After walking half a street, Li Xiaonan pulled Li Jinzhu and asked: "Sister, my brother has been admitted as a scholar and will go to the county school to attend classes. Will he go alone?"
"What do you think?" Li Jinzhu looked sideways at Li Xiaonan.
"My brother will definitely not be able to do it alone, nor will my brother and I be able to do it together. My brother has to go to school. Sister, how about we move to the county town." Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
"It's just a short sentence. Ever since I was a child, I have been obsessed with running to the county town." Li Jinzhu patted Li Xiaonan on the back.
"But, you have to think about it, we have all gone to the county seat, what will happen to our paddy fields? It takes a day to walk back and forth from Xiaolizhuang to the county seat. Also, if we all move there, where will we live? What will we eat? At your brother's place
How can we support our big family with just a little rice?"
"Let's rent out the land to Uncle Sandang. I think Uncle Sandang is very good. We collect rent every year. Now that my brother has been admitted as a scholar, the clan will definitely be able to give us money to rent a house. Also, we are here.
The county town is not idle. We can weave and sell cloth, and we can also do some small business. I think it is definitely easier to earn copper coins in the county town than farming."
Li Xiaonan took Li Jinzhu's questions seriously and answered them one by one.
"Business is not easy. We have never done business. Weaving~~ If there were three looms, your second sister and my third sister would be able to weave two pieces of cloth in one day without having to work in the fields.
In addition to your brother's rice and rent, if the clan is willing to rent out the money for the house, it's not impossible. When we get home, we will discuss it with your second sister and third sister."
Li Jinzhu thought carefully and nodded with a smile.
She also wants to move out of Xiaoli Village. There is no place for people to miss that village.
"Okay!" Li Xiaonan raised her voice at the end.
Li Xiaonan and Li Jinzhu walked around until it was almost dark and returned to the foot shop. Li Wenhua actually had a cup of tea later than them.
"Are you in a hurry? There are so many used clothes shops in Hangzhou. I first looked around in these streets. Later, I heard someone said that used clothes in Nancheng are cheap, so I went to Nancheng. It was really cheaper.
!
"Look at this gown. It is made of authentic Yangsi cloth. It has only been washed. Look at the cloth. Look at how fine it is. Look at the stitching. It only costs 700 yuan!"
Li Wenhua took out a mulberry paper bag from his arms, carefully opened it, and showed one corner to Li Jinzhu.
"Uncle Santang has been running all day just to buy this gown?" Li Xiaonan stretched her head and glanced at the exposed corner of indigo.
Li Wenhua gave Li Xiaonan a roll of his eyes and ignored her.
This little girl does nothing, either eats or sleeps. He is most annoyed by such lazy and lazy people!
"Is this for Xuedong?" Li Jinzhu touched it carefully.
"Master Xiucai! You can no longer call me names.
"Tomorrow's celery picking feast, there are rules for what to wear. Oh, it's this kind of blue, and it has to be edged with green and white. Did you see it? It's like this!
"Our eldest son is a scholar, and he will have to wear a long gown every day from now on. I have such fine fabrics at home. When we get home, take one out, and you can make another one for the eldest son, and wear two of them alternately.
That’s enough, where’s Dalang?”
Li Wenhua twisted his head and looked around, his eyes fell on the bowl of shrimp steamed eggs in front of Li Xiaonan, and his brows suddenly furrowed in distress.
"I went to thank God with the second young master of the Hong family. I left early in the morning and said there would be a banquet at noon and evening." Li Jinzhu answered.
Li Xiaonan held her chin, smiling and looking at her third uncle who was feeling extremely distressed over the steamed shrimp and egg.
"Then let's eat something casually. This bowl of steamed eggs, a little girl like her doesn't need to eat this, and shrimps." Li Wenhua couldn't help it, these are all his coins!
"This is what Xuedong told me." Li Jinzhu immediately pushed towards Li Xuedong.
As long as it was Xuedong who said it, she, the third uncle, would not say a word. Otherwise, the third uncle would have to toss and turn over and feel distressed endlessly.
Sure enough, Li Wenhua swallowed the rest of his words with force.
Alas, this little girl’s taste for food and laziness are all spoiled by her brothers and sisters, especially her brother!
Xuedong didn't come back to eat, so Li Wenhua only had a large plate of fried vegetables with oil residue and a bowl of rice for each person.
After dinner, Li Wenhua would rest as soon as it got dark and go to bed first. Li Jinzhu was worried and cut the fine fabrics he bought during the day, and took advantage of the double-headed lamp on the counter of the foot shop to do some sewing.
Li Xuedong is back.
Around Xu Zheng, a large car stopped at the door of the foot shop. The boy sitting in front of the car jumped out neatly and put down the footstool. Li Xuedong stretched his head out of the car.
Li Jinzhu hurriedly welcomed him out, and the foot shop clerk on duty also hurriedly welcomed him out.
The attendant at the back of the car carried a big baggage and handed it to the waiter, "Excuse me, please bring it to Mr. Li's house."
"Sister, I won't get out of the car. Goodbye." Hong Zhenye was lying on the car window, with a smile on his red face, smelling of alcohol, and waving his hand back and forth to greet Li Jinzhu.
"Thank you." Li Jinzhu stepped forward to support Li Xuedong and thanked him loudly.
"I didn't drink, I just took a sip. It's okay." Li Xuedong broke away from the eldest sister.
"Is everything okay?" Li Jinzhu went up and smelled it. Sure enough, the smell of alcohol was on his body but not in his mouth.
"I'll ask the kitchen to boil two buckets of hot water quickly. The smell of wine on Mr. Li's body needs to be washed away. Otherwise, there will be a smell of wine at the celery picking feast tomorrow, which will not be good." The waiter handed over the baggage.
Delivered to the door of the room, considerate suggestions.
Li Jinzhu thanked the waiter, took the baggage and entered the room.
Li Xiaonan was lying on the bed reading a new history book she bought today. She quickly put down the book, leaned over, looked at Li Xuedong carefully, and asked with concern: "How is it?"
Li Xuedong waved his hand to Li Xiaonan, took the bundle from Li Jinzhu's hand, touched it quickly, hurriedly untied it, picked up the two gold and red seals on the top, and held them to Li Jinzhu.
"Sister, this one was given by the Kunshan Chamber of Commerce, and this one was given by the Pingjiang Chamber of Commerce. They are all silver notes. This is ten taels, and here is also ten taels!" Li Xuedong held his breath and suppressed his voice, and he was excited again.
Afraid again.
"Ah?" Li Jinzhu's eyes widened, "Why do you want to take other people's copper coins?"
"I didn't want it. I said I didn't want it. It was Brother Hong, the Second Young Master Hong, who asked me to take it. He said it was all the ones that should be taken. He said that everyone else had taken it and it would be bad if I didn't take it." Li Xuedong explained hurriedly.<
/p>
"Is it a congratulatory gift from them?" Li Xiaonan looked at the two red envelopes and asked.
"Yes, yes, that's what they said." Li Xuedong nodded quickly.
"How can anyone give money as a congratulatory gift? How can anyone give 10 taels of congratulatory gifts?" Li Jinzhu didn't believe it at all.
"Sister, they are all rich people. They can eat several taels of silver in one meal, right brother?" Li Xiaonan reached out and flipped through the clothes in the bag.
"Yes, yes! They are all wearing silk! At noon, the Pingjiang Club invited all the students from Pingjiang Prefecture, and in the evening, the Kunshan Chamber of Commerce invited Brother Hong and me. Alas!"
Li Xuedong's sigh came out fiercely, full of excitement, and he raised and waved his hands together.
"I've never heard of them all! I've never seen them all! I've never eaten them all!"
Li Xuedong bit each one hard.
"What is this? How can you take other people's things!" Li Jinzhu stared at the fan case that Li Xiaonan took out from the bag. There was also a folding fan in the fan case.
"It's Brother Hong! Brother Hong arranged it for me. He told me that he couldn't wear this to the celery-picking banquet tomorrow. He said it was the rule of the court." Li Xuedong tugged on his home-woven jacket and explained hurriedly. Li Xiaonan placed the clothes and accessories in the bag one by one on the bed:
Two lined fine silk robes, both with indigo blue and white edges, two pairs of similarly lined indigo fine silk trousers, two sets of white fine silk underwear, two pairs of indigo silk platform shoes, an embroidered belt, and an
White hosta, an embroidered purse, an embroidered fan cover with fan, an exquisite silver sachet containing scented balls, which smells very good, and two pairs of fine cotton socks.
"Brother Hong gave me all this. He said that he has been having a lot of social activities these days, so he needs to have good clothes." Li Xuedong glanced at the eldest sister and explained timidly.
"This is all silk. How much copper does it cost? Silk is very expensive!" Li Jinzhu didn't dare to reach out and touch it. He bent down to look at it and signaled to Li Xiaonan, "Wrap it up quickly. We can't ask for other people's things."
"I said no! Brother Hong has to give it to me, and I can't hold him back." Li Xuedong quickly explained.
He knew that the eldest sister would definitely refuse to take it, but he really couldn't compete with Hong Zhenye.
"Brother passed by a husband from the Hong family and took two boxes of books from the Hong family and a box of pens, ink, paper and inkstones." Li Xiaonan folded the gown carefully.
Li Jinzhu was speechless for a moment, and then sighed, "When your second sister and I mentioned this matter, we became extremely worried. They are helping Xuedong in the hope that Xuedong will become an official in the future and can help."
Follow them, but Xuedong..."
Li Jinzhu was vague about what he said next.
"How dare you think about how we can repay this favor?" Li Jinzhu paused, his voice was very low, "Your second sister and I always feel like liars."
"I think so too. The better Brother Hong treats me, the more I feel..." Li Xuedong looked at the bag of clothes with a sad face.
Throughout the whole day, he felt extremely guilty.
"There are risks in betting. I am willing to admit defeat. I think the Hong family must not think too much than us." Li Xiaonan rewrapped her clothes and hairpins.
"There was nothing we could do in the past. In order to survive, we can't be like before in the future." Li Jinzhu said solemnly.
