Picking mulberries

To the surprise of Cui's family and Qiu Yang, Qiu Jingping took the initiative to contact Cui Shicheng, chatted for a long time, and finally agreed on a day to invite Cui's family to visit.

On this day, Qiu Jingdong made a special trip to the township government to report to Secretary Kang Zhai that the Cui family and his son were visiting as guests, and invited them to sit at home together, and Kang Yuzhang and Zhai Jin readily agreed.

When Qiu Jingdong came back, he passed by Qiu Chonghua Supermarket and saw a group of people chatting there. He wanted to go back and discuss with his brother about preparing a family banquet, so he didn't get involved.There was someone who was about the same age as Qiu Jingdong and had the same seniority, so he greeted Qiu Jingdong from afar: "Jingdong, come and have a seat."

"I have something to do, I'm busy."

"I heard that your younger brother sold his son for the 'nine dan ceremony', right?" The man had no bad intentions, and joked on the spur of the moment.

When Qiu Jingdong heard this, his face darkened immediately, and he walked over with a haughty face: "Fuck your mother, whoever talks nonsense, stand up for me if you have the guts, I will tear his mouth to pieces. "

"No other meaning, everyone is just joking, don't take it seriously." Qiu Chonghua hurried out to smooth things over.

"Who in the world doesn't know that my younger brother is a terribly noble person, not to mention my younger brother, even my sister-in-law is not the kind of person who loves money. My nephew is very capable, and he became an employee of a big company at a young age. Chairman, someone is jealous, right? Don’t be jealous. You can raise a good son to enjoy the blessings. What is it to say sarcasm behind your back? Let’s leave it alone today, and next time you hear it, Don't blame me, Qiu Jingdong, for turning my face and denying people." Qiu Jingdong turned around and went back angrily after he stared at the group of people with poisonous eyes.

When they arrived at Qiu Jingping's house, Qiu Jingdong repeated what the secretary and the township head had said, and also mentioned the incident of getting mad in Qiu Chonghua's shop.

"Brother, your temper is really getting older and more stubborn. Why are you so angry? We can still control other people's mouths. Whoever wants to chew their tongues let him chew them, just ignore them. Besides, A Yang and Xiao Cui's matter is not something that can see the sun, people don't think about it, we are thankful." Qiu Jingping persuaded.

"You are really bookish," Qiu Jingdong retorted, "It's because we, A Yang, are not good at telling people what happened, and we have to fight back domineeringly when we hear gossip. You don't understand, the weaker you are, the worse the rumors will be. , we are like a firecracker, which burns at one o'clock, and after a long time, no one dares to make irresponsible remarks."

"I think your brother is right." Zhou Guimei and Wang Qiuxia also echoed.

"So, next time if you hear someone messing up our house, you can rush up and fight without saying a word." Qiu Jingdong said to his younger brother.

"I can't do this." Qiu Jingping said with a smile.

"I'll do the fighting." Zhuang Huaying followed with a smile.

"What kind of words does this sound like? How can I let you go? Where can I put Jingping's face? If Jingping cares about the face of a cultural person, call me and I will fight for you. Maybe it will take a long time, and I can still fight." Crack out the nickname of a martial artist, and our brothers will dominate the Long Palace with one piece of literature and one martial arts."

"You don't lose your ambition when you get old, that's good." Qiu Zaiyun's old face trembled from the teasing.

"I did something wrong in my previous life, and I was disdainful, which made my brother who is almost fifty have tattoos." Qiu Jingping said with a light smile.

"What do you guys talk about? I'm only 45. I'm in my prime. It's not normal to have a few quarrels with others and fight a few battles."

"Hey, it sounds like you can fight." Wang Qiuxia said disdainfully.

"Brother, sister-in-law, A Rong came over a few days ago and I was going to mention it to her. After thinking about it, I should discuss it with you first and then ask her opinion." Qiu Jingping suddenly remembered something, and said to Qiu Jingdong and his wife.

"What's the matter?" Qiu Jingdong asked.

"Didn't Xiaotao give up the idea of ​​having children? He wants to do Arong's work, let her have another one, and adopt him to Hong'er."

As soon as Qiu Jingping said this, the whole family fell silent.

After a long time, Wang Qiuxia sighed softly, but she still didn't say anything, Qiu Jingdong also sighed, and asked Qiu Jingping: "Did you hint anything to A Rong?"

"No, no, why don't we discuss it with you first?"

"Do you think that having a child is going to the mall to buy things, and you can return it, exchange it, or repair it? It's not easy to give birth, it's not easy to raise it, and it's not easy to educate it. A Rong can give up her own flesh and blood, but Xiao Tao may not be able to treat her sincerely. Well. Let’s not worry about Ah Hong, let them live as they want, when they get older, if they want to adopt, they can adopt. Jingping, oh, including Mom and Huaying, please don’t say such things to Ah Rong Come on, don't make her feel sad, thinking that I don't love her but only her brother."

"Since brother said so, then I can only die." Qiu Jingping sighed, thinking that in terms of continuing the family incense, he had to think of other countermeasures.

Considering Cui Dongxu's schedule, Qiu Jingping made an appointment with Cui Shicheng on weekends.At Cui Shicheng's urging, they set off early in the morning, with Qiu Yang and Cui Dongxu in the car, and Cui Shicheng's mother Cui Shiying in the car.

Qiu Yang was driving ahead, and as soon as he arrived at the courtyard gate, he got out of the car excitedly, and when he looked up, he saw his father Qiu Jingping looking at him with a dark face by the courtyard gate, he hurried forward and said with a smile: "Dad! Honorable scholar."

"Young master, what's the use of coming to my humble house in Chamen, a remote village?" Qiu Jingping's expression resembled that of Zhong Kui who exorcised ghosts.

"Hey, it's chilling for Mr. Xiucai to talk like that." Qiu Yang smiled playfully.Qiu Jingping snorted coldly and ignored him.

Cui Dongxu, who opened the door and got out of the car, saw Qiu Jingping, and hurried forward and shouted "uncle" in a timid voice.Only then did Qiu Jingping turn pale, and said softly to Cui Dongxu, "You're tired from sitting, hurry up and go into the room to have a rest."

At this time, Cui Shicheng in the back also parked the car. When Qiu Jingping saw Cui Shicheng, he smiled like a flower on his face, and hurried up to meet him. His expression changed faster than that of Sichuan opera: "Mr. Cui, I Waiting with the second hand pinched, it must have been a hard journey." Seeing this, Qiu Yang felt a chill, goosebumps all over the ground, grinned and shook his head, leading Cui Dongxu into the courtyard.

While chatting with Cui Shicheng, Qiu Jingping smiled and greeted Cui Shiying Su's mother who got off the car at the back. Seeing that there were only three of them in this car, he asked Cui Shicheng, "Hey, Mr. Cui, is uncle Dongxu not here?"

"His company is temporarily busy, and he went on a business trip to Europe yesterday. There are plenty of opportunities, so ask him to come again next time."

"That's right, right, right, the traffic is developed now, and it's only an hour's drive." While speaking, Qiu Jingping led Cui Shicheng and the others into the courtyard.

Seeing the Qiu family in formal attire and the table full of tea, snacks, fruit and candies, Cui Dongxu and his son could see that the Qiu family was quite grand and formal to their visit, and at the same time made it clear to them: everyone agrees with them relationship.

Cui Shicheng was very relieved, but Cui Dongxu felt a pain in his heart.Although the relationship between him and Qiu Yang is so deep that he can be fearless, there are still shortcomings without the blessings of his family members. Now that the family members have given the green light, Cui Dongxu is both guilty and grateful.

The unusual in-laws reunion, the ceremony was prepared no matter how formal and grand it was, there was still some embarrassment between each other for a while.

Cui Dongxu saw that his father, who had been repeatedly invited to sit in the lower seat of the hall, was a little helpless, so he thought about how to resolve his embarrassment. Seeing that Qiu Zaiyun next to Cui Shicheng had a crutch hanging on the corner of the table was very novel, so he asked curiously stand up.The crutch is indeed a bit strange, smooth and smooth, as if it has been coated with a layer of wax. One can tell that its material is very hard and quite durable. The hand post can also be used for hanging.

"This cane is the treasure of our ancestors. Although our ancestors can still walk very well, this cane is never out of hand, and today it is specially used to show off." Wang Qiuxia laughed.

"Uncle bought it for the ancestors, right?" Cui Dongxu took the walking stick from Qiu Zaiyun and looked at it seriously.

"I didn't buy it. I couldn't buy it even if I wanted to." Qiu Jingdong laughed.

"When will I take you to the front and back of the village a few times, and you will see many crutches like this." Qiu Yang said to Cui Dongxu.

"What's the meaning of the four red circles painted on this gourd?" Cui Shicheng suddenly became relaxed when he had some spare topics other than the main topic.

"It's our CEO Cui who is the best. He can see the way at a glance. These four red circles are what our ancestors are most proud of." Zhou Guimei, who was greeting Su's mother to eat melons and fruits, interjected.

"About this gourd stick, it is a major feature of our Longgong Township, there are some stories to tell," Qiu Jingdong said to Cui Shicheng proudly, "My younger brother once wrote an article about the gourd stick, which was published in the city daily , I heard that the city leaders have rewarded the township government for this, and the township secretary Kang rewarded him with an electric tricycle in recognition of his publicity efforts. So let him talk about the calabash stick in detail.”

Qiu Jingping was a little embarrassed to see his brother giving him such a face, so he introduced the gourd stick in detail.

Longgong Township has done a relatively detailed job in respecting the elderly and respecting filial piety, which has been recognized by the higher authorities.The township government has innovated in the form of respecting the elderly. All the elderly over [-] years old will be given a gourd stick, and the name and date of birth of the old man will be engraved on the crutches.

Why the head of the cane is carved in the shape of a gourd is actually very simple, because the entire jurisdiction of Longgong Township is in the shape of a gourd.Eighty-year-olds have a red circle painted on their gourds. For those over ninety, the government takes them back when they give them birthday gifts, paints a red circle and sends them back.In the same way, for those who are over a hundred years old, take it back and add another coat of paint, which is equivalent to adding a circle for ten years. If you meet an old man with a gourd stick on the road, you can probably know who he is just by looking at the red circles on the gourd. Old people of any age.

It is a kind of honor for the elderly in the village to be able to use a gourd stick. They don’t need to register to go to the village hospital to see a doctor. It is free to take the bus in the village. Someone brought up the food.

The year before last, the township government wanted to build the embankment of the Liujiu Reservoir one meter higher to increase the water storage capacity in order to install running water for all the villages. If most of them are submerged, a lot of roses in the garden will be submerged.However, considering the construction cost, the township government still wanted to insist on raising the embankment. Unexpectedly, a row of gourd sticks were inserted on the embankment overnight.

Seeing this situation, the township government had no choice but to give up and gave up the plan to raise the dam.After several investigations, the reservoir was finally built in the lampwick stream.Although the water quality of Dengxinjian is the best, the area is narrow. In order to achieve the required water storage capacity, local materials were used at the narrowest place between Huatian Mountain and Dougou Mountain. A small dam more than ten meters high.The water of the wick stream flows continuously all year round. In the rainy season, the mountain spring rushes in and overflows from the top of the dam. Because a little stone eaves protrude forward from the top of the dam, the water leaks out in a parabola, like a water curtain hole. Yes, it is very spectacular, but it has become a man-made landscape, and many people come here to explore it.The government's helpless move unexpectedly turned the Dengxinjian Dam into a tourist attraction in the village, just like Tianhao Garden and Yingui Cave.

"The leaders in the township are quite humane. They not only protect people's livelihood, but also respect public opinion. They also create a good atmosphere of respecting the elderly in the whole township. It is very rare. Giving crutches to the elderly seems to be borrowed from the etiquette system of the Han Dynasty. "After listening to Qiu Jingping's introduction, Cui Dongxu said with emotion.

"That's right, that's right, it borrowed from the dove stick system of the Han Dynasty." Qiu Jingping praised each other sympathetically, thinking in his heart that a professor is a professor, and his knowledge is really profound.

"Isn't it a little too big to start giving crutches at the age of 80?" Cui Shicheng admired the good governance implemented by the township government in his heart.

"No way, there are too many people living long lives in the village. Don't underestimate the group of people over [-] in our village. You can see people with gourd sticks everywhere on the country roads. This group is quite large. Of course, they are usually Old lady, women live longer relatively." Qiu Jingdong explained.

"Yo ho, you old boy, what do you call an old lady, you mean that I, an old man, lived to be more than 110, which is a miracle." Qiu Zaiyun refused.The old birthday star's words amused everyone, Cui Dongxu couldn't hold back, and laughed out loud.

"I didn't target you personally, I was just discussing the facts, and the facts are like this." Qiu Jingdong laughed.

"That's why you're not a likable person, and you still blame me for not hugging you when I was a child. With your virtue, how can I like you? How can you not be as cute as your brother?" Qiu Zaiyun snorted.

"I'm almost fifty. If I don't please you, I won't please you. Can I trick you into eating candy if I please you?" Qiu Jingdong also snorted.

"The old ancestor's words are really advancing with the times." Cui Shicheng laughed loudly.

"Oh, it's a blessing to the family that the old man has such a long life, and you are a living god." Su's mother followed with a smile.

"The one with the four circles on the gourd is the only ancestor in the whole town. It is indeed a living god." Zhuang Huaying said to Cui Shicheng with a smile on his face.

Seeing that both the Cui family and his son let go, the Qiu family became less restrained and spoke casually, so Zhou Guimei told them some interesting stories about their ancestors.While talking, I still came back to some policies of the township government to benefit the people.

"The leaders of your township are really good. They are indeed good cadres of the party. The secretary and the head of the township are the ones I met last time, right?" Cui Shicheng said to Qiu Jingping.

"That's right, you've met Secretary Kang and mayor Zhai, and they'll come to see you later. They've become old friends once they're born and acquainted the second time." Qiu Jingdong took over the conversation.

"Yes, this is the best way, I just want to discuss something with them." Cui Shicheng said happily.