When the pears are green

Chapter 115 Destination

The head of the village looked at Wu Mingde who was kneeling on the ground. He felt that his son was not so sincere when he wished him a happy new year.

Wu Minghui ran out of the room in a hurry. She pulled Wu Li's sleeve and looked at Wu Li with an anxious face.

Mrs. Wu Li reached out and touched the top of Wu Minghui's head, signaling her not to speak for the time being.

Wu Minghui walked to the village head again and pulled his sleeve with a pleading look on his face.

The village head glanced at Wu Minghui and said, "I've been busy for a long time. I feel a little thirsty."

Wu Li kicked Wu Mingde who was kneeling on the ground. Wu Mingde understood and said to the village head: "Dad, go and take a rest first. I'll go get some water."

"I want to drink hot water." The head of the village added.

"Then I'll go cook it." Wu Mingde agreed immediately. He stood up quickly and ran to the kitchen without even shaking off the dust on his knees.

"Look at how useless he is."

"Don't mention Ming De. He's afraid you won't agree."

"He has never knelt down to beg me since he was a child. How could I...how could I not agree? The girl from the Song family is not bad."

"Of course, she's much better than your second daughter-in-law. Aren't you marrying a rich man? Mingxuan found someone in the city. In addition to selling dozens of acres of land to the second son and his family to buy shops and houses in the county, did our family get any other benefits? If not for this, would our family only have 50 acres of land? Which village head doesn't have more land than our family?"

"Dad, Mom, please stop talking. There's black smoke coming out of our kitchen. Aren't you afraid that our third brother will burn the kitchen down?"

"If it burns, then let the boy build it himself. When he is done, I will ask for his hand in marriage on his behalf."

"Ah, Dad wants my third brother to remain single?"

"Ming Hui, don't talk nonsense. Your father wants to test your third brother."

"How can there be such a test? It's clearly a difficult task."

……

The three people in the yard kept arguing, and black smoke kept coming out of the kitchen.

There was a constant knock on the gate of the village head's house. Wu Minghui hurried to open the door, only to see two gray-haired old men.

Wu Minghui shouted, "Grandpa, Grandma, why are you here?"

When the village head and Mrs. Wu Li heard Wu Minghui's cry, they came over immediately. The couple supported an old man each. Mrs. Wu Zhao, who looked amiable, asked anxiously, "Big brother, is there a fire at home? Why is there so much black smoke? Your father and I saw it and came here in a hurry."

The village head laughed when he heard it. Mrs. Wu Li patted him and he slowly stopped laughing. He explained to Mrs. Wu Zhao, "Mother, no, it was Mingde who was boiling water."

"No wonder, it turns out that Mingde was boiling water. Old woman, let's wait here for a while and try the water boiled by Mingde to see if it tastes good?" said Wu Mancang, who was supported by the village head.

Wu Minghui hurried to the door of the main room and opened it. Wu Zhaoshi and Wu Mancang pushed away the hands of the head of the village and his wife, and walked over tremblingly on their crutches.

The people in the main room waited and waited. Wu Minghui stood at the door and kept looking around. When she saw Wu Mingde, who looked embarrassed, coming with a cup of water, she hurriedly shouted into the house: "Grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, third brother is here."

After Wu Mingde entered the house and saw Wu Mancang and Wu Zhaoshi, he greeted them first, then handed the cup of water in his hand to the old couple and invited them to drink water.

Wu Zhao took the cup of water, lowered her head, took a sip and said with a smile, "It's really delicious."

After hearing this, Wu Mancang hurriedly took a sip and said that the water cooked by this grandson tasted better than that cooked by Wu Zhaoshi.

The rest of the people in the room were amused by the two old men.

Wu Mingde went to the kitchen to pour water for the head of the village and Wu Li, and even had a cup for Wu Minghui.

Wu Zhao called Wu Mingde, who had finished his work, to her side. She took out her handkerchief and carefully wiped the dust off Wu Mingde's face and hands.

Wu Mingde thanked Wu Zhaoshi, took the handkerchief, took it to the well in the yard, washed it, and then hung it on a rope to dry.

After Wu Mingde left, Wu Zhaoshi asked the head of the village, "Boss, does Mingde want to ask you for something?"

The head of the village smiled and told the story that Wu Mingde had asked him and Wu Li to go to the Song family to propose marriage.

Wu Mancang and Wu Zhaoshi briefly inquired about the situation of the Song family, and then said in unison: "It turned out to be the second girl of the Changhe family."

Because the couple are old and well-off, they often stay at home. Except for the New Year and other festivals, they seldom go out. So gradually, they become unfamiliar with the younger generations in the village.

The couple also knew that this matter was not something they could decide. If the village head disagreed, they could not say anything. After all, Wu Mingde was only their grandson.

Wu Mingde walked into the main room again and called out in a long voice, "Dad."

The head of the village felt like he was getting goosebumps. He quickly promised Wu Mingde that he would go to the Song family to propose marriage after the matter of Li Laosan's wife was settled.

Wu Mingde happily ran behind the village head and patted his back and massaged his shoulders.

When Wu Minghui saw Wu Li looking at the head of the village with envy, she also imitated Wu Mingde and massaged Wu Li's shoulders and back.

The brother and sister ran behind Wu Mancang and Wu Zhaoshi, and the village head quickly stopped them: "Mingde, Minghui, your grandparents are old, you are not careful in your attack."

Wu Zhao took Wu Minghui's hand and said with a smile: "Your father is right. Your grandfather and I appreciate Minghui's kindness."

The sky slowly opened up into a dark curtain, and a young man knocked on the door of the village head's house.

The village head hurried to open the door, invited the young man to the main room, and then asked, "My nephew, how are you?"

The young man smiled and replied, "Uncle, Grandpa Wang and I went to the Renzhuang Village, which is about fifteen miles away from here. Just like what Aunt Wang said, her relative is called Ren Qiao. He is a cripple and a bamboo craftsman. His family has three acres of land. His father and mother passed away a few years ago, and he lives alone. People nearby dislike his inconvenient legs, so he is almost twenty years old and has not yet married. I first told him about Li Sansao's situation, and then showed him the divorce letter, and he said he didn't mind having a child." After he finished speaking, he took out the divorce letter from his arms and handed it to the head of the village.

The village head took it, read it again, smiled and nodded.

At this time, Wu Li heated up the food left in the pot and brought it into the main room. She asked the young people to sit down and eat quickly.

The young man wanted to refuse, but the village head told him that it was specially left for him. The young man was really hungry, so he sat down and ate.

Before the golden crow rose, the village head found a few young and strong men to block the gate of Old Lady Li's house.

Wu Mingde and Old Man Wang drove a bullock cart to Li Laosan's house, and several women helped to load all the things that could be taken away from the house onto the bullock cart.

The woman who lived with Li Laosan's wife last night helped her clean up. She comforted her, "Sister-in-law, the head of the village sent someone to check on the family yesterday. The man was lame, but the neighbors said he was a good man. He was also a bamboo craftsman and could make money."

Li Laosan's wife wanted to laugh but couldn't. She just hugged her child tightly and ran towards the unknown future.

Following the instructions of the village head, Wu Mingde walked around the alleys of the village before going to Li Laosan's house. The crisp sound of cowbells resounded throughout the entire Wuzhuang village.

When Zhang heard the noise, she woke up Song Changhe who was standing beside her.

"Li Laosan's wife is leaving. We are from the same village. Let's go and see her off!" After Zhang said this, Song Changhe sighed and started to get up.

Zhang and Song Changhe discussed it. She took a bowl and scooped a bowl of wheat from the cloth bag. Song Changhe went outside the courtyard gate and dug out a few mulberry seedlings that had already sprouted, and wrapped the roots with soil.

When Zhang and Song Changhe were about to close the gate, Song Li and Song Yue came out of the room. When they saw what Song Changhe and Zhang were holding, they hurriedly asked them to wait. They turned around and went back to the room, and soon came out again.

Song Li's family walked in the dark alley and met many villagers. Everyone was holding something in their hands.

When several people arrived at the door of Li Laosan's house, many people gathered at the door of Li Laosan's house, and people put the things in their hands on the ox cart.

After Zhang poured the wheat in the bowl into the cloth bag beside her, someone soon came over with another bowl.

Another person held an egg in his hand and placed it in a basket lined with wheat straw prepared by Wu Li. The egg slowly covered the bottom of the basket and soon reached the top.

There were also two tattered baskets on the side, one of which contained a lot of embroidered handkerchiefs, and the other contained a few chicks that kept chirping.

Next to the basket were a few bamboos that were cut from the bamboo forest by naughty children. Next to the bamboos were some wood that someone had put there, and on the wood were a few bunches of wild vegetables.

Song Li and Song Yue walked over with the crowd and handed over the fans and handkerchiefs in their hands.

Li Laosan's wife walked out of the yard holding her still sleeping child. After seeing the car full of things, she knelt down and cried and kowtowed three times to the villagers beside her.

Mrs. Wu Li hurriedly pulled up Li Laosan's wife. She heard the "bang bang" sounds of banging on the door not far away, and told Li Laosan's wife to get in the car quickly.

The head of the village found two tight-lipped women to go with Li Laosan's wife to prevent any accidents on the road.

The woman helped Li Laosan's wife onto the ox cart. They took out a quilt from the side and wrapped the child tightly.

When Old Man Wang saw that everyone was seated firmly, he drove the ox cart forward in the faint morning light.

Wu Mingde drove his own ox cart closely behind Old Man Wang's ox cart, which was full of things.

Someone was running behind the ox cart. Not long after, the person came back and told the head of the village loudly: "Uncle Wu, they have left the village."

When the village head heard this, he walked to the door of Old Lady Li's house and said to the young men who were guarding there, "Let them out."

The young men nodded, untied the thick rope tied to the door, and everyone in the Li family hurriedly ran to Li Laosan's yard.