Chapter 36 Chapter Thirty-Five

Waking up early that morning, Zhou Kewen suffocated his urine as usual and wanted to go out to relieve himself. When he walked into the yard, he suddenly heard a crackling sound in the air. He looked up and saw a person climbing on the mulberry tree outside the courtyard wall. I am breaking branches and picking mulberries.Zhou Kewen was very angry. This person is too bold. In broad daylight, he dares to steal fruit from other people's door?This is not stealing, it is clearly robbery! Zhou Kewen likes trees, especially mulberry trees.The holy land of Great Harmony in his heart was described by Mencius: a house with five acres, with mulberry trees, and fifty people can wear silk.Chickens, pigs, dogs, pigs, don't lose their time, and those in their seventies can eat meat.Don't take away the time for a field of a hundred mu, and a family of several mouths can live without hunger.I would like to recite the teaching of the preface, affirming the righteousness of filial piety and brotherhood, and those who award it will not be burdened by the road.Those who are seventy wear silk and eat meat, and the people of Li are neither hungry nor cold, but they are not kings, and there is no such thing.In order to realize this sacred state, Zhou Kewen first planted mulberry trees around the house.However, his planting of mulberry trees is slightly different from that of the sage. The sage's purpose is to raise silkworms, and he wants to make his mouth happy.Zhou Kewen likes to eat mulberry, which is the best fruit. It is said that it has been listed as a tribute in all dynasties.Zhou Kewen eats in a unique way. Most people pick it up and eat it raw. The mouth is full of purple juice, as if drinking fresh blood.Zhou Kewen pays attention to it. He washes and dries the mulberries, grinds them into fine powder, adds honey to make pills, and chews two pills a day for many years. This is the secret recipe for strengthening the body.Zhou Kewen felt that he was about to turn 60, his hair was not gray, his eyes were not blurred, his waist was not hurting, and his legs were not sore, all thanks to this secret recipe.Zhou Kewen loved to read idle books, and he flipped through some medical books of the ancients at random. After reading, asking, and asking, he figured out what to do.He is often eager to try to see a doctor, but no one believes him, including his wife.Zhou Kewen was very aggrieved. All the prescriptions he prescribed had their own origins. They were either based on the "Huangdi Neijing" or taken from "Qianjin Fang".If others don’t believe it, he has to believe it himself, and prescribe the prescription for himself, like this prescription for mulberry is from "Materia Medica", which says: "The mulberry harvest is exposed to dryness, and honey and pills are taken. Open and close the orifice, and reassure the soul." Suppresses the spirit. Take it for a long time without hunger, sharpen ears and eyesight.”

Although the mulberry tree is good, it cannot be planted in the yard.Sang and mourning are homophonic, which is unlucky, so Zhou Kewen had to plant them outside the door.However, they are all close to the courtyard wall, and the entire canopy can be seen in the courtyard. Zhou Kewentu's is for easy supervision, in case someone will spoil the mulberries when they are ripe.In previous years, the people in Zhoujiazhai obeyed the rules. Occasionally, someone was greedy, passing by a tree, throwing a lump of soil on it, and dropping a few bundles of mulberries. Kevin makes pills for a year.But I didn't expect that this year someone would climb up the tree and even break off the branches to pick mulberries. How can Zhou Kewen not be angry!Zhou Kewen thought, you have peeled all the trees in my field, and now even the tree in front of me is not spared, this is too much!

Who is this?Zhou Kewen was about to yell, but when he took a closer look, he found that it was a doll, an unfamiliar doll.He hastily swallowed back the shout that was about to come out of his throat, and crept to the bottom of the gatehouse to hide himself.He knew that such a small doll must not be an old thief. He was timid, and if he got frightened and slipped and fell, it would be terrible. A tree five or six feet high would break a leg and an arm anyway. Zhou Kewen didn't dare to open the courtyard door, for fear of making a noise.But if he didn't open the door, he couldn't find a place to piss, and he would pee his crotch any longer.Fortunately, Chun'e got up at this time, she took the urinal and walked out the door, seeing her father hiding under the gate, she didn't know what to do.Zhou Kewen pointed to the top of his head, Chun'e looked up and found the person on the mulberry tree.Just as she was about to shout, Zhou Kewen quickly covered his mouth to signal to Chun'e, who also suppressed the shouting.She understood what her father meant, and thought that this old man was too lenient, he treated others like this even after others bullied him to the door.Zhou Kewen beckoned again to ask Chun'e to bring over the urinal, Chun'e thought her father told her to empty the urinal, she thought to herself, you can't even go out, why should I go out?Unexpectedly, her father asked her to put the urinal under his feet.Chun'e didn't know why, Zhou Kewen waved to her while unbuttoning his pants, she blushed and understood what was going on.Chun'e quietly retreated into the room, and Zhou Kewen urinated profusely.

After the burden was relieved, Zhou Kewen just waited for the doll downstairs.After about a bag of cigarettes, he heard the rustling sound from the tree, and knew that the baby had crawled down.The moment the doll fell to the ground, Zhou Kewen opened the door and grabbed him.The doll trembled in fright, Zhou Kewen raised his arm and was about to slap him, but his arm stopped in mid-air.The doll's terrified face turned towards him, and he recognized who he was. Although it was unfamiliar, he had seen it before. He is the doll of the outsider woman next door. He has been wandering around the village for the past two days, and everyone has seen him.Zhou Kewen felt compassion, he knew that the baby climbed the tree because he was so hungry that he couldn't help it.Also, he probably wants to see his mother from a high place.Zhou Kewen relaxed his tense face and asked the doll, what's your name?The doll looked at him nervously, not daring to speak.Zhou Kewen said, don't be afraid, I won't beat you.He wanted to touch the doll's head with his hand to ease the atmosphere, but he didn't expect the doll to hide back in fright when it saw his hand stretched out.Zhou Kewen thought it was useless to say anything at this time, only actions could eliminate the doll's fear.Just at this time, Chun'e came back from the urinal, and said to her daughter-in-law, go back and get a steamed bun for the baby.Chun'e didn't even bother to wash her hands, and immediately took out a steamed bun.Zhou Kewen handed it to the baby, but the baby was dazed and did not dare to take it.Zhou Kewen said that the baby's house, wheat flour buns, are very fragrant.The doll took it hesitantly, took a bite cautiously, saw Zhou Kewen nodding to him with a smile, and immediately started to gobble it up, a bun disappeared in the blink of an eye, making him gasp for breath.Zhou Kewen took the doll and said, let's go to grandpa's house to drink some water.The doll didn't resist now, and was taken into his home by Zhou Kewen.

Chun'e gave the baby a spoonful of water to drink.Zhou Kewen said, baby’s house, we still have the steamed buns, but you can’t eat them now, those who are hungry will get stuffed if they eat too much at one time, so I’ll bring you some steamed buns to take home later.The doll nodded timidly, and Zhou Kewen asked him what his name was and how old he was.He said his name was Zhu Wa and he was eight years old.Zhou Kewen said to him, baby pig, don't break my mulberry tree anymore.Ask me for anything you don't eat, and I'll give it to you.If you want to see your mother, I will call your mother to visit my house, and you come here to meet your mother.The doll nodded again.Zhou Kewen said, you are such a good boy.He pitied the baby, and he also cherished the baby. He looked like a tiger, although he was dark and thin, but his wit was hidden in a pair of big eyes that rolled around.Such a doll should be a baby bump in anyone's house, why doesn't his mother want him?Zhou Kewen couldn't help feeling a little annoyed that there was such a cruel mother in this world who didn't even want her own son for her own life.He couldn't help but tentatively asked, is the next door mom?

Piggy said yes. Zhou Kewen asked again, is it your own mother? Piggy said, no, it was my aunt. That's right!Zhou Kewen confirmed his guess.He then asked, does your aunt have no baby?Piglet said, yes, she let it go.what!why?When Zhou Kewen heard it, he felt that there was something strange about it.He said to the pig boy, baby boy, tell grandpa about this. Piggy felt that the old man was kind and gave him food, he was a good person, so he told Zhou Kewen in detail.Piggy said he was from Beishan, his grandfather and mother-in-law starved to death, his second father and his aunt had a child, fearing that the whole family would be wiped out, so they took him and his cousin out to flee famine .The four people begged along the door along the way, but they couldn't walk halfway.One night, when he and his cousin fell asleep, his second dad discussed things with his aunt.He was woken up by his aunt's crying and heard their conversation. His second father said that the burden of our family of four was too heavy, so we would starve to death if we couldn't escape very far, and we had to abandon a baby to escape.The aunt asked who was leaving, and the second father said that Gouwa was being left.The aunt cried when she heard it, and said that you are so cruel, you can do anything to your own son?The second dad said, we can't let the baby pig go, he is the incense burner of our brother and sister-in-law, we have to leave a root for them, we are still young, we escape from the famine and we will be born again.In the middle of the night, his second father and aunt woke him up, pulled him up and ran away, leaving his sleeping cousin there alone.The next day they walked more than ten miles and rested in one place. Unexpectedly, their cousin followed the fleeing team and found them.The family hugged and cried when they met, and Gouwa told his parents, Dad, Mom, I will be a good baby in the future, and I will never pee on the kang again, so don't leave me alone.The next night my cousin didn't sleep.He is five years old, and he understands something more or less. He asked his aunt to hold him in her arms, his eyes widened, for fear that he would be left behind when he fell asleep.At dawn, the second dad brought Gouwa over and said you should take a pee, but after a while, your mother's clothes were wet again.He walked away with Gouwa in his arms, Gouwa said that I was peeing here, and the second dad said, a little farther away, everyone is sleeping here, and there is a smell of urine.After a while, the second dad came back alone, and pulled us up immediately.The aunt asked where Gouwa was, and the second dad said, don't worry about it, let's go.The aunt tore up the second dad like crazy, and asked in tears, what did you do to my baby?You killed my baby!Are you still the baby's father?The second dad slapped my aunt and silenced her crying. He said, why are you so ignorant of a woman, hurry up and leave!I tied Gouwa to a tree with his trouser belt. He won't die. Someone will see him untie him at dawn. As for whether he can escape with his life, it depends on his fate.My aunt walked all the way and looked back, but she never saw her cousin catching up.Later, in order to feed my aunt and me, my second dad didn’t eat all the time, insisting that he ate outside when he was begging, and he starved to death soon.Later we came here, and my aunt became someone's wife.

Tears welled up in Zhou Kewen's eyes after hearing this.He blamed the wrong person, this is really a benevolent couple, it is rare to have such a good person in the world!But he still didn't understand, since this woman spent so much money to bring the baby pig out, why doesn't she want him now? Zhou Kewen asked Piggy the reason, and Piggy just wanted to answer truthfully, but suddenly remembered his aunt's warning, and said, I won't tell you. Zhou Kewen said, if you don't tell me, I won't give you a bun. If you don't give it, you won't give it, the doll said, I won't starve to death.After he finished speaking, he turned and walked out.

hey doll!Zhou Kewen admired this little guy's ambition, so he didn't ask any more questions, and said with a smile, baby pig, I'm kidding with you, come, get the bun.He told Chun'e that it would be enough to feed the baby for ten and a half months. Chun'e also burst into tears when she heard it, and she said to her father, "Dad, our family still needs a sheep herder."Zhou Kewen said, how dare such a small doll be called a shepherd?What if the sheep dragged him off the cliff?Chun'e filled the piglet with a cloth bag of steamed buns, and Zhou Kewen said to the piglet, come and pick it up after eating, and I will take care of it for you.

Zhou Kewen took Zhuwa by the hand and sent him to the door.Before leaving, he said to Piggy, good boy, you want to treat your aunt as your own mother, it's not easy for her! Piggy said, she is my real mother. Zhou Kewen patted the baby pig on the back of the head and said, he is really a sensible baby. After sending away the baby pig, as soon as Zhou Kewen returned to the house, he heard Chun'e talking to herself, poor baby, where should I rest? Zhou Kewen knew that Chun'e was talking to him, and complained that he didn't keep the baby pig.It's not that he hasn't thought about it, but he can't.The neighbor insisted on not wanting the baby and drove him outside.If he accepted it, he would deliberately hang him up.After all, that person is his brother, he can't make things contrast so sharply, it hurts more than slapping someone in the face!

There are so many rotten kilns outside, which one can't house a doll!Zhou Kewen said to his daughter-in-law. Zhuwa's aunt became Zhou Baogen's wife, which is considered a miracle in Zhou's village.Why would Zhou Shuancheng marry his son a widow?Moreover, he was a refugee from the Beishan Bank, which was not justified in any way. In fact, there is no way to do it, Zhou Shuan has become a prodigal. Zhou Shuancheng closed the smoking hall last year, bought a lot of land, and finally became the largest landlord in Zhoujiazhai.But it didn't take long for him to be proud when he realized that he had been tricked by the fortune-telling.The severe drought did not end within a year. From March to now, there has not been a single star of rain.His family ran out of grain long ago, and had to sell the land in order to buy grain.But now the price of grain has risen to an astounding level, ten silver dollars for a bucket of wheat, and seven silver dollars for a bucket of corn.On the contrary, the price of land has dropped again and again. An acre of good paddy fields can be sold for less than four yuan, and dry land is even lower. No one wants one or two yuan.If no crops grow in the field, it is waste. What is the use of it?Besides, people are so hungry that they can hardly walk, how can they have the energy to farm?Now there are people who have abandoned their land and their families to escape. Those unowned lands are everywhere, and whoever wants to plant them casually.Zhou Shuancheng reacted quickly. Once March was over and there was no rain, he knew he had been cheated. He quickly sold the land for food. This was somewhat profitable, and later he couldn't sell it even if he wanted to.All his belongings are bet on the land, and if he can't sell the land, how can he have the money to buy grain?At present, you have no food in your hands, even if you have hundreds or thousands of acres of land, you are still a pauper, almost like a beggar!

Zhou Shuancheng is almost at this point now.Although he still has more than 100 mu of land, the food in his hands is pitifully small. If the drought continues, he is really worried that his family will die.He hated that fortune teller to death, if he met him again, he would definitely strangle him to death!He also hated himself, he was smart all his life, why did he get confused on this matter?Every time Zhou Shuancheng thought of this, he wished he could bump his head to death. But regret is useless, the past will not start over, it is not fair to hate yourself, who doesn't want to get rich?The most important thing now is to think about what is going on right now. Of course, there is no way, the most direct way is to bow down to his brother and admit his mistake, begging his brother for help.But he has already said nothing, and he has never done anything, how can he have the face to beg for help now!If he did this, the people of Zhoujiazhai would laugh at him.One needs to be a little bit ambitious, and he, Zhou Shuancheng, is still a character in Zhoujiazhai, so he can't spoil himself like this! But don't do this, Zhou Shuancheng really can't think of a good way.At this point, Zhou Shuancheng suddenly realized that life is helpless, many things can't be done, and human life is not as hard as the destiny.Take him as an example, he has to be strong all his life, disobedient, and constantly tossing, but the result is always chicken and eggs.Is he not smart?Not diligent?Not thrifty?Zhou Shuancheng thinks that it depends on who to compare with, and his brother is ahead of him in everything, but God is unfair, his brother can do everything smoothly, but he messes up every time!A person's fate is destined by the sky, it is useless to think wildly, the words passed down from the old life are so true! Zhou Shuancheng has always been very conceited and full of confidence in his own situation.But he didn't expect to fall so hard this time, and put all his life savings into it, which completely destroyed his spirit and made him faint all of a sudden.He felt that he was unable to do what he wanted, and that he had nothing to do with the affairs of the world.Such a state of mind made him suddenly remember his own age. He is already in his fifties, and he is a real old man!He never felt old before. He always felt that he was alive and well. He was still a young man, at most he could be considered a mature man.But now he suddenly found that his waist was bent, his eyes were blurred, his ears were deaf, and he couldn't even urinate far, all leaking on the shoe.All this tells him that people are getting old, their twilight years are coming to an end, and the days ahead have come to an end.Life is short, he can no longer waste time fighting against destiny, and now he can stand up and move, so he has to do some things that need to be done quickly. What else should I do?Zhou Shuancheng thought for a while, and a wave of self-blame welled up in his heart. He hasn't married his son yet!As a father, this is the greatest responsibility in his life. In fact, this is not only to fulfill the obligation for the son, but also to renew the incense for himself.Ever since he was prodigal, Zhou Shuancheng has always had an indescribable fear in his heart: at his age, with his body, he doesn't know if he can survive the disaster.Zhou Shuancheng eagerly wants to hold his grandson in his lifetime and see that his incense will last forever.As long as he can enjoy such family happiness, he will die in peace even if he starves to death.This kind of psychology became stronger after he went to Jiangzhang Town several times.So many refugees died as soon as they said they would die. Who can guarantee that the people of Guan Zhongdao will not follow in their footsteps?As long as the severe drought lasts for a few more months, people here will definitely starve to death!Among the dead people, he saw the most old people and babies, they were weak and the least hungry.If the Zhou family village is also on the deathbed, then the first ones in their family to starve to death are him and his wife.And it must be their old couple, because his son is sick and in poor health. To ensure his survival, the old couple must die first! There is a deeper level of fear that Zhou Shuancheng dare not even think about: even if the old couple starved to death in order to fulfill their son, will his son be able to escape with his life?Baogen is as thin as a bean sprout, and even a gust of wind can break him. Such a person cannot withstand the entanglement of hungry ghosts. If both he and his son died, wouldn't his family be wiped out? This is simply too scary! Hurry up to marry your son a wife before it's too late, and hurry up to leave a queen for the Zhou family. Having made up his mind, Zhou Shuan paid attention to the woman who went to Zhoujiazhai to flee famine and beg for food.From last winter to the present, there has been an endless stream of outsiders who come to the village to beg every day.Why did Zhou Shuan become such a desperate person?He has his own plans in mind.It wasn't just now that he decided on a wife for his son, he had done it before, but no matter how many matchmakers ran away, there was no result.The key is whether his son is a sick child or a heavy smoker. This is well-known far and wide. Who would marry his daughter to him in a serious family?Now that Zhou Shuancheng is not here to make up his mind, he knows that it is a waste of time, only this outsider will come in without knowing it, and it is easy to coax him.Even if she finds out the truth later, she will not leave. There is food here, and survival is the most important thing.Besides, marrying a local woman would cost a sum of money anyway, and the bride price is indispensable. How can he still have money now?The money has been used to buy food.This woman fleeing from famine is simply picked up for nothing. As long as there is food to eat, she treats you like a master. How dare you ask for money? Ordinarily, now is not the time to add more mouths, one more mouth is one more burden.But things are forced to this point, so I can't do it.Besides, Zhou Shuancheng has also figured it out now, there is no good thing that is perfect in this world.I used to do things because I wanted to gain too much and refused to suffer a little loss, so I was repeatedly frustrated. This is called cleverness being misunderstood by cleverness.Now he has to learn his lesson and think of both sides of things.Now is definitely not the best time to marry a daughter-in-law for my son, but it is the best time in turn.why?This year's famine doesn't mean that there is something there, it only happens once every few years. Only when there is a famine will there be refugees, and only when there are refugees will there be a daughter-in-law who doesn't care about anything. Once the famine is over, where can he find such a bargain? goods?The family should suffer a bit because of such cheap goods. Fortunately, there is still some food in storage, which can last for a while. An extra mouth is nothing more than adding a ladle of water to the pot. What used to be thick is now eaten thinner. , She, a woman who fled from disaster, dares to care about it?Porridge mixed with wild vegetables, maybe the whole family will survive the famine like this.If not, then God wants to exterminate people, and no one can do anything about it. Just when Zhou Shuancheng was making such plans, Zhuwa and his aunt came to Zhoujiazhai, and begged at Zhou Shuancheng's door.Zhou Shuancheng's eyes lit up when he saw it. This woman had wide hips and thick shoulders. She looked like a woman who could give birth and work.Although he was so hungry that his stomach and chest were swollen, Zhou Shuancheng knew that it would not be a problem, as soon as the food was touched, the place that should be bulged would immediately bulge.What made Zhou Shuancheng more interested was the doll beside her. He asked the woman, is this your doll?The woman nods.This is great, she has already given birth, and it is a son, which proves that she is not only fertile, but also a fertile field! That's her. Zhou Shuancheng led the woman into the courtyard, gave her and the baby a steamed bun, and then told her what he meant.The woman couldn't believe her ears when she heard it, and it took her a long time to react.She pulled the doll beside her, knelt down to Zhou Shuancheng with a plop, and said to the baby pig, quickly kowtow to grandpa! Zhou Shuancheng pulled the baby pig up and said, I am not your master, there is no such thing as a baby here. The woman was stunned. Zhou Shuancheng said, I can only take in one person, I am short of a daughter-in-law, but not a grandson. The woman said, but we are mother and son, I can't leave my baby alone. Zhou Shuancheng said, that is your business, you have to think about it yourself.Do you want both to starve to death, or to save one?There are plenty of women begging for food, but my family is the only one begging for a daughter-in-law. The woman stood up from the ground, pulled the baby pig and walked away slowly.She did walk very slowly, and she knew what it meant to walk out of this courtyard. Zhou Shuancheng watched the woman walk out of the house, feeling very reluctant.He has paid attention to many beggar women, and there is no one more suitable than her.Moreover, Zhou Shuancheng still has a little admiration for this woman now. It is very rare for such a person who values ​​family affection more than fate. It is a blessing for the family to have such a daughter-in-law. Zhou Shuancheng was feeling sorry, but he didn't expect that woman to come back again, her face was full of tears.Zhou Shuancheng asked her, have you thought about it?The daughter nodded with a sob.Zhou Shuancheng said, that's right, if the green hills are left, I'm not afraid of running out of firewood.When the woman heard this, she burst into tears, and her tears wet the front of her clothes.Zhou Shuancheng said, don't be sad, you will be born again. Zhou Shuancheng thought that the woman drove the baby away, but it was not.The woman negotiated with the baby pig outside. In order for them to survive, she will be the daughter-in-law of this family, and the baby pig is wandering around. She tries to steal food for him.As long as she has a foothold in this family, she will always have a way to support him. But this woman didn't expect that the Zhou family would take her so seriously. She tried to take the bun out of the house several times but was discovered.Zhou Shuancheng was very smart, he knew that although the baby was driven away, he was not dead.As long as the doll is still alive, the mother will worry about it, and he has to guard against it. The baby pig was so hungry that he climbed up the mulberry tree of Zhou Kewen's house.