As soon as Jin Ling walked into the alley after school in the afternoon, he felt that the atmosphere was wrong. This is usually the busiest time for the shopkeepers in the alley: the food stalls are full of old people, children and passers-by waiting to eat wontons; In the grocery store, there are people who make soy sauce, buy MSG, buy instant noodles, toilet paper detergent, and go in and out. Even the business of the hairdresser is booming, and people want to blow a beautiful hairstyle for the evening activities, so that the two working girls can't stop the hair dryer in their hands for a moment. But today it was strange that people suddenly had no intention of doing business, and they stood in groups of three or five, talking about something with grim faces.

Jin Ling has a bag of shredded fish in her hand, which was given to her by her good friend Yang Xiaoli. She didn't want to eat it, and wanted to please the little yellow cat. She walked into the snack bar, through the greasy tables and chairs, into the inner bedroom, and pushed the door to look for the cat, still calling "Mimi" in her mouth. The proprietress with unkempt hair followed up and said, "That friend of yours is about to give birth to a kitten, and he hides and refuses to see anyone." ”

Jin Ling suddenly realized, no wonder the yellow cat has gained a lot of weight in the past few days, it turns out that it is going to give birth to a baby. But why do you have to hide from good friends when you have a baby? Am I going to hurt it anything?

Jin Ling has a sense of loss abandoned by her friends. When she got out of the snack bar, she immediately opened the bag of shredded fish and covered it in her mouth like a rage. The cheeks immediately bulged out like small balls, and the tongue was squeezed by the fish wire and could not be turned. She had to spit back halfway into the bag before her mouth returned to its original chewing function.

At this time, she was surprised to find that there were a large number of people clustered under the telephone poles, and people kept hurrying over to squeeze in, and people kept squeezing out of the pile of people in a panic to find something. Jin Ling knew that under the telephone pole lived an old man who repaired bicycles. Yesterday, Jin Ling passed by here after school, talked to him, and gave the lollipop he had just bought to his granddaughter Xingxing. Could it be that something happened to the old man today? Jin Ling is a very curious person, and naturally refuses to let go of such excitement. So she hurriedly swallowed the shredded fish in her mouth, shrugged her shoulders to make the schoolbag behind her shoulders more secure, bent down, used her head as a drill, and drilled through the gap between the legs of the adults into the pile.

The first thing she saw was the police at the police station. There was an uncle who wore glasses that she knew, and every time this uncle came to her house to check his household registration and check his ID card. Once, when my mother's key was forgotten at home, it was this uncle with glasses who helped my mother climb over the balcony of the neighbor's house and open the door to get the key. That time, Jin Ling admired Uncle Glasses so much that he felt that he was no worse than the American SWAT on TV.

Jin Ling pulled Uncle Glasses' clothes and asked him, "Murdered?" Or was someone killed? ”

Uncle Glasses looked down at her, without a smile on his face, and said, "What kills, kills, you watch too much TV, right?" The old man who repaired the car died, and it was a sudden stroke. ”

Jin Ling was so frightened that her hair was about to stand on end. She wanted to see what the dead man looked like, but she was afraid that it would be too scary, so she covered her eyes with her fingers and peeked around through her fingers.

There are no dead people. There was only one bed left on the bed where the old man slept, and probably the person had already been sent to the crematorium. On a small chair in the corner of the house sat the granddaughter of the old grandfather, Xingxing, a little girl of five or six years old, with a pale face and a pair of eyes like frightened rabbits, looking timidly at all the people gathered around the house, with tears on her cheeks. Jin Ling thought to herself that she must have been frightened, it must be the first time she had encountered such a terrible thing when she grew so big. Jin Ling sympathized with this little girl, and regretted that she shouldn't have eaten the bag of shredded fish just now, otherwise it would be better to give it to Xingxing now.

Jin Ling heard the adults in the room talking about something, and it took a long time to hear the clue. It turned out that Xingxing's parents had divorced a long time ago, and the couple were very selfish, and no one wanted Xingxing, for fear that the child would drag him down and make him unable to rebuild the family, so Xingxing had to follow his grandfather alone. Now that grandpa says that death is dead, is it fortunate that he is with his father or with his mother? Both sides were shirking, and they almost didn't start a fight, and now they went to the law firm. The neighbors who gathered around the house to watch the excitement sighed while talking, and some people scolded Xingxing's parents for not being human.

Uncle glasses said: "Okay, let's all go home, the child will stay at the police station with me for a few days, and I will take her home in the evening." ”

Someone said, "If you're not married, how can you have children?" ”

Uncle Glasses pushed his glasses with one finger: "Hey! There is nothing difficult in the world, and you won't go to school! ”

Jin Ling suddenly squeezed up and said, "Let Xingxing live with me home, okay?" ”

Uncle Glasses looked at her in surprise: "You? Golden Bell? ”

Jin Ling said: "My mother will take the child. Besides, I like my little sister too. ”

Uncle Glasses thought about it seriously and felt that there was nothing wrong with it, anyway, he would stay for a few days, and when Xingxing's parents reached an agreement, one of them would naturally take Xingxing home.

Uncle Glasses told Jin Ling: "If your mother doesn't agree, don't quarrel with your mother, just send Xingxing back to the police station." ”

Jin Ling thought confidently in her heart: Mom will not disagree.

Jin Ling took Xingxing's little hand upstairs, and when she knocked on the door of the house, her mother screamed softly, and her eyes turned into a pair of copper bells. A few years ago, Jin Ling once took a 2-year-old girl from her neighborhood home to play with as a doll, and the girl's mother thought that the child had been kidnapped or trafficked, so she was so anxious that she foamed at the mouth and fainted to the ground. The family called the police and sent a notice to the TV station to find the missing person, which caused panic on the street. Hui Zi came home from work, heard about it from the outside, for fear that Jin Ling also had an accident, three steps and two steps to go home to see, the 2-year-old girl obediently sat on the spittoon to defecate, Jin Ling held toilet paper in her hand and waited beside her, waiting to fulfill the responsibility of being a little mother. Huizi couldn't cry or laugh, so she was busy wiping the little girl's buttocks, picking her up and sending her downstairs, which was considered to calm down a turmoil. Hui Zi turned around and scolded Jin Ling for squirting blood, ordering her not to bring the neighbor's children home to play in the future.

Now that Huizi saw Jin Ling carrying Xing Xing upstairs, she naturally remembered what happened a few years ago, thinking that Jin Ling ** was seriously ill. Hui Zi blocked the door with her body to prevent them from entering, and ordered her daughter to say, "Whoever brought it back from, send it back to which house!" ”

Jin Ling pleaded: "She has no home, where do you ask me to send her back?" ”

Hui Zi's surprise was even more extraordinary, thinking that Jin Ling's child was really getting more and more confused, and he actually brought back an orphan who had no home.

Jin Ling said: "No, you listen to me, her grandfather just died......

Jin Ling briefly explained Xingxing's situation.

Hui Zi said, "You are doing this out of compassion, and I can't object to it. But the mother has to go to work during the day, who will take care of the children at home? ”

Jin Ling said: "It's easy to do, fortunately, I went to kindergarten during the day, and I was the one who turned into the alley, and she only went home at night." ”

"You have to do your homework at night and you can't be distracted by a child. You're in sixth grade, not fourth or fifth grade......"

Jin Ling shouted: "Speaking of which, Mom, you're just making excuses for not wanting to accept her!" ”

"It's for your own good if you don't want to accept it!"

"It's not for my good, it's that you're selfish and unwilling to help others!"

The mother and daughter were at loggerheads, and their voices suddenly raised an octave.

Just as Jin Yiming came home from class, he climbed up from downstairs and shouted in a fuss: "What are you arguing about?" What are you arguing about? Downstairs, I heard the two of you screaming. ”

The two of them scrambled to redress their grievances against Jin Yiming. Jin Yiming touched Xingxing's head and said, "Is that her?" ”

Fortunately, when Jin Yiming asked, the grievances and sorrow in his stomach erupted, his mouth pursed, and he cried. Jin Ling complained to her mother and said, "Look at you. Hui Zi's heart also softened at this time, wondering if she had gone too far just now.

Jin Yiming thought about it, and he couldn't decide who would prefer to talk between his wife and daughter. He decided that it would be more appropriate to be a "peacemaker". He said to Jin Ling, "Dad has a solution. Aren't you going to have a math unit quiz tomorrow? If you score above 90 on the test, you are eligible to keep your luck. Otherwise, I'll have to be sorry. ”

Jin Ling jumped up: "A word is a certainty? ”

Jin Yiming said: "A word is a certainty. ”

Jin Ling was not at ease and hooked her fingers with her father.

Hui Zi dodged away and let Jin Ling and Xing Xing enter the house, glared at Jin Yiming fiercely, and said, "You will be a good person!" ”

Jin Yiming spread his hands: "Who made me the head of the family?" ”

Hui Zi is a knife-mouthed tofu heart, verbally did not agree to Xingxing to live in the house, in fact, she was still busy, and specially added a plate of salted duck to dinner, and put the duck legs and duck breasts into Xingxing's bowl one by one, and urged her to eat more: "Eat more to grow meat." Look at how fat your sister Jinling is and how good her body is. ”

Jin Ling winked at her father behind her back, and the two of them stuck out their tongues and grimaced at each other. Hui Zi actually saw it, so as not to make the father and daughter too proud, she pretended not to see it.

After dinner, Jin Ling did her homework, and Hui Zi took Xingxing to the bedroom to read a picture book. Fortunately, he is very well-behaved, he always looks timid, and the look in his eyebrows and eyes is cute. Hui Zi thought to herself that it would be good that she really had such a little daughter, lest Jin Ling be too favored by herself and look like she was dancing with teeth and claws.

It wasn't until 9 o'clock when I went to bed that a new problem came: there were only two beds at home, one big and one small, and Jin Ling wanted to be lucky enough to sleep in a small bed with her, Hui Zi resolutely disagreed, because Jin Ling's sleeping posture was too savage, stretching her arms and kicking her legs, not to mention, she actually rolled off the bed twice, and the sound of "bang" in the middle of the night scared people.

Huizi said: "You are so fat and heavy, what should you do if you crush other people's children?" ”

Jin Ling said, "I can sleep with my hands and legs tied with a rope. ”

Hui Zi ignored her and made a makeshift bed on the sofa in the living room, surrounded by chairs on all sides, looking quite comfortable. Seeing this, Jin Ling no longer insisted, and took a step back and asked her to take a bath for Xingxing. Huizi sighed and agreed. Hui Zi feels that Jin Ling's child is a little different, and he especially likes to sympathize with and help the weak, and I don't know if he was born to be a good mother.

Huizi turned on the water heater switch, went to the bathroom to put water, turned around, and found that Jin Ling had helped Xingxing remove all her clothes, pants, shoes and socks with her hands and feet, and Huizi thought to herself that she had never taken a shower by herself so neatly.

The bathtub is actually not high, but Jin Ling put Xingxing in it very responsibly. She first rinsed Xingyuki's whole body with hot water, then carefully soaped it, and then scrubbed it from her neck in turn. The most serious washing is the armpits, because Hui Zi has to remind Jin Ling repeatedly every time he takes a bath: armpits! Armpit! And every time he checked Jin Ling's armpits, he either rubbed a handful of dirt or touched the soap foam that had not been rinsed off his hands, causing Hui Zi to scream: "Look at the bath you take!" Now that Jin Ling is bathing others, she has memorized her mother's advice and done it so meticulously.

Fortunately, the golden bell was washed, and then both of them dried their bodies and got into their respective quilts. Hui Zi tidied up their clothes, folded the quilt, turned off the lights, and closed the doors of Jin Ling's room and living room respectively, feeling that the house was really quiet.

In the middle of the night, Huizi habitually wakes up to cover the quilts for the children. Walking into Jin Ling's room, she didn't turn on the light for fear of waking up her daughter, so she walked to the side of the bed and reached out to touch Jin Ling's shoulder and head. Hui Zi was so frightened that she almost didn't scream out loud because she touched something fluffy and round on the side of Jin Ling's shoulder. Hui Zi didn't care about waking up or not, so she quickly turned on the light and took a closer look, only to know that the furry thing was Xingxing's head. Jin Ling didn't know when she had secretly gotten up and put Xingxing into her bed again. Hui Zi really couldn't cry or laugh, seeing that the two children were snoring and sleeping soundly, she felt that it was not good to wake them up, so she had to forget it.

In the morning, Huizi deliberately got up a quarter of an hour early and went to Jinling's room to call the two children. Pushing the door, Jin Ling was already dressed and standing by the bed, struggling to help Xingxing put on a sweater. Hui Zi said angrily and funny: "Tell you to get up one day, why are you so diligent today?" ”

Jin Ling hurriedly stopped what she was doing, pulled Hui Zi out of the door, closed the door with her hand, and whispered, "Mom, I beg you for something." Fortunately, when you lived in my house, can you try not to talk about my shortcomings? ”

Hui Zi asked, "Why do you want to do this?" ”

Jin Ling smiled embarrassedly: "Mom, what do you think, fortunately it is my little sister, I must have some prestige in front of her, right?" If you let her know that I have too many shortcomings, won't she look down on me? ”

Hui Zi couldn't help but burst out laughing. Jin Ling panicked and quickly covered her mother's mouth with her hand. Hui Zi said in a nasal voice in the palm of Jin Ling's hand: "You still know how to establish an image!" He also said, "Remember, if you don't do well in the exam today, fortunately you will have to be sent away in the evening." ”

Jin Ling nodded hurriedly, and stretched out her little finger that had pulled the hook, indicating that she did what she said.

Hui Zi was unsettled in the magazine on this day. She admonished herself: work matters! My daughter's exam is just a unit test, there is no need to be a big enemy in every exam, and the child's score is not so important! But the truth is that I know, and I still can't help but look forward to, pray, and look forward to it, wishing my daughter a beautiful score.

As soon as 3 o'clock passed, Huizi finished the matter at hand and rode home. On the way, I turned around to the vegetable market and saw a new two or three pound silver carp head on the fish stall. Simmered soup and braised silver carp head are good things, and Jin Ling likes this dish the most. Hui Zi stopped and asked the price, and the seller said that 6 yuan a catty, which was really expensive. Hui Zi hesitated whether to buy it. I bought it, if Jin Ling didn't do well in the exam today, everyone would be in a bad mood, and the two children would still have the pain of life and death, and no matter how good things were, it would be boring to eat; If you don't buy it, what if Jinling does well in the exam? Is it possible that such a thing does not exist? Huizi stood in front of the fish stall and hesitated for a long time, which made the stall owner annoy her. In the end, she gritted her teeth and bought a 3-pound big fish head.

At 5 o'clock, Hui Zi simmered the fish head, turned off the gas stove, and prepared to go downstairs to pick up Xingxing home. Just then, the doorbell rang like a song. When Huizi opened the door, Jin Ling stood outside the door with a smile, holding a thin roll in her hand.

"Mom, guess what?"

As soon as Hui Zi saw Jin Ling's expression, she immediately felt relieved, and replied with a smile: "80 points? ”

Jin Ling shook her head.

Hui Zi said cautiously: "90 points? ”

Jin Ling shook her head again.

Hui Zi said, "It can't be 100 points, right?" ”

Jin Ling cheered loudly: "It's 98 points!" ”

Hui Zi sighed, and couldn't help but open her arms towards Jin Ling. Jin Ling also pounced forward, hanging on Hui Zi's neck, and climbed on her like a monkey, kissing and laughing, I don't know how to be happy.

Hui Zi said, "Okay, let me go, I have to take the lucky luck." ”

Jin Ling let go of Hui Zi and said, "Mom, close your eyes." ”

Hui Zi closed her eyes and heard Jin Ling hurriedly descend the stairs and return quickly.

When Huizi opened her eyes again, Xingxing was already happily standing in front of her. It turned out that Jin Ling took Xingxing back first and hid it in the corridor for the time being.

Hui Zi yelled, "Ha, you bad thing! and before me. ”

Jin Ling put an index finger on her lips, squeezed her eyes at her mother, and whispered to remind her: "Forgot again?" Don't talk about my shortcomings. ”

During the meal, Hui Zi wanted to stop expressing her opinion on this matter, but she couldn't hold back in the end, pointed at Jin Ling with chopsticks and said, "It can be seen that you have potential in learning, and Teacher Xing's opinion is not wrong at all." ”

Jin Ling protested: "Mom, it's rude to point at others with chopsticks. ”

Hui Zi looked at Jin Ling, then at her chopsticks, and took her arm back without a sound.

Jin Yiming interjected slowly: "I have always adhered to this point of view: the children with the best academic performance in primary school may not be able to become big in the future." ”

Jin Ling asked her father, "Do you think I will be a talent in the future?" ”

Jin Yiming smiled: "I believe in you." ”

Hui Zi snorted: "The future is the future, and the present is the present." Now you are a sixth-grader, and you will take the entrance exam next summer, and you must ensure that you get a good score of 98 in mathematics every time you take the exam, so that you can hope to enter a foreign Chinese language school. ”

Jin Ling leaned the back of the chair and muttered, "Mom is always disappointed." ”

Jin Yiming followed and said, "Your mother is a little crazy. ”

A good and happy dinner, and the clouds are still overwhelming at the end. Hui Zi hated herself for being overly sensitive to her child's scores, but she couldn't restrain herself from not wanting to say it.

The next day was Saturday, and Hui Zi decided to take Jin Ling and Xingxing to the mall. Jin Ling herself was not very interested in dressing up, but she hoped that her mother could dress up Xingxing more beautifully, so she ran forward and backward to help Xingxing pick out clothes. They bought a coffee-colored dress with beige lace and a pair of small leather shoes. Jin Ling was very excited, and immediately begged her mother to help Xingxing put on new clothes, and then she took Xingxing's hand and proudly walked around the mall, as if she wanted to show off a beautiful little model.

Fortunately, she was also very happy in her heart, but she didn't say anything, and only showed her gratitude to Jin Ling in her obedience. This made Hui Zi more and more fond of Xingxing, and felt that it would be good if the little girl really lived at home from now on.

Later, Huizi led them to the stationery counter and bought some ballpoint pens, erasers or something. Jin Ling asked to go to the toy counter to have a look, and Hui Zi agreed. A new batch of gift toys for Christmas has arrived at the toy counter, including a row of blonde Barbie dolls. Jin Ling lay on the counter and stared intently, her eyes eager to jump out and stick to the counter glass. Hui Zi wanted to buy one for each of them, and when she went up to see the price tag, a doll would sell for almost 200 yuan, which was a quarter of her monthly salary. Startled, Hui Zi quickly pretended not to know the children's thoughts, and walked around the counter casually, her eyes resting on the row of plastic toys prepared for the baby.

Jin Ling chased after him unrelentingly, and said sideways: "Zhang Lingling has a Barbie doll at home, and her mother gave her a birthday. The doll had a total of three sets of clothes, one evening dress, one swimsuit, and one winter dress, which could be exchanged for back and forth. The arms and legs are also soft, so you can pose whatever posture you want, which is much more advanced than ordinary dolls. Zhang Lingling always teases us with her Barbie doll. ”

Huizi turned around and asked Jin Ling seriously, "What are Zhang Lingling's parents doing?" ”

Jin Ling replied: "It seems to be...... Being a manager? ”

Hui Zi held Jin Ling's shoulders with both hands: "Listen, Mom and Dad are both salarymen, different from other managers. Legitimate requirements can be met, such as food, clothing, books, pens, but expensive luxuries cannot be bought, and we don't need to compare these with others. ”

Jin Ling looked at her mother slyly and asked her, "Do I want you to buy it?" ”

"But you just ......"

"I just said the doll was beautiful, I didn't say I wanted it."

After Jin Ling said this, she broke away from her mother's hand, turned around and left. Hui Zi vaguely saw something shiny in her eyes flash, but Hui Zi stiffened her heart and ignored it.

On Sunday evening, Jin Ling and Xing Xing were sitting side by side on the sofa watching cartoons when there was a knock on the door. The knock on the door was loud and legitimate. Huizi hurriedly ran out of the kitchen and shook a pair of wet hands to open the door.

Outside the door stood a twenty-seven-eighteen-year-old woman, wearing a short leather skirt just past her hips in the early winter weather, with flesh-colored transparent stockings underneath, and the tip of her nose and cheeks were slightly red from the cold. She was still holding a child who had just turned one year old.

"Does Yuki live here?" She held her head high and asked Huizi not very politely.

Hui Zi was hesitating and didn't know how to answer, but fortunately she had already heard the sound and ran out of the living room. Hui Zi bent down and asked her, "Is this your mother?" ”

Fortunately, she glanced at the woman, immediately lowered her eyelids, and nodded slightly.

Hui Zi felt that she shouldn't let the guest stand outside the door, so she warmly invited the other party to come in and sit down.

The woman didn't move, and said in a light tone: "You don't have to Zhang Luo, I'm here to take Xing Xing away." ”

Huizi asked, "Did you make a deal with her father?" Are the children to be raised by you? ”

The corner of the woman's mouth twitched: "Why should I raise you?" We each contributed 200 yuan a month, and we were lucky enough to live at my mother's house. ”

Hui Zi said, "It's okay to follow grandma." He touched the head of the boy in her arms again: "This is Xingxing's younger brother?" ”

"No, this is my son." She bit the words "my son" hard.

Huizi sighed and went into the house to pack up her lucky things. The woman waited outside the door with the child in her arms. Fortunately, he stood in the door with his head bowed, not speaking, and did not have the slightest joy to see his mother.

Jin Ling turned straight behind Hui Zi, pulled the corner of her clothes, and asked in a low voice, "Is it really not possible to leave Xing Xing behind?" ”

Hui Zi said: "No, she has parents, and the law does not allow it. ”

Jin Ling cried and said, "But she doesn't like her mother, and that woman doesn't like Xingxing." ”

Huizi turned her head: "Don't talk about other people's aunts like that." ”

Jin Ling snorted disdainfully: "What kind of mother is she? There is no motherhood at all. ”

Hui Zi felt a little amused in her heart, because Jin Ling knew how to use the word "motherhood". She packed up Xingxing's simple clothes, tied them into a bag, went out and handed them to the woman, squatted down again, held Xingxing's face with both hands, and said, "Good boy, remember your sister Jinling's home, and you are welcome to come again at any time." ”

The woman took Xingxing's hand, didn't even say thank you, turned around and went downstairs.

Hui Zi hurriedly shouted into the house: "Golden Bell! Why don't you come out and say goodbye to Yukiyuki? ”

No one in the room answered, and no one came out. Hui Zi hurriedly went in to take a look, Jin Ling leaned against the wall of the room and sobbed, tears rolling down in big drops. Hui Zi's heart was hot, and she hugged Jin Ling in her arms and said, "Good boy, Mom knows that you are a kind child, but fortunately she has her parents after all, and she always has to live her own life." ”

Jin Ling buried her head in Huizi's chest, and asked angrily: "Mom, you say, are there any really happy children in the world?" ”

Hui Zi's heart was cold, she thought that her daughter's question was too deep and too heavy, and she didn't know how to answer.