Life is more than just living

Chen Xu was talking to Liu Yun when he received a message from Li Chang: Chen Xu, you have a good rest these two days. There will be new work tasks on Monday. Chen Xu felt a little baffled, and Li Chang's words were a little meaningless. But half an hour later, she seemed to understand Li Chang's intention. Chen Xugang just returned to the dormitory and received a message from Wang Ran: Chen Xu, I have something to do tomorrow, please do me a favor (fist-cup expression)! A classmate is getting married tomorrow, and I have to be the bridesmaid. Director Li has arranged work for me today, but I haven’t finished it yet. I have to report it tomorrow afternoon. The documents are on my desk. Please, please! Chen Xu looked at Wang Ran's message and suddenly understood Li Chang's intention. Li Chang probably guessed that Wang Ran would push the job to her, and implicitly reminded her not to be a bad person. Chen Xu thought for a while and replied: Sorry, I have to go back to Beicheng to see my grandma tomorrow, so I can't help you. Wang Ran did not reply to the message.

The next morning, after dinner, Chen Xu changed into the clothes he wore at school and prepared to go back to Beicheng to help his grandma clean her room. This set of clothes was placed at Liu Jingsheng's house together with his luggage. When he came to work, Liu Jingsheng refused to take it with him. Chen Xu said that the clothes were still intact so he could wear them for work. At that time, Liu Jingsheng still laughed. He said there was no chance of working so quickly. The opportunity to work has come, right? As soon as Chen Xu walked out of the door of the procuratorate's office building, he saw Wang Ran rushing over. Wang Ran saw that Chen Xu was a little unnatural and asked, "What are you doing?" Chen Xu said openly, "I'm going back to Beicheng. Clean the house for my grandma. Wang Ran said oh and then walked into the office building.

Chen Xu didn't look back. She sneered. Wang Ran had nothing to do with her classmate getting married as a bridesmaid. She just wanted to push her job to Chen Xu. She had pushed her job to Chen Xu several times before. Chen Xu thought he would make it after dinner when he had nothing to do, so he didn't bother with her. But she didn't expect that after she said such unacceptable words the afternoon before yesterday, she had the nerve to ask Chen Xu to work overtime on the weekend to help her, and really made Chen Xu a soft persimmon. Although Li Chang didn't say it explicitly, he secretly gave Chen Xu some advice. Chen Xu got on the bus and rushed to Longcheng Bus Station, and got on the bus to Beicheng. When she was almost home, Chen Xu bought some fruit to carry. She was wondering if General Tie would be guarding the door again. Unexpectedly, when she came to the door and opened the door, she felt a little weird: the last time she came, the yard was full of waste, but this time it was cleaned up, as if she had returned to the time when her parents were still there 20 years ago. Chen Xu walked into the yard and looked at it suspiciously. The window glass was also very clean. Unlike the last time he came here, he couldn't see inside. Chen Xu opened the door of the outer room and walked in. He heard someone talking in the room. Chen Xu was outside. After calling out grandma, the two people in the room hurriedly walked out. It turned out to be Liu Jiaxin's grandma and Chen Xu's grandma. When you enter, the kitchen is very clean. The dazzling white walls look like they have been repainted, and they no longer look dirty with flies flying around. Grandma Liu took Chen Xu into the house. The furniture in the house was still the same as before, but it had been wiped clean. The walls are as clean as the kitchen. Liu Jiaxin's grandma said quickly: "On the day you came back last time, your grandma contacted the rag collector and sold all the rags in the house. She said that the house was too dirty and you had no place to live when you came back. No, your grandma has been there for the past few months. I have been doing some cleaning, and I said I would keep it clean until you come back." Chen Xu walked to the house where she used to live again, and it was also clean inside. Chen Xu was in a daze for a moment. At this time, she could no longer hear what Grandma Liu was talking about. She seemed to have returned to more than 20 years ago. At that time, the family was in harmony. Her parents went to work every day, and her grandmother took her to sleep in the hut. , Mom and Dad live in the main house, and the house is always spotless. Grandma is a tidy person and always keeps the house tidy. After his parents divorced, grandma moved Chen Xu to the main house. Later, grandma stopped cleaning. Later, after Chen Xu went to school, he moved to the small house and cleaned it by himself every day.

Chen Xu sat by his bed, touching the new quilt, while Grandma Liu took credit for it, "Your grandma prepared it for you, but I picked it out. She has not gone shopping or bought things in these years, and her taste has deteriorated."

Seeing everything his grandma had prepared for him, Chen Xu felt very complicated. Is this belated kindness now? She really wanted to shout: I have grown up and don’t need it anymore. How good you were to me before! But seeing grandma's cautious attitude, she couldn't bear it anymore. Forget it, let bygones be bygones. Didn’t the video with grandma during the Chinese New Year speak volumes? I will come back today and want to help her clean.

Looking at the home with bright and clean windows, Chen Xu's mind always drifted to more than 20 years ago. She stood on the kang and shook her head while reciting "Quiet Night Thoughts". This was taught to her by Liu Jiaxin. Liu Jiaxin was in elementary school and wanted to live a good life when she came back. The teacher's addiction makes Chen Xu a student. Chen Xu learned Tang poetry and recited it to his parents and grandma when he came back. He received unanimous praise, although grandma could not recite poems.

Grandma went out to buy groceries, and Chen Xu said she would accompany her. Only then did Grandma Liu follow her out, still not satisfied.

Lunch was made by Chen Xu. She simmered two pieces of rice in the rice cooker and cooked four home-cooked dishes. Grandma was still nagging Chen Xu not to spend money recklessly. The reason was that Chen Xu rushed to pay for the food. After dinner, grandma asked Chen Xu to let her stay one night before going back. Chen Xu did not refuse. Chen Xu tossed and turned and couldn't sleep that night. She didn't know why she came back. Maybe everyone needs a home, even if it's not warm.

When it was almost dawn, Chen Xu fell asleep in a hazy state. Grandma got up early in the morning and prepared meals. When the rice was cooked, he quietly waited for Chen Xu to wake up. The moment Chen Xu woke up, she found her grandma sitting beside the bed. She was shocked that her grandma was so old. More than 20 years ago, when my parents went to work, my grandma would sit by the bed like this every morning, waiting for Chen Xu to wake up naturally, and then eat together. At this moment, Chen Xu was in a daze. Is it true that grandma treated him harshly in those years? Chen Xu didn't sleep well and was a little confused. She sat up, and grandma handed Chen Xu the coat hanging on the bed rail, just like that morning many years ago.

During breakfast, Liu Jiaxin's grandma came again. The old lady had recently restored diplomatic relations with Grandma Chen Xu. In the past two months, she came over every day to chat with Grandma Chen Xu and help her clean. The son and his wife had moved away long ago, and the old man passed away two years ago. The old lady didn't want to live in the building, so she lived alone in the old house. There are fewer and fewer residents in this area. The younger ones have all bought buildings and moved away, leaving empty houses waiting for demolition. Only some older people with poor conditions live here. Because there were few neighbors of similar age around her, and she was alone, Grandma Liu needed a companion, so she showed her kindness to Chen Xu’s grandma. Since Chen Xu’s grandma stopped picking up rags, Grandma Liu came here every day. The Chen family visited.

After dinner, Chen Xu quickly put away the dishes, washed the pots and dishes. Two old ladies praised Chen Xu in the room. Grandma Chen Xu said proudly: "We Xu have been sensible since we were young. In those years, no one cared about us, so she just followed me to pick up rags and spend our lives together. She is not squeamish at all." , ugh, it was so difficult to live in those years! I was illiterate and didn’t understand the benefits of learning culture. Later, she went to school and heard that it was good to study. She picked up books thrown by others every day in school. Now I think about it. I thought, how would others think of a child like this doing this in school every day? Even if the child is a good child, life is hard, and his parents only have children but cannot support them. At that time, I spent all my time alone in the garbage heap, and the older I got, the more As I grew older, I couldn't pick up rags from others. I felt suffocated and would always take it out on my child. Later, the child went to her mother's house. I regretted it. The child could still help me make food at home. After she left, I was exhausted every day. , I have to cook fresh food when I come back. I thought this child would hate me and never come back to see me, but I didn’t expect that the child still misses me and is more conscientious than her parents!"

It was almost noon when Grandma Liu went back. While Chen Xu was making lunch, grandma moved a small bench and sat aside to watch. Chen Xu's eyes were a little sore. When she was a child, her grandmother would sit on a small stool while she was cooking. After lunch, grandma suddenly took Chen Xu's hand, bursting into tears, "Xu, grandma can't help you! In those years, your parents didn't care about us, and I was angry. I thought you were a burden, and I couldn't help you." It’s hard to support myself at this age, but I have to support you. Why have I forgotten how good it was for my mother and I to be together every day when they were working together? Xu, I’m so old, and you don’t care about anything else. I'm happy that you can come back and see me, but I feel shameless at the same time." Chen Xu smiled, "Grandma, it's all over. I just want to clarify one thing, I didn't steal your money, it was Wang Yu who took it. ”

Grandma sighed, "I also found out later that I lost money twice more after you left, both after Wang Yu came here. At that time, I wronged you, and I wasn't afraid that you would be angry. At that time, I wished you had taken it away, so I would still I can get it back, but if Wang Yu takes it, I won't dare to take it. You protect the calf, she can't admit that her son is a thief no matter what she says."

That afternoon, grandma told Chen Xu about her life experience, which made Chen Xu a little more sympathetic. Chen Xu's grandma was sold into a brothel by her smoking father when she was 13 years old. The old madam did not engage in loss-making business, so she dressed her up and named her Xiaohong, and began to let her receive customers. The lower-class brothels don't use music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but only traffickers and lackeys who come to work as coolies. They just vent their desires. It's not easy for poor people to save enough money to visit the brothels, so they always have to work hard before they are willing to give up. Xiaohong told Tiantian that she should not be called earth and earth, and she was tortured so much that she even hanged herself. After being rescued, the madam monitored her even more strictly. After two years of liberation, the brothel was closed. Those poor women can marry on their own. Xiaohongjing married a grain depot worker. The man treated her well at first, but more than ten years later, he fell ill and died. Because Grandma Chen Xu had no children, she was kicked out by her mother-in-law and brother-in-law. In desperation, she found another man whose wife was dead, Chen Xu's grandfather. At that time, Chen Zhihua and Chen Zhigang were only a few years old. She did her best to take care of her two siblings. The family was originally considered happy and harmonious. After Grandpa Chen Xu passed away, the two siblings treated their stepmother well. Unexpectedly, Chen Zhigang and Zhou Fenglan were both laid off overnight, and their families broke up. Grandma Chen Xu was 60 years old at the time. It wouldn't be a problem to find a wife to make ends meet, but she didn't want to find one anymore. She relied on rivers instead of mountains, so she might as well rely on herself. Grandma Chen Xu still laments when she talks about it. Chen Xu patted his grandma and comforted him: "Grandma, life will be good in the future. Take good care of yourself and live a long life."