Having figured out the crux of the problem that had troubled him for half a year, Mingdong's mood instantly brightened. He excitedly jumped off the parallel bars and pulled Mingxi to run two laps around the playground to relax the joy in his heart.
Mingxi was dragged by Mingdong to run for two steps before squatting on the ground and refusing to move. "I've been sitting on the train for several days. How can I be in the mood to go crazy with you? If you want to run, run quickly. After running, go back to the dormitory and sleep. We have to go to Fourth Uncle's house tomorrow."
Mingdong chuckled and said, "Mingxi, do you think I am stupid? Actually, I can date Guihua first and then get married. This way, it won't be an arranged marriage. Why didn't I think about it earlier? Isn't this just wasting time?"
Mingxi yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I didn't think you were stupid before, but now I find that you are not very smart sometimes. When you are stupid, you are just like Mingbei. I say, brother, if you have time, please don't read those messy books. Otherwise, I will go home and tell grandma."
"Why did you tell me everything?" Mingdong glared at him. "You are already grown up, can you stop being so childish? Besides, don't let me worry about such trivial matters."
"It's okay not to tell grandma. Come back to the dormitory and let me sleep. I'm so sleepy." Mingxi yawned again, urged Mingdong back to the dormitory, soaked his feet in a basin of hot water, fell asleep on the bed.
Mingdong was not sleepy at this time. When he thought about officially starting a relationship with Guihua, he always felt that he had to prepare well. He looked at his face in the glass and saw that his hair was messy because of his own scratching. He hurried to get some water to wash his hair and even shaved for the first time. He took out the white shirt from the box, sprinkled some water on it, smoothed out the wrinkles, and hung it on the window to dry.
Zhang Hai, who slept on the upper bunk of Li Mingdong, watched Mingdong busying around all night and couldn't help teasing him, "Washing your hair and hanging up your shirts, are you going on a blind date tomorrow?"
Before Mingdong could answer, Meng Weishan, who had returned from carrying Mingdong's luggage in the afternoon, interrupted: "I don't think it's a blind date, but a date?" He winked at Mingdong: "Who is the girl who came with your brother? I see that she looks at you in a strange way."
As the saying goes, a master can be defeated by a random punch. Mingxi's simple, straightforward and rough advice opened Mingdong's eyes. When he heard Meng Weishan say that Guihua looked at him in a special way, his heart started beating fast. He had a hint of joy on his face but tried to pretend to be calm: "Oh, really? What was that look? I didn't notice it."
"You're just pretending." Meng Weishan rolled his eyes at him: "The way that girl looks at you, it's obvious that she likes you." Meng Weishan bumped Mingdong with his shoulder and asked with a gossipy look on his face: "What's your relationship with that girl? Is she your wife? Have you married yet?"
Mingdong couldn't help laughing, and replied a little embarrassedly: "I haven't married yet. I'll go back and get married during the winter vacation."
Meng Weishan was delighted. He sat next to Mingdong and put his arm around his shoulders: "You are so lucky. You married a very beautiful wife!"
Mingdong's face instantly turned red to his neck. He kicked Meng Weishan aside, turned around and sat at the table, picked up a book, and his face was full of joy that could not be concealed.
Meng Weishan burst into laughter: "I told you, you can't hide it from my eyes. I can tell at a glance that you are young people in love."
"In love?" Mingdong couldn't help but ask Meng Weishan when he heard the word he was most concerned about recently: "How do you talk about love?"
"You've asked the right person." Meng Weishan sat next to Mingdong and tried his best to impart his experience: "When I was courting my wife..."
"Wait, wait!" Zhang Hai jumped down from the upper bunk and looked at him in disbelief: "Even you are married?"
"How funny! Why can't I get married? I married my wife right after I graduated from high school." Meng Weishan shook his hair and made a cool gesture: "Look at me, I have good knowledge, good character and good looks, but the most important thing is that I am always sincere to my wife. Only this kind of person can marry a wife."
Meng Weishan sat next to Mingdong and shared his experience: "Let me tell you, the most important thing in a relationship is the two of you. Don't bring your brother with you on a date or when you go out for a walk. It will affect your emotional communication."
Mingdong glanced at Mingxi who was soundly sleeping and nodded seriously: "You're right, I'll get rid of him after I visit my fourth uncle."
Meng Weishan nodded and gave him a teachable look: "Second, create romance." Seeing the bewildered looks on Mingdong and Zhang Hai's faces, Meng Weishan stood up and recited softly: "When the sun rises, take her to the mountains to enjoy the sunrise and feel the morning light of hope together; when the sunset is the most beautiful, take her to the riverside for a walk and bathe in the golden light together; when the full moon rises, take her to the rooftop to recite poems and see the stars in the sky; when..."
"Come on..." Zhang Hai couldn't help but interrupt him: "This place is far from the mountains and not close to the river. How can you say that falling in love is more tiring than catching a train? Besides, when the moon is particularly bright, there are no stars. Don't you know the phrase 'the moon is bright and the stars are sparse'?"
Mingdong disagreed with Zhang Hai's idea. "I think Weishan said it very well. The scene is indeed beautiful. As for the mountains and rivers, it doesn't matter if we don't have them here. We are just outside our hometown. I will add this part after I get home. Weishan, please continue."
The few lines of poetry that Meng Weishan had managed to compose were interrupted by Zhang Hai. He immediately forgot the rest of the lines and could only evade the main point by saying, "Then you can take her shopping, to a movie, etc. to promote their relationship."
Mingdong nodded and closed the book in his hand: "That's it!"
The next morning, she heard the rustling sound of the girls in the dormitory getting dressed. Guihua, who had already woken up and dressed, quickly opened the door and went out to wash up. When she came back, the girls in the dormitory had just finished cleaning up, and they walked out one by one with towels and washbasins. While no one was in the room, she quickly took the rag and mop and cleaned the dormitory brightly.
When the female students came back and saw that Guihua had tidied the dormitory, they felt a little embarrassed: "Guihua, you are a guest, how can we ask you to help us clean up?"
"I don't have anything to do, and living here will cause trouble to you. I have to do something." Guihua smiled and said, "You're welcome."
"You are too polite. Actually, you don't have to help us clean the dormitory. Students in our class often have relatives staying over. This is normal. You don't have to be embarrassed." A tall girl smiled, picked up a book from the table, and prepared to take it out.
Meng Shuran watched Guihua chatting and laughing with her classmates, and couldn't help but think of Li Mingdong again. She always felt a little unwilling. She bit her lip and asked with a little hostility: "Guihua, do you know how to read?"
"Yes, I know him!" Guihua replied calmly, "I also went to school for a few years. When I couldn't go to school anymore, Mingdong taught me for a few years."
Meng Shuran was blocked for a moment, her face looked a little ugly. She looked at Guihua and always felt that her little thoughts were exposed in front of her. This feeling made her a little embarrassed and angry. In an instant, she roared out with anger: "Excuse me, if you don't go to school, I'm afraid you and Li Mingdong will have nothing to talk about, right?"
Guihua looked at her in surprise, with a hint of confusion on her face: "Why do you always ask about what happened between me and Brother Mingdong?" Guihua looked at Meng Shuran with a peaceful smile, and when the other classmates' eyes fell on her, she said slowly: "I'm sorry to make you worry about us. Brother Mingdong and I grew up together, and we have a lot of topics to talk about. We always have endless things to talk about when he goes home on vacation."
"Guihua, come down to eat!" Li Mingdong's voice sounded just right from downstairs. Guihua walked quickly to the window, stuck her head out, and smiled brightly: "Brother Mingdong, wait for me, I'll be down soon."
"Come down slowly, don't be in a hurry." Mingdong waved at Guihua, and thinking that this was her first time living upstairs, he gave her another worried reminder.
Meng Shuran's face turned from blue to red, and then from red to pale. Guihua turned around and nodded to her with a smile: "Brother Mingdong asked me to go out for breakfast. After breakfast, we are going to his fourth uncle's house to buy some things for the wedding in the afternoon. I have to trouble you to pick me up in the evening. I may have to stay here for a few days."
Meng Shuran looked at Guihua and didn't know how to answer. However, the girl who picked up Guihua yesterday smiled and said, "Don't worry, when you come back in the evening, just shout and I'll pick you up. By the way, do you remember my name? My name is Li Xian."
"Thank you for your help, Sister Li Xian." Guihua thanked her with a smile, and said goodbye to the girls in the dormitory one by one before rushing down.
Li Xian listened to Guihua's footsteps going away, and then glanced at Meng Shuran indifferently: "There are only eight girls in our class, don't do anything embarrassing to bring shame on us."
Meng Shuran was annoyed and angry, his eyes were red with anger: "What do you mean by this?"
"You know what I mean." Li Xian sneered, "Classmate Li Mingdong has a fiancée, and they are about to get married. Don't do anything useless and cause trouble for us."
"I don't know what you mean." Meng Shuran said angrily, "I'm not familiar with Li Mingdong, I was just asking Guihua a few questions out of curiosity, why are you so angry?"
"It's best if we're not familiar with each other, so as to avoid trouble." After saying this, Li Xian left with the book. The remaining girls were in a hurry to go to the library to read, so they also left, leaving only Meng Shuran and Chen Ge, a girl who was usually on good terms with her.
Chen Ge looked at Meng Shuran crying, so he went to get a towel and handed it to her: "Li Xian's words are harsh, but they make sense. Besides, you just entered college, there is no need to rush to find a partner."
Meng Shuran wiped her tears without saying anything. Chen Ge poured her a jar of water and comforted her, "There are many boys in our school. You will always find a good partner during the four and a half years of college. Don't worry too much."
Meng Shuran took a sip of water, stood up and walked to the window, looking at the back of Li Mingdong who had just walked a short distance away. He and Guihua walked side by side, and the two looked at each other from time to time. They looked very compatible...
"How did you sleep last night?" Mingdong asked Guihua.
"It's fine. Your classmates are also very nice and take special care of me." Guihua replied with a smile, with a little excitement in her tone: "This is the first time I live in such a high floor. I'm so excited."
Listening to Guihua's heartfelt laughter, Mingdong couldn't help but laugh along: "I thought you would be scared. When we first went to school, a girl who lived on the second floor was so scared that she cried. In the end, the teacher had no choice but to move her to the first floor."
"Then she is definitely not from Beicha. The trees on our Red Pine Mountain are dozens of meters high. Even young men and women can climb them very fast. They are much taller than this building." Guihua looked around the campus curiously while walking. She looked at the students coming and going with books under their arms and said with a hint of envy, "It's great to be able to go to college."
Mingdong glanced at Guihua and recalled the scene when she insisted on giving up junior high school after graduating from elementary school. At that time, he was young and didn't think too much, just thinking that she didn't want to study. In fact, now thinking about it, the young Guihua at that time was probably worried that the cost of studying and eating for free every day would make her grandmother and mother unhappy, so she gave up studying.
Mingdong sighed and felt a little annoyed. If he had thought it through at that time, he should have persuaded Guihua more. Grandma and mom didn't care about it at all, but they didn't understand studying, so they let Guihua drop out of school.
Seeing Mingdong, who was feeling a little depressed again, Guihua couldn't help but ask, "Brother Mingdong, what's wrong with you?"
"It's okay!" Since the past could not be changed, Mingdong stopped thinking about it. He looked at Guihua and smiled: "In fact, you can read without going to school. Do you recognize all the characters I taught you before?"
Guihua nodded: "I kept all the letters you sent home before, and I can read them all."
Mingdong glanced at her and said, "I'll find some books for you later. You can read them when you are free at home. It will be like going to school."
"An old book you've used?" Guihua looked at Mingdong expectantly.
Mingdong felt a little embarrassed by her scorching gaze. He smiled foolishly and said, "Yes, it's the Chinese textbook I used in junior high and high school."
Guihua nodded excitedly, her eyes shining like stars. Mingdong couldn't take his eyes away after just one look. When he was about to say something, a voice that ruined the mood interrupted him: "Brother, those books of yours have been there for who knows how many years. Can you still find them? Why don't you just let Sister Guihua use mine?"
Mingdong glared at Mingxi and immediately felt that Meng Weishan was absolutely right: it takes two people to be in a relationship, one more person is just an eyesore!
***
After breakfast, Mingdong took Mingxi and Guihua to Li Mulin's house with bacon, hazel mushrooms and pine nuts picked from the mountain. Li Mulin was a line patrol worker and often worked shifts, but Mingdong had figured out his work schedule and could always come on his day off.
"Uncle Four, are you home?" Mingdong knocked on the door and shouted at the top of his voice.
"Here he comes!" Li Mulin, who was chopping firewood, quickly put down his axe and walked out quickly: "Is Mingdong here?"
As soon as the door opened, Mingxi and Guihua hurriedly called out, "Fourth Uncle."
Li Mulin was pleasantly surprised to see Mingxi and Guihua. He asked them as he let them in, "Why are you here? Is your grandma doing well at home? How are your family members? Is the food supply sufficient this year?"
"Everything is fine. Before I came, grandma asked me to tell my fourth uncle to go back early this winter." Guihua put down the bag of hazel mushrooms in her hand.
"What's going on? What happened at home?" Li Mulin couldn't help asking. Guihua looked at Mingdong, not knowing how to start. After Mingdong figured out that marriage and love were not in conflict, he spoke of it calmly: "Guihua and I will have our wedding in the winter."
Guihua was pleasantly surprised to hear this. She thought there was still some room for negotiation regarding her marriage with Mingdong, and was still thinking about how to talk to Mingdong about it. Unexpectedly, Mingdong admitted it in person in the blink of an eye.
"This is a big happy event. I was thinking your grandma would arrange your wedding." Li Mulin said cheerfully, "Hurry up and go into the house to drink some water and rest for a while. You came all the way here."
Mingxi ran ahead carrying salted meat and pine nuts. "Uncle, my grandma got you some pickled wild boar meat."
"That's great. We haven't bought meat for a while. Who killed this wild boar?" Li Mulin took the thing and asked as he walked inside.
Mingxi's legs started shaking when he heard this question: "... I don't want to talk about it."
Mingdong followed his uncle and Mingxi and walked a few steps inside when he suddenly realized that Guihua had not followed. He turned around and saw Guihua standing there, looking at him and smiling foolishly. He immediately couldn't help but smile too. Mingdong walked over and touched Guihua's head, feeling the warmth in his chest: "Come in, silly girl."
***
In autumn, every household in Beicha is busy, harvesting crops, picking wild vegetables, and doing countless things all day long. The same is true for the Li family. After Zhenzhen ripened the crops and secretly harvested them, they never went to the fields to check on them again, until Zhenzhen's third aunt Liu Xiulan came over and asked hurriedly: "Second sister-in-law, why haven't you harvested the crops you planted on the mountain yet? I just went to check on them and they are growing well."
Wang Sufen jumped down from the kang when she heard it. Old Lady Li glanced at her calmly and said in a serious tone, "It seems that Mingxi and Guihua are not at home. We have been busy with other things and haven't had time to collect them yet."
Liu Xiulan was anxious: "What work is more urgent than harvesting crops? Every household is nervous this year. What if someone wickedly steals corn in the middle of the night?"
Old Lady Li knocked the edge of the kang with her pipe, her face calm, "My house is hard to find even in the daytime, and it's dark in the deep mountains and forests. If anyone dares to sneak past like that, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."
Liu Xiulan sat down on the kang and wiped the sweat off her head. "That's right. I was so anxious when I saw no one was collecting the crops that I forgot about it. But mom, don't collect them too late. What if it rains in a few days?"
"Yes, I know." Old Lady Li nodded: "I will ask Mingbei to find his father later and collect him in the afternoon."
"Okay, I won't stay here any longer if you guys know what's going on. I haven't finished harvesting my land yet." Liu Xiulan said as she started to walk out. Wang Sufen quickly chased after her: "It's almost noon, why don't you call Musen and the kids over for dinner?"
"No need, I steamed the pancakes this morning." Liu Xiulan waved her hand without even turning her head: "You guys hurry up, there's a lot of work to do."
After seeing Liu Xiulan off, Wang Sufen ran back and carefully closed the door. "Mom, we've already harvested all the crops, so why are they growing again? Is it Zhenzhen who did this?"
Old Lady Li was also unsure: "No way? Didn't we not take her up the mountain again? Besides, how could she know which piece of land belonged to us from such a distance?"
"But, apart from Zhenzhen, there should be no one else who has this ability." Wang Sufen said quickly.
Old Lady Li looked back at Zhenzhen who was holding onto Kangqin and practicing walking, and waved at her: "Baby, come here."
As soon as Zhenzhen turned around, her legs softened and she sat down on the kang. Old Lady Li held her in her arms and said, "Baby, do you know what happened to the crops on our mountain?"
Zhenzhen sat on Old Lady Li's lap and laughed at her: "Eat your fill!"
"Oh, my dear granddaughter, you want grandma to eat enough, right?" When Mrs. Li saw Zhenzhen's pretty little appearance, her heart melted: "Will my baby be tired if this is the case?"
Zhenzhen looked at her short legs that couldn't even stand up, and thought bitterly of her age. She decided to talk less and act dumb more. She happily climbed down from Old Lady Li's legs and continued to practice walking with the help of the kangqin.
The previous batch of crops was not eaten much, and this time they can harvest another batch. Even if the Li family can cook three meals a day, it will be enough to eat for the whole winter. When Mrs. Li thought of this, she felt full of energy and wanted to go to the mountain to harvest crops immediately.
Wang Sufen saw that Old Lady Li was fidgeting and quickly advised her, "It won't take too long. I'll go and steam some dry food so that Mu Wu and Ming Nan and Ming Bei can eat their fill and work better."
"Make some steamed cakes made entirely of cornmeal, without any sweet potato flour, and stew some bacon and cabbage for them to enjoy." When Mrs. Li thought about the ripening of another crop, she immediately became generous.
Wang Sufen responded, found a piece of baking soda to make the dough rise, and made a dough for Zhenzhen mixed with white flour. Old Lady Li came out and saw two eggs from the basket and handed them to her: "Put two eggs in there for Zhenzhen. Didn't you drink the milk you brought back this morning? Pour half a bottle in there. Our Zhenzhen has a thin throat, and she can't swallow anything too coarse."
When Mingnan and Mingbei dragged firewood down from the mountain, they smelled the aroma of dry food emanating from the big pot and immediately drooled: "Mom, what did you steam today? Why does it smell so good?"
"Steamed cake!" Wang Sufen replied without looking up while cutting bacon: "It's made with all cornmeal."
As far as Mingbei can remember, his family has never eaten dry food made entirely of cornmeal. He squatted in front of the big pot, drooling, and said happily: "Mom, when can our family eat dry food made entirely of white flour? That will definitely be more delicious than this steamed cake."
"It's not bad to be able to eat enough, but you still want to eat white flour, you are so arrogant." Wang Sufen rolled her eyes at him and kicked his butt with her toes: "Don't block it here, go to the grain store and ask your father to come back. This grain store hasn't supplied grain for several months, and it doesn't pay wages, what are you wasting time for?"
Mingbei looked at the big pot reluctantly, then ran out quickly. When the father and son came back panting, lunch was ready.
Zhenzhen sat at the table on the kang, happily chewing on the fragrant and soft bunny-shaped steamed cake with her four little teeth. Li Mingbei poked Zhenzhen on the forehead and said, "Silly girl, this is a fake rabbit. Wait until I go up the mountain and I'll catch you a real rabbit to eat."
Wang Sufen glanced at him and said, "Don't bother with that useless thing. Eat your meal quickly and go up the mountain with your father to harvest the crops. Work hard. Your grandma said that we'll give you dry food these days, so put as much meat as possible in your dishes."
"Okay!" Li Mingbei picked up a piece of steamed cake, put it in his mouth and took a big bite.
Turning over potatoes, harvesting sweet potatoes, and breaking corn, the people of Beicha were pleasantly surprised to find that although there was not much rain this year, the crops grew exceptionally well. For example, the number of sweet potatoes and potatoes was more than double that of previous years.
"The crops are good, does that mean the year will be better?"
"Of course, these difficult days are over."
"If such good crops can be grown in our forest area, other places must be good too. I think we will definitely have no shortage of food next year."
Author's words: Kaka's freshly completed novel recommendation: "The Lucky Star of Time Travel": She had great luck in her previous life, and after time travel, she still had good luck. Not only did she gain the magical trait of getting pregnant by whoever she hugged, but she also had the strange luck of digging ginseng like digging carrots, and she also met a loyal dog who loved her to the bone...
New article recommended by gay friends: "The Character Cannot Collapse" The story of a straight man who can only say "drink more hot water" and becomes a wife-loving maniac