Da Shan, carrying a basket on his back, laboriously climbed up the irrigation ditch.
Zhao Heng grew up in the county magistrate's office, living a life of luxury. He had never done such rough work before. After digging with the shovel for a couple of times, he complained, "Oh dear, I didn't expect the soil to be so hard. I can't even dig with the shovel. I need to take a break."
Da Shan leaned closer and said, "Let me tell you, you can turn around and see who else is resting. Even young children are helping to dig. How can you, the son of the county magistrate, be the one to take a break?"
Zhao Heng thought about it and agreed. All the little kids in the village were diligently digging irrigation ditches, so how could he, the son of the county magistrate, take the lead in resting?
So he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Alright, just for what you said, I'll stick to it. Otherwise, wouldn't people gossip about me, the son of the county magistrate?"
"Gossip doesn't matter, the real problem is that if someone talks about it in front of the magistrate, how will he lose face?"
"Yes, I want to save face for my dad!" Zhao Heng said, and started digging with a shovel.
Ruyan and Sanwang were in the same group. Large beads of sweat appeared on Ruyan's forehead. When did her tender hands start doing such heavy work? Sanwang glanced at her and gently wiped the sweat away with his sleeve: "Why don't you take a break and I'll dig for a while?"
Ruyan glanced at Sanwang's basket, blushed and said, "But you said that fine sand is very heavy, so wouldn't I be even less able to carry it? Forget it, no one has rested, and I don't want to rest either."
Next to them were Dashan and Zhangshi. Dashan had to check the quality of the irrigation canal while also digging it. Zhangshi could cook at home, but she didn't have much strength for this kind of hard work.
Da Shan glanced at Zhang Shi with disdain: "Look at you, besides chopping vegetables and cooking, what else can you do? Really!"
Following closely behind were Qiu Dong and Jin Xia. Qiu Dong said, "Brother Da Shan, be patient with your sister-in-law. Isn't it your sister-in-law who does all the housework? Besides, this soil is so hard, it's very difficult for me to dig it up."
Zhang said with a smile, "It's nothing, it's just that I haven't held a shovel in a long time, and my hands are blistered."
Da Shan snatched the shovel from her hand: "Go fetch some sand!"
Jin Xia smiled and said, "Then I'll go with my sister-in-law to fetch sand."
When Qiu Dong saw that Jin Xia was about to leave, he quickly grabbed Jin Xia's hand: "Jin Xia, be careful, don't carry too much on your back, don't put too much pressure on it."
Upon hearing these words, and recalling his earlier remarks to Zhang, Da Shan felt a pang of guilt.
As Qiu Dong dug, he said, "Brother, be gentle with your wife. Women need to be coaxed. The more you coax them, the better they treat you. Otherwise, they'll change!"
Around noon, Li Zheng prepared some dry food and brought it over, with Jiao Shi following closely behind.
"Autumn, Jinxia, come and eat! Mom has boiled some eggs for you."
Li Zheng clapped his hands, glanced at the sun overhead, and said, "Alright, it's noon. Everyone take a break, grab something to eat, and then get to work!"
After Li Zheng finished speaking, everyone was able to put down their work and go to their respective areas to eat something quickly. Because of the tight schedule, they did not go home for lunch.
Liang Shuyan went home and prepared some hot steamed buns, some scallions, and some rice porridge, which she brought over.
Because Liang Shuyan's family was quite large, she put the pot on a donkey cart and brought it over. She set up the pot next to the irrigation ditch and cooked and drank the broth at the same time.
For some reason, Mr. Su found the porridge particularly delicious. As he ate, he said, "Auntie Dashan, your cooking skills are truly amazing. You've brought the soul to this simple porridge. I'm so full from eating it."
Ruyan filled a bowl and handed it to Grandma Liu and Grandma Jin, and then gave Liang Shuyan a bowl as well.
Liang Shuyan didn't drink any herself, but when she saw Aunt Liu, she called out, "Aunt Liu, come over and try the porridge I made?"
Aunt Liu, who had made dry pancakes and pickled vegetables, quickly went over when she heard there was porridge to drink.
"I made some dry pancakes, would you like some?"
Liang Shuyan shook her head: "No need, I have some freshly steamed buns here."
Erniu and his group from the martial arts school sat together, eating heartily, while Vice General Xiao's eyes were fixed on Madam Liu.
Liu brought a bowl of porridge to Erniu's side and whispered, "Erniu, after you finish eating, I'll go home. Remember to take good care of yourself at the martial arts school, and also help others practice martial arts well. Don't let your mother down."
Jin Erniu glanced at Liu Shi: "What's wrong? You're acting more like a mother than a mother now? Go on, go on!"
Jin Erniu knew that the reason why Liu Shi had become like this was because his mother must have said something to Liu Shi, otherwise, why would she suddenly leave the martial arts school?
Standing behind Jin Erniu, Liang Shuyan looked at him with murderous intent in her eyes: "What, you still dare to talk to your wife like that? What do you mean by 'more mother than your own mother'? What do you mean by 'second mother'? Tell me the truth."
Liang Shuyan couldn't remember when she had become so effeminate, that Jin Erniu would say such a thing to her.
Erniu hurriedly swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth and then said, "Mom, I just wanted to talk back to my wife. She's so nagging."
Jin Erniu was a straightforward person, and he didn't expect that a single sentence would expose his true nature. His big eyes stared at his mother in front of him, and he took two steps back in fright.
"I've been nagging. Fine, from now on I won't stay with your mother anymore, and your wife will stay home too. You'll be responsible for digging the irrigation ditch from here to your Aunt Pang's house. Hurry up!"
Jin Erniu had a long face and wished he could slap himself twice. It was all because he didn't know how to speak properly and offended his mother, which led to him being given such a difficult task.
Deputy General Xiao said with a smile, "I didn't expect that the head of our martial arts school would be afraid of his mother. It's okay, we've got you all here to help. We're not afraid of not being able to dig it all up."
"No need, you take the brothers and start digging from the spot where Aunt Fat's house is!"
After eating a simple meal, everyone started digging irrigation ditches.
Liang Shuyan followed behind Erniu with a shovel. When Erniu turned around and saw that it was his mother, he didn't dare to rest and started digging again.
"Zhao Heng, if you have nothing else to do, come and fill Erniu's grave with sand!"
Almost everyone in the village started working, but Erniu's project was the most demanding. He was digging with his head down when Zhao Heng came over carrying a basket of sand on his back, picked up a shovel, and started scattering sand into the hole.
After digging a couple of times, Zhao threw the shovel aside, sat down in the ditch, and burst into tears, crying, "Jinwang, look at my hands!"
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