Hunger for a hundred years

Chapter 17 (17)
The first one who couldn't stand it was Luo Guangquan's aunt.He said to Luo Guangquan: "Guangquan, why don't you dip that baby with a piece of rice. He only eats three or five soup cakes a day, how can he survive?"
Luo Guang rounded his eyes and replied, "You are kind-hearted, give him your rice."
His aunt was poor, and she knew she couldn't speak hard words, so she didn't dare to speak up.

One early morning, He Da stood barefoot in the winter water field, his two slender legs like two carrots. Luo Guangquan's aunt slipped down from the rock with a pigweed flower basket on her back, and whispered to He Da: "Baby, you Find another place and forget it." He Da obeyed her, didn't scratch the ridge, came out of the field, wiped off the muddy water on his legs with a handful of pigweed handed by the old man, and left Maoba.

He Da arrived at Huangling Beach in Yongle.Here a family named Qian took him in.The owner of the Qian family is named Qian Yuan, and his temper is just like the geology here.He Da left countless scars on his body.One day, more than half a year later, He Da came back from the slope and could no longer find his master's house.The owner's home was buried by a sudden mudslide: when the sky turned white, the mudslide rushed towards Qian's house with a deep roar. He Da had already gone uphill, but Qian's family was still dreaming.He Da knelt in front of the pile of yellow soup, wept bitterly for his master, then went down the river to the mouth of Qingxichang.

The entrance of Qingxi Field was close to Hejiapo, and because of his crimes in Hejiapo, he was afraid of seeing anyone there.He hid behind a middle-aged man who was pulling four or five sheep and bargaining with the buyer, and carefully observed the movement around him.In his impression, people from Hejiapo generally don’t go to Qingxi farm. In terms of goods, some Dongba farms in Qingxi farm have them, but the Shuangyue pigs in Qingxi farm are cheaper than Dongba farm. It takes more than half of the journey to drive Dongba, and the people of Hejiapo still have to come to Qingxi Farm to buy and feed pigs.

After the owner of the sheep made a deal with the buyer, he shook his hemp money happily and walked to the north of the bridge.That is the center of Qingxi Market Town, and Wanjia Casino is over there.There are not only casinos, but also brothels, photo studios, and tea houses.The bottom society's extravagant demands for life can be found here.Once the man left, it would be difficult for He Da to find something to cover him. The bridge railing with the stone lion lying on it could not cover it. Fortune-telling by drawing lots on the ground could not stop him.He lowered his head and walked north of the bridge.

At this moment, a woman dressed in western style took a piece of steamed bun to eat. The steamed bun was very dry, and when he ate it, a lot of powder crumbs fell off. He Dazheng was about to pick it up, when a black shadow suddenly rushed over, picked up the powder crumbs and stuffed them into the bed. mouth.

He Da looked up, and He Jianshen with a dark face was looking at him triumphantly!
He Da hurriedly got into the crowd.

He Jianshen also recognized He Da and followed closely behind.

In a secluded corner, He Da turned around and asked, "Who did you come with?"
"I'm alone. I've been in Qingxi Field for more than ten days."
"Have you been here for more than ten days?"
"My dad died."
It turned out that He Jianshen had also become an orphan.

"If I knew you were the one to pick it up," Jianshen said, "I wouldn't run so fast."
He Da was a little moved.

"He Da, can we live together? Let's share what we ask for."
He Da thought it was a good idea, but he said to Jianshen, "I can't go back to Hejiapo. If you go back, you can't tell the people in Hejiapo where I am."
"Are you afraid of Kunzhang? He died a few days before my father."
"died?"
"Dead! His mother-in-law is now the mother-in-law of Carpenter Li, the same Carpenter Li who came from Lijiagou."
"Carpenter Li still hasn't left?"
"Anyway, he's just wandering around Hejiapo. According to Chen Siniang, he's already hooked up with Kunzhang's family."
The two of them begged together, and they became more courageous, but they couldn't change anything in essence, whether they should go hungry or starve.They begged in Qingxichang for a few days, and He Da felt that there seemed to be a lot of food in the market, but none of them belonged to him. It was ten times more difficult to get a share from the owner than from a countryman.So they met in the nearby countryside.

At night, after their master fell asleep, they hid in the cattle trough for shelter.Although there are many mosquitoes in the cow trough, it is safe. Once the cow dung is fermented, it is warm and not cold even in winter.He Da regretted why he didn't think of this trick when he was alone before.

It didn't take long to understand that this move was dangerous.

That day, He Da and Jianshen huddled together in a cow trough and slept until midnight. The cow stretched its head out to look for grass in the trough, but when it failed to find the grass, it encountered two human faces. He hugged the two children and licked their faces with his tongue.Jianshen woke up first, remembering his situation, and weeping; He Da also woke up, seeing the cold moon shining in the cowpen and pigsty, and hearing the cry of his companions, couldn't help feeling sad, and sobbed softly.As soon as He Day cried, Jianshen became more and more sad, and even cried out in grief.Jianshen's cries woke up the master. At first he thought it was a ghost crying, and was too frightened to move. Then he heard voices in the cow trough, so he tiptoed over with a lantern to check, and it turned out to be his mother's two beggars. Hole!This is simply bad luck!The master raised the dung ladle and threw it at the two of them on the head.He Da slipped away, Jian Shen was inexperienced, took a step back, a ladle was buckled on the head, and the eyes were covered with feces.The master wanted to chase him, so He Da took Jianshen and fled into the dark field.

"It's good to be together," Jianshen said, "If I didn't have you today, wouldn't I be beaten?" After saying that, he laughed.

But shortly thereafter, the two separated.

The estrangement arose from a particular begging.

That day, they arrived at Wangjiaba, which is Wang Weizhou's hometown.Wangjiaba is a large flat dam shaped like a carp; the opposite river is Houjiaba, and the long river passes through it, making the two dams look like butterfly wings.He Da and Jianshen went up to Wangjiaba along a section of sand on the river beach, and saw many people in red and green walking in groups towards the center of the dam.Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen boys and girls came with colorful flags, followed by seven or eight big men, carrying chests and boxes on their backs.Undoubtedly, a big family here has married a wife.No, a big sedan chair swayed under the bumps of several strong men, and there were suppressed screams from inside the sedan chair.The big men became more and more disrespectful when they became interested.The bride couldn't bear it and asked to get off the sedan chair.The strong men couldn't wait for it, so they rested the sedan chair.The bride with a hijab tied with flowered silk and flowered dress and flowered shoes came out of the sedan chair, tore off the hijab with a single step, revealing her tearful eyes, and walked away slowly surrounded by a dozen women.The big men walking in front with their heavy loads stopped beating the pestles and shouted: "Sister, start talking!" The new daughter-in-law simply stopped and let the men shout and persuade the women around her Just don't move a step.The man knew there was no hope, so he opened his voice, pretending to be a man and a woman, and sang wild tunes:
A branch of flowers blooms outside the wall,

Bee saw it and smiled happily.

Bee, bee, don't laugh,
My flowers do not bloom for you.

Smelling the fragrance of flowers, I fly here,
Why don't you bloom for me?

My flower has been picked by love brother,
Brother Qing called me Kuai Kuai.

If you kiss Brother Saiqing.

Next year I will open it for you!

The man sang wild tunes and had already walked a long way.At this time, the bride is willing to raise her feet.

Jianshen said, "He Da, we're going to have a good meal today!"
He Da said, "Let's go!"
In the middle of the bazi is a big courtyard.Before entering the courtyard, He Da and Jian Shen made an appointment not to go together, otherwise they might be seen through.As long as they leave separately, the person who is in love (receiving gifts and money for the master and writing it down in the love book) will think that they are children of a certain family and will not intervene.He Da went first, and when the lover saw his messy and dirty long hair, he became suspicious immediately, and shouted: "Where did he come from!" He Da was guilty of being a thief, and He Da couldn't speak. "Begging for a hole!" The lover yelled violently, disturbing the dam and the long river.

"Begging the hole! Fighting the hole!" There was a mess at the gate of the courtyard, and He Da's head, face, and back were hit by countless fists, stones and bricks.He ran at a leisurely pace, running far away in one breath, and stopped to catch his breath when the roar faded away.

No matter how far you run on Pingba, you can still see that place when you turn around, but people's faces are hardly visible anymore.There was no sign of Jianshen in the crowd, and He Da knew that he had slipped in while he was in a hurry; he had only been out for a short time, and his hair wasn't so long or dirty, so he wouldn't be picked out if he slipped in.

He Da sat on the river beach, stroked the sore spot, and waited for Jianshen wholeheartedly.When Jianshen came out, he would definitely wrap some slices of meat and gluten balls for him.The custom here is that when sitting at a big banquet, the host family will distribute straw paper to the guests, so that the guests can share some delicious food and pack it back for the family;It doesn’t matter if the owner is stingy and reluctant to part with straw paper, or the owner is poor and can’t afford so much straw paper, it doesn’t matter. Plantains are planted beside the dams of every household, and if you take off a banana leaf, you can still do the same thing, and the food wrapped in banana leaves, There will be an intoxicating fragrance.When He Day thought of the meat and gluten balls, his mouth watered and he wished that Jianshen would run towards him immediately.

But you can’t be in a hurry. Looking at the battle of the hosts today, at least [-] tables must be set up. There are not so many Eight Immortals tables in the countryside. Usually, there are five or six tables for one round, and five or six rounds for thirty seats. , Jianshen is small, and probably won't be able to squeeze into the first few seats.

The Qingxi River gurgled away.The beauty of Qingxi River is at its extreme in the section of Wangjiaba.The river here is much wider than the upper reaches. The blue river flows gently, turning the entire dam into a water village. Light green hornwort swaying on the river bank, revealing small fish with dark backs, circling around the roots of the aquatic plants. go.The riverbeds are all in the shape of gentle slopes, on which there are luxuriant grasses and green light shining with scales.The river water made a sound like music, and the scattered families in the east and west were living their time in the sound of music.

Jianshen came back later than He Da imagined, he came behind He Da, He Da was still immersed in reverie, he yelled, startled He Da.

Jianshen didn't wrap him with meat or anything else!
"I ate two seats!" Jianshen jumped down from the embankment and sat next to He Da, wiping his glistening lips, and said enthusiastically, "I ate two seats! I squeezed into the first seat, I was full, and then I ate two more tables. No one noticed me at all! The family steamed the meat, and also fried the smooth meat. Needless to say, the oily cakes. Picking up a piece of meat, the chopsticks will snap off! One table You can eat four slices of meat, I ate eight slices in total, and when I was sitting at the head seat, I even ate one slice that was picked up by an old man next to him on the toilet paper, which adds up to nine slices! Hee hee" said Jianshen loudly After a full belch, a gust of hot air rushed straight out of his mouth, which was missing three front teeth. The strong smell of oil stars made He Da's mouth full of saliva.

He Da shed tears.He felt that his friends shouldn't treat him like this.Because when he was beaten, Jianshen must have seen it, Jianshen clearly knew that he couldn't squeeze into the yard to sit on the table, but Jianshen didn't wrap him up with meat!

Seeing He Da crying, Jianshen said: "You can't blame me, who made you so stupid? They beat you out, and you don't know how to sneak in again? There is more than one door in that courtyard." After speaking, Jianshen touched it. With a round belly, he opened his mouth again: "In addition to what I just mentioned, there are mung bean sprouts, fried bean skins, dried potato chip soup, and dried cowpea soup, all of which are cooked in broth."
He Da didn't finish listening, stood up and left.The two parted ways.

The dark nights in the countryside are frightening. If you can't sleep in the cowshed at night, you might as well go to the entrance of the field.

So He Da returned to Qingxichang.
-
To say that Dongbachang is "similar" to Qingxichang is just the arrogance of Dongba people. In fact, the only similarity between them is the stilted buildings along the river. It is propped up obliquely with two blackened wooden sticks, and it creaks when stepped on, but it is also a miracle that it cannot be overturned by people or washed by water.In Shen Congwen's stilted building, there is always a passionate prostitute for the sailors to enjoy, but here is not the case. The sailors here are harder and poorer than the Xiangxi sailors. These two things are enough to break a man's physical desires; They lack that passion, and the romantic women on the Qingxi River are too lazy to wait for "my man" on the stilted building.The stilted buildings here are not mainly used for watching people, but as places for stacking groceries or drying clothes. See the white female butt squatting there to pee.

This is the similarity between Dongba and Qingxi. In terms of excitement, Qingxi is far more than Dongba. Although there are no majestic city walls, there are several more streets than Dongbachang. The people on the streets of Dongbachang It is said to be dog intestines, a single one, there are several branches in the street of Qingxichang, if you are not familiar with it, you will know the beginning and the end.The streets of Dongbachang are all dirt roads, while the streets of Qingxichang are all stone slabs. The stone slabs are thick and smooth. They were originally white stones that came down from Dui Hippo Mountain. No matter how many people are crowded on the street, there is no dust and it feels cool.It's no wonder that Dongba Farm only manages Dongba Township, but occasionally people from Laojun Township come down, but Qingxi Farm is adjacent to the three townships, so people naturally regard this place as a distribution center for supplies.

Due to the hustle and bustle, business also became active. At that time, an old scholar in Qingxichang exaggerated in an article borrowing Su Qin's praise of Qi's wealth during the Warring States Period: "The car hub hits, the shoulders of the people are rubbed together, and the curtains are tied together. Because of this, the residents here are generally richer than those in Dongba. Wang Weizhou's hometown Wangjiaba and Houjiaba on the opposite river are also more lush and moist than Dongba's Huang and Zhongerba.

If He Da really saw a little of the world, it was also in the Qingxi field.

(End of this chapter)