The mulberry life of a small peasant girl

Chapter 21

The morning mist shrouded the dark sea thinly, and the dark gray sky slowly seeped into a trace of bright white. Aunt Cai rubbed her eyes, and it was time to wake up. The child’s father next to her was still sleeping soundly, frowning, snoring from time to time , this time has worn him out.Aunt Cai turned over lightly, fixed the quilt for her husband, opened the cabin door and went to the stern to wash.Taking a closer look, the eldest daughter had already squatted down to rinse her mouth, "Why did you get up early? Get some more sleep, and our family can rest if your father is not going to sea today."

"Mother, I'm not tired, and I can't do the work of the big sister in the city. In the morning, take advantage of the sun, wash the clothes in Sanshui first, otherwise there will be no clothes to change tomorrow." After dipping in the fresh water in the basin, I smoothed the new tender hair on the top of my head to the back.

Aunt Cai looked at her daughter's gentle haircut, unconsciously revealing the attitude of a little girl, and she was suffering silently: her daughter was eighteen years old when she was married, if it wasn't for her family's drag, she would be able to hold the doll. Vengeance comes.Tian Matchmaker came to the door earlier, and Da Nier was the main one to marry an old man. She and Nier's mother didn't want to, but now the news is gone. Could it be that she dislikes her own Nier?In the past, she disliked others, but now she has become disliked by others. Aunt Cai only thought that if Matchmaker Tian came to her door, she should hurry up and agree.

Today, men don't go out to sea, and women can cook slowly. After dinner, Da Nier's father goes ashore to mend fishing nets. Brother Yishui followed his uncle to the city to sell fish, Ershui brought Sanshui, and Sishui went along with him. Pick up crabs and seaweed on the coast.

Da Nier's grandfather had only two sons, namely, Da Nier's father and eldest uncle. After they got married, each of them lived separately in a black awning boat. Grandpa and mother lived with the eldest uncle. One boat was used, and the remaining boat was resting on the shore for the women and children of the two families.

The mother brought the eldest aunt to the boat of the younger son, and the eldest Nier was doing laundry when she saw the elder hurriedly saying hello.

"Nizi, those skinny monkeys went to play wild again? They must be beaten next time, or they won't have enough clothes." There are too many children, and the clothes are worn by several children. It doesn't matter who is who. If a few children are rotten, there will be less clothes.

After listening to Mama's words, Da Nier replied with a smile: "If you don't make trouble someday, it must be because your clothes are torn and you can't wear them, and you can't go out."

Muma didn't come here today to chat about family affairs, after talking to Nizi, she went to the cabin to find her daughter-in-law.

"Qin Niang, are you sewing?"

Qin Niang put down her needle and thread, "Mother is here! Sit down quickly! No, the clothes are also torn after a winter."

Muma looked at the torn padded jacket that couldn't be patched anymore, and thought of the family that Matchmaker Tian told Nizi last time. Although they were a little older, they had fields and people were not incomplete. Too much, the fisher girls want to find a family on land all their lives, with houses and fields, and no longer worry about storms and tides, that is really a terrible thing.

"Is there any news over there?" Mama asked poignantly.

Qin Niang sighed, "No, I don't know what people are thinking now."

The eldest aunt is very happy to help her niece marry to Zhangjia Village. She also has a little girl herself. In the future, her niece can help her introduce people in the same village. If the two sisters marry in the same village, they can help with anything.

"Mother, brother and sister, why don't the three of us pay a visit. No matter what the matchmaker says, we can see it with our own eyes. I didn't have time to go to sea earlier, but now is not the right time!"

Qinniang wanted to visit for a long time, but Muma didn't mean it, and she didn't dare to go secretly.The fisher girl has always been considered ignorant of etiquette, because the awning boat is narrow and small, and there are only a few people in one cabin, and there are fishing gear and so on. Da Nier has been sleeping on a wooden board in the cabin.Now that the sister-in-law suggested it, she happily agreed, "Then mother will go with us?"

"Okay, it's better to hit the sun than to choose the day. Let's go today. This is done according to the rules, and others can't say anything if they know it."

Muma took the eldest aunt back to change into decent clothes, and Qinniang planned to have some air with Da Nier.

"Mother, how come Muma walks so fast, in such a hurry!"

"Nizi, we'll go to Zhangjiacun to visit that man later. In the evening, you cook all the meals in the two rooms, and let your uncle's family come over for dinner."

Cai Nier blushed when she heard that, "Mom...why suddenly..."

Qin Niang held her daughter's hand, "It is said that the man is twenty-two and has two children. Why don't you go and see? Although his family is better than mine, my daughter is hardworking, and she is not lower than others. .Although you can live in a new house after you get married, you have to be a loving person. I heard that the people on the shore are different from us. The daughter-in-law can beat and scold at the slightest dissatisfaction and can't fight back. You must be optimistic about this in advance."

"Mother, I'm not afraid even if I'm beaten and scolded. Compared with all the acquaintances marrying on the boat, I'm the first to marry on the shore. There are good and bad. I understand this truth. As long as I work hard and treat my baby well, Whose heart can't be warmed? I will definitely take all my younger brothers to the shore."

Qin Niang also wanted to praise her daughter for being able to figure it out, but she was very surprised when she heard the last sentence, "Nizi, what do you think? After you get married, you will be a member of your husband's family. You can't offend your husband's family by caring about your mother's family." .Fuck you, you have such an idea! Besides, your parents’ children need to be raised by others? Don’t say that, you should be given a big slap.”

Cai Nier lowered her head, "Could it be that my brother will stay on the boat for the rest of his life when I live a good life? My brother is no worse than others, why?"

"You girl, why are you so stubborn! Why? Just because this is fate. There are so many injustices in this world, how can you still correct them one by one? Stupid girl, put away your thoughts for me, your mother's family also You don’t have to worry about it, just live your life well!”

Mama dressed neatly on the shore and called, "Qin Niang, hurry up, this trip will take two hours."

"Don't talk about it, think about it yourself." Qin Niang twisted Cai Nier's arm, and felt relieved when she saw her in pain. It should make her hurt, no brother can kiss her better Husband, this lady doesn't know what to think.How did she teach such a fool?If she had disliked girls, she would have encouraged her daughter to take her belongings home so that she could take care of her younger brother.But she has never thought of this, and she has never been taught to do this, hey, I don't know who I learned from!
The two-hour journey was really not easy, especially in March when it was not yet warm, and the cold wind blew in, making the three of them tremble.

Walking all the way north from Pukou, I passed through many small villages, where about [-] households lived together. Most of the ancestors of these villages fled from the south, and they were very xenophobic and did not want to marry the fisher girl, but there are such villages nearby. , so the vast majority of fisher girls are married to fishermen.

After walking for more than an hour, that is, half an hour's journey by ox cart, the three of them finally arrived at Xiantao County.

Xiantao County is a small county, not richer than the nearby Ning County, because Ning County is next to Longqing City.Usually, the men push the carts to send the fish to Xiantao, or row the fish to the south side of the sea.

Entering the county, the bustling street scene along the way dazzled the eyes of the three of them. No matter how many people were there on the day when they went to sea, it was no more noisy than this bustling.It's no wonder that Xiao Yu'er from Erlianzi's family would rather be a maid than go home to marry.Walking out of Xiantao County and crossing two villages, it was Zhangjia Village they were going to.

The area of ​​Zhangjia Village is very large, and the three of them didn't know where to go for a while. The eldest aunt called to stop an old lady who was passing by, and asked where Zhang De lived.

The new house built by Zhang Degang is very conspicuous among the old houses. When the three of them passed by, they immediately saw Xiaofu playing in the yard. The aunt carefully looked at the age of the girl in the yard, and she probably was the youngest one. So he waved to the child inside.

Xiao Fu saw three strangers standing outside waving to him, and immediately shouted to Nuan Bao by the side window: "Sister!"

Hearing Xiaofu's yell, Nuan Bao was terrified, and immediately stooped and slipped out from the window, when a middle-aged woman stood at the door, "Little girl, we are passing by, my mother is thirsty and wants to drink water, little girl Can I have some water to drink?"

These three people looked like peasant women. They were dark and thin, and their eyes were clear. They didn't look like bad people. "Then auntie, come and sit in the yard. Wait a while."

The eldest aunt smiled and said: "Then I'm not welcome. The baby is so cute!" Then she greeted the two people behind, "Mother, come in quickly."

Nuan Bao moved three small stools by the wall of the yard, then went to the kitchen to fill the water.

Qinniang had been observing the new house outside, and it was indeed very new, and the yard was well-maintained, not at all messy, and then looked at the two clean and tidy children, thinking that Zhang De is a careful person, He's not a reckless guy who knows nothing, at least he takes good care of his family and children.

Nuan Bao came out with three bowls of steaming hot water.

Mommy took the hot water, "This kid is so cute, it's really kind of you to give us hot water."

Nuan Bao smiled, "It's nothing, there is hot water ready all day long."

The aunt took over the topic, "Are you eight or nine years old, right? You're really sensible. You know this at such a young age. Your adults taught her well!"

"Xiao Nuan, who's here?" Zhang De's voice came.

"It's three passers-by. They're drinking water as an excuse."

Without waiting for Nuan Bao to make a sound, Zhang De walked out from the house across the threshold, followed by Zhong Caixin.

It turned out that when Zhang De heard Miss Zhong's heartfelt words, he was in a turmoil for a while, a little happy and a little uneasy, especially when he heard Miss Zhong's refusal to marry a scholar or a landlord, he didn't know how to talk to him at all.Hearing a strange voice outside, he hurriedly took the opportunity to come out to escape the bewildering atmosphere.

The three of them also put down their bowls, and looked at the source of the sound at the same time. They were six feet tall, with a dark and sturdy body, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a simple and honest face. Isn't this a good match for Big Nier?It's a match made in heaven, as the matchmaker said.

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"Auntie! Xiaofu likes the beads you gave me, and so does Xiaoguai, and keeps playing." Xiaofu hugged the chubby Xiaoguai, and kept moving the beads left and right in front of Xiaoguai's eyes. Xiaoguai was driven mad by her, barking , Xiao Fu laughed happily.

The three of them immediately noticed Zhong Caixin, who was more and more frail under the cover of Zhang De's body.

(End of this chapter)