The Little Widower (farming)

47

Early the next morning, Zhou Yuan drove the ox cart to the town and left breakfast for Chen Qing before leaving.

Chen Qing was lying on the bed, looking at the porridge and steamed egg custard cooked by Zhou Yuan on the bedside. He felt that he seemed a little too presumptuous these days.

He quickly got up, put on his clothes, and after washing up, he ate the breakfast Zhou Yuan had left for him.

After eating, he swept the yard and tidied the house. He saw that the clothes he had changed needed to be washed, so he tidied them up and prepared to go to the river to wash clothes. Zhou Yuan said that people from the Zhang family would come at the end of the day. I should be able to make time for my son to wash his clothes.

When passing by Aunt Sun's house, Chen Qing went in and searched around the house but couldn't find her, so Chen Qing went to the river by himself.

Usually when he does laundry, he always picks a time like noon when there is no one by the river. Today, because he had something to do at noon, he had to go earlier. Chen Qing expected no one by the river when he was on the road.

But unfortunately, there happened to be a man washing clothes by the river at this moment. Although Chen Qing had been in the village for five years, to be honest, he didn't recognize many people, but he knew the people by the river today.

He is the husband of the former village chief's youngest son, who seems to be named Zhang Ran. He had also asked Zhou Yuan about the former village chief's family before, but Zhou Yuan only said that Aunt Wang wanted to introduce his nephew. To Zhou Yuan.

Because the matter of Zhang Ran drugging him was too trivial, Zhou Yuan did not go into details.

Chen Qing did not go to him, but found a new place to squat down. In his basin were clothes belonging to him and Zhou Yuan. Chen Qing wanted to finish washing them quickly and get over with it.

But Chen Qing had just soaked his clothes, and Zhang Ran stood in front of him. Chen Qing was startled, then calmed down and nodded towards Zhang Ran.

Since the previous incident happened, people in the village have been avoiding Zhang Ran. Everyone is talking about why Meng Bing still doesn't give up on him. The two of them are still living as before. According to others, they may have some backbone. He had already given Zhang Ran to Shen Tang.

Zhang Ran looked down at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing's face was rosy, and there were several marks on his neck, old and new, which showed how nourishing his life was. Zhou Yuan was strong and strong, and he didn't look like an embroidered pillow.

Zhang Ran looked at Chen Qing bitterly. He was obviously a widower. He pretended to be a law-abiding man on weekdays, but who knew what methods he used to seduce people in private.

He doesn't look very good, he's thin and small, so there's nothing worth looking at.

Chen Qing was a little confused as to why he hadn't left yet. After all, they were not familiar with each other and there was no reason to greet him.

Just when Chen Qing was wondering if he had occupied his space and was about to move away, he heard Zhang Ran say: "He is good in bed, right?"

Chen Qing's eyes widened, and he even felt that he had heard wrong. Chen Qing didn't want to follow He struggled, put away the clothes in the basin and wanted to wash them somewhere else, but was stopped by Zhang Ran.

He looked Chen Qing up and down: "What's good about you? You have a dry body and a dry appearance."

Chen Qing frowned and cursed all the curse words in his heart. He stood up and looked at Zhang Ran: " Are you sick?"

Zhang Ran knew Chen Qing's character. He didn't understand what Zhou Yuan saw in such a boring gourd. Even when he got angry, he just said softly, "You are sick."

Maybe Zhou Yuan just likes his status as a widower? Then you can do it yourself.

He grabbed Chen Qing's hand again. Chen Qing didn't want to tangle with him, but Zhang Ran's hand was very strong. When Chen Qing struggled, the basin in his hand overturned, and a piece of Zhou Yuan's clothes fell out of the basin. Floated away with the current.

Chen Qing broke away from Zhang Ran's hand and wanted to pick up the clothes, but Zhang Ran pushed Chen Qing directly into the water.

The water in the Luohe River was not deep, only reaching a person's calf. Chen Qing could not stand firm and fell into the river, soaking wet all over.

Panting heavily, he first picked up Zhou Yuan's clothes, and then looked at Zhang Ran.

Zhang Ran looked at him leisurely, as if he didn't have the slightest concern about pushing him into the water.

Chen Qing was furious. He came out of the water and walked to Zhang Ran dripping with water. Zhang Ran was not afraid and just said: "Let me think about it, are you and your widowed woman waiting together?" Him?"

Before Zhang Ran could finish his words, Chen Qing kicked him in the knee. He was caught off guard, and Chen Qing directly pressed him down and pushed his head into the water.

Zhang Ran was completely stunned. He didn't expect that Chen Qing, who always seemed honest and responsible and could be bullied by everyone, would dare to fight back!

Although Chen Qing was small, he had been doing farm work for five years after all, and he was very strong. He was so angry that no matter how he ridiculed himself, it was okay, but now he actually verbally insulted his mother. Be friendly with Zhou Yuan!

He pushed Zhang Ran's head into the water for three or four rounds, and then the two of them fought together. Chen Qing's surprise at the beginning gave him the upper hand. He rode on Zhang Ran's body and pulled his hair.

When Li Xin arrived, Chen Qing pushed Zhang Ran into the water again. Li Xin came over to join the battle. He didn't care who was right or wrong, he only helped Chen Qing.

Zhang Ran couldn't defeat the two of them and ran away. Chen Qing and Li Xin were left sitting by the river to catch their breath.

Li Xin laughed after catching her breath. First she looked at Chen Qing and curled her lips, and then started to laugh: "A Qing! You know how to fight?"

Chen Qing was still confused at the moment, but now he stopped and just Feeling so happy, he also laughed with Li Xin.

"Why did you come here?" Chen Qing asked.

"I'm here to wash the clothes." Li Xin looked over there and saw that his clothes basin was still thrown on the roadside. "I saw you fighting, so I came over quickly. What's going on?"

Thinking of what just happened , Chen Qing frowned again: "He just said something to me, and then he pulled me and refused to let me go. My clothes fell into the river. I wanted to pick them up, but he pushed me into the water. "No, is he sick? "

Li Xin was speechless. "The people in the village don't like him. Why is he causing trouble for you?"

Chen Qing looked at Li Xin and said, "I think he is looking at Zhou Yuan."

Only then did he remember that during the tax collection last year, the husband who came with him was Zhang Ran. When Zhou Yuan helped them move things, his eyes had been glued to Zhou Yuan. Today he said some things...

"Ah? You can't?" Li Xin opened her eyes wide, "He's married."

Chen Qing sighed. At this time, the wind blew, and he shivered. His whole body was wet, and Li Xin also noticed , he quickly went to get back his basin, which contained his dirty clothes. He put the dirty clothes on Chen Qing, and then they went home together.

When passing by Aunt Sun's door, Aunt Sun was startled: "Did A Qing fall into the water?"

Chen Qing shook his head: "Mom, I'll go back and change clothes first."

Aunt Sun quickly followed behind them and saw Chen Qing went into the room to change clothes, and then he asked Li Xin: "What happened?"

Li Xin: "I don't know, let's wait for A Qing to talk about it later?"

Soon Chen Qing changed his clothes, and then put on the clothes he just put on What happened was told to Aunt Sun again, but the part where Zhang Ran said bad things about Aunt Sun and Zhou Yuan was omitted.

Chen Qing was a little scared now. He had been cautious since he came to Luohe Village, for fear of causing trouble to Aunt Sun. Some people had gossiped about him before, and he could tolerate those men saying dirty things in front of him, but today Zhang Ran talked about Aunt Sun and Zhou Yuan.

Chen Qing looked at Aunt Sun timidly: "Mom, will nothing happen?"

Aunt Sun smiled: "Mom can't control you now, you have learned to fight."

Li Xin also laughed and told Aunt Sun Talking about Chen Qing's bravery just now: "Auntie, you don't know, A Qing is really brave."

Seeing the two of them making fun of themselves, Chen Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then Aunt Sun said: "That Zhang Ran has a bad reputation in the village . Well, if something like picking up ashes happens again, no one will say anything bad about you."

Aunt Sun and Li Xin comforted him for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, Li Xin went to wash clothes and Aunt Sun had to go home. Cook.

Although she is the only one in the house now, she has raised more poultry and livestock, especially the piglets, which are so delicious.

"Come home for dinner later." Aunt Sun said before leaving.

Chen Qing didn't want her to leave. The land renter was coming soon. If her mother was here, she could help him talk. He was really not good at dealing with people.

But Aunt Sun ignored him. Zhou Yuan must have warned her when he left.

Chen Qing watched her leave dejectedly. After a while, Zhang Xu's family came to the door, and with them was the new village chief.

Zhang Xu is a man. He has a dark complexion. He is accompanied by his wife. Although his clothes are patched, they are clean and tidy. On her hands are a pair of twin girls. Behind the girl is a brother. and a son who looked to be only twelve or thirteen years old.

"We heard from the village chief that your family can lease land to us for farming." Because Chen Qing was the only one in the family, it was not Zhang Xu who spoke, but his wife.

Chen Qing nodded and said dryly: "That's

right." "As for the rent." The woman rubbed her hands, seeming a little embarrassed, and there was a little hope hidden under the embarrassment.

Chen Qing glanced at her, and then said: "I have discussed with my family that we will rent these acres of land to you. We will pay our family's taxes every year during the harvest, and then give us 20% of the income from the land. "

Zhang Xu's eyes lit up when he heard what he said. He couldn't control himself: "Really? You only want 20%?"

Chen Qing stepped back and said, "Yes."

Zhang Xu thought of Zhou Yuan . He is a veteran who retired from the battlefield. His tax is exempted, but they do not intend to convert this part of the exemption. This is already a huge advantage.

Zhang Xu's wife covered her eyes: "Thank you, thank you."

Chen Qing quickly shook his head: "It's okay, it's okay. If we agree on this, we can go to the Yamen to write documents in two days, right?"

They thanked Chen Qing profusely. Their family has a large population and heavy taxes. If they don't have food to pay taxes, they can only give money. But money is so easy to make. Zhang Xu works odd jobs here and there, and he already has old diseases.

His wife did embroidery all day long and went to town to wash clothes. Her hands were covered with frostbite in the cold winter months. Several children ran to the mountains all day just to find some cicada sloughs and simple medicinal materials in exchange for some money.

But now, they can farm, which is great, and the conditions are not harsh, and they can even have a surplus of food.

Zhang Xu had to kneel down to Chen Qing. Chen Qing was really not good at handling these situations. He quickly said: "No need to thank me, just farm well."

The village chief only came to witness and see that they had reached an agreement. Get up and leave.

Chen Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief, but before leaving, the twin sister stuffed something into Chen Qing's hand. After they walked out, Chen Qing saw a wild fruit in his hand.

Chen Qing put the wild fruit to the tip of his nose and smelled it, feeling very happy.

After a while, Zhou Yuan came back. Chen Qing hadn't cooked yet, so the two of them went to Aunt Sun's place. Aunt Sun had already prepared meals for them.

During the meal, Aunt Sun told Zhou Yuan what happened to Chen Qing today. After hearing this, Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment, and then laughed like Aunt Sun and Li Xin.

"A Qing has learned how to fight!"

Chen Qing was teased by them all day long, as if fighting was a glorious thing.

On the way back, Zhou Yuan held Chen Qing's hand. Chen Qing was still a little worried: "Is everything going to be okay?"

Zhou Yuan put his arms around his shoulders: "Don't worry, I will hold you up if the sky falls. Besides, "You definitely didn't mean to cause trouble. He must have done something."

Chen Qing thought for a while and then said, "He might like you."

Zhou Yuan stopped and said, "I'm wrong, I don't even know who that person is. " I know, the conscience of heaven and earth."