Siheyuan: There are three little cats at home

Chapter 484 The village collects pigs
"Second Dad!"

Xu Qing stood at the door of Xu Guangjin's house. Seeing that the courtyard door was ajar, he shouted.

Er Mazi was smoking a cigarette and carrying something in his hand. It was the first time he came to Xu Qing's hometown village, and he was full of curiosity about everything.

The thick wall of the loess barrier has been exposed to wind, sun, and rain, showing signs of dilapidation and decay, but it is still a wall, standing motionless.

There is a row of cacti planted on it, and under the sunlight, the tips are somewhat yellowed.

The lane was so narrow that it could only accommodate a donkey-drawn cart. Er Mazi looked around, blew out the smoke in his mouth, and said:

"Qingzi, this place is worse than it looks in town."

Just when Xu Qing was about to speak, Xu Guangjin walked out of the courtyard. When he opened the door, he saw Xu Qing and Er Mazi, with a look of joy on his face as he hadn't seen his nephew for a long time.

"Xiao Qing, when did you come back? Why didn't you tell me in advance and come in quickly?"

After Xu Guangjin finished speaking, he smiled and nodded at Er Mazi as a greeting.

The honest farmer still doesn't talk much, just like when he was young, but he is no longer young now.

The man in his fifties is nearly half a century old. His sons have all married, and even the families have been divided. His grandson is also in his arms, and he is like a grandfather.

Xu Qing pushed his motorcycle into the courtyard and saw various farm tools placed against the wall on the left side. A simple shed was set up on the right side with an ox tied inside and a wooden cart next to it.

This is exactly the same as what Xu Qing saw when he came back a few years ago.

Er Mazi glanced at the ox twice and saw that the ox had big eyes and an even bigger head. It swung its tail and looked at him while driving away mosquitoes and flies.

Er Mazi mooed, trying to induce the scalper to bark too.

However, the ox showed no reaction. It swung its tail, lowered its head, opened its mouth and stuck out its tongue in the stone trough and continued to drink water.

Xu Qing ignored Er Mazi teasing scalpers, parked his motorcycle under the shade of the jujube tree in the courtyard, and greeted Er Ma with a smile as he came out of the house.

His opinion of his second mother is neither good nor bad.

As for the degree of intimacy, it is less than that of the second father, but compared with other people in the village, it is still much better.

No matter what, they are relatives.

The second mother, Li Guixia, is also virtuous and ordinary-looking, just like the women in the village. She works hard every day and looks much older than women of the same age in the city.

In fact, he is not very old, not yet fifty, only 46, but in Xu Qing's opinion, he looks older than the three aunts in his courtyard in the city, as well as the Jia Zhang family.

But there was nothing I could do about it. I was born and raised in the countryside, and my life revolved around cooking pots and fields for most of my life.

I didn't have such blessings before, but life has been easier these past two years.

It is a good thing to open it again, and it will be a huge benefit to both urban and rural areas.

Especially after the land was divided, every family in each village had their own fields, and they only had to clean up their own fields throughout the year.

As for the harvested grain, whether it is wheat, corn, mung beans, or sorghum, except for the grain that is taken to the commune and turned over to the state, the rest can be disposed of by oneself.

Whether you want to grind it into flour and eat it at home, or sell it directly for money, the state doesn't care, and neither does the commune.

This is the biggest change that the reform will bring to rural areas.

"Xiao Qing, go back to the house and rest quickly. If my second mother knows that you are coming back today, she will not accompany your second father to threshing wheat in the morning, but will be waiting for you at home."

Li Guixia spoke with a smile, without too many words, showing the simplicity of rural people. She talked a lot more than the men in her family. After speaking to Xu Qing, she smiled at Er Mazi who was facing him:
"You are Xiaoqing's friend. Come in quickly. It's a hot day. Go back and drink some water to cool down."

Under the enthusiasm of Xu Guangjin and Li Guixia, Er Mazi grinned and followed Xu Qing into the house.

The houses in the countryside are very cool. Even in the hot summer, you don't feel the heat at all.

This is unmatched in the city.

After Xu Qing entered the house, he put the things he bought on the kang. Xu Guangjin asked his daughter-in-law Li Guixia to take out the peony cigarettes that she was reluctant to smoke from the cabinet, and said to Xu Qing and Er Mazi as they walked away:

"Xiao Qing, when you come back from now on, don't buy anything. When you come to your second dad's house, you just go back to our own home. What are you doing with spending money on these things? It's such a waste. My cousin Jianguo went to the county last month and just gave me and me. Your second mother bought a lot of things. After the reform, our life in the countryside will not be the same as before."

Xu Qing smiled and said, "It's okay. I haven't come back to see you and my second mother for a long time. This thing doesn't cost much."

Er Mazi sat aside and reached out to take the bowl of tea that Li Guixia had just poured.

At the same time, Li Guixia handed the bowl she was holding in her right hand to her nephew Xu Qing, then turned around and left the house, took out two eggs from the chicken coop in the yard, and took them to the kitchen to stir-fry.

When the nephew came back, it was around noon again. Li Guixia and Xu Guangjin had just had lunch. Each had two steamed buns with two noodles, and they just took a bite to prepare for a midday break so they could work in the afternoon.

But at this time, she had to cook a good lunch for her nephew and his friends, and entertain them.

After a while, she first made Weng Gai with sorghum stalks, took out half a cut watermelon from the kitchen, placed it on the edge of the Kang and said:
"Xiao Qing, you and your friends can eat some watermelon to relieve the heat. We grow it at home. It's very sweet. Try it."

After saying that, he turned around and returned to the kitchen.

Xu Guangjin accompanied his nephews Xu Qing and Er Mazi. The three of them took off their shoes and sat on the kang, eating watermelon.

The status of the head of the family is self-evident.

Xu Guangjin didn't say much. He reached out and pinched two pieces of watermelon, handed them to Xu Qing and Er Mazi and said:
"Eat, the tea is still too hot, eat the watermelon first."

Er Mazi hurriedly took the watermelon, thanked him, and took a big bite.

Xu Qing was not in a hurry to eat, he held it in his hand and said:

"Second dad, are everything okay at home?"

Xu Guangjin hummed, "Okay."

Then I was speechless.

Xu Qing asked again: "Second dad, how are Jianguo and Qingjun doing?"

Xu Guangjin saw Xu Qing and asked about his son and said:

"It's not bad. Last year Jianguo hid it from me and your second mother. The couple asked someone to buy a bicycle, which made your second mother very angry. This month we are electing the village chief. Qingjun is busy these days. Those guys from your fifth grandfather are preparing to run for office."

When Xu Qing heard this, he thought it was good and said with a smile: "Second dad, this is a good thing. If Qingjun becomes the village chief, then he will be regarded as a cadre in the countryside."

Xu Guangjin puffed on his cigarette, nodded his head, and then said two words, "Yes."

Er Mazi ate two pieces of watermelon, picked up the old white pottery bowl next to him, drank two sips of hot tea, smoked a cigarette, and listened quietly to the conversation between Xu Qing and Xu Guangjin, his uncle and nephew.

More than half an hour later, Li Guixia fried a plate of mu shu pork (scrambled eggs with tomatoes), another plate of zucchini, and a plate of eggplant.

After gathering three dishes and placing them on the Kang, he said with a smile on his face:
"Xiao Qing, hurry up and have dinner with your friend. It's noon, you two must be starving." Xu Qing said with a smile: "Second Mom, the commune we arrived at yesterday helped Secretary Wang catch a tomb robber last night. , the commune secretary killed a chicken for us two this morning, and he returned to our village just after breakfast, and he’s not hungry yet.”

When Li Guixia heard that her nephew had eaten chicken for breakfast, she smiled and said:
"Xiao Qing, you are still capable, better than your second father. He works in the commune and can't even eat an egg, let alone chickens. But it's getting late now. It's time to have lunch. Eat quickly, don't let it get cold. .

In the afternoon I will go to the fields to see how the flowers are growing. If they are edible, I will cook peanuts with you in the evening. "

When Er Mazi heard this, he perked up and said with a bared smile, "Auntie, you are so diligent. Just as Qingzi and I made lunch, you even thought about cooking peanuts for the evening."

Er Mazi is not timid. Even though he grew up in the city, he has nothing to do with his face.

In this respect, he can compete with Shazhu.

But his words are easier to listen to than Silly Zhuzhong, and hurtful words rarely come out of his mouth.

"Auntie, don't be too busy cooking peanuts tonight, I'll do it!"

Li Guixia looked at Er Mazi and said with a smile: "Well, you and Xiaoqing are friends, and you are a guest when you come to our house. How can we let you come to cook peanuts?"

Xu Qing raised his hand and patted Er Mazi on the shoulder, grinning and saying:
"Second Mom, it's okay. Brother Mazi has a good relationship with me. If he wants to cook it by himself, just leave it alone and let him do it by himself."

Li Guihua smiled and said nothing, looking back and forth secretly at Xu Qing and Er Mazi.

I understood that my nephew was more capable than the young man I didn't know, and they had a good relationship.

After lunch, Xu Qing did not disturb his second father and second mother's work. He took Er Mazi to the old branch secretary of Fifth Grandpa and asked Fifth Grandpa to help take him around the village.

The old party secretary retired early, but his body was still strong. He didn't need a cane to walk, but he couldn't do much work in the fields. When he heard Xu Qing said that he wanted to collect grain and pigs in the commune, he led Xu Qing and Er Mazi to the village first. Turned around.

Around five o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Qing ordered three households of pigs, but it took a lot of time.

No one wants to buy the pigs before they are ready for slaughter.

One is the fear of not being able to sell for a high price.

Second, people are very honest. They are worried about what if Xu Qing gets it into the city and loses money after selling it.
Xu Qing was good at talking and did a lot of ideological work with Er Mazi.

The old branch secretary also used the prestige he had accumulated in the village and said:

"Daughter-in-law of the Angui family, why are you so stupid? Xiaoqing's family runs a meat joint factory, and they pay you a lot of money. Your pigs are not ready for slaughter yet, but didn't Xiaoqing tell Comrade Diao that... According to the current price of pork, I will pay you one and a half pounds per pound, what else would you not like?

Thanks to Xiaoqing still calling you aunt, you can feed the pig for a few more months, and if the pig gains another ten kilograms of fat, it will be worth the money Xiaoqing paid you today. "

After the old branch secretary finished speaking, he said with a serious face: "You can't be the master. Call your shopkeeper back. You don't even know what a good thing is like pie in the sky. You deserve to be angry with your daughter-in-law every day."

The old party secretary took Xu Qing, and Er Mazi was about to leave. The woman, who was distantly related to Xu Qing, thought for a while and said: "Then wait for me, I will call my family back, and you can discuss it."

Therefore, Xu Qing ordered pigs for five families in one afternoon, and also ordered the grain for those five families.

When he went to the countryside this time, he harvested pigs and grain together.

Naturally, two things should be done at the same time.

However, there are not many households that feed pigs in the village. Including the two pigs raised by the old party secretary, Xu Qinghou has a total of four households and six black pigs in his hometown village.

However, except for a few families in the village who had poor harvests and were reluctant to sell the wheat harvested this year, the rest were vying to sell it to Xu Qing.

After all, Xu Qing collected some food last year. Although he did not go back to the village but was in the commune, people from the brigade received a piece of grain from each village and sent it to the commune to sell to Xu Qing.

And this year, Xu Qing went back to the village to collect grain and pigs, and the prices were quite high. Naturally, the people in the village were happy to sell them for a profit in front of Xu Qing.

Otherwise, if they miss this opportunity and want to buy again, they will have to wait for the people from the brigade to help them get it to the commune. As for the money, they can only wait for the people from the brigade to hand it over to the village party secretary of each village, who will then buy it one by one. Divide it.

In this way, time is lengthened.

There was no such thing as selling directly to Xu Qinglai in the village.

However, this caused the courtyard of Xu Guang's home to be crowded with villagers and very lively at night.

Xu Jianguo and Xu Qingjun were busy at their respective homes during the day. In the evening, they saw their cousin Xu Qing come back to collect grain. They followed the old party secretary Fifth Grandpa and his father Xu Guangjin. The four of them were surrounded by people on three levels inside and outside, helping Xu Qing. Qing and Er Mazi registered on paper for the villagers.

It's impossible to overdo it at night.

Furthermore, they had to pay the grain to the country before selling it, so they could only write down the number of people first and talk about it tomorrow.

At around ten o'clock in the evening, people in the village left one after another.

Xu Qing was sitting in the courtyard, eating cooked peanuts with his second father and his family and Er Mazi, while saying:

"Second dad, you, Jianguo and Qingjun are busy with family matters first. After a few days, you finish what you are doing, and then help me collect grain. Those in our village will collect it first. If someone from the next village brings grain to our village, Come on, you will accept it when the time comes."

Xu Qing peeled the peanuts, thought about it, and said to Qingjun:
"By the way, Qingjun, you recently planned to be the village chief in the village. You are busy with your work. I will ask Brother Mazi to accompany your father and Jianguo to collect grain. As for your becoming the village chief, I don't know the situation in the village, but if the rural commune Let the cadres go to the village and watch what happens. I can give you a few words over there. Secretary Wang and I are quite familiar with him. Tomorrow morning Er Mazi and I will visit other villages in our commune, and then we will go to the commune to find Secretary Wang. Say."

Xu Qingjun heard this from his cousin Xu Qing, whom he had not seen a few times a year, and said excitedly:

"Brother Xu Qing, it's not a big deal for me. If I don't become the village chief, it doesn't matter. Anyway, the branch secretary of our village is a member of our family. It doesn't matter if someone else becomes the village chief. I'm just going to make a fortune this year."

Xu Qing smiled and thought: "Well, Qingjun, you try it in the village first. If you become the best, if you don't, do you want to help my eldest brother collect grain and pigs with Jianguo in the countryside? You two want to go to the city to work in the meat factory I just opened, that’s fine, it’s up to you!”

Xu Jianguo, who followed his father's temperament, sat on the bench, scratched his hair, looked at his parents, then his wife, and his younger brother Qing Jun, and said with a silly smile:

"Brother Xu Qing, I have to think about this carefully."

Xu Qingjun was good at talking, bared his teeth and said: "Like my elder brother, I have to think about it. A few years ago, we wanted to go to the city to find you, but the commune has heavy tasks, and I have only been married for a few years. What about the child?" I'm still young now, so I don't have the nerve to say, but now it has been changed, and the village has divided the land for farming and harvesting. It was okay last year and this year, but I can't give you an answer at once."

Xu Qing smiled and said: "It's okay, Qingjun, Jianguo, you guys think about it slowly. I will set up a meat joint factory this year. When winter comes, there will be nothing busy in the fields. You can come to the city and work in my meat joint factory." , work for a while, and if you think it's okay, then stop farming and come to the city."

Xu Jianguo nodded quickly, took the wine and poured it into the wine cup in front of Xu Qing, Er Mazi and his father:
"Brother Xu Qing, I will listen to you. When winter is free, Qingjun and I will go to the city to find you."

Xu Qing responded: "Okay."

Xu Guangjin was speechless at what his two sons said.

Li Guixia and her two daughters-in-law coaxed their grandchildren, but the three of them did not say anything.

Men discuss things, and women just listen.

Er Mazi ate a lot of peanuts, wiped his hands with a towel, took out a cigarette and handed it to Xu Qing's second father and two cousins. Then he looked up at the moonlight and lit the cigarette with a lighter.

On the night of the [-]th, the moon was rounder and brighter than last night.

The moonlight shines in the quiet village, and the courtyard looks light and lively.

(End of this chapter)