Grandma died, the eldest brother dropped out of school to work, Dad was introduced to finally find a woman willing to marry him, it is said that the woman's condition is that her own two children continue to go to school, and she doesn't care about the bride price of my two elder brothers' daughters-in-law, Dad readily agreed.

On the day my stepmother came, my uncle, aunt, second aunt and cousins, as well as some men and women in the village, old and young, all came to my house, and my stepmother wore a big red headscarf, a big red cotton jacket, and a package in her hand, and a boy who was a little older than me and a girl who was about the same as me, and the two children stood behind his mother, looking at everyone timidly. Dad changed his previous taciturn, only grandmother's obedient appearance, reached out and took the stepmother's package, and pulled the boy and girl to him, took out a few candy from his pocket and handed them to them, the two children saw the candy, immediately showed their liking, the boy put the candy into his pocket, the girl took out a candy and peeled it and put it in her mouth, I followed her movements and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, I ate sugar or when my grandfather was alive, the taste seemed to suddenly echo between my lips and teeth.

Dad pointed to my stepmother and said, "Lingling, call Mom!" "I think, my mother should not be like this, I have imagined my mother 10,000 times, I think my mother must be very beautiful, of course this mother is also beautiful, but my mother and this mother's beauty should be different, my mother must have dense hair, a wide forehead, big eyes, a high nose, a small and sexy mouth, and white and fine skin, she is kind and kind, generous and kind, my mother must love me very much.

I looked at my father, who was smiling at me for the first time, and then at my stepmother, and called out weakly, "Mom!" The stepmother smiled and agreed, "Alas......

Then she reached out and took my hand, put my hand on hers and said, "My dear baby! Look at your skinny, look at your hands, they are as rough as a child's hands! It's so pitiful for a child without a mother......", and a few tears fell out of her eyes.

I suddenly felt unprecedented warmth, my heart melted, God really has eyes, let me have a mother, I secretly swore in my heart that I must treat this mother well in the future.

After a closer look, I found that this mother is quite beautiful, although she has experienced wind and sun in the countryside, her skin is not as dark as other village women, so rough, she has a small nose, small eyes, and a small mouth, and her figure is also good, unlike most of the women here who are out of shape like a bucket.

My father dotingly pointed to the boy next to him and said to me, "This is Dundun, he is twelve years old this year, and your name is brother." Then he pointed to the girl: "This is Tingting, nine years old this year, you call me sister." I obediently called my brother and sister separately.

Dad gave me candy to everyone present, I don't know if it was because I had just behaved well or because Dad was too happy to see the people to have a share, Dad gave me the first two candies in his life, and the last two candies in his life.

In this way, the second brother, Brother Dundun, Tingting sister, father, stepmother and I lived together.

There are more people in the family, and it is also lively, my father and stepmother live in the upper room, Brother Dundun lives in the eldest brother's house, Tingting sister lives in the west room where the original uncle's family lives, and the second brother still lives in his house, I still live in the kitchen, half of it is used for cooking, and half of it is used to sleep on the kang.

Since my stepmother's family came to my house, my second brother has treated me a lot, he no longer dislikes me so obviously, and he still helps me do farm work when he has time.

A few days later, I was feeding the pigs, and my stepmother came to me: "My baby Ling'er, are you ten years old this year?" ”

Me: "Ten years old"

"You see that your Dundun brother and Tingting sister have been going to school, they have to go to school and then go to school, you didn't go to school before, now you're older, you're older since the first grade, and other classmates will laugh at you, so you won't go to school, right?"

I quickly shook my head: "I don't go to study, I go to study, no one mows the donkeys and sheep at home, and no one helps my father with his work." ”

The stepmother happily: "I'll just say, you are a sensible child, if I don't ask you, people who don't know will think that I am selfish, and only let my own children go to school, and don't let you go." ”

I quickly said, "No, Mom, my grandmother and dad didn't let me go before, but now I don't go by myself."

The stepmother happily hummed a little song and left.

A few days later, Dun Dun and Tingting moved to a school near us, leaving me and my father and stepmother to work. Because there are more people eating, the food at home is not enough to eat, and my stepmother said that reading is mental work, and Dun Dun and Tingting have to eat enough to read into the book, so I lived a half-starved and half-full life, coupled with heavy physical labor, so that my one-meter-five height has never grown one centimeter, but my father seems to have changed people, people are also energetic, talk more, and have more strength to work.

I still feed my donkeys, sheep and pigs, still cook and do laundry for the whole family, still help my father work in the fields, and occasionally marvel at the sound of reading, laughter, and the sound of the bell ringing from the school in the village on the opposite hillside.

The eldest brother works outside, because he has no skills, he can only work the construction site, and he is often deceived by the contractor, arrears of wages, often do not come to the salary, and he can't earn a few dollars all year round. My stepmother is unhappy every day, she throws her face at my father at every turn, and she makes me angry. She instructed me to work in a way that followed her, and if my way of working deviated slightly from what she said, she would say, "There are things that my mother has raised but not taught me, look at you stupidly, and you can kill people in a hurry if you do a job, and you see what work you do all day, and there are so many jobs to do, aren't you in a hurry?" ”

When she cursed, her eyebrows were raised, her mouth was crooked to the side, her eyes seemed to be about to spew fire, and she looked fierce and vicious, which was very terrifying.

The more she scolded me, the more afraid I became, and the more I was afraid, the more I couldn't understand her request, and if I couldn't understand her request, she would scold more fiercely, and it went on in a vicious circle, and finally it developed until I was afraid when I saw her.

Once it rained, the ground was very wet, and I couldn't go into the field to mow the grass for the pigs, so I looked for some mowing on the barren beach, but I came back late and missed the time to make lunch, so the stepmother complained to the sleeping father, saying that I went to play under the banner of mowing the grass for the pigs, and Tingting's sister went to school before she had time to eat lunch.

My father jumped up from the kang, picked up the brush to sweep the kang, grabbed me and prepared to beat, but for some reason he put down the fight and asked me to stand under an apricot tree in the backyard.

The rain was falling, the green apricot leaves were flipped under the beating of the rain, the slightly yellowed apricots exuded an alluring fragrance, and there was silence except for the rustle of the rain.

I guess I'm an orphan? No, I have relatives, but are they my relatives? Why don't you grow up quickly? But what am I going to do when I grow up? Do you want to get married when you grow up like your cousin, and you want to live in a strange family? Will they be nice to me?

When I grow up, I will build my own house under this apricot tree, a house like a castle, I will paint the round roof red, the surrounding walls will be painted white, and I will design a big eaves in a circle, so that I can sit under the eaves and enjoy the rain on rainy days, and I will not be so embarrassed by the rain as I am now. I'm going to decorate the inside of the house beautifully. I'm also going to make a fireplace and make a fire so I can heat and cook. I want to have a dog and a cat, I want to talk to them every day, and they will definitely accompany me, not as lonely and helpless as I am now......