Early in the morning in the Zhou Mansion, the side doors on both sides of the main door had just opened, and the various managers who had purchased items in the mansion and were out on business were leaving the mansion one after another.
The two gatekeepers read the slips for them to go out one by one before letting them go. From a distance, they saw Zhou Yanqing coming this way and hurriedly went to open the door.
"No, just use the side door." Zhou Yanqing said calmly.
"Okay, Mr. Liu."
The two gatekeepers did not dare to neglect, and opened the side door wider one after the other.
There was already Zhou Yanqing's daily carriage waiting outside the gate.
The two gatekeepers only saw Mr. Liu helping the boy's hand to get on the carriage. The boy raised his foot and was about to kick the carriage. Mr. Liu, who was blocked by the thick curtain of the carriage, stretched out his kick from the inside.
After a moment, he almost got kicked to the ground.
Shitou had no choice but to run to the front and sit on the shaft of the car.
The two gatekeepers wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh. They were having a hard time holding it in.
Looking at each other, both of them had doubts in their eyes: Mr. Liu went out so early today? Is the city gate not open yet?
The two of them looked up at the sky. It was foggy and only the white fish belly was visible on the horizon. It was so early.
Mr. Liu worked too hard.
The two gatekeepers decided to guard the gate carefully, otherwise they would be sorry for the monthly money paid by Mr. Liu.
In Xiahe Village, Yue Zhongyao also came up.
I stayed at Jinniang's place until very late yesterday and came back. Jinniang didn't leave any food as usual.
After his mother went to Jinniang's house and broke things, he found that his wife was even more indifferent to him, and even Wan'er was not so affectionate with him.
Although his daughter still let him hold her and let him get close to her, she no longer clung to him as much as before, nor was she as intimate as before.
He coaxed his daughter for a long time, and her daughter no longer twisted and giggled in his arms like before. The daughter looked at him with a scrutinizing look, which made his insides seem to turn over.
He coaxed his daughter for a long time, but she just stayed quietly in his arms, no longer chirping and asking questions, and she no longer held his neck and whispered in his ear...
There has been movement at Yue Dalei's house next door.
The sound of water being drawn, the sound of bamboo rakes raking the dirt, the sound of barrels being set, and the sound of the door opening reached his ears very clearly.
Yue Dalei went out to fetch water again early in the morning. After fetching water, Sister Xiu prepared breakfast for him, and then he went to the workshop, right?
The couple lives day after day, repeating the lives of ordinary people.
He also looked forward to living such a plain and warm life, and had always looked forward to it.
As he lay on the bed, he seemed to have smelled the smoke from the kitchen next door. But there was no movement in his yard.
Since her mother got married, she no longer gets up early to prepare breakfast for the family and clean the courtyard as she did when she was young. Xiaoman is even more pampered by her mother and cannot get up at this time. And his two brothers and wives
You can't count on it. If he doesn't yell a few times every day, he won't take the initiative.
This is not the life he expected.
Yue Zhongyao sighed. Will his mother get up very late today? There was another noisy night last night.
Still struggling with the twenty taels of silver.
How did his mother know that twenty taels of silver was not enough? If he hadn't saved some money through frugality this year, how would it have been enough for yesterday?
I'm afraid he will be even shorter than Jin Niang.
Yue Xuyao stood up carefully. It was not until he was standing by the bed that he realized that his wife was no longer beside him.
He no longer had to tiptoe around when he got up, as before, for fear of disturbing his wife.
Yue Zhongyao turned around and sat back on the bed, staring blankly at the inside of the bed. After a long time, he reached out and touched inside.
There was no heat inside the bed, and it was ice cold, just like his current state of mind. There was just a void.
Yue Zhongyao turned his head and took a deep breath, put on his clothes and walked out of the room.
"Are you up?"
Yue Zhongyao was startled. He came to his senses only after seeing clearly that it was his father.
He replied: "Well, I'm up. Dad, why did you get up so early?"
"I'm old, I feel young."
Yue Zhongyao stood there quietly, watching his father's fingers fly.
"Dad, it's still dark right now, so it's not too late to weave the bamboo leaves after dawn. This will save your eyes from burning out."
Lao Yuetou skillfully twisted and twisted a dozen scraped bamboo strips back and forth, without looking back, and said: "It's okay. I'm used to it. I've been doing it for decades, even if it's dark, I can still do it."
Make it up."
Seeing that Yue Zhongyao didn't speak and just stayed aside to look at him quietly, he thought about it and said, "Are you going to Jin Niang's place?"
I heard Yue Zhongyao respond in a low voice.
He sighed and said: "This is your mother's fault. It's our family's fault for being sorry for Jin Niang. Dad also knows that twenty taels of silver will not be enough... From now on, dad will weave more bamboo baskets and get them."
If you sell it in the market, you can get some money, and then you can give it to Wan'er's mother."
Yue Zhongyao knelt down, leaned next to his father-in-law, and said, "Dad, no need. Just think of me as a son who is filial to you and your mother. From now on, I will work hard to make money so that the two of you can live a good life."
The old man sighed again and said: "Dad, I thought about it yesterday. Wan'er is our child, and there is no reason to let her go to other people's homes. No matter how miserable our family is, we can't do this kind of business of selling our granddaughter.
Things. When your sister gets married, dad will divide your family. You and Wan'er will live a good life from now on."
Yue Zhongyao was silent for a long time and said, "I'm afraid my mother won't agree."
Lao Yue still didn't raise his head, he only focused on the bamboo leaves. He snorted and said: "Do you think you are the only one who wants to separate the family? Your two brothers and wives have long wanted to separate and live alone. There will be no one else by then.
If you stand on your mother's side, she won't be able to make any trouble. With dad here, you can rest assured."
Yue Zhongyao responded and turned around to scoop out water to wash his face.
After everything was done and he was about to go out, Lao Yuetou called out to him.
Lao Yue straightened up, took out several newly woven bamboo baskets, bamboo baskets, dustpans and other items from the corner of the courtyard, tied them together with ropes, and handed them to Yue Zhongyao's hand.
"Take them to Jin Niang. Your mother broke a lot of her things, so I'm afraid they are useless. Take these first, and when dad makes a few more, you can come back and get them."
Yue Zhongyao lowered his head and glanced, his throat was choked. He responded, picked up a bunch of bamboo baskets and walked out the door.
The door of Qiao Mingjin's house creaked, and Yun Jin and He walked out one after another.
"Close the door."
"Yes." Mr. He responded. Just as he was about to turn around and close the door, he saw a person squatting in the corner and was startled.
When he saw that it was Yue Zhongyao, he lost his composure and said, "What are you doing squatting there? You're almost scaring people to death."
Yue Zhongyao straightened up and said humbly: "I'm bringing something to Jin Niang. This is something newly made by my father."
As he spoke, he raised the bamboo basket and other objects in his hand.
Yun Jin glanced at him but said nothing.
He sneered and said: "Your family is really weird. Your mother went to my cousin's house and beat her up hard, but your father was a good person and made a few baskets and sent them over. Why, do you think this will be fine? Act like it never happened.
?”
Yue Zhongyao opened and closed his mouth several times, but he couldn't say anything. He just stood in the corner cautiously.
Mr. He glanced at him again. He snorted and turned around to go to the workshop.
Yun Jin looked at him and said, "Don't say hello to them either. Not to mention Jin Niang, even Wan'er doesn't want to see you right now. Go in, put down your things, and then leave."
Yue Zhongyao felt depressed and was beaten again. He lowered his head, picked up the basket and opened the door.
After a while he actually came out.
Yun Jin was still waiting at the door. Seeing him come out, she turned around and closed the door.
"Go back."
Yue Zhongyao thought for a while and said: "There is nothing at home. My cousin and I will go to the workshop to help."
Yun Jin gave him a steady look, turned around and left.
Yue Zhongyao looked back at the place where his wife and daughter lived. Just now in the courtyard, he only glanced at the main room twice and did not dare to walk over.
Yue Zhongyao followed Yun Jin with his head lowered.
The two walked in tandem without speaking, and arrived at the workshop within a few steps.
Mrs. Xia was greeting the master and her daughter in the workshop for breakfast. She did not see Yue Zhongyao behind Yun Jin. She saw Yun Jin hurriedly saying: "Come and have breakfast. Today I made lean meat porridge and made meat buns."
Then he turned around and asked Mr. He: "After eating later, you can send breakfast to Jin Niang and Wan'er."
Like the masters in the workshop, Mr. He was holding porridge in one hand and a meat bun in the other. She was eating deliciously in the courtyard and replied: "No need. Yesterday, Jin Niang set up the pot and stove and said that she would cook it at home today.
.”
Xia murmured: "Why bother? I just do things that come easily. She also has a lot of things to do."
Turning around and seeing Yue Zhongyao, he was stunned.
Soon he raised his voice and said: "Zhong Yao is here too? Have you had breakfast? Come and have some with Yun Jin."
The masters in the workshop all raised their heads to look at him when they heard the sound. He snorted when he saw him and buried his head in the porridge bowl again.
Yue Zhongyao was a little embarrassed and stood there blankly.
Master He sighed. In the end, he couldn't be blamed for that.
Then he told Mrs. Xia, "Mother Xiaochun, bring a bowl of porridge to Zhongyao. I'm afraid you'll come here without breakfast so early."
Mrs. Xia glanced at her man, responded with a high voice, and entered the kitchen.
Yue Zhongyao took the meat porridge brought by Xia, and then took a big meat bun and said thank you.
Like the masters in the workshop, he found a wooden post in the courtyard and sat down on it.
The faint aroma of meat porridge filled his nose, causing his stomach that hadn't been fed all day to squirm. His eyes quickly became misty, and he almost couldn't control himself.
He glanced around a few times and found that no one was paying attention to him, so he buried his head in the bowl and started eating.
After breakfast, I didn’t need to be greeted by anyone. After the workers from the village came one after another, I followed them to help, rushing to do all the work.
Yue Zhongyao was very popular in the village. Although he had an unattractive wife, it did not hinder other people in the village's good impression of him.
These workers also liked working with him. After a while, Yue Zhongyao became like a fish in water in the workshop.
At Qiao Mingjin's house, because they had been tidying up all day yesterday, the three of them slept until noon.
Qiao Mingjin made some noodles and cracked two poached eggs for the two children. The three of them had a simple breakfast and began to wash clothes and clean the yard.
Without being greeted by anyone, Wan'er carried a small wooden bucket and a water ladle to the vegetable patch and chicken coop outside the yard to feed the vegetables and egg-laying hens with water.
After a while, I heard the rumble of a carriage outside the courtyard gate. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
