Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zixuan and Jinghan walked back together with most of the servants in the house. A group of nearly twenty carriages headed toward Shuangdian County in a mighty manner.

At this time of year, the weather is the coldest. It is said that it is the Laba Festival, the seventh and eighth lunar month, when people freeze their jaws off. Just two days after the Laba Festival, it is so cold that people can’t wait to lie down on the hot bed and not leave the house.

The people driving the cars outside all wore thick leather jackets and leather trousers, and they also wore leather boots on their feet. Although they sit on the shaft of the car and don't move very much, these people are all strong. Besides, driving a cart is also a strenuous job, and the palm of your right hand holding the whip is sweaty.

On the other hand, Jinghan and the others were sitting in the car. They were not only wearing thick clothes, but also covered with thick furs and quilts. They were even holding a heater in their hands.

Qingyuan wears more clothes, and his small stature has now become a hairy ball. Qian held Qingyuan in his arms, Chunliu held Qingyuan in his arms, and they were sitting in a car.

Zixuan was naturally sitting in the same car with Jinghan, holding Jinghan in his arms who was afraid of the cold, and holding Jinghan's slightly cold little hand with his big hand. "Isn't there a heater? Why are your hands still cold?"

Jinghan snuggled into Zixuan's arms and smiled lazily, "Women are born with cold constitutions. What's the use of just relying on a heater?" Zixuan's body was warm, and it was very comfortable to lean on like this.

Zixuan had no choice but to hug Jinghan tightly, "It is indeed hard to travel in this winter. Fortunately, we are relatively close to home. We can arrive in four or five days. We can only be patient on this journey. If you are afraid of the cold, I will keep holding you." In the past few years, business has become more and more busy, especially this year, Zixuan feels that he has not been able to hug Jinghan and talk properly for a long time. "Let's rest in Fucheng today. I just have to go see the prefect. Although I have asked for leave from him before, now that he is here, we still have to pay a visit."

Zixuan's return to his hometown this time was reported to the emperor, and the emperor knew about it. The emperor said that he was grateful for Zixuan's contribution to Xizhou and specifically allowed him to return to his hometown to visit relatives. And because the old man of the Xu family's birthday was on the 25th of the first lunar month, Zixuan was given two months' leave and could wait until he came back in February.

"By the way, let's go back and let's not talk about grandpa's birthday first. This August will be his sixty-sixth birthday. We were so busy at that time that we forgot about it. If we let the old man know about this, I'm afraid he will be angry." Jinghan was talking about Zixuan's grandfather, of course.

Zixuan was stunned for a moment, "It's true, I really forgot. There's nothing we can do about it. It's a good time, it happens to be in the first month. My grandfather's birthday is in August, and I was busy at that time If you can't even think about sleeping, how can you think of going home to celebrate his birthday? Let's make it clear to them when we go back this time and spend more time with him. "

Jinghan nodded and said nothing more. The old man of the Lin family is open-minded, but in this kind of matter, there will inevitably be comparisons. At that time, as long as Fan Zixuan could spare some time, he would have to go back anyway. I was thinking about it at the time, and sent people to send a lot of things and money back, but I was afraid that the old man would have a knot in his heart, which would be difficult to handle.

The carriage wandered around for a whole day, knowing that it was getting dark outside, and then arrived at Fucheng. Fucheng had received the news a long time ago, and the prefect sent people from the government office to pick up Zixuan, and then sent everyone to the inn.

This inn was specially set up by the imperial court for officials to come and go, stay and exchange horses, so the inn was quite nice, much better than the inns outside.

Zixuan helped Jinghan get out of the carriage, and everyone entered the inn together. Changshun Changan and others quickly settled the carriages and horses, and gave the person in charge of the post a lot of silver to ask them to get some good fodder to feed the horses.

The room provided by the inn is naturally not as big as at home, but the furnishings inside are quite complete. In the northern inn, the rooms are all filled with kangs, and the kangs are already very hot at this time. Jinghan hugged Qingyuan and sat on the kang. Zixuan hugged Qingyuan and put him on the kang.

"This kang is very good and very hot. You take the children to have a good rest and let them go and eat. I have to go to the government office first. The prefect knows that I will be here today." Zixuan said Qingyuan put it on Jinghan's lap and said.

"Okay, then go quickly. If the magistrate lets you stay, ask the boy who is following you to come back and report a message. We won't wait for you to eat." Jinghan held a child in each hand and said to Zixuan .

"Well, I know this. You don't have to worry about anything. Just eat something good and coax these two little ones to sleep. There is no place to go out to play in the cold weather." Zixuan warned before going out. road.

Zixuan went to the government office, and the magistrate indeed left him there to eat, so Jinghan and others ate directly without waiting for Zixuan. Qingyao can now eat like an adult. This kid is very smart and doesn't need to be fed by others. He can eat by himself with a spoon. Although more was lost than eaten, no one said anything. They just placed a large piece of soft cotton cloth around him and let him eat as he pleased.

The food in Qingyuan looks much better, and the food tastes delicious when you hold the bowl. Jinghan has let the two children practice eating by themselves since they can hold a spoon. Now, they are very decent. Qian kept picking some meat from Qingyuan's bowl for him. This little guy was a meat-loving master. If there was no meat in any meal, he would feel that the food was not delicious. That's not bad. The little guy is very strong and has never had any problems since he was a child.

After the meal was finished, Jinghan took her children to play on the kang. The three mothers laughed and made noise, going crazy. "Okay, okay, mother, give up. You guys should stop making trouble. If you make more trouble, I won't be able to sleep at night." Jinghan hugged Qingyuan hard. This little thing was old and had many evil intentions. Jinghan felt that she I can't beat my son anymore.

Qingyao was so far away now that he suddenly threw himself into Jinghan's arms and called her mother in a sweet voice.

Looking at the two little guys in front of her, Jinghan was naturally very happy, but she had always wanted to have another daughter. It's a pity that over the past year, Zixuan and Jinghan have spent less time together and more separation. How can they have the chance to conceive a child?

Qian looked at the three mothers and couldn't help but laugh, "You are so old and you are still crazy with the child. It's not too early, give them to me and Chunliu, it's time to go to bed ”

After the two children were weaned, they no longer slept with Jinghan, but always with Qian. There used to be Chunxing, but now Chunliu helps take care of it. The two little guys adapted well to this, and went to bed with Mr. Qian when the time came.

So Qian held Qingyuan in his arms, and Chunliu held Qingyuan in his arms, and went to the West Room to sleep. Jinghan and Zixuan were both from peasant families, and they never set any rules when it came to employing people. They never had to be served by others at night, so there was no need for maids to stay on night watch or anything like that. Everyone could just rest separately at night.

Jinghan was also a little tired that day, so she lay on the kang and fell asleep soon after.

When Zixuan came back, he saw his wife sleeping soundly. Zixuan didn't dare to disturb Jinghan, so he quietly took off his clothes, pulled over another quilt, and fell asleep like that.

The group of people walked for five days, and finally returned to the village on the evening of the 14th day. Originally passing through the town, Jinghan didn't let him stop and went straight back to the village. After all, they are the Lin family, and it is rare for them to return to their hometown. It would not be good if they ran to the Xu family first instead of going home.

Changshun and Changan rode back to the village first. By the time Zixuan and the others arrived, the Lin family had already received the news.

Xingjia and Ziwen waited outside the door with their family members. They saw a large group of carriages coming this way from a distance. Ziwen shouted, "Dad, those are the eldest brother's cars. The eldest brother is back."

As Ziwen spoke, he took a few steps forward and shouted loudly, "Brother."

Zixuan entered the village and sat outside the carriage. He saw his family from a distance and was very excited. He waved his hand towards Ziwen to show that he heard it.

The carriage arrived at the door of Lin's house, and Zixuan jumped out of the carriage. After a few steps, he came to his parents, lifted his clothes and knelt down. "The unfilial son kowtows to his parents, are they okay?"

He's eyes were filled with tears, and Xingjia's face was full of excitement, "Okay, okay, get up quickly. The ground is so cold, it's not good to be frozen. Come inside quickly. Where's Jinghan, get them all out of the car and inside." . Where are my two eldest grandsons?”

Jinghan got off the carriage, followed by Qian and Chunliu, who also took the two little guys down. When Jinghan came in front of Xingjia and his wife, she knelt down and kowtowed.

Mrs. He supported Jinghan and said, "Oh, I can't help it. It's freezing cold today. I'm afraid I'll hurt myself. Come in quickly. Come, let grandma hug my eldest grandson." With that, He Shi stepped forward and took over Qingyao.

Xiao Qingyao was not afraid of strangers. His big eyes flickered at the old lady in front of him, and then at his mother. "Mom, grandma?" the little guy tilted his head and asked Jinghan.

Before coming back, Jinghan told Qingyuan and Qingyuan. After returning home, when I saw an old lady who was similar to Qian, I called her grandma. Although Qingyao is young, he has a very good brain. When he saw He, he thought of his mother's advice.

This call of grandma made Mr. He beam with joy, "Oh, I am your grandma, dear grandson, come here, grandma will take you home."

Over there, Xingjia also picked up Qingyuan, and then everyone walked into the house together.

Zixuan and Jinghan followed their parents into the courtyard together. Qian and a group of girls and women also went in. Ziwen stayed outside, directing Chang'an and the others to unload everything from the car. Everything that needs to be put is put in the warehouse, and the luggage is moved into the house.

When I came back this time, I had to haul about ten carts of stuff alone. These people worked together and it took a long time to move it before it was done.