I Am Xianfan

Chapter 121: Homecoming

   West Gate Wharf outside Gusu City, ride a raft down the rippling Su River, the two banks are full of green mountains and beautiful waters, and the fields are bleak. About hundreds of miles of waterway, Zhouzhuang Water Town.

   Su Chen carried a bamboo raft and headed towards Zhouzhuang Water Town.

   On the bamboo raft, there are some new cloths he cut in the cloth shop in Gusu City, as well as cloth shoes.

   Just after Laba, it will soon be the New Year, so you can buy some new clothes for your parents and younger siblings. In addition, there are several catties of white noodles, chopped pork fillings, some seasonings such as oil, salt, vinegar, sesame seeds, etc., which are used to make dumplings and make glutinous rice **** for Lantern Festival.

  The raft walked for a long time.

   The morning mist is foggy, the cold wind is rustling, and the dim outline of a water village in the distance is vaguely visible.

   But I saw, deep in the river bottom, a faint silver light shone, like a smart silver thread, bright and moving.

   If an ordinary fisherman crosses the river, he will obviously ignore the past. Even if someone finds it, they can only sigh that they can't fish.

  咦~!

   Su Chen was surprised and raised his brows.

   reached out and patted on the surface of the water.

   "Puff~!"

   The surface of the water shook slightly, causing a ripple, and a shocking force spread to the bottom of the river.

   This half a catty silverback saury swimming happily at the bottom of the river was stunned and turned its belly to the surface.

   Su Chen couldn't help showing a faint smile on his face. He picked up this silver-ridged saury, put one end on the gills and tied the tail with a straw rope, and put the precious fish on the raft.

   After a short while, he came to the river channel of Zhouzhuang Water Town.

  ...

   Zhouzhuang is far away from the hustle and bustle of Gusu County and the canal waterway. It is located in a remote and blocked water town. The town is mostly fishermen. There are people with small bridges and flowing water. It is very peaceful on weekdays.

   In the early morning, the smoke is curling up.

   Every family in Zhouzhuang is cooking, or preparing to work in the fields or fishing in the lake.

   Next to an old crow tree, an old fishing boat is moored by a cable.

   The Su family has been fishing for generations. There is no land or house on land, only a dilapidated old fishing boat can live by the river.

   In an old crock pot on the stove at the head of the fishing boat, Su Lao Niang is blowing wood and making a fire in front of the stove, cooking a small pot of gruel. There is not much porridge, so I can barely eat a few bites to get the strength to fish in the lake.

   Papa Su's face was full of wrinkles, he squatted on the side of the stove, took a cold pipe and lit the cold smoke in the stove fire, and smoked dullly. The old cold tobacco leaves picked in the wild are very dry.

   "Daddy, will brother be back this year?"

   The second brother was holding a bowl, licking his chapped lips, and waiting eagerly for the porridge with the third sister.

   He was young and ignorant, only vaguely remembered that he had an older brother. Over the years, he often heard his parents say that his brother had gone to the Gusu Yaowang Gang for many years.

   Old Su and Old Niang Su are speechless.

   Back then, because they discussed selling the big baby to a big family in the city, it hurt the big baby's heart.

   Although the big baby never complained.

   But these years, after all, I refused to return to my hometown to meet again.

   "Oh~, maybe it will! After the second baby has finished the porridge, let's take the third baby to play by the river!"

  ...

   Su Chen was walking in the river on a bamboo raft and saw the familiar old fishing boat.

   There are also two seven or eight-year-old little boys with familiar faces and strange faces, playing on the river bank near the old fishing boat.

  Second brother, third sister?

   Su Chen couldn't help but hesitated. He hesitated outside the old fishing boat, got on the fishing boat and opened the rag curtains, and saw the old Su and Niang Su who hadn't seen him in several years.

   Father and mother still live in this old fishing boat with mud in the bamboo shed. There are a few broken cotton mats on the bed, which can withstand the biting cold wind.

   There is a pair of shoes with countless patches on the bed, which is covered with thick layers of mud.

  Papa Su and Mrs. Su were burning on the stove beside the stove, drinking porridge, and discussing where to go fishing for a while. Suddenly, I saw a young man in commoner who opened the rag curtain and stood outside the old fishing boat.

   "Father, mother, I'm back!"

   Su Chen was carrying a few big bags and a cloth jacket, standing at the door of the old fishing boat, smiling at them.

   "Big~, big baby!"

  Papa Su was taken aback, at a loss for a moment, the old pipe trembled, not knowing where to put it. He quickly moved an old stool out of the boat, patted the dust, and let Su Chen sit on it.

   "Father, stop fishing today."

Su Chen smiled and said: "I pulled a few pieces of cloth in the city, and a few kilograms of white noodles and pork stuffing. Let's make a dumpling to eat in the evening. And this fish, I got it on the way back. I will make the soup later. Let the second brother and third sister drink together."

   "Just come back, my mother will make you a dumpling tonight! The kid, his father, is stunned about what he is doing, so he should go planing fish soon."

   Su Lao Niang's happy tears flowed out, she was busy, boiling water and cooking rice, and making fish soup for Su Chen.

  Papa Su didn't move, he silently glanced at the fish, one of the three treasures of Taihu Silverback Saury! It weighs half a catty, and it is worth five or six hundred coppers to sell it to the county inn.

   He has been playing fish all his life, and he has never tasted what it is like. Such a valuable thing, how willing to eat it! What a prodigal!

   He couldn't get rid of it, but after all he went to fish.

   Su Chen took advantage of the fact that they were burning the fire and boiled fish soup, adding a few good medicinal materials to warm the body into the crock pot.

   Su Chen sat on the side of the bed again.

   Soon, the second younger brother and third younger sister came in, staring at Su Chen in a daze.

   After five years, they have grown to be eight or nine years old. They hide by the stove and dare not get close. They wince when they look at him, and they are very close to him.

   Su Lao Niang made the soup, and carefully blew the hot fish soup cold, and then served it to Su Chen, "Daddy, come and eat the fish soup!"

   "Well, you guys have a bowl too. Second brother and third sister, let them drink a few bowls too."

   Su Chen was sad and drank a small bowl of hot fish soup.

   puts good tonic herbs in it, which is very healthy. There is also oil and salt seasoning, which tastes very good.

   Second younger brother and third younger sister have never drunk such a delicious fish soup, even drank several bowls, licked his mouth, and looked at the pot with eyesight.

Su Chen put down the bowl, and then asked quite casually: "Father, mother. I have been in the Yaowang Gang these years, and every four or five years I have sent Uncle Zhang back a lot of silver taels, and nearly a hundred taels. Why, Uncle Zhang has no time to carry you?"

   At the beginning, only Zhang Tufu was allowed to carry the small half. Later, he became a middle-level deacon of the Yaowang Gang's Handyman Hall, which increased to one or two.

   This world is not peaceful, my parents are already old, my younger brother and sister are still young, and there is no adult in the family who guards at home, so they can’t hold back their wealth.

   He was worried that he would be coveted, so he didn't dare to let Zhang Tufu bring a little more silver to his home for fear of trouble.

   The fishermen in Zhouzhuang rarely have any expenses. Except for the large monthly tax bills and the weighing fee of the giant whale gang, the cost of eating on weekdays is actually very small.

   He has brought back nearly a hundred silver ounces in recent years. For the fishermen in Zhouzhuang, this is not a small amount of money.

   Plus my father’s income from fishing every year. It's already enough to pay taxes, even change to a new fishing boat, and build a new house on land. Not as poor as it was back then.

   "Uncle Zhang, you have taken one, two and two dollars a month in the past few years, there has been no shortage of money!"

  Papa Su shook his head and sighed.

  "Well, I couldn't catch many fish in the twelfth lunar month of that year... It was really difficult at home, and the whale gang's weighing fee could not be paid and could not survive.

   That night, Master Zhou of the Zhuangzi took a pot of small wine with a cane and asked me to drink water and wine. During the wine, Master Zhou said, I know that your family has no money to pay the weighing fee. Tomorrow you come to my house to get some silver, and bring some brown rice back by the way. Don't let the child be hungry.

  Father also didn't want to borrow money from his old master Zhou's house. But there is no way if you don’t borrow. If you don’t borrow, you won’t be able to pay taxes. If you don’t borrow, you will starve to death.

   I borrowed it, and I can survive this year, and I can hope for a good harvest next year. In this way, Dad went to Master Zhou's house, borrowed a few ounces of broken silver and a cloth bag of rice bran, and will eat.

   But the money is profitable, and the profit is calculated every month, and it will double in a few months. All these years have been profitable, and it is not over yet.

   Fortunately, you made money in the county seat, and you brought it back with Uncle Zhang after three hurdles. The family moved around and moved together so that you could barely cope with it, but the life has been tight. "

   Su Lao Niang crouched, and from under the stove, she tremblingly took out the twelve taels of silver she had carefully hidden, and patted her ashes.

"My mother has managed to save a little money over the years, and dare not spend it. Your second brother is nine years old, and seeing that he will be married in a few years, he won’t be able to marry a daughter-in-law without a dozen dollars. Your third sister will soon get married. To prepare the dowry money, save her to marry and go to her husband's house to endure hardships.

   This is a place where big money is used everywhere, and finally I have accumulated a dozen silvers, so I can cope with these two major events. After a few years, life will be better.

   The water bandits made a lot of noise a few years ago and they often robbery everywhere. We don't dare to spend a little bit of savings, for fear that we will reveal our wealth and be taken away by those strong men.

   On weekdays, the few bowls of vegetable porridge at home can just be dealt with. It's not all these years! "

   "That's it..."

   Su Chen sighed silently, and then he came to realize that it was like this.

   No wonder the past five years, the family is still the same as when he left. However, now that he is back, none of these things is a big deal. As long as everything is safe at home, nothing will happen.

"The marriage of the second younger brother and third younger sister, I'm here to take care of it, so don't worry about it. The water bandits were also annihilated by the government. In the past few years, I have earned some silver in the Yaowang Gang. Find a piece of land and build a new house!"

   They are talking.

   "Aunt Su's family...have not yet gone to the lake to go fishing!"

   But when I saw it, a village woman shouted, opened the curtain, and entered the old cabin.

   "Aunt Li!"

   Su Chen saw the village woman and recognized it at once.

  He quickly got up, gave the village woman a place to sit on the only stool, and said with a smile: "Sit inside. The place in this boat is too small, so I can only take it first."

   The young man in front of the village woman was dressed in common clothes, a decent county person, not like a person from Zhouzhuang Water Town, strangely said: "Aunt Su, your family has come to a distant relative...?"

   She looked a little familiar with Su Chen.

Suddenly remembered, I slapped my thigh and surprised, "This is not Su Jiada Lang. Aunt Li looked at you when you grew up. She almost couldn't recognize this memory! I often hear your parents say that you are taking medicine in Gusu City. Wang Gang to learn art?"

   "Yes, I have learned some crafts in the Medicine King's Gang in the past few years. Aunt Li is looking for my mother, is this...?"

   Su Chen smiled and nodded.

   "It's okay, it's just that there are some old green leaves growing in the field, which is a pity. Passing by, I will ask your mother if I lack greens in the past few days."

   Aunt Li was overjoyed, "By the way, you are a member of the Medicine King Gang, so you will see a doctor? Can you help my aunt see this waist? I have been suffering from low back pain recently."

   "Of course, I understand a little bit."

Su Chen smiled, took a hand pulse for Aunt Li, and quickly said: "The waist is strained, and the blood is blocked. It is not a major problem. I will write a prescription for you, and go to the county pharmacy to grab the medicine. Above it They are all cheap medicinal materials, and you can buy a pair with only a few dozen copper plates. Don't change the prescription, just take a few, and it will be fine in one month."

   "Daddy Su, thank you very much. How much copper do you charge for this consultation?"

"No, it's all from the village folks. These years, thanks to Aunt Li's frequent assistance, otherwise there is no greens at home. I have been idle for the past few days, and I will help the folks have a free consultation. But the medicinal materials, you still have to do it. Go to the county pharmacy to catch it by yourself."

   Su Chen smiled.

   The townspeople in Zhouzhuang Water Town have no money left, and they are reluctant to go to the city to see if they are sick. He didn't have much trouble when he got home. He only stayed at home for a while, serving his parents.

   He used to be a disciple of the Medicine King Gang, and he is also considered a half doctor. By the way, a bench was placed in front of the old fishing boat to help the neighbors in the neighborhood to see a doctor for free, and it was also regarded as repaying the neighbors for taking care of the Su family.

"There are also some vegetable leaves growing in the fields, and they are not valuable in the fields. The skill you learned in the Yaowang Gang for medical treatment is old and valuable, and it is more worthwhile than fishing. Daddy Su, Aunt Su, yes You are such a capable son, you have finally made it through these years!"

   Aunt Li said happily.

  ...

   At noon, in front of the old fishing boat of the Su family, it became lively. Some neighbors heard that Su Jiada Lang had come back from the Yaowang Gang in Gusu County to learn a medicine skill and helped the villagers at the free clinic, so they rushed to see the doctor.

   In just one or two hours, dozens of fishermen and village women gathered near the old fishing boat~www.wuxiaspot.com~ is busy.

   But I saw, Su Lao Niang anxiously invited a matchmaker in Zhouzhuang to come back, openly introducing Su Chen about a marriage.

   also brought two girls behind him, one of them was a peasant girl, with rough hands and feet, and a rather carefree temper. A girl is a little more cute, but a little widow with a shy face.

   Su Chen was stunned, but he didn't expect this to happen. He couldn't laugh or cry, and repeatedly declined, "Mother, don't worry about me, I have my own opinion."

The matchmaker persuaded: "Dalang Su, you are seventeen or eighteen years old, don’t look too high! Look at the guys of the same age in Zhouzhuang, most of them get married at the age of fifteen or six! You are so old at this age. No one will marry you in two years."

   "Yes! Su Dalang, get married quickly. If you don't get married this year, you'll be old. There are three unfilial piety, and no one is the best!"

   "Look at this girl, she has a strong body and arms, and is a good farmer! You have been in the county for a long time. If you don't look down on the rough farmer, and this pretty widow, she is so tender."

   "Su Jiada Lang, this thing can't be delayed. You can pick one, just get married today and enter the bridal chamber tonight! It will be a good thing tonight, and a fat baby next year."

   The neighbors' seven poems and eight aunts, and even the fishermen, have also spoken out one after another.

   "No, no, everyone listen to me... I just go home to visit my parents, and help my uncles and aunts to see their illness... This marriage, really don't worry!"

   Su Chen listened to the clamor from the neighbors, and quickly explained, but was suppressed by the rushing voices of dozens of neighbors, completely unable to withstand the enthusiasm of the people.

  This... he just came back from the county to visit relatives, settle down the affairs of his parents, second brother and third sister, so that he can find immortals at ease. This shouldn't have settled him!

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like