Koi baby helps his mother farm and becomes the richest man

This is the first time since the drought that everyone has been thinking about celebrating the New Year.

Every household in Tongshutun is preparing for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

Chen Dazhuang went to Huaihuagou specifically to learn how to make tofu. Those who wanted to eat tofu would weigh the beans and send them over, and then go to pick them up when they were ready. Chen Dazhuang would make some money from the tofu dregs, and the soy milk he made would be sent to Zhou Yu and others.

Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying also made some tofu, half of which they cut into small pieces and put outside to make frozen tofu, and the other half was used as dumpling filling.

Qin Ying grabbed a handful of soybeans, roasted them until they were golden brown, then ground them into fine powder and mixed them into the cabbage stuffing. She could actually smell the aroma of meat.

After the cabbage is chopped, the juice squeezed out is used to make dough, so nothing is wasted.

After the mother and daughter wrapped the dumplings, they covered them with a curtain and placed them in a shady place outside to freeze. Then they put them into jars and placed them outside again. When it was time to eat, they could just take them out and cook them.

When Zhao Hu returned home, he saw the mother and daughter putting dumplings into a jar and asked them about it.

Aunt Zhao said with a smile, "You're back? Master Zhou is back too?"

"They're back! They're all back!" Zhao Hu ran over and asked with a grin, "What's the filling?"

Qin Ying smiled and replied, "Three kinds of fillings, one with cabbage and tofu, one with wood ear and radish, and one with cabbage and mushroom."

Zhao Hu slurped his saliva and said, "I haven't eaten dumplings in three years. I'm so craving them!"

"Don't be greedy yet," Aunt Zhao picked up a basket and stuffed it into his hand, "There are a hundred dumplings in here, take them to your Uncle Chen Jiu's house.

"If you see Mr. Zhou, tell him not to be disgusted and let him eat together. Country people can't bring out any good things, and it's the New Year, so this is the meaning."

Zhao Hu agreed and ran away with the basket in his arms.

Qin Ying looked at his back and sighed softly: "Mom, don't wait until the New Year to wear Hu Zi's new shoes? His toes are exposed in those shoes!"

"Isn't the Chinese New Year just two days away?" Aunt Zhao was still a little hesitant. "He probably doesn't need to go out anymore."

"Mom," Qin Ying advised, "As long as our family is together, every day is Chinese New Year!"

Aunt Zhao thought of the famine that had not yet completely passed and couldn't help but sigh, "Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll give him the shoes when he comes back."

The mother and daughter returned to the house, cleaned up the chopping board and wash basin, went into the house to check on An An, and the little guy was still sleeping.

They took out their sewing baskets and continued to work. Aunt Zhao hesitated for a while before saying, "Yingzi, Mr. Zhou is very caring towards our family. Do you think we should make him a pair of shoes too?"

"No," Qin Ying immediately stopped what she was doing and said seriously, "Mom, don't even think about it. People like them have people who take care of their clothes and things.

"Even if I accept something as a gift from someone else, I won't use it."

Aunt Zhao blinked, a little unconvinced, "But I don't think Mr. Zhou is such a particular person!"

Qin Ying smiled and said, "Mom, think about it carefully. Is there anyone in our country who carries a handkerchief with him like Mr. Zhou?"

"Well," Aunt Zhao paused, "it's true that no one uses that thing. I was given a red handkerchief when I got married, but I never wanted to use it. When I gave birth to Hu Zi, I made him a bellyband..."

Qin Ying couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Think about it again, no matter what time it is, Master Zhou's clothes are almost wrinkle-free, right?

"He never wears patched clothes either."

Aunt Zhao looked down at her patched clothes and shook her head. "Isn't it normal for an official to not wear patched clothes?"

"But haven't you noticed?" Qin Ying reminded, "Master Zhou has been in our village for such a long time, and he only wears the same two colors of clothes.

"If I hadn't noticed, I'd have thought he only had two changes of clothes.

"But if he really only had those two, how come they haven't been torn at all after being worn for so long? He's been doing a lot of hard labor."

Without waiting for Aunt Zhao to guess, she gave the answer directly: "So, there is only one possibility, he has a lot of clothes of the same color and style."

As he spoke, he flipped through the scraps of cloth at hand and said, "And the shoes he wears, the uppers are better than the best cloth we have."

Aunt Zhao's eyes also fell on the pile of scraps of cloth, which they had cut from clothes that were too torn to be mended.

The ones that are too broken are glued together to make the soles, and the ones that are not too broken are pieced together to make the uppers.

In fact, except in winter, people in the countryside are reluctant to wear cloth shoes. They either go barefoot in summer and wear straw sandals in spring and autumn.

Well, there are also bachelors who go barefoot all year round.

Aunt Zhao's idea was completely dispelled.

Not long after, Zhao Hu returned, carrying a small bundle on his arm. He first warmed himself by the fire, which made him feel less cold. Then he went to the east room and peeked in. Seeing An An sleeping, he lowered his voice slightly and placed the bundle on the edge of the kang. "This is from Master Zhou."

Aunt Zhao's face immediately fell, "You little rascal, why are you accepting other people's things?"

"Master Zhou insisted on giving it to me, what can I do?" Zhao Hu felt a little aggrieved. Brother Xu Xia stuffed it into my arms and pushed it out. "Master Jiu told me through the courtyard wall and told me to accept it with peace of mind."

Aunt Zhao untied the bundle. Inside were two pieces of cloth, one black and one red, two ounces of cotton, and a bundle of colorful embroidery thread.

Zhao Hu then said, "Master Zhou said that it's the New Year and he doesn't have anything good to give as a gift. He was worried about An An not having new shoes, so he asked us to make two pairs of cotton shoes for An An."

Qin Ying also came over, picked up the two pieces of cloth and took a look, and quickly confirmed: "These are leftover scraps from something. It's okay, let's take them. Fresh vegetables are hard to come by in winter. We can send them a few more times later, and it will almost make up for the loss."

She took out the shoes made for Zhao Hu and asked him to change into them. Zhao Hu was reluctant to put them on and held the shoes in his arms, insisting on waiting until he washed his feet in the evening before changing them.

When An An woke up, she was very happy to see her uncle whom she hadn't been close to for several days. She opened her little arms and asked for a hug.

But Zhao Hu was so happy that he kissed An An on the face several times.

An An giggled. It can absorb 0.01 energy. What’s wrong with being kissed a few times?

The family was talking affectionately when Xu Xia came with a big bag in his hand.

After a few pleasantries, he said to Aunt Zhao, "Aunt, I am actually an orphan. I have no father or mother."

Aunt Zhao immediately showed a sympathetic expression.

Xu Xia said embarrassedly, "I used to buy all my clothes on the street. It's been a long time since I've been back to the city. Look at my clothes."

As he spoke, he lifted up the collar of his shirt. There was a big hole in it, sewn crookedly. The biggest stitch was almost an inch long, and the smallest one was half a finger wide.

When I turned around, I found that there were several unsewed places on my back.

Aunt Zhao immediately took up her needle and thimble and said, "Child, take it off and I'll sew it up for you. It will be fine in a moment."