The four girls returned to Wanbaotun in frustration.

At this time, it is very quiet in the village of Wanbaotun, and there are a few children walking back and forth at the intersection to amusement themselves, and a few children are playing the hoop drill competition.

Under the big willow tree on the side of the crossroads, two older children were playing mud balls intently, probably because one of the children had violated the rules, and the two were arguing with red faces.

The hoops used by children were taken from discarded wooden barrels.

The tool of the iron loop is to use a thick iron wire to fold into a U-shaped hook, and then bend it into a right angle, and tie it to a wooden handle, or simply bend one end of the thick iron wire into a handle.

The child holds a wooden handle or handle in his hand and pushes the hoop with a U-shaped hook, and the hoop can roll on the ground, and the child runs along, mastering the speed and direction of the hoop's rolling.

The drill hoop is a bit like an acrobatic show.

In the first round, the child first puts one leg into the hoop, then the head goes into the hoop, and finally the hoop exits from the other leg;

In the second round, first put your legs into the hoop, then put your head into the hoop, and finally the hoop exits from the back buttocks;

In the third round, the hoop is put in from the back of the buttocks, and then the head comes out first, and the hoops are withdrawn from the legs.

It's a dangerous game, but the children enjoy it, often outperforming the fat kids.

Children who play mud balls should first prepare their own mud balls, which are made of red or yellow clay cut out of the riverside and then dried.

Before playing with mudball, you should cut a few mud holes in the ground.

Playing the mud ball requires skills, the way to play is very similar to billiards, just where the mud ball is, pick up your own mud ball, buckle it on the index finger and middle finger, and then find a good angle, aim at the opponent's mud ball and use your thumb to play, when the opponent's mud ball is just bounced into the mud hole, the opponent's mud ball will belong to you.

Let's say that the four girls came down from the back post and passed through the intersection, and the children deliberately called her a tomboy, and some dogs barked at her from afar.

She didn't bother to pay attention, it was better not to be in front of her, if she was in front of her, whether it was a human or a dog, she would kick it unceremoniously.

When she arrived at the door, several big white geese greeted her and hugged her into the yard.

The fourth girl shouted a few times to her mother, but her mother was not at home, so she probably went to dig wild vegetables.

There is no one in the house, but the door is open and the door is not locked, which is the legendary road is not left behind, and the house is not closed at night.

The four girls were hungry and tired, and as soon as they entered the house, they ran to the big water tank in the kitchen.

In the big water tank, the gourd water scoop floated on the water, she grabbed the water scoop and scooped half a scoop of water and drank it.

When he was full, he threw the water scoop into the tank with a "snap", and the water scoop innocently swirled in the tank.

The four girls pursed their lips, took a deep breath, stretched again, and then immediately went into the house and turned out their private things, and began to deal with the woman's privacy—the question of the eldest aunt.

It is April 1959, less than 10 years after the founding of New China, and China has not yet shaken off its backward appearance of being poor and white.

At that time, the level of the country's productive forces was far from satisfying the needs of the people's material life, and the sanitary conditions in the whole country were very backward, let alone in the rural areas.

In rural villages like Wanbaotun, it is convenient for people to go to thatched houses, and most people use straw sticks or small wooden sticks that are split in half.

Most women use the kind of menstrual bands that are repeatedly filled with plant ash, and only a few sophisticated people can use old-fashioned thick wrapping paper, and there is almost no special toilet paper.

Let's say, the four girls returned to the room and took out the menstrual bands they made themselves.

It was something like a strap briefs, with a long, flat coarse cloth pocket that, if needed, was filled with plant ash and then pulled tightly with the strap.

I don't know which dynasty and which generation invented it, but this is probably the predecessor of sanitary napkins.

The four girls went to the stove pit to pick out the ashes of the plants and trees, collected some fine ash without impurities and put it into a two-month bag, tightened the mouth of the bag, and dusted off the outside of the bag.

In this way, itching, disease, and all kinds of discomfort can be imagined.

Since ancient times, human beings have multiplied, and women don't know how much helplessness and suffering they have endured behind their selfless maternal love.

Therefore, it is not easy for a woman, but a woman is great, and whoever tramples on a woman and who is an enemy of his mother should be punished by heaven.

Let's say, the four girls were busy for a while, and they stopped dealing with it, and changed into that set of checkered clothes and blue pants.

She felt hungry, so she washed a bowl of fried noodles with boiling water to satisfy her hunger.

Fried noodles are only available to her family for the time being.

After a bowl of fried noodles in oil, although the four girls were tired, she had something in her heart, so she turned out a mazha and sat at the door of the room and waited for her mother to come back.

I don't know whose cat is called Yangzi, which makes her upset.

Boredom, she turned her gaze to the eaves and the ridge of the roof, the pair of swallows were flying around with spring mud and feathers, she had never looked so carefully as today, looking at it, it aroused her reverie, as if the pairs of swallows were her and Brother Yakzi.

The four girls sat and waited for a long time before their mother came back.

Liu Shufen, the mother of the fourth girl, really went to dig wild vegetables.

Seeing her mother come back, the fourth girl got up and went to the gate to take the big basket she was carrying, which was full of dandelions, koji hemp and wild garlic.

The mother of the fourth girl asked curiously, "You haven't finished work yet, why did you come back so early?" ”

The four girls told the truth.

When it came to tearing off the sleeves of Brother Yakzi's clothes, her mother was angry and laughed: "You can really play tricks on people, how can you let Yakzi wear a sleeve to go back to this tun." ”

The fourth girl said, "Then what do you say I should do?" It's a big deal, our family will make him a new dress. ”

Liu Shufen suddenly had an epiphany: "You dead girl, you originally had this plan, so you shouldn't play tricks like this and make people more unlucky." ”

The fourth girl said: "I don't care if he is obscure or not, mother, give money, I will go to the supply and marketing cooperative." ”

Liu Shufen is an open-minded and generous person, only to hear her say: "This kid, I haven't seen him make a new dress all these years, the clothes and pants are patches and patches, you let him wear a new one, the pants are still torn, isn't it ugly to die?" If you want to do it, you can make a set for him, and he usually contributes to our family. ”

When the fourth girl heard this, she was very happy in her heart: "Mother is really a good person, bring it quickly." ”

Liu Shufen generously took out the money and cloth tickets from the kang cabinet, and said to the four girls: "You have to think about it, make it for the yaks, you can't make new clothes this year, our family only saves this cloth ticket for two years, you go to Xiaomei's house first, ask her mother, buy as much fabric as you need, and make him a set of labor cloth once you do it, anti-wear." ”

"Got it."

The four girls took the money and the cloth ticket, and walked out happily, going to the Qixing Town People's Supply and Marketing Cooperative ten kilometers away.