Time passed day by day, and it was five or three years ago in a blink of an eye.
For several consecutive years, the weather has been smooth and the harvests have been bumper every year. The lives of the folks in Maixiang Village have become better day by day. Because the increase in grain production every year has attracted the county's focus, the combination of intercropping and rotation in Maixiang Village has It was also published in the newspaper, and Wang Zhong's name also appeared on it.
Wang Zhong's prestige in Maixiang Village has also been pushed to another level. He has also become famous in the county. He is a figure who is praised by everyone from all over the city.
Seeing that spring irrigation was approaching, Wang Zhong also became busy. Checking irrigation canals, weirs, and water trucks were all Wang Zhong's indispensable tasks every once in a while.
"President, your craftsmanship is incredible. It has been four or five years, and this waterwheel is still so strong!" Lao Ganbang said sincerely, looking at the waterwheel in front of him.
"Okay, stop flattering and start repairs as soon as possible. The spring irrigation will start tomorrow. Don't let me lose your temper." Wang Zhong said with a serious face.
This waterwheel is made entirely of tenons and tenons without a single nail, and it has been painted with anti-corrosion paint. Although it has been used for four or five years and has been exposed to wind and sun all day long, it is still very strong overall and has not had any major problems. .
"Hey hey hey!" Lao Ganbang is living a comfortable life now. Apart from having no children, there are few people in Maixiang Village who don't envy him.
"Brother, you are in a hurry to go back to see your sister-in-law!" The three monkeys followed and started cheering next to them.
Wang Zhong glared at him: "You brat, you're making fun of me. That's right. I'm just anxious to go back to see your sister-in-law. Why, are you jealous?"
"Brother! You don't rub salt into people's wounds like this." Three Monkeys looked aggrieved.
"You have the nerve to feel aggrieved. It's not like there aren't unmarried eldest girls in our village. You don't look down on them, so who's to blame!" Three Monkeys is a kid with a high vision. He always thinks that there is a better one. Looking at this mountain The mountain is so high, but I haven't even looked at it yet.
"Isn't it true that I haven't found the right one yet?" the three monkeys said in a cooing tone.
Lao Ganbang said: "Let me tell you, your vision is too high. Madam Ma just introduced you to a person from Huangshi Village a while ago. You thought he was not handsome enough, so you rejected him again."
"That girl looks too ugly." Three Monkeys said in disgust.
"You are still picky about the fat and thin. Could it be that you still want to find a fairy daughter in the sky?" Lao Ganbang said angrily.
"No way!" The three monkeys quibbled, fearing that Lao Ganbang would continue to criticize him on this matter, so he quickly changed the subject and said to Wang Zhong: "Brother, sister-in-law is about to give birth right now, isn't she?"
"How can it be so fast!" Wang Zhong said: "She has been pregnant for ten months, and your sister-in-law is only more than six months old now, and there are still several months left!"
"Only six months?" Three Monkeys said in surprise: "I see that my sister-in-law's belly is not smaller than those who are eight or nine months old or even about to give birth."
Lao Ganbang rolled his eyes: "Is it possible that my brother and sister are carrying two children in their stomachs?"
Wang Zhong smiled and said nothing.
Three Monkeys and Lao Ganbang looked at each other, then hurriedly approached and asked, "Brother, are they really two?"
Both of them looked curious.
Wang Zhong said: "You two have this skill, so you should pay more attention to yourselves!"
Wang Zhong looked at Lao Ganbang: "Brother Youdao, you have been married for several years and you still don't have any children yet. Don't you plan to take a look?"
Wang Zhong also changed the topic.
Speaking of this, Lao Ganbang's brows immediately showed a hint of sadness, and he looked a little lonely: "Where can I look?"
Wang Zhong said: "Where else can we go? Let's go to the county hospital! It's best for both of you to get checked to see if there is anything wrong. If there is, then get it treated quickly."
"Do you want to go to the hospital?" Lao Ganbang was reluctant.
Wang Zhongdao: "There is an old saying that a disease should not be cured. If you are like this, I will ask you, do you want to have a child?"
"Of course I want to!" Lao Ganbang replied without thinking.
"That's all right!" Wang Zhong said: "In the past few years, you have had a good harvest and you have saved a lot of money. Now, you can
We both went to the county hospital to have a good look. "
"Brother, can't you take your pulse?" Three Monkeys grinned and said, "You can show me and Chunmei."
"I'm just a wild boy. I just learned a few tricks from a barefoot man. How can I compare with the doctors at other county hospitals." Wang Zhong's words were purely modest.
Lao Ganbang was silent for a while and then said: "When the spring irrigation is finished, I will take Chunmei to the county hospital to have a look."
After checking the water tanker and irrigation canal, Wang Zhong went straight back home.
In the chimney on the roof, there are smoke and birds, and in the house, Ginger Hongguo is standing on the edge of the eucalyptus board chopping vegetables with her big belly on her head.
Wang Zhong hurried forward with a reproachful look on his face: "Didn't I tell you to wait until I come back to do this?"
Jiang Hongguo smiled and said, "It's not like I can't move. How can I be so valuable?"
"You are pregnant with twins. It is different from ordinary women's pregnancies. Your belly is only six months old and can be as big as someone else's eight months old. You have to be careful."
Listening to Wang Zhong's concerned words, Jiang Hongguo couldn't help but smile on her face, and her heart felt warm: "I know, I will be careful."
After saying that, Jiang Hongguo walked up behind Wang Zhong with a feather duster and dusted Wang Zhong's body skillfully.
Wang Zhong said: "When the spring irrigation is too late this time, I will take Dahong Erhong into the mountains to hunt some pheasants and hares, and pick up some herbs and come back to replenish your body."
"Yeah!" Jiang Hongguo kept moving her hands.
"Spring has just begun, which is when wild animals are active. I might come back when I'm away. If you need anything, just call Ma Renlian's wife for help."
"Don't worry!" It has been two years since I followed Wang Zhong, and Jiang Hongguo is no longer as worried as she was at the beginning. Wang Zhong went into the mountains and didn't come back after one night, and she was frightened: "I can take care of myself, but you, the snake and insect in the mountains, There are many rats and ants, so be careful."
"I wish I could meet more of them. I'm just worried that I don't have anything good to use as medicine." Wang Chong said with a smile.
Traditional Chinese medicine is extensive and profound, and there are so many types of things that can be used as medicine. In addition to herbal medicines, snakes, insects, rats, ants, and certain parts of various living creatures have different medicinal properties depending on the region and habits.
With fifth-level medical skills in hand, for Wang Zhong, preparing medicinal materials was as simple as eating and drinking.
For dinner, we had yellow steamed buns made with cornmeal, a dish of fried rapeseed, a dish of pickled radish kimchi, and a plate of egg soup with two eggs.
Although there is no shortage of food at home, and they can have enough food for three meals a day, Jiang Hongguo has always been frugal. The family only eats white flour once every three days. Unless Wang Zhong brought the meat back from the mountains, otherwise It only takes ten days and a half to buy one.
The radish was soaked by Wang Zhong himself. It is slightly sour and refreshing, very appetizing.
After dinner, Wang Zhong supported Jiang Hongguo and walked around the village for half an hour. It was getting dark before the couple returned home.
It was still early spring, and it was quite warm during the day, but the temperature was still very low in the morning, evening and night. The couple sat on the heated kang, Wang Zhong leaned against the cabinet at the head of the kang, and Jiang Hongguo half leaned on Wang Zhong's arms. Wang Zhong was also holding a thousand-character text in his hand.
"When writing was first made, people wore clothes; when they gave up their thrones and gave up their kingdoms, there were Yu, Tao and Tang.
When you criticize the people and punish their crimes, you send Yin Tang in Zhou Dynasty; when you sit in court and ask questions, you hang down your official seal. "
Wang Zhong held the book in his left hand, and the two index fingers of his right hand were touching the two lines of text on the book, reading each word in a round tone.
"Let's learn this sentence first: start writing."
"The beginning of writing!" Jiang Hongguo read as she looked at the words pointed by Wang Zhong.
"Shi means beginning. These four characters are allusions to Cangjie's creation of Chinese characters in ancient times. Historical records show that this man named Cangjie first created characters. In the beginning, this character was not what we are learning now. Like this, there was no paper at that time, so characters were carved on walls, tortoise shells and other things. This is how oracle bone inscriptions came about.
Later, people began to carve characters on some bells and tripods, and then people began to carve characters on bamboo slips. "
"The bamboo slips were thick and heavy. At that time, people cared about the learned ones.
People, the bamboo slips in each home can fill the whole room, so there is the term "xuefu five carts", which means that a knowledgeable person can use a cart to load the tablets he has read, which can hold many, many carts... ··
Wang Zhong's teaching method is very interesting. He only teaches a few words, but he can often derive many things. Various allusions are also picked up at his fingertips, just like telling a story, rather than the kind of cramming teaching.
Compared with being a teacher in school, teaching those children how to read and write, it is not as interesting as teaching one's own wife. Red sleeves add fragrance, and reading at night with a candle is a different kind of fun.
Jiang Hongguo was not a fast learner. It took her almost two years to finish learning a Three-Character Classic, a book called Hundred Family Surnames. This was not only related to Wang Zhongjiao's meticulousness, but also to the fact that Wang Zhongjiao kept teaching until he was under the covers.
[In view of the general environment,
But of course, things about scholars cannot be described with those vulgar words.
In Wang Zhong's words, this is called romance and fun.
Jiang Hongguo was a woman in the traditional sense. She didn't even refuse to be dragged by Wang Zhong to take a mandarin duck bath in broad daylight, let alone her red sleeves.
After Wang Zhong explained the eight sentences slowly, it was getting dark and the atmosphere was gradually becoming more charming.
The temperature was getting lower and lower at night, Wang Zhong blew out the lamp, hugged Jiang Hongguo and got into bed.
When I didn't have a wife, I lacked a woman to warm my bed. But after I got a wife, it was inconvenient to get up to practice kung fu at night.
Wang Zhong could only postpone his practice time until early the next morning, sleep until around three o'clock every day, and then get up to practice.
Now Wang Zhong's Qi Training Technique has reached the fourth level, and with unremitting practice, the Qi in Wang Zhong's body has become more powerful and purer, and has improved rapidly.
Early in the morning, when Jiang Hongguo woke up, Wang Zhong had already made breakfast and went out. The firewood in the stove was almost burned out, leaving only charcoal fire. There was a steamer in the big pot in the middle, which was still steaming out. .
Jiang Hongguo opened the lid of the steamer, and there were several white-flour steamed buns and a bowl of egg custard lying inside.
The egg custard was steamed for a long time and the taste was slightly lacking, but the nutrition was not lost at all.
Beside the Maixiang River, the water gurgled, and the waterwheel moved with the water. Tubes of river water fell into the wooden diversion canal, followed the canal, and flowed into the weir pond. The old scalpers pulled the overturning waterwheel on top, and the river water kept flowing. Go up layer by layer.
All the way east along the irrigation canal, where the fields of Maixiang Village are located, the villagers have been waiting in the fields with hoes and rakes, guarding the irrigation canal, always keeping an eye on the condition of the irrigation canal to avoid siltation.
"Here comes the water!"
"Here comes the water!"
With loud shouts, the expressions of the villagers became serious.
Spring irrigation is also very particular. If there is too much water, there will be waterlogging. If there is too little water, there will be drought. The specific amount depends on experience, and the amount of irrigation in each period is also different. There is a general standard. As long as it can ensure that there is no accumulation of water in the field overnight. Water, that’s about it.
There are three spring irrigations, one in early spring when the soil thaws, and then again before and after flowering.
Now for the first time.
However, due to the limitations of the specifications of the water trucks and irrigation canals, although there are now two water trucks, and the newly built one is ten meters high, it is still not possible to irrigate all the village's fields in one day.
Especially in the past two years, the village has successively reclaimed two to three hundred acres of wasteland.
Two water trucks worked continuously for three days to complete the first spring irrigation of all the wheat fields in the village.
After the spring irrigation, Wang Zhong brought enough dry food and water and led two red dogs that were over two years old into the mountains.
With the good weather in recent years, the Maixiangling area has experienced several consecutive years of bumper harvests, and wild animals in the mountains have also grown wildly.
Not to mention anything else, there were many more pheasants and hares than before.
By the time Wang Zhong came out of the mountain, it was already three days later.
A wooden stick nearly as tall as a man was used as a carrying pole, with four or five game animals hanging on each side, mostly pheasants and hares.
Not long after spring begins, everything revives, and the hare that has been catting in its hole all winter is not as plump as it was in the middle of winter.
"Woof woof woof!"
Before Wang Zhong entered the house, two red dogs ran all the way home. Jiang Hongguo came out of the house happily, holding a bowl of warm water in her hand.
"Master, why have you been away for so long this time?"
Wang Zhong smiled and said: "I met two raccoons and was delayed for a day."
"Look at this fur." Wang Zhong pointed at the two raccoons with a bright smile on his face.
"It looks good!" Jiang Hongguo couldn't help but nod as he looked at it. The raccoon cat, also known as the ocelot, is not big, but its fur is very beautiful.
"I'll make it later and make two vests for the two children, or a blanket."
Jiang Hongguo couldn't help but look forward to it after hearing this, "I'm afraid it might be too small to make a blanket."
After exchanging a few words, Wang Zhong went into the bathroom to wash up, while Jiang Hongguo helped Wang Zhong roll the noodles.
At the Eight Immortals table, Wang Zhong was engrossed in a big bowl about the size of his head, eating noodles. Jiang Hongguo sat next to him and suddenly said: "The day you first entered the mountain, Secretary Zhou from the county came to the village in a car. Yes, Mrs. Jinhua said that Secretary Zhou used to be the captain of the village work team."
"It must be Captain Zhou Yihu Zhou!"
"Yes, yes! My name is Zhou Yihu." Jiang Hongguo said, "But he is now the secretary. I heard that Party Secretary Wanchun said he is the top leader."
"The branch secretary also asked you to go find him when you come back. He said he had something to tell you." Jiang Hongguo remembered Wang Wanchun's instructions and said quickly.
"Don't be busy. Let's take care of the few prey animals outside and then I'll go find him."
After finishing a large bowl of noodles, the water on the stove was almost boiling. He scalded the pheasant. Jiang Hongguo sat on a small stool in the corridor and plucked the feathers. Wang Zhong also set up a table in the corridor and skillfully served the hare. and skinning the raccoons.
Because it relies on the Maixiang River and has waterwheel irrigation, even in years of water shortage and drought like the previous two years, irrigation can still be guaranteed, and bumper harvests have been achieved for several consecutive years.
After paying the public grain, the grain produced in a year can not only satisfy the family's food for the whole year, but also have a lot of surplus. The villagers are not willing to cut some meat to eat after ten and a half days.
However, when the villagers buy meat, they also try to buy it as fat as possible. Game like the one Wang Zhong caught must be brought to the city in order to sell it at a high price.
However, there is an alternative person like Ma Renli in Maixiang Village.
When he heard that Wang Zhong had returned home with a lot of prey, Ma Renli was like a cat that smelled the fishy smell and couldn't wait to come over.
"Oh, you have killed so many prey!" Ma Renli gave a thumbs up as soon as he entered the door, as if he was slapping the horse with his slender beard: "As expected of the captain of our Maixiang villagers' army, he is awesome."
"Okay, stop flattering me and choose what you want."
Looking at the two pieces of beautiful leopard-like fur, Ma Renli's eyes instantly lit up: "There are raccoons this time?" He swallowed as he spoke.
"We don't see many raccoon dogs here. If you put your mind on tending the fields, Niu DaDang would probably have to be defeated in front of you." Wang Zhong joked.
"There is no comparison!" Ma Renli waved his hands and shook his head: "President Niu is one of the best people in Maixiang Village. How can I compare with him?"
This kid was also scared, and now he was as slippery as a monkey. Wang Zhong did not continue to joke, picked up a kitchen knife, grabbed a raccoon dog and asked: "How much do you want this time?"
"This..." Ma Renli looked at the skinned raccoon and started to think about how to do it. However, thinking of his thin wallet, he still hesitated: "What's the price?"
"Don't say I don't take care of you. Three kilograms of white flour will be exchanged for one kilogram of meat!" Wang Zhong said. The price of ordinary pork on the market is five to six times that of flour. If Wang Zhong brings this raccoon into the city, he will meet a knowledgeable person. Buyers can sell for higher prices.
But now everyone's life is tight, and not many people can spend like this.
"I brought five kilograms of white flour!" Ma Ren
Li swallowed, and the smile on his face became brighter. He handed the cloth bag with white flour in his hand to Wang Zhong: "Give me a hind leg!"
Wang Zhong raised his knife and cut off one of Lizi's hind legs, then went into the house to get the ebony scale to weigh it.
"It's very prosperous, eleven ounces per catty, look carefully."
"No problem!" Ma Renli said very generously, but his eyes never left the scale: "The president is always fair, I can trust him."
"Okay, don't flatter me in front of me!" Wang Zhong tied his hind legs with a straw rope and handed it to Ma Renli.
Ma Renli held up Li Zi's legs and said with a smile, "I am speaking from my heart."
"Get out!"
"okay!"
Ma Renli took the raccoon leg and left happily.
After a while, Qiao Yue, who was wearing a cotton-padded jacket, a scarf, and shoulder-length hair, also came, also carrying the cloth bag in her hand.
"Captain Wang, sister-in-law!" Qiao Yue greeted the two of them with a smile as soon as she entered the door. She was not at all embarrassed as she had been pestering Wang Zhong before, touching her cold butt with her hot face countless times.
"It's sister Qiao Yue!" Jiang Hongguo not only knew from Sister Jinhua and the others that Qiao Yue pursued her husband to no avail, she even saw Qiao Yue's obsession with Wang Zhong with her own eyes. But now that all of this has passed, Qiao Yue If she is not embarrassed, Jiang Hongguo will naturally not feel embarrassed either.
After all, Qiao Yue lives in the main house in the front yard, and she can see her yard from the window.
He welcomed the person into the courtyard with a smile and exchanged three pounds of white flour for one pound of rabbit meat, which is the meat from the rabbit's hind legs.
After a while, the villagers came after hearing the news, some getting white flour, and some buying it directly with money.
Civet meat can also replenish qi and cure hemorrhoids. It has high medicinal value. Unfortunately, for everyone in Maixiang Village who knows the goods, two raccoons, four rabbits, and one pheasant were soon divided up. There are only some corners left, including a pheasant and a rabbit.
The rest of these are what Wang Zhong and Jiang Hongguo plan to eat themselves.
"It's a pity that you are pregnant with a child now, otherwise I would make you a spicy rabbit head meal." Beside the table, Wang Zhong was disemboweling the pheasant and taking out the internal organs. He looked at Jiang Hongguo with a big belly and a look of regret on his face. The way.
"Spicy rabbit head?" This is the first time Jiang Hongguo heard about it.
Wang Zhong explained: "It is a kind of Sichuan cuisine. It is quite troublesome to make. It has the unique flavor of Sichuan. However, you can't eat anything that is too strong now. However, the nutritional value of rabbit head is still very high. So, I Let me improve it and let you try it!"
The spicy rabbit head does taste good, but for Wang Zhong, it doesn't matter if he has it or not. But now that there are five ready-made rabbit heads in front of him, he can make them.
"Okay!" Jiang Hongguo smiled.
Rabbit head is more troublesome to make. If you want to make it really delicious, it will take at least two days. So in the evening, the couple stewed half a pheasant. Jiang Hongguo rolled out the noodles and simmered the noodles with chicken soup. After a meal, In the countryside of this era, it was considered an extremely sumptuous dinner.
"Master, please eat more." At the dinner table, Jiang Hongguo frequently put meat into Wang Zhong's bowl.
Wang Zhong said: "I didn't eat less in the mountains, you eat more."
While saying that, he also put a few pieces of chicken into the ginger fruit bowl.
There wasn't much to cook, so the two of them picked a few pieces between each other, and there were not many pieces left in the vegetable bowl.
Jiang Hongguo drank chicken soup and ate chicken, her face was full of happiness, and she said with emotion: "I have never thought that I can live such a magical life."
Not to mention that there is meat every meal, but you can always eat one meal every three days. At home, we eat a mixture of white noodles and stick noodles, and most of them are white noodles. Not to mention the entire Maixiang Village, but also the entire adjacent area. No family's life can compare to that of Wang Zhong's family.
What's more, Jiang Hongguo's family suffered a disaster just two years after receiving the land.
"The days will only get better in the future." Wang Zhong said, putting the last two pieces of chicken into the ginger fruit bowl.
The next day, Lao Ganbang came to Wang Zhong carrying two bottles of Lao Baigan, his expression somewhat dark.
Look at how lost he is
Wang Zhong frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Hey!" Lao Ganbang sighed and raised the wine in his hand: "Drink some and talk while drinking."
Wang Zhong cut a bunch of leeks in the vegetable pond outside, beat three eggs, made a scrambled egg with leeks, a plate of fried bean sprouts, and a few yellow steamed buns that were the staple food, and sat on the kang with Lao Ganbang He drank wine.
Jiang Hongguo sat by the window with a big belly.
Lao Ganbang didn't say anything. He drank two bowls of wine as soon as he came up. His old face turned red. When he was about to drink the third bowl, Wang Zhong pressed down the wine bowl and said, "It's not like there is something wrong with the examination." Alright?"
"Hey!" Lao Ganbang sighed again and said sadly, "The doctor at the county hospital said that I have a physical problem and I'm afraid it will be difficult to have children in this life."
"Pfft!" Wang Zhong burst out laughing after hearing this.
Lao Ganbang looked at Wang Zhong in disbelief.
Jiang Hongguo quickly hit Wang Zhong and winked.
Wang Zhong asked, "Do you have the hospital's medical certificate with you?"
Lao Ganbang didn't know what Wang Zhong meant by this, so he nodded subconsciously.
"Bring it to me and have a look!" Wang Zhong stretched out his hand.
Lao Ganbang took out several medical certificates folded into palm-sized sheets from his arms and handed them to Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong took it, looked at Hulun, and waved to Lao Ganbang, "Put out your hand and I'll take your pulse!"
Lao Ganbang didn't know what Wang Zhong wanted to do, but Wang Zhong already existed in his heart like a teacher and a father, so he subconsciously stretched out his hand and put it on the Kang table.
Wang Zhong stretched out his right hand, placed three fingers on Lao Ganbang's pulse, felt it carefully for a while, and then said, "Put out your tongue and take a look!"
Lao Ganbang followed the instructions, and Wang Zhong pressed a few more acupoints on Lao Ganbang's body.
Wang Zhongdao: "The doctor just said that it is difficult for you to have children. It does not mean that you cannot have children. There is still a difference between the two."
"What's the difference?" Lao Ganbang's drunkenness disappeared in an instant, his eyes widened with light, as if a drowning man grasped the life-saving straw: "What's the difference? Can I still have a child?"
"Your situation is probably due to a congenital deficiency. In addition, you have suffered too much hunger in the past, which damaged your vitality, so it is difficult to have children. As long as you take good care of yourself and slowly replenish the lost vitality, you will still have a lot of potential. There may be children.”
"Really?" Lao Ganbang was so excited that he grabbed the edge of the kang table with both hands. The veins on his hands were prominent and his breathing became rapid.
"It's still possible if you try, but if you don't try, there's really no chance." Wang Zhong looked at Lao Ganbang and said unhurriedly: "If you believe me, I can try to help You nurse yourself back to health, but..."
"I believe it, I believe it!" Lao Ganbang said impatiently before Wang Zhong finished speaking.
"Listen to me first!" Wang Zhong said: "To replenish your vitality, you can't just eat a full meal. You have to eat well to supplement the various nutrients missing in your body, and then use medicine, plus acupuncture, to replenish your vitality." It has the effect of replenishing qi, and it will take a long time, so you have to be mentally prepared."
"how long?"
"It will take two or three years no matter what!" Wang Zhong estimated: "It may be even longer."
"I can afford to wait. As long as I can have a child, I can afford to wait even ten years, let alone two or three years." Lao Ganbang said excitedly.
Wang Zhong raised two fingers: "First you have to do two things!"
Lao Ganbang was impatient: "What are those two points?"
Wang Zhong leaned over and took the remaining bottle of Lao Baigan in front of him: "From today on, quit drinking and smoking!"
"Ah?" Lao Ganbang looked stunned.
