Chapter 165 Farewell
Later, Wei Zhan asked his uncle to send people to the town to buy many gifts, all of which were children's playing chickens, pottery balls, wooden tops, bamboo dragonflies, etc., and distributed them to the friends in the village.
I also bought pens, inks, paper, inkstones, etc. and gave them to Huzi Yuanbao Erni Yingbao and a few more.
Wang Xian prepared another twenty pieces of cloth and gave them to the Jiang family as a thank-you gift for taking care of Wei Zhan.
Old Man Jiang couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to accept.
Early the next morning, the Jiang family put Wei Zhan on the carriage. Yingbao saw Mrs. Wen and her two daughters sitting on a mule cart. There were several baskets of dried golden ears tied to the back of the mule cart, as if they were going to show Wang Xian and the others. Leave together.
Good to go!
Ying Bao didn't want to get entangled with this person who was suspected to be the heroine of the book, lest she become a stepping stone for them.
This time, the output of gold ears in the village was extremely low, and Manager Zhou didn't come for some reason, so all the villagers' gold ears were sold to Mrs. Wen San.
It wasn't much, adding up to just over forty kilograms. Mrs. Wen San actually bought it for ten taels per kilogram, which made the villagers extremely happy.
But because Mrs. Wen had no cash, she issued an IOU of more than 400 taels in the name of the Wen family, and asked Patriarch Chen to bear witness.
Although the villagers were puzzled, Mrs. Wen Si was still here teaching and educating people, so they accepted the offer without much hesitation.
The Jiang family didn't sell the golden ears. Firstly, there were not many of them, and secondly, they wanted to wait for Manager Zhou to decide.
In doing business, you need to pay attention to integrity. If the manager doesn't receive the gold ear when he comes, it will make people think that the people in Chencun are not trustworthy.
The golden ears of Jiang Sanlang's family are all in Yingbao's cave, and she will not sell them to Mrs. Wen's third wife, Lin.
The carriage brought by Wang Xian finally drove away.
Wei Zhan lay on the car window and cried so hard that the Jiang family women couldn't help but wipe away their tears.
"I will be back soon... Wuwuwuwu... Huzi Yuanbao, don't forget me."
Huzi cried loudly and followed the carriage all the way out.
He is the closest to Wei Zhan. Because he has always eaten and slept with him, he has treated him like a brother.
When Wei Zhan saw Hu Zi coming, he cried even harder. If Wang Xian hadn't hugged him tightly, he would have jumped off the carriage and never returned.
When the women in the village saw this, they all sighed and watched as the cars gradually moved away.
…
It will be the twelfth lunar month in a few days. Mrs. Jiang Liu, her three daughters-in-law, and her granddaughters were sitting on the porch basking in the sun, muttering to themselves as they sewed clothes:
"It's almost time for the twelfth lunar month festival. Alas, our ancestors will be hungry this year. In previous years, we could still have a pig's head and a sheep's head, or even two chickens and two fish. But now, all the livestock have been stolen and there are very few left. Even the old cow in the village was killed by the damn thieves for meat, so where can there be anything to offer to the ancestors and gods?"
Mrs. Zhou: "If that doesn't work, I still have a few chickens. I'll kill one or two as sacrifices when the time comes."
"How can that be done? There are only a few chickens left in total, and they are planning to lay more eggs to hatch chicks in the spring. Where can I kill them?"
Mrs. Jiang Liu immediately shook her head in denial.
The family spent a lot of money these days, especially Jiang Dalang and Erlang. They not only built a house, bought daily necessities, but also made some necessary furniture, and almost all the family money was spent.
Dani and Erni took the initiative to donate their money to buy things for their home.
Fortunately, Jiang Sanlang's family recovered a lot of grain, which is enough for the whole family to eat until next summer's harvest, so that they will not go to other counties to buy grain like other villagers.
But now that the wax festival is approaching, it is essential to sacrifice animals to ancestors.
Nowadays, let alone livestock, there are not even a few chickens, ducks and geese to be found, even if you spend money, you can't buy them.
"Why don't you go fishing? We caught a lot of fish last year. If you can't finish it, you can make smoked fish and cured fish." Dani gave Grandma an idea.
Mrs. Jiang Liu's eyes lit up, "Yes, your second uncle and third uncle are the best at fishing. When they come back, ask them if they are free."
Using big fish as a sacrifice does not insult the gods and ancestors. After the sacrifice, you can take it back and smoke it, and you can eat it until the beginning of next spring.
In the afternoon, when Jiang Sanlang and his eldest and second brothers came back, they heard what my mother said. "Sanlang, the wax festival is coming soon, do you still want to go fishing?"
Jiang Sanlang: "We'll see when the time comes."
Fishing requires bait, and his daughter prepares it every time. He doesn't know if her daughter still has that kind of bait.
"What do you mean we'll see it then? The day after tomorrow is the twelfth lunar month, so we have to prepare early."
Jiang Liu said: "Your father has been nagging me early in the morning that the situation at your uncle's side is not good. His house has been burned down and he has no money. If he hadn't sent some food over a while ago, his whole family would be gone." Have to beg for food.
So your father took over the matter of the sacrifice. "
Jiang Sanlang scratched his head and nodded helplessly: "Okay, I'll take a look when I have time."
When I got home, I took off my muddy outer clothes and put on clean cotton clothes.
"Where are Bao'er and Xiaojie and Xiaowu?" Jiang Sanlang asked casually without seeing his children.
Chun Niang put the dirty clothes aside and served her husband a bowl of porridge.
"I'm writing in the house." Chun Niang sat down across the table. "My mother said that you should go catch some fish and come back. We will use them for the festival later. What do you say?"
"Then let's arrest him." What else could I do?
Jiang Sanlang thought while drinking porridge.
Remember last time, my daughter made fishing bait with gold ear crumbs mixed with wheat bran, why don’t you do the same?
I happen to still have some high-quality golden ears at home, so I decided to get some that were not in good condition and try them out.
Early the next morning, Jiang Sanlang came to his eldest brother's house with a basin of mixed bait.
"Brother, I'm asking a few people to go fishing together today. Will you go?"
How could Jiang Dalang not go? He nodded quickly: "Go!"
"Okay, I'll call you second brother."
Jiang Sanlang shouted directly in the yard: "Second brother! Are you going to go fishing?"
Jiang Erlang immediately responded: "Of course! When are you ready?"
"Now, I'll go home and get the net and rope. You just need to bring two iron forks." Jiang Sanlang returned home after shouting.
When the people in the East Village saw Jiang Sanlang going fishing again, they huffed and followed many people there.
Even many women and children joined in the fun.
The bait that Jiang Sanlang mixed himself is very effective. As long as you scatter a few handfuls of it, fish will swim over to look for food in a short time.
The villagers screamed and used baskets and bamboo baskets to catch fish, but they also caught a lot.
The three brothers Jiang Sanlang even caught a lot of fish, large and small, which could not fit in several backpack baskets.
The movement of East Villagers by the river attracts people from the West Village and surrounding villages.
When no one was paying attention, the people from the West Village also quietly fished out a basket beside them. Not to mention, they actually caught several fish.
This time it was like a hornet's nest had been stabbed. Many people went home and brought tools.
For a time, the riverside was crowded with people, slowly moving forward with Jiang Sanlang's pace.
By the time the people from the East Village reacted, they could no longer stop other people from joining in.
"You are so shameless! Stealing our fish!" People from the East Village couldn't help but curse.
The people in the West Village retorted: "Which one is yours? This river belongs to everyone, and everyone has a share in the fish in it. You can fish it, but we can't?"
"Then you can go fish it out somewhere else. Why are you following us?"
"The road faces the sky on either side. I can go wherever I like. Does it have to do with you?"