farmhouse ditty

Chapter 67
Chu Ge sees that Xiu Niang is leaving first, and the petite back is full of joy, talking and laughing with Xiao Xiang'er.

He intended to say something, but he opened his mouth and fell silent again.

A few days ago, Xiu Niang had talked about going to town to bring some festival supplies, and he had been thinking about it since then, this time when he came to town, he would go for a stroll with her on the Front Street.

There are many things to buy and sell there, especially those women's things.

Otherwise, this morning, he wouldn't have to walk halfway in the village, thinking about going back home again, and took out the few taels of silver saved in the West House, just to find it for Xiu Niang. Want to buy something?

"Moo~~~"

The old scalper let out a cry of dissatisfaction, shaking his head and trying to shake off Chu Ge's big hand holding the hemp rope.

On this street, mules come and donkeys go, and they don't like to have their noses pulled all the time.

His hand was shaking vigorously, Chu Ge looked back and saw that the old scalper was talking and getting restless, so he patted its head lightly to comfort it.

This time Chu An stood by the side, with his arms folded across his chest, looked at Chu Ge and said coolly, "Brother, my sister-in-law has gone far away, don't look any more, let's go quickly."

Chu Ge sighed when he heard this, thinking that time is tight now, he and Xiu Niang should be busy with their own work first, and when there is free time later, he will take Xiu Niang to go shopping together.

He looked at himself and Chu An, smiled and reached out to rub his head, "Let's go."

front street.

Xiu Niang took out four Wen coins and gave them to the woman in front of her. She took two sesame balls from her and gave one to Xiao Xiang'er, and the sisters-in-law ate as they walked.

When she came out of Tairen Pharmacy, Xiuniang yelled at shopkeeper Tian to exchange all the money for odds and ends, so that she had a little money to give to others when she was going to buy something now.

Xiu Niang was walking with a bamboo basket on her shoulders, looking at this and that for a while, and then put food into her mouth.

This woman only feels comfortable when she's shopping, especially when she's eating while walking.

It would be even better if I waited for Xiao Xiang'er to grow up and chat with her.

Xiao Xiang'er grabbed Xiu Niang's hand, and stared at her with big eyes. It was her first time in this town, and there were many things she had never seen before. What are you looking at? All very fresh.

She still doesn't know that she still has to shout about buying and selling things, but there was one there before who yelled nicely, and when she looked for it, she pulled Xiuniang over.

There was a guy who was playing with the jewelry on the stall and called the little daughter-in-law who was walking the street to come and have a look.

"Girl sister-in-law, little sister, come here and let me pick and choose a silver hairpin to brighten your hair, and a jade hairpin to match the skin... Hey, little sister-in-law, come and have a look, the jewelry and hairpins on my stall are all good. Pick and wait...

Xiu Niang approached the stall, listened to the call, just shook her head with a smile, and left without even looking at it.

In fact, the jewelry displayed on the stall outside is also very beautiful, with tassels, flowers, and beaded jewelry. The workmanship is good and the materials are also good.

It's just that no matter how good it is, it won't catch Xiu Niang's eyes, because she already has a silver hairpin, which was given to her by Chu Ge when he picked her up in Chenjia Village earlier.

Although it was just an ordinary silver hairpin, it was very precious to her.

Xiao Xianger took a bite of the sesame balls, "Sister-in-law, why don't we buy them?"

Xiu Niang looked at her, smiled and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sesame seeds around her mouth, "No, my sister-in-law has better ones."

As she spoke, she looked at the bamboo basket in her hand. She just walked with Xiao Xianger all the way, buying snacks, and found nothing else. It will be the August Festival in two days, so you have to hurry .

The August Festival that Xiuniang mentioned this time is actually the Mid-Autumn Festival. Whenever the moon rises, each household will set up a table in the courtyard, and put moon cakes and some melons and fruits on the table. After worshiping the moon, the whole family sat around the table, watching the big round moon in the sky, chatting while eating.

But in this era, there seems to be no moon cakes. Anyway, Xiu Niang took Xiao Xiang'er past several pastry shops, and the shopkeepers shook their heads when they heard what she said about moon cakes.

In the end, there were none in the two stores, so Xiu Niang had no choice but to buy some pastries and snacks.

She put the cakes she had just bought in the basket, thinking that all that was left was to carry some melons and fruits, and happened to be across from some fruit stalls, so she put them aside and bought them together.

The people who set up the fruit stalls here are old farmers and old women. They brought two benches, set some big baskets on a wooden board, and put a kind of fruit in one of them.

Xiu Niang looked at them one by one, thinking about how to buy some good ones, when she was walking, she suddenly stopped in front of a stall.

She thought that there were no moon cakes in this era, and she reckoned that there were no moon cakes, "Hey, look at this yellow and shiny one, and there are also pomelo here."

Seeing someone there, the stall owner's wife came forward, "This grapefruit is not a rare thing, why don't we have it?"

Xiu Niang looked at her, and said casually, "Oh, no, I mean there are also pomelo at this time."

The woman who was the owner of the stall laughed and said, "Hey, it's the August Festival, and this pomelo is the fruit of the occasion."

Xiu Niang didn't know what to say, she just smiled, "Auntie, how much is it per catty?"

The stall owner's wife laughed, "It's not expensive at this time, it's only five cents a catty. How about it, sister-in-law, let me pick one for you."

Xiu Niang said, "Well then, Auntie, you can choose."

The old lady of the stall owner responded, picking and holding one by one, and comparing them with each other. Finally, she found a bigger one and passed it to Xiuniang, "Sister-in-law, what do you think of this one?"

Xiu Niang held it and weighed it, and looked at a small one beside her. She held it up with one hand and weighed it, just as she was about to say something to the stall owner, the big one in her hand was called someone. My son rushed over.

She turned around in confusion, and when she looked at the man, she smiled, "It's Miss Lotus, are you here to buy fruit too?"

Hehua is wearing a bright yellow dress today, she looks very pretty, she listened to what Xiuniang said, but she ignored her, and went looking for Xiaoxianger with her head down.

"Xiao Xiang'er, why are you coming to town today?"

Xiao Xiang'er looked at her, "Hello, Sister Hehua, I came to town with my brother today."

He Hua's eyes lit up, and he looked around, "Chu Ge, did you say that Chu Ge is here? Where is he?"

Xiu Niang looked at her with a smile, "Chu Ge isn't here, he's in the back alley, girl, you have to pay attention to your neck, it's delicate and delicate, don't twist it."

He Hua got angry when she heard that, and looked at Xiu Niang, "Oh, so it's the sister-in-law of the Chu family. You are dressed like this. I thought it was the aunt who sells fruit, but I didn't recognize it."

Xiu Niang smiled, "Sister, it's fine, I'll answer you even when you call grandma."

He Hua stared at the big grapefruit in her hand, and said to the stall owner, "You... auntie, call this one for me."

Xiu Niang frowned, "Sister, everything should be done on a first-come, first-served basis. This fruit is really the first one I'll see."

The corner of Lianhua's mouth curled up, "I like Lianhua, but it doesn't matter what comes first, first come first."

Xiu Niang heard the meaning, and laughed, "Really, that girl also knows that this twisted melon is not sweet."

Lotus gave her a sideways look, "Auntie, weigh this on the scale."

Xiu Niang also said, "Auntie, if you weigh it for me, it will be calculated in six cents."

The stall owner's mother-in-law nodded after hearing this, and was about to get the grapefruit in Lotus's hand.

Lotus lowered her hand, "Auntie, I'm counting on eight cents."

Xiu Niang looked at her, "Auntie, I'll give you ten coins!"

"Auntie, twelve words!"

"Auntie, I have fifteen dollars."

"Auntie, I will give you a name for these eighteen essays."

"Auntie, twenty!"

"22!"

"24."

"..."

The two chattered and shouted to forty cents.

In the end, Lotus directly threw a piece of silver, "Auntie, it's all about the money, you don't need to be famous, just cut it for me, and I will eat it now."

Seeing the silver, she made the stall owner laugh. This grapefruit was sold for a piece of silver, but she was very happy. She took the grapefruit, cut it open with a knife, and pulled it out. Pi'er, wrap it in oiled paper and hand it to her.

He Hua took the hand, but she was very proud, and smiled at Xiu Niang, "I'm really sorry, sister-in-law, I took this grapefruit, I don't think you know it, brother Chu, this is the best one. "

Xiu Niang was frowning at first, but when the big grapefruit was cut open, she smiled, "I know Chu Ge is delicious, so I have to find a good one."

He Hua's face changed upon hearing this, "What do you mean?"

Xiu Niang ignored her, and said to Xiao Xiang'er, "Xiao Xiang'er, remember, when picking grapefruits, it's not that the bigger the better, but the heavier the better, and the brighter the skin, the better. Because there is a lot of water in the cyst inside, and the skin is very thin.”

As she spoke, she pointed to the pomelo peels on the stand again, "The big ones with thick skins, especially the ones with long necks, can't be picked, because there is less meat in the head, so you can bite them." The mouth is dry, and the skin is also thick, your sister-in-law and I will definitely not pick those."

He Hua listened, and looked down at the pomelo flesh in her hand, and then at the freshly peeled pomelo skin on the stall, okay, the skin is at least two fingers thick.

When she and Xiu Niang raised the price just now, they attracted many people's eyes, and now the people around are secretly having fun.

The lotus flower appeared but was angry and annoyed, and now the bitch made a show, telling her to spend a piece of silver to buy a dried pomelo, and lost a grown-up.

She was crying and wrinkled her pretty face at the moment, looking at the people around, threw a grapefruit meat on the ground, and glared at Xiuniang fiercely, "Xiuniang Chen! Just wait for me, I will definitely find it back of."

Seeing the lotus ran away after saying this, Xiu Niang didn't care, she turned around and handed the pomelo beside her to the stall owner's wife.

"Auntie, weigh this for me, but you still need to pay three pennies for the calculation."

The stall owner's wife came back to her senses. Just as she saw that the young lady was from a foreign country, she thought about giving her a good one.

But just now, after listening to what the little aunt said, she is an expert. She thought about it and said, "The little sister-in-law, I just said five cents a catty, and this price is two cents less than the previous price." Money, this is absolutely true, if you don't believe me, go ask..."

Xiu Niang looked at the other fruits on the stall and smiled, "I believe auntie at this price, but just now I made a big deal for you too, don't you think about it, auntie, how many grapefruits do you have to sell for that?" A piece of broken silver, just press this, why don't you thank me for ordering it, and let me order it cheaper?"

The stall owner's mother-in-law pouted in embarrassment, and she accepted it by muttering a few words.

Xiu Niang took the apples from the stall, smelled them with her nose, and smiled, "Auntie, this three-cent coin is worth two catties."

The old woman of the stall owner had a meal, this crispy fruit cost eight cents a catty...

(End of this chapter)