The peasant's daughter-in-law of crossing

Chapter 23

Yingniang woke up with the sound of very light footsteps. She opened her eyes and saw that Bo Ming was watering the orchids.

Ying Niang hurriedly got up and asked urgently: "What time is it now? Butler Yin said that you have to get there before Chen time." In other words, you have to get to the town before seven o'clock, but there is no clock here. They all feel that the time is muddled, and there is no concept of time at all.

"Don't worry, the genius has just dawned." Bo Ming looked at her when he was speaking, saw that she was putting clothes on her naked body, and quickly turned around.

When Yingniang put on her clothes and ran over to smell the fragrance of the orchids, Bo Ming gently opened the window so that the orchids could bask in the sun during the day.As soon as the window was opened, a colorful butterfly flew in.

Bo Ming couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Sitting for a long time, I don't know that Xiang is in the room. When I open the window, there are butterflies flying over."

Yingniang asked in astonishment, "You still know poetry?"

Bo Ming smiled embarrassedly, "I don't know poetry, but I usually listen to Master's lectures, and he occasionally recites a few poems, so I wrote them down. There are also some poems in the scriptures, but they are very profound. It’s also jerky to read, and I don’t know much about it.”

"Then can you write?" Yingniang asked curiously again.

"I know a little bit. I even copied the scriptures for Master, but I can't read many characters."

Yingniang secretly rejoiced, as long as Bo Ming is not illiterate, it seems that he knows a lot, even the Buddhist scriptures, and it is easy to live with such a man.

"Get up, the food is almost ready." Yang Sanniang shouted again from the yard.Yingniang and Bo Ming hurried out, and everyone else got up one after another, washed and ate.

After breakfast, Bo Ming, Ying Niang, and Zhao Di set out on the road together, happily going to the town.

When they came to the large courtyard of Yuan Zhen's family, dozens of men were already lined up there.Butler Yin was doing roll call, and Bo Ming hurried over.

Yingniang and Zhaodi went to the small room next to them, and all thirty women were present.Immediately afterwards, a dignified woman wearing a purple satin dress came in. She had a neat slanted bun, delicate makeup, and a pair of emerald jade earrings on her ears. Embroidered with delicate plum blossoms.

One can tell at a glance that she is not a local, and she must be from the capital because she is so well-dressed.Zhen Yuanwai used to be an official in the capital, Yingniang guessed that this woman must have been invited by Zhen Yuanwai from the capital.

Sure enough, the woman spoke with a Beijing accent, "My surname is Yao, and everyone can just call me Aunt Yao. Listen carefully to me. Since you want to do this job and earn this money, you must first put your mind to it." Straightforward, you can't pass the test just by learning it casually. Those with clumsy hands and feet, and poor brains, don't expect to be able to pass the test by mistake."

It turned out that she was an aunt who came out of the palace. It seemed that she must have come from the Imperial Palace's Bureau of Weaving.The women sitting below were all overwhelmed by Aunt Yao's graceful demeanor, stern expression, and undeniable tone. They were still whispering to each other just now, but now their backs are straight and they dare not move. a bit.

At this moment, the servants of Yuanwai's family brought in the loom.You know, these women have never seen a loom before. When a brand-new loom was brought in, they were both happy and nervous. They were afraid that they would not be able to handle such a high-end thing.

Aunt Yao was not a procrastination person, as soon as the loom was set up, she began to explain how to use it.Because she uses a Beijing accent, and her words are quite special, except for Yingniang, most people can't understand her.

The most worrying thing is Zhaodi, she is from the mountains, she has to listen carefully to understand the words of people in Yongzhen, and she can't understand many of Aunt Yao's Beijing accent.

Afterwards, Aunt Yao explained how the loom worked, and then came down to teach them how to do it.It's just that this kind of loom is not the most primitive hand-cranked type. This kind of loom is big and complicated, and many shuttles have to be threaded back and forth.

This is a foot-operated "three-split and three-thread" textile machine. If you are not smart enough, you may not be able to figure it out for a while.

Yingniang took a closer look and understood the working principle of this machine. At any rate, she was passed through by modern people, so she understood the principle, not to mention that she listened to Aunt Yao's Beijing accent very well.The other women were in a mess, sweating on their foreheads.

Zhaodi was so anxious that she was about to cry, because the two of them were sitting next to each other, Yingniang leaned over to teach Zhaodi, but Aunt Yao stopped her, "Are you very capable? If you teach her today , from then on you will do all her work!"

Yingniang shrank back in fright, so she had no choice but to go back to her seat.

This morning I just learned how to load the cotton thread on the loom, and Zhaodi and the other two women couldn't do it neatly.In fact, it was quite skillful to move Di's hands, but she was not that smart, and she messed up all the cotton threads.

At noon, when dinner was about to be served, Aunt Yao called out Zhao Di and the other two women, "You three, go home, and don't come here again!"

This is a whole morning of nervous and fearful work, driving people home without even giving them a meal.Zhaodi suddenly burst into tears, and yesterday she was jumping happily because she found a job, but now she was driven back, how embarrassing it is.

Yingniang wanted to comfort her, but was stopped by Aunt Yao, "Eat! Don't eat now, don't eat later!"

Yingniang was already hungry, how could she not eat.Zhaodi went out with the two women with their heads down.

Zhaodi was on the way home, but she cried all the way, and the tears didn't stop.When she got home, the in-laws and the carpenter were sitting at the dinner table eating.

Seeing that Zhaodi's eyes were red and swollen from crying, they knew that she must have been sent back.Seeing her pitiful appearance, Father Xue sighed and said, "Come and eat quickly, the weaving work is not so easy to do, you can follow us to work in the field in the afternoon."

Zhaodi looked at her mother-in-law again, afraid that her mother-in-law would dislike her because of this.Seeing Zhaodi looking at her eagerly, Yang Sanniang understood what she meant, "I told you to eat, so hurry up and eat, why are you dawdling? Alas, you can't be expected to pay seven cents a day for this day's wages." earned."

Zhaodi timidly went to get the tortillas, and then came to the table to pick up a few dishes, and hurried to eat in the yard.As she ate and ate, she burst into tears again, blaming herself for being so stupid, the sister-in-law did such a good job, but she couldn't figure it out.A total of only three people were driven home, and the other 27 people stayed there well, why couldn't she stay.

The more she thought about it, the sadder she became, and when Zhongping came back at night and found out about this incident, she didn't know what he would think of her. Would he despise her even more?He didn't touch her last night.The thought brought tears to her eyes on the tortilla.

At this time, Yingniang was also eating. While eating, she lamented that Zhen Yuanwai was really a cheapskate, and she didn't know who ordered this meal. The so-called lunch was a big pot of corn bread and a plate of pickles, and then a big Pot of Chinese cabbage.

If the subordinates did this on their own initiative, she would think it was nothing, because someone might have deducted money from it.If Zhen Yuan ordered someone to do this, she would look down on him too much. After all, he must have been an official in the capital, so how could he treat everyone like pigs?

But Yingniang was indeed hungry, she ate two steamed buns, and drank a bowl of Chinese cabbage soup with pickles.Because the leaves were all eaten up, when she came to serve the dishes, there was only soup and water left.

At this time, two women fought, "Hey, you have already eaten three corn buns, and I only eat two. Give me this."

"Whoever gets it first will eat first, and whoever tells you to eat slowly!"

Seeing that the two women were about to quarrel, Aunt Yao came.She must have had a good meal at Yuan Zhen's house, and she looked radiant.

When they saw Aunt Yao came, they dared to snatch it. The last cornbread in the basin was left there, and no one dared to pick it up and eat it.

In the afternoon, I started to learn the simplest weaving method.I heard from Aunt Yao that there are more than ten kinds of weaving methods, and the last one they have to learn is the most complicated one. They have to weave cocktail patterns, horsetail patterns, or various cloud patterns and flower patterns.

Just listening to Aunt Yao's words, everyone felt that their brains were getting bigger. Fortunately, they had to learn it within half a month, otherwise even Yingniang, who had a bright head like Yingniang, would be scared.

In the afternoon, another woman was driven home by Aunt Yao, and everyone was very nervous, fearing that she would be sent home if she was not careful.

Yingniang is the one who learns the fastest and the one who knits the best, so she is already at ease.Seeing that she was a fast learner, Aunt Yao seemed to treat her much better than others.

In the evening, Yingniang was walking happily to go home when she happened to see Boming coming down a mountain road in the north of the town.

The two went home together, talking and laughing all the way, telling each other about how they worked that day.

"Birming, from now on no matter who arrives at the intersection first, they will all be waiting there. Let's go home together every day, shall we?" Yingniang felt that the feeling of both returning home was really good.

Birming smiled and nodded, "Well, we come together in the morning and come back together in the evening. I can't see you after working all day, so it's because I miss you." Birming's voice was a little low when it came to the last sentence , In fact, he missed her all day long.

"Me too." Yingniang looked at him with a smile.

This kind of mutual confession seemed a little tired, and Birming changed the subject, "Are you tired after a busy day?"

"I'm not tired. It doesn't take much physical effort to do this job. Just keep your hands and feet busy. It's much easier than your day's famine."

"I'm not tired, just like working in the fields at home. Anyway, I'm not lazy. Huh? Where's Zhaodi?" Bo Ming finally realized that Zhaodi came with him in the morning.

Yingniang told Boming about recruiting Di, and Boming felt sorry for Zhaodi, and then praised Yingniang for her ability.Anyone who is a husband-in-law will be happy if his wife is capable, especially Bo Ming.

The two returned home happily, and when they thought of Zhaodi, they quickly stopped smiling.Zhaodi must be sad right now, if they acted so happy, wouldn't they be throwing salt in Zhaodi's heart?

(End of this chapter)