Not having a sister is a big regret for a boy. This is like congenital color blindness, the world is missing a certain color in his eyes. Of course, she has to be a good sister.

Today's young mothers are actually playing the role of the big sisters of her boys at the same time. Today's boys, when they are coquettish and willful to their young mothers, do they not contain the affection between their younger brothers and sisters? It is instinct for people to make up for what they lack in their own emotional realm.

I have an older sister. But I didn't get to see her. I've only seen her picture. I saw a picture of her when I was nine years old. The photo has been yellowed. In the yellowed photo, the beautiful girl looked at me with a faint sentimentality in her eyes. My mother told me that my sister was born with a weak constitution. She died shortly after I was born.

Before she died, she said to her mother, "Mom, let me take a look at my little brother......"

My mother hugged me and showed her.

"What kind of man did you grow up with?"

She looked at me lovingly and smiled.

The smile froze on her face......

Mother is like telling an event from a long, long time ago. From then on, I looked at the yellowed photograph again, as if it was a withered flower that had been flattened.

"You," my mother sighed, pointing at me, "you shouldn't have a sister in your life." Or if you were born, she would have died!"

From then on, I didn't dare to look at my sister's posthumous photo again, thinking that my birth was a sin......

Since then, I have been very sensitive to death and related associations. When I heard the church bells, I couldn't help but be awe-inspiring and terrified......

My Mother City was the city with the most Russian-style churches in those years. On our street, next to the courtyard where our families lived, there was a church. It's not big, it's not too small. On the days of religious ceremonies, Russian immigrants flocked from far and wide. The church is inhabited by a priest and a Chinese flower worker, and a "madam" who does handy. There was also a bishop who lived for a time. He is said to be a real bishop, a big man with a big beard. The church yard is half the size of a football field. The street is facing a green fence. The fence consists of pieces of wood that are sawn into the same parquet.

Because it is a wooden plank, we northerners also call it "board shoji". There is a grape trellis in the precincts. There is a pressurized water well next to it. Black-robed priests can often be seen sitting under trellises with scrolls, presumably silently reciting the Bible. Sometimes you can see the old gardener drawing water to water the flowers, and "Madam" washing dishes by the well. There are many flowers in the yard, but there are no delicate and precious varieties. It is nothing more than "broom plum", "evening primrose", "henna", "cockscomb", chrysanthemum and the like. In summer, the scattered purple turns red, competing for beauty, and the color continues to autumn, decorating the huge yard with colorful colors. In addition to flowers, the yard is full of sunflowers. When the flower plate is in full bloom, it is yellow and intoxicating......

In front of the courtyard is a row of living rooms. On the left, there is a place to pray. On the right, on the side of "Itashoko", is our yard. The "creeper" climbed over the "banshoji" and gave us thousands of purple "trumpet flowers" pleasing to the eye......

The church also has a cow. "Madam" pushes two buckets of milk every day and walks the street to the hospital. Of course, the first to welcome her was the people from our yard. When there is no change, "Madam" keeps a note in a small book. Never collect accounts to show kindness to your neighbors.

I grew up unconsciously in the sound of church bells. We have only had one conflict with them. That year, the whole city launched a "people's war" to exterminate sparrows. From adults to children, they beat gongs, drums, and firecrackers, standing on the roofs and tree branches, waving bamboo poles tied with cloth, so that the sparrows flew all over the sky and did not dare to perch. Flying and falling down, exhausted. The church became the "Notre Dame de Paris" for the sparrows. There were many, many roofs in the courtyard. So the street commissioners negotiated with the priest. It has been repeatedly emphasized that sparrows are one of the "four pests", how much rice they eat each year, and the great significance of their eradication. The priest and "Madam" blocked the gate of the courtyard, no matter what, they did not let people enter the courtyard, and stubbornly said in stiff Chinese: "No, no, God will be unhappy...... but those young men, regardless of God's attitude, jumped over the "board shosho" and jumped into the courtyard, showing their powers, and climbed to the top of the church...... The priest and the "Madam" had to compromise and retreat into the church, kneel before the statue of Jesus, and pray for the souls of the sparrows. The battle of what the adults called the "War of Annihilation" was not brilliant, and the city only wiped out more than a hundred sparrows. Sparrows are no smaller than falcons, and cats can escape disaster if they do not fly out of one place. How easy is it to "annihilate" them? On the contrary, most of the flowers in the church yard have been broken away by us, and many of the sunflower plates that have not yet matured have been wrung away, and each one is like a soldier whose head has been cut off and whose body is unwilling to fall. The tin ridge of the church was also trampled in many places......

One morning, I didn't hear the church bells.

I was strange, because the bell was my first perception, my first understanding of the world outside of my home. It grew with me year after year. For me, it's been a part of my life for a long time. I asked my mother, "Mom, why didn't you ring the bell today?" and she replied, "'Madam' is sick." "I didn't hear the church bells for days. The courtyard was silent from morning to night, and there was no longer a single figure to be seen. The classmates said that there was no one living in the courtyard anymore. Late one night, the priest and Madam left in a cloaked carriage and took the old dog with the bristles. The cows were given to the old gardeners. The old florist is also gone. I don't know where it went...... The classmates all said that it was because on the day of the "annihilation" of the sparrows, people forced their way into their yards, making them feel bullied and leave with grievances.

I think they're too small. Is it worth leaving their God behind just because of that one thing? Aren't those who believe in God very bold and forgiving? How can those who believe in God be as knowledgeable as those who don't believe in God? Not to mention that none of the adults and children in our yard have intruded into their yards! In any case, when we leave, we should say goodbye to our old neighbors!

I said to my mother, "Mom, it's not that Madam is sick, it's that there's no one living in the yard." So no one rings the bell anymore!" "Really?" "My mother stopped her needlework, looked up, and looked at me in some surprise.

I could see that my mother was very clear about the real reason for "them" leaving, but she just didn't want me to know. "Mom, why are they, really trying to annihilate the sparrows?" "Maybe...... Yes......" "No!" Mother stopped her needlework and looked at me again. Mother's gaze became stern. The tone was also quite stern: "Do your homework! A child, don't get to the bottom of everything! What does it have to do with you? Don't ask anyone else!"

Soon, all the Soviets, including those who were married to the Chinese, and the Soviets who had become the fathers or mothers of Chinese children, left our city in batches and returned home. At the train station, there are people who say goodbye and even hug and cry every day. The Soviets' grocery stores, pharmacies, and kiosks selling dairy products were all closed for a few days......

Even those of us who are half-sensible children are beginning to understand that the real reason obviously has nothing to do with the annihilation of the sparrows. It seems that they have been sternly admonished or admonished by adults, and when they play together, they never talk about it.

After September, the church yard became deserted. One is withered, one is bleak, and one is withered. Only the weeds that cover the road are tenaciously vibrant.

Winter came very early that year. After a heavy snowfall, even the weeds in the yard were overwhelmed and covered. Old snow and new snow, layer upon layer. Throughout the winter, more than two feet of snow accumulated in the courtyard. The snow surface is without a trace, and it is as clean as felt. But here and there, there are clusters of weeds poking through the sharp leaves. Flocks of obese sparrows peck at grass seeds, proving that they are living quite comfortably. The snow was almost as thick as the windowsills of houses and churches. The houses and churches seemed to sink and look much shorter. The courtyard that has been deserted for a long time seems to be a relic of another century. In my opinion, especially mysterious. I think there are still people living there. At least one person - God Himself. When it gets dark, the courtyard is dead silent, which makes people feel ghostly......

The grown-ups started talking about the yard and saying it was haunted. Some people say that they heard a woman's cry in the middle of the night, others say that it was not a woman's cry, but a baby's cry, and so on. As a result, some of our children who live nearby have been reminded by their parents not to go near the yard during the day or night. After the Spring Festival, a boy from a family on the street disappeared. One day, the gate of the courtyard was smashed open, and several policemen with loaded guns, walking through knee-deep snow, entered the row of houses and churches to search. They came out frustrated because there were no clues. A few days later, the missing little boy appeared in front of us and played with us on the ice. We asked him why he had been missing for days, and he said he had never been missing at all – because his father had beaten him so hard that he had gone to his aunt's house without telling anyone. He swore that if his father beat him again, he would really "disappear......

The snow has melted and the weather is getting warmer day by day. Spring has come in a long way, and it has also come to the courtyard that has been unoccupied for a long time, and it is said that it has been haunted. Under the lodging dead artemisia, the shoots of new green grass emerged. A continuous spring rain moistened the earth, and the first to open in the courtyard was the "broom plum". No one planned the ridges in advance, and they bloomed wildly, vigorously opening a large area. provoked some of our children, looking at the "board shoji", always wanting to pick up a lot. But it was just a thought, and no one dared to set foot in the hospital. Although the courtyard gate is ajar......

It's July. "Nightshade" is also opened. At night, the breeze is cool, and in our yard, we can smell the rich aroma.

So the adults said, I don't know who should be in charge of the yard, and how good it would be if I could move in with the family! It's a pity to see those flowers blooming in the yard, no one to play with them......

As if God was going to grant the wishes of the adults, a few days later, a family actually moved in.

That family didn't have a lot of stuff. A few pieces of furniture with very dark lacquer and a very old and heavy style, as well as bookshelves and books, there are many books.

In the evening, two more cars came. I've never seen a car drive down our old street. Half a street of people gathered to see the rarity. The men, even holding rice bowls, watched while eating. The women whispered to each other.

Three children came out of the first car. Two boys and one girl. The two boys looked six or seven years old, looked exactly the same, and were probably twins. The girl was fourteen or fifteen years old and wore a pink "braki". Her soft black hair was scattered. Above the left ear, pin a white hair card. I've never seen such a beautiful girl. No, maybe I've never seen such a proud girl. I don't know if I was proud because of my beauty, or because I was proud of my beauty, but I was so ashamed of myself that I couldn't help but shrink behind the adults, even though she didn't glance at them, let alone notice my presence......

All three children were very neatly dressed and very decent. All the boys and girls on our street can't dress so neatly and decently, even on festivals.

The two boys pushed open the courtyard door and ran towards their new home. The beautiful and haughty girl, the little princess who seemed to have come out of a fairy tale, held a snow-white long-haired cat in her arms, and walked into the courtyard reservedly and calmly.

"Don't run!

She shouted, her voice sweet.

In the second car, three people also got down. Two women of similar age, and a man in his sixties. The two women, both around forty-five or sixteen years old, both wore cheongsam, one wore a purple cheongsam and the other wore a lotus-colored cheongsam. Those who wear lotus lotus-colored cheongsams are plumper and fairer than those who wear purple cheongsam. The one wearing the purple cheongsam is slightly taller. Two women, one looked solemn and unsmiling. A person who seems to be kind and virtuous, and has a wise and virtuous heart. The solemn expression was a woman wearing a purple cheongsam. Xin Hui Dexian is a woman wearing a lotus-colored cheongsam. It can be seen that they must have been very beautiful back then.

The man in his sixties had his hair cut extremely short. Hair cut very short, all white. He was very thin, skinny, but in good spirits. He wore a gray tunic, and although it was a hot day in July, the collar hook was fastened. With black cloth shoes and white socks, he is a thin man with dignity in his simplicity.

The two women got out of the car first. A woman in a lotus-colored cheongsam holds a woman in a purple cheongsam. Like the haughty maiden, they seemed to be blind to the onlookers on both sides of the street. Without pause, he walked out into the courtyard. A thin, white-haired man in his sixties got out of the car and followed them. The watchers confused him. It also made him uncomfortable. After walking a few steps, he suddenly felt that it was very inappropriate not to say anything to the people, and he stopped hesitantly, turned around and bowed respectfully to the people on the left side of the street.

"Neighbors," he said with a fist in his fist, neither humble nor arrogant, "from now on, we will live here!" If we are not aware of the responsibilities or obligations of residents on the street, and we are not conscious enough, I hope you will give reminders, supervision, and criticism. We promise to accept it with an open mind and resolutely correct the ......"

Although his words were solemn, although his expression looked sincere. But his posture of clenching his fists is very wrong with his whole person. It's awkward.

But no one laughed, maybe they couldn't bear to laugh at him. He is over sixty years old, his hair is all white, his words are so solemn, and his expression looks so sincere, not to mention that our street is full of people with good nature, how can we bear to laugh at him?

The children stopped the commotion, the men with the rice bowls stopped chewing, the women who talked to each other stopped whispering, and the judging old ladies stopped pointing and pointing. All adults and children have seen that they are an unusual family, and that he is a person of unusual status and status. Everyone seemed to be listening, thinking that an unusual person was "speaking" a speech.

The silence of the people overwhelmed him.

"That's it! I mean...... Don't take us for ...... As a special family...... In fact...... Actually......"

He was incoherent. He wanted to say something more, but he didn't know what to say. At that moment, he seemed to be a primary school student who raised his hand in class to win the opportunity to speak, and once he was called up by the teacher, he actually did not have the necessary thinking and mental preparation to answer the questions, which seemed very embarrassing.

At this time, the two cars drove away.

As soon as the two women heard him speak, they stopped at the same time, put down their arms holding each other, turned around together, and stood in the courtyard to listen. Hearing that he had brought himself to an incoherent situation, the woman in the lotus-colored cheongsam hurried back, walked up to him, took his arm, and forced him to follow her into the courtyard. Her gaze never looked at people, and she looked at him alone, as if in her eyes, he was the only one. The woman wearing a purple cheongsam covered the courtyard door. And the top door bar was supported. He looked back to the people in the courtyard frequently, smiling apologetically, helplessly, and expecting to be forgiving.

At night, the courtyard finally had lights after a long period of days and nights. The light was obscured by the shadows of the trees, but it was still faintly visible. The tall brick chimneys on the roofs of the rows of priests where the priests lived, smoked.

Men and women, who enjoyed the coolness and gossip, gathered under the street lamps across the street, looked out at the courtyard, and continued to speculate, judge, and comment on that family. It's been a long time since there's been a single thing on this street that people should get together and talk about. Ordinary people always hope that something worth talking about will happen every few days. That family was the talk of the town for days. For several days, no one had seen the adults or children of that family walk out of the deep courtyard, and no one even noticed that they had been active in the courtyard. This should be more worthy of being a topic.

One day, my mother told me to go to the small grocery store to buy matches. As soon as I walked in, I immediately exited. Stay outside the door, don't have the courage to walk in again. Because there was only one person in the shop at that time to buy something. Because that person is the proud princess! She also wears a pink "braki." She still had the white hair card pinned to her hair. All I could see at first glance was her back. But I'm sure she! Except for her, what fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl on our street would have such a beautiful back? When they stand, they either tilt their heads, or bend one leg and stand on their heels. And she, standing straight, straight enough to stand in a near-standard upright posture. This is especially true when viewed from behind. If she is not wearing a "brachi", but a military uniform, from the back, she is simply a female officer who never forgets her military appearance, and a female officer who specializes in training female soldiers. How could she be like this? Could it be that she grew up in the barracks? Could it be that at what age did she begin to undergo strict military gymnasium?

I felt that she made me awe. I've never felt even the slightest bit of awe for any girl my age on our street. The boys and I often follow the tone of their father or mother and call them by their nicknames behind their backs. Or, by playing a prank and throwing a strawberry that looks like a caterpillar on them, or by rubbing thorny grass seeds into their hair so that they scream in fright and stomp their feet at us, we are happiest. For some reason, I feel like I'll never dare to her. Forever. I think she attracts me like a strange fragrant flower that attracts a little bee. I longed to be close to her, to get her attention, to get her affection for me, and thus to like me. This desire instigated me to tell me that anything is possible, and I could not resist it. I'm ashamed of it.

My vest hasn't been washed in two days and it's dirty. My shorts are dirty too. My old cloth shoes, torn by my toes. So as soon as I found her, I immediately quit the shop. I hid behind the door of the shop, quickly took off my vest, turned it over and put it on. And wear the back on the front. The shorts were reworn once in the same way. I also changed a pair of shoes. After changing feet, you can't see the toes that are sticking out of the shoe. But there is a hole in each shoe, like a round eye. I think it's always a lot more elegant than a toe sticking out of a shoe. After this "innovation", I felt that I could "show" in front of her. She will no longer be seen as a little beggar. I mustered up twelve points of courage, tried to suppress the excitement in my heart, pretended to be nothing, and quietly entered the small shop.

The fat woman who sold the goods asked me loudly, "What are you buying?"

There is no child on our street who does not know her. Behind her back, they all called her "Aunt Hippo". She pretty much knew us, too. Sometimes we helped her unload the goods, and when she was happy, she would reward each of us with a piece of candy.

I politely said, "Auntie, I'm not in a hurry, you can sell it to her first!"

She looked at me. Casually glancing at me, his gaze continued to look at the shelves. She held a delicate and small pen in one hand and a small notebook in the other, and looked at it for a while, making a few notes on it. Suddenly I understood what was going on with myself. I understood why I was eager to be close to her, to get her attention, to gain her affection. I understand when she looks at me and I look at her. Her face and her eyes resembled my dead sister in the photo, and I was no longer ashamed of my thoughts. I began to think that everything was not only possible but also reasonable.

"Yo, this kid, when did you learn to be so polite?" "Aunt Hippo" said as if praising and deprecating, "Buy whatever you want, people are not in a hurry!"

"My mom told me to buy ......," I rolled my eyes in thought, "I forgot." I've got to think about ......."

Shouldn't I have to leave after buying matches? I don't want to leave anytime soon.

"Aunt Hippo" saw that I was obviously pretending, but she couldn't see through the unusually active thoughts in my heart. She threw her fat body on the counter, stretched out an arm of mine, grabbed my arm, pulled me towards her, and whispered, "What the hell are you trying to do, little one, trying to steal something?"

She looked at me again. This time, it was clear that I had caught her attention a little.

My face was burning hot. Feeling so humiliated that I broke free from the hands of "Aunt Hippo," I protested angrily, "When did I steal something?"

"Yo, yo, you can't carry it in a word? It's worth losing your temper? Auntie is just joking with you! I didn't unload the goods today, huh!" she grabbed a few pieces of candy and sprinkled them on the counter, "Here you go." Don't buy anything, let's go! I still have to keep an eye on you from time to time!"

I think her last sentence still contains the meaning of insulting me. I was even more angry, and said indignantly, "I'm not going to eat your broken sugar! I'll buy a pack of matches!"

"This kid, I don't know what to do! I would have said that I would buy matches, and I wouldn't have to grind my teeth with you...... Broken Sugar? Broken Sugar, you haven't begged me for it?"

"Aunt Hippo" muttered, and a large fat hand swiped over the counter to put away the pieces of candy. She was also a little angry, and took my money with a face not a face and a nose and threw me a pack of matches.

The "princess" who lived in the same courtyard as "God" didn't look at me anymore, nor at "Aunt Hippo" anymore, and didn't seem to hear the verbal conversation between us at all, and still stood so straight, but one of her legs was actually bent. She wears a pair of red, semi-new leather shoes. On our street, no girl can afford to wear leather shoes. I didn't see any girls in leather shoes at school. The girls I've seen, known or not, are counted as one, and they all wear the same kind of slippers with buckles. I think girls wear leather shoes, and they look a little arrogant if they are not angry, and they are not arrogant but also a little arrogant. I thought to myself that if my sister lived, I would go around picking up rags and selling them, and I would have to save money for her to buy a pair of leather shoes, and I would also buy a red one and a pattern for her feet. What surprised me was, of course, not the leather shoes she was wearing, but the fact that one of her legs, not only bent, but also that one of her feet was actually on tiptoe and touched the ground. This kind of posture is the posture of girls that I am accustomed to! Most of the girls in our street have stood like this! "Princess," but you are just an ordinary girl! On this basis, I suddenly felt that she was no different from other thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls. I suddenly felt that my fear of her was inferior, and that she was not so sacred or mysterious in my mind, even though she and her whole family lived in the same courtyard as "God......

However, this did not cancel my desire to be close to her, to get her attention, to gain her affection. On the contrary, the thought became stronger and more exciting. Although I seemed to understand what was going on with myself, I was helpless about myself. It is very difficult for a nine-year-old boy to hide his inner thoughts deeply. More often than not, the impulse to expose their inner thoughts, and the emotional pleasure that that impulse brings them, is far greater than the smugness of hiding it.

I took the match and didn't leave, but the "Aunt Hippo" didn't look at me well, and I was very unwilling to go. I think I'm quite attached to this little grocery store that smells of sauce and vinegar.

At this time, she turned to me, no, not to me, but to "Aunt Hippo". Because her eyes did not look at me, not even the slightest corner of her eye, but at "Aunt Hippo". Just look at the "Aunt Hippo". Her whole family seems to have a common problem: when she looks at someone, she only looks at anyone, as if no one else exists. Didn't the woman in the lotus cheongsam, on the day her family first moved in, only her father in her eyes, as if the people on both sides of the street did not exist at all? Is the thin man in his sixties with all white hair her father? So, the woman in the lotus cheongsam is her mother? Who is the woman in the purple cheongsam? Are the twin boys her brothers? Why do they look like her at all? Her home has all these things that are sure to make people guess, so it's no wonder that people on our street talk about them!

She only looked at "Aunt Hippo", walked to the counter here, and asked, "How much is a pound of soy sauce?"

Without waiting for "Aunt Hippo" to speak, I preemptively replied: "There is one mao and four and one catties, and there are two cents and sixty-one catties, one hair and forty-one catties are ordinary soy sauce, and two cents and sixty-one catties are high-grade soy sauce." You can buy a dime or four pounds for stir-fried vegetables, and you'd better buy high-grade soy sauce for cold dishes, high-grade soy sauce has vitamins in it!"

She looked at me for two seconds, looking surprised. When she looked very surprised, her crystal clear eyes, not widened, but narrowed slightly, giving her face an expression that seemed to be both suspicious and impressive. This expression makes her face more moving and more charming.

Those two seconds were truly a happy and wonderful time for me, and I felt like my heart was like a happy butterfly flying up and down around her. I really want to shout out to release my satisfaction.

Her gaze slowly moved away from my face. And there must have been some kind of begging in my gaze, begging her not to turn her gaze so quickly. I think this begging was channeled straight from my heart to my eyes, and then it was all projected onto her. I guess I must have looked something special back then. Or maybe weird. That's why she slowly took her eyes off my face, and then couldn't help but squint at me again, and then looked at "Aunt Hippo" questioningly.

"Aunt Hippo" stretched her short neck at me, glared at me for a moment, pointed at me and said, "You see he told you for me! More than I wanted to tell you! Why is this kid here today...... Here......" She didn't seem to know whether to praise me or make fun of me. She was a little confused. "What about salty salt?" "The noodles are three cents and five pounds, and the large grains of salt are one cent and seventy-one pounds." Just use a lot of salt to make the soup, but it's too expensive to use noodles and salt! Of course, it's convenient to use noodles and salt for stir-frying, so it's so convenient!" she squinted at me again for two seconds. "Aunt Hippo" said again and again, "Yes, yes! He was right!" and she nodded at me and smiled. I felt a sudden light in my eyes. The whole dimly lit little shop was as splendid as a palace in an instant!She took her delicate pen between her slender fingers, and touched my head with that hand. Then write something down in the little notebook. I almost grabbed her hand and made it sit on my head for a long time. I think she's starting to like me. And it's all so simple...... "Kid, do you know the price of vinegar?" Bottle vinegar three cents six. "You...... How do you know everything?" "At our house, I bought oil, salt, sauce and vinegar or something, I paid it, can you not know?" She smiled and touched my head again: "In our house, from today onwards, I will also wrap it!" "Don't touch my head! Besides, I'm not a child!" I shook my head, "What else do you want to know the price?" "Don't be angry." So, do you know the price of those pickles?" "Salted radish is the cheapest one. The shredded radish is five cents expensive, one dime and eighty-one pounds. There are two types, spicy and non-spicy. Salted cucumber two cents four pounds......" I said, she remembered. "Oh, take it!" "Aunt Hippo" almost set up on me, gave me two pencils, as if she had known me for the first time, looked at me and said, "After graduation, you will go to Auntie's shop to be a young man!" I thought to myself, after graduation, I will go to middle school, university, and engineer in the future! Who rarely comes to your little grocery store to be a buddy! But I couldn't help but reach out and take the pencil she gave me, and I was embarrassed to say it.

There were a few pickles that I had never bought because they were expensive, and I didn't know the price, so I jumped on the counter and leaned over the shelves to take a closer look.

"Aunt Hippo" suddenly slapped her face and laughed, laughing inexplicably.

"You, you, why did you wear your tank top upside down? You wear it backwards! You wear your shorts backwards too!"

Her fleshy, soft hands rubbed against my back. It's tickling for me. I wore my vest down, like those foreign ladies drawn in the villain's book, with a large spine exposed, and when I first entered the shop, I paid attention to this, and reminded myself over and over again that they should not see my back. At this moment, I got carried away, and as a result, "happiness and sorrow".

The proud "princess" who lived in the same courtyard as "God" also laughed. Laughing very happily. The laugh of "Aunt Hippo" is the kind of laugh that has an irresistible contagious power. Watching her laugh and listening to her laugh, people who don't want to laugh often can't help but laugh. When some women laugh, especially some fat women, it is as if they are doing magic on someone else. The magic of the arrogant "princess" and the "hippopotamus aunt" laughed so much that she bent over with laughter, and finally laughed so much that she burst into tears and squatted down.

They laughed so hard that my whole body burned. I silently jumped off the counter. I stared at them silently. I felt that because of her presence, because of her silent and charming smile before, the strange splendor that had come from behind the little shop was at once dimmed. Their laughter made me cry with embarrassment. To me, the sound of her laughter was unpleasant, worse than the loud goose-like laughter of "Aunt Hippo"!

I turned around and ran out.

I walked home dejected, sadder than a zero on the exam. Their laughter seemed to follow me all the time. I felt that the children I met on the road were laughing at me, the adults were laughing at me, everyone was laughing at me.

To everyone's laughter, I felt like a monkey in clothes.

"Hey, that kid, slow down, wait for me!"

She called me behind her back.

How dare she call me a child!

I quickened my pace.

"Princess", you are completely finished today in my eyes! Actually, you have nothing special about you! In fact, if you don't wear such a beautiful pink "Blaki", you don't wear such a pair of red leather shoes, and you don't have such a white hairpin! You must be ugly than any thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl on this street! If my sister hadn't died, if my sister was still alive, she would have been much cuter than you, and she would never have laughed like you, and she would never have pretended to be arrogant, so I wouldn't want to deal with you!

As I quickened my pace, I cursed her for falling off her heel, and a gust of wind blew her eyes, causing her to fall into the ditch by the roadside, and get muddy and so on. "Child, don't you want your matches?" I remembered my bag of matches, so I had to stand and wait for her. "Princess," let you laugh enough! I stood firmly, not sparing "sacrificing" my bare back, not turning away from her. "Why are you so angry?" she carried a pocket in her left hand, carrying a lot of things she had bought from the shop. In his right hand, he holds a large soy sauce bottle. She beat three or four catties of soy sauce. She put the bottle down carefully, took out my pack of matches from her pocket and gave it to me, and said in a pleading tone, "Child, can you help me carry the soy sauce bottle?"

Ho, you still have time to ask for me!

I said, "Then you have to thank me!"

She said, "You haven't offered to help me yet." ”

I said, "Thank you first!"

She pondered for a moment and whispered, "Thank you!"

I picked up the soy sauce bottle for her, gritted my teeth and said, "You dare to call me a child again." I'll beat you!" She was stunned, and didn't dare to say anything more. Probably because my expression told her that if she said half of what I was not happy about, I would break her soy sauce bottle. She and I walked all the way. From time to time, she glanced timidly at me. When she glanced at me, I glared at her. I glared at her, and she quickly avoided it.

After walking twenty or thirty steps, she plucked up her courage and said with trepidation: "If you really don't want to help me, you can put it down." I can carry it home myself, but my wrist is weak, so I can rest a few more times. ”

Apparently, she thought that even if she didn't say anything, I might still smash her soy sauce bottle for no reason at any time. I said, "You girls are all sick with this! I ask for help, but I don't worry about them." ”

My tone is friendly. To my own ears, it was so gentle. Actually, I'm not angry with her anymore. You can't be angry with others!

She glanced at me again and smiled again. This time I didn't glare at her, but I blushed. I felt that my face was more burning than when I was laughing at her and "Aunt Hippo" in the small grocery store. I believe that the gaze I look at her is also friendly and gentle.

And she said, "But call you a child, and you will beat me." Then why can you scold me?" I said, "I didn't scold you!" and she said, "I scolded and scolded, and I still didn't admit it." Isn't the girl's film a curse?" It sounded as if she was reasoning with me, but in fact, her tone was low, coupled with her appearance of swallowing humiliation and not daring to offend me, it made me feel that she seemed to be a weak person in front of me!

Then I felt uneasy. I don't want her to look like that in front of me! When she looks like that, I don't know what to do. I'd rather she maintain her pride.

I explained, "Why is a girl a curse? That's not a curse. It's perfectly okay to call a girl's house that! That's what we call this street!" To prove that I hadn't lied to her, I asked a little girl of five or six who was dancing alone on the side of the road: "Hey, you say, are you a girl?" The little girl looked at me ignorantly, silent. I crouched down in front of her and whispered, "If you say yes, I'll give you two glass balls." The girl blinked and said aloud, "Yes." It's a girl's film, what's wrong?" After speaking, she didn't care if I kept my promise, and continued to jump the grid. I walked back to her and triumphantly asked, "Did you hear that?" and she nodded silently. I asked, "Has no one ever called you a girl?" and she shook her head silently. I didn't have anything to say for a while, and after holding it for a long time, I finally held back a sentence: "That's weird!" As she walked, she couldn't help it, and said again: "You treat me as a girl?" I said, "Aren't you a girl, a man?" and she said, "That's not what I meant." In two months, I will be 14 years old! From this day on, my mother will ask me to be half of her house!"

I said, "What's the matter, I've been half of my mother's house for a long time!" she said, "How old are you?" I said, "In two months, I'll be fifteen!" She couldn't help but stand still, look at my face, and say almost indignantly, "You lie!" I sighed sadly: "Nine-year-old ......" "I'm five years older than you, and you think of me as a girl!" "Say, should you call me sister?" I immediately raised my head and willingly and happily called out, "Sister!" and her face turned red. She looked left and right, saw that there was no one in front of us and behind us, and whispered, "I didn't ask you to call me sister! I mean, I can be your sister! I don't mean that......" I seemed to understand a little, but I would rather not understand at all, so I pretended not to understand at all, and shook my head vigorously. "Okay, okay, don't shake your head!" she said solemnly, "Anyway, whether you understand it or not, you are not allowed to call me sister in front of others!" I replied trustedly, "Okay!" I rushed forward first. I feel like there's a secret between me and her. I feel like she's given me a privilege. It filled me with pride. Suddenly, I didn't take a steady step and fell down. The soy sauce bottle came out of his hand, rolled on the road, touched the stone edge on the side of the road, and shattered...... I got up and turned to look at her, where I saw her standing a few steps away from me, staring blankly at the broken soy sauce bottle. I felt like I had suddenly become one of the most unfortunate people in the world, like a millionaire who had suddenly become a pauper! In despair, I felt as if the sun had suddenly disappeared and darkness had fallen in an instant. I ran home. I didn't hear a word of what she was shouting...... From then on, I always took a detour in the opposite direction to school, and easily did not pass by the gate of her house. When you have to, you run quickly.

Later, the "Itashoko" on the street saw a short. It was only a meter high. From the street, you can see the courtyard without obscurity. It seems that the people of her family are intent on proving to our people on the street that they have no secrets to hide. The courtyard gate has also been renovated. The iron-clad gate is gone, and it has become a small door as high as Itashoko, but the top of the door is sawn into a crescent shape.

Later, the thin, gray-haired man in his sixties began to appear in the yard pulling weeds, trimming grape trellises, digging drainage ditches, and transplanting all kinds of flowers that were crowded with wild flowers.

As a result, the flowers and trees in the yard grew in order again, and it was worth stopping and watching.

Later, I used the money I earned from "pulling a small set" and the money I got from selling broken glass to buy a bottle of soy sauce. And it's a bottle of that high-grade soy sauce that contains vitamins. Large bottles. I walked into her yard with the bottle in my hand, and walked forward very cautiously, lest I accidentally fall again, and all my hard work would be in vain. The thin man, sitting under the trellis smoking a pipe, spotted me, stood up, and came up to me.

As soon as he walked up to me, I was the first to say, "It's back to you!" and he looked at me strangely, but his gaze was kind. Without waiting for him to ask anything, I put down the bottle and ran. "Hey, kid, are you mistaken?" "That's right! just ask your daughter!" I replied as I ran, without looking back. In the evening, I was chopping wood at the door of my house, and when I looked up, I found that the pink "Blaki" appeared in our courtyard, talking to the eldest lady of the Zhao family. The eldest lady of the Zhao family pointed to my house, and she walked towards my house.

I hid in the coal birch hut and peeked through the gap in the board as she got closer and closer, hating her. This is too much! I've already paid back your soy sauce, and besides, so many days have passed, do you have to come to my house to sue you? We don't have a second girl on this street who is so obsessed with remembering the small feud as her! Don't look good-looking, but be so tricky! Little fox!

She stopped at the door of her house. My door is open. The windows are also open.

She knocked on the open door of my house, waited quietly for a while, and then knocked on the open window of my house.

Is this pretending to be polite? Hypocrisy!

"Is there anyone in the house?"

Wouldn't it have been you knocking on the door and window if you had asked earlier?

"Who?" said the mother, who was sticking cakes into the pot, with her hands sticking to the grain noodles, walked from the kitchen to the window, looking at her suspiciously. "Auntie, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were cooking. Get busy first, I'll come back later. She looked a little cramped. What did Aunt ?—— say! We are all called Aunt Zhang, Aunt Li, and Sister-in-law Wang on this street, and we have never heard anyone call anyone who is called Auntie! It seems that she and her family were not from our city at all before! Mother said: "I'm done, I'm done, put on the pot." Girl, do you inquire about people?" "Auntie, I don't inquire about people. I'm from the yard next door. We just moved in. Our grandfather said that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors...... "This little fox has a really sweet mouth! My mother was already looking at her with affection. "Yes, yes, distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors!Girl, how old are you?" "Not even fourteen, what a good girl." She talks like a big girl. Lady likes a steady girl like you! Come and sit in the house for a while! If there is anything in your family that needs Auntie's help, you just have to speak, don't be embarrassed...... "Mother came out and wanted to pull her through the house. Helplessly, he stuck to the bud grain noodles with both hands, and stretched out his hand to her a few times, so he had to give up.

"Auntie, I'm not going into the house. I'll be sure to come to your house another day. My grandfather asked me to ask you......" She pointed to the row of "banshoji" that separated her yard from ours: "This is quite high, does it block the sunlight of your house?" And those creepers, they all crawled to your side, and my grandfather found out that he had attracted caterpillars, and he was annoying and wanted to pull them out. After the saw is short, we will plant whatever flowers you like. My grandfather also said that you can also open a small door, and it is convenient for both sides to come and go......"

"Okay, okay, okay!"

Mother said yes again and again.

"Auntie, I still want to ask you, do you have a nine-year-old boy at home?"

"Wow, how ......"

"There was a little boy who broke my soy sauce bottle......"

"I'll call you to admit it!"

I held my breath and thought to myself, little fox, wow, are you still going to sue Diao!" "This kid was still there just now, where did he go? When he comes back, the eldest lady must ask him!"

"Auntie, I'm not complaining. She was anxious, "Actually, I don't blame him at all." He was kind enough to help me carry the soy sauce bottle, and he even fell a big fall, how can I blame him? But he, he also gave my family a big bottle of soy sauce this morning. My grandfather asked me about the situation, criticized me, and told me to find the child, return the bottle of soy sauce to him, and thank him. Our whole family was very upset about this. My grandfather said that if we didn't find the boy and return the soy sauce to him, we would be so wrong. ”

I wish my mother had said that boy must be my son!