Carpenter's Lady

Chapter 2

Early the next morning, before dawn, Xiao Shui came to knock on Zhang Mu's door. Zhang Mu was too embarrassed to lie on the bed in front of the child, and got up awkwardly. After washing up, he held Xiao Shui's hand Just following Xiao Shui to the entrance of the village, Zhang Mu couldn't help exhaling at this moment, if Xiao Shui wasn't with her, she wouldn't even know where the entrance of the village was? !Along the way, Zhang Mu got out of Xiaoshuizui. When the village went to the town to buy things, they gathered at the entrance of the village early in the morning to make an ox cart. Several families in the village took the ox cart to the town every day to help others transport goods. When the villagers go to the town, they only need two copper coins for each person, and one child needs one. Zhang Mu is not very clear about the currency conversion of this dynasty, so he thought he must pay attention to it in a while.

When Zhang Mu arrived at the entrance of the village, an ox cart was already full and was about to leave, and there was only a young woman in another ox cart, about 27 or [-] years old. Sister, you are going to town today, it just so happens that we will be together later!"

Zhang Mu thought for a while, he didn't know what to call this eldest sister, so he had to show a smirk.He lowered his head and asked Xiao Shui in a low voice: "Xiao Shui, my eyes are fascinated, what's in front?"

"Sister-in-law, it's Aunt Wang!"

"Aunt Wang, isn't Shitou with you?" Xiao Shui looked back, wanting to confirm whether the little friend really didn't come.

Aunt Wang grabbed Xiao Shui and said, "If you know you're going today, I'll take him with you!" Then she turned to Zhang Mu and asked, "Sister, what are you going to buy in town today?"

"Oh, sister-in-law, I'll go and have a look, I'm so bored at home!" Seeing the other party's friendly attitude, Zhang Mu unconsciously let go a little bit, "I haven't visited the town for a long time. I still have to rely on my sister-in-law to help guide the way, I don't even know the price now!"

"Oh, big sister, you are being polite. Your sister-in-law and I have always been very good. You can just follow me for a while. Speaking of it, don't worry too much. I really think you are on good terms. You are still young. , and you are diligent, and you can find another good one.”

Zhang Mu knew that everyone must have heard about him and Li, but seeing Mrs. Wang's sincere face, he felt really embarrassed. There was already a villain in his heart who was talking: Actually, Heli has nothing to do with me. !In fact, sister-in-law, I know you just can't help nagging!

At this time, two or three other women were also heading this way. Seeing that the coachman was full, he started to drive away.The road was full of potholes, and Zhang Mu was in pain from being shaken, but seeing that everyone was quiet, she was not ashamed to say that after the three women came, Mrs. Wang kept silent, and Zhang Mu didn't know each other. They had no choice but to lower their heads and pretend to be thinking about something, even Xiao Shui sat in a well-behaved manner.

It’s just that Zhang Mu always felt that there were eyes on the top of his head looking at him. When he raised his head suddenly, he saw a woman in a blue cotton gown looking at him with contempt. Ten thousand llamas ran over in Zhang Mu’s heart. are you crazy!But being unfamiliar with the place, Zhang Mu took a few deep breaths and held back.

At this time, Xiao Shui also noticed the woman's gaze, and seeing her staring at her aunt trying to smile, she couldn't help asking, "Aunt Yang, is your face cramping?" The little man knew it in his heart, Last time the youngest son of Aunt Yang's family spoke ill of her aunt, and he even beat her up!Last night, I made an agreement with my grandparents to watch my aunt not be bullied!Humph, villain!

Aunt Yang was run over by a child, and it was not easy to quarrel with the child. She gave Xiao Shui a blank look, and turned her head to look at the scenery on the side of the road.Zhang Mu quietly gave Xiao Shui a thumbs-up, and Xiao Shui proudly puffed out her small chest.

When they arrived in the town, they paid three copper coins, and Zhang Mu led Xiao Shui to follow Mrs. Wang. Everyone went out early, before they had time to eat breakfast. A steamed bun, a vegetable bun, and a meat bun. Both steamed buns and vegetable buns cost two Wen each, and meat buns cost three Wen each. The steamed buns are bigger than the steamed buns, and they are very hungry. In the basket, I knew it was for her stones. Zhang Mu bought two vegetable buns and two meat buns. Xiao Shui bit the freshly baked meat buns and breathed heavily.

Sister-in-law Wang was going to buy some cloth heads, and Zhang Mu also went with her. I heard that the original body was good at handwork, and I could do a little embroidery. It was thanks to watching my mother embroider at home when I was young, and secretly learned it. My mother was good at handwork, but she didn’t let me touch it These, it is enough to read good books, learning these is useless, it seems that my mother is still wrong, now it is really a life-saving skill!I don't know how good the original handwork is!Zhang Mu decided to buy some cloth to go back to practice his hands, so he bought [-] Wen of rags. These cloth can be used as purses and shoe uppers, and they will not be wasted.Because it was made of rags, there were still some fine cotton cloth and palm-sized satin of good quality. Fifty cash was enough to pick a large bag, and then I bought twenty cash for embroidery thread and needles. Zhang Mu and Mrs. Wang After picking it out, it was already full of two big bags, and it was inconvenient to carry, so I told the store to put it in the store first, and then pick it up when I come back later.

Sister-in-law Wang took Zhang Mu to a brief walk around the street again. There were rice noodle shops, pastry shops, pig iron shops, silver shops, book shops, pottery shops, coffin shops, teahouses, restaurants, etc. Although the town was not big, it was because of Several neighboring villages come here to go to the market, so the shops in the town are quite complete. Zhang Mu saw that there was a seller selling candied haws in front of him. The skewers came back, and I gave them to Mrs. Wang, and asked her to take them back to the stones to eat. Mrs. Wang politely said a few words before accepting them. The left and right candied haws are not expensive to eat. A candied haws, and even offered the candied haws to Zhang Mu, insisting that she bite one. Zhang Mu looked at Xiao Shui's cleverness, and felt warm in his heart. The smile is much more real.

"Hey, people who have been abandoned by their husbands have the nerve to go out!" Zhang Mu looked back instinctively following the voice, and saw a woman in her 40s and a young girl standing by the dim sum shop behind them, holding two Packing things, it is estimated that she has just come out of the dim sum shop. The woman is wearing a silver-gray fine cotton jacket with a navy blue cotton skirt on her lower body, and the girl is wearing a long yellow skirt with a white jacket on the outside. Much better than his own, Zhang Mu couldn't figure out who this was? !

"Aunt Zhao, don't talk nonsense, our sister Mu is reconciled with your son, how can you just talk nonsense with a red mouth and white teeth!" Mrs. Wang couldn't help but choked.

Zhang Mu felt that he should really look through the almanac before going out today. The first time he went out, he met his ex-mother-in-law. Seeing that there were already two or three people watching the fun gathered around him, he was so embarrassed that he didn't know how to reply.

Mrs. Zhao was very satisfied when she saw Zhang Mu's look, and she was still as useless as before, "Oh, Wang's daughter-in-law, what does this have to do with you, the one who got divorced didn't even open his mouth, why are you so anxious!"

"You—" Sister-in-law Wang is not used to quarreling, and she was so overwhelmed that she couldn't find a word.

Zhang Mu looked at Mrs. Zhao coldly, "Do you think your son is the old man of the Emperor of Heaven? If he still divorces his wife, what right does he have to divorce me? If he wants to divorce his wife, he has to climb back into the arms of his ancestors and reincarnate a hundred years earlier! "This is to say that this dynasty has abolished the bad habit of divorcing wives long ago!

Seeing Zhang Mu cursing her son to go to reincarnation, Mrs. Zhao immediately opened her eyes and opened her mouth to scold, but she saw an unknown object flying over.

"Bad guy, you're bullying my aunt again! I'll let my dad beat you!" The little water candied haws stopped eating, and threw it over in a snap.Mrs. Zhao dodged sideways, and the candied haws just hit the girl's jacket next to her, and a red mark was stained on her chest. The girl immediately frowned, "Mom, I'm only wearing this dress today!"

"If you dare to hit my mother, I will teach you the rules today!" As he said this, he was about to come over to catch Xiao Shui. Xiao Shui hurriedly hid behind Zhang Mu. Zhang Mu looked at the uneducated man in front of him. The woman, very impatient, pushed Mrs. Zhao who was trying to catch Xiao Shui!Mrs. Zhao couldn't hold back her momentum, staggered a bit, and almost fell down.

"Oh, my daughter-in-law beat her mother-in-law, which family's rules are this? This little girl Changfu dared to beat her mother-in-law!" Mrs. Zhao started to perform on the street with her excellent singing and writing skills!

Zhang Mu's temperament was also aroused by this woman. She thought Zhang Mu was also a little shrew with a straight mouth and white teeth in the new century, but she came to this ancient time and felt uncomfortable. She just wanted to settle down for a while. Think of such a shameless person!After pulling Xiaoshui, he scolded: "You are the old woman Chang Fu, you think I will bully you if I ignore you, the clay figurine still has a bit of a temper! What kind of mother-in-law are you, don't make a fool of yourself Don't go out casually if you have a bad brain! You don't have to worry about biting off your tongue if you bite on the street!"

Shocked by Zhang Mu's sudden choking, Mrs. Zhao was taken aback for a moment, and hurriedly continued to scold: "You little cousin that no one wants, you are so courageous that you dare to scold my old lady! It's just a girl who was passed through by my son. What's so pretentious about your broken shoes!"

It is the first time that Zhang Mu has seen such a disgusting woman in the past few centuries. In the new century, she paid attention to civilization, and occasionally heard a few curse words, but she was just a jerk, crazy, crazy, and so on. At most It's just one or two words, even if it's ridicule, it's just a few sentences with unclear meaning; when I came here, I often heard Zhang's family scolding the Zhao family for being inhuman, and they didn't gong face to face like this!

At that moment, Zhang Mu wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, and said with a sad face: "All aunts and uncles help to judge, I have been in her house for five years, respecting my in-laws, loving my sister-in-law, every day before the rooster crows, I get up to cook Work, her son is studying in the school, pens, inks, paper and inkstones are all very valuable, I embroidered day and night to earn money to help her family buy paper and ink, but her son hooked up with the scholar's daughter in the academy , said in a loud voice that I was not virtuous for five years, the little woman had no choice but to reconcile, but her family didn't even want to give me a way to survive, and it was such a humiliation to block me here! It's really going to kill the little girl A way to live!" After saying that, she suddenly felt a little sad for Zhang Mu, if the original body was still there, she would probably hang herself with a rope again, the plight of ancient women was laid out in front of her like this, and she used to feel that she was forced by her mother-in-law. The dead women are the distant past in the ancient society. Every time Zhang Mu was startled by the words in the book, Zhang Mu would say to himself: "It's all over", but now, when history becomes reality, the spoiled and grown-up Girl, I feel funny and palpitating at the moment!

The spectators around heard what Zhang Mu said, and saw her look of lovelessness, and felt that this woman was too much. Some people came out to persuade Mrs. Zhao to leave a way for other girls to survive, but Mrs. Zhao looked away. Turning over the page, she said disdainfully: "She also listened to poetry and books in my house for several years, but she was so shameless that she was abandoned by her husband's family. "

Hearing this, the women around exploded. It has been three generations since Taizu abolished the divorce system and encouraged women to remarry. In the past hundred years, there have been some women in this town who remarried. Seeing Mrs. Zhao and Mrs. Li's remarks that they should wipe their necks and hang themselves, I can't help feeling resentful!
When the crowd was restless, Zhang Mu couldn't bear it anymore!

What a mad dog! !Zhang Mu looked left and right, and saw that the uncle who was going to the market on the left was holding a pole, glaring at Mrs. Zhao angrily, and snatched it away, "I'll kill you, old godmother!"

As she said that, she hit her head and face with a pole. Mrs. Zhao didn't expect Zhang Mu to go crazy all of a sudden, so she hurriedly dragged her daughter away, and she didn't want the two bags of pastries in her hand. She was going to die from the pain in her arms and back!Zhang Mu pretended to chase her a few times, but he didn't care if he saw her running away, and he didn't really plan to kill her, otherwise he would cause trouble for his family!
Glancing at Xiaoshui, Xiaoshui picked up two bags of pastries very awkwardly!Zhang Mu returned the shoulder pole to the uncle just now, thanked him very politely, and then took Xiaoshui and Mrs. Wang away.

Sister-in-law Wang was still immersed in the momentum of Zhang Mu's madness just now, and she couldn't help herself. Seeing Zhang Mu pulling her, she reacted and said excitedly: "Big sister, you were really good just now, that old woman lacks a mouth, so she should be careful." Teach her a lesson, I really don't want to—" Speaking of this, Mrs. Wang suddenly stopped her voice, and stomped her foot, "Big sister, let's go home quickly, and Mrs. Zhao will definitely bring her three sons to your house in a while. There is trouble at home, let's go back and inform your father!"

Zhang Mu was very happy just now, but now that Mrs. Wang reminded him, he immediately thought that Mrs. Zhao was going to make a fuss, so he and Mrs. Wang went to the vegetable market to cut two catties of meat, and then went to the previous cloth shop to get rags. At this time, it was almost noon, because it was spring plowing, and some coachmen came to the town to deliver goods in the morning and went back to plow the land in the afternoon. Zhang Mu and Mrs. Wang happened to meet a village ox cart at the place where they got off.

(End of this chapter)