Chapter 2 Clapper Granny in Bangzijing Village

In Xiaohechuan Road, at the foot of the Huangtuyuan slope, there is a small village called Bangzijing.Why did the ancient ancestors of this village choose such a strange name as their village name? Even the white-bearded old man in the village who is over eighty now can't tell the whole story. Bangzijing Village is now home to 60 or 70 peasant households, most of whom are surnamed Hu, with few mixed surnames; the crop yards composed of new houses and old houses are compactly gathered on the flat field between Donggou and Xigou.Every spring and summer, the elms, locusts and toon trees in the village are full of trees, and the willows line the banks of the river, lush and lush; counting to nine, the snow covers the source slope behind the village and the river in front of the village, and the eaves hang down more than a foot. Long icicles...a northern village with elegant scenery.

The old lady of Bangzi, whose surname is Huang, was a tailor from the Huang family on the north bank of the Xiaohe River. She betrothed three stones of wheat and two bundles of cotton to Hu Jingrong of Bangzijing Village as a dowry since she was a child.On the day of crossing the gate, the young descendants of Bangzijing Village carried her down from Huangjiagetai on the North Ridge in a sedan chair, waded across the river, carried her to Bangzijing Village, and parked her at the gate of Hu Jingrong's house.Men and women, old and young, packed the inside and outside of the house tightly, waiting with great interest for the moment when they enter the bridal chamber and take off the red silk covering their face. What kind of eyebrows does the new daughter-in-law look like?

The window paper was ripped off, and the newly hung embroidered door curtains were trampled underfoot.People who have no chance to squeeze into the narrow bridal chamber anxiously ask people who have already seen it first, how does it look like?The people who had seen it were panting because of the crowd, and smiled embarrassingly: "I can't tell..." They blinked their eyes thoughtfully, smiled funnyly, and whispered, "The face... looks like a... Chen. son……" For any bride who is new to Bangzijing Village, it is rare for any bride to escape the embarrassing situation of being judged and discussed by everyone after her first appearance.Needless to say, the men, the old daughters-in-law who have been discussed and criticized by everyone and have won a dignified nickname without exception, are also more interested in chewing on a new nickname: Bangzi!Ha!alike……

This is a kind of pleasure for the poor and monotonous peasants, and it is generally limited to ten and a half months after the wedding, making fun of them to their heart's content, even telling Jing Rong that his new daughter-in-law's face can be knocked like a clapper, and he is not afraid He has a heart attack.As time goes on, farmers are busy with their own livelihoods, so who cares about the fact that Jing Rong's daughter-in-law has a long face and a short face? No matter how harshly other people tease and tease, Jing Rong is satisfied with the wife he just married into the house.Although when he saw the eyebrows and eyes of this strange woman for the first time when he took off the silk covering his face, he felt that the face was a bit narrow and narrow, but he didn't care.Oh my God!The old man spent many years traveling around the cotton-producing areas on the north bank of the Weihe River to pluck cotton for others. He saved strings of hemp money and copper coins, and bought him this daughter-in-law for three stones of wheat plus two bales of cotton.The poor father didn't wait until he saw his daughter-in-law, he died of tuberculosis, and the third anniversary has passed.He can marry a daughter-in-law at the age when he should be married, and he doesn't have to worry about being a bachelor for the rest of his life. This is already the envy of many poor brothers. How dare he think that his wife's face is good or bad?It doesn't matter what the clapper is or not, even if others compare her face to the length of a shoulder pole!He is a peasant, a poor peasant!He needs a woman to be his housekeeper, cook, sew clothes, and have children, instead of asking everyone to stick a New Year picture on the wall to admire every day!

Jing Rong is the last man in the generation with the surname Hu Jing, and he is called the old man. On the contrary, he has a higher generation than the old men who are twice or even twice his age in the village for many years. Naturally, he grew taller with him.Jing Rong was the fifth eldest, and people of the younger generation called his new daughter-in-law Fifth Aunt, those who were two generations younger were called Wutai, and those who were younger than three generations were all called Fifth Old Madam without distinction. "Three generations are different, and mothers-in-law and grandchildren don't pay attention to each other." The younger generations and daughter-in-laws all called Mrs. Bangzi, and over time, even Jing Rong's fifth child was called Master Bangzi by them.

Three or five days after the wedding, the industrious Jing Rong, the fifth child, did not dare to be greedy for the warm bed of the new daughter-in-law. He carried the purple-red glossy jujube slingshot bow inherited from his late father, bid farewell to his mother and dear bangzi-faced daughter-in-law, and rushed to the The Weibei cotton-producing area went to pop flowers to earn money, and the grain debt owed by the marriage must be paid off as soon as possible.The life motto left to him by his late father is: "Pay off debts quickly, and settle debts slowly. Don't look at a penny without earning, and don't see a penny without a waste." Farmers live in debts, and they can't eat or sleep comfortably!

One month later, when Jing Rong Laowu returned to Bangzijing Village, his short hair was covered with cotton fluff; the sleeves of the cotton jacket and the knees of the cotton trousers had been torn in all directions, revealing strings of black coarse cloth. The cotton cover; the face is covered with yellow dust, and the fingers are cracked with cracks with black scabs; from the outside, it looks like a beggar begging along the door.The mother and the new daughter-in-law opened their eyes wide in astonishment, watching him walk straight into the yard, wondering what to do if he encountered something terrible.

He walked straight into the side door of the upper room, unbuttoned the cloth buttons on the tattered padded jacket, untied the blue cloth belt from his waist, and threw it onto the kang with a bang, the bright yellow hemp money and the bright red copper coins trembled. Spread it on the kang mat.Only then did he bend down, let out a sigh of relief and sat on the wooden stool beside the kang.In order to prevent bandits from blocking the road, he deliberately tore his cotton-padded jacket and trousers, and dressed himself up as a beggar with a bag on his back begging for food.After trekking for more than a hundred miles, the copper coins and hemp coins were so hard pinned to the waist that the spine was almost broken.Thank God, I finally escaped the eyes of the bandits, and brought back the hard-earned money I earned from bows and bullets to the house!

The old mother and the new daughter-in-law suddenly changed their expressions of surprise, and let out a sigh of relief in unison.The new daughter-in-law was busy boiling water and cooking.The old mother put the scattered copper coins and hemp money into strings and put them in the box. According to the family rules, Jing Rong's fifth child greets his mother first.He was relieved that there had been no major ups and downs in the family's internal and external affairs in the past month.Going out to play flowers in other places to earn money, sleeping on unfamiliar kang bunks in this house or that, he misses the new wife who just passed the door, and even more misses the widowed old mother.In the turbulent countryside, leaving two women who can't do anything at home, he is always worried about whether something bad will happen to him.

His mother quietly told him that after observing the new daughter-in-law who had just passed the door in January, she was diligent, filial, and never threw rice noodles, and she was a reliable worker in the crop yard.What surprised the old man even more was that the new daughter-in-law was able to grab the shovel, dig up the pig manure, and throw it outside from the low wall of the pigsty.Standing in the pigsty with a shovel and digging manure, she is strong and unrestrained, no less than a strong peasant boy. Jingrong Laowu listened to his mother's cheerful narration in surprise, and felt that Clapper's daughter-in-law was even more cute.

The fly in the ointment is that the new daughter-in-law has an unexpected shortcoming.The old man told his son along the tongue that the new wife's needlework was too late.This is the instinct of ordinary country women, but she doesn't know it! "Hmm..." Jing Rong Lao Wu pulled out the pipe from his mouth, and his smiling eyes suddenly dimmed. It's a pity for a farmer to be a woman who can't sew and work hand in hand, "Then... Can't spin and weave?" "No." The mother pouted her lips with a contemptuous look, "I can't even put the pot on the stove, and I can't even make better meals." "Alas!" Jing Rong hissed unabashedly in front of his mother, "How did I meet... this stupid bear?" "Don't worry, Rongwa." Seeing her son's dejected look, the mother immediately turned around to comfort her son.Although the daughter-in-law has regrettable flaws, she doesn't mean to dislike her at all. Is it easy for a poor family to marry a daughter-in-law? "Mom won't die in ten or eight years, so you can't have your butt exposed, sewing and mending, spinning and weaving, you have a mother!" "Alas..." Jing Rong sighed again, shook his head, and said worriedly, "Can I depend on you for the rest of my life?" "I taught my mother the time when she closed her eyes." The mother said generously, "I heard that her father died early, and she and her father worked in the fields all year round, but the needlework skills of the daughter's family were abandoned. Poor man..." "Oh..." Her flaws are forgivable, poor thing!The fifth child of Jing Rong thought of his father who died young, and he had taken on all the hardships that a farmer should pay at the age of fifteen or sixteen. ?" "Yes, why not?" the mother said cheerfully, full of confidence, "I have the right to teach my daughter how to sew..." Spring nights are short.Jing Rong's fifth son and his clapper's daughter-in-law slept together for a night, got up early the next morning, and rushed to Weibei to play cotton.He didn't even mention the disadvantage of Clapper's daughter-in-law not being able to spin and weave. Half a month later, after a torrential rain, he rushed home, and it was time to harvest the moisture and use the sugar rakes as spare land for the cotton fields.Willows are turning green in the rivers, wheat seedlings are turning green, and weeds are sprouting on roadsides and fields. Looking over from the dirt road in the river, on the triangular depression under the ditch slope, a woman in a red coat, with her legs spread apart, stepped on a pig, holding a rope with one hand, and holding the tail of a yellow ox with the other. Rake on the open space where cottonseed is to be sown!That posture was as free and easy as a skilled crop handle.Jing Rong's fifth child was stunned. Looking at his bangzi wife who was not good at needlework from a distance, he felt hot and rushed over quickly. "You..." Running to the ground, Jing Rong's fifth child felt a masculine heroism in his heart, "Stop! Let me—" Clapper's daughter-in-law smirked and yelled loudly at the scalper as if on purpose.The scalper accelerated its hooves and feet, and stopped in front of Jing Rong.She put on a reproachful look: "You have been away for half a month, and what are you doing running back?" "If I knew that you would be ashamed..." He smiled, with a simple and honest smile, "I'm afraid I'll get sunburned." "Is it just for harvesting cotton fields?" "meet……" "The cotton field can't be missed, you can go now without worry..." "you……" The daughter-in-law looked around, seeing that there was no one there, she suddenly put her arms around his neck, kissed him, smiled heartily, jumped on the rake, pulled the noose, and walked away with the cattle.She stood freely on the rake, and let the cattle drag her forward. She twisted her waist and moved her feet to maintain her balance. Then she suddenly turned her head and smiled sweetly: "Just sit there and rest, you've walked a long way road……" He can travel to farther villages to pick cotton and earn money without worrying about the crops on the three or five acres of thin land at home!She does have this skill! Three years passed in a blink of an eye, and the new daughter-in-law became the old daughter-in-law.Although it is unavoidable to be called Mrs. Bangzi, no one is interested in seeing her face is long and round, which seems to be a kind title; even if she doesn't know how to sew, it has already become outdated news, and she can behave like a man. It is not surprising that farming crops is commonplace.She is like an ordinary leaf sandwiched among the green leaves, completely fused in the women's nest in Bangzijing Village, living. At this time, some woman finally shifted her strange eyes from her face to her waist—there was no sign of bulging, any bride was carried to the gate of any crop yard in Bangzijing Village, and at least one Two years, at most three or four years, the new daughter-in-law will hang a baby under her breast, going in and out of the village alleys.Mrs. Bangzi has been in the house for five years, and her belly is flat.A terrible rumor spread quietly and quickly—— The bangzi daughter-in-law of Jingrong's old five family is not happy! Mother has long been worried about this heart.She was anxious and worried, and it was inconvenient to ask questions directly. It was not until this rumor entered her ears that she decided not to let her son Jingrong work in other places to pluck cotton all year round.I would rather the sun and the moon live more bitterly, and I hope that the first cry of the new life will be heard in the small courtyard as soon as possible. Jing Rong's fifth son obediently returned to Bangzijing and hung his catapult on the wall. He was just doing some odd jobs in a nearby village, and came home at night to stay with his Bangzi woman.A whole year has passed without any gratifying signs, and everything is no longer a secret. He finally couldn't help it: "Is there something wrong with your body?" She lowered her head in embarrassment: "I feel fine!" The family began to arrange for her medical treatment, and the mother was most worried.Jing Rong invited an old doctor of traditional Chinese medicine from Shilipu Town, took out a stone of wheat, and bought all the money into large and small packets of traditional Chinese medicine. The old mother personally boiled it into soup and poured it down her throat, but there was still no trace of it. Variety.The peasants are generous and warm-hearted. Once it was confirmed that Mrs. Jingrong did not take care of the baby, they all became very enthusiastic and took care of them. Women from this and that family kept stepping into the small courtyard and mysteriously asking for help. Jing Rong's family recommended a miraculous prescription and a unilateral prescription.Red rooster chicken, medicine for rooster pork, plus three or five strange Chinese medicines, the old mother has already begun to panic, worrying about the successors of the gardener's family day and night.If there is a recommendation, I will try it all, and I am not afraid to spend copper and hemp money, urging my impatient son to search everywhere to buy medicine.And her?No matter what panacea is taken, it is still the same, without any change.The old mother was so anxious that she could not do anything, and gradually lost confidence in all medicines and doctors, and finally led her daughter-in-law to an ancient temple near and far away, begging the gods of the mother to bless her son... Her waist seems to be thinner, her buttocks are also tapered, her eyelids and lips are thinner, her wing bones are more prominent, and she looks more like a clapper. More than ten years have passed, and the fifth child of Jing Rong had to accept this fait accompli, followed his mother's dying instructions when she bid farewell to the family courtyard, and adopted a girl from someone else, and then adopted a boy doll... It can't be done forever. ! Two children who are not biological and they form a new family.At this time, Hu Jingrong and his clapper woman raised their heads from their satisfied and dissatisfied lives, and listened to a strange term: liberated...