Chapter 56 Rattle

The next day, the weather was fine and the air was always particularly fresh after the rain.

　　The wooden tops and wooden frogs ordered by the noble young master have been finished. Ye Anian checked them one by one and repaired some uneven edges and corners.

　　Jiang Zhu said yesterday that he was going to make a bamboo cage for Fu Zai. He went up the mountain to cut bamboo early this morning, and Ye Anian happened to need it to make a rattle.

　　Putting the finished things neatly on the long wooden table, Ye Anyian was wiping his woodcarving tools with a soft cloth.

　　There was a sudden "squeak" sound from the courtyard door.

　　He got up and went out, and saw Jiang Zhu standing outside the door carrying two bamboos. Next to him stood a stone carrying a basket of rabbit grass.

　　"I came back from cutting bamboo, and a stone happened to come to our house." Jiang Zhu said.

　　Ye Annian smiled at Shi Shi: "Come in quickly, Fu Zai is watching the rabbits in the yard. I have missed you all morning."

　　The two of them entered the yard, and the copper coins were already rubbing their feet with their heads shaking. They were especially enthusiastic about the stones.

The puppy was wagging its tail, circling around the stones, holding people's trousers in its mouth, and leading them into the courtyard.

　　Fu Zai is currently watching the little rabbits in the yard. Since yesterday, he has been particularly interested in these two little rabbits.

　　Before, every morning after getting up, Fu Zai would open the door of the main room, put copper coins and run around in the yard. He would sit on a small stool and throw cloth balls, or rub bamboo dragonflies for the coins to chase.

　　But this morning, after Fu Zai opened the door and put the coins out, he didn't care about it anymore. He just carried the bamboo basket out, put two little rabbits running around in the yard, and then sat on the small stool to look at his eyes. watching.

　　Tong Qian felt that he was being left out and wanted to join in, but Fu Zai ran away because he was afraid that it would scare the little rabbit.

　　The puppy became aggrieved, snorted and lay down at Ye Anyian's feet.

　　When he heard the stone coming, Copper Money's four legs almost ran out of the afterimage, his mouth was wide open, and his tongue almost dripped onto the stone shoes.

　　"Brother Shitou, you are here!"

　　Fu Zai, who was sitting in the yard feeding the little rabbit, saw the stone and said hello happily.

　　"I'll cut some rabbit grass for you."

　　Shitou strode over with a basket full of rabbit grass on his back and put it on the ground for Fu Zai to see: "Here, such a basket should be enough for the two of them for several days."

　　Ye Annian helped Jiang Zhu place the two chopped bamboos on the ground, and was picking bamboo sections for making rattles. He heard the sound and joked: "It's enough to eat until Fu Zai's feet are healed."

　　"The rabbit grass grew well just after it rained, so I cut more." Shitou touched the back of his neck a little sheepishly.

　　Ye Annian smiled and praised him: "Stone has helped me a lot now, enough to give me a few days of leisure."

　　"Brother Ye is busy with other things. I gave the rabbit to Fu Zai, so naturally I have to help him raise it." Shitou smiled innocently.

　　Fu Zai looked at the basket full of rabbit grass and became worried: "There is so much, the little rabbits can't finish it, and they will wilt if left for a long time."

　　"After it's dried, it can be used as food reserve." Ye Annian said, "The little rabbits can also eat hay."

　　"Oh~" Fu Zai suddenly realized.

　　The two children teased the rabbit for a while, and Shitou became curious about Ye Anyian.

　　At this time, Ye Annian had already selected the bamboo joints, and Jiang Zhu used a small saw blade to cut off the bamboo joints and bring them to him.

　　"Brother Ye, what do you want this bamboo for?" Shitou asked.

　　Before Ye Anyian could answer, Fuzai had already rushed to say, "Brother is going to make a rattle today!"

　　Shitou's eyes lit up and he looked excited: "I want to see it."

　　Although he didn't like playing with rattles, he was curious about how they were made.

　　Ye Anian happily agreed: "Okay."

　　Fu Zai also yelled: "I also want to see my brother make a rattle!"

Both children wanted to see it, so Ye Anyian moved all his things into the courtyard and brought a small stool to sit next to the two children.

　　In order to concentrate on watching Ye Anyian make the rattle, Fu Zai carefully put the two little rabbits back into the basket and asked Ye Xiaomei to help him watch.

　　Ye Xiaomei spent the past two days with Ding Qiu. Ding Qiu memorized medical books, and she listened while doing needlework. She listened with great interest. Sometimes she asked Ding Qiu if she didn't understand something.

　　When she heard Fu Zai calling her, she put down what she was doing and came out to carry the basket.

　　"Second sister, help me look at them. I want to see my brother make a rattle." Fu Zai looked up at Ye Xiaomei with a cute little face.

　　Ye Xiaomei was so cute that she stretched out her hand to pinch his little face and said, "Okay, the second sister promises to watch it well for you."

　　After sending the little rabbit away, Fuzai concentrated on watching Ye Anyian play the rattle with Shitou.

　　But he still couldn't help but ask: "Brother, are you trying to make that round drum by sawing so many knots of bamboo?"

　　"Yes, make the drum body." Ye Anyian said.

　　He cut the selected bamboo sections into several sections of about the same width and narrowness, each section was about the width of three fingers, and then polished it into the shape of a drum, which is slightly narrower on both sides and wider in the middle.

　　In this way, it was obvious that it was the prototype of a drum, and Fu Zai opened his eyes in surprise.

　　Ye Annian cut another piece of kraft paper that he had bought in town before. After cutting out the rough shape, he stretched it directly on the drum body and nailed it tightly with wooden nails.

　　The handle is still carved out of wood, and then polished with a file into a small cylindrical stick that is easy to hold. The small wooden ball used to hit the drum head is also directly cut out of the rough outline with a small piece of wood, and then polished.

　　After stretching the drum head, punch a small hole on the left, right and bottom of the drum body to assemble the various parts together.

　　Shitou looked at the rattle that Ye Anyian had made and was so shocked that he couldn't say a word for a long time.

　　He felt that Ye Anyian was so awesome. The wooden spinning top he gave him last time was strong and beautiful, and there were patterns on it. He went out to play with his friends in the village, making everyone envious and saying that he was the best in the town. You can't even buy such a good-looking top.

　　"Brother Ye," he looked at Ye Anyian with admiration, "can you... know how to make all kinds of toys?"

　　Ye Annian handed him the newly completed rattle and said with a smile: "You should be able to do most of them, as long as you understand the structure of the thing."

　　"That's awesome!"

　　Shitou shook the rattle in his hand gently, and the small wooden beads hit the drum surface, making a crisp "dong-dong" sound.

　　The rattle is not difficult to make, but after it is done, it will inevitably look dull, and since it is a toy made for children, it is better to draw some patterns on it.

Ye Annian thought about it and asked Jiangzhu to borrow pen and ink and cinnabar, and sketched a simple festive pattern of a fat doll riding a carp on the drum surface. He also used cinnabar to paint the drum body and handle red, and nailed the wooden nails on the drum skin. The wooden beads that beat the drum head are painted black with ink.

　　The painted rattle cannot be played immediately; it must be left to dry.

　　Fuzai and Shitou looked at the rattle placed on the makeshift wooden stand with eager eyes.

And Jiang Zhu looked at the lifelike pattern of a fat doll riding a carp on the drum surface, and narrowed his eyes. The painting was pretty good. He felt that the painting was more vivid and vivid than those old pedants in Kyoto who just chewed on words.

　　Rattles are actually not difficult to make, but it takes some time to draw patterns and dry them. At the end of the day, Ye Annian made four of them, and gave one of the small rattles that had no time to draw the drum surface to Fuzai and Shitou to play with.

　　Fu Zai held the small rattle and turned it in his hand. The wooden beads struck the drum surface and made a crisp sound of "dong" and "dong".

　　Children really like these little gadgets that make sounds, like the wooden frog before and the rattle this time. Fu Zai couldn't put it down.

　　Ye Annian looked at Fu Zai's cheerful look and thought to himself, he could make a few mud screams next time, the child would definitely like it.

　　Just as he was thinking about it, Jiang Zhu pulled up a small stool and sat down next to him.

　　"Your paintings are so beautiful. Let's go to town tomorrow to buy some paint. Only the two colors of red and black are a bit monotonous."

　　"Okay." Ye Anyian also had this intention.

　　But the paints at this time were very expensive, and he was reluctant to buy too many. He only bought the most basic three primary colors and titanium white, and then he could adjust them himself.

　　Shitou came and played for most of the day and then went back. Since he was going to town tomorrow, he had an early dinner today and everyone wanted to rest early.

　　Jiang Zhu has also made a rabbit cage for the two little rabbits. The bamboo cage is quite big so that the two little rabbits can live in it even when they grow up.

　　Jiang Zhu also made a basket without handles for Copper Coin to use as a dog house. It was covered with dried straw, which was soft and comfortable.

　　However, the copper coins still failed to win Fu Zai's trust, so the rabbit cage was placed in the east room where they slept.

　　When Ye Anyian closed the door of the east room at night, he saw Tongqian resting his head on the edge of the bamboo basket with a sad look on his face, humming softly.

　　Ye Anyian walked over and touched its head to comfort it, then closed the door.

　　Early the next morning, Jiang Zhu and Ye Anyian got up early, as did Ye Xiaomei from West House.

　　The three of them simply ate the morning meal and brought their lunch rations. After locking the courtyard door, they went outside to wait for the bullock cart.

　　Ye Xiaomei wore a new coat and skirt that Ye Annian and Jiang Zhu bought last time they went to town. Her hair was neatly combed, but her face was very plain. No makeup was applied on her head, and there were no beads on her head. She only wore heels. The reflective wooden hairpin holds her hair in a bun.

　　However, she is pretty and lovely, and she looks good even when she is not dressed up.

　　Not long after, Zhou Liang drove the bullock cart out of the village.

　　The three of them had just gotten on the bullock cart when a strange and sinister sound suddenly sounded.

　　"Hey, after living in your brother and brother-in-law's house for so many days, I have become fat. Look, these clothes are all new."

　　Ye Xiaomei heard the sound and went over, and met He Huifen's eyes that looked at her up and down.

This He Huifen is the old woman from the Zhao family next door to the old Ye family. Her husband died young and she raised three children by herself.

　　Now the three children have grown up, the eldest daughter and the second daughter have both married in other villages, and the third son also got married a few years ago.

　　However, the daughter-in-law's stomach was not up to expectations. She gave birth to a brother and three daughters in succession, and finally gave birth to a golden grandson.

　　When Ye Xiaomei was beaten by Wu Xianglian, the old godly woman, it was the fourth child of the He Huifen family, Zhao Pandian, who came to report to Ye Annian.

　　Ye Xiaomei had never liked her, but since she was an elder, it was difficult to say anything, so she pretended not to hear and turned her head away.

　　Unexpectedly, He Huifen became more energetic, stretched her neck and said: "Brother Nian, Xiaomei's clothes cost a lot of money, right?"

　　Ye Annian frowned and his face became obviously cold.

　　Just as he was about to speak, Jiang Zhu had already said, "No, my family will have no money soon, and they are going to town to sell goods."

　　"Tsk, tsk." He Huifen suddenly wrinkled her face and looked at Ye Xiaomei critically.

　　"I also gave her money to buy clothes. She is a girl. Why do she wear such good clothes? She gets dirty when she works."

　　"My breasts were damaged before I bought the original one, so I couldn't wear it anymore." Ye Anyian said calmly.

　　"Just find her an old one, what else will it cost?" He Huifen was still saying.

　　Ye Xiaomei's face became obviously ugly.

　　Jiang Zhu looked at He Huifen, suddenly narrowed his eyes and said, "My family doesn't have any old clothes that girls can wear. How about you find one for me?"

　　He Huifen choked and stopped talking.

　　These days, every scrap of rag is good. If you have old clothes at home, even if they are patched and patched, no one is willing to give them away, because you are afraid that others will not return them if you lend them.