Chapter 184: Treatment of the new son-in-law
The homecoming banquet was lively and lively until late at night.
The next morning.
Chen Ling and Wang Susu got up early.
When the two of them came out to wash up, they found that the father-in-law and mother-in-law were already in the yard. The two old men were like children, each holding a handful of fodder and feeding the calf with great interest.
The two old men were very happy, but the little white cow didn't seem to be very happy with the meal. It was chewing the grass a little absent-mindedly. Its ears were flapping and its tail was wagging lazily, as if it was accompanying the two. Old men playing, not two old men feeding cows.
"Why are you two getting up so early?"
The mother-in-law was a little surprised to see the two of them coming out.
He then said angrily to Wang Susu: "You are really a girl. You are already pregnant and you don't get much sleep."
"It's okay, mother, I'm used to getting up earlier. This will keep you energetic during the day.”
Wang Susu walked over with a smile.
My father-in-law looked at Chen Ling with a smile, pointed at the little white cow and said, "You guys are very obedient in raising this cow. Yesterday, Su Su said it, and it really knew that your mother and I were hers. It's a human, let us touch it and feed it, but it's still a little bit tempered..."
"Look at it, when it saw you coming out, it was so happy that it ignored us."
Chen Ling smiled: "This cow has been smart since I bought it. The more it is raised, the more it understands human nature. It is very clingy and recognizes people. It recognizes me and Su Su at home."
He reached out and touched it. Touch the big head of the little white cow and tickle it on both sides of the horns on the top of the head. There are gaps in the two horns and it is easy to itch.
Chen Ling scratched it so gently, and sure enough, it made it feel comfortable and closed its eyes. Its big head gently leaned into Chen Ling's arms, rubbing it affectionately.
Gao Xiulan couldn't help but be happy when she saw this scene: "It's like you have raised a child."
Wang Susu also laughed when she saw this: "Yes, that's what the village said. Ah Ling doesn’t raise dogs or cows, he raises several children. Who else is like him?”
“But outsiders say, my dogs and cows are not good to them in vain. , all of them are very sensible. Before winter, Heiwa and Xiaojin spent three days together, either catching rabbits or catching pheasants. Xiaobai was not only good at pulling a cart and plowing the fields, but he could also look after homes and nursing homes. All ordinary dogs will work..."
Listening to what their daughter said, the old couple sighed in admiration: "It's true what you said. I told your mother just now that after you go to bed at night, the two of you will A dog stayed outside the door all night, ignoring them when called, and refusing to eat..."
"Far more powerful than the hunting dogs in our village."
Wang Susu felt a little proud when her parents said this, and waved to the two dogs, calling them to her.
At this time, the two dogs were no longer guarding the door under the eaves, but ran to lie down in front of the warehouse to guard the baggage brought over.
When Wang Susu called him, he ran over to her, wagging his head and tail around her, rubbing her palms, and humming like a baby.
The two old men couldn't help but feel happy when they saw this, and happily stepped forward and reached out to touch him.
"What a good dog. He is so big and scary to look at. Our family collects less herbs now, otherwise we would have to raise one."
......
"Xiulan ", Xiulan, are you up..."
While they were talking in the courtyard, someone came. She was a slightly slovenly old lady with muddy spots on her trouser legs, with messy white hair and triangular eyes. , an old man with a dark and red face walked in carrying a big snake.
Seeing the four of them standing in the courtyard, he suddenly shouted in surprise: "Oh my, I am really lucky. My daughter and son-in-law are both here."
Then he looked Wang Susu up and down: "You, my daughter, are still so beautiful after two years of absence."
"Here, your third grandfather got a fat long worm, let your mother make soup for you."
Wang Susu seemed to be very familiar with the old lady, and she was not polite. She immediately took the snake into her hand with a smile: "Thank you, Third Grandma."
Then she introduced to Chen Ling: "This She is our third grandma.”
Chen Ling quickly called her third grandma.
He had an impression of this old lady. There were many snakes in the village, and many people would catch snakes on the mountain on weekdays, especially Wang Susu, the third grandmother, and the third grandfather.
"What a good son-in-law. We saw them when they came here yesterday. They brought a lot of things. He is a real kid..."
Wang Cunye and Gao Xiulan hurriedly agreed.
A few people were chatting animatedly again.
After a while, after sending the third grandma out, other relatives came over one after another. Although Yaowang Village is not big, Wang Susu has quite a few relatives. In addition to his uncles, there are two My aunt and two aunts were also there. After seeing Wang Susu and his wife, they talked affectionately about missing each other, talked about their daily life, and praised their son-in-law. It was really lively.
People were coming and going, the whole family was very happy, and Gao Xiulan could never stop smiling.
While having breakfast, I specially cooked brown sugar and egg tea for Chen Ling.
Six poached eggs inside can be boiled at once.
According to local customs, this is the highest treatment a new son-in-law can receive when he returns home.
After drinking the brown sugar and egg tea cooked by her mother-in-law, Chen Ling felt warm all morning.
After the meal, Wang Qingwen and his wife came over with their children in their arms. They went back to their own home to sleep last night.
After coming here, I didn’t say a few words. I put down my children and hurried down the mountain. There were still classes at school, so I couldn’t always delay them. Anyway, my sister and brother-in-law were staying for a few more days, so there was no need to specially stay for hospitality. .
The sun gradually rises.
Under the golden sunshine, Gao Xiulan was cutting her daughter's hair under a big tree. Wang Susu's hair was too long, and it almost hung down to her legs. In the past, it was braided into two thick braids. Or put it on your head.
Long hair like this is very beautiful.
But now that I am pregnant, my belly will get bigger day by day. Once I show my pregnancy, it will be inconvenient to take care of my belly, so it is better to cut it short in advance.
“Tsk tsk, no wonder others praise me. My girl is pretty and her hair is better than other girls’ hair. It’s black and long. If you sell these thick braids to a hair collector, you’ll definitely be able to sell them for a better price. Money."
Gao Xiulan combed her daughter's hair slowly twice and praised with a smile.
Wang Susu shook her head: "I won't sell it. After you cut it off for me, mother, I want to keep it. If you want to sell it, just sell it for real."
Wang Zhenzhen was outside the hospital at this time. I was playing with the dog with my nephew, and when I heard someone talking inside, I stuck my little head out and asked, "Mom, sister, did you call me?"
"No, let's play with you, you are the only one with more things to do."
Gao Xiulan glared at her angrily.
Mother and daughter were cutting their hair and talking.
Chen Ling helped his father-in-law pack the medicinal materials, put them into bamboo plaques, and put them on the rack to dry.
“The sun has been good these two days, let’s get some sunshine. Tomorrow is October 12th. Let’s take it to the town to sell it, just in time to catch up.”
Wang Cunye carefully spread the medicinal materials with his hands for better drying.
What my father-in-law said about going to the market is actually going to the market.
The three provinces in Fenglei Town are at the junction, and the dialects are mixed. They are often separated by about ten miles, the accents will change, and the pronouns of various titles are also very different.
According to broad categories, the county can be vaguely divided into two dialect areas.
For example, most people here call dad and mom, but in Changle Township and the east of the county, they call dad "Da" or "Da".
"I" is mostly "I" after passing Changle Township and heading east. Although "I" is also spoken here in Fenglei Town, most of the spoken language is still based on "I".
"Dad, are the ones in the plaques over there made from our own snakes?"
Chen Ling asked, pointing to the bamboo plaques in front of Wang Cunye.
I saw that inside these plaques, there were snake sloughs, snake gallbladders, snake whips, dried snake dishes and other things. They looked dry, but each bamboo plaque was quite full.
“Well, mostly.”
Wang Cunye nodded, grabbed a few large snake dishes and handed them to Chen Ling: "Look, these are made of the long worms we raise at home. Most of them are non-poisonous old black pockmarks and cauliflower snakes. The long worms we raise at home are larger. , they look well-proportioned."
"The slightly smaller ones in front of you are made of poisonous long insects specially caught in the mountains, some are big and small, including five-step snakes, white-flowered snakes and so on."< br>
Chen Ling looked carefully and could only simply identify the common ones.
The old black pockmarked snake mentioned by my father-in-law is the black snake, and the white flower snake is the bungara snake.
“All the ones we raise at home are not poisonous now?”
"Yes, poisonous insects crawl all over the place and bite people easily. In fact, we have snake repellent and snake attractant at home, so we are not afraid of poisonous insects..."
"But I am the same age as your mother. Now that you're older, your eldest and second brothers have gone off to live their own lives. It's better for us, the old couple, to be at home," Wang Cunye said with a smile.
Then he led Chen Ling to the back of the house to see the snake.
Behind the house is a slope with many fruit trees of various types.
Close to the root of the wall, there is a row of wooden snake boxes. Since it is winter, the temperature changes greatly from morning to night on the mountain. The snake boxes are covered with thick thatch to keep them warm.
Wang Cunye walked up to him, opened the thatch cloak and opened the wooden box. Sure enough, there were several snakes entangled in a ball, like a ball of snakes.
Wang Cunye picked out two snakes and hung them on Chen Ling's arms.
"There are only two boxes in these two boxes now. The other boxes are empty. It is cold in winter and there are not many left."
Chen Ling grabbed two of them and went back and forth. The writhing black-tailed snake is easy to feed, and the cost of breeding each litter is low. However, now that transportation is inconvenient, the only way to raise snakes in villages is to make medicinal materials, and then go to the town to sell them during the market. This subsidizes household expenses. It is far from the large-scale breeding industry chain of later generations.
"Dad, I heard you talk about snake attractant. Susu also mentioned this at home, saying that if you sprinkle it, it can lure the snake out of the hole. But she only knows how to prepare the snake repellent, but she doesn't know how to prepare the snake attractant. , is this medicine really that powerful?”
“Well, the snake-attracting medicine is very powerful.”
Wang Cunye glanced at him and said with a smile: “Let me tell you, this medicine. The recipe used to be passed down from male to female in the village. It is regarded as a family heirloom, which shows how valuable it is..."
"I will take you around the mountains later to show you. See the power of snake attracting medicine."
"Okay, can it attract snakes just this winter?"
Chen Ling asked.
“Yes, winter has just begun, and insect nests are easy to find and can be easily lured out.”
Wang Cunye replied.
Put the snake in the snake box, cover it with thatch, and the two return to the yard.
My father-in-law found the snake-attracting medicine and put it in a palm-sized gourd. Then he took a hatchet and a snake hook, gave Chen Ling a steel fork, put on a backpack, and the two of them were ready to set off.
"Let's go out for a walk."
Gao Xiulan hadn't cut Wang Susu's hair at this time. After hearing this, she raised her head and glanced at their son-in-law: "Go, Lingzi, your father's legs and feet are not good, pay attention. "Look at him."
"I understand, mother."
Chen Ling responded quickly.
A few years ago, my father-in-law accidentally fell while collecting medicine on a steep cliff and injured his leg and foot. If his father Chen Juncai hadn't happened upon him, he would have been in trouble once night fell.
This is how the two families got connected.
Although my father-in-law’s legs have healed up in recent years, I can still see a slight limp when walking. It looks like one foot is wearing a short high-heeled shoe and the other is barefoot. Yes, high high low low.
So now when medicinal herbs are collected, it is considered good if they can be collected, and it does not matter if they cannot be collected.
Anyway, the children are basically married now, so there is no need to worry too much.
After leaving the door, Wang Zhenzhen and his nephew ran over with two dogs. Knowing that they were going to catch the snake, they quickly shouted: "I want to go too."
"You are not allowed to go. If you go, everyone will go too."
Wang Cunye refused.
"It's okay, Dad, I'll hold Tongtong."
Seeing that the two children were looking forward to it, Chen Ling said: "Tongtong, uncle will hold you to play, you go No.”
The little doll nodded immediately: “Go.”
Then he opened his arms and waited for Chen Ling to hug him.
Wang Cunye looked helpless: "You, no wonder I am really close to you and always spoil them."
"Haha, I'm so happy."
Chen Ling picked up his little nephew and followed Wang Cunye out of the village.
As for Wang Zhenzhen, he had already run to the front with his two dogs.
There are many miscellaneous trees on the mountain. The mountains are high and the forests are dense. My father-in-law took Chen Ling to walk some familiar mountain trails. These trails are the trails used by medicine collectors and hunters. They are not considered serious roads at all. After a while, Walking through the creek, I walked into the forest for a while, walked into the valley for a while, and climbed to the top of the mountain again.
According to Wang Cunye, this path is already easy to follow.
He also took Chen Ling to see the roads commonly used by young herb collectors.
Those narrow paths wind around the steep mountain walls and can only accommodate two people. But when walking up, two people dare not walk side by side because there is an unfathomable mountain stream on the other side. , you will fall down and die if you are not careful.
Chen Ling put his little nephew down and walked around alone to experience what it felt like.
He found that this kind of road was not only narrow, but also in some places, when someone passed by, the earth and rocks would loosen and fall down the mountain stream in bits and pieces, which was very scary.
"Okay Lingzi, your legs and feet are very smart."
Wang Cunye smiled when he saw Chen Ling walking easily.
He originally wanted Chen Ling to walk for a while, but unexpectedly he walked around for a while before returning.
I didn’t dare to remind him immediately even if I wanted to, for fear of scaring Chen Ling and making him unable to stand firmly on it.
Fortunately, Chen Ling's body was flexible and he stepped over in a few moments. He looked very light, so he felt relieved.
Chen Ling smiled and said that he often walked to the mountains.
At this time, Xiao Tongtong became familiar with him. He and Wang Zhenzhen took the dog for a while. After getting tired of playing with the dog, he called his uncle and asked Chen Ling to hold him.
After a few people left the vicinity of the mountain stream, the road was still steep.
The road on the slope was trodden by someone, digging out small square pits one after another.
My father-in-law told Chen Ling that these roads were called "pig trough roads".
It is named after the small square pits that resemble pig troughs.
The main reason is that this place has a lot of rain in summer and autumn. Once it rains, these steep slopes will become very slippery, making it difficult for people or pack horses to climb.
So these small pits have become the best anti-slip measures for mountain people and hunters who go into the mountains to collect medicine.
“In the past, we often used trails like this to collect herbs. We often climbed up the mountain walls and cliffs like the one just now. In many cases, the more informal the place, the more valuable it was. Goods.”
Wang Cunye said, Chen Ling listened.
The snake-attracting powder was also mentioned in the middle.
My father-in-law did not hide anything. In addition to attracting snake fans, he also told him some of the hunting methods.
I even took out my homemade bows and arrows and painted them on the spot.
It is also a poison, similar to the nux vomica ointment used by the old hunters in Kinmen Village.
However, what is used here is cantharis and aconite, which are poisonous things. They are mixed with medicinal powder and applied to the front parts of daggers and bows. The prey will soon lose its ability to resist after being attacked.
"Slow down, there is a snake nest ahead."
Suddenly, Wang Cunye stretched out his hand to stop Chen Ling from moving forward.
"Come here really, don't run around."
Chen Ling looked up and saw nothing strange, but the two dogs were sensitive to something, just on their faces. Not interested at all, he squatted down next to Chen Ling and kept looking at Wang Cunye with doubtful eyes.
"Shh, don't talk..."
Wang Cunye reminded in a low voice, then took out the gourd, unplugged the stopper and poured the snake-attracting medicine into the palm of his hand. A pinch of light yellow powder in the snake-attracting medicine was carefully sprinkled on the snake. Near the nest.
Then he took out a bamboo whistle, put it to his mouth and blew it gently. The sound was very small, extremely subtle, and seemed to be nothing. It was completely different from the method of blowing a flute to control poisonous snakes that Chen Ling had seen. , I don’t know what the principle is.
In less than two minutes, a magical scene appeared. In the grass four or five meters away, a fire chain snake more than one meter long and as thick as an arm came out and slowly moved towards Wang Cunye. Climbed over.
This scene left Chen Ling stunned.
(End of this chapter)