In the afternoon, when the sun was no longer so fierce, Boss Zhan walked out of the bedroom after resting for more than half an hour.
When he looked up and saw his daughter sitting on a small stool, holding an embroidery needle and a rag to learn needlework, Mr. Zhan's old-fashioned and square face softened a bit.
"Dad, you're up." Zhan Feiyu raised his head, with a big smile on his white and tender face. Coupled with his big black round eyes, he looked more energetic than the little girls in the village.
Boss Zhan touched his daughter's head with his broad, rough palm, "Don't prick your hands."
Perhaps because he has never had a son, Boss Zhan looks dull and serious, and his sullen face can scare children to tears.
Among the children of the Zhan family, even Dalang Zhan, who had studied and seemed to be superior to others, were a little afraid of his uncle, but Zhan Feiyu was not afraid. The relationship between father and daughter was very good.
Mrs. Li handed the bamboo tube filled with coarse tea on the table to Boss Zhan, glanced at the white sun outside the door, and couldn't help but tell her, "There is not much life in the fields, so take it easy and don't get a heat stroke."
The autumn harvest has passed, and this year is a bumper year. The rice is growing well, and every household's granary is full of grain. There is no heavy work now, and there are only a few acres of vegetable land left that need to be cultivated.
Accustomed to working with his face facing the loess and his back turned to the sky, Boss Zhan took the bamboo tube and said, "I'm leaving."
Here, Boss Zhan walked away with a hoe on his back, and Zhan Feiyu ran out quickly. A clear child's voice came into the house, "Mom, I'm going to pick peaches on the mountain."
"This girl." Mrs. Li smiled and cursed and put away the small basket containing needlework and cloth.
When Zhan Feiyu reached the hillside behind the village, he heard the noise of chirping in the distance.
Erniu saw Zhan Feiyu coming with sharp eyes, and ran over happily. The patch threads on his knees came loose and swayed in the wind, "Xiaoyu, come quickly, the peaches on this tree are all red."
Even though Zhan Feiyu is just a little girl, she has a high prestige among this group of children.
On weekdays, a group of children are playing around, chasing each other, but Zhan Feiyu is good at making up stories. Today, you will be an officer and I will be a bandit. Tomorrow, you will be a big tiger in the mountains, and I will be a big wild wolf. They are also chasing each other.
However, because of the role-playing, a group of children couldn't stop playing.
"Xiaoyu, there are five red peaches on the top of the tree. How do you divide them?" Shanwazi was as tanned as black charcoal. After saying this, he raised his head and looked up at the top of the tree, followed by Erniu and the other children.
look up.
There are not enough peaches, and everyone is greedy. If Zhan Feiyu doesn't come over, a few naughty boys will probably start a fight.
Following the example of a group of friends, Zhan Feiyu also raised his little head with a double bun and looked at the top of the tree. A clear and soft children's voice sounded, "The three fastest ones will get a peach, and the last two will be cut in half."
, divided among the remaining four people."
Erniu and Shanwazi reacted quickly. After comparing the number of people, everyone could eat, and it was fun. The two tanned, lean and tanned children spat into their palms and rubbed them together.
Listening to the shouts of his friends under the tree, Zhan Feiyu lost all appetite when he thought of the peach stained with saliva.
After a while, the race started, ending at the gate of Zhan's courtyard. The shouts of six or seven naughty children could be heard throughout the village.
"They are all not afraid of the sun." The aunt passing by smiled and shook her head.
Erniu and Shanwazi shouted and rushed forward, followed by three or four others, but Zhan Feiyu followed slowly.
After Erniu and Shanwazi won with an absolute advantage, Zhan Feiyu also came, and a group of people roared and rushed into the Zhan family's big yard.
"Xiaoyu, split the peaches quickly."
"I need to drink water, my throat is filled with smoke."
An old well was drilled in the yard of Zhan's family. Erniu was eight years old. He picked up the wooden bucket and threw it down. After lifting up half a bucket of water, the sweating children came around with a splash, and water splashed everywhere.
A peach was also thrown into the bucket and washed.
"It's so noisy, Xiaoyu, you go out and play!" Zhan Dalang opened the window and cursed dissatisfiedly.
Zhan Dalang regarded himself as a scholar, but seeing Er Niu and the others having fun all over the mountains and plains, Zhan Dalang's eyes turned red with envy, and he wished he could tear up all the books on the table and read a lot!
"Brother, we are competing. Whoever wins will eat the peach." A clear and cheerful voice sounded, and Zhan Feiyu turned around with a big smile on his face.
"Little fish, I'm the first one, I'll pick first!" Erniu grabbed the biggest and reddest one and took a bite. There was a click, and the juice splashed everywhere. Erniu smacked his mouth, eating it as if it were a fairy peach.
After Zhan Feiyu cut the two peaches in the kitchen and took them out, little Yao walked out of the main room on the left.
Looking at a group of children holding peaches and chewing them, little Yao didn't say anything, but Sanlang rushed out and stared longingly at the half peach in Zhan Feiyu's hand, "Sister."
"Sanlang, that belongs to Xiaoyu, don't be greedy." Little Yao pretended to scold his youngest son.
Although the two children are the same age, Zhan Feiyu is small, short, white and chubby, with black hair combed into small buns and a pair of big round eyes, as pink and tender as a baby's.
Furthermore, the eldest brother and sister-in-law are the backbone of the Zhan family, and little Yao is not blind enough to stare at half a peach. On the contrary, she is very good to Zhan Feiyu, her eldest niece, at least she talks about it.
"Here, here you go." Zhan Feiyu handed over the peach without being greedy.
Sanlang grabbed the peach and stuffed it into his mouth. He was so fast that his nails scratched Zhan Feiyu's chubby hand, leaving two red marks instantly.
"Xiaoyu, Sanlang is only two months younger than you. Don't spoil him. You earned this?" The smile on Xiao Yao's face became more genuine. He couldn't hear clearly in the room just now, mainly.
There were six or seven children, and their words were mixed together.
"Second Aunt, I am the fastest and I win." Er Niu stood up with her strong little chest, holding a peach in her mouth, and almost drooled when she spoke.
Little Yao listened to the whole peach-eating competition from Er Niu and Shan Wazi. His eyes flashed shrewdly, and the smile on his face, which was covered in pits and dark spots, deepened a bit.
Zhan Feiyu filled some more water, squatted by the wooden bucket to wash his hands, and glanced up at his second aunt. The plan was half successful.
It gets dark late in summer. Usually after dinner, people in the village like to go out to cool off, either by the stream at the entrance of the village or under the big banyan tree in the middle of the village. Only tonight, Shang Zhan’s family didn’t come out after putting away the dishes.
.
"Mom, I think both Erlang and Sanlang want to study, but the family can't afford Shuxiu, and they can only send one to a private school in September. Why don't we let the children compete, and whoever is smarter will enroll first, and so on.
Next year we will go to the county to work part-time and earn enough money to send our children to private schools."
As soon as little Yao said these words, the Zhan family members who had just gathered together at noon fell into deep thought.
Old man Zhan took two puffs of dry cigarette and nodded in agreement, "This is a good idea."
They are all the grandsons of the Zhan family, and it will be the same whether Erlang or Sanlang enters the private school. But old man Zhan doesn't want the second and third bedrooms to quarrel over this matter again. There have been some gaps before. If this quarrels again, there will be no peace in the family, and if word spreads, it will be
It was a joke among the villagers that the competition for admission was the fairest, and those who lost did not make a fuss.