"Why has it increased so much?" Cheng Songer pretended to be surprised.
In fact, there was no fluctuation in her heart. Sure enough... food prices started to rise again, and they became more and more fierce. It seems that she really did the right thing in hoarding food. If she didn't get rid of it in time, she would really lose money if she bought it now.
"Of course." The butler smiled proudly: "You also know that the harvest has not been good in the past few years... How much do you plan to buy? I may be able to give you a penny or two cheaper."
Cheng Songer looked embarrassed and said, "Butler, you are too flattering to me. You know my family's financial situation. How can I afford such expensive thick noodles? Fortunately, I still have a few kilograms of rice at home. I'd better tighten my belt and hold on for a while, maybe it will be fine when spring comes next year."
"Haha," the housekeeper raised her eyebrows and smiled: "I'm afraid next year..."
'You can't afford it now, and you won't be able to afford it in spring.' The butler thought to herself.
"Forget it, if you can't afford it, then you can't afford it... It's a waste of my good intentions. I have to buy glutinous rice sticks from my new uncle. I borrowed them." Seeing the shabby look Cheng Songer made, she felt even more superior, she rubbed her shoulder and left.
Cheng Songer smiled and gave way to her.
Watching the housekeeper leave, Cheng Qingzhi pulled her sleeves and whispered: "That housekeeper's words make people uncomfortable. She looks down on you."
Especially the contemptuous tone in her tone always made people feel like they were being looked down upon. Especially when Song'er deliberately acted inferior in front of her, he felt panicked.
"It's okay." Cheng Song'er said with a smile: "Sometimes it's better to be looked down upon by others. You don't have to be too sharp."
In front of the villagers in Chengjia Village who bullied the weak and feared the strong, she naturally had to toughen up. But when facing someone like the housekeeper, you have to be humble and act respectful, fearful, and flattering, so that the other person can relax their vigilance and get information out of the other person's mouth.
The price of food in the village has always been lower than that in the city. Now even the landlord's thick noodles sell for 30 yuan per catty. It is not difficult to imagine what the scene is like in the city now.
"Let's go, let's continue shopping." She took Cheng Qingzhi to the market and bought two more firecrackers and a pile of red paper that she could cut into windows. Flowers are plastered on the windows.
She bought all the other things, but she couldn't find a place to buy couplets even after looking around. Even if she found those for sale, they were all empty couplets without any words on them. It was really worrying.
"Why are there so few couplets for sale?" In modern times, they would be everywhere on the streets, but why are they a rare species here?
Cheng Qingzhi pondered for a moment and said: "Maybe there are fewer people who know how to read in the village... Maybe there are more people selling them in the county. Usually everyone buys short couplets and then asks people from each family who have read books and know how to read. Relatives can help them write a few sentences."
Cheng Songer's lips parted slightly. It seemed that she really thought about ancient society so well that she had forgotten that most of them were farmers in ancient times, and only a handful of them knew how to read.
But after she traveled through time, she saw that the characters on shop signs were basically traditional Chinese characters that she was familiar with, which was equivalent to her directly mastering the skill of recognizing characters.
But...
"I can write my own couplets..."
Cheng Qingzhi looked slightly surprised: "Song'er, you can actually read?"
"..." Cheng Song'er touched the tip of her nose: "Yeah. Not counting literacy, just a few acquaintances from people who used to wander around in the city."
Cheng Qingzhi nodded: "So that's it, Song'er, you are really awesome."
"Ahem...it's okay, it's okay ." The sudden compliment made Cheng Songer feel a little guilty and her neck was a little red.
"Song'er, your neck is so red." Cheng Qingzhi touched her behind, and his cool fingertips fell on her neck like a light snowflake. He paused with his fingertips and whispered: "... ...It's so hot."
Cheng Song'er quickly covered her neck and changed the subject: "Then let's buy a pair of empty couplets and go back."
"Song'er, you forgot, we don't have pen and ink at home." Cheng Qingzhi said warmly.
Only then did Cheng Songer react. She lowered her head and thought for a while, then said: "It's okay, I have a way."
Pen and ink in ancient times were quite expensive, and villagers like them could only use pen and ink very few times in their lifetime. If it's a bit of a luxury to buy a set of pen and ink just to buy a couplet.
Taking the empty couplet, she walked into a small shop selling sesame oil in the village and bought two taels of sesame oil.
When paying, Cheng Songer said: "This guy, I'll pay you a few more cents. Can you lend me some pen and ink?"
A small shop like this needs to keep accounts every day, so pen and ink are indispensable anyway. If she also wants to buy sesame oil, why not spend a few more pennies and write an inscription on the other party's pen and ink and then be done with it.
The clerk nodded, handed her the pen and ink and asked: "I have never seen a customer who borrowed pen and ink when buying something. What do you want this ink for? It will not harm the pen and ink in my shop."
Cheng Songer spread the couplet on the table in the hall, smiled slightly and said: "Just finish writing this couplet. It will not harm your pen and ink, don't worry."
She thought for a while, picked up the pen and wrote:
Menna Baifu, peach charms are presented. Auspicious signs and good fortune.
The house welcomes auspiciousness, and the firecrackers are scattered to celebrate the occasion.
Horizontal batch: reward the old and accept the new.
The waiter on the side opened her eyes wide: "I can't tell, you can actually write well."
"Just kidding." Cheng Songer lowered her head and smiled. There was a calligraphy class in her major, which she found very interesting at the time. Ask the teacher for advice. After a few semesters, you may not be proficient in calligraphy, but it’s not shameful to show it to others.
She fanned the couplets with her sleeves, then carefully folded them in half after the ink had dried. She was about to leave when the clerk grabbed her.
"Girl, don't leave, please write one for me." The clerk asked with a smile.
Cheng Songer was a little surprised: "You should be literate."
It is basic for the shop assistants to know how to read and keep accounts.
The clerk smiled naively: "I only know a few words. I learned them from the shopkeeper when I was an apprentice. I can only barely keep accounts, and I don't recognize the extra words. What's more, I can't even write that pair of sentences. It's very good, just do me a favor and I won't have to ask our shopkeeper to write it for me."
"Okay then." Cheng Songer agreed.
The clerk bought an empty couplet at the entrance of the store and handed it to her with a smile.
Cheng Songer recalled the couplets that were posted every year at home, and wrote:
Spring is full of flowers in the world, and the small courtyard is always peaceful all year round.
Horizontal comment: Celebrate the Spring Festival.
The clerk was very happy after taking the couplets and hurriedly put them away, but she didn't expect that the scene of Cheng Songer helping the clerk write the couplets had already been watched by many people.
After all, there are not many scholars like them in the village. Every year, they have to lick their faces and go to the scholar's house to beg someone to write a piece.
At this time, a little boy of fourteen or fifteen years old ran up to Cheng Songer and begged shamelessly: "Sister, please help me write a Spring Festival couplet."
Cheng Songer didn't want to agree, but the little boy pulled her clothes. He refused to let her go, and the waiter on the side showed no intention of stopping her, so Cheng Songer wrote a picture for him.
The little boy was illiterate, but there was a hint of envy in his eyes when he saw her writing smoothly: "Sister, your handwriting is so beautiful, even better than the scholar in our village. Sister, you are probably not from our Liujia Village. Why haven't I seen you before?"
"I'm from Chengjia Village."
The little boy kept talking and asked, "Sister, what's your name? Will you come back next year for the Chinese New Year? I also want you to write it for me."
Cheng Songer said with a helpless smile. : "...I'm not sure whether I can come next year."
People around her saw that she was easy to talk to, and many people gathered around, planning to ask her to help write a couplet.
Cheng Qingzhi pulled her sleeves: "Song'er, let's go back."
Cheng Song'er didn't want to be surrounded by these people either. She was forced to write couplets for a day, so she packed up her things and left quickly.
The little boy was left holding the Spring Festival couplets, looking left and right, admiring them and couldn't put them down. Finally, he folded the couplets and put them in his arms. He ran in the same direction with small steps. The more he ran, the fewer people were on the road. He entered a deep house and compound, and then entering through two gates, the gables are tall and solid with brick carvings, like a mountain separating the bustling village.
He hurriedly ran into the yard, and another little boy saw him and said hurriedly: "Xiao Cui, where did you go? Why did you come back at this time?"
Xiao Cui smiled softly and handed over the couplet in his arms. He looked at it: "Look, I met a sister on the street. The couplets she wrote were so good, so I begged her to write one for me."
Another boy pulled him: "We didn't have it all before. Did the lady write it for us? How can you ask others?"
Xiaocui glanced at the closed door, and a bitter medicinal smell seeped out of the room, which made people uncomfortable.
Xiao Cui leaned in the boy's ear and whispered: "Miss's health is getting worse day by day. She couldn't get out of bed before, and now she is in a coma all day long. She even wakes up very rarely. Can she still be able to hold a pen?"
Xiao Xi covered his mouth: "Keep your voice down, don't let them hear it."
Xiaocui was so frightened that he quickly shut up and asked in a low voice, "Is my uncle in there?"
"My lady has been in a coma and can't take care of herself. My uncle yesterday was busy waiting around at night, and he just fell asleep."
Xiao Cui breathed a sigh of relief, and then snickered: "The master originally wanted to marry a son-in-law to celebrate the occasion, so that the young lady's illness would get better soon, but... ..The wedding was not made. The young lady had a high fever overnight, which was even worse than before. What's the use of marrying this uncle?"
Xiao Xi pulled him aside: "Don't say the same thing, the new uncle is also pitiful, the wife was unconscious on the wedding night, and now she is even more unconscious all day long. He has only been married for a few days, and he has to serve an unconscious person with feces and urine. I'm afraid... I'm afraid he's not even broken yet, so even the master doesn't want to see him, so let's stop gossiping behind people's backs."