The only favourite ugly husband

by Usui Takumii

not mine, translation of free web novel go check there. Beware Bl. Total: 179 cps.

152. 106 to 110

Jiang Zhen bought only two rings yesterday and planned to use one to propose to Zhao Jinge. But later, when he thought of proposing, he also remembered the same thing.

One of his comrades-in-arms talked about his girlfriend and thought about getting married all day long. As a result, he later stopped talking about it and his comrades in arms thought that he did not do well. Finally, after a long time as a result . . . the girl who was very good to him every time marriage was mentioned did not want to pick up the conversation.

His comrade in arms could not understand it, and after a long time, he finally asked her about it. Then the girl said he had not yet proposed to her, so she was not in a rush to marry him.

Kneeling down to propose seemed to make people happy. . . so Jiang Zhen thought about closing the door at night and giving a ring like that to tease Zhao Jinge before coaxing him to bed. He always liked to see Zhao Jinge acting shy. But . . . there was no doubt that something went wrong in the end. However, the result seemed very good. Seeing that Zhao Jinge was touched by the ring on his hand the next day, Jiang Zhen knew that he must like this ring very much.

Zhao Jinge really liked this ring and wished that everyone could see the ring on his finger, but he was too embarrassed to show it off. Moreover, it was useless for others to only see the ring on his hand. He hoped that others could see the ring on Jiang Zhen's hand. They wore the same ones! Zhao Jinge frowned and looked serious. One hand rubbed on the ring intentionally or unintentionally. . .

He Chunsheng, Jiang Ming, and the others suddenly felt inexplicable pressure when they faced him.

Zhao Jinge and Jiang Zhen had been together for a long time, but recently, they had become more and more imposing!

When He Chunsheng and others saw Zhao Jinge, they all said hello and left in a hurry.

Zhao Jinge: ". . ."

Zhao Jinge's mind could not be seen by others, but Jiang Zhen could see it, and after seeing it, he could not help laughing.

He originally felt that wearing a ring would be inconvenient and uncomfortable, and even thought about taking it off after he returned . . . but now he felt it would be good to wear it all the time.

Jiang Zhen was not interested in many luxury goods at this time. In his opinion, those expensive antique calligraphy, painting, porcelain and jade were not as good as gold and silver. If he could buy a flushing toilet for 1000 silver, he would not blink, but a jade bowl for 1000 silver . . . was still just a bowl, and jade was not better than porcelain! In the end, Jiang Zhen didn't buy any luxury goods and bought mainly practical things, such as . . . charcoal. Even then, he did not buy expensive ones; ordinary charcoal could be used for a long time and cost only a few silver! So although Jiang Zhen bought a lot of things in Fucheng this time, he didn't spend a lot of money in the end.

By the time they returned to Hecheng County, it was only ten days before the New Year, and people in Hexi had begun to buy New Year goods. For people here, it was mainly dried bamboo shoots, salted fish, and kelp. At the same time, some of them would pickle some pork and prepare chicken, but there was not much more.

On the one hand, most people have no money, but on the other, there were a lot of vegetables to eat in the field this season, so there was no need to hoard other things.

As the new year approached, the village would organize young people to go fishing together, and after catching fishes, the entire village would share it. For New Year's worship, there must be chicken, fish, and meat. After the fishes were divided, it could still be saved for people visiting after the New Year.

When Jiang Zhen went back with the fleet, the people in Hexi were catching fish, and Zhao Fugui was also there. So when he came back, Zhao Fugui brought back a basket filled with fishes.

"After a village borrowed Jiang Zhen's fishing boat for the fishing trip this time, the amount of fishes distributed to our family has become especially large." Putting down the bamboo basket in his hand, Zhao Fugui was in a good mood. In the past, he and Zhao Jinge went to help each year and had to do a lot of work, but in the end, they would get less than half of fishes they got today.

"They are giving Jiang Zhen's face," Zhao Liu said, then she put some of the live fish in the tank, and then asked Zhao Fugui to kill the rest of them.

If the fish was killed, some of them could be cooked immediately while some would be preserved as needed.

"Let Cook Li take care of the fish. Dad and I will tidy up the things I brought," Jiang Zhen said.

Zhao Fugui and Zhao Liu were used to working all the time, so although Jiang Zhen brought back Cook Li and Ruo'er, and Jiang Xiaomei was there to help, they still preferred to do most of the work themselves. However, they were not young, and they had suffered a lot in their early years. So Jiang Zhen stopped them and tried his best to make them work as little as possible. Cook Li and Ruo'er were paid, so it was really nothing for them to do something like killing fishes.

After Jiang Zhen left with Zhao Fugui, Zhao Liu began to talk with her son. Then she saw the ring on Zhao Jinge's finger for the first time.

"Jinge, did Jiang Zhen buy this for you?" Zhao Liu asked.

"Yes." Zhao Jinge nodded in a very good mood. Finally, someone asked about his ring! "Jiang Zhen bought two identical ones, and he wore one of them. Also our names were engraved inside the rings."

Zhao Jinge proudly told Zhao Liu about the ring, and soon after . . . he found that nearby villagers did not look at him but at the ring on his finger! In order not to appear smug, Zhao Jinge tried to restrain himself from giggling, but then . . . People in the village thought that Zhao Jinge was becoming more and more imposing, like a landlord. Zhao Dahu was just like him walking around the village with a big belly.

Zhao Jinge: ". . ."

After he had settled the things he had brought back from Fucheng, Jiang Zhen began to make arrangements about the land he bought and began to train his men. Every day, he took his men to do all kinds of training and asked the men rescued from the pirates to help level the land. As for the women and gers, he arranged for them to weave cloth and make clothes in the county town for the time being.

Even with New Year approaching, Jiang Zhen did not relax, so people in Hexi could not help but marvel at it. At the same time, more and more people asked about Jiang Zhen, hoping to join the team.

Jiang Zhen did not refuse them. He inspected them one by one and recruited dozens of people. When everything got slowly on the right track, Jiang Zhen's first new year in Daqi arrived.

Jiang Zhen didn't attach much importance to the New Year when he used to live alone. He did not do anything except to buy some delicious cooked food, but Zhao Liu attached great importance to the New Year. She first worshipped the Bodhisattva, then her ancestors, and finally made a big New Year meal.

On New Year's Eve, no matter how Jiang Zhen tried to squeeze his subordinates, he gave them a holiday and also stayed at home all day.

Jiang Zhen didn't pay attention to the previous worship, but he was still looking forward to the New Year's Eve meal. The meal cooked by Zhao Liu and Cook Li really did not disappoint him, especially the stewed pig head. He found it extremely fragrant.

Jiang Zhen ate several pieces of pig's head meat in succession but only gave Zhao Jinge one pig ear. Since Zhao Jinge had already eaten all kinds of meat and there was no shortage of chicken, duck, and fish, he was not allowed to eat too much meat. Let him just nibble at the pig's ear.

"The life in our family got better this year . . ." After dinner, Jiang Xiaomei, Cook Li, and the others went back, leaving only Jiang Zhen, Zhao Jinge and Zhao Fugui, and his wife Zhao Liu, who said it with some emotion.

"It will get better and better in the future," Jiang Zhen said.

"It will get better and better in the future," Zhao Fugui happily repeated and then suddenly took out a paper bag pasted with red paper or red envelope and gave it to Jiang Zhen.

"What's this?" Jiang Zhen was a little surprised, Was this New Year's money? At his age, there was no need to give him New Year's Eve money anymore, right?

"Red envelopes," Zhao Fugui said, "This is your first year of marriage, so I wanted to give you a red envelope." After he finished, he closed his mouth awkwardly again. The money in this envelope was originally given to him by Jiang Zhen.

Jiang Zhen, who hadn't received any red envelope for decades, suddenly got a red envelope, and this feeling . . . was not bad.

On New Year's Eve, Jiang Zhen wanted to stay awake, but he was driven back to bed by Zhao Liu.

Hexi Village didn't care much about staying awake on New Year's Eve, and the villagers did not even know when it was midnight. So generally, after the New Year's Eve meal, everyone would go to bed. But on the first day of the new year, everyone would get up very early.

Jiang Zhen took Zhao Jinge back to his room and opened the red envelope in his hand to check. After opening it, he found that it was not silver but gold.

All the money he gave to Zhao Fugui and his wife were silver, so he estimated that Zhao Fugui took the silver to the county town to exchange it for him. Jiang Zhen put it away and once again felt that it was not bad to travel back to the ancient times. Although it was not convenient to take a bath here, at least he had family.

That night, Jiang Zhen did not do anything to Zhao Jinge but just touched his stomach and talked a lot with him before the two of them fell asleep.

The next day, they were awakened by the sound of firecrackers. In this era, there were already firecrackers, but most of the people in Hexi could not afford to buy them. In the previous years, only Zhao Dahu's family set off firecrackers, but this year, there will be even more firecrackers from the Zhao family.

It was the firecrackers that woke them up.

Jiang Zhen thought it was already very late, so when he heard the noise, he looked outside only to find that the sky was still dark. For a moment, he was speechless.

"The earlier the firecrackers are set off, the more prosperous the family will be this year. Dad probably didn't even sleep," Zhao Jinge said.

"I'll go and have a look."

Jiang Zhen put on cotton-padded trousers and a cotton-padded jacket made for him by Zhao Liu and opened the door and went out. Then he saw Zhao Fugui lit a mulberry stick. He was some distance from the firecracker and was about to light a second one. But because it was cold and windy, the burning mulberry stick would soon succumb, so he put it into the nearby fire and lit it up before firing the firecracker.

"Dad, I'll do it," Jiang Zhen said. The firecrackers in this day were not as good as those of later generations. Zhao Fugui doing it like this, he didn't know how long it would take him to light the second one.

Zhao Fugui was very relieved to see Jiang Zhen. He wanted to give the mulberry stick to Jiang Zhen, but instead of taking the mulberry stick from him to use it to light the firecracker, Jiang Zhen went to pick up the firecrackers placed on the vacant lot and threw them directly into the fire.

Zhao Fugui: ". . ." Why didn't he think of doing it this way?

Zhao Fugui was feeling a bit stupid when he saw the firecracker exploding in the fire. Even if they were not close to each other, they would still blow up.

Zhao Fugui: " . . ."

Anyway, in the end, they lit all the firecrackers bought by Jiang Zhen. Not long after the sound of firecrackers on their side ended, the sound of firecrackers from Zhao Dahu's family could be heard.

The new year has arrived.

It snowed twice in Hexi Village this year, but there was no snow on the ground. The snow melted the next day, and its impact on the people of Hexi was less than that of rain.

After the New Year, the weather was very good. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Jiang Zhen called all his men back to continue their training. In modern times, such behavior may be considered inhumane, but at this time, no one thought there was anything wrong with it. In particular, Jiang Zhen gave his men a new set of clothes for the new year.

So from the third day of the Lunar New Year, on this side of Hexi, there could often be seen a group of people dressed in exactly the same dark blue clothes shouting, "One, two, three, four," and running along the road in the village.

Most of these people were not from Hexi and the vast majority of those who worked on the land bought by Jiang Zhen were people he rescued from the bandits. For some time, Hexi become much livelier than before.

Jiang Zhen trained his men, and when he had nothing to do, he would go into the house to check on Zhao Jinge. Later, Zhao Jinge no longer wanted stay inside the house, but instead, would help turn the land near the Zhao family house.

At first, Jiang Zhen was a little worried and unwilling to let him do it. But later, when he saw that a woman in the village who was also pregnant was still turning the ground, he did not stop Zhao Jinge from this. However, when Zhao Jinge turned over the land near his home and wanted to go to another field bought by Jiang Zhen, he was stopped by Jiang Zhen.

"Jinge, if you have nothing to do, why don't you help me manage the brick kiln?"

The two craftsmen brought back by Jiang Zhen had already build the first brick kiln and burned a batch of very inferior products, most of which were picked up by the children in the village. These children usually could play with even a stone for a long time, so when they got some bricks, which were rare, they also wanted to play with those bricks to grind the wheel. However, while those well-made green bricks could be polished into wheels, these semi-red bricks, which were not evenly heated, couldn't. In the end, they only got some broken bricks. As a result, these broken bricks were finally picked up by the villagers, who planned to mix them with soil to build chicken coops and pigsty.

"OK, I'll watch it for you." Zhao Jinge nodded and immediately went.

Zhao Jinge went to the brick kiln while Jiang Zhen continued to keep an eye on his men's training. He also found a group of people to dig up a lot of soil beside the canal to make a sunken port where many boats could dock.

It was a huge project, but it was not slow, and the cost was much lower that Jiang Zhen expected.

The reason for this rapid progress was because Jiang Zhen paid money to hire people from Hexi and the surrounding villages to help.

Jiang Zhen offered 20 copper coins and a meal for a day per person. This condition proposed by Jiang Zhen attracted the Hexi villagers and many other people from the surrounding villages, making everyone scramble to work for him.

Although 20 copper coins could only buy half a kilo of pork, most people have no place to make money in the countryside at all. Also,it was not the time for leisure with the crops still sprouting, nothing to harvest, and this time being the spring food shortage . . . Just for digging, they would not only get a meal but also 20 copper coins, which was a good thing. People in the nearby villages almost rushed to tell each other and scrambled to work for Jiang Zhen.

By spending 4 silver a day, two hundred people could be hired, and these two hundred people work very hard for fear of being fired . . . So even if he wanted to, it was hard to slow down the construction of the dock.

Jiang Zhen spent silver to hire people from nearby villagers, so Zhao Jinge did the same thing.

Several more brick kilns had been built so that more experiments could be carried out and more bricks could be fired. But this way, firewood and brick were still not enough.

Zhao Jinge asked the women in the village, gers, and children to help them make bricks. Paying according to how much they made, and if they didn't do well, he did not pay money, while at the same time buying firewood. In this way, they immediately had no shortage of brick and firewood. There was not much firewood available in Hexi and the surrounding villages, so some people went out to buy firewood and sell it to Zhao Jinge, earning the difference.

Unwittingly, it had been a year since Jiang Zhen came to this place. It was only when he overheard people talking about the Jiang family that he suddenly remembered it. Of course, it's impossible for Jiang Zhen to recruit people he found annoying, so he did not want to hire the Jiangs, undoubtedly making the Jiang family even more excluded.

Meanwhile, something happened to the Jiang family.

At first when the Jiang family sold their land, it was to pay off the debt and also to help Chiang Chengxiang find a job in the county town. It was because Jiang Chengxiang asked for money from his family that Jiang Chengwen insisted on getting 40 silver to do business. Later, Jiang Chengwen lost all his money, and Jiang Chengxiang said that he had found a job in the county town, but . . . he never brought a single coin home.

Just at the beginning of the year, when the conflict between Jiang Chengwen and Jiang Chengxiang became more and more serious, Jiang Chengwen followed Jiang Chengxiang and then . . . found that Jiang Chengxiang did not go to work at all! He just hid in small room, never coming out!

It turned out that Jiang Chengxiang could not find a job in the country town at all. But since Butcher Jiang and old lady Jiang were so busy working in the fields, they would also want him to work in there if he was not able to find a job. Otherwise, the villagers would look at him strangely, and he could not stand it.

He wanted to put it off for a while so that he could have more time to find a job that he could do. After thinking about it, he finally came up with a way and lied that he had found a job and asked Butcher Jiang for money. Then he could live in the county town and find a job at ease!

Jiang Chengxiang got the money as he wished, but later, he found that he seemed to have walked into a dead end.

He lied and said that he had already found a job. In any case, he couldn't go looking for a job all over the street; otherwise, what would he do if he was seen by people from Hexi or people he knew?

In the end, Jiang Chengxiang could only rent a house and hid in it every day when he went to the country town. After hiding for a day, he would go out and look for something he could do.

When Zhu Shufen had a child, none of the Jiang family members went to the country town much, so this was well concealed by him. However, this time, Jiang Chengwen followed him and exposed him. The Jiang family became so noisy that Huang Min and Zhu Shufen gave birth prematurely together.

Although Huang Min was lazy, it was the second time she had a child. She soon gave birth to a boy and asked for something to eat just after giving birth, but Zhu Shufen was different. It was Zhu Shufen's first child, and it was not an easy birth. So afterward, she couldn't walk around much. Even if she had lived in the countryside, she couldn't walk to the gate. It was a premature birth . . . In the end, giving birth was difficult.

She ran out of amniotic fluid before giving birth to a skinny girl with great difficulty, leaving her half dead.

Jiang Chengxiang couldn't even take care of himself, and he obviously didn't have the ability to take care of his wife and child. In desperation, he could only turn to old lady Jiang for help.

Old lady Jiang followed Jiang Chengwen and Huang Min, but when her youngest son was in trouble, she could not help it; she helped Jiang Chengxiang take care of Zhu Shufen and Jiang Chengxiang's daughter.

Old lady Jiang had to take care of Zhu Shufen, so naturally, she neglected Huang Min. After Huang Min did not have enough diapers to change her son, she immediately became angry and told old lady Jiang to not take care of Zhu Shufen; otherwise, she won't support old lady Jiang!

Jiang Chengwen and Jiang Chengxiang, old lady Jiang was always partial to Jiang Chengwen's second son. What more Jiang Chengwen gave her two grandchildren already! Old lady Jiang loved Huang Min's two sons deeply, but Zhu Shufen's little girl, she hated from the moment she saw her and even wished she had died early to save food. For such a child who was sobbing all day but couldn't cry louder while mother had no milk yet . . . In old lady Jiang's opinion, it was impossible to support her. And with her in trouble with Huang Min, old lady Jiang was no longer willing to take care of Zhu Shufen.

When she gave birth for the first time, not only did Zhu Shufen not have the help of her mother-in-law, Butcher Jiang was also away, working like a soldier.

Old lady Jiang didn't live a good life, so why should Zhu Shufen succeed? She was no longer willing to take care of Zhu Shufen, making Jiang Chengxiang angry as well. Originally, he turned a blind eye to Butcher Jiang helping Chengwen do the farm work, but since then, he no longer allowed Butcher Jiang to help.

Butcher Jiang was very disappointed in Jiang Chengwen and liked Jiang Chengxiang even more, hoping that Jiang Chengxiang could provide for his old age. Naturally, he didn't want to offend Jiang Chengxiang and started to refuse to help Jiang Chengwen.

Before all this . . . although their family split up, Butcher Jiang and old lady Jiang continued to sleep in the same room, but soon, they had separated rooms. The separation of the family became even more clear-cut.

The four houses of the Jiang family were clearly separated in half by the Jiang family's two brothers, and they also coincidentally took some things to block the boundary, determined not to communicate with each other.

The farce of the Jiang family finally became the talk of the villagers, and everyone started to dislike their family more and more. When old lady Jiang went to the river to wash diapers, she was also driven away. "We are going to wash rice and vegetables here. Can't you wash diapers somewhere far away?"

"Yes! You are so ignorant!"

"This river doesn't belong to your family."

. . .

Old lady Jiang froze and took the basin to the canal to wash, and then, after a short walk, she met Zhao Liu.

Zhao Liu also came out to wash clothes, but she didn't hold a wooden bucket and basin. Cook Li held them for her. After being fed by Jiang Zhen for more than half a year, Zhao Liu's face became ruddy, and she no longer looked like an old lady. But in reality, she was several years older than old lady Jiang.

Old lady Jiang looked at her increasingly dry and thin arms and was stunned. But she was only stupefied for a moment before she went back to work. There was still a lot of work to do at home, and she still had to do all the farm work on the fields. She needed to finish washing the diapers quickly.

When old lady Jiang reached the edge of the canal, she suddenly saw Butcher Jiang carrying a basin of diapers and washing them.

When old lady Jiang gave birth, Butcher Jiang did not want to help wash diapers and would only gave old lady Jiang some water to drink. For many years, he had not even washed his own clothes. But now . . . His clothes were a little smelly and Butcher Jiang was washing diapers.

Old lady Jiang and Butcher Jiang did not speak, but they both had the same complex mood.

Jiang Zhen heard about the Jiang family's situation, but he didn't take it seriously. At the moment, what he was most concerned with was Zhao Jinge's situation. With Zhao Jinge's belly growing bigger, the child moved from time to time. Jiang Zhen no longer dared to do anything to Zhao Jinge. Even when he had some ideas, he only let Zhao Jinge help him with his hand. Although Zhao Jinge could still run around with a belly, Jiang Zhen had been very worried. The only thing that made him happy was that he was strict with Zhao Jinge. He always told Zhao Jinge to eat less, so he would not gain too much weight and the child would not be too big.

In the twinkling of an eye, it was the Qingming Festival.

The winter wheat planted by Butcher Jiang a year ago was almost ready. Zhao Liu and Cook Li also went to get a lot of wheat ears back to soak, letting it grow malt, and then used that malt to make malt sugar and malt pancakes. This was a bit of waste of food to do, but the Zhao family was not short on food now. So she could prepare as much as she wanted.

Zhao Jinge liked sweet food very much, but he didn't like these two things very much. Unfortunately, Jiang Zhen had forbidden him from eating more, and he was only allowed to eat two malt pancakes every day.

Eating a cake while walking, Zhao Jinge came to the place where bricks were burned and heard cheers coming from there. The father and son bought by Jiang Zhen started making very good bricks, and they have mastered the whole process! Jiang Zhen said at the beginning that if they could do it, they would be rewarded with two silver each.

"Jiang Zhen said that although you have signed a contract of sale with him, he will reward you for your good work. In the future, for every ten bricks you give, he will give you a reward of one copper coin. A thousand bricks is one hundred copper. If you are too busy, you can choose some of the people we give you as apprentices to help you," Zhao Jinge said.

This was what Jiang Zhen told him some time ago. The father and son's eyes brightened when they heard these words. Originally, they did not intend to accept apprentices, wanting to hide their knowledge so the boss would value them, but now . . . If there were more people, it wouldn't take long for them to burn a thousand bricks! They immediately planned to get a few more apprentices to help them, and they were full of enthusiasm for brick burning.

In the place where they used to stay, the teachers were slow in firing bricks. They were never willing to burn more bricks for their master. They were afraid that the master would not allow them to fire less bricks if he saw they could fire more. They were going to do the same, but now . . . They'd better burn more bricks and make more money!

As Zhao Jinge's belly got bigger and bigger, Jiang Zhen's dock had almost been built, and even his and Zhao Jinge's house was done.

When building docks, Jiang Zhen could not put forward any suggestions and could only let the Zheng family guide him. But when he was building his own house, he worked very hard and ran over there every day, asking for advice all day.

Jiang Zhen's aesthetic was not very good and his greatest requirement for the house where he wanted to live was sturdiness and then convenience. Unwittingly, it was nearing the end of March, and Zhao Jinge had been pregnant for more than nine months and might give birth at any time. Still, Zhao Jinge was still very energetic and would go to the brick kiln every day. Jiang Zhen thought it would be good for him to walk more, so he did not stop him and only let Ruo'er and Cook Li follow him around.

That day, Jiang Zhen went to the site of their house early in the morning. After watching the workers for a while, he suddenly saw Zhao Jinge approaching.

"Jinge, what are you doing here?" Jiang Zhen immediately greeted him.

"I have a stomachache," Zhao Jinge said.

"What!" Jiang Zhen was stunned.

"If you have a stomachache. What are you doing here? You . . ." Jiang Zhen was anxious. Zhao Jinge has been pregnant for more than nine months and might have a baby at any time. At this time, his stomach ached . . . It was not labor pains, was it?

"It's not very painful . . . ," Zhao Jinge said, and then he frowned. "But now it's become more and more painful." As he walked all the way, it seemed to hurt more and more. It only hurt once every few minutes at the beginning, but soon, the pain became much more intense.

It hurt more and more? Jiang Zhen began to shake. Zhao Jinge had a big belly, so he couldn't carry him. He could only . . . Immediately, Jiang Zhen picked up Zhao Jinge in a princess carry and ran back home.

Zhao Jinge was big and tall and he was not as light as those women and gers. On the contrary, he was very heavy, and after pregnancy, his weight had increased by more than 10 kg. It was estimated that most people would not be able to hold him. But Jiang Zhen had improved his body for more than a year. Not only did he have the combat skills, but also the physical strength and endurance . . . While carrying Zhao Jinge, he could still run.

"What are you doing?" Zhao Jinge was so stunned, he forgot about his stomachache.

There were a lot of people working there, so a bunch of people were watching them!

"I'm taking you home," Jiang Zhen said and ran even faster with Zhao Jinge in his arms.

"I'm fine . . ." Zhao Jinge originally wanted to say something, but seeing Jiang Zhen's anxious expression, he just hugged Jiang Zhen's neck and stopped talking.

These days, he found some women and gers to help him work in the brick kiln and became much more familiar with the women and gers in the village. Therefore, he learned a lot about pregnancy and birthing from these people.

According to these women, it will take some time for the child to be born after the labor pains. However, when he was at brick kiln he only felt slight pain so he wanted to find Jiang Zhen and go together with him home to have a baby.

But as a result, Jiang Zhen became worried. . .

Wouldn't it be bad for him to be carried through the village like this by Jiang Zhen?

Zhao Jinge was a little happy in his heart, but the people around him were really surprised by this scene.

"What's the matter with Boss Jiang? Why is he running so fast?"

"He held Zhao Jinge in his arms . . . Did something happen to Zhao Jinge?"

"Is he going to give birth? It seems that Zhao Jinge is due. "

. . .

When people on that side of the dock saw this scene, they all talked about it to each other, and after they reached a conclusion, they could not help but sigh.

"The boss is very kind to Zhao Jinge."

"That's great . . . My mother-in-law always complained that I'm unkind to her now."

"Don't complain. I don't have a wife yet."

A group of young people talked endlessly. Seeing this, He Chunsheng reprimanded them, "Stop talking and keep practicing!"

"Yes!" the crowd answered immediately. "You'd better learn how the boss does it! It will be good for you!"

It was because he learned from Jiang Zhen that he has been living a comfortable life!

Since a long time ago, He Chunsheng liked a fierce girl in the village who, unlike his mother, was not weak at all. She had a sharp tongue and was good at teaching people a lesson. She was the eldest child in her family and her younger brothers and sisters were all taught by her to be obedient. He Chunsheng had always liked her very much, but his family was too poor. Even if this girl's family was not too rich, he couldn't afford to marry her. However, after he followed Jiang Zhen to the capital and came back, he had money!

He didn't spend much money in the capital and because Jiang Zhen valued him. He gave him extra rewards. In the end, he brought home 120 silver, enough for him to get a wife! He Chunsheng was so happy that, after returning to Hexi Village, he specifically asked Jiang Zhen for advice on how to treat his wife. Then according to Jiang Zhen's suggestion, he went to talk to the girl first and gave her something. After getting the girl's consent, he went to the door to propose marriage, showing great sincerity. Although it cost a little money to buy gifts for his father-in-law and mother-in-law, it was really worth it. His parents-in-law were very satisfied with him.

When he got married, he handed over the remaining sixty silver out of the 80 silver to his wife. After that, his wife was very satisfied with him and was always looking out for him.

Even now, his gambling father was still locked up in the gambling house while his weak mother was coaxed by his wife and his younger brother Qiu Sheng, who was also looking after his wife . . . He didn't even believe how comfortable his life was.

His boss was right. If you are good to your wife, your wife will be good to you . . . He put away the salted duck eggs, which were distributed at noon that day to give them to his wife later.

Jiang Zhen didn't know what He Chunsheng thought. At the moment, he was so worried that he thought he was going bald. It was probably because he was so anxious that he ran all the way home. It was not until he put down Zhao Jinge that he found that he was almost out of breath and that his hands were starting to shake.

"What's the matter?" Hearing the noise outside, Zhao Liu ran out and looked at Zhao Jinge anxiously. "Is something wrong with Jinge?"

"Mother, Jinge is going to have a baby," Jiang Zhen said.

"He is going to have a baby? I will go to set up the delivery room right away!" Zhao Liu was also startled. "He was fine when he went out in the morning. Why is he suddenly giving birth now? This . . . This . . ."

Zhao Liu's hands also trembled. She didn't feel much when she was giving birth, but with Zhao Jinge having a baby, she suddenly felt afraid and uneasy.

There are not many houses in the Zhao family, but there were also some vacant rooms. However, the room that was not facing south was being used as a woodshed and was messy.

This house was already chosen by Zhao Liu and tidied up. She also moved Zhao Jinge's old bed inside, planning to use it as a delivery room.

Jiang Zhen also knew about this. He thought that giving birth to a child would get a room filled with blood, so it was nothing to give birth in a wooden house. After it was over, he would be able to take Zhao Jinge back to clean the room and let him rest better.

"Mother, I will go with you to clean up . . ." Jiang Zhen subconsciously wanted to find something to do but quickly rejected it: "Wait, I need to accompany Zhao Jinge. Jinge, how do you feel?"

"I don't feel much. It should not be born so soon . . . ," Zhao Jinge said, seeing that Jiang Zhen was still a little shaken, he simply said: "Let's go to the delivery room to have a look?"

Zhao Jinge acted very calm. In fact, he also wanted to panic, but the two people around him were already so nervous. He thought that if he became nervous as well, his family would be in chaos. Just thinking like this, Zhao Jinge saw Zhao Fugui running from outside. He who was always silent and steady was in disarray at that moment.

"I heard that Jiang Zhen came back with Zhao Jinge in his arms? How is Jinge?" Zhao Fugui asked anxiously. Seeing Zhao Jinge standing there, looking well, he sighed in relief and then began to gasp. He gasped for a while before calming down and pretending that nothing had happened. Standing straight, he coughed. "It's all right."

At the same time, Wang Haisheng's voice sounded from outside, "Uncle Zhao, Uncle Zhao, you forgot to bring back the hoe from the field . . . I called . . . but couldn't catch up with you when you ran so fast."

Zhao family was in panic, but at last, they all calmed down and went into the delivery room together.

In this era, the layout of the delivery room was very sloppy. First, there was the hard condition, Second, the older generation was responsible for arranging the delivery room, so the delivery room were very simple and humble in general. However, Zhao Liu loved her son very much, so the layout of Zhao Jinge's delivery room was very good.

The originally dirty woodshed had already been cleaned, and the floor was covered with a layer of substandard bricks from the brick kiln, and even walls were cleaned. There was no furniture inside other than the wooden bed, and this bed was covered with thick straw. This straw was carefully selected by Zhao Liu and dried several times.

Zhao Liu looked around and said, "I'll get a brazier to light a fire." Even if it was not cold today, people who were about to give birth should not be too cold.

"I'll get the sheets," Jiang Zhen said.

"Sheets?" Zhao Liu was stunned for a moment but very quickly said with a smile. "Yes yes, bring some sheets. It's good."

The people in Hexi Village gave birth in a straw bed then burned the straw after giving birth, not to mention the sheets that would usually be empty.

Once there was a young daughter-in-law who didn't understand it and gave birth to a child in her own bed. At last, just after the birth, she was forced by her mother-in-law to wash the sheets . . . Because she did not know, she soiled the quilt at home.

Zhao Liu was also habitually thinking. Although she tried her best to think for Zhao Jinge, she did not think of preparing bedsheets for him. However, although Zhao Liu did not prepare, Jiang Zhen said that she should go and get their bedsheets, and she was very much in favor of it.

Thinking that straw might sting a bit, Jiang Zhen dug out three sheets and brought them over. The two coarse cloth mattresses they had bought when they first got married were placed underneath, and a new sheet was laid on them. At the same time, he also prepared two pillows and a small quilt for Zhao Jinge. By the time when he had already done all of this, the midwife had already arrived.

"All right, Jiang Zhen, go out first." When Zhao Liu saw the midwife coming, she quickly faced Jiang Zhen and said that men were not allowed to enter the delivery room. It was not appropriate for Jiang Zhen to stay here.

Jiang Zhen did not seem to hear and his eyes stayed on Zhao Jinge, who was already lying on the bed: "Jinge, are you okay? Does it hurt?"

Zhao Jinge was frowning and seemed to be in pain. Zhao Jinge was really hurting, but the pain didn't last long. After Jiang Zhen asked, it almost did not hurt anymore. Seeing Jiang Zhen staring at him, he said, "I'm okay. You go out first."

"No, I'll stay here," Jiang Zhendao said that although he lived alone in modern times, he would get together with his comrades in arms from time to time. He didn't even have a suitable companion, but his comrades in arms got married one after another and had their own children. When chatting, they would talk about children.

One of his comrades in arms went to accompany his wife when she gave birth, and he still remembers what the comrade-in-arms said at that time: "How painful it is for the woman to have a baby. As men, we should take care of them. Even if we can't do anything, we can at least cheer them up . . ."

Even though he knew that men would not go into the delivery room in this era, Jiang Zhen still wanted to stay.

"I'll just sit here and won't cause you any trouble," Jiang Zhen said to Zhao Liu. "You won't even notice I exist." Jiang Zhen moved a stool and sat at the head of Zhao Jinge's bed.

His comrade in arms who accompanied his wife giving birth also sat at the head of the bed. At the end, his legs became so numb that he could hardly stand up.

"If a man stays in the delivery room, he will get bad luck—" the midwife said. But before she could finish, she was glared at by Jiang Zhen. She immediately did not dare to speak any more. In the countryside, they were not as fastidious as big families, so Jiang Zhen could stay if he really wanted to.

Although she had never seen a man accompany his wife in giving birth, there were still these young couples in some families. Husbands also go in and out of the delivery room, bringing in hot water and scissors. The patient would give birth very quickly and sleep well. At that time, the husband would still be at their side . . .

The midwife had no problem with it, so Zhao Liu had no problem with it either, and so, Jiang Zhen stayed. Only at this time, Jiang Zhen remembered one thing, "Mother, you should go and ask Wang Haisheng to go to the county town and invite a doctor to come."

"What do you want the doctor for?" Zhao Jinge was puzzled.

"Just in case," Jiang Zhen said. In modern times, children were born in hospitals, so even if something went wrong in the middle, other arrangements could be made immediately, such as a cesarean or something, but there was nothing here. . . "Mother, when the doctor comes over, ask him to take some medicine."

"Oh good." Zhao Liu nodded. Jiang Zhen's attitude made her even more nervous.

After Zhao Liu went out, she immediately found Wang Haisheng and asked him to bring a doctor.

Wang Haisheng might not be very clever, but he was very obedient. After Zhao Liu gave an order, he hurriedly ran out without delay. Someone on the way asked him about it, but he only hurriedly said, "I am going to get a doctor."

Thanks to the scene Jiang Zhen made earlier, basically the whole of Hexi knew that Zhao Jinge was going to have a baby. So when they heard that Wang Haisheng was going to get the doctor, there was immediately a lot of speculation.

"Wang Haisheng went to bring a doctor in such a hurry. Isn't it because Zhao Jinge didn't have an easy birth?"

"Maybe it's harder for gers to have children than it is for women. "

"No wonder Jiang Zhen was so nervous before. I'm afraid it was already not good at that time. . ."

"Zhao Jinge is really unlucky. It's difficult for him to give birth."

. . .

Everyone talked about it and sympathized with Zhao Jinge, who was still lying in bed at the moment and then endured a burst of pain. He had suffered a lot of pain. This pain was not unbearable, but in the end, it was still uncomfortable, especially at the waist . . .

"I'll rub it for you." Hearing Zhao Jinge say his waist was uncomfortable, Jiang Zhen immediately said and asked Zhao Jinge to lie on side, so he could rub Zhao Jinge's waist.

The midwife was hurriedly invited over, so she thought the baby would be born soon, but looking at Zhao Jinge like this . . .

"He has not just started to hurt, has he?" the midwife couldn't help but ask.

"Half an hour ago, it started to hurt." Jiang Zhen had already asked Zhao Jinge about the specific situation and quickly answered.

"It's not uncommon for a first-time baby to be born only after it hurts for two days," the midwife said. "Zhao Jinge looks like he will not give birth for a while . . . Shall I go home first?" She was cooking when she was called over, so she thought it was a close birth as a result . . .

"What if he is going to have a baby when you go back?" Jiang Zhen could not help frowning. Thinking for a moment, he took out 2 silver and gave it to the midwife. "Please wait here."

If a midwife helped people deliver babies in the countryside, she can basically get dozens of copper coins, eggs, and some other things but this was two silver! The midwife didn't want to go back anymore and decided that even if Zhao Jinge gave birth tomorrow, she would still stay with him all night! Speaking of which . . . With Jiang Zhen's generosity, she would probably get a large reward if she helped Zhao Jinge deliver a son. The midwife no longer said that she was going to leave while Zhao Jinge, who was resting in bed, felt his stomach was not hurting as much as before.

After lying down for more than half an hour, he became a little restless and was about to get out of bed and walk around.

"Jinge . . ." Jiang Zhen was a little confused about what was going on with Zhao Jinge and why he still looked so . . . high spirited.

"I'm a little hungry," Zhao Jinge said.

Jiang Zhen was silent for a while and finally said, "I'll ask Mother to make something delicious. When you are full, your strength will be renewed."

There were a lot of people outside the Zhao family house. While everyone was wondering how Zhao Jinge's childbirth was going, they saw a curl of cooking smoke rising from the house. This . . . Zhao family was still free to cook?

At the same time, Wang Haisheng, who hurriedly rowed a boat to the country town brought an old doctor on board.

"Did that family have a dangerous childbirth?" the old doctor asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Wang Haisheng said.

"Well, hurry up and row, and I'll take care of the medicine I brought," the old doctor said. These men hurried to find him and asked him to bring medicine, so he thought the person giving birth or the child was not in good condition . . . He had brought several kinds of life-threatening medicine, and he was arranging them in advance so it would be easier to use them when the time came.

Wang Haisheng nodded and rowed as fast as he could.

The first time Sun Xiaoshan gave birth to his baby, it was very dangerous. At that time, let alone a doctor, he couldn't even afford to invite a midwife. In the end, he delivered Sun Xiaoshan's baby by himself. It was already more difficult for a ger to have children than a woman, so he hoped nothing happened to Zhao Jinge . . .

Many people were worried about Zhao Jinge but he himself still felt good at this moment.

He's just having a baby, so he could let people care about him a little . . . He was so satisfied that he could even endure the pain.

Zhao Liu was already in a bit of a panic and couldn't cook well at all . . . so in the end, the meal was cooked by Cook Li and Jiang Xiaomei.

Speaking of which, Jiang Xiaomei was a little confused at the moment . . . She always loved money, and after she was almost sold by the Jiang family, she began to love the money even more. Originally, Jiang Zhen did not intend to let her do any work. Anyway, he could afford to support the girl until she married. However, after hearing that she could earn money at Zhao Jinge's brick kiln by making bricks, Jiang Xiaomei went there without hesitation. Recently, she made a lot of bricks for money every day.

She was not very diligent originally. After all, she didn't want to end up like her elder brother, but recently, she could earn money by playing with mud, so Jiang Xiaomei became totally devoted to this brick kiln.

Over the past few months, she had unexpectedly earned two silver. If it went like this, she might be able to save more than 20 silver as her private property?

She was also making bricks there that day, but later, when she heard that Zhao Jinge was going to have a baby, she rushed back. On the way, she was told that Zhao Jinge was having a difficult labor, so she was full of anxiety. But when she came back home . . . Zhao Jinge hadn't even given birth yet . . .

Jiang Xiaomei quickly helped Cook Li to make a fire and picked vegetables at the same time. Meanwhile, Ruo'er set up another pot to boil water outside.

It took a lot of hot water to have a baby. If you could boil more, boil more.

The meal was very sumptuous, and Jiang Zhen not only did not advise Zhao Jinge to eat less but also let him eat more.

For most of the past six months, Zhao Jinge ate much less than he wanted to, so his appetite also became much smaller and he did not feel like eating much anymore. In the past, he was able to eat four bowls of rice in one breath, but now he could only eat one large bowl.

When Zhao Jinge was eating, two hours had passed since his initial labor pains started. While they were eating, the door of the house was suddenly pushed open, and Wang Haisheng came with the old doctor.

"Where is labor? Where is the mother?" the old doctor, carrying a medicine box on his back, asked breathlessly as soon as he entered the door. At the same time, he saw everyone sitting at the table in the room eating and immediately frowned: "You are eating? Why are you still in the mood to eat regardless of the pregnant woman? "

When the doctor saw that these people didn't take the labor seriously, he couldn't help getting angry and didn't like them at all.

Zhao Jinge also discovered this and stood up and said, "I haven't given birth yet . . ." With this remark, he suddenly felt a severe pain in his stomach.

Clutching his stomach, Zhao Jinge suddenly bent down in pain, while, at the same time, Jiang Zhen kneaded his waist and said, "Jinge, is it very painful?"

Zhao Jinge nodded. This time it was so painful that he could not even speak. It was so painful that a stream of water suddenly came out of his body.

"The water broke. Send him to the delivery room quickly!" the midwife hurriedly said.

After hearing these words, Jiang Zhen picked up Zhao Jinge and carried him into the delivery room.

The old doctor looked at Wang Haisheng helplessly. "Didn't you say it was urgent?" He had just thought that this family did not pay attention to labor and they did not take it too seriously, but they clearly took it way too seriously.

The child was not born yet and there seemed to be nothing wrong but they still called a doctor . . . Why didn't they look for a midwife to deliver the baby? Why look for a doctor!

"I don't know." Wang Haisheng was also a little helpless.

The doctor didn't leave afterwards. Zhao Fugui already heard what Jiang Zhen had given to the midwife, so he hurriedly gave two silver to the doctor as well. Seeing this, the doctor's expression became better.

After Zhao Jinge entered the delivery room, he let the midwife and Zhao Liu toss him around. As for Jiang Zhen, he sat by Zhao Jinge's head and held one of Zhao Jinge's hands and comforted him all the time.

"Don't be afraid. I'm always with you."

"Don't worry. It's okay."

"Come on, Jinge."

"What do you mean 'Come on'? I haven't seen it in a book," Zhao Jinge asked suddenly.

Jiang Zhen had already learned about the death rate of children born in ancient times from the memory of Jiang Zhenwen. With his mind in a mess he had no other way to explain it to Zhao Jinge, so instead of answering, he asked, "Are you in pain?"

"It doesn't hurt as much as before. It's like I am having diarrhea," Zhao Jinge said.

"I saw a head. Stop talking and push!" the midwife said. "It's a waste of time to talk about pain at this time. Try your best to give birth to the baby first . . . Well . . . the baby's head is coming out . . . um . . . She has been born. "

Zhao Jinge suddenly used his strength and left his body become lighter. Then he heard his baby was born.

He breathed a long sigh of relief, and so did Jiang Zhen.

As long as the baby has been born . . . his Jinge was really awesome, giving birth so fast.

When the baby's head came out, you didn't have to worry about anything else. Naturally, the whole body slipped out. Soon the midwife picked up the child and said with some regret, "It's a girl . . ."

"Is it a girl?" Jiang Zhen was a little surprised. He had subconsciously thought that he and Zhao Jinge would have a son, or they would have a ger. He really did not expect to have a daughter in the end. However, according to the chromosomes, all men have X in their bodies, so it is possible to give birth to XX in the end.

Wait. Shouldn't gers have different chromosomes from men? He did not know what Zhao Jinge's chromosomes were like . . .

After Jiang Zhen thought about it, he stopped thinking about it. This world itself was not scientific, so he should not pursue it.

"You don't like daughters?" Zhao Jinge was still in high spirits after giving birth and asked immediately.

"No, I do. I do." Jiang Zhen said. Who doesn't like a sweet little girl? He really liked the daughters brought by his comrades in arms.

"Give her to me to hug." Jiang Zhen stretched out his hand to the midwife and held the soft child in his arms. It made him reluctant to ever let her go.

He did not know if it was a coincidence, but as soon as he held the baby in his arm, she opened her eyes.

"The child was well-raised in her mother's belly and opened her eyes as soon as she was born," the midwife said. Thinking about her unfinished meal, she couldn't stop thinking about it. The food of the Zhao family was really good. But it's also strange that Zhao Jinge, who ate so well every day would have a baby who was not too fat.

In this time period, the weight to the child could not be measured. They weigh newborn babies by their clothes. Zhao Jinge's child weighed only 3.5 kg. And in these times, people in the countryside could eat too much good food when they were pregnant. Most of the children were only 3 or 4 kg. This child might not be small but it was also not big.

"This child has not grown much. This is the heart of the mother. Before, Zhao Dahu's wife gave birth, the child was 5 kg and could almost not be born." The midwife continued to praise the child.

Jiang Zhen was very happy to hear her say that, so he took out another two silver to give her. "For your trouble!"

"No trouble, no trouble." The midwife was overjoyed. Zhao Jinge gave birth especially fast and did not need her help much, and as a result, she still ate a meal in the Zhao family and got four silver . . . such "trouble" she would like to have every day.

If only Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge had a few more children . . . No, it was better if they had one every year . . .

The midwife left with a few words. Seeing that Zhao Jinge was okay, Jiang Zhen came out with the child in his arms and gave the doctor 2 silver and asked Wang Haisheng to send the doctor back.

The old doctor was a little speechless. This pregnant ger was so strong and gave birth so fast, what on earth was the reason for him to come here? However, he earned four silver during such a trip, so there was nothing to lose

A lot of people had gathered near the Zhao family house. When they saw the midwife coming out of Zhao house, someone went up and asked, "How's Zhao Jinge? I heard it didn't go well?"

"Who told you something like this? What's wrong with it? I've never seen anything go so well," the midwife said and left happily.

After a while, the doctor also followed Wang Haisheng out.

"Brother Wang, didn't you say that the birth was not going well? Why do you invite a doctor?" someone asked again.

"Our boss was just getting ready," Wang Haisheng said.

There was nothing wrong but he still called a doctor . . . Jiang Zhen really attached great importance to Zhao Jinge.

The person who asked the question and the people around him could not help feeling moved.

Before, when Zhu Shufen had a difficult labor and gave birth to a sickly child, Jiang Chengxiang was very unhappy all the time. So he was very happy when he heard that Zhao Jinge's birth was not smooth either . . . but as a result, it was just a misunderstanding. Jiang Chengxiang's heart was depressed, but he only glared at the Zhao family house before he left quietly.

The midwife and doctor had left, but the Zhao family was still busy.

Zhao Jinge gave birth very quickly and did not feel any loss of strength after the birth and had no problem getting out of bed immediately, but Jiang Zhen did not allow him to move. After helping him clean his body, he carried him out of the delivery room and back to the room where they slept. Then, Jiang Zhen put the child beside him.

Looking at the two people lying on the bed, Jiang Zhen's heart was finally relieved. God was still kind to him. Zhao Jinge's labor went well.

Zhao Jinge would be fine as long as he took good care of him, but the child has a little trouble.

Women can breastfeed but not gers. They had no milk. Because of this, in the past, children born to gers in poor families were more likely to die young.

Fortunately, Jiang Zhen had money, so he had already found two women who were still breastfeeding their children in advance and gave them some money. In the future, Zhao Liu, Ruo'er, and Cook Li would go over and ask them for milk every day and then take it home to feed the baby.

In fact, at the beginning, Jiang Zhen intended to give his child goat's milk, but after thinking about it, he gave up on this idea. Even if he had never raised a child, he still knew that milk powder given to a child was not a pure milk but was mixed with other things; otherwise, the baby would be poisoned. Wasn't it difficult to not add something that shouldn't be added? Even ordinary milk powder could not be given to newborn children to feed. Besides, aren't many people allergic to milk or something? He was really afraid to feed milk to his newborn child directly.

There was a saying on this side of Hexi Village that newborn children were well fed, so it didn't matter if the mother had no milk in the first two days. But even having said that, people were still in a hurry to have their children fed.

When Zhao Liu saw that Zhao Lingyu had given birth, she immediately asked Cook Li to go to the nanny to ask for milk. Before going there, she specifically said for a few words, "Take a clean handkerchief, soak it in hot water, and bring it over. Let her wipe it before milking."

This was what Jiang Zhen had explained to her for a long time. She did not know why he was so particular for a man.

Cook Li replied and immediately took Ruo'er, covering the ceramic cup with a clean handkerchief. She asked for milk.

The two women who were nursing their children lived not far from the Zhao family, so it was not long before they found one of them.

"I still have to wipe it? You are very particular," the woman said a little disapproving, but she carefully wiped her chest with the handkerchief before the milking began.

The Zhao family asked her for milk. They not only gave her money but also agreed to give her chicken and pig feet to hasten her milk production. For the sake of money and food, not to mention just wiping her chest, she would be happy to take a bath every time.

Since babies ate less, as soon as the small cup of milk was half full, Cook Li went back in a hurry. Hearing that the milk had come, Jiang Zhen immediately proposed to feed her himself. He watched this child grow little by little in Zhao Jinge's stomach. He simply loved her too much and could not wait to want to do everything for her.

The man who had lived for more than thirty years and finally became a father didn't want to give his child to someone else.

"I'll feed her. You are a strong man with thick hands," Zhao Liu hurriedly said. She was looking forward to having a grandchild, so having one this time, she could not wait to take care of this child completely.

"I'll do it." Jiang Zhen was very persistent.

Zhao Liu did not dare to object in the end and could only give the bowl and spoon to Jiang Zhen.

The milk was brought back wrapped in a hot towel, so it was still warm. Jiang Zhen scooped a little with a ceramic spoon and carefully fed it to the child. It was not easy to feed the baby, but Jiang Zhen still took it very seriously. The more he saw of the child in his arms, the more he liked her and even wanted to nuzzle her a few times. But he couldn't. He had a beard. What if he accidentally stabbed the child? The child was so tender, and when he touched her face, it was as if he hadn't touched anything.

Jiang Zhen not only nursed the baby but also insisted on changing her diaper. He liked the child so much that he could not rest assured to give it to the others. For example, Zhao Liu . . . He could not believe that she wanted to tie the child legs! He firmly disagreed to it. For what reason should his daughter be tied up? How uncomfortable would that be? Her little legs were so strong, so why should he not let her kick with them happily?

If Jiang Zhen was her daughter-in-law, Zhao Liu might have used her experience to "teach" Jiang Zhen, but Jiang Zhen was not, and at the moment the Zhao family was even entirely dominated by Jiang Zhen.

Jiang Zhen was not willing to have the child's legs tied up, so Zhao Liu did not do it. She was also soft-hearted. After listening to Jiang Zhen saying that it would be uncomfortable, she even regretted it and secretly said to Zhao Jinge, "I didn't think it would be uncomfortable. I knew my mother wouldn't tie you up at the beginning . . . I heard it at that time."

Zhao Jinge, who had no recollection of his infancy, looked dazed. But if Jiang Zhen didn't want it, then let's not do it.

The Zhao family went in and out, all pounced on the child. The village at this time, even without Zhao Liu's bragging, began to envy Zhao Jinge.

"Jiang Zhen is really good to Zhao Jinge. He is not willing to let him go out and even stays at home with him."

"There was nothing wrong with Zhao Jinge, but a midwife and even a doctor were invited. . . I gave birth all by myself and even my mother-in-law had little time to take care of me."

"Yes . . . he also spent money to buy milk for the child to drink. Generally, when the ger gives birth to a baby it would just be given some rice soup. "

. . .

Zhao Jinge did not think much about it, but he knew that some people in the village would envy him. Even he thought he was enviable. However, he was also a little depressed.

Jiang Zhen has been holding the child all the time, which made it impossible for him to take a good look at his child.

Originally, Zhao Liu planned to take the child with her and Cook Li and sleep with them at night. For this reason, she cleaned up the firewood room that Zhao Jinge used to give birth to the baby and planned to sleep there with Cook Li at night. But Jiang Zhen didn't agree.

Zhao Liu was okay. It was her grandchild . . . but why should his child sleep with Cook Li? Although Cook Li looked quite clean, she did not bathe every day. What if there was something dirty on her body? But if she was left with only Zhao Liu, it would be too much to ask her to take care of the child. Finally, Jiang Zhen made a decision.

"The child will sleep with me and Jinge at night!"

He had a comrade in arms who got married, but the elderly on both sides could not help them. In the end, the young couple had no choice but to bring up their children on their own, so he didn't believe that he couldn't do it.

Jiang Zhen actually did not have much experience with children, so in the end, it turned into a mess. During the first night, the child woke up every two hours to eat, which left him a little overwhelmed. However, he was young and healthy after all . . . If he were replaced with Zhao Liu, who would be awakened by the child, it would be more difficult for her to fall asleep again. But he was different; he could continue to sleep as soon as he closed his eyes. Then because he was very alert, when the child moved, he would also immediately wake up. Often, without waiting for the child to cry, he would pick her up and hold her. Because there was someone holding her, she would not cry.

The first night after giving birth, Zhao Jinge slept exceptionally well, and on the next day when Zhao Liu asked about last night, he was a bit confused. Zhao Liu gave him a complex look and was also a little envious of her son.

This time, Jiang Zhen grimaced, rubbed his arms.

Yesterday, he ran all the way with Zhao Jinge and later kneaded Zhao Jinge's waist and then carried the baby around. His arms were a little strained . . . Fortunately, it was not a big deal.

Jiang Zhen was very fond of his daughter, so after Zhao Jinge gave birth, he stayed at home for three days in a row. After three days, both Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge had already gotten used to taking care of their child.

Originally, Zhao Liu was bent on letting Zhao Jinge just sit around and not let him touch anything, but Zhao Jinge really couldn't lie still. He was forced to stay in the bed except going to the toilet, so he simply concentrated on the child. Jiang Zhen did not stop him from taking care of the child, so he quickly learned how to feed the child and change her diapers.

Of course, when they were taking care of their children, they were not too tired. After all there were many people in the family who could help. If nothing else, they did not need to wash the diapers and they also did not need to touch other housework.

After staying at home for three whole days, Jiang Zhen finally said goodbye to his precious daughter and went out. There were still a lot of things waiting for him to take care of outside. Fortunately, the place where he "worked" was very close to his home. He was also the boss. so he could go home at any time.

After Jiang Zhen left, Zhao Liu and Zhao Fugui were finally able to hold their granddaughter. It was not easy . . . When Jiang Zhen was there, they did not even have a chance to hold the child!

"What a beautiful child!"

"It looks so smart!"

"I'll be a blessed one in the future."

. . .

Zhao Liu and Zhao Fugui each boasted about their grandchild. After praising her for a long time, Zhao Fugui suddenly said, "This child, what is her name?"

They . . . didn't seem to have a name for the baby yet?

It was after Jiang Zhen returned home that night that Zhao Liu reminded him that he had not even given the child a name yet. In fact, he thought of some names before, but they were all for boys, but with their little princess, those names could not be used. It's just, what kind of name should his daughter have?

"Shu, Zhen, Wan, Hui, Fen. The meaning of these words are very good." Zhao Jinge selected some words.

Jiang Zhen took a look at it, but vetoed them all. It was the ancient times and many girls did not have serious names. It was already good if a girl had a name like "Shufen," which means "full of parents", but he refused it. He did not want to give his daughter a name like this. His daughter's name should be different and unique.

"Then what should we name her?" Zhao Jinge asked.

"I'll think about it . . . ," Jiang Zhen said.

Jiang Zhen had been thinking about this for more than ten days, but he could not come out with anything. At this time, Zhao Jinge became impatient lying in bed all day. Although he was forced to lie in bed by Zhao Liu. Most of the time he could still come to eat at the table. Zhao Liu thought it was not good, but Jiang Zhen thought it doesn't matter. He also prepared hot water to wipe Zhao Jinge's body and even insisted on giving his daughter a bath.

People in Hexi Village felt that children should not take a bath, but Jiang Zhen looked at his daughter's uncomfortable wriggling around in heartache . . . What's more, after he bathed the child, she slept much more soundly.

Jiang Zhen had not thought of his daughter's name yet, but the construction of the docks had been completed, not only that, Jiang Zhen's mansion, was also almost complete.

Jiang Zhen felt that although his family had more people, it was not much. So when he built the house, he did not make it too big. People could see the courtyard as soon as they entered. However, although he only built a one-way courtyard, because of the good planning, he also built two floors, so there were many rooms.

The small houses beside the courtyard wall were not included. Other than the main building, there were five big houses facing south, and all of them had two floors. Of the division, Jiang Zhen allocated areas for the dining room, the living room, and built a large kitchen behind the dining room.

In the easternmost house, the upper floor was prepared by Jiang Zhen for Zhao Liu and Zhao Fugui's living space. While the second room on the east side was for him and Zhao Jinge. At that time, they can sleep upstairs and the downstairs area would be used to receive guests and for daytime activities. As for the west, there were many houses available, so it would be no problem to make arrangements when the children became older.

The house was built, but it was empty inside, and all kinds of furniture had to be added. Therefore, Jiang Zhen went to the county town to find a carpenter to customize some furniture.

Unwittingly, the child became a month old, and Jiang Zhen who had written on countless pieces of papers, has not yet come up with a suitable name. He . . . was really not good at naming people.

"Have you made up your mind about the name of your daughter?" Zhao Jinge asked again.

Jiang Zhen froze . . . He . . . still hadn't decided. Why did he feel like all the names in the world were not worthy of his daughter?

"Otherwise . . . should we call her Mingzhu (Pearl)?" Zhao Jinge asked. "I saw this word today, called 'the apple of the eye' . . ." Even during confinement, Zhao Jinge still read books to his daughter.

"OK, just call her Mingzhu," Jiang Zhen decided. "This name's meaning is very good. It's also easy to hear and remember!" He really couldn't think of a better name.

Jiang Zhen's eldest daughter had been named Zhao Mingzhu since then. The apple of his eye, his full moon. Jiang Zhen specially sent some things to his subordinates to celebrate.

Originally, he wanted to have a full moon wine, but later, he found that the Zhao family had no relatives, and he could only invite his own men. So he simply sent them wine; it was cheaper than to buy them a meal and a wine.

Jiang Zhen was very happy with the first month celebration, but the happiest one was still Zhao Jinge. He could finally go out! Could finally take a bath!

Although Jiang Zhen insisted that he could wipe his body this month, he could not take a comfortable bath. He always felt that he was smelly. Jiang Zhen did not dislike him and took the child to sleep in the same bed with him every night, which made him really admire him.

Early that morning, Zhao Jinge went to take a bath.

Jiang Zhen left the training of his men to Wang Haisheng and He Chunsheng today and planned to stay at home all day. At this time, he was responsible for delivering hot water to Zhao Jinge.

"Really, before he was not allowed to do anything, but all of sudden, there is no taboo . . ." Jiang Zhen could not help but complain about it. Before Zhao Liu watched over Zhao Jinge very strictly, but he did not expect that the ban would all be lifted at once.

Jiang Zhen was talking outside, but Zhao Jinge wasn't listening. He suddenly found a little terrible thing, that was the skin on his stomach was loose. Even if he did not care much about it during pregnancy, but all his solid muscles were gone . . .

Zhao Jinge secretly made up his mind to go out for a good exercise tomorrow!

After Zhao Jinge washed, he smelled of soapberry fragrance, which made Jiang Zhen, who had not tasted "meat" for several months, ready to move. However, Jiang Zhen quickly suppressed his desire. Zhao Jinge's body has not yet fully recovered, so he could not toss Zhao Jinge.

This night, Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge went to sleep with Zhao Mingzhu. That night, they were unexpectedly awakened several times by Zhao Mingzhu.

Zhao Mingzhu was still very small and had to eat several times at night. But the breast milk from others could not be well preserved with the weather warming up, and if not refrigerated, the breast milk would spoil after only a few hours. But there was no refrigerator at this time.

As for going to others for fresh milk at the middle of night, it was just not appropriate. Finally, Jiang Zhen came up with a method—boiling.

In the evening, Cook Li and Zhao Liu would go out and bring a lot of fresh milk, and then boil it in a pot of water. Putting a piece of wood underneath to let it slowly burn, put the breast milk in a cup and then leave it in the water to boil . . . so this way, the breast milk was kept hot and would not grow bacteria.

Although boiling made it lose more or less some nutrients, it was better than allowing bacteria to multiply in it.

A large section of the wood burned slowly. A piece of wood can keep the water in the pot hot for several hours. Therefore, after Jiang Zhen took milk from the pot to Jiang Mingzhu in the evening, he just added wood one in the middle of night.

By four or five in the morning, fresh milk would be available again.

This night, Jiang Zhen got up to take the milk a few more times; he was pleased to find that his daughter was eating more and more. Also. . . she was a little overweight. When she was born, she clearly had a pointed chin, but at the moment, she had double chin. Her whole face looked like a pear! However, this chubby little face was really good-looking. There was nothing more beautiful!

After feeding, Jiang Zhen couldn't help but give his daughter a kiss on each side of her face, completely forgetting that he used to think such fat children were ugly.

When Jiang Zhen went out the next day, he took Zhao Jinge and Zhao Mingzhu with him.

Before that, Zhao Liu had not allowed Zhao Mingzhu to go out for fear that she would get sick from the wind, but after her month's celebration, she did not stop them. But when Jiang Zhen wanted to take Zhao Mingzhu out, she was still a bit hesitant.

"If you want to go for training, just take Jinge with you. What is the point of taking Mingzhu?"

"Let the Mingzhu see the training," Jiang Zhen said.

At this time period, it was much more difficult for girls and gers to live a good life. It's much more difficult for them to live like men, but he couldn't bear his daughter to be wronged in the future. So he must educate his daughter from the early age and then train her more so she does not meet scum in the future and be bullied! If not for his daughter being too young, Jiang Zhen would like to prepare a training plan for her . . .

A girl seeing the training? Zhao Liu was a little puzzled, but Jiang Zhen had already taken his daughter in his embrace. Not long after, he arrived at the training place of his men.

At the moment, there were more than a hundred people under Jiang Zhen's command, all of whom were well-trained. Jiang Zhen decided that Jinzhen Escort Agency could officially start operating. For this, he also specially asked Liu Qianqian and Zhao Lingxi to embroider several Zhen banners; their embroiderers were no worse than the embroiderers he found in the capital.

At the same time, while he was spending money like water to feed his men and sailors these days, those women and gers helped him make a lot of money by weaving clothes.

Zhao Mingzhu was one month old, but her neck hadn't gotten strong yet, so she had to be held horizontally.

When Jiang Zhen held her, he was very careful. And as he looked at her, his gaze inevitably softened.

This kind of Jiang Zhen made some of his subordinates, who were not used to it, uncomfortable, but thinking about how he used to treat Zhao Jinge, they eventually got used to it. It's just being nice to your daughter. In fact, it was nothing . . .

Now who doesn't know that Jiang Zhen is very good to his wife and daughter ah . . .

Zhao Mingzhu was too small, so Jiang Zhen could only take her out for a while every day. Most of the time, she would stay at home, but Zhao Jinge would stay outside for a long time.

Jiang Zhen didn't let Zhao Jinge do too many strenuous exercises, but he didn't forbid him to do some low-intensity restorative training. So after another month, Zhao Jinge figure returned to that before the birth.

Of course, that was not the most important thing; the most important thing was that Jiang Zhen could finally hold Zhao Jinge again and make out with him.

For the sake of convenience, Jiang Zhen also specifically asked the carpenter to order a crib that was much taller than their bed and placed it inside their room. When Zhao Mingzhu fell asleep, he put her into the small bed to make it convenient for him and Zhao Jinge to do things . . .

After several months of not doing it, no matter how excited Zhao Jinge or Jiang Zhen was, it did not last long . . . But soon, his little brother became energetic again, and this time, he fought with Zhao Jinge for 300 rounds.

After Zhao Jinge's body recovery, Jiang Zhen's life became "colorful" again, and at the same time, the Jinzhen escort agency opened again.

Jiang Zhen first contacted the businessmen he had worked with last time then said hello to the Zheng family, and soon received some business.

Jiang Zhen had been reluctant to leave his daughter before, but he had to leave. This time, Zhao Jinge would also not go with him.

Zhao Mingzhu had been sleeping with them all the time. Because of their care, she was very close to them. If they left together, she would not get used to it, so Zhao Jinge stayed. Fortunately, Jiang Zhen wasn't going far. According to calculation, he would be back soon, and when he came back, the furniture he ordered would be almost ready so they could move in.

"Jinge, I am leaving."

On the dock, Jiang Zhen said goodbye to Zhao Jinge, and then he gave his daughter a kiss. Then he boarded the ship without looking back. It was not until the ship started that Jiang Zhen appeared at the stern of the ship and raised his hand to Zhao Jinge.

Obviously, Jiang Zhen hadn't really left yet, but Zhao Jinge already missed him a little. Watching Jiang Zhen leave, Zhao Jinge took a deep breath and carried his child home where he handed the child to Zhao Liu.

Before Jiang Zhen left, he left all the work with him, so he certainly couldn't stay with his child all the time in the following days.

Zhao Jinge had been learning how to read with Jiang Zhen for a year. Even when he was pregnant and gave birth to a child, he never stopped learning. Although he still could not say that he knew all the characters currently, he could basically recognize all the common characters and was very good at arithmetic. So it was not difficult for him to manage his subordinates.

What's more, most of the people went out with Jiang Zhen, so he was now mainly in charge of the brick kilns.

Because of Jiang Zhen's reward policy, a lot of bricks were burned in brick kilns. This time when Jiang Zhen went out, he packed a large ship with bricks and planned to take them to Fucheng to sell. With things like green bricks, you never had to worry about selling them there. Even so, there were still a lot of bricks left here.

Zhao Jinge went to the county town with bricks and found some people Jiang Zhen knew, like Yang Jing as well as the steward of the gambling house. After a few days, someone came to their newly built dock with a boat and bought a lot of bricks. At the same time, news that there was a new dock in Hexi village and things about the sale of green bricks had slowly spread out.

There was only one small brick kiln in Hecheng County, and there weren't many bricks produced there. Because of this, when the news of bricks being sold here spread, it was no surprise that more and more people came to buy them, making Zhao Jinge very busy.

"Jinge, you've been running out all day, and you've got a tan." Zhao Liu looked at her son getting darker and darker and couldn't help feeling a little upset.

Before going to the capital, Jiang Zhen and his men were all tanned, but because Zhao Jinge spent most of his time in the cabin, he did not tan at all and even became a little whiter. After he came back, he stayed in the house all the time which made him even whiter.

But before Zhao Liu could become happy that her son was getting whiter and whiter, Zhao Jinge got tanned again.

"Mother, it's all right," Zhao Jinge said.

If he didn't run about, he would think about Jiang Zhen all day. Instead of doing so, he might as well continue to run about. However, when he went out the next day, Zhao Jinge finally put on a straw hat to shade him from the sun. It was summer; the sun was really strong.

When Jiang Zhen went out this time, he only planned to stay out for ten days, but his plan could not help change faster from the previous. He currently had a lot more staff than before and had his own fleet. In addition, when he was selling goods in Fucheng, he got to know some people. Finally, he took on some big businesses in Fucheng.

With so many people at his disposal, even if he took on a few big business deals, it won't affect his going home. He could ask his people to help deliver the goods. However, there were too few people who could read under him. Most of them could not read, so how could he let them go out alone to deliver goods and provide escort?

Jiang Zhen had made a lot of preparations before, but at this time, he found these were still not ready enough. Because of the sudden emergence of several big businesses, Jiang Zhen had to stay out for more than twenty days before he could finally return to Hecheng County.

He wanted to go home and see his daughter at once, but the merchants in the fleet were going to the dock in Hecheng County.

The fleet slowly approached the Hecheng County dock. There were many ships at the dock, so Jiang Zhen's fleet needed to wait a while to find a place to dock. It was this waiting that made Jiang Zhen more and more impatient.

Standing at the bow, Jiang Zhen said to He Chunsheng, "Find me a small boat. I will go back first. You can keep watch here and let the merchants unload the goods first after landing. I will come over later to deal with the follow-up matters."

Jiang Zhen was only halfway through his words when he stopped. He saw a man in a straw hat on the bank raising his hand at him. After he looked at him, the men put down his hand and took off his straw hat. If this person was not Zhao Jinge, who was it?

"Boss, are you in such a hurry to go back?"

"The boss must miss his wife!"

"Do you miss your daughter too?"

. . .

Jiang Zhen's men said with a smile. But just then, Jiang Zhen, whom they were talking to, suddenly jumped into the river.

"Boss?" Standing beside Jiang Zhen, He Chunsheng was stunned and rushed to the side of the ship. Then he saw that Jiang Zhen was swimming towards the shore.

"Boss!"

"What's the matter with the boss?"

"It's hot. I also want to go for a swim to cool off . . ."

. . .

All the people on the boat came to He Chunsheng and looked towards the water. Then they found that Zhao Jinge was standing on the dock.

No wonder he jumped into the river, he just wanted to meet his wife earlier.

Seeing that Zhao Jinge also ran to the edge of the dock, these people suddenly feel envious. Why didn't they wait?

In fact, Zhao Jinge did not deliberately come to wait for Jiang Zhen. After all, he did not know that Jiang Zhen would be back today. However, when he came to the county town to do business, whenever he was free, he would come and stay in the docks for a while, hoping to see Jiang Zhen. After he got married, he was almost never separated from Jiang Zhen. This time, when Jiang Zhen went away, he felt very uncomfortable, but Jiang Zhen had not returned at the appointed time . . .

This day, he originally intended to stand on the pier for a short while and then go home right after, but as a result . . . he saw Jiang Zhen's ship. Zhao Jinge was immediately overjoyed. Then he saw Jiang Zhen jump off the boat and swim towards him

At that moment, Zhao Jinge also wanted to jump into the water, but there were countless boats and ships on the bank. They were so densely docked, there was no place for him to go into the water, so in the end, he did not do so.

After a while, Jiang Zhen reached the bank.

"Brother did you accidentally fall overboard?" Someone saw Jiang Zhen wade out of the water and asked, but Jiang Zhen turned a deaf ear to his inquiry to hug Zhao Jinge at the bank.

"You . . ." Zhao Jinge subconsciously covered his face with a straw hat; there were so many people here . . .

"Ha ha!" Jiang Zhen laughed and let go of Zhao Jinge. "Jinge, you come here to wait for me?"

"I was just passing by," Zhao Jinge said. Only then did he realize he was being drenched by Jiang Zhen.

Fortunately, it did not matter much . . . It was at the end of June and was very hot, so it would only be cooler if he was wet.

"Yes, you are just passing by." Jiang Zhen smiled. He has seen a man in a straw hat standing there for a long time . . . How could a passerby stand there for so long?

As Jiang Zhen talked, he squeezed Zhao Jinge's hand. Zhao Jinge's face flushed and he quickly put on a straw hat to cover his face. "Why did you only come back today?"

"I picked up some other business along the way," Jiang Zhen said. "Thanks to that business, nothing went wrong on this trip."

At present, the reputation of his escort agency had not yet been established, and Jiang Zhen was prepared to lose some money for the time being. Since he also brought some goods along with him and would sell a ship full of bricks along the way, his income and expenditure would at least be balanced.

However, this time, since he picked up a few deals along the way, he could finally make a bit of profit.

"That's good." Zhao Jinge cheered at the moment. Before Jiang Zhen said he might lose money, he was even more uncomfortable about it than Jiang Zhen.

"However, I found a lot of problems on this trip . . . We need to find a way to recruit more literate people," Jiang Zhen said. Every ship should have a person who could read and do the accounting. Otherwise, it would be very annoying for him to deal with such matters as registering the goods and counting them.

"It's not easy to recruit scholars, is it?" Zhao Jinge said immediately.

"I don't need to recruit people who are very knowledgeable. Anyone who hasn't gone to school is fine as long as he can read a few words and know how to do accounts," Jiang Zhen said.

In the south of the Yangtze River, because of the developed commerce, there was a need for a lot of account keepers. Those who wanted their son to be successful in the future would always spend a few silver every year to send their sons to school.

They don't ask their sons to take the imperial examination in the future and only hope that they could become accountants, and they would be satisfied with one or two silver a month.

With this idea in mind, old lady Jiang and Butcher Jiang had sent Jiang Chengwen and Jiang Chengxiang to school.

"It's easy to find such people. There might not be many in the village, but there are many such people in the country town," Zhao Jinge said. After going to the country town almost every day recently, he gained a lot of insight.

"Yes." Jiang Zhen nodded and took Zhao Jinge's hand as he talked with him. It was obvious that they were talking about very boring things, but he was still in a very good mood.

"What are you two doing here, standing here? Get out of the way!" Some people moving the goods back and forth looked at both of them in bewilderment. These two men were standing there in drenched clothes and didn't know how to take care of themselves but were, instead, still standing by the dock, holding hands. What was this for?

Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge hurriedly walked into the tea stall next to them.

Jiang Zhen had coin with him, but fortunately, Zhao Jinge brought money with him. He spent two coppers coins for two bowls of tea and then bought four tea cakes and four tea eggs.

Tea cake was a local term for a local pastry. It's made of glutinous rice flour and has the appearance of a square piece of pastry with stuffing. The stuffing was usually made from pork.

Glutinous rice can be especially filling and no one disliked pork these times, so these tea cakes were naturally very popular except that most people were reluctant to spend money to eat them.

While drinking tea, Jiang Zhen ate two tea cakes and two tea eggs. Then he asked his wife: "How's Mingzhu? Did she miss me? "

Zhao Mingzhu was only three months old, so how could she know how to miss people? However, Zhao Jinge could see what she was thinking. "Miss you. She always cries at night. She cries for a while before is willing to sleep."

When Jiang Zhen heard that his precious daughter was crying, he was so distressed that he asked about it in detail.

Zhao Mingzhu was a very easy child to take care of, and she was also healthy. Of course, it had something to do with the large number of people who were willing to take care of her. Usually, as long as she curls up her mouth, someone would immediately hug her . . . so it was hard for her to turn bad even if she wanted to.

She would make a fuss at night, just because Zhao Jinge was the only one who took care of her at night, and occasionally, he couldn't take care of her.

After Zhao Jinge told him all about his daughter these days, Jiang Zhen's fleet finally docked.

Jiang Zhen took Zhao Jinge to register the cargo on board and, along the way, sent a man to the village to report to the Zhao family that he was back.

After going out for more than twenty days, Jiang Zhen's crew was thinking about going home, so the speed of unloading and registration of goods was very fast. When it was getting dark, everything had already been taken care of.

Thinking about his daughter, it was of course impossible for Jiang Zhen to have a night's rest in Hecheng County so he asked his men to clean up, and the whole fleet left the Hecheng county town dock for the Hexi Village dock.

When Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge arrived home, it was already completely dark, but the Zhao family' house was still lit up. When Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jingge pushed the door open, they saw Zhao Liu holding Zhao Mingzhu in her arms and feeding her.

Zhao Mingzhu was now nearly three months old, and her neck was not as soft as it was at the beginning. When she heard the sound, she turned her head and then burst into tears, probably frightened by the sudden opening of the door.

"Mingzhu!" Jiang Zhen was so distressed that he picked up Zhao Mingzhu from Zhao Liu's arms and coaxed, "Daddy's precious Mingzhu (pearl), did you miss your father?"

Zhao Mingzhu stopped crying when she was hugged by Jiang Zhen, which made Jiang Zhen even happier. At the same time, he found that his daughter grew more and more beautiful. Before, her fat face sagged which made her look a bit ugly, but with her becoming a little fatter and rounder. . . how beautiful!

No one knew if Zhao Mingzhu really remembered Jiang Zhen, but as Jiang Zhen "waited on" her, she gave him some face and didn't cry.

People in Hexi Village didn't bathe their babies because they were afraid of them getting sick, but since before, Jiang Zhen had been bathing Zhao Mingzhu. Zhao Mingzhu did not become sick and was later washed more often, so Zhao Mingzhu was different from the other children in the village and had no smell at all. She also especially liked to take a bath.

Jiang Zhen gave her a good bath and put her on a fiery red bag to let her lie on the bed. He just thought she was too cute . . . However, although his daughter was lovely, it was not as important as his wife at the moment.

Quickly coaxing his daughter to sleep, Jiang Zhen, without hesitation, pounced on Zhao Jinge.

The next day, Jiang Zhen took people to the county town to recruit literate people. The salary he offered was two silver a month. But if they did well, he might increase their salary in the future.

Many people were willing. After all, although many people had learned a few words, they couldn't find a good job. Hearing that Jiang Zhen wanted to recruit a lot of people, they also ran to tell each other this piece of news.

"Chengxiang, today there are people recruiting at the dock for people who can read and calculate accounts with a salary of two silver a month! I've already written my name there!" A young man found Jiang Chengxiang and said this to him.

"Is that so? Where is it?" Jiang Chengxiang was delighted.

Since his lies were uncovered, he had not gone to the county town for a long time and was taking care of Zhu Shufen and his daughter every day.

Although his daughter cried all day long and her life was quite hard, she actually survived. After healing for a few months, Zhu Shufen's body also became better . . . Then he could go to the country town again.

He had never been an aloof person, so after arriving at the county town, he cried to many of his classmates and asked them to help him find a job . . . The person who came to him this time was one of his fellow classmates named Song Li.

"It's just over there at the pier." Song Li took Jiang Chengxiang and hurriedly rushed towards the side of the pier.

At first, Jiang Chengxiang was full of expectation, but when he came to the docks and saw the people on the docks, his expression froze at once. Those people in uniforms . . . weren't they people under Jiang Zhen's? It's about them recruiting.

As soon as Jiang Chengxiang gaze turned, he saw Jiang Zhen.

"Chengxiang, hurry up," Song Li urged.

"Wait a minute." Jiang Chengxiang stood still, unwilling to go over.

"Chengxiang, what's wrong?" Song Li looked at Jiang Chengxiang, puzzled, and said, "Hurry up, or someone else will take this opportunity. Your family already became like this. If you can't find a job, what can you do about it?"

Because Jiang Chengxiang told Song Li that Jiang Chengwen was cheated out of his money while doing business, Song Li decided that Jiang Chengxiang's life was very difficult.

"I'm sorry. I can go when someone else is recruiting, but I can't go when he is the one recruiting." Jiang Chengxiang looked at Song Li and shook his head with a wry smile.

"Why?" Song Li was puzzled.

"The man . . . as a matter of fact, is my eldest brother. Because my parents were not very good to him, he took the initiative to join another family and hates our family. He certainly will not want to hire me." Jiang Chengxiang sighed.

"Is there such a thing?" Song Li looked at Jiang Zhen from a distance and started believing that Jiang Zhen must have forgotten righteousness for profit. After getting married into a rich family, he forgot about his own biological parents.

"Of course. Don't you see? He looks a lot like me," Jiang Chengxiang said with a wry smile.

In the past, Eldest Jiang did not look much like the pampered Jiang Chengxiang. Currently, Jiang Zhen looked indeed very much like Jiang Chengxiang. What's more, Song Li heard Jiang Chengxiang mention before that he had an elder brother.

At that time, Jiang Chengxiang was reluctant to talk about his eldest brother . . . Song Li had never known the reason before, but he thought he had guessed it now.

It turned out that Jiang Chengxiang only had not a stupid second brother who was cheated out of the money he borrowed to do business, but he also had an ungrateful elder brother. Song Li became even more sympathetic to Jiang Chengxiang.

"My elder brother is helping other people deliver their goods. If you want to work for him, you will have to live on the ship all year round. If you encounter pirates, you might also lose your life. Before that, someone from our village followed him and lost his life. Brother Song, you'd better change your job," Jiang Chengxiang said again.

Song Li has a good family and money. He had been helping Jiang Chengxiang these days, so Jiang Chengxiang did not want him to learn the true situation of his family. Naturally, he also did not want Song Li to work for Jiang Zhen.

Song Li was a bad-tempered and trusting person, so when he heard what Jiang Chengxiang said, he immediately said, "There was such a thing? I must expose him!"

"Brother Song, wait!" Jiang Chengxiang hurriedly stopped Song Li, persuading him left and right before saying that Jiang Zhen has something to do with the country magistrate. He finally persuaded Song Li and asked him to promise not to make a big deal out of it.

Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge ware recruiting people at the moment.

They only planned to recruit twenty people, but there were a lot of people coming over, so Jiang Zhen simply asked these people to write down their names and then go to a house he rented to take an exam tomorrow.

He didn't know the level of these people, so he came up with some test questions to choose the most suitable ones of them—some of them just wrote a few words before giving them back. He did not want to recruit this type of people.

"Uncle, the men we recruit are going to go out to sea with us. You are too old to stand it." Seeing a man with white hair and wrinkles, who was a little older than Zhao Fugui, Jiang Ming persuaded him helplessly.

"I'm a very strong, young man. Even if you try to fight me right now on these docks, I would be okay," the old man insisted.

"I really can't . . ." Jiang Ming was helpless, but he really couldn't do anything about this old man.

Jiang Ming persuaded him for a long time, but the old man refused to give up and had to perform sack performance in public

"I only want someone under the age of thirty!" Jiang Zhen said, looking coldly at the old man: "Are you going by yourself, or shall I ask someone to drive you away?"

It was certainly not suitable for such an old man to go with the fleet. Since it was useless to persuade the other person, he could only scare him away.

The clothes on Jiang Zhen's body let people know at glance that he was the leader. At that moment, his expression was so cold that the old men did not dare to say anything. After taking a look at the men standing beside Jiang Zhen, he ran away hurriedly.

"Huh!" The old man ran away, but a young man squeezed in. He looked at Jiang Zhen and snorted coldly. Then he faced Jiang Ming, who was holding a stack of paper and was asking people to write down their names and age. "I left my name here before, but now, cross it out for me!"

"You don't want this job?" Jiang Ming looked over with some surprise.

This young man was Song Li, who was determined to expose Jiang Zhen "true face", but he was afraid of involving his family and Jiang Chengxiang; so in the end, he put up with it and only said, "Yes, I don't want it."

"All right. Find it yourself and cross it out." Jiang Ming pointed to a pile of papers beside him.

These days, big families don't recruit people. The bookkeepers were all trained by them or they simply let other branches do it. Even if a certain shop wanted to hire people, they would ask acquaintances to find the right people and often would even directly invite relatives to do these things. Therefore, although many people could read, they could not find a suitable job. If it hadn't been for this, how could it take Jiang Chengxiang so long to find a job that he could do?

It was also because of this that after Jiang Zhen recruited people in public, a very large number of people came. At this time, more than thirty people have left their names . . . so Jiang Ming did not care at all about some people who did not want to work for them.

Song Li saw that Jiang Ming did not take him seriously and became a little angry. He was a boy who had been studying in school for a long time! Much better than the others!

Song Li found out the paper he had written before and was about to tear it up in public, saying that he didn't take this job seriously when people behind him crowded up and squeezed him out, these people were still scrambling in the hope that Jiang Zhen would give them a job.

Holding a piece of paper with his name written on it, Song Li was furious. Song Li was still angry when he saw an acquaintance coming. This acquaintance was also a classmate of Song Li, whose name was Zheng Baoning.

Although Zheng Baoning was surnamed Zheng, he had nothing to do with the Zheng family where Zheng Yi lived. At most, they were related back several hundred years ago, but his family life was not very good.

Zheng Baoning's father was a small businessman who sold things for a living. He used to go out four times a year, and after deducting expenses, he could earn a profit of ten silver. Because of this, his family led a good life and he was able to study. But later, when his father went out, he met someone looking for trouble who kicked him.

His father didn't take it seriously at first, but he didn't know that that kick would hurt his internal organs. When he got home, his belly grew bigger and bigger, and he was in real pain before he died from it.

Without a pillar at home, Zheng Baoning was naturally unable to continue to study. He was only 12 or 13 years old at that time, so he was unable to find any job. His handwriting was not very good, so he could not copy books for a living . . . In the end, he made money by painting flowers for embroiderers.

What kind of grownup man painted flowers for a group of women all day? It was also said that he even painted the flowers on the belly pockets for those prostitutes . . . Song Li hated Zheng Baoning a little and even thought that Zheng Baoning had fallen.

When he saw Zheng Baoning before, he would persuade him to find a serious job, but this time . . . Seeing that Zheng Baoning seemed to want to work for Jiang Chengxiang's eldest brother, Song Li hurriedly stopped him.

"Zheng Baoning, that job is very dangerous. You better listen to me and don't take this job."

Zheng Baoning immediately frowned after hearing his words. This Song Li was really full of righteousness and did know what hunger meant.

At the beginning, he was always advised by him to find another job, but he didn't think about it. His family had no background, so where could he find a suitable job? As for now . . . when he finally found a job, he came to stop him.

"I'll ask. If it's really dangerous, I won't do it," Zheng Baoning said. After that, he immediately squeezed into the crowd.

"It's really like biting the hand that feeds you!" Song Li scolded and planned to wait outside. When Zheng Baoning came out of the crowd, he'd talk with him properly, but unexpectedly, Zheng Baoning disappeared!

He had slipped away from the other side? Song Li was furious, but Zheng Baoning, who had avoided him, was relieved.

Many people asked about the recruitment place of Jinzhen Escort Agency and what they would do, so he also asked.

In the future, they would have to follow the ship to deliver goods, so they might encounter a little danger. However, with such a large fleet and so many escorts, the probability that they would have an accident was still very small. If you really wanted to talk about it, if you became a bookkeeper for some shops in the country town, you might also be asked to follow the shopkeeper to restock the goods, so wasn't that dangerous as well?

Zheng Baoning had made up his mind to work hard to get this job. His father had been dead for five years, and he was already eighteen years old. He could only earn a penny or two by drawing pictures, and he was afraid that his family would be unable to make ends meet, so he'd better find a real job.

If he went with the ship, the owner would be responsible for the meals, so he would not have to spend some of his own wages and might be able to support his family with all the money he earned. But he did not know who the owner was going to choose out of the people the next day.

Zheng Baoning was thinking about this, and so was Jiang Zhen. He really didn't know what to give people as an exam.

"Ah!" Jiang Zhen was thinking when Zhao Mingzhu, who was lying on the bed, suddenly cried out.

"Good girl! You can talk!" Jiang Zhen happily picked up his daughter and decided not to think about it anymore. He decided to let these people write 500 words of self-introduction and do a few math problems.

He set the questions according to the difficulty of a regular primary school, so these people should be able to answer them, right?

In the twinkling of an eye, it was the next day.

Jiang Zhen had been waiting in the appointed house since early morning. When he asked the carpenter in the county town to make furniture for him because he wanted to build a primary school for cultivating talents in Hexi Village, he asked the carpenter to make fifty small tables and benches. Now these things were ready to use, but they were still not enough.

There were about 100 people who left their names yesterday. Some of them gave up after they thought about it when they went home, but there were still more than 70 people left. Those tables and chairs were not enough at all, so Jiang Zhen had to use the furniture that the carpenter had made for him. Because there was not enough room in the house, many people had to take the exam outside the house.

Zheng Baoning came a little late, so he didn't get those small tables and chairs, but he was given a chest of drawers and was asked to answer the question standing up.

Those who wore uniforms gave each of them three pieces of paper. On one piece of paper, they asked them to write down hundreds of words of self-introduction. After they finished, someone would ask a few questions, and they would write either answer on the second piece of paper. They could use the third piece of paper to write the question from their memory.

The purpose of this self-introduction was to see if they could really read and write, right? Although Zheng Baoning's handwriting was a little ugly, he at least knew a lot of words, so he wrote more than 400 words before filling up the paper.

Seeing that the person writing on the bed next to him, who he estimated was unable to write and knew very few words because he wrote only 20 or 30 words on the paper, Zheng Baoning became much more relaxed at the moment.

At this time, the man with the appearance of a leader came to ask them questions.

"I have nine men working under me who are doing a great job. I want to reward each of them with eight silver. How many silver do I need to give them in total?"

"I bought thirteen rabbits. How many rabbit legs are there in all?"

"I asked someone to help me carry the goods. I gave him a penny for carrying a bag of goods. The man carried 158 bags of goods on the first day, 211 bags of goods on the second day, and 176 bags on third day. How much money did he earn altogether?"

. . .

Jiang Zhenyi gave a total of five questions, all of which he recognized as very simple. Zhao Jinge, who was next to him, wrote down a few numbers in his notes and quickly worked them out. But those who did the questions . . .

All of a sudden, Jiang Zhen found that many of these people have dignified expression and did not know what to write . . . Fortunately, there were still a lot of people who could count.

Zheng Baoning could count. At the beginning of his father's business, he had to settle accounts. So when he saw these problems, he could easily calculate them.

After calculating the problems, Zheng Baoning breathed a sigh of relief, and not long after, their three pieces of paper were collected.

After Jiang Zhen saw the graffiti on the answer sheets, he simply did not want to do deal with it and asked He Hunsheng to give each person he did not want two eggs before sending them away,

These people already knew that they were at a disadvantage, so after Jiang Zhen gave them two eggs, they did not blame Jiang Zhen and left soon afterward. Seeing this, Jiang Zhen began to look at the rest of the papers.

The people who were really good at learning were obviously not willing to work under him, so these papers basically all had the same issues. Many of them were not even as good as him at writing, still, he found several good ones.

Jiang Zhen had made up his mind to teach these people mathematics first and then let them work. So he was not too picky as he finally selected 22 people.

Jiang Zhen gave three eggs to each person he rejected this time. As for those who were selected, he gave them five eggs each and then signed a deed with them and told them to wait on the dock tomorrow morning when he would come to pick them up.

Jiang Zhen men were all local men of Hecheng County. Before, when they were on the docks, the yamen officers were also very friendly to them, so they were not afraid of Jiang Zhen's deceiving them, so naturally they all agreed.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhen also regarded it as relieving his worry.

After these people left, Jiang Zhen asked his men to take all the tables, chairs, and furniture in the house to the boat and take them back to Hexi.

The furniture was ready to use. After cleaning, he would be able to move into his new house with his wife, child and family!

To Jiang Zhen, this new house was still quite humble, for someone who once lived in modern times. But at the moment, Jiang Zhen was still looking forward to moving in. There are two rooms on the upper floor of the building where he and Zhao Jinge were going to live. At the one facing the south, he would live with Zhao Jinge, and he planned to let his daughter live in the one facing north. In that room, he paved the floor with the planks, so his daughter would be able to crawl all over the floor.

Well, his pearl couldn't even sit now . . .

The house Jiang Zhen built on the other side of the dock was more than his own.

He built dormitories for his men and the sailors. In addition, he also built warehouses and several classrooms.

"Boss, what do you want to do with so many tables and chairs?" seeing the layout of the classroom, Wang Haisheng asked.

"Children can come here to study in the future," Jiang Zhen said. "Your two children can also come."

"Studying?" Wang Haisheng was both surprised and delighted. Everyone else was also very happy.

They made money with Jiang Zhen, so they thought they would be able to send their children to study in the future, but they didn't expect that Jiang Zhen would directly set up a school on this side of the docks!