"If you don't accumulate small streams, you can't become rivers and seas." A clear spring emerges from the stone crevices of Renming Bay, flows through the collapsed Shihe Weir, follows Yangjiawan and Xiejiaba, collects the water along the way, and flows all the way to the Shiqiao Hydropower Station. The places where it flows through converge into large and small pools.

It is these streams, large and small, that sing the song of life in nature. The rice in the big stone field has grown from a single plant to a cluster, and the corn on the edge of the field has grown to half a human height. The clear pond under the big stone is still tinkling, and the paulownia tree by the stone cave is already full of green tung fruits, and several fuso trees under the paulownia tree are showing palm-sized leaves, covering up the purple mulberries under the mulberry leaves......

Flourishing green has become the dominant color of summer. Even the frogs in the rice fields, the lizards in the grass, and the green snakes by the waterhole...... These little animals also regard green as a fashion.

Xie Guoqiang stood in an open space behind the house, his mind full of green hope.

This "murderer" who has been in labor camp for more than three years still wears this stinky hat that he can't take off when he returns to the countryside. My father's masonry team, because of his unlucky name, asked fewer and fewer people to work. Seeing that the dozen or so apprentices brought by his father were about to be disbanded, and this group of stonemasons who had excellent skills were about to lose their jobs, Guoqiang decided to "wash his hands in a golden basin" and no longer serve the bowl of rice of "stonemasons".

As soon as Guoqiang came out of the stonemason team, Xie Jingfeng's "business" flourished again. Since the land was contracted to the households, the rural people who have saved a few dollars have all wanted to buy some family business, and the biggest family business in the countryside is to build tiled houses -- of course, this is inseparable from stonemasons.

So, is Xie Guoqiang, an honest man who has been transformed, so willing to "dig three hundred and six" at home? Of course not! This honest farmer, although he has no culture, does not want to be the kind of poor person who is content with the status quo.

What kind of life has Shufang spent at home in the past three years? The clothes are still the same as those from three years ago, and they are made up and worn; The three meals a day are either white water or porridge under pickles; The fattened pigs were reluctant to eat meat, and all of them were sold to the supply and marketing cooperatives...... But she didn't lose the little begonia at all, the little guy grew fast, so a lot of new clothes were added; Grandma loves her granddaughter, so she takes some bacon every once in a while, and Shufang makes it all for Begonia to eat.

looked at his wife's calloused hands and a few gray hairs; Looking at Xiao Haitang, whose hair was neatly combed and her clothes were beautifully dressed, she stared at Xiao Haitang with big eyes but couldn't say a word...... He could imagine how this woman in her early twenties had survived a difficult life.

Guoqiang threw the hammer of the chisel, this heirloom craft will never be planted without him Xie Lao Er, don't the eldest brother and the people start to bring apprentices? When I was in the labor camp in Jianan, an instructor said: "You dirt buns, you don't know how to cherish the golden nest, the countryside is now full of gold and silver, and you want to do the act of killing people and setting fires, you can dig up a gold ingot by guarding three points of land!" ”

But in these acres of paddy fields and dry land, where are the "gold ingots" hidden? It's been nearly a year since I came back, and the corn and wheat in this field, the rice in the field, plus two fat pigs and three or four percent of silkworm cocoons, are not as strong as the few months that my eldest brother went out to sell!

After Guoqiang finished weeding in the cornfield, he returned home to look at Shufang, who was busy, and hugged his daughter-in-law from behind. "What do you do in broad daylight?" Shufang held a spatula in her hand and turned her head to look at her husband, her face flushed with a long-lost flush.

"Shufang, we still have a lot of money in the house?"

"Why are you asking about this? Mo money! You want to gamble again, don't you? ”

"Gee, you're poking at the sore spot, aren't you? I'm swearing I won't bet! Seriously! Guoqiang took the spatula from his daughter-in-law and shoveled the green beans in the cauldron a few times. The tender green beans are so fragrant!

"Figured it out? Going to buy a pear tree? Shufang handed over a bowl, and then went to the back of the stove and stuffed a handful of dried bamboo branches into the hole of the stove.

"Don't buy it! There are pear trees everywhere, and in a few years the pears will not be able to sell for a price. Besides, Shufen and they plant pear trees, and we also plant them, that's not robbing your old man's business! ”

"What are you talking about?" Shufang threw the tongs into the pyre, "Oh, you see that your hands are full of mud, I'll come, you go wash your hands!" Shufang got up and poured half a basin of hot water for Guoqiang, and then shouted in the eaves: "Begonia, come back for dinner soon!" ”

"Look at the land behind us, what is appropriate?" Guoqiang washed his hands while deliberately selling guanzi.

Little Begonia jumped out of the grandmother's house, holding a tender cucumber in her hand.

"Eat raw cucumbers again, and no one cares if you have a stomachache!" Shufang didn't pay attention to Guoqiang, and yelled at her daughter with her face.

"Someone cares, my dad cares!" Little Begonia jumped up, reached a towel from the wooden shelf and handed it to Daddy, making a cute grimace.

After Guo Qiang wiped his hands, he picked up the little guy and kissed her round little face. "Yes, Daddy!"

When she entered the kitchen, Shufang had already prepared her meal. A sautéed bean, a stir-fried pumpkin, and a bowl of loofah egg soup. The fragrant vegetable soup is dotted with sparse green onions, but it is also dotted with dense warmth.

Summer lunch is always the most abundant of the year for the croppers. The fields are full of tender green vegetables and fruits, long loofahs, cucumbers and green beans, round pumpkins, sweet potatoes and chayote, even the tip of the vines in the red field is a delicious vegetable.

"Your mother's skills are so good," Guoqiang grabbed a bean with his hand and stuffed it into his mouth, "Hehe, I shoveled the last two spatulas!" ”

Shufen handed the chopsticks to her husband and carried her daughter to the bench. "You just said what you want to do in the field behind you?"

"What do you think?"

"I've been discussing with you for a few months, if I think I'm famous, you can still grow bread in that field?"

"When I was in the labor camp, I heard an old man (in dialect, meaning 'someone') say that their family has two acres of fish ponds and can earn more than 1,000 yuan a year......

"Fish ponds? Do you keep fish? ”

"Yes, fish farming!"

"I'm afraid that the fish is not easy to raise, you see those fishing in the bridge and river, many of them will die after two fights...... Besides, there is a piece of land behind it, and it is not a paddy field, how can you raise it? ”

"Dig the ground into a field!"

"How long is it going to take? Besides, fish farming must be dug deep! I'll dig up next year! ”

"And my ......" Xiao Haitang suddenly put down the dishes and chopsticks, went to the eaves to find her little hoe, and was pulled back by Guoqiang, "Go again after eating, Begonia!" ”

"I asked my dad and eldest brother for help, and Guozhi is coming back from the summer vacation, and I plan to finish it in a month!"

"You don't have any water after you finish it, you raise loach fish?"

"Water is pumped from the dam! Now it's not about the water, it's about buying some machines! I heard that the most feared thing about fish is the lack of oxygen, and they have to buy pumps and aerators, and even if they ask the eldest brother to help, dig the soil and carry the stones to build the barriers, they always have to entertain and eat, and it costs money, so I asked you about the money...... "It seems that Guoqiang still did some homework." After saying this, Guoqiang roughly calculated an account, plus labor, equipment, fish fry, feed, etc., at least a thousand are needed.

This scared Shufang. These families are all in Zhang Luo, pigs and silkworm cocoons are the main income, and he has saved three or four hundred yuan after putting aside the cost and household. Now Guoqiang's mouth is thousands, where can she find it.

"I don't have that much money, and I'm not a cash cow!" Shufang put down the dishes and chopsticks, and the hope that had just been ignited was extinguished by the terrible four-figure figure.

"This fishpond is a cash cow. I know you don't have that much, I'll see how many there are, why don't I borrow some from my eldest brother and father......"

"You're embarrassed to borrow yourself! That year you ...... I lost money that year, my father and mother took out all the old bottoms, and the eldest brother took a lot, but people didn't call you back, and now you have the face to borrow it? Let me tell you, our family is picking up some dollars, and my father said that we should borrow some money, and Guozhi's tuition this year is not enough..."

"Then find your father, they have been selling pears and cocoons in the past few years, and they should have some money!"

"You can say it, dad has one foot, and Shufen is so old-fashioned...... Guoqiang, can we do a lot of money to do big things, if you really want to dig a fish pond, I won't stop you, dig a small ...... first"

"Smaller? You can't buy back the machine for a few hundred dollars! Guoqiang threw the bowl on the table and went out with some chagrin.

Guoqiang sat down in the eaves and wrapped a pot of leaf cigarettes. The scorching sun was shining vertically on the ground, and the green bean seedlings outside the dam were wilted by the sun, and a few wild bees were buzzing, and the closed stamens of the bean flowers made them unable to find a clue......

Shufang had lunch and took the child back to her parents' house.

Shufen picked up the little begonia, took a round and big pineapple from the table and handed it to her, and kissed the little guy on the face. Xiao Haitang is used to the corners of her second aunt's mouth that cut her little face, and she thinks that the second aunt is still so beautiful!

The eldest sister told her mother's family about Guoqiang's preparation to dig a fish pond, she didn't want to borrow money, but wanted to hear the opinions of the cultured second sister and her father.

"Okay!" Yang Zegui and Shufen spoke almost in unison.

Shufen continued: "I've always wanted to raise fish, but that's more tiring than planting trees, you have to have someone watching, you have to watch day and night, when I was training in Chahe, County Magistrate Nie was saying that we can develop fisheries, it seems that my brother-in-law has opened his mind now!" Shufen made a rare joke.

"It turns out that when I ate the cauldron of food, I collectively raised fish in Shiheyan, but Nahar didn't have any skills, and Shiheyan was too deep to raise! If the land behind your house is dug into a pond, I think you have to get it, and now the fish in the river are not easy to fight, and they are sold for more than a pound when they fight, which is similar to pork. It just so happens that your family has to get labor, so if you want to dig it, hurry up! Yang Zegui added.

Shufang took a reassuring pill at this time. But she really can't open her mouth about money......