Prosperity through farming

Chapter 8

But I happened to meet my mother, and seeing my mother wearing a pink silk dress that I occasionally go to my grandmother's house, I was even more surprised, "Mother, where are you going?"

Zhong Lanyu didn't stop walking, and quickly reached out to rub her head, "Good boy, mother has something to do when she goes out, daddy is staying with you at home."

In a hurry?Rare!No, I have never seen my mother so eager...

What about people?Xiaohan turned around in a daze, her mother seemed to have disappeared out of thin air—could this be the secret shortcut that the Zhong family could take?

Looking at Aunt Xiu and Sister-in-law who came out of their yard in a hurry to meet and walked quickly along the field path towards the south, it was obvious that they didn't know how to walk like that.

"Xiaohan," Zhang Hoe walked out of the courtyard, "why didn't you come in?"

"Mother has taken a shortcut?" Xiao Han looked at his father, "Can Daddy take that road?"

Zhang Hoe picked up Zhang Xiaohan and walked home, "No, only the Zhong family can walk, your mother, that kind of road can only take a short distance, and you have to leave that road in half an hour, otherwise you will also get sick. After entering the private school, the teacher will teach you according to your learning progress. Don’t rush to ask. Come on, dad will talk with you in the afternoon. Your mother said that you have a lot of questions to ask. Dad will explain it to you in detail now. "

"Oh, Daddy is so kind." Xiaohan hugged Daddy's head and kissed him on the forehead, "Just, I want to know now, what are Mother and Aunt Xiu doing in such a hurry?"

"Your mother went to the market." Dad answered quickly, "Starting from this afternoon, there will be three days, it's a small market."

"Why didn't I see my mother go to the market before?" Xiaohan couldn't figure it out, anyway, since she realized it, today was the first time that her mother left home so eagerly and regardless.

"Xiaoji once every eight years." Dad lifted her up higher, making her sit more securely in his arms, "You're only three years old, of course you haven't seen it."

"Once every eight years!" Xiaohan was stunned, "It's only once in so long, no wonder Mother and the others are in such a hurry. Huh? Uncle Tie Li has gone too? Daddy, why don't you go?"

"There's nothing I want in the small collection," Zhang Hoe said lightly, carrying his daughter into the house and putting her on the kang in the main house, "Father won't go until the big collection."

"Daji, how often is it?" Xiaohan continued to ask with great interest.

"Daji is held once every 12 years." Zhang Hoe really answered every question, and he was extremely patient with his daughter.

"Then, Dad, can you take me to the fair?" Xiaohan was very curious about what would be sold at the fair.

"No," this time Zhang Hoe refused straight away. Seeing his daughter's uneasy expression, he immediately explained, "People in Xiaotian Village must be educated from private schools if they want to participate in the small market. You must be a teacher from the village school, otherwise you will not be able to leave Xiaotian Village."

no?What does that mean?Could it be that she was born in a prison?

Facing his daughter's staring eyes, Zhang Hoe smiled, "No way, our ancestors with five surnames are too famous, and it is inevitable to endanger our descendants. Therefore, only descendants who have learned their skills can Go out, otherwise, don't go out to embarrass your ancestors. Anyway, you won't be short of food and drink if you stay in Xiaotian Village. People who are not self-motivated can live well if they don't go out for the rest of their lives."

"Daddy, are you talking about yourself?" Xiaohan asked cautiously with his eyes rolling wildly.

Zhang Hoe was not annoyed, and chuckled, "Your father is indeed ambitious. He likes to live at sunrise and sunset, plant fields in the village, raise children, and accompany your mother. Some people think that I have no ambitions." Promising, but your father and I have a temperament that likes this, so there is no way."

"Then... has Daddy never left Xiaotian Village?" Zhang Xiaohan was very surprised.

Zhang Hoe smiled, "It's impossible, you don't know, the last part of the village school's teacher's exam is to go outside, and you have to go outside to complete a few things according to the assignment of the village school's ancestors before returning to the village to settle down , If things are done very well, then even if you are officially graduated, you can come and go freely in Xiaotian Village. Didn’t you realize that there are few people in our village? Actually there are quite a few people, most of them are outside. How should I put it, your uncles and uncles live well outside, and it’s not time to have children, so, If you are not happy to come back, just follow their wishes."

"Someone must stay." Xiao Han suddenly thought of this sentence for some reason.

Zhang Hoe kissed his daughter's forehead, "Yes, that's what I said, Xiaotian Village also needs someone to farm."

Being rubbed on his forehead by his father, Xiaohan felt warm, but the question still had to be asked, "Daddy, do you know what is sold in Xiaoji?"

"Gejiazhuang will sell some medicinal seeds and seedlings, as well as the pills brewed by their family. At Lujiazhuang, there will also be a lot of daily necessities, weapons and armor made by them, and they will sell them. Zhang Hoe snapped his fingers, "There is still grain, which is what your father and I planted, and the ancestors of the village school will sell the surplus according to the situation."

Xiao Han let out an "oh" in disappointment, "So, it's something produced by various Zhuangzi?"

"If it's really only these things, your mother wouldn't be so accumulative." Zhang Hoe nodded her forehead, "Of course there are others, and there are many outsiders who took special things in the small episode and came here to buy and sell them. , Those herbs and fairy grasses that can only grow in special places are not available here, but the metal, wood, minerals and special water essences that the Lu family needs to use. Although they also asked the Zhu family to help them Go down and collect, but in the past few days, those outsiders are allowed to enter Xiaoji and exchange the ore and medicinal materials in their hands for things produced in Xiaotian Village."

"Zhu family?" Xiaohan heard a new surname again, "Is it the family that the elder brother said my aunt married to? But the five Zhuangzi in Xiaotian Village don't include this surname?"

"The Zhu family, the She family and the Hai family are the main surnames in Tianyao Village. Tianyao Village is on the other side of the mountain where the Hu family lives. Didn't I tell you before that there is Shunshan Town outside Xiaotian Village? Actually, Shunshan The town only includes these two villages." Zhang Hoe thought for a while, "Because the Hu family lives on the mountain, the people in Tianyao Village basically have friendship with the Hu family, and there are many intermarriages. The four surnames mentioned just now are basically the same as the Hu family's They are all relatives. There is no private school in Tianyao Village. The children in their village are either taught by the elders themselves or sent to the private school in Hujiazhuang. However, the outstanding students can also enter our village school. The students of the school got married rightly. Besides your aunt, there was another great-aunt in the second generation of the Zhang family who also married into the Zhu family. Just as the surname Hu does not intermarry with other surnames in Xiaotian Village, neither does the Zhu family. Other surnames in Tianyao Village intermarry, you will know when you enter the village school, in Tianyao Village, basically only the descendants of the Zhu surname, everyone enters the village school to study."

"Is there any special reason for this?" Xiaohan felt that there must be something wrong.

"Yes, but you won't know until you enter the village school." Zhang Hoe ended the topic very simply.

"Then, is there something special about the Zhu family?" Xiaohan had no choice but to insinuate.

Seeing that his daughter was interested, Zhang Hoe was also happy to tell her, "Everyone in the Zhu family can speak well and has a special secret method to pass on news, so they have been engaged in business and trade for generations. Not everything in Xiaotian Village can be produced by itself. The old ancestors in the village school will be handed over to the Zhu family for sale. Because the cooperation is very good, the five surnames in Xiaotian Village are also very polite to the Zhu family. The family members are eloquent, and they have always been very popular after entering the village school. Your aunt just met the kid from the Zhu family in the village school. The two of them had things to do when they left the teacher's exam. After it's done, they're already engaged. It's cheap for that kid!"

"No wonder I've never met my aunt, she is still completing the task of leaving the teacher's exam?" Xiaohan understood, half of her beauty is due to her mother, and the other half is because she resembles her aunt, so she is so beautiful that she surpasses her parents genetic.However, judging from Dad's tone and attitude when he said this, "Dad, is it her own decision to marry Auntie?"

Isn't it up to the parents?Zhang Xiaohan is very concerned about this issue that will inevitably concern himself in the future.

"For our farmer's family, we have to see the marriage right by ourselves, and the parents don't object, so there is no big problem." Zhang Hoe pouted childishly, "If it wasn't for the parents who met them outside, they would have been told by the little one. I agreed, and if I say it, it is not so easy for that guy to pass the level."

Zhang Xiaohan thought about it, well, now she understands that there are only four surnames in Xiaotian Village who are related by marriage, and the Hu family lives on the mountain. Although they are also considered to be from Xiaotian Village, they have their own branch after all——Brother said However, the Hu family does not intermarry with the other four surnames of Xiaotian Village. That is to say, only the four surnames of the Zhang family, the grandson of the Ge family, Zhong family, are related by marriage, and they are regarded as the core members of Xiaotian Village.

However, because the Hu family never intermarried with other four surnames, any disputes in Xiaotian Village were always judged by the Hu family, and every time it was very fair and reasonable.

Moreover, after all, the Hu family gets along with the four surnames in Xiaotian Village every day, so they have a good friendship, so they handed over the mountain that is related to the safety of Xiaotian Village to them to live in.

(End of this chapter)