Along the way, Ran'er carried the basket in one hand and Qinglian in the other. Ask Qinglian from time to time:

"Is Sister Qinglian tired?"

"Sister, Qinglian is not tired."

Although it was raining, I couldn't see the sweat on Qinglian's forehead, but Qinglian's little hands were getting hotter and hotter. After walking for five or six miles, Ran'er squatted down and said to Qinglian:

"Come, let my sister carry Qinglian away."

"Qinglian is not tired, don't want my sister to carry it."

"Qinglian wants to listen to her sister, remember?"

"Remember, Qinglian is really not tired."

No matter what Ran'er said, Qinglian just didn't want her to carry it, so she had to give up. In order to take care of Qinglian, Ran'er slowed down. I knew in my heart that it was impossible for such a young child to walk such a long way without getting tired. In order to divert Qinglian's attention, Ran'er kept asking about Qinglian's origin.

"Can Qinglian remember where she came from?"

"Our village is called XJTLU, and it's far from here. I walked on the road for months. ”

"What's Daddy Qinglian's name, remember?"

"Daddy's name is Yang Zaichang."

"Are there any grandparents there at XJTLU?"

"No more. I heard my father say that the grandparents were washed away by the heavy flood at night, and the food at home was also washed away, so I came to find my uncle. ”

Because Qinglian insisted on not carrying her, more than 20 miles, the two walked for almost two hours, and when they got home, it was already in the middle of the unitary hour. On a rainy day, it was dark very early, and I saw a courtyard by the mountain stream in the distance, and Ran Er pointed and said:

"Sister Qinglian, have you seen it, that's my sister's home."

Qinglian raised her head and looked, did not speak, and continued to bow her head and follow closely behind Ran'er. Ran Er knew that Qinglian was already tired at this time, so she just gritted her teeth and persevered. Such a young child, so sensible, I am afraid that he will suffer a lot with his stepmother. So, he tightened Qinglian's hand and said softly:

"Hold on, when you get home, sister will make food for Sister Qinglian."

"Qinglian don't eat delicious food, eat the same meal as my sister."

"Okay, my sister did it, eat it with Qinglian."

Along a narrow sandy road on the bank of the creek, I came to the small courtyard gate surrounded by the courtyard fence, Ran'er pushed open the fence door casually, and a big yellow dog wagged its tail and walked to Ran'er's eyes, shook its body excitedly, splashed many fine droplets, with a fishy smell, and fell Ran'er and Qinglian all over their faces. After that, he turned to Qinglian and sniffed hard.

"Rhubarb, this is Sister Qinglian, you have to take good care of it in the future."

"Sister Qinglian, its name is Rhubarb, and it is very obedient."

Qinglian casually came to the two low houses on the north side of the courtyard, and when she saw that Ran'er put down the basket, she was about to cook. I couldn't help asking:

"What about the people in my sister's family?"

"My sister is the same as my sister, and my sister is the only one in the family. Sister Qinglian sat down to rest, and my sister cooked. ”

casually poured a glass of boiled water for Qinglian, and Ran Er was busy making dinner for two people. From the ground next to a grass pavilion on the west side of the courtyard, I plucked two green onions, knocked four eggs and stirred them in a bowl, fried them with the oil and salt bought from the road with the money from selling eggs, and simmered a small pot of rice. Qinglian drank a few sips of boiled water poured by Ran'er, and consciously helped Ran'er to light the fire. Looking like that, I'm afraid I often do it at home.

After the two men had eaten their supper in a hurry, they went into the yard, closed the door of the hen's coop, and pinned the door of the fence from the inside with a branch. Because he had walked a lot of roads at the end of the day, he was already very tired, so Ran Er led Qinglian to wash her hands and feet briefly, came to the earthen kang in the east room, lay down for a while, and fell asleep.

In the morning, the two of them were woken up by the sound of birdsong outside the window. Qinglian sat up and put on her shoes to get off the kang.

"What is Sister Qinglian going to do?"

"Huh?"

Seeing that Qinglian rubbed her eyes vigorously, she looked around with a blank face, and after that, she smiled embarrassedly at Ran'er and said:

"Qinglian forgot that this is my sister's house, and I thought it was at Qinglian's house."

"When Sister Qinglian is at home, do you have to get up early?"

"Yes, otherwise my mother will beat me."

When Ran'er heard this, she confirmed the conjecture in her heart that Qinglian must have been abused by her stepmother a lot when she was at home. I couldn't help but reach out in distress and pull Qinglian, who was sitting up, to her side and lie down, and said:

"Sister don't have to be afraid in the future, my sister will take care of you."

"My sister is better than my mother."

The two of them lay down on the kang for a while, and only then did they get up when they saw that the sunlight was already shining in from the window. Ran Er saw Qinglian pick up the cotton clothes she wore yesterday, so she reached out and grabbed it, put it on the kang, and said to her:

"The sun is out today, and it will be hot in cotton clothes again. My sister waited, my sister found a few clothes that I had worn before, my sister changed them first, and after a few days I went to the market to make new clothes for my sister. ”

"Qinglian doesn't want new clothes, and she can't spend money indiscriminately."

After getting up, Ran'er saw that the weather was fine, and couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief. For seven or eight days in a row, the quilts on the kang are damp, and now they can be taken out to dry. In addition, the work in the field is about to begin. The only two acres of paddy fields left by my mother have to be cultivated, raked, and planted, and I have to work for more than half a month.

When I thought of the paddy fields, Ran'er was worried again. It's not that I'm worried about working, it's about how I should live with Qinglian in the future. When the two acres of paddy fields are good, they can only get ten stones of rice, and they have to pay a tax of one stone, and the rest must be sold for daily expenses. When my mother was there, I could still do some embroidery work and take it out to exchange for money, but now there is no input except for four old hens with fifty or sixty eggs a month. Even if you are frugal with Qinglian Province, I'm afraid it won't be enough. If the year is bad, let alone that.

After getting up, like a little tail, Qinglian, who followed Ran'er's side, saw that Ran'er hadn't moved for a long time, and didn't speak, so she couldn't help but ask timidly:

"Did Qinglian cause trouble for my sister?"

"How could my sister think that? If she was afraid of causing trouble, her sister would not have brought her sister back. Don't think like that again. ”

I didn't expect that little Qinglian would be so sensitive, in order to dispel Qinglian's concerns, Ran'er's tone deliberately aggravated.

"Qinglian will listen to her sister."

"That's a good sister for my sister. Does Qinglian want to know her sister's name? ”

"Hmm."

"My sister's name is Ran'er, and it was taken by my mother. Doesn't it sound good? ”

"Sounds good."

"Come on."

Ran Er pulled Qinglian to the grass pavilion on the west side of the courtyard, the pavilion was supported by four logs, and two conical tops were made of thatch. In summer and autumn, my mother always led Ran'er to cool off in the grass pavilion. Occasionally, my mother will be alone in the grass pavilion. Ran Er asked a few times, but her mother didn't say why she was in a daze.

Ran Er raised his hand and pointed to a wooden sign engraved on the high place in the grass pavilion, and said to Qinglian:

"That's my mother's handwriting, is it good-looking?"

Qinglian didn't know how to read, but she still said according to Ran'er's meaning:

"Look, what do you read those words sister?"

"Rain Pavilion Building."

Seeing that Qinglian didn't understand, she continued to preach:

"The rain pavilion is the pavilion in the rain, and the small building is also the meaning of the small pavilion."

"Oh."

Qinglian nodded as if she didn't understand.

"Can my sister teach Qinglian to read?"

"Okay, my sister also learned to read from her mother. Qinglian wants to learn, so my sister will teach. ”