As long as you pass through the outhouse and enter the inner room, you can have a clear view of the Gu family, and you can even guess what is in the two small cabinets.

Gu Hongli went to the kang after washing her hands.

In order to heat the kang, Gu Yulan then lit a fire on the kang stove in the outhouse.

Hongli sat on the kang, stretched out her legs, and covered her legs with a small flower quilt the size of half a mattress.

Gu Yulan moved the small kang table over and put it on the kang. Gu Hongli asked, "Mom, the dishes haven't been cooked yet, why did you put the table on it?" Gu Yulan said: "I'll do it, just put the dishes in the pot." ”

Gu Hongli moved her body to the small kang table, fiddling with her hands while preparing to eat.

First served was a plate of steamed buns, followed by a large bowl of sauerkraut noodles and two small plates of pickles. Gu Yulan faced west, sat on the edge of the kang with her legs slumped, picked up chopsticks and urged: "Hongli, eat quickly!" Look at it for a while and it's cold. Hongli is not only the abbreviation of Gu Hongli, but also the nickname of Gu Hongli.

Hongli looked at the food on the table, and with displeasure, said, "Mom, there is only sauerkraut?" ”

Gu Yulan said: "Sauerkraut...... It's enough for the two of us to eat. ”

Hongli said: "Didn't you eat it all yesterday, why did you do it again today?" ”

Gu Yulan said: "Yesterday I made sauerkraut stewed potatoes, and today I ...... What I did today is not the same as what I did yesterday. ”

Hongli asked, "What's the difference?" ”

Gu Yulan said: "Today's sauerkraut has shredded meat and vermicelli. If you taste it, it will definitely taste better than yesterday. ”

Hongli said, "I don't taste it. Mom, I can't stand the smell of sauerkraut when I smell it. Now the grocery store sells more fresh vegetables than in the summer, and our classmates buy them at home. In our family, in addition to sauerkraut is cabbage, or potatoes and radish, I don't know when I can change it. ”

Gu Yulan said: "Change your ...... Tell me, what do you want to eat? Mom will buy it back for you tomorrow. ”

Gu Hongli was skeptical and asked, "Mom, what you said is true or false?" ”

Gu Yulan said: "When did Mom lie to you? ”

Hongli said: "I want to eat boiled meat, pot wrapped meat; I want to eat stir-fried pork with garlic and mustard belly. - Can you really do it? ”

Gu Yulan said: "Yes." "Yes, yes. Then he said, "Where can you eat so much in one meal?" ”

Hongli said, "I can." Mom, how do you know I can't eat? ”

Gu Yulan said: "Even if you can eat it, don't make so much at once." ”

Hongli asked, "Mom, if you don't do so much, how much do you do?" ”

Gu Yulan said: "Can you make a garlic and fried meat first?" ”

Hongli said, "Okay." What about anything else? ”

Gu Yulan said: "Something else...... I'll do that later. ”

Hongli said, "Do it slowly? Mom, don't make fun of me. I knew you were reluctant to spend money, and what you just said was for fun. ”

Gu Yulan said: "You said I was reluctant...... Actually, it's not that we are reluctant, but that our family really doesn't have extra money. Just wait until all the money you owe is paid. At that time, not only will you have to buy your favorite food, but you will also have to buy you a few good clothes. ”

Seeing that her daughter was looking at her with puzzled eyes, Gu Yulan paused before continuing: "You are already a big girl, why don't you let others see the joke when you wear it." ”

Hongli had surprise on her face and said, "Mom, you...... Growing up, you weren't happy when I mentioned buying new clothes, so what's the ...... If it weren't true, I wouldn't have followed. ”

Since she was a child, Hongli loves to wear good clothes, but she doesn't have good clothes, which makes her often feel aggrieved and unwilling.

Gu Yulan said: "Don't eat yet." ”

Hongli picked up the chopsticks and asked, "Mom, when will I buy new clothes?" ”

Gu Yulan said: "Is it okay to wait for the beginning of spring? ”

Hongli said: "The beginning of spring...... That's going to be months! I want to buy it years ago. ”

Gu Yulan said: "Years ago...... Yes. The famine that will be pulled down next month will almost be over. ”

Hongli smiled and said, "Mom, it's really okay to say that...... You're such a good mom to me. ”

Gu Yulan also smiled and said: "If you buy clothes, you are a good mother, and if you don't buy clothes, you are a bad mother, this mother is really difficult to be!" He was twenty-one years old when he spoke, and he didn't grow up yet. ”

Hongli said: "It's your fault for not growing up." The big hotels have agreed to hire me as a welcome lady, but you won't let me; I wanted to go to a foreign country, but you said it was not safe and forbade me to go. Can you grow up if you are confined to your home all day long, without contact with society or exercising? ”

Gu Yulan said: "You should read more books while you are idle now. ”

Hongli said: "You always say to read, now it's so cold in the house, how can you look!" Besides, what's the use of just reading books without a job. ”

Gu Yulan said: "Reading more books and learning more can reserve knowledge, broaden your horizons, and activate your mind, why is it useless?" ”

Hongli said: "Mom, it's not enough to have knowledge in the moonlight this year, it has to have a relationship, there is a ...... As far as Xiaoqian and Caixia are concerned, it turns out that we are all the same, not as good as me in terms of appearance, and not as good as me in terms of study, but because of the relationship, we both found good jobs. It has been less than half a year since I graduated and separated, and compared with them, I am like a rural person who has just entered the city, and I have more soil and more soil. "Xiaoqian" said by Hongli is surnamed Ye, and her name is Ye Xiaoqian; The "Caixia" that Hongli said is surnamed Zheng, and her name is Zheng Caixia. The two of them are not only Hongli's classmates when she was in secondary school, but also Hongli's best friends.

Gu Yulan said: "I saw Xiaoqian and Caixia when they came to our house in autumn, except for being able to speak, nothing else is as good as you. ”

Hongli said: "Mom, the last time you saw them, we had just graduated, and there was not much difference, but now it has been four or five months, and they are not the same as then." When the three of us were together at noon today, they were both wearing high-heeled shiny little leather boots and cashmere coats, which were eye-catching. As far as I'm concerned, it's still last year's snowshoes, or last year's down jacket, it's not good-looking, and it's not warm, and I know that my family is poor at a glance, so I don't dare to go to a crowded place. ”

Gu Yulan stopped the chopsticks in her hand and said, "Don't dare to ...... The snow boots on your feet were newly bought last year, and the down jacket on your body was newly bought before, they are not old and clean, so why don't you dare to go to a crowded place? ”

Hongli said: "Mom, the snowshoes will be out of shape as soon as you put them on, and the clean and new down jackets are also two different things." If you don't believe it, a girl my age either doesn't wear snowshoes and a down jacket, but if she wants to wear it, it must be new. ”

Gu Yulan said: "The new is good, and the old is good as long as it is clean." Whether people are good or bad is not in wearing. ”

Hongli said: "Mom, you don't know, the current clothing is eliminated very quickly, it was just fashionable last year, and it is outdated this year." ”

Gu Yulan said: "Fashion...... Let's not rush the season. What is fashionable rises and dies quickly. It's still the same sentence: let's live our own, don't compare with others. ”

Hongli said: "Mom, I have heard the phrase 'let's live our own life, not compare with others' a hundred times. The problem is that you can't compare yourself to others, but you can't stop others from comparing with you. Of course, you can keep your mouth shut and not talk about others, but you can't stop others from talking about you everywhere. In such a situation, can people still live their own lives? ”

Gu Yulan said: "Yes." Her voice was not high, but she said in the affirmative.

Hongli said, "Mom, you...... You can, but I can't. ”

Gu Yulan said: "What others do is someone else's business, and we can't control it." As long as we are upright and have a clear conscience in everything we do, we don't need to care what others think or say. It's true that we are poor, but it's not a sin to be poor. There's no shame in not wearing good clothes or eating well. ”

Hongli said: "Mom, how can you not be ashamed? Whether they know or don't know, the first thing people see when they meet is clothes. If you dress well and are famous brands from top to bottom, others will naturally respect you and look up to you; If you wear poorly, needless to say that you are wearing old clothes, even if you are of a lower grade, people will look down on you. Yesterday I went to the mall and looked at the counter selling jewelry for a long time. The salesman had been there to get his nails done, as if he hadn't seen me. At this time, a thirty-year-old also came to the counter, although she looked how ugly and ugly she looked, but because she was well dressed, the salesperson saw her as if she had seen a relative, her nails were not trimmed, her face was full of smiles, not only Miss Chang and Miss screamed shortly, but also took the initiative to take out all kinds of jewelry for her to try, do you say that it is not annoying? In the future, if I have money, I must not only buy good clothes and jewelry, but also dress up carefully, and walk on the street to make the return rate reach ...... ......"

Gu Yulan asked, "How much?" She stopped her chopsticks and looked at her daughter: "Girls must be steady." ”

Hongli stuck out her tongue and said, "I mean...... lest they be looked down upon. ”

Gu Yulan said: "You have grown up, you are a big girl, it is right to want to wear good clothes, but you think that as long as you wear a few good clothes, others will be able to look down on you, then you are wrong." Girls, they are still quiet and simple, and it is serious to learn more things. ”

Hongli didn't refute her mother's words, but she didn't think so, and she was secretly laughing at her for not understanding things.

Gu Yulan began to clean up the dishes and chopsticks. When she cleaned up the inner room and went to the outhouse to add coal to the stove, Hongli said, "Mom, it's cold today, so let's burn the kang for a while!" ”

Gu Yulan said, "Okay." ”

In fact, in addition to heating the kang in winter, this kang stove also has a purpose: to provide heat to the outhouse. The stove is the only source of heat for the outhouse. There are running water pipes in the kitchen. If the kang stove is not burned, or if the kang stove is burned for a short time, the water pipe will be frozen. Of course, this kang stove can't burn for too long: coal is expensive and can't afford it.

It was already 9 o'clock when Gu Yulan went to the kang and lay down.

It was very windy at night.