all the way

The sewing machine was unpacked and placed under the big oak tree in the shade next to the swing. Xiumei installed the thread and tried it with an insole that was one-third filled. Sun Chang'e, Su Xiaohui and a group of children gathered around Watching, the men sat in the shade under the persimmon tree in the south, watching and laughing.

Liu Kui and Liu Chuan were all shirtless, and Liu Chuan said: "When Yaoer came back and saw me in Rongze, he first gave me 200 yuan, saying that he would buy a sewing machine for his sister-in-law, and emphasized that he must buy a sewing machine from Haidu. It produces the Butterfly brand, which was out of stock in the mall at the time, or else, it would have been bought back a long time ago.”

Liu Kui squinted his eyes and looked at Liu Xia who was sitting on the swing with the cat dangling in his arms. Liu Xia made a face at him and smiled, and then let the cat hug his waist tightly, and he sat on the swing and backed his feet to the limit , kicked his feet hard, and suddenly left the ground, and the swing swayed high.

The cat cried happily: "If it's higher, uncle, I can swing it and level with the shelf above."

Liu Xia pushed hard, and soon he was swinging with the cat as high as the beam of the swing frame. The cat laughed, and Liu Xin clapped his hands below, jumped and screamed.

Not only Xiumei, but also Liu Changqing and his wife were the most satisfied with this sewing machine.

For so many years, they felt that thanks to their virtuous eldest daughter-in-law, the unvirtuous Liu Dongju would have everything in order to get married; now they are discussing Liu Yu's marriage, and they have a lot of things to buy.

Liu Chuan has a job, and although most of the money for the marriage is Liu Chuan's own salary and money borrowed by him, it basically meets the requirements of Su Xiaohui's natal family.

There is only Xiumei, who became a family with two beds at the beginning, and has not complained for so many years. No matter how virtuous and reasonable a person is, he will have his own ideas and requirements. Xiumei has always been thinking about it, which is just a sewing machine. Unexpectedly, their debt to the eldest daughter-in-law was made up by the youngest youngest son.

For the first time, Liu Changqing felt that since he was old, maybe he could take a breather and rest for a while.

Facts have proved that mechanization is indeed much more efficient than manual work. An insole that took Xiumei a day to assemble only takes a few minutes on a sewing machine, and the stitches that are turned out are extremely dense and even.

Xiumei happily showed the insoles to a group of people: "Look at how detailed it is, and how fast it is. Mom, you don't have to worry about anything from now on. Just unpack and wash the quilt and stretch the cloth for me to make clothes later on." I did it all by myself."

After lunch, except for Liu Yun and Liu Lei, the other children refused to sleep, and sat at the stone table by the river to practice calligraphy together.

Liu Changchun also said that he was not dozing off today, and weaved mats by the river with them.

When Liu Xia came back, he stopped by Liu Chuan for a while, and saw that Liu Chuan had converted the office into a bedroom, the floor was made into a flat concrete floor, and the walls were repainted with plaster, snow white, but the most dazzling part of the room, It is a mat used as a ceiling, with a milky white background, a circle of red "卍" pattern is perfect, in the middle is a large pattern composed of small "卍" patterns, it looks very beautiful, plus The unique wavy protrusions formed by the natural nodules of the upper sorghum poles, Liu Xia personally thinks that the big ceiling is simply a picture, which improves the class of the room a lot.

After Liu Xia finished writing, he watched the cats and the others continue to practice. He chatted with Liu Changchun: "Uncle, I see that the mat you made for my third brother's roof is very beautiful. You can make beautiful patterns, can you?" Make up little animal patterns?"

Liu Changchun asked, "What small animal?"

Liu Xia said: "For example, monkeys, rabbits, etc., I'm just thinking about it, thinking that it might be beautiful if we make it up."

Liu Yu said: "It won't be easy to weave. The sorghum bamboo strips are all straight and can't bend, so they won't look old when they come out."

Liu Hai thought for a while and said: "Not necessarily, the effect may not be so good from a close look, but it may be particularly good from a distance. The pattern in the middle of the ceiling of our third brother, if you look closely, it is a small '卍' character, and it looks like a picture from a distance. The big flower has a unique sense of traditional Chinese art."

Liu Changchun said to Liu Xia: "If you are waiting, I will come back and try it out. When you go to work, if you share the house with your third brother, I will also make a roof for you. After you measure the size, I will give you a roof." Make up a big one and complete it."

The cat who was writing suddenly said: "Then you can make up more dogs, grandpa, I want to see dogs."

Liu Changchun nodded happily: "Zhongbai, grandpa can make up whatever you want, and grandpa can make up as many as you want."

But Liu Xia found it very strange: dogs are food-eating animals, and no one in the villages near Liujialing raised dogs. It seems that I am not poor at all, and I can afford a dog!"

Mao'er grew up in Liujialing, and has never seen a dog a few times. Why would he treat dogs so much?

Liu Xia asked his doubts, Mao'er said very seriously: "Uncle, you belong to a dog. If you are so good, you belong to a dog, so the dog must be good. Of course, I will treat the dog!"

Liu Hai grinned: "God, Mao'er, your Aiwu and Wuli range is too wide, the dogs all over the world follow your uncle to take advantage of it!"

Liu Xia defended the cat: "The cat is right. Dogs are the most loyal animals. Of course they are welcome. I really have a good eye."

Liu Changchun laughed on the side.

Liu Xia and the others started digging the kiln at four o'clock.

Mao'er, Liu Rui, and Liu Xin especially like to listen to the "Little Trumpet" program, but Mao'er doesn't want to leave Liu Xia's side for a minute, and Liu Kui puts the radio at the door of the cave where Liu Xia left, Mao'er moved a small bench and sat right next to Liu Xia, finished listening to "Little Horn", then sent the radio to Liu Wei to listen to "Star Torch", and then came back and began to carry soil outside the cave.

The day Liu Hai came back, he started digging kilns with everyone. He, Liu Xia, and Liu Yu didn't want Liu Wei to dig. Liu Wei was only thirteen years old, and his arms were weak. Liu Xia found that he didn't use his hands to eat these days. bowl, but put the bowl on the table and eat it lying down.

Liu Xia and the others have been taught since they were young that they are not allowed to stretch their necks on the table to eat, and Liu Wei is no exception. His arms must be so tired that he can't lift them up.

But no matter how Liu Xia persuaded her, Liu Wei still insisted on digging a cave by herself.

So, when Liu Hai came back, it was past five o'clock in the afternoon, and Liu Xia yelled while he was out drinking water: "Oh, I want to eat more ancient dragons, Jiangcheng is full of concrete floors, and I can't find them at all. Old Gulong, Xiao Rui touches the half of the teapot every day, and it's over before eating."

Liu Hai also shouted: "That's right, it's the same in Kyoto. I can't find any, so I want to eat it too."

At that time, Mao'er looked at Liu Xia and began to struggle. He wanted to touch more old dragons for Liu Xia to eat, but he didn't want to leave Liu Xia.

Liu Xia winked at Mao'er to keep him quiet.

Although Mao'er didn't quite understand Liu Xia's meaning, he was still very obedient and didn't speak.

Liu Wei looked around herself, the family is suitable for touching the old Gulong now, it seems that he and Liu Rui are the only ones left.

Mao'er would definitely not leave his uncle, Liu Xin would only follow along to make trouble.

In this way, from the day Liu Hai came back, Liu Wei stopped digging the kiln in the afternoon. After practicing calligraphy and finishing her homework, she went to stick the wheat season bird, and led Liu Xin and Liu Rui to touch the old ancient dragon at dusk. After Xiumei and Sun Chang'e fried Mai Jiniao and Lao Gulong, he held a bowl next to each other for the whole family to eat.

If Liu Yun and Liu Lei were not crying, Su Xiaohui would take a big enamel bowl and touch a few nearby. Now she would often let the two little guys also eat some lean meat from the old ancient dragon's back.

Mao'er was very fond of the two little brothers, and always wanted to go over and touch their little faces.

Liu Xia always stopped without leaving a trace, using other interesting proposals to attract Mao'er's attention, leading him to do other things, and keeping him away from the youngest nephews in the family as much as possible.

He knew that if Liu Yun and Liu Lei had any slight problems, they might be forced on Mao'er by the people in the village, and those words would reach the third sister-in-law's ears sooner or later, Liu Xia didn't want to Let Su Xiaohui have any prejudice against cats.

Now Liu Xia no longer thinks about why the villagers can't see that he, Liu Hai, and Liu Ling can go to college after Mao'er is born, why they can't see such a big happy event as Liu Chuan giving birth to twin sons, but only see Those are bad little accidents that have a high probability of happening in life.

Those who are blinded by their imaginations only see what they want to see, or they deliberately turn a blind eye to the facts that do not support their conclusions in order to fulfill the absurd conclusions they have already drawn.

Liu Xia knows that he can't change the thoughts of these people. There is still too little he can do now. Time is an insurmountable existence. No matter how many thoughts he has in his heart, he must wait until the day when he graduates and can live independently. Before that, He can only endure.

At dusk, there are many mosquitoes by the river, and Liu's family eats dinner in the high-lying yard, with a slight mountain breeze, which makes people feel very comfortable.

Liu Xia and the others went for a swim in the river after work was over. When they came back, they walked to the top of the slope and saw three figures on the east road from a distance. They were Liu Mao, Liu Fulai, and Liu Yao.

After the Guanjiayao cow started milking, Liu Fulai immediately came to Xiumei to ask for a bottle, and continued to milk the cat three times a day.

Liu Fulai's family has not been at home during the day recently. Niu Sanni's mother is dying, so he went to help together.

Niu Sanni has lived in her natal family for more than two months. Her natal family has two older brothers, but one is more useless than the other, and they are very lazy. Liu Fulai once asked them to go out to set up a few rabbits when it snowed, saying that he would help them Instead of food or cloth, they all feel that going out in winter to set up rabbits will suffer, so they always use words to stab Niu Sanni, and ask Niu Sanni to send Liu Fulai's rabbits to them, even if they are starved to death, they will not move moving.

It turned out that life at Liu Fulai's house was slightly better than others' because of Liu Changqing's help. At that time, Niu Tongle and Niu Tongbao would come here every now and then to get some food and go home. They were all relatives. No matter how distressed Liu Fulai was, he never said anything What.

In the past two years, Liu Miao has earned money outside, and her life is better than before, which also makes the two uncles miss her even more.

However, the three brothers of the Liu family have also grown up, and they are very disgusted with their lazy way of eating and taking advantage of small things, and they will directly show it on their faces.

The two brothers of the Niu family didn't want to come over to see their faces, so they asked the children to come over and touch things, food, clothing, and use, there was nothing they didn't want.

Liu Miao has changed a lot since going out, not only tidying herself clean and tidy, but also teaching Liu Sen and the others how to tidy up after returning home, and often tidying up the house too, but when he goes out for a while, he will be bullied again by Niu San Ni to get it back to its original appearance.

Liu Miao didn't dare to put the clothes he bought himself and the work clothes Ma Deying gave them at home. When the cousins ​​saw them, they asked Niu Sanni for them. She didn't dare to let one go, and she didn't dare to refuse what the nephews wanted.

Liu Miao changed the door of the cave where he, Liu Sen, and Liu Yao lived, and added a big lock, which made his uncle and sister-in-law grab the handle. This is not as good as the stinky shit that Liu Fulai's family said, what? White-eyed wolf, eating alone, no matter whether his wife's family is alive or dead, he can say no matter how ugly the words are.

After Niu Sanni's mother became seriously ill, Niu Tongle and Niu Tongbao left all her affairs to a few married girls.

Liu Fulai not only had to pay all the medical expenses of the old mother-in-law, but also had to go there with Niu Sanni to serve people every day, because Niu Sanni and Niu Sanni's two elder sisters found an excuse to leave after serving for a few days, and would not come back alive after returning to her husband's house. Well, Niu Sanni is the closest to her natal family, and if she doesn't go there for a day, her brother and sister-in-law will ask her nephews to come and call her.

A few days after Liu Xia started school after Chinese New Year, Liu Sen, Liu Songbin, another child of the Third Grandfather’s family, and Niu Chunfa, the eldest son of Niutuo, went to work in Mazhai with Liu Yu and the others. Song Bin was in Ma Deying’s factory, and Liu Sen He Chunfa works in another factory, also making valves.

At the beginning, it was the factory manager who fell in love with Liu Yu and wanted to dig in, but Liu Yu flatly refused. Liu Sen and the others brought them over.

Because of this, Liu Fulai was even more grateful to Liu Changqing's family, and he would not let go of any opportunity to help Liu Changqing's family. He is uneducated, and physical labor is the only skill he is good at. He didn't come to help dig the kiln in the past two months, which made him feel very sad. Ashamed, so no matter how busy he was to deliver the milk, he never missed it once.

Liu Fulai and Liu Yao put down the milk, said a few words, and left. Liu Xia and the others told Liu Fu that Liu Yao hadn't walked a few steps. If he was killed, he would not go to his grandma's house anymore. He wanted to stay at home by himself. Cook and eat, come here to help dig the kiln if you have nothing to do.

Liu Xia and Liu Hai felt that such relatives as Liu Yao and the others were really unlucky and disgusting.

When Liu Mao came back, the cat immediately became a little strange. He always wanted to hide in their own cave, and he didn't want Liu Mao to see him.

Liu Xia took the cat into the main room while the family was calling Liu Mao for dinner. Xiumei was boiling milk for him and the cat. When she saw them coming in, she asked, "Baby, are you hungry? Mother hasn't brought the milk yet?" Bring to a boil."

The cat shook his head, and said lazily: "He has only been back for a few days, why is he back?"

Xiumei looked outside through the curtain, and saw Liu Mao was being pressed by Liu Kui on the bench next to the stone table, and pushed a bowl of rice in front of him, Xiumei looked at Liu Xia, smiled and said to Mao'er: "Actually, he may also miss you in his heart, but he doesn't want you to live with his stepmother, so he comes back to see you by himself. He won't take you away, Maoer. He just comes back to see your grandfather and you, to see that you are doing well." Well, he's gone, don't be afraid, boy."

Liu Xia carried Mao'er to the edge of the kang and sat, Mao'er put his arms around his waist, and put his face on his chest: "Uncle, I don't want him to miss me, he already has another girl, he What do you want me to do?"

Liu Xia said with a relaxed smile: "I'm so good, everyone will miss you, but it's useless for them to think about it. Grandpa said, you are our baby, you are my uncle, and no one can take you away." take away.

Boy, let's go out to eat now, you have to be brave, have you forgotten that during the Chinese New Year, my uncle gave you a certificate as 'the bravest good boy'? "

Liu Xia knew that Mao'er's emotion towards Liu Mao was no longer afraid or uneasy, but awkward and uncomfortable. As long as he started once or twice, let him do what he should do in front of Liu Mao, completely ignoring Liu Mao's existence. Mao's influence on the cat will naturally become weaker and weaker.

The title of "brave boy" encouraged Mao'er. He jumped off the kang and walked out holding Liu Xia's hand.

There are many people in the family, and dinner is often casually seated on two stone tables.

Mao'er pulled Liu Xia to sit on the table without Liu Mao, picked up the small bowl and started eating.

Liu Xia heard Liu Mao say over there: "...I know you may also hear the weather forecast on the radio, but I'm afraid that if you forget to listen...they say it's rainstorm..."

Liu Xia understood that Liu Mao came back suddenly because he heard that there was a heavy rain in the weather forecast at his work unit. He was afraid that something would happen to his family. In the past, more than one nearby cave dwelling had landslides during heavy rain or continuous rain, and it was not a few times that people died. .

Liu Xia looked up at the star-studded night sky, not believing that it would rain today.

After the meal, Mao'er did something that made Liu Xia both happy and distressed. He not only helped Sun Chang'e and Xiumei clean up the dishes on his table, but also summoned up the courage to take the initiative to clean up Liu Mao's table. The steamed bun basket on the table was carried away to the main room.

Coming out of the main room, Liu Xia held the cat high and laughed and carried him into his cave, and kissed him several times on the cheeks: "My cat is really the bravest, my boy, ummm—— Kiss me again, uncle."

Mao'er blushed and looked at Liu Xia proudly: "I, I'm not afraid of him at all."

In the evening, Liu Yu, Liu Wei, Liu Rui, and Liu Xin all come to Liu Xia's cave to play for a long time before leaving. The automatic car that Liu Xia bought for Mao'er made a group of children very rare.

Sitting in Liu Xia's arms, the cat played for a while, and then generously gave Liu Xin: "You block it well, don't let it fall to the bottom of the kang, it just breaks."

The car is longer than Liu Xia's palm. After installing the battery, it will run automatically, and it will automatically adjust its direction or back up when it encounters obstacles. The children love this thing. They have been playing with it for more than 20 days, and their interest is still undiminished.

Maoer took a fourth-grade math book from Liu Wei and asked Liu Xia to explain it to him. Liu Xia explained a sample problem to him, and then asked him to read the following exercises. He was compatible with Liu Hai and Liu Yu. say.

Like Liu Xia, Mao'er is good at math and has a strong ability to draw inferences. Liu Xia can teach him several sample problems in one night. It's only been ten days, and the fourth grade math textbook is almost half done.

There was no sign of the rainstorm. If Liu Mao hadn't said it just now, and their family had listened to the weather forecast on the radio, Liu Xia and the others couldn't even believe that the sudden sound like a mountain roar and a tsunami was just rain.

The rainstorm didn't last long, less than an hour, and then it turned into heavy rain, and it didn't stop the next day.

Liu Kui put on a woven bag and stood on the edge of the slope looking at the Fengxi River. He found that the two stone tables he had propped up by the river were no longer visible, and the surface of the Fengxi River was more than twice as wide as usual.

The rain was so fast and heavy that Liu Changchun, Liu Mao, and Liu Yu didn't even have time to go back to their side. The rain only lasted for a few minutes, and they didn't dare to walk on the yellow muddy slope, so that night they three People sleep on the kang in the main room.

Liu Wei has grown up, and she doesn't want to live with Liu Kui and the others for a long time. Before Liu Xia came back, he had lived here with Mao'er for more than two months. After Liu Xia came back, he didn't want to leave even more. Now Liu Xia Liu Hai and the four of them lived in the cave dwelling.

When eating lunch in the main room the next day, Liu Xia accidentally saw the faint scars on Liu Mao's left cheek and neck, and suddenly felt very angry and sad, which was left after Liu Dongju scratched.

Liu Mao is as good as he is bad, and he is also a member of the Liu family. Why did Liu Dongju beat that stinky woman?

Liu Xia's original dislike for Liu Dongju was added with a feeling of almost hatred.

Mao'er's performance that day made Liu Xia almost forget the disastrous consequences of the rain, and he was always very happy: every time Mao'er came to the main room during dinner, he would call grandpa and grandma generously, and then put Liu Xia first. He brought Xia's milk to him, and then went to bring his own milk to drink.

In such a narrow room, every time he walked back and forth, he had to pass less than [-] centimeters in front of Liu Mao who was sitting at the stone table on the west wall. Looking at the bowl without squinting, he walked straight to the kang, doing what he should do, and never lowered his voice even when talking like before.

Liu Xia observed Liu Mao very carefully, but he couldn't see any emotion in him, and of course he didn't see what Xiumei said 'he really misses cats'.

Compared with the resistance and dullness of previous years, Liu Mao is now like a faint mist in late autumn morning. You can see his existence, but you can't feel any influence from him.

Liu Xia suddenly felt that Liu Mao's thoughts and emotions seemed to be buried along with Xu Xiaohong.

The rain stopped in the middle of the night on the third day.

Liu Xia woke up without hearing the sound of rain, opened the window and saw a sky full of stars.

When Liu Xia and the others came together early the next morning, they saw Liu Changqing standing on the edge of the slope looking into the distance.

The slope of Liu Changqing's courtyard is built with stones, and the slope outside has been completely paved by him with gravel in the past few years, so the courtyard has hardly been affected in any way.

But under the sunshine, Liu Xia and the others saw deep gullies washed away by the water on many of the Huangtu Ridges in the north. The original gullies have now become swamps; see for the first time.

Liu Changqing said: "Without me, no one is allowed to leave our yard. Many slopes outside have been hollowed out by water, and the edges of slopes have also been infiltrated by water. A careless step can lead to big troubles."

Liu Chuan said: "Uncle, what are we doing with the corn? I will go to the field with my elder brother and second brother to see, maybe we can help it up."

Liu Changqing said: "It doesn't matter why the corn is dead. After two or three days, the sun is shining on the road and it's almost ready to go before helping it."

In this situation, Liu Chuan and Liu Mao would not be able to go back to work for at least four or five days.

After the rain stopped, the temperature quickly rose again. On the third day, the high slopes were already hardened by the sun, but the low slopes were still muddy and people could not walk.

Liu Xia already knows how serious the problem is, and their main food crops this autumn may fail.

The children felt the weight of the adults, and even Liu Xin no longer responded to Liu Yun and Liu Lei's chattering requests for hugs.

Apart from digging the kiln with Liu Xia and talking and laughing with Liu Xia when it was just the two of them, Mao'er made no sound when they were on the swing after dinner.

On the fourth day, Liu Changqing, Liu Changchun, Liu Kui, Liu Mao, and Liu Chuan each had a rope tied around their waists to help the corn and sorghum. , can quickly throw out the rope to facilitate other people's rescue.

Several people have rich experience, and there is no danger, but when they returned home, they were all covered in mud, and their expressions were as if nothing had happened, no matter how hard they tried.

It took them three days to grow corn and sorghum in more than ten acres of land, but there were only a few hundred trees.

On the sixth day, Liu Chuan and Liu Mao were ready to leave.

When Liu Xia was worried that their plan to go to the capital might be cancelled, he heard Liu Changqing say to Liu Chuan: "Now it's useless for us to sit in the field and cry at the crops, it's better to live a good life and think of a way.

Chuan'er, when you go back, try to buy a train ticket. Buy NO.17 or NO.18. Both of you will win. Your mother and I, Xiaohui and the two children will not go this time. Your uncle and your elder brother and sister-in-law will take them. go. "

Liu Kui and Xiumei said in unison: "Uncle, what happened? If my mother and you don't go, Uncle Zeng will be very angry. He wants to see you the most!"

Liu Changqing said: "Don't talk about it, you two are also ready to prepare, and see what you will bring to Uncle Zeng."

Su Xiaohui suddenly asked Sun Chang'e: "Mom, you are not going with my uncle because you are afraid that I won't be able to cook at home after you leave, right?" Seeing Sun Chang'e's expression, Su Xiaohui knew that she had guessed right, and she continued Said: "Mom, sister-in-law, you should go and just go. I just don't cook well, not at all. Don't worry, I promise I won't starve myself."

Xiumei said: "Xiaohui, taking care of the children is not talking. Now you feel that you are alone with the two children but you are not busy at all. It is because we have a lot of family members. People are hugging Xiaoyun and Xiaolei all the time. You I don’t think so; if I don’t leave the house, you won’t even have the time to go to the latrine, and you won’t be able to do anything, so tell our mother to go with our uncle, and I’ll leave home to cook for you.”

Whether Liu Changqing and his wife will go or Liu Kui and his wife can't tell the truth. In the end, Liu Changqing told Liu Chuan to just buy the tickets first and talk about it later.

But Liu Changchun said again: "Chuan'er, you don't need to buy me, and I won't go if you buy it. It will be the fifteenth day of July in a few days, and I have to leave home for your aunt's grave. I won't go anywhere. .”

In the end, it wasn't until the next day that it was time to leave, and the people who finally went were determined. Liu Kui and Xiumei beat Liu Changqing and Sun Chang'e, Xiumei stayed behind to take care of the family, and Liu Kui had to go to work in the fields. Possibly gather more crops.

There is another reason why Liu Kui didn't go. Liu Kui is now considered a cadre in the brigade, and the crops have been lost during the rainstorm. He has to start reporting to the village to apply for relief food in advance.

In the hot summer season, the Liu family, young and old, embarked on their first trip to Kyoto.