between clouds and mud

Chapter 3
One summer passed with the sound of cicadas, and the rice fields at the foot of the mountain were largely empty. After harvesting the rice, the little bean dings started school.

Although Xiao Liu can fight with both legs when she walks, she has made rapid progress, whether it is climbing trees or skipping rope, she can easily do it.Because of her excellent performance, Xiao Liu soon got the first task assigned to her by the adults.

Every morning, Niang would go to the field after cooking the rice. At noon, Xiao Liu had to burn firewood and cook a pot of herbal tea, and then heat up the rice while the fire was remaining.At noon, I went to deliver meals to the adults in the field, so there was another little girl in the team carrying the basket.

Xiao Liu couldn't afford a pot of tea, so he only poured half a pot each time, running back and forth twice.This incident gave her a sense of accomplishment, and she walked like flying.

Because of her strong professionalism, Xiaoliu soon learned how to cook. She first lit a fire with straw, moved a bench in front of the stove, and cooked two warm home-cooked dishes.

Parents are more motivated to work after eating the dishes she cooks.

Children from poor families have already taken charge of their homes, and Daxiang, Nian Geer, Fang Nier, and Hong Nier have already gone to work in the fields.They are like little adults, wearing straw hats on their heads, holding sickles in their hands, and neatly stacking the cut rice.

Although the speed is much slower than the adults, but also sweat a lot in the field.

This is the land that farmers depend on for their survival. They have worked hard for a year and finally ushered in the harvest season. The mountains and rivers are picturesque and the grains are plentiful.

Brother Cheng's family had only him and his grandfather cutting the crops in the fields. Seeing that their lips were always chapped from being baked, Xiao Liu made an extra trip every day to bring them a pot of tea.

Grandfather and grandson depend on each other for life.Brother Cheng's mother left early, and his father was unreliable. He went home for the Duanyang Festival this year and said he wanted a new wife.No wonder that night, he left behind sullenly, and enthusiastically sent Xiao Liu home, probably because he didn't want to meet his father who was collecting debts.

Grandpa Chengnian is over [-] years old, and there are furrows and wrinkles on his loving face, like a mountain river flowing on the cracked earth, which is the trace carved by time and time.

The old man is still very strong, and there is no more capable old man in the whole village.The hands that cut the grain are strong and powerful, not inferior to a man in his prime. The sweat towel draped over his shoulders is already soaked, and a puddle of water can be squeezed out with a twist.Every time I saw it from a distance, I smiled and praised Liu Nier a lot.

"Grandpa, I can go to school with Brother Cheng!" Xiao Liu rushed all the way carrying the teapot, and she couldn't wait to share the good news with her friends.

"Hahaha, Xiaoliu, study hard and take the No.1 exam. Our brother Cheng is No.1 in every exam." Speaking of this, Grandpa Chengnian is in high spirits, boasting to everyone: "Our brother Nian In the future, my son will be admitted to high school and college, and the boy can be proud of himself, and my old man has a bright face."

Brother Cheng's face had two blushes, he didn't know whether it was from embarrassment or from being baked by the scorching sun.But the eyes of the poorly dressed young man were full of ambition, and his pupils were full of unyielding light.

He took Xiao Liu's teapot and filled a bowl of herbal tea for Grandpa first.

Xiao Liu also laughed. Although she still couldn't tell the difference between high school and university, she was also deeply touched by the proud expression on Grandpa's face.So I began to look forward to it, if she won No.1, Dad would be so proud.

"Brother Daxiang, I'm going to school with you." Xiaoliu shouted as he passed the ridge of Daxiang's house.

"Xiao Liu! Xiao Liu!" Although Da Xiang couldn't listen carefully to her words, he put down his sickle and waved happily to her.

"Hong Nier, I'm going to school with you." Xiao Liu ran to tell Hong Nier the good news: "Are you still going to school next semester?"

"Let's go! School is about to start, and I have to go home to do my summer homework." Hong Nier said worriedly.

"Fannier" Xiao Liu's voice was a little softer, she concealed her excitement: "I'm going to school with you."

Fannier didn't even bother to straighten her waist, and continued to work with her hands.

It wasn't until her father slapped her on the back of the head that Xiao Nizi reluctantly raised her head, and said flatly and perfunctorily, "Xiao Liu, that's really great."

This summer vacation, Xiaoliu's fair skin was tanned by the sun. In the morning, she joined the school team, and the little coals competed one by one.They shuttled through the trails in the mountains, and their figures slowly disappeared in the morning mist.

Because the school was built in Wutong Village, it took two hours to walk quickly, so the adults prepared dry food for them for a day.

The school is not big. It used to be a cattle pen, but later it was changed into a school.So everything is very simple, and there are not many children who come to school here, and there are only more than 20 students in total.

This school has only two teachers and two classes, one class for grades one, two and three, and one class for grades four, five and six.When I finish junior high school, I will go to the middle school in the town.

The children in Dengxinqiao Township have all advanced to the fourth, fifth and sixth grades. There are only Junzi and Primary Six.

Although nine-year compulsory education has been popularized, children often drop out of school.The people here have been farmers for generations, and the children will grow up to be the next generation of farmers.The responsibility of farmers is to cultivate a field well. They only need to know the season, understand the weather, and cultivate good seeds. Reading and literacy are not important.

It was raining outside, not very much, but the water from the roof leaked down.The teacher moved a ladder to repair the roof, and the children made a fuss underneath as if they were watching a scene.

After the roof was repaired, the teacher arranged for everyone to take turns to introduce themselves on the podium.

They were taught by Mr. Wu, a native of Wutong Village.There are eight students in the class, six are from Wutong Village, and only two are from Dengxinqiao Township.

Wu Xiaohua, Wu Chunyan, Wu Guoyong, Wu Congcong, Wu Damin, Wu Sanmiao, Zhang Zhijun, Zhou Song.

The name written in Xiaoliu's household registration book was her original name, Zhou Song, which my father said was nice.Before Xiao Liu stood on the podium, her heart was already beating nervously.

There was a burst of laughter underneath, and the classmate who had a good thing said: "Little classmate, are you lame?"

After such a straightforward question, everyone laughed even harder.

The children's survival rules are very straightforward. They don't hide their thoughts, and they don't think about the harm they cause. The expressions on their faces are full of stubbornness and contempt.

"I'm not." Xiao Liu stood on the podium in a state of bewilderment.

Junzi sitting in the classroom also had a smirk on his face, most of that smile was echoing, but also slightly embarrassing.

Junzi knew that Xiaoliu's walking had improved a lot, but he still had some slight stumbles.But children have their own rules of communication, and they laugh when others laugh.But he is a little responsive, although he still doesn't understand what the response is.

It wasn't until the teacher interrupted the farce with a teaching ruler that Xiao Liu returned to his seat in torment. The students watched her walking posture and started whispering again.

Even Wu Xiaohua, her deskmate, silently sat a little further away.

Xiao Liu no longer knew what the teacher was talking about, she sat down on the seat with her head down, her beating heart fell silent.

After returning home from school, Dad asked her what she had learned, and Xiao Liu introduced herself in a flat manner. Instead of chattering non-stop like a little magpie, she climbed into bed early to rest.

Xiao Nier was tired after going to school after such a long journey.

"My girl is going to take first place!" Dad still remembered Xiaoliu's promise before school started, so he told his wife and children to treat her piss as more abundant.

Xiaoliu said that he didn't want to go to school anymore, and swallowed it under the earnest eyes of his parents.

Going to school the next day, Xiao Liu was far behind in the queue.

"Let me tell you, Xiaoliu is definitely not suitable for studying." Daxiang was happy when he saw her sleepy look: "It's okay, brother Daxiang doesn't like going to school either."

"Only those with no brains like to go to school!" Da Xiang pointedly glanced at the little friend in front of him.

This sentence made Fang Nier chase him all the way, Fang Nier cursed angrily: "Zhang Jiaxiang, you know nothing!"

The scolding still echoed in the valley for a while, and a group of people rushed to the school laughing and laughing along the way.

During recess, the students dance rubber bands together.Xiao Liu knew that her classmates did not welcome her, so she ran to the senior class, and Fang Nier waved impatiently when she saw her: "Xiao Liu, go back to your class to play."

The boys played a gunfight game, tore off their homework paper and folded it into a paper gun. They were divided into two teams. If they met, whoever said "Beng~~" first would die.

Daxiang likes this game the most, and his blood boils when he plays it, so his homework book is also the thinnest.

Zhang Chengnian tore off the title page of the book and folded it into a small pistol for Xiao Liu. Among the children, Zhang Chengnian was the most patient, so the things he made were always the most delicate.

Xiao Liu watched him deftly stuff the torn textbook back into someone else's drawer, and couldn't bear to be surprised: "Whose is this?"

"Daxiang's, anyway, he doesn't read books, so he won't know." Zhang Chengnian was very calm, obviously already familiar with such bad things.

Xiao Liu took the pistol and ran away, Daxiang envied him when he saw it: "Xiao Liu, your gun is not bad, it is more domineering than ours, we are only willing to tear up our homework books, you can also tear up the textbooks, you are really a good seed .”

Xiao Liu scratched her head in embarrassment, and the culprit beside her looked at ease.

The classroom was actually very noisy. When the teacher turned his back, demons danced around.

But no one paid attention to her in the class, and everyone played games and chatted without her part, so Xiao Liu could only pretend to study hard.One day during dinner, Wu Xiaohua at the same table took a second look at Xiaoliu's bento, and since then opened the door to a new world.

Wu Chunyan also joined in. In that era, supplies were scarce and living standards were very limited.Many of the bentos that children can bring are pancakes, sweet potatoes, or rice and pickles.Eggs are also available, but very few.And it usually only appears in the boy's bento box.

Farmers cultivate the land day after day, but they don't necessarily have enough to eat.

For example, Fangnier and Junzi are two sisters and brothers. Fangnier's bento usually contains porridge, sweet potatoes and pickles, while Junzi can not only eat rice, but also always have an extra egg, and occasionally he can also eat chicken and duck. Delicacies such as fish and meat.The portion in the lunch box is also particular. Junzi can always eat enough to fill his belly, but Fangnier can barely eat enough.

During the meal, the three girls gathered together, Xiao Liu generously distributed his rice and eggs to his classmates, and ate their sweet potatoes by himself.

Fuying only cooks one egg a day, and it used to be for men to eat because it required a lot of work.After Xiao Liu went to school, one egg was put into her lunch box every day at home.

Xiao Liu didn't know about this, so when she was eating at noon, she had two good friends.

At first, Xiao Liu was able to eat some sweet potatoes in their lunch box, but Wu Xiaohua and the others saw that Xiao Liu was easy to bully, so they didn't intend to sue.Then she felt at ease, and didn't even give her sweet potatoes.

Xiaoliu was often hungry, but it was not uncommon to be hungry. At that time, everyone basically didn't have enough to eat or wear warm clothes.

So when Xiao Liu drooled over the biscuits, Zhang Chengnian was not surprised.He only had one biscuit, which was not enough for a developing boy.

Since he didn't have enough to eat, it didn't matter if he ate less, so he generously tore half of the biscuits for Xiao Liu.

Xiao Liu was very sensible, she tore the half and returned it to Brother Cheng, and ate the small portion herself.Sometimes Zhang Jiaxiang would reward her with a small sweet potato when he saw how pitiful she was.

Fang Nier received Xiao Liu's gaze, and moved away like a chicken cub protecting food.

"Xiao Liu, you can eat so much, why don't you grow meat!" Da Xiang grabbed her with one hand, shook his hand, and shook his head: "Big stomach king, it's like not eating."

Xiao Liu didn't want people to know that she was so useless, but she was really hungry, so she humbly asked Zhang Chengnian: "What should I do when I'm hungry?"

Zhang Chengnian is very experienced in this area.He only eats one biscuit or sweet potato every day, and he prefers biscuit. Eating too much sweet potato not only swells his stomach, but also makes his stomach churn with sour gas.Although sesame seed cakes are hard and cold, they are the easiest to preserve in hot weather. This kind of food is not easy to go bad.

And his grandfather is old, although his body is strong, his teeth have gradually loosened. The labor output value of the old and the young is not much, and the rice must be left for those who need it more at home.

"Reading." Zhang Chengnian told Xiao Liu: "Reading will make you feel less hungry."

At that moment, Xiao Liu seemed to see the light of Buddha shining on Zhang Chengnian.Although the boy is still childish but has long sword eyebrows and star eyes, he is different from other children in this village.

Although he is thin and thin, he has a tall and straight posture. What supports him is the straight spine and the ideal of unyielding destiny.

"Only after you go to school will you not be able to herd cattle." Xiao Liu recalled Duanyang night, the boy's resolute words, she realized later, his eyes at that time were as bright as the stars at night.

The teenager believes that knowledge changes destiny.

(End of this chapter)