Generosity
Zhou Siliang rubbed his hands together, his gaze nervous and careful as he moved two bamboo sticks back and forth, praying in his heart: "Honorable Daoist, please bless me to draw the number one stick!"
Zhou Siliang made his choice, closed his eyes, and then opened them again. With a swift motion, he drew a stick and saw the red underside of the sign. Zhou Siliang was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, "I've won, I've won!"
The village head glanced at him and extended the bamboo tube to Zhou Daliang.
Zhou Daliang regretfully drew out the other stick, which did not have a red bottom.
But this was also a matter of luck, so no one could blame him.
Old Zhou let out a sigh of relief, took a puff from the dry tobacco on his waist, and then said, "Alright, Lao Si, later you and the village head will go together to sign the documents."
When Man Bao and Bai Shanbao arrived, they happened to witness the drawing of lots, which added to the excitement. At the moment, they were surrounded by children who were cheering.
The village head pressed down on the hands, and the adults quickly quieted their children by pressing their hands down.
The village head then said, "This year, our village has two young men. The division of household fields is not a concern, but the permanent fields need to be opened up." Each family must provide a laborer. Three days from now, we will gather to cultivate and open up new land. Village Chief Zhou, I leave this matter to you.
The village chief quickly agreed, indicating that there was no problem.
This was a customary rule, and every family, except those with no male laborers, had to provide a laborer.
In the village, it was advantageous for families with more male laborers.
For example, in Zhou Dayuan's family, they only had one son. Therefore, they only needed to divide the permanent field once, and Old Zhou only needed to provide the labor of his son.
But Old Zhou had six sons, so they had to divide the field six times, and their family had to provide labor six times. Do you think they were at a disadvantage?
But there was no way around it. This was not only a rule of the village but also a rule of the entire county. Even in other places, it was calculated in the same way. Nowadays, it is organized by the village, so it is relatively lenient. The villagers were responsible for creating the new permanent fields in the village. It was said that in earlier times, to prevent the laborers from slacking off, the villagers from this village were sent to another village. There, they not only had to work hard but also had to eat, drink, and live outside.
So, no one dared to complain about such matters publicly.
But at home, it was a different story. Zhou Dayuan's wife was not happy. As soon as she returned home, she started bustling around in the yard, pointing at the hens in the house and scolding them, saying that they only knew how to lay eggs and were useless for anything else. She even mentioned that they had to raise their chicks.
White Shanbao, who was playing with Man Bao in the courtyard, overheard this and curiously asked Man Bao, "I think your neighbor speaks strangely. What else do hens have to do besides laying eggs?"
Man Bao, of course, did not understand Zhang's sarcasm. After thinking about it, he also felt that what she said was unreasonable and pitied the hens. "Don't mind her." Dayuan's wife is a bit strange. I don't understand much of what she says. My mother said, "If you don't understand, then don't listen." She's not saying anything profound.
White Shanbao nodded, but still said, "Their hens are really pitiful." How about we pick some grass for them to eat later?
"There's no tender grass now; they won't eat it," Man Bao said. "They only love to eat bugs and vegetables now." How about we go pick some vegetables for them to eat?
"Okay."
Man Bao then took him to Zhou Dayuan's vegetable garden and pointed to the white cabbage that had not been harvested yet, saying, "Here, this is their cabbage."
White Shanbao boldly stepped forward and pulled out a cabbage. Just then, a young woman nearby saw this and was about to speak. However, she noticed Man Bao helping him pull it out. Together, they carried the cabbage to the wall outside Zhou Dayuan's house. They brought a stone and climbed up, tearing the leaves and throwing them to the hens below, coaxing them, "Eat up." "Even if you get scolded after eating your fill, you won't be sad."
The young woman who witnessed this scene couldn't help but walk up out of curiosity. Man Bao saw her and greeted her, "Hello, sister-in-law, you're back from the vegetable garden."
"Yes," the other woman's face looked a bit strange, and she couldn't help but ask, "Man Bao, what are you doing?"
"Feeding the chickens?" The young woman asked.
"Isn't this the Dayuan family's chickens?" "Why are you helping them feed the chickens?"
"Dayuan's wife was scolding the chickens and not giving them any food." I felt sorry for them, so I fed them.
The young woman couldn't help but laugh and asked, while holding back her laughter, "Where did the vegetables come from?"
"Right there."
"Isn't that Dayuan's vegetable garden?"
"Yes, we have to use their vegetables to feed our chickens, of course."
The young woman actually thought she was right.
She didn't leave but leaned against the wall to watch them feed the chickens. Zhang, who was inside the house, heard the commotion in the yard, looked up, and saw the two children sitting on the wall. She was so angry that she stared at them and asked, "What are you doing?"
The young woman immediately said, "Sister-in-law, Man Bao and the little master are feeding your chickens." They heard you scolding the chickens and not giving them anything to eat, so they took the initiative to pick some vegetables to feed them.
Dayuan's wife finally saw the two children holding the cabbage, tearing it up, and throwing it down. Her expression softened slightly, and she said, "If you want to feed the chickens, come in and feed them." Why sit on the wall?
Man Bao tore up the cabbage in his hand, threw it down, clapped his hands, and said, "We're afraid you'll hit us."
The young woman immediately reached out and pulled them down. As they walked hand in hand for a while, she turned to Zhang inside the wall and said, "Sister-in-law, these vegetables were picked by the two children from your vegetable garden. I thought you would blame them for feeding the chickens, so I stayed a little longer." When I saw that you didn't blame them, I felt relieved. "Sister-in-law, you are indeed reasonable."
Zhang's face turned as black as ink, and she was very angry.
The young woman laughed and left. She and Dayuan's family were neighbors, and even their vegetable gardens were connected, so they often quarreled.
Your hoeing encroached on my land; you over-hoed the path while working, and there were many trivial matters like this. She stayed to see Zhang get angry. When she noticed that Zhang was indeed angry, she happily left, intending to share this incident with her family.
Zhang was very angry and quickly ran to the vegetable garden, only to find that a cabbage had indeed been freshly picked. However, it hadn't been completely harvested, as two old leaves were left behind.
Zhang was about to scold, but suddenly remembered that she couldn't afford to provoke Man Bao; otherwise, Qian Shi would tear her apart. She considered scolding the young master but realized she couldn't risk provoking him. For a moment, she was so angry that she couldn't express her feelings.