Chapter 365： Find another way

Jiang Wu immediately opened his eyes: "It turns out it was Master Zhou you were looking for, Dad. I thought..."

I thought Master Zhou had become a general and led troops to rescue Jingzhou.

Jiang Sanlang reached out and poked his son on the forehead, and said angrily: "Master Zhou doesn't know that you have gone to Jingzhou. After hearing what I said, he immediately chartered a big boat and rushed there."

As for how Master Zhou summoned the army, he did not know. He must have used many connections.

The next day, Yingbao went to Luyuan alone and released Youyou.

The red color on Youyou's body has faded a bit, making her look more and more weird.

Yingbao touched its head apologetically, patted its butt, and asked Youyou to go to the deer herd.

Yoyou nuzzled the little master and walked towards the deer herd with vigorous steps.

The deer were stunned for a moment, then finally recognized the leader and continued to eat the weeds on the ground.

Ying Bao looked at it for a while, then turned to look for Chu Chu and handed her the things Chu Yan brought.

Niuniu is three years old and is a little older than her cousin.

“Niuniu, do you still recognize me?” Yingbao put the backpack on the ground and teased the little baby who was covered in mud.

Niu Niu blinked her big eyes and suddenly called out: "Sister."

Ying Bao laughed loudly: "Call me aunt, aunt!"

Niuniu called out obediently: "Auntie."

"Yes, I am your aunt." Yingbao picked her up and took out a handkerchief to wipe her face.

I was too busy yesterday and didn't have time to see her. Today I just brought Chu Yan's things and bought two boxes of cakes for Niu Niu.

With no Chu Chu in sight, Ying Bao asked, "Why is Niuniu home alone? Where are your mother and brother?"

“Mom took my brother to wash clothes.” Niu Niu spoke clearly and kept staring at Ying Bao with her big eyes.

Yingbao put her down and took her to wash her hands.

This Chuchu is really true, the little girl is buried like this, and she is not even washed.

Soon a basin of water was washed black by Niu Niu, but her little hands were still not clean.

After using two basins of water, Niuniu's little face and hands were finally clean. Yingbao put a piece of snack into her hand and sat next to her to watch her eat.

Niu Niu ate very carefully and imitated Ying Bao by sitting on the small bench.

Yingbao said: "Niuniu can't lie down and play on the ground, or there will be bugs in her stomach."

“Yeah!” Niu Niu nodded.

Yingbao picked up Kong Mingsuo from the ground again and taught Niuniu how to dismantle it.

Niuniu is very smart and can master it in no time. She stuffs the last bit of bean cake into her mouth and disassembles it like Yingbao did.

At this time, Chu Chu came back with Hei Dan on her back. She was very happy to see Ying Bao. She put down the basket in her hand, hugged Ying Bao, and started to dry the clothes.

Yingbao also picked up the wet clothes, wrung them out and hung them to dry on the bamboo rack. "Sister Chu Chu, I met Chu Yan and he asked me to bring something to you."

Chu Chu paused and asked quickly: "What is Chu Yan doing now? Why doesn't he write to me?"

“It’s inconvenient for him.” Yingbao hung up some clothes to dry, pointed to a basket of things and said, “He asked me to give this to you.”

There are pieces of cloth in the basket, as well as two pairs of gold locks for children, two pairs of gold bracelets for children, two gold hairpins, a pair of large gold bracelets, and two hundred taels of silver.

Chu Chu hugged something and cried. "No matter how inconvenient he is, he should tell me that he is safe. It has been several years, but he has not said anything."

When she thought that Chu Yan was going out with her husband's brother, Chu Chu became furious.

After crying for a while, she saw the black egg behind her started to cry. She quickly put him down and held him to breastfeed.

Ying Bao couldn't help but twitch her face when she saw that Chu Chu was now acting like a slovenly country woman, sitting on a bench with her clothes raised to nurse her baby.

I will never have children in the future, and I will not breastfeed them.

Milk dolls and stuff, so scary.

Coming out of Chu Chu's house, Niu Niu was chasing behind her and crying loudly.

Ying Bao had no choice but to hold her little hand and lead her along. Chu Chu was busy with housework all day long. She washed, cooked, nursed her children, and took care of the vegetable garden. She had to carry the black egg with her, so she neglected Niu Niu.

So Niuniu plays alone most of the time.

Today, I finally met a young lady who was willing to play with her... my aunt, so I naturally got close to her.

Ying Bao took Niu Niu to the market outside the village and saw Chen Zhao as expected.

She and her eldest sister Chen Wan jointly opened a food stall selling fried sugar cakes and pork wontons.

The wontons are filled with enough black pepper, vinegar and coriander to make them fragrant.

 Chen Zhao was very happy to see Ying Bao and waved to her: "Ying Bao, come quickly! Try the wontons I made."

Ying Bao led Niu Niu over and sat down at the small table.

Looking around, I saw that after a month or two, there were several more stalls in the market, including a butcher stall and a saddlery shop.

More and more people are settling and building houses on the southern slope, and they are gradually spreading far away. The market here is also more lively than in the town.

Excluding the drug stores, cloth shops and inns opened by several big families in the town, there are many stalls in the market here, selling everything.

There are also girls and wives from neighboring villages selling embroidery products on the roadside with baskets in their hands. They also bring small benches and embroidery cloths to sit on the roadside and embroider on the spot.

"The wontons are ready." Chen Zhao brought a bowl of hot wontons to Yingbao, and then brought a small bowl to Niuniu.

Ying Bao picked up a spoon and stirred it slowly, then asked Chen Zhao: "Is business okay?"

"Of course. My eldest sister and I can earn five hundred yuan a day." Chen Zhao wiped his hands with his apron and said with great pride: "If there is a business meeting every day, we can earn two yuan a day."

Ying Bao stirred the small bowl of wontons to cool down before putting the spoon into Niu Niu's hand.

“Do your grandparents agree to keep doing business?”

"What can she do if she doesn't agree?" Chen Zhao snorted: "We have done a lot to support the family."

After thinking about it, I still complained to Yingbao: "Dad's expenses for studying in the county are increasing. I don't know where he spent them."

Looking around at Wuwairen, Chen Zhao lowered his voice and asked, "Yingbao, tell me, how much does it cost to study at the county school in a month?"

“I don’t know.” Yingbao ate the wontons and fed Niu Niu.

Chen Zhao stared and said, "Isn't your brother Jiang Jie also studying at the county school? How could you not be clear?"

“Oh, tell me Jiang Jie, he doesn’t have much money to spend. He can’t even spend 500 yuan a month.” Ying Bao told the truth.

The younger brother lives in the backyard of the shop and eats the food cooked by his aunt every day. Occasionally he goes out to eat with his classmates, and the price does not exceed 30 yuan.

As for pens, ink, paper and inkstones, at most two to three hundred liters are consumed in a month.

Of course, that’s because I wholesaled a lot of fine rice paper and pen and ink from Fucheng, enough for Jiang Jie to use for several years.

"Ha! Let me tell you, he took that woman to the county seat, not to study!" Chen Zhao angrily wiped the table with linen cloth: "It only costs ten taels a month. We finally made some money and gave it to him. The woman bought rouge and gouache.”

"Ah Zhao." Chen Wan glared at her sister disapprovingly: "Don't talk nonsense."

It’s hard to talk about family matters to outsiders, let alone when the person you’re talking about is your own father.

Chen Zhao said nonchalantly: "What nonsense am I talking about? Ying Bao is not an outsider."

Yingbao fed Niuniu a bite, took a bite herself, and quickly finished the wontons.

Putting down the wonton money, Yingbao said: "My brother never needs money from the family to study. He is a Linshan student and can receive four guans per month, plus rice and vegetables, and he can also receive pork and mutton."

Then Chen Changping is just a fifth-level student and is not even qualified to take the provincial examination.

Not all students studying in the county school can take the examination. Every three years, all those who take the township examination are Linshan students.

Occasionally, there are accretions for reference, which must be approved by the county edict. If the teacher thinks that you are not good at school, he will not issue you a certificate from the provincial examination.

Without proof, the county government will not let you register for reference, nor will it provide you with travel expenses.

So if Chen Changping wants to enter an official career in this life, he will most likely have to find another way.

So, which daughter will he sacrifice to pave the way for him?

Thank you very much for the reward of 5,000 starting coins from Min and Mie Baobao.