Flowers are expensive

Chapter 29 Who is the Talent
Man Ting suddenly stopped, and asked after a moment of silence, "Are you still planning to leave?"

"That's how it was planned, what's the matter, do you think my sister and I are also nice, hehe... I can't bear it?" Lihua originally said this as a joke, but she didn't expect that Manting didn't say a word after asking. Said, carrying her without saying a word and continuing to walk forward, it made her feel uneasy.

When they arrived at Yantang, Man Ting put her down, turned around, looked at her with some melancholy eyes and asked, "Let me know when you are leaving, go in." After saying this, Man Ting went to the gate first. went.

Looking at the back of the whole court, her heart suddenly became a mess, all kinds of strange feelings got into her mind, a little guilty, a little sad, and a little bit of reluctance.She looked at the two shelducks floating in the weir pond and said to herself: "It doesn't make sense? Would I be reluctant to thank Man Ting? Hehehe... This is a big joke!" Huangying's cry suddenly came from her ear Only then did she regain her senses and hurriedly walked towards the gate.

When Ma Liu and the others entered the yard, everyone saw Huang Ying sitting on the ground with disheveled hair and Hong Ling covered in mud and water. Not to mention their own men, even others felt a little pitiful.

Ma Liu couldn't help asking Cao: "Is this bandit here? You don't care what happened?" Cao was about to speak, but Huang Ying said with a sob, "Mr. Ma, why don't you just throw the three of us out?" Forget it in the weir pond! Steward Wang’s method will work! You’ll have to be beaten to death sooner or later, so why not hurry up! Woooooooooo…”

"Who beat you?" Ma Liu asked.

"Who else is there? Is it your housekeeper's natal family? Look at our hands," Huang Ying cried, "I sewed her dowry all morning, and my hands poked holes. If there is no good word to say Forget it, you still hit people, how are you going to live these days?"

Ma Liu immediately understood who it was. Besides his little sister-in-law who was a bit arrogant, who else could it be?Mrs. Cao hurriedly spoke for Mei Xiangyuan: "Actually, it's not a big deal. Huang Ying and Mei Xiang quarreled, and Hong Ling went up to help. Mei Xiang was afraid that they would beat them, so she did it. Mei Xiang is strong and you It’s not that I don’t know, the two of them are the ones who will collapse when encountering the wind, so it’s really not a big deal to push it twice like that!”

"What about Pear Blossom?" Ma Liu pointed to Pear Blossom and asked, "Has she quarreled with Mei Xiang too? She made her run around on the ridge of the field like a dog chasing a rabbit!"

"Pear Blossom... Pear Blossom is what she asked for!" Cao Shi said with a serious face and blamed Pear Blossom, "Pear Blossom, you are really good, you went to stroke mulberry leaves with Qi Gu in the morning, and coaxed Qi Gu to say it back. Going to the latrine, I didn’t know where to go to play on the way, and I just came back! You tell the horse steward yourself, what did you do all morning? If everyone in the village is like you, don’t work and run away If so, what would it look like?"

"That's right," Mrs. Xiao followed closely, "The housekeeper was asking about Li Hua, and Mei Xiang asked Li Hua for the housekeeper's mother, and then there was a quarrel. The housekeeper is also very kind, and wants everyone to learn from Li Hua It seems that there is no one to do the work on the farm, Manager Ma, don’t you think so?” Ma Liu turned around with a serious face, and asked Lihua: “Tell me, where have you been all morning? "

Lihua said solemnly: "I'm not playing anyway, I'm working too!"

"Are you working? Where did you go to work?" Cao said sarcastically, "I just went to play! Qin Lihua, you just said that my housekeeper can't control you, so the horse steward can always control you, right? ? Do you think that Zhuangshangdan is my rule, and there are no other rules? You ask Manager Ma, how should you punish those who don’t work and play secretly?”

Lihua raised her mouth, and asked a little aggrieved: "How should I be punished?" Ma Liu said: "People who are lazy and don't work will be hungry twice. Let her know what it's like to be hungry, so she won't dare to eat it in the future." Don't be lazy anymore. Lihua, if you can't tell where you went or what you did all morning, I will really punish you, otherwise how will you manage these people in the future?"

"Oh..." Li Hua pouted her mouth, blinked her big innocent eyes and said, "Then I have nothing to say, you can punish me, you won't die from starvation even if you starve twice, at most, your chest should stick to your back!" He looked up at Manting pitifully and said: "Xie Manting, help me eat more when I eat later. If you eat, treat it like I did, right?"

Man Ting was amused by her appearance, and asked, "Where did you go all morning?"

"You just think I'm going to play, alas..." Lihua walked to the small back basket she had been carrying and squatted down, rummaging through things while saying, "I originally wanted to give everyone some meat to eat, but who knows, I don't know. They will all be confiscated for food, how pitiful! It seems that these things are useless, right?" She said and pulled out a big grass carp from the pile of mulberry leaves, which weighed three to four catties.Everyone was stunned!Because this season happens to be the time when fish are spawning, there are very few such big grass carp in the river ditch.

"You... Where did you get the fish?" Mrs. Xiao's tongue was a little knotted.

"Oh...do you care where I came from?" Lihua sighed again, "I didn't steal your house anyway, I got it in a proper way, can't I? It's a pity, this fish is useless!" After finishing speaking She brought out another grass carp weighing two catties.Everyone's eyeballs are about to fall off!
"Pear Blossom," Duan Qigu rushed over and asked, "Why do you have so many fish in your back? Are there any more?"

Lihua said aggrievedly: "It's useless no matter how much, I'm going to throw it outside in the weir pond to feed the ducks! Next time I fall into the water, maybe those few ducks can repay me and save me!" After she finished speaking, she said like a god Another fish weighing about three catties was brought out from the sling.Duan Qigu couldn't help being curious, she was busy looking in the bag, and unexpectedly brought out a red-tailed carp that weighed more than a catty!

Looking at the four fish on the ground, Ma Liu was a little dumbfounded.He couldn't help laughing, and asked Lihua, "Could it be possible that you went to catch fish all morning?"

"I don't have that ability. I bought it with my labor. I didn't steal or rob it," Lihua said, glancing at Cao Shi and Mei Xiang. "I just want to come back to help my mother's family." It’s better to do something useful for everyone than to fiddle with the dowry, so I did some work for others and exchanged these four fish, but it seems that my good intentions were in vain. I didn't even eat it."

After Lihua finished speaking, she struggled to lift the four fish, turned around and walked out.As soon as she took a step, the men and women behind her all cried out.

"Hey, Lihua, are you really throwing it away? What a waste of things!" Duan Qigu hurriedly stopped Lihua, turned to Ma Liu and said, "Boss Ma, don't you think that Lihua has been playing all morning and did nothing?" , At least get these big fish back! You say you can buy them in the town, it’s worth hundreds of copper coins, right? Can you spare her for a while, isn’t she new here?”

"Then how do we do it?" Cao said in a hurry, "If everyone in the village doesn't listen to her greetings like Qin Lihua, can it be offset by bringing something back after playing around? Then there are still rules? "

Mei Xiang raised her head and chimed in: "That's not true! You set a precedent for her alone, brother-in-law, how will you deal with this group of people in the future? If you break the rules, you will use things to offset them. Wouldn't it be messed up? ?”

"Housekeeper," Manting suddenly said, and asked Cao, "What work did you assign to Lihua this morning?"

Mrs. Cao replied: "I asked her to go with Qigu to stroke the mulberry leaves. The ancestors in the silkworm house are still waiting to eat! Look, she just stroked such a small back, enough for a few Can't eat silkworm seeds! You must be unable to do rough work, so you slipped away to play. Man Ting, I know you love your wife, but you can't embarrass our family Ma Liu like this? This Zhuangzi was entrusted to him by the master. It's reasonable, if there is no rule left here, people who are out of breath after eating will be turned upside down?"

"I have nothing to say if Manager Ma wants to punish Lihua, but if you don't punish you too, then I think it's better not to follow this rule!" Man Ting said with a serious expression.

Mrs. Cao was stunned for a moment, and asked, "Manting, did I hear you right? Lihua made a mistake, why did you punish us?"

Man Ting replied: "You sent Pear Blossom to stroke mulberry leaves. Anyway, she also stroked such a small back for you, plus four fish. What about the rest? Aunt Dong, Sister-in-law Xiao, Hong Ling, Huang Ying and the others , what work did you assign?"

"I..." Cao couldn't answer.

"You sent them to pay for your sister's dowry. Is this work the manor should do?"

"This..." Cao Shi hurriedly argued, "Isn't this just a favor!"

"Master spends money to raise the people of the village. Lihua is so lucky that he even stroked some mulberry leaves all morning and brought back four fish, but what about Aunt Dong and the others? What did they do that were useful to the village all morning? It is said that Pear Blossom has done it, then Third Aunt Dong and the others will have it even more. If only Pear Blossom is punished and no one else is punished, please ask Ma Guanshi——" Man Ting turned to Ma Liu, "Isn't it too unreasonable?"

Cao Shi opened her mouth and was speechless, Mei Xiang also blushed anxiously.The courtyard suddenly fell silent, because everyone suddenly realized that Manting was a little different today.On weekdays, he seldom speaks, he only has a few words with Haitang Dongping, not to mention arguing for so long with women and Taoists like Cao.And Lihua also looked at Manting in surprise, and only wanted to send him two words: talent!

Ma Liu could tell that Man Ting would definitely protect Li Hua today.He has always known that Manting is good at work, quick at work, willing to endure hardships, and rarely complains. He can be regarded as the main force of the manor, so he always wins over him on weekdays and refuses to offend easily.At this moment, Ma Liu would not offend Man Ting because of this matter.He glared at Mrs. Cao and shouted, "Tell me! What should I do? Tell me about the rules? What about my natal family's fart, and you come to the village to ask for help? Just think that everyone here is not wanted by your Cao family." Qian's girl?"

Cao was so angry and ashamed that she couldn't speak a word.Mei Xiang saw that her sister couldn't refute half a sentence, she immediately felt ashamed, stomped her feet and shouted: "You think I'm in love with this place? If my sister didn't marry here, who would want to take a step here? No one in the village would say that this place is unlucky, and there are three dirty sparrows raised..."

"Enough!" Haitang tugged on Mei Xiang's arm and shouted softly, "It's not over yet, is it? It's the young lady's temper that parents are used to!"

Mei Xiang burst into tears seeing that her brother didn't help.While crying, she ran back to the hall to pack up her pile of dowry, and left the courtyard angrily.Mrs. Cao gave Ma Liu a hard look, and followed her out.

"Oh, it's ready now," Grandma Yun said while sitting at the door of the kitchen, patting the dry mud on her shoes, "I've saved a lot of energy, and I can still have a sip of fish soup. Where can I find such a good one?" What's the matter? Go back to Haiziqiao Temple to thank the Bodhisattva!"

"Didn't you hear?" Ma Liuchong Xiao's sister-in-law said angrily, "What are you still doing here? Wait for the four fish to boil by themselves? It's time to eat, so hurry up and boil the fish! The old men are so busy in the fields, you are at home enjoying yourself!"

Sister-in-law Xiao shook her eyebrows in dissatisfaction, she didn't dare to talk back to Ma Liu, and hurriedly went to the kitchen with Fourth Aunt Duan carrying the fish.Lihua asked, "What about me? Will I still be punished?"

(End of this chapter)