Nearly a month passed in the blink of an eye, and Jiang Hongguo gradually adapted to life in Maixiang Village.
He gradually came to understand Wang Zhong's habits.
Wang Zhong's life is very regular. After eating every night, he has to walk along the ditch. While walking to eat, he also checks the irrigation ditch and water tanker.
This alone is completely different from Jiang Hongguo's understanding. Ordinary farmers, after eating, if there is nothing important to do, they would like to lie down immediately to let the food in their stomachs digest slowly. How can Wang Zhong In this way, you can also take a walk to digest food.
After walking home every night, I would practice boxing, kicking, and stick skills in the yard. Every three to five days, I would go into the mountains with my bow and arrows. Each time I went there, I would be there for a whole day. I would gain something every time I went into the mountains. Basically pheasants.
When I am free, I either sit on the kang, read and write, or knock in the tool room in the west wing.
Every time Wang Zhong was reading, Jiang Hongguo liked to sit next to him with a grate filled with needlework, mending and doing needlework.
There is also a beautiful girl named Qiao Yue who often comes to visit us. She looks very handsome and dresses like a city girl. She always likes to wear a scarf around her neck, sometimes it is red, sometimes pink, sometimes white. , he also speaks softly and waxy, and his voice is quite nice, but Jiang Hongguo always feels a little uncomfortable.
Normally, when the girl named Qiao Yue sees Wang Zhong holding a book and reading, she always likes to discuss things with Wang Zhong that Jiang Hongguo doesn't understand, but Jiang Hongguo can tell that it's basically the girl named Qiao Yue who While talking, Wang Zhong just dealt with the situation casually. Although the disgust in his eyes was not that obvious, if you look closely, it is not invisible.
Jiang Hongguo wanted to laugh every time she saw this, but she could only hold it back every time.
Members of the Second Mutual Aid Group often come to visit, especially a man named Lao Ganbang, who comes the most. However, every time Lao Ganbang comes back, he basically stays in the tool room in the west wing with Wang Zhong and learns carpentry from Wang Zhong. Craftsmanship, the two of them worked hard together.
Ma Renlian in the front yard, Niu Budao in the side yard, and Jiang Hongguo gradually became familiar with each other. There was a little girl named Xiao Zhuan who often came to visit her with Mrs. Jinhua from the second group.
There is also a big girl named Deng'er, who is pretty and very nice. She often comes over to do needlework and chat with her.
It is worth mentioning that three days after Jiang Hongguo moved in, Wang Zhong and Jiang Hongguo changed residences. Wang Zhong moved into the east room, while Jiang Hongguo moved into the main room.
Jiang Hongguo was naturally not happy at first. This was Wang Zhong's home. How could she, an outsider, occupy the magpie's nest and live in the main hall.
But Wang Zhong's reasons are also good. Wang Zhong likes to be clean, but on the kang in the main house, a guest will sit on the kang. Except for Ma Renli and Qiao Yue, who are clean, the remaining villagers are not Wang Zhong. I really dislike them, but it's because they themselves are really not particular about it.
Especially Niu Budao, whose feet are so smelly that they can kill mosquitoes.
In addition, Wang Zhong usually looks gentle and gentle, and is easy to talk to, but in fact he is a domineering person. Jiang Hongguo dares to refute the decisions he makes. She will just step down if Wang Zhong gives him a step, let alone this. When he returned to Wang Zhong, he came up with a special reason.
On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the last episode at the end of the year in the county, Jiang Hongguo followed Wang Zhong in an ox cart, taking Ma Renli, Jinhua Sister-in-law, Han Chunmei, and the three monkeys into the city together.
After Wang Zhong settled the ox cart, he ducked into the bookstore.
On the other side, Jiang Hongguo, Mrs. Jin Hua and Han Chunmei held hands, holding baskets, and watched while walking on the crowded street. Ma Renli and Three Monkeys followed behind, acting as flower protectors.
Soon the three women got into the sewing shop.
"Sister, how are you and the captain doing lately?" The three of them were picking out needlework when Sister-in-law Jin Hua suddenly changed her tone and asked with a gossipy face. Upon hearing this, Han Chunmei looked at Jiang Hongguo with the same curiosity.
"What happened?" Jiang Hongguo's cheeks were slightly red, but her heart was darkened.
Sister-in-law Jinhua said with a smile, "Sister, what's the matter? You men are unmarried and women are unmarried. Besides, only people as capable as our captain, let alone our Maixiang Village, are the entire Maixiang Ridge and the entire county." I can't find anyone else here. With such a good man, you live in the same yard and eat at the same table with him every day, how can you resist being tempted?"
The more Mrs. Jinhua said this, the more tangled and guilty Jiang Hongguo felt.
What was once an unintentional lie often needs to be covered with countless lies later on. Now, in the eyes of everyone in Maixiang Village, Jiang Hongguo is just a poor little man who has no relatives and is alone. He fled to Maixiang Village and unexpectedly met a person. Wang Zhong, who had a similar experience to him, took her in out of kindness.
"Sister, sister-in-law, let me tell you something sincerely. Our captain is very popular in this area of Maixiang Ridge. He is young and has great abilities. When he went to his house to propose a matchmaker, he almost didn't get through the threshold of his house.
I won’t talk about the far away ones, but Qiao Yue, who lives next to you, goes to the captain’s house every three days. With her little tricks, no one can tell. "
Han Chunmei also said with deep approval: "Sister, if you are really interested in our captain, you have to hurry up. I went back to my parents' house a while ago and heard from my mother that there are girls in our village who are ready to support others. The captain’s family is proposing marriage.”
Jiang Hongguo bit her lower lip harder and harder, and her heart became more and more entangled.
Seeing this, Mrs. Jin Hua stepped forward to add fuel to the fire: "As the saying goes, a good girl doesn't have to worry about marrying, and a good man doesn't have to worry about marrying. To be honest, for a man like our captain, if I hadn't been a widow, I would have You can just deliver it to your door yourself.”
"Sister, Sister Jinhua is right. Once you miss a good man like the captain, you will regret it for the rest of your life."
Sister-in-law Jin Hua and Han Chunmei exchanged words with each other, and they took turns to fight, making Jiang Hongguo so confused that he no longer even had the mood to pick a thread, and his mind was filled with the shadow of Wang Zhong.
The gentle and domineering Wang Zhong, who seems to be omnipotent, is completely different from the farmer who has occupied all his knowledge for more than 20 years. Just like the bait hanging on the sharp fishhook, Wang Zhong is very different. Just like Heli Yu'er has a fatal attraction, Wang Zhong is also attracting Jiang Hongguo all the time.
If Wang Zhong had really taken Jiang Hongguo's body that night when he first arrived, Jiang Hongguo might not have had these entanglements.
But Wang Zhong didn't want her. Instead, he righteously rejected her offer of sacrifice. He even kindly took her in, let her live in his home, provided her with three meals a day and two nights, and also helped her buy winter clothes and cotton shoes. , and even went to the mountains to hunt pheasants every three days to help her recuperate.
Jiang Hongguo already knew from Mrs. Jin Hua and others that although Wang Zhong also went into the mountains to hunt, he only went back occasionally, basically only once or twice a month.
But since Wang Zhong took her pulse, he said that her body was seriously deficient and the cold air entered her body. Fortunately, she was still young and could resist it, but if she didn't take good care of herself, it would easily lead to the root cause of the disease.
After that, Wang Zhong went into the mountains with his bow and arrow every two days. He stayed there for a whole day. Every time he brought back pheasants, he stewed them with some medicinal herbs, and most of them were given to Jiang Hongguo.
After nearly a month, Jiang Hongguo clearly felt that she was more energetic and slept more and more soundly every day. Unlike at the beginning, she often had nightmares and suddenly woke up at night with a sudden headache. Cold sweat comes.
Now I only have dreams occasionally, and I usually sleep until the next morning.
Thinking of Wang Zhong's chewing, Jiang Hongguo smiled bitterly and said, "How can someone as capable as Brother Wang look down on me!"
Sister-in-law Jinhua said: "Sister, I have to criticize you. The more capable people are like our captain, the better they know what kind of wife they should get. That Qiao Yue who lives next to your yard, isn't she good-looking?" Is that so? She can also sing and read, and she is also a cultural person, but does our captain like her? "
Han Chunmei couldn't help but nodded: "Sister-in-law Jin Hua is right. Qiao Yue is beautiful, but she is not a living person. I heard from my old man that they can't cook and just eat batter every day. And the men I understand in my heart, those who paint their eyebrows all day long may look beautiful, but it is of no use. Men are not stupid. Marrying a wife is to live a life, not to marry an ancestor to go home and support."
Sister-in-law Jin Hua said: "And that Qiao Yue is not a good person. When she came back with Ma Renli, I heard that the two of them were going to get married. Later, Captain Zhou and the others came and our place was liberated, so she changed her face and looked at me She said, Ma Renli saved her no matter what, even if she doesn't remember Ma Renli's kindness, she can't add insult to injury."
A few years ago, Mrs. Jinhua would never have said such a thing, but in the past few years, after Ma Renli followed Wang Zhong to design the water diversion irrigation system, which benefited all the villagers in Maixiang Village, Mrs. Jinhua's attitude towards Ma Renli It slowly changed.
Han Chunmei also smiled and said: "I heard from my family that when he came to my house to propose marriage, he earned the bride price by working with our captain to make windmills and threshing machines for others. If the captain hadn't taken him with him and taught him the craftsmanship, he would have earned it. He’s still a bachelor at this moment.”
"That's true!" Sister-in-law Jinhua took Jiang Hongguo's hand and said: "Sister, listen to my sister-in-law, if you meet such a kind and capable man like our captain, don't miss it. If you can benefit others in the future, There’s no guarantee you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!”
Jiang Hongguo felt confused when the two people took turns saying, "Sister-in-law Jinhua, Sister-in-law Chunmei, let's buy things first, don't let Brother Wang and the others wait too long."
Sister-in-law Jin Hua and Han Chunmei looked at each other and smiled, and said: "Okay, okay! Let's buy something first."
Never go too far in anything, especially things like relationships, just take your time.
The county town is not big, so within a short time, a few people had bought almost everything. When Chengdong and Wang Zhong met, Wang Zhong was sitting on the carriage, holding a blue book bound by thread and reading intently.
Ma Renli trotted over and lowered his head to take a closer look. On the cover were written the three characters "Traditional Records".
Wang Zhong's eyes moved from the book to Ma Renli, who immediately stood up straight.
"Have you bought everything?" Wang Zhong asked the people accompanying him, ignoring Ma Renli's little move.
"Everything is bought!"
"Three monkeys, harness the car!"
"okay!"
The ox cart carried everyone and the things they had just bought, and headed out of the city towards Maixiang Village.
In the carriage, Jiang Hongguo's mood became increasingly complicated as she looked at the tall figure sitting in front of the carriage, pulling the reins and waving a bullwhip.
Seeing this scene, Mrs. Jin Hua and Han Chunmei next to them looked at each other in unison.
It was almost noon when we got home. Jiang Hongguo carried his things back home first. Wang Zhong sent the cattle and cart to Mrs. Jinhua's house before turning back home.
When I got home, Jiang Hongguo was already making noodles.
Wang Zhong said: "You are so busy now? Why don't you take a break?"
"Why take a break? I just went to the city for a walk. It's not work, so I'm not tired!"
"I've washed the meat and cooked the skin." Jiang Hongguo said with a smile.
Wang Zhong rolled up his sleeves and walked to the table: "I'll make the stuffing. Later you can wash some cabbage, radish, and more green onions."
"okay!"
Three and a half kilograms of three-layered pork belly, first cut and then minced into minced meat.
Three flavors of fillings are made with cabbage, radish, green onions, and eggs.
Whether the dumplings are delicious or not depends not only on the plastic wrapper, but also on how the fillings are prepared. Of course, the ordinary ingredients themselves cannot produce the taste of delicacies, but they can be combined with certain methods and methods. The original flavor of food is infinitely magnified. Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes the importance of kings and ministers working together. In fact, cooking is no exception. A good combination can bring out a more delicious taste from ordinary ingredients.
After getting along with him for nearly a month, Jiang Hongguo was already in awe of Wang Zhong's cooking skills.
Wang Zhong was mixing the stuffing while telling her the dosage of the key points, but today's Jiang Hongguo was obviously a little absent-minded.
Wang Zhong's fingers were slender, well-proportioned, and very flexible. The three flavors of dumplings were wrapped into three different shapes by the two of them.
After the dumplings were wrapped, Wang Zhong picked out twelve of the three types of dumplings, sprinkled them with corn flour to prevent them from sticking, packed them in three layers in a food box, and walked out the door with the food box in hand.
The second grandfather's name is Niu Zhonggui, and he has no blood relationship with Wang Zhong. However, the second grandfather is kind-hearted and has never been biased towards the younger generations in the village. He is also somewhat aloof. He is a highly respected elder and has no children. Wang He values his own life, and he doesn't mind occasionally taking care of this respected and respected village elder.
"Is Second Grandpa at home?"
"Who is it!" Although the second grandfather is old, he has not yet reached the point where his eyesight is dim!
"It's me, Second Grandpa!" Wang Zhong had already carried the food box into the courtyard.
The second grandfather also opened the door of the house and looked at Wang Zhong who was standing outside the door with a food box, with a smile on his face: "It's Xiao Zhong, why are you here again?"
"Get in the house, get in the house!"
"It's Chinese New Year. I made too many dumplings at home all of a sudden. I was thinking of sending some to you, old man." Wang Zhong said as he walked in. After he finished speaking, he put the food box in his hand on the table.
The Niu family was also a wealthy family in the past, but unfortunately it fell into decline. Somehow, all the property belonged to the Ma family. Now the second grandfather's family only has these few big houses left. The houses are spacious, but a little too empty.
The second grandfather also walked to the kang and sat down: "You are so stupid that you sent me something. It's not like I'm paralyzed on the kang and can't move. I have food at home!"
"If it hadn't been for Second Grandpa giving me a few meals, I wouldn't have starved to death in Sangada, and how could I be in the same situation now." What the system arranged was that after escaping from famine and coming to Maixiang Village, I first got Second Grandpa. He received financial aid and then joined the Ma family as a long-term worker.
"It's been so many years, why are you still talking about old sesame seeds and rotten millet?" Second Grandpa waved his hand and said: "If you are really grateful to Second Grandpa, quickly marry a wife and give birth to some big fat boys, let me This old bone is also having fun."
"Then you have to urge Brother Daring first, he is much older than me." Wang Zhong said with a smile.
"Hmph!" When talking about this second grandfather, he had a serious face: "I haven't said enough, he has to listen to me."
"Bold is not as capable as you. Even if he wants to find him, it's not that easy. But you are different. You are capable and young. I heard people say that there are quite a few people coming to your house to propose marriage recently. You can't even meet their girls." You rejected them all without even seeing them?" Second Grandpa's tone was both questioning and a bit blaming.
"Do you have a sweetheart?" Looking at the second grandfather's burning eyes, if it were an ordinary person, he would have shown his timidity.
Wang Zhong smiled slightly, with the same expression on his face: "There is someone who seems to suit my liking."
"Oh?" Second Grandpa suddenly became interested: "Which family is the girl from?"
"Second Grandpa, please let me get away with it first." Wang Zhong cupped his fists and said, "When the matter is done, I will give you a surprise."
"Then I'll wait!" The second grandfather showed a smile on his face, but he was a little worried and warned: "You have to hurry up."
"Just take a look!"
·······
At night, three oil lamps were lit in the main room. Wang Zhong was sitting on the Kang, holding in his hand the "Book of Records" he had just bought during the day, and he was really fascinated by the book.
On the other side of the kang table, Jiang Hongguo was sitting, wearing her newly made cotton-padded jacket, with her hair tied back. She was holding two needles in her hand, using the cotton thread she had just bought, moving left and right with skillful movements. wearing a sweater.
It's just that Jiang Hongguo was obviously out of shape today, and her movements were not as agile as before. From time to time, she would secretly look up at Wang Zhong, who was concentrating on his book. His mind was in a mess, filled with the words of Mrs. Jin Hua and Han Chunmei during the day.
"What's wrong, there are flowers on my face?" Wang Zhong suddenly spoke, which made Jiang Hongguo tremble. He immediately lowered his head and shook his head quickly, but a few wisps of red clouds inevitably appeared on his cheeks.
She is clearly a woman in her mid-twenties and has been married for a long time, but she is acting like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl at the moment.
Turning his eyes rapidly, Jiang Hongguo quickly said: "I'm just curious. You light three lamps and read every night, which wastes too much fuel!"
Wang Zhong nodded slightly and looked at the kerosene lamp: "It consumes a little fuel, but there's nothing we can do about it. If it's too dark and hurts our eyes, we can just wait until we have electricity here."
Seeing that Wang Zhong didn't notice her looking at the oil lamp, Jiang Hongguo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But after hearing Wang Zhong's last sentence, she couldn't help but wonder: "What is electricity?"
"You will know when I meet you later. Even if I explain it to you now, you won't understand." Wang Zhong said.
Hearing this, Jiang Hongguo looked at Wang Zhong, who was sitting quietly on the bed with a book in his hands. His eyes dimmed slightly, and he thought to himself: "It would be great if I didn't get married!" As she thought about it, she couldn't help but think. He bit his lip, feeling increasingly complicated.
The distraught Jiang Hongguo had no intention of speaking and was lost in thought while pointing at the sweater.
"What's wrong?" Wang Zhong raised his eyes slightly and saw that Jiang Hongguo didn't look right. He couldn't help but frown and asked with concern.
"No...it's nothing!" Jiang Hongguo shook her head quickly.
Wang Zhong held the blue leather-bound book in his hand with one hand and said: "The body is the capital of the revolution. It is not good to hide illnesses and avoid medical treatment. Stretch out your hand and I will take your pulse!" Wang Zhong's words contained a domineering tone that could not be refused.
Jiang Hongguo put down the stick and needle without even thinking, and spread her hands on the Kang table.
Wang Zhong held the book in his left hand, his eyes wandering between the lines, and the three fingers of his right hand were already on Jiang Hongguo's pulse.
After a moment, Wang Zhong looked at Jiang Hongguo and said, "Put your tongue out and let me see!"
Ginger followed the law.
Wang Zhong let go of Jiang Hongguo's hand and said while reading: "The body has almost recovered. Although the Qi in the middle of the body is slightly insufficient, it is not a serious problem. There is still a little bit of cold air left. Coupled with the stagnation in the heart, the fire in the heart is rising. Heart fire triggers liver fire, and the combination of cold and heat makes it easier to become upset.”
"Ah?" Jiang Hongguo was startled.
Wang Zhongdao: "Don't worry, it's not a big deal. Talk to people more, relieve the depression in your heart, and keep your mood comfortable. Don't stay alone all the time. Go out more often, chat, and find something to kill time." It'll be fine in seven or eight days, no need to take medicine."
"But remember, don't get cold, otherwise it will be easy for wind evil to invade."
"Yeah! I must pay attention!"
Ultimately, it's just that the body's defense mechanism hasn't fully recovered and it's causing random thoughts. If you pay a little attention, there won't be any big problems.
After a while, Wang Zhong got up and returned to the east wing.
At night, Wang Zhong sat cross-legged on the Kang, his upper body naked, and his muscles seemed to be trembling. Every time he exhaled and inhaled, the true energy in his body was flowing, and his blood was running faster. The clear lines in his body were like a knife and an axe. , it seems that what is flowing is not blood, but boiling hot water, and vaguely, white steam seems to rise like smoke or mist.
That's a phenomenon caused by high heat evaporating sweat directly into steam.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Wang Zhong and Jiang Hongguo said hello and went into the mountain with their bows and arrows, a hatchet, a bag of buns and a jug of water.
It's not that Wang Chongque has a lot of meat to eat, but that there is not much work to do now, and it's not like the real world. You can surf the Internet, watch TV, and play with your mobile phone. It's really boring to sit at home all day long.
At noon, snow began to fall in the sky. In the afternoon, the snow gradually became heavier. Jiang Hongguo sat at home, and her heart was hanging. If the snow had fallen heavier, it would have blocked Wang Zhong in the mountains. How to fix it.
Fortunately, it only lasted for more than three hours, and the snow stopped, leaving only a thin layer of snowflakes covering the road.
In the evening, Jiang Hongguo kneaded the dough, boiled water in the pot, rolled the dough into pancakes, and prepared to wait for Wang Zhong to come back and cut the noodles into the pot. However, he waited and waited, but Wang Zhong never came back.
In the past, Wang Zhong would come back early or late from the mountains, but the latest would be before dark.
Seeing that the sky outside was getting darker and darker, Jiang Hongguo couldn't help but worry. No matter if he encountered any large beasts or had an accident, it was freezing and snowy, and there was no one in the mountains. Anything was possible. If An accident really happened, and no one was watching.
Seeing that the sky was getting dark, Jiang Hongguo no longer bothered to cook noodles. He put the glass cover on the kerosene lamp and went out. After waiting at the entrance of the village for more than half an hour, there was no sign of Wang Zhong, and he felt increasingly sad. Anxious, worried about Wang Zhong's safety.
