The Little Widower (farming)

13

When Chen Qing walked out of this street, he searched for a while before finding his way. He wanted to go to a place that sells scented wax paper money. These shops are not in bustling markets, so Chen Qing lowered his head and went to Walk to the edge of town.

But when he was almost approaching a remote road, his sleeves were pulled. Chen Qing's heart jumped into his throat for a moment. Before he could react, his hands were covered with a layer of warmth.

Chen Qing lowered his head and saw two big steaming buns wrapped in oil paper. He was a little dazed, and then he looked up and saw a tall shadow at the end of the road.

It's Zhou Yuan.

Chen Qing looked at the two big meat buns in his hands, wondering whether he should eat them or not. Zhou Yuan bought him buns. Did Li Xin know?

Two buns cost four cents. Do you want to give this money to Li Xin in front of him soon?

Chen Qing hesitated for a while, but then he lowered his head and started eating the buns. The meat buns in town cost two cents each, and they were almost bigger than Chen Qing's face. The hair on that side was particularly good, and the whole bun was fluffy and soft, but there was no gap in it. The steamed stuffed buns are soaked in the aroma of oil, and some bamboo shoots are added to the meat filling of the steamed buns, which makes them taste a little chewier. No wonder they can be sold for two cents each.

Chen Qing only ate one, and carefully put the remaining one into his arms, intending to take it back and give one to his mother.

After a while, Chen Qing found a shop selling scented wax paper money, but because it was July and a half in two days, there were many people buying things. Chen Qing's scalp went numb when he looked at the crowd, so he waited nearby. After a while, when he saw that there were fewer people, he went to buy it.

It took a little longer. Chen Qing walked to the main street with his things on his back. He didn't know what to do. When he stood on the street in a daze, Li Xin scared him from behind.

"Why did it take you so long to buy things?" Li Xin glanced at the things he bought, "Just buy these?"

Chen Qing nodded: "It's half July in two days, I'll buy some for him. "

Are you thinking about Meng Tao so much?" Li Xin looked a little strange.

Chen Qing took it for granted: "Isn't this the right thing to do? Have you finished shopping?"

Li Xin originally went to town just to get medicine for his mother. He had already taken it and had been waiting here for Chen Qing.

Chen Qing wanted to ask about Baozi, but he held back.

"Then we're going back?" Chen Qing said.

"Okay." They walked together to the place where the bullock cart was parked in the town, and saw Zhou Yuan sitting beside the bullock cart waiting for them.

Chen Qing thought that Zhou Yuan would have left long ago because he wasted his time, but he didn't expect that he would be willing to wait for Li Xin for so long.

On the way back, the three of them were still together. Chen Qing was holding four copper coins in his hand. He didn't know when to give it to Zhou Yuan. He didn't know if Li Xin knew that Zhou Yuan bought him buns. If Li Xin didn't know, Chen Qing wouldn't know. Giving money rashly is afraid of affecting their relationship.

Li Xin looked at Chen Qing, squeezed his hand, opened his palm, and saw four coins in his palm: "What are you holding the coins for?"

Zhou Yuan also turned to look at him after hearing this.

Chen Qing's head was buried very low, and his voice was even lower: "No, it's nothing." Zhou Yuan

said, "This is the money for the ox cart. I used to pay for it every time I took the cart."

Qing turned to look at him, and he inexplicably heard the strangeness in Zhou Yuan's words: "No, I didn't."

Li Xin walked around the two of them, and then said to Chen Qing: "Then you give the money Put it away."

"Oh."

None of the three said anything on the way back. When they arrived at the entrance of the village, Li Xin jumped out of the cart and said, "Ah Qing, I'll come and play with you in the afternoon."

After Li Xin left, there was only one person left in the cart . Chen Qing and Zhou Yuan were killed.

Chen Qing stretched out his hand, holding four coins in his palm: "This is the money you paid for me to buy buns. Li Xin was in the car just now. I was afraid..."

"What are you afraid of?" Zhou Yuan did not accept his money. But he accepted his words.

"Ah? Well, Li Xin, you guys are..." Chen Qing hesitated for a long time, but still couldn't tell the reason. He was so bold for the first time, taking Zhou Yuan's hand and giving him the copper plate, and then jumped off The bullock cart runs very fast with its own basket on its back.

Zhou Yuan looked at the copper plate in his hand and laughed angrily.

When Chen Qing returned home, Aunt Sun asked Chen Qing about today's situation. Chen Qing's mind went blank and he only said: "They went to sell prey together..."

Aunt Sun laughed: "That's good."

Chen Qing Thinking of the buns in his arms, he quickly gave them to Aunt Sun: "Mom, eat the meat buns."

"Oh, you bought this for me. Have you eaten it yourself? Have you spent all your money? Mom will give it to you later. Pay some pocket money." Aunt Sun rarely eats the big meat buns in town. After all, this is not how anyone spends their spare money.

"I still have money, I haven't spent it all." Chen Qing took a deep breath, "I'll go back to the room and rest for a while."

"Okay."

But as soon as Chen Qing went back to the room to lie down, Zhou Yuan came, and Aunt Sun smiled and teased him: "Oh, what are you doing here? You can see how energetic people are when happy events happen."

Zhou Yuan frowned: "What happy event?"

"What happy event are you asking me about?" Aunt Sun smiled, "What's going on?"

"It's July and a half in a few days. I went to town today to buy some scented wax paper but found that it was sold out."

Aunt Sun looked at what Chen Qing had bought and said, "Here, take some. Go, Aqing bought a lot, we can't use these."

"Thank you, Auntie."

Aunt Sun said, "It's all Aqing's own pocket money that she wants to do for Taozi."

Zhou Yuan: ...

Zhou Yuan's expression did not change, and he took out four cents from his arms: "I ate his steamed buns this morning, and then I realized that he didn't have breakfast. I bought him two meat buns, but he insisted on giving them to me. Auntie, please return the money to him."

Aunt Sun was stunned, then looked back at the room, then felt a little embarrassed: "The steamed buns are not as valuable as the meat buns..."

"Then remember to think of me when you make steamed buns in the future. "Zhou Yuan handed the coin to Aunt Sun, took out the scented wax paper money from Chen Qing's small basket, gave some more money to Aunt Sun, and left without waiting for her to refuse.

Aunt Sun knew that Chen Qing was shallow-skinned, so she stopped talking to him about it and concentrated on preparing for the sacrifice in July and a half.

Half of July, the Hungry Ghost Festival, is a day of sacrifice in the customs of Luohe Village, which is very important.

That morning, Aunt Sun got up early to kill the chicken. Chen Qing was boiling water. He looked at the rooster in Aunt Sun's hand, and was stabbed in the neck by Aunt Sun's scissors. Blood was flowing out.

Chen Qing shrank his neck and took a bowl to drink the chicken blood.

There was already boiling water in the pot. Chen Qing used a ladle to scoop the water into the bucket. Aunt Sun then put the chicken into the bucket. After boiling the water, the chicken feathers could be easily pulled out.

Without throwing away the plucked chicken feathers, Chen Qing picked up the chicken feathers and planned to go to the river to wash them and then dry them on a bamboo grate. It was summer and should be drying quickly.

Their family doesn't kill chickens often, only two or three times in the past five years, so Chen Qing's bag for collecting chicken feathers is only a small one.

After plucking the feathers of the chicken, Aunt Sun opened the whole chicken and took out the internal organs. Chen Qing also put it in a bowl, washed the chicken intestines, gizzards, hearts and livers, stir-fried them with sauerkraut, and cooked them. A bowl of very fragrant chicken noodles.

While Aunt Sun was cooking the chicken, Chen Qing squatted aside to clean up the offal. The chicken intestines were very small, and he turned them over from the inside out with a piece of bamboo, then rinsed them with clean water. The outer shell of the chicken gizzards was carefully torn off and put in Left to dry in the sun, it is just Chinese medicinal materials.

By the time Chen Qing finished cleaning up, Aunt Sun's chicken was already cooked.

The originally soft whole chicken became stiff after being cooked in boiling water. Aunt Sun raised the head of the chicken, and when she placed it on the plate, she could still see the majestic and majestic appearance of the chicken.

This chicken will be taken to the mountain and placed in front of Meng Tao's grave as the most important sacrifice.

After the sacrifice, they can eat the chicken.

When Meng Tao didn't come back, they didn't kill any chickens to worship the Meng family's father. They just went to the butcher to buy a piece of meat with a knife head. I feel sorry for my son.

They packed up their things and headed up the mountain. There were many people going up the mountain today, and we were even able to go together.

"Do you want to go to Lao Meng's place or Meng Tao's place first?" Aunt Liu asked. The person her family wanted to pay homage to was an old man who had passed away.

"Of course we go to Lao Meng first. He is the father. How can he care about his son first without caring about the father." Aunt Sun replied.

Chen Qing followed them with a backpack on his back, neither fast nor slow.

When he arrived at Meng's father's grave, it was already covered with weeds. Chen Qing did not do anything, but watched Aunt Sun holding a hatchet with red eyes, clearing away the weeds around the grave bit by bit.

She was cleaning and talking, and Chen Qing felt sad as she listened.

Aunt Sun talked a lot, about the past, the present, and the future. Chen Qing stayed with her and helped her burn incense and paper.

Aunt Sun watched the last spark extinguish, then she wiped her eyes and went to Meng Tao's grave.

Meng Tao's grave was a new one and there was no need to weed it. Chen Qing placed the chicken in front of his grave and then lit the fragrant wax with Aunt Sun.

Chen Qing was supposed to talk to Meng Tao like Aunt Sun, but they were not familiar with each other, and Chen Qing was stupid and didn't know what to say, so he could only stay silent.

When Aunt Sun saw that Chen Qing was silent, she could only speak to herself. She also specifically said that today's incense was bought by Chen Qing, and she hoped that he would also bless Chen Qing in heaven.

Chen Qing could only smile and said that it was what he should do.

Many people went up the mountain to offer sacrifices and burn paper. The village chief had warned a few days ago that they must wait until the fire was extinguished before leaving. Chen Qing waited aside and waited until the fire was completely extinguished before going down the mountain with Aunt Sun.

Aunt Sun didn't wait for the people who originally wanted to pay homage. They all knew where Meng Tao's grave was and there was no need for their presence.

At this time, everyone's mood was not too high. When they met on the road, they just said hello in a hurry, and then they all went home.

Aunt Sun looked at the fat chicken in the cage. She smiled and said, "Thanks to them, we can have a good meal."

Chen Qing also pursed his lips and smiled.

But before their smiles fell from their lips, the door was pushed open, and the smile on Aunt Sun's face instantly froze and became ugly.

"What are you doing here?"