porridge for two

After eating, we took a short break, chatted for a while, and learned that Uncle Zheng went to pick them up today, and it took a long time to survive.Several people suggested to help.

All the way to the fields, the fields are full of dams, and every household, old and young, is harvesting millet.

"Why can't I see a young man along the way?"

Xie Xiuping was curious. Although these years, it is popular for young people in rural areas to go out to work, but there is nothing like this Maoping village. Except for the old, weak, sick and disabled, there is no young person.

"The young people are all out to work, and we are the old ones who are left at home with our little ones! Some even the whole family is out, and the fields are no longer planted, and some fields with little land are taken over and planted."

"Seeing someone working outside to earn money and coming back to build a big one-story house, everyone thought about it, so we made an appointment together. Farming at home will have a meal, wine and banquets, and no guest or relatives. Money, let alone want to build a house."

"We who are old and immature can't do a lot, just grow some millet to survive starvation. Those children who work outside the country have no education, and they work in brick factories or something to earn some hard-earned money; easy Let's make some mechanical tools, it is said that I often work overtime, how can it be so easy to earn some money!"

"It's said to bring some money back to ask someone to help, but the baby has to go to school, which relatives buy wine, and the big house and small things are calculated, and it's a big deal. Every family in the village is old people and children, and no one can help Which. The asking price for a job from outside is very high, and those who can’t afford it are also reluctant to hire it!”

Chatting all the way to Uncle Zheng's field.This is a dry field. In the field, two boys in their teens are cutting grain and grass. Behind them are two neat rows of grain and grass piles, extending to the threshing barrel more than ten meters away.

Xie Xiuping knew at a glance that this was the reason why some people cut it and no one beat it.

I saw that Uncle Zheng picked up a small bag of grain and grass next to the threshing bucket when he went down, raised it behind him, and smashed it forward against the side of the threshing bucket. More than half of the grains on the ear fell off and landed in the barrel.It is raised and lowered three or four times, and the side is changed, and it is raised and lowered three or four times, until the grains are no longer visible on the ears of grain, and then the grain and grass are thrown aside.

Of the few people, only Xie Xiuping has collected millet, the others should have seen it before, and he has never tried it.How should I put it, this is a technical job as well as a physical job.

Xie Xiuping and Zheng Shu taught everyone a little bit, and said some points to pay attention to, and let them experience it for themselves.

The two girls experienced millet threshing each, and then they took the sickle and went to learn how to cut corn and grass with the two little children.

The grain barrel is a trapezoid, and the four sides can thresh grain at the same time without affecting each other.A few big boys seemed to be playing. Although they didn't have any skills, they had strength and were willing to learn. It didn't take long for them to get started.

There were many people and strength, and not long after, the grain bucket was pulled forward for a certain distance, and the grain and grass that had been threshed and thrown in the field were piled up in piles. Uncle Zheng went to pick up the grain and grass and stood it in the field to dry. , When it is dried, it will be piled up. In winter, it can be used as a saber to feed the cows.

After finishing the threshed grain and grass, Uncle Zheng found two white plastic bags, let everyone rest for a while, and put some grain in the grain barrel first.

There are too many people to do things and I don't feel bored, and the freshness of a few people has not yet passed, so I finished harvesting the millet in Uncle Zheng's house in a short time, and followed Uncle Zheng to learn how to make grass.

However, masquerading is really a technical job. Some people have watched it a few times, and they can do it well after thinking about it. The mascara stands upright; It looks like it's about to fall apart at any moment.

Not long after, the grass ran out, and Uncle Zheng came driving an ox cart, and several people helped to move the bagged grains to the cart.Xie Xiuping and Su Zeyu followed Uncle Zheng to unload the rice, and they had to run several times before they finished.

There is a big willow tree on the edge of the field, and the leaves are starting to turn yellow.The few remaining people spread the grain and grass on the ridge of the field, hiding in the shade and resting, waiting for Uncle Zheng to finish transporting the grain.

"Ai Nan, what's wrong with your hand?" Sun Qi asked when they saw Ai Nan's left index finger wrapped with a band-aid.

"It's okay, I accidentally scratched it when I was holding the grain and grass!" Ainan looked at his hand, it was quite painful when he scratched it just now, the wound was not big or deep, just a little painful.

In the past two days, his heels were bleeding and the soles of his feet were covered with calluses. I really don't know how these two girls lived. Could it be that he himself is weaker?

"Boys are masturbating because of injuries! Both of our feet have blisters, and the blisters burst. It hurts like hell!" Sun Qi pointed to Yang Qin and said to herself.

It turns out that everyone is the same, but they didn't say it!Thinking about it, Ainan felt much better.

Ainan tore off the Band-Aid to see if the wound was festering. He tore it off to see if there was no festering, and it should heal in a few days.He took out a new band-aid from his pocket and pasted it on, raised his head and looked around to see if Xie Xiuping and the others had returned.

"There is only one person in their family who is harvesting millet, one is cutting, one is threshing, one is weeding, and one..." Ainan shouted, pointing to the rice field not far away.

"Such a large field, how long does it take to receive it? Look, your legs are stuck in the mud. This is a rotten field!" Pan Wenbin also looked over, just in time to see the man cutting grain and grass at the back ridge, and the mud was gone knee.

"It's a half-dried field. There seems to be a well behind the field, so don't drain the water." Sun Qi also said.

Several people saw an old man in his fifties harvesting millet next to him, so they discussed there.

During Zheng Shula's last trip, they told Xie Xiuping and Su Zeyu about the uncle's situation, to see if they could help.

"Uncle Zheng just said that his house is gone, let's help this uncle!" Someone suggested.

"Then you girls try not to lean back, in case you get stuck, you won't be able to get up!"

"Who are you scaring!" The girl wasn't too scared either.

Everyone was clamoring again, Xie Xiuping said: "You go over and ask first, and help first, we will come back together after we help Uncle Zheng transport this trip."

Speaking of which, Xie Xiuping and the two followed the ox cart back to Uncle Zheng's house, and Ai Nan and the others went up to say hello, only to see clearly that the man was also a member of the ox cart puller today.Delaying people's way of life, several people feel even more embarrassed, and they are not slack in helping.

After chatting, I found out that this uncle lives next door to Uncle Zheng’s. There is only one son in the family, and he has gone out to work. He said that he will come back when the daughter-in-law is about to give birth. His wife was gone two years ago.It is inconvenient for the daughter-in-law to have a big belly, so why not just harvest the millet by himself.

After helping the uncle's house to collect the land, it was getting late, a few boys went to take a bath in the river, only two girls were embarrassed to go, so they went to the uncle's house to chat with his daughter-in-law.

The uncle's daughter-in-law is Mei Xiang, who is only 20 years old this year. Her husband is 10 years older than her. She is now six months pregnant.When she was 3 years old, she was sent to her uncle's house because there were many sisters in her family and she didn't have enough food.The condition of the uncle's house is not particularly good, and it would be good to have something to eat, and he stopped studying after the third grade.

"You are still so young, why are you going to be a mother?" Sun Qi asked Mei Xiang.

Several people are about the same age, so they can chat naturally.

"It's too late for me. Many people my age have two children. If I don't get pregnant again, I'm afraid I'll be kicked out! I've been out of that family for so many years, I'm really going to be kicked out If I go out, I don't have any culture, and I don't have anyone to rely on, so where can I go?"

"Besides, my father-in-law and husband are very good to me, and my mother-in-law is also very good when they are around. After eating their food and using them for so many years, it's time for me to spread the branches and leaves for their family. If I can't give birth to a boy and a half girl, so I feel ashamed of others!"

"From a rational point of view, you are grateful for your kindness, but it still sounds weird! Those girls who really can't conceive are driven back, why do they remarry?"

"People from all over the world are used to the customs that have been handed down for hundreds of years. If you fall in love here, you will bring the girls home, and you will walk on both sides. But if you don't have a drink or a table, even if you can Don’t bother with the certificate, you have to wait for the woman to conceive and have a child before she is truly married and is a member of the man’s family!”

"Really! What if it's the man's problem that he can't get pregnant?"

Sun Qi really felt a little speechless, but whose problem is this?It seems that everyone has problems.

When Xie Xiuping and the others came back from the shower and everyone was chatting at Uncle Zheng's house, Sun Qi was really not angry, not to mention feeling very uncomfortable, so she asked Xie Xiuping: "You guys are so weird! How can you do this? How can those who are sent back get married? What if it’s the man’s problem?”

Several boys were confused by Sun Qi's words, Yang Qin hurriedly told the general content of their chat with Mei Xiang, and several people knew the reason.

"It's regional! At least we haven't heard of such a situation near our village."

Xie Xiuping pointed to a banner with the words "Eliminate Bad Habits and Create New Style" hanging on the wall of Uncle Zheng's house next to the road and said, "So we need to implement it everywhere, not just talking about it! But the customs that have been left over for a long time , nor can it be changed overnight. The revolution still needs to work hard!"

After Xie Xiuping finished speaking, there were mixed feelings in his heart.His village did not have such a situation similar to "trial marriage" where the woman could not be condemned to go back, but the situation of early marriage was very serious. This was not only the situation in his village, but also in most rural areas in Qingnan.

As long as they don't go to school, many of them get married and have children at a young age.There are reasons why young people are ignorant, and there are also reasons why rural concepts are backward.When I was young, I fell in love and walked into the palace of marriage. After I walked in, I realized that daily necessities were expensive, and the family was not easy to manage, and many people had to flee again.

There are seven or eight partners in his village who are about his age, both boys and girls. They are all married early, and some even have a second child.

There was a girl who was in the second year of middle school because of family pressure. When a boy in the same class treated her well, she married with a schoolbag on her back. Her parents called her back, but she was unwilling.

There are also some who marry too early and are ignorant. When they get older, it is too late to wake up. Some of them leave their husbands and children and leave without going to the Civil Affairs Bureau because there is no proof.

There are all kinds of weird things. If Xie Xiuping himself is not married at this age because he went to university, his family probably has been urging him to go on a blind date for a long time.Children in rural areas are 24 or [-] years old when it is easy to find a partner. Boys can’t find someone after [-] or [-], and girls worry that they won’t be able to marry after [-]. The elders in the family are worried, and the neighbors will give pointers. .

It's better for everyone to get married early, lest people think you have some shady disease poking your spine.Despite this, there are no old girls in the countryside, but there are still many old men.The local people usually call them widows. Some of them didn’t find a partner when they were young, but they couldn’t find one when they got older, or because their families were poor; , then called the girl back and refused to let her come back.