In the summer and autumn of 1949, the heavy rain that lasted for several days turned Xia Zhuang into an island country. The land to the west of the village was full of water, and the East River was full of water. It overflowed the river, and the embankment burst. The Hetao was full of water. There was also water from the east of the village to the river dam. Even half of the street was filled with water. The people at the east end had to wade through the water to cross the street. The children were walking on high heels across the street.
Moreover, the water level did not decrease after the heavy rain. It seemed to have become a fixed water level. The old river was two to three meters deep. The pair of boats below were sailing from south to north like butterflies with their wings open. Under the old river bridge, it became a mud dock. The sea salt unloaded from the ship piled up into mountains on the empty ground of the South Tomb. The carriages carrying salt were jostling and bumping. When the ship sailed downstream, it also brought the soybeans, sorghums, peanuts, corn, and fruits from the north back to the seaside.
The bridgehead of Xia Manor was very lively. Xie Zhenhe, Big Head, Xia Zonglan, and the others set up shops at the bridgehead, opened restaurants, and opened big car shops. Zhang Jiu and Big Beard Yang set up a small stall on the bridge, selling groceries.
From Si Ge Zhuang to Hu Ge Zhuang, Xia Zhuang was the only way. " Far away is afraid of water, near is afraid of ghosts." Outsiders crossing the river did not know which was deep and which was shallow. The cars were often parked, and pedestrians did not dare to cross the river. Big brother Zhang Fengting got a small trough from Shi Gezhuang's second aunt's house, and Ah Hui went to set up a trough with him every day. When someone crossed the river, Big Brother set up a boat to collect money. When no one crossed the river, Ah Hui set up a boat to play by herself. The water wasn't too deep, about one meter deep. The long pole pushed the boat forward and the boat moved forward. To turn a corner, from the side of a branch, very happy.
Later, the government decided to build a bridge. From the new river to the Dongtuo River dam, a bridge was built across the entire Hetao River. It was two miles long and looked like a rainbow from afar. The timber used to build the bridge was piled up on the flat ground west of New River. It was like a timber market. The people at that time were too pure and honest. There was so much wood. Although no one was looking after it, most people did not steal or rob it, ensuring that the bridge was completed on time.
A few people were smart enough to steal a lot sooner or later. Some families had the planks and purlins on the bridge. When there was more wood, there was more carpentry work. Building houses and making furniture, the carpenters were busy.
On the west side of Xia Zhuang's west road was Xia Yun's home. There were three main rooms, three wing rooms in front of the main room and three wing rooms in the east and west respectively. There was a wide and long courtyard outside the south gate of the wing room. In the past, this yard was only filled with some sundries and firewood. Now, it was filled with wood and became a workshop for carpenters to work. It was a father and son pair, one old and one young. His father, Huo Zhanguang, was in his forties and had a good job. His son, who was just twenty years old, was called Huo Gaoling. Xia Village was not small. There were hundreds of people, but not a single decent carpenter. Only Ma Laowu had learned it for a few days, but he didn't know how to do it. No one had ever seen him do carpentry. Therefore, in the eyes of the people of Xia Village, Huo Zhanguang and his son were considered capable people, and people envied them very much. In the beginning, when they were working, there would always be many people surrounding them to watch the show. They would praise them for doing a good job and for their ingenuity. After that, Changxiu and Changguang took the initiative to learn from him and become his disciples. Changxiu is my grandson, and Changguang's father is Xia Zongru, the head of the village. In this way, Changxiu and Changguang became the first people in the village to learn carpentry.
One day, Old Huo brought Changxiu and Changguang to work in the outer manor. Gao Ling was working alone at home. When it was almost time for lunch, Changxiu's sister, Xia Yuelian, came and said to Gao Ling with a smile," Big Brother, can I make some wood shavings for lunch?"
Gao Ling was working when he looked up. The girl in front of him was eighteen or nineteen years old. She had black hair, a fair face, and a smile when she spoke. Her teeth were neat and white, and she was of medium height. She was very good-looking. Gao Ling was stunned. He knew that Changxiu had an elder sister and had seen her many times, but this was the first time he had seen her up close. He looked at her in a daze and forgot to answer until the girl said,"How is it? Big brother." Only then did he come back to his senses and say," Sure, sure. I'll take whatever I want. I'll take whatever's good."
He put down the tools in his hands and personally picked out some wood to make a sieve for Xia Yuelian. Anyway, the wood shavings had no other use. From then on, Xia Yuelian collected wood shavings every day to make a fire. Gao Ling's heart was thrown into chaos. He regretted that he was already married. If only he had married such a wife!
Xia Yuelian was the eldest in the family. His mother passed away at the age of 37, and his father, Xia Zongfeng, was heartbroken. There were two brothers and two sisters in the family. In fact, she was the one who supported the family. Grandpa and Grandma were already old. Who should she tell when she had something big or small to do? Those of average size in the village already had in-laws. Some of them were married. Who cared if they had no partner?
Gao Ling's appearance brought her hope. In terms of looks, the young man was quite passable. He also knew how to be a carpenter, which made Xia Yuelian's heart flutter.
Gao Ling had always kept the fact that he was married a secret, and he had always been close to Xia Yuelian, which made Xia Yuelian have a good impression of him. Later on, Old Huo found out about their relationship, and he was very angry. She thought to herself that she had only come to work at Xia Manor because of the good relationship between the two families. Now, her son was hiding something from her and deceiving the young lady. What was it like? Hence, he resolutely told Gao Ling to leave Xia Manor and not let him come back to work. Later on, Xia Yuelian also found out the truth, and this unsuccessful relationship ended.
There was a girl called Xiu Ling 'er in the east courtyard of the carpenter's workshop. He was also sixteen or seventeen. She and Changguang were classmates. During the war, the children's studies were delayed because they were always worried about the enemy. After the release of the school, the school became official, but they still didn't know anything and kept skipping grades.
Xiu Ling 'er's younger brother, Xia Changjiu, and Changguang's younger brother, Xia Changyu, were already in the fourth grade. They were still in the second grade, and they were already fifteen or sixteen years old. He could already tell that they no longer had any thoughts about studying. They felt that there was no point in studying, so they dropped out of school.
Chang Guang worked in Chang Xiu's yard, and Xiu Ling 'er often climbed on her cane to watch the show. Xiu Ling 'er's mother was very afraid that Xiu Ling' er would lose her heart, so she said," In the future, working at home is just working. Don't go and watch the show." Xiu Ling 'er agreed verbally, but she didn't mean it. He couldn't sit still when he was working at home. He always took time to run to the long and wide carpenter shed. Her father, Xia Zongzhen, hated those who had partners in the manor. He was afraid that his daughter would do something that would make people laugh at her, so he sent Xiu Ling 'er to Lan Tuo's grandmother's house to visit. However, he came back after two days.
"Xiu Ling 'er, what's wrong with you? You can't stay outside. What's wrong with you?”his mother said.
"Mom, I'm almost 18 years old. Don't you know what I'm thinking? The girls already have in-laws. I want to find Changguang.”
" Stop talking. We're afraid of this. His surname is Xia, and so are ours. How can we get married?"
"No! People say that a surname can have five husbands."
" No, not in the same village." His mother was furious and determined.
Her father, Xia Zongzhen, was about to explode." No, she can't stay in the manor no matter what. I'd rather break her legs. Her family is taking care of her."
In the house opposite Xiu Ling 'er's house lived her granduncle, nicknamed Big Head. Grandma was a nagging woman with small feet and a very kind heart. Knowing Xia Zongzhen's temper, when she heard that she was going to break her legs, she secretly told Xiu Ling 'er and asked her to find a way to hide.
Xiu Ling 'er also knew her father's temper. Although he had never hit her since she was young, when he was really angry about this matter, he might hit her. It was better to run, so he secretly opened the south gate and ran east along the yard in the south of the village.
Chang Guang's family was eating when Xiu Ling 'er suddenly came in. The family was very surprised. Changguang's mother asked," What's wrong? You look so flustered."
" You want to hit me?" Xiu Ling 'er cried.
Changguang's father, Xia Zongru, asked,"Does your father and the others know that you're here?"
" I don't know.
Xia Zongru jumped down from the brick bed and said,"Let's go. I'll take you somewhere." The sky was almost dark. Under the hazy moonlight, he brought Xiu Ling 'er to Zhang Qingchun's house in the north of the road. After making some arrangements, he quickly returned home. The whole family continued to eat as if nothing had happened.
When Xiu Ling 'er's family realized that there was no one left, they panicked. Xia Zongzhen scolded her for not keeping an eye on her.
It was useless to scold him. Hurry up and look for him. He deduced that he must have run over to Changguang's house. The group of people entered the house and saw that nothing had happened at Changguang's house. The whole family was eating steadily. It didn't look like anyone had been here at all.
" Where's Xiu Ling 'er? Hurry up and tell her to go home." Xia Zongzhen said angrily.
"What is it? What did you say? What happened?" Xia Zongru said calmly, as if he really knew nothing.
" Xiu Ling 'er didn't come here?
" He didn't come. We only have this big house. If you don't believe me, you can flip it over."
"Hurry up and look elsewhere. If you stay here for too long, you'll delay things. No matter what, how could he lose her?”Changguang's mother looked very anxious.
Xiu Ling 'er had gone missing and ran away from home. The news spread like the wind in Xia Manor. Xiu Ling 'er's family sent out several groups of people to search for her, but they couldn't find her. Some said that the girl's family wouldn't allow her to do so. That girl was narrow-minded and was probably forced to her death. There was nothing in the East River, nor in the three wells in the village. This time, Xiu Ling 'er's mother and father were anxious and frightened.
"It's all your fault. Who asked you to make a fuss about hitting her? Look, if I really die outside this time, how am I supposed to live?”Xiu Ling 'er's mother cried.
"I didn't expect her to be so calm. I was just scaring her. If I knew she was like this, I'd rather pretend that I didn't have a daughter like her and ignore her."
"Cough, so be it. There are quite a few people in the village. We're not the leader, so why are we stopping them?”
He seemed to understand everything.
While the entire village was anxious about Xiu Ling 'er's departure, Xia Zongru's house was as calm as cold water. Some smart people had seen through it. Xiu Ling 'er was definitely fine, and his family definitely knew where she was hiding. It was not wrong to ask his family for her. Later on, someone suggested to Xiu Ling 'er's parents that the Xia Sect's scholarly faction should take her back. However, he didn't want to fight, but to agree. Xiu Ling 'er came back to agree to the marriage. Xiu Ling 'er's mother and Xia Zongzhen were eager to find their daughter. They didn't care what they said in the past. They just wanted their daughter to come back. Thus, the old couple personally went to the Xia Sect's Confucian Faction and begged that as long as they found their daughter, they would not care about the marriage.
Two days later, Xiu Ling 'er left Zhang Qingchun's house. People saw that in the past few days, Xiu Ling 'er's face had turned pale and she had gained weight. The marriage with Changguang was officially set.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。