Ma Shuigen stood under the dripping eaves. He looked like he was fished out of the river. His earthy blue clothes were dripping with water, and the ground under his feet was soon wet.
He stood there, motionless like a wooden stake.
The adobe house was leaking. Xue Huahua used buckets and basins to catch the rain. The rain fell into the bucket and basin, making a pitter-patter sound. The original owner of the body had mixed feelings for Ma Shuigen. She wanted to find a partner, but more importantly, she wanted the food that Ma Shuigen had saved.
In the past few years, Ma Shuigen was alone. He worked all year round to earn money. He saved a lot of food. He didn't have a son, so he didn't have to worry about his children being abused. When the matchmaker mentioned it, Xue Huahua was moved.
Who would have thought that a good thing would turn out like this.
"You should go back and change your clothes. I will make it very clear. You are a laborer, and I am a laborer. We are not suitable." Xue Huahua picked up the wild vegetables and squatted under the eaves to wash them with the rain.
With Ma Shuigen's situation, many people were willing to marry him. There was no need to pester her.
"I …" Ma Shuigen shook his hand and took out two wrinkled tickets from his wet clothes pocket. "I know. This is for my unborn child. You keep it. I won't come back in the future."
He could see that Xue Huahua really didn't want to marry him. It was after Liu Huaxian came to make trouble.
The laborer was just an excuse. He was getting older day by day, and Lu Dewen was still young. They would surpass him in a few years.
The laborer was just a joke in the village.
Xue Huahua saw that it was two cloth tickets. She refused to accept it. "You keep it. If you need it in the future, keep the clothes that Xixi wore. The child has clothes to wear."
"You keep it. I have more at home." Every year, the village would give out cloth tickets, and he kept all of them. Originally, he wanted to make a new dress for Xue Huahua when he got married, but now he didn't need them anymore.
Afraid that Xue Huahua would reject him again, he left the ticket on the stool against the wall and left. The Captain's wife had introduced him to a few more female comrades, so he might not have time to come over.
Xue Huahua raises her head. Ma Shuigen has already left in the rain. She asks Chao Caizhi to keep the ticket and find a time to return it. She is not related to Ma Shuigen, so it is not good for her to keep his things.
Xue Huahua minced the wild vegetables, picked up two sweet potatoes that had not sprouted, and mixed them together to cook. When the sweet potatoes were soft, she mashed them and mixed them. The sweet taste of the sweet potatoes was very delicious.
Xue Huahua scooped two bowls for Chao Caizhi and Lu Xixi, and three bowls for her three sons. The leftovers in the pot were for her.
She added some water to the pot, washed the wild vegetables and sweet potatoes, and poured them into her own bowl.
Few people in the Lu Family talk at the dining table. Chao Caizhi fed the children while staring at Xue Huahua's bowl. "Mum, I haven't digested the food I ate this morning. I can't eat so much. You should eat some."
A male voice came from the room. "It's shameful to waste food. Caizhi, if you can't finish it, give it to me. Bring it in."
The one who spoke was Lu Dewen, Xue Huahua's eldest son. He is already 21 years old, but his salary is less than Chao Caizhi, who is pregnant. She shouted angrily. "One bowl of rice is not enough for you? You eat, drink, poop, and sleep. Are you treating yourself like a pig? Are you going to the cooperative to exchange for money?"
The room fell silent.
"Caizhi, eat it. If you can't finish it, you can eat it in the afternoon. No matter how poor we are, we can't let you and your mother down." Xue Huahua held the hot bowl in her hand and blew at the vegetable foam floating on the surface of the bowl. Then, she took small sips of the soup.
It was raining, and the room was dark. The houses in the village were made of mud bricks, and the roofs were covered with straw. There was a small window on the wall facing the dam. The window was opened high, and one could not see what was going on inside the house. So, the window was always open in the morning and night. When it was cold in winter, the windows were blocked with straw.
Xue Huahua entered the room to get the bowl. She said to Lu Dewen, who was dozing off while rubbing his stomach. "Your injury is almost healed. When it's sunny, go to work and earn some work points. I'll talk to the team leader. You don't need to do anything else. You just need to carry manure."
Carrying manure was done by the village's first-class labourers. They earned 10 work points a day, and it was the highest among all the jobs.
Lu Dewen opened his eyes in disbelief. "I've never carried manure before."
Those who could carry manure in the production team were all experienced farmers. Take Ma Shuigen for example. He was able to become a labourer because he carried manure. Moreover, carrying manure was not something that one could do as he pleased. It had to be approved by the production team's cadres. First, the manure had to be carried in a lot, and it could not be spilled out. Also, it could not be shaken slowly.
If he was asked to carry manure as a third-class labourer who earned 6 work points for digging, he would not agree to it.
"If you haven't picked, then learn. I think the rain will last for a few days. When the bucket is full of rainwater, you can practice at home." Xue Huahua kept the bowl and chopsticks. There was no emotion on her face. It was said that there was strength in numbers. There were three sons in the family. If they worked hard to earn work points, their lives would not be too bad. However, their family was poor.
She had seen the family's work points from the accountant last year. Good job. Three strong men could not compare to two women. Not to mention that they occasionally took leave to slack off, there were more than a dozen times that their work points were deducted.
She had asked. Lu Dewen secretly went to the mountains to dig for bird eggs and was discovered by the production team leader. His work points were deducted as a miner. Once or twice was fine, but more than a dozen times …
They were spoiled.
No wonder the original owner of the body wanted to get married again at such an old age. It was all because of this family.
She had brought up a bad son. Now that she had taken over the original owner's position, she would not let something similar happen again.
Looking at the determined look on Xue Huahua's face, Lu Dewen panicked. He stammered, "My injury is not healed yet."
"That's why I asked you to practice first. Once your injury is healed, you can carry manure."
"Every year, it is those people who carry manure. Will the team leader agree to let me do it?" Thinking of this, Lu Dewen's crying face looked a little better. Manure was something precious. It was related to the harvest of the crops. The production team kept a close eye on it. Why would they entrust such an important task to him?
Xue Huahua saw through his thoughts. She snorted, "You don't have to worry about this. You can go when the time comes."
Lu Dewen's face fell. He opened his mouth and wanted to say no. But when he met Xue Huahua's piercing eyes, he felt a chill in his heart and weakly said yes. His mother was no longer the same person who buried herself in work and did not care about anything. It could be seen from her visit to Team Four to ask for compensation from Liu Huaxian. Liu Huaxian's older brother worked in the commune. No one in the production team dared to provoke her. He did not know how his mother persuaded Lu Jianguo to help her, but she easily got the work points.
It was probably true when she said that she was going to carry manure for him.
Xue Huahua washed the dishes and asked Chao Caizhi to bring Xixi back to his room to sleep. She pulled Lu Dewen, Lu Mingwen, and Lu Jianxun up from the bed. Lu Dewen carried the water, and the two brothers watched from the side.
Once they learned how to carry manure, they would all learn how to carry manure.
There was only half a bucket of water. Lu Dewen placed the carrying pole on his shoulders and bent down slowly. He hooked the iron hook at the end of the rope to the bucket. His legs were trembling, and he could not straighten his back.
"Mum, my injuries are not healed. I can't stand up." Lu Dewen looked aggrieved. His shoulders were red from the weight.
Xue Huahua was unmoved. "Really? Then you can cook for yourself tonight. My injuries are not healed, and Caizhi is pregnant. You guys can do as you see fit. "
Lu Jianxun, who was leaning against the wall, was anxious. "Mum, let me do it."
Lu Jianxun was thirteen years old. He was considered a big boy in the village, but with Lu Dewen's bad reputation, the team leader did not assign Lu Jianxun many work points. Lu Jianxun ran around leisurely all day, stealing eggs, shooting birds, and fishing like a hooligan.
Xue Huahua glared at him. "Sit down. You will have to do the work. Just watch your brother do it."
Lu Dewen gritted his teeth and stabilized the carrying pole with both hands. He took a deep breath and straightened his legs. He picked up the bucket of water, and in less than half a minute, the rope on both ends of the carrying pole slipped, and the bucket fell to the ground. The water was spilling out.
Lu Dewen immediately threw the carrying pole away and rubbed his shoulders in pain.
The water was spilled, and it would take a while for the room to be filled up. Lu Dewen heaved a sigh of relief and wanted to rest on the stool. He saw Xue Huahua pushing a stone over.
"If you think the water is too heavy, then pick up the stone. Train your strength first." Xue Huahua was determined to keep them in check. She rolled the stone into the bucket, went into the house, and rolled another stone out.
Lu Dewen wanted to cry. He admitted that he hid at the side during the fight, but it was true that he was hit in the head by a hoe. He even sprained his ankle.
Xue Huahua let him put the bucket down, and she sat between Lu Mingwen and Lu Jianxun. "Watch carefully. You guys can't even carry a bucket of water. What's the use of raising you guys …"
Lu Mingwen looked at his complaining brother, licked his dry lips, and said angrily, "Isn't this good? I don't have to be afraid that Big Brother will drown you in the river. "
The villagers loved to scold their sons. "You can't stand me now, but when I'm too old, you brothers will throw me into the river."
It was said that such a thing had happened in a certain village. The old people in the village loved to say this. He had heard it since he was young.
Xue Huahua's mouth twitched, and she slapped Lu Mingwen's head. "Even if your brother can't carry you guys, I still have you guys. Watch carefully. When your injuries are healed, you can also go to the team to carry manure. "
The original owner of this body was her previous life. She was weak and couldn't do anything. When she was young, she couldn't resist her husband, and later on, she couldn't control her son.
In this life, she had to start over.
Lu Dewen knew that he couldn't avoid it today. He shook his shoulders, straightened the bucket, hung the rope on the shoulder pole, and started again …
One time, the bucket didn't move.
Two times, the bucket still didn't move.
Three times, the bucket moved, but it didn't lift.
"Mom, I really can't."
"Then I'll starve tonight … I've decided, from now on, the food in our house will be distributed according to who earns more points. Caizhi almost never took leave last year, so she should eat the most at home, followed by me and Xixi. As for you guys, think about how many points you earned last year …"
Lu Dewen lowered his head guiltily, looked at the stone in the bucket, gritted his teeth, and put the shoulder pole on his shoulder.
When his forehead was dripping with sweat, the bucket finally moved. He also straightened his back, but the shoulder pole was shaking, as if it was going to break at any time. Lu Dewen wiped his sweat, and didn't dare to move.
His family was poor. Other than the two pots in the kitchen, they didn't have any ironware. The iron hook on the rope of the shoulder pole was obviously not from his family. If he broke it, he would have to pay for it, and he couldn't afford it.
"Let's go." Xue Huahua urged.
Lu Dewen was about to cry. The burning pain on his shoulder wasn't enough, and the rope kept slipping to the sides of the shoulder pole. If the bucket fell again, it would accidentally hit his feet …
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