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Chapter 58 Guarding the Chestnut Tree

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    At the end of the street at Chen Yao's house, there is a dead end.  Chen Yao is very fortunate that this is a dead end, because there will not be too many people disturbing here.  The family at the end lived with two elderly people.  Chen Yao called them grandpa and grandma.  Grandpa is an accountant in the village and a man of culture.  Grandma Tai is not in good health and often uses a walking stick.

    At the gate of my great-grandfather's house, there is a tree on the north and south gates.  At the north gate is an acacia tree, which is the home of Chen Yao's soul.  Under that tree, Chen Yao's childhood was recorded.  The only happy time she ever had was under that tree. In summer, people from the whole street came out to cool off together, and they would all come under this tree. At that time, the acacia was in full bloom, and the fresh fragrance made people feel relieved a lot.  The dry heat of summer.  Under the acacia tree, Chen Yao had heard all kinds of ghost stories, which were all told to her by her great-grandfather.  At that time, when listening to her great-grandfather tell stories, Chen Yao would always like to look at the sky, innocently wanting to see Cowherd and Weaver Girl.  And the great-grandfather became the only one who told stories to Chen Yao in her youth.

    The south gate is a chestnut tree.  The chestnut tree carries Chen Yao's childhood.  The only place in my hometown where the children of the whole village can gather is Chestnut Row.  People in the village call it that, the tree row.  The typical trees in the north are also the heritage of this village: chestnut trees, sour pear trees, and hawthorn trees.  According to the distribution of the brigade, each family was assigned the corresponding three types of trees.  One's own people are optimistic about their own family, eat the fruits they bear, and decide what to do with the trees.  In fact, it is mainly about the disposal of chestnut trees. The tradition in the village is that when an elderly person dies, they will cut off their largest chestnut tree and make it into a coffin.  Chestnut is the best wood here, a reverence for the dead.  That is a kind of soul destination of the people here.

    The chestnut forest is the paradise of the children of the whole village.  Although there are chestnut trees at home, this is far from satisfying the "greedy" children.  They always want to protect their own chestnuts and at the same time get some more chestnuts. After all, those chestnuts can be directly converted into money, so they will always try every means to "steal" other people's chestnuts.  The chestnuts in the village can be sold for money. Every year when the chestnuts are ripe, someone will drive a shopping cart to the village to buy chestnuts.  Because at that time, it was just in time for the busy farming at home, and basically every adult in the family was busy with the autumn harvest. Compared with the harvest of the whole year, the harvest of chestnut trees was much lighter in the eyes of adults.  Therefore, the task of guarding the chestnut tree will be honored to fall on the children.  Also, the elderly who are not in the labor force.

    As the eldest and youngest of the family, Chen Yao is naturally honored to undertake the arduous task of guarding the chestnuts at home.  Compared with the harvest in the farmland, although the harvest of chestnut trees is small, it is still a considerable income after all.  The price given by the chestnut collectors in the village is that the better quality, bigger ones can be sold for ten yuan a catty, and even the smaller chestnuts can be sold for seven yuan a catty. A tree can at least produce  Ten catties of chestnuts had to be guarded, and when the chestnuts were taken back with a grin, they could be sold for a considerable sum of money.  Therefore, when thinking about the harvest of chestnuts, Chen Yao never thinks that it is a small income. Instead, she will be more conscientious and responsible for her own "one-acre-three-point land" from morning to night.

    Chen Yao's two chestnut trees are located at the entrance of the farmland and the village, which can be said to be the most vulnerable places, especially because of the development of the rural housing base, it has grown to the roof of the newly built house.  People can easily pick it up.  In Chen Yao's heart, she felt right not to waste a chestnut, every chestnut was worth money, and if she lost a chestnut, it was equivalent to losing her family's money.  Therefore, as long as it is Saturday and Sunday, she gets up at five o'clock, takes a small cage and a bamboo pole, and goes under the tree to guard the chestnuts.

    She stares at them closely every day. For chestnuts with a slight opening, when the chestnut skin inside turns black, it proves that it is fully mature, and then Chen Yao will knock it down with a bamboo pole,  Ripe chestnuts are peeled from the inside and put into baskets to take home.  For the mature chestnuts brought home, Li Changqing usually digs a deep pit nearly one meter deep in the yard, and then puts the chestnuts in it, sometimes with some soil, so that the chestnuts can be preserved for a period of time, at least  The merchants went down to the village to collect chestnuts.  In fact, in many cases, it can be preserved until the New Year.  They will keep some chestnuts for frying and eating during the Chinese New Year.

    It is another year of autumn, the autumn wind blows cool, the sun shines brightly, and the sky is clear and clear.  Chen Yao has always liked autumn the most, not only because the fields are full of harvested crops, but also because the wind in autumn is so comfortable, without the heat of summer, and without the bitterness of winter, it is a breeze  The wind that is just right and comfortable on the body makes people want to be immersed in it all the time.

    "Mom, I'm going to see the chestnuts." It was still five o'clock in the morning, and as the temperature dropped, dew had gradually appeared in the morning, and now it was almost the last time to harvest chestnuts.?Laughing chestnuts are hung on the chestnut trees in the whole village. As the autumn wind blows, chestnuts will fall from time to time.  Chen Yao didn't get up so early just to look at her chestnuts. In fact, sometimes the advantage of chestnut trees at the head of the village is that they are too conspicuous, because people who come and go pass here, but it is not so easy to be stolen.  So, taking advantage of the low crowds in the morning, Chen Yao wanted to go around the chestnut tree row, maybe she could pick up some chestnuts.

    Chen Yao's principle is that you can pick up chestnuts, but you can't hit other people's chestnuts with a bamboo pole.  Although it's not very fair to pick it up, but if she doesn't pick it up, someone will pick it up.  Besides, the chestnuts in her house will also be picked up by passers-by, so it is considered that they do not owe each other.  Chen Yao is an expert at picking chestnuts, because she always picks the most difficult places.  In the cemetery in the village, barren mounds and new burials are constantly being added. There are generations of people in the village buried there. Some people have never even left the county town where they live.  They cultivated the land, were nurtured by the land, and they belonged to the land after death.  Under every abrupt earth bag, there is a life story that has been forgotten by the world.

    Because most of the people who look after the chestnuts are children in the family, and because adults often tell stories about ghosts in the cemetery, few people go there.  But Chenyao is not afraid. Yang Yi, an educated mother, often tells herself that there are no ghosts in the world, and real ghosts are all disguised by humans, so she is never afraid.  It is precisely because there are few people, so you can always pick up more chestnuts here than other places.  But one morning, the inside of her small basket had been laid flat, and there were still some chestnuts that had been blown away by the wind and still had prickly skin on it. It was really a big harvest.  Watching the rising sun in the east gradually, the dew gradually fades away.  At this moment, the bottom half of Chen Yao's trousers and shoes are soaked, but looking at the harvest in the basket, Chen Yao is still satisfied, will there be half a catty?  She returned to the entrance of the village with the harvest in the morning, on her big chestnut tree, she will guard it with peace of mind.

    The chestnut tree in Chenyao's house is not as straight as other people's. It must have endured too much wind and rain, and it is crooked and bumpy, but it just created a comfortable existence for Chenyao.  She can always easily climb to the top, and then enjoy the beautiful scenery of the sky and the people passing by, while protecting her chestnuts.  She likes and enjoys this autumn.  (Remember the site URL: www.hlnovel.com
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