Chapter 94: Sick Dad 5

Chapter 94: Sick Dad 5

These days, when Han Ze was recuperating from illness, Wang Caiwei embroidered some purses and handkerchiefs in her spare time. After leaving the clinic, the two of them went directly to the embroidery shop, intending to sell the purses and handkerchiefs. A purse embroidery shop gave ten Wen and the handkerchief fifteen Wen. She embroidered ten purses and fifteen handkerchiefs, for a total of three hundred and twenty-five Wen.

According to the memory of the original body, Han Ze knew that there was a library not far from the embroidery village. When the two left the embroidery village, he suggested to visit the library.

Wang Caiwei touched the copper plate in her purse and stood there hesitantly. Han Ze looked at her and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

Wang Caiwei was in trouble for a while, her slender face was full of uneasiness, she lowered her eyes and whispered, "Master, there is no food at home, the money I just got, I need to buy some food back, the remaining money, I'm afraid, I'm afraid it's not enough to buy books .”

After finishing speaking, she didn't dare to look at the husband, for fear that he would be embarrassed.

Han Ze was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "You don't have to buy books when you go to the library, you just have to read them."

Wang Caiwei looked at the smile on her husband's cheek, feeling sore and sad in her heart. If she could embroider more purse handkerchiefs, the husband would be able to buy his favorite books.

Xianggong is outstanding in literary talent, if he hadn't been weak, he would have already won the exam, now that Xianggong is healed, if the family has money for him to take the imperial examination, he will definitely be able to pass the imperial examination in one fell swoop. But the family is struggling.

Her eyes were firm: "Master, don't worry, I'll embroider more purse handkerchiefs when I get home, and I'll be able to raise enough money for you to take the hospital exam in April next year."

Han Ze smiled slightly, "No rush. Let's go to the library first."

At the entrance of the library, Wang Caiwei showed hesitation: "I'll wait for you outside, you go in."

"Go in together." Han Ze glanced at her.

Wang Caiwei was startled, she seldom refuted the words of the husband, she hesitated for a moment, seeing the seriousness of the husband's face, she followed him into the library.

The shopkeeper of the library saw the couple and didn't say anything.

Han Ze casually glanced at the library. The interior was quiet and there were no customers, so he asked, "Shopkeeper, how much do you pay for copying a book here?"

The shopkeeper pondered: "It depends on what kind of book is copied, the thickness and handwriting of the book shall prevail, usually one penny per page."

Han Ze nodded slightly and asked, "Can I take the paper back and copy it?"

The shopkeeper was surprised. Han Ze had studied in the town for many years and often came to the library to read books. He knew Han Ze very well. In the past, Han Ze was in poor health and never mentioned copying books. Now he proposed to copy books. He looked at him carefully. At a glance, is it possible that he is in good health?

But this is someone else's private matter, so it is inconvenient for him to ask further questions, so he said: "You are a frequent visitor to the library, and the teachers in your school often borrow books from the library. Take the books back and copy them."

Wang Caiwei didn't think that Xianggong wanted to copy books to earn money, and wanted to dissuade her, but since it was outside, she couldn't say more, she just frowned slightly, and didn't know how much deposit she had to pay, for fear that the money would not be enough, so that Xianggong would lose face .

Han Ze looked at her reassuringly. Wang Caiwei's gaze towards Shang Xianggong was not soothed, but she was even more worried. Xianggong didn't have any money in his pocket. How to pay the deposit? She still needs to buy food with the money, otherwise the family will be in trouble. .

Han Ze smiled and didn't care, and asked the shopkeeper again: "If you only copy enlightenment books, you don't need to take the books back from the library to copy, so you don't need to pay a deposit?"

The shopkeeper has heard that Han Ze is a good reader, and the enlightenment book is simple and easy to memorize. It is not surprising that he can memorize the enlightenment book. He said with a smile: "If you can copy it down word for word, you don't need to borrow books from the library or hand in books deposit."

As for the paper, he doesn't have to worry. There is only his library in the whole town, and he can only buy pens, inks, papers and inkstones from him. Han Ze is a scholar, and scholars cherish his reputation. Besides, if he wants to do scientific research in the future, he won't He is very relieved to do things that affect his reputation.

Han Ze nodded, but Wang Caiwei breathed a sigh of relief, as long as there is no need to pay a deposit.

The shopkeeper looked at Han Ze, and said again: "Copy a copy of "Three Character Classic" for 45 Wen, "Thousand Character Classic" for 30 Wen, and "Hundred Surnames" is cheaper because of the small number of characters, so I can only give you 15 Wen. money."

When the two came out of the library, Wang Caiwei said softly, "Master, the college exam will be held in April next year. Will copying books affect your studies? I'll just do more embroidery, you don't have to work so hard."

Han Ze shook his head and said with a smile: "After being ill for a long time, I haven't read a book or touch a pen for a long time. Not only is my handwriting unfamiliar, but I have also forgotten a lot of knowledge. Not only will copying books not affect my reading, but it will help deepen my memory of knowledge. .”

Wang Caiwei can also read some words, she can understand what Xianggong said, thought for a moment, and persuaded softly: "Since copying books is good for reading, you can copy books, but don't get tired, after all, your body is just right."

Han Ze looked at her and said seriously: "No one knows the benefits of having a healthy body better than me."

After being sick for so long, I don't want to be sick again.

Considering that they needed to buy rice and noodles, the two turned around and went to the food store. They bought ten catties of rice, ten catties of flour, and fifty catties of rough noodles, which cost three hundred Wen at once.

With more than 20 coins left, Han Ze proposed to buy some candy snacks for the children. Wang Caiwei disagreed. She said: "It doesn't matter whether you eat candy snacks or not. Let's save the remaining money."

When she arrived, her mother-in-law gave her fifty coins, and her husband used twenty coins for the doctor's visit, and the remaining thirty coins. With the money she sold her embroidery work, she bought food and had twenty-five Wen left over.

In order to save money, the two did not take the ox cart when they came. They bought food, but they had to use the ox cart to pull it when they returned. The two of them had to give four fen to the master who pulled the ox cart, and they would have 51 fen left over. , She is going to go back and take it to her mother-in-law.

The money at home is tight, and there are foreign debts outside, so Han Ze can't say anything, so he can only suffer for the children.

Seeing that he was silent, Wang Caiwei said, "I bought rice noodles today, and went home to roll out noodles for them to eat. Let them fill their stomachs, and they will be happy."

Han Ze understood that he felt more or less uncomfortable. There were a large number of people in his family, more than a dozen adults and children. After the tax was paid on the grain in the field, there was not much left. Not having enough to eat is a common thing. At this time, what they need is not candy snacks, but a full meal.

...

Mrs. Han looked at the rice vat with only one bowl of rice in her face. A few days ago, several daughters-in-law took turns cooking. In a fit of anger, she stopped letting them cook.

She sighed, thought for a while and grabbed a handful of rice. This handful of rice can only be used to cook gruel, and the rest can be cooked tomorrow. There is still a month to harvest the wheat, and there will be no food at home. What is this old snack?

You can't ask people to borrow money to buy food.

Even if they want to borrow money, people in the village know all about it. They all know that their family owes debts outside, and if they lend it to them, who will lend it to them if they can't pay it for a while. Even if she went to borrow money from her daughter's house, she didn't have that face. She didn't know when she would be able to pay back the medicine money owed to her daughter more than ten taels of silver.

When Han Ze brought the grain to the house, Mrs. Han was sitting behind the stove, moaning and burning the fire. Han Ze walked to the door of the stove panting, panting and asked, "Mother, where do you put the flour?"

Mrs. Han groaned and stood up in a hurry. She exclaimed, "Why did you buy so much flour? You are in good shape, so you can't be tired. Why don't you let Erlang Saburo carry it back after buying grain. Put it on the stone platform quickly." Come on, I'll clean up later."

But I couldn't help muttering in my heart, how much money would I get with so much food? Where did they get the money?

Wang Caiwei followed Han Ze with rice and the paper she brought back from the library.

Erlang's daughter-in-law, Sanlang's daughter-in-law, heard her mother-in-law's voice, and led the children out of the house one after another.

Han Ze put the flour on the stone platform and said with a smile, "Caiwei sold embroidery money. She said she had no food at home, so she bought some. The children must not be hungry."

Mrs. Han also guessed that it was the money from the eldest daughter-in-law selling embroidery work. She glanced sideways at the second and third daughter-in-laws, and said meaningfully: "It's better to be the eldest daughter-in-law. She knows that she is thinking about the family, unlike some people who only know Eating and drinking, thinking about my own little family."

The faces of the second and third daughter-in-laws changed, but they were very unconvinced in their hearts. The eldest brother spent so much money on medical treatment and reading, shouldn't they buy some rice and noodles? The little gratitude she had just raised for Wang Caiwei disappeared instantly when she was scolded by her mother-in-law.

In fact, not only the second and third daughter-in-law's face changed, but the mother-in-law praised her in front of Wang Caiwei and belittled the two younger siblings, which made her feel uncomfortable.

Whoever the mother-in-law likes in her heart, even if that person has bad things, it is also good. If you don't like someone, you can know their fault at any time. Obviously, the two younger brothers and sisters are people that my mother-in-law doesn't like.

After Mrs. Han finished swearing, she went to ask Han Ze again to see if the doctor had seen him. After listening to him, the doctor said that he was in good health and he was not sick. The whole family breathed a sigh of relief.

No matter how unconvinced the mother-in-law's eccentricity, Wang Caiwei reconciled the noodles, rolled out the noodles, everyone ate a large bowl, touched their stomachs that were finally full, and they smiled contentedly, nothing can compare to a meal full meal.

There wasn't much work in the field these two days, Han Youtian and his two young sons could finish the work, and the wives didn't have to go to the field. After eating and cleaning up, Wang Caiwei took out her sewing basket to embroider handkerchiefs. She embroidered faster. The pattern is simple, coupled with the skillful embroidery, when you are not busy, you can embroider a handkerchief in a day.

Mrs. Han thought that the eldest daughter-in-law could sell so much money with her embroidery work, and looked at the two younger daughter-in-laws who were sitting and resting next to her, she shouted loudly: "Two lazy women, your sister-in-law never leaves her hands with needlework every day, don't tell her Embroidering one veil a day, even embroidering a veil every two or three days, can also earn some snacks for the children, so they don’t have to go to the ground, and they just lie on the bed and sleep late all day, why are they so sleepy?”

The second daughter-in-law, Zheng's eyes rolled, and she said, "Mother, can you give us all the money we sell for embroidered handkerchiefs?"

Mrs. Han's face darkened, and she said with a stern face, staring eyes, and crossed her hips, "My mother's eyelids are not that shallow. You can embroider as much as you want. You can save for yourself. I don't want a penny from you."

The second and third daughters-in-law were overjoyed, thinking that the sister-in-law said that a handkerchief cost fifteen cents and a purse ten cents. Not to mention too much embroidery in a month, even if you embroider five handkerchiefs and five purses, you can earn more than one hundred Wen. With that one hundred Wen and silver, what can you buy for your children?

Thinking of this, the two hurriedly went to the house to get the sewing basket. When they really started embroidering handkerchiefs, they were stumped. How could the embroidered flowers not be as good-looking as sister-in-law's embroidered ones? No matter how you look at it, something is wrong.

Wang Caiwei told them that it's okay to have poor embroidery skills, but the embroidered handkerchiefs are cheaper and can be sold for money.

They breathed a sigh of relief, the cheaper the better, the more embroidery they embroidered, the better the embroidery would be. The sister-in-law's embroidery was not so good before, it was all through practice. When they finish their embroidery work, they can always sell it for ten cents a purse. As long as they have money to earn, it will not dampen their enthusiasm.

Mrs. Han looked at the three daughters-in-law who were doing needlework seriously under the eaves. She was not satisfied. She nodded secretly, that's right, the boss is in good health. The whole day is full of quarrels and gossip, and even the oldest family will be broken up.

In Mrs. Han's heart, as long as the eldest son is in good health, he has no idea of ​​failing the examination of scholar. With his son's intelligence, he is sure to be a scholar.

Han Ze took a nap for a while, and when he woke up, he planned to copy books. The room was a little dark, so it was better to be dry and cool outside. He didn't care so much, so he moved the table and chairs to copy books in the yard.

Seeing his movements, Mrs. Han froze her face and asked him, "Are you practicing calligraphy?"

Han Ze lowered his head, kept writing, and continued to write: "I haven't touched the pen for a long time, and my hands are rusty. Practice calligraphy."

He is not lying, he has gone through several worlds, he can write brush characters, and his writing is not bad, but the characters he writes are different from those of his original body. good. To say whose handwriting is better between the two, he conceitedly thought that his handwriting should be better than the original body's, but he did the task on behalf of the original body, even if the handwriting was better than the original body, he could only write the handwriting towards the original body. Practicing with the original handwriting.

Therefore, when he said copying books can practice handwriting, he wanted to integrate his handwriting with the original handwriting, so that the current handwriting has improved to a higher level, so that no one can doubt his progress.

Of course, copying books can not only practice handwriting, but his handwriting is better, and he has never passed the imperial examination. It takes time to integrate what he has learned in his memory and make it his own. There is no hope for next year's college exam.

Furthermore, the salary given for copying books can also allow him to solve the current problems. Not to mention how much money he earns, at least he can feed his family well, and maybe he can save enough money for the hospital exam next year.

The thing that kills three birds with one stone is the purpose of his choice to copy the book.

Mrs. Han smiled and said, "Practice slowly, mother won't bother you anymore."

As he said that, he drove the children outside, "Let's go and find wild vegetables with my grandma. In the evening, we will eat wild vegetable pimple soup."

Seven grandchildren, the oldest is seven and a half years old, and the youngest is Xiaobao, the second child's family, who is only one and a half years old. The child is young, and is fast asleep on the bed at the moment.

Farm children take care of their skin. Adults are busy at home after working in the field, and have no time to take care of children. Usually, the older ones take care of the younger ones. If they are older, they will help their parents with small tasks within their capabilities, like in the wild Or find some wild vegetables on the side of the road, cut some pigweed, feed the chickens and ducks at home, etc.

Mrs. Han carried a basket and went down to the field with her grandchildren. On the way, she met the old couple Han Youlin and Han Youtian. Han Youlin and Han Youtian are brothers. Han Youlin’s wife’s surname is Wang. It was quite funny, and asked: "What are you mother-in-law and grandchildren doing?"

Mrs. Han was both helpless and amused: "It's not that Han Ze is in good health. He is practicing calligraphy at home. I am afraid that the children will disturb him by making noise. They want to eat wild vegetable pimple soup, so I will lead them out to dig wild vegetables. There are many children in the family. , but not just a string."

When Han Wang heard that Han Ze was recovering, she was happy for him, and asked, "Hearing your voice, Han Ze is planning to end next year?"

Mrs. Han sighed: "Boss is in such a body that if you say that he is not allowed to study, what else can he do? Now that he is in good health, he can take the exam if he wants to. I still don't believe it. If God wants the boss to survive, will he be given a sentence?" live."

Han Wang comforted: "Han Ze has experienced so much suffering, it's time for a change of luck. Don't worry too much."

Mrs. Han gave a wry smile. She was worried about her eldest son failing the exam for a day, so how could she not worry about it?

As Han Wang said, she looked at Han Jinxiu behind her, frowned and said, "Madam Lu said that she is looking for an apprentice in the village who is about six or seven years old. In our village, every family with a six or seven-year-old girl takes the child Let her see in front of Granny Lu, who to choose at that time, let Granny Lu choose, your Jinxiu is over seven years old, old enough, why don't you let her try, the girl has learned a lot of skills, and she will marry her in the future Go to your in-law's house, so as not to be rejected."

How could Mrs. Han not know that Granny Lu is accepting apprentices? The key is that Da Ya has already greeted them in advance. If Chun Xue wants to worship Granny Lu as a teacher, Da Ya has helped Han Ze so much. If Jinxiu is allowed to compete with her for that The only place to be a teacher, the girl's heart should be so chilling.

Han Jinxiu thinks a lot when she is careful. She likes embroidery. She knows that Granny Lu in the village is very good at embroidery. Her mother once said that she can be her teacher. , my heart moved, I lowered my head, but didn't make a sound.

Back home, Han Ze looked at Han Jinxiu's sullen look, and asked gently, "What's wrong with Jinxiu?"

Han Jinxiu's face was tense, and she said seriously, "Father, I want to take Granny Lu as my teacher and learn embroidery from her."

Han Ze was not surprised. The original body had images of Han Jinxiu's embroidery in his memory. He said, "I want to worship Granny Lu as my teacher. Let your mother take you to visit her and see her standards for accepting apprentices."

Han Jinxiu felt a little wronged: "Mother doesn't seem to want me to worship Granny Lu as my teacher."

As for the reason, she knew it well. But she thought that there were so many girls in the village who wanted to worship Granny Lu as their teacher. If one more girl was not too many, and one less girl was quite a few, it would have little effect on Haruyuki. Why didn't mother let her try?

Thinking about it, Han Ze understood the reason. The good impression of Han Daya in the hearts of family members is very difficult to break.

"I'll tell your mother."

Han Jinxiu laughed!

After dinner, Han Ze said to Wang Caiwei: "Tomorrow, take Jinxiu to visit Granny Lu and ask her about the conditions for accepting apprentices."

Wang Caiwei showed hesitation: "Eldest sister said that Chun Xue also wants to learn embroidery from Granny Lu, and it's fine for outsiders to compete with her for the apprenticeship. It's not good for Jinxiu to compete with her."

Han Ze laughed and said, "I heard that Granny Lu is strict in accepting apprentices. It's not that I belittled Haruyuki. There are so many girls in the village vying for a spot as an apprentice. How sure do you think Haruyuki will be chosen by Granny Lu?"

Wang Caiwei frowned and said nothing.

Han Ze said again: "In my opinion, Granny Lu is recruiting apprentices in the village, and all the six or seven-year-old girls in the village are vying for a place as an apprentice. This is no longer a matter of any child, but a matter of a family. Chun Xue and Jinxiu are ours. The children of the family, the two of them will compete for the number of apprentices together, at least more opportunities for more people. Maybe one of them will be selected by Granny Lu? At that time, our family will win."

Wang Caiwei's eyes widened sharply, thinking carefully about what her husband said, the more she thought about it, the more she felt it made sense.

If Granny Lu had chosen Chun Xue and Jin Xiu as her apprentices, she would have asked Jin Xiu to give up the spot to Haru Xue without saying a word.

Now it was the whole village's six or seven year old girls competing for the spot, if Jinxiu gave way again, it would not be Rang's Haruyuki, but all the girls in Rang's village vying for the apprenticeship.

If Jinxiu also participated in the competition for the number of apprentices, no matter which of the two children was selected by Granny Lu, their family would be the first to benefit. If Jinxiu didn't participate in the competition for the spot, and the spot fell to someone else's family, Jinxiu didn't even fight for it for a while, and he was wronged, which would not be good for their family.

"Tomorrow, I will take Jinxiu to visit Granny Lu, and I will explain the situation to Eldest Sister so that she won't think too much." Wang Caiwei felt relieved when she figured it out.

Han Ze smiled and nodded, "Jinxiu has her own ideas, and I don't want to break her wings. Even a girl should have her own ideas. Although the father's debt is repaid, we are still young, we owe elder sister, we Pay it yourself, there is no need to implicate the children."

Wang Caiwei was ashamed, because she was narrow-minded, and felt that she owed her elder sister favor, and wished that adults and children would repay her, so as not to be ashamed of her kindness to elder sister.

Han Ze looked at her and said with relief, "You are also kind, there is no need to feel ashamed of the child. Jinxiu will not blame you."

Wang Caiwei was even more ashamed knowing that Jinxiu would not blame her. Jinxiu is so young, she actually put the debt of favor owed by their adults on the child, it really shouldn't be.

The two of them were talking about Jinxiu's apprenticeship to learn embroidery. In Han Erlang's room, Mrs. Zheng put the two children to sleep, lying on the bed and muttering softly: "Brother is practicing calligraphy in the yard today, I watched his posture, could it be that Do you want to take the exam next year?"

Han Erlang closed his eyes, and said in a muffled voice: "Brother has studied for so many years, if he doesn't take the examination for scholar, let alone himself, even his parents will not be reconciled."

After hearing what he said, Mrs. Zheng felt unhappy. She was very dissatisfied: "It costs a few taels of silver to go back to the examination room. It doesn't matter if you pass the exam, but he faints every time in the examination room. If he faints in the examination room next year , isn’t it another waste of money?”

Han Erlang frowned: "Brother is better now. How can he be so unlucky that he faints every time."

Mrs. Zheng sat up abruptly, "But the boss is so unlucky that he faints every time he enters the examination room. But your parents don't believe in evil, so you have to let the boss pass the exam."

Han Erlang opened his eyes, "What are you yelling for? It's late at night, please keep your voice down."

Mrs. Zheng lay down again and said, "Erlang, I want to separate."

In the dark night, Han Erlang didn't speak, and after a while he said in a low voice: "Don't talk nonsense, parents won't agree."

Mrs. Zheng said suddenly: "Erlang, you, are you dissatisfied too? Want to separate?"

Han Erlang smiled wryly, all the money he earned for so many years was spent on his eldest brother, how could he have no idea, but his parents are the masters of the family, what can he do?

Seeing that he didn't speak, Mrs. Zheng was even more sure, her man was also blaming his parents in his heart, since this is the case, it will be easy.