“...... The man who picked me up was a man in his forties and fifties, an old bachelor, a peasant from a village on the edge of the ditch, in a nearby mountain village, a rotten drunkard. ”

Under the incandescent light, the middle-aged woman was still smiling on her face and continued,

“...... That day, he probably drank wine, drunk, unprecedented, took a hoe and went down to the field, and then saw me on the side of the road, in the ditch on the edge of the field, when he saw me, I could not cry, I could not shout, his face was already frozen blue, he drank too much wine, and thought it was something, so he lifted it up for me, picked it up in the basket, and brought it back. ”

“...... I still have to thank him, thank him, otherwise I wouldn't be alive now, I really have to thank him, thank him......"

The middle-aged woman smiled on her face, and said in a tone that didn't fluctuate,

“...... I don't know what he thought when he woke up, maybe he wanted to have a dog in the house, or maybe he never woke up from the wine. ”

“...... For as long as I can remember, I have lived there, in a mountain village in a mountain col, and the man's house is alone on the edge of the mountain village, and there are no other residents around, and the people in the village are not used to him, and no one has anything to do with him.

He asked me to call him Daddy, so that's my Daddy. ”

With a smile on her face, the wrinkled, bulging scar twisted and twisted like a long worm, wriggling under the skin of her face,

Smiling, the middle-aged woman continued,

“...... My father, a bad drunkard, doesn't do anything else every day, every day at noon, or in the afternoon, when he wakes up a little bit, he will get up, and then go out to drink, and when he is drunk, in the evening, he will come back again.

When I came back, maybe I wasn't in such a good mood, so I was going to beat me up and kick me a few times, it hurt so much. When he got tired of beating me, he let me lie down on the ground, and he went back to his house and went to sleep.

At that time, I knew something, I just remembered it, it seemed like every day, just sitting on the threshold and waiting for him to come back, just thinking, a few words with him, he was in a good mood, rewarded me with a few bites of food, he wanted to beat me, I let him beat, at that time, I felt that he should be beaten, if I wanted to eat, I had to be beaten, and when he was angry and happy, maybe he could reward me with two mouthfuls of food. ”

Under the incandescent lamp, the middle-aged woman's words sounded, and the shadows of several people at the table reflected on the ground swayed slightly with the breeze.

As she spoke, the middle-aged woman turned her head again and looked at the old man,

“...... I remember when I was so young, I was cooking on the stove with a stool and I fell off the stool. ”

Laughing, the middle-aged woman said,

“...... I guess I was seven or eight years old, and at that time, I still seemed to be a little taller, and the top of my head was still far from the edge of the stove...... At that time, my father, he still drank every day, and I was so hungry that I had no choice but to find a way to cook by myself. There was no rice at home, but there was some millet, so I set up a stool, added a few handfuls of millet, added some water, and put it in a pot to boil...... When I climbed on the stool, I fell, fell to the ground, and hit my foot, and at that moment, I didn't feel much pain as if I was hungry, but I felt a little uncomfortable in my ankle, but I still padd my feet, lit the fire, and ......boiled like that."

“...... I don't know how long it took, and I don't know if the millet was ripe or not...... Lift the lid of the pot...... It smells so good...... I first grabbed the boiled millet in the pot, and when it was scalded, I remembered the bowl, and I took the bowl as a spoon, and I took a bite of the boiled millet, and it was so delicious to eat, and I felt very delicious...... I just stood on that stool, with one foot on my feet, and ate the grain in one bite, but I felt a little uncomfortable in my throat......"

The middle-aged woman smiled and continued,

Listening to this, the old man couldn't help but be a little silent and sighed.

Looking at the distance outside the house, quietly listening to the middle-aged woman's words ringing in her ears, Lian Ge didn't say anything.

......

“...... At the end of the meal, I kept a bowl for my father, thinking of such a delicious thing, and left a bowl for him. ”

With a smile on her face, the middle-aged woman spoke, and the voice of the words that did not fluctuate sounded in the hall again,

“...... When I ate the grain and stopped being hungry, I slowly felt that my leg hurt so much, it hurt so much, it was like ...... It's like my dad hit me again...... I took the bowl of boiled grain, and with my feet on it, I walked to the threshold and sat down, as usual, until he returned. ”

“...... In the evening, he came back from drinking, and that day he seemed to be very happy, and his face was full of smiles. When I saw him returning, I got up with the bowl of grain. I handed him the bowl of millet and told him that I had cooked the rice, it was delicious, and let him taste it...... He looked at me, smiled very happily, and then knocked over the bowl of boiled grain, and scolded me, "Beasts are beasts."

And I stood there, looking at the broken bowls on the ground, at the grain that had been scattered all over the ground. ”

With a smile on her face, the middle-aged woman said,

“...... I don't know if it was stupid at the time...... Yes, I'm a brute...... I also told him that my ankle was very painful...... As soon as he heard this, he suddenly changed his face and became very angry, and he slapped me to the ground, and then stepped on the ankle where I had fallen, and rubbed it a little bit with his foot...... It hurts, it hurts more than when he hit me before. ”

With a smile on her face, the middle-aged woman said,

Next to him, the old man listened to the middle-aged woman's words, lowered his head, looked at the middle-aged woman's twisted feet, shook his head, and sighed,

"Girl......"

The old man opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something of comfort, but after he called, he could only stop it.

The middle-aged woman smiled on her face, as if she hadn't heard it, but continued to say,

“...... However, after that, I at least learned that millet could not be eaten directly, and that eating it was a beast. ”

“...... After that, I still sat on the threshold every day, waiting for my dad to come back, waiting for him to come back and beat me, and when he came back I could say a few words to him......"

“...... When I was eleven or twelve, at noon that day, my father went out again for a drink, and I sat on the threshold by the door of the house. At this time, the people of the village who passed by passed by, passed by the side of the road, went to the mountain. ”

“...... Looking at the people in the village passing by, I don't know what's wrong, I never wanted to go outside so much, at that time, my outside was not far away from the village, I wanted to go to the village to see...... I sat on the threshold, looked into the village, hesitated for half an afternoon, and when it was almost dark, I ran towards the village......"

“...... At that time, I seemed to be a little scared and a little expectant......"

“...... When I got to the village, there were a few children who were about the same as I was playing with them, and someone saw me passing, and then they all looked at me with very strange eyes, and then they ran away, and there was only one person standing there, trying to run, as if he was a little curious about me......

...... I walked over and looked at him like that, and he looked at me for a long time, and then asked me if I was from the village too, and asked me what my name was...... At that time, I didn't have a name......"

“...... That was the first time I spoke to my peers...... Later, I realized that they were looking into my eyes and were scared......"