New Clothes
At these words, not to mention Zhōu Wǔláng and Zhōu Lìuláng, even Dà Tóu and Dà Yā couldn't help but look down on him. "Uncle Four, have you finished learning the Thousand Character Classic?"
Fāng couldn't help but giggle and playfully hit his arm. "You don't even bother to learn; who will teach the children to recognize characters in the future?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she quickly closed her mouth, her face slightly flushed.
Like Zhōu Sìláng, she suspected that she was pregnant but couldn't be certain. These days, she would often daydream with him about having children in the future, and she accidentally let it slip at that moment.
Fortunately, everyone around was a group of children or young teenagers, and no one paid attention to her words. She let out a sigh of relief. Dà Yā said, "Aunt Four, don't worry." When the time comes, we will teach our younger siblings.
Dà Tóu also nodded and said, "If it's a younger brother, we'll take care of him; if it's a younger sister, we'll let Dà Yā take care of her."
Zhōu Sìláng waved his hand in disdain, "Go, go, go, I won't let you take care of them." I'll take care of them myself. It's just the Thousand Character Classic; I'll learn it quickly.
He turned to Mǎn Bǎo and said, "Mǎn Bǎo, isn't your book useless now? Let your fourth brother borrow it. In the future, I will read early and late every day. The reason why I'm slower than them is that I studied less. I won't mention Lǎo Wǔ and Lǎo Liù, but in the past two years, I have followed you every day. How can I learn quickly?
Mǎn Bǎo thought about it and felt that what Fourth Brother said was quite reasonable. During those two years, Zhou Silang had a lot of debts to repay, which resulted in him spending less than half the time studying compared to Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother.
She never discouraged anyone's enthusiasm for learning, so Mǎn Bǎo waved her hand and said, "No problem, I'll lend you the book." "But Fourth Brother, you have to take care of it and not damage it."
Her books were all copied and bound by her husband and given to her as a gift.
After she finished writing and reading the book, she would neatly transcribe another copy before returning the bound book. So, besides the books that couldn't be taken out from the library, there were only a few books that Mǎn Bǎo could place on the shelf.
And because these books were not easy to come by, she cherished them very much.
The Zhou family, from top to bottom, understood the value of books and never dared to randomly flip through their bookshelf. However, whether they were older or younger, everyone treasured books, even if the pages were worn soft; everyone was very careful.
But Zhou Silang's borrowing was evidently distinct from that of everyone else. If everyone borrowed, they would return after half a day. Zhōu Sìláng obviously wanted to borrow for a long time. Everyone suspected that he wanted to use the books to teach Fāng how to recognize characters.
In response, Dà Tóu and the others were still puzzled, while Zhōu Wǔláng and Zhōu Lìuláng just looked at him provocatively.
It was getting late, and Lǎo Zhōu, who had just come out of the bath, was still not back with his wife, which was starting to upset him. He called out again, "Dàjiā, go to Zhōu Hǔ's house and see why your mother-in-law hasn't come back yet."
"If she still hasn't given birth, bring her back." Your mother-in-law has not taken her medicine yet tonight. Her health isn't good, so she can't stay up late.
Xiǎo Qián agreed and came out of the room, ready to go to Zhōu Hǔ's house.
Mǎn Bǎo jumped up and followed, "Sister-in-law, I'll go with you."
"No, why are you a child following along?" Xiao Qian said. "It's dark, and children shouldn't go out; otherwise, they might be seen by passing fairies."
Mǎn Bǎo was taken aback. "Aren't fairies good?" Isn't it good to see fairies?
"It depends on the timing." "It's not good to go out for a walk on such a late night," Xiao Qian explained, providing several reasons for leaving Man Bao behind.
Hé Shì said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, let me go with you."
Although there was nothing to fear in the village, Zhōu Hǔ's house was at the end of the village, and the moon tonight was not bright, so it was better to have someone accompany them.
And she and Zhou Hu's wife not only came from the same village but also had a good relationship. She also wanted to go and see the situation.
Xiǎo Qián breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Alright, let's go together and have a look."
The two sisters-in-law went hand in hand.
Mǎn Bǎo stood at the door with a look of regret as she watched them leave.
When Zhou Xi passed by and saw her, he took her back to the room. "I'll make you some new clothes." "Come on, big sister will measure your height."
As soon as Mǎn Bǎo heard this, she immediately followed him.
"Why are you making new clothes for me, big sister?" Man Bao asked.
Zhōu Xǐ smiled and nodded at her. "Because big sister is happy."
Seeing her smiling face, Mǎn Bǎo felt that her big sister was truly in a good mood. This made her happy, so she raised her arms to let her big sister measure her height.
"We, Mǎn Bǎo, have grown again," Zhōu Xǐ smiled. "This piece of cloth was leftover from when I bought it to make clothes for myself." At the time, I wanted to make a new outfit for you, but Mother said you already had one, so I saved it. "I thought I would make it for you when you grew a little taller, so as not to bunch all the new clothes together." "When you grew taller, there wouldn't be any new clothes left to wear."
Mǎn Bǎo had indeed grown taller. This outfit was made last year. When spring arrived, she took out the reserved fabric, only to find that it was a bit short.
Now her wrists were exposed, and in a few months, Zhōu Xǐ estimated that Mǎn Bǎo would have to expose almost half of her arm.
She touched Mǎn Bǎo's legs and asked, "You're growing so fast, does it hurt?"
Mǎn Bǎo thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't hurt during the day, but sometimes it's sore at night." "I suspect it's going to rain."
Every time it rained, her mother would complain of a sore waist and legs. She felt that her legs could predict the weather, and it seemed to be very accurate.
Before it rained, her legs would be sore, and even when it didn't rain, they would still be a little sore.
Zhōu Xǐ couldn't help but laugh and pat her little head, saying, "You silly child, you're growing, unlike your mother."
She thought for a moment and decided that she should buy some meat soon. Even if she couldn't afford good meat, buying some bones to stew would also be a good option. Not only was Mǎn Bǎo growing taller, but Dà Tóu's several nephews and nieces were also in the growth stage and needed more nutrition.
Zhōu Xǐ still had quite a bit of money on hand; after all, her expenses were now the lowest in the family.
As she had planned, she quickly measured Mǎn Bǎo and then had her sit by the bed. Curiously, she asked, "Big sister, why are you so happy?"
Zhōu Xǐ first instinctively looked outside and then whispered to Mǎn Bǎo, "I met Dà Lǘ's daughter-in-law today."
"Mm-hmm," Mǎn Bǎo nodded and continued to look at her, waiting for her to continue.
She saw that Mǎn Bǎo didn't understand, smiled, and said, "Dà Lǘ's daughter-in-law is from Liújiā Village."