Dressed as a widow, raising cubs, farming and building infrastructure in Ming Dynasty

Chapter 2
The next day, Qin Liu, who was lucky enough to escape with his life, collected Liu Liu'er's body and buried it. He also tidied up the mess inside and outside the Li family's yard, and cooked porridge with the remaining wheat bran for Old Man Li and his grandson. About to leave.

In despair, Old Man Li persuaded her to stay.

"It's getting colder and colder today. You two, mother and son, have no one to rely on when walking outside. Either you are sold and killed, or you are caught by the Tatar soldiers and taken to the grassland to be slaves. Why don't you stay and live together with our grandfather and grandson?" .”

She was a little excited while holding the child, but more hesitant: "Uncle, I don't have household registration status."

Old Man Li showed a look of understanding.

He had already noticed that this little woman had good looks and good conversation, and was not from an ordinary family.No matter how bad she is, she is still a maid from a wealthy family.

In the Ming Dynasty, everyone had a household registration.There is only one reason for not having household registration: she fled.

If it were a peaceful time, Old Man Li would definitely not take her in, lest he get involved in a lawsuit and implicate his family.

But now their grandfather and grandson cannot save themselves when crossing the river. The cold winter is approaching, leaving this little woman behind is the only choice for their grandfather and grandson to survive.

"It doesn't matter. My daughter-in-law's natal family here is out of town, and the residents in the town were arrested and killed by the Tatars. I am afraid that only one of ten families will survive.

If you take on her identity and live your life, no one will say anything.Your child is similar in age to my second grandson who died in infancy, and is also recognized as a child of the Li family.After this winter, you decide whether to stay or go. "

"Then your son?"

Old Man Li was a little sad: "I originally had two sons. The eldest son died a few years ago, and the eldest daughter-in-law remarried. This is the home of the second son. He also died in another place last year."

She thought for a while and agreed.

Liu Liuer was kind enough to take her in.She stayed to take care of her family, repay the kindness, and conveniently hide her identity, the best of both worlds.

Since then, she has transformed into Liu Liu'er, the second daughter-in-law of Mr. Li, a military household in Shabaozi Town. She has two sons, Li Dalang and Li Erlang. Her husband Li Wang died almost a year ago.

……

Today, Qin Liu drank hot porridge, felt very warm and full of strength, and began to clean the inside and outside of the dilapidated house.

There was a thick layer of dust on the ground.

It seems that the original Liu Liuer was not a tidy person.The bedding in the room was all black and greasy, and the original color could not be seen.

Qin Liu swept the floor clean, took out half a dustpan and poured it out. He used a wet rag to wipe away the old dust on the stove, table and bedside.

The pickled bedding and sheets were removed and washed, and the quilt was taken out to bask in the sun. Then it was beaten hard with a wooden stick to knock off the bugs and dust attached to it.

She boiled hot water again and washed the two children clean.Put on cleaner clothes.

I also boiled hot water for Old Man Li and asked him to scrub himself.

After a busy day, Qin Liu was exhausted, and his delicate hands ached a little.

After falling asleep at night, smelling the sunshine from the quilt and hugging the sleeping Erlang, she quickly fell asleep without even a dream.

Early the next morning, she was awakened by Erlang's cry.

Qin Liu gently picked up Erlang and peed for him.

After putting Erlang back on the bed, she kissed the little guy's chubby face: "Bao'er is so good, he calls me mom even when he pees!"

The children's coquettish coquettishness and giggles made this cold morning feel much warmer.

No matter how hard life is, she is a mother and will always persevere.

She also had some jewelry and trivial silver on her.

The weather was getting colder day by day, so she couldn't count on charcoal for the winter. She had to get some firewood to burn the kang and store enough food for the winter.

During breakfast, Old Man Li also thought of it with her: "You can go to the mountains to collect firewood. It's dangerous for a woman like you to go into the mountains, so just pick it up at the foot of the mountain." Qin Liu followed her words and took Old Man Li's free time. The straw rope that was rubbed out at that time went out.

When she reached the foot of the mountain, she realized that she was too optimistic.

Every household in the town needs to burn firewood and store enough firewood for the winter. There are not many branches at the foot of the mountain for her to pick up.

She has always had a delicate skin and tender flesh, and has not done much hard work. It is also difficult for her to do such a seemingly simple task as breaking off dead branches from the tree.

Just as he was worrying, several men walked out of the mountain, carrying two large bundles of firewood that were much taller than their own bodies.

Qin Liu planned to give up his job of collecting firewood.

She lowered her head and thought about it: her advantage lies in literacy, and this kind of physical work is really not her body's specialty.

She has to exploit her strengths and avoid her weaknesses, give full play to her strengths and avoid her weaknesses.

With his mind set, Qin Liu stepped forward and greeted a man carrying firewood: "Brother, will you sell this firewood?"

The man was stunned and quickly replied: "Sell!"

The man looked simple and honest, with a strong body. He scratched his head, stretched out three fingers, and then retracted one finger: "Three coins, no, two coins per load. If you want it, I will send it to your home."

Qin Liu thought to himself, this is really not expensive.

But she still bargained for a price: "If you send a load of firewood to my house every day for the next five months, can the price be more favorable?"

The man was overjoyed and said: "If I happen to hunt some game, I will send some to your family. But I can't tell, there may not be any."

Qin Liu agreed, told the man his home address, and asked him to deliver firewood every day.

She still had about ten taels of broken silver in her hand, and a few pieces of jewelry.

Nowadays, one tael of silver can be exchanged for [-] cash, which is equivalent to having [-] cash with her.

Five months' worth of firewood only cost a total of [-] cents. She could afford it, and it saved her body from suffering. It was the best of both worlds.

A few men carrying firewood chatted while walking.

"Two cents per load of firewood is too cheap!"

The honest man was in a good mood: "It's a bit cheaper, but I have nothing to do in winter. I can pick up a load of firewood in an hour when I go into the mountains. It doesn't take much trouble. Two cents can buy more than a pound of brown rice, which can be added to the house." One meal. Life won’t be so difficult.”

The other man was a little envious: "Yes! This is such a good thing that you have caught up!"

"In today's world, it's not easy to make some money! If we can go into the mountains and catch a big guy, we will have a comfortable life."

"The big guys are too risky. The second boy of the Chen family was attacked by a blind bear in the mountains. He lay rotting in bed for two years before he died. I went to see him, oh, that's a stinker..."

……

Seeing Qin Liu return home empty-handed, Old Man Li asked worriedly: "Why didn't you pick up even a piece of firewood? Did you meet a bad guy?"

Qin Liu was very calm: "I asked someone to help, and someone will send firewood today."

Old Man Li's eyes flashed and he stopped talking. It was just fine.If you ask someone for help, you will definitely have to pay or exchange something for it.He has nothing anyway, so if this girl can provide the money, let her go.

It's just that she is so lavish and restless, I'm afraid she won't be able to live a good life for a few days, and she will have to drink the northwest wind.

Young people still don’t know how to live.

(End of this chapter)