At night, the chirping of insects and frogs outside He Lu's window was like a chorus. The excitement and joy kept He Baozheng awake all night.
Just after dawn, He Baozheng carried a broken gong and beat it all over the village, startling everyone in every household. This broken gong has not been used by He Baozheng for a long time. It is usually used when there is a village fight. Someone in the village has a surprising and happy event that makes the whole village lively. Or an important person in the village dies and calls on everyone to join in the fun. This gong.
This lonely little village has not heard the sound of this broken gong for a long time.
"Lao He, what day is it today? You are banging this gong early in the morning. Does one of your children get a wife and have a wedding drink?" A village woman teased He Baozheng and asked jokingly.
"No one else is happy to have a happy event. If you have children at home, hurry up and gather under the big tree in front of my house. I have something important to announce later. You may regret it tonight!"
He Baozheng didn't say anything, but made the matter very serious. People in the village usually don't just gather people to make jokes. Everyone looked at He Baozheng's expression, some of them went to the ground, and quickly sent someone from home to see what happened. , if the court wants to take any action again, taxation or service are not trivial matters.
Rural people are so weird. When something happens, everyone will just stand and watch. But if one family starts to move, the second and third families will follow suit, and then there will be more and more people, and everyone will join in the fun.
We haven't visited each other for a long time, and occasionally we would stand and exchange pleasantries. No matter how bad you are visiting, you still need to prepare something to eat and drink, but who has so much surplus food that they can use it to make food? If you don't come to my house, I won't go to yours. If everyone closes the door, we can save a lot of food.
Everyone usually chooses to go downstairs in the morning, because the sun at this time is gentler and not too harsh. But when everyone saw everyone rushing to He Baozheng's house, they stopped what they were doing and rushed over for fear that they would be late and suffer a loss. This rare opportunity today is not just a visit, we are just chatting when we get together. Under the lush camphor trees, a large group of people gathered. Everyone found a place to sit, asking each other about this year's plans for the fields, last year's harvest, and the problems of the east and west.
When it comes to the harvest in the field and this year's plans, many people shake their heads. The land is too thin. If they continue to plant, they will produce less food every year.
I don’t know who mentioned the situation of the Liang Chuan family first. Now the hot spot has shifted instantly. With your words and my words, everyone has mentioned the situation of the Liang Chuan family.
"Hey, let me tell you, are you talking about the beggar couple who used to live in Lao Li's house? Their house seemed to have been burned down last year, right?"
"Yes, yes..." The old woman who followed me said several correct words in a row, and said: "I seem to have seen the son of Lao Li's family come back, but too many years have passed, and I can't tell whether he is the eldest son of Lao Li's family. My son, one of his hands is broken."
"Did you see it too?"
Many people nodded. "This man is really lucky. After so many people have gone out, this is the first time I have seen someone come back alive after serving as a soldier. By the way, he seems to be living in our He family's ancestral hall with those two beggar couples."
"When I came to the ancestral hall to worship my ancestors on New Year's Eve, I saw them living here!"
"Didn't you see it when you first came here? Now there are more than two beggars. There are several more people sitting in the courtyard of the ancestral hall, weaving bamboo and editing! There is also the son of Lao Li's family!"
Several women looked at the bamboo weaving artists with envy in their eyes. If you can do this kind of craft work yourself, you can sit at home and finish the housework, and help with a few things, which can subsidize a lot of household income.
"A lot of people have come to our village recently, and some people have started planting sugar cane. How much do you think we can get by selling that thing next year?"
"A lot of house builders came here. After Lao Li's house burned down, someone seemed to have built a new house in its place. The area is quite big!"
"You don't know that the big house was built by this beggar Liang Chuan, and you don't know where this little beggar went to earn so much money. He built such a big house, which is not much smaller than the old house of He Baozheng's family!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, how long has it been since our village had such a capable person... The situation has changed."
Everyone talked to each other and told each other the legendary story of Liangchuan. If you didn’t come, you wouldn’t know it. When you heard it, you were shocked. Before you know it, the village has changed a lot. Everyone is still like a frog in a well, watching. A small sky above my head.
He Baozheng walked around the entire village and found that almost everyone who needed to be called was called, so he returned to his home with the gong.
There were several circles of people sitting around under the tree, including men, women and children. A few children were laughing and playing. Most of the adults looked unhappy. It was not that they were unhappy, but that the pressure of adults made them unable to smile. .
Seeing that He Baozheng was back, everyone started asking questions about what was going on, how long it had been, and how long it had been since the tree was so lively.
He Baozheng stood on a stone in the tree and said to everyone condescendingly: "Everyone, be quiet. I have something to announce!" The gong struck three times again, and everyone finally fell silent.
"At the beginning of spring this year, you may have noticed that we seem to be a little different. Our village has become lively and there are more people. Many abandoned lands have been planted, and some villagers have even built large houses."
Everyone looked at He Baozheng. They had just discussed these topics, and they wanted to know the reasons behind it.
"The reason for these changes ultimately lies in one person, our village's Liangchuan, Sanlang!"
"Is he the little beggar who lived in Lao Li's house?"
"Yes, it's that little beggar!"
Everyone was in an uproar for a while, but they didn't expect that it was really the little beggar.
He Baozheng lowered everyone's voices and continued: "Sanlang had an accident when he went into the mountains last year. Unexpectedly, after he came back, his brain opened up and he came up with many good ideas. Have you seen the wasteland in Zheng's wife's house? Now everyone is planting It was Saburo who suggested planting sugar cane. I don’t know why he planted so much sugar cane, but he has a lot of knowledge in his belly, so even if you tell me, I don’t understand.”
The strangers in the sugar cane fields laugh and laugh every day, and the Helu people passing by know who they are, and I feel envious. I am so happy farming, but I feel like my bones are falling apart every day, and I always have a bad look on my face when I get home.
"Now Sanlang is teaching people how to make bamboo weaving. As long as you have free time, you can go to their place to learn how to make bamboo weaving. Sanlang said that as long as they are willing to learn, they will be treated equally and teach everyone how to make bamboo weaving. This is for everyone. It’s a way to make a living. Think about it after you go home. If you want to learn this craft, come and tell me and I’ll introduce you to Saburo!”
For a while, everyone was talking about it. Is this craftsman willing to teach casually? Is what He Baozheng said true? Regardless of whether it's true or not, since He Baozheng said it, I'll go see him in private another day and ask him if it's okay.
"There is one more important thing. In a while, our village will also have its own school!" He Baozheng said excitedly, but everyone under the tree looked dull, as if this matter had nothing to do with him. Same!
An old man living at the entrance of the village, also named He, who was about the same seniority as his third uncle, named He Jinyin, said: "I'm talking about Jialuo, you don't know the situation in our village. Every family is living a miserable life now, haha, who's family?" I still have the ability to send my baby to school to learn and read. Not to mention handing over the teacher’s apprenticeship money, it’s hard to even take out the extra rations from my mouth, let alone spending money to buy paper and pens.”
He Jinyin's words represent the thoughts of most parents in the village. They can't study for no other reason than lack of money. Many people sighed, thinking that something good was going to happen just because of this.
He Baozheng, who everyone was worried about, had originally considered it, so he called everyone together today. He Baozheng continued: "I know everyone's situation. Our village is not poor for a day or two, nor for ten or twenty years. It has been so poor for decades. Why is it that just because we are illiterate, we are not poor?" A way out! But now there is an opportunity. A school will be set up in the village. There will be no charge for going to school. You don’t even need to buy pens and paper from your home. You just need to send your children to learn and read!"
What, this is like throwing a heavy stone into a calm lake. The stone stirs up thousands of waves, and the villagers suddenly explode! If everyone is grateful for letting everyone learn bamboo weaving, then allowing children to study for free is simply a great opportunity for them to change the fate of their family!
Who wants their children to be able to herd sheep and plow fields all their lives? They also want to make money by sitting in the house with a pen and live a dignified life in front of others.
"Jia Luo, what's going on? Who is responsible for such a big charity? Tell us all, we have no money now. When we turn around, we can build a monument or a temple for this great good man. , if you can read, our village will have hope!"
He Baozheng told Liang Chuan about asking Meng Liangchen to be his teacher from beginning to end. He also explained the location of the school, the fees for students, and the requirements for students in detail to each villager.
"Don't worry, Jia Luo. These little brats dare to be disrespectful to your husband and speak rudely. You don't need to teach them a lesson. We will be the first to spare them. As for clean clothes, it's even simpler. You can take some time every day to put your clothes in the stream. After a few more washes, you can still get a clean outfit. But Jialuo, did you really not drink too much yesterday? Did you hear me right? You really don’t need money?" Everyone opened their eyes and looked directly at He Baozheng pricked up his ears, worried and asked again.
“It really doesn’t cost any money!”
