pleasant, as if he was hooked by an uncontrollable thought, which made him dissatisfied and impatient. Lu Gu was ignorant of human affairs, and no one taught him when he got married . Shuang''er and girl here paid attention to muxiang (medicinal herb) soup when they got married, and they must wear fragrance on their body, otherwise Du Hehua wouldn''t boil water for him to bathe. As for other things, usually there would be a woman secretly teaching them with a rough picture book, but Du Hehua didn''t find a picture book for him, so he didn''t understand what he was doing at all. The head was newly covered, and the night was precious. The sun above the head pierced the dark clouds, and the mountains and forests washed by the rain became fresh. Before the coldness faded, Lu Gu was sitting in the yard basking in the sun. He saw a few fallen leaves on the ground that had been beaten by the wind and rain, and there were still water marks. The leaves had turned yellow, which made him suddenly felt the feeling of autumn. Shen Xuanqing went out with a fish basket and net, saying that he was going to catch fish, shrimps and loaches by the river. Both of them got up late this morning, so he didn''t ''t go out to hunt, and he didn''t see the sun until noon. Lu Gu was a little drowsy from the sun, and his mind became dazed, and it was at this moment that he realized that he really seemed to become a fulang last night. He was bought to be Shen Xuanqing''s fulang. He didn''t expect these things before, but now it had indeed happened. It seemed that this was what a real husband should be like. While he was afraid of shame, he also accepted his fate. So what if he didn''t admit it, he didn''t dare to move last night, he bit his lower lip in pain, and didn''t say a word, he couldn''t change his mind today and say no, besides, he didn''t have the courage to tell Shen Xuanqing. He sat alone for a long time, and when he finally couldn''t bear it anymore and wanted to go back to his room to sleep, the dog jumped over the threshold and rushed in from the outside, followed by Shen Xuanqing. His clothes were wet, but he didn''t care, his rolled up sleeves were not put down, revealing his slender and strong forearms, his legs were long and his waist was slender and straight, when he saw Lu Gu at this moment, his face was full of spring smiles than the one on that day. In the sun it was eye-catching. Because of his drowsiness, Lu Gu raised his head and stared blankly, not avoiding his eyes for the first time, this look made him realize that Shen Xuanqing looked so, so handsome and heroic. The vague and cold outline became clear in his heart, and he seemed to suddenly realize that Shen Xuanqing looked like this. "I used a dense net to carry two big fish. If they were trapped in the net, they will not die because there was river water. The edge of the net was under the blue stone. If you want to eat tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, you can go there and get it." Shen Xuanqing walked over a few steps , with long legs and a handsome figure, his posture was still straight, and even a bunt couldn''t hide his posture. These few steps could be called high-spirited. He smiled more than usual, squatted halfway in front of Lu Gu, showed him the fish basket, and said with a smile: "These loaches and miscellaneous fish are for you to make soup, and there are small shrimps. It rained yesterday, the river has risen, and the white-shelled shrimps in the mountain stream have been washed down. I caught a lot and boiled it in the water for you to eat." The small fish basket was heavy, and it could be seen that a lot had been caught. Seeing himself in his smiling eyes, he realized that he had been staring at him for a long time, and panicked, he quickly lowered his head and pretended to look at the fish basket. After what happened last night, being looked by his husband, Shen Xuanqing was no longer at a loss when facing Lu Gu as before. He half-squatted and half-kneeled in front of Lu Gu lightly on his left knee, the sun shone on Lu Gu''s face, making it looked more radiant. Lu Gu''s cheeks were not fleshy, but they were also soft, he knew it last night. The breath gradually approached, and the cheek was lightly rubbed by another person''s lips. The fear from last night came again, and Lu Gu tightly grasped the fabric on his leg. After a while, Shen Xuanqing realized his gaffe, reluctantly backed away , and said in a hoarse voice, "I''m going to kill the loach." "Yeah." Lu Gu nodded with lowered eyebrows, the place where his cheek was rubbed was hot, and he couldn''t lift it up at all. Shen Xuanqing got up and walked a few steps to the kitchen, then turned his head and said: "If you are tired, why don''t you sleep for a while, and I will call you when it''s time to eat." Lu Gu answered okay and hid in the room. As for Shen Xuanqing, who cooked by himself, as long as it was not frying, he could handle it. At home, he had seen Wei Lanxiang stewed loach. After killing it, cut some ginger and spring onions and put them in a jar, added water and boil it in a small medicine stove. The water was just boiled, Lu Gu steamed some steamed cakes yesterday, just warmed up a few to serve. Lu Gu couldn''t hear the movement outside after lying down for a long time, and fell into a deep sleep. It was not that he was not in good health, he was used to work and weeding grass on weekdays, and he could stand the toss. If he progressed step by step like an ordinary young couple, he wouldn''t be so tired. It was just that Shen Xuanqing was too young, his tanned muscles seemed to have nowhere to exert his strength, and it was the first time that he was careless, he was a little reckless, he didn''t want to let go of the taste of meat, and the world was turned upside down. There was a change in life, and this change stayed, and Lu Gu gradually got used to it every now and then. With more personal care, there had been some changes inside and outside the house. A few wild flowers were moved by Lugu in front of the courtyard gate. After watering, these few plants survived, and they bloomed big red or yellow flowers. Added some color to the front of the house. He saw that there were exquisite people in the village who could grow flowers. When he saw beautiful ones in the mountains, he even dug up the roots and brought them back. The breeze blew in the morning, and the flower branches sway gently Lu Gu locked the door with the bamboo basket on his back, and after turning around, he went down the mountain with Shen Xuanqing who pulled up the cart. The cart was full of prey, and it was time to sell it. CH 25.1 The mountain road was rugged, and the journey was tiring and difficult, but the full load of prey filled the heart with enthusiasm, and the legs seemed to have endless strength. On the hillside behind the village, two small dogs barked and rushed home, just in time for Shen Yaoqing, who was carrying a hoe to go to the ground, to hear, and hurriedly looked over, seeing that Shen Xuanqing was pulling a cart that seemed heavy, he called out to the yard. He put down his hoe and hurried over to meet him. In the haste, he rubbed the dog''s head twice, otherwise they would keep rubbing against his legs and wagging their tails. The three of Wei Lanxiang also rushed out when they heard the commotion. Seeing that Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing were doing well, the worries in her heart went away. When they came down from the mountain, they were dressed clean and tidy, no longer looked like a bandit with a disheveled face, and they smiled more. Looking at it, it was called a spirited head. In this way, even if she died now, she would be worthy of Shen Shunfu when she went underground. "Mother, sister-in-law." Lu Gu whispered to her and Ji Qiuyue. "Hey, it''s good to be back." Wei Lanxiang smiled happily, and unloaded the bamboo basket on his back with Shen Yan. "Brother Guzi, can you give me one of your flowers?" Shen Yan saw several mountain flowers on the bamboo basket. They couldn''t name them. The petals rose from the bottom to the top, turning from pink to orange like clouds blooming in the evening sky, very beautiful, because there were several flowers, she couldn''t help asking. Lu Gu saw this when he was resting on the road. He picked a few branches from a cluster and brought them. He took them out and said, "It''s for you." He saw Ji Qiuyue again and handed it to her, he whispered: "Sister-in-law, there are for you and mother too." Wei Lanxiang laughed from ear to ear, and she handed the flowers back to Lu Gu, but Lu Gu shook his head and whispered no, so she gave it to Ji Qiuyue, Said: "It''s hard for you to be filial, it''s because mother is old enough to wear flowers for what, and people will laugh at the old monster." The whole family talked and laughed, and pulled the cart back together. Shen Yan had beautiful flowers in her hair. Although she was young, she had a round face and lovely almond eyes, and wearing flowers made her even more cute. She was anxious on her feet, eager to go out and wanted to show off to girls of the same age, but the cart brought so many things back, which made her stumble, and after some struggles, she had a choice. First, let''s see what Brother Erqing brought back. It was not too late to show off the flowers on your head. "This is a black-hoofed sheep? Amitabha, it can be sold for a lot of money, and there are a lot of pheasants." Wei Lanxiang looked at the things on the cart, and saw each one muttering one by one, full of joy. When she knew that the dried goods in Lu Gu''s bamboo basket were dried by himself, she got Shen Xuanqing''s wink, and she was full of praise: "Guzi picked so many goji berries and a lot of wormwood. It sells for a lot of money, and tomorrow, mother will get you some rice wine, and grab some goji berries to cook rice wine to drink." Lu Gu took good care of Shen Xuanqing, and he was so diligent, and she was not partial to her son''s selfishness, the more she looked at Lu Gu, the more she felt God opened his eyes, thankfully she didn''t marry that Lu Wen back, thinking about it, she clapped her hands and said: "I won''t wait until tomorrow, mother will go with your sister-in-law." Lu Gu bowed his head shyly after being praised , Before he even looked up, Wei Lanxiang went out to make rice wine with Ji Qiuyue, with a basket on her shoulders. Shen Yan also finished looking at the cart at this moment, pulled a few long colorful feathers from the buttocks of a dead pheasant, and said to Shen Xuanqing: "Second brother, I''m going to play with Caixia and the others." He was happy to be back today, Shen Xuanqing didn''t care about her playfulness and didn''t let the ducks go, he took a small cloth bag for her, said: "Share it with them." Shen Yan took it over and took a look, it contained Wild fruit, with a bigger smile on her face, she went out happily. The things on the cart were not unloaded, only three pheasants and two hares were taken down, and they were left for Wei Lanxiang and the others to eat, and the rest would be taken to the town tomorrow to sell. Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing washed their faces and sat in the yard to rest, Shen Yaoqing also stopped going to the ground, took a bowl and sneaked into Wei Lanxiang''s room, grabbed more than half a bowl of melon seeds, and sat under the eaves chatting cheerfully with his second brother. The melon seeds were bought two days ago, the fragrant roasted seeds and nuts, Wei Lanxiang was not willing to take out more, thinking that if someone came from the family, it would be honorable to serve this treat. Lu Gu had eaten melon seeds twice at such an age, and there were not many, so he could sit and nibble slowly at this moment. Someone in Qingxi village made rice wine, and Wei Lanxiang and Ji Qiuyue went to the tofu shop in the next village, planning to stew tofu with meat sauce. Tofu was not available in the mountains, so they would be rewarded when they came back. It was just that the family hadn''t bought pork recently, so she inquired, and finally asked Mrs. Lin Jinhu from the village for half a cattie, and she would pay it back tomorrow. When she came back, she saw Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing resting in the courtyard. She didn''t let Lu Gu help her, and went to the kitchen with Ji Qiuyue to light a fire and cook. As for the melon seeds Shen Yaoqing stole, she glared at her eldest son. Knowing that he thought like a child. But she glared and laughed again. Speaking of which, she favored Shen Xuanqing more, but she was not bad for the eldest son. The palms and backs of the hands were full of meat, and they were nothing more than melon seeds. As for Shen Yan, the youngest daughter was not comparable to the two sons, she always took Shen Yan to the town when she was selling eggs and duck eggs, even if she didn''t say anything, Ji Qiuyue knew that she took her daughter to the festival, Either bought a bowl of hot and sour bean curd or a shortbread. Of course Lu Gu didn''t know, he just arrived after all. CH 25.2 After the melon seeds were finished eating, the rice would be ready. The rice wine was very refreshing, and the red wolfberry was also good-looking. The tofu was stewed until the tofu was brown. Let¡¯s have another soft white flour steamed bun. The white flour was finer and much tastier than mixed flour. This meal was very satisfying. There was constant chatter and laughter in the yard, everyone in the Shen family had smiles on their faces, Lu Gu didn''t have to wash the dishes after eating, Ji Qiuyue asked him to go back to his room to rest, after walking all the way. This day passed happily, and the next morning, Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing to the morning market. The official road was flat, much easier to walk than the mountain road. The cart was pushed forward. Lu Gu was used to running in the mountains for the past ten days. Walking on such a flat road suddenly felt easy. After all, it was better to go down the mountain. He was carrying a big bamboo basket, there was goji berries and wormwood, he also picked a lot of wild bath beads, which were much cheaper than fragrant bath beads, even people in the town often used them, so someone would buy them. As for the dried mushrooms, he thought there were not enough of them. He heard people said that they were good to eat, and they could eat them when they cooked soup or stew in late autumn and winter. Except for the ones he kept in the mountains, they also brought some for home. If they found more mushrooms in the future, it wouldn''t be too late to sell them. They got up early, and the flow of people coming and going increased after the morning set. Because he pushed the cart today, Shen Xuanqing brought two benches from home, so he could sit and rest his legs. Lu Gu''s bamboo baskets were placed on the back of the cart, not occupying any other space, so he only had to pay a fee. He took out the bundle of mugwort leaves so that people could see them, and put the cloth bag containing the wild bath beads on the bamboo basket. Next to the basket, you could see it at glance. Shen Xuanqing yelled, he hesitated at the side, and when he saw the old lady passing by, he shouted: "The bath beads are cheaper, five copper coins, wolfberries are also available, three copper coins." Because it was a dry product, three copper coins referred to a catty, which was the market price of goji berries. Last night, Wei Lanxiang went to the village to borrow a scales, so that he could use it when selling things, so he didn¡¯t have to go to the shop to borrow it from others. Yes, otherwise it depended on the face of others. "Auntie, look at this bath bead. It''s big enough to wash your hands for two days." Shen Xuanqing heard his voice, a smile flashed in his eyes, and he helped him talked to people. Seeing the woman looking over, he said again: "The ones picked from the deep mountain forest are better, and you can keep the fragrance after washing your hair." Hearing this, even the two passing couples and women came forward. Yes, grabbed a handful, looked and smelled it. Shen Xuanqing didn''t lie, the tree that Lu Gu found was really good, it was what they used in the mountains, and they could smell it after washing their hair. "It doesn''t smell as good as fragrant bath beads." A fulang picked it, and even glanced at the wolfberry in the bamboo basket, pinched two to taste. Shen Xuanqing was used to see it, and said gently: "How can wild bath beads compare with fragrant bath beads, ours is cheaper, and it''s already more fragrant than the other bath beads." "So, I will buy six for six copper coins." Fulang Bargained with him. "Fulang is just joking. The things are not expensive at all, and they are so good. My fulang walked on mountain roads for three hours for carrying them back. It''s not cheap." Shen Xuanqing didn''t agree. This thing was sold at a low price, a copper coin, and now one copper coin couldn''t even buy a sesame seed cake, if the price was lowered, Lu Gu would be busy in the mountains these days for nothing. The fulang felt that he really wanted something, and seeing that Shen Xuanqing didn''t let go, he said a lot in his mouth, and finally Shen Xuanqing said that if he bought six for twenty copper coins. Originally wanted to sell it for twenty copper coins, but when he heard that it was only fifteen copper coins, Shen Xuanqing became a little annoyed, and finally asked Lu Gu what he meant, as long as he bought it for fifteen copper coins, it would be six. It was Lu Gu''s first time to sell things, he was nervous and didn''t figure out how much he would give for fifteen copper coins, and he was quick to think, he memorized it silently, and counted it. When the Fulang left, he reached out to take two more, Shen Xuanqing pretended not to see it, this kind of person was quite common in business, and the most important thing was to make money with kindness, so there was no need to worry too much about it. As for Lu Gu, he also understood this truth, besides, he sold it for fifteen copper coins at once. Shen Xuanqing didn''t pick up the money, the Fulang handed it to him. Fifteen copper coins were not light, and they were heavy in his hand, but he had no time to think about it, because there were two women who wanted to buy them, and they agreed with the Fulang to lower the price just now, and since there were six for fifteen copper coins, they both wanted it. After Lu Gu finished counting the wild bath beads and collected the money, together with the fifteen copper coins on the cart, there would be a total of forty-five copper coins. Farmers were very happy to earn forty-five copper at a stroke, let alone Lu Gu, who hadn''t touched many copper coins, the most that passed through his hands was ten copper coins, when his mother was around. This large handful of copper coins seemed to him like a dream, but dreams would wake up, so he reluctantly gave the money to Shen Xuanqing. Shen Xuanqing was puzzled, frowned lightly and asked in doubt: "What are you doing for me? Don''t you bring a small cloth bag." Lu Gu thought that he was going to put everything in the cloth bag, and handed it in after the sale, so he hurriedly followed the order. While talking, someone came to see the wild things, so Shen Xuanqing had to stop talking, turned around and got busy. CH 26.1 Chapter 26 Money made people motivated, and compared with the joy of earning money, the crowds at the market didn''t seem so scary. After the first payment, Lu Gu''s shouting voice no longer trembled, at least he dared to talk to the woman and fulang when they passed by. "Ma''am, look at the medlars, it''s all good." Shen Xuanqing was selling prey at the side. Seeing that he dared to speak out after being busy, he was relieved and joyful in his heart, and the smile on his face became more obvious. Lu Gu was timid but not too much cowardly, he knew how to do what should be done, and it would definitely get better and better in the future. The gray-haired and elderly woman was carrying a basket, and she really leaned forward to look at it. She asked, "How much?" Lu Gu quickly said, "Three copper coins." It was a habit of people to say that things were expensive at the beginning, and then it was easy to lower the price. The old woman was like this. No matter what she bought, she had to negotiate the price. She was used to it. Although Shen Xuanqing told him that three copper coins was the market price, and the goji berries he picked were big and good, which was already cheap, but Lu Gu had never done a small business before, and he was a little uncertain without someone''s help, so he had to turn to look at Shen Xuanqing . "Auntie, it''s not expensive. It''s cheaper than the little ones, which sell for three copper coins." Seeing him timidly looking over, Shen Xuanqing felt like being scratched in his heart, and opened his mouth without thinking. Lu Gu was very grateful, because there was such a "reassuring pill" standing beside him, he also followed suit: "Ma''am, it''s not expensive." The old woman often bought things, so she naturally knew the market price, and after picking things for a while, she saw that the price was lower. Lu Gu hurriedly took out the scales, he knew how to do it, and Wei Lanxiang taught him after borrowing it back last night. He got another six copper coins, and when Lu Gu put the money into the cloth bag, he heard the crash of the copper coins colliding, even though the money would be given to Shen Xuanqing later, but just listening to it made people happy, and he even smiled. After this time, if someone lowered the price when buying goji berries, Lu Gu would follow Shen Xuanqing''s words and didn''t need help. Compared with Shen Xuanqing''s income, he had small money here. When there was no one around, he would watch Shen Xuanqing sold prey and did a favor or something. Today was a good day, the sun was getting bigger and hotter. Because there were quite a lot of wild animals, there were still a few that hadn''t been sold out. Shen Xuanqing felt hot, and saw that the water in the bamboo tube had been drunk, and he was hungry, so he let Lu Gu to look at it, and went to buy food nearby. The busiest and noisy time of the morning market was over. There were not many people buying in the market, and many hawkers who had finished the morning market had left. Seeing that no one came to ask, Lu Gu just sat on the bench to rest. He had been standing almost all the time, and now he had time to sit down. He searched among the few people with his eyes, and soon found Shen Xuanqing''s figure, after all, such a tall man was quite rare. Not long after, Shen Xuanqing came back with two bowls of noodles, and said casually: "This Yangchun noodles is good, I have eaten it twice." Lu Gu took a bowl, he had heard that a bowl of noodles costs ten copper coins, Lu Wen often ate it when he was studying in the town. After returning to Anjia Village, he sometimes talked to Du Hehua about wanting to eat Yangchun noodles. The two sat on stools and put the bowl on the cart as a table. The noodles were thin and white, sprinkled with emerald green scallions, and the clear soup was embellished with soy sauce and bright yellow oil. It looked greasy, but the noodles were smooth and chewy. The soup was light and delicious. You could even finish the soup in one bowl. You were satisfied and comfortable, and you felt that it was worth ten copper coins. And when Shen Xuanqing returned the bowl, he also brought a bamboo tube of green plum wine. This wine had a very light brewing flavor and the taste was sweet and sour. It was often drunk by women and Shuang''er. Lu Gu originally thought that he brought the bamboo tube to ask for water, but he didn''t expect that when the lid of the bamboo tube was opened, he could smell such a sweet and sour taste. "Drink." Just as Shen Xuanqing finished speaking, someone came over and asked how to sell the pheasant. Lu Gu held the bamboo tube and carefully tasted it. The taste was sour and then sweet, and there was a slight taste of wine. This taste was strange to him. After two sips, he felt that it was delicious, and his eyes seemed to be brighter. After Shen Xuanqing sold two pheasants, he turned his head and saw his joyful expression, and he was also happy in his heart. The sun was getting higher and higher, so that people''s eyes were hard to open. There were only two pheasants and the black-hoofed sheep that was still alive on the cart. Shen Xuanqing took another look at the goji berries in the bamboo basket. It was halfway down, but there were not many wild bath beads left. Many of bundles of solid mugwort leaves were also sold. "Go to the medical clinic to see if they accept wolfberries, and then go to the pork shop and sell the sheep and you can go back." He said, tidy up the cart, put the benches on it, and since Lu Gu didn''t need for the bamboo baskets, he put it on the cart and pushed it away. CH 26.2 After leaving the market, they handed over the wooden sign, and the two of them walked towards the east of the town, and they arrived at the medical clinic first. The people in the medical clinic looked at the quality of the goji berries, tasted them, and accepted them all at the market price of three copper coins. Well, at the end when the two of them were leaving, the man also said that if there was any more such goods, just came over, and they would accept as much as they sold. This undoubtedly surprised Lu Gu. Few people went to the deep mountains and forests. He was the only one who picked those wild goji berries by himself. He never thought that he would be lucky. Because it was dry goods, and he picked and dried them by himself, there were many goji berries in the mountains, but they were not everywhere. The rest in the bamboo basket weighed ten catties. There were too many copper coins and it was not easy to take them, so Shen Xuanqing asked the staff to replace all the copper coins for silver, and the five taels of silvers went into Lu Gu''s hands. Not to mention the rest of copper coins in the cloth bag, Lu Gu held the broken silver tightly, his feet were a little erratic, and he stared at Shen Xuanqing in a daze when he left the clinic. "What are you doing in a daze." Shen Xuanqing said with a smile. Lu Gu just woke up like a dream, and put the broken silver into his sleeves, so that even the inner pockets of his sleeves seemed to become precious and heavy. The pork shop was on another street. Shen Xuanqing met a butcher surnamed Zhao, and they finally agreed that the butcher Zhao would give Shen Xuanqing five taels of silver, and Shen Xuanqing would take away the slaughtered sheepskin and a hind leg. Compared with pork and chicken, mutton that was nourishing and could be stewed with medicinal materials was more expensive. When the price of pork was 20 copper coins per catty, mutton can be sold for copper coins when it was cheap, but sheep were not as fat and big as pigs, and the meat produced naturally not as many as pigs, and this black-hoofed sheep was a small sheep, so five taels of silver was considered fair, and Butcher Zhao made money himself. The two of them had always been on good terms with each other, so they made a plan, boiled a large pot of water, sharpened their knives and slaughtered the sheep in the courtyard. Shen Xuanqing was a hunter and knew how to skin the sheep. It was not difficult for him to kill pigs and sheep, and he wanted the sheep skin, so he handled it with the knife. Lu Gu and Mr. Zhao''s wife, Ji Shi, were sitting in the shop. Ji Shi was holding their one-year-old fat boy with some drool. Ji Shi''s body was slightly plump, she loved to talk and laugh, the child wouldn''t let her sit, she had to stand up and move around, she gossipped with Lu Gu, it was mostly about their little tiger (the baby), and she also complainned about the difficulty of raising children. Listening to what she said, Lu Gu responded in a low voice from time to time, his eyes fell on the fat face of the little tiger, and the little tiger giggled at him, and he couldn''t help laughing too. Seeing the wild bath beads in the bamboo basket on the ground next to the chair, Ji Shi asked, "Did you buy these wild bath beads to use it, or to sell?" Working in a butcher shop, it was inevitable that you would get greasy hands, so you had to wash your hands frequently. Although Zhao Butcher¡¯s family was rich and could afford the fragrant bath beads in the powder shop, it felt like a waste if you used these to wash your hands. So they often bought some wild bath beads back. Knowing that it was for sale, she wanted to buy it. It was bigger than the ones she bought earlier, and she could scrub and wash it in her hands many times. Lu Gu saw that there were only a dozen of wild bath beads left. Just now he heard Shen Xuanqing talking to Butcher Zhao, he was familiar with him, he thought for a while and said: "Sister-in-law, you can just take it, you don''t need to give me money." "Hey, why are you like this? Say, it''s not easy for you to pick it." Ji Shi smiled and gave a way. Lu Gu said again: "There are only a few left, it''s nothing." These ten were sold for three copper coins. He got a lot of copper coins today, not to mention the Ji Shi, if he went back and met people in the village, If they asked him, he would give it to them. This thing was picked in the mountains, and it didn''t cost money, so it didn''t matter if you gave up a few. "If that''s the case, then I''ll accept your kindness. If you come to the town later, come and have a sit if you have nothing to do." The smile on Ji Shi''s chubby face widened, and he helped Lu Gu refill the tea. The two chatted and laughed for a while, and teased the little tiger. After a while, because someone came to buy meat, Lu Gu help Ji Shi to hold the child. The little tiger was heavy, and after being held by him, his fat little hands were still stretched out. Pointing at Ji Shi who was cutting the meat, he was whimpering, as if talking to him. Six years ago, Du Hehua gave birth to Lu Wu. Lu Gu was about twelve years old at the time. Every time she ate, Du Hehua asked him to hug Lu Wu, she couldn''t eat well by himself, so holding a baby was no stranger to him. But for Shen Xuanqing, he had never seen it before, his eyes paused slightly, and his expression seemed strange. Butcher Zhao came in from the yard with him, and went to weigh the meat for Ji Shi. After the work was done, Ji Shi took the children from Lu Gu, and Shen Xuanqing said goodbye to them. When he left, he originally wanted to buy a piece of meat, so he could pay back the half that he borrowed from the villager yesterday, and he could still ate some at home, but Zhao Butcher confiscated the money. After going out, Shen Xuanqing pushed the empty cart much more easily. On it was a bamboo basket, sheepskin and the sheep''s legs. The sheep''s legs were wrapped in sheepskin so that it was not exposed. When they got home, they stewed it with nourishing herbs. It was noon and the sun was very bright. Fortunately, it was autumn and it was not so hot. Lu Gu was thinking about the money he got today, maybe after he went back and gave the money, Shen Xuanqing could give him ten copper coins. But even if he didn''t give it, he had nothing to complain about. He ate well and slept well at the Shen''s house. Today Shen Xuanqing even bought green plum wine for him to drink, so that was enough. The two of them walked out of the town, and there were some people around an alley in front of them. It looked like they were joining in the fun, and they could vaguely hear crying and a few curses inside. When they got closer, they could piece together a rough idea from the gossip of those people. It turned out that there was a maid in the alley who was about to sell by the Zhang family. They said her hands and feet were not clean in the courtyard. The maid had an affair with the eldest son of the Zhang family who his wife died. She wanted to be his wife, so Mrs. Zhang would sell her out. It was impossible to know exactly what happened, but Lu Gu was a little surprised, it turned out that after buying someone, it could be sold again. He had been staying in Anjia Village, and he had been to the town a few times. He had only heard that there were people in the countryside who sold their sons and daughters. As for what happened after the sale, he didn''t know. Looking at Shen Xuanqing again, there was a bit of fear in his eyes. CH 27.1 Chapter 27 Shen Xuanqing was thinking about something, and he was a little distracted. He didn''t think deeply when Wang Langzhong said the matter of giving birth that day. Just now, when he saw Lu Gu holding a child, his heart was suddenly touched. He had been thinking about it until now, so he only listened to what those people at the alley said, and didn''t pay much attention to it. Although he didn''t forget what he said about buying Lu Gu back then, he didn''t take it to heart. What''s more, he made an agreement with Wei Lanxiang at that time to let Lu Gu be his husband. It wasn''t as a servant, and he usually didn''t think about it at all. As for Lu Gu''s look at him, because he often had such a timid expression, he didn''t connect the things in the alley for a while, and said: "If your legs are tired, sit and I will take you back." Lu Gu shook his head and said no, he wasn''t tired, and he was far away from the alley, so he thought in his heart that at least he could eat in the Shen family. People were different, as long as he was obedient and worked hard to earn more money, he probably wouldn''t be sold again. So he was a little relieved. After leaving the town, there was still a long way to Qingxi Village. Shen Xuanqing thought about his hard work all the way, so he let him get on the cart. Country people didn''t have a carriage, so they often used the cart to carry people and loads. Some people who earned money by driving carts used donkeys or mules to hitch the cart, which was faster than people, and could run if the cart was light. Lu Gu sat on the cart, looking at the tall figure in front of him, he didn''t know what to think, he felt that such a Shen Xuanqing wouldn''t sell him. Both the cart and the bamboo basket were empty when they came back, Shen Xuanqing directly pulled Lu Gu into the yard before stopping. Wei Lanxiang, who was sitting under the eaves and working, greeted them. Beside her was a woman who Lu Gu had never seen before. She was about the same age as her. When Shen Xuanqing called her aunt, Lu Gu got out of the cart and he also called in a low voice. "Come back so late, are you hungry?" Wei Lanxiang helped Lu Gu took down the bamboo basket, and asked them with a smile. "Mother, we have already eaten at noon, so we don''t need to eat anymore." Shen Xuanqing picked up the sheepskin, without revealing the legs inside, and carried it into the kitchen. "Erqing sold a lot today. I heard people say that you got up early and pulled a cart full of things to go to town." Zhou Yunzhi, the auntie said with a smile. When the voice came, his heart skipped a beat. Not all people with a sharp voice were bad guys, what caught Lu Gu''s attention was the way Zhou Yunzhi looked in her eyes when she spoke, there was nothing wrong with it, but it reminded him of Du Hehua. Shen Xuanqing came out of the kitchen, heard her say this and replied: "Auntie is joking, they are all worthless things, they just look like a lot. " "It''s cheap but there''s a lot of them, so you''ve made a lot of money." Zhou Yunzhi smacked her lips, with obvious disbelief on her face. "No matter how much I sell, all I earn is a small amount of money. How can like the big brother who earns a lot of money every month doing errands in the town." Shen Xuanqing didn''t want to continue talking to her, so he dragged the conversation aside. Zhou Yunzhi smiled proudly. Wei Lanxiang''s expression remained unchanged, she pulled out a handful of green onions from the vegetable patch, and asked with a smile: "Sister-in-law, do you have enough of these green onions?" After talking about Shen Xuanqing, she came over to take a look. After looking at it, she looked at the cart without any wild things and there was nothing left, so she took the green onion and left. She didn''t know that Shen Xuanqing had already left some food for the family, and he put them in the backyard. After she left, Wei Lanxiang still looked out the door, and then dragged Lu Gu back to the main room, and said in a low voice, "This is your first uncle''s wife, her name is Zhou Yunzhi, and everyone in the village calls her sister-in-law Zhou. Don¡¯t talk to her.¡± ¡°And those from Dafang¡¯s (first family, from the the eldest son) family, I¡¯ll tell you later, keep in touch with your third uncle and aunt, and be careful with them (dafang), hid if you run into them, don¡¯t tell them about the family affairs, if you hear something unpleasant, just ignore it, tell me when you come back, and Erqing.¡± Lu Gu didn¡¯t like Zhou Yunzhi¡¯s counting eyes when she spoke, which reminded him of Du Hehua, upon hearing this, quickly nodded and said to write it down. After Zhou Yunzhi left, Shen Xuanqing went into the kitchen to chop the legs of sheep. Wei Lanxiang heard the movement, and hurriedly told Lu Gu to go to the kitchen. Seeing that it was legs of sheep, she couldn''t be unhappy. Shen Xuanqing also gave her ten taels of silver, and made her smiled, and she even liked Lu Gu more and more. The debts owed by the family were all paid off, and all the money they earned belonged to themselves. After Wei Lanxiang hid the money, she called Lu Gu into the room and showed him the clothes she had made. she was so happy they came back yesterday, thinking that Lu Gu was too tired from walking the mountain road, and she still had a cuff confiscated, so she didn''t mention the clothes, and took them out after finishing them today. The money for making clothes for Lu Gu was paid by Shen Xuanqing, this time she didn''t take any money out, and when she bought cotton, she paid 80 copper coins cash for it herself, and made two thick jackets for Lu Gu, including tops and trousers. Saved your legs from freezing in the mountains. In addition to the jacket, there were three thick cloth clothes and a pair of cotton-padded shoes. These were all real materials. She couldn''t do it by herself, so she asked Ji Qiuyue to help. CH 27.2 Lu Gu tried on the clothes, and they all fit well. The new shoes fit snugly. There was a thin layer of cotton on the upper and inside of the shoes, which was very warm and soft to step on. He seemed to be stepping on a cloud, and the earth was soft. Not to mention wearing it in the mountains in late autumn, such shoes were enough in winter. In previous winters, he didn''t have thick shoes and cotton clothes to wear, so he shivered and had frostbite on his hands and feet every year. He knew that it was Shen Xuanqing''s money, but Wei Lanxiang was the one who made the clothes, so his gratitude to the Shen family poured out again. There was so much gratitude that he didn''t know what to say. It was Wei Lanxiang who saw him holding the shoes with wet eyes after taking off his cotton shoes, smiled and folded the new clothes, put them all into his arms, and said, "From now on, as long as you and Erqing live a good life, If you are harmonious and beautiful, our family life will be better, we have what we want to wear and eat, and we will not be hungry or cold." Lu Gu nodded heavily holding so many clothes and shoes, and there seemed to be something in his throat choking, unable to speak, he could only hum, with a muffled nasal sound. After dinner, when Shen Yaoqing from the field came back, they ate a pot of stewed mutton, which was more nourishing with some medicinal herbs. Because it was hot, everyone''s face was rosy after eating, and they seemed to have more strength. Gradually at night, the dogs took up a place in the yard to gnaw on their bones. There was no one in the yard, so they all washed up and went back to the house to rest. The days were getting better and better, and they slept in a dream with a smile on their face. In Shen Xuanqing''s room, a candle was lit, the doors and windows were closed, and the two of them sat at the table and counted the money. Lu Gu put the small cloth bag on the table, and took out five pieces of silver from his sleeve pocket and put it on the small pile of copper coins. He no longer thought about Shen Xuanqing giving him the copper coins, and pushed them all over. Shen Xuanqing was lowering his head to count the money, when suddenly these things appeared in front of his eyes, he subconsciously raised his head to look at Lu Gu, wondering, "What''s wrong?" Lu Gu didn''t understand, and whispered, "The money is all inside." "Give it to me?" Only then did Shen Xuanqing understand, but this was Lu Gu''s own hard-earned money, how could he want it, so he pushed it back, saying: "Just keep it for yourself, and you have money in your hand for whatever you want to buy." He said and put an ingot of five taels of silver into Lu Gu''s hands, and said again: "Ask me if it''s not enough, and you won''t be short money." The money was collected. Blowing the light out, the room was plunged into darkness, not long after Shen Xuanqing came up, he rolled over and hugged Lu Gu. He was just happy today, except for the ten taels for Wei Lanxiang, what he kept and what he earned before made a total of twenty-nine taels. Moved and slowly accumulated wealth for yourself. The remaining five taels were given to Lu Gu, and he kept more than four taels for himself, and there were more than two hundred copper coins that were not included in the scattered silver, which could be spent on weekdays, and these were enough for a long time time to spend. And this time he gave his mother a lot of money, so he didn¡¯t need to give it again when he came back next time. The meat in the house was basically his prey, and the vegetables were grown by themself, so they didn¡¯t need to spend much money to buy it. It was either he or Shen Yaoqing, Wei Lan Xiang could also save some money in her hands, kept some money for herself, and decided what she wanted to buy. The night was getting darker, people were living with enthusiasm to move forward, and the days were also rushing forward, which was the best thing in the world. In the evening, when the farmers returned home, the village was full of smoke, and it was peaceful. Shen Xuanqing took a pheasant out in the afternoon, saying that he was going to have a few drinks with the village chief Chen and the others, but Lu Gu watched him went out without saying anything. After the meal, he and Wei Lanxiang went to Aunt Gu''s house to buy cloth and colorful embroidery threads. This was the first time he said he wanted to buy something, and Wei Lanxiang agreed and came with him. Now that he had money in hand, Lu Gu picked better cloth and colored threads. "What did you buy these for?" Wei Lanxiang asked him casually on the way back. Lu Gu hesitated, and said in a low voice: "I think Erqing''s purse is old, so I''ll make him a new one. I also want to make some sachets, so that my family can wear them even if I don''t sell them." Erqing, he followed suit, but he had never yelled like this in front of Shen Xuanqing. Seeing that the purse Shen Xuanqing was using was old last night, he thought about it for a long time in the morning. Although he was still easy, he still wanted to help made one. It was always right to do more things. When Wei Lanxiang heard it, he was relieved and sighed that he was sensible, and asked in surprise that he could embroider sachets. "My mother taught me, but I didn''t do it so well." He said honestly, fearing that he didn''t make it clear, he added: "My mother." Mentioning this, Wei Lanxiang''s eyes became more stressed, it was pitiful to see that his mother was gone, and he suffered such a big crime at the hands of the black heart. She had a son and a daughter. Just thinking about this kind of thing made her eyes sour. A child who lost his mother early had to suffer so much. She was afraid of making Lu Gu sad, so she said with a smile: "Okay, when it''s ready, you will give one to mother, she will wear it wherever she goes, and show it to others, our Guzi is good." "Yes." Lu Gu nodded, Wei Lanxiang was kind to him, not only Wei Lanxiang, but also the rest of the Shen family, so it was nothing to make a few sachets, he still had to work hard to repay the Shen family. CH 28.1 This time he came back and stayed at home for several days, Shen Xuanqing said that he would go up the mountain again in the morning, and Lu Gu agreed. Because the two of them worked hard in the mountains, Wei Lanxiang didn''t make Lu Gu work much these days. In the middle of the morning, the sun was not very strong. He sat under the eaves and embroidered a money bag, which was bigger than a purse, so that he could hold a lot of copper coins and loose silver in the arms or sleeves. Even Ji Qiuyue came over to take a look, and finally said with a smile: "The craftsmanship of Guzi was really good, much more refined than those sold outside." Let Lu Gu lower his head shyly. "Come on tomorrow let Shen Yan also learn to do some needlework, so that you don''t have to run around all day long, and you will be able to embroider flowers on clothes in the future." Wei Lanxiang smacked her mouth. In the past two years, the family was busy planing food and earning money, and Shen Yan had to work with the adults, and only occasionally taught him how to do needlework a few times. Seeing that Lu Gu was doing so well, she thought that Shen Yan should also learn from him. Yes, as for the work of releasing ducks and weeding grass, it was enough to do it once a day. When she had free time, she would follow her and gather more chicken grass and duck grass to feed. "Yes, it''s always right to know more." Ji Qiuyue echoed, most of the country people ate and made clothes by themselves, which was cheaper and more practical than the things bought there. While talking, someone walked in from outside the door, and it was Zhou Yunzhi. She smiled all over her face, and when she saw Wei Lanxiang, she said, "Second sister in law, she''s sewing clothes" Lu Gu also greeted her. "It''s not like getting up early and eating too much, going out for a walk, and then coming here." Zhou Yunzhi said, and looked at the things Lu Gu was embroidering, and said, "Oh, you can embroider lions, what a skill!¡± "Sister-in-law, are you free now?" Wei Lanxiang put down the work in his hand and asked with a smile. Lu Gu lowered his head in embarrassment, and said in a low voice: "No, no, just do it casually." Seeing that he was embarrassed, Wei Lanxiang grabbed the words and said, "He is shy, he hasn''t seen many people here, he is going to go up the mountain with Erqing again in the morning.¡± She asked again: ¡°I saw that sister-in-law and brother went to town? It looks like you two from a distance.¡± Zhou Yunzhi pursed her lips and smiled, with a reproachful tone, she said: "My son Yutao sent someone a message to insist that I go live with him in the town. Look at the eldest grandson." She paused, the smile on her face didn''t diminish, and she said: "The strange thing is that people say that things in the town are expensive, so I had to go to the tavern to eat and drink at noon yesterday. I ordered a plate of Hongqiao, it¡¯s so expensive! Then a small stack would cost fifty copper coins, I can¡¯t eat spicy food, I ordered something fried with autumn peppers and boiled soybeans, it¡¯s even more expensive, seventy copper coins!¡± She stretched out her hands and gestured with seven fingers, her eyes widened as if she was frightened, and she wanted to scare others with this price. How could Wei Lanxiang not know that she was showing off, and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, the son you gave birth to is good. Yutao is capable and filial. You said, this Hongqiao is really so delicious?" Hongqiao was a kind of snail meat from green snails with thin shells . It could only be found in mountain streams in autumn. It was expensive. After looking at it in the mountains, soaked the green snails in the wine jar. After ten days, the shells would turn into powdery debris and sank to the bottom of the wine jar, while the red snail meat floated on top. The vegetables were fried together, delicious and fragrant, and the pickled vegetables were also crunchy and salty. As for stir-frying with autumn hot peppers and boiled soybeans, it was the most popular among men who drink, and it went better with wine than peanuts. Took the effort to go up the mountain to look for it yourself, otherwise you would be reluctant to eat it. Even ordinary people in the town only ate it once in a while when they had money. This Hongqiao was originally called Hongxiao or Xiaohong. It got its name because the snail shell disappeared and only the red snail meat was left. Zhou Yunzhi liked the flattery of others the most, and her chin was raised a little higher than before. Hearing the words, she said, "That''s right, it''s so expensive and so little, it''s really like eating gold." Wei Lanxiang didn''t mend, looked at her and smiled, she said: "Then if I go to the town some other day, if Yutao is here, I can tell him not to treat his second aunt badly. Let''s get a taste of Hongqiao." CH 28.2 Hearing this, the pride on Zhou Yunzhi''s face suddenly froze, how could anyone take advantage of their family, there was some contempt in her eyes, and she became vigilant in her heart, bah, this shameless second daughter-in-law, their family didn''t eat it often, but she wanted Yutao to buy it for her. But she still maintained a kind face, and quickly said: "You don''t know, Yutao is always busy, and he was free for two days before letting me go with his father. Not even the two of us dared to stay longer, I came back after dark last night. I don¡¯t let you go, I''m afraid that he won''t be home if you go. It¡¯s not a waste of time?. We¡¯re so far away from the town." She couldn''t stay any longer, she was afraid that the Erfang (second family from the second son) would eat and drink from their house, so she got up after a while and said, "It''s getting late now, your elder brother is in the field, I''ll bring him some water." "Then Sister-in-law, I won''t keep you." Wei Lanxiang put down her things and sent her out, Lu Gu and Ji Qiuyue also got up. Zhou Yunzhi''s legs were obviously faster than when she came here. After she was out of sight, Wei Lanxiang said: "This dog looks down on people, and I can be rare for her things?." Shen Shunde was the eldest, Shen Shunfu was the second child, Shen Shunwang was the third child, and the three brothers had separated in the early years. After Shen Xuanqing''s grandpa was gone, the second and third child didn''t often go to the old family. After Shen Shunfu left, Erfang of Shen''s family was poor, and Shen Shunde''s family was rich, but the whole family was snobbish who disliked the poor and loved the rich. When they met in the village, even if Erfang family talked to them, they would just snort and ignore it, borrowed something from Erfang''s house once in a while, that was how to show a good face. After they paid off their debts and married Shen Xuanqing, and let the villagers know that their family was rich, Dafang talked to them again. Wei Lanxiang was about to die of embarrassment, if Zhou Yunzhi hadn''t come to help when Shen Xuanqing got married, and also followed the village custom, bringing eggs and white flour, although there were not as many as others, but the face was still passable, otherwise how could she went along today? She said those few words, of course, the following words were purely to drive Zhou Yunzhi away, otherwise she would have to show off. Ji Qiuyue said to her: "Mom, we don''t need to get angry with her, just keep our contacts less." Wei Lanxiang nodded, she wasn''t angry either, she had been angry two years ago, and now it was not worth getting angry and making noise, so she laughed again: "When the new rice is harvested, we''ll be happy, and we''ll go to a restaurant in town too , what kind of sauced beef and duck feet, you guys can eat whatever you want." Ji Qiuyue said quickly after hearing this: "Mother, you said this, I have written it all down." " "I said it " Wei Lanxiang smiled and gouged her out, afraid that she wouldn''t count? Although she hadn''t tasted it yet, just talking about it was enough to make people extremely happy. Ji Qiuyue also said to Lu Gu: "Guzi, remember to be polite when the time comes. Mother will pay the bill. You can eat whatever you want." Lu Gu also had a slight smile on his face, he didn''t speak, and nodded habitually. While joking, Shen Yan came back with bundles of chicken hay, and seeing them so happy, she asked out of curiosity, but Ji Qiuyue didn''t hide it from her, and Shen Yan''s almond eyes widened after she finished speaking, and she kept calling mother , causing Wei Lanxiang to poke her on the forehead. For a while, the courtyard was lively, which made Lu Gu, who didn''t talk much, felt happy. In the afternoon, Shen Xuanqing, who had been out for a long time, came back with a bamboo basket on his back. He went out in the morning and didn''t even come back for lunch. When he went out, he only said to buy something, and Lu Gu didn''t dare to ask more questions. Seeing Shen Xuanqing coming back, he put down the embroidery work in his hand and went to him, helped Shen Xuanqing unloaded the bamboo basket. The bamboo basket was covered with a lid, and through the exposed gap, he seemed to hear the soft chirping. He put the bamboo basket on the ground, Shen Xuanqing stretched out his hand to open the lid, there was a smile on his handsome face, and said: "I bought a few autumn chicks, and I will bring them to the mountain tomorrow for you to raise." Lu Gu saw the little chickens and ducklings inside raised their heads and squeaked, the sounds were delicate and tender. Unlike rabbits and pheasants, they often raised chickens and ducks here. chickens eggs and duck eggs were precious, and they could be sold for money. For example, in the Shen family, the chickens and ducks belong to Wei Lanxiang, she had the final say on whether the eggs were sold or not, and the money for the sale was spent by her and Shen Yan, and no one else could see it. It was the same when he was in Lu''s house, the chickens belonged to Du Hehua, even if Lu Gu who threshed the grass, it was not his turn to take care of the eggs. This was a symbol of status in the family, but Lu Gu didn''t understand this, he only knew that if these chickens and ducks were really in his care, then he was really in this family, just like the rest of the Shen family. Shen Xuanqing saw that he was squatting in front of the bamboo basket without speaking for a long time, so he said: "After going up the mountain, I will surround the fence in the backyard, and then I will dig a small pond by the river, bring the water in, and put the ducks in it." "that part of the river is gentle, and the ducks can swim in the river when they grow up." He said, and saw Lu Gu reached into the bamboo basket, carefully touching the chicks and ducklings inside. "It''s just that autumn chickens were not easy to raise as spring chickens, so be more careful when it was cold at night." Shen Xuanqing said again. The little soft chickens and ducklings brought Lu Gu back to his senses, he no longer panicked, raised his head and asked cautiously: "For me?" Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing nodded subconsciously: "For you." Only then did he have a sense of reality, and joy surged up. Shen Xuanqing said that it was for him, and felt more and more that the chickens and ducks were fluffy, and he couldn''t put it down. "When I got up early and left, I heard people said that the next village was going to kill pigs. I went to buy some meat to take to the mountain." Shen Xuanqing asked him by the way: "Do you want to buy anything? I haven''t left today, so prepare it early." Lu Gu shifted his attention from the chickens and ducks, raised his head and thought for a while, and then whispered: "I want to buy a small jar of wine." Shen Xuanqing was surprised, he didn''t expect that such a cowardly fulang wanted to buy wine, but after thinking about something else, he put his fist on his lips and pretended to cough to cover it up. He nodded and agreed as if he hadn''t thought about anything , didn''t even ask Lu Gu what he was going to do to buy wine. Shen Xuanqing didn''t stop when he wanted to buy something, the bamboo basket Shen Yan used to use was in front of him, and he went out with Lu Gu with bamboo basket on his back. CH 29.1 The reason why Shen Xuanqing bought chickens and ducks was that after Shen Xuanqing left, Lu Gu was alone in the mountains without anyone to talk to. In addition, the bamboo chickens laid eggs that day, which made him felt that if he raised chickens in the mountains to lay eggs, There was no need to bring eggs from home every time. After paid the money and have a chat with Meng Dayue, Shen Xuanqing picked up the bamboo basket and left with Lu Gu. If you wanted to buy wine, there were wine brewers in Qingxi Village, so you didn''t have to go far, just picked it up on the way back. CH 29.2 They walked home, Shen Xuanqing thought for a while, and then asked Lu Gu in a low voice: "Did you buy wine because you want to drink?" CH 30.1 This time they didn''t bring many things to the mountain, except for a larger bathtub, the others were food and drink, which wasn''t as laborious as last time. But after arriving at Shen''s house, neither Lu Gu nor Shen Xuanqing had ever used the bathtub. It was summer a while ago, just boiled some water for scrubbing. What''s more, taking a bath with a bathtub required boiling a large pot of water. It was convenient to fetch water, but burning firewood like this was also costly, and firewood was not obtained out of thin air, and you had to go up the mountain to cut it. Except before the New Year''s Day, how could the country people be willing to take such a big bath. Shen Xuanqing was scrubbing on the mountain a few days ago. It was colder in the mountain than outside the mountain at night. He was fine. If it went on, when even he couldn''t stand it, Lu Gu would be let alone, so he moved the bathtub, if no one used it at home, it would also accumulate dust. In the kitchen, Lu Gu was busy cooking rice wine, which was faster than cooking rice porridge. Put some goji berries and boiled them. Shen Xuanqing moved things down, and when the meal was ready, he even swept the fallen leaves in the yard. It was past noon, and because their legs were tired from the journey, the two of them lay down on the bed to rest after eating, and took a nap for a while. Being able to eat enough and hugged his fulang who was comfortable, Shen Xuanqing slept peacefully for a while, and when he woke up, his spirit returned, and his eyes were radiant. He originally wanted to get up and go to work, but the little fulang in his arms made it hard for him to let go. He hadn''t shared the same bed for several days, his Adam''s apple rolled, and he couldn''t help rubbing against Lu Gu''s cheek. Lu Gu was lying on the bottom, his eyes were flustered, but he tried his best not to move, because outsiders would have no way of knowing what was going on under the quilt. Fortunately, it was broad daylight, and Shen Xuanqing didn''t really do it. After a while, he got up and said in a low hoarse voice that he was going to make the fence in the backyard. CH 30.2 The fence was complete. Lu Gu used the soft hay to make nests for chickens and ducklings. He even put the pair of rabbits in the bamboo cage in the backyard. He stuffed a lot of grass into the cage when he was walking two days ago. He came back today and saw that they ate them all, and they didn¡¯t starve to death. Lu Gu plucked some of them before cooking. Unlike chickens and ducks, wild rabbits could dig holes, and they were not slow to dig the soil so it was better to use a cage. Before evening, Shen Xuanqing carried a shovel and a long hoe, and Lu Gu went with him to the river with a smaller hoe. They picked a suitable location and dug a hole for a pond for the ducks to swim, the river in the mountain was long, if they went down the river, Lu Gu couldn''t find them. When he was in Qingxi Village, because there were a lot of ducks in the village, he was afraid of the ducks being caught if he traveled far away, and he was afraid of mixing with other people''s ducks. If he met someone who liked to take advantage, it would take a lot of effort to get the ducks back, so Shen Yan often released the ducks in the pond. If she was free and didn''t need to hunt chicken grass, she only watched the ducks swam in the river for a while. Shen Xuanqing used a shovel to draw a square of two feet. This pond was really not small. They only had seven ducks, enough to flop in it. Digging a pit was a laborious job, and it would definitely take a lot of work to dig it deep. Even if Lu Gu bent down and swung a hoe, he couldn''t finish digging today. When the sun sank to the west, Lu Gu went back to cook first, and Shen Xuanqing rolled up his sleeves and continued to work. Whether it was a hoe or a shovel, it seemed powerful in his hands. The muscles on his arms seemed to be cast in copper during his actions, and his physique was strong. He was much stronger than ordinary men, and he was not lacking in handsomeness. The smoke rose, and the steamed buns were heated in the pot, and he was cutting vegetables and meat. Even if it was shady and cool in the mountains, the raw meat wouldn¡¯t last long, and it would be fresh only if it was eaten early. He and Shen Xuanqing often ate fish and hunted birds in the mountains. Shen Xuanqing shot accurately with the slingshot and could often bring back the birds that were shot. Wild animals such as hares and pheasants could be sold for money, and most of the birds were dead so they ate it by themself, and they also had a meaty smell. But compared to these things, country people were reluctant to eat and drink all year round. Most of them like to eat fatty pork, and pork with more fat was more delicious. Lu Gu was no exception, and Shen Xuanqing who had three years of hard life, the same is true. Lu Gu fried the meat with autumn chili peppers, the meat was plentiful and rich, and mixed with a vegetable, which was crisp and greasy, two bowls of vegetables were enough for the two of them. After the pond was dug, a small canal was dug from the side next to the river to divert water from the side of the river. Finally, with a shovel, the small canal was opened, and the river water flowed in. Several big stones were moved to block the river, allowing the water to flow towards the pond. Those few stones were really not light, and he pushed and moved them, which made him slowed down on the shore for a while after coming up. Lu Gu wanted to help just now, but such a big rock couldn''t be moved at all. Shen Xuanqing laughed when he saw it. He tried it, and then moved away with a sullen head. CH 31.1 It was just dawn, and there was movement in the house before the sun rose. CH 31.2 After the sun came out, the quiet mountain forest was no longer as scary as at night. When encountering a place with dense grass, Lu Gu used the long wooden stick in his hand to explore the grass and clear the way, and Dahui followed him all the way. Walking along the direction where he picked the mushrooms last time, he really found a mountain stream. The stream flowed down the mountain. The water looked extremely clear, even clearer than the Qingxi River. There were tender green watercress growing beside the stream. Lu Gu felt fresh and tender when he pinched it. After taking a bite, he decided to pick more and wait for Shen Xuanqing to come back to eat it at night. This watercress was tenderer than the ones he picked by the river in the village before. He thought it would be delicious when he made it into salads. It could also be stir-fried or fried with meat. There were not many pickles in the jar. The watercress could be marinated in vinegar for a day or two. You could eat it, it was sour and crunchy, and you could eat it with sour pickles, otherwise you would always eat salty. Fortunately, he came out today with a big bamboo basket on his back, so he could get some back. He was not in a hurry, there was no one else here, so he took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trousers and got into the water. Since he came here specially to look for the snails, he naturally wouldn''t go back too early. Lu Gu brought himself four steamed buns with mixed flour and put them in a cloth bag. Now that he was in the water, he tied the cloth bag to the back rope of the bamboo basket. There were quite a lot of stones in the water, he opened several pieces and finally saw four green snails with thin shells, all of them were quite big, but the shells were too fragile and thin, some of them were not mature enough, they would break if you squeezed it hard . He even found a small crab which was called purple belly in the mountain stream, which was either under the stone or hidden in the muddy water. It got its name because of the purple color on its belly. He didn¡¯t know what the other place called it. If it was like in their countryside. It was called a kind of expensive mountain delicacy. When he was in Anjia Village, he saw someone went up the mountain to catch some, but that person didn''t sell them, he took them home and fried them himself, and after eating them, he showed off in the village for a while, saying that he was eating like the rich men in the town. This stuff could be fried with peppercorns, since it was for food, Lu Gu wouldn''t let it go easily, and catched the purple belly and green snails together. When he saw the purple belly, he remembered that this thing was as expensive as green snails, but this deep mountain was not as good as when he was in the foot mountain, and he could go to the town to sell something he caught. Shen Xuanqing was better, he walked fast, and he could go to town in an hour and a half. But he also thought that snail and crabs were like loaches when they were caught. They needed to be raised for a few days to spit out mud, and they could survive for a few days in the water. If you catched some and kept them in the water for two days, you could take them back with wooden barrels, and they were easier to carry than fish. Small crabs could live well out of the water for a while. He would soak the green snails in wine and left only the snail meat, which was still lighter. Thinking of this, Lu Gu became eager. He wanted to find more. Shen Xuanqing and his family couldn''t finish eating, and they could even sell them in the town for money. The stream was muddy due to him walking and washing the mud, but after he left, it cleared up again not long after. Dahui waded in the water for a while, then returned to the shore, fluttering his body and flicking his fur, splashing water on Lu Gu''s body, he looked up at Dahui, with a slight smile in his eyes, followed by a dog was really reassuring, even if you went far, you wouldn''t feel that you couldn''t find your way back. He moved his shoes and socks as he walked, so as not to lose them. After his feet were dry, he put them on. When he saw edible red fruits in the grass beside him, he picked them all up, squatted by the stream, washed them, and tasted a sweet one, it was too small. Seeing Dahui approaching, he tried to feed Dahui two, but unexpectedly, he ate it. It turned out that dogs also liked to eat fruit. Not only grass red fruit, but when he waded over the water just now, he saw a water bun tree. The fruits on it were all red, and they were still big, but he didn''t know whether it was bitter bun or sweet bun. This kind of wild fruit was small and juicy, and when it was ripe, it could burst open like a water bun, so it was called water bun tree. Lu Gu walked over and tiptoed to pull off a branch, picked a small red fruit and bit the skin lightly, feeling the sweetness of the juice, his eyes were full of joy, it was a sweet bun. There were more bitter bun tree than sweet, eight out of ten trees were bitter, the kind of bitterness that even adults couldn''t stand, let alone ate it, just like he just bit the fruit peel and the tip of the tongue got the juice, The tip of the tongue was bitter and numb, and people who were not used to the bitter taste would retch, not to mention how uncomfortable it was. So after tasting the sweetness, Lu Gu was very pleasantly surprised. He picked some red ones and took them to the stream to wash. The redder the fruit, the riper it was. The flesh inside was soft and full of juice. He stuffed one in his mouth one bite, and the sweet juice would overflow. CH 32.1 Deeper in the mountain forest, Shen Xuanqing also found a place to eat dry food. He took out the cloth bun from the basket. The pancakes were already cold, but his heart was warm. As for the small purple belly crabs at the bottom, most of them were alive. He picked out a dozen or so and scrubbed them clean. He was going to fry a plate for Shen Xuanqing to try something new, and put the rest in a bucket, sprinkled some salt and raised them for two days. He also used bamboo plaques to buckle and press the wood to prevent them from climbing out. The newly picked black mushrooms was edible, so he took out a bamboo plaque and put it on to dry, and soaked it to eat after drying. He made some bamboo baskets last time, but he felt that they were not enough for such a use. No wonder there were so many bamboo plaques in the homes of the people who gather herbs and mountain products in the village to dry. There were still some bamboo strips from the previous two days, so he would have to weave some more when he was free tomorrow. CH 32.2 The autumn vegetables planted in the front yard were no longer wilting, and they were watered every two days to make them looked juicy, just fried with mushrooms, mixed with watercress, and purple belly, this meal was very good. When Shen Xuanqing came back in the evening, Lu Gu had already cooked. The hot dishes and rice wine were stuffed in the pot, and they were still warm when they were brought out. Shen Xuanqing was washing his hands in front of the kitchen door. Seeing Lu Gu bringing out a bowl of small fresh crabs from the mountain, he smiled and said, "There was this. Did you run far away today?" ¡°I just caught it back, and there were still some in the bucket." Lu Gu replied in a low voice, because today¡¯s harvest was quite good, he was really happy in his heart, and he and Shen Xuanqing became a little familiar, he hesitated and continued: "There are more, I found the sweet buns, watercress. The pickle jar is empty, and so I pickled some sour cress to eat." As soon as Shen Xuanqing entered the door, he saw the washed watercress on the bamboo plaque, nodded and smiled, he said: "Okay, I''ll listen to you." For some reason, this remark made Lu Gu felt a bit unspeakable, as if he could decide some things, but he was very cautious, so how could he ask such a question? . Because sweet buns were hard to come by, when he put away the bowl and came to the kitchen to get steamed buns, he saw the washed red fruit, so he took two to the main room, lowered his head and handed them over, whispering, "Here you are." Lu Gu quickly folded his palms and said: "Master Huitong." He had met the monk twice, but he had never spoken to him, so he was inevitably a little nervous. Shen Xuanqing was familiar with Huitong. When the other party went up the mountain to collect medicines and couldn''t go down, he would come to spend the night and leave some medicinal materials when he left. He asked: "Master, have you eaten? There are vegetarian dishes here, and the oil is also vegetarian oil." This was brought back by Lu Gu after a long journey, and he was anxious to give it to him as soon as he came back. How could he spoil this intention, so he had to tell him. CH 33.1 Chapter 33 The candlelight flickered slightly, and the dim candlelight reflected on Shen Xuanqing''s face. The resolute and cold face seemed to soften a bit. He lowered his head to peel the chestnuts. The keenness he acquired from hunting made him aware of something. When he looked up, he saw Lu Gu dazed eyes. Caught off guard into those pair of star pupils, the candles reflected in Shen Xuanqing''s eyes, bright and a little softer, Lu Gu suddenly became at a loss, and hurriedly looked away. He lowered his head and was embarrassed, and wanted to cover up the rude behavior of staring at him just now, so he stuffed the chestnuts into his mouth. Raw chestnuts were not as sweet as ripe ones, they were not crunchy and sweet. He even picked up the chestnuts and peeled them himself, couldn''t wait for others to peel it for him. Shen Xuanqing was also stunned for a moment, he didn''t understand love, but he was happy to live with Lu Gu, he didn''t know what Lu Gu was thinking when he saw him, he wanted to ask, but seeing Lu Gu was so nervous, the words that wanted to come out of his mouth couldn''t come out. Then he lowered his head and smiled, and passed the chestnuts in his hand again, pretending not to notice anything, and said: "It''s late at night, it''s better to eat less raw things, and dry them in the sun for two days. If you want to eat them again, I''ll pick them up again." The emptiness around him made him a little uncomfortable, but he didn''t notice anything because of his dullness, and when he fell asleep and stopped thinking about things, he fell asleep soundly. The habit was there, but not to the point of being intolerable or even noticeable. In the early morning of the next day, Monk Huitong left some medicinal materials and bid farewell to Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu. The kindly-eyed monk chanted the Buddha''s name, bowed his head slightly and gave a small salute, raised his head again, turned and left. The night was dark last night, Lu Gu didn''t dare to look at people, until now he saw the face of Monk Huitong clearly, when he met those eyes, he suddenly knew what "compassion" was. "The door of the firewood room is closed. Don''t open it until I come back. This stupid tit broke two strands of the hemp rope with its beak." He bolted the door of the firewood room and told Lu Gu. He chopped all the firewood by himself for less than half an hour, and piled it up neatly. Seeing that there was not much firewood left. Shen Xuanqing cast a net into the river the day before yesterday, and he might have fish later. In the evening, stew a fish soup with a small medicine stove. Thin firewood was better for stewing things, and the fire wo CH 33.2 In the woods outside, the birds were singing crisply, and they turned several turns like a song, one after another, Lu Gu sat in the yard and listened while working, thinking in his heart, could it be that these birds were talking just like people. The mountains were quiet, so listening to these sounds could be regarded as a kind of fun. After chopping the firewood and sweeping the sawdust, Lu Gu carried the fish basket and basket to the river. Yesterday he came back a little late and didn¡¯t come to check the fish. Now he saw that there were three fish in the net, one big and two small, the small one was also longer than his palm. These three fish must have been trapped for a long time and didn¡¯t break free. They looked rather listless at the moment. He collected and killed them on a flat stone on the shore. He took out the internal organs and threw them into a basket to take it back and feed the ducks. The chickens and ducklings that Shen Xuanqing bought back were not too small, and after several days of raising, they were ready to be eaten, just chop them up. Not far from the courtyard, there was a field of wild wolfberry, which was full of red fruits. He cut off the branches full of small red fruits with scissors, bundled them up and put them into bamboo baskets. When it was full, he picked up two small wolfberry trees that could be chopped and had more fruit, and he could drag them back even if they were not easy to carry. A busy morning has passed, and Lugu hadn¡¯t picked the branches, so he made a simple lunch for himself. He continued to work after eating, and when the goji berries were finished and the watercress was soaked in the jar, he had time to sit and rest under the eaves for a while. There were fish and boiled lard in the kitchen, green snails and small purple crabs soaked in water and spit out sand, vegetables were grown in the yard, there were five bamboo plaques on wooden shelves to dry things, wolfberry, black mushrooms, mushrooms and medicinal materials, Lu Gu saw that all of these were more or less related to him, and after passing through his hands, he could also eat and use them, and even sold them for money. In the evening, Shen Xuanqing came back, the fish soup stewed on the medicine stove was gurgling, and the smell of vegetables wafted from the kitchen, and the new money bag that Lu Gu handed over carefully, saying it was for him, surprised him and pleased him a bit. CH 34.1 Shen Xuanqing looked at the money bag embroidered with lion patterns, it was more delicate than the ones he had used before, and it was not too small, it was more than enough to hold more than two hundred copper coins on hand. The food in the kitchen was ready, just waiting to be eaten. Shen Xuanqing looked away from the money bag, the day''s hard work seemed to be wiped away after receiving the money bag, it was made for him by his fulang . He unconsciously showed a smile, and when he saw Lu Gu brought something out, he quickly stuffed the money bag into his arms, stepped forward courteously, and because of the surprise and excitement in his heart, he snatched Lu Gu''s works, and said, "I''ll do it." Shen Xuanqing looked over with a smile in his eyes, which made Lu Gu a little flustered. Recently, he knew that Shen Xuanqing was handsome, but he didn''t expect that with smile he would become even more handsome. He didn''t dare to look more, thinking it would be rude and offensive. Because the Lu family was mentioned, he felt a little uneasy. When Lu Gu heard that Du Hehua put the money bag and the sachet he made on Lu Wen''s head, he felt awkward and uncomfortable. It was him who did a lot. It was just that before the grievance surfaced in his heart, he heard Shen Xuanqing said that he was good. When he was at home at the foot of the mountain, Shen Xuanqing glanced at Lu Gu''s sewing basket, but didn''t pay attention, his mother and sister-in-law often did some needlework, he thought that Lu Gu was also doing it, so he didn''t think about it at all, and now he heard that he wanted to make a money bag for him, and he put aside all the bad things, and nothing was as good as his fulang making things for himself, he was happy. "Okay, give it to me when you''re done." He promised again and again, and urged him earnestly as if he was afraid that Lu Gu wouldn¡¯t give it. "En." Lu Gu nodded, and asked one more question: "Then do you have any patterns you want me to embroider?" Shen Xuanqing said, "I will use whatever you do, and I don''t understand these things ." Hearing this, Lu Gu thought for a while, then it was better to use tiger stripes, and it always felt inappropriate to use anything else. CH 34.2 Although they talked about the bad things in the past, but after they stopped talking about it, the meal was still very happy. The autumn wind rolled up the yellow and green leaves on the ground, and the sun was still quite strong at noon. In the large fence outside the courtyard, the fluffy chickens and ducklings screamed from time to time, pecking the grass and chasing insects. Lu Gu released them today, and picked peppers outside the courtyard with a bamboo basket. He was afraid that the ducks would swim along the river when he couldn''t see them, so he didn''t put them in the pond. Anyway, the ducks also ate the leaves and the caterpillar, so they were locked in the fence with the chickens. Autumn peppercorns were turning red, bright red peppers were numb, and they should be picked within two days, otherwise the peppers would be dried and cracked by the sun, and it would be difficult to pick up when they fell to the ground, and it would be worthless if to sell. Bunches of bright red peppercorns were picked off and thrown into the nearly full bamboo basket at his feet. His hands were black and dirty after picking them all morning, and there was a smell of numbness. Be careful, or it would hurt if you got pricked by it. Lu Gu seldom asked what he got, so he had to ask Lu Gu. He wasn''t annoyed if Lu Gu didn''t ask him, he was a timid character, and every time he took something out of the bamboo basket, Lu Gu would squat beside him, watched and listened carefully. As soon as he heard that rice wine needed to be cooked, Shen Xuanqing said: "Then you cook it first, and I''ll pick the rest and carry it back." In this case, Lu Gu obeyed and went back first, and saw Shen Xuanqing''s big basket at the gate of the courtyard, He wanted to carry it by hand, but he didn''t move after a while, it was so heavy that he had to give up. When the sky darkened, Lu Gu cooked the rice wine and put the food on the table. He was about to go out to call Shen Xuanqing for dinner when he saw him coming back with the peppercorns and bamboo baskets while driving the chickens and ducks. CH 35.1 The dew washeavy in the morning, the mountains and forests were quiet, and there wasstill white mist when you got up early. After the peppercorns were dried, they could be pounded into powder with a stone mortar, and they were fried with salt. "No, go back down the mountain and bring one up." Shen Xuanqing replied, Wei Lanxiang and Ji Qiuyue came up to pick the two peppercorns when they were ripe before, or he picked and brought them down the mountain by himself, and had never processed it in the mountains. Lu Gu nodded and said nothing more. After finishing these things, they went out with bamboo baskets and fishing nets on their backs. They also drove the chickens and ducks out to find something to eat outside the fence. You didn¡¯t need to worry about feeding them anymore, the grass outside was full of small bugs and they could eat them. After the big net was cast, the large mesh could only stop the fat fishes, and other small fishes could hardly get blocked. The two of them set up another small net with dense mesh downstream, intending to catch some river prawns. The shelled river prawns were also bigger than in the summer. After finishing all these, Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing to the north forest behind the house. When he first came here, he heard Shen Xuanqing said that the north was dangerous, so he never got close to it. Walking to the north, there was a large dense forest, more than 30 miles away from here, which was not far away, but because there were wild boars there, and even the bear that the old hunter met came from the north, Shen Xuanqing had a lot of traps were dug in the forest in the north, several of them were big pits as deep as one person, and several rows of sharpened wooden wedges were buried under the pits. It was a good thing that Lu Gu didn''t come here before, but now that he came, he pointed to the cut marks on several nearby trees, one on the top, one on the left, one on right which looked like the word "¿Ú". But it was not a bad thing to cherish life sometimes, at least he wouldn''t be worrying about walking around in the mountains. Shen Xuanqing was not idle, anyway, he had to wait for a while, he carried a bamboo basket to dig loaches in the silt by the river, Lu Gu also followed, took off his shoes and socks, and rolled up his trousers very high. "In less than a month, the rice in the paddy fields would be ripe, and then you could catch loaches , eels, and autumn rice fish in it, which were more delicious than fish in the river." Shen Xuanqing bent over and rummaged in the mud while talking, his hands were covered with mud. "Yeah." Lu Gu listened beside him, and he also stretched out his hand to rummage in the mud. Fortunately, he and Shen Xuanqing were the only ones here, otherwise it would be fine if they were barefoot, but the trousers could never be pulled up so high. CH 35.2 The slippery loach was twisting in his hand, Lu Gu almost missed it, and quickly threw it into the bamboo basket. In a short time, the two of them had caught eight loaches, and they were all fat and big. "I''ll make some soup tomorrow. It''s easy to feed. It''s not like fish. It turns over after being put in a bucket for a long time. It could survive for a while with mud and water. I used to raise it in a wooden bucket." Shen Xuanqing searched again. Talking to Lu Gu, stewing loach was indeed delicious and nourishing, so he had to make it for his fulang. While talking, the fish in the river gradually became drunk, no longer hiding at the bottom of the water, and swam to the surface to wag their tails, as if drunk, so this method of catching fish was called drunk fish, and some even turned white, it looked like a dead fish. Maybe there was no one to catch here, so there were quite a lot of fish. Lu Gu''s eyes widened when he looked at the surface of the water. Surprise made his eyes brightened. This year''s weather was so good and beautiful, even the aquatic plants were luxuriant, and the autumn fish ate and became fatter. This net was heavy to drag up, and even Shen Xuanqing had to put in a lot of effort. In the fishing net on the shore, the undrunk fish writhed and slapped their tails on the ground, but the drunk one didn¡¯t respond, because the water area where the drug was poured was long, and catching fishes with the net was not finished yet, Shen Xuanqing asked Lu Gu to go back to take wooden barrels, bamboo baskets and deep bamboo baskets, he jumped into the river and caught fish and threw them on the bank. Today''s harvest was beyond Shen Xuanqing''s expectation. Hundreds of fish were thrown on the shore. Besides grass carp, there were also many more the expensive crucian carp and river eel, especially river eel, which was fattened in autumn, it could be stewed together with tofu, many people in the town liked to make this. He had never catched fishes this way in the mountains before. The journey was long, and the fishes were easy to die. On the way back, they had to be kept in water, which would only sink more. Besides, the Qingxi River flowed all the way down the mountain, and fish could be caught anywhere. He didn''t expect to work hard to get a cart of fishes back to sell. Just now too many fishes appeared in front of him, he was still young after all, he got excited and jumped into the river and threw the fish on the bank. The author has something to say: Note: In reality, it¡¯s illegal to use hickory tree leaves to drug the fish, so don''t do it. CH 36.1 Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing were sitting in the courtyard, drinking water and resting. It was past noon and the rest of the Shen family had already eaten. As soon as they asked, they said that they ate dry food on the way, and Wei Lanxiang hurried to the kitchen to cook. The winter melon was so ripe, it didn''t take long to fry it, Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing also recovered after a while of rest, the dried chili was really fragrant, especially with rice, even Lu Gu ate a few more mouthfuls. After eating, Shen Yan washed the dishes and tidied up, Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing into the room, afraid of delaying time on the way, the fishes would all die and it would be worthless, so he was in a hurry to go out, Shen Xuanqing just pushed forward the cart, the rope tripped and rubbed his shoulders red, it was worn out and needed some medicine. Speaking of it, although the two of them got married, it was all at night. Once Shen Xuanqing took off his clothes, Lu Gu still didn''t dare to look at him. It was also because of those things at night that he was still afraid, but at least he didn''t tremble like the last time he applied the medicine. She was a bit worried, because Shen Shunfu didn''t make it through when he was seeing a doctor, in addition to being too cold for too long and hurting his roots, the doctor also said that he was too strong when he was young, and he worked hard like old cow without rest, country people didn''t eat that well, and didn''t know how to recuperate. People often said that overwork could lead to illness, but it was just that they didn''t see it when they were young , not until they were middle-aged. How could it be so easy to walk on a rough mountain road for more than two hours, and to pull a cart? It was also that the country people had no other way to make money. It was good to have a hunting skill to earn money and lived a good life. Although it was better than other farmers, it was still a labor-intensive job. Now there was no need to rush to pay off the debt, but to take a break. Shen Xuanqing knew her worry, he kept working, and said: "Mother, I know, there is no need to worry. I will rest for two days when I come back this time, and I won''t be in a hurry. Take it easy.¡± CH 36.2 In the evening, the clouds in the sky were orange-red, there were many people in the village, and there were no wild animals, so there was no need to hurry home. Lu Gu and Wei Lanxiang went to the third uncle''s house. There were a lot of shrimp in the fish basket, so they sent some over. When they came back, they didn''t have an empty hand. they borught half a bag of dates in the third uncle''s courtyard. Wei Lanxiang asked the two of them to take them up the mountain to eat. If they couldn''t finish eating too much, they would wilt, so they might as well dried them in the sun. The dried dates would also help Lu Gu replenished his energy and blood. First, listen to Langzhong¡¯s words, and the dried dates he bought had already been eaten. Fortunately, the Shen family didn¡¯t treat people badly when they ate, and they often ate meat and fish, and Lu Gu had no other problems. He ate and drank well and slept well, so his body was naturally stronger than before. Shen Yan came back with a bundle of grass, but Dahui was not tied after he went down the mountain, so he followed her when she went out, and also entered the courtyard gate. Seeing that Wei Lanxiang and Lu Gu came back, she said, "Mother, I met Caixia just now, she came down from the mountain and said that their family went to the mountain to pick up chestnuts and hazelnuts, and Caixia alone carried more than half of the basket. " After autumn, when the chestnuts and hazelnuts were ripe and fell to the ground, not only people would pick them up, but also the mice and squirrels in the mountains would pick them up for the winter. Several villages near would go up the mountains to pick them up. When there were more people, everyone would pick them up, each family could pick up less, Caixia''s family picked up a lot, Shen Yan was naturally surprised to see it. Wei Lanxiang was peeling the onions, and she looked over when she heard her say that, and said with a smile: "You can talk about it if you want to go, what are you doing with your mother?" She thought for a while and said: "But it''s really good to pick chestnuts. We will keep some more this year, and we¡¯ll eat it differently during the winter. In the past few years, we¡¯ve steamed it with rice, but this time we¡¯re bored with it, so let¡¯s cook it with chicken, and it¡¯s said to be more delicious, so let¡¯s try it too.¡± She walked towards the kitchen, and said: "Your brother Erqing is resting at home these few days, don''t rush away, let''s go around the front hill first." CH 37.1 On the way to the mountain, they met several villagers who came to pick chestnuts with bamboo baskets on their backs, and walked to the hillside. When reached the forest, the crowd dispersed, so they couldn''t see them anymore. Sometimes, they could hear parents shouting to the wild boy to stop messing around. There was a vague movement of running. As soon as he turned his head, he could see Shen Xuanqing picking up chestnuts beside him. He put the chestnuts that he couldn''t hold on Shen Xuanqing''s clothes, which made Lu Gu felt unexplainable. He simply didn¡¯t think about it, and concentrated on picking chestnuts. Shen Yan came over with a bamboo basket, Shen Xuanqing poured all the chestnuts in his clothes into it, and walked forward with Lu Gu, there were indeed not many things here, he saw many in the deep forest that day, but he was busy hunting so he just picked up some for Lu Gu to eat. When passing by a water bun tree, it was covered with red fruits, the fruit was bigger than an adult''s finger, and could be stuffed into his mouth. Shen Yan pointed to the tree and said to Lu Gu: "Brother Guzi, this was bitter buns, you could¡¯t eat them.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Lu Gu nodded, thinking of the sweet bun tree he found, he said, ¡°I found the sweet ones in the mountains, and I wanted to bring you some. But I was in a hurry to go down the mountain yesterday, so I didn¡¯t have time to pick it.¡± CH 37.2 Shen Xuanqing had nothing to do after eating, so he sat and chopped firewood with a small axe. The sun was hot for a long time, so he moved to a cool place under the eaves. "I''ll go for three or five days at most, you didn¡¯t need to cook anymore, go to Uncle''s house for a meal, and I''ll make it for you when I come back." Ji Qiuyue called Shen Yaoqing into the kitchen, lifted the lid of the cage and she explained that the steamed buns and pancakes were all inside, and he could warm them up if he wanted to eat them. There was still some rice wine at home, and if he could¡¯nt make rice porridge, he could make rice wine to drink. With these, he wouldn¡¯t be hungry if he was hungry. CH 38.1 In the chestnut grove, which was deep and untouched by people, there were a lot of hairy chestnuts on the ground. Gray-brown squirrels came down from the trees to look for food, stuffed the chestnuts into their mouths and bring them back to their nests to store it for the winter. Not only squirrels, mice and voles also hid the chestnuts and hazelnuts in their holes. Like the things in the mouse hole, they usually dug out when there was nothing to eat, or if they couldn¡¯t find chestnuts in the mountain, there would be children and dogs to dig the hole. Anyway, they had to be shelled, so took them back and washed them, It didn''t get dirty after washing. Children were greedy and playful, and digging holes was fun. As for adults, these squirrels and voles in the mountains had to spend the winter, they wouldn¡¯t starve to death since it was not a famine year, and there was no shortage of food, so let them have a way to survive. The five people carried five bamboo baskets and two big sacks. They filled them up after picking them in the grove for a long time. In such a large grove of chestnuts, there were still some chestnuts that hadn¡¯t fallen from the trees. They were the only ones here to pick them up. One time was enough for them this year, and they didn¡¯t have to worry about whether the squirrels were enough to eat. When he was in Lu''s house, he would follow Lu Daxiang and the others to pick up chestnuts, but after taking them back, he didn''t eat much. He only ate it in the hillside when Du Hehua sent him out to look for them, everyone in the village went to pick chestnuts, and he could find few, but at least chestnuts didn¡¯t need to be roasted or boiled, they could be eaten after peeling. He still liked autumn very much, when chestnuts and wild fruits were ripe , could satisfy his hunger, so that his chest wouldn¡¯t stick to his back. So even though the bamboo basket was so heavy, he was very happy, the more he found, the more he could eat. The chestnut grove was far away from the courtyard. They set off in the morning and returned in the middle of the afternoon. They couldn''t run around in the mountains. It would be dangerous if they went far and didn¡¯t come back at night, so they only picked chestnuts today. "It''s a good day this year. There are so many wild chestnuts. Let''s take rest for today. Tomorrow, we will go pick the hazelnuts. We will pull the cart over and push them back together, otherwise it will be too heavy with only bamboo basket¡± Wei Lanxiang said while rubbing her shoulders. CH 38.2 It was late today, and they only brought a basket when they came out. After picking more than half of the basket, they went back, as long as they had enough for their use, they would pick it again later for sell. After half a way on the mountain road, they finally saw Shen Yaoqing, and three dogs followed him. These three dogs were hunting dogs. They were good at running, and they were used to run with Shen Xuanqing in the mountains. When they saw people going up the mountain, they followed him again, but looking at the way they stick out their tongues, Shen Xuanqing knew that they would lie on their stomachs when they went back. "So many." Shen Yaoqing came over to see the cart and was delighted. Since they stopped here, they decided to rest for a while. It happened that this place was not far from the river, and the three dogs all ran to drink water. There was still water in the bamboo tube on the cart, so they shared it. "I met Da Chen yesterday, and said that the dog cub in Niujia village was out of the moon, and it can be brought back in the next few days." Shen Yaoqing ate two sweet buns brought by Shen Yan, and sat down with him while eating. Shen Xuanqing said "I''ll be there tomorrow." CH 39.1 Qingxi River flowed out of the mountains, moistened the earth wherever it went, and flowed to unknown distances. CH 39.2 Walking from the pharmacy door on the street to the north, there were still people coming and going on the road, but the street under the bridge was not as lively as the street above the bridge, it was all farmland and wild land. After passing a village, they arrived at Niujia village. Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing to find the dog owner. The bitch was lying in the front yard, and four puppies were playing around her. After a while, one of the puppies wanted to get into her belly to breastfeed. The bitch got up and left without letting it to eat. Thirty-something-year-old Niu Hong was smoking a cigarette, and caught the biggest pup over, saying, "Just this little pup, take it home so that it can be raised and keep it healthy." The pup was plump, He pinched the back of the neck and lifted it up. His eyes were bright, and he made a lot of whimpering noises. His limbs were thick and fat, and his claws were not small. CH 40.1 Since buying the chickens and ducks, Lu Gu listened to their chirping every day, it was much better than being alone, but now there was another pup, it was more lively than usual. He moved two stones to sit on one and the other for the mortar, pounded peppercorns by the pond, looked up at the ducks in the pond from time to time, if they swam to the other side of the river, he would pick up the long bamboo pole on the ground and slapped the water surface, the water splashed, and the duck was scared back. The pup¡¯s fur was thin, but it was still pretty good. It played beside Lu Gu and didn¡¯t go far. At first, it wanted to go to the stone mortar to smell it, but Lu Gu pushed it away gently with his feet. He himself covered his mouth and nose with a cloth towel. It approached the basket full of peppercorns to smell it, and he probably didn''t think it smelled good. Its wet little nose wrinkled, and it didn''t come any closer. Later, the smell of pounding peppercorns dissipated, and it didn''t go in front of Lu Gu, biting the hem of his clothes behind Lu Gu''s back, imitating a big dog''s threatening whine in its throat, but it was so small that it couldn''t even make children afraid. Lu Gu was busy with work, as long as he could hear the movement behind him, he knew it hadn''t run far, and besides, the numbing smell of peppercorn was on his hands, he couldn''t play with the puppy, so he let it go first. When it was almost noon, he looked at the sky and felt hungry, so he went to the river to wash his hands. The pup followed him at his feet, step by step. The little head rubbed against his leg, which made Lu Gu smile a little. CH 40.2 Shen Xuanqing''s hands were bigger than his, and there were rough calluses on the palms. He rubbed his legs with both hands. he didn''t know if it was caused by the heat because of rubbing or embarrassment, but the cold soon became less. Autumn colors were getting thicker and the weather was colder than before. In previous years, he was very worried at this time. Once winter came and he couldn¡¯t find food outside, he would be cold and hungry. This year was different. He had food and clothing but he still cared about winter, so he wanted to save all the winter rations he could save. He even dried some wild vegetables, put them in sacks and put the mushrooms in a cool and dry low room, and put two baskets of dried goji berries in it. CH 41.1 It was almost time to arrive at Shenshi (3-5 pm), it was still early, and the hillside was not far away, so Lu Gu carried a basket to pick up vegetables from the field. Shen Xuanqing was with him, and this time he came out without locking the courtyard door, but the puppy and the big dogs, they all stayed in the yard and were not allowed to follow, otherwise they would trample on the ground vegetables (µØƤ²Ë) and sniffed them. After they came back, neither of them was idle. The ground vegetables grew on the ground, and the grass leaves and broken branches were caught in them when they were picked up. Lu Gu washed them three times before spreading them on the bamboo plaques. Shen Xuanqing stepped on the wood and sawed the wood. This tree was cut by him two days ago, and he sawed it into sections so that it could be chopped into firewood. CH 41.2 Lu Gu¡¯s big plan to accumulate rations hadn¡¯t been completed yet, so he went down the mountain with Shen Xuanqing. The autumn rice was ripe, so they had to cut it back as soon as the weather was good, otherwise the rice would be too ripe and fall into the field, and it would be difficult to pick it up . The sun was shining at noon, and almost no one in the village with paddy fields went back to eat. It was enough for the whole family to go back to cook, and the rest continued to cut rice, and sat on the ridge of the field to rest, ate and drank when the food and water were delivered. Shen Xuanqing''s family originally had five acres of paddy fields and five acres of dry fields, which were earned by Shen Shunfu''s hard work when he was young. In the village, it could be said that there were many fields, and there was no barren land. Sold two acres of paddy fields and three acres of dry fields. The three acres of paddy fields had a bumper harvest, and the two acres of dry land have already harvested autumn beans and then planted winter wheat. Recently, there was no need to worry too much. Harvesting autumn rice was a big deal. Lu Gu stepped into the mud and bent over to cut the rice. His body was covered with a lot of muddy water. The sun was very hot. After cutting for a while, he straightened up slowly, wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve, and looked forward. The images of people coming out of the village were Shen Yan and Ji Qiuyue. In the joy of the rice harvest in the past few days, the three-acre paddy field was cut, and it was pulled to the grain field by a cart to dry. Since it was early, Wei Lanxiang made up his mind, went back to wash and rest his feet, and went to the town for lunch in the afternoon, they would come back in the evening after eating. CH 42.1 After rectifying and resting, Wei Lanxiang took the money, and the family locked the door and happily went to town. After Wei Lanxiang listened, she pondered for a while and said, "Let¡¯s have duck feet, big elbows, and sauced beef, and two pots of good wine." Everything was expensive, and it was not worth it to eat vegetarian dishes. Only these few big meats were enough. When people in the village asked about it after returning home, it was decent to say it. The food at Chen Ji Restaurant was more expensive, but the meat dishes they served were all in large plates. The sauced beef had a strong fresh flavor, neither hard nor firewood. It tasted meaty and refreshing. Lu Gu had never eaten beef before. He took a piece of beef and tasted it. He felt that there was no more delicious meat anymore. He stuffed the remaining half of the meat into his mouth and chewed the meat. His eyes widened a little, as if surprised. Shen Xuanqing, who looked sideways at him, couldn''t help but chuckled, and took another piece of beef for him and handed it with the chopsticks. Lu Gu hadn''t finished chewing, his cheeks bulged slightly and he couldn''t speak. He glanced at Shen Xuanqing and found a smile on Shen Xuanqing''s face, so he carefully clamped the piece of beef. Shen Yaoqing ate and drank, and when he was happy, he said to them: "I heard people say that eating beef in winter warms the stomach. I will buy a big piece of beef and take it home. Let''s eat it." " Look at you, you are so beautiful, you can eat a big piece and don''t cut it up." Ji Qiuyue gave him a sideways glance, even though she said so, the smile on her face didn¡¯t diminish. The smell of the good wine was clear, and it smelled different. The duck feet was a little bit salty with the aroma of wine, which was salty and fragrant. The hot big elbow was also brought, and a large plate was placed in the middle of the table. "Bring a bowl or a plate." Shen Xuanqing said to Xiaoer, the meat of the elbow was soft and rotten, not to mention the lean meat, the fat one was not easy to pick up, it would be a pity if it fell off, and the meat was hot while holding it with his hand, took the bowl and no need to worry it would fall when you ate it. The Xiaoer was quick with his hands and feet, and quickly brought them bowls, one for each of them. Everyone''s chopsticks went towards the elbows. Lu Gu was a step slower than others, and he didn''t dare to be the first. Besides, with five pairs of chopsticks, he was also afraid that he would stretch it out and blocked the others. Before the big elbows reached his mouth, he could smell it. Such a strong meat aroma, even after eating beef and duck feet, could still make people greedy. After everyone else had pinched it, Lu Gu was about to stretch out his chopsticks, but Shen Xuanqing, whose arms were much longer than his, put a piece of fat and big elbow meat into his bowl. CH 42.2 Wei Lanxiang ate the meat, her mouth was greasy. She smiled and looked at her second child. At first, she thought thi kid and Lu Gu couldn''t get along, but now he had learned to love others. Knowing that Lu Gu was reserved, Shen Xuanqing had to let his fulang ate well for the first time when he went out to eat at a restaurant, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be capable as a husband. The big red elbow was warm and soft, the fat meat was soft and not greasy, the meat was fragrant and mellow, and the lean meat was also tender and soft, which was very satisfying and palatable. Country people always liked meat with fat, and it tasted good to satisfy their cravings, and Lu Gu was no exception, he was not picky about fat meat, not to mention that this elbow was very tasty, and the fat meat was full of fragrance. After eating the meat, drank the sweet and sour green plum wine. These days, even Shen Yan sighed in satisfaction. She was young and greedy, and said to Wei Lanxiang, "Mom, let''s come next time." "Okay , come next time too." Wei Lanxiang nodded and promised her. CH 43.1 Lu Wen left, and the Shen family didn''t stay on the street for people to continue watching. Upon hearing this, Wei Lanxiang began to chant Buddha: "Amitabha, isn''t it? Thanks God we didn''t marry him back." Lu Gu walked behind and didn''t dare to speak, Shen Yan was next to him, and she stopped smiling when she saw Lu Wen just now, and she still glared at Lu Wen like that, this man was good-looking , but the heart was really bad. Just now Ji Qiuyue was so angry that she didn''t care about her superiors. Now that she found Lu Wen''s words, she was a country woman after all, so she asked worriedly: "Mother, is there anything wrong?" Wei Lanxiang was still thinking, and Shen Xuanqing spoke first, he said: "It''s okay, leave it to me, you don''t care, just live as usual, these few days I''m in the town to manage things." He spoke quite reliably, without the slightest worry, which made Ji Qiuyue''s heart dropped back all of a sudden to her stomach, nodded in response. [the barefooted people are not afraid of those who wear shoes (idiom); fig. the poor, who have nothing to lose, don¡¯t fear those in power] Shen Yaoqing agreed with her to show his determination, which made his mother happy anyway. Speaking of which, the Shen family really had a marriage contract in their hands. It was a private contract, not an official. This was done according to Qingxi Village''s customary rules. The private contract only needed to invite a matchmaker and a prestigious elder who could read and write. It was not easy for rural people to get married. Once the marriage contract was written and married, they would live together. When Wei Lanxiang got married, it was a private marriage contract, and Ji Qiuyue too. It could be said that every family in Qingxi Village was like this, and other villages were also like this. Besides, before the Lu family showed their fox tails, how could they had thought that they wouldn¡¯t marry, so Even if Shen Xuanqing had studied, because of this vulgar agreement, he never thought about the government at all when he got engaged. At the beginning, Shen Xuanqing didn''t make a fuss with the government, but then Shen Xuanqing knew that the members of the Li family had a good relationship with the county magistrate. The people in the village were not very familiar with the law. It would be fine if the county magistrate reasonable and lawabiding, but if he did something to help the Li family, he wouldn¡¯t be able to fight with his mud legs, and he would also implicate the family. After seeing the face of the Lu family, he was unwilling to get involved with them again. As for Lu Gu, Shen Xuanqing said that when he bought him, he had no time to speak plain words, and asked Bao Zhiru and several people in Anjia Village to testify. He pressed his finger without knowing it, in order to prevent the Lu family members from making troubles one day, so they could have a slave contract to talk about. "I said who is it, it''s you, come in quickly." Luo Biao greeted him, caught the wine jar Shen Xuanqing threw towards him with both hands, opened and smelled it, then smiled, he said: "This is good wine." Shen Xuanqing also carried an oil paper bag in his hand, opened it turned out to be a roast chicken, Luo Biao rolled up the bedding, moved the table in the middleof the kang, and the two sat on the kang to eat and drink. [¿» kang: a heatable brick bed] The strong wine was spicy, Luo Biao took a sip, put down the wine cup, shook his head and sighed, "Good wine!" He asked Shen Xuanqing how his family was and how his business was, and while drinking, he said a few gossip, After four or five cups wine and meat he was full of joy, Luo Biao said: "Second Brother Shen, if you had anything to say, just ask, brother will never refuse." He couldn''t even eat, his mother was dying of illness, his father died and he couldn''t even buy a coffin, and he dug a hole with the broken mat and buried him. He took his old mother and knelt on the street to sell himself to save his mother, but the treatment would cost a lot of money, except for the rich and benevolent people, who wanted to buy a long-term handyman and brought back a sick burden. Shen Xuanqing passed by when he came to the town to work as a coolie. Seeing that his old mother was dying and screaming hungry, he stopped and hesitated, he gave Luo Biao two cold steamed buns in his arms. This was the ration that Wei Lanxiang brought for him for a day. He gave it and was about to leave. Luo Biao stopped him and asked his name. He shook his head and didn''t say much. Luo Biao turned around and broke a piece of cold steamed buns to feed his old mother. Shen Xuanqing didn''t see why he carried his old mother on his back to bury her. He had to catch up with the merchants when he went to work to carry the big bags. Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing was not polite to him, and said: "Do you still remember Li Mingshan I asked you to inquire about?" Luo Biao thought about it for a while before saying: "It''s that grandson, I saw him in the building a few days ago, Don''t look at him like a man on the outside, his eyes when he is staring at the girl in the building are straight, but his old lady was so strict that he can only sneak around if he is greedy, and dare not come here often, you haven¡¯t seen his dirty face, as soon as he enters the room, he take off his pants and arch to them, and his legs tremble when he is in a hurry, and sister Yao laughed behind his back." CH 43.2 Working as a thug in a brothel, what he saw and heard was all ugly, and Luo Biao had never studied. He didn''t know how to hide his words, and Shen Xuanqing didn''t feel anything when he heard it. He looked as usual and just said: "I came here today to entrust you with this matter. Since he likes to visit brothels, ask someone to take him go often, if you can make him rest in the building, it¡¯s best not to go home for ten days and a half months." He said, Shen Xuanqing pushed the money wrapped in red cloth over the table, which contained ten taels of silver, which was quite a lot. "Second Brother Shen, you are..." Luo Biao wanted to say no, but was interrupted. "Don¡¯t you need to drink when you are looking for someone to do business? The girls in the building also buy rouge and gouache." Shen Xuanqing raised his eyes slightly, and then said quietly: "I beg you to do something, and I will naturally spend the money. There is no need to shirk, just deal with the matter, later, I have to find you again." "Since that''s the case, don''t worry, Second Brother Shen, I will definitely do it." Luo Biao put the money aside and poured the wine for both of them. After getting drunk, he asked one more question why he had to deal with Li Mingshan at this moment. He knew about Lu Wen. He went when Shen Xuanqing got married before. When he heard that Lu Wen threatened the Shen family with the government, he patted the table and cursed a few foul words, and then patted his chest to guarantee that Li Mingshan, this grandson would be too hungry (for sex) to walk around. After returning home, his mother Zhang Shi blocked him at the door. Li Mingshan lied, saying that he was sleeping at a classmate''s house. If you were superior, you would never go astray, so that''s all. Speaking of which, most of Li Mingshan''s cronies and friends who came and went in the daytime were the same as him, with a shell of a scholar, only they knew the dirty inside, and they would help each other to make excuses to cover up, thinking that visiting brothels and drinking flowers wine were nothing, what was wrong with men having fun, if the family didn''t allow it, just didn''t let the family know. How could Lu Wen, a Shuang''er from the countryside knew about it even Zhang Shi didn¡¯t know? The Shuang''ers and girls of good people in the town, just like him, who hadn¡¯t left the burdoir couldn¡¯t easily know the dirty things of those men. Two days later, before evening, Li Mingshan was thinking about the feeling in the middle of the afternoon, and found a pretense of looking for a classmate friend to leave the house. Even Lu Wen, he didn''t bother to look at him, and went straight to the brothel. It was a coincidence that he met Bu Zicheng again, and the two sat at a table in the lobby to drink. While drinking, Bu Zicheng saw that Li Mingshan was holding the sister in his arms and was about to float away, so he couldn''t suppress the evil thoughts in his heart, and said with a light smile: "Brother Li, if Brother Li doesn''t dislike it, this shuang¡¯er beside me will be happy with you for tonight. Treat you as a brother." As soon as he opened his mouth, Shuang''er beside him sat down beside Li Mingshan, which made Li Mingshan''s eyes widened in surprise, there was such a good thing. Bu Zicheng didn''t invite him for nothing, and when he saw him taking the bait, he lowered his voice and said, "I heard that Lu Wen live in the town recently, if Brother Li doesn''t mind, how about we play for a while?" CH 44.1 Lu Wen sat by the window, frowning and thinking. The Shen family made him lost face in the street. He was very annoyed and wanted to find a way to suppress them. At worst, he would make Shen Xuanqing unable to sell his prey in the town, even if he couldn¡¯t interfere for a long time. But Li Mingshan hadn''t been here for the past few days, and the servant girl said that she didn''t see the young master when she went back to Li''s house, and the maid said that he went to find his classmates to write poems and compete. Lu Wen was not suspicious of this, after all, he didn''t know anything. Just as he was thinking about asking the maid to go back, there was movement in the front yard. Lu Wen himself used the secret door, and only Li Mingshan would go through the front door. This was the yard he bought. The front door was usually locked, so no one could find Lu Wen. Lu Wen lived here, and every time he wanted to find Lu Wen, sometimes Li Mingshan would go through the secret door. Lu Wen''s classmate''s elder brother and Li Mingshan were also classmates, so it was easier to get in and out under the name of a classmate. Sometimes he wanted to stay with Lu Wen for a while longer, but he felt that if the others knew and became his weaknesses for someone to take advantage of him. Li Mingshan would enter through the main entrance of the courtyard, and his classmates wouldn¡¯t know. [ÀÉ l¨¢ng: a youth] After drinking, Li Mingshan still smelled of powder on his body, but he was drunk now, and seeing Lu Wen, with a handsome and lovely appearance, he was so beautiful, he swallowed his saliva and walked forward, without even thinking about the aftertaste of the fragrance. "Have you been drinking?" Seeing that his cheeks were flushed, Lu Wen still didn''t suspect anything. Drinking was not a big deal, so he asked with concern. It was just that after asking, before hearing Li Mingshan''s words, as soon as he got close, Lu Wen smelled the scent of powder on his body, and his face became hesitant. Li Mingshan''s heart was agitated immediately, and he lied all over his mouth, he said: "Why do you say this? My heart to you, don¡¯t you know? I¡¯m not going to hide it from you, today they got up and dragged me to the brothel for a drink. I couldn¡¯t help it, so I had to go.¡± CH 44.2 To be the young fulang of the Li family, Lu Wen was looking forward to this wholeheartedly, and felt that it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for Li Mingshan to trouble the Shen family before getting married. Li Mingshan had to rely on the Li family''s money to do things. If the old lady of the Li family knew, even if the quarrel in the street was not his fault, then the fact that theShen family had entanglements with him before, and he had made an appointment with Shen Xuanqing, it must not be known by the Li family, otherwise it would be bad for the marriage. So he took a break from his thoughts for a while, even after the cloud and rain, he didn''t say anything when the affection was strong and tender, he just snuggled to Li Mingshan and intentionally or unintentionally mentioned something about getting married as soon as possible. CH 45.1 During the autumn harvest season, rice chaff could be seen everywhere in Qingxi Village. There were chaff and rice bran on the ground outside the village. These chaff were not thrown away. Every family swept it and saved them to feed chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep. Poor people didn¡¯t dare to throw it away, rice bran was something that could satisfy hunger and satiety. With an empty dustpan in one hand, he counted the chickens and ducklings who were pecking at their food, and he was relieved when he saw that none of them were missing, but he watched the limp chick in the corner, why was there blood on its body? When the two of them came back from picking the medicine, Shen Yan smashed it with the stone to make a green medicine juice, and Lu Gu carefully found a piece of rag, since when he put the medicine on, the chick would shake and the medicine would fall off, so it was better to wrap it around. After the two of them finished, Shen Xuanqing also set up a small fence in the backyard, drove the chickens and ducks into it, and separated them from the big ones. Lu Gu put the injured one in as well. He originally wanted to keep the injured one alone in the front yard, but seeing the lively and sturdy appearance of the pup that could only bite the leg of the stool, so he had no choice but to give up. Speaking of which, the cub was quite close to Lu Gu. Once Shen Xuanqing left on the mountain, there were only the two of them left. Compared to the chickens and ducks, the cub really looked like a child. He followed Lu Gu wherever he went, with a pair of bright black eyes open. He tilted his eyes and barked a few times, his small ears swayed with his head, sometimes his fat little paws would step on his shoe uppers, and his fat and round body, not to mention it was very cute. When Lu Gu returned to the front yard, the pup who had been yelled at by Dahui didn¡¯t dare to go to Dahui again. It found a corner and lay down, with its small head resting on its two front paws. His eyes looked pitiful and aggrieved. Seeing this, Lu Gu walked over, knelt down in front of it, patted its head, and lightly squeezed one of its ears, and said, "If you are a good boy, Dahui won''t mad at you." No one spoke to him in the mountains, sometimes the cub was too naughty, he couldn''t help but to hug it and say a few words, the cub was not human, even if he didn''t understand what he was talking about, he would still wag his little tail and tilt his head to listen. As Lu Gu said, he picked the pup from the ground, turned his head and saw Shen Xuanqing coming out of the main room, and stood there in a little embarrassed, thinking that no one would talk to a dog like him, if he was heard, they would definitely laugh at him. Compared to him, Lu Gu seemed to be more comfortable with the puppy. After noticing Lu Gu''s embarrassment, Shen Xuanqing narrowed his gaze, he thought for a while and said, "It''s been so long since we carried it back, so we should give it a name." He didn''t mention what happened just now, and didn''t laugh at him, letting Lu Gu quietly put back the raised heart, he thought for a while and couldn''t figure it out, so he said: "I don''t understand this, you give it." CH 45.2 Country people named the dogs according to their colors, mostly rhubarb (huang), gray (hui) and black (hei), something like that, or Wangcai (Íú²Æ: prosperous wealth), Shen Xuanqing remembered that Lu Gu told the pup to be good just now, and thought to himself that this pup was really tough, so it was better to call him a Guaizi (¹Ô×Ð: obedient, well-behaved cub), so that it could be more compliant. " Guaizi, Guaizi, call him that first." Shen Xuanqing said, without much thought for a name, the pup was raised in the country, and when he grew up just called him Guaizi. He had never studied, so it was not convenient to call him by a polite name. Guaizi, Lu Gu said the name, hugged the pup and called out Guaizi, but the pup was busy biting his sleeve and didn''t respond to the name. Shen Xuanqing saw it and said: "He will know after barking for a while." "Yes." Lu Gu nodded, his sleeves were full of drool, and he put the pup down. At the time of You shi (5-7 pm), the sun was slowly setting towards the west, a fire was set up in the yard, and the firewood was crackling. Lu Gu and Ji Qiuyue sat in front of the small fire and roasted some autumn rice fishes. CH 46.1 Chapter 46 The salty long beans were mixed with rice, and it was the first time that Lu Gu knew that long beans could be so delicious, and he even ate half a bowl of dry rice. Shen Yan was even more stuffed, clutching her stomach and saying it was uncomfortable, Wei Lanxiang poked her forehead and scolded her with a smile, ¡°why are you so greedy, you eat yourself until like this, don''t eat like this at night, you will have a long memory.¡± Shen Yan was too overwhelmed to squat down to wash the dishes, so Lu Gu put away the dishes and went to wash it without saying a word. He was squatting in the kitchen, and he could still hear Shen Yan yelling in the main room, so Wei Lanxiang asked her to get up and walk. "This Guaizi, even if he is called guai (¹Ô gu¨¡i: obedient, well-behaved;), he was not good." Ji Qiuyue grabbed the puppy by the back of his neck and pulled him out from the vegetable field in the front yard. The puppy chewed several leaves of qiuchai (Çï²Ë qi¨± c¨¤i: autumn vegetables). When Lu Gu came out of the kitchen after washing the dishes, the puppy was chasing after him, trying to bite his trousers, he was really like a monkey. After selling the rice yesterday, there was no other work at home. The busy autumn harvest was over. Now they didn¡¯t have to work anymore after eating, and they could take a rest. There were also people who had a lot of things to pick and choose. He had tried to sell it like this twice and found it troublesome, so he wouldn¡¯t do it anymore. Anyway, the fur would be expensive to sell, so he wouldn¡¯t lose money. He kept three ugly furs, Shen Xuanqing tied up the rest and took the fur to the old hunter for the winter. The sun was shining outside, Lu Gu was sitting under the eaves embroidering sachets, and the puppy was playing in front of him, Shen Yan felt less uncomfortable after walking around for a while, and leaned over to look at the things Lu Gu embroidered. CH 46.2 Before winter, the wheat was planted on the dry land, qiuchai and chaidou was planted in two acres of land. Soaked chaidou in advance, put them in when cooking rice porridge, and boiled them together with white rice. chaidou was fragrant and sticky, and it tasted good. When he and Wei Lanxiang put away a big load of qiuchai, the cart was almost full. They ate early today, and it was only noon now. Shen Xuanqing looked at the sky and said, "Now that it''s ready, just go after the sun is not so hot." Wei Lanxiang nodded, she glanced at Lu Gu, and asked, "Are you alone or not?" Shen Xuanqing also looked over, met the eyes of Lu Gu who raised his head, and said, "Let''s go, and see shifu and shimu." "Well, it''s a long way to go, it''s good to have a companion, come back tomorrow night, I''ll leave some food for you two." Wei Lanxiang said while washing her hands. After noon, the sun was not so bright, so he packed up and went out with Shen Xuanqing. "Shifu and the others live in Jixing Town. After passing Fenggu Town, it¡¯s about 20 miles away, which is far away." Shen Xuanqing said while pulling the cart. Lu Gu nodded. It was indeed far away. Their Qingxi Village was more than ten miles away from Fenggu Town, and they arrived in three quarters of an hour. Jixing Town was on the other side of Fenggu Town, he had only heard of it. Knowing that he had never traveled far, Shen Xuanqing comforted him again: "It''s not urgent, you don''t need to hurry too much. If you''re tired, take a rest halfway, and you''ll be there when you walk." Apart from his apprehension, the farthest places he had been to were Fenggu Town in the south and Niujia village in the west. He was still a little curious about Jixing Town in the south, wondering what the scene was like there. Lu Gu was very familiar with the road to Fenggu Town. He was used to walk on mountain roads. This time, only Shen Xuanqing was pulling the cart. He didn¡¯t carry anything on his back. They walked slowly and even took a break on the road, so he didn¡¯t get tired. CH 47.1 Hearing this, Yang Xian said to his four-year-old eldest daughter: "Ni''er, take your xiaoma (СæÖ xiaoma: little mother)Gu Zi to find grandma first, and tell her that Uncle Erqing is here, go quickly." Looking like a doll in a New Year picture, she obediently grabbed Lu Gu''s hand and walked into the courtyard. When the younger brother, who was almost two years old, saw his sister went in, he also entered the courtyard like a bum beetle. Yan Shi was stunned for a moment, when Shen Xuanqing came in with a cart and saw her in the yard. Then he shouted: "Mother " [Yan Shi: After marrying, a woman name become her father¡¯s surname and the affix ¡°shi,¡± meaning clan/maiden name] "Hey!" Yan Shi was also happy to see Shen Xuanqing, and the little old lady laughed and scolded: "My son said about you before, the second boy has no conscience, so he doesn''t come to see mother." "Am I not bringing my fulang to see you now?." Shen Xuanqing said with a smile after stopping. [ÀÏ lao: old (of people), Ñî yang: surname, Í· tou: the head, chief, boss] "And this one, it''s a fur coat for winter, the one in the front was old." Shen Xuanqing showed him the rabbit fur again. Seeing his apprentice cared for him so much, Lao Yang was so happy that his eyes became smaller, and he couldn''t help but said yes. Yan Shi brought pumpkins and dates for Lu Gu, and made two bowls of honey water for him and Shen Xuanqing to drink. When she heard that there was something for Lao Yang, she told Lu Gu to try it quickly, and walked to the cart to see if there was any for her. Shen Xuanqing knew she was waiting when he saw her expression, and said with a smile: "Aniang, this medlar is often soaked to drink, it¡¯s good for the body, and there are also wild bath beads, which my fulang picked and brought a lot. The qiucai at home were dug by my mother, let you try something new." After telling her this, Shen Xuanqing took out the cloth and said: "This cloth is for you to make new clothes for you. There are a lot of furs for the master, and there are still some furs left, you can make a pair of fur shoes and wear them for warmth in winter." The old lady took the cloth from him with a smile, and complained: "I just said, you only remember the old man and don¡¯t think about me.¡± The cloth was very good, thick and comfortable, Yan Shi turned to the side when Lao Yang came over to look at it, stared and didn¡¯t let him touch the cloth, thinking his hands were dirty, she hurried into the room and put it in the box, and brought Lu Gu some pastries and dried fruits when she came out again. When Ni¡¯er saw the sweet cake, she clamored to eat it. Lu Gu took a piece for her and her younger brother. She ate the sweet cake and went to the cart to have a look. There were so many chestnuts and hazelnuts in the tall bamboo basket that her mouth was open. She had eaten both, so she knew they were edible. Shen Xuanqing and Yang Xian carried the rice down, as well as the two live bamboo chickens with their feet tied. Looking down, they saw the fat baby in front of the bamboo basket reaching in and grabbing a handful of chestnuts and hazelnuts. She was only four years old, no matter how big she was, she could only grab two. Ni¡¯er held the chestnut and looked up at him, hiding her fat hands behind her back. She knew that the things belonged to someone else, so she felt a little guilty when someone found it. "Eat." Shen Xuanqing said with a smile, and asked her again: "Will you peel it?" He smiled, and Ni''er smiled too, took a bite of the sweet cake and shook her head, and said vaguely in her mouth: "No, but my grandpa can peel it." "Chestnuts are raw, you can only eat one, and the hazelnuts will be knocked and eaten by Grandpa." After Shen Xuanqing finished speaking, he saw her bulging cheeks, and she was busy eating, but he didn''t know if she listened. "Second boy, wash your hands quickly, sit down and rest." Yan Shi asked Yang Xian to carry all the things into the grain room, and she fetched water for Shen Xuanqing to wash. Lu Gu sat in front of the stone table, the younger brother finished eating the sweet cake, he spoke late, not very quick, pointed to the cake on the table and looked at Lu Gu, motioned for him to take it and said: "Eat, eat." "Ouch , you still eat, how much you have eaten this day." When Yan Shi heard that her grandson still wanted to eat, she only broke off a small piece. In the alley next door, the little grandson of the Wang family ate too much and went to the doctor crying and complaining because of stomachache. She was not afraid of her grandson eating, but she was afraid of him getting hurt. That was called suffering. Shen Xuanqing washed his hands and sat down next to Lu Gu, Yan Shi dismissed her grandson and also sat down to talk to her second boy. CH 47.2 There was constant chatter and laughter in the courtyard, and Lao Yang knocked two hazelnuts for Ni¡¯er, interjecting from time to time, Yang Xian was still busy with the tavern, so he sat with them for a while and then left. Lu Gu didn''t talk much, he only agreed in a low voice when someone asked him, but he gradually let go of his anxiety, thinking that shifu''s family was also good people. It was just that he thought he was going to call Shimu, but he didn''t expect that Shen Xuanqing called aniang. Speaking of which, this happened several years ago. Shen Xuanqing worshiped Lao Yangtou as his shifu at the age of ten, and Yan Shi was still living with Lao Yangtou in Qingxi Village at that time. Shen Xuanqing was a handsome boy when he was a child, he grew tall since he was a child, and he was flexible in running and jumping. Lao Yang saw that he was a piece of material, so he not only taught him hunting skills, but also taught him some fists, feet and sticks. [¿¡ j¨´n: smart; eminent; handsome; talented, Éúsh¨¥ng: to be born; to give birth; life; to grow] At that time, Wei Lanxiang was not happy because of this matter, why did her youngest son call someone else mother, but seeing that Lao Yangtou and Yan Shi were both good to Shen Xuanqing, sometimes she didn''t need her own mother to control the food and drink, and even made clothes for him, she had to give up and admit it. Shen Xuanqing was also smart, and when he realized it, he always talked good about his shimu in front of Wei Lanxiang. After three years of his apprenticeship with Lao Yang, Yang Xian''s wife gave birth and had to be taken care of by someone, so Yan Shi had to come to Jixing Town, so she couldn''t see her Erqing boy from a distance, and sometimes he kept talking about him. Another two years later, Lao Yang was getting older, and he had taught Shen Xuanqing everything he should have taught him. He had no one to cook in the village, and it was not decent to go to Shen''s house to eat often. It was flourishing, and Yang Xian had money in his hands. Seeing that his father was getting old, he asked him to come to the town. It happened that he and his second brother both had children, so he let the old man and the old lady who had nothing to do to play with their grandchildren and enjoy themselves. Although Zhang Shi had a bit of a plan, she was not a bad person. People treated her well and she treated others well. Now the kind smile on her face became sincere, and she smiled in response to Yan Shi''s words: "Erqing is tired all the way, I come back to see Aunt Wang¡¯s house picking sour fruit at the entrance of the alley, I want some for you to try.¡± She put away the hair oil as she said that, and Ni¡¯er wanted to follow her. It was getting late, Yan Shi thought of something, got up and said to Shen Xuanqing beside her, "Don''t leave tonight, I will make a bed for you two, stay for two days." There was still a wink, so needless to say, he followed into the room and joined hands. CH 48.1 In the evening, when they were having dinner at Yang''s tavern, Lao Yangtou asked his third son Yang Yi to be called in. Originally, he wanted his wife and children to go together, but Yang Yi''s wife had been ill these two days, and she had already taken the medicine and fell asleep, so he only brought the children over. After the excitement was over, it felt a bit awkward to be alone in the room, but Lu Gu was indeed tired, so he lay down on the bed first. Ni''er raised her head, he was too tall for her small body, maybe she felt tired, so she turned her head and said to Lu Gu: "Xiaoma, I want to eat hazelnuts, but grandpa still didn''t get up." Yan Shi and LaoYang sent them out of the alley, and when they were about to send them off, Shen Xuanqing stopped them. The old man and the old lady were old, especially Yan Shi, whose legs were not as good as before. The daughter-in-law was busy in the tavern, and there were children to look after. CH 48.2 The empty cart was easy after all, there was only a large bag of pastries that Yan Shi went out to buy in the morning, and a few new snacks in the town in the bamboo basket. Coming out of the alley, they went to Changxing Street, and they had to pass by Yang''s Tavern when they went back. Shen Xuanqing stopped at the door after walking for a while, and went in to say goodbye to Yang Xian. When Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing walked to the oil shop on Changxing Street, smelling the aroma of sesame oil, Shen Xuanqing stopped again to buy, they came out without a pot, and the bamboo tube was to hold water for drinking on the road. They bought some clay pots together, and kept some at home when they went back, and brought some to the mountain. It wasn¡¯t that they didn''t have an oil shop, but since they passed here and the oil smelled really good, it was better to buy it. Pedestrians were in a hurry, and they were among them. Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing on the return road, and they didn¡¯t come back until the setting sun was shining, and it was dusk. As soon as they came back, Wei Lanxiang made a fuss about serving food for the two of them, and they must be hungry after walking all this way. Shen Xuanqing nodded and said yes, and briefly told her about the people and things he saw in the past. When she heard that Ni¡¯er was chubby and cute, Wei Lanxiang said nothing, but she also wanted to hug her grandson and granddaughter in her heart. The days were getting better now, not to mention the second child, the eldest daughter-in-law should also have a baby, but this kind of thing couldn''t be rushed even if it was urgent, she could only say something to the eldest son and the eldest daughter-in-law in private. His legs were tired from the journey, and Lu Gu was lying on the bed after washing at night. Speaking of which, he had only been in the Shen''s house for a few months, and he stayed outside for the night last night. He looked at the top of the bed curtain and thought about something on his mind. For a while, he thought of the word "go home", and for a while it was something else, and it was difficult to fall asleep in a short time. The lights in the room hadn''t been turned off yet, and Shen Xuanqing poured the foot washing water outside and came back. Lu Gu was already lying down, seeing him coming in now, he sat up with his arms propped up, hesitantly looked at the man beside the bed who wanted to blow the lamp. Seeing this, Shen Xuanqing didn''t turn off the lights, and asked: "What''s the matter?" Lu Gu who was worried didn¡¯t dare to look up, lowered his eyes and asked in a low voice: "Are you going to the mountain tomorrow?" "Do you want to go or not?" Shen Xuanqing asked him patiently. [¹©¹û g¨°ng guo: the fruits for sacrificial offering] His eyes were moist and he said: "There is also new rice. This year we have harvested a lot of new rice and steamed it to eat. It¡¯s very delicious. I ate several bowls, and Erqing bring it for you when we come." The offerings were made, and the burnings were finished. Lu Gu wiped away his tears and was about to kowtow when Shen Xuanqing spoke. CH 49.1 The ember in front of the grave was moved by the wind, and Lu Gu burst into tears, crying silently. The deep voice was indescribably pleasant, Lu Gu sniffed lightly, and his eyes were a little sore after hearing this, but he didn''t cry, he just nodded his head heavily, and gave a nasal "huh". As he walked, Lu Gu thought about everything that happened after he arrived at Shen''s house, and Shen Xuanqing''s words just now, his heart was inevitably sour, and this sourness made him wanted to grab Shen Xuanqing''s clothes again, but he himself didn''t know why. They hadn¡¯t arrived at Qingxi Village yet, the autumn harvest was over, and there were few people on the road, Shen Xuanqing was beside him, Lu Gu couldn''t hold back, and quietly raised his hand to hold some fabric from Shen Xuanqing''s clothes. After finishing all the things that should be busy, Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing packed the next day and went to the mountain again. It was mid-morning when they left, and as soon as they went out to the north hillside, there were red persimmons hanging from the persimmon tree outside the mud wall of the north of Shen''s house. Wei Lanxiang saw it and said, "The persimmons are ripe, bring some for you two." "Mother, there are some on the mountain, no need." Shen Xuanqing didn''t go to pick them, and the wild persimmons in the mountains were beginning to ripen, and the taste was not much different , they were all sweet persimmons, why bother to pull the ones from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain. Lu Gu had been in the mountains with Shen Xuanqing for so long, knowing where there were persimmons to pick, naturally he was not greedy for them. That being the case, Wei Lanxiang didn''t say anything else, stopped outside the house, and watched the two of them went to the mountain. There were some things on the cart, and there were Lugu¡¯s chickens and ducks in the cages. Dahui and the other dogs were exploring the way ahead, sniffing at the roots of the trunks, sometimes lifting their hind legs to pee as a mark. CH 49.2 Lu Gu carried a bamboo basket with a puppy in it, barking twice from time to time, the cart was bumpy, and sometimes went uphill and downhill, afraid that the puppy wouldn¡¯t be able to move around on the cart, such a small puppy with short legs couldn¡¯t catch up with them with many mountain roads, so he still worried about carrying him on his back. After the two walked and rested to the mountain, they were cooking and unloading the cart, and then fed the chickens and ducks, no different from the previous ones. A rack was added to the pot, and a few steamed buns were placed in it to heat them up. As soon as Lu Gu lit the fire, Shen Xuanqing came in from the outside. He squatted in front of the stove and subconsciously looked up. After a slight pause, Shen Xuanqing said, "I''ll cook the pot, and you chop the vegetables." He looked more natural than Lu Gu, and it was not like he didn''t help Lu Gu to light the fire before, but after yesterday, there was something different between the two of them. Yes, even Lu Gu noticed it. "Yeah." Lu Gu nodded, got up and stepped aside, and went to the chopping board to chop the vegetables. CH 50.1 The only wisp of cooking smoke in the mountain forest rose, and the barking of dogs came from a distance, not only Lu Gu who heard it, the puppy howled towards the door a few times, as if he was responding to Dahui. "I''ll carry it." Seeing that Shen Xuanqing had to drag the dwarf deer, Lu Gu knew that he couldn''t control it. If the dwarf deer broke free, wouldn''t it be a waste of work for today, it would be better for him to carry the bamboo basket. It was not far from the yard, and the bamboo basket wasn''t too heavy, so Shen Xuanqing gave it to Lu Gu, saying: "Dahui and the others caught two long-tailed pheasants, and they are all inside." The bamboo basket was big enough, but Lu Gu was also able to carry it, and seeing Shen Xuanqing smiling all the time, he was also happy, and said: "I picked some persimmons, they are all red, you can eat them when you peel them off." "Okay, I''ll eat one." Shen Xuanqing agreed, with a smile on his handsome face. And compared to the timid and cowardly one before, Lu Gu would gradually show a light smile, although not many times, but his brows and eyes were slightly curved, his eyes were bright and energetic, and he could tell that he was in a good mood just by looking at him. Once back, Shen Xuanqing drove a wooden stake to the corner of the backyard, nailed it deep into the ground, and tied the deer with a short hemp rope. The puppy was very curious about the dwarf deer, and he followed Shen Xuanqing to the backyard when he was working. The chickens and ducks were all in the fence, so he couldn''t get in. When he wanted to bite the chickens and ducks, he was taught a lesson by Dahui¡¯s growl. Now that he had a little memory, he only opened his mouth to bite when he was excited to play, but with Lu Gu watching, he grabbed him away every time. CH 50.2 On the bed, Shen Xuanqing didn''t fall asleep for a while, turned over and hugged Lu Gu in his arms, and then felt satisfied and comfortable. When he couldn''t talk back just now, he thought that Lu Gu would be frightened. Lu Gu''s eyes were indeed a little flustered, but he didn''t say anything, even after thinking about it, Lu Gu had never told him that he was afraid, and trembling with fear, he couldn¡¯t speak. He thought about it, sighed slightly, hugged the person in his arms and gradually fell asleep. The next day, after Shen Xuanqing left, Lu Gu went back to the courtyard, closed the door and tried to move the tree trunk. It was really difficult, but he could move it, so he felt much more relieved. It was still early, and the dew outside was a bit heavy. He didn¡¯t let the chickens and ducks out. After sweeping the house and the sun came out, he moved the bamboo plaques out from the main room. The mushrooms and goji berries he picked yesterday were dried before they could be put up. The puppy who was sleeping on the sack woke up, no longer curled up into a ball of fluffy meat, he yawned, stood up and stretched, then shook his round and fat body and walked towards Lu Gu , barking and rubbing against Lu Gu''s legs, it was time to eat. Lu Gu broke a steamed bun for him, and a few pieces of cooked rabbit meat. Dahui and the others like to eat the cooked ones. After the meat was cooked, the puppy also ate with them together. Lu Gu gave the remaining pieces to him, put it into the basin and poured water into the nearby dog??bowl. The puppy put his head down and picked the meat to eat first. He could eat meat every two or three days, and he was really well-raised. Seeing that he was eating fast, Lu Gu couldn''t help touching his head. The puppy was taught not to be too protective of his food, so he allowed Lu Gu to touch him. When the sun was high, it was time to let the chickens and ducks out to graze. Lu Gu went to the backyard. The dwarf deer was still tied in a corner, lying on the ground. When people came, he raised his head vigilantly. Lu Gu saw that it was still alive. He didn¡¯t need to worry, as for the leg injury, Shen Xuanqing said it didn''t matter, and he would change the medicine when he came back. After driving the chickens and ducks to the fence outside the yard, Lu Gu pulled a bundle of grass before going back. Both the long-tailed pheasant in the woodshed and the dwarf deer in the backyard had to be fed. The long-tailed pheasant could fly by flapping its wings. Shen Xuanqing was worried, so he locked the pheasant in the woodshed. The pheasant was alright, Lu Gu thought that if he wanted to raise the dwarf deer, he had to feed it, otherwise it would be a pity for such a fat prey to be bred and sold. He still remembered the first time Shen Xuanqing took him to the town Although the dwarf deer was different from the sika deer, the young deer price was worth some money. He asked last night, and Shen Xuanqing said that the dwarf deer ate both grass and leaves. He pulled out different grasses and went back to see which kind of grass the dwarf deer like to eat, but the dwarf deer was wary, and it didn¡¯t move its mouth much in front of him, so he had to carry the basket to pick dipicai first. Lu Gu was picking dipicais around the courtyard. He didn''t walk too far, and the courtyard door was still open. The puppy followed him all the time, running, dancing and having fun. After picking up a basket of dipicai, Lu Gu sat in the yard and cleaned it, washed it twice with water, and spread it on a bamboo plaque to dry when it was clean. Don''t be too distracted if you want to do more delicate work. No one talked to him, he just thought about things by himself, there were not many bamboo strips, and when Shen Xuanqing was busy hunting foxes, he had to chop some bamboo back, the bamboo plaques were small, and it was convenient to dry the wolfberry and mushrooms, and poured them into the cloth bag directly after drying, but he still had to weave a big bamboo mat to dry a lot of wild vegetables. When he was busy, he didn''t feel anything, but at night, the mountains and forests seemed extraordinarily quiet. After fixing the courtyard door, Lu Gu sat in the courtyard and waited for a long time, afraid that if he closed the door, Shen Xuanqing wouldn¡¯t be able to enter the door if he came back. The puppy stayed with him in the yard until the moon was in the middle of the sky. There was no sound of people or dogs barking outside. He looked up at the moon for a while before going back to his room to sleep. CH 51.1 In the early morning, the mountains were misty, and a wisp of cooking smoke wafted from the high-walled courtyard in the deep mountains . Lu Gu sat silently in front of the stove to boil water, looking a little tired. CH 51.2 Remembering that he hadn¡¯t dug loach recently, the sun was hot now, and it wasn¡¯t cold in the water, so he took off his shoes and socks and went to the river to dig the mud to find the loach. The loach would have to be raised for two days to spit out the sand, so it wouldn¡¯t be too late, Shen Xuanqing would definitely come back tomorrow, just in time to eat. The fish soup was made with miscellaneous fishes, and the stewed loach would be a little too much, so he cut the loach into long pieces and fried it, added some dried chili and pepper, and fried it with a little more oil to make it spicy. There was a lot of work to be done, while Lu Gu was digging the mud, he was thinking that it was time to pick goji berries tomorrow. Once he got busy, he forgot the loneliness of being alone, and there were puppy barking from time to time, and the ducks quacking. It was still lively . In the middle of the afternoon, he drove the ducks out of the pond, put them in the fence with the chickens to let them eat grass, he cut the grass and carried it to the backyard for the dwarf deer to eat, and found sour red berries and other things outside. The pair of wild rabbits that Shen Xuanqing caught alive before were still alive, and they were brought home when the autumn harvest. Because the mother rabbit was pregnant, she didn''t bring the cubs, so Shen Yan raised them. When she made a litter of rabbit cubs, the cubs could be raised to sell. CH 52.1 Some time ago, they were busy with the autumn harvest, and they were too tired to care about other things every day. He hadn¡¯t shared a bed with Lu Gu for more than twenty days. In addition, he was indeed young, and felt restless when he hugged his fulang. Lu Gu was the most patient and didn''t say much, but Shen Xuanqing became more and more reckless, causing him to almost bump into the head of the bed. Although he suppressed it all the time, under the pain, he finally couldn''t hold back his soft hissing and panting slightly, The sound from the throat was soft, obviously trembling from pain. In the dark, Shen Xuanqing''s ears were more alert than ordinary people, how could he didn¡¯t hear it. The night was hazy, and the slight movements on the bed froze all of a sudden. Shen Xuanqing stopped and didn''t make any movements for a while, he was so stiff that he couldn''t even speak. Before getting married, he had read the picture books, and he had also heard some relevant remarks from men of the same age in the village, saying that after the consummation of the house, he would gradually feel some joy. Shen Xuanqing didn''t speak dirty words, but sometimes he heard other men''s commented about the house. The young people in the nearby villages knew each other and bragging to others. Such gossip and rumors spread in private, so even he had heard it. Many men felt that they were capable if they had fun together or even made the person next to the bed missed them. He also felt pain when they shared the same bed for the first time, but then it got better, and he thought that Lu Gu was the same as him, so he got a lot of fun out of it. He never told anyone about this, but he made his fulang happy, so he felt that he had the ability. However, the voice he heard just now let him know that Lu Gu had been enduring all this time, without any joy, even pain. The young man who was full of vigor never thought of this encounter, he was hit all of a sudden, and he froze and remained motionless. After the pain passed, Lu Gu suddenly noticed Shen Xuanqing''s stiffness. Thinking back, it was because he made a sound, and immediately thought that he had done something wrong. He shouldn''t have made a sound. He was trembling all over. The night became quiet and oppressive, Shen Xuanqing didn''t move for a while, Lu Gu was about to cry from fright, tears welled up in his eyes, finally he had no choice but to bite his lower lip, enduring the extreme shame, and moved under Shen Xuanqing, actively stick to him. Lu Gu was no longer in the ignorant state where he didn''t understand anything in the past, but it was not always true to say that he understood everything very well. He only knew that according to the past, it was not time to stop now, and he was afraid that he would annoy Shen Xuanqing by doing something wrong. He tried his best to bring things back to the same way as those nights before. Fulang took the initiative to post it. It was really warm and fragrant soft jade. Shen Xuanqing, who was in a stagnant state, was embarrassed and angry. He got impatient, and probed slowly. Needless to say the subsequent suffering and torture, Shen Xuanqing, who had always been confident, had to say that he was depressed all night and almost didn''t fall asleep. Early the next morning. Lu Gu opened his eyes and looked at the roof. Shen Xuanqing was lying beside him, and the two of them were not hugging each other. He still remembered what happened last night, so he was a little afraid to make a sound, but the sunlight came in through the cracks of the window, and the sun was out. If he laid down again, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything today. He sat up carefully, and wanted to go down to boil water and cook after he was dressed. You have to cook scramble eggs, Shen Xuanqing liked to eat this, maybe he wouldn''t be angry after eating it, Lu Gu couldn''t think of any other way. Shen Xuanqing slept on the outside, he was tall, completely blocking his way out of bed, if he wanted to get out of bed he had to turn over Shen Xuanqing, but how dared he did this. Fortunately, Shen Xuanqing also woke up and sat up. He took off his underwear at night. He stretched out his arms to reach the clothes thrown at the foot of the bed with his bare upper body. His slender and strong figure was exposed, making Lu Gu lowered his head and didn¡¯t dare to look at it. "You rest, I''m going to boil the water." Shen Xuanqing got out of bed after getting dressed, and asked again after standing beside the bed: "What do you want to eat? Hot steamed buns or pancakes?" Lu Gu who had moved to the bed and was about to put on his shoes, looked up at him, seeing that his expression was gloomy and his usual smile was no longer there, he panicked with fright, his throat tightened, and he whispered repeatedly: "I''ll go, I''ll go." Shen Xuanqing pinched the center of his brows, put down his hands and pressed Lu Gu''s shoulders, letting him sit back on the bed, with a look of helplessness, he pursed his lips before saying: "You, you are in pain, you should rest and recuperate, I''ll go." After that, he rubbed Lu Gu''s untied hair, smiled lightly to show comfort, and then went to boil the water. Lu Gu sat on the edge of the bed in a daze for a moment, then frowned slightly, worried and aggrieved, not knowing what to do. He knew that Shen Xuanqing was good to him. He had been working for a long time at night several times before, and Shen Xuanqing wouldn''t let him work the next day, but this time it was different, Shen Xuanqing didn''t smile when he got up. If he wanted to ask, he felt ashamed and didn''t dare to ask such a thing in front of a man. He was worried and had no choice, so he finally stood up and folded the quilt first. After a day for rest, Shen Xuanqing went out to hunt the foxes again. Lu Gu watched him walked away with the three dogs at the door, and then called the puppy back to the yard. Thinking of the embarrassment of yesterday, even though he was still thinking about Shen Xuanqing not coming back at night, Lu Gu still let out a sigh of relief. He actually didn''t know what happened to Shen Xuanqing, but he looked at Shen Xuanqing''s gloomy expression, he didn¡¯t dare to gasp loudly. And the night before yesterday, he shamelessly approached Shen Xuanqing, and every time he thought about it, he felt unable to lift his head, how could he do such a thing. Therefore, both of them were embarrassed for a day, and the atmosphere was not as harmonious as before. CH 52.2 Fortunately, after two days of separation, Shen Xuanqing came back, looking more natural, with a smile on his handsome face, and besides the fox fur, he also brought back the honeycomb. "I dug a big nest and there were several of honeycombs. I took out three and left two for them. I didn''t took all of them, but it¡¯s enough for us." Shen Xuanqing put the honeycomb into the jar, broke off a large piece of honeycomb for Lu Gu to eat. Seeing that Shen Xuanqing smiled, and Lu Gu ate something sweet again, his brows and eyes were slightly curved, and there was also a slight smile. The previous matter was thrown to the back of their minds like this, neither of them thought about it anymore, and kept silent about it. However, there were still changes, at least for Shen Xuanqing, who didn''t figure it out how to have sex for a while, and would never touch Lu Gu again, he was afraid of losing face in front of his fulang, so he would cover it with work. Concealment was the best, and when hunting was busy, you could separate your mind from thinking about other things. Autumn rains, the sky was dark and hazy, and the undulating mountains in the distance were shrouded in rain and fog. The rain was getting heavier and it was rushing down. Lu Gu hurried into the yard wearing a coir raincoat and a bamboo hat. Shen Xuanqing, who was also dressed in the same attire, followed him, and the bamboo basket he brought back was filled with grass. Just now the rain slowed down, the drizzle was not heavy, and the dwarf deer and pheasants had no grass to eat, so they went out to gather some grass and came back. As for Lu Gu''s chickens and ducks, no need to worry, he happened to harvest some chicken grass and duck grass yesterday, as well as grain bran for the chickens and ducks to eat. The old hunter also used the woodshed to keep his prey, so the woodshed on the mountain was quite big. After the rain, Lu Gu drove all the chickens and ducks to the woodshed, and surrounded a place with firewood to prevent them from running around, otherwise the mountain rain outside would be too cold , wet and cold would make you sick. Even the dwarf deer was brought into the woodshed, but the hemp rope was shortened by Shen Xuanqing to save Lu Gu from worrying about the chickens and ducks being stepped on by it. Taking off the bamboo hat and coir raincoat, Lu Gu added a piece of firewood to the small medicine stove at the entrance of the main room. Fish soup was being stewed in clay pots on the stove. The thick white soup boiled quickly, and the fragrance was overflowing. After getting up, Shen Xuanqing went to fetch the bowl and spoon. The two of them had already eaten in the middle of the morning, and it was really cold when it rained and the wind blew, so they simply stewed some hot soup and drank a bowl of hot soup to eat a few pieces of meat to keep them warm. The puppy and the big dogs also stayed in the main room, otherwise they would go out to get soaked in the rain. Shen Xuanqing threw a roasted bamboo rat to each of them to eat. There was not much wind outside, only the rain was falling, dripping down from the eaves like a curtain. "There''s not much salt left." Lu Gu said after drinking half a bowl of soup, thinking about it. "Well, I''ll go down the mountain to buy some in two days." Shen Xuanqing replied. The two of them drank hot soup while looking at the mountain rain outside the house. They felt a little leisurely, and they didn''t stay idle after drinking. Lu Gu took a sewing basket to embroider with the light, and Shen Xuanqing took the bamboo he hadn''t finished weaving last time. The atmosphere was perfect, and sometimes they said a sentence or two, although not many, but also tender, it was much better to have someone with you than to be alone. The soil was wet after the rain, and the sun came out, but the ground was still wet and not suitable for walking long distances. Otherwise, your feet would be covered with wet mud, and you would have to scrape with branches after walking for a while to avoid heavy feet. Shen Xuanqing carried a bamboo basket on his back and went with Lu Gu to pick up mushrooms and vegetables. The autumn leaves fell all over the ground, some of which were still stained with cold rain water and hadn''t dried yet. "The day after tomorrow, it''s almost done, and it''s time to go down the mountain after tidying up tomorrow." Shen Xuanqing said while picking up vegetables. He got six red fox furs and one miscellaneous fox fur that was not good quality. These could be kept for the time being. After all, it was a long way to Fucheng. Wait until you saved more and sold them. It would get colder after a while , no need to worry about the fox furs not being sold. The pheasants, the rabbits, and the dwarf deer should be sold. The dwarf deer was injured and not strong enough. Although Lu Gu fed it well, it was imprisoned and depressed. It would be a pity if it lost weight later on. He could sell more while it was still fat. Hearing this, Lu Gu thought for a while and said: "Then bring medlars, a basket has already been dried. I also found some tianwogen, let¡¯s take them down, let brother Daqing to cover it with soil." Shen Xuanqing thought of the huge pile of tianwogens that Lu Gu had accumulated, and the two of them couldn''t finish it. Two days ago, he asked Lu Gu why he dug so much, and Lu Gu told him that it was winter rations to take down the mountain. It was hard to get up. Lu Gu was walking, when he saw dipicai, he squatted down, and said: "I dried the bamboo mushrooms, saved some for rations, and sold them in the town." Planning what to sell and what not to sell, Shen Xuanqing seldom intervened in this matter, just nodded and agreed. And when talking about going down the mountain, Lu Gu was too busy picking up dipicai and didn''t pay attention, Shen Xuanqing secretly sighed, his handsome brows were slightly frowned, he couldn''t figure out what to do about the intercourse, and he had to find someone to ask after going down the mountain to ask. As for who to look for, he frowned and thought for a while, Shen Yaoqing was no good, who would tell his family such a thing, the village chief and the others married a wife, but if he asked, he would be laughed at for a while, Fortunately, he remembered Luo Biao in the end. Although Luo Biao didn''t marry a wife, he often stayed in the brothel, and he thought he could help. CH 53.1 The mountain road was rugged, and it was not easy to walk with a cart. Not to mention it was muddy after the rain, it was easy to slip on the uphill and downhill. After two days of sunshine, the ground was a little dry. Lu Gu led the dwarf deer and walked in the front, Shen Xuanqing pulled the cart, the wheels creaked and creaked, the puppy ran with Dahui, and when the dwarf deer refused to leave, he imitated the big dog barking voice fiercely. The dwarf deer was injured in his front leg, so it walked slowly, and Shen Xuanqing was not in a hurry. Like the mule in the village, this dwarf deer was also a thing that could watch people order food. If it went to the millstone and saw that the person holding the whip was a woman or fulang, and the rope was put on it, it wouldn¡¯t pull the mill, It could only be led by a man. If the woman wanted to grind rice flour, just let it wear blindfold so it couldn''t see, she could draw a whip in the air and it would walk up. Lu Gu was not a big threat to the dwarf deer, and sometimes it would pull back the hemp rope desperately, trying to break free and escape. Fortunately, Lu Gu had been guarding against it, afraid that it would run away, and the hemp rope was very tight. Seeing it from behind, Shen Xuanqing put down the cart, picked the hemp rope from the cart as a whip, and whipped the dwarf deer hard a few times. His strength was stronger than Lu Gu, so the dwarf deer wouldn¡¯t struggle when it hurt. Although he was not in a hurry, this dwarf deer was dishonest, and it took too much time to walk, so Shen Xuanqing patted Dahui¡¯s neck and told him to go home first. Dahui, who understood the words, ran away, and the puppy subconsciously wanted to follow. Fortunately, Shen Xuanqing stopped him with quick hands and eyes. The mountain road was far away, and the puppy was not as fast as Dahui, so it was easy to get lost. The forest was so big , once lost, it was hard to find. "Dahei, come back." Shen Xuanqing whistled, calling to stop the black dog running at the back. The gray and white dog called Dabai, turned back when he heard the whistle, but Shen Xuanqing said "go" to him, and ran home first with Dahui. Dahui was smart and capable, but it was more reassuring to run back with multiple companions. "Let Brother Daqing come up and pull the dwarf deer, so as not to be delayed by it all the way." Shen Xuanqing explained while taking the puppy over, and put it down in front of Lu Gu. The puppy followed Lu Gu every day, and got close to him naturally, rubbing his body against Lu Gu''s calf. With the black dog around, the puppy stopped barking in a hurry, and ran ahead while wagging his tail, turning around and barking at Lu Gu from time to time, as if to ask him to keep up with him. After walking for a while and resting for a while, after stopping, Lu Gu drank a few sips of water, handed the bamboo tube to Shen Xuanqing, and whispered: "You drink." The dwarf deer was tied to a tree by Shen Xuanqing . The prey that was a little scattered due to the bumps along the way was gathered up. In addition to the prey, there were bamboo baskets full of things on the cart. The two baskets contained dipicai and fresh mushrooms, which were specially brought home. Yesterday the two of them also went to dig a bunch of slender young bamboo shoots, which were not as sweet and tender as the spring bamboo shoots, but slightly tenderer than the thick and big old bamboo shoots. They also picked a lot of wild bath beads, plus what Lu Gu picked before, they packed half of them in sacks, even if they cost six copper coins a catty, they could sell for at least more than three hundred copper coins. There were also people in Qianshan who often pick wild bath beads to sell. Lu Gu could sell so much money at a time, which seemed like a lot, but he walked longer and farther in the mountain road than others to bring it down. How could he make money so easily? Yes, he picked too much from that old tree, and the remaining ones hadn''t grown up yet, so he had to look around to see where there were wild bath bead trees. When he heard Dahui''s bark again, Lu Gu looked forward, and after a while, Wei Lanxiang and the other three appeared in his field of vision. "Erqing, Guzi." Before she came to him, Wei Lanxiang called both of them with a smile. Lu Gu responded with Shen Xuanqing, and seeing that Shen Yaoqing didn''t come, Shen Xuanqing knew that he was doing part-time work and not at home. Ji Qiuyue was very discerning, and as soon as she came over, she took the hemp rope in Lu Gu''s hand, and said with a smile, "This dwarf deer is quite fat." After doing the farm work, her hands were not light. In her eyes, Lu Gu was timid and his hands must be light, so she took the hemp rope from the cart, whipped the dwarf a few times, turned her head and said to Lu Gu: "You and Shen Yan go to push the cart, and I will pull it with mother." Hearing this, Lu Gu nodded in agreement, and went behind the cart with Shen Yan to push the cart. When they reached the steeper hillside, Wei Lanxiang also came to push. The three of them bowed their waists hard, and Shen Xuanqing, who was pulling the cart in the front, was obviously a little lighter. The road was more lively when there were more people, and the puppy was very excited. After all, he was small, and Lu Gu obviously loved him. After walking a little bit on the mountain road, Shen Xuanqing carried him into the cart, and now he got out of the cart. Jumping down, wagging his tail, running and having fun, amidst the sound of barking, a few people chatted and laughed and went home. After dinner, Lu Gu took four sachets from the room, handed them to Ji Qiuyue who was carrying a wooden basin to wash clothes, and said, "Sister-in-law, these are for you and brother Daqing" "So exquisite." Ji Qiuyue quickly put the wooden basin on the ground, took the sachet, smelled it, and said, "It''s so beautiful, the fragrance of this herbs is quite good, its smells like it can refresh your mind " The herbs inside were all found by Lu Gu in the mountains, among which the cold and refreshing herbs was the most difficult to find, he spent a long time in the mountains to find it, it took a lot of thought and effort. "The embroidery is really good. I''ll learn from you tomorrow." Ji Qiuyue knew that Lu Gu was going to embroider a sachet for Wei Lanxiang, but she didn''t expect that she and Shen Yaoqing would also had one. Embarrassed by the praise, Lu Gu lowered his head but his eyes were full of joy. Ji Qiuyue went to wash clothes by the river, for fear of losing the sachet, so she went into the room and put away the sachet. Wei Lanxiang was in the east room, and Lu Gu still had two in his hand. He also met Ji Qiuyue as soon as he left the room, so he gave it to her first. "Mother, this is for you." As soon as Lu Gu entered the east room, he saw Wei Lanxiang rummaging through the box, handed over the sachet, he saw Shen Yan coming over, and gave the rest to Shen Yan. "This flower embroiderer is really beautiful. Where could I find such a skillful fulang." Wei Lanxiang took a look, smiled from ear to ear, and praised him again. Even Shen Yan was overjoyed, looking at the flowers embroidered on it, she smiled and rolled her almond eyes. She was so big, how could she ever had such a beautiful sachet. Everyone in the family had them, and Shen Xuanqing naturally had a sachet, and Lu Gu gave it to him when he was the first to make it. Before it was time to make dinner in the afternoon, Wei Lanxiang was full of smiles, and took Shen Yan to buy tofu, and also bought some bacon to fried with bamboo shoots tomorrow. She had a brand new embroidered sachet hanging on her waist, It was bright and eye-catching, and everyone in the village would take a second look when they meet on the road. She stopped to show off to others, this was specially made by Lu Gu for her, and she took it off for those people to see and smell, looked at the color, looked at the embroidery, even the herbs inside were better than ordinary sachets smell, it could be regarded as letting her show off in front of the three aunts and six wives, her face was full of charming smiles. When Lu Gu got up early in the morning, he went to Fenggu Town with Shen Xuanqing, and the two first went to the morning market to sell things. Lu Gu often sold wild bath beads and medlars, and this time he brought some bamboo mushrooms and mountain persimmons. When he went to dig autumn bamboo shoots yesterday, he picked five fresh ones, and the rest were dried with bamboo mushrooms. Shen Xuanqing said that both medical clinics and restaurants accepted bamboo mushrooms, and the price was good. This thing was one of the mountain delicacies. If he sold it in the stall, the price would be suppressed, so he didn''t take out the bamboo mushrooms. CH 53.2 Wild vegetables and fruits were not worth much, but Lu Gu still brought half a basket of mountain persimmons to sell. He picked all the hard persimmons only, afraid of being damaged on the road. Bought them back and let them ripen for a few days before they soften. The dwarf deer was led by Shen Xuanqing. On one side of the cart was the prey, and on the other side was Lu Gu''s mountain goods. Both of them stood behind the cart and began to sell. He and Shen Xuanqing had come to the town many times, Lu Gu looked a bit timid, but he could say what he had to say, and now he was not afraid of talking to people, and he could even say a few words to the bargainers, but he didn''t notice such a change. The market was crowded with people, and the rabbits and pheasants were the best sellers. They were not expensive for people with a little money in the town. Bought one or two and went back for a tooth-beating sacrifice, but the dwarf deer was different. The whole deer was standing here, ordinary people couldn''t afford it, even if they bought it back for a while, they wouldn''t be able to finish it. Shen Xuanqing didn''t wait for the customers who bought the dwarf deer, and he was not in a hurry. When everything else was sold out, he went to the medical shop to sell Lu Gu''s basket of medlars, and then asked the price of the bamboo mushrooms. The old doctor in the medical center heard them asking about the price of the bamboo mushrooms. This food was delicious. It could be used for stewing soup as well as medicinal food. It was more precious than ordinary mushrooms, and few people sold it. When a person was alive, he would had a little bit of appetite, so he asked Shen Xuanqing if he brought it. Seeing that there were both fresh and dried bamboo mushrooms in the basket, the old doctor twirled his long beard and offered a good price, so Shen Xuanqing nodded, and Lu Gu would come here to sell wolfberry after picking it, it''s a good deal, and the price was really fair. Such a small amount of bamboo mushrooms sold for three taels, Lu Gu¡¯s eyes widened. Although he sold a large basket of goji berries for a lot of silver, but there were very few bamboo mushrooms, and it was really precious to sell it for three taels. After getting out, Lu Gu pulled the cart, there was only a little wild bath beads left on the cart, which was no different from an empty cart. Shen Xuanqing led the dwarf deer, and the two walked towards Fulai Restaurant. The Qingxi River flowed through Fenggu Town, and there was a bustling wharf to the west of the town. Shen Xuanqing often came here to work in the past two years, and knew that there were several restaurants here. When those ship owners and merchants came here, they would naturally eat and stay in restaurants and inns, so this place was very lively. Fulai Restaurant was the largest restaurant in Fenggu Town. It was a distance from the wharf, but it was not far. Most of the rich and powerful were board and lodging here. There were many people coming to the wharf, those who worked, bought and sold the goods, and sold food and drink. It was not until lunch time, and there were so many people in Fulai Restaurant. Shen Xuanqing stopped next to the restaurant, didn¡¯t block the door and disturbed the business, let Lu Gu hold the dwarf deer, and went in for questioning by himself. Lu Gu held on to the hemp rope tightly, fearing that the dwarf deer would run away, he waited for a while, and then saw Shen Xuanqing coming out, followed by a middle-aged man who was the accountant of Fulai Restaurant. "Let''s talk in the back kitchen." The middle-aged man looked at the dwarf deer before turning into the alley after saying a word. Shen Xuanqing led the dwarf deer and followed closely, and Lu Gu followed closely with the cart. Not far into the alley, a small door was open, and the bustle of cooking and serving could be heard inside. The accountant asked directly, "How much do you sell this dwarf deer?" "Forty taels." Shen Xuanqing said. "Forty taels?" The accountant frowned and said, "It''s too expensive, and it''s not sika deer or full of lean meat. Besides, after peeling the skin and digging out the internal organs, there is not so much edible meat. What about twenty taels?" The price was lowered by half, it was a bit harsh, Shen Xuanqing also frowned, and said: "The price is too low, don''t look at the meat, it''s a good taste to be stewed, and it''s cold autumn now, the deer is nourishing and can strengthen the body, and anyone who know how to eat will love it. The diners who eat will naturally come, this deer meat is not good, but its skin and bones are good things, so I won¡¯t say anything else, how about thirty taels?¡± After some negotiating, Shen Xuanqing didn''t want to sell it too cheaply, so he finally sold the dwarf deer for twenty-eight taels, and the accountant had to pay twenty eight taels. It was also auspicious, for him to give up two taels was equivalent to take a step back. The dwarf deer were not more expensive than sika deer, not to mention the male and female sika deer with long horns, even if they were forty taels, there were people who would buy them, but it was not bad if it could be sold for twenty-eight taels. It was sold for twenty-eight taels of silver, not twenty eight copper coins. Even though Lu Gu had seen so many money when Shen Xuanqing was counting the silver in the room before, he couldn''t be more surprised now. Taking the money in one hand and giving the deer to other, Shen Xuanqing put the money in his arms, said goodbye to the accountant with a kind smile, then pulled the cart and walked out of the alley, Lu Gu followed him closely. After leaving the alley, the smile on Shen Xuanqing''s face grew wider, and he said: "Brother Daqing is unloading the wood at the pier, go over and have a look, and eat something by the way, there is a stewed meat shop over there, pork offal is good, if you eat it the miscellaneous stew soup, the soup can also be made spicy, and you can sweat in winter, so you can try it too." After working for most of the morning, he was on the road and yelling, so he had to eat something, Lu Gu heard from him, nodded and said yes. Shen Yaoqing was working with others to carry the wood to the big boat, when he heard Shen Xuanqing''s voice and looked over, he laughed and said wait, it would be over soon. It was a bit crowded here, so Shen Xuanqing took Lu Gu to eat miscellaneous stew soup first. When Shen Yaoqing came over with sweat on his forehead, he also ordered a bowl for him. When the two brothers were working here two years ago, this bowl of miscellaneous stew soup was the most delicious. Unfortunately, they had no money to buy it at that time, so they could only watch others ate it, and they didn¡¯t dare to look at it too much, so they ate their cold steamed buns. But they could eat it with an open stomach today, and there were more pig offal in the soup. Lu Gu didn''t dare to eat too spicy, Shen Xuanqing also added an extra portion of pork offal for him, and the baked white cake was delicious, but it was a bit expensive. After taking a break after eating, Shen Xuanqing left with Lu Gu, Shen Yaoqing had to wait to see if there was any other work, the crop field was not busy, it would be good to earn more coins outside. They walked from the pier to the north of the town, turned the corner and then go to the brothel. There were few people going in during the day, and most ordinary people passed by just to look at it. As timid as Lu Gu, after knowing what this building was for, he didn¡¯t even dare to look too much, just kept walking forward without squinting. Shen Xuanqing pulled the cart and didn''t go to see the brothel. He lowered his eyes slightly, remembering that he still wanted to go to Luo Biao, but it was impossible right now, and he needed to find an excuse to come to town later. He was not a whining person, he found an excuse to find Luo Biao early the next morning, but Lu Gu who stayed at home knew nothing about it. CH 54 There were few people in the brothel during the day, especially early in the morning, most of them came out of the building. Shen Xuanqing didn''t go to the brothel, turned into the alley to find Luo Biao, he came today by coincidence, last night Luo Biao was off duty and slept all night, just as he entered the alley, he saw Luo Biao yawning and opening the door. "Second Brother Shen, why are you here now?" Luo Biao saw him walking this way, and quickly beckoned to let him in. "Are you going out?" Shen Xuanqing asked. "I''m hungry, I''m going to buy a steamed stuffed bun, Second Brother Shen just wait at home, I''ll come as soon as I go." Luo Biao said. That being the case, Shen Xuanqing went to sit in the house, the steamed stuffed bun shop was not far away, Luo Biao quickly came back with a big bowl containing six meat buns, and in the other hand a bowl filled with boiled rice wine , behind him was a seven years-old boy who came in with a bowl of rice wine. "Okay, remember to give the money to your father when you go back." Luo Biao gave the money for two bowls of rice wine to the child. He lived here and knew people who sold things nearby. It was not too late to talk after eating. Shen Xuanqing got up early and ate two steamed buns with mixed flour at home, but Luo Biao graciously let him eat, and even bought rice wine for him, so he ate one meat bun as he couldn''t resist. Luo Biao thought he came to ask about Lu Wen and Li Mingshan, so he explained while eating. Li Mingshan hadn''t been to the brothel for a while, and lived in the house he bought outside, from the outside it looked like he was the only one living in the house. But there was no impenetrable wall in the world, and he spent a few small money to let beggars and gangsters pay attention to the movement there. Li Mingshan was definitely not the only one, and the maid who took care of Lu Wen went in and out once or twice, so he could also know that Lu Wen must be living there. After found out that Li Mingshan was staying overnight, how could Luo Biao didn¡¯t know that the two of them had done something shady behind their backs. Perhaps the wind was blowing well beside Lu Wen''s pillow, and Li Mingshan even ran home and said that he would go to Anjia Village to propose marriage, but how could his mother, Mrs. Zhang, agreed? The mother and son had quarreled, and Li Mingshan didn''t get things done, so he probably didn''t dare to go back to see Lu Wen. So he went to the brothel to drink again in the past few days, but he had fun while drinking, and he found a sister to sleep with him again last night. After Shen Xuanqing listened, he nodded his head and answered twice. Why did he pay attention to Lu Wen? He hesitated, gave a fake cough, and asked in a low voice: "Have you read the Spring Palace Painting? If there is such a good one , can I borrow it for a few days?" [´º¹¬ ͼch¨±ng¨­ngt¨²: traditional paintings that describe the theme of human sexuality, and are often used as sex paintings in East Asian cultural circles . Educational enlightenment teaching aids] He asked bluntly, without beating around the bush, his voice was lowered, but his expression was quite natural. Luo Biao was taken aback, he was not the only thug in a brothel, it was very common for men to see this kind of thing in private, Shen Xuanqing was no one else, he immediately patted his chest and said with loyalty: "Second Brother Shen, don''t worry, it''s just this, If you want it now, brother, I¡¯ll take it for you, just take it away, no need to ask.¡± Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing knew that he had found the right person, firstly, Luo Biao could get it, and secondly, Luo Biao was used to it so he wouldn¡¯t laugh at him at all for such a matter, and even spoke with a sense of injustice, as if it was a serious matter and he had to pat his chest to guarantee it. But Shen Xuanqing didn''t speak, and coughed lowly, pretending to be calm. Without delay, Luo Biao picked up the last meat bun and asked, "Second Brother Shen, what do you want? As long as you tell me, brother will find it for you." "Simple, easy to understand is the best." Shen Xuanqing was not picky, he just wanted to know how to do it well, he wanted to ask others, but the fact was hard to tell, let alone Lu Gu was in it, he didn''t want others to know. "There''s nothing you can''t understand. It''s mostly pictures. You can understand it at a glance. Since it''s simple, you don''t want those tricks that are too annoying." Luo Biao got up after eating, and said: "Second brother Shen, wait a moment , I¡¯ll go get it right away.¡± Luo Biao showed his sincerity and specially picked the best book, and when Shen Xuanqing left here, there was an extra book in his arms. Lu Gu went out with Shen Yan, who was letting the ducks out. He was washing clothes by the river, and the wild bath beads were hammered to pieces. Beat it with a mallet for a while, wash off the white foam and wild bath beads in the river, and the clothes were clean. Shen Xuanqing''s shoes also needed to be washed, and the shoes worn out quickly when he was on the road all day long, but he didn¡¯t need to make it. When he was not doing farm work, Wei Lanxiang and Ji Qiuyue often made shoes for the family, and he could see that almost every time they came back, the two will make new shoes for them. Shen Yan beat the chickens grass and talked to Lu Gu from time to time, Dahui and the puppy followed them to play by the river. As soon as Shen Xuanqing came back, he heard the dog barking behind the house, and seeing that Lu Gu and Shen Yan were not there, he knew they were in the river. Shen Yaoqing went to work in the town. Seeing him coming back, Wei Lanxiang told him to look after the house, and went to the village with Ji Qiuyue to visit the village, holding the soles of shoes and chatting with the villagers for a while, as rural women often did. Shen Xuanqing was the only one left in the house for a while. He entered the room and took out the book from his arms. He originally wanted to go up the mountain and read behind Lugu¡¯s back, but he couldn''t hold back when he sat at the table, holding his breath, he reached out and opened it. . This booklet was a bit beyond his expectation. It was completely different from the rough pictures he had seen in the village before. The pictures on it were exquisite and detailed, and could be called lifelike. It was full of pictures and texts. At the beginning of the picture book was the first consummation of the house, and the annotations were also very careful. Shen Xuanqing only read the first two pages, and then he blushed and knew what he should do in the future. The more you turned the page to the back, the more you would be red-faced. This book was step-by-step. The front was okay, but the ones behind were things that Shen Xuanqing had never seen. It was okay to be a banned book, so he didn''t dare to finish flipping through it, so he quickly hid the book after a quick glance. Lu Gu, who was washing clothes by the river, still didn''t know anything, and was still thinking about buying some cloth and embroidery thread later, so that the sachets he made this time could be sold. What was indispensable for making sachets was medicinal materials. After the winter came down the mountain, there was no way to pick wild bath beads and goji berries to sell, so he could only make some sachets and handkerchiefs, which were somewhat profitable. It was better not to make sachets first, but to find more medicinal materials, otherwise it would not be enough for winter. Thinking about it this way, he still had a lot of work to do. When Lu Gu came back from washing the clothes, the heat on Shen Xuanqing''s face had disappeared, but seeing Lu Gu his adam''s apple slipped, even he himself didn''t know why he swallowed his saliva. Seeing Lu Gu drying clothes in the yard, he went over to help, and after getting closer to his fulang, the impatience in his heart finally subsided. There were chickens and ducks on the mountain, Lu Gu was thinking about them, sitting on the bedside while washing his feet at night, carefully said to Shen Xuanqing who walked into the room: "Can we go up the mountain tomorrow?¡± Shen Xuanqing ¡®s throat tightened, but he still pretended to be calm, nodded and said, "Okay, then we will leave tomorrow." After going up and down the mountain so many times, Lu Gu already knew the way. As soon as he arrived on the mountain, he fed the chickens and ducks and cooked as usual, and he didn''t feel wrong at all when he was busy with work. Even Shen Xuanqing hugged him when he was sleeping at night, and he didn''t have any vigilance. Realizing that something was different from before, Lu Gu also lay flat and didn¡¯t dare to move. After feeling the unusual joy, he suddenly opened his eyes wide in the darkness. CH 55.1 The completely different feeling from the pain frightened Lu Gu, the reaction in his body was very strange, even the trembling humming from his throat changed its meaning. He used to only know that this kind of thing was painful, and he would occasionally feel a little relief after the pain passed, but now he had become a little accustomed to it, and it would pass after he endured it. When he heard that his groaning became different, he was frightened immediately, bit his lower lip tightly, the pain on his lip kept him awake, and he was on guard, not daring to make a sound . Shen Xuanqing heard the same thing, paused in the darkness, his back was arched, like a leopard lurking in the night, ready to go, when he heard Lu Gu''s voice, his strong and smooth muscles tensed for a moment, and his heart was suppressed. The fire was "vacated" and extinguished. But the sound was only once, and he couldn''t hear it anymore, so he didn''t care about anything else, and touched Lu Gu''s cheek with his left hand. Realizing that Lu Gu was biting his lower lip, he was afraid that his heavy breathing would frighten the timid Fulang, so he almost held his breath, only the heaving chest revealed his impatience and excitement. Gently pinching Lu Gu''s chin, he said in a low voice: "Don''t bite." Shen Xuanqing touched him with his right hand, and a hoarse voice rang in Lu Gu''s ear. He was kissed on the cheek, and the kiss was light and restrained. Gradually, Lu Gu was comforted, he was no longer overly nervous, and he no longer bit his lower lip. In this kind of matter, the only person he could rely on was Shen Xuanqing, so he was gradually dragged into the vortex. It was too late. The night was long, and the darkness covered everything, making it impossible for people to know what happened. In the early morning, there was dew dripping from time to time in the woods, and the small and fat tits hopped up and down on the branches twice, with the dew on their feathers, they trembled twice and tweeted twice. The forest outside woke up, and there was some movement in the courtyard with high mud walls. Shen Xuanqing opened his eyes, turned over and hugged Lu Gu, wrapping the quilt tightly around the two of them. After lying down for a while, he couldn''t hold back, kissed Lu Gu''s soft cheeks several times, and then got up to get dressed. When he got out of bed, he stuffed Lu Gu¡¯s underwear that was randomly thrown last night into the bed. When Lu Gu got up, his underwear were no longer cold. The door opened and closed before Lu Gu slowly opened his eyes. He woke up just now, but he didn''t dare to look at Shen Xuanqing, so he kept his eyes closed. When Shen Xuanqing kissed him last night, he didn''t dare to move, he didn''t even dare to close his mouth, but when he couldn''t breathe, he could only struggle a little. Both of them were too young, even though Shen Xuanqing tried his best to follow suit, he still knocked his teeth a few times. Until there was the sound of footsteps outside the door and the barking of dogs, Lu Gu, who had been lying down for a long time, he felt nervous that he forgot to put on his clothes. Even he himself didn''t know why, so he closed his eyes tightly again. Shen Xuanqing opened the door and came in, swept away the previous depression between his brows, and smiled happily, but saw that Lu Gu hadn''t woken up yet, he scratched his head and felt a little helpless, the water was boiled, and the pancakes brought yesterday were also steaming hot. He was hesitant to wake him up, but when he looked over, he found that Lu Gu closed his eyes tightly, his cheeks were slightly red, and even his ears were a little red, which was not the same as falling asleep peacefully. "The pancakes are hot, I put them in the pot, you can get up and eat it after you have a rest, I will leave first after eating, and come back in the evening." Shen Xuanqing smiled, and went out after a short pause. The weather was getting colder and rainy in autumn, but the sun was good today. The most important thing was to take advantage of the weather to hunt more prey and sell them for money. As for other things, you could take it easy. Besides, it was not certain that he could endure not to do something to Lu Gu. It was also a way to rest. Lu Gu rarely didn¡¯t go to see Shen Xuanqing off, he opened his eyes only after the sound of the dog barking gradually faded away, he took out his underwear from the bed and put it on, blushing. At this time, the puppy pushed open the lightly closed door with his head, barked twice at him from under the bed, and wagged his tail cheerfully. Lu Gu got up and lifted the lid of the pot, moved the drawer away, scooped the hot water in the pot to wash his hands, it was cold early in the morning, and his teeth would hurt from soaking in cold water, so hot water was better. On the chopping board, Shen Xuanqing put the drink in a bowl, and after washing, he came in to taste it, it was sweet, it was honey water. This time, when they went to the mountain, Wei Lanxiang brought them pickled cowpeas, which were sour and spicy. He sat on the stool in front of the stove and ate the cowpeas in one hand and pancakes in the other hand. Although he felt uncomfortable when he woke up today, it was much better than before, at least it was not painful. Two pancakes were enough for Lu Gu, and he washed his hands after eating, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be able to work with oil on his hands. There was no Dahui today, and it was difficult for him to travel too far to find medicinal materials. After driving the chickens and ducks to graze outside, he carried the bamboo basket on his back and brought the puppy to the river to dig wild vegetables. Purslane grew vigorously. This kind of wild vegetable was the most tenacious. When it was dry, it wouldn¡¯t die in the sun. As long as it took a root, it could live. It was good for this to grow in the wild fields by the river. If it grew in the fields, the farmers would hate it. The old purslane Lu Gu didn¡¯t take it, and only take the tender ones, so that they wouldn¡¯t bring dirt, and when he went back, he could wash them with water and let them dry. This time, Shen Xuanqing found him a broken mat that was not used at home. It was cleaned and dried at home for a day before he brought it up, just enough to spread the wild vegetables on the ground. CH 55.2 He walked downstream along the river bank, the puppy was playing, but he was never too far away from him. After half an hour, the bamboo basket was filled with wild vegetables. Although the bamboo basket was full, it was very light after drying. . Lu Gu washed the wild vegetables by the river, and returned to the yard with the bamboo basket still dripping with water on his back. He took out the mat and spread it under the sun, then poured all the wild vegetables in the basket on it, and after spreading it evenly, he carried the bamboo basket to pick purslane again. The weather was getting colder and colder, and even the purslane would wither in the future, and there would be even fewer other wild vegetables, so while there were still some, he would get more back. There were six people in total. At a place with lush grass by the river, Lu Gu picked up a very long branch and probed the half-leg-high grass to make sure that there was no snakes or insects inside before he dared to pass through. Another basket of wild vegetables was full, so he picked it up and planned to wash it at a familiar upstream, closer to the yard. After carrying the bamboo basket, he called the puppy, and the pup ran over. When he came here, he had been paying attention to the wild vegetables on the ground. Now he had the time to look around, and he saw a bunch of black grapes not far away. The thick vines were wrapped around the trunk. The mountain grapes hidden below couldn¡¯t be seen. Lu Gu was overjoyed, there were very few mountain grapes, and it was cold recently, so he thought they were all gone. Walking over to see, only this string was better, the others had fallen to the ground and rotten, and there was obviously a sour smell. The black grapes were not very big, so he picked them off and put them into the bamboo basket on his back, and walked back with the puppy. There was a stone by the river near the yard, which he often sat on. After washing the purslane, Lu Gu rinsed the bunches of mountain grapes in the clear river water. He didn¡¯t dare to use too much force, or the grapes would fall off. Just like that, there were still some that fell, but fortunately, he was quick and stopped the two grapes in the water. The mountain grapes were small, but they were sweet, sour and full of moisture. After tasting it, Lu Gu was happy, and he would eat it together when Shen Xuanqing came back. In the morning, he ran outside four times alone, and then spreading the four big bamboo baskets of wild vegetables evenly at the mat. After all, he was not comfortable. Lu Gu didn¡¯t do any other work. After eating and resting for a while, he drove the ducks out of the fence to go swimming. He sat by the pond basking in the sun with the puppy to have fun. Said it was for fun, he also mowing some tender grass by the way, some water plants that chickens and ducks love to eat. Except for his chickens and ducks, in case Shen Xuanqing came back today and catch live prey, like pheasants and rabbits, etc. , it had to be fed and raised, and it was always right to had more. In the afternoon, he drove the ducks out of the pond and let them graze in the fence. After the gate of the fence was closed tightly, he was relieved and led the puppy back to the yard. First he moved the mat for drying wild vegetables to the sun, and then Lu Gu went to the room to get his sewing basket. Shen Xuanqing''s handkerchief was old, so he had to embroider two new ones, and he would make them today while he had time. Unlike money bag and sachet, the handkerchiefs used by men were mostly made by their mothers or wives. It was common to embroider flowers on the corners and wouldn¡¯t be laughed at. Lu Gu held the embroidery frame with focused look, shuttled the needle and thread, and the colored embroidery threads alternated. The red petals, green branches and leaves, and yellow stamens were embroidered delicately and beautifully. The flowers embroidered on the two handkerchiefs were different, so Shen Xuanqing could tell which one was used so that it was easy to change and wash. The sun gradually moved to west, and the sky changed a little. In the evening, Lu Gu finished frying the dishes, hesitating whether to wait at the door as usual, what happened last night and this morning made him a little afraid to see Shen Xuanqing, before he could make a decision, he heard a dog barking outside. When the person came back, he couldn''t keep hiding. He was a little scared, embarrassed and felt really ashamed, so he lowered his eyes, held the corner of his clothes tightly with one hand, and walked towards the door. Shen Xuanqing, who was tall and long-legged, soon approached. He was in a good mood. Even though he was unlucky today and only caught a rabbit, the smile on his face didn¡¯t diminish. "You''re back." Lu Gu said. "I''m back." Shen Xuanqing smiled brightly. He was already very handsome with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, but with this smile he became even more handsome, making Lu Gu didn¡¯t dare to look at him more. "Today I caught a rabbit, and it was killed before I could take it out of the dog''s mouth. I peeled the skin tonight, and tomorrow you will fry the rabbit meat with more spicy peppers." Shen Xuanqing said as he walked into the courtyard with a big bamboo basket on his back. . Lu Gu had always been obedient, so he nodded his head and whispered: "Okay, there are many dried chilies." After dinner, Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu carried the mat for drying wild vegetables and moved it to the main room. It was gloomy as soon as it got dark, and it didn''t look very good. "It may rain tomorrow." Shen Xuanqing said with a glance at the sky. Following his words, Lu Gu looked up to the sky, and it may really rain, so he subconsciously said: "Then put away all the things in the yard." There was nothing to dry in the yard, but the firewood, the ax and other tools were outside, so they had to put them away, in case it would rain in the middle of the night, you had to get up. Shen Xuanqing nodded in response, and didn¡¯t need Lu Gu to do anything, he went to clean up by himself. CH 56.1 Chapter 56 It was windy at night, but it didn''t rain all night. Shen Xuanqing got up early the next day, and the sky was always gloomy. Sometimes in the mountains it rained as soon as it was said, and if it started to rain halfway through, it was difficult to find a place to shelter from the rain, so he wouldn¡¯t go out, and it wouldn¡¯t be too late to go out hunting after the weather cleared up. A lot of fallen leaves were blowing in from the courtyard, so he took a big bamboo broom and swept the fallen leaves outside the courtyard gate. After Lu Gu got up, he went to the kitchen to boil water first. The flint rubbed and sparked, which quickly ignited the dry grass and wooden chips on the hay. After the flames burned, Lu Gu put the small pile of hay into the bottom of the stove together. After the hay was burned, he added some hay and good firewood to it, and the fire at the bottom of the stove gradually became stronger. The country folks couldn''t afford Huozhangzi, they were all used by rich people in the town. [»ð ÕÛ×Ó hu¨¯zh¨¦ zi: is a tight paper roll made of very rough earthen paper. It is ignited and then blown out. Although there is no flame, red bright spots can be seen burning faintly, just like the fire in the ashes. The embers can last for a long time. There are phosphorus and some oxygen-easy substances in it. When the temperature is high, if you blow it with your mouth or shake it quickly, it will fully contact with oxygen and react violently to burn ] After boiling, he washed first. The wrung cloth towel was still hot, and it was very comfortable to wipe the face. Then he poured clean hot water for Shen Xuanqing and brought it out. He went into the kitchen, added some water to the pot, and picked up the rice wine jar. Shaking it with his hand, the rice from the bottom of the jar came up, he poured some rice wine into the pot, Shen Xuanqing wouldn''t go out today, it was cold, cooking some rice wine would warm him up. After setting up the cage drawer, he put some steamed buns and two eggs. This time Wei Lanxiang brought them eight eggs and six salted duck eggs, enough for several days. There was no need to worry about the fire, just added firewood after a while. Outside, Shen Xuanqing finished sweeping the front yard, and went to the backyard with a shovel to shovel the chicken and duck manure. Lu Gu took a small broom and a feather duster to clean the house. Halfway through the work, it was time to add firewood to the bottom of the stove, when he saw Shen Xuanqing entered the kitchen. "I''ll add more firewood." Shen Xuanqing came out again, took a burning firewood in his hand, and planned to get a handful of medicine leaves in the backyard. The chickens and ducks raised were not as many as those in the house, but they still had to drive away the smell . "Okay." Lu Gu nodded. After the two of them finished their work and had breakfast, Lu Gu washed the two bowls and dug a big qiucai in the vegetable field in the front yard. Taking advantage of this time, he washed and cut the vegetables and the rabbit Shen Xuanqing killed last night into pieces, so at noon he only needed to fry them. Shen Xuanqing had nothing to do, seeing that it hadn''t rained yet, he took a wooden fork out from the woodshed, and said, "I''ll go to the river to see if I can fork some fish back." Lu Gu agreed, and the puppy saw that the big dogs following Shen Xuanqing out, he wolfed down the last piece of steamed bun and followed them. The weather was not good today, so there was no need to let the chickens and ducks out. Lu Gu cut a lot of grass yesterday. After finishing the work in the kitchen, he scooped up a bowl of chaff, chopped the grass in the backyard, mixed the chaff into it, and fed the chickens and ducks together. With no prey to feed, Lu Gu saw that the water tank was half left, so he went out with the wooden bucket. Shen Xuanqing was spearing fish in the river with his trousers rolled up, and the puppy followed the big dogs to have fun on the bank. As soon as he saw Lu Gu, he ran over excitedly, barking. Seeing him approaching with a wooden bucket, Shen Xuanqing said, "There is no water? You put it first, and I will get the water later." Before Lu Gu could speak, he stabbed the wooden fork into the river, and the water splashed. When he picked it up, a not-so-small fish was stuck in it. The fish basket was at the side, Lu Gu quickly brought it over, there was already a fish in the fish basket, Shen Xuanqing stood in the river, only stretched the wooden fork towards him. The fish whose body was impaled flicked its tail a few times before it stopped moving. Lu Gu pulled the fish down, which was much easier than a thumping live fish. Not everyone had the skill of spearing a fish with such agility. Before that, he just set the net, and he only waited a day or two to collect the fishes. He didn''t had to bother to get into the water, so Lu Gu didn''t know that Shen Xuanqing could spear the fish so accurately. The two of them often cast their nets in this section of water, and the fish became clever and moved their tails quickly. In addition, the river water was too cold, so Shen Xuanqing speared three big fishes and came up. "After the rains, the river water will rise, and there must be more fish and shrimp. After the rain stops, we will catch the fish with the net." Shen Xuanqing waded to the shore, handed the wooden fork to Lu Gu, and found a stone to sit on. He sat and stroked the water on his legs with his hand. "Well, I just don''t know if it will rain today." Lu Gu said, and looked up at the sky. "I can''t tell." Shen Xuanqing dried his legs for a while, it was cold when the wind blew, and he forgot to bring a cloth to wipe his legs when he went out, and he didn''t want Lu Gu to run back to get it, so he wiped his legs with his pants, and went back to change into a clean pants, the shoes should be washed too. Since he needed to change his shoes and pants, he simply got up and went to the muddy river to dig up earthworms and loaches. It was cold and the mud was cold, so he didn''t let Lu Gu come down. "Go back and boil some water later, you use the hot water to soak your legs." Lu Gu squatted on the bank and said, he picked a few leaves from the big tree, put the earthworms thrown by Shen Xuanqing on the leaves, and went back to chop and feed it to the chickens and ducks, they would grow better than if you fed them with pure grass. "Yeah." Shen Xuanqing smiled and agreed, his fulang valued him so much, he was naturally happy in his heart, and said: "If you can''t finish eating loach, you can dry it like you dry the fish, and you can save it for winter." CH 56.2 Two days ago they had eaten loach once at home, and he didn''t know if Lu Gu would still want to eat it. Loach was easy to feed, but it also took up pots or wooden barrels. How could so many pots be occupied all the time to raise this thing? Sometimes in winter you could also dig loaches in the fields and rivers, but if itt was too cold, and it was not worth it if you got frostbite, so it was better to eat the dry ones. Hearing what he said, Lu Gu hastily agreed. Previously, they only cared about drying fish and wild vegetables. Here they only paid attention to eat fresh loach, which was very nourishing. They never thought that loach could also be dried in the sun. The earthworms were wrapped in a large leaves, and there were a lot of loaches in the fish basket. Shen Xuanqing got rid the mud from his legs and washed in the river before going ashore. Anyway, he was going back to soak his legs, so he didn''t wipe his legs at all, just put on his shoes, filled a bucket of water in the clear place, and walked back with Lu Gu with the fish basket. After returning home, Lu Gu went to the backyard to chop the earthworms first, and Shen Xuanqing ran a few times to fill the water tank, then poured a bucket of water into the pot, so that he could boil the water and soak his legs after killing the fish. He threw the loaches in the fish basket into a wooden basin. They would raise them for two days and let them spit out the sand, stewed them, and it wouldn¡¯t be too late to cut the rest and dry them in the sun. There was no need for Lu Gu to kill the fish today, he only needed to throw the gut he took out for the chickens and ducks. Seeing that he didn''t need his help, Lu Gu went to the kitchen to boil water, and when Shen Xuanqing finished killing the fish, the water also boiled. He also put the dried mugwort leaves he had sun-dried in the tub, and soaked them in boiling water for a while, the color of the water became darker. Soaking the legs in the hot mugwort water could dispel the cold and dredge the meridians. How could Shen Xuanqing be so meticulous when he was alone on the mountain? His handsome face was full of smiles as his legs were soaked in the hot mugwort water. There was still a time before lunch, Lu Gu went to the kitchen to wash the new rice first, and planned to steam dry rice to eat. It took a little longer to steam the rice. After setting fire to the bottom of the pot, he had nothing to do, so he picked up a pile of sun-dried rushes from the woodshed to pick its grass core. The grass core he found not only could be used as wicks for oil lamps, but also for making soup and tea, and the grass core could also be sun-dried. When it was dry he could sell it to the medical clinic. It was used as a pillow, stuffed it into the pillow, and it was good for people to sleep on it. [µÆÐÄ²Ý d¨¥ng x¨©n c¨£o: rush (botany); Juncaceae] It was always a good idea to bring back more plants before they were dry, yellow and wilted, whether they were sold or eaten at home. Shen Xuanqing changed his shoes and pants and soaked his legs in the main room. Lu Gu sat next to him and pick the grass core. He reached out to take a straw of the rush and pick the core grass when he had nothing to do. Although the two of them talked less, they were very harmonious. . Lu Gu lowered his head slightly, he was always focused and serious when he was working, besides, when his hands were busy, it could distract himself from thinking about other things, it was a pity and distressed if the grass core would be broken, his mind was occupied, even Shen Xuan Qing, he didn''t even notice him. Shen Xuanqing''s Adam''s apple moved slightly, and he looked at Lu Gu''s side face in a daze, his skin was fair and smooth, his eyes were long and narrow, he blinked lightly from time to time, trembling timidly, as if passing through his heart, there was a burst of ripples. He suddenly wanted to stretch out his hand to cover Lu Gu''s eyes, if Lu Gu blinked, his eyelashes would definitely sweep gently on his palm. The strange thought made his Adam''s apple slide again, until Lu Gu turned his head and looked at the half dried rush in his hand. "Let me do it." Lu Gu said, he didn''t see Shen Xuanqing put the pulled grass core at his feet for a long time, turned his head to look, and thought that Shen Xuanqing was tired and didn''t want to do it, so he asked him carefully. Don''t look at such a pile of rushes, there were not so many grass cores that were pulled out, and they were lighter after drying, so Lu Gu cherished them. Shen Xuanqing recovered from the stupefaction, and handed the rush to Lu Gu, who would expect his fulang to see him absent-minded, he was a little embarrassed, as if evading, he didn¡¯t dare to meet Lu Gu''s eyes. At noon, according to what Shen Xuanqing said, Lu Gu fried the rabbit meat with spicy peppers, it smelled spicy, and he planned to stir-fry qiucai, so he had all the meat and vegetables. Shen Xuanqing was young, although at the age of eighteen he could take care of the family''s money-making work, but he was still like a kid in other things, for example, he wanted to rely on Lu Gu when he had nothing to do right now. Usually he was always hunting outside, and only slept together at night. After going down the mountain, there were so many people at home, so he was too embarrassed to sit next to Lu Gu. It was embarrassing to follow him in and out openly, how could he be so dependent on Fulang''s side as a man. Scratching his heart and lungs, Shen Xuanqing who always wanted to follow Lu Gu, took a look at the puppy. The puppy was wagging its tail happily, walking around sticking to Lu Gu''s legs. He wouldn''t be angry if he stumbled, instead he lowered his head and showed a very shallow smile, calling the Guaizi name in a low voice, letting him play by himself first. The puppy was still young and couldn''t understand human words, so he continued to "tangle" Lu Gu. How could a person compared with a puppy, Shen Xuanqing looked away, and when Lu Gu entered the kitchen to cook, he followed him in, looking for a reason to light the fire in a serious manner, which was really helpful. How could Lu Gu know the thoughts he was hiding, he was busy cooking, but occasionally turned his head to meet Shen Xuanqing''s eyes, feeling a little embarrassed. Lu Gu quickly looked away, so he didn''t know that Shen Xuanqing''s eyes were also a little embarrassed. The tall and big man sat on the small bench in front of the stove to light the fire, and even he himself couldn''t explain the reason for the feeling of anxiety and joy in his heart. CH 57 The rice was ready, and Shen Xuanqing was very diligent in helping to serve the dishes. He and Lu Gu were alone in the mountains, so there were no rules, and it was common for them to serve the dishes casually. When he was at Lu''s house, Lu Daxiang only came to the table after the meals were served, and ignored everything else. Most of the men in the village were like this, and Lu Gu had long since discovered that Shen Xuanqing was a little different from other men. The spicy stir-fried rabbit meat was delicious and spicy, and the spicy taste was right, which was very enjoyable to eat. Lu Gu couldn¡¯t eat spicy food very much. He only ate a few pieces of rabbit meat, mostly he ate qiucai. Although it looked a little bland, only salt was added when frying, but it was good to eat with oil. It was much more delicious than boiled it in water. Seeing that he ate less meat, Shen Xuanqing wanted to give him a few more pieces, but seeing that after Lu Gu ate a piece, he was so hot that he picked up the rice and stuffed it into his mouth. He smiled and didn''t give him the meat anymore, thinking that he should avoid making such spicy food in the future.. When Lu Gu was cooking, he also lit the medicine stove, cooked the remaining half of the rabbit meat in a clay pot, and gave it to Dahui and the puppy, so that the puppy wouldn¡¯t keep pawing and barking when they were eating. If they wanted to eat, the big dog would come over. Even if they didn''t pull their legs, they would squat down and watch them all the time. If they were too greedy, they would drool. Why didn''t you give them something to eat, so that they could stay by the side to be quieter. Not long after dinner, Lu Gu cleaned up the kitchen and came out with a sewing basket, intending to sit in the main room and embroider some handkerchiefs. The sky changed in the blink of an eye, there was a strong wind blowing outside, the sky was dark, and the dark clouds rolled and gathered, and it became gloomy. The gate of the courtyard was not closed, and one could see that the woods outside had been blown to the point where a lot of leaves had fallen, and they were swirled into the air by the strong wind. The courtyard was located on a high place. From the gap in the forest, the tops of tall trees on the distant mountains could be seen bending and swaying with the wind, which showed that the wind was very strong. Lu Gu immediately put down his needle and thread, and hurried to the backyard to drive the chickens and ducks to the woodshed to shelter them from the wind and rain. All the things that should be collected in the yard were collected, and Shen Xuanqing saw that the sky had changed suddenly, so he removed the mud bricks blocking the drains of the yard wall, which were usually tightly blocked to prevent snakes and insects from crawling in. The raindrops were splashing on the ground, the sky was so dark, and it had been gloomy since last night, and it was estimated that the rain would fall for a while. The winter was the hardest for rural people. Just like rations, clothing to keep out the cold was equally important, otherwise they would suffer from frostbite. "It would be colder after the rains. I''ll chop more firewood in two days, so you can boil the water for washing vegetables and dishes." Shen Xuanqing said, hugging the person in his arms tighter. Hearing this, Lu Gu felt indescribably happy and at ease. Shen Xuanqing treated him well and allowed him to wear warm clothes in winter without freezing. He wanted to dig more wild vegetables so that his family would have a lot of vegetables to eat during the winter. He frowned slightly, and smiled quietly. Shen Xuanqing, who was holding him, didn''t see it, but he smelled the softness and warmth of his fulang¡¯s body, and recalled the lingering joy that was different from the previous night. He couldn''t help but kiss Lu Gu''s cheek, lips, and neck lightly. Lu Gu, who was secretly happy, froze for a moment after being kissed, and his lower lip was gently bitten, which was extremely charming. Even if he knocked his teeth again, he still didn''t stop the deep kiss from continuing. Shen Xuanqing used to only know how to kiss the upper corner of his lips, but only after reading the annotations in the picture books did he know how to kiss deeply. Lu Gu was a little dizzy from being kissed, until the puppy screamed outside, he was beaten by a big dog, whimpering sounded very pitiful, he woke up like a dream, and remembered that the door was open, he was so frightened that he shuddered. Reached out to push Shen Xuanqing. CH 58.1 The puppy was beaten and kept barking outside, Lu Gu was terrified, but he didn''t know where the strength came from, and he pushed Shen Xuanqing away. Realizing what he had done, he drew back his hand and froze. Even Shen Xuanqing was stunned for a moment, the barking of the puppy gradually became quieter, probably hiding in the corner, the dogs would play and fight, sometimes they didn''t know the severity, and the puppy was too naughty, but there was Dahui here, no need to worry about the puppy being bitten. The beauty dissipated, as if even the temperature had dropped, the room became quiet, the cold autumn rain was still falling, the rain was heavy, flowing along the eaves. The sky was dark, and there was a faint sound of thunder rolling in the distance, and the howling of the strong wind, like the whimpering and howling of an invisible giant beast. The puppy had grown up a lot, but it was still fat. The main room was dark, and there was no need to light up the lamp when they were not working. Shen Xuanqing found him in the corner with the help of the dim light, and opened the door of the main room to let in a little light. It was windy outside, the door only opened a gap, and the rain could drift in. When Shen Xuanqing closed the door, his hands and face were covered with cold rainwater. He picked up the cloth towel on the rack and wiped his hands and face. Seeing the puppy leaning towards his legs, he couldn''t help but gently kicked the puppy''s fat buttocks. Lu Gu liked the puppy very much. He usually came out to see what was wrong with him. Shen Xuanqing couldn''t beat him. Besides, such a big puppy was not easy to start. This kind of strength was not painful for the puppy, and he still wanted to enter the room with Shen Xuanqing, but it was a pity that the door was locked. This time the door was closed tightly, even the latch was fastened. He scratched the door a few times and saw that it was not open, then turned around and left, the rain was getting heavier and colder, and even he knew to find a warm place, so he lay down next to Dahui on the sack filled with the hay. Shen Xuanqing closed the door, turned around and walked towards the bed, and said with a fake cough: "No injury, maybe he was pushed to the ground just now when they were playing." In fact, he went out to see the puppy just incidentally, and closing the door was his original intention. Otherwise, what if the puppy broke in and run in. "En." Lu Gu responded, still flustered in his heart, carefully looking at Shen Xuanqing''s face, but the room was so dark that he couldn''t see clearly whether Shen Xuanqing was angry or not. Shen Xuanqing went to bed and lay down, and it was even harder for Lu Gu to look at his face. The tall man was hotter than him, and with multiple people in the bed, it gradually became warmer. The wind was blowing and the rain was falling, lying down and doing nothing, hearing the sound of the rain outside gradually made people lose their minds, floating in the air for a while, and falling back to the world for a while, thinking of a way with a frowning face, how to make Shen Xuanqing not angry. Lu Gu''s hand under the quilt moved slightly, his heart trembled, and he was uneasy, but he still wanted to touch Shen Xuanqing''s hand, wanting to say that he wouldn¡¯t push him away again, but the words stuck in his throat, he trembled, not to know how to speak. Suddenly, Shen Xuanqing''s hand touched him, and it was also this touch that made Lu Gu no longer hesitated, and directly grabbed his hand, that big hand was warm and powerful. What Lu Gu wanted to say was blocked, and Shen Xuanqing, who could no longer bear it anymore, rolled over and pressed him down. Suddenly, the room was full of panting sounds, which were extremely lingering. The heavy rain lasted for half a day and overnight, and it didn''t ease until the next morning. The window of the room opened a gap for ventilation, and the wind was less, so not much rain was blown in. After breakfast, Lu Gu was still a little tired. He moved a chair and sat in the main room to watch the rain outside. He watched the rain in a daze and didn''t know what he was thinking. He slept well last night, but what happened before he went to sleep was beyond his expectation, completely different from the past, and even quite shocking to him, so he couldn''t believe it until now. Shen Xuanqing was feeding the chickens and ducks. By the way, he cleaned up the woodshed, lit the green medicine leaves, piled them in the corner and burned them without firewood. The smell of burning herbs washed away other smells. After tidying up, he came out of the woodshed and closed the door to prevent chickens and ducks from running around. He squatted at the door of the kitchen to wash his hands, he rubbed the wild bath beads with his hands until white foam appeared, turned his head and saw Lu Gu sat in the main room still in a daze, he couldn''t help laughing, remembering what happened yesterday, even he was a little embarrassed. But even so, his eyes were bright, and he could tell that he was in a good mood just by looking at him. That picture book was quite useful, Shen Xuanqing washed off the white foam on his hands, lowered his eyes and thought secretly. After washing his hands, he went to the kitchen. There were two bowls of warm water on the chopping board. He put honey in one bowl and stirred it with chopsticks before serving it to Lu Gu to drink. The sweet honey water brought Lu Gu back to his senses, Shen Xuanqing sat next to him, their legs were very close. Shen Xuanqing was tall, and when he sat down, his calf was longer than his. For some reason, the touching of their legs together reminded Lu Gu of what happened yesterday, and gradually his ears and cheeks became red, and he became embarrassed. He lowered his eyes, holding the bowl in his hand nervously and timidly. CH 58.2 Shen Xuanqing looked out at the sky while drinking water, the light rain was still falling, but the cloud was not as heavy as yesterday, and it would stop by tonight at the latest. If it was difficult to go hunting on the mountain road tomorrow, go to the river to catch fish and loaches first. This year he paid off his debts and made a lot of money. He could afford meat to make bacon and sausages. He didn¡¯t need to sell dried fish and loach anymore. After drinking the warm water in the bowl, his thoughts returned, and he subconsciously looked at Lu Gu next to him, and found that his little fulang¡¯s cheeks were slightly red, and his eyelashes were trembling slightly, as if he was a little nervous. Realizing that Lu Gu was quietly moving his legs away, not wanting to be next to him, Shen Xuanqing suddenly felt lost and confused at the same time. He couldn''t figure out why Lu Gu didn''t want to be next to him, and the dissatisfaction in his heart gradually rose, he pursed his lips slightly and frowned, extremely puzzled. If Lu Gu knew that he thought like that, Lu Gu would definitely not think of a way to stay away from him, but Lu Gu didn''t know, the legs of the two of them separated a little bit. The cold wind blew in from the outside, Lu Gu raised a hand to touch his cheek, and the heat became less hot once the wind blew. Shen Xuanqing treated him well, it was not that he didn''t want to be next to Shen Xuanqing, if it was in the past it would be fine, but for some reason, yesterday Shen Xuanqing actually put him in such a posture, shocking him, he didn''t dare to resist and refuse, the pain was not very painful, but this fact was too embarrassing, which made him a little afraid to face Shen Xuanqing. One of the two was timid and the other was sulking, and they didn''t speak. Suddenly, the puppy lying on Lu Gu''s shoe fell to the ground and rolled, screaming in shock. Lu Gu was picked up from the chair by Shen Xuanqing. Fortunately, the water in his bowl was finished, otherwise it would sprinkle all over. The door of the room was kicked shut with a "bang", which made Lu Gu''s heart skipped a beat, and before he could react, he was put on the bed. Shen Xuanqing put the bowl on the table beside him, he was so depressed that he was stubborn, and he didn''t had anything to say, so he just laid his body on Lu Gu''s body. Lu Gu didn''t know what happened to Shen Xuanqing, he thought he was going to do that again, he couldn''t help being nervous, but Shen Xuanqing pressed on him and didn''t move for a long time, as if he didn''t mean that. After a while, Shen Xuanqing finally made a move. The young man had a good face. He lost his temper with Fulang for no reason. He kissed the side of the neck several times. Shen Xuanqing sat up and stopped pressing Lu Gu. Although they were married, they still didn''t understand the words love. He scratched his head and couldn''t think of any affectionate words, and finally said dryly: "You, how about you take a rest." Shen Xuanqing was a good person, he once again confirmed this point in his heart, and after thinking about it, a faint smile appeared on his face, which he didn''t even notice. The river water had risen a bit. After Shen Xuanqing cast his net, he saw Lu Gu squatting by the river digging wild vegetables. He said something to him and then went to the northern forest to pick hickory leaves. After it rained, the water in the river was even colder, and the coldness seemed to seep into the bones. Lu Gu''s body was thin, so he couldn¡¯t bear it. So he would catch more drunk fish today, and he wouldn''t need to go into the water or his legs would be freezing cold. If you wanted to eat fresh fish, just pick the net later. The puppy had never seen a scene of drunken fish. The fishing net was pulled up and it was quite fruitful. The fishes that hadn¡¯t fainted were flopping and slapping their tails on the bank. There were fresh and fat river prawns in the net. The puppy was running and jumping, barking, feeling excited. After the fishing net was pulled up, there were still many fishes in the river, so Shen Xuanqing ran back to the yard and took a big deep bamboo basket, picked up the fishes in the river with the bambbo basket in his hand. Lu Gu didn''t care about the little wild vegetables in the bamboo basket, let alone the ones in the fishing net, he put all the fishes that Shen Xuanqing threw on the bank into the bamboo basket, and he didn''t take any fishes that were too small, so he threw them downstream with all his strength, otherwise they would still be dead. It would be picked up by Shen Xuanqing''s bamboo basket. The rain stopped last night, and it was still a bit cloudy today. The sun came out for a while, and the river was icy cold. They dragged their fishing nets and carried bamboo baskets on their backs and ran for two or three times to bring the fishes back to the yard. Lu Gu boiled hot water, otherwise there were so many fishes, the hands would be frozen when killing them, at least you could use warm water to soak your hands in the yard to warm them up. There were fewer people catching fish in the deep mountains, and there were more big fish than in the village. Hundreds of fish filled the barrels and basins, and there were many river shrimps. As soon as Lu Gu came back, he went to the kitchen to boil water. Even if he had seen this kind of harvest joy once, it would still make people felt happy. Almost every fishes was longer than his hand. could you be unhappy? So many fishes were dried in the sun , enough for six of them to survive the winter. Shen Xuanqing went into the kitchen to get the knife, Lu Gu couldn''t hide the joy on his face, he sat on the small stool in front of the stove and looked up at Shen Xuanqing, his eyes sparkling. Like the galaxy at night. Shen Xuanqing had studied, but at this moment he was still speechless, and could only think of the most common stars. CH 59.1 With so many fishes to kill, one person definitely couldn¡¯t finish them all, so Lu Gu went out to help after heating up the stove. He took the knives and scissors and three old bamboo plaques, one bamboo plaque was used to store the guts that had been taken out, and left it for chickens and ducks to eat, and the piles fish scales. It was convenient to pour them out, otherwise it would be difficult to sweep when you threw them on the ground, making the ground looked dirty. Shen Xuanqing brought over two tree stumps, which were a little shorter but had a flat section and were quite heavy. They were just right for killing fish and wouldn¡¯t shake. Pour some water to wash off the ashes on the tree stump, and when Lu Gu brought the stool over, he took it and sat down, took out a fish from the barrel, and cut the fainted fish with the knife. Seeing that what Lu Gu took out was a big fish, its tail was still flapping, Lu Gu had thin arms and legs, even if he had strength in his hands, Shen Xuanqing still handed over the one that had already fainted, and exchanged it with the big fish. It was unavoidable that the fish scales were scraped and splashed. After there were too many piles on the tree stump, used a knife to scrape off the tree stump, and most of the fish scales would fall into the bamboo plaque. The puppy stood up and lay prone on the edge of the barrel, stretching out a thick paw to pat the fish in the barrel. After scraping the scales of the fish, Lu Gu got up first to add firewood, and when he came out of the kitchen, he saw the puppy poking his head into the barrel and trying to bite the fish, but was stopped by Dahui who came over with a low growl. The dogs also knew how to wink, and the puppy stopped holding the barrel, and stood down on the ground, and without being honest, he went to pat the tail-wagging fish in the fishing net on the ground, and even lowered his body and swooped forward , he could play with himself, he used his paws to pat the fish to play, and Lu Gu didn''t care about it. The sun shone through the gaps in the clouds, and the sky became brighter. It was clear that there would be no more rain. After killing a few fishes, the body of the fishes were cold, and his hands became a little stiff unconsciously. Lu Gu went to the kitchen to scoop up hot water. Shen Xuanqing threw the fish gut he took out into the bamboo plaque, and then soaked his hands in the warm water. He looked up at the sky and said: "Let¡¯s look tomorrow, when the ground is dry and easy to walk. I will go out to hunt foxes the day after tomorrow, and tomorrow both of us will kill all the fishes." His cold hands were soothed in the warm water, he twisted a hot cloth towel to wipe his hands, and told Lu Gu: "If I go out, you have to remember to boil more hot water to warm your hands, so much firewood is enough, so there is no need to save." After saying this, Shen Xuanqing thought of something again, and said, "If we go down the mountain this time, buy Tang Pozi and bring it up, and pour boiling water into it. During the day, when your hands are cold, hold them, and at night, you could tuck them into the quilt to keep you warm." [ÌÀ ÆÅ×Ót¨¡ng p¨® z¨«: lt. Mrs. Tang; a household heating appliance , is filled with hot water and placed on a bed to increase the temperature . It¡¯s a copper or magnetic flat round pot with a hole with a screw cap on the top, through which hot water is poured ] Tang Pozi was a good thing. They couldn''t afford good charcoal in the countryside, and the hand stove and foot stove couldn''t be used, but Tang Pozi, that only needed pouring hot water, they could grit their teeth and bought one. Lu Gu only touched Lu Wen''s Tang Pozi twice. It was Du Hehua who asked him to bring him into Lu Wen''s room. It was cold winter at that time, and it was fine during the day, and he could find a sheltered place to bask in the sun, but not at night. Tang Pozi felt so warm to the touch, he remembered it for a long time, and sometimes he thought, if he had money, he would buy one, so that he wouldn''t be cold at night. But at that time, he only dared to think about it. Now when Shen Xuanqing said he wanted to buy it for him, he subconsciously looked at him, thinking that he had money from selling goji berries and other things in his hand, so he should be able to afford it. Seeing his unblinking eyes, looked expectant and serious, he smiled and continued: "If one is not enough, buy two, put one by your feet to warm your legs at night, and put the other in the middle, so it will be warmth." He needed to buy two, Lu Gu thought for a while, the hot Tang Pozi warmed his feet, and there was one in the middle of the quilt, how warm it would be. He smiled after thinking about it, his brows and eyes were slightly curved, and he was as happy as if he had already bought Tang Pozi. Seeing this, Shen Xuanqing held the cloth towel in his hand and forgot to put it down, and stared blankly at Lu Gu. He had never seen Lu Gu smiled so happily. After watching for a while, he couldn''t hold back his laughter. It was too far away, otherwise he had to buy it for Lu Gu right now. The dogs didn''t understand why they were laughing, but they could feel the good mood. They ran around the yard to had fun, barking constantly, and it sounded quite lively. There was a fishy smell in the yard, and a row of fishes hung under the eaves. Shen Xuanqing also built four wooden frames for hanging the fishes on the open space in the front yard at night. There were so many fishes, all four horizontal logs were fully hung, and a few were placed on the bamboo plaque. Shen Xuanqing got up early and went out. The sun was getting bigger and warmer after a while. Sitting under the sun, Lu Gu killed the loaches he caught that morning when it rained. He killed a few loaches yesterday and ate them for stew, and the rest were dried in the sun when the weather was good. The loach was not too much, and it could be spread out on a bamboo plaque. Lu Gu thought, after drying, pack it up and eat it in winter. After finishing all this work, he pulled out the mat and spread out the purslane vegetables on it evenly. It rained two days ago and the wild vegetables were not dry. The mat was fully occupied, so there was no need to dig wild vegetables anymore. There were still a lot of tianwogen that had been moved to the corner of the main room. Shen Xuanqing told him not to dig too much. Shen Yan and the others would also dig up some in the mountain. Tianwogen were heavy, it was hard to take it down the mountain. Lu Gu was not idle either, he took a sickle and carried a bamboo basket and went outside to cut grass. CH 59.2 There were still sawdust for lighting the fire, but there was not much grass that was lighter and easy to ignite. The country people called that kind of grass igniter grass or velvet grass. After drying, it turned yellow and the grass leaves were crumbled, and it could be used to light a fire, and the dry grass stalks could also be burned. The puppy was running ahead, Lu Gu found a clump of igniter grass and stopped, fearing that the puppy would go too far, he shouted: "Guaizi, come back." He kept shaking while running, and rubbed Lu Gu''s calf when he came close. The scythe was sharpened, afraid of hurting the puppy, Lu Gu pushed him aside with his leg. The leaves of the wild wolfberry tree were gradually turning yellow. Lu Gu picked all the wolfberries around the courtyard. He went to the distance while mowing the grass. Today he wanted to find some wolfberries and wild bath beads. After it rained, the mushrooms should grow out too. Not long after autumn, the red and yellow leaves on the hillside were very beautiful, and there were mountain flowers in bloom. By now, most of the vegetation had turned yellow, and it looked a bit bleak. As Lu Gu was walking, he suddenly saw a section of snake sloughs skin, the color was a bit like withered yellow grass, he was startled, he stepped back quickly, and carefully explored the grass with the long branch in his left hand. The puppy followed his legs. The dog was more sensitive than humans, just like Dahui. They could tell if there were bamboo rats and voles in the dirt holes on the ground, and whether there were snakes in the grass. The puppy was usually too naughty, but he was also very psychic. He didn''t bark at the grass, and there should be no snakes inside. The snake sloughs looked scary, if it was straightened it should be quite long, it looked like a big snake, Lu Gu was a little scared, the most feared thing in the mountains was to encounter poisonous snakes, he clenched the sickle in his hand, took the puppy to leave this place, it was better to go to a place where the grass was low and could be seen clearly at a glance. Although the snake sloughs could be used as medicine, not all the snake sloughs could be used. He couldn''t recognize what kind of snake it was, and he didn''t dare to go forward to pick it up. After walking far away, Lu Gu felt a little more at ease. He saw some mushrooms in the woods not far away. He picked some edible ones. He pressed the igniter grass in the bamboo basket down to make a room for the mushrooms. In the densely wooded forest, the sun didn¡¯t shine much, and there was a layer of fallen leaves on the ground. The rainwater accumulated on the leaves hadn¡¯t dried completely, and the dog¡¯s paws were all wet, and the fur on the legs became darker. Lu Gu picked a lot of mushrooms in the forest, and when the bamboo basket was full, he picked it up and walked out of the forest. The things on his back were quite heavy, Lu Gu looked for the wild bath bead trees as he walked back. He and Shen Xuanqing still had quite a few, and there was no need to pick them recently, but now he really found one, he also found some meddlars. He could bring them when they went down the mountain. It was not easy to carry things on the mountain road, he had come out far, it was already past noon, and he would cut goji berry branches after he went back to have a meal. Almost in the end of autumn, and the two who diligent enough were busy separately. Shen Xuanqing went out for two days to hunt foxes, and came back only on the third day. Feeding the live prey, they couldn''t take care of other things when they were busy, let alone had sex, and at night when they hugged and slept, they could kiss for a while at most. This time they stayed on the mountain for a long time, and they didn''t go down until more than 20 days later. First, Shen Xuanqing wanted to hunt more foxes, and second, Lu Gu was afraid that so many fishes wouldn¡¯t be dried. If it rained during the few days when he and Shen Xuanqing left, the undried fishes would pile up together. It was going to be damp and moldy, so you could just put it in the sun before putting it on. The two of them usually went down the mountain once every half a month. The mountain road was so far away, so naturally they couldn''t run often, otherwise they would waste a lot of time on the road. Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing walked down the gentle slope, and at a glance they saw the wall of their own courtyard, and the persimmon tree outside the house. The red persimmons were all picked, and some were left for the birds to eat. The three big dogs had long legs and ran home first, followed by the puppy. Wei Lanxiang, who was in the yard, heard the dogs barking earlier, put down what she was doing and came out in a hurry, not caring about waiting for the two of them to arrive. Stepping forward, Ji Qiuyue greeted them directly. "Give it to me quickly." Seeing Lu Gu carrying the bamboo basket, Ji Qiuyue took it with a smile. The bamboo basket contained dried igniter grass, which Lu Gu specially brought back. A basket of igniter grass was not too heavy, so he carried it all the way instead of putting it on the cart. "If the two of you don''t come back, mother will let Daqing go to the mountain to see you two." Ji Qiuyue said while walking with the back basket on her back. This time they hadn''t come back for so long, Wei Lanxiang looked at the gate of the courtyard every day, several times a day, and asked Shen Yaoqing last night if he wanted to go up the mountain, otherwise she would be worried if he didn''t hear from anything from them. Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing pulled the cart forward and said, "Mother, there''s no need to worry. It''s not that it''s cold in autumn. Before winter comes, I want to hunt for a few more skins, so I stayed for a long time." "Yes. "Wei Lanxiang replied again and again, her second child was the most down-to-earth, if there was anything, there was a dog to report the letter, she took a look at the goji berries and half a sack of wild bath beads in the cart, and knew that it was picked by Lu Gu, turned her head, she laughed and said: "Guzi is really capable, did you also dry this dried fish?" Before Lu Gu could speak, Shen Xuanqing responded with a smile and said, "It''s him." Lu Gu thought, but Shen Xuanqing put in a lot of effort in catching and killing the fishes, how could Lu Gu take all the credit, and he said embarrassedly: "Erqing was also busy, we did it together." Wei Lanxiang looked at the two of them. The more harmonious, the happier her heart. CH 60 As before, when they came back, Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing sat and rested, and Ji Qiuyue was busy cooking, and Wei Lanxiang brought them something to eat first. Wei Lanxiang brought out a small bamboo tray. There were dried red dates, persimmons, and peanuts. She put the small bamboo tray down for the two of them to eat, and said to Lu Gu: "In addition to the ones grown by our family, there are also mountain persimmons you picked. Some of them are made into sun-dried persimmons, cut and sun-dried them, they¡¯re sweet.¡± ¡°Taste it first, don¡¯t eat too much, save your stomach to eat.¡± She was afraid that the two little ones would be greedy, and eating too much persimmons wouldn¡¯t be easy to digest , she specially exhorted. They had many persimmons, last time Lu Gu came back and picked a lot of hard mountain persimmons, as well as the persimmons at home. Dried persimmons could last for a long time. In winter, there were sweet snacks to eat, which were quite tough and chewy. While talking, Shen Yan carried a basket of grass and entered the door. When she heard the dog barking when she was threshing the grass behind the house, she knew that Lu Gu and the others had returned. As soon as she entered the door, her almond eyes slightly curved, and she shouted with a smile: "Second brother, brother Guzi , you are back." Shen Xuanqing responded to her, and when Lu Gu saw her coming and wanted to touch the dried persimmon with her dirty hands, he quickly handed it to her mouth. Shen Yan was not polite to him, she opened her mouth and bit it, smiled and started to chew, then put down the bamboo basket. "Girls, you have to wash your hands." Wei Lanxiang scolded her, but the smile on her face didn''t diminish, and they couldn''t hear the meaning of reprimand. Shen Yan scooped up a basin of water and squatted down to wash his hands, she saw the dried fish on the cart and said, "Brother Guzi, you two have dried so many dried fish." Lu Gu peeled a peanut, and replied after hearing that, "Well, keep something for us to eat during the winter." The Shen family had a hard time in winter in the past two years, and Shen Yan was young and also afraid of the cold and hunger. Hearing this, her almond eyes widened, and she realized that there was no need to starve in winter, she was very happy, nodded again and again and said: " Alright, let¡¯s eat it in winter, and if we want to eat fish tomorrow, we¡¯ll take the branches and fish in the river, and save them all. I just saw Zhuzi and the others fishing in the river.¡± Shen Xuanqing looked at her younger sister''s expression, and knew that she was starved two years ago. At that time, the family''s rations were low. Even if he and Shen Yaoqing sometimes saved a few mouthfuls for the youngest Shen Yan, it was still not enough. Suddenly, he couldn''t help but felt guilty, and secretly sighed in his heart. Fortunately, this year, they could eat enough and wear warm clothes, and his family members didn''t have to suffer. The same for Lu Gu, he didn''t have to suffer any more. He turned his head to look Lu Gu beside him, and put the peeled peanuts into Lu Gu''s hands. Even if he hadn''t asked Lu Gu, he knew that life in Du Hehua''s hands must be bad. Didn¡¯t know if Lu Gu could even eat a few mouthfuls of hot rice. "Shen Yan, come in and get a bowl of peppers." Ji Qiuyue yelled from the kitchen, she was too busy chopping vegetables, so she asked Shen Yan to pick the peppers and light the fire. Shen Yan ate another piece of dried persimmon before running in. Ji Qiuyue handed her the bowl and said, "Pick up more, it will taste better." After resting for a while, Shen Xuanqing got up and unloaded the cart. Lu Gu and Wei Lanxiang also helped him. The prey this time didn¡¯t seem to be much, just eight live pheasants and rabbits, but in the big bamboo basket Shen Xuanqing often carried, there were a total of twenty five pieces of fox fur, six pieces of unsightly miscellaneous fox fur. Among the twenty five good furs, there were two silver fox skins, which were more valuable than the red ones. To hunt these fox furs, he ran to many places in the mountains. Not to mention the exhaustion, a pair of old shoes were worn out and couldn''t be mended easily. Those shoes were indeed old enough, so they were simply thrown away. Wei Lanxiang kept touching the silver fox fur, and said to Lu Gu, "I''ve heard people say that those lords and madam in Fucheng love to wear this silver fox fur, no matter how expensive it is, they can afford it." Shen Xuanqing was thinking about the shoes, he asked, "Mom, I broke a pair of shoes, do you have any more at home?" "Yes, I made you two pairs with thicker sole and one pair with ordinary sole, enough for you to wear, and I¡¯ll make another pair from the soles of your shoes, enough for you to wear. " As Wei Lanxiang said she looked at Shen Xuanqing''s feet, and wanted to make up if she could. Shen Xuanqing knew what she was thinking, and said: "I threw away those pairs because they were too old. The soles of the shoes were thin. I walked on the mountain roads, and the shoes was mended once. This time, the hole was so big that it couldn''t cover the toes and stuck out. If it wasn¡¯t for not being to far from the yard when it was broken, it would be difficult to walk.¡± Wei Lanxiang nodded and said: ¡°It¡¯s really not easy to mend, just throw it away, and mother will make you a few more pairs." After Wei Lanxiang had seen it, Shen Xuanqing stuffed the fox fur back into the big bamboo basket and took it down, and sold it in Fucheng another day. The price in Fucheng was higher than in Fenggu Town. When they went to the town to sell them, Lu Gu brought out two handfuls of wild bath beads to keep at home. They would last for a while, so Wei Lanxiang and the others didn''t had to go up the mountain to look for them. In the kitchen, Ji Qiuyue stir-fried vegetables, poured the vegetables into the wok with a pricking sound, stir-fried them and cooked them quickly, the fried vegetables were different from boiled in water, they were fragrant. In addition to a bowl of fried vegetables, because Shen Xuanqing loved eggs, Ji Qiuyue also scrambled eggs for the two of them, and a bowl of oily and spicy fried peppers. Shen Xuanqing broke off a steamed bun and wiped it clean. The white flour steamed buns were served to them. They were white, soft and delicious. The steamed buns were stained bright yellow with egg residues and oil from the bottom of the plate. Shen Xuanqing didn''t eat them, so she handed them to Lu Gu. The oil seeped into the steamed buns, and the oil was salty and delicious, and there was a little egg, not to mention how fragrant it was. There were still a lot of people in the morning market, and there were few carts to pull things today, so Shen Xuanqing was obviously very relaxed. Small wild animals like pheasants and rabbits were very easy to sell, and the wild bath beads were also sold relatively quickly. Finally there were two pheasants and one rabbit left. Shen Xuanqing guessed that the medical center opened, so he pushed the cart and took Lu Gu to the rice shop first. they wanted to ask the owner of the rice shop if he wanted wild game, and if he wanted it, they could sell it to him. Then they could go to the medical center and sell the goji berries, so they could go home and rest without having to stand and wait for the buyer. There were some wild bath beads left, and Shen Xuanqing yelled as he pushed the cart forward: "Wild bath beads, let''s take a look at the big wild bath beads. It costs five penny, which is cheaper." After shouting, someone actually told them to stop . Now, even if you only bought for copper coins, you would get three copper coins. When walking forward, Lu Gu also yelled, his eyebrows were curved, although his voice was a little softer, but he was good-looking, now that he had gained a little meat, his complexion had improved, and his smile was even different from before, except for a bit of timidity, the kind of humble and cowering appearance was no longer there. In addition to rice, the rice shop also bought all kinds of dried beans, miscellaneous grains and goji berries, but Shen Xuanqing didn''t open the lid of the basket of goji berries. It was two copper coins a catty, so it was not worth selling it here, so they just showed the wild games to the owner of the rice shop. There were only two pheasants and a rabbit in total, and the owner of the rice shop bought them together with the owner of the grocery store next door, and even bought some of Lu Gu''s wild bath beads. Before leaving, Shen Xuanqing also bought some red beans and yellow rice. The family only grew chai beans. They could use red beans to make porridge, and then added some yellow rice into it to make mixed rice porridge. The pheasant he sold was cheaper for the owner of the rice shop, so when he bought red beans and yellow rice, the owner of the rice shop scooped up some more for him. After they went to the medical center to sell the goji berries, Lu Gu put the money bag into his pocket, and as soon as he came out, he heard Shen Xuanqing say to buy Tang Pozi. His eyes lit up, and he was full of anticipation and joy. He also wanted to have Tang Pozi . CH 61.1 Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing into Xiang Nuanzhai. On one side of the cabinet was a brass Tang Pozi, and on the other side was a hand stove and a foot stove filled with charcoal fire, the stove cover was hollowed out, and the blue color carvings on the stove body looked very gorgeous and beautiful. Xiang Nuanzhai not only sold these, but also fine charcoal, various herbs and more expensive incense. Lu Gu smelled a warm and light fragrance, and found that it came from a hand stove placed on the high table. There were charcoal fire and incense in the hand stove. "You two want to see Tang Pozi?" The clerk came up and asked, he had a smile on his face, but he was not as attentive as when he greeted the other guests just now. Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu were wearing common clothes, so he knew they were not here to buy hand stoves. Shen Xuanqing nodded and said: "Well, let''s take a look at two sturdy ones." Tang Pozi also had the carved ones, which could cost fifty or sixty copper coins more than those of the same size and thickness. It would be hotter than the uncarved ones, but Lu Gu looked at those uncarved ones. "Buy a big one to keep warm under the quilt, and a smaller one to warm your hands during the day. It won''t be too heavy to hold or put on your lap." Shen Xuanqing said, and then asked Lu Gu: "How thick are these? It¡¯s sturdy to use, which one do you want?¡± The thick ones were naturally more expensive than thin ones, and you couldn¡¯t ask for the carved ones, otherwise they would be more expensive. Lu Gu rarely bought things in such a big shop in the town, so he looked a bit timid, but with Shen Xuanqing by his side, he wasn''t so afraid. He pointed at one of the uncarved ones, and said in a low voice, "This one¡± ¡°Okay "Shen Xuanqing pondered for a while, and said to the clerk: "Find three according to this style. "It was not uncommon for a farmer to buy three Tang Pozi at once. The man immediately grinned when he heard the words: "Okay, just wait a moment. " "And this one, I buy it together." Shen Xuanqing pointed to the carved Tang Poziwho was a little smaller and said, as soon as he finished speaking, Lu Gu looked over. "Sure, I''ll give you a piece when I find all of them." The clerk agreed, turning his back and looking for the same one on the shelf. "Two of the three are for mother and sister-in-law, and this one is for warming your hands during the day." Shen Xuanqing explained. Hearing this, Lu Gu anxiously glanced at the clerk who was looking for Tang Pozi, he wanted to say that the small ones didn''t need to be carved, and it cost fifty copper coins more. But Shen Xuanqing had already told the clerk that he wanted this, so he didn''t dare to say it. Shen Xuanqing didn''t know what he wanted to say, so he smiled lightly and said, "It''s not expensive, the carved ones look better." For Shen Xuanqing, he didn''t care if Tang Pozi was carved with flower or not, but he thought that the handkerchiefs that Lu Gu embroidered for him all had flowers on them. Both shuang¡¯ers and girls should like flowers. Lu Gu hesitated, because the carved Tang Pozi cost 150 copper coins. At this time, the clerk found the three big ones, took the small one together, and told the shopkeeper that he would pay the bill. "You will earn the money back, so you don''t need to worry about it." Shen Xuanqing walked to the cashier and gave another word of relief. In this case, Lu Gu had no choice but to give up. He had a money bag in his arms, but it was not his turn to pay, and Shen Xuanqing paid seven hundred and fifty copper coins. Seven hundred and fifty copper coins was a lot of money for Xiang Nuanzhai. The clerk brought Tang Pozis out to them and put them in the bamboo basket on the cart. They pushed the cart and left. The clerk was still saying politely from the back that you went slowly. Lu Gu looked at the bamboo basket while walking, the brass Tang Pozi was polished shiny, and now he also had Tang Pozi, and he had two. Seeing the joy on his face, Shen Xuanqing also smiled. The things were sold out quickly today, and it was still early, so he said: "Since we are here, and the cart is empty, why don''t we go to the wharf to see the cotton sellers. We will buy some and make the clothes sooner, and we will wear them when it¡¯s cold in winter.¡± Lu Gu agreed, and the two headed towards the pier. A catty of cotton was seventy copper coins, which was more expensive than last year, but last year the Shen family couldn''t afford new cotton, so they could only wear the thin old cotton clothes. Shen Xuanqing bargained with the owner, he asked for thirty catties, and finally the owner counted it as sixty-five copper coins a catty for him. It cost nearly two taels of silver to buy cotton, and the seven hundred and fifty copper coins just now, almost three taels of silver. Lu Gu often came to sell things, and he would settle the accounts slowly. He was a little surprised that he spent so much money, but if he didn''t buy it, it would be difficult to survive in the winter. He understood this reason. The cottons were packed in a large sack, and Shen Xuanqing kept staring at them when the owner weighing them. He used to come here to work often, and knew that the sellers at the wharf would sometimes play tricks and weigh the goods inaccurately. He could bluff people, and he was worth nearly two taels of silver when he made a move, so others couldn''t underestimate him. A solid sack of cotton was put on the cart, the mouth of the bag was exposed a little, it looked white and soft, the new cotton was the warmest, even Lu Gu knew it. He walked beside him, full of joy, his brows and eyes were raised, and the handsome and fair fulang smiled, which made Shen Xuanqing happy too. Passing by a place that sold roasted chicken and roasted duck, Lu Gu smelled the smell of meat but he didn''t care. The countrymen sold old hens that didn''t lay eggs, and the expensive ones were only seventeen or eighteen copper coins. He heard that someone bought roast chicken, which cost thirty copper coins a piece. He had never eaten such an expensive thing, and because it was expensive, he didn''t think about it, and walked straight ahead. "Do you want to eat roast chicken?" Although Shen Xuanqing was asking, his footsteps had already stopped. Lu Gu subconsciously paused. Shen Xuanqing put down the cart and went in, and said to the boss: "Give me one, forget it, pack two for me." The cart was outside, and Lu Gu didn''t go in. If someone passed by and grabbed a handful of cotton, wouldn''t they be wronged? Sixty-five copper coins for a catty of cotton, you couldn''t lose it. Shen Xuanqing brought out two oiled paper bags, the roast chicken was still hot, and could feel it through the oiled paper. The smell of the roast chicken was very fragrant. Seeing that Lu Gu pursed his lips, he swallowed his saliva, but Shen Xuanqing still smiled, opened a oiled paper bag, tore off a chicken leg and handed it over, he said, "Eat it while it''s hot." He wrraped the rest in oiled paper bag, and pushed the cart to a side sheltered corner to stop. CH 61.2 There were many coolies at the wharf who couldn¡¯t afford to buy food from the stalls or shops, so they found a place to squat or sit while eating cold steamed buns and pancakes. It was very common for country people to eat on the street. There were still three quarters of an hour to go back, and the roasted chicken would be cold on the way. It was not inedible if it was cold, but it was different after all when it came out of the oven. It was hot and fresh. Lu Gu took a bite of the chicken leg. The roasted chicken had a strong aroma. The meat was crispy and rotten but not scattered. It was easy to bite off the bone. It was clean after eating. Even the bone was crispy and delicious. At the end, you could still smell the meat on the bones. They usually had stewed chicken at home. If you wanted something spicy, add some chili peppers. There were not so many ingredients available. Roasted chicken made with spice brine like this had a special taste, no wonder it sold for 30 copper coins. Lu Gu ate two mouthfuls, and it was delicious, but he couldn''t eat alone, how could he let Shen Xuanqing stand beside him. "You eat." He handed over the chicken leg. Shen Xuanqing originally wanted to say no, but Lu Gu raised his eyes and looked at him so seriously that he couldn''t say no even if he wanted to refuse, and he didn''t answer. He lowered his head and took a bite, then pushed Lu Gu''s hand back. "You eat, there is still in the oiled paper bag, go back and eat some with mother." Shen Xuanqing said with a smile. He wanted to buy one just now, but he thought that the thick chicken thighs were the most delicious. If he only bought one, the youngest in the family had Shen Yan, so she definitely wanted to eat chicken thighs. The rest, his mother ate it, Lu Gu wouldn''t be able to eat it. Buying two, he and his elder brother didn''t have to eat it, and the four women in the family each had a chicken leg, wouldn''t it be beautiful. What''s more, there were six people in the family, one roast chicken was not enough to eat, and he and Shen Yaoqing alone could share one meal. After eating the hot and fragrant chicken leg, Lu Gu wiped the oil on his hands with a handkerchief, but he didn''t clean it very well, and it would be fine when he went back and took the wild bath beads. The wheels of the cart turned again. Compared with the rush to the town early in the morning, Shen Xuanqing''s footsteps were much more leisurely. Next to him was his fulang, who smiled so beautifully, which made him felt better. The sky was blue and broad, and the sun was bright. When the wind blew, not only was it not cold, but it made him felt refreshed and at ease in his heart. The two of them bought these good things when they came back from the early market. Wei Lanxiang touched the soft and warm cotton in the sack, and smiled until the creases at the corners of her eyes deepened. Even Ji Qiuyue was a little excited, because Shen Xuanqing said that she would make thick winter clothes for the family, including clothes and trousers, and even a pair of cotton shoes, which meant that she would also had them. They also bought Tang Pozi, so they didn¡¯t freeze at night in winter. Shen Yan and Wei Lanxiang live together, and one was enough, not to mention Ji Qiuyue and Shen Yaoqing, who also slept in the same bed. "It¡¯s cold in the mountain, and the cold water in the river seeps into the bones. Give it for Guzi to warm his hands during the day." Shen Xuanqing saw that Shen Yan was curious to touch the pattern on the small Tang Pozi, and casually said that it was bought for Lu Gu. The cotton and roasted chicken, all at his expense, without asking anyone else to pay a copper coin, the rest of the Shen family naturally wouldn''t say anything, Wei Lanxiang echoed his words, and said with a smile: "You should buy it. It¡¯s time to buy it, what will happen if our Guzi is frozen.¡± The two of them just came back for lunch, Shen Yaoqing didn''t go to work in the town today, so he warmed up the two roast chickens for the whole family to eat, and the two brothers also brought out wine and had a few drinks while eating the meat. Lu Gu had eaten chicken leg before, and now he didn''t even touch the remaining three, which were reserved for his mother and the others, he knew about it. After the meal, the two went back to the room to rest. Lu Gu opened the box and took out a big money bag from the bottom of the box. It was the money he got from selling in the market before. After counting today''s money, he put it in and continued to save it. Shen Xuanqing''s big money bag was next to it. Today, Shen Xuanqing only sold eight wild animals, earning a little, and spent more than two taels. Shen Xuanqing, who was sitting at the table drinking water, saw him looking over, and said, "Take out mine too." Lu Gu took out both money bags, and the copper coins inside clattered. He held them in his hand, they were heavy, and he couldn''t help but smiled, thinking it was really nice. The two of them sat at the table and took out the money bags and purses in their arms, and poured out the broken silver and copper coins inside. Today Lu Gu''s pile of copper coins was obviously more. Not too much, not too little, the wild bath beads were sold for exactly one hundred and ninety copper coins, and there were still some that were not sold out, and they were brought back. The goji berries were sold for three taels and eighty copper coins. Lu Gu opened the big money bag, inside it was an ingot of five taels of silver that Shen Xuanqing gave him before. It hadn¡¯t been used so far. There were sixteen taels of silver and more than five hundred copper coins. There were not many cloth and embroidery threads now, and he had to buy them again when they ran out. Add today''s copper coins, and the total was almost 800 copper coins, and the broken silver total was 19 taels. Sitting at the table, Lu Gu counted all the copper coins, whispered the number in his mouth, and laughed as he counted, he couldn''t help it, the more he counted, the happier he was. Sitting across from him, Shen Xuanqing kept laughing, and finally found that he was short of five copper coins for total of 800 copper coins, so he took five from his purse and gave it to Lu Gu, and asked him to make up the whole amount. CH 62.1 After collecting a total of 800 copper coins, Lu Gu was so happy that he didn''t know what to say, his eyes were crooked, he was a little shy, but he couldn''t stop himself from looking at Shen Xuanqing. Shen Xuanqing was also laughing, and the two just sat opposite each other for a while. "I, I''m going to get the twine." Lu Gu lowered his head in embarrassment, seeing so many copper coins on the table, he thought he should string them together, otherwise they would be too scattered, so he got up to search for the twine. Shen Xuanqing was only looking at Lu Gu just now, and only now began to count the money. In the purse, there were five taels of broken silver and more than three hundred copper coins, as well as the untouched twenty-eight taels silver from the dwarf deer, and the ten taels of silver he saved before. If you paid someone to monitor people, you didn''t need to take care of Lu Wen and Li Mingshan''s affairs. He spent more than two taels today, and only a dozen copper coins were left on him. These scattered copper coins were enough for daily expenses. Compared with thirty-eight taels, the eleven taels may not seem like much money, but to these country folks, it could be regarded as a lot of money. Lu Gu came over with a ball of twine, his 800 copper coins was not enough to exchange with silver, so he had to string a hundred of them, leaving a piece of twine at the end to tie a knot. He earned a small amount of money, not as good as Shen Xuanqing, but in the village, it would be a big deal for any fulang to have a few hundred coins, not to mention that he still had nineteen taels silver, and people may not believe it when he told them. The reason why Lu Gu was able to save the money like this was because Shen Xuanqing treated him well and didn''t take his money away, and he didn''t let him pay for the things outside. Shen Xuanqing didn''t count his copper coins just now, so he just poured them out from the big money bag, and also took a string of twine. He would go to Fucheng to sell fox fur in the next two days. "I''ll help you." Lu Gu tightened the mouth of the big money bag, and when he saw him stringing money, he pulled a length of twine to help. A total of three hundred and forty-six copper coins, they strung three hundred small copper coins with twine, and put forty-six copper coins the purse. Fucheng was far away, so he would definitely had to eat there. There was no need to untie the string of money if he had these forty six copper coins. He pushed the remaining 20 copper coins to Lu Gu, and said with a smile: "Your money is whole money (all of his copper coins were strung), keep it, if you want to exchange it for silver, you can go to the town to change it, and these 20 copper coins are for you to take, just in case you want to buy something." Lu Gu was quite embarrassed, he smiled shyly, and carefully put the twenty copper coins into a small purse, so that he could carry it close to his body when he went out without fear of losing it. In fact, he only bought some needlework and silk at most. Usually, whether at home or on the mountain, he seldom carried money on his body, but these twenty copper coins were different. If you had money, you wouldn¡¯t be afraid of embarrassment if you couldn¡¯t afford it. After hiding the two big money bags at the bottom of the box, the thin quilt and clothes were pressed on the top so they couldn''t be seen, and then locked the box, Lu Gu was completely at ease. In the early morning of the next day, Shen Xuanqing picked up the bamboo basket and went out after eating breakfast. Before going to Fucheng, he had to go to the old hunter to ask about the price of fox fur in Fucheng, and if there was anyone who could accept it, So he could come back tonight. Lu Gu sent him out, and Dahui without the leash subconsciously wanted to follow him. "Don''t follow, go watch the house." Shen Xuanqing said something to Dahui, and Lu Gu also called him from behind, and Dahui stopped. After Shen Xuanqing walked away, Lu Gu returned to the yard. Shen Yan picked a few duck eggs that had been laid at night from the backyard, he asked, "Brother Guzi, brother Erqing is gone? "Go." Lu Gu replied, seeing the duck eggs, he couldn''t help but think of the chickens and ducks in the mountain, so he was a little fond of the chickens and ducks in the house, and asked her with concern: "Have you chopped the chicken grass?" "No, Brother Daqing is cleaning the backyard. I''ll put the eggs away and chop them." Shen Yan said as she walked towards the kitchen When going down the mountain, there was a lot of grass and chaff for the chickens and ducks, which was enough for them to eat for a few days. Lu Gu was used to stay in the mountain. Every time Shen Xuanqing went hunting, he was busy by himself, and he couldn¡¯t take it easy now. Seeing that there were not many firewood, he took a bench and sat in the courtyard to chop firewood. Sitting down and chopping wood would inevitably spread the legs to make room in front of the body, and the legs were widely spread on both sides. The dog cuddled over and lay down next to his left leg. CH 62.2 After a while, they talked about the soles of Shen Xuanqing¡¯s shoes. Wei Lanxiang talked about his son even more. He said that Shen Xuanqing used to wear shoes since he was a child. Running around, that made people like a dog, and a little girls and little Shuang''er of the same age ignored him, and dismissed him because he was too wild. The new shoes that he just put on were dirty and torn within two days. Up to now, Wei Lanxiang couldn''t figure out how Shen Xuanqing walked at that time. The new shoes were torn in two days. Even Shen Yaoqing didn''t waste the shoes so much , She was angry and thought it was funny, she even grabbed Shen Xuanqing''s ears, not only that, Shen Xuanqing was also very strong, when she was ten years old, she couldn''t hold him. "At that time, Da Chen was also a bastard. He called Erqing to go out to play all day long. He either filled weasel holes or fished and poked honeycombs. When he played, he didn''t care about anything. He was crazy. I wouldn''t let Erqing go, he ran away in a hurry, and I let him run away without holding him back." Since arriving at Shen''s house, Shen Xuanqing that Lu Gu saw was calm, never thought that he was so different when he was a child, he kept listening and forgot about chopping the wood. "The two of them went to play in the quagmire of Heqian Village. When they came back, they were covered in mud and dirt. They covered their face and head. Their hair was stuck to the mud. They couldn''t wash it off. I was so angry that I beat him with a rolling pin. Da Chen even dragged Er Qing to his house to look for his mother, you don''t know, Da Chen was beaten up that day and howled like ghosts and wolves, after a lesson, he was honest for the next half a year." Wei Lanxiang said about Shen Xuanqing , she couldn''t help laughing when she talked about beating Da Chen, which showed how much she couldn''t stand the two bastards back then. Lu Gu also raised his eyebrows and smiled lightly. He still wanted to hear it, but Shen Yan drove the ducks out from the backyard after chopping the chicken grass, and took them to swim outside. The ducks quacked, and the puppy stood up and barked at them. At this time, Ji Qiuyue also took a sewing basket and sat next to Wei Lanxiang, intending to mend Shen Yaoqing''s torn old clothes, but when she was distracted, she turned away and said something else to Ji Qiuyue. Lu Gu started to chop firewood again, he was still thinking about Wei Lanxiang''s words, a slight smile appeared on his face as he thought about it. In the evening, Lu Gu and Ji Qiuyue walked around the paddy fields and dry land. When he came back, he kept looking around on the road to the town. The puppy ran back and forth with them. People in the village said that the dog was really strong when they saw it. The sun was about to sink, and Shen Xuanqing''s figure was never seen, and he thought he wouldn¡¯t come back tonight. Ji Qiuyue joked with him with a smile, and said, "Why, you miss Erqing after only going out for a day?" These words made Lu Gu extremely embarrassed, she lowered his head and denied in a low voice: "No, no." Seeing his blushing, Ji Qiuyue smiled like a flower, but she knew that Lu Gu was thin-skinned, so she didn''t go on. The two of them walked through the village, meeting people in the village along the way, Ji Qiuyue spoke briskly, she could chat and laugh with everyone, and arrived home. As soon as Lu Gu entered the courtyard, he saw a young woman talking to Wei Lanxiang, and Wei Lanxiang handed her a bowl of white flour. "Go back quickly, and pay it back when you have it tomorrow." Wei Lanxiang said. "Thank you aunt Lanxiang." The young woman thanked her, then turned and left. After she turned around, Lu Gu saw the bruises on her face, which looked like she had been beaten, and was a little startled in his heart, since he had been beaten, he naturally knew how painful it was. The woman was familiar with Ji Qiuyue, she put on a smile on her face and said something before leaving. "Old Zhang''s family really committed crimes, and she beats the good daughter-in-law." Wei Lanxiang sighed after the woman left. Lu Gu often went up the mountain with Shen Xuanqing, so he was not that familiar with the affairs of the village. But he had seen that woman twice, she was Zhang Zhengzi''s daughter-in-law, a few houses away from their house, Zhang Zhengzi''s old lady was called old Zhang by the villagers, and he knew that. "That''s it." Ji Qiuyue responded. When she said this, she felt very lucky. Fortunately, her mother found Shen Yaoqing and Wei Lanxiang for her back then, or she was afraid she would die of anger. The old Zhang¡¯s rules were strict. She ate in the room, and the daughter-in-law brought the food in without saying anything. She had to kneel down to pay her respects. She beats and scolds her if she doesn¡¯t like it. . It was not uncommon to serve parents-in-law. There were other families who knelt down to greet, but there were not many people who were as strict as the old Zhang family. Everyone in their farming households had to work, and they would pick the daughter-in-law''s spare time when they had nothing to do. Others in the village didn''t say that Wei Lanxiang had never suffered this kind of anger at the hands of her mother-in-law. Although Shen Shunfu was a big bastard, he treated her well and protected her all the time, so she also treated Ji Qiuyue well. After Lu Gu came, he also didn¡¯ beat or scold him, even the rules were not established. Besides, she had Shen Yan, and when she thought that her little daughter would be tortured by someone in the future, she felt uncomfortable. Not to mention the daughter-in-law of others, Ji Qiuyue was loved by her parents, and even Lu Gu was loved by her mother when she was a child. How could she treat others harshly when they came to their house? . Ji Qiuyue was in the kitchen boiling water for the family to wash. She said that there was not much firewood, so Lu Gu went in with the firewood and listened to her talk about the Zhang family. Gradually getting used to the Shen family, Lu Gu seldom thought about the days when he was beaten. After hearing this, he was panicked and at the same time he couldn''t help but felt that he was lucky. He met Wei Lanxiang and the Shen family. CH 63.1 Shen Xuanqing never came back that night, Lu Gu heard Shen Yaoqing closing the courtyard door outside, turned over and closed his eyes and fell asleep. It was useless for Tang Pozi so he put it on the table. The house was better than the mountain, and it was not so cold. Before going to bed, he was disturbed by his own thoughts. Lu Gu thought again, Shen Xuanqing would definitely come back tomorrow, and felt more at ease. There was nothing to say all night, and the next day was cloudy, and the sun peeked out from the clouds for a short while from time to time, so he knew it wouldn¡¯t rain. Lu Gu carried the bamboo basket on his back and took a small hoe, and went up the mountain with Shen Yan and Ji Qiuyue to find Tianwogen. Shen Yaoqing followed them up the mountain, with a hemp rope on his shoulders and a hatchet in his waist, and he wanted to collect some firewood to sell in the town. By the way, he looked for suitable trees on the mountain, and looked for someone to work together to cut some to use in the winter. When he felt tired after working as a coolie at the wharf for a few days, he would rest at home for half a day. It didn¡¯t had to be so hard like when he still had to pay off his debts, he was too busy and sometimes he couldn¡¯t take time off. He either collected firewood or fished, and he would get ten or twenty copper coins, at least it was an income. It was easy to sell firewood and fish, so he wouldn¡¯t buy food in the town. The country people spend very little money on food and drink when they go home. They were all grown by themselves or obtained from mountains and rivers. Nowadays, there were no natural disasters and man-made disasters to disturb the peace and prosperity. As long as ordinary people worked hard, it was no problem to had enough food. "Be careful." Seeing that they found a clump of Tianwogen, Shen Yaoqing went to collect firewood in the forest alone after a few words of advice. "Okay, you can go." Ji Qiuyue responded. Dahui was sniffing around, and the puppy followed him. Lu Gu ignored them when he saw that they hadn''t gone far. There were a lot of Tianwogen here. It was not good for the two of them to swing the hoe together, it was easy to bump into each other, and it wouldn''t be good if you got hurt. Ji Qiuyue looked for Tianwogen elsewhere, and she really found a small clump. There were few over there, so they started to get busy. "It''s hard to find in the front mountain. If you want to get more later, you''d better go deeper." Shen Yan squatted on the ground, took a big Tianwogen in his hand and knocked it on the ground, rubbing the wet soil on it. Knocked it off, wiped off most of the soil with your hands, and then threw it into the bamboo basket. "I found quite a few in the mountains, but they are too heavy. Erqing couldn''t pull them down, so I didn''t dig any more after that." Lu Gu also knelt down to pick up Tianwogen. Shen Yan said: "Brother Guzi, you don''t have to go so far, just go a little deeper. When the weather turns cold and there are few jobs at the wharf, my sister-in-law and I will let Brother Daqing go together, otherwise the deep forest is too scary, and with the second elder brother followed, we don''t need to worry." That was the case, Lu Gu nodded, tianwogen grew in the ground, it was a wild vegetable that could survive the winter, when he and Shen Xuanqing didn''t go up the mountain anymore, as long as the weather was good, didn''t rain even when it snowed, you could go into the mountains to dig. "Woof!" the puppy suddenly barked. Lu Gu looked over subconsciously, and Dahui was quickly digging a hole in the ground. He had seen this scene before, and it was to catch voles. Sure enough, after the hole was dug, a fat big vole was caught, and after a few struggles, the neck was bitten off by Dahui. Dahui had been raised by Shen''s family for almost two years, and Shen Yan and Ji Qiuyue naturally knew that it could catch voles, and could even tell the difference between mice and voles. If he catched a mouse at home, he would kill it, but he wouldn¡¯t eat it. If he was diligent, he would take it out and throw it away. If it was vole, he would let someone to bake and cook it. When Ji Qiuyue got closer, Dahui approached her with a big vole in his mouth. She picked a big tree leaf and put it on the ground. She pointed at the leaf and said, "Go back and cook it for you. Put it on here first." When Dahui saw her finger pointing at the leaves, he lowered his head and let go the vole from his mouth, and put the vole on it. "It''s really spiritual." Ji Qiuyue said with a smile. She was quite afraid of things like mice and voles. It would be better to wrap them with leaves. If you met Daqing later, let him peel the skin, otherwise it was not easy to roast even the skin and hair. The puppy barked at the dead vole for a while, seeing that the vole hadn''t moved a bit, he leaned over to smell it, then turned around to play. He ran to Lu Gu''s side and then ran away. He was very lively, but he didn''t learn from Dahui¡¯s ability to catch voles. Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu said that the puppy was smart, but he was still a little playful, lazy and unwilling to learn skills, and he must teach them well later. Lu Gu had never raised a dog before, so he didn''t know that dogs were so human-like. The four dogs in the family had different temperaments, so he thought it was very interesting. The three of them came out and carried two bamboo baskets, and they dug up a total of twenty or so tianwogen, but they couldn''t find them after searching for a while. It was okay to kill fish and chickens, she doesn''t want to skin this thing, thinking about it for a long time, according to the past, Shen Yaoqing should had gathered the firewood, so she shouted to Dahui: "Go to Daqing." After hearing this, Dahui pricked up his ears and turned around to run towards the woods. The puppy followed him and ran wildly. Lu Gu originally wanted to call out for him, but he saw that he had grown up a lot. So he closed his mouth. CH 63.2 They were not idle when Shen Yaoqing was waiting. Shen Yan pulled some green grass and branches for the rabbit, and after a while they all turned yellow, and said: "Mother said that in just two days, the female rabbit should give birth to cubs. It¡¯s cold and we need to build a nest to make it warmer.¡± Hearing this, Lu Gu also squatted down to pull grass and pick the tender branches, and said: ¡°Then feed it better, because there will be no green grass to eat in the future." Ji Qiuyue couldn''t help laughing when she heard their conversation, Shen Yan didn''t say anything, she was still a child, Lu Gu looked a few years older, but his heart was pure, these few words really made people felt that he was still childish . After a while, Shen Yaoqing came back with two bundles of firewood. He didn''t bring a pole, but he cut a strong branch and carried it on his shoulders. He thought that Dahui was looking for him for something, but he didn''t expect it to be skinning vole, but since his wife had spoken, he put down the firewood with a smile and did as he was told. In the afternoon ,Zhou Xiangjun brought Shen Yu over to visit, and sat with Wei Lanxiang under the eaves to make the soles of shoes. "Aunt, you eat these dried persimmons, Yu ge¡¯er will eat them too." Ji Qiuyue brought some dried persimmons over. "Okay." Zhou Xiangjun nodded with a smile, stopped what she was doing and ate. Shen Yu was a shuang¡¯er with red marks between his eyebrows. He was younger. He was only fourteen this year. He sat next to his mother, embroidering handkerchiefs. He had a round face and big eyes. He always smiled very pleasantly when he saw people. The outline was somewhat similar to Shen Yan''s, and the rest of the Shen family said that their round faces resemble Grandma''s. "Brother Guzi, here''s one for you." Shen Yu ate the dried persimmons by himself and didn''t forget Lu Gu next to him, so he took one for him. Lu Gu raised his eyebrows slightly and took it over. He happened to be embroidering a handkerchief when the third aunt and Yu ge¡¯er came, and Yu ge¡¯er sat with him. "If Guzi still wants to eat dried dates, come to my house and get them. We have a lot this year." Zhou Xiangjun said when he remembered Lu Gu''s Qi and blood deficiency before. Hearing this, Wei Lanxiang said: "We didn''t finish the half bag last time, and I still have some at home." She remembered the unsold wild bath beads again, and said to Ji Qiuyue: "Qiuyue, you give the third aunt some wild bath beads." People who gave them jujubes should be given something, otherwise they would be eaten for nothing. Wild bath beads were easy to pick for Lu Gu, and it didn''t take much effort, so naturally there would be no objections. They worked while eating persimmons, Wei Lanxiang and Zhou Xiangjun were gossiping, while Lu Gu was listening to the people and things in the village. He didn''t talk much by nature, let alone chewing his tongue behind someone else¡¯s back. He silently remembered that he would live in Qingxi Village in the future. No matter who he met, he would know what kind of person he was, and he could choose to talk to people who were easy to talk to, if not, he may not be able to talk to others. Shen Yan came over after chopping chicken grass, and saw Lu Gu and the others embroidering handkerchiefs, so she also brought out the embroidery frame to join in the fun, learning to embroider a few delicate flowers. Several people were chatting and laughing in the yard, which was very lively. Not long after, there were two dogs barking at the door. Dahui had been fighting and playing with other dogs in the village, but now he came back following Shen Xuanqing. As soon as Lu Gu looked up, he saw Shen Xuanqing, his eyes lit up slightly, he was a little excited but didn''t know how to express it, so he subconsciously stood up. But there were still people at home, and Wei Lanxiang was very happy to see her son came back, she put down her work and wanted to go up to greet him, and helped Shen Xuanqing unloaded the bamboo basket. "Aunt and Yu ge¡¯er are here." Shen Xuanqing called Zhou Xiangjun first, and then said to Wei Lanxiang: "No need, mother, you just sit down, there is nothing in the basket." After that, Wei Lanxiang sat down again . Lu Gu clutched the corner of his clothes and was a little nervous, but when Shen Xuanqing looked at him, this anxiety turned into something else. He stepped forward a few steps and saw Shen Xuanqing unloading the bamboo basket. Because there were several people there, he was a little shy and at a loss, but he still asked in a low voice: "Have you eaten? I''ll cook for you." Seeing that Shen Xuanqing took the wooden basin to wash his hands, he went into the kitchen and scooped up a gourd of water. Wei Lanxiang from behind watched the two of them pursing their lips and laughing straight away. It was different when you had fulang, and the eyes of the second child didn¡¯t look at anyone else. "Erqing went to town?" Zhou Xiangjun asked casually. "Yes, he went to Jixing Town to see his shifu while selling things." Wei Lanxiang replied. It was not that she didn''t know Zhou Xiangjun thoroughly. In broad daylight, people in the village passed through the gate of their house when they went up and down the mountain. Partition walls had ears. If you were not afraid of thieves stealing, you were afraid of thieves thinking about it. It was always good to have cleverness. They chatted and chatted, Lu Gu was busy with Shen Xuanqing''s food in the kitchen, Ji Qiuyue originally wanted to help him, but when she saw Shen Xuanqing washed his face and sat down in front of the stove to light the fire, she smiled quietly and went out without disturbing Erqing of their family who wanted to stay with his fulang. When Ji Qiuyue married three years ago, Shen Xuanqing was only fifteen. The half-grown boy had grown up and married in an instant, and she knew that he liked being with his fulang. As the eldest sister-in-law, she felt a little relieved. CH 64.1 The smoke was rising, the cloudy sky was not very warm, and the wind was blowing after a while, Shen Xuanqing couldn''t stay for a long time to eat, Zhou Xiangjun and Shen Yu sat for a while and left. Shen Xuanqing came back late, not in time for lunch, and it was not time for the rest of the Shen family to have dinner at this time, so he was the only one eating. Lu Gu scrambled eggs for him. In the morning, Shen Yaoqing bought a piece of meat from Meng Dayue in the neighboring village, cut some meat and fried it with qiucai. Qiucai became greener and more delicious when they were fried with the meat oil. The smell of meat made the puppy wandered around under the table, even rubbing against Shen Xuanqing''s calf. While Wei Lanxiang wasn''t paying attention, Shen Xuanqing threw a piece of meat to him, and the puppy wanted to ask for it again after eating, but he ignored it. "Guaizi, come here." Lu Gu cleaned the pot, but the water in it was not scooped out. After Shen Xuanqing finished eating, he had to wash the dishes. The bottom of the stove was still warm, and the water was still hot in the pot. Seeing that the puppy continued to be annoying as if he didn''t hear him calling, he took one of his front paws and dragged him away, away from Shen Xuanqing. "Do you want to eat?" Shen Xuanqing asked when he saw him coming. Lu Gu shook his head and said, "No, you eat, we''ve already eaten." The puppy accidentally ran to Shen Xuanqing''s side again, tilted his head and barked, and squatted down without paying attention to it, looking at Shen Xuanqing eagerly. Everyone in the family was there, Lu Gu was embarrassed to sit at the table to eat with Shen Xuanqing, and went out after a short pause. He picked up some firewood and carried it into the kitchen. It was cool in the late autumn, and it got dark earlier than before. It was just getting dark, and the Shen family went back to their rooms after washing. Candle was lit in the room, Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing soaked their feet together, he sat on the edge of the bed, Shen Xuanqing took a chair and sat the opposite, put mugwort leaves in the tub, the color of the water became darker, and the white feet were hidden under the water. Occasionally, he accidentally touched Shen Xuanqing''s feet when he moved, and he lowered his head and didn¡¯t dare to move anymore. Pulling over the bamboo basket on the side, Shen Xuanqing took out a money bag from under a large hemp rope, opened it and saw a lot of silver ingots inside. Seeing so much money, a smile appeared on his face, and he raised his eyes to the dumbfounded Lu Gu and said, "It''s two hundred and sixteen taels in total, and those two pieces of silver fox fur have good color, and even the master agreed, this is a good deal. Fox furs are expensive and hard to buy in Fucheng, so they were sold at a high price, thirty taels per piece. The remaining ten red fox furs are smooth and thick, one for ten taels, and the remaining seven are slightly inferior. One piece sold for eight taels." Fox fur was rare, and it looked good in winter, it was light and warm, and rich people liked it the most, so it could be sold for so much money, not to mention the village, even in Fenggu Town, two hundred taels was a lot of money. Not a small fortune. Shen Xuanqing took two silver ingots from the purse and handed them to Lu Gu, and said with a smile: "The silver ingots of fifty taels are too big, I asked the manager to take them into small ingots of ten taels, and the remaining sixteen taels were scattered silver." After all, Fenggu Town was a town, and even the large silver ingots of twenty taels were not used much, let alone fifty taels, and it was so big and inconvenient to carry on the body. A silver ingot of ten taels was not small. Lu Gu only felt that the two ingots in his hand were heavy. He had seen five taels and one tael of silver ingots before, and the one tael was the most compact. He had thought that when he had a thousand copper coins, he could go to the town to exchange one tael of silver. "You take it, you can buy whatever you want to eat." Shen Xuanqing was dumbfounded when he saw that he was holding the silver and didn''t speak for a long time, and couldn''t help laughing. Unexpectedly, Lu Gu handed it back after listening, Shen Xuanqing was puzzled. "You, you save it, twenty taels are too much." There was so much money that Lu Gu stumbled, looked up and said seriously: "It''s two hundred taels." Seeing that Shen Xuanqing didn''t answer, Lu Gu Gu was a little anxious, so he stretched out his hand to grab Shen Xuanqing''s hand, opened it and put two silver ingots into his palm. "Well, you take these broken silver." Shen Xuanqing smiled even more, remembering that there were still thirty-eight taels in the box, eight taels could be taken out for daily use, and the remaining two hundred and thirty taels could be saved. It was good. "En." Lu Gu agreed with a light nod of his head, but he was thinking in his heart that he had enough money to buy needles, thread, and silk, so why should he spend so much money?. The next day was still cloudy, and the chickens and ducks had been on the mountain for several days, Lu Gu was a little worried, but now that the two of them were getting more familiar, Shen Xuanqing could sometimes guess what he was thinking. After eating breakfast, Shen Xuanqing said to Wei Lanxiang: " Mother, we will pack up and go to the mountain later. " "So fast. "Wei Lanxiang got busy when she heard this, packed dried persimmons for them, and said: "I''ll give you two a few packs. You can eat them when you''re free. You can take some with you when you go hunting, and chew them when you''re hungry." "Mother, you take these. Later, the family will buy meat to make cured meat, make new clothes for you and Shen Yan, and buy her a silk flower or something." Shen Xuanqing said, and handed over ten taels of silver. From time to time in the village, peddlers would bring their loads. Broken silver was better after all, not to mention that rural women couldn''t spend all the silver ingots of ten taels at a time. When he went to Fucheng this time, he saw a girl who was about the same age as Shen Yan wearing a small silk flower on her head. Shen Yan only had a hair tie, and she usually only wore it when she picked mountain flowers on the mountain, and they withered within a day or two. She loved these flowers. He wanted to buy some for his younger sister, but he didn''t understand this, and since Lu Gu didn''t like flowers, he didn''t buy them. "Okay, mother knows." Wei Lanxiang smiled from ear to ear, and carefully put the money into her arms. When she fell asleep last night, she wanted to ask the second child how much the fox furs was sold for this time. For a countryman, ten taels of silver would take a year or two to save. After taking so much money, she rested her mind. Shen Xuanqing had his own thought when he was older, and besides, he had his fulang. CH 64.2 Getting used to go up and down the mountain, Lu Gu packed up quickly, Shen Xuanqing went to the backyard to release the dogs , pushed the cart and went out. Wei Lanxiang sent the two of them out, and said: "You just went to Fucheng yesterday and now you have to go to the mountain road again. Remember to rest more when you get to the mountain." "Mother, I understand." Shen Xuanqing agreed, Lu Gu also said goodbye, and the two walked into the mountains with their four dogs. Having enough money in hand would make people felt at ease. This winter, there was no need to worry about money. After going up the mountain, Shen Xuanqing would no longer be so anxious to hunt. It was good to slow down and take a rest. It was obviously colder in the mountains, so Lu Gu went to cook first as soon as he opened the door. After walking all this way, the tiredness and hunger were unavoidable, and some warm meals would keep him warm. There were not many things to bring up the mountain, and the cart was no different from an empty one. Shen Xuanqing put the luggage of shoes and clothes in the room, and after seeing that the chickens and ducks were alive and well, she went into the kitchen to help Lu Gu to light the fire. After the two had finished eating and drinking, Shen Xuanqing went to the backyard to clean up, while Lu Gu washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Just now Shen Xuanqing said that the next time they went home, they would buy some big bone sticks with meat to stew. Even if he hadn''t eaten it yet, Lu Gu was very happy just hearing what he said. He didn''t know why, but he liked to hear what Shen Xuanqing would eat and use in the future, and Shen Xuanqing would bring it back every time, and he was not greedy for anything else, even if it was just a salted duck egg and a bowl of small pickles, he felt that life was very promising, At least he could eat enough, not like before. The sky was getting cloudier, Lu Gu cleaned the kitchen and took a look at the sky, then picked up the bamboo basket and sickle and went outside to cut grass, Dahui and the puppy followed him out. The two of them often walked in the area in front of the courtyard. The grass on the ground was sparse, exposing a large piece of earthy brown ground. He often cut grass on the mountain and also took care of the outside of the yard. The grass around the yard was either cut off or removed with a hoe. Otherwise, if the grass was too high and too dense, it was easy for snakes and insects to hide. Lu Gu remembered the snake slough he encountered last time, it was so big and long, and it would be bigger after shedding its skin. Fortunately, he didn''t come across it, what if it was a poisonous snake. When winter came, the snakes in the mountains would go to sleep in the places where they couldn¡¯t be seen, so there was no need to be afraid. But he thought again, he and Shen Xuanqing went back down the mountain in winter, and they would never met the snakes at all. Most of the leaves of the pepper tree outside the house had fallen, and it looked a bit bare. The hard thorns on the tree hadn¡¯t changed, and people subconsciously wanted to avoid it. Lu Gu picked up a basket of grass that chickens and ducks love to eat, and carried it back when it was full. Shen Xuanqing shoveled all the chicken and duck manure in the backyard, the ground was clean and tidy, and made the scent of green medicine leaves became stronger. As soon as Lu Gu came back, he could smell the smell of green medicine leaves. It was cold, and the slightly milder medicinal smell made him felt better. As soon as Shen Xuanqing was about to leave the backyard, he saw Lu Gu approaching with a bamboo basket of grass on his back. He took it and said, "I''ll chop it up. You can boil some hot water and pour it into Tang Pozi. You will do needlework later in case your hands get cold." Today There was nothing else to do when they went up the mountain. He knew that Lu Gu wouldn¡¯t like to be free, so he must do something. It was cold and windy, so he had to use Tang Pozi. Hearing this, Lu Gu thought of the little Tang Pozi with carved patterns, his brows and eyes were raised, he nodded in good mood, and happily went to boil the water. Not long after, white steam came out of the pot, Lu Gu added a piece of firewood to the bottom of the stove, got up and went to the room to take Tang Pozi. As soon as he came in, he saw the quilt on the bed, which had been fold for a while, and it was time to unpack and wash it, and the sheets should be changed. There was a bundle on the table, which contained Shen Xuanqing''s new shoes and their clothes. Lu Gu unpacked the baggage, put the shoes and clothes into the box, and opened another box to get the quilt and sheets. As soon as he took out the quilt, he saw a book under the quilt. Lu Gu froze for a moment, why didn''t he remember that there were books in the box. Shen Xuanqing, who had finished chopping the chicken grass, didn''t see him in the kitchen, so he went into the room to look for him, and unexpectedly saw this scene. As soon as Lu Gu thought about it, he knew that the book belonged to Shen Xuanqing. He didn''t touch other people''s book. It would be a crime if it was damaged. As for the three big characters "Qian Kun Tu" written on the cover, he didn''t know it, and his expression didn''t change at all. He ignored the book and take the quilt. [ǬÀ¤ qi¨¢n k¨±n: Heaven and earth, Yin and Yang; ͼ t¨²: diagram; picture; drawing;] Even if they knew each words, these three words seem to be quite serious on the surface, and most people wouldn¡¯t think of other places. Shen Xuanqing was so nervous that he stood at the door and didn''t dare to come in. Seeing that Lu Gu didn''t touch the books in the box, he felt relieved. As soon as Lu Gu put down the quilt, he turned around and saw him, and said worriedly, " why don''t you take out the book and stuff it in the quilt, what if the pages are crumpled." It was not easy for country people to go to school, and it was even more difficult to buy books. Any book was precious for Lu Gu. He had never been educated and illiterate, and he could only write his name crookedly on the ground with branches. His mother learned it from a literate woman in the village, and taught him how to write. Scrawled on the ground, his mother couldn''t write well, so naturally he couldn''t write well, but at least he knew what two characters his name was. CH 65.1 Chapter 65 Shen Xuanqing froze again. This book was shameful. Before getting married, he borrowed books from other men in the village, and he read them alone behind his back. But when he thought about it, he felt a little irritated. If Fulang found out that he was reading this kind of book, his face would be lost. When he left in the morning, he didn''t know what to think, so he brought the books with him. When he got here, he saw Lu Gu cooking, and he sneaked into the room and hid it in the box. He purposely picked a big box for the quilts, and the box for clothes was opened all day long, so he didn''t dare to stuff it there, and he never thought that Lu Gu would discover it within half a day. "Yeah." He hesitated, his answer was not as sharp as usual, and it was obvious at first glance. Lu Gu became more and more puzzled, and subconsciously turned his head to look at the books in the box, thinking that he shouldn''t damage the books when he took the quilts it just now. His glance made Shen Xuanqing even more embarrassed, afraid that he would pick it up and look through it, and his heart would jump for a while. He had never been so panicked when facing the beasts in the mountains, so he quickly stepped forward and closed the box directly. "It''s not a good book." Shen Xuanqing withdrew his hand, looking a little flustered and embarrassed. Seeing that Lu Gu''s brows were frowning and his expression was confused, he realized that he had accidentally told the truth, so he hurriedly made amends and said, "I mean the book is not expensive. It could be flattened even if it was wrinkled and pressed, so it¡¯s not a problem.¡± If someone else might ask him why he didn¡¯t take it out to read, otherwise the book he bought would be a waste of money if he hid it in a box. But Lu Gu didn''t ask, but nodded his head to indicate that he understood. He didn''t understand the book, and he always felt that what Shen Xuanqing said made sense. Since he was so old, he only knew two characters, so it was better not to mix it up. Besides, Shen Xuanqing usually had to do a lot of work, and he didn''t have the time to read books. It was good to put them in the box. Recently, it had been cloudy and rainy, and if the books were outside, they would be damp. The water in the kitchen was already boiling, so he took the small Tang Pozi to fill it with hot water. Lu Gu poured boiling water into it, and screwed the cap tightly so it wouldn''t leak. Before lifting it up, Lu Gu put his hand on Tang Pozi and covered it. It was hot, even a little hot. He smiled and rolled his eyes. "Wash with hot water, there is still some in the pot." Seeing that Shen Xuanqing came in to scoop up water to wash his hands, he quickly withdrew his hands and helped him to scoop up a scoop of hot water. Shen Xuanqing squatted down to wash his hands. Although he was not so panicked anymore, he was still thinking about things. He rubbed the wild bath beads in his hand very slowly. Finally, he raised his head, looked at Lu Gu who came out with Tang Pozi, and asked, "Did you read the book? No?" If the wind blowing up when he took out the quilt and accidentally opened the book cover, Lu Gu must know, the pictures on it were so detailed that you could see what kind of book at a glance. Lu Gu didn''t know his nervousness at all, shook his head and said, "No." Shen Xuanqing put his beating heart back into his stomach, and then he remembered something, and asked, "Do you know how to read? " When he was in the Lu family, reading and writing were always something Lu Wen often did, so whenever he mentioned books and calligraphy, Lu Gu would inevitably think of him. "I don''t know." Lu Gu shook his head, hesitantly pursed his lower lip, lowered his head and said in a low voice, "I can write my name. Lu Wen was literate and they all knew it in Anjia Village. The Shen family must had known it when they got engaged. In Anjia Village, there were sometimes women and fulangs in the village who came to Lu Wen to read letters or ask questions, and the villagers sometimes praised Lu Wen when they gossipped. He didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with complimenting Lu Wen. People who could read a book was capable, didn''t blame others for boasting. But a few times he overheard other people saying that they were all raised by the same family, but that Lu Wen was really a promising shuang¡¯er. Even if he was stupid, he could still hear the man chewing his tongue, saying that he was worthless, and he felt a little sad. It was fine if someone asked. Now in front of Shen Xuanqing, he didn''t want to make himself looked too worthless, at least, at least he knew two characters. CH 65.2 Two characters, he thought quietly in his heart with a sullen head. However, he himself knew that knowing two characters was nothing. Shen Xuanqing saw that Lu Gu hung his head a little listlessly, he was at a loss for a while, he didn''t know what Lu Gu was thinking, so he pondered for a while and said cautiously: "Then, I''ll teach you when I''m free?" Hearing this, Lu Gu raised his eyes and looked at him, at the end he nodded his head with eyes full of gratitude, and whispered: "Okay." Seeing that Shen Xuanqing didn''t underestimate him, and wanted to teach him how to read, Lu Gu''s mood improved a little, happy and shy at the same time, and finally couldn''t say anything else, so he carried Tang Pozi went back to the room to remove the quilt first. He put Tang Pozi on the bed, thought for a while and pulled a corner of the clean quilt to cover Tang Pozi. After a while, the corner of the quilt became warm, and he stretched his hand inside to feel warm. It was cloudy today, waited until tomorrow, if there was sunshine, he could wash the quilts, otherwise it would be damp and moldy if it didn''t dry because of the rain. The quilt was not dirty, but it was best to bask in the sun. He first folded and put it at the end of the bed. When he saw the bulging quilt in the corner, he couldn''t help but put his hand into the warm quilt, thinking that Tang Pozi was actually a bit like the sun, hot and warm. The depression just now was gone, Lu Gu couldn''t bear the warmth, so he took the sewing basket and sat by the bed to work. He found a suitable piece of cloth in the basket. Everyone in the family already had sachets. He planned to sew a simple sachet for himself. The cyan cloth was quite bright, and it was suitable for making a sachet. The sachets and medicine bags mentioned here referred to the embroidered ones, which were more complicated to make, but the small sachets were different, they could be used after sewing, and there was no need to embroider them. Shen Xuanqing washed his hands and had nothing to do outside, so he also came into the room and sat by the side to watch Lu Gu sewed sachet. The small sachet was quick to make, after it was sewn up, turned it inside out, put on two colored ropes, and it was done in a short while, all he needed was to stuff medicine materials inside. A rough guy who did rough work all day long had never seen such meticulous work. Wei Lanxiang usually did needlework at home and Shen Xuanqing had never seen it much. Now, seeing Lu Gu made a small sachet in a few moments, he felt a little surprised , he also took an embroidery needle threaded with colored thread in the needlework basket, held it in his hand and looked at it for a long time. This needle was too delicate, it made his fingers more rough and clumsy, it couldn''t compare with Lu Gu''s. Shen Xuanqing looked at it for a while, then picked up a corner of the rag in the basket, and poked it with a needle, but he quickly lost interest, thinking that it would be better for Lu Gu to hold it in his hand to embroider. After Lu Gu finished making the sachet, he put his hand under the corner of the quilt, and whispered to Shen Xuanqing with his eyebrows bent: "It''s warm inside." What he meant was obviously to ask Shen Xuanqing to put his hands under the quilt too, to feel the warmth of Tang Pozi. his little fulang smiled so beautifully, Shen Xuanqing''s throat tightened slightly, he almost stared straight with his eyes. He also stretched his rough hand in, wanted to touch Lu Gu''s hand. He was extremely nervous and stiff when the books were almost discovered, but for some reason now, a few pages of pictures that he had seen before appeared in his mind. Lu Gu was a little embarrassed when he touched his hand, but was grabbed when he was about to pull it out. After noticing Shen Xuanqing''s different eyes, he suddenly became nervous, and the strong premonition made him want to shrink back, that was all at night, it was still daytime, and it was not like the rain before, the sky was so dark that there was not much light. The two people who were sitting fell on the bed, a rough and warm hand came in from under the hem of his clothes, Lu Gu was terrified but didn¡¯t dare to push Shen Xuanqing away. CH 66.1 The side of the neck was kissed, and there were some extremely ambiguous sounds. At night, Lu Gu was not so afraid when the night covered everything, but now it was bright and the windows were open. He didn''t understand, before it was always at night after when they had intercourse and consummation of the house, even if he hadn''t heard people in the village said this, the shame made him felt that it was only natural at night, and how could it be done during the day. After walking all the way to the mountain, the big dogs were also tired from running. They either lay down in the yard or rested in the main room. The same was true for the puppy, and he was quieter than usual. On the contrary, this made Lu Gu even more afraid that the movement in the room would be overheard, otherwise he wouldn''t even dare to look into the dog''s eyes, let alone people. Guaizi was naughty, but sometimes his eyes were dark and moist, and his eyes were like a child''s. He looked at him softly, and he would groan and rub his calf with his head. As the kiss went deep, Lu Gu''s fingertips trembled, but he still grabbed the clothes at Shen Xuanqing''s waist. When the two of them separated slightly to catch their breath, he regained his senses. He never thought that when he raised his eyes, he would see Shen Xuanqing''s expression completely different from usual. His dark eyes became aggressive and his adam''s apple was slipping. It was cold, but Shen Xuanqing seemed to be extremely hot when kissing. The sweat towel around his waist was untied with one hand, and even the collar was torn a little, revealing a part of her bronze chest. He was used to hard work, and he was tall, with strong and tight muscles. With this scene, even the sound of panting sounded wild. Lu Gu had never faced a beast directly, but now he had a little understanding of what a beast looked like. He was so flustered that his eyelashes were trembling, he turned his face sideways and didn''t dare to look at Shen Xuanqing again. In fact, Shen Xuanqing did the same when he had sex before, but it was all at night, he couldn''t see, he could only feel the tall man lying on his body. Shen Xuanqing was slender and strong, taller than ordinary men, and if he pressed him down, he could almost cover Lu Gu, but he wouldn''t lie on his stomach all the time when doing this kind of thing. They fell across the middle of the bed. Although the bed was not too small, Shen Xuanqing couldn''t stretch his hands and feet, and there was still a part of his legs outside the bed. He embraced Lu Gu and straightened him up. The man with a vigorous blood was burning hot even his breath at the moment, he rubbed and kissed and sniffed Lu Gu''s neck, he looked more like a beast. After lying down, Lu Gu could see the half-closed door when he turned his head. He knew that it was inevitable, so he said in a trembling voice: "The door." Shen Xuanqing, who was about to take off his shirt, gave a pause, his lips rose, his cold jaw tightened, obviously he was enduring emotion, he didn''t even care about his clothes, and went down with his clothes open. The sewing basket beside the bed was packed and placed on the table. If it fell over, there would be a lot of needles in it, and it would sting when it was stuck. He couldn''t wait, and quickly closed the door and window and came back. Lu Gu had never experienced this kind of thing during the day, and he had never seen Shen Xuanqing other than his upper body. The extreme shame and fright made his eyes filled with tears, which swirled in his eye sockets. However, Shen Xuanqing had never seen him when there was light, he seemed to be in a daze for a moment, staring at him from head to toe in a daze, not to mention that Lu Gu shed tears under this appearance, which could be called appetizing. The sky was gloomy but it wasn''t raining, and a few unrepressed cries came from the room with the doors and windows closed. Lu Gu was not only bullied, but was also attacked again. It started to rain in the middle of the night, and when the cold wind blew, even the dog with thick fur was reluctant to leave the main room, and lay lazily on the sack after eating in the morning. It was rainy in autumn, but you could always pick up mushrooms after the rains in the mountains. In the kitchen, Shen Xuanqing was pouring soup for his fulang. He made the breakfast early in the morning. Although the craftsmanship was a bit poor, it was not too bad, at least it could fill the stomach. Carrying the two Tang Pozi to the room, he was a little uneasy, and he was even more annoyed. He didn''t know what to think yesterday, which caused Lu Gu to cry for a long time. Now that he was no longer disturbed by lust, he felt that the book was really not a good thing. He did it according to the book. It didn¡¯t make Lu Gu happy, but shed tears. But after thinking about it, he felt that something was wrong. At the beginning, Lu Gu didn''t cry, and he showed such an expression that he almost lost his soul, and he couldn''t control the force a bit. After thinking about it this way, he realized that it was the strength. Before pushing open the door and enter the room, Shen Xuanqing pursed his lips, thinking that he didn''t seem to use much effort. The young man who had never seen the world was used to being reckless, and once he met Lu Gu, he lost his reason. He felt that he had little strength, but it was completely different when it was placed on Lu Gu. The door slammed lightly, and as soon as Shen Xuanqing entered the room, he saw Lu Gu sitting up in his underwear, his legs were covered with a quilt, and he was rubbing the top of his head with one hand. He suddenly became embarrassed, remembering the incident that Lu Gu hit the head of the bed yesterday, he could no longer say that he used little strength. CH 66.2 Lu Gu, with slightly red and swollen eyes, looked towards the door, and put down his hands that gently rubbed the top of his head, his eyes were pitiful and somewhat frightened. " I changed the water for Tang Pozi, it''s cold, put it under the quilt to keep warm." Shen Xuanqing walked to the bed, he was a little guilty, and his confidence was not as strong as usual. That being the case, Lu Gu''s nervousness subsided a little. He took the small Tang Pozi and put it on the quilt, and put his hand to cover it. Because Shen Xuanqing was there, he lowered his head slightly and didn''t dare to speak indiscriminately. After bending over to put Tang Pozi on the bed, Shen Xuanqing stood up straight and was a little at a loss. He stood beside the bed for a while, not knowing what to say, so he reached out to rub Lu Gu''s sore head. Who knew that before he touched it, Lu Gu shrank back in fright. The outstretched hand stopped in mid-air, and the atmosphere became stagnant. After a while, Shen Xuanqing withdrew his hand in embarrassment, scratching his head with a bit of embarrassment. It was raining outside and it was not easy to go into the deep mountains, and you couldn''t go out to hunt. Besides, Lu Gu was in the room, even if he was not thick-skinned, he wanted to stay with Lu Gu so that he couldn''t think about the embarrassment just now, and explained: "I only rub your head, nothing else." Lu Gu subconsciously avoided his touch and froze for fear of making him angry, but when he heard this sentence, he muffled his head and let out a "huh" with a strong nasal voice. Shen Xuanqing was happy again, but he knew he couldn''t be too happy right now, so he sat on the bed and helped Lu Gu gently rub the top of his head. Lu Gu''s hair was not tied up, it was loose behind him, the black hair was soft and smooth, easy to touch. "I''ll squeeze your waist and legs for you." Shen Xuanqing didn''t forget the evil thing he had done. He knew how to treat Fulang well, buying things was a kind of kindness to fulang, and buying cloth to make clothes was also the same, but he couldn''t learn from others how to treat fulang well after intercourse, so he could only do what he thought good. It was rare in the village for a big man to massage his wife¡¯s waist and legs, but when he thought that Lu Gu''s skin was so tender and he had been tossed so badly by a rough man like him, he didn''t feel ashamed at all. Lu Gu had never been served like this before. When he was nervous, he found that Shen Xuanqing was honest and serious. He moved his leg over and massaged it for a while, and he felt a lot more comfortable. Seeing that Lu Gu gradually relaxed and the atmosphere eased, Shen Xuanqing was happy, and even raised his head to show a bright smile, making people felt warm even without the sun. Speaking of it, Lu Gu also felt confused, why Shen Xuanqing smiled so beautifully, but he treated him so cruelly yesterday. It rained for two days, and the cloud didn¡¯t fade until the morning of the third day, and the sun shone into the forest. After eating at noon, Lu Gu rested for a while and felt that he had nothing to do, so he picked up the bamboo basket and wanted to go out to pick up mushrooms. "Going out?" Shen Xuanqing was standing in the sun chopping firewood, and asked when he saw him go to get the bamboo basket. "Well, the mushrooms should have grown up, pick some, and I can fry some in the evening." Lu Gu replied with the bamboo basket on his back. Shen Xuanqing put down the long ax in his hand, and said, "I''ll be with you." The ground was a bit dry, but there were many fallen leaves and grass in the forest, and it was fine for people who wear shoes, and the puppy would definitely get their paws and limbs dirty if they went out for a walk. There might be mud and water on the stomach too, so they had to find a cloth to wipe it off when they came back, otherwise it would rub against their calves. Shen Xuanqing told Lu Gu about this, and the two of them only brought Dahui and Dabai with them when they went out, closed and locked the courtyard door, letting Dahei stay to keep the puppy from barking or messing around in the courtyard. Dabai was not as spiritual as Dahui, but it was smarter and more loyal than Dahei. At least he had never bared his teeth at Lu Gu. After the rain, the air was slightly cool, and when the came out to take a breath, they only felt refreshed. There were traces of a small path where they often walked, and the grass on the ground was less than the other places. After it rained, more leaves fell, many trees were bald, and the water marks on the ground were not completely dry. After walking for a while, the soles of the shoes were covered with wet mud, and the shoes became heavier. After a while, they had to stop and pick up a branch to scrape the mud on the soles. It took more than an hour to go around the mountain, and they picked up the mushrooms half of the basket, so they should take a rest after walking for so long. Lu Gu sat on a white stone by the stream, the stone was dried by the sun, and it was still a little hot to the touch, so he sat down. Shen Xuanqing squatted by the side of the mountain stream to wash some wild fruits, all of which were completely red. The shriveled ones were not picked, but the plump ripe ones were picked. There were only five of them. After the rain, many wild fruits rotted and fell to the ground, the more bleak it would be in the future, and there would be fewer wild fruits, so they still had a few to eat now. Lu Gu took the washed fruit, peeled off the skin and tasted it, it was sweet, and his eyebrows and eyes couldn¡¯t help but curled up. The sun shone on his face, making his smile softer and more beautiful. Shen Xuanqing, who was about to sit down next to him, couldn''t hold back, and hugged Lu Gu with his legs bent. No way, he didn''t let him hug him to sleep at night, at least let him hug him now. CH 67.1 Shen Xuanqing was always by his side, and when he bent down to hug him, he was quick and accurate. Lu Gu didn''t have any defenses, and his body suddenly flew into the air. He couldn''t help being a little surprised, and the wild fruit he bit almost fell, so he quickly caught it. Hugging Lu Gu was easy for Shen Xuanqing, and seeing Lu Gu picked up the fruit with a panicked face, he smiled even more. Hugging like this was too intimate, fortunately there was no one else in the mountain, Lu Gu raised his eyes to look at Shen Xuanqing while thinking. When the two pair eyes met, he unconsciously blinked, and never thought that Shen Xuanqing would lower his head and kiss his eyes. Although it was just a touch, the warmth on the eyelids seemed to linger for a long time, making Lu Gu''s cheeks burnt and his ears gradually turn red. What happened that day always made him afraid to have too much physical contact with Shen Xuanqing. The fear gradually disappeared, but the memory couldn¡¯t be erased and forgotten. He was too horrified by what Shen Xuanqing did, so every time Shen Xuanqing wanted to hug him, he couldn''t help shrinking back. After one or two times, Shen Xuanqing gave up and asked him to close his eyes and go to sleep. At this moment, Lu Gu blushed. After feeling the charm and intimacy, he couldn''t control himself and remembered what happened that day. He was actually very afraid, afraid that Shen Xuanqing would find out that he was thinking about those bad things. So he struggled to get down while stammering. "I, I''ll go down." Lu Gu didn''t forget to hold the fruit in his hand when he was struggling. Shen Xuanqing laughed, put him down according to the words, and said: "Take a break, and leave after eating." Shen Xuanqing was still standing, Lu Gu stretched out his hand and lightly tugged Shen Xuanqing''s pants, quickly let go of his hand and whispered: "You sit too." After walking in the mountains for so long, it was always good to sit down and rest your feet. "Okay." Shen Xuanqing smiled brighter and sat down on the clean stone next to him. Dahui and Dabai lowered their head to drink water by the mountain stream, and when they came over, Lu Gu gave the fruits for them. The mountain road was far away, and there were few people coming. They walked through several forests in the morning and picked up a bamboo basket of mushrooms and some black mushrooms. It could be said that they returned with a full load. Today they picked several kinds of mushrooms. Lu Gu picked out what they called the torn mushrooms in the countryside. These mushrooms needed to be blanched before frying, because if some mushrooms were too late to pick, and they would crack when they grew too large, a bit like a torn umbrella, that was why it was called like that. There was only one big pot in the kitchen, so he lit the medicine stove, took the earthenware pot to blanch the torn mushrooms, cut some garlic and dried chilies while cooking, and then fried them with the lard, they were particularly fragrant and tender. The water boiled for a while, Lu Gu fished out the torn mushrooms, put some lard in the pot, and it melted quickly, poured the chopped garlic and dried chili into it and stir-fried, the garlic smell and spicy smell were overflowing, and then the mushrooms was fried on a high fire, and it felt delicious just by smelling it. Shen Xuanqing came in from the courtyard. He locked the chickens and ducks into the fence outside to let them graze. After running all morning, he felt hungry when he smelled the smell of food. As soon as he entered the kitchen and saw the medicine stove on the ground, he remembered that in the past two years, there was a youzhong ladle (ÓÐÖÖÂíÉ×) sold in the town, which was smaller than the iron pot and had a long handle to hold it up. The big belly pot was usually used to cook rice, boil water and stew soup, but sometimes the big pot was occupied by steamed buns and rice porridge, and it was not very good to use clay pots for cooking. He had seen a youzhong ladle in an iron shop. It had a shallow and flat mouth, and the big spoon could be moved back and forth without restraint. It was just suitable for stir-frying. He didn''t usually cook, so he didn''t think about it. Now that he had money, he youzhong ladle could afford it. When Lu Gu saw him coming in, he knew that he was hungry, so he quickly took out the mushrooms, the rice wine was cooked, and put it in a bowl on the chopping board, and covered the steamed buns and steamed sweet corn in the drawer. Shen Xuanqing brought two bowls of rice wine into the main room, and then Lu Gu brought over the remaining vegetables and steamed buns, and also picked up a bowl of small pickles, fried enough mushrooms, and a big bowl was enough for the two of them to eat. After lunch , there was nothing else to do, so Lu Gu drove the ducks to swim. The river was colder, but the ducks had thick feathers, so they could go swimming in winter when the river was not frozen. Naturally, they were not afraid. He also brought a bunch of bamboo strips over here, and wanted to weave a few baskets. When the family collected grain next year, in addition to the cart, they could also carry in the baskets with a pole. He could also use it to pick other things, to have more was better than nothing. Shen Xuanqing had nothing to do, took the puppy and the big dogs around in the nearby forest, intending to let the puppy learn hunting skills, and it happened he could teach the puppy after three months, even if he couldn''t learn it for a while, he could start from now. Let him see how the big dogs chased the rabbit and caught the pheasant, he couldn''t play and had fun with Lu Gu all day long. Lu Gu sat by the pond to make basket, Dabai turned his head and lowered his head to sniff around him, although he couldn''t see the people and dogs in the forest, but the forest was open, and the echoes of dogs barking could be heard from time to time. Shen Xuanqing usually didn''t go to the northern forest, but he came here today to see the traps, and by the way, to see if there were any traces of wild boars and old bears, and secondly, there were less people here, and there should be more wild rabbits digging holes than other places. He checked carefully and turned a large area in the northern forest, but found no traces. He thought that maybe this year, the vegetation was lush, and the wild boars and old bears could find enough food in the deeper and farther forests, so they didn''t get out. CH 67.2 In order to guard against such big beasts, big and deep traps were dug here. Even if rabbits, pheasants or other small wild animals jumped into the traps, they were too light to fall off. After a while, the grass and leaves spread on the trap had dried up, but there was a thick layer of fallen leaves on it, which was integrated with other places, so Shen Xuanqing didn''t need to be busy to cover it up. There were many traps in the northern forest, and he stopped in front of several traps to teach the puppy to recognize them as traps. Dahui was very humane, growled a few times after the puppy stepped on the traps with his thick front paws. The puppy was also smart, with wet black eyes, tilting his head to the side to hear Shen Xuanqing telling him that he couldn¡¯t stand on the trap, lowering his head to smell the smell on the ground, and looking over when Dahui growled, and then took a step back with a "bark". Seeing that he was unusually smart at such a young age, and learned very quickly, Shen Xuanqing slightly raised his eyebrows and chuckled. It seemed that the two taels silver were not in vain. Back then, it was only seven copper coins for Dahui at the market. Shen Xuanqing rested for five days since it rained, and when the weather was good, he took his dogs out to hunt again. Lu Gu took the puppy outside to look for medicinal materials, and they brought back a lot of them. They even brought back a bundled wormwood and separated them with fine vines. When they came back, they didn¡¯t had to sort them out. It was good to soak the feet in winter to keep out the cold. It was warm and there were many people in the family, so they must prepare more. He found a lot of shanzuyu, which looked like medlars and were bright red. It took too much effort to pick them one by one, so he cut off the branches and carried them back. Dried them and sold them in the medical clinic, and the price was not bad. [ɽÜïÝÇ sh¨¡n zh¨± y¨²: Cornus officinalis; sour mountain date; herb associated with longevity] Lu Gu took the bamboo plaque and sat in the courtyard to pick shanzuyu fruit. Other grass leaves should be cut into sections, some leaves should be picked, some should be air-dried, and some should be dried in the sun. It was inevitably his hands became dirty and black. Although it was not noon yet, it was time to cook when he was hungry, first he heated the water to wash his hands. It was getting colder in the mountains, and even the water was colder than before, so he thought of his Tang Pozi. There was the sound of chopping vegetables in the kitchen. Lu Gu was cooking, and the puppy was outside taking a small piece of wood as prey. Shen Xuanqing took him to learn hunting in the forest, and now he was both to have fun and to improve his skills. After he and the puppy had eaten a simple meal, Lu Gu cleaned the pot and filled it with clean water. The fire at the bottom of the stove hadn¡¯t been completely extinguished, so he stuffed some straw into it, and it burned quickly. . After pouring the boiling water into Tang Pozi, he felt a little hot to the touch at first, and if he didn''t cover it with a quilt, it would cool down faster. Lu Gu went to the box to rummage through the cloth and cotton. This time he came up with some cotton and pieces of cloth. He had never experienced the cold in the mountains, but Wei Lanxiang knew it, so she asked him to bring them up and sew two small square thin quilts that could cover his legs, otherwise when he sitting and working, the legs would be cold and stiff if they didn¡¯t move for a long time. He took out the cotton and cloth, saw that the sun outside the window was brighter than before, and took the quilt out and set it on a wooden rack to dry. Lu Gu unfolded the quilt, looked up at the blue sky, and thought that the weather would be good tomorrow, this bed was exposed to the sun today, and it would be washed tomorrow, the clean quilt was different and warmer. The cotton that Wei Lanxiang brought him was pressed flat at home, otherwise the clumped cotton wouldn¡¯t be easy to sew into the quilt. He added a thin piece of firewood to the bottom of the stove to let the small fire burn slowly, moved a chair and sat in the sun to sew the quilt, the cloth was cut, and the quilt was small and thin and could be sewn quickly. After a small quilt was sewn, the water in the pot was already boiling, Lu Gu rubbed his neck, got up and poured the water into Tang Pozi first. He put Tang Pozi on the bench, folded the small quilt and covered it, then sat down and sewed the second one, which was for Shen Xuanqing. The puppy was running around in the yard, and he wanted to bite Qiucai again, but Lu Gu saw him before he could bite, with a light scold, he ran over and rubbed Lu Gu¡¯s legs. After the two small quilts were sewn, Lu Gu spread out one to cover his legs, even covering his calves a little, then put Tang Pozi on his lap, and unfolded the other quilt to cover Tang Pozi in the same way. Inside the quilt was warm, even the thighs were hot soon. It was so warm. He couldn''t help but smile a little, thinking of such warm things in winter, the smile on his face became more satisfied. After sitting and resting for a while, he moved the puppy who wanted to bite the corner of the quilt to the side, and Lu Gu carried Tang Pozi and the quilt back to the room to tidy up. Tomorrow, the bed would be disassembled and washed, so he had to take out the washed quilt in the box and cover it at night. The wooden box containing the quilt was very big. Besides the quilt on the top, there were several pieces of Shen Xuanqing''s clothes underneath. After he took the quilt out, he saw the book stuffed in the gap between the clothes and the box. It was still under the quilt before, and Shen Xuanqing didn''t know when he stuffed it like this again. Lu Gu was a little puzzled, remembering the last time Shen Xuanqing said that he would teach him how to read when he was free, he wondered if he would use this book to teach him. His mother taught him, but he didn''t had any books to read, so he just scribbled on the ground. Maybe he also would have books to read. Thinking of this, Lu Gu''s eyes lit up a little. He remembered that there were three characters in the book¡¯s cover, and he didn''t know if it was the Three Character Classic or the Thousand Character Classic that he read in school. CH 68.1 The book was stuffed in the gap between the clothes and the box, only the spine was exposed, but it attracted Lu Gu to look at it all the time. He remembered that after Lu Wen bought a new book, he had to read it first before studying it carefully, as if he wanted to recognize the words in it first. But Lu Wen had already attended school at that time, and could read a lot of characters. He only knew two, and couldn''t even read other characters, so he couldn''t do it. He put the clean quilt on the bed first, and when he came to close the box, he hesitated for a while, and the joy of being able to study made him stretched out his hand. Touching the hard spine of the book with his fingertips, Lu Gu was both curious and apprehensive, and couldn''t hold back the desire to open it and take a look. Pinching the spine of the book with his fingers, he could pull out the book with all his strength, but in the end, Lu Gu was still timid. The books were something he didn''t understand at all, and they were precious, and it would be bad if they were damaged. Like many people in the countryside, although Lu Gu was very far away from the word "learning", he respected and envied people who could sturdy in his heart, so he didn¡¯t dare to move around. Besides, when Shen Xuanqing gave him money, he also bought food for him. He could move the food, but such rare things as books were different from other things. The box was closed again. In the evening, Shen Xuanqing came back with the big dogs. Today he wanted to catch a stupid fox with mixed fur, he wanted to gather a few pieces of fox fur to make a quilt, but accidentally missed it. A hardwood branch poked out and broke his sleeve. The foxes in the deep mountains who could eat themselves well were naturally more refined, and it was not easy to catch them. As for the ones that had been caught with great effort, one was that he was lucky, and the other was that his ability to track and distinguish was more sophisticated than before, and he was even lucky enough to kill two rare silver foxes. But good luck didn''t come all the time, even if the old hunter, who had been hunting all his life, if he got distracted accidentally, he would miss it sometimes. As soon as he came back, Lu Gu saw that the sleeve of his left arm was missing, and asked quickly, "What''s the matter?" Not to mention hunting in the mountains, even Lu Gu would suffer minor injuries when doing normal work, and his hands would be scratched. It was common to scratch the skin or have small cuts, but most of them were minor injuries and there was no need to make a fuss. It was rare for Shen Xuanqing''s sleeves to be directly torn like this. Before, the sleeves and trousers were at most torn a little, just pinched the torn part and sewed it up with a needle. "It''s broken, and the torn part was too cumbersome, so I tore them." Shen Xuanqing unloaded the bamboo basket, and took out the torn sleeve from inside. Seeing that Lu Gu was still looking at his arm, he smiled and said, "No injury, but the sleeve is torn." Lu Gu took the sleeve, nodded upon hearing that, and then looked up at Shen Xuanqing''s left eyebrow, where there was a scar on it. A red mark drawn out, although not bleeding, but the trace was very obvious. "Above your eyes," he said, still pointing his fingers in the air. "There are many branches in the forest, you accidentally will get scratched, it won''t get in the way." Shen Xuanqing said with a smile. After being scratched above his eyes, he touched it with his hands, but he didn''t even bleed, and he didn''t take it to heart at all. He often ran in the mountains and forests, and minor injuries were inevitable. There was a rabbit and two fat bamboo rats that were killed in the bamboo basket. The bamboo rats caught today were quite fierce, with sharp teeth, but they were used to hunt and were not afraid of them. Shen Xuanqing came back early today, before Lu Gu cut the vegetables and the dried tofu, but the rice porridge and steamed buns were ready in the pot. He was busy in the kitchen, and Shen Xuanqing also came in after washing his hands. Seeing a plate of hot steamed buns on the chopping board, he took one to eat. White flour steamed buns tasted different, much finer than miscellaneous flour steamed buns. The dried tofu mixed with pepper and fried it with sesame oil, the taste became more fragrant. Qiucai and mushrooms were fried, and garlic slices were added. The dishes were lighter, but they were oily and salty, and the taste was very good. They ate stir-fried dishes almost every meal, which was better than many other families in the village. After eating and drinking, the sun hadn¡¯t set yet, Lu Gu cleaned the kitchen and remembered that he needed to mend the outer clothes that Shen Xuanqing had taken off, and he should do it earlier while the sky was still bright. He went into the room to get the sewing basket, and felt that it was getting colder and colder. Shen Xuanqing had to wear thicker clothes even if he ran outside, so he opened the big box containing the quilt to take out the thick clothes and winter clothes that were pressed underneath. If it was cold, he could wear more warm clothes, and it wouldn''t be troublesome to take it off for a run in the middle of the day. The three quilts were all outside, so when you opened the box, you could see the clothes and the book inside. Lu Gu paused again, the joy and anticipation of being able to read made him unable to hold back, apprehensive and hopeful, he carefully pulled out the book. He didn''t dare to move around when Shen Xuanqing was away, but now that Shen Xuanqing was back, he wanted to ask if he could teach him to recognize a character or two today, even if he only recognized the first character of these three haracters in the cover. One was fine, and it was also the beginning of his study. After getting along for so long, he knew that Shen Xuanqing treated him well, so he was no longer as overly cautious as before. Holding the book in his hand, Lu Gu suddenly remembered the saying that if you didn¡¯t ask, you were stealing, but he thought again, now that Shen Xuanqing was here, he didn¡¯t steal it behind his back, and he would turn the book after asking. Not too late. Just like buying Tang Pozi before, he was looking forward to be able to read and write, and he couldn''t hold back. CH 68.2 At this moment, Shen Xuanqing, who cleaned the backyard and washed his hands, came to the room. Lu Gu heard his footsteps stepping into the main room, and felt indescribably nervous. When Shen Xuanqing stood at the door of the room, she saw Lu Gu holding the book of heaven and earth in his hand, his pupils suddenly dilated, obviously frightened. "Is this the Three Character Classic?" Lu Gu asked cautiously while holding the book in his hands, while he was nervous, there was still hope in his eyes. Shen Xuanqing could hear his voice, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground and he couldn''t move, his eyeballs were a little sluggish. After a while, he realized that Lu Gu thought it was the Three Character Classic and wanted to learn it. "No, no." Shen Xuanqing''s voice was weak, and he quickly denied it. Now that he recovered his strength, he walked into the room, afraid that Lu Gu would open the book if he was a step too late. At such a critical moment, he could tell from the ignorant curiosity on Lu Gu''s face that he hadn¡¯t opened it yet, otherwise, if he really saw what was inside, he would be terrified. It was rainy and windy in late autumn, before Shen Xuanqing snatched the book away, a gust of wind blew in from outside the window, blowing away the book in Lu Gu''s hand, and the pictures and words on the pages were immediately revealed to the two of them. Shen Xuanqing''s outstretched hand froze in mid-air. At this moment, it seemed as if the world fell silent and the wind stopped, but the pages of the book that were blown away remained on an extremely unsightly picture. Everywhere was detailed, it seemed that it was for the viewer to see everything clearly. The separated legs were extremely unrestrained, and the shuang¡¯er in the painting raised his head and neck slightly, and even eyes were very clearly outlined. Compared with the monotonous black ink, this picture had been colored, with bright red marks between the eyebrows, slightly parted lips, reddish eyes, and even a tear drawn at the end of the eyes, which showed he was crying. What was more, there were more subtleties. Because the wind blew the book open, Lu Gu''s gaze lowered involuntarily. When he saw clearly what was in the book, he was stiff, and he didn''t even had a reaction. The latter page opened slowly because it was not pinched by hand, and it could be connected with the previous page. The posture and behavior of the two people in the picture had changed, and they had become more filthy. Shen Xuanqing hadn''t looked at the back ones, the two pictures were really big, even if he stood opposite and looked at them backwards, he could tell what they were doing after a little recognition. The second picture appeared in front of him, and Lu Gu''s hand softened in fright, and the book fell down. Without even thinking about it, Shen Xuanqing took a half step forward, stretched out his hand to catch the book, and closed the book with a clasp of his thumb. He withdrew his hand, with lingering fear in his heart, his right hand was tightly holding the book, he wanted to hide it behind his back, but because of his face, he was very entangled, if he really hid it, he would feel guilty. Shen Xuanqing''s face turned red for a while, and turned pale for a while, and he didn''t know where to put such a thing. He froze in place, didn''t even know what he was thinking, he couldn''t utter a single word. Lu Gu was so frightened that his eyelashes trembled slightly, his pupils seemed to be trembling, and water splashed out of shock unknowingly. The actions drawn on the picture were actions that he had never seen before. Where had he seen such a dirty and shameful thing, and he didn''t even understand why at first glance. It was clearly the Three Character Classic, why was there such a picture. When Lu Gu looked over with teary eyes, Shen Xuanqing pursed his lips and his jaw line was tense, his face was a little pale, and he looked very scary. Lu Gu was almost scared to cry by him, and took half a step back, not daring to look at him again. He lost all his face, and Fulang was scared to cry by him, and his tears fell to the ground. Shen Xuanqing suddenly became angry, strode forward with red ears, and pushed Lu Gu onto the bed behind him. The only reason for crying was because there was too much water in his eyes, Lu Gu didn''t want to cry, but after Shen Xuanqing suddenly pushed him to bed, he was really scared and wanted to cry, because he didn''t know what Shen Xuanqing was going to do. The big rough hands reached into the clothes, from the waist up, and the force was a little stronger, but it didn''t hurt him. His lips were bitten and kissed carelessly, Lu Gu was not an opponent at all, he could only open his mouth with his jaw pinched, his tears flowed more and more, wetting his face and even the sheets on both sides of his head. Seeing this, Shen Xuanqing let go of him annoyedly, got up and sat beside him, looking down a bit decadent. Lu Gu wiped his tears with the back of his hand before sitting up. He didn''t make a sound, and even if he was wronged, he would be bored and didn¡¯t dare to speak. Shen Xuanqing raised his eyes to look at him, depressed and annoyed in his heart, depressed and annoyed why he brought the book to the mountain in the first place, annoyed just now when he pushed Lu Gu and pinched Lu Gu''s jaw, he clearly knew that his fulang was very timid. "I, I didn''t mean to push you." He pursed his lips slightly, lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "I didn''t know what I was doing just now." Lu Gu looked over subconsciously. "That book..." Shen Xuanqing paused for a while, and then said ruthlessly: "It''s erotic book. I didn''t know how to do it before. It always hurt you, so I found that book to read." No matter how sophisticated an eighteen-years-old young man, but in some places and time he still needed a good face, admitting in front of his fulang that he couldn''t do it, it could be said that there was nothing more embarrassing than this, the more Shen Xuanqing said, the lower his voice, he couldn''t even lift his head . The room was very quiet, Lu Gu raised his hand, wiped the tears on his face with his sleeve, his eyes were still red, he stretched out his hand carefully to grab the corner of Shen Xuanqing¡¯s lower hem. CH 69.1 The flock of sparrows swept up from the branches and flew into the distance. The puppy playing in the yard saw it and barked a few times towards the sky. Lu Gu grabbed the corner of Shen Xuanqing''s clothes, turned his head carefully to look at Shen Xuanqing''s face, he opened his lips slightly and wanted to speak, but he didn''t know what to say, so he frowned sadly. It was also Shen Xuanqing who said this to let him know that it wouldn¡¯t hurt if he knew how to do that kind of thing. He used to think that pain was normal. After Shen Xuanqing looked over, Lu Gu let go of his hand in embarrassment, he lowered his head not daring to look into Shen Xuanqing''s eyes, and said: "I won''t be in pain afterwards." His voice was very low, after all, it was such a shameful thing, But Shen Xuanqing bought this book in order not to hurt him, so he couldn''t just say nothing. After listening, Shen Xuanqing gradually calmed down and was no longer so frustrated and decadent. Seeing Lu Gu lowered his head and his eyes were slightly red, and he stopped pulling his clothes, another kind of unhappiness flooded his heart. "In the future, if you want to grab my clothes, you can grab them." He said in a low voice, still slowly, as if he was a little embarrassed, but his hands were not idle, and he went to grab Lu Gu''s hand. The hand was held by the warm and rough big hand, Lu Gu didn¡¯t resist, and finally his cheeks were slightly red, and he gave a low "hmm". The embarrassment and silence were no longer there, and Shen Xuanqing also said: "After we go down the mountain and the winter is slack, I will buy Three Character Classic book, come back and teach you how to recognize the characters." Speaking of this, Lu Gu turned to look at him, nodded very seriously, and said, "Okay." " Then..." Shen Xuanqing picked up the book at the end of the bed with the other hand, and now since they had talked about it, Lu Gu''s shy and cute appearance made him felt guilty, his Adam''s apple slipped, thinking of the two pictures he saw just now, he couldn''t help coveting Lu Gu. He wondered if he could look at a few more pictures in the future and learn from it. If you look at it with others, you would feel uncomfortable, but it was different with Lu Gu. At this time, Lu Gu also looked at the book in his hand, and also remembered what the two people in the picture did, and he really didn''t dare to look at it, it was not something that a serious person could think of, and he couldn''t help but shrink back while blushing. Seeing that he even wanted to retract his hand, Shen Xuanqing clenched it tightly, feeling a little pity in his heart, but still said: "Then I''ll put this away first." "Yes." Lu Gu nodded slightly in agreement, the enthusiasm on his face still lingering.. After finishing speaking, Shen Xuanqing got out of bed and stuffed the book into the box. The road up the mountain was harder than that down the mountain. It took time and effort to move the wooden cabinet, which was not as easy to use as the box. The top was full of wooden boxes to hold things. Seeing that he was about to close the box, Lu Gu, who was sorting his clothes, quickly said: "Take out the winter clothes, it''s been cold these days, you wear them when you go out in the morning." He opened the box before to get the thick clothes for Shen Xuanqing. Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing took out the winter clothes, and looked at the clothes Lu Gu was wearing, and felt relieved when he saw that they were thick. He was strong and not afraid of the cold, but most of his shuang¡¯ers were more delicate, so he had to wear thick clothes. The mountains and forests were quiet and the afterglow of the setting sun was still there. Lu Gu carefully sewed the sleeve, and the sky gradually became dark. He hadn''t washed his hair for several days, and it was dirty after a day of running in the forest. Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu took turns in the kitchen to boil water and take a bath. After washing and drying his hair, Shen Xuanqing groped into the warm blanket covered Tang Pozi, and said to Lu Gu, "Washing at noon would be warmer than at night." Even if you were young and not afraid of the cold, took a bath and washed your hair at night were cold, Shen Xuanqing hugged Lu Gu under the blanket for a long time before feeling comfortable. Fulang''s body was soft and fragrant, and the underwear he was wearing was not at all obstructive. After hugging and smelling it for a while, Shen Xuanqing couldn''t hold back. There was no way to read the picture book in front of Lu Gu, let alone figure it out together, but he remembered the dozen or so pages he read, and he only tried a few of them before, which was enough for now. The things at night became more joyful, but Lu Gu still seldom made a sound, fearing that he would turn into that unbearable appearance, so he bit his lip and clenched the mattress to endure it. Happiness didn¡¯t last long. Sometimes Shen Xuanqing didn''t want to stop, and could continue after a break. He had great strength, and he could also try some poses that Lu Gu had never seen before, which always made him felt uncomfortable the next day. Neither of them mentioned the book again, but Lu Gu didn''t know that Shen Xuanqing learned those movements that he had never seen before from the book. Even people who had never read books know to read good books, how could they often read those messy bad books. Lu Gu sometimes wanted to say something, but his shame made him unable to speak, and he was sad several times alone. Fortunately, Shen Xuanqing was not overwhelmed. After these few days of incontinence, he didn''t touch him again. Shen Xuanqing went out to hunt early in the morning, and Lu Gu put the chickens and ducks outside after the sun came out. The autumn wind was bleak, and the greenery on the ground was gradually receding. However, in just a few days, the mountains and forests had become more and more cold and lonely. Most of the leaves of the trees had fallen, leaving only bare branches. The ducks were swimming in the pond to look for food. It was too cold and windy. It was not as good as a yard with a high wall to keep out the wind outside. Standing outside was very cold, even if there was Tang Pozi, it was not easy to use. Lu Gu sat on the stone by the pond, holding Tang Pozi in his arms and covering his hands, when the wind blew even his face was cold, he rubbed and covered it with his hands. He didn''t hear the puppy for a while, so he slapped the water surface with a long bamboo pole to drive the ducks back, and then shouted: "Guaizi." As soon as he yelled, the puppy should bark in response and run back since his ears were sharp, but Lu Gu didn¡¯t hear the puppy¡¯s voice. "Guaizi!" he called again, louder than before. After yelling, Lu Gu listened carefully to the surrounding, but still didn''t hear the puppy¡¯s voice, he panicked all of a sudden, stood up but didn''t know which direction to look for, and was so anxious that he walked around in circles. CH 69.2 After a while, the puppy still didn''t come back. He picked up the bamboo pole and was about to drive the duck ashore so that he could look for the puppy in the woods. Before he could catch up, he heard some movement from the nothern forest. He raised his head to look at it, only to find that it was the puppy who was running, but he was holding a fat and big gray fur rabbit in his mouth. Only then did Lu Gu breathe a sigh of relief, and he was no longer anxious. When the puppy ran close, he could still hear a low whimper from his throat. He was threatening, the big fat rabbit in his mouth was not dead, and it kept kicking his legs. How big was a puppy that was less than four months old? Even if it was well-raised, it was taller and stronger than other puppy in the village, and it was only about the same heigh as Lu Gu''s calf. However, he came back with such a big fat rabbit in his mouth. Surprised and happy, he forgot to get angry and teach him not to run around. After all, the mountain was not a village. It was dangerous that if he encountered a bigger beast, it would suffer. It would be fine if Dahui had the fat rabbit in his mouth, but now it was the puppy, Lu Gu was afraid that his mouth would be sore, the rabbit was not small and it must be heavy, so he grabbed two rabbit ears and pulled it out of his mouth. "Wow!" The puppy let go of the rabbit from his mouth, raised his head and barked at Lu Gu, wagging his tail excitedly, as if he was asking for credit. This rabbit was indeed not light, there was blood from the dog''s bite on the neck, Lu Gu also found that it had an old injury on one of its hind legs, obviously it was not bitten by the dog, so it was no wonder, the leg had already been injured. "Wow!" Seeing the pup wagging his tail and having fun, Lu Gu put the fat rabbit on the ground, knelt down and stroked his head, the puppy raised his head and narrowed his eyes, which was very helpful. The rabbit wanted to run after being put down, but it had been bitten by the puppy, and it was not so energetic. One of its hind legs was still limping, and it didn''t take a few steps, the puppy jumped forward and bit its neck again, growling in a low voice, quite decent. "Let''s go, put it in the cage first, and I''ll give you a big rabbit leg tonight." Lu Gu rubbed the puppy¡¯s head, his brows and eyes curled up with a smile, he hugged Tang Pozi with one hand, and grabbed the rabbit with the other and walked back. He didn''t worry too much about the ducks in the pond. The puppy followed him, walking differently, looking very proud and majestic with his head held high. When Shen Xuanqing came back in the evening, the first thing Lu Gu did was to show him the rabbit. "Guaizi caught it." He couldn''t hide the joy on his face, and he was full of smiles. The puppy got excited when he saw the rabbit, he ran around in the yard, and even got close to the two of them, barking loudly at Shen Xuanqing a few times. Shen Xuanqing was also happy, he saw the injury on the rabbit''s leg at a glance, and knew what was going on, but it was a skill to bring back such a big and fat rabbit, so he bent down and rubbed the puppy¡¯s head as a reward . "Give Guaizi a rabbit leg at night." Lu Gu said. "Okay." Shen Xuanqing agreed. The four rabbit legs happened to be divided among the four dogs. The bamboo rats, voles, rabbits and pheasants that the puppy usually ate were all caught by Dahui. It was not good to only give the puppy meat today. Guazi caught the prey for the first time, in addition to rabbit legs, he also gave a few extra pieces of rabbit meat for the puppy. It rained again, although it was only half a day, but it was colder in the mountains. Digging out the old copper basin used for the fire in previous years, Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu sat in the main room to warm up with the fire, the burning firewood crackled and splashed sparks to the side. The wind blew in from time to time, and it was dark after closing the door, so Lu Gu took the two thin quilts out of the room for him and Shen Xuanqing. The two of them sat close to the copper basin for the purpose of warming their legs, otherwise they would get cold even if they were wearing padded shoes. Lu Gu put Tang Pozi on his lap, and took the embroidery frame to embroider the handkerchief. Tang Pozi sank a bit after pouring water, but it was so warm, so he was willing to put it aside. Shen Xuanqing looked at the side for a while and really had nothing to do, and said: "How about I kill a rabbit and roast it to eat? There is a rock salt in the kitchen. When the roasted meat is rubbed with it, it will taste good." It was also made of a special kind of stone, which was also salt, which could melt in water and had a salty taste, so it was also called rock salt. When Shen Xuanqing was learning the craft from the old hunter, the Lao Yang would roast meat for him like this. Lu Gu must had never eaten it. Thinking of this, without waiting for an answer, he got up and went to the bamboo cage in the woodshed to catch a big rabbit and slaughter it in the courtyard. When the rabbit was roasted, the four dogs were all watching. It smelled like meat, and the puppy was drooling. Shen Xuanqing tore a few pieces of meat for them, and cut the rest into small pieces with a knife, and rubbed the tip of the knife in rock salt while it was hot. It was salty and fresh, completely different from fried rabbit meat and stewed rabbit meat. With such delicious meat to eat, or perhaps because of the radiance of the fire, Lu Gu''s eyes were bright. "In a few days, I''ll catch a few more rabbits and pheasants, and then we will pack up and go down the mountain to go home. It''s almost winter, it''s too cold in the mountains, and we don''t need to go up again." Shen Xuanqing said while eating. "En." Lu Gu had just eaten a piece of meat, so he could only nod and vaguely agree. For him, no matter where he was, just follow Shen Xuanqing. However, this dependence hadn¡¯t yet been noticed by him. CH 70.1 The days passed quickly, and it was several days in the blink of an eye. It was almost winter, and the wild animals in the mountains that should be put on autumn were full of fat. When the weather got colder, the ones that should hibernate would hibernate. Shen Xuanqing often hunted wild rabbits and pheasants, they were not a rare thing. He brought the big dogs to hunt badgers these days. Whether it was a badger or a greater hog badger, they had fat, the fur was the thickest in winter. It was late autumn and early winter. It was a good time to hunt before they hibernated. In addition to fur, the refined badger oil was also a good thing. It could be used as medicine, and the price charged by the medical clinic was not bad. In winter, you could apply some on the dry hands and feet and it would moisturize, so you didn''t have to suffer from chapped skin. This thing was ferocious, with sharp teeth. Sometimes when it was hunted by the dogs, it dared to attack the dogs when it was in a hurry. It was also powerful in punching holes. It nest was connected to each other underground and had several exits. It was difficult for ordinary people to catch it. But it was often said that "eight catties of badgers and seven catties of oil" could be sold for money, and the price was not low. Naturally, many people would think of ways to go to the mountains to catch them. whether it was smoked and all the methods available were used. Shen Xuanqing got some badgers last year. Badger skin and oil were not as expensive as fox fur, but you could sell some more. In addition selling the oil for money to pay off the debts, he left half of the oil for his family to wipe their hands and feet, and they used it a lot in the past winter. Dahui and the other two dogs had been used to catch them for the past two years, and they knew how powerful this thing was. After the badger was forced out of the hole, they would avoid the sharp teeth that bite them. The three big dogs were not afraid of hunting and biting. Sometimes the badgers were too fierce, and they would bite and fight with the dogs for a while. Some idlers in the village went to the mountains to hunt badgers in winter. Several men would bring the dogs, just like when the dogs chasing the rabbits, they liked to watch the scenes of rounding up and biting. But Shen Xuanqing didn''t have this kind of leisure time. Since he learn to hunt, the most common thing he did was hunting, and he lost interest in watching such scenes a long time ago. He didn''t want to delay, so the long knife he carried came in handy. His knife was long and heavy, with a thick and solid back, one or two blows could knock the badger unconscious, put it in a sack and carried it back. His hands seemed to be sophisticated and neat. The reason why he didn''t use the blade was because he felt that the blood gushing from the severed head wouldn¡¯t be easy to take back, and it would take a lot of time to skin them in the mountains. Of course, sometimes you couldn¡¯t control your strength, and it was not uncommon for the knife to smash a badger to pieces and kill it. Shen Xuanqing didn¡¯t think he missed it. He didn¡¯t like badger meat. He traveled in the deep forest for seven days and brought back a lot of prey, including rabbits, pheasants, and a dozen fat badgers. Shen Xuanqing was busy outside, and Lu Gu was not idle either. He picked as many wild vegetables and mushrooms as he could find, as well as medicinal materials and igniter grass. They were dried in the sun for a few days, and he went to pick two baskets of wild bath beads. The thing was green and wet just after he picked it, and the basket was quite heavy, so he rested several times on the way. Seven days after the clear weather, the sky changed again, with heavy clouds. Although it didn''t rain or snow, it was hard to go out when the wind was blowing. The sand and stones were blowing up, and it was hard to open your eyes. Both of them didn''t go out today, the courtyard door was closed, so as not to keep the wind blowing in. It was too cold in the afternoon, and the two lit a brazier to warm up. Shen Xuanqing took a sip of hot water, looked at the sky outside and said to Lu Gu: "If there is no wind tomorrow, let Dahui go back to find elder brother and mother to come up. Tonight, after cleaning up, we can go down the mountain and go home the day after tomorrow." Lu Gu picked up tianwogen in the brazier with a branch, and replied after hearing the words: "Then I will clean up tomorrow." There were a lot of things to take down the mountain, but the cart was too heavy for the two of them, and the field was not busy recently, so it was easier for two more people to pull the cart together. CH 70.2 Whether it was roasted or steamed, the sweetness of tianwogen was quite light. The country people didn¡¯t eat with so many tricks. When warming up with the fire in winter, buried a few tianwogen in the fire and roasted them. They could be a snack and warmed your hand. The puppy and big dogs were also around the brazier, squatting in a circle, like people, seeing the puppy squatting for a while and wanting to lie down, Lu Gu dragged their sacks over, otherwise they would lie on the ground. It was too cold on the ground. Tianwogen was roasted, Shen Xuanqing pulled out the branch, some of the outer skin was scorched and blackened, it was too hot to handle, so he let it get cooler on the ground. It didn''t taste good even if it was cold, so he picked up the big one on the ground, blew it and broke it with his hands, handed half of it to Lu Gu, and said, "It''s still hot, blow it before eating." Lu Gu took the half of tianwogen, it was really hot, so he could only hold it with two hands alternately, and the skin was easy to peel after it was cooked. the puppy didn¡¯t eat when it was taken out of the fire, he just looked up, now seeing the two of them eating it, he knew it was edible, got up and rubbed against Lu Gu¡¯s calf, and barked twice, obviously wanting to beg for food. "Don''t worry, let them eat when it''s cold." Shen Xuanqing said. That being the case, Lu Gu didn''t feed the puppy, and the puppy who hadn''t eaten anything barked and kept looking at them. Lu Gu didn''t give it to him until it was finally warmed up. Unlike other dogs in the village, he always ate well, but now he disliked tianwogen, which was not meaty and had a bland taste. After two or three mouthfuls, he lay back on the sack and didn¡¯t ask more. The wind stopped in the middle of the night, and early the next morning, Shen Xuanqing found an unwanted rag, wrote two characters on it with Lu Gu''s embroidered brush, "hui (return)" and "duo (many)", and stuffed it into bamboo tube. In such a small and delicate bamboo tube, a small twisted hemp rope was passed through the eye of the bamboo tube, and hung on Dahui''s neck. He didn''t go down the mountain until a few days after the beginning of winter last year, the year before last, and it was relatively late. Before going up the mountain this time, he didn''t discuss with his family about going down earlier. If only Dahui ran down today, Shen Yaoqing might think that they were going to meet halfway, so he wrote the words and he would understand. Both brothers had studied, the character "Hui" meant that they were going down the mountain to go home and they wouldn¡¯t come up again, and the word "Duo" meant that there were too many things, Shen Yaoqing naturally knew what it meant after reading it. After feeding a few pieces of meat to Dahui and Dabai, Shen Xuanqing patted the necks of the two dogs and said something, the dogs ran out the door and disappeared soon. Having nothing else to do after breakfast, Lu Gu let the chickens and ducks out and locked them in the big fence outside for them to eat. The first thing he did when he returned to the yard was to go into the small house to look at the wild vegetables and dried vegetables he had dried. For winter, what you ate was the most important thing. The small house was cool and dry, and if you br a lot of food, you would put it here in case the kitchen was too wet all day long. Seeing Shen Xuanqing coming in, he asked, "Do you want to take the quilt back?" Lu Gu didn''t know about going down the mountain for a winter, so he still need to ask. "No, we will come again in the spring of next year. Put it in a box and close it tightly. Next year, pick a sunny day and go to the mountain early, take it out and let it dry for a whole day." Shen Xuanqing looked at the other things while talking. There was only half a sack of rice and flour left, and he said, "There was no need to take away the food. It won''t germinate and be damp in the cold winter. You can still eat it next year." "Yeah." Lu Gu nodded, looking at what he saved, a cloth bag of dried mushrooms, the cloth bag was full, and it was placed on the ground about the height of his calf. Seeing it, he was very satisfied, and happily packed it with Shen Xuanqing. CH 71.1 Shen Xuanqing put down the cart leaning against the wall, tidied it up today, and they could leave directly tomorrow morning. Lu Gu had already woven two long chicken coops, which were about the same length as the cart, and seven ducks and eight chickens could squeeze inside, and if they couldn''t fit, they could be carried down in bamboo baskets. Put the chicken cages on the cart first, and grabbed the chickens and ducks tomorrow morning and stuffed them in. There was still a gap in the cart, Shen Xuanqing picked up the sack containing wild bath beads and put it on, Lu Gu picked two baskets and poured them into the sack which was more than half full, it was really heavy. Although this thing was not very valuable, one copper coins could buy a lot, but every family couldn''t live without it. In winter, the wild bath bead tree had few and small knots. They could sell ??it for some money. After tying up the mushrooms bag, Lu Gu looked at the wild vegetables he had dried, and Machicais were the most. He dried a full sack, not to mention six people, ten people would be enough to eat it. There were also other dried wild vegetables. There were not too many sacks to separate them, so they were packed together. Dipicai and black mushrooms were rarer than the wild vegetables. Lu Gu packed them in clean cloth bags separately, but black mushrooms was less. He picked up dipicai many times after the rain, and the cloth bag was almost full after drying. After the medicinal material Lu Gu was dried in the sun, the bundles that should be tied up had already been tied up. The most common one was a sack of mugwort leaves. Fortunately, it would become lighter after drying and not so heavy. Goji berries and dogwood fruits were used as medicine so he put it in small bags. Goji berries had gradually faded during this period, and there were not so many. He put four small bags under the bamboo basket, and then put camellia and medicinal materials in it. A bamboo basket could carry a lot. As for tianwogens, Lu Gu didn''t dig much afterwards, and there were only six leftovers to eat in the past few days, and they were steamed when they were brought up at home, so you didn''t need to take them out after eating. "Do you want to take chestnuts and hazelnuts?" Lu Gu asked as he pulled out the bamboo basket containing medicinal materials. Except for the chestnuts that they picked up with their family before, the two of them went to the forest to pick up some if they wanted to eat them, and there were still some left over to eat today. "There are still some at home, how many do we have? If not too many, take them down." Shen Xuanqing walked over while talking. "It''s not many, there''s only a little left, then I¡¯ll pack it now." Lu Gu replied, he knew there was some at home, so he asked. "En." Shen Xuanqing agreed, seeing that the bamboo basket was full of medicinal materials, he took it and said, "It''s too cold at night, put it in the main room first, so you can see it anytime and you won''t be afraid to forget it." "Okay." Lu Gu nodded, and a few cloth bags from the low house were brought out. A bag of dried mushrooms, half a bag of black mushrooms, a bag of dried dipicai, and a bag of wild tea. The dry goods were relatively light. He glanced at the cart. It was too heavy to pull. He simply put these four bags into the bamboo basket for him to carry. Badgers, rabbits and pheasants would be taken down tomorrow, and put these wild animals into the sacks was fine, but there must be a gap, otherwise it would be difficult to carry. Shen Xuanqing came to the low house to take a look again, and said: "Machicais and mugwort leaves are not heavy, put them on the top of chicken coop, and when the cart is loaded tomorrow, take a bundle of hemp rope, so you won''t be afraid of falling." After he finished speaking, he started. After getting out the two sacks, Lu Gu saw that there was only food left in the low house, and there was nothing else to bring, so he brought out the bamboo basket, closed and locked the door, and the low house was finished. In the kitchen, you didn¡¯t need to take salt, dry peppers and the like, but you had to take half a jar of honey with you. As for the jar of pickles, Lu Gu opened and looked at it, and there was still a smaller jar. He had pickled sour cress several times before, and he pickled it with salt instead. Country people bought less, so they like to pickle more vegetables. But pickles needed a lot of salt, and most people couldn''t afford them. Lu Gu only learned how to pickle pickles after he came to Shen''s house. When he was in Lu''s house, most of them were pickles. But the hot and sour cowpea pickled in lotus, they still kept on guard against him. After the salty lumps ( ÏÌ ¸í´ñ) were marinated, they could be sliced??and shredded. The sliced ?ones were usually eaten with steamed buns in the hand, and shredded ones were eaten with chopsticks when eating. Last time they went home, Ji Qiuyue also cut the salty lumps into small cubes, then chopped some ginger, poured hot oil on it, and then mixed the ginger and pickles evenly, it was delicious and salty. Broke open the hot white flour steamed buns and put them in. It was delicious to eat only with this and without vegetables. Ginger was a good thing to dispel the cold and warm the stomach, but there was not so much minced ginger, and the taste of ginger was quite light. The pickles used a lot of salt, which was precious. Last time they went to a restaurant, although they only ordered meat, Lu Gu heard that someone in the restaurant was asking for pickles to go with wine. He couldn''t hear the noise clearly. It seemed that it was fifteen copper coins or so, which was precious. He was a bit reluctant so he squatted in front of the jar, and when he saw Shen Xuanqing coming in, he said: "We can eat it today and tomorrow, and I want to take it with me." He looked reluctant, and Shen Xuanqing couldn''t help laughing, and said: " Just take it with you." The mountain road was far away, Dahui and Dabai had to run for a while back, Shen Yaoqing and the others had to walk up for a while, Lu Gu made more for lunch, and they would eat first. In the afternoon when Lu Gu was packing the clothes of the two of them, he heard Dahei barking in the yard and ran out. He hurriedly went outside the courtyard with Shen Xuanqing, and soon they saw Wei Lanxiang, Shen Yaoqing and Shen Yan. Dahei and the other dogs running beside them, wagging their tails happily. "Mother, brother." Shen Xuanqing shouted, and Lu Gu also shouted. Dahui and Dabai didn''t keep up, and the dogs were tired from running back and forth for such a long distance, so they were left to rest at home. Tired and hungry after walking all the way, with the food in the pot, Lu Gu first went to the kitchen and lit the stove to heat it up. It was better to eat the warm ones when it was cold, so it wouldn''t hurt your stomach. CH 71.2 "Brother Guzi, look at the silk flowers on my head." Shen Yan approached Lu Gu and said with a smile. There was a small light yellow silk flower next to the two buns on her head, which was quite beautiful. Lu Gu smiled slightly and said, "It''s so pretty." Shen Yan was even happier when she heard Wei Lanxiang outside saying that there was a badger. Since Lu Gu only needed to light the fire to heat the meal, and he doesn''t need help, so she went to the woodshed to see badger. The food was hot and served on the table. Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu had nothing else to do, so they lit the brazier and sat beside them. He asked casually, "Sister-in-law is at home?" Shen Yaoqing hadn''t swallowed the food yet, so he couldn''t speak, but he raised her head and smiled a little foolishly. Wei Lanxiang was even more delighted, and said, "Your sister-in-law is happy." "The mountain road is too far away, so she is not allowed to come up. "Shen Yaoqing laughed. Shen Xuanqing was a little surprised, and then laughed. There would be a new member of the family, he was naturally happy, and said, "The few rabbits and pheasants won¡¯t be sold, and they will be used to make up for my sister-in-law." Naturally, you should eat better when you were pregnant. Shen Yan was still young, and she was only a half-grown child, but knowing that she was going to had a nephew or niece, she couldn''t be unhappy. Lu Gu was no exception, Shen''s family treated him well, Ji Qiuyue was pregnant, of course he was also happy, remembering that Ni''er called him Xiaoma, he thought that in the future there would be a little child in their family who would call him Xiaoma. It was not easy to build a house in the deep mountains. There were only two rooms where people could sleep. Because Shen Yaoqing came up, the brothers slept in the east room, and Lu Gu, Wei Lanxiang and Shen Yan stayed in the west room. One night passed. Early the next morning, the journey was not in a hurry, and the family didn¡¯t get up to clean up until the sun came out. Wei Lanxiang and Shen Yan were cooking and lighting the fire in the kitchen, while Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing were putting badgers in sacks in the woodshed. This things were not small, and they were so fat. After catching sixteen badgers, they put them on two sacks. There were still seven living badgers. These days, they had been tied with ropes to their front paws and mouths. If they didn¡¯t tie the rope on the mouth, they would make a hole and escape, their teeth were too sharp. The puppy followed into the woodshed and barked at the fat badgers when they saw them on the ground. The live badgers kicked and rushed to bite. Shen Xuanqing dragged it away by the back of the neck when it tried to bite. The puppy was smart, he had seen Dahui chasing the rabbit, Shen Xuanqing had also trained him, he knew to let go. After being thrown out of the woodshed, when he heard Lu Gu''s movement in the room, he wagged his tail and went in to rub his legs. After all the quilts were folded and rolled up and stuffed into the big box, Lu Gu folded his and Shen Xuanqing''s thick winter clothes and put them on the bag, and they didn''t need to take the two thin clothes with them in winter. As for the book in the box, Lu Gu hesitated for a while and didn¡¯t dare to touch it. After Shen Xuanqing took care of the badgers and walked out of the woodshed. He saw Lu Gu standing there motionless from the window, so he went to the window and asked, "What''s the matter?" Lu Gu turned around quickly, hesitating and speechless. Standing in front of the window, Shen Xuanqing saw the box and saw his posture, even his cheeks were a little red, and he immediately knew what was going on. There were so many people in the courtyard, he made a fake cough, pretending not to care, but he lowered his voice and said, "Take it." "Erqing, do you want to take this basket of grass?" Shen Yaoqing asked in the woodshed. "Take it." After Shen Xuanqing finished speaking, he didn''t dare to look at Lu Gu''s face, and went to the backyard to catch the chickens and ducks, so that they could be put into the chicken coop and taken down the mountain. The igniter grass was saved by Lu Gu, besides this basket, there was a small pile in the corner of the woodshed, which would be useful for lighting the fire next year. The bundle was packed, and only the two of them knew the books hidden in the clothes. After eating and drinking, Lu Gu tidied up the kitchen neatly. After a round of inspection, there was nothing else to bring, and a group of five people went out the door with each carrying basket on their backs. The bundle was originally meant to be carried by Shen Yan, which was lighter than the bamboo basket, but now that there was something that coudn¡¯t be seen in it, Lu Gu didn¡¯t dare to let others carry it. Shen Yan carried a basket of igniter grass, Wei Lanxiang carried a basket of dried mushrooms, black mushrooms, and Lu Gu''s sewing basket inside. The basket containing medicinal materials was relatively heavy, and Shen Yaoqing carried it on his back. He and Shen Xuanqing took turns to pull the cart, and Shen Xuanqing puled the cart first. Lu Gu closed all the doors that should be closed, and bolted the windows. When he locked the courtyard door, he saw that there were still some qiucai left in the courtyard. This kind of vegetable could live until early winter. If it was planted in the ground and didn¡¯t dig it, sometimes you coud still see some greenery after the snow. Dug it out and removed the frozen rotten leaves. The thick stems were usually not eaten, but the older ones grew thicker in the early winter. After being frozen, it wouldn¡¯t be so astringent. Peeled off the outer skin, cut into slices and blanched it in water, and you could also make stir-fry fresh vegetables. There were a lot of plants in the house in the foot of the mountain, in front of the yard and behind the house. Although these qiucais were a bit of a pity, Lu Gu didn''t dig them. After he locked the door, he turned around and walked down the mountain with Shen Xuanqing and the others. Dahei was running ahead, and the puppy was chasing the big dogs and barking, his ears were shaking as he ran, and his body seemed to be bouncing. He was excited when there were so many people, and the barking of the dogs echoed in the bleak mountain forest. The wind was rustling, the ground was full of dead leaves, it was time to go home. CH 72.1 This time, there were many people who had to carry things on their backs, and the mountain road was difficult to walk. When encountering uphill and downhill, they had to push and drag the cart, so they stopped to rest and continue to walk, ate the dry meals on the way, and when they returned home it was already afternoon. Ji Qiuyue heard the sound of barking dogs outside, and before she reached the door to greet them, Dahui and Dabai followed her.¡± "Mother, I soaked the dried chestnuts last night and boiled them in sugar water this morning, I also stewed them with chicken at noon, and I waited for you to come back. It¡¯s just right now, they are still in the pot, and they can be eaten as soon as they are warmed up." Seeing her reaching out to take the bamboo basket, Wei Lanxiang raised her hand to block it, and blamed her: "You forgot that you are pregnant? Take a rest, don''t touch these things." Although it was a reproach, Wei Lanxiang said it with smile, since Ji Qiuyue and Shen Yaoqing came back from the langzhong that day, she was happy every day. Many women and fulangs of her age had grandchildren in their arms, and they were seen wandering around the village with their grandchildren all day long. Now she was going to hug her grandson as a grandmother, and she was so happy. "Sister-in-law." Lu Gu called out in a low voice, and paused for a while, not knowing what to say, the overly polite words of congratulations were not easy to say to the family, so he could only purse his lips and smile slightly. Seeing him like this, his thoughts were written all over his face. How could she not know what he meant, so she said with a smile: "Guzi is back, try the stew chicken with chestnuts made by sister-in-law, the chicken soup is also nourishing." "Yeah ." Lu Gu nodded in response, and he even noticed that Ji Qiuyue''s smile was different from the past. She was originally a cheerful and straightforward person, but now her eyes were bright, and when the sun shone down, her face seemed to have a soft light, and her face was full of joy without a trace of haze. At this moment, Shen Yaoqing was pulling the cart and was almost at the door of the house. The road was flat and there was no need to push behind. Seeing that Ji Qiuyue was a few steps behind and went to talk to Shen Yaoqing, Wei Lanxiang and the others smiled and went home first. "Did you sleep well last night?" Shen Yaoqing smiled naively when he saw his wife, and everyone could see his joy from the bottom of his heart. Ji Qiuyue thought he was too naive, so she glared at him and said, "Okay, since you didn''t take up space on the bed, why not?" A hand stretched out to grab his wife¡¯s hand, and squeezed it tightly before letting go. Ji Qiuyue glared at him again, but didn''t say anything, her smile never diminished. The chicken soup was bright and fragrant. The chestnuts absorbed the broth, which was slightly salty but also sweet and glutinous. The chicken was stewed until soft and had the sweetness of chestnuts, it became more delicious. The chicken was an old hen killed by Shen Yaoqing before going up the mountain yesterday. A whole chicken was chopped up, a lot of chestnuts were mixed, and a lot of water was added to stew it, enough for everyone to drink a bowl of chicken soup. The chicken and chestnuts were served in a big old bowl. Not only Shen Yaoqing added vegetables and meat to Ji Qiuyue''s bowl, even Wei Lanxiang kept adding chicken pieces to her. Someone who was pregnant was different, even Shen Yan kew that she couldn''t compete with her sister-in-law for meat, especially Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing, beside, chestnuts were meaty and delicious, and there were other dishes. "Second brother said that those rabbits and pheasants are not for sale, and leave them for you to eat." Shen Yaoqing said, thinking of this, Ji Qiuyue loved to eat spicy fried rabbit meat. Hearing this, she looked at Shen Xuanqing with a smile, and said, "Second brother is worried." Shen Xuanqing smiled and said nothing. Now that life was better, it was okay to leave that little thing for his family to make up. "After eating these, I''ll buy some black-bone chickens for you to supplement your body." Shen Yaoqing said again, after three years of hard life, Ji Qiuyue lost a lot of weight than when she first married him. After a period of time, she gained a little weight, and now that she was pregnant, and he was always worried that his wife wouldn¡¯t eat well. "Yes, buy a few black-bone chickens and eat them." Wei Lanxiang echoed beside him. Even if the women in the country were pregnant, they didn¡¯t eat meat every day. Now that they had rabbits and pheasants, they still had to buy black-bone chickens. After hearing this, Ji Qiuyue felt that her husband and mother-in-law were thinking of herself, and she was happy, but she still felt that spending too much money was not good, so she said: "Just buy one or two, there is no one who eats these things often." "Yeah." Although Shen Yaoqing responded repeatedly, he didn''t think so in his heart. Now that his wife was pregnant, he didn''t want to talk much. How many to buy at that time was up to him. After a meal, everyone was full, and the whole body was warm after drinking the chicken soup. Today, the five members of the family drove the mountain road, and their legs were tired because they had to push the cart while carrying their luggage. After eating, they didn¡¯t do much work. It was getting dark early, and it was getting colder without the sun, so Lu Gu went to the kitchen and boiled a large pot of water for the family to wash and soak their feet, and also poured soup for the mother-in-law. He sat in front of the stove, the fire reflected on his face, it was not as cold as outside. Not long after, Shen Xuanqing entered the kitchen, Lu Gu thought he was trying to scoop water, so he said, "The water is not boiling yet." "Yeah." Shen Xuanqing didn''t say anything else, he actually came to find Lu Gu, and he had nothing to do in the room by himself, but now Lu Gu looked up at him with puzzled eyes, thinking it was something else, so made him a little embarrassed. "I''ll help you." He said, squatting down next to Lu Gu, adding some firewood to the bottom of the stove. He only boiled water and didn¡¯t need the help of others, beside, there was only a small stool in front of the stove, but Shen Xuanqing was close to him, squatting down was a little higher than he who sat on the small stool, Lu Gu felt a little oppressed by being stuck inside, but it was also inexplicable peace of mind. Lu Gu was not that smart, but he was aware of something right now, the fire was warm, Shen Xuanqing''s legs were next to his legs, the atmosphere was a bit charming, he didn''t speak, The hand on the knee moved slightly, subconsciously clenched the trousers and let go. CH 72.2 The firewood at the bottom of the stove crackled softly, and it was burning blazingly. Shen Xuanqing noticed that there were a few scratches on the fingers of the back of Lu Gu''s thin hands, and some scabs had formed on the slight wounds that ooze a little blood from the scratches. Country people often worked, and their hands were seldom delicate, Lu Gu was fair, but apart from his hands, his face was fairer than ordinary people, not to mention the parts of his body where couldn¡¯t be seen by the sun. There was no one else in the kitchen, it was dark, and it was so cold, the rest of the Shen family were all in their rooms, no one disturbed them. Shen Xuanqing couldn''t hold it back, and raised his hand to grab Lu Gu''s hand. At first, he held it tightly, but then he gradually became presumptuous, from pinching the palm of her hand to play with her fingers. Even he himself couldn''t understand it, it was just a hand, everyone had it, but he just couldn''t let it go. Lu Gu lowered his head and didn''t dare to speak, the orange fire was shining brightly, his blushing face couldn''t tell whether it was from embarrassment or heat. It wasn''t long before white steam came out from the pot, and it didn''t take long before she heard Shen Yan shouting from the main room: "Brother Guzi, is the water boiling?" There were footsteps outside, and she came towards the kitchen while shouting. Shen Xuanqing woke up like a dream, and Lu Gu was even more panicked. He withdrew his hand all of a sudden, and shouted in a trembling voice: "It''s boiling." Seeing Lu Gu''s shy eyelashes trembling slightly, he touched his fulang¡¯s hand in the kitchen. Shen Xuanqing was also a little embarrassed, but there was a smile on his face. Shen Yan brought two Tang Pozi over, one was for Ji Qiuyue, first she filled tang pozi with hot water and stuffed it into the quilt, and the quilt would be warm. "I''ll get it." Shen Xuanqing got up and said. "Yeah." Lu Gu nodded, and helped Shen Yan to fill Tang Pozi first. After being hugged by Shen Xuanqing, Lu Gu closed his eyes and wanted to sleep, but suddenly, a big hand groped and covered his eyes. He subconsciously wanted to open his eyes, but he couldn''t help but close them again due to the occlusion in front of his eyes. In this way, the long eyelashes brushed against Shen Xuanqing''s palm, and the slight itchiness seemed to pass across his heart at the same time. Sure enough, this was the feeling, this was what Shen Xuanqing wanted to do before, and finally got started tonight. Lu Gu struggled in his arms, and anyone who was blindfolded would feel uncomfortable, so he let go of his hand, wanting to explain but didn''t know how to say it, so he didn''t speak at all. He hugged Lu Gu and kissed him for a while, the unbearable itchiness was relieved only after the kiss and he could close his eyes and sleep steadily. After catching so many fat badgers, all of them were fat and strong, and one was very heavy to lift. It was the most important thing to peel the badgers as soon as possible and then refine the badger oil. After breakfast, Wei Lanxiang took Shen Yan to the town to buy borneol. Not to mention the village, ordinary people in the town couldn''t afford borneol, but adding borneol when refining badger oil was the best. The high grade badger oil could be sold at a higher price after being refined. After Lu Gu boiled hot water, the two brothers Shen killed and skinned the badgers together in the yard. Ji Qiuyue took a look and felt sick in her stomach, and didn''t dare to look again. Lu Gu often saw Shen Xuanqing skinning rabbits and plucking pheasants, but this was the first time he saw badgers being killed. Killed the badgers first, and then peeled them directly. The puppy was chained in the backyard, and Dahui was used to smell the bloody smell of the prey, so he surrounded them, looking quite stable. The puppy barked excitedly, wanted to bite the badger meat secretly, and even got close to smell the blood on the ground. Afraid that it would lick the blood, Lu Gu hurriedly told him to go to the main room, and closed the door of the main room without letting him go out again. Guaizi followed him all day long, he was naturally obedient, and followed him when he called out. "Guzi, how about this cloth?" Ji Qiuyue probed outside the door when she heard the movement. The smell of blood in the yard was strong, the badger was bigger than the rabbit, and the scene of skinning and digging out the belly was really not very good-looking. Lu Gu didn''t want to watch it anymore, so he came over after hearing the words. "Sit down." Ji Qiuyue sat on the edge of the bed, spread out a piece of red cloth and touched it. After sitting down, Lu Gu touched it and found it was soft. It was really goodcloth, so he said, "It''s really a good cloth." He raised his head and asked, "Sister-in-law, are these used to make clothes for children?" "Yes." Ji Qiuyue smiled, and said: "I''ll tell you, Brother Daqing said that the child will be born in August next year, it will be hot, just use this thin cloth to make some clothes." After thinking about it, Lu Gu said: " After the clothes are finished, I will embroider some small flowers to make them look better, and I will embroider them with tiger head patterns." Tigers and lions were mighty and majestic, and the children here, regardless of gender, would wear tiger or lion hats if they were sophisticated. Shoes were meant to ward off evil spirits and keep people safe, and the same for clothes embroidered with tiger and lion patterns. Ji Qiuyue nodded again and again, smiling happily: "Okay, don''t worry, my stomach is not big enough for us to work in the winter, I just bought four-color embroidery thread, and I plan to make a tiger hat, and for tiger shoes, mother said that she will do it, and now you can embroider tiger patterns on the clothes, it¡¯s all done.¡± At this time the puppy came while wagging his tail, Ji Qiuyue glanced at him, and said with a smile: ¡°He is still so fat.¡± Lu Gu¡¯s eyebrows were slightly curved, and he smiled slightly, glancing at the puppy, and thinking that next year there would be a little child wearing a tiger-head patterned dress and shoes, he felt happy. After the clothes were ready, other embroidery work could be put down first, which was the most important thing. CH 73.1 The chickens and ducks got down from the mountain, and they were a little wilted for the past two days because of the bumpy journey. Lu Gu didn¡¯t let them out. He regained his energy and then went out to prepare their food. He chopped half-dried grass and mixed it with chaff, and fed it together with the chickens and ducks raised at home. When he came out of the backyard, he saw Wei Lanxiang came back with Shen Yan, carrying a small bag of borneol and shortbread in the basket. In the cold weather Wei Lanxiang often carried a small cloth pad in the basket, and the cotton inside was sewn in from old cotton clothes. She used the pad today when she bought shortbread, and it was still warm when they came back. "Go, here for you and your sister-in-law." Wei Lanxiang opened the oiled paper bag, took two pastries and handed them to Shen Yan. Seeing Lu Gu coming out from the backyard, she smiled and said: "Gu Zi wash your hands and come to eat." "Got it, mother." Lu Gu''s sleeves were rolled up because he was chopping chicken grass just now, and now he put them down after washing his hands. Seeing that Shen Xuanqing was killing the last badger, Shen Yaoqing was cutting the fat of the badger in the kitchen, so as to refine the oil in the pot later, Wei Lanxiang went into the kitchen and took out the borneol and put them on the edge of the chopping board, she sai: "Hold it in the basket, you two take it by yourself after finishing it." "Okay." Shen Yaoqing agreed, and his hands kept cutting the fat meat. When he saw the puppy rubbing against his leg, he smiled and said, "It''s not cooked yet, you will eat it later " Fat meat from badgers could be used to refine oil, and lean meat could also be eaten, but their family didn''t like to eat badger meat. Anyway, they had dogs at home, and a dozen badger meat was enough for them to eat for a while, and it was also fattening in winter. When Lu Gu entered the main room, he first glanced at Ji Qiuyue''s room. Wei Lanxiang was joking with her. When he saw Shen Yan coming out, he lifted the small cloth pad on the basket and was about to take it when he heard Shen Yan said, "Brother Guzi, take one for mother too." Taking out three shortbread, Lu Gu followed Shen Yan into the east room, and sat on the edge of the bed to eat the shortbreads. Except for Ji Qiuyue who ate two in their family, everyone else ate one. Wei Lanxiang saw the thin red cloth on the bed that hadn''t been put away, and said while eating: "I''m in a hurry today, I forgot to buy another red cloth, it''s hot in summer. Make a few bellybands for the baby to wear, otherwise the baby will get prickly heat, and it will be cooler with bellybands." Ji Qiuyue finally had a child. Looking at the red cloth that was being made into clothes, she was happy in her heart, and she was not willing to put it away. Hearing this, she nodded, it should be done. Lu Gu sat beside them without saying a word, feeling very satisfied eating the soft shortbreads, but Shen Yan leaned over and whispered: "Brother Guzi, I beg you to do something." No one had ever talked to him like this, Lu Gu was a little nervous, thinking that something happened to Shen Yan, so he could only nod quickly because there was something in his mouth. Shen Yan scratched her head with the other hand, she seemed a little embarrassed, she smiled flatteringly and said, "The new jacket my mother made for me was ready, can you embroider two flowers for me?" "I''m just learning to embroider, it¡¯s okay to embroider on a handkerchief, but if the embroidery on the clothes is damaged, Caixia and the others must laugh at me.¡± She took a big bite of shortbread, frowning and looking very sad. It turned out to be this, Lu Gu relaxed his mind, and said with slightly frowned eyebrows, "Okay." Wei Lanxiang heard them talking, Shen Yan lowered his head and muttered, she asked curiously, "What are you talking about with your brother Guzi?" She was criticized twice because her embroidery work was not good, and now she asked Lu Gu to embroider for her. Afraid of being accused again, Shen Yan said, "Mother, it''s nothing, I''m going to ask Brother Guzi about something." "This little girl is still not telling the truth to her mother.¡± Wei Lanxiang gave her a smile, but didn¡¯t press the question, and talked to Ji Qiuyue about putting the longevity lock on the child. The two of them were talking, when Shen Yan saw that Lu Gu had finished eating and stuffed the remaining shortbread into his mouth, she stood up and signaled Lu Gu to follow her. In the kitchen, Shen Yaoqing boiled the fat meat and refined the oil, Shen Xuanqing tidied up the yard, shoveled the soil with a shovel, and covered the blood splashed outside the basin, so as not to step on the dirty blood and made their soles dirty. There were sixteen badger skins in total. He thought about it, if the wind blew in winter, no one could go out of the house, and the cold wind poured directly into the neck, it was better to leave six pieces and make a fur collar for everyone in the family. The fur was light and warm, and the neck was comfortable. No more freezing. Tanning fur was also a labor-intensive job. The remaining ten skins could simply be sold as raw hides. It didn''t matter if the price was slightly lower than the tanned ones. Seeing that Lu Gu came out to wash his hands again, and Shen Yan was still following him, Shen Xuanqing smiled and asked: "What are you two doing?" Shen Yan still prevaricated him, saying: "It''s nothing, second brother, you should be busy with your work. " ¡°Brother Guzi, I''ll go get it first.¡± Shen Yan said after washing her hands. "Okay." Lu Gu agreed, washed off the white foam from his hands and got up to wipe his hands. Seeing Shen Xuanqing smiling at him, he paused and saw no one around, so he whispered: "Shen Yan asked me to make a few flower embroiders on her a new coat." He thought it was not a secret that couldn''t be said, and it shouldn''t hurt to tell Shen Xuanqing, even if he didn''t say it, the family would definitely see it when he embroidered the flowers later, and he couldn''t hide it. "No wonder." Shen Xuanqing smiled, he knew his sister too well, and when he thought about it, he knew that she was afraid that his mother would nag her, he said: "Then you go, if you are cold, sit on the bed, the pot is occupied at the moment, and you can''t boil water for tang pozi. " "Yes." Lu Gu nodded. The chimney smoke wafted from the chimney, people were talking and laughing in the courtyard of Shen''s house, sometimes there was a dog barking, and the days after going down the mountain were still solid and comfortable. Early the next morning, after eating two hot steamed buns and a small piece of salty lump, Shen Xuanqing poured a small half of the wild bath beads from the sack into his big bamboo basket, and the rest must be enough for his own use. Shen Yaoqing, who was chopping firewood, saw him tidying up, so he asked, "Going to town?" He took out the needle and thread to make children''s clothes, scratched his head and smiled innocently, took out some money from his pocket, and said in a low voice: "If you go, buy me a silver hairpin at Jinyinxuan. I¡¯m very optimistic about it. Last time I didn¡¯t bring enough money to buy it. It¡¯s a phoenix tail inlaid with small silver beads. If someone already bought this one, there¡¯s another phoenix tail there, it¡¯s also pretty. Anyway, buy one and come back.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Shen Xuanqing took the money and said with a smile, he stuffed the money into his pocket, his eyes paused slightly as if he was thinking about something. CH 73.2 Seeing him like this, Shen Yaoqing patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly: " If you earn money, you still need to love your fulang. Our family can¡¯t afford gold and jade, even if you can¡¯t afford them, if you have the heart, your fulang will be happy if you buy a silver one, right? When father was around, didn''t he give mother a silver hairpin and silver bracelet ?" Lu Gu was very plain dressed, like most fulangs in the village. Fulang didn¡¯t have to work in the fields, and their hair was not combed like farmers¡¯. They could also wear hairpins and bracelets, but they didn¡¯t have as many styles as women¡¯s. "Not to mention anything else, when your sister-in-law first married me, I bought her a hairpin after earning money. She was so happy that she didn¡¯t pull my ear for half a year" Shen Yaoqing realized that he had spoken out about his incompetence, and quickly made amends: "Of course, she doesn''t often pull my ears, and besides, I let her go." Shen Xuanqing raised her eyebrows and smiled, but didn¡¯t expose him , he said: "I know big brother, I will buy one when I see it." "Hey, that''s right, don''t just grow tall only, but also grow heart." Shen Yaoqing patted him on the shoulder again, looking relieved. There were not many things to sell today, except for the wild bath beads, there were ten badger skins, and there was no need to pull the cart. Shen Xuanqing told his family, and Lu Gu sent him out of the courtyard. When Shen Xuanqing was far away, Lu Gu called the puppy back, and went to the hall to continue embroidering a coat for Shen Yan. The women at home were doing needlework. Shen Yaoqing chopped the firewood for a while and saw that the sun was high, so he took a hemp rope and hatchet and went up the mountain to collect firewood. The firewood he collected these days hadn¡¯t been sold, and he stuffed it into the woodshed. He was still thinking about it, he had no other work these two days, so he went up the mountain with Shen Xuanqing to cut more firewood and came back. When it was almost noon, Lu Gu was cooking in the kitchen, and Shen Yan was lighting the fire for him. At this moment, the puppy and Dahui barked and ran out of the yard. As soon as he heard it, he knew that Shen Xuanqing was back, but the vegetables hadn''t been cut yet, and the meal was going to be served later, he couldn''t stop, so he had to look out from the window. Not long after, Shen Xuanqing walked into the courtyard with a bamboo basket on his back, approached the kitchen and smiled when he saw Lu Gu, and said, "I''m back." Lu Gu''s eyes brightened slightly, and he smiled lightly. "Mother." Seeing Wei Lanxiang coming out, Shen Xuanqing shouted, he unloaded the bamboo basket, and took out two oil-paper umbrellas from it. Standing in the kitchen, Lu Gu saw round green fruits under the bamboo basket. The green was so bright that it looked very fresh in the withering silence of early winter. "Walking around at the pier, I bought some oranges when I saw someone selling oranges." After speaking, Shen Xuanqing glanced at Lu Gu with a smile on his brows. His fulang was timid and had never seen the world. Every time he encountered something he had never seen before, his eyes were always slightly opened, curious and surprised, obviously wanting to know what it was, because he was timid, he didn¡¯t go forward. Every time he saw Lu Gu like this, he couldn''t help laughing. "This color feels fresh no matter how many times I see it." Wei Lanxiang smacked her lips and said, "Is it cheaper this year?" When Shen Shunfu was there, he bought oranges for his family a few times. The seller came by boat from the far south, and the few times he bought them were not cheap, so he bought few oranges. "It''s okay." Shen Xuanqing showed the two oil-paper umbrellas to Wei Lanxiang, and he didn¡¯t say the price of the oranges, "You can use these two when there is snow." Wei Lanxiang opened the umbrella to take a look, the surface of the umbrella was painted with flowers, and it was beautiful. Shen Yan added some firewood to the bottom of the stove and ran out to look at it. Such a beautiful oil-paper umbrella made her laughed so much that her eyes almost disappeared, and she even held it around in her hand, and said to Lu Gu: "Brother Guzi, look." Lu Gu put the cut vegetables into the bowl, looked up and said, "It looks good." Every winter when it snowed heavily, he didn''t go out very much. The little snow may look small when it floated, but it quickly turned into water when it fell on the body and head, which could make the clothes and hair became wet, and it felt too much to wear a bamboo hat. It was better to hold an oil-paper umbrella. The painted umbrellas were more expensive, but seeing the family members were so happy, Shen Xuanqing felt that the money was not wasted. "Go and eat it with sister-in-law." He took a few oranges from the bamboo basket and handed them to Shen Yan, and gave two to Wei Lanxiang, he said, "Mother, you can eat too." After that, he took two more oranges and entered the kitchen, he handed one to Lu Gu, and said, "Smell it, the orange peel was different from other fruits." Lu Gu wiped his hands on the apron, and took it carefully. The green orange was quite big, plump and heavy. Gently sniffing it, the unique fragrance was really different. Shen Xuanqing peeled off the other one, squeezed the peeled orange peel, and a little juice splashed out, and the juice splashed towards Lu Gu, he quickly stepped back half a step, causing Shen Xuanqing to chuckle. CH 74.1 After the orange peel was squeezed out, the fragrance was more obvious, and it felt refreshing. Lu Gu had only heard about oranges before, and he had never eaten them. Hearing Shen Xuanqing laughing at him, he was a little embarrassed, and lowered his eyes and pretended to peel the oranges to ease the embarrassment. Shen Xuanqing smiled, knowing that her fulang was shy by nature, he felt awkward after a little teasing, so he quickly took two pieces of oranges and handed them over to Lu Gu. With the cool orange next to his lips, Lu Gu raised his eyes to look at Shen Xuanqing, under the gaze of such beautiful star eyes, his ears turned red and he opened his mouth to bite. "Eat and then bite them." Shen Xuanqing stuffed two pieces of oranges into his mouth. Lu Gu did as he said, and after biting them in his mouth, the sweet, sour juice of the orange gushed out, like a clear mountain spring overflowing his mouth. It turned out that orange was so delicious. He looked up at Shen Xuanqing, his surprise could be seen without saying a word. Shen Xuanqing also ate a piece of orange, and the sour taste came out after the first bite, and the sweetness soon came. The orange was a bit cold in cold weather, but it tasted very good. Seeing that Lu Gu was surprised and happy, he smiled again, and gave Lu Gu the rest of the orange. After hesitating for a moment, he took out another thing wrapped in red cloth from his bosom. "For you." Shen Xuanqing seemed a little embarrassed, and slightly pursed his lower lip, but the smile in her eyes didn¡¯t dissipate. Holding the oranges in both hands, Lu Gu first put the oranges on the chopping board, took the red cloth and opened it carefully, inside was a brand new silver hairpin with rice leaves and ears carved on the end. [Lu Gu, ¹È g¨³: grain;] The leaves of the rice were distinct, even the grains on the ears were very clear. There were two ears of rice, one was straight and the other was bent downwards. Shen Xuanqing fell in love with this hairpin right away at Jinyinxuan. Because the grain ears were carved realistically and meticulously, the price was a bit more expensive, but he still bought it. He didn''t know why, but when he saw the hairpin, he felt happy, put it in his arms and hurried back, forgetting about buying the wooden ladle, and only remembered it when he got home. Lu Gu had never seen such an expensive silver hairpin, let alone wearing it, and when he got married, he had only a wooden hairpin on his head. "For me?" He raised his head and asked Shen Xuanqing in a low voice, with expectant and apprehensive eyes. "Well, it''s for you." Shen Xuanqing nodded. Ear of grain was grain. When he was a child, his mother told him so when she embroidered grain ear patterns on his sleeves and collar. [¹ÈËë g¨³ su¨¬: ear of grain; ¹È×Ó g¨³ zi: grain ] Lu Gu tightly held the silver hairpin in his hand, his eyes gradually became slightly wet. Shen Xuanqing didn''t know what was wrong with him, he scratched his head, he was at a loss, and asked in a low voice: "Do you not like it?" No one liked a crybaby, Lu Gu blinked his eyes twice to force back the wetness, shook his head with a nasal sound. He said in low voice: "No, I like it very much." He smiled again while talking, the smile was shallow but bright, Shen Xuanqing was too tall, standing in front of him prevented him from seeing other people and things. "That''s good." Shen Xuanqing also laughed, the fire was still burning at the bottom of the stove, Shen Yan went to eat oranges, he said, "I''ll light the fire." "Yeah." Lu Gu wrapped the silver hairpin in a red cloth, tucked it into his bosom close to his body, the smile on his face never faded all day long. The sun was cloudy, but luckily there was no snow or wind. The early winter was here, and everyone in any village was preparing to stock up on food and firewood for the winter. Every family had prepared a lot of rice, noodles, pickles, cabbage, chinese cabbage, and radishes. In recent days, many people had been chopping firewood on the mountain. The people at the foot of the mountain were farther away from the town, but it was convenient to cut firewood in winter. There were trees everywhere, and the mountain forest was fairly dense. If you cut it this year, it would still grow next year, and new trees would grow up in two or three years. The second room of the Shen family was no exception. Cutting trees and firewood was mostly done by men, but Lu Gu and the others could also help to carry the firewood back. Ji Qiuyue was left at home to cook and boil water, so they could eat and drink when they were hungry or thirsty. Tied two bundles of firewood with hemp rope, hang them on a strong long branch, Lu Gu picked them up and walked home. With a sound of "Wow", the puppy sprang out from the nearby forest. He didn''t know how wild he was in the forest, with dead leaves hanging on his body. Lu Gu didn''t care about him, as long as he didn''t run far away, he was used to running wild on the mountain before, so it was not good to be too restrained when he came back. It could be said that there was no road on the mountain. Trees and stones blocked the way, and the journey was rough and bumpy. Ordinary people would rather walk in the mountain with bamboo baskets on their backs than pull a cart since it was a very laborious task. In the past two days, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing were chopping and chopping with long axes and machetes. They had no time to pull a cart, and the three of them, women, shuang¡¯er, and children, had no use for a cart. Shen Yan was young and she still carried a bundle of firewood. Their house was the closest to the mountain in the village, and the front mountain was not too far away, so the woodshed was gradually filled up after running back and forth. Of course, what Lu Gu and the others picked were mostly thin branches, and the remaining trunks were piled up together. Most of the trees that were cut down were thicker than the mouth of a bowl. Trees that were too thick and heavy were not easy to cut down. Even so, It was troublesome to use a saw to saw the wood on the mountain. When the time came, if you had cut enough, took a bundle of hemp rope, if it was too heavy, tied a few less, and find a few men in the village to carry it back together. Every family in the village had to prepare firewood. Today, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing would help the Shen family to carry the wood. It was a mutual favor. As soon as Lu Gu entered the courtyard, Ji Qiuyue put down the needle and thread in her hand and said, "Is Guzi thirsty? This honey water is warm enough to drink." "Go and put the firewood, and I''ll get it for you." She didn''t wait for Lu Gu¡¯s answer and hurriedly went to the kitchen. "Okay." Lu Gu was a step behind her but still agreed, and went to the woodshed to untie the two bundles of firewood and pile them neatly with the others. Ji Qiuyue took a bowl and came to the woodshed, she looked inside and said, "There are quite a lot, and we can take a rest after another day and a half." The more firewood the warmer it would be in the winter. You didn¡¯t have to be brave to cut firewood on the mountain in the severe winter. Seeing so many firewood, Lu Gu felt very at ease in his heart. He nodded and said, "Well, soon." CH 74.2 Lu Gu took the hemp rope and long branches and came out, he took a few sips from the bowl in Ji Qiuyue''s hand, the sweet honey water made his smile even sweeter. He saw that Ji Qiuyue was wearing a hairpin with a phoenix tail inlaid with silver beads on his head. The silver hairpin was new, so it was very bright. In the past two days, he ran up and down the mountain, and he was reluctant to wear his hairpin. He was afraid that he would drop it, so he put it in the room for peace of mind. Beside, women were okay, some hairpins on their heads were customary, but shuang¡¯ers in their country always wrapped their hair with cloth, which was similar to men. How could anyone wear such silver hairpins? If he thought about it, if someone looked at him because of his hairpin, he would back off a bit. Ji Qiuyue didn''t know what he was thinking, and said with a smile: "It''s cold, and I think there are still a lot of pears. In the evening, grab some goji berries, add some red dates, and boil them with brown sugar. I listened to others people eating, so let''s eat it today." The people in town called brown sugar as rock sugar. People in the countryside often saw brown sugar. When they see lumps of brown sweet sugar, they called it according to the color. The brown sugar at home was bought by Shen Yaoqing, thinking that his wife wanted to eat it too. Most of the meat at home was bought by Shen Xuanqing, and this year they kept the badger skin, and made a fur collar to protect their neck. Well, Ji Qiuyue usually had a little selfishness, but she never said it. Wei Lanxiang, a mother-in-law, couldn''t be too partial in her work or words, otherwise she would think about it in her heart, but her family had always been good to her, so if she had good things for her family to taste, she would let them taste it, and it was nothing to hide it. "Okay." Lu Gu agreed with a smile, and went out to pick firewood after drinking the honey water. The whole family was busy on the mountain for three days. On the afternoon of the third day, Wei Lanxiang knew where the third house of the Shen family was cutting trees, so she went to call Shen Shunwang and Shen Yuping, and met Shi Dachen''s family on the way, she joked a few words, and also dragged Shi Dachen to work as a laborer. "Yuping needs to practice more. If the skill in chopping firewood is good, his father-in-law and mother-in-law will praise him in the future." Shen Yaoqing said with a smile when he saw his cousin coming over. Shen Shunwang and Zhou Xiangjun had been showing Shen Yuping some girls and Shuang''ers in the past few days. They came to the second room of Shen''s house to talk twice, and asked Wei Lanxiang to help find out more, that was why he said so. Shen Yuping was younger, and the third room of the Shen family had always had a good life, so he had never experienced any hardships. He looked more immature, and when he thought of marrying a wife, he scratched his head and smiled innocently, showing his white teeth. His father, Shen Shunwang, saw his silly son like this. He laughed out loud and patted his son on the back of the head, he scolded: "How old is he, he doesn''t have any maturity, don''t be silly, go to work!" Shen Shunwang and Shen Shunfu were somewhat alike, they were able to work hard, they were good at farm work, they could also drive cart, and they even drove carts for others. It was no problem to earn some driving money, and the family could eat a lot of oil and meat every few days, and they still could save some money. Almost everyone in the countryside had a good hand at work. It was already afternoon, without wasting time, the man tied up several trunks and carried them home. Lu Gu and Shen Yan couldn''t carry much, so they picked up a thinner piece of wood and lifted one. "Brother Guzi, why don''t we get two." Shen Yan felt that the wood wasn''t too heavy after lifting it up. She was only eleven years old, not even as tall as Lu Gu, thin and short, and before Lu Gu could speak, Wei Lanxiang smiled and said, "You and your brother Guzi can just carry one." "Okay , mother, we will go back first." Shen Yan nodded, they didn''t need to tie up the wood, they were faster than a few men, Lu Gu was in the front and she was behind, and the two of them went down the mountain first. After the firewood was cut, it needed to be sawn off section by section, so that it could be stuffed into the woodshed, so as not to pile it up in the yard and get wet when it rained or snowed. they saw the wood in the yard, they didn¡¯t need to run outside, there was only one big saw at home, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing took turns to saw. Sometimes they were not there, they helped the Chen family and the third uncle to carry the wood, so Lu Gu and Wei Lanxiang sawed the wood in the yard. If one person couldn''t handle it, it would be easier for two people to pull the big saw. There were sawdust in the courtyard for several days, and these sawdust were not thrown away. They were light and dry in the sun, and they could be used as fire starters with igniter grass. After lunch, Lu Gu finished washing the dishes and saw Shen Xuanqing sawing wood in the courtyard, so he went over and carried the wood pieces to the woodshed, put down and then raised his hand, his hand was accidentally scratched by the rough bark on the back of his hand and fingers , the skin was broken but only a little blood oozed out, and the blood stopped after a while. This was the case when doing rough work, Lu Gu took a look and didn''t pay attention to it. After going out, Shen Xuanqing caught a glimpse of the broken skin on the back of his hand, stopped what he was doing and asked, "Scratched?" "Well, there''s no bleeding, it''s okay." Lu Gu replied, seeing a lot of sawdust on the ground, he went to get the broom again. In winter, frostbite was easy to develop, and it was dry, and the hands were prone to get chapped. In the past two years, Shen Yan had frostbite on her hands, which was painful and itchy, her fingers were red and swollen, and the scabs looked even more miserable. So last year when he hunted badgers, he left some badger oil for his family to wipe their hands and feet. He also bought some cotton and asked Wei Lanxiang to sew a tube sleeve for Shen Yan. You could put it in your arms and, you could stuff your hands into it when you didn¡¯t work in winter to keep you warmed. It was easy to get frostbite in winter every year, and if it was not treated promptly it would leave behind some permanent problems, especially when you got older. He didn''t know if Lu Gu had it. CH 75.1 Shen Xuanqing thought about it, and when he saw Lu Gu coming over with a broom, he asked. Lu Gu didn''t understand why he asked this suddenly, but he still said truthfully: "It''s been too long." Shen Xuanqing frowned slightly, and said: "Then pay more attention this year, since we have Tang Pozi, use it often, don''t look at these few days are not very cold, but you still can''t be careless, it will become colder, and you must make sure that your body is warm." Lu Gu has suffered from frostbite for several years, and he knew this truth, he nodded when he heard this, and because of Shen Xuanqing''s concern, he pursed his lips and showed a very shallow smile. "Isn''t there cotton at home, you sew thick tube sleeves these two days, and you must boil water for cooking and washing vegetables." Shen Xuanqing said again. "Yes." Lu Gu agreed, and began to sweep the sawdust on the ground into a pile, so as not to pile up too much later. Shen Xuanqing started sawing wood again, neither fast nor slow, after that he took the long axe, picked up a log to the side and stood it on the ground, swung the ax down, and with the weight of the long axe, the wood was split neatly in half. "After washing your feet at night, you dry your legs, and then you can apply some badger oil to prevent them from drying out." Shen Xuanqing thought of this again, and said while his hands were constantly working. Without waiting for Lu Gu to speak, he said again: "I''ll look for the old badger oil later. I left some last year and still have some left over. The old oil is better than the new oil. There is not much left but it still can be used for a while." "Okay." Lu Gu nodded, bent down and erected another log. The two of them sawed the wood and the other split the wood, and talked a few words from time to time. After one afternoon, there were only three big logs left. Lu Gu was cooking dinner, and Shen Xuanqing put more effort into sawing these three sticks into long pieces. A year ago, the steamed buns, stewed meat and steamed meat were directly placed on stove with a large firewood, so that it would be easy to burn it up. It got dark early, because sawing the wood, the dinner was delayed for a while, and it was completely dark when they had dinner. Shen Yan lit the candle with the fire the bottom of the stove, and the main room slowly lit up. The wick was short, and the sewing basket was just on the high table. She picked up a long needle and began to work. After Shen Xuanqing sawed the last piece of wood, Shen Yaoqing carried three long pieces of firewood into the woodshed. After a busy afternoon, his body was inevitably covered with dust and sawdust. Shen Xuanqing went into the main room and took the cloth strip hanging on the wall. When he came out, he went to the kitchen door to wash his hands. Lu Gu and Shen Yan put the food on the table one after another, and when they cleaned up, the food was ready. A little candle flickered slightly, although it was dim, but it was enough to see the things on the table clearly. Each person had a bowl of hot soup with pancakes. The pancakes were baked by Wei Lanxiang two days ago. They were long lasting, so she baked a little more. Cut the pancakes into thin slices, cut the white cabbage into shreds, and then cut the soaked dipicai and black mushrooms into thin slices. Lu Gu dug up qiucai with green leaves in the yard, chopped it up, and heated the oil in a pan. He poured so many vegetables into it and stir-fried them with a little oil, then poured water and strips of pancakes to boil in one pan. The family loved spicy food, so he put chili oil in the pan, which was bright red, which was also made it became more beautiful. There were rice and vegetables in one bowl, and they usually didn¡¯t stir fry vegetables in the countryside. They cook more tonight, since one person could eat at least two bowls. The big pot was occupied, and Lu Gu had no place to cook, but he still took the sour cowpea, Wei Lanxiang put hot and sour water when marinating it, it tasted a little spicy, very appetizing. Lu Gu ate one and a half bowls, but the second bowl was almost a bowl, so it could be said that he ate two bowls. He had chopped firewood in the afternoon, and it took a lot of effort. Beside, when eating this kind of hot rice in winter, with the chili oil and salt were just right. There were still several dishes, which were appetizing. After eating, the whole body was hot, and the hands and feet were not cold at all. The person who ate was comfortable and satisfied. Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing ate more than the rest of the family, and in the end Lu Gu scooped up the rice for the two of them, and even scraped the bottom of the pot clean, there was nothing left. When cleaning the pot after eating, Shen Yan helped him to add some firewood to the bottom of the stove, otherwise the water for cleaning the pot would become cold. She also said: "Brother Guzi, your cooking skills are getting better and better. Tonight''s soup pacakes are even better than my mother''s." "It''s just that there are many variant vegetables." Lu Gu was a little embarrassed by the praise, but his eyes were slightly bent and he was obviously happy. He made soup pancakes for Shen Xuanqing once when he was on the mountain. Shen Xuanqing said that it was delicious, and today he also added several vegetables. They usually ate soup pancakes in summer in the countryside, but sometimes they also ate it in winter. Usually you only used white cabbage to make the soup pancakes, not to mention monotonous, sometimes you were reluctant to fry it with oil, but it would not be so fragrant when you boiled it in white water only. At this time, Shen Xuanqing already found the last year''s badger oil in the low house, he took it to the kitchen, and heard Shen Yan''s words from outside, he said: "When you have time, you can also learn to cook from your brother Guzi, just start with cutting vegetables or something.¡± Shen Yan was the youngest in the family, Wei Lanxiang used to cook, and when Shen Yaoqing got married, Ji Qiuyue was the one who cooked, and now that she was pregnant there was still Lu Gu, so she didn¡¯t have to do it. But she was going to get married in the future, so it didn''t matter if she didn''t have good embroidery skill. Many wive and fulangs of peasant house in the countryside could only make shoes and sew clothes. Not many could embroider, but they must be able to cook. Otherwise, they could only make do with it in the future. "I know second brother." Shen Yan sighed slightly, the two brothers and mother had to say a word or two to her from time to time, she just learned it. Seeing his sister like this, Shen Xuanqing was a little helpless, he put the candlestick on the chopping board, lifted the small clay pot in his hand and said to Lu Gu: "This is badger oil from last year, after washing up tonight, wipe it on your hands and feet, it''s okay to wipe more.¡± He said to Shen Yan again: ¡°You too, didn¡¯t you get frostbite last year?, you have to take precautions this year too, don¡¯t take it lightly, lest you cry when you get frostbite.¡± Thinking of the pain and itching of frostbite last year, which made her cry, Shen Yan felt lingering fear, and hurriedly nodded and agreed: "Okay." CH 75.2 Lu Gu washed all the pots and bowls, scooped water out with a large laddle, and Shen Xuanqing opened the lid of the clay pot and looked inside, there were indeed not many left, so he put down the clay pot, picked up the candlelight and rummaged under the desk. In the past two years, it snowed and he had no work. He planed and peeled the wood, and made two shallow bowls. He didn''t learn from a carpenter, so the workmanship was not good, and he didn''t use them much. There were other bowls at home to serve rice and vegetables, it was better to use this wooden bowl for badger oil, which was also convenient to take. Lu Gu wiped the pot clean with a cloth, and only then did he add two and a half buckets of water into the pot. Needless to say, Shen Yan added a lot of firewood to the bottom of the stove, and the fire started roaring. "Wipe more oil on your hands and feet, and less when you wipe your face." Shen Xuanqing said as he dug out the badger oil. Lu Gu picked up the washing pot and was about to go out to pour it. Hearing this, he looked over, nodded and said, "Yes, I see." When the cold wind blew in winter, the face was prone to get chapped when exposed outside, and someone would wipe a little lard to moisturize it. Shen Xuanqing saw that he was rubbing his feet by himself, and his white feet were stacked together, so he suddenly lifted his feet and pressed them on Lu Gu''s feet. The big feet that belonged to the man pressed his feet, Lu Gu raised his eyes helplessly, and saw a pair of smiling star eyes. For some reason, seeing Shen Xuanqing smiling like this, his ears turned red, and he subconsciously wanted to pull his feet out. Unexpectedly, Shen Xuanqing would not let go, and the two of them "discussed" with their feet in the wooden basin, and a little water splashed out from time to time. It was Shen Yan who was walking and shouting outside that made the two of them stopped their childish behavior. "Brother Guzi, my mother, sister-in-law and I have wiped the oil badger, now it¡¯s your turn." Before she finished speaking, the half-closed door opened, and Shen Yan came in with a wooden bowl. The candlestick on the table was lit, Shen Yan put the bowl on it, glanced at the two people who were soaking their feet, and said, "Then I''ll go back to sleep first." "Well, go to bed soon." Shen Xuanqing agreed, and Shen Yan went out . After washing his feet, Lu Gu wanted to get out of the bed to get the badger oil, but was stopped by Shen Xuanqing: "Go to bed, and I''ll get it for you." Every time after washing his feet, Shen Xuanqing went out to pour the water, and Lu Gu also followed suit after hearing this. He supported his body with his hands and moved inside the bed, his face was wiped just now, now he just needed to wipe his hands and feet. After applying it, it really felt different. When you wiped it on your hands and feet, it would be warm and moist, and you didn¡¯t need to be afraid of being too oily if you wiped it more. Tang pozi warmed the bed, and the rough feeling of friction between the skin and the bedding was much less when you were lying in it. When Shen Xuanqing poured water and came back, Lu Gu looked at him when he closed the door, and said in a low voice, "You wipe it too." "I don''t need it, I don''t feel dry yet." He only wiped his hands and feet when he felt it dry and cold. He was a big man, and he didn''t have the patience to apply it like this. But after getting into the bed, he felt that Lu Gu''s hands were moist, he often touched his fulang''s hands, and now he suddenly felt different, not as dry as before. Badger oil was indeed a good thing. Kept some more this year. Badger oil that had been stored for more than three years was more effective. He could buy these things and give them to Lu Gu every year in the future. The sun was out and there was no wind yet. It was warm and shining, and it was another fine weather. Lu Gu boiled the paste, and then he, Wei Lanxiang and Shen Yan went to the courtyard to dry the rag for shoes while the weather was sunny. There was nothing else to do in winter, and it was the customary work of women and fulangs to make the shoes soles. There were many people in the family, and there were many clothes to use. Not to mention the old clothes and cotton-padded clothes, they also bought some old clothes and rags from the villagers. They washed them all in the water the day before yesterday. Different from other farmers, Shen Xuanqing often ran in the mountains, and he was also a person who spent a lot of shoes, no matter whether it was winter or summer, he had to prepare several pairs of shoes. He was almost nineteen years old now. He had grown rapidly in the past few years, but stopped in the past two years. He had grown so tall and wouldn¡¯t grow any longer. Wei Lanxiang felt relieved, when she thought about making shoes for him, if he grew taller, the shoes she made in winter would be too small to wear, and she would have to redo them. Sometimes Shen Yan didn''t like her family talking about her, but she was still very obedient and earnestly learnt from Wei Lanxiang how to make the soles. The three of them were busy, so Ji Qiuyue went to the backyard to chop the grass for the chickens and ducks, and called Shen Yaoqing to pick up the chickens and ducks'' excrement at the back. At noon, the sun was getting brighter, and the last piece of cloth was finished, Lu Gu straightened up and beat his sore back. The puppy laying drowsily in front of the courtyard door with his belly stretched lazily while basking in the sun, and suddenly barked twice at the door, Lu Gu turned around whe he heard the sound, it should be that Shen Xuanqing had returned, and sure enough, he saw someone. In the past, no matter who came back from the outside, the puppy would wag his tail and run out to greet, but today he was lazy and just lay there and barked. Lu Gu was provoked by it, but his attention soon shifted to Shen Xuanqing. "You''re back." With a smile in his eyes, he helped Shen Xuanqing to unload the bamboo basket on his back, and saw a small iron pot with a long handle inside. It was the wooden laddle ( ÂíÉ×) that Shen Xuanqing had told him, for cooking. Not only the wooden ladle, but there was also a book in the basket, because of the previous "lesson", Lu Gu trembled a little when he saw the book. CH 76.1 Lu Gu then thought again, Shen Xuanqing was usually cautious and prudent, with so many people at home in broad daylight, he wouldn¡¯t buy things indiscriminately. Looking at the written words again, there were also three words, which he didn''t recognize, but trying to recall, these three words seemed to be different from those three words. At this time, Shen Xuanqing took out the book with youzhong ladle ( ÓÐÖÖÂíÉ×), and said with a smile: "From now on, when the pot is occupied, just use this one for cooking." "Second brother, why do you still have a book?" Shen Yan came over to look at youzhong ladle and asked curiously. "This is the three-Character Classic. Your brother Guzi said he wants to learn how to recognize characters." After hearing Shen Xuanqing''s words, Lu Gu was completely relieved. After putting away the unknown fear, he picked up the book and opened it carefully. A thin book was a weight that Lu Gu had never touched. In the past, Shen Xuanqing had some books at home when he was studying, but after some accidents happened, they were all sold. Standing by the side, Shen Yan saw Lu Gu opened the book and came over to look at it, her eyes paused slightly on the page, remembering that her father had inquired about the academy in the town before he left, and wanted to send her to study and learn a few words, she was nine years old, and it was the time when she should study the basic book. Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing studied in a private school in a neighboring village. Shen Yan couldn''t go there because she was a girl. There was a private school for Shuang''er and a girl in Fenggu Town, and the teacher was a very knowledgeable and courageous female teacher. "I also bought brushes, inks, papers and inkstones. Anyway, it''s for teaching, so you can come to learn too. You won''t suffer a lot if you recognize a few words." Shen Xuanqing said to Shen Yan, handed youzhong ladle to Wei Lanxiang who came to see it, and took out the four treasures of the study from the bamboo basket. Ink and inkstone were a bit more expensive, but one inkstone was enough. He bought a lot of paper, he must buy more if he wanted to write and practice calligraphy. He bought four brushes, except Lu Gu and Shen Yan, he could write a few words when he had nothing to do in winter, and the remaining one was reserved as a spare. Lu Gu had a thin brush that looked like the one for drawing for needlework, but he had never used paper and brush for writing. The boys who were sent to private schools in the countryside used paper and brush in school, but they often wrote on the ground with tree branches when they returned home. As a beginner, he wanted to use the Four Treasures of the Study, but he felt a little uneasy, fearing that his writing would ruin the paper and ink, so he whispered, "I''d better take a branch and write on the ground first." "No, if you want to learn to write, just write on the paper, don¡¯t worry, I can afford it.¡± Shen Xuanqing said, writing with a branch on the ground was different from writing with brush and paper, and now the money in hand was enough, so there was no need to be frugal about it, and the paper he bought was not too expensive. Studying was something Lu Gu didn''t understand, and he didn''t have much opinion, so naturally he listened to Shen Xuanqing in everything. While they were talking, Ji Qiuyue and Shen Yaoqing came out from the backyard, and they saw youzhong ladle that Wei Lanxiang held in her hand at a glance. Ji Qiuyue said happily, "Mother, is this youzhong ladle? " Erqing bought it back, so let¡¯s use it today.¡± Wei Lanxiang looked at youzhong ladle over and over again, so happy that the creases in the corners of her eyes piled up, she said: ¡°It¡¯s time to cook, I¡¯m going to cut the vegetables, Daqing, go and bring the medicine stove here and put it at the door of the kitchen for me." She was overjoyed and refused to let others to cook, and wanted to try it herself. "Is this youzhong ladle expensive?" Ji Qiuyue saw the book and the Four Treasures of the Study here, and walked over while talking. Salt and iron were expensive things, Shen Xuanqing smiled and said: "It''s okay, it''s cheaper than a big pot, and it''s good to buy one for cooking at home." He didn''t say the specific price, and Ji Qiuyue didn''t ask, and she was curious and asked why he also bought paper and brushes, as well as ink and inkstone, so complete. "Second brother wants to teach brother Guzi how to read, and I will follow suit." Shen Yan replied bluntly. "I''ll just say it." Ji Qiuyue smiled. At this time, Shen Yaoqing moved the medicine stove from under the eaves to the kitchen door, and said, "Why don''t you follow suit, I don''t have enough brush and papers, I''ll buy some." Hearing this, Ji Qiuyue quickly waved her hands and said, "I still can''t do it. I¡¯m stupid, it¡¯s good as long as I can write my own name, let them study hard, and I have time to make clothes in winter." Shen Xuanqing originally wanted to say that brushes and paper were enough, but hearing her say that, he couldn''t help it. It was not easy to force someone, and beside, she was pregnant, so he didn¡¯t dare to let her get tired. After looking the things he bought, he saw that Wei Lanxiang was washing the vegetables, and Lu Gu was not idle. He went into the kitchen to wash the rice and lit the fire. When Wei Lanxiang was cooking with a youzhong ladle, the whole family gathered around and looked at it. They were all iron pots, but youzhong ladle was more delicate and compact than the pot. After eating, youzhong ladle was laid out to dry in the yard, and there was nothing else to do, Shen Xuanqing moved the table out of the room, the sun was bright and warm outside, it was better to study outside than inside the room, Shen Xuanqing, Shen Yan and Lu Gu sat down in the courtyard, the book was spread out in front of Lu Gu and Shen Yan, and they read them together. Shen Xuanqing knew how to recite the Three Character Classic, so he didn''t need to read the book, so he led the two of them to recite it line by line, and he rubbed the ink while reading. The characters in the three-character classic were recited so eloquently that even Ji Qiuyue, who was doing needlework in the room, came out to listen carefully, and moved a chair to sit under the eaves. After Shen Xuanqing read "Ming Ju Yang", Lu Gu and Shen Yan went back and read it from the beginning, and only after two times did they recognize it word by word. Lu Gu looked at the first character " ÈË" in the book, and thought to himself that this character was a person. CH 76.2 After Shen Xuanqing told them how to hold the brushes, he picked up the brush and wrote the word "ÈË" on the paper. Both Lu Gu and Shen Yan watched it carefully. "Now you two write it." Shen Xuanqing said after he finished writing. These words made Shen Yan nervous, not to mention Lu Gu, for fear that something might go wrong. The two of them held the brush incorrectly first, and Shen Xuanqing straightened it before the tip of the pen trembled slightly and fell. "Don''t shake." Shen Xuanqing was helpless, and then said again: "Write more, and you won''t shake in the future. Don''t be afraid, there are no outsiders at home." The comfort played a role, Lu Gu finished writing and looked at the first character he had written seriously. The handwriting was ugly, but he was happy in his heart. Not only he could read the characters, but he also could write with brush on the paper. Because he was happy, he subconsciously raised his head to look at Shen Xuanqing. Shen Xuanqing originally wanted to ask him to write two more words, but the words suddenly changed, and said: "Well written, it would be better to write a few more." Needless to say, learned to write you must diligent. Shen Yan was a little slower, and Shen Xuanqing didn''t hesitate to praise her after she finished writing, so the two of them buried their heads in writing. When Shen Xuanqing was in the school, he was with a group of boys, now seeing that Lu Gu and Shen Yan were so well-behaved, he felt relieved. The three of them wrote and read, and Ji Qiuyue, who was sewing clothes under the eaves, listened with her ears, and whispered a sentence or two from time to time, so that Shen Yaoqing could hear it. He scratched his head, not sure whether his wife wanted to learn or not, so he simply said: "If you want to learn, I also went to study, and I will teach you." Ji Qiuyue stopped what she was doing, pursed her lips, and then smiled. : "I still can''t, I''m stupid, I can''t read well." Seeing his wife like this, Shen Yaoqing said: "What''s wrong with reading like this?" "Teacher Erqing is too busy, I''ll teach you." He was about to go to get a brush and paper, but Ji Qiuyue stopped him. "Forget it for now, they are reading, if you interrupt it, what should they do if they are distracted?" "Then let''s go to the room, if there is no book, I will write it on the paper for you." Shen Yaoqing saw that his wife wanted to learn a bit, so he didn''t delay, so he went to the kitchen to get a bowl. Hearing what they said, Shen Xuanqing picked up the inkstone and poured some ink into the bowl. There were plenty of paper and brushes, so he took them casually. Ji Qiuyue was apprehensive about reading and writing like Lu Gu. She had an older brother and a second sister, and her second sister had never studied. As for the eldest brother, he stopped going after two years, saying that reading made him felt dizzy. If you felt dizzy, it was better to work and farm at home. The word "study" was also very far away from her. Speaking of which, her parents still loved her, and she hadn¡¯t suffered much grievance when she was a child, but when it came to study, her father, like most people in the village, said that girls only stayed at home, reading was what the men should do, so even if the family could afford to send her to a private school in the town, she was not allowed to go. Now Shen Yaoqing wanted to teach her, and she couldn''t refuse, so she pursed her lips and smiled, put away her the cloth she sewed and went into the room to learn. There were people who read and wrote in the yard. Wei Lanxiang listened to the movements at home and didn¡¯t stop it. Shen Shunfu told her before that it was good to study, and being able to read and write was a skill, and he was going to send Shen Yan to a private school in the town. Now it was all right, she didn''t even need to go to a private school, she could be taught at home. It was unavoidable to be thirsty while reading, so she poured a bowl of clear tea for everyone with a warm teapot, and stood behind Shen Yan to watch. She looked at it for a while, raised her head and said to Shen Xuanqing: "I see, you will read it every day in the future, and if you won''t be able to spare more time, at least it should be done for an hour. Read this book well, it doesn''t look thick." It was indeed a matter of hard work and long-term work. Shen Xuanqing nodded and said: "That''s good. I don''t go to the mountains in winter and don''t do much work in the fields. We can read it everyday in winter." When Lu Gu heard that he was going to recite the whole book, he was very happy. He didn''t need others to teach him in the future, he could read it by himself while holding this Three Character Classic. Because he was a beginner, Shen Xuanqing didn''t let him recognize too many characters, because he couldn''t eat too much. It would be good if he could write the first six characters well in the past two days. When going to bed at night, Lu Gu lay on the bed and recited the characters he learned, and even wrote these characters in the air with his fingers. Shen Xuanqing poured the footwashing water, closed the door tightly and went to bed. After sitting up, he leaned against the head of the bed and did not immediately blow out the candles. Instead, he took out a small bottle from his arms. "Aren''t you going to sleep now?" Seeing that he was not lying down, Lu Gu turned his head and asked, he also saw the small blue porcelain bottle at the same time. Shen Xuanqing''s Adam''s apple moved slightly, he held the porcelain bottle tightly in his hand, and said nothing. After blowing out the candle, there was the rustling sound of undressing. The night was covered, and his low voice sounded vaguely. Lu Gu didn''t expect that the balm in the porcelain bottle had a completely different purpose. The coolness made him wanted to shrink back, but he was tightly bound around his waist. Shen Xuanqing went to the ointment shop in the town today, after he finished reading the book from Luo Biao. At the beginning, Luo Biao said that he would give this book to him. In order to prevent others from finding out, he wrapped the book in oil paper and pressed it under the bed. The book said that there was a balm, which was more interesting to use, he remembered that it was quite expensive, only eight copper coins for a small porcelain bottle, but he still bought it. CH 77.1 Chapter 77 The balm had some special effects, neither too much nor too strong, which made Lu Gu clearly felt the difference in his body. He was almost ashamed to death, but he couldn''t control his voice, and immediately covered his mouth tightly. But he gradually loosened his grip and made a sound that made Shen Xuanqing blush. After all, it was no better at home than on the mountain. Lu Gu''s hands were exhausted, but fortunately Shen Xuanqing reached out from behind and covered his mouth for him. After being covered by that powerful hand over his mouth, Lu Gu felt a little at ease, and tried his best to endure everything. It was obviously winter, even though the coldness came in from the outside because of the current situation, the bed was still so hot that he wanted to stretch his hands and feet outside to cool off.. The moon in the sky was covered by the clouds, and it suddenly fell into darkness. In the early morning, the door squeaked, and the coldness hit the face. People couldn''t help shrinking their necks, rubbing their hands and face, and then took the firewood to the kitchen to boil water. The puppy got off the sack, yawned and stretched himself, and ran into the kitchen with a "wow". "Brother Daqing, you got up so early." Shen Yan got up and heard the movement in the kitchen, and when she came over, she saw Shen Yaoqing, she thought it was Lu Gu who was busy in the kitchen. "It''s not that your sister-in-law said she was thirsty. She drank little water yesterday afternoon." Shen Yaoqing added the firewood to the bottom of the stove. Unable to bear something rubbing his feet, he pushed the puppy aside. Seeing that there was no white steam coming from the side of the pot, Shen Yan said: "It''s still early, wait until it''s boiled for sister-in-law to drink, then put a few steamed buns on the shelf to warm up." "Okay, I see. "Shen Yaoqing agreed. It was too cold outside, and the water was not boiled and there was no way to wash, so Shen Yan went back to the room. With the crowing of the cock and the barking of the dog, the entire Qingxi Village woke up one after another, and the voices of every house gradually increased. It was cold in winter, it was not easy to get up, and he went to bed late last night, so when Lu Gu woke up, he couldn''t help but linger in the bed. "Don''t worry, brother has boiled the water." Shen Xuanqing came in from outside, and closed the door when he saw that he was about to get dressed. After seeing Shen Xuanqing, Lu Gu recalled what happened last night, his face and ears blushed, he lowered his head and didn¡¯t dare to look. No matter how stupid he was, he still knew that the balm last night was different, otherwise he wouldn''t be like that. he didn''t know where Shen Xuanqing got it, he was so dishonest. Seeing him like this, Shen Xuanqing didn''t know why, so he gave a fake cough and pretended not to remember anything, and said, "The weather is bad today, and it''s still windy outside, so wear more." Lu Gu didn''t speak, just nodded to indicate that he knew. "I''m going to change the water for tang pozi so it¡¯s always hot under the quilt." Shen Xuanqing walked over and said, he took out tang pozi from the end of the bed. At this moment, Lu Gu also got dressed and got out of bed, after that he rubbed his hot face before bending over to fold the bed. Breakfast at home was always simple, steamed buns with pickles were enough to fill you up, today they cooked an extra egg for Ji Qiuyue. After eating, Lu Gu swept the courtyard clean, and the tables, chairs and benches in the main room were also swept with a feather duster. The chickens, ducks, and geese were fed, so there was no need for him to go there again. After finishing his busy work and having nothing else to do, Shen Xuanqing called him and Shen Yan to study. The wind was getting stronger, it was really cold, and it was too cold for the hands to be exposed outside when they wrote, so they lit a brazier in the main room, brought Tang Pozi and put it on the table, and covered their hands with it when it was cold, otherwise they would get frostbite. The two of them didn''t need to take the examination, and they didn''t need to be like the poor students who didn¡¯t dare to relax and neglect their bodies all the time. Because they were serious, Shen Xuanqing even saved the ruler (for the punishment). The brazier was lit, and Wei Lanxiang came over with a sewing basket and sat down. She took out soft cotton cloth to make the soles. She couldn''t use the rags to make the tiger-head shoes for the baby, it was too hard, and the linen was not good. So she bought some cotton cloth and colored embroidery thread. She knew how to make tiger-head shoes, and bought more embroidery thread specially to embroider some flower patterns on the uppers of the shoes on both sides. This was her first grandson, so the shoes must be beautiful. The tiger-head shoes they made were inferior, who let those people hug their grandsons to show off in front of her, and the one with a rotten tongue chewed the root of his tongue behind her back, saying that Ji Qiuyue couldn''t give birth. Tiger-head shoes in the countryside usually only embroidered the front of the shoes. Although her embroidery work was not as delicate as Lu Gu''s, she still could do a few patterns. As long as the colorful embroidery was bright on the tiger-head shoes of the little baby, it would look good. Ji Qiuyue didn''t know the energy she was holding back in her heart. When she saw that her mother in law was going to embroider tiger-head shoes, she also moved a chair and sat by the brazier. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law discussed in a low voice how to do and how to embroider. It was cold, and they had to make a few pairs of thick shoes for the baby. The red ones were not very good-looking. It was better to buy some yellow cloth. As long as it was a warm and bright color, children would have no taboos in wearing it. CH 77.2 After half a morning of reading and writing, Shen Yaoqing who wandered around the village came back, he called Shen Xuanqing to go out to look at the fields because the boss of the Lu family wanted to sell the land. The sky was getting more and more gloomy, after his brothers went out, Lu Gu packed up his brush and ink, washed the ink off his hands, and went into the kitchen to prepare for lunch. It didn''t take much effort to look at the land. Shen Xuanqing was willing to buy it when he saw it was a fertile land, but it needed to be bought by him completely, and the other party couldn''t redeem it in the future. They were all acquaintances in Qingxi Village. Boss Lu was in a hurry for money, so he thought about it for a while and he agreed, and the five acres of fertile land was sold to Shen Xuanqing at the price of five taels for one acre. Boss Lu was also quick, and immediately asked the writer of the same village to write the land deed. The relatives of the Lu family, the neighbors, and the people in the village all came to be the witness. Shen Xuanqing gave the money and the land deed of the five acres of fertile land belonged to Shen Xuanqing. Snowflakes were falling outside, Shen Xuanqing folded the land deed and stuffed it into his bosom, he looked up at Boss Lu, before he could speak, Boss Lu said: "I know what you want to say, it''s not easy to go to Fucheng when it''s snowing today. After the weather clears, I will go with you to get the official seal." "In that case, I will call you when the time comes." Shen Xuanqing promised. "Allright." Shen Xuanqing gave the twenty-five taels happily, unlike other people who had to bargain for a long time, and things might not be settled for a long time. With the money in his arms, Boss Lu relieved his urgent need, heaved a sigh of relief, and gave his land away with a smile. The land deed was a red deed after paying the farm tax and then stamping the official seal. Otherwise, it was just a white deed, not to mention other deeds, the land deeds was very important to the imperial court, and the government only recognized the red deed, so naturally everything had to be done properly. After coming out, Shen Yaoqing looked at the falling snowflakes, turned his head and said: "Meng Dayue slaughtered pigs today, and last night your sister-in-law said that she wanted to eat fresh pork, so I will go to buy some. Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing remembered that he wanted to give Lu Gu some bone sticks, but he didn''t buy them when he came back, so he opened his mouth and said: "It''s better to buy some bone sticks and stew with the medicine stove. The more you eat the warmer it will be. The bones are also full of fresh meat." ¡°That¡¯s good, you don¡¯t have to go out when it¡¯s snowing today, it¡¯s beautiful to eat meat and bones at home.¡± Shen Yaoqing clapped his hands and praised him, and then said: ¡°Go back and tell mother that you bought the land, and show her the land deed. I''m going to buy the meat." "Yes." Shen Xuanqing didn''t argue with him, and called Dahui who came out to go home first. There was less meat on the bone sticks, which was cheaper than the meat. There were many people in the family and there were dogs, and the bones could still be eaten by the dogs, so Shen Yaoqing bought more. It was already noon after when he bought it, and the steamed buns and rice porridge in the pot were all hot, and Lu Gu was cooking in the kitchen. When he heard that Ji Qiuyue wanted to eat fried pork slices, he couldn''t move his hands and called Shen Yan to cut the meat, because Ji Qiuyue liked to eat spicy food , he planned to fry the pork slices with dried chili, the dried chili was so spicy, just put less and it would have a spicy taste. When frying the meat slices, Lu Gu stuffed a lot of firewood into the stove. His original intention was to stir fry them in high heat so that the family could eat as soon as possible. But it was the first time for him to use a youzhong ladle today, so the firewood he added was too much. He didn''t control the heat, and he accidentally fried the sliced ??meat a little dry, the lean meat couldn''t be seen, and the white fat meat could obviously be seen browned, but fortunately, the meat they bought was leaner and fatter. The meat was much more expensive than vegetables, so he went into the kitchen with a youzhong ladle, poured the sliced ??meat into a bowl, and hesitated to take it out. When Shen Xuanqing came to help him served the dishes, he saw that he was embarrassed, and he knew what was going on just by looking at the bowl of charred meat on the bowl. "You can eat it if it''s not black, and it''s not fried." Shen Xuanqing said, in order to prove his words, he even pinched a piece of meat and tasted it, and he raised his brows slightly and said: "The fat meat looks like the dried pot meat I ate in Brother Yang Xian''s tavern before. The dried pot meat is fat but not greasy and delicious. " Lu Gu''s stir-fried vegetables and fried meat were all taught by Ji Qiuyue and Wei Lanxiang. Both of them rarely cook the dishes like those eaten in taverns in the city. Unexpectedly, this time when Lu Gu cooked the meat, not only the meat not spoiled, but also delicious. After it was served on the table, other people looked at it and thought it was something scorched, but Wei Lanxiang didn''t say anything. She had cooked and burned several times in the past few years. Shen Yaoqing still remembered it when he was so old, and sometimes joked with her. After a while, she remembered the black food she cooked back then, also she was not a harsh person, so she had no words, and she could eat the food as long as it was not black. Who knew that the taste would be good after she tasted it, even Ji Qiuyue, who didn''t want to eat fat meat at first, ate several slices. She had been pregnant for more than a month, and she occasionally felt sick, and she didn''t like fat meat, so the meat Shen Yaoqing bought today was leaner. Seeing that everyone said it was delicious, Lu Gu felt relieved, even if everyone had the charred meat in their hands, they didn''t say anything, just ate it if they could, it would be a pity to throw it away. CH 77.3 The sky was getting darker, the snow was getting heavier, the flakes of snow were like goose feathers, and the white hair wind was blowing. CH 78.1 The snowflakes rustled and fell all night. Lu Gu used to be most afraid of winter, but it seemed that there was no need to panic this winter. Maybe eating meat and drinking soup made people felt warm all over, and the stomach was full and warm, which was the best against the cold. Even after sleeping, you didn''t feel too cold when you woke up the next day. Heavy snow covered the ground, and there was a thick layer of snow on the trees and eaves. In the morning, the snow was getting lighter. Shen Xuanqing got up early and took a shovel to shovel the snow in the yard. Soon Shen Yaoqing also came out to help. When Lu Gu came out of the room, the puppy who was sleeping with the bone in his arms opened his eyes and saw him, opened his mouth and yawned, then got up and went out with him. Because the puppy was bigger than before, and he didn''t sleep very well when he squeezed in a sack with Dahui, and he rolled down from the sack several times, so Lu Gu used dry straw to make another sack. The snow at the door of the kitchen was shoveled clean, so Lu Gu went in to boil water without stepping on the snow. It was windy and snowy yesterday, and the puppy stayed in the main room all the time. It was too cold to come out. Today, when the wind stopped and the snow was light, he was having fun in the courtyard. The dog¡¯s paws were all over the ground. He went crazy while playing by himself. Running around, slipping under the legs, he couldn¡¯t stop at all. he had grown fat, and it was winter again, the thick fur on his body made him appeared fleshy. His fur trembled when he ran, and his ears were constantly shaking. he was young and it was the first time he experienced snow, and he didn''t need to mention how happy he was. The three big dogs were much more stable than him, Dabai even stood at the door of the main room to take a look outside, then lay back on the sack and refused to come out. Shen Xuanqing was shoveling snow in the front yard, and when he turned around, he saw the puppy digging in the snowdrift, the snow flakes splashed, and it looked as if he was going to dig a hole in the snowdrift, and within a short while, even his head was about to be stuffed in. He came back with a shovel, shoveled the snow and quickly threw it on the puppy, trying to bury him in the snowdrift, but the puppy was startled by an enemy from behind, and when he turned around, he barked and shook excitedly. After the snow fell, he straightened his front paws and lay down, apparently out of playfulness. When Shen Xuanqing shoveled the snow on him again, he turned around and ran away. Seeing that the snow didn¡¯t fall from his body, he turned his head and barked at Shen Xuanqing twice. Lu Gu was sitting in front of the stove boiling water, and when he heard the movement outside, he looked towards the opened kitchen door, only to see the afterimage of the puppy running past, he was still dazed when he just woke up, thinking that Guaizi had gone crazy early in the morning. Poking chickens and teasing dogs had always been the favourites of a lazy man who was idle. Shen Xuanqing played with the dog for a while and turned around with a smile, wanting to continue shoveling the snow. Seeing him turned around, the puppy followed him stealthily, he walked carefully wanted to scare people, and when he was close to him, he suddenly pounced on Shen Xuanqing''s heels. Unexpectedly, Shen Xuanqing turned around suddenly, and moved quickly, he shoveled the snow and threw it at the puppy. The puppy was so frightened that he quickly stopped his attack, and when he was hit by the snow, he let out a scream, which made Lu Gu wake up and come out to see what was wrong with him. Seeing that the puppy was fine, only a little snow was on his body, Shen Xuanqing slowly retracted the shovel in his hand, Lu Gu roughly understood what was going on, smiled lightly and didn''t take it to heart. He went to the low house and took a white cabbage, peeled off a layer of wilted vegetable leaves, chopped it and mixed it with wheat bran and chaff and went to feed the rabbits. The pair of wild rabbits gave birth to six cubs. In winter, the rabbit cage was placed in the woodshed, and the thick nest was padded with hay and straw. The white cabbages were stockpiled at home for people to eat during the winter. There were plenty of them, but after winter, there were few more rabbits. He peeled off and chopped one or two leaves of white cabbage for them to eat. There were too many chickens and ducks. They ate rice bran, wheat bran and hay, but Lu Gu occasionally mixed their food with some chopped vegetable leaves. It was cold in winter, and the cubs were easy to die without a fire to keep warm, so the male and female rabbits were separated. Seeing that Lu Gu was peeling cabbage, they gnawed bones and ate meat yesterday, and today he would like to eat something light, Shen Xuanqing said: "I''ll go and buy some tofu, and stew it with tofu at noon." "Yes." Lu Gu nodded, he thought for a while and said: "There is still bone broth, do you want me to cut the radish and cook it with bone broth?" Yesterday, the six of them gnawed all those bones, and they were very full from eating meat. When cleaning up the kitchen, Lu Gu was not willing to throw the broth from the bone away, but the broth was not easy to put away, so they needed to eat it as soon as possible. Even if you had some money, Shen Xuanqing was not prone to squander. Besides, big bone broth was a good thing. He said: "Add some goji berries, why don''t you soak some dried mushrooms and cook it with radish and goji berry in bone broth, so you don''t have to cook rice porridge at noon, just drink this." CH 78.2 Hearing what he said, Lu Gu couldn''t hold back his eyes and smiled, thinking that the name of this soup was really long. Seeing that his fulang was smiling, Shen Xuanqing also showed a bright smile. After eating breakfast, seeing so much snow in the courtyard, Shen Yan gathered several balls of snowballs to play with the puppy, Shen Yaoqing saw that she had nothing to do, so he smiled and said: "I don''t think the snow will melt these two days, it''s better to pile it up and make a snow lion." When he said this, even Wei Lanxiang praised him. This year, if they had money, they wouldn¡¯t worry about food and clothing. Compared with the previous two years, they still could make snow lions, which looked more leisurely. There would be two stone lion like the house in the city in front of many people''s houses, and they would make it with different appearance. In previous years, when Lu Gu was in Anjia Village, he could only look at other people''s snow lions, but he couldn''t do it himself. Now he was standing beside Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing, his eyes were full of curiosity. The two piled and patted the snow, and even poked and carved the lion''s head with wooden sticks. In the end, they really made a decent snow lion lying on the ground. Although it was rough, it was not as exquisite as the stone lion in the city, but you could recognize it as a lion at a glance, it was very good. Lu Gu was overjoyed, his face was full of smiles, Shen Xuanqing also handed him the burnt firewood, and asked him to outline the lion''s eyes, mouth and nose. It didn''t matter if the outline was not good, it was just for fun, Shen Yan was still making the outline of the lion''s tail there. It was a little brighter, and the people from the tofu shop didn''t sell tofu in various villages today, or maybe Shen Xuanqing went out to buy tofu before they came to their village, and now the snow gradually stopped. The snow in front of the courtyard had been shoveled clean, but it had been snowing lightly before, and a thin layer of snow fell on the ground again. Lu Gu sent him out, the ground was slippery, and asked him to walk slowly on the road, Shen Xuanqing agreed, and went to the tofu shop. After leaving the house, Dahui followed behind him slowly flicking his tail, and went out together. Lu Gu didn''t stay idle after calling Guaizi back. He picked up the big broom leaning against the wall and swept away the thin layer of snow that fell on the ground, otherwise it would be painful enough if his feet slipped and fell. If you were pregnant, you needed to be more careful when going in and out. Shen Yaoqing was tidying up the backyard and passage, he only had to clean the front yard, from the yard to the outside. He already dressed thickly in winter, the front yard was not too small to sweep, and he was sweating a little. Almost every household were clearing snow and shoveling snow. Standing in front of the door and looking to the side, there were quite a few people who climbed up to the roof with ladders and raked down the snow for fear that the snow would be piled too much and too thick and made the roof collapsed. The second room of the Shen family didn¡¯t need to worry that their roof would collapse. Shen Shunfu spent a lot of money to build the house back then, and put on strong beams. The roof was made from mud and rice tiles instead of a thatched shed. They didn¡¯t need to afraid that it would collapse since the snow would flow down naturally when it melted, so they didn¡¯t need to rake the snow. Lu Gu was about to go back after sweeping, when he saw Mrs. Miao from the neighbor''s house coming out. There was a road between Miao''s house and their house, with a persimmon tree planted by Miao''s house planted there. Both families also plant autumn vegetables and winter vegetables next to the house. In spring and summer, there would be a row or two of garlic or other vegetables. "Aunt." Lu Gu called out. Aunt Miao shoveled the snow to the side, straightened her waist and said to Lu Gu with a smile: "You guys got up early, the front of your door has been swept." Lu Gu was about to answer with a smile, when suddenly there was a sound of beating and scolding from the Zhang family that was three houses away from their house. An old woman seemed to be very angry, and the voice of reprimand came out: "Beat you! Beat you to death! This Shameless thing, dare to steal food, there is no family law!" The door of Zhang''s courtyard was open, and the village was not very noisy in the early morning, even though it was three houses away, Lu Gu seemed to hear the muffled sound of sticks falling on someone¡¯s body, and his expression turned pale. Zhang Zhengzi beat and scolded Xiao Zhang Shi every now and then under the instigation of Lao Zhang Shi. The lightest was swearing and the worst was physical violence. Xiao Zhang was still smiling when she first got married, but she became more and more reticent later on, and didn¡¯t dare to scream when she was beaten. Today perhaps Zhang Zhengzi made a serious move. After a while, they heard crying and indistinct begging for mercy in the courtyard, saying that she would never dare again. [Zhang Shi: After marrying, a woman name become her father¡¯s surname and the affix ¡°shi,¡± meaning clan/maiden name; Xiao: young; Lao: old (of people)] When Lao Zhang Shi heard her daughter-in-law crying like this, Fearing that others would hear the joke, she said angrily, "If you dare to bark again, hit you!" "Wow!" The puppy kept barking because of the movement. Aunt Miao was getting old, and she felt palpitations when she heard the miserable cry. She patted her chest while looking in the direction of Zhang''s house, and cursed in a low voice: "This old woman with no conscience!" She also looked down on Zhang Zhengzi, that bastard who couldn''t figure it out. He only knew how to beat his wife in the nest, spit on the ground and then turned back. Speaking of it, Aunt Miao was also kind-hearted, she was so close to the Zhang family, and she usually saw her when she looked up and down. Xiao Zhang was an honest person, she didn¡¯t know about people in the town, but if the wife in the country made a mistake, it was not uncommon for her husband to beat her, and others didn''t need to persuade them. Most people in the village was like this, and she was no exception. CH 78.3 But Xiao Zhang would get beaten even if she didn¡¯t do anything wrong. She couldn''t understand Lao Zhang Shi the witch. She once talked to the Zhang family, but she was scolded by Lao Zhang Shi for being nosy. Zhang Zhengzi even said how he beat his wife, it had nothing to do with her as an outsider. Since then, Aunt Miao hadn¡¯t been in contact with the Zhang family. It was difficult for an upright official to break up housework. She said that and caused Xiao Zhang to be scolded for a few days. She felt guilty but couldn''t help anymore. In the end, she just pretended to see nothing. Lu Gu was most afraid of the scene of beating someone, and he wanted to go back with anxiety in his heart. Unexpectedly, under the scolding of his mother, Zhang Zhengzi beat his wife harder, and he beat Xiao Zhang with head with his hands, Xiao Zhang tried to free herself and ran out of the house staggeringly. There was no place to hide, so she ran towards the mountain indiscriminately. Zhang Zhengzi chased after her with a stick in his hand, he yelled, "Stupid woman! Try running again!" Xiao Zhang ran past Lu Gu, seeing that Zhang Zhengzi was about to come, he saw the wooden stick and there was also a man with a hideous face, his face was pale, and the puppy stood by his legs and barked at the Zhang family. At this time, Wei Lanxiang and Shen Yaoqing heard the commotion outside, Lu Gu felt a little relieved when he saw his family, and hid behind Wei Lanxiang, and whispered: "Guaizi, come back." His voice was small, drowning in the amidst of the barking of the puppy. Zhang Zhengzi ran over, he chased after a few steps and watched Xiao Zhang scrambling up the gentle slope, running into the mountain desperately. He cursed a few words in his mouth, spat on the ground, and cursed: "You son of a bitch, you''ll know how to come back when you freeze to death." He turned around and wanted to go back. More or less people in the village came out to watch the excitement, and he felt ashamed. The puppy was also the bold one and barked at him. Zhang Zhengzi was worried that he had nothing to vent, so he swung the wooden stick in his hand and cursed, "What a dog, even grandpa you dare to bite." [Ò¯Ò¯ y¨¦ ye: (coll.) father''s father; paternal grandfather;] "Good boy!" Shen Yaoqing yelled, the puppy heard his voice and barked twice before running back, and he said again: "Zhengzi, you got up early today." Seeing Shen Yaoqing, Zhang Zhengzi put down the wooden stick in his hand, and said with a sneer, "It''s Brother Daqing." Zhang Zhengzi was the same age as Shen Xuanqing, but the relationship between them was not very good. When he was thirteen years old, he stole chickens from the Shen''s family together with two other boys in the village. After a few days, Shen Xuanqing found out, he and Da Chen blocked him outside the village and put him on the ground. He was beaten hard, his nose was bruised and his face was swollen, and his mouth and nose were full of blood. Since then, he never dared to provoke Shen Xuanqing. But that was all about when he was a child, and there was nothing else after that. The Shen family helped him a little bit when he got married, and they were all from the same village, so they didn''t have such a big grudge. Xiao Zhang was dressed so thinly, and ran to the mountain after being beaten. Even Shen Yaoqing couldn''t help it, he said, "Aren''t you going to look for her? It''s snowing, in case something happens." Zhang Zhengzi didn''t care, he said: " It''s okay, she will come back after a while when it gets cold, and it''s not that she doesn''t know the way." As the saying goes, marry a chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog and follow the dog, he always felt that this was the wife he married back, so she had to follow him in anything. Even if today she ran after so many rounds, after that she had to cook and wash for him, and besides, where could she go if she ran. Shen Yaoqing frowned, but he didn''t say much about other people''s wife. Some people in the village had a tongue, as if they had nowhere to use it. They liked to chew their tongues behind other people¡¯s backs, especially the Lao Zhang Shi, who had a vicious mouth and a cruel heart. Zhang Zhengzi, who was so incompetent, could even sell his daughter, so they didn¡¯t want to deal with his family any more, otherwise they didn''t know what would happen. Zhang Zhengzi went back, but his mother was still stamping and cursing in the yard, telling him not to let his wife enter the house again after she ran away and closed the yard door. Wei Lanxiang shook her head, looked towards the slope over there, but she didn''t see Xiao Zhang at all, and sighed sadly, what a good girl did in this winter. Lu Gu felt sorry for her, and even after he returned to his room, he was restless. He heard what Lao Zhang Shi said when she scolded Xiao Zhang Shi, and what she said about stealing food reminded him of the winter five years ago. He was so hungry that he couldn''t bear it, so he stole a cold steamed bun to eat. Du Hehua found out and she pinched him hardly, and even grabbed his face. He forgot whether Lu Daxiang was there that day. He only remembered that Lu Wen was reading a book in the room. He heard Du Hehua scolded him, he stood in front of the window and said that she was too noisy, and then he closed the window with a slam. Du Hehua slapped him to prevent him from crying or making a sound, and even pulled him into the main room and pricked his finger with a needle. She kept talking about stealing and let him to have a longer memory. Even thinking about it now, he still remembered that kind of heart-wrenching pain. Tang pozi in his arms was warm, and his fingers no longer hurt. Lu Gu himself didn''t know why, but he couldn''t help but kept thinking about Xiao Zhang Shi. She must be very hungry before stealing food, and he didn''t know if she ate enough or not. He was so panicked that he couldn''t even continue sewing, so he stood up suddenly after a while. The wind was blowing outside again, Wei Lanxiang and Shen Yan were sitting on the bed, Ji Qiuyue and Shen Yaoqing were also studying in their own room, only the puppy saw Lu Gu coming out of the kitchen, he was obviously carrying something in his arms, carefully, he hurried out the door and headed towards the mountain. CH 79.1 Lu Gu glanced at Shen Yaoqing and Wei Lanxiang, and he knew from their expressions that the family didn''t want to have anything to do with the Zhang family, so he didn''t dare to tell his family about the steamed buns for a while, at most, at most, he would tell Shen Xuanqing when he came back. As for the two steamed buns, he secretly gave them to Xiao Zhang, as long as the Zhang family didn''t know about it. With only two steamed buns, Shen Xuanqing probably wouldn''t scold him. Even he thought so, Lu Gu was still a little apprehensive. Everyone in the village cleared the snow in front of their gates, but the mountain roads were not cleaned up. He deliberately went around behind the house and walked up the mountain, for fear of being seen by the villagers. While walking, he couldn''t help thinking, the snow was so thick, but Xiao Zhang was beaten and ran so fast, she must be terrified. The puppy came out with him, and his limbs fell into the snow. He wanted to let the puppy go back, but when he looked ahead and saw the white snow on the mountain, he was a little afraid to go to Xiao Zhang alone, so he called out Guaizi and let him follow. It was convenient to find people in the snow, as long as you could see the traces Xiao Zhang stepped on. Lu Gu climbed up the gentle slope. The forest was too quiet, which made him a little scared, but he glanced at the puppy next to his legs, and moved forward vigorously, trying to find the path that Xiao Zhang had walked. He didn''t take a few steps, the puppy suddenly barked at a few trees next to him. The traces in the snow over there were originally going up, but he found that there was someone behind those trees, who else could it be if it wasn¡¯t Xiao Zhang. She probably ran up and then turned back, he hid behind the trees and didn¡¯t dare to go downhill. He often lived in the deep mountains with Shen Xuanqing, and didn''t have much contact with the villagers. When he saw Xiao Zhang, he recalled how Wei Lanxiang called her, and then he said cautiously: "Wanyun, it''s me, Guzi, not someone else" There was snow under his feet, but fortunately Lu Gu was wearing cotton shoes, so it wasn''t that cold. He took out the two steamed buns from his arms and said in low voice, "I''ll give you two steamed buns, not hot but soft." Li Wanyun slowly poked her head out from behind the tree, the first one she looked at was not Lu Gu, but behind him, and she wiped the tears off her face when she saw that Zhang Zhengzi was nowhere to be seen. It was too cold, she was wearing thin clothes, she was not warm enough, the tears on her eyelashes had turned to hoarfrost, her hair was messed up due to the beating, her hair was disheveled, and her face was stained with tears and blood. Shen Xuanqing and Zhang Zhengzi were the same age and generation, so even if Zhang Zhengzi got married first, Lu Gu didn''t need to call Li Wanyun sister-in-law or anything. "Woof!" The puppy barked, causing Li Wanyun to shrink back in fright, Lu Gu hurriedly imitated Shen Xuanqing and stopped the puppy. The dogs also knew how to understand words and expressions. When facing Zhang Zhengzi, the puppy kept biting, but when he was facing Li Wanyun now, he sensed her weakness, so he stopped barking. Lu Gu waited at the same spot for a while before Li Wanyun came out. Li Wanyun took the two steamed buns in his hand and devoured them quickly. After being choked, she didn''t care about anything else, she grabbed a handful of snow and stuffed it into her mouth. "Don''t tell people that I gave you steamed buns, or..." Lu Gu frowned, and said in low voice , "Otherwise, I might suffer too." Li Wanyun''s mouth was full of food, she nodded desperately when she heard the words, her eyes were not sure whether she was choking or something, and she shed tears. After hearing Lu Gu¡¯s words, her face was full of sorrow, so what could she do when she went back, if things didn''t go his way, he would hit her again. Li Wanyun ate very quickly, she swallowed the last gulp, and said in a hoarse voice: "I don''t know, if he doesn''t calm down, I will get beaten again when I go back." Who didn''t want to live if they could live, why starved to death and froze to death in the mountains, she ran away and went up the mountain, she saw that Zhang Zhengzi didn''t chase her because he didn''t want to freeze to death on the mountain. Zhang Zhengzi often beat her, knowing that she was timid and afraid of death, so he went back without looking for her. But even if she went back now, Zhang Zhengzi and Lao Zhang¡¯s temperament were not good, and if they wanted to beat and scold her, what should she do. It was not that she hadn''t returned to her natal home after being beaten, but every time Zhang Zhengzi went to pick her up, her parents said that since she was married, so they couldn''t care about her anymore. At most, they just scolded Zhang Zhengzi. When she was beaten back to her natal home for the first time, her natal family beat Zhang Zhengzi, but in the end it was still useless. Every time when he was at her mother''s house, Zhang Zhengzi looked like a human being. He apologized with a smile on his face and said that he didn''t dare to do it anymore. But when they came back to his home to live in peace for a few days, once his mother had a fit, he would beat her again . So many times that even her parents was tired, and she gradually resigned to her fate. Aunt Miao once wanted to help her, but she was bullied and abused by Lao Zhang. Seeing Lu Gu now, Li Wanyun didn''t dare to ask him to take her in. Beside, Lu Gu was a new fulang and he couldn''t talk in the Shen family. If he just left like this, leaving Xiao Zhang alone in the mountain, Lu Gu felt uneasy, he was stupid and couldn''t think of a good way, he gritted his teeth and said: "Why don''t you hide behind the house, don''t stay in the mountain, I will find you at noon and give you some food." Li Wanyun looked at him, wiped away her tears and nodded, ¡°Okay, I think I will go back at night when they have calmed down. It¡¯s quiet at night, and he won¡¯t hit me, afraid that the villagers will hear their joke. " After it was decided, Lu Gu would take the puppy down the mountain first, and Xiao Zhang waited until she couldn¡¯t see him before carefully going back to the village. Lu Gu was also very cautious when he came back. When the Shen family built the house, there was no back door to guard against thieves, so he could only walk around to the front yard from the back of the house. As soon as he came out, he had a face-to-face meeting with Shen Xuanqing, he was so frightened that he stopped immediately and his eyes widened. Shen Xuanqing, who was carrying a basket, came back from buying tofu. He never expected to see Lu Gu coming back from the back of the house before entering the door, he asked, "What are you doing behind the house?" "I, I..." Lu Gu was not good at lying, he hesitated and didn''t speak for a long time. Shen Xuanqing frowned slightly, not knowing what happened to him, but seeing that he was not dirty or injured, he asked again: "Can''t you tell me what happened?¡± CH 79.2 It was windy, it was a problem to be stuck here, so he walked home while talking, and Lu Gu came back with him.. Seeing that Lu Gu was only flustered but not afraid, and he was not injured, Shen Xuanqing didn''t worry too much, he said: "I bought a lot of tofu today, and we can make fried tofu, fried spicy tofu or tofu soup. I also bought bean curd, cut into shreds, stir-fried hot and cold. There is also bean curd buns in Brother Yang Xian¡¯s tavern. If you want to eat, you can try to make it, it doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s not wrapped well. " Shen Xuanqing put the small bamboo basket on the chopping board, he didn''t go out and waited for Lu Gu''s words. "The Zhang family beat someone again." Lu Gu''s voice was very low, and he told the truth about Xiao Zhang''s being beaten up and ran away to the mountain. Because of his trust and dependence on Shen Xuanqing, he finally told Shen Xuanqing that he gave her two steamed buns from his family. Afraid that Shen Xuanqing would say that he stole steamed buns for others, he lowered his head while talking, didn¡¯t dare to look at him. It turned out to be like this, Shen Xuanqing guessed what he was thinking when he saw him like this, he sighed helplessly, and said: "This is our family, you can take as many steamed buns as you want, who say you can''t do it?" Our family. Lu Gu raised his head, his eyes and nose were a little sore, it could be seen that Shen Xuanqing was smiling, so he didn''t want to cry. He only stretched out his hand and pinched the corner of Shen Xuanqing''s clothes. After he recovered, he said: "She doesn¡¯t dare to go back, I let her hide behind the house, and said that I will bring her some food at noon." His fulang looked at him with hopeful eyes, and Shen Xuanqing thought that if he didn''t agree, what kind of a man he was? Besides, Xiao Zhang was pitiful, if he could help, he would help, and Lu Gu did nothing wrong, so he said "Okay, it''s up to you, I will help to go around the door of Zhang''s house and see if those two are calm down." "Okay. " Lu Gu clenched the corner of his clothes again, and promised obediently. After the meal for lunch was ready, Lu Gu looked out of the kitchen. No one came, so he took a steamed bun, broke it open, and put a piece of fried meat in it. It was fried for Ji Qiuyue so he didn''t dare to add more, let alone the meat was sliced not too small. He took another steamed bun and put a slice of pickle in it, and when he was about to put them in the pot, Wei Lanxiang came in, wanting to see if the meal was ready. "Mother." Lu Gu shouted timidly, he kept his eyes open and didn¡¯t dare to move. Wei Lanxiang wondered: "It''s not time to eat, why are you still putting it in the pot?" "I, I..." Lu Gu stuttered and found an excuse, he said, "I''ll keep it to eat when I''m hungry." He looked restless, she knew thet there was something, Wei Lanxiang glanced at the two steamed buns, both of them was stuffed with something, no matter what happened to their house, there would be no shortage of food for Lu Gu to eat, and she never saw Lu Gu ate something because he felt hungry after lunch. After thinking about it for a while, she smiled and said, "Okay, it will hot if you put it in the pot, you can cover two more if you like to eat, it''s up to you." After finished speaking, Wei Lanxiang went out with two bowls of soup, and called Shen Yan as she walked. Lu Gu paused on the spot, thinking that he shouldn¡¯t have been noticed. Hearing Shen Yan''s footsteps, he put the steamed buns into the pot before she came in. After eating, under the cover of Shen Xuanqing, Lu Gu sneaked out of the house with two steamed buns, and went to the back of the house to find someone. The stewed tofu with cabbage had a lot of water, if it was stuffed in the steamed buns, it would dirty his clothes when he put them in his arms, so after thinking about it, he stuffed the steamed buns with a piece of meat and a pickle. The Shen family didn''t persuade others, Wei Lanxiang saw it clearly, her heart was like a mirror, but she didn''t expose it, so she let it go, in the winter, at any rate, it was someone¡¯s life after all. The wind blew from time to time, Li Wanyun hid behind the houses of Shen''s and Miao''s houses, she didn''t dare to go to Zhang''s house, she stamped her feet and rubbed her hands in the cold. She had to be on guard in case someone came over, it would be fine if it wasn''t Zhang Zhengzi, if it was him, she had to run quickly, but she probably knew that Zhang Zhengzi would not come out to look for her in such a cold day. When Lu Gu found her, she had combed her hair well, and it was no longer loose, but because there was no comb, the hair was very rough. Water was hard to get, but there was snow everywhere on the ground, and you could stuff it into your mouth, you could grab it from the ground where no one had stepped on it. Li Wanyun took a big mouthful of hot steamed buns, and before swallowing them, she opened her eyes wide and looked at Lu Gu in amazement, and said inarticulately, "Meat." "The other one has pickles." Lu Gu said in low voice, seeing her ate so happily, he felt that it was worth it even if he went back to be scolded for this piece of meat. Before leaving, he said again: "You hide first, Erqing said he will walk around the Zhang¡¯s door later to see if their anger subsides." Li Wanyun hadn¡¯t finished swallowing the steamed buns, and when she heard Shen Xuanqing''s name, she wanted to ask how he could help. It could be seen that Lu Gu''s eyes were clear, she had never heard the two sons of the second room of the Shen family beating their wives, and she her heart was pounding and she nodded gratefully when she couldn''t speak. The wind was cold, and the Shen family members were all sitting on the bed, with Tang pozi under the blanket, it was much warmer than outside. It was the same after Lu Gu came back, Shen Xuanqing entered the room after a while. "Zhang Zhengzi went to Dayang''s house to drink. If he is not drunk, he probably won''t come back. It''s fine if he is drunk, if he is drunk he will fall asleep when he goes back. He can''t move even if he wants to, while his mother is weak and she can''t beat anyone." The family was so close, and they were the same age, Shen Xuanqing was very clear about Zhang Zhengzi''s virtues, he was lazy and liked to drink, and he always came back drunk and full of nonsense. Going to drink in a leisurely way, this was because he didn''t care about Xiao Zhang''s life and death at all. CH 79.3 "Then I''ll go and tell her." Lu Gu sat on the edge of the bed, didn''t even take off his shoes, just put the thin quilt on his legs. After he said that, he lifted the quilt and stood up. "Well, you will come back after you tell her, it''s too cold outside." Shen Xuanqing said, the other party was a woman, it was not good for him to follow, so he had to let Lu Gu go. Fortunately, the Shen family was at the back of the village, and there were few people coming out due to the strong wind at the moment, otherwise Lu Gu ran to the back of the house again and again, and maybe the news would reach the Lao Zhang''s ears. Li Wanyun hid behind the back wall of Shen''s house, at least the mud wall could block the wind. Lu Gu imitated Shen Xuanqing''s words and told her, and seeing that she was really freezing from the cold, he gave her the tube sleeves on his wrists to warm her hands. The tube sleeves were hot because he had worn them before. Li Wanyun felt that her hands were dirty, but it could be seen that Lu Gu didn''t dislike it, so she took it after a moment of hesitation, and stuffed her hands into it. Seeing her red and swollen fingers and several scars, Lu Gu looked away and asked, "Are you going back now?" Li Wanyun didn''t answer, but asked nervously, "Is he really gone?" "Well, Erqing said so, he won''t lie to me." Lu Gu replied with a nod. Li Wanyun was hesitating, obviously still afraid, he thought for a while and said in a low voice: "Why don''t you hide in the woodshed secretly, at least to avoid the wind, and I think the snow is about to fall again." This was a good idea, Li Wanyun said: "His mother... ...My mother-in-law is afraid of cold, so she should go back to her room now." Lu Gu was always sent to sleep in the woodshed before, and he was willing to stay in the woodshed when it was cold, no matter how broken it was, it could still cover him from the wind and snow. As for the way Li Wanyun called her mother-in-law, he just pretended not to hear it. After coming out of the Lu family, every time he thought of Du Hehua, he also didn''t recognize that stepmother. Once he mentioned it to Shen Xuanqing, he always called her by her first name, let alone Shen Xuanqing, no one else in the family would talk about her. After Li Wanyun returned the tube sleeves to him, the two walked around from the back of Shen''s house to the front one by one. Lu Gu looked ahead, the wind was stronger and the snowflakes were falling, no one came out at this moment, so he turned around and looked at her. "Go back quickly, I''m leaving." Li Wanyun told him, and hurried to Zhang''s house with light steps. There was a gap in the door of Zhang''s house, which was left by Zhang Zhengzi, so he still could get in after drinking. She tiptoed and gently pushed the door open, and squeezed in through the slightly wider gap, her heart beating non-stop. Fearing the wind and snow, she still slipped into the woodshed with the door half-opened. If the door was not closed, the wind would keep blowing in, but the door of the firewood room was old and creaked at the slightest touch, which made Li Wanyun''s face change in fright. "Zhengzi?" Lao Zhang heard the door creaked, and called out from her room, thinking it was Zhang Zhengzi who was coming back, but she didn''t hear any voice, and it was windy outside, so she thought it was the wind, and didn''t take it to heart. When she thought of Xiao Zhang again, she cursed a few words in a low voice but still didn¡¯t feel relief, she would ask Zhengzi to beat her up again. Seeing that she went in and never came out again, and there was no sound of beating or scolding in the yard, Lu Gu entered the yard. After noon, it snowed again, the sky was overcast, and it got dark earlier. After dark, they had nothing to do, so they had to go back to their rooms. People who were reluctant to light oil lamps went to bed early. Afraid that he would fall asleep and accumulate food after eating, Lu Gu cooked dinner earlier. He still wrote the characters he learned today under the oil lamp after eating. Shen Xuanqing sat next to him and watched and taught him if he couldn''t write well. Lu Gu was shy by nature, at this moment when his hand was held by Shen Shuanqing so he could guide him to write correctly, his ears and cheeks felt hot, but he didn''t refuse. The candle light shook slightly, warm and reassuring. It was gradually getting dark, the wind and snow were not heavy, and most people closed their yards to rest, but there was a staggering figure walking towards the houses behind the village, it was Zhang Zhengzi. He drank wine, although it was not a good wine, but his face was flushed and his whole body was hot. He didn''t feel cold. While walking, he kicked a stone, cursed indiscriminately, and kicked the stone out with one kick. In the dark night, he could barely recognize the door of his house. He drank too much wine and felt urgent need to urinate, so he took off his belt and stood by the mud wall to urinate. He drank a lot and urinated a lot. It didn''t finish for a while, and flowed down the wall to the side. The drunk man even squinted his eyes half-closed, his feet were floating, his hands were not very strong, he shook after urinating, fastened his trouser belt indiscriminately, turned around and was about to enter the house, but he stepped on the big puddle of his urine, and immediately slipped and fell. He was slow to react after drinking too much alcohol, and he still fell backwards. Hitting the back of his head was unavoidable. The stone he kicked away just now was under his head, and the uneven side was facing upwards. After he fell heavily, his head was suddenly knocked up, not even a sound came out of the throat, he was lying on the ground motionless. It just so happened that Lao Zhang saw that her son hadn¡¯t come back, so she went out of the house to look outside. Before leaving the yard, she heard a muffled ¡°bang¡± outside, and hurried out. There was a person lying on the ground in front of the door. She squatted tremblingly, touched the rough jade pendant around Zhang Zhengzi''s waist, and cried out: "Anyone, help me!" Lao Zhang tried to help her son up while crying. Her son stepped on the urine, slipped and fell to the ground. Her right leg was pressed by Zhang Zhengzi''s back. She was old and weak, and it was winter. Her bones were already brittle and it was broken in an instant. Suddenly, there was a piercing pain in her right leg, and she almost passed out. Even though she was old and confused, she also knew that something bad would happen if she fainted, so she gritted her teeth for fear of death, and shouted at the top of her voice, begging someone to save their mother and son. CH 80.1 Several families near the back of the village heard Lao Zhang''s cry for help in the snowstorm. She usually had a shrill voice, but now she was afraid of death and shouted with all her strength, even the children in the next door woke up, crying continuously. The Shen family''s dogs kept barking, and the four dogs in the family barked at the same time, making a lot of noise, Lu Gu was unprepared, his brush trembled in fright, and turned into a mass of ink dots. The woman''s cry for help outside sounded extremely stern in the winter night, Shen Xuanqing got out of bed first, and said, "Don''t worry, don''t go out of the yard after getting dressed, I''ll go and have a look." The door of the main room was closed, and the four dogs at home all barked at the door, Shen Yaoqing also got up, and even Wei Lanxiang put on her clothes when she heard the movement, she said in panic: "Whose family has an accident? It sounds like Lao Zhang''s." "Go and take a look." As Shen Yaoqing said, he went out with Shen Xuanqing, and the dogs followed. "Don''t be reckless, look carefully before you go forward." Wei Lanxiang told them, it was good for the dogs to follow, in case something came down from the mountain and bit someone, they could also help. Not only the second room of the Shen''s family, but also all the nearby families came out, and there was a lot of noise outside for a while. "Mother, it seems to be the Zhang family?" Lu Gu put on his clothes and came out, his heart ached because of people crying and dogs barking. "Oh, I don''t know." Wei Lanxiang sighed, seeing Ji Qiuyue came out, fearing that she would be surprised, she hurriedly said: "What are you doing?, it''s cold outside, go into the room quickly, Shen Yan, light the lamp to accompany you Sister-in-law to sit on the bed for a while." "Got it, mother." Shen Yan just took off her pigtails and was about to go to bed, but there was chaos outside, so she promised to go to Ji Qiuyue''s room to accompany her first. It was pitch black outside, but the voices of people and dogs were gradually subdued. It shouldn¡¯t be some beast from the mountain. It was windy and snowy at the moment, so Wei Lanxiang lit the lantern and told Lu Gu not to go out by himself and went to see it by herself. She was old and she was not afraid of seeing any messy things. Lu Gu was a young fulang, not to mention thin-skinned, and he had been married for less than a year, so how could she rest assured to let him show his face. Lao Zhang called for help outside the door after she fell, and the Xiao Zhang who was curled up in the woodshed was startled when she heard the sound, which was really piercing in the quiet night. She felt so cold that she shivered before getting up from the haystack. The dog kept barking, and there were movements in the neighbors. She was afraid of going out alone, but she was also afraid of being scolded by Lao Zhang if she didn''t go out in time, so she gritted her teeth and went out to have a look. It was pitch dark, someone could only see a big black shadow in front of the door. Before Li Wanyun could speak, someone came out from the house next door, holding a lantern and shouting, "Is that you, Lao Zhang?" The fire in the lantern came over, so there was no need to answer, you could see the people on the ground clearly. When she asked for help to Quan¡¯s mother, she was already sobbing and weak, and her strength was exhausted, but this time she didn''t know where the energy came from, and suddenly she scolded her daughter-in-law in a fit of anger, and even the neighbors next door who wanted to come over to help her was stunned. At this moment, all the neighbors came over, seven dogs rushed over, Li Wanyun didn''t dare to say anything, she stretched out her hand to grab Zhang Zhengzi who was on Lao Zhang''s leg. She was a weak woman, and Zhang Zhengzi was a bit fatter and heavy, and now he fainted again, how could she move him. Many people gathered around, and three lanterns illuminated the front of Zhang''s house, and they could clearly see what happened to Lao Zhang and Zhang Zhengzi. Lao Zhang was worried about his son, so he stopped scolding, she endured the severe pain in her leg and said, "Come and help me carry him in quickly." Zhang Zhengzi was unconscious, and it was not good to watch him freeze to death outside since they came here. There were young people who wanted to make a move, but they were stopped by Quan''s father. ¡°Wait a minute, I''ll protect Zhengzi''s waist first, it seems his waist is broken and if you just lift him up like this, he will die." Lao Zhang¡¯s legs were under pressure, so it was too late to look at Zhang Zhengzi¡¯s waist, so when you wanted to lift him up, it was better after protecting the waist, it was best if he didn¡¯t hurt the bones in his waist As soon as these words came out, even Lao Zhang endured the pain in her leg and said, "Slow down, don''t be too hasty." Holding the head up, the rest of the people lifted Zhang Zhengzi up steadily and walked into the courtyard, while Li Wanyun hurriedly led the way. At this moment, there was a light, and Lao Zhang suddenly saw blood on her hands and arms, which were all wet. She was holding Zhang Zhengzi''s head and shoulders just now, but she didn''t notice it because she was busy asking for help. She was frightened, and with a short scream in her throat, she immediately fainted to the ground. She was able to speak and scold just now when she was sitting, so it was obvious that her waist was fine, so the rest of the people came to carry her, and the Zhang family was in chaos for a while. Wei Lanxiang came over with a lantern, poked her head to look at Zhang''s yard, yelled at Dahui, and waved her hand to drive away the dogs, letting the dogs go back, not to mention Shen Yan and Lugu, now Ji Qiuyue was pregnant, she and her sons were all outside, so she let the dog to go back to look after the home. CH 80.2 Quanzi¡¯s fulang came out from the next door, he saw Wei Lanxiang was holding a lantern and said, "Aunt Lanxiang, why don''t you go in and have a look." "Your baby doesn¡¯t sleep?" Wei Lanxiang asked as he walked. "No, he is awoken up by such a big commotion and kept crying. I asked Quanzi to coax him." Quanzi''s fulang was a chubby shuang¡¯er. He was pungent, but his heart was good, and he had a good relationship with his neighbors, except Lao Zhang. Quanzi''s parents were good people, because they lived next door to Zhang''s family, they had more contact with each other. It was okay when Lao Zhangtou (Lao Zhang¡¯s husband) was around, but since his death, no one could control Lao Zhang''s family. Quanzi¡¯s fulang couldn''t understand Lao Zhang''s villainous behavior, she beat Li Wanyun into badly. She liked to take advantage of his parents-in-law''s kindness and love to take advantage of their family, if he hadn''t stopped and scolded her, many things would have been taken away. Li Wanyun lit the candlestick with the lantern in Quanzi¡¯s mother ¡®s hand, Zhang Zhengzi lay motionless on the bed, breathing very weakly. Seeing the blood on the back of his head, Quan Zi''s father was shocked. Lao Zhang was also carried into this bright room, and after a while, she slowly woke up among the crowd. "Hurry up and invite langzhong, hurry up!" Lao Zhang cried as soon as she woke up, but few people moved after hearing her words. Although the people from the Miao family came in, they were all stayed far away and only watched from the outside. Aunt Miao was so angry with the Zhang family that when his husband wanted to lift someone up, she grabbed his arm and stopped him. Lao Zhang had always been bad-mouthed, and she swore and cursed all day long. It was considered good that these people could bring her and her son in, and there was no need to save her. As for inviting a langzhong, it was still okay during the day, langzhong was in Anjia Village, which was three villages away. How could it be so easy to walk on this snowy night? they couldn''t see clearly. What if they accidentally fell heavily?, and if they had bad luck, their legs would be broken, and if they fell on the halfway, they tried to call someone for help but no one passed by to rescue them, so they would lose their lives. If it was placed in someone else''s house, a few young men would help go to langzhong, and there was no need to say anything superfluous, but this was Lao Zhang, with a vicious mouth and heart, and she could even sell his own daughter. If you helped her, maybe you would get a bad name in her mouth in the future, it was not like this kind of thing never happened before. When Wei Lanxiang came in, she saw Shen Xuanqing, who was the tallest, and she was relieved to see that he and Shen Yaoqing didn¡¯t interfere, but seeing Lao Zhang and Zhang Zhengzi who was lying on the bed reminded her of Shen Shunfu, and she felt a little uncomfortable. It would be best to help out, but it was Lao Zhang, alas. In the end, it was Quanzi''s father who committed the crime with good intentions. He felt that he couldn''t just leave them alone, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Then I will..." "Father." Quanzi fulang interrupted him from behind the crowd, and said loudly: "Father, you are old, your legs are bad, and the snow is slippery. Who will save you when you fall?" "Quanzi is coaxing the baby at home. I usually cook and do laundry. If you have a broken leg, who will take care of you? My mother is also getting old. In such a cold day, do you still let mother take care of you?" "It costs money to buy medicine, our family wants to raise a baby, how can we spend so much money, or are you willing to let your grandson eat bran and vegetables only in the future? If you have money, you can go, and I will never stop you." Quanzi fulang''s mouth was very sharp, and he was not afraid that his words would be unpleasant, and sometimes if he didn''t speak harshly, his parents-in-law would be confused. What he said made Quanzi¡¯s father patted his head in embarrassment and he didn¡¯t dare to speak again. The son didn''t move at all, and Lao Zhang was so resentful that he couldn''t careless about scolding Quanzi¡¯s fulang. She woke up when she heard the word "money", she took out Zhang Zhengzi''s rough jade pendant in her hand, and said hastily "This jade pendant is worth three hundred copper coins at least. If anyone goes, I will give it to him. I beg you to help me." Shen Xuanqing looked down on the rough jade pendant and kept silent, but he knew that someone would definitely go. Three hundred copper coins was a lot for other people in the village and it was enough to live for a while. Some young people looked at each other, but they were too afraid about walking on the snowy road in winter nights alone. Langzhong was also old, and the snowy road was not easy to walk, they still had to help him so that langzhong didn¡¯t have an accident on the road. It was better for the three young men to help each other, of course, they took the jade pendant in their hands before leaving, they couldn¡¯t let Lao Zhang regretted it later. There were many people in the room. Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yuanqing found that Wei Lanxiang came over with a lantern and they thought about going back. No one wanted to get involved in the affairs of Zhang Zhengzi''s house, and everyone was not a langzhong, and they couldn''t help when they stayed here, so they went out one after another. "Father, you can¡¯t help with anything here, and Quanzi can''t coax the baby alone. You also know that your eldest grandson has to be hugged by several people when he cries. In this way, you go to find Musheng''s parents, at least they are Zhengzi''s second uncle, let them help, aunt Zhang also has someone to take care of her." Quanzi¡¯s fulang was afraid of being taken advantage by the Zhang family, and besides, it was not that the Zhang family had no relatives from the same clan in the village. If there was anything, Lao Zhang could discuss it with their relatives, why should they meddle here?. "Sure, I''ll tell them." Quanzi''s father also knew this truth, he took the lantern from Quanzi¡¯s mother¡¯s hand and went out. Lao Zhang half leaned on the small bed, and she snorted lightly with her nose when she heard Quanzi fulang''s words, her eyes were also squinted. She hated Quanzi fulang, but from the beginning to end she never flared up. It was indeed time to find the second room. She was the eldest sister-in-law, and she helped him marry his wife. As the saying goes, the eldest sister-in-law was like a mother, she could use her identity to suppress the second room. Now she was injured, so the second room had to come and take care of her no matter what. CH 81.1 When Lao Zhang regained her strength, she yelled at Li Wanyun: "You money loser, you don''t cover your man with a quilt, are you trying to freeze my son to death?¡± She made two more bah bah, glared at Li Wanyun and said: "If you die, you will die first. My son is blessed with great fate, and he will definitely wake up." Seeing Li Wanyun being scolded, Quanzi fulang didn¡¯t dare to say a word, secretly sighed feeling pity, but he couldn''t do anything, and he went home after calling Quanzi¡¯s mother. As soon as Shen Xuanqing and the others came out from the courtyard, they met Lin Zhongcai and his son who came over. Lin Zhongcai and Shen Xuanqing''s grandma were closely related, although they were far away, they were still relatives, Shen Xuanqing''s generation called him granduncle. "Uncle is here." Wei Lanxiang said, and the two Shen brothers called granduncle. "It''s Lanxiang, what''s going on?." Lin Zhongcai asked when he saw it was them. Shen Yaoqing said: " Granduncle, when we came here, we saw that Zhengzi and his mother fell to the ground. Zhengzi fell heavily and passed out, and his mother''s leg was broken. and I don''t know much about the rest. " "That''s it, did you invite langzhong?" "Lin Zhongcai walked into Zhang''s courtyard, he walked while asking questions. After all, he was an elder, so Wei Lanxiang couldn''t just leave, so she had to follow behind with her sons, and said, "Yes, Dazhi and the others have gone." "Uncle Lin is here." Quanzi¡¯s mother called him, and Quanzi¡¯s fulang next to him also called someone. At this moment, there was no one else in the Zhang family. Lin Zhongcai wanted to know what was going on, so he had to aske to Quan family next door. "I only came out when I heard Lao Zhang voice for help. As soon as I came out, I saw her and Zhengzi lying on the ground in front of the door. Zhengzi didn''t move at that moment." Quanzi¡¯s mother said truthfully. After entering the room, Lao Zhang groaned in a low voice because of the pain in her legs. After all, she was old, and it was considered good to be able to endure until now, when she saw Lin Zhongcai now, she cried and complained immediately, saying that Dazhi and the others had lost their conscience, no one was willing to help her to invite langzhong, and they had to blackmail her for a jade pendant. Although Lin Zhongcai was old, he was not confused. He glanced at Shen Yaoqing and saw him shaking his head slightly, and he knew that the old woman was talking nonsense. "I just want to ask you, what''s going on with Zhengzi?" Lao Zhang wiped away her tears, she said, "My son said he was going to drink with Dayang. I went to look for him at night when he didn''t come back. And then I saw he was lying in front of the door. I slipped and fell while helping him." "Dayang is also hateful, it''s not good to drink, and he still had to find my son to drink today, wasn''t it intentional to hurt people when you invite someone out with such heavy snow?" Before she finished speaking, she saw Li Wanyun who was holding the brazier. She stared at her viciously and said, "It must be her, she must have a bad heart and pushed my son to the ground, causing Zhengzi to fall so hard, I should have killed this scourge if I knew it!" Li Wanyun was timid and afraid of death, and didn¡¯t dare to disobey the words of her husband and mother-in-law, but at this moment she hadn¡¯t put down the brazier, and she stood there in a daze, her face was pale, her eyes were red, her hair was messy, and there were tears and blood on her face. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but she could only say "I didn''t". "Lao Zhang, I saw that you and Zhengzi fell outside the door first, and Wanyun came out of the courtyard to help you. She pushed your son?, don''t talk empty words to slander the good people. "Quanzi¡¯s mother couldn''t stand it anymore, she took the brazier from Li Wanyun''s hand and put it on the ground, when the fire got bigger, the copper basin would be hot, and your hands would get scalded. "Is she still a good person?" Lao Zhang glared at Li Wanyun, and wanted to continue but was interrupted by Quanzi¡¯s mother. "Don''t talk nonsense, it''s quiet at night, I was pouring my grandson¡¯s urin in the yard, and I heard a bang sound from outside, as if someone fell, and after that you yelled and asked if it was Zhengzi. I thought it was Zhengzi who fell and didn''t think much about it. I went back to the room and then I heard you howled. Quanzi''s parents were a pair of good people, with kind hearts, and they were friendly with everyone in the village, and now when they saw Lao Zhang wronged Li Wanyun, Quanzi¡¯s mother couldn''t stand it, and defended Li Wanyun. What she said was very reasonable, Li Wanyun was a weak woman, how could she have the courage to push her husband, not to mention Quanzi¡¯s mother was a kind person in the village, she was not a liar, Lin Zhongcai believed it somewhat. "I think Zhengzi stepped on urine and slipped." Shen Xuanqing said. Seeing that everyone in the house was looking at him, he said: "The puddle of urine in front of the courtyard has turned yellow on the snow. It''s hard to distinguish at night, but you can tell from the dark color on the snow. Zhengzi''s body also smells like urine, aunt Zhang also has this smell all over her body, and she got the smell when she fell because she also stepped on the urine." There was indeed a smell of urine in the room, only Shen Xuanqing was aware of it, other people were anxious just now, and now they could detect it after thinking about it for a while, so Shen Xuanqing said: "He went to drink, when he came back he should relieve himself under the wall, and stepped on it when he didn¡¯t pay attention. " "There is blood on the stone outside, it must be left by Zhengzi when he fell down and knocked his head on it." Shen Xuanqing had developed a habit of hunting, and he was able to focus on observing his surroundings even when he was in a hurry, and he could see it with the light reflected from Quanzi¡¯s mother¡¯s lantern at that time. CH 81.2 Lin Zhongcai nodded, and Zhang Zhengzi''s mother said that he was indeed going out to drink, so the matter became clear, and even Lao Zhang was speechless when she smelled his urine. He walked over to take a look at Zhang Zhengzi on the bed. He found that his breath was extremely weak, and there were bloodstains spreading on the pillow, which flowed quite quickly, and he was shocked. "Hurry up and get some medicine to stop the bleeding!" Lin Zhongcai withdrew his hand and said immediately. Seeing that his expression was not right, Lao Zhang started to cry for a moment, she patted her left leg while crying and cursing. Lin Zhongcai was disturbed by her cry, and he stopped and said: "Shut up!" "There is no medicine at home." Li Wanyun was at a loss, her eyes were dull. Shen Xuanqing didn''t want to take care of the Zhang family''s affairs at first, but when he saw the back of Zhang Zhengzi''s head bleeding, he looked better just now when he was carried in, but now he looked even paler, so he said: "I have a small thistle root ( С¼»¸ù), I''ll go get it. " Jinchuang medicine ( ½ð´´Ò©) was the best to stop bleeding, but it was expensive. Ordinary people didn''t have spare money to buy it. Shen Xuanqing thought about buying some when he had money. Going to the mountains to hunt was dangerous, but because he went down the mountain in the winter, he couldn''t use Jinchuang medicine at home, he thought wait for spring to buy it. At this time, Quanzi''s father called Zhang Musheng''s family over, and soon there were too many people came. They were all asking, and the room became chaotic, and Lao Zhang was still crying for a while and wailing because of the pain in her leg. Wei Lanxiang and Lin Zhongcai said that they went back with Shen Yaoqing first, they were just outsiders, at most they could give some medicinal materials, but they couldn''t help with anything else. Small thistle root was good to stop bleeding, and it was good at least they could do something right now. The chaos in the Zhang family had nothing to do with him. Shen Xuanqing didn¡¯t stay long, he gave the medicine and left. Early the next morning, the news about Zhang Zhengzi''s family spread in the village. The snow stopped, and Lu Gu was cooking in the kitchen around noon. Their house was only three houses away from the Zhang family, so he could hear the movement from there, with many people coming in and out. Last night, Shen Xuanqing told him that Zhang Zhengzi was drunk, he stepped on the urine and slipped, fell and hit his head. Lu Gu was stunned, Shen Xuanqing told him that all kinds of strange things happened to people who were drunk. Some people lay down to sleep after drinking, died of drunkenness with something in their stomach, and some choked to death when they couldn''t spit it out. After listening to what Shen Xuanqing said, Lu Gu thought it was really not a good thing to get drunk. "Brother Guzi, here you go." Shen Yan came in and handed him two red dates, then sat down in front of the stove and lit the fire. Dried dates were sweet, and Lu Gu cut the cabbage while eating it. There were few vegetables in winter, so you couldn¡¯t eat this everyday. Once it was fried and stewed with tofu, sometimes it was stewed with some meat. Shen Yan added some firewood to the stove, she looked outside and said, "The sun is out, Brother Guzi, if it clears tomorrow, can we make steamed buns and eat them?" She craved steamed buns all day long. Lu Gu turned his head and said: "That''s fine, there are not many steamed buns left, make some more dough for tomorrow, we will eat baozi and mantou together." [°ü×Ó b¨¡o zi: steamed stuffed bun] [ÂøÍ· m¨¢n tou: steamed roll; steamed bun; steamed bread] Shen Xuanqing brushed off the snow from the trees in front of and behind the house outside the courtyard, to avoid breaking the branches, especially the persimmon tree, when he came back and heard them talking about steamed buns, he suggested: "There are two catties of meat, which have been stored for three days, why not cut it into large slices and make steaming bowls ( Õô Íë), put some fried tofu in them. If you want to eat hot meat, you can just heat it up, and if you want to eat fresh meat, go buy more." Ji Qiuyue sat in the main room and made a net, and laughed when she heard his words: "This is good, steamed meat was soft and delicious, and it can be sandwiched in steamed buns. If you feel it¡¯s greasy, add some chili oil, and sour cowpea." "Okay, let''s steam them together tomorrow." Lu Gu smiled slightly. While they were talking, Wei Lanxiang came back. Everyone went to the Zhang family, so she had to go and see if something happened to Zhang''s family. Lao Zhang usually had a bad mouth and was stingy many things, but at least he was close to the dozen or so families behind the village. There was a relationship, but they were reluctant to part with eggs and meat. After all, Lao Zhang had never given it to others, and no one else needed to bring it to her, but no matter what, you had to scoop some rice flour over, and it was enough to give something. "Mother, how''s it going?" Shen Xuanqing asked. Wei Lanxiang sighed, and said, "Zhengzi hasn''t woken up, and he can''t even drink the medicine. Langzhong didn''t say anything, but..." She shut up when she said this. If someone heard her, it would mean that she was not saying good things behind someone else¡¯s back and cursing Zhang Zhengzi to death. Seeing Ji Qiuyue making a net, she walked over and said, "Don''t go out these few days, there are so many people outside, what should you do if you bump into each other." "Understood, mother." Ji Qiuyue replied. Lu Gu''s chopping hands slowed down, he understood Wei Lanxiang''s meaning, Zhang Zhengzi''s ferocious appearance of beating Li Wanyun yesterday was still lingering in his mind, but now he was lying on the bed all night and couldn''t even drink the medicine. In case... What should Li Wanyun do at that time, but his worries were quickly interrupted. "Brother Guzi, let''s also make some stuffed machicai. I will soak some in a wooden basin at night, otherwise it will only become cabbage buns." Shen Yan was still thinking about her buns. It was not that she was heartless, Zhang Zhengzi always beat people, she had seen it several times, Shen Yaoqing said that a man who beat his wife or fulang to vent his anger was not a man. She didn''t like him, Lao Zhang also scolded his daughter-in-law all day long, she also didn''t like her , she usually far away from the Zhang family, she wouldn¡¯t come forward, and now something happened, she didn''t want to pay more attention to it, their family had just had a good life, beside, she didn''t understand those things. "Okay." Lu Gu agreed, cutting the vegetables a little faster, there were so many machicai for the family to eat, and the buns with it were also delicious. CH 82.1 The steamed stuffed bun and steamed buns were about to be steamed, and there were still eleven steamed buns from before in the drawer. Because there were so many people in the family, they could eat seven or eight for breakfast. Wei Lanxiang woke up early in the morning, she saw it and said it would be better to fry the steamed buns. They hadn''t eaten it for a few years, they fried pancakes once before, but it was different after all. To fry steamed buns required pouring a lot of oil into the pan. Lu Gu had never done it before. He helped Wei Lanxiang cut the steamed buns. Outside the kitchen, he lit the clay stove and used clay pots to boil hot water for drinking. Because it was used for decocting medicine, they used to call the clay stove medicine stove (Ò© ¯), but a few days ago Wei Lanxiang felt that this name was not good. It was not auspicious to be called medicine stove and medicine stove all the time. After all, Ji Qiuyue was pregnant, so they called it clay stove. "Mother, are these enough?" He put oil into the pan and asked, not sure how much she wanted. Wei Lanxiang looked over and said, "Take two more spoonfuls. If there is less oil, it will be easy to burn. After frying it, the remaining oil can be poured back when it cools down." "Okay." Lu Gu added two more spoonfuls according to her words. . Heated the oil until it was hot. When frying, there were sounds of rattles from the pan. Cut the eleven old steamed buns into slices and and fried them in the pan. Put the fried buns in the soup basin after the they were taken out, otherwise the bowl would not fit. Today''s breakfast was different. After finished frying, you didn''t even have to shout. Shen Xuanqing and the others went into the kitchen to watch and wait. Lu Gu picked up the golden and shiny fried steamed bun, took a bite and it was crispy. The inside of the fried steamed bun was not crispy but warm and soft. It felt tasteless and you could sprinkle a little salt on it, the salty flavor would make it even more delicious. The fried steamed buns were the best eaten while they were hot, and they were made with oil and salt, so you didn¡¯t even need to fry the vegetables, just drink some hot tea or hot water when you were thirsty. After eating a basin of fried steamed buns, there was nothing left, and the bottom of the basin was oily and Wei Lanxiang didn''t want to wash it directly. She poured it the oil into an oil pot and finally pinched a piece of tofu to wipe off the oil on the bottom of the basin. Lu Gu was not idle after eating, he was cutting tofu and meat slices, and today he was going to make steamed bowls, the tofu had to be deep-fried first, so Wei Lanxiang fried a slice of steamed buns to eat. It was cold in winter, worked on the dry stove would make your hands cold if you touched the cold vegetables and cold meat, let alone get wet, so you needed to set up several large baskets at a time to steam the steamed buns, and you only needed to steam them again for a few days of eating. Shen Yan added cold water to the pot outside and let it boil. Warm water was needed for kneading the dough. She was not idle, and went into the kitchen to help Lu Gu cut the meat. The two of them would be faster. In the main room, Ji Qiuyue fished the soaked machicai out of the wooden basin with chopsticks. The water was too cold and she didn¡¯t dare to take it with bare hands. Dried eggplant and dried mushrooms were also soaked. She was afraid that it would be too cold at night, so she soaked them in the kitchen water to freeze and now she brought them to the main room. Seeing that Shen Yaoqing had nothing to do, she said, "Daqing, go peel a cabbage and wash two radishes, mother and the others can''t spare their hands, and they still need to fry the tofu and make the dough." Although there was sun today, it was not very warm in the early morning. It was reasonable to roll up your sleeves when working in the kitchen and finish it as soon as possible. "Okay." Shen Yaoqing agreed. He felt that using chopsticks was too slow, so he reached out with bare hand to fish out the dried mushrooms and eggplant. "Are you not cold?" Ji Qiuyue raised her head and said angrily. "I''m not afraid of cold, I have rough skin." He laughed, got up and took the two baskets away. Lu Gu and the others were busy in the kitchen. After the dough woke up, Wei Lanxiang called her two sons to knead the dough. The two men were strong, and they kneaded until it became smooth in a while. Then she took over the kneading and made it into long strips. Because today they wanted to make steamed buns, there was no need to knead the steamed buns, just chop them up neatly with a knife, put them in a bambbo steamer and let her sons carry them out to dry in the sun. The three kinds of stuffing for the steamed stuffed bun were chopped, and the two brothers Shen Yaoqing and Shen Xuanqing lit a brazier under the table and the family sat in the main room to wrap them up. Cabbage and radish were the stuffing that was often eaten in the winter. The black machicais and white tofu were cut and mixed with some meat. The eggplant was grown by themself, this year, when they were rich, Wei Lanxiang bought more and dried it in the sun. In summer, steamed stuffed buns with diced eggplant and pepper were delicious. If there was no green chili in winter, cut some mushrooms and dipicais and mixed them and made them into stuffing. Seeing that Shen Xuanqing''s hands were clumsy, Lu Gu put the wrapped one in his hand into the bamboo steamer, and brought over another piece of dough, slowed down his movements, and whispered to Shen Xuanqing to let him see how he wrapped it. Wei Lanxiang smiled while wrapping the buns: "I''ll make a few small ones, it''s not that kind of small buns that can be fried in oil, let''s try it later." When you had money and leisure, as long as you were not lazy, you were willing to tinker with food. The three kinds of steamed buns were squeezed together, and finally they could make three bamboo steamer of steamed buns. The eggplant buns were the least, and the cabbage and machicai were more. The big pots were filled with big bamboo steamers, and these six bamboo steamers were enough for them to eat for a long time. Shen Xuanqing moved a large firewood and stuffed it into the bottom of the stove, and the fire burned up. CH 82.2 When the steamed buns were finished steaming, even if it was not time for lunch, the whole family would have a meal while taking advantage of the hot and fresh steamed buns. Machicai was chewy, mixed it with meat and tofu, it was very delicious, which was much more delicious than the pure wild vegetable buns that Lu Gu had eaten before. Eggplant steamed buns were also delicious, because when they ate eggplant steamed buns here in summer, they always put green chili peppers. It was only delicious when there was a spicy taste. Wei Lanxiang also brought a bowl of chili oil to put in the steamed buns. Eating and drinking at home, the morning passed. The sun came out but it was still not very warm. The clouds drifted across the sky to cover the sun from time to time. It was not snowing today, Shen Xuanqing had nothing to do, so he carried a bamboo basket and went up the mountain to pick up the fruits of the claw tree ( ľ ¹Õ צ). Some people in the town call these jujubes, which were sweeter after snowfall, so it was time to pick them up. [ľ ¹Õ צ Hovenia dulcis is used as medicine, which has high medicinal value and economic value. It has a cooling and diuretic effect when used as medicine] "Then you all go, I''ll be at home with your sister-in-law." Wei Lanxiang added two sticks of firewood to the clay stove. It was cold and they had to drink hot tea, you could drink when you want to drink, otherwise you would be very thirsty if you only boiled water when you were really thirsty. Shen Xuanqing , Lu Gu and Shen Yan went up the mountain together, the snow on the mountain was still there, there was a claw tree in front of the mountain, it was not too far away from home, so Shen Xuanqing didn''t let the dog follow. After they left, Shen Yaoqing went out for a walk. He was the eldest son, and he would want to inquire about everything in the village. The Zhang family was still in chaos. It was not good to go in and inquire at this time, so he went to Quanzi''s house. Shen Xuanqing followed the memory to find the claw tree. A lot of the fruits fell on the ground, including snow and hay. When the fruit was ripe, it would fall off by itself. Large and small strings were picked up by pinching the twigs and put it into the bamboo basket. The claw fruits looked like wood, but they were also a kind of fruit. They must be ripe to have sweet taste, otherwise they would be astringent. The claw tree was too tall to climb, and there were mostly unripe fruits on the tree, so there was no need to use a hook to reach it, just picked up the ones on the ground. Shen Yan broke off some twigs to taste, and said: "Brother Guzi, it''s quite sweet, we can eat it when we go back and wash it." Lu Gu picked up the claw fruits in the snow, his fingers was stiff from the cold. He also tasted it, and it was really crunchy and sweet. He remembered that this fruit could be used to make wine. It was good to be able to eat sweet fruits in winter. The three of them worked hard to pick them up in the snow. Shen Xuanqing had been running on the mountains since he was a child. He knew where there were claw trees. The three of them walked on the mountains to collect the claw fruits for nearly an hour, and their bamboo basket was full. There were a lot of claw fruits on the tree that still unripe, and when the fruits were ripe, they could come to pick them up again at that time. If they could ''t finish eating them at home, they could sell them, so when they went down the mountain they met the villagers who also wanted to pick the claw fruits. When they came out, they only carried a bamboo basket on the back, and they didn¡¯t pick anymore when the bamboo basket was full. Besides, there were not only two or three claw trees on the mountain, but there were also other places if you went around. After arriving at home, both Lu Gu and Shen Yan put their hands on Tang pozi to keep warm, thinking that it was really good and warm to have this thing. Wei Lanxiang and Ji Qiuyue took the scissors and cut off the black and moldy parts of the claw fruits, and put the rest into the bamboo plaque. It was not easy to touch the water in this winter. So they washed it and dried it. If you wanted to eat it, you could eat it, and it could be eaten directly without washing. "Pick the claw fruits up two more times, we will steam and dry them, after that soak them with some wine, so this year we can drink the sweet wine. If there is more, we can boil it into syrup. At that time, we will make hair cakes ( ·¢¸â) and curd cheese. It¡¯s also a rarity to entertain the guests during the New Year. "Wei Lanxiang said while cutting the claw fruits. Ji Qiuyue responded: "This is good. If there is a lot of syrup, when we eat tianwogen, we don''t need to dip it in honey. We can dip it in the syrup." The sweetness of tianwogen was too weak. The honey Shen Xuanqing found this year was not sold. Honey was precious after all. Sometimes she couldn¡¯t bear to eat it, but with the syrup from the claw fruits, she didn¡¯t need to be so frugal. CH 82.3 Speaking of hair cakes, Wei Lanxiang thought of something, turned her head and said to Ji Qiuyue: "Didn''t your third uncle give back some red dates last time, didn''t you tell Daqing yesterday that you wanted to eat a cake or something, and mother will make it for you tomorrow Jujube Cake." The road is not easy these days, Ji Qiuyue didn''t urge Shen Yaoqing to go to the town, but she just said it when she thought of the taste of the pastry, and Wei Lanxiang knew it too. Speaking of hair cakes, Wei Lanxiang thought of something, she turned her head and said to Ji Qiuyue: "Didn''t your third uncle give back some red dates last time, didn''t you tell Daqing yesterday that you wanted to eat a cake or something, mother will make jujube cake for you tomorrow." The road was not easy these days, Ji Qiuyue didn''t urge Shen Yaoqing to go to the town to buy some pastries, but she just said it when she thought of the taste of the pastry, and Wei Lanxiang also knew. She pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Okay, I will make it with mother tomorrow." The red dates were given to Shen Xuanqing last time when he gave Shen Shunwang badger meat. No one in their family liked badger meat, but they had so many badger meat. There was no harm in giving some to their relatives and close friends. While talking, Shen Yaoqing came back from the outside, he saw a lot of claw fruits in the bamboo plaque, he squatted down and picked two to eat, he didn''t get up, he squatted there and said: "Zhengzi has gone." Wei Lanxiang stopped her hands, Zhang Zhengzi and Shen Xuanqing were the same age, only nineteen after this year, she sighed and asked, "What about his mother?" "She didn''t know at the beginning, but when she found out. she didn''t catch her breath and fainted." Shen Yaoqing replied. Thinking of Lao Zhang, Wei Lanxiang sighed again, and asked: "How about Wanyun?" "She became stupid, didn''t respond, and couldn''t speak, Quanzi Fulang helped her to let her sleep at his house." After Shen Yaoqing finished speaking, she felt that it would be good for Li Wanyun that Zhang Zhengzi was gone, and no one would beat her anymore, but she also became a widow. Both Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing felt that men who beat their wives and fulangs were the most incompetent, and they usually looked down on Zhang Zhengzi, but now that he was dead, there was nothing to look down on. "Did they say when to bury him?" Wei Lanxiang continue to cut the claw fruit again. Zhang Zhengzi was too young to have any children, but Qingxi Village was good, if he was in other villages, he might not even be allowed to enter the ancestral graves. "There were so many people in the house, it was such a mess, I heard my uncle said to stop for three days and keep everything simple." Shen Yaoqing picked up a claw fruit to eat, but was beaten by Ji Qiuyue and asked him to wash it first. Shen Yaoqing smiled, he grabbed a handful of claw fruits, got up and said, "You can eat more after washing." Lu Gu listened beside him, and when he heard that Zhang Zhengzi was dead, he thought of Li Wanyun, and heard Shen Yaoqing said that she became stupid, she could ''t even speak, and he felt a little uncomfortable. Li Wanyun didn¡¯t talk much, although they didn''t meet many times, he thought she was an honest and good person. Wei Lanxiang hadn''t finished cutting the claw fruits, she suddenly remembered something, hurried into the room and dug out a piece of red cloth from the box. She sat by the bed and cut the red cloth, she took it out and gave it to Ji Qiuyue, she whispered: "Don''t go out these few days, go and change your belt with this.¡± The Zhang family was too close to their house, afraid of being bumped into something, so they had to block it with a red cloth. Ji Qiuyue didn''t say much, and went back to her room to change her belt. CH 83.1 Zhang Zhengzi was too young and had no children, so the funeral shouldn¡¯t be a big one. Everything was kept simple, but it was not like there were no mourners and weepers. During the three days of the lingering period, Lu Gu could hear the crying from the Zhang family, and the cries would often be heard when there were many relatives who came. He thought it was because the Zhang family had many relatives, but he only realized after hearing what Wei Lanxiang said. After Zhang Zhengzi was gone, which meant that his family died, some of the family properties and fields were watched by relatives from the same clan, and even old relatives who hadn''t seen each other for many years gathered together. The cemeteries of Qingxi Village were all on the barren hills in the south, with sparse forests and few trees, and the ground was full of raised graves. Usually, few people went there. In the past two or three days, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing followed the village rules and helped dig new grave together with the villagers. Because of this, Wei Lanxiang had no one to talk about, and it was not easy to chat with Ji Qiuyue about funeral matters, so he talked to Lu Gu while doing needlework. "It''s okay since there is still Lao Zhang Shi, her seniority is high, even though her son died, she can¡¯t let them kick her away." After she finished speaking, she sighed and said, "I''m afraid that there will be those who are really cruel, they will divide the land and property as soon as the person is buried." Widows had always been quiet, and those like Li Wanyun who hadn¡¯t given birth to a son were more likely to be bullied by their relatives. Now the Zhang family''s property and fields were equivalent to no one inheriting them, and those relatives who had a bad heart would come to seize them. Even if they couldn¡¯t seize them for a while, they would come to the door every three days to persecute and threaten her, how could she, as a woman, could bear this kind of crime. "Those people are black hearted and evil. Even if we women and fulangs have no men, we have worked hard for the family for more than ten or twenty years, but they can''t see it. Once the men leave, they come to bully the orphans and widows. They will say that the family business will be thrown into the hands of others (the wive have different surname), it was better to give them to these relatives." Wei Lanxiang almost gritted her teeth when she said the word "relatives", and she said angrily with a "bah": "I have worked for more than ten years, not to mention sewing, mending and washing, but also weaving cloth and raising chickens and ducks. I could sell those things for money, and after I got married, it was not like I ate and did nothing. But others still said that the family business belonged to the Shen family and had nothing to do with me. " Seeing that he was obedient, Wei Lanxiang responded repeatedly: "Okay, don''t be angry." Once the chatterbox was opened, it was difficult to stop. After taking a sip of hot water, she continued: "Gu Zi, you don''t know, after your father in law left, when your brother Daqing got married, some distant relatives who had never seen each other came and made an idea to snatch??our house and fields. Tell me, how could they do this?, I gave birth to two sons and still couldn¡¯t stop those black-hearted thieves." "Fortunately, the eldest and the second were both grown up, so they didn''t succeed." Wei Lanxiang felt relieved when he said this. In fact, before she got married, she would not be able to say these words, because all she saw and understood were all like this, but after marrying Shen Shunfu, she gradually changed. Shen Shunfu had never been educated, and he was a rough old man, but he thought a lot in his head. First of all, he was different from other people in his enthusiasm for treating others well, he could still see the hardships of women and fulangs, and his heart was different from others. Let alone beating his wife, he had never even scolded Wei Lanxiang. Even if he was helpless when he encountered such injustice, he would sigh to Wei Lanxiang that it was not easy for girls and shuang¡¯ers in the world. Under the influence of her ears and eyes, she thought differently from before. CH 83.2 Three days was not long, and soon it would be time to lift and bury the dead in the soil. The snow had melted, and it was flowing from the eaves like rain. The snow in the yard and the road outside was also melting, and the ground was muddy. There was a lot of crying and shouting outside, it was a mess, Lu Gu sat in the room with Ji Qiuyue and didn''t go out, even the door was closed. They here paid particular attention to eat lunch before lifting the coffin, and those men who were full of food would have strength, so today Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing ate at Zhang¡¯s house. The meal was a vegetarian feast, there were not many dishes in winter, and the more expensive one on the table was tofu. The others were nothing but cabbage, radish, and a wild vegetable, a total of four bowls. "Sister-in-law, it''s done, now you can use it." Lu Gu handed over the embroidered tiger pattern purse. Lion and tiger could ward off evil spirits. Wei Lanxiang felt that the red belt was not enough, so she asked him to sew a purse with a tiger pattern on it. She went to the temple yesterday to ask for an amulet, and she hung it around Ji Qiuyue''s neck as soon as she came back. "It''s so beautiful." Ji Qiuyue took it. It happened that her purse was old. It was made of rags and had no embroidery. Now that she had a new purse, her face was full of joy. They were talking in the room, and after a while, they heard Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing coming back. Unlike the death of the elderly, there was no need to wail, blow wind instruments and hit the drums in the grave today, just bury it. [¿ÞÉ¥ k¨± s¨¡ng: formal wailing while offering sacrifice to the departed] Wei Lanxiang prepared the brazier early in the morning, and when they saw the two of them came back, she hurriedly brought the brazier to the gate of the courtyard, so that they could only come in after they stepped over it. Their family had a pregnan woman, which was different from other families. People in the village knew what was going on when they passed by, and they didn''t know how they would chew their tongues. After the two of them finished stepping over the brazier, Wei Lanxiang asked her two sons to wash their hands well, and gave each of them a new red belt to change into. Only after changing their belt they could see Ji Qiuyue. In the past few days, Shen Yaoqing didn''t sleep with Ji Qiuyue at night because he was digging a new grave, so he set up a wooden bed for himself in the main room for a few nights. Everyone in the village came back, and Zhang''s relatives were no exception. After putting in order her two sons, Wei Lanxiang went to Quan Zi''s house. Not long after, there was a noise from the next door, and when she heard the sound, her heart both raised and fell. Sure enough, as she thought, these people had no good intentions. Fortunately, Lin Zhongcai was at Zhang''s house, with him, even people from other villages had to give him some face, and didn¡¯t dare to loot Zhang''s house at will. But even if he was here, Zhang Zhengzi had no heirs, and there was nothing he could do if the relatives of the Zhang family came to divide the family property, this kind of thing was the way of the world. In the past few days, Lao Zhang cried so much that she passed out several times. Her only son was gone, and her heart was dug out. In addition, her right leg was broken, and she became much older in just a few days. At this moment, Li Wanyun was surrounded by many people, who said they wanted to discuss with her how to divide the property and land. She, a weak woman, had never seen such a battle before. There was a lot of noise in the yard, and everything was forced to reach this point. The Li family scolded the relatives of the Zhang family for not being human, they still bullied widows, and Lao Zhang''s natal family also came. As soon as they talked about it, the relatives of the Zhang family took the issue of having no heir, and the two parties scolded while talking, and some people said that if the family property was not divided, Li Wanyun had to adopt one of Zhang Zhengzi''s nephew, so as not to let the Zhang family''s property fall into the hands of outsiders like her Li family, Otherwise, it would be said that Li family stole the other family¡¯s property, and his Li family would not even think about being human anymore. When it was the time to bury Zhang Zhengzi, Lao Zhang passed out and was carried into the room and fell asleep. After the burial, no one thought of her, and she only woke up when she heard the noise. Although her leg was broken and her expression was sluggish, but when she heard that those people disregarded her life and wanted to divide her property and fields, anger ignited in her heart, well, everyone treated her old woman as a dead person, and she immediately yelled and scolded in the room. Lin Zhongcai got a headache from this group of people quarreling, and when he heard Lao Zhang who was yelling and scolding in the room, he quickly got her carried out. Lao Zhang''s son was gone, and relatives who hadn''t seen each other for many years threatened her. She was in great pain and cried, and she didn''t forgive anyone. CH 84.1 Shen Xuanqing hurried out, even Lu Gu could see his guilty conscience, let alone Shen Yan. She was the youngest in the family, and the two older brothers treated her really well, but sometimes even Shen Yaoqing, who was over twenty years old, would tease and make fun of her, and Shen Xuanqing was no exception. She couldn''t beat her two older brothers when her braids were pulled, so she had to ask someone for help. In the past, Ji Qiuyue could restrain Shen Yaoqing, and now, someone finally could restrain Shen Xuanqing, her joy was obvious, she turned to Lu Gu and said: "Brother Guzi, you can help me more in the future, the second brother is too annoying." After Shen Xuanqing slipped out with a guilty conscience, Lu Gu was actually a little dazed, and he nodded subconsciously when he heard her words. Seeing that he agreed, Shen Yan laughed a few times, and she was even happier, thinking that Brother Erqing couldn¡¯t bully her again in the future. Lu Gu didn''t really understand about Shen Xuanqing''s reaction, and he didn''t know how to help Shen Yan in the future. He had seen Ji Qiuyue beat Shen Yaoqing before. Could it be that she wanted him to help her like this? Another piece of icicle was knocked off, and it fell hard to the ground and shattered into several pieces. The puppy wanted to come over, but fearing that he would be hit by the icicle, Lu Gu hurriedly chased him away, forgetting what he was thinking just now. When Shen Xuanqing came back from buying the meat, Wei Lanxiang, Lu Gu and Shen Yan entered the kitchen. One person made a bowl of hot meatball soup to eat refreshingly, but there were many people in the family, and it must be cooked in a large pot. The meatballs that Wei Lanxiang made were the same size, and she could make it very fast with her hands. Lu Gu had never done this before, so he learned a few times. Because he wanted to stir-fry radish and steamed buns, he made a few meatballs and went to cook the vegetables. Shen Yan boiled water and added firewood, she also learned from Wei Lanxiang by the way. After the delicious meatballs were cooked, Lu Gu''s dishes and steamed buns were served. There were ten meatballs in each person''s bowl. The minced meat was finely chopped, and the meatballs were very tender when you bit it. The broth was fresh and delicious. Even without shallots or chopped green leaves, it was delicious enough. Wei Lanxiang drank the hot soup and felt comfortable all over her body. Seeing that everyone in the family was eating deliciously, she smiled and said: " There''s still some in the pot, so you can scoop it more. I made a lot of it today, I''m sure we can''t finish it in one meal. Tomorrow I''ll cut some radishes and put them in, it''s good to eat. " Shen Xuanqing bought a lot of meat, and the two brothers had a big appetite for meat, so Wei Lanxiang cooked in a big pot, and she was still willing to let her family to eat deliciously. The hot soup, hot dishes, and hot steamed buns were warm and made everyone happy to eat it on a winter evening. The sky was clear, the ground was dried in the sun. Under the wall in the shelter from the wind, Wei Lanxiang and Ji Qiuyue moved chairs to bask in the sun, they made shoe soles and sewed clothes, there was always work to do, and they couldn''t be free. After a while, Zhou Xiangjun brought Shen Yu over to visit. The country women did needlework in winter, and they loved this kind of sunny day the most. They could bask in the warmth of the sun and their hands were not cold. Usually in this kind of good weather, there would be many women and fulangs in the village gathering together to gossip and laugh. Wei Lanxiang also liked to go to this kind of gathering in the previous years. This year, because Ji Qiuyue was pregnant, she didn''t go there. There were too many people from the village and there were children running around. It was the same to bask at home with peace of mind. Shen Yuping''s marriage hadn¡¯t been discussed so far, so Zhou Xiangjun couldn''t help but sigh with few more words, and while he was talking, Quanzi¡¯s Fulang also came over to visit with his baby in his arms. Lu Gu wasn''t often at home before, so he wasn''t very familiar with Quanzi''s fulang, but Wei Lanxiang was different, when she saw the chubby baby she was overjoyed, she hugged and played with him for a while, even Ji Qiuyue liked this baby very much. Shen Yan came over to tease the fat baby. When she saw that Lu Gu took the hoe, she got up quickly and said, "Brother Guzi, I''m going too." She turned to Zhou Xiangjun and Quanzi¡¯s fulang and said, "Third aunt, brother Zhen, I''m going out first." "Go, be careful." Wei Lanxiang reminded her, she was at ease since Shen Xuanqing also went with them, so she didn''t care too much, and continued to talk with Zhou Xiangjun. Shen Xuanqing put the hoe in Lu Gu''s hand into the bamboo basket on his back. Today was a good day, and Shen Yaoqing also went up the mountain to dig winter bamboo shoots with bambbo basket on his back. He also brought a hatchet and hemp rope to chop some firewood. In a few days, they had accumulated many firewood, and they used a cart to sell it in the town, which was more or less an income, and firewood also sold well in winter. The bamboo groves was far away, and all four dogs in the family were brought with them. Digging winter bamboo shoots was a laborious job, not easy. Finding underground winter bamboo shoots required experience. Shen Yan was young and rarely came to bamboo groves. Lu Gu had dug them before, even if he was not as experienced as Shen Yaoqing, he looked for cracks and the bulging on the ground to find the bamboo whip ( Öñ ±Þ) and followed the bamboo whip to find the winter bamboo shoots, in the end he could dig up three winter bamboo shoots. The winter bamboo shoot was hidden in the ground, you had to look for it carefully, and you had to grope it with your hands from time to time, otherwise it would be bad if you continued to dig it with a hoe and broke the bamboo whip or the winter bamboo shoots. Shen Yan followed Shen Yaoqing to dig not far away. Lu Gu put the three winter bamboo shoots into the bamboo basket, and pushed the dug soil back with a hoe. Seeing that Shen Xuanqing dug the winter bamboo shoots, he carried the bamboo basket over to help. Seeing him coming, Shen Xuanqing didn''t let him do it, and said with a smile: "Go home and cook it with fried bacon, stewed chicken with bamboo shoots is also delicious." CH 84.2 Since the beginning of winter, the meat in the house almost had never been cut off. Lu Gu never felt hungry again, and although he hadn''t gained much flesh, his face was ruddy, and it was much better than before. After finished speaking, Shen Xuanqing bent down and threw the winter bamboo shoots he had dug up into the bamboo basket, then he turned to ask Lu Gu: "Why don''t you wear the hairpin?" Lu Gu replied honestly: "I''m afraid I''ll lose it when I''m working." Hairpin was different from hair wrapper. Shuang''er in the country often wrapped his hair with a cloth. No matter what he did, he didn¡¯t need to be afraid that it would get loose. Lu Gu was not used to use hairpin. If by any chance it was lost, it would be offense, even if it fell on the ground, he would be distressed, so he always kept the hairpin in the room. Shen Xuanqing paused, he felt that it was true, and he nodded in response: "That''s right." The puppy and the big dogs sniffed and dug holes in the bamboo forest, together they caught two big bamboo rats. The dead bamboo rat was held in the mouth by Dahui, the puppy barked, he bit the leg of the bamboo rat and wanted to fight for it, Dahui let out a low growl from his throat with the prey in his mouth, so the puppy stopped after a while. The big dogs ran towards Shen Xuanqing with their preys, and it was inevitable that they came here to claim credit. Shen Xuanqing patted the heads of the three big dogs as a reward, and the two bamboo rats would be roasted for them when they got back. As for the puppy, there was Lu Gu who was stroking his heads and smoothing his fur. He was so happy, and even barked and rubbed his head against Lu Gu''s hands, so he had no time to pay attention to others. He was brought up by Lu Gu, so he was naturally closer to Lu Gu. "Brother Guzi, how much have you dug? I dug six." Shen Yan was tired from digging with the hoe, and she looked up to see Lu Gu who was playing with the puppy. Because she had dug so many winter bamboo shoots, she couldn''t help but want to compare the winter bamboo shoots she dug up with her big brothers. "I only dug three." Lu Gu got up and stopped playing with the puppy, digging the winter bamboo shoots was the real business. Shen Xuanqing''s place was narrow, so it was not good for two people to dig with the hoe together, and after digging in the new place, he suddenly became aware of something. In the past, he wouldn¡¯t dare to be distracted from his work, let alone playing with the dog, but now Shen Xuanqing had never scolded him. Digging winter bamboo shoots was quite tiring. They carried two bamboo baskets and dug about fifty winter bamboo shoots. This amount was not many, when they went back, chopped off the roots and peeled off the shell, there was not much food inside. Before going back, Shen Yaoqing chopped a large bundle of firewood. Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing carried bamboo baskets on their backs. When they returned from the bamboo forest, they had to pass a crutch tree. Shen Yan picked up a lot of the crutch fruits on the ground and put them all in Shen Xuanqing''s bamboo basket. In the distance, the dogs barked at people. Shen Xuanqing took a closer look and saw that they were the villagers from the neighboring village who went hunting in the mountains, so he stopped the big dogs. The farmers worked in the fields in spring, summer and autumn, and they didn¡¯t do nothing during the winter slack. Most of the students went to private schools to study in winter. The others would go to the mountains to found something to subsidize their families. Ten years ago, they also practiced archery here in winter. Firstly, they could hunt wild prey and eat meat. Second, the good archers would be respected, and if they won the championship in the competition, they would also get some rewards. Practicing archery could keep your body healthy, and some people also would join the army to serve the country. Now the world was peaceful and prosperous, but it was still not easy to join the army and endure hardships. After going there for several years, if the women and children in the family had no support, they would be bullied by the villagers. Therefore both Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing preferred to pay the corvee money instead of joining the corvee, which saved them from being taken away as soldiers. Although there had been no archery competitions in recent years, there were people who still practiced archery or used slingshots. With this skill they could hunt things in the mountains and add something to subsidize the family in the winter. Shen Yaoqing was also good at archery, and when he was free, he took his dogs up the mountain to hunt. Although most of the things he hunted were common wild animals such as rabbits and pheasants, they were also very good. Now that they met, Shen Xuanqing greeted the two people from the neighboring village from a distance. The two men brought bows, arrows and dogs, knowing that he was good at archery, they joked that they would learn from each other in the future. Unlike others, Shen Xuanqing spent most of the year on the mountain. He was a good archer and hunter. Few people who only practiced archery in the winter could match him, but he still responded with a smile. It was just past noon when they got home, the sun was high and Wei Lanxiang was still basking in the sun under the wall, Quanzi¡¯s Fulang went back early with the baby in his arms, but Zhou Yunzhi came to visit. "Aunt." Lu Gu who was behind Shen Xuanqing called her, and Zhou Yunzhi looked at him. " why are you just coming back now?" Wei Lanxiang put down the sole shoe. "Second sister-in-law, Yu ge¡¯er and I are going back first." Zhou Xiangjun got up immediately, Wei Lanxiang didn¡¯t prevent them from leaving, saying that he should also go back to cook, so he didn''t stay any longer. Zhou Yunzhi''s eyes were higher than the top, she looked down on the poor and she was greedy for petty gain, but she was not so stubborn. Seeing that Zhou Xiangjun was gone and it was not easy for her to stay, so she also stood up and went out. Today Wei Lanxiang gave her two persimmons, and she was quite satisfied. After eating, Lu Gu went to wash the dishes. Wei Lanxiang hesitated, she had something to say at first glance. Shen Xuanqing who originally wanted to go to the kitchen, sat down again, he said, "Mother, just say what you want to say." Wei Lanxiang glanced at the kitchen, and then spoke in a low voice. Zhou Yunzhi''s eldest son, Shen Yutao, was working in the town. When he came back the other day, he said that Lu Wen had entered the wealthy Li family''s house in the city. However, after inquiring, he found out that Lu Wen wasn¡¯t officially wed, instead, he became a concubine for others. It was good for rural people to marry a wife. There was no such thing as taking concubines. It was not uncommon for poor people to sell their daughters and shuang¡¯ers to be concubines for people in the city. But Lu Wen was the fulang that Wei Lanxiang once chose. As soon as she heard that he really entered the rich family''s house and was still a concubine, she couldn''t help but think a lot, and wanted to talk to Shen Xuanqing. During this period of time, Shen Xuanqing didn''t go to Luo Biao. They agreed before that if Li Mingshan wanted to harm him, Luo Biao would find someone to inform him, and Shen Xuanqing didn''t care about anything else. "Mother, don''t worry too much. I know the one with the surname Li. He is just a drunkard." Seeing her looking at himself, Shen Xuanqing said again, "What happened to Lu Wen has nothing to do with us, mother, don''t think too much, everything depends on me and elder brother. " Hearing this, Wei Lanxiang nodded, and that was the only way to go. As for Lu Wen being a concubine, Shen Xuanqing was a little surprised. Because Lu Wen regretted their marriage at the beginning, so he thought that Li Mingshan could give Lu Wen a title, but he didn''t expect him to be just a concubine. But that was also true, with the status of the Li family, it was not difficult to find a good family in the city. When he heard Luo Biao said that Li Mingshan''s mother was a powerful one, he could figure it out that she didn''t want her son to marry a country fulang. CH 85.1 It was another warm sunny day, and many people gathered at the entrance of Qingxi Village to bask in the sun, there were adults and children, and it was very lively. The mud whistle sounded, several children blew it with all their strength, and compared each other to see who could blow the loudest. Some of them their faces turned red, showing that they were holding their breath. There were two five years old boys each holding a tiger doll, howling in their mouths, saying that their big tiger was the most powerful. The two tiger dolls bumped their heads together, trying to defeat each other. the five years old girls and little Shuang''ers were mostly quiet, they sat on the small stools, bricks or stones to play with each other''s braids or play with the flower ropes. In the open space on the other side of the big tree, several seven years old children were playing spinning tops, the small whips in their hands were crackling, and the spinning tops were spinning on the ground. For those who played well, their spinning tops would never stopped, and even the adults who were watching from the side shouted, and some men with itchy hands even took the small whips from the children''s hands to whip the spinning tops for a while. The idle men here were squatting or standing, a few people gathered together to chat and have fun. Under the trees and under the wall over there, the old people were basking themselves and gossiping, and the married women and fulangs sat together to do needlework, and each had their own words. There was nothing to do today, Lu Gu, Wei Lanxiang, Shen Yan, and Ji Qiuyue went to the entrance of the village to join in the fun, otherwise it would be boring to stay at home all day. Fifteen years old was exactly the age for the girls or shuang''ers to talk about marriage. Even though they were not married, they were no longer a child. There were many men in this place, so it was not good for them to wander around here. Shen Yan was not too young, she had nothing to say to the children at the entrance of the village, so she brought her embroidered bag to find Caixia and the others. A horse''s head was pasted on the bamboo pole to make a bamboo horse, and five boys rode on the bamboo horse and held twigs in their hands as the swords, they were sweating from playing and shouting. After the autumn harvest many people sold their harvests for money. Winter was the time they could stay idle, and the well-off families would send their nine years old children to private schools. At this moment, Lu Gu was sitting next to Ji Qiuyue, he heard several women said that their sons had gone to private schools and they could recognize several words in a few pages of the book. Shen Xuanqing and Boss Lu got up early to go to Fucheng to handle the land deed, and it was estimated that they wouldn¡¯t come back until evening. When they were at home just now, Shen Yaoqing led the three of them to recite the three character classic, and they didn¡¯t come out until they had finished writing. They came to the entrance of the village to have fun, while Shen Yaoqing took advantage of the warmth weather and pulled the cart to the town to sell firewood, jujubes and winter bamboo shoots. A bamboo dragonfly flew over, it hit Lu Gu''s shoulder and fell. He subconsciously picked it up, and then he saw a little girl who was wearing a tiger hat came over. She looked like only three years old, her little dark face was flushed, but it looked fleshy, and the eyes were black and big. "Is it yours?" Lu Gu asked her in a low voice. The little girl was very shy, she just nodded and said nothing, Lu Gu smiled and gave her the bamboo dragonfly. The child took the bamboo dragonfly and ran away, together with several other little girls and little shuang''ers, they rolled it between their hands for a while and then they let go the bamboo dragonfly, the bamboo dragonflies flew towards the sky. Speaking of which, all the children could wear the tiger head hat, and they wore it to keep themselves from the cold in winter, but in the village the tiger head hat was mostly used by little boys, because the villagers valued men more. Like this little girl who was obviously loved by her mother, her clothes were patched like most children, but it was very clean, unlike other children who played all day and got a lot of dust and dirt. The tiger-head hat on her head was well made, even Ji Qiuyue told Lu Gu that it looked good. The sun warmed the world and drove away the winter chill. However, not everyone had the hustle and bustle in the world. In the room of the Zhang family, Li Wanyun was still cooking in the kitchen in thin clothes, her fingers were red and swollen, and her expression was sluggish and gloomy. Zhang Zhengzi¡¯s first seven days had passed and Lao Zhang still had a broken leg and couldn''t go out. She was a woman and couldn''t carry her alone. At most, she called Quanzi¡¯s mother to help her carry Lao Zhang out to sit in the yard to bask in the sun. The only son died, and Lao Zhang would be in a daze for a long time without speaking, until she saw Li Wanyun, as if she had found someone to vent her anger, she scolded her when she got angry, she looked a little crazy than before. From outside the kitchen, Lao Zhang''s hurl abuse gradually calmed down. She was old, and her body had lost her vitality due to injuries, so she had to rest after cursing for a while. Although Zhang Zhengzi didn''t beat her anymore, Li Wanyun''s life was still difficult. Yesterday, Lao Zhang''s natal family came to see the old lady. Li Wanyun poured tea for them. Before she could say a word, Lao Zhang began to cry, she said that she was not filial, first she killed Zhang Zhengzi, and then refused to give her the old woman some food. There was another commotion over this matter, and Lao Zhang¡¯s second sister in law from the Zhang family also came over. Since the old lady was old and had lost her son, the blame fell entirely on her. "Hiss." Li Wanyun stopped chopping the vegetables, she was so distracted, she didn''t even know what she was thinking, there was a small cut on her finger, and it was bleeding. She put her injured finger into her mouth, her eyes were gloomy and lifeless. The days were muddled and there was no way to go forward. The sun couldn¡¯t illuminate the kitchen, so she shivered from the cold. CH 85.2 After dinner in the evening, Lu Gu washed the dishes, Shen Yan brought in a jujube cake and shared half of it with him. The jujube cake was made for Ji Qiuyue, Shen Yan was greedy after eating one, but was afraid that Wei Lanxiang would say that she was too gluttonous, so she said that Brother Guzi wanted to eat it too, so she brought a small one and came over. Lu Guteng couldn¡¯t take the cake with his hands, so Shen Yan stuffed the cake in his mouth directly. The jujube cake was soft and sweet, with a rich jujube fragrance. This cake is better than pears, and there was no need to afraid even if you keep it in the cold weather. Eating winter pears was too gritty, so it could only be eaten after boiled it with brown sugar water or plain water. "I''ll boil the water." Shen Yan was eating the cake, and when Lu Gu finished scooping up the water and wiped the pot clean, he went outside to take the firewood to boil more water to wash and soak feet at night. Lu Gu went outside the door to wash the pot to boil the water. Before he could go back to the kitchen, he saw a tall figure in the distance. Shen Xuanqing came back, Dahui and the puppy who were playing in the village followed him. When Shen Xuanqing got closer, he held the pot and smiled slightly, he said, "Have you eaten? I''ll warm up the meal for you." Shen Xuanqing also smiled, and the two of them walked together after he said "um". As soon as he entered the door and saw Wei Lanxiang, Shen Xuanqing said, "Mother, the official seal is stamped" "It¡¯s good." Wei Lanxiang felt more at ease. Although it was Shen Xuanqing''s land, they did¡¯t separate the family and lived together. In the future, when Shen Xuanqing went up the mountain, Shen Yaoqing would do the work in the fields, and she would also help. The more land they owned and the more rice they would harvest, their lives would be better. Since he bought the lands by himself, Shen Xuanqing himself who kept the deed, and he went into his room to put it away, and after a while Lu Gu also came in. "I put the bamboo steamer on the pot, Yanyan still boiling the water and when it boils, it will be hot." After not seeing each other for a day, Lu Gu was still trying to find something to say, even he himself didn''t know why. Now he also called Yanyan, imitated Ji Qiuyue. Because Shen Yan was young, usually at home they would call her with her first name and surname or with her nickname, all mixed up, and Wei Lanxiang would either call her by her first name directly, or call her little girl. "The deed, you keep it." Shen Xuanqing handed the deed to Lu Gu. Now that Lu Gu had read a lot of characters, he opened the land deed and saw that there was a red official seal on it, and the thin piece of paper was exactly the deed of their family''s five acres of lands. "And this." Shen Xuanqing took out a red envelope from his bosom, which contained something. Hearing that Lu Gu raised his eyes, he saw a silver bracelet in the opened red envelope. He was a little panicked, and he couldn''t tell who Shen Xuanqing bought it for. How could ordinary people buy two silver jewelry in a short period of time, besides, the silver hairpin was still new and had never been worn, so Lu Gu didn''t think that the bracelet was for himself. "You wear it, the hairpin is easy to fall off, but this one won''t fall off." Seeing him in a daze, Shen Xuanqing took his left hand, put the silver bracelet on his hand, and said, "Wear the hairpin during the New Year, if you don¡¯t know how to comb your hair, you can find sister-in-law or mother, they both know how to do it." The family''s new clothes for the New Year were about to be made, and Shen Xuanqing knew about it, he was also happy to let her fulang wear new clothes and hairpins. Lu Gu''s hands were clenched together, and Shen Xuanqing put the silver bracelet on him with a little effort. It was not too big or too small, and it was just right. The shiny silver bracelet had exquisite patterns. The first time he wore bracelet, he felt that his wrist was a little heavy, giving him a sense of presence. "The thin one is for Shen Yan, and the thick one is for my mother. Both of them will have something to wear during the New Year." Shen Xuanqing took out two more silver bracelets, he said, "In the future, if there is something good I will buy it for you, or if you like any jewelry, just tell me." Lu Gu¡¯s thought was always simple, Shen Xuanqing bought him a hairpin and silver bracelet because he valued him, now he couldn''t say anything else, so he said "um". For a moment, he couldn''t help but tugged at the corner of Shen Xuan''s clothes, he looked up and met those star eyes, then moved away embarrassingly. Shen Xuanqing looked at him with a smile. Although the two were silent, they were both very happy. After a while, Shen Yan shouted from the kitchen: "Second brother, the meal is hot." "Okay, I''m here." Shen Xuanqing replied. Lu Gu loosened the corner of his clothes, he blushed and said, "I''ll get it." After speaking, he hurried to the kitchen. "Mother, I bought this for you, a new bracelet for the New Year. "When Shen Xuanqing came out and saw Wei Lanxiang, he took out the silver bracelet. Wei Lanxiang was rubbing rawhide in a dustpan. It would be the twelfth lunar month in a few days. No matter whether it was five beans or eight beans, you had to cook beans and peanuts. She looked up and saw that Shen Xuanqing bought her a silver bracelet. She wiped her hands on her clothes, only then she dared to take it, and asked him with a smile on her face: "Is this expensive?" "You don''t have to worry about it, just wear it." Seeing that she was happy, Shen Xuanqing showed her the silver bracelet for Shen Yan. It was a little thinner, but it was just right for her young age. Wei Lanxiang used to have a lot of silver jewellery, but they were all sold later. It just so happened that Shen Yan came into the main room, and when she heard that it was a bracelet for her, her almond-eyed eyes widened, and Shen Xuanqing couldn''t help laughing when he saw her like this. "Second brother, is this really for me?" She took the bracelet and asked. "Of course." Shen Xuanqing smiled and asked her: "Who is better, big brother or second brother?" "Second brother." Shen Yan replied without thinking, but it was heard by Shen Yaoqing who came out of the room and immediately grabbed her pigtails and scolded her with a smile: ¡° Good Shen Yan, yesterday you also said that big brother is good, and I gave you the fish." Shen Yan protected her pigtails. Yesterday she ate the fresh fish caught by Brother Daqing, and Brother Erqing bought her a bracelet today, so she was very entangled in her heart. After some hesitation, she said carefully: "Then Big Brother and Second Brother all good? " It was Wei Lanxiang who felt sorry for her daughter''s braids, and raised her hand to slap Shen Yaoqing''s hand that wanted to pull Shen Yan''s braids, and scolded him with a smile: "Don''t pull her hair anymore." Only then did Shen Yaoqing stop with a smile. He knew that he didn¡¯t make money as much as his second brother, but he was not jealous either. Everyone had their own destiny. Besides, he himself had the strength to work in the fields, and earned no less than other people in the village. Now even if he didn''t have much money and he could ''t buy bracelets for his sister and mother, but you could also make them happy by buying headband. Shen Yan wore the bracelet beautifully, and she didn''t think the two elder brothers were annoying. CH 86.1 The village at the foot of the mountain was peaceful. The sky was not very good in the morning, it was gray, and it was like this in the cold winter. The days passed quickly, and it would be the twelfth lunar month in a few days. The smoke was rising from the kitchen, and even though there was little work in the winter, the second room of Shen''s family still ate three meals a day. If they didn''t fill their stomachs when they got used to eat three meals a day, they would feel agitated. The breakfast was simple, Lu Gu cut a few salted duck eggs today, and when he saw a lot of winter bamboo shoots in the bamboo basket after eating, he said to Shen Xuanqing: "Why don''t you kill an old hen and stew it with the bamboo shoots? The old hen is old and won''t lay eggs in the future, and we haven''t made soup for sister-in-law in the past few days." "Okay, I''ll do it." Shen Yaoqing heard it from the side, he didn''t let Shen Xuanqing go to the backhouse to catch the chicken, and he went by himself. Taking advantage of the fire at the bottom of the stove, Lu Gu added a few more firewood to scald the feather later. He brought the bamboo basket over, he sat in front of the stove and peeled the shells and cut the roots of the winter bamboo shoots, the silver bracelet on his wrist was shining. Shen Xuanqing squatted down to help him cut the root of the winter bamboo shoots when he had nothing to do. When he saw the bracelet on his wrist, he felt that he bought it right. Compared with the hairpin, the bracelet was better. "Didn''t I go to Fucheng the day before yesterday? I passed Fenggu Town on my way back." Shen Xuanqing''s voice was low, feeling that there were still somethings to tell Lu Gu. Lu Gu didn''t speak, but looked up, waiting for him to continue. "Lu Wen entered the Li family''s gate in the town. The young master of the Li family is called Li Mingshan, and he becomes Li Mingshan''s concubine." Shen Xuanqing took a piece of firewood from the side and sat down, he couldn''t squat for a long time, after that he said: "I heard people said that Li Mingshan''s mother married him a main wife just three days after he took a concubine." After he got the official seal and came back, he first went to the town to find Luo Biao, and got a general understanding of the situation. Because of Lu Wen''s matter, Li Mingshan and his mother had quarrel. His mother, Mrs. Zhang, doted on her son, but she was a powerful one. Li Mingshan bought a house for Lu Wen to live in and he ordered the maids and servants from the Li family to serve Lu Wen. Li Mingshan was also stupid, he didn''t bother to buy maids and servants, so he got two good people from his home. He felt that the maids at home had been taught the rules, so he didn''t need to worry about how to serve others. Lu Wen thought it was inappropriate at first, but after he took the maid out once, someone recognized that the maid was from the Li family who often bought things on the street. That person thought that he was a relative of the Li family and that person¡¯s flattering and fawning gave him face. Besides, Li Mingshan was the only son of Li''s parents, and everything in the Li family would belong to him in the future. Since Li Mingshan said that he didn''t need to care, he didn''t refuse. And the money in Li Mingshan''s hands was taken from his family. Mrs. Zhang didn¡¯t treat her son badly, she never asked how much money he spent, but if she really counted it, Li Mingshan''s plan couldn¡¯t be hidden from her, and she found the house soon. The maid who had been beaten by the board and was slapped in the mouth was pushed into Lu Wen''s house. Only then Mrs. Zhang knew about the affair between him and Li Mingshan. Mrs. Zhang got down from the sedan chair and she was helped by the big maid to the house gate. Mrs. Zhang''s sneer and other people''s gazes made Lu Wen almost faint. Li Mingshan rushed over after receiving the news. After a confrontation, Mrs. Zhang was so angry that Lu Wen turned pale with embarrassment. The unmarried adultery was revealed, and he was ashamed, but he also knew that only Li Mingshan could save him, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be able to live. Fortunately, Li Mingshan had a bit of a conscience, so he said on the spot that he wanted to marry him. After the quarrel, Mrs. Zhang was not cruel in front of her son, and reluctantly let go, but Lu Wen could only be a concubine, otherwise , she would go to Anjia Village, and let the villagers take a good look at what kind of shuang¡¯er they raised. No one else knew what Du Hehua and Lu Daxiang were thinking, Luo Biao watched the excitement in the town for a few days. Lu Wen was carried into the door of Li''s house in a small sedan chair. There are no three books and six ceremonies, let alone to be officialy wed. After the adultery was revealed, he couldn¡¯t hold his head up in front of Mrs. Zhang for the rest of his life, so even if the Li family didn''t even set up a banquet for him, he didn''t dare to have any complaints. Mrs. Zhang originally thought that her son would be able to inherit the family business, But she never thought that he was a credulous person that could be grasped even by a shuang¡¯er from the country. After checking, she even knew about Li Mingshan''s visits to brothels. She was so angry that she didn''t eat well for several days, in the end she forced Li Mingshan to marry a main wife. In her opinion, even if Lu Wen was not pleasing to the eyes, it was better to marry a wife and take a concubine than to go to a brothel, otherwise the money would be emptied, and those dirty things would pollute her son. Li Mingshan''s main wife was Luo Hongsi, the daughter of Ranfang Cloth Shop. She was not bad in appearance, but compared with Lu Wen, she was obviously not good enough, and Lu Wen, a concubine, actually entered the Li family before her. ¡°Marry a wife and then take a concubine¡±, but when it was her turn, it was the other way, how could she feel at ease. CH 86.2 How could Luo Biao know about the fight between the wive and concubine of the Li family? Well, that was a family matter, and the bastards and beggars he found couldn''t enter the Li family¡¯s gate. But after a little inquiring, he could tell that Luo Hongsi was not someone who could be bullied, at least she was the eldest lady of the cloth shop in the town, so inevitably she was someone with a bad temper. Even he knew that Lu Wen''s life shouldn¡¯t be easy, so Shen Xuanqing could naturally think about it too. Others didn''t know that Lu Wen also had resentment in his heart. He couldn''t be a serious fulang. Li Mingshan married his wife just three days after he came in. There was red silk to decorate the house and big banquet was held at home. The wedding night in the bridal chamber was also very lively, but he only could sit alone in the room and listen to it, almost wringing the handkerchief in his hand. He had done everything to make Li Mingshan marry him. At first, he let Li Mingshan tell this matter to his family, but that bastard couldn''t even make a decision about his marriage and he didn''t dare to see him, so he went to the brothel to drink flower wine. He overheard this incident on the street. He didn''t believe it at first, but those two men made it clear that it was Li Mingshan. When he came back to ask the servant, the servant who was always with Li Mingshan looked around and looked flustered, everything became clear. He was so angry, he also saw a bit of Li Mingshan''s lustful nature. There was a moment of regret, he regretted that he had misjudged him, but the matter had come to this point, he could only be the fulang of the Li family. He had given up on justice, integrity, and honor. He didn''t believe that with his appearance and means, he couldn¡¯t make Li Mingshan devoted to him. He did it, even if Li Mingshan married his first wife, he lingered in his wife''s room for a few days before coming to him again. Lu Wen didn''t know that Li Mingshan was getting bored and came to change his dishes. He was smart, and after suffering in the Li family these days, he gradually saw some things clearly. However, Li Mingshan was really kind to him, and he wouldn¡¯t give in at all when he quarreled with the old lady, and bought him a lot of silk, satin, gold hairpins and jade hairpins, all kinds of expensive food and clothing , so he could bear it in his heart. The old lady hated him, and if he wanted to live in Li''s house, she had to hold Li Mingshan firmly in his hands. Lu Gu didn¡¯t know Lu Wen''s various thoughts, he only came back to his senses when he blinked after listening to Shen Xuanqing. Before marrying him, he only knew that Lu Wen had relationship with the people in the town, but today he found out that the man''s name was Li Mingshan. Not to mention other places, the daughter and shuang''er of a good family in the countryside here only wanted to marry a decent man, and only those who couldn''t make it through would sell their daughter or shuang''er to be a concubine. As for Lu Wen, he thought that even in the town, Lu Wen could be a fulang. Not to mention anything else, he had never seen anyone who looked better than Lu Wen, so he was stunned for a while by the fact that Lu Wen was a concubine. "Don''t think too much, we won''t have any relationship with him in the future." Shen Xuanqing smiled. After such a long time, Lu Wen and Li Mingshan didn''t use any means to deal with them. Before, he let Li Mingshan get entangled in the brothel, and now Lu Wen had entered Li''s house, and a lot of things were waiting for him. Besides, he heard from Luo Biao that Mrs. Zhang hated Lu Wen very much. She should have checked the information about the Lu family. Lu Wen and him were engaged and almost married. When he thought about it, Lu Wen wouldn¡¯t dare to mention it in front of the Li family, otherwise, it would only attract more and more disgust from the Li family. If there was any trouble in the future, they could only try to solve it, and there was no need to worry about it right now. "Yeah." Lu Gu nodded, he was stupid and didn''t understand those corners, so he could only listen to Shen Xuanqing. He peeled the winter bamboo shoots and asked: "Do you want to eat dried fish? At noon, I will fry a bowl with dried chili." When he saw that he really didn''t take this matter too seriously, Shen Xuanqing smiled lightly and said, "Okay, I''ll eat whatever you cook." Shen Xuanqing''s smile was so beautiful that Lu Gu also quietly bent his eyes. The winter bamboo shoots needed to be blanched to remove the bitter taste. Shen Yaoqing chopped the chicken after killing it. Lu Gu stewed the chicken with the clay stove. The chicken needed to be stewed for a longer time to taste better. In the morning, they got up later than in the summer, and it would be almost noon when the chicken soup was ready, and it would always be hot when it was simmered on a low fire. The sun didn''t come out much today, and the sky was not very good. The lunch was very rich, chicken with winter bamboo shoots soup and fried dried fish with chili. Because Wei Lanxiang said she wanted to eat dry rice, Lu Gu steamed a lot of rice, the chicken soup was bright, and the dried fish was very spicy and delicious. While eating, Ji Qiuyue also said that his cooking skills were getting better and better, and he felt a little embarrassed. Having nothing to do after dinner, Shen Xuanqing untied the dog chains and let them run outside. The dogs who was accustomed to living in the mountain, they inevitably howled after being tied for a long time. These dogs were good at hunting, but because the women and children in the village were afraid of their sharp-teeth, Shen Xuanqing also went out to watch, and told them to run on the hillside behind the village instead of going into the village. Dahui and the puppy were also outside. Because it was close to the mountain, many people in the village had dogs, and those who could be released generally would¡¯t bite people. Dogs liked to play together, one ran to the back of the village, and the others followed. CH 86.3 Some people in the village would sit on the threshold when they had nothing to do, chatting with their neighbors and passers-by. Because Lu Gu was a young fulang, he rarely sat in the threshold because he was thin-skinned. He came out to wash the pot and saw a lot of dogs coming, Da Hui and the puppy were also among them. The puppy wagged his tail and wanted to play, but he didn''t take it to heart, and was about to go back with the pot in his hand, when suddenly a dog provoked Dahui, barking viciously and rushing over, biting and fighting. The tibetan mastiff was bigger than other dogs in the village, and Dahui had hunting and biting skills. He used to fight with dogs in the village and became the leading dog, but because he was often in the mountain, sometimes one or two big dogs would fight with him when he ame back for the position of the leading dog. Once the dogs started barking and biting, they all bared their teeth, even the puppy. The movement was too sudden, Lu Gu was very close to them, and a group of dogs started fighting. When a group of dogs fought, sometimes strong men didn''t dare to get close, and it was easy to accidentally injure people. Shen Xuanqing was at the side, seeing that the situation was not right, he strode over and quickly protected and brought Lu Gu into the house. Two thin dogs barked on the hillside and the long-legged dogs ran back and helped Dahui bite the other dogs together with the puppy. The dogs would also form gangs, even if they bit each other into a ball, it was difficult for people to distinguish, but the dogs knew which one to bite. The fight was very loud, and Lu Gu was worried about the puppy, even though he was stronger than ordinary dogs. Shen Xuanqing wasn''t too worried, he didn''t come forward to help drive the other dogs away, he had to go on his own to fight for the position of the leader, and the help of others was not counted. Many idlers in the village heard the commotion, and they all stood at the door to watch, and some who liked to watch the excitement came over to take a closer look. Lu Gu hid behind Shen Xuanqing and only poked his head out, he tugged Shen Xuanqing¡¯s clothes with one hand, and asked, "What about Guaizi?" "He will be fine." Shen Xuanqing didn''t turn his head but kept watching the puppy. The puppy was clever, relying on his size to bite the other dogs. If a dog bigger than him came to bite him, he would dodge very quickly and very skillfully. He didn''t suffer much because of his thick fur. Besides, there were three big dogs in the village who belonged to the same group as Dahui. The dogs that had seen blood were more ferocious. In order to prevent Dahei from fighting and biting too hard, Shen Xuanqing took the wooden stick behind the door and held it in his hand, not only Dahei, sometimes the dogs would bit and wouldn''t let go. It was not easy for the villagers to raise a dog, and it couldn''t be killed in a fight. Of course, the most important thing was to prevent his dogs from being bitten, so that he could take action in time. Soon, Dahui pressed the provocative dog under his body, and the dog broke free two or three times, but the tail was obviously tucked, and Dahui bared his teeth again, showing a fierce look, and the dog ran away with the other dogs. This was the first time Lu Gu saw Dahui¡¯s ferocious look, and he was startled, but when Dahui turned around and walked home, he regained his composure, and even rubbed against him and Shen Xuanqing¡¯s leg when he passed by. The puppy was very proud because they won the battle, he held his head up and barked a few times, and even ran over to whine at Lu Gu, as if to show off. "Don''t pay attention to him, if you care for him after he fights, he will think that you give him encouragement, and when he meets another dog in the village, he will go and bite the dog." Shen Xuanqing stopped Lu Gu. Although the dogs in the village were free, there were some incidents where one or two dogs were killed in a fight before. Their family¡¯s dogs were all hunting dog and they had no grudges against the villagers. But they couldn''t let the puppy get used to fight, or when their dogs killed or maimed another dogs, the owner of the dogs would come to the door to ask for explanation. Some idlers would intentionally provoke the dog to bite them, he was not used to it, the dog would suffer if it was injured, besides, the dog he raised was going to go hunting in the mountains, and it was not easy to hunt when the dog was injured, especially the dog with long and slender legs was easy to get injured, let alone become lame. Lu Gu had no idea about raising the dogs, but he listened to Shen Xuanqing and ignored the puppy''s request for credit. He put the pot in the kitchen, and as soon as he came out, he saw Li Wanyun stood outside the door with a shrunken expression on her face. "Guzi, is aunt Lanxiang here?" When she saw someone came out, Li Wanyun dared to enter the door. Just now she saw the dogs fought and was too frightened to go out. She stood up at the door and saw Da Hui lay down in the yard while panting, she didn''t dare to go in and out at will "Mother." Lu Gu shouted towards the main room, then he hurried over to stop the family''s dogs that wanted to surround her. Li Wanyun felt relieved after he came over. "Wanyun." Wei Lanxiang came out of the room and asked her what''s the matter. Li Wanyun held a bowl of mixed flour in her hand, she was embarrassed, she wanted to smile but her smile was unsightly, she said in a low voice: "My mother said she wants to eat salted duck eggs, I, I want to exchange one with aunt." Compared a bowl of mixed flour with duck eggs, the mixed flour was worthless, especially when it was compared to the salted duck egg, which was pickled with salt, but she really could ''t help it. Wei Lanxiang saw that she was still dressed thinly, her face was ashen, and she could even see lifelessness, even though she felt a bit at a disadvantage, she still took her bowl of mixed flour with a sigh. If others wanted to take advantage of her like this, Wei Lanxiang wouldn¡¯t agree, but Li Wanyun was obviously embarrassed, she was a poor woman, so it didn¡¯t matter for her. When Li Wanyun was waiting for Wei Lanxiang to get the duck eggs, she lowered her head and saw the silver bracelet on Lu Gu''s hand. Before, she went out and wanted to come over, but she saw some dogs fought, and before she came back home, she saw the scene where Shen Xuanqing ran to protect Lu Gu. She was a little envious in her heart, but she knew that she didn''t have such a blessing. CH 87.1 In the afternoon, Lu Gu and Shen Yan sat in the main room to read and write. The Three-Character Classic book was not very thick, so after so many days, they could follow Shen Xuanqing to read it from beginning to end. They were not familiar with some difficult characters, but for the simple characters they already memorized and could write it. It was fast to read and recognize, but not so fast to write and practice writing the characters. Dahui had injuries on his body, but fortunately he was fat and his fur coat was thick in winter, and it was only some skin injuries, so it was not serious with a little blood. The puppy¡¯s fur coat was not as thick as Dahui¡¯s fur coat, but Shen Xuanqing still checked them carefully, and he was relieved after he made sure that the two of them were fine. As for the puppy, he was young, and the other dogs didn''t pay much attention to him during the fight. He was also too clever and would dodge, so only some of his fur was bitten off, and a bit of tail hair was gone, which was quite obvious. The dogs were playing in the house and gnawing the bones, and the people in the main room were bored practicing calligraphy, but with Shen Xuanqing watching, Lu Gu didn''t dare to distract himself even if he wanted to. The same was true for Shen Yan. Even though she had never been beaten since she was a child, but compared with her mother, she was still more afraid of her two elder brothers, besides, studying was a serious matter. Shen Xuanqing didn''t scold her, but Wei Lanxiang would come over to scold her when she saw her running around. After an hour passed, Shen Xuanqing read the characters written by the two of them, then nodded and said: "Okay, that''s it for today." Shen Yan let out a long sigh of relief, stood up and stretched her waist, she was frowning when she was writing, but now she smiled. Lu Gu had always been cautious, even though he felt that he finally finished writing, he was not as relaxed as he was on the face. Just as he was about to get up, Shen Xuanqing suddenly realized that he had written a character wrong. "The character Gui is wrong." Shen Xuanqing put the paper in front of him and pointed at the wrong character. The character of Gui was not difficult to write, but he missed this simple one, Lu Gu scratched his cheek, feeling a little embarrassed. He sat down and planned to rewrite it twice. Knowing that he was tired, Shen Xuanqing said, "Wash your hands first and rest, you can write it later." Hearing this, Lu Gu quickly got up to wash his hands. He moved quickly, as if he was afraid of being caught back to write, which made Shen Xuanqing behind him smile helplessly. Shen Yan grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the room and put them on the table for Lu Gu to eat too. Studying was hard, when Wei Lanxiang saw that the two of them had finished writing, she brought a handful of hickory nuts for them. The stones for smashing walnuts were placed on the high table next to them. They had a lot of hickory nuts and when they had nothing to do these days, they just sat and smashed them together to eat. "Your third aunt asked if you can help Yuping after the New Year,Matchmaker Wang told him about a girl from Chenjiagou. She said that the girl has good character. There are two brothers and a sister in the family. The two brothers seem to be about the same age as Daqing. Your third aunt asked me to see if you two know the two brothers, and their names are Chen Zijun and Chen Zipeng. " Wei Lanxiang said while peeling hickory nut. Someone from their family wanted to get married and it was right to inquire the other party more. Although Chenjiagou was far away, young men often ran outside and knew many people. Yesterday she went to visit the third room¡¯s house, and Zhou Xiangjun asked her to ask if Shen Yaoqing and Shen Xuanqing knew about this family. Shen Yaoqing smashed two hickory nuts for Ji Qiuyue, and said, "I don''t know, later I will ask Boss Luif he has some relatives in Chenjiagou?" Wei Lanxiang nodded. They ate hickory nuts and melon seeds while gossiping, the sky gradually darkened. The dinner was simple, there were chicken soup and rice left over from noon, just heated them up and stir-fried a dish. It was windy again at night, and the window paper was blown loudly. Because the paste was strong, there was no need to worry about it being blown. Lu Gu fell into a drowsy sleep, shrinking into the bed, the quilt was thick, Tang pozi at his feet was warm, and Shen Xuanqing slept next to him, he didn''t feel cold at all. This year there were cotton shoes, tube sleeves, badger seed oil, and also tang pozi. The frostbite on his hands and feet had never been seen until now, and it was much, much better than in the previous years. The Zhang family, which was a few houses away, was too cold because of the small number of people. Li Wanyun didn''t take a bite of the salted duck eggs from the exchange during the day, and Lao Zhang ate them all, and she didn''t even dare to touch them with chopsticks. The admonition morality and conduct for women to respect her in-laws and serve her husband were almost engraved in her bones, and her temperament was too weak. At home, she always heard her parents said that when she got married she had to follow her husband. She didn''t read a book and didn''t know a single character. Even if Zhang Zhengzi didn''t die, she would live a life of supporting her husband and raising her children in muddle headed until she died when she was old. She could eat these days, Lao Zhang had a broken leg and could only sit and lie down, but if she found that she ate more, she would scold her. It would be fine if she just pretended not to hear her scolding, but Lao Zhang was old and had seniority. Several nephews from her brothers and sisters from her natal family would come to see her sometimes, and even one or two kind relatives from the Zhang family would also come over. Whenever someone came to the house, Lao Zhang would take the opportunity to have a fit, crying, cursing and yelling, she said that she couldn¡¯t get anything to eat or drink hot tea. Once she had a fit, Li Wanyun would be reprimanded by her relatives and elders, and she became more and more timid and cowered. CH 87.2 In the afternoon, Li Wanyun decocted the medicine and brought it to Lao Zhang''s room, she had to kneel down to pay her respects before getting up and handing over the medicine. Unexpectedly, the medicine was a bit hot, Lao Zhang didn''t pay attention when she drank it, and her mouth was scalded with the first sip, so she picked up her crutches and beat her. Li Wanyun didn''t dare to resist, so she endured it silently, but fortunately, Lao Zhang''s strength was weak, and because of her injury, she couldn''t even yell and scold her as vigorously as before. The cold wind was howling, and the night was getting colder and colder, but Li Wanyun was sleeping on the ground with a thin mattress and a thin quilt. She didn''t dare to take off her clothes, she wrapped her body and slept. It was inconvenient for Lao Zhang to go to latrine at night, so she called her to sleep in her room, but she was not even allowed to sleep on the small plank bed. In the dark, Lao Zhang''s snoring continued, Li Wanyun couldn''t sleep with her eyes open, she was hungry. She could still eat enough when she first came to the Zhang''s house, but gradually she couldn''t even eat food. Hungry and cold, it made her feel colder, she was dizzy for a while, and her mind was thinking wildly, and the silver bracelet on Lu Gu''s wrist appeared before her eyes again. She and Zhang Zhengzi got married earlier than Shen Xuanqing. Their houses were so close, the matter of the second room of the Shen family was clear to her, of course she knew how Lu Gu got here. After he suffered all kinds of bullying at Lu''s house, when he arrived at Shen''s house, he changed his luck. He was well fed and clothed without being beaten, and even had jewelry. Lu Gu was lucky and he met good people. She used to think this way too, but tonight, for some reason, this idea became stronger and stronger. Others had their own¡¯s blessings, only her fate was not good. She was getting more and more hungry, but she didn''t seem to notice it. She curled up in the thin quilt and opened her eyes numbly. Her eyes went black for a while, she felt dizzy and terrified when she looked at the darkness. There seemed to be a big black mouth in the darkness, trying to swallow her in one gulp. Suddenly, Lao Zhang on the bed woke up from her dream, she coughed and shouted: "The chamber pot!" Li Wanyun was awakened, and when she got up, she staggered. She took out the chamber pot from under the bed when she was stable. She helped Lao Zhang to sit up and wait for her to pee. The smell of fishy urine filled the air, and Li Wanyun''s eyes were dull, as if she hadn''t smelled it. After urinating, Lao Zhang spat and said, "Pour it out." The purpose of preparing a chamber pot in winter was to not go out. Most people pour it out early the next morning. Lao Zhang was not particular about cleanliness, but deliberately tossing her. Her son and Li Wanyun hadn''t even been married for two years before he died, so she poured out all her resentment and hatred on Li Wanyun, she believed that she had killed Zhang Zhengzi. Li Wanyun went out to pour the thing in the chamber pot, the cold wind blew and she shuddered several times, there was no moon in the sky, and even the stars were few and far between. Snowflakes floated up and were blown onto her eyelids by the wind, and quickly turned into drops of cold water flowing down. She blinked subconsciously, only to realize that she had stood outside for a long time. The cold wind was piercing outside, every time Lao Zhang moved in the room, she felt that there was a heavy weight on her heart, invisible and intangible, and it made her breathless. In a dilemma, the snowflakes were getting bigger and bigger, blown wildly by the wind, and rushing towards her face. The snow fell on the top of her head and shoulders, and it was so cold that Li Wanyun seemed to have no heat in her chest. Her feet seemed to have taken root, and she didn''t move. Once she turned around, she would go back to the hell on earth, where the man eating evil spirit would swallow her up. It was better, it was better to die outside in the snow. There was no trace of vitality in her eyes, and the three immortal souls and seven mortal forms seemed to be gradually leaving her body, and she turned around and floated towards the sky, getting higher and lighter, without any restraint. The small body left the world, fell to the ground, and no one knew it. Hunger and cold together were the most deadly. However, the young people had more internal heat than the older ones. The whistling sound of the wind and snow was getting louder, and the people sleeping in the bed heard it in a daze, and they all wrapped up their bodies with the quilt tightly. Li Wanyun opened her eyes, her whole body was cold and stiff, it took her a long time to sit up on the ground, and a lot of snowflakes fell from her body. She looked at the vast wind and snow, and there seemed to be a fire in her throat that was about to flare up, but she couldn''t even make a sound with her mouth open. When she regained her senses, she found a foreign object in her pants. After she lost consciousness, she became incontinent. She thought it was dirty and smelly, like the dead dog corpse she had seen in the ravine, rotten and disgusting, covered with dirty flies and rotten maggots. Her heart seemed to be squeezed hard, it was painful. Li Wanyun got up, ignored the dirty thing all over her body, and staggered into the room. Lao Zhang fell into a deep sleep, and didn''t even hear the sound of the door opening and closing, and she didn''t notice Li Wanyun stood beside the bed staring at her in a daze, her face was pale and her eyes were red, and she looked like a ghost in the night. The night wind blew, and Lao Zhang was wrapped tightly in a thick quilt. Li Wanyun was standing beside the bed, she looked at her raised hand, and through the dim light, she suddenly grabbed the quilt on Lao Zhang''s body, covered Lao Zhang''s face tightly, pressed down with both hands. She died once, and this time she came back to the world with the evil spirits. Under the quilt, Lao Zhang kept making a muffled sound wu wu, and even the broken leg kept kicking. CH 87.3 "Woof!" There was a dog barking nearby, Li Wanyun was startled, she woke up from being possessed, and let go of her hands. Lao Zhang panted violently and broke free from the quilt. While still in shock, she saw the person standing by the bed clearly, her old eyes were terrified, this Li Wanyun actually wanted to suffocate her to death! When she saw Li Wanyun stood beside the bed in a daze, she put her hands on the bed and quietly moved to the other side, didn¡¯t dare to get too close. Lao Zhang was afraid of the suffocation feeling near death just now, and now she saw Li Wanyun¡¯s appearance who looked like a ghost. After killed her son, now she was going to kill her! With extreme anger and the stimulation because of Zhang Zhengzi''s death, she became a little crazy. Now she stared at Li Wanyun, gritted her teeth full of hatred. She suddenly picked up the crutch placed beside the bed, she beat Li Wanyun fiercely on the head, and cursed: " Goddam! Kexing!" [¿ËÐÇ k¨¨ x¨©ng: fated to be ill-matched] Li Wanyun was in a daze, but she didn''t lose consciousness completely, she dodged to the side reflexively, and the crutch only hit her shoulder. The pain made her arouse a burst of strength from the bottom of her heart. She snatched the crutch from Lao Zhang''s hand, and returned a few sticks back. She held the crutch with both hands, tears were streaming down her chest and her body was trembling. "help!, help!" After being beaten, Lao Zhang hurriedly shouted for help. With a clang, the crutch was thrown on the ground. Li Wanyun pulled the quilt and stuffed the corner of the quilt into Lao Zhang''s mouth. Her tears fell in strings like money, wetted the quilt and clothes, but her hands didn''t stop, and she pinched Lao Zhang''s arms and thighs fiercely, she pinched and twisted the old meat, and she saw Lao Zhang''s whole body twitching. "Wooooo." Lao Zhang wanted to take out the corner of the quilt from her mouth, but her tongue couldn''t push it out, Li Wanyun stuffed it too hard. She wanted to pull it out with her hands, but Li Wanyun pinched and twisted her hands again and again, the pain was so painful that she almost lost her breath, and frantically tried to block it with her hands. When she realized that she couldn''t stop Li Wanyun, she raised her hand to hit her and even pulled her hair. Li Wanyun''s scalp ached, but she gritted her teeth and didn¡¯t say a word. She raised her hand and pulled Lao Zhang''s hair. She grabbbed a handful of her hair, and Lao Zhang''s tears and snot flowed because of the pain, and she immediately let go. Since she couldn''t beat or scold, Lao Zhang wanted to show weakness. She finally pulled the corner of the quilt out of her mouth, she wanted to cry and beg for mercy. "Wanyun, ah!" Li Wanyun gritted her teeth with tears streaming down her cheeks, as if she wanted to get back all the suffering she had suffered. Maintaining her only rationality, she beat and pinched Lao Zhang''s stomach, arms and thighs fiercely, without saying anything. Lao Zhang''s begging for mercy was interrupted, and she tried to fight back, but she was an old woman, she did have the strength to do farm work in the past, but now her leg was broken, how could she compare with Li Wanyun, a young woman? After a while, she was beaten so much that she didn¡¯t dare to fight back. Li Wanyun gradually regained her sense and stopped beating Lao Zhang. She wiped her tears with her sleeves, took a deep breath and said, "From now on, if you dare to beat and scold me again, don''t blame me, we will die together, everything will clean!" Her voice was very low, but the ruthless heart that either the fish died or the net split wouldn¡¯t diminish in the slightest, every word seemed to be roaring from her throat. [ ÓãËÀÍøÆÆ y¨² s¨« w¨£ng p¨° lit. either the fish dies or the net splits; a life and death struggle (idiom)] She wanted to die, but God didn¡¯t let her die and let her come back. She had paid back the Zhang family with her life, and from now on, her life was her own. "If you dare to talk nonsense and tell others that I¡¯m not good, wait until your good nephews go away..." How could Lao Zhang not understand the following words. She didn''t groan anymore, she just felt that everything was absurd and couldn''t believe it, but there were pains all over her body and her broken leg was even more painful, which made her afraid, even if Li Wanyun walked away, she didn''t dare to curse. In the west room, Li Wanyun didn''t cry anymore, she took off all her clothes and wiped her body with a cloth towel. She didn¡¯t have thick clothes, so she took out Zhang Zhengzi''s cotton coat and put them on. It was too late to boil water for a bath, but she still went to the kitchen. The flint was rubbed and sparks were splashed, and the firewood was quickly lit. The fire at the bottom of the stove was flickering. She stared at it for a while before standing up. With the help of the firelight and her familiarity with the kitchen, she peeled off a few leaves of cabbage, and chopped them up without even washing them. She poured a lot of oil to stir-fry, added water to the pot and boiled it. She grabbed two handfuls of fine white flour, added water and stirred them into a paste with chopsticks. She poured them in and boiled for a while, half a pot of pimple soup was ready. When it was almost cooked, Li Wanyun remembered that there were still eggs in the basket, so she took two and put them in. She stirred the soup with a large spoon, a bowl of oily egg drop soup was ready. She scooped a bowl of pimple soup and sat in front of the stove, she ate it while crying. CH 88.1 Day by day passed quickly, and it was almost the twelfth lunar month. On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Lu Gu soaked the beans the night before. Today was the Five Beans Festival, and the family would eat five beans porridge, red beans, soybeans, chai beans, black beans, mung beans, five kinds of beans plus yellow rice and peanuts to make porridge. It was said that the twelfth lunar month was a good time to appreciate the snow, but this kind of leisure was mostly only available for the wealthy families. For farmers, the most important thing was to have a full stomach first. Early in the morning, when the sky was bright, Lu Gu boiled water in the kitchen. After the water boiled, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing scooped up the water to wash up, and he put the pancakes on the bamboo steamer. Shen Xuanqing had nothing to do, the weather was cold and even his exhaled breath was white, so he practiced boxing in the yard. This was what Lao Yangtou taught him before, and he also taught him a set of sword skills. They all said that poor people were rich in martial arts. Whether it was boxing or practicing swordsmanship. When they started to practice, they were hungry and ate much faster. Even rice and flour couldn¡¯t satisfy their appetite, and they felt full only after eating meat. Lu Gu heard the movement outside and looked out through the crack of the window, and he saw Shen Xuanqing who was punching and practicing martial arts. He was surprised but felt that this should be the case. He had seen Shen Xuanqing¡¯s archery and hunting before. At that time, he felt that he was different from ordinary men, and he really knew martial arts. Withdrew the strength and returned the hand, and the practice of boxing was over. Shen Xuanqing looked up and saw Lu Gu who was standing at the door of the kitchen. A smile immediately appeared on his expressionless face. After thinking for a while, he said, "Practice boxing to keep fit. How about I teach you a little moves, it¡¯s warm even if you wake up early." Lu Gu didn''t expect that Shen Xuanqing was going to teach him boxing just because he watched him practice for a while. He was dazed, and Shen Xuanqing who had nothing to do, dragged him into the yard to teach him. "Wrong, this is how you make a fist." Shen Xuanqing smiled while holding his smaller hand. Lu Gu''s punches were limp, and his feet were not stable, obviously not suitable for martial arts, and he passed the best age, but if he really practiced, his body might be better. "Why do you teach Guzi this?" Wei Lanxiang saw them practiced boxing in the yard as soon as she came out of the room, she didn''t agree with it in her heart, how could a good shuang¡¯er practice boxing like a rough guy. As soon as Shen Xuanqing heard it, he said: "Mother, you can strengthen your body with boxing. You can move your body to warm up, so why you can¡¯t practice boxing? This is not a bad thing." Wei Lanxiang still felt that it was inappropriate, so she glanced at her son and said: "When you talk a lot, everything you say is justified." Lu Gu had no idea, she knew it must be Shen Xuanqing''s instigation. Reading and writing were just a matter of course, it was a quiet and serious matter, but no one would teach their fulangs how to punch and use a knife. This was something only wild boys did. If the villagers saw it, they would laugh behind their backs. Shen Xuanqing didn''t say a word, living together was like this, when he thought differently about somethings, so he would inevitably get scolded a few times. Seeing that Lu Gu was anxious, he looked at Wei Lanxiang helplessly, and said, "Mother, I didn''t ask him to go out and compete with others, and I teach him a few punches and kicks just to let him move his hands and feet in the yard. This boxing method is warmer than stomping his feet around. " Usually, Shen Xuanqing would bow his head and keep silent when she scolded him, but he would still do what should be done, and she couldn''t control it. Today, it was rare to give her some explanations softly, so Wei Lanxiang took another look at him, and said: "Well, don''t go out to practice, just stay at home, it''s not good for people to see." Lu Gu was pressed down by Shen Xuanqing and took a horse stance, so he couldn¡¯t escape, he said in low voice: "Mother, the pancakes in the pot should be hot, and the water is also hot." "Okay, you do your work first." Wei Lanxiang said, and went into the kitchen to scoop up water to wash up. After she entered the kitchen, Shen Xuanqing whispered in Lu Gu''s ear: "It''s okay, mother didn¡¯t scold you, it was me, don''t be afraid, just practice your skills." The warm breaths swept over the ear, and Shen Xuanqing''s voice was lowered, which was different from usual, it was lower and deeper, which made Lu Gu lower his eyes in a hurry, and let out a "huh" with red ears. His ears were obviously red, Shen Xuanqing didn''t care at first when he saw this, but when he saw that there was no one else in the yard, he pinched Lu Gu''s earlobes with his hands, they were soft, and the ears became even redder when he touched them, he couldn''t help but smile. In broad daylight, still in the house, Lu Gu was very embarrassed when he pinched his ears like this. When he heard Shen Yan''s voice, he panicked and got up to push Shen Xuanqing''s troubled hands away, he blushed and felt shy, he said: "You... I''m going to wash the beans." Shen Xuanqing stared behind him with a smile in his eyes, with his hands behind his back, and his face was quite serious, but he rubbed his fingertips lightly, as if he was still yearning for the touch of the earlobe. CH 88.2 The five-beans porridge at noon was well-cooked and soft, and Lu Gu added a few pieces of rock sugar to make it even sweeter. He also practiced calligraphy in the morning, and the yard was covered with snow. After eating, he sat in his room to keep warm and do some works. Lu Gu moved the kang table onto the bed, put a long pillow behind him and sat while leaning on the head of the bed. He covered his legs with a thin quilt, but he felt it was still cold, so he also pulled the fox fur quilt to cover his legs and also put tang pozi inside the quilt. The fox fur quilt was not too big, it was narrow and long, but even if Shen Xuanqing was sitting on the other side of the kang table, both of them could cover their legs. Lu Gu tied a carp double knot with red string and red thread, also known as the goldfish knot. The ties and knots he made were big and small, with different shapes and colors. The country people didn''t usually make this kind of decoration, but they were happy to wear a sachet on their bodies during the New Year. "Sister-in-law and mother also make it. There are so many, can they be used up?" Shen Xuanqing didn''t know how to do this kind of work, and he was sitting by the side with his legs covered with fox fur quilt. "Sister-in-law said, there are too many things to hang on the branches of the trees during the New Year. The white snow, red knots and colorful Laozi (Âç×Ó) are so beautiful." Lu Gu raised his eyes and said seriously, and then he said: "Hang less in the persimmon tree outside, and hang more in the jujube tree in the yard, it will look good." The small jujube tree was dug from the third uncle''s house and planted in the yard this year, and it may be able to bear jujubes next year after it grew, but it was definitely not as many as the big jujube tree. "That''s right." Shen Xuanqing nodded, he actually wanted to talk more and stop working, let Lu Gu talk to him or do something else. However, Lu Gu didn''t understand his meaning, he thought that he was also influenced in the excitement of this year''s New Year, he was happy and a little nervous, and he couldn''t stop the work in his hands. Seeing that he was so busy, Shen Xuanqing hesitated to speak, finally he sighed softly, stretched out his hand to cover the little Tang pozi on the kang table, inwardly added troubles for himself and couldn''t stretch his brows for a long time. The window was opened a slit to let the cold air in. Shen Xuanqing got out of the bed and closed the window, and the door was also closed. When he came back, he saw that the goldfish knot in Lu Gu''s hand had been tied. Shuang''er''s fair neck was far more delicate than the rough man''s. Shen Xuanqing rubbed it, and then touched the earlobe again. In fact, Lu Gu didn¡¯t feel uncomfortable when Shen Xuanqing rubbed his neck, just rubbed it twice, but Shen Xuanqing''s palm was rough and warm, he didn''t know what he was thinking, but he didn''t stop him. At this moment, the earlobe was pinched, and his face was flushed red. Before he could break free, Shen Xuanqing leaned over to kiss him. The fox fur was caressed by the palm of the hand, and it was rough but brought a very intimate sense of security. As soon as the five beans festival was over, it was the time for Laba Festival in the blink of an eye. Yellow rice, white rice, walnut kernels, pine nuts, various beans, peanuts, jujubes and hazelnuts, and even chestnuts were boiled to make Laba porridge, which was richer than five beans porridge. It was sunny today, and in the morning Lu Gu and Shen Yan smashed walnuts, peeled chestnuts and hazelnuts, and didn¡¯t throw away the remaining shells. When Lu Gu came out of the kitchen, he saw Li Wanyun, who was wearing a man''s clothes, came in with a bowl in her hand. When she saw him, she even pursed her lips and showed a very shallow smile, she said: "Guzi, is aunt Lanxiang at home?" Wei Lanxiang poked her head out from the main room and said, "I''m here." When she went to visit the third room¡¯s house the day before yesterday, she passed in front of Zhang''s house and saw Lao Zhang. She said a few words about her to Zhou Xiangjun and joked, but no one in the village knew what happened to Li Wanyun. But as long as the gray and dead air on her was gone, that was a good thing. The neighbors, who had nothing to do would look forward to the death of others. "Auntie, I want to exchange some jujubes with you to cook Laba porridge. There are only beans and peanuts in the house, and I want to add some jujubes." Li Wanyun smiled a little shyly, but as long as people had decent appearance, even if she looked mediocre, everyone was happy to see her. Wei Lanxiang saw that there were two eggs in her bowl, so she not only gave her jujubes, but also a handful of walnut kernels and chestnuts. Their family got them from the mountains without spending any money, and Li Wanyun was kind enough to exchange them with eggs. The hens didn''t lay eggs very much in winter so the eggs was as precious as gold, so she should give something more. "Auntie, I''m going back first." Li Wanyun took the bowl, said something to Wei Lanxiang and left. Because her family had a funeral and she didn''t like Lao Zhang, Wei Lanxiang didn''t visit her house very often, and only now did she recognize that the clothes on her body looked like the winter clothes that Zhang Zhengzi had worn before. Also, if it was not her own man''s clothes, whose clothes she could wear. "It¡¯s Zhengzi''s clothes, finally she knows to wear her husband¡¯s clothes, otherwise it will be hard to wear such thin clothes." Wei Lanxiang and Lu Gu sighed. It was good for country people to have food and clothing, women wearing their men''s leftover clothes wouldn¡¯t attract gossip, besides, it was winter, and Li Wanyun was also pitiful. CH 88.3 Li Wanyun was more or less aware of the sympathy and pity of others, but now she was no longer in embarrassment. She returned home with the bowl, and the old Lao Zhang who used to call her back and forth huddled in her room and didn¡¯t dare to speak. Li Wanyun originally wanted to starve Lao Zhang a few times, and let her taste that kind of feeling, but then she thought again, Lao Zhang was old and frail and also had a broken leg, if she could ''t stand the starvation and died, even if she wanted to remarry, she also had to wait until the funeral was over, and with the relatives of the Zhang family watching, she would have a hard time living alone, so she had to serve meals and tea to her with cold eyes. Now, she no longer knelt down before she entered the door of Lao Zhang''s room, and she didn''t even need to call her mother anymore. She just put down the meal and left, and she didn''t care about anything else. In the kitchen, Li Wanyun was busy alone, while in the room, Lao Zhang barely leaned on the head of the bed, her old eyes were turbid, and she looked depressed and fatigued. Li Wanyun tidied Lao Zhang up, even combed her hair. If some relatives came over, as long as they had eyes, they wouldn¡¯t say anything when they saw that Lao Zhang was clean and tidy. Lao Zhang''s eyes were half closed, and she suddenly remembered that on the day she and Zhang Zhengzi got married, she was beautiful and bright in red cotton clothes. Li Wanyun was chopping vegetables, which bring her back to her senses. when they first got married back then, Lao Zhang treated Li Wanyun well, but as a mother-in-law she must set the rules, otherwise the little daughter-in-law would be lawless. Zhang Zhengzi once supported Li Wanyun, and at the time she felt bad in her heart, if she couldn''t control her daughter-in-law in the future, her son wouldn¡¯t listen to her. In addition, Li Wanyun''s stomach hadn''t moved since she got married. It was okay for half a year, and she could wait, but after a year, a year and half a year, she still could ''t give birth to a son and a half daughter, so she was anxious, she felt that she had been cheated and married her son back with a barren woman. All these things made her dislike Li Wanyun more and more, beating and scolding gradually became commonplace. As for regrets, Lao Zhang herself didn''t know, she sometimes even forgot about Zhang Zhengzi''s death, and still called out her son''s name. She knew that she was afraid of Li Wanyun, but she still couldn''t figure out how she got to this point. Sometimes she subconsciously called Li Wanyun to serve her, and when she saw the coldness in the other person''s eyes, she shrank her head back, be obedient and didn¡¯t dare to speak again. In the past few days, she became more and more depressed, as if living in a dream, both illusory and muddled. Old age with weak body was like this, if Li Wanyun didn¡¯t give her food and thick quilts, and give her decoctions, she would have gone underground to meet Zhang Zhengzi long ago. The laba porridge was fragrant, and the second room of Shen''s family¡¯s house was full of people, like the other families. The Zhang family was cold, Li Wanyun sat alone in the main room eating porridge and vegetables. She dressed warmly and well fed, she felt that she could get close to the bustle in this world. CH 89.1 Laba porridge was cooked a lot, and it lasted for several days. The snow covered everything, the twelfth lunar month and the cold winter couldn''t stop the joy of the approaching New Year''s Eve. Lu Gu was very busy throughout the winter, cooking, doing laundry, sewing and reading, and Shen Xuanqing still wanted to teach him boxing. It was different now, he could use hot water to wash the clothes, and there was tang pozi to warm his hands and feet when he was doing needlework or writing, and there were no chilblain cracks anymore. "Okay, that''s it, there is no need to resize it." Wei Lanxiang adjusted Shen Yan''s new clothes, and seeing that she looked so beautiful with the new clothes, she smiled and said, "Take it off quickly, and wear it again during the New Year." "Mother, let''s go to the big market tomorrow, can I buy some hairbands and silk flowers? "Shen Yan said while taking off the clothes. "Okay, I''ll buy it for you." Wei Lanxiang agreed, then turned to Lu Gu and said, "I''ll buy it for you too." Lu Gu had tried his new clothes and they fit well, and they had been folded now. Hearing this, his eyes were slightly bent and he nodded slightly: "Yeah." Shen Xuanqing bought him a hairpin and bracelet, but Wei Lanxiang was different, how could he brush away this good intention. Besides, during the New Year, no matter how many ornaments women had on their heads, they must wear some colorful silk flowers. They were bright and beautiful, and even some men would wear them in their hair, making them look festive and lively. "Understood mother, I will resize them for him later." Lu Gu nodded and said. Wei Lanxiang was always at home when making New Year''s clothes, and he learned a few things from her. Resizing clothes was not too difficult, and he should learn how to do it. While talking, Shen Xuanqing came back from outside and had a chat with Ji Qiuyue. After Shen Yan changed her clothes, Lu Gu picked up the two clothes and went out. "Mother, the third uncle said that he will lend us the ox cart the day after tomorrow. Just use his family''s cart, it''s ready-made. "Shen Xuanqing said. "Well, that''s easy." Wei Lanxiang nodded, and then asked Ji Qiuyue: "Go to the Liangzhang Bridge the day after tomorrow, do you also want to go?" Ji Qiuyue said with a smile: "It''s natural. I¡¯m going to catch up with the excitement of the big fair, and I will join in. " Ever since she was pregnant, Shen Yaoqing watched her closely and didn''t let her go out because of the cold and slippery road. She always stayed at home in the village all day long. There were so many people in the big fair, which was as lively as New Year. She must go, otherwise it would be too boring to stay at home. Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing went back to their room to try the clothes. Shen Xuanqing was too tall, even if he wanted to help him undress, it was not convenient for him, so he could only stand aside and watch him. "It''s pretty good." Shen Xuanqing stretched his arms and legs after he put on the clothes, he was not very particular about dressing, as long as it was warm and clean. Lu Gu helped him to smooth the fabric on the back, he stood a few steps away and looked over, Shen Xuanqing''s broad shoulders, narrow waist, tall and strong body, even the commoner clothes could set out imposing manner or style, and everything looked appropriate. "Then there is no need to resize it." Lu Gu said after looking for a while. "Is yours also done?" Shen Xuanqing asked him while taking off his new clothes. Lu Gu smiled lightly and said: "Yes, I''ve tried them all." His smiling eyes were like stars, and his cheeks were so bright and fair that Shen Xuanqing couldn''t hold back. He reached out and touched his face for a while, and then lowered his head and whispered a few words in his ear. The big fair at Liangzhang Bridge lasted for several days. Today was the day when the second room of Shen¡¯s family went to the fair. Once the gate was locked, all the six members of the family went out, leaving only the dogs at home to guard against thieves. It was almost New Year, and they still optimist about the chickens and ducks they had. Shen Shunwang prepared the ox cart early in the morning, and when they came over, they quickly got on the ox cart. "Third Uncle, let''s go first." Shen Xuanqing said while holding the ox rope. Shen Shunwang took out the cigarette pouch at his waist, hearing the words he nodded: "Go, second sister-in-law, take your time on the road." "Oh, I got it." Wei Lanxiang smiled. Although the ox cart was slower, the ox was very powerful in pulling things, and there was no need for them to walk to the Liangzhang Bridge with bamboo baskets on their backs. Shen Shunwang''s ox was at the prime of its strength, but fortunately its temperament was docile, and it also recognized the two brothers, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing, so it walked forward obediently. When they came out today, because the sun was always covered by the clouds and there was still wind from time to time, they all wore badger fur collars, otherwise the cold wind would blow straight into their necks. With the badger fur collar was different, it was light and warm. In order to take care of Ji Qiuyue, they walked leisurely and had to say a few words to the villagers when they met on the road. "Lanxiang, are you going to the fair?" Grandma Ajin saw them from the yard and hurried out to ask. "Yes." Wei Lanxiang smiled. Grandma Ajin then said: "Then you bring me a bag of zaotang ( Ôî ÌÇ) back, Xiao Shunzi is a glutton, he kept eating zaotang and there is only a little left over." Wei Lanxiang said: "Okay, I''ll call you at the door when I come back. " "Hey good. "She didn''t need to walk so far to buy zaotang, Grandma Ajin smiled. The ox cart creaked and creaked went out of the village. After walking for a while, there were more and more mud on the feet. Shen Xuanqing pulled the ox to stop and said, "If you are tired, get into the cart." It was a long way to Liangzhang bridge, Shen Yaoqing helped Ji Qiuyue got into the ox cart. Wei Lanxiang was used to walk, and she didn¡¯t get into the cart before she really couldn¡¯t walk, she let Lu Gu and Shen Yan go up. The two brothers, one leading the ox and the other holding the cart, walked happily. Shen Yaoqing felt happy, the sky was high and far away, he let go of his voice and sang a folk song that others couldn¡¯t understand. There were few words and sentences, and most of them were thick and long tunes from the heart. It was a different kind of fun to listen to it. CH 89.2 The big fair was really lively. Adding the two sides of the bridge, there was two li of land along the sides of the road, not to mention there were still load-carrying peddlers. There was a lot of voices and crowds, and those who brought children had to take care their children, otherwise they would be easily abducted by kidnappers. Even Lu Gu held Shen Yan¡¯s hands tightly when he saw so many people, and followed the ox cart without missing a step. Many things were sold in the big fair, spring festival couplets, New Year pictures of door god, wine, meat, fruit, dimsum, incense, paper money, paper ingots, candles, pots, pans, dustpans, brooms, knives and scissors. The gongs made sound clangs, clangs, and the juggler held the torch and spouted wine with a "poof" in the torch, and the flame "boomed" and turned into a long dragon. This skill of blowing fire was beautiful, the people around couldn''t help applauding, and there were more copper coins thrown over. Seeing the stall that sold silk flowers and headbands, Shen Yan hurriedly called her mother. The stall was huge, and there were so many silk flowers and colorful headbands, it was dazzling. They waked all the way while buying somethings, there were more and more things on the ox cart, such as Tusu wine, malt sugar, dried fruit, candied fruit, sweet pastries, almanac papers, spring festival couplets, New Year picture of door god and ghost-eating Zhong Kui. There were also some offerings for sweeping the grave and for the gods and Buddhas. They also bought a lot of firecrackers, two feet of big firecrackers, Huoqi flowers (»ð Æ𠻨) and Taiping flowers (̫ƽ»¨) Lanterns were hung during the Chinese New Year, and they were only hung on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, but now there were already various lanterns and colored lanterns for sale. The countryside was far from the towns and markets, so it was the best to buy them all once. The lanterns were beautiful and with many kinds of colors. Lu Gu and Shen Yan looked at one and then the other, and thought they were all beautiful. "Buy a few more if you want." Shen Xuanqing came over and said to him, seeing a very beautiful gold and red palace lantern with colorful tassels hanging on it, he directly asked for the price. The palace lantern was expensive, but he bought it anyway, and he was also happy to have a beautiful lantern during the Chinese New Year. The paper kite sellers also came to the big fair, since as soon as spring started, the weather would be fine and the wind was good, they could fly the paper kites. This year, they were happy because they had some money, and the ready-made paper kite was also beautiful, so Wei Lanxiang bought a flying swallow paper kite for Shen Yan, and after Shen Xuanqing picked an eagle paper kite for Lu Gu, she paid for it. There were many people and things in the market, they stopped for shopping for a while and then went to stroll again. They picked and chose while worrying about getting lost, it was quite tiring. The smell of fried oil cakes and egg pancakes was fragrant, as well as miscellaneous stew, Yangchun noodle and wontons, roasted chicken and steamed shortbread, as soon as you came to the food stall, all the gluttony people would come out. Lu Gu originally had no idea and wanted to eat the same as Shen Xuanqing, but after Shen Xuanqing asked him, he whispered that he wanted to eat Yangchun noodles. There were too many things to eat, the six people chose what they wanted to eat, Ji Qiuyue liked miscellaneous stew and egg pancakes, Shen Yaoqing liked grass jelly and meat buns, Wei Lanxiang liked fried oil cakes, and Shen Yan asked for wontons and meat patty. Shen Xuanqing brought over a bowl of Yangchun noodles for Lu Gu, the miscellaneous stew for himself, pig¡¯s organ soup for Lu Gu, and bought three crispy and warm pastries, which they ate separately. After eating, they wandered around the fair for a while, seeing that there was nothing to buy, and it was not easy to go with the ox cart with too many people. After Shen Xuanqing asked the hawker to wrap ten candied haws, the family returned home happily with the new year''s goods. The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month was the time to offer some sweets to Zao Shen, the god of kitchen. Malt sugar candy was sticky and sweet. Since his mother left, Lu Gu hadn¡¯t eaten it for several years. Even though he was already married and not a child, he was still a bit greedy. [ÌÇ¹Ï t¨¢ng gu¨¡: malt sugar candy, a traditional offering to the kitchen god Zaoshen] This year Zaotang was placed there, and he could get it when he wanted to eat it, no one would say anything about him. On the 24, it was time to sweep the dust to welcome the new year, the whole family was in full swing, they cleaned and tidied up the house. Lu Gu moved out the big pot and shoveled the ash from the bottom of the pot, making his face covered with black ash. When Shen Xuanqing saw him like this he laughed, he squatted down and wiped his face with his fingertips. Seeing that it couldn''t be wiped clean, Shen Xuanqing smiled and said, "Forget it, wash it with water later." Lu Gu''s face was a little itchy from being wiped, so he rubbed his face twice with his sleeve heavily. As soon as Lu Gu did this, Shen Xuanqing frowned slightly, and asked him: "Why, do you dislike me touching your face?" Others were fine, but being disgusted by his fulang made Shen Xuanqing feel a little uncomfortable, and he even glanced at his hand, at least there was no black ashes like Lu Gu''s face, why didn''t he want him to touch it. Lu Gu, who was busy working, didn''t even care about the ashes on his face. How could he dislike Shen Xuanqing inexplicably, and he said with puzzled eyes: "No, why do you think so? My face is itchy." Knowing that he had misunderstood, Shen Xuanqing was a little embarrassed for slandering Lu Gu. When he saw Lu Gu looked at him with a confused expression, taking advantage of the fact that no one in the courtyard was paying attention to them, he lightly squeezed fulang''s cheek to take advantage of him. Shuang''er''s skin was tender, and Lu Gu was weak in his eyes. He didn¡¯t dare to use force to pinch his cheek, so it was no different from touching it. "I''m going to clean the backyard." After taking advantage, he got up and left, leaving Lu Gu frowning alone. Ji Qiuyue¡¯s pregnancy was not very old now, she still could walk and work. She was tidying up the dishes in the kitchen and accidentally heard the words of the young couple. She glanced outside, and smiled softly when she was alone inside, the second boy had grown up. Even if he touched someone''s face, the ither party was not allowed to dislike him. CH 90.1 Sweeping and cleaning all day, they had to clean the house inside and out, and it was tiring. Lu Gu sat on a small stool and shoveled the bottom of the pot, there was a lot of soot from the bottom of the pot on his face, he didn''t know it without looking in the bronze mirror. When he looked up, the rest of the family saw his face, and they all laughed. Twenty-four hours passed in the midst of hustle and bustle, and the next morning, the snowflakes began to float again. As they said, the auspicious snow was the sign of the coming of a prosperous year, the wind today was few, and the white snow fell slowly, gradually covering the ground. In the morning, Wei Lanxiang took Shen Yan to the tofu workshop in the next village to buy tofu. Today was the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, and it was time to eat tofu. She carried a big basket covered with cloth, and bought half a board of tofu. When she got home, she saw Ji Qiuyue and said, "It''s a blessing to go early. There were so many people buying tofu, and it was very crowded. The young fulang of the He family is timid and poor. He could only buy a small piece of tofu. He was pushed around and didn¡¯t dare to speak. He was squeezed out, he could only stand behind and almost cry. It was Quanzi¡¯s fulang who saw it and scolded those women in the neighboring village, and your third aunt and I also helped to scold them. " Ji Qiuyue usually spoke briskly and was very familiar with Quanzi¡¯s fulang, if she was there, she would definitely help to scold those women. Wei Lanxiang uncovered the basket, she pinched a small piece of white tofu to taste, she said: "It''s also because the tofu boss and his wife are kind-hearted. When they saw that the young fulang of the He family was standing behind the crowd, he cut a piece for him and let him go home." The owner of the tofu workshop was called tofu boss, and Ji Qiuyue and Lu Gu called him Uncle tofu boss when they met each other. Poor people were indeed more likely to be bullied. Even when their family had no money, they were looked down upon and even bullied by others in Qingxi Village. That kind of vexed feeling when they couldn¡¯t say anything made them felt sad and furious, let alone when their own family members also treated them coldly. It was also because of this that even if the eldest uncle¡¯s family showed their favor later, Shen Xuanqing wouldn¡¯t easily share the prey and meat with their family. Wei Lanxiang was busy guarding the place in front of her, so she didn''t pay attention to other people. After succesfully buying the tofu and listening to Quanzi¡¯s fulang scolded others, she clarified the situation three times and began to help. "Those people should be scolded." Ji Qiuyue and Wei Lanxiang shared the same hatred. She also remembered how they were looked down upon by others two years ago and became a little angry. What kind of skill they had to bully fulang from the He family? She knew those three women, the family''s life was not good at all, so they could only bully those who were poorer than them. "Mother, I know." Ji Qiuyue smiled. Lu Gu helped Shen Xuanqing mended the sleeves in the room, just now there was a small hole in it, he sewed it so it wouldn¡¯t look sloppy and tattered. Shen Xuanqing put on the outer clothes, and both of them heard Wei Lanxiang''s words outside. He knew that the fulang of the He family was not very courageous, just like Lu Gu. Now he felt a little worried, he frowned slightly and said, "In the future, if someone pushes you or bullies you when you go out, and you can¡¯t beat them, just come back and call me. If not, let mother and sister-in-law scold them." He didn''t beat women, but he could beat the men in the other family, there was no need to be kind and polite. In their village at the foot of the mountain, there were many uneducated people. Sometimes reasoning with them didn¡¯t make sense, and they could only speak with their fists. If they were powerful, the opponent would be afraid. "En." Lu Gu nodded heavily. He also knew that he was timid, and he didn''t dare to quarrel with others when he went out, and he always felt trembling in his heart. What Shen Xuanqing said at this moment was like a reassurance, which gave him a feeling of solid back and something to rely on. Wei Lanxiang was cooking tofu in the kitchen, and Lu Gu went to help. Shen Yaoqing was sweeping the snow in the courtyard, Shen Yan and Ji Qiuyue were not idle, they brought a bowl of paste and pasted the red ¡°Fu¡± character papers they bought in the fair on the doors and windows. [¸£ f¨²: good fortune; happiness; luck] At lunch time, there were stewed tofu with Chinese cabbage, Stir fry tofu with minced pork, deep fried tofu with dried tofu on the table. Shen Yaoqing was amused when he saw the foods on the table, he said: "It''s all tofu, this is called the Quanfu Banquet." [È« qu¨¢n: all; whole; entire; every; complete, ¸£ f¨²: good fortune; happiness; luck] He said it nicely and pleasantly, and Wei Lanxiang couldn''t close her mouth with a smile, that was right, what they ate was the Quanfu Banquet. Once the red ¡°Fu¡± character papers were pasted on the doors and windows, the house became different immediately, and the more you looked at it, the more festive it would be. The past few days passed quickly, in the blink of an eye it was the next day. On the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, it was time to eat big meat. Those who raised pig and sheep, and those who were willing to eat it, were sharpening their knives. This year Wei Lanxiang only raised chickens and ducks, so she had to buy pork and mutton from Meng Dayue. Shen Xuanqing took Lu Gu to buy the meat in the morning. They went early and saw the scene of carrying pigs and sheep out of the pen to be slaughtered. There were so many people watching and it was very lively. They had custom here, when it was twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, no matter rich or poor, you had to eat some meat. Lu Gu bought a lot with Shen Xuanqing, the bamboo basket was heavy, and when they left, they saw Li Wanyun in the crowd, she also came to buy meat. CH 90.2 When they came back, Lu Gu and Wei Lanxiang started to clean up the pork. They didn''t throw away the pig skin. After cleaning it, cut it into thin strips and washed it together with the pig skin saved from eating the pork before, and they would cook it in the afternoon. The crystal meat was cool and refreshing in the mouth, and the pigskin seemed to be frozen in ice, it was also known as skin jelly ( Ƥ ¶³). They cooked mutton and stewed red braised pork. Chinese prickly ash and old wine could remove the fishy smell, and added the orange peel that they were not willing to throw away and dried it before. When it was almost noon, the smell of meat overflowed, and the greedy Shen Yan stood by the clay stove and swallowed her saliva, she kept looking at the gurgling braised pork until it was soft, and then went into the kitchen to look at the mutton in the pot. Even the puppy whimpered when he smelled the cooked meat, and even drooled. He kept pawing at Lugu''s pants, while sobbing full of anxiety. The cooked meat was so fragrant, Lu Gu threw meaty bones for him and the big dog, but it was not tasty. After a few bites, he went to see the stewed meat in the youzhong laddle . Not to mention the puppy, even Lu Gu thought it was too fragrant when he smelled it, so he swallowed quietly, but it was not the time yet, so he could only lower his head to peel peanuts. On New Year''s Eve, when eating and drinking at night, you had to eat fried peanuts, and all the pealed peanuts before were used for five beans and Laba festival. He thought that no one saw it, but Shen Xuanqing, who was sitting next to him and helping him peel the peanuts, suddenly smiled and asked: "Do you want to eat it?" Lu Gu''s ears were red, he hesitated and couldn''t speak, so he could only work hard to cover his embarrassment. Shen Xuanqing laughed lightly, and squeezed Lu Gu''s palm to comfort him after laughing. There was a lot of stewed pork and mutton. They could eat them for two meals. They didn¡¯t need to do anything else for dinner, just heated them. After the meal, the meat in the soup bowl was cold. Shen Xuanqing went into the kitchen and threw a few pieces of cooked meat into the food bowls of the four dogs behind Wei Lanxiang¡¯s back. Fortunately, the braised pork and the mutton had no bones, they were well cooked and soft, otherwise they would get choked if they ate in such a hurry. In the afternoon, Lu Gu boiled the pork skin in a big pot. He only added dried pepper leaves and a little dried chili, wrapped it in a cloth and put it in the pot. After a while Shen Xuanqing came in, and before he could speak, he heard a sudden noise from outside. Because it was so close, they could hear that it was Li Wanyun''s voice. The two looked at each other and walked out, Wei Lanxiang and the others followed. It was okay when they didn¡¯t saw it, but when they saw it, they were shocked. Li Wanyun was holding the knife on her neck, and Lao Zhang, who was slumped on the ground in a mess was also holding scissors in her hand, and she pointed the tip of the scissors tremblingly at her neck. "You bullied my mother in law and I, who are weak and can¡¯t call the shots. You came to rob our meat and dishes I bought! What do you want? In normal times, I respect you as an elder and call you uncle and aunt, today is a good day, but uncle and aunt came here to smash the pots and bowls and prevent us from celebrating the Chinese New Year, you are wicked! Someday, you will get the wrath of Heaven and get struck by the God of Thunder! " Li Wanyun¡¯s hair was disheveled, her face was still injured, and there was a piece of meat covered in black mud on the ground behind her, obviously it was from the scuffle before. Zhang Gui, a relative from another village, saw her buying meat at Meng Dayue''s place in the morning, so he came over with a bad idea, wanting to take the meat back to his house to eat. When Zhang Gui¡¯s wife heard Li Wanyun scolding them, she immediately got angry, she stared back and cursed: "Fart! You dare to talk to me like this, see if I don''t beat you to death!" Li Wanyun sneered and said angrily: "Okay! You don¡¯t need to do anything, let me tell you, both of us will die in front of this gate today, our blood will dry and our flesh will rotted. We can die in front of this gate without going anywhere, if you want my house and my land, just come and get it! " She turned her head and said fiercely to Lao Zhang: "You also will die. If we die together, we won''t have to suffer this kind of crime of being bullied in this world, so that these heartless murderers will be reincarnated as bastards in the future!" Lao Zhang was dragged out of the room by Li Wanyun, even Li Wanyun herself didn''t know where the strength came from. She had lost her mind recently, but when she heard that others were going to rob her house, and even the meat she just bought fell on the ground, her eyes widened immediately. When the neighbors around her were watching, she burst into tears and howled, saying that she couldn''t live anymore, and her old mother with old bones was about to be forced to death. "Remember, it''s you, the good relatives who forced us to die. We will see you later in the palace hall of Yama!" [ÑÖÂÞ Y¨¢n lu¨®: Yama, King of Hell; translation of Sanskrit: Yama Raja] Li Wanyun hated them so much, the kitchen knife sliced the flesh around her neck, and the bright red blood oozed out. The neighbors were so frightened that they hurriedly rushed over to save her, and even Wei Lanxiang rushed over and snatched the kitchen knife from her hand. "Zhang Gui! Are you trying to kill someone?" Someone asked angrily. Lin Zhongcai rushed over and got out of breath, and after hearing this, he was furious, and together with the ten men from the village, directly drove Zhang Gui and his wife out of Qingxi Village. CH 90.3 Both Li Wanyun and Lao Zhang were carried into the room. Lu Gu came over and picked up the small piece of meat on the ground. It was a pity to throw it away, so he took it to the kitchen, washed it with water and put it in a basket for Li Wanyun. He entered the room and looked at Li Wanyun, when he saw that she was fine, the wound on her neck was bandaged, he said that the meat was put in the basket before going home with Wei Lanxiang. After the neighbors left, Li Wanyun calmed down for a while, wiped away her tears and went to the kitchen. Lu Gu sat in a daze in front of the stove. Shen Xuanqing came in, he sighed softly and stroked his hair, he said that Li Wanyun really determined to injure herself today, but it was not a bad thing. Ordinary people didn''t dare to bear the crime of killing people to death, especially today when the people in their village saw everything. In the future, those relatives of the Zhang family wouldn''t dare to come and grab things easily. Lu Gu always believed in what he said.He breathed a sigh of relief after hearing it, and he also thought that it was true. will freeze after overnight After the skin jelly was boiled, let it cool down, and it would freeze overnight. The next day, Lu Gu lifted the cloth on the wooden basin and took a look. The crystal clear skin jelly looked good and delicious, but it was a bit cold, so it had to be eaten with hot dishes. Seing that Shen Yaoqing was going to catch and slaughter the chickens in the backyard, Wei Lanxiang stopped him and said, "The eldest child, kill two more ducks, prepare them in advance today." Normally, the chickens were slaughtered on 27th and the ducks were slaughtered on 28th to leaven dough, but these days they were very busy, so why didn''t kill them in the same day, so there was no need to use the pot to boil water again tomorrow. The skin jelly was frozen, Shen Xuanqing came in and saw it. He cut a piece with a knife, pinched it with his fingers and fed it to Lu Gu, he said with a smile: "Try it, you made it yourself." He didn''t know what happened these days, he felt that teasing his fulang was really interesting. When Lu Gu opened his mouth to bite, he quickly stuffed the skin jelly into his mouth, and then laughed at the silly Lu Gu. Lu Gu closed his mouth and was a little embarrassed at first, but Shen Xuanqing was still laughing, it was obvious that he did it on purpose, and there was an unexplainable feeling in his heart. He didn''t feel angry at all, just wondering why did Shen Xuanqing laugh like this... Lu Gu couldn''t figure it out, he pursed his lips and wanted to pick the firewood to boil the water. They wanted to kill the chickens and ducks, and the hot water was needed to scald their feathers later. "Angry?" Seeing that he was about to leave, Shen Xuanqing quickly stopped him, he said with a smile: "I didn''t mean it, I''ll give you something to eat." Then he took a knife and cut a slice of skin jelly, Lu Gu wanted to say that he wasn''t angry, but he couldn''t speak with food stuffed into his mouth. The crystal skin jelly was cold and chewy. Apart from being a bit cold, it was still delicious, and when he thought that he boiled it himself, Lu Gu smiled lightly. "Er Qing, you will kill the ducks with your elder brother later." Wei Lanxiang shouted from outside. "Understood, mother." Shen Xuanqing agreed, seeing that there was not much firewood beside the stove, he said, "I''m going to pick the firewood, you light the fire first." "Um. " Lu Gu was chewing something in his mouth, so he could only nod his head. After Shen Xuanqing went out, Lu Gu sat down in front of the stove, and suddenly remembered Ji Qiuyue. Sometimes Brother Daqing deliberately made sister-in-law angry, and he would get beaten every time, and sister-in-law would scold him for being too deficient. Just now Shen Xuanqing laughed at him, as if he was also really deficient, and made people want to beat him. As soon as the word "beat" came out, Lu Gu himself was taken aback. He had never done anything like beating someone, let alone beating Shen Xuanqing. Sparks burst from the flint, and the grass was quickly ignited. Shen Xuanqing and Wei Lanxiang, who were carrying firewood, came in one after the other. "Let''s make noodles today, tomorrow is 28th, so the noodles will be ready for tomorrow. Steam the steamed buns and steamed stuffed buns. On 29th the day after tomorrow, we will have fried chicken, fried duck and meatballs." Wei Lanxiang said while holding a bowl to scoop the flour. The few days before the New Year''s Eve were very busy since they needed to prepare all kinds of food for the New Year, and Lu Gu couldn''t take care of those things alone. Killing chickens and ducks, chopping the meat that should be cut into pieces, this kind of work was mostly done by men. During the Chinese New Year, there must be chicken, duck and fish. The surface of Qingxi River was frozen, and some places were frozen solid, but there were still some places that were not. In the winter, parents were most afraid when their children wandering blindly on the frozen river and then fell into it. Shen Yaoqing brought the dead chickens and ducks to the front yard. While waiting for Lu Gu to boil the water, he asked Shen Yan if she wanted to eat fresh fish. After getting the answer, he took the fishing rod and led Shen Yan to the back of the house. He moved the stone and smashed it to the frozen river to make a hole. He set the fishing rod and asked Shen Yan to wait for the fish to take the bait. "Don''t worry, Dahui is here. When I go back, I''ll let your Guzi brother come over too." Shen Yaoqing patted her on the head and smiled. "Then you must remember." Shen Yan tucked his hands and a small piece of fishing rod into her sleeves, so that she would not feel cold. This place was close to home, just behind the house, Da Hui and Gouzai also followed, so they could rest assured. Before leaving Shen Yaoqing said: "Remember, don''t go into the river, just stand here." Not long after Lu Gu came over with Tang pozi in his arms, and he also carried a small bench, the two of them sat by the river to fish. It was good to have Tang pozi, it could warm their hands when they fished in the snow, and both of them were dressed thickly so they wouldn''t feel too cold. CH 91.1 With Shen Yan, Lu Gu was at ease, not so restrained, and even chatted a few words with a smile. "Ah, the fish took the bait." The fishing rod in Shen Yan''s hand moved, and the fish bit the hook. She quickly stood up and pulled it up. After some pulling and tugging, the two caught a big fish, and both of them laughed happily. They were so lucky that the big fish came after a short time. They forgot to take the fish basket and wooden bucket when they came out, but Shen Yan was too lazy to go back. So she went to the wall behind the house and shouted: "Mother! Brother Daqing! Mother!" Thanks to her loud voice, Dahui and the puppy barked, and soon there was a response from inside the wall. "Shen Yan? What happened?" Wei Lanxiang shouted from inside the wall. "Mother, I caught a big fish, you quickly bring the wooden bucket." Shen Yan said hastily. When Wei Lanxiang hurried over with a wooden bucket, she really saw a big fish in the snow by the river, and she said happily, "Oh, it''s only been a while and the fish has taken the bait." "That''s it." Shen Yan agreed. Lu Gu tied a small piece of dried fish with twine, wrapped it around the hook, and put it into the ice hole for fishing. Wei Lanxiang dipped the wooden bucket into the river water, brought up half of the bucket with ice and water, put the big fish in, and then said, "Well, both of you stay here, and you will go back when it gets too cold. When you go back, call your two brothers to help carry it. " " Got it, mother.¡± Shen Yan nodded and then put her hand on Tang Pozi on Lu Gu''s lap. The two of them were lucky today, and they caught three fishes in total. If it wasn''t for the unbearable cold legs, they might want to fish for a longer time. The big fish was too big to fit on the fish plate, so it had to be chopped into pieces. Wei Lanxiang saw that there was one fish that could fit on the fish plate, not too big or too small, so she picked it out and set it aside to steam a whole fish in the evening. During the Chinese New Year, fresh fish was a bit more expensive than usual. In the past two years, Shen Xuanqing was frozen when he fished and sold the fish for money. Seeing that Lu Gu and Shen Yan were lucky today, they caught three fishes within a short time after they went out, so he and Shen Yaoqing didn''t need to go again, and the remaining two fish didn''t need to be sold, and the guests could have dinner with them. The days passed quickly, and it would be 29th in the blink of an eye. The steamed buns, steamed stuffed buns, and steamed twisted bread rolls had been steamed. This year, they also steamed a bowl of pork slices and several bowls of sweet glutinous rice. On the morning of the 29th, Wei Lanxiang got busy. Together with Lu Gu, she made two kinds of meatballs with pork and vegetables, and they were deep fried. After deep-fried the meatballs, they also deep fried the chicken and duck. When eating, steamed them in a bowl, and it would be fragrant when they were steamed thoroughly. Shen Yan lit the fire, while Lu Gu fished out the chicken pieces from the pan full of oil. The smell was too fragrant and she said, "Why don¡¯t I eat one to see if it''s cooked?" Wei Lanxiang wrapped the duck pieces in batter, when she heard what Shen Yan said, she laughed and said: "You are so greedy. We just fried it and if the inside is really not cooked, you still dare to eat it. What will you do if you have a stomachache after eating it. It will be thirty tomorrow, steam a bowl and you will eat it. " In that case, Shen Yan had no choice but to give up. Not to mention others, Lu Gu didn''t eat so well during Chinese New Year before, and now he was a little greedy when he smelled the fragrance, but he could still hold back. In the afternoon, the meat was ready, and the smell of deep-fried meat wafted out. The people didn''t say anything, but the dogs in the village still smelled it and they wandered around in front of the courtyard. It was the same in the 29th, even the poor couldn¡¯t open the pot, every family had to prepare the meat dish. Afraid of the dog sneaked into the house and ate the meat, then the children who didn¡¯t have to work would watch at the door. In the Shen family, Shen Yan was the youngest. When Wei Lanxiang saw a dog coming in front of the courtyard, she asked her to play at the door instead of working. Their dogs were trained and taught by Shen Xuanqing not to steal the food, and to guard against other people''s dogs. "Aunt, did you buy the couplets?" Shen Yan stood at the door and chased away the dogs, when she saw aunt Miao came back with the couplets, she asked her about her family. The dogs were reluctant to leave when they smelled the meat. Even if they were driven away, they only ran a few steps aside, then surrounded the door again after a while, and the puppy still ran out to play with them. The day of New Year''s Eve was even more lively and busy. Early in the morning, Lu Gu and Wei Lanxiang were chopping, stuffing and making dough in the kitchen. The meat stuffing was made of pork and scallions, and the vegetarian stuffing was made of cabbage and radish. There were many people in the family, and the two kinds of stuffing meat and vegetable were also lively. "Mother, Guzi, come out and hang up the laozis (Âç×Ó)." Ji Qiuyue shouted from the yard while carrying a bamboo basket, which was full of red laozis, they were beautiful and good looking. "Guzi, you go first." Wei Lanxiang said with a smile. In her mind, the family was full of children, so she let Lu Gu join in the fun, and she chopped the minced meat herself. Lu Gu wiped his hands on the apron and came out quickly. The branches of the small jujube trees in the yard and the persimmon trees outside were all hung with red laozis. When it was the high branch, Shen Xuanqing was asked to hang them, they were busy. When Aunt Miao and Quanzi¡¯s niang heard their laughter and they came to see them. CH 91.2 "It''s really beautiful." Quanzi''s mother held the ruyi knot and on the persimmon tree with her hands, she couldn''t stop praising it, she liked it very much, and asked Ji Qiuyue as if puzzled: "How do you grow your heads? How do you know it looks good when you hang it like this?" Not to mention the women, even the men in the village found it very beautiful to see these knots hanging on the branches. Seeing that she liked it, Ji Qiuyue took two ruyi knots out of the basket and said, "Since auntie thinks it looks good, so auntie also hang them up." Quanzi''s mother and Aunt Miao got the ruyi knots, they were happy and kept laughing when they got something, and then went home to get busy. The persimmon tree was outside the yard, and even Lu Gu knew that after tonight, it was estimated that there would be less laozi and ruyi knots left on the branches, so they only hung a few of them on the branches, and they were all small. It was okay if someone took them. Ji Qiuyue also told him that it would be a blessing for everyone during the Chinese New Year. After hanging up laozis and ruyi knots, they were not idle. The couplets, door gods and Zhong Kui''s portraits had to be pasted, and peach talisman had to be hung in front of the gate. Wei Lanxiang even bought Ji Qiuyue a new year picture doll, it was white and fat, holding a red carp. she let Haosheng paste it. "A little to the left." Lu Gu took a few steps away and instructed Shen Xuanqing on the ladder to paste the horizontal scroll, while Shen Yan was helping to hold the ladder. It was so busy, and it was noon in a blink of an eye. After lunch, Lu Gu looked at Shen Xuanqing eagerly for a few times, and Shen Xuanqing understood what he meant, he said, "Mother, we will go to Anjia Village to visit mother in law''s grave first, and then we will go to Nanpo to visit my father with my elder brother when we come back." There were many things going on today. Lu Gu was afraid of delaying the family affairs, so he pulled Shen Xuanqing in the bed last night, and even grabbed the corner of his clothes, saying that he wanted to go to his mother''s grave at noon, and they could come back sooner. "Alright, go." Wei Lanxiang had always been considerate of Lu Gu, and she didn''t care about it. If the parents of the girl or shuang''er were gone after they got married, they didn''t have to go back to visit the grave by themselves during the Chinese New Year. The brothers in the family would go by themselves. After all, they were married and went to someone else''s house. But Lu Gu''s mother only had one child. After Lu Gu got married, the Lu family might not necessarily visited her grave. Besides, Anjia Village was so close, even Shen Xuanqing listened to his fulang, and it was difficult for Wei Lanxiang to say anything. The paper money, joss sticks and offerings in the basket were all bought by Lu Gu himself during the fair market, and now he and Shen Xuanqing hurriedly went to Anjia village after mentioning it. As soon as they arrived at the grave, sure enough, there was nothing in front of the grave, and no one from the Lu family came. The two of them also came here to burn some paper money and give some offerings in winter clothes festival before, but now, Lu Gu was no longer like before. When he came to the grave, he had sore nose and wanted to cry. Now he could eat enough and wear warm clothes, no one would beat him anymore, so the grievances in his heart would be less, at most he missed his mother, but he still could hold back his tears. After talking for a while while burning the paper money, he wiped his tears and went back with Shen Xuanqing. As soon as they got home, Wei Lanxiang prepared the New Year''s gift and New Year''s wine, and asked the two brothers to bring their wife and fulang, and Shen Yan to the relatives of the same clan. There were several houses, and it took a while to sit in each house. The New Year¡¯s gift in the New Year¡¯s gift box was salted duck eggs, dried fish, walnuts, chestnuts, and peanuts. The third room''s family could have a little more, for Shen Yu was Lu Gu''s embroideried purse, for Zhou Xiangjun was an embroidered handkerchief, bacon and New Year''s wine were for Shen Shunwang and Shen Yuping to eat and drink. The New Year¡¯s wine this year was served in small red lacquered wooden barrels with lids. It was more face-saving than serving it with bowls. The red color was also very festive. When they came out, they were seen by the villagers, and some people asked them how much the wooden barrels cost. After they delivered the gifts for the new year, other people also came to their home, and the lively afternoon passed like this. As soon as it was dark, Lu Gu and the others were busy in the kitchen, steaming the meat and cooking the dumplings. They happily cooked a table of delicious meat dishes, chicken, duck and fish, vegetarian dishes, tofu, peanuts. they also had dried mushrooms and machicai picked by Lu Gu, soaked and fried them for a delicious dish, the New Year''s Eve dinner was very rich. After the food was served on the table, Shen Xuanqing lit the brazier and placed it in the middle of the yard. The charcoal used inside was good charcoal, which was more burn resistant than firewood that had to be continuously added at night so it could burn until dawn. The New year''s wine filled the cups, Shen Yaoqing said a few auspicious words, and the whole family laughed and toasted to celebrate the New year, very happy and lively. Eating meat and drinking wine made life happier. When they were full of wine and food, they didn¡¯t wash the dishes. The whole family went to the yard and threw the bamboo joints into the brazier. The bamboo crackled and crackled, just like setting off firecrackers. After the bamboo joints had exploded, it was time for the real fireworks. CH 92.1 Shen Yan was so happy that she clapped her hands, lit the tip with a thin wooden branch, and said to Lu Gu, "Brother Guzi, I''m not afraid of setting off firecrackers, I''ll set off a big one for you later." Shen Xuanqing brought out a lot of maleizis, and there were a lot of things in the yard, so he put them outside the door. Hearing Shen Yan''s words, he smiled and said: "Then you come and set off this maleizi, it''s sound is loud enough." [ÂéÀ××Ó m¨¢ l¨¦i z¨«: which explode very loudly] "Just set it off, you arrange it for me first." After all, Shen Yan was young, and her family had no money in the past two years, so during the Chinese New Year, she could only watch others set it off, and she was very envious. Now she was eager to try, and her eyes widened as if fearing nothing in Heaven or Earth. [Ì첻ŵز»Å ti¨¡n b¨´ p¨¤ d¨¬ b¨´ p¨¤: fearing nothing in Heaven or Earth (idiom); fearless] When she got to the door, Shen Xuanqing put maleizi on the ground for her, and she moved forward with the wooden branch in her hand, and after lit the tip carefully, she immediately ran away like a rabbit. The reason why maleizi was called maleizi was because the sound of the explosion was like thunder. Lu Gu stood in front of the door, covered his ears and retreated subconsciously, but his retreat was blocked by Shen Xuanqing behind him. When the first explosion exploded, Shen Xuanqing immediately covered his hands with his big hands when he saw him shrank back. After the sound dissipated, Lu Gu opened his closed eyes. Behind him, Shen Xuanqing was almost hugging him, with his big hands still covering his hands. With a slight movement of his hands, as if to let go of his ears, Shen Xuanqing let go his hands first. The lantern hanging at the door reflected red light, and when Lu Gu turned around, he saw Shen Xuanqing who was smiling with starry eyes, and his heart fell firmly in his chest. "Why were you running so fast? didn''t you say you aren''t afraid?" Shen Yaoqing laughed at Shen Yan. Not only their family who had firecrackers on New Year''s Eve. Almost every family in the village was playing in front of the door, and Miao Chunsheng''s family also came out. Looking over here, Miao Chunsheng smiled and said, "This maleizi is really powerful, I bought it too, let''s make a noise." When Aunt Miao saw that he was about to set off maleizi, she put her fingers in her ears and hurried to the side, for fear of getting too close. There was a "bang", snowflakes and black mud splashed everywhere, and there was another sound of maleizi exploded. On the other side of the village, the sounds of various firecrackers were heard one after another. Compared with maleizi, who could only hear a sound, Huoqihua (»ðÆ𻨠firecracker that rise into the sky) and Erqijiao (¶þÌ߽Šdouble sounding firecracker) were more interesting. Shen Yaoqing took the igniting branch in Shen Yan''s hand and set off the second maleizi. The maleizi bounced on the ground, there was a second "bang" in mid-air, and the red paper wrapped on the maleizi exploded and scattered on the ground. He lit several times in a row, bang bang bang, Wei Lanxiang saw that it was really lively, so she also set off two maleizis, she was so happy and smiled from ear to ear, and then she urged Aunt Miao to do the same, it was interesting. Miao Chunsheng bought a little more maleizis. He was courageous, and he thought maleizi''s sound was powerful. Aunt Miao was afraid of the sound of maleizi, so she didn''t dare to set them off at all. Quanzi¡¯s family had a baby, and Quanzi¡¯s fulang didn¡¯t come out. He hugged the baby and coaxed him in the room. When Quanzi was at home in winter, Quanzi¡¯s fulang often asked him to hug and coax the baby. He couldn¡¯t do anything at home, and today he finally could go outside to have a good time. The firecrackers sounded one after another, and lanterns were hung at the door of every house. It was as lively as during the day, and everyone was talking and laughing in front of the door to watch the firecrackers of each house. Huoqihua was tied to a long reed pole, Lu Gu didn''t dare to say anything, so Shen Xuanqing took one huoqihua for him and said: "Hold it tight, don''t be afraid, after I light it, it will immediately go up to a higher place." Lu Gu was very nervous, so he could only nod his head and clenched his hands tightly. Perhaps Shen Xuanqing was afraid that something would happen to him, and immediately grabbed his hand and raised it to the sky after he lit the huoqihua. The huoqihua tied to the reed poles rushed into the sky, crackled and exploded in the air, bursting out radiant flames. Lu Gu only dared to open one eye to look, and closed the other tightly, but after the first sound, he seemed to become more courageous. The reed pole was long enough and it couldn''t hurt him, so he became a little bit more interested. There were big and small huoqihuas, Shen Yan took a small one and asked Shen Yaoqing to light it for her. When it was lit, she raised it towards the sky, and the small huoqihua also flew into the sky. When Lu Gu put down the reed pole, he glanced at the pile of huoqihuas, and Shen Xuanqing knew that he still wanted to set off another huoqihua, so he smiled and took another big one. This time Lu Gu didn''t need him to help, he immediately raised the huoqihua up as soon as he lit it, his eyes only closed for a moment when the huoqihua exploded. "I''ll come too." Seeing that they were having fun, Ji Qiuyue who originally shrank back and covered her ears, now she was eager to come forward. Wei Lanxiang became anxious as soon as she heard it, for fear that she would be frightened, but the Chinese New Year must be lively, so she quickly took a big huoqihua. This one was better, the maleizi was too noisy, and after lighting it, you had to run to the side quickly, in case your feet would slip, it would be bad. Shen Yaoqing was always been someone who followed whatever his wife said, and did it directly. "Don''t tell me, it''s quite enjoyable. "Ji Qiuyue also couldn''t get enough of it, she laughed so hard that you could only see her teeth and couldn''t see her eyes. CH 92.2 For a while, they put a lot of effort into it. Shen Xuanqing had earned money this year, and bought a lot of firecrackers specially, and Ji Qiuyue also looked happy happy. Lu Gu even dared to set off a small huoqihua in his hand, and even set off the second huoqihua or even a maleizi under Shen Yan''s instigation. He was a little scared when he lit it, but he couldn''t help laughing after the maleizis exploded. After Shen Xuanqing brought out taipinghua (kind of fireworks), the whole family stopped talking about anything else. This taipinghua was half a foot high and as thick as the mouth of a bowl, it was really a big firecracker, even Quanzi and Miao Chunsheng gathered around when they saw it. After Shen Xuanqing set it off, he stepped back, and after the sound was heard, sparks burst out suddenly, and the taipinghua shot up and exploded, like a flower of fire, extremely beautiful. Seeing this, a dozen or so villagers in the village stretched their necks and looked in this direction, only recovering after the flames were gradually extinguished. "It cost a lot of money." Quanzi''s mother clicked her tongue. Shen Xuanqing smiled and said nothing, and brought another one out. This time, Shen Yan jumped up on the spot and yelled that she wanted to set it off. "Playing crazy, she''s really a crazy girl." Wei Lanxiang quickly stopped her. She was twelve years old tis year, and she was a big girl, so she shouldn''t go crazy like this. "Mother, let her go." As the eldest son, Shen Yaoqing could still control his mother and younger sister. "Go, go." Wei Lanxiang had no choice but to let Shen Yan go. Seeing that her little daughter was happy, she also smiled. Their family bought a lot of firecrackers, and other people in the village came to watch after the New Year''s dinner. Later, Shen Xuanqing lit up the reddish gold revolving horse palace lanterns. The lanterns were spinning and the horses were chasing them, the colors were beautiful, there were many people who came to the Shen''s house to see, and it was very lively. It was like this in the village. When the villagers knew that someone else''s family had a rare thing, adults and children were curious, and they had to come and have a look. On the New Year''s Eve, you have to do Shousui until dawn, and the time would pass faster when people came to chat and laugh. [ÊØËê Shou sui: is a Chinese New Year tradition when family members gather after the reunion dinner and stay up as late as possible past midnight.] After the villagers dispersed and stayed at their own home to do Shousui, Lu Gu felt his ears suddenly quiet down. Just now when someone was watching the lanterns at home, he didn''t feel it, now when he looked up, it was indeed late at night. Shen Xuanqing added charcoal to the brazier in the courtyard, he and Shen Yaoqing stretched out their hands to the brazier keep warm. When he had nothing else to do, he dug out a bamboo cuju ball from the firewood room. It was old but still usable, so he invited the family to kick it in the yard, so that they didn''t feel cold when they moved around. When Wei Lanxiang saw that Lu Gu and Shen Yan brought the last few dishes into the kitchen, she said, "Okay, you all go play, I will wash these dishes." They had no rules when playing cuju ball, Shen Xuanqing kicked it to Lu Gu, and Lu Gu kicked it to Shen Yan, the five of them played together in the yard, and when they got cold, they warmed up next to the charcoal brazier. Shen Yaoqing kicked and kicked, then he dug out a few tianwogens (sweet roots) from the mound in the corner, and put them in a charcoal brazier to roast. It was so long to do Shousui, so they had to eat some snacks to fill their stomach, otherwise they would be hungry at night. This was also the reason for the Jiaoyaxing they bought at the market before, but Jiaoyaxing was candy, which was generally loved by children. Tired of kicking and having enough of fun, they sat by the brazier and ate sweets. The fragrant, browned Jiaoyaxing was not very sweet at first, but the more they chewed, the sweeter it became, and it was quite sticky. Lu Gu had eaten this kind of food when he was a child, and he ate it again this year. When he chewed it, it was so sweet in his mouth that it made his eyebrows and eyes curl up. Shen Yaoqing used a wooden stick to pull out the tianwogen from the brazier. Since it was too hot, he asked Shen Yan to go to the kitchen to get a chopstick. When he inserted the chopstick into it, it became soft, so he said, "It''s cooked." It was okay to eat tianwogen on another day and they could taste a bit of sweetness, but today they ate the very sweet Jiaoyaxing first, and the tianwogen was used to fill their stomachs. The night was hazy, and it was cold outside. After Shen Xuanqing added enough charcoal in the brazier, the family went back to their rooms and sat on the bed with tang pozi to let them keep warm. Otherwise, it would be too cold. Just lit an oil lamp and stayed awake overnight The rule of staying awake until dawn was actually not that strict, as long as one or two people in the family were awake. As soon as midnight arrived, it would really be the New Year. Wei Lanxiang was worried about Ji Qiuyue, so she put on her clothes and went to her room to see her, and let her sleep. In the west room, Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing took out the new clothes and sachets that Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing were going to wear tomorrow and put them on the chair beside the bed, so they could be worn when they got up. Shen Xuanqing even told Ji Qiuyue to help Lu Gu comb his hair and put hairpin in the morning. They sat on the bed and chatted, holding hands under the quilt. Sometimes when they didn''t speak, Shen Xuanqing would play with his fulang''s fingers, the more he looked at them, the happier he was. Lu Gu seldom survived until this time, he was busy these few days, and today he was playing all kinds of games, so he looked a bit sleepy. Seeing this, Shen Xuanqing moved the small kang table down, spread out the quilt and said, "Go to sleep, I''ll keep watch." Lu Gu glanced at him and answered in low voice "Mmm" without overcoming his sleepiness. After lying down, when he saw that Shen Xuanqing was sitting on the head of the bed, he turned sideways, stretched out his hand and carefully grabbed a little hem of the clothes, and then fell asleep steadily. The candle flickered slightly, Shen Xuanqing looked down at his fulang and smiled. CH 93 The morning fog was misty, and Lu Gu was still asleep, when he heard the crackling of firecrackers outside, he opened his eyes and found that Shen Xuanqing was not on the bed. It was still dark outside, they paid attention to opening the door and setting off firecrackers here, and soon he heard the sound of firecrackers from elsewhere. After staying up for half the night, Lu Gu didn''t hear the sound of Wei Lanxiang, Shen Yan and the others getting up, so he shrank back into the bed again. The door was pushed open and closed, Shen Xuanqing came in with a chill all over, he said: "It''s still early, lie down for a while, it''s still dark." "You haven''t slept yet?" Lu Gu asked him and curled up under the quilt. "No, I''ll sleep again at night, I won''t be sleepy." Shen Xuanqing said with a smile, there was no trace of fatigue on his face, and he was even quite energetic. He stuffed the clothes on the chair into the quilt, and when Lu Gu got up, he could wear the warn clothes, he said, "I''ll boil the water first, and you can get up after it boils." Lu Gu looked at him close the door and leave, and then looked away. He woke up early in the morning and felt confused, and then he felt that Shen Xuanqing was different from other men. Whether it was in Anjia Village or Qingxi Village, few men went to the kitchen, and that was the work of the wife and fulang. However, the Shen family seemed to be used to the two brothers boiling water in the morning, and never found it strange or detrimental to the man''s face. On the first day of the new year, it was either visiting relatives or entertaining guests at home. Lu Gue dawdled in bed for a while. Today, Shen Xuanqing''s two (paternal) aunts and several aunts were coming. Lu Gu got up and put on his new clothes and shoes. He was hanging a sachet on his waist when he saw Shen Xuanqing coming in. "Why did you not hang it up?" He raised his head and asked, the embroidered purse and laozi he prepared for Shen Xuanqing were still on the chair. "It was too dark when I got up early, I was afraid that I would lose it outside when I went out, but it''s okay to hang it now." Shen Xuanqing saw that he was wearing a new clothes very neatly, with a colorful embroidered sachet hanging on his waist, his hair hadn''t been combed yet, and it was scattered behind his back, making the outline of his face became softer, making Shen Xuanqing looked at him stupidly. Lu Gu was actually very good-looking, but he was too thin before, and he didn''t run up and down the mountain in the past two months in winter, so he grew some flesh on his face. He lowered his head and took the laozi and sachet on the chair, and he helped Shen Xuanqing hang them on his waist without seeing the expression on his face. "If sister-in-law got up, let her help you comb your hair after washing, and put on the hairpin and silk flower." Shen Xuanqing looked down at his fulang who was standing in front of him helping him hang the sachet, with a bright smile. "En." Lu Gu nodded, stepped back and looked at the ornaments on Shen Xuanqing''s waist and the new clothes on his body, and finally raised his eyes. When his eyes met those star eyes, he couldn''t help but also smiled. The puppy whined a few times in the main room, Lu Gu went out with the wooden basin, tooth wood, and green salt, and the puppy rubbed against his legs a few times. The puppy wasn''t scared when the maleizis were set off last night, but Lu Gu was afraid that the firecrackers would explode scatteredly, so he put the puppy in the main room. The puppy was quite smart, maybe he knew the power of the firecrackers, so he obediently lay down on the sack, gnawed on the bones and didn''t go out all night. As soon as Lu Gu came out, he saw the cuju ball they played last night was still in the yard. The puppy hit it with his nose, and the cuju ball rolled far away. The puppy also ran wildly and made trouble with the cuju ball, now he knew how to play with cuju ball. Freshening up and dressing up on the first day of the new year was ceremonious, and the more festive when you went out and met people, the better. Ji Qiuyue had skillful hands. She helped Lu Gu comb his hair and put a silver hairpin and two small goose-yellow silk flowers on his hair. "It''s beautiful, that''s it, it''s called elegance." She looked at it for a while, and felt very satisfied. Their family couldn''t afford to wear bright colored, rich and honor flowers, but although such small silk flowers were a bit plain, they were the bright spot in the black hair. This kind of ornaments were also very beautiful, especially Lu Gu who was fair and good-looking, and there was no need to worry that it wouldn''t look good. Most of the jewelry was in the shape of flowers, luan and phoenix, and so on. A silver hairpin in the shape of grain was rare. Ji Qiuyue looked at it for a while and said: "This hairpin, Erqing really has a mind." Lu Gu pursed his lips and smiled a little shyly. Ji Qiuyue heard Shen Xuanqing talking outside, so she smiled and said, "Go out and show Erqing, I guess he can''t wait." When she said this, she just laughed straight, making Lu Gu so embarrassed that he blushed and lowered his head. Jin Qiuyue spoke again: "He told me once last night, he told me to get up early and help comb your hair, go out quickly." Shen Xuanqing cleaned up the charcoal brazier from last night in the courtyard. When he looked up, he saw Lu Gu who was jokingly pushed out by Ji Qiuyue. The shiny silver hairpin was inserted in the black hair, the carved silver grain tassels were unique and exquisite, the light yellow silk flowers in the hair were bright and pleasant, and Lu Gu, who was normally gray, suddenly glowed with a different color, which made him directly freeze in place. When a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old reached the age of marrying a wife, he would inevitably take a closer look when he met a girl or a shuang''er with good looks. Shen Xuanqing used to do the same, but this was the first time he was stunned, without even reacting. He kept holding a charcoal brazier like a stupid piece of wood, even if you poked it, it would keep stunned like blockhead stump, except for the tall height, it lost even its soul. Ji Qiuyue originally covered her mouth and sniggered, but she couldn''t hold back when she looked at him like this, she laughed out loud, and it was not a big deal if she only watched the excitement, but she raised her voice and asked, "Is Guzi so handsome?" Shen Xuanqing nodded subconsciously, his eyes were stuck and there was no way to move away from Lu Gu''s face, his hands were limp, his legs were limp, and even his heart seemed to be frozen, unable to speak. Before Ji Qiuyue could laugh at him for acting like a fool, Shen Yan suddenly clapped her hands and said, "Ah, Brother Erqing looks like a fool!" CH 94.1 Growing up so big, Shen Xuanqing had never been laughed at by anyone, let alone by the youngest Shen Yan. The little girl had no eyesight. She spoke bluntly as if she was two or three years younger. She still talked like a child, but she was almost twelve years old. How could she speak so nonchalantly and call her brother a fool. Shen Xuanqing stood there and thought a lot, but when he looked at Lu Gu who bowed his head shyly, he couldn''t walk with the brazier in his hand, and couldn''t even speak to reprimand or refute Shen Yan. When Ji Qiuyue heard Shen Yan''s words, she couldn''t help laughing immediately, and when she saw Shen Xuanqing''s line of sight didn''t leave Lu Gu and stood at the same place foolishly, the fool really became a fool. Wei Lanxiang who was tidying up in the room heard what they said. She came out to look out of curiosity, she saw her son staring at his fulang, and then she looked at Lu Gu''s shy appearance. Who couldn''t understand anything, she smiled until the creases on his face deepened. There were too many people watching, and Shen Xuanqing finally came to his senses. His ears were reddish, and he hesitated and said, "I, I, I''ll pour out the ashes first." He used the charcoal brazier in his hand as an excuse, and finally slipped away. He didn''t dare to look back. Shen Yan was simple minded, and she only thought about eating and playing on weekdays. She didn''t understand Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing''s reaction, but hen she saw her second brother fleeing to the backyard with a slightly embarrassed expression, she found it interesting. Wei Lanxiang saw her daughter who was laughing foolishly, so she poked her on the forehead and said, "This little girl, don''t call your second brother stupid in the future, if other people hear that they are being laughed at, they will beat you, and at that time I can''t take care of you." Shen Yan was frightened when she heard that she was going to be beaten, but when she turned her head and saw Lu Gu, she became more confident, with brother Guzi around, the second brother wouldn''t dare to beat her. "Alright, alright, go wash your face, your aunt''s will come later." Wei Lanxiang urged her with a smile. There would be guests at home today, the house had to be cleaned up. Everyone in the family went to work on their own, and Lu Gu was quietly relieved. His cheeks were slightly hot, and Shen Xuanqing''s reaction just now made him so shy that he didn''t even dare to raise his head. When Jin Qiuyue was combing his hair before, he saw himself in the bronze mirror. The sister in law was skillful, and the combed hair was much better than when he usually tied it with cloth. Perhaps he was used to seeing himself, and rarely wore hairpins and silk flowers. He only felt a little awkward when he glanced at himself in the bronze mirror, but he never thought that Shen Xuanqing would... He took the broom leaning against the wall of the house and was about to clean the main room when Shen Xuanqing came from the backyard with an empty charcoal brazier. The four eyes met, and the two were speechless. Lu Gu''s cheeks warmed up again, now that he was getting closer, when he saw Shen Xuanqing who kept staring at him and his adam''s apple moved, made his ears turn red. Taking advantage of no one seeing the two of them, Shen Xuanqing said softly: "It looks good." Lu Gu clenched the broom in his hand tightly. He felt embarrassed and happy at the same time, squirming and trying to grab the corner of Shen Xuanqing''s clothes, the smile on his face couldn''t be hidden. But at this time Shen Yaoqing came out from the main room, he was so frightened that he quickly withdrew his hands and hurried back to the room to sweep the floor. Wearing new clothes on the first day of the Chinese New Year, the members of the second room of the Shen family went out with silk flowers and hairpins on their heads, and bracelets on their hands. As for Shen Yaoqing and Shen Xuanqing, both of them had sachets hanging on their waists which could be described as brand new and beautiful. Even when Shen Shunfu was here a few years ago, his family didn''t have such a feeling of wearing gold and silver. Because the old hunter earned a lot of money when he lived in the village before, the villagers knew at a glance that Shen Xuanqing made a lot of money as a hunter. Otherwise, how could he turn over in just a few years and live a better life than before. Zhou Yunzhi saw the silver bracelet in Wei Lanxiang''s hand, and then glanced at the other family members of the second room. She felt sour in her heart. Her eyeballs kept looking at other people''s jewelry. Wei Lanxiang smiled, she raised her hands deliberately to fix her hair, so that the silver bracelet in her wrist became more visible, she said: "Sister-in-law, look at our Qiuyue, she forced me to comb my hair even though I''m this old. I said that combing hair is for young people, but she still insisted on putting silk flowers on my hair. I said just put one silk flower, but she didn''t want to listen, she insisted on putting so many silk flowers on my hair. " When Zhou Yunzhi heard it, the sour water in her heart could come out. She always disliked the poor and loved the rich. When she saw that the second room family was indeed rich, her eyes no longer looked on top and but with a bit desire to curry favor, she said: "You too, today we are celebrating Chinese New Year, and your daughter-in-law is filial, you shouldn''t spoil your child''s good heart could." "Look at this, the silk flower on my hair is bought by my eldest daughter in law. At first I didn''t want to put it on my hair, but after thinking about it, I can''t make my child sad." She gently touched the large silk flower on her hair with her hand, but unfortunately the silver bracelet on her wrist was thinner than Wei Lanxiang''s, and it was still old bracelet. "Oh, it''s so beautiful. "Wei Lanxiang boasted smoothly, and when she saw that Zhou Yunzhi glanced straight at her wrist, she knew that she was showing off, her sister-in-law must be very sad right now, and her mood improved. The two sisters-in-laws were talking insincerely, and Zhou Xiangjun, who wasn''t talkative, only laughed and said nothing. After a while, Shen Yan and Shen Yu said that the eldest aunt (paternal) came, and they rushed out to welcome her. Because the first room took care the elderly, they lived in the old house. Shen Xuanqing''s second and third aunt (paternal) would stay here for dinner when they came back, and the other members of the family would also come over to have a reunion dinner together. Now even if his grandpa and grandma were gone, the rules of cooking and eating at the first room''s house hadn''t changed. Shen Xuanqing''s eldest aunt married far away, and she only came back to her mother''s house during the Chinese New Year only, so naturally she also went to their house and the third room''s house to sit and have a look. Lu Gu went back first, he brought out eight plates of pastries and dried fruits prepared at home, put them in the main room, and poured boiling water into the teapot to make tea. After Wei Lanxiang and the others entered the door talking and laughing, he poured the tea. "Eldest aunt, drink the tea." Lu Gu served the tea obediently. CH 94.2 The chubby old woman with a pair of gold bracelets on her wrists glanced at him, nodded and smiled. After tasting the tea, she took his hand and asked about his age and some homely words. Shen Shuyun was older than Shen Shunde. She was the eldest sister of their generation, her temper was terrible and shrewish. Even Shen Shunde, who usually put on the airs of the eldest son, didn''t dare to show off in front of her. Shen Xuanqing''s grandparents loved his youngest son Shen Shunwang the most, and she loved her fourth brother Shen Shunfu the most. There was no special reason, she only thought that the luck, knowledge, and experience of his younger brother were different from ordinary people. When Shen Shunfu had an accident, she did her best to send money and medicine, so Wei Lanxiang respected her very much. On the way here just now, Wei Lanxiang and Shen Xuanqing both told her about Lu Gu. Now when she saw that Lu Gu was well-behaved and he looked like a good boy, so she felt relieved. "Eldest sister, try this sugar cake. I boiled the syrup with tianwogen." Wei Lanxiang sat beside her and chatted with her. Shen Shuyun was the eldest, and everyone could tell that she didn''t like the first room very much. The second room and third room were well-behaved, and the smile on her face never stopped when she came here. "Erqing, hurry up and take the maleizis for the others." Wei Lanxiang said again. Shen Shuyun went back to her natal home once a year, mostly because she was dragged down by having a family to feed. She came back with her family, with several grandchildrens from her sons and daughters, and it was very lively, the grandchildrens would get closer to their uncles'' family. Shen Xuanqing went to pick maleizis, as long as the children had something to play with and something to eat, they were very happy, and the courtyard was full of children''s laughter. Wei Lanxiang added the tea and said, "I was in a hurry this morning, and I forgot to bring beef. Daqing bought it specially, and I''m waiting for you to come to eat." Beef was more expensive than other meats, and she didn''t bring it on purpose. After the relatives came, she brought it to the first room''s house in front of them, so that they all knew that the beef was bought by her family and had nothing to do with the first room. Otherwise, with Zhou Yunzhi''s shamelessness, she would definitely take credit for it. Shen Shuyun heard that she could afford beef, so she said: "That''s the way it is, the days will get better." "That''s it." Wei Lanxiang loved hearing such words the most, and her face was full of smile. The second and third aunts all came on the first day of the new year, and there were a lot of people. It was the first time for Lu Gu to cook at the first room''s house. Because he was not familiar with the place and people, he and Ji Qiuyue acted as supporting role in the kitchen. Today, Shen Xuanqing was outside, and it was his job to serve food and hot wine, he sat at the table with the relatives to eat and drink. A lot of people came, and the weather was so warm today, so they set up four tables in the courtyard. Lu Gu delivered the food to the men who were drinking at the table, he was a little cautious because he was not familiar with them, but fortunately Shen Xuanqing sat near the kitchen, and every time he came over, Shen Xuanqing would help him put the dishes, so he didn''t have to talk to others. Shen Xuanqing took the empty plate and handed it to him, he asked, "Are you hungry? Let mother leave some food for you." "I''m not hungry, I just ate some dishes in the kitchen." Lu Gu smiled slightly, afraid of delaying the kitchen serving the dishes, so he left quickly, and the he heard how the relatives at the table made fun of Shen Xuanqing. There were many people talking and making a racket in the yard, and the first day of the new year was full of noise and excitement. Lu Gu was not familiar with these relatives, but just listening and watching from the sidelines made him feel happy. And the next day, it was time for them to go to the relatives'' houses. When Lu Gu was washing his face early in the morning, he saw the broken palace lantern in the yard. Shen Xuanqing wiped his face and followed his gaze, he said with a smile: "It''s okay, when I was young, I went to my eldest aunt''s house and broke a lot of things in her house. If you want, I will take you to the town to buy something better than this one during the Lantern Festival. " Lu Gu just felt that it was a pity because the palace lanterns were expensive, but he didn''t really mean to blame others. Children played like this, and he also broke the lanterns bought by his mother when he was a child. In the middle of the morning, they packed up. They packed candied fruit, pastries, bacon and dried fish. Ji Qiuyue and Shen Yaoqing went to Ji''s house. Because they had cut off contact with the Lu family, and Lu Gu had no natal family to go back to, so Wei Lanxiang took him with her. The two of them went to Wei''s house with Shen Yan. Chinese New Year was like this, either visiting relatives or relatives'' coming. From the first day to the fifteenth day of the new year, they were busy. Some old relatives and distant relatives didn''t come here frequently, but you must also entertain them properly. Unlike Shen Xuanqing¡¯s eldest uncle¡¯s house, if Wei Lanxiang''s relatives came, they definitely would prepare a good meal. So if Wei Lanxiang''s family came one day, the other party''s family would definitely prepare a good meal for them. Their family''s life was better now, when the poorer relatives came over, Wei Lanxiang didn''t look down on them. They cooked fish and meat for them. Not to mention the adults, at least let the relatives'' children eat more meat to satisfy their cravings, the children were pitiful after all. The days passed like quickly. Before the New Year''s Eve, Lu Gu was nervous about the New Year''s Eve, but when it came to the New Year''s Eve, he felt it was nothing. Shen Xuanqing was always where he could see him, and he felt at ease. The day before the Lantern Festival, Wangli Village set up an opera stage at the entrance of the village, it was Landlord Li who had invited an opera troupe to sing. Wangli Village was a little far away from their village, but many people in the village called their friends and made an appointment to watch a big show together tomorrow. CH 95.1 In the evening, Wei Lanxiang came back from outside and said that she had made an appointment with Quanzi''s mother and Aunt Ajin, and said that she would bring Lu Gu with her. Shen Xuanqing was happy with this, it was a good thing to go out to see an opera. Wei Lanxiang then said again: "When I came back, uncle Ajin''s cow was about to give birth to a calf, go over and have a look later." Even if it was a dog gave birth to a litter of puppies in the village, someone would go to see it, let alone it was a cow. Shen Xuanqing had been paying attention to the cow in Uncle Ajin''s house for a long time, and now when he heard that it was the time to give birth, he said that they would go together later. There would be more fields in the future, and it would be too tiring to rely on people to plow the fields. It would be better if there was a cow, because the cattle for farming was precious, so no one would easily sell their family cow, and the cow would be closer to themselves if it was raised from a calf. It was cold at night. In Uncle Ajin¡¯s barn, the ground was covered with hay and straw, and a fire was burning in the brazier. It was too cold in winter, and the newly born calf had to be kept warm with the brazier. Lu Gu stood on tiptoe outside the crowd and looked inside. There were many men who came to join in the fun, so it was difficult for him to step forward. He and a few children in the village were a little farther away from the crowd. "It''s coming out." There was a commotion in the front, everyone stretched their necks to look at the newborn calf inside, and the children were even more curious. Because Shen Xuanqing was the tallest, he could see everything clearly even if he stood behind. When he turned around, he saw Lu Gu who was stretching his neck on tiptoe, but still couldn''t see anything. He smiled and said, "I''ll take you to take a closer look later." Lu Gu''s heels fell to the ground, and when the crowd in the front dispersed a little, he followed Shen Xuanqing to the barn. Uncle Ajin had already surrounded the barn with old mats, so that the cow and calf couldn''t get wind inside. The calf was wet and there was blood between the cow''s hind legs. It was really not easy to give birth to a calf. After seeing the calf, the little curiosity in Lu Gu''s heart was satisfied. When shuang''ers and girls were not married yet, usually they didn''t just go to other people''s homes to watch this kind of excitement. In fact, there was nothing to look at. As soon as his eyes saw the blood stains, he knew that gave birth to a calf was painful, so he didn''t dare to look at the cow more. "Mother, you go back first." Shen Xuanqing said to Wei Lanxiang who was looking over. He turned his head and said to Lu Gu, "Go back with mother first, and I''ll ask uncle Ajin about the calf." Cattle for farming was very useful in the field, and there were many families in the village wanted them. Before the cow gave birth, he mentioned to Uncle Ajin that he wanted to buy its calf. He was afraid of an unforeseen event, so if he could settle it tonight, he would settle it tonight. Besides, they were all in the same village, and they were so close, so there was no need to go to other places to buy it. "En." Lu Gu nodded and went back with Wei Lanxiang first. When Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing returned home, they learned that the calf had already been settled, and they would bring it back after three months when it was weaned, Wei Lanxiang was overjoyed. Lu Gu recalled the calf he saw before, and he thought that it would be their family''s cow in the future. ____________________________ Appreciating the lanterns on the night of the fifteenth of the first lunar month, but they didn''t have many colorful lanterns to see in the countryside. If you wanted to talk about the excitement, it must be in the town. Lu Gu once heard Lu Wen said that on the night of the Lantern Festival, the long street in Fenggu Town was surrounded by0 lanterns, and people in the town would carry lanterns to play on the street, it was really as bright as day. He had never seen such excitement, but this year Shen Xuanqing bought quite a few lanterns, he bought twenty lanterns, all in different styles. In the morning, Shen Yan pulled him to hang up the lanterns that should be hung, and waited for them to be lit at night. Wang Li Village was far away, and the sun was warm at noon. The big opera show would be held today, and in order to occupy the front spot early, Lu Gu made breakfast early today, and after they finished eating, Wei Lanxiang took him and Shen Yan to watch the opera. Most of the people who liked to watch opera in the countryside were women and fulangs, so today Shen Xuanqing didn''t go with them. Wei Lanxiang, who was carrying a small bench, called Aunt Miao and Quanzi''s mother loudly as soon as she went out. Lu Gu also carried a small bench and a small basket on his right hand, which contained bamboo tubes filled with hot water, pastries, melon seeds and peanuts. It was a long time to watch the opera, so they must prepare something to eat. As soon as they arrived at Wangli Village, the stage at the entrance of the village was set up, and people from several nearby villages came to watch it, so there were so many people here. Afraid that Shen Yan would get lost, Lu Gu quickly held her hand and followed Wei Lanxiang closely. The crowd of people, you said one sentence and I said one sentence, they gathered together to make a racket, and this place became like downtown area. Lu Gu was afraid that they would be scattered, so he focused all his attention on the people around him. He didn''t see Du Hehua in the crowd, but Du Hehua saw him. Silver hairpin and silver bracelet, she didn''t expect this wild species could live a good life. CH 95.2 Du Hehua gave "bah" secretly and then touched the silver bracelet on her wrist. It was given to him by Lu Wen, so what about him being a concubine? Lu Wen of her family wore gold and silver and lived in the town, and his son in law was not comparable to these muddy legs in the countryside. Thinking like this, the depression in her heart dissipated, and she squeezed into the crowd together with the village woman who fawned on her. When the opera started, Lu Gu didn''t know what happened to others, and he sat next to Wei Lanxiang with Shen Yan. He watched the play while eating the cakes and sunflower seeds very happily. In the afternoon, it was time to cook, and people left one after another. The play would be sung for three days, and at this time the weather was cold, Wei Lanxiang got up and said, "Go back first, we''ll come back tomorrow if we want to watch it again." Lu Gu didn''t take a few steps, as if he had noticed something, when he raised his head, he saw Shen Xuanqing who was looking at him not far away. He subconsciously wanted to go there, but he restrained himself, only the smile on his face showed his suddenly bright mood. "Why are you here?" Wei Lanxiang wondered, she knew that her second son didn''t like watching opera very much. "Mother, Da Chen and the others said they will go to the town to watch lanterns at night, so I''ll take Guzi to see them." Shen Xuanqing approached them and said. So this was the reason, Wei Lanxiang said: "These days the nights come early, You must be careful when you come back at night." "It''s okay, there are many people will go with us. "Shen Xuanqing handed the small bench and empty basket in Lu Gu''s hand to Shen Yan, otherwise it would become a burden on the road. The young people liked to watch the excitement, Wei Lanxiang didn''t overly obstruct them. She only told them to be careful on the road, and then went home with Shen Yan. "We will have dinner in the town." Shen Xuanqing led Lu Gu to another direction, and soon they saw Da Chen and the others. Lu Gu nodded at them. When he watched the play, he ate cakes and sunflower seeds, so he wasn''t very hungry right now. There were more men who were going to see the lanterns together, but with Shen Xuanqing by his side, he wasn''t afraid. Wangli Village was a little closer to the town than Qingxi Village, but it was still dark when they arrived in the town. They first ate Fuyuanzi (¸¡Ôª×Ó) at a roadside food stall. It was sweet and glutinous, the soup was also hot, and he didn''t feel cold after eating it. Even though there were eight balls of fuyuanzi in a bowl, Lu Gu wasn''t full, let alone Shen Xuanqing. They came out to play tonight, naturally they would eat whatever they wanted, Shen Xuanqing led Lu Gu to see and buy. The lanterns on the long street were gradually lit up, and the colors were extraordinary. There were also people who were guessing lantern riddles. The unmarried girls and Shuang''ers, who rarely away from home, also went out to see the lanterns. At this time they had fun in the street while holding flower lanterns. They were at the age when the green onion still tender and watery. Lu Gu was dazzled by all kinds of lanterns, and he stopped when Shen Xuanqing wanted to buy them for him. There were so many at home, so why spent money to buy more. At the place where the lantern riddles were guessed, the stall owner was talking about the riddles, so he stopped involuntarily. Lantern riddles were an elegant thing for a countryman. He had never guessed it before, and the riddle was difficult. He didn''t know the answer, and even his eyes were blank. It was Shen Xuanqing who thought for a while and then whispered the answer in his ear. Being encouraged by Shen Xuanqing, Lu Gu timidly told the answer to the stall owner. The stall owner glanced at him, nodded with a smile and handed over a lantern. Since the words were released, if someone could guess correctly, they would be given lanterns. How could the stall owner broke his promise, so many people were watching. Lu Gu didn''t expect that his answer was right. When he took the lantern, he was a little bit erratic when he was watched by others, and his heart was indescribably excited. This lantern was actually very ordinary, not as exquisite as the ones bought by Shen Xuanqing at home. After all, the stall owner also had to make money, so he couldn''t give away something too good for nothing. "You guessed it right." Lu Gu recovered from his joy, and handed the lantern to Shen Xuanqing with a smile. He was so happy that even his eyes were bright, Shen Xuanqing knew it was right to come tonight. "Erqing, come and see, there is a Phoenix Lantern." Da Chen and his wife in the front shouted at them. Shen Xuanqing smiled, he took the lantern and together with Lu Gu hurried to the front. All the way to see the lanterns and play, until late at night, a dozen of people gathered together, counted the number of people and went home. The night was dense, but it wasn''t dark with the full moon on the road. As soon as they left the town, the light became much weaker. Lu Gu''s right hand hanging by his side was suddenly grasped. He looked to his side, because there were other people who were traveling with them, so he wanted to break free. But Shen Xuanqing said in a low voice: "It''s hard to walk at night, what if you get lost when you don''t pay attention?" Lu Gu actually wanted to say that he wasn''t a three-years-old child, how could he get lost, but the big hand holding his hand was too warm and strong, making him unable to speak. Fortunately there was darkness covering his cheeks so that others wouldn''t see his slightly hot cheeks. The men in the front were chatting, and there were some bragging. It was also very lively in the dark. The two of them fell behind, as if they formed a world of their own that no one else could break into. Ever since they went down the mountain because of winter, there were too many people in the family, so it was difficult to do some intimate things. Now that he could hold Lu Gu''s hand, Shen Xuanqing didn''t want to let go at all. CH 95.3 The way back was quite long, and after walking about halfway, Shen Xuanqing stopped and asked Lu Gu, "Are you tired? How about I carry you on my back?" Lu Gu glanced at the person in front of him, shook his head and refused. Afraid that these words would be heard by other people, he didn''t speak. Shen Xuanqing paused, he slightly pursed his lips and felt a little unwilling. He liked to be close to Lu Gu very much, although the suggestion just now was only temporary one, but now when he thought about it, he hugged and kissed Lu Gu for so long, but he just didn''t remember it. "If you don''t speak, it means you agree." He found an extremely lame excuse. Without waiting for Lu Gu to react, he stood in front of him, grabbed Lu Gu''s arms with his backhand and put them on his shoulders, grabbed his legs and bent over, and then he carried Lu Gu on his back. After he straightened his body, Lu Gu''s feet were off the ground, and with a hook of his hands, he separated Lu Gu''s legs to the sides, and and then he walked forward firmly with Lu Gu on his back. The body flew into the air, Shen Xuanqing was too tall, after his arms were released, Lu Gu was so frightened that he immediately hugged Shen Xuanqing''s neck tightly, for fear of falling. They walked slowly behind, and someone looked behind and saw Shen Xuanqing carrying Lu Gu on his back. "Why are you carrying him on your back?" Da Chen also saw it, and asked Shen Xuanqing with a smile. Shen Xuanqing lied without changing his face: "he just stepped on a rock and sprained." The men in the front laughed, Lu Gu buried his head on Shen Xuanqing''s shoulder and dared not lift it up, his ears and cheeks were red. Shen Xuanqing walked more slowly and gradually separated from the crowd. Lu Gu lay on his broad and strong shoulders, Shen Xuanqing''s neck and cheek were next to his face, and he could smell a familiar scent. Lu Gu couldn''t hear Da Chen and the others'' voice anymore, he couldn''t help turning his face and want to whisper something, but Shen Xuanqing also turned his face at this time, and the tip of his nose and mouth accidentally rubbed against Shen Xuanqing''s face. Although the moonlight was light, anyone could clearly see the sudden smile on Shen Xuanqing''s face: "Do you want to kiss me?" The tone was completely different from usual, full of youthful complacency, as if he confirmed Lu Gu''s mind. "No, no." Lu Gu blushed and stuttered. Shen Xuanqing stopped, he smiled and said, "Kiss again, otherwise, I won''t leave." In the wilderness desolated area outside the town, how could Lu Gu dare to do this kind of thing outside, he mumbled and didn''t dare to agree, but who knew that Shen Xuanqing suddenly turned his head to rub his cheek, and really didn''t want to leave and also didn''t want to let go. Such a stalemate was not good, Lu Gu was shy and ashamed, his heart trembled, but he still kissed Shen Xuanqing''s cheek. After kissing him, he wanted to say that it was time to leave, but Shen Xuanqing turned around and kissed him on the lips so accurately. Even if there was no deep kiss, the kiss between the lips was still delicate and lingering. Lu Gu''s cheeks were hot, and the roots of his ears were hot. There was no one around him. He heard himself gasp from his throat, in such a quiet place. It was like thunder in the dark night. He subconsciously wanted to escape, but the arms around Shen Xuanqing''s neck were tight, and he was so attached that he himself didn''t even realize it. He was embarrassed when the corners of their lips brushed against each other, and he whispered in Shen Xuanqing''s ear: "Okay, no more." His voice was small and soft, it reminded Shen Xuanqing of the Fuyuanzi he ate in the town. It was sweet and sticky, he thought of Lu Gu''s fair and white cheeks again, he had gained weight recently, and his cheeks were better to touch than before, sometimes when he woke up at night, he would hug Lu Gu and touched his cheeks. But this was not the only part on Lu Gu''s body that was fair and fleshy. His Adam''s apple slipped, the arms around Lu Gu''s legs became tighter, and then he whispered: "Then go home." "Yes." Lu Gu lay on his shoulders, as long as he lowered his head or turned his face, he would meet Shen Xuanqing''s cheeks and the side of the neck. There was still a way to go back, he hugged Shen Xuanqing''s neck tightly, and couldn''t help but quietly rubbed his cheeks with Shen Xuanqing. This made the man who was carrying him became more and more pleased, his feet became hurried, and he couldn''t wait to go home. The sound of dogs barking and people gradually subsided after Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu entered the room. The doors and windows were closed tightly, Tang pozi had already warmed the bed, and they wouldn''t feel cold at all once they went in. But right now Lu Gu had no time to think about whether tang pozi was hotter, Shen Xuanqing was hotter, or himself. His body was covered with a tall and strong body. In a trance, he knew why Shen Xuanqing was so anxious. From the last time to tonight, they hadn''t had intercourse for more than 20 days. Lu Gu''s hair was slightly wet, and he closed his mouth tightly, not daring to let himself make a sound. The same was true for Shen Xuanqing, there were people beside them in the house, so he couldn''t be as presumptuous and indulgent as he was on the mountain before, so he restrained his movements as much as possible. He used to feel that the conditions in the mountain was poor, the road was far and difficult, and there was no one to talk. But since he came down from the mountain this winter, he suddenly felt the benefits of the mountain. At least at night, he and Lu Gu didn''t have to be so cautious. CH 96.1 It was past midnight, and most people had already fallen into a deep sleep. Under the bed tent, Lu Gu was panting lightly to calm down. In just a few months, he got used to Shen Xuanqing''s embrace, and when he was about to sneak in sideways, Shen Xuanqing hugged him suddenly, and his other hand touched his cheek. Touching the face and pinching the earlobe were what they often did when they were alone. But this time it was a bit different, Shen Xuanqing actually bit his cheek, didn''t know if it hurt or not, but Lu Gu''s eyes widened in an instant, how could he bite him? In the dark, he couldn''t see Shen Xuanqing''s expression clearly, but Shen Xuanqing seemed to see through his mind, so he whispered: "It''s soft, like Fuyuanzi." Lu Gu was even more puzzled, how could he be like Fuyuanzi. Just when he was about to ask, who knew that Shen Xuanqing''s big hand moved down, caressing his skin inch by inch, the calluses on the warm palm were rough, but that big hand was so powerful that he immediately blushed like a drop of blood, and he couldn''t speak. He hid the secret joy in his heart and didn''t dare to show it, otherwise if people knew that he liked being touched and comforted by Shen Xuanqing like this, he would be ashamed. However, after such joy, he suddenly realized that Shen Xuanqing kept pinching the most fleshy part of his body, and then Lu Gu''s eyes widened in fright. "What are you doing?" His voice was still trembling, and he subconsciously wanted to back off. Shen Xuanqing paused, and then he pulled Lu Gu back. The two of them were so close together, he almost wanted to let out a sigh of satisfaction from the bottom of his heart. He hugged Lu Gu tightly, and said in a hoarse voice: "Fat." Shen Xuanqing just hugged Lu Gu and didn''t do anything else, which made Lu Gu feel relieved, just now he thought Shen Xuanqing was about to do it again. As for whether he was fat or not, he pursed his lips slightly and began to worry about this matter in his heart. He was not sure whether it was better to lose weight or gain weight, if Shen Xuanqing didn''t like him being fat... His body became slightly stiff, and he was annoyed with himself that he had eaten too much on weekdays. "Get fatter, so we can have children in the future." It was the first time for Shen Xuanqing to mention the matter of childbirth in front of Lu Gu. He was just thinking about it before, but now he suddenly realized that it was Lu Gu who would give birth to his children, and his heart throbbed slightly. It was good to be fat, he couldn''t let the skinny Lu Gu have a big belly and give birth to cubs. "How many do you want?" He hugged Lu Gu tightly, but after a short while, his thoughts had drifted far away, and he said to himself: "Whether it''s a Shuang''er or a daughter, there must be one at least. When they grow up, I will send them to school, learn how to read and write, and if they want to practice martial arts, they can also do it." Lu Gu listened to his words without interrupting, and opened his eyes in the dark, he seemed to be immersed in the deep voice. children? He was actually at a loss because he never thought about it. "It''s good to practice martial arts. I don''t need to worry that they will be bullied by anyone in the future." Shen Xuanqing kept talking about his little Shuang''er and little daughter, whom he didn''t even see their shadows. When he mentioned this, he felt that it was really necessary to practice martial arts. If they really have a little Shuang''er in the future, wouldn''t he be very similar to Lu Gu? He had never seen Lu Gu when he was a child, but there was a timid and small Lu Gu in his mind. The first time he saw Lu Gu was on the day of his marriage. When he took off the red veil, he saw a Shuang''er with his eyes holding back the tears, he was timid and trembling pitifully, and he didn''t even dare to let out a sound when he cried. His heart was tight and sore, but still he couldn''t help but think about Lu Gu when he was a child, whether he also liked to cry. He was a man himself, and he knew how much he was hated when he was a child. He would pull the girls'' or Shuang''er''s braids, or scare and bully them. Most girls and Shuang''er were timid and they would cry when they were bullied. "Did anyone bully you when you were young?" He suddenly asked. Lu Gu was thinking about giving birth to a baby, it was Shen Xuanqing''s, he couldn''t refuse, and he didn''t want to refuse. Suddenly, when he heard this sentence, he opened his mouth and said: "Yes, Ji''an pulled my hair, but he was beaten back by brother Liu Fang, later I avoided the boys and often played with Chen ge''er and Ah Cao." He thought for a while and then said: ¡°That happened when I was young, and when I got older, no one pull my hair anymore.¡± ¡°Brother Liu Fang?" Shen Xuanqing''s ears moved, and he only grasped this part among all the words. Lu Gu didn''t notice it, and he said truthfully: "Yes, brother Liu Fang, the elder brother of the neighbor. He is older than me, he gave me sweets when I was young, and then his family moved to the town." Helped to beat the bullies, the big brother nextdoor, shared the sweets. Saying this sentence word by word, two words popped up in Shen Xuanqing''s mind - childhood sweetheart! He gritted his teeth secretly, but tried his best to make his voice sound the same, and asked, "He treats you well? "That''s right, before their family moved to the town, Brother Liu Fang would take me out to play. I played with the grasshoppers he caught at that time. He caught the grasshoppers, brought them back and weaved a grass cage for me. Brother Liu Fang''s hands are good." CH 97.1 Because they couldn''t find an excuse for a while, Lu Gu had no choice but to remove the dirty bed mattress first, and after that the two of them put on the clean clothes. When Lu Gu looked at the pile of bed sheet and quilt on the chair, let alone him, even Shen Xuanqing felt embarrassed. After a long time, Shen Xuanqing said: "How about I''ll find an excuse at noon to let my mother and the others go out first. Both of us will wash and hang them in the room. Close the doors and windows these days, don''t open them. " "Is this okay?" Lu Gu asked weakly. "This is the only way. We can''t take them out for washing right now." Shen Xuanqing also knew that if they hung them in the room, it would be a disaster if they were found out, but if they hung them in the yard today, the two of them had no children, they couldn''t use an excuse like the child wet the bed. It was true, so Lu Gu could only nod his head. After lunch, Shen Xuanqing went out, and when he came back, he only said that the third grandma was doing needlework at home, and Wei Lanxiang, who was free and had nothing to do, didn''t need to be urged, and she went over with her unfinished soles. He pretended not to care, and after that he asked Shen Yan if she wanted to practice calligraphy. He said that Lu Gu was sick, lay down and couldn''t come. If she wanted to practice calligraphy, he would look after her from the side. Upon hearing this, Shen Yan quickly said that it was better to wait for brother Guzi to recover from his illness, otherwise it would be difficult for the two of them to learn together. After that, she took her embroidered basket and went out to follow Wei Lanxiang''s footsteps. It was alright if Ji Qiuyue stayed at home, but when she heard that Quanzi and his fulang were sitting in the yard, basking in the sun and teasing their baby, she also went out. Shen Yaoqing who had nothing to do, of course he also went out to follow his wife. There was no one at home, so Shen Xuanqing immediately took the laundry wooden basin and poured warm water in it. Just after eating, he made an excuse that he wanted to wash his hair, so he boiled half a pot of boiling water. Lu Gu saw that Shen Xuanqing came in with a wooden basin, and he quickly brought over the bed sheet and quilt, both of them had red ears. Shen Xuanqing rubbed the wild bath beads to make foam and said: "It''s too heavy to wring them until dry, just wash the dirty part." "Yeah" Lu Gu replied in a muffled voice. Fearing that their family members would come back suddenly, the two of them acted very quickly. Shen Xuanqing took a wooden stick and fork to build a wooden frame and placed it in the gap between the end of the bed and the wall. He put the bed sheet and quilt on the wooden frame and said: "For these few days, you have been wronged to pretend to be sick, because we need an excuse to close the windows and door. Even if we can''t do it today, maybe it will be fine tomorrow." Lu Gu''s hands were still stained with water, and he nodded after hearing this, as long as they were not discovered, there was nothing wrong with it. It was the first time for him to do such a sneaky action, and his heart was beating non-stop while washing, and now he felt a little relieved after finishing it. The bed sheet and quilt on the wooden frame was one dark color and one light color. Shen Xuanqing looked at them, and then looked at Lu Gu, the nervous and excitement because of the sneaky action had passed, and he couldn''t help showing a smile. "I said I need to wash my hair, but it''s sunny outside and there is no wind, so I''ll wash my hair first, otherwise we will be exposed. " When he saw Lu Gu with his eyes curved, he couldn''t hold back after speaking, so he stroked his fulang''s hair, his heart was filled with joy. For the next two days, the Shen family members were very considerate to Lu Gu who "caught a cold" and didn''t suspect anything even though the door and windows of their room were closed all the time. Of course, Lu Gu didn''t stay in the room all the time, he would go outside when it was time for eating, and sometimes he basked in the sun in the courtyard, it was to show that his illness was not serious, otherwise Wei Lanxiang would ask Shen Xuanqing to go to get the medicine. Most of the country people were like this, if the illness was not serious, it would pass after taking a rest for a while. For the rest of the time, he stayed in the room and closed the door and windows. With Shen Xuanqing who dealt with the others outside, he was really not found. It was cold in winter, they couldn''t dry the bed sheet and quilt in the sun and they could only hang them in the room. The place where they hung the wet bed sheet and quilt was cold, and they hadn''t been dried for two days, Lu Gu couldn''t help feeling a little anxious. At night Shen Xuanqing brought in the charcoal brazier on the pretext of warming the room for Lu Gu. When it got dark, everyone else fell asleep, and only the two of them secretly baked the bed sheet and quilt in the room. "If I had known this, I should have roasted them with fire last night." Lu Gu said softly while touching the hot and dry bed sheet. His whisper like a thief made Shen Xuanqing laugh. The fire light reflected in Lu Gu''s eyes, as if jumping in his eyes, flashing a warm and bright light. The orange light from the flame made Lu Gu''s silhouette become soft, his expression was innocent. Because the bed sheet and quilt were all dry, his eyes and eyebrows slightly curved because he was happy, so that those who looked at him couldn''t help but be immersed in his happiness. As expected there was really white jade skin like solidified fat in the world, Shen Xuanqing thought silently. He suddenly remembered the day when he got married, he lifted Lu Gu''s red veil, and then he saw a Shuang''er with red mark between eyebrows and tears streaming down his face. At a glance, he knew that Lu Gu was good-looking. When he saw Lu Gu''s smooth skin, he thought of something else. The white jade skin must be well maintained. Apparently the windswept and and battered by rain in the countryside seemed to be harsher than the wind and rain in the town. He didn''t have the ability to pamper his fulang, but he could afford the ointment to protect his hands, feet and face. When he went to the town, he would buy it and also cream for face. [·ç´µÓê´òf¨¥ng chu¨© y¨³ d¨£: windswept and battered by rain (idiom); to undergo hardship] CH 97.2 Shen Xuanqing didn''t think much about it. It was better to have moist skin than dry and cracked skin, because it was painful. What was more, Lu Gu was so delicate. The wind in spring was still cold, the wind in summer was hot, the wind in autumn was bleak, and the wind in winter was sharp. There were wind, frost, rain and snow in all four seasons of the year. The more he thought about it, the more he felt uneasy. " "Fold it for me." Lu Gu''s gentle words made him come back to his senses. When he was on the bed, Shen Xuanqing was affected by his own endless thoughts, and when he turned over, he enveloped Lu Gu under him again. He opened his mouth slightly and wanted to tell Lu Gu that the wind and rain outside were unpredictable, and stayed with him at home was the right choice. What was more, outside, there were wild men he had never seen before. But in a blink of an eye, when he thought more about it, it was really ridiculous to say such nonsensical words, so he had to bow his head and kiss Lu Gu. Lu Gu thought of what happened two days ago and made his body tremble slightly, he thought that Shen Xuanqing still wanted to do it again, but the bed sheet and quilt just dried tonight. So after being kissed on the corner of his lips, he said in low voice: "The sheet and quilt can no longer be washed." Shen Xuanqing laughed when he heard this, he only wanted to kiss Just Lu Gu and nothing else, so he said: "Just a few kisses." Hearing this, Lu Gu obviously relaxed, and the darkness covered the joy in his eyes. Apart from touching, he also liked Shen Xuanqing kissing him in his heart. The light kisses fell on the cheeks and the side of the neck, the warm breath fell on his ears, and then he heard Shen Xuanqing''s low voice with a smile. "Sew a thick cloth for the bed sheet these days. If you don¡¯t have one at home, I¡¯ll take you to the town to buy it. You won¡¯t have to wash the bed sheet in a hurry in the future, and you can also sew a quilt. If it¡¯s dirty, I¡¯ll remove it for you. " Lu Gu realized what did he mean about letting him sew another bed sheet and quilt, and while feeling ashamed, he also realized that Shen Xuanqing still wanted to do such an excessive thing. Usually, after the two of them had sex, they only needed to wipe their legs and their bodies, instead of getting a lot of dirt everywhere like the last time. But he couldn''t say the words to push back and fight, because his lips and tongue were blocked. All kinds of busyness in the first month seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye. Some new shoots sprouted from the tough wild vegetables and weeds, and mottled greens appeared on the withered, yellow and dead ground. Small patches here and there spread to the field. After lunch, Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing went to see the five acres of field they bought. When the snow melted before, the ground was very muddy, and the snow water in the winter wheat field was the water for the wheat to drink. Fortunately, the snow water and the muddy road had already dried up today, so that the mud wouldn''t stick to the soles and the shoes wouldn''t be dirty. These five acres of fields were good fields. The wheat seedlings were bright green, and they began to grow after the beginning of spring. Food was the lifeblood of farmers. Since the greenery had glowed, so some people herded their sheeps and cows. Most people come to the field a few times a day, and if by any chance someone''s cattle and sheep''s rope loosened and they came to eat the wheat seedlings, if they could be chased away in time or could be caught, and if they ate too much, they would ask explanation to the owner of the cattle and sheep. "Shepherd''s purse." Lu Gu saw the wild vegetables on the edge of the field, he squatted down and poked them. He only ate cabbage, radish and dried wild vegetables all winter. These bright green wild vegetables were the rarest after the spring came. There weren''t many shepherd''s purses, so he pulled it out and shook the soil on the root, and then he looked elsewhere, wanting to look for it again. Wei Lanxiang dug some on the hillside early in the morning, and if he got some back, he could fry a big bowl of shepherd''s purse. Shen Xuanqing saw the shepherd''s purse in another place, he bent down and pulled it out, and said: "Go down to the mountain and try to look for Chinese toon, and come back to scramble it with eggs to eat." "Okay." Lu Gu agreed, then he continued to look around, and found the shepherd''s purse again. They walked all the way and when they found wild vegetables they would stop and dig them. They got a lot of wild vegetables when they got home. Arriving at home, they took a bamboo basket and a long bamboo pole with a hook, they said something to Wei Lanxiang and went out. Aunt Miao and Quanzi''s mother were chatting outside the door, when they saw them carrying a bamboo pole, they asked, " Does Guzi want to go to hook the Chinese toon? "Yes." Lu Gu nodded and replied, without any other words, he said, "Aunts, I will go first." "Hey good, go quickly." Aunt Miao agreed repeatedly. While they were talking, Li Wanyun also came out from the door, she was still wearing Zhang Zhengzi''s padded coat. When she saw Lu Gu she smiled and didn''t say anything else. Lu Gu returned with a shallow smile, and then walked up the mountain with Shen Xuanqing. He thought to himself, it seemed that since the first time he saw Li Wanyun wearing the man''s clothes, she smiled more and would come out to chat with her neighbors. And the old Lao Zhang didn''t scold her anymore, he thought to himself, this would be very good, and finally she wouldn''t have to live like before. CH 98.1 Lu Gu didn''t know that when he was on the mountain, Li Wanyun made delicious soft and sticky rice and brought it to Lao Zhang''s room so she could chew it easily. After the cold winter, Lao Zhang lost her original spirit, she was getting more and more depressed, and now she could only lie on the bed. "It''s time to eat." Li Wanyun put the food on the table and said coldly. However, when the old Lao Zhang on the bed heard the movement, she only opened his cloudy eyes, and let out a few unclear sounds from her throat weakly. Li Wanyun was startled when she saw that Lao Zhang had lost the energy she had in the morning, she thought to herself, could it be that she was going to die? The more she thought about it, the more panicked she was. Once Lao Zhang died, how could she, a widow, resist those conscientious relatives of the Zhang family? Even if she wanted to remarry, she couldn''t do it during the three years of mourning. Now she didn''t even have money in her hand. She was not as cruel as Lao Zhang, as long as the old woman didn''t provoke her, she wouldn''t beat or scold her. So far, she could only find a handful of silver coins in Lao Zhang''s box and cabinet. Lao Zhang was also a cunning woman, and she didn''t know where she put the house deed and land deed. She didn''t even know how her mind was going, so she immediately shook Lao Zhang and said, "Do you want to live?" The word "live" made Lao Zhang''s cloudy eyes become clear, but she didn''t believe in Li Wanyun. She was injured and her health became bad. Her body was so weak that she couldn''t even speak. Li Wanyun''s hands inside her long sleeves were trembling, and her voice was also trembling a little, because she didn''t know what would happen to her if Lao Zhang died. She thought for a while, then she said coldly: "I don''t want to save you, but if you die, I won''t be able to survive because of your good relatives. So let me tell you, the little money at home has been spent and almost gone, If you want to survive, you can only sell the land, later I will buy you ginseng so you can continue to live." Ginseng! When Lao Zhang heard this, her eyes lit up immediately, she didn''t want to die. The Chinese toon tree grew tall, and the buds started to come out. In fact, it would be better to wait until the buds grew a little more in one and a half months later, but Shen Xuanqing wanted to eat it now, so they went up the mountain to try their luck. If there were any, they would hook some down, enough to make a plate of stir fry dish to eat to their hearts'' content. The spring was still cold, especially on the mountain, and the cold wind could freeze them. Fortunately, they both wore thick clothes to resist the wind and cold. Because the Chinese toon buds were too small at this moment, and few people came up to the mountain to pick them, they really got some and they could go back before dinner. The smoke from the kitchen was rising, and most families in Qingxi Village were cooking at this time. Lu Gu fried the Chinese toon with eggs for Shen Xuanqing, which was so fresh that even Ji Qiuyue, who had a poor appetite today, enjoyed it. The wind came faintly, carrying a strong and bitter medicinal smell. Lu Gu was drying chilli peppers while basking in the sun in the yard. There was not much chili powder left, so he covered his mouth and nose with a cloth to avoid choking, coughing and sneezing. Shen Xuanqing was chopping firewood at the door of the woodshed. "Wanyun is decocting medicine again." Lu Gu glanced over there and said. "This medicine is really bitter." Shen Xuanqing replied smoothly. The day before yesterday, when they were still hooking Chinese toon in the mountain, Li Wanyun ran to Lin Zhongcai''s house in tears. She said that her mother in law was dying, and took the land deed to sell it for medicine. Because she was a woman, it was not easy to show up in public to discuss land sale with the men in the village, so it was right for her to go to Lin Zhongcai. Selling land for medical treatment was very common in the countryside. Lin Zhongcai went to the Zhang family''s house to have a look. When he saw that Lao Zhang was really dying, she reached out her hand and shouted medicine and medicine weakly. It could be seen that she really wanted to live, and she even pointed at the land deed in Li Wanyun''s hand with trembling hands, everyone could see that she wanted to sell the land for medicine. Saving someone''s life was a big deal, Lin Zhongcai didn''t dare to delay. He couldn''t find a buyer in a short while, so he first lent Li Wanyun a tael of silver to buy the medicine. Just after dinner that day, Lin Zhongcai came to their house to look for Shen Xuanqing, and asked if he wanted to buy the Zhang family''s land. First of all, Shen Xuanqing told him before that he wanted to buy a few more acres of land. He knew that hunters were always richer than farmers, so he was sure that Shen Xuanqing could pay it cash and Li Wanyun could buy medicine for Lao Zhang. Moreover they were relatives, so if he had a good land, he would come to ask his relatives first, which could be regarded as taking care of the juniors. Although Zhang Zhengzi was someone who was happy to partake but not prepared to do any work, his family''s paddy fields and dry land were fertile lands. When his father was still around, he worked hard and earned his fortune. Later, his mother sold his sister for a good price and bought another good lands. There were a total of six acres of dry land and five acres of paddy fields. As long as the seeds were sown and the land was fertile, with a little care, it could produce a lot of rice a year. [ºÃ³ÔÀÁ×ö h¨¤o ch¨© l¨£n zu¨°: happy to partake but not prepared to do any work (idiom); all take and no give] CH 98.2 Zhang Zhengzi was a bastard, but he hadn''t reached to the point of idleness back then, and he still took care of the plowing field even if he was not so proficient, so he didn''t waste their family''s fertile lands. Because they were in the same village, the second room of the Shen family''s paddy fields happened to be next the Zhang family''s, so Shen Xuanqing knew better about the situation of the Zhang family''s paddy fields. It was confirmed that the land deed would be handed over to Lin Zhongcai, the head of the village, and when the land deed was stamped with the official seal, after passing through the official road, even if the relatives of the Zhang family wanted to make trouble, they could do nothing. Shen Xuanqing agreed. Li Wanyun was a woman, so Shen Xuanqing would go to Fucheng by himself to get the official seal. When he arrived at the Fucheng, he only needed to say a few more words. As long as the land tax was paid, it could be done well. Those who could go to pay the tax were honest farmers. How could he not do it, he asked Boss Lu to go there with him before, just to avoid the government''s inquiries and save trouble. A total of eleven acres of land, from Li Wanyun''s point of view, there would be no hatred with Lao Zhang''s family. Shen Xuanqing bought all the lands at the price of five taels of silver per acre. The five acres of paddy fields had nothing to grow in winter, but the winter wheat had already been planted in the six acres of dry land. It was enough to give water and fertilizer, and the winter wheat could be harvested in May. When handing the fifty five taels of silver to Li Wanyun, Shen Xuanqing glanced at her. Since his hunting skills became more proficient, his intuition also became more acute. When he followed Wei Lanxiang to see Lao Zhang, he felt that the condition of the other party was no longer good. Unlike his close relatives, Lao Zhang had beaten and scolded Li Wanyun in the past two years. He felt that buying medicine for her was a waste of money, so he thought that Li Wanyun should try to break out of the quagmire of the Zhang family. But when he thought about it again, if Li Wanyun wanted to save someone, that would be her own business, how could it was his turn to be talkative, or he would get the bad reputation of not rescuing and giving medical treatment for the injured and ill people. Besides, when he wanted to cure his father back then, he never let go of any chance. Now, if he persuaded others to give up medical treatment, wouldn''t it be unconscionable, so he didn''t say anything in the end. The field was the foundation of a farmer. Now he had 11 acres of dry land and 5 acres of paddy fields in his hands, plus the original few acres of land at home. As long as the land was well taken care of, even with farming only, it was enough to take care of the food and clothing throughout the year. Even though half of the money in his hand had gone, he spent a total of eighty taels for buying land, and he also spent a lot for preparing the new year''s goods before the New Year''s festival. Now he only had a little over one hundred taels of silver left in his hand. As he was thinking about money, Shen Xuanqing split another piece of firewood and said: "The ice in the river has melted, tomorrow I will see if I can catch winter and spring fishes (¶¬´ºÓã). After I chop some firewood later, I will go to catch the fishes, and I will take them to the town to sell together. " Winter and spring fish were as long as an adult¡¯s finger, about two fingers wide, and the meat was tender, with few small thorns. It could be stewed and fried, and children could grow taller after eating it. But the river was cold like ice in the early spring, so it was not easy to wade into the water and cast a dense net. But there was another way, they could use bamboo to weave fish cages, and then put them into the water. If the bamboo fish cage was too light, they could press the fish cage with stones, so as not to float up and run along the water. The Shen family had a fish cage they made before, and Shen Xuanqing dug it out from the utility room after chopping the firewood. Lu Gu hadn''t been to the town to sell things for a long time. When he thought of the colorful laozi he made in his free time after the Chinese New Year, he stopped the stone pestle in his hand, raised his head and said, "Then I''ll go with you and sell some spice bags and laozis." He also embroidered some handkerchiefs, the brand-new handkerchiefs were embroidered with flowers, even if they were sold cheaply, they were still three copper coins per piece, which was still a gain. "Okay." Shen Xuanqing patted the fish cage, and the layer of dust that covered it immediately rose up, so he didn''t pat it anymore. This thing didn''t need to be washed, the dirt would be washed away in the river tomorrow. After the beginning of spring, the ice and snow melted, everything came back to life. Wanting to earn more money than in the winter, everyone in the second room of the Shen family was busy. The river was cold, so Shen Yaoqing rowed a wooden boat in the river in order to put some fish cages in. Ji Qiuyue and Shen Yan were releasing ducks in the pond behind the house, she kept looking up from time to time to see her husband who put the fish cages. The matter of catching fishes was left to Shen Yaoqing, while Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing went up the mountain to collect firewood. Lu Gu carried a small bamboo basket on his back and planned to dig some wild vegetables on the mountain. Even though the wild vegetables were everywhere after mid-spring, but he only gnawed cabbage and radishes all winter. Now even the people in the town were rare for this fresh green wild vegetables, so the price was definitely good.