The end of the year is approaching.

In the past, Taoshui Village, which was a little deserted, has become more popular.

People who work all over the country to make money are rushing to their hometowns.

On weekdays, there are very few cars passing by on the main road in front of them, and there are more cars during this time.

Xu Qingzhi sat under the bare persimmon tree, idle, holding a pencil and sketching.

She doesn't know much about drawing, and the last memory of painting is when she was in high school, and she originally planned to learn to paint as an art specialty student, because art students will have fewer online scores in the college entrance examination.

In the first year of high school, the art teacher asked everyone to try it, and if they were interested, they would apply, as long as 300 yuan, she told her mother, and signed up for a semester.

She still remembers the 45 minutes of the first lesson, just standing there practicing how to draw lines.

The reason why I didn't learn it later was that the painting specialty was too expensive. The teacher said in advance that before the exam, he would go to the provincial capital city to participate in the training, and it would cost 30,000 yuan at a time.

She didn't mention it to her family, so she gave up, and in the second year of high school, she was divided into arts and sciences and art specialties, and she chose science by herself.

Xu Qingzhi's painting efficiency is quite fast, and he finished drawing a sketch of a crow in half an hour.

The crow stands on the branch of the persimmon tree, pecking its feathers with its beak, combing them neatly one by one.

"Look." Xu Qingzhi held up the drawing board and shouted at the crow.

The crow heard the sound, flew down, and looked at the painting on the drawing board.

"Quack~" Master, what is this? How does it look so ugly.

Xu Qingzhi: "You." ”

The crow's round eyes turned, the feathers stood up, and he jumped like thunder: "Quack~" This is not this crow, this crow is not so ugly!

Xu Qingzhi held the painting, looked at it, looked at the painting again, and admired himself: "Well, the painting is really expressive." ”

The crow was angry and flew away to the roof, not even wanting to stay with the persimmon tree.

Xu Qingzhi patted the bamboo chair next to him again and shouted, "Big cat, come here, lie here, I'll draw one for you." ”

The big cat's four paws and paws walked over with graceful steps, twisted their buttocks, jumped over, and obediently lay on the bamboo chair next to the master.

This bamboo chair is cool to sit on in summer, but cold to sit in winter. Wang Yanmei stuffed some cotton with the old clothes at home and made it into a fart pad, so that her buttocks would not be icy when she sat down.

The big cat is lying comfortably on the fart mat.

Xu Qingzhi touched its head and began to write and frame.

In the house, Wang Yanmei answered the phone and shouted loudly: "Qingzhi, I will go to your sister-in-law's house for dinner at noon today." ”

Xu Qingzhi asked while painting: "Sister-in-law, are they back?" ”

"Well, I came back last night." Wang Yanmei walked out of the house and frowned, "This is obviously to see a doctor, and I have been in Xiaohuo for a few months, hey." ”

Xu Qingzhi said lightly: "My sister-in-law only lives in one of the houses under his name, and I don't live with him." Mom, Xiao Huo doesn't mind, don't think about it. ”

Wang Yanmei wanted to say something, but finally gave up and said, "Forget it, you don't understand." ”

Xu Qingzhi: "......"

She choked, accustomed to her mother's way of speaking, and didn't ask her what she was trying to say.

After all......

Wang Yanmei said again: "But I don't blame your sister-in-law for this, it's because your sister Pingping's marriage is going to be decided this year, and the man is from the north, far away from us." It just so happened that your sister-in-law went to Kyoto to see a doctor, so I thought that the parents of both sides would meet and settle the matter. As a result, the man's side has been cleaning up the moths, negotiated a bride price of 180,000 yuan, and changed his words to only give 120,000 yuan. ”

Xu Qingzhi drew attentively, and asked along with her mother's words: "How do you know?" ”

"Your sister-in-law told your father, and your father told me again."

Xu Qingzhi has never been married, and he has no concept of the bride price, but he only remembers that in the past few years, who in the village had a wedding bride price of tens of thousands, it was quite magnificent, and now it is said that there are no more than a dozen bride price, and more than 200,000 yuan seem to be not well married.

Wang Yanmei held the melon seeds, sat down, and didn't care that Xu Qingzhi was painting, and chattered: "After the dowry, the man said that he had bought a house in his hometown county, but he didn't decorate it, so let the woman pay for the decoration." Then your sister-in-law and sister-in-law have to add their names, and the man doesn't agree, anyway, it's all about these things, and your sister-in-law and sister-in-law don't want to agree to this. ”

Wang Yanmei sighed.

Xu Qingzhi knew the essence of this chatter, and sighed with her mother, quite the same as her mother's feelings.

"When you and Xiao Huo get married, the bride price is up to you, and you can discuss it." "But if you're going to Kyoto, you'll have to have a suite in Kyoto." Mom and Dad are far away from you, you have been bullied and wronged, and Mom and Dad don't know. Anyway, you have a place of your own, otherwise you will run out of the house when you get angry, and you won't know where to go. ”

Xu Qingzhi put down the paintbrush and asked, "Mom, what time is my sister-in-law's house?" ”

"What's the matter, you're hungry? Didn't eat enough in the morning? Wang Yanmei asked.

Xu Qingzhi nodded and responded: "Well, I ate less this morning." ”

"It's only half past ten now, and no matter how early this lunch is, you have to go at twelve o'clock, and Mom will cook you two eggs." After Wang Yanmei finished speaking, she got up and was about to boil eggs.

The big cat hurriedly shouted "meow meow~".

Wang Yanmei touched its little head, "Okay, cook one for your little guy too." ”

The crow also hurriedly flew down and landed on Wang Yanmei's shoulder.

"Quack~" This crow also wants it.

Wang Yanmei startled it, "You blackbird, you are always startled, you want to scare someone to death, go and go." ”

The crow was pushed away by her mother's hand.

The crow fried his hair angrily, paced behind Wang Yanmei, and did not tire of it.

"Quack!" This crow will eat it too!

"Quack!" This crow wants to eat eggs.

It also pecked at her pant leg.

Wang Yanmei didn't know what it meant, she thought it was clingy, "I know, I know, I'll cook it for you." ”

Xu Qingzhi finished painting, the eggs were boiled, and the freshly boiled eggs were still hot after the cold water.

The eggs of the home-raised free-range chickens are delicious just when boiled, there is no fishy smell at all, and the color is normal pale yellow, not that orange.

It is best to eat it when it is hot, and when you bite into it, your mouth is full of egg fragrance.

At half past eleven, Xu Fuqiang came back from the back mountain and changed into a pair of clean shoes.

"Let's go, your sister-in-law just called, shouted that it was time to eat, take a detour to pick up your grandfather, and save him to walk."

After lunch, the door of the house does not need to be closed, it is just open.

Anyway, there are two little ones who stay at home to take care of the house.

Xu Fuqiang drove from home to the small courtyard, her father honked the horn twice, opened the window glass, and shouted twice: "Dad, Dad......"

No one answered.

Xu Qingzhi got out of the car and went inside to take a look, but there was no one.

Xu Fuqiang seemed to have expected it a long time ago, "Okay, I will definitely be able to meet your grandfather on the way later." They all shouted to him to wait for us in the house, but he didn't listen, and he was stunned that he was going to walk. ”

The car drove in the direction of my sister-in-law's house, and sure enough, after driving for two or three minutes, I saw a thin old man in a cyan tunic walking forward on the side of the road in front of me.

Although it was just a back, Xu Qingzhi could tell at a glance that it was her grandfather.

She opened the window and shouted outward, "Grandpa." ”

The thin old man stopped and looked back.

The car stopped right next to him in a few seconds.

Xu Fuqiang frowned: "I said that you waited in the house, you ......"

Wang Yanmei glanced at him, and Xu Fuqiang was silent.

Xu Qingzhi opened the car door, "Grandpa, get in the car." ”

The thin old man wiped the frozen snot with a handkerchief, patted the dust on his body again, and then got into the car. (End of chapter)