Paradise

After dinner, Zhou Ze took out a watermelon soaked in cold water, cut it open with a knife, and revealed the pink flesh inside, which was not like the red color of modern watermelons. When he sniffed it, it had the unique sweet smell of watermelon. Should taste good.

Zhou Ze handed the cut watermelon to Lin Yu and Lin Bao respectively.

Lin Bao took a bite and narrowed his eyes happily, "It's so sweet and delicious."

Lin Yu ate in small bites, with an expression of enjoyment on his face.

"Watermelon seeds can be saved, and they are also good as seeds," Zhou Ze said.

"Brother Zhou means, can these black melon seeds be planted, and can they be planted now?" Lin Yu said.

"It's too late to plant now, especially if there is no water in the drought this year, the watermelon will not grow well, but you can sow a few seeds in the vegetable garden, and when you harvest in autumn, you can grow a few to eat, but not The president is too big."

"That's not bad."

With the idea of ​​growing watermelons, when the three of them ate watermelons, they carefully collected those black and plump watermelon seeds and kept them for later planting.

For several days in a row, Zhou Ze didn't go out to go up the mountain again. He helped Lin Yu and the others with some field work while recuperating from his injuries. The few days passed by, and in a blink of an eye, it was the eighth day of the lunar new year, the day when Zhou Ze and Lin Yu got engaged.

The day before, Zhou Ze took Lin Yu and his brothers to the county seat, bought a lot of things, cut several catties of meat, made a jar of wine, and bought some pastries, thinking that there were not many bowls and chopsticks at home, I bought some new bowls and chopsticks, and added some oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.

On the eighth day of the eighth day, Zhou Ze and the Lin family brothers got up early and put on new clothes. Since they cleaned the courtyard the day before, the main preparation today was to eat.

The situation of Zhou Ze and Lin Yu is special, because Zhou Ze lives in Lin's family now, and there is less trouble in getting married. What he is doing now can be regarded as a formality, and it is more formal.

Zhou Ze was alone, and he invited the village head to be his elder, while Lin Yu's brothers both died of their parents, and their family was an outsider with no relatives. With the testimony of their mediators, the engagement of the two of them has also been changed to a more justifiable name.

The family simply ate breakfast, cleaned the yard again, and started to prepare the noon meal. The noon meal was the main topic. Zhou Ze cut the meat in advance and bought tofu, beans, and eggplants at home. , picked some cucumbers.

Liu Changwang's daughter-in-law, Mrs. Wang, came here ahead of time and brought two fresh vegetables to help Lin Yu cook. Zhou Ze wanted to help, but was pushed aside.

Stir-fried pork with beans, minced garlic and tomato puree, braised tofu, cold cucumber, cold pork liver, fried peanuts, a large pot of bone soup, there are not many types of dishes, but the quantity is good. Villagers don’t pay attention to so many and can eat enough Just eat well.

At noon, the village chief and Liu Changwang both came over. Zhou Ze set the table, served cold dishes, and brought out a jar of wine. The three of them drank while talking with cold dishes. In the drinking room, Liu Qiushan took out a piece of land deed and handed it to Zhou Ze. Ze, Dao,

"Boy Zhou, a few days ago, you killed the alien wolf and saved the young people in the village. The village remembers your love. Now that you settle in Luoxia Mountain, the village will not lose you. This is two mu The title deed of the good land was given to you by the village, please keep it."

"Second Grandpa, this..." Zhou Ze hesitated, wondering whether he should accept it or not.

Liu Changwang picked up the wine glass, drank the wine in it, patted Zhou Ze on the shoulder, and said, "Silly boy, just accept it if I give it to you. This is the wish of the big guy in our village. There is nothing embarrassing about it."

"Boy Zhou is here to thank Second Grandpa." Zhou Ze toasted Liu Qiushan with a glass of wine.

"Everyone is from the same village, don't say thank you, live a good life in the village, and don't forget the village if you are prosperous and promising in the future." Liu Qiushan said, he could see that the foreigner in front of him The young people here are not ordinary at all, they have such good skills, and some accidents have caused them to come to their village. If the young people in the village can learn a few things from him, it will be much easier to get in and out of the mountains in the future.

They drank, Lin Yu and the others couldn't sit at the same table with them, so they set up a small table under the shade of the tree, and Lin Yu brothers, Mrs. Wang and a little grandson brought by Mrs. Wang ate here.

Mrs. Wang also had a bundle at hand, which contained half a piece of cloth, a comb of mahogany, and a purse, which contained 15 taels of silver. This was the engagement ceremony prepared by Zhou Ze. Originally, he didn't want to be so troublesome. , he was more willing to give it to Lin Yu directly, but there is still such a custom here, he can only wrap up the things and give it to Wang in advance, and let him go to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu also has a burden, wrapped in cloth, I don't know what it is.

Mrs. Wang gave Lin Yu the bundle prepared by Zhou Ze, took Lin Yu's bundle, took out two red paper bags from her bosom, and stuffed them into the two bags respectively. It was the two engagement documents, so far the marriage was settled.

Everyone enjoyed the meal, and after the meal, the village head and Liu Changwang's family returned to their homes, and the small courtyard of the Lin family returned to calm.

Zhou Ze and Lin Yu each returned to their respective rooms with a burden in their hands.

Zhou Ze opened the bag, and saw a pair of new shoes and a belt inside. Thinking about what Lin Yu had been doing in the room for the past few days, it turned out that he was making shoes for him. Zhou Ze tried the new shoes and it was just right. wear.

Lin Bao looked at the shoes under Zhou Ze's feet, "My brother is the best at making shoes. He originally said he would make a pair for me, but now he makes it for you first."

In another room, Lin Yu picked up the mahogany comb in the bag, and liked it very much. He held it in his hand for a long time and looked at it, reluctant to put it down. Then he picked up the purse, which was bulging. It turned out to be 15 taels Silver, Lin Yu didn't expect Zhou Ze to give him so much silver, and he was both happy and panicked.

In the evening, a strong wind suddenly blew up, and a large black cloud floated over from far and near. The people in Luoxia Village were overjoyed that the long-awaited rain was finally coming down.

That night, there was lightning and thunder, and the bean-sized rain fell from mid-air, crackling on the windows. No one thought that the belated rain would be so heavy. It took a whole night before it gradually subsided. down.

The villagers were happy that the heavy rain had relieved the drought, but they were also worried about the heavy rain, because the heavy rain was so fast and fierce that many houses in the village leaked, and even worse, they were washed away.

Most of the houses in the village are thatched, and the roofs of the rich have a layer of tiles, while most of the poor have mud and grass roofs, which are not waterproof.If it rains for a long time, there will be rain leakage.

When Zhou Ze was sleeping soundly at night, he was woken up by the leaking raindrops. He had to face the difficulty of life in ancient times again. The place where they slept leaked. This is really not a good experience. Can't sleep anymore.

Listening to the sound of ticking water, Zhou Ze found that there was more than one place that fell into the water, and there were leaks in several places. He put on his clothes and took wooden basins and buckets, and put them in the places where the water leaked.

Lin Yu also got up, and there were leaks in several places in his house. Now all the pots and bowls in the house were used, and there was a dripping sound everywhere. It could be said that it was raining heavily outside the house and light rain inside the house.

The basins and bowls for collecting water were poured out when they were full. Brothers Zhou Ze and Lin Yu basically didn't sleep in the middle of the night, and spent the rest of the night pouring water.Finally, it was dawn, and the rain was a little lighter, but it was still falling.

Zhou Ze frowned as he looked at the gloomy sky. Now they wanted to go out. There was muddy water on the ground inside and outside the courtyard. Now they were wearing cloth shoes, and they were completely soaked when they stepped on them.

In the end, Zhou Ze rolled up his trouser legs, put on a coir raincoat, and walked out barefoot. After a busy night, everyone was hungry. Zhou Ze planned to go to the cold stove to heat up yesterday's food and then cook it. A pot of hot soup drove the two brothers Lin Yu away from the cold.

Seeing that Lin Yu wanted to go out with him, Zhou Ze hurriedly stopped him, "Ayu, Xiaobao, you are waiting for me in the house, I will cook."

"Brother Zhou, let me help you."

"No need, you got wet when you came out. I'm already wet. Don't follow along. Be careful of catching a cold." Zhou Ze understood that the younger brother's body is much weaker than that of a man. They are not doing well, they are all very thin, and it makes people feel distressed to look at them.

Lin Bao didn't care about the rain at all. He also took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, and ran to the chicken coop. Not surprisingly, the chicken coop also leaked rain, which was worse than their living. The house leaked even worse, and the few chickens I bought were all drowned, hiding in a corner, looking very pitiful.

"Brother, won't our chickens die from the rain?" Lin Bao worried.

"Chickens don't die so easily, wait for me to build something on their chicken coop, it's fine." Zhou Ze said, "Xiaobao, don't run away, go back to the house."

After Zhou Ze warmed up the food, he made another bowl of egg flower soup and brought it into the house. Each person served a bowl of hot soup, and after eating a bowl of hot soup, his whole body became warm.

Looking at the leaking house, I thought that when the rain stopped, I would have to repair the roof. It would be even better if the house could be flipped over. The three rooms of the Lin family were built by Lin Yu’s parents more than ten years ago. In the past, it has long been dilapidated.

It is a pity that the money in his hand is still too little. Zhou Ze set his sights on the mountain not far away, thinking that he would have to go into the mountain a few more times. The previous kind of blood-boosting herb will be fine, and that one is still very valuable.

"Ayu, when the rain stops, I want to repair our house. Who does the house repair in the village? How much does it usually cost and how long does it take to repair it?"

"The houses in the village are all repaired by the villagers. It is enough for the master to take care of the food. It is enough to build an adobe house for five taels. If the house is made of blue bricks, it will be more expensive. I don't know how much it is. More than ten taels." Lin Yu said, "If there are many people, the house will be repaired quickly, and it should be repaired in more than a month."

"Do you think we should fix the roof first, or renovate the whole house?" Zhou Ze asked.

"I can't tell, but Brother Zhou, if you want to repair it, I can take out the 15 taels of silver. It's useless to put it on me, and it's just right to take it out to repair the house," Lin Yu said.

"I gave it to you. You keep it first. I'll think about repairing the house later."