There is a small stream a mile outside Xiaohe Village, the water is not very clear, but it is the only source of water in the village.

Dong Ru walked downstream of the stream with a basin of clothes, the wooden basin was too heavy, and there were many clothes, she couldn't help but tremble a little when she walked.

finally arrived at the edge of the stream, and saw the third brother Dong Yun washing the alfalfa to be eaten by the rabbits and hens at home from a distance.

Dong Ru put down the wooden basin and began to wash clothes, Dong Yun glanced at it and said, "Second sister, you are about to get married, why does your mother still let you work?" ”

"Aren't there three more days?" Dong Ru didn't squint and continued to work under his hands.

Three days later, she will marry Wei Shichiro, a peasant man from the same village, and there is not much to talk about in a very ordinary marriage.

Dong Ru's sister Dong Yue has been married for many years, she is exactly sixteen this year, and she has also reached the age of marriage.

There is not much etiquette to pay attention to in the countryside, and the bride who is going to get married can still do work, as long as she does not go out the day before the wedding, and the symbolic meaning is fine.

After washing the clothes and returning home with Dong Yun, it was already dusk, and when I opened the small wooden door, I saw my mother sitting in the yard, holding a piece of clothing in her hand, squinting and doing needlework.

Dong Yun alone took the washed alfalfa to the side of the log and began to chop it up with a "knock knock".

Dong Ru glanced at the needlework in her mother's hands, her eyes were a little inexplicably watery, and she walked to the side by herself, unfolded all the clothes in the basin, and it was cold to the rope.

The clattering sound of chopping alfalfa continued, and at this time, Dong's mother put away the last stitch, shook the clothes in her hand, and said to Dong Ru: "Aru, come and try." ”

Dong Ru stepped forward silently, turned his back to his body and bent his legs and squatted, allowing his mother to compare the size of his clothes on his back.

She gestured and said in a kind voice: "If you are going to get married, of course, you must wear clothes made by your mother to ensure that you are safe and prosperous for the rest of your life." ”

Dong Yun stopped what he was doing, raised his head and looked at Dong Ru, and saw that the tears in Dong Ru's eyes were rolling, but he couldn't help crying.

Dong Ru turned around, leaned her head on Dong's mother's knee, stroked her old and rough hand, and choked up: "Mother, the eldest sister married far away, and now I am going to marry again, and Ah Yun is left alone in the family, he is still too young, what is the big thing in the future, what should you and your father do." ”

Mother Dong smiled slightly, her eyes were full of love, and said: "Aren't you still in the village, and you are not married thousands of miles away like your eldest sister, I can't see it." ”

When the eldest sister Dong Yue was seventeen years old, because of her words, her childhood sweetheart's well-off brother went out of the village to work hard, saying that he wanted to make a lot of money and marry Dong Yue in the future, but Dong Yue waited for him for three years, and the well-off brother had no news.

Seeing that Dong Yue was twenty years old and had become an old girl, Dong's father went around looking for a suitable candidate for Dong Yue to marry her, but Dong Yue was a tough temper, and she had to wait until her well-off brother.

Just when Dong Yue was about to despair, the well-off brother sent her a letter, after Dong Yue read it, she didn't listen to the dissuasion of her family, and resolutely went out to find her well-off brother, and now it has been several years since the time is calculated.

The daughter who got married spilled the water, and Dong Yue ran away by herself, which is equivalent to the loss of a daughter in the Dong family, Dong Ru was still young at that time, so she naturally didn't understand why Dong's mother was so sad at that time.

Dong Ru now listens to her mother's peaceful voice, and then thinks that she is about to get married, her father's body is not as good as day by day, and there will be no one to take care of her in the future, this heart is like a fire, and it hurts so much that she wants to cry.

"What are you crying about?"

But it was Dong's father who came out with a dry tobacco stick, sat on the threshold, and said: "It's not that I can't see it, don't worry, people in a village know the roots and the bottom, you have married, and your mother and I are also at ease." ”