After a few days of hard work, after a few bowls of white porridge to warm her belly, Yuebai fell asleep. When I woke up, the sun was already sinking, and there was a little red of the sunset. Touching the side, the cuckoo was not on his side. She got up neatly and walked out into the courtyard.

There were three figures in the courtyard stretched long, long, and in the afterglow, the cuckoo and the old lady were peeling corn kernels. Chatting, the old lady smiled kindly from time to time, the old man spitted smoke with a cigarette, Yuebai remembered the carefree appearance of the pepper in the Ji Mansion before, and remembered the recognition of Peony and the cuckoo after entering the mansion. It's just that I don't know what kind of life this God has given me? Thinking that Du Juan's parents are dead, his body is thin, tired and bumpy, and he can still make his grandmother smile here, this child is so sensible that it makes people feel distressed.

"Are you up?" said the old man without raising his head.

"Well, auntie, I slept too deeply, and I didn't get up until now to make you laugh. ”

"It's okay, it's okay, just rest well. "The old lady was always so easy-going and talkative.

"It's okay, you wash, peel and peel the taro next to you. The old man said.

"Okay, okay. Yuebai took a bamboo chair, and it had been a long time since she had done housework with Lemei, and Yuebai was a little excited.

A few people, old and young, were busy with the things at hand, and they didn't speak or feel embarrassed. I didn't feel that time passed quickly, and after cutting a small pile of taro, Yuebai straightened up.

"Auntie, why don't I cook it. Yuebai rolled up her sleeves as she spoke.

"Okay, okay, I'll make a fire for you with the girl. ”

Yuebai looked at the simple stove, remembering that before she followed her mother to escape from the famine, she always stared at her mother, and when she was a child, she always liked to add firewood to the stove vigorously, and her mother would always come over and say, "Baby, you can't stuff too much firewood too much." Otherwise, there is no air, and there is no place for the fire. We need to erect them so they have room to spit out the flames. Although I eat sweet potato porridge at a time, I still like to eat with my mother the most, because the thicker ones are always in my bowl, and the sweet potatoes are also larger. is full of mother's love for herself.

The stove has burst into flames, "Aunt Yue, Aunt Yue." Yuebai looked up and saw that the cuckoo was staring at himself in a daze.

"The pot is going to burn a hole. The cuckoo muttered quietly.

Yuebai looked at the old and young eyes, slightly stunned. hurriedly said haha: "Eat dried sweet potatoes at night, (PS: You must not know and have never drunk dried sweet potatoes.) In the past, sweet potatoes were much cheaper than rice, and people who couldn't afford to drink white porridge could only boil a few grains of rice with dried sweet potatoes to survive. Sweet potatoes are generally stored in a dug cave for winter, and you can also use a planer to shred the sweet potatoes and dry them and store them, so that even if it is not a harvest season, you can use dried sweet potatoes to satisfy your hunger, and the taste is naturally worse than fresh sweet potatoes, but eating enough is the most important thing!) Just boil a taro corn kernel soup, plus the fresh pumpkin leaves that the uncle picked. ”

Next to the pot on the stove was a jar of lard, on which silk cloth was tied, and the hemp rope was wrapped around and around.

Yuebai untied the rope, lifted the silk cloth, and picked out some lard. Suddenly, I saw a bowl of rapeseed oil next to the lard, which was cheap but had a strong rapeseed taste, and it was homemade by the farmer. Yuebai pricked the lard back and poured some rapeseed oil into the hot pan, and suddenly a puff of white smoke rose up, and the thick smell of rapeseed oil filled the entire kitchen. Yuebai fished out the small taro from the water, stir-fried a few times, and after a while, the taro was fried to the golden skin, emitting a strong aroma, sprinkled with corn kernels, poured cooking wine, a few scoops of water, and stuffed in the pot. After a while, I heard the sound of boiling water in the pot, and it sounded "suddenly". The moon white opened the pot, and the water vapor and sweet smell came to the surface. Yuebai twisted the fresh pumpkin leaves with her hands, put in a few pieces of rock sugar, some salt flowers, and simmered for some time to make the pumpkin leaves softer.

Out of the pot, took a large porcelain bowl. Filled with heat and warmth, Yuebai carefully brought the evening to the table of the Eight Immortals.

"It's time to eat. "The tradition of the elderly is not to talk when eating, and to drink tea after a meal and talk.

The four of them eat, drink, and drink, and the time is very peaceful, with the charm and peace of ordinary life.

Sitting in the courtyard after dinner, the old man was holding a cigarette stick as usual, and the cuckoo was counting the stars in Yuebai's arms, and talking to the old lady from time to time.

A few times, Yuebai wanted to ask about the valley, but she didn't know what to say.

"We have a temple in the Inspiration Village, and the temple is dedicated to the Inspiration Niangniang. Legend has it that Niangniang used to be the ancestor here and was a kind person. One year, the people in the village got a strange disease, all kinds of pus appeared on the skin of the whole body, it was extremely itchy, once scratched, the pus inside would flow out, and the pus would grow there wherever it flowed, and the scratched place would quickly rot, and the flesh on some people's bodies would fall down in pieces. Not to mention the mood of making ends meet, every day is struggling with illness and hardship, just hoping that God will end his life as soon as possible. Every day is better than dead, until a young man falls into the river, and some people begin to choose to understand themselves. It's a few old people who can save some food rations for their families, and they don't have pain sooner. There are seven or eight out of ten people in the village who are sick, and some middle-aged people are crying bitterly to do things, and they can't die if they want to. ”

The old man paused as he spoke, where can people change the hardships and impermanence of life, how many people's hopes will come true, and how many people will feel that death is their true destination?

"And then?"

"Later, there was a woman who was twenty-eight years old, and they all said that it was a phoenix in the chicken coop. This girl has been like a pearl in the sky since she was a child, she has a kind heart, a gentle personality, and a soft speech. When he was young, he was loved and cared for by the whole village. The name is Water Spirit. ”

"Shui Ling's parents only gave birth to one daughter, and her mother was only pregnant with one child, and she never conceived again. There are many young men in the village who like Shui Ling, but they are all ashamed of themselves in front of her, and no one dares to come to the door to propose marriage. Shui Ling has also been in the boudoir and has not married. ”

"The parents are getting older, Shui Ling is a girl, and life at home is starting to become difficult, so I think I can recruit a son-in-law. Most of the young people in the townships like Shui Ling, but not everyone is willing to be a son-in-law, and the old people say that they are sons-in-law because they can't survive. ”

"There are four people among the candidates who are outstanding, and they should have a fate with Shui Ling in their previous lives. The old man and Yuebai took the initiative to talk about the past in this village.