Chapter 266： Regret

Wei Zhan and Xiao Chengyu stayed at Jiang's house for two days.

On the third day, Cui Zhaochen was ready to take them back.

Wei Zhan was okay. He knew that if he didn’t go back, he might be grounded for another half a year, so he got on the carriage obediently and waved goodbye to Huzi and others: “I’ll come back during the Chinese New Year!”

Xiao Chengyu refused to leave. He kicked, hit and scratched the guard who was holding him, and shouted for help at the top of his lungs.

“Ahhh! Help! I don’t want to go back! Wuwuwuwu...I want to come down! I don’t want to go back!”

The guards did not dare to use force, and the young master was allowed to break out of his arms without warning.

Xiao Chengyu quickly ran to Yingbao, hugged her and refused to let go: "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...I don't want to go back. Sister Yingbao, please save me..."

Ying Bao patted him helplessly, "Then you don't want your parents anymore?"

Xiao Chengyu kept shaking his head, with a lot of tears and runny nose: "No, no, no."

Yingbao was speechless, wiped his face with the hem of his clothes, and coaxed: "Then you go home first, and we can play with your brother Wei Zhan later, okay?"

“Not good.” Xiao Chengyu held on to her, sobbing and crying, feeling extremely aggrieved. "Auntie won't let me."

Yingbao thought for a while and said, "My sister gave you a jar of peach juice. You can take it back and give it to your mother to taste. Maybe she will agree to you coming here to play for a few more days."

Xiao Chengyu blinked and thought about it with his immature head, and felt that it made sense.

Because the peach juice tastes so good and can help digestion, he didn't suffer from stomachache even after eating it. My mother-in-law must like it.

“Well, then I want two jars.” Xiao Chengyu began to make conditions.

One jar is given to his mother, and the other jar is for him to drink by himself.

Yingbao: "Okay, just two altars."

As long as this troublemaker is sent away, even if he is given three altars, it will be fine.

Anyway, the peach tree next to the Pupil Spring in my cave has blossomed and bear fruit. The peaches produced are big, red, sweet, and very delicious.

In this season, peaches and grapes were not available. She could not finish them all by herself, so she could only boil them into peach juice or grape juice, and occasionally take out a jar for her brother to drink.

Just boiling the juice couldn't solve the problem, so she brewed some peach wine and wine in Dongfu.

I once bought a jar of distiller's yeast in the capital, and with the jar compensated by the Xiao family, I could use it to make a lot of wine.

When the wine is ready, you can give some as gifts during the Chinese New Year, or you won’t be able to drink it at home.

 Ying Bao ran home and brought two jars of peach juice to Xiao Chengyu.

Seeing that Wei Zhan had a look of resentment on his face, he gave him two more jars and then sent them away.

When he got home, Jiang Quan kept looking at his little cousin, chasing her and asking: "Where did you get so much peach juice?"

“I cooked it before, but I kept it in the house and didn’t take it out.” Ying Baomian said without changing his expression.

Jiang Quan suspected that his cousin was lying, but he had no evidence.

“Do you want to go to the county town with me?” he asked.

Yingbao: "I won't go." It's enough for the county shop to be run by the first cousin and the second cousin. There is no need for me to participate in everything.

Moreover, a house is being built next to the shop recently. If I go there by myself, it will be inconvenient for me to stay.

Jiang Quan shook his head regretfully and started to register the golden ear and snow ear that his little cousin moved out.

Their shop mainly makes a lot of money from golden fungus and snow fungus, and the rest is just a small business.

However, this year’s gourds have become very popular, and many people go to specialty shops to buy them.

The gourds grown by people in the village are basically given to Jiang Quan for sale, and every household makes a lot of money.

Even several gourd growers in the West Village made a fortune from it.

Jiang Quan brought a few baskets of mushrooms and a dozen gourds back to the county town. He was accompanied by his elder brother Jiang Cheng, Yuan Bao and Jiang Jie.

Jiang Yunniang's family was also picked up by her eldest son Zhang Yukun. Before leaving, Mrs. Jiang Liu felt sorry for her daughter and secretly gave her twenty taels of silver.

The village gradually became busy, and every household went to the fields to pick cotton.

The same goes for the Jiang family. The whole family went out to pick cotton. Jiang Sanlang also hired more than 20 people from other villages to help with the work at home.

Chunniang and her elder sister-in-law and her second sister-in-law cooked the food at home and then sent it to the fields for the hired workers to eat.

After picking up the cotton, ginning begins.

Nearly every household in Dongchen Village has a cotton gin, and the harvested seed cotton is quickly ginning.

Jiang Sanlang rolled the ginned cotton into rolls with oil paper, weighing five kilograms each. He sent part of it to his shop, and the rest was going to be spun into yarn and kept for weaving.

At this time, the county government also sent people to purchase cotton seeds and prepare to transport them to the capital.

The county government purchased a lot this time, using twenty or thirty mule carts. The journey was majestic and quite spectacular.

Fortunately, cotton cultivation has become popular in Chuanhe Town, and many families are willing to sell their excess cotton seeds to the government, saving time and effort.

Once the cotton harvest is over, the villagers begin to pull out the cotton stalks, prepare the fields, and prepare for planting wheat.

The Jiang family still hires people to do these tasks, and is responsible for their two meals a day.

On this day, Erni and Yingbao went to the field to deliver food.

Meals are packed in wooden barrels, placed in large bamboo baskets, and carried by ponies to the cotton fields.

When we were halfway there, we saw a woman standing on the side of the road.

The woman's hair is gray and messy, her face is old, and her clothes are piled with patches.

“Er Ni.” The woman spoke, looking at Er Ni with tears in her eyes.

Erni was stunned for a moment, and looked carefully, and it turned out to be her own mother, Mrs. Leng.

“Mom? Why are you like this?” Er Ni did not expect that her own mother would become like this, and she was really shocked.

Leng took a step forward and untied a bundle in his hand, revealing two small clothes and a bag of cloth belts inside.

“Mom sewed the little clothes for you.” She put the small bundle into Erni’s hand: “You are ten years old, you can use it right away.”

Erni held the bundle, bit her lip, and couldn't help but shed tears.

She touched Leng's rough hands and choked with sobs: "Mother, why are you suffering?"

Leng Shi hugged Er Ni and burst into tears. While crying, she said, "It's my fault. I can't forgive your father, I can't forgive you and Huzi, I feel so regretful..."

After she was abandoned by Zuo Chengxiu, not long after she returned to her natal family, her brother sold her to an old sheepherder in her sixties for the price of two sheep.

The old sheepherder is not a human being. He often beats, scolds and humiliates her. She is not allowed to go out and even forces her to give birth to a child.

But for some unknown reason, she never got pregnant.

The old sheepherder felt that he was at a disadvantage, so he went to find the Leng family to make a fuss, and even started a fight with the Leng brothers.

But the old sheepherder was no match for the young and strong Leng Dalang, and he was beaten down in a few strokes.

The old sheepherder was carried home and died within a few days.

The villagers helped bury the old sheepherder, and Leng finally regained his freedom.

She did not go back to her parents' home, but chose to stay and live alone in that dilapidated house.

Since she still had a few sheep at home, she sold two and kept the remaining two for breeding.

But within a few days, Leng Dalang and his wife came to the door again, forcing Mr. Leng to remarry.

This time, Mrs. Leng was determined not to compromise, and warned her mother and brother that if they dared to force her, she would report to the officials, saying that the old sheepherder was beaten to death by them.

Lao Niang Leng and Dalang Leng were now afraid and did not dare to harass her again.

“Er Ni, mother doesn’t ask for anything. I just want to come and see you occasionally, okay?” Mrs. Leng hugged Er Ni and cried.

She regretted it. Looking back on those years, she was really crazy. She thought that her mother's family was the best, and the result was like this.

Erni nodded: "You can come if you want, but...don't do what you did before. Dad is married, Yanruniang is very good to me and Huzi, you...just don't disturb them."