Chapter 26: Little warmth in life, the pretty girl on the edge of the field
Qin Shaohai was stunned after hearing this.
“Haha, do you have a picture in your mind?”
Chen Jianghe laughed, patted his butt and walked away irresponsibly, leaving Qin Shaohai standing there alone with his eyes wide open.
Zhang Village, where Chen Jianghe's hometown is located, is a relatively backward area in Wancheng. After entering the archway, there are residential houses all around. The land in front of and behind the houses has been reclaimed as vegetable fields, planted with green vegetables and onions.
Most of these houses have two or three floors added temporarily, which looks quite abrupt. However, Chen Jianghe knows that this place will usher in great changes in ten years. Large-scale shantytown reconstruction and demolition of old houses will make many original residents who built houses in advance and significantly increased the compensation area rich overnight.
Chen Jianghe's home is still the same as before, a low bungalow with an ordinary two bedrooms and a living room. There is a simple kitchen at the back and the toilet is also a temporary dry toilet. Every once in a while, he has to use a dung shovel to scoop out fertilizer and carry it to the field to apply it as fertilizer .
"River?"
As soon as Chen Jianghe reached the door of his house, he heard a surprised call coming from the rooftop of his house.
Chen Jianghe looked up and saw his mother Zheng Lihua standing on the roof with a rake in her hand, looking at him with joy on her face.
"mom!"
Chen Jianghe's throat was a little blocked and tears were about to come out.
The mother in front of him was exactly the same as the one Chen Jianghe had seen countless times in his dreams, with long black hair, big eyes, a slightly plump figure, and she looked so young at less than 40 years old.
When Zheng Lihua heard her son calling her "Mom", she immediately put down the work in her hands, ran downstairs and opened the door for him.
As soon as the door opened, she stepped forward and held Chen Jianghe's hand, saying with both joy and distress: "Why did you get home only now? There must have been a traffic jam on the way. You've only been in college for a month, and you've lost a lot of weight."
Chen Jianghe raised his hand and hugged his mother, holding back his tears, and smiled innocently: "Mom, I'm hungry."
"Come in, come in. Mom made some of your favorite dishes for lunch. You can eat them after heating them up."
Zheng Lihua quickly asked Chen Jianghe to come into the house, and she walked quickly to the kitchen to prepare some hot food for him.
As a result, Chen Jianghe held her back and said with a smile, "Mom, don't worry. It's so hot today, it's more comfortable to eat some cold dishes."
After saying that, he went to get his own bowl and chopsticks, filled a big bowl of rice with it, lifted the cover on the eight-immortals table and saw that they were indeed Chen Jianghe's favorite dishes, fried loach, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, fried cabbage and a big bowl of tomato egg drop soup.
"Why is this dish untouched? Didn't you and dad have lunch?"
Chen Jianghe asked in confusion .
"Your father has gone to help people harvest rice. There is food to eat. I don't have a good appetite today, so I will be full after just two bites of lunch." Zheng Lihua responded with a smile and walked forward to test the temperature of the food. Fortunately, it was still warm.
Chen Jianghe is the only son in the family. From childhood to adulthood, even though the family conditions were average, Chen Jianguo and Zheng Lihua always gave him the best things.
For example, the fried loaches on the table are wild loaches that Chen Jianguo specially went to the fields to dig out yesterday. They taste much better than the farmed ones sold on the market and are Chen Jianghe’s favorite.
Chen Jianghe picked up a loach and took a few bites. It was fragrant, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was so delicious that he narrowed his eyes.
"Mom, this fried loach is so fragrant and delicious. You should have a bite too." Chen Jianghe picked up a loach and put it to his mother's mouth.
Zheng Lihua took a bite and said with a smile: "Silly boy, you have grown up and know how to care for your mother."
"My mother is not old at all, she is young and beautiful."
Chen Jianghe picked up the bowl again and brought it to his mouth with a smile: "Come on, open your mouth."
Zheng Lihua was coaxed into smiling by her son. She lowered her head and took a bite of the rice that his son fed her personally. She felt her appetite improved.
"Your mouth is as sweet as honey. Are you in love at school?" Zheng Lihua asked.
"Yes and no."
The image of Xu Zhixi flashed through Chen Jianghe's mind. Although they hadn't gotten married yet, he still said confidently, "I'll bring her home to show you next time I have a chance. She'll look just like you, very beautiful."
"well."
Zheng Lihua nodded with a smile, looking particularly happy: "Eat well, I'll go upstairs to pull up the millet."
In my hometown, people generally grow one season of rice, which is sown around May and harvested in October, so the National Day holiday is often during the autumn harvest season.
"Take a break. I'll do it after dinner."
Chen Jianghe ate rice in big mouthfuls as he spoke. In no time he was full. He burped contentedly and strode upstairs to work.
Zheng Lihua was reluctant to let her son work, so she hurried upstairs, only to see him holding a rake and busying himself with it. His large and sharp movements were very skillful, as if he had all his strength.
At this moment, Zheng Lihua realized that her son had really grown up.
…
In the evening, Chen Jianguo, covered in mud, walked home with his neighbor Liao Youzhi, chatting and laughing under the silhouette of the setting sun. Behind him followed a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old, who was also covered in mud, wearing a straw hat and old clothes.
"dad!"
Chen Jianghe was sitting at the door eating a watermelon. He heard his father's voice from afar, so he quickly put down the watermelon, wiped his mouth, came out to take a look, and shouted happily.
"Hey, Lao Chen, your college student is back."
Before Chen Jianguo could react, Liao Youzhi beside him brightened his eyes and grinned.
"Uncle Liao."
Chen Jianghe also smiled and greeted them. Seeing the neighbor girl Liao Wanlan following behind and winking at him, he said with a playful smile: "I haven't seen you for a while. Lan has become more beautiful."
Liao Wanlan bit her lip and said nothing, but her eyes flickered as she looked at Chen Jianghe.
"If you like her, just marry her. I have no objection." Liao Youzhi said with a chuckle.
"Dad, don't talk nonsense. I am not worthy of Brother Jiang He."
Liao Wanlan said something coquettishly, kicked the stones beside her shyly, then walked away embarrassedly with a red face.
“This girl…”
Liao Youzhi looked a little helpless, and turned to Chen Jianghe and said, "Jianghe, come to my house for dinner with your dad tonight, and invite your mom too, it will be more lively with more people."
"Thank you, Uncle Liao. My mother is cooking in the kitchen. How about having dinner at my house tonight?" Chen Jianghe invited warmly.
Liao Youzhi was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand politely and said, "No, no, you three are reunited, uncle will bring a bottle of good wine over for a drink some other day."
"Okay."
Chen Jianguo and his son Chen Jianghe smiled and nodded at the same time, then went back home.
It was a rare occasion that his son came home on vacation, and the family of three had a happy dinner together. Chen Jianguo went to the store and bought two bottles of cold beer. The father and son each had one bottle, and they drank and chatted.
Zheng Lihua finished her meal early and sat at the table, supporting her chin with her hands, listening to her husband and son chatting, occasionally joining in a few words, her face beaming with happiness.
Although Zheng Lihua has lived a poor life in the past 20 years since she married Chen Jianguo, she is very content. As long as her husband is healthy and her son is sensible, her life will definitely get better and better in the future.
Chen Jianghe was indeed sensible. Over the next few days, he helped with farm work at home.
I thought the seven-day National Day holiday had passed in a busy manner. At about four o'clock in the afternoon of October 4, Chen Jianghe was thrashing in the field when he suddenly heard a familiar call from the edge of the field:
"Chen Jianghe!"
"Why!"
Chen Jianghe raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his face, responded, and saw Jiang Yishu standing at the edge of the field.
Chen Jianguo, who was cutting rice, also straightened up and looked towards the ridge of the field. Wow, what a pretty girl, in a light yellow long skirt, pretty with a slender waist, graceful figure, delicate features, and a pair of watery almond eyes that were pure and graceful. Her cheeks were slightly flushed in the sun, making her look even more youthful and beautiful.
But this girl looked a little shy. She pursed her lips and dared not look at others when their eyes made contact, and her cheeks became redder.
