(ix)

When he was 12 years old, Zhong Shan made an astonishing move when he stole 5 yuan from his family.

Zhong Shan wants to use the money to buy a ticket to go to the uncle's house in the countryside. Zhong Shan believes that he is the child of the uncle's family, and the uncle is his biological father.

At that time, the uncle had returned to the village from the cement factory in the county, because there were many children in the family, and the grandmother was gone, and the eldest mother could not support it alone.

For as long as Zhongshan can remember, every winter, the uncle will go to the city from the countryside, wear a cashmere cotton military hat, which was given by his father, and wear a bloated navy blue cotton shirt and pants, his face is red from the cold, and he has a clear nose. As soon as he entered the door, he had a bitter face, saying that the food at home could not be helped, and a few little cubs were afraid that they would starve to death, so his uncle and aunt would help him again. The mother would open the small iron money box in the wooden box, count out a few money and food stamps, and let Zhong Shan hand them over to the uncle. Uncle touched Zhong Shan's head with a pair of rough hands, and said that this kid has fallen into a blessed nest, he doesn't worry about food or clothing, he looks so smart, my little cubs are all like potato balls, and they don't grow.

Zhong Shan went to his uncle's house with his parents, and the uncle had 8 children, 7 sisters and an elder brother, three eldest sisters were married, and the youngest brother was only two years older than him. Zhong Shan guessed that the uncle must have been afraid that he would starve to death, so he sent him to the city to be fostered at his uncle's house, and at that time Zhong Shan had already decided in his heart that Zhong Shulin was his uncle. Therefore, he hated his uncle a little in his heart, and when he woke up from a nightmare, he was extremely eager to go to his uncle's house and be with his brothers and sisters there. This longing is like the grass in the field after the spring rain, which grows madly in his heart, and as he grows older, the grass has grown tall and spread into a grassland. So he had to save money for the journey. When he and his parents went to his uncle's house, he quietly wrote down that the fare was 1 yuan and 2 jiao.

In fact, Zhong Shan didn't want to steal the family's money at first, so he saved up the money his mother bought for him popsicles one by one, but after saving for a semester, it was almost summer vacation, and it was less than 6 dimes, and the travel expenses were not enough, so he couldn't go to his uncle's house this vacation, and his plan fell through. He didn't want to wait any longer, he decided to take the money from his mother's moneybox, he thought that there must be countless banknotes in his mother's moneybox, and one or two less might not be found.

One Sunday afternoon, it was so hot that there was not a hint of wind. The mother went to the department store to buy cotton to make cotton clothes for Zhong Shan, and when she left, she muttered, saying that this child is growing up really fast, and it takes a year to work, and the sleeves and plackets of the cotton clothes last year are a lot shorter, and I am afraid that it will not work, and I have to make a new one. Zhong Shan takes a nap on the kang. In fact, he just pretended to be asleep with his eyes closed, but his ears were listening to his mother's movements. Mother closed the door, and the footsteps faded away. He got up from the kang, took out the key from under the kang mat, opened his mother's wooden box, and opened the small iron money box. He was a little disappointed that the money in it was not as much as he imagined, only three 10 yuan tickets, four 5 yuan tickets, three two-dime tickets, and some 1 and 5 cent coins. Zhong Shan hesitated, took out one of the 5 yuan tickets with trembling hands, closed the box, locked the box, and put the key back under the kang mat. He wrapped the 5 yuan ticket in plastic paper and buried it under the back wall of the house, with a broken brick pressed on it. He felt like the underground party was passing on information, and he was flustered and a little proud. After burying the money, he went back to the kang and pretended to sleep.

The money loss incident was revealed that night. First, his mother cooed to his father that Zhong Shan knew what they were talking about, so he just buried his head in the villain's book and pretended to be nothing.

When his father's slap landed on his buttocks, anger and humiliation overtook the pain, and Zhong Shan didn't say a word, so the second slap fell again, followed by the third and fourth slaps......

The father counted while fighting: "When I was a child, I stole needles and grew up stealing gold, and this bad habit will be repaid if I don't change it!" ”

The mother grabbed the beaten son, held his little head in her arms, looked at her son, and said to her husband: "Shanzi, hurry up and admit your mistake to your father, and say that you won't dare next time." ”

Zhong Shan still didn't shed a single tear, lowered his head, didn't say anything, and didn't run. He felt like a strong warrior.