between clouds and mud

Chapter 6

Fast-forward six years, the age of sword and ax has produced wrinkles on the parents' faces, and also nurtured the growth of the teenager, but the first lesson of Time Church is to face parting calmly.

At the age of 16, Zhang Chengnian was admitted to a key high school in the county.

This is the first child from Dengxinqiao Township who has been admitted to high school for generations.High school is no longer compulsory education, and its tuition fees are not a small burden for an ordinary peasant family.Chengnian's father was idle when he was away from home in the early years, and the only thing he could rely on was the savings his grandfather saved from frugality.

The old man has suffered all his life, and his only heart is to count on his grandson to succeed.

High school is academically heavy and boarding.Zhang Chengnian only came back for half a day every week, chatted with the elderly for a while, fed the old cows, and then returned to school with a week's worth of dry food.

Junzi and Xiaoliu are also in junior high school in the town, and the other friends have graduated one after another. Only Zhang Fang insisted on finishing the nine-year education.

The little friends who grew up together can only get together during the Chinese New Year.

The new year is approaching, and we haven't seen each other for half a year.The young man has grown up to be handsome and gentle as jade.His tall and straight back stood out from the crowd like a chicken, the only downside was that his figure became thinner.

Although the partners in the village are busy with each other, they can still get together when they have free time.Seeing Zhang Chengnian now, he realized that an invisible gully had opened the distance between them.He is really favored by heaven, even though he is wearing the same cloth and padded jacket, his temperament is as different as cloud and mud.

Xiaoliu, who used to not understand why Zhang Chengnian was called the light of Wutong, now also understands that distance produces beauty.

Zhang Chengnian was more open-minded, he saw them from a distance, and came to greet them on his own initiative.

A group of people exchanged pleasantries for a while, and the conversation among contemporary farmers is nothing more than how this year's harvest is. Zhang Fang, the only one who can receive a meager salary, is now teaching in Wutong Primary School.

A group of people chatted and decided to play cards on the spur of the moment, just to see how lively they are.

In fact, Xiaoliu wanted to go to snowball fights more in his heart. Now she is the new generation of the king of children in the village. Which little Douding would dare not listen to her?
Zhang Jiaxiang grabbed Xiao Nier who was about to run away, and he held her shoulders like a big brother: "Come on, let's go to your house to play cards."

Xiao Liu wanted to cry but had no tears: "Brother Daxiang can't do it, my father knows that I will kill me when I play cards."

"What are you afraid of?" Zhang Fang walked beside Zhang Chengnian and comforted him, "Brother Cheng will support you when the sky falls! As long as there is his place, even if you play cards, your father will treat you as studying."

"This is the advantage of relying on face to eat. When I was a child, the bad water didn't come from Brother Cheng's stomach." Junzi also added.

Zhang Hong, who was walking at the end, rarely showed a smile on her face. As the most taciturn child, although she was the easiest to be forgotten, she did not fall behind.

Times are changing, and the village has already been connected to electricity. The button of the light is an old-fashioned pull cord, and the light will turn on when you pull it.

There are also TV sets, black and white TV sets are mostly used in the countryside.On the contrary, Xiaoliu's family has a color TV set, and she had a long-time quarrel with her father because of this color TV set.In the end, Xiao Liu tidied up and took the TV home contentedly.

Father and daughter battle wits and courage, and stipulate that they must study hard in school and are not allowed to watch it, and they are not allowed to watch it if they fail to get the first place in the exam during the holidays.This time when he brought his friends home, Xiao Liu glanced at his father and turned on the TV button openly.

A group of people were sitting in the room playing cards, and Xiao Liu moved a small bench and sat in the living room watching TV. She was quite good at treating people like her own family, brothers and sisters, just do what you want, I won't say hello.

After playing for a while, Zhang Chengnian came out of the room.The TV in the living room is playing "Blue Mouse and Big Face Cat".

"Sister, do you still watch cartoons at this age?" Zhang Chengnian still called her like he did when he was a child.

"Why can't I watch it? I'm still a child." She was only twelve years old: "Why don't you play cards anymore?"

"They can't afford it." Zhang Chengnian said with a calm expression, "I'm so stupid, I dare to play even if I don't know how to count cards."

There is a kind of person who is rich on the outside and weak on the inside, just play around, why are friends so good at it.

As soon as he raised his eyebrows, she knew he was playing tricks.

"Sister, take out your exam papers, and brother will help you look at them."

Sure enough, he approached her with a purpose, and wanted to torture her like he did when he was a child: "I didn't send it at the end of the semester."

"Midterm is fine too." He sat on the table: "Don't call me your father anymore."

Zhang Chengnian is very good at hitting snakes and hitting seven inches.

Zhou Laoliu entered the room and saw the two children who were doing their homework together. For a moment, he was in a trance, as if the time had returned to their childhood. The little guy has grown up now. Son, now the naughty village dogs will take a detour when they see her.

After entering junior high school, Primary Six's grades hovered at the middle level of the class, unlike Wutong Primary School, where there are only a few students in a class. The junior high school in the town has 50 children in a class, and can maintain a mid-range level. Primary Six is ​​very satisfied with this .

"How do you get into high school with this grade?" Zhang Chengnian frowned after reading the test paper.

"I don't take the high school exam." Xiaoliu has his own plan for the future: "I want to take over my father's class, and I will farm."

She is a farmer's daughter, she is proud, she is proud, and she also wants to be a farmer.

Looking at her expression, Zhang Chengnian thought for a moment.

There is a kind of people who desperately want to get out of the mountains,
There is a kind of person who stays here because of fate,

There is another kind of people who enjoy and love here.

Xiao Liu is the third type of person. She loves the land that nurtured her, and never thought of leaving it.

Zhang Chengnian understood that although he felt sorry for her talent faintly, he respected her choice more, so he put away the test papers and stopped embarrassing her because of her studies.

"Brother Cheng." Xiao Liu called him with her hands on the table, she reached out and stroked his hair, trying to soothe his sorrow: "You don't seem to be as happy as before."

Friends all know that Brother Cheng is getting more and more promising, but he is less and less fond of laughing, and his expression is pretentious, even the youngest Xiaoliu can see it.

At the end of March, it is the spring plowing season of the year again.

Xiaoliu's family didn't raise cattle, so Zhang Chengnian's family was brought in to plow the land every year, and the two families even quarreled over payment.

One family wants to give money, but the other family refuses to accept money.

In the second year, Xiaoliu's father planned to use other people's cattle. Grandpa Chengnian drove the cattle over in person. Hearing that Xiaoliu's father had already rented the cattle, the two families had another quarrel.

Don't look at this old man's old bones, he is very fierce when he scolds, and he is estimated to live to 99.

So every year, if Xiaoliu's father didn't go to their house to pick up the cows, Grandpa Chengnian would come over in person.

"Father, your old eyesight is dim." Xiao Liu pointed at the cow brought back by his father: "This is not from Brother Cheng's family, this is from Junzi's family."

Father drove the cattle: "Brother Cheng's family's cattle are gone, this year we will use Junzi's."

"Dead?" Xiao Liu asked again.

"Sold." Dad replied.

Who would buy an old cow that is about to lose its labor force?
The answer to this question is too cruel, and the only remaining value of it is nothing more than a pair of skin and bones on the body.

Xiao Liu's heart felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar.

She ran to the cowshed of Zhang Chengnian's house, but it was really empty.

Grandpa Chengnian came out of the house, rolling a dry cigarette in his hand: "Xiao Liu, the cow is gone, sorry you have to use other's."

"When did you sell it?" The posts in the cowshed were covered with spider silk.

"It happened a few years ago." The old man said slowly, "Don't you think it's strange, the child ran out of school suddenly that day, and no one at home told him, he just chased the car and ran for three miles, old man It's the first time I've seen an old cow cry in most of my life."

As he spoke, his cloudy eye sockets became moist.

For Brother Cheng, the family members are his elderly grandfather and the cow who grew up with him.

"Brother Nian, if it rains so hard next time. Don't worry about the cow, the baby will run into the house first, with a stupid wooden head, this is a "water" cow."

The smartest and most sensible child also has times when he can't figure it out, such as why people can't get in the rain, but cows can get in the rain.So in the heavy rain, he stubbornly led his cow through his whole childhood.

Zhang Chengnian ran, chased, and exhausted, he finally stopped.The old cow that had been with him throughout his childhood was actually sold for that little money, what would be its fate?The once-smug boy felt fooled at this moment, but he couldn't complain.He cried for the first time.Young people, shout out, towards fate, don't bully young people into poverty.

Xiao Liu, who is still keen to watch more TV episodes to fight wits and courage with his father, is also slow to perceive the changes in life.

She had to face the fact that the friends around her began to grow up.

Hong Nier, who turned [-], is already talking about marriage
Now the grand occasion can be described as a family with hundreds of daughters, Hong Nier and her father are so happy that they are going to be picky.Zhang Hong has two older brothers.

The eldest brother got married long ago, and the second brother is in his late twenties but still single.

Her father was in a hurry to marry his daughter so early, so the plan was naturally that the second elder brother was getting old and urgently needed money to marry a wife, and the youngest daughter had to seize the opportunity to choose a good family while she was young.

Zhang Hong has a soft personality and lack of opinion since she was a child. Once the family explained it to her, she accepted it calmly.

Because fate has already arranged the trajectory of her life, she has already adapted to everything.This virtuous and hardworking girl began to prepare for this day after graduating from elementary school. This is the life path of every girl in Dengxinqiao Township.

The three sisters were lying on the cattle-driving flat, and Heizi from Fannier's family was escorting them.

Some people choose to follow fate, while others think about how to fight against fate.

Looking at the stars in the sky, Zhang Fang, who was almost the same age, rested her head on a pillow.It's not difficult to guess what her parents think, her younger brother is still studying and there is no rush to get married, and Nier stays at home to work for a few more years, and it will not hurt to remarry when the time comes.Her and Hong Nier's endings are just the same.

Marry a good family who can afford the bride price, and live a lifetime with a man who has only seen photos before marriage.Day after day, he farmed and plowed the land, and then gave birth to a child for the sake of the family.If there is also a daughter, then little Fang Nier, like her mother, grew up in a patriarchal environment, and when she reaches the age, she will be sold to a suitable good family by her parents, and this cycle goes on and on, and this kind of future seems to be visible at a glance.

"Xiao Liu, I envy you the most." Zhang Fang held a thin grass in her mouth: "When I was young, I often thought, if only I were a kid, would I be able to live a happier life?"

"It wasn't until you appeared that I realized that girls are also loved by others, so at that time I thought it would be great if my brother disappeared in this world. Without him, would I be able to live in the same care as Xiaoliu under my parents' care?" I grew up in love."

"But not all parents in this world love their children, and I thought why did they give birth to me? Now I can figure it out." Zhang Fang's eyes were filled with tears, and her breathing was calm: "I figured it out, and I'm relieved, and I don't have to be trapped by these things in the future."

"You said, is the outside world also like this?" Zhang Fang asked confusedly.

"Xiao Liu, you are from outside." Zhang Hong is a little older, and her memory is clearer: "Do you still remember the past? Where were you before you came to Dengxi Bridge?"

Xiao Liu shook his head: "I don't remember."

The two sisters looked at her, and rarely said in unison: "Lie."

The partners grew up together, and they understand each other deeply, and Xiao Liu is not annoyed if he is ruthlessly exposed. No one knows who's thoughts.

Zhang Fang said with a smile: "Xiao Liu grew up with us. He used to have the best relationship with Brother Cheng. When he was in elementary school, he stuck to him like a little tail. Now that he has grown up, he has a closer relationship with us."

When I was a child, everyone hated Xiao Liu as an idiot and didn't like to take her with her.Only Zhang Chengnian is willing to take care of him more, so the adults feel that Brother Cheng is a down-to-earth and responsible child.

But in fact, every time when others couldn't see, he would catch the bugs on Xiao Liu's body in a mischievous manner, and would reach out and pull her hair.He would stand under the tree and say, Xiao Liu, jump down, and my brother will catch you, and then she will fall into the ditch.

But every time she cried, Zhang Chengnian knew how to coax her.Therefore, Xiao Ni'er didn't realize that she was being bullied at all, and she always followed him.

(End of this chapter)