Siheyuan: Five mouths waiting for food at the beginning

Zhao Shanhe walked forward and saw rice fields as expected, with a group of children catching loaches there.

"Who are you? You are not from our village? What are you doing in our village?" A leading child looked at him warily.

Zhao Shanhe didn't expect that the child was so cautious. "I am from this village, but I am always outside. I am the uncle of Da Niu and Er Niu."

"So it's Uncle Daniu's great uncle. That's our grandpa. Hello, Grandpa."

It is said that the seniority system in rural areas is a bit confusing. Zhao Shanhe never expected that it was true. He was called grandpa at such a young age.

"You guys, go ahead and play. I'll just wander around."

Zhao Shanhe took off his leather shoes and socks, rolled up his trouser legs and went into the water. The water in August was not cold at all. He imitated the kids and tried to touch the loaches in the rice fields. He searched for ten minutes but to no avail. He didn't catch any. However, he made the kids around him laugh.

"Grandpa, let me tell you, there is a skill to catching loaches. You have to find a loach hole first, they are not available everywhere. Also, be careful of leeches, they can suck blood~" The child said a lot of things in a row.

Zhao Shanhe also began to observe carefully and finally found a loach hole. He reached in carefully and really touched a loach. He finally grabbed it out, but the loach was very slippery and ran away from his hand. Zhao Shanhe tried to grab it again, but it ran away again.

"Grandpa, watch me!" The child grabbed it. No matter how the loach ran, it could not escape from the child's hand. It was really like Monkey King falling into the hands of Buddha.

"Grandpa, you have to pinch the loach's head. If you pinch its head, it won't be able to run away. Here you go." The child handed the loach to Zhao Shanhe again.

"No, I'm just catching it for fun, and I don't have anything to hold the loach, so you can take it."

Zhao Shanhe tried to catch more fish for a while before coming up. His score was 2-0, so he was not empty-handed. The kid had already built a fire and started roasting loaches.

"Why don't you take it back? Will it taste good if you roast it?"

"Master, loach is a waste of oil, my mother won't make it for me."

"Oh, so that's how it is. You know so much. Here, these two that I just caught, you can roast and eat them too." Zhao Shanhe handed the two fish he had caught to the children.

Zhao Shanhe found a small ditch, washed his feet, and put on his shoes and socks. "I'm leaving now. You should also go back early and don't go to deep water."

"Got it, Master."

When Zhao Shanhe returned to the house, Zhao Shanhai finally got up and said, "Brother, there are mud spots on your trouser legs. Did you go to catch loaches?"

"Don't worry about what I'm doing. I asked you to write letters often, what's wrong with you?"

"Brother, this is really not my fault. The countryside has been busy lately, and no one has gone to the city. I wrote the letter but couldn't send it."

"Brother, what Shanhai said is true"

"Okay, let me ask you, how do you survive here? You don't rely entirely on your uncle, do you?"

"No, brother. I have the documents you gave me. The village party secretary asked me to record their work, and I also earned work points. In addition, I got the money and tickets when I came here. Brother, you don't know that you can't spend much money in the countryside. When you leave, take the money from mom and Erya back with you. The few hundred dollars I have will be enough for several years."

"Did you receive the salary I sent you?"

"Got it, brother, are you sure it's my salary, not what you gave me."

"Nonsense, I'm being taken advantage of by giving you my own salary. My family can't make a living anymore. Do you think the document that Lao Li gave you is fake? You came out as a representative of the factory, so of course the factory pays you, but there's nothing I can do about Duoduo. You might even lose your job when you go back."

"It's okay. I'll just take care of her. Brother, you may not know this, but I'm going to be a father too. Duoduo is pregnant and it's been two months."

"Okay, okay, now that you're a father you can't make a fuss, okay?"

"Brother, I know"

"I'll go back and think of a solution. It's not a good idea for Duoduo to stay here while she's pregnant."

"Brother, I think it's good. The air in the countryside is good."

"The air is good, but have you thought about the medical conditions? What if something happens?"

"But, brother, is there really a way to go back? But going back will implicate you."

"I'll go back and see. I'll try to get you back before the end of the year. If that doesn't work, I'll have to bring you back before the baby is born. No matter how heartless the Huang family is, Duoduo is still their biological daughter. I don't believe they can really ignore their own daughter."

"Thank you, brother. Don't worry, I will take care of you in your old age."

"You're asking for trouble, aren't you? You're talking about taking care of me again. I can't live without you taking care of me, right?"

"Besides taking care of me in my old age, I really don't know how to repay you."

"I don't need your gratitude. Living a good life is the best way to repay me."

"Okay, go eat something just after you woke up. It's uncomfortable to have an empty stomach."

"Hey, I've already eaten."

"I plan to go back tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow at the latest. You take good care of yourself and Duoduo here."

"Brother, it's so fast, why don't you stay a few more days?"

"No, Uncle San and the others are busy. We can't disturb them for too long and waste their time. Grandma, I'll ask them later if they're coming back. If not, they can stay for a while."

"That's right, Third Uncle is really busy and has no free time."

The two brothers chatted casually, mainly about Zhao Shanhai's recent life.

Finally, the people who went to work came back. Uncle San and Aunt San went home to wash up, just washing their faces and wiping their bodies.

"Brother Shan is going to Shanhai, Shandong, for something."

"Uncle, what's the matter?"

"I told Uncle Lu to put you on the family tree. People have to have roots no matter where they are. Your grandmother also told me last night to put you on the family tree."

"Mother, stop cooking. Let's all go over there. I told the eldest brother's wife this morning. Shanhe, you go first. I'll carry me on my back."

"Let me carry grandma. You guys have worked all day."

"What the hell? It's not like I can't walk," When Zhao Shanhe went to carry the old lady, the old lady refused to do so and walked away in a hurry with bow legs.

When we arrived at Shandong's house, the room was already full of people, all smoking old dry tobacco. Sitting in the middle was an old man in his seventies or eighties, and the people sitting next to him were also old men, but none of them were older than the old man in the middle.

“Uncle Lu, Shanhe is here. This is the eldest brother of my eldest brother’s family.”

"Shanhe, this is the patriarch of the Zhao family, you can just call him Grandpa Lu." (Grandpa Lu is Sixth Grandpa)

"Grandpa Lu, would you like to have a cigarette?" Zhao Shanhe took out a cigarette and lit it for Grandpa Lu, then distributed cigarettes to other old men, introducing one to his uncle every time he gave one.

In the end, they were all uncles or brothers, and there was no grandfather.