No pain no gain

……

Although he found a suitable cave, but because of Da Zhuang's injury, the fool refused to continue going up the mountain before the Chinese New Year, so Da Zhuang had to settle down and prepare to go honestly after the Chinese New Year.

No matter what time it is, the Chinese New Year is almost exactly the same, and the little guys are naturally very happy, but Da Zhuang is not too excited.

"Da Zhuang, drying rice again!"

Because it was Chinese New Year, the courtyard doors were all open, and someone walked in carelessly.

"Auntie, Happy New Year to you! I was too busy when I collected it before, and I didn't finish drying it!" Da Zhuang greeted politely, it was people from the village who came to pay their respects to the New Year.

"Haha, everyone is the same..."

As usual, Da Zhuang greeted the people who came to pay New Year's greetings, drank a bowl of tea, and said a few polite words.

"Okay, okay, Da Zhuang, go do your work!"

"Sit for a while..." Da Zhuang asked to stay with a smile.

"No, no, I have to go to the next one..."

"Go slowly, come play again when you have time..." Da Zhuang patiently sent the visitor to the gate of the yard.

Now as long as it is sunny, Da Zhuang will take a bag or half a bag of grain out to dry, and dry it repeatedly until it is completely dried, so that it is possible to store it for several years without problems.

The fool was called back by Mrs. Wu on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, and he hasn't come back yet. He only ran over early in the morning on the first day of the new year and hurriedly said "Happy New Year" to Da Zhuang before leaving. Da Zhuang inquired with the long-term worker of the Wu family a few times, knowing that the fool was just taken back to spend the New Year with him, and nothing unexpected happened, so he breathed a sigh of relief. After the separation of the Wu family, the Wu family became much quieter. Yes, it was the second child of the Wu family who moved out of the old courtyard of the Wu family, not any one of the elder Wu and the third brother Wu whose two daughters-in-law had always looked at each other differently. Now the construction of the new house of the second child Wu's family has started...

"Da Zhuang, is your hand okay? Is your head still hurting?" As soon as the fool entered the yard, Jin saw Da Zhuang turning the rice on the curtain, and hurried forward to grab the wooden rake and asked.

"I'm wearing gloves, it doesn't matter..." Da Zhuang raised his hands with a pair of thick cotton gloves and said with a smile.

After returning from the mountains with bloody hands, it took several days to clean the small thorns in the wound. After the wound stopped bleeding, it was wrapped with boiled cloth and put on cotton gloves. Being allowed to eat with a spoon by themselves made the twins who were eating with spoons and the third girl who had almost passed that period look at her elder brother strangely at the dinner table for several days...

"You only talk about us, but you don't pay attention to yourself..." the fool flipped the rice neatly, and muttered in his mouth.

Da Zhuang smiled helplessly, changed the subject and asked, "Why are you free today?"

"All the relatives at home have paid New Year's greetings, so I don't have to go back tonight!" the fool said happily.

"Well, that's just right, we'll go to the mountain to have a look again in a few days!" Da Zhuang also said happily.

"No, I have to wait for you to take care of your body!" The fool resolutely refused.

"It's all right!" Da Zhuang shouted impatiently.

"Then why did you get dizzy and fall into the pit!" the fool said, staring at Da Zhuang.

Da Zhuang's imposing manner immediately shortened a bit. The last time he fell into the pit was indeed related to the symptoms of black eyes, dizziness and weakness caused by physical weakness. Zhuang held a few dead vines blocking the way, but he still stood still... Da Zhuang still regrets it now, because Da Zhuang himself said this accidentally.

"Really, all the little guys are so powerful when they grow up..." Da Zhuang lowered his shoulders and muttered softly.

The fool pretended not to hear, and the movements of his hands became faster and faster.

In any case, the body is the most important thing. Da Zhuang made a simple plan and began to adjust his body slowly, but it is impossible to improve his weak physique in a short time, but there are some things that cannot wait up.

In the [-]th day of the first lunar month, Da Zhuang couldn't stay any longer, so he packed up his things and wanted to go to the mountains. At this time, Er Zhuang hadn't gone to school yet, and Da Zhuang didn't plan to let Er Zhuang go again, so, In the end, although the fool, Er Zhuang, and Da Niuer agreed with Da Zhuang to go to the mountains, they had to go together with the fool and Er Zhuang.

"It's not good to have too many people going now, we have to hide it from outsiders a little bit!" Da Zhuang patiently explained.

"Let's just say we're going to chop firewood!" Er Zhuang casually suggested while packing all the things to bring.

"Yes, yes!" The fool nodded again and again, expressing his agreement.

Da Zhuang had already told Er Zhuang about not going to school anymore and traveling around during the Chinese New Year. Er Zhuang agreed after thinking about it for a long time. The plan was to leave after the spring sowing and come back before the autumn harvest. How far... Da Zhuang only told Er Zhuang how much money he would give him, and let Er Zhuang think about and plan for himself. He only asked Er Zhuang to draw a simple map of the places he walked... …

Before dawn, the three of them set off and arrived at the destination after walking for about two hours. Da Zhuang carefully observed the cave and the surrounding environment, and gradually formed a plan in his heart...

From winter to spring, three years have passed in a blink of an eye. After Er Zhuang traveled a few times, he is no longer that impulsive little boy who said anything. Da Zhuang knew that Er Zhuang wanted to earn a lot of money since he was a child, and He often talked about this, so he was so happy when he knew that he could go to the master to study, because the shopkeepers he saw in the shops in the town were all able to keep accounts and write, but the two years ago At that time, Er Zhuang stopped talking about that dream. Da Zhuang once tested him a few words in a joking tone, but he didn’t get any useful information. , it's not something I should worry about...

Zhao Ziyang has grown a lot in the past few years. Generally, boys rarely grow up so early, but Zhao Ziyang is obviously an exception. A 14-year-old boy has already grown up. Da Zhuang sometimes stands with Zhao Ziyang, annoyed I found that I had to raise my head when talking to him, and I could only see Zhao Ziyang's rolling Adam's apple and pointed chin, because Zhao Ziyang was more than a head taller than me. Since years ago, Zhao Ziyang has become gloomy, Zhuang secretly asked Zhao Ziyang's two masters several times, but he couldn't figure out the reason. He could only try to make Zhao Ziyang happy when he was with Zhao Ziyang...

The idiot is also a big man, his body is full of tendons due to doing farm work, and even the adults in the village are stronger than him. In the past few years, the idiot has been living in Da Zhuang's house. Although Da Zhuang is only 13 years old this year, the idiot even He is not yet 13 years old, and rumors have begun to spread in the village. Of course, there are also kind-hearted people who joke with Da Zhuang face to face. By the way, I would like to remind Da Zhuang. It is a bit dumbfounding for these Da Zhuang, but it will be much easier if the fool doesn’t care , this stupid big guy also has big headaches. In some aspects, he is so stubborn that there is nothing he can do about it. For example, the heavy work in the field, since Da Zhuang once fell in the mountains, he will ask someone to help him harvest every autumn. The idiot never wants to let Da Zhuang go to the ground, no matter how urgent it is... In fact, even Da Zhuang himself didn't realize that the idiot's stubbornness is what he thinks is good for Da Zhuang...

The big girl and the younger ones are basically able to take care of themselves now, and there is nothing to worry about for the time being. Of course, it's hard to say how old they are...

Da Zhuang shook his head and put all these aside. The most important thing now is the imminent military disaster. In the past few years, the price of food has risen every year. They were all exchanged for silver coins. Da Zhuang once reminded the head of the village more implicitly, but the "wise" old man elected by the villagers ignored him. As for the uncle's house, Da Zhuang went to talk about it once, but his aunt After a lecture, I persuaded Da Zhuang to take advantage of the good grain prices and sell some. Fortunately, although my aunt loves to be greedy for small gains, she is really kind to her family. She is not like the villagers who would rather go hungry and buy more money. There is still enough food for the whole family, but that little food is nothing in the face of the military disaster that will last for a few years...

In the past few years, Da Zhuang, like the people in the village, would never plant anything else in any field that could grow food. He only left a small slope to plant some cotton. The extremely dry grain saved over the years is hidden in the cave, and now even people in this small mountain village have begun to talk about the son of a certain family becoming a general, and occasionally a few went to the big city When the villagers come back, they will say where there is already a war, etc. Unfortunately, these only aroused the vigilance of a few far-sighted families, such as the Wu family. Although the old lady Wu died of illness a year ago, the landlords of the Wu family have It wasn't for nothing, the three brothers of the Wu family began to consciously stop or reduce the sale of grain, and even called the fool back to explain...

Da Zhuang sorted out all kinds of herbs found in the mountains in the past few years, and only kept a small part at home, and the rest were going to be taken to the cave. Doctor Niu accidentally went up to the mountain to collect herbs two years ago. He fell down and walked away not long after he came back. Da Zhuang took the disciple ceremony, and together with Doctor Niu's taciturn little apprentice, went to pay the old man's death in Doctor Niu's last days, and took money out to give Doctor Niu was buried, and now there is a young apprentice in the village who has a headache and brain fever and is used to looking for Doctor Niu’s apprentice. Occasionally, Da Zhuang will ask the child to find herbs together. The child doesn’t talk much. He is good at food and so on. Da Zhuang reckons that even if there is no food at that time, the children will not starve to death with this skill...

The cave became more hidden under Da Zhuang's transformation. Da Zhuang made a cover with strong dead vines on the pit at the entrance, and then guided the surrounding messy vines to grow up. Da Zhuang let the fool stay below and experimented many times. , kept opening and closing the cover until the plants outside did not show any change after the cover was closed, and then I was relieved. The weakest part of the roof of the largest cave was set up with brackets to support it. It took Da Zhuang almost a year to fix these two things, and the small cave with an underground spring next to him was even more of a headache for Da Zhuang. It is not so easy for a hole to come out. It took more than a year for Da Zhuang to lead the fool and Er Zhuang to expand the water hole a little bit. Finally, Da Zhuang had to dig a big hole outside the cave where there is no stone wall. Put a large ceramic jar in it, and use bamboo tubes to draw the water out. When you need water, you can only bend over and come out of the cave, and use a small basin to scoop it...

"Let's go to the town tomorrow, buy some things and come back, and find out the news by the way!" Da Zhuang said to Er Zhuang and the idiot while lighting the fire.

Da Zhuang has been buying sugar, salt, oil and other daily necessities in batches since the first half of this year. This time, he also plans to buy some more while these things are still available in this small town.

"En!" The fool replied without thinking.

Er Zhuang hesitated for a moment and asked, "Brother, what will happen to our donkey?"

"Sell or kill, there is no other way!" Da Zhuang replied without raising his head.

Er Zhuang bit his lip, but finally said nothing.

The little donkey has been raised for the past few years, and it has grown quite strong, and several children like to take the donkey out, because it can show off in front of the children in the village, and riding a donkey is also a great pleasure for them ...

Da Zhuang has only raised two pigs this year, and he doesn't plan to sell them. At that time, all living things in the family will be killed for food reserves, including dozens of chickens and six old ducks. A donkey with a crooked head is not easy to deal with. Whether it is sold or released, it will definitely not survive, but it is impossible to take the donkey to the mountains and hide it...

These nights, Da Zhuang, Fool, and Er Zhuang are in groups of two and take turns carrying food to the mountains every night, so all three of them have black spots under their eye circles. Fortunately, the messy plants in the mountains where no one walks are quite luxuriant. Moreover, it is impossible for the three of them to walk on the same line every time, so there are no traces of people stepping on them. I am afraid that some younger ones will go out and talk nonsense, so Da Zhuang only told Da Niuer about it. A few little guys didn't know until now...

Da Niuer is rushing to make a quilt and the sleeping bag that Da Zhuang taught her. These are just in case. It would be best if the cave is not used!

When going to the town, we set off before dawn. Now that Da Zhuang has gone without a few younger ones, the big girl is getting nervous because of Da Zhuang and Er Zhuang. Every time she stays at home alone, there is almost no one else. Da Zhuang didn't even dare to look at the door, so Da Zhuang had to let Er Zhuang stay at home, and only took the fool to the town.

"Zhao Ziyang, what's the matter with you?" Da Zhuang looked at the irritable Zhao Ziyang, and finally couldn't help asking.

For a long time, when Da Zhuang and Zhao Ziyang were together, they were just having fun together or talking about irrelevant topics. Da Zhuang almost never asked about Zhao Ziyang's personal affairs. long time……

Zhao Ziyang was silent for a while, and said in a low voice: "My father gave me a letter a few years ago, and he hasn't heard from me since then, and I'm not allowed to go back to my family..."

Da Zhuang also fell silent, and Da Zhuang couldn't understand those things even more.

"Anyway, you'd better get ready first!" Da Zhuang patted Zhao Ziyang on the shoulder and said.

……