I traveled through time, starting with two acres of land and a dog

"Who is the leader of the Zhongdaoliang and Zhaojiawan brands over there?" asked the fourth brother.

"This is Ma Laoer, Li Zaitian, He Mingzhi, and Zhao Wenxue. Go and tell Ma Laoer, Li Zaitian, and He Mingzhi. After informing them, go to your cousin Zhao Wenxue's room to have lunch," said my father.

The fourth child turned back after hearing this, while his father continued to walk forward with Du Chenyu on his back. On the way, his father said that Zhao Wenxue was the youngest child in his youngest aunt's family. His father called him cousin uncle, and he should call him youngest uncle. He was still wondering where to have lunch today. His mother put a few sweet potatoes and bread in his father's pockets, and he ate them several times on the way, so he was not very hungry.

After crossing the Zhongdaoliang, they continued walking for about forty minutes. The sun was already setting when they finally arrived at Zhaojiawan. There were seven or eight households here. It was almost time for lunch and the smoke was billowing. At this time in the countryside, people generally have two meals a day. Lunch is mostly dry rice, and dinner is porridge, which is not eaten until three or four in the afternoon. The first household at the intersection is Uncle Zhao's home. My father introduced that there are two tiled houses connected to three thatched houses, and there are several small thatched houses next to them, where people raise pigs and cattle. There is a local dog at the door, and when it saw them coming, it kept barking "woof woof, woof woof".

"Uncle, uncle, is he home?" Father held Du Chenyu in one hand and held a stick in the other to fend off the dog that rushed out. An old man came out of the small thatched house next door. He was wearing a small hemp coat, his trouser legs rolled up at the knees, his body covered with grass, and he held a brown rope in his hand.

"Oh, it's Decai, little tiger has grown up so much, come in and sit down." The old man greeted them while shaking off the straw on his body.

"This is my great uncle," the father said to Du Chenyu.

"Grandpa...Grandpa..." Du Chenyu called out timidly twice, then buried his head in his father's back and hid himself, imitating the way a baby calls people. After all, he was only more than ten months old.

"Hey...he's already talking before he's even one year old. You're another little prodigy. You'll be a marquis in the future. You're smarter than your dad when he was a kid. Your dad was a prodigy when he was a kid. He passed the imperial examination in his 20s and became a famous figure in this area." The grandfather surnamed Zhao even touched his head. He blinked, made a face and turned away.

"My youngest uncle is cutting the grass," asked my father.

"Gather some grass for the cows and pigs, and store some manure. It's almost time to plant the wheat." The uncle asked them to sit on the bench in the yard at the door.

At this time, an old lady in her 50s or 60s came out of the house. She was wearing a black linen headscarf, a black double-breasted gown, and a dark apron. She came out at the door and wiped her hands on the apron.

"It's the Decai duo (father and son), they're willing to walk around today. This is little Tiger, right? It's the first time he's seen him. I've heard that Brother Du has a good grandson, who is very smart. He's really blessed." The old lady looked at him lovingly and said.

"This is grandma, call her grandma quickly," the father said to Du Chenyu.

Du Chenyu buried his head in his father's arms, glanced at his glasses, and stopped talking.

"Have you eaten yet? I cooked. What would you like to eat, little tiger?" asked the grandmother.

"We're not hungry yet, he's eating with us in the house, just cook him some sweet potatoes," said the father tactfully.

"You are so polite. You don't have to be polite in Auntie's room. Just chat freely. I'll go get some water." After saying this, Auntie turned around and went into the house.

The puppy was barking non-stop beside him. He looked at the puppy and kept barking “Woof woof...Woof woof....” Maybe the puppy was bullying him because he was younger.

This caused them to burst into laughter, and the youngest uncle stood up and chased the dog away, saying, "He gave birth to puppies last month, so he has no eyesight (meaning he has no eyesight), and he keeps barking when he sees people."

Du Chenyu's eyes lit up. He also wanted to raise a puppy to play with. He thought that when he left, he would catch one and bring it home to play with it.

Du Chenyu was holding the puppy in his arms as he walked away, listening to the conversation between his father and his youngest uncle. His youngest uncle talked a lot, saying that due to the dismissal of the rich man Ma, Chief Yu had sent people to urge for the grain donation in autumn this year. They were urging for the grain even before it was harvested in the fields. He said that the court was going to use troops this year and urgently needed military pay. The grain of several families was carried away by the guards before it was dried. I didn't go with them to collect taxes. I used the money from the dowry prepared by the eldest daughter to offset the taxes. The taxes for the seventh class had been almost collected.

The youngest uncle took out a pipe, rolled it on his knees, and handed it to my father. My father didn't want it, so he took out a flint and lit it, took a puff and continued. At present, Yu Yuedong has everything under his control. Most of the Jiazhang and Paizhang are in name only. He just trusts his lackeys, the farmhands. Jiazhang and Paizhang are mainly responsible for disputes among the people and run errands. The management of the seventh Jia is also decentralized, divided into several parts, the Zhao family on this side, the He family in the middle, and the Ma family. Usually, there is peace. The main dispute is that more than a dozen households in Zhongdaoliang often fight for water, and this happens every spring.

My father asked some more questions about the card leaders. After talking for about an hour, the old woman who was cooking in the house called out, "Old man, go and call mother and the children back for dinner. Tie the cows to the trees and continue to release them in the afternoon." So Mr. Zhao went to the beam to call people back for dinner.

At this time, Hu Laosi also came over, and soon a young man of 15 or 6 came up with a bundle of firewood with bare arms, and as soon as he stepped onto the edge of the yard, he threw the firewood under the eaves and shouted, "Mom, I'm starving. I eat later and later. My old man doesn't come to pick me up when he comes back. I can't grow taller because of the pressure."

"What are you shouting for? You look so sloppy and unrecognizable. Your brother and teacher Du is here, why don't you come over to greet him?" Old Zhao yelled.

"Brother Du, you're here," the young man wiped the sweat off his face and greeted his father respectfully.

"I haven't seen you for a year or two. You've grown so tall. You used to live the farthest from school, but you were the first to come every day," said the father with a smile.

"That's because I didn't want to work at home in the morning, so I went to school early," the young man said with a smile.

At this time, a little girl of about 13 or 4 came back with an old lady. After greeting them, he learned that the old lady was his father's youngest aunt, and the two children were Zhao Yaoye's second son Zhao Zhengming and the third daughter Zhao Mei.

Then they washed their hands and had their meal. There was a large square table in the middle of the room, with earthenware bowls for rice, and a pot filled with corn porridge with sweet potatoes and potatoes, a few corn tortillas, a plate of pickles and a bowl of boiled beans. The bean soup was still greasy. It was obvious that this was a meal from a wealthy family. The porridge was also half dry, and was enough to fill five or six people.

A small wooden bowl containing porridge and corn tortillas was also prepared for Du Chenyu. His father fed him a small bowl, which tasted okay, but the corn tortillas were a bit hard, so he only ate a little.

After dinner, Du Chenyu felt a little sleepy and fell asleep in his father's arms. When he woke up, it was already gray and he was in Hu Laosi's arms. He saw a middle-aged man and three old men sitting by the yard, smoking dry tobacco and occasionally saying a few words. This was a card leader meeting. There was nothing real to say, just a few dirty jokes, and they all clapped and said a few words that they must obey Du Jiazhang's arrangements and complete the task.

Seeing that it was about to rain, the meeting was almost over, and everyone had come. Those who should have come came, and those who shouldn't have come didn't come. My father said, "It looks like it's going to rain, so we'll do this. Please support us in the future. We still have to walk for half an hour to go back, and it will be dark."

Then everyone greeted each other, said polite words and left.

My father also turned to Uncle Yao Zhao and said, "Uncle Yao, we are leaving too. We have disturbed you a lot today. Aunt Yao, you must take care of yourself and come to my house when you have time."

"What are you talking about? Mingzi used to go to school with you and he caused you a lot of trouble. It's going to rain soon, so you should take this raincoat with you. It's not that the kid has gonorrhea, but he has caught a cold." said the grandfather.

The father didn't hesitate to take the raincoat, told the fourth child and was about to leave.

Thinking about the puppy, Du Chenyu couldn't just ask for it, so he called out on its back: "Daddy, puppy, puppy, I want it... I want it..."

The father understood immediately that Du Chenyu wanted to catch a puppy to play with. He had never asked for anything since he was a child. When he was young, he played with a chicken at home. The chicken grew fast and soon there was no more to play with.

"Uncle, Xiaohu wants to have a dog. I see you have puppies. Can we have one?" the father said a little embarrassedly. After all, he was so old and had never gone out to manage the daily necessities, such as catching pigs and raising dogs. His grandfather used to do it, but now he has his mother, so he was a little embarrassed to say it.

"Old lady, go catch one for little Tiger and bring it back," the uncle turned to the grandmother and said.

After a few more polite words, the old lady picked up a black puppy, came from behind the house, handed it to Hu Laosi, and explained a few words on how to raise it and what to feed it. Then they turned around and went home.

On the way, it started to drizzle. His father carried him on his back and put on his raincoat, leaving his little head outside. There was a cool breeze outside. They walked quickly without saying a word. When they reached Ma'anpo, there was a big elm tree on the side of the road and a thatched house under it. The roof had many holes and there was a lack of straw. The walls were made of corn stalks, which were windy on all sides and the roof was leaking rain.

"This is Mrs. Zhang's house, let's go take a look," he said.

It was already dark in the room, with the door open. They looked inside and saw a naked boy of about ten and a little girl of five or six sitting on the rocks beside the fire pit, and a woman lying on a wooden straw bed against the wall.

"Mrs. Zhang, Mrs. Zhang," Hu Laosi walked in front and knocked on the door and called out.

"Yes, Uncle Du, my mother is sick," the little boy stood up and answered.

"Your mother is sick, I'll go see her," said the father.

"It's Scholar Du who is here. There's no place to sit in the room. Shitou, go and move a bench," a faint voice came from the bed.

"Mrs. Zhang, why are you sick? You were fine last month," asked my father.

"Alas, at the end of last month, the damn rich Ma took away almost all the grain to collect rent, leaving less than one load of grain for us three children. I went to grab it, but he pushed me down and asked me how I could live. He said it was to pay off the loan shark debt. I fell ill the next day." Mrs. Zhang cried and spoke intermittently, her eyes were sunken, and she spoke weakly, still struggling to sit up.

"Mrs. Zhang, please speak slowly and don't sit up." Her father helped her sit down.

"Scholar, what should we do as an orphan and a widow? You are a good person. When I am gone, you must help take care of Gou Wa... and the girl..., cough cough... I'm kneeling down in front of you." She was almost out of breath and wanted to get out of bed crying.

Hu Laosi was quick to move and held down her feet, allowing Mrs. Zhang to calm down and lie down again.

"Mrs. Zhang, lie down quickly. I promise you that you will get better soon. Don't say such discouraging words," my father said anxiously.

The father turned around, took out a few copper coins from his clothes, handed them to Gou Wa, and said, "Son, take this money to see Doctor Li and ask him to prescribe some medicine. Your mother will get better soon. If you have any problems, come to my house to find me." The father looked at Mrs. Zhang on the bed and put the money in Little Stone's hand.

"Yes...Uncle Du, I will go and invite him tomorrow morning." The puppy boy couldn't help but shed tears.

They walked out of the door silently. Outside, the rain was falling heavily and the sky was getting darker. The calls of a few returning night birds pierced the rain and fog.

Jackals are rampant in the world, and the autumn wind blows through the thatched hut.

The autumn ears of corn weigh down the waist, and the hungry mice have empty warehouses.

When prosperity comes, the people suffer...When decline comes, the people suffer...