The Story of the Northeast Village

In 1993, the last two children of the Zhang family got married.The major affairs of the Zhang family are almost done, three of the four sons are married, and one daughter has a home, but the second child has never been back, and no one knows his life or death. He is most worried about now.Now that I am getting older, I am afraid that I will not live for a few days, and my wife is not in good health, and has been bedridden for many years.

The spring of 1997 was a bit abnormal, the rain was mixed with snowflakes falling quietly, and the distance became more and more blurred.The village was silent, and a rooster crowing was vaguely heard from far away, adding a sleepy gloom to the gray world.

In 30, in accordance with the spirit of the central document, the right to use rural contracted land remained unchanged for [-] years.But the year was not good, there was a severe drought, and the crops were hardly harvested due to lack of water. The situation in the whole village was very miserable.Many families have gone out to work.

The year 1998 was still very bad. The rain was too heavy, and the crops were flooded. Only a few places could receive a little. Now it is a problem to eat, so there is no need to mention the debt.The neighboring villages are similar, although the state has policies to allocate funds for disaster relief, but when it comes down to it, there are very few farmers left, and some don't have it at all, just exempting the agricultural tax.Boss Zhang’s savings for many years were gone all of a sudden, and he owed more than 6000 yuan in debt.Seeing every family go out to work and fend for themselves, he was also moved. After asking around, he got a job of herding sheep for others through someone's introduction.About to leave, Mr. Zhang sat on the kang and thought: If I leave, the family has two horses, a cart and ten acres of land, and the young daughter-in-law has conflicts with her father, and the daughter-in-law can't handle it by herself, what should I do?At this time, the third daughter-in-law, as a sensible person of the Zhang family, naturally expressed her opinion: "Since you don't want to hand it over to the fourth child, and my family has a car and a horse, let the old girl use it. His family has no car or horse. It's also a new lease of land, and I'm about to hire a car. Although his family is far away from our village, he is still a family. Let him help you plant and reclaim the land. She will be happy to let him use the horses for nothing. No way."

"But I'm afraid that the old man and the fourth child have ideas."

"What do you think? The old man of the fourth brother said he would plant land for him, so you don't have to worry about it. Besides, the fourth brother is not careful in taking care of the horses and chariots. Can you rest assured?"

"His aunt is right, so let's do that. I'll go find my sister tomorrow." Then he said, "I'm not at home when I go out to work. If you have something to do, you two should take care of it."

The third daughter-in-law smiled and said, "Don't worry, do you still need the elder brother to say this?"

In 1999, Boss Zhang went out to work, and before leaving, he handed over the carriage and horses to his brother-in-law.

When Chinese New Year was approaching, Mrs. Zhang came back and limped into the courtyard. The young daughter-in-law was very happy when she saw her husband was back. When she went out, she was dumbfounded: "Why are you still limping?" Mrs. Zhang hurried into the house Sitting on the kang, he said slowly: "I have been herding sheep for a year for his family. It was agreed that I would pay 4000 yuan a year. Food and lodging cost nothing, but I didn't sign any papers. Now they will pay by the end of the year." When I paid money, I said that I would deduct 500 yuan for your food and lodging for a year, and I would give you 500 yuan. I was so angry that I argued with them, but my two sons beat me like this." The daughter-in-law was furious: "This matter can't be finished. If the money is not paid and the person is beaten, we will sue him." After speaking, he got up and wanted to go out.Boss Zhang stepped forward to stop her and said: "It's useless, no one cares about us now, his family is Mongolian, no one dares to care, and the injury is not serious, let's forget it." After saying this, she decided not to go. She lightly touched Boss Zhang's injured leg and said, "We won't go to work next year, and we won't be able to earn any money by working part-time. Said: "After the new year, go and get the chariots and horses back, and plant the land at home next year." The little daughter-in-law smiled and said: "You wait, I will make you something delicious." Early the next morning, Hearing that Boss Zhang was back, several debtors came up, and gave away 500 yuan after only staying at home for one night.

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, my brother-in-law didn’t come to pay New Year’s greetings to the old man. Boss Zhang wondered why he didn’t come to see us. The carriage and horses have been used for a year.So I went to my brother-in-law's house with questions.Pushing open the gate, there was nothing in the whole yard, and no carriages or horses were seen.Pushing open the door and entering the room, the brother-in-law had just gotten up for a while, and saw the elder brother coming, and the sister hurriedly poured water and cigarettes for the elder brother.Asking this and that, the girl stopped talking when she heard that she was not making any money.Boss Zhang hurriedly asked: "Why didn't you see the horses and chariots in the courtyard?" Just as the girl was about to say something, her brother-in-law interrupted her and said, "I borrowed the horses and chariots from a friend, and I can send them back in a few days."

When Boss Zhang heard it, "How can I borrow it from others? Besides, it's winter and it's the Chinese New Year. How can you use chariots and horses?"

The brother-in-law stammered and said: "My friend uses a cart and horse to light firewood, and it will be sent back in two days. I will send it back then."

Boss Zhang was dubious, but since his brother-in-law said so, he couldn't say anything else.After lunch, Boss Zhang went home.

Ten days passed in a blink of an eye, and the brother-in-law did not see the car. The eldest brother Zhang felt that something was wrong, so he went to the third daughter-in-law and asked: "When I was not at home, did something happen to my sister's house? I went there a few days ago and felt something was wrong." .”

The third daughter-in-law was startled at first, but immediately recovered, she said with a smile, "Brother, since you left, my brother-in-law has never been here, and we don't know anything about his family, so maybe there is something wrong?"

"That's all right, I'm just asking, I thought you knew, then I'll wait for another two days."

A few days later, the fourth child in the backyard came rushing to look for Boss Zhang, "Brother, my sister is back, you can go to my house and have a look." It's over.When the girl saw the elder brother coming, she cried even harder, and she cried, "Brother, I am sorry for you. Since he finished planting the land, he sold the carriages and horses, and let him spend all the money. He also hit me a few times about this matter. After you went there a few days ago, I heard that you didn't make any money this year, so I tried to ask him to pay back the money, but he didn't listen at all, and even hit me Me, I started fighting with him. We have been arguing these days, and his parents can't control him, and I can't beat him, so I sneaked back, and I don't want to live with him. Brother, look He beat me." Then he rolled up his sleeves for everyone to see.

In fact, they don't know what kind of person the old brother-in-law is, because they only got married last year.He often quarrels with his wife at home, and sometimes beats her, but she can't control him.He has bad habits, smoking, drinking, gambling, and doing bad things. He is a little gangster.After the horses and chariots were in his hands, he sold the land privately after planting. Even his wife didn’t know about it. He only heard that the horses and chariots were borrowed from friends for two days. It wasn’t until later that he found out that he had spent all the money.The more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I feel, what will this big brother do when he comes back?

Once, she took the opportunity to go back to her mother's house and secretly told the third daughter-in-law about it. After thinking about it, the third daughter-in-law said, "My brother-in-law has gone too far. It's my idea to give you the carriage and horses. Doesn't this embarrass me, I have to talk to my brother-in-law." But the girl was afraid that her husband would beat her if the news got out, so she discussed with the third daughter-in-law not to get herself involved.A few days later, the third daughter-in-law went to her brother-in-law's house to buy something and borrowed it to see her sister. When she entered the courtyard, she saw that there were only two small earthen houses; .The girl seemed to be crying just now. The brother-in-law was sitting on the edge of the kang smoking a cigarette with his head bowed. When he saw the third sister-in-law coming, he just said: "Are you here for something?"

"Why, can't you come and see if there's nothing wrong?"

"I know why you came here. The money is gone. You can figure it out."

The third daughter-in-law was anxious when she heard this: "It was my idea to use the carriage and horse for you. Now that you have sold the carriage and horse, why should I tell my elder brother? Why don't you write an IOU, and you can pay back the money when you want. I also want to have an explanation to my elder brother and sister-in-law."

"IOU, how much?"

"I can decide this matter. The combination of carriages and horses will cost 2000 yuan. Do you think it will work?"

"2000 yuan, are you dreaming? Impossible, 200 yuan, I'm still thinking about it."

When the third daughter-in-law heard it, she said loudly: "I said you are going too far, is there anyone like you?"

The brother-in-law didn't care about that, he got up and yelled at the third daughter-in-law: "Don't pull it down, call me again, don't blame me for being rude." When the sister saw that the situation was not good, she immediately went to the ground, stopped her husband, and asked the third wife to leave quickly.The third daughter-in-law saw that there was nothing she could do about it, and she would be beaten if she didn't leave, so she hurried home.She knew very well that her husband was a coward, and a brother-in-law was not easy to deal with, but how could she explain it to her elder brother?At the beginning, it was my own idea for others, but now that something happened, I can't ignore it.But how?You can't tell the third child about this, the third guy is careless, and he doesn't even guard the door when he drinks.well!For the time being, I don't know, wait for the eldest brother to come back and let him ask for it himself. If the interference is too deep, the brother-in-law can do anything, and the third child is not his opponent, so let's stop here.

In autumn, the third daughter-in-law and the third child used their own carriages to help the elder sister-in-law with the autumn harvest. Because of some natural disasters this year, everyone’s harvest was bad and there was nothing to harvest. At that time, the elder sister-in-law asked, why didn’t my brother-in-law come to help with the autumn harvest?The third daughter-in-law said: "They are too busy there, and we don't have much to collect here. It is enough for my family to help collect it." In this way, Boss Zhang didn't know about the sale of the carriage and horses until today.

Boss Zhang was really angry, and he didn't know what he was saying, so he lifted his leg and left. He went to his brother-in-law's house by himself. It happened that his brother-in-law was about to leave, so the two met at the door of his brother-in-law's house. Boss Zhang rushed up and grabbed his brother-in-law. Neck collar, "You are still a fucking human being. Cars and horses are the lifeblood of my family. I still hope to plant some land this year, because you beat my sister because of this. I won't teach you a fucking lesson. You don't know me. Boss Zhang is amazing." Before he finished speaking, he punched my brother-in-law, and my brother-in-law became anxious when he saw it, so he punched back and hit Boss Zhang in the eye, and then kicked Boss Zhang. On his stomach, Boss Zhang covered his stomach with his hands, and his brother-in-law kicked him on the head several times.The brother-in-law ran away when he saw something bad.When it was getting dark, Boss Zhang gradually woke up, but he still didn't dare to move. He gently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Fortunately, the weather was not too cold, and he lay in a good place, beside the firewood pile.Otherwise, you may be frozen to death.Two hours later, he staggered home.The little daughter-in-law felt sorry for her man and cried and cried anxiously, but she was helpless.Boss Zhang's health is getting worse and worse.It seems that there is no way for him to return to the horse and horse. Is he just appointed like this?He was lying on the kang, in great pain!

Several times the fallen leaves are flying, several times the sun is sinking, and the years are soaked in the blush of the setting sun, eroding the memory of the past.Boss Zhang has already entered middle age, and the hardships of life have made him older, and the prestige of his youth has also left him.But he couldn't accept it for a while, and he couldn't believe that this kind of thing would happen to him.In fact, people are often like this. The change of roles is always very passive. Only when the cruel reality comes, can they wake up slowly in trembling.