It was already dark, and only the father and son and the child were left in the courtyard.
Shen Erniang's maiden name is Shen Yourong. She has her parents and two older brothers at home.
Bai Qi was a posthumous child, and his father died before he was born. In his impression, if a man came to the house, his grandmother would always beat him with a stick and scold him away.
But the two men in front of them, not only were they not beaten or scolded, they were actually left to eat and seemed to have to sleep at home at night.
What a magical look!
Especially the eldest brother, who could write a lot of new words, made my mother very happy. He must be a great talent like my father.
Bai Qi was a bit introverted. He sat with his head down the whole time, but his eyes were secretly looking at the father and son. Then, he saw an outrageous scene. The elder brother who was good at writing picked up a grain of corn from the table without leaving any trace. He stuffed it into his mouth as fast as lightning.
Zhu Guoxiang said disdainfully: "Are you that serious?"
Zhu Ming smacked his lips, savoring the taste of millet porridge: "I'm not full."
"It's enough. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law didn't eat much, and all the food went into our bellies," Zhu Guoxiang said.
Ju Ming was actually picky: "If this millet can be shelled, it will definitely taste better."
Zhu Guoxiang said disgustedly: "Don't say you are my son in the future."
Bai Qi suddenly interrupted and expressed his opinion with a serious expression: "I have eaten shelled corn porridge, and it tastes very fragrant. I will always remember it."
"Haha, heroes think alike," Zhu Ming stretched out his hand and teased the child, "Come on, give me five!"
Bai Qi heard a question mark in his head, not knowing what it meant. Faced with his elder brother's expectant eyes, he subconsciously stretched out his little hand weakly.
Snapped!
High five success.
Maybe he was mentally tense for half a month, but now he finally relaxed. Ju Ming let himself go a little bit and wanted to do something for fun: "After high-fiving, say yes. Follow me and learn, yes!"
Bai Qi said stupidly: "Yeah!"
Ju Ming started rehearsing again: "Now let's do a full set. I say Give me five, let's high-five, and then say yes!"
"Remember." Bai Qi felt like he was learning some high-end etiquette.
Ju Ming smiled even more happily: "Here we go, Give me five!"
Bai Qi, this child, is very perceptive. He quickly clapped his hands and shouted seriously: "Yeah!"
Zhu Guoxiang sat next to him, putting his hand on his forehead and couldn't bear to look at him. He was so childish.
Suddenly, there was a sound outside the courtyard.
Zhu Guoxiang thought there was a visitor, but when he turned around, he saw that the skinny horse was standing at the arch, and he wanted to come in even though he was watching the excitement in the courtyard.
The more Ju Ming played with the child, the more excited he became, and he actually started to sing: "I'll teach you a children's song, do you want to learn it?"
"I think." Bai Qi looked expectantly.
Zhu Ming smiled and said: "This children's song is called "The Lonely Warrior". It is very famous in my hometown. Even a three-year-old kid can sing it. Come and learn from me line by line..."
The corner of Zhu Guoxiang's mouth was already twitching. What the hell did he raise?
When Shen Yourong made the bed and came to the courtyard again, he suddenly heard the beautiful children's song: "I love you walking alone in the dark alley, I love the way you don't kneel..."
Zhu Ming then stood up and said to her son: "Don't just sit and sing. Do some poses and some accompaniment. Move again, move again, move again, yo yo yo, Cheek is making trouble!"
Bai Qi stood up in a daze as if he were possessed by a ghost, and learned to sing and dance seriously: "Move it, hit it, move it, hit it, yo yo yo, Cheke!"
Ju Ming had a bad smile on his face: "You have learned well. I will teach you a little chicken dance another day."
In this small farmyard of the Northern Song Dynasty, the ancient pastoral style quickly collapsed.
Grandma Yan stood under the eaves, her face a little anxious, and she whispered to her daughter-in-law: "Is this Zhu Dalang suffering from hysteria? He looks crazy."
Shen Yourong took the initiative to excuse Ju Ming: "Auntie, don't panic, extraordinary people do extraordinary things, and great people often behave in extraordinary ways."
"I'm afraid he will lead Brother Qi into trouble." Mrs. Yan said worriedly.
Shen Yourong was silent for a few seconds and said quietly: "Brother Qi hasn't been this happy for a long time."
Grandma Yan was startled when she heard this. She looked at her increasingly lively grandson and immediately relaxed her brows: "That's right, the baby should be noisy. Those who can play happily with the baby must not be bad people... These two men are so downtrodden. They are very, very filthy and smelly. You go and boil some bath water, and I will go find a change of clothes."
Before the bath water was boiled, Mrs. Yan had already come out with clothes.
Grandma Yan held up the clothes and said, "Ms. Zhu, Zhu Dalang, these are the clothes that my son often wore when he was alive. If you two gentlemen don't dislike it, you can change into it after taking a bath."
Ju Ming was playing nonchalantly with a child. When he heard this, he immediately became serious and cupped his hands and said: "How dare you dislike it? The old lady is serious about it!"
Zhu Guoxiang also stepped forward to thank Mrs. Yan and took the clothes from Mrs. Yan.
While waiting for the hot water to be heated in the bath, Ju Ming asked: "Old madam, can you borrow some salt? The beast outside the door has not eaten salt for several months, so I need to get some salt water for it to drink."
"Yes." Grandma Yan went to get salt again.
Not long after, a bowl of salt water was brought and carefully handed to Ju Ming's hand.
Ju Ming put the thin horse into the courtyard. The horse stuck out his tongue and took a lick. He was so excited when he tasted the salt that he buried his head and never raised it again.
Shen Yourong walked over quietly and said in a low voice: "Aunt, the water is boiled and there isn't much left in the tank. I'll go pick some more out."
Both father and son were watching the horses drink salt water, but they didn't notice that Shen Yourong went out in the dark carrying a bucket.
After the beast felt comfortable, Mrs. Yan said: "The bath water is boiled, which one of you will take a bath first?"
Zhu Guoxiang said: "Go ahead."
Ju Ming was not humble and followed Mrs. Yan to the bathing place. The bath water was a bit hot, so he had to add some cold water to mix it with it. Ju Ming soon discovered that the water tank was about to bottom out.
He ran back to the courtyard and said to his father: "There is not enough water in the tank, and Mrs. Shen is not here either. She must have gone to fetch water."
"I understand, you go take a shower." Zhu Guoxiang nodded.
Zhu Ming went to take a hot bath, and Mrs. Yan turned around and went back to the house.
The tables and stools in the courtyard had not been cleared away, and the oil lamp was still on. Grandma Yan came out with a needle and thread, sat next to the dim oil lamp, and buried her head in the soles of her shoes.
Zhu Guoxiang pulled the child into a dark place and asked, "Where do you usually get water?"
Bai Qi replied: "In the river."
Zhu Guoxiang ordered: "Go back to your grandmother and don't run around."
"Yeah." Bai Qi nodded obediently.
Zhu Guoxiang figured out the direction and walked towards the river. The distance was quite far, at least a mile. Moreover, there were many roads and winding roads for a mile and a half.
There is a quarter moon hanging in the sky, stars are dotted, and visibility is less than one meter at night.
After walking for a while, Zhu Guoxiang finally heard the noise, and Shen Yourong returned panting heavily to carry water.
"Ms. Shen, let me do it." Zhu Guoxiang said.
There was a sudden sound in the darkness, which startled Shen Yourong. When she heard it was Zhu Guoxiang's voice, she quickly said, "No, we're almost there."
"Let me come, I have the strength." Zhu Guoxiang blocked the path.
Shen Yourong had no choice but to put down the bucket and said with embarrassment, "Excuse me, my dear guest."
The two buckets of water weighed several dozen kilograms. After traveling, Zhu Guoxiang's physical condition improved, and it was very easy for Zhu Guoxiang to lift them.
Shen Yourong followed behind and saw that he was very agile in carrying water. He had obviously done farm work. He couldn't help but be more curious about the origins of father and son.
There was no words all the way. When they returned outside the hospital, Shen Yourong quickly stepped forward and opened the door.
When Grandma Yan heard the noise, she looked up and saw Zhu Guoxiang coming in carrying water. She put down her soles and went to help. She scolded her daughter-in-law and said, "How can you let the guests do it?"
Shen Yourong smiled and said nothing.
Zhu Guoxiang said: "We are the ones causing trouble. It doesn't matter if we carry buckets of water."
Zhu Guoxiang carried the water and continued walking inside, quickly unloaded the load, poured a bucket of water into the water tank, and poured the other bucket of water into the big pot. He then took the initiative to sit in front of the stove and added more water to the stove that was still on. Firewood, this pot of bath water is for him to boil.
Grandma Yan watched Zhu Guoxiang busy and muttered: "There should be a man at home."
"What did aunt say?" Shen Yourong asked.
Grandma Yan pulled her daughter-in-law into the back room and said, "I have suffered a lot from you these past few years."
Shen Yourong said: "Auntie, don't talk about this."
Grandma Yan sighed: "There are orphans and widowers in the family, so it is inevitable that people will miss them. I am not very capable, so I can only fight off those rogue people. There are more than one or two matchmakers who come to the door, and you don't give them a good look. look……"
"What do you want to say, aunt?" Shen Yourong interrupted.
Grandma Yan was still going around in circles: "When your uncle (father-in-law) was alive, our family still had eighty acres of land. My unlucky son spent a lot of money on studying. He sold the land every year for money, and he lost a few dollars. All the tile-roofed houses were sold, but in the end they died outside. Now, my family only has about twenty acres of land left, and there is no man in the family. I can’t support brother Qi for a few years in school.”
Shen Yourong got it wrong and swore, "Don't worry, aunt, my wife will never remarry. Even if she begs for food, she will raise Brother Qi. If you don't keep your word, the Lord of Hell will cut out your tongue after death!"
"That's not what I meant," Mrs. Yan pointed towards the kitchen. "I'm afraid that father and son are both from wealthy families, and they have drunk ink in their stomachs. I saw that Mr. Zhu was very efficient at work. He must have fallen into decline in recent years. .They are living in our village. They don’t even have enough food to eat, and I’m afraid they don’t have anywhere to go. It’s better to..."
"Not as good as what?" Shen Yourong asked.
"It's better to recruit a wife," Grandma Yan said openly, "that Mr. Zhu has a very upright appearance and is not too old. He is a good match for you."
Shen Yourong didn't have this intention at first, but when her mother-in-law said it, she immediately blushed and couldn't help but think about Zhu Guoxiang's appearance. The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she became, her face turned red, she lowered her head and muttered: "Others only learn when they are full, so they have great abilities. How can you marry a widow?"
But Grandma Yan made a good calculation: "No matter how educated you are, you will soon starve to death. You can make an agreement with him in advance and only pay half of the marriage."
"Half of the marriage?" Shen Yourong didn't understand.
Grandma Yan elaborated on her plan: "He will move to my house, and he will have children with you without changing his name. In the future, his surname can also be Zhu. But Brother Qi's surname is still Bai, and he has to raise Brother Qi." The two of them are knowledgeable and can teach Brother Qi to read, so they can save a lot on tuition. With two more men in the family, we are not afraid of being missed anymore. If there is no more man to head the house, the twenty dollars we have in hand will The few acres of land will be occupied by the villagers sooner or later."
Shen Yourong thought of Zhu Guoxiang's appearance again and couldn't help but glance towards the kitchen. The pretty widow was obviously moved.
Grandma Yan continued: "The land at the east end of the village was occupied by a ridge last year, and the killer Baifud moved all the fields. I went to ask the old member Baifu to comment on it, but Baifud refused to admit it. He relied on the fact that there were many men in the family. , just to bully us two widows. When you have a man, you won’t be so useless!"
"But..." Shen Yourong was happy and nervous at the same time, with a bit of hesitation and worry.
Grandma Yan was still saying: "The men who had ideas for you in the past didn't have any good intentions. This father and son are different. Although they just met today, their eyes are very direct. My old lady is definitely right in seeing people. That Zhu Dalang , and you can play well with Brother Qi. That Mr. Zhu knows how to love others if he helps you carry water. Don’t be afraid that if you remarry, Brother Qi will be bullied by your stepfather. My old lady is not stupid either. She pinched Tian Qi. How can two foreigners take it away from them? My family’s more than 20 acres of farmland are not afraid of being missed by foreigners, but I’m afraid that local people from this village will take it away!"
Shen Yourong thought carefully and found that in terms of land alone, outsiders were indeed more reliable than the villagers.
Grandma Yan suddenly sighed again: "It's really hard to do without a man in the family, so the tenant farmers will have evil intentions. And I have to support Brother Qi's education, and I can't support it even if I sell out all the land. I really have no choice."
Shen Yourong held the sarong in his fists, tightening it and then loosening it, and then loosening it and tightening it. She lowered her head shyly, as thin as a mosquito and said, "Aunt, I'm willing to get married. But... I'm a country widow, so I'm afraid I won't be able to get married. Xianggong Dharma Eyes."
Grandma Yan said: "Let them stay for a few more days, and I will go and check their voices first."