Chapter 3 Autumn

In July, the ears of the seedlings in the field have drooped their heads and turned yellow, and everyone is busy threshing millet. At this time, the oil mill was resting, and what replaced the sound of oiling in the oil mill was the sound of threshing grain in various fields.With one or two hundred copper candied fruit, every harvester hired together with old sauerkraut and stinky beef came to the field at dawn, with a sickle on his waist like a small saw. , In Feng Kuai's action, there is only a small pile left, and all the bunches of grain are lying in the field. Behind the reapers, the thresher who was pushing the big square wooden bucket took the handle of the grain lying on the ground in his hand, lifted it up high and beat it down quickly, and beat the grain hard on the edge of the bucket, and then he was gone. Ripe grains, completely dropped into the barrel.

The day of threshing is a lively day. Farmers have the joy of harvesting and going to the warehouse in their hearts. On the one hand, they feel comfortable that the year-round farming is coming to a rest time. Everyone is full of smiles! Gradually, under the big trees in front of every house on every hillside, every village, the straw was piled up into huge piles that were frighteningly high, and it was obvious that the millet had already been put into the warehouse.The accumulation of straw can be seen everywhere, light yellow in color, lying under various big trees whose leaves have fallen, and looks like a huge beast from a distance.Some families also use the haystacks as houses and live on the haystacks in order to take care of the late-maturing millet and potatoes in the valley.There are no thieves in the area, what they are afraid of is the wild boar, and there will be more wild boars in autumn.

At this time, since Wuming's oil shop stopped working, Wuming had nothing to play with. Wuming could no longer watch the mills all day long and watch the cows push the mill, and the cows didn't need to be let out to graze.Picking up firewood doesn't necessarily mean that the family depends on it to sell money, nor does it mean that there is no firewood for burning fires. Wu Ming's family has tens of thousands of oil and pine firewood left. Wu Ming collected firewood, and what he picked up in a day was only a bunch of small dead branches, a bunch of flowers, and a bunch of wild red fruits on the mountain.This kid went out of the gate, wearing a sickle, a pipe, and a piccolo. Only the flute can use these three things.When he goes up the mountain, he goes up the mountain to play the flute in the west wind!

As soon as he blew the flute, a deer came running.The flute continued to play, and the deer stayed next to the boy and fell asleep, listening to the sound of the flute was intoxicating.This deer has a pair of small feet, a long waist, a black face and a red mouth.It was Ah Hei who came. Ah Hei's father didn't play oil at this time, and went to wipe the cards at Xiangyue's house with his hand with the thick callused oil hammer.Ah Hei carried a bamboo cage all day long and went up the mountain, in the name of collecting firewood and grass, no matter where she was, even though it was far away, she could hear the sound of Wuming's flute.As soon as he blew the flute, Ah Hei came to the hunter like a small deer.As usual, they would scold them when they came, scolding Wuming bad ghosts, and it was not easy to understand what the meaning of "bad" was.It was probably because Wu Ming played the flute and sang, and at some places, Ah Hei was happy, but because of his joy, he began to scold Wu Ming as a "bad ghost".Ah Hei's body is not black, only his face is black, Wu Ming sang - "Sister Jiao was born white and white, brother Qing was born black and black. Black ink is written on white paper, do you think it matches the color?"

Ah Hei scolded people.To make Ah Hei scold people, it is only because Wu Ming has a mouth.The wild boar has a big mouth, which can dig out the big sweet potatoes in the field from the soil without any effort, and eat the potatoes to satisfy their hunger.Wu Ming's mouth is not big, but he is good-natured. Besides singing, he not only has to suck Ah Hei's face with his mouth all the time, but also wants to suck Ah Hei's whole body with his mouth all the time.Moreover, he has bad habits, a lot of eccentric tempers, and many unspeakable arrangements, all of which seem to be arranged by his mouth, and there are reasons for Ah Hei to scold him.While scolding is scolding, what he has to do is to stick to his old habits. It is no wonder that Ah Hei scolds "five bright bad ghosts" first when they meet.

Wuming was weird and bad, and he coaxed Ah Hei to a secluded straw pile with his heart and soul, and ingeniously dragged out the grass in the middle of the haystack, hollowed it out into a hut, and stayed in this hut to accompany Ah Hei. Hei chatted, appearing flattering and gentle.Sometimes the words are inappropriate and make a person feel angry and want to walk. Because Wu Ming wants to keep Ah Hei, he tries to hide something from Ah Hei on the top of the straw pile until Ah Hei really looks angry. retreat. Although Ah Hei is older than Wu Ming, he knows a lot of things. He knows that autumn is coming and the weather is cold, so he should be careful when "catching a cold"; There are not many days and there is no cure.Even though Ah Hei sometimes said "no" and "no", he still surrendered in the end. There have been many examples.

The weather is really getting colder day by day.The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and even though the sun hangs in the sky all day long, there will still be chills invading people in the morning and evening, and jackets are necessary.In such weather, Ah Hei rushed over as soon as he heard Wu Ming's flute, which seems to be unjustifiable if it is Wu Ming's crime! The fourth day of August is the birthday of the local mountain god. On this day, people should use chicken, meat and sorghum wine to make a living for the god.Wuming's godfather, the master craftsman dressed in long hair with a red kerchief on his head, was invited by the local party to offer birthday wishes to the mountain god and thank God for his blessings.The old master who came to the oil workshop, exchanged pipes with the owner of the oil workshop to eat cigarettes, sat on the horizontal axis of the roller to talk, asked the owner about all his fortune, and the father of the oiler Ah Hei also came.

The oiler heard a long-term worker in the oil workshop say that the old master had come, so he put down his cards and came to see the old master.When we met, the conversation continued like this: "Oiler, hello!" "TOEFL. Master, come autumn, you will have good fortune!" "I'm lucky with money, or with other things. Mommy, I went to Huangzhai the day before yesterday to practice something. In the middle of the night, the master said that the night was too long, so I asked the master to play cards, so I started fighting. Later, the master again Became a treasure official banker, several rounds of bankers in a row, leaving ten times to meet Tiangang, a full sixty hangs, and paid off. Things really can’t be done. Fall asleep first."

"In-law, Lao Geng, you are a layman, be careful, you have been fooled." The owner of the oil shop said, calling the old master as in-law and Lao Geng, because they are the same year. The master said: "You can't be a good one. There is nothing to do with bad luck. This year's luck is not very good." The master said that he was unlucky, so he smoked hard. If the smoke can be inhaled and released with the mouth like luck, then the master will definitely win. He was smoking a cigarette, looking up at the top of the window of the oil workshop, where there was a bat hanging upside down on a piece of rubber.

"Dear family, this thing can be mischievous, and it will become fine when you get old." "What?" The boss raised his head because he also saw two bands of smoke and dust. "I said eaves mouse, you see, it really looks like a goblin." "If you become a demon, ask your in-laws to catch it." "If I become a demon, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch it. My method seems to be to talk business with the gods, not to talk about skills with the demon!" "I don't believe this thing is a goblin." "If you don't believe me, it won't work." The master said, remembering a story that he had never seen with his own eyes, and said, "There really are demons. On the second floor of Tiger Cave, there are eaves rats the size of cloaks, which can speak like human beings." , and can call the wind and call the rain, it is something that has been shaped by the heavenly scriptures. Fortunately, it cultivates itself, and does not provoke people, and people do not provoke it, otherwise it would be great."

In order to prove the existence of goblins, the old master did not hesitate to say embarrassing things in front of the two friends. He said that sometimes he had to bow to goblins, because goblins became Taoists and were like recruited bandits. no.He also talked about how to know that goblins have roots, and how to make peace with goblins.In short, this old man is just a drinking comrade in front of his in-laws, but he is another old master in cassock!In fact, he has been catching ghosts and subduing demons for twenty or thirty years, but he has never encountered a ghost.What he met was a man who did not lack the ability of ghosts. He gambled with him and took away all the money he got from somersaulting and singing divine songs.He told strangers how powerful the mana is for fighting ghosts, and his old friends in the same family said how fierce demons are, but both sides were talking nonsense, and even he himself didn't understand how much better his mana was than gambling skills. This man can be said to be a good man, lacking the snobbish habits of mages in the city, he is very serious about singing and dancing kowtowing, he is not greedy for money, and he does not abuse his apprentices.But if there really are ghosts and demons, he will have to subdue them for those who have spent money.It's hard to say whether his Taoism is better than his gambling skills! Speaking of ghosts and demons, the old master remembered how he had been hunting ghosts for Miss Ahei in the past few months, so he asked the oiler's daughter how she was doing recently. The oiler said, "Recently everyone has recovered, or the weather has turned into autumn, and they have gained a little weight." With regard to fatness and thinness, the well-informed master gave several examples to explain the reason why patients get fat after the ghosts are beaten. When the boss heard these two different words, he teased the master and said, "Dear family, is it possible that Ah Hei is still haunted by a ghost at this time!" The old master seemed to have to admit this, and nodded and smiled. The old master smiled, took the pipe from the oilman, and smoked. Wu Ming and Ah Hei came.Ah Hei stood outside the door and did not come in, so Wu Ming went to the old master to call godfather, and then turned back to call fourth uncle. The oilman said, "Wu Ming, what are you proud of, laughing like this." "Uncle Si, can't people laugh?" "I remember that you loved to cry when you were young." "I don't cry!" "Now I won't cry anymore, I'm only being naughty." After the father said this, Wu Ming wanted to leave. "Where are you going? Run again?" "Father, Big Sister Ah Hei is waiting for me outside, but she refuses to come in." "Girl Ah Hei, come here!" The boss shouted and went out to find Ah Hei, and Wu Ming also ran out after him. Wu Ming's father stood outside the door and looked around, but he couldn't see Ah Hei.A big straw pile hides Ah Hei.Wuming was innocent, so he went behind the haystack. "Sister, what are you doing hiding here? My godfather is talking with the fourth uncle and the others, and wants you to go in!" "I will not go." "Listen to my dad calling you." Indeed, the boss was shouting, because he saw another woman carrying a bamboo cage going downhill, and thought that it was Ah Hei, so he shouted loudly. Wu Ming said, "Sister, you can go." "No." "Listen, it's still shouting!" "I'm impatient to see that old ghost with the red veil." Why is Ah Hei unwilling to see the old ghost with a red handkerchief?Needless to say, it was because Wu Ming said that the man was going to be a matchmaker for Wu Ming.Ah Hei was afraid of seeing that old thing and talking about it again, so he didn't dare to enter the oil shop at this time.Wu Ming insisted that Ah Hei go to the oil shop to have fun. Seeing that Ah Hei insisted, he walked out of the haystack and shouted to his father, telling Ah Hei to stay behind the haystack. Ah Hei had to come out to see Wu Ming's father.Wuming's father asked her to go in, saying that her father was also inside, and she was embarrassed not to go into the oil workshop.At the same time when he entered the oil workshop, Ah Hei looked at Wu Ming with an angry look, but he just pretended not to see it. It was the old mage who hardly knew Ah Hei.When he saw Wu Ming behind Ah Hei, he understood the reason why Ah Hei was fat and why Wu Ming was jumping and lively. The old man smiled knowingly at Wu Mingdu.The appearance of the old mage was seen by Ah Hei, which made Ah Hei's face hot. "Father, I thought you went to Xiao's house to play cards." "I lost again in a card game. When I heard that the master had arrived, I let go. But just as I was about to get up, I was dragged away by the boss. I played another card, but a blue and white three-tier table came back to the cage. Inside and outside Li also won a hang of more than seven hundred." "Father, do you want to buy the lame pig from the Wang family?" "You see if you are sick or not." "I'm not sick, but one of my feet is lame. I don't know if it's okay or not." "I don't think it's worth it. For the next game, the people from the oil workshop should go to Xinchang to buy a pair of flower pigs." "Flower pigs are not good, they need to be black, and they should be matched together." "That is." Ah Hei had nothing to say, so he put down the cage, took out many wild chestnuts and sweet radishes from the cage, and also took out wild red fruits, distributed them to everyone, and said with a woman's charming smile that he would ask the master to taste it. .Wu Ming was climbing up the oil press, wanting to check if there was any bat feces in the oil trough, when he saw Ah Hei distributing things, he jumped off the ground, and grabbed it unceremoniously. The master looked at Ah Hei's words and attitudes coldly, and felt that there would be no other daughter-in-law for his godson.Looking at the two fathers again, they seemed to be a pair of in-laws, and he remembered the first sentence of the matchmaker in his heart.He asked Wu Ming first, and said, "Boy Wu Ming, come here and let me ask you." Wu Ming walked past his godfather. The old master whispered in Wuming's ear, "Do you remember what I said before?" Wu Ming said, "I can't remember." "I can't remember, I'm telling you, do you want that person to be your wife? Tell the truth." Wu Ming didn't answer, but covered his ears with his hands, and made a ghostly look at Ah Hei, so that Ah Hei could pay attention to what the people on this side were talking about. "If you don't tell me, I'll sue your father for being very bad." "Godfather, you wronged people." "What have I wronged you for? My old man, I know a lot about ghosts. How can I not understand the principles of human affairs? Tell me the truth, if you want your godfather to help you, tell me, otherwise the oiler will use oil one day smash your dog's head with a mallet." "Who would dare to hit me if I don't do anything?" "I'm going to beat you," the old master said loudly at this moment, "my dear, what happened to what I told you before?" "How is it? Why is godfather so worried?" "Aren't you worried? You are wrong to be a father. I tell you that the child is a person who has already learned how to worship, and if he doesn't try to make trouble in the future." Wu Ming's father looked at Wu Ming and smiled, and Wu Ming winked at Ah Hei, asking her to come out with him so as not to be embarrassed. Ah Hei said to her father, "Dad, I'm going. Are you going home for dinner today?" Wu Ming's father said, "I won't go back to eat, but stay here with Master." "Father won't go back and I won't cook. There's enough food left in the morning." Ah Hei said, putting the cage on his shoulders, and said to Wu Ming's father and master, "Uncle, master, please sit down." .I'm leaving. I have nothing to go back home to have tea." Wu Ming saw Ah Hei walking away, he was embarrassed to chase him out.After Ah Hei left, his godfather said to the oilman: "Fourth brother, you, Ah Hei, are looking more and more beautiful." "What are you talking about? This girl is really ignorant. One day she just wants to play, she just wants to go to heaven. I plan to marry her to a distant village, where there are grandparents, sisters-in-law and younger siblings, so that she can be disciplined to an adult, otherwise she will have to marry into a soldier." Wu Ming's heart skipped a beat when he heard what Ah Hei's father said.The old master asked the Oilers for Wu Ming Dynasty's opinion, and the old master said, "Brother, are you really willing to marry a black girl and go to a distant country?" The oilman didn't answer, just laughed.People laughed, obviously what he said was a joke, and Ah Hei could not marry far away, and it was clearly proved from his words.A further question was whether Ah Hei had anyone else, and the oilman said he hadn't.He also said that the matchmaker had come to the door several times, because there was only one daughter, and he couldn't be too stupid. He asked Ah Hei, but Ah Hei refused, so the matter could not be discussed yet. Wu Ming's father said, "You are not too young, so don't be too stupid. In short, this is fate. If the fate is good, it will be bad first, and then it will be good. If the fate is bad, the good will become bad." "Brother, you're right. I'm half the master and half the girl. I don't object if she likes it. I don't want private property. I just want my son to be good. After a few years, I'm old and my bones are loose. I can't do it anymore. When you do something, you can take them for a meal, have wine for me to drink, and have cards for me to play, and that is considered a blessing." "Brother, leave the matter to me, and I will find a son-in-law for you. ——In-law, you don't have to deal with Wu Ming's business, just let me, who is a godfather, take care of it all by myself. ——You can just beat up an in-law, okay?" it is good?" Wu Ming's father laughed, and Ah Hei's father laughed too.Both of them obviously admitted that it was necessary to discuss the proposal to continue, so they had nothing to say for a while. Hearing this, Wu Ming didn't want to listen to it at first, but wanted to know the result, so he pretended not to understand and sat by the stove, smashing chestnut balls with bricks to eat.While shelling the chestnuts, he listened attentively to the conversation of the three of them, and then he heard his godfather say, "Dear family, what I said is very right. If you are like the fourth brother, let this motherless child make half of his own decisions." , choose the person you like, I'm sure he won't object to his godfather's opinion." "Master, the black girl is old, I'm afraid it doesn't suit her well." "Fourth brother, don't be polite, just ask Wu Ming to see if he wants the big one or the small one." If the oiler didn't ask Wuming, the old master would ask the oiler again.He said, "Hey, don't be shy, you have heard what I said to your father. Let me ask you, would you like to treat Ah Hei as the bedside person and call Sibo your father-in-law?" Wu Ming pretended not to understand. "Little thing, you're pretending to be crazy. What I'm asking you is if you want a woman. If you want, you should quickly kowtow to your godfather, so that your godfather can be a formal matchmaker for you." "I do not want." "If you don't want it, forget it. When I see you with Ah Hei again, I will teach your father to break your legs." Wu Ming is not afraid of being frightened, and it is inevitable that his godfather's words will not hurt Wu Ming.Although he hoped that Ah Hei would become his wife one day, but he said that he had to kowtow to someone for help, which was not acceptable.On the one hand, he refused to admit it, and on the other hand, he was forced to speak out, so Wu Ming had no choice but to get out of the oil workshop. Wu Ming walked out of the oil shop and hurried to Ah Hei's house.On this side, the three middle-aged men, it doesn't really matter whether the in-laws are working or not, but the old master who has nothing to do, has nothing to do with his hands, and needs to find a way to entertain himself, so the three of them invited Went to Tuan Zong's house to play Ting Fu poker. Let's talk about Wuming's scene when he got into Ah Hei's room. Ah Hei was thinking about the weird-looking teacher, and she knew that this person always had a lot of energy to gossip besides chanting sutras and somersaults. Once the scope of gossip was expanded, it would inevitably come to her, so she was feeling heavy.As expected, it not only talked about Ah Hei, but also talked about one thing, Wu Ming and Ah Hei agreed, because Wu Ming, who came to Ah Hei's place after reporting this, saw Ah Hei. Hei Mian just smirked. "What's the matter, ghost?" "What's the matter! Some people say you're getting married!" "fart!" "Fart one, don't fart more. I heard your father said that he plans to marry you to Huangluozhai, or marry you to Mayang to eat porridge." "My dad was telling a joke." "I know. But my godfather said that he would be a matchmaker for you. I don't understand who this old thing is talking about." "You really don't understand?" "Really no. He said his surname was Zhou. He said he was a scholar who could be a member of parliament. He had a very fair face, was tall, and wore foreign clothes. This kind of person." "I don't want to marry anyone, but you and I don't..." "He also helped me as a matchmaker, saying that there was a woman..." "How should I say it?" Ah Hei was a little anxious. "He said that the woman looks like Guanyin Bodhisattva, with a dark face and long eyebrows, and her name is Ah Hei." "Ghost, I know you're talking nonsense." "It's unreasonable! Let me tell you clearly, when my father tells your father that you should marry me, only this person can say it!" Ah Hei's face changed color with joy.She hurriedly asked the two elders what to say. "They don't talk. They laugh." "And you?" "He asked me, I was embarrassed to say if I wanted to, so he came." Ah Hei tilted his head and looked at Wu Ming, which meant that Wu Ming wanted to kiss him, so Wu Ming came over to hug Ah Hei.He added, "Ah Hei, you are my wife now." "It's yours, never!" "I am your husband, and you should do what you are asked to do." "I don't believe your words." "Take my word for it..." "Fart, I'm going to beat someone if you talk nonsense." "If you hit me, I will sue my godfather, saying that you bullied me and tortured me." Ah Hei was furious, it was really a slap in the face.Wu Ming, who was hurt by the beating, rubbed his cheeks with his hands, admitting his mistake in a low voice, and asked Ah Hei to accompany him to go out to watch the setting sun and the rosy clouds in the sky. Standing by the door and looking at the sky, the sky is lavender and dark yellow.Looking around and looking around, the straw piles in various villages are plated with gold in the evening sun.The smoke from each family's cooking rose and then fell, dragging a white curtain to the slope.In the distance, where the grass has been mowed, the roots of the grass are painted in white, like drawing countless dots on a piece of paper.All the scenes are like poetry, with indescribable harmony and indescribable beauty. In this scene, Wu Ming and Ah Hei were leaning against the ginkgo tree in front of the door and listening to the evening cicadas, not knowing that there were tears and other things in the world.