The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

Xiao Sanbao was a lively person. When he saw Lu Qingqing, he jumped up and threw himself on her, shouting excitedly:

"Sister Daya, you're here!"

Lu Qingqing caught the little naughty monkey and lifted him up and down.

The child is five years old, but he is still very thin and has no weight.

Widow Meng raised a child alone and lived a very frugal life on weekdays.

But this child was very outgoing. After eating the snacks she gave him twice, he would kiss her every time he saw her.

At this time, Tian Funiang next to her deliberately coughed and raised the pumpkin white flour cake in her hand.

"Xiao Sanbao, grandma has some sweet noodles!"

Xiao Sanbao first took the dried meat given by Lu Qingqing, and then ran to Tian Funiang.

He called out sweetly, took the pancake and looked at his mother with a smile.

Widow Meng originally wanted to push it away, not wanting to accept these good things and owe anyone a favor.

But seeing his son's greedy look, he had no choice but to agree and planned to give him some more dishes to repay the favor.

"Sanbao, you can't eat all these good things in one day, understand?"

Xiao Sanbao nodded obediently: "Mom, I'm waiting for you to eat together, I will definitely not eat secretly!"

Widow Meng was amused by the little naughty monkey and waved her hand to let him eat by himself.

As he said this, he called the two of them into the house and sat down.

Tian Funiang is a good communicator. After sitting down, she tells the story in just a few words.

When Widow Meng heard that Wu Lichang had done something bad and stopped the villagers from coming to help, she felt a sense of solidarity and said angrily:

"This Wu guy is really not a good person.

When I bought silk before, he charged me the price of inferior silk, and gave me less than one or two taels of silver for each piece of cloth."

When Tianfu Niang heard that so much silver was missing, she was also angry:

"Give me less than this amount. If it were converted into food, it would be enough for you and your mother to eat for a long time!"

Lu Qingqing listened and asked with some doubt:

"Sister Meng, isn't there a shop in Yining County that will buy the silk you weave?"

When Widow Meng heard this, a look of sadness appeared on her face.

“It’s really hard to sell the silk we weave ourselves in the city.

The larger silk shops in the city all have looms and employ a large number of skilled women to weave silk all year round.

Most shops rarely buy silk from outside.

Before, a man from the village went to the city to work and secretly asked the two shops.

They didn't even look at the material and just rejected it directly.

Besides, we are far away from the city and it is really troublesome to go to the city.

The land of each family is basically divided, and each family does not have much land, so no one raises cattle.

In the entire Baoshan Town, only the Wu family, the head of the village, has a mule for transportation.

Every time he collected silk, he would use a mule cart to take it to the city to sell.

However, Captain Wu was always very careful and no one was seen where he sold the goods.

Even his younger brother Wu Hongliang didn't know where it was.

Sister Daya, I’m not afraid of you laughing at me, but I’ve never been to Yining County even at my age!

I heard that every time you enter the city, you have to pay a two-cent entrance fee.

If I can’t sell it, I’ll lose two cents!”

As Lu Qingqing listened, an idea came to her mind.

At this time, Widow Meng realized that she had gone off topic, patted her thigh, and said with a smile:

"Look at me, why am I telling you this?"

As he spoke, he thought of what Tianfu Niang had just said, and after pondering over the people in the village, he said:

“If you’re looking for help, I guess no one from the Wu clan will come over.

If you want to find it, you can go to Hunter Wang’s house at the back of the village.

His four sons are all quite old, but none of them are married.

The hunter's wife had injured herself giving birth to a child at an early age and was unable to do the work of raising silkworms.

Besides, his family is the native inhabitants of this place, and he has many sons, so he is not afraid of the village chief Wu. You can go and ask him."

As she spoke, Widow Meng told her about the families in the village who might come to help and their specific locations.

Lu Qingqing wrote them down one by one and planned to ask them one by one later.

During the meeting, we talked about the team wanting to go to Xingjia Village to hire people.

After hearing this, Widow Meng was not optimistic.

There is no other reason. After knowing that raising silkworms can make money in Baoshan Town, the people of Xingjia Village came here specifically to ask for help.

I don’t know how they discussed with Village Chief Wu, but in the end those people took back the silkworm seeds and cut mulberry branches.

Because the grafted mulberry branches could not be used to pick mulberry leaves in a short period of time, these people ran to Baoshan Town for a long time just to pick mulberry leaves.

I heard that almost everyone in the village with more than a dozen households raises silkworms.

The techniques of raising silkworms and weaving silk were taught by people sent by Village Chief Wu.

Naturally, the silk they wove was sold to Wu, the village chief.

When Lu Qingqing and the other person heard this, their faces turned a little unhappy.

This Village Chief Wu is really haunting us. I guess it will be hard for Lu Shu and his friends to gain anything if they go there!

The three of them chatted for a while, and when they had almost gotten enough information, they stood up and said goodbye and left.

Before leaving, Widow Meng ignored the two men's attempts to stop her and picked a lot of vegetables for them to take away.

When Lu Qingqing and the others returned, many women in the team had already returned.

After everyone exchanged information, they found that only two families agreed directly.

As for the rest of the families, their answers were vague.

They neither refused nor accepted.

But what he said implicitly expressed his fear of offending Village Chief Wu and the fear that the silk at home would not be able to be sold at a good price in the future.

After hearing this, Lu Qingqing began to ponder the thoughts that had come to her mind before.

Every household in their Baoshan Town makes money by raising silkworms and weaving silk.

Because the village chief Wu was the only one who collected silk, he controlled the economic lifeline of the people.

If so, she could find a way to export the silk.

Not only will the villagers of Baoshan Town no longer be afraid of him because of this, but in the future, the people in the team will no longer have to be constrained by him when raising silkworms and weaving silk.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this was something she could give a try.

If she really finds a way, then most of the problems the team is facing now will be solved.

If you really can't find it, just think of it as a drive around the city for fun.

After making up her mind, Lu Qingqing told Lu Tianming about her plan.

After listening to this, Lu Tianming looked at her with admiration in his eyes.

"Daya, your idea is very good. Our team will definitely raise silkworms and weave silk in the future.

If there is a suitable way, then I won’t have to rely on Village Chief Wu’s mood for my food anymore.

Well, when Shuhe comes back this afternoon, I'll have him go with you to the city to look for a way out."

Seeing that he agreed, Lu Qingqing felt more at ease.

But Lu Shuhe had taken people out for a trip and it was not known what time he would be back.

Lu Qingqing thought for a moment and said:

"Uncle Tianming, building a house is urgent now.

I'm afraid it will take a while for Brother Shuhe to come back, so I won't wait for him.

Wait a minute, I'll tell Master to let my brother go with me."

Lu Tianming nodded:

"That's fine too. If you can find a way, that would be great. If not, don't feel pressured.

Don't rush while driving. If you can't get back before dark, just stay in the city for a night."

After Lu Qingqing agreed, she went to find Master Yan and several senior brothers.