The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Time flies, and it is the sixth day of the first lunar month in a blink of an eye.

With nothing to do at home these days, Chen Cui took the children to cook various foods, mainly various kinds of pasta.

Make steamed buns, dumplings, flower rolls, pancakes, noodles, and occasionally fry meatballs.

Now that the meat bought before the New Year has long been eaten and the vegetables have been almost consumed, Chen Cui plans to go to the county town to buy some more meat and bring back the mule and the cart.

However, they have now returned the ox cart as it is very inconvenient to go out in the winter.

In particular, one has to go to Chenjiagou first, find Chen Shangen, and then go to the county town. This journey will take a lot of time. If one only relies on walking, it will take half a day to reach the county town.

So, Chen Cui shamelessly found Liu Youcai and asked to borrow the ox cart, and also asked him about the location of the livestock shop in the county.

When Liu Youcai learned that Chen Cui was planning to buy a mule for picking up and dropping off several children from school, he really looked at this woman with new eyes.

If she said that she didn't know the annual cost of supporting a scholar, Liu Youcai would not believe it. After all, there had been two scholars in their old house, and she should be clear about the expenses.

Since she knew this, she still dared to support the education of three children at once, which means she must have earned a lot of money last winter, which gave her the confidence to do so.

However, Liu Youcai also admired her courage. Even the old guy Liu Youliang only dared to support one person at a time. Seeing that his eldest son had no hope, he started to support his eldest grandson. Other children and grandchildren had no such opportunity.

Liu Youcai was silent for a while before speaking: "You have to buy a mule cart and send three children to school. This is a lot of money. How long can you support them to study?"

Chen Cui smiled bitterly: "Uncle, to be honest, I don't know either, but all three of them are my children. Even if my money is only enough for them to study for one year and they still have to farm when they come back, at least they have equal opportunities. I have given them the opportunities they deserve, and they won't be blamed in the future."

Chen Cui said this half-truthfully to show that she actually had limited money, and that letting three children go to school at once was also for the sake of fairness.

"Okay, it's rare that you have this intention, thinking of sending the children to school. They are all descendants of our Liu family. No matter which one of them has a promising future, it will be the glory of our family. I won't use the carriage tomorrow. You can ask Changping to come and drive the carriage tonight."

Liu Youcai looked at Chen Cui with admiration and said.

Chen Cui said goodbye and Chen Meihua came out to see her off. The two of them teased each other and whispered to each other.

"Cui, how dare you say that in front of my father-in-law, and he seems quite happy."

Chen Meihua had been silent for a long time, but now she finally dared to speak out and looked at Chen Cui with surprise.

She has been married for more than ten years, but she still dares not speak loudly in front of her serious father-in-law and always feels uncomfortable. Unexpectedly, Xiao Cui is fearless and says whatever she wants. The old man is actually quite happy.

"Sister Meihua, how can I be bold? I'm just telling the truth." Chen Cui was a little amused.

"You really have to send all three of your family to school. It will cost a lot of money for a year!"

Chen Meihua's husband and son both studied in the town, but they didn't do very well. But she also knew the cost.

"Well, you know, Eryong's biggest wish in life was to go to school. Now that he's gone, I'll send the children to school. They can study as long as they can. Even if they only know a few words and learn to write their own names, at least they won't be blind."

Chen Cui made a nostalgic expression.

"Well, you should keep a close eye on the kids then. Don't be like my head root. After studying for two or three years, he can't even recognize all the characters on the almanac. His handwriting is as bad as a dog's. I don't know how many times he was beaten by his father, but he just won't make progress."

Chen Meihua sighed.

Other people want to go to school but don’t have the opportunity, but this person in her family has the opportunity but doesn’t cherish it.

The money for the child's education has been spent, but she can't help the child who can't concentrate on his studies.

Now her son refuses to go to school no matter what she says. This grown-up boy has been sitting at home doing nothing, and she is worried about him!

"Thank you for your reminder. I will definitely push them to make progress when the time comes. I won't waste this money."

Although Chen Cui thought that her own children all loved to study and would not be like this, she still expressed gratitude.

"Well, what's the relationship between us? Why are you still thanking me? When your kids are about to go to school, come and ask me if you have any questions. After all, my family also went to school for a few years."

Chen Cui agreed with a smile.

The next morning, Chen Cui and her family had breakfast early and took a ox cart to Chenjiagou.

When we arrived at Chenjiagou, the villagers had just finished their meal, including Chen Shangen's family.

When Chen Shangen learned the purpose of Chen Cui's visit, he was also very happy.

Coincidentally, he was planning to go to the county town to buy a cow these days, and this time he happened to be going with his daughter's family.

He packed up a little, took his eldest son Chen Dahai with him, and the two of them got on a ox cart and headed for the county town together.

The children of the Chen family all stared at the ox cart going away, with envious expressions on their faces.

They also wanted to go to the county town like their cousins, but unfortunately there was no room on the bus.

However, grandpa said that when he comes back, their family will have their own ox cart.

When the group arrived at the county town, it was almost noon. Chen Cui suggested that they go eat first and then go to the livestock market.

After dinner, Chen Cui wanted to pay the bill, but her father got there first. The old man said arrogantly, "I'm here, how can I let you pay?"

Chen Cui smiled and said, "Forget it, it's just a matter of a few dozen coins," so she didn't argue with him.

The livestock market is located in the north of the city, near the city gate, and has existed for many years.

Not only cattle, sheep, horses and mules are traded here, but also cats, dogs and the like. Of course, with so many animals gathered together, eating and excreting every day, the smell is naturally very touching.

It's winter and the smell is so strong. If it were summer, Chen Cui probably wouldn't be able to breathe.

Chen Cui and several children couldn't help covering their mouths and noses, but Chen Shangen and Chen Dahai acted as if nothing had happened.

They often work in the fields and have to pile up manure every year. They have seen all kinds of dirty scenes, so this little smell is nothing to them.

As soon as they entered the livestock shop, enthusiastic brokers surrounded them and asked them what kind of livestock they wanted to buy.

When he learned that they wanted to buy a cow and a mule, the thin broker was so happy that he kept surrounding Chen Shangen and kept introducing him to the market situation and his own business capabilities.

Chen Shangen felt that it was safer to have a broker accompany them when buying livestock. After all, they were from the countryside, and even if they had experience, they were afraid of being cheated, and it would be too late to say anything by then, so he did not refuse the broker's company.