Chapter 9: Living a stable life and fighting for water
When Shen Tang arrived at the door of Shen Ming's house, he happened to meet Shen Ming returning from abroad.
"Cousin Shen?" Seeing Shen Tang, Shen Ming was a little surprised at first, then he smiled and raised a plump hare and said: "The trap I laid a few days ago actually yielded some results today. Just in time, in a while I'll pack it up, and Cousin Shen will bring back some teething gifts."
"What are you doing?" As he said this, he looked at the flatbed suspiciously.
"Return the car and ask Third Aunt for a favor."
"Mom! Cousin Shen is here." Shen Ming helped push the car into the courtyard, and with doubts in his heart, Shen Ming opened his mouth to call his mother.
"Is Dalang here?" A middle-aged woman wearing cloth and a worn apron came out.
This person is Shen Ming's mother. Speaking of which, she is only less than forty years old, but the pressure and hardships of life have left too many marks on her face.
"Auntie has also heard about what happened yesterday, but she can't do much to help..." The third aunt held Shen Tang's hand with a little heartache, and looked a little apologetic on her face.
Shen Tang didn't care about this. The two families were absolutely disadvantaged groups in Shenjia Village. Facing the patriarch Shen Daqing, the third aunt had no say at all. Moreover, the third aunt had taken enough care of her family, especially After Shen Tang's mother died, it would not be an exaggeration to say that she treated him like a mother.
Otherwise, he would not have often provided food to Shen Tang's family when his own family was not full.
"Third Aunt, there's no need to worry. The matter is over. Now, isn't it good?" Shen Tang patted Third Aunt's hand and then said, "I'm here today. I need Third Aunt's help with something."
"What kind of help or not? Just tell Third Aunt." Shen Tang's words were completely different from the past, which made Third Aunt very happy.
"I went to Shanyin yesterday and bought some cloth. I want to ask my third aunt to help sew some clothes." As he said this, he took down the cloth on the car and turned to Shen Ming to tell him: "Shen Ming came. Ming, those are some food, you should take care of them together."
New pieces of cloth, even mixed with fine silk cloth inside, such luxurious things that had never been seen before, immediately attracted the attention of the mother and son.
After a while, the two of them recovered from their daze.
"Cousin Shen got rich?"
"Dalang, tell my aunt honestly, where did you get the money?"
Shen Ming was curious and envious, while Third Aunt was worried and a little scared.
Of course Shen Tang knew what the third aunt was worried about, so he comforted her and said: "Don't worry, third aunt, I went to Shanyin yesterday and happened to meet the Baijinlou who was looking for a boy. The shopkeeper saw that I was smart, so he thought it was a good idea. I'm here now. I'll start work next month."
"Moreover, the shopkeeper knew that my family was poor, so he sent me some money to buy some household expenses..."
Although this statement was full of flaws, it finally succeeded in convincing the third aunt. After the third aunt's earnest instructions, she repeatedly told him to save some money. After a long while, Shen Tang escaped from Shen Ming's house in a rather embarrassed manner.
There was still half a month left before the Qingming Festival. According to Shen Tang's plan, after visiting his father's grave during the Qingming Festival, he took Liu Xiangling to Shanyin County. In this Shenjia Village, the two of them did not have an acre and a half of land, and they had no income whatsoever. There is no point in going down. So, it is better to go to the mountain to find some opportunities. The two of them don't have to work, let alone have nothing else to do. Fortunately, they have enough food at home and don't have to worry about it. Therefore, although the two of them are relatively silent most of the time, they live a good life. It's quite brisk.
The third aunt was very quick with her work. It only took three days to carry the baggage and bring over the sewn clothes.
Three of them are various long skirts made for Liu Xiangling, and three are short shirts, robes, etc. for Shen Tang.
Shen Tang did a little calculation and knew that the third aunt probably only left the scraps to make a set of clothes for Shen Ming.
After thanking her, I took out some extra fabrics and food and stuffed them with my third aunt, and then I gave up.
After the third aunt left, she couldn't withstand Shen Tang's "instigation" and the temptation of new clothes. Liu Xiangling entered the room holding her new clothes and giggled for a long time. When she appeared in front of Shen Tang again, The original turquoise clothes are gone, replaced by a long light yellow silk skirt.
Even the wooden hairpin that he usually wore was replaced by the silver hairpin that had been collected for several days.
However, this scene did not last long. Under Shen Tang's seemingly hot but dull gaze, Liu Xiangling soon snorted shyly, turned around, brought a breeze, and ran into the house again. Appear……
On this day, Shen Tang was riding in the courtyard!
In the last life, under the guidance of the old Taoist priest, Shen Tang's skills were extremely good. But now, under the limitations of this body, Shen Tang is not as good as before. Fortunately, he has eaten enough these days, and he has several I continued to exercise every day, and my skills finally recovered to some extent.
At least, if faced with a few thieves, Shen Tang thought to himself, he could easily dispatch them.
Liu Xiangling, of course, didn't know what those weird moves Shen Tang did every day were. However, looking at Shen Tang sweating profusely under the sun, his hands and feet trembling slightly, but his eyes were still extremely determined. For some reason, the things in her dreams these days Generals in golden armor appear more and more frequently...
"Da Lang, Da Lang..."
Urgent shouts came from far and near! Shen Tang frowned slightly, was this the third aunt's voice?
Sure enough, a moment later, the third aunt with an anxious look appeared at the door of Shen Tang's house.
"Third aunt, don't worry, but is there something wrong?"
"Da Lang, the Yujing Village next door is competing with us for water again. Shen Daqing took people there. My boy... also went with us."
The third aunt's words made Shen Tang's expression change.
It is extremely normal for two villages to compete for water at this time. Coupled with the fact that this year is drier than previous years, the situation has finally intensified, and eventually, the most direct conflict between the two villages has formed.
The brutality and seriousness of private fights over water were even more severe than the gangster fights of later generations. It was normal for several people to die in a private fight.
Shen Ming is the only son of the third aunt, and is her only hope. If he is accidentally killed or injured, just like the Shen Tang family before, it will definitely be a disaster.
"Don't worry, third aunt, I will go immediately. I will definitely bring Shen Ming back well!"
"Xiang Ling, you stay at home with your third aunt, I'll come back as soon as I go..."
After giving the explanation, Shen Tang hurried out and headed towards the north of the village.
Shenjia Village and Yujing Village are adjacent to each other. The two villages are bounded by a small river, and this small river is also used for irrigating the fields of the two villages.
Not long after, Shen Tang walked out of the village and saw dozens of people standing around and confronting each other.
Shen Tang's eyes narrowed slightly, and he took a wooden stick as thick as his wrist that someone had dropped in his hand, and stepped forward.