In the wheat fields of early summer, there is not a single wind blowing, and it is as quiet as a painting. Brother Xia squatted on the ridge, looking at his more than ten acres of wheat fields with a sad face, and he didn't know how many times he sighed. Since the beginning of summer, it has not rained for half a month, and the wheat seedlings are wilting and dry, as if they can catch fire at any time. Thinking about the dozen or so people in the family again, a pair of thick eyebrows twisted into deep Sichuan characters sadly.

Looking at the distant mountains, he was sighing to himself, and a child who was running wildly ran over from the ridge, looking no more than seven or eight years old. There was also a five- or six-year-old baby behind him, who was staggering and staggering. Unexpectedly, there was still a little bit behind him, but he was only three or four years old, panting and stumbling all the way. Brother Xia heard the mixed footsteps, and when he looked up, he saw such a scene, although his heart was sad, he couldn't help but feel sorry at the moment.

The child in the middle saw Brother Xia looking up from a distance, thinking that he knew that he had no hope of running past the big one in front, so he immediately raised his throat, "Dad, Dad, Dad" shouted hoarsely, while thinking in his heart: Even if you can't run to your father first, it's good to tell Sù Dad the news first. The one who ran at the forefront turned around and glared at him angrily, and shouted not far behind, "Big brother, big brother, my mother is going to give birth to a baby, my mother is going to give birth to a baby." ”

No, there was a stone on the road, and he stepped on it regardless of the front foot, and his body deviated, and the whole person fell to the ground. The chase behind was urgent, and he was in a hurry to stop, and he rolled on him. The last little dot seemed to want to say something, but he only opened his mouth wide and gasped. Three steps and two steps swayed to the two children in front of him, happily pounced on them.

As soon as Brother Xia heard "Mother wants to give birth to a baby", he immediately jumped up to meet him, and left a few little dolls behind him in a few steps. However, after running two steps, a raindrop the size of a bean hit Brother Xia's forehead and dispersed with a snap. Brother Xia couldn't help but stop and look at the sky, and he didn't know when a large dark cloud floated in the sky. The raindrops began to fall sparsely on Brother Xia's face, and Brother Xia licked his lips and looked at the increasingly dense rain in ecstasy. "Big brother, big brother, big nephew has been" Xiao Budian finally took a breath, pulled Brother Xia's pants and talked about the situation at home anxiously.

Brother Xia hurriedly picked up his son with one hand, hugged the younger brother with the other, and greeted the sixth brother: "Six, brother will go first." Xia Liulang, who had only run two steps after getting up, looked at the triumphant eighth brother and second nephew angrily, and muttered helplessly.

At this time, the courtyard of the Xia family was well organized, busy but not chaotic. Mrs. Xia commanded several granddaughters-in-law in the courtyard to run forward and backward. Sister-in-law Xia helped Mrs. Xia to slowly pace in the delivery room, Sister-in-law Xia was spreading the futon on the side, and Sister-in-law Xia was busy boiling water on the stove. The eldest great-grandson and his fifth uncle had already sent out to ask for Wenpo, and it was time to be on the way back at this time. The second grandson followed his sixth and seventh uncles to report to the eldest son.

The third uncle and the fourth uncle greeted the neighbors who heard Xin'er outside, and they were almost busy for a while, and called a few daughters-in-law to the stove to make food.

Xia's family is in Zhaowang Village, which is the leading family in Shili Eight Villages. Although Xia Xiucai's family has been passed down for three generations, it is the only private school teacher in Zhaowangcun for more than 20 years.

If he encounters one or two people with outstanding qualifications, Xia Xiucai has to fill in some silver money to fund one or two. Coming and going, there are also a few peasant children who slowly get out of the farm, or find a small county town to be the secretary of the main book, or find a high-ranking family to be the shopkeeper's account, although none of them are rich and expensive, but they are all serious and stable livelihoods, how can it be regarded as peach and plum all over the world. The villagers in the village, whether they have received Xia Xiucai's favor or not, respect him very much.

Although the scholars in the countryside are respected, the Xia family's fame is really not because of Xia Xiucai's peach and plum world. is really the lady of this old Xia Xiucai, and the Lu family, known as Xiao Xia's mother-in-law, is unique in Zhaowang Village and even Fengxiang County.

Xiao Xia's mother-in-law fled to Xiajia Village in the early years due to the drought in the northwest, and I heard that her mother's family was also a wealthy family, and she had no intention of marrying her daughter to such a poor sour. How could the tiger fall into Pingyang and be bullied by dogs, not to mention that they are now completely down. Not to mention that the ancestral foundation is gone, there are not many clansmen who have escaped, and there are not many men who have withered along the way. Not to mention the restoration of the foundation of the ancestors, it is not easy to even make ends meet.

The mother of the Lu family thought about it for a few nights: although the Xia family is not rich, it is better than the simple population, and the three generations are single. Although the family is small, they also have a field of three or five acres, and there is enough food and drink for just a few people. Now that my mother's family is weak, not to mention the difficult and long way back, even if I can go back to my hometown to find my clansmen, it is just to say that such a family is a family.

Besides, the situation of the Lu family at this time, if the family is too good, the mother's family is afraid that she will not be able to support her daughter for more than ten years, and she will teach her family to suffer losses in the future. In addition, Mrs. Xia is a well-known mouthful, and after a lot of talking, she also said that the three girls of the Lu family entered the house.

This little Xia Pozi has an idea, and after passing the door, she used her dowry to add a few acres of land. refused to let his father-in-law work in the field, only urged him to study, and after two years, he was admitted to Xiucai. It's just that this Xia Xiucai is a little pedantic, although he is good at learning, he can't do business. I took the exam for a few more years, but I couldn't go any further. Xiao Xia's mother-in-law also stopped the road of fame, and Xia Xiucai has been teaching Mengtong in the village since then.

However, it is not this incident that makes this Xia family famous. This little Xia Po had a belly fight, and she was pregnant just over a month after entering the door, and she gave birth to her eldest son the next year. In the following years, he did not stop, and gave birth to eight sons in the past twenty years. It's just that these eight sons are all well raised, and none of the first few sons who have become human have grown crooked. Each is a child of his own right, with a serious livelihood.

The eldest brother mentioned above continues, and he is the most honest and honest, with one saying and two saying two. I just don't like to read, but after learning a few words, I began to farm at home and tended to these acres of land. Fortunately, there are many men in the family, and when they are busy, they rush up, and these seven or eight acres of land are not enough to dry, so they slowly add a few more acres of land. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, he married the Wang family from the next village, and the following year gave birth to a grandson of the eldest grandson. The Wang family is very pungent and can speak well, if it weren't for the mother-in-law Lu who gave birth to a lot of sons, she would have asked her to hold it.

The second brother Yanwen was born tall and burly, and he was righteous, but he was short-tempered, which really made Xiao Xia's wife worry a lot. When he was fourteen or fifteen years old, he ran away alone and became a horse dealer. This horse dealer is no different from a bandit, selling horses along the way, one is not careful, not only the horse is gone, but even his life can be hit, so this character is becoming more and more popular. Because of this, although the Xia family is a foreign surname in Zhaowang Village, no one dares to provoke indiscriminately.

The third brother of Xia, Yanting, was a clever man, and when he was eleven or twelve years old, he entered the county town as an apprentice in the wine workshop. He is loyal and knowledgeable, and coaxes the guests of the workshop to return with great interest. However, in three or five years, he won the love of the shopkeeper, and promised his third daughter to him, and his life was quite prosperous. After two years, he also opened a small shop and began to sell alcohol and food.

Fourth Brother Xia Yanfu, known as Xia Laofu, no matter when he meets someone, he always greets him with a smile, and he is an honest and honest person. Fourth Brother Xia has loved carpentry since he was a child, and since he could lift a hammer, he began to knock and beat, and when he was free, he squatted under the big tree, thinking about what this tree could do and what that tree could do. Later, he worshipped carpenter Guo as a teacher at the head of the village, and married the eldest daughter of carpenter Guo half a year ago. In these ten miles and eight villages, every household has such a piece, and the two pieces of furniture are made by Brother Xia.

When it was time to give birth to the fifth brother Yanwu, the people in the village were not surprised. There are four men in the family, the eldest one is not a big deal, and the younger one still needs to be watched. On the other hand, Fifth Brother Xia inherited his grandmother's sharp teeth, studied hard for a few years, and took the Xiucai exam. With his mind active, he is planning the documents of the county government by himself at this time, and he is very happy inside and out.

When Sixth Brother Xia was born, Brother Xia gave birth to his eldest son, and the difference between the two uncles and nephews was only half a year. Sixth Brother Xia was raised as an old son, and he only suffered the grandson of the Xia family. Everyone says that the old son and the eldest grandson are the lifeblood of the old lady. However, this eldest grandson of the long house is too close to the old lady's old son, so naturally he can't fight his own. Xiao Xia's mother-in-law was afraid that the eldest grandson would bully this little uncle by relying on himself to be half a year older, so not only did he not enjoy much life-saving treatment, but he was actually disciplined very harshly.

Unexpectedly, after three years, he gave birth to a personal essence--- Xia Qige Yanhui. This one is like a prodigy, he learns everything quickly, draws inferences from one another, and never forgets it. Xia Xiucai danced with his hands, other people's children were enlightened at the age of three or four, and the seventh brother began to learn to make poetry. Since then, the daughter-in-law of the village who asks for the son has to come to Xiaoxia to mix some needles and threads here, and I don't know where the rumors come from, and they all put it close to each other in the hope of being able to get some of Xiaoxia's blessings.

By the time Starling Yanzhao was born, everyone in the family was tired. Although this child's reading is not as good as that of the prodigy Xia Qige, he is also a smart and clever person, and what Xia Qige wants to do in the future can be worthy of his right-hand man. Just like that, a portal that looked like it was about to wither, but it was raised by a little Xia Pozi and herself. Not to mention that there is no one before and no one after him, it is also quite rare.

At this time, the people nearby heard that Xiao Xia's wife was about to give birth again, and they all knew that there would be no big deal. It happened that there was a drought in the past few days, and everyone didn't have any farm work to do, so they all came to help and watch the excitement, and there was an endless stream of daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law chatting outside the courtyard. For a while, Fifth Brother Xia, who came back with a bolt and a midwife, was blocked at the door and had no way to enter. had to bow his hand outside the door, shouting: "Sisters-in-law, let, let, let."

It's also a coincidence, it really said that a few drops of light rain fell sporadically in the sky, and it only took a moment for the fine and dense rain to shroud the small courtyard in smoke and rain. Suddenly, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law who were laughing outside scattered in twos and threes. This heavy rain has been waiting for some days. I don't want to come so timely today, it's quite a bit: a little later, this year's harvest will be subtracted by 30%, if you come earlier, everyone will not have such a sense of anxiety.

So, the fast-talking princess cried out happily: This doll must be a blessed one today.

When the midwife entered the delivery room, it was only two cups of tea, and the brothers and sisters-in-law waiting outside heard the cry full of anger, and the sons and daughters-in-law were considered to have their hearts on the ground. When Xia Xiucai hurried back from school, he was just in time for the midwife to come out of the delivery room happily.

The midwife didn't speak, just looked at Xia Xiucai up and down, and saw that Xia Xiucai looked a little uneasy, so she smiled and said, "I must reward a few more coppers today." ”

Xia Xiucai was worried about his wife, and hurriedly said blankly: "I'm tired." It's natural. ”

The woman saw that he was not curious to ask the baby, so she had to squeeze her eyebrows and say, "Guess." ”

Xia Xiucai looked at the wrinkled mother-in-law and asked him in a mysterious way, and was stunned for a while, feeling uneasy. Didn't you just give birth to a son? said with some trembling eyes: "Didn't you give birth to two sons? ”

The three-year-old starling stuck out his head from among his brother and sister-in-law, and learned Xia Xiucai's tune: "Didn't you give birth to three younger brothers?" The villain secretly rejoiced in his heart: now he is not the youngest! Three younger brothers, then there are not three little tails to follow. Hum! Don't get too angry.

Coldly, Sister-in-law Xia hit the back of his head with a chestnut behind him, which frightened him into the crowd as soon as he twisted his body. I don't blame my sister-in-law for being angry, such a big family relies on the ten acres of land planted by the eldest brother, and the hard work of each is not something that the two or three-year-old doll can understand. Sister-in-law Xia is like a mirror in her heart, if three more men are added, it will really kill Brother Xia.