Yoshida Mii

Chapter 184 Mid-Autumn Festival
The mooncakes made by Dongbao’s family, in addition to giving to a few acquaintances such as the uncle’s family and the Lin’s family, Dongbao also picked out five mooncakes filled with egg yolk, twenty five-nut mooncakes and a can of bean paste. In the morning, the boy from the Wang family who came to the shop to fetch tofu gave it to Wang Cong.

On the second day, Wang Cong asked the boy to bring back gifts, moon cakes filled with lotus seed paste and red bean paste made by [-] chefs from the octagonal building, five catties of brown sugar, a jar of wine, and a piece of fine silk cloth with dark floral patterns on a red background.

Touching the soft and smooth fabric, Mrs. Li sighed: "A big family is polite! This piece of fabric is not small... It's enough to make a skirt for you and Xiuyu alone. It's a festive color, and it happens to be worn on August [-]th." , if there is any leftover, I will make another small coat for you."

Anzhou is located in the north, no one grows mulberry and raises silkworms, silk is a precious thing, and this piece of cloth alone is enough to offset the mooncakes and bean paste they sent over.

Everyone who gave the gift returned the gift, and even the uncle went to the shop to give two chickens and two packs of brown sugar.

Mrs. Li felt very sorry, for fear that Mrs. Gao would get angry with Li Changfeng when she went back, and asked Li Changfeng to take the chicken back.

"How can this be done!" Li Changfeng laughed, "I don't think anyone would take the things back. This is for our two nieces." Seeing that Li Shi still insisted, Li Changfeng had to whisper in Li Shi's ear: "Your sister-in-law I know... she's not the narrow-minded person." Having said this, Li Changfeng felt very guilty.

On the thirteenth day of the eighth month, Mrs. Li packed ten moon cakes and ten catties of tofu in the basket, bought joss stick yellow paper and a jug of wine, and took Dongbao back to Tagouji.Neither she nor Dong Bao wanted to go back to Song's house, so she asked Aunt Qiuxia to send mooncakes and tofu to Song's house, which was considered filial piety, while Mrs. Li took Dong Bao to Song Yang's grave.

Mrs. Li first pulled out the weeds on Song Yang's grave with quick hands and feet, then lit a joss stick and burned the paper. After silently watching the black paper ashes flying in the air for a while, Mrs. Li sighed towards the grave and put the paper in the jar. Slowly poured the wine under the tombstone, and said in a calm tone: "Dongbao's father, I brought Dongbao to see you. Our mother and I have a good life. We can eat enough and wear warm clothes. No one scolds us." Don’t be disgusted by others. Knowing that you have a good drink, I brought you a good pot today. You can just bless our mothers and daughters to be safe and sound. You haven’t done anything bad in your life. I beg Lord Yama , and be reborn in a wealthy family in the next life."

Dong Bao felt that Li Shi had really stepped out of the shadow of losing her husband.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the weather is high and crisp, and the golden sunshine in the afternoon is bright and warm, which is in stark contrast to the gloomy and gloomy clouds on Qingming Day this year.She still remembered that when she came to visit Song Yang's grave on Qingming Festival, both Huang and Li cried, but the difference was that Huang stopped after crying a few times, while Li cried heartbreakingly. It's not because of the deep feelings for Song Yang, but because the only person he can rely on is gone, and the only daughter can't be kept. Life is hard and numb, hopeless, sad and helpless.

Now Mrs. Li is able to face all this calmly. From her steady tone, it can be seen that Song Yang has no influence on her anymore, just because Song Yang is her deceased husband and her daughter. She brought Dongbao to worship him on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It was out of affection, rather out of respect for etiquette.

On the night of August [-]th, Dong Bao invited Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Liu to dinner, accompanied by Mrs. Yan, Liang Zi, Lin Shi, Zhang Qian and Xiao Xu.

Dong Bao tried his best to cook a table of dishes, and opened the wine sent by Wang Cong.

Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Liu are not people who like to talk about vain etiquette. They have become very familiar with Mrs. Li and others during this period of time. Several people sat around the table in the courtyard lively, watching the moon and eating vegetables.

Liu Fuzi was very satisfied with the meal, and praised Dong Bao greatly, but he didn't drink a drop of wine.Mrs. Li toasted him as the host, but he just smiled and pushed, "I can't drink."

Mrs. Liu on the side was afraid of being left out, so she quickly took the wine glass and said with a smile, "I'll replace him." have fun.

There are many people in this world who cannot drink alcohol. Some people are allergic to alcohol, and another kind of people drink only a glass. Dong Bao looked at the handsome "beautiful middle-aged" Liu Fuzi and wondered secretly. A sort of.

Several women from the Li family were chatting, while Master Liu was chatting with Master Yan, discussing harvest and current affairs.

After eating, the moon had already risen to mid-air. Dong Bao and Zhang Xiuyu quickly moved out of the table, placed melons and fruits and moon cakes cut into small pieces, and they sat in the yard to watch the moon and chat.

Master Liu picked up a piece of mooncake, saw the egg yolk in the mooncake under the bright moonlight, took a bite and smiled at Dongbao, "Dongbao girl, is this a Cantonese-style mooncake with egg yolk?"

"Yes." Dong Bao said with a smile, "Master Liu is still well-informed."

Master Liu laughed, and after speaking a few words with Master Yan, he said to Lin Shi and Zhang Qian beside him, "Don't worry, you two, although you won't be able to take the exam this year, you will be able to take the exam at this time next year." Give it a try. Now the main task for you two is to practice more calligraphy and study more, solid basic skills, and strive for steady progress. When the spring of next year begins, I will arrange for the two of you to start writing articles. This imperial examination, in the final analysis, It’s not that you can do well in the exam if you study well, it’s the level of essay writing, as long as the essay is well written, you can get into the eyes of the examiners.”

Lin Shi and Zhang Qian looked at each other, feeling very excited.Many students from the academy went to the county seat to catch the exam, even Zhou Pingshan went. Lin Shi and Zhang Qian, two newcomers, were inevitably a little disappointed, but Master Liu's words of encouragement made them excited again.

"Thank you, Master, for your guidance." Lin Shi stood up and saluted Master Liu, and Zhang Qian also quickly saluted.

Master Liu smiled and waved his hands, "Thank you! No matter how much I give advice, it's useless, you have to work hard on your own."

Mrs. Li and Mrs. Liu, Li Hongqin led Dong Bao, Zhang Xiuyu and Xiao Xu, and the three adults took turns telling stories to the three children. Mrs. Liu was a cultural person, and she told short stories from history books, while Li and Li Hongqin told stories. Most of them are rural legends. Needless to say, Chang'e flew to the moon. The combination of past and present lives made Dongbao's ears callused. In addition to Chang'e flying to the moon, Li also told the story of an old monkey carrying a big girl on his back. In the ancient times when there were entertainment activities, Dongbao listened with gusto.

When the moon climbed to the middle of the sky, Lord Yan wanted to take Xiao Xu home, but Xiao Xu still refused to leave, sitting on Li Shi's lap with hands and feet and holding Li Shi's waist tightly, asking Li Shi to tell him another story .

"Come over tomorrow, Madam will tell you more!" Li smiled and coaxed for a long time, Xiao Xu wanted to play coquettishly for a while, and finally saw that Master Yan's face was on the verge of anger, so she slipped from Li's legs He slid up and down, and followed Master Yan back.

After everyone left, Mrs. Li and Li Hongqin went to wash the dishes in the kitchen, and sighed to Li Hongqin: "That child is also pitiful. He has no mother who loves him since he was a child." Master Yan is a man after all. He is busy on weekdays and has no patience. Going to coax the children is very strict, otherwise there would be no incident of Xiao Xu running away.

Li Hongqin smiled, "It will be fine when Xiao Xu grows up." Although she thought that her sister was good in everything and was a good match for Mr. Yan, she couldn't say it out. She knew her sister's temperament, and if Mr. Yan Unintentionally, Mrs. Li was so ashamed to face others.

On the way home, Xiao Xu was so sleepy that he couldn't keep his eyes open, and fell asleep in the arms of Mr. Yan. When he got home, Mr. Yan patted him awake and brought him a basin of water to wash his feet. Wash your feet before going to bed.

"Ouch! I'm scalded to death!" Xiao Xu dazedly put his little feet into the footbath, and was immediately woken up by the scald, without sleepiness at all, and yelled at Master Yan.

Master Yan squatted down and stretched out his hands to test the temperature of the water, and said blankly, "Isn't this just right?"

Xiao Xu was furious. She is Meng Zheng with delicate skin, who is as rough-skinned as you?

"When I was sleeping at Sister Dongbao's house, the foot washing water my aunt gave me was not hot!" Xiao Xu complained.

Lord Yan glanced at him without saying a word, got up and went out to scoop up a ladle of cold water and poured it into the footbath, and coaxed patiently: "Okay, it's not hot now, let's wash it quickly."

Xiao Xu bit her lip and put her foot into the basin again, suddenly felt wronged again, well, this time it turned into cold water... Dad definitely did it on purpose!

Before going to bed, Xiao Xu took off only his red bellyband and got into the bed, blinking his eyes, and asked Master Yan: "Father, why do everyone have a mother, but I don't?"

Master Yan patted Xiao Xu's hair, frowned and said, "Hurry up and go to sleep, you have to practice calligraphy and study when you get up tomorrow, don't think about it."

Xiao Xu's mouth was aggrieved, the person he was most afraid of was his father, he kept a straight face all day long, and he didn't smile at anyone, and the family was also cold.He envied Sister Dongbao very much. Although Dongbao didn't have a father, she had a very gentle and good mother. Xiaoxu thought more than once that it would be great if she could change with Sister Dongbao. He wanted Li Shi to be his mother. , Change father to sister Dongbao.Although Xiaoxu doesn't know what his mother should look like, in his opinion, she must be like Aunt Li, who is good-looking, cooks deliciously, and will hug herself and tell him stories. Coax him gently.

"Father, I want Aunt Li to be my mother. I really like Aunt Li and Sister Dongbao." Xiao Xu whispered.

Master Yan patted Xiao Xu's back for a moment, thinking of the woman with beautiful eyebrows, soft words, and warm smile, he asked: "Didn't you want your stepmother? You are so troubled that you are going to run away from home and threaten me." .”

"That's different!" Xiao Xu said anxiously, "I didn't know Aunt Li at that time... Aunt Li is a good person, she is definitely not like Zhao Baozhu's stepmother!"

(End of this chapter)