"What are you doing!"
I've heard that this butcher is not a good guy, but I didn't know he would bully a young boy. Even if I go too late and the thief stole his things and didn't catch him, I shouldn't take my anger out on him!
Xu He clenched the corner of his clothes. Even though he was afraid that the gap in strength between him and Zhang Fangyuan was too great and he would not get any good results, he still did not show any cowardice.
He was stepping on a small haystack soaked by the rain, and was chasing the man at a pace that took him two steps at a time, stretching out his hand to try to snatch the backpack back.
Zhang Fangyuan ignored Xu He's nagging and just bent over to stuff the chopped firewood into the backpack. He just wanted to fill the basket so that he could go down the mountain quickly, but he heard a clacking sound from people behind him.
He paused and turned around, stunned for a moment, then Xu He fell flat on the ground.
"Why are you in such a hurry? I'm not going to eat your backpack."
He quickly put down what he was holding and wanted to go over to help him up, but Xu He gritted his teeth and climbed up first, staggering a few steps. They both saw that the trousers at the knee were torn, and the wooden branch had pierced through a large piece of flesh, and blood and mud oozed out.
Xu He frowned and limped to sit on a stone pillar nearby. He didn't care that the stone had been wet by the rain. He quickly tore a piece of cloth from the hem of his shirt and simply wiped the wound. Without even a groan, he wrapped his knees with his hands like tying dumplings.
The movement was so quick that even Zhang Fangyuan standing next to him was surprised, making him look like a stupid bear.
Silly Bear looked at the pair of patched thin-soled cloth shoes on the boy's feet. He thought that half of the reason for his fall was that the shoes were not suitable for the season, and the other half was that he stole the boy's backpack.
"Can we still leave?"
Xu He was covered in dirt. He glanced at Zhang Fangyuan. He knew that he was not only in a mess but also very embarrassed. However, he thought that he was not the second sister who needed to maintain a perfect image in front of men, so he did not feel embarrassed.
He didn't want to reply to Zhang Fangyuan, so he stood up and wanted to take back the backpack with less firewood. However, he felt a sharp pain in his knees. Not to mention carrying firewood, it would be difficult to go down the mountain in such a rainy day.
"You're still thinking about firewood. If we don't have this load of firewood at home, we won't be able to cook dinner tonight."
Zhang Fangyuan could see the difficulty behind his stubborn appearance. He pushed the backpack away and said, "I'll carry you down the mountain."
Xu He was obviously frightened by Zhang Fangyuan's words, and his legs and feet became even more unsteady for a moment.
It took him a long time to think of two words: "No need."
"Then I'll go down the mountain and ask your father to pick you up?"
Xu He remained silent. His father was busy with many things and had no time to take care of him.
Zhang Fangyuan had no intention of really abandoning the person on the mountain and going down the mountain to Xu's house to look for him. Regardless of whether he could call Xu's family members, it was raining heavily, and it would be strange if he didn't catch a cold after being wet in the mountains for so long.
He knew what people were worried about, and he was considerate and emptied all the firewood he had just put into the backpack: "Don't be stubborn, get into the backpack, and go down the mountain."
Seeing the butcher was going to carry him in a backpack, Xu He said, "Then what about your firewood and backpack..."
Zhang Fangyuan glanced at Xu He and asked, "Which is more important, firewood or people?"
Xu He's ears felt red when he heard this, as it was an ambiguous statement.
…
Xu He squatted in the backpack, his knees bent and feeling a little painful. He also swayed from side to side with the man's steps, which looked a bit funny. This easily reminds people of the scene of going to a house where a sow has given birth and buying piglets to carry back.
He went to carry it on his back, and now he seemed to be the piglet.
The piglet held Zhang Fangyuan's precious iron lumps in his arms and looked down at the man walking steadily on the muddy path. Perhaps because of his big feet, every step was solid. Although he was not very comfortable curled up in the backpack, he felt more stable and at ease than walking on his own.
He wondered how strong this man was, as he didn't even frown while carrying him on his back, and was as relaxed as if he was fighting with bare hands.
“We took the wrong road!”
Xu He came back to his senses and noticed with his sharp eyes that the butcher was going towards another path. Although it was also a way down the mountain, it was long and overgrown with weeds. No one had walked there for a long time.
Zhang Fangyuan said in a deep voice: "It's easy to meet people on the main road. This road is a bit off the beaten track, but no one takes it."
Xu He was stunned and closed his mouth.
Isn't it said that Zhang Fangyuan is a playboy and a dissolute man, drinking and having fun in the city? How can you be so considerate of others?
This made him feel a little uneasy. He wondered if he was being taken to the city and sold there by some crooked means... But, in his current state, he would not be able to be sold.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize he was being carried to the foot of the mountain where the main road met.
Zhang Fangyuan stopped and said, "It only takes a quarter of an hour to get to your house. I can take you there, but if someone sees us, or if your parents don't like us..."
Xu He quickly said, "I'll go back by myself."
The man put down the backpack upon hearing the sound. He had been bent in the backpack for too long and his legs were sore and painful. He gritted his teeth and stood up, but he couldn't step out of the backpack. He was feeling a little embarrassed, and the person standing next to him raised his bent arm towards him.
Xu He glanced at the man, lowered his eyes slightly, grabbed his elbow, and used the force to get out of the backpack.
"Go home."
Although the rain at the foot of the mountain was lighter than on the mountain, both of them were still mostly wet.
Xu He did not linger for long. He hung his backpack on his back, returned all the iron lumps to the butcher, and limped towards his home.
Zhang Fangyuan watched the dark and thin figure almost blending into the rain, so he turned around and prepared to go back. He heard a thank you in the sound of the drizzle. When he turned around again, Xu He just glanced at him briefly and turned away again.
He touched his nose, and this thank you made him feel even more embarrassed.
…
Zhang Fangyuan walked onto the road leading to his own yard and quickened his pace. He arrived home in less than a quarter of an hour.
He didn't lock the gate when he went out. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw a boy of seven or eight years old walking under his eaves. He said carefully, "Cousin Yuan, you're back."
Zhang Fangyuan put down the iron lump he brought back and said, "Xiao Mao, why are you here?"
"I'll bring some food to my cousin."
Seeing that his cousin was easy to talk to today, Zhang Xiaomao was not so scared anymore and showed the big basket to Zhang Fangyuan.
It was filled with some seasonal vegetables, such as radishes, cabbages, and peppers, which were common in every household in the village. However, he always went to the city before, and had not dug the land since the spring ploughing. The land at home had been left idle, and there was no vegetables to eat.
"Did your father send it over?"
Xiaomao nodded: "Dad said that if my cousin has no vegetables to eat, he should go to the fields and pick them himself."
Zhang Fangyuan frowned but a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. When his parents were alive, his fourth uncle's family was the best to him.
When he went out to hang out, his fourth uncle often came to grab his ears and scold him, but he didn't listen and even had a big fight with others, which made his fourth uncle very angry. Later, he was away from home in the city all day, and his fourth uncle couldn't find him. When he returned to the village one year, he found out that his fourth uncle had injured his foot while going up the mountain and had died of tetanus.
His fourth aunt hated him and refused to see him, and Xiaomao later married and moved far away.
These things have always been what he regrets the most.
Looking up at the little brother, his eyes softened. He touched his head and said with a smile, "Is your father not angry with me anymore?"
He ran to the city not long ago, and before leaving he had a quarrel with his fourth uncle. Today he asked Xiaomao to bring him some food, it seemed that he had calmed down.
Xiaomao pursed his lips. His father often scolded his cousin at home, but he didn't really hate him. If he really hated him, he wouldn't always say, "Dad loves my cousin the most, how could he be angry with you?"
Zhang Fangyuan laughed: "You are getting better and better at talking. What are we having for dinner tonight?"
Xiaomao thought for a moment and said, "Mom said that it's raining today and there's nothing to do, so she wants to make pancakes."
"That's great. I'll go over and get some bread too." Zhang Fangyuan called Xiaomao into the house. He looked up at the only half of a smoked pig's head hanging on the stove. He used a stool to take it down and said, "I don't know if the meat on this pig's head has gone bad. Take it to your house for a check."
Zhang Fangyuan put on a bamboo hat, carried the pork head, and went to his fourth uncle Zhang Shicheng's house with Xiaomao.
"Put it far away!"
He was washing radishes under the eaves. When she looked up, she saw two people, one big and one small, walking towards the yard. She quickly wiped her hands, stood up with a smile and greeted them.
Zhang Fangyuan called out, "Fourth Aunt."
He handed the pig's head to the woman and looked into the house: "Isn't my fourth uncle at home?"
"It's in the house." He didn't bother to be polite with Zhang Fangyuan and took the pig's head directly. There was a smile in the corner of her eyes: "You two and I stewed it. It's just right to have a drink in the evening when it rains."
The voice was not loud, and the people inside seemed to be eavesdropping on the conversation outside the wall: "He was given some wine to drink with. He didn't drink enough in the city and came to my house to drink!"
The two of them looked into the house together. Zhang Fangyuan exchanged glances with his fourth aunt and walked into the house.
Sitting on a cushioned chair in the hall was a middle-aged man with a yellowish complexion. Perhaps because he was often worried about life, there were deep furrows between his brows. Zhang Fangyuan's fourth uncle was not old, only a little over 35 years old, but he looked old as a farmer, and he seemed to be in his 40s.
The man had a stern face and was not as strong and tall as Zhang Fangyuan, but having experienced decades of wind, frost, rain and snow, his aura was very intimidating.
"Fourth uncle."
"You still remembered to come back. I thought you were drunk to death in the city and didn't even go home for the New Year."
Zhang Shicheng hasn't seen Zhang Fangyuan for more than half a month. Ever since his parents passed away, the kid's temper has become very strange. He used to like coming to their family the most, but later he developed some bad habits and hung out in the city. Not to mention coming to his house, he rarely spends time in the village.
It was not easy to see someone coming over today, and he wanted to speak in a gentle manner, but he ended up choking people down as soon as he opened his mouth.
Zhang Fangyuan did not get angry, and sat down on the side with a thick face. He was a good man and did not talk about his past achievements. He did not respond to his uncle's angry words. He picked out words that the elders liked to hear and said, "Yesterday I asked Aunt Gan to be a matchmaker for me."
"I heard from your aunt." Zhang Shicheng also heard this and knew that he had returned to the village. Today, he asked Xiaomao to deliver something: "Your aunt was taking shelter from the rain at Hu's house, and happened to run into matchmaker Gan who was going to that family to propose marriage."
When a man reaches a certain age and wants to get married, it becomes a thorn in the hearts of his elders. Zhang Fangyuan went to ask a matchmaker for help, which was a sign that he wanted stability. Zhang Shicheng was very happy to hear the news.
Zhang Fangyuan also became interested: "Aunt Gan is talking about the Hu family under the big locust tree at the east end of the village?"
Zhang Shicheng saw the light in his nephew's eyes, but he sighed in his heart. Today, the matchmaker came to the Hu family to propose marriage. Before she mentioned that it was Zhang Fangyuan who proposed marriage, she was very enthusiastic and willing to talk. But when the matchmaker said who was proposing marriage, she immediately didn't want to meet him and said a lot of harsh and unpleasant words in front of He.
"The girls and boys in our Hu family have never had to worry about marrying off to second-rate men. Is that Zhang Fangyuan a person we can marry?"
"You don't have parents to look after you, and your husband is useless. Matchmaker Gan, do you think that we, the Hu family, can be fooled? We, the Hu family, have never treated you unfairly. How much do you think of our Hu family by suggesting this kind of marriage?"
"If you ask me, any child who marries there will be unlucky. How much benefit did Zhang Fangyuan give you to come to our house to propose marriage?"
When He heard this, her face turned red with embarrassment. She didn't even hide from the rain and went back home in the rain.
Zhang Shicheng naturally would not tell his nephew these unpleasant words. He spoke very tactfully, fearing that it would dampen Zhang Fangyuan's hard-earned serious thoughts: "It's not just the Hu family. Anyone of marriageable age should go and talk to them. Both parties must have the intention."
Zhang Fangyuan knew from the serious look on his fourth uncle's face that the discussion was not very pleasant, and he also had a rough idea of his own situation.
Matchmaking is simple and easy, just like the scholar Fei's family, as long as they inform the matchmaker, the girl or boy will ask the matchmaker to go to their house to ask, and the scholar's family will agree to the marriage. But it is also difficult, just like him, the matchmaker has to go from house to house to find out who is willing, and being ridiculed and scolded is not a big deal, the worst thing is that he may be kicked out.
"Don't worry. Your second aunt found out about this and took a basket of eggs to ask matchmaker Gan for help. She will definitely be able to find a suitable one for you. It may be more troublesome than other families, but you are also about to reach the age of twenty. If you are just fooling around, don't blame the villagers for their harsh words. You have to take responsibility for your own actions in life."
Zhang Fangyuan nodded: "I know."
Zhang Shicheng saw that the man was unusually sincere today, so he softened his tone and said, "If the family is good, it's okay to give more betrothal gifts. You know that Fourth Uncle doesn't have a son, so he doesn't have to worry about betrothal gifts. If you are short of money, Fourth Uncle will find a way for you. If you really can't find one in the village, it doesn't matter if you look for one in another village. You can't just settle for a wife and a husband. It's a lifelong thing. As long as you work hard in the future, you will be no worse than any man in the village."
Zhang Fangyuan felt warm in his heart, took a long breath and responded.
After dinner, He packed the remaining pork head for Zhang Fangyuan to take home. Zhang Fangyuan was too embarrassed to take it back and forth, and the two sides argued. Zhang Shicheng said, "If he doesn't want to take it, forget it. He can come back for dinner in two days."
Zhang Fangyuan responded with a smile.
Two days later, Zhang Fangyuan was burning charcoal in the yard when Gan the matchmaker came to his door.
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