Chapter 45: Hearth Soil

End of June.

Ran Xiaomei found a matchmaker nearby and went to He Shengnan's house to propose marriage.

After completing the formalities, the two families found a time to have a meal together, which confirmed the marriage of Wang Mengde and He Shengnan.

When her son's marriage was finally settled, Ran Xiaomei was in a very good mood. She rarely called her son by his nickname: "Meng De, you are getting married soon. Find some time to go back and tell your grandparents in person."

"Mom, I understand. I'll go back next Sunday."

Wang Mengde quickly agreed.

When he was a child, the original owner grew up with his grandparents. Now that he is getting married, he must go back in person to inform his grandparents of the good news.

morning.

Tiange Village.

Wang Mengde was walking on a country path, carrying a water bottle on his back and something in his hands.

He was not going to the village to treat people today, so he did not carry his medicine box.

The surrounding wheat fields were completely bare, with only a thin layer of stubble left.

It is now the beginning of July, and the wheat around the capital has basically been harvested. Those who were quick have already delivered the grain to their homes, while those who were slow have mostly left their grain out to dry in the threshing floors.

After entering the village and arriving at my grandfather's house, I saw my grandmother squatting in the vegetable garden outside the yard, weeding the vegetable garden.

"grandmother."

"Hey, Mengde is back. Have you had breakfast?" Wang Tian turned around and saw Wang Mengde, and said happily.

"Grandma, I've had breakfast. Is Grandpa home?"

"Your grandfather, after breakfast in the morning, went out to collect manure, carrying a dung basket and holding a hoe. I guess he will be back soon." Wang Tian said happily.

"Look, the peppers, eggplants, beans, cucumbers and tomatoes I planted this year are growing so well. This is all thanks to the manure your grandfather collected, which made the land so fertile."

After entering the house, Wang Mengde put the things in his hand on the table, and then said: "Grandma, I bought two boxes of peach cakes for you and your uncle's family. You and grandpa can eat them.

Also, this peach pastry cannot be kept for too long. Remember to eat it within a month. Don’t keep it for half a year or a year. It will be inedible by then, and it would be a waste to throw it away.”

Although he didn't know if it would work, he still had to remind her twice.

There had been many times before when grandma would hide good things and eat them slowly, or save them for him to eat when he came back.

If you keep it for too long, it will expire or go bad.

"Grandma knows, don't spend money recklessly in the future."

Wang Tianshi carefully carried the two boxes of peach cakes and walked towards the east bedroom, muttering to herself that she was going to hide the peach cakes again.

It was almost ten o'clock when Wang Jinghui came back from outside.

Sitting on a small bench under a big tree outside the yard with his grandparents, Wang Mengde told them that he was engaged and would be getting married on August 8.

"Before I came, my mother specifically told me to make an appointment with you two elders. One or two days before the wedding, I will go back to the village to pick you up and take you to the city."

"Are you getting married?"

Wang Tian said in surprise, and then her face was full of smiles: "Okay, Meng De, you are getting married too, that's great, grandma will definitely go then."

"Cough cough." Wang Jinghui was smoking his pipe nearby. When he heard the news, he accidentally choked.

Next, Wang Tian carefully inquired about the woman's information, and finally said: "Meng De, you can't learn from your father. You have to have more children in the future."

"Ah, grandma, my father has three children. That's not too few, right?" Wang Mengde asked curiously.

"Humph." The old lady snorted coldly, and then slowly said: "If the country had not been liberated early, your two brothers would probably not have had the chance to be born."

It turned out that twenty years ago, not long after Ran Xiaomei gave birth to him, Wang Hao went to Beijing to work hard, and the two of them were rarely together for several years.

After the family reunited in Beijing, he joined the organization again, and in order to avoid adding burden, he did not have children for more than ten years.

It was not until the liberation of the capital that Wang Mengde, fortunately, was not too old and tried hard to have a second child. He then had two twin brothers. Otherwise, he would have been an only child.

"By the way, after you get married, go back to the village and give out some wedding candies to every household."

At this time, Wang Jinghui took a few puffs of his pipe and then spoke.

"That's right, every family should be given a few candies. When you were just born, your mother was in poor health and didn't have enough milk, so I held you in my arms and looked for other people in the village who had just given birth, and gave each of them a few bites.

Later, when you grew up and played in the village, you would go to eat at anyone's house that had something delicious. "

Wang Tian also agreed with a smile.

There are about a hundred households in Tiangezhuang. Except for the Wang family, the rest are from the same clan. Even the Wang family is related to the villagers.

When he was a child in the village, he grew up eating at many families' homes.

Wang Mengde remembered these interesting childhood events clearly through the original owner's memory, so he quickly agreed.

After chatting for a few sentences, Wang Jinghui suddenly stopped talking and looked at Wang Tian from time to time.

"Grandpa, is there anything I can help you with?" Wang Mengde asked curiously.

"Just tell me what you want to say and see what I will do." Wang Tian was also a little annoyed and said unhappily.

"Haha, it's like this, Meng De, you still remember Tian Laba, his eldest son is sick, lying at home and not willing to go to the hospital, why don't you go and help him later."

Wang Jinghui spoke cautiously, looking at Wang Tian's face as he spoke.

Of course Wang Mengde remembered Tian Laba. He was of the same generation as his grandparents, so he should call him uncle.

Two years ago, grandma and he had a big fight over a dispute over the border of the land.

"Then I'll go and take a look?" Wang Mengde also looked at Wang Tian carefully.

"You should go if you need to. Although Tian Laba is not a good person, Tian Zhiye is Uncle Wu's eldest grandson. We can't just ignore Uncle Wu's grandson if something happens to him."

The fifth uncle my grandmother mentioned was Tian Laba’s father, the former patriarch of Tiange Village.

When Wang Jinghui and Wang Tian got married, they had no place to live, so they initially lived in his family's cowshed. He also went against everyone's opinion and divided two acres of land from the family property and rented it to the two people.

Therefore, grandpa and grandma often talk about his good points.

At Tian Laba's home, Wang Mengde, accompanied by his grandparents, took the pulse of Tian Zhiye who was lying in bed.

After asking a few more questions, he was certain in his mind that this was a symptom of spleen deficiency and chronic diarrhea.

After thinking for a while, Wang Mengde raised his head and said to Tian Laba who was smiling at the side: "Uncle, it won't be a problem to buy a house. Get some stove core soil at home, wrap it in cloth, and boil it into three liang of soup to drink."

"What is stove core soil?"

(End of this chapter)