Zhang Xiaozu only felt as if clouds were dragging his feet, and his body flew up lightly, flying into the sky, floating and dreamlike.
Que'er thought she would get Zhang Xiaozhu's happy agreement right away, but after waiting for a long time, she still didn't hear Zhang Xiaozhu's voice. Her heart was pounding and her heart suddenly sank. Her nose became sour and her tears fell down.
Choking up sobs, she said: "I knew you were only kind to me because of your pity for our orphans and widowed mothers. You didn't really like me at all. But my mother said you liked me and would marry me as your mother-in-law. Wuwu"
Que'er's sobs woke up Zhang Xiaozu. He hurriedly wiped Que'er's tears and said with a happy smile: "Who said I don't like you? I like you a hundred and a thousand times. I love you so much that I even dream of marrying you."
Be a mother-in-law. Stop crying. If you ruin your makeup by crying, you will turn into a little cat."
"Then why didn't you respond just now?" Que'er asked suspiciously, suspecting that Zhang Xiaozu was pretending to like her just to make her happy.
Zhang Xiaozhu scratched his head in embarrassment and said: "Happiness came so suddenly, I was so dizzy that I couldn't react for a while."
"Silly!" Que'er rolled her eyes at him, but her heart was as sweet as honey.
After the boy and girl pierced the hazy window paper to reveal their true feelings, they fell into a whirlpool of honey for a while, looking at each other with affection, and the silence was better than the sound.
"Brother Xiaopou" or Que'er woke up from the sweet whirlpool first, broke the silence, and asked: "I remember you have a dog skin at home, right?"
"Yes, I keep it in the west room." Zhang Xiaopou said.
"Go get them and I'll sew you a pair of knee pads. I heard it's very cold in the mountains at night, so tie them to your legs when you sleep to prevent them from being hurt by the cold," Que'er said.
"Hey, okay. I'll get it." Zhang Xiaozhu felt warm in his heart, thinking that it would be nice to have a mother-in-law at home.
Que'er was doing needlework, and Zhang Xiaopou sat aside with his hands on his cheeks, staring at Que'er without blinking, like a fool. After being kicked by Que'er, he put away his stupid look.
Sample.
"Quer, when you have your adult ceremony next year, I will ask a matchmaker to bring the betrothal gift to your house to propose marriage."
"kindness."
"Nowadays, there is a drought, and life is difficult, but don't worry, just grit your teeth and get through it and you will have a good life."
"kindness."
"Next year, when the weather is good, I plan to cultivate another three acres, oh no, five more acres of wasteland. Counting the land I have now, we will have ten acres of land."
"Don't be tired."
"Hey, don't you understand me? I have nothing but endless strength."
"I'll help you."
"I also plan to go to the mountains to cut stones during the off-season. Let's turn this mud house into stone. I heard that all the rich people in the county live in stone houses. It is warm in winter and cool in summer. We feel comfortable living there.
Add two more rooms so that Auntie and Xiaoci can move in together."
"Listen to you."
"When times get better, let's get some chickens and ducks to raise, and then build a pig pen."
Zhang Xiaozhu talked about his plans for the future one by one. Que'er listened quietly while doing needlework and responded from time to time. When he talked about the wonderful points, the corners of the young couple's mouths were raised high, and they were full of hope for the future.
There is infinite longing.
In the kitchen, Queer Niang was frying pancakes and listening to Zhang Xiaozhu's future plans, while she burst into tears. She knew that her daughter had found a good home, unlike herself, who married a short-lived ghost and stayed in such a muddle all her life.
The ground passed.
In the evening, Que'er Niang took Que'er away, seemingly taking away half of Zhang Xiaozu's soul.
As soon as the sky darkened, Niu Dawa came, holding a hunting knife in his hand and giving it to Zhang Xiaozu, saying that his father made it specially for Zhang Xiaozu.
The knife is as long as an arm. The blade is dark and glowing with cold light. The blade is wide and thin, and it is very sharp at first glance. The back of the knife is thick. Zhang Xiaozu held it in his hand and weighed it. The whole knife actually weighed sixty or seventy kilograms. It was so heavy.
He was the only one in the whole village who could use the knife with ease, and he liked the heavy feeling when cutting.
As a thank you, Zhang Xiaozu forced Niu Dawa to receive ten cakes.
Just as Niu Dawa left, Li Rongxi arrived on the back, carrying wine and vegetables. There was only half a bottle of wine and only one dish, but it was rich, with pickles and stir-fried dried meat, and real hard dishes.
Zhang Xiaozhu did not give in to pretentiousness. He and Li Rongxi drank half the bottle of wine in one sip. It was his first time to drink, and he fainted after just a few sips. He grinned and bragged with Li Rongxi. Li Rongxi was also an incompetent person.
To drink, roll up your sleeves and blow on Zhang Xiaopou.
Zhang Xiaozhu said that his feet were the smelliest in the village. Li Rongxi was quite unconvinced and said that his feet were the smelliest. At the end of the argument, the two simply took off their shoes and smelled each other. After smelling them, they were immediately convinced and unanimously agreed.
Give the other person a thumbs up.
March twenty-two.
At seven o'clock in the evening, the sun sets over the western mountains. The sunset is like fire, lighting up the entire sky and reflecting the red mountains of the earth.
In a gentle mountain valley, a bonfire was lit. Beside the bonfire, thirty men sat around, each of them munching on dry food, silent and looking downcast.
This group of people is none other than the hunting team from Liujiacun.
Today is their second day in the mountains. In the past two days, they climbed ten mountains and hunted dozens of places. In the end, they didn't even see a mouse. It seemed that all living creatures in the entire mountain forest were dead. They hunted again and again.
The failure to receive the goods again and again was like a bucket of cold water being poured down on them, extinguishing all the pride and expectations they had when they set out, leaving their morale very low.
"Lao Niu, tell me a few words to cheer everyone up." Li Dashan broke the silence and said to Niu Yao, Da Wa's father. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised with a sly smile, as if he was worried about the zero receipts in the past two days.
Already expected it.
Niu Yao filled a pot of tobacco, took out a piece of firewood from the bonfire, lit the pipe and took two strong puffs, then he said slowly: "What are you talking about? What's there to talk about? The surrounding mountains
It has been emptied out by us and the people from several other villages. If we can catch something by just surrounding it, then why do we all need to starve? We can all go into the mountains to catch something to eat."
"Then why have we been messing around these two days? It's all in vain to eat food. We should go straight to the mountains." Niu Dawa complained dissatisfiedly and felt that there was something wrong with his father as a hunting captain.
Zhang Xiaozhu and many others had the same doubts as Niu Dawa, and looked at Niu Yao in confusion.
"Hmph," Niu Yao blew out a smoke ring and snorted coldly. He pointed at Niu Dawa, Zhang Xiaozu and several other younger people, and said, "I want you to dig out bird's nests for voles, and use traps to catch rabbits and pheasants."
, go down the river to catch fish and shrimps, you can beat two of them. But do you know how to hunt? Do you know how to cooperate? What should you do if you are surrounded by ferocious beasts such as jackals, tigers, and leopards?"
Zhang Xiaozhu and other young people suddenly realized that the purpose of these two days of hunting was not to hunt prey at all, but to enable young people like them to master hunting skills as quickly as possible through actual combat. No wonder Niu Yao and other old hunters were so angry these two days.
Da, yelled and cursed at them, and even hit them with tree branches. It turned out that he was teaching them hunting experience.
"This is called sharpening the knife and chopping firewood." Niu Yaodao took a few puffs from the pot, and then continued: "Watching the last hunt this afternoon, you have basically mastered the hunting skills, so we won't do it again tomorrow.
We have practiced. Tomorrow we will go straight to Shuanglong Valley. After passing Shuanglong Valley, we will reach the Black Forest. We should gain something there."
"Uncle Niu, I heard that in the black forest there are blind bears that are taller than houses, giant pythons that are thicker than large water tanks, and eye-catching tigers that are two times bigger than buffaloes. Is it true?" Zhang Xiaozu asked curiously.
road.
Niu Yao shook his head and said: "I have only heard old hunters talk about it, but I have never seen it with my own eyes. Maybe there is. After all, the black forest is so big, it is not surprising that there are ferocious beasts that have matured into spirits. But even if there are such ferocious beasts, they must be there."
There is no need to be afraid of the deepest part of the Black Forest."
At night, Zhang Xiaozu felt warm all over and slept soundly while wrapped in his knee pads. He had a dream that he was entangled in a spotted python that was thicker than a water tank and was about to be strangled to death.
At that time, a big black bird suddenly flew from the sky. This big black bird spread out one of its paws, which was bigger than a millstone. Its two wings spread out, several feet long, covering the sky and the sun. The big black bird covered the spots with one paw.
The boa constrictor scratched its head to pieces, then flapped its wings, grabbed the spotted boa constrictor and flew up into the sky, taking it with it. The big black bird flew higher and higher, until it reached the top of the clouds.
, suddenly his claws were loosened, and he and the spotted python fell to the ground together.
Zhang Xiaozu was frightened and woke up. He found that it was already dark and several people were already awake and packing their things. He stopped sleeping and got up to pack things with the others.
Shuanglong Valley, also known as Yixiantian, is a ravine between two peaks. One of the two peaks winds to the northwest, and the other winds to the southwest. The cliffs are steep and reach into the sky, making it impossible to climb. They are also like two giant peaks.
The dragon coiled up the black forest and imprisoned the ferocious beasts in the black forest from coming out to cause harm to the world.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Niu Yao led everyone to the entrance of Shuanglong Valley. The scene at the entrance of the valley made the thirty people stunned. There were noisy people everywhere. Judging from the equipment and equipment, they should be entering the black forest like them.
It is not difficult to understand that the drought is raging and the stored grains have been exhausted. Since there is food in the Black Forest, every village and town naturally organizes people to go into the Black Forest to hunt. But these people are blocking the valley entrance in groups, arguing fiercely.
It seems that the road ahead is blocked and impassable.
Niu Yao told everyone to get together, not to wander around, and then go to the front to ask for information to see what was going on. After a while, Niu Yao turned back with a stern expression on his face, as if he had heard very bad news.
"Old Niu, what's going on?"
"People with evil hearts are trying to make fortune from disasters." Niu Yao gritted his teeth and said bitterly, "The mouth of the valley has been jointly occupied by several big families in the county. If you want to enter the valley, you must pay five kilograms of rations per person. The prey you hunt when leaving the valley
Half of it must be handed over. These people stuck here are all from the villages and towns near us. Well, the people from Zhangjiacun arrived one day earlier than us and are still waiting over there."
Everyone looked in the direction of Niu Yao's finger, and sure enough they saw a large group of people from Zhangjiacun. The two villages were close to each other, and most of them knew each other.
Niu Yao continued: "Ninety people came to their village. If they want to enter the valley, they must pay 450 kilograms of rations. However, each of them only brought three days of rations. The total is less than 300 kilograms. How can
I can give you four hundred and fifty kilograms."
"Isn't this reasonable? Isn't this a clear robbery? Is there any law of heaven?"
"The Black Forest is not their hunting ground, so why should they guard the entrance and prevent them from entering?"
"So many people are afraid of just a few families? One person can drown them all with his spit."
After hearing this, everyone was filled with indignation and veins on their foreheads. Some of them had a strong temperament, and even rolled up their sleeves and wanted to go find someone to argue with them, but they were all stopped by Niu Yao's scolding.
Zhang Xiaopeng's eyes widened and he was furious.
The villagers of the Liu family are honest and simple, and all the villagers regard humility and kindness as their virtues. Zhang Xiaozhu has been deeply influenced by him since he was a child. Therefore, under the careful guidance of the old village chief, he can easily let go of his hatred for the abandonment of his biological parents. It can be said that it is in his heart.
All soil is good, and evil cannot take root. But what he saw and heard now had a great impact on his thoughts of "harmony and friendliness", so he was furious.
However, Zhang Xiaozhu was angry, but not impatient. He always kept in mind the village chief's grandfather's teachings, never be impatient when encountering problems, and must think twice before acting. The more the mountain collapsed in front of him, the more calm he had to be. So he suppressed the anger in his heart and remained calm.
He looked towards Taniguchi, and after observing it, he couldn't help but frown.
The village chief’s grandpa once said: No matter whether it is right or wrong, it is the truth as it exists.
Zhang Xiaozu feels that the current situation is exactly like this.
Now that it has become a fact that several major families have occupied the valley entrance, what is the reason for its existence? The answer is simple. Several major families have strong strength that is not afraid of public anger. If you want to enter the Black Forest through Shuanglong Valley, you must either obediently hand over the rations, or
There is greater strength than several major families, but their mere thirty people obviously do not have such strength.
After thinking about it, Zhang Xiaopou frowned deeply, knowing that if he wanted to enter the Black Forest, he would have to succumb to the power of several big families, so he obediently handed over the rations. Fortunately, they brought a lot of rations, and there was still a lot after paying the full amount.
The rest will prevent you from hunting hungry after entering the black forest.
In addition, Zhang Xiaozhu still felt a little uneasy. After observing just now, he saw a group of people in the southwest, about sixty or seventy people, all with unfamiliar faces. He didn't know which village they were from. They didn't know each other.
But this group of people looked in their direction frequently, and at the same time they were whispering something to each other, and they had fierce looks on their faces, as if they were doing something bad.
Zhang Xiaozu subconsciously covered the dry food bag hanging around his waist, his heart skipped a beat, and he immediately knew why he was uneasy.
The common man is not guilty, but he is guilty of carrying the jade.
The bulging bags of dry food around their waists are the jade to attract sin.
