good old days

The chemical factory is about 20 minutes away from the city by car. Along the way, I found that there were many people setting up stalls in the city, but most of them were selling agricultural products.

Most people sell cabbage, radish and potatoes. They are all stored by farmers at home. They can be sold in the market and the price is not expensive.

The market was crowded with people, shouting and shouting could be heard all the time. Zhou Qi saw everything was new. When he heard someone beating a drum at the other end, he took Jiang Yuzhu and jumped into the crowd to watch the fun.

There is opera in Yu Province, and there is also folk art here in Northern Hebei Province.

The drum-beating program at this moment is Guzi Kuaishu.

The so-called Guzi Kuaishu is a performance in which the characters and stories are interpreted by the performers while beating the big drum and speaking and singing.

The sound of drums drowned out the noise in the market, and soon the performance venue was filled with water.

"Dang, those who are rich support themselves by making money, and those who don't have money support themselves by helping others. If you score two points, just join in the fun..."

An old man walked around the crowd holding a gong and beating it, followed by a man holding a plate to collect money.

Most of the crowd was watching the excitement, and there were no people like Zhou Qi who directly gave a dime.

Jiang Xinyu listened for a while and felt that there was nothing interesting to see. She could hear what others were singing while walking around the market, so she took Xiaochuan to buy cotton shoes.

Chen Xiuyun went to the supply and marketing cooperative across the street. Zhou Shunyi was not here today, but he forced Jiang Xinyu and sister to pay ten yuan each.

There are cotton shoes sold on the street. These cotton shoes are quite strange. They have wooden soles, and the soles are not low. The uppers are made of cotton. When you put them on, the soles are very hard, but they are still warm.

I spent 50 cents to buy a pair for Xiaochuan, and bought him a box of glass marbles. I also bought a bunch of worthless handmade toys for my children.

Chen Xiuyun was lining up in the supply and marketing cooperative, Zhou Qi and Jiang Yuzhu were still watching the excitement in the crowd, and Jiang Xinyu found a place on the roadside to squat and eat candied haws.

Xiaochuan was squatting beside him, holding a bunch of candied haws in his hand.

"Sister, my mother took me to see Xiaojun before."

If he didn't mention it, Jiang Xinyu could hardly remember who Xiaojun was.

She turned to look at him: "How is he?"

Xiaochuan shook his head: "The uncle and aunt who took Xiaojun away that year sent him back to the countryside. We didn't see Xiaojun that day."

Jiang Xinyu: "Why are you sent back to the countryside?"

As far as she knew, the conditions of the families who adopted Ogawa's younger brother were all good.

"That aunt gave birth to a younger brother again."

She turned and looked at him carefully.

"So you're afraid that mommy will send you away after giving birth?"

Xiaochuan shook his head, "I was afraid before, but I'm not afraid anymore."

"Uncle Zhou said yesterday that he liked me and praised me for being sensible."

Jiang Xinyu looked at him and saw a smile on his face, without any gloom in his eyes.

"Mom is afraid that I will miss you. I always tell my sister that what she gives her belongs to her, and what she gives her is also hers. I have to earn mine when I grow up. I know what my mother said is right. I am not my biological child. , Those things didn’t belong to me, it’s one thing to understand, but I always felt like I was an outsider at home.”

The thirteen-year-old boy had a maturity that was inconsistent with his age.

Jiang Xinyu frowned slightly, but soon calmed down. She flicked his forehead and said something very unpleasant: "So you think it's unfair? Because you think you are your son, so everything in the family should be yours?" If I don’t give it to you, I will treat you as an outsider?”

She was irritating him on purpose.

She wanted to see what kind of words this would force the precocious boy to say.

The young man's eyes instantly filled with tears, "How could you say that to me? Am I such a ungrateful person?" Jiang Xinyu said: "Then why are you telling me this? If you are afraid that mom won't want you, I can I promise you that she will never abandon you, and she will always take you with her wherever she goes. What are you worried about? You don't know what your mother is doing to you?"

From the village to the city, and then from the city to chemical plants in other provinces, Chen Xiuyun never abandoned him.

Her mother has done this, why is this kid still so sensitive? Is it because her mother is pregnant? Because Xiaojun was sent to the countryside?
She is not Ogawa's client and cannot empathize with him.

Ogawa clenched his fists, his nose ran to his mouth, and he looked at her with red eyes.

Jiang Xinyu was confused and didn't know what was wrong with him.

"Just say what you have to say, why are you still crying?"

He still didn't speak and looked away with red eyes.

To be honest, after all, I haven't gotten along with Xiaochuan in the past few years, and Jiang Xinyu is not really close to him.

Although there are things he sends home every time, it is just incidental. If there is much emotion, there is really no emotion.

"What do you want to do for your little army? Do you want him to go to the city and return to his adoptive parents?"

Xiaochuan: "Auntie said that he is studying at his grandparents' house in the village and will take him back when he reaches junior high school. I can't help him."

Jiang Xinyu stopped talking and ate the candied haws and listened to him cry quietly.

She didn't know how troubled the young man was now.

The crying stopped after a while, and she took out a tissue from her bag and handed it to him.

Xiaochuan blew his nose hard and said, "Sister Xinyu, I have a mistake to admit to you."

Jiang Xinyu nodded: "You say."

After waiting for a long time before he spoke, she looked at him confused, "What's wrong? Why didn't you say anything?"

She thought he was going to tell her that she shouldn't have those thoughts, but she didn't expect to hear something that made her instantly shiver...

Xiaochuan didn't dare to look at her: "I deliberately poured water on the stairs before, hoping that my mother would fall..."

"I'm afraid she will send me away even if she gives birth to the child."

He lowered his head, "You tell mom, I don't dare to tell her myself."

If he said it, he was afraid that he would be sent back. If he didn't tell it, no one would ever know this secret. But he had nightmares every night. In his dreams, his stomach was bleeding, and Uncle Zhou called him a white-eyed wolf...

He knew what he would face if he spoke out, but Uncle Zhou said yesterday that he liked him very much. Mom always thought he was sensible, so maybe they would forgive him.

Jiang Xinyu said nothing for a long time.

No wonder he had laid a lot of groundwork before, and she didn't even know what he wanted to say, but now he just laid it all off for her.

You said he was honest and truly realized his mistakes, but she got goosebumps because of his words.

Taking a deep breath, she said seriously: "I will never do something like that again in the future. If mom falls down when she is pregnant, it is very likely that one person will die and two will die. So where did you learn this?"

Seeing her sharp eyes, he clasped his hands and lowered his head and said, "My biological mother once fell on the ice with a pregnant belly. She slipped and lost her brother."

Jiang Xinyu's face turned ugly: "Your mother's miscarriage is considered good luck. If she is unlucky, not only the child, but also your mother will be in trouble!"

He is quite good at applying what he has learned.

(End of this chapter)