Chapter 12 Double Yolk Egg
In the evening, Jiang Sanlang returned home and handed the eight hundred coins to his wife, "This is for selling deer points."
Chun Niang took the money bag and poured out a pile of copper coins, surprised: "So many?"
Jiang Sanlang smiled proudly and took out a few more strings of money from his arms, "There are still more than seventy cents here, so I'll leave them here. I'll go to town tomorrow to buy a few more old hens for you to eat during your confinement period."
Chun Niang was shy, turned around, locked the heavy copper coins into the box, and whispered: "It's still early, what's the rush?"
"It's getting late, the doctor said we need to prepare early."
Not only food, but also bedding and cloth, baby blankets, diapers and changing pads, etc. Nothing is missing.
Not only can’t have less, but also have to have double portions, alas.
Jiang Sanlang turned his head without seeing his daughter and asked, "Where is Ying Bao?"
"I went to Big Brother's place. He said he wanted to learn how to read from Yuan Bao."
"Hey! Our daughter is so capable." Jiang Sanlang said with a smile: "How old is she, and she is so easy to learn?"
Chun Niang looked at him angrily, "Yingbao learned several words a few days ago, and even wrote them on tree branches for me to read. They are quite decent, and are more satisfactory than Yuanbao's writings."
"Really?" Jiang Sanlang pretended not to believe it, "I will take the test when she comes back."
The couple chatted for a while. Seeing that it was late, Jiang Sanlang got up and went to his eldest brother's house to pick up his daughter.
At this moment, Yingbao is watching Yuanbao recite the Three Character Sutra. The deer lay at his feet and slept peacefully.
In the kitchen, Mrs. Jiang, who was washing pots and dishes, felt strange:
What's wrong with my youngest son today? He's so diligent.
When she came back from school, she would write big characters and then read again. She read for half an hour without taking a break. If it weren't for dinner time, she would have worried that her son's voice would be broken.
Uncle Jiang and Old Man Jiang were quite pleased.
The youngest son (grandson) finally knows how to make progress.
There might be a baby boy in their family in the future.
In Uncle Jiang's eyes, Tong Sheng was already a great person. In the future, he could not only work as a teacher in the village, but also work as a shopkeeper in the county town, or even work as a bookkeeper in charge of people's accounts.
Chen Changrong, the eldest son of the Chen Laoshuan family in Xichen Village, just manages the accounts of a wealthy family, earning a net income of twenty to thirty taels a year. Although his family also farmed and received income, with this huge income, those days were not to mention comfortable.
When the time comes, Yuanbao will also go to take care of people's accounts and earn money while sitting in the house. There is no need to hoe or plow the fields, and he will no longer be exposed to the sun and rain.
Tsk tsk, that kind of life is the most complete.
You can't blame Uncle Jiang for thinking this way. In fact, every farmer who works in the fields has a county dream.
Old Man Jiang was different from his eldest son. He didn't think so long term. He simply felt that his grandson had changed his procrastination and started to be diligent and motivated.
This is a good thing.
"Better than his third uncle when he was a child." Old Man Jiang gave a fair evaluation, "Although the third uncle has a bright mind, he doesn't need to study."
Ms. Jiang Liu rolled her eyes at her wife and said, "You can praise me all you want. Why do you praise someone and step on someone else?"
Old Man Jiang coughed and turned his head away.
In the side room, Yuan Bao finally memorized the entire Three-Character Sutra and turned to look at his little cousin, "I've finished memorizing it."
Ying Bao immediately clapped her little hands and praised: "Brother Yuan Bao is so awesome! I will go to school with you tomorrow morning, and Xiaolu will be held by you."
Yuan Bao pursed his lips and smiled, nodding vigorously, "Okay!"
Jiang Sanlang entered the room at this time and waved to his daughter, "Yingbao, go home quickly."
Ying Bao responded, picked up the fawn, and walked out with her father.
Uncle Jiang stood at the door, his black face smiled like a chrysanthemum, and said to his niece: "Ying Bao'er, I will come to my uncle's house tomorrow to listen to Yuan Bao's reading."
"Yeah." Yingbao agreed.
Because she will be able to write openly and honestly in no time.
Although she learned to read in her previous life, she was not good at writing, which was a major shortcoming in her life.
So she must study hard with Yuan Bao and practice beautiful calligraphy.
When her younger brothers grew up, she taught them how to write and memorize early, so that they could take the official exams and not be bullied by others.
…
The sun and the moon alternated like a white horse passing by, and more than two months passed in a flash.
The weather is getting colder, the leaves are starting to fall, and the Winter Clothes Festival is approaching.
The apple seedlings planted by Yingbao have grown to eight feet tall, with strong stems and strong branches, becoming a veritable small fruit tree.
Jiang Sanlang and his wife were both amazed and amazed that the sapling grew so fast, even faster than Paulownia.
The family's fawn has also grown up a lot and was named Youyou. He is strong and docile. He always follows Yingbao everywhere, as if he regards her as a companion.
After the autumn harvest, Jiang Sanlang bought two old hens and a rooster. Including the original two, there are now five chickens in the family.
Under Yingbao's careful feeding, the latter two old hens also began to lay eggs. Each chicken laid one egg every day, and they were all double yolks.
Jiang Sanlang and his wife were stunned.
But they didn't say anything, not even to the main house.
"Sanlang, do you think it's strange?" Chun Niang sat on the edge of the kang, sewing the baby's bellyband, and chatting with her husband.
"The hens you bought back are all old hens that don't lay eggs, but Yingbao starts to lay eggs as soon as she feeds them. She always lays double yolk eggs every time."
"That's because Yingbao often digs earthworms for it to eat." Jiang Sanlang sat on the bench and wiped the arrows one by one.
When it snows this winter, he will go to Nanshan to hunt rabbits and beat the teeth for his family.
If you are lucky enough to hunt a few, you can even take them to the market to exchange for some pork and mutton.
"But why don't other people's chickens lay double-yolk eggs?"
Chun Niang just thought it was amazing, "Eldest brother's chickens are also fed with earthworms. Didn't Dani dig them with Yingbao every day? It's getting cold now. I heard Dani say that she has five hens and three A genius picks up two eggs."
Jiang Sanlang was speechless.
But he couldn't admit that his daughter had magical powers.
Smiling at his wife, he teased: "Are you saying that you are like an old hen, laying double yolk eggs?"
Chun Niang's face darkened, she spat at her husband and kicked him lightly, "What are you talking about?"
Jiang Sanlang chuckled, stretched out his hand to touch her huge belly, "Come and take a look at our little Shuanghuang, your mother is bullying your father."
"It's not formal." Chun Niang curled her lips and ignored her husband.
Jiang Sanlang stared at his wife seriously and sighed: "Chun Niang, how do I see you are getting more and more beautiful?"
Chun Niang blushed and turned to the side, "They are all yellow-faced women. What's so good about them?"
Jiang Sanlang clicked his tongue twice, put down the bow and arrow in his hand, reached out and took his wife's hand, and pointed: "It's really good-looking, with fair skin, almost catching up with Yingbao. There used to be freckles here and there, but they are gone now."
"Really?" Chun Niang touched her face and couldn't believe it.
What woman can't care about her appearance?
"Yes." Jiang Sanlang nodded, "I thought you didn't go out much, so your skin turned white, but yesterday I saw my second sister-in-law standing with you, and she looked like black coal against her."
Sister-in-law Jiang gave birth the year before last and took care of the baby at home without going out to the field for almost a year or two. Her skin color was usually similar to that of his wife, so it was reasonable to expect that it would not be much different now.
But the comparison between the two yesterday gave Jiang Sanlang a strong visual impact.
My wife is so beautiful, she is more supple than when she was young, and her complexion and skin are not like those of a country woman at all.
"That's nonsense, be careful if the second sister-in-law hears her scolding you." Chun Niang glared at her husband, but she was happy in her heart.
There is no bronze mirror at home, and the only bronze mirror that was given to me as a bride was sold a few years ago and replaced with bowls of soup and medicine poured into my stomach. Now that I think about it, I feel really dizzy.
Usually when she combs her hair, she only coils it casually in front of the basin. In addition, she is pregnant and doesn't go out much, so she doesn't dress up much.
After receiving such a compliment from my husband today, I felt a little hopeful.
"I'll go to the market tomorrow and buy you a bronze mirror in town."
Jiang Sanlang also realized his negligence. He hugged his wife apologetically and said, "Buy a few more flowers for your hair. You and your daughter will wear them. It will make you happy."
Nowadays, all the flowers have withered, and women’s heads are smooth.
He remembered that women in the county all wore silk flowers, which were exactly the same as real flowers and were bright and eye-catching.
Chun Niang pursed her lips and smiled. "Buy another piece of cloth for Ying Bao, and take advantage of my free time to make her a new cotton coat."
Since the daughter arrived at their house, she has mostly been wearing Dani and Erni's old clothes.
Although she embroidered and altered the old clothes, trying to make them look similar to the new ones, or even better, they were still old clothes.
So Chun Niang always feels that she owes her little girl.
"Yes." Jiang Sanlang agreed, "It's really time to make new clothes for Ying Bao."