After noon in autumn, the heat is even more intense than noon.

It seemed as if there was a ball of fire hanging in the sky, and it seemed that the heaven and earth were a big stove. And because the mulberry forest was not airtight, the heat was like a steamer.

Sister Liu Qi was sweating all over, but she never rested from beginning to end. She was very skillful in picking mulberry leaves. Every time she reached out, she could accurately pull off a few tender mulberry leaves.

Pick a few pieces.

Pick a few more pieces!

The movements on my hands are constantly busy.

The vine basket on her back is very big, and it can hold at least dozens of kilograms of mulberry leaves. How light and tender mulberry leaves are? If you want to fill a basket, you need to pick a lot, a lot...

However, no matter how big the vine basket is, it can't stand the hard worker. Gradually, the vine basket is finally full.

The weight of dozens of kilograms was pressed on a woman, and it was not pressed on her body all at once, but continued to add weight. In the whole morning, the weight of the vine basket continued to heavier.

So the weight of these dozens of kilograms is almost equivalent to carrying a few hours in a row. Even the adult strong laborer may feel difficult.

Sister Liu Qi's back was almost bent, but her face was full of satisfaction. She finally freed her hands to wipe her sweat and started walking out with a vine basket on her back.

In the entire mulberry forest, you can meet women picking mulberry from time to time. They are very familiar with each other and they will definitely say hello when they meet.

When a middle-aged woman saw Sister Liu Qi, she immediately shouted from afar, picking mulberry leaves in her hands and saying something very envious: "My sister Liu Qi, she is working neatly. Our vine basket is only half filled, and you have already picked a full basket."

Sister Liu Qi smiled at the woman and said, "Sister-in-law, you are not slow either. I see that your vine basket is almost full."

The two women greeted each other, and were still busy with their own affairs. One continued to pick mulberry leaves, and the other walked out with a vine basket on his back.

Suddenly the middle-aged woman shouted again and asked with a smile: "Is someone here again in the county government yesterday? What did the clerk who urged marriage to say? Who is you introducing this time? Are you a strong man who can work?"

Sister Liu Qi hesitated for a moment, her face turned slightly red, and she whispered: "I have no idea for the time being. I want to take care of the reputation of the eldest girl. Sister-in-law, you should understand that my girl just became a disciple."

The middle-aged woman opposite her looked solemn, and she couldn't help but nodded and said, "You have to pay attention, after all, she is a disciple of the General's wife. If you, a mother, are anxious to remarry, you may cause some gossip, so, alas..."

"But sister Liu Qi, this is really hard for you. A woman with two children, you treat yourself as a cow every day. The strong laborer dares to work as hard as you. Sister-in-law, I am really worried that you will suddenly become tired."

As the middle-aged woman said, her eyes became wet and said softly, "We women are not pillars after all. Even if we can hold on, we still need a man to rely on..."

Sister Liu Qi pursed her lips, her voice also became slight, and she said, "I'm not afraid of getting tired. I can still hold on. The days before were harder than now. Didn't they just keep going step by step?"

She continued walking out with a vine basket on her back and said goodbye, "Sister-in-law, you are busy. I will go back and hand over the mulberry leaves first. The rules are so good. I will take you back with Daniu and Erniu. Today, thanks to them help me take care of Shi Tou."

The middle-aged woman nodded and smiled and said, "Go and go, don't thank you, don't thank you, these two guys are very greedy. Don't buy snacks for them today."

Sister Liu Qi laughed and said, "It's just tooth candy. You can buy more than ten pieces of money for a penny. The children like to eat it, and my stones also like to lick them. Sister-in-law, please work hard, I'll hand over the mulberry leaves first."

The middle-aged woman nodded, saying nothing more this time.

But after Liu Qijie left, she looked at Liu Qijie's back from a distance. She looked at the huge vine basket on Liu Qijie's back and suddenly sighed softly:

"You can fight so hard!"

...

After Sister Liu Qi walked out of the mulberry forest, she rushed to the next to the soil pit. She first bent down with difficulty, carefully picked up her son, wiped the sweat and mud on her face, and then kissed her hard for a few times.

My son was only two years old. When he saw his mother, he was both happy and wronged and cried, "Mom, mom, I'm thirsty, I'm hot..."

Sister Liu Qi's eyes were red, trying not to let tears flow down, and said softly: "Mom is wrong and she was unable to take care of you, but Shi Tou is very sensible and will never delay her work. Shi Tou is very sensible and very sensible."

While comforting her son, she looked at the earthen pit and greeted: "Big Niu Er Niu, Sanwo, Bangmao, and Gunshu, you all come out and follow your aunt... My aunt finished her work today and helped your mother take care of you. They all followed me and bought you candy."

"Wow, I'm eating candy, Aunt Liu is going to buy candy again."

The children cheered and instantly ran out of the pit, each of them like mud monkeys, constantly ecstatic around Sister Liu Qi.

At almost the same time, several women shouted in the mulberry forest, saying, "My sister Liu Qi, don't spend money randomly. These little kids don't eat enough, so how can you spend money randomly every day?"

Sister Liu Qi smiled gently and replied, "It's just tooth candy. You can buy more than a dozen pieces of them for a penny. The children love to eat them, and my stones also love to lick them... Sister-in-law, you are busy, I will take all the children back and take care of you."

The women in the mulberry forest thanked them one after another.

Warm mutual help and mutual help. When Sister Liu Qi was busy, the children helped her take care of her son, so after she was the first to finish her work, she took care of these children in turn.

...

The scorching sun was as fierce as a stove. Sister Liu Qi's eyes were not blinking, and she always stared at the children in the river.

It was too hot, so I took the children to take a shower first, but it was only allowed to be in the shallow beach and was not allowed to leave her sight.

The children were having fun in the water, kicking the water with their little feet, and their son Shitou smiled happily, calling out to his mother one by one.

Daniu and Erniu are already very sensible, so when they play in the water, they don’t forget to take care of Shi Tou and keep the Shi Tou in their arms, so they don’t allow the little guy to move around in the water by themselves.

There is occasionally a breeze on the riverside, which is the coolness of water. This is the most relaxing time of the day when Liu Qijie is on the ground to rest.

But this kind of laziness that takes a break from the busy time does not belong to a woman who works hard for life.

So she quickly carried the vine basket again and summoned the children in the river softly: "Come up, follow your aunt, don't keep playing with water, you will be captured by the river demon."

The children were very sensible and reluctantly climbed up the river bank, then followed Liu Qijie obediently and walked slowly back along the river bank.

Along the way, Sister Liu Qi had to carry dozens of kilograms of weight, so she walked very slowly, and she had to stop and rest several times before she could finally reach the place where the mulberry leaves were handed over.

The place where the mulberry leaves are handed over is a large mansion, with mulberry trees planted around it. At this time, the entrance of the courtyard was not busy, and there were only two little girls napping.

Seeing Sister Liu Qi coming, the two girls stood up and shouted from afar, and smiled sweetly: "Hello Aunt Liu, you are the first one today."

Then the two little girls turned around and shouted to the courtyard: "Uncle Guo Qi, don't be lazy. Aunt Liu Qi will come to hand over mulberry leaves, and other aunts will come to hand over mulberry leaves soon. You are going to start working, and you won't have a chance to be lazy."

Accompanied by the shouting, Manager Guo Qi hurried out, holding an account book in his hand, and smiled at first, saying, "It's hot today, I thought it would be a little late, but I didn't expect that Sister Liu Qi would still work so hard, and actually picked the vine basket early."

After saying hello with a smile, he laughed at the two girls and said, "You two little kids have been learning from their wives for a few days. You should be able to read and help weigh the scores. Can't you help me settle the score? Why do you have to call me and refuse to let me be lazy..."

The two little girls winked and said, "You have money in your hands, so of course we will call you out. Oh, Uncle Guo Qi, don't nag it. Didn't you see Aunt Liu Qi very tired? Hurry up and settle the score for her."

The next scene was so skillful and warm.

Sister Liu Qi hung the vine basket on the hook of the big scale, and then picked up the huge wooden scale by herself. Guo Qi just took a casual look and nodded with a smile and said, "Okay, you don't need to scale too carefully. They are all acquaintances who hand over mulberry leaves every day, and there will be no big differences in weight..."

As he said that, he signaled Sister Liu Qi to put down the vine basket. He took the account book and started recording. While writing, he read: "A female worker in the silk workshop, Sister Liu Qi, today I picked a basket of mulberry leaves, weighing fifty-eight and a half kilograms. According to the old rules, the weight is taken as an integer, and it is calculated as sixty kilograms, and settled at sixty kilograms."

Sister Liu Qi pursed her lips and said softly: "You don't need to take care of this, just pay 58 and a half pounds."

But Guo Qi shook his head with a smile and said, "This is the general's rule, and it is the general's wife's request. So girls, don't be humble, we will settle the settlement for you at 60 kilograms."

While talking, he put down the account book, opened the drawer of a table at the gate, and took out a large string of orange and brass coins from it.

Unlocking the string of money, starting to count carefully, and said with a smile: "Sixty kilograms of mulberry leaves, settle for 60 cents, but since the mulberry garden is the general's industry, the mulberry trees inside are purchased and transplanted from afar. There are costs, and you have to be subtracted. According to regulations, you have to be charged six cents. Does Sister Liu have any doubts about this?"

The mulberry garden belongs to Guo Ziyi, and the mulberry trees belong to Guo Ziyi. However, women pick mulberry leaves to sell, and the cost is only six cents for 60 cents.

It is equivalent to charging 10%, which is almost no different from not charging.

The two little girls next to them rolled their eyes and said, "Uncle Guo Qi, please stop nagging. These are all well-known regulations. You don't have to say it many times every day."

Guo Qi smiled and glared at the two little girls, saying, "It's nothing wrong to nag, it's necessary to let people hear the rules clearly. You two girls will also do the same when doing things in the future."

The two little girls laughed and said, "We must be more refined than you, but we won't be as nagging as you."

Sister Liu Qi spoke solemnly and said, "Manager Guo Qi is right, the rules must be kept well. For example, the cost of mulberry leaves should be collected. In fact, we all know that charging 10% is very small. The general is kind and his wife is kind. This gives us a way to live so that we can live well..."

Guo Qi nodded, pointed to the fifty-four copper coins on the table, and said with a smile: "Although you have worked hard this day, you can earn more than fifty villagers a day. Even a strong laborer will find it difficult to have such a high income... Do you still follow the old rules today? Do you need to invest money in the workshop?"

Sister Liu Qi hesitated for a moment, shook her head slightly for some reason, and said, "I won't invest this time, I need money today. You can give it to me all the fifty-four copper plates."

As he said that, he hesitated again and said softly: "If possible, I want to withdraw some extra money. I saved it in the workshop, I should have ten coins of money. I want to withdraw two coins of money for spending..."

Guo Qi was obviously stunned and said in surprise: "More than fifty quotas is not enough. You actually need to withdraw two extra stagnant money? What do you want to buy? It costs so much money?"

Suddenly, he thought of something, suddenly turned a little darker and said angrily: "Girl, tell the truth, is someone intimidating you? If this is true, I will take you to the yamen, or we can go directly to find the general, or to find the wife directly. In short, you cannot be bullied by others. The female workers in our workshop are not allowed to bully anyone."

Sister Liu Qi shook her head quickly and said hurriedly: "No, no, no one threatens me, it's me who wants to use the money myself, and no one forces me to withdraw money."

Guo Qi was stunned again, and seemed even more surprised, saying, "The two-character money is not a decimal, what big thing are you going to do?"

Sister Liu Qi was a little shy and said softly: "I heard from those scholars who have read books that when children become disciples, they should give their masters a lesson... Brother Guo Qi, you know, my eldest girl has worshipped her wife as her master."

Guo Qi's face gradually became solemn, with deep appreciation in his eyes, and he said, "So you want to buy gifts and send them to his wife as a slap?"

Sister Liu Qi pursed her lips and continued to whisper: "I should have given it as soon as possible, but I, a farmer woman, don't understand these things. If I hadn't heard the clerks say, I might never know that I should do this in my life."

Guo Qi took a deep breath and said, "Two jin of money, two thousand copper coins, you pick mulberry leaves every day. A woman treats herself as a cow, only earns more than fifty tins of money. It takes more than forty days to save two jin of money... Sister Liu, I ask you, are you willing to spend so much money at once? This is all your blood and sweat, it is the money you pick mulberry leaves one by one with your hands."

"A basket of mulberry leaves is more than 60 kilograms, at least thousands or tens of thousands of mulberry leaves, more than 40 days, every day, and it's so difficult to save two stale money. Are you really willing to spend it all at once?"

After Guo Qi asked this, his eyes were obviously red.

Sister Liu Qi smiled warmly and said softly: "I think it should be a flower, I think it must be a flower. Brother Guo Qi, people should know how to be grateful. You said, right?"

Guo Qi didn't say anything else, but pulled open the drawer of the table again, took out two stagnants of money from it, and solemnly handed it to Sister Liu Qi.

...

Today, there are signs of prosperity in Lanling City, with various shops in short supply and a wide range of goods.

Sister Liu Qi carried an empty vine basket, followed by a group of happy children. She walked to a shop and watched with restraint.

The servant inside the door hurriedly came out, greeted with a smile on his face, and asked, "Does this sister need anything? My shop has all kinds of goods."

Sister Liu Qi pointed to an inkstone and asked carefully: "Is this what scholars use? Can it be given as a gift to others?"

The servant's expression suddenly became solemn and said solemnly: "It turns out that he wants to buy gifts to give to scholars."
To be continued...