Mr. Zhu resumed the compilation of county chronicles that had been interrupted for a long time due to the famine, and the once lonely Bailu Academy once again presented a quiet atmosphere of writing and ink. The fatigue and dust of his running around have long since disappeared, but the terrifying shadow caused by hunger still lingers in his heart, and from time to time he reflects the desperate crowding in front of the porridge pot in the dining room. Despite this, his heart was filled with the desire and anger of desk work.

The great famine ended naturally with a rainy day, and the villagers were eager to break off the sticks that had not yet dried from the green stalks, tore off the tender green leather clothes, scraped the particles that were broken with a razor blade, and overflowed the milk-like white slurry, smashed into a paste like garlic, poured into a pot and mixed with wild vegetables, and cooked and eaten. Someone put the tender core of the grain cob together on the stone and crushed it into the pot, and every time the village alley arrived, there was a wisp of sweet smell of tender grain juice. The faces of the adults and children began to come alive with the nourishment of the food, and the tone of conversation became harder, although there were still those destitute households who had to continue to pull jujube sticks to beg for food, and what they got was real food after all. The fields are a surprising sight, with endless and dense windswept cereals, millet, and black beans covering the fields, and roads and trails covered with verdant grasses, a sight that is unprecedented in people's memory. Nine out of ten in the Futian of Bailuyuan, the farmers only pay attention to a material of wheat and rarely plant autumn, cotton is also because of the drought of the celestial phenomenon and almost do not plant, after harvesting the wheat began to turn the ground, with a two-foot-long wooden shovel with an iron blade to tie the ground, so that the soil is fully exposed in the Futian, when the wheat is sown in autumn, the soil is loose and soft like fermented dough. Throughout the vast field, the men only wore a short pair of trousers, wielding a shovel board under the scorching sun, and there must have been a clay pot containing sand fruit leaf herbal tea under the Tsubaki tree or elm tree in the ground. Someone couldn't bear the loneliness and shouted, and a "hey...... Yo...... Yo...... Hey...... "A melodious and rough trumpet with only a roar and no words...... This year's New Year's hunger has disrupted the production order of Bailuyuan, and farmers can't wait for the wheat to be harvested until next summer. After the sky was brutal to the living beings, it showed softness, and it rained two or three times in a row, and all the autumn grain fields and grass grew taller, raised flowers, and formed pods, and the majestic and magnificent scene of the people who overturned the land and shouted trumpets at this time and month in the past year will no longer be repeated. All the land was covered by autumn crops, and the peasants could not step into the fields to enjoy the shade in the village alleys. Mr. Zhu walked out of the door when he heard the sound of gongs, drums and guns, and when he figured out the reason, he lost his temper: "You just tossed around blindly after eating tender bun cereal soup!" What are you doing with these flashy things? Besides, the relief food is allocated from above, not my family, and I am just distributing the food, so how can I dare to accept this compliment?" After that, he closed the door and never came out again. Those people suddenly changed their minds, carried gold plaques, beat gongs and drums, and rushed to Mr. Zhu's hometown, Zhu's house. Mr. Zhu's son was honored and warmly received, and hung the plaque upright above the gatehouse. Then several more villages followed suit, and a temple fair broke out every few days in front of Mr. Zhu's house, and it is likely to continue. When Mr. Zhu heard the news, he rushed back to his hometown, stopped his sons' stupid behavior, and removed all the large and small gold plaques hanging inside and outside the house, and stuffed them into the rotten kiln where the firewood was stored.

This incident somewhat interfered with Mr. Zhu's work of cleaning up the disaster relief accounts, and he delayed for several days before entering the office of County Magistrate Hao with a stack of detailed account books. County Magistrate Hao took the stack of account books and was very excited: "This is really 'well-known'!" He immediately agreed with Mr. Zhu that a banquet would be held for him and the gentlemen involved in the disaster relief. Mr. Zhu avoided answering and turned around to leave, walked to the door and said: "If there is any doubt about the accounts, although the investigation is made, Zhu will not be taboo." County Magistrate Hao pulled and pushed Mr. Zhu into the door and said, "I still have something to say to you." Mr. Zhu sat down. County Magistrate Hao said: "The old age has passed, and the people's hearts have stabilized. The prefectural government has added a new national education department, and I would like to ask the gentleman to come out of the mountain. Mr. Zhu smiled when he heard this, and said: "You don't know that I am not a good person, and I can do some things in ink and ink to make up for it. A born finch can't afford a crown on his head - spare me!" County Magistrate Hao didn't believe it at all: "This is not true. For this disaster relief alone, what Mr. has done is well-known regardless of whether the government and the opposition have a good reputation. There is no shortage of people of insight in Zishui, but the most scarce people today are honest people. Mr. Zhu was still unmoved, shook his head and said lightly: "I don't force people in my life, and people don't force me, and I can't do hard things." Then he stood up and took his leave. County Magistrate Hao couldn't open his mouth again, and accompanied Mr. Zhu out with admiration and regret, and put forward the opening words: "That...... Why don't you take a day for us to get together, and I can say a word of thanks to you gentlemen on behalf of the hungry people?" Mr. Zhu smiled but was very decisive: "No need. If you have this heart, buy that money into food and distribute it to the beggars at the street corners! Their years are not yet over!"

The compilation of the county chronicles has entered the most laborious stage, after finding out the doubts and fallacies of several versions compiled by the predecessors one by one, it is now necessary to carry out strict research, about the historical evolution of the county needs to consult a large number of historical materials and classics, about the customs and customs and special products to visit the four townships to visit and inquire, about the hundreds of dynasties and the county out of the high-ranking officials and celebrities, literary and military generals, loyal ministers and righteous men of the life resume needs to be verified, as well as hundreds of martyrs and women of the birth and death years and brief deeds of the check, such a huge matter has to be done by the gentlemen separately. The most troublesome thing is the verification of the original landform of the mountains, rivers and ridges in this county, and every ditch and valley, every peak and every stream has to be surveyed, and such a special skill of surveyors has to be invited by the provincial capital. Mr. Zhu personally went to Xi'an, invited a master, two deputies and three surveyors, and hired three young farmers to help them carry their luggage and measuring tools, and began to work in the mountains and rivers...... Mr. Zhu decided to compile the most detailed and accurate trustworthy new county chronicle, which is undoubtedly an encyclopedia of Zishui County. The horror of the Great Famine gradually became a thing of the past in the countryside and was recalled by the living, and Mr. Zhu occasionally reproduced the crowded scene of tens of thousands of people in the dining hall in his sleep, like a group of hungry wolves fighting for a piglet; Sometimes, when he was catching chopsticks and serving the bowl, the face of a woman who was burned with hot porridge and blistered suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, which affected his appetite...... Still, it was only a shadow after all, and he became more focused on compiling the county chronicles.

Bai Ling's unexpected arrival surprised and delighted Mr. Zhu. Mr. Zhu walked to the front yard to read the manuscript after lunch in the backyard, and saw a graceful female foreign student walking in front of him, with short black hair and shiny ears, wearing a moon-white short-sleeved shirt, a white folding skirt, a pair of round-mouthed green cloth shoes, and a pair of round eyes under the eyebrow-high bangs, and called "uncle" with a smile. Mr. Zhu said, "Lingling? If you don't call your uncle, my uncle really doesn't dare to recognize you!" Mr. Zhu led Bai Ling to turn around and walk to the backyard again, and whispered: "You call your aunt first, see if your aunt can recognize you?" As he spoke, he stilted up the stairs first: "A guest is coming." Zhu Baishi lifted the bamboo curtain and stood on the steps, and greeted him with a solemn and gentle greeting, "Please sit in the room." "Manners and demeanor are the same as those of all the admirers of Mr. Zhu. Mr. Zhu said: "This is a distinguished guest from the provincial capital. Zhu Baishi still smiled gently: "It's the same everywhere, please have tea in the house." Bai Ling shouted: "Auntie, you really don't recognize me?" As he spoke, he jumped up the steps and hugged Zhu Bai's shoulder. Zhu Baishi was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth: "Oh, Lingling, ......"

After sitting down, Zhu Baishi grabbed Lingling's arm and never let go, and his gentle and generous temperament also changed, and he asked his niece where she lived, where she ate, where she studied, and so on. Mr. Zhu sat on the side and couldn't speak, and glanced at Bai Ling's eyes, those round and big eyes were a little prominent, although they were not as prominent as his father Bai Jiaxuan, but they still showed the characteristics of the Bai family's protruding eyes; This kind of eye first gives people a powerful feeling, a certain natural awe-inspiring arrogance; This kind of arrogance is precious and rare for commanders, military generals, and even the heads of the family, but not necessarily auspicious for women of any class; There is a wisp of arrogance in Bai Ling's eyes, but they are not like his father or brother, but they dominate those eyes as the support of his intelligent and delicate confidence, so he shows a difference from simple beauties or all cheesy women; Under the spinning wheel, on the loom, in front of the pot and behind the stove, no matter how you can't support such a pair of eyes, I'm afraid you won't find a woman with such eyes in the entire Bailu Plain. Mr. Zhu thought so in his heart, and suddenly the scene of seeing his wife Zhu Bai's eyes for the first time surfaced-

That day, she helped her mother, Bai Zhao, to wash cloth on the edge of the waterlogged pond. The white cloth woven in the spring is put on the summer, the walnuts are beaten and the green skin is hammered, and then spread on the stone mill and rolled into a mush, and then put it into a porcelain urn with the white cloth; After five to seven days, take it out and wash it in the waterlogged pond, and the white cloth has turned brownish-black, and this color is not many colors until the cotton cloth rots into wisps. The second process of tightly connecting is to stuff the cotton cloth with the base color into the green mud of the waterlogged pond and add color again, and the black and blue silt applies black to the cotton cloth, and then you can make the fabric of cotton jacket and cotton pants jacket or trousers. At that time, Mr. Zhu and the matchmaker pretended to be passers-by who were tired and hot, and went to the side of the waterlogged pond to take off the blanket on their shoulders and wash their hands, and the matchmaker quietly pointed to the woman under the honey locust tree with a lump on the left side of the waterlogged pond. The pond is surrounded by honey locust trees, large and small, which are the tree families that have been left behind by the soaphorns used by the women for laundry. At that time, Zhu Bai and his mother Bai Zhao took out the last lock of cotton cloth dyed with walnut skin from the porcelain urn and placed it in the waterlogged pond. Changgong Lu San was digging a half-man-deep pit on the edge of the waterlogged pond, and the black mud that had been fished out of the waterlogged pond was piled up on the edge of the pit. Zhu Bai and his mother spread the freshly washed brown and black cotton cloth into the pit one by one, and Lu San dug a shovel of green mud to cover it. Mr. Zhu saw the woman rolling up her sleeves, revealing her sturdy and white arms, her hands were dyed black and purple with walnut skin, and her head with a thick braid was always hanging low and not raised. Mr. Zhu pretended to find a place for clear water, but he actually wanted to change the angle, but he almost fell down under the mud under his feet, and sure enough, the mother and daughter raised their heads when they heard the laughter of the women around the waterlogged pond. Mr. Zhu saw her appearance at that moment, turned around and left the waterlogged pond on the official road, and said to the matchmaker: "This is it." The disagreement is also this. ”

Mr. Zhu didn't look at her, but the eyes. Previously, he had unashamedly rejected the family affairs introduced by four or five matchmakers, all because their eyes could not withstand his glance. Mr. Zhu insisted on a request to his father, that any woman introduced to him by the matchmaker must be looked at by him. He had seen seven or eight women introduced by four or five matchmakers, not because of the wrong family or ugly appearance, but after Mr. Zhu took a look, he found that some of them had big eyes and no gods, some were too charming, and some were vulgar. He couldn't say what kind of eyes he was going to find, and when he saw the eyes of the eldest girl of the Bai family by the waterlogged pond, his heart trembled, and the hazy pursuit suddenly became clear: Rigidity and softness are combined! There is a rare trace of softness in the eyes of men, and a trace of strength is rare in women. When Mr. Zhu left from the waterlogged pond, he was categorically sure that even if he died suddenly halfway through his life, this woman would be able to keep her temperance, support the door, and raise her children...... Now, Zhu Bai's eyes are covered with fine wrinkles, and the deeper he looks, the more upright he becomes, and the more he is loving......

Mr. Zhu looked at Bai Ling's eyes, and seemed to be more angry than when he saw Zhu Bai's eyes for the first time, and even felt that these eyes Xi Wen could govern the country and the country, and Xi Wu might lead thousands of troops. His silent and focused expression attracted Bai Ling's attention: "Uncle, you don't recognize me when you stare at me?" Mr. Zhu smiled to himself and said, "Oh! Uncle is giving you a face!" Bai Ling's interest suddenly grew: "Uncle, do you count my fate as big or hard?" Mr. Zhu said, "There is a black hole to your left. You have to be careful not to step into the black hole. After stilting past the black hole, you will be all the way to the spring breeze. "Bai Ling really took it seriously and asked, does a black hole mean a general disaster, or is it a complete destruction? Does it refer to an incurable disease, or does it refer to being put on a gallows with a black gun, plugging a dry well, or even committing suicide by hanging himself and jumping into a waterlogged pond? She pretended to be relaxed and didn't care: "Uncle, you make it clear, I'm so guarded." Mr. Zhu also smiled and said, "You should be on guard." Bai Ling still wanted to ask what was going on, but her aunt interjected and said, "You don't listen to your uncle's nonsense." He's joking with you!" turned his face to her husband and showed a hint of reproach: "Young baby, what are you doing to her?" What are you doing to scare the baby!" Intentionally diverted the topic and asked about the business of the sister's leather goods store. Mr. Zhu ignored his wife's eyes and laughed instead: "I know that Lingling believes in Western studies and doesn't believe in gossip, so I deliberately laughed with her!" Bai Ling said calmly: "Auntie, don't worry, I won't be scared." Is there a black hole on my left side? My front and back, left and right, were all full of traps. It can be said that the whole of China is now a big black hole, and we are all in this black hole. ”

Zhu Bai was most concerned about his niece's marriage, and now he finally got the opportunity to meet Bai Ling, and he sincerely wanted to fulfill his responsibilities as an aunt, trying to loosen the knot between his younger brother Jiaxuan's father and daughter: "Lingling, why do you want to come to see your aunt today?" Bai Ling replied without hesitation, and his voice trembled with real squeamishness: "I have been thinking about my aunt every day as an adult. Good aunt, think about it, I have no family to return to now, and you are the only one left......" Zhu Bai was really moved by his niece. Mr. Zhu quietly withdrew from the dormitory and went to the study in the front yard. Zhu Baishi pondered the words and asked: "Are you still pulling with the second child of the Lu family?" Bai Ling made a frank tone and said, "In the early years, we both had a private contract for life! I didn't know anything at that time. Now that they are all older and understand the reason, they feel that it is inappropriate and break up, but the general villagers and township parties have a little contact, and there is nothing to pull and pull. Zhu Baishi was very surprised when he heard this, Bai Ling said that it was contrary to common sense to make a private contract for life, and it was as plain and unscrupulous as saying that this year's crops were growing well or not, and he had no scruples, so he couldn't help but pout the corners of his mouth and scolded with disdain: "Lingling, you are so thick-skinned!" Bai Ling cried out aggrievedly: "Auntie, it was you who asked me, and I told you!" Can I coax you, you ask?" Zhu Baishi said: "You see that the spirit of this thing is the same as drinking rice soup, your face is not even red, and your skin is not thick?" Bai Ling deliberately wiped his cheeks, stared at his aunt mischievously and said, "Auntie, you forgot that I won't blush since I was a child!" Zhu Baishi was unmoved, but his meaning became more heavy and hard: "If you don't blush, your dad can blush, you have thick skin, your dad is too thin-skinned, you don't want to be embarrassed, your dad is a person who wants face!" Bai Ling couldn't be coquettish anymore: "Auntie, I came to see you, and you scolded me?" Zhu Baishi still had a cold face: "What do you think I do?" You can even give up your parents and care about me?" Bai Ling was hit on the head, and he was at a loss all of a sudden, and his loving and amiable aunt suddenly became as cold as iron, and her heart suddenly felt heavy disappointment and was speechless. Zhu Baishi said: "You have a note to withdraw from the marriage, exposing your father's face, do you know?"

On the root of the moon, Bai Lingtuo, a classmate who returned to the original place for the New Year, sent a letter to Wang Cun's mother-in-law's house. There is only one sentence written in the letter: Do you have to marry me and change your life? Bai Ling took this opportunity to completely cancel the marriage without any feelings, and also wanted to make a spicy joke to her son-in-law and Ah Gong, who had never met in person, as for the outcome of the letter, she had no intention of caring about it. My aunt will come to make up for this lesson for her now.