The next day, as soon as the sky was dim, Cuiying got up from the kang, found her new-looking and clean clothes to put on, woke up the family fu, and went to work in the kitchen. Hetu and her two younger sisters and brothers were still asleep, and Cuiying was reluctant to wake them up. The flame of the candle on the table in the kitchen flickered and flickered, casting the busy figure of the green shadow on the wall pasted with newspaper.

The sun had barely shown half of its face on the other side of the hill when there was a knock on the courtyard door. Cuiying beckoned Hetu to open the door. He Tu ran to the door while buttoning his shirt, opened the door, and the new aunt and the bride stood at the door, still carrying some things in their hands, looked at her with a smile, and slowly walked in.

"Mom! My sister, my brother-in-law is here! He shouted, ran back to the kitchen, put his hand around Cuiying, and brought a few bowls of noodles poured with fragrant soup to the wooden table.

"Quick, sit down." Cuiying hurriedly beckoned the two of them to sit down, and Hexin was about to help, but Cuiying stopped her and pressed her shoulders to let her sit on the stool. After a few words of greeting, Cui Ying sat down opposite a couple of newcomers, carefully looked at Hexin's face, and saw that her face was crimson, and the corners of her mouth raised a shy and gentle smile, so she knew how she spent her first night at her in-law's house. Cuiying felt happy and relieved, seeing that Liu Ji also took good care of Hexin, she felt more relieved. While a few people were talking, Jiafu opened the curtain from outside and walked in, with a cold body, and his cheeks were frozen hard. When he saw his daughter and son-in-law, he smiled kindly, patted the dust on his body when moving wood, and talked to Liu Ji at the same time.

"That's right." Liu Ji took a sip of soup and suddenly said, "I'll take Hexin and my parents back to the city tomorrow." A few years ago, I had a yard in my house, and I was going to live in the city in the future. ”

"Good thing, good thing." Jiafu said, "When you go out, you can see the world." ”

"After that, if I miss my daughter, I won't see him once a year." Cui Ying pouted and said, but soon became happy again, "Anyway, since we have already married, you two will have a good time, hurry up and give us a fat grandson for us to bring." ”

He Xin's face flushed and she didn't say anything. He Tu sat at the table with his younger siblings and only cared about eating noodles, and he was already fascinated by the deliciousness of noodles, and the adults didn't listen to a word of what the adults said. She doesn't eat this kind of meal a few times a year, and even if it's just ordinary white noodles and tomato egg soup, she thinks it's delicious.

Liu Ji and Hexin sat at home for a while, and then they were ready to get up and say goodbye. He Xin was chatting with her sister in the back room, and when she heard the voice of Liu Ji standing up in the outhouse, she hurriedly held He's hand, moistened the corners of her eyes and said, "You must take care of our parents and parents, I may not be able to come back often in the future." If you're free, go to the city and see me. ”

"Got it." He Tu nodded again and again, and was infected by her sister's emotions, and her throat was filled with a choked feeling. Liu Ji opened the curtain and walked in, and said with a smile: "It's time to go." He Xin stood up from the kang and slowly looked around the familiar room, and then turned around and walked out quickly.

Early the next morning, Liu Jihexin left this small barren village with her in-laws and took a car to the city.

Cuiying was sad for two days, but quickly recovered. She is an idle person, and she has no work to do at home, so she goes to the village to visit the door, moves a small bench and sits at the door with people to bask in the sun and chat. He Yi and Fu went to school during the day, and there were only two people left in the family, maybe it was the fact that my sister got married and left home that made the two of them realize something, and their relationship suddenly became better, and they no longer seemed to be enemies as before. When Hedi was working, Herui would help her, and even when she was scolded, Herui would help her defend her. Sometimes He Tu looked at Herui's stubborn and indifferent face, sighed in her heart, and said to herself, "Finally grown up", but she didn't realize that she herself was still a child, although she had entered puberty, but the single innocence of the environment made her have no chance to grow psychologically, and her so-called maturity was just a numb psychology derived from years of endless farm work and strict discipline from her parents.

A year has passed, and the calendar hanging on the wall has been replaced with a new one. The first thing he did when he got up every day was to tear off the old page on the calendar, count with his fingers when the school would be closed, and when Hedi began to urge him, he reluctantly put on his schoolbag and followed Heyi on the way to school. Sending off the two children, Hedi will stand in front of the calendar for a while. She was counting the days in her heart, but she didn't know why she was counting the days. used to count the days for Xiuhan, but now she can't figure out what the days are for. Grandma He has passed away, and there are no relatives of Xiuhan in this small village, how could she come here? As soon as he thought of this, the calculation in Hedi's heart suddenly stopped, shook his head with a wry smile, mocked his innocence, and continued to do the work at hand with his head down. But when the next day came, she couldn't help but calculate in her heart, and she began to get bored with the repetition of such days day after day. As long as the thought of calculating together in her heart, she began to scold herself, scolding with all kinds of words, trying to stop her meaningless behavior.

Finally, one day, she no longer had this kind of calculation in her heart. When she realized it, she couldn't help but give herself a thumbs up excitedly. It was snowing lightly outside that day, and a light wind was blowing in the air. He Tu wrapped his clothes tightly and went to the charcoal house in the corner of the courtyard to pick up charcoal, and before a piece of charcoal was caught in the basin, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door outside the courtyard, although the sound was small but very rhythmic. He Tu was stunned for a moment, and the rhythmic voice paused for a moment before sounding again. She put down the charcoal basin and walked to the door, and put her eyes on the crack of the door to try to see who was outside, but the gap was too narrow, and she could only see the person outside wearing a black down jacket. Father and mother went to Lao Liu's house to sit idle, Herui is sweeping the floor in the big house at this moment, who will be outside? Hedi's heart couldn't help but beat violently, she pulled the latch and opened the door, and Xiuhan's face that was purple from the cold suddenly came into her eyes.

"Huh?" He Tu was stunned, she never expected Xiuhan to come.

Xiuhan's eyelashes were still stained with water droplets, shivering from the cold outside the door, her voice trembled, and her hands were deeply in her pockets, "I'm freezing to death, let me in." ”

He Tu turned around and made way for Xiuhan. Xiuhan hurried to the kitchen, as familiar as his own home. He Tu closed the courtyard door, went to the charcoal room and filled the basin with charcoal, and then shrugged his shoulders and bent down to the kitchen. She felt very uncomfortable in her heart, although she felt very happy to see Xiuhan, but at the same time, dissatisfaction and complaints took up most of her heart. For a while, she didn't know how to face Xiuhan, so she had to slow down her pace, and the longer she dragged on the time of not meeting in the middle, the better she felt.

When Hedi's left foot finally stepped into the threshold, Xiuhan was sitting by the stove and stretching out his hand to bake the fire. The purple cheeks softened and turned pink, and the tip of the nose was as pink as the blossoming plum blossoms. Xiuhan stretched out his hand to wipe the water off his eyes, and smiled at Hedi, "I haven't seen you for a long time." ”

"yes." He Tu replied a little embarrassed and a little indifferent, "Are you busy?" ”

"I'm not busy." Xiuhan hurriedly said, she took this sentence as a question sentence. He heard a sneer twice, and then said, "Why are you back?" ”

Xiuhan lowered his head and was silent for a few seconds before he said, "I'll come and see my grandma." ”

He Tu's heart was touched, and he turned his head to look at Xiuhan's red and swollen eyes. She must have cried.

"When did you arrive? Are you alone? ”

"Morning. Well, I'm alone. Xiuhan lowered his head again. Hedi saw a crystal tear fall from her eye to her knee.

"You're not going to stay at your grandma's house all the time, are you?"

"Hmm." Xiuhan stretched out his hand to wipe away the tears from his eyes, looked up and smiled, "But I am frozen, and I can't make a stove." ”

"Are you stupid?" He Tu said, sighing in his mouth, but his face was still as cold as ice, "If you are really filial, you should come back to see your grandma several times a year when she is still there." ”

"Yes. You're right. Xiuhan replied in a muffled voice, and the short-lived smile on his face disappeared.

"Huh." He Tu suddenly laughed, "Are all the people who are good with you forgotten by you?" ”

"Nope." Xiuhan looked up at her in surprise, "Why do you say that?" ”

"Look at your grandmother." He paused for a moment, hesitated and said, "Look at me again." ”

"What's wrong with you and my grandma? I've never forgotten you. ”

"Then why don't you come year after year?" After asking this sentence, Hedi's heart breathed a sigh of relief, isn't this the question she has been thinking about in her heart? She looked at Xiu Han nervously, wanting to hear how Xiu Han was going to answer this question.

"There are a lot of things going on at school and at home." Xiuhan hurriedly explained, "I went to high school, I'm really busy with my studies, I didn't lie to you, I was even making up classes during the holidays......"

"And why are you here now?" He Tu interrupted her, still asking coldly.

"I, I think my grandmother ......," Xiuhan said, stretching out his hands to cover his face. Hedi's heart jumped, and all the aggressive questions that he had planned to question Xiuhan before were gone. Her heart was like the snow slowly melting under the spring sun, and all that echoed in her ears was Xiuhan's sad cry. She stood up, sat next to Xiuhan, stretched out her arm to wrap her arms around Xiuhan's shoulders, and cried on her back.

"I really miss Grandma He too." He Tu Urn said angrily, "Every day I go to her with He Yi, and she always gives us all kinds of delicious food and drink." I really miss her, and I can't bear her. ”

Xiuhan broke Hetu's arms, looked at Hetu's teary eyes seriously, and said sincerely: "Thank you so much, Hetu, thank you for accompanying my grandmother when I am away." ”

After this hug and crying, the estrangement that existed in the hearts of the two people disappeared. Before Xiuhan could speak, Hedi thought about her first, and asked a little anxiously, "Then when are you leaving?" ”

"In about two weeks, the school has to make up the classes, and I have to go back early." Xiuhan blew his nose and coughed twice.

"Then you can live in my house." He Tu said and pointed to the back room, "Look, my sister is married and has gone to the city, you won't be crowded if you sleep on the kang." ”

"Then what's the matter, it's too troublesome for your family, I'll go back to my grandmother's house to live."

"You don't think my family is good, do you?" He Tu smiled, although it was a joke, Xiu Han took it seriously, and hurriedly explained, He Tu smiled and bent over, pinched her arm and said, "I'm joking, let's go, I'll help you build the stove, I can't let you sleep on the cold kang." ”

The two men walked down the hill hand in hand, towards the courtyard that now seemed deserted and deserted. Pushing open the door, the shadow wall of the blue brick wall is still the same as before, bypassing the shadow wall, the yard is overgrown with weeds, and a thin layer of snow covers the weeds and dusty steps, which looks very desolate, and people can't help but feel sad. Xiuhan walked to the door of the big room, stretched out her hand and pushed the door open, a puff of dust rose from the house, she covered her mouth and coughed a few times, and walked in.

Since Grandma He died, Hedi has not come to this courtyard again. She followed Xiuhan's footsteps into the door and saw that all the furniture was still in place, as if nothing had changed. The large gray stove sat deserted in the middle of the room, losing its most basic function. On the couch was Xiuhan's big schoolbag, and if you looked closely, the cushion was also covered with dust. He Tu lifted the charcoal basin next to the stove, went to the charcoal house to pick up a few pieces of charcoal, and walked around the yard for a long time, but he didn't see hay, so he had to go into the house and ask Xiuhan if he had any books that he didn't use. Xiu Han even said yes, took out a book full of words from the schoolbag, Hetu tore off a few pages of the book, stuffed it into the stove randomly, took out a match and lit the page, seeing that the page was burning, she threw the whole book lightly on it, and put a few small pieces of charcoal in the charcoal basin with iron tongs on top of the burning page. She put the lid on the smoky stove and poured a basin of water to wash her hands. After a while, the temperature in the stove rose, and the whole room gradually warmed up.

"You're amazing." Xiuhan sat on the bench, watched Hetu busy, and stretched out his thumb to praise her.

"I'll go burn the kang for you." He put a piece of red charcoal that was half burned on the side into the charcoal basin and ran out.

Xiuhan pursed his lips and looked at the whole room, remembering what the scene was when he was last here. By the time Hetu came in, she was already immersed in deep thoughts. He Tu smiled and sat down next to her and said, "Shall I sleep with you tonight?" ”

"Okay, okay." Xiuhan nodded hurriedly, "With such a big room, I'm really a little scared to sleep alone." ”

"Tell me about any stories in your school, I love to hear them." He Tu smiled again, "By the way, you can eat dinner at my house in the evening, and I will accompany you down after eating, and the two of us will chat again." ”

The two girls hit it off, there is nothing more exciting than this, to have a good friend to chat with him, this is simply the first thing in life that can soothe the body and mind. Xiuhan didn't want to delay his homework, so he chatted with Hedi for a while and then took out his homework and wrote. He saw that he didn't know any of the words in the book, and there were all kinds of messy formulas, just like painting. She looked at it for a while, feeling a little bored, so she got up and found a rag, soaked it and began to wipe the table. After wiping the table, Xiuhan was still writing, so she swept the floor. In the end, there was really no work left, so she sat back next to Xiuhan and asked curiously, "Why don't I know what you write now?" ”

"Of course you don't know, this is mathematics, this is English, this is Chinese." Xiuhan pushed a book in front of her, "Take a closer look, if there are any words on it that you recognize." ”

He Tu opened it and looked at it carefully, and there were indeed a few words in it that he knew. It's just that the years are long, and she has to remember many words to remember, and after turning two pages, her heart is churning with the emotion of resentment against her parents and regretting herself, and she can't help but throw the book away, stand up and say: "I'll go back and cook for you, what do you want to eat?" ”

"I can do it all." After Xiuhan finished speaking, he rolled his eyes again, "You make noodles, I want to eat noodles, I want to drink noodle soup." ”

"Okay." He Tu turned around and walked outside, and stopped again when he reached the door, "You take your homework and write it at my house." Xiuhan stood up, wrapped his homework in his arms, and watched as Hedi sealed the stove, and the two went uphill together in the cold air.

Jiafu and Cuiying had already returned, and when they saw that there was only one Herui in the family, they were a little dissatisfied. Suddenly, he and Xiuhan walked in from outside the door, and they couldn't help but be surprised. Jiafu asked Xiuhan with a gentle smile, and then continued to do his woodwork. Cuiying took Xiuhan's hand, asked a few words again and again, and invited her to live at home instead of going back to Grandma He's house. Before Xiuhan could speak, Hedi hurriedly said, "Mom, when people come back, they miss grandma, and they want to live in the house where grandma lived." Don't worry, I've burned the stove and the kang is warm, and the house is warm. ”

"My girl is thoughtful, if you have anything to do, come to my house, don't be polite, everyone is a family."

Xiuhan nodded repeatedly, touched by their simple enthusiasm. She still vaguely remembers coming to Hetu's house when she was a child, and their family seemed to be a little hostile to herself and her mother, although her words were very polite, but she could see indifference and alienation on her faces. Especially Zhou's mother, not only doesn't like her mother, but also doesn't like herself, Xiuhan still hasn't figured out what she did wrong, which makes this old man so disgusted.

"Where's your grandmother?" Xiuhan stopped and asked timidly. She planned that if Zhou's mother was there, she wouldn't eat at Hetu's house, and she would go home and do something to deal with it.

"My grandmother went to my second uncle's house, and my second uncle gave birth to a younger brother." He lifted his hand and pointed to a walled house on a higher slope, "Right up there." ”

Xiuhan breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "It's the first time I've heard you say that you have a second uncle." ”

"I also have a third father, but I don't have a good relationship with them at home, so I don't go there very often." He Di suddenly lowered his voice, leaned into Xiuhan's ear and said, "People have money, but we are poor and can't climb it." ”

Xiuhan was amused by Hedi's exaggerated expression of disdain. Seeing Xiuhan smile, Hedi's desire to perform became even stronger, and he shook his head and said, "But those children in their family are still very fun." When I go to the mountains to herd sheep, I often look for small grains together, he is very funny, and will help me watch the sheep. ”

"Speaking of sheep herding, I really want to go, but you haven't taken me there once."

"I'll take you tomorrow." He winked at her and grinned.

After eating, the two of them held hands and groped in the dark to return to Grandma He's yard. Because the stove was sealed, the room was cold again. He tinkered for a while. Seeing that the flame in the stove was rekindled, he went to the kang to arrange the bedding. When the kang was hot, she spread a thick layer of bedding, but took a thin quilt and spread it neatly on top of the bedding. Xiuhan was lying on the table reading again, frowning, looking very engrossed.

"Oops, it's so late, don't look at it." He Tu snatched the book in front of Xiuhan's eyes, and said with a smile, "I'll take the candle over, and we'll lie on the kang and chat." ”

Xiuhan originally read seriously because of the pressure of going to school, and she also wanted to chat with Hedi, she had a stomach full of things to say. Throwing down the thick workbook, she took off her shoes and jumped on the kang, lifted the quilt and lay down, stretched her limbs and sighed: "It's so warm, it's so comfortable." ”

He Tu smiled and lay down beside her, and asked, "Why didn't you come back during the holidays, have you been tutoring during the holidays?" ”

"Not really." Xiuhan stared blankly at the ceiling, "But most of the time is spent cram schooling." The rest of the time I'm busy with the orchestra, so I don't have time to come back. ”

"What is an orchestra?"

"It's just a team of several people, and there are people who can sing, and that's me." Xiuhan pointed to his chest proudly, "There are also ...... who can play the guitar, drums, and piano."

"I don't even understand, what is a guitar? Drum? Hedi's brow furrowed in confusion.

"I'll tell you this, you don't understand, you have to take that thing and put it in front of you, and you'll know."

"Uh-oh." He nodded, "Then when are you going to participate in the competition?" She always remembered that Xiuhan was going to participate in the competition, but she didn't know when she would participate.

"I'll talk about it when the college entrance examination is over." Xiuhan closed his eyes comfortably, "You must come to participate then." ”

"You've said this many times, I've been waiting." He Tu stretched out her body as well, "And my sister has gone to the city, and when the time comes, I can stay at my sister's house when I go to the city to find you." ”

"You can also live in my house, my parents are fine."

"I know." He Tu smiled and began to recall Xiuhan's mother's beautiful and gentle face.

"By the way, do you remember what I told you about Xing Siyun before?" Xiuhan suddenly turned over and sat up, and said excitedly, "I've always wanted to tell you about him, but he's always forgotten." ”

"What's wrong with him?"

"I made an appointment with him to be admitted to his university in the future, so that we can be together every day."

"Why do you have to be with him?"

"Because I like him." Xiuhan has a straightforward personality, and his face has never blushed when he speaks, "I really like him so much." ”

"I don't understand." He shook his head.

"Of course you don't understand, when you're older, you'll understand."

He Tu pulled Xiuhan and told her to lie down. Xiuhan obediently lay down beside Hetu and covered the quilt, his face was still full of happy smiles, and he said to himself: "So I must work hard and be admitted to that university!" ”

"Will you marry him, then?" He Tu asked suddenly, and she felt that a glimmer of light appeared in front of her eyes that she was confused by this question.

"Married?" Xiuhan didn't think about this question, she was stunned when she was asked by Hedi, she frowned and thought about it, her face suddenly turned red like a flame burning in the furnace, "Yes." ”

"Ah, then I get it." He suddenly realized.

"What do you know?"

"You're just like my sister, and you're going to marry like my sister in the future."

"You will too."

"I don't want it." He Tu smiled, happy that he finally understood Xiuhan's girlish tenderness, "If you want to marry, you will marry." ”

Xiuhan straightened up and tickled into the creaky nest of Hetu, and the two of them laughed and fell on the bed, and the crisp laughter like silver bells instantly embellished a glimmer of light in this courtyard that had been dead for countless days and nights.