Ode to Pear Blossoms Part 1

Xu Laoliu asked for two pancakes at the pancake stall next to the community, and asked the boss to crack one more egg and add more vegetables. Children are growing up, and it’s okay if they can’t keep up with nutrition. The pancakes are ready He carried it upstairs and knocked on the door, but the person who opened the door was a middle-aged fat woman with a stern look on her face.

As soon as the fat woman came up, she asked, "Are you his father? This kid doesn't fart. Your wife was arrested by the police for taking drugs and whoring. Everyone knows that you rented my house. How can I do it again?" Rent it to someone else? Hurry up and pack up and leave! I won't rent this house anymore!"

Xu Laoliu stood there in a daze with the pancakes in his hand. Seeing Yi Zhen curled up on the sofa, he must have been frightened by the fat woman.

Two days ago, he went to the police station to ask about Yi Zhen's mother. This woman originally sold some ecstasy pills to others to make money, but then she became addicted to drugs for some reason. All four women in the family were arrested. A few bags of white powder were produced, and they were directly detained. The family is orphaned and widowed, and they have no money for bail and defense.

Xu Laoliu smiled: "Sister, did we sign a contract for this house?"

As soon as the fat woman heard this, she knew that this man was not familiar with this family, so she chuckled and said, "How about paying back the contract? The contract was signed last year and has long been out of legal force. I didn't drive them out because of their pity. Next, fix this for me, the neighbors in the neighborhood are muttering that I have recruited some dubious people to come in."

Little Yi Zhenteng stood up from the sofa and stared at the fat woman: "My mother is not a dubious person. She is a good person..."

Yi Zhen was still young, so she couldn't think of anything to say against others. Her crisp voice was full of anger, but it didn't have any effect.

The fat woman groaned, pointing at Yi Zhen and looking at Xu Lao Liu: "Look, look, this kid is not forgiving! Sure enough, what parents educated me, I don't have the same knowledge as children, I say you Is it the owner of this family? I am not going to call the police and let the police judge. This child should be sent to the orphanage..."

Xu Laoliu now understands that Yi Zhen's mother must have rented the house for a long time, so she didn't sign the contract when she renewed the lease.

"Give us the rest of the rent, and we'll move out." Xu Laoliu sat next to Yi Zhen and gave him the two-egg pancake.

"Hey, the remaining money is not enough for you to pay for the things in my house! Look at this coffee table, this corner was messed up by you, I have to buy it again!"

"If it doesn't work, you can call the police to chase them away. Then we will carefully calculate how much rent the Yi family has paid you. If it is not a cash transaction, you can always find out the voucher. Check it out."

"Hey, you're quite arrogant. You don't look like his father. Why are you having an affair with a woman from this family?" Thicker than the city wall, he smiled: "I'm his uncle, you can scold him as you like, we will definitely not leave if you don't pay us, if we really can't, we will get into trouble together."

The fat woman didn't seem to be joking about this ragged man, and she didn't know what it had to do with the family. She was afraid that she would suffer if she stayed.

After the fat woman left, the room became much cleaner.

Yi Zhen looked down at Panbing Guozi: "I don't want to move, I want to wait for my mother here."

Xu Laoliu stroked Yi Zhen's head: "Your mother won't be able to come back for a while, you have to wait in another place, or you can come with me, or I can send you to the shelter, you can decide for yourself. "

The seven-year-old boy was easily frightened. Yi Zhen ate the pancake fruit bite by bite, and tears fell drop by drop, but he just didn't make a sound at all, and didn't say anything about waiting for his mother here.

In the end, the fat woman only gave 600 yuan, and Xu Laoliu didn't bother to talk to her anymore, so he found a taxi and packed the Yi family's things, including Yi Zhen, to his self-built house.

Yi Zhen talked very little. When he left home, he held a wooden box in his arms. He didn't know what was in it. It looked like something precious. He followed Xu Lao Liu away without saying a word.

Life can be lived no matter what, but luckily Yi Zhen's school is not too far from the self-built house, except for an extra pair of bowls and chopsticks at home, there is no difference.

It’s just that the self-built house doesn’t have heating, Xu Lao Liu can barely make do by himself, but the six or seven-year-old child can’t bear the cold, and at night he lies huddled up on the folding bed he brought from home, looking really pitiful.

Xu Laoliu bought another hot water bottle the next day, filled it for Yi Zhen every day before going to bed and put it in the bed to keep him warm, and reboiled the water once in the middle of the night to help him fill it again.

Near the end of the new year, there were few people in the subway, and Yi Zhen's school was also on holiday. Xu Laoliu felt that he might as well follow him to the underground passage to make money while he was freezing at home.Yi Zhen seemed to be particularly interested in Xu Laoliu's erhu, and every time he listened to Xu Laoliu's little tunes in the underground passage, he would sit there and listen quietly.

The little brother who sang folk songs was surprised that Xu Laoliu had a child, and he didn't seem to speak like a father and son, but he didn't ask anything.

But Xu Laoliu found that business was better than usual when Yi Zhen was around, especially women and older people, who would always be a little more generous when they saw a child next to them.Perhaps weak beings will always receive special care and love for no reason.

Xu Laoliu glanced at Yi Zhen, who was squatting there, holding a wooden stick in his red hands to tease the dog. This little Beijing bus was already so dirty that its original color could hardly be seen. The hair that sticks together is full of stains. Because of malnutrition, the hair is sparse and sticky together. Passers-by will take a detour when they see it. Gadgets over here.

Xu Laoliu took another look at Little Yi Zhen. The current situation of this child is actually no different from that of this stray dog. Sooner or later, he will have the same fate as this little Jingba.Maybe I should give this child to the government. Whether it is an orphanage or a shelter, at least there is heating inside.

Xu Laoliu patted Yi Zhen's head: "Zhen'er, if you like it, let's take this little Jingba back and raise it."

I thought Yi Zhen would be happy, but Yi Zhen glanced at the dog. Little Jingba was struggling to bite a ham sausage casing thrown away by others. Yi Zhen shook his head: "No, I don't have money to buy ham sausage for it to eat." .”

Xu Laoliu was taken aback.

Humans are the same as dogs, don't raise a dog if you can't afford food, let alone a child.

Xu Laoliu suddenly felt that if he went on like this, he really couldn't raise a child. They all said that everyone has their own destiny.

Xu Laoliu didn't speak any more, picked up the erhu and sang again: "In an instant, all the emotions are exhausted. When I get to the bitterness, my clothes are wet with tears. I only know that Tie Fugui's life is forged, and who knows that misfortunes and fortunes will happen in an instant. It is clear; I think back then I used to be rich in clothes and brocades, but now I only end up with old clothes and old skirts. This is also a lesson from God. He taught me to accept remaining hatred, avoid coquettish anger, and renew, change love, and stop falling in love. , turn around from the sea of ​​bitterness, and realize Lanyin early."

Such tunes are rarely sung in underground passages, and passers-by can't help but listen to them. Yi Zhen listened carefully while helping Xu Lao Liu collect money. He thought Xu Lao Liu sang better than the vocal teacher in the school. .

Back at the self-built house, he boiled water for Yi Zhen and sent him to take a bath. Xu Laoliu picked up the phone, hesitated for a long time, and then called his senior sister Qiu Peiyu.

Senior sister's voice sounded: "Hello?" Xu Laoliu suddenly felt as if he had passed away.

"...Senior sister...I am the sixth child."

The woman's voice was raised several times: "You bloody hell, where have you been these days? The troupe said you were fired because you didn't take part in a new play because you were on the pier. Is it true?"

Xu Laoliu felt that he didn't know how to answer this question. It was more than half a year ago. At that time, he arranged for a new play "Mulan's New Words" for the troupe, but the higher-ups didn't have time to allocate funds. I had no choice but to pay for the money, and had no choice but to pay for it day and night. In the end, the troupe gave the play to others for the sake of the subsidy ratio.

He ran to the head of the group to reason, saying that he would give him justice, but he was fired within two days, and Xu Laoliu ended up penniless.

Qiu Peijue listened for a while, and probably understood what was going on, sighed and said, "Don't blame senior sister for talking too much, you are just stupid! The funds allocated by the above can't reach the actors at all. How much money is allocated from it and how much allowance is not enough?" Look at how your leadership is doing. With your arrogant temper, it's no wonder that other leaders look down on you. This is a situation that wants to get you out. Can't you see it? You still have to pay? You lived in your thirties Why are you so confused?"

The more Qiu Peijue talked, the more angry she became, she scolded Xu Lao Liu for a long time, Xu Lao Liu suddenly felt that she was a lowly person, and suddenly felt warm after being outnumbered.

Qiu Peijue was the first of them to go to the pier, and she built a studio outside. In the eyes of the opera singers, running the pier is not something to be proud of. When the master was alive, he said it was shameful. , but Qiu Peijue had already seen through the prospects of this profession, and never returned to the academy after falling out with her master.

At the end, Qiu Peijue asked, "Then how do you live now?"

"Senior sister, I'm short of a job, I'm fine with anything."

Qiu Peijue paused for a moment, it was novel to say such words from Xu Laoliu's mouth.

Xu Laoliu used to be such a proud person, he sang the best in the troupe, and he was the most promising disciple of the master.

Now Qiu Peijue can still recall his first appearance on the stage, when he performed "Yutangchun" on the first stage of the small theater of Fanxing Drama Village. His clear and crisp voice was unique, and there were not many theater fans at that time. Because of Xu Laoliu, the Beijing opera performances that are not very popular on weekdays, Cheng's troupe became popular once, and it was also the first time I met Qian.

When everyone mentions Xu Dehai, they will jokingly call him a little boss Xu. I think this is already ten years ago.

But in the past few springs and summers, everything changed in a blink of an eye. The theater troupe got on the right track and entered a large troupe. It began to have a stable income and government support. He won several awards, but Xu Laoliu ended up like this in the end.

The world is cold

Qiu Peijue recovered from the past, and said to the mobile phone: "Lao Liu, today is different, we are getting older, if you want, you can follow me to the pier and go to other places to worship, but you have to take the big head If you don’t mind sharing the leftovers, come to Hat Brim Alley, you know where I am.”

After hanging up the phone, just as Yi Zhen came out of the shower, Xu Laoliu wrapped him in a blanket and wiped his hair, saying, "Let's move tomorrow."