Chronicle of Farming in Muxianfu

Chapter 51

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Mu Ai just ordered Chun Equinox to remember to prepare a chicken and a jar of wine, and also prepared a box of snacks for the old lady, and sent someone to deliver them to the ancestral hall.At this time, Dong Zhi, who was delivering breakfast in the west courtyard, ran in in a panic. She was usually very introverted, and she seldom spoke, but suddenly, the hearts of several people in the hall were tense, and they couldn't help guessing what happened. What's the matter?Not allowing everyone to think about it, and she didn't bother to salute, she opened her mouth and said, "Madam, it's not good, the old lady fell ill. Miss Shuan is crying."

"What?" Mu Ai stood up suddenly, and knocked over the porridge bowl at hand in a panic. Xia Zhi hurriedly wanted to wipe it for her, but she got up and ran to the west courtyard, followed by Chun Equinox and others.

Entering the old lady's inner room, she saw that the old lady was lying on her back on the bed, her face was dark, her breathing was weak, and Shuan Shuan was crying out of breath beside the bed. Mr. Wang came, and then hugged Shuan Shuan and patted it gently. The child was obviously frightened, sobbing in her arms, his eyes were still staring at the grandma on the bed. Mu Ai's mind was also blank, what kind of cerebral thrombosis , cerebral hemorrhage, stroke, and various symptoms of geriatric diseases were running around in her mind, but she couldn't find one that matched the appearance of grandma in front of her eyes, and she didn't dare to move her position rashly, so she could only hope that Mr. Wang would hurry up. arrival.

Fortunately, in less than a while, Mr. Wang arrived with Er Niu. He checked the pulse, rolled his eyelids, looked at the tongue coating, and finally pricked a few acupuncture points. The old lady finally woke up slowly. Mu Ai and Shuan Shuan hurriedly Leaning forward, she looked around blankly, after a while, her eyes became brighter, and Muai fed her half a glass of warm water, and then she asked weakly, "What's wrong with me? "

Mr. Wang withdrew the needle and sighed, "Old sister-in-law, you are in a hurry and worrying too much, which caused today's illness. Although it is not harmful to life, it is harmful to your body after all. I will prescribe it for you." A few medicines, take good care of them for a few days, and then relax, try to prescribe whatever you want, and keep them so that you won’t commit another crime.”

After hearing this, the old lady sighed but did not make a sound. Mu Ai knew that she was worried about her son's family who didn't come back on time, and she complained in her heart that she didn't find out in time, so she tried to comfort and enlighten her.But now is not the time to think about these things. He personally sent Mr. Wang and Er Niu out. The old man made an appointment with her for a few days to go to her yard to look at the herbs, and then led Er Niu, who looked back frequently, back home. After going to get the medicinal materials, Autumn Equinox also began to scrub the medicine pots in the kitchen to prepare the medicine.

Mu Ai and Shuan Shuan sat beside the old lady's bed and talked with her for a while, then served her medicine and half a bowl of rice porridge, and then went back to their own yard, and called Ouyang Jingwu to give him a few words, He prepared another bag of things and silver taels for him, and let him go out on horseback.

When the old lady woke up again, she knew that Mu Ai had sent someone to Stone Fort to inquire about the letter, and she said, what are you sending people out to do after the Chinese New Year? Walked around a few times.

Because of the old lady's illness, Mu Ai stayed in the west courtyard to take care of her for most of the day, and housekeeper Guo didn't plan to celebrate in the mansion. However, on the [-]th night, Mu Ai ordered Aunt Guo and Qiufen to make two banquets together. Placed in the hall of the main house, gathered all the people from the whole family, sat down to have a reunion dinner together, said a few words of encouragement, and gave each person a red envelope of two taels of silver, which was really unexpected Everyone's surprise.You must know that they are all dead contract servants, and they only work and obey orders. Generally, wealthy and benevolent families are paid some monthly money according to their rank, but it is only a few hundred cash, and they have only come to the mansion for two months. , I didn't even do any work, and I got a generous gift of two taels of silver from my wife. This is simply a great blessing.I heard that if you do a good job next year, you will be rewarded with more money during the Chinese New Year. Regardless of the etiquette, everyone cheered happily. They all knelt down and kowtowed to Mu Ai to thank them. Madam's kindness.

After receiving their gift, Mu Ai ate a few mouthfuls of vegetables and then went back to her own yard. After all, she had only been together for a few months, and she didn't often go out of the courtyard on weekdays. Everyone was still very reserved when they saw her, and they were simply sensible. Give up the space, and they can eat and drink as much as they want.Sure enough, seeing his wife left, everyone let go. Ah Da and the others first toasted a glass of wine to the elderly Wen Bo and Guo Huai, and then they started drinking with each other, talking about the hardships they had suffered in the past, and talking about bitterness. Chu was almost crying, and looking at the current life, everyone is more determined to follow Madam's heart faithfully...

In the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the old lady’s courtyard began to have visitors. The younger daughter-in-laws in the village came in twos and threes to pay New Year’s greetings to the old lady. Mu Ai was afraid to make them feel uncomfortable, so she sent them away on the vernal equinox, with only Shuan Shuan The nurse added some tea and snacks, so that everyone knew that the old lady was not in good health, so they sat down for a while, and after a few words of comfort, they went back. Mu Ai didn't let them leave empty-handed, and everyone wrapped a pack of biscuits , Let them take it back for the children to taste, any mother who doesn't feel sorry for the children will happily accept it, and go back with a smile on her face.

In the afternoon, Grandma Li also came to the door, and Mu Ai poured tea for her herself, and was pulled by her to praise her.Then I sat in front of the table and instructed Shuan Shuan to write big characters. The old lady always asked Shuan Shuan to learn embroidery work, but she left the calligraphy for a long time. She had learned it a few months in advance, but there was no one to learn later. Qing and the others know a lot of characters, so Mu Ai supervises her to write more articles whenever she has time.

The old lady couldn't stay idle, she leaned on the bed, slowly doing some embroidery work, and chatting with Grandma Li.

Grandma Li saw the two sisters reading and practicing calligraphy, she was very envious, so she said to the old lady, "Old girl, I really envy you, you see Xianxian is so capable, Shuan Shuan is also well-behaved and sensible, you are really old Good luck."

The old lady turned her head and looked at Mu Ai with a smile, and said, "The gods are fair, presumably because I lost my old man early, and my son is not filial, so they sent immortals to compensate me."

"Isn't that right, Xianxian is so smart and dexterous, so many times better than my restless wives. There are even greater blessings to come, so it's important to take care of your body. "

"I was able to get my life back this time, thanks to Xianxian's care. Although I also said in my heart that I am not in a hurry, but when I am old, I am not as forbidden as I was when I was young." The old lady said with a wry smile, Picking up the sewing basket on the bed, she took out a handkerchief and embroidered.

Grandma Li also helped pick the embroidery thread, "There is an old saying that contentment is always happy, and the old sister-in-law is right to think so. You just say, my Gui Zhier, who came back this time, didn't reach out for any work. He used to feed chickens. The pig is quick, but now, I don’t think it’s dirty anymore, and I have to pick and choose even when I eat a dish. Either I think the stir-fried cabbage is too old or the noodles are too hard. I was so angry that I had a headache. I wanted to teach her a few times. In other words, just think about the New Year’s Eve.”

"We are all old too, so we can just ignore the affairs of the younger generation. The unfilial son of my family made me very ill. I don't know if he has some other ideas. If I stay outside for a few more years, my old bones will also be buried in the ground. Well, I still have Xianxian, and if that day comes, I won’t worry about Shuan Shuan. I’ll just pretend that Shuan Shuan’s father has never been born. .” The old lady slowly embroidered one stitch at a time, cursing, but in fact she was not feeling well.

Grandma Li knew that the matter of Shuan Shuan's father was the old lady's heart disease. After thinking about it, she changed the topic, "Old sister-in-law, my natal brother sent a letter saying that the sixth day of the lunar new year would come to pay me New Year's greetings. Do I need to ask you about your two brothers?"

After hearing this, the old lady stopped her hands and sighed after a while.Her life has been full of ups and downs and sufferings.

The old lady’s natal family is in a Tangjia village dozens of miles away from here. Her parents gave birth to a daughter and two sons. She is the head of the family. Since she was four or five years old and just sensible, she has to help take care of her two younger brothers, mowing grass, feeding Pigs, laundry, grow up to about ten years old, because female celebrities are outstanding, they stay up late to do embroidery work, sell them to supplement the family, often cry secretly at night when they are tired.

However, patriarchal patriarchy is very serious. In order to save enough dowry for her son to marry a wife, she should be married at the age of 16. She also excused that she could not bear to part with her, and delayed procrastinating for her. She just wanted to keep her and make more money. some money.

Later, the villagers couldn't see it and gossiped behind her back, so her parents gritted their teeth and married her to Lijia Village, the poorest village, just because her family could not pay the dowry if she married here.After she married, her natal family was afraid that she would be a drag on the family, so she never came and walked around once, and she didn't complain.The old lady had a hope. Later, her parents-in-law passed away one after another, and she and her husband lived with their son. Unexpectedly, in the end, the old man, daughter-in-law, and grandson all died, and the son also left.She lived alone with her little granddaughter, and her natal family was even more afraid that she would come to her house. When her parents passed away a few years ago, the two younger brothers didn't tell her, so she was terrified.

"No need, it's not like you don't know the virtues of the two of them. It's been so difficult for me here for so many years, and they haven't come to visit. They must be afraid that I will drag them down. Now, there are immortals and filial piety here. It’s a good day, so don’t let them know, so you won’t be clean. You can also help a few nephews, don’t miss it.”

Grandma Li nodded, "It's the same reason. I heard my brother talk about it in a daze the year before last. It seems that the two families were not rich."

The two chatted enthusiastically, and Mu Ai listened carefully at the table. Grandma had never mentioned these things to her before, and it must have hurt her heart. She should pay more attention to it in the future.

Just like that, after the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Ouyang Jingwu finally rushed back and brought back a letter written by Shuan Shuan's father. My wife is sick, so the plan is postponed for a few months, and I will return to my hometown when the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming.Mu Ai was very angry when she saw it, and her impression of this man was extremely bad. It is typical to have a daughter-in-law who forgets her mother, and only loves the wife suffering from the cold, not the old mother who is eagerly looking forward to his return.Even if we take a step back and say that my wife is seriously ill and cannot go on the road, at least I should write a letter so that my mother can rest assured that she will have a good year.

(End of this chapter)