The Ladder of Love (Part II) Zhang Baotong 2017.10.10

After eating, Uncle asked me to go with him to hunt walnuts. So, the uncle took the long rod and I carried the small basket, and walked together towards the woods. Through a dense forest, we came to a place near the side of the mountain, where a few wild walnut trees grew here and there. Because it was autumn, the leaves in the forest were already yellowing and red, some of them were the color of maples. The leaves of the wild walnut tree are not so dense anymore, and the branches of the sparse walnut are plucked with sparse wild walnuts. Some trees are big, some aren't. There are more walnuts on large trees and very few walnuts on small trees.

The uncle was too old to go up the tree, so he could only stand under the tree with a long pole and beat walnuts. However, the walnut tree is very tall, and only the lower walnuts can be beaten with long poles, and the walnuts that grow on the tall branches cannot be hit. So, I had to climb the tree to catch walnuts, because I used to climb trees when I was a child, and now that I'm older, it's not hard to climb a tree. But the uncle said to me, "No, that's too dangerous to go on." As he spoke, he told me that in the past, he used to climb up the tree and beat the walnuts with a long pole, so that he could knock down the walnuts on the top of the tree. However, more than ten years ago, when he was beating walnuts, he used too much force, did not grasp the branches, and fell from the tree at once. It was the old mother who carried him back to the house. That time, he lay in bed for more than 20 days before he began to be able to get off the ground. From then on, he no longer dared to climb the tree to shoot walnuts. Hearing my uncle say this, I don't dare to take this risk.

Walnuts and leaves were knocked down in pieces. I stood under the tree, picking up fallen walnuts. In addition to picking up walnuts that were knocked down from the trees, my uncle also taught me to pick up walnuts that had fallen to the ground long ago. It's just that the skin of this walnut has turned black, and some of it is not very good-looking, but it does not affect the quality of the walnut. But there are also many walnuts because when they fall from the tree, they roll down the slope, until they roll to the side of the mountain or fall in a more dangerous place, these walnuts cannot be picked up, because the slope is an abyss, once they roll down from the hillside, not to mention that people can't live, and they may not even be able to find the corpse.

We beat the walnut trees one by one along the side of the hill, and the uncle knew every walnut tree here, so we picked them up from the top of the hill downward, and it didn't take long for the basket to be full. So, we walked back. When he got back to the house, he poured the wild walnuts under the eaves, then took out two knives, gave me one, and began to peel the wild walnuts while telling me stories about the past.

Uncle Liu said, "I haven't been to Aunt Xiu's house for a long time, I am afraid that others will gossip about me and look at me with contempt, and I am even more worried that others will gossip about Aunt Xiu, because she is a woman and a widow, and, in my mind, she is so noble, I don't want others to belittle her and laugh at her." However, I already have feelings for Xiugu, and when I don't see her for a day, I miss her in my heart. Sometimes, I really panicked, so I stood far away and looked in front of her house, but her house was closed and locked all day long, which made me very helpless.

My parents began to ask people to tell me that I was looking for a matchmaker, I was 19 years old at the time, and I was a carpenter, and I was also handsome and strong, so I didn't have to worry about finding a partner. However, my mother asked someone to say a few objects, but I didn't want to live or die, because I only had Aunt Xiu in my heart, and I didn't even look at other girls. My mom and dad said I was evil.

One evening, after finishing my work for someone else's house, I had eaten and walked along the path between the valleys towards the village. By this time, it was already dark, and the paddy fields in the valley were long gone. However, only a figure was still shaking in the paddy field of Xiugu's house. I knew that this was Xiu Gu, so I walked to the edge of her field, stood on the path and shouted, 'Xiu Gu, why don't you go home to cook this night?' She straightened up, looked at me, and said, 'Tomorrow is the beginning of summer, but the seedlings in this field will not be planted until they are finished.' ’

I patronized and worked all day long, and I didn't notice that tomorrow was the beginning of summer. The seedlings of early rice must be planted before the beginning of summer, and if they are not planted, the rice will fail. But there is still a large piece of the field in Xiugu's house that has not been planted with seedlings. So I went down to the field, pulled her down the path, and said to her, 'You're tired from a day's work, go back and cook for the children.' But she said, 'There are so many seedlings left in this field.' I said, 'You don't care, I'll plug it in, even tomorrow morning, and I'll do it for you.'" ’

Xiu Gu said gratefully, "Jiang Yanzi, I really don't know how to thank you. I said, 'Don't be grateful, but why don't you ignore me?' she said sadly, 'It's not that I don't want to ignore you, but I'm afraid that if we're together, we'll ruin your reputation, and you're still a boy, and you'll have to find someone in the future.' I said, 'My parents have found me a few partners, but I only have you in my heart.' She bowed her head, sighed, and said, 'But it will hurt you, and you will regret it.' I said, 'I have identified you with all my heart, and I will never regret it.'" I saw that she lowered her head as if she was sobbing, so I hugged her in my arms and said, 'Aunt Xiu, marry me, and I will let you live happily for the rest of your life.' She sobbed in my arms and said, 'But it's just a dream, and it will never come true.' I said, 'Why?' she said, 'I'm a widow, and I'm ten years older than you, and I have four children, and your parents won't agree, and my mother-in-law won't agree. ’

Hearing this, I was stunned and said, 'I know the person who collects medicinal materials in Dongping Village, surnamed Sun, called Sun Youliang, both in their forties, who used to be the doglegs of big landlords, after liberation, they began to collect medicinal materials with the money in their hands, and then sold them to the city, making a lot of money. But the man was holding a hookah all day long, and he looked old and thin, like a dry old man. How can your mother-in-law marry you to such a person?' Xiugu said, 'My mother-in-law thinks that I am a widow with four children, who else can I marry if I don't marry him?' Who would want a woman like me? Alas, what can I do for the sake of the children? If it weren't for the sake of the children, I wouldn't want to live. So I asked her, 'What are you going to do?' and she said, 'I don't know, I'll leave it to my fate.' ’

At this time, it was getting darker, so I asked her to go back and cook for the child, and she nodded, and walked briskly towards the village. I went down to the field and started planting rice in the moonlight. While I was planting the seedlings, I was worried about Xiugu. Xiugu is the brightest and most beautiful woman in our neighboring villages, if she marries a dry old man in her forties, it will really be tired and disgusting to her, then it is really a flower inserted in cow dung. But what can I do? I love her and sympathize with her, but how can I help her? This question makes me sad and painful, but I can't do anything about it.

At about ten o'clock in the evening, Xiu Gu came briskly from the village again. At this time, only a small patch of the field has not been planted. She went down to the field and planted rice with me. In a short time, the whole field was planted. We went to the creek and washed our hands and feet, and put on our hair. At this time, I immediately took her in my arms and didn't say anything, just kissed her hard. She kissed me hard too. From her kisses, I could feel that she was genuinely and affectionately in love with me. We kissed for a long time, and then we walked hand in hand towards the village. It was only when we reached the entrance of the village that we parted. In order not to let others see the two of us together, I watched her enter the village, and then walked down the river path towards my house. ”