◎The "Love" Hare◎
Recently, the busy double race in Damian Village has come to an end, and there is still some finishing work in the fields. The villagers are working with their backs bent. After being busy for more than a month, they can finally take a breath and chat with each other while working.
The most lively event in the village today is the marriage of the two daughters of the Liang and Dong families. Some people are jealous, some are envious, and some just want to watch the excitement.
The sun was shining brightly, and after talking for a while, my mouth became dry. Aunt Hu, who was always the most gossipy, pursed her chapped lips and said, "It's too sunny. I can't even open my eyes."
"That's right. Why hasn't my Ergou brought me any water yet? I'm about to swallow my saliva." The weather was too hot, and when the work was light, he would often go home to fetch a bottle of water and bring it to his family members who were busy in the fields.
"If you ask me, the daughter of the Liang family is lucky. She will be married to a man in the city soon. She doesn't have to work in the fields today. Liang Laosan is really confused. How can he be so used to the daughter of the Liang family? I think she is just staying at home and being lazy..." Aunt Hu moved her lips, looking quite dissatisfied, and muttered to herself, "Maybe she will have sex with her boyfriend this morning."
However, I didn’t dare let anyone hear the second half of the sentence as it would ruin the person’s innocence, so I could only criticize it in my heart.
The words of the ladies, along with the scorching hot wind, reached the ears of Liang's mother Song Chunhua, who was working in another field.
Song Chunhua had her hair tied up in a bun and her coarse sleeves rolled up twice. She was bundling wheat. She was able to distract herself while working. Her hands never stopped moving and her ears were also very useful. She would listen to other people's chatter from time to time, or join in.
I never thought that I would hear someone slandering my daughter now.
When he was young, he was a hot pepper. Now that he was over 40, he could not stand being bullied. He immediately put down the sheaf of wheat and rushed over with a bang.
"Hu Guifen, what are you talking about! Our Baozhen has a fever. Several eyes saw it yesterday. She even went to Doctor Luo to get a pill of Analgin." Song Chunhua shouted loudly, and the villagers in the nearby fields could hear it clearly.
At this age, everyone values reputation, so she had to shout loudly. If these gossiping old women really accused their daughter of being lazy and not participating in labor, she would automatically be disqualified from the evaluation of outstanding villagers in the commune in the future. Besides, if the reputation of being lazy spread out, would the Chen family in the city be happy? She would be rejected by her mother-in-law before she even entered the house.
When the ladies who had been discussing the matter saw that Song Chunhua was getting angry, they immediately shut up and started to mediate. Only Hu Guifen refused to give in. She was also an impatient person with a loud voice and loved to gossip.
"Song Chunhua, what are you yelling about? We are just chatting casually. If you don't want to hide, then don't hide. Look at your murderous look. If you don't know, you might think I am doing something to your daughter."
He had just talked about someone behind his back, and now he turned around and blamed him for making a fuss. Song Chunhua became even angrier when she heard this, and was about to start cursing.
On the path in the field, Liang Baozhen was walking towards the field in black cloth shoes, with two military water bottles slung across her chest. She and Liang Baoling came from Dong's house in front of her, and the two separated. She brought water to Song Chunhua and happened to go to the field to work.
However, before I got close, I heard an argument ahead.
"Mom." A clear voice rang out, dissipating the tense atmosphere. Song Chunhua turned around and saw that it was her young lady Liang Baozhen.
"Baozhen."
Everyone looked over and saw Liang Baozhen, the third daughter of the Liang family, standing on the edge of the field. She was wearing a plain grey jacket and black trousers. Although her clothes were plain, she looked extremely pretty.
The cherry's little mouth opens and closes, full of smiles.
"Auntie Hu, I had a fever last night, and I'm not feeling well today. I just rested at home for a while. This is not good. I have to go to work in the afternoon right away." Liang Baozhen's voice was clear, and she spoke softly, like the rippling of water in summer.
She looked at everyone and continued, "Both the team leader and Doctor Luo have seen me and told me to take a break. You said I was being lazy, but that means the team leader and Doctor Luo were helping me to be lazy. If you have any opinions, let's go to the team leader together. If the team leader says there is a problem, I will accept any punishment. If there is no problem, you are destroying the unity within the commune. This is the time to end the double-snatch..."
When Hu Guifen heard that she was going to look for the captain, her face immediately changed color. She pursed her lips and lowered her voice immediately. "I was just talking casually. Why do you need to look for the captain?"
This was no joke. How could I dare to question the team leader, let alone say that he was destroying internal unity. It sounded scary. I was afraid that the criticism would be announced through the commune's loudspeaker... That would be so embarrassing!
Liang Baozhen didn't dare to say anything, so she took Song Chunhua to the side to drink some water. She looked weak, but she was not someone who would be bullied.
Song Chunhua was busy again in the afternoon, her mouth was dry, and she felt relieved after drinking half a pot of cold boiled water. After wiping her mouth, Song Chunhua was very happy to see her daughter. She was different after she had studied. Even when dealing with the nagging old woman, the educated one was more capable, and she could persuade the woman to obey without yelling.
Liang Baozhen had just recovered from the fever this morning. Song Chunhua felt sorry for her daughter and wanted to do her part of the job herself, but she didn't expect that she would start nagging at her.
After taking a break to drink water, everyone started working again.
Considering that Liang Baozhen was weak and had just had a fever, her work today was light, so the team leader assigned her the task of cutting pig grass. However, the pig grass had been almost cut everywhere, so Liang Baozhen put on her backpack and went up the mountain to look for it.
Xu Shengjie went to his aunt's house carrying a piece of meat and a pound of fruit candy.
His parents died unexpectedly more than ten years ago, and only Grandma Xu and his younger brothers and sisters are left at home. Xu Shengjie joined the army at the age of seventeen and gained some experience in the army. Now he is much more stable than before. He just retired this year and returned to Beijing.
The 24-year-old boy, who had devoted himself to the battlefield, had no place to go yet, and Grandma Xu was worried. Her family's living conditions in the city were average, and Xu Shengjie had not returned to Beijing for three years. There were also rumors that he was seriously injured and missing limbs, as if they had seen it with their own eyes.
In addition, many people were worried that once the elderly Grandma Xu passed away, she would have to raise her twelve-year-old brother-in-law and sister-in-law. The sister-in-law was also ill, so many girls in the city were unwilling to marry into the family.
There were also people who were willing, but their conditions were worse, and some even had some problems with their work style. Grandma Xu almost fell for it and harmed her grandson. Then she slapped her thigh and remembered someone, Lai Fengxia, who had been a matchmaker in Damian Village, Hongqi Commune for more than ten years.
Lai Fengxia was a third-degree relative of the Xu family, and Xu Shengjie had to call her auntie, so the two families had some interactions from time to time. The Xu family was thinking of asking her to find a country girl, with no other requirements, just someone who was decent looking, kind-hearted, and could live a sincere life.
Nowadays, it is possible for city dwellers with less financial resources to find a nice country wife. After all, moving to the city is the dream of many farmers.
The most outstanding girl in Damian Village was Liang Baozhen. Lai Fengxia thought of her immediately. However, when she arrived at her house, she had just made an appointment with the director of the state-owned cotton mill in the city the day before. Then Lai Fengxia fell in love with Dong Jiayan, the daughter of the Dong family.
Dong Jiayan was not bad looking and had only a junior high school education. Although she was inferior to Liang Baozhen in every aspect, she was not bad overall. She came to the Dong family to propose marriage and told them everything about Xu Shengjie. It was a great thing for a country girl to marry into the city. The Dong family naturally had no objection and agreed to wait for Xu Shengjie to return from the army and come to the Dong family to celebrate the wedding.
Who would have thought that at the end of the day, Dong Jiayan would regret it!
"The Dong family is too bullying! How can they play tricks on people like this?" Lai Fengxia has been a matchmaker for half her life, and she has never seen anything like this. "I always thought Dong Jiayan was a good girl, but she turned out to be such a person."
The matchmaker was angry and anxious, but the person who was fooled was relieved.
Xu Shengjie has a straight body, sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, handsome face, and a sharp jawline that seems to be carefully carved. He looks more energetic in a military uniform. This marriage was arranged by his grandmother. He used to be focused on the army and had never responded to the old lady's urging to get married. This time when he was discharged from the army and returned home, he had no choice but to agree, thinking about the words of the elders.
Like most men and women of this age who go on blind dates, he and Dong Jiayan had only met once and never spoke to each other. As for whether they had any feelings for each other, the answer was of course not. So when he encountered this kind of thing today, he was mostly surprised.
The two parties had only verbally agreed before, and the ceremony had not yet taken place. The girl was shouting that she didn't want to marry him, so could he force her to do it? There was no need.
"Auntie, please don't be angry." He placed a piece of meat, the best pork belly, and a pound of fruit candy on Lai Fengxia's table, "These are for you to eat, don't save them."
Originally, after the wedding ceremony with the Dong family, he was going to give half a pound of fruit candy to the matchmaker Lai Fengxia, but now, he decided to give it all at once.
Lai Fengxia was not angry at this distant nephew. He looked so good, the Dong family was really blind!
The two talked for a while. Lai Fengxia's husband died early, and her daughter married to the next brigade. Her son got a temporary job in a steel factory with the help of relatives in the city. They lived a good life. Therefore, the villagers liked to find her to be a matchmaker. After all, if she had connections in the city, she might be a good matchmaker.
"Sheng Jie, don't worry, I will definitely not agree to this. I will go to the Dong family to ask, and I will also ask your grandmother for an explanation. Alas, if Baozhen hadn't been engaged a day earlier, I would definitely match you two up. What a pity." One is handsome and the other is pretty. It's such a pity for Lai Fengxia!
Xu Shengjie didn't know who the Baozhen his aunt was talking about was. He just wanted to get away from the marriage proposal as soon as possible and have some free time. He glanced around the house and saw that Lai Fengxia lived alone and there was not much firewood left at home.
"Auntie, I'll go to the mountain and chop some wood for you to make a fire."
"That's great. Please be careful when you go into the mountains."
Having said that, Lai Fengxia watched her nephew pick up the axe in the yard and go out.
...
Da Mian Village is backed by rolling mountains, and is a typical example of a village that relies on the mountains for food and the water for water. During bad times, many villagers go up the mountains to hunt and down the rivers to fish to improve their diet. In the past few years, when life was difficult, the commune also organized strong young people to go into the mountains. If they were lucky enough to hunt a wild boar, every household could get a few pounds of meat.
Of course, some people go up the mountain to hunt rabbits and pheasants. They hide these quiet pheasants and take them home. As long as they don't get discovered by the public, it's fine. After all, this mountain belongs to everyone.
Xu Shengjie went up the mountain with an axe. Just as he walked up the hillside, he heard a rustling sound in the bushes in front of him. Looking closely, he saw it was a wild rabbit, with a fat body running quite fast.
Recalling the time when the troops went up the mountain to hunt to improve their food supply, Xu Shengjie pulled up a smile and followed in two steps.
Soon, the fat hare was lying on the ground with blood on its legs. Xu Shengjie looked at the stupid rabbit. Before he could make a move, it ran hurriedly, jumped onto the trap, and fell down immediately.
Putting the rabbit aside, Xu Shengjie turned around and went deep into the forest to look for branches. He was nimble and swift, and with one blow of the axe, he chopped down quickly and accurately. He also picked up some horse cogs and pig grass, tied them all into a bundle and held it in his hand, ready to take it to his aunt.
When he was about to go back to retrieve the hare, he heard a clear sound in the distance ahead. He called out several times, "Is there anyone there?" He had marched and fought in the mountains and forests before, so his steps were light and the man did not notice him.
Through the woods, I could vaguely see a young girl in a gray coat in front of me, holding a hare she had caught in her hands.
"I've asked several times, but there's really no one here. I'm so lucky today." Liang Baozhen smiled sweetly, put the hare that had been caught in the trap into her backpack, and turned to go down the mountain.
Xu Shengjie was distracted for a moment when he saw the girl smiling sweetly. When he came to his senses, his prey had already been taken away. He just smiled and shook his head, carrying firewood and wild vegetables to Lai's house.
The author has something to say:
Xu Shengjie: This is the first gift I gave to my wife
Liang Baozhen: I picked it up with my own ability! It's not a gift from you
Stupid rabbit: It was obviously me who gave my head away ⊙﹏⊙
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: 12 lemon teas on the head; 1 killer;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 200 bottles of killer; 34 bottles of goodbye to the loveless
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