At this time, there were three more firewoods at the old man's feet, bringing the total to five large firewoods. He was sitting on the ground panting and resting.
Dongzhang smiled and leaned over, pointing to the fire by the river, and said: "Old man, look, there is not enough firewood. Can I get you some more firewood?"
Dongzhang originally thought that this time the old man would get angry if he said anything, but the fact slapped Dongzhang again. The old man still didn't fart, didn't even look at Dongzhang, and said with a normal expression:
“You can help yourself if you want.”
"Hey, okay, thank you, husband."
After thanking Dongzhang, he took away four of the five firewoods, leaving only a fist-sized one and some small branches for the old man.
But even so, when Dongzhang passed by him with firewood in his arms, the old man didn't even raise his eyelids. He still sat on the ground and rested as usual, without even glancing at Dongzhang.
On Dongzhang's side, after getting the firewood, he continued to add more firepower and started to feast. Dongzhang thought that the old man would continue to cut down trees, but to his surprise, the old man started to pack up the firewood and pack it up to go home.
From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the old man carrying firewood on his shoulders. His body was exhausted due to the huge force, and he was walking out of the jungle with trembling steps. Dongzhang stopped paying too much attention to it, and looked back at the grilled fish in his hand and started to eat it.
The old man on the other side was walking slowly on his way home in the scorching sun. On the narrow path and among the straw beside the fields, he would occasionally meet young men and women in twos and threes. When they saw the old man walking hard and sweating, they couldn't help but ask.
road:
"Uncle Ma, let's take it home for you. You can rest for a while."
…
Facing the enthusiastic villagers in the same village, the old man seemed to be deaf and walked straight past them without saying a word. Still stubbornly walking forward step by step, the young men and women next to him did not feel strange at all.
He continued to do his farm work without paying any attention to the old man's attitude, as if he was already used to it.
The old man just staggered all the way to a small, neatly kept yard, neatly stacked the firewood under the eaves next to the door, and then sat on the door couch to rest for a while without entering the door.
"You're back. Have a sip of hot tea."
A friendly voice sounded in the room, and then a well-maintained old woman came out with a cup of hot tea, handed it to the old man sitting at the door, and also brought a towel to the old man, but when she saw
When there were only a few firewood beside him, his originally kind and kind face was instantly replaced by an angry look, and he cursed at the old man:
"You have cut so much firewood in one morning. What do you want us to use to make a fire for cooking tonight? Ah? You are getting more and more outrageous. Are you listening to what I am saying? What should we use to make a fire tonight?
?Say it!"
This old woman is obviously a typical impatient person. When nothing happens, she is kind and calm. But when something happens or a situation arises, she will curse her without asking the reason. The old man seems to be used to her shrewdness.
, was scolded and did not retaliate, but stood up and went back to the house without saying a word. The old woman seemed not to be scolded enough, and followed the old man and turned back to the house to continue scolding.
The more silent the old man became, the more fiercely the old woman scolded her: "You have always been like this. You can't make a single fuss a day. I just followed you because I was blind. You can't count on me. After a while, I lost my temper."
Go to the house next door to borrow firewood, and tomorrow you go out to cut firewood and return it to others."
When he said this, the old man looked hesitant to speak, as if he didn't want the old woman to go out to borrow firewood from others, but in the end he didn't say anything, and the old woman didn't seem to really want to go out to borrow firewood.
She seemed to know that the old man didn't want her to show off and borrow firewood from others. It was more like irritating the old man. In the end, she still felt sorry for the embarrassed old man. The old woman picked up the remaining firewood and brought it into the house to light a fire and boil water for the old man.
.
At this time, on the other side, Dongzhang had come to the field path. Looking at the young men doing farm work in the field, he stopped and asked, "Excuse me, is there an old man in your village who has just returned home from cutting firewood?"
A dark-skinned young man in the field looked up at Dongzhang and was stunned for a moment, but he still responded harmoniously: "The young man is talking about Uncle Ma, he just went home."
Just as Dongzhang was about to say thank you, the swarthy young man caught a glimpse of the long sword behind Dongzhang's waist. He climbed up from the field nervously and asked anxiously: "I wonder why the young master is looking for Uncle Ma?"
Seeing this young man who looked obviously nervous, Zhang Dong was also quite curious. He chuckled and said, "What? This weird old man can't be found anymore?"
Seeing Dongzhang's attitude, the swarthy young man became even more anxious and hurriedly explained: "No, no, the young master has misunderstood. This Uncle Ma is indeed from our Niujia Village, but he has a weird personality and is not good at words. He may offend him unintentionally."
Young Master, if this is the case, the younger one can take the place of Uncle Ma and apologize to the Young Master."
After saying that, he was about to kneel down to Dongzhang with his bare feet, but as soon as he bent his knees, Dongzhang grabbed his arm with one hand. No matter how hard the dark-skinned young man tried, he couldn't make any progress. He couldn't help but be secretly shocked: This young man is so strong.
He became more and more panicked, fearing that Uncle Ma had offended someone badly, but Zhang Dong became more and more curious and asked with a smile: "Who are you that blaming old man?"
Seeing that he couldn't kneel down no matter what, the dark-skinned young man had to give up the act of apology. He looked at Dongzhang with a warm smile and said with a wry smile: "I'm just a neighbor in the village, but Uncle Ma is a great good man in the village. What do you want to do with your anger?"
I just pooped on my body, so don't go to his old man."
"Oh~"
"Tell me how he got better."
Dongzhang became more and more interested. Looking at the smiling young man, the dark-skinned young man said calmly: "Uncle Ma was not originally from our village, but he married into our village. Although he is usually stern and does not communicate with others,
But if there is any big or small problem in any house, you can always see his presence."
Looking at Zhang Dong who was still listening, the swarthy young man paused and continued: "Last year, the roof of our house collapsed due to heavy rains. Many people in the village had no time to take care of themselves. Only Uncle Ma immediately put up the board and helped us overnight.
My family had repaired the house, and even though he was exhausted, he still insisted on helping our family repair and settle it before leaving in the early morning. At that time, there was only one father who was bedridden at home. When I went to the market, there was a heavy rain and I had to go home in a hurry.
It can be said that my father’s life was saved by Uncle Ma.”
"Of course I wanted to repay this great kindness, but the next day I came to thank him with a gift, but he kicked me out. Aunt Zhang quietly told us that Uncle Ma had caught a cold that day.
He didn’t want to let others in, but he was so kind and so generous, so why should he be afraid of this? Afterwards, he even threw the gifts out.”
"He is such an elder with a cold face and a warm heart. In fact, most families in our village have been helped by him to some extent, but he never made it public. He quietly left after helping, even when others came to thank him.
Being kicked out by him is really beyond words."
"If the young master is really"
After hearing this, Dongzhang probably understood what kind of person this old man was, and he couldn't bear to embarrass this honest young man. Dongzhang waved his hand to stop him, and said with a smile:
"I don't have any grudge against him. On the contrary, I, like you, have also received favor from him."