In the ninth year of Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty, at the age of 43 in Xiyuan, he took part in the imperial examination and passed the Linsheng . It was obviously too late for him to seek fame at this age, and the villagers gave him mixed reviews.
Yu Xiyuan’s third younger brother, Yu Xizhong, looked down upon him from the bottom of his heart and said with disdain: “Huh, a person who has lived for most of his life only knows how to hold a book and shake his head all day long. You ask him to grow an acre of wheat. How many kilograms of seeds are in the ground, and then ask him what the distance between the ridges is for planting corn? "
Xizhong is a recognized method of farming within a radius of dozens of miles, plowing and raking, cutting wheat and field, planting melons and harvesting beans, etc. All are top-notch.
After the wheat harvest that year, it rained for several days, and weeds appeared everywhere, so hoeing became a top priority.
The sky was dimming, and when Xi Zhong went down to the ground and passed by the east wing, the Xiyuan family was still asleep. He stood in front of the house and coughed twice. When there was no response, he shouted to the window: "Brother, don't just sleep. Before breakfast, you go to the morning market and hire a day laborer for me. Go and hoe the wheat fields on the south cliff of the bridge." ."
heard a lazily reply of "Oh..." from inside the room, and Xizhong went to the ground muttering dissatisfied.
When the sun was high and the mountain was high, Xizhong had already hoeed back and forth. He raised his head and looked towards the road, but still saw no one. He couldn't help but feel a little resentful in his heart: "My big brother, who is stubborn, could he have forgotten about hiring day laborers?" It’s time to wait for no one. When the grass grows, it will be hard to hoe.” After a pack of cigarettes, Xizhong finally saw someone coming over there. But when he got closer and looked again, the fire on his head started to rise: "You are really a useless scholar, do you hire this as a day laborer?"
I saw that the man was slender, with a pale face, wearing a Wearing a long blue cloth coat and wearing round cloth shoes, he carries a hoe on his shoulder, but he looks like a teacher.
"This is my wheat field. I'll help you today!" Xiyuan led the stranger to the field and introduced him to him. He shouted to Xizhong: "Third brother, this is Mr. Jia who is here to help our family!"
Xizhong said "hmm" without raising his head, which was regarded as a greeting.
He didn't care about the visitors. He took off his long gown and neatly folded it on the ground. He tightened the belt around his waist and went down to the ground to start hoeing next to Xizhong.
Under the scorching sun, the two of them bent over and swung their hoes forward, side by side, shadow by shadow, but neither of them spoke. Only the sound of the hoe rubbing against the wheat stubble resounded throughout the field.
At first, Xizhong didn't pay much attention to the future. After all, he had been a farmer for many years. Could it be that he would be compared to this scholar-like embroidered pillow?
After hoeing for a while, the two of them seemed to be secretly competing with each other. The two hoes were touching each other, turning up the straight ridges of wheat stubble, but there was no difference between them.
How can the proud and proud Xizhong lose face so easily? He tried his best to leave the person behind. He held the hoe handle tightly with both hands, and the hoe he swung out fell like raindrops, one hoe after another. He used his hoe with full force to dig down the soft soil and extended forward step by step.
The visitor was neither superior nor showing weakness. He changed his hands from left to right, alternated positions, and tightly grasped the hoe in his hands. The hoe in his hand was used freely. The hard wheat stubble ground seemed to have become a arena for displaying kung fu. Even the sharp hoe blade was light and easy to move around the crop seedlings. The wheat stubble and weeds were picked up one after another, but the crop seedlings were intact.
Taking advantage of the break and the visitor hiding to relieve himself, Xizhong looked at the ground he had hoeed, and found that the ground was of the same depth, with ridges and ridges. Even the foot pads that had been stepped on were not messy at all. He did not dare to touch them. Underestimated.
When the meal was delivered at noon, Xizhong, who was already very hungry, stretched out his dirty hands, picked up the steamed buns and ate them in three bites. However, the visitor calmly walked to the nearby river, washed his hands carefully, then picked up the steamed bun and ate it slowly.
After we started hoeing in the afternoon, the scorching sun scorched the earth like fire, and the entire field was as sultry as a steamer. It was so hot in the west that beads of sweat kept falling down. The short coat on my body could squeeze out water, so I simply took off my arms. No matter how unconvinced he was, his brute force in swinging the hoe had lost a bit, and the hoe in his hand seemed cumbersome, and he had to straighten his back more often.
The visitor was still unhurried and patient. He held the handle of the hoe tightly and hoeed next to each other with even force. His clothes were not messy at all. He only occasionally raised the belt around his waist to wipe his sweat.
As if the visitor was trying to save face for Xizhong, the speed of hoeing slowly slowed down. When Xizhong straightened his back, he also straightened his back; when Xizhong hoeed, he also hoeed, just like ton tree glue, it stuck to Xizhong's side.
It was time to finish work in the evening. Xizhong was so tired that he sat down on the ground. Seeing the people coming, he walked to the river again. He washed himself clean in the river water, came back and put on a long gown, combed his hair without messing up, and wiped every particle After the buttons were tied neatly, he picked up the hoe and came over to say goodbye.
Xizhong was stunned for a long time, looking at the back of the person who was walking away, and said naa: "My eldest brother has really poisonous eyes!"
Xizhong returned home in the dark, put the hoe against the wall, and didn't bother to eat. , made an exception and ran to the eldest brother's west garden room, sat respectfully on the stool at the bottom, and vividly talked about the day's hoeing.
Xiyuan smiled and nodded, then shook his head and said, "Sure enough, I didn't make a mistake!" (Author Xue Peizheng)
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