Chapter 35: Pictures of the Times

This made Zhou Lailai's eyes roll, and he suddenly had a sad face, and cried loudly after learning and selling, "Dad, I'm not the material for studying, I've been not good at studying, my classmates always laugh at me, I don't want to eat vegetables, I don't want to live!"

As soon as the words fell, Li Lan, who was busy with dinner on the stove, was so angry that she slammed the pot on the gas stove. This little son of his own family is really good, if he doesn't learn, he will learn bad. It seems that one beating is not enough, and you have to take a second beating to remember it for a long time.

Zhou Shao, the inventor of the routine, turned his head speechlessly and glanced at his stinky brother. Then he turned on the radio, put on headphones, and listened to Faye Wong's "Promise" with the tape, immersed in his own music world.

"I still remember the door number of the hotel that day, and I still have the look of leaving with a smile. ”

"On that day, the whole city walked along the road for half a mile along the road so briskly......"

When Faye Wong's graceful singing voice filled Zhou Shao's whole world. At this time, Grandma Liu, the neighbor next door, came back from a stall business with a heavy vendor's cart. The sound of creaking wheels tells the hardships of the old grandmother's life.

"Lailai, do you want to eat crispy meat?" Grandma Liu pushed the cart, passed in front of Zhou's house, and brought Zhou's family a large bag of her fried crispy meat, almost three or four taels, packed in oiled paper bags.

Grandma Liu is 63 years old, with gray hair, a spine and wrinkles on her face and hands. Her name is Liu Xiuying, her wife died two years ago, and only her son is dependent on her in the family.

I usually rely on selling crispy meat, tea eggs, and dried tofu near the school to make a little money. Every time I come back from business, I often bring some delicious food to the Zhou family. Because I know Zhou Lailai, I like to eat very much. Although she is not related to Zhou Lailai, the old man is very kind and very good to the Zhou family.

"Wow! Thank you, Grandma Liu, you're so nice, I'll help you push the cart!" Zhou Lailai saw the savior and knew that his mother couldn't continue to get angry. So he hurriedly trotted all the way to Liu Xiuying, hoping that his grandmother would stay for a while.

Seeing that the old neighbor enthusiastically sent food, her mother Li Lan was naturally embarrassed to take it empty-handed. So he hurriedly took off his apron and took several hard-boiled eggs from the plate, which must be stuffed into the old man as a return gift.

"Eh! don't need to be so polite Li Lan!" Liu Xiuying didn't want it at first, but Li Lan insisted on giving it. That's why she reluctantly took two of them and went home to leave them for her son.

Liu Xiuying's son, 41 years old this year, was admitted to university with great prospects, and his future is bright. But a traffic accident made Liu Xiuying's son paralyzed in bed and lost his ability to take care of himself. Due to the lack of surveillance at that time, the driver who caused the accident escaped and has not been found so far. The girlfriend who was originally talking about marriage also chose to break up with him.

This may be the reason why Liu Xiuying always loves Zhou Lailai. Because if his son hadn't had that accident, then she would have had her own grandson, granddaughter. It's not like now, if you go first, your son will have nothing to take care of.

After Liu Xiuying returned home, she quietly put the two hard-boiled eggs given by the Zhou family on the table. Before she went out to sell crispy meat, she cooked for her son. Now my son locks himself in the house and writes, and he doesn't like to be disturbed. Mother and son were separated by a closed door, and they didn't talk to each other much.

Liu Xiuying wanted to knock on the door several times and deliver the hard-boiled eggs to her son. But he was afraid of disturbing his writing, so he finally sighed and endured it. I looked down and counted the hard-earned money from setting up a stall today, a total of 22 yuan and 6 cents. Some of them have to subsidize the family, and some of them have to buy medicine for their son.

However, even so, sometimes she would be dazzled and mistakenly collect a coin in a game hall that resembled a dollar. The coins that couldn't be spent added up to fill a small bucket of cookies. The kind-hearted Liu Xiuying never wanted to use them to harm others.

The deserted picture contrasts with the four members of the Zhou family eating around the dining table and the happiness of several neighbors around them. also made the audience feel a little sympathetic to the grandmother's experience.

On the afternoon of the next day, Liu Xiuying continued to push the creaking vendor's cart as usual, moving her aging body to set up a stall near the school, selling crispy meat, tea and eggs.

It's almost time to get out of school, and there are also a lot of vendors on the road, pushing small carts, ready to sell near the school. The vendors all know each other, some of them have known each other for several years, and their families live very closely.

When Liu Xiuying hurriedly pushed the vendor's cart and came to the usual position. At this time, the school bell of the elementary school next door also rang.

It didn't take long for a large number of elementary school students with schoolbags on their backs to pour out of the school gate happily. Some were picked up by parents waiting at the school gate. Some of them go home alone with their schoolbags because their homes are nearby, or because their parents have to go to work.

Those students who are greedy and have pocket money in their pockets will come to the corner after school to buy small snacks, small goods, all kinds of fragrant fried food sold by vendors, and even the kind of "touch prize" that draws twice a dollar. If you're lucky, you'll find a one, two cash prizes. Luck generally has small prizes such as elastic balls, erasers.

In addition to these, marshmallows of various colors are also a favorite dessert of the students. For a dollar, you can buy a marshmallow bigger than a basketball, like a cloud, sweet and fluffy, and melts in your mouth. Eat all the way to home, not to mention how happy you are.

The 12 zodiac paintings are also very popular with children. For a dollar, you can turn the wheel once, and the pointer stops at which zodiac, and the uncle who draws the sugar will use the melted maltose to draw dragons, tigers, horses and other animals. It's delicious and fun......

This is a special picture that belongs to that era, and it is almost invisible now.

Liu Xiuying, who sells crispy pork, is surrounded by a group of children. Crispy meat wrapped in flour and fried until golden brown, sprinkled with salt and pepper or paprika, is full of the same flavor as before. 8 cents a tael, a dollar can be given more than half a tael, students love to eat.

"Boss, bring me two tea eggs. At this time, a young man in a wide suit, combing his oily hair that did not match his age, came to Liu Xiuying's stall to buy tea eggs.

Originally, it was a business visit. But then, the young man pulled out a blue hundred-dollar bill from his trouser pocket. That was the fourth set of renminbi issued in '90.

"Young man, do you have any change? two tea eggs for a dollar. Liu Xiuying saw that the other party took out 100 yuan, and was immediately a little embarrassed.

"No change, Grandma. The young man shook his head indifferently.