The fish had been sold out, so Jiang Sanlang, his uncle and nephew, packed up their things and drove home.
Back at the old house, Jiang Sanlang fed the donkey with a bundle of straw, fished out a three-pound herring from the water tank and gave it to his nephew, asking him to return the donkey cart.
Then he handed the purchased herbs to his sister-in-law, "The doctor in town couldn't leave and refused to visit, so I picked up two pairs of typhoid medicines, one for the second brother, and the other for you to fry for the eldest brother."
Mrs. Zhou nodded, took the medicine bag and quickly went to the kitchen to find a medicine jar to boil the medicine.
Jiang Sanlang entered his eldest brother's room and saw him lying on the kang with a wet wipe on his forehead, groaning.
Seeing the third brother coming in, he struggled to sit up and asked, "How much did it cost?"
"It hasn't been ordered yet." Jiang Sanlang put the money bag on the table: "I'll call the second brother, and let's count it together."
As the so-called brothers settle accounts, it is impossible for Jiang Sanlang to count the money alone. Even if the eldest brother and the second brother are sick, they have to be there to watch.
After a while, Jiang Erlang came, covering his mouth and coughing all the way.
Jiang Dalang had already climbed up from the kang, and the three brothers gathered together and began to count the money.
"A total of 7134 Wen! Oh, hehe, we are rich, cough cough cough..." Jiang Erlang laughed so hard that he coughed.
Jiang Sanlang also laughed and said proudly: "If three big fish hadn't died, there would have been more."
Jiang Dalang was very happy. He rubbed his hands and said, "How about we do the same as last time and give three hundred coins to my parents, another three hundred coins to Yingbao, and the remaining three of us will be divided equally."
Jiang Erlang had no objection. He didn't go to sell fish this time and felt that he had little effort, so there was nothing wrong with dividing it up like this.
Jiang Sanlang was naturally willing to give his daughter more. After all, the bait belonged to her. Without that bait, in such a cold weather, not to mention big fish, not even small shrimps could be caught.
But he couldn't speak first, and he couldn't let them know more.
Alas, let’s just say three hundred. Yingbao is still young and can’t keep too much money on hand.
Anyway, her dowry will be saved by him as a father, and giving her this money is just to make her have more money and save some pocket money for her private house.
After all, most children in the village don't even have a penny when they reach their teens, just like the second nephew.
As a result, each of the three brothers received 2,178 yuan, which was almost half the annual income of their own family.
After Jiang Dalang got the money, he felt that his illness was mostly cured instantly.
Erlang didn't try to make any concessions, and went back briskly with the heavy copper coins in his arms.
When he got home, he handed all the copper coins in his arms to his wife Leng, and said with a smile: "Today Sanlang went to the town and sold money for 7,000 yuan. Ahem, each of us got more than 2,000 yuan. You keep it and go back to the town."
Buy two pieces of fabric, and you and the children can make new clothes for the New Year."
Mr. Leng took the copper coins and counted them, frowning, "Erlang, this is wrong. Since the third brother sold it for 7,000 yuan, why did we only get 2,178 coins?"
Jiang Erlang coughed again and said: "I will give three hundred to my parents as a filial piety, and I will give three hundred to Yingbao. The rest will naturally be divided into this much."
Leng was displeased: "You should be filial to your parents, but why should you give it to Yingbao? She has done something to get so much money, and it's the same amount as her parents."
Jiang Erlang frowned, and was about to say that the big fish was attracted by Yingbao, and that the bait in Sanlang's hand was also given by Yingbao, but he remembered what his third brother had said that day, and was unable to explain it to his wife, so he said: "This is
The eldest brother divides it like this, ahem, besides, what’s wrong with Sanlang taking our brothers to make money and giving some to Yingbao?”
Leng was not happy when he heard this, "What does it mean that Sanlang takes the lead to make money? You are brothers, isn't that what you should do? Moreover, if you didn't help, how could Sanlang catch so many fish by himself? This is obviously the case.
The eldest brother and the third brother colluded to bully our family!"
The share given to the parents-in-law will not be left to the eldest family after the parents-in-law die.
As for Yingbao, how much money can she spend on a half-knee-high little baby? In the end, the third room was not allowed.
Jiang Erlang was angry when he heard this, "What nonsense are you talking about! What kind of collusion? If your words spread outside, how can we brothers get along with each other? Cough cough cough."
"Why are you talking nonsense?" Ms. Leng's eyes turned red, "It was originally meant to bully our family. It was the same last time. It's okay to give our family two or three hundred less points, but we can't always bully others like this."
As he spoke, he hugged his three-year-old son who didn't understand why and started scolding him: "My parents have always favored the eldest brother and the third brother. You, the middle child, are superfluous. Now it's better. Even the brothers come to bully..."
Jiang Erlang frowned, "Are you going to be so mean in front of the child? Ahem, why don't my parents and brothers have the right to comment on you?"
When Mrs. Leng saw that her husband was not interested in her, she became even more annoyed and began to curse, "You are a coward. If you are bullied, you will only act at home. If you have the ability, go and act outside. Marry a useless man like you."
I am really unlucky for eight lifetimes."
Jiang Erlang couldn't talk to her, and he couldn't explain it, so he raised his hands angrily and threatened to hit her.
"You beat me, you beat me!" Mrs. Leng held her son and lowered her head towards her husband. "If you beat me to death, forget it. Oh, oh, oh, oh, I can't survive this day. I won't live anymore."
The three-year-old Huzi was so frightened that he started to cry and struggled to get off his mother's arms.
Jiang Erlang was so angry that he hugged his son and yelled at his wife: "That's enough! Get out of here if you don't want to let it go!"
Leng, who was covering her face and crying, trembled when she heard the words, turned around and threw herself on the kang, crying loudly.
"Okay, okay, go ahead and make a fuss. Cough, cough, cough." Jiang Erlang realized that he had just made a mistake, so he turned around and walked out of the room with his son in his arms, and went to lie down in the west room.
He was so angry that he felt dizzy and sick.
Not to mention the chaos in Jiang Erlang's family.
As for Jiang Sanlang, when he returned home, he handed the money to his wife. Suddenly he remembered that he had not bought the promised New Year goods. He slapped his forehead and apologized to Chun Niang: "I was so busy that I forgot about it. Oh, what if I didn't wait until a few days later?"
I’ll go to town to buy some more.”
Chun Niang smiled and said: "If you forget it, just forget it. Today Ying Bao even whispered that she was going to the town. You can take her with you next time."
"Okay." Jiang Sanlang looked around and didn't see his daughter, so he asked, "Where did Yingbao go?"
"I went out to play with Dani and Ernie."
Chun Niang picked up her eldest son and breastfed him.
They have eaten a lot of fish in the past few days and have plenty of milk. The two babies have gained weight after eating and sleeping. Their little faces are round and they have a double chin. It is difficult to hold them.
Jiang Sanlang looked at his son from the side with a loving expression on his face. He stretched out his hand and poked his little face, feeling happy.
The little baby was poked, loosened its pacifier and turned its head to look over, as if in silent condemnation.
Chun Niang slapped her husband's hand away and glared at him, "Xiao Wu is still waiting to be fed. Don't mess with him. Let Xiaojie finish quickly."
Jiang Sanlang picked up his little son who was lying aside and waving his little hands, teasing him with oh oh ah ah ahhhhh.
While feeding the child, Chun Niang chatted with her husband, "It's strange these days. Many children in the village are rushing to give Yingbao gifts. They are not happy if they don't accept them. I don't know what they mean."
"Huh?" Jiang Sanlang turned around and asked, "What did they give you?"
"Egg egg white noodles, pancakes, etc. are all carefully eaten anyway." Chun Niang said.
Jiang Sanlang laughed: "Who are you, so willing to do so?"
Egg white flour pancakes are a rare thing, and children in ordinary families may not eat them once in several months.
Chun Niang said angrily: "Who knows which family the child belongs to? I guess the gang of monkeys who follow Ying Bao every time have come to see it off."
"It's nothing." Jiang Sanlang smiled and shook his head, not taking it seriously, "In the worst case, let's make something delicious and let Ying Bao return it."
However, it is normal for children to play around and give something as a sign of goodwill.
What's more, the deer raised by my daughter is a treasure in the hearts of the children in the village. Giving him some food is just to please him.
