Chapter 10 The Ninth Story of the Poor Taoist: Buying a Cow

In the front, the Qiangjiang fishermen set up a memorial archway for the Liyuan Festival and the dragon gate array of Shenhe, and then the master Xian Gengzhai gave us another "The Story of Viewing Flowers". Everyone expressed dissatisfaction with the master Yan Gengzhai who put up such a short dragon gate array. Zen Master Yehu He also volunteered to help Chi Bu put up a dragon gate formation "The Story of a Birth".These three Longmen formations are all about Xiangbatou.It can be seen that you are not the only ones in the city who have unseen and unheard of strange Longmen Formation.The anecdotes and strange things in Xiangbatou are not less than those in the city. Based on the three dragon gates of "Sinking River", "The Story of Viewing Flowers" and "The Story of Birth", the things in Xiangbatou are worse than those in the city. .Some people say that our era is an era of tragedies, our country is a country of tragedies, and our characters are the characters in those tragedies. I think it makes sense.As far as I am concerned, in the past few decades, I have not seen or heard a few joyful things.So I can only show you a tragedy below.I'm a country guy, so naturally what I'm talking about is the affairs of the country.A member of Tong's section, now a poor channeler from our cold-bench club, began to set up the Dragon Gate Array in his township. My home is in the large courtyard of Tong's family in Tongjiagou.Most of the families in this courtyard are named Tong. Judging from the gods' cards in the lobby room, they all originated from an old ancestor.But the situation of the great-great-great-grandchildren of the old Zongzong is quite different.Some families, such as our Tongzi Lin's family, occupy the dragon's veins of the main house, the family grows bigger, and the people grow more and more dignified.Our Elder Tong is the "popularly elected" speaker of the county seat, and he is the leader of this party. Of course, he is also the glorious descendant of our old Zongzong, the descendant of the descendant.His two young masters, the eldest and young master attended some legal and political university in the capital, which was a special place for training officials.It's no wonder that when the young master returns to the countryside every summer vacation to "breathe fresh air", he sits on a flashing slider and assumes such a bureaucratic posture, even though he is just a bureaucrat.You look like that, with a shiny "Naquilen hair" combed on the head, wearing a suit that looks like burlap to me but is made of high-quality imported material, and the feet are black enough to look like a shadow. leather shoes.There is also a pair of dark green sunshade glasses with gold frames on the nose.The first thing he did when he jumped down the slide was to gently wipe off the layer of dust on the leather shoes when he stepped on the dusty ground when he came down.Then he frowned, covered Yizi, and looked dissatisfied at the crumbling earthen houses around him, and the dusty trails with seven holes and eight holes, which were very unpleasant to welcome the crowd.Many of this crowd are his elders, even his grandparents.He nodded slightly as if to greet and ignored, hummed, and walked away to the big courtyard of Zhengya. According to the two uncles who came back with his sliding pole, In the county seat, he had an argument with the elder who was the speaker.He only got his bachelor's degree in the School of Law and Politics, and now he is back in the county seat, becoming a candidate official waiting to be filled.The old man asked him to go back to the courtyard of the old house to worship the ancestors and visit the tombs, and he was also familiar with some things about rice, wheat, soybeans, and millet, that is, to confess a little rent and interest.The old man said that when fallen leaves return to their roots, they will eventually have to rely on the old foundation for the elderly, ah.But he couldn't listen, and didn't want to go back to the country. "You can at least go to the countryside to breathe some fresh air." The words of the Speaker's words still moved the young master.So he got on his own slider and returned to his hometown in a blink of an eye. 6 But when he slipped the slider, he smelled the smell of pig manure and cow dung that is indispensable in the village, and he became discouraged.He stayed at home for a few days, lit joss sticks and burned paper money in the main room. He stood upright in front of the old God's main tablet, bowed three times, and the task was considered completed, and he sat on the skateboard the next day. Rod went into town.

As for the second young master, he was not as good at studying as the eldest young master. He couldn't make it through a "pheasant school" in the provincial capital, so he went to apply for an accelerated non-commissioned officer school that graduated 4 in one year. ——A year later, he won the rank of a second lieutenant, put on a diagonal belt, and became an officer.But he was a martial artist, but he was afraid of going to the front line to face bloody fighting, so he returned to his hometown to run the National Army Corps. This job was both powerful and safe.These two are the elite figures worth talking about in our big courtyard.The rest are like worthless things, not worth mentioning.At most, it is like the arch guard of the stars, becoming the vassal and foil of the main house's family.Among the crooked tile-roofed houses and huts around the big house, some are descendants of the ancestors of the Tong family, and most of them have become tenants of the big house; The guests rent and plant the fields of the master's house, and pay the rent for food.Some of them couldn't afford the deposit even if they wanted to rent the land of the master's house, so they had to play the autumn wind and work as helpers for the master's family for many years.Some can't even do this, they can only rely on begging and charity to survive the hunger without a meal.Although there are still a few families in this big courtyard, struggling to live on their ancestral ten-acre or eight-mu land.However, if there was a natural or man-made disaster, or an unexpected accident, there would have been a "middleman" who had come to make an idea for the big house, whether to sell it or pawn it, and it was said that it was for the sake of the same ancestors.As a result, every family went downhill, and every piece of land went to the account of the big house.In the end, he had no way out, so he had no choice but to work as a long-term laborer for the old man's family, carrying the sedan chair, guarding the yard and blowing the trumpet as a helper.

There was only one family, a self-cultivator named Wang Zizhang, who didn't believe in the evil, and was unwilling to be flattened under the feet of the old man like small mounds one by one.He is ambitious to compete with the Dayuan family, relying on his own strength and agricultural skills to revitalize the family business and make a fortune. Wang Zizhang is a well-known "adult" in our Tongjiagou. This adult is not the kind of rich and powerful official who acts as a domineering adult, but he is tall and powerful. People say he The parts of his body are all oversized. He is at least five feet seven eight feet tall and weighs two to five pounds. His face is as big as a bucket, his eyebrows are several inches long, his eyes are round and open like apricots, and his nose is purple. It looks like a piece of pig liver attached to the mouth, and the mouth is surprisingly bigger. Usually it is not obvious, but when he opens his mouth to eat, or when he opens his mouth to laugh, he can see a blood basin open The sound is like a bell, which can scare a crying child from crying. The beard on his mouth is not shaved, and it is always open in all directions, with swords and crossbows. He laughed a lot, hahaha, a burst The air is gushing out of his mouth, making you feel horrified. He is about to sneeze loudly, and the sound is really loud. And he always looks like a "big" character. He stands up with his feet and hands, He looks like a "big" character, and he sleeps like a "big" Yu on the bed. He speaks loudly, and he does things with big feet and hands. That's why people in Tongjiagou call him "Wang" His Excellency". He was negligent because of the nickname Fu. His strength is also famous in Tongjiagou. It is said that he once lifted the stone tripod of the Earth Temple with both hands, and with a single step, he lifted the stone tripod on the main hall. A thick stigma of a water tank squeezed an inch away. I have never seen whether this is true. But I saw him pick up a small water bull. As for the slaughter pig, he can hold it down alone. , pulled out the pig-killing knife in his mouth, inserted the knife into it, and the pig stopped grunting. When two other people lifted one of the stone poles, he lifted the other by himself. He carried Ding Yuguai and ran very fast. His family had no cattle, and he couldn’t borrow cattle during the busy farming season. In his field, his son who had not yet grown up was pulling the plow behind him, and he was pulling the plow in front. The two of them pulled the plow There is a way to survive. Due to the great consumption of his strength, he naturally needs to fill his belly with more food than others. I did see him eat a small liter of rice by himself. Weighing is indispensable. Two catties of rice. You don’t even hiccup after eating. During Chinese New Year, when you go to someone’s home as a guest, you can put half a catty of shochu in front of it.

If I describe it like this, you must say that this person must be a big bastard, right?No, people can't judge by appearance.His appearance is slender, his big mouth is often choked open, exposing his big yellow-spotted teeth, his thick feet are clumsy, and he seems to be able to step out of a hole in the ground.But the departments didn't know that he took care of his housework and made small calculations, especially when he planted his crops, which is called carefulness. He is the kind of middle-class farmer who endures hardships and earns his living.He can't be regarded as the kind of well-to-do household with a little income even for a year, but he can't be regarded as the kind of poor household who can't make ends meet and dig holes bigger and bigger.When saving, when the times were good, there were no major funerals or celebrations in the family, and the government did not suddenly impose any other taxation, and there was no major event in Longjiagou, asking him to contribute money or give away anything This year, he will be able to "accumulate" (or more accurately "squeeze") a little money. It is not enough to use this money to buy land and land, but it can be given to those who are struggling to live. For a large amount of debt, one year’s income from Qin is good for the principal and interest. But if the year is not good and there is a natural disaster; or if this military master beats that teacher master, you will kill him, I will kill him, and he will go to Tong’s house. If you don’t pay enough, you’ll be asked to walk on a rope and go to the county town to stay in a “free hotel.” Wang Renren "If this kind of unlucky thing happens, even if he tightens his belt and changes from eating dry rice to porridge, from three meals to two meals, he will inevitably make a small hole. In this case, he will I had no choice but to borrow from Mr. Tong for "donkey rolling" or "knocking interest". Otherwise, I would give Mr. Tong a piece of land. The thing he feels most distressed so far is that he pawned a piece of land for Mr. Tong a few years ago. My lord, even though I haven't "death" yet, I still haven't been able to get it back.

However, "Master Wang" is very fortunate that several households of farmers who are in the same situation as him, under the coercion and coercion of Mr. Tong, lost their property early and became tenants of Mr. Tong's family. survived.Fortunately, this is such a bitter struggle.It's really a money that is broken into eight petals, and one rice is eaten as eight petals. Wang Zizhang's family has seven or eight acres of land, and he still thinks that he is not satisfied, so he rents a few acres of land from Mr. Tong to plant, so that after a year, he can earn more income.What's more, he is the only one in his family who really counts as a full-time labor force.The wife has a son and a daughter, cooks and washes clothes, and manages the household. The time left is not much, and it can be counted as one and a half laborers at most.In addition, there is a fourteen or fifteen-year-old son who is worth one and a half laborers.There is also a young daughter who is twelve or thirteen years old. Apart from helping her mother with some housework, she also provides food for two pigs.Hunting pigweed, cooking pig food, busy enough.She can't help in the field. At most, when the millet is harvested, Bian goes to the field to pick up some ears of wheat and rice, hold grass, and peel corn and soybeans.All the work in the field was done by Wang Zizhang alone. 4 He is an old man. He can lay out the living paths in the field and on the field. He knows the seasons, plowing the fields, sowing seeds, planting seedlings, harvesting grass, and cutting millet. , the properties of each piece of soil can be felt clearly.As long as the bad weather doesn't cause abduction and the rain is timely, he is sure that he can do it in the two seasons of the year and make a full harvest.But throughout the year, he and his family have never been idle, and they can play for a few days only during the election of the year.Even here, according to the custom, we take the opportunity to clean the house, dig ditches, clear the garbage, accumulate some soil and manure, and make a few piles of compost.Except for these few days, every day he would stir up the whole family before dawn, and would come back with the moon on his back at night.In the evening, I will do some knitting.The bamboo baskets, bamboo baskets, and mandarin baskets for drying mats in his home are all woven by him in his spare time. He doesn't need to spend money to buy them. Sometimes he can take some to sell in the market if he has a surplus.With this skill, in addition to earning money for oil and salt, he can also pull a few feet of cloth for the children, and ask the old woman to sew clothes and make shoes for the whole family.He often feels self-sufficient and even proud of being able to run a warm family without asking for help.He has only one hobby, which is smoking leaf tobacco, which he smokes almost constantly.In the corner of the field, he harvested pods of fresh vegetables, and he could also harvest enough leaf tobacco for him to smoke for a year.He has never been a heavy drinker, and he disapproves of those tenants who have been in trouble for a long time, especially those farmers who like to go to the field to drink a bottle of wine to drink away their worries.He thought that was too unambitious.Sometimes he would also buy some sprinkles to drink. It was because he was really tired, or the work in the field was too busy, so he invited a few laborers to help, and then he went to the nearby bad house to do two labors according to the village rules. When I come back with a catty of wine, I invite part-time workers to drink it, and also relieve myself of fatigue, so that my muscles and bones will be looser.He didn't spend a penny for other food on the field.Usually his family only eats coarse grains such as corn and sweet potatoes, and some melons and vegetables.Only when it was Chinese New Year, he had to worship the gods and make offerings to the ancestors——he went to buy a few catties of meat and came back to make tooth sacrifices.

In the past two years, thanks to his hard work and hard work, he has accumulated every available copper plate, and he can have a few extra money every year.What are you going to do with the extra money?He thought over and over again, it's a good thing to make a lot of money, like Mr. Tong.However, he didn't dare to let go of such an outrageous "debt from Hades".It's not because he's afraid of "harming the sky and harming reason", and will come to the underworld in the future, and will be tortured in the frying pan.He didn't quite believe it.He thought that things after death were very vague, and he couldn't control so much. He didn't put the debts of "the king of Hades" because he was afraid that he would lose his money and lose his money. He didn't have any power, unlike Mr. Tong, who could send someone Go pick up other people's pots, put down other people's door panels, or hire two "laishi"① to follow the creditors and force them to pay the money. He also thought about it carefully, doing other business transactions, engaging in long-distance reselling, but getting money Hurry up, but his farm work entangles him, and he can't get out of his body. He is also afraid that he will meet those soldiers, tax collectors, and "road money" who specialize in businessmen on the way. I don't know. Officials or bandits confiscated the goods and paid fines for any reason they made up at will, but they couldn't get it off.He didn't dare to think about it: buy a water ox, which is what he needs very much, and he has been thinking about it for more than three or five years. When plowing the plow, I always thought that it would be great to have a cow. With a cow, it is a trivial matter for him to use less effort. The most important thing is that from now on, he can plow deeply and harvest more grain without missing dates.It is also possible to rent cattle to households that lack cattle, and the income is small.Farming is slack, and there is a kind of unemployed vagrant in the countryside. When playing in the autumn wind in the countryside, they live hungry and full.If you have money, take it to eat and drink, and burn bustard cigarettes. 6 Usually, you pick up two pieces of rubbish on the street to find a bad heel, wearing a towel and hanging around.Those who let go of their debts are angry when their masters do not pay back, so they use this kind of "teaching time" to hold back their masters and concubines, and return their concubines to eat, drink and smoke opium.

You can pull it out and match it with yourself to pull some strength and earn some extra water.What a beautiful thing this is 1 But after he calculated it, with the little money he had left, it was not bad enough to buy a leg of a cow, but it was far from enough to buy a whole cow with four legs.Indeed, in the past two years, he once bought a cow with several self-cultivating farmers, and he took up a leg, but the four families used it for gangs, and the skins that could not be pulled clearly during the busy farming season were called "cruel-hearted cows", He didn't take much care of it, and made the cow half dead, so he withdrew again.He thought to himself: I must buy a water gun ox. "Even if you can't afford a big ox, it's worth buying a yellow ox to feed it when it grows up.

Yes, just to buy a water gun ox.After much deliberation, he wants to stand up, develop his family business, and be invincible, so that he won't be handed over to Mr. Tong, who is counting on his unlucky fate, and those under him who beat bad money and collect money. The masters quietly plotted against their own family business, the only way to do it is to buy a big-gun ox.With the big gun ox, it is as if I have wings and can fly.You can save some money in a year, and in two or three years, you can take advantage of the dangers of others and beat the poor children who smoke opium, earn big profits, and pawn other people's properties at a low price, and then buy them. Happy mouth Li Lai from Rent Collection Valley, how comfortable he should be!When he thought of this, he couldn't help but feel happy, and he pinched his mustache and began to think again.He didn't tell anyone about this sweet dream.I didn't tell the three or four friends of the au pair.He never thought that there were any reliable friends in the world.He didn't even tell his family members, just buried this dream in his heart.

He thought and thought, and became more fascinated.Sometimes, sitting alone at the door and thinking, smoking the long-extinguished cigarette stick, it seems that he saw the big cow walking by his drying dam, and his eyes lit up with excitement.But blinked and looked carefully, oh, it turned out to be the bull of Tong Erye's family in the big yard, and the cowherd boy walked past his sunbathing dam.He chased after him and looked at that bull, how beautiful it was, wagging its tail so complacently, and walked slowly.Sometimes, when he was sitting at the dinner table eating, he suddenly thought of the big bull, and couldn't help but sneered.Originally, there were not many laugh lines on his face, which aroused the surprise of the people in his room, who asked him: "What are you laughing at? Did you find a golden doll?" He restrained his smile and said coldly "'This is even better than picking up a golden doll." Sometimes, when he woke up in a dream, he suddenly heard the sound of cows gnawing grass in his thatched hut, and he turned over and went to the thatched hut Take a look.The thatched hut under the moonlight is empty, where is there any bull gnawing on the grass?Better go back to the house and go to bed.But he sank into his dream in a daze.He dreamed that he was in the cow dung dam on the country farm, turning around among the cows, looking at the fat and strong bulls, or at the poorly raised old ones who were only a skeleton. The bull, he is opening the bull's mouth, carefully counting the teeth to see how old the bull is, and feeling the bull's back ribs to estimate how strong the bull is.But he suddenly woke up again.Still sleeping on his bunk bed, staring at the stars in the sky outside the window.He thought, this is the time to call the whole family together.It turned out that the dream he had was something he had experienced on the field the day before yesterday.

Yes, he has been uncharacteristically lately, rushing to the countryside in a hurry.Going there for nothing else is enough to rush to the bull market in Niudshiba.He turned around, touched this cow and that cow, looked at the teeth, opened his ears to hear what others were whispering; It is the most exciting and joyful thing; maybe he stood in front of a water bull, looked at it carefully, and touched the back of the bull with his hand.How cute is this young and strong water gun cow. The yellow fluff on its back is very soft to the touch.The hooves turned over and looked good, and even the cow dung pulled out didn't seem to be smelly, but had a "scent of green grass." He turned to the front and looked again—look at the teeth, there was nothing wrong, less than five years old It's time to make great efforts. It's a pity that his master didn't take good care of him and didn't do his best to raise him. His body condition is not very good. Although he is not thin, he is still far away from his round back, round waist, fat and smooth. What is particularly distressing is The nose was pierced with a thick rope, and the nostrils were strangled out of the wound. Alas, what a shame! He looked at the cow, and the cow stared at him with sentimental eyes, very sentimental. "This cow wants Raise it for me, I will never raise this one..." He was in a daze when a cattle broker came over, thinking that the buyer had approved the cattle, he stretched out his sleeves and wanted to have sex with him Discussing the price. Only then did he wake up, shrank his body behind his back, and murmured, "No, I'm just looking, looking. " and left the cow dung dam in a hurry.

He was thinking about it on the way home.If this bull is in his hands, how will he raise it, or more properly, how will he serve it.Not a problem, first of all, we need to change the hut into a cattle pen, and paste the places where the teeth are leaking with mud to prevent the wind from blowing in.In winter, the strong wind blowing in from the hole in the wall hurts the cattle most.The ground should be built into a small slope to promote excrement and urine, so that the cow's feet are not soaked in excrement and urine.The pads should be well-matched, clean, fresh ones, needless to say, asked the eldest son to carry a back of grass every day before dark, and he must get up in the middle of the night to feed the night grass. Cows have no night grass and are not fat. .The ox-nose rope must be made of soft bamboo and hemp, not thick bamboo twisted rope.The back should be washed clean, oily and smooth.When the weather is warm, Yaoyao is asked to take the cows out to eat grass and to swim in the boiling water, so that the gadflies are not allowed to suck blood. ... "I must raise it until its waist is round and its back is round, its strength is incomparable: As soon as he walked into the house, he took out the precious box from his cupboard and counted his savings—actually, there was no need to count any more. He secretly took it out almost every day to have a look and think about it. , or even count.Ling has already remembered how many "properties" he has.But he counted it again, as if money would give birth to children, and counting in this way would increase the number.But he finally let out a long sigh, locked the box and put it away, sat at the door and smoked his leaves: "It's still a long way to go." Sitting there, he was not discouraged because the money was so short, but he was thinking about how much money he had spent this year after spending all his expenses, so that he would go to the glorious goal of buying cattle again. How far is it close to Ya. "Not this year, but next year:" He made up his mind, so he stood up and picked up his bamboo weaving way to do it.It can be said that the weather is good this year, and Wang Zizhang's family is free from illness and pain, and there is no special increase in excessive miscellaneous taxes.None of the copper ropes that tied people up in Mr. Tong's house could bind him, and he didn't borrow a single penny from the debts of the king of Hades, such as renting iron plates, knocking on the donkey, and so on.As for the several acres of land rented by the old man who rented the planting boy, after paying the iron plate rent, there are still a few left. The sweat of the year is finally not in vain. went into that box.During the New Year's Eve, he took time to go to the market, and wandered around the cow dung dam a few times, looking around, touched all the cows tied there, and stood aside, listening to the bargaining of every cow with pointed ears Once he came home, he took out the money box again, counted for a while, and smoked leaf cigarettes at the door, counting silently for a while.He increased his confidence again: "It's coming soon, this year I will be able to do my job, and next year it will be almost the same." Wang Zizhang worked hard for another year, and the time of the year was not right. When the rice was just blooming, the weather became dry.The crops in our places are most afraid of dying at this time, which is called "neck-choking drought".This kind of early rice is not well filled with pulp/grown rice grains, and most of the harvested are empty husks.Many people who leased the fields of the old man who rented the seedling boy's house were rented by iron plates. They had no luck, so they had to tie another rope around their necks, and turned their debts into loans.Wang Zizhang is quite emotional and willing to die hard. Seeing that the drought was imminent and the rice fields were about to dry up, he made up his mind to pump water from several fields to one field, keep this field, and save the rice fields quickly. The parched fields were simply plowed and planted with dry late corn. The bottom of the field was wet, and it was just right for planting corn. He called the whole family out again, and used buckets and basins to scoop water from the far-away ditch, and mentioned the need to keep In the rice field, he poured water almost one nest after another. When it was boiled, he also got up in the middle of the night and looked around when no one was guarding, and secretly dug a few holes in the special canal built by Mr. Tong. Ji, lead the water into the adjacent fields of your own. If the sky is not clear, quickly plug up the hole, and there will be no traces. Hmph, what kind of conscience do you have for a tyrannical, domineering and heartless person like Mr. Tong? What's more, he has experienced in life that "no one can get rich without windfall". If you don't rectify other people's grievances, you can't make a fortune. He drew this truth out, not only stealing the water from Tong's house, but also wanting to save the water that exists in himself. The dead money in the box turned into living money. He secretly entrusted the money to the special loan sharks in the countryside to lend usury for him. There is a group of people who put capital and collect interest, and take other people's fields if they can't pay the interest. Otherwise, they will send "Lai Shihou" to follow the debtors to ask for interest money, relying on you to eat, drink, and smoke opium , so that the debtor would rather sell the land to pay off the debt than ask "Wei Shi" to come to his door. Wang Zizhang understands that he only has a small capital and can only use it on other people's capital to collect interest. Although it is distributed to others It's still a lot of interest. It's better than putting thorns in the box at home and not growing a penny. Sometimes, he saw in the countryside that those who borrowed money and couldn't pay back People, the loan sharks sent people to urge them to go to 51. They were all over the place, crying and crying, hanged themselves, dragged their children and children out of the house, and felt a little bit unbearable. Because the loan sharks also have his shares He is also following others to eat people. But he thought again, "There is no windfall without wealth", so he felt at ease. At most, he went to the temple to burn more incense sticks during the festivals. up. From this year to the end of the year, Wang Zizhang calculated the accounts, and after the income and expenses were evened out, the capital earned by sweat and the windfall gained from free rein, not only did not collapse like some self-cultivating farmers, but on the contrary I made more money in previous years.Now he calculated the money again and again, and the amount required to buy a big-gun ox was almost the same. During the few days of Chinese New Year, he went to the countryside almost every day. When he went to the streets, he didn't go anywhere else, but went to Niu Shi Dam to buy and sell cattle.I also followed the agent to see the teeth and negotiate the price, thinking about how much money was left.There are two agents who are a little familiar with him.A broker said to him: "How is it? Your brother has been in this bullshit dam for a few years, and he has a score in his heart. Will he be able to buy it this year?" He hurriedly said: "No, no, I can see it, I can see it." He was about to walk away, but he didn't make any moves. Another broker said to him: "Last year, the weather was not right, and many cattle farmers collapsed. Now is the time to buy cattle, but you still don't take advantage of the situation to buy one. After the new year, spring begins, and the time to use cattle comes. Now, it’s hard for you to buy it.” These few words really spoke to his heart, and he has already seen a spectrum, the bull price in these two games is bearish.In a month or two, spring will begin, and it will definitely be bullish.After passing this village, there is no such shop.But he meditated for a while, and his money was still short of a mantissa, which looked like tens of dollars, and it was only one share short of ten shares. When he returned home, he calculated and calculated, and kept saying, "This is the only thing missing." As long as he can find a way to get this share of money, the big bull he had already spotted in the cow dung dam will be His 7:.What a great big-gun ox that is, don't let others take it away.The more he thought about it, the more he felt uneasy, and in the second half of the day he went back to the village farm to check on the cow dung dam, and it was still there.He moved closer to touch the bull's back, touched it here and there, opened his teeth again, and sighed again unconsciously.The agent came over again: "Brother, I think you are a person who knows treasures. What you are looking at is a good one out of a hundred. You go back and count the money, and take your cattle back." "No, no, I just Look, look." He said, walking out of the bull market.The agent said to his back: "Brother, is this okay? I'll keep this cow for you. You go back and collect enough money, and then come to lead the cow.": "Okay, okay." Wang Zizhang Asked with a smile. He walked to the entrance of the field and met "an errand helper from Mr. Tong's house, also surnamed Wang, who was originally one of the tenants around the big courtyard of the Tong family. Mu of land, I still have ten mu and eight mu of land. But one year the weather was not right, and there was a sick person at home, so I couldn't make it through, so I had to give my own land to Mr. Tong. Even so, he could not escape the disaster. The more money his family earned, Tian Dang died, and he could only be a tenant or a long-term laborer for the old master’s family. Fortunately, my master saw that he was doing business, so he asked him to come The mansion works as an errand helper, that is, rushing to the countryside to help him collect rents and profits, deliver letters and treats, and buy things and buy two. up. "Brother Zizhang, you were originally a rare visitor to the show, but I saw you come to catch up after the last few games," "Oh, Wang Laosan, I have something to do, something to do: Wang Zizhang faltered." I know you have something to do. "The second worker said, "Run to the cow dung dam when you are on the field. Is it okay to smell the shit? "Wang Laosan saw through Wang Zizhang's plan. "Well, it's something, it's something." Master Zizhang still dealt with it, not wanting anyone to know what was on his mind, so he asked casually. "Are you in a rush too?" "What can I do? I'm not running errands for others. The second young master's wife is on confinement, and she needs to find a girl to serve her and hold her baby. Take care of food, fifty yuan a year. It's a lot of money, but it's hard to find. " "Well, well." Wang Zizhang coped and left. : When Wang Zizhang returned home, his heart was on fire.He took out the money box and counted it again, muttering in his mouth, "That's the difference, it's about seventy or eighty yuan." He sighed again. During dinner, a family of four gathered around the table, and Wang Zizhang ate lazily.the old woman asked worriedly. "Look at you, you lost your energy after eating, and ran to the field, I don't know what ghost hooked your soul." "You know what the hell. I went to see cattle at the Niushiba Bull Market." Wang Zizhang sighed and said, "We just want a bull." "Bull?" The wife and the two dolls were surprised.They didn't think about buying a bull at all, so they didn't dare to think about it. "If we want a cow, this family will not be able to lose." This is true, and no one in the family has seen this.As long as there is one cow, ten or twenty mu of land can catch up with the seasons every year, and it can be easily planted, saving the busy season every year, running around to rent cows from others, begging father, suing mother, willing to give #儿Eighty yuan rent is not enough, and "Master Wang" has to go to other people's houses to change cattle labor like a cow. It is really exhausting and exhausting, and sometimes it is inevitable to miss the season.If you want a cow, you don't need to work hard for someone else to change jobs, and you don't need to pay an extra hundred and eighty yuan. You can also rent the cow out and earn dozens of yuan back.Not only can this family not be defeated, maybe it can be distributed.Everyone looked at the "adult" Wang Zizhang with hope and said excitedly: "I have spotted a big bull on the field. It is only five years old, and it is time to contribute.The price is also fair.We have lived frugally for a few years, and we have saved up almost the same amount of money, only seventy or eighty yuan. "Wang Zizhang sighed again at this point—heavy, alas, it's only seventy or eighty yuan short. "Oh." The whole family sighed, feeling very sorry. This account, Wang Zizhang calculated clearly, and everyone agreed with his calculation: "As long as we can get seventy or eighty yuan now, and bring the bull back, relying on this cow, we will save hundreds of dollars in expenditure this year. Maybe dozens of dollars can be entered, and each entry and exit will be a hundred or tens of dollars.This year Zhan Jin is at the end, and if the weather goes well, next year he can take back the several mu of land that was given to Mr. Tong.Then in the year after that, you can pay a few hundred dollars more. Maybe in the year after that, you can earn a lot of living money and buy a few acres of land.This wishful thinking is stuck on the seventy to eighty yuan in cash. After dinner, Wang Zizhang sat at the door alone again, smoking leaf cigarettes.Suddenly he let out an ah, saying nothing. "That's an idea." At night, he and his wife were chatting on the bed, making plans and calling back and forth, but this one share of money was missing out of ten shares.Wang Zizhang began to tentatively reveal to his wife that the second wife of Mr. Tong's family had been confinement and wanted to find a girl to serve her and hold the baby for her.Food is in charge for a year, and fifty yuan is paid as wages.Wang Laosan has not yet found the right person.Although the revelation was made in a roundabout way, the wife made a good guess and asked her about the man. "You want our eldest sister to take the fifty yuan and be a girl for a year?" Wang Zizhang faltered quickly, "I just thought about it for a while." His wife said worriedly: "Which one doesn't know that the Tong family in the big courtyard is the meanest?"So Wang Laosan ran away and couldn't find anyone. " "I know, I know." Wang Zicao said, "I'm just talking about it." Then Yi sighed: "It's a pity, it's a pity, a good big ox can't be brought back." "You can't borrow seventy or eighty A dollar?" My wife suggested. "I can't do it, I can't do it." Wang Zizhang refused, "Borrow seventy or eighty yuan, and the monthly profit will be repaid! The principal and interest will be repaid in a year, and there is no two hundred yuan that we can't get out of our hands. All the money we have worked hard for a year I'm afraid it's not enough to pay for it. Give someone a thousand a year?" He added: "Even if the older sister goes to be a girl for a year and comes back with 50 yuan, she still needs to be short of 237 yuan.只有忍痛挨榉棒,去借'敲敲钱''到斯还五,六十块钱还勉强过得。” “你又是说的大妹子，哪个哓得她肯不肯去?”老婆竟然松了口了。 “你明夭问她一下肴肴。"王子章嘱咐。第二天中午，在吃饭桌上，老婆子把这件事对大妹子说了，问她的意思怎么样。大妹子一听，起初愣了，接着偏着脑袋在想，没有马上回答。 儿子听了却马上反对：“没有一个人想在大院子里当长工，你倒愿意叫大妹去大院子当丫头?” “我也不愿叫大妹子去侍候人,我是说，我是说，她只去苦一年，我们全家一辈子好过了。不，不,不提了，这件事不提了。”王子章改了口,可是他把叶子烟吧了两口后，又叹气：“唉，只径我运气不好，去年没有多挣出几十块钱出来。只有我们再苦吃苦挣，看明年再说了。” 老婆子问意，再咅它两年再说吧。儿子马上就长成一个全劳动力，大妹子也快成为半劳动力了，她把家里活路都担起来，还是有希望的。 可是出乎一家人的意外，大妹子却表示愿意去。她知道不是到大院子去享福，是太吃苦的，去吃大苦头的。但是她想，只要她的吃大苦头能够叫爸爸换回一条大牯牛来，叫爸爸从此不再站在犁头前头，死命往前拉,拉得脸红筋胀，颈上青筋直蹦，再也不必为了借牛的事每年坐在屋里唉声叹气，出门去向人家低声下气地求告了，有了自己的大牯牛，那就一切都好了，她心甘情愿去吃这个苦头。因此当她说出“我肯佶到他公馆里去就是进了呼王殿了。只要大家好，我就苦死了也值得”这样的话时,开始大家都吃惊了。继而，笆爸把大妹子抱起来，不禁眼泪花花直在眼里打转转,亲了大妹子的头发说彳我这女了一2丁点大，偏偏这么懂事。 " 爸爸放下大妹子,不禁想笑起来，多少夭把头都快想破了还是找不到办法的事，大妹子一句话就解决了。&简直想赶快到场上去告诉那个牛经纪，不要把他相准了的那'大牯牛卖给别人了，然屌再到大院子里我主老彐。伹是，他忽然紧绷起脸来，不住地摇头，口里念着:“不,不。” 他把大妹子又拉进自己怀里来，捏住她的双手，端肴一阵。这是多好的女子，今年十五岁,正长得标致，水灵灵的眼晴，红红的脸蛋上有两个酒窝，乌黑发光的头发下面拖一条大辫子，手虽说粗糙一点，指头却还是十指尖尖哟。这样一个女子，舍得送进公馆去，看人颜色，听人使唤,挨打受骂，吃苦受罪吗？不,不，不能这样1他说出口来了。”大妹子，我不能叫你去活受罪。” 妈妈也爱怜地拉住大妹子看，谁愿意把0己的心头肉送进老虎嘴里去呀。她问大妹子。”你哓得到公馆里去当丫头有多昔 大妹子却倚在妈妈的怀里说：“我晓得,妈妈，再苦也没有爸爸在田里顶住大太阳拉犁头那么苦呀： “好女子，好女子，爸爸更舍不得了。”爸爸泪流满商了。―大妹子却并不难受地对爸笆说,爸笆,你找王老三说去吧，再苦我也受了。”听那口气，倒坚决得很。 “好,现在不说这些了，吃饭吧。”爸笆端起碗只顾吃饭。可是到了晚上，王？章翻来覆去在床上睡不着，烦躁得很，明天就是赶场天,他到不到场上去，到不到牛屎坝去呢？这真难呀，同时睡不着的还有老婆子，更睡不着的还有大妹子。惟独那个憨儿子，只晓得憨吃憨做，不大想事情，一晚上睡得呼呼的，早上起来，爸爸还没有说话呢，大妹子却先说了话：“爸笆，你去说去吧，找王老三。” “大妹子,你想过没有？要吃一年的苦哟。”爸笆心里明明有些活动，却还要3样地问大妹子。 “我想过了：再苦我也吃得下。”大妹子还是没有改变想法。居然还带笑地说，“今天就去把大牯牛牵回来，我倒想先看一看哩。“ 妈妈没有说话，事实上默认了。她昨夜想了一夜，除开这“条办法，似乎没有别的办法好想了。儿子是无可无不可,也没有再说话。 事情竞然是这么急转直下，一下就说妥了。王子章上午去大皖子找到王老三。王老三跑了几天了，正在想不到办法，谁也知道大院子的活路不好做，给五十块钱不肯来今天王子章却自己找上闩来了。不过王老三还算是本分人，把昨天二少爷松了口，答应加成七十块钱一年的消息告诉了王子章，，这就更好了，王子章不必为这个二三十块钱的尾数，去挨敲敲利了。但是王老三去和二少爷一说，又&生了波折。王子草要求一年工钱七十块一次支出来，二少爷却说，一次支完也可以，不过要把预支的部分按月算利钱。算到头还是等亍五十块钱干一年，有钱人家真是想得精'做得绝呀。 没有办法，走到这一步了，是岩是坎也要跳了。王子章在一张约书上按个指拇印，就拿着七十块钱走出大院子。 下午，他把放在盒子里的全部象当拿出来，和这个七十块钱的尾数放在一起，赶到场上去。他一走进牛屎坝，一眼就望见那一条大牯牛还系在那里，似乎认得王子章似的用圆眼睛望着他。他径直走过去，好象要马上交钱,牵起大牯牛就走的架式。可是一当快走拢吋，却迟疑起来，就是买这一条吗？或者还要再选一选,甚至还要多赶几个场，多看一看牛，再等一等行市呢？他在牛屎坝里转过来转过去地看，又听一听人家在讲价钱。那个认得的经纪人走过来'。”笑嗜聰地对他说，“这一回是下了狠心了吧, “我先宥宥，我先看看。”王子章还是不肯定地回答，匆匆地走遍上市的十几条牛的面前，仔细观察，拍一拍牛背，看一宥牙口，却不说话。他忽然发现有两三个人走到他相中了的那一条大牯牛身边去了6他下意识地感到紧张，不耍叫别人把自己相了好几次才相准的这一条大牯牛牵走丫。他匆匆地转了过去，立在那一条大牯牛面前。那两个人摸来谟去，看了牙口，不断地称，赞这一条大粘牛。牛经纪走拢去和其中一个人叽咕了几句，开始捏起袖筒了来，这就是说，他们在讲价钱了。他们如果一捏成，这条牛使没有王子章的份了，这怎么行？ 王子章走过去，对另外一个牛经纪说：“老哥，这条牛我早相中了，你不是说给我留着的吗?” 那个牛经纪说：“这个话我例是说过，不过你一直不来'现过现，，牛主人不能尽等你呀。” 王子章把栳的褡裢拍一下说：“我这就是来'现过现'的。”“那好。”牛经纪说，他扯了那一个牛经纪一把，说，“你那一头的生意先搁一下，来说这一头。” 于是两个牛经纪都来和王子章进生意。那个牛经纪说/'你可是把牛看好了，肴好再买。不要说好了又不算数，现过现了，又来筋筋拌拌地扯不清罗。 " 王子章当寘又把这一条大怙牛摸过来摸过去，又看牙口又看蹄子，牛是很精神的样子。王子章使过的牛很多，看得出这是—条好牛。不过他还是看了又看，暈后才下了决心说:“好，我买了,下面捏袖筒子倒没有费事，就按他们过去捏过的钱数成了交。他把褡裢从肩上拿下来，他几年口积牙囤积蓄起来的全部家当都拿出来了，交给了牛经纪。牛经纪把钱数了又数，没错，把牛绳子解下来，交到王子章乎里说，“现过现，一手交钱，一手交牛。 " 那绳子一落到王子章手里，就象一根火绳落进自的手里，有点烫人。他几乎要哭起来，也不知道这是因为什么。他把牛牵着,亲热鈕说“走吧，伙计。”走出了牛尿坝。 牛温顺地跟着王子章走在大路上，一路上遇到的人都过来看,赞不绝口尸好一条大牯7他象一个打了胜仗的将军一样，得意地回了家。附近的庄户人家都涌进來看，又是一片赞扬，都说王子章好眼力，看中了这么好一条大牯。有的就索性积王子章口头订约，将来要租他的牛来使唤。王子章象办喜事一般接待大家，这都是穷佃户，租牛没得说的，都一口应承了# 老婆憨儿子和大妹于也出来看，卨兴得不得了。摸摸看看，这就是他们家的摇钱树呀。王子章叫儿子把草屋早就打扫干净了，垫了圃，天气还有些冷，草屋的墙缝都用草塞好，糊上纸了。大妹子有心计，早已去割好一背兜青草来放在草屋里,象对待稀客一般。 一切都安排好了，王子章进屋坐上晚饭桌子。却不想吃，他坐到门口吧他的叶子烟扞。屋子里的空气突然变得凝重起来，刚才的欢乐气氛都跑掉了，谁也不说话。老婆子走过去请他：“吃夜饭啦。”但是她发规丈夫正在偷偷掉眼泪，一下子触发了她，也—抹眼睹就掉过脸走进灶房去了。憨儿子倒没有多少感觉，端起稀饭碗来喝。大妹子却很明白发生了什么事情，强忍住走到爸爸面前，想要喊一声爸爸都喊不出声来，也陪地哭了起来。但是她马上把眼睛一抹，不哭了，对爸爸说，“爸爸，吃夜饭吧。”话里还带着哭音。爸爸一下拉住女儿叫彳大妹子，是我对不起你,爸爸没出息呀7眼泪成长串地滴下来。 大妹子勉强忍住不哭，劝爸爸：“死活就这一年,什么苦我也受得。” 这一家人，除了憨儿子，又是一个不眠的夜晚。不知怎么的，王子章越是听到草屋里牛在嚼草，他越难过。 第二天早上一大清早，大妹子起来把屋子扫干净，烧火做早饭,又去草屋看涿条牯牛，看青草吃完了没有。她偷偷背起背兜，出去割了半背兜餒水草回来，倒在草厘里,也不告诉人。吃过早饭，许多事情木来用不着交代的，大妹子却一件一件地交代，渚食桶和瓢放在哪里，告诉了妈妈，又私下对哥哥说:“你不要忘了见夭割一背兜草回来，以后挑水也是你的事了。多帮笆爸干活，不要让他累坏了，吏不要惹他生气。”这些话虽足私下里对哥哥说的，却早已被爸笆偷偷听到了。这又惹来一场不愉快，爸爸闷坐在门口发呆，迕烟也不吧了，连到草屋去看他心爱的大牯牛也没有兴头了。 过不多一会，大院了，的王老三过来喊大妹子来了。又惹得爸爸妈妈不住抹眼泪，连哥哥的眼睛也红了。大妹子眼泡皮肿的，昨夜晚想是哭够了。她强忍住，站起来对笆爸妈妈说：“爸爸妈妈，我走了。”她又因过头对哿哥说:“哥哥，莫忘了我早上跟你说的事哟。”哥哥点一点头，把头摆开了。大妹子走出门来，到草屋看一眼大牯牛。爸爸.妈妈，哥哥都跟出来，哭喊着。”大妹于, “喀，你们这是干什么？他到」大户人家去，吃好的，穿好的，又不是上杀场，哭什么？”王老三带着大妹子走出去。大妹子头也不回地跟着他进了童家大院子。 五月的骄阳，火辣辣的，.还是不能阻止王子章戴上草帽成夭在他的“小小的王国”里巡视。他一块田一块田地看。庄稼青葱油绿，摇头晃脑,得意洋洋地在主人面前卖乖。王子章看得心花怒放'就象姑娘家在看自己才绣好的一块工艺绣品一般。不觉就蹲在田坎上吧起他的叶子烟杆来。不知道他吞在自言自语,还是在对庄稼说话，叽叽咕咕的:“啊，展劲长啊。多亏得大牯牛……”好象他一家三口人的起早赶黑，辛昔下力，称不算佧么，功劳倒要归于这展劲长的庄稼和他的那一条大牯牛似的。 自从他买了那条大牯牛，简直象陪老伴似的，成天守着它。看它吃草嚼得那么带劲，真象他自己在吃香的喝甜的一样。他牵着大牯牛在水塘边喝水，喝得呼呼地响，好象听了什么最好的音乐一样。他在白天老看着它，晚上也要起来一两回，加点夜草。他的老伴也欢有得不得了，绐丈夫开玩笑。”我看你把床搬进草屋去好了，还莫忘了带一条被子去。”一句话真的提醒了王子章,他真的在草屋边搭一间草铺，有时候犹在那里过夜。他感到夜风凉，他真的把一床被子拿来搭在牛的背上，那牛也好象通人性似的，爱用舌头來舔他的手，用角来轻轻擦他挤他，显得亲热。到田里干起活来，大牯牛真是卖劲地直往前拉，王子章不用鞭子也不用吆喝，在后边扶犁都快赶不上趟，流一身痛快的汗水。有时他怜惜大牯牛，怕累坏了，故意站住不叫走：“老伙计，歇一下，等我吧几口叶子烟吧。” 由于王子章和他那憨实的儿子都很展劲，大牯牛也肯卖力气，他又会铺排活路，什么活都赶在别人的前头，按节令完成了，庄稼长得的确是第一痺的。从他的“小庄园”走过的人没有不点头的，都说:“两条大牯牛配成一对,使上劲了/大家历来是把他也看成一条肯出力的会说话的大牯牛的。 王子章一面蹲在田坎上吧烟，一面心里打着算盘。这一季的庄稼眼见就要到手，两头架子渚,多亏憨儿子扯猪草,老婆子勤煮勤喂猪食，越长越墩实了。不说他利用大早晨和晚上编织竹筐晒席鸳兜簸箕去场上卖了，帮补了家里油盐杂用，就凭田里和園里这两项，抵了开支,少说也有百儿八十的进帐。何况他还在舂耕大忙季节，赶完了他自己的牛工活路后，把大牯牛出租给别家去干活，又有丫赚头呢？就凭小春和牛工的收入，他的手里已经现捏着好几十元钱的现钱了。看起来，只要天老爷不扯拐，明年再这么搞一年，后年把当给童大老爷的几亩田赎回来，是不成问题的了。等这几亩田回了老家，他还有力气，儿子更是快山大力的时候，利用富余的牛力，再去租几亩田进來种，两三年后，他的光景就会大变样。说不定芮以去“当”人家的田进来，再请一个两个长工进屋帮工，田翻田，利滚利，要不了五年，他就可以享几年淸福了。他感到这一切理想都是这样的现实，就摆在他的眼前，只等他去伸乎擒拿。 王子章卨兴地思谋着，走回家去。可是当他走近自己的家门，眼望着黑魆魆一片大瓦敁的童家大院子，他的心就紧了。他的女儿还在二少爷家里受罪，这是他亲自把她送进去的呀。几个月了，没有见她回来过一回，怎么样了呢？ “爸爸。”一个声旮在他的身后不远的地方响了。他吓了一跳，这不明明是女儿人妹子的声音吗？怎么一念到她，就听到她的叫声呢？他回过头去看一下，没有看到大妹子在哪里，他的心慌了，他突然有一个不样的感觉：莫非她……” 他急匆匆地向回家的路上赶，他要去童家大院子找主老三问一问，大妹子咋样了， “爸~爸”这一回声音更响了。他再回头荜一眼，看到大妹子真的从田垠上跑了过来，一边在叫着：“爸爸，我一回来就找你，家里田里都没有看见,原来你蹲在田坎上，看不到。” “大妹子。”爸爸拉住女儿的手问，“你咋个得工夫回家来了?” “明天是端午节,说放一天假回家过节。”女儿髙兴地回答。“唔，唔。”爸爸没有想到明天是过端午节，更没有想到女儿会回来过节，两父女一回到家里,爸爸一把把女儿拉进自己的怀里，东看西看，说不尽的髙兴，只是不住地说。”好，好。”也不知道这“好好”的意思是什么。 女儿闲不住，站起来帮妈妈干活。问起家里的事情。哥哥却什么也不说，只是憨痴痴地看住0己的妹妹。 爸爸髙兴地对女儿说个不停，他闷:“你冋来看到我们那条大牯牛了吗?” “我一回来就去萆屋里看了，越长越壮实了。”女儿也很高兴地说口 “老伙计可是帮了爸笆的大忙了。”爸爸说。“再不用你当大牯牛拉犁了女儿笑苕说。“不只这个，它一来了，我们的啥子庄稼活路都千得又怏又好，还给我们挣了几十块钱的牛租呢。”笆爸说到这里，却忽然皱了眉头，喃喃地说。”多亏了你……“ 女儿正在灶面前烧火，往灶里送毛毛柴火，一听爸爸这话,便'不自禁地流了眼泪，没有说一句话。 妈妈首先发现了，坐到女儿身攰去，问她：；1大妹子，你咋的了?” “没有，不是，柴火烟子熏得流眼泪了。”女儿赶快掩饰。爸爸没有注,还是坐在门边，吧着叶子烟，自顾自地讲他的好光景和好前景6“你看，要不了两三年，我们就要翻身了。” 女儿越是听到这些，越是想起在大院子里的苦日子,越是伤心，终于止不住眼泪长流。 “爸爸，你不要说这些了。”憨儿子都看出来了，笆笆还在眉飞色舞地说他的好梦。 “咋的了?”爸笆一看大妹子在揩眼睛,才吃惊地问。“啊？打成这样呀?”妈妈把大妹子的手杆撩起来，看到手臂上一条一条的发紫发黑的伤痕，这是老伤，也还有红得透紫的新伤。 爸爸的心象被钳子夹住一般，喘不过气来。他捉住矢妹子的双手看斑斑伤痕，他叫起来：''啊，他们这么狠心呀，这么作践人呀!” 爸爸一把拉过人妹子，抱在怀里：大妹子，你吃了苦了，这都是爸笆的不是呀。 " 女儿这才伤心地在爸爸怀里痛哭起来。”我的爸笆呀。”一屋子都是哭声。 “不行，这样糟蹋人，我要找他们讲理去。”爸笆站起来吼，~我要我的人。 " 妈妈伤心地说：“人家手里捏到你按了指拇印的文约，你说得赢他们?” “我退他们的钱，连本带利还他们，还不行?”“大院子这种人家，你有理也说不清的，何况人家有凭有椐？”女儿晓得不行，劝爸爸。”算了，好在只有半年，死活我总熬得出来。” 妈妈问：“他0咋个待你的？” 女儿再没有&，要说出她这几个月过的苦日子来，会叫爸爸气疯，妈妈气病，何苦来。要说大院子二房那个恶婆娘，真是伤天'害理。一天叫你吃不好，睡不好，不叫你歇气地干活倒也罢了，还要鸡蛋里硬挑骨头，没岔子找岔子，总要找双小鞋给你穿，叫你憋不过气来。接着就是臭骂，毒打。大妹子还没有把她的大腿撩起来，没有把背上衣服解开来给爸爸妈妈看呢，伹是再怎么苦，只要爸爸的事情搞得顺畅，心气很顺，她就再受罪也值得。大妹7更没有说出来，大院子里有个幺少爷，一天贼眉鼠眼的，不是盯住这个丫头，就是用手乱摸那个丫头，那种下流胚子的样子，才真叫大妹子挺心吊胆。 下午，王子章真的带着七十块钱，加上利钱去大院子找主老三。王老三倒是同愤他，可是二少爷娘子那里哪个敢去说？他劝王子章彳老哥子，人家拿着文约，气就粗了。就是说到官府，见官有理还亏三分呢，坯不是断你一个不是就幺台？叫大妹子苦做苦熬吧，哪个丫头不是一祥的?” 王子章垂头丧气地回来了，只是默默地自己责备自己：“都是自己一吋迷了心窍，做下了错事。” ―家就这么过了一个不愉快的节日，吃什么好的粽子也没有味道。大妹子喑地伤心,却努力装得快活些，给爸爸说几句笑诏，想硬制造一点欢乐的气氛来驱赶这一屋子的闷气。 夏夭快过去了，人们正朌望着一个风调雨顺满打丰收的秋天。偏偏这时又来丫“打头早”，灌了浆的谷子就是不饱米。王子章还好，多亏大牯牛卖力气，日日夜夜拉水车在沟里车水，后来沟里水也光了，就到远地方背水回来。总算救到一部分水稻，可是租种的童大老爷的几亩田的铁板租，肯定是交不出来了。王子章打好算盘，怎么样也不耍叫童大老爷把欠租转成借约。这样做就枭绮捆上敲敲利的绳于，月月挨棒棒，越滾利越多，越滚越跑不脱，结果只好把0已的田卖给大老爷顶租。这样的事，一遇荒年，他见得多了，好多象他这样的自耕农就是三棒两棒被打成佃户或者长工的。他宁肯把自己田里收的谷子拿来交铁板租，决不上大老爷的圏套。这样一来，吃的当然就紧了。他不怕，苦日子过惯了，熬下去吧。何况他还可以靠大牯牛飯他出去跑几趟脚，挣几个活钱来买玉米吃呢。“没有过不去的火焰山。”他自己宽慰自己。 但是他没有料到大祸偏偏落到他的头上来。他的大牯牛生病了。 大牯牛自从到了王子章家，由于王子章侍候得很周到，一直很好，没有害过病，大牯牛这大半年来也的确给王子章卖了力气。不管多累的活路，不管多毒的太阳，只要王子章耐得住，它也耐得住。就是有的租牛户，趁王子章不在踉前，使狠心牛，鞭打驱赶,顶着日头干到天黑，趁月亮上来还耍干一阵，硬是巴不得把牯牛的力气都榨光。有时人牯牛也遭不往，躺倒下来。可是一回到王子章踉前，还是那么存精抻，对王子章挨挨挤挤,怪亲热的。真是一个好伙计呀。 但是不知道为仆么，在秋收后趁雨犁板田的时候，王子章发现，大牯牛虽然还是那么卖力气，却是一直喻气不停，嘴里吐着白泡泡。犁一块大田下来，大牯牛喘得身子都微微发抖了，这是怎么一回事呢？ 王子章凭他的知识，仔细检查，看不出什么明显的症状来。大牯牛吃也吃得，就是干起活路来，不象原来那么精神勃勃，有些懶恹恹的没劲头，而且一使大力气就喘气不停，有时就躺下来,不肯动弹了。 王子章担心得很，他把牛牵去找牛医生。牛医生看了一下,摸一摸膘，并不瘦，就说没有啥子病,是累坏了，休息一下就好了。王子章把趁雨犁板爪这样紧迫的活路都推迟下来，让大牯牛休息几天。大牯牛还是没有劲，他更不放心了。他把大牯牛牵到场上去，我一个据说是新式的牛医生。他