Chapter 11 Chapter Four Eleven

Someone brought a gift to Bixiyu, and Shun Shun, who was in charge of the water pier, really invited a matchmaker to marry him on the ferry for his son.The old boatman hurriedly took the man across the mouth of the stream and went home together.Cui Cui was peeling peas in front of the house, and she didn't pay much attention to the guests.But as soon as the guest came in and said "He Xi He Xi", something was on his mind, and he didn't dare to stay by the door anymore, so he pretended to be chasing the chickens in the vegetable garden, took a bamboo pole and shook it, drinking softly. , ran to the white tower behind the house.

The visitor said some gossip, and when he got down to business and relayed Shun Shun's opinion, the old boatman didn't know how to answer, but he just rubbed his callused hands in panic, as if there was nothing real about it, and his expression was like he was Said: "That's good, that's good," but the old man never said a word. After Ma Bing finished speaking, he asked Zuo grandfather what his opinion was.The old boatman nodded his head with a smile and said: "The old man wants to go by car, this is very good. But I have to ask Cui Cui to see what she thinks." After the visitor left, the grandfather called Cui Cui to get off at the bow Let the river speak.

Cuicui took a dustpan of peas and went down to the stream, boarded the boat, and asked her grandfather delicately, "Grandpa, what's the matter with you?" Grandpa smiled and said nothing, only tilted his white-haired head Looking at Cui Cui for a long time.Cuicui sat on the bow of the boat, lowered her head to peel the peas, and listened to the singing of yellow birds in the bamboo groves in the distance.Cui Cui thought: "The days are long, and grandpa's words are long." Cui Cui's heart was beating lightly. After a while, the grandfather said: "Cui Cui, Cui Cui, what did the uncle who came earlier come to do, do you know?"

Cui Cui said, "I don't know." After saying that, her face and neck were all red. Grandpa saw the scene and understood Cui Cui's mind, so he looked into the distance and saw Cui Cui's mother fifteen years ago in the mist, and the old boatman felt very soft in his heart.He said softly to himself: "Every boat must have a pier, and every sparrow must have a nest." At the same time, he thought of the past of that poor mother, and felt a little pain in his heart, but reluctantly smile. As for Cuicui, she was thinking of many things from the singing of yellow birds and cuckoos in the mountains, and the sound of bamboo fellers in the valley.Stories about tigers biting people, four-sentence folk songs when scolding people, square pits in papermaking workshops, iron juice leaking from iron melting furnaces in iron factories... She seems to hear everything she hears and sees with her eyes. Go to study and study.The reason why she did this seemed to be all because she wanted to forget the incident in front of her.But she was a little mistaken.

Grandfather said: "Cui Cui, Shun Shun, the ship's boss, invited someone to be a matchmaker. He wanted to ask you to be his daughter-in-law, and asked if I would like it. As for me, I am old, and it will pass in three or two years. I have no disapproval." What you want. This is your own business. You think about it and say it yourself. If you want to, it will be done; if you don’t want to, it’s fine.” Cuicui didn't know how to deal with this problem, so she pretended to be calm and looked at her grandfather timidly.It's inconvenient to ask anything, and of course it's hard to answer.

The grandfather said: "The boss is a promising man, he is upright and generous. You are lucky to marry him!" Cui Cui understands, the old man who comes to matchmaking!She never raised her head, her heart was jumping, her face was burning badly, she still peeled her peas, and casually threw the empty peas into the water, watching them flow calmly in the running water, she seemed to be calm too many. Seeing that Cui Cui was always silent, my grandfather laughed and said: "Cui Cui, I think it will be fine for a few days. The Luoyang Bridge was not built in one night, and it will take time. The person who came last time told me I have already told him about this matter: cars are roads, horses are roads, and each has its own rules. If you want your father to be the master, ask the matchmaker to say it is the road seriously; if you want to be the master, stand on the opposite side The song that sings for you for three years and six months in the cliff bamboo forest is the road. If you are happy to walk on the road, I believe people will sing warm songs for you under the sun and gentle songs under the moonlight. Vomit blood and throat is rotten!"

Cui Cui kept silent, she just wanted to cry, but she had no reason to cry.When the grandfather continued talking, he led to the dead mother.The old man spoke for a while, then fell silent.Cui Cui quietly put her head back a little, tears welled up in her grandfather's eyes.Cuicui was startled and timidly said: "Grandpa, what's the matter with you?" Grandfather kept silent, wiped his eyes with his big palm, cooed and laughed like a child, jumped ashore and ran back home. Cuicui's heart was in a mess, she wanted to rush away but she didn't. The weather cleared up after the rain, and the sun was burning on people's shoulders and backs, which gave them some strength.The reeds, willows and willows by the stream, as well as the vegetables in the vegetable garden, are all flourishing and full of wild vitality.Green grasshoppers flew here and there in the grass, rustling their wings as they beat the air.The voice of the new cicada on the branch has gradually become louder.The two mountains are emerald and emerald, and among the bamboos, there are yellow birds, bamboo sparrows and cuckoos singing.Cuicui feels, looks, listens, and at the same time thinks:

"Grandpa is seventy years old this year... the song of three years and six months - who will give that white duck?... the good luck of the grinder, who is the best luck for the grinder?..." I was dazed, and suddenly stood up, half a dustpan of peas was dumped into the water.When I reached out to get the dustpan out of the water for luck, someone shouted across the stream.