Hexi Village is a small village in the west of Hecheng County.
Hecheng County is located in the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River. good.
Today is the happy day for Jiang Chengxiang, the third son of the wealthy Jiang family in Hexi Village, and the village is even more lively.
This Jiang family is sitting on fifteen acres of good paddy fields, ten acres of high-quality mulberry forests, plus ten acres of dry land. Old man Jiang also has a good skill in killing pigs and sheep, so his life is not bad.
You must know that Hecheng County is not a place with vast land and sparse population. There are many people and few land, but the land is fertile. Because the river is vertical and horizontal and it is not far from the sea, there will be no drought or flood. Generally, as long as you are willing to take care of it , the harvest in the field will not be bad, usually people have seven or eight acres of paddy fields plus a few acres of dry land can already live well.
The third child of the Jiang family studied in the county town school. Although he didn't even pass the exam, he found a good job two years ago because of his literacy. He went to work at the county town wharf every day. In the shed, the coolies on the wharf recorded how many bags of rice so-and-so carried, and how many pieces of cloth were carried by so-and-so, and the wages were two or three times that of the coolies.
Because he has a little face, he can introduce men in the village to work as coolies on the dock in his spare time, and he is very prestigious in the village.
Today, Jiang Laosan got married, and people in the village took their best tables, chairs, tableware and chopsticks to Jiang’s house, so that Jiang’s family could handle the marriage in a decent way. Come out and help greet guests.
Jiang Laosan, wearing a brand new red shirt with a big red flower on his chest, looked high-spirited and welcomed back Zhu Shufen, the young daughter of Zhu Xiucai's family, from a neighboring village.
Zhu Shufen is the daughter of a scholar, she is good looking, and if the third Jiang can marry her, the men in the village are envious, and those who can talk to the third Jiang come forward to congratulate, and the happy expression on the third Jiang's face is just that. Added a few more points.
The wedding was very lively and respectable. The Jiang family killed two pigs the day before and bought a lot of fish. On each table, there was a bowl of pork, a bowl of pig water, a bowl of pig blood soup, and a bowl of pig trotters and pig tails. One steamed fish, plus many seasonal vegetables, filled the table.
The Jiang family's relatives and friends, plus the people who came to help in the village, had a total of 30 tables. After one meal at noon, there was another meal in the evening, which was full of people for a while.
A relative of the Jiang family who was helping the relatives grabbed some tea leaves and put them in a sea bowl. He used a gourd scoop to scoop a spoonful of water from the iron pot that was burning water next to him and washed the tea leaves. The old man: "Uncle Jiang, what about Boss Jiang? His younger brother got married, why haven't I seen him?"
The Zhuang family got married early, and there were many who became grandparents in their thirties. Generally, they looked old at the age of forty or fifty, and living to sixty or seventy years was considered a long life, but the old man Jiang was nearly fifty, but he was still very old Strong and tall. He frowned when he heard someone ask about the eldest son. His eldest son is a good hand at work. He should help at home at this time. Why didn't he see it today
Doubt in his heart, the old man Jiang went to the kitchen to find his mother-in-law: "My child, where's the boss?"
"Didn't he fall into the river a few days ago? When he is sick, I will let him go to the old house at the west end of the village to raise him." Mrs. Jiang said, her drooping eyes were full of dissatisfaction: "Even if he falls, After three or four days of raising water, it should be fine, I think he is just slacking off, and when the day is over, I will definitely take care of him when I look back!"
Old man Jiang didn't care much about family affairs, and was very unhappy with Boss Jiang. He frowned when he heard his mother-in-law say this: "That worthless bastard!"
The old man Jiang asked and scolded him, and he forgot the old man Jiang, and was busy with the marriage of the third youngest Jiang.
Everyone happily held a happy event, completely forgetting that Boss Jiang, who had never had a sense of existence.
There are several dilapidated houses in the westernmost part of Hexi Village. Here lives the Zhao family who lived very badly in Hexi Village. On a plot of land next to the Jiang family, the dilapidated earthen house was handed down by the elders of the Jiang family. It was so badly damaged that it could no longer live in people, but now there was a person lying on the ground inside.
When Jiang Zhen woke up, he only felt dizzy, and his stomach was even more painful.
He couldn't see the surroundings for a while, and after blinking several times, his eyes became a little clearer, and then he saw the tattered roof that was shining into the house.
Isn't he dead? How can I feel the cold and pain again
Even if he survived then, he should be in the hospital now, how could he be lying in such a dirty and messy place
Jiang Zhen instinctively felt that something was wrong. He wanted to jump up from the ground, but at the moment he couldn't even move.
He was drowsy and had severe stomach pain. Jiang Zhen almost fainted again. At this moment, his head hurt, and some memories that did not belong to him suddenly flooded into his mind.
It was a memory belonging to an ancient person.
This ancient man had the same surname as Jiang, but instead of Jiang Zhen, he was called Jiang Zhen'e. He was the eldest in the family, and people in the village generally called him Boss Jiang. He was born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the month of May is the evil month, and this day is the day of poison, so he named him "suppressing evil".
It is said that children born on this day will hinder their parents, and Boss Jiang has indeed "obstructed" their parents.
The day before Mr. Jiang was born, Mr. Jiang was taken away for military service. Mr. Jiang’s parents were no longer alive at that time, and Mrs. Jiang’s family was far away, so she could only give birth at home alone, because it was a difficult first birth. , the pain almost lost his life all day and night.
After giving birth, Mrs. Jiang had no one to take care of her, and she was hungry for a day. After that, she had to get up to cook by herself, wash her dirty clothes and bedding, and she couldn't confine herself at all.
A woman is home alone and has to take care of a child. She knows how difficult it is. From the beginning, Mrs. Jiang did not like her eldest son, and decided that her eldest son was a death star.
It’s just that Old Man Jiang has gone to serve in the military, and he might die outside. If the child is gone at this time, Old Madam Jiang will definitely be kicked out of the house by Jiang’s uncle and robbed of the land... Although Old Man Jiang wants to drown, Madam Jiang is in the end. Still pinching his nose to support Boss Jiang.
But only for living.
Mrs. Jiang beat and scolded Mr. Jiang at every turn. She ate and drank well, but only gave Mr. Jiang a mouthful of leftovers. When she went out to work, Mr. Jiang was tied at home with straw ropes... She has always been touched by this mourning star. I don't want to touch it.
When Old Man Jiang returned from his military service five years later, the five-year-old Old Man Jiang was so thin and small that he didn't even know how to call anyone.
After the old man Jiang returned home, the life of the Jiang family got better. Old man Jiang brought back some money to buy land. He would kill pigs again, and he would kill pigs to sell at his own house during festivals. Mrs. Jiang was also a good silkworm farmer, and the Jiang family eventually became a wealthy family in the village.
But Boss Jiang's life was not much better.
Old Man Jiang always only cares about his work, regardless of family affairs. Mrs. Jiang will not interfere with the children who are disobedient to him. Moreover, Mr. Jiang, whose eldest age cannot even speak clearly, does not please him at all.
One year after the old man came back, the second child of the Jiang family was born, two years later, the third child of the Jiang family was also born, and another two years later, a younger sister Jiang was born. These three children were born and raised by old man Jiang. He loves them very much. What about Mrs. Jiang? When she gave birth to these three children, her family was in good condition, and she was able to eat and clothe herself. Old man Jiang even hired an old woman from the village to take care of her confinement. Just love it.
For a long time, Jiang's second child, Jiang's third child, and Jiang's sister are the treasures of Jiang's family, but Jiang's boss is an existence that Jiang's family dislikes.
At a young age, Boss Jiang had to take his younger brothers and sisters to work in the fields. That's all, Madam Jiang was reluctant to let him have enough to eat. If the family had eggs and fish, he would never have a share.
Probably because he was beaten, scolded and oppressed since he was a child, Boss Jiang became quieter and quieter. He didn’t talk much. He only knew how to work hard. He was doing it.
He is diligent in his hands and feet, and he does farm work well. The Jiang family still has money, so of course someone will match him, but the old man and Mrs. Jiang have the money to go to the county for the second and third Jiang to study in the county, and the money to make new clothes for Jiang Xiaomei. , but did not have the money to marry Jiang's eldest eldest daughter, this wasted time for a full ten years.
Now the eldest Jiang is twenty-six years old, and he is one of the old bachelors in Hexi Village, and the men in the countryside have not married a wife at this age.
Boss Jiang became more and more silent. He didn't say a few words for a year. Except for work, he slept. Like an invisible person, the rest of the Jiang family lived a prosperous life.
Jiang Lao Er is 20 this year, and he married his wife three years ago. Now he has a son. Jiang Lao San is 18 this year and married today. Jiang Xiaomei is 16 years old.
And Boss Jiang, he died.
Jiang Laosan has to prepare a lot of things to get married. A few days ago, Mrs. Jiang asked Mr. Jiang to catch fish. Mr. Jiang would do farm work. He learned to kill pigs from Mr. Jiang, but he didn’t know anything about catching fish. The other children in the village play wildly together, and they can't swim and fish at all.
But he didn't dare not to listen to Mrs. Jiang's words, and in the end he still went into the water.
When catching fish, Boss Jiang accidentally drowned and almost died. In the end, someone in the village saw him and rescued him, but he developed a high fever the next day.
If other people in the Jiang family have a fever, even if they don’t ask a doctor, they can rest in the house, eat well, sleep well, eat eggs, and fine grains. Pushed him into the abandoned house of the Jiang family and left it behind.
Boss Jiang burned so badly that he was thrown into a ventilated room. That's all. Mrs. Jiang was so busy preparing for the marriage for Mr. Jiang that she even forgot to deliver meals to Mr. Jiang.
Boss Jiang was starved to death.
He was hungry before he caught the fish, and starved to death for three days in this dilapidated house.