Picking mulberries

Qiu Yang ran to the entrance of the village and ran into the little friends who were playing together just now. After chasing after them, he forgot about his mother looking for him, and played until dinner time before returning home sweaty.

"Yangyang, my sweetheart, where has he been all afternoon? Your mother has been looking everywhere," Qiu Yang's grandma, Zhou Guimei, saw her little grandson coming back from outside sweating, and hurriedly said, "Go and wash yourself. Take a bath, your mother is still washing silkworm mats in Fengshuxi, and you will definitely be beaten when you look back like this, and the silkworm mats have not been cleaned yet." Zhou Guimei lived with her youngest son, and she lived outside the house and in the fields. Busy with his daughter-in-law, Qiu Jingping usually does some errands.

There are actually quite a lot of old people in the Qiu family. The oldest living person is Qiu Yang's great-grandfather Qiu Zaiyun, who is seventy-seven this year. Below Qiu Zaiyun are Qiu Yang's great-grandfather Yue Yueli and great-grandmother Song Fenghuang.Qiu Yang's grandfather is also Zhou Guimei's husband Qiu Houqing, who was 26 years old when he was young. When Qiu Houqing died, the eldest son Qiu Jingdong was only two or three years old, and the youngest son Qiu Jingping had not yet been born. Zhou Guimei took two young sons He lived with his father-in-law Qiu Yueli and his mother-in-law Song Fenghuang. Although Yue Yueli was still young and middle-aged back then, there were many young and old in the family, and life was very difficult.

Qiu Zaiyun originally had two sons, Qiu Yueli was the eldest, and the youngest son was Qiu Yuexiang. He was arrested and served as a soldier when he was young. When the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, he lost his voice. I don’t know whether he died in the battle or went to Taiwan with the army. .Qiu Yueli had one son and two daughters. The eldest daughter, Qiu Jin'e, married to Xiaohulu Songjia Village, which was her mother Song Fenghuang's natal family. The youngest daughter, Qiu Yu'e, married to Xiaohulu Zhuangjia Village.Qiu Jingdong, Qiu Jingping and his brothers separated from their grandfather Qiu Yueli after they got married. Qiu Jingdong had a daughter and a son. The daughter was Qiu Rong who went to school with Qiu Yang every day. Going to school in the county, Qiu Jingping only gave birth to Qiu Yang.As they got older, Qiu Yueli, Song Fenghuang, and his wife moved slowly, and their daily life was inconvenient.Qiu Jingdong, Qiu Jingping and his brothers worked together to resettle the old people.Although it is said that there are three accounts, there are actually two families. Zhou Guimei lives with her youngest son Qiu Jingping, while Qiu Zaiyun, Qiu Yueli and Song Fenghuang eat in Qiu Jingdong's pot.

Qiu Yang was about to take a bath when his mother, Zhuang Huaying, came back from the outside wet and tired, and when she saw her son appearing in front of her eyes, she slapped him hard on the ass: "Little bastard, I told you to do something in a blink of an eye." Run away without a trace."

"Oh, don't hit, don't hit, it's good when you come back, it's rare to have a vacation, it's not normal for children to play together." Zhou Guimei persuaded her daughter-in-law.

"He's always on vacation every day. He doesn't look like he's studying except for playing." Zhuang Huaying said angrily.

"Didn't Yangyang just go to school? Children have a process of adaptation, and they can't be put at ease after entering the school." Zhou Guimei defended.

"I still don't care about when I can read the book." Zhuang Huaying glared at her son.

"From tomorrow onwards, I will study hard." Qiu Yangsheng hurriedly swore in fear that his mother would hit him again.

"Why start tomorrow? Why not start now? Have you made your own life plan?" Qiu Jingping smiled when he heard his son's words when he came in from the silkworm house.

"I have made an appointment with my girlfriend. I have to study hard to get into the city and go to university." Qiu Yang said proudly.

"Who... who did you make an appointment with?" Zhuang Huaying thought she had misheard.

"My girlfriend," Qiu Yang said confidently, "he is in the Z University in the city, and I want to take the exam there too."

"My mother, uh, listen, these are the words that come out of your precious grandson's mouth, please discipline him at ordinary times, your mother and son are always talking nonsense, what should we do in the future if we don't give them a good beating." Zhuang Huaying After complaining to her mother-in-law, she gave Qiu Yang a slap on the buttocks, which was stronger than before, making Qiu Yang howl.

Zhuang Huaying wanted to lash out violently, but Qiu Jingping stopped him: "Don't just hit me indiscriminately, listen to the reason first."

"Okay, brat, then tell us, who is your girlfriend, when did you hand it in, and which village is it from?" Zhuang Huaying had no choice but to give up when her husband stopped her.

"It's not from our village," Qiu Yang was very dissatisfied with his mother, "he lives in the city, today he picked mulberries in our mulberry field, I want him to be my girlfriend, he agreed, he just came from the city The handsomest uncle of the gang."

"Uncle?" Zhuang Huaying couldn't bear it anymore, kicked his son's ass, "You little rascal, you can't tell the difference between father and mother, what kind of girlfriend are you talking about?"

"Silly boy, I don't know if I'm joking with you," Qiu Jingping also found it funny when he heard his son say this. Since he said he was the most beautiful uncle among the group of people who came today, it should be Dr. Cui who met in the morning "Is that uncle Cui?"

"Oh, dad also knows my girlfriend, um, it's him." Qiu Yang said happily.

"Furthermore," Zhuang Huaying scolded with staring eyes, "you are not a girlfriend, you want me to kick you out, right? You are Wang Weihong from Wangjia Village." It was Xiao Hulu from Wangjia Village, a fool in his 40s, who went crazy all day from the East Village to the West Village, and became synonymous with calling people stupid in the village.

"My girlfriend is not teasing me." Qiu Yang said stubbornly.

"Shut up!" Zhuang Huaying was furious.

"Really, he even gave me a dog. When I grow up, I will take this to him." Qiu Yang took out the jade pendant from his clothes and showed it to everyone. He was afraid of his friends when he was playing just now. Curious, he rushed over to see that Qiu Yang had hidden the pendant under his clothes.

"Pick it off quickly." Zhuang Huaying shouted immediately when she saw the pendant, which was translucent and glowing green.

"This is mine, it was given to me by my daughter...Uncle Cui." Qiu Yang was reluctant.

"Are you picking it or not?" Zhuang Huaying threatened with a punch.Qiu Yang had no choice but to take the jade pendant off his neck and hand it to his mother.

"Hurry up and take a shower at the back." Zhuang Huaying who took the jade pendant said rudely to her son.

"Yangyang, let's go, grandma will help you put the water in." Zhou Guimei glanced at the jade pendant, she was very curious, and hurriedly dragged her grandson to the kitchen at the back, trying to get some gossip out of his mouth.

"Husband, this vicious dog must be a very expensive thing." Zhuang Huaying handed the jade pendant to Qiu Jingping.

"Look at the fineness of this jade, it shouldn't be cheap." Qiu Jingping didn't expect that someone would give his son such a good thing, and it was a gift for a child who met for the first time. "This carving is not a dog, but a Pixiu. It can keep wealth and ward off evil spirits."

"Wow, my husband, you are really powerful. You know this kind of beast." Zhuang Huaying admired him.

"The dragon has nine sons, and the sons are different. Pixiu is also a kind of dragon." Qiu Jingping rolled his eyes at his wife, "You really have a tendency to be violent, why do you always like to beat your son, why don't you just talk about it, I don't know I thought you were a stepmother."

"The old saying is good, if you don't fight, you can't succeed, and the son is the easiest to learn bad if he is not strict." Zhuang Huaying argued, "My parents educate us brothers and sisters in this way."

"Then you have to reason with him first, and it's not too late to use force if you can't make sense." Qiu Jingping persuaded.

The young couple were talking, but Qiu Shangzhi unexpectedly came to the door at this time.

"Oh, Shangzhi is here, have you eaten yet? We haven't had dinner yet." Zhuang Huaying greeted politely.

"Shang Zhi came just in time, I was thinking about going to see you tomorrow." Qiu Jingping said happily.

"I know you're going to look for me tomorrow, so I came here." Qiu Shangzhi smiled.

"Oh? You also know that Yangyang's family has received a big gift." Qiu Jingping was very surprised.

"Of course, I was there at the time," Qiu Shangzhi laughed, and joked with Qiu Jingping, "I'm here to congratulate you, congratulations on having a daughter-in-law."

"Brother Shangzhi, don't tease us. I was so angry with that kid just now." Zhuang Huaying laughed.

"That guy Yangyang is really amazing, he knows how to exchange love tokens at a young age." Qiu Shangzhi really couldn't hold back the joke.

"Exchanging love tokens?" Qiu Jingping was puzzled.

"Well, this jade pendant was exchanged by Yangyang for the water gun you bought for him."

"Oh my god, is Dr. Cui's mind dizzy?" Zhuang Huaying didn't understand what he was doing for a while.

"It's good if you come, I'll leave it to you, don't you sometimes have to accompany the leader to the city for a meeting, then please contact Dr. Cui and return this thing to him." Qiu Jingping said to Qiu Shangzhi .

"No need, I'm here to tell Grandpa Ping," Qiu Shangzhi said with a smile, "This is really a token of love for Yangyang."

"Brother Shangzhi is serious, I just beat that kid up, and you are still joking." Zhuang Huaying smiled wryly.

"I really don't need to return it," Qiu Shangzhi said with a straight face, "Dr. Cui has already said that it is something I don't use. It's a pity to lose it. It happened that Yang Yang liked it, so he gave it to him."

"Really, why don't you want such a good thing?" Zhuang Huaying said in disbelief.

"I also asked seriously. It's okay. It's probably a fate. It looks like a good thing. If it can ward off evil spirits, let the little guy wear it." Qiu Shangzhi persuaded.

"Not good." Zhuang Huaying picked up the pendant and looked it over carefully, no matter how you look at it, you think it is precious.

"Forget it, just let it go." Qiu Jingping said to his wife.Seeing what her husband said, Zhuang Huaying saved up the jade pendant and went to the bedroom to put it away.

"Yangyang really likes Dr. Cui, and spent the whole afternoon chatting with him." Qiu Shangzhi laughed.

"Dr. Cui and the others are all from the Agricultural College of Z University." Qiu Jingping asked.

"Well, Professor Gong and others brought them here for research. Later, Professor Gong and the others had something to do temporarily, so they asked their disciples to come and relax." Qiu Shangzhi explained.

"No wonder most of them went to play and didn't go to the mulberry garden," Qiu Jingping said with some concern, "Shangzhi, have you noticed that the weather seems to be bad these days, and many silkworms are sick."

"Well, every village has reported it," Qiu Shangzhi also worriedly said, "This year, there is too much rain. I heard that there were heavy rains in two days."

"It's not that the provinces along the Yangtze River have already started to prepare for floods. It's not like we will have floods here too."

"That shouldn't be the case. We don't rely on the river or the river. Except for the Liujiu Reservoir, there is no place to store water. The streams and streams are unimpeded, and the rainwater will flow to Qingxi Township as soon as it rains." Qiu Shangzhi road.

"You're right, the government should know more than us." Qiu Jingping nodded.

Qiu Shangzhi and Qiu Jingping chatted casually and left. Zhuang Huaying asked him to have dinner before leaving. Qiu Shangzhi said that there were guests waiting at home, but Qiu Jingping didn't force him to stay.

When Qiu Yang came back from the shower, he asked his mother for a jade pendant, but instead of asking for it, he was severely scolded by his mother.

"It was given to me by my girlfriend, and I have to keep it myself." Qiu Yang put on an air that a dead pig is not afraid of boiling water.

"Yo ho, it's really turning the sun against the sky. You brat wants to rebel, right?" Zhuang Huaying couldn't help but want to be violent again, "At any rate, you are also seven years old, so you really can't tell the difference between male and female, or are you just pretending?" What a messy head, what is a girlfriend, can someone who you call uncle be your girlfriend. If you speak so freely, I will sew your mouth shut with a needle. "

"I don't care, I just want it, it's what was given to me." Qiu Yang started to play.

"Yangyang, listen to your mother," Qiu Jingping comforted his son, "That jade pendant is not an ordinary thing at first glance, and I will return it to you when you grow up."

"Then you can't sell it secretly." Qiu Yang said worriedly.

"Hey, I said you kid will get itchy every day if you don't get beaten, right? The family is too poor to get rid of the pot, and as for being so poor that you want to sell that thing." Zhuang Huaying rolled her eyes at her son's anger.

"Aunt..., grandma...," Qiu Yang's cousin Qiu Rong yelled and rushed in from outside the courtyard, "You haven't eaten yet."

"I just came back from washing the mats and haven't burned them yet. Does your grandpa and grandma want to eat the bacon and braised bamboo shoots at noon? There is still some left over. Grandma is cooking in the kitchen. You can bring it over when I heat it up." Only then did Zhuang Huaying remember that cooking was delayed due to her son's disturbance.

"No, Xiao Hei at home came back after biting a rabbit in the afternoon, and my mother asked my uncle and aunt to go home for dinner." Xiao Hei is a big black dog raised by Qiu Yang's uncle, Qiu Jingdong.

"Xiao Hei bit a wild animal again, it's so powerful." Qiu Yang said excitedly, before he finished speaking, he rushed out to his uncle's house to see Xiao Hei.

"As much as a rabbit can be fried, your uncle and I won't go, there are still leftovers at home," Zhuang Huaying said to Qiu Rong, "Rong, you go and call grandma from behind, let her and Yang Yang go to your house to eat." Qiu Jingdong and Qiu Jingping's house are quite far away. Qiu Jingdong got married early and built a new house before moving to the village. Qiu Jingping's house was rebuilt on the original old homestead, at the back of the village.

Within a few days, everyone in the village knew that Qiu Yang had a "girlfriend" from the city, and she even gave him a very precious "love token". Anyone, young or old, who met Qiu Yang would joke, "Qiu Yang, When will your girlfriend come to see you?

After being teased by everyone, Qiu Yang gradually felt that something was wrong.In the end, Qiu Yang realized what was wrong with his cousin Qiu Rong's simple explanation.If someone teased him later, he would scold him back very rudely. For the matter of "girlfriend", Qiu Yang often got into fights with his friends in the village and in his class.