At night, Jiang Hongguo lay on the kang, listening to the howling wind outside the window. She tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep. Her heart was always hanging and couldn't fall to the ground. In her mind, there were all the shadows of Wang Zhong and scenes from the past. , appears in my mind like a movie.
As the saying goes, caring leads to chaos. This saying is absolutely true when applied to Jiang Hongguo now. Thinking about the past few days, during the first few days of the twelfth lunar month, when he was almost frozen to death outside, he would look up from time to time. Outside the window, I listened for sounds, but unfortunately, there was no result. I stayed up until the second half of the night, and I was really sleepy. I don’t know how many times my eyelids were fighting. I couldn’t hold it anymore, so I fell asleep in the lake. .
But not long after he fell asleep, when the sky got a little brighter and the light filtered into the room through the window and shone on his body, Jiang Hongguo woke up immediately, opened the quilt, turned over and got off the kang.
But he slept in his clothes all night, without even taking off his clothes.
He didn't even bother to eat breakfast, so he went out and rushed to the entrance of the village. Smoke began to rise one after another in the village, and the cold wind caught him. Jiang Hongguo put his hands in his sleeves, curled up, and walked on the only way into the village. Walking around, but waiting left and right, there was still no sign of Wang Zhong.
People in the village had breakfast and began to go out one after another.
"Isn't this girl Guoer! Why are you standing here so early in the morning?" Sister-in-law Jinhua saw Jiang Hongguo wrapped in a scarf and standing curled up on the roadside, and she enthusiastically approached her to chat.
"Sister-in-law Jinhua!" It was a pity that Jiang Hongguo couldn't squeeze out a smile on her face: "Brother Wang said he went into the mountains for hunting yesterday morning, and he never came back after going out. It's been a whole night, and I felt uneasy, thinking about coming to the entrance of the village. Welcome."
"Hey! What did I think was going on!" Sister-in-law Jinhua held Jiang Hongguo's hand, smiled and patted it: "My silly girl, the captain is going to the mountains to hunt, not to buy things in the city. Maybe he is in the mountains. It’s not unusual to be out chasing prey for several days, let alone one night.”
"Really?" Jiang Hongguo's eyes flashed with deep worry.
"Silly sister, look at you like this. Let me tell you, our captain often goes into the mountains during the off-season. Although he usually goes in the morning and comes back in the evening, there are also times when he stays in the mountains for several days. Our Maixiang Although Ling is not a big place, it is not small either, with a radius of more than a hundred miles. Even if you had four legs, you wouldn't be able to cover it in one day!"
Jiang Hongguo didn't speak, but looked up at the location outside the village.
Sister-in-law Jinhua looked at Jiang Hongguo carefully and saw that there was a faint darkness around her eyes, there was still eye mucus in the corners of her eyes that she had not wiped, and there was still a bit of fatigue between her worried brows, so she couldn't help but ask: "Sister, when did you Came here?"
"He came as soon as he woke up in the morning!" Jiang Hongguo said.
"Then you haven't eaten breakfast?"
Jiang Hongguo nodded.
Hearing this, Mrs. Jinhua couldn't help but shook her head and sighed: "Okay, okay, don't stay here in this cold weather. The captain will naturally come back when it's time to come back. If you go too far, it will take a while and a half." If my son can’t come back, it’s useless even if you wait here for a whole day.”
He couldn't help but drag Jiang Hongguo to his home. He didn't even pick up the feces. He took out a few hot yellow steamed buns that had been steamed in the morning and gave them to Jiang Hongguo to eat with hot water.
After eating two Jiang Hongguo, Mrs. Jinhua was once again worried about her safety. She felt much less worried. She remembered that the chickens at home had not been fed yet, so she hurriedly said goodbye to Mrs. Jinhua and prepared to go back.
Sister-in-law Jinhua felt uneasy when she saw that Jiang Hongguo was a little distracted, so she followed him to Wang Chong's house.
Accompanying Jiang Hongguo, he fed the chickens and cleaned the house. Then the two of them sat on the kang, wearing sweaters and chatting.
It was Jiang Hongguo who would say from time to time: "Sister-in-law, when will Brother Wang come back?"
Mrs. Jinhua was left speechless by the question. She didn't know how to answer, so she could only think of ways to change the subject.
Jiang Hongguo asked the same question more than a dozen times in just one morning, and the worry between his brows became increasingly difficult to conceal.
Looking at the absent-minded Jiang Hongguo, Mrs. Jinhua could only helplessly shake her head.
"Sister, if you really can't let go of our captain, then you have to hurry up. The captain is already twenty-six this year, so he is quite old." Sister-in-law Jinhua advised.
Jiang Hongguo was stunned by these words, and her heart became more and more entangled. The entanglement was full of sorrow and worry. She raised her eyes and looked at Sister-in-law Jinhua. Jiang Hongguo said: "Sister-in-law, I want to go to the entrance of the village and wait!"
Seeing the expectation in Jiang Hongguo's eyes, Sister-in-law Jinhua sighed: "Sister-in-law, I will accompany you!"
The two of them put down their work, got off the kang, put on their shoes, and went out arm in arm.
It was cold and windy outside, and everything along the road where no one had set foot was covered with a layer of white snow.
Most of the folks are staying at home. If they don't move around, they won't be hungry, so they don't need to eat so much.
But there were also people who were carrying dung rakes and forks with their hands in their sleeves, hunkering down and braving the cold wind to pick up dung. There were also people who were carrying hatchets and walking on snow-covered paths up the mountain to collect firewood.
As soon as the two of them reached the entrance of the village, Jiang Hongguo's eyes immediately straightened, and a smile appeared on Sister Jinhua's face.
But it turned out that a tall figure suddenly emerged from the edge of the village entrance. He was wearing an old gray cotton jacket, a felt hat on his head, a bow on his back, and a long wooden stick with thick arms on his shoulders as a pole. There were hanging things, and upon closer inspection, there was a pheasant, two tied badgers, and actually two plump hares.
As soon as Jiang Hongguo saw Wang Zhong, she couldn't help but let go of Mrs. Jinhua and trotted up, stopping in front of Wang Zhong, biting her lower lip, her eyes filled with tears, and she looked up and down at Wang Zhong with concern: "Wang Zhong Brother, are you okay?"
"What can I do!" Wang Zhong said with a smile: "It's just that I was delayed last night and couldn't make it back, which made you worry."
"But the harvest is good. You are low on energy, and this badger can replenish your health."
"It'll be good to come back! It'll be good to come back!" Jiang Hongguo laughed through tears.
Mrs. Jin Hua also came up to her. She looked at the load of prey with a smile on her face, a hint of envy. She took her hand out of her sleeve and gave a thumbs up: "Captain, you are so awesome. Come out now." I gained so much from one trip!”
Wang Zhong chuckled: "I didn't expect that my luck would be so good. I first encountered a few rabbit holes and tried to dig them out. Unexpectedly, there were actually two rabbits spending the winter in them."
"But you, too, didn't tell Sister Guo'er clearly before going into the mountain. You had to worry about you all night. If I hadn't stopped you, Girl Guo'er would have gone into the mountain alone early this morning to look for you. ." Sister-in-law Jinhua looked at the two of them with interest.
Wang Zhong turned to look at Jiang Hongguo and said softly: "Guo'er, I'm sorry. I didn't make it clear and made you worry."
"It's best if everyone is safe!" Jiang Hongguo's big, bright eyes were flashing with tears, but there was a smile on her face.
"It's freezing outside, so don't work here. Go back and drink some hot water and sit on the kang to warm yourself. I have to go back and serve the two ancestors at home."
"Sister-in-law, you go back later and tell the Three Monkeys, Lao Ganbang, and Ma Renli that they will come to my house for dinner together in the evening. Let's talk about spring irrigation and top dressing."
"I'll go tell them right now."
The three of them said goodbye. Sister Jinhua, who was particularly discerning, hurried to her home in the west end of the village, while Wang Zhong and Jiang Hongguo walked to their home in the east end of the village.
When they got home, Jiang Hongguo helped Wang Zhong unload the burden and hung the bow and quiver back to the tool room in the west wing. Wang Zhong took out a few knives and skillfully skinned rabbits and badgers.
The two badgers and rabbits were smoked and then escaped from the hole and were nodded one by one by Wang Zhong with a wooden stick. There were no scratches on their bodies and their furs were well preserved. Wang Zhong was even more skillful in skinning them. After a while, He peeled off a whole badger skin.
"Guo'er, add some water to the pot later, cut off the fat from the badger and boil it in oil!" Wang Chong said with a smile.
Jiang Hongguo also looked at the two plump badgers with a smile on her face, "Such fat badgers can produce a lot of badger oil!"
Badger oil has extremely high medicinal value. It can be applied externally or taken internally. It can treat various diseases such as insufficient Qi, uterine prolapse, hemoptysis, hemorrhoids, malnutrition, scabies, alopecia, burns, chilblains and other diseases.
"The omentum near the intestines was also taken out and boiled together."
"good!"
Wang Zhong peeled the skin, boiled water with ginger and red fruits, processed and cleaned the internal organs, plucked the pheasant's feathers and removed the internal organs, and also left all the fine knife work to Wang Zhong, such as removing the omentum and cutting the fat.
The two had a reasonable division of labor and handled the matter extremely quickly. In less than half an hour, two badgers and two rabbits were skinned by Wang Zhong.
After disemboweling the rabbit and taking out the internal organs, Wang Zhong still handed the rabbit over to Jiang Hongguo for processing. Wang Zhong used a sharp knife to quickly cut off the fat sausage net from the badger, put it into the pot with cold water, and slowly simmered it.
"Brother Wang, what should we do to entertain everyone tonight?" Jiang Hongguo asked.
"This rabbit is quite fat. Cut one into small pieces later, stir-fry half and braise half. Keep the pheasant for you to replenish your body. The badger meat and the remaining rabbit will be sold at the market tomorrow morning. Alright."
Jiang Hongguo agreed with all her heart. Ever since she saw Wang Zhong back safely, the smile on her face had almost never stopped.
On the one hand, it was because of Wang Zhong's great harvest, and on the other hand, it was because Wang Zhong was safe and sound.
"It's a pity that Big Red and Two Red are still small. When they get older, it will be easy to take them into the mountains to find prey. They don't have to run around like now. It all depends on luck."
A dog's sense of smell is 1 million or even 10 million times that of a human, and even its hearing is 16 times that of a human. Not to mention that Wang Zhong's physical fitness in all aspects is more than six times that of a normal human being at its peak, and his sense of smell and hearing can be improved. Yes, it’s not necessarily as sensitive as someone’s dog.
This is also the reason why Wang Zhong bought two Laizhou red dogs, just to wait until they are a little older. If they are well trained, they can hunt and return home.
"It just so happens that Dahong and Erhong can also have a full meal today." Jiang Hongguo said.
Wang Zhong personally cooked two dishes of braised and stir-fried rabbit meat, plus enough yellow steamed buns. Mrs. Jin Hua and others all ate them with round bellies. The men shared a bottle of Baigan and drank until they were tipsy. After having enough food and having settled on all matters for spring irrigation, they dispersed.
Early the next morning, before the sky turned white, Wang Zhong had already gotten up as usual. He performed a few sets of punches in the courtyard to loosen his muscles and bones, and revitalize his energy and blood. The sky began to get brighter, but there was no movement in the main room.
Wang Zhong didn't pay attention at first. After washing up, he was about to cook, when he realized that there was no remaining warmth in the stove. Looking at this situation, the fire had been out for a while.
He hurriedly walked to the kang, touched the big kang, and found it was cold. He quickly checked Jiang Hongguo's condition, and found that Jiang Hongguo was frowning, her cheeks were slightly red, but her lips were white, and her body was curled up.
Wang Zhong hurriedly reached out and touched Jiang Hongguo's forehead. Sure enough, it was extremely hot. He didn't care anymore and took Jiang Hongguo's hand out of the cup. After taking a pulse for a while, his expression changed.
】
He hurried to the stove and lit the fire, started the stove, took out the medicine pot for boiling medicine, took out the herbs prepared earlier from the space and boiled them, then filled a basin of warm water and walked to the edge of the cave.
"Guoer! Guoer!"
Following Wang Zhong's gentle shaking and calling, Jiang Hongguo weakly opened her eyelids and raised the corners of her mouth slightly: "Brother Wang, I'll get up and cook for you!" After saying that, he wanted to get up, but was pushed back by Wang Zhong.
"You are so sick, why are you cooking? Just lie down first!"
With that said, Wang Zhong picked up the handkerchief, dipped it in water and wrung it out, preparing to wipe Jiang Hongguo's face. Jiang Hongguo still wanted to refuse, "I'm going to do it myself, how can I let Brother Wang serve me!"
Wang Zhong grabbed his hand as soon as he stretched it out from the quilt: "Okay, look at you like this. It's hard to even get up. Just lie down and have a good rest!" Wang Zhong's gentle yet domineering words made Jiang Zhong Hong Guo didn't dare to refute, looking at Wang Zhong's gentle movements, taking a wrung out wet towel and carefully wiping it on her face and forehead, her fingers inadvertently touched her cheek, an emotion called shyness Appearing in the bottom of Jiang Hongguo's heart, along with the warm current flowing out like a trickle, permeated the body and mind.
"Do you have a headache?" Wang Zhong asked softly while wiping Jiang Hongguo's face.
"A bit!" Jiang Hongguo's voice was full of exhaustion and weakness.
"Does your body feel heavy and you can't use your strength?"
"Um!"
"Are you sleepy?"
"Kind of!"
"Put your tongue out and let me see!"
Jiang Hongguo acted in accordance with the law. After Wang Zhong looked at it, he rolled Jiang Hongguo's eyelids and looked at the whites of his eyes.
After a while, Jiang Hongguo felt warmth coming from under her body, and the originally cold Kang gradually heated up.
"Drink some porridge first, and have a good rest after drinking. I will call you when the medicine is ready." Wang Zhong first helped Jiang Hongguo to sit up, leaning on the wooden frame with two layers of soft pillows, and his back was still covered with porridge. Wearing a military green coat that Wang Zhonggang couldn't buy for half a year.
Then Wang Zhongcai Wang Zhong took more than half of the bowl of white porridge, scooped out a spoon, blew it several times, and then brought it to Jiang Hongguo's mouth.
"Brother Wang, I can do it myself." Jiang Hongguo bit her lower lip lightly and was about to raise her hand.
"Be obedient!" Wang Zhong's undeniable words fell into his ears. The hand he had just raised subconsciously lowered it again. Jiang Hongguo opened her mouth obediently and took the rice porridge Wang Zhong fed into her mouth.
"It's so sweet!" As soon as the porridge was in his mouth, Jiang Hongguo noticed something was wrong.
"I added some sugar!" As he spoke, Wang Zhong scooped up another spoonful and blew a few times: "Here!"
Looking at the focused Wang Zhong, Jiang Hongguo didn't even know how she finished the bowl of white porridge. All I know is that after eating the porridge, Wang Zhong supported him and lay back down. Jiang Hongguo, who was still in a sweet state, just lay down for a while, and his consciousness gradually faded.
I don't know how long it took, but Wang Zhong called out to Mi Mi Hu Hu and fed him another bowl of bitter soup before lying down again.
Wang Zhong touched Jiang Hongguo's forehead and said, "The fever hasn't gone away yet. You have a good rest at home and cover yourself with a quilt. I'll go to the city and sell yesterday's meat, and I'll get you some more medicine by the way."
"Yes!" At this moment, Jiang Hongguo was like a child, nodding obediently. The anger between the two families had not gone away, but her dry lips looked much better than in the morning.
As soon as Wang Zhong went out, Jiang Hongguo, who had drunk the medicine, fell asleep again in the lake. Half asleep and half awake, he vaguely felt that someone was tucking him in.
When Jiang Hongguo woke up from peeing, she saw Han Chunmei sitting by the kang holding a shoe sole.
"Sister is awake!" When Han Chunmei saw Jiang Hongguo's eyes open, she quickly put down the soles of her shoes and came up to her, touched Jiang Hongguo's forehead and asked, "It's not as hot as in the morning. How do you feel, sister?"
"I still have a little headache and no energy!" Jiang Hongguo said awkwardly: "Sister Chunmei, please help me, I want it to be convenient!"
Han Chunmei hurriedly picked up the military coat left by Wang Zhong and put it on Jiang Hongguo. She originally wanted to take the toilet over, but Jiang Hongguo insisted and could only help Jiang Hongguo to the small room next to the bathroom.
"Sister, you have been sleeping for most of the day. Are you hungry? There is porridge and steamed buns in the pot!"
"Yeah!" Jiang Hongguo said weakly, and Han Chunmei brought all the food to the Kang table.
"Sister, why are you here?" Jiang Hongguo asked while drinking porridge and eating steamed buns.
Han Chunmei said with a smile: "The captain came home this morning and said that you were sick. He went to the city to get you medicine, but he was worried about you being at home alone, so he asked me to come and take care of you."
Jiang Hongguo paused while eating, and a warm current surged out of her heart again, and something called happiness enveloped her heart.
"Sister, I have been married to this Maixiang Village for several years, and I have never seen our captain be as interested in any girl as he is with you." Han Chunmei said with emotion.
The steamed bun in Jiang Hongguo's hand had just been stuffed into her mouth, and before she had a chance to bite it, tears couldn't stop pouring out of her eyes after hearing this.
"Sister, what's wrong with you?" Han Chunmei asked anxiously.
"It's okay, I'm okay!" Jiang Hongguo sobbed a few times and put down the steamed bun: "I've eaten! I'm just a little tired and sleepy. I want to sleep for a while!"
"Sister, please go to sleep!" Han Chunmei helped Jiang Hongguo lie down again, looking at Jiang Hongguo who was turning his back to her. Han Chunmei didn't dare to say anything more, so hurry up and collect the leftover steamed buns. .
He looked at the stove fire again, sat on the kang and continued to pick up the soles of his shoes.
At this moment, Jiang Hongguo, who had her back turned to Han Chunmei, had tears like spring water that could not stop pouring out. Jiang Hongguo wiped her tears quietly and sobbed from time to time. Han Chunmei wanted to persuade her, but she couldn't. Don't know where to start.
While he was struggling, Wang Zhong came back.
Han Chunmei and Wang Zhong exchanged a few words and left in a hurry.
Wang Zhong put down his things, walked to the kang and sat down. He looked at Jiang Hongguo who was leaning sideways, listened to the intermittent sobs, and asked with concern: "What's wrong?"
Jiang Hongguo didn't speak and just buried his head. Wang Zhong didn't continue to ask questions. He was about to get up and cook the medicine first, but Jiang Hongguo, who was lying down, suddenly moved. He suddenly stood up and hugged Wang Zhong from behind. , burst into tears in an instant.
Wang Zhong patted Jiang Hongguo's arm, turned around and asked softly: "What's wrong?"
"Don't leave!" Jiang Hongguo's tired and weak voice contained a bit of pleading.
Wang Zhong did not move and allowed Jiang Hongguo to hold him.
"I'm sorry!" Jiang Hongguo spoke again.
"I'm sorry for you. I didn't tell you clearly before going out, which made you worry." Wang Zhong said.
Jiang Hongguo pressed her cheek against Wang Zhong's back, "That's not what I'm talking about."
"what is that?"
"I..." Jiang Hongguo bit her lip again. Ever since she stayed at Wang Zhong's house, this little gesture has gradually become her habit: "I'm sorry for you!"
"I lied to you!"
Jiang Hongguo closed her eyes, her face was full of bitterness, and tears kept pouring out of her eyes.
Wang Zhong grabbed Jiang Hongguo's hand, turned to look at her, and smiled slightly: "If you lie, you'll lie. It's only been more than a month since we met, so it's human nature to have reservations."
Wang Zhong's tolerance, integrity, kindness and magnanimity gradually made Jiang Hongguo feel a little ashamed of herself.
"I'm sorry!" Looking at those bright eyes that seemed to be dotted with starlight, feeling the clear spring breeze, Jiang Hongguo blurted out again.
Jiang Hongguo's eyes flickered, she didn't dare to avoid Wang Zhong's gaze, and she didn't dare to look at Wang Zhong. Before Wang Zhong asked, she said it herself: "I actually... I actually have a man."
Wang Zhong's face was full of astonishment: "Didn't you say there is no one in your family?"
"I'm sorry, I lied to you!" Jiang Hongguo said while crying: "Last year, my hometown was hit by a disaster, and I couldn't survive. People in the village came out to beg for food. My husband was also very sick and couldn't go out. I don’t want to come out either, but my man said, you go, you can take one mouth with you if you go, if you don’t go, the whole family will starve to death, so I think it’s better to go!”
"That's it, here..." Jiang Hongguo said, paused, and looked up at Wang Zhong: "When I met you, I ran out of energy at first, and then... ·talent······"
"So at first I said there was no one at home, I just wanted you to stay here." Wang Zhong said.
"I'm sorry!" Jiang Hongguo shook her head and shed tears: "I really didn't mean to lie to you!"
"You treat me so well, I..." He was talking, but he couldn't continue.
Wang Zhong stretched out his hand, took Jiang Hongguo into his arms, and hugged her tightly: "What happened in the past is in the past. Our eyes are in the front, and we should look forward when we are born."
"Your husband said he wanted you to go out and beg for food, but this doesn't mean he wants you to find another way out. I'm afraid in his heart, he has long since thought that you are no longer there."
Wang Zhong's words made Jiang Hongguo's delicate body tremble, her heart felt sad again, and the tears in her eyes became more and more uncontrollable.
"If you are willing, just stay and be my wife!"
Jiang Hongguo was stunned by Wang Zhong's words. Her heart was trembling, her heart was in confusion, and she was so entangled that her brain was a little short-circuited. She even stopped crying and struggled out of Wang Zhong's arms: "I..."
But before she could say her refusal, Wang Zhong said gently and domineeringly: "That's it. Don't refuse! I'll give you a stamp first."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and supported Jiang Hongguo's head, then kissed her.
Jiang Hongguo closed her eyes subconsciously.
After a long time, the lips parted.
Wang Zhong helped Jiang Hongguo lie down again, sat by the kang, looked at Jiang Hongguo, smiled and said softly: "The seal has been sealed. From today on, you Jiang Hongguo will be my wife, Wang Zhong. They are members of my Wang family, and even after death, they will enter the ancestral graves of my Wang family, and they will have nothing to do with the past."
Jiang Hongguo bit her lower lip and hummed like a fly as she listened to Wang Zhong's domineering words.
