Chapter 4 New Year ()

In the next few days, Zhang Cai's family and his family were all around digging wells. Fortunately, on the sixth day, the water that everyone had been looking forward to was finally dug out. Finally, they completed a difficult task before the beginning of winter, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Just as Zhang Cai was busy settled the wages for the well diggers, and Zhang Xiaolong and his three brothers were busy repairing the path from the fields to the well terrace, the gloomy winter clouds pressed over, and some small salt-bean-like snow slag fell from the sky, indicating the arrival of winter.

The first snow fell, the cold wind became even more bitter, and it was not far from the New Year.

Zhang Cai was very satisfied this year. He made more land for his family and dug a well. In the future, this land is not afraid of drought. He should be the main source of food for the family. Therefore, as the end of the year approaches, he ordered Guo Sufei to prepare more New Year's goods. The family has a good New Year. My mother-in-law is getting older. One New Year is another. In recent days, my mother-in-law's health has become worse and worse. She has been lying in bed for half a day. I don't know if she can celebrate the next New Year. When she thinks of her parents and father-in-law, he can't stand his passion and looks forward to a perfect year.

The New Year’s goods of farmers are easy to buy. The so-called sumptuous means that there are many styles, but the quantity is only very small. In terms of style, most of them are dried mountain goods on weekdays, and only very few things are purchased by Zhang Cai from a very distant market. Because of her mother-in-law, Zhang Cai bought some food that she had never seen before this year, which made Zhang Xiaolong and the other two jealous. They just wanted to taste it early during the New Year. In addition to being busy with the New Year, Guo Sufei spent more time looking for familiar relatives in the village, and sometimes went to nearby villages to inquire. What she cared about was her eldest son’s marriage. However, seeing her sometimes gloomy and sometimes happy face, she felt that things were not as smooth as she imagined.

Time passes by in a hurry as the Zhang family is busy, and the New Year is finally here.

On the first day before the New Year, just as everyone was surrounding the stove and talking about the harvest for the next year, and Zhang Xiaolong's future wife was in the field. Suddenly, he heard the noisy shouts outside the village, and there was a mess outside. "Is it a robber who came to loot the village?" Zhang Cai immediately had an idea in his mind. However, it shouldn't be right. Because Guozhuang is very small, the Guo family is also a small family, and every household is very poor. The robbers who live in the mountains and are kings never come to this place where birds do not shit. They will come here for no reason. Although he thought so, Zhang Cai did not dare to be careless at the beginning and greeted three people.

The child took a hoe and waited for the guy with iron, and walked out of the house carefully. The wall of the Zhang family was half-height, and he could see the situation in the village at a glance. There were many people gathered to talk, and some were running, but there were no one I didn’t know. Although everyone looked a little panicked, they could still see a little bit of gloating expression. Zhang Cai was very surprised and ordered the three children to go back to the house, put the "weapon" back, and went out to find out the news by himself. Of course, Zhang Xiaolong and the other two didn’t want to be idle, so they also walked out and mingled with young people of the same age.

There were many people in the village, standing in groups or sitting, all talking about something. Zhang Cai walked to one of the old men who were smoking a dry cigarette while gesturing loudly. He saw the Blacksmith Liu, whom he was familiar with, patted his shoulder and said, "Old Liu, what's going on? Why is it so messy?" Blacksmith Liu was smoking a cigarette silently. When he saw that it was Zhang Cai asking him, he knocked the cigarette he had just finished smoking on the ground, put a pot of new cigarette from his pipe, lit it carefully, took a deep breath, and then said dullly:

"Brother, do you know the eye that is eighty miles north of our village, the robber standing on Xicuishan?"

Zhang Cai said, "I know, that is the largest thief within a radius of 100 miles here. How can I not know? But they have always been active in wealthy places in the north. Why did they run away from us?"

Blacksmith Liu took another breath of cigarette and said, "Yes, do you remember that some time ago, Mr. Wu from Xinzhuang dug a well and dug a box of treasures?"

Zhang Cai suddenly realized: "Is it that they..." Zhang Cai stopped asking, and he already knew the reason for the incident, and his wealth was not revealed. Such a conspicuous huge amount of foreign wealth was targeted by the robbers. What good results would be achieved?

Butcher Guo saw that Zhang Cai had stopped asking, so he squeezed over and said mysteriously: "It's not just that. Mr. Wu was lucky at the beginning and said there was nothing at all, so he didn't admit it. That eye drove Mr. Wu's family of dozens of people to the ancestral hall and sent someone to turn Mr. Wu's house upside down. As a result, he found a bunch of treasures from the well in the vegetable cellar. One eye was angry that Mr. Wu deceived himself, so he burned the Wu family's ancestral hall with a torch. Dozens of people alive came out. Fortunately, Xinzhuang was a little better than us. They were all poor people, and no one of them was difficult for others. When these robbers left, they still quarreled to ask the villagers to be careful not to report to the officials, otherwise everyone in Xinzhuang would be buried with them."

Liu Blacksmith said: "It's a blessing every day. A few days ago, I thought I had made a fortune, but now it's all gone. It's so miserable~"

Butcher Guo continued, "It's not that the family was destroyed. Mr. Wu's sister-in-law went back to our village to see his parents yesterday, but he didn't go back today, so he escaped. Didn't someone report the news just now, but she realized that she had found someone to see what happened. Moreover, the person who reported the news said that when the bandit left, he dragged a woman on the horse and couldn't see clearly. It was probably Mr. Wu's daughter. She was caught by the bandit and rushed up the mountain. Maybe she was the wife of the village."

The three Zhang Xiaohua brothers had long been standing behind their father. After hearing what the villagers said, they felt very cold for no reason. They had heard of the sinister behavior of robbers on weekdays, but they were just talking about it. Now it happened to him. Mr. Wu had also seen it by several people. He taught Zhang Xiaohua to recognize a few words when he was young, but now it was gone and burned to charcoal. Although he had not seen it with his own eyes, it also made him feel sad and scared. Zhang Xiaohua unconsciously stroked the bracelet with his left wrist, and thought to himself: "Fortunately, what I dug out is not a real treasure. Even if it is, I will never tell anyone, so as not to bring disaster to myself and my family." A man was innocent and possessed a treasure. Such a bloody truth was deeply introduced into the young man's heart.

The three brothers told Zhang Cai that they wanted to go to Xinzhuang to see what happened, but Zhang Cai did not agree. After all, the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and it will be a bloody disaster, which is really bad for the luck of the coming year. Moreover, the Wu family in Xinzhuang is now scorched earth at a glance. The tragic scene makes people scared. It is estimated that the people from the government should have arrived there now, and they may even cause a lot of trouble if they go there.

As we talked, the whole village dispersed. After all, the life of others is over, and we still have to live our own lives. Even the farmers understand the principle of sweeping the snow in front of the door. It is already dark and the New Year is coming soon. It’s better to calm down and be busy with your own affairs.

Zhang Cai and his three children returned home. When they saw their mother-in-law and Guo Sufei surrounding the stove to roast fire, they told them what happened in Xinzhuang. The two were shocked. They both prayed to heaven, hoping that the dead souls could be reborn early, and hoped that their families would never encounter such misfortunes. Until it was dark and the oil lamp was lit at home. Zhang Xiaohua's grandmother was still muttering: "It's good luck every day, good luck every day."

The same New Year, this year's Guozhuang is far less lively than before. Under the night sky, only children play with lanterns, and only they don't know the dangers of the world and let their nature go. Most of the merchants are like Zhang Cai's family. After eating the sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner and cleaning up the hard work of the past year, hoping for a sweet and happy new year, there is a hint of gloom in their hearts. Thinking about Mr. Wu's experience and this world where the strong prey on the weak, it is inevitable that there is the idea of ​​"I am fish". Looking at the vast world, I don't know how to protect the stability of my family.

The New Year's Eve, which should have been bustling, passed quietly. I don't know if there is happiness, joy, or harvest and sweetness in the dreams of other people in the village, but Zhang Xiaohua has it, it just flashes, and the flash seems to have a hint of clarity.

The New Year for the peasant family is actually very simple. Apart from greetings to each other, there is only the market in Lu Town far away. Every third day of the New Year, there is a street in Lu Town that is gathering in the lively "clubs" around neighboring villages. Everyone is wearing new clothes, bringing their families with their families, bringing a slightly filled wallet around their waists, and coming here to experience the atmosphere of the New Year.

Zhang Cai’s family and Guo Sufei had to take care of Zhang Xiaohua’s grandmother at home, so Zhang Cai brought his three children to Lu Town to go to the market.

Lu Town is located south of Guozhuang, about thirty miles away from Guozhuang.

There are not many streets in Lu Town, and there is not much fun to share on weekdays. After finally meeting a New Year's gathering, everyone took out all the energy they had accumulated over the year, and squeezed a street in Lu Town to a climax. This is a north-south street with a wide street. It seems to be the main street of Lu Town. There are many shops on both sides of the street. No matter what business they do, the business is very good, the doors are open, and many people are in and out.

The shop's shop stood inside and outside the shop to greet the guests. There were also many peddlers carrying their own small livelihoods and placing them on the street, shouting loudly, attracting the crowds passing by. On weekdays, if the shop's shop saw someone blocking the door, they would definitely greet them, but today is an exception. They all came out to find a way out. In order to get the first prize of the New Year, everyone will not blush and hurt their harmony, and even wish each other good luck when they meet.
Chapter completed!