The next morning, the old Li family got up early. Osmanthus cut a piece of pork belly, fried a large bowl of meat sauce for Mingdong, put it in a canning jar, and steamed it yesterday afternoon. A good cake is wrapped in a clean furoshiki.

    After breakfast, Mrs. Li took a puff of cigarettes and instructed Ming Dong: "When you arrive in Bingcheng, remember to write letters home from time to time, and go to your fourth uncle if you have any business, if he doesn't care Come back and tell me, I'll kill him with a cigarette and a pot."

    Ming Dong couldn't help laughing, he stood in front of Mrs. Li, his body was slightly thin and straight: "Damn, I'm an adult, there are teachers and classmates in the school, can I What's the big deal? Besides, if something really happens, there's still milk at home, and I'll write a letter and ask the milk to advise me."

    "Okay!" Mrs. Li was smoking a cigarette bag and grinning happily: "My eldest grandson is also an adult, and you should learn to make your own decisions in the future." With red-eyed sweet-scented osmanthus, Mrs. Li got off the kang and put on her shoes to go out: "Okay, I'll go see Zhen Zhen, you two should talk too, don't delay catching the train."

    Ming Dong glanced at Mrs. Li's figure disappearing at the door, then turned to look at Osmanthus standing in front of him, a complex emotion flashed on his face: "Today, you will be at home after you go home. Stay a few more days, it's rare to go back twice a year."

    A hint of shyness flashed on Osmanthus' face, she touched the braided braid hanging on her chest, lowered her head and said softly, "Just go home and have a look, and you can't stay too long. I can't be missing."

    "Actually, if you want to go home, you can tell me." Li Mingdong looked at her with a hint of urgency: "Now is not the time ten years ago, you can go home at any time. ."

    It seems that she didn't understand what Li Mingdong said, Osmanthus still maintained a shy attitude, and a touch of pink flew on her face: "But this is my home, I was married when I was a child. Isn't that right?" She looked up at Ming Dong, her eyes full of admiration: "Brother Ming Dong, don't worry, go to study, I will take care of you at home, I will wait for you to come home."

    In such a conservative age, Osmanthus’ words were warm and straightforward, Ming Dong involuntarily took two steps back, a bit of fear on his face, he looked at Osmanthus but didn’t know what to say How to reply, under the silence, my throat feels dry and a little hot, and I can't help swallowing.

      , then turned his head in embarrassment: "I have to go."

    Osmanthus was a little disappointed, but when Ming Dong turned around, she put on a familiar and gentle smile: "I'll help you get something."

    Ming Dong carried the already rolled up bedding on his back, and touched the money sewn into the clothes, and then he safely picked up the big bag containing the clothes and books. Osmanthus followed behind with a basket containing dry food, meat sauce, and pickles, like a virtuous little daughter-in-law.

    The two walked to the door, and Li Mingdong went to the east room to say goodbye to Mrs. Li, Li Muwu, and Wang Sufen. Mingdong has been studying in Yidong since he was in high school. He has spent a lot of time away from home. The Li family is used to it, because it is not so sad. Li Muwu looked at his son, who was about the same height as him, but smiled honestly: "Listen to the teacher over there, study hard, and don't fight with your classmates." Wang Sufen hugged Zhen Zhen and said, "Don't stay up late at night, in winter. Dress warmly, and write a letter when you are short of things, and I will ask your father to send it by mail."

    Mr. Li glanced at Osmanthus who was following Mingdong, and thought about the marriage of the two children at the end of the year, but now it is difficult to say in front of the two children, Li The old lady pondered what to do when she turned back and discussed with Wang Sufen.

    Mingxi came in from outside, took the big burden from Mingdong's hand and carried it on his back, turned his head and said hello to Mrs. Li: "Honey, then I'll go see my brother. ?"

     

    Osmanthus answered, but still sent it out for a long time, until Mingdong urged him again and again, and then handed him the basket in his hand, watching the two figures disappear from sight, only one step Three turned back.

    At home, Li Muwu put the meat to be sent to Yuezhang's house on the cart, and put two small wooden stools, which were prepared for Mrs. Li and Wang Sufen.

    Mrs. Li went to the kitchen, put the lard boiled with sweet-scented osmanthus in the cabinet, put the oil in two bowls, and put the rest in the cabinet and locked it . Ming Nan and Ming Bei both stood at the door of the kitchen, watching him lock things in the cabinets in the same way, and couldn't help crying: "It's locked up, what are we going to eat for lunch?"

      The old lady's tongue is quick and her hands and feet are even more swift, and she has already tidy up the kitchen in a blink of an eye: "This life is about flowing water, how can you eat all the good things at one time? That's why the prodigal family can't live, I tell you, The days of being at home are over, do you see who has meat and fish like ours?"

    Mingbei flattened his mouth, trying to gain more benefits for himself: "Then the oil is not sprinkled with sugar!"

    Mr. Li glanced at him and saw how greedy he was about to cry, so she had to open the cabinet again, took out a bag of white sugar and carefully scattered a little in the bowl, and hurriedly put it back locked up. Now white sugar is also in short supply, and Mingnan and Mingbei don't want much, as long as they can taste a little sugar.

    Mr. Li locked the door, straightened her clothes, and instructed again: "The meat in our house is kept in iron buckets and frozen in a large water tank, and there is still a sunbathing behind it. You two can lock the door when you go in and out, don't let anyone touch it."

    Ming Bei's mouth was full of oil, and he waved his hand without raising his head: "Don't worry, milk, even if I lose meat, I won't lose it!"

    Mrs. Li was instantly happy: "Okay, have ambition."

    Li Muwu had already prepared the carriage outside, Wang Sufen came out of the east room with Zhen Zhen, a kettle, a quilt and a small bag of wild fruits in his hand, Mrs. Li hurried over to pick up the things when she heard the movement : "I'll just take these, you can take care of Zhen Zhen and don't drop her."

    Mr. Li walked to the door rambled, and while closing her own door, she did not forget to shout inside: "Come out and plug in the door!"

    Ming Nan put down the bowl and hurried out. Mrs. Li originally wanted to ask a few more words, but Ming Nan put his hands together and quickly locked the door with the bolt.

     

    This is the first time for Zhen Zhen to go out to visit when she is so big. She is sitting in Wang Sufen's arms, looking at the surrounding scenery with a pair of eyes curiously. I grew up in a city in my last life, and I am familiar with high-rise buildings of reinforced concrete. Sometimes I go to some farmhouses or the most beautiful rural tourism. It is also a row of neat houses and a wide and neat asphalt road, like this authentic countryside. It was the first time she saw the scene.

    The horse-drawn carriage was running on the narrow road, with the continuous red pine hills on one side and the flat and low earthen houses on the other side. I went back to water the vegetables grown in the yard, and some of them hurried out with baskets and looked like they were going to go up the mountain.

    As we walked further and further, the houses gradually disappeared, and the carriage turned a corner and turned to a long and narrow forest path. There was no other scenery on both sides of the path except the towering trees. But it's just a tree, Zhen Zhen also looks at it with great interest. She didn't study trees in her previous life, but now she seems to know what species it is just by looking at it. There are a mixture of red pine, spruce, birch, linden, poplar, and willow. Together they form a magnificent forest sea.

    Zhen Zhen likes the feeling of being in the forest the most, feeling that every breath can feel the vigorous vitality released by various plants. Zhen Zhen was sitting in Wang Sufen's arms, looking left and right restlessly, and occasionally turned her head to the tree behind.

    The old lady Li and Wang Sufen, who knew Zhen Zhen's special ability, were afraid that she would make something wrong, Wang Sufen held Zhen Zhen's little hand, coaxed her and said, "Good girl, maybe it's just here. Someone is passing by, we must not let the branches fly over again, do you hear?"

    Ms. Li took out the washed wild fruits and handed them to Zhen Zhen: "Good treasure, milk has brought you fruits, let's eat this, and we will pick them in autumn, okay? "

    Zhen Zhen took a blueberry and put it in her mouth, showing a lovely smile to Mrs. Li. Seeing that the little granddaughter smiled so sweetly, Mrs. Li couldn't help laughing along with her: "My good treasure is so good, the longer she grows, the prettier she gets. It's a blessing to look at her eyebrows."

    "Blessed to be appointed." Wang Sufen particularly agreed with Mrs. Li's words, she lowered her voice and said in Mrs. Li's ear: "With Zhen Zhen's ability, you can never go hungry. "

    Mr. Li nodded, but she instructed Wang Sufen not at ease: "This matter must not be leaked, when Zhen Zhen is older and can understand the words, she will see the sky. Tell her. If her ability was like having a cornucopia in the past, who wouldn't be envious."

    "Don't worry, mother, Zhen Zhen is my daughter, can I still not love her?" Wang Sufen quickly assured her, and then she was a little worried: "Mother, you said it's fine at this time, Ye Guo Although I’m not familiar with it, fortunately, it’s all over the mountains and plains, so no one will think about it. What would you do if Zhen Zhen was greedy in the winter and brought back a pot?”

    Mrs. Li was also a little worried: "I will give her some dried blueberries and sardines in the autumn, but I can't do it with frozen pears and frozen persimmons. I think she also has pine nuts and hazelnuts. I like to eat, so I can coax her in a different way when the time comes."

    Zhen Zhen sat on Wang Sufen's lap with a moved face, when she saw that there was no outsider, she couldn't hold back her curiosity and tried it twice. It's better to be more secretive.

    Thinking of the seeds of various wild fruits that she threw from the window to the back eaves, Zhen Zhen snickered in her heart, eat one and grow another, so that no one will find it.

    While talking along the way, the carriage walked for about an hour and finally turned off the mountain road. In the distance, I saw rows of low earth houses, with some piled up on the side of the road. wood.

    Zhen Zhen stuffed the last lantern fruit brought by Mrs. Li into her mouth, then stretched out both hands towards Mrs. Li and said vaguely, "Wash."

    "This child loves cleanliness." Mrs. Li said happily, took out the small handkerchief that Zhen Zhen had brought with her from her pocket, poured some water from the kettle, and helped her handle the The face is washed clean.

    "Fenzi is back?" An old man driving a donkey cart came towards him, Li Muwu quickly gave way to the cart and let the donkey pass first.

    "Uncle Zhu, are you pulling the wood?" Wang Sufen replied cheerfully.

    "Well, Mudu won't talk to you for a while today, you can go home quickly, your Aunt Zhu listened to your mother talking about you a while ago." The old man said while driving The donkey cart went to the foot of the mountain.

    Speaking of which, Wang Sufen has not returned to her mother's house since she became pregnant. Before, she was too busy to be homesick. When she really got home, she looked at the familiar grass and trees with enthusiasm. The neighbors and villagers who lived there were immediately excited and shivered, and regardless of whether Zhen Zhen understood or not, they kept introducing to her: "Zhen Zhen, have you seen it, this is the Qingsong Forest Management Office, where my grandma lives. "

    Zhen Zhen nodded cheerfully, Wang Sufen couldn't help kissing her: "My treasure is smart and can understand everything."

    While speaking, the carriage had already arrived in the village, and there was an endless stream of people coming in and out. Anyone who heard the movement came out to take a look, and greeted Wang Sufen warmly: "Fenzi has returned to her mother's house, you Is it your little girl? Is she really handsome?"

     

    "Sufen will come to sit at home in a while, we won't be chatting for a while. Hey, Sufen, is this your mother-in-law? Hi, auntie!" Another woman who was about the same age as Wang Sufen came out of the gate. come out.

    Mr. Li squinted and smiled and nodded, and explained to herself by the way: "I haven't seen my in-laws for more than half a year now, so I came to visit."

     

    Old Mrs. Wang was sitting in the yard picking wild vegetables with her daughter-in-law. Hearing this, she stood up quickly, wiped the mud on her hands from her apron, and hurried out.

    At this time, the carriage had arrived at the door. Li Muwu got out of the carriage and called out to the old lady Wang who ran out: "Mother!"

    "Hey! Mu Wu is here!" Mrs. Wang greeted with a smile, and she was overjoyed when she saw the car: "Hey, my in-laws are here too, hurry down and I will help You!" He turned around and shouted again: "Eldest daughter-in-law, come out quickly, your sister's mother-in-law is here."

    He Dongmei, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Wang family, put the wild vegetables aside, and then took the broom and swept the rotten roots and leaves into the corner, and then came out quickly.

    When Mrs. Li and Wang Sufen got out of the car, Li Muwu drove the cart to the open space next to it and tied it up. The people in the Qingsong Forest Management Office basically make a living by pulling wood, so every time There is a large area between each household, and there are thick wooden stakes in the middle, which are specially used for tying horses and donkeys. After the horse was tied, Li Muwu took out the basket containing the wild boar.

    He Dongmei and Wang Sufen walked in while chatting, she looked at Wang Sufen holding a white and tender little girl in her arms, couldn't help smiling and asked: "This is the girl you gave birth to in the twelfth lunar month last year. Did you name it?"

    "My real name is Li Mingzhen, and my nickname is Zhen Zhen." Wang Sufen said with a smile.

    "Zhen Zhen..." He Dongmei clicked her tongue: "It sounds weird."

      Zhen Zhen pointed at He Dongmei and said, "Bao, this is the first aunt."

    Zhen Zhen showed two small teeth and had a sweet smile on her face, He Dongmei couldn't help laughing: "It's not afraid of life, so what, Sufen, hold the child and hurry in House, I'll go and pour some water for you." After speaking, he hurried to the kitchen to flush three bowls of sugar water and brought them in, handed one to Mrs. Li and the other to Wang Sufen.

    Mr. Wang still had mud on her hands. After saying a few words, she came out to scoop up water and washed her hands. When she looked up, she saw Li Muwu came in with a basket. He said, "Come on, come on, what else are you taking! Well, what are you taking?"

    Li Muwu smiled honestly: "Yesterday I went up the mountain to hunt a wild boar, so I'll bring you some pork."

    "Wild boar?" Mrs. Wang was surprised and delighted, she hurried over to lift the tree cover, and saw that there was a large piece of pork belly in it. Thirty or forty kilograms, I couldn't stop laughing: "Why did you bring so much meat, you can keep it and eat it."

    "There are more at home, this is for you." Li Muwu rubbed his hands and carried the basket to the kitchen. Seeing that there was only half a tank of water left in the water tank, he took the pole. Going out to fetch water. Seeing this, Mrs. Wang quickly grabbed him and said, "Come in and drink water, and your brother will come back and let him fetch water later."

    "It's okay, I can't sit still, mother, go into the room and talk." Mrs. Wang couldn't argue, so she could only watch Li Muwu go out with a bucket, and after entering the room, she couldn't help it Zhu Zhu praised: "You said that Mu Wu is such a good boy, he is always restless, and he has to go to fetch water without a sip of water."

     

    Mr. Wang sat next to her, and she couldn't hide the joy on her face: "Why do you still bring such a big piece of pork, you have a lot of family, you can keep it for eating."

    Mr. Li smiled and patted Mrs. Wang's hand: "Isn't this a new taste, now the weather is hot and I can't hold it, marinated is not as good as fresh. I Thinking that the non-staple food store has not been supplying pork for more than half a year, I managed to get a wild boar, and all relatives have to taste it."

    Mr. Wang grinned happily and thanked him again and again, turned her head to see He Dongmei sitting next to her and looked stupid, and glared at her quickly: "Hurry up and pack up the pork, and cook a pot at noon By the way, get some rice out and steam a bowl of rice for my in-laws to eat."

    Mr. Wang hurriedly waved her hand: "It's enough to eat pancakes, you can eat something as expensive as rice." After a while, she remembered that Zhen Zhen couldn't eat pancakes, and quickly added: "If there is Rice, cook a bowl of porridge for Zhen Zhen, she can't eat anything else." He Dongmei agreed and hurried to the kitchen.

    When Wang Sufen's family arrived at the door just now, although He Dongmei looked very happy, she couldn't help but feel a little worried. The son-in-law in Beicha is a distinguished guest, not to mention his in-laws, he must be a guest of honor. He Dongmei thought that there was not much rice and noodles at home, and was thinking about whether to kill a chicken to entertain guests, but when she thought that the chicken had just laid eggs a few days ago, she felt a little reluctant. When she didn't know what to do, she heard her mother-in-law say that her brother-in-law brought wild boar, and she was overjoyed.

    He Dongmei came to the kitchen, took the pork out of the basket, first cut a pound of succulent, washed it, cut it into mahjong pieces, and put some sugar in the cauldron to fry the color extravagantly , ready to make a braised pork stew with potatoes.

     Best in summer.

    But even so, He Dongmei still felt thin, so she thought about cutting a little meat to go to the next door neighbor's house, and soon after returning a few cucumbers and a few foreign persimmons, the cucumbers were cut into strips and wild vegetables When they got together, the foreign persimmons were going to be fried together with eggs and mixed with porridge for the sister-in-law's daughter.

    He Dongmei was in full swing in the kitchen. In the house, Mrs. Wang looked at Zhen Zhen who was sitting on the kang and was playing with a handkerchief. Didn't you come?"

    Wang Sufen said with a smile: "Dongzi's train today, go to Bingcheng to go to college, Mingxi will send him; Mingnan and Mingbei are too naughty and eat a lot, I let them watch the house on."

    Old Mrs. Wang felt a little resentful when she heard it: "I don't come twice a year, don't I miss them? It's okay to have one meal, but I won't be able to eat a few meals a year, next time It can't be like that."

    "Then I'll bring them during Chinese New Year." Wang Sufen quickly assured.

    Once Mrs. Li saw Zhen Zhen playing with the handkerchief for a while, she lowered her head and dozed off, she hugged her quickly, rubbed her little face and coaxed: "Is Bao sleepy? Come to me It's time for Jiabao to sleep, is it okay for Bao to sleep in grandma's arms?" Zhen Zhen shook her head, struggling to lie down on the kang.

    Zhen Zhenda was able to stand up and consciously not let people fall asleep in her arms. She thought it was uncomfortable and tired to sleep in such a crouched position. Madam Li also knew her fault and hurriedly asked Wang Sufen to put her to sleep. She put the quilt she brought on, put Zhen Zhen on it carefully, and gently patted her to sleep.

    Although Mrs. Wang had seen Mrs. Li's ecstatic appearance when Zhen Zhen was born, she never thought that the old lady who spoke so eloquently would be so patient when coaxing her granddaughter.

    Old Mrs. Li hummed an out-of-tune tune, and patted it with her hands. It only took two or three minutes before Zhen Zhen fell asleep.

    "Oh, why does this child have such peace of mind?" Seeing this, Mrs. Wang became envious: "My stinky ball plays a donkey when he takes a nap, and he is still three years old. ."

    Once Mrs. Li saw how loud her voice was, she quickly waved her hand: "Don't be noisy, my granddaughter feels light, or we can talk in the yard."

    Mr. Wang couldn't help smacking her tongue: "This girl from your family is too expensive."

    "That's it!" Madam Li was very proud, she stretched out a hand and shook it in front of Madam Wang: "It has been passed down for five generations, and finally such a girl has been found. Zi gave her the name Zhen Zhen, or else I would call her Jin Gudao."

    Zhen Zhen, who had just slipped out of consciousness, heard Mrs. Li's words and was so frightened that she slipped and fell to the ground.

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