"Jiaqiang!"
"Big cousin!"
As soon as there was a knock, the courtyard door opened, and it was Xiaoliang and Xiaozhen who opened the door.
Their faces were full of surprise, as if they were about to go out when Zhang Jiaqiang knocked on the door.
Zhang Jiaqiang wondered, "Why are you two going so late?"
Xiao Zhen had a strange expression on his face and said, "Go home, Xiao Liang is living with me now!"
Why are you all crowding into your uncle's house when you can't live in a nice big yard?
Seeing the confusion on Zhang Jiaqiang's face, Xiao Liang curled his lips and said.
"My eldest sister and her family are all here, so I have to go to my uncle's house for a few days!"
Zhang Jiaqiang suddenly realized that it was his cousin Linghua who was here.
He hadn't seen this cousin for ten years, and he hadn't seen her last time. He just heard that she married an honest villager named Dashan from a neighboring village and gave birth to a boy.
Since we met this time, we naturally had to meet him.
Zhang Jiaqiang entered the door and walked in, but Xiao Zhen stood in front of him, and Xiao Liang also held him back.
Zhang Jiaqiang frowned, "What the hell are you doing?"
"Don't, don't go in, go to my house and take a nap!" Xiao Zhen stuttered.
Zhang Jiaqiang glared and said, "What's going on? Just tell me directly and don't make me angry!"
"Say it!" Xiao Zhen pushed Xiao Liang.
Xiaoliang spoke eloquently, "Actually, I can't blame my eldest sister or my brother-in-law for this. His family is a bit unreasonable..."
It turns out that my sister’s mother-in-law’s village in Xiashan was also hit by a drought this time.
They have no one to donate water pumps to repair canals. The autumn harvest is just around the corner, and the crops are still not growing like foxtail grass.
This is a sign that production is about to end. The whole village can only go to see relatives and friends in addition to receiving relief.
The eldest sister wanted her parents' family to help, so she brought her husband back to borrow food.
The uncle was generous and honest. Anyway, the old lady had already gone to Luonan, and the remaining food was given to her daughter and son-in-law.
The young couple discovered that Wangjiacun actually had a large number of water pumps and canals, so there was no big problem as the harvest was about to begin.
They talked about it after they returned home, and as a result, eight members of the family, old and young, all came to Wangjiacun to seek refuge with their in-laws.
There was no place to place them elsewhere, so they temporarily lived in grandma's courtyard.
Originally, it was okay for relatives to help when they were in trouble, but this relative took it as the right thing to do.
Now the family depends on the uncle's family for food and drink, or they eat the old grains left by Zhang Jiaqiang's parents.
After eating all the Chen grain, he started to try to get food from his second uncle's house. Xiao Liang was so scared that Xiao Liang took his things and went directly to his uncle's house to stay.
It seems that they are planning to hang on and wait until the autumn harvest to make a big profit.
My uncle was an honest man and couldn't say anything to drive people away. Xiao Zhen and Xiao Liang were juniors and they didn't dare to offend their relatives, so they had no choice but to let them go on like this.
There is no food today. I asked my uncle to help me solve it.
It was now before the autumn harvest, and my uncle’s family had no food left, so he had to borrow some sweet potatoes from his neighbor’s house and ask his two children to bring them to him.
Xiao Liang said, "It would be better if my mother was not hospitalized..."
Zhang Jiaqiang rolled his eyes, "What do I mean, am I just eating and drinking? You go to the city tomorrow and buy a cart of rice and flour. You won't be able to finish it until next year. Take me to meet my eldest cousin!"
At this time Zhigang interrupted, "I won't get involved in your family affairs. I'll talk to you tomorrow morning!"
Zhang Jiaqiang grabbed him and said, "No, you can be considered a relative and come along to see us!"
Zhigang had no choice but to follow behind the three brothers.
As soon as I entered the yard, I was greeted by the smell of fireworks.
Zhang Jiaqiang took a look and saw two little kids playing under the pomegranate tree, stacking firewood and lighting a fire.
Poor pomegranate tree planted by our ancestors, it was so smoked that its branches, leaves, flowers and fruits were rotten, and the bark was burnt if it continued to burn!
Zhang Jiaqiang was originally a little happy that his eldest cousin and his family were here, but seeing this situation, he suddenly became angry.
Is this a guest? This is when the devils enter the village!
If the child is ignorant, the adults at home won’t take care of it?
Zhang Jiaqiang turned around and glared at the two cousins, "You two are blind, don't you know how to stop it? Are you watching the house burn down?"
Xiaoliang was already angry. A child stepped forward and slapped him, "Let's play!"
Xiao Zhen and Zhi Gang hurriedly brought water to put out the fire. If it continued, it might really burn down the house.
The two little kids covered their buttocks and cried loudly.
At this moment, a middle-aged woman walked out of the main room and immediately cursed when she saw this scene.
"Oh, these are called relatives. Children are playing with fire and have such a big temper. Are we going to be driven away?"
Then a younger woman came out, picked up one of the children, screamed heartily for a long time, and then glared at Xiaoliang.
"You have never been naughty since you were a child, and the adults in your family also beat you hard? Are there any relatives like this? This is a slap in the face. I have never seen you like this!"
Xiaoliang shrank back in fear and whispered beside Zhang Jiashan.
"They are my eldest sister's sister-in-law and sister-in-law, which is amazing!"
Zhang Jiaqiang walked straight in without being familiar with them.
The middle-aged woman immediately stopped him and curled her lips.
"Hey, hey, who are you? Why do you break into someone's house without asking?"
Whose house is this?
Zhang Jiaqiang almost laughed angrily, ignored the guy and ran straight into the house.
The north room where my grandma used to live was filled with all kinds of messy things, making it look like a garbage dump.
Are you here to visit relatives or are you moving?
A child under one year old was crawling around on the ground, and an old man and an old lady next to him looked at the child like monkeys in a zoo.
Two men were sitting cross-legged on stools, drinking porridge.
When they saw Zhang Jiaqiang coming in, they all raised their heads and looked at him with dull eyes.
Zhang Jiaqiang asked in a deep voice, "Where's cousin Linghua? I'm his eldest cousin!"
The younger man had a smile on his face, put down the big bowl in his hand and said, "Cousin, have you eaten?"
It seems that this is the brother-in-law. At first glance, he looks like an honest farmer who can't be kicked.
The old woman glared at the man, "Some of them can't stop their mouths after eating. What nonsense are you talking about? Why are you looking for Linghua?"
Zhang Jiaqiang smiled calmly and said, "My cousin came to see my cousin, do you need any more reasons?"
The old woman snorted and said impatiently.
"She's asleep. You can come tomorrow morning. It's late at night, so go to bed early!"
Zhang Jiaqiang is a little puzzled that other people usually go to bed at this time, but most of this family is very happy, so why is the cousin sleeping alone? This is so unreasonable!
Just when he was planning to come back tomorrow morning, there were footsteps outside the door.
Zhang Jiaqiang turned around and saw a woman in tattered clothes walking from the backyard carrying a huge wooden basin.
Judging from the clothes in the tub, it seems that the whole family is in it.
Looking at her face carefully, Zhang Jiaqiang vaguely found the shadow of his mother when he was young. Yes, the girl followed her aunt, this person was the eldest cousin whom she had not seen for many years!
