It's been snowing heavily all night with no sign of stopping.
A straw hut in the second to last house in the last row of Qingshan Village is dark and cramped. A dilapidated Eight Immortals table is placed against the wall in the north, and several people are sitting around the table. Chen Manyun and his pregnant wife
Wu Chunmei and his five children.
It was very cold in the house, and everyone was shivering in silence, but no one went to light a fire. We had limited firewood at home, and we were not in the mood.
"This is all my fault. If you didn't listen to my mother and let me get some food privately, you wouldn't have let that bastard Liu San'er seize the opportunity and complain about going to the Revolutionary Committee to sue me. Lishu wouldn't ask him for an explanation either.
Knock your head off."
"As soon as I ask for twenty kilograms of grain, tell us where to get it. If you can get this grain, you don't have to secretly take dry goods to the town to exchange. If we are really captured by the Revolutionary Committee, you let us
How can my mother-in-law live?" Wu Chunmei said and began to wipe her tears.
"Yesterday, a comrade named Lu from the educated youth camp of the brigade came to see me and said that he wanted to marry our Lishu and was willing to pay a gift of 100 yuan."
Wu Chunmei stopped crying. Although she couldn't give her food, one hundred yuan to buy twenty kilograms of food was enough. And there was still a lot left: "But what about the Gu family? They are all engaged."
Chen Mandun was also a little embarrassed. He frowned for a long time before making up his mind and said: "Although the other party said they could give half a bag of food plus fifty yuan, there is news that Gu Xingdong actually died outside long ago. This matter
You can't blame us, we can't let our daughter become a widow."
…
The adobe walls were not soundproof, so the couple's words could be heard clearly and clearly in Chen Lishu's ears.
She stared at the dark thatched roof and reacted for a long time before finally confirming that she was reborn. She was reborn in the winter of 1975, when she was seventeen years old. She had not yet married Lu Chengming, and she did not experience the miserable situation that followed.
It was in this year that she remembered that she had regretted her marriage to the Gu family and married the educated youth Lu Chengming. She was originally filled with joy and thought that she had found her lover. Who knew that he turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.
She got pregnant not long after she got married. During her pregnancy, Lu Chengming had an affair with an educated youth. She chose to forgive because of the unborn child. But she didn't know that there were only zero and countless cheatings.
Later, when the educated youth returned to the city, she and her children returned to his home in the city with him. That was where the nightmare really began.
Not only did she work as a cow and horse and take care of a large family, but she was always disliked by her husband's family because she was born in a rural area and had no job. Lu Chengming turned a blind eye to everything. She even got punched and kicked because she just resisted a few words.
I thought that when the child got older, he would be able to survive the hard times, but he didn't expect that he had an affair with a female worker in the factory and got pregnant, so he turned around and kicked the two of them out of the house.
Her mother-in-law had no shame and was uneducated, so she could only work as a coolie in the city. Later, life finally got better little by little, and her health also collapsed.
"Then I'm going to push off the Gu family's marriage. I'll tell Xiao Lu again. If this matter is over as soon as possible, the family can live peacefully."
Chen Lishu heard the sound of Chen Manyun getting up outside, and without thinking about anything else, she immediately got off the kang, put on her shoes and ran to the door.
"Dad, I don't want to marry Lu Chengming. I want to marry to the Gu family."
She never wanted to have anything to do with Lu Chengming. Even if all the men in the world died, she would never marry him again.
The Gu family is different. The two families had a marriage contract. Besides, Gu Xingdong is gone, which is the best for her.
After experiencing a failed marriage in her previous life, men are no longer necessary for her. With the name of marriage, she does not need to be forced to get married, and she can do whatever she wants.
At that time, she can make money while studying, resume the college entrance examination in two years, and then work hard to get into a good university and earn a solid job. Thinking about such a life is not too comfortable.
"The Gu family members are all gone. If you marry, you will be a widow!" Wu Chunmei tried to persuade her, but her daughter was so determined that she would not marry anyone other than the Gu family.
Helpless, Chen Manyun sighed, picked up the dog-skin hat on the table, licked the tattered cotton-padded jacket on his body, turned around and went out.
As soon as the door opened, the cold wind mixed with snow particles all over the sky entered the house along the crack of the open door. The mother and daughter shuddered together.
"Mom, I'm hungry." The youngest Chen Lijuan raised her face and looked at Wu Chunmei.
Wu Chunmei's already sallow face darkened, and she stretched out her hand to touch her sparse yellow hair: "Good boy, be patient. Your dad went out to get food and will be back soon."
After listening to Wu Chunmei's words, Chen Lishu's delicate brows wrinkled unconsciously.
Although she knew that her family was poor, she didn't expect that she was already too poor to open the pot. Then she thought about it. In her previous life, because she was about to marry Lu Chengming, she was only focused on being happy and didn't pay attention to anything else.
The house was too dilapidated to keep warm, and her hands and feet were already cold from the cold. Her eyes fell on the clay stove in the middle of the floor, and she took two steps forward to pick up the firewood and prepare to light the fire.
Seeing her action, Wu Chunmei opened her mouth and finally said nothing.
"Sister, let me help you." Wu Liyuan, the second child, ran to the corner and hugged a few branches.
The fire in the stove quickly rose, and the room gradually became a little warmer. The other children gathered around Wu Chunmei obediently, while Chen Lishu looked at the jumping fire and was thinking about ways to make money.
According to the current situation at home, if we don't find a way to get some food, the whole family may not be able to survive this winter.
Not long after, the door opened with a creak, and Chen Mantun came back from outside with half a bag of grain on his shoulders.
First, he stamped his feet at the door and shook off the snow on his body. When he looked up again, there was already a smile on his face: "The Gu family is very happy to hear that our Lishu is willing to marry her, because it has been agreed a long time ago and the date is still set.
Eighteen years ago."
Chen Lishu calculated in her mind that today is the Laba Festival, and there are still ten days until the 18th Laba Festival.
With food in hand, the family can finally start cooking. As the aroma of food filled the air, adults and children all swallowed their saliva in unison.
After dinner, Chen Man hoarded out twenty kilograms of grain and sent it to Liu San'er. At this time, Chen Lishu had already packed up the kitchen and took a look at the situation at home. She finally understood what it meant to be destitute.
.
But she had never noticed these past lives.
"Sister, what are you doing with the wolfberries that mom dried?"
When Chen Liyuan saw half of her body finally emerging from the corner of the cabinet, Chen Liyuan couldn't help but ask curiously.
Chen Lishu didn't answer and asked instead: "Second sister, do you have anything similar to this at home?"
Chen Liyuan shook her head, a hint of loneliness flashed through her big round eyes: "Originally, I had some chestnuts and pine nuts saved at home, but my father said they would sell them in the town, but they were all deceived."
Chen Lishu was speechless for a while, she could be deceived by this.
However, what she didn't expect was that there would be something even more speechless later.