In the blink of an eye, in May, the banlan root that I tried to plant in my own wasteland finally survived, and another acre of land was planted with astragalus.

In addition to helping everyone concoct wild herbs on the mountain, I also go to the pharmacy in Shuangqi Town next door every once in a while to pick up some large-scale pharmaceutical work, although this side of the border is remote and not a wealthy town, but such an income is more than enough to support my own livelihood.

It was the beginning of summer, and if there was nothing to do in the afternoon, I went to the village to Chen Wushi's house. Chen Wushi worked in the martial arts hall in the town, in addition to the two of them in the family there are seventy old mothers and a daughter of the same age as me, because bruises and injuries in the martial arts hall are common, in the process of treatment of injuries come and go and become familiar, and then I bought a nest of chickens, not free to take care of them in Chen Wushi's house, this time also by the way to take their own foster chickens in his house laid eggs.

The peasant woman who was busy cooking in the courtyard was Wushi Chen's wife, and I hurriedly greeted her: "Aunt Chen! It's been a long time since I came to visit my uncle and aunt, so I brought my uncle some prepared notoginseng powder, which is the most effective way to invigorate blood and remove blood stasis. ”

When Wushi Chen's wife saw me, she smiled enthusiastically on her face: "Xiao Qi is here, you kid is polite, the notoginseng powder sent last time is very useful, and I have sent a new one before I finish it." Ah, by the way, here are a hundred eggs and the wild goat meat that your uncle hunted in the mountains before, you can take it back and taste it. ”

I smiled and said, "Auntie is worried." Why don't Uncle Chen and Ah Chu see anyone? ”

Martial Master Chen's wife replied: "Your Uncle Chen is in the martial arts hall in the town, Chu'er's girl went fishing with the boat, and she should come back now." You might as well sit down for a while, wait for the two of them to come back and have dinner before leaving, and you can joke with Chu'er. So saying, he led me into the house and sat down.

I didn't have any scruples, and I smiled and poured water for the grandmother of the Chen family, who was sitting in the house doing needlework: "Since my aunt has been invited, I will naturally obey my fate." ”

After chatting with Wushi Chen's wife for a while, he heard someone coming into the courtyard in a hurry. When I pushed the door, it was a girl in a maroon coarse cloth dress, with long hair tied high in a ponytail with a headband, not Chen Anchu, which one?

As soon as Chen Anchu entered the door, he said in a smiling voice: "Mother! Today's harvest is good, and there are about three or four kinds of herring and crucian carp combined.

When she saw me coming, she was even more surprised: "Huh? Bing Ran is also there, what do you think this fish is doing? ”

I laughed back at her: "Ho, such a big bucket!" Today's mouth is blessed, Achu, if you want me to say, how about making a herring soup for my uncle and grandmother, and then taking a smaller one for us to roast and play? ”

Achu couldn't help nodding: "You always think the most." As he spoke, he pointed to his hair: "You also taught me how to tie my hair, which is really refreshing." And the herb-stuffed waist guard you made for my grandmother, I really envy you for having this medical skill. ”

I said, "I still envy you, don't talk about the women who know martial arts, not to mention our village, and I can't find a second one in the town next door." By the way, is it still the old rule of guessing boxing, the one who wins is the stove, and the one who loses is killed? ”

Martial Master Chen's wife came over with a crucian carp that had scraped the scales and cut the fish belly, handed the fish to Achu, and said with a smile: "Okay, you two go to the stove to play, and I will help you clean up the fish, so you don't have to accidentally break the bitter gall." ”

When the aroma of grilled fish gradually filled the entire courtyard, the male owner of this family, Chen Wushi, finally stepped into the door, but his face was a little gloomy. When he saw me, he said hello with a reluctant smile, and the clouds on his face gathered again. I was a little apprehensive in my heart, and I didn't want to ask too much, and so did Achu, so the two of them could only continue their work as if they were fine.

At dinner time, the atmosphere at the dinner table became more and more strange. In the end, it was the old lady of the Chen family who went straight to the topic with a single knife:

The old lady of the Chen family took the lead in speaking to her son: "Look, Bingran is so easy to come to dinner today, and I have to watch you shake your face with our mother, what we have in the family can't be said directly." ”

Chen Anchu was also curious: "Dad, what happened?" ”

Martial Master Chen looked at me and Ah Chu, and frowned again: "The four girls of the Meng family in the town are going to leave the pavilion." ”

Chen Wushi's wife said: "Is that the little daughter of the small character Mingzhu?" Our village is full of tenants of the Meng family, and there will be few people who want to congratulate him, but our family is not difficult now, what are you worried about? ”

Martial Master Chen's brows furrowed even tighter: "The Meng family intends to choose two young girls in our village to be the girls in the room for the four girls to marry." ”

In this era, the basic role of the house with the wife of the main house is to spread out the branches and leaves of the master's husband's family, and if you mix well, you can get the status of an aunt, but in the final analysis, she is still a slave. Therefore, if the family is still passable, they will never send their daughter to do this.

Martial Master Chen's wife was disdainful: "What does this have to do with our family, I won't ...... it horizontally" She didn't finish speaking, and reacted suddenly, "You don't mean to say that the Meng family has already picked ......?!" ”

Chen Wushi said: "Although the Meng family has not yet been decided, but looking at our village, there are only five girls of the right age, except for Bingran and Achu, one has a disabled leg, and the other is still in the service when the elders of the family went last month, so ......."

Before Martial Master Chen finished speaking, there were two soft sounds of "da", and Ah Chu and I had already put down our chopsticks, and our faces turned white.

Ah Chu hurriedly asked him, "Dad, do you mean that this matter is almost going to fall on me and Bingran?" ”

I pondered for a long time and said, "I'm afraid it's not almost", except for the two that my uncle said, the other is the eldest daughter of the Cai family in the east of the village, when I went to help their family make wild ginseng three days ago, I met a matchmaker who came to make a gift, and her mother was so happy that she gave me a lot of melon seeds and peanut candy. ”

Achu looked at me with a look of arrogance and arrogance: "Sister Cai and her childhood sweetheart have a good home, so it's a good thing that you don't have to worry about this turmoil." Just ......"

I know what she's "just" trying to say, and so do I. Although I haven't thought about "marrying" since I came here, I definitely don't want to become a child tool for a man I don't know, and I have to be controlled by others everywhere.

I immediately stated: "I don't want to go, I want to come to Achu is the same as me." ”

Achu said: "Although I haven't seen the head of the Meng family, but when I saw that his subordinates came to the village to collect rent, they were not greedy, they were also good at talking, and they were very tolerant in terms of time limit and rent. ”

I tried my best to recall the relevant information about the "Meng family": "The Meng family is a family of kindness, and treating tenants leniently is also a rule handed down by the old owner. But the matter of choosing a dowry for a girl who has not yet left the cabinet should be in charge of the Meng family's housewife, when I was in the town, I heard that this housewife is used to being shrewd and capable, if this matter is decided by her, there may not be room for negotiation, in fact, if we put aside our own wishes, we are really not good to refuse. ”

Achu said: "What you said is also reasonable, I can't think of any way to refuse if I don't go, and I can't always implicate my parents." If it really comes to the point where the boat is finally finished...... I can only be careful and ask for more blessings. ”

I patted Achu's hand: "Having said that, I believe that there must be room for a turnaround, the horizontal and vertical news is not yet accurate, let's make some preparations first, but don't scare yourself." ”

Saying that there is nothing to do, I have been dealing with simple villagers for so long, I have long been accustomed to this kind of life, and suddenly told me that I might enter the house fighting mode, I was actually panicked in my heart, and I didn't know if it was too late to pray to the heavens at this time for a crossing plug-in.

That night, I slept in a state of anxiety. I have been hanging the jade pendant left by Chen Yi around my neck before, but at this time, there is a little warm coolness, which is inexplicably reassuring. I remembered what he had said to me at the beginning, and suddenly I thought that it would be nice to go away with him at that time, but now that he did not know his whereabouts, I was afraid that he would not be able to solve such a thing, so I gradually regained my thoughts.