Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

When Jinghan heard this, she said, "These thirty taels of silver are not a small amount. Why can't I find anyone who can see the ginseng?"

Zhixin and the old man all laughed after hearing this, "Jinghan, you are just a little girl and don't understand anything. Although these thirty taels are quite a lot, you have to stay in the mountains as an adult and you don't have much to eat." There are a lot of them, and there won’t be anything left in the end, so no one wants to go up the mountain to see the ginseng. Generally, those who go to see the ginseng are lonely old people who don’t care about anything.”

Jinghan listened and nodded, "So that's what happened."

Seeing her like that, Mrs. Chen also found it funny. "Look at our Jinghan, she is like a little adult. She has to ask about everything. It is not an easy job to look at ginseng. She has to go out for a walk every night to be careful of someone stealing ginseng. Besides, living in In the mountains, there is only one person, and sometimes there are tigers, wolves, or blind bears, which can be dangerous. "

Jinghan understood that what Chen said was true. Moreover, in this era, there were still relatively many wild animals. There are quite a few tigers and so on, and sometimes you might actually encounter them.

The conversation about ginseng came to an end, and everyone went back to sleep.

The village has agreed that three people will go up the mountain in shifts to see the ginseng, and each group will see the ginseng for five days. It's okay if you don't go up now. It's warm late in the north, and it hasn't thawed yet. The ground in Bangchui is covered with ice and snow. The village discussed that after the Qingming Festival, they would have to go up the mountain.

Today is February 20th, half a month before Qingming Festival. Zhixin is filing saws at home and preparing to go up the mountain to pick up some wood for making a shed. Mrs. Xue had nothing to do, so she and Mrs. Chen were making clothes in the house. After the Qingming Festival, it was time to take off the cotton-padded clothes, and it was time to change the clothes of the family. The adults are doing better, and the clothes from the previous year can still fit in, but the children can't. Some of last autumn's clothes are already too small and have to be made separately. For farm children, the younger ones pick up older clothes and wear them, but the older ones have to make new clothes. Wenhan and Wencheng were both studying and it was hard for them to wear too shabby clothes, so Chen planned to make new clothes for the two older ones, and then wear smaller ones for Wenxuan and Wenchang.

Mrs. Chen found Huixin’s old clothes when she was at home and planned to change them for Jingya and Jinghan to wear. Some of Huixin’s clothes were quite new. "Meilin, do you think this dress doesn't need to be changed? It was worn by Huixin when she was thirteen years old. I think it's not much older for Jingya to wear. If I change it again, I won't be able to wear it next year." Chen asked, holding a piece of clothing.

"Mom, I don't think there's any need to change it. Our Jingya is taller than Huixin, so this dress will be just right for autumn." Mrs. Xue looked at the dress, it was still 80% new.

"Okay, then don't change it, just wear it for Jingya. Then should we change one for Jinghan? This girl Jinghan used to pick up Wenhan's clothes and wear them like a tomboy. "Ms. Chen rummaged through a pile of old clothes, trying to find a better one for Jinghan to alter. "Just this one, the color is okay and not too faded."

Ms. Xue looked at it and saw that it was a rose-red jacket, "Okay, this one is good. Jinghan is getting older and it's hard to wear her brothers' clothes anymore."

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law decided to use this dress to modify Jinghan, so Xue started to remove the stitches and unpack some of the parts that needed to be modified.

While the two were busy working, there was a noise outside. Xue quickly stood up and went to see, "Yingzi, what's wrong with you? Why are you acting like this? Jingwan, Jingxian, what's wrong with you two? You're crying like this." ?" When Mrs. Xue saw it was Mr. Zhu and the two children, she seemed to be in a very embarrassed state. "Get in the house quickly, quickly."

Mrs. Zhu followed Mrs. Xue into the house. When she saw Mrs. Chen, she cried, "Mom, it's bad, Zhiming was arrested by the Yamen people." She started crying as she said that.

Chen and Xue were both stunned, "What's going on? How could Zhiming be arrested when he's fine? Yingzi, tell me slowly, what's going on?"

Mrs. Zhu calmed down for a moment, and then said, "I don't know what happened. I just know that Zhiming went to see a doctor for a wealthy family in the county that day. When he came back, he didn't say anything. The next morning, there was a yamen People came and took Zhiming away. Later I went to Yiqingtang to inquire, and they said that Zhiming was treating the concubine of the most powerful Qin family in the county, and then something went wrong and he was arrested. Get up. The shopkeeper of Yiqingtang kicked us out, saying that Zhiming was implicated now, so I came back quickly and wanted my elder brother to go to the county to help. I'll ask around to see if I can rescue Zhiming. Mom, I really have no choice. What should I do if Zhiming is in trouble?"

After hearing what Zhu said, Mrs. Chen swayed and almost fell over. Fortunately, she was already on the kang. Ms. Xue helped her and she sat down again.

Mrs. Xue quickly returned to the east wing and called Zhixin over. Jinghan and Jingya heard the noise and followed them. After hearing what Zhu said, Zhixin's face became solemn. "Third daughter-in-law, don't cry yet. Things haven't been clarified yet. In this case, I will leave immediately and go to the county to have a look. You guys stay at home first and wait for my letter." As he said that, he looked at Xue "Daughter-in-law, please help me pack two pieces of clothes first, and prepare some dry food for me. Mom, do you have any money at home? I'm afraid I have to take care of this matter. If there is less money, it won't be enough."

Zhu quickly took out fifty taels of silver from the bag, "Brother, you can use this silver first. I, a woman, don't dare to go to the prison, so I took all the silver back. As long as I can To save Zhiming, you will have to take my life.”

Mrs. Chen also got up and took out twenty taels of silver, "You take these first. Lao Wu took a lot of our silver. You use it first. If it's not enough, I will think of something else."

Mrs. Xue went back to the house and also took out ten taels of silver, which they had saved for a long time. "Take these. If you are from a poor family and have a good life, you will have to spend money on food and accommodation when you arrive in the county. If you can find a way, try to rescue the third child. If not, come back quickly and we will find another way."

Zhixin nodded, "In this case, I'll go and talk to the village chief first. I'm going up the mountain in the next few days. I don't know how long it will take to resolve Zhiming's matter. Don't delay things in the village." As he said, Zhixin went out.

Jinghan listened quietly on the side, knowing that there was no place for her to speak on such a big matter, so she could only hug Jingwan and Jingxian and comfort them softly. "Grandma, mother, can I go to the county town with dad? Third aunt, please give me the key to your house, and we can go and stay at your house. Can't we save some money this way? I'll follow dad and make something for him. Food and other things are okay, but I don’t know how long it will take for Third Uncle to do this, so I have to save what I can.”

Mrs. Chen listened and nodded, "That's okay, Yingzi, just don't go back to the county town yet. You won't be able to help much if you go back. I'll still have to take care of you when the time comes. You stay at home and wait with peace of mind. News about Zhixin. Zhixin and Jinghan went to your house together to inquire about it slowly. We don’t have many relatives in the county, so it’s really difficult to find connections at this time. No, Zhixiang is not at home yet. If Zhixiang is at home, at least he still has a few classmates in the county." Chen sighed.

Zhixin was walking on the road in a hurry, and happened to meet Zixuan's father, Lin Xingjia.

"Brother Xu, where are you going? Why are you leaving in such a hurry?" Father Zixuan asked.

"Hey, something happened at home, and I have to go to the county. Isn't it time to go up the mountain soon? I have to talk to Uncle Zhou and ask him to move our group back." Zhixin saw it. Xing Jia, the two families have always gotten along relatively well, so she told him about the family affairs.

"Brother, wait a minute. I'll go to the county with you. My family has relatives in the county. Zixuan's sister-in-law married to the county. Zixuan's brother-in-law happens to be a policeman in the county government. This matter You can find out by asking him. You go to Uncle Zhou's house first, I'll go home and clean up, and we'll go to the county together in the afternoon," Lin Xing's family said quickly when they heard about it.

Zhixin went to the county worriedly, his eyes darkened, and he didn't know who to look for. He didn't expect that the Lin family had such connections. "Then thank you brother, I won't say much more. If brother can get away, come with me. If not, just write a letter and I will take it with you, and go there to find your sister-in-law. At least he will be better than me. It's much better to ask around."

"Don't worry, brother, I have to follow this matter no matter what. The friendship between our two families is there. Besides, it was Jinghan who saved Ziwen's life." The Lin Xing family waved their hands and hurried home.

Zhixin quickly went to the village chief's house and told the village chief about the matter. When the village chief heard that it was such a big event this week, he quickly said, "Zhixin, hurry up and prepare to go to the county. You don't have to worry about the ginseng thing. There are many people in our village who can go and see it first." Wait, it's okay. I still have some money. I don't know what Zhiming is doing. Get some more money to prepare. Besides, you need to find some fun. My brother-in-law also bought some things for me." As the village chief said, he took out about a tael of silver and handed it to Zhixin. "Don't be too little, uncle doesn't have much, that's all I can help you with."

Zhixin refused, but the village chief was a little angry, so he accepted, "Thank you, uncle, I'll leave first." Zhixin turned around and came out of Zhou's house and walked all the way home.

When I got home, I told Ms. Chen that the Lin Xing family wanted to come with her. Ms. Chen was very happy to hear that. "Oh, what a coincidence. Okay, let's go. I'll let Jinghan follow you. When you go to the county, you can stay at Zhiming's house. This way you can save a lot of money. Jinghan can't do anything else but light the fire. I can still help by cooking something.”