farmer's little girl

Chapter 48
After hearing this news, Lu Jiaoyue was stunned.

She thought a lot, but she was even more afraid that her elder brother would be sad.

On the other hand, when Lu Guangyi heard about it, he just smiled wryly and said, "That's fine."

Many people in Daxi Village knew about the engagement between the eldest son of the Lu family and the daughter of the Pei family. When news suddenly spread that the daughter of the Pei family was going to marry someone else, some people inevitably began to discuss it.

In the end, it was the Pei family who got the word out first, so everyone didn't pick on Lu Guangyi, but thought that the daughter of the Pei family had climbed some high branch, so they abandoned the Lu family.Unexpectedly, there was another news that the second room of the Lu family had voluntarily ruined the relationship, and people inevitably began to discuss it.

Why did the Lu family get engaged to the Pei family at the beginning, and I also talked about it again.Some people say that Lu Guangyi is benevolent and righteous, not to mention that he saved someone, but in order not to damage the reputation of the other girl, he even plans to marry her.Some people also said that Lu Guangyi was unlucky, and he was relied upon to save someone.Some people also said that the second wife of the Lu family was really scheming. In order to make her family's good reputation, she got engaged to someone else.

For a while, you can say anything.

Hearing such slander against her family from outside, Mei was very angry, but it was indeed her own family who ruined her relatives, so it was hard to say anything, so she could only suffer from this dumb loss.Instead, Lu Minghai explained to her that the character of the Pei family can be seen from these few things, and it is better to see it in advance than to find out when someone gets married, and it can be regarded as a blessing in disguise.

It made sense to say so, and the second room felt a little more comfortable.

In Pei's house, Pei Gui'e was lying on the kang in a daze, her mind was in chaos.

Until now, she still doesn't understand how things happened like this.

That day, when the Lu family left angrily, she complained to her mother, and her mother panicked and wanted her father to stop the Lu family, but her second brother stopped him instead.

Pei Erzhu frowned, looking unhappy.

"Father, what are you doing to stop him? I didn't see that brat talking so badly. He doesn't want to marry our family, and our family doesn't want to marry him!"

"What can I do about E'er?" Mao's face was full of regret and panic. She knew that this would happen, so she didn't do it anymore. Save some face at home.

"What should I do or not? Didn't the Lu family say generously that they don't want the dowry? Since they don't want it, let's keep it. With the money, are you afraid that your sister won't be able to get married?" Pei Erzhu said.

Mrs. Mao, Mr. Pei and Pei Gui'e were stunned at that moment.

Father Pei somewhat disagreed: "What are you talking about? If the two families can't get married, there is no reason for our family to be ignorant of other people's betrothal gifts!"

"Is this called ignorance? This is what we deserve. Which place in the world does not have this rule. The man's family destroys the marriage without reason, and the woman's family does not have to return the bride price."

Pei Dazhu's eyes lit up at the side, and Tian and Liu who came forward also nodded repeatedly when they heard the movement.

"That's right, it's not that our family is ignoring them." Tian said.

"Our family didn't want to destroy the relationship, it was the Lu family who wanted to destroy the relationship." Liu also echoed.

"But you can't say that. After all, what happened to your sister back then was due to the benevolence of the Lu family, and that boy Lu Guangyi was also benevolent. If not..." Father Pei couldn't accept what his son and daughter-in-law said for a while.

Pei Dazhu interrupted: "Father, he ruined our sister's reputation, shouldn't he marry our sister?"

"But your sister fell into the water by herself. If the Lu family boy hadn't saved her, she would have lost her life."

"That can only be said to be his bad luck. If he doesn't save our sister, he won't have to bear the responsibility. He clearly knows the consequences, and since he saved it, he should bear the responsibility!" Pei Erzhu said.

Although Pei Dazhu and the two women did not speak, they clearly agreed with their facial expressions.

Father Pei was so angry that he couldn't figure out how the two sons could say such shameless words, but let him refute, he was always clumsy and didn't know what to say.

Pei Erzhu obviously understood his father's character, so he turned to his mother and said, "Mom, do you think what I said makes sense? The reason why Lu Guangyi was able to marry our sister was because their family burned high incense, and now they want to destroy her." Dear, we can't take advantage of their family."

Mrs. Mao was originally worried that her family had ruined her daughter's marriage, but hearing what her son said, she felt that it was very reasonable.At the same time, a sense of temperament also caught my heart. As the saying goes, raise your head to marry a girl, and bow your head to marry a daughter-in-law.Which family married a daughter-in-law, didn't they respect the mother-in-law's family, how could Lu Guangyi have such a temper, even if she did something wrong, it was for the sake of the young couple, why didn't she understand her heart.

"If Lu Guangyi doesn't come and bow his head, then the dowry will not be returned to his family." Mao said.

Father Pei is not good at words, and he only knows how to bury his head in his work all day long, so the Mao family has always been in charge of the Pei family. He sighed again and again.

In fact, the Mao family did not intend to marry their daughter, but just wanted to take advantage of the Lu family. After all, those dowries cost a lot of money. Regardless of the generosity the Lu family said at the time, they might regret it after returning.As long as they are reluctant to part with the money, Lu Guangyi will definitely come. As long as he comes, she will not say much at that time, but will only scold him a few words, and let his family agree to change the house, so that this big thing will be reduced to a small one. trivialized.

This was Mao's idea. Obviously, she didn't understand the nature of her two sons, and thought that the two daughter-in-laws had never been well-behaved, and her son was implicated.

She walked over to pick up Pei Gui'e, who obviously had no idea, and dragged her into the back room, "E'er, your brothers are right, we can't lower our heads. Don't worry, mother will guarantee that Lu Guangyi will come to our house when the time comes Please! Destroy the relationship for no reason, I don't believe their family dares to lose this person."

"But--"

"There's nothing wrong with it, listen to your mother."

Apparently, the follow-up of the matter was somewhat beyond Mao's expectation, and the Lu family did not move at all.

After a few days, no one came from the Lu's house, not only Pei Gui'e panicked, but Mao's also panicked.

At this time, the two brothers Pei Dazhu and their daughters-in-law took turns to fight again, and they kept instigating in the middle, saying something that the Lu family would not show their face and that kid Lu Guangyi must have planned to ruin the relationship a long time ago, otherwise It won't happen because of a little thing.

The more Mrs. Mao thought about it, the angrier she became, and the two sons said that with such a dowry, her younger sister would not worry about getting married, and she gradually faded away from thinking that it must be the Lu family.As for Pei Gui'e, she was still thinking about Lu Guangyi, but unfortunately she couldn't hold back her ears. Once Mao and her two sisters-in-law persuaded her, she had no idea.

What happened after that was completely out of her imagination.

First, the elder brother and the two families quarreled over the distribution of her dowry, and even fought violently. In order to appease them, her mother could only divide the things into two for the two families. Make yourself a dowry.

Naturally, Pei Gui'e refused to obey, but it was useless if she refused to obey. Her two elder brothers had a tough attitude, and her mother tried to persuade her, but she could only obey.

No, these two days, her two sister-in-laws have been thinking about marrying her again, and they have already made an appointment, and they are a widower.He's not too old, but he left two children behind.

Pei Gui'e didn't want to marry such a person, so she couldn't help but think of Lu Guangyi again. She also cried to Mrs. Mao, but now Mrs. Mao's words at home were useless. He didn't let her out, and made up his mind to marry her out.

In the main room, Mrs. Mao was talking to her eldest son.

"Boss, how can you be cruel to your sister like this, she is your own sister." Madam Mao has also been haggard for a while, and the turmoil in the family has been happening again and again, which really exhausts her physically and mentally.

"Mother, what you said is wrong. She is my own sister. Can I still harm her? The Lu family's marriage is forbidden by others. We didn't do anything in it. We should fight for it." I helped her fight for it. Didn’t the dowry stay here? It’s because the Lu family is well-informed and didn’t make a fuss. Otherwise, my second child and I must teach them a lesson and vent our anger on my sister. As for you telling her about her, that’s fine. Are you not bothered by people talking behind your back for two years? She accidentally fell into the river by herself, which made us feel ashamed to be with her. She is not too young, can you keep her forever? Get married early, As time goes by, it will naturally fade away.”

Mrs. Mao hesitated and said, "Then the dowry from the Lu family—"

"Betrothal gift? You can't come to me for this matter. The matter was proposed by the second child. You can go to him. As long as he agrees, our eldest wife will not ask for a penny, and we will all withdraw." Pei Dazhu said haha, he is very friendly Get out soon.

Mrs. Mao lost her mind for a while, and turned to look at the old man. Father Pei said sadly: "Do it, you do it, and you will be happy if you don't do your daughter's marriage! And these two beasts, look What have you taught them to do!"

Mao refused immediately, "Why do you want me to teach them? Please explain clearly to me..."

In the second room, Mrs. Liu listened to the movement in the main room, and pouted at her man: "Your parents are fighting again, why don't you go and persuade them?"

Pei Erzhu lay on the kang with Erlang's legs crossed, sucking his teeth: "Why do you persuade? They will stop arguing after a while."

Mrs. Liu also went to the edge of the Kang and sat down, "Hey, don't say it, you really want this idea, you don't need to spend any effort, you can get so much money and things, if you come to a few more people like the Lu family The family will be fine, and our family will not have to worry about running out of money in the future."

Pei Erzhu glanced at her sideways, and said: "It's good to do this kind of thing once, how many more times do you want to do it? It's not always possible to meet someone who is wronged. Well, don't talk about this, you should hurry up and do that thing sooner." Marry her out, and don't ask for more dowry, she is my sister after all, and I can't do too much."

Mrs. Liu glanced at him, "Do you need to say it? You are shameless, I want shame! The family is well-off, but a daughter-in-law died in the front and there are two children. She is also worthy of her. By the way, the family said to give five taels of silver as a betrothal gift, but I told your mother that they only gave three taels."

"You're still smart!"

In the past few days, when Lu Jiaoyue was free, she went to help Guiya's family.

This abandoned house is too dilapidated and needs to be repaired everywhere, and the weeds in the yard that are half the height of a person have to be removed. In the past few days, Lu Guangyi has come to help Guiya's house repair the roof, doors and windows every day. Yue helped them with some light work.

She wanted to help Gui Ya and her mother weed, but it was a pity that Gui Ya didn't do it, saying that she had to do embroidery work on weekdays and couldn't do rough work.This is also a problem, so Lu Jiaoyue did not insist.

After picking and choosing, Guiya handed over the work of removing the bedding to Lu Jiaoyue.

Quilts are a good thing for country people, and most people would not give them away. Since they can be given away, they must not be used.It's just that Gui Ya's family lacks everything now, so they can't pick anything.The Lu family gave them two usable quilts, but they were used to cover them, and the quilts underneath were not available yet.So what Lu Jiaoyue has to do today is to disassemble the two mattresses given by the kind villagers together with Taoya, pick out the hardened cotton wool inside, put them in the sun to dry, and then sew them up.

Lu Jiaoyue took a pair of scissors along the seams on the mattress, intending to pick out the seams inside.I don't know who sent this quilt over. I'm afraid it has been used for many years. The outer cover may not have been removed for a long time. The thread ends have long been worn out and mixed together with the cover. Lu Jiaoyue needs to be extremely careful. , to pick out the sutures bit by bit.

The smell of the mattress was not pleasant, and there was an indescribably strange smell mixed with the sour smell, and the peach blossoms on the side covered their noses.In fact, Lu Jiaoyue also held her breath the whole time, fearing that she would faint from the smoke.

After finally breaking off the suture, the cotton wadding inside was exposed, the wadding had already turned black and clumped, Lu Jiaoyue looked at all this with some embarrassment.

It stands to reason that the cotton wadding inside cannot be used, but the situation in Guiya’s family is such that it is impossible to buy new cotton for sewing, and the weather in the north is cold, and there is no thick mattress in winter, so I am afraid it will be difficult this winter.

Taoya is very sensible, she knows that Sister Jiaoyue is here to help her family, she can't bear the fuss like this, let alone the other party.So while talking, he pulled the opening on the mattress, "Sister Jiaoyue, sit on the side, I'll do it, this is a small job, I can do it."

Ten-year-old Taoya is very thin, and she is not comparable to other children of her age in the village. She is small and thin, probably because she is always hungry at home.That thin and thin arm made people feel palpitations, Lu Jiaoyue felt ashamed for a while, she was here to help, so why not a girl younger than her.

Thinking of this, she didn't feel disgusted anymore, she smiled, and said to Tao Ya: "Let's go together, you help my sister find a mat, it's sunny outside today, so let's go outside and take it apart to dry directly." to avoid soiling the kang."

Tao Ya nodded, turned around and found a broken mat somewhere, spread it in the yard, and the two of them carried the quilt out together.Each of them sat in the yard and started picking cotton wool.

If we followed Erfang's usual habit of dismantling bedding, I'm afraid that all the cotton wool here would have to be thrown away, but the situation of Guiya's family is based on this, so all the cotton wool here must be used, otherwise it would not be enough for a mattress.The two of them took out the clumped cotton batting, tore it apart little by little, and tore it into tiny pieces, and then threw it on the mat, planning to stuff it in after it fluffed up in the sun.

This is a delicate job, time consuming, while Lu Jiaoyue was doing it, she looked towards the roof.

Over there, Guiya helped Lu Guangyi, and Lu Guangyi went up to the roof, holding the bundled wheat straw in his hand, and was going to repair the broken roof.

Seeing Lu Guangyi climbing so high, Gui Ya couldn't help but feel a little frightened, "Brother Lu, you must be careful."

Seeing her nervousness from afar, Lu Jiaoyue couldn't help laughing and said, "It's not that you're on top, I think you're more nervous than my elder brother. It's okay, my elder brother is proficient at this job, so nothing will happen. "In addition to doing farm work in the fields, Lu Guangyi also works part-time as a mason. He has built a lot of houses for others, and repairing the roof is no problem.

Gui Ya blushed when she was told, she looked at the figure on the roof who could not see clearly under the sunlight, and said, "Isn't it because of my worry?"

As the saying goes, onlookers are clear, and authorities are obsessed. Seeing Guiya like this, Lu Jiaoyue couldn't help but take a second look.In her cognition, the Gui Ya she knew was not like this. Gui Ya has been big-minded since she was a child, has a hot personality, and is quick to do things. The last time she was able to cry like that in front of her was really because of her despair.Lu Jiaoyue often saw Mrs. Chen beating Guiya, but she never saw her cry.

So let alone blushing, is it from the sun?
Just as Lu Jiaoyue was thinking, she heard Tao Ya beside her say: "Sister Jiaoyue, you probably don't know, my sister has always liked your elder brother."

Her voice was so small that only Lu Jiaoyue who was beside her could hear it.

Hearing this, Lu Jiaoyue was taken aback, and subconsciously asked, "How do you know?"

Tao Ya, who was as big as a kid, showed a sly smile.

"I can tell."

Lu Jiaoyue laughed, ten years old is not young, after all, she is still a child in her eyes, she said honestly, "How did you know that?"

"I can't tell you about this. It's my sister's private matter. By the way, sister Jiaoyue, please don't tell my sister about it, or she will beat me."

Lu Jiaoyue could only nod her head, because of what she said, she couldn't help but become interested in Gui Ya.

Looking at it, I can see the clue.

His brother was already off the roof at this moment, Gui Ya hurriedly put down her work and brought him a bowl of water.

"Brother Lu, drink water."

Lu Guangyi nodded, "This straw is not enough, I will pick some from my house later."

"Why is this so embarrassing?" Wheat straw seems inconspicuous, but it is of great use to farmers.It is indispensable to burn fire and cook at ordinary times, especially in the cold weather in the north, every household has to burn kang, and when the firewood is not enough, it is also possible to use this thing to fill.

"It's okay. I have a lot of firewood at home. If you don't have enough firewood at that time, I'll send you some."

It's not that Lu Guangyi is generous, but that Erfang's family has so much firewood that they can't put it down.In order to work in the gambling shop, Lu Guangzhi used the pretense of going up the mountain to cut firewood with Er Gouzi and the others every time he went out.It is reasonable for half-grown boys like them to go out to play on weekdays and help the family chop firewood by the way.

Since I went to chop wood, I must have something to take home.So Lu Guangzhi bought firewood from his friends every day, and the money he spent was not much, just a few pennies.After so much saving day by day, the kitchen in the second room couldn't fit anymore, but Lu Minghai and Lu Guangyi built a grass shed to store firewood.

Now the thatched shed is also full, and can only be piled under the eaves.But no one thinks there is too much firewood. The climate here is cold in winter, and every household has to burn the kang. Now that the firewood is cut and saved, there is no need to go out in the cold wind in winter.So the Erfang family is now in both joy and pain, so Lu Jiaoyue knew something about it, and privately advised Lu Guangzhi to take it easy.So there is so much firewood in the second room now, so much that I can't use it all winter.

It's a pity that Gui Ya didn't know, she could only come up with the conclusion that brother Lu is kind and kind.Thinking of this, she couldn't help but think of the behavior of the Pei family who relied on the good nature of the Lu family to push their noses and face, and couldn't help feeling angry and joy that couldn't be concealed.She already knew from Lu Jiaoyue the real reason why Erfang and Pei's family divorced.

In the end, these emotions turned into gloom. If she had dared to think about it before, now that her reputation is so bad, she really is not worthy of Brother Lu.She wasn't good enough at first, the family was like that in the past, but now the family is old and weak, women and children, and her mother can't stand the door, she has to support herself.

Thinking of it this way, my mind is lightened, I can only sincerely hope that Brother Lu can meet a good woman, and his days will be safe and happy in the future.

At this time, I saw Wulang running in from the door, and said hurriedly: "Brother and sister, hurry home, the eldest sister came to our house suddenly, I am afraid that she will bully mother."

Thinking about what happened last time, my aunt returned home after being beaten, could it be that she came here for revenge this time?

Lu Guangyi and Lu Jiaoyue couldn't help becoming anxious, and they didn't care about the work in hand, they talked to Gui Ya, and they hurried home.

This time Lu Guifang didn't come to find fault, the matter had to start from before.

The reason why Lu Guifang is strong in front of her natal family is not only due to her personality, but also because the Zhao family is considered a wealthy family in Zhaojiawa, especially because she has raised a promising son and works as a shopkeeper in a goods store in the county. Walking in and out, she always feels that she is superior to others.

A few days ago, her son Zhao Guodong, who was the shopkeeper in the county, suddenly returned home.

Not only did he come back by himself, but he also brought back his wife and children who had been placed in the county.The eldest doesn't come back often, and he is busy on weekdays. He only comes home during the holidays. Lu Guifang is very happy to see her son and his family back.Regarding the sudden return of the eldest family, she asked about it. Zhao Guodong said that the store was sold by the owner, and he had nothing to do for the time being, so he wanted to go home to accompany his parents, and then make plans.

Although Lu Guifang regretted her son's errand, she still missed her son and grandson very much. She was very happy that her son brought his grandson back to accompany her.

After a few days like this, suddenly one day a debt collector came to her door, and Lu Guifang finally understood what happened.

It turned out that Zhao Guodong had been addicted to gambling for a long time, but he was timid at the beginning, so he gambled lightly.But after gambling for a long time, he became more and more courageous, and he always only lost but never won. Not to mention, he lost all the money in the family, and even used the money from the goods store to gamble in the gambling shop in private.At first he didn't dare to take too much, so he just took a few taels, but later he got really red-eyed and became more courageous.

The goods store will check the accounts every other month. Zhao Guodong is the big shopkeeper, and he is living beyond his means, so he can tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall.But as he was greedy for more and more money, he gradually couldn't make up for it, so he inevitably put all his eggs in one basket and focused his attention on gambling, thinking that he could get back his money all day long.

It's a pity that there is no such good thing in the world. I lost the bet and had no money to recoup my money, so I asked the gambling house to borrow usury.

It's a pity that the usury didn't save him, the holes in the goods store had to be filled, and the debts from the gambling house had to be paid off.Zhao Guodong had no choice but to sell the house he bought in the early years and fill in the hole in the store.It wasn't that he wanted to fill in the money, but that his boss had already discovered the money in the greedy shop. If the boss didn't want to make a big fuss, he asked him to return the money. If he didn't, he would be brought to court.

Zhao Guodong didn't want to be imprisoned, so he had to go bankrupt and fill the hole, but the money from the gambling shop hadn't been returned, and the thugs from the gambling shop came to the door every day. There was no other way, so he went home in embarrassment.

Although Lu Guifang hated her eldest son for being bold, but after all, it was her own son, so she wanted to raise money to pay him off.But Zhao Guodong owed too much money. If he wanted to pay it back, at least he had to take out all the money in the family, and he had to sell the family land to make up for it.

The Zhao family not only had one son, Zhao Guodong, but also two other sons who were already married. They were very reluctant to see their parents wanting to go bankrupt and pay their elder brother's gambling debts.

I didn't remember them when I was enjoying the blessings, but now I have to pay off my gambling debts, so why do I just think about them.Although Zhao Guodong has a share of the fields in this family, they have always been planted by their two families for so many years.

The Zhao family quarreled several times, but nothing came of it.At the same time, the gambling house couldn't wait any longer, and a group of thugs blocked the door and asked the Zhao family to hand over the house deed and land deed to pay the debt.

At this moment, the Zhao family couldn't care less about the infighting, and begged hard.

In the crowd, a man who looked like the leader of the thug said impatiently: "Speed ​​up, the boss is still waiting to pay the account."

As soon as the words fell, several thugs stepped forward with dark faces, intending to clean up Zhao Guodong and see if the Zhao family dared to smudge.

Zhao Guodong has a puffy face and fair skin. He doesn't look like a countryman, but he looks like he is from the city.At this time, he was hiding behind the Zhao family. After hearing this, he didn't care about pretending, and hurried forward, smiling, cupped his hands and said: "Brothers, look at the difficulties at home, can you give me a little more time?" .I don’t know who the boss you are talking about is, I have also stayed in Wannian County for many years, and I have a lot of friends, maybe I know him?”

He looked like I knew a lot of great people, hoping to scare off these thugs.

One of the thugs squinted at him, sucked his teeth, and said disdainfully: "Zhao Guodong, don't use your foolish methods to deal with us, who among us doesn't know who's background? Our boss is named Han, is he still a relative of yours?" No?"

Suddenly, there was a burst of laughter.

"If you ask you to pay back the money, you can pay back the money. What kind of relatives are you?"

"The Jade Emperor is still your brother-in-law, but that's useless, hurry up, get the house deed if you don't have money!"

(End of this chapter)