Chapter 9 Section IX

A head-on confrontation with my husband finally happened. The busy time of summer harvest and summer sowing has passed, but the work in the production team has not decreased, but it is not as urgent as the extremely seasonal work of harvesting wheat and planting autumn.The drought caused the ground to catch fire, and Jianfeng took turns watering the corn seedlings that had just emerged from the ground in the river day and night.She and her two sister-in-laws were often sent to weed the cotton fields at the same time, to "wipe trouser legs", "cook fried dough sticks" and "pick earwax" on cotton seedlings.Needless to say, my husband and father-in-law are also non-stop for three hours a day.The old woman sits in the shade of a tree in the yard, guarding the wheat that has just been divided. If she wants to drive out chickens or pigs that are eaten secretly, she needs to stir it with a wooden rake. , No more wheat moths, no more wheat cows, food for the whole family!

At noon that day, the fourth sister was "cleaning out earwax" on the cotton tree in the cotton shop. A sister-in-law who came home to feed the baby and came to the cotton field told her that the second aunt was here.Fourth Sister took leave of absence from the women's team leader and rushed back to the village. The second aunt was sitting under the toon tree outside the street gate. The fourth sister called out "Second Aunt", then reached out to find the key from the top of the street door, unlocked it, and let the second aunt into the yard.If there was no one in the house, she led the second aunt into her small hut.Before finishing the three sentences, she hugged Second Aunt and cried, but couldn't help it, and cried aloud.

"Is Jianfeng... bullying you?" Second Aunt asked. "Woooooo..." She shook her head. "Father-in-law and mother-in-law... scolded you?" Second Aunt asked again. "Woooooo..." She still shook her head. "The two sister-in-laws... are you cheating?" Second Aunt asked again. "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..." she cried so that the body trembled. The second aunt hugged her and stopped asking, tears fell down and dripped on the niece's hair. Fourth sister wanted to cry.The whole family, no one beat her, no one scolded her, they ate as much as they could, and there was nothing wrong with them that could be said, but she couldn't explain why, she just wanted to cry.She was lying in the arms of the second aunt, and she was about to cry, but she didn't want to say anything.

She worked with a sullen face, pulled the bellows or rolled noodles in the small kitchen with a sullen face, served the two old people with both hands with a sullen face, said a few words of entertainment with the elder sister-in-law and second sister-in-law, and even talked with Jian Jian. Feng was also sullen in her small mansion... She felt that her heart was about to suffocate. Since the old father-in-law taught Jianfeng that night, Jianfeng's face has also become tense, even more tense than hers, and he is quite flat.Not only did he stop laughing and joking with her, he even talked less, and often put on an air of disdain for getting close to her, even when he did that kind of thing at night, he kept silent, for fear of losing him The airs of a man, and then he fell asleep and fell asleep, and he was no longer like when he was just married and hugged her and said this and that.

The fourth sister feels lonely, depressed and flustered, tasteless to eat, and exhausted to do work. Often when resting in the fields, she sits by the side of the canal, staring blankly at the north, the treetops and the gray sky in the distance of the plain. Melt into one.She wanted to grow up, and also wanted to be a mother. Only now did she clearly feel the fundamental difference between her father-in-law and her biological eldest mother.On this vast and boundless plain, in countless villages, large and small, far and near, there is no relative of hers, except for the second aunt, not even a relative.She often sees sister-in-law and sister-in-law's natal brothers and sisters visiting them and their children, and they also lead their children to visit their natal families, which is enviable.They can tell their happy stories to their natal relatives, and they can also vent their grievances to their parents, get kind sympathy and comfort, and then return to this suffocating courtyard when the sun goes down .The fourth sister has nowhere to go, there is only one second aunt's house, and she can't go around often, and the second aunt does the housework alone, so she can't visit her often.A reservoir of tears gathered in her chest, and all of them poured out on Second Aunt's chest.The whole family has gone to work, and the timing is just right, so she can cry a lot without being heard by anyone.

After crying for a while, my chest suddenly felt loose, but my head was dull because of crying. I talked to my second aunt for a while, asked about the bodies of the crippled uncle and aunt, and asked about the ration standard of the Yang family's Xia harvest. , The ratio of food to labor day, see that the sun has moved to the middle of the yard, it's time to make lunch.She was going to ask her mother-in-law what to cook for lunch. In order not to let her mother-in-law see that she had cried, she dipped a towel in water and wiped her face. Because of the second aunt's arrival, and because she poured out too many tears in her chest, she felt relieved, and walked lightly through the streets of Lujiabao to the threshing field in the north of the village.The threshing field, which has just gone through the intense summer harvest work, is now idle. Pages of reed mats cover the ground, and the new wheat is golden in the sun.She saw from a distance that her mother-in-law was chatting with an old woman in the shade.When she came face to face, she happily reported to the elders of the family: "Mom, my second aunt is here."

"Come here." The mother-in-law stared at her and said, "Sit in the room as you say hello." "Mom, what are you cooking for lunch?" Fourth Sister asked. "Make grits noodles." The mother-in-law said lightly. Fourth Sister's heart sank, she hurriedly turned around, and walked back sullenly.There are always guests in the house, whether it is the uncle or the second uncle, or the relatives of the two sisters-in-law's family, it is inevitable that they will always have to make dumplings, roll the noodles with glutinous rice, and at least have a meal of square dry noodles.The fourth sister's second aunt came, and she was considered an important relative of the Lu family, but the mother-in-law asked her to make grits noodles.Grits noodles, that is, noodles are added to grits porridge. It is a kind of meal for farmers to save fine grains. It is probably the worst meal in the noon meal that is generally valued.

Fourth sister walked back, feeling so upset!This was the most obvious cold reception for her dear second aunt.It is said that the second aunt does not rarely eat a meal of dumplings or noodles, and she is not hungry in her own house.It was a palpable indifference to treat relatives with unbearable indifference and arrogance.Her chest, which had been relieved just now, was now full of breath. When she returned to the house, she took care to hide her resentment so that Second Aunt would not see it, so as not to make her feel uncomfortable. If Second Aunt felt slighted and left in a huff, it would be even more difficult to deal with.She asked the second aunt to rest in the house, and went into the kitchen to cook by herself.

The eldest sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law came back from work in the cotton fields.The second aunt came out of the house and talked to the two sister-in-laws.When the two sisters-in-law saw guests coming, they washed their hands and came to help in the kitchen.This is also a family rule. Whenever a guest comes, no matter who is on duty to cook, everyone has to step in to help, to show respect for the guest, and to create an atmosphere of three sisters-in-law working together and harmonious family affairs for any guest. "Why did you whisk the grits into the pot?" the sister-in-law asked in surprise.

The fourth sister bowed her head and rolled the noodles on the chopping board, without saying a word. "How can I feed my second aunt noodles with grits? The second aunt doesn't come often." The second sister-in-law also blamed her. The fourth sister said nah-na: "Our mother called it..." The two sisters-in-law looked at each other and said nothing more. After cutting the noodles, the fourth sister heard familiar footsteps in the yard and knew that her father-in-law was back, so she left the following matters to the two sister-in-laws, walked out of the small kitchen by herself, and said to her father-in-law in a low voice: "Dad, my second aunt is here... ..." Before the words finished, the second aunt had already come out of the small building, and greeted with a smile: "Are you off work?"

The old man let out a "hmm", put down the shovel in his hand, turned around and said, "You rest." Then he walked out of the second door, jumped into the pigsty, and squatted down. The fourth sister was stunned. Her husband's indifference and arrogance were so undisguised, and he even deliberately made ugly behaviors for the guests, which made her at a loss.An embarrassing expression appeared on the second aunt's face, she smiled resentfully, and had no choice but to turn around and walk into the small building. Usually, when there are relatives and friends at home, the husband will receive him with an eager smile on his tense face, and immediately put down all the work he is busy with, and lead the guests to the upper and lower rooms, drink tea, smoke, and drink tea. homely.Now, the old man is squatting in the pigsty, and there are wisps of blue smoke rising from the low wall, but there is no sign of coming out. It wasn't until the meal was finished that the old man jumped out of the pigsty at her urging, walked back to the back room, and sat at the table where he usually entertained guests.The second aunt also walked to the other side of the table amidst the humility of the two sisters-in-law. "Eat quickly." The old man finally greeted the guests, "It's a common meal, don't be surprised." The second aunt pretended not to care, and picked up the bowl. The elder sister-in-law asked her to come back instead of her mother-in-law, but the old man stopped immediately: "Forget it, just bring her a bowl and forget it, she said she won't come back." Fourth sister's heart sank again, the old lady didn't even see her second aunt, this was a rare behavior for an old lady who pays attention to etiquette. Don't be awkward. After eating, the second aunt left. Sending away the second aunt, the fourth sister returned to the hut, crawled on the quilt, unable to cry or eat, the more I thought about it, the more I felt embarrassed, it was so depraved! After a while, she worked in the field for a while, but she still couldn't figure it out.After dinner, she walked into her husband's back room and lowered her head: "Dad, I want to go to my aunt's house tomorrow..." The old man stared at her, did not speak, lowered his head to light a bag of cigarettes, raised his head, and pretended to be unguarded and said: "Okay! It is said that the summer is over, and it is right to go to relax. But right now the team is pouring water. The management of the cotton fields is also tight, after a while, the cotton has been overwhelmed, and the fields have been watered, so you can go." Fourth Sister leaned against her mother-in-law's kang and did not speak. Lu Laoba was very satisfied with his answer to this little daughter-in-law.At noon today, when he came back from work, he stopped by the wheat field to check the degree of drying of the wheat. His wife told him that the second aunt of the third daughter-in-law had come, and the third daughter-in-law and her second aunt were crying together in the building.She said that she went home to drink water, and when she heard someone crying, she didn't dare to disturb her, and quietly retreated to the wheat drying field. Lu Laoba became angry when she heard it. Lu Laoba said in his heart, your third daughter-in-law is crying in your second aunt's arms, she must be saying that my Lu family has treated you badly!Let the neighbors hear it from left to right, but they don't know what to suspect!Besides, as the second aunt, you came to my house and didn't persuade your niece, but cried with you. It seems that my Lu family really oppressed your niece!Besides, when relatives come, what kind of etiquette is it to stay in your niece's house without greeting the host first?Your niece doesn't understand etiquette, and you as an adult don't understand either?Since you don't respect the rules of my house, I won't treat you as a guest! He is very approving of his wife's move: Treat them with grits noodles! In return, he refused to invite her into the upper room, hid in the pigsty, and let you go cold! Lu Laoba stared at the third daughter-in-law who asked him to leave his mother's house, and realized in his heart that she was demonstrating to him.He treated her second aunt slowly, and was so angry that he couldn't speak, and was going to leave his mother's (daughter's) house.He didn't refuse firmly, but was busy talking, which is a perfectly valid reason for anyone to hear.Let her and her second aunt think about it, why did the master treat her so slowly?I won't cry indiscriminately in the future. Simeizi stood by the kang, and the words were attacked from her heart several times, but they got stuck in her mouth. She wanted to ask, why did she treat Ergu so slowly?It's not easy to say, the demonstrative act of asking to go to the second aunt's house was completely shattered by the old father-in-law.She turned around and walked out, determined to leave them with a dissatisfied look and let the old man think about it. But the mother-in-law said when she went out: "San Wazi's cotton-padded clothes and trousers should be taken apart and washed, don't wait for the snow to catch the needle..."