The old house is dilapidated and dilapidated. This is the old house of Mrs. Tan’s natal family. Mrs. Tan lives in the capital and returns to Nanjing once a year to spend the winter.
When I came back every year, there was an old servant who stayed at the old house to take care of it all year round. So the house was still habitable. But after the old lady passed away, the old servant was too old to walk, so he could no longer take care of the yard.
When I entered the yard, I saw that the entire house was overgrown with grass, with residual snow pressing down on thorns and dead grass, and it looked dilapidated. The doors and windows were mottled, the window paper peeled off, and the cobwebs were tangled, making it extremely dilapidated.
"Why is it like this? They didn't help us take care of the house." Tan Ruqing frowned.
Zhang Yanling said: "Who is taking care of me?"
Tan Ruqing pointed to the relatives outside and said softly: "My grandmother's cousin, I asked his third uncle's family to take care of him. After my grandmother passed away, we entrusted him to take care of him and gave them more than ten taels every year.
As for the money, there is nothing you need to do, just weed the weeds and check if the doors, windows and roof leak when it rains. It seems they didn’t do it at all.”
Zhang Yanling listened to the noisy group of relatives outside who were arguing about dividing things, and said with a wry smile: "It seems so. But it doesn't matter, we will clean up after a while. We will shovel the grass, paper on the windows, and clean the house.
That’s okay. It’s just a temporary stay for one night.”
Tan Ruqing sighed and said, "That's all I have to do. I'm just asking my husband to live in a place like this. I'm afraid you won't be used to it."
Zhang Yanling waved her hands and thought to herself: "When I was hiking around, I lived in caves, cemeteries and ruined temples. This is nothing."
The few people then put down their salutes, got brooms, shovels, buckets and other things from the woodshed, and started working. Tan Ruqing and Xiaozhu were responsible for cleaning the house, while Zhang Yanling and A Niu were weeding outside.
The relatives of the Tan family poked their heads at the door and saw that they were working inside. No one came in, so they all ran away. But not long after, a lame woman came with a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy holding a broom and a shovel.
Come and help.
"Second aunt, why are you here? How can you work? Rest quickly. We can just do it ourselves." Tan Ruqing said hurriedly.
The woman said: "These people are so eager to ask for something. No one can help with the work. It's really too much. How can you do such a rough job with your delicate skin and tender flesh? Xiaoshun and I are here to help."
You, Xiaoshun, what are you doing standing still? Call me cousin."
The young man hurriedly called out: "Cousin, uncle."
This lame woman is Mrs. Tan’s cousin, named Tan Xiuying. Her legs are disabled and her mobility is inconvenient, so she has been unable to get married. Until many years ago, a barrel mender came to Tan’s family to do crafts and stayed for three months.
Then she left. As a result, Tan Xiuying became pregnant.
Later, when the uncles asked, they found out that Xiuying had a relationship with the barrel mender and got pregnant by him. This person was just doing crafts outside and was unbearably lonely. Xiuying was disabled and longed for love, so she was
Cheated.
The uncles of the Tan family were deeply ashamed and wanted to drive Tan Xiuying away. Fortunately, when Mrs. Tan returned to her hometown, they decided to let her stay and delivered the baby for her.
With Mrs. Tan's words and care, the mother and son could barely survive.
They were not among the group of people who just grabbed things. The mother and son stood watching from a distance and did not come forward. Now they came to help.
This made Tan Ruqing feel much better. After all, there were some sensible people among her relatives.
Zhang Yanling saw the young man's honest features and said with a smile: "How old are you? Are you studying now?"
Tan Xiuying said hurriedly: "Cousin, my parents are 15 years old. Where do people in the country study? After studying in a private school for a year, I came back to herd cattle. Now he is chopping firewood and farming, and everything at home is done by him. I
He is a useless person, so I am counting on him."
Zhang Yanling nodded, looking at the young man's shabby clothes and childish face full of weather, and sighed secretly. When other young people were as old as him, they didn't have to do anything. He had already shouldered the burden of the family.
With two helpers, the cleaning was faster. The young man named Tan Changshun worked quickly. He didn't talk much, and he just covered his head and worked. The weeds and thorns in the yard were removed quickly and in a very orderly manner.
Zhang Yanling nodded secretly.
By the time everything was done, it was already noon. The house was cleaned, new window paper was put on, the bedding brought in was laid out in the wing, incense was lit to remove the musty smell, and the windows were opened to ventilate the air.
.It can be considered habitable.
The mother and son were sweating from their busy work. When they were about to leave, Zhang Yanling stopped them.
"Let's have something to eat together. We brought snacks and drinks. After working for a long time, we naturally need to eat."
Tan Xiuying hurriedly declined, but Tan Ruqing pulled her to sit down. Xiaozhu placed all the snacks and butchers he had brought on the table and opened a pot of wine.
"Aunt, Changshun, you can eat as much as you want without restraint." Tan Ruqing greeted enthusiastically.
The two mother and son were at a loss and just smiled and did not dare to do anything. Tan Ruqing personally helped them grab some snacks and put them in front of the butcher shop. Tan Xiuying ate a piece of beef jerky and praised: "It's really delicious. I've never eaten it in my life."
Such delicious food.”
Tan Ruqing said: "I'll leave you two packets later. It's not a rare thing."
The young man Changshun suddenly said: "Cousin, no need. I will earn money to buy delicious food for my mother. When I grow up, I can earn more money."
Zhang Yanling chuckled and said: "You are ambitious."
Tan Xiuying looked at her son, her eyes full of smiles, and sighed: "Shun'er is filial, mother knows. As long as Shun'er is safe, mother doesn't need anything else. If you have money, you won't buy these. Save them.
Get a wife for my son."
Everyone laughed. Tan Changshun smiled sheepishly and naively, his face and eyes full of innocence.
"You said you will make more money when you grow up. How?" Zhang Yanling asked while eating.
"When I get stronger, I can carry more firewood and plant more land. Can't I sell it for more money?" Tan Chang said.
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "You can indeed earn more. However, have you ever thought about spending your whole life chopping firewood and farming? Have you ever thought about going out and seeing a bigger world?"
Tan Changshun shook his head blankly.
Tan Ruqing looked at Zhang Yanling, her eyes flashing and said: "Does your husband want to take little brother Changshun out?"
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "It depends on whether he is willing. If he just wants to protect his mother, and if his mother just wants him to chop wood and cultivate the land by her side, there is nothing I can do."
Tan Ruqing said happily: "Who wants to spend his whole life cutting firewood and cultivating the land? Auntie, my husband is willing to take Changshun out and work with him. Are you willing?"
Tan Xiuying said in surprise: "Um... going to study medicine with you?"
Tan Ruqing smiled and said: "You are not following me, you are following my husband. My husband is...yes...well, in short, you will definitely have a good future if you follow my husband."
Tan Xiuying asked: "How much money can I make in a year?"
Zhang Yanling laughed. For a peasant woman, this is what she cares about most.
"How about money? That depends on his ability. If he works well, he can earn hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver a year." Zhang Yanling said with a smile.
"Plop!" Tan Xiuying didn't sit firmly, slipped off the stool and sat on the ground.
"Hundreds or even a thousand taels of silver? Could it be...a joke?" Tan Xiuying's eyes widened. She didn't even notice her son reaching out to hold her hand.
"Of course it's not a joke. If you are willing, let Changshun follow my husband. You will have a good future in the future. You can also make a lot of money. Otherwise, you will be farming and collecting firewood here for a lifetime, and you will have no future." Tan Ruqing said with a smile.
.
"Yes, yes. How can you not be willing to do such a good thing? I kowtow to my cousin and ask my cousin to show Shun'er a clear path. I don't want Shun'er to spend his whole life chopping firewood and cultivating land, working so hard in this barren mountain.
There is no future in this place." Tan Xiuying shouted.
Zhang Yanling hurriedly stopped Tan Xiuying, who was about to kowtow, and said: "It's embarrassing for me. They are all relatives. I think Chang Shun has a good nature and is careful and diligent in doing things. He is a good young man."
Chang Shun on the side said: "I won't go."
"Why is that?" Zhang Yanling asked in surprise.
Tan Changshun looked at Tan Xiuying and stopped talking. But Zhang Yanling understood that he couldn't worry about his mother. He had such filial piety and sense of responsibility at a young age, which made Zhang Yanling like him even more.
"Nonsense. Ruqing, cousin, don't listen to the nonsense of children. I have made the decision. Can he still persist?" Tan Xiuying said hurriedly.
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "You can't force it, otherwise you won't be able to do anything good. You and your mother have discussed it and come back to me tomorrow. Anyway, we won't leave until tomorrow. Tomorrow we will go to the mountain to visit the old lady's grave and repair it. We will leave if we can't do it for a while. Changshun
, think about it carefully. Some things must have trade-offs."
In fact, Zhang Yanling can quickly solve Tan Changshun's worries. All he needs to do is settle Tan Xiuying and give her some money so that she can live her life and she can take care of herself. But Zhang Yanling wants to see how long Tan Changshun is.
How to make a decision is also a test.
That night, everyone stayed in the Tan family's old house. There were only three rooms in the house. A Niu lived in the west wing. Zhang Yanling could not live with A Niu. He Tan Ruqing slept on the big bed in the east wing. Xiaozhu set up on the ground.
He fell asleep on the floor and dealt with it.
Early the next morning, Tan Xiuying and her son came. Tan Changshun was carrying a bamboo basket with a sickle, and Tan Xiuying was carrying some white buns and other things in the basket. It seemed that they had prepared offerings. But Tan Ruqing had already prepared these.
Already.
A Niu carried two boxes of tributes, drinks, paper horses, paper money, and other things, and the group left the village and headed to the cemetery in the south where the old lady was buried. From the beginning to the end, the other relatives of the Tan family did not show their heads. Even the afternoon before, Tan Ruqing
They had already said hello and said they were going to visit the old lady's grave to repair it. They had no intention of helping.