Spring scenery in the fields

Chapter 382 Buying New Year’s Goods

At the end of the month, I put on a cotton jacket and a sweater over it.

It was very cold early in the morning. Ji Wenhe blew into his palms, rubbed his hands, then turned around and locked the door.

Shen Wenshan came over from the front: "Sister-in-law, are you ready?"

"Okay, let's go."

The others should have been waiting at the village entrance.

Go east, walk to the creek, turn south, and you will see the aunts talking and laughing at the entrance of the village.

When Shen Yuanshan saw the two of them coming, he said to everyone, "Aunties, please get in the car. Uncle Da Nian, please sit next to me."

I was afraid that he would sit with someone else and I would accidentally bump into his arm.

Zhu Danian nodded and sat on his left side.

Niu Guilan said with a smile: "Wen He, what kind of New Year's goods are you going to buy this year? You must buy a lot of good things."

"Nothing much, just some meat, fish, and salted duck eggs. They're too expensive and we can't afford them."

Li Chunhong moved to the side: "Wen He, come and sit here."

"Hey." She walked over with a smile.

"Your family makes a lot of money, so if you have the money, buy some more delicious food. You don't have to save it all the time. Money is earned to be spent, isn't it?"

Lan Qiuhua took over the conversation: "Wenshan and Yuanshan haven't married yet, so no matter how much money you have, you can't spend it carelessly. But for your family, it's too early for Qianfan to look for a marriage, so buy more meat for the New Year."

Niu Guilan shook her head: "We dare not spend the money carelessly. Let's go to town and buy a pound of pork belly and some fried peanuts. We don't plan to buy anything else."

"When Siyu finds a marriage, if the man's family can give a betrothal gift of 6.6 taels, the child's father and I will feel much more relaxed, and Qianfan won't have to worry about finding a marriage."

Wang Erfeng asked: "Your Siyu is fourteen years old, right? When can we meet?"

"Next year, there's no rush. My daughter will be able to get married anyway. Let her embroider more purses at home and earn some money."

Miao Zhaodi tilted her head and said, "Wen He, come with us to buy meat later."

Ji Wenhe nodded: "Okay, I want to buy some other things, I guess I will have to walk around the town for a long time."

"That's okay, we'll stay with you."

Shen Liang has a wife now, and this year is the happiest year for him. Their family will also buy more New Year’s goods to bring back.

The betrothal gift given to Zhao Xiaoxi before the wedding should be given to her the next day. Don't force it on her.

She said she knew her family didn’t have money, and that they were a family from now on, so there was no need to be too fussy…

Miao Zhaodi only took one or two taels and asked her to keep the rest for herself.

She doesn’t know how much dividend she will get when the pigs are sold next year, but she will be happy even if it’s only a few hundred cents.

"By the way, Wen He, do you want to build a small shed and a stove next to the pig pen? Our pot is small, so we have to cook several pots to feed the pigs."

"Building a big pot to cook pig food saves a lot of trouble compared to a small pot. It's not that I find it troublesome, but the weather will be cold tomorrow, and a pot of food will get cold in a short time."

"It's not enough to feed so many pigs. If I carry a bucket over, several pigs will fight over it, and the pigs in the pen next to me will have to wait. It's better to cook it in a big pot and feed it all at once."

"Aunt Miao is right. I haven't thought about this aspect. I will go back today and discuss with Brother Liang about building a shed next to the pigpen."

"You've never raised pigs before, so you don't know a lot about this. I'll go outside the village and ask who has raised pigs before and what they should pay attention to."

Miao Zhaodi has never raised a pet, so she doesn’t know much about it.

Ji Wenhe nodded thoughtfully.

She was right. It was indeed too troublesome to cook pig food in a small pot, and it was not convenient to carry the pig food back and forth on rainy and snowy days.

Go back and discuss with Shen Liang where is the best place to build it.

Zhou Xiaoyu behind him asked, "Erfeng, your Shen Liao came back to look for a matchmaker, how is it going? He hasn't found anyone yet."

Wang Erfeng said with a smile: "I like you. My family has given the betrothal gifts. We will have the wedding banquet tomorrow, which is a suitable date, before the Chinese New Year."

"So soon." Huang Guihua turned and looked at her, "Why didn't you hear anything? You too, are still hiding it and don't plan to treat us to a banquet."

She smiled and replied, "That's not the case. I just want to set a date and then tell you."

Niu Guilan asked curiously, "How much betrothal gift did your family give? Where is the girl from?"

"The betrothal gift is 88 taels. The girl is from a village in the north. It's not far from Zhaojia Village, but it's not close either. It takes an hour to go there and back by donkey cart."

"Oh! You gave 828 yuan as a betrothal gift!" She opened her eyes wide, "Erfeng, I think your family is really rich."

He usually said that his family had no money, but he gave 8.8 taels of silver as a betrothal gift to marry a daughter-in-law.

"After giving the betrothal gift, do you also buy clothes for the girl?"

Wang Erfeng shook her head: "Their family said that they gave 8.8 taels of silver as a betrothal gift, so they don't have to buy anything. They will buy clothes and shoes for the girl."

"There's not much money left at home. We still have a Qingdai next door, and we need to save some money for her dowry. Since their family said they don't need us to buy it, let's save a little."

In fact, they didn't have much money, only a dozen taels, which they saved by living frugally. Their son spent 8.8 taels on marrying his wife, and she planned to give her daughter a dowry of 2.8 taels to buy two sets of clothes, shoes, and pack two boxes.

"Will the girl's parents bring back some betrothal gifts?" Zhou Xiaoyu asked.

"I don't know. Even if she gave it to us, she might not tell us. Anyway, we won't ask the girl for it. It doesn't matter whether she brings it back or not."

Li Chunhong said: "When my daughter Wanqing got married, she was given a betrothal gift to take back home. I also told her not to tell her husband's family about the betrothal gift and to keep it for herself."

"I hope the girl can live a good life in your house and not cause any trouble. We are experienced people who have lived a hard life. We don't want our daughter to be like us."

Wang Erfeng nodded: "Yes, we all want our daughter to live a good life."

We chatted all the way to town. Several people bought different things, so they went separately or in groups.

Shen Yuanshan accompanied Zhu Danian to see a doctor, and then went to buy New Year's goods.

Shen Wenshan went to Zhou's rice shop to purchase goods. After buying New Year's goods, he went to pull the donkey cart and waited for them outside the town.

Miao Zhaodi, Li Chunhong and Ji Wenhe were together.

Because I bought a lot of things, I carried a basket on my back: "Aunt Miao, Aunt Li, I'll go buy meat with you first, and then we'll go to the roasted nuts shop."

The two nodded.

After buying the meat, I went to a snack shop.

There were a lot of people in the shop, and the four shop assistants were almost overwhelmed.

One of the guys came over and said politely, "Three guests, what would you like to buy?"

Ji Wenhe pointed at a piece of dough-like thing and asked, "What is this?"

It is very thin, just a little thicker than A4 paper, white as snow and looks very soft.

"This is Fuling Cake. Our boss bought it from the pastry shop. It is sold in our shop."

Their boss had just been helping out in the shop and now went to the backyard.