Ba Zong's rural life [farming]

The road in the village was rumblingly built, the seedlings in the fields began to ear, and the persimmon trees on the mountain were covered with yellow and orange persimmons. Late autumn is finally coming.

On September [-]th, the Double Ninth Festival, the custom in the village is to go up the mountain to worship the ancestors. Every household makes rice dumplings, steamed cakes, boiled glutinous rice, and kills pigs and chickens. It is very lively.

It is worth mentioning that the maple trees at this time have not completely turned yellow, and the leaves are a little older, which can be picked back to cook black glutinous rice.Before the Double Ninth Festival, Aunt Li’s family went to the mountains to pick maple leaves, boiled them overnight in a large pot, soaked the glutinous rice in the boiled soup, dyed them, put them in the pot and steamed them until they became black glutinous rice.

Aunt Li brought over a large plate of black glutinous rice to Ruan Xishi, Lu Ze felt curious when he saw it, and asked Ruan Xishi what it was for.

Ruan Xishi smiled and explained to him: "This is the black glutinous rice that has been popular in our village for the past few years. It can be used to entertain guests, give gifts, and worship ancestors. It is no different from ordinary glutinous rice, except that the color is strange."

Ruan Xishi was also going to pay respects to his grandfather during the Double Ninth Festival, and when Lu Ze found out, he volunteered to take him to the town to buy sacrifices, and the two went on a motorcycle.

Roads in the village are built in half first, and then the other half, so that half of the road can be reserved for pedestrians and vehicles entering and leaving the village. The semi-mechanized construction team that builds roads in the village is very efficient, and can repair one kilometer a day. In three days, almost half of the road was repaired.

When Ruan Xishi saw the concrete road on the other side on the way out of the village, she felt very relieved. Soon the people in the village will be able to walk on the flat concrete road, and more and more cars will come to the village, and some people will enter their village With development, the children in the village can also go out to study through this road.

The market before the festival was still crowded, Ruan Xishi and Lu Ze sold their eggs and bought what they needed at the market.

Lu Ze knew that whole chickens and pork were needed for tomb sweeping in the village, so he took Ruan Xishi to the chicken and duck shop, stopped in front of a chicken stall, and asked the boss how to sell the rooster.

The price of meat during the festival will be more than double that of usual times. Chicken and duck meat that usually costs a few yuan or more than ten yuan per catty can be sold for dozens of yuan per catty before the festival, which is simply a huge profit. I am used to saving the chickens, ducks and geese raised at home to sell them during the festivals, which can make a lot more money than usual.

However, there are also smarter people who don’t think about buying chickens and ducks until before the festival. They often buy them one month or two or three weeks in advance to keep them as a spare, or even raise chickens and ducks at home to kill them for food. , People who will buy chickens and ducks at this time, except for those who are not short of money in the towns and county towns, are just being taken advantage of by those who just thought of buying chickens and ducks on the spur of the moment.

Seeing Lu Ze driving a motorcycle, the boss thought that he was being taken advantage of by Ren Zai, so he hurriedly made a fortune from him, so he enthusiastically sold his own chicken.He mentioned the fattest and biggest rooster and said to Lu Ze: "Boss, look at this rooster. It is fat and energetic. It looks like a healthy rooster. It grew up on millet. It has less oil and is full of firm meat." , don’t believe me, touch it?”

Lu Ze looked at the rooster flapping its wings, its fluff flying everywhere, he didn't really want to touch it, so he asked the boss, "How much is a catty?"

The boss Lion opened his mouth and said, "46 yuan a catty!"

Lu Ze was used to living a poor life in the village, and when he heard the price, he said, "So expensive? I saw other people selling roast chicken, roast chicken, and salt-baked chicken for only a dozen yuan a catty. Why is your live chicken so expensive? "

The boss said: "Hey, boss, you don't know this. The processed chickens are all fast-growing chickens. They are fed with feed, and they are killed after dozens of days of breeding. Some are still sick or even dead. Compared with our chickens that have been fed grain for several months. Our price is just right, if you think it is expensive, you can go to the stall next to it and ask what the price is."

Ruan Xishi saw that Lu Ze wanted to buy chickens, so she quickly pulled the corner of his clothes and asked in a low voice, "Brother Lu Ze, why did you think of buying chickens, don't we have them?"

Lu Ze turned around and said to him: "Isn't it necessary to use whole chickens as sacrifices for grave sweeping? You have raised feelings for our chickens, so you can't kill them to worship ancestors, right? Besides, neither of us knows how to kill chickens, so we just go on Buy one in the market and ask someone to take it home.”

Ruan Xishi remembered the price the boss said just now, and persuaded Lu Ze, "Don't buy it, it's so expensive. This chicken might cost two or three hundred yuan, which is enough to buy many other things. Let's just buy pork. , Grandpa is used to being thrifty, so maybe he doesn't want to see us being so extravagant."

Lu Ze comforted him and said, "It's okay. I'll bargain with the boss again. I only pay my respects to grandpa twice a year. With me here, a few hundred yuan is not a problem."

Ruan Xishi said anxiously: "But it's not easy for you to make money. If you spend like this, Grandpa will feel uneasy."

Lu Ze solemnly said to him: "This is my little love for your grandpa. I abducted his grandson. I have to send something to show that there is only one chicken left, so don't stop me." Me, huh?"

When Ruan Xishi saw his serious look, although she didn't want to, she let him do what he wanted, and at most she would help to bargain.

Lu Ze had a discussion with Ruan Xishi, then turned around and said to the boss who was waiting for them to buy the chicken: "46 yuan is too expensive, usually it only sells for more than ten yuan. I often come to the market to sell eggs and duck eggs. I know the price best. , Boss, don't raise prices while everyone is going to celebrate the festival."

The boss looked at him suspiciously and said, "You often come to the vegetable market to sell things, why don't I have an impression of you?"

Lu Ze pointed to the road on the other side of the market and said to him: "I usually sell things over there. If you don't believe me, you can ask the vendors over there. Everyone is out to do business. Every day, I look down and see you. Boss, you How dare you extort money from your colleagues."

The boss saw that he was serious, and thought that he was really a resident vendor in the vegetable market. Although he said that there was competition among his peers, the relationship should not be too rigid, so as not to be bad-mouthed, and he himself knew that his price was indeed high. It's ridiculously high, but the last few fairs are the peak season, and businessmen want to take the opportunity to make a fortune, which is also human nature.The boss thought about it, and said to Lu Ze: "Since we are all in the same industry, I will give you 40 yuan a catty. We are all in business, and we know the difficulties of doing business. My whole family is waiting for me to buy it." Chicken money to eat."

Seeing that the boss's attitude was loose, Lu Ze chased after the victory and said, "Since the boss also has to support his family, he should also know how difficult it is to earn money to support his family. My brother and I are the only ones in my family. After finding a wife, seeing my younger brother also reach the age of marrying a wife, life is really not easy, boss, you should be a good person, and be a little lower."

The boss saw that he was a big man talking so desolately, so he was motivated to feel compassion. He gritted his teeth and said, "Then let's give 36 yuan a catty. It can't be lower. You can make money in just a few days throughout the year. You are a businessman and you should understand that it is not easy for me to support my family."

Although this price is still a bit more expensive than usual, it is ten yuan lower than the current market price. Lu Ze felt that it was almost the same, so he asked the boss to weigh it.

The boss weighed it with a scale and said, "It's six catties and eight taels, let's count it as 250 eight yuan for you."

Lu Ze didn't want to argue with him about the change, otherwise the boss might have talked to him for a long time, so he simply took out his wallet and asked, "How much do you want to kill the chicken?"

The boss stopped tying the chicken feet and asked, "You want to butcher and take it away? Then five yuan for labor."

Lu Ze took out two hundred yuan, one fifty-one twenty, and the boss took the money and gave seven yuan in change, and then called his son to come out to help kill the chicken.

Lu Ze put the change away, and said to the boss: "Then my brother and I will go shopping in the town first, and come later to get the chicken."

The boss was busy killing chickens, and replied without looking back: "Okay, just come here before dark."

Leaving the market, Ruan Xishi still felt sorry for the more than 200 yuan that Lu Ze didn't need to spend. He put his hands on Lu Ze's waist, put his face on Lu Ze's back, and said all the way: "If you really want to get chicken To pay homage to my grandfather, it’s okay to kill one from home, why do you have to spend such a waste of money?”

Lu Ze smiled and said: "The ones raised at home are raised by the family, and the ones I bought are the ones I bought. The meaning is different. Okay, baby, don't worry about the little money anymore, and brother will earn more money for you in the future." You spend. Where are we going next?"

Ruan Xishi said: "Let's go buy incense paper money, and then buy some fruit."

After the two bought the things they needed to worship their ancestors, they went back to the chicken and duck store to get their chicken, and then returned to the village.

The boss killed the chicken very kindly. The chicken was cleaned and put in a good shape. The offal and blood of the chicken were packed in bags, and there was nothing missing.After returning home, Ruan Xishi boiled a pot of water, put the chicken and chicken giblets into boiling water, and boiled them until they could be preserved until tomorrow without stink.

People in the village don't have refrigerators, but they still have a way to preserve food.

When Lu Ze watched Ruan Xi cover the cooked chicken, he knew that he could not eat chicken tonight. He glanced at the ready-made ingredients in the kitchen and asked, "What shall we eat tonight?"

Ruan Xishi said: "Let's eat the leftovers tonight, and I will cook you a hearty meal when I come back from worshiping the ancestors tomorrow."

Lu Ze had no objection.

Early the next morning, Ruan Xishi got up and prepared the things needed to go up the mountain to worship the ancestors. In fact, it was similar to that of Qingming Festival. It was nothing more than joss sticks, paper money, firecrackers, tea and wine cups.

Ruan Xishi put the glutinous rice sent by Aunt Li yesterday morning into a pot and steamed it until soft, scooped out two large bowls, packed them, and took them up the mountain to pay homage to his grandfather. Stir-fry it and it can be used for breakfast.

Lu Ze was woken up by the smell of stir-fried shallots. Ruan Xishi called him to have breakfast when he woke up. After washing up, he squatted in the corridor with a bowl of black glutinous rice. Put it in a basket.

In addition to the original sweetness of glutinous rice, the black glutinous rice also has a bit of bitterness of maple leaves, but the bitterness is also covered by the taste of oil and salt. It is delicious when mixed with soft shallots.

Ruan Xishi saw that he liked it, so she said to him: "When I come back, I will chop up the chicken offal, put the chicken skin in a pan and fry out the chicken oil, stir-fry them together, then add the glutinous rice and fry them together, dip the chicken oil on the glutinous rice. As for the rice, it is delicious when you eat it, and there is chicken sandwiched in it, which is delicious."

Lu Ze nodded expectantly.

After loading the offerings, Lu Ze took the initiative to take the heavy basket and carried it away with a shovel, while Ruan Xishi carried the incense sticks and paper money, and the two went up the mountain.

There were a lot of grave-sweepers today, and there were several waves of people on the road. There were already firecrackers on the mountain. It seemed that someone had gone earlier than them.

The villagers felt a little strange when they saw that Lu Ze followed Ruan Xishi to worship their ancestors. It stands to reason that Lu Ze is an outsider of the Ruan family, so it is not appropriate to visit the ancestors of the Ruan family. He mentioned: "Ah Ze also went to pay homage to Teacher Ruan?"

Lu Ze nodded calmly and said, "Yes, I will accompany Xiao Ruan to see his grandfather."

"Oh, it's good to have someone to accompany Shi Zai."

Going to the grandfather's grave, Ruan Xishi put the things aside and started to clean up the weeds on the grave with a hatchet. Lu Ze was not idle, picked up the shovel and cleared all the weeds around the grave.

After cleaning up, Ruan Xishi took out the offerings in the basket and placed them one by one, and said, "Grandpa, brother Lu Ze insisted on buying this chicken for you. You should taste it later. Do you remember?" Brother Lu Ze, the person who lives in our house also came to see you during Qingming, he is still living in our house, you should protect him too."

Lu Ze squatted in front of the grave, picked up the teapot and poured three cups of tea, and five cups of wine from the flagon, and said to Grandpa Ruan, "Hello, Grandpa, I'm Lu Ze, thank you for coming here for so long My blessing, this chicken is my little idea, don’t take offense. The younger generation is not talented, but I am loved by your grandson, and I am willing to marry him. I hope that your spirit in heaven can bless us, and I will be happy in the days to come When I take good care of you, I won't let him suffer any grievances, please rest assured."

Ruan Xishi's eyes were filled with shock when he heard Lu Ze's words. He thought that Lu Ze said that buying a chicken to worship his grandfather was a temporary idea, and that he came to worship his grandfather just to accompany him. He didn't expect that Lu Ze would take this opportunity to come Confess to grandpa.

This is like meeting the parents. In the village, after meeting the parents, the marriage is basically confirmed. In other words, Lu Ze has decided to live with him for the rest of his life.

Lu Ze poured the tea and saw Ruan Xishi's surprised expression, smiled and rubbed his head, and asked with a little worry: "Do you think your grandfather will agree with us?"

Ruan Xishi looked down at the burning candles in front of the grave, she didn't know whether it was the wax or the wind, but the flames were much stronger than before and kept burning.

He observed for a long time and saw no signs of the fire weakening, so he asked silently in his heart: Grandpa, do you agree with me and brother Lu Ze? If you agree, let the candle continue to burn.

Ruan Xishi closed his eyes and opened them again, only to feel that the candle was burning brighter than before, and he said to Lu Ze pleasantly, "Grandpa agrees!"

Seeing his devout appearance just now, Lu Ze probably made an agreement with his grandfather. Seeing him so happy, it must be a good result, and he himself became happy too. If it wasn't for the fear of someone passing by, he would have wanted to hug Ruan Xishi.

He smiled and said, "Great, thank you grandpa for accepting me."

Ruan Xishi poured tea and wine again, and continued to talk about trivial things with grandpa.

"Grandpa, the road has finally been built in our village. Did you hear the sound from the bottom of the mountain? It's the road repair machine working, and the road will be repaired at our door in a short time. It will be more convenient for us to go out then. This road was donated to us by a well-meaning group. The owner of that group is a kind person. He not only built roads for us, but also built a school for us. The address of the school has been chosen, and it is next to the original school. They said that a three-story teaching building will be built. By then, the students in the village will be able to attend classes separately. After finishing the sixth grade, they will be able to take the junior high school entrance examination and go out to study. It is also a fulfillment of your wish. You must be very happy to know about it.”

Ruan Xishi talked with his grandfather for a long time, and when the candles were burned out, paper money and treasures were burned and firecrackers were set off, the two packed their things and went down the mountain.

It happened to be meal time after returning home, Ruan Xishi asked Lu Ze to help chop up the chicken, then he poured out the two bowls of glutinous rice that were used as sacrifices, and stir-fried them with chicken, chicken offal, chives, ginger, minced celery, and the fried dish was shiny with oil Glutinous rice, this is lunch.

Lu Ze was really full of praise.

After the Double Ninth Festival, the weather gradually becomes cooler. The temperature in the morning and evening is relatively low, and the weather is still crisp and crisp in the noon and afternoon.

This time is the most suitable time to dry things, because there is little rain, if every household harvests any crops, it will be placed in the yard on the roof to dry, and there are also cotton quilts to dry winter clothes.

In late autumn, many things on the mountain are ripe. Grandpa Ruan once planted a few persimmon trees in Chashan, but the income from planting tea has not been good in recent years. Under the wind and rain of nature, it grows tenaciously, blossoms and bears fruit.

In the past, many people in the village planted tea, picked tea leaves and sold them for a few cents a catty. They could pick tea in spring, summer and autumn, and one person could pick dozens of catties a day.The farmers went to the tea mountain early in the morning and picked them until noon, and only earned a dozen to twenty yuan after basking in the sun for half a day, because there was really no market, and no one tended the tea garden afterwards.

One day when Aunt Fang came back from cutting firewood in Chashan and met Ruan Xishi, she told Ruan Xishi that the persimmons grown in his house were ripe, and asked him if he wanted to pick them home.

Ruan Xi only remembered this incident.

Although the tea garden is deserted and few people take care of the persimmon trees, they bloom and bear fruit on time every year and then wither. Some of the fruits are eaten by birds and insects, some rot naturally, and some fall to the ground and become fertilizer. A part of it was taken home and eaten.

In the past, my grandfather felt sorry for the persimmons on the tree. In late autumn, I would bring a snakeskin bag back to the tea mountain to pick persimmons. The persimmon tree has been planted for many years. It is very tall and the branches and leaves are scattered. Under the yellow leaves are yellowed persimmons. It's as flattering as a lantern, and people can't bear to waste it.

There are many ways to eat the picked persimmons. They can be peeled and eaten directly with the skin sun-cooked. They can be soaked in quicklime water for a few days and peeled to eat. They can be peeled and sun-dried to make persimmon cakes. , holding a persimmon cake in his hand and roasting it on the fire, it is sweet and glutinous.

Last year, because my grandfather was in poor health, I didn't pick the persimmons back. I don't know if those persimmons were wasted. Grandpa is the most thrifty person. I must have wanted to pick the persimmons back then, but he was powerless.

Ruan Xishi thought this way, and planned to pick and process the persimmons during the weekend, so she woke up early on Saturday morning.

After the weather gradually cooled, Lu Ze fell in love with staying in bed. Anyway, he doesn't have to clock in to work on time every day. He is very comfortable, and he is still warm in his arms. .

Especially on weekends, if Ruan Xishi doesn't have to go to class or do farm work, the two of them can stay in bed until noon before getting up to cook.

But today Ruan Xishi woke up abnormally early, even ignoring Lu Ze's lingering persuasion to stay.

Ruan Xishi's quilt on the bed was already cold, so Lu Ze had no choice but to get up. When eating breakfast, he saw Ruan Xishi holding a snakeskin bag and hat hatchet, wearing work clothes, and looked like he was about to go out, so he hurriedly asked : "Honey, are you going to the field?"

Ruan Xishi said: "I went to Chashan to pick persimmons, you wait at home for my return."

Lu Ze put down the bowl and chopsticks, and quickly said, "I'm going too."

Ruan Xishi frowned slightly: "But there are many mosquitoes and caterpillars in Chashan, you will get itchy when you go there."

Lu Ze straightened his chest and said, "You are not afraid, what am I afraid of."

Seeing that he insisted on going, Ruan Xishi asked him to wear multiple clothes and a hat.

The tea mountain is on the slope, and the tea trees have grown so tall because they haven’t been taken care of for many years. There used to be aisles between the tea shops, but now they can’t see clearly, so they can only walk around.

The persimmon tree is mixed among the tea trees, much taller than the tea trees, so it is easy to find.

There are many persimmons hanging on the branches of the persimmon tree. They are already ripe, and they are yellow and orange.

In the past, when there were still people coming to Chashan, my grandfather would fertilize the persimmon tree every spring, and the persimmons that grew out were big and round. After so many years, the fruit of the persimmon tree now depends on its brute strength. Judging by its weather-beaten appearance, it may take two more years. Years, it will wither.

This is the law of nature. Every life has its own destiny. No matter how prosperous it is, it will eventually usher in a day of withering and death.

Ruan Xishi just felt sad for a while.

He picked the shorter persimmons and put them in the snakeskin bag. Lu Ze was a tall man, so he could reach the taller persimmons, but he couldn't reach the ones on the top of the tree.

Lu Ze was gearing up to climb up the tree, but Ruan Xishi hurriedly stopped him when he saw this, "I can't climb, the branches of the persimmon tree are very brittle, and they are easy to break when they are heavy, and they will fall down."

"Then what should we do, the persimmon on the top of the tree looks very big, should it be wasted?"

Ruan Xishi found a long branch and raised his head to beat the fruit on the top of the tree with the branch. The stalks of the ripe persimmons would fall off easily, and with a slight shake, the persimmons would fall one by one.

There are a lot of dead leaves under the tree roots, and the persimmons won't rot if they fall. Grandpa used to pick persimmons like this, and Ruan Xishi was responsible for squatting under the tree to pick up the fallen persimmons.

The persimmons were almost lost, Ruan Xishi and Lu Ze picked up the persimmons into a bag, filled a snakeskin bag, and couldn't take the extra ones away, so they had to stay under the tree roots.

Lu Ze regretted, "Such a good persimmon is wasted."

While burying the persimmons with dead leaves, Ruan Xishi said with a smile, "It won't be wasted. They will become fertilizer together with the leaves, nourishing the persimmon trees, and persimmons will grow on the persimmon trees next year."

Lu Ze suddenly realized: "Is it like falling leaves returning to their roots?"

Ruan Xishi buried the persimmons and raised his head to look at the persimmon tree above his head. In autumn, the persimmon tree will lose its leaves. The leaves on the top of the tree have almost fallen off, and the rest hang on the tree sparsely, swaying with the wind, and fall down from time to time. A slice or two.

The sun shines through the leaves, falling on the tree trunk, on the ground, on Ruan Xishi's face and eyes, and the surroundings seem to stop, like a painting that is silent but full of emotion.

The corners of Ruan Xishi's mouth curled up, and she replied softly: "Yes."

Just like the cycle of life, people are born in this land, rely on the land to survive, return to the land after death, and turn it into fertilizer to nourish all things needed for survival by future generations. After many years, they can reincarnate on this land , go round and round, endlessly.

Maybe grandpa will come to this world again and start another completely different and more exciting life.That is the life that Ruan Xishi can't know, it has nothing to do with him, and all he can do is to cherish his own life and live his own life well.

Ruan Xishi suddenly felt relieved.

The author has something to say:

Mr. Lu can be said to be very good at doing things!

Feel like a philosopher_(:з)∠)_

Thanks to the little angels for irrigating me with nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angels of irrigation nutrient solution: Qianxiu Wanmu 50 bottles, Luo Dali 5 bottles

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard! ^_^