Qiao Mingjin didn't think much about anything else when she was in Yunjiacun. She was in a good mood every day, either helping her mother and sister at home, or having fun with her daughter's younger siblings. Or occasionally going to her two uncles' houses for a meal.
Without those worries, the two of them were very happy.
In the small courtyard of Qiao's family, we often hear the sound of her daughter giggling, running around chasing chickens, and riding bamboo horses.
Qiao Mingjin didn't know that her daughter could be so lively. She didn't like to cling to Qiao Mingjin at Qiao's house anymore, and she had a lot of fun playing with her uncles.
Qiao Mingjin also likes to go into her father's study to look through the old books there. There is a thick volume of Wei Lv in the study, which she also reads through.
When she was not in the study, she often followed her younger siblings for walks around Yunjia Village.
Yunjia Village is very close to Songshan Jiji. It takes more than an hour to walk to the Jiji.
It's just that the environment around Yunjia Village is not as good as Xiahe Village.
After she woke up before, she followed Sister Xiu to cut pigweed and rake pine hair, and also walked a lot near Xiahe Village. There are mountains and rivers in Xiahe Village. Although the mountains are not big and there are no ferocious beasts, there are still some small wild animals.
Yes, you can also catch some produce from the river. Generally speaking, the people in Xiahe Village have a better life.
However, because Yunjia Village is close to the market, many people in the village will bring home-grown vegetables and some baskets and frames made by themselves to sell at the market during the market. There are also many people in the village who often go to the market to do odd jobs.
To earn some small money to supplement the family income, those who have cattle at home will also put the pallets on the carts to help pull goods and people, and they can always collect some copper coins from a trip.
Yunjia Village is also closer to Qingchuan County than Xiahe Village. If you walk quickly, it can take half a day, and an ox-cart ride only takes two or three hours. After the Chinese New Year, many people from Yunjia Village go to Qingchuan County to get some odd jobs.
Made.
On the contrary, the people in Xiahe Village are more lively and lively than the people in Xiahe Village, who rely on mountains and rivers to live on. They can live a better life.
Qiao Mingjin's eldest cousin Yun Jin often goes to Songshanji or Qingchuan County to pick up some odd jobs during the off-season. This can also add some money to the family throughout the year. Sometimes he also takes Qiao Mingjin's second brother Qiao Mingjue with him.
Qiao Mingjue would get twenty or thirty yuan back every time, which was also a supplement to the Qiao family.
Uncle Qiao Mingjin's family has opened an acre of vegetable land and grows several kinds of vegetables. They cook them very well. Whenever there is a market, no matter whether it is a large or small market, their family will pick vegetables and sell them at the market. So.
Life was actually better than my uncle's life.
The life of the two uncles' families is better than that of Qiao's family. Although it is not a house with blue bricks and black tiles, at least everyone can buy a new piece of clothing during the Chinese New Year.
The Qiao family has been burdened by the fact that Qiao's father has spent some money due to his illness over the years. Moreover, her family has many children and no male labor force. They only rely on Qiao's father to ghostwrite letters to others in Songshanji to earn a few copper coins.
It's just that the Songshan Collection is only open during fairs, and how many people need to do the pen and ink business? Father Qiao is a good painter, but he can't make a living these days. Who in the Songshan Collection is willing to buy his paintings?
Besides, these paints and drawing papers were really expensive. The family didn't even have the money to buy pens and papers for his two younger brothers. Those were even more luxurious items, so Father Qiao gradually stopped painting.
But Qiao's father would still push his family's wheelbarrow, with a narrow table and stools on it, to the market every time. Sometimes if he was lucky, he could bring back more than ten or twenty copper coins from each episode.
But for some reason, Grandma Lan and Father Qiao don't like to go to Qingshan County. Qingshan County is a county after all, and there are many wealthy families living in it. It's easier to get some business than Songshan Market, but Father Qiao doesn't like to go there.
Qiao Mingjin thought that she was beaten last time, so she avoided it for fear of provoking some enemies.
The Qiao family has been living an increasingly difficult life in recent years due to Qiao's father's illness and the expense of buying paper and ink for Qiao Mingjue's studies.
So Qiao Mingjue stopped studying after passing the scholar examination. Father Qiao sighed for a long time. Qiao Mingjue was really talented in reading.
However, although the Qiao family is poor, because there are two talented people in the family, there is no need to pay taxes on the produce from the fields, which really saves a lot of food rations.
The two uncles' families also put their few acres of thin farmland in the name of Qiao's father. The two families also sent a lot of rice to the Qiao family every year. With this kind of support, the Qiao family got through life...
Qiao Mingjin also visited the several acres of land owned by the Qiao family.
There are only three acres of paddy field and the other two acres are dry land.
One of these three acres of paddy field was a dowry given to Qiao's mother by the Yun family's grandfather. Back then, seeing that the Qiao family was a widowed mother and a sick child, she squeezed out an acre of land from her own family and gave it to the Qiao family. Otherwise, wouldn't it be possible?
Watch your daughter starve to death after marrying into this family?
The other two acres were pawned by my grandmother, Lan, for a gold hairpin. The two uncles helped Qiao's mother to clear up wasteland with hoe after hoe.
There is a lot of wasteland in Yunjia Village. There are few people and few people these days. If you open the wasteland and pay a small amount of money, the land will be yours. And it will be tax-free for the first three years.
It’s just that not many people are willing to open up that wasteland. It’s not only tiring, but also takes a lot of effort to wait on it, and they don’t know whether they can survive and harvest food.
Besides, the cycle is long. If you have money, you have to buy a good field. Those who have no money have no time to spare. When farming is busy, you are busy. During slack time, you can do some odd jobs at the market. You can actually get money after doing the work.
That's money as far as the eye can see.
These days, the poor don't know what to do next, so they don't think too much about the future. Things are not always smooth and peaceful every year. After some disaster, and the family is gone, how can they still take care of the land?
It is better to live the life in front of you realistically.
In the Qiao family, Mother Qiao was the only one working, and she didn't have the energy.
Now that Qiao Mingjin has stopped studying, it has added another burden to him. Qiao's father is not in good health, so being healthy and not getting sick and not taking medicine is a help to the family.
Since the family does not have to pay taxes, the three acres of paddy fields are enough for the family to eat for a year. The two acres of dry land are used to grow some sweet potatoes, beans, corn, etc., which can usually be exchanged for a small amount of money. In addition, the family house
With the few vegetable plots that were opened later, the family could have enough food and clothing for a year.
But I couldn't think of having any spare money. Otherwise, Lan's family wouldn't have spent a long time plundering it before stuffing fifteen copper coins into Qiao Mingjin's money last time.
Qiao Mingjin sighed. Nothing could happen to this family. Even if she got sick, she would not have enough money to hire a doctor.
In the past, everything we ate and drank came from the fields, and we just bought some oil and salt. If something happened, we really couldn't afford it.
The clothes worn by the younger siblings are all worn out, washed white, patched and patched, and washed thin in many places. The clothes worn by the fourth sister and fifth brother are obviously a bit shorter;
It's my eldest cousin. I gave my mother Qiao her old clothes to alter.
If we divorce, it will be a real drag to return to our parents' home.
Qiao Mingjin was in a trance for a while.
She stayed at her parents' house for three days. On the fourth day, Qiao Mingjin guessed that Yue Zhongyao was going home after a break, so she thought of taking her daughter back to Xiahe Village.
When I came out, I told Mrs. Wu that I would only stay for two days. Now that I have been staying for three days, I think the two sisters-in-law should be scolding me if Mrs. Wu doesn’t show off.
After saying hello to the Yun family and saying goodbye to their own family, the mother and daughter carried their bags and headed out of the village.
Lan stopped her, looked at her and said: "Jin Niang, don't be burdened, don't think so much, even though our family is poor, you and your daughter can have a bowl of rice. Grandma and your parents all hope that you can
If you live a good life, if you live a bad life, your parents and I will not be able to sleep peacefully."
Qiao Mingjin's eyes were sore and she nodded repeatedly without saying anything.
Mother Qiao was wiping tears at the side. Father Qiao looked at her deeply and said, "When Zhong Yao comes back, send someone back to tell us. I want to go find him."
"Yeah." Qiao Mingjin responded and took her daughter out.
Wan'er hugged Mingjue's thigh and cried loudly, saying that she didn't want to go back. Mingjue couldn't coax her in his arms, so he took a few younger siblings and sent her away for several miles. Qiao Mingjin just hugged her and cried hard.
Out of breath, Wan'er strode away...
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ps: What a rip-off. The names given to the heroine and the baby’s father are awkward to type in five strokes. It seriously affects my typing speed, and the frequency of appearances is high. Am I digging a hole to jump into? I can change it.
