Chapter 70: Reading to test fame
Chapter 70 Studying to test for fame
“Tomorrow I will find some thatch and I will repair the leaky roofs.” Gu Dashan walked around several houses and found that the roofs of several houses were rotten and they had to be repaired quickly.
Gu Jinli was fumigating the mouse hole in the house with mugwort. When he heard this, he said, "Dad, use the weeds in the yard to mend it."
The wild grass in the yard grows as high as half a person. Cut them all, tie them into grass boards one by one, and tie them one by one on the roof, so that the missing roof can be repaired.
“Hey.” Gu Dashan also took a fancy to the weeds in the yard.
While she was talking, some mice couldn't stand the smoke and ran out of the hole. They rushed into the sack she had covered at the entrance of the hole. Three of them ran in at once.
She hurriedly put away the sack, tied the mouth of the sack tightly, banged the sack on the ground a dozen times, and killed the rat. Then she poured out the rat body and continued to smoke out a rat hole.
We were busy until it was almost dark, and finally we smoked out the mouse holes in several rooms, and blocked the entrances of the holes with stones picked up by Brother Cheng.
“Second sister, won’t there be any more mice crawling out at night?” Cheng Geer squatted next to Gu Jinli and looked up at her and asked.
Gu Jinli nodded: "Well, all the mice in the house are gone. No more mice will crawl on Brother Cheng when he sleeps at night."
"Xiaoyu, don't scare Brother Cheng all the time." Gu Jinan carried a hoe, took the sack containing more than 20 dead mice, carried the sack out of the yard, took the dead mice to a distance and buried them.
When I came back, there was a third grandpa beside me.
Third Grandpa said: "Mr. Qin and I have looked at that old well. Water is still coming out of it. As long as the mud in it is cleared and the water is raised for a few days, the water will be usable."
They are attracted to this area of old houses, not only because these old houses are connected together and they can live together, but also because of the old well about ten meters away.
With this old well, the women and girls of their family do not have to go to the village to fetch water to wash clothes. They can avoid the scoundrels in the village and be safer.
“Hey, I’ll repair the roof tomorrow and go to the well to clear the mud.” Gu Dashan has done many jobs, including masonry, well digging, carpentry, blacksmithing, and sacking. Cleaning the mud from the old well is not a big deal for him.
Third Grandpa said: "There is no rush. We will discuss it with several families tomorrow and decide on the regulations before we start work."
“Stop talking about it now, come over and have dinner.” Third Grandma and Mrs. Cui had already prepared dinner and brought it to the main room.
Supper was a pot of old rice porridge and a big bowl of stewed soybeans. There was not even a drop of oil starch, but everyone ate happily.
Three grandpa said with emotion: "We have a roof to cover our heads."
Compared to the days when I was fleeing the wilderness and sitting in the open fields eating boiled grass roots and leaves, my life now is like a fairy tale.
The third grandma looked at the big family and cried while eating. She has never had a son in her life, but now she lives with Dashan's family, and she can live a life full of children and grandchildren.
When the third grandpa saw it, he cursed: "You bitch, why are you crying? Today is a good day for us to move to a new house."
The third grandma quickly wiped away her tears and said, "Hey, I'm not crying anymore, I should be happy!"
After everyone finished eating, Gu Jinli took the opportunity to say: "Third grandpa, third grandma, parents, after the Chinese New Year, let's send my eldest brother to a private school to study." "Studying?" Gu Jinan was surprised: "Xiaoyu, why did you suddenly say What about this? Going to a private school costs a lot of money, how can our family afford it?"
Gu Jinan wanted to study very much, but he didn't want to burden his family with his studies.
Gu Jinli said: "Brother, why did the village ask us to pay three taels of silver today? Is it because we have no backers? If there is a scholar or a scholar in our family, they dare to bully us like this?"
Gu Jinli was angry about the three taels of silver given to Dafeng Village today, but she knew that they were powerless and poor now, so they couldn't be tough and could only endure it for now.
“If we want to turn around, we can only take two paths. The first is to study and gain fame, and the second is to make a lot of money.”
She doesn’t want to live a poor life. Money must be earned. In ancient times, people were afraid of officials, so they couldn’t afford to miss out on studying for fame.
Gu Jinan has been smart since he was a child. Gu Dashan and Mrs. Cui have always wanted to send him to school, but when they were in their hometown, Mrs. Gu refused and did not allow him to read. She beat him whenever she saw him writing on the ground. The couple always felt that I'm very sorry for Gu Jinan. Now that I heard that Xiaoyu wants to send Gu Jinan to study, he won't object at all. He will only support: "Brother An, after the new year, dad will go to a private school and we can go to study."
The third grandfather also nodded and said, "Brother An, you should go to school."
Gu Jinan was very moved, but when he looked at the skinny family, he still hesitated and said: "If you want to be admitted to the imperial examination, it will take three to five years. Our family only has thirty-two taels left." Money, this money needs to be used to buy things for living. We have no land. Even if we open up wasteland for farming, the harvest will not be until June next year. In the middle half of the year, we will have to buy food to eat. Counting it down one by one. , this money is not enough at all, how can you still have money to study?"
Gu Jinan really wanted to go to school. When he was in his hometown, he went to inquire about the money for a year of private school. The three festivals and six festivals a year are only five taels of silver, plus the pen, ink, paper and inkstones consumed, all of which cost money.
The worst ink strips in Da Chu cost two hundred fen, and the worst yellow paper cost 50 fen each. These were all consumables and had to be bought every month. Their family had no income, how could they afford him?
"We can make money if we don't have money, but we have to read this book!" Gu Jinli's attitude was very tough. She pointed at Gu Jinxiu and said: "Brother, you heard what the three scoundrels said today. There are such bad people in this village. You If we want to protect the sisters at home, we have to have fame and make them afraid of us. Otherwise, with my appearance, my eldest sister will be snatched away one day, and our family will have no place to cry."
She is young and not afraid of being robbed. But Gu Jinxiu is different. After the Chinese New Year, she will be fifteen, and she looks good. If she doesn't have enough money, those **** will think that they are fleeing from poverty, and they want to bully others, so they have to be on guard.
Seeing that Gu Jinli was talking about herself, Gu Jinxiu said quickly: "Don't worry, Xiaoyu, I remember everything you said to me. I don't go out alone, I carry a knife with me, and I'm practicing the moves you taught me. I won’t let anything happen to me.”
Xiaoyu said that she cannot be lucky enough to be saved by her every time. If she wants to live a safe life, she must learn some self-defense techniques to protect herself. She is working hard to learn.
Gu Jinli nodded: "Well, we understand, the eldest sister works very hard."
He looked at Gu Jinan again and asked him: "Brother, our family's situation is here. Do you want to read this book?"
Gu Jinan looked at Gu Jinxiu, then at Gu Jinli, and at Brother Cheng who looked confused. He gritted his teeth and said, "Read it!"
No matter how painful, tiring or difficult it is, he must come up with a plan. Only in this way can he protect his family.
The matter of Gu Jinan's schooling has been settled, and the whole family is very happy.
Before dawn the next day, Gu Dashan and his family got up, cut the weeds in the yard, found some branches, split them into soft tree strips, tied the weeds into straw boards, and then Gu Dashan climbed to the roof. , tied the straw boards to the beams and columns of the house, and in less than half an hour, the roof was repaired.
(End of this chapter)
