Chapter 99 Frogs
When Chen Ling rushed over, Wang Lixian’s family had already started to collect them. They had already driven their son-in-law’s ox cart to their house four or five times. In fact, they also took them back yesterday evening. However, there are still more than five acres of watermelons in the melon field that have not been picked yet.
Seeing Chen Ling driving the bullock cart to help, Wang Lixian nodded and said nothing more, but Liu Yuzhi and Da Nier looked very happy, with deep gratitude in their eyes. It's going to rain heavily. If no one helps, the watermelon will definitely be soaked in the ground by the rain.
Compared with wheat, there is actually no need to rush to harvest watermelon, but I am afraid that it will rain non-stop before the wheat harvest.
When the water is too sufficient, the watermelon will easily collapse and crack. If it rains heavily for several days in a row, it will rot in the ground. Wang Lixian's place is down a slope, and the terrain is low-lying, making it difficult to drain. By then, the watermelon will no longer be sweet, taste bad, and won’t sell at a high price, so you will definitely lose money.
Watermelons pay attention to seven days of sunshine and three days of rain. There should not be too much rain. Originally, the weather in the mountains has a large temperature difference. The melons will be very sweet and can be sold at a good price. However, if they are soaked by the heavy rain before the wheat harvest, the watermelons will absorb enough water. The sweetness dropped immediately.
The sky was cloudy and there was a faint thunder.
No one dared to delay, so the five adults of Chen Ling and Wang Lixian's family, plus Liu Nier, a little kid, started to work. Wang Lixian was not good at work, but he was not good at work. Not slowly, together with Chen Ling and Er Nier's son-in-law, the bullock cart was filled up in no time.
At this time, it was too late to transport it home, so I took it directly to the wheat field outside the village. I just had to cover it with plastic sheet. Anyway, the wheat in the village had not been confiscated at this time, and the place was very big. A few acres of land are more than enough for watermelons.
After transporting one cart, Liu Yuzhi and her two daughters, Eldest Nier and Er Nier, had already filled the second cart.
They also worked quite hard.
In rural areas, women are a labor force that cannot be ignored. When it is their turn to contribute, women are no worse than men.
After a while, Wang Jusheng got the news from somewhere and drove his father's donkey cart over to help.
Rural people are sometimes very simple. You know who has a lover in your heart. When you are in trouble, you don’t have to go to your door to find someone. Someone will spontaneously come to help you, especially at weddings and funerals. When the time comes, basically every family will lend a helping hand. The east family will provide a few plates and dishes, and the west family will provide a few tables, chairs, and benches, and everything for entertaining guests will be ready.
In this way, two ox carts and a donkey cart, hurriedly and slowly, finally finished harvesting watermelons from five acres of land before the heavy rain came down.
However, as soon as the last two carts of watermelon were brought to the wheat field and they had not even had time to cover them with plastic sheets, it started to rain. Accompanied by bursts of lightning and thunder, the heavy rain before the wheat was ripe came as expected.
A few people covered the watermelon, then pressed the plastic sheet over with bricks and stones, and then went to Wang Lixian's house together. Originally, Chen Ling and Wang Jusheng were unwilling to go when they saw the heavy rain, but they were Wang Lixiansheng dragged him over forcefully.
The two of them put in a lot of effort today. Wang Lixian would definitely feel bad if he didn’t treat him well. In desperation, the two of them could no longer refuse, so they wore the raincoats they had prepared in advance. Or holding an umbrella, they came to Wang Lixian's house.
Pushing, the rain is getting heavier and heavier, and the rain is getting faster and faster.
Standing under the eaves of Wang Lixian's house and looking out, all he could see was a vast expanse of white, with strings of blisters splashing on the ground.
Wang Jusheng picked up a large bowl of tea and drank it. He wiped the rain off his face. When he saw Chen Ling standing outside the door watching the rain, he couldn't help but smile and joked: "I really didn't see it. You are so rich." You are very strong. You are the fastest in picking watermelons. Today, of the five acres of melons, you picked at least two acres. You are still not blushing and out of breath. You are just like Yang Gangdan back then. It’s a fight.”
“Well, Fugui is really strong. Two days ago, when we were running sheep, Fugui knocked down our big ram with just one hand and knocked the sheep’s head off with his legs. Once clamped, he couldn't move. This was probably the end of Yang Gangdan when he was young."
Wang Lixian also spoke up.
When Chen Ling heard this, he was immediately confused. If you are strong, you should be strong. How can you compare with this Yang Gangdan? Besides, who is this person? He hadn't even heard of it.
Wang Lixian smiled: "Speaking of Yang Gangdan, he is a legendary figure. If you haven't heard of him, it's because you have not told you his story, for fear of teaching you bad things."
Who is Yang Gangdan?
Twenty years ago, that was a fierce man who was famous in Changle Township and even in the entire Lingyun. He was tall, strong and powerful.
This man is from Yangtou Gou. At that time, Yangtou Gou was short of large livestock such as cattle and horses. There was a widow who was living alone with a few children. Without her backbone, the men in the village were afraid of gossip and no one dared to help. , when the wheat harvest or sowing season comes, I always worry about plowing the fields. At this time, I ask Yang Gangdan to help.
In that era when there was not enough to eat, there was no need to pay much. All you had to do was steam a large pot of mixed noodles, there were about thirty of them, and Yang Gangdan could eat it in one meal. Belly.
Then one person holds a sickle, and six or seven acres of wheat can be harvested in just one day.
When it came time to plow, it was faster. This guy put the rake on himself and asked the widow to help the plow. He could plow four acres of land in half a day. He was really more like an animal than an animal.
But it’s not this that makes him famous, but that this guy is not only strong and strong, but also has a pair of golden waists. I don’t know who spread the news about this. Anyway, at that time, the little daughter-in-law from all over the country As long as they can't give birth to a baby, they all go to Yang Gangdan. As long as the mother-in-law is not in bad health, she can get pregnant in no more than two times. From then on, Yang Gangdan no longer had to work in the fields, and he could live a very nourishing life just by being a stallion. Yang Gangdan's nickname came from this, but the good times did not last long. Within two years, he was reported by jealous people and was taken to the city and executed for the crime of pomegranate. Although Yang Gangdan is dead, his story has been widely spread, but now even the younger people don’t know about it. The elders in the family won’t tell it, for fear of teaching their children bad things and leading them to go astray.
After listening to Wang Lixian's speech, Chen Ling felt a little dumbfounded. Good guy, he even compared himself with the big stallion. How dare he compare with such a thing? He is so strong. He is strong and he is from a good citizen.
"Then will Liu Tiedan in our class be like Yang Gangdan and be able to pull a plow when he grows up?"
At this time, Liu Nier poked her little head out from the side and asked curiously.
The scene suddenly became silent.
Originally, they were a few men talking outside. Liu Yuzhi took her two daughters to the kitchen to prepare meals, so she didn’t pay much attention to the conversation. Unexpectedly, she forgot that Liu Nier was nearby. Listen.
Good guy, Wang Lixian might have been ashamed to ask him such a cold question.
No, she had already started to take off her shoes with a sullen face. Seeing this, Er Nier’s husband hurriedly stopped his father-in-law, turned around and said to Liu Nier: “You are not allowed to listen to what you are saying, hurry back to the house and do your homework. ”
"I'm on wheat holiday. The teacher asked me to do some work at home and didn't leave any homework."
Liu Nier has already gained experience from being beaten. When she saw that her father looked wrong, she hurriedly hid in Chen Ling's room. Behind him, a muffled voice replied.
As soon as these words came out, Wang Lixian's face became even darker, but with Chen Ling protecting Liu Nier, he couldn't take action, so he made a mental note.
After that, the few people spoke obviously became more restrained, but it was raining too hard today. Before they could even talk a few words, the southeast wind accompanied by rain poured down the eaves.
I had no choice but to hide inside and gather around the table, drinking tea and chatting, waiting for the meal to be served.
The house of Wang Lixian's family is more than 20 years old. The walls are covered with yellowing newspapers and faded New Year pictures. There is no furniture in the house except for an Eight Immortals table, a heavy black lacquered wooden cabinet and a five-pack The cupboard, as for the bed, is in the back room on the east side, separated from this side by a floral curtain.
Looking carefully, you can see that the four corners of the large black-lacquered wooden cabinet are covered with iron armor, and there are rows of round nails nailed on the surface. There is also a porcelain ink painting inlaid on the two cabinet doors. There are paintings of pines and cranes prolonging life, including red-crowned cranes, red suns, mountains and rivers, and immortal pines.
There are calendar cards on the chest of drawers, and a huge portrait of a great man hangs on the wall behind. The old man is waving his hands with a kind smile. Against the backdrop of the red sun and auspicious clouds, the people are striving to move forward.
Chen Ling raised his head and took a look at the furnishings in the house. He felt that it was much more tasteful than his own. His house was a new house. Although he had been married for two years, everything still seemed too new. The furniture was all from Chen Sangui. It's not much different, maybe it's because these two paintings are missing.
A few people were drinking tea and chatting.
After a while, Liu Yuzhi, mother and daughter brought the food to the table. Two wide-mouthed coarse porcelain bowls were filled with fried pickled rabbit meat and stewed pheasant soup, and then several porcelain basins filled with fried leeks. Eggs, pheasant blood-roasted tofu, stir-fried April melon, and a bowl of boiled melon white.
Originally, Liu Yuzhi wanted to make a few more dishes, but the rain was too heavy and it was difficult to go out to buy. Chen Ling and Wang Jusheng must have been in a hurry to go home after eating, so they had to make the first Make these and serve.
After starting to eat and drink, although the taste of several dishes was very good, Chen Ling, who usually does not make mistakes in eating and drinking, obviously felt that there was too little oil in the dishes, but this was just him It was just his first reaction, but he was no slower than anyone else when using his chopsticks.
The wine he drank was the small sorghum wine brought by Wang Lizian's second son-in-law. It had a lot of stamina. Wang Jusheng was already drunk on his face after just two glasses. But when he came to Wang Lizian's house for the first time, he refused to give in. , but it was Chen Ling who sent him back after he had had enough wine and food.
However, after eating and drinking happily, I slept well that night. When I woke up in the morning, the rain had become lighter and there were puddles everywhere in the yard. Chen Ling held up an umbrella to look at the fish in the lotus pond, but they were not washed away by the heavy rain. Maybe it was the first time they saw rain. Several little rabbits were very excited. They followed Chen Ling and splashed in the puddles in the yard, making them all wet. Then when they returned to the house, they went to Chen Ling again. Ling rubbed against him and couldn't get rid of it even after trying several times.
The shoes and trouser legs were covered with mud and water. Chen Ling was so angry that he grabbed their ears and put them in an empty water tank under the eaves, so that they could not climb up.
After breakfast, the rain finally stopped, but the sky was still gloomy. I could only hear the sound of frogs croaking everywhere outside, and in the distance I could see that the village was shrouded in a layer of mist. Mixed with the morning smoke, it looks hazy and very poignant, making people's hearts slowly calm down.
Chen Ling looked up at the misty sky and listened to the crisp birdsong in the mountains after the rain.
I thought: "Summer is coming soon."
(End of this chapter)