When Tian Guo led Wang Xiaoyue to the gate of the courtyard, he happened to meet Liu Changjiang coming back, glanced down at the timid Xiaoyue, and said with a smile: "Yo, where did such a beautiful little girl come from?" ”

Xiao Yue blushed and squirmed behind Tian Guo.

Liu Changjiang squatted down, took out a few pieces of White Rabbit toffee from his pocket and handed them to her: "Take it and eat it." ”

Xiao Yue didn't dare to take it, and raised her head to look at Tian Guo, with timidity and inquiry in her eyes. She is not familiar with Liu Changjiang, so he naturally doesn't dare to take things when he gives them.

Tian Guo was very surprised, thinking that Yang Xiaohong didn't pay attention to the rules, he wanted to take advantage of everything, and often said that if there is a mother, there must be a daughter, but Wang Xiaoyue is obviously more sensible and subtle than her mother. "It's okay, take it." She touched the top of Xiao Yue's head and said.

"Thank you, uncle." Xiao Yue dared to reach out to pick it up at this time, and put it all in her coat pocket.

The three of them walked to the courtyard together, and when they were about to reach the door of their house, Changjiang suddenly asked: "Tian Guo, do you remember the fat man Lu who lives in Jiutiao?" ”

Tian Guo was slightly stunned, this nickname seemed familiar, but the impression in her mind was very vague, she shook her head: "I don't remember much." ”

This answer made Liu Changjiang obviously stunned, "What, you, don't you remember?" How can it be? Have you forgotten him" As he was saying, Changjiang's mother shouted in the house: "Is Jiangzi back?" ”

"It's me!"

"Come in quickly, your second aunt has a letter from Jiangsu, I don't know how to read, come in quickly and help me read it."

"Got it" Liu Changjiang frowned impatiently, waved to Tian Guo and turned around and entered the house.

Tian Guo stood there and thought about it, a little curious about what the second half of Liu Changjiang's unspoken sentence was. "Lu Fatzi", there seems to be such a person in my memory, white and fat, with a bit of a fierce face, but I can't remember more Tianguo. Forget it, let's go home and eat first.

Back at home, grandma and Wang Xiaoyue sat on the kang in the back room to play poker, which was the easiest way to "pull the big cart", Xiaoyue seemed to win, and laughed "giggles". Grandma said: "Oh, Xiaoyue is so powerful, grandma will reward you with a walnut, eat walnuts to replenish your brain, Xiaoyue will study hard in the future and be admitted to a good university!" ”

In the kitchen, Tian Guo stirs the leeks and the meat filling evenly, pours a little lard on the cake pan preheated, the lard melts, the cornmeal is spread on top of it in a circle, and then the leek filling is placed on the cornmeal after a little drying, and then the pot is covered with a cover, and then it is opened every few seconds and turned around with your hands to turn the corn stickers that have been roasted hard.

The gas tank is slightly hot, not as strong as firewood and natural gas, and it naturally takes some time to cook. After about ten minutes, the leek sticker cake was ripe in the broken thoughts of Tian Guo.

On one side of the cake is leeks, the aroma of which has invaded the cornmeal, while on the other side is roasted golden brown and crispy, and the mushy taste is very good. Tian Guo put the cake on the board and divided it into four with a knife. Smelling the fragrance, Wang Xiaoyue ran out of the back room like a bird, and when she saw Tian Guo picking up the plate, the little girl wisely stretched out her hand and said, "Auntie, I'll come." ”

"Be careful." Tian Guo said with a smile.

After Xiao Yue entered the house with a plate, Tian Guo made another tomato and egg soup. The three of them had a good meal. When brushing the dishes, grandma asked Tian Guo: "Did you tell Yang Xiaohong, Xiaoyue is in our house." ”

Tian Guo threw the chopsticks into the basin and said, "There is no one at her house, I told my neighbor that when she comes back, someone will come to our house to pick up Xiaoyue." ”

"But it's almost eight o'clock now, and no one has come back from her house?" Grandma was confused and worried, although Yang Xiaohong has a poor reputation in the alley, but Xiaoyue's child is very painful, in case something happens to Yang Xiaohong, the most unlucky person is the child.

Tian Guo smiled, "Grandma, you don't have to worry about it, what can happen if the law and order are so good now?" It's not that you don't know that Yang Xiaohong is fiercer than me, who dares to provoke her in the alley? It's not annoying enough. ”

"Don't talk nonsense!" Grandma slapped Tian Guo on the shoulder, her eyes aimed at the back room, and said angrily: "The child's ears are smart, be careful that she hears, it's her mother after all, people don't like to hear what you say." ”

Tian Guo stuck out his tongue: "I know." When she raised her head and went into the back room, she saw Xiao Yue sitting on the bed playing with cloth tigers, and the milk candy was scattered on the table.

After brushing the dishes, after waiting for more than ten minutes, Yang Xiaohong didn't come to pick up the child, Tian Guo couldn't help but worry, and Wang Xiaoyue had already fallen asleep on the quilt. In the end, it was the grandmother who said: "Why don't you take the child back to her house directly, in case the neighbor forgets to pass the word and can't find the child, how anxious is Yang Xiaohong?!" ”

*****

At this moment, Yang Xiaohong is really anxious. Today she was too lazy to cook, and when she went out in the afternoon, she said that she would go to the grocery store to buy a pound of noodles and come back to eat with her daughter, but she met an old colleague who used to work together in a textile factory on the way. My colleague's family was preparing to buy a bicycle, but the ticket was not enough, and when I saw Yang Xiaohong, I thought if I could ask her husband to buy one, after all, there are people in the court who are good officials. Maybe you don't need a ticket.

My colleague had just returned from the tailor's shop, and he had an idea as soon as his eyes rolled.

"Hey, Xiaohong, we haven't seen each other for several years, look at you, you are really getting more and more beautiful, and your figure has not changed and you are still as slender as when you were ten or □□ years old, where is it like me? The water snake waist has become a bigger water tank! No wonder your old king is dead set on you, if you want to say that among our group of female workers, you are the best in your family, you still have money to spend when you don't go to work on weekdays, and your husband can earn money and your daughter is obedient."

After not listening to the compliments for a long time, Yang Xiaohong was "smashed" and dizzy, and somehow left her daughter and noodles behind, and followed her old colleagues to a state-run restaurant near Zhushikou.

The restaurant pays the money first, and then takes the ticket to the window to serve the food. The old colleague ordered three hard dishes - braised hairtail, shredded pork in Beijing sauce, spinach and peanuts.

"Lao Li, don't mind, how dare you break the bank." Yang Xiaohong was flattered, shouting to break the bill, and her two hands also pretended to stop her.

The old colleague naturally said: "Where is the expense, I haven't seen you for a long time, what's wrong with inviting you to dinner!" ”

Three dishes plus two bowls of Baihuahua rice, a specialty of Northeast China, cost a total of 6.8 yuan and four taels of food stamps. Yang Xiaohong, who works in a textile factory, naturally knows that this meal costs her colleagues almost a quarter of a month's salary.

I didn't want to go, so I asked: "Lao Li, I am really embarrassed that you invite such an expensive meal, so let's do you want to buy a bicycle in your family?" My old Wang will come back at the end of this month, if you have the opportunity, I will help you get a good car with a cheap interior. ”

Lao Li's heart blossomed, but he didn't expect Yang Xiaohong to take the bait herself. But Lao Li still pretended to be calm and calm on the surface, and even said with some embarrassment: "Bicycles are good things, who doesn't want them?" But you also know that you have to use a ticket to buy that thing, we have a lot of people in our factory, and the people who apply for bicycle tickets have been lined up for the year after tomorrow, hey, I am also unlucky, last year there was an opportunity to get a ticket for nothing, so that the little grandson of the supply and marketing department picked up a big bargain. ”

"Oops!" Yang Xiaohong also felt sorry for Lao Li, and reached out to sandwich the last few shredded pork with Beijing sauce on the plate into her own bowl.

In fact, Yang Xiaohong understood the meaning of Lao Li's words, but she didn't dare to accept it, after all, her husband had the final say in this matter. But the meal cost my colleagues a lot of money. When she walked out of the restaurant, Yang Xiaohong took Lao Li's hand and promised that she would help with this when her Lao Wang came back, although it was difficult to get a bicycle ticket, but as long as someone inside gave some gifts, it would not be a problem. Lao Li was full of joy, and bought four sugar ears from the door of the restaurant and gave them to Yang Xiaohong.

"Oops, I don't dare to take it."

"Oh, give it to your Xiaoyue to eat!" Lao Li said with a smile.

Walking on the way home, Yang Xiaohong's heart was a little boiling, since she became a housewife, she had not been taken so seriously for a long time. Although Lao Wang treats her well and pays her salary on time every month, the bonus is not given to Yang Xiaohong. Once Yang Xiaohong asked, Lao Wang said impatiently: "Isn't it enough to give you those salaries, why are you worried about my bonus?" ”

Yang Xiaohong was stunned: "What do you call your bonus?" ”

"That's my bonus!" Lao Wang was arrogant, majestically buttoned his shirt, didn't notice his wife's indignant face at all, and when he lifted the briefcase and went out, he didn't forget to turn around and say: "I'm on a business trip tomorrow, and after a while, I'll help me sort out my suitcase after brushing the dishes and regulating the house, by the way, Xiaoyue is growing up now, don't keep giving her those non-nutritious things, and buy some good meat and vegetables." ”

"I'm not saving!" Yang Xiaohong was aggrieved. If you don't know the price of firewood and rice, you dare to eat and drink spicy food and spicy food outside every day, where do you know the bitterness of me and my daughter. No matter how much the salary is, you have to set aside the expenses for your daughter's future school every month. People's children have begun to learn musical instruments and dance, don't our daughters learn?

Her complaint made Lao Wang smile coldly: "Save yourself if you save, eat less melon seeds and peanuts on weekdays, keep your mouth tight, and our daughter's food expenses will be enough!" ”

So on this night of the evening breeze in early summer, Yang Xiaohong felt that she was valuable again, as if she went to work in the first month to get her salary back and patted her parents in front of her, saying, "Don't count me down in the future, I'm an idle eater, do you see, January salary, 32.36!" More than the two of you combined! He looked confident.

However, when the door was opened, the boiling in Yang Xiaohong's heart instantly turned into consternation. "Lao Wang? You, how did you get back? ”

Lao Wang was sitting on a chair reading the newspaper, and when he saw her coming back, he frowned at first, thinking to himself that I went home early on a business trip, and you are not happy? And you don't cook dinner, where are you going to chat? And when he saw that it was only Yang Xiaohong who came back, Lao Wang's face changed greatly: "What about Xiaoyue?" Didn't go out with you? ”

Ah, Xiaoyue! Yang Xiaohong thought of her daughter, and her tone changed: "Here, at home!" ”

"Fart at home!" Lao Wang was so angry that he threw the newspaper in his hand to the ground, pointed at Yang Xiaohong's nose and scolded: "You loser girl!" said, didn't you go to someone's house to chat and forget to cook for your daughter? Sue you, if Xiaoyue loses it, I'm not done with you! ”

Mr. Wang always went on business trips to other places, and often heard people there talk about "human traffickers", abducting children without adult supervision, and then buying them in ravines. Some of the boys worked as coolies, and some of them were raised as sons. The girl is sold to be a child bride, or raised and then sold to an old man in the mountains who can't marry a daughter-in-law.

Thinking that his lively and lovely girl might experience such a tragic fate, Lao Wang's eyes darkened and he sat down on the chair.

When Tian Guo led Xiaoyue to the door of Yang Xiaohong's house, he heard the crying inside, and someone in the neighborhood had already poked his head out, and some people opened the door and prepared to come over to persuade him.

"What's the situation?"

"I don't know, it seems that Lao Wang is back."

"I just heard a divorce, why? After so many years of washing and serving Lao Wang, Xiaohong has no credit and hard work! ”

"I guess Lao Wang has someone outside, right?"

Although Xiaoyue was only five years old, she could already understand the meaning of the neighbors' words, and Tian Guo was just about to say, "Don't be scared!" When Xiaoyue heard that her parents were going to divorce, she cried "wow".