Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 151 Opportunity

Chen Yuer and her husband just settled down in the Song family. Because they had no household registration, Grandpa Song personally acted as a guarantor and went to the head of the village to get them a yellow book for temporary residence, which is equivalent to a modern temporary residence permit.

With this yellow book, they and their son could rent a house and work around the capital. However, Chen Yuer inquired about many places and found that none of them needed women to help, and the laborers in the carriage and horse company were all men. Not to mention whether it was inconvenient, even with her strength, she could not do that kind of work.

Chen Yuer was good at needlework, so they all went to the embroidery workshop to inquire at the beginning. However, the embroiderers in the workshop had to sign a contract, and after signing the contract, they became craftsmen. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Chen Yuer did not want to let herself and her son become craftsmen. The status of craftsmen in the Da Jing Dynasty was relatively low, and it would be difficult for them to get rid of it in the future. Being a good citizen sounded much better than being a craftsman.

Song Qin seemed to see Chen Yuer's embarrassment. Her family was preparing to make jam, so she suggested that Chen Yuer help them make jam.

Song Chunlin thought it was a solution. The sales of their hot sauce on consignment from the sauce shop were pretty good. People in Dajing were not very receptive to hot peppers, not to mention the high price.

The hot sauce at home was enough for consumption for a while. Since Song Qinshi brought it up, Song Chunlin immediately went to the space to pick a large number of apples and peaches, as well as piles of pears. The apples and peaches were used to make jam, and he planned to make some pear paste with the pears, which was said to cure coughs.

It is early autumn now, and Song Qin thought about preparing slowly and concentrating on selling at the end of the year. With the experience of the past two years and a few more helpers hired at home, the workshop started working in full swing again.

Chen Yuer brought her son to work in the workshop, with food and lodging provided. Song Qin also paid them ten cents each every day. At the end of a month, the mother and son could save some pocket money.

Ten cents may sound like a small amount, but Chen Yuer doesn't have to rent a house with her son, and she can have meat every now and then, which are much more valuable than ten cents.

Aunt Liu and Aunt Wang were old acquaintances. Knowing that Chen Yuer was a fellow villager of the Song family, they were both very welcoming and Chen Yuer quickly became friends with them.

Every afternoon, Song Chunlin would go out with Song Dazhuang in a carriage, and when they came back, they would bring back a carriage full of fruits, all of which were freshly picked from the trees. These fruits would be temporarily placed in the warehouse. The next day, Chen Yuer would go with Aunt Liu and the others to wash and peel the fruits, and Song Dahao would come over to help them grind the fruits. The tool used was the ancient simplified meat grinder improved by Song Chunsheng. It looked like a huge wooden barrel, and inside were blades made in the shape of a modern meat grinder. The wooden stick inside was aligned with the gear, and then a person outside could turn the handle to drive the blade inside to grind the fruit pulp.

To put it simply, this thing is an enlarged version of a simple hand-cranked vegetable processor. Any vegetable can be directly mashed into it. It is very easy to use, but it is tiring. You can't do it without a lot of strength.

In the past, Song Dazhuang and Song Chunsheng took turns doing these things. Now that there are more people in the family, except for Fu Nian who has difficulty moving, Lu Ming can also take over for a while. The work that used to take three days can now be finished in one day.

The crushed fruit pulp is poured directly into the pot to boil. This job is now done by Fu Nian and Grandpa Song. Fu Nian sits in a wheelchair, rolling back and forth in front of several large stoves, observing the heat of each stove, faster than walking.

While the Song family was working busily here, the Grand Marshal had already started his journey to the border. Before leaving the capital, the emperor specially released Gu Fengyun and made him stand among the civil and military officials to watch the Grand Marshal leave with 50,000 troops. Also leaving were General Qi and others. These people had followed the old marquis in their early years and were not satisfied with the new Grand Marshal. Gu Fengyun could imagine how devastated the Grand Marshal would be when he actually arrived at the border and faced the Turks.

After sending away the Grand Marshal, the Emperor deliberately kept Gu Fengyun. Gu Fengyun was too lazy to roll his eyes. He rubbed his waist which was a little sore from standing all day, and slowly went to the imperial study.

Outside the imperial study, there were still a few old ministers standing stubbornly. Gu Fengyun walked closer and took a look. Wow, they were all old acquaintances.

"Oh, it's Elder Feng. Elder Feng is already over 70 years old this year. It's time for him to enjoy his retirement. Why is he making things difficult for us youngsters?"

Elder Feng turned his head away angrily, still muttering, "Shameless kid."

Gu Fengyun didn't bother with the old man. Seeing that the other party was in a bad mood, he didn't feel like sticking with their bad faces, so he turned around and entered the imperial study that none of them could enter.

The emperor inside was holding a corn cob and chewing it. He had no imperial dignity at all, and the way he chewed the corn looked no different from that of an old man in the village.

Looking at the corn in the emperor's hand, Gu Fengyun narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"His Majesty."

The emperor was enjoying his meal, but he almost dropped the corn in his hand when he was suddenly shouted at. Seeing Gu Fengyun's unfriendly look, he awkwardly put the corn back into the plate.

Gu Fengyun looked at the emperor coldly as he wiped his hands hastily, then called him over.

Gu Fengyun walked over, and the emperor took out the thickest memorial from the pile of memorials on the table and threw it into Gu Fengyun's arms.

"have a look."

When Gu Fengyun opened the first page, his pupils shrank.

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?" Gu Fengyun asked in a questioning tone. The emperor felt a little guilty, but then sat up straight.

"Lord Gu, I know you don't want others to touch the old man's remains, so I asked Xing Daosi, the most powerful coroner in the Ministry of Justice, to preside over the identification of the old marquis."

Gu Fengyun pursed his lips tightly and looked at the emperor without saying a word, waiting for him to give him an explanation.

The emperor looked at him with some pity: "Almost none of the bones in the old marquis' body are intact. Xing Daosi has drawn all the scars on the bones. They are all at the back. You can take a look."

How could Gu Fengyun have the courage to open that page? The words on the first page alone were enough to make his eyes tear up.

"Was my father in pain when he was alive?"

The emperor thought about it and decided that he couldn't lie to him: "Yes, it was very painful. Three of his ribs were broken, and one of them may have pierced into his lung. Xing Daosi thinks that the old marquis died of suffocation due to the injured lung."

"Suffocated to death?" Gu Fengyun couldn't imagine that his father, after suffering such an injury, was actually taken to run hundreds of miles. According to Lu Ming and others, the old marquis died halfway. It is conceivable how much pain the old marquis suffered at that time before he finally suffocated to death.

Gu Fengyun took several deep breaths before he managed to calm himself down.

"Your Majesty, are you showing this to me now? Do you want me to use it to convince those old ministers outside?"

The emperor felt a little reluctant: "You don't need to say it in person. This matter has been going on for so long, it's time to put an end to it. But I don't want to make it easy for those people outside, so let them stand there for a few more days. They are old, but they still have endless energy."

Gu Fengyun could finally understand how annoying those old ministers were to make the emperor say such words.

"Forget about this matter. How should Your Majesty reward Lu Ming, Fu Nian, and Song Dahe? Oh, by the way, there is also the Song family. The Song family's contribution of corn this time is also considered a merit. Your Majesty can't let the Song family work in vain."

The emperor was confused when he heard this. "Okay, okay, I know your two families have a good relationship. The Ministry of War is in need of people right now. Hurry up and bring your brother in. As for those three people... since they are all disabled, then reward them as county men... no, county earls, and grant them 30 acres of good farmland each. That should be enough for them to live out their days in peace, right?"

Gu Fengyun bowed and saluted: "On behalf of the three of them, I would like to thank Your Majesty for the reward."

The Song family received another imperial edict!

This time, four people came at once. When Lu Ming and Fu Nian heard that the imperial edict was about them, they both dropped their jaws. Song Daha was also shocked.

Song Chunlin, on the contrary, seemed very calm. Until he heard the imperial edict saying that Song Dahao and other two would be conferred the title of county earl, he began to search in his mind what the title of county earl was.

Afterwards, Song Chunlin found out that the county earl was a kind of male title, which came with no fiefdom and could not be inherited. That is to say, when the three men died of old age, the court would still take back the land awarded to them, but the gold and silver would not be recovered.

Thirty acres of fertile land, both Lu Ming and Fu Nian were shocked by this number.

"Thirty acres? All good farmland?" Lu Ming asked Song Dazhuang excitedly. Song Dazhuang could read, so he read the contents of the imperial edict again.

"It's really thirty acres. You and Fu Nian each have thirty acres. There is a land deed here, so it should be correct. However, you two can't farm the land. I guess you still have to rent it out to others to farm."

"Just rent it out. When we collect the rent, we'll give it to you. It'll be considered our food expenses." Fu Nian had a smile on his face all the time. They had been eating and living at the Song family's for such a long time. Although they also helped with the housework on weekdays, they always felt that eating and drinking for free was not good, so they always had a knot in their hearts. Now, the court actually rewarded them. Now they are also people with land, and they don't have to eat and drink for free all the time.

Lu Ming also nodded: "Yes, this is how our lives will be like. Fu Nian and I have no plans to get married, and we won't have any descendants in this life. These fields will have to be taken back after we die. It's just right to bring the harvest here. We don't have to worry about it. Fu Nian and I can just wait to eat it."

Song Dazhuang had always known that the relationship between the two was not clean. After hearing what Lu Ming said, he thought that it was the result of their careful consideration, so he did not refuse.

"That's fine. As an outsider, I can't interfere in your affairs. If you two don't mind, let my boys take care of you in the future."

Lu Ming and Fu Nian both laughed when they heard this: "That's great, we don't even have to give birth to a son, and we don't even have to raise him. Hehe, I guess we'll even have a grandson in two years."

Song Daha listened silently to them planning everything, and finally stood up. He took the imperial edict and went directly to the next workshop.

It was already evening, and Chen Yuer and her son would not go out in the evening, so when he arrived, the mother and son were sitting in the yard of the workshop chatting.

Li Gensheng had sharp eyes. When he saw the bulge in Song Dahao's arms and thought of the excitement when the imperial edict was delivered this afternoon, he pursed his lips, glanced at his mother, and finally gritted his teeth and went back to the room.

Chen Yuer looked at Song Daha who was gradually approaching, lowered her head and looked only at her toes, and neither of them spoke for a while.

After a long while, Song Dahe slowly spoke: "Why did you marry Li Ergou in the first place?"

When Chen Yuer heard him ask her this, her eyes instantly turned red and she felt aggrieved.

"Didn't I tell you? My parents and the matchmaker said that I'm old and if I don't get married, it will bring shame to the family. At that time, you... still had no news. Why should I get married? Can I not get married?"

Chen Yuer's continuous questioning left Song Daha speechless.

In the countryside, girls and boys who are not married at the age of 18 will be talked about by others. If they are still not married at the age of 20, the reputation of her entire family will be damaged. If Chen Yuer is given another chance to choose, she will still marry. It will be either Li Ergou, Wang Ergou, or anyone else. In short, it will not be Song Daha, who has lost contact since he went to the military camp.

Song Dahe looked at Chen Yuer, whose temples were a little gray, for a long time before he uttered, "I'm sorry, I broke my promise."

Chen Yuer couldn't hold back any longer after hearing the broken promise. She threw herself into Song Daha's arms and burst into tears: "You liar, you've deceived me so much!"

"That year you clearly said you would be back in three years, but I waited for three years and three years, and I became an old maid, but you still didn't come back."

"What could I do then? I was already nineteen years old. If I didn't get married, my younger sisters and brothers would not be able to survive. Tell me, what could I do? Apart from getting married, what else could I do?"

Every word Chen Yuer said seemed to be stabbing a knife into Song Dahao's heart. Just a few short sentences broke his heart.

He held Chen Yuer, who was crying and hiccuping, in his arms as if he were holding a lost treasure that had been found again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you had been waiting for so long. I'm sorry, I forgot about you and my home for a long time. I'm sorry, it's all my fault."

Chen Yuer vented her anger in his arms. The anger she had accumulated for many years was finally released at this moment. She struggled to get out of Song Dahe's arms, wiped her face, and said in a calm tone: "Okay, we are even now, Dahe, I have waited for you, I don't owe you anything, and you have been helpless all these years, so I don't blame you, Song Dahe, we are even now."

"No, I don't agree to settle the matter, Yu'er. Your husband is dead, and you already have a chance to start over. So, please give me this chance, okay?"