Squatting on the edge of the fire hole, using tongs to carry two small pieces of coal ash on top of the rice paste fire, picking up the smoke bag with his left hand, walking out of the room, lifting the cigarette stick, picking up the ox whip by the bullpen, releasing the rhubarb withered cow, closing the cowpen, carrying the plow, calling the big black dog, catching up with the big yellow ox and walking towards the vegetable field by the opposite door.

The mother carried the hoe and carried Xiao Guizhou, the sister-in-law carried the flower blue with pigweed on her back and carried the knife, and the ninth brother carried the hoe and followed the third uncle and walked to the vegetable field.

The vegetable ditch was not ploughed well, and the sister-in-law put down the thin knife and dug up pigweed in the field.

The third uncle put down the plough and shouted: "Lao Jiu, quickly pick up a few grain poles, burn the fire, and let Xiaoguizhou roast the fire, the weather is a little cold." ”

Brother Jiu put down his hoe, picked up more than ten grain poles, climbed up the paulownia tree and broke a few dried paulownia branches, got off the paulownia tree, picked up the branches and walked to the third uncle and said, "Enough, enough to roast for half a morning." ”

At this time, the third uncle had blown the fire in the cigarette pack, lit the smoke pack, squatted up to pick up the grain stick, and put it on the burning smoke bag, and the grain stick caught fire and ignited a raging flame.

Brother Jiu stood next to him to add firewood.

The third uncle set up the ox and ploughed the vegetable ditch.

Mom untied the back fan belt, put down Xiao Guizhou, hugged one end of the back fan belt around Xiao Guizhou's waist, and tied the other end to the phase tree, Xiao Guizhou was more than a foot away from the fire, and his hand couldn't catch the fire.

Mom picked up the hoe and thinned the first ditch of Nanako.

The sister-in-law put down the flower blue containing the pigweed, picked up the thin knife to thin the second ditch, and the ninth brother berry to the third ditch.

The big black dog waged its tail, squatted on its hind feet, and stretched out its two feet to accompany Xiao Guizhou to roast the fire.

The mother made two ditches, walked to the fire, untied the back fan belt around Xiao Guizhou's waist, unbuttoned his clothes, and sat on the stone by the fire to breastfeed.

The third uncle also walked to the fire, wrapped the leaf smoke, and sat on the stone to eat the leaf smoke.

Mother shouted: "Lao Jiu, you and your sister-in-law are tired, come over and take a break from the fire." ”

Brother Jiu said: "What kind of fire to bake, we are sweating profusely!" ”

As he spoke, he stretched out his waist, held the hoe handle in his right hand, put his right foot on his right hand, and stretched his waist to rest his breath.

The sister-in-law bent down and continued to move forward, picking up purslane at the foot of the vegetable from time to time, and the goose ears were piled up in the vegetable ditch, and when she finished work, she picked up the flower basket and cut it to feed the pigs.

In the morning, my mother had four ditches of vegetables, and the ninth brother had five ditches. As soon as I got home, I washed my hands, turned on the fire, put the pot on the pot, seeped water, put a handful of dry firewood into the fire, waited for the bottle to smoke, put the morning meal into the bottle, and after a while, the bottle foot water made a "squeak" sound.

Mom cut the sauerkraut, lifted the pot, and waited for everyone to have breakfast.

The sister-in-law picked up the pigweed in the vegetable ditch and filled a basket full of flowers.

Brother Jiu said: "This basket of flowers and pigweed is heavy, I will carry it." ”

The sister-in-law said, "I'll carry the flower basket for you." ”

The ninth brother said: "You don't need to hug it, I will carry it on the ridge by myself, and I will carry it myself." ”

The sister-in-law didn't speak, thinking, "It's okay, I don't have to carry such a heavy flower basket to touch the doll in my belly." ”

The ninth brother carried the flower basket on the ridge, carried the flower basket, and the sister-in-law carried the thin knife and the ninth brother's hoe back home.

The third uncle drove the cows to graze on the side of the road, thinking to himself that it would take them a cigarette to cook.

Before he could finish eating a cigarette, he heard Brother Jiu's shout: "Third uncle, third uncle, have breakfast!" ”

After the third uncle answered, he drove the cow home, tied the cow to the column head of the wing building, didn't care about eating, took half a liter of bread grain noodles and poured it into the foot basin, brought the salt water prepared the day before and mixed it in the bread noodles, and carried it to the side of the column head for the big yellow cow to eat.

The big yellow cow eats the grain noodles, and a few chickens come over to peck at it with their heads up, and the big yellow cow eats while using the horns to top the chicken, and the chickens are not allowed to eat.

A family of four laborers got up and slept in the middle of the night, and they were busy for nine days, finishing a bucket of vegetable fields.

After finishing the spring farm work, I rested for a few days, and was busy with the corn dumplings.

One day after dinner, my sister-in-law felt a dull pain in her stomach and said to her mother, "Grandma, my stomach hurts a little. ”

Mom said, "You go to sleep first, and I'll give you a touch." ”

The sister-in-law was lying on the bed, and the mother touched her stomach with her hand and said, "The doll is moving in the belly, you can't be careless, you just lie down, and it will be born soon." ”

The sister-in-law hummed on the bed and looked at her mother, the mother stayed by the bed, pinched the sister-in-law's hand with her hand, and after a while, let go of her hand, washed her hands in the room, and walked back to the room, and her mother wanted to deliver the baby for the sister-in-law herself.

didn't leave my sister-in-law at once.

The sister-in-law hummed louder and louder, and finally her voice went from strong to weak, giving birth to a girl.

Three days later, the third uncle named his granddaughter Xiao Maojing.

The sister-in-law was full moon, and her mother said to the sister-in-law: "I cook at home, take Xiao Guizhou and Xiao Maojing, and you and Xiao Jiumei and the third uncle go to the field to do work." ”

According to my mother's instructions, every day, the third uncle, the ninth brother and the eldest sister-in-law went to work in the field.

Mom carried Xiao Mao Jing at home, watched Xiao Guizhou play in the hall, and ran in the yard.

Every morning, my mother sits on the low bench of the bird's nest, hugs Xiao Guizhou on her left leg and eats Mimi on the left, and sits on her right leg and eats Mimi on the right.

Three years have passed, Xiao Guizhou is four years old, Xiao Mao Jing is three years old, and she often calls Xiao Guizhou by her uncle.

The second brother Zhou Jinting, who is doing business in other places, has never returned home except for going home for the New Year.

In early June 1948, heavy rains fell in various parts of Qingzhou, causing mountain floods and waterfalls, flooding fields and land, and displacing some families without harvest.

In the hemp nest at the foot of Zhoujiazhai, Chaozi soil was flooded for seven days and seven nights, and the harvest of every household was halved.

In the evening, the third uncle's family sat around the small table by the coal fire for dinner, and suddenly, the small door "clicked" and a person came in.

The third uncle looked up and saw that it was Zhou Xingfa.

Before Zhou Xingfa sat down, he said: "Third uncle, Brother Jiang and I drove pigs to the provincial capital to sell, and on the way back to the township office, I heard from a few people that Zhou Jinting was on the way home, and was caught and tied up by three villagers yesterday and sent to Qingzhou County to serve as a soldier. ”

When the third uncle heard this, he put down the dishes and chopsticks and hurriedly asked: "Is what you said true or false, you will not be pulled sooner, you will not be pulled later, and you will be pulled again in the year of the catastrophe, how are you going to live this day?" I'm going to Qingzhou County tomorrow to see where I landed. ”

Mom put down the dishes and chopsticks, didn't say a word, and went back to the room to cry.

When the sister-in-law heard that Zhou Jinting was dragged to be a soldier, she also put down the dishes and chopsticks without saying a word, and went back to the room to cry.

Early the next morning, the third uncle rushed to Qingzhou County with fried baoguhua to inquire, and more than 20 soldiers captured the day before yesterday had been bundled up and sent to Yunnan.

There was no way, the third uncle had to go home and say to his mother: "Don't cry anymore, it's useless to cry, hurry up and cook fresh rice, no meat, beat three eggs, I will offer to the ancestors, ask the ancestors to bless, ask the Bodhisattva to bless, don't have an accident when the second son of Jin Ting is outside." ”

My mother advised my sister-in-law again: "Don't cry, crying hurts your body, no one takes care of you, or you still suffer by yourself, we can only ask God to bless us, ask the Bodhisattva to bless us." ”