Chapter 88 He won't eat, but I will
Qin Yao cleared everything on the table and pushed the heavy cloth bag to the middle. She looked at the five people in front of her and said seriously, "Copy the book!"
The five father and sons, whose faces were carved from the same mold, all looked at Qin Yao in confusion. What book were they copying?
Qin Yao opened the cloth bag and then the oil paper inside, and nine books appeared in front of the father and his five sons.
Liu Ji took a deep breath and hurriedly closed the main door. He turned around and looked at Qin Yao in shock, "You stole so many books, are you going to die?"
That's Mr. Ding. The county magistrate has to politely call him Mr. Ding. If they are found out, how can their whole family save their heads?
Qin Yao glanced at Liu Ji coldly, "Who do you say stole it? I borrowed it and I have to return it after copying it."
Hearing this, Liu Ji's pounding heart instantly settled down. He knew he had misunderstood and smiled awkwardly, "It's good that it's not, it's good that it's not. You scared me to death."
"Look at what you have accomplished." Qin Yao sneered and rewrapped the book. "Have lunch first. After lunch, we will have a family meeting in the afternoon. Everyone must be present. No leave is allowed."
The four brothers and sisters nodded. They had a hunch that what the stepmother was going to say must be something very important!
Liu Ji glanced at the nine books that had been rewrapped. If he had seen it correctly, they were the Four Books and Five Classics that were essential for the imperial examinations.
Could it be that this evil woman wanted them to study and take the imperial examination?
However, as soon as this thought came to his mind, Liu Ji denied it in his heart. What a joke, a family like them is also worthy of taking the imperial examination? !
Thinking of Qin Yao's wages, Liu Ji sent the children out, asked Erlang to take a bowl to the old house to ask for a bowl of fermented rice wine, and asked Dalang to fetch a bucket of cold well water.
In such hot weather, a bowl of icy cold rice wine and sweetened water is really refreshing.
Qin Yao took a chair and sat under the eaves, drinking fermented rice wine and sugar water spoon by spoon. Facing the door and facing the wind, she felt all the heat disappear.
It's still more comfortable at home.
Liu Ji served the fried eggplant with meat and egg and vegetable soup to the table. When he passed by the door, he asked tentatively:
"Madam, how much did Mr. Ding pay you?"
Qin Yao didn't even raise her eyelids. "All the wages I settled have been spent."
Liu Ji suddenly felt like he was having a heart attack. He had spent all the money again, including the wages from logging last time. How come she didn't know how to save money?
Qin Yao saw his resentful look and shouted coldly, "When is dinner?"
Liu Ji's heart tightened immediately, and he quickly suppressed his resentment and said with a smile: "Right away, I'll go get the food."
As he said this, he waved his hand and asked the four brothers and sisters in the yard to set the table and chopsticks and bring over the cooked rice. It filled a whole earthenware basin, which was three times the usual amount for the five of them, father and son.
When Liu Ji thought of Qin Yao's appetite, he felt lucky that this woman could earn money on her own, otherwise he would not be able to feed her mouth.
When she was not at home, he felt that he could never finish the rice in the rice jar.
As soon as she came back, the rice jar was empty.
So she simply bought another 300 kilograms of rice, just enough to last until the rice harvest.
While eating, Liu Ji would steal a glance at Qin Yao from time to time, and counted in his mind what Qin Yao brought back this time.
Not to mention pens, ink and paper, you need at least five cents of silver.
The linen was not cheap either, and another five cents was gone.
Three hundred kilograms of rice, a mixture of fine rice and miscellaneous grains, cost her only 15 cents.
This adds up to two taels and five cents. The Ding family paid two taels as wages, and it was all spent.
Not only did I spend it all, I also overspent!
Liu Ji felt so depressed. This woman spent money even more lavishly than he did, and he couldn't even enjoy the food in his bowl.
Qin Yao didn't care whether he enjoyed the meal or not, as long as she was full.
Putting down the dishes, Dalang and Erlang took the initiative to pick up the dishes and go to the kitchen door to wash them.
Sanlang and Si Niang stuck to her, and Si Niang opened her mouth and told her all the interesting things that happened during this period. She was very talkative.
Liu Ji took the cloth, meat, and four snacks and went to the Liu family's old house.
Just now, Erlang came over to ask for fermented rice wine, and the family knew that Qin Yao had returned, and they thought that she might come over soon.
He and Qiu would glance towards the gate from time to time, and the two sisters-in-law were looking forward to it tacitly.
My third brother and his wife are the most generous. They brought back so many things from the town this time, and maybe there will be some for them.
Sure enough, the third brother's wife never let them down.
The pound of meat Liu Ji brought made the whole family smile with joy. They asked about Qin Yao's situation and knew that she had just returned home and needed to have a good rest, so they said they would not disturb her again in a few days.
He and Qiu took the cloth and asked about the sizes of several children in Liu Ji's family. After all, children's height changes every year, and the size of last year's winter clothes may not be suitable.
There were only four pieces of dim sum. Jinbao and Jinhua each took one, leaving two. The two elders kept one and gave the other to Liu Fei.
"I'm an adult now, and these snacks are only for kids, so I'd better leave them to Jinhua and Jinbao." Liu Fei said embarrassedly.
Liu Ji was about to reach out to take it, "Dad, I love it. If he doesn't eat it, then I will. This mung bean dessert is refreshing and soft. It's made by Master Ding's cook. You can't buy it anywhere else!"
Seeing him reaching out for it, Liu Fei suddenly felt angry, "How shameless of you to snatch snacks from a child!"
Liu Ji said to him cheerfully: "In front of parents, everyone is still a child."
Unfortunately, Old Man Liu did not give him any cakes, so he let Liu Bo take them. The three brothers shared them among themselves to satisfy their appetites and also taste the good things from this noble man's house.
As for the two daughters-in-law, the children missed their mother and had already divided them up.
"It's all thanks to Miss Yao's promising future, otherwise we wouldn't be able to taste such good things." Zhang praised with a smile.
Liu Ji immediately flattered himself, "That's right, but you don't even look at who brought her home."
Old Man Liu looked towards the courtyard in surprise, "Why are you still here?"
Yao Niang just came home and instead of going back to serve, she is just standing here, being an eyesore!
Zhang asked Liu Ji to wait a moment, got up and went into the house to fill half a jar of fermented rice wine, and asked Liu Ji to take it back for Qin Yao to eat.
Just now she heard the third brother mention that Yao Niang especially liked to drink it.
This thing is simple to make, just using some glutinous rice, and it is the most refreshing drink in the summer. She originally brewed some extra wine to prepare for roasting, but before she could make the wine, the adults and children in the family had almost eaten it up.
In that case, she simply gave it to everyone as a snack.
Finally, he went to the vegetable garden and picked a basket full of vegetables and asked Liu Ji to take them back.
Qin Yao looked at Liu Ji's hands coming back full of things and asked suspiciously, "I asked you to deliver something, why did you come back with so much?"
Liu Ji put down the heavy basket and pottery jar. He didn't like what he heard. "What do you mean by hug? This is the good intention of the two elders."
Then he added, "Look, I got them all back. The two elders must be very happy."
(End of this chapter)