Handing Cheng Lin to Cheng Jiahua to watch, He Di took off all the bedding and luggage from the humble car, and prepared to clean up simply, so that the whole family could have a place to sleep at night. She tidied up and cleaned up, and couldn't help but regret a little in her heart, if she had known that this place had not been renovated, she would not have moved out first, but that Cheng Jiahua looked mysterious, did not say anything, and only urged her to move. She sighed, since she has come, let's be safe when you come. However, this small room can still be seen after cleaning, but there is not even a bed, and there is only a large wooden board in the corner. She cleaned the big plank, covered the futon, and simply made a bed, and then shouted outside: "Cheng Jiahua!" Cheng Jiahua! You bring Cheng Lin in! ”

Cheng Jiahua came in when he heard the sound, he put Cheng Lin on the bed, and called out to Cheng Yan, who was running around in the hall to play, turned his head and said to Hedi, "I'll go out for a while." ”

"What are you going to do?"

"Tell them, let them prepare the tools, and come over tomorrow morning to repair the house, otherwise this mess will not be able to live in people." Cheng Jiahua said, and walked outside. He continued to bend down and tidy up, there was a place to sleep, but there was no place to eat, so he relied on his cleverness and wit to build a small stove in the corner of the hall, and put all the pots and pans he had brought. When she was ready, she straightened up, clapped her hands, looked at her masterpiece with satisfaction, and grinned.

"Mommy, Mommy!" Cheng Yan ran towards her awkwardly, pointing his little finger outside, "Someone is coming!"

He Tu looked outside puzzled, I don't know who came, could it be that someone came to find Cheng Jiahua? She turned and walked outside, but before she could reach the door, a figure had flashed in. It was a woman of about twenty-five, holding a little boy in her hand, looking at her curiously, and asking, "Are you new here?" ”

Hetu nodded, guessing her identity. The woman smiled and said, "I'm at the door, this yard has been deserted for a long time, and I finally saw someone move in." She looked around the room, and couldn't help but smutter, "Haven't you cleaned up yet?" ”

"yes." Hetu was not used to dealing with strangers, but replied anyway. She smiled embarrassedly and said, "I haven't cleaned up yet, and there's no place for you to sit." ”

The woman laughed and said, "I was also bored at home, so I came to take a look." From now on, we will be neighbors, if you have anything, just tell me, I can help you. She looked down and saw Cheng Yan hiding behind Hetu's legs, and couldn't help laughing, "Ouch, this little girl looks really smart." ”

"My daughter." He Tu smiled, stretched out his hand and took Cheng Yan's hand, wanting her to stand up and say hello to the woman, but Cheng Yan was timid and timid, so he refused to come out, and hid back vigorously, He Tu had no choice but to smile, "Young and afraid of people, don't be surprised." ”

"It's okay, it's okay." The woman tugged at the boy in her hand, and the boy reluctantly shouted, "Hello auntie." He Tu smiled embarrassedly, bowed his head and said to him, "You're good, you're good." ”

"I also have a daughter, but she is still very young, just over a year old, and she can't walk." The woman laughed, "You can bring the little girl over to play when you have time." By the way, what's your name? ”

"Zhou Hedi." He Tu said, stretching out his hand to write his name on the palm of his hand, but he was stunned again. After so long, she had long forgotten how to write her name, and couldn't help but smile apologetically and shyly again.

The woman didn't seem to see it, and smiled enthusiastically, "My name is Yankang, what's the name of the little girl?" ”

"Cheng Yan."

"Good name, good name." The woman pretended to understand very well, "It's like a little girl." Then you have time to come and play, and if you don't have a place to eat in the evening, come to my house to eat! She said, waving her hand, and went out with the little boy. He watched her figure disappear behind the iron door of the opposite door, and the smile on his face disappeared immediately.

"Listening to what she said, it was as if we had nothing to eat and were begging for food." She babbled and said, regardless of whether Cheng Yan could understand it or not, "As soon as she came up, she pretended to be very familiar with people, and she didn't care if others wanted to talk to her." She grumbled, as if the woman's warm greeting had stabbed her. In fact, the woman was only kind-hearted, and at first Hetu was a little grateful for her kindness, but when she listened to her tone in the back, she suddenly felt uncomfortable in her heart. The woman's words seemed to touch her sensitive self-esteem and stab it.

She returned to the small room, picked up Cheng Lin, and sat still waiting for Cheng Jiahua to come back. The days suddenly became boring at this moment, in this dilapidated ruined house, there was no electricity, no one to talk to. The TV set that I had asked for from my father-in-law was sitting at my feet, but it was of no use at all. He Di didn't know how long she had been sitting, but seeing that the sky outside was darkening, and the room gradually changed from bright to light that could only vaguely see things around her, she stood up, put Cheng Lin on the bed, circled him with a quilt, and told Cheng Yan: "You take care of your brother, I'll cook." ”

Cheng Yan nodded as if he didn't understand, playing with his fingers, and heard his mother say again: "If my brother falls off the bed, see if I don't beat your ass." ”

This sentence really caught Cheng Yan's attention, she looked up at her mother, a pair of big eyes shining in the dimness, and nodded hurriedly.

He Tu walked out, took out a candle from the stove, lit it and set it aside, and then began to cook.

The stove looked good, but it didn't bring any convenience to her cooking. After the firewood was burning, the green smoke rushed out, choking and coughing, and after a while, the whole hall was full of smoke, and she hurriedly extinguished the fire, opened the dilapidated iron door, and took a newspaper in her hand, and fanned the wind vigorously outside, trying to fan the smoke out. She was in such a hurry to decorate the house with a monastic appearance, but she never thought that a good-looking surface would never bring a good operation, as evidenced by the green smoke that kept choking her mouth and nose. She fanned harder and harder, her legs were suddenly hugged, and Cheng Yan's soft voice came from below: "Mom, is it on fire?" ”

"You go and watch your brother!" He hurriedly shouted, "Go in, close the door, the smoke won't get in!" ”

Cheng Yan hurriedly turned around and ran in, slamming the door shut. It took a lot of effort for the smoke in the hall to slowly disperse, and in the dim light of the candles, the humble stove was a mess and looked embarrassed.

He Tu held his waist and gasped, looking at it in disappointment, and was thinking about how to solve this dinner when Cheng Jiahua's footsteps came from outside. He coughed, waved his hand, and asked, "What's going on?" Why is it all smoke? ”

"Daddy!" Cheng Yan opened the door a small crack and shouted softly.

"I want to cook." He Tu said, she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead and straightened up, "I didn't expect ......"

Cheng Jiahua walked to the stove and looked at it, couldn't help frowning, and said, "How can you cook this, there is no way out of the smoke, and they all ran to the house." As he spoke, he took out a paper bag from his pocket, "You guys eat this, tomorrow I will repair a stove outside, and I will cook outside for the next few days." ”

He Tu took the paper bag and walked towards the back room. Cheng Yan leaned on the side of the bed, holding Cheng Lin's arm tightly with one hand, smelling the fragrance emanating from the paper bag, she pursed her lips and looked at it greedily.

"Hungry, aren't you?" He Tu sat down on the edge of the bed and opened the paper bag, which contained two meat buns, still hot, and the aroma of the room filled the room. Cheng Yan hurriedly let go of the hand holding Cheng Lin, jumped up excitedly, and shouted as he jumped: "I want to eat!" I want to eat! ”

He Tu broke half of it and handed it to Cheng Yan, Cheng Yan hurriedly lowered his head and ate it, taking a big bite, almost choking.

"Slow down, slow down, no one will rob you." He said, and also leaned in and took a bite. She closed her eyes and savored that she had never eaten anything so delicious, and she couldn't help but smile. Seeing that his mother and sister were eating so well, Cheng Lin didn't give up, he climbed two steps forward, fell on Hedi's knees, tilted his head and opened his mouth.

"You want to eat it too, don't you?" He Tu smiled, broke a small piece and handed it to Cheng Lin's mouth, Cheng Lin took a small bite and chewed it carefully.

Cheng Jiahua walked into the house and saw the scene of the three of them eating meat and buns together, under the dim candlelight, they were talking quietly and chewing in small bites, which seemed to be warm, but it made him feel sour in his heart. Everything around them was so shabby, almost like a homeless man's house, and the simple bedboard, although it had been cleaned up and tidied up, still looked dilapidated, and people would creak and creak when they sat on it, as if they would collapse at any moment. The narrow windows were not yet curtained, and the moonlight from outside came in, forming a small patch of clear light on the ground, and the light was still filled with flying dust. There were broken bricks and tiles everywhere, white gray and loess everywhere, and even the walls that shielded them were peeling and messy. Cheng Jiahua faced Hetu and the children for the first time in his life, and felt a deep sense of guilt. It was his insistence that allowed them to live in such an embarrassing place, when they could have lived in their father's yard for a few more days and waited for the house to be repaired before moving out. But he was too anxious, since his father said what he wanted the family to move out, his expression in the face of him became more and more serious, and those stern eyes seemed to be saying all the time, why didn't you move out? Why haven't you moved out yet? In addition, the vegetables in his own home, my father even limited the amount of them, and did not let them take too much and eat too much. This eagerness to exclude them deeply hurt Cheng Jiahua's weak self-esteem, so as soon as the formalities were completed, he couldn't wait to urge Hetu to pack up his things and move out. Now looking at the defeated scene around him, he reminisced in his heart, thinking, if he was given another choice, he would still move out immediately without hesitation. Because since his father gave him the money to buy a yard, he has been sensitive to the fact that he is already an outsider to his father, mother, and younger siblings, an outsider who is not related by blood.

"Is it delicious?" He walked over to Hedi and sat down, and asked Cheng Yan.

"Delicious!" Cheng Yan had already finished eating, she nodded hurriedly, opened her oily little mouth and shouted, "Mom, I still want it!" ”

"Good, good." He Tu broke off another piece and handed it to Cheng Yan, turned his head and asked Cheng Jiahua, "Have you eaten it?" ”

"I've eaten it." Cheng Jiahua nodded, when he just went out to find his brothers, he had already eaten at his brother's house, and it was because he was worried that his wife and children had nothing to eat, so he specially made another detour, found a stall and bought two buns, and walked back, "They will come over at five o'clock tomorrow morning, we will go to bed early at night, and we will get up early tomorrow, when someone else's house comes, we are still lying in bed." ”

"Yes." She replied that she had finished eating the bun in her hand, so she crumpled the paper into a ball, threw it into the garbage heap in the corner, and got up to pour water into the basin. The water was dug from the well in the yard in the afternoon, and the water was quite clear, not too muddy. After washing her face, she soaked the towel to wipe the faces of the two children, and finally said to Cheng Jiahua: "You go wash it too." ”

Cheng Jiahua washed the water with which the two children had washed their faces, then dried his face with a towel, took off his shoes and went to bed. He picked up Cheng Lin and swayed up and down in the air, teasing him. Cheng Lin let out a burst of laughter like a silver bell, and he was very happy. Cheng Yan hurriedly climbed into bed, lay on his father's arm, and shouted, "I want to fly too!" I'm going to fly too! ”

"Good, good!" Cheng Jiahua put down Cheng Lin, lifted Cheng Yan, and flew in the air. The three of them laughed together, and in the dim flickering candlelight, their shadows were projected high on the wall, as if performing a shadow puppet show.

He Tu looked at them and couldn't help but smile. This is the first time in a long time that she has smiled from the bottom of her heart, and although the living environment is so unsatisfactory, she is still full of hope that a new life that truly belongs to her has begun.