Spring scenery in the fields

"My room is a bit messy. I've been busy in the fields and haven't cleaned it up for several days. Please sit down, don't stand."

"Aunt Lan, I won't sit here anymore. I'm going to Xiaoya's room."

"Okay, her room is bright too. I'll come back to get some water. The father and son were thirsty in the field and asked me to come back and get some water for them."

After hearing this, Ji Wenhe walked out of the bedroom and said, "Aunt Lan, please go quickly. I will go find Xiaoya and ask her to teach me another style."

Lan Qiuhua nodded with a smile: "Well, go ahead."

Two people were in the same room, one teaching seriously and the other learning seriously, completely forgetting about time.

When he heard a man talking in the yard, Ji Wenhe looked outside and saw that it was already noon.

I only heard Lan Qiuhua say in the yard: "It hasn't rained for several days. The vegetable fields are not doing well. We just watered them with manure. You two should go to the creek to fetch water this afternoon."

"I know mother."

The one who answered was a young man's voice.

Ji Wenhe came to the door: "Aunt Lan."

Lan Qiuhua turned sideways and introduced with a smile: "Wen He, this is your Uncle Shen, Brother Shen."

She patted her leg and said, "Look at me. You call your husband Brother Shen, and you can call my son An Guo. He is two months younger than you."

Shen Erniu, her husband, has dark skin and a simple and honest look.

Shen Anguo, Aunt Lan's son, is fifteen years old. He looks like his father and has a dimple when he smiles.

The two men were wearing short jackets and trousers made of gray coarse cloth with patches all over them, and there was a lot of mud stuck on them.

Ji Wenhe looked at them calmly: "Uncle Shen, An Guo."

"Hey, now that you're here, just treat it like your home and sit wherever you want. Where's Xiaoya?"

Shen Anguo called out, "Sister-in-law."

She raised her lips and nodded.

"Dad, I'm here. What do you want me to do?" Shen Suya poked her head out from the door. "I'm making bracelets with my sister-in-law."

Shen Erniu put the sickle on the ground with a smile on his face: "Okay, you can go in, we won't disturb you."

"Hey." Ji Wenhe responded and went back into the house.

I caught a glimpse of the two of them going to the bedroom and asked in a low voice, "Xiao Ya, your brother is fifteen this year, and his family hasn't found him a girlfriend yet."

Farmers marry early, most of them get married at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and this age is also the best for matching.

Shen Suya sighed helplessly: "Sister-in-law, it's not that we don't have it, it's that our family can't afford the betrothal gift."

In addition to the betrothal gifts, various items purchased for the girl's family would also cost a lot of money, and their family could not afford that much.

"My brother met a girl two months ago. They were both very satisfied with each other, but my family couldn't afford the betrothal gift, so the marriage fell through."

Ji Wenhe was curious: "How much is your betrothal gift usually?"

"Usually it's 6.6 taels or 8.8 taels. Rich people give more, and poor people can pay less than 6.6 taels."

"So how much dowry did your brother ask for last time he met someone?"

"Eight taels eight."

Even if her family sold everything they had, they wouldn't be able to come up with eight taels.

Shen Suya looked like a mature adult, with a look of worry on her face: "My eldest brother said that he doesn't want to see her anymore. Let's wait for two years until things get better, and then we can talk about getting married."

"Our family is so poor. I'm worried that my eldest brother will remain a bachelor for the rest of his life and won't be able to find a wife. He will be laughed at by people all around him as a bachelor forever."

Ji Wenhe smiled gently: "Maybe your eldest brother's fate has not yet arrived. In two years, life will be better and he will save more money. Are you still worried that he won't be able to marry a wife?"

If you can endure hardships and are willing to work hard, you won’t be afraid of your life not getting better.

"Sister-in-law, you may not know that there are many bachelors in the villages around us who cannot find wives."

"I heard from my mother that there are some places that are even poorer than us, and bachelors go there to buy wives. Sometimes they can buy a wife for only one tael."

"Ah!" Ji Wenhe looked up in shock, "Isn't it illegal to trade in human beings?"

Then she remembered that this was not the world she lived in in her previous life. Slave trading, body indentures, etc. were commonplace in this dynasty.

Shen Suya shook her head: "It's a remote place, no one cares. Even if it's exposed, the government won't bother to take care of it."

Yes, they rarely resist and obey the arrangements of this family. If they are lucky, they can live a happy life. If they are unlucky...

Ji Wenhe quickly shook her head. She couldn't think too deeply about it. The more she thought about it, the more depressed she felt.

"Xiaoya, I'm going home. I'll come back to ask you for advice in two days. If you're free, come to my house and play."

Shen Rongshan said he would be back before noon, and it seemed like it was almost time.

Shen Suya put down the silk thread in her hand and stood up: "Okay, I usually make silk threads at home, sister-in-law, come over more often."

"Hey." Ji Wenhe put the things into the basket, walked into the yard, and said to the people in the house.

"Uncle Shen, Anguo, Aunt Lan, I'm going home. Come to my house when you're free."

The three of them came out of the bedroom and stood at the door and responded politely.

Lan Qiuhua walked her to the door and reminded her, "It's not easy to walk on the mountain, go back slowly."

"I understand Aunt Lan, you go back. Yuanshan and I will go back together."

Ji Wenhe looked at the vegetable garden. Shen Yuanshan and Shen Wenshan were watering the vegetables and had not returned home yet.

"Okay, go ahead."

"Okay." She nodded and went straight to the vegetable garden.

The sun was a little strong at noon, and people working in the fields went home to rest.

"Yuanshan, Wenshan, go back and rest for a while, and come back to water the plants in the afternoon."

"Sister-in-law, don't come over here. The smell is pungent." Shen Wenshan walked to the edge of the field with a bucket in his hand. "I won't water any more after this bucket of water is used up."

Ji Wenhe stood not far away waiting for them: "Did you see your eldest brother come back?"

Shen Yuanshan nodded: "I'm back, I'm at home, sister-in-law, please go back first, we will be busy in a while."

"Okay, I'll go back first."

I don't know what Shen Rongshan was doing in the next village.

Carrying the basket, he walked slowly up the mountain, humming a song softly.

I will wait for the two brothers to come back and teach them how to weave bracelets. Make several of each style in different colors, and then go to the market to have a look.

Climbing up the hill, she saw that the gate to the yard was open and Shen Rongshan was standing at the door with his back to her.

Ji Wenhe pushed the gate and made a noise: "Brother Shen, what are you doing?"

"Change the door."

Without looking back, he took down the old wooden door.

There is a new wooden door next to it.

The old wooden door always squeaks, and the slightest movement makes a loud noise.

Shen Rongshan turned around and pointed at the two new wooden basins leaning against the kitchen door: "You can use them to wash your feet and face in the future. There are marks on them so you won't get them mixed up."

Ji Wenhe walked over and saw a circle carved on the edge of the basin, with both of them.

"Brother Shen, did you go next door to find a carpenter to make a new door and basin?"

She thought that the family didn't have much money, so she never asked him to make a new foot basin for her. She would just wash her feet in the evening while wearing her straw sandals.

Shen Rongshan closed the new door and fixed it: "Well, the carpenter was not at home some time ago, so it took some time."

He made two trips before he found the carpenter at home.