In the middle of the night, I don't know when the snow will fall, but when I wake up in the morning, I see that the snow in the yard has accumulated half a foot deep. The bitter cold wind whirled through, blowing up the loose snow on the ground and rolling it into circles one after another, and then swirling and falling to the ground, making the snow surface look extremely uneven. Jiafu pushed open the door and took a look, hurriedly shrank back, shivered back to the back room, and said tremblingly: "It's snowing outside, it's cold." ”

"Hexin, go open the closet." Cuiying called Hexin up, pointed to the wardrobe and said, "There is a thick blue sweater in the innermost, take it out for your father." ”

Jiafu took it and put it on, felt a little warmer, put a thick cotton jacket on his body, and said absentmindedly: "The snow is waiting for me to come back to sweep it, and you ladies will stay in the house." It's too cold outside. After tidying up, he lowered his head and kissed his sleeping son's face before going out. In the weather, where it seemed that he could freeze in one breath, he stepped on the snow and walked forward step by step.

Despite the heavy snowfall, the school was not closed. In the distance, Jiafu heard the sound of striking iron in the school, clanging. When he arrived at school, he was sweating. At this time, class has not yet ended, and the school is quiet, only the red flag on the flagpole in the yard is fluttering in the wind.

Jiafu squatted at the door of the classroom, listening to the teacher give lessons to the children. He remembered what Hedi had said to him, and remembered that she was squatting in the yard holding a small branch and pulling pinyin strokes, and his heart couldn't help but tighten. Suddenly, his son's face appeared in his mind again, and this little discomfort immediately disappeared without a trace, and he was once again immersed in the excitement of announcing the good news to the teacher and asking the teacher to name him.

There was a sudden uproar in the classroom, and several children ran out of the back door, wearing heavy padded jackets, and rushed excitedly into the snow. Jiafu hurriedly stood up and saw the teacher walking out of the front door with a book in his hand.

"Huh? Are you again? When the teacher saw him, he couldn't help but smile, "What's the matter, you're going to send your child to school?" ”

"No, no, no." Jia Fu smiled, rubbing his hands back and forth, "No, my daughter-in-law just gave birth to a big fat boy for me yesterday, and I want you to give him a name." ”

"Oh." The teacher looked suddenly enlightened, "I heard from the students yesterday that you still have a banquet at home, right?" I said you have money for a banquet, why don't you have the money to send your children to school? ”

Jiafu didn't want to talk about this topic, and stood in front of him with a sneering face, as if he was frozen and couldn't say anything.

"Ugh." The teacher looked like a dead pig who was not afraid of boiling water, so he didn't want to say anything. He has seen too many such parents, and if everyone is like him, then most of the boys in this school will not be there, "I think it's called Zhou Hefu." ”

"Teacher, what does that name mean?" Jiafu asked. The teacher frowned and thought for a moment, and said, "The meaning of self-denial and retribution." Jiafu still had to chase and ask, but when he saw that the teacher had already turned into the office, he had to walk back while pondering.

As soon as he entered the house, he called Hexin, Hexin put down the woolen needle in his hand, plopped and ran over, turned his face and asked him what he was calling. Jiafu scratched his head and asked, "Which one is the revenge of self-denial?" ”

Hexin lowered her head and thought for a moment, then wrote it in her hand. Jiafu bent down into the inner room and said to Cuiying: "The teacher said that his son's name is Zhou Hefu. ”

Cuiying doesn't understand anything, she just listens to her husband, anyway, everything he says is right, she just needs to nod her head. At this time, she lowered her head, teased Hefu's small mouth, and smiled in a sharp voice: "You have a name, your name is Hefu." Merge. She repeated it several times, but unfortunately the little baby did not understand, and how she wished he understood.

After this cold snowfall, the weather gradually warmed up and became mild. He struggled to take off his thick padded jacket so that running outside would not be so strenuous. She hesitated at the door of Grandma He's house for a long time, wanting to ask Xiuhan when she would come next, but she always didn't have the courage to knock on the door, or just touch the knocker lightly, and then turn around and run. When she ran to the top of the hill, she saw Herui standing there sneering at her. He is not angry, although He Rui has this unaccustomed expression to everyone, but she is still angry. In Xiuhan's words, it means uneducated.

When spring arrives, the people in the fields are active again, and often only the family is left with the harmony and harmony. He Rui followed the adults and went to the field, although she was young and couldn't do much work, but let her learn it, this girl was the same as Hexin, clumsy and clumsy, and the work of cooking and sweeping the floor at home was not good at all. There is only one Hetu, who is clever like a little fox running around in the snow, and can do everything well without being reminded by adults, which is really worry-free.

Jiafu went to the city to buy a colorful baby car for Hefu, and planned to let him stand in the cart and push the cart when Hefu was walking, so that he would not fall. Now he was too young to climb, so he put the cart away and put it in the storage room. Cuiying once said that she wanted to use it for Heyi, Jiafu pursed her lips, looked at Heyi who was staggering and running around on the ground, and said, "It's so big, I don't need it." The topic was swept under the rug, and the cart gradually turned to dust in the storage room and became a visit for the children.

The spring is cold, and although the climate has turned warm, there are still cold winds blowing from time to time, which makes people can't help but wrap their collars tightly. He Tu led He Yi to run around the yard a few times, and then went back to see He Fu lying on the kang in the hut. He fell asleep, as if he couldn't wake up even if he screamed. He came out and sat down on the steps, holding a twig and pulling on the ground.

"Sister, sister." He Yi ran over, shouting vaguely, "You're here, what's the table?" ”

He Tu patted the dust on Heyi's knees and said, "My sister is writing." ”

"What paper?"

Seeing that He Yi couldn't even speak, he couldn't help but laugh. She lowered her head and continued to paddle on the ground, thinking strongly about Xiuhan in her heart.

I don't know how long it took, but Hefu in the house suddenly cried with a "wow". He hurriedly threw away the branch in his hand and ran to the house to coax Hefu. She took out a bowl of boiled soft batter from the gurgling pot, scooped it up with a spoon and blew it cold, and sent it to Hefu's mouth. Hefu shook his head and didn't eat anything, still crying with his mouth open. She suddenly lit up, climbed on the kang and opened the wardrobe, found the doll in her own clothes in the depths of the cabinet, and shook it in front of Hefu's eyes.

"Wow!" Hefu was still crying, ignoring the doll in front of him.

He Tu put the doll away, picked up Hefu from the kang with great difficulty, and went out the door while dangling. The wind outside brings cool and fresh air, the birds chirp in the poplar trees in the yard, and the sky is cloudless, blue like a fairy tale sapphire. He Fu stopped crying all of a sudden, and looked around with big curious eyes.

He Tu sat down on the threshold and placed Hefu on his lap. Hefu is too small to tie to his back with a strap, he can only hold it. But Hetu's strength was still small, and she felt very tired after holding it for a while, so she quickly sat down and rested for a while while she didn't cry.

He Yi ran over from a distance, grabbed a handful of dog tail grass in his hand, lay on Hedi's knees, looked at Hefu, and scratched the dog tail grass in his hand on Hefu's face. When he sneezed, she giggled.

The days passed like this, and the boredom was even more tasteless than a glass of boiled water. Hedi's heart was stirring, and every time the little person in her heart shouted at her: "I want to go to school, I want to go to school." She felt miserable. Every time the boys in the village went to school with their school bags on their backs, she would lie on the hill and look at them, envious in her heart.

The light and heat of the sun are gradually getting stronger, and the hot and sultry summer has finally arrived. Because of the hot weather, everyone is willing to hide in the house and not go out, and the inside of the stone house is much cooler than the outside. Cuiying is at home, and the pressure on Hedi is reduced, and finally she doesn't have to cook three meals a day for the whole family on time every day.

One day, after the whole family finished eating, Zhou's mother went into her bedroom to rest. Jiafu sat on the bench and flicked his teeth, and Cuiying hugged Hefu to breastfeed. He Tu poked his little finger and said hesitantly, "Dad, I want to go to school." ”

Jiafu blurted out and said, "It's time to go, anyway, it's okay during this time." He looked at Hedi's little face full of anticipation, and a warm current suddenly flowed in his heart, "Your mother cooks the rice, and your grandmother takes the child, then you can go to school." ”

"Really?" He jumped up from the bench in surprise. Hexin had already taken out her used old schoolbag and small pencil book, put it in front of Hedi, and said with a smile: "Mine is for you." ”

He cherished the little pencil head, how much she wanted it, even in her dreams, so that she could write those pinyin on paper. Jiafu really talked about it, and after the lunch break, he led Hetu to school. The first time she went to school, she used to look at it from afar, but when she saw the slightly old red flag fluttering on the flagpole, she couldn't help but feel respect and stood straight with her head held high.

"Ouch, you're here?" When the teacher saw Jiafu, his brows first wrinkled, and then when he saw the Hetu in his palm, his brows relaxed, "What, finally send the child to school?" ”

"Yes." Jiafu sat down on the stool, and Hetu leaned on the table and looked curiously at the pile of books stacked on the teacher's desk, and his mouth was amazed. "My child really wants to study, so I sent it." Jiafu continued, taking out a few money tickets from his pocket, "This is the tuition fee, it's the same as when Hexin went to school, right?" ”

"As long as you send your children, children are the flowers of the motherland and are supposed to be educated. I have to say, Jiafu, your thinking has progressed. ”

In this way, Hedi sat in a classroom where all boys were children. She didn't feel uncomfortable in the slightest, but felt happy, and took out a small pencil head and a notebook from her small school bag, and arranged them neatly on the small table full of holes. After a while, the teacher came in and put two books on her desk, one Chinese and one math. He Tu was so happy that she picked it up and flipped it several times, although she didn't know the words written on it.

"Today, we have a new classmate in our class." The teacher stood on the podium and said loudly, turned around and wrote the three words Zhou Hedi on the blackboard with chalk, "It's called Zhou Hedi, everyone welcomes her!" He Tu sat in his seat and smiled embarrassedly, his white front teeth biting his lower lip, his eyes sparkling.

The teacher had to admit that Hedi learns things very quickly, basically other children have to learn things for two days, and she understands it at once when she teaches her. She was promoted to the third grade in less than two weeks, and she had already recognized most of the characters in the book, although the writing in the book was still a little crooked, but she already had a preliminary calligraphy structure. The teacher couldn't help but praise him, he is really a smart child, and if he is educated well, then it is very promising to be admitted to university.

The days at school are much faster than at home, and when he can get up and babble, he has learned a lot of words in school, and every day after school, he is holding a small branch on the field and paddling, familiarizing himself with the texts he has learned. Jiafu was also relieved to see her working so hard, and felt that her two tuition fees were not paid in vain, and the child still liked to study. I went to school for a month, and the school was on summer vacation. He Tu was very reluctant, and he didn't understand why he was on summer vacation, so he lost his temper in the teacher's office and didn't leave.

"Why do you want to take a vacation, teacher? I'm willing to go to class all the time! He sat on the ground, his mouth pursed, his eyes shining with tears.

"This is stipulated by the state, and there must be a holiday, and the teacher can't help it." The teacher looked at her and was full of pity, "Otherwise, if you are idle at home, you will come to the teacher, and the teacher will teach you alone." ”

"Really?" He Tu stood up happily, wiped the tears from his face and said with a smile, "Then teacher, you are the talker." ”

"Count, count." The teacher watched her little figure disappear outside the door, and felt amazed and moved. He had hardly ever met a peasant child who loved to learn so much, and he was the first, and he felt that he was about to cry with the emotion of this thin little girl.

He Tu jumped diagonally across the small schoolbag and walked home. Walking through a dusty loess road, I saw the slope where my home was located in the distance, and next to it was Grandma He at the bottom of the slope. As usual, Hetu habitually had to go around the door of Grandma He's house to see if Xiuhan was coming. Walking and walking, she suddenly blessed her soul, since she has already had a summer vacation, then Xiuhan should also have a summer vacation. She said she would come during the summer and winter holidays, so is she here now?

He Tu put his eyes in the crack of the door and looked inside, but unfortunately the inside was blocked by the shadow wall, and he couldn't see anything clearly. She turned sullenly and walked towards the house, the smell of food wafting through the yard, she heard her stomach rumbling, and hurried towards the kitchen.

"Mom and Dad! I'm on vacation! He took the bag off his body, opened the wardrobe and carefully put it away, and ran back to the kitchen. Cuiying was serving food to the table, and Hetu helped Hexin put dishes and chopsticks on the table.

"It's good for the holidays, I can help your mother." Jiafu came in from outside, covered in sawdust, and sat down on a stool. He Tu nodded and sat down next to Hexin, who lowered her head and asked her quietly, "Won't you be bored in school?" ”

"No, I think it's funny." He said proudly, "I know a lot of words!" ”

Hearing this, Zhou's mother shook her head and walked out of the back room, and said with a slightly stern accusation: "Why do girls know so many words?" After all, they all have to get married. She turned her gaze to Jiafu, "You too, you are so used to it, Cuiying is very tired of working at home alone, and Hedi can still help at home, so you just let her go to school." ”

Jiafu smiled, didn't speak, picked up the bowl and stuffed rice into his mouth. He Di had something on her mind, and after eating two bites of rice, she put down the dishes and chopsticks and prepared to run out, but Cuiying stopped her and asked, "After eating and washing the dishes, where are you going?" ”

Hexin hurriedly said, "I'll wash it, Hedi, you can go." "Just now, Hedi had already told her that Xiuhan might come and knew what Hedi's heart was. He Di glanced at her gratefully, spread his feet and ran towards Grandma He's house outside the gate.

The strange thing is that the door of Grandma He's house is actually wide open, and it is usually closed. He Tu was extremely nervous, and hid behind the stone lion for a while before slowly rubbing into the threshold. Standing at the door, he could hear the sound of loud talking from the house, and he almost jumped up from the door excitedly, shouting loudly: "Xiuhan! Xiuhan! ”

I heard a knock on the door, and Xiuhan ran out of the house. She was wearing a pair of shorts, a little tanned, and when she went around the shadow wall and saw that it was Hedi, she grabbed Hetu and kept turning in circles, and said happily, "I was about to go to you!" That's right! As if she suddenly remembered something, she pulled Hetu and walked in happily, with a wicked smile on her face, "I brought you something good!" ”

"What's that?" He Tu was carried away by the joy, and couldn't remember what Xiuhan had promised to bring her before. The two children entered the big room and found Xiuhan's schoolbag on the couch. Xiuhan put his arm in, made a mysterious expression, pulled out a glass bottle containing a black liquid from his schoolbag, and handed it to her with a smug face.

"What is this?" Holding it in his hand, it was cold and cold, and he felt very comfortable.

"Coke, I brought it to you!" Xiuhan suddenly lowered his head, lowered his voice and said, "My mother won't let me drink it, so I still brought it secretly." ”

He Tu remembered the promise that Xiuhan gave her that year, but she didn't expect Xiuhan to remember it all the time, and she was very happy. She wanted to take a sip, but couldn't open the lid. Xiuhan sneered, found a small pair of scissors, and stabbed the head of the small scissors under the piercing bottle cap, only to hear a "hiss", she threw away the bottle cap and handed the bottle to Hedi. He picked it up and took a big sip, only to feel a breath coming up from his throat, and he couldn't help but burp several times.

"Hahaha!" Xiuhan pointed at her and laughed while holding her stomach. He Tu licked his lips and said with an aftertaste: "It's delicious, sweet and silky." She looked around twice to find the lid, "I'll take it back and give it to my sister and my sister to drink." ”

"It's okay, leave it here, you go and call your sister and sister. The lid was dirty and couldn't be covered on it. ”

He Di agreed, turned around and ran out, and after a while, he pulled in with a confused face and a frowning He Rui, who was still holding the staggering He Yi in her left hand, giggling.

Each of them tasted it, and the bottom of the bottle gradually appeared, but everyone had a good aftertaste. He said proudly to his sister: "This is called Coke." ”

"It's delicious, I've never drunk it before." Hexin pursed her lips and looked at the bottle with a smile. At this time, Xiuhan spoke, attracting her attention, and she saw Xiuhan wearing chiffon short sleeves, ruffled sleeves hanging on her white and delicate arms, wearing a pair of denim shorts on her lower body, and a pair of white sneakers without a trace of dust on her feet. She looked down at her rough hands, the clothes she was wearing were still made from her mother's old clothes, and she couldn't help but smile, "Your clothes are so beautiful." ”

Xiuhan smiled shyly, not knowing what to say. She saw Hexin and her sisters wearing shabby clothes, and remembered her mother's instructions not to say things that hurt others, so she didn't know how to say it appropriately and not hurt the hearts of these sisters.

But where do they take it to heart, they all like Xiuhan very much, although Xiuhan is a child in the city, he is approachable and never dislikes them. Unlike the boy in Maemura, who was also from the city, he smiled every time he saw them, laughing at the old clothes they were wearing, laughing at the rag shoes on their feet, and then showing off the game console he was holding. Xiuhan also gave it to the Hetu dolls, and brought them Coke to drink, and they didn't know how happy they were when they saw Xiuhan.

He Rui, who was only five years old, stood aside with a straight face, secretly reminiscing about the taste of Coke, and said coldly: "She is from the city, of course she looks good." We are rednecks, not comparable. ”

Hexin laughed, as if she hadn't heard this. When Hedi heard this, he glared at Herui, pushed her, and said, "Go back, you're not welcome here." ”

"I'm not welcome, I'm not unwelcome!" He Rui walked up to Xiuhan, stood on tiptoe and glanced at her fiercely with the whites of her eyes, turned around and swaggered out.

"That's how she is, she says the same about us at home, don't take it seriously." He Xin said, turned around and took He Yi's hand and walked outside, "I'm going back, I just embroidered half of the insole, and I was pulled by Hedi." ”

After sending Hexin away, there were two people left in the house, Xiuhan and Hedi. Xiuhan took her hand and said with a smile: "Let's go, let's meet my parents." My mom has a gift for you too. ”

As soon as he heard the gift, he couldn't close his mouth with a smile. She was even happier when she learned that the gift was a thick book of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales with pinyin. She carefully held the book in her hand, put her nose in front of her to smell the ink in her hand, and weighed the thickness of the book. Her language books, math books, and notebooks were not as thick as this one, and she felt a great sense of satisfaction, and her heart was full like a balloon that had been blown up.

"There are pinyin on it, and you can read it according to pinyin in the future." Hui Rui sat on the chair and looked at her with a smile, "By the way, did your parents send you to school?" ”

He Tu nodded again and again, and said proudly: "I went to school for a month, and I just had a summer vacation. ”

"Well, that's good." Hui Rui leaned back into the upholstered chair contentedly, and her jade onion-like fingers tapped on the armrest of the chair one by one.

So, throughout the summer vacation, Hedi stayed with Xiuhan, wrote homework together, and read fairy tale books together. She had long forgotten that she had asked the teacher to tutor her alone before the holiday, and she had a lot of fun with Xiuhan. The hottest part of summer passed quickly, and the summer vacation soon came to an end, and one day when Xiuhan and Hedi were lying on the couch and taking a nap side by side, they talked about the topic of parting, and both of them were very sad.

"You're leaving again." He said sadly, his fingers stroking the silk thread embroidered on the cushion.

"It's okay, I'll come back during winter vacation." Xiuhan's parents have already gone back to the city, because they have to go to work, and it won't be long before Grandma He will send Xiuhan back to the city to go to school.

"Then you must remember to come." He Tu clenched her hand, and Xiu Han also clenched Hedi's hand.

"By the way, what do you want to do when you grow up?" Xiuhan asked suddenly, the eyelashes on his closed eyes trembling slightly.

He Tu is still young, and he is full of thoughts that he is either reading or playing, where would he think of such a distant problem. She was stunned for a moment, thought about it seriously, and said: "When I grow up, I don't want to farm, I don't want to cook, I want to be a teacher, just like the teacher in my school." ”

"What do you guess I'm going to do when I grow up?" Xiuhan excitedly sat up from the cushion, his eyes shining. He Tu asked curiously, "What do you want to do?" ”

"I want to sing! I love singing, and my classmates say that I sing well! Xiuhan sang as she spoke, her voice was childish, but it was soft and long, with a slightly trembling tail at the end. He Tu listened and was fascinated, as if she was intoxicated by the story told by Xiuhan's singing, and at the end of the song, she was still immersed in it, and was pushed by Xiuhan and asked, "How is it?" ”

"Sounds good, sounds good." He nodded hurriedly.

"When I'm older, I'm going to compete. Do you think I'm going to win first place? ”

"Definitely, you sing so well, better than my dad." He Tu also sat up, hugged his knees and turned his head to look at Xiuhan's excited side face.

Encouraged by Hedi, Xiuhan became even more excited, she kept talking, dancing, "Then you must come to listen to my game then, and I will buy you a ticket." ”

"Where are you going?" He asked innocently.

"You're going to town." Xiuhan thought for a moment, "It's fun in the city, do you want to go?" ”

He nodded hurriedly.

"There are all kinds of good food in town, all kinds of fun things, and a lot of beautiful dresses. My mom used to take me shopping and buy me dresses. Xiuhan smiled, "If you come, you can stay in my house, there is still a room in my house that is empty, and then the two of us can go shopping with my mother, eat ice cream, eat KFC, and we will sleep together at night." If you don't have pajamas, you can wear my dress, I have several nightdresses. ”

Hetu was fascinated by what she had described, and the scene described by Xiuhan seemed to appear in front of her eyes. In a room that is even more spacious than this big house, she is wearing the dress she saw Xiuhan wearing for the first time, and she is wearing a pair of white sneakers without dust on her feet, Xiuhan's mother is holding her with one hand and Xiuhan with the other, walking on the street where everyone is wearing this kind of skirt. The streets are also beautiful and clean. She suddenly had an idea and asked, "Will there be any Coke to drink?" ”

"Of course, but I have to carry my mom behind my back, my mom won't let me drink Coke."

"Why?"

"She said drinking Coke is bad for your teeth." Xiuhan pursed his mouth, "So I drink secretly." ”

"So where are you going to drink Coke?"

"You can drink anywhere, as long as you have money, you can buy anything." Xiuhan raised his little head proudly, as if he was particularly proud of his family's wealth.

"Then how can you drink if you don't have money?"

"Do I have pocket money?"

He Tu recalled Xiuhan's words, and his heart jumped up and down like a rabbit and couldn't be still. She also wants to go, she wants to go too much, she also wants pocket money to buy Coke to drink by herself, and she is a little anxious when she thinks about it. At this time, Hexin's voice suddenly came from outside, calling her: "Hexin! Go home! Mom told you to go back! ”

He Tuyi rolled over and jumped down from the couch, put on his shoes and said goodbye to Xiuhan. Although Xiuhan didn't want to be separated from Hedi, the scene of Hedi's family crying that day scared her, and she really didn't dare to go to the courtyard that looked a little gloomy now. She sent him to the door, and he whispered in her ear, "I'll come back tomorrow." The two stone lions at the door grinned in either way, as if they were smiling.