After the rooster crowed three times, Li Dazhu got up, a little candlelight flickered in the darkness in front of him, and Li Cuishi, who was sitting under the lamp, was holding his hair. Li Dazhu yawned, stretched out his feet on the ground to probe his shoes, and asked, "What time is it?"

Li Cuishi leaned sideways and replied, "It's almost dawn, it's time to get up." This will go to catch just right, and when you see the light, the yard will be full of commotion. At the end, he added, "Stone daddy, it's the short-crowned Luhua chicken, don't be mistaken." ”

"Can't be wrong. Li Dazhu answered, put on a coat and opened the door. The wet and cold water vapor of early spring rushed to his face, and his remaining sleepiness was gone. The sky is not yet fully bright, the water mist is forested, the eyes are gray, the things in the yard are faintly visible, the peach tree in front of the house is red, red and white decorated with flowers and bones, trembling in the morning breeze, as if it is not better than the light cold of early spring.

Li Dazhu touched the chicken pen, took a flint and lit the lamp. The chickens that are all happy all over the ground during the day will be honest, and Li Dazhu pulled out a flower hen with a short crown from it after a few strokes, wrapped her wings and feet and threw it on the firewood. Then the door of the circle was opened, and everything else inside was released. The courtyard was full of commotion, and the gate of the Hu family next door also creaked. Li Dazhu washed his hands and face with water, and when he got up, he saw that the sky in the east was flushed, and it gradually became clear and vivid in the Miao Miao water vapor of the Huai River.

A new day begins.

He wiped the cold water from his face and shouted into the house, "Damn you, I'm going to the field, and the chicken is resting on the firewood." ”

Li Cuishi was already busy in the kitchen, and he didn't look back and said, "I know." She lit a fire, washed the pot and washed the dishes, and scooped the rice into the pot. Li Dazhu's mother also got up and helped add fire and firewood to the stove. The sky slowly brightened, and the red sun sprinkled all over the courtyard, spilling in through the ash panes, and a chicken came into the kitchen to beg for food.

Li Cuishi remembered something, stopped what he was doing, told his mother-in-law, wiped his hands in the cloth, went back to the room, dragged out a bamboo basket from under the bed, and touched the eggs that he had counted last night one by one, and he was really reluctant to do so.

Her twenty eggs have been saved for three months, and she is usually reluctant to eat, just waiting for the seller to enter the village, changing some needlework and other bits and pieces to supplement the family, the Luhua chicken, which is also the old hen she has raised for three or four years, is a good time to lay eggs. But today, she had to give it all away.

Her son Shi Shi is one of the best naughty eggs in several nearby villages, and he is restless all day long, and yesterday evening, he hid under the bridge pier at the head of the village, and scared Zhang Shuisheng's bamboo girl into the river. Although spring is now in place, the river water in March and April is still bitterly cold. Fortunately, there were adults passing by nearby, rescued people, and invited Lang Zhong in time, which saved a life, otherwise where would a few medicine money and a few eggs be fine?

After counting the eggs, Li Cuishi slipped the flower hen on the firewood pile over, and put the two things in one place, which stabbed her flesh painfully. Her heart was on fire, she picked up the bamboo strip next to the door, ran to the right wing, lifted the quilt on the bed, and pulled it off at the bare buttocks, while scolding: "The sun is drying your buttocks, and you don't die yet?"

On the bed, the boy who was sleeping soundly jumped up with his buttocks, shrunk into the bed and stared at Li Cui's eyes, dodging and shouting in pain: "Mother, mother, don't fight, it hurts me to death." ”

Li Cui's head was so angry, where could he hear this? After a few more smacks, he scolded: "You also know that it hurts? Can't you live in peace? If you don't do something at the end of three days, you won't feel comfortable, won't you? You squat on the pier in the dark, you will die......

After a few blows to the stone, seeing that the momentum was not right, he quickly grabbed his pants, jumped out of bed and put them on the door, because he knew that his grandmother must be in the kitchen, so he ran over there, and shouted: "Kill someone! My mother is crazy, she is going to kill me, grandmother save me!"

Li Cuishi chased out the door, listened to his son's shout, was so angry that he almost couldn't stand, leaned on the wall with one hand, held the bamboo stick with the other and panted and said: "You, you, you still can't stop talking? Stinky boy, if I don't peel off your skin today, I, I won't be your mother!"

Shi happened to run to the door of the kitchen, and when he heard this, he turned around, made a grimace at his mother, and said with a smile: "Mother, you are so fierce, you are not like my own mother." ”

Li Cui's almost turned his back on his breath, and he didn't care about the back pain, so Ma Li rushed over and pumped it with a bamboo strip. The stone hugged his head and screamed, and the rabbit seemed to hide behind his grandmother, Li Hongshi.

Li Cui's face turned pale, gritted his teeth and said, "Mother, don't stop me." You heard what I said just now, if I don't clean up the stinky boy today, maybe he will be able to set fire to the house tomorrow. ”

Li Hongshi is already in his 60s this year, and he was pulled around by the two of them, and said with a smile: "Don't pull it, I can't stand it." After looking at the gap, he stopped Li Cui's hand, and said: "Don't be angry, don't be angry, this bastard is a serious one, you are angry with him, and you are not bitter yourself." ”

"Mother, he's eleven or twelve years old, and he hasn't woken up yet? Li Cuishi said angrily. Li Hongshi patted his grandson with a gesture, and said to his daughter-in-law with a smile: "The boy wakes up late, and when his father comes back, I will ask his father to clean up." Daughter-in-law, aren't you going to the aquatic house? This matter is important, go quickly, I'll watch here. ”

Li Cui's just thought about the right thing, the sky is already bright, this will be the time when every family has people, at this time, everyone can see it, and they are not afraid that Zhang Shuisheng's broken mother-in-law will give birth to moths in the future.

Li Cuishi glared at his son hatefully and said, "I'll clean you up when I go back." He put down the bamboo strip in his hand, went back to the room, pulled a bamboo cage and went out.

Shi saw his mother walking away, so he returned to the room to get his clothes, touched the red road on his buttocks, gasped in pain, endured the pain and got dressed, and went to the kitchen again, holding up the injury on his arm to tell his mother, "Grandmother, look, my mother obviously wants to kill me." ”

Li Hongshi slapped him heavily on the wound and said with a cold face: "Yes! Good fight! People have crossed the bridge well, what are you doing to scare her? Fortunately, your life is great, otherwise, it will not be too much for the Zhang family to arrest you to pay for your life!"

Shi was frightened when he saw Zhang Xing coming up yesterday, he was completely white and upright, and he was also frightened, knowing that he was in trouble, and beating and scolding and preaching were indispensable. His mother has the same fiery temper as his father, and she must have been on the line at the beginning, but his grandmother has always loved him, and at most she will nag a few words, and there is nothing to worry about. He then muttered in a low voice: "How did I know that she couldn't help but be scared ......" Seeing Li Hong's calm face, he hurriedly swallowed the next words into his stomach, changed his smiling face, shook Li Hong's arm, and said: "Grandmother, I'm starving to death, but do I have anything to eat?"

Li Hongshi was not as easy to fool as before, nodded his forehead fiercely, and said: "You, when can people worry less?

"Know, know, grandmother. The next time I see Zhang Xing, I will definitely not scare her. Afraid that his grandmother would talk about it again, Shi found a compromise in his heart, and agreed very happily.

Li Hongshi saw him like that, he didn't listen much, he wanted to wait for more, looking at his licking smile with a little weakness, this is the treasure of the three generations of the old Li family, she finally couldn't bear to say more, sighed, shook her head, and turned around to give her grandson Zhang Luo food.

Just when Li Hongshi was giving his grandson Zhang Luo food, Li Cui's family, who had greeted him all the way, had already walked to the door of Zhang Shuisheng's house, and the sun had already reached the treetops at that time, shining brightly, but the door of Zhang's house was still closed. Li Cuishi shook his head secretly, with a look of disdain on his face, and knocked on the door. A tall woman's voice sounded in the door: "Who? Knocking on the door early in the morning, Zhang Tao, Zhang Tao, are you deaf?

After a sound of kicking and tapping, the door of Zhang's house creaked open. Li Cuishi hurriedly collected a disdainful look on his face. Standing in the door was a young girl of six or seven years old, dressed in an obviously large linen dress, with unkempt yellow hair. Xu Shicai came out of the kitchen, his palm-sized face was still stained with gray-black stove ash, and he looked at her timidly with black eyes.

Li Cui's heart couldn't help but feel sour, she remembered that Zhang Xing, the eldest girl of the Zhang family, was the same year as her son Shishi, only a small month, and the second Zhang Tao was three years younger, and she was only seven years old this year. The seven-year-old baby went to the stove early in the morning, and when did her kid not sleep until three o'clock in the morning before getting up? Li Cuishi bowed down and asked with a soft smile, "Tao'er, is your mother here?"

Zhang Tao turned his head to look at the room. Li Cuishi followed her gaze, and a twenty-six or seventeen-year-old woman was coming out of the room, wearing a pinched waist jacket, her hair was neat, and her face was white and beautiful. Li Cuishi hurriedly stood up, although he was contemptuous in his heart, he didn't forget to smile on his face, and said, "The eldest sister is at home." ”

Zhang Tao's mother Ye Hexiang paused, put on a cold face, and said in a lengthened tone: "Yo, it's you." ”

Li Cuishi didn't think so, still smiled, put the bamboo basket in his hand to the obvious place, and said, "Yes, big sister, I'm here to see Xing'er, I don't know if she's awake?"

Ye Hexiang saw the basket of things, her eyes lit up, the smile on her face came out in a blink of an eye, she stretched out her hand and took it, the old hen inside clucked a few times, she said enthusiastically: "Wake up, wake up, wake up early, sister-in-law is too polite." He turned his head and frowned at Zhang Tao, who was standing at the door, and said, "What are you doing in a daze? Why don't you bring a bowl of hot water to your aunt?"

Li Cuishi hurriedly smiled and said, "No need, no need, I'm not thirsty, let's go see the child first." ”

Zhang's house is a three-room earthen house, the middle is the hall house, the left is the kitchen, the right is the bedroom, the room is divided into two, the front lives Zhang Shuisheng and his son Zhang Jinbao, and the two sisters Zhang Xing live behind. The sisters' house is cramped and not bright, and the so-called bed is just a few planks. Li Cuishi entered the room, and it took him several moments to see a person lying on the wooden board.

Ye Hexiang shouted when she entered the door: "Xing'er, your aunt came to see you." The man lying on the bed sat up at the sound of the coming. Li Cuishi was a little surprised, this Zhang Xing was the one she had seen since she was a child, she was timid and slow, and she was completely different from the monkey cub in her family. Today is a little different, not to mention the quick action, and you can still avoid watching people.

The room was dark, Li Cuishi couldn't see Zhang Xing's face clearly, and when he looked at her, a strange feeling quietly appeared.