"Thank you Mazu, Xiaodong and Xiaoxi, push your sister out, you are not allowed to run and play on the road, or I will beat you two to death." Miao Yufeng stood at the door of the yard with a plate of rice cakes dyed pink. Shout inside. Today is the day that they will start to build the mountain road. Of course, for such a major event, we must first worship Mazu first, to ask for peace of mind and safety.
Miao Yufeng walked to the front, Xiaodong and Xiaoxi baby pushed Mengmeng riding in her small wooden cart. Xiaodong was six years old this year and grew a little taller. He pushed him in the back. He was teasing Mengmeng next to the car, and Brother Rui was also beside him. He brought a bunch of flowers.
Mengmeng was half sitting and half lying in the stroller, with a soft pillow under it. She opened her big round eyes and looked around curiously, not knowing what the interesting things she saw were. From time to time, she giggled and laughed very happily.
Not long after they went out, three children also ran up. They also wanted to push Mengmeng, but even asking a few times, Xiaodong would not let them. So they had no choice but to surround and follow the car carrying Mengmeng to the Mazu Temple.
Mazu Temple is built on the seaside and faces the sea. There are two ancient pagodas sandwiching an ancient temple, all of which are exquisite wood carving buildings. There is a square in front of the temple, and a big banyan tree is planted next to it. No one can tell how old this tree is. They only know that the tree already exists since the generation of their grandfather's grandfather's grandfather.
Mengmeng and her brothers stayed under the big banyan tree, watching the adults in the village worship Mazu.
As the patriarch, Old Man Feng wore a big red cloak and drew a gossip picture on his back. He held a bowl of raw rice in his hand and prayed eloquently. After finishing, he put the bowl of rice on Mazu. In front of the statue, he knelt on the ground and began to kowtow. He kowtowed three times in a row.
The people in the village were all overjoyed, and they placed the offerings brought by themselves in front of the statue, and also knelt down and worshiped. Everyone's faces were filled with smiles.
After worshiping Mazu, everyone returned to the village. When they came out, they had changed into their set of old clothes holding their hoes, sickles, shovels and hammers. Regardless of men and women, everyone wears clothes made of blue coarse cloth with patches on them. This is what they usually wear. They only wore new clothes on special occasions like when they were worshiping Mazu.
Mengmeng was held in the arms of Miao Yufeng, who is following behind the team. She was wearing a small green military uniform, which stood out in the blue. This small military uniform is the most popular style outside the mountains, and the fabric used is also solid Shanghai thick cotton.
The little children in the village looked at Mengmeng's little military uniform, looked at Mengmeng's white and tender little face, and then looked down at themselves. They were all wearing shabby clothes that were worn by older brothers and sisters. Not to mention the patch, it still doesn't fit well. Seeing Mengmeng dressed in such a high-spirited manner now, they feel a sense of envy in their hearts.
The Dakang family looked at it from a distance, and whispered in her mouth: "Are they trying to show off? Spending so much for a girl, you will see sooner they will regret it." After saying that she suddenly fell on the ground for no reason. She gritted her teeth and said "It hurts, who the hell pushed me?"
A woman from the village passed by, and her eyes were full of mirth. She saw just now how this long tongue woman fell over. She covered her mouth with a smile and said, "Who would push you, no one is near you. You're not crazy? Are you?"
The Dakang woman was so angry when she got up from the ground, but they did not dare to chase the woman in front of her. Instead, they jumped on their feet and said to the man beside them, "Feng Dakang, you useless bastard, what are you doing just standing there?
Feng Dakang's face was sullen, as if he was a wooden man. He looked left and right like a thief, and said in a very low voice: "Why are you shouting now? Do you think that you are not shameful enough?"
"I'm ashamed?" The Da Kang family's nose was crooked with anger, her face was sour, and her voice was louder than anyone else's: "No matter how shameful I am, I'm better than you bastard! Eat, sleep, sleep, eat every day, aren't you just like a pig? At least pigs can be eaten and sold for money. Why can't you be more diligent and stop being lazy?"
She felt that her life was extremely hard, why did she marry such a man, her family was the worst off in the whole village, and other families were all headed by men. Her family was tired when she got to work, and she would rather the whole family suffer. She doesn't even work when she's hungry. She works hard to support a family by herself. She gets angry when she thinks of this.
Feng Dakang's face swelled to the color of pig liver in an instant, and he hurriedly covered his wife's mouth, for fear that she would say something shameful again. It's useless for him to do this. All the people in the village know the virtues of his Family. Now that the reform and opening up, everyone wants to make money, but his family is getting worse and worse. The people in the village look at them like a joke.
I walked along the dirt road in the village, and after a while, I came to the side of the mountain. The intersection of the mountain was covered with black volcanic rocks, which are often used materials for building houses in the village. In addition to these stones, the eyes are full of green, and in some places, a few white wild chrysanthemums can be seen.
At the beginning, the mountain road could accommodate seven or eight people walking side by side, but gradually it became five or six, then two or three, and at the back, only one person could walk by himself. Fear.
After turning a corner, there was a large black stone blocking the way. The hillside here is relatively gentle. Feng Yimin observed it for a while and said, "Let's start from here."
Several cadres from the village came up and tied a red rope on the raised spot of the big rock. As soon as they stepped back, the villagers rushed up the hillside, slamming their hammers and beating for a while, and there were still people underneath. After digging with a hoe, shoveling with a shovel, and breaking with both hands, everyone was busy for a while before everyone finally moved the big rock away.
One of the people in the crowd stopped angrily, walked to the side and said to his daughter-in-law, "Everyone knows that this road cannot be repaired. The village chief is trying to bribe the hearts of the villagers. We are the ones who work hard in vain, but he will get popular because of this, bah!"
"Isn't it? Widow Liu's family son has already gotten better and stronger. Why do we still need to do this road that can't be repaired?" His daughter-in-law has high cheekbones, and if you look closely, she looks like from a wealthy family. The person standing opposite him is Feng Dafu.
Hearing what he said, Feng Dafu threw his arms and crooked his mouth and said, "Look at the rocks on this mountain, the roads are blocked, and what are you doing now? You won't be able to repair it until before the new year. Do you want to do the repair even after the new year? I don't want to do it. Whoever likes to do it, let him do it."
Having said that, Feng Dafu didn't run back to the village. He was also a foreign worker who stayed here, and he had to find a place to rest after working for a while.
Miao Yufeng hugged Mengmeng and went back before she reached the place where the stones were dug. She also took a few boys from the family away, and said along the way: "It's too dangerous in the mountains, and you won't be allowed to bring your sister in the future. Remember that, okay?"
What she didn't notice was that, at some point in Mengmeng's palm, there was a little black stone that disappeared suddenly.
Back at home, Su Wan was still teaching at school and did not come back, Miao Yufeng put down Mengmeng and went to the kitchen to cook. The old man and the eldest son of her family went to build the road. They must be starving when they come back. She had to make the meal quickly, and she had to do it better. Building a road was much more tiring than doing farm work.
She closed the kitchen door carefully, went to the corner and removed a few jars, and took out a small vermilion clay pot from the innermost. Throw it into the pot with your hands, and this is a handful of white rice.
This is the new rice that her family just received. Not only does it look good from the outside, but it is even more delicious after it is cooked. After the rice pops up, it is sticky and glutinous, especially crystal white and moist. Rice is fragrant, even the cooked rice soup is very clear and thick, and Mengmeng especially likes to drink it.
The rice was thrown into the pot and let it cook, but Miao Yufeng took out a handful of peeled peanuts out of nowhere, and threw it into the oil pot and exploded. This oil was also extracted from fresh peanuts. At that time, when her family squeezed the oil, the fragrance was fragrant. She had never smelled such fragrant oil in her life. She had to tightly close the doors and windows to prevent it from leaking out.
The peanuts were fried quickly. Miao Yufeng sprinkled a small pinch of salt and shook it evenly. She knew that it was crisp and fragrant without trying it. With this peanut, she can eat four bowls of porridge, and her family loves it even more.
There is still a little oil left in the pot, and there is no waste. Didn't I just make rice cakes this morning, it was made of rice flour that was ground into rice noodles, and the leek leaves grown at home were wrapped in it and fried in an oil pan. The peach-red rice skin immediately became moist and transparent, and the green inside was faintly revealed. The peach powder and chive green were particularly appetizing.
After doing this, Miao Yufeng took an egg from the hanging basket on the stove. After knocking out the egg liquid, add water, salt and peanut oil, stir together carefully, cover it and put it in the pot. Steamed in water, it will be steamed for a while, and it will turn into a bowl of soft and smooth steamed eggs. The skin on it will shake when you move it. The color is bright and yellow. It is Mengmeng's favorite dish.
Miao Yufeng's hands and feet were fast, and it didn't take long for her to prepare the family's meals. She opened the rice cooker and scooped out a bowl of sticky rice soup, put it aside to cool, and opened the kitchen door and walked out.
"Mengmeng, are you hungry? Grandma has come to feed you. Hey, what are you holding in your hand?"
Mengmeng's little hand held a small yellow and black stone, which looked very small, probably as big as Miao Yufeng's fingernail. When she saw it, she only felt a burst of anger rushed to her forehead, raised her eyebrows and said fiercely at Xiaodong and Xiaoxi "I want you to look at your sister, what did you give her, if Mengmeng accidentally swallowed it, let's see if I won't tear you two apart!"
"No." "We didn't give her that." Dawa and Erwa felt particularly wronged. They had been told by adults a long time ago that they were not allowed to take things to their sister indiscriminately, and they always remembered this.
"You still don't admit it? Would Mengmeng get it herself? Where did you get this from?" Miao Yufeng was even more angry, but she was even more worried that the stone would hurt Mengmeng's little hand, so she turned around quickly. "Mengmeng, this stone is not for fun, can you give it to grandma?"
"Yah..." Mengmeng grinned and gave out two small dimples, and as soon as her little hand loosened, she threw the small stone into Miao Yufeng's hand.
As soon as she caught the stone, Miao Yufeng felt that the small stone was quite heavy. She took a closer look and said, ``Hey, why does this stone look like gold?"
She took it to the outside of the main room and aligned it in the sunlight. That's right, it's really golden. Could it be that it's gold? Miao Yufeng has never seen gold in her life, but she knows that gold is golden. Looking at this thing, except for the black part that is stone, she thinks that everything else looks like gold.
This is incredible! She squatted down immediately, no longer angry, laughed like a wolf grandmother, grabbed Dawa and Erwa and asked, "Where did you get this stone? Tell grandma quickly."
Dawa and Erwa felt that they were about to be wronged to death. They shook their heads desperately and said, "We didn't take it, We didn't take it." "We didn't take it!"
Seeing that they didn't seem to be lying, Miao Yufeng had to let go of the two of them, but she couldn't figure out how to think about it herself. How did this gold get to Mengmeng?
After thinking about it, there is only one possibility, that is, she carried Mengmeng up the mountain today, maybe she touched a piece of gold from somewhere with her little hand, um, that must be the case.
"Is this really gold from the mountain? Who even gave us a piece of gold to Mengmeng!" Miao Yufeng put the gold in her pocket, pinched Mengmeng's chubby faces on both sides, and looked at her little granddaughter. Like looking at a blessing doll, love is not enough.
"Mom, what are you talking about? What is gold?" Feng Yimin and Old Man Feng walked into the courtyard, followed by Su Wan.
"Quick, close the door!" Miao Yufeng yelled at them anxiously, She ran over to close the door personally, and went back to the main room to take out the small stone and said, "Look, this gold came from the mountain. When I finished cooking I saw Mengmeng playing with this gold!"
The adults were taken aback and hurriedly took a look at the small stone. Su Wan was more knowledgeable and immediately recognized that it was indeed a piece of gold, or a pure natural nugget. She said in surprise, "Mom, you said Mengmeng was playing with this gold?"
"Hmmm… I asked Dawa and Erwa, but they didn't give it to Mengmeng. Only possible reason is that Mengmeng accidentally got it when I put her down for a while. I warn you, don't say anything about the gold. Be careful to ruin our Mengmeng's blessing, this is given to us by the mountain god!"
Feng Yimin took the gold and looked at it carefully, and suddenly said happily, "Dad, do you think there is a gold mine in the mountain behind our village?"