Blacksmith Luo calmed down for a while, drank a few more sips of tea, and his overall condition recovered a little again.
Until then, he saw Yang Huazhong and Mr. Li sitting next to him smoking cigarettes and chatting. Blacksmith Luo couldn't help but sigh: "It's different when you are younger. You are obviously in better shape than me!"
Among the three of them, he is the oldest, already over sixty.
Yang Huazhong was second, looking like fifty-six.
Boss Li is in his early thirties, similar to Luo Fengtang.
The age gap here brings about a very obvious gap in physical fitness.
Yang Huazhong said to Blacksmith Luo: "Brother Luo, please don't say that. You are better than me at my age."
Boss Li also nodded, "When I get to Uncle Luo's age, I may not be as good as you."
Blacksmith Luo smiled and waved his hand: "Our physical strength cannot compare with that of Uncle Yang from the old Yang family. When it comes to strong bones, I have to obey Old Uncle Yang!"
When it comes to Lao Yangtou, Yang Huazhong and Boss Li both nodded in agreement.
"Third brother, how old is Uncle Yang this year?" Blacksmith Luo asked again.
If I remember correctly, I already celebrated my eightieth birthday...
Yang Huazhong announced: "My father will be eighty-four soon."
Eighty-four?
Darling, I’ll go straight to ninety in a few years.
In a few years, he will be a centenarian.
Not to mention that he is the only one among these eight villages, even if we look at the whole of Daqi, there are probably many old and long-lived people who can be counted on one hand.
In the kitchen behind them, the Li brothers were still swinging hammers in full swing.
This made Blacksmith Luo lament once again how wonderful it is to be young.
Has endless strength.
"Boss, your second son is so capable of work, has so much strength, and is so down-to-earth in his work. Why don't you take advantage of these good years to marry him?"
Blacksmith Luo had never asked these questions before.
No, after many contacts and getting to know each other, Blacksmith Luo had a very good impression of the three Li brothers.
In addition, they were much older and he was more than enough to be their father, so Blacksmith Luo asked.
When Boss Li heard Blacksmith Luo's question, he just smiled awkwardly and lowered his head.
Yang Huazhong sat on the other side of Boss Li. Seeing Boss Li like this, he patted Boss Li on the shoulder.
"Men should marry when they are young and women should marry when they are young. There is nothing that cannot be said."
"Your uncle is asking this because he cares about your brothers. You and your brothers are doing well together. The only shortcoming in the family is that there is no woman to take care of the housework, right?"
If you don't take care of important things now while you are strong and can make money, you will have no hope of marrying a wife when you are old and unable to make money in the future.
Young people have been suffering for a while, and the children have grown up, and everything has gone ashore.
When you get old and can't do it anymore, at least your children can bring you a bite of food in front of your bed.
When you are old and gone, at least someone can find you a coffin, put the boards on it, and carry it up the mountain for burial.
So, raise children to protect yourself from old age!
Boss Li raised his head again and said with a wry smile: "To put it bluntly, my family is too poor. My parents left early. Some of the debts they owed in those years were compounded with interest. In the past two years, our three brothers have worked together. , I just paid it off!”
"I don't care about myself. At this age, it doesn't mean much if we don't say we are married."
"The third child is still young, only fifteen years old. He can still delay it for three or four years."
"What I'm most anxious about right now is actually my second child."
"The second child is twenty-seven this year. We in Lijia Village all have babies at his age!"
"In the past few years, our three brothers were busy saving money to pay off debts. In the past two years, we have just paid off, so I discussed with them whether we should marry the second brother first?"
"But the minimum amount of the bride price is four taels of silver. This does not include the banquet, the three festival gifts, and the house at home has been repaired and not renovated."
"The second brother settled this account with us at that time. It means that if we get married, the old debt has just been paid off, and we have to take on new debts. We will live in fear, and we will be shorter when we walk in front of others..."
Boss Li's words also touched the hearts of Blacksmith Luo and Yang Huazhong.
The family conditions of the two of them are very good now. Not only do they not have a penny of foreign debt, they are also wealthy.
But they were not born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
Let's put it this way, when they were at Boss Li's age, their lives were not much better than Boss Li's.
In fact, Blacksmith Luo was dragging Luo Fengtang along at the time, and the two men's lives were not as good as those of the three brothers, Mr. Li and Mr. Li.
The three brothers can at least have someone to help them.
As for debt, the two of them have a profound experience.
When you borrow money these days, no matter who you borrow from, you will be charged interest.
If you ask relatives and friends, they may charge less interest for the sake of reputation, and borrow it from outsiders. That's terrible. The compound interest rate is overwhelming.
Moreover, the relatives and friends around me are basically suffering the same as myself, haha, and they can’t borrow a few from you.
So usually those big heads are borrowed from local landowners.
It’s not easy to borrow money from landlords. You have to use the property deed as collateral. The interest rate is exorbitantly high. If you don’t pay it when it’s due, you might have to move out all the valuable things in your home. .
Won't pay it back? At the end of the year, someone will come to your house to collect debts, block your door, let others see your family's jokes, and intimidate your family all the time, causing chaos.
Li Lao looked at Blacksmith Luo and Yang Huazhong, took a puff of dry cigarette, and continued: "The second brother told me that getting married is all about fate. With our family's situation, it is better to borrow money again." Marry him a woman and live a life together, and you might not be able to live together. It's better to save the money, renovate the house, buy a few more acres of land, and maybe marry a decent wife for the third child. daughter-in-law."
"At that time, our old Li family will have a woman to take care of the housework and continue the incense of our old Li family!"
Forehead……
Blacksmith Luo and Yang Huazhong were silent after hearing this.
These three brothers are really not the ordinary ones who unite and help each other. Boss Li delayed himself in order to win over the two younger brothers.
The second child, Li, left the opportunity to the third child for the sake of his family.
The three brothers, who are so united and help each other, have such a hard life. Hey, it can be seen that this person lives in this world, and poverty is like a tight curse on your head that cannot be taken off.
Unless you get help from a noble person, or you have the ability to break the tight spell all at once.
Otherwise, no matter how hard you work and how hard you endure hardship, you will still be poor if you deserve it.
Relying on your own duties can only barely guarantee that you will not starve to death or freeze to death. If you want to make a fortune and change your life, you need ability and luck...
And Yang Ruoqing happened to be here too, and happened to hear some of their conversations during the intermission.
