It's the ripening season of late rice again. A golden ear of rice humbly lowered its heavy head, while the same golden leaves arrogantly pricked up their pointed ears, as if they were guards defending the fruits of these victories. A flock of birds in the air hunted through the vast fields and sang all the way, as if they were congratulating the joy of the grain harvest, and the girl's comfortable singing and laughter came from the countryside.

The chat hall has started to be lively again in the past few days, and this is the last period of relatively quiet time before the busy farming. These elderly villagers are about to join in the day set for the harvest of the last crop of rice of the year. They rarely have a short time to relax again and chat about the next things, and their main small talk direction is still focused on the following aspects: the late rice is ripe, and the rice should be harvested soon. The old farmers in the village all smiled and said to each other: When are you going to harvest rice?

"It's coming, it's coming, it's just a few days, I'm squatting in the field every day, I just want to see the rice pulp fuller."

"You can't wait too late to harvest, if you don't have a single one, the sparrows will fly to your field, and the grain will be spoiled by it, which is a pity."

"Don't worry, I will follow others when they open the sickle, and I will not fall behind others."

"Oh, this year, your field is well managed, the grass is thoroughly controlled, and the insects are well controlled, it seems that this year's harvest is good, right? Can you eat it all after you put it in? ”

"Where did you buy your hybrid rice seeds? Your rice seed pole is not afraid of insects, and I want to plant your variety next year, but is the rice removal rate high? ”

"The rice growth rate is about 70 percent, I planted it last year, it is half a percent higher than the variety the year before, the expansion rate is also good, and the cooking rice is fragrant."

"Everyone must like these advantages, why don't you promote it earlier?"

Next year I estimate that there will be more people planting it, the reason why I have not dared to promote it to everyone, is afraid that it is unstable, you all know that growing grain is the premise, safety and stability are the premise, it doesn't matter if the yield per mu is low, if the harvest is lost, the responsibility will be great, don't you say?"

"You have a point, we rely on the harvest in the field to save our lives in a year, and the rice harvest is out of our family's old snacks, what?"

"The monk's family is going to be unlucky in the second half of the year, the eldest son is hospitalized, the younger son has committed a crime, and his own health is not as good as before, I think he will harvest this year without manpower?"

"What are you worried about, the boat will naturally go straight to the bridge, you can take care of yourself."

"You say you, isn't it the same, just talking about others, you have nothing wrong with yourself?"

"What's wrong with me? My appetite is very good, I don't care whether it is soft or hard, I don't care if it's salty or sour, as long as it's food, it's sweet and delicious in my mouth. So, the group of people in the "chat room" all burst into laughter.

In the supermarket at the east end of the village, the elderly Fang Caihe is guarding the store alone. She is still holding a baby in her hand, this is her second grandson, and he is not yet a year old. Son Binbin and daughter-in-law have gone out to work and haven't finished work yet, and Fang Caihe is now a little dizzy. She usually likes to find a pair of reading glasses to wear, otherwise, she can't see clearly who is standing in front of her, and the things she is looking for are also blurry.

A scarlet car drove on the road outside and stopped at the bridgehead not far from Fang Caihe Supermarket. Fang Caihe only saw a bewitching woman getting out of the car through the window of her house, with her back to her, she couldn't see who the person was, so she hurriedly looked for reading glasses to put on, but the woman had already walked away: medium stature, not slim and bloated. The woman wore a scarlet coat and wore a long, wavy hairstyle, and her hair was dyed exaggeratedly, not in a single color of red or purple, but in a mixture of colorful colors. This is a variegated hairstyle that Fang Caihe has never seen, so curiosity drives Fang Caihe to chase after her grandson.

The woman hesitated and did not dare to enter the village rashly, and the head of the village could not see any other idlers at this time. Fang Caihe walked over and stood behind her and asked, "This lady, who are you looking for in my village?" I know everyone in this village. ”

The woman in red turned around and said with a smile, "Eldest sister, is this Shanghu Village?" ”

"That's right! This is Shanghu Village, who are you looking for? Fang Caihe used his hand to hold the glasses that had slipped from the bridge of his nose.

The woman didn't take off her ink-colored glasses to reply, but only smiled lightly at Caihe and walked towards the village. Fang Caihe felt a little uncomfortable in her heart, but people didn't want to talk to her more, so why was she embarrassed to chase her and ask? Besides, she has to take care of her own supermarket.

Looking at the woman in red who slowly disappeared from his sight, Fang Caihe muttered: "I don't know whose relatives it is, why are you so arrogant?" ”

The woman stepped on silver heels and walked all the way towards the village. The sound of the heels hitting the concrete pavement was crisp and loud, as if it were beautiful music playing between the fingers of some master. Fortunately, there were not many people left behind in the village, and those who were fortunate enough to stay were either too young or too old, and the occasional people who could stick their heads out of the door were nothing more than some old and dizzy old women, and these old women only poked their heads out to look at the footsteps, and did not study the women on the street in detail. The woman also did not greet the villagers, and she walked her own way alone, without attracting special attention from others.

The long-haired woman walked all the way down the village road, stopping at a clearing that had long since been abandoned. Her eyes wandered, and her face was full of doubt. She stood still for a long time in a place where many weeds and reeds grew, and the breeze brushed her beautiful face; The setting sun shone on her body, but her shadow was melted away by the weeds and reeds. She craned her neck and took off the black mirror, as if she was trying to find something? At last she was excited, her face began to flush, and the smile finally returned to her unattractive face, and she stepped into the weeds at once, and took a few steps forward.

At this time, on her right, there was a person who had been staring at her for a long time. Seeing her jumping up and down without any scruples, he asked loudly: "Where are you from, what are you doing here?" ”

The voice was a little too sudden, so that the woman in red's heart jumped: "Why didn't I find out that there was someone next to me?" ”

The woman turned her face to the voice, and said to the person who asked the question with a smile: "Uncle, I remember that I came here when I was a child, but I didn't expect that the courtyard in the past no longer exists, isn't this the courtyard of the Fang family in the past?" It's a shame how it has become an overgrown place today! ”

The elderly villager said, "How long has it been, you must not have been here for decades, right?" ”

The woman didn't answer the man's question, and said to herself: "It's been more than thirty years, I don't know how he's doing." ”

The man stood in the distance, unable to hear what she was saying, so he had to ask again. Women still don't have a clear answer to older men. Discouraged and disappointed, the man prepared to leave.

The woman in red suddenly asked the old man another question at this time: "Uncle, it seems that you are also an old man in this village, you must have lived in this village for many years, I just want to ask you, there used to be a family with a surname here, I only remember the surname Xu ····· when I was a child?" ”

"Oh, you're talking about Xu Zhiguo's family, why are you related to his family? Do you want me to take you to his house? ”

The woman was not in a hurry to reply, and pulled away a weed in front of her with her hand, as if looking for something. She suddenly took a few steps closer to an abandoned turquoise mortar. The stone mortar was surrounded by thatched reeds more than a man high, and it was difficult to find it from the outside, and the woman seemed to remember everything here vividly. She gently stroked the surface of the stone mortar with her hand, looking a little excited, only to see her brow furrowed, revealing a subtle smile, but she did not see her speak. She just stroked and rubbed the stone mortar with her hand over and over again, the surface of the stone mortar had already been covered with a layer of moss and grass, which looked a little slippery and dirty, and her fingers had been infected with a layer of dark green moss marks. The woman did not withdraw her hand, as if she was very happy with the enjoyment.

The old man's face began to show disdain and said, "This lady, you should be dressed from a big city, right?" It's not surprising that you haven't seen anything in the countryside, but you have to pay attention to hygiene, you get your hands dirty, you don't wash them, but how can you go back. ”

The woman in red turned around and began to ask him again: "Doesn't the Xu family also have several sons?" The eldest son seems to be called Qinlai, I have forgotten this, do you remember how he is now? ”

"Oh! You're asking Yunqin, right? Hey! He was a hard-working child, but now he is too old to live in the village. Since his wife ran away with a foreigner decades ago, he has had a very difficult life in the past few decades. ”

The woman in red had a subtle haze on her face, but then the clouds dissipated: "Then what happened to him?" ”

"Are you asking about Yunqin? What shall I say to you about him? I don't know where to start, let me tell you this, Fang Yunqing's family would have been finished without him for so many years. However, now the descendants of the Fang family have produced a few useful and capable people, but this is also the credit of Yun Qin, I think I am afraid that the Fang family will not be finished in a few generations. ”

"Can you be specific, how much kindness has made you think so highly of him?"

"If you don't know the inside story, it's no wonder you naturally won't understand one of the truths, if you are interested in listening, then I will try to explain it to you in detail, but I'm afraid it's too late today, are you going to Zhiguo or to my house? Let's talk slowly after dinner. ”

"No, I'm not going anywhere, I'm going back to the city, I don't have time to stay."

"It's getting late, how do you go to the city, there is no shuttle bus in our village?"

"I have a car to stay at the entrance of the village and wait, I have to go back, uncle, thank you for telling me so much today? The driver must have been waiting a little impatiently. ”

"Okay then, but can I ask you one last question, are you here to find Zhiguo or Yunqin? But the water of the well does not interfere with the water of the river. ”

"I'm not looking for anyone, uncle, thank you for saying so much to me, I'm really leaving."