Zhang Tao's house, nine o'clock in the morning.

"Lazy worm, it's time to get up!"

Meng Lan shouted as she pinched her brother's nose.

"Brother, sleep, what are you noisy about!" Zhang Tao rolled over and muttered.

"Brother, when do you see it? The sun is all in the house! Meng Lan shouted angrily.

"Wow, it's so late, why didn't you call me earlier?" Zhang Tao complained.

He quickly got out of bed and went to the back room in a panic to wash his face and brush his teeth.

Menglan stuck out her tongue at her brother's back and made a grimace, thinking, she is still a hero, she bullied her sister as much as she could, calling you to get up and you were unhappy, and shouting late and complaining.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" Zhang Tao, who came out of the back room, asked.

"I've already gone to work in the fields!" After a pause, Menglan said again: "Brother, there is Hongru porridge in the pot, I'll add it to you!" ”

Zhang Tao drank two large bowls of porridge, and went out as soon as he touched his mouth.

"Brother, why are you going?"

"Go and water the pepper field!"

"Mom said she wanted you to rest for a day, and she went to water it after dinner."

"Don't you have to pour it!"

Zhang Tao said as he lifted two buckets and walked out.

"Brother, wait for me, I fed the pigs and will go with you." Meng Lan shouted from behind.

"What are you going to do?"

"You carry water, what can I help you water, isn't that faster?"

"Okay, hurry up!"

After a while, Meng Lan ran over with a bamboo basket.

"Brother, why does mom grow so many chili peppers, I'm tired."

Menglan followed Zhang Tao closely, her little face was flushed, and the two small whips on the back of her head swayed.

"Don't grow chili peppers! What do we eat? What do you use to read? ”

Zhang Tao glanced back at the ignorant Menglan, and said, "The rice and tuition we eat are all in exchange for chili peppers!" ”

"I know, I know, Brother Hero, I'm just talking casually."

Menglan's words aroused Zhang Tao's sadness again.

Xiachong pepper is famous far and wide, and it is one of the specialties that can be handy.

Zhang Tao's family is in dire straits. Renlong's dozens of dollars as a private teacher are only enough for him to smoke and drink. In order to support the family and provide for the children to study, there are only many kinds of chili peppers.

Growing chili peppers is not an easy task. Chili pepper fields are mostly located halfway up the mountain, or even on the top of the mountain, far from the water source.

In summer, you have to water every day, and fertilizer every two days to make the peppers grow well.

Since he was a child, under his mother's arrangement, Zhang Tao has often carried water and dung, serving the chili peppers in the field like his grandfather.

Pan Changjiang is carrying a sister to climb the hillside, happy hehe, poor Zhang Tao is picking up a dung bucket to climb the hillside, swaying.

"Brother, do you remember what happened when you fell?"

Before she could finish speaking, Meng Lan burst out laughing.

"How's that feeling?" The tone is full of chivalrous flavor.

It's really a pot that can't be opened, I only suffered a lot of feces yesterday, and Menglan mentioned the incident again.

"You damn girl, you still make fun of your brother!" Zhang Tao turned around and looked at Menglan's buttocks and fell lightly.

Thinking of that incident, Zhang Tao couldn't help but show a wry smile on his face.

That time he picked up a lot of dung and went to the pepper field. gritted his teeth and picked up the top of the mountain in one breath, but the foothold was stable, and the people fell down the hillside in unison.

Fortunately, he was blessed with a great life, his ancestors appeared, and a dung bucket covered him, so he was not seriously injured.

The person was not injured, but the dung was full, and he did not eat for several days.

This matter has also become a joke on the lips of the whole family.

While laughing, they came to the pepper field and began to get busy.

After pouring the chili peppers and eating lunch, Zhang Tao and the monkey leaned against a willow tree on the front lawn of the school and chatted.

The front lawn of the village primary school is the heart of the village. Villagers who are busy with their work will gather here to relax.

There was no wind, and the sun hung like a huge ball of fire, hanging in the canopy without a trace of clouds.

It's so hot that it's going crazy, and it's so hot that you have to collect every drop of sweat on your body.

Even the sound of the cicadas has become a kind of noise, which makes people irritated.

At noon, when the sun is at its hottest, the pores of the whole body are open, but there is no sweat anymore.

Even if a few drops were finally forced out, with the dry sound of "zi, zi", it quickly cleaned the sun's scorching, fiery tongue.

The willow trees in front of the school, listlessly hanging their branches and leaves, like an old man with exhausted energy.

The birds lay motionless on the trees, drowsy, lost from their former hustle and bustle.

Under the eaves on the side of the school, a little girl with a round face, carrying an ice bucket, shouted and sold popsicles.

Around the little girl, there were children of different heights.

There are very few well-dressed children, most of them are shirtless, wearing only a pair of small pants, and their bodies are dirty. Some are even naked, and they don't feel shy at all.

One by one, the children squeezed inside, shouting excitedly and exhaustively.

They stretched their little hands high, holding a coin or a dirty five-cent bill in their palms.

The round-faced girl will take the money very neatly and hand over the popsicle.

When the children take the ice, they often don't even peel off the paper, so they hurriedly take it in their mouths and take a hard bite before tearing it off with their teeth.

Put the paper in your mouth for a while, and only when the sweetness on it is dried dry, then open your cute little mouth.

With a "pounce", with the expansion and contraction of the tongue, the roll into a wet ball of ice paper was spit out far underground.

"How happy and carefree these children are! Looking at them, I was reminded of our childhood. ”

Looking at these children, Zhang Tao's heart is full of infinite yearning and childhood memories.

"Yes! In those days, although there was little food and hunger, every day was much more fulfilling and happy! ”

The monkey also sighed. "That's like now, when I'm older, I have more troubles."

Zhang Tao didn't answer, he and the monkey fell into a short silence, and they didn't know whether they were thinking about the sweetness of their childhood or worrying about growing up.

However, their eyes, still with interest, fell on these children, probably looking for the shadow of their childhood!

The children still hugged the round-faced girl.

Even if you buy ice, you don't want to disperse.

They clattered and smoked the ice as they stared at the ice bucket that looked like a magic box.

Sometimes, they would turn their heads, look contemptuously and triumphantly at those outside the circle who had not eaten ice, and deliberately smash their mouths into loud noises.

"Isn't that a little rich?" The monkey pointed to a dark, dirty child and said suddenly.

Xiao Fugui's greedy appearance attracted their attention.

His eyes were fixed on it all.

As the sound of "zi, zi" sounded around him, he swallowed deeply again and again.

Several times, unconsciously, he put his dirty fingers in his mouth and sucked hard.

It is estimated that he tasted a bitter and salty taste, so he pulled his finger out in disappointment, his face full of chagrin.

"His family is so pitiful, and it is not easy for Aunt Xihua to pull the three children with one hand!" The monkey said sympathetically.

"His father left in the coal mine accidentally!"

Zhang Tao also had a look of pain and helplessness on his face.

"It was an accident in the Shuangfeng Coal Mine in the first half of the year."

The monkey then explained, "This accident was very serious, the wind well penetrated the water, and eight people died. In order to reduce the responsibility of the coal mine, the coal mine owner concealed the five people. ”

"What happened to you after that?"

At the time of the incident, Zhang Tao was making the final sprint for the college entrance examination and did not know the whole process of the accident.

"The families of the victims made trouble in the mine for four or five days, and the boss had to raise the compensation standard, and each victim was settled with 30,000 yuan."

The monkey's tone became passionate and sad.

"You say, for families who have lost their breadwinners, how much effect does this 30,000 yuan have?"

"These coal mine bosses are really black-hearted, and they can't die well!"

"If you don't have the background, can these coal mines do it? After the accident, if there is no relationship to cover the fart, can they get out of it? At the end of the day, it's..."

Zhang Tao sighed and didn't say any more, a helpless and confused look slid across his face.

"Why?"

The monkey muttered with a sad face, "With so many people dead, why can the boss still get away with it?" ”

Zhang Tao couldn't answer the question, and they fell silent again.

As they spoke, Xiao Fugui tilted his head and stood pitifully and stupidly outside the ice-eating circle.

He kept swallowing, and the walls of his mouth were itchy and dry like many caterpillars crawling, and it was extremely uncomfortable.

After a long time, the mouth can only secrete a little sticky and thick liquid, and I can't swallow or spit it out.

From time to time, the throat rolled through the grunt of terrible hunger.

The round-faced girl's ice bucket is like a magic box, full of infinite magic.

Xiao Fugui lowered his head, trying to take his eyes off it.

Soon, an irresistible force forced him to raise his head again.

He also tried to walk away, but his whole body seemed to be firmly nailed to the ground, and he could not move at all.

From time to time, he added dry lips with his tongue, and his heart was really anxious and uncomfortable. A lot of distractions and fantasies are all over the place. Hunger and thirst burned like fire.

"Brother Tao, look, Xiao Fugui is staring at the ice on the ground in a daze!" The monkey said amusedly.

The child named Hei Dan in the village is relatively wealthy.

Because of the crowding, he dropped the popsicle in his hand.

The black egg didn't feel the slightest regret, kicked the ice that fell to the ground away, and turned around to buy another one.

At this moment, Xiao Fugui's eyes were staring motionlessly at the ice on the ground, flashing with hunger and thirst.

"This kid obviously wants to pick up this popsicle to eat, but he's too embarrassed to pick it up." Zhang Tao said wittily.

"Why don't I buy one for me to eat. It's so pathetic! ”

"Wait a little longer, what will happen to him?"

Zhang Tao turned his head to look at the monkey, smiled and said, "Didn't we do this kind of thing when we were children?" Secretly pick up popsicle pros that others have thrown away. ”

Xiao Fugui stared at the popsicle that fell to the ground, his face was constantly changing, and there was a fierce ideological struggle in his heart.

The popsicle pressed against the black ground and rolled towards him a little bit, and this sudden ecstasy made him a little overwhelmed.

"Oops!" Xiao Fugui's excitement suddenly cracked, and a trace of horror burst out.

"This ice is going to slip into the ditch behind him."

As soon as he realized the danger, he immediately took action, nimbly lifting his feet to block the way.

The blocked popsicle bent and got into a pile of waste paper and didn't move.

A lone ice pole was exposed, swaying slightly outside, reminding that there was a secret hidden in the pile of waste paper.

"It's dangerous!" Xiao Fugui sighed easily and withdrew his feet.

He touched his forehead, and actually secreted a lot of cold sweat.

"How nice!"

Xiao Fugui was happy for his luck, and he felt that he was the happiest person in the world.

His dark face was flushed with a slight excitement, and his tiny eyes were burning with happiness and joy.

He didn't immediately pick up the popsicle, feeling a little embarrassed. Anyway, it's a shame.

He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to him and the popsicle on the ground.

Soon, Xiao Fugui's keen nerves sensed that danger was approaching.

These dangers come from the equally hungry eyes around them.

There are two guys to focus on.

His eyes glanced at the two men from time to time.

That short one, if he dares to rob him, I will dare to beat him away.

The taller, much thicker guy than me was a bit nerve-wracking.

You look at his vicious appearance, almost like a murderer.

He also deliberately lowered his head and did not look at me once, who knows what conspiracy he harbors?

"What then?" Xiao Fugui tried his best to avoid this question, but he had to face it.

"Forget it! This guy is worried, so let it be for him! ”

He smiled bitterly, "Maybe I'll get sick if I eat it!" ”

But his eyes were still fixed on the pile of waste paper, motionless, and he had no intention of leaving.

The idea of a fluke began to grow in my heart again. "Since God let me see it and put it at my feet, there must be a way for me to get it."

Xiao Fugui began to calm down, confronting his enemy with a provocative gaze.

He said in his heart, "Come on! Damn fellow, if you dare to violate me, I will fight with you, who is not a life? ”

Xiao Fugui stood there majestically, his whole body full of high fighting spirit and strength, like a gladiator on the battlefield of ancient Rome.

He stomped his foot roughly on the shadow of the vicious fellow, and said fiercely in his heart, "All right! If you want to wait, I will wait with you. If you want to fight, I will accompany you to the end! ”

Xiao Fugui is like a fierce and witty hunting dog, waiting for the enemy to attack while waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

Surprisingly, after a while, the vicious fellow didn't even look at the pile of waste paper, turned his head, and walked away without saying a word.

As soon as the guy turned around, Xiao Fugui's heart was full of doubts, "Why?" Why is he leaving? Could it be that he has a bigger conspiracy? ”

It wasn't until the guy was farther and farther away that he really put his mind at ease, and ecstasy and happiness took over every inch of him.

He began to take the gifts God had given him.

He bent down and trembled as he picked up the ice pole from the pile of wastepaper.

The accident happened again and almost knocked him out.

The popsicle he picked up, to be precise, was a varnished ice stick, and even the ice paper was taken off.

Xiao Fugui stood up in frustration and threw the ice pole to the ground angrily.

"I have waited so long, endured so much pain and suffering, but received nothing, is this God's fairness to me?"

Note: This chapter is the author's personal experience when he was a child, so I remember it as a memory.