151. Chapter 151

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She sat up, raised her hand to touch the little man's forehead, and made sure it was not hot, then she put on her clothes lightly and got off the kang.

The first thing to do was to open the door first, and Heizi, who had been anxious for a long time, went out in a flash. Zhaoer also walked out of the door, and saw Heizi running out of the yard to pee in a hurry, and shook his head with a smile.

At this time, someone in the yard had already woken up, it was Zhou from the third room and her eldest daughter Xue Taoer.

It was the turn of the third room to cook today. The rule of the Xue family was that in addition to the housework of each room, the work in the public house was evenly shared. Each room took turns every day.

The room responsible for cooking was not only responsible for the food and drink of the whole family, but also for the livestock at home. The Xue family raised two big fat pigs, and it was not an easy job to serve these two ancestors every day. Not to mention that they also have to feed chickens, fetch water, and chop wood, so the women in the family who do housework on this day don't have to work in the fields.

It seems fair and just, but everyone knows what's going on.

Aunt Yang boasts that her husband is a student, and she is particularly superior in the family. Since Xue Qingshan passed the examination for a student, she has never touched housework again. The key is that Zhao also supports her, so others can't question it too much.

At first, it was Qiu, the mother of Xue Gouzi, who did it. Finally, Zhou from the third room came in, and the two sisters-in-law finally shared the burden. After that, Qiu followed her deceased husband and Zhou was left alone. It was not until Sun from the fourth room came in that they could take a breath again.

Unfortunately, Sun was lazy and cunning, and Zhou actually did most of the work.

When Qiu was still alive, Zhao'er also helped Qiu. Later, when Qiu passed away, Zhao'er was busy with the housework of the second room and had to do the public work. Besides, Zhaoer was still young at that time, so Old Master Xue told her to take good care of Xue Gouzi and not to worry about the work in the government.

Zhaoer was free to fiddle around and make some money, but she was a person who did things with conscience, and she would help as much as she could in her spare time. As for those who used words to squeeze her like Sun, she was not forgiving with her sharp tongue.

Seeing Xue Taoer struggling to draw water from the well, Zhaoer rubbed her face and went up to help her.

The thirteen-year-old Xue Taoer was like a budding flower, although she was not very beautiful, she was also very pretty. Seeing Zhaoer coming to help her, she couldn't help but smile and said to her: "Sister Zhaoer, is the second brother better?" Xue Gouzi ranked second among the grandchildren of the Xue family, so Xue Taoer called him the second brother.

"I had a fever again last night, and it got better in the second half of the night." Zhao'er looked around curiously and asked, "Why is Uncle San not here?"

Although Xue Qingbai is a bit honest and taciturn, he has always loved his wife and daughter. Whenever he sees the third room cooking, he will get up early to fill the water tank.

The Xue family has its own well, but the well is too deep, and there is no windlass on the well. It is really tiring for a girl to draw water from the well. Only Zhao'er is born as strong as an ox, and his strength is not inferior to that of an ordinary middle-aged man, so he can easily pull the bucket out of the deep well.

"My father went to the field and said he would work for a while and come back for breakfast."

Xue Qingbai is an honest farmer. Unlike other brothers in the family who have other skills, he only knows how to farm, so he is devoted to the land. The Xue family has a total of more than 30 acres of land, and now it is up to him, Mr. Xue, and the fourth son Xue Qinghuai to farm.

Although the women of the Xue family also went to the fields, it was during the busy farming season. Besides, women only had so much strength, so what could they do to help? Fortunately, the three men of the Xue family were good at the fields. They were too busy to handle it, so they hired temporary workers to help for a few days, so they didn't have to worry about not being able to finish the work in the fields.

As they were talking, the door of the fourth room opened and Xue Qinghuai walked out.

The men of the Xue family were all big, so Xue Qinghuai also inherited a tall figure.

He had thick eyebrows, tiger eyes, and a high nose bridge. He wore a dark blue coarse cloth and a short brown, which made him look very heroic. In fact, the men of the Xue family were not bad looking, but the women of the Xue family were a bit mediocre, but the grandchildren were all born well and were outstanding in the village.

"Zhao'er Tao'er, you got up so early." Xue Qinghuai walked over with a few big strides, took the wooden bucket from Zhao'er's hand, walked to the water tank, and poured the water into the tank.

"How can you two little girls do such rough work? Go do something else. Fourth uncle will fetch water."

Zhao'er and Tao'er did not refuse. One went to the kitchen to help their mother cook, and the other took a basin to scoop water for washing.

As time passed, the other members of the Xue family got up one after another, and there were more and more voices in the yard. In the kitchen, Zhou called for dinner. Generally, country people don't have to set up a table for breakfast. They just put a bowl in a bowl and eat it anywhere.

Breakfast is two-grain porridge, which is porridge made from two kinds of rice. Yuqing Village does not produce rice, but only crops such as wheat, sorghum, millet, and corn. Although farmers grow wheat, they rarely use it for daily consumption. They sell it to exchange for other grains.

Even a wealthy family like the Xue family with surplus grains does not eat fine grains every meal, but a mixture of coarse grains and fine grains. For example, today's breakfast, two-grain porridge, is made by cooking millet, also known as yellow rice, and sorghum rice together.

Because it is the busy farming season, it is cooked quite thick. Although it is not so thick that it will not fall over if you stick a chopstick in it, it is much better than the thin soup at ordinary times.

There was no way. The Xue family seemed to be well off in the village, but they had three scholars in the family. Let alone Xue Gouzi, the father and son of the first house alone spent a lot of money every month. It was no wonder that Zhao was so stingy that she could pinch fleas to bleed.

Zhaoer served two bowls of porridge, put a few corn cakes on a coarse porcelain plate, and put some pickles on the side, and then took them back to the second house.

As soon as she entered the door, she saw Xue Gouzi sitting up from the kang.

She hurriedly put the wooden tray on the square table and came to see him: "Are you feeling better? Are you hungry? Sister will bring you some porridge."

Xue Gouzi looked at her with a complicated look.

After experiencing such a dream, he didn't know how to face Zhaoer now. Whenever he saw her, he couldn't help but think of the words he was scolded by others before he died in the dream. He also tried to find the cause of Zhaoer's death in his memory, but it seemed that the memory was the most unbearable past for Xue Tinglan, and he had no memory of it at all.

Actually, Xue Gouzi thought for a long time last night when he was in a daze due to the fever. He couldn't figure out whether he was Xue Gouzi or Xue Tingyan, whether the dream was true or false, and whether he had such an absurd dream because he thought about it during the day.

However, he also had an idea in his mind. If everything in the dream was true, several things should happen in succession. If all these things happened, it means that his dreams were true.

Thinking about something, he reached out to take the bowl, and then he found that he didn't even have the strength to hold the bowl. Fortunately, Zhao'er was quick and caught the bowl, so he didn't spill it all over him.

Xue Gouzi felt a little embarrassed and a little anxious. It was very strange. Obviously, he would not have such a reaction in front of Zhao'er before, but he didn't know if he had a dream, but his mentality had undergone a strange change.

Zhao'er laughed at him: "Why are you being polite to me? Forget that when you wet the kang when you were a child, I washed it for you."

Zhao'er came to Xue's house when she was seven years old, and Gouzi was only five years old at that time. It is very strange for a child to wet the bed. He obviously hasn't wet for a long time. I don't know if he drank too much water before going to bed or what, but he wet the bed.

Since Qiu gave birth to Gouzi, her health has not been good. It was winter. In order to repay the kindness of the second wife, Zhaoer volunteered to wash Gouzi's urine-stained clothes, and thus began her career as a child bride.

What Xue Gouzi hated most was Zhaoer's point. She always liked to say some nonsense in front of him. You know, as they get older, boys have to save face. How can they be willing to listen to such things, especially Gouzi is sensitive by nature. But today, for some reason, he didn't feel annoyed, but just felt a little embarrassed.

He was surprised by his reaction, and Zhaoer had already scooped porridge with a wooden spoon to feed him. He subconsciously opened his mouth, and when the porridge that she blew warm was fed into his mouth, he saw the other's smiling eyes.

Those eyes were big and bright, as if there were stars hidden in them, and he couldn't help blushing.

Zhaoer suddenly smiled even more happily, and took a corn cake and stuffed it into his hand: "Eat quickly, I'll stew eggs for you at noon."

She was coaxing him like a child, and Gouzi suddenly realized this.

He ate the porridge that Zhaoer fed him, and his mind was full of random thoughts.

Just then, someone came to the door.

It was Xue Qingshan.

It was exactly the same as in the dream.

Xue Qingshan's fair face was full of sighs and worries. He sighed and said a lot of things, which basically meant that Gouzi should take good care of his illness and not worry too much. There are grandparents and uncles at home, and he won't suffer.

Seriously speaking, Xue Qingshan also took on the appearance and tall stature of the men of the Xue family. In his early years, he was also a village grass in Yuqing Village. Unfortunately, as he got older, he became a little fat.

"Uncle still has to go to private school, Gouzi, take good care of your illness, you are a child who has too many thoughts." Sighing and patting his nephew's shoulder, Xue Qingshan lifted the door curtain and left.

What is he doing?

Zhao'er thought in confusion. After thinking for a while, she couldn't figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it and focused on feeding Gouzi porridge. Xue Gouzi looked thoughtful.

*

In the main room, Zhao was chatting with Old Master Xue about what happened yesterday.

Zhao was sewing an old dress in her hand, saying, "Let me tell you that you like to spoil that little thing. You feel sorry for him, but he doesn't feel sorry for you. Our money didn't come from the river. Just because he didn't want to, he got sick for the whole family and made a fuss one after another. This is going to turn the family upside down."

Old Master Xue looked to be in his fifties, tall, and his skin was the dark red color of a countryman who had been exposed to the sun for a long time. He wore a dark blue coarse cloth and sat cross-legged on the kang, smoking a dry pipe.

Every time after dinner or before work, Old Master Xue always smoked a dry pipe, otherwise he would feel uncomfortable all over.

"Okay, Gou Wa Zi is sick. Everyone has some illnesses." After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice.

The sound of clacking sounded again, and the lingering green smoke swirled in the air, then drifted away. The old face of Mr. Xue with ravines and wrinkles was hidden behind it, looming.

"But look how long he has been making trouble? Yesterday, he lost more than a hundred coins. How long do you have to work hard in the fields to earn more than a hundred coins! The eldest brother asked for another two hundred coins the other day, saying that someone in his classmate's family was celebrating a birthday. There was a disaster last year, and the tax was not exempted at all, but increased instead. Now the eldest brother said that he wanted to send Juncai to the town to study, which is another expense. How much money do you have to withstand such a toss!"

Seeing his wife was so distressed, Old Master Xue sat up straight, knocked on the table, and glanced at her: "You feel distressed when Gou'er spends a hundred coins, and you give money to the eldest son when he asks you for money? I'm not saying anything to you, you are a father, mother, and grandmother, don't be too biased, don't let the younger ones have conflicts."

Hearing this, Zhao was unwilling, and slapped him across the table, saying: "I am biased? Don't you want to be biased?"

He was biased, but who said that the eldest son was the most promising in the family, and Juncai was also the most outstanding among the grandchildren. It's different to have a scholar in the family. Who doesn't say that Xue Lianxing's family is a respectable family when they go out? If the eldest son can have a scholar, his Xue family will be honored.

Just thinking of Xue Gouzi, Old Master Xue couldn't help frowning.

Of course he knew what his wife was angry about. Gou'er was too ignorant. The eldest son owed the second son a life, but the Xue family was in such a family, so naturally they had to focus on providing for his success.

It's not that Mr. Xue looked down on his grandson, but Gou'er really couldn't compare with Juncai. It's good to be competitive, but you have to look at the situation.

"The eldest son's wife has said several times that the school in the town can't be delayed. This delay has lasted for half a year. The eldest son is still thinking about letting Juncai try next year." Zhao said again.

"I promised the second son that year!" Mr. Xue sighed deeply, took two puffs of his dry tobacco, and coughed twice because of choking.