Hong Weiguo carried a huge travel bag, climbed over the mountain pass, and pointed down: "The front is my home." ”

Fourth Uncle Hong said with a smile: "I'll ask your aunt to make room for the bed, make do with it tonight, and come back tomorrow when I go to the market and cut another pound of meat." The owner ......"

"Just call me Xiao Song. Song Weiyang said.

Fourth Uncle Hong said: "Xiao Song, at first glance, you are a baby in the city, and the conditions in the countryside are poor, don't dislike it." ”

Song Weiyang said: "My grandmother is from the countryside, and I am also half a rural person. ”

After Hong Weiguo took his mother and younger siblings into the city, the house in his hometown was always empty, and he temporarily lent it to the son and daughter-in-law of the fourth uncle. It's good for everyone, if the house is empty for too long, it should be abandoned in a year or two, and someone has to take care of it regularly.

It was a row of brick bungalows, two bedrooms, a hall, a kitchen with a pigsty, and one of the bedrooms that doubled as a granary.

The yard is surrounded by a bamboo fence, some chickens and ducks are raised, and there is thin everywhere.

The fourth uncle has a total of two sons and a daughter, both of whom have already started a family. The youngest daughter is only 18 years old, married in the next village, and the children can run all over the ground.

The old mansion in Hong Wei's country was lent to the family of the fourth uncle's youngest son.

The six-year-old boy in the courtyard, who is the grandson of the fourth uncle, is dirty enough to choke and is lying on the ground playing marbles alone.

"Qiangqiang, eat sugar!" Hong Weiguo took out a handful of toffee.

The boy immediately smiled, put the sugar in his mouth and was happy, and then took out a bamboo sword from the house to show off: "Uncle, look, this is what I made myself!"

"Well done. Hong Weiguo praised.

There are several families halfway up the mountain, and Hong Weiguo carries a travel bag to give gifts from door to door, all of which are candy and other things.

Uncle Hong called his wife to make their beds, went home and killed a chicken, cut a piece of bacon from the beam, and took his little grandson to pick vegetables in the field.

Song Weiyang followed behind them and asked, "Qiangqiang should study, right?"

"We can't go to primary school until we're seven years old. Fourth Uncle Hong said.

"What about kindergartens?" Mr. Song said.

Fourth Uncle Hong said: "There used to be a kindergarten, but now it has been withdrawn, and there is only a preschool. Preschool reading is boring, a waste of money, and it is most cost-effective to go directly to elementary school. ”

Song Weiyang said: "The harvest at home is fine. ”

Fourth Uncle Hong said: "The harvest is good, there has been a bumper harvest for three consecutive years, but unfortunately the price of grain is falling downward." ”

"The grain hurts the peasants. Song Weiyang said.

"Yes, that's what it means. Fourth Uncle Hong smiled helplessly.

Song Weiyang asked, "I heard that you have two sons?"

Fourth Uncle Hong said with a smile: "The eldest and his family work on the coast, and their baby is sent to live in the town middle school. The second child is farming at home, and he is too busy to be busy, and the land of the eldest and the great country is planted by the second family. In addition, the second child is from his own family, that is, two people plant 10 people's land, and the food grown cannot be eaten. ”

"That's a good life. Song Weiyang said.

"It's definitely much better than the old society, don't worry about food and clothing," Uncle Hong said, "But there is a fart for more grain, and it can't be sold at a price, and it is all sold to the grain station." The money for chemical fertilizers and pesticides and seeds is rising every year, and with the addition of water money and public grain, planting rice is actually a loss. ”

"Then you still farm?" Song Weiyang said.

"What do you eat if you don't farm?" said Fourth Uncle Hong, "The current situation in our family is that there is so much grain that the warehouse is full, and there is still a lot of Chen Gu left three years ago. But there is no money, and when the eldest couple didn't go out to work, even the eldest grandson had to wait to sell the pig money to pay the tuition. ”

This is a very embarrassing thing, because the peasants cannot eat all the grain in their homes, and they cannot afford to sell it at a price, and they cannot exchange it for money -- there is enough grain and money is scarce.

To put it more bluntly, the peasants here are so poor that they only have a room left for food.

They are very rich, and even if they don't do anything all day, the family has enough food to eat for a year or two.

They are very poor, they need money for oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, money for clothes and quilts, money for medical treatment and schooling, and these money can only be exchanged for selling agricultural and sideline products. Even electric lights are reluctant to use too bright, only dare to use 15-watt, 25-watt incandescent lamps, 40 watts are too much electricity.

Song Weiyang pointed to a two-story building in the distance and said with a smile: "That family is quite rich, and the houses are very generous." ”

Fourth Uncle Hong said: "I earned it from my part-time job." People have a good brain, they went out to work in 91, and now they are all the team leaders in the factory, with a monthly salary of more than 600, and they can save three or four thousand a year. ”

Song Weiyang found that he couldn't understand the account, how could he save three or four thousand a year with a salary of more than six hundred a month, and he didn't usually spend money?

Song Weiyang expressed the doubts in his heart.

Fourth Uncle Hong explained with a smile: "He is a big man, and he doesn't smoke or drink, what else can he spend money on? His wife is also a capable person, a woman cultivates the land of the whole family of four, and also supports her mother-in-law to take care of the children, and also raises chickens, ducks and pigs, and the family's expenses are all earned by his wife." In fact, this day is okay, as long as you are willing to work hard, a woman can support everyone. The money earned by a man working is enough to build a building in six or seven years. ”

"Is that woman busy? She farms the land of four people, raises chickens, ducks and pigs, and takes care of her mother-in-law and children?"

Fourth Uncle Hong said: "I went out to farm at five o'clock in the morning, came back at seven or eight o'clock to make breakfast, cooked the chickens, ducks and pigs, and then went out to farm, and when I came back at noon, I could cut some grass and feed the rabbits." I finish work at five or six o'clock in the afternoon, come back and clean up the house, watch TV for a while at night and go to bed, and the day is like this. Her mother-in-law is also strong, washing clothes in the morning, feeding chickens, ducks and pigs, collecting firewood in the mountains in the afternoon, and helping to do work in the fields when the farm is busy. ”

"What if you get sick after such hard work?" Song Weiyang asked.

Fourth Uncle Hong said with a smile: "Seek medical treatment for minor illnesses, and wait for death for major illnesses." ”

Song Weiyang said: "Can a serious illness be cured or not?"

Fourth Uncle Hong said: "It depends on who gets sick." If a young man is seriously ill, he must be able to seek medical treatment, and he must also be treated if he owes a stock debt, and when the young man dies, the family will collapse. There is no need for the elderly, and they can't live for a few years anyway, if it costs twenty or thirty thousand yuan to see a doctor, it is better to die early. Anyway, if I get sick, I will go to the doctor for a few thousand yuan, and I will drink pesticides directly for ten thousand yuan. ”

"You can see it. Song Weiyang said with a smile.

"What else can I do if I can't see it?" said Uncle Hong, "It's not easy for the eldest couple to work, and the money is not blown by the wind, 10,000 yuan is enough for them to save for two or three years." The eldest grandson is going to high school soon, and there are so many places to spend money, so why should I spend it on an old man like me?"

Song Weiyang handed over a cigarette: "How much money does your family spend on consumer goods in a year? ”

Fourth Uncle Hong lit a cigarette and pondered: "In addition to oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, there is nothing to spend money." ”

"Clothes, shoes and socks cost money. Song Weiyang said.

"Oh, yes," said Uncle Hong, "the child should buy at least four sets of clothes a year to grow taller." The son and daughter-in-law also have to buy new clothes and new shoes for the New Year, otherwise they will lose face when they wear them. ”

"What about you?" Song Weiyang asked.

"What kind of clothes do I buy as an old man," Uncle Hong said with a smile, "I've been wearing these for at least seven or eight years." That is, if the shoes are not worn, they will wear out a pair in two or three years. ”

"What about the appliances at home?" Song Weiyang asked.

"I bought the TV, but I didn't need anything else. Fourth Uncle Hong said.

Song Weiyang asked: "Don't buy drinks and beers or anything?"

Fourth Uncle Hong said: "You must buy it when you threh the grain, you have to ask someone to help, you don't prepare beer, you will be poked in the back." ”

Song Weiyang asked again: "How often do you eat meat?"

Fourth Uncle Hong said: "Eating meat during the New Year's holidays usually depends on luck. If you're lucky, you don't eat meat, and if you're unlucky, you eat meat every day. ”

"Huh?" Song Weiyang didn't understand.

"Chicken fever and swine fever, a large piece of death, then don't you eat meat every day. Fourth Uncle Hong said.

Song Weiyang said: "Then your son and daughter-in-law went out to work, and they only earned and didn't spend, so they should have saved a lot of money, right?"

Fourth Uncle Hong said: "The money saved can't be moved, you have to keep it to repair the house, and build that kind of two-story building!"

Song Weiyang was silent, he found that the biggest economic benefit of farmers is to work, and the income from part-time work is kept to repair houses. That is to say, except for building materials, there is no demand for industrial products in the rural areas at all, and the domestic demand in the rural areas should not be able to pull up.

Of course, feed is also easy to sell, especially pig feed.

It is no wonder that the Liu brothers became the richest men in China a few years ago just by selling feed, because they have the broadest market in China.