"I'm hoeing the fields. It's almost New Year, take a break."
When Xu He heard the voice, he looked up at the man in front of him. He was the son of the Wang family in the village. It was said that he worked as a helper in the city and could earn thousands of dollars a month. He had heard the Queen Mother's bragging about it.
"What's up?"
Although Wang Lang was unhappy with Xu He's indifference, his mind was not on him after all. He couldn't see Xu Shaochun on weekdays, and Liu Xianglan stared at her daughter like the apple of her eye, so he could only start with his brother. This was something all the men in the village knew.
"It's a holiday in the city. I got paid and brought back some small things for your sister. Can you give them to her for me?"
Xu He said: "Why don't you give it to her yourself?"
"Oh, my dear He, don't you know this better than anyone else?"
Xu He continued to hoe the ground and said calmly, "Why would I run away for you?"
Wang Lang was very understanding and said, "That's easy to talk about, easy to talk about."
He quickly took out a few coins from his pocket and said, "Thank you for your help."
Xu He accepted the money without blushing or beating his heart, and said: "It's one thing to run a trip for you, but I can't guarantee whether she will accept it or not."
This was not the first time Wang Lang had given something to Xu Shaochun. He was very familiar with the relationship. Xu He was indeed very honest. If Xu Shaochun confiscated the things, he would take them back and return them: "I know, I know, your sister will keep them and like them."
Xu He took the things, responded, and went back to digging the ground.
Seeing that the matter was settled, the man did not talk much with Xu He. He said that it was fine if they were talking about business, but if they were chatting, he could not squeeze out a word for a long time. Who would bother talking to him more? He was happy not to waste his words and left happily with his hands behind his back.
Zhang Fangyuan, who was far away, couldn't help but laugh. This youngest Xu looked quite honest, but he was actually quite cunning.
"Busy?"
When Xu He heard the voice, he wondered why business was so good today? He raised his head again and saw the muscular figure approaching, and his brows twitched.
"I didn't expect you to be good at business."
Facing the teasing from the visitor, Xu He did not get angry: "I have to pay the money back."
Zhang Fangyuan laughed again and asked with great interest, "Hey, do people often give gifts to your sister?"
"Um."
"You're allowed to transfer them all?"
Xu He raised his eyebrows: "Why, you also want me to pass on something?"
Zhang Fangyuan smacked his lips and said, "Then based on our friendship, can I avoid paying the travel fee?"
Xu He was not happy: "Deduct it from the medical expenses."
"You are really calculating." Zhang Fangyuan found it very interesting: "I see that the third son of the Wang family is so smart, how long have you been doing this? Everyone in the village wants to marry your sister home, you must have made a lot of money from it."
"The government officials who come to collect taxes are not as good as you in interrogating people." Xu He said, "I'm not so kind as to let people run away."
Zhang Fangyuan was grinning from ear to ear, and it took him a while to remember his horse. He pulled the reins and said, "Let's see, how is it?"
Xu He noticed the sturdy black horse behind Zhang Fangyuan early in the morning and snorted.
It seemed that only the landlords had horses in the village, and the prices were very high. A few years ago, his father also wanted to buy a cow for farming, so he went to the cattle and horse shop, but he never heard of it again. No one knew where Zhang Fangyuan got the animal.
He said sincerely, "Very good."
"This horse is injured and needs to be nursed back to health for a while. When the horse is well again, I'll harness a cart and take you to the city."
Xu He thought that he was going to make a living by transporting people, so he started soliciting passengers early and agreed.
Seeing that he had nothing to say, Zhang Fangyuan could not help scratching the back of his head, trying to think of something else to say, but he couldn't think of anything. Instead, Xu He asked first, "Have you been going to see the horses recently?"
"How do you know I'm not in the village?"
Xu He lowered his eyebrows slightly: "I passed by your house when I went up the mountain to collect firewood."
"Oh. I went to the village to slaughter pigs." Zhang Fangyuan said and emphasized: "I made some money."
Xu He didn't know why he told her this. It is said that wealth should not be shown off. But on second thought, there were rumors during the time he was away from the village. People in the village said that he went to the city to hang out again, and Uncle Zhang almost got into a quarrel with someone two days ago.
"That's great, are you still going?"
"It's New Year's Day, so I won't go. I'll just do some small business in the village town in the future."
Xu He envied the man because he could make a living on his own, do whatever he wanted, and all the money he earned was his own, unlike him who was born a boy and had to rely on his parents at home and obey a man after marriage. He would light some charcoal and make two chicken coops to sell, but when he got back all the money would be confiscated by his mother. It was harder than climbing to the sky to save some pocket money.
Fortunately, he was thick-skinned and secretly asked those who brought messages or things to his second sister to pay him a few cents as travel expenses. After accumulating over time, although it could not be of much use, it was still enough to pay for a ride to the city.
"The New Year is coming soon. People who work outside the village are all returning to the village. It's better not to go out."
"yes."
"It's getting late. I have to go back."
Xu He put away his hoe. He came to pick some winter cabbage. Before leaving, he kindly told Zhang Fangyuan, "There is a lot of winter grass over at Haitang Bay. You can cut it to feed the horses."
Zhang Fangyuan responded, watched Xu He walk away, then happily led the horse back home.
"This horse is really good. Its fur is smooth and black, and its eyes are clear. It will definitely be useful if it is well raised." Zhang Shicheng looked at the black horse in the yard again and again with his hands behind his back. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes could hardly be suppressed. "It seems that the dealer in the cattle and horse market did not cheat you of the high price."
Zhang Fangyuan took a sip of cold water: "They wouldn't dare to cheat me when they see me like this."
Zhang Shicheng caressed the horse lovingly, not wanting to let go: "I'm just worried that the foot won't be well taken care of, that would be a big deal."
Zhang Fangyuan said, "I have broken bones before, so I know what it feels like. This horse was only injured in the flesh, so it must have been pinched by the iron, but it wasn't pinched too hard. If you take good care of it, it will be fully healed in less than two months."
Since he had made a promise, Zhang Shicheng was even happier. The Zhang family doesn't have any horses, and the cows in the old family are still transferred from one household to another, which means that the cows are bought together by several families and each family raises them for a period of time. Now Zhang Fangyuan bought a horse on his own, which will be used in many places in the future. Although it cost seven or eight thousand coins at one time, it is better than spending it recklessly.
Even if you don't need it anymore, you can still sell it for a good price.
This man was away for more than half a month. He was afraid that the marriage proposal would break down again, but he didn't expect that this incident would boost his fighting spirit and he even brought the horse back after being away for a few days.
In the evening, the uncle and nephew peeled some peanuts and drank a cup of wine.
"Your uncle will be slaughtering a pig tomorrow. You can go over and help."
Zhang Fangyuan was drinking, and when he heard his uncle, he couldn't help but put down his glass. His uncle was the one with the most connections in the Zhang family. In his previous life, he had brought things to his uncle's house hoping to ask him to recommend a job, but his aunt wouldn't even let him in. She introduced all the jobs to other people. Instead, she earned a good reputation in the village as a person who was enthusiastic and didn't care about her own younger generations at all. She loved to take advantage of her own relatives.
In the past, when he went to his uncle's house to slaughter pigs, he never gave anything. When his father was alive, he often went there to help, but he never got anything in return. Later, when his father passed away, his uncle's family was no longer friendly with their family. Sometimes when they ran into them in the village, he would call his uncle and aunt, but they would pretend not to hear.
To be honest, he didn't really want to go: "There must be a lot of people slaughtering pigs at my uncle's house, so there's no need for me to help. If there aren't enough people, he'll call me."
Zhang Shicheng knew that he was complaining that his uncle didn't call him, so he advised him, "You haven't been in the village these days, so your uncle can't come to call you. When the time comes, we need to slaughter two pigs, one of which is for sale. You are good at the job, so you can help quickly."
Zhang Fangyuan sighed. After all, they were relatives and younger generations. Sometimes he still had to save face. Mainly, he didn't want to make things difficult for his fourth uncle. "Okay."
The next morning, Zhang Fangyuan packed up his pig-slaughtering tools and went to his uncle's house.
His uncle Zhang Shixin had three sons, no girls or boys. Two of them were older than Zhang Fangyuan and worked as peddlers outside. One cousin worked as a helper in the city. The household was run by his aunt and two cousins-in-law, and they had a considerable income.
Just now, he heard a lot of noise in the yard from the ridge of his uncle's field. There must be more people coming today than the butchers of the Xu family.
He walked down with big strides. His uncle Zhang Shixin and his aunt were greeting people. His two cousins had not returned yet. At this moment, there were already several women and boys in the yard helping to pick vegetables, even Xu's wife Liu Xianglan had come.
Zhang Fangyuan wondered if his uncle also wanted to marry into the Xu family? Although his cousin Zhang San is two years younger than him, he is already old enough to get married. He is too lazy to ask about these things. He just doesn't know whether Xu He will come to dinner today.
As he was thinking, he walked into the yard. Everyone looked at him and paused. The yard was quiet for a moment.
"Why is he here?"
"When did he return to the village? I thought he was drunk and died outside."
"My uncle is slaughtering pigs at home, why don't you come over?"
"What are you doing here? The butchers are called by someone else. And who else is here?"
Zhang Fangyuan didn't listen to the private words, and went forward to greet Zhang Shixin: "Uncle."
Zhang Shixin glanced at Zhang Fangyuan, who was not as warm as he was to his fellow villagers, and replied indifferently, "Yeah."
I knew that his uncle would not like me very much, and I was mentally prepared. I just came here for the formality, and I can still say that we are relatives. He then asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Fangyuan heard a voice from inside the house asking, "Mrs. Zhang, where is your firewood? I'll bring some to the stove."
Zhang Fangyuan thought the voice was familiar, and the woman who came out from the busy kitchen was also surprised to see him.
"Why is she here?"
Zhang Fangyuan looked at Guang's mother, his brows furrowed, showing signs of getting angry. Zhang Shixin said: "Of course I'm here to help."
"Uncle is busy at home today, so there are many villagers coming, right? Is she the only one missing?"
Zhang Shixin scolded, "We are just fellow villagers. What's wrong with someone coming to help? If you say we can't be relatives, do you want everyone to stop associating with the Guang family?"
Guang's mother also lowered her head, looking embarrassed: "I thought Brother Zhang's family wanted me to help with the slaughter of pigs today, and Brother Fangyuan had let go of his previous unhappiness, but I didn't expect that he was still upset. Forget it, it's not appropriate for me to come here today."
As she was about to walk away with her eyes closed, the people in the yard quickly pulled Guang's mother back and said, "Don't, Madam Guang, look at what's going on."
"Stay away, kid, why are you still making trouble at your uncle's place? He doesn't care about it, but you are holding a grudge against him."
Everyone spoke up for Guang's mother. Zhang Fangyuan sneered. They were just bullying him because he didn't know how to act hypocritically.
"Uncle is kind-hearted and likes to make friends. He is really admirable." He said, "I'm leaving."
Zhang Fangyuan walked away with big strides, and no one in the yard tried to stop him. Instead, everyone went to comfort Guang's mother. Zhang Shicheng, who came home a little late, ran into the angry Zhang Fangyuan outside. Knowing that he was fighting with his uncle again, he tried to pull Zhang Fangyuan back but failed, so he had to quickly run to his eldest brother's house.
Just as he was about to ask what happened, he immediately shut his mouth when he saw Guang's mother.
Then he went out to look for Zhang Fangyuan.
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The author has something to say:
Zhang Fangyuan: What do you think of my BMW 5 Series? New withdrawal, full payment! If you marry me, the passenger seat will be yours.
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