Walked into the village and found that this village is not small, about four or five hundred households, because it is the spring ploughing season, there are not many people in the village, Xiao's mother and the old man sitting on the street said hello twice, and then came to a courtyard door on the side of the street, and shouted to the courtyard through the wall tied with firewood: "Is the eldest brother at home?" Anyone? I didn't shout twice, but I heard someone in the room answer: "Who?" "There is a peasant woman in cloth clothes out of the house, this woman is about thirty or forty years old, medium stature, because of the long-term farm work, her hands and feet are slightly thick, but her appearance is also average, compared to the average peasant woman in the village, there are a few more shrewd philistine spirits on her face, after seeing Xiao's mother and son, she looked up and down and was stunned, and saw that Xiao's mother just carried a package, and said with a few smiles on her face: "It turned out that Sister Zhi'er came, I haven't seen each other for more than two years, and my sister seems to be even better than the original, alas, Is this a nephew, I haven't seen it for a few years and has grown a lot taller, come, come and sit in the house." As he spoke, he let Xiao's mother and son into the house.

After entering the house, Xiao's mother said to the woman, "Sister-in-law, where has my eldest brother gone?" The woman said, "Oh, your eldest brother, he has taken your nephew and niece to work in the fields, and he will come back when it is dark, so sit down for a while." While talking, he found two coarse porcelain bowls, turned his head and went to the water tank outside the house, scooped two bowls of water in, came in, and said, "Sister, come so far, let's drink some water to quench your thirst first." Mother Xiao didn't mind anything, drank two sips of water and put the bowl down, and the woman said, "Sister Zhi'er, mother and son will rest their feet first, and I will cook for their people who work in the fields first." "Mother Xiao said that I will also help you, and the two sisters-in-law started cooking together while gossiping.

It was almost dinner time in the evening, and a farmer-like man walked in outside the door, with a man and a woman and two teenage boys, the farmer was about forty years old, and his face was dark all year round of field work, but his body was strong, and the boy behind him was half a head shorter than the farmer, and his body was slightly thinner than the farmer. Xiao's mother saw Xiao Zheng from the house and hurriedly greeted her, walked to the farmer and called out to the eldest brother, Xiao's mother's voice was a little choked, when the farmer saw Xiao's mother's face with a look of surprise, he hurriedly threw down the hoe in his hand, walked to Xiao's mother and said: "Zhi'er, you don't let people bring a letter when you come back, you are tired on the way, the last time you left our house was two years ago, this time you have to stay for a few more days..." Xiao's mother turned around and said to Xiao Zheng: "Zheng'er, come and pay homage to your uncle." Xiao Zheng waved to the uncle he had just met and said, "My nephew has seen my uncle, I wish my uncle good health." Xiao's mother's brother rubbed his hands happily when he saw Xiao Zheng, and hurriedly came over to pick up Xiao Zheng and said, "Hurry up, see that your child has read, and he is much stronger than my dog." As he spoke, he looked at the boy next to him and said, "Dog, come and see your cousin." After the boy on the side came over, he called his cousin angrily to Xiao Zheng's urn and stopped talking, but the girl came over generously and saluted Xiao Zheng and said, "I've seen my cousin."

After meeting, the dog turned to the woman and said, "A-Niang, I'm hungry, let's eat quickly." Du Shi smiled: "Then hurry up and eat." After that, he turned around and went back to the house and put the cooked pot helmet and soup on the low table outside, only to see the dog say to Du Shi: "Ah Niang, didn't you say that you want to eat white flour pot helmet, how did it become coarse grain now?" I saw that the woman turned around and slapped the dog next to her, and then glanced at Xiao's mother and son with her eyes and scolded: "You Erlengzi, where did our family get the white noodles, now it's good to stutter." The dog asked rhetorically: "When you went out in the morning, you told me to come back to eat white noodles, which is obviously available at home." This time, the woman slapped the dog with her backhand and scolded angrily: "You melon coward, I can't stop your mouth when I eat, you give me food!" The dog had a rebuttal at this time, but was forced to swallow back by the woman's fierce gaze.

Xiao Zheng's uncle looked at his wife and opened his mouth to say something, as soon as he met the eyes of the woman, he closed his mouth again and lowered his head to pick up the rice in the bowl.

After eating, Xiao's mother said to her brother: "Big brother, I don't want to go back to Chang'an in the short term after my little sister comes back this time, I may have to stay at my brother's house for a while, please don't disturb my brother." Xiao Zheng's uncle hurriedly waved his hand and said, "What did my sister say, you and Zheng'er came to me as if they were at your own home, even if you live here, it's fine." As soon as she finished speaking, the village woman stabbed Xiao Zheng's uncle in the back and said: "It's okay for my sister to live here for a while, but now the family can't get food, and if you eat, you may have to suffer a little. Mother Xiao immediately understood what was going on when she heard this, turned to Du Shi and said: "Sister rest assured, my sister has also had some savings over the years, although she may not have any great wealth, but it is still okay to be satisfied with eating and drinking, at least for a year and a half, she still can't eat our mother and son." While talking, Xiao's mother turned around and went back to my house, walked to the house and took out a bag she was carrying, took a silver hairpin out of the bag, turned around and handed it to Du Shi and said: "Sister-in-law, don't be polite, this hairpin let my brother take it to the pawnshop in the town to exchange it for some copper coins, and buy some rice and noodles enough for our family to eat and drink for a while."

Du Shi hurriedly stretched out his hand to take the silver hairpin, the wrinkles on his face were opened, and he took Xiao's mother's hand and said: "My sister is too polite, originally I just said casually, although there is no white rice and white flour, but the coarse grain family is still full, and my sister is too polite, tomorrow I will let your brother go to the pawnshop in the town to exchange it for some good rice, and our family will also buy some white noodles." As he spoke, he quickly stuffed the hairpin into his sleeve, turned his head and said to Xiao Zheng's uncle: "Master, you take it to the town tomorrow and go buy more firewood and rice, my sister hasn't even eaten a decent meal here, so I can't explain it," After speaking, he turned around and went back to the house diligently.

After dinner, Xiao Zheng's uncle and Xiao mother cleaned up the firewood room next to the house, but fortunately, although the firewood room was a little dilapidated, the space was still large enough. Xiao Zheng's uncle found some planks and ropes from outside, and set up two beds temporarily. Xiao Zheng's uncle said crampedly: "Sister, let's wait for a while, and after tonight, we will go to the town to buy some household goods for your mother and son to use, you live here with me and make your nephew suffer."

Xiao Zheng's mother said: "Brother, don't be in a hurry, anyway, we have to stay for a while, and when we have time to bother my brother when he is not busy, let's buy it." After Xiao's mother finished speaking, she added a few handfuls of firewood and grass to the firewood stove and boiled a pot of hot water, so that Xiao Zheng could wash up, Xiao Zheng walked for too long during the day but his body still did not fully recover, and he fell asleep soon after washing and lying down. Xiao's mother also put out the oil lamp after washing, lying on another bed, the half-bent crescent moon slowly rose from the sky with the breath of early spring, there were occasionally one or two chirps and insects outside the courtyard, dogs barked in the distance in the village, the moonlight shone through the window holes of the firewood room on Xiao Zheng's sleeping place, and also sprinkled on his slightly immature face, looking closely at the yellow fluff that had grown on the corners of Xiao Zheng's mouth, Xiao's mother got up again and gently stroked her son's face, and suddenly her eyes were overflowing with tears, and tears slipped down her face silently.