The Little Widower (farming)

1

The night in the mountain village was always quiet. A chicken crow pierced the night sky. Chen Qing opened his eyes, put on his clothes and quietly walked out of the door, only to find that there was the sound of firewood peeling off in the kitchen.

"Mom, why did you get up so early?" Chen Qing rubbed his eyes and saw Aunt Sun sitting at the door of the kitchen.

Aunt Sun stood up from the stove: "Today we have to plow the land on the hill over there. I asked the village chief to borrow a cow. You hurry up and eat something so we can go together."

Chen Qing went to the yard Inside, he held a handful of water to wash his face, and his face was printed in the water tank.

He is a little rounder than five years ago, but still thin. He is a little shorter than his peers and has a baby face. At Renyazi's place at that time, he was the only one left to come and see them. They always said that he was too small to do heavy work, that he had a small waist and that it would be difficult for him to have children. Finally he met Aunt Sun.

The days of no longer wandering made Chen Qing extremely grateful to Aunt Sun in the kitchen. Aunt Sun's husband's surname was Meng. She lost her husband early and raised her son Meng Tao alone.

Chen Qing is not from Luohe Village. His family is poor. His father died early. His younger father was kicked out of the house with him and he lived a hard life. He is very similar to his younger father in temperament. He doesn't like to talk or communicate. After his father cooked a meal of meat for him one day and gave Chen Qing a full meal, he jumped into the river the next day.

The introverted Chen Qing went to his grandmother's house hoping that they could organize a funeral for his little dad. His grandmother looked at Chen Qing and said that as long as he was willing to be a concubine to an old widower, she could give his little dad a straw mat to bury him in the Chen family. The old widower's reputation for cruelty had long spread throughout the country, and Chen Qing knew that he would be dead if he died.

His little dad's body was left on display for two days. Just when he thought Chen Qing was about to let go at his grandmother's house, Chen Qing simply sold himself to Ren Ya Zi and took twenty taels of silver to let his little dad leave in dignity. However, Ren Ya Zi bought Five years ago, he lived in Luohe Village and was bought back home by Aunt Sun with three taels of silver, saying that he would be the husband of her son Meng Tao.

The custom in Luohe Village is that the husband and wife cannot meet each other before getting married. Chen Qing stayed at the village chief's house overnight, waiting for the wedding the next day, but something unexpected happened suddenly. The imperial court recruited soldiers, and he did not even see his husband Meng Tao. was taken away.

Aunt Sun originally said that she would wait for Meng Tao to come back before getting married, but the villagers said that since the banquets were all set, they would lose money in vain, so Chen Qing, who was wearing a simple wedding dress, held a chicken in his arms and performed the wedding ceremony. The Meng family.

Five years have passed in a flash.

Chen Qing is a diligent person, and so is Aunt Sun. The two of them kept the small courtyard at home very clean and tidy. The family did not have the conditions to build a brick house, so it was built with adobes removed from yellow mud.

There is a bamboo fence outside their house. It was made by Chen Qing when he was off farm. He was diligent and skillful. He told the village chief that he had hoeed a few pieces of land outside the house and planted some vegetables. On a daily basis, they It was enough for two people.

Luohe Village is surrounded by mountains and rivers, but there is not much fertile land, so the slightly flatter hills were allotted to the villagers to grow crops, and the Meng family was assigned this piece of land.

Aunt Sun opened the pot and found two cornmeal buns steaming inside. Below was a pot of boiling water with two eggs boiled in it. Chen Qing naturally took out the pickle lumps from the pickle jar on one side and cut them into thin strips. , brought to the low table in the yard.

The two of them finished the simple breakfast in silence. Then Chen Qing carried a basket on his back, took two hoes, closed the fence door, and went out with Aunt Sun. Before going out, Aunt Sun took the eggs from the pot. Carry it in your arms.

When they arrived at the door of the village chief's house, Aunt Sun glanced at Chen Qing and said, "I'll go up the mountain first, and you can go to the village chief's house to borrow the cow."

Chen Qing let out an ah, his face was very tangled, and he murmured: "Mom, I want You might as well go."

Aunt Sun didn't tolerate him, so she handed the two eggs in her arms to Chen Qing's hands and went to the mountain first.

Chen Qing stood at the door of the village chief's house, walked in circles several times, then took a deep breath, as if to cheer himself up, and knocked on the door of the village chief's house with a smile on his face: "Auntie, Yesterday, my mother made an agreement with the village chief to borrow oxen to plow the land."

Aunt Wang, the village chief's wife, said with surprise, "It's so early!"

Chen Qing's face turned red, thinking of the eggs that Aunt Sun gave him, and he handed them to Wang. Auntie: "Xiaobao has gained weight recently, don't mind it."

Auntie Wang's face looked better now, and she weighed the egg in her hand: "Chen Shizhong has to return it."

Chen Qing nodded and spoke quickly: " I'll definitely return it on time and it won't delay your family's work."

Aunt Wang still didn't feel good about it, so she gave the cow rope to Chen Qing and went to move the plow out. Chen Qing carried the plow on his shoulder and held the cow in his hand. , went up the mountain.

He was small and looked very strenuous, but he still walked steadily.

When he arrived at the mountain, Aunt Sun had already started to hoe the land. Chen Qing put the plow on the cow and then drove the cow to start plowing. With the cow, they quickly finished hoeing the land. At this time The sun fell right on them.

"Mom, please take the cow back to the village chief's house, and I'll go to the mountain to collect some firewood." He really didn't want to deal with Aunt Wang anymore. If possible, Chen Qing didn't want to deal with anyone.

Aunt Sun nodded: "Don't go into the mountains." She led the cow away. Chen Qing packed up the hoe, put it aside, and walked into the mountains.

The days when he came to Luohe Village were so leisurely that Chen Qing seemed to have forgotten what kind of life he lived before coming here, so he was extremely grateful to Aunt Sun for taking him back to Luohe Village.

But in the past five years, he occasionally thought about what kind of person his husband Meng Tao was. At the beginning, he asked Aunt Sun, and Aunt Sun always spoke highly of her son, saying that he He is tall and possesses brute strength. He blushes when talking to little girls and brothers, and is very filial.

In short, Aunt Sun used all the words she could use to praise him. Occasionally, Chen Qing would hear about Meng Tao from the villagers. No one in the whole village said anything about his bad behavior. , that should be a good person.

On the silent mountain, Chen Qing's face turned red.

Five years have passed. In the past two years, Meng Tao would still send letters home. He was illiterate, so he would take his mother to the village chief's house every time. The village chief's son Meng Xin had gone to school and could help them read. Letters from home.

It's a pity that every time Meng Tao writes a letter, there is no separate message addressed to him.

Chen Qing thought that it had been two years since Meng Tao last sent home a letter. Every time his mother went to the market, she would go to the inn to ask, but she always came back disappointed.

Chen Qing piled up the firewood he saw, untied the rope around his waist, picked up the firewood, and went to their field to take the remaining things with him before returning home.

This season is the time to plant corn. When paying taxes last year, Chen Qing had reserved the corn seeds in advance, choosing seeds with full grains. After all, people in the village depend on the weather for their food.

Back home, Aunt Sun was already busy again. They raised chickens and ducks, and she had to go out to cut the grass and feed the chickens. ,

She always does things neatly. When she saw Chen Qing come back, she said: "Ah Qing, clean up the kitchen, clean the chicken coop, and remember to drink the water on the table."

Chen Qing nodded and watched her leave with the basket on her back. .

I sorted the collected firewood, swept the kitchen and yard with a broom, and finally went to the chicken pen on one side to pile up chicken manure. These are excellent fertilizers and cannot be wasted.

After cleaning up, Chen Qing sat down at the small table to catch his breath. When he saw a bowl of water left on the table, he picked it up and drank it. The sweet taste extended from his mouth to his heart.

Chen Qing's heart felt warm. Aunt Sun spoke little and her hair was half black and half white. She was not gentle and had a sharp energy. She walked with wind in her eyes. Children in the village were afraid of her. she.

Chen Qing was also afraid of her when he first came in. His wedding was not a decent one. The groom didn't even show his face, and he didn't know whether the marriage was serious or not.

Aunt Sun arranged for him to live in the house where Meng Tao used to live, and told him that she had no rules to establish here, and that she would just wait for Meng Tao to come back, and the two of them could live a good life.

Chen Qing had been getting along with Aunt Sun for less than three months, and he already knew Aunt Sun's temperament. She would say whatever she wanted, never hide it, and she was also very kind to himself. Like today's sugar water, It has happened many times before.

The spring sun was not shining brightly, and Chen Qing felt strong after drinking sugar water. He cleared the weeds in the vegetable field in front of his house, went to fetch water from the Luo River, watered the vegetable field, and finished the work. After these, I selected the corn seeds stored in the house.

After the beginning of spring, the Luohe River thawed, and the water plants beside it grew lush. Aunt Sun, carrying a basket on her back, happened to meet another aunt who also came to cut the grass.

"So early?"

Aunt Sun was immersed in mowing the grass and just nodded.

Aunt Liu came close to Aunt Sun: "Your Taozi still doesn't have any letters? My ex-son heard that a lot of letters have arrived at the inn."

Aunt Sun raised her head from the grass: "Thank you very much. Come tomorrow . I'll go to the town and have a look."

Aunt Liu's original intention was to stab her, but she felt distressed when she saw Aunt Sun's calm eyes: "That's right, don't forget that the messenger is missing.

" The aunt sighed and moved away a little, not wanting to talk to her anymore.

He had just cut the chicken grass, and on his way home, he heard several children at the entrance of the village shouting excitedly: "Come back, come back, Uncle Shuanzi is back!"

Shuanzi, who was killed together with Meng Tao, People from the village were taken away by conscription.

Aunt Sun's basket fell to the ground with a bang, and all her previous calmness and self-control disappeared. She quickly ran to the entrance of the village and saw a group of people coming at the entrance. She looked into the crowd, but she did not see the person she was looking at. The figure of longing.

The village chief also hurriedly came out at this time, holding two firecrackers in his hand, and then lit them with a crackling sound.

Chen Qing, who was at home, naturally heard the noise. He stood up and saw Aunt Liu running to the door of their house.

"Chen Qing, are you still at home? You didn't hear the noise at the entrance of the village. Your husband is back."

Chen Qing was startled and accidentally knocked over the corn seed basket in front of him: "What?"

"Hurry up and pick it up. , your mother is gone." Aunt Liu sent them back the backpack she picked up halfway, and she was busy watching the fun.

Chen Qing ran to the door and looked down at his clothes. He dusted off all the dust on his body and raised his hand to smell himself. He had just cleaned the chicken coop and didn't know if there was anything on his body. Catch the flavor.

His heartbeat was beating like a drum, and he tidied his hair a little helplessly, and then ran towards the entrance of the village with hands and feet.

Chen Qing saw the tallest person in the crowd at first sight. No one around him was taller than him. Remembering what his mother said, his husband Meng Tao was very tall...

Chen Qing lowered himself. He nodded, but his eyes seemed to be pulled by something, and he looked over there unconsciously. In the end, half of his arms were numb, and the roots of his ears were red and bleeding.

There were cries all around. During the military recruitment five years ago, more than ten people from Luohe Village were drafted away. Now these dozen families gathered at the entrance of the village. Chen Qing then went to find his mother in the crowd.

He was a little confused as to why his mother didn't go to Meng Tao's side. He pushed aside the crowd and saw Aunt Sun, who was crying and about to die in the middle of the road.

He hurriedly ran over and supported Aunt Sun's body: "Mom, what's wrong?"

Aunt Sun seemed to have found some support at this time. She straightened up again and walked to the tall man: "Are you mistaken? My son, how could he die in battle?"

Chen Qing's face turned blank, and he didn't know for a moment whether Aunt Sun was supporting him or he.

His husband is dead?