Father's Land Mother's River

Chapter 121 Punishment
The next day the pigs were slaughtered, and there was a dinner at home at noon. Most of them were old neighbors who helped Liu Zhixin harvest the crops and covered the vegetable greenhouses with plastic straw during Jiang Changling's hospitalization.In the evening, it is the time for the family to gather together.

In addition to the pork blood sausage butcher dish, Liu Xiaonan, with the help of Meng Xiangxiang, cooked two more dishes by himself.He boiled two pots of rice wine made by his father, intending to reward Meng Xiangxiang well.

The food and wine were served on the table, and the whole family sat around the kang table.Liu Xiaonan took the jug and poured a glass for each of his parents, then brought two small bowls, poured one for Meng Xiangxiang and poured another for himself.

Mengmeng wanted to wave his hands again and again: "Brother, I don't know how to drink."

Liu Xiaonan picked up the wine bowl and said to Meng Xiangxiang: "Xiao Meng, there is no question of whether you can drink or not. The only difference is whether you have drunk or not and how much you drink. If you have never drank, you will never know how much you can drink." .This is homemade rice wine made from pure grains. It won't hurt your health, and drinking a little is good for your health. Isn't it, Mom?"

Jiang Changling persuaded Meng Xiangxiang: "Think about it, I can drink it, it doesn't matter if you drink a little, and you can sleep well at night to relieve fatigue."

Meng Xiangxiang picked up the wine bowl, looked at Liu Xiaonan distrustfully, and took a sip carefully and slowly.A very wonderful feeling lingered in her mouth and abdomen, with a fragrance of food in the sweetness, and the blood rushed to the endless aftertaste.

She put down the wine bowl and said pleasantly, "It turns out that drinking is like this."

Liu Xiaonan asked Meng Xiangxiang to pick up the wine bowl again, touched her and said, "Take out your courage, drink it in one gulp and see how it feels. I'll do it first, you can do it according to your own discretion."

He gulped down the wine in the bowl, and showed the bottom of the bowl to Meng Xiang, with a provocative look in his contemptuous eyes.

Meng Xiangxiang was willing to show weakness, holding the wine bowl with both hands, and drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, showing the bottom of the bowl as well.There is a confident smile in the eyes, as if to say, I am not afraid of you, and I will not let you underestimate me.

Liu Xiaonan filled Meng Xiangxiang's bowl with wine again, turned her head and said to her mother, "Mom, Xiaomeng serves you like a daughter in the hospital, do you have to have sex with your goddaughter?"

"I have to have a toast." Jiang Changling picked up the wine glass without thinking, and said to Meng Xiangxiang: "Think about it, I don't know how to thank you, my mother and I have a drink, and I will serve you when I am drunk."

Meng Xiangxiang drank another bowl of rice wine, his cheeks gradually bloomed like peach blossoms, a bright red color appeared, his eyes were smiling and wandering.Jiang Changling hurriedly brought her food and advised her to eat more food and drink less.

Liu Zhixin saw that his son wanted to get Meng Xiangxiang drunk on purpose, but he didn't know what his son's intention was, so he poured himself a drink without saying a word.

Liu Xiaonan picked up the jug again, and Meng Xiangxiang hurriedly covered the wine bowl with both hands: "Brother, I can't drink any more. My face is hot and my head is dizzy. I'm really going to get drunk."

Liu Xiaonan said: "From now on at home, don't call me senior brother, it looks very ostentatious. If you want, call me brother, and we will be called brothers and sisters from now on, how about it?"

From big brother to big brother, there has been a substantial leap in title.Meng Xiangxiang looked at his aunt, saw her looking at him lovingly and expectantly, and nodded vigorously.It was difficult to call out that brother for the time being, but his hands were loosened.

Liu Xiaonan poured Meng Xiangxiang a bowl of wine, shook the jug and said, "If you want to drink, I won't pour you any more wine. You can drink this bowl of wine slowly, it's not a big problem."

Liu Xiaonan coaxed and persuaded, Meng Xiangxiang took a sip later, and then drank the bowl of wine unknowingly, her cheeks were flushed up to the base of her neck.Although a little dizzy, he is still clear-headed and articulate.After the whole family finished eating, she went down to clear the table as usual.

The rice wine had stamina, Meng Xiangxiang didn't feel much better sitting on the hot kang, but immediately felt top-heavy and his legs were weak, he couldn't stand upright and swayed a few times, he quickly put his hands on the edge of the kang to stabilize his body.

Liu Xiaonan had been prepared for a long time, jumped off the kang, supported Meng Xiangxiang, carried her onto the kang, pushed her inside, and let her lie beside her mother.Jiang Changling pulled a pillow from the quilt and put it under Meng Xiangxiang's head.

Liu Zhixin got off the kang and went to the vegetable shed to check, while Liu Xiaonan cleared the dining table by herself.He looked at Meng Xiangxiang, who was lying on the kang with a smirk and a naive look, not to mention how proud he was: Little boy, how dare you say that I am old-fashioned, and I can't cure you anymore. This is a small punishment for you without a brother. .

Meng Xiangxiang lay there and asked Jiang Changling, "Auntie, am I drunk?"

Jiang Changling rubbed Meng Xiangxiang's forehead lightly with her fingers: "You're not drunk, just lie down for a while and let the alcohol go away."

Liu Xiaonan smiled and said, "Now that you know how much you drink, if there is a party or something in the future, you can easily control yourself so as not to make a fool of yourself."

People who drink too much must be thirsty afterward.Liu Xiaonan cleaned the bowl, opened a can of fruit, and handed it to Meng Xiangxiang to quench his thirst.Jiang Changling personally fed it to Meng Xiangxiang.

Meng Xiangxiang had been lying on the kang, and it was not until before going to bed that he slowly recovered from the alcohol.She had a good night's sleep and woke up refreshed in the morning, but she didn't realize that she was "secreted" by her elder brother.

Returning to Bincheng the next day, as soon as he returned to the dormitory, Dong Xiaojun came looking for him.Guan Xiaoyun's due date is approaching, so she asked Liu Xiaonan to greet Fang Juan in advance and reserve a bed in the obstetrics and gynecology department of the city hospital.

This matter is not difficult to handle, just tell Fang Juan.Liu Xiaonan didn't understand why Guan Xiaoyun had to go to the city hospital to give birth. The factory worker's hospital also had an obstetrics and gynecology department, and it was close to home and could enjoy various benefits.

Dong Xiaojun said: "Whoever said it was wrong, went to the city hospital to see a doctor and give birth without the permission of the factory hospital, and the factory did not reimburse at all. The last time Xiaoyun had an examination at the city hospital, he kept saying that the doctors in the city hospital were highly skilled and insisted I have to go to the city hospital to give birth. You don’t know Xiaoyun yet? She decides everything on her own and doesn’t listen to other people’s opinions. Our whole family has to revolve around her.”

Dong Xiaojun's words contained helpless complaints and dissatisfaction.

Liu Xiaonan secretly blamed himself for speaking too much, but he would not allow Dong Xiaojun to blame Guan Xiaoyun in front of him.

Didn't your whole family see how diligent and capable Guan Xiaoyun is, and all the efforts he has made to change the economic situation?She insisted on going to work and sewing even when she was pregnant, and didn’t stop until three months before the due date. Isn’t she for your upcoming child?

Liu Xiaonan said: "I heard from my mother that giving birth to a child is a life-and-death crisis for a woman. If you can go to a better hospital, Xiaoyun and the child will be more secure. There is nothing wrong with it. Go home and tell Xiaoyun, and I will help you immediately. She arranged. Xiao Dong, I'm not married, so I don't know what difficult housework I will face, at least for one thing, I think men should take on more responsibilities instead of accusing and complaining unprincipled."

Liu Xiaonan's strength made Dong Xiaojun irrefutable.

Through Fang Juan, Liu Xiaonan arranged for Guan Xiaoyun to be admitted to the city hospital in time, and gave birth to a girl smoothly on the third day.Among the acquaintances around him, this is the first post-[-]s born, and he has become an uncle.He bought a pair of children's silver bracelets, which made Mengmeng want to bring them into the delivery room as a gift for the newborn baby girl.

After a few days of winter vacation, Liu Xiaonan went directly to Yue Xuelian's house from school to prepare for a thorough cleaning.In the next winter vacation, he is going to stand with his father and support his father with all his strength, and he will not come back here for a long time.

Guan Deyu's vigorous promotion of Liu Zhixin's vegetable greenhouse technology did not succeed.Some people are afraid of losing money due to immature technology, some people worry that the vegetables will not be sold, and some people do not have the funds to build vegetable greenhouses. The villagers are all waiting and watching, but no one responds.

There was even a disharmonious argument: Jiang Changling got breast cancer because she worked too much in the vegetable shed. She was busy all spring and autumn, and never idle in winter. She was tired all her life.

In this case, nothing can be more convincing than a son who is a writer, with a halo on his head, a short body, put down books, paper and pens, and follow his father to work hard in the vegetable greenhouse every day.

As soon as he put down his backpack after entering the door, he saw a few photos of Yue Xuelian on the desk.The background of the photo is a strange country, a strange environment, and a strange crowd, but Yue Xuelian's smile is real, natural, quiet and elegant, as if she has traveled tens of thousands of kilometers in time and space, smiling sweetly at him face to face.

He sat down and looked at them one by one.Finally found it. In a photo with the school as the background, Yue Xuelian slightly parted her lips, revealing the tips of a pair of small canine teeth.

She was wearing the Chinese-style clothes she bought before going abroad, carrying the leather backpack she bought before going abroad, and combing the traditional shawl hair that has not changed for more than ten years. Standing on the campus path of a foreign university, she seemed to be walking toward him Come.

The soft figure and quiet smile of oriental women are perfectly integrated with the exotic buildings in the background, without the slightest sense of alienation and disobedience.

There was no letter on the table, these photos should be taken by Yue Xuelian in the envelope sent to Aunt Lin.Although there was not a single word, Liu Xiaonan felt that Yue Xuelian had told him a lot, and behind every photo was a deep longing.

He didn't care about cleaning, so he went out and bought several craft photo frames of different sizes, framed Yue Xuelian's photos, hung them in the bedroom and placed them on the desk.

He put the small photo frame inlaid with the photo taken by Yue Xuelian in the campus, and put it in his backpack to carry with him anytime, anywhere to express his missing.

Cleaning the glass, the closet, the desk, the tiles, and mopping the floor, Liu Xiaonan felt that Yue Xuelian was by her side, supervising her cleaning the room.If he is a little lazy, he will be punished with those poisonous little canine teeth that shine with porcelain light.

There was a knock on the door, Liu Xiaonan opened the door without asking who it was, and it was Fang Juan.He asked, "Did you hear me in the house?"

"I rely on intuition." There is an irresistible charm in Fang Juan's smile, like so many beautiful things, there is no need to make too much publicity, even if it is still, it will attract people's attention.

She doesn't have any foresight. The so-called intuition is just knocking on the door a few times when she comes home from get off work every day.It has become a habit now, she doesn't quite understand what she is doing for, is she suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Liu Xiaonan said: "I was just going to look for you at your house. Please send a message to Aunt Lin. The school is on winter vacation. I will go home early tomorrow morning. I won't be back until school starts. I won't have time to say goodbye in person."

Fang Juan asked: "Why are you in such a hurry? Is it something at home, or is it to take care of your mother?"

Liu Xiaonan said: "Go home and help my father with farm work. There is a vegetable shed at home, and my father can't do it alone."

"Isn't it a bit overkill for a promising young writer to go back to the countryside to do farm work?"

"I am the son of a farmer, and it is only natural to do some farm work. It has nothing to do with whether I am a writer or not to relieve my parents' worries and fatigue."

"Aren't you inviting me in for a sit-down?"

"I'm about to go back. There is no food in the cafeteria when I go back late. Let's go another day."

Liu Xiaonan went into the house, put on her backpack, locked the door, shook hands with Fang Juan, said goodbye, turned around and walked down the stairs.

The sound of steady footsteps without a pause, like continuous raindrops, knocked on Fang Juan's heart.

Early the next morning, Liu Xiaonan took the train and returned to Liuzi Street before noon.The first thing to do after entering the house is to put Yue Xuelian's small photo frame on the desk.

After lunch, I changed into the old clothes I had at home, put on a cotton coat and a cotton hat, followed my father into the vegetable shed, and took on the most arduous work of removing and covering the straw curtains.

At night, lying on the kang and reading only a few pages, the eyes would close involuntarily.Fatigue and busyness left him no time to miss Yue Xuelian, he could only meet her in his dreams.

A few days after returning home, a heavy snowfall fell, which did not abate in the evening, and a thick layer of snow accumulated on the vegetable greenhouse.

Liu Zhixin stood under the greenhouse, and Liu Xiaonan stood on the top of the greenhouse. The two used long bamboo poles and long wooden planks to clear the snow off the greenhouse after a while.That night, the father and father did not dare to sleep, so they simply stayed in the vegetable greenhouse.

If the snow is too thick, it will crush the vegetable greenhouse at any time.

In the middle of the night, the heavy snow turned into light snow, but it was still falling.The father and the father used flashlights to clear the snow on the greenhouse again against the wind and snow by the light of the snow.

Liu Xiaonan stood on the top of the shed, her feet slipped and she couldn't stand steadily, and almost fell down several times.After clearing the snow, the top of the head and the body were covered with snowflakes, but the face was steaming, and the legs and arms were sore.

One week before the Spring Festival, the vegetables in the greenhouse were officially on the market, and the family started a new round of busy work.At night, when vegetables were harvested, weighed and tied, Liu Erya would close the small shop and come to the shed with Liu Zhitai to help, and Guan Deyu would also be there every night.Early the next morning, the vegetables were transported to Fuzhou City for wholesale and retail, and they often returned home after noon.

After lunch, Liu Zhixin and Jiang Changling steamed steamed buns, steamed bean buns, steamed rice cakes, and prepared New Year’s goods.Liu Xiaonan used the limited time in the afternoon to write Spring Festival couplets for the villagers.It was not until the 29th of the twelfth lunar month that the vegetables in the greenhouse were sold out, and the family stopped to prepare for the New Year.

Liu Zhixin handed over the 1 yuan earned from selling vegetables to his son. This was a decision he made after discussing with Jiang Changling. They estimated that there was not much money left in his son's hands.

Liu Xiaonan was determined not to, he said he still had money left, and he had nothing to spend money on.In fact, he only had more than 1000 yuan left in his hand, and he had already lost his confidence. He expressed to Lin Yidan his desire to send money to Yue Xuelian.

Big and bright fireworks bloomed in the sky, Liu Xiaonan looked up at the deep and vast night sky, looking for those pair of grape-like black eyes.

(End of this chapter)