Text/Liu Yaqin
The sun after autumn is still so poisonous. People are so bored in the ground that they can sweat when they roll. Qiu Xia was weeding in her own peppercorn field, and happened to be passing by her sister-in-law, "Qiu Xia, do you know that?" She asked mysteriously.
Qiu Xia was stunned: "What's the matter?"
The straight kid pretended to be surprised and said, "You don't know yet! Aunt Congzhen (Qiu Xia's stepmother) went to the hospital for examination a few days ago and said that there was a lump on her neck. I heard that it was a haha (bad) disease, alas!"
"Really?" Qiu Xia was shocked, and a stream of breath ran straight up his spine and headed towards his forehead.
Now the sister-in-law of the threadbare asked anxiously and stammered: "I...I also heard from the villagers, and I'm not sure. You... or... go back to the house to ask what happened."
Qiu Xia could no longer calm down. She turned around in a irritable way back and forth in the ground, not knowing whether to weed the hoe in her hand, or to hoe trees, or even her feet.
Qiu Xia is actually the daughter picked up by Fushun. During the difficult period in the early 1960s, the young and strong Fu Shuntian went out to pick up feces in unknown ways. When he walked by the canal, he heard the cry of a baby. He walked over in search of the sound. A small quilt wrapped around a baby, tied with a rag strip outside. The baby cried loudly and tear people's hearts, and the quilt shook with the child's cry.
Fushun couldn't help but curse: "Who is this? I don't care about the baby. I don't want to leave it here. If you don't have the ability, you can give birth to them!" After all, Fushun still took the baby home.
The wife was very happy when she saw the child. The couple had been married for several years and had no children. They were thinking about adopting one. Isn’t this a blessing from God! However, his wife soon overshadowed her excitement and said to Fushun: "We lack food and clothing on this day. Can we support her?"
Fushun patted her firm breasts: "Don't worry, if we have something to eat in one bite, there will be something to eat in our baby, and we can't be hungry. Besides, our village has been blessed by saints from ancient times to the present, and the baby will definitely support her." Fushun kept picking up good words and comforting her. When the wife opened the quilt, she saw that it was a girl. She hurriedly said, "Good girl. If we have a boy in the future, it won't affect anything. Girls are a big family."
Fushun and the other two liked this child very much. They named the child Qiuxia and took Qiuxia as the flesh and beads on their palms, which were even more close than their biological ones. No matter how difficult and difficult the couple is, they can't help Qiu Xia. She has everything she has to eat and wear. Flowery shirts, flowers and trousers, and two braids struggling on their heads, like a butterfly flying around their parents, making them so happy that they couldn't stop.
Qiu Xia grew up day by day under the careful care of his parents. When he was five years old, Qiu Xia was chasing and playing with muddy with his partner. Suddenly his face was flushed and he couldn't breathe. His whole body was instantly soft. Fushun was so scared that he took Qiu Xia into his arms. Fushun's wife was stroking Qiu Xia's back while comforting him, "My baby is good, quietly, vent his anger." Qiu Xia also committed it once in the fifth grade of elementary school, but he did not commit it as he grew up. Fushun and his wife were unable to have a man or a woman, so they loved Qiu Xia even more. In the blink of an eye, twenty years have passed, and Qiu Xia has also grown into a graceful and graceful girl. Fushun and his wife were thinking about finding a son-in-law for their daughter. After repeated selections, Fushun tried to choose and choose, and finally he looked at the young man who was a little dull in the neighboring village. Pingwa soon entered the door. The family of four lived a life of wind and water, which was very heartwarming. At that time, rural land was also divided into households, and a family with four laborers would soon get better.
Who knew that Fushun's wife had a poor life, and she never got up again after falling down, and she disappeared soon. A year later, the enthusiastic person introduced Congzhen from the neighboring township. Fushun was naturally happy after meeting, but he still covered up that he was listening to his daughter Qiu Xia's opinions again. Qiu Xia saw that Congzhen was dressed cleanly, was neat, and he was pregnant. If Congzhen entered the door, he would have to settle things such as confinement and taking care of children in the future, and there would be no need to spend money to hire people, so he nodded and agreed.Congzhen entered the door smoothly and became Qiu Xia's stepmother.
Qiu Xia and Ping's kid gave birth to two children, and Fushun and his two children were naturally responsible for the two children to eat and pick them up and drop them off at school. On weekdays, the milk powder pockets of the two children are mostly from Fushun and Zhining, and the Qiuxia and peaceful baby An An Ningning works outside. Qiu Xia was very satisfied with this stepmother. During the holidays, he was indispensable for food, clothing, filial piety, blessing, Shuncongzhen and the others. After a few years, Qiu Xia Pingwa struggled to build a new house and separated from her parents. Of course, Qiu Xia lived in a new house for four, and Fushun and his two families guarded the old house. In recent years, Fushun has become older and his physical strength is not as good as before, so he naturally gave Qiu Xia a seed. Qiu Xia brought food to Fushun for two bites every year, just enough food, and gradually he had such limited exchanges. Life is just like this. Everyone in the village said that Fushun had started to enjoy the happiness of the Qiuxiao, and Fushun always laughed silently.
But now I heard that my stepmother was sick and still had the terrible cancer, Qiu Xia felt uneasy. She carried the hoe and went home anxiously. Her family has three bungalows, white porcelain pieces , red lacquer door, and it looks like a wealthy family. Pingwa was sitting in the yard drinking tea leisurely. Qiu Xia opened his mouth and said, "You are being stabbed, don't look at when, and you are still having sex here!"
Pingwa's second monk was confused: "When, noon! You took the wrong medicine, why did you come back before meals?"
Qiu Xia looked disdainful: "You don't worry about anything cowardly in the house. The old woman went to the hospital a few days ago, and there was a bump on her neck. The examination said it was cancer. How did you do this?"
"What? Cancer?" Pingwa stood up in surprise, turned around the tea table for a few times, sat down, picked up the teacup and took a sip, and then said calmly: "What else can I do? Can I show it to my mother if I am sick!"
Qiu Xia glared: "Look at what you said, look, what do you think? That disease is a bottomless pit. No matter how much money you spend, you will die. Alas——, do you have to have money to see it? Hey, you are in your 80s. You spend money on medical treatment, and I have to serve you all the people who sleep in bed and pillows. Why don't you work so hard to death?" After hesitating, she leaned over to Pingwa's face and whispered: "Hey, I'll tell you, it's better to let her go back. Let's just take care of her first year."
Pingwa jumped up as soon as he heard this: "Are you talking about humans? Are you still worried? Mom has been in our house for decades. When I was serving you during confinement and took care of my children, we could go out to work and earn money peacefully. Thanks to my mother's care, we saved a lot of worry. Oh, now that I am sick, you think it's a burden and let me go back. Are you doing this? Aren't you afraid that the villagers will stumble on their backs and scold me!" Pingwa just complained. He is an outsider, and the real decision of this family is Qiu Xia.
"Why are you just a porcelain hammer? Now everyone lives their own lives, who still cares about these idiots?" Qiu Xia tugs Pingwa's forehead fiercely and said angrily: "That's all about this, don't you be idle, listen to me."
After Qiu Xia said that, he opened the bamboo curtain and entered the room, closing the door with a "bang". Pingwa sat on the stool and stared at the room, continuing to drink tea.
That day, Qiu Xia took a few rafts and came to this old house in the north of the village. This is an old alley, the houses are very dilapidated, and they are like old people, barely holding on there. The households have basically moved out, and only the old man Fushun and his wife Congzhen still live here. The old-fashioned yard, where the doors on both sides collapsed and the other side hung there, worrying that they would fall down at any time. It is dark and winter when I go to the house. I also need to pull the lights at home during the day. The lights are not on, so I can see clearly the wrinkled faces of the old couple in a daze. Old man Fushun sat on an old-fashioned chair at the table, and his wife Congzhen sat on a small stool and lowered her head to pick up beans.
As soon as Qiu Xia stepped into the room, he smiled and said, "Big, Mom, this is the rape in my field. You two can make dumplings at noon." Looking at Qiu Xia's smile on his face and listening to Qiu Xia's excessively hot words, the old man Fushun looked suspicious: This woman lives like a monkey. How could she become generous today to give radish ? He thought to himself that it was probably the night owl who had entered the house.
Qiu Xia said to Fushun on the chair: "Da, I have been working outside for many years and I have no time to take care of you. You see, both of my children are married now, and the matter is over. We are usually idle except for the work in the field. You can move in from now on. I, Pingwa, take care of you," Qiu Xia turned around, walked to Congzhen with two steps, squatted down, put one hand on the arm of Congzhen, stepmother Congzhen, who was lowered to pick up beans, paused, lifted up, and said, "Mom, you have been in our house for thirty or forty years, and I have suffered a lot. I, Pingwa and the children, remember it. My big body is gradually getting worse now, I will take care of me in the future. What about you, go back to my hometown and my daughter to enjoy a few days of blessings." As he spoke, Qiu Xia stood up, his eyes moving back and forth between Fushun and Congzhen, for fear that their parents would have had a fierce reaction, so she was ready to escape at any time.
Hearing his daughter Qiu Xia's words, the old man Fushun struggled to stand up from the chair and touched the cutter knife on the desk. His lips trembled and his whole body trembled, but he couldn't get up. The beans in Congzhen's hand were "swish" all over the floor...
It was late at night, and the old alley was pitch black and silent. Owl was on the tree in the front yard. "Woo-Woo-Woo--" screamed miserably, and flew away again, flew to another tree to continue screaming. The scream broke through the night sky and went further away. Under the dim light, Fushun and Congzhen sat in the pit, frowning and silent. Fushun's heart ached in pain. He frowned and breathed a long sigh, comforting Congzhen: "Old woman, it's okay, I'm here, see who can drive you away! "Congzhen held back the tears in her eyes and said nothing. She thought to herself that although she was later, she had been in this family for decades. How could she say that this was her last nest?
Qiu Xia sat on the clean kang and said to Pingwa who was watching TV: "I have said a lot now and let the old woman leave. "
Pingwa muttered: "It's been decades, how can you say it? ”
Qiu Xia sneered: “Just relying on you, what kind of personnel can you do! If it weren’t for me, I would have divided my household registration into Dahe, could he be rated as a poor household and a minimum living allowance? Can the house in the town be given to us? If the old woman leaves, the large minimum living allowance and senior citizenship subsidies will all belong to us, and we will also plant the land. Just give yourself enough food and clothing! "
Pingwa has nothing to say.
The tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop. Qiu Xia is determined to chase Congzhen away, so he goes to find fault in every three days, from calling his mother at first to being rude and scolding until he starts. One day Qiu Xia comes to make trouble again, pushing Congzhen backwards and drops to the threshold, hurting his waist, and cannot get off the kang for several days.
Congzhen's daughter comes to visit her mother, and Congzhen helplessly said to her daughter: "The other person Qiu Xiawa has made up his mind and wants to drive me away..." Seeing her mother's life, the daughter was angry: "Let's go, you have served his family for decades, and you can't leave in vain. ”
Congzhen struggled into the village office with a stick. After repeated persuasion by the mediation director Wang Shancheng, the mediation director, finally Fushun compensated Congzhen with 5,000 yuan, and added a coffin and a piece of old clothes. The money was made by Fushun's daughter Qiu Xia.
My daughter and son-in-law drove a tricycle to pick up Congzhen. The weather was gloomy, and it was twisted out. The sky flashed in the west many times but no thunder farts came out. Old man Fushun hid in the inner room and couldn't come out. Listening to their hissing sound of carrying the coffin and loading the car, his heart was as painful as a knife. He was crying silently in the room. coffin board was loaded into the car. Congzhen threw himself on the coffin board before going out and cried: Fushun, you are a heartless person. I have been with you for decades. Can't you let me die and bury you with you?
Congzhen sat on the son-in-law's tricycle, along with the coffin board and a dressed in a bush, leaving the desolate old alley with a "rattle rattle" sound. The only old man Fushun was left in the old alley!
The car walked to the new alley, and everyone stood on both sides of the village road and pointed and said nonstop, and the village cadres kept sighing.Qiu Xia and Pingwa never left the closed door. They only heard the sound of tricycles and smelled the choking black smoke coming in through the crack of the door...
A few months later, Fushun moved to the new house built in the town. New doors, new beds, new air conditioners, and even the toilet are new. But there is not much joy to live here alone. He is not used to everything here and is soon taken back to his hometown by Qiu Xia.
After Congzhen left, Fushun's back became even more hunched and it was difficult to walk. He had to lie on the kang all day long, staring at the roof alone in a daze. Except for serving meals twice a day, Qiu Xia rarely comes again.
Wang Shancheng came to visit in winter. The air in the room was dirty, and Fushun struggled to get off the kang, and he was ashamed to say something again: "I want... to let you come forward and call... wife back!"
Wang Shancheng was surprised: "Uncle Fushun, your woman tried every means to drive the person away. You know how much trouble it took to talk about this."
Old man Fushun said to Wang Shancheng tremblingly: "Qiuxia wants her mother back now."
"Oh, Uncle Fushun, Qiuxia has given birth to you, how can I ask someone to come back now? Is he a grave like that?" Wang Shancheng was even more surprised, and put his head in front of Fushun and whispered, "Uncle Fushun, I'm going to tell you that I saw Aunt Congzhen two days ago, and she also wanted to come back. But the woman's son-in-law was afraid that she would suffer and die when she came back..." The cold air outside the house instantly attacked Fushun.
During breakfast that day, Qiu Xia pushed open the door with the bowl. He was so scared that the bowl fell to the ground. The rice fell all over the ground, and ran out of the alley howling like a pig. Fushun hung straight on the cabinet...
Fushun was dead, buried under the alkaline in the canal where he picked Qiuxia.
A year later, a new tomb was piled up next to the tomb of the old man Fushun. What was buried inside was Qiu Xia.
The next element section has arrived. Pingwa took two sons and four grandsons to the grave. The children followed Pingwa to kneel on Fushun's grave. Pingwa burned the money and burned paper again. "Big, I will always remember your words. I will definitely take care of the children!" The children called the grandpa and the grandpa to cry. Pingwa moved to Qiuxia's grave again, and yelled in the mouth of burning the paper: "Qiuxia, cook and serve the big meal there. When it is cold, remember to warm up the big clothes and serve him well!" Pingwa pulled out the fire with a short stick, and then said, "Qiuxia, I have never told you in my life that you have congenital heart disease. When we get married, Da would also remind me not to tell you, for fear that you will suffer losses in your personality─" Tears flowed down my cheeks and dripped on the flames...
The eldest granddaughter came over and lay on Pingwa's shoulder, "Grandpa, what did you say to my mother?" Pingwa turned around and still knelt on the ground: "Baby, great-grandfather said that the saints would bless grandma and us!"
[Author profile]
Liu Yaqin, female, online name, looking up to time. He is from Huazhou District, Weinan City and currently works in the Daming Town Government. Tell the stories of the people, express true feelings with your pen, and understand the colorful life.
