The Sweet Little Fulang

The strong smell of wheat straw exudes, in the new house, Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing are sitting in the spacious main room making scarecrows.

After the wheat was harvested, people were hired to plow the land to replant ten acres of chadou beans and three acres of peanuts. When the peanuts were cooked in September and a half or October, there was no need to buy peanuts for cooking and Chinese New Year hospitality. Less is equal to one more ration.

Once the wheat is harvested, there is no shelter in the dry fields, and the birds always fall on the ground and plan. Whether it is chafed beans or groundnuts, it is too distressing to be eaten by them.

It wasn’t very hot when I got up early, and it was cool under the house. Shen Xuanqing said while tying the wheat straw: “The fence is fenced, and the chickens don’t need to be put. Just peck and eat, and you don’t have to work so hard to beat so many chicken grass.”

"Scatter the rapeseed too?" Lu Gu wrapped two bundles of wheat straw around the stick to make the straw man's arms.

Shen Xuanqing replied: "Well, there are many people in the left and right families. I went to the Liangzhang Bridge two years ago, and I heard people say that chopping vegetable leaves and chicken grass mixed to feed chickens and ducks not only grows meat, but also lays good eggs. Let's try it too, it doesn't take too much trouble to sprinkle it in, at most water it, and it depends on God's will whether it can grow out or not."

"That's good." Lu Gu nodded, and the two of them worked together to finish the scarecrow at hand. He took the old clothes that Shen Xuanqing didn't wear and put them on. From a distance, he really looked like a person.

When this was done, they moved on to the next one.

In summer, even the dog didn’t bother to move, the pup lay at Lu Gu’s feet, its nose moved to sniff the scarecrow on the ground, and it opened its mouth to bite, Lu Gu patted its head, and then it retracted the dog’s head and lazily fell to the ground. Take a trip, yawn and close your eyes.

Shen Xuanqing glanced at it, and said: "The house here is too big, only Dabai may not be enough. Uncle Jinhu's big yellow dog will give birth to a dog in a month. I think we will bring two back to raise, and we will be more at ease at night. .”

He stopped what he was doing and drank a few sips of water, and said, "It's just to look after the house and guard the yard, and there's no need to buy a hunting dog. I've asked, and the male dog is also a big yellow dog. The pup is definitely not a puppy."

Lu Gu took a look at the back yard, the five-acre land boundary was indeed not small, and everyone slept at night, only Dabai was really not easy to guard, so he said, "I'll listen to you."

He was so obedient, and Shen Xuanqing couldn't help smiling.

The back door was open, and from afar, Shen Yan came back with a basket of grass. It was for the rabbits. She drove the ducks to the river to swim in the early morning. Earlier, Dahui and Dahei followed her out. Watching ducks by the river.

Before she approached, she put down the bamboo basket, and Shen Xuanqing pulled the stool behind her and handed it to her: "Take a break."

"Mother is already watching by the river, I don't need to go there anymore, I'll come back and do my sewing." Shen Yan said and poured himself a bowl of water.

"Your clothes are almost ready?" Lu Gu asked.

Shen Yan nodded: "Just sew the sleeves and the hem of the clothes together."

Although it's not her birthday yet, she will be 12 years old after the new year. When she is sixteen or seventeen, she will visit her husband's family. During the four or five years at home, she will have to learn needlework and embroidery, otherwise she will not even wear clothes in the future. will not do.

Some time ago, Wei Lanxiang went to the town to pull a piece of cloth, taught her to make a body, and let her make a body by herself. This kind of work is not good if you can't get used to it. You can understand it after doing it a few times, and you will become more proficient.

Lu Gu rubbed in Du Hehua's hands before, so he didn't care whether he would sew clothes after getting married, he never learned it at all.

Fortunately, he is used to embroidery, and his hand is very skillful. When Wei Lanxiang taught Shen Yan how to make clothes, he watched from the side. Xuanqing's new clothes were just finished yesterday.

I don't want the old clothes from before, I will wear them to the Scarecrow.

After resting, Shen Yan went home to do some work, and after Lu Gu tied up the straw man, he took up the bamboo basket to feed the rabbit.

The rabbit nest is built in the middle of the yard, farther away from the front house, so as to be far away from human voices, so as not to disturb them. The ducks and chickens are further back in the yard, also avoiding them.

This is also good, it is far away from the main room and the room, so that people will not be smoked.

Along the two rows of rabbit nests against the wall, they are laid out in the courtyard. There are three rows in total. They are all two small rows of twelve rabbit nests together, without connecting in the middle. Each large row has 24 rabbit nests. There are 72 nests in total.

Five pregnant female rabbits have already given birth, and now there are [-] little rabbits except for the two dead ones. The difference in age is less than half a month. Raised separately.

Lu Gu stuffed grass into the nest, and was delighted to see the fat and round pups. There were four big rabbits in this litter, and they were locked together in pairs. When eating grass, their three-petal mouths opened and closed to chew, and they squatted in the nest to eat. That's seriousness.

There are ten pairs of breeding rabbits in the family, and the remaining five female rabbits are also pregnant. They have to eat fresh grass every day. In other seasons, they are fed with less water. Sometimes only grass is enough, but it is different in summer. When it gets hot, the water has to be supplied and changed frequently, otherwise, once the water becomes cloudy, you can see bugs or dirty things floating on the water surface.

Shen Xuanqing had raised rabbits before, and told him that rabbits were delicate and had to change the water every day, otherwise they would die.

Not to mention rabbits, the chickens raised at home have been poured out of the water basin every day since the weather got hot.

The sun is getting brighter and hotter, and it shines in from the gaps in the wooden raft on one side. After the rabbit's nest is built, in order to prevent the rain, a straw shed is built with wood on the top of the head, and the logs of uniform thickness are cut down obliquely along the mud wall. The building is also propped up with wood, and the top is covered with thatch, so it will not leak when it rains.

For ventilation in summer, there are no mud walls on both sides. The same wood is used, with gaps exposed at intervals. It is not afraid of wind and rain, just tie bamboo mats or several layers of straw.

There are a total of 39 rabbits, big and small, and the small ones are also learning to eat grass, and the bamboo baskets quickly bottomed out.

In the fence circle at the back, more than [-] hens were cooing and clucking, pecking the grass and digging the ground in the circle. There were seventeen fluffy chickens, all digging around in the fence circle, chirping a few times from time to time. , very immature.

These are the spring chicks hatched by the big hen raised by Wei Lanxiang. A few of them died after they were bred. There are so many hens and ducks, they seem to be in a hurry when they are hatching, and the care is not so good. Some ducklings are weak, so I just broke a few. Fifteen of them survived, and they would swim in the river with the ducks every day.

Hearing the calf moo, he had given it grass to eat before, so he must be thirsty.

Lu Gu hurried to the cattle pen, picked up the wooden bucket beside him and poured half a bucket of water into the sink.The calf drank water very happily, gurgling and burying its mouth.

The cow pen was built big, and the calf would not be too restrained in it. It buried its head in the cow to drink, and Lu Gu patted its head lightly, and said, "I'll take you out for a swim when it's hot at noon."

The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and the little buffalo naturally likes water.

While talking, Shen Xuanqing came over with a shovel and shoveled the cattle and sheep pens one by one, otherwise there would be too many flies and the buzzing noise would be annoying.

Cow dung and sheep dung piled up in a pile. When I was in the old house, Ji Qiuyue was pregnant and it was not easy to order green medicine leaves. After moving the livestock, I could order them.

When he was shoveling manure, Lu Gu went to the bottom of the small clay stove that was boiling water to draw a firewood, and brought a bundle of green medicine leaves. After Shen Xuanqing covered the dung pile with dry soil, he lit the green medicine leaves. The strong and pungent smell of the medicine drove away the flies, and even a sprinkling of the medicine ash on the dung pile could cover up a lot of the smell.

Usually, when burning firewood at home, the ashes from the bottom of the stove are not dumped casually, they are accumulated, and can cover the urine and feces of poultry and livestock in summer, otherwise many flies and insects will be attracted.

The site of the new house is very large. As long as the wind is not blown to the south, the smell of poultry and livestock will not float into the front house.

There are dozens of rabbits in the house, dozens of chickens and ducks, and cows. The sheep are caught alive, and they are not bought with money. No matter the villagers or relatives, everyone who comes to see the new house has a lot of eyes on their faces. At least some are envious.

For Shen Xuanqing, he didn't want to show off in front of others, so as not to attract gossip and gossip, but he couldn't stop others from coming, and he couldn't stop them at the door.

Fortunately, after the freshness of the first few days passed, not so many people came.

The poultry and livestock raised in the new house are getting used gradually, and each one is fresher than the other. Every day, we have to cut grass and shovel manure. There are several baskets of grass alone. I am tired, but I am happy.

After eating at noon, Lu Gu led the calf to the river through the back door.

The little calf is very docile, he doesn't need him to pull the rope, and he walks unhurriedly beside him. He is younger than the boy, but he looks cute and steady.

However, when it has skin, it often plays with the good boy. One cow and one dog put their heads on their heads to exert strength. Sometimes no matter who in the family comes to feed and drink, the calf will imitate the good boy and rub its head against people, very affectionate. .

The clear river water was muddy, and the calf was very comfortable soaking in the water.Lu Gu hid in the shade of the trees by the river to enjoy the cool, the sun was really shining at the moment.

Originally, Wei Lanxiang said that she would come to herd the cattle, but he and Shen Xuanqing were going up the mountain the day after tomorrow, and a few days after bringing the calf back, he was curious, so he came by himself.

The good boy lay on the ground with its front paws folded. It looked at the calf in the river for a while, with its ears sticking out, shaking from time to time, and then looked elsewhere in boredom.

As the cicadas sang, Lu Gu sat on a rock and shook his fan to enjoy the coolness. A small flying insect landed on his trousers. When he saw it, he beat it away with his fan.

After a while, Shen Xuanqing came out from the back door, holding a bamboo tube in his hand.

"It's hot, drink more water." He came over and handed the bamboo tube to Lu Gu, and moved a clean white stone from the river, and the two sat side by side.

Few people came to the riverside at noon, but there were also cattle herders, and they were far away. After Lu Gu finished drinking the water, he plugged the bamboo tube cover, and Shen Xuanqing waved a cattail fan to cool them both. The hand was held unconsciously.

"When the calf is older, it won't be afraid of being led away. It knows the way by itself, so you don't have to wait here for it to feel comfortable." Shen Xuanqing said, and squeezed his palm.

The wind stops and the sun shines, and the days are getting longer in summer. The dignitaries and literati will sleep for a while.

The shadows of the trees were mottled, the dog was napping and sleeping at the feet, Lu Gu had a good night's rest, and he didn't feel sleepy. The two held hands and whispered a few words about themselves. When they looked at each other, there was a smile in their eyes.

-

Because of the ducklings, they couldn't swim in the water for too long, so Wei Lanxiang released the ducklings in the afternoon.

The sun moved westward and it wasn't so hot anymore. Ji Qiuyue was so flustered at home that she couldn't sit still, so she asked Lu Gu and Shen Yan to accompany her to go out for a walk.

Shen Yan bit the apricot in her hand, her facial features were all wrinkled, she looked at Ji Qiuyue eating happily, she frowned and asked, "Sister-in-law, don't you feel sour?"

When I went out for a walk, I brought three or four apricots with me, which is not easy to eat.

"Where is it sour? Isn't this just right." Ji Qiuyue saw that she took a bite and refused to eat, so she said, "If you don't want to eat it, give it to me."

Shen Yan only took a small bite, the apricots were bought by Shen Yaoqing at Liangzhang Bridge, and it cost money, so it was a pity to throw them away, so I gave them to her.

"If you pick up the soft ones and eat them, they will be sweeter." Seeing that Shen Yan had nothing to eat, Lu Gu handed over the softer apricots in his hand.

"I didn't catch two and came out, I didn't pay much attention." Shen Yan said and took a bite, it still had a sour taste, but it was better than the one just now.

"I see that elder brother also bought pickled green plums." Shen Yan said as they walked.

Ji Qiuyue nodded and said: "Yes, you can taste it when you go back. It's sour and sweet, but it's crispy."

Shen Yan couldn't believe the sweetness in her mouth, and quickly waved his hands and said, "Forget it, I don't have such good teeth as yours, and my teeth are so sour that I can't even eat."

"I heard from the third grandma that the peaches grown by Ge Chuan's family in the neighboring village are almost ripe. I'll ask your brother Da Qing to buy some later. His family has all kinds of peaches and nectarines." Ji Qiuyue finished eating the apricots, probably because she was pregnant. She didn't often eat fruit in the past, but recently when it's hot, she's hungry for anything.

What she said made Lu Gu think of the mountain peach tree he had seen on the mountain, and he had been at home recently, wondering if the mountain peaches were ripe.

Wei Lanxiang was most happy about buying apricots and green plums. People often say that she is sour and hot. Her first grandson may be a big fat boy, so she even took out her own money to let Shen Yaoqing go buy it quickly.

The three of them wandered to the edge of the paddy field, taking advantage of the coolness at this moment, Shen Yaoqing and Shen Xuanqing were bending over to pull weeds in it, their feet sank in the water, and a lot of mud splashed on their calves and trousers.

Shen Yaoqing straightened up. He was not far from the ground. He smiled when he saw his wife. Ji Qiuyue's belly got bigger and she sometimes had to support her back when she walked. Dirty clothes."

In fact, he was afraid of slipping when he stepped on muddy water, but it was difficult to express his frustration clearly.

Because Ji Qiuyue was full of peaches, she didn't hear what he meant, but the place is close to the river, and the smell of water made her feel bad, so she told her to go to Ge Chuan's house to buy peaches in two days, and then she and Lu Gu Shenyan came wandered elsewhere.

In the dry land, many families set up scarecrows to scare the birds. As soon as Lu Gu arrived in front of their fields, he saw sparrows still jumping inside, so he asked Shen Yan to stay with Ji Qiuyue and walk along the field ridges. , waving his hand to drive away the sparrows.

When the three of them turned to the threshing ground, the sun was heading further west, and finally there was a wind blowing.

I saw an old lady sitting on the ground in the threshing ground, her gray hair was not combed smoothly enough, and she looked frizzy, like an elderly person, and she couldn't afford hair oil to take care of it.

When Ji Qiuyue saw it, she smiled and said, "Grandma of the Wu family is picking up wheat."

Grandma Wu raised her head and saw them, she pursed her lips and smiled, her face was rough and old, like old tree bark that had been beaten by wind and rain, she was usually silent and looked dull, but when she laughed, Only a pair of cloudy eyes can be somewhat bright.

"Yes, yes." She was a little embarrassed, but she still held up a handkerchief in her hand and showed it to them, saying, "I picked up several handkerchiefs today."

The wheat grains in the handkerchief are mixed with soil, and she picked them out one by one from the mud that was rolled over in the grain field. Even if someone picks up the wheat after threshing, there will always be omissions. When others ran home in the wind and rain, she didn't go home until the rain was heavy, and she saved up a handful of rations.

She had bad legs and feet, and couldn't get up after squatting for a long time, so she could only sit on the ground, making her patched clothes stained with mud and soil, making her even more embarrassing. People in the village would dislike her when they saw her, and her eyes were undisguised. After Ji Qiuyue, she dared to smile.

With trembling hands, Grandma Wu poured a small pile of wheat grains in her handkerchief onto the other hand. When the wind blew, she also blew with her mouth, blowing away some of the mud and ash in the grains, making them look much cleaner.

"I took out the mud on it and wiped it. I'll wash it when I go back. It's all food, so don't waste it." She murmured in a low voice.

The Wu family also harvested an acre of land this year. Before the grain was exhausted, there was only one acre. The whole family had to tighten their belts. A small handful of wheat could not grind much flour, but in order to survive, they had to eat it. dig out.

Ji Qiuyue looked at her, feeling uncomfortable.

"Huh? There are some better ones here." With sharp eyes, Shen Yan kicked away the mud clods on the edge of the grain field, saw more than a dozen grains of wheat in the gap, squatted down and squeezed them out one by one, and Lu Gu also came to help her.

Grandma Wu heard her words and stretched her neck to look this way. There was obvious regret on her old face. Unfortunately, she thought that someone had picked it up over there, and she didn't pick it up carefully enough.

"Grandma Wu, here you are." Shen Yan walked over and poured all the grains of wheat into Grandma Wu's handkerchief.

"This, what an embarrassment." Grandma Wu's chapped lips trembled slightly.

Shen Yan didn't care, patted the mud on his hand and said, "What's the matter, just take it."

Their family was also poor. Shen Yan knew what it was like to be hungry. A grain of wheat and a grain of rice were food. Now that their family's life is better, there are so many rice grains to eat, and it doesn't hurt to give the grains they pick up to others.

"Qiuyue." Shen Yaoqing, who came back from the field in the distance, shouted, it's time to go back to have dinner, and she can't be hungry until her daughter-in-law.

Lu Gu turned his head and saw Shen Xuanqing, and thought that he had to wash his pants later, otherwise they would be full of mud. It's been hot these days, and it would be dry after a night of drying.

-

In the early morning of the next day, after waking up, Lu Gu probably packed up the clothes he was going to take up the mountain tomorrow. When the morning was cool, he heard Shen Yaoqing and Ji Qiuyue outside saying that they were going to consult a doctor about miscarriage.

Several nearby villages went to Wang Langzhong to see a doctor and take medicine. Since he recovered from his head injury last year, because Wang Langzhong is from Anjia Village, he has no illness or disaster.

It's not that he is cold-hearted, sometimes when he is alone on the mountain, he will miss his home, the home he had when he was a child, but when he thinks about Lu Daxiang's indifference to him that day, and let Du Hehua slander and frame him, he feels Chilling, no longer dare to think about it.

"It's packed?" Shen Xuanqing came in from the outside.

"I just folded a few clothes, and I have time to tidy up the rest at night." Lu Gu put the bundle on the box, and said, "I've been staying at home for a long time, and I don't know what happened to the vegetables on the mountain."

Shen Xuanqing said: "It's cold on the mountain, maybe it didn't die from the sun, water it to see if it can survive, bring some vegetables from home tomorrow, and it can last for a few days."

He glanced at Lu Gu, hesitated a few times and said, "Let's go around with sister-in-law and eldest brother."

Lu Gu didn't react, and looked at him suspiciously, sister-in-law was going to consult a doctor, what did they do next?

"Meng Dayue is going to butcher a pig today, so he bought some pork along the way, brought it up, and boiled some lard for cooking." Shen Xuanqing laughed.

Originally, he wanted to go out and buy some meat, but Lu Gu nodded happily, and said that he could also listen to Ji Qiuyue when he saw the doctor, and it would always be his turn in the future.

Thinking of it this way made him a little embarrassed, he hadn't written his horoscope yet, why did he think of seeing a doctor, at this time Shen Yan shouted outside, saying that she was going to the new house to feed the dog, and asked him if he would go, so he just interrupted his thoughts.

At night, Shen Yaoqing slept in the new house. When he came to eat, he locked the courtyard door and left the family's four dogs there.Because Lu Gu was going to Anjia Village with him, Shen Yan went there alone with a basket.

On the way, Ji Qiuyue walked slowly, Lu Gu followed her, Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing followed a few steps behind, chatting and laughing all the way to Wang Langzhong's house.

Lu Gu breathed a sigh of relief when he entered the village and didn't see the Lu family. Some people had better not see them, otherwise they would feel panicked.

"The fetal image is stable, you don't need to take medicine, just make up for the food, but remember not to eat Hesai indiscriminately." Seeing Ji Qiuyue's ruddy complexion, Wang Langzhong warned Ji Qiuyue that there is no shortage of meat to eat.

After listening to it, Shen Yaoqing was the happiest, so be steady, be steady.

After diagnosing the pulse, Wang Langzhong took a look at Lu Gu, they were all from the same village, seeing Lu Gu's good complexion, he felt happy for him, his fate is really uncertain.

Shen Xuanqing pushed Lu Gu to the side of the table, could not help but push him to sit down, and said, "Mr. Wang, you can also make a diagnosis for Gu Zi, to see if he has recovered from his weakness."

"En." Wang Langzhong nodded, motioning for Lu Gu to put his hand on the pulse pillow.

"When I was eleven or twelve years old, I was growing up. It's hard to make up for the loss of the past few years." After the diagnosis, he withdrew his hand, stroked his beard and sighed.

After speaking, he saw Shen Xuanqing frowning slightly, seemingly displeased, and suddenly remembered that last year, in order to let the Shen family treat Lu Gu well, he said that even if his body was weak, he would still be able to bear children after recuperating.

At this moment, he glanced at Ji Qiuyue, who was pregnant, and at Lu Gu, who was motionless, and felt a little guilty in his heart.

After seeing his illness for a lifetime, Wang Langzhong couldn't understand the real meaning of Shen Xuanqing asking him to take Lu Gu's pulse. He sneered, and raised his eyes to see Lu Gu's complexion.

The color of the red mark is neither light nor heavy, it is no different from ordinary twins, it should be fertile, but unfortunately the inner part is empty, it is not easy to conceive.

He thought about it and asked Lu Gu, "Are you eighteen this year?"

"Yes." Lu Gu replied, he was younger than Shen Xuanqing, and he could be eighteen this year.

Wang Langzhong twisted his beard to think, and said to Shen Xuanqing: "The foundation of the deficit has been made up a little bit. His complexion is obviously better, and the red marks on the center of the eyebrows are the most accurate. Judging by the color, it must be able to give birth. It is the inner body that is weak and needs to be reworked." It will take a while, you two are not too old, even after two years, you will still be young and strong."

Lu Gu didn't think too much about it before, and was taken aback for a while, but he also realized that it meant that he wasn't pregnant.

In fact, Wang Langzhong's words were uneasy, like Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu who were almost twenty years old, if it was for other people in the village, the baby would have been able to run away long ago.

"Thank you Wang Langzhong, I understand." Shen Xuanqing nodded, he thought for a while and asked: "Do you want to grab medicine?"

"I don't need the medicine. He has no other problems, just make up for it. If there is an egg at home, I will eat one, and I will also have some meat." Wang Langzhong waved his hand.

I didn't get any medicine, and it was very cheap to see a doctor. Shen Yaoqing also paid for it, but it was only four pennies.

After leaving Anjia Village, Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu walked behind, and he said in a low voice: "It doesn't matter, it's good to raise it, I haven't made much money recently, wait until I sell more prey and have money in my hand." Take good care of you."

Lu Gu's palm was pinched, and his originally confused heart was soothed. He heard that Wang Langzhong said that he was not easy to conceive. No one wants to marry a husband who is not easy to give birth to. What's more, he was not married by the Shen family at all. of.

It has to be said that he was terrified for a while, indescribably lost and sad.

But as soon as he looked up, he saw Shen Xuanqing's smiling starry eyes, holding his hand tightly, without any disgust, his heart was sour, and his eyes were a little moist.