Out of the ancient village of Dong Township (novella) Zhang Baotong

Wen Li said disapprerovingly, "Although we don't have color TVs, refrigerators, motorcycles, washing machines, or new houses, we don't live well?" Yuhua patted Wen Li's shoulder again and said, "My silly girl, can we still applaud this day?" If only we had motorcycles and could walk this long way under the sun like this? ”

After Yuhua said this, Wen Li found that her clothes were already soaked with sweat. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 However, the trees on both sides of the road are not big enough to provide much shade. Seeing the sun rising higher and higher, Wen Li had no choice but to fan herself with the palm of her hand while continuing to walk forward.

After a while, a young man of Han nationality passed by on a motorcycle, and when he saw the two of them in an embarrassed manner, he said, "Two sisters, get in the car." Wen Li hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you want money?" The Han guy smiled and said, "No, I know that you Dong people never take a car that asks for money." ”

Yuhua didn't think it sounded, so she said, "That's not likely." It's not that we're out of money. ”

The Han guy said, "I don't want you to be rich." Wen Li was a little puzzled, so she asked, "Why?" The Han guy said, "No, it's just because you two are beautiful." When Yuhua heard this, she said, "Then it's up to this brother." Then, he pulled Wen Li and sat in the back seat together.

The Han boy sent them all the way to the covered bridge on the side of the road behind the village. The covered bridge is a completely wooden structure, about five meters wide and more than twenty meters long, and spans a small river more than ten meters wide. Because of the doorway, the small bridge can not only cross the river, but also provide shelter for the villagers from the sun and rain, and is also a place for young people to talk about love and old people to chat and gossip.

On both sides of the bridge there is a bench made of bamboo poles. Because it was still early and they were not in a hurry to go home, the two sat on the bench and began to chat. Yuhua is nineteen years old this year, two years older than Wen Li, and two years ago she tried to marry and live with Brother A Xiang in this village, but she has no children yet, so the two have not been able to officially get married.

As soon as the two talked about marriage and love, Wen Li said, "Sister Ah Hua is the most beautiful woman in the village, and Brother Ah Xiang is the strongest man in the village." You two are the best couple in our village. However, let Wen Li never think that hearing this, Yuhua suddenly frowned tightly, sighed and said, "Okay, sometimes, I really want to run far away and never want to come back." ”

Wen Li was taken aback and said, "How could Sister Ah Hua have such an idea?" Could it be that there is something wrong with Brother Ah Xiang? Yuhua thought for a while and said, "I can't say what is good or bad, but I just don't like him very much." Wen Li said, "If you don't like it, you can break up, anyway, you don't have children yet, and you are not married." ”

Yuhua sighed and said, "However, it's not even three years, so why don't you say it's scattered." Besides, if they are scattered, who will they go to? I've already seen all the elder brothers in our village, and none of them have made me look at them. Wen Li nodded and said, "Yes, it's just because Sister Ah Hua is so good that none of the elder brothers in the entire village can be worthy." ”

Yuhua then asked Wen Li in turn, "Do you really just want to find a brother for yourself in the village?" Wen Li blinked her fascinated eyes and said, "I can't tell, anyway, there are only Dong people from these villages in our township." If you don't look for it in your own village, you can only find it in your neighboring village. However, I think the people in the village are not as clever and clever as the people in our village. ”

Yuhua looked into the distance with thoughtful and yearning eyes, and said in a pertinent tone, "Sister, although I don't go to school well, I can see this society clearly, our Dong people are too backward, and they don't want to make progress, so you see that the men and women of our Dong people are not as smart and alive as the Han people." They traveled from south to north, traveled everywhere, saw a lot of the world, and understood a lot of things. However, our elder brother and sister of the Dong nationality have stayed in the village for many years and have not gone out, and how many people have never been to Guilin and Yangshuo in their lives. As he spoke, he said sadly, "If I were two or three years younger, like you, I would rather find a Han Chinese than a Dong person." Han men are smart and capable, love women, and don't let women do heavy work. It's like our Dong men, as soon as they get married, they stay at home to watch the children cook, and they have to rely on our women to work in the fields to support them. ”

Wen Li nodded plausibly and said, "Yes, Han men are smart and capable. However, I heard my grandmother and grandmother say that Han men like the new and hate the old, treat divorce as a child's play, and leave when they say they leave, and it is too unpractical to live with them, maybe they will dump you one day. Yuhua smiled and said, "Then there are things, they are divorced, but they are only a very small number of people." If you don't believe it, if you go to Longquan Village across the river, how many of them are divorced? ”

About half an hour later, several other sisters also came to the bridge. Not only were their faces covered in sweat, but their clothes were also soaked and clung to their bodies. As soon as they sat down on the bench, they lifted their clothes against the vent at the head of the bridge, so that the cool breeze by the river could blow away the hot sweat from their bodies.

Gina is the eldest of the sisters, twenty-four or five years old, and a grandmother with three children, because she has only studied in a Han school for one or two years, so her education level is relatively poor. In today's commission reward, she is one of the few receptionists who did not complete the task, not only did not get a penny of commission reward, but also received criticism from the deputy township chief who did not name her, and the fire in her belly has nowhere to come out, seeing Wen Li and Yuhua sitting here early to blow the wind and enjoy the coolness, talking intimately, and even more angry, so I used prickly words to tell everyone, "Wen Li and Yuhua are smarter than our sisters, not only do they get the highest commission rewards, but they also walk faster than us." We walked tiringly for a long time and sweated, but the two of us disappeared unconsciously, not only did not sweat, but also arrived here early. It can be seen that people are smarter than us. ”

Another sister Yuxiu, who was criticized like Gina, also echoed and said, "Of course people are different from us, but they didn't spend a penny, and they were sent by motorcycle." How can we have such a blessing? ”

Wen Li felt that her voice was wrong, so she said in a very calm tone, "Usually the sisters are affectionate and kind, why should they be upset and hurt by this commission and reward?" In the past, we didn't receive tourists, we didn't earn a penny, and we didn't all live well. Now, no matter what you say, whether the commission and reward are more or less, at least there is a salary of 500 yuan per month. With this, who in the village can compare with us? Therefore, I think it would be very good for us to get such a large salary, as for commissions and rewards, we should not compare with anyone, and don't care about who can get as much as they want. If you have to care, then I will give you my commission and rewards. ”

(Please pay attention to Zhang Baotong's signed work "Poetic Emotion" documentary, short prose, life essays and short stories, and is uploading "Painting the Soul" (Regret Parting))