Ordinary people's rice bowl

Chapter 69
When Mu Zhen came to the pig breeding farm, the simple and honest old Zhao had a talker.In the village, because of Lao Zhao’s honesty, few people in the village talk to him much. Lao Zhao, who is usually a bit dull, is like a dull gourd, unknown to the public. When he comes to work in the pig farm, few people usually come. It became less, and sometimes muttered a few words to the stupid old sow from time to time, and no one could understand what he said.Mu Zhen became friends with him, and Lao Zhao, who usually didn't talk to other people in the village, opened up the conversation box as if he had a predestined relationship with Mu Zhen.

"You're a child, I'll do the work, you just need to talk to me!" Old Zhao said to Mu Zhen with a silly smile.

When Lao Mu was here yesterday, Mu Zhen, who had been working with Lao Zhao for a long time, was a little tired. Mu Zhen, who had just arrived at the pig farm after breakfast, was a little stunned to receive such generous treatment from Lao Zhao. This kind of generosity also increased Mu Zhen's intimacy with Lao Zhao.

"Then what do you want me to tell you?" Mu Zhen didn't know what Lao Zhao liked to hear, so she asked one more question.

"You can do whatever you want, you can say whatever you know!" Lao Zhao still replied in a gruff voice.

Mu Zhen thought for a while and said, "Let me tell you the story of Jiang Ziya!"

"Medium!" Old Zhao's words were concise.

"Jiang Ziya is also known as Jiang Taigong. He can pinch and count, and he is a famous official in history." When Mu Zhen said this, she seemed to think of something and stopped. The old man who was adding materials to the ground pot to boil water Zhao, looked up at Mu Zhen, smiled, revealing a row of yellow stained teeth from cigarette smoke.

"Have you heard of Jiang Ziya?" Mu Zhen looked at Lao Zhao and asked.

"I've heard that Jiang Taigong is fishing—the one who wishes to take the bait, isn't it about him?"

Old Zhao's answer naturally surprised Mu Zhen, who didn't expect that this old Zhao knew a lot.

"How do you know?" Mu Zhen was interested in knowing so much about Lao Zhao.

"I don't know how to read, but people who tell stories and listen to operas have all told it." Old Zhao responded smoothly.

"Why didn't you go to school back then?" Mu Zhen became more and more interested in Lao Zhao's life experience.

"Hey, when I was young, it was good to be able to eat. How could I have money to go to school? At that time, the village relied on the sky for food, and my family had no land. Everyone in the family went to the landlord's house to do long-term labor. Throughout the year, the whole family could live without starvation." Not bad. Catch up with a disaster year, eat the last meal without the next meal, sleep at night afraid of waking up, wake up and feel hungry, it is better to sleep all the time, there is dry food to eat in dreams." Mu Zhen noticed that Lao Zhao said When I was here, the throat joint moved upwards, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and then said: "You have not experienced that age, I am like your age, let alone studying, I work with adults every day, and if something goes wrong, I will be beaten It's all normal!"

Mu Zhen suddenly thought of Mr. Yang Bai in the movie, which is the most typical example of landlords exploiting tenant farmers. She interrupted Mr. Zhao and asked, "Have you seen "The White-haired Girl"?"

"Saw the movie!"

"Did you meet Lao Cai, a landlord like Huang Shiren?"

"You can't say that. There is still a difference between the landlord and the rich. When I was young, I followed the adults and worked in the home of a landlord named Huang. The man was cruel to others, but his wife was nice to others. I usually look young. , Try not to let me do heavy work, it is very good to me. It is here that once I drove the cattle into the water in the field, the landlord surnamed Huang wanted to chop me to death with a knife, and slashed my arm with a knife The clothes were cut, and the arm was cut, and there was a lot of blood at that time, but fortunately I ran fast, otherwise I would have died!" Then, she stretched out her arm to show Mu Zhen the big scar on her arm.

A scar that is two fingers long, bulging skin. Looking at the scar, Mu Zhen seemed to see a middle-aged man wearing a long gown, an old felt hat, and a mustache. He picked up a kitchen knife and slashed at a boy in ragged clothes. When the boy raised his arm to cover it, the knife cut through the boy's torn cotton coat, and blood immediately stained the cut cotton coat.

"What are you in a daze for?" Old Zhao looked at Mu Zhen: "Are you listening to me?"

"Listen, I was wondering if you haven't met a good family?" Mu Zhen regained her composure and interjected.

"Of course there are good people. Later, when I got older, I was introduced to a landlord named Fan to work as a long-term worker. The whole family of Fan is good. The family has more than 200 mu of land, and they are also well-known big landlords. , working in his house, not so fierce, but also able to eat a full meal, then the Eighth Route Army came, he actively donated money and food, and then the Japanese devils came, the whole family left the village overnight, I don’t know where they went ?” Old Zhao’s face was gloomy when he said this.

"Maybe he joined the Eighth Route Army!" Mu Zhen tried her best to make good guesses, which made Lao Zhao happy.

"Maybe it is. Good people will be rewarded eventually. I have no place to rely on since then. I wandered in various villages. It is really hard! I live a life of wearing a hundred clothes and eating a hundred meals. Everyone in my family is suffering because of the war. I don't know where I went? My relatives can't be found, and I have no place to rely on, so I can only wander around." I don't know what emotional point, Lao Zhao's eyes are full of tears.

"Why don't you go to the Eighth Route Army?" Mu Zhen asked innocently.

"I can't read, and I have no one to guide me. Where can I find the Eighth Route Army? At that time, I only cared about my life, and I couldn't meet a guide every day!" Old Zhao's words showed complete sadness.

"Then how did you come to our village?" Mu Zhen tilted her head and looked at Lao Zhao.

"Later, I met a kind-hearted man who was also begging for food. He saw that I was a good person, so he led me to this village. Only then did I know what liberation is. Fields, I have land to plant here, and that's it, my hard days are over." Old Zhao took out his sweat pouch and took two puffs.

"The water is boiling!" Mu Zhen reminded pointing to the mist rising from the pot.

Lao Zhao hastily pinned the sweat pipe on his waist, and without thinking about talking, he stood up and lifted the lid of the pot, and began to prepare pig food for the pigs.

Mu Zhen didn't know how to help, she stood aside and watched Lao Zhao busy.

"Don't just stand there, take that stick and keep stirring in the bucket to mix the food evenly!" Old Zhao scooped water into the bucket while beckoning Mu Zhen to work.

The two of them worked hard for nearly half an hour before pouring all the pig food into the pigsty. Mu Zhen felt her arms a little numb and sat there kneading.

"Where did you just say?" Old Zhao asked Mu Zhen who was sitting.

"Speaking of the beginning of good days after liberation!" Mu Zhen felt that Lao Zhao's life was a living intergenerational history.He stepped from a war-torn era to a peaceful era. During the war, he had no fixed place to live and suffered from hunger and poverty. After liberation, he had a stable home and started a new life by himself.This change made Lao Zhao very satisfied.

"Yes, the good days have indeed begun. I was in charge of raising cattle in the village, and threw grass for the cattle every day. The old man Li in the village saw that I was sincere, so he married his second daughter to me and became his son-in-law for the elderly." Lao Zhao said Here, a little excited, eyes full of hope.

"I've been here for a long time, have you ever returned to your hometown?" Seeing his complacent expression, Wu Zhen naturally asked more questions.

"Go home!" Lao Zhao glanced at Mu Zhen, and continued: "In the early years, I asked someone else to write a letter to my brother at home, and later I also received a reply, saying that there was no such person, so I lost contact! I guess there are no relatives at home!"

When Lao Zhao said this, his face was at a loss. Mu Zhen felt that in this year-end friendship, he saw a real old society from Lao Zhao's words. It was a dark era. After liberation, it seemed as if the rainy days turned to sunny days. The people’s good days came, the society was stable, and the singing and dancing were peaceful. People like Lao Zhao, who have crossed the age, fully felt that "singing the rooster makes the world white". scene.

"Your life experience is like a book, listening to you is like listening to a book!" Mu Zhen boasted.

"Children will wear a tall hat, and I can't speak. It's like a donkey's head is wrong with a horse's mouth. It's really not easy in this life!" Lao Zhao never came to this village, and he really didn't have much to say to the villagers. , This is the first time he has said so much. In his eyes, Mu Zhen is an educated person. An educated person naturally understands a lot of truths. Said that he felt that Mu Zhen was better than himself in speaking.

"It's not wearing a high hat, it's the truth! I've read about this in the book. If I didn't hear you say it, I really didn't believe it. Now I completely understand what the teacher said: "The old society turns people into ghosts." , What's the matter with the new society turning ghosts into people'!" Mu Zhen never worked here as a punishment for reformation, and what she said to Lao Zhao now made him feel that this was not a punishment for reformation. This is an opportunity to learn from those around you.No one thought that the taciturn old Zhao had hidden so many stories.

"Scholars just speak differently. I can't even write my own name now. Can you teach me?" Lao Zhao changed the subject, which made Mu Zhen a little stunned.

"You still want to learn characters?" Mu Zhen felt that the old man in front of her was really incredible.

"As long as you are willing to teach, I can learn!" Lao Zhao's serious demeanor made Mu Zhen a little at a loss.

"Of course I'm willing to teach, there's no reason why I don't want to, it's just my job here!" Mu Zhen put it off.

"I will do the work here. When you are not here, am I not doing it alone?" Old Zhao asked back.

"Well, I will teach you a few words every day, and then I will read here and tell you the stories in the book." Mu Zhen felt that everyone would be happy to do this.

"Zhong, as long as you are here to talk to me, I will be content!" Lao Zhao said this a little naively, as if he had returned to the age of innocence.

Mu Zhen found a branch, and stomped on the ground vigorously with her feet, crushing out a piece of broken soil after a few strokes.He wrote the character "Zhao" on the ground with a branch.

"This is your surname!" Mu Zhen broke down the character "Zhao" as she said, first drew a horizontal line on the side of the character, then wrote a vertical line, and completed all the strokes of the character "Zhao" in turn. , and then said: "This is how the character is written!"

After speaking, he handed the branch to Lao Zhao, who wrote on the ground with his strokes very seriously, and immediately there were traces of Lao Zhao's crooked drawing on the ground. Satisfied, he became a teacher here again.He thought of the young sheep herder playing the flute by the river, didn't he also need a teacher?Mu Zhen thinks that the human brain changes so fast, it's really unbelievable!
(End of this chapter)