Chapter 33 Looking after the children

Style: Historical Author: Anhua ArmyWords: 2229Update Time: 24/02/20 08:53:10
In May, the weather is getting hotter day by day. Hundreds of people walked on the road carrying grain, panting from exhaustion.

Wang Xiaolie rode on the horse and looked at the porter, feeling a little hesitant in his heart. Judging from their appearance, we should stop here and wait until the sun gets cooler in the afternoon before leaving. It would be bad if someone got sick while traveling in such a hurry. It would be great if there were mules and horses, but it would be too inefficient for people to choose. But where can I find livestock at this time? After the war, even if some mules and horses survived, they would have been eaten long ago.

Calling Cao Zhiyan over, Wang Xiaolian said, "Seeing that the porters are tired and the sun is shining brightly in the sky, why don't you take a rest?"

Cao Zhiyan shook his head: "It's still far from noon, where can we rest? Xiaosheren, please don't be soft-hearted at this time! If these porters get a hold of it, they will even be more sneaky!"

Wang Xiaolie said: "But I see someone is swaying, and if he is not careful, he will die on the road. What should I do?"

Cao Zhiyan said: "What else can be done? If someone falls dead, they will be burned on the roadside and the bones will be taken back."

After hearing this, Wang Xiaolie was speechless for a moment. The cruelty Cao Zhiyan mentioned may be the daily life of this era. Even when it comes to the protection of labor rights and the question of whose life is precious, who should we say it to at this time? If you come out to make money, your life will be bad if you die. Who is to blame?

Influenced by Buddhism during the Song Dynasty, cremation was very popular. The folk cremation rate is generally 20 to 30%, and people have long been accustomed to it. Just like in the Water Margin, after the death of Wu Da, he was burned and the bones of the officials were left behind. Cao Zhiyan is a monk, so he is naturally familiar with it.

After thinking for a while, Wang Xiaolie nodded: "That's all we have to do. But we have a break at noon, let people cook some mung beans, and let the porters drink some soup on the way. We hired people to come out, and they still made money, safe and sound It’s good to go back.”

Cao Zhiyan agreed to arrange the arrangements himself.

Wang Xiaolie looked at the crowd and saw a strong man carrying a load of grain with great ease and swaying. Next to him was a thin man wearing rather large clothes, following him with his hands empty. Among the porters, it looked quite strange.

When Cao Zhiyan came back, Wang Xiaolie pointed and asked, "The two people over there look very strange. Why is there still one empty-handed?"

Cao Zhiyan said: "Those are mother and son, from Yingchang Prefecture. Due to the military disaster last year, they lived in Caizhou. Seeing that we hired people to carry food, the son came to apply for the army and wanted to take his mother back to his hometown. There is no such thing in the army. He found a woman, so he asked his mother to change into men’s clothes and walk with us.”

Wang Xiaolie nodded after hearing this, not blaming him for anything. Last year there was a war in western Beijing, and there were a lot of refugees in various places. It was common for Jin Bing to retreat and return to his hometown, and it was hard for him to refuse. It's just that the woman didn't carry anything and was walking in the team of porters, which was very unpleasant to look at.

After thinking for a while, Wang Xiaolie said: "When you take a break, go and tell the two men that women should not walk in the team. The porters were all so tired that they were sweating profusely, and an empty-handed man walked beside them. What will they think? Didn’t we take in two children? Let his wife help us take care of the children."

Cao Zhiyan said: "We need to discuss this with that person. To be honest, this woman is quite pretty. She might cause trouble if she changes into women's clothes."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Then just wear men's clothes. Just don't let him in the crowd."

When it was almost noon, everyone rested by a river, and the army arranged for people to cook. Cao Zhiyan called Zhang Junlai and said to him: "You are carrying grain and your mother is walking beside you. It's really eye-catching. Everyone is so tired that they are out of breath, but some of them are empty-handed, so they can't help but gossip. The little housekeeper said, let's Don't let your mother be in the crowd. I have two children here, please help watch."

After hearing this, Zhang Jun's face looked a little ugly: "Tiha, my mother doesn't eat food from the army, so what's wrong with her being empty-handed? If I don't let her be by my side, could it be that your leader is jealous?"

Cao Zhiyan said: "What nonsense are you talking about! How can a person from Xiaoshe do big things like this? He just helps take care of the children, not with us."

After saying that, he ordered people to call Sun Wulang and Qingtou. He said: "Did you see? It's really inconvenient to have two children in the army. Your mother has nothing to do, so she can help take care of her. We can eat together, so you don't have to pay extra."

Zhang Jun looked at the two children, standing there looking around curiously, and looking at himself from time to time. After thinking for a while, he nodded in agreement. I have also met the leader of the army. He is about the same age as me and should not have any thoughts about my mother.

Zhang Jun's mother was happy to hear this. It's really uncomfortable to walk among a group of men covered in sweat. Moreover, after walking for a day and a half, my feet were almost worn out and I really didn’t want to walk any further. I heard that taking care of children is done by riding a bullock cart. What a great thing!

Everyone went on the road, and Zhang Jun's mother got on the bullock cart. Watch two children sitting in front of the car, stretching their heads together to look at the scenery outside. They talked quietly from time to time, but they didn’t know what they saw.

After a while, Zhang Jun's mother couldn't help it and said to the two of them: "The road is bumpy, you two, don't sit on the side of the car. If you are not careful, you may fall off the car and you may be injured."

Sun Wulang turned around and said with a smile: "How can we, who have grown up in hardship, get off the bus? To be honest, this is the first time for the two of us to ride in a car, the first time to travel far away, so naturally we have to take a look at what's going on on the road. What."

Zhang Jun's mother said: "What's so good about a group of men covered in stinking sweat? Come here and sit with me."

Sun Wulang looked at the woman and said after a while: "I just said that you would take us along this way. I don't know what your name is yet."

Zhang Jun's mother said: "My surname is Pan, and people have called me Pan Sanniang since I was a child. You can just call me Sanniang."

The meaning of mother in this era is mostly that of a girl, which is very different from the meaning of later generations. Most Han families, if they don't give their girls a nickname, will call them Ji Niang. Most of the women from the lower class do not have formal names, so the name of the mother will be with them throughout their life. If a nickname is given, some people will also add their surname, such as Pan Jinlian. But generally you don't call them that in person. In this era, Golden Lotus was not used as a formal name for a woman. It was either given to her by her elders when she was a child, or given by her master when she was a slave in someone else's house. The formal name is often similar to the man's name, such as Li Qingzhao and Zhu Shuzhen. With a name like Jin Lian, if you still call her that when you are an adult, you will know that she is either a showgirl or a maid. For others, such as Li Shishi, Gao Taotao, etc., the nickname Duijia is commonly used by female prostitutes and female prostitutes.

This is a Han custom, and it is not the same as in later generations. The names are often similar to the nicknames at this time.

But in the north, influenced by Hu customs, many people would call their parents "grandfather" and "mother", which was different from the Song Dynasty. When the Han people call their parents, the most common ones at this time are father and mother. It is rare to call the mother mother. The title of mother-in-law was derived from the Hu dialect, and it did not affect the whole world at this time.

Pan Sanniang does not come from a wealthy family, and she has been called Sanniang since she was a child. It's just that she was naturally charming, and after marrying into the Zhang family, her husband was completely obedient to him, and she developed such a temperament.

Sun Wulang took Qingtou, saluted Pan Sanniang together, and sat in the car.

When nothing happened, Pan Sanniang asked about their backgrounds. Sun Wulang said it, but he was extremely bored. The two of them were born in the village. Their families were poor and they had never even left the village. The things in my memory are nothing more than whose dog gave birth to several litters, and whose cat stole something from whose house. In which year the grain harvest was large, so many meals of meat were eaten. In any year when the grain harvest is small, we often eat wild vegetables. What kind of world this is and what is happening, the two of them have no idea. Even last year's war broke out and the whole village was massacred, but they couldn't explain it.

Pan Sanniang felt sleepy after hearing this. Only then did I realize that the task of looking after children is not easy.