Chapter 169： early winter

Chapter 169 Early entry into winter

Everyone in Qiao’s family put on cotton-padded clothes. Last year’s ones were all warm enough to wear. She hurriedly asked people to go to the cloth shop to buy cotton to make cotton-padded clothes. Who knew that all the cotton in the town was sold out.

After thinking about it, she simply drove the carriage to the county seat.

Unexpectedly, the cotton in the county was also exhausted. She frowned, and used her thoughts to collect a few acres of cotton grown in the space and loaded it into the car.

She studied mechanics, and immediately used wood to make a machine for picking cotton when she got home.

Called two women and asked them to wear masks. After the church, let her be in charge of picking cotton.

After flicking the cotton and sending it out, everyone rushed to make cotton clothes overnight, and everyone had two sets of thick cotton clothes.

There were still some cotton and cloth left, and she had them all made into padded clothes for adults and sent to Qian's family. These were not for Mayor Qian, but for beggars in the town.

Fortunately, everyone responded in time. The shopkeeper Lu let the beggars live in the small courtyard where Qiao Mai lived, and no longer used Qiao Mai's shop.

It can be considered that she supported Mayor Qian. Apart from donating cotton clothes, Qiao Mai also bought them food for the winter.

And asked Mayor Qian to post notices, asking people in need in each village to come to the mayor's house to receive food, and the lonely and unclothed old people would send food and firewood home.

Qiao Mai is not worried about their food, but worried about whether there will be a snowstorm from the sky, fearing that they will not be able to get out at that time, and they will be left to eat, so they distribute food and firewood.

If you don't say that the officials are doing something, the people will enjoy the blessings.

With Qiao Mai's support, Mayor Qian asked his family's guards to drive the carriage to deliver food and firewood to the needy households in the villages under his jurisdiction.

Some came to pick them up by themselves, and acted in both directions, and all the relief was in place within a few days.

Yuan Jiaqi came back at the end of the month. When he left, he only brought a thin cotton-padded jacket. When he came back, he was freezing.

Qiao Mai hurriedly sent him a newly made thick padded coat, as well as the medicines for wind-cold and fever that he bought from the platform, and the names and effects of the medicines were written on the bottles.

"I'm too busy these days, so I may not be able to take care of you. If you're not feeling well, go see a doctor. These two bottles of medicine are for you to take to the academy, and there's a new set of cotton-padded clothes."

"Well, you are busy, I can take care of myself."

Qiao Mai left, Yuan Jiaqi quickly changed into thick cotton clothes and trousers, took off his shoes and got into the warm kang.

It’s better to be at home, it’s better to have a woman at home.

No matter how busy Qiao Mai was, he never ignored him.

Chuan'er was wearing a thick cotton coat, and ran in like a ball with a small cloth bag on his back.

"Daddy, Daddy, I can sleep with Daddy tonight."

"Yo, I gained a lot of weight again. Didn't I eat less when I went to the capital?"

"Hee hee, eat well every day."

He put all the good things in the bag on the table, introduced them to Yuan Jiaqi one by one, and stuffed them into his mouth for him to eat.

"Daddy, are you hungry? Shall I go to the kitchen and get you something delicious?"

"Not hungry, let's eat together at noon."

"Well, Mother is reinforcing the greenhouse with the women in the backyard,"

"Can you tell Dad what happened in the capital?"

"OK."

In the warm room, the father and son snuggled together, Yuan Jiaqi listened to his son talking about Qiao Mai vividly.

He sometimes laughs, sometimes moves, and sometimes is proud.

Once he warmed up, he ran to the back to help.

The old gentleman and the old lady dare not go out, they are afraid of the cold, and they are undoubtedly looking for illness when they come out in such weather.

As soon as it entered November, it was freezing outside, and Yuan Jiaqi reluctantly went to the academy. The howling north wind blew on his face, which hurt like a knife.

Compared with previous years, Tianshui Town has entered winter half a month earlier, and the common people’s wheat seeds have just been planted in the ground, and they don’t know if they can survive this hurdle.

Qiao Mai is not a god, nor is she a magic stick, nor can she pinch her fingers or tell her fate. Just in case, she began to ask people to hoard food.

This is the food tax that has just been paid, not only hoarding food, but also buying firewood.

On the martial arts arena, a small half of the place is piled with firewood and charcoal.

Not to mention her, many people feel that it is abnormal, and they are starting to stockpile food and firewood. Even some ordinary people, in order not to be frozen to death or starved to death in winter, start buying with the only money they have. stand up.

Food prices and charcoal prices rose immediately, and there were even shortages of food and charcoal in many places.

It just so happened that the batch of rubber trees felled by Qiao Mai Space last time had a place to use. In the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep, she almost filled up the training ground.

They are all 30 centimeters long, which is very convenient to cut and use.

On the sixth day of November, it was snowing heavily and there was no one on the road. It was so cold.

Qiao Mai ordered the snack shop to close, let the shopkeeper and the staff have a good rest, and sweep the snow on the roof when they are free, so that there is no need to sell any more goods.

Every two hours in Qiao’s house, someone would step on a ladder and scrape down the snow on the house to prevent the house from being crushed by the thick snow.

Although it is a new house, you have to pay attention.

This kind of snow fell for a whole day and night, then it turned into moderate snow, and it took another day and night before it turned into light snow.

When people come out of their homes, the snow is as high as a person. If it turns into rain, Tianshui Town will be flooded.

Many people are worried about the harvest in the coming year, and even think that there may be no harvest, and they all feel sad, but no matter how worried they are, they have to take care of their eyes.

After the snow stopped, Mayor Qian hurriedly ordered people to start clearing the snow, but how? There is snow everywhere, where will the snow that is one person tall be cleared?

Each family can only clear a road to go back and forth, and there is no place to pile up the snow.

Qiao Mai wanted to move the snow to the space, but after thinking about it, she couldn’t do it. Snow is also water. She moved the root here. I don’t know if it will bring them other disasters.

She didn't dare to try, and she couldn't bear the consequences.

She led people to compact the snow in the open area of ​​the house first, and then moved the snow from other places here to pile up like hills, and then cleared out the greenhouse, poultry house, and road.

At the gate of Qiao’s house, there is also the official road in front of the shop. Qiao Mai and his family also cleaned it like this.

After all the snow was compacted, they were piled up together, and the height of one person became the height of two people, and then became the height of three people. That's how she took people to clear part of it every day.

The people in the town followed suit, and they all mobilized to clear the snow like her.

It won’t work if you don’t clean it up. If there are no merchants coming and going, the shop will have no business, and if there are no people around, where the income will come from, the road must be cleared.

Mayor Qian came out to watch every day, and the servants and guards at home were all on the move.

Many people are powerful, clearing about a dozen miles to the north and twenty miles to the south.

In some places the snow is thick, while in some landowners the snow is thin. It seems that the snow falls in different places.

Not only are they cleaning up, but many places are also being cleaned up. The imperial court has ordered that when it rains and snows, the official road must be guaranteed to pass.

The road didn't pass until the end of November. Yuan Jiaqi also suspended classes because of the sudden cold weather, and the school had insufficient firewood and charcoal reserves. If you want to go to class, you will be notified.

There is no need to go to Fucheng anymore, he can finally rest at home.

When I came back, apart from doing work, I went to Mr. Wang's place, and the two discussed knowledge while drinking tea.

The children don’t go out very much, they practice calligraphy and play games together in the house.

Mayor Qian has not been idle during this period. Since the road was opened, he took guards to various villages to check. Some houses collapsed and he could not live in them. He registered them all.

Fortunately, this year, the prevention was early. Only a few houses were uninhabitable. He paid for it himself, and he didn't bother Qiao Mai and those merchants again.

Qiao Mai has done a good enough job. She donated the food and firewood on her own initiative. Without her, many people in the ten miles and eight villages in this town would not be able to resist.

Liu Ye and Liu Hai sent a cart of food and firewood to the family long before it snowed.

The two were trapped in the small town for a month, and they went to clear the snow with the common people every day when they had nothing to do.

(end of this chapter)