Chapter 69 pt 1
Sorry for the late chapter. I will update Saturday as well to make up for it.
-Cinnabun
When there is snow outside, dawn arrives early.
Zhao'er got up early in the morning and cooked breakfast with Xue Taoer, which consisted of corn pancakes and millet pumpkin porridge.
After the meal was made, Zhaoer went to wake the few people up.
After a while, the few teenagers in thick cotton-padded jackets came out of the house one by one.
The snow stopped yesterday, but the snow had not melted yet. Mao Badou picked up a handful of snow, kneaded it into a ball, and stuffed it into Li Datian’s neck when he was not paying attention.
When it comes to snowball fights, the children in town are not as good as the children in the countryside. After a few rounds, Mao Badou just fleed. Those who witnessed this scene were all laughing, and even Xue Taoer was laughing with her mouth covered.
"These babies are really lively." Zhou shi said with a smile, and asked Zhaoer again: "Why are those two babies so tightly clothed? I guess it's the first time they come to the countryside and can't bear the freezing temperatures. Also, the wind in the countryside is sharp. How can the people in the town stand it?"
Zhao'er pursed her lips and nodded. Naturally, she wouldn't tell Zhou shi that the reason why Mao Badou and Li Datian covered half of their faces wasn't entirely because of the cold.
In the house, Father Xue couldn't help but smile when he heard the laughter outside. When the few people with Mao Badou came yesterday, they went to the main room. So Father Xue knew that they were Xue TingRang's classmates.
Thinking of the classmates, Father Xue couldn't help but think of Xue Juncai again. After that incident, the Xue family still couldn’t hold back Xue Juncai. Xue Qingshan and his son had been against each other for a while, and finally they still found him an academy, but it was not in Huyang Township but in Anyang Township next door.
Since it was not in his hometown, it was naturally far away, and it would take a long time to take a carriage to return, so since he went to the academy, Xue Juncai rarely came back.
Xue TingRang went home and rested for a long time, but Juncai still didn't come back. The Xue family invited someone to deliver the letter. He said he would come back before the 23rd, but he hasn't come back yet.
Father Xue plans to wait until breakfast later, so that he can tell the eldest son again and ask him to ask again if Juncai can return the 23rd.
Father Xue was now feeling completely lost. He felt that his grandson seems to have become enemies with his father, but it is not clear why they became enemies.
After breakfast, Zhaoer and the group of people planned to go out.
All of them were heavily dressed. Xue Tao'er also went. She felt stuffy at home, so Zhao'er planned to take her out to get some fresh air. Of course, it is also because Zhao'er was worried about Li Datian and the group's ability.
The group took two carts out. Zhaoer was in front, and Li Datian drove the cart behind herr.
Zhao'er had already planned where to go and took everyone to a nearby village without stopping. When she entered the village, she drove the car to the wheat field, selected a place, dragged two shovels from the car, and ordered Mao to shovel a few buckets of snow.
While clearing the snow over there, Zhao'er took Xue Tao'er out to take out the spring festival couplets. The girl was attentive with light hands and feet. The two of them pasted the couplets one by one, and in a short while, one side of the carriage was covered with spring festival couplets.
In the snowy white surrounding, it's the only thing that was red. It's dazzling to look at.
At this time, Zhao'er took out the gong and banged it.
People in the village are familiar with the sound of the gong. Whenever this sound is heard, there are cheap and good things. Sitting at home these days, some women even have auditory hallucinations and always feel that the sound of a gong is beckoning and the little brother has come.
It was just a short while before Mao Badou and others saw a spectacle——
The villagers were carrying something on their shoulders, and they walked here. Looking from a distance, the dense crowds were very frightening.
What is this? !
"Sister Zhao'er, you aroused the anger of the people. Will they beat us?"
Zhao’er smiled lightly but didn’t say anything. When the people got closer, she began to shout: “Send a blessing! Send a blessing! No need to go out and beg, no need to go out to buy, good and cheap Spring Festival couplets are here. One pair is five wen, big ones are five wen, small ones are three wen. Buy a pair of big ones, get a fu zhi 1 for free, and just the fu zi alone is one wen. There are big ones and small ones for the main door, the hall door, the cattle shed, and the granary room. Wellcome good fortune and you don’t have to worry about a bad harvest in the coming year!"
"Hey, I just like to listen to the luck bringing little one. Just listening makes me happy." A woman said.
"That's right. why can't I give birth to such a capable child?"
"If they let you give birth to one, then wouldn’t you be sitting at home and eating fancy, just waiting to enjoy your son's blessing!"
The wives were laughing and talking, and Zhaoer said: "Old and young men, uncles and aunts, we won't collect food this time. This year, God has blessed us. Every family has a good harvest, so there is so much food in the house. It’s almost the New Year. I always have to make some money to make clothes and buy flowers for the girl at home."
"Fine, fine, fine. You can do whatever you say, and we don’t mind. I like to listen to the luck bringing little brother, who makes people feel comfortable. This time we will pay if we don't give food!" A man put the food bag on the ground and took out the purse containing money from his arms: "luck bringing little brother, you choose for your uncle. We have a main door, a hall door, a granary door, and a kitchen door. By the way, there are also livestock sheds."
The move was unambiguous, and he took the Spring Festival couplets from the carriage, and Xue Taoer helped her.
"Uncle, there are a total of one pair of big ones and four pairs of small ones. It is reasonable to say that it would cost seventeen wen. If you buy a set, even if it is fifteen wen, I will give you five more fu zi, one for each door."
"Okay, just do it!"
When they heard that it was so cheap, and there was buy one get one free, it was much cheaper than the single purchase. Many villagers were moved and called out to buy a set.
Zhao'er said again: "Some uncles don't need so much at home, so you can buy less. It's easy to buy a pair of large ones with two small ones, plus three fu zi for a total of ten wen."
Immediately, some people who were shy in their pockets, or who had no livestock in the family, also poured in one after another.
The scene was extremely lively, Zhao’er calmly handed out the Spring Festival couplets, and then collected the money. It was the first time that Xue Taoer saw this kind of occasion. Although she was flustered, she still remembered to help Zhaoer Jie and try not to make trouble.
Mao Badou and the others were stunned for a long time. Seeing that it was so busy, Xue TingRang hurriedly called Chen Jian and Li Datian to go forward to help sell Spring Festival couplets.
"Luck bringing little brother, how good are the words written on these? If we go to Master Tong Sheng's house and ask for it, it won't cost this much money." Every village has some who are pleasant and others that are difficult, and of course there are also some who think they are expensive and always want to be picky.
Zhao'er is not afraid of these at all, and smiled and replied: "Uncle, you can go to Master Tong Sheng's house to ask for Spring Festival couplets. Sometimes you must be able to ask for it. After all, Master Tong Sheng is busy, but he doesn't have the time to take care of everyone, and he can not write one on each door for your home. We are not the same. If you mention something else, we might not be in, but if you say calligraphy and writing—"
She turned around and pointed at Xue TingRang and the others, and said, "Do you know what they do? They are all students from the Qingyuan Academy in the town, and they have all been praised by the county grandfather and his elders. Although they are not tongsheng now, they will be by the end of next year. Maybe it’s a tongsheng, or a xiucai, and then your word will be worth the money."
"Hey!"
"Qingyuan Academy? I heard that this academy is a good one. Many people want to send their children there, but they can't get in."
"I heard people say that the king and landlord wanted to send his son, but they didn't accept it. They said he was too dull, and the qualifications were not good." A villager said seriously.
"These are all scholars!"
Not only was Xue TingRang busy, but the others were also occupied. Mao Badou immediately put away his stupid chin that had dropped, and with his hands behind his back and walked forward, arching his hands deeply: "Uncles and aunts have overpraise me."
"Look, this little one is different from the looks of it. The future master xiu ye!"
The two and Xue TingRang looked at the person who was wrapped up like a ball. How could he be different from the others, and then they started to laugh loudly.
"Student little one, you read what's written on this for us. We just buy it, but we don't know how to read, and we don't know what's written on it." An aunt asked in front of Mao Badou.
Mao Badou was also unambiguous, and immediately read: "Every year is blessed with a lot of resources, and every year is safe and prosperous. Horizontal batch: good luck."
"Hey, that's a good couplet."
"What about this one from my house?"
"Working harder will make everyone happy, and the harvest will be sweet every year..."
Here, Li Datian snickered and said to the others: "Badou has finally found his use here."
- word for blessing 福 ↑