Chapter VI

Although the horn of Sanxia has not stopped, for Lao Mu's family, the good news of his son's promotion to school has undoubtedly brought great motivation to the family's motivation.

The three summers are coming to an end, and the laborers at home have been busy planting, and Lao Mu looked at the fields that had not yet been planted after breakfast, and it was estimated that it would take two days to finish work. Lao Mu thought to himself, I don't know what kind of work my sister's family is doing? While thinking about his thoughts, Lao Mu, who was busy with farm work, raised his head and wiped his sweat, and suddenly saw seven or eight people standing on the ground, all of whom were neighbors of the village.

"You're all done, come and help... Come help me. I don't know if it was the excitement of the mood at the time, or the lack of mental preparation, Lao Mu spoke incoherently.

"Brother Mu, we have already discussed it in the past few days, and when we are done with our own work, we will come to help you!" The speaker was Mu Houren, a younger brother of the same clan who was two years younger than Lao Mu.

"Look, this is tiring you!" Lao Mu thanked this group of villagers from the bottom of his heart.

"You are too polite, we are in the same village, if we don't help, who else will help? The fast-talking Wang Haoran's daughter-in-law answered.

"Let Lao Mu go to the market to buy some vegetables at noon and have a few drinks at home!" Xiuhua felt that it was normal for everyone to come to help on such a hot day, so that everyone could have a meal at noon.

"It's so hot, don't be busy with you, just go back to your own home to eat at noon!"

Lao Mu didn't want to say anything, so everyone was busy in the field step by step.

It really shows the strength of the crowd, with the help of this group of people, it would have taken Lao Mu at least two days to finish the work, but in less than two hours, in the morning, there was still an uncut vacant land that had become green, which made Lao Mu and his family very moved. Lao Mu asked a few helpers to come to his house to drink saliva and rest, and a few of them said a few polite words, and then they went back to their homes.

When Lao Mu returned home, he didn't have time to wash his face, so he rode to the market where the commune was stationed, bought all kinds of dishes, and brought them home to arrange for Xiuhua and his wife to prepare lunch as soon as possible. Lao Mu was busy going from house to house to invite the neighbors who helped to come to the house for dinner, and everyone said: "Neighbors, help is due, why are you embarrassed to go to dinner and cause trouble for you?"

Although Lao Mu went home alone, although he did not invite guests to eat, his heart was warm, this kind of neighborly help is priceless, and the harmony of the neighborhood is the most precious, which reminded him of his youth, the era when the east family ate and the west family gave clothes, although at that time the days of each family were tight, everyone did not forget his existence, especially in the days when his sister got married, he returned to his own home from school vacation, he never touched the stove by himself, there will always be neighbors who call him to eat, this kind of neighborhood is difficult to give up the feelings, the warmth given by the sun in winter。 Especially the three houses built when he got married, the old branch secretary Uncle Wang said hello, and the whole village immediately came to more than a dozen strong laborers, helping to prepare the soil and pull the scene is still vivid, and I am grateful, Lao Mu is associated with his own teaching, what Xiaowangzhuang lacks is not this kind of friendly virtue, what is not lacking is this kind of ** Spirit, the lack of knowledge in the village, the lack of culture, although the school has been established for decades, but the learners left the village, did not come back, left in the village with these traditional virtues but still live a poor life of the neighbors, need to go out, their descendants need to go out, to see the wonderful world outside, as generations of farmers, if you want to really go out of the countryside, to open up a new life, the first thing is knowledge, armed with knowledge, in order to have the opportunity to go out to see the world. Without knowledge, everything will be impossible to talk about, without knowledge, how can you get out of this small circle and change your destiny facing the loess with your back to the sky. Although there are many ways to obtain knowledge, at present, the most important channel is education, which is inseparable from running schools. In order to let more people in the village go out, we must do our best to educate the children in the village to learn knowledge, encourage them to acquire more culture, so that more children and grandchildren can go out of Xiaowangzhuang and experience a more colorful life, only in this way can we be worthy of the support and help of the villagers. Thinking of this, Lao Mu's steps became more firm and powerful, and he suddenly felt that the work he was engaged in was the greatest and noblest cause in the whole village.

When I got home, I saw a plate dish prepared by Xiuhua, saying that it was a board dish, but it was actually a big pot of eggplant stewed chicken, plus a few plates of green vegetables. Lao Mu shook his head helplessly at Xiuhua: "Everyone says that help is due, there is no need to invite guests to dinner and cause trouble, I can't invite you, and I can't do it!"

Xiuhua didn't say anything, just laughed, from her smile, it is not difficult to see that it is a smile from the heart, it is a sweet laugh from the bottom of the heart, and for everyone's mutual help, it can only be expressed with laughter.

When Lao Mu's family was immersed in the happiness of helping each other in the village, an unusual thing happened in the house of Lao Mu Gu of Liu Village, ten miles away from Xiaowangzhuang.

The old Aunt Mu, who had just made lunch, was preparing to maintain her farm tools in the courtyard, when three uninvited guests suddenly stood in the courtyard. An older woman, who looked to be in her fifties, was more than 1.65 meters tall, with a round face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, slightly fat, her hair was neatly combed, she wore a bun at the back of her head, she wore a blue shirt on her upper body, blue coarse cloth pants on her lower body, and black cloth shoes made by herself on her feet. The man is a young man in his twenties, at least 1.8 meters tall, with a small flat head, and the older woman looks a little similar, so that people can see at a glance that it is the mother, the young man has very white skin, a high nose bridge, bright eyes, and looks energetic, with the white short-sleeved shirt, light blue pants, and shiny leather shoes under his feet, it is enough to show that he is not an ordinary ordinary person. The most eye-catching thing is the girl who is dressed in a white really good shirt, dark green pants, pink sandals, and is about 1.7 meters tall.

Before Old Aunt Mu could react, the young woman questioned Old Aunt Mu: "Your son proposed to break up, do you care about it?"

Old Aunt Mu was asked and didn't know how to answer, stared at the girl, and before she could speak, the girl continued to chatter: "What did he say back then, let me wait for him for three years, these three years, I knitted a sweater for him and gave him tuition, but now I don't agree, do you still have a conscience?"

The girl who asked was Aunt Mu's daughter-in-law Hui Qin, who had not passed through the door, and Aunt Mu understood as soon as she heard it, looking at this posture, it must be because her son wanted to resign from the marriage in the past few days.

Old Aunt Mu didn't say a word, and hurriedly called her eldest daughter Wei Hong, who was munching on steamed buns, muttered a few words in her ear, and then said to Hui Qin: "I don't know what you mean by coming, I don't know what I want to do, why don't I agree?" ”

"Did you let me say it?" Hui Qin continued to question.

"Why don't you say it, besides, we also have matchmakers in both families, so ask the matchmaker in advance, and it's not too late to shout after you ask clearly!

"The matchmaker is also your person, why don't I find a matchmaker to reason with you directly?"

The two of you are talking about it in the courtyard, and the shouting in the courtyard immediately attracted the neighbors in the village to come up and watch. Close, there are those who hold a bowl and pick up rice in their mouths, those who are far away, those who hold steamed buns and gnaw green onions, and those who carry water cups to see the excitement, less than a cigarette, the courtyard of Lao Mugu's house is full of people.

Lao Mu Gu was originally a knife-mouthed tofu heart, she spoke clearly and quickly, although Hui Qin was young, she was also able to speak well and speak very well.

Later, when your son was admitted to school, he also told me that this marriage will not be regretted because he was admitted to school, and every time he goes home, he must first go to my house to sit, in the past few years, our family has supported him a lot, lack of money, I sent him over, lack of clothes, I made it for him, and now it's been three years, your son is about to graduate, but he proposed to break up with me, does he have a conscience?" Hui Qin gestured and said so much in one breath, and stood there very angrily.

"As the saying goes, 'the son is too big to be the master', the son is older, and the mother can't say it, there must be a context for this matter, I don't know what's going on, you make trouble in the future, this is not good for everyone!

Huiqin's mother saw that her future mother didn't know the truth, so she didn't answer, and let her daughter reason with her.

Maybe in the eyes of the villagers, this is a family matter, and others can't interject anything, so no one in the crowd standing and watching speaks, everyone listens to Huiqin's speech, looks at her angry appearance, and feels a little more charming, like watching a big play.

The words were divided into two ends, and then Wei Hong went out of the house, borrowed a bicycle from a neighbor's house, and went out of the village and went directly to Lao Mu's house in Xiaowangzhuang. Although the weather was a little hot, Wei Hong didn't dare to slack off for a moment, so she rode extremely fast on the road, and when she met an acquaintance to greet her, she didn't care about answering half a sentence, and just entered Lao Mu's courtyard gate, she shouted loudly, "Cousin, something is wrong!"

Lao Mu, who was eating, immediately put down the dishes and chopsticks in his hand and quickly came to the door of the hall, "So urgent, what's the big deal?"

"Let's go to our house and have a look, and as we go, let's bring my cousin with you!" Wei Hong said as she glanced at her cousin who was standing in the room.

"She has to go to Yangliu Village to pick up Mu Dong after dinner, I'll just go with you!" Lao Mu didn't know what was going on, and felt that it was not a matter to let his wife go, so he went to see it first, so he found a step for his wife, said and pushed the bicycle in the courtyard, and followed Wei Hong on the road.

"What's the matter, let's hear about it!" asked Lao Mu as soon as he left the hospital.

"We were eating, and Hui Qin took her mother and her brother into our house and shouted, saying that my brother was going to divorce, so my mother asked me to come to you, and now I am shouting at home!" Wei Hong said a little breathlessly.

"Is the old watch going to be retired or does the aunt mean?"

"I don't know the specifics, I guess it's my brother's meaning, my mother may know!"

"Didn't my aunt say anything else when she asked you to come?"

"No, just let me find you to have a look!"

"That's good. After saying that, the two of them didn't say anything all the way, and it took about ten minutes for the two to arrive at the entrance of Liu Village, and saw a few people muttering at the entrance of the village, and the two got out of the car.

"I can't help other women's women in this matter, and if I have an iron rice bowl, I will take a fancy to our mud legs!"

"That's not what's wrong, this woman is really one in a million, there is one, and she is also very handsome in terms of appearance, and it is not so easy to find another such one. ”

"Da'an looks good, and then look at the woman's brother, he doesn't eat peasant food, he can be called a good family!"

An elder who saw Wei Hong coming over pouted at the other speakers, and the speaker turned his head to see Wei Hong walking behind him, and did not say anything more, in fact, this was just heard by Wei Hong and Lao Mu.

Wei Hong pretended not to hear, said hello to everyone, and hurriedly walked into the door of his courtyard, and there were many people crowded in the courtyard.

"Cousin, come into the house and say, it's not appropriate to stand here! Everyone is polite!" Lao Mu, who entered the hospital, first greeted the middle-aged woman who came. This middle-aged woman is Xiuhua's cousin, and Huiqin is Xiufang's aunt.

"You're here, you should be a matchmaker and say something fair!

When Hui Qin saw that her cousin-in-law was coming, she was going to talk about it, but she suddenly stopped, stared at Lao Mu, and let Lao Mu glance at her, and didn't dare to look at her again, so she directly let everyone into the house to discuss. Brother Hui Qin handed a cigarette to Lao Mu, Lao Mu took the cigarette, took Brother Hui Qin's hand and said, "Big brother is also here, hurry, come into the house and talk, let people see jokes outside!"

Brother Hui Qin never said a word, then looked at the girl, and then said, "Let's go inside!

As he spoke, he followed Lao Mu into the house, and Lao Mu Gu simply cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks, then poured water on the cup and asked everyone to sit down and say.

"It's not a way to make a fuss about this, I'll talk back to you when I understand, okay?" said Lao Mu to his cousin tentatively.

"Besides, this relative is important, once it becomes a relative, it is a family, and a family does not speak two words, and now this kind of trouble is not good for anyone, what do you say?"

Brother Hui Qin said: "When I came, I only heard my sister say that she received a letter from Da'an, saying that she mentioned that she was going to break up, how could my sister's character hold back this breath, this didn't let me come here with my mother to talk about it, the specific situation, we don't know very well, this is for my brother-in-law to persuade your cousin, don't be too self-assertive!"

"Okay, I'll say hello, and then I'll send you a letter, and at that time, you can go directly to him to make trouble!" Lao Mu's words were originally meant to be comforting, which attracted Hui Qin's anger, "This is what you said, if you don't handle it well, I will go to the school at that time, so that everyone knows that he is a negative thief!" Hui Qin said the last thief word, and deliberately accentuated her tone, looking like a thief.

Lao Mu didn't answer, looked around at the people in the room, and was silent for half a minute, Lao Mu felt that what his cousin meant, and he didn't understand, everything must have a cause, I don't know cause and effect, and I can't say anything here. So in order to break this situation, he said to his cousin as if flatteringly: "You haven't eaten yet, it's inconvenient to be at home, let's go to the commune restaurant to have a light meal, and talk while eating, first, to talk about the ins and outs, and second, to discuss the solution." After saying that, he stood up, Lao Mu said these words to ease the tense atmosphere, and secondly, to give everyone a step, all the people present in the house understand, continue to make trouble like this, I'm afraid there will be no result, not good This marriage immediately soaked, so hearing Lao Mu's words, everyone also recognized it, so they also stood up and walked outside the house together, the people in the courtyard may feel that there is no joke to see, and automatically left a lot, only a few good things girls are there from time to time to look into the house, at this time everyone got up and went out of the house, and they all dispersed。

Old Aunt Mu called Wei Hong and quietly stuffed him with two ten-yuan bills, "Go with your cousin, so as not to let him break the bank!"

The five of them rode to the commune restaurant, ordered four side dishes, and asked for ten steamed buns, and Lao Mu and Wei Hong ate some at home, but they only accompanied them politely.

Everyone at the table thought about their own thoughts, just a few polite words on the surface, then ate quietly, after eating, Huiqin's mother took Lao Mu's hand: "Nephew and son-in-law, we are relatives, I have a few words to remind you, your old watch is not doing it right, if you correct it, you are still a good relative, if you don't change it, you are an enemy!" Although this is not much, but the weight is not light, Lao Mu knows the old lady's temper, no words, just nodded slightly, and agreed with the old man's words.

After Lao Mu returned home, he told Xiuhua what had just happened, and Xiuhua was anxious when she heard it: "How can this work, if you don't agree, you don't agree to this marriage at that time, people will wait for three years and then regret it, he is holding an iron rice bowl to find a wife, and the cousin has to take care of a reputation, if this is the case, I would have known that I would not introduce it, so as not to let us follow people inside and outside!"

"Why not, our girl doesn't know about it yet, it seems that the matter is the old cousin, it is necessary to talk to him in person, I will tell your cousin to figure it out and give him a reply, so come back to discuss with you, I really have to retreat, and I want you to go on a run." ”

"Then where is it, if this thing doesn't work, let me lose this person, I must convince the old cousin, otherwise the two of us will really not fall well on both sides in it, and finally offend my relatives, and I will become a relative in the future, and I will become a dislike of everyone! ”

Lao Mu thought about it carefully before and after: "This cousin was also a talent back then, so after graduating from high school, he was recommended to work as a correspondent in the commune, and when he said this matchmaker, he was also very happy, and this aunt and sister also looked like a flower in the neighboring townships, who saw someone who liked it, so the two of them matched at a glance back then." It was later resumed that the college entrance examination, when the cousin was nominated for the gold list, he also never forgot it, and came to the house, when his wife jokingly mentioned to him that he would not look down on the mud legs if he hugged the iron rice bowl, the cousin also repeatedly said that he would not, especially mentioning the marriage will not be pushed off, and in the past two years of studying in the university, the cousin has always been the class president of the class, never mentioned the divorce, every festival, as long as there is a chance, the cousin will always go to the cousin's house to sit as a guest, indicating that the cousin and the cousin still have feelings, if you propose to withdraw from the marriage now, there must be a reason, this matter must be asked to the cousin face to face, if possible, must not let him withdraw from the marriage, unless the cousin is iron-hearted, there is no room for negotiation at all, so you can only resign yourself to fate and let your cousin make trouble!"

Lao Mu thought about it for a while, sighed, and then got up and rode to Liu Village.

Old Aunt Mu was packing up in the courtyard, Lao Mu entered the yard and called "girl", her aunt stopped her work, turned her head and replied: "Come into the house and talk!

Lao Mu entered the house and asked, "When will my brother-in-law come back?"

"I sent him a letter before I was busy, saying that the mine was too busy to get out of his body, and even though the responsibility system had just been implemented this year, it seemed impossible to expect him to come back to help the family. ”

"Then you don't have to be too nervous, everyone will help you when they're done!" Lao Mu said a word of relief.

Lao Mu and his aunt went into the house together, sat down, and Lao Mu began to ask about the morning.

"Do you know what happened in the morning?" asked Lao Mu looking at the girl's face.

"At first, I really didn't know what was going on, Hui Qin said it, and I realized that yesterday she received a letter from Da'an, which mentioned that she was going to break up with her, so she came to the house today, and Da'an never told me about it, so today I didn't do it right for a year, so I asked Xiaohong to call you, after all, you are still relatives!"

"That's right, but you have to figure it out, otherwise how can I get a reply over there?" said Lao Mu with certainty.

"Just take advantage of the farm to see if you can let him take two days off to come back! Can you send him a telegram to see if he can come?" Lao Mu put his hands on his knees, looked at his daughter who was pulling the thread outside the door, and said, "Xiaohong, I will go to the commune with your cousin to send a telegram to your brother in a while." Xiaohong agreed, and pushed out the "Old Long March" from the side room.

"That's not going on, girl, I'm going to shoot the telegram now!"

Lao Mu Gu stood up, opened the drawer and took out the phone number written on the paper, let Lao Mu copy it on a cigarette box paper, then walked out of the house, and followed Wei Hong out of the house and went straight to the post and telecommunications office of the commune.

On the way, Lao Mu pondered, "Now send a telegram to my cousin, if it is said that the farm is busy, he will not ask for leave to come back, unless he says that there is an emergency, the school will not let him come back, then the telegram will write 'There is an urgent matter at home, go back quickly'!"

Lao Mu thought so, and when he arrived at the post and telecommunications office where the commune was stationed, he sent out the telegram according to the preparation in his heart.

When Lao Mu returned home, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon, and he saw Xiuhua sitting in the courtyard in a daze, and Mu Zhen was coaxing his brother to play in the courtyard.

"What's the concern?" said Lao Mu as he parked.

Xiuhua ignored him and sighed.

"We can't all agree on this matter, everyone agreed at the time, as for the status has changed, people are also changing, it's a big deal!"

"You said it lightly, it's a trivial matter, how can I hold my head up in front of my relatives?" Xiuhua retorted.

"I've already sent a telegram to Da'an, and as for how things will be done, I can only know after meeting him, so I can't take it very seriously, after all, it's not our business!"

"That's true, why bother yourself?" said Xiuhua a little to herself.

"I'll put this on hold in advance, and I'll talk about it when I see the old surface. ”

After Lao Mu finished speaking, he went into the house and poured water and drank it himself.