Chapter 27 Aunt Zhang’s Family, the Poorest in the Village
The men brought by Hu Tufu were carefully selected, and each of them was a good worker.
Not to mention that Shuiqing, a woman, did not need help, even Fan Jin was classified as a "weak scholar".
According to them, "My nephew's husband is a scholar, how can we trouble a scholar to do rough work like building a house."
"My son-in-law will be an official in the future, and his hands are used to hold pens and write, so he can't do rough work."
"Don't worry about us working! We will build it quickly and well."
.....
Rural people have a natural envy of scholars, and they think that being literate is a great thing.
Fan Jin's cheeks were flushed by the praise, and he was at a loss, especially when he heard the last sentence, fearing that his father-in-law's relatives and neighbors would think that he was supervising because he didn't trust him, so he opened his mouth to explain.
"Okay, your uncles are joking with you, you can do it if you have something to do, and leave the house to us." Hu Tufu said unhappily.
The son-in-law was timid and not as generous as his daughter, which made him furious.
How could he be an official?
Taking a deep breath, he whispered to his daughter: "Bring a few more eggs to exchange for some vegetables, and don't eat all rice in the evening."
The daughter told him in advance that she would go to the village chief's house with her son-in-law to thank him, and also took care of the evening meal, so that they could eat early and go home late.
She said that it would be easier for her mother to be at home.
Hearing this, his eyes were wet. It was good that his daughter had her own little family and could be the master of the house.
If it were at the old Fan family, even if he felt sorry for his parents and spent money and effort, he couldn't entertain a large group of people for dinner, not to mention that there were more eggs than mushrooms, and the dry rice was still rice!
But in other words, if it weren't for his daughter's share, he wouldn't be able to subsidize them so much.
Humph, it's not like he didn't subsidize them in the past, and all of it went into other people's stomachs.
Thinking of the past, Hu the butcher got angry, and he became more and more displeased with Fan Jin, and said fiercely: "Go quickly, go quickly and come back quickly!"
The thatched house was built, and things had to be moved in.
While there were many people, it was quick to clean up, otherwise it would be his daughter who would be tired.
Fan Jin saw that his father-in-law was very skilled at turning his face, and was dragged away by his wife.
Leaving behind the father-in-law's roar: "Eggs! Don't forget to take the eggs!"
·
Shanshui Village has many mountains and wastelands, rivers and ponds, and there are fewer fertile fields in it.
The ancestors of the Fan family were rich and bought a lot of land, but when it came to Fan's father's generation, they were lazy and didn't know how to live, so they sold a lot of land, leaving only 27 acres.
Now that the family is divided again, the eldest wife and Fan's mother have 18 acres, and the second wife has 9 acres.
Nine acres of land for seven people is not as good as 18 acres for eight people in the eldest wife, but it can rank first in Shanshui Village!
There are several families in the village with 17 or 18 people, but they only have 11 or 12 mu of land.
"The worst is Aunt Zhang's family. Uncle Zhang is a gambler. He lost all the money in the family and owed a lot of debts. Later, the thugs from the gambling house came to collect the debts. There was no choice but to sell three mu of good land to pay off the debts.
I thought Uncle Zhang would reform himself with only six mu of good land left, but Uncle Zhang continued to gamble behind Aunt Zhang's back, from six mu to four mu, to two mu, and finally all gone." Fan Jin sighed on the way to Aunt Zhang's house.
To say something that shouldn't be said, it's better for Uncle Zhang to die.
Otherwise, the next step is to sell children.
Uncle Zhang died. Although Aunt Zhang and her six children's life is not easy, it is still a little better than when Uncle Zhang was there.
At least they will no longer worry about thugs coming to their house to collect debts.
When Aunt Zhang spoke for Shuiqing before, she was ridiculed by Sun Jinhua, and Shuiqing heard the general idea.
The two walked on the dirt road in the village, and most of the houses they saw were low thatched houses. After hearing what Fan Jin said with a sigh, Shui Qing realized how difficult it was for a woman with no land and no savings to support six children!
She was impressed by Fan Jin's thoughtfulness: "No wonder you went to Aunt Zhang's house first."
Fan Jin smiled shyly, "Although Aunt Zhang is poor, she is a very good person. The same is true for the six children she taught. They are all hardworking and willing to work hard."
Shui Qing understood what Fan Jin meant.
This is a family worth helping.
·
In the low fence, chickens, ducks and geese were shouting in a mess, and a little girl of fourteen or fifteen was squatting to chop wild vegetables to feed the chickens and ducks.
A shout came from the dim thatched house in the back: "Xiao Cao, come in for lunch.
"Hey, I'm here. "Zhang Xiaocao rubbed her numb legs, stood up excitedly, and saw Fan Jin and Shui Qing outside the fence.
She was confused but smiled and asked: "Second Brother Fan, Second Sister-in-law, what are you doing here?"
She turned around and shouted to the house: "Mom, Second Brother Fan and Second Sister-in-law are here!"
Aunt Zhang heard the sound and ran out in a hurry. When she saw the two of them, she smiled and greeted them: "Oh, it's just in time for lunch. Have you eaten? Come in and eat together!"
She was about to turn around and go to the kitchen to make more porridge.
There is not much food in their family, and they have always been tight on food, so most of the bowls are impossible.
Shui Qing stepped forward and smiled and stopped her: "Don't worry, Aunt, we have eaten before."
Food is precious, let alone Aunt Zhang's family, but she has this intention, Shui Qing is very moved.
Fan Jin followed and said: "Aunt, we really have eaten, and we came here to talk to you. "
Aunt Zhang saw that the two insisted, wiped her hands on the hem of her clothes, and changed her words: "Okay, let's go inside and talk?"
The family only had a few acres of wasteland planted with millet, corn and other coarse grains, and there was indeed no surplus food, alas...
Shuiqing followed Fan Jin into the house.
As soon as he entered the house, the musty smell of old thatch hit his nose, and Shuiqing tried to suppress it, trying not to let others see it.
Finally understood why Sun Jinhua cared so much about the three brick houses of the Fan family!
The thatched house was low, with poor lighting and easy to leak rain. Just now, the smell was very unpleasant after a long time.
As soon as the two sat down, Zhang Xiaocao brought two cups of water in bamboo cups.
Aunt Zhang was very embarrassed, "Auntie, there is no sugar water or tea here, so you two can only drink boiled water."
Then he asked: "Are you here because I spoke for your wife this morning? If I were to ask you, you are too polite. There is no need to come here specially."
Fan Jin first thanked him sincerely, and then said his intention.
Aunt Zhang opened her mouth in surprise and asked blankly, "What did you say?"
The children who were squatting in various places in the yard drinking vegetable porridge pricked up their ears.
"Little sister, did big brother hear it wrong?" Zhang Jinniu turned his head and asked Zhang Xiaocao, who was closest to him.
Zhang Yinniu swallowed the porridge in his mouth and said hurriedly, "No, big brother, I heard it too!"
Uncle Fan said he wanted to buy chicken head rice and exchange two and a half catties of rice for one catty of peeled chicken head rice, and emphasized that it must be fresh.
Fresh ones have moisture, and two or three catties of fresh ones can only get one catty of dried ones, right?
But Uncle Fan wanted to exchange two and a half catties of rice for one catty of fresh ones!
The other fourteen-year-old bronze ox, thirteen-year-old iron ox, and twelve-year-old wooden ox were so nervous that they forgot to drink the vegetable porridge and looked into the house in unison.