No pain no gain

The busy days passed very quickly. After uprooting the last cotton stalks in the field and putting them in the yard, Da Zhuang was picking the remaining cotton on the cotton stalks with a basket, thinking about most of the sweet potatoes in the cellar , In the room used as a warehouse, there are piles of dried grains, and all kinds of dried vegetables are hung on the beams of the kitchen. From spring until now, as long as they can be dried vegetables, they have been cooked a lot, in vain I also planted a large piece of cabbage and radish... This year, I won't be hungry this year. Da Zhuang smiled a little, and he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the heavy feeling in his heart had finally disappeared, and then suddenly he saw something in front of him. Yihei was unconscious.

The fool who was helping to pick cotton next to Da Zhuang was a little at a loss for this sudden situation, and stared blankly at Da Zhuang who fell in front of him.

Er Zhuang was turning over the cotton that was drying. Da Zhuang was afraid that the cotton would get dirty, so he purposely built a shelf with wooden sticks, covered with straw mats, and put the cotton on the straw mats to dry.

Er Zhuang heard the sound of "dong", looked up, shouted "big brother", and ran over in panic.

The idiot and Er Zhuang helped up the limp Da Zhuang. Da Zhuang's face was as white as paper, his forehead was covered with sweat, and his gray lips were trembling slightly. They didn't respond to how they shouted.

"Brother..." Er Zhuang yelled, helping Da Zhuang onto the kang with the idiot.

The big girl who was coaxing the little ones was also taken aback, and hurriedly asked her younger brothers and sisters to make room for Da Zhuang to lie down.

"Second brother, what's wrong with eldest brother?" Da Niuer looked at Da Zhuang, wiped her eyes and asked.

"Don't be afraid, big girl, second brother go call Grandpa Niu over, you and idiot brother look at big brother!" Er Zhuang said quickly, his voice trembling slightly.

"Yeah, second brother, go!" Da Nier said while lying on the edge of the kang.

The idiot also nodded again and again, looking at Da Zhuang worriedly, his eyebrows furrowed in a rare way.

Er Zhuang turned around and ran out of the yard quickly.

Dr. Niu was originally a traveling doctor and wandered around. Later, when he got old, he didn't want to move much after he came to Liushu Village. Seeing that the surrounding environment is not bad, the folk customs are simple, surrounded by mountains, and it is convenient to collect herbs, so he settled down. He became one of the only two doctors in several nearby villages. Villagers in Liushu Village always went to Doctor Niu for ailments and fevers. When Da Zhuang first came and passed out from hunger, Er Zhuang called Doctor Niu over.

After a while, Doctor Niu hurried over with his little apprentice.

Doctor Niu has lived in Liushu Village for more than ten years, and has taken in a total of three apprentices. Now the eldest apprentice and the second apprentice have gone to the town's medicine hall to work as waiters, but this young apprentice has not yet graduated.

Doctor Niu tested the temperature on Da Zhuang's forehead with the back of his hand, opened his tongue to look at it, and took his pulse carefully. He sighed in his heart, this child is tired, and his body is weak. When the field was busy, it was probably because he held his breath and refused to relax. Now the field is almost too busy, and his heart collapses when he relaxes. When people in the village mention Da Zhuang, everyone will turn up his head Thumbs, a half-grown boy, propped up a family. Farming is better than veterans. When a medium-sized field is planted, the harvest is waiting for it. Especially the cotton, the field is white, and it is much better than others. How much did you charge...

"Grandpa Niu, how is big brother, is he hungry again?" Er Zhuang asked with red eyes.

Doctor Niu interrupted his thoughts, patted Er Zhuang's head and asked, "Is there any sugar at home, or something sweeter?"

"Yes, is this okay?" Da Niu'er took the conversation from the side, and took out two hard candies from her pocket.

Doctor Niu took a look at Da Niuer. This is one of the rare snacks for children in the village. It should be that Da Zhuang bought it and distributed it to a few little guys, but Da Niuer has been reluctant to eat it...

"Okay, Er Zhuang, go and pour a bowl of warm water over here!" Doctor Niu carefully picked up two hard candies from the palm of the eldest girl, and peeled off the oil paper outside.

Er Zhuang agreed, looking at the hard candy in the big girl's hand, his face turned slightly red, remembering that he stuffed it all into his mouth as soon as he got it...

Doctor Niu melted a hard candy in warm water, opened Da Zhuang's mouth and fed it in, and stuffed the remaining candy back into Da Niu'er's pocket.

After filling the sugar water, Da Zhuang woke up after a while, smacked his mouth, and there was still a residual sweet taste in his mouth.

"Brother, you're awake!"

Several children jumped in front of Da Zhuang together.

Da Zhuang smiled, and wanted to reach out to touch a few children, but he was so weak that he couldn't even raise his hands, so he had to give up.

"Da Zhuang, do you believe in Grandpa Niu?" Doctor Niu asked with a straight face.

"Yes, of course I did, Grandpa Niu, what's wrong?" Da Zhuang said weakly.

"Then listen to Grandpa Niu. Don't force yourself to do things in the future. Don't just think about your younger brothers and sisters. You should eat more yourself. If your body doesn't recover now, it will affect your health." Shouyuan's, and when you get older, you can only lie on the bed..."

Doctor Niu talked about a lot of things, first admonishing Da Zhuang, and then admonishing Er Zhuang and Da Niuer a lot. In fact, he only repeatedly emphasized one meaning. Da Zhuang is now physically weak, and he has been too tired this year. Make up more, or you won't live long!

After Da Zhuang, Er Zhuang and Da Niu'er all made promises, Doctor Niu was ready to go back, without mentioning the consultation fee.

"Er Zhuang, give ten coins and a few eggs to Grandpa Niu!" Da Zhuang hurriedly said to Er Zhuang.

Both Er Zhuang and Da Niuer knew where loose money was kept at home.

"No need, save yourself to eat more!" Doctor Niu refused.

"Grandpa Niu, we have a lot of eggs in our house!" Er Zhuang wrapped up the things quickly, and stuffed them all into Doctor Niu's hands.

Doctor Niu refused, but he only took the few eggs, and refused to accept any money.

Da Zhuang now has nearly 29 chickens in his family. At the beginning of spring, two hens cuddled, one hatched eight chicks, the other hatched six chicks, and then another hen cuddled , also hatched eight chicks, plus the original five big chickens, there are a total of 21 chickens, of which [-] are hens, and the remaining eight roosters were slaughtered by Da Zhuang during the autumn harvest. Two and a half big ones, the food has been improved, and the rest will be slaughtered and sold during the Chinese New Year, and only two roosters will be enough.

Apart from paying taxes, Da Zhuang did not sell any of the grain harvested in the field, including hard beans. The main reason is that Da Zhuang felt that in this era when there were no water conservancy facilities to protect drought and waterlogging, and it was entirely dependent on natural harvests, there was no food at home. Uneasy; the income and expenses of the family mainly depend on the small baskets and eggs weaved together. After deducting the expenses, they have saved more than two taels of silver. In March, Da Zhuang heard that there were piglets for sale in the neighboring village, so he went to catch two of them and brought them back. Yes, I bought the two smallest ones, and the family only charged fifty cash in total. Da Zhuang looked at them carefully. The reason why the two pigs are thin and small is probably because they didn’t get milk. The bones look good, yes The ones that can grow can grow, and there is no extra food to feed the pigs. Da Zhuang had to take Er Zhuang and the fool to touch mussels and snails in the river, and when they came back, they mixed sweet potatoes and vines to cook pig food...

When Da Zhuang passed out, many things at home were delayed. After two or three days of recuperation, Da Zhuang couldn't lie down anymore. During the two months before the Chinese New Year, Da Zhuang still had many plans. !

"No, big brother, Grandpa Niu said, you need to rest more!" Da Niuer took Da Zhuang's shoes and refused to let Da Zhuang get off the kang.

"Big girl, be good, brother is just tired from lying down, let's go down and do some exercise." Da Zhuang said dumbfounded.

"Big brother has to work after getting off the kang!" Big girl shook her head and said with her lips pursed.

"Brother, it's not a serious illness. It will be recovered slowly in the future, so you don't have to lie on the kang every day." Da Zhuang explained.

"No, no, no, Grandpa Niu said it." Da Niuer looked at Da Zhuang stubbornly and said.

"Okay, let's ask the second brother to ask Grandpa Niu, okay?" Da Zhuang compromised helplessly.

The big girl thought for a while, and ran out to call Er Zhuang, who was picking cotton in the yard.

These few days, Da Zhuang is not very comfortable. The fool only enters the house to look at Da Zhuang every day, and after talking to Da Zhuang, he goes out to help with work. He is no longer following Da Zhuang every step of the way. The phenomenon saves Da Zhuang from having to give the idiot a break from that habit.

After hearing what the big girl said, the fool put down the basket in his hand, patted the ashes off his body, and entered the house.

"Rest more!" The idiot lay on the edge of the kang and emphasized.

"Hehe, you guys, you really think I'm a piece of paper!" Da Zhuang smiled, and lay back on the kang impatiently. This time, he passed out because of hypoglycemia. Still, it’s a good thing they haven’t been allowed to drink Chinese medicinal juice...

Seeing this, the fool quickly helped to press the quilt.

After a while, Er Zhuang came back, and Doctor Niu was worried, so he followed him.

After carefully inspecting Da Zhuang, Dr. Niu told Da Zhuang to do everything according to his ability. He should eat well on weekdays. recuperate.

After sending off Doctor Niu, Da Niuer took out Da Zhuang's shoes.

Two days ago, after Da Zhuang woke up, he asked Er Zhuang to find the villagers who had gone to the market these days, and asked them to help them bring back a catty of loose sugar.In the previous life, many women in the countryside suffered from hypoglycemia. There is a homemade method, which is very effective. It is to drink brown sugar eggs with boiled water every morning. After about half a year, the symptoms of hypoglycemia can be greatly improved or even eradicated. , but there is no brown sugar or white sugar here. There is only one kind of loose sugar, which is made of wheat, and the color is a little yellow. Da Zhuang thought that the effect of using that sugar might not be good, but it can still be used, so he was cruel and sent someone to take it. catty.The sugar here is not cheap. The sugar cubes for children to satisfy their cravings are only about the size of a thumbnail and are relatively hard. They only cost two for a penny. There is also a kind of thin sugar juice, dipped in a stick Lick, you can buy five sticks for one penny, and the loose sugar that Da Zhuang uses now costs more than twenty pennies a catty...