Chapter 58: The lazy man marries a wife, the widow marries a man
Although milk vetch is more suitable for planting in autumn, the weather in Xia Wu's hometown is warm. If you plant milk vetch at this time, it will bloom in April and May, which is just the right source of nectar for bees.
After more than half a year of expansion, the two boxes of native bee colonies bought by Xia Wu continued to expand, and it was time to divide the boxes.
With the experience of dividing the hives last time, Xia Wu made a new beehive by himself. Following the steps taught by Master Pu last time, he successfully divided out the third hive of bees.
There is plenty of nectar on the mountain, and the bees work hard to collect nectar, which benefits Xia Wu.
Her house also has strawberry honey picked last winter, loquat honey, and various fruit and flower honeys just picked in the spring.
Fruit flower honey has a complex composition, including apricot, peach, pear and jujube flowers, and tastes very good.
Xia Wu filled two large buckets with honey alone, and even bought honey jars online to store it in, so she wasn't afraid of it going bad. Honey has a long shelf life, and in some places, people even use pure honey as a preservative.
The quantity of honey is limited, and Xia Wu has no plans to sell it online for the time being. Firstly, he doesn't know how to set the price, and secondly, he is afraid that it won't be enough to sell. So he might as well keep it at home and wait for the right person.
It is said that Yang Guofeng is looking forward to young people returning to the village to start businesses every day. Since Xia Wu came back, the villagers of Yanggou Village have made a lot of money.
Although they worked a lot, it didn't matter who they worked for. They used to do farm work for a few hours a day and earn less than 20,000 yuan a year. The rest of the time they were idle playing cards at the village entrance.
Now, Xia Wu can find a way for them to make money every once in a while.
Last year, they dug winter bamboo shoots and planted trees on the entire mountain. This year, they are growing vegetables and making vegetable packages. The villagers are more motivated than each other. Some are even thinking about reclaiming the previously fallow land and planting vegetables.
Some people even set their sights on those villagers who are away from home all year round. With no one at home, the land will naturally become barren. Their place is not a good place, and no one comes to contract land for farming. There are not many strong laborers left in the village who can work. There are only some old men and women left. They work hard to farm for a year, but the money they earn may not be enough to cover their medical expenses.
Every time Yang Guofeng looked at the idle land in the village, he felt uncomfortable. But when he walked around the village these days, he found that several families had people weeding and clearing the land that no one was cultivating.
"Sixth brother, what are you doing?"
"Haha, I have nothing better to do, so I rented some land from my uncle. I'll take advantage of the good weather these days to level the land, sow some vegetable seeds, and make some extra money!"
The sixth child mentioned by Yang Guofeng is named Yang Dalan, and people nicknamed him Yang Dalan. How lazy is this guy? He doesn't even touch the oil bottle at home for a whole year, and the weeds in the field are taller than the rice, but he can still lie on the broken bed at home and sleep soundly with peace of mind.
He is the sixth among his brothers, and the villagers call him Big Lazy. But Yang Guofeng can't call him that, so he calls him Sixth Brother every day.
Little did people know that on the Internet, Lao Liu’s meaning is not as nice as Da Lan’s.
Yang Guofeng didn't know all this. He just looked at Yang Dalan with satisfaction and took the initiative to help him weed. After chatting for a while, he found out that someone in the village had introduced him to a girl.
Yang Dalan's father died early, his mother was old and sick, and Yang Dalan was a nobody. He was still a bachelor in his thirties, and he refused to go out to work. He just lay at home when he had nothing to do.
The villagers were afraid that the mother and son would starve to death, so they rated him as a low-income household, where he could receive two to three hundred yuan in subsidies every month. At the same time, Yang Dalan was also a key poverty alleviation target in the town.
To help the poor, we must first help them to have ambitions. Yang Dala has no ambition to work hard, so no matter how much help he gets, he will still be a hopeless case. This makes Yang Guofeng very worried.
Unexpectedly, Yang Dalan's change in diligence was due to someone introducing him to a girl. Yang Guofeng suddenly became alert: "Who introduced you? Where is the girl? Did she like you?"
He was afraid that it would be the same trouble that happened in other villages in previous years, where some unsuspecting women were deceived and forced to marry in the village, or some single men were so obsessed with buying people from abroad.
Yang Dalan didn't hear the hidden meaning in his words and thought the village party secretary was concerned about him. He scratched his head and smiled sheepishly: "Shi Hongniang introduced her to me. She said she was a widow from Haotang Village. She was four years older than me. She even came to my house to meet me and was quite satisfied with me."
Why didn't Yang Guofeng believe this nonsense? A widow in her forties must have children, so why would she fall for an irresponsible lazy man like Yang Dalan?
He was like a spy trying to gather information about the enemy; after a round of questioning, he finally pieced together the whole story.
After leaving Yang Dalan, Yang Guofeng went to find Shi Hongniang, who had introduced Dalan to a girl.
Shi Hongniang was packing vegetables at Xia Wu's doorstep. When she heard what he asked, she immediately clapped her hands and said with a smile, "This is actually a good thing!"
Everyone knows that Shi Hongniang has only one son who is in prison, a disabled daughter-in-law, and a pair of grandchildren. She is the only one who supports the burden of the family.
Shi Hongniang is strong-willed and obsessed with money. She will do anything to make money.
She usually works for Xia Wu to earn some money, and she also rushes to do the heavy physical work on the whole mountain, as well as planting trees, clearing wasteland... She can be seen everywhere.
Some time ago, Xia Wu said that he could make money by selling vegetables online. Shi Hongniang was quick-witted and hurried home to take care of the vegetable garden. She also urgently opened up a piece of land, hoping to plant more vegetables.
She pushed herself too hard. She was already old and worked so hard that she was dizzy and fainted in the vegetable garden. Yang Dalan happened to pass by and he carried her back into the house and helped her fetch water to irrigate the vegetable garden.
That was really rare. Even Shi Hongniang was surprised that such a lazy person like Yang Dalan would help her with the work.
Yang Guofeng was also amazed when he heard this. Who could have guessed what kind of crazy Yang Dalan was?
Shi Hongniang was a grateful person. When she woke up, she invited Yang Dalan to her home for dinner. She was not polite to her and ate as soon as she was told. After the meal, she helped Shi Hongniang with her work. Shi Hongniang was worried that Yang Dalan would become dependent on her, so she asked Yang Dalan what he wanted.
Yang Dalan is very honest and says that he has everything he needs now except a wife.
When Shi Hongniang said this, everyone around her laughed, and Xia Wu also laughed. Yang Dalan was really a wonderful person. He had nothing and his house was bare, but when he spoke, he seemed to have everything he needed.
Given Yang Dalan's current situation, it would be difficult for him to even buy a washing machine, let alone find a wife. Where could Shi Hongniang find him a wife?
So I didn't take it to heart.
Who knew that a few days later, such an opportunity would really arise.
Shi Hongniang's daughter-in-law is called Yueyue, who had polio when she was a child. She has a cousin named Yuexia, who married a truck driver and gave birth to two sons and a daughter. Last year, her husband hit someone with his car, resulting in two deaths and one injury. When his mother found out, she was so angry that she had a stroke. The family's compensation plus her medical treatment left them bankrupt.
Yuexia became a widow, raising two sons and a daughter, and also had to take care of her mother-in-law who had suffered a stroke and was unable to take care of herself. Her grandmother suddenly looked more than ten years older.
As a woman, no matter how strong she is, she cannot earn money while taking care of the elderly and children.
So I decided to look for it again.
In rural areas, it is normal for men to not be able to find a partner, but as long as she is a woman, it is not difficult to find a partner. Even though Yuexia has three children, there are still many people who come to her for help.
But Yuexia had a request. After marrying her, not only did he have to help her raise her three children, but she also had to bring her mother-in-law along.
Which fool would be willing to do this?
Shi Hongniang also felt that this matter was unreliable and that Yang Dalan would definitely look down on her. However, Yang Dalan came to her every few days to help her with work in order to find a wife. Shi Hongniang had no choice but to tell him about Yuexia.
"Although Yuexia is a widow, she's kind and righteous, and she's also pretty. Even though she has three children to look after, think about it: if you treat them well, they'll have three more to honor you in the future. But the most unreasonable thing about her is that she insists on bringing along her old woman who had a stroke. If you don't like her, that's fine. I'll talk to her later."
Shi Hongniang did not take this matter seriously, just to discourage Yang Dalan from finding a partner.
Who would have thought that after hearing this, Yang Dalan slapped his thigh and begged Shi Hongniang to introduce Yuexia to him so that the two of them could meet.
Shi Hongniang was helpless with his pestering, so she had to go to Haotang Village to find Yuexia. Yuexia worked in the brick factory in the town. She gritted her teeth and worked for more than ten hours a day, doing jobs that many men could not do.
Her eldest son is twelve years old this year. After the accident last year, he dropped out of school to stay at home to take care of his younger siblings and grandmother, while she is responsible for earning money.
Shi Hongniang told Yuexia about Yang Dalan's story, and Yuexia didn't hesitate and asked directly how Yang Dalan made money.
Shi Hongniang couldn't tell the truth, so she embellished it a little and said that Yang Dalan had a sick mother, and he worked as a farmer in the village to take care of his mother. Although the family was poor, fortunately he was filial.
Yuexia nodded after listening to her, and then asked her whether Yang Dalan could accept her family situation.
Shi Hongniang didn't say whether it was possible or not, and just let the two meet first.
So a few days ago, Yuexia came to their village and met Yang Dalan at his home.
Before the meeting, Shi Hongniang reminded Yang Dalan to clean the house and to be diligent and responsible.
This was the first time in Shi Hongniang's life that she was a matchmaker for someone, so she was more nervous than both parties. On the day of the meeting, Yang Dalan performed unexpectedly well.
After changing into clean clothes, he cleaned up the house, swept the yard and sprinkled water. When the two met, they spoke directly. Yuexia asked him directly whether he could earn money to support the family and whether he minded taking care of the children and mother-in-law by herself.
Yang Dalan was also very satisfied with Yuexia. He smiled and said that she could earn money and support the family, and he didn't mind her taking care of the children and mother-in-law.
There are still a few empty rooms in Yang Dalan's house, which can accommodate her, her children and her mother-in-law.
It just so happens that Yang Dalan's mother is not in good health, so there is no difference between taking care of one and two.
Yuexia was very satisfied with him and thought he was a man.
I decided to go back and think about it, and tell him when I made a decision.
Shi Hongniang saw that the matter was about to be accomplished, and was afraid that Yang Dalan was deceiving Yuexia, so she tried to persuade him with all her heart.
Who knew that Yang Dalan was such a stubborn person, determined to live with Yuexia, and even more diligent than before.
Xia Wu was harvesting vegetables in the village, and Yang Dalan was selling them too. He was also thinking about reclaiming land and growing more vegetables...
This is why Yang Guofeng saw Yang Dalan reclaiming land today.
"If this can really be accomplished, it will be a good thing."
Yang Guofeng realized that there was nothing fishy going on and relaxed.
He said to Xia Wu, "Since you came, our village has changed a lot. Yang Dalan has even gotten married and has become more diligent. It's really like the sun rising from the west."
This made everyone at the Yang family's door laugh.
After hearing this gossip, Xia Wu became curious about the villager named Yang Dalan. Several mornings she saw Yang Dalan pulling vegetables to his doorstep.
When helping villagers sell vegetables, Xia Wu also has to test them. Vegetables that do not pass the test will not be accepted. It is best if the vegetables are neat and without too much dirt so that they are easy to pack.
Although Yang Dalan's nickname is "Lazy", he is quite serious about his work. The vegetables he delivered had obviously been picked at home. There were few yellow or insect-infested leaves. They were clean and without too much dirt, and they passed the inspection and weighing smoothly.
Every morning, villagers can earn a few dozen yuan by selling vegetables.
Xia Wu sells vegetable packages online. A package of about six kilograms of mixed vegetables costs 69 yuan. After deducting other expenses, the average price of a vegetable is around 10 yuan. She offers villagers a purchase price of 5-6 yuan.
By selling dozens of kilograms of vegetables every day, villagers can earn one or two hundred yuan.
However, recently every household’s vegetable garden has been almost emptied. Without so many vegetables, the money earned is less. No wonder everyone wants to open up new land and grow more vegetables.
Zhao Jing was responsible for registration, and after the registration, she paid the villagers their wages. Yang Dalan received the money and stood aside to count it carefully. After confirming that there was no problem, he went back.
Xia Wu wanted to clear land on the mountain to plant sweet vetch. After buying the seeds, he looked for people in the village to dig the soil. It was difficult to find machinery on the mountain, so he had to rely on manpower.
Yang Dalan was also among those who signed up. He worked very well and did not seem lazy at all.
In just a few days, the land where Xia Wu planted sweet clover was ready.
I spread the seeds and farmyard manure, and just when I was thinking of watering the plants, the weather was kind and the spring rain came, moistening the land at the foot of the mountain.
Xia Wu received an invitation to a banquet at Yang Dalan's house.
Since the last time Yuexia and Yang Dalan met, she did not immediately decide to marry Yang Dalan after returning. Instead, she asked someone about Yang Dalan's family situation.
After finding out the real situation of Yang Dalan's family, Yuexia finally decided to live with him.
There is no other reason. You should eat as much as your bowl can hold. At her age, she has to take care of not only the children but also her ex-mother-in-law. No normal man would be willing to live with her.
Yang Da Lanren is a bit lazy, but he also has his merits. He is filial to a certain extent and has a big heart, there is no doubt about that. More importantly, he does not despise Yuexia and thinks she is affectionate and loyal.
So, Yuexia picked a good day according to the calendar, asked someone for help, and moved the household belongings, including the child and mother-in-law, to Yang Dalan's house, and planned to live like this.
Who knew that Yang Dalan was not satisfied? He was a grown man carrying a sedan chair, and it was his first marriage, so he insisted on holding a banquet and inviting people to dinner.
But holding a banquet costs money, and he has no money. After discussing with Yuexia, they decided to let Yuexia cook two tables of food, buy a few bottles of cheap wine, and invite the people with whom he has a good relationship in the village to have a meal.
Xia Wu didn't expect that she was also on the invitation list. She didn't hesitate and followed her parents to attend this unique wedding.
Yang Guojun, Shi Hongniang and some acquaintances from the village were all there, no more than about 10 to 20 people in total. They borrowed tables and chairs from the village. The bride cooked two tables of meals herself. Yang Dalan set off two strings of firecrackers at the door, and the wedding ended just like that.
Xia Wu was very satisfied with the meal. Yuexia's cooking skills were very good. She also just found out that it was Yuexia's idea to invite her.
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