The mulberry life of a small peasant girl

Chapter 34

Zhao Qiang was in a daze of sleep. In his sleep, he heard that someone was about to jump into the river. In a panic, he touched the bed next to him. The cold touch made him wake up suddenly, "Jing Niang..."

The place that should have belonged to Mo Jing was now empty, not even the baby in the cradle.

Shi Shi ran out of the bedroom at the first, and saw that the wooden door was ajar and the iron lock was thrown on the ground, and asked quickly, "What did you just say? Qiangzi and his daughter-in-law are going to jump into the river?"

Mrs. Li supported the door frame and said anxiously: "Go quickly, or I won't be able to wait! As soon as I left the yard, I saw Qiangzi's daughter-in-law passing by with the child in her arms. I asked curiously, and she said that she would take the child with Qiangzi. Oops At that time, I didn't understand, but later I thought about it, isn't that the way to seek death? When I realized, she had already gone a long way, so I had to rush to tell you."

Zhao Qiang didn't have time to put on his shoes, so he immediately ran towards the stream in the village.

Blacksmith Zhao lit a torch and took Shi Shi and Zhao Tong with him, followed closely by Zhao Xiaohu.

The group made a lot of noise, which shocked many villagers who hadn't fallen asleep. After Mrs. Li's foaming propaganda, more and more people looked for Zhao Qiang's wife by the light of the torch.

The night wind is bleak, and there is only a bright moon in the sky. Just now, I spent the night of the full fifteenth month with Zhao Qiang. I didn't expect that the fate of the two would end on this day so soon. Mo Jing hugged her son and knelt down and cried bitterly.

Zhao Qiang gained infinite strength by forging iron every day, and he walked quickly and left the people behind to come to the stream.The daughter-in-law washes clothes by the creek every day, and sometimes happily tells him about the family stories she heard by the stream. He thinks of her slight smile, and the panic in his heart deepens.

"Jing Niang...Jing Niang..."

When the baby in swaddling heard the loud noise, his face was wet, and the corners of his mouth were stained with salty liquid, he couldn't help crying loudly.

The sound of the baby in the dark night was very abrupt, and then accompanied by a low coaxing sound.

Following the crying, Zhao Qiang found the mother and son on the single-plank bridge.

The single-plank bridge was not wide enough to allow two people to pass head-on. Mo Jing stood on the edge of the wooden bridge, and one step further was the rushing river.

"Jing Niang, don't move! I'm coming!" Zhao Qiang stepped forward.

Mo Jing shook her head, "Don't come over, just stand there, or I'll jump off."

"Okay, okay, okay, I won't move, then come down, let's talk slowly if you have anything to do."

"We have nothing to talk about. If you are going to die, my husband, my child and I will follow you."

At this time, the people behind also followed up, Mo Jing saw Shi Shi in the dark, and couldn't help saying: "Mother..."

Seeing his eldest grandson being hugged by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Shi said viciously, "Hurry up and I will return my grandson. If you want to die, you should die sooner. Don't harm my own grandson!"

Blacksmith Zhao slapped Shi's face, "Shut up!"

Mo Jing has known her mother-in-law's ruthlessness for a long time, and she can treat herself like this now that her husband is still there. She can't imagine how sad it will be to be a widow in the future, "Father, don't blame mother, I only have one thing to ask mother before I die, and then The daughter-in-law is also at ease when she dies."

Zhao Qiang turned around in a hurry, "Jing Niang, if you want to ask, go home and ask, come down quickly."

Mo Jing didn't listen to Zhao Qiang's words at all, instead she asked Shi Shi, who was ruthlessly gleaming in her eyes: "Mother, if Cao Wa and I die, then the husband will have no heirs, so you don't need him to serve in the military?"

No one could have imagined that Qiangzi's daughter-in-law committed suicide for this reason, and many women were already weeping softly.

Zhao Qiang's eyes were red, and he choked up and said, "I don't need you to do this, you stay at home and raise your child well, and your parents will take care of you, and you just have to live well in the future."

"I'm dead, you just marry again. The grass baby and I are both willing, as long as you are safe."

Zhao Qiang let out an "ah..." in pain, squatted down, and beat the ground with both hands vigorously. The broken stones by the stream pierced his skin, and blood flowed out of his hands immediately.

Zhao Tong has been silent since he came to the stream, and no one has noticed his existence. At this moment, he suddenly rushed out from behind and hugged the mad brother, raised his head and said to Mo Jing on the bridge: "Sister-in-law, come down!" .I go."

Blacksmith Zhao waved at everyone weakly, "I have delayed everyone tonight, please go back."

Zhao Xiaohu took advantage of his sister-in-law's stupefied head and pulled it violently. When Mo Jing returned to the ground, she found that her feet were weak and she was slumped on the ground.

Since things developed like this, Zhao Qiang naturally stayed at home to take care of his parents, while Zhao Tong signed up for corvee service the next day.

After two days of approval, the list of first-time corvee workers has been reported to the government, and those on the list will serve far away from their hometowns after the beginning of spring.

The weather in October was getting colder, but there was a wave of marriage craze in Yong Kingdom.

17-year-old men need to participate in corvee uniformly. Because rich and noble families can use silver as a substitute for labor, this corvee service does not affect their normal life too much; but it is troublesome for poor families. There are many 17-year-old men in rural areas who are still unmarried. Undoubtedly, nine out of ten people died in the corvee this time, so it became urgent to stay behind for the family.

But these men could not afford the bride price because of poverty, how can they get married now?
Not long after Mrs. Li's family successfully exchanged marriages for the first time, the unmarried men in Zhangjia Village all aimed at the same impoverished daughters, and everyone was able to marry happily.Because your daughter married my son, and my daughter also married your son. If the sons of the two families died together during the military service, then no one’s daughter would suffer. At least in the face of the other party, she would feel as painful as her own daughter. .

If you don’t want to exchange marriage, no matter how much dowry your family pays, if the son-in-law is unlucky, it’s good that your daughter can get lucky and give birth to a child. If you haven’t conceived, you can only adopt your cousin’s son. A lifetime is wasted.

Except for those who sell their daughters black-heartedly, no one is willing to marry their daughters to men who are about to serve in the army.

After being rejected by most of the matchmakers, Shi's eyes on Mo Jing became more and more fierce, and he was arguing at home all day long that his second son would not be able to marry a wife.

Zhao Tiejiang didn't expect that he couldn't marry a daughter-in-law with his family's wealth. If he had been the only one to pick and choose others before, now he envied the neighbor's family who gave birth to a daughter-in-law to exchange for his son.

Zhangjia Village in October is full of festivities. The dirt road is covered with bright red cannon coats, and the firecrackers are lit again today after yesterday's firecrackers were not cleaned.Today your family is getting married, tomorrow my family is getting married, Zhong Caixin is so dizzy trying to return the gift, Zhang De can't see it, he bought dozens of eggs when he went to the market, no matter who sent the invitation, he always returned the eggs.

On this day, Mrs. Shi walked into Zhang's small courtyard full of pickiness again. Xiaofu knew that she was Zhao Xiaohu's mother, so she called her aunt sweetly. Neither do adults, is this not welcoming me?"

Zhong Caixin walked out the door with a belly that was nearly five months old, "Auntie, come in and sit down." Then she glanced at the red invitation card in Shi's hand, and said with a smile: "Auntie's good news is coming soon? Congratulations!"

Stretching out his hand not to hit the smiling face, Mrs. Shi is not easy to get angry, and said with a smirk: "My Tongzi is going to get married, you take this invitation, and remember to bring a gift to the wedding wine when the time comes."

Zhong Caixin didn't seem to hear Shi's dissatisfaction, and said, "The relationship is good, and it makes us happy. I don't know which girl is kissing?"

"Say you don't know her either. She is not from a nearby village. Her surname is Cai. You will know her by then."

(End of this chapter)