The snow in Layue that year was particularly heavy, and Beiping City seemed to be favored by heaven, and finally it snowed at the most critical moment.

The rivers around Sanlitun have long been dried up, and even the big river to the east of Tunzi has dried up to the bottom of the river, leaving only a thin layer of silt.

The village chief took the old and young masters in the tunzi to dig the already deep river again, if there is no water to water the ground, the winter wheat will not survive, and the next year will be no harvest.

But when digging the river, the villagers dug up four or five skeletons from the river, some of the bones were still wrapped with ropes, no one knew the identity of these skeletons before their deaths, maybe the homeless man fell into the water and drowned, maybe the teenager from a nearby village did not lift it up and sank to the bottom in one breath when he was swimming in the summer, or maybe he killed people like Zhao Zhuang and then sank to the bottom of the river.

In short, these bones are not traceable, and the villagers are not surprised, and some talkative women will scare their children when they return home, saying that there are water ghosts dragging people in the Dongda River, and asking their children not to swim in the river in the future.

A large river was dug in the tunzi, and the river water was not enough to water the ground, but fortunately, a heavy snowfall fell and replenished some water.

At that time, the road from Sanlitun to the town was covered with heavy snow, and we could not go to school, so the village chief led everyone to open the way, and everyone carried a shovel in their hands, shoveled the snow to both sides of the road, and made a special trip for us.

Some people whose children have not yet gone to school also came to help, and everyone said that they hoped that Tunzi would be able to produce a champion in the future, even if they could not get rich with the village, at least they would have face if they said it.

"Didn't that single ten years ago catch an arowana for Xiumei to eat, and then gave birth to Jiang Rong, Jiang Rong studied so well, maybe she will be a female champion in the future."

"It's not like a female champion to have face, Jiang Rong, this little girl is quite powerful!"

The villagers praised me while talking about the events of the year, and at that time, Lao Jiang also followed everyone to shovel snow and open the road, and he didn't say anything on his face but was happy in his heart.

A few days after the heavy snowfall, the weather cleared, and the weather after the snow turned was very cold, but Beiping City was moistened by a heavy snowfall, and there was a little water stored in the nearby river, if there were one or two heavy snowfalls this winter, Beiping City would recover everything in the spring of the next year.

The disaster caused by inflation has not been alleviated, and the war between the two armies in the country has also continued.

Shen A-Niang survived such a snowy day back then, if she saw people around Sanlitun who were about to starve to death and freeze to death, she would take some food or clothing and send it over, sometimes she would meet women with children wandering, women saw that Shen A-Niang was dressed decently, so they begged Shen A-Niang to take their children in.

Although Shen A-Niang can't bear it, he will not sympathize with him, he is Zhao Dahai's stepmother, and it is Zhao Fugui who is in charge, if he takes in the child, Zhao Fugui will naturally turn his face, and Zhao Fugui has reminded Shen A-Niang more than once that his wealth is not exposed, and some homeless people are hungry and red-eyed, and it is inevitable that they will have some crooked thoughts.

I didn't add a single new dress that year, and several of the clothes were old clothes that Jiang Sheng worn.

However, Jiang Sheng is not as naughty as other children, if it is a child from other families, his clothes are already full of patches, Jiang Sheng has always been clean, and his clothes are rarely torn.

However, Jiang Sheng always had a time when he was not paying attention when he was playing with Zhao Dahai and Xiao Wu, and if he accidentally tore his clothes, Jiang Sheng would let his mother embroider some small flowers on the broken hole.

After all, Jiang Sheng used to be the little master of the Shanghai official family, and there was still a little vanity in his heart, his mother knew that Jiang Sheng could not wear clothes with patches, and those who could embroider small flowers would help him embroider, and those who could not embroider would be made up for me to wear.

At that time, except for Qin Fei and Wang Hu, the clothes of the two people in the class did not have patches, and the clothes of the rest of the people had some patches, because everyone was the same, so I didn't feel anything at that time.

The seventy or so people in the class were all hungry and thin, even the fattest little five in the class had a stomach rumbling during class all day long, and Jiang Sheng was also slightly emaciated in this year, so no one still remembered my birthday that year.

I don't know if Jiang Sheng really forgot it, or if he remembered it all the time but didn't say it, for fear that he wouldn't be able to celebrate my birthday and make me unhappy after saying it. Maybe in that era when there was not enough food and clothing every day, celebrating a birthday was indeed a luxury, and people who were often starved to death and frozen to death were often found on the road, and even Jiang Sheng himself was hungry and panicked every day.

It's not easy to live, so why talk about birthdays?

That year, because of the cold, my father's legs and feet often hurt, and he couldn't stand the cold, so my family's kang burned again.

My mother had to get up every morning to go to the abandoned coal mine next to me to pick up coal, Jiang Sheng and I sometimes followed my mother to the coal mine to pick up coal, once I secretly walked to the edge of the mine and looked down, it was pitch black inside, bottomless, and the faint call of the wind came from the mine, which made me panic and uneasy, and I didn't dare to go over.

Sometimes at night when I went to bed, there would be a noise in the next hall, and my father would suddenly wake up at night and cough incessantly, and once coughed up blood.

Lao Jiang's medical skills are among the best in Qiantang Town, if he hadn't been conditioning his father day and night, his father would have died a long time ago, but his father's body was injured many times, and his mother's affairs made him have a heart disease, plus the time he fell into the well, he was frightened, and the external evil entered the body, causing Lao Jiang to be a little helpless, and he could only barely maintain his father's life.

Sometimes my father would be helped out into the yard by my mother to bask in the sun, and my father would always frown tightly when he started, and he would always hold his chest, as if something was squirming in his chest, making him want to cough but couldn't cough.

When my father was in good spirits, he would smile reluctantly, and when he ate, he would pour a small cup of wine for himself and Jiang Sheng, and the two of them would each take a sip before they started eating.

When his mother was busy, his father would help his father if he wanted to make it easier for Jiang Sheng, although the two of them didn't have anything to say, and his father still hated Jiang Sheng in his eyes, but he hadn't said a word about Jiang Sheng since he was sick in bed for a long time.

Jiang Sheng sometimes brought foot-washing water to his father's bedside to help him wash his feet, and sometimes he would help clean the hall while his father was basking in the sun in the yard, saving his mother a lot of effort.

On the Chinese New Year's Eve of that year, our family of five sat together to eat Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, there were fish and meat, soup and dumplings, Jiang Sheng ate a lot that day, Lao Jiang and his father asked him to drink, he raised the wine glass and drank it all.

In the past, when life was good, Jiang Sheng would invite me and Zhao Dahai to eat meat buns and open a small stove when he had some money, and when Lao Jiang took Jiang Sheng out to see a doctor, he would buy delicious food for Jiang Sheng, but in the past year, Jiang Sheng has never eaten anything delicious, and he is so hungry that his stomach growls during class, and no girl secretly stuffs snacks in his table belly.

It seems that after the death of his father Chen Gongbo, Jiang Sheng's world began to change, and no one loved him anymore, and no one took him seriously anymore.

Jiang Sheng went back to the room after eating, and his father said: "Jiang Sheng will be twelve years old after the New Year, Dad, see if you can find a job for Jiang Sheng, the family's income is obviously not enough for you alone." ”

Before Lao Jiang could speak, his mother said: "The child is only looking for a job when he is older, today our family's meal is still bought by Jiang Sheng, he ran alone on the street yesterday to write the Spring Festival couplets to sell, Jiang Sheng is better than Jiang Rong to study, there is a golden house in the book, the book must be read." ”

Lao Jiang said: "Don't worry about your livelihood, I will have enough for you to eat." ”

The mother continued: "If I don't have enough to eat, I will naturally find a job at that time, and I will not be idle at home if it is not for you to take care of you." ”

"Okay, okay, don't say these words during the Chinese New Year, our family is the best in Sanlitun except for Zhao Fugui's family, don't be ignorant of the blessings in front of you." Lao Jiang saw his father's embarrassed face and hurriedly said.

The father was speechless, and the mother did not argue, and after eating, he lay down in bed and prepared to rest.

When I returned to the room, I saw Jiang Sheng's eyes red under the light of the mutton oil lamp, and there were tears on his face that had not been wiped clean, so I asked in a low voice, "Brother, what's wrong with you?" ”

"It's nothing, it's just a little sleepy." Jiang Sheng lay on the bed as he spoke, his figure facing away from me.

I also took off my clothes and got into the bed, and fell asleep in a daze on the cold winter night.

In the middle of the night, there was a knock on the door outside the yard, Xiao Wu shouted Jiang Sheng's name, Jiang Sheng heard the movement and hurriedly got up and ran out, Xiao Wu said through the crack in the door: "Jiang Sheng, Zhao Dahai asked his father to get some fireworks, and they will be released in a while, let's take a look." ”

"Oh, you wait for me a while, and I'll go back and get dressed." Jiang Sheng said and ran back to the house, and when he saw that I was awake, he also asked me to follow.

Jiang Sheng and I both wore padded jackets and followed Xiao Wu out, and my mother came out of the hall and told me and Jiang Sheng to come back immediately after watching the fireworks, and be careful of catching a cold outside.

It has been a custom since ancient times to set off fireworks and firecrackers during the New Year's holidays, but that year was really poor and clanging, who still has the spare money to buy fireworks and firecrackers, only the wealthy Zhao Fugui's family can afford it.

It was Zhao Dahai who set off the firecrackers, and he also gave Jiang Sheng and Xiao Wu a few firecrackers for them to play with.

Xiao Wu was naturally very happy, and wanted to put one after putting one. Jiang Sheng also tried to set off a firecracker, he used to be a housekeeper in Shanghai to set off firecrackers for fear of blowing up his hands, Shanghai's fireworks are much more beautiful than Zhao Dahai's fireworks, but this year can set off firecrackers to play, I don't know how many children will follow the greed.

There were many villagers watching Zhao Dahai's fireworks, and some villagers who had never seen fireworks at all exclaimed again and again, they couldn't imagine that this fireworks could bloom so magnificently in the dark night.

The next morning, Jiang Sheng and I got up early and went to the backyard to kowtow to Lao Jiang, and Lao Jiang gave me and Jiang Sheng some New Year's money.

After breakfast, the tunzi suddenly became lively, Xiao Wu hurriedly ran over, let me and Jiang Sheng follow to Zhao Fugui's house to kowtow, because Zhao Fugui's father Zhao Fuxi suddenly became seriously ill and wanted to be happy, so everyone who went to kowtow had candy to eat, and everyone had a red envelope.