60s Splendid Life

When he walked around and returned to their stall, Aunt Qin and sister-in-law Chunmei were very surprised to see him come back with a kitten in his arms.

"Where did you get the cat?" Mrs. Qin didn't expect that the child would bring a cat back from the market. People can't get enough to eat these days, so who would have the heart to raise such a thing as a cat.

Lu Jin felt a little embarrassed when he was seen. He touched his nose with his hand and said, "I saw someone selling cats in front of me, so I hugged one. There are many mice in the house. I bought a cat and went back to bargain." It's just the little yellow cat. For a while, I slept soundly in his arms, and I didn't know whether to take it home to catch the mouse or the cat to catch the mouse.

Probably don't expect this kitten to catch mice until it grows into a full-grown cat.

"That's right. There are a lot of rats in our village. During the two years when I first got married, there were rats crawling around on the quilt at night. I was so scared that I didn't dare to sleep in the middle of the night." Cai Chunmei also felt the same about mice. Some people in her natal family like to keep cats, and there are not so many mice in the village. At least she didn't have to sleep in the middle of the night and be woken up by mice before she married into her husband's house.

If it weren't for the fact that they were still living with their parents-in-law and uncles, she would have wanted to take a cat home from her natal home to raise, but she didn't dare to do so because she was afraid that her parents-in-law and family members would not agree.

Speaking of mice, Aunt Qin also thought of the fact that there were mice stealing millet in their house, and she hummed, "There are mice in the house." At first, she thought that raising a cat to catch the teacher was also possible, and asked Lu Jin, "Xiao Jin, what about you? A male cat or a female cat, will it have cubs?"

"Mother." Lu Jin replied.

"Mother cat is good. She can give birth. When the time comes, I will go to your house to bring one back to raise." Aunt Qin has the idea of ​​Lu Jin's kitten's kitten. The cat that can be bought without spending money must be a flower. Money can buy it better.

"Yes." Lu Jin nodded with a smile, thinking that this kitten in their family is still a cub, and I don't know when it will have a cub, "Actually, ma'am, your family doesn't have a cat. , When I go back, I will take our cat to your house to identify the door, and let it go to your house every day to make sure that there are no mice in your house." At this time, Lu Jin didn't know how much the cat was. Can give birth to cubs, especially at this time, there are no pet hospitals to sterilize cats. How many cat cubs can a female cat give birth to from the first litter to the old one who can't have cubs.

"You're right to say that." Aunt Qin thought about it. The main reason is that there are two naughty grandchildren at home. She is afraid that if she has a cat, the grandson will go to play with the cat. If she is scratched or bitten, daughter-in-law It is inevitable to resent her.If there is no need to keep cats and there are no mice in the house, then it must not be raised.

The three of them were doing business while chatting.

When it was close to noon, there were a lot fewer people shopping in the market, and the stall owners were closing their stalls after losing their business. Many of the stall owners who came to do business were not from Lijiaao, and some of them wanted to go back. It's a long way, so they usually gather at noon, so that people who buy and sell things can get home before the sun goes down.

Only people who live in Lijia'ao and nearby villages are not too anxious.

All the stewed tofu and tender tofu at their stall were sold out, and there were still two pieces of old tofu and some yuba left.Seeing that the people nearby were cleaning up the stalls, Aunt Qin suggested: "Why don't we clean up the stalls too, we have to go to Chunmei's grandma's house later, and it will be too late for us to go back if we close the stalls later. Next two pieces of tofu, I'll take Chunmei and your aunt's will have it."

"No, no, no, I gave my sister-in-law two copies earlier. Let's take these two pieces back to the village to see if anyone wants them." Yes, they work in the tofu workshop, but it's not easy to take advantage of the tofu workshop, let alone take the leftovers to her natal family.

Cai Chunmei thinks this is very good. After all, she is not the only worker in the tofu shop. If everyone just takes the stuff from the tofu shop back to subsidize their families, then their tofu shop will be taken away by their employees before they open. .

But Cai Chunmei couldn't go back empty-handed when she went back to her natal home, and said to Aunt Qin and Lu Jin, "You clean up here, I'll go nearby to see if there's anything for sale, and buy something."

"Okay, you can go." Aunt Qin knew that Cai Chunmei was going to go shopping and go back to her mother's house, so she asked her to do the shopping. She and Lu Jin were here to clean up the stall.

After they cleaned up the stall, Cai Chunmei hurried back with two bags of things after waiting for a while.

"Have you packed it yet?" Cai Chunmei came back and saw that Mrs. Qin and Lu Jin had already packed their things, and said a little embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, it took a while to buy things, and I kept you waiting for a long time."

"It's all right, we've packed everything up." Aunt Qin replied.

Cai Chunmei put the things she bought on the lid of the basket, picked up the burden and said to Lu Jin and Aunt Qin: "Let's go, I will lead the way, and I will take you to my aunt and elder brother's house to find out the way. If I don't come , you know them when you come here to sell things. Next time you know how to get there, if you come here to go to the market in the future, if you are thirsty and want to drink water, you can also go to my mother and the others to ask for a glass of water. We are all ourselves, and my mother and the others will also welcome you to visit our house."

"Yes, yes, that's the reason." Mrs. Qin followed behind Cai Chunmei with a burden on her shoulders. It's better to have an acquaintance when she is away from home, than not to know anyone at all. What if they encounter something when doing business here? Bullies, there is someone you know who you can turn to for help.

Lu Jin walked behind the two adults with his back on his back, listening to them talking.

Lijiaao is a village built in a mountain depression. There are earth houses and bamboo buildings in the village.A bamboo building is a house built of bamboo and wood. The lower floor is empty, and some people sit under the shade and gossip.

These houses look very distinctive, Lu Jin thought to himself.

Hearing what Aunt Qin said, Lu Jin knew that the people here are ethnic minorities, and the clothes and dress of the people here are very different from those in Lujia Village.The men I saw on the road were all tall and strong. Both men and women like to wear scarves on their heads, which seems to be a custom on their side.

Cai Chunmei is a girl who went out from Lijia'ao. Many people in the village know her, and she also knows the people in the village. She greets people in the village along the way, and introduces the women's director and Master Lu Jin.

Seeing others looking at them, Lu Jin mostly smiled and nodded to others.

***

The three of them walked for about ten minutes before arriving at Cai Chunmei's natal home. Cai Chunmei's natal home lived in a bamboo building with an empty ground floor and a room on the second floor.When they arrived, Cai Chunmei's parents, brothers and sisters-in-law were all at home, and they all welcomed them.

"Take a break, come here and sit down and drink some water." Cai Chunmei's grandmother is in her fifties, not tall, with tanned skin and many hairs on her head have turned gray.

Cai Chunmei's father is tall, tall and thin. It seems that Cai Chunmei's brothers and sisters look more like their father, and they all have good looks.

"Xiaoqing said that you came to our market to sell things. I still don't believe it. I said to look for you just now, but I was afraid that you would come here." The female director and tofu maker in their village came with their daughter, and they also warmly welcome the guests to sit down and drink water.

"Don't look for it, we're here. We're here on the first day of the day, and we haven't had time to come back and talk to you." Cai Chunmei put down the burden, and asked Aunt Qin and Lu Jin to put down their things and go over Sitting over there drinking water, her sister-in-law Li Qing has already poured water for everyone.

Cai Chunmei has three brothers and sisters. She is the second eldest. She has an older brother and a younger brother. The older brother married earlier and had four children. The eldest nephew is eight or nine years old, and the younger nephew is about the same age as her younger son. .But she also has a little brother, who is only seventeen or eighteen years old this year, not yet married, and looks like a child.

When several children saw her coming, they all surrounded her and called aunt.

"Are you good at home? Did you listen to your grandma and your mother?" Cai Chunmei took out the bag of things she bought, took a few dates and gave them to her nephews and nieces, and gave the rest to her grandma. , "I have a few dates and two catties of meat. Do you want to cook the meat for everyone to eat?"

The children screamed happily when they got the delicious food, and took the dates to show their mother.

"You can eat what my aunt gave you." Li Qing saw that the sister-in-law brought something every time she came back to her mother's house, and the children in the family also liked this generous aunt very much. like.

Mother Cai took the bag and opened it for a look. Seeing that there were dates and sugar inside, she knew that the daughter was spending money indiscriminately again, so she couldn't help saying, "You, come back when you come back, and buy these things every time. What. Why did you bring meat here? Your elder brother went up the mountain to catch a rabbit a few days ago. He knew you were coming, and he asked your elder brother to help kill it just now, and grandma put it in the stew."

"I also bought some meat here."

"No, no, you take it home to eat, you child, you bring a lot of things when you come to your aunt's house... Don't, don't, put it in your back basket and take it home."

Lu Jin also took out the meat he bought, but his Aunt Chunmei and Mother Cai refused to take it, and asked him to take it home to eat, and everyone pushed it back and forth, so he had to put it away.There was a lot of food in his own space, but he didn't dare to take it out suddenly because he was afraid of arousing the suspicion of his Aunt Qin and Aunt Chunmei.

The big guys sat down to drink water, and Cai Chunmei's father and eldest brother sat down to talk to them.