all the way

On the second day of Mao'er's birthday, Liu Xia and the others left home on time at [-]:[-] to go to school.

It was dawn, and Liu Kui took two feeding bottles to the breeding room to milk the cows.

Liu Changchun didn't come up until after eight o'clock for dinner as usual, and not long after Liu Kui went out, he came to the cave dwelling where the cooking was done.

Liu Changqing had already seen that his younger brother had something to say to himself these few days, but recently he has been busy applying for relief food, and he can't take care of it. It seems that he must sit down and talk about it today.

"I want to take the cat down and raise it myself." Liu Changchun sat on the edge of the kang with drooping eyelids, his face showing no emotion: "Brother, everyone has a family and has to live. Yulan has been away for a year, I have tired you and my sister-in-law too much, and the cat is grown up now, so I can take care of him."

Liu Changqing waved his hand to stop Chang'e Sun who was about to speak, and let Liu Changchun finish speaking, but Liu Changchun didn't say anymore.

Liu Changqing waited for quite a while, and seeing that Liu Changchun had made up his mind not to speak again, he said, "Since you've finished speaking, listen to me carefully now... I know what you mean, you're afraid that I'll be caught between you and your sister-in-law." It's a dilemma in the middle, afraid that Liu Kui and Xiumei will be angry, but have you ever thought about it, if you suddenly want to take over the cat and raise it yourself, what will Xiumei think?

Xiumei is a good daughter-in-law who is hard to find even with a lantern. To Liu Kui, to these children in the family, to me and your sister-in-law, including you and Yulan, Xiumei has never done anything that should not be done , Only about the cat, she has a lump in her heart, but the lump is not because she dislikes the cat, she is just afraid that something will happen to Liu Kui and the two children, but we have all seen it, it is that lump in her heart, does Xiumei have any? Meaner than a cat?no?Why is she worried that Liu Kui, Xiaowei, and Xiaorui are still so kind to Maoer?Because the daughter-in-law is kind-hearted, she feels ashamed, but because she is worried that her man will have an accident with the child, Xiumei feels uneasy. If you take the cat, what do you think Xiumei will think?

The whole family, needless to say Yao'er, protects the cat as if it is their own life. Xiaoling and Xiaohai also try to protect the cat all day long. Liu Kui, your sister-in-law and I will not dislike the cat. After all the calculations, the only reason why you don't want to keep the cat here is because of Xiumei, can Xiumei not think of this reason?According to your understanding of Xiumei, after you took the cat away, do you think Xiumei will be happy or sad?What do you ask Liu Kui to do?Hit Xiumei?Also, you know, Liu Kui loves Xiao Xia more than me and your sister-in-law. If Xiao Xia makes a fuss because of the loss of the cat, Liu Kui will not ignore it. "

Sun Chang'e also said: "Chun'er, you are making Liu Kui and Xiumei unable to be human! People in the village dislike cats and don't let the children at home play with cats. Xiaoxia brought cats and even the door was shut down." Not letting him in, Xiumei knew that if it made her feel that the cat couldn't be kept here, it was because of her. That child Xiumei was very kind, and she would definitely feel ashamed in front of Liu Kui. I can't hold my head up, as an uncle, you plan to make things so difficult for the two children?"

Liu Changchun lowered his head: "But you have also seen that Xiumei is taking Xiaowei and Xiaorui with her when she goes to the ground. This is Xiaowei and Xiaorui's serious home. They are here just for the cat. Xiaowei No matter how cold or hot, Xiaorui has to go to the field with Xiumei. She dare not stay in her own home, so Xiumei will not feel uncomfortable? If Liu Kui is such a good wife, if one day the cat makes them give birth Suspicion, where do I put my face as an uncle? Outsiders will also say that we are old and unscrupulous, and our daughter-in-law is easy to talk, so we will bully my daughter-in-law."

"Who's going to let that idle fart go? Let him go. There's no need for others to interrupt our family's affairs." Liu Kui opened the door and walked in, holding Xiaorui in one arm and the bag for the bottle in the other. To Liu Changchun: "Uncle, I won't tell you about Xiumei, I know what kind of person Xiumei is better than you, even if you take the cat down, I won't be angry with Xiumei because of this, but Uncle, I I won’t let you take the cat away. The cat is more than a year old and can eat, drink and play. But uncle, the cat is a child and a person. He doesn’t just win if he’s full or hungry. Someone needs someone. Talk to him, play with him, I heard a true story when I was in the army, there were wolves over there, life was even more difficult in those years, some people threw away their newborn babies and let wolves pick them up and raise them Now, our troops went into the mountains for training and rescued the child, but the child can no longer be called a human being, can't speak human words, can't walk, just can run on all fours like a wolf, can be like a wolf howling, and refused to eat the cooked food for him.

Uncle, I tell you this, do you know what it means?The cat has to be raised here, and I can't go back and face you alone every day. What will the cat be like in the future?Uncle, I told Xiumei that if people really have a destiny, their destiny is really destined by God, and cats are destined to be hard by God, then we also believe it, why?Because God asked Maoer to give birth to our family, that is our family's life. If Maoer really can overcome anyone, it must be that we owed Maoer something bad conscience in our previous life. You have to pay it back. If you don’t pay it back in this life, you will have to pay it back in the next life. No one can always owe God’s debt, so let’s pay it back in this life. So uncle, don’t think so much, the cat is our family My child, our child has to be properly raised in our house. We don’t have good conditions outside the mountains, but we have to try our best to raise the cat in a good condition. If you don’t believe me, I’ll go and take care of it now Xiumei is called over, you ask Xiumei if she can let you take the cat down. "

When Liu Xia and Mao'er didn't know about it, a crisis about Mao'er's fate disappeared invisible.

Another spring came, but Liu Xia and the others didn't have much time to appreciate the beautiful spring scenery.

Wangning high school and junior high school have set up key classes following the example of other schools. Liu Ling, Liu Hai, and Liu Xia are all key classes in their grade. Class time is used to the extreme. It was already gray and it was getting dark, and it was after eight o'clock when I got home.

Liu Hai and Liu Xia are better off, they are in junior high school, they don't have so much homework; Liu Yu is a dead pig now, she is not afraid of boiling water, anyway, she has no hope of going to college, and after returning home every day, homework is just too much to do. Just fall asleep.

Liu Changqing heard Liu Yu's painful cry during the summer vacation and resigned himself to his fate. He told Liu Yu not to have any pressure and to learn as much as he could, but he had to graduate from high school. It is with eyes open and eyes closed.

The hardest one is Liu Ling. He seems to have endless homework and exercises. Every day when Liu Xia sleeps until midnight and wakes up in a daze to pee on the cat, Liu Ling is still reading or writing by the kerosene lamp. Always stay straight.

Another Saturday, Liu Ling's math teacher dragged the class for more than 20 minutes. Liu Xia and the others waited for him to finish class and started running home. It was completely dark before reaching Fujiazhuang. They passed Guan's house When I was in the kiln, I couldn't even see the lights in any of the windows.

When they were at Yaopo in Xiaguan, they ran into Liu Changqing and Liu Kui who thought they had an accident and picked them up.

As soon as he turned up the slope of his house, Liu Xia heard Chang'e Sun's voice: "Cat, don't worry, tell grandma to take out these two buns and take you out, baby."

Liu Xia hurried to run quickly, and saw a small figure of Yuanyuan moving out holding the door of the main room, hearing his footsteps, the little shadow shouted happily: "Xia, Xia, Xia, Xia...

Liu Xia ran and called: "Slow down, baby, slow down." Then he saw the little shadow let go of the door, and ran towards him unsteadily.

The cat could walk like this, and it ran into Liu Xia's arms for the first time when he was one year and four months old.

That day, when Liu Xia was doing his homework, he couldn't help but smile with his lips curled up.

The college entrance examination came along with the hot summer, but the news brought to Wangning’s countless expectant families was still cruel: Wangning, Yangmiao, and Sandaohe, the three southern mountain communes, still did not have a single enough score for admission.

As for Gucun High School and Rongze High School, a total of 30 students have been admitted, and several other high schools in the north have more or less achieved results. Calculated, Rongze County will have more than 80 rural children this year. Finally, he escaped from the fate of facing the loess and turning his back to the sky all his life, and became a city dweller who ate commodity food.

This news also brought an additional message: Gucun High School and Rongze High School are already overcrowded. Gucun High School is Gucun Commune’s own high school. Ze High School is a high school in Rongze County, and the students near the town of Shou County and Chengguan Commune alone cannot be justified.

Therefore, the County Education Bureau issued a formal notice: From next year, Rongze High School will accept students from other communes in addition to students from Chengguan Commune.

The matter of Liu Ling going to Rongze Shangxian High School was brought up again, and this time Liu Hai was added.

Liu Yu moaned again and asked not to go to school, but Liu Changqing flatly refused. Liu Yu didn't dare to bring up the matter of not going to school, but twisted his neck and said that he would not go to Rongze to go to school if he was beaten to death. Don't throw people to the county seat.

Liu Hai and Liu Xia showed a common characteristic: their studies were mediocre when they were young, and their grades improved as they grew up.

Liu Hai has firmly occupied the top three positions in the whole grade in all the big and small exams this year, and this time he is the first in the grade in the last major event.

Liu Xia is the fourth grade this time, and his Chinese has been lagging behind. This time, he scored 28 out of 1 for the composition, while No.39 got 1, and the total score of No.[-] was only seven points higher than him.

Liu Ling said firmly that he was going to Wangning and sent Liu Hai to the county seat.

Liu Ling had lost confidence in himself. He and two other students of the same level represented Wangning High School in the province's mathematics competition selection. They were completely defeated in the first round of Wangning's competition. I haven't heard of it. It goes without saying how bad Wangning's teaching quality is.

A year ago, the County Education Bureau promised to send excellent teachers to Wangning High School, but it did not materialize. Liu Ling exaggerated it on purpose when she told her family. What the Education Bureau promised was to give Wangning two outstanding teachers. Teachers, one taught mathematics and the other taught physics, but these two teachers refused to come to Wangning, and the matter ended in nothing.

That tryout was held in Rongze, and because it was the same day, Liu Ling didn't tell anyone that he didn't want his family, who was heavily in debt, to spend even a penny for a meaningless tryout.

In the end, when the summer vacation started, Liu Ling and Liu Yu stayed in Wangning, and Liu Hai went to Rongze.

On the night before going to Rongze, the brothers chatted in the cave for most of the night, and Liu Hai was extremely nervous: "We hope that the quality of teaching in Ning is so poor, will I be the last one in Rongze? If I What if I can’t understand the teacher’s lectures there? What if I drop out of the No.1 school from the bottom of the exam?…”

Liu Changqing just passed their door when he came back from the latrine, and said outside: "It doesn't matter how lively the race starts, people are watching the final result."

Liu Kui rubbed Liu Hai's head: "Did you hear what my uncle said? Don't care about the beginning, let's see the end. Go to sleep, baby, if you really don't pass the exam, no one will dislike you."

Liu Chuan sent back 20 yuan in an envelope.

I paid tuition and book fees for several children, made two new clothes and two pairs of underpants for Liu Hai, bought a pair of Jiefang shoes, two pairs of socks, and bought a new schoolbag, about 20 yuan. up.

Xiumei secretly said to Liu Kui: "Why is the tuition so expensive this year? Last year it was [-] cents in junior high school, but this year it's [-] cents. Last year it was [-] cents in high school, and this year it's [-] cents. Rongze High School dares to ask for [-] cents. Where are they?" Is your classroom the Golden Luang Hall? It costs a lot of money to sit for a few days!"

Liu Kui smiled, but didn't speak, he was worried about Liu Hai's living expenses and Liu Chuan's letter asking his younger brothers to learn to brush their teeth.

He sent Liu Hai to Rongze, except for the quilt Liu Kui and Xiu Mei got when they got married, Liu Hai took the best quilt at home. Xiu Mei and Liu Kui wanted to take the one in their house, but Liu Changqing The couple firmly refused.

It is the best quilt in their house, and it is also the oldest and most patched one in Liu Hai's dormitory. Although Liu Hai is sensible and does not show inferiority or complaints at all, Liu Kui understands that these half-grown children must be together. They will compare each other, Liu Hai doesn't show it, it doesn't mean he doesn't feel it.

Liu Hai is already inferior to his classmates in terms of clothing and bedding, and Liu Kui doesn't want him to be looked down upon because of his living habits.

Clothes and bedding can be older or worse than others, that cannot be changed, but habits can be decided by oneself.

Getting along for a long time, conduct and habits can determine a person's status in the group more than dressing.

Liu Kui gritted his teeth and spent the last of his money to buy four sets of the cheapest tea mugs, toothbrushes and two toothpastes.

When Liu Xia and the others brushed their teeth for the first time, the foam they spit out was red, and their gums were bleeding.

Liu Kui said: "It's okay, it will be fine in a week at most. From now on, you must develop the habit of brushing your teeth every morning and evening, don't stop."

After Liu Kui returned from the army, he persisted in the habit of brushing his teeth for nearly a year. After the toothpaste brought back was used up, he only brushed it with water in the morning and evening. After the toothbrush bristles disappeared, he stopped, but he often used a soft toothbrush before going to bed. Wipe his teeth with the branch of the tree, and then rinse his mouth. The thin willow branch in spring is his favorite.

Now there are more and more places where money is needed at home. Once Liu Hai is not in Wangning, he will have to use money for every move. Before Liu Ling and the others went to school, they would eat at home in the morning and bring a few pancakes, steamed buns, and sweet potatoes as food. Eating lunch at school doesn't cost money at all; but Liu Hai, he roughly calculated Liu Hai's daily living expenses in the future, and even if he is frugal, it will cost more than two yuan a month.

Also, if Liu Ling is admitted to university, he will have to prepare a brand new set of bedding and clothes for his younger brother, and there are many, many more...

But even so, he still thinks that Liu Chuan's little suggestion is very important, not only the question of whether the teeth are beautiful or not, but also represents some other things that are not clear.

When Liu Kui went to Wangning to go to school, he found that the teeth of many students were very ugly, yellow, or grayish yellow, and it was the same when he went to the army. He was surprised how those people made their teeth into that color, but Those people were also surprised by the neatness and whiteness of his teeth. It was later learned from a doctor in the army that the yellow teeth were called "tetracycline teeth" because he took too much tetracycline medicine when he was young.

Those with black and yellow teeth make a bad first impression when they open their mouths: dirty and useless.

Everyone in the Liu family had white and neat teeth, except for the canine tooth on the right of Liu Hai, which was slightly warped, which basically didn't affect it.

Liujialing is too poor, and the brigade’s one-hole health center built in response to the call of the country is useless. There is no way, and few people are willing to buy medicines for a few cents. Most of their diseases are treated with local medicines. Wu Yuni is a very qualified family doctor in the mountains. In addition to delivering babies, she has also been serving as the husband of the brigade health center. In the past two years, she has grown older, and her daughter has been connected.

Unexpectedly, poverty actually allowed them to keep their teeth clean.

In addition, Liu Kui and Liu Changqing were worried about Liu Chuan.

The year before last year, Liu Chuan came back from an accident at home. Because he had been in the army for less than three years, his travel expenses were not reimbursed by the army. Liu Chuan served in the army at the border, which was very far away from home. A one-way train ticket cost more than 20 yuan. The next time I came back, I gave Liu Changqing 50 yuan.

For Liu Chuan's allowance of six or seven yuan a month, he would send back more than 20 yuan in an envelope every four to five months. Because of the cotton quilt, it was impossible for him to save money before. The money he brought home last time must have been borrowed from the army.

When Liu Chuan left, besides a train ticket, he also had 13 yuan and six boiled eggs. The 13 yuan was the fare for his second transfer to the train and the bus ride along the way. Extra [-] hairs just in case.

Do the math, Liu Chuan probably hasn't paid off the money he borrowed last time, and the 20 yuan he sent this time must have been borrowed from other accounts.

With so much money borrowed, how did Liu Chuan live his usual life?