golden years(22)

People still have to do something.

This point of responsibility is a big deal for Tongtong.

What is there in the field in the middle of winter? After planting Chinese cabbage, there was no time to plant wheat. Now the field is bare and there is nothing. How big is this land? No one has measured it or measured it.

Take it seriously.

In fact...it is indeed not a good land.

When the land was being divided, Jinsuo and the others helped to talk. He said that the land was less than three acres, but it was not. The land must be more than four acres. The trouble was that there was no road other than his own courtyard wall.

Apart from the fields, the other three sides are adjacent to the road.

The curb occupies such a large area, and the ground is about one meter lower than the ground. The gentle slope of more than one meter is usually covered with weeds. Nowadays, this land is relatively plentiful, and most people look down on this curb.

, don’t want to worry about the little things.

But for me, I cherish every corner here. The key is that weeds grow, which greatly affects the overall beauty of the garden.

The Fourth Master went to work, and when the sun was shining, she held a bamboo pole to figure out how high the fence should be.

Sister-in-law Tao asked, "Xiaotong, what are you doing?" She was holding her shoe soles and sitting at the door doing her work in the sun. When she saw Tongtong standing in the wind, she couldn't help but ask.

Tongtong said, "The land must be fenced off, otherwise everything will be thrown into it."

Oh! What do you mean, "How can you do this alone?" Sister-in-law Tao called Jinsuo in the alley, and she didn't know where she was going to chat, so she shouted, "Jinsuo, where is it?"

Come over and help the fourth family..."

Tongtong: "..." I haven't even prepared the wood for the fence, so what's the use of asking others to help?

But after shouting, many people came out of the alley. Damin even asked in a hurry: "What's wrong?"

This made Tongtong very embarrassed, "Just...make a fence..."

How big of a deal is it?

Liu Chenggong said, "The firewood my family has prepared for this year has not been sawed yet. They are all fruit tree trunks as thick as your wrist. I will pull them for you!"

Jin Suo pointed at his home, "Who doesn't have a dozen sticks and no place to use them? It's a pity to throw away sticks. Just wait and I'll take them. It's not worth it."

People were shouting from one person to another in the alley, and it only took a while to get so much.

Yang Shuhui saw this posture when she came out. Then she heard her daughter-in-law shout: "Mom - Mom - cut the meat! Twenty pounds, you need fat! Sister-in-law - Sister-in-law - have you refilled the yeast? First

Steam the steamed buns over here!"

The people who helped laughed and said, "It's just this little work, why do we need to buy meat?"

That's different!

Qin Yindi came out with a basin of yeast dough, "Don't worry about it, I'll steam the buns."

Many wives in the alley went to help steam the steamed buns.

Work is faster when there are more people. Dozens of people not only spent most of the day building the fences Tongtong needed, but also built the surrounding slopes one by one. What Tongtong said at the time was: "This

The fence is half a person high and the ditch is one meter deep.

If a child tumbles in, he will suddenly step on the ground. It is not a big deal for the children to pick something, but they are afraid that they will tumble in and fall. It is better to build steps and grow some vegetables on them. If a naughty child comes in,

It doesn’t matter, I can’t step on it empty.”

Just leave a way for these little thieves.

This is very kind! This is how it is in rural areas. It’s not bad for children to behave like this. It’s just that when they see something that looks good, they can’t help but want to pick one or two secretly. The immature will not waste it, the mature will want to

eat.

Just eat it!

If it is really that deep, it will be bad if any child is thrown.

When the fourth master came back, there were several tables in the house where people were eating. No wonder she was so nimble when she saw that the edges of the floor had been repaired.

Jin Yin and Damin Sanling helped greet the guests, while the woman was in the yard at the back and the children were running around the yard.

So popular!

Jinyin poured wine for this person and poured wine for that person. Even if it cost much more than hiring someone, he would be happy to do it. If the fourth child didn't look like a serious person, who the hell would he do it?

The door of the house. Look now, with a shout, people from several alleys around came to help. Even those who heard the news came to help. What are you afraid of when you have something to eat and drink? People live only by their popularity.

The fourth master paid respects here and there, and after eating, he chatted around the fire for a long time. The women had tidied up the kitchen when they left, and when the crowd dispersed, it was already after 8:30 pm.

.

In winter when there is no entertainment, half past eight is really late.

Although Ke Rao treated her well, Lin Yutong still felt embarrassed.

Although I'm sorry, I can only bear it like this. Why? Because most of these people have some debt relationship with their own families. The money is really not much, such as the New Year's money borrowed before last year. Or

During this year, some people are anxious to provide medical treatment and education fees for their children. Although I heard that my family is a moonlight family, this

It is true that there is a monthly income. So this basically means that there is living money in hand. If you come to borrow 20, 30 cents, there must be one here. Therefore, there are more people borrowing money in such scattered ways, mostly women.

Come to the door and borrow 5 cents and 10 cents. Do you want to give it to me? There are also more people who come to the door to borrow salt and vinegar and borrow a few bowls of corn noodles and a few bowls of white flour.

This is money that can be squeezed out of your fingers no matter how much money you can spend.

Everyone who comes to borrow money thinks that if they borrow a little money, they can get enough for themselves. Tongtong never tells others who borrowed money from me, unless she does not avoid people when borrowing money, or she tells others after borrowing money.

It's someone else, and Tongtong won't tell anyone.

Therefore, no one counted and no one knew how much money Tongtong lent. Even Yang Shuhui didn’t know very well!

But Tongtong must have an account. Let’s talk about the people who came to help today, such as Liu Chenggong, who owed him seven and a half yuan. He came to borrow money almost every month, but never paid it back. The least one came to help.

The orphan named Zhuzi, a teenage boy, squatted at the door when he was seeing a doctor for his brother and asked if he could borrow fifty cents. Tongtong gave five cents.

, saying that he went to see a doctor first, and then came back to get more if he didn’t have enough. Fortunately, nothing happened in the end, and he only spent 20 cents. The child returned the four-eight yuan, and there was still 20 cents missing, so he couldn’t pay it back! When he heard that something was going on at home,

He ran right over. After eating here, Lin Yutong brought three big steamed buns filled with meat and asked his brother to take them with him when he left.

It's like I owe a few cents that I can't afford to pay back, but that's too much. The key is that I have nowhere to make money! It's not that I'm lazy!

It's winter, it's the end of the year, and debts are usually collected on this day. This has been the case since ancient times. Before the end of the year, you have to reorganize this year's debts, even if you can't pay them back, but I have to remind you, you and I

I'm done with this. If it's a loan with a high interest rate, it will be even more troublesome. The creditor will come to your door at this time. If you can't repay the principal with interest, then you should pay the interest first, and we can start over again.

This IOU is updated.

This is done every year to prevent default.

Therefore, the poorer a family is, the less they are in the mood to celebrate the New Year. First, they really have no money and cannot afford to celebrate the New Year; second, since the twelfth lunar month, people come to collect debts every day, which makes people anxious.

I just feel frustrated. I feel that this new year is really difficult!

Under such circumstances, Lin Yutong couldn't say: "Come on! Come and work, you can pay as much debt as you can with the work." This is called looking down on people!

The reason for this is that after a lot of work has been done, the debt cannot be counted as repayment. And the creditor provides good tea and meals, and the price is indeed greater than the price of hiring someone.

No one is taking advantage, but unfortunately, there is the most important thing here, and that is - favor.

Tongtong didn't ask for debts in the first place, but now, not only can't she ask for debts, but some people have come to borrow money. They said that if it's not last year, they can borrow two yuan. If they don't have two yuan, one yuan will do.

What should Tongtong do? She still took two pieces and lent them out.

Aunt Su Huan came to the door with two cents and handed it to Tongtong, "Xiaotong, the two hundred yuan that Cai'er borrowed was said to be paid back at the end of the year, but it must be temporarily unaffordable. Don't be afraid, Auntie is not a defaulter. Jin

When Si borrows money, it is calculated based on the interest rate, and Auntie will also give the money to you based on this interest rate."

It's funny, isn't it?

Lin Yutong pushed back, "It's the same if I give it again. We live across a wall and don't talk about interest."

Then Su Huan brought several pairs of newly made shoes to Tongtong, "I saw the shoes your sister-in-law made for you, they look like the ones from your sister-in-law..."

As long as they don't embroider and just make shoes, these women's hands are very nimble and they can make three pairs in a day and night. This is probably because the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law hurry up and make them.

Three pairs of single pieces and two pairs of cotton ones are indeed your own size.

Okay! Collect it, they won’t mention the debt, and she won’t mention it either.

It's the end of the year, a period of high incidence of various cases, and Fourth Master is quite busy. Not only is he responsible for the logistics and vehicle protection, but he also sometimes has to act as a guard. The people who are being escorted back are locked up, but they also need to be replaced on duty.

But half way through the twelfth lunar month, Fourth Master still asked for leave and had to go to the provincial capital.

Do you need to bring anything with you if you go? Lin Yutong brought some vegetables, dried and frozen fish, and Fourth Master got some wild rabbits, peeled them, washed them and packed them away, and that was it.

The two rode bicycles to the county town, with bags of dried vegetables hung on the crossbar, fish and rabbits hanging on the front of the bike, and Tongtong sitting in the back, looking really ridiculous.

Let’s go to my eldest sister’s house in the county town first, where the bicycles are kept.

Lei Zhiping was waiting at home, and Yulian also packed up her things, including a few bags of ready-made shoes, and then the four of them went to take a jeep. Yes! A leader from the county town was going to the provincial capital for a meeting, and he said he would take a few people there by the way.

.I will go back tomorrow afternoon and can stay one night in the provincial capital.

If you want to show your kindness, it is indeed a good idea to go along the way. If you don't follow up, it will look pretentious. Just like that, go to the provincial capital.

When they arrived at the place, Tongtong and Yulian went home first. Tongtong didn't ask what the Fourth Master and Lei Zhiping were talking to others outside.
To be continued...