Chapter 14

Her mother didn't explain where the toothbrush came from, but directly handed her a toothbrush to brush her teeth.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was very sensible and didn't ask any more questions.

Anyway, after these few days of getting along, her mother had completely treated her as a five-year-old child, young and ignorant, and wouldn't find it strange if there were occasionally some "strange" things in the house.

People in the village didn't pay attention to these things, and rarely had the habit of gargling and washing their faces in the morning, usually dirty, with big yellow teeth, and a smell could be smelled when talking close.

Few particular rural women would gargle with salt water or strong tea in the morning, or chew a willow branch dipped in salt in their mouths.

But these gargling methods were far less clean than brushing with a toothbrush.

There were toothbrushes in this era, made of bone, horn, bamboo, and wood, with two rows of holes drilled in the head and horsehair planted on them.

However, this kind of toothbrush was not cheap, and rural people felt that gargling with water could solve the problem, so there was no need to spend silver to buy a toothbrush.

The mother and daughter finished washing up, ate a few hot egg pancakes, and started working.

Although they had made up their minds to build a new house, they still had to live in this house for a period of time, and repairing it within their ability could make them live more comfortably.

Jiang Wei used a firewood knife to cut some bamboo from the bamboo grove behind the house, removed the bamboo leaves, sharpened them, and repaired the fence in the courtyard.

Jiang Xiaoxiao pasted the windows with the window paper bought yesterday, and cleaned the dust in the corners of the house by the way.

After tidying up, the small house at the tail of the village looked more and more like a home.

It wasn't noon yet, but the weather was already so hot that people were sweating all over.

Jiang Xiaoxiao stood in the shade of the tree to cool off, her forehead was still full of sweat, and she felt that the wind blowing from the mountains was dry and hot.

She turned to look at the farmland not far away. As the weather got hotter, the signs of drought gradually appeared, and the people in the village started to worry.

The heavens were slow to rain, and the rice in the fields was currently in need of irrigation, so the villagers had to start early and finish late to speed up the irrigation of the farmland.

Yuhe Village was still okay; there was a river nearby, and the water lifted by the cylinder waterwheel could flow into the fields.

But the nearby villages were not so lucky; the fields were far from the river, and some needed manual irrigation, almost the whole family had to go out, from morning to night, and didn't even have time to eat a bite of food.

After all, farmers lived by farming; once a drought occurred and the crops in the fields withered, this year would be in vain, and the grain in the family would also be exhausted.

The Li family was also busy, and under Li Shoucai's strong request, Li Shoude's family also had to start working in the fields.

If it were in previous years, Li Shoude, as the only scholar in the family, wouldn't have to work in the fields, and his wife and children rarely worked in the fields either.

This time Li Shoude returned home to ask for money, so even if he was reluctant in his heart, he still took his wife and children to work in the fields for the sake of appearance.

The weather was hot, the sun was poisonous, and people were dizzy.

In less than two days, Li Shoude's skin was sunburned and peeling, and that slightly white face was sunburned dark, totally losing the appearance of a scholar.

Sun Shi, who didn't often work in the fields in previous years, was even more miserable.

She was used to living a good life in town with Li Shoude and couldn't bear this hardship. Every night, she cried and complained in the east room, urging Li Shoude to hurry and get money from the family to return to town.

Returning to town, she could live a comfortable life again, without working in the fields, and without looking at her mother-in-law's face.

Li Shoude also wanted to, but his father was slow to open his mouth about the money, only caring about the crops in the fields, so he didn't want to speak again.

"I don't care, anyway, you have to mention this to Father tomorrow!" Sun Shi wiped away her tears. "Such a large Li family, how can they not come up with that little money? The family still has so many mu of land, and the grain stored in the cellar, selling these isn't money? I think Father and Mother are just reluctant to give you money!"

"Don't talk nonsense, Father and Mother have already paid a lot for me in the past few years." Li Shoude frowned, although he said so, he agreed with what Sun Shi said in his heart. "Don't worry, I'll mention this to Father tomorrow."

"Shoude, don't blame me for being cruel, look at how dark you've been sunburned in these few days, have you ever seen a man who wants to take the imperial examination and still has to work in the fields? I'm also heartbroken that you're suffering in this Lao Li family..."

After speaking, Sun Shi picked up Li Jinfeng, who was also sunburned dark, and said: "Look at our daughter again, she's suffering in the Lao Li family these few days, and she's lost weight; don't you feel heartbroken?"

"Alright, I know." Li Shoude glanced at the mother and daughter who were crying in each other's arms. "Tomorrow you stay at home and rest, don't go to the fields, I'll tell Father."

Sun Shi smiled contentedly when she heard this.

But the next day, the men of the family went to the fields, and she originally wanted to sleep until the sun was high, but was chased up by her mother-in-law with a broom.

"You lazy woman, the men in the family are busy, and you dare to lie on the kang! Do you think you are a young lady! Hurry up and get up to work!"

"Mother, I'm not feeling well these two days, so it's not good to work in the fields." Sun Shi defended herself.

"What if you're not feeling well! When I was pregnant with the eldest, I was still working in the fields with a big belly!" The old woman scolded, threw the broom at her, "Stop talking nonsense! Hurry up and sweep the house clean, and go wash the rice and cook after sweeping!"

Sun Shi curled her lips and picked up the broom to sweep the floor with great reluctance.

She knew that her mother-in-law couldn't stand the daughter-in-law being idle, even if her man had already told his father, the mother-in-law would still find some chores for her to do at home.

But compared to working in the fields, doing these chores was within the range of endurance.

Sun Shi swept the floor a few times, and her eyes quietly glanced at the main room. At this time, Li Xiufang was sitting in the room fanning herself with a cattail fan. The weather was too hot, and she was only wearing thin outer clothes, but she was still sweating profusely.

In this family, besides the Li Family Old Woman, the only one who didn't have to work in the fields was this younger sister.

She suppressed the jealousy in her heart, took out two sugar horns from her arms, and beckoned to Li Xiufang.

Li Xiufang saw the sugar horns in her hand at a glance, dropped the cattail fan, and hurriedly rushed out: "Sister-in-law, do you have something to do with me?"

"Xiufang, how is the matter I told you about the other day, did you mention it to Father and Mother?" Sun Shi whispered.

"I said it! Mother said to wait a few days, and find someone to inquire about that family in the county seat first!" Li Xiufang stared at the sugar horns in Sun Shi's hand without blinking, her saliva swallowing involuntarily.

"What's there to inquire about, that's a famous rich family in the county seat! Their ancestors were officials in the imperial court! They have power and influence, and marrying over is to enjoy happiness!"

"What rich family? Why haven't I heard of it!"

(End of chapter)