Porridge and side dishes [farming]

Chapter 71

On the second day, Li Ji didn't even need to ask deliberately, because the rumors were raging and he found Li Ji by himself.

Erying brought Yingzi over to sort out the recently purchased hay.There are a lot of them, and Li Ji and Er Gouzi can't get them in order for a day or two.It was slack time again.Erying remembered Li Ji's kindness for Xiaotuo to study, and when he was free, he brought Yingzi over to do some work.

Li Jishou felt at ease, let them do the work and feed them.The food in Li Ji's house is good, and the two of them can still replenish their health here.

"You said that the eyes of the rich people are different from ours. We can't wait to take a piece of handkerchief that they throw away casually and sew it on the hat to show our eyes. The young master who doesn't know how much money he has is just attracted to the girls in our village. I can’t keep my eyes open.” Erying was not idle as she was doing her work.

"If you say it's fate, anything is possible." Li Ji knew the tricks, so of course he wouldn't say it.

"Tsk, it's strange to talk about fate. A few days ago, I watched Uncle Shuisheng go crazy and insisted on Li Qiao'er imitating those dubious ways. People in the village said that he was attacked by ghosts and gods." I'm going to ruin Qiao'er. Now that I think about it, maybe it's really arranged by God. Even if Li Qiaoer doesn't have the life of the young mistress, she still has the life of being a concubine."

"It doesn't matter if it's young mistress or concubine, to be honest, it's not a good place to go." Li Ji said, "There are a lot of gossip in the gate of the mansion. Those who have no background go in, and if they are dead or disabled, they will pass by with an understatement. Feng, to put it bluntly, is either too naive or crazy about money."

This is actually a bit chewing on my wife's tongue, that is, talking to my niece and daughter-in-law.Li Ji was also afraid that Erying would look at Li Qiaoer with hot eyes, and in a blink of an eye, he would follow Li Shuisheng's heart and marry Yingzi into the house.

According to the custom, a child bride is a half-servant, and it is normal for her to resell her if things go wrong.Although Erying is good to Yingzi, and her mother-in-law is nothing more than that, but you should always be on guard.If Erying really planted some ideas in his heart, only Yingzi will suffer in the future.After all, it didn't crawl out of the stomach, and what should be paid attention to is still to be paid attention to.

"Fourth uncle, what you said is right. I'm just talking too much. If I have a girl, I will definitely find a good family to live a safe life. Even if I eat bran and swallow vegetables, I will eat well." Afterwards, Erying patted Yingzi's head and smiled, "Speaking of which, if I really had a daughter, I would definitely be reluctant to give it to a monkey like our little potato. It means that Little Tudou is lucky to have Yingzi."

"Not necessarily." Li Ji took out a candy from his sleeve and stuffed it to Yingzi, "Little Tudou is now in school, it doesn't matter whether he can read anything, after that, marriage is not difficult. This Yingzi took the Once the position is lost, no one else can take it away. Isn't it Yingzi's blessing."

Erying belittles Little Tudou, Li Ji is about to say it.It's okay for Erying to say anything. If Li Ji agrees, it's nothing right now. When Little Tudou comes back with a bookish look after studying for a year and a half, he will definitely be the favorite of the village. I don't know how many have daughters. He regretted that he was late, and Yingzi took the lead.

Nowadays, the more you belittle Little Tudou, the more you feel that Yingzi has been wronged.Looking back at the present after that time, Erying will feel that it was Little Tudou who was wronged.Why can't you be worthy of Yingzi?Now Yingzi is not good enough for small potatoes.

This is not necessarily a person thinking too much, but the heart of the person.When there is a gap, there will be a comparison. Once the comparison is confirmed, the mood will change after the change.

This is the truth that Li Ji realized by himself.

This sounded pleasing to the ear, and Erying smiled when he heard it, and said modestly: "Look at what you said, it would be a good idea to spend money to go around the school? No matter how you learn, you are a naughty child. "

After talking about Little Tudou, Erying turned the topic to Li Qiaoer again: "I heard that the rich young master should have gone back today. His home is not far from us, it is a big family in a neighboring county. Merchant. The neighboring county is richer than ours, and they say that family is one of the best. But the young master was so fascinated by Li Qiaoer, he refused to leave, but he was so anxious that the servant he brought almost knelt down Knock him down."

What Erying said was so graphic that Li Ji couldn't help laughing after hearing it: "How can it be so powerful."

"I'm not lying." Erying said, "You can find out when you go to the village. Li Qiaoer is still shy, hiding at home and refusing to go out. The young master shook off his servants and went to block the door of Shuisheng's house to find someone. Uncle Shuisheng also really wanted to do this, but Shuisheng's daughter-in-law said that Li Qiaoer was not married yet, and it was not good to stay with a big man like this, so she gave up. It still depends on Uncle Shuisheng. What will happen to Qiaoer in the future? Well, it’s really hard to say.”

It can be said that Qiaoer's matter was full of twists and turns, and it was a hard life.But no matter how hard life is, people still have to live until they die.No matter what, there must always be a place to go.

"If Li Qiaoer gets married, it will be a relief no matter where she marries. With Brother Shuisheng's current posture, he can't catch this, so tomorrow he can take Li Qiaoer to the capital to hook up with the emperor's old man, so that he can also be a country. Father-in-law."

As soon as Li Ji's words came out, both of them laughed.Yingzi couldn't understand, so she tilted her head and asked the father-in-law what it was, and Erying just said, don't listen to children.

Li Ji wanted to say it, but he was afraid that it would make the child want to split it, so he fooled it: "It's the marriage when I grow up. You are the daughter-in-law of Little Tudou. You have already made an appointment, so you don't have to worry about it." Come on, help Fourth Uncle move this bundle of hay to the other side, and put it in a good place, so it will be convenient for us to pick it up in winter."

With an answer that was not an answer, Yingzi stopped asking questions and went to work following Li Ji's instructions.

For the next few days, the young master stayed in the village.The rest of the caravan left first, leaving two servants to serve the young master.The young master was walking around in the village, and when he got tired of watching it, he went to play with Li Qiaoer.

Every time it was Li Qiaoer who looked out through the window, embarrassed to go out to see her, and still very entangled in her heart.

The young master is the son-in-law in the house, with a big family and a big business.This kind of person is the worst husband candidate for an ordinary girl.

Because a woman without a backer married him, and the only thing she could rely on was her husband's favor.If one day the young master finds a new lover, it will be the new one replacing the old one.At that time, I really don't know how to die.

Although Li Qiaoer has never seen anything in the world, the old women in the village have heard a lot of gossip.Although there are exaggerations in it, one thing is true, that is, a rich family may not be a good home.

The young master had a good life and a cute personality.But no matter how nice a person is, it doesn't mean that his family members are easy to get along with.

Even if Li Qiaoer really had some thoughts in her heart, she didn't dare to really make things happen with the young master.

Li Shuisheng scolded Li Qiaoer several times for being worthless, but after thinking about it in a blink of an eye, playing hard to get is also a way.Just hanging on like this deliberately, the more you hang on like this, the more itchy the young master's heart, the more he wants to get it.

In this way, it will be more beneficial for Li Qiaoer to marry.

After figuring it out, Li Shuisheng will not force Li Qiaoer to go out to meet him.That night, he drank two catties of wine, went to find the young master, pretended to be helpless and said something nicely.

Why is Qiao'er confused and doesn't know the truth? He, the father, is also anxious about Li Qiao'er's marriage.These words are hitting the young master's arms, even if he says that he is going to marry Li Qiaoer.

The word "marry" was used very well, and Li Shuisheng was taken aback for a moment when he poked it.Marrying a wife and taking concubines, the higher the status, the more people understand the meaning.Marriage means three books and six ceremonies on the household registration and carrying a sedan chair from the main entrance to the house.Acceptance is a concubine, who gave the dowry to the face. The husband came to welcome the bride. A pink sedan chair with a partial color was carried into the mansion from the side door. First, he kowtowed and offered tea to the wife in the main house. Whether her husband will go or not is unknown.If you meet someone who doesn't show face, you won't even have a wedding reception.It was carried in a pink sedan chair without any sound.

Li Shuisheng quickly confirmed that the young master really wanted to marry?The young master was obviously taken aback, his face was a little troubled, as if he knew that he had said something wrong.

Li Shuisheng was disappointed, and hurriedly said: "It's okay, it's just a couple of sips of wine, and it's normal to make a slip of the tongue. Besides, you haven't married yet, so you can't be considered a real man. You can take it back and let's drink."

These words just irritated the young master, his face was a little red, and he said: "Who says I am not a man? I will do what I say. If I marry her, I will marry her!"

Hearing these words, Li Shuisheng's heart almost exploded!That's the young mistress of a big family!Serious master!

"It's true!"

The young master was a little overbearing, and said vaguely: "Of course it is true, my husband promises everything he says."

Seeing that the young master was delirious, Li Shuisheng's eyes turned sharply, and he calculated: "But we have nothing to prove, what if you say that you made a slip of the tongue after drinking?"

The young master was afraid that he would be looked down upon, so he patted the table and said: "Come here, bring me a pen and paper! I will keep my word, since you don't believe me, I will write a marriage letter! If I don't marry If you kill her, you go to the government and sue me!"

The servant wanted to persuade him, but after being severely scolded by the young master, he didn't dare to stop him.The young master was presented with pen and ink, and the young master wrote a long paragraph of words with great effort, and finally pressed his fingerprints in the corner.

The young master pointed to the bottom of his handprint: "You press one too! I will let you here in the future, and I will exchange it with Geng Tie in the future!"

Gengtie is the first step in marriage, on which is written the horoscope of birth date, the man and the woman exchanged to find Mr. Shanming to match the horoscope, if they match and continue, if the horoscope does not match, then there is no marriage, and the marriage will naturally fall through.

People in the village don't pay much attention to this, at most they just let the matchmaker tell them, but big families in the city pay attention to it, and exchanging Geng Tie is like a status symbol.

Li Shuisheng hurriedly pressed his handprint, and the baby dried the paper and folded the ink and put it in his sleeve. Then he faced the young master and smiled even more enthusiastically.

The young master stayed in the village for three days in a row, and was finally arrested by the people sent by the family.

The attitude of arresting people is tough, and they don't care about the young master's struggle. It can be seen that the family is determined to bring him back.

Once again, the villagers had watched enough of the excitement, and when the young master left, Li Shuisheng's side became a joke again.

When Li Ji heard about this, it was due to Erying.

"Fourth Uncle, you didn't go to the village to see it. What you said is ugly. Why did Li Shuisheng think that he had caught a wealthy son-in-law, but he didn't know that the young master was foolish, and the family was not foolish, so he just messed around for a few days? Then he was arrested. No matter how much a big family loves their children, they will not just give them to the young master. I am afraid that Qiaoer's marriage will be blown away."

"What did you say about Qiaoer?" Li Ji was more concerned about this.

"I didn't say anything, but if I said it, I felt sorry for that girl. She is a rare good girl, but she just got married to such a father. With Li Shuisheng's actions, it will be really hard to say about Qiao'er's marriage in the future." Thinking about it this way , Erying also sighed.They are all from a woman's family. Although I like to chew my tongue when I'm fine, but to be honest, I feel uncomfortable seeing Li Qiaoer's fate.

"I'm not afraid of not marrying all my life, but I'm afraid of being pushed into the fire pit." This is Li Ji's true thought.

"I really haven't thought about this matter. It's just that there are little girls who don't get married. If there are girls who don't get married in their [-]s, they are either aunts in the temple or idiots that no one wants. I really can't find a good one, and some parents will just find someone to marry their daughter in order not to be poked in the back." Yingzi's words are true.

I heard that a hundred years ago, there was a law stipulating that if a girl was not married at the age of 15, five people's tax would be added to the family's tax. That might be all the harvest in the field.

Even for those who have not yet married, someone from the yamen will come to force them to take them away to marry someone who has no daughter-in-law.In short, it is impossible to have a daughter who is not married.

This law was determined in order to increase the number of newborns when the population was too small when the country was founded.Later, everything was peaceful, and this rule was removed.

Although it is not against the law not to marry a girl, it is still ugly to say in the village.

"That's what I said." Li Ji sighed, Li Qiaoer's marriage was supposed to be what her parents should think about.But now that her father is unreliable, Li Qiaoer's future is in turmoil despite Li Shuisheng's nonsense.

Li Ji was worried about this matter, after careful calculation, he was just looking for trouble for nothing.But since Li Ji started to intervene in this matter, there must be a head and tail.

"I just hope that Uncle Shuisheng will restrain himself a little bit after this time. How can there be such a good thing as a pie in the sky?" Erying sighed.

"I hope." Li Ji knew that the matter was not over yet.

There have been rumors in the village for two days.The little master is back.This time, a person came alone, and he looked a little embarrassed.But even though he was embarrassed, the clothes he was wearing were still so valuable.

As soon as I entered the village and went straight to Li Shuisheng's house, I was almost starving. I ate the steamed buns from Li Shuisheng's house and stuffed them into my mouth in disgust.

Wait until you are full before speaking clearly.

It turned out that the young master remembered the engagement with Li Shuisheng after returning home, and told his family.Of course the family disagreed, so they locked up the young master.

The young master escaped by jumping over the wall.It's all like this, and he solemnly promised Li Shuisheng that he would marry Li Qiaoer.

Li Shuisheng has mixed feelings in his heart.In the past two days, he had heard a lot of rumors in the village, and he wondered in his heart whether this young master would never come back again.Now that he is back, he is slapping the villagers in the face.

But the young master ran away from home because of the marriage. The young master is a baby bump. When he got back and scolded and beat him twice, he was still a baby bump. But the family hated Li Qiaoer. Can Li Qiaoer get through the door easily in the future? ?

The young master had no place to live. Li Shuisheng originally wanted to keep him at his own home, but Li Qiaoer said that if he kept him, she would go to live with the neighbor's girl at the neighbor's house.

Only then did the young master be placed in the small courtyard where he lived before.It is not clear what the young master said.Early the next morning, Li Shuisheng went straight out of the village to Li Ji's house, which lived outside the village entrance.

"Hey? Brother Shuisheng, why did you come here?" Li Ji put down the knife that was cutting the fodder grass, wiped his hands with a rag and smiled.

With a troubled face on his face, Li Shuisheng followed Li Ji into the house, waited for Er Gouzi to bring tea, took a sip and hesitated for a long time before he said, "Isn't this a little troublesome? You and him are the only ones in this village. Er Gouzi has the ability, but no one else can do it, it's you."

Li Ji put down the melon seeds in his hand: "What? Qiaoer's dowry is not enough?"

Li Shuisheng shook his head again and again: "Of course not, but it has something to do with it."

"Tell me." Li Ji leaned on his body.

Li Shuisheng sorted out his thoughts, and said from the beginning: "The young master, you know, his name is Wang Ansheng, he is the eldest son of the rich Wang family in the neighboring county, the future head of the family, it can be said that he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. I have accumulated eight lifetimes Desire, the daughter he gave birth to is taken a fancy to by him, and he wants to marry her back home to be a decent grandma."

Li Ji was slightly stunned: "Being the principal?"

Li Shuisheng nodded, with a little more pride on his face: "The serious grandma in the house is not my aunt. From now on, we can also call my aunt fair and square."

Li Ji hurriedly congratulated: "Congratulations, brother, your wish has been fulfilled."

After listening to Li Ji's words, Li Shuisheng thought of his purpose, the smile on his face faded, and he sighed, "It would be great if it went so smoothly. The young master is all in his heart, but how can his family be willing? The more particular you are The more you have a family, the more you have to be of the same family. We are a small family, how can people look up to us?"

Li Ji rolled his eyes: "Then you come to my place..."

Li Shuisheng smiled politely: "That's the case. I wasn't that greedy at first, so I told him that I can't be a regular wife, and a good concubine is also very good for my family. But the young master said that their family was a businessman, and what they wanted was a bite." Bronze mouth and iron teeth, what you say must be fulfilled. You must marry Qiaoer, and the rest is to convince the family. He ran away from home, and he couldn’t go back empty-handed if he wanted to go back. It’s just that he went out in a hurry and didn’t have anything. I didn’t have any silver when I brought it out. So I wanted to scrape together a few taels of silver to buy good things and go back. His family calmed down and talked about the future slowly.”

Li Ji suddenly realized: "You don't have enough money, take it from me, right?"

Li Shuisheng nodded again and again: "I also know that this is difficult for you. But there is nothing you can do. The whole village only knows that you have more money. I also know that you are in a hurry to buy livestock recently and use a lot of money. Come here to borrow money It’s hard for you. But let me assure you, when Qiao’er passes through the door, I’ll return the money right away, and I’ll give you a little more interest, how about it?”

After Li Ji Ansheng finished listening, he frowned and hesitated.

Li Shuisheng said again: "I also know that you are in trouble, but after all, Qiaoer is Er Gouzi's sister, and her lifelong event is related to her life's happiness. The Wang family has a family property that can't be eaten up in several lifetimes. Eating delicious food and drinking spicy food every day, in front of the young mistress, is better than staying here with us. You think so."

Li Ji nodded: "Indeed. Er Gouzi is just such a girl. If she wants her to have a good home, Er Gouzi should do something. How much money do you want?"

Li Shuisheng stretched out five fingers: "Five taels of silver."

"So much?" Li Ji was astonished. "Could it be possible to buy some gifts with gold? You have to know that ordinary people may not be able to save this amount of silver in ten years."

Li Shuisheng nodded with some difficulty: "Of course I know it's too much, but if I don't have it, I don't like it. The young master ran away from home, so it would be unfilial. If you don't buy something decent to go back, you will be fine." Where is the family willing to forgive?"

Li Ji also felt reasonable.After struggling a bit, he gritted his teeth and said: "You have helped me a lot these years. Others don't even want to take the five taels out of my hands, but you, brother, I will pay for this money. But we are First the villain and then the gentleman, let's type the IOU, and each of us will take one after writing the IOU. When you pay back the money later, we will tear up the IOU together. Will it work?"

If you have three melons and two dates, you don’t need to issue IOUs. This is five taels of silver. If you say that you don’t write IOUs, it’s really unreasonable.

Li Shuisheng nodded again and again: "We don't have anyone else who can read, so let's ask the young master to write it for us, and we're pressing our fingerprints. Actually, I wouldn't miss you without me, so you can feel at ease."

Li Shuisheng breathed a sigh of relief, and went back to call the young master over.

The young master came, this was the first time Li Ji saw what the young master looked like.The young master's red lips and white teeth are very delicate, as if he came out of a New Year painting. Li Ji was taken aback by seeing it, and it took him a while to recover.

He took out his pen and ink, talked to the young master, and asked the young master to write.

The young master was halfway through writing, and thought about it: "There must be a mortgage for borrowing money. I think Dad has to mortgage something when lending money, such as a house, a wife, a girl, and so on. .”

Li Shuisheng shook his head again and again: "Where is my broken house worth five taels of silver? My wife and children are even worse."

Li Ji thought about it: "Since the rules say that there is a mortgage, let's listen to it. What you said is not acceptable. If you want me to say it, I will pay it with work. If it is really not enough, come to me to help raise the livestock. I’ll count two taels of silver a month, how many months’ salary is five taels of silver?”

The young master did some calculations and said, "25 months."

Li Ji nodded in praise and said, "You really deserve to be a businessman. I'll give you a change, and 24 months is exactly two years. What do you think?"

"Okay! It's fine if you can pay the bill." The tip of the pen circulated and finished writing the IOU, "Just put your fingerprints on both."