The Sweet Little Fulang

It was just dawn, and I could see the ground and the figures clearly, and people rushed to the fields one after another. It was like getting up early and getting late at night. Taking advantage of the absence of the sun at the moment, I could work more easily.

The same is true for the second room of the Shen family. Although they live at the back of the village, they are no later than others. When passing by Lin's house, I called Lin Jinhu and Lin Jinlong. When they arrived at the door of He's house, He Zhi and Chen Dongdong were waiting.

Lu Gu was wearing yesterday's clothes, and Mai Mang had a slight thorn on his arm. He lowered his head and pulled Mai Mang out.

The whole family is working in the fields, and the dirty clothes have no time to wash. It is only for a few days. It is okay to wear them for a day or two, so as not to stain other clothes.

Seeing Chen Dongdong also following, Shen Yaoqing was a little puzzled, and before he could ask, He Zhi spoke first.

"Daqing, Brother Dong also went over to help. The wages don't need to be that much. You can pay 10 or 8 wen. No matter how bad it is, five wen will do."

He Zhi has always been reticent, and his eyes are trembling when he speaks. He knows that weak Shuang'er can't work as well as a man. He rarely hires Shuang'er. Man please.

The words made even him embarrassed, and a short, flattering, embarrassing smile appeared on his dark face.

His family has only two acres of land, and the family will not starve to death, but it is really poor. When the farming is busy, he relies on him to work for the villagers for a few days to earn money. Last night, Chen Dongdong said that he wanted to go too, and he could earn a few cents. It's just a few words, if it weren't for this, he wouldn't say this to Shen Yaoqing with a shy face today.

Chen Dongdong has always been timid, and now he is even more afraid to let out the air. He followed He Zhi with his scythe tightly, looking at Shen Yaoqing with a terrified look, and clenched a shaky hope, for fear of hearing that he would not want him.

Lu Gu, who was walking a few steps in front, heard that, and looked back at the nervous Chen Dongdong. He thought to himself, Brother Dong is very diligent, and he is a good person. He will definitely not be lazy after going down to the ground, but he can't make up his mind, so he has to stretch out his hand. Gently tug at the corner of Shen Xuanqing's clothes next to him.

Shen Xuanqing turned his head and saw his husband's pleading eyes, the corners of his lips couldn't help but raise, but Shen Yaoqing replied without him speaking.

"Okay, there are more people and more strength." Shen Yaoqing nodded. In front of Lin Jinhu and Lin Jinlong, he didn't say anything about wages.

Even so, it was enough to make He Zhi and Chen Dongdong grateful. After dealing with each other for so many years, they were not worried that Shen Yaoqing would not give money.

In this way, there were nine people in total who went to the ground to harvest wheat.

Not only He Zhi and Chen Dongdong, but also Lin Jinhu and Lin Jinlong who called out are honest, because wages are paid on a daily basis, honest and kind people will not be lazy and deliberately delay.

The scorching sun was dripping with sweat, and they were all mud-legs who were used to working. They swung their sickles quickly and accurately. There were five strong and hard-working men, and they worked hard to cut them together with four weaker women and men , and even carried the straps out of the ground, and cut all the wheat in a day and a half. In the afternoon, the last wagon of wheat was pulled into the new house.

The empty space here is large enough, and it was deliberately leveled before the wheat was harvested, so there was no need to occupy the drying field with the villagers.

The work was done early today, and everyone was so hungry that their chests were pressed to their backs, and when they returned to the old house, Ji Qiuyue had already prepared the meal.

There are several wooden basins in the yard for washing face and hands. The water in it has been drying in the sun for a long time. It is still warm. Lu Gu rolled up his sleeves, put a handful of water on his face, and washed his arms. once again.

Cold water is pleasant, but it is too cold to excite people. After washing and drying with sun-dried water, it is also refreshing.

After Lu Gu finished washing, Shen Xuanqing didn't dislike it either. He didn't bother to change the water again, and washed it directly in the water he washed.

Yesterday I ate lunch in the field, and I can sit down today. Because there are many men, Ji Qiuyue warmed up two baskets of steamed buns with mixed noodles, for fear that they would not have enough to eat, so the two dishes, one meat and one vegetarian, were also served in large soup pots. The portion is very sufficient, one pot of fried garlic sprouts and one pot of stewed duck meat.

It is amazing to be able to eat food with oil and water when doing farm work. Lin Jinhu and Lin Jinlong have worked in the Shen family several times, and are used to such good food. Chen Dongdong is reluctant to eat meat several times a year, and his family does not have much oil for cooking. , Very poor, the meal for the past two days is either duck meat or rabbit meat. He is greedy and restrained, but he doesn't dare to eat more.

There were exactly five men and five wives and husbands, and there were no more than ten people around a table. It was too hot to be crowded together, not to mention that there were several men who were crowded together, so they were divided into two tables to eat.

Seeing Chen Dongdong gulping at the duck meat, but holding chopsticks and garlic sprouts, and taking a bite of the steamed bun, Lu Gu, who had bulging cheeks, saw it, and gave him two pieces of duck meat.

The steamed bun was a little choked and couldn't speak. After Lu Gu swallowed it hard, he whispered to Chen Dongdong who was looking at him, "Eat it."

Seeing this, Ji Qiuyue smiled and said, "Eat it quickly. After eating the meat, divide the duck soup and drink it. It's too hot. After eating and drinking, you don't have to leave it until tomorrow. Otherwise, it will be a pity."

Chen Dongdong can let go.

Harvesting wheat is hot and the weather is still hot, and the wages are more expensive than when transplanting rice. One day is 30 wen, and 45 wen is given for a day and a half. This is the salary of a man. As for Chen Dongdong, he works slower than a man. , but he was not lazy at all. The Shen family saw it in their eyes. When calculating his wages, he did not press hard. He was given twenty cents a day, and thirty cents a day and a half.

Lin Jinhu and Lin Jinlong took their wages and went back first. Seeing that He Zhi gave so much, it was twice as much as the ten cents he expected.

"He deserves it. If he has work in the future, come if you have time." Shen Yaoqing smiled.

"Okay." He Zhi nodded, he was not a coy, he put the money in his arms and took Chen Dongdong away.

After Ji Qiuyue went to wash the dishes, everyone else sat in the main room to rest, Wei Lanxiang shook the fan, talking about how much grain these 13 acres of wheat could produce this year, she was overjoyed, no matter how hot it was, she felt it was worth it .

Lu Gu was sitting next to him drinking water, and the Maimang tucked his arm on his sleeve, so he lowered his head to look carefully, and pulled out Maimang one by one.

There were small red dots on his wrists, face and neck. He was better sitting and resting now. He was sweating when he was mowing the wheat in the field.

"The sun has been good recently, so it probably won't take a few days to dry it out. When the time comes, your third uncle's house will finish grinding and borrow the cow to use." Wei Lanxiang said.

"Yeah." Shen Yaoqing agreed, and said, "When it gets cold in the afternoon, I will pull the stone mill over."

"It's a good year. I'll be sunbathing in the new yard, even if it really rains, I'm not afraid." Wei Lanxiang's smile didn't diminish. These days, she's gotten darker and more wrinkles on her face, making her look more old-fashioned.

People who often do rough and heavy work are like this, and they grow old faster.

"No." Shen Yaoqing nodded beside him.

After harvesting the wheat, the most afraid of rain is that the wheat grains are easy to germinate after being wet, and they are not valuable. Therefore, every family in the grain field has to be watched by people. Birds will come to peck in groups, stay there during the day and be able to drive them away, and they will not dare to relax at night. Some men will go to sleep with bedding, just in case it rains at night.

Now they are drying in their own yard. If it rains, they can use a long fork to roll the wheat to the front room that is large enough, without having to run too far.

Lu Gu took a few sticks of wheat awns, and Shen Xuanqing, who was sitting beside him, turned his head to see his wrists and arms, and said, "It's so red."

"It doesn't matter, it will be gone in two days." His voice was not loud. When he was at the Lu family, he had to go with him to cut wheat, and he was used to getting red spots from Maimang, not even a wound.

Shen Yaoqing took a sip of water and said with a smile, "I'm too tired today. I'm not busy tomorrow. I'll go to the town for a restaurant."

He glanced at Ji Qiuyue who came over after washing the dishes, and suddenly he was in trouble. The town was far away. Now that his wife's belly was big and the weather was hot, wouldn't it hurt her body to run back and forth.

The husband and wife have been together for a long time and can see each other's thoughts, Ji Qiuyue said with a smile: "You go to yourselves, I keep the door at home, the weather is so hot, I don't have much appetite, bring me one when I come back. The sweet Qionglu is good."

No matter how weak the taste of green plum wine is, it is wine. She is pregnant now and can't touch it, but I heard from others that the town's Fulai restaurant sells a kind of brew called Qionglu, which is sweet and thirst-quenching. Shen Yaoqing is going to go to town. , why don't you bring her a bottle back to taste.

"Okay, I'll definitely bring it back to you." Shen Yaoqing said, and after she sat down, she threw a fan for her diligently.

Eating in a restaurant is a rare thing for the country people. If you can't go to a pub and restaurant twice a year, you will naturally value it more and change into clean clothes the next day.

It was a hot day. This time, in addition to the sauce beef and pork head, they also ordered two vegetarian cold dishes to eat. The wine in the town was better than that made by the villagers, so they ordered two pots of good wine and ate and drank happily. .

The food in the Fulai Restaurant is expensive, and Shen Yaoqing just went over to buy a bamboo tube of Qionglu after eating. This thing is quite expensive, a bamboo tube is thirty cents, but Ji Qiuyue can't come to the restaurant, so she wants to taste what this is. The taste is that he has to buy it back even if it is 80 yuan.

—

After three days of hard work in the field, the hard workers had to take a break. After the hottest time in the noon, the Shen family, who had been taking a nap in the room, gradually woke up.

It has been two days since the wheat was pulled back, and many of the upper layers were dry. The sun was not so hot in the afternoon. Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing to the new house to turn the wheat, and turned the bottom layer up to dry for two days, and it was basically dry. It's through, and it's time to crush the threshed wheat.

The other five members of the family were busy, and Ji Qiuyue also came over, lighting a mud stove and boiling water to dry tea in the shade.

The dust was flying when flipping, and the good boys avoided it. Instead of going up to play, they lied at Ji Qiuyue's feet and stuck out their tongue to cool off.

After turning over, Lu Gu and the others were drinking water and resting. Wei Lanxiang couldn't take time to rest, so she grabbed a bundle of wheat at the edge, and the rough old hand patted the wheat ears, and then the grains of wheat fell.

The wheat on the edge was thinly spread and dried in the sun, so she wrapped the cloth on her head tightly again, sat on the low stool, picked up the mallet and thumped the ears of wheat on the ground, how many grains of wheat could be knocked down? How much, after two days with a stone roller, it will be a little less.

"Mother, take a break." Shen Xuanqing said.

Wei Lanxiang smiled and said, "It's not hard to sit here, you guys can rest."

"In another ten days, Yuping will get married. Looking back at what your third aunt said, you have to go and help."

She has spent most of her life slicing food in the soil, and life is much better now. This work is really not tiring for her, and she is chatting while working.