Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

At night, Wei didn't come back, which made Wen Cheng feel a little strange. "Nai, did my mother go out this morning? Did she say where she went?"

"No, after dinner in the morning, I went out for something. I didn't see your mother when I came back. Maybe she went back to your grandma's house." Ms. Chen didn't know when the second daughter-in-law left. "Huixin, Jingya, have you two seen it?"

Huixin and Jingya both shook their heads, "No, we were all in the house and didn't go out."

"That's strange. Where can she go?" Ms. Chen couldn't figure it out either.

At this time, Wen Cheng ran back to the west wing and took a look at his mother's room. When he came back, his expression changed. "Grandma, some of my mother's clothes are missing. It seems that the small box where the money is kept at home has been moved."

As soon as everyone heard this, they hurried to the west wing. Sure enough, many clothes in the closet were missing. The box where Wei's money was kept was opened, and it was empty, with nothing in it. When Mrs. Chen saw this, she knew it was not good. I was afraid that Mrs. Wei had taken the money and ran away. "This conscienceless woman, she took the money and ran away. You said our family was so good to her, why did she run away? She also has two children, she is really cruel. . This ungrateful person wants to be laughed at for the rest of her life by leaving these two children behind. I have already told her that if she likes anyone, the family will help her. Why is she still running? Chen said, tears streaming down her face.

Wencheng and Wenchang stood there motionless, with tears streaming down their faces. "Mom, why don't you want us? Why? Mom, where are you?" Wenchang cried.

Seeing this situation, Ms. Xue quickly stepped forward and hugged the two children. "Wencheng, Wenchang, don't cry. There is also auntie. From now on, auntie will be your biological mother." I couldn't help cursing Mrs. Wei in my heart. She was so cruel and didn't care about the child at all. How will the child see anyone in the future? ah?

Jinghan and Jingya stood at the door, looking at the situation in the room, they couldn't help but cry. He came forward and hugged Wenchang and Wencheng, "Brother Wenchang, brother Wenchang, stop crying, we don't want that cruel woman. From now on, we will live together, and we will be a family." These two children are really pitiful, Dad No more, my mother ran away. How will you live in the future?

Mr. Xu was so angry that his hands were shaking, and he finally managed to hold on to the wall before he could stand still, "Okay, don't cry anymore. We can't ask openly, but we can listen more in the future. If we know the man from which family, we won't be there either. Well, we probably ran away together. We all told her that, but she didn’t say which one she liked. It’s just that she and the man who has a wife didn’t understand. Now the two of us have agreed to run away together. "

Zhixin also felt that what his father said was very reasonable. For this second daughter-in-law, the whole family was enough. Unexpectedly, just like that, he still ran away, and also ran away with all the money from the second house. That was my brother's pension, which was obtained with my brother's life. This was how I benefited that woman. "Okay, Wencheng, Wenchang, let's live with uncle from now on. As long as Wenhan and Wenxuan have something to eat, you two will not be hungry. Uncle swears that he will treat you two well, even better than his own children. Okay." Zhixin also came to the front of the two children and hugged these two poor children.

The west wing cannot be occupied tonight. We cannot leave the two children here alone. It would be bad if the two children ran out to find their mother. So the two of them were placed in Wenhan and Wenxuan's room, and the four boys slept on the same bed. Zhixin also specifically told Wenhan to be alert at night and to call someone if there was any movement. Then he went out, locked the door with a lock, and then went back to the house to sleep.

That night, both Wencheng and Wenchang were crying quietly. Wenhan didn't dare to sleep soundly all night, for fear that something would happen to his two brothers. Finally the next morning arrived, everyone got up listlessly, washed their faces, and then ate some food.

Wenhan and Wencheng both wanted to go to school. After breakfast, Wenhan took Wenchen to school, but Wencheng refused to go. "Brother, I don't want to go, everyone will laugh at me."

"Nonsense, who would laugh at you? Who dares? It would be strange if my elder brother didn't beat him to death?" Wenhan pulled Wencheng and walked all the way to the school. In fact, no one in the village knew what had just happened, and no one laughed at Wen Cheng. They listened carefully to the lessons in the classroom.

Jinghan, Wenchang, and Wenxuan were going to pick dates together. Xue had promised to follow them up the mountain yesterday, so she picked up a basket and followed everyone.

Mrs. Chen felt a little bored staying at home, so she led Wenchang and everyone went to the meadow in the northeast of the village. This meadow is so big that even if the whole village comes to pick dates, they won’t be able to pick all the dates. Everyone is carrying a basket, picking it off and putting it in the basket. Picking jujubes in the field is also a very troublesome job. There are many tree roots or fallen logs in the field, so you may trip if you are not careful. In addition, there are many puddles in the meadow, and you may fall into them if you don't get it right, so everyone must pay attention to where you step.

In the morning, everyone picked a lot of people. Zhixin and the others had to come back for dinner at noon, so Xue and Chen hurried back to cook. Jinghan and the others picked for a while, and then they all went home. We went to the same place as yesterday and sold some dates, and then everyone took the money and went home.

When we got home, the meal was ready. Zhixin and the old man also came back from the fields, and everyone ate together. In the afternoon, Jinghan was still a little unwilling to give up and wanted to go again, but Xue wouldn't let her go. "Jinghan, don't go there this afternoon. Let's pick up the potatoes. It's time to plant cabbage."

It is said that radish and cabbage must be planted in the first two days. Here, they have to be planted early, and the cabbage must sprout in the second half. So we had to get the early potatoes out in advance, and then plow the ground to plant cabbage. Jinghan nodded, "Okay, mother, we will help you." She was talking about Wenxuan and Wenchang. Now Wenchang is the focus of attention. Everyone works together, so that they will feel that they are no different from others, and it will not be easy in the future. self-abasement.

There is nothing special about the potatoes this time. Once everyone pulls up the potato seedlings, some potatoes will come out. Pick these potatoes and pile them together. Then Xue took a pickaxe and dug up the soil to reveal the potatoes in the ground. Jinghan and her two younger brothers stepped forward to pick up the potatoes. They picked them up very carefully, even the small ones. These little people can't eat it, but they can wash it, cook it and feed it to pigs, which can also save some food.

The family has a large population, so they planted more potatoes this morning. A total of about ten ridges of potatoes were planted, and a lot of potatoes were harvested and piled together. When Jinghan and the others picked them up, they separated them into different sizes. When waiting to eat, they ate the small ones first. There is no need to peel fresh potatoes, just put them in a basket. Go to the river, put the basket in the water, and then rub the potatoes vigorously. After a while, all the skins will be rubbed off. You can save the big ones for later. The skins of the potatoes will dry out in a few days, and you can't wash them off at that time, so you have to peel them.

For villagers, cabbage and potatoes are their only vegetable for the whole year. Potatoes are the most durable and can be eaten until next spring, so every family grows a lot of them.

After the potatoes are taken out, it is best to dry them outside for a day before putting them in the house or warehouse. Mrs. Chen cooked dinner in the evening. Everyone was a little tired after working all afternoon. The dinner was delicious.

In the next few days, Jinghan and the others will still go up the mountain to pick dates. When Wenhan and Wencheng take a rest, they will also go up the mountain with the others. It only took about ten days to pick these dates. After that, they were no longer good. They were too ripe and would fall off when touched. Besides, there aren’t that many. You have to know that many children in the village go to pick them.

Mrs. Chen has been in a bad mood these days because of Wei's affairs, so she didn't go to the money matchmaker. I was sitting in the yard doing needlework that day, when Matchmaker Qian came in from outside.

Mrs. Chen quickly stood up to greet her, "Her aunt, why are you here today? I was just planning to find you. I've been busy these days and haven't found the time to pour it out." Mrs. Chen quickly poured out a glass of water.

Matchmaker Qian sat down without drinking any water. There was a hint of embarrassment on her face, "Sister-in-law, I feel sorry for you. Something happened to Huixin's marriage."

Chen's hand shook, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I didn't ask clearly at first. Doctor Tao took a fancy to Huixin himself, and then came to find me. Who knew that the daughter of a wealthy family in this town, the Liu family, also took a fancy to Doctor Tao, and Liu The family asked someone to go to Tao's house to marry her. When Dr. Tao's mother heard that it was the Liu family, she quickly agreed. You said it could be done, but I didn't know why I told my sister-in-law that the Liu family invited someone else. Matchmaker, you didn't invite me. If you had invited me, I wouldn't be able to make peace with them at all." Matchmaker Qian told them what happened and was a little angry. "You said that the Tao family is too unscrupulous. No matter what, they proposed the marriage first. At least they have to wait for a certain reply from this party before agreeing to other families. You said they can handle this matter, "Hey, sister-in-law, don't worry, I will definitely find a better one for Huixin. I still don't believe it. Without their Tao family, our Huixin can marry just as well." Matchmaker Qian said angrily.

Mrs. Chen was a little discouraged. Mrs. Xue had also visited that day and felt that the Tao family was really good. I didn't expect that such a thing would happen. "Okay, her aunt, I don't blame you for this. It's because the Tao family doesn't pay attention to things. Anyway, Huixin is still young, so just take your time to find her. Huixin's health is much better these days, and I still want to pick a good one." ." Mrs. Chen comforted Matchmaker Qian.

Matchmaker Qian stayed at Xu's house for a while and then left. Mrs. Chen entered the house and saw Huixin sitting on the kang, looking outside blankly.