Su Yan lay at home all afternoon, and someone seemed to be in good spirits. After fetching water, he chopped firewood, and when he started to sweat, he went inside and took off his clothes to wipe away the sweat.
The strong and well-defined waist was dripping with sweat.
He took the handkerchief and stood behind the door to wipe it. His eyes fell on the face of the woman on the bed, his eyebrows softened a bit, "Daughter-in-law, haven't you slept well yet?"
Su Yan opened her eyes and glanced at him. Seeing that his cheeks were red, she sat up and said, "Why are you going out in such a bright sun? Come here, I'll wipe your back."
Qin An got naked from the waist up after closing the door, handed her the handkerchief, and then squatted down with his back to her.
Su Yan wiped it carefully, her eyes fell on his shoulder, a little scratched, "Stop picking, I'll ask someone to buy water tomorrow."
"What's the point?" Qin An said in a low voice.
Su Yan put down the veil and looked at the sky outside, "I'm afraid there will be a drought this year. After your hospital exam, we will go back to the village to spend a month or two."
No matter how bad the situation is in the village, there will never be too much drought.
Qin An also thought the same way. Although the drought won't kill anyone, being a child and a wife might be unbearable. "Okay."
"The academy will be closed in a few days."
Su Yan sighed, now she completely depends on God for food, "Just a few good years."
Qin An brought a wooden comb over, sat on the bedside to comb her hair, and said in a low voice: "Don't worry, if it doesn't work, we will go live in the mountains."
"What's for dinner? Shall I make some noodles?"
"Okay, cook some egg noodles, Tuantuan likes them too."
Su Yan reached out and pinched the hard meat on his waist, confused: "I'm already fat, but you're not fat yet."
Qin An looked down and kept moving his hands, "Well, I'll work harder at night."
As soon as these words came out, Su Yan raised her hand and patted his thigh, "You are getting thicker and thicker now. Be careful and don't teach Tuan Tuan to bad things."
"I'm going back to town tomorrow. You can take care of the children at home."
I haven't checked the accounts of the shop in town for a few months. Although I'm relieved, there are some things that I can't let go of for a long time.
Qin An was not at ease, "I'll go with you tomorrow."
"No, I'll catch the Wu family's carriage back. There are several men there. I'll follow them when they get back." Su Yan waited for him to finish combing his hair, then got out of bed to get some clothes and put them on.
After a while, the two of them went out one after another. Erdan was practicing calligraphy in the main room. When he saw Su Yan coming in, he quickly asked with concern: "Mom, are you feeling unwell? Let's go see the doctor. I have saved a lot of money."
Cuilan and Zhang Xiu couldn't help laughing.
Su Yan blushed, "It's okay, I just want to take a nap."
Afraid that he would ask more questions, he quickly added: "Come on, mother, how are you doing with your big calligraphy practice?"
"Master praised me for my handwriting." Erdan didn't lie, his handwriting was indeed very good.
Su Yan knew that he was studying seriously. She looked at it for a while and pointed: "There is a mistake here, there is no such horizontal line."
Qin An took one look and went to work in the kitchen. Two or three quarters of an hour later, he came out with a bowl of noodles and said, "Eat first."
Su Yan packed up the books with Er Dan, put them aside, picked a small bowl, and planned to feed Tuan Tuan.
The man reached out to take it and whispered: "You go and eat."
After doing so much work in the afternoon, he was not hungry, so Su Yan said, "You eat first."
"Go quickly." Qin An took the bowl, picked up the child with one hand, sat him on his lap and started feeding him.
It's good to eat in groups.
They hadn't eaten for long when a noisy voice came from outside, "The water has leaked! The water has leaked!!"
Upon hearing this, several people got up and went out to see that the yard diagonally opposite was burning.
Su Yan was quite familiar with them and said quickly: "Ms. sir, go help quickly and be careful."
After Qin An handed the child to Cuilan, he ran out with two buckets of water and went back and forth four or five times before putting out the fire.
He came back sweating profusely, and Su Yan quickly wiped his sweat, "Why is it burning?"
"The child played with fire and set the kitchen on fire. He will be beaten now."
Qin An smelled the sweat on his body, backed away slightly, and said, "I'm going to wash it off."
"Okay." Su Yan turned around to find some clothes for him, put them on the table and went to Cuilan's place to look at them.
Erdan is hugging Tuantuan and coaxing her.
As soon as Tuantuan saw her, he stretched out his hand. Su Yan picked him up and patted his waist gently. She whispered to Erdan: "Go to bed. What do you want to eat tomorrow?"
Erdan said obediently: "I'll eat them all."
"Just tell me what you want to eat, otherwise it won't be easy for my mother to cook."
"I want to eat pancakes."
"Okay, I'll eat when I get up tomorrow and go to bed quickly."
After Erdan went out, Tuantuan also fell asleep. Cuilan saw that Su Yan was about to carry the child out, and whispered: "Madam, Tuantuan, please sleep next to me."
She smiled and added: "I'm still young, let's have more children."
Only by having many children can one stand firm at home. No matter how capable a wife is, she cannot do as much as having many children.
Su Yan knew that she had good intentions and explained to her in a low voice: "He didn't let me have the baby because he was afraid that it would hurt me during the birth."
Cuilan was stunned for a moment, and sighed from the bottom of her heart: "Master is a good husband."
Some men don't want to have more children at home.
Not to mention children, how many men can endure it...
Su Yan smiled. At this time, Cuilan said again: "Madam, tell Xiaoxiu to be a man. He will have someone to rely on when he gets old."
Su Yan did have this plan, but there was no suitable person around her, so she wouldn't look at him casually, and she had to ask Zhang Xiu's opinion.
Women here still have to get married, and even if she doesn't have Qin An, it will be difficult for her to live here.
Not to mention Zhang Xiu, who has no ability to survive.
She was about to say something when she saw Zhang Xiu standing at the door, probably hearing what they said.
She put the ball on Cuilan's bed, then walked out lightly, pulling Zhang Xiu to sit in the pavilion, "What do you think?"
"I won't force you, I just want you to have someone to rely on when you get old."
Zhang Xiu looked at her with some uneasiness, plucked his fingers with his fingers, lowered his head and whispered: "Madam... I don't have any thoughts about the master, I just think that the master is very good..."
Su Yan raised her hand and patted her back gently, "It's normal. You are not the only woman who likes him, but you won't do anything excessive."
"Madam, aren't you angry?"
"What's there to be angry about? You're the same as other women, and I'm the same."
Su Yan smiled easily and patted the back of her hand gently, "If you can trust me, I will look at you."
Zhang Xiu nodded shyly, "Okay."
Seeing that she agreed, Su Yan knew that she had no bad thoughts towards Qin An, so she got up and went back to the house after saying a few words.
The man was sitting next to the bed. There was a pile of clothes to be folded on the bed, and the woman's bellyband was folded in his hand.
He looked towards the door and said, "It'll be fine in a moment."
Su Yan came over and helped fold a piece, "If you find a suitable man, just tell me and I will show you to Xiao Xiu."
Qin An said "Hmm" without saying much, "When will you leave tomorrow?"
"Mao Shi." Su Yan put the folded clothes into the cabinet.
After a while, they were all put away.
The house was like a fire on this day. Qin An slept without any clothes, just like a stove. Su Yan felt hot next to him and moved inside.
The man stretched out his hand and held her in his arms, saying in a low voice: "What's wrong? Are you angry?"
Su Yan couldn't laugh or cry, "Here, you are like a stove."
"I'll give you a fan." Qin An touched inside a few times, and when he touched the cattail leaf fan, he started to fan it back and forth.
…
At dawn, Su Yan took a carriage back to town. She finished checking the accounts in the morning, and then went to the kitchen to take a look.
Thinking that there was a lot of bad pork these days, she took a look at it and frowned when she saw that there were some inconspicuous black spots on the pork.
"Who bought the pork?"
The cook glanced at it, his eyes obviously a little nervous. Su Yan frowned and asked again, "Who bought it?"
The shopkeeper came in quickly when he heard the commotion, and immediately didn't dare to say anything. Seeing him like this, Su Yan knew that they all knew, and her face became cold.
"Who is responsible for eating dead people?"
No one said anything in the kitchen, so she looked at them and said, "You've paid your wages and you can leave now."
If this matter is not resolved, something like this will happen again next time.
Not to mention paying money, if you really let someone suffer bad consequences, it would be an evil act.
As soon as these words came out, the cook hurriedly said: "Master, this matter has nothing to do with me. It was the shopkeeper who said that if you buy this, you won't die if you eat it."
"Boss, I... I just sell pork for my family. I picked the best ones. There were too many dead pigs this year, and my family has no choice." The shopkeeper explained with a depressed look.
"There is nothing you can do but harm people. What should you do if you make people sick just for the money you have? Your family also has children." Su Yan slapped the table angrily.
She knows dead pork better than anyone else. That year, more than a dozen people died in a row in the village.
She was easy to talk to every time I saw her, but she got angry for the first time. A group of helpers were a little scared. The shopkeeper was afraid that she wouldn't let him work. "Boss, it's for the sake of my family. I won't do this next time."
Su Yan was rarely embarrassed to speak, "There's no next time. I'll pay you your salary, so you don't have to come tomorrow."
"If anyone gets sick from eating, I will send you to the Yamen."
The shopkeeper's face changed, "Don't, boss, it's not a big deal. Many people in the town buy dead pork to eat. We're not from wealthy families, so there are quite a few people who have eaten dead pork."
"At most it will cause diarrhea, but no one will die."
Su Yan stared at him coldly, "If someone dies, can you bear this responsibility?"
"When did you start buying?"
"The day before yesterday." The shopkeeper whispered.
Su Yan was a little lucky that she came back in time, otherwise it would not have been as simple as two days. She was just about to say something.
Goudanfu came in from outside and asked, "What's going on? What happened?"
"They bought dead pork." Su Yan explained.
Upon hearing this, Goudan's mother's expression changed, "I came here to eat yesterday, and Goudan ate a lot."
"Take them to the drug store and I'll give them the money."
Su Yan was worried about what would happen if she ate dead pork. She wanted to do business, but she didn't want to get involved in human life either.
Thinking of this, she strode out and said to the man who was clearing the tables and chairs: "Go and ask a doctor to come over and tell our shop to hire him for a few days. Also, go to the rice shop and ask them to send a thousand kilograms of rice and divide it into ten pieces."
One pound per bag."
Then she looked at the shopkeeper and said, "If you don't want me to take you to the Yamen, I'll go door to door and ask everyone who has eaten in the past two days to come to the shop and collect ten kilograms of rice."
Although there will be people claiming it falsely, there is no other way but to suffer this dumb loss.
The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly and hurried out with the two of them.
Not long after, the streets were filled with people, chattering in all directions.
"The Anping store is going to deliver rice. My family went to have dinner yesterday and we have to go get it."
"Is this happening? Is it true or false? My family went to have dinner at noon yesterday. I asked my family to check it out."
"Why do you want to send rice?"
"Thank you, boss. Just now, Wang Er's family said they would help with medical treatment. Wang Er's mother said she felt uncomfortable in her stomach, so the owner of the shop asked the doctor to prescribe medicine for her without paying a penny."
"Don't give rice to those who have nothing to eat?"
"That's not true. If you don't have food, how can you give me rice? I'm not crazy."
At that time, the entrance of the Anping shop was crowded with people. After the doctor saw each one, Su Yan asked someone to give him ten pounds of pork. Some of them showed symptoms of eating dead pork.
I don’t know if she ate her own food, but she asked the doctor to give her medicine.
After finishing the work, it was already a few minutes past noon. Su Yan sat in the lobby of the shop and shook the cattail leaf fan a few times, then paid the doctor, "You can give me a hundred pairs of that medicine, and I will give it to you in silver."
"The total is fifty-six taels of silver." The doctor was sweating.
Su Yan asked the accountant to pay him, and after the doctor left, she calculated the shopkeeper's salary, "I worked for sixteen days this month, and I will pay you one, two, or three hundred cash. Logically speaking, I shouldn't pay your salary, but it seems
I won’t hold you back for your hard work.”
The shopkeeper, a middle-aged man, looked at her with slightly red eyes. After all, anyone who was rejected would feel uncomfortable, and it would be difficult to find a good job.
The next moment, he knelt on the ground and said hoarsely: "My boss, I still have a mother and a child to act at home. Can you just forget it this time? I won't dare to do it again in the future."
Su Yan turned around, then stood up and said: "Uncle Yi, you should know that this is the most taboo thing when you are doing business for others."
"If you dare to decide to buy dead pork privately this time, you will agree to it next time when rotten vegetables come to your door."
"My boss, I will never do this again. I just want to help my brother-in-law. They are not having a good time this year. They will starve to death if they don't have any sources."
"These days, as long as you have hands and feet, you will never die of hunger. Uncle Yi, if you continue talking, we will be deadlocked." Su Yan did not want to say any more. There was no discussion on this matter with her.
If you are soft-hearted, you will cause trouble for your family.
The others stood aside, not daring to say a word. Goudanfu came over to call Su Yan to eat. Suddenly seeing her like this, they were a little scared.
It's almost the same as looking at Qin An.
"Sister, let's eat first."
Su Yan nodded and followed her out of the shop. Goudan looked at her and comforted her: "If nothing happens, don't take it personally. Being angry is the easiest way to get sick."
"Fortunately, I came back early. If I had been a few days late, something would have happened." Su Yan sighed.
"He's so brave that he even dares to buy dead pork. You know the kid across from my house? He vomited and had diarrhea after eating dead pork and almost didn't save his life."
Goudan's mother patted her chest with lingering fear and said, "It's better not to eat pork these days."
"By the way, don't go back today. I'm going to buy a duck and stew it."
"There is nothing I can do. If I don't go back, my family will have to come find me." Su Yan refused with a smile.
Goudanfu thought so and didn't say anything, "Your family is getting more and more promising now. When I went back to town that day, the women in the village were as bitter as anything."
"But I didn't expect him to be so good at studying. I asked my kid to study, and he asked me if I was crazy and a loser!"