Cuicui squatted at the stove to light the fire, while stuffing the grass with a little moisture into it, while fanning the wind, the weather was not good, the smoke could not be dispersed for a while, coughed a few times, and did not forget to ask grandpa.

"The man said that he would ask someone to come for you when he went back, and asked us to go into the city, grandpa, will you go?"

"Are you happy to go?"

"Call Uncle Xu, I'm happy that the three of us will go together, that person is very good, I seem to know him, who is he?"

The old man immediately turned his back to her, and made an excited gesture at Xu Hao at the ferry, saying that people also think you are good, and said with a smile: "Cuicui, don't you remember that a few years ago, by the big river, someone said that he wanted the big fish to bite you?" ”

Now Zi Cuicui understood everything, but the problem was still pretending not to understand, and asked, "Who is he?" ”

Facing his granddaughter's coquettishness, the old man said happily: "Think about it, guess it." ”

Cuicui pouted and said: "There are many people with a hundred family names, I can't guess that he is Zhang San and Li Si." ”

"You seem to have done it on purpose, and you two are childhood sweethearts. That's the boss of Xiang Chuan's family, the two of you used to play together when you were young, he knows you, you don't know him? The old man took a sip of wine, and in a reluctant and happy tone, he whispered: "Okay, wonderful, it's really rare." ”

After eating, someone shouted across the stream to transition, and Cuicui rushed out. When I got there, it turned out to be a person sent by the boss of the family as a substitute, and when I saw Cuicui, he said: "The boss wants you to go over after eating, he has already gone down to the river." When he saw the old man, he said, "I want you to eat and go, for he has gone down to the river." ”

Xu Hao looked into the distance, it seemed that there were still boats today, and he could hear the dense drumming sound, which would remind people of those long and narrow clippers from the drums, moving straight on the river, rowing a beautiful long line, splashing exciting waves.

The old man said, "Cuicui." I'm not going to go with your Uncle Xu, can you go with the puppy? ”

Cuicui immediately said unhappily: "If you don't go, I don't want to go." ”

"And what about we?" The old man asked.

Cuicui said mischievously: "Originally, I didn't want to go, but I was willing to accompany my grandfather." ”

"You!" The old man laughed, "Then let's go for a walk." ”

When the three of them arrived at River Street, the river was already full of people, the light rain had stopped, and the ground was still wet. Dragon boat racing is extremely popular in Hunan, and because of the large number of boating families in the local area, there are competitions almost every month. The intention is also to learn from the Miao family, so that young people have a stage to show themselves, so that the women of each family can comment on their opinions and choose sons-in-law.

The old man proposed to go to the stilted building of Xiang's house to watch the boat race, but Cuicui thought that it was better to stand on the shore, and Xu Hao did not express his opinion.

Not long after, Xiangjia sent someone to invite them, there were many guests on stilts, and the mother and daughter of the Tujia gentry who transitioned in the morning were warmly welcomed by Xiangjia. Occupying the best window, the girl saw Cuicui and beckoned: "You come, you come!" ”

Cuicui walked over with a little shyness. Sitting on the stool behind them, the old man took the opportunity to pull Xu Hao away.

Xu Hao was taken to see an acquaintance of the old man, and took a boat to the new mill half a mile upstream to see the water mill.

Since ancient times. The larger mill houses are industries monopolized by the landlords, and making money is secondary, mainly to control the tenants and peasants. Especially the water mill, in ancient times, where agriculture was the mainstay, it was impossible for ordinary people to have a mill house.

Even if the steam engine is invented now, it will not be possible to replace the efficiency of the water mill. In Jinling, the Xu family's mill has always been free and public.

A small thatched hut near the water, with a round stone sheet in the house, fixed on the horizontal axis, resting diagonally in the stone trough. When the sluice gate is opened, the flowing water will rush into the dark wheel underground, pull the stone chips on it to fly up, pour the grain into the stone trough, get the milled rice out and put it in the corner, and sieve the chaff and ashes.

The person who took care of it had a white cloth handkerchief wrapped around his head, and his whole body was covered with chaff ash, and some radish greens, garlic, and green onions were planted around.

Experienced people who can work, the dam is repaired well, and you can also install a small fish beam, and when the tide is high, there will be fish delivered to the door, and managing the mill is a very decent job, and no one is not stammered.

The acquaintance kicked the new grinding plate with his foot and said, "The people of the tea castle sit on the high mountain by themselves, but they like to go to the river to buy property. This is Wang Baihu's family, and it cost two hundred taels of silver, saying that it will be left to me to take care of it. ”

The old man admired it enviously, and from time to time made insightful criticisms of some designs, Xu Hao listened carefully and did not say a word.

Scholars don't distinguish between grains and grains, and acquaintances think that he is indifferent to this, saying that this mill seems to be Wang Baihu's dowry for his daughter in the future, and he changed his tone and asked, "Cuicui is a teenager this year?" ”

The old man knew this, and calculated in his heart the years and months of being dependent on his granddaughter, and said: "When you are fifteen years old, you will be sixteen years old." ”

The acquaintance said: "Cuicui's child is so capable! Whoever gets her will be greatly blessed. ”

The old man sighed, "What blessing? There is no mill to marry, a light person, our family is poor, and we can't do anything. ”

"It's okay." The acquaintance said to Xu Hao: "Son, you say, is it a capable daughter-in-law, two hands are worth five mills?" Even the Luoyang Bridge was built by Lu Ban with two hands, marrying a wife and marrying a virtuous man. ”

Xu Hao smiled: "That's right, a useful person is comparable to ten lazy daughters-in-law." The old man laughed.

The acquaintance smiled and said: "Let's Yongshun young men's eyes don't rub sand, and they are very good at choosing a daughter-in-law, so I'll tell you a joke." ”

The old man asked, "What kind of joke?" ”

The acquaintance said, "If you don't care too much, this joke can be taken as the truth." ”

The joke is not funny at all, naturally it is the main topic, telling how the boss of the Xiang family praised Cuicui, and asked him to listen to the old man's tone, "I asked him if he was serious or joking, and the boss said that I like Cuicui and want Cuicui, which is true." Ha ha! Usually a very eloquent person, look at what you say, I'm afraid of being slapped by you, anyway, I have the right to listen to it as a joke, if you don't agree. ”

Because the father of the Xiang family had already said it once when he drank yesterday, and now he has entrusted someone again, it can be seen that the sincerity of the Xiang family, and the Xiang family likes Cuicui very much, not to mention the parties. The old man was very happy in his heart, but the marriage was according to the rules, and the matchmaker brought snacks and gifts to the house to say, so he had to be cautious.

The old man said, "You told him that when the old man heard the joke, he also told a joke himself, that the car has a road, and the boat has a road, and each has its own way." If he is taking the road, his father should be in charge, please come to my house to propose marriage in a serious manner. If you take the boat route. He should stand on the high cliff opposite the ferry and sing for Cuicui for three years and six months! ”

"Haha!" Acquaintances know that they have basically succeeded, and they are also very happy, "If singing for three years and six months touches Cuicui's heart, then I will sing it myself." ”

The old man smiled: "Do you think Cui Cui is willing, will I still refuse?" ”

The acquaintance said: "No, everyone thinks that your old man nodded in this matter, and Cuicui has no choice." ”

"You can't say that." The old man said softly, "It's her own business. She has the right to call the shots. ”

The acquaintance laughed and said: "In the end, we Han people have to be called by the old man, otherwise why do we have to sing songs for three years and six months?" It's not as effective as your words. ”

"Hehe, that's it." The old man stood up, "The boss of the Xiang family is going to eastern Sichuan tomorrow." Wait for him to come back and understand. As for me, I asked Cuicui first, and I thought that after listening to the song for three years and six months, it would be more interesting to go with the singer. Persuade him to take the winding river. ”

The acquaintance laughed and said seriously: "I can agree to this matter immediately, such a good girl can't let her fly away." ”

The old man glanced at Xu Hao with a smile. Secretly said that Xu Gongzi came by coincidence, and he forced Xiang Jia to be anxious, for fear that Cuicui would follow him away and fly away.

In the stilted building of Xiang's house, Cuicui was called by the young lady of the squire's family to sit down, the position was very good, looking out of the window, a qiē in the river was in sight, but her heart was not at peace, seven up and eight down.

The people who crowded into the other windows to watch the boat race often moved their eyes from the river to a few people in the house, and some of them pretended to be in trouble, and walked over from the adjacent building, staring at this side one after another.

The taste of being repeatedly scrutinized is uncomfortable, and Cuicui Boss is uncomfortable, and he really wants to escape under the pretext of an excuse.

Suddenly, the sound of the cannon rang out, bringing people's attention back to normal, and Cuicui breathed a sigh of relief, and glanced at the girl, as if she was also relieved, and couldn't help but smile.

The boats in the distance rowed quickly, at first not far from each other, like six arrows shooting at the surface of the water, and halfway through the race, two boats were slightly ahead, and after a while, one of the boats worked together to make ten thousand waves stand out, and was far ahead.

In an instant, small celebratory firecrackers rang out everywhere, and the second time the cannon rang out, and unsurprisingly, it was the boat of the River Street people who won.

I saw the winning boat rowing along the stilted building, the drums rumbled, and the people by the river and the house shouted at the same time to celebrate, and the atmosphere was very hot and lively.

Cuicui saw the person standing at the bow of the ship directing the advance and retreat, with a red cloth wrapped around his head, it was the boss of the Xiang family who sent wine gourds to the house, and the old things from a few years ago appeared in his mind.

"Beware of the big fish eating you!"

"Eat it or not, you don't care!"

"Yo! I'll throw you into the water. ”

"I have rhubarb, see how dare you?"

Cuicui bit her lip and squeezed her fists, he liked to bully him when he was a child, and he hated him the most at that time, but he hated it to death, but he always wanted to talk to him.

By the way, what about my dog? Cuicui then remembered her big yellow dog, and she didn't know where she had gone, so she left her seat and searched everywhere in the house.

While looking for the yellow dog in the crowd, I listened to what people were saying.

A slightly chubby woman asked, "Whose family is that, sitting in the best place in front of the window in Lao Xiang's house?" ”

Another woman said, "It's the eldest girl of the hundred households of the king of Shancheng, who said today that she came to see the boat, but in fact she came to see people, and at the same time let people see it!" People have good lives, and they are blessed to sit in the best places. ”

Cuicui was shocked, and her expression immediately became complicated, and she listened more and more attentively. (To be continued......)