The Sweet Little Fulang

"Wang!"

The bamboo cuju ball rolling on the ground was pushed back by the excited boy with his nose, Xiao Huang and Huang'er cut it off and bit it, Zhao'er screamed happily, Wei Lanxiang told him to stop Shout, it's time to break your throat.

Zhao'er snatched the Cuju ball from the mouths of Xiao Huang and Huang'er who were fighting, put it on the ground and kicked it like Shen Yaoqing taught him.

How much strength can he have with a baby doll? The good boy who rushed out caught up with the Cuju ball before taking two steps, and rolled back with his front paws, which made Zhaoer giggle. No matter the doll or the dog in the courtyard, everyone was excited Happy.

Lu Gu hugged Brother Ling and watched beside him, who knew that their little Shuang'er was not too gentle, so he arched forward anxiously, pointing one finger at the Cuju ball rolling around on the ground and yelling.

"Okay, you kick it too." Lu Gu had no choice but to hug Brother Ling with both hands, and bent down to let him kick the cuju ball with his two little feet. Looking at the bamboo ball rolling out, Brother Ling laughed all of a sudden. Yes, there is still oooh in the mouth, I don't know what to say.

The good boy, Xiao Huang and Huang'er, were biting the cuju ball and grabbing it, neither of them would let the other, they were all growling in their throats, looking like they wanted to fight.

Children who can walk and run are always full of energy. After playing for a while, Zhao'er didn't feel any fatigue. He walked up to the three dogs and stretched out his hand to grab the bamboo ball.

"Stop talking." Wei Lanxiang yelled at the dog when he was grabbing the Cuju ball.

Boy, they all let go, and they stopped growling, standing still and licking their mouths, but after seeing Zhaoer kicking the Cuju ball over, they rushed over to play again, really like children.

Brother Ling still wanted to kick, so Lu Gu had no choice but to hold him to throw the bamboo ball.

Wei Lanxiang sat under the eaves and sewed clothes. Yesterday, she accidentally tore her sleeve while holding firewood. The two grandchildren were playing happily, and she also had a smile on her face.

After kicking the bamboo ball for a while, Lu Gu straightened up holding Ling Jun, and said with a smile, "Okay, Ah Mu is tired, let's play later."

Seeing that the sun was getting bigger, Zhao'er's face was covered with sweat, and her cheeks were flushed. Wei Lanxiang had just finished sewing the sleeves, walked up to Zhao'er, took out a handkerchief to wipe his face, and then stretched out her hand behind the child. Probing his neck, he said to Lu Gu, "Water on your back."

"That's enough, let's play again tomorrow, drink water and rest, I'm crazy about playing." Wei Lanxiang picked up the Cuju ball, but Zhaoer refused, so she had to say: "Go drink water, grandma will break it for you." Momo eat."

The bamboo ball was put away and could no longer be seen, the dolls and dogs didn't have to play, and even Brother Xiao Ling didn't want to play anymore, so Lu Gu sat down peacefully to rest.

Seeing that it was almost noon, he finished drinking the water in the water bowl, put it down and said: "Mom, I'll go back and cook, you can see how well you are."

"Okay, you can go." Wei Lanxiang gave half of the steamed bun to Zhao'er, took Ling Ge'er, and Lu Gu went back to his hometown.

He walked out of the courtyard gate, Guai Zai and Xiao Huang all followed him out, he didn't stop drinking, there was no one in his hometown, the doors were locked, the dog followed him back and had a companion.

After the seedlings were planted, Shen Yaoqing walked around the field every day, either in the paddy fields or in the dry fields and wheat fields. If today is good, the grass is strong. If it is not pulled out, the crops and food will be less .

Shen Yan and Ji Qiuyue were herding cattle and ducks and geese by the river, and they also carried fish baskets and shovels to dig the ground to catch loaches, so that they could be chopped up for the chickens to eat.

The chicks and ducklings hatched at home have grown for more than 20 days. The chickens and ducklings were too weak to survive after hatching. 76 of the 65 chicks survived, and 62 of the [-] hatched ducklings survived. Only, thanks to the large area of ​​their house, the large chicken coop and duck coop, and the diligent shoveling and sweeping of manure during the day, it was not too stuffy or humid, and not many people died.

After hatching at that time, Wei Lanxiang went to the chicken and duck house every day to look around, and would always come out with one or two dead chickens and ducks in his hand. Such a small poultry died within two days after breaking the shell, and it was too small to have any A few taels of meat, they are so particular about burying them under the trees here that even dogs are not given to eat them, let alone humans.

Those who survived are getting stronger every day, and those who don't die are enough to make people happy.

There are still twenty chickens and ducks each. Even so, when Shen Xuanqing came back last time, he asked Shen Yaoqing to buy some more young chicks and raise hundreds of them. After these two days of free time, he will probably go to the market at Liangzhangqiao.

Lu Gu unlocked the lock, and when he entered the yard, he pulled out a spring vegetable from the vegetable patch. Seeing that the boy was smelling other spring vegetables and opened his mouth to bite, he raised his hand and patted the dog's head. The boy lowered his head and picked it up. With a guilty look, he squeezed the dog's ears and said, "Why is it even worse than Xiao Huang? You bite back and eat a few bites and then turn away. This is not a waste of rations. Mother knows." I won't hit you."

That being said, he peeled off the wilted leaves of the spring vegetables, and saw that the boy was rubbing his hairy head against his calf, so he had to peel off a fresh green spring vegetable leaf for it to eat.

Xiao Huang came around and looked up at him wagging his tail, so he also gave Xiao Huang a big leaf.

He washed the vegetables and cut them on the chopping board. He remembered that he hadn’t eaten egg custard for a while, so he went to the egg basket to find a few eggs. This year is different from before. There are more hens and ducks in the house. After the spring, half of the eggs are sold and half are sold. Incubation of eggs, right.

Brother Ling can now eat a few bites of egg custard, but Wei Lanxiang said that the child is too young to be soaked with too much oil, like sesame oil.

Drizzle some of the sesame oil ground in the oil mill, and you can smell the fragrant aroma. The people in the country didn't have any cooking oil when they were poor, let alone sesame oil. They didn't have too much sesame oil when pouring it .

He opened the small can of sesame oil and took a look. There wasn't much left, just the bottom of the can was enough to last for a long time, but when the family came back, he still wanted to tell them that they would buy half a can when they went to the market.

When Shen Xuanqing comes back next time, he will also steam a bowl of egg custard to satisfy his hunger. He will not delay eating in the town, but such delicate and rare egg custard is mostly eaten by children, and is generally not made for adults. Shen Xuanqing has no worries about meat and rations Eat, but when eating at other people's homes, it is definitely not easy to choose this or that.

He took the children to do some work at home. Shen Xuanqing was selling rabbits in Jixing Town while asking where there was a house. It was different from renting a house. They had money in their hands and wanted to buy a small house directly. Naturally, they had to look more. Only buy when you are satisfied.

During this period, Shen Yaoqing drove Wei Lanxiang to buy chickens and ducklings several times in a mule cart, and even brought back the other four piglets that were settled at Li Zhuzi's house. The rabbit cage was gradually full again.

Because of this, when Shen Xuanqing came back for the second time after more than half a month, and told him that he liked a house with a well, Lu Gu hesitated.

He sat in front of the stove adding firewood and steamed egg custard, Brother Ling fell asleep, Shen Xuanqing washed his hands and went into the kitchen to squat next to him.

The two exchanged a few heartfelt words, and he thought for a while and said, "Two days ago, there wasn't much firewood at home. My eldest brother came back from pulling weeds in the field, and went up the mountain to cut firewood without resting. Chai, but also to herd ducks and cattle."

"The four big pigs ate a lot, and the four little piglets also ate a lot. Brother Dong and the others came back with two carts of grass a day. Uncle He and Aunt He were weak, and he was not that strong, so he could only cut two Car, my sister-in-law and I have to take the children out to hunt pigweed in our free time, otherwise we won’t have enough pigs and sheep to eat at home.”

"Sister-in-law and I hold hands with each other. No matter cooking or threshing grass, one person looks after the two children, and the other works, so we can separate."

At the end, Lu Gu's voice was a little low, but he still said, "If I leave, she may not be able to handle it alone. Zhao'er can run and leave, so I don't feel at ease if no one is watching."

After hearing what he said, Shen Xuanqing couldn't help frowning slightly. Didn't they all agree to live together, but he also knew that the family was really busy raising so many animals, and Jixing Town was far away, so he had to look at the shop over there , It’s not easy to come back to help, no one can blame this.

Seeing the busyness of the family, Lu Gu naturally wouldn't ignore it, and said: "There are too many fields, and my eldest brother will pull weeds in the fields, and my mother will follow. I am afraid that the grass will be too strong, so I only take a rest occasionally."

"That's it." Shen Xuanqing replied in a low voice, drooping her eyes and thinking for a while, now that there are thirteen acres of dry land and eight acres of paddy fields, it is really difficult for Shen Yaoqing alone to take care of both, and he also has to take care of the domestic poultry.

After thinking about it, he raised his eyes to look at Lu Gu, and said with a smile: "What's the problem? Let's hire someone to work in the field, and the elder brother will be free. Just let him raise the animals and pull out the animals in the field in his free time." Grass will do."

"Not to mention short-term workers, the wages are high. Let's just hire a permanent worker. It's only two thousand yuan a year, which is only two taels of silver. Our family has [-] acres of land. Are you afraid that you can't afford the two taels?"

Shen Xuanqing thinks this is very feasible, the family has a lot of work, the old mother is old, the younger sister is a girl who has not left the court, Ji Qiuyue has to take care of the children, everyone can't take time off, he went to the town to open a shop and can't take care of the family , I really have to think of a way.

"The two taels of silver, the land belongs to the family, and the grain money is divided in half every year. If we really hire people, the eldest brother should pay half of it. Each one tael is not a lot." Gen, not to mention other tasks, the fields must be taken care of, and it is not absurd to hire people to farm the land.

"It seems to be okay." Lu Gu has never had as many ideas as him, two taels of silver a year, their family can really afford it now.

Shen Xuanqing became happy, and said with a smile: "Later, I will talk to my mother and elder brother. You don't need to worry about this matter. I will show you the house tomorrow. If you think it is good, we will buy it."

"Yeah." Lu Gu nodded, and after talking for a while, he almost forgot the business, he got up quickly, opened the lid of the pot to look at the egg custard, for fear that the steaming would be too old.

When Shen Xuanqing was sitting at the table eating custard drenched in sesame oil, Shen Yaoqing and Wei Lanxiang were both thinking after hearing that he wanted to hire a permanent worker.

There was not much in a bowl of custard, so he quickly ate it upside down, put down the bowl and smiled and said, "Mother, you are a little old now, and it is not easy to take care of yourself. You will have to hold a few more grandchildren in the future. People, you have too much work, don't look at it as heavy work, and it's not easy to accumulate, just listen to me."

One is selfish, and wants Lu Gu and the child to go to town, and the other is that he really thinks so. Once the words of reassurance are uttered, it seems a little more stable than before when he decided everything on his own without saying a word.

Ji Qiuyue brought back Zhao'er, who was spoiling the spring vegetables, from the vegetable field, and laughed when she heard this. It was different from the past, she had grown up, Shen Yaoqing was tired recently, she had to chop firewood and water, and go to the ground to pick manure every day. Shoveling manure and sweeping is also his job. From time to time there is something at home, and he has to drive the mule cart out, so he said: "Mother, you just listen to the second brother, he is justified."

The grandchildren, Wei Lanxiang pursed his lips and smiled when he heard this, isn't it.

Working is not a big deal for Shen Yaoqing, he is young and strong, and he is the eldest son in the family, so it is right for him to do more work.

But today I heard from Shen Xuanqing that there are few men in their family, Wei Lanxiang and Shen Yan are one old and one young, and Ji Qiuyue and Lu Gu have to take care of their children. If they hire a man who farms, someone will help him take care of the 21 acres of land. I'm not afraid that I can't take care of it alone. If I can spare time, I can help cut grass to feed the family's livestock. I can afford the money for selling grain and livestock for a year.

After some consideration, he nodded and said, "Then who do you want to hire, do you have an idea?"

"Find someone with no land. Uncle Chunsheng is old. Didn't you say that his son-in-law only has an acre of thin land? I don't know if he wants to." Shen Xuanqing only thought of this a quarter of an hour ago, and the only thing he can think of now is Ge Chunsheng.

Those who have land at home have to take care of their own fields, most of them are short-term workers, and the long-term workers are paid for a year's wages. Naturally, they have to find someone who has no land, preferably a young man. It's not that he dislikes Ge Chunsheng, but who earns how much money? It's not easy, and there are young people who must first ask the young ones.

Thinking of Li Laiqing's honesty, Shen Yaoqing nodded and said: "It's easy to handle, I might as well be idle for now, I'll go and ask, just how the salary is calculated, let's discuss it, I'll go over and tell him."

Shen Xuanqing took a sip of water, thought for a while and said, "The long-term workers in Wangli Village are paid [-] Wen a year, but they live and eat at the master's house, so we don't have to. There are not so many houses. We will give you some food and then add more." Some money, Linhe Village is not far away, please trouble him to walk a bit."

Unlike the long-term workers of the landlords and rich owners, they have to live in the owner’s house and work hard every day. Their families with only [-] to [-] mu of land are not considered as landlords. The hired long-term workers generally don’t live at home. , had to be given food, Li Laiqing was poor, and his wife and children were given rice and noodles so that he could have enough for the whole family to eat when he went back.

After listening, Shen Yaoqing pondered for a moment and said, "How about adding a hundred catties of rice and noodles a year?"

They hired Li Laiqing, as long as Li Laiqing's rations were enough, if the other party was more frugal and had a salary in the early [-]s, it would be enough for a family in the countryside, and maybe they could help the old man Ge Chunsheng.

"That's [-] Wen, brother, let's each contribute half?" Shen Xuanqing asked, saying so, but she already had an answer in her heart.

Shen Yaoqing smiled and nodded: "It's natural."

His two brothers have not yet separated, and the food and money have always been divided equally. As for the four or six cents for selling rabbits, he has always figured out that the big house was built with the money of Shen Xuanqing. Not so many rabbits to make money.

Sure enough, Shen Xuanqing also nodded: "Okay."

"I'm going to ask Li Laiqing now." Shen Yaoqing got up after finishing speaking, and seeing him walking outside, Zhao'er threw the rattle in his hand and shouted: "Father, father."

Since his son wanted to follow, he smiled and picked him up.

Li Laiqing's family is poor with only one mu of land, which is barely enough for a family of four to survive. If Ge Chunsheng's family was not poor, he would not even be able to marry a wife, and he would not be able to take care of the farmland of his family as a long-term worker. One hundred Wen, and two hundred catties of grain, there is no one who is unwilling.

His parents have left one after another in the past two years. He has no brothers and sisters, just a few cousins, and the relationship is not very good. His wife, Ge Qiaoer, made an idea with him, saying that she will take care of the one acre of land at home, no matter how bad it is, Call her father to help, and tell him not to worry.

Li Laiqing wanted to earn wages, two taels of silver, and food, so he nodded and agreed.

Ge Qiaoer has a little selfishness. Her father, Ge Chunsheng, has no land to grow. The old man wants to be a long-term worker, and no one wants him. The bamboo shoots were picked up in the town and sold for money. If she helped Li Laiqing take care of the fields, she would help the old couple and give them a few bites to eat, and Li Laiqing would not be able to say anything.

Now that the other party agreed and said that being a long-term worker is to take care of their family's fields. After Shen Yaoqing came back, he told Shen Xuanqing that the two brothers would write a contract, write down the wages and food, and then go to Linhe Village. Li Laiqing didn't recognize it. I asked people in the village who could read to see the characters, and finally pressed the fingerprints on it.

Lu Gu didn't expect things to be done so quickly, within an hour, their family hired a long-term worker.

Brother Ling woke up, and he came into the room to hug him.

Shen Xuanqing followed in, opened the box and said: "I let my elder brother hold the contract, and I will count out the salary of [-] Wen and give it to him, so that I can pay Li Laiqing at the end of each month. His family is not doing well. , not half a year and a year."

"That's fine." Lu Gu felt Brother Ling's diaper was wet, put the child on the bed to change, and said, "Then let's go see the house tomorrow?"

Shen Xuanqing turned out the big money bag at the bottom of the box, and took out the well-worn money from it. It was exactly one thousand Wen, a smile appeared on his face, and he turned his head, staring eyes slightly curved, and he was very happy when he saw it, and said: "Well, Go tomorrow."