Chapter 6 Chapter Six

When he woke up, the bright red sunlight outside the window shyly shone on the small persimmon tree in the yard. Zhao Peng rubbed his dry eyelids, and a vivid illusion appeared in his mind, as if a short summer night had passed , but slept for a whole century, from lying on the kang last night to opening his eyes just now, he didn’t urinate, didn’t have dreams, he didn’t even turn over, he slept so deeply!As deep as dead.From the open wooden window, a scent of hot chopped green onions floated in, which stimulated his nasal membranes, but failed to whet his appetite. "Go to sleep!" Shuqin came in and said kindly. After sleeping overnight, she returned to her usual quickness and diligence, happily feeding the chickens in the backyard, cleaning firewood and chaff in the front yard, Fry the pancakes in hot oil.Standing in front of the kang, she persuaded him, "It's raining, and the field is wet, and you can't do any work, so you can sleep soundly! I'll call you when the meal is ready."

Her voice is soothing, pleasant, and sincere; only my wife who loves each other sincerely in the world has such a soothing, pleasant, and sincere voice; there is no affectation, no hypocrisy, and no superficial articles.This kind of sound is different from all sounds in the world, and it never depends on timbre to please the other party.Since she and him slept together for the first night on the earthen kang of this farmhouse, in the past 20 years, he has been completely used to this soothing, pleasant and sincere voice.In the past, every weekend, when he came back from the city, he would sleep for a night. When she got up at dawn to go to work, she would always tell him before leaving: "Mei Meier, go to sleep! You have worked hard in the factory!" Week, come back and have a good rest! Make breakfast when I come back from work, women get off work a little earlier, keep up. Go to sleep! I will call you when the meal is ready."

The damp morning breeze came in through the window, making it chilly. Only then did he realize that there was a heavy rain last night, and his heart was relieved. He followed her words and lay down, but he didn't feel sleepy anymore.She bends down to sweep the floor in the house, scrubs the table and chairs with a rag, and has been busy harvesting wheat in the fields for a few days, and there is a layer of dust on the household utensils.She changed into a pair of clean, semi-new shirts and pants, and wore a square handkerchief on her head to prevent dust from falling into her hair.Under her rolled-up sleeves, her wrists, which were black and red by the sun, were thick and rough. She accurately and swiftly moved the tea tray, teapot, mirror and bottle on the table, and wiped them until they were shiny.She is in good spirits and full of energy, and there is no trace of being half dead from yesterday's exhaustion. On the contrary, she looks upright and refreshed because she changed out of the rags and trousers she wore specially for harvesting wheat.

He couldn't lie down.He thought about what happened in this small house last night. Yes, her sudden fall was not due to illness but extreme fatigue. Now she is happily feeding chickens and pigs, sweeping the house and yard, as if overnight resumed.But the black circles around her eye sockets were darker, not the latest sign of beauty that city women smear.He suddenly realized that in this family, she was responsible for the main physical labor.For twenty years, he knew that she could not compare with him in terms of physical labor, and she had always let him "sleep beautifully" on Sunday morning!She never complained about her burden and suffering in this family.He gave her thirty or forty yuan a month, and she was completely satisfied.Now, he seemed to realize something in his heart, he was a little uneasy, and his calm heart was tilted to one side!

"Sleeping! What are you doing so busy? Pulling wheat these days, you're not tired, are you?" He put on his shirt and put on his trousers. When he stretched his arms and kicked his legs, all the big and small joints became stiff, sore and painful.Although the spirit recovered, the pain in the muscles and joints all over the body was aggravated by the night's sleep.He smiled, but didn't answer Shuqin's words, endured the pain so as not to show pain on his face, deliberately pretended to be relaxed, and jumped off the kang. While complaining that he shouldn't "get up early", she poured warm water for him in the basin and put down the towel.He washes his hands and face in the sink. He has been doing this for 20 years. Today, he feels less comfortable and less at ease. She picks up the toothbrush cup from the sink again, needs to add water, and squeezes toothpaste on the toothbrush. This is also 20 years. Once it was over, he blocked her hand, raised his watery face, a little agitated, and said, "I'll do it myself."

She was taken aback for a moment, and asked in surprise, "What's wrong?" He realized that what he had just said was too aggressive, which caught her off guard and thought of going to another place.He smiled apologetically, a little sadly, but explained to her in a playful light tone: "I have awakened! Starting this morning, eliminate the 'difference between workers and peasants' between us!" She smiled, smiled relievedly, glanced at him affectionately, took the cup, filled it with water, squeezed toothpaste on the toothbrush placed horizontally, put it on the table, and just put it in her hand to stuff it Put it in his mouth to brush his teeth, after he finished washing, Shuqin had already set the food on the wooden table, just waiting for him to grab the chopsticks.

"Let's have a casual meal today!" Shuqin still said in a soothing voice, "I haven't eaten properly for a few days! Eat it while it's hot, and the pancakes won't be crispy once they cool down." Zhao Peng sat down, and on the table was a stack of cubed pancakes with hot noodle oil. The flesh was soft and the skin was crispy, exuding an attractive fragrance.A plate of pink and white onion sticks, juicy and juicy.A plate of oily red peppers stirs people's appetite. She takes advantage of the leisure time when she can't go to the field to play after the rain, and cooks a serious breakfast, so that he can have a full meal and make up for the shortfall of the past few days, but he asked : "Where is our baby?"

"Looking at the wheat in the field," Shuqin said, "hunting chickens, trampling around in the wheat field, it's not good if you don't guard it for a while. You eat, I'll go and change the baby back." "Sit down and eat!" He emphasized his tone, as if ordering, "After eating, go back and change the baby." She was taken aback again. "That baby is not hungry..." "Aren't you hungry?" He said affectionately, pressing her shoulders with his hands, let her sit on the chair, and said emotionally, "We two have a casual meal today...I want to sit with you eat……"

"Scared me..." She smiled happily. He chewed the pancakes slowly, staring at her face intently on the crispy raw onion strips.This face, which was once as white as a pink peach, has become striped, with black on the yellow; the eyes have become larger, and there is a deep-rooted urgent look in the eyes, ready to put down the things in your hands all the time. Use the chopsticks to pick up the fork or some furniture.The dense crow's feet on the corners of the eyes become more pronounced when the eyebrows are slightly frowned. For twenty years, the scorching summer sun in the countryside and the sharp northwest wind in winter have changed the delicate skin of the cheeks to rough Old again.

"You eat vegetables!" He put the onion strips on her pancakes, and said caressingly, "You should eat steadily when you eat, don't be half-hearted." "Ah..." She hurriedly caught the onion sticks he handed over, and swallowed it into her mouth, her face was slightly red, and a charming fog-like look covered her eyes, "What's wrong with you today?" "I'm enlightened today! We should be equal..." "We were originally equal." "No... not equal!" "I don't feel anything... unequal!" "You take care of me... no... it's simply serving..."

"That's what women are supposed to do!" "traditional mindset!" "I heard on the radio that you should care about the technologists..." "That's against the prejudices in society that despise knowledge! In our family, there should be complete equality." "Okay, you come to cook the pot and cook the stove, and take care of the laundry... Haha, what do you look like!" "Let's move to the city. After get off work, whoever comes home early cooks, and washes clothes together on Sundays. That's it. Don't laugh..." "Are all men in the city like this?" Before Zhao Peng could answer Shuqin's words, there was a sound of footsteps pounding garlic into the courtyard. His fifteen-year-old son jumped in, hesitated, and then snatched the chopsticks from Shuqin's hand, arrogant and dissatisfied. He looked sideways at his mother and said, "You guys are eating at home, ask me to buy pigs and chickens for you..." Shuqin stared at Zhao Peng embarrassedly, picked up a pancake from the tray, handed it to her son, and said with a caressing smile, "Mom is going to change you!" "You..." Zhao Peng said with a smile, "You are just cultivating male chauvinism!" "Father!" Only then did his son Mao Mao remember his mission, "Someone from the factory is looking for you!" "Who? Where?" Zhao Peng asked hurriedly. "I don't know him. A bearded driver parked at the entrance of the village." While talking, a middle-aged man walked in the door, and Zhao Peng grabbed his hand. It was Lao Meng, the car driver in the factory, and hurriedly beckoned him to sit down and eat. "The factory manager asked me to invite you, and hurry back to the factory." The driver, Lao Meng, was not polite, grabbed a piece of pancake and ate it, and said in a hurry, "The foreign businessman came to the factory at ten o'clock to negotiate an order! The factory manager is afraid that the foreigners I was fooled and told me to come to you immediately. The factory manager said that if the wheat is lost, the factory will pay for it..." "What are you talking about!" Zhao Peng stood up and asked hurriedly, "Why did the foreign businessman come early? Originally said..." "I came early, and I don't know why." The driver said, "Mr. Yang was caught off guard. I received a call from the bureau last night, and I wanted to come to you overnight..." Zhao Peng nodded and didn't speak. If Lao Meng had come last night, he would have stepped up!His Shuqin passed out from harvesting wheat in the rainstorm, and the house was a mess. "Change into clean clothes for me." Zhao Peng said, "I want to discuss business with Big Brother Yang. Wearing these clothes will frighten him." "The factory has already prepared the next set of suits." The driver Lao Meng said, "Last night, I went to Xi'an City to buy a few suits, and the workers cleaned them for half the night... It doesn't matter if you change clothes or not, it's time to scratch Just shaved." Zhao Peng took a new set of clothes that Shuqin took out from the box, put on them, and shaved in front of the mirror.Only then did he realize that the scorching sun on the plateau and the obvious traces of sweat on the face and cheeks were dark and blue.He explained to Shuqinkuan: "The harvest on the slope is finished, and the wheat on the river bank is not ripe yet. There is just three or five days to go. I finished talking with foreign businessmen, and I just came back to catch up with the harvesting of the wheat on the river bank..." "Don't worry about it." Shuqin said bluntly, "Lu Ping in the river beach, I can cut and transport, you can rest assured to do your work..." Zhao Peng and the driver walked to the entrance of the village, got into black Shanghai cars one after another, and drove out of the village. Looking out from the car window, the wheat on the original slope has been completely harvested, and occasionally a clump of immature wheat can be seen on the edge of the gutter, growing alone on the bare slope, like a shaved head by a razor A bunch of hair left on purpose as a prank.The ravines and slopes of the South Plateau are unobtrusively exposed, giving people a sense of loneliness after a feast.Looking out from the car window on the right, the wheat in the river is dense and dense, turning from green to yellow.There is a place that is golden and yellow, and another place that is green and thick, showing the variety of seasons when the green and yellow are changing.The willows are lush and graceful, dancing gracefully and gracefully with their thick leaves washed clean by the heavy rain.The calls of yellow and cut are heard here and there in the river from time to time, and the golden yellow gulan birds pass by the car window and fly to the depths of the river.It is full of the sweet and greasy aroma when the wheat is ripe, pouring into the car window, it is so refreshing, so warm and humid! The earth-rock road was full of potholes, and the road was muddy. The car rolled over the small puddles of water, making the sound of splashing mud and water.Sitting on the green velvet backrest, Zhao Peng sighed in his heart: Yesterday, he was carrying wheat sheaves like a cow, sweating profusely on the narrow and steep path between slopes and ditches. Going uphill and downhill, it is very easy to think that he can walk with his arms empty; today, sitting on the soft cushion, the car is carrying him galloping forward...the contrast is too strong! The South Plateau and the North Ridge tilted backwards, the river gradually widened, and the car drove steadily on the smooth asphalt road.Leaving the small valley of my hometown, the strong impression of the overturned cart began to fade away, and the cart and the wheat sheaves wet by the rainstorm gradually retreated to the distant Java Island. Fades, disappears.His mind was occupied by a series of test data. He held the cigarette in his right hand and rested his cheek in his left hand, so that the test data in his mind would be revived and reflected on the screen in his mind.His expression is focused and confident, which is a kind of spiritual confidence given by possessing sufficient professional knowledge.What he is now concentrating on is how to receive the foreign businessmen who are about to visit in a decent and modest manner, and how to introduce the products he designed and tested successfully into the Western European market. It should be known that the industrial market in Western Europe does not accommodate slightly outdated low-energy machinery. And Big Brother Yang came to China not entirely for friendship...