No pain no gain

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Although almost everyone in the village makes a living by farming, this does not prevent everyone from going to the mountains to hunt some small things such as hares and pheasants to improve their lives during the slack season. There are some animals, but most of them follow a fixed route, so there are a few small paths that have been trampled out in this mountain. There are relatively fewer thorns and the like, and there are no large wild animals, but there are no other places where there are few people. It's different, so even if Doctor Niu goes up the mountain to find herbs, he won't deviate too much from those small paths...

Da Zhuang wandered around the mountains with the fool for more than half a month, and the only harvest was that he picked a lot of herbs. Because the year was approaching, he had to let go of this matter for the time being.

Even though a huge crisis is approaching, life is still going on. When almost everyone in the village started to discuss the matter of going to the market again, Da Zhuang also fed the donkey full early, and he was ready to go to the market. Go to do New Year's goods with the people in the village.

Da Zhuang skillfully drove the donkey cart to the entrance of the village. Da Zhuang sold his four pigs last month, leaving only dozens of chickens to be looked after. Just tell the auntie to take back the eggs I picked up today, and there will be no problem at all. Therefore, the whole family of children, big and small, sat on the donkey cart. If you find it troublesome, try to take a few little guys to the town in turn, the main reason is to let the children see more of the world...

"Da Zhuang, Da Zhuang, wait a minute, wait a minute..."

Da Zhuang pulled the rein and controlled the donkey cart to stop.

"What's the matter, auntie?" Da Zhuang asked politely.

The eldest uncle and the eldest aunt chased after them with three younger children. The one who ran in front was the eldest aunt carrying a big basket. Zhuang went away again.

"Eldest Uncle, Eldest Aunt..." When they walked in, several little fellows called out one after another.

The uncle answered with a smile, and struggled to free one hand, took a long time to take out a handful of peanuts from the full basket and handed them to the children.

In the past year, since the family situation has improved slightly, Da Zhuang has never treated a few children badly in terms of food. No matter what kind of snacks, as long as a few little guys have seen others eat them, Da Zhuang generally satisfies their needs. , so these few peanuts are no longer attractive to them, but under Da Zhuang's gesture, Da Niu'er still took them.

"Go up, let's all go up, hurry up..." The aunt first put the things in her hand on the car and urged her.

Before Da Zhuang could react, the three children from the uncle's family quickly climbed up.

The eldest aunt took the basket from the uncle's hand and forced it into the car.

Er Zhuang and Da Niuer rushed to protect Er Niuer, San Niuer and the twins who were almost knocked over by the crowd, while Shazi had to stand up and hold several baskets.

Because of frailty and sickness, Si Zhuang, who has always been pampered by everyone and is more delicate, burst into tears. No matter what San Zhuang usually does, he almost follows the clever Si Zhuang. Now Si Zhuang is crying, even though he is not yet Knowing what happened, he opened his mouth and howled dryly.

"What's the matter? What's the matter..." The aunt took the opportunity to squeeze into the cart, hugged Si Zhuang, and quickly peeled a peanut and stuffed it into Si Zhuang's mouth.

"No, big brother said you'll choke..." The big girl snapped the peanuts out of Si Zhuang's wide-open mouth quickly.

"It's too crowded, Auntie, you guys need to make a bullock cart!" Er Zhuang couldn't help shouting.

"How do you talk!" Da Zhuang reprimanded, and jumped off the wooden plank on the handle in front of the box cart with some helplessness.

"Ada, come here, you sit on the wooden board in front, uncle, you sit at the back, Er Zhuang, move your things..." Da Zhuang stood under the car and directed the crowded car to sit down, It took a lot of effort to keep the cart in a delicate balance.

"Si Zhuang, come, come to eldest brother!" Da Zhuang went around and took Si Zhuang from his aunt.

Si Zhuang twisted his body and threw himself into Da Zhuang's hands.

"What's wrong? Is there any pain?" Da Zhuang asked softly while wiping Si Zhuang's tears.

"Here..." Si Zhuang raised his left hand twitching.

Da Zhuang took a closer look, probably just squeezed on the railing of the cart...

"Okay, it won't hurt if I blow it to you!" Da Zhuang coaxed while blowing on Si Zhuang's hand.

Si Zhuang continued to cry ungratefully.

"Si Zhuang, I heard from the eldest brother, how old are you this year? What did you say last night..." Da Zhuang continued to help Si Zhuang wipe his nose and tears, trying to divert the little guy's attention.

"Three years old..." Si Zhuang opened his eyes and replied.

"Wow, the four of us are all three years old. We are big children, and we are still crying, so ugly!" Da Zhuang said in a tone of surprise.

"Yes, yes..." Er Zhuang and Da Niuer also echoed.

When Si Zhuang stopped crying, San Zhuang was almost done. Da Zhuang noticed that when he picked up Si Zhuang, San Zhuang's upper body slightly leaned over, and his heart flashed. After putting Si Zhuang down, he turned around and picked him up. Three strong.

"What happened to San Zhuang just now?" Da Zhuang asked softly.

"Brother, cry..." San Zhuang hugged Da Zhuang's neck tightly with two short arms, and said softly.

"You are the elder brother. The younger brother cries to comfort him. You can't cry with him, you know?" Da Zhuang continued to speak softly.

"En..." San Zhuang responded with a half understanding.

"Okay, when my younger brother cries in the future, the older brother can't cry anymore. This is a good brother... Sit down!" After Da Zhuang wiped San Zhuang's dirty face, he followed the four Zhuang put them together and explained.

"Uncle, Auntie, you are all sitting down, you have to go!" Da Zhuang jumped into the car and shouted to the back.

Along the way, Da Zhuang had to tell the restless little guys over and over again not to move around. Since they were the children of the uncle's family, it was difficult to say anything, so for safety, he had to walk slowly, almost with him. The same speed as the bullock cart.

"Uncle, Auntie, we will gather at the gate of the town during Shenshi, we must not be too late..." Da Zhuang said helplessly.

Da Zhuang originally wanted to go back early, but when he started talking about noon, his aunt murmured in dissatisfaction that she wanted to sell the things she brought, buy this and that, and what to do, etc. In short, it is impossible at noon... Da Zhuang had to postpone it until the same departure time as the ox cart in the village...

Forget it, it's been a long time since I went to Zhao Ziyang's place anyway, Da Zhuang thought to himself comfortingly.

It's almost Chinese New Year, Zhao Ziyang doesn't go out very much, he stays at home all day except studying and reading books, he took a relatively simple book to Er Zhuang, and asked Er Zhuang to go to the next room to copy it.

"What's the situation now?" Da Zhuang asked softly after dismissing a few little guys to play in the yard.

"The Holy Majesty has quickened his pace. In addition to hoarding a large amount of food, he also bought a lot of good-bred horses from Fanwai. It seems that he is preparing to breed strong horses by himself. The children of those wealthy families who joined the army before have taken up real positions... "Zhao Ziyang said what he heard in detail.

"It's mainly about which side the Holy Majesty is planning to use troops against. Is there any clue about this?" Da Zhuang asked with a frown.

"Not at all!" Zhao Ziyang shook his head and said.

Da Zhuang sighed. If it was so easy to find out, such a ruler would be even more worrying. I only hope that the battlefield will be far away from this small place...

"By the way, Zhao Ziyang, what do you think of Er Zhuang's knowledge?" Da Zhuang asked, changing the subject.

"Well, in terms of the number of characters you can read, it's not much, but the others are enough!" Zhao Ziyang said with a smile.

"I can't help it, I guess the old masters in that small village are only at this level!" Da Zhuang said helplessly.

"Seeing that he likes reading so much, let him come to the town. There are still one or two good wives in this town..." Zhao Ziyang suggested.

"No need, it's too much trouble, next year I'm going to let him travel by himself!" Da Zhuang said lightly.

"According to Er Zhuang's temperament, seeing more of the world is also a good thing." Zhao Ziyang said seriously.

Da Zhuang hummed twice to show that he knew.

It was a disaster when I went back. The uncle’s unsold items and the ones bought back for the New Year, in addition to filling up their two baskets, also added several extra burdens. This year’s food prices have risen, and the village Many families have saved their rations and sold them, and the uncle's family is the same, so everyone is willing to spend more during the Chinese New Year... Therefore, no matter what Da Zhuang arranges, he can't sit down.

"I'll go below!" The uncle said proactively.

"You don't feel tired if you don't have a car!" The aunt patted the uncle and shouted loudly.

"I can't sit down anymore!" said the uncle honestly.

"Squeeze and squeeze, it's enough, Er Zhuang, eldest girl, you two, hug the third and fourth strong!" The aunt said, pointing to the twins.

"I don't, let my uncle be the bullock cart in the village, our family can't carry so many people and things!" Er Zhuang said a little excitedly.

"Okay, Er Zhuang, don't talk like that!" Da Zhuang said with a headache, not very happy in his heart, even if the donkey cart went faster, it would take about an hour, not to mention such a heavy weight, children There are too many, the car can't go fast at all, and Er Zhuang and Da Niu'er will suffer if they hold twins, no matter if they are two big or two small...

"It's such a long road, isn't it tiring to hold it, and the third and fourth are also uncomfortable!" Er Zhuang shrank his neck, but still retorted in a low voice.

"Auntie, it's really not a problem to hug. It's not too early now, let uncle go to the bullock cart. There are so many things, we can only follow the bullock cart in the village slowly!" Da Zhuang patiently explained.

"It's okay to squeeze, come up!" The aunt moved her butt vigorously, patted the vacant space and said.

"Ah..." Er Zhuang, who was sitting on the far side of the other side, yelled and was squeezed against the railing.

"Da Zhuang, I'll follow the car and walk back!" said the fool, jumping off the front wooden board with some anxiety.

"No, if uncle sits in the front, the cart will fall forward!" Da Zhuang said while holding the idiot.

Er Zhuang glared at the eldest aunt unceremoniously, and squeezed back hard.

Si Zhuang and San Niuer, who were sitting in the middle, had their mouths flattened, and Da Zhuang sighed helplessly.

"Uncle, follow me with Xiaoshan in your arms!" Da Zhuang said, suppressing the irritability in his heart.

Xiao Shan is the youngest son of the uncle's family. He is only three years old this year, and he is at the time of restlessness.

Da Zhuang paid two Wen for his uncle and Xiao Shan to get on the bullock cart in the village, so that they could get on the road smoothly.

After arriving home, Er Zhuang still looked angry.

Da Zhuang let the fool and a few little guys get out of the car first, and he helped his aunt to send all the things back.

"Okay, Er Zhuang, this doesn't look good!" Da Zhuang patted Er Zhuang who came out to help untie the donkey, and said in a neutral manner.

"The eldest aunt hates it the most!" Er Zhuang whispered.

"I know that my elder brother doesn't like my eldest aunt either, but she is our elder anyway, and we still need basic respect. This is the minimum for us to be human..." Da Zhuang taught softly.

"But my aunt did something wrong, shouldn't I say it!" Er Zhuang exclaimed a little excitedly.

"No matter what the elders do, it's called stupid filial piety. Of course we can't do that. What the aunt did is wrong. If it's not too much, we as juniors can tolerate it. Even if we want to oppose it, we can't do it like you do today. Do you know that rushing like that?" Da Zhuang taught patiently.

"Then what should I say?" Er Zhuang lowered his head and asked.

"You should think about it yourself!" Da Zhuang patted Er Zhuang on the shoulder again, took the donkey's special bucket and went into the yard to fetch water for the donkey.

When the preparations for the Chinese New Year were almost ready, Da Zhuang started to run up the mountain with the fool again.

"There are thorns on the ground here, be careful!" The fool carefully pushed aside the withered vines in front of him, and turned his head to explain to Da Zhuang.

"Well, I got it, let's go!" Da Zhuang said panting while leaning on a wooden stick.

The idiot took a look at Da Zhuang, thought of a way to carefully grab the withered vine with one hand, and then pulled Da Zhuang vigorously with the other hand: "Take a break!"

"Hoo hoo, that's fine!" Da Zhuang said after trying to adjust his breathing.

After sitting down, Da Zhuang took the fool's bruised hand to examine it carefully, and asked with a frown, "Do you feel numb?"

"No, only a little pain!" The fool replied with a smile.

"Still laughing, didn't I tell you to be careful, what if you encounter poisonous plants?" Da Zhuang said angrily, took out a small box of ointment and carefully applied it on the fool.

"Too much!" The fool explained honestly.

"Hey, it's a good thing it's winter now, remember to remind me to bring a pair of thick gloves next time!" Da Zhuang put down his fool and said, "Wait a minute, I'll go ahead!"

"No, I'll go ahead, I'm strong!" the fool said stubbornly

"Forget it, don't waste my ointment, let's go back early today!" Da Zhuang took a sip from the water bottle and said bluntly.

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