Concubine's three acres of pastoral garden

Chapter 1 Every family has a hard-to-read scripture
In the scorching sun, a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl walked into the courtyard of the third house in the west of the village with a big wicker basket.

As soon as he entered the yard, before he had time to put down the full basket of grass, he heard someone shouting from the window of the east room: "Xiang Lai, after feeding the sheep, go and drive the pigs out. I've been hungry all morning!"

Chen Xianglai put down the straw basket slowly, glanced at the fat black figure holding a child by the east window, hating this so-called aunt from the bottom of her heart.

She has only been here for five short days, but in these five days, she has been ordered by this aunt to keep her feet from touching the ground, and she even has to do this and that when eating.

If she hadn't figured out the way when she first came here, she might have exploded a long time ago. She has never been manipulated by anyone in the past twenty years.

I think it was the eldest aunt Zhang who caused me to pass through that day. If she hadn't let the original Chen Xiang come to the house to change the tiles, how could the child fall down?Leaving the big boys in my own family alone, letting a little girl do this kind of work is definitely not right... Of course, if the child didn't break his breath, he wouldn't be able to wear it, and he might really die .

Chen Xianglai pondered while throwing grass into the sheep pen, so could it be possible that he should thank this "big aunt" for giving him a chance to live again?No, it would be too heartless to think that way...

She was thinking wildly here, and a person walked out of the door in the middle of the six rooms, it was Xiang Lai Niang.

She stood at the door and said softly to Mrs. Zhang by the east window: "Sister-in-law, Xianglai just came back from mowing the grass and hasn't caught her breath yet. Besides, it's time for lunch soon, let her finish eating before going! "

Chen Xianglai thought to herself that this mother really didn't understand her eldest aunt. After Xianglai's father died, Mrs. Zhang's attitude towards the four members of Xianglai's family became worse and worse. She wished she could work all night without sleeping, not to mention It's broad daylight.

Sure enough, as soon as Xiang Lai Niang finished speaking, Mrs. Zhang's face in the east window immediately stretched, and she said with a bit of gunpowder: "What's the matter, but it hurts to let a pig go, what a big girl, every day I just want to be lazy! The little ones are taken out to hide from disasters, the big ones don’t work, and all of them want to eat for nothing..."

The "little one" in her mouth is Shen Tianlai, Chen Xianglai's half-brother.

The Shen family is considered a big family in Xitun along the Yangtze River, not to mention this row of five big tile-roofed houses, but just talking about Xianglai's father, a peasant family, married two daughter-in-laws, which makes people extremely greedy.

Xianglai's father's name is Shen Wanlu, and it is said that he is a man who has seen the world.When he was young, his family was poor, and Xianglai's grandmother was seriously ill and had no money to treat her, so Xianglai's grandfather took Xianglai's father to the city and sold him.Unexpectedly, after more than ten years, Xianglai's father came back again, took Xianglai's mother and the newborn Xianglai, and used the money he returned to build this row of large tile-roofed houses on the old house, and lived with his father and elder brother's house. Living together, after the old man's death, Xianglai's mother persuaded Xianglai's father to marry the second wife and gave birth to Tianlai...

These things were all told by the mothers-in-law and aunts in the village when Xianglai was herding pigs. She didn't know much about the specific details. She only knew that if the two families were together, the Xianglai family would suffer.It's just that now that his father is dead, Ding Wang, who is from his uncle's side, can do a lot of work, so he becomes tough when he speaks.

Mrs. Zhang was complaining angrily, and a woman's voice in the middle room called out: "Second Aunt, bring some firewood and come back!"

It was Xianglai's cousin Wu Zhaodi who was talking, she was as virtuous as her mother-in-law, and she could manipulate the four members of Xianglai's family at will, even if Xianglai's mother-in-law was her aunt and mother-in-law.

Xianglai Niang heard her call and looked back into the room, turned her eyes and looked at Xianglai distressedly, but finally turned around to hug the firewood and went away.

Mrs. Zhang paused and said to Xianglai: "Don't just stare stupidly, go and herd the pigs, and eat when you come back." After speaking, she left the window and went back to the house with her two-month-old grandson in her arms.

Chen Xianglai sighed inwardly that his luck was bad, his parents had nothing to do with him, and he could only look at people's faces.

Holding her breath, she poured the grass into the sheepfold, then opened the door of the nearby pigpen, and drove the pregnant sow to the wasteland behind the house.

The uncle's family raised a pig, three sheep, and seven cows.Earlier, Xianglai's little cousin Shen Guifang did things like feeding pigs and sheep, and Xianglai's cousin Shen Dachang put the cattle.

But after Xianglai's father died, these messy jobs fell on the four members of Xianglai's family inexplicably.However, Xiang Lai Niang is soft-tempered, submissive and silent, and Tian Lai Niang is a careless farmer who does whatever she is asked to do, never thinking about whether she should or should not.

In this way, Xianglai's family has changed from living with the uncle's family to being under the eyes of others.

The wasteland behind the house was covered with two feet of water, but the pigs were having fun in it, and they didn't know what to eat, and they dug the ground into pits.

At noon, only Chen Xianglai was here, no one spoke, she found a place without water and squatted down, staring at the mighty river ahead.

In this strange world, only this river can bring her a little familiar feeling, because the name of this river is "Songhua River", which has the same name as the Songhua River in Chen Xianglai's previous hometown.

For the past few days, Chen Xianglai has even been thinking about whether it is because of this river with the same name that he came to this strange dynasty that does not know which time and space he belongs to.

She originally wanted to live well no matter which world she was in, but now it seemed that it was not so easy.In this world, in the home of orphans and widows that I am in, I am afraid that I will have to look at the faces of my uncle's family in the future. , Maybe one day I will sell myself.

Xianglai's good looks are well-known in three villages and five miles, all thanks to her mother who was born as a young lady. Although no one can tell where the lady is, but Xianglai's expression and behavior are inadvertently revealed It is true that the details of her life are different from those of the villagers, and she is also literate. Xianglai and Tianlai can read without going to school, which is all thanks to Xianglai Niang.

It is precisely because of this that some people secretly speculate that Father Xianglai abducted the hostess's young lady, and then ran back to the village to take refuge.

Chen Xianglai was thinking wildly here, when she heard someone calling her behind: "Xianglai, go home for dinner."

Without looking back at Chen Xianglai, she knew that it was "mother" who came to find her.

She turned her head to look at the slender woman and said, "Mother, I'm not hungry. I'll go back when the pig is full."

When Xiang Lai Niang came to her side, she also knelt down slowly, hugged her gently in her arms, stroked her head, and said: "Xiang'er, it's useless to be your mother, it's making you suffer."

Chen Xianglai was really unwilling to be bullied, so she leaned into her arms and said softly: "Mother, we don't owe uncle's family anything, why should we live by watching their faces?"

(End of this chapter)