Lao Zheng was a distant relative of Zheng Zuliang's family, and he could be considered a relative. He had been a servant in their Zheng family for decades. He had seen many guests of all kinds being welcomed and sent to him, but not someone like Liang Chuan who was not only treated politely by the master, but also by the young master who had such a dandy temperament.
He had seen the young man in the sedan, this was the second time. Anyone with a certain status would not take a second look at an old servant like him. This young man made him feel like a spring breeze. It stands to reason that such a young talent should have some status to make the master think highly of him, but when the sedan entered the mud pit of Helu, several cars even stepped on the mud, and the road was bumpy. , it was quite painful to walk down.
Liang Chuan was not a coquettish person, and he was embarrassed to sit inside and let a few people suffer outside. He kept wanting to get off the sedan and walk back by himself. Lao Zheng didn't agree. The master had given instructions and it hadn't been delivered to their doorstep, so they couldn't go back. His master's words were just a jingoist order. If he threw the master's guests back, wouldn't that be deceiving the master?
In the small mountain village, the children had never seen such a thing as a big sedan. Five or six children were surprised to see it, with runny noses and open trousers, chasing after the sedan, happily singing nursery rhymes: "The groom is here in the sedan. In the small village of Helu, there are two rats with one lift..."
Liang Chuan finally heard it. Even their local children understood He Lu's poverty. Lao Zheng drove the children away, not wanting these little monkeys to hang around behind him, but children love to play. If you drive them away, they will stick to them again, like brown candy.
Fan Dianyuan sat in the field. The green grass stems on the reddish red soil will not completely wither all year round. At most, they will turn slightly yellow, but the grass leaves are still green and faint. Unlike their northern Shaanxi, everything is gray and yellow in decay all year round. In the fields, as long as you are willing to work, how can you starve to death? He pulled a grass stalk and put it in his mouth, watching the children chasing the sedan on the path. There were more than a dozen of them in the fields who had escaped from the famine. There are smiles and a lot of emotions in my heart.
Yesterday, on New Year's Eve, the eldest lady brought Lao Cai to visit them and brought a bag of white rice to each of their families. This rice is so fragrant. When a group of people walked south, they were worried that they wouldn't be able to eat all the rice from the south. Unexpectedly, this snow-white rice tasted so fragrant! In my hometown, there was no food to be harvested from the fields, so I had to starve. It was better to make one or two black buns to eat with water so that I could swallow them, just so that my stomach would not feel uncomfortable.
I am really lucky. I met such a good boss when I went south. She is still a little girl. She is kind-hearted and kind-hearted, just like a female Bodhisattva. She provides food and shelter to a group of miserable people like herself. Now she is using a donkey whip. If you whip him and make them go back to their hometown, they will never go back.
The farm work in the field was so tiring in the first few days when the seedlings were being planted, but at that time I had just started working for the eldest lady, so she could see if I was a little tired! The sugarcane ridges need to be dug several times, and the soil in the field must be plowed into fine pieces. Before planting the seedlings, the mud and water in the seedling pits must be broken up, and the well-rotted farmyard manure must be poured over. I don’t know who taught that young man from He Lu this tossing method. He has never heard of such a method of serving in his whole life of farming. Now that the sugarcane seedlings have been planted, I feel much more relaxed. If we serve the land like this and the sugarcane seedlings in the land don't grow fat or strong, is there any justice in it?
He has never eaten sugar cane. He heard the children say that this stuff is sweet, sweeter than the honey water from the mountains! He didn't dare to secretly nibble on the sugarcane seedlings held by the host lady Jin Gui like the children did. That was because the children were ignorant and greedy. If you recruit people for work and then eat their seedlings, you are no longer a rat in a rice vat! The eldest lady values this sugar cane field so much that she has to help others get things done, otherwise she will be sorry to the conscience of the world!
A group of children chased Liang Chuan's sedan to the entrance of He's ancestral hall. Originally there were only a few children in twos and threes, but later the children from the whole village were recruited by laughing, singing and singing folk songs, forming a huge and spectacular team. The whole Helu was alarmed again, thinking that some important person was coming or holding some happy event. Such a grand pomp, I haven't seen anything like this in some years.
In recent months, the people of Helu have seen that Helu seems to have become different. First, large tracts of fields were developed, then some families began to build big houses, and then officials came in sedan chairs. They are in Helu Village. When did this small village in the ravine become so dynamic? It's really a ghost.
Most of the children's clothes were shabby, their hair was unkempt, and they had big snot bubbles hanging on their noses. Many of the children didn't even have a pair of decent pants. They were naked buttocks and just joined in the fun and chased behind the crowd, ranging from three years old to eighty-nine years old. There are children aged 10 to 10 years old. They didn't know who was sitting in the sedan, but they knew it must be a beautiful girl or an old man. Their anticipation was like that of a child visiting the zoo for the first time. I followed him to the He Family Ancestral Hall to see what the person in the sedan looked like.
Arriving at the entrance of the ancestral hall, Liang Chuan got down from the sedan chair. The group of children looked like they were not high-ranking officials or official ladies in gorgeous clothes. Liang Chuan looked like an ordinary farmer, wearing the same burlap clothes as his father at home.
Liang Chuan also didn't expect that there would be so many children guarding him when he was sitting in a sedan chair, and he was very happy.
He Baozheng was coming back from the fields, his feet still stained with red mud. He was wondering what kind of big shot came to Liang Chuan again. He could only find this young man. There was only this young man in He Lu who had such ability. Let all the prominent people in Xinghua, Fengshan, come to him.
Looking from a distance, it turned out that the person getting off the sedan was Liang Chuan! He Baozheng came over and patted Liang Chuan from behind, which startled Liang Chuan. He Baozheng teased Liang Chuan: "What are you kidding about? Now that you are so powerful, you need to buy a sedan to sit in when you go in and out. This must cost a lot of money."
Liang Chuan knew that He Bao was teasing him, rubbed his hands, and said with a smile: "It's so damn uncomfortable to sit in this sedan, I'm shaking so much that I'm going to vomit. I didn't rent it, it was from a friend's house, and he insisted on giving it to me. When I come back, I don’t have the spare money, so if I have the time, I’d rather buy some wine and meat and come back to eat.”
"I guess you are not that particular person. It is easy for this person to go from simple to luxurious and difficult from extravagant to simple. You are a good young man. It is better to avoid these things that are about ostentation and comparison. It is better to save a family fortune. Those who come down, listen to my old man."
"Hey, I have learned a lesson today. Hey, did you see it just now?" Liang Chuan pointed at the large group of children and said, "Whose family do these children belong to? There are so many of them. Aren’t you afraid of being abducted and sold outside?”
Trafficking? He Baozheng was stunned for a moment, looked at Liang Chuan like a fool, and said: "Abducting children? As you can imagine, farmers don't have enough to eat because they have too many children. They wish other families wanted to adopt a few to raise, but who would? Do this?"
Liang Chuan forgot that there are so many children in today's society. Where is the phenomenon of orphans caused by family planning? If you want a child, relatives and neighbors can adopt one. Except for little girls who are sold to prostitutes, who would do this kind of bereavement? A matter of conscience.
"Isn't there a school in the village? It would be good to study some books. There will be a way out in the future. I will roll in the mud every day, and I will only be able to hold a hoe in the future. The son of a sheepherder will be a sheepherder. This way, generation after generation will not be able to get ahead. ." Liang Chuan said seriously without joking.
"Oh, you, Mr. Zhang, are getting louder and louder now. Studying? Who doesn't want to study, but do you know how much it costs to study? Doesn't it cost money to hire a gentleman? Who is not willing to go to such a prosperous place as a gentleman with some status? You are a gentleman in a big and wealthy place, but you come to our little village to mess around with us?" He Baozheng patted the mud on his body and found a wooden stick to scrape the mud on his feet.
"Don't say that sir is willing to come, but there are few families here who have enough money to afford education and literacy. Every family's life is so tight that they don't even know where the rice for tomorrow's cooking is. Reading is of no use. ? Can it be used as food? Who would do such a thankless job? You have read books, are literate, and know these big principles, but you are hungry and you can't feed your stomach first? "
From Liang Chuan's point of view as a modern person, He Baozheng's thought was a complete theory of the futility of reading. He shook his head, denying He Baozheng's remarks, and said: "You are wrong. There is a house of gold in the book, and there is a thousand gold millet in the book. It is true that if you don't study, you can go to the ground, but if you read, you will learn how to read. After gaining a fame, the hard life of several generations has been completely changed. There is no need to face the loess and rely on the sky to make a living. Not to mention becoming a high official in the court, it is to be a custodian in the county. For us in Helu Village , that’s not a trivial matter!”
He Baozheng said: "I don't know if there is a golden house in the book. I only know that it is not easy to raise a child to study. The school, teachers, pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and desk all cost money... Don't think about it. , I know what you said may be right, but some people are born to be fools, so don’t worry about what you shouldn’t think about!”
Liang Chuan said: "Baozheng, you said yesterday that our village is getting worse and worse. I also promised you that we will make the village better and better. You look at these little children all day long and only know how to catch grasshoppers and dig out bird's nests." Don't you feel distressed? Don't worry about the school. If it doesn't work, we will use your He family ancestral hall as the school. As for the husband who has other expenses for studying, I will think of a way and I will try to make it available to He Lu's little baby. Study!”
He Baozheng's rough big hands were trembling with excitement, and he was muttering at a loss for words! It’s not that he doesn’t understand what studying means to farmers, but life forces them to do nothing. This young man actually told him that there is a way to solve the problem of children studying. This is a merit and a great good deed! His eyes were even a little twitchy, and he murmured: "There is hope, there is hope."
