Chapter 31 Chapter Thirty-One

Dani is really good at giving birth to sons. From the eighth year of Tongzhi, she gave birth to four sons, Chunwang, Qiuwang, Dongwang, and Xiawang, like a hen laying eggs, which made the women in Zazipo envious.In the third year of Guangxu, Dani was pregnant for the fifth time, and when she was thinking of having a daughter who could be a companion in the future, she gave birth to her only daughter, Wufeng. Wufeng was different from the previous four elder brothers when he was born, with handsome eyebrows and beautiful eyes, and a delicate appearance.She also has a bad temper, always wants to be hugged, and cries when not hugged, which makes the whole family feel uneasy.Dani had to take care of the food and drink of the family of seven, and also tended a vegetable garden. She didn't have time to hug Wufeng, so she handed Wufeng to the care of her seven-year-old eldest brother Chunwang and six-year-old second brother Qiuwang.Ever since, Chunwang and Qiuwang became Wufeng's little slaves, and they took turns holding and carrying Wufeng around Kuzipo.The third child, Dong Wang, and the fourth child, Xia Wang, were content to roll and dance around the house and yard, often making the internal organs of the three mud huts and the small earthen-walled courtyard look like a pigsty.

Dani's temper became very bad, and except for Wufeng, she beat her four sons as soon as she raised her hand.The sons were beaten up, and they were not afraid of their mother.The most daring one was Dong Wang, the youngest. He had just been beaten here, and the tears on his face were still wet, and there was a quarrel over there, either scratching his younger brother Xia Wang's face, or in the only wooden basin at home. He pissed, which gave his mother Dani more reason to beat him up again. Although the sons were often beaten, they were very kind to their mother.Dani took a break to nurse Wufeng, and the sons gathered around like a group of piglets, one beat the mother's legs, the other beat the mother's back, none of the sons acted like a baby in front of the mother - except for the daughter Wufeng, Dani's None of the sons has learned to act like a baby.The sons valued the mother's reputation more seriously, and who dared to mention the mother's back then, the four sons fought with each other with one heart.

Because of the stability of life in Xiayao, the population of Kazipo is thriving.There were three hundred and four remnants of the Cao Tuan back then. Not many died in these years, but quite a few were born again, and there were bare-bottomed children covered in dust all over the place.Mr. Bai Er happened to pass by once, looking at the children all over his eyes, he was very surprised, thinking that he had gone to the wrong place - when he promised these gangsters to settle on the slope, Mr. Bai Er did not expect that the descendants of the gangsters would grow like weeds. . The first generation of children in Zazipo looked like weeds, more like wild dogs, and they all looked the same.In summer, naked, soaking in the desert river, drying in the sun, the whole body is black and shiny.He also quarrels like a wild dog biting a fight all day long. Almost every day on the slope, a mother scolds the street for her son who has suffered a disadvantage.Winter is a bit better. The children don't have cotton clothes to wear, and most of them lie on their stomachs on their own kangs.The children can't go outside to make trouble, so they only fight against their mothers, and the mothers' life is not easy.

Dani's four sons caused a lot of trouble.Internal squabbles at home, but huddling together externally, cuddling up with anyone who fights.There are always more wins and fewer losses.On the other hand, Dani always apologizes to others with a smile more often than finds them at the door.For this reason, Dani used shoe soles and willow sticks to beat her sons a lot, but after doing so, she felt very proud, thinking that her sons were much better than their old man Cao Ershun. Among the four sons, the eldest, Chunwang, was the most sensible. Whenever he ran out of food and had nothing to eat, he would never make noise, and even helped his mother coax his younger brothers.From the age of four, Chunwang helped his mother in the vegetable garden. At the age of five, he turned around to dig wild vegetables. At the age of six, he carried Wufeng on his back and took Qiuwang to the river ditch to catch some small fish and shrimps.What surprised Dani the most was that once Cao Ershun hurt her foot under the kiln. She didn't leave the kiln for three days, and there was no grain of food at home. She was so anxious that she cried.Chunwang silently took Qiuwang and Wufeng to Qiaotou Town to beg for food for a day. Not only did the three children have enough to eat, but they also brought back ten catties of flour from the kind Pastor James.

The second child, Qiuwang, is also quite sensible, but his intentions are not right at the beginning.Once, seeing that Dani was sick and unable to get up in bed, she ran down the slope at night to steal someone's chicken, hoping to steal it and cook it for her mother.When Dani saw the stolen chicken, she was so angry that she whipped Qiu Wang with the sole of her shoe, and asked Cao Ershun to beat Qiu Wang herself. The most useless is the fourth child, Xia Wang, who is tearful all day long, and without the company of his three older brothers, he is always bullied.At home, Dong Wang, the third child, was his rival, who bullied him, and even ran to his mother to complain.When there was any unsolved case in the family, Dong Wang always said that Xia Wang did it, and Xia Wang suffered a lot of unjust beatings. Later, no one expected that among the four sons of the Cao family, it was Cao Xiawang who succeeded him. The rebellious spirit of the grandpa of the regiment, raised the anti-Qing righteousness flag again during the 1911 period, instigated new army uprisings everywhere, threw bombs at the governor's office three times, and became the only revolutionary hero in Qiaotou Town who sacrificed his life for the Republic of China.

Wufeng was the luckiest, he had never been beaten by Dani since he was a child, nor had he been beaten by his brothers.Needless to say Chunwang, Qiuwang and Wufeng's relationship, Xiawang also likes this only sister.Only Dongwang is used to bullying Xiawang, and he also wants to bully Wufeng, but how can Wufeng be a fuel-efficient lamp?Not to mention that there are Chunwang and Qiuwang protecting him, even his exaggerated crying can deal with Dongwang.Dani, who was exhausted all day long, was not in the mood to reason, but whenever she heard Wufeng's cry, no matter whether she blamed Dong Wang or not, she always slapped Dong Wang before talking——for the slap on Dong Wang's body, Dani I regretted it for many years after I died of illness in Dongwang.

Dani can always see her shadow in Wufeng.Sometimes when she hugged Wufeng, Dani would think that Wufeng was another her.But Wufeng is not like her, she can speak well, is extremely well-behaved, and has a small mouth that is very sweet.Fate is good, the whole family dotes on her, even if it is broken, Cao Ershun, who is a father, will not eat a bite, and she will eat, no matter how difficult the life is, he has not treated her badly.Therefore, the childhood Kuazipo was a place full of warmth for Wufeng.Many of the last five phoenixes became characters, and together with Qiu Wang, they contributed to the re-emergence of the Cao family, and performed a good show of Feng Shui rotation with vibrancy.However, whether she was the wife of Long Yuqing, a giant bandit in the mountains when she was young, or the wife of Long Yuqing, the guardian envoy of the Republic of China and the supervisor of the Republic of China, Wufeng never forgot Zazipo.

During this period, Xiao Taiping and Cao Yue'e, who were gaining the upper hand, also had three daughters and one son.The son is the youngest, at the same age as Xia Wang, and has a vivid breast name called Urinal.The urinal and her mother Cao Yue'e have been to Changzipo several times together. They don't think the four cousins ​​are poor in spring, summer, autumn and winter, and they don't think they are dirty. They always want to join them.The cousins ​​ignored him, and the second cousin Qiuwang even caught caterpillars to scare him, which made the urinal very sad.The urinal didn't know at the time that this poor, dirty and mischievous second cousin would become the comprador of the SPRO China Coal Mine Company in the British Empire, while his rich young man would become the leader of the labor union representing the interests of labor. The evolution of the world It is shocking.

The poor cousins ​​made the urinal sad, but Cao Ershun made Cao Yue'e sad.Ever since Xiao Taiping injured his left eye in the tenth year of Tongzhi, Cao Ershun never spoke to Xiao Taiping again.Sometimes when I walked to the opposite side, I twisted my neck, turned around and left.With such a life, the second brother still insisted that the Xiao family didn't want any money.The elder brother doesn't accept the love of his younger sister, but he has a very warm relationship with the foreign hairy James, which makes Cao Yue'e angry when he sees it.Because of her anger, Cao Yue'e came to Zazipo less and less frequently after she lived in the Xiao family's mansion in Qiaotou Town, so that she didn't even know that Dani gave birth to Wufeng for more than half a year.

In the fifth year of Guangxu, when Wufeng was over one year old, the life of Cao Ershun's family entered the most difficult period. The pride born of having many children faded in Cao Ershun's heart year by year, followed by constant sighs day and night.Facing a family with seven mouths to eat and drink, Cao Ershun's ambition to earn a few acres of land was completely bankrupt.Because he was afraid that Dani would give birth to a sixth or seventh child again, he didn't even dare to do that with Dani.Cao Ershun used to talk less, but now he talks even less. Sometimes he didn't say a word for ten and a half months. When his sons got upset, he hid under the old locust tree on the slope to smoke and pray.

Talked more with Pastor James.Many things that cannot be said to my wife and children can be said to Pastor James.Sometimes, also silently speaking to the Lord in my heart while praying.Cao Ershun always felt that the Lord would not make his family unable to survive. The business in the kiln was so good, how could he not survive?It doesn't make sense.But the fact is that the increasing development of the coal kiln industry in Qiaotou Town did not bring any real benefits to Cao Ershun, but brought new worries to Cao Ershun.Every time during the slack season, Cao Ershun could not help worrying about layoffs at the kiln when he saw a large number of laborers from other places flocking to the town and the kiln. He was even more worried about the salary reduction at the kiln. Paid. In the fifth year of Guangxu, the kiln had not yet lowered the wages, and the next kiln still paid five liters of sorghum according to the old practice.Although Cao Ershun said that he would no longer associate with Xiao Taiping, he still fawned on his work in the Baijiayao. He didn't want to do anything else, but wanted to save face from his acquaintance Wang Guitou, so that he could connect a few more kilns.During the slack season, there are many people, and many brothers in Changzipo thought that the Duolian Kiln would no longer be possible. After years of hard work, Cao Ershun's solid body gradually became bent, and he became so thin that he lost his shape.Once Xiao Taiping didn't dare to recognize him when he saw it.After recognizing him, Xiao Taiping felt compassion and wanted to help his brother-in-law.But Xiao Taiping knew that Cao Ershun was too stubborn, so he didn't come forward, but he ordered his younger brother Xiao Taizhong to come forward and asked Cao Ershun to go to the coal dock to guard the coal field, making an exception and giving two buckets of sorghum a day.Cao Ershun was very happy at first, but later he learned that the brothers guarding the charcoal yard and loading coal on the wharf raised five grains of sorghum a day, and realized that it was because of Xiao Taiping's favor, so he didn't want to go to the charcoal yard.He also told Xiao Taizhong gloomily that he had sworn to God that he would never associate with Xiao Taiping again. Xiao Taizhong went back and told Xiao Taiping that Xiao Taiping was so angry that he asked Xiao Taizhong to bring a message to Cao Ershun: he bought the current Kazipo from Mr. Bai Er. .Cao Yuee was also very angry, but she had to persuade her.First persuaded Xiao Taiping, then went to the slope to persuade Cao Ershun, and said to Cao Ershun: Don't think that Xiao Taiping and I are for you—we are for ourselves. If you don't think about it, your bones are really broken. Does it matter? !Cao Ershun really did it, and was persuaded by his sister to go back to the charcoal field, but he only received the same five-liter sorghum as everyone else, and Heili went to the Baijia old kiln to kiln another five-liter sorghum. Even though it was so difficult, Cao Ershun still maintained the integrity of the Cao family in front of Xiao Taiping, which made Xiao Taiping unable to be unconvinced, and also had to have a headache. Because I look at the charcoal field on the coal wharf during the day, I don’t have to work hard, and I can often take a nap when I have time to go to the kiln at night. The energy is much better.Calculated sorghum earns three or four buckets more than in previous months, Cao Ershun's family is still able to get by, and has not yet fallen to the point of begging. Pastor James often lends a helping hand during this lean period in his life.Whenever he went back to Bazipo to preach the gospel to the church members, Pastor James always stopped by Cao Ershun’s house to have a look, gave Dani some food and old clothes, and often brought some small gifts to the children of Cao’s family.It was from Pastor James that the children of the Cao family ate candy for the first time, and they learned that there is another kind of sweetness in the world. Chunwang, Qiuwang, Dongwang, Xiawang and Wufeng all regarded the tall and thin Pastor James as God. Many years later, Qiu Wang, who changed his name to Cao Jieke and became a British comprador, recalled his childhood spent on Zazipo and said: "...Pastor James is completely the incarnation of the Lord. Poe, also brought the Lord’s mercy and the gospel of heaven to a poor Chinese family. The omnipotent and omnipresent Lord saved us through Pastor James, and decisively changed the fate of our Cao family in the future... ..." Wufeng and the giant bandit Long Yuqing stopped believing in religion after they took the place of heaven, but they have always maintained a deep respect for Pastor James.In the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu, Long Yuqing tied up the ticket of the eldest and young master of the Bai family, and asked the elderly Mr. Bai Er to go to the mountain to redeem him by name.Young Master Bai is a church member, so Mr. Bai Er asked Pastor James.As soon as Wufeng saw that Pastor James had entered the mountain for Young Master Bai, he asked Long Yuqing to release him without saying a word, and told Long Yuqing that Pastor Zhan is God, and if we don’t listen to the emperor, we must listen to God... In the early years of Guangxu, there were no adults or children in Kuangzipo who did not know Pastor James. Everyone called Pastor James Uncle Zhan. Everyone knew that Uncle Zhan was a good man with a kind heart. He believed in foreign Bodhisattvas. The wild child that people want.Because of the trust in the good-hearted Uncle Zhan, many men and women on the slope gradually believed in God. The gospel of the kingdom of heaven spread rapidly on the slope, and even a church was built in the fifth year of Guangxu.However, this church is probably the most crude church in the history of Christianity: an empty earthen house with nothing in it.When the earthen house was completed, a wooden cross was hung, but it was stolen within three days, another one was hung, and it was stolen again the next day, and it was never hung again.Pastor James did not blame him, saying that as long as Jesus Christ is in the hearts of our brothers and sisters, it will be fine. However, no one expected that in the fall of this year, the Mohe Missionary Case happened. A group of people in Mohe City brutally killed a pastor named Peter.The talent master in Qiaotou Town also recruited a group of people to chase and beat Pastor James everywhere, causing Pastor James to suffer...