After taking the train for seven hours, Niu Huanran finally returned to Sijiu City on the afternoon of May Day.

His mother Wu Lan and her cousin Tang Sijia picked him up at the train station together.

"Mom, didn't you say on the phone, I don't need you to pick me up, and I don't have any heavy luggage, I can just take the bus home by myself."

"It's okay, mom isn't tired." It took two and a half months to see her son, and Wu Lan tried her best to suppress the unspeakable excitement in her heart. At the end of May, the Peking Opera Troupe was going to perform "The Dragon and the Phoenix" at the Chang'an Grand Theater, she was the heroine, and she was very busy with rehearsals every day, but today in order to pick up her son, she specially asked for leave.

Two and a half months, how long Huan Ran has gone, how long her heart has flown to Anshan.

"Is it a habit to eat over there?" Wu Lan saw that she had lost weight, and said distressedly.

In fact, Huan Ran writes a letter to his family every three days, occasionally leads to kindness, and on weekends, he can also make a phone call to report his safety to his family.

"The food over there is very good." Huan Ran smiled and said, "The main reason is that the rice in the Northeast is of good quality and full, and we can eat good rice two days a week, and sometimes we can eat two rice." ”

"Brother, what's the second rice?" Tang Sijia on the side asked curiously.

Huan Ran rubbed his hair and said, "Ermi is steamed by mixing rice with other staple foods, and what I ate in the cafeteria yesterday was made by mixing white rice and millet." ”

"Is it delicious?" Tang Sijia asked.

"It's delicious."

As soon as she heard that it was delicious, Tang Sijia's eyes widened, and she turned her head and begged Wu Lan, "Auntie, will our family steam a pot of two rice to eat one day?" ”

Wu Lan and Huan Ran looked at each other and smiled. "You little glutton!" Huan Ran tapped Tang Sijia's head.

As soon as I got out of the train station, I felt the warmth of the late spring in Sijiu City, and unbuttoned my coat, and when the breeze blew, my clothes bulged slightly behind me.

Finally came back, I remember when he left, Sijiu City was still in the cold early spring, the willow trees had just pulled out new shoots, magnolia and peach blossoms had not yet bloomed, and now that he came back, most of the spring flowers had failed, but the begonias should be about to bloom.

Today's weekend, it's the holiday again, and the Niu family is all there at dinner in the evening.

A small round table was filled with sumptuous dishes.

Braised pork ribs, braised hairtail, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and beef stew with potatoes are all hard dishes.

Old Man Niu was also there, but he didn't eat, he sat in the position of the head of the family at the round table and watched the family eat and chat, and smiled contentedly.

"Grandpa, hazelnuts and pine nuts are produced in the northeast, the quality is very good, I bought two catties each, and I will bring you some later. When you have nothing to listen to on the radio, you eat one. I heard the master say that eating dried fruits in the afternoon is good for the brain. "When eating, Huan Ran sat next to his grandfather.

They ate and grandpa drank tea.

"Hazelnuts." Old Man Niu shook his head, "That thing's skin is too hard, my teeth are not good, and I can't eat anymore." ”

"It's okay, I'll take the hazelnut peel and bring it to you later, it's just convenient for you to eat." Pull two bites of rice.

Grandpa smiled and nodded, full of relief.

It's still the best rice at home, and Huan Ran ate two large bowls of rice. Wu Lan laughed at him like a starving ghost reincarnated. Tang Sijia also wanted to laugh at his brother, but was wiped out in mid-air by Niu Huanran's sharp eyes.

The next morning, Huan Ran washed the dirty clothes he had accumulated, and then briefly regulated the house, then poured some hazelnuts and pine nuts into a large plastic bag, and went out with the small buttons.

"Huanran, where are you going?" My sister-in-law, Niu Lan, was squatting in the yard wiping her bicycle.

"Take a trip." Huan Ran waved his hand and didn't elaborate.

In the courtyard next door, Liu Changjiang was standing outside Tian Guo's house with a newly bought window pane.

A lump of freshly reconciled white mud by the windowsill.

"Grandma, go back to the house, don't stand outside, I'll just be busy working alone." Changjiang said to Grandma Tian Guo who was standing next to him.

"It's cold in the house, and I'm just standing outside in the sun." Grandma said with a smile on her crutches.

Changjiang sighed, he knew that his grandmother was not worried about his glass installation skills. Hehe, don't worry, the Yangtze River is so big, I haven't done this job yet.

was holding the glass and didn't know how to start, and a person behind him suddenly said coldly: "What are you holding a piece of glass for?" ”

"Brother Huanran!" Changjiang was surprised, and surprised, great, Brother Huan Ran is a good hand at doing this kind of work. "Brother, it's great that you're here, hurry up and install this glass."

"Grandma." Huan Ran called the old man first, put the plastic bag on the edge of the windowsill, looked at the empty space on the window, and asked, "What's the matter?" Who got it? ”

His face was too gloomy, Liu Changjiang swallowed his saliva before saying: "Yesterday, Xiaohuizi went to the roof and wanted to hit the sparrows with a slingshot, but who would have wanted to break the glass of grandma's house with one mistake." ”

Xiaohuizi is Liu Changjiang's cousin, ten years old, very naughty and mischievous, a typical child who can go to the house to uncover the tiles in three days.

It turned out that this was the case, Huan Ran was a little relieved, and thought that Tian Guo was fighting with someone again.

Huan Ran first scolded Liu Changjiang, who was an elder brother, and then took the glass and installed it on the window lattice, smearing mud along the surroundings little by little.

Liu Changjiang laid his hands on the side, his movements were cautious, and he didn't dare to breathe, for fear of making a mistake.

"Where's Tian Guo, go to work?" After a while, Niu Huanran suddenly asked.

"Tian Guo went to work in Mentougou Zaozhuang." Changjiang said, bowed his head and counted the days, and said, "I left the morning before yesterday, and it will be exactly three days until today, and I will come back in half a month." ”

"What about the house?" Huan Ran frowned and glanced back at his grandmother.

Just now Liu Changjiang entered the house and moved a folding chair out, and at this time, the old man was sitting on the chair with the warm sun above his head, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"When Tian Guo leaves, let me and Yadan help take care of it." Liu Changjiang was talking, Yadan came in from outside the courtyard with a vegetable basket, and saw Niu Huanran standing in the yard, the whole person was stunned at first, his little hand tightly grasped the basket handle, and then lowered his head A gust of wind seemed to walk through quickly, there was no one in her house, the door was locked, and the Yadan key fell on the ground twice before opening the door.

Bang! It took a lot of effort to close the door.

"Brother Ran, she is a girl." Yangtze River retracted his gaze. Say with a smile alone.

Niu Huanran didn't react, his eyes only looked at the window intently, and he didn't seem to go to his heart, the mud wiped one side of the glass, and began to wipe the other side.

"Since Tian Guo has entrusted you with such an important job, you can have snacks on weekdays." After half a ring, he said to Liu Changjiang. "Come to this house every morning, noon and evening to ask, if there is anything that you can't take care of, go to the next yard to tell me, or ask tadpoles and Xu Qiang to help."

"yes, got it." Changjiang nodded obediently.

After the window glass was installed, Liu Changjiang went back to his own room to rest, and Huan Ran helped his grandmother to walk slowly into the house.

Grandma knew that Huan Ran had gone to Anshan on a business trip a few days ago, and asked him vigorously about his work and life over there - "Is the food good", "Is the weather cold", "Are colleagues easy to contact", Huan Ran answered patiently one by one.

When he arrived at the house, Huan Ran put the hazelnuts and pine nuts on the kang table, and did not forget to instruct: "Grandma, the skin of this thing is very hard, when you eat it, you let Tian Guo use a hammer to knock the skin open, don't use your teeth, remember?" ”

"Remembered." Grandma smiled and nodded, when did she turn this old bone into a child in front of her grandson? My heart is warm.

Hey, her family has a hard life, and she is even more bitter than her, otherwise how good it would be for Xu to be such a down-to-earth and kind-hearted future life.

*****

"Whoa"

Tian Guo never thought that one day he would really usher in a new day with the sound of roosters.

The peasant family got up early, the sun rose and the sun set, and when Tian Guo was dressing, he saw through the gap exposed by the curtain that Aunt Wu was already standing in the yard, holding a big broom in both hands, and sweeping her yard.

The Wu family's Chinese pastoral dog named "Menwang" followed her with his tail wagging his tail.

When Tian Guo walked out of the house with toiletries, the rest of the people who lived with her also got up one by one, the amount of labor in the countryside was heavy, and these city girls were tired enough, Tian Guo's shoulder still hurt to death until now, but fortunately, someone in the group brought safflower oil to invigorate blood and dispel blood stasis.

Wipe it before going to bed and wake up the next day with a little relief.

"Good morning, Aunt Wu." When Tian Guo walked through the courtyard, he said with a smile to Aunt Wu.

"Hey!" Aunt Wu replied with a loud voice, "I got up so early, my chicken crows early, you can sleep a little longer." ”

"It's okay, I get up so early at work on weekdays, I'm used to it."

Twenty-five young workers in Tian Guo's group were assigned to the second team. There are 10 girls and 15 boys. Among them, there are six people who live in Aunt Wu's house, and everyone sleeps on a large kang, with pillows next to pillows and quilts next to quilts. As soon as the person next to him rolls over, the arm can be longer to hit the opponent's nose.

Except for Tian Guo, who is from a barber shop, the other five girls are all from textile factories. They are very good, they don't engage in small groups, they are busy with farm work at night, and they also take Tian Guo to play cards together, and they also share delicious food with Tian Guo.

Tian Guo also ate the canned food and mustard he brought with them, and the six of them shared what they originally ate alone, but it is conceivable that Tian Guo will "run out of food" three days later.

But she is still very happy, sharing is a kind of happiness, and sometimes she is helpless, how good it would be if she was assigned to work in a textile factory after she was reborn, so as not to see Dong Guihua's mean face with early menopause every day.

"Aunt Wu, where are we going to work today? Is it still a cornfield? While brushing his teeth, Tian Guo asked. I've been in the cornfield for the past few days.

In May, the corn stalks are waist-high before they are raised, blocking the scorching sun overhead, and it is easy to trip when you are not careful.

Tian Guo mixed garlic at the feet of the cornfield several times, and if it wasn't for someone behind him to help him in time, Tian Guo would have fallen into the mud.

Dogs are not afraid to gnaw mud, but dogs are disgusting when they chew on dung.

"Today we will go to the pig farm, which is in the east of the village." Aunt Wu said with a smile.

Ah, feed the pigs today. They all say that they have never eaten pork and have never seen pigs run? As a native of the city, Tian Guo has never seen a live pig. Momentarily happy, he burst out laughing.

It was not the first time that Aunt Wu's family had received workers in the city, so she understood what Tian Guo was laughing at, put the broom aside, scooped a spoonful of water into the basin, washed her hands and said slowly: "Are you really stupid or fake stupid, the pig farm stinks, and the female workers who came before were still smoked and cried, now laugh, you will be bitter for a while." ”

"I'm not afraid of hardship." Tian Guo spit out the toothpaste foam in his mouth, and looked indifferent, "Isn't it to suffer when you come here?" ”