The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 156 Drinking

Liu Yuerong went back briskly, carrying the basket. In her pocket, there was a purse with two silver coins in it.

This was given to her by her second aunt. She must have been so generous because she saw that she was well-behaved and cute.

However, she did not intend to tell her mother about the silver coin, otherwise she would not be able to keep it.

Chen Cui took her sons to clean up several rooms, tidied the kitchen, made some meatball soup, and quickly finished the dinner with the vegetable rolls that Yuerong brought.

Alas, it is too troublesome to clean and tidy up every time she comes back, but there is no other way. Fortunately, she entrusted the house in the county town to Daha to take care of, otherwise she would have to clean it again every time she goes back, which gives her a headache just thinking about it.

The next day, Liu Youcai had already started preparing for the ancestor worship and the banquet, and the news that Changping had passed the examination for a scholar had spread throughout the village.

Changping and Changan went to the ancestral hall to help. After all, it was a matter related to their family, and it was impossible for them to just give money and leave it alone.

Chen Cui saw off several waves of women who came to congratulate her at home. She smiled with them for the whole morning, drank a bellyful of tea, and was also responsible for cleaning up the garbage on the ground.

When Changfu was helping to sweep the floor, he saw peanut and melon seed shells scattered on the floor, as well as traces of saliva and spit. He couldn't help but mutter a few words: "We obviously have a trash can at home, but they still throw things on the floor. They don't even know to spit into paper. They are so stupid..."

"Changfu, putting the garbage in the bin is just our family's custom. You can't force others to follow it. They may not know that it is for garbage. Education is not only about restraining yourself, but also about respecting others, respecting their behavior that does not conform to your cognition."

Chen Cui said somewhat seriously.

These days, Chang'an and Changfu were first happy because Changping passed the exam, but then they began to feel anxious.

They are worried that they will not be able to pass the exam like their older brother in the future, so their emotions are somewhat conflicting and repeated.

Chen Cui noticed it and gave him some gentle advice, and Chang'an calmed down a little. However, Changfu was usually a bit impatient, and his temper could not be relieved.

Hearing his mother's scolding, Changfu's face suddenly turned red.

In fact, he also realized that something was wrong with himself. Although he was usually confident in his academic performance, there was still some gap between him and his elder brother, and he had to transfer to a school in the provincial capital.

There were too many uncertainties in his mind, and when they all weighed down together, he felt a little suffocated, and he got angry when he saw those women's vulgar behavior.

"Mother, I..."

Changfu lowered his head in shame.

"Mother knows you are uneasy, but you can't take it out on them. Our family was poor before, and mother was no different from those aunts and sisters. It's only in the past few years that we have been able to be more particular. Think about how you were before, and don't forget your roots after a few years of good life!"

Changfu lowered his head even more, and felt like his face was burning.

In the past, he relied on his young age to hang out outside all the time, often getting dirty, not caring about whether the food was clean or not, and even didn't know to wash his hands after going to the toilet. How could he be better than these aunts and ladies in the past!

"When the granaries are full, people will know etiquette. If they could have the conditions our family has now, they might be more particular about etiquette than we are. Reading and understanding cannot just be superficial, but must be read from the heart!"

Chen Cui sighed, turned and left, leaving Changfu standing there alone.

Changping and Changan came back in the afternoon and said that everything was almost ready. They had checked the almanac and decided that the ancestor worship would be held the day after tomorrow. The meat, vegetables and wine needed for the banquet would be purchased tomorrow, and the women in the village would go to help tomorrow.

Originally, most of the guests invited to the banquet were villagers, but because she said she would not accept gifts and just wanted everyone to come and have fun, naturally there were many enthusiastic people who came to help.

On the day of ancestor worship, Chen Cui came to the ancestral hall for the second time. The first time was when the memorial archway was completed. She came to comfort the ancestors and she was fortunate enough to enter the ancestral hall this time.

This time, the protagonist of the ancestor worship was her son, and she could only watch from outside the door.

Most of the money for building the ancestral hall was paid by her, of course, all in the name of the three brothers. Liu Youcai is really a hard-working person, and within the limited budget, he built a very grand and solid ancestral hall.

The banquet was placed outside the ancestral hall, and almost everyone in the village came. Changping, the young boy, sat at the same table with the clan leader and elders. From time to time, people came to toast him.

The wine nowadays is all turbid, similar to rice wine, and its alcohol content is probably similar to that of modern beer. It will not make people drunk unless they drink enough.

Although Changping didn't have many opportunities to drink normally, since all the people present were his elders, he couldn't refuse and had to drink. As a result, people came to toast him one after another, and in the end he drank so much that his cheeks turned red and he couldn't even stand steadily.

Seeing this, Liu Youcai stopped the other people who were toasting and told them to have fun on their own and not to embarrass the child.

Changan and Changfu also benefited from the eldest brother's favor and sat at the same table with them. They also drank a lot and their faces turned red.

When the banquet ended in the afternoon, the villagers helped the three brothers who could no longer walk back home. Chen Cui could only accept her fate and take care of the three drunkards.

The three of them lay down on a bed together, their eyes were blurry and their minds were hazy. Fortunately, they were honest and did not move after lying down.

Sui Sui helped Chen Cui pour water and wring out the towel. When she handed the towel to her, she covered her nose and said in disgust: "Why does this wine smell so bad? It stinks!"

Chen Cui also regretted it. She thought that this kind of wine had a low alcohol content and it would be okay to drink some. She did not tell her three children to be careful in advance.

But she ignored the physical constitution of people today. Those who have hardly touched alcohol would definitely not be able to tolerate alcohol, so these three people ended up like this after drinking.

Although in this era, children generally mature early and get married in their teens, and boys in their early teens can go out drinking with adults, but these three children are not yet adults, and they should not be allowed to touch alcohol so early.

Chen Cui fed each of the three of them a bowl of honey water, covered them with quilts, and they all fell asleep soon and did not wake up until late at night.

Suisui had already gone to bed at this time, and Chen Cui served them the porridge in the pot.

The three brothers sat in the main room with their heads drooped, drinking porridge. After finishing the porridge, they listened to their mother's teachings together.

Chen Cui started by talking about Changfu's disdain for the aunts and ladies in the village the day before yesterday, and about how he drank too much today, and told them a lot of principles of how to behave in society.

She warned them not to become complacent and forget the basics just because their conditions were better now, and to be cautious when going out. They must not get drunk to the point of losing their ability to move and being at the mercy of others.

That night, the three brothers lay in bed and talked for a long time. Each of them thought a lot and tossed and turned in bed until late at night.