Shen Zheng swaggered away from the field.
After walking a few steps, he heard a few women in the field chatting while cutting rice.
"Did you hear that Widow Zhang and Zhao Fugui hooked up again?"
"Isn't that right? Widow Zhang's belly seems to be enlarged."
"Oh, this is serious. It's really unusual for a widow to be pregnant. In the past, it would have sunk into the pond."
The corners of Shen Zheng's mouth twitched.
The folk customs in Dahe Village are so tough that even a widow can become pregnant.
His father sent him to such a bad place, and he wasn't afraid that he would be led astray by these people in the village.
Shen Zheng returned to the yard and asked the bookboy to bring out a chair for him. Several chairs were combined and placed under the shade of a tree. He lay on them and began to sleep.
He slept until dusk, and the smell of rice wafted from the kitchen. He thought he was sleeping on the bed, so he turned over and rolled from the chair to the ground. The fall made him dizzy.
"Afu, why don't you come and give me a hand?"
At this time, Ah Fu was still threshing rice. He held a flail in his hand and had blisters on his palms, but he did not dare to stop.
He couldn't believe what he had experienced in the afternoon. A boy who was studying with him was actually doing farm work here. He worked for almost two hours before he could get five or six kilograms of rice. He was far away from ten kilograms... He smelled it. The smell of food made him so hungry and wanted to eat, but Aunt Zhao said that he couldn't eat until he finished his work, so he could only continue to thresh rice silently.
"Afu!!"
Shen Zheng shouted angrily.
Ah Fu had no choice but to throw down the flail and help his young master up.
The sun was setting at this time, and it was a cooler time of the day. People busy in the fields had no intention of calling it a day, and everyone was harvesting frantically while it was still dark.
Cheng Wanwan called all the boys back. After a tiring day, he wanted to have a meal and take a good rest. There were still many things to do after the meal.
Wu Huiniang put the food on the table. During the busy farming season, she didn't have much time to make something delicious, but she had enough food to feed everyone.
Each person has a bowl of corn rice, plus a corn tortilla, and a plate of fried wild vegetables on the table.
Cheng Wanwan inspected the fruits of Ah Fu's labor and said softly: "It's six pounds and two taels in total. It's considered one person's task has been completed. Which one of you two will serve at the table?"
Ah Fu swallowed his saliva and took a step back: "Master, hurry up and eat."
He hoped that the young master would remember him and tear off a piece of corn cake and give it to him. Although it was not much, it would at least be enough to cushion his stomach.
Shen Zheng looked in disbelief.
The smell he just smelled in the yard was so fragrant that his stomach rumbled. He thought it was delicious food.
Result, that's it? ?
Are you crazy to want him to do so much work after eating this kind of food?
"I will not eat!"
Shen Zheng angrily threw his hands and left.
Ah Fu boldly took a piece of tortilla from the dining table and chased after him.
"Don't worry about him, just sit down and eat."
Cheng Wanwan asked the children to sit down.
A child who has been tired in the fields all day has no time to think about other trivial things. He buries his head in his rice bowl and eats it all.
After the meal, it was Cheng Wanwan's turn to clean up and wash the dishes, while she stayed at home and worked.
After washing the dishes, she would spread out the dried rice in the yard and thresh it. This work had to be done all night long. After the children came back from school, they also had to thresh the rice together. Sometimes it was normal to work all night.
She thought of a poem she had read before: The mud mirror in the new construction field is flat, and every family is plowing rice while the frost is clear... The flails sounded all night long until dawn.
Cheng Zhao took four boys to the Zhao family ancestral hall. Although the autumn harvest was tiring, he could not stop studying and studying, because the villagers did not know when Cheng Zhao would leave, and one more day of study would be a day.
Sitting in school, reading and writing is at least easier than working in the fields, and the children are very enthusiastic.
Here the lectures and readings have begun.
Over there, Shen Zheng and Afu were wandering around in the village. Originally, Shen Zheng was wearing a viola-colored silk robe and was very conspicuous when walking in the village. But at this moment, the robe on his body was already in tatters, and the viola color turned into tatters. He was earth-colored, his hair was still messy, and he was fanning himself with a leaf in his hand. He looked no different from other people in the village.
He walked all the way, but no one knew that this was the son of the county magistrate.
Ah Fu asked all the way before he found Li Zheng's home.
Li Zheng was considered a small official without a formal establishment and was his father's subordinate. If Li Zheng dared to resist his orders, he would ask his father to replace him with someone else.
"Master Shen!?"
Li Zheng was shocked and disappeared for half a day. How did this young master become like this?
Shen Zheng said coldly: "I am hungry, please bring me something to eat."
Li Zheng hesitated. Dashan Niang had specifically told him not to give Master Shen any food. If he helped Master Shen, he would be going against the county magistrate.
When he was hesitating, Li Zheng's wife had already come out of the house. Because the autumn harvest was too busy, their family only ate at this time. Li Zheng's wife was holding a bowl of food in her hand. The staple food was corn, black beans and wild vegetables were added, and it was cooked. A bowl of greenish-yellow paste.
"Master Shen, eat quickly."
Li Zheng's wife had a loving smile on her face. This bowl of paste was originally reserved for Tie Zhu to eat. This was the thickest bowl and it filled her stomach.
Shen Zheng was staring at the bowl of weirdly colored food, losing all appetite.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Zhao Lizheng, as the head of a village, you actually eat such a thing?"
Li Zheng was also ashamed. Although he was the head of a village, he had no other income except a little more salary from the county magistrate than others.
He doesn't know many words and doesn't have much ability. He spends his whole life digging in the fields...
Li Zheng's wife said tentatively: "Fortunately, the rice has just been harvested, and there is new rice at home. Master Shen, please wait for a while, and I will pound the rice. You will be able to eat dry white rice later."
Shen Zheng gritted his teeth: "Who wants to eat white rice?"
He can eat white rice every day at home, but now he wants to eat Babao chicken, roast duck, lion head...
He turned and left.
Ah Fu quickly followed up: "Master, I still have a corn tortilla in my arms. You should eat it first to fill your stomach."
"Who wants to eat this kind of thing? I won't eat it anyway!"
Shen Zheng's young master lost his temper and was unwilling to bow his head at all.
Ah Fu followed behind, taking small bites of the cake. He was really exhausted today. He had never done such a tiring job since he was born.
"Master, where are you going?"
Shen Zheng said coldly: "Go back to town."
Ah Fu was very anxious: "Young master, you must not do this. If the adults find out, they will lock the young master in a dark room."
"Go to town and come back with a full stomach."
Shen Zheng's wishful thinking was very clear. Although he had no money, all the shopkeepers in the town's restaurants knew him, so he didn't dare to say anything about credit.
After eating a full stomach, he returned to Dahe Village without anyone noticing. As a busy man as his father, there was no way he would know that he had gone back.
The plan was indeed good, but the first time the master and servant came to Dahe Village, they got lost on the mountain road before walking for half an hour...
