As the saying goes, people are like iron and rice is like steel. If you don't eat one meal, you will be hungry.
On the second night of the rain, my grandfather was so hungry that he couldn't bear it anymore. It rained so hard that no one in Wang Caoyu's family dared to come over and ask him to eat. He himself also wanted to be decent. , I was too embarrassed to go to others for food, so I had to take a few coins and go out in the rain to try my luck at the butcher's house in Murakami. I hoped that the butcher would have some meat or something, just buy some raw meat and cook it at home. .
My grandfather and Wang Caoyu came to the butcher's house once. The last time Wang Caoyu asked the butcher to clean up my grandfather's horse, my grandfather had a very good memory. He could remember a Tang poem once when he was a child, and he only had to walk the road once. Can also remember.
My grandfather was quite lucky. When he came to the butcher's house and asked about it, the butcher said that a half-sized ox had just died at his house yesterday. It was frightened to death during the thunderstorm last night. He had nothing to do at home. Today afternoon I just peeled the calf, and now the beef has been cut into pieces and is soaking in the water tank.
The butcher was a bit ferocious in appearance, dark and thick-set, but he had a good impression of my grandfather, so he asked my grandfather to pick out a piece in the water tank, cook it and sell it to him as raw meat. My grandfather was a little hungry at this time, so he picked the largest piece, which weighed more than ten kilograms, enough for him to eat for four or five days.
It probably took nearly an hour to cook the beef, which is about two hours. The veal is tender and it is not suitable to cook it for too long. It has already been cooked for an hour. Afterwards, the butcher took out a jar of strong liquor and complimented my grandpa on how good a man he was. He insisted on drinking a few cups with me. My grandpa refused and drank with the butcher while eating beef.
The two of them drank until almost midnight, when they drank up several jars of strong liquor. The butcher's drinking capacity was as good as my husband's, and the two of them drank until they could hardly keep their eyes open. In the end, my grandfather gave all the money he had to the butcher, and after a drunken conversation with the butcher, he left the butcher's house with the remaining cooked beef.
On the way, we had to pass the iron cage where the river monster was kept. At this time, the rain was a little lighter.
When my grandfather staggered to the side of the iron cage, I didn't know where the cry of a child came from. It was so sudden that it startled my grandfather and made him wake up from the wine. More than half.
My grandfather calmed down. Where did the sound of children crying come from in the middle of the night? He looked around. It was dark. There were not even a few lights in the houses on the roadside. He then looked at the iron cage next to him. , I thought to myself, could it be that the river monster in the cage came to life?
At this time, the child's cry disappeared, leaving only the scattered sound of rain.
My uncle walked up to the iron cage and took a look with his drunken eyes, because it was at night, late at night, everything was dark, and it was raining, so the sight was very bad. My grandfather looked into the cage a few times without looking at anything. He felt that the cage seemed empty and the "skin and bones" of the river monster seemed to be gone.
This was not a good feeling. My grandfather felt nervous and quickly threw away the beef in his hand. He picked up a wooden stick from the ground and pulled it into the cage a few times. Then, his heart suddenly became cold and he almost broke out in a cold sweat. Come on, the cage is empty, and the river monster’s skin and bones are gone!
Early in the morning on the third day, my grandfather ran out in the rain to look at the iron cage. The sky was bright and the view was excellent, but there was still nothing in the cage. The skin of the river monster was really missing. My grandfather suddenly felt bad. premonition…
It rained on the fourth day and finally stopped. When the weather got bright, my grandfather walked through the mud on the road and came to the iron cage. He first looked around the iron cage. Except for the two days of the iron cage, Apart from the shoe prints left behind, there are no other traces. In other words, the disappearance of the corpse of the river monster has nothing to do with humans. It was not taken away by humans. There are no animal footprints around the iron cage, which also excludes other traces. The possibility of animals coming and dragging away the body of the river monster and eating it.
My grandfather was murmuring in his heart, could it be that the river monster came alive and escaped from the cage that night?
It seems impossible.
If he didn't escape, could it be that the rain washed the river monster's skin out of the cage and washed it elsewhere? Thinking of this, my grandfather searched in the puddle near the cage for a long time, but found nothing.
My grandfather was murmuring in his heart again, could it be said that there really is a Dragon King in this world? Did the Dragon Prince come to collect the body of his "son" during this heavy rain?
My grandfather looked up at the sky and saw that the sky was clear and cloudless. Then he grinned and sneered. He didn't believe that such a thing as the Dragon Prince existed, let alone that "loach"-like beast. He really didn't believe that he belonged to the Dragon Prince. Seed.
At this moment, the village chief, Mr. Wang, came over with a few young people, carrying ropes, poles and other objects. Boss Wang said that he wanted to return this iron cage to the neighboring village. At the same time, he asked my uncle in confusion, where did the river monster in the cage go?
My grandfather was afraid that telling the truth would frighten a few people, so he half-joked that he was hungry two days ago, so he took the river monster home and ate it with wine.
When Boss Wang and several young people heard this, their expressions changed at the same time. Boss Wang was a little dumbfounded, and told my uncle with a grimace that from now on we would eat at his house, and the son of the Dragon Prince would not be able to eat.
At noon, Wang Caoyu came and asked my grandfather to have dinner at his house.
After we got there, nothing evil happened in the village, and everything seemed to be back to normal.
As for my grandfather, he eats three meals a day at Wang Caoyu and Wang Dahe’s house.
Wang Caoyu has two younger brothers and one younger sister. The younger sister is two years younger than the grandfather. She is sixteen years old and her name is Wang Xiaojin. She is very good-looking and can be regarded as the leading beauty in Sanwangzhuang.
Due to heavy rain for three consecutive days and nights, the river water surged. It is estimated that the area where it rained was not limited to the Sanwangzhuang area. The upper river water was wrapped in yellow mud and poured down like a rolling torrent, causing the river in the Sanwangzhuang area to overflow. Many crops on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were swallowed up.
The people who depended on this mother river for their livelihood had to brave the danger of being submerged by the surging river waves, rowing in the waves, and struggling to beg for food under the beard of the Dragon King.
At this time, my great-grandfather, because he suffered a loss when fighting a river monster in the river, felt that he should practice his water skills. Once he has mastered his water skills, not only will he encounter similar river monsters again, but he will accidentally fall down in the future. You can save yourself by entering the river. Furthermore, in addition to being able to exorcise evil spirits and catch ghosts in the Sanwangzhuang area, my great-great-grandfather was also famous for his good water skills. He could swim several times in the Yellow River and back. Speaking of his My son, who only knows how to paddle a dog, will inevitably be laughed to death.
Wang Caoyu has been fishing on the river with a few young people in the village, and my grandfather also joined them. Firstly, he can practice his water skills. Secondly, fishing can be regarded as a living, and he will not always have free meals at Wang Dahe's house.
However, my grandfather encountered it at the wrong time. The river water happened to be swollen at this time, and boating and fishing on the river were very dangerous. Maybe a wave came over and the boat was destroyed and everyone died.
Wang Caoyu advised my uncle to wait until this period of time passed before boarding the boat. As for my grandfather, you can imagine that with his personality, the more you talk about harm, the more enthusiastic he becomes. He won’t give up and insists on getting on the boat to fish. The king grass carp has no choice but to let my grandfather join.
After a few days, it went quite smoothly, with no near misses. At the same time, my grandfather experienced the excitement and pleasure of boating in huge waves. It was much more enjoyable than riding a horse on land. Soon, he fell in love with the water. life.
Casting a net for fishing is actually a hard job. In the past, there were no industrial equipment such as hinges and winches, and it was all dependent on manpower to release and close the net. Sometimes too many fish were caught, and the fishing net could not be pulled up, and people on the boat had to jump into the water. Inside, I held the fishing net and cooperated with the boatman to row the boat to shallow water, and then dragged it to the shore manually.
Sometimes when there are less fish caught, a few people will not get off the boat. When it is time to eat, people on the shore will row a small boat to bring them food.
The person responsible for delivering meals to my grandfather and Wang Grass Fish was none other than Wang Grass Fish’s younger sister, Wang Xiaojin. Every time she came to deliver meals, the eyes of the young men and women on the boat were so wide that they wished they could pop out and fall into their rice bowls. Of course, except for my great-grandfather, my great-grandfather has hardly ever looked at Wang Xiaojin seriously.
At first, there was as much food in my grandfather's bowl as there was king grass carp. I don't know when, but the food in my grandfather's bowl gradually became more and more. Especially when Wang Dahe's family improved their food, there was meat in the food. As time passed, it became increasingly obvious that the meat in my grandfather’s bowl was much more than that in the king grass carp bowl.
As time passed, several other young people discovered the clues and quietly told Wang Grass Carp, "Hey, Grass Carp, your sister is biased. There is so much meat in Bingshou's bowl. Look at what's in your bowl…"
When the king grass carp took a look, it was wrinkled! I don’t want to, but it’s hard to say anything in front of my grandfather. Later, Wang Caoyu himself told my grandfather that he often glared at his sister because of this matter at that time, but his sister still went her own way. There was no missing piece of meat in my grandfather's bowl, and there was no more meat in his bowl.
According to what some young people on the same boat later told my great-great-grandfather, at that time, Wang Xiaojin would always take advantage of my grandpa to peek at me while he was eating. When my grandpa returned his job to her, he would always ask me The old man said, "Is the meal delicious? Is it full?"
My great-grandfather always nodded, smiled lightly at her and said, "It's delicious. I'm full." Wang Xiaojin would say contentedly, "I cooked the meal today," and then happily put away the bowls and chopsticks and go ashore to go home.
A month later, the water in the Yellow River gradually became calm. Although the crop fields near the river bank were gone, the people on both sides of the river were much better off than in the previous days. The Sanwangzhuang area seemed to have completely returned to normal.
Another month later, the time came to mid-August, which is about to enter the busy farming season. At this time, the fish, shrimp, and crabs in the river have also reached the most fertile time of the year. There are many fishing boats fishing and crab fishing on the Yellow River. When you get up, you can see boats casting nets for fishing everywhere. Occasionally, you can hear the boatman singing "River". The rich and clear voice echoes on the water of the Yellow River, which is very exciting.
Fishing boats, rivers and fishermen outline a beautiful ink painting of the Yellow River.