The camphor tree in front of He Baozheng's house is as beautiful as its name, with a wide spreading crown, dense branches and leaves, and majestic momentum. When the four seasons change, it is like an old gatekeeper of time, standing quietly in its hometown. Its branches and leaves are always green. When you get older, the traces of time suddenly remind you that it is getting younger and younger.
Liang Chuan lamented the beauty of this camphor tree to He Baozheng more than once. After drinking for three rounds, He Baozheng would always tell anecdotes about their ancestors with high spirits.
He said that when the ancestral hall was originally chosen, his ancestors asked an expert to look at the location, and it was because of this tall camphor tree. The master said that if the ancestral hall is built here, the life of the descendants will be better and better in a hundred years, and many noble people will be born.
But a hundred years have passed, and the camphor trees are still there, as big as a shed cover. The ancestral hall is covered with dust and cobwebs, and the situation of the people in the village is not only not getting better, but is getting worse year by year, and there are no noble people. When he talked about this matter, he did not forget to scold the charlatan. His ancestors were deceived so miserably. If he had chosen another direction, he might have been able to protect his descendants for hundreds of years.
The courtyard of the ancestral hall could no longer accommodate so many people, so Yi Niang asked everyone to come to this lush camphor tree to learn how to make bamboo weaving together. Everyone gathered around Li Erhua, but because Yi Niang and the others could be regarded as second-generation disciples, they took several village women separately and taught them step by step, starting with breaking bamboo and splitting bamboo strips.
Where there are women, there are rivers and lakes, and there are many disputes in the rivers and lakes. He Baozheng made a rule that you are not allowed to gossip about other people under this tree. If you want to talk, you can do it on your own stove. Too much gossip will lead to right and wrong, and sooner or later this place will turn into a rumor concentration camp. If anyone breaks this rule, ask him to leave. The only way to keep him after he leaves is to cut off his thumb. .
He Baozheng used the clan's ancestral family laws and the rules set by everyone. This kind of agreement is quite binding in this kind of man-made society. Otherwise, in ancient times, there would be no such thing as the clan leader leading the clan members to immerse people in the pig cage at will. . Breaking everyone's rules and not immersing her in the pig cage and breaking one of her fingers was an advantage.
Nothing can be done without rules.
As for wages, they are paid at the end of each month, and everyone works on a piece rate basis. Except for Liang Chuan's own direct descendants. He Baozheng is responsible for arranging whoever goes to the mountain to cut bamboo and carry it down, and everyone will have a turn. As for the finished bamboo weaving, he drove the ox cart to the shop in Fengshan.
Now half of He Lu's people are working under Liang Chuan. How should I put it? Although Liang Chuan was afraid of these old ladies, he did not deal with them directly. But all of these village women were very polite. When they saw Liang Chuan, they would greet Liang Chuan politely. Some of them would not even talk to Liang Chuan, and their faces would feel particularly bright.
Liang Chuan and Yi Niang have lived in Helu for a long time, but the change has been too obvious. Even at the end of last year, almost all the villagers would still pretend not to see them, for fear of being entangled. . Now that things are changing, everyone is eager to pester Liang Chuan and his family.
Liang Chuan doesn't want to argue with these villagers, and it's not their fault. If society is indifferent, it can only be regarded as the tragedy of the times or caused by the social system. Human nature is inherently evil, but everyone is born to be good.
The men in the village don't have much objection to their women doing this bamboo weaving. What opinions can they have? Liang Chuan is now a capable person in the village. His wife Yi Niang also joins the others in making bamboo weaving every day, and has to take care of various housework at home when she has time. He Baozheng, the leader of the village, and his wife and daughter are learning bamboo weaving. . Others are better off than me, and they are still doing this kind of craft work, so what reason do I have to look down on this craft?
So the current situation is that men are doing farm work in the village, and women are doing bamboo weaving under the camphor trees in the village. Everyone has something to do. Liang Chuan led the group of women up the mountain to cut bamboo every morning. Many people in the village are worried because there are big insects in the bamboo forest, which killed many people last year.
Liang Chuan now not only carries his own hatchet when he goes up the mountain, he also keeps two big swords with him at all times just in case of his own big killer. The momentum of those two big axes was indeed real. Every time Liang Chuan showed it and weighed it in his hand, everyone would take a breath. This Saburo was indeed no mortal. He could wield such a big ax so well.
Women in rural areas rarely look at men based on their looks. It is a consensus that good-looking men should not be used as food. Only those with strong limbs and strong bodies are the most attractive. Such a man can not only work in the fields and do a lot of work, but he can also work in bed and cultivate the private land at home. So every time they see Liang Chuan's majestic posture, many village girls will always cast an inexplicable warm look, just like the unique movement of animals in spring. Liang Chuan gets goosebumps and dare not look at him. These women looked at each other. If there was any misunderstanding, their reputation was small. If they really hooked up with these wolf-like village women, it would be really fatal.
When this group of people followed Liang Chuan up the mountain for the first time, it was much worse than recruiting a younger brother. A group of people were far away hiding behind Liang Chuan. Liang Chuan was the one who led the way in everything and set an example first, so that they dared to follow behind. Do it.
The threat of big insects to them is deep into their bones. The slightest movement in the bamboo forest can scare these women half to death, leaving everything behind and running out in panic. The more this happens, the more worried He Baozheng becomes, because in this big insect's territory, the smaller the movement, the higher the security. For these suspicious village women, He Baozheng repeatedly educated them several times before they all overcame this behavior of making noises when trouble occurred.
This sentence directly pierced everyone's heart. If you are afraid, don't go into the mountains. It is safest to go home and stay there. When I went back, I still lived a poor life without enough food and clothing. What kind of work in the world is not a matter of earning a living? Are big insects more scary or poor life more scary? There is no need to think too much about this question!
Liang Chuan wants to teach them how to choose the right bamboo for bamboo weaving. It should not be too old or too young. This is the first step in making bamboo weaving. If the bamboo is not selected well, the bamboo weaving is not good, and the quality of the bamboo weaving will not be good. Master Li Erhua naturally does not have to go into the mountains to cut bamboo himself, but choosing the best moso bamboo suitable for bamboo weaving is also key, so Liang Chuan can only do it for him.
In the past few days, Liang Chuan had led them to do things. Liang Chuan carefully explained which bamboos were good, then knocked them down and asked these people to carry them home. They didn't dare to stay in the bamboo for a long time. When they saw Liang Chuan cutting down the bamboo first, the two women rushed forward and carried the bamboo down the mountain first. The rest of the people could only wait for Liang Chuan to pick the bamboo, as if staying in this bamboo forest for a while would be life-threatening. He Baozheng was furious at their unsatisfactory look, but what could he do? To be honest, he couldn't Don't want to stay here for long.
Later, after spending more time on the mountain, everyone was not so nervous. Humans are strange animals, and their spirits will not stay tense forever. As they became more and more accustomed to the environment of the bamboo forest, they began to become more casual. Everyone gradually forgot about the fear of this potentially dangerous area in the past few days, and even started to laugh at everyone's embarrassment in the past few days.
Liang Chuan looked a little helpless when he looked at this group of people. People are indeed forgetful animals. No one would pay attention to them unless a bloody lesson happened in front of him. However, he kept reminding everyone that it is enough to just chop the outer parts of the bamboo, and not to go deep into the bamboo forest to avoid unnecessary danger.
The more times we come to the mountain, the more we gradually realize that there is a huge treasure house in the mountain. The most direct thing is the bamboo shoots everywhere! Although these spring bamboo shoots are starting to look a bit old, they are still very good ingredients. After everyone goes up the mountain, instead of busy picking bamboos, they scan the ground first to see if there are any bamboo shoots, dig a few back, and save a day's worth of vegetables.
He Baozheng has nothing to say about this. Everyone is here to eat. This bamboo forest does not belong to anyone, and whoever digs it can dig it. As long as it does not delay everyone's bamboo weaving, others will turn a blind eye. Eyes.
There are many products in the bamboo forest, including bamboo shoots, bamboo rats, pheasants, and occasionally some wild fruits. Bamboo rats and pheasants are the best. Get one or two and bring them back, and the family will have enough meat in two days. If not, pick some wild fruits and feed them to your children. The children will also be very happy.
The matter of cutting bamboo in the mountains gradually got on the right track, and Liang Chuan didn't care so much. On the other hand, Ma Dan's children, when Liang Chuan saw them recently, he felt that they seemed to be worried.
Ma Dan told him that because of the lack of rain recently, his father had to do more and more farm work. He might not be able to stay by the river all day to help him look after the fish and clams. Their children now take turns. One person stayed by the river and watched, and then the others went to the fields to help with farm work.
Because there has been no rain for days, the water level of Nanxi River has begun to drop. The sandy and muddy tidal flats on both sides of the river are slowly exposed, and the width of the river begins to narrow. At first, Fan Dianyuan and several other tenant farmers set up a tangerine tree by the river to scoop water based on Liang Chuan's suggestion. It was easy to irrigate a hundred acres of dry land.
But unexpectedly, the water level receded faster than the tide. The orange that seemed to be able to be brought up yesterday was stuck on the beach the next day. Jue Jie is no longer needed and has to walk to the river again and again to fetch water. Every day from before the sun rises to after the sun sets, we are busy non-stop, so these places can barely take care of it.
Even if there is a jujue, this thing still needs at least one person to wait on it, working hard to press the bucket into the river. At the end of the day, the person is so tired that his arms feel like they are filled with lead, and he will not be able to recover for at least three days. , but the crops and sugar cane in the fields will die without water for one day, let alone three days.
Just like what He Baozheng complained to him, unstable weather is really fatal to farmers.
