When the pears are green

Fortunately, the weather was nice and it was sunny and windless for several days.

By the time Jiang Qingzhou finished visiting his relatives and friends, it was already the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. In the afternoon of that day, Jiang Qingzhou asked Jiang Heng and Jiang Ji to come to his house to help catch the pig, and then send them to the village butcher to slaughter.

Song Li was afraid of scaring Jiang Huan, so she held Jiang Huan and hid in the main room to watch Jiang Qingye and Song Xing play chess.

Although Song Xing is not good at chess, he likes playing chess very much. As long as he doesn't lose too badly, he is willing to play a few more games with Jiang Qingye.

Jiang Huan leaned forward to grab the chess box next to Jiang Qingye. He picked up a black chess piece with his small hand and wanted to put it into his mouth, but Song Li quickly snatched it away.

Jiang Huan turned around and smiled at Song Li, and Song Li felt a warmth on her leg.

It turned out that the diaper was not inserted properly, and Jiang Huan peed all over himself and Song Li.

"You did something bad, and you still have the nerve to laugh." Song Li scolded Jiang Huan while carrying Jiang Huan back to the room to change clothes.

The sound of pigs screaming came from the yard, which scared Jiang Huan who was lying in bed. Jiang Huan stretched out his little hand and grabbed Song Li's collar and refused to let go.

Song Li quickly held Jiang Huan in her arms to comfort him, and only after the sound of the courtyard door closing was heard did she put Jiang Huan in bed and continue to change clothes.

When Song Li and Jiang Huan arrived at the main hall again, Jiang Qingye and Song Xing were collecting chess pieces.

Jiang Qingye asked Song Li in confusion: "Sister-in-law, Xiaoxing and I can help my brother catch the pig, why do we need to ask my uncle for help?"

Song Li grabbed Jiang Huan's restless little hand and replied, "There is a saying that if you don't visit for three years, you are not close. The New Year is coming soon, so please ask your uncles to help catch pigs so that you can give them a few pounds of pork and build a good relationship. We can raise silkworms next year, and we need someone to help us deal with those jealous people. Our family is different from my second brother's family. My second brother is a scholar, so the villagers dare not offend him. But our family only has Mingde, a scholar from another village, who is too far away to help us."

After hearing this, Jiang Qingye vowed in his heart that he would study hard and strive to pass the examination to become a scholar as soon as possible.

Song Xing, who was usually reading, ran into the room, took out a wooden sword, and seriously practiced the sword skills taught by Chen Yuan in the yard.

Studying cannot be forced, and Song Li no longer dreams of Song Xing passing the imperial examination to become a scholar. She only hopes that Song Xing can persist in practicing martial arts.

Towards evening, Jiang Qingzhou returned home driving a donkey cart loaded with half a pig's leg, two pig's trotters and two pig's elbows.

Jiang Qingye and Song Xing helped Jiang Qingzhou carry the pork to the Eight Immortals Table and placed it there. Then they brought the pig's trotters and elbows and placed them next to the pork.

Jiang Qingzhou sat on a stool nearby and said to Song Li who was looking at him, "I gave a set of offal to the butcher, the pig head to Uncle Heng, and cut five pounds of meat for Uncle Ji. I know Xiaoli likes to eat pig's trotters and elbows, so I brought them here, and sold the rest of the pork directly to the butcher. My aunt, my aunt, and my cousin's wife will come to our house early tomorrow morning to help with the cooking. I have already agreed with my second brother and uncle to borrow their eight-immortal table and stools. There aren't many people, so four tables are enough."

Song Li gently held Jiang Qingzhou's right hand and said softly, "Qingzhou, you have worked hard."

"This is not considered hard work for me. Xiaoli is also having a hard time." Jiang Qingzhou said, and pinched Song Li's face with a smile, but Jiang Huan suddenly bit his little finger.

Song Li hurriedly pinched Jiang Huan's cheek, and Jiang Qingzhou pulled his little finger out of Jiang Huan's open mouth.

"Qingzhou, Huan'er has entered the oral stage. He wants to put everything in his mouth. You should not bother with him." Song Li patted Jiang Huan's little hand and explained to Jiang Qingzhou.

Jiang Qingzhou hugged Jiang Huan and told Song Li with a smile: "Huan'er is your and my child, how could I bother with him. Let's go, let's cook. Let's rest early today, tomorrow will be very busy."

Song Li nodded and called Song Xing and Jiang Qingye, who were practicing calligraphy on the ground, to go cook together.

In the cold morning, Jiang Huan woke up early for once.

Song Li dressed Jiang Huan in the patchwork quilt that Song Yue had sent him two days ago. The quilt was made of fabrics in different colors, such as blue, red, cyan, dark, and purple. He then put on the tiger-head hat made by Ruyi, the longevity lock given by Song Yue, and the rabbit-skin cotton shoes he had sewed himself to greet Chen Yuan and Ruyi who had already arrived in the yard.

Ruyi took Jiang Huan and asked Song Li to have breakfast before Jiang and the others arrived.

Chen Yuan, Song Xing, and Jiang Qingye followed Jiang Qingzhou to Jiang Qian's house to borrow tables and chairs. The tables and chairs for Jiang Heng and Jiang Ji's houses were delivered by the three brothers Jiang Chen, Jiang Ming, and Jiang He in four batches.

Song Li had just finished cleaning the kitchen when Jiang Qingzhou's aunts and the Jiang family arrived at the Jiang house one after another. After exchanging some polite words, the three aunts and sisters-in-law began to wash and cut vegetables.

"Ping'an, why didn't Qingwan come?" Song Li asked Zhang Ping'an, who was playing with Zhang You, curiously. All the members of the Zhang family came except Jiang Qingwan.

Zhang Pingan glanced at Jiang who was washing vegetables, scratched his head and answered Song Li: "She, she wanted to look after the house, so mother didn't let her come."

Song Li understood the reason, and couldn't help but wonder whether it was right or wrong to send Jiang Qingwan to the Zhang family as a child bride.

Xia Lin came over and asked Song Li quietly: "Cousin, have you invited your second uncle and grandpa and grandma?"

Song Li nodded and whispered, "Sister-in-law, I asked Qingzhou to invite them, but my second aunt said she didn't have time, and grandma and grandpa also said they couldn't come."

"It's good that they have been invited. It's their business whether they come or not. Second Aunt likes to make a fuss, so don't let her have any handle, otherwise it will be difficult for my aunt to live when she goes back." Xia Lin said as he handed Zhang You, who was hugging his legs, to Zhang Jixiang, rolled up his sleeves and went to help with the work.

As the sun rose higher, more and more people came into the yard.

Wu Mingshu hugged Jiang Huan and asked Song Li, "Xiao Li, who made this patchwork quilt? Purple material is hard to find. Purple and Zi are homophones, so most people won't give it to someone easily. Giving away purple material is like giving away your own Zi."

Song Li didn't understand the meaning of it. She just heard Song Yue mention that the purple material was from the Wu family when she gave the quilt to her. So she could only answer vaguely: "Sister Wu, it was made by Yueyue. As for whose family the purple material came from, I don't know. I didn't understand these things, so I didn't prepare one for Huan'er. Fortunately, Yueyue understood me and helped me make one for Huan'er."

Wu Mingshu heard a clue from Song Li's words, and did not ask any more questions. She smiled and explained to Song Li: "Since it was Xiaoyue who did it, I will also ask Xiaoyue to do one for me when the baby in my belly is born."

Song Li knew that Wu Mingshu had always wanted to have a child, so she excitedly congratulated Wu Mingshu: "Sister Wu, congratulations. How old is the child? Give Huan'er to me. Don't let him get tired in the first three months."

Wu Mingshu handed Jiang Huan to Song Li and replied, "I went to see the doctor yesterday, and the doctor said that the baby is two months old. I really hope I can have a child as cute as Huan'er."

"Sister Wu, don't be fooled by Huan'er's appearance. He is a naughty child." Song Li said to Wu Mingshu with a smile while hugging Jiang Huan.

While the two were talking, Yang Yu came over.

Yang Yu took out a purse and handed it to Song Li, saying, "Madam Jiang, Master Li has taken Li Yi back to his hometown. He asked me to pass this on as a gift for the child."

Song Li quickly took it and put it in her bag.

Song Changhe, Zhang, Song Yue and Wu Mingde arrived last. As soon as Wu Mingde jumped off the ox cart, Yang Yu pulled him aside and told him that Wu Mingshu was pregnant.

Wu Mingde was stunned for a moment, then excitedly ran into the main room to find Wu Mingshu who was talking to Lingling and Yang Jing.

Wu Mingshu looked at Wu Mingde, who was standing in front of her with red eyes, and asked with a smile what was wrong.

Wu Mingde stared at Wu Mingshu and replied, "Sister, I heard from my brother-in-law. The dirty water that Yang Cheng's family threw on you has finally been washed away. You don't have to worry about others talking about you anymore."

Wu Mingshu smiled faintly and said to Wu Mingde in a low voice: "Why are you talking to him so nicely?"

Song Yue also ran in to congratulate Wu Mingshu. Wu Mingshu took Song Yue's hand and asked Song Yue to make a patchwork quilt and a tiger-head hat for the child.

Song Yue smiled and nodded in agreement, and said that she would do as much as Wu Mingshu wanted.

Zhang disliked the noise in the courtyard and the main room, so she carried Jiang Huan directly into the east room and put a pair of silver bracelets she had bought on Jiang Huan's wrists.

As noon approached, all the food was ready and Jiang Qingzhou was busy arranging for everyone to sit down.

A banquet where both the guest and the host enjoy themselves.

The drunk Jiang Heng pulled Jiang Qingzhou to apologize again for wanting to adopt Jiang Qingye to someone else.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Jiang Heng, whose face was full of self-blame, and said softly that everything was in the past and not to be mentioned again.

Jiang Chen and Jiang Ming hurriedly carried Jiang Heng, whose face was red, back home.

Song Li discovered the silver bracelet on Jiang Huan's wrist after everyone left, and then said to Jiang Qingzhou: "It should be worn by mother. They didn't want to take our pork for free, so they bought the silver bracelet for Huan'er."

"Mom and Dad are so nice. There's no need to put it on Huan'er in secret." Jiang Qingzhou said to Song Li with a helpless look.

Song Li rubbed her forehead and explained: "They are probably afraid that we will refuse."

Jiang Qingzhou continued, "Well, when we go to my parents' house on the second day of the New Year, bring them some more things. We've been tired for quite a while, so go inside and take a rest."

After returning to the east room, Jiang Qingzhou put Jiang Huan into bed, and then helped Song Li rub her sore waist.

There was an unusually heavy snowfall this winter, with a heavy snowfall lasting from January 13th to the Lantern Festival.

Song Li heard Jiang Qingzhou say that the roof of Jiang Xiaoniu's house collapsed under the snow and the two children were buried in the snow. When they were dug out, they were no longer breathing.

The news of the death of the two children reached the ears of Jiang Xiaoniu's wife, who was pawned away, in early spring.