Several people waited for a long time, and Jiafu appeared under the curtain with Herui and Cuiying in his arms. They were also stunned when they saw Hui Rui, and the mother and daughter stood in their humble kitchen like two people from another world, as if they were separated by a thick layer of fog.

"Who is this?" Jiafu asked hesitantly. Mother Zhou hurriedly introduced, and Hui Rui stepped forward to carefully inspect Herui's wounds, and saw that Herui had woken up, looking at Huirui curiously with a pair of dark eyes.

"It looks like it's fine, but I have to eat something good these days and make up for it." Hui Rui stepped back and took Xiuhan's hand.

"Oh, that's what you said." Cuiying smiled and asked them to sit down, "But I only have this coarse rice and potatoes at home, and I can only fry them in different ways, and I can't make anything good, and I can't compare to your family." ”

Hui Rui lowered her head and found a few banknotes from the pocket on her waist and handed them to them, "Take this money to buy some good ones for the child, if you are injured, it will be different from usual." ”

"No, no, no." Jiafu hurriedly excused himself, and Cuiying pushed Hui Rui's hand back. Jiafu put Herui on the kang and covered her with a quilt before turning around and saying, "Since you are the daughter-in-law of Aunt He's family below, you are naturally also our friend, so don't get the money." ”

Hui Rui felt that what she had done was wrong, so she blushed suddenly, and after taking back the money, she smiled embarrassedly: "It's me who is confused for a while, and I regard myself as a living bodhisattva who saves suffering." ”

Everyone giggled, and the atmosphere suddenly became harmonious, and it seemed that they no longer felt as strange as before. It's just that Zhou's mother still doesn't like Hui Rui, especially after she took out the money, she doesn't like her even more.

After greeting for a while, Hui Rui took Xiuhan's hand and was about to leave. Before leaving, Xiuhan took Hedi's hand and asked her to come to her house tomorrow to play. He Tu quietly looked at his parents' expressions, and when he saw that they didn't react to this question, he nodded vigorously.

As soon as Hui Rui Xiuhan went out, Cuiying closed the door hard.

"It's really magnanimous, I heard that their family has made a lot of money in the city." She said as she walked inside. Jiafu sat on the steps of the wing room used to store things on the east side, cutting wooden blocks, and the ground was full of sawdust, white, yellow and yellow. This is his hobby, he likes to do carpentry, and the tables and benches he makes are also very exquisite, and the villagers often come to him to buy tables and chairs, which can be regarded as an extra extra money for the family. Hearing Cui Ying's words, he snorted and said, "No matter how rich people are, it has nothing to do with us, we just need to live our own lives." ”

"Although it looks magnanimous, Hui Rui doesn't put on a show very much, which is quite kind." As if she hadn't heard Jiafu's words, Cuiying continued to talk to herself and walked into the house. Herui was lying on the kang, looking at the shadows of the wind-blown trees cast by the sunlight outside the window. A bag swollen up her forehead and was the color of a bruise. In the kitchen of the outhouse, Hexin and Hedi are washing the dishes and chopsticks.

"What's going on? Does it still hurt? Cuiying sat down beside Herui and asked with concern. She touched the bag, and Heri sizzled.

"It hurts." With tears in her eyes, she suddenly pointed to the wardrobe and said, "I want that doll." ”

"What doll?" As soon as Cuiying's words fell, Hedi ran in from outside the door, and said with a straight face with a hand that was still dripping with water on his back: "I still gave Xiuhan to that doll, but it's gone." ”

Seeing that this was an argument between children, Cuiying didn't speak. Herui glared at her angrily, pursed her lips, and said, "I don't believe it." ”

"You can't help it if you don't believe it, I gave her back the doll just now before you came back."

"Don't make any noise, it's just a doll, and when the potatoes are harvested, Mom will make one for you."

"Don't." He Rui turned her head coldly, "That doll is so good-looking, mom, you can't make it." ”

The doll's turmoil passed, and Hexin was lucky to keep it, and only Hexin knew that the doll was still in the clothes in the wardrobe. But Hedi knew that Hexin wouldn't tell Herui, and she was just like the adults in the family, wishing there were fewer disputes at home.

On the afternoon when Xiuhan and his family left here, Hedi carried Heyi to see them off. Because the road in the village is too bumpy and bumpy, the car can't drive in, so you have to walk a long way to the road and then drive. Hetu was carrying Heyi, Huirui looked distressed, so she took Heyi from Heyi's back and let Lao He hold it, while he held Xiuhan with one hand and Hetu with the other, and walked forward slowly.

The landscape of the countryside here is too monotonous, the color of the earth is yellow, and it is almost impossible to see a large tree that shades the sun, and occasionally a few small trees are hidden in the tall weeds and thorns, which appear particularly malnourished. Dust was raised on the road they walked, and people coughed. He Tu and Lao He are already used to it, but only Xiuhan and Hui Rui are not used to it, and after taking two steps, they have to turn their heads and look back to see if their clothes are stained with soil.

After walking for a long time, I went down a very steep slope before I saw the shadow of the road. Lao He took the lead and drove out the car at a relative's house next to the road, which was a slightly old Santana with thick smoke from the tail. Curiously, he circled around the car, but he still hadn't figured out how this thing was running on the road.

"We're leaving." Xiuhan stuffed his schoolbag into the car and patted Hedi's thin shoulder. Lao He put Heyi back on Heyi's back and tied it up, looked at her distressedly with his lips pursed, and said to Huirui: "Poor child. ”

Hui Rui bent down and said softly to Hedi: "Don't come to see us off next time, the road is too far." He Tu nodded obediently, and she continued, "When you go back, you must tell your parents that you want to go to school, and only after you go to school can you have the opportunity to go out of the mountains, you know?" She took out a handful of colorful candy from her pocket and stuffed it into Hedi's hand, saying, "I'll bring you something delicious next time." ”

Hedi's tears were about to come out, she was really reluctant to show off the cold and reluctant to Hui Rui, but they always had to leave. When the gas spewed out of the rear of the car had disappeared and could not be seen in the distance, she finally cried, so frightened that the game on her back also cried, and the two of them trembled, and the cry resounded in the sky.

Autumn is going to winter, and the weather is getting cold again. A stove was built in the house, and the kang was also on fire, and it was warm every day. There is no pressure to harvest crops, and every winter is the most idle time for croppers, those who have a TV at home watch TV, and those who don't have a TV go to the home of someone with a TV to watch TV. I really don't have TV to watch, so I just chatter and pickle vegetables at home every day, or wander around the village. Zhou's mother and Cuiying both picked up the shoe shapes and woolen needles in their hands, planning to make some clothes. The children in the family are growing up very quickly, and the clothes they wore some time ago were already a little small. Hedi's body jumped up, and Cuiying gave her Hexin's clothes to wear, and took her own clothes and changed them again.

"Mom, I want a new one too." Hetu stood next to the sewing machine and shouted dissatisfiedly. Cuiying smacked her and said, "It's all old, there's no new one." He Tu walked away silently, and she was only talking, knowing that the family did not have extra money to buy them new clothes. If there is more money left, she still wants to use it to go to school.

Because there was nothing to do at home, Jiafu asked Hexin to go to school with the boys in the village for two days. Hedi followed and went, but Jiafu said that she was not old yet, so he didn't let her go.

"Why didn't you arrive? Xiuhan said that I should go to school at this age, and her mother also asked me to tell you to send me to school, so that I can have a chance to go out of the mountains in the future. He Tu looked up with a red little face and said in a childish voice. Jiafu smiled when he glanced at her, and said to Cuiying: "Look, I was taken after playing with the people in the city for two days." ”

"That's the age of people in the city, how can you compare with a country kid. Besides, we can only provide for one person in our family to go to school, and one more person comes out, do you still want to have enough to eat? ”

He Tu pursed her lips tightly, tears glistening in her eyes. Herui tilted her head to look at her with a gloating expression.

"Haha, I can't go to school." She clapped her hands and giggled.

He failed to study, and his daily expectation at home was to hope that Hexin would come back and teach her what he had learned. He Tu was smart and clever, and soon learned everything that He Xin had learned, and every day he paddled around the snow with a small twig, and he still had words in his mouth. Hexin didn't want to go to school after learning pinyin in a dilapidated school made of adobe bricks, she followed Cuiying every day, holding shoes and wool needles in her hands, and began to learn to be a female celebrity. The family portrait is very strange, Hexin wants to go to school and hasn't gone to school, why can't Hexin go to school?

One day when he was idle after eating, he urged Hexin to go to school, saying that the tuition fee for the teacher should not be in vain. Hexin lowered her head and said sullenly, "I'm not going." ”

"Why?" Jiafu threw away the chopsticks and glared at her, "If you don't go, won't the tuition be paid in vain?" ”

"Dad, you have to get your tuition back, I won't go anyway." Hexin stubbornly lowered her head and only cared about knitting. Mother Zhou lifted the curtain from the back room and walked out, and said with a smile: "That's right, this is my good granddaughter, a woman is virtuous if she is not talented, why do you read so many books?" ”

"Mom, you don't understand." Jiafu glanced at his mother reproachfully, "What age is it now, and you still retain your feudal thoughts." What kind of woman is not talented is virtue, I think there is talent and virtue to do. ”

"The school is full of boys, and it's not good for me to mix a girl in it." Hexin seemed to be encouraged, raised her head and looked directly at her father, "Anyway, I don't like to learn that, I think Hedi likes it very much, or let Hedi go." ”

Jiafu looked at Hexin, the eldest is almost eleven years old this year, and he has grown in size, and he thinks more. He sighed and said, "If you don't go, don't go, I'll go to school tomorrow to get the tuition back." ”

Hetu, who was huddled aside, was anxious when he heard it. Originally, she was very happy to hear what her sister said, thinking that she could let herself go to school now, but she had to ask for the tuition fee back, what is going on. She hurriedly stood up, hugged her father's arm and said, "I'll go, Dad, don't go to get back the tuition." ”

"Nonsense, you were just taken by the one called Xiuhan." Mother Zhou glared at her and chirped.

Jiafu looked at Hetu, and then looked at Cuiying. Cuiying's belly is very large, and her movements are a little laborious, and she is too tired this autumn to feel unwell. Although Hexin is older, she can't do work, she can cook a meal, and Zhou's mother is also old, so she rests at home, and often feels dizzy. If Hetu goes to school, there are only a few people left in the family, who will cook and eat? He shook his head, still holding the old reason, and said, "You're not old yet. ”

"I'm over six years old!" He was about to cry in a hurry. Jiafu slapped the table and stood up, turned his back and walked outside, saying as he walked, "I'll talk about it later." ”

This matter passed like this, the adults disagreed, and Hetu himself could not afford the tuition. The next day, Jiafu went to the school to get the tuition back, and it took a lot of trouble. The teacher couldn't say anything at first, he must let Hexin go to school, and when Jiafu told him about the situation at home, the teacher's face turned purple with anger, and he scolded him: "Is it important for children to go to school or is it important for you to eat?" Is it so hard for you to cook your own meal? A six-year-old child cooks for you every day, and you don't even have a chance to go to school, and you can't get by with your own face? Some of the words were really ugly, but Jiafu endured it, after all, he also felt that he was at a loss, and what the teacher said was right. But he couldn't help but consider that a pregnant woman, an old man, and three children in the family couldn't go to school, and when she went, the family would really starve. Once he made up his mind, the teacher just took it and resolutely refused to let go.

"Forget it." The teacher scolded until the end, and his mouth was dry, "Return to you, return to you, I just feel sorry for that child, I want to go to school but I can't." "That's how Jiafu came back with his tuition.

For the whole winter, Hetu spent the whole winter constantly reciting pinyin, cooking, and working. When she was so familiar with pinyin that she could recite it backwards, Cuiying gave birth to her fifth child.

It was still the old woman, stained with blood on her hand, she opened the curtain with a numb face, but said in a very excited tone: "Born, born!" ”

"Boys and girls?" Jiafu came up, and Zhou's mother kept praying with her hands folded and her eyes closed.

"Boy." After the old woman finished speaking, she lowered the curtain and walked in. Jiafu was stunned for two seconds, and finally reacted, hugging and crying with his mother. He was so happy that his Zhou family finally had a queen.

The day after giving birth to the child, Jiafu took out money from the family to hold a banquet and invited all the relatives of the family to dinner. On the day of the banquet, the courtyard of his house was almost full of people, and many people had no place to sit, so they just stood like that, holding a handful of melon seeds in their hands and chatting while sipping. Cuiying didn't get out of bed because she was still in confinement, and the kitchen was full of Zhou's mother and Hetu Hexin's busy work. Jiafu held his youngest son and wandered in the crowd, praising and showing off when he met people, as if this was the greatest achievement of his life.

"Your old Zhou family gave birth to four daughters, and now you finally gave birth to a boy, are you happy?" Someone shouted at him from the crowd. Jiafu shouted back with a smile: "That's for sure!" Maybe next year, Cuiying will give me a big fat boy! ”

"Yes, what if I don't have money to marry a daughter-in-law when I grow up?" Someone shouted again.

"My boy, how can he be so unproductive. Besides, I still have four girls at home. Jiafu shouted with a smile, and he walked around the crowd, sat down at the table again, and teased his white and fat son in his arms.

I was busy until eight o'clock in the evening, and the talents gradually dispersed. Zhou's mother pounded her waist and sat on the kitchen bench, so tired that she could barely breathe. Hexin and Hetu are the time to grow their bodies, and they can't stand it after such a tiring day. Jiafu entered the warm back room, put his son to Cuiying, and went out to clean up the tables and chairs in the yard, and put them back into the storage room. He Tu stood up, put the dishes and chopsticks in the pot, and scooped water into the pot from the jar.

"Herui!" Zhou's mother shouted to Herui, who was running around in the yard, "Come in and help your sister wash the dishes!" ”

He Rui reluctantly came in, rolled up her sleeves and stood on the small bench clumsily scrubbing. He Xin and He Tu were a little older, so they took all the dishes and washed them themselves, and after He Rui washed two dishes, there was nothing to wash, she jumped down from the chair and shouted to Zhou's mother, "Grandma, it's done." ”

"I went in after washing, it was so cold outside, my nose was frozen red."

Herui grinned and ran to the back room. After setting up the dishes and chopsticks, Hexin helped Hedi dry his hands, sat down beside Zhou's mother, and continued to weave some dirty wool on his hands.

She turned and ran into the back room, and a hot air hit her face, and she felt very comfortable.

"Oops, that's cute." She leaned next to her brother, propped her arms on the kang, rested her chin on the back of her hands, and looked at her brother seriously.

After a while, Jiafu came in from outside. Cuiying greeted him and asked, "What's your name?" ”

"I thought about several." Jiafu sat down on the side of the kang with a cold air, "I don't think it's good, I'll go to the school tomorrow and ask the teacher to help me get one." ”

"Okay." Cuiying smiled and looked at her son with pity, as if looking at a rare treasure.