all the way

When the setting sun completely disappeared behind the rolling hills, Liu Xia and the others returned home.

The expanded new main room is very spacious, because the walls are painted with white lime, although there is still a kerosene lamp and a candle the size of a broad bean, the room is much brighter.

The four of them were so hot that they couldn't eat. They sat and chatted lively with their family members. After sweating for a while, they went to take a bath in the Fengxi River together.

Both Cat and Liu Rui took off naked at home, and they looked like small fish in the river. Cat would never take a bath honestly. He was always surrounded by Liu Xia, diving in the water Drilling back and forth, touching Liu Xia from time to time, and yelling "Uncle" with a smirk, Liu Xia responded or twisted his little face or pulled his ears, and he continued to dive into the water happily.

After taking a bath and returning home again, the food was already on the kang table, and the rest of the family had already eaten, only the four of them gathered around the kang table.

Sitting in Liu Xia's arms, Mao'er swiftly rolled eggs, fried locust tree flowers and vermicelli with a thin pancake, and handed it to Liu Xia: "Uncle, here, mother puts pepper noodles in it, it's delicious, I'm I can eat three at a time."

Liu Xia said, "Really? Then my uncle will roll it for you too."

The cat stuffed the cake into his hand: "Eat first, I roll it myself, grandma said my roll is the best, and it won't mess up the vegetables."

Sun Chang'e handed Liu Yun who was slipping like a loach in her arms to Liu Changqing, took a piece of cake, picked up vegetables with Liu Kui's chopsticks, and rolled it up for the cat: "I got up before dawn and ran away again." One day, eat quickly, baby, grandma will give you some rolls."

Because the cat was sitting in Liu Xia's arms, he couldn't see his face, so he turned his head to look at Liu Xia after a few mouthfuls of food, and then turned around to continue eating deliciously, as if to prove that his current happy status quo was not illusion.

Xiumei said: "Mao'er, when your uncle comes back, you feel refreshed, you eat better, and you walk better. It's more effective than eating meat."

The cat picked up a chopstick of beans and put it in his mouth, looked at the people in the room, shook his head to chew, and showed with practical actions: Uncle is back, he just eats green vegetables more delicious than meat.

Sweet egg soup, steamed buns with cabbage, and fried beans, Liu Xia ate so much that he could hardly sit still. He asked Liu Kui to bring the bag he put in the corner of the Kang, and put the Take things out.

The two Optimus Primes, big and small, shocked the whole family.

The cat hugged the big Optimus Prime, and was so happy that he couldn't speak easily: "Uncle, this, this, this is really you buying it for me?"

Liu Xia saw the desired effect, and was very proud: "Of course, if my uncle doesn't buy it for you, who will buy it for you? Beautiful, baby?"

Cat nodded vigorously: "Yes, Kemei."

Liu Xin shouted: "I want it, I want it too."

Liu Rui handed the little Optimus Prime to him: "You play this one first, the big one is specially bought for Brother Liu An by my uncle, tell him to play it for a while and then you can play it."

Liu Yun and Liu Lei were also anxious not to let the adults hug them, holding on to the big Optimus Prime in Maoer's hand.

Mao'er was very reluctant, he looked at Liu Xia, and handed the big Optimus Prime to Liu Xin: "Here, you play with this big one, slow down, don't fall, you can play with the small one for my brother." .”

Liu Yun and Liu Lei were very happy to get the little Optimus Prime. They met a look that the whole family couldn't understand correctly, and then Liu Lei suddenly picked up the little Optimus Prime and slammed it against the edge of the kang, with a mouth still in his mouth. With the accompaniment: "ah-ah-ah-ah-"

Sun Chang'e and Xiumei rushed over quickly, Sun Chang'e snatched little Optimus Prime, Xiumei hugged Liu Lei far away, pointed his forehead and scolded: "Little ancestor, you will fall whenever you see it!" What, do you see another good thing at home?"

Only then did Liu Xia notice that he hadn't heard the radio beep after he came back, so he turned his head to look for it.

Liu Changqing said: "Don't look for it. The radio, the flashlight, your ink cartridges, and the writing brushes are all thrown by Xiaolei. The writing brushes that the cats use now are all purchased by your third brother last week. Come back."

Liu Xia gave Liu Lei a thumbs up: "The king of destruction, you have the guts."

Liu Lei pointed to the big Optimus Prime in Liu Xin's hand and called to Xiumei: "Mother, mother."

Xiumei hugged him and sat on the bench farthest from everyone: "I won't win if you call me a mother. If you dare to ask you to hold it, it will become a mess in a while."

Mao'er was relieved to see that Liu Lei was far away from his big Optimus Prime, and grinned at Liu Xia: "I was scared to death."

Liu Kui came over and sat next to Liu Xia after eating, and gave the opposite side to Liu Changqing and Liu Changchun. He first took the big Optimus Prime from Maoer's hand and looked at it, then handed it to Liu Xin, and then slanted He leaned against Liu Xia and asked softly, "How much is it?"

"Huh?" Liu Xia was startled, blinked at Liu Kui, and wanted to bypass the words with a guilty conscience: "Not much, not much."

He saw that in the spacious and bright house, except for a new vermilion cabinet next to the newly built stove, almost all the old things were used or things that the family could get through hard work: a table made of stone , stools folded from branches or very simple benches, large iron pots dismantled from the old main room and built on the new stove, old kang tables that cannot tell the age and have never been painted, mats woven from sorghum poles... …

The exquisite, beautiful and majestic Transformers are so incompatible with this house.

But he still couldn't say what he was going to lie to his elder brother, so he had to tell the truth: "68. I know Laogui, elder brother, I will buy it this time, and I will definitely not buy it again in the future."

Liu Kui was really taken aback, he took Optimus Prime out of Liu Xin's hand and looked at it again: "It's weird to do it, we can't even think of it like this, but it's really expensive Already, it’s about to fill half of the washing machine.”

Liu Xia posted the price quoted by Liu Kui's whispering voice, and several children in the room were chatting happily all the time. Sun Chang'e, who was sitting on the edge of the kang, didn't hear Liu Kui's words, and she also thought it was quite interesting. , and asked Liu Xia the same question: "Boy, is this thing expensive?"

Sun Chang'e just asked casually, but Liu Xia suddenly felt embarrassed. He had never felt this way in front of his family before. I didn't buy any small gifts for my family.

Liu Kui answered Sun Chang'e's question first: "It's a bit expensive, more than 20 yuan, why don't you just buy one!"

Sun Chang'e didn't realize it for a long time, or she couldn't believe it. Finally, she took Optimus Prime from Liu Xin and looked at it carefully again: "God, such a little prankster, he can't eat or wear it. More than 20?"

Liu Xia looked at his elder brother gratefully, and said to Sun Chang'e: "Mom, I went to Haidu, but I didn't buy anything for you."

Sun Chang'e returned the big Optimus Prime to Liu Xin, and said strangely: "What are you buying? Look at our house, what's there now? We don't need anything, and things are so expensive there, we spend so much money to do it." What?

She looked around the spacious and bright house contentedly: "When you were young, I told your uncle, it would be great if we could install a big glass window sometime, it would be bright and bright, and when the weather was bad, I would Sitting under the window and doing needlework, you can see clearly. When it is windy and rainy, you don’t have to worry about the rain. ;

Now, we still have a brick kang, a brick stove, a small frying pan, so many fine porcelain plates and bowls, and we don’t have to worry about running out of food. You’ve grown up, and you can earn money for your family Well, there is nothing more satisfying than our family's life, what else do I want?

But Xiaoxia, you should buy clothes and shoes for your children in the future, it's such a pity to buy a plaything for such an expensive price. "

Xiumei went on to say: "It's Yao'er, just go out and play happily, remember to buy some good things for the cat and you will win, if you don't let the child always feel wronged, you don't have to think about anything else, I will take care of you." Right in front of the kids, I've got everything they want, and they've got everything they want."

Liu Kui saw through Liu Xia's thoughts, and patted the back of his head: "Don't think about it, just play with the baby."

Mao'er saw Liu Xia and grandma talking, and without looking at him, got up and knelt in Liu Xia's arms, holding his neck and dangling: "Uncle, I'll see you if you play tricks, I'll buy whatever you want." See you."

Sun Chang'e pointed at the cat's forehead and said, "You, it's okay for your uncle to fart."

Liu Changqing studied little Optimus Prime with Liu Yun's hand for a while, and said to Liu Changchun, "How can someone make such a trick? We can't make such a good thing with serious use."

Liu Changchun said, "Otherwise they would sell it so expensively, and our few acres of wheat wouldn't be worth a mere pawn."

It was a July day, and even at night it was unbearably hot, but the temperature in the cave dwelling was moderate. Liu Xia lay on the super invincible kang in his room with his legs stretched out, and stretched comfortably.

The cat was lying beside him, in exactly the same posture as him, and asked him expectantly: "Uncle, isn't our new kang beautiful? I put it on my head every day, and wait for you to come back when it is warm."

Liu Xia turned over and lay on his stomach, with his arms just on the cat's body: "Well, it's so beautiful, my uncle is so comfortable now that I don't even want to move, my baby is warmed up, the kang is so comfortable! It's better than my uncle's in Jiangcheng Living in a bed is [-] times more comfortable.”

The cat was very happy: "Then you should graduate soon, and then you will be able to sleep in our house every day like me."

Liu Xia turned sideways and took the cat into his arms: "Little silly boy, my uncle can't go back to our house to work even after he graduates, so he has to work in the city."

The cat was confused for a moment: "Then... why don't you go home? I want to see you every day!"

Liu Xia laughed loudly, lifted the cat up, put one foot against his stomach, and let him look down at him in the air: "You follow my uncle to the city, from now on, my son will be a city dweller , are you happy, baby?"

Mao'er obviously didn't believe it. He was almost nine years old, and he already had some common sense of society. He knew that it was very difficult for rural people to live in the city, but he couldn't help but believe Liu Xia's words, so he blinked. After looking at Liu Xia for a long time, he said: "If you can leave our house every day, I will be happy if I am not a city person. Uncle, are you graduating soon?"

Liu Xia put him down and lay him on his stomach: "It's less than a year old, my son, take out this summer vacation and winter vacation, and my uncle will graduate in nine months. At that time, my uncle will be with you every day." Together."

"Hey!" Mao'er happily climbed up and hugged Liu Xia's neck: "It's so beautiful, my uncle is graduating soon."

In the early morning of the next day, Liu Xia really saw the huge changes in his home: the eleven-hole cave dwellings lined up, the doors and windows made of blue stones and large bricks were beautiful and dignified, and all the doors and wooden lattice windows They were all painted a darker vermilion, and a one-and-a-half-meter-wide path paved with crushed stones and bricks connected all the houses together from east to west.

In the middle of the courtyard, the canopy of the big oak tree and Chinese eucalyptus tree is like an umbrella covering a large area of ​​shade. The courtyard is surrounded by big trees with luxuriant branches and leaves. The shrubs on the cave dwelling are all green, and occasionally there are various small wild flowers that cannot be named. Liujia courtyard It looked alive and well.

Liu Xia and the others still kept the kang in their original room, but a circle of red bricks was added to the whole, making the kang much larger; the new kang in the west suite where Liu Xia slept last night was covered with Liu Changchun according to the size of the kang. Weaving a whole large mat, kang mats and curtains around the bed are all made of red and white sorghum bamboo strips, the kang mats are all red swastika patterns on a white background, and the curtain mats are also white, but the red patterns are Not only are there swastikas and large flowers, but there are also small animals at each end, a dog at the east end and a monkey at the west end.

Dogs and monkeys don't look the same up close, but they look alike from a distance.

The big kang occupies the whole end under the windows of the house, but it is built with a three-meter-eight-meter-wide cave, two meters wide. The super-large kang is covered with flowered mats and flowered quilts, which looks particularly warm and comfortable.

But the cat was a little dissatisfied. He puffed up his face and said to Liu Xia: "I want to ask grandpa to weave the little monkey and the dog at one end. Grandpa said that if we weave the little monkey and the dog, it won't look like it. Now look at it." It looks like it, but I don't think it's beautiful to have a dog and a monkey together."

Liu Xia said: "This is so beautiful, baby. Let's sleep on the dog's side today and the monkey's side tomorrow. It will be fresh every day."

The cat nodded, but said regretfully, "Well, I know, but I still want to ask the little monkey to stay with the dog."

After breakfast, Liu Xia, Mao Er, Liu Wei, Liu Rui and Liu Xin ran down to see Liu Yu's new house together.

The cave where Liu Yu was going to get married was also expanded into a suite, which was exactly the same as the cave where Liu Xia and the others lived, but the things inside were different: the kang was demolished, and what was placed there now was a brand new red double bed. There are several new pieces of furniture, writing desks, large cabinets, high and low cabinets.

Liu Wei said: "The furniture was only brought back last week. My uncle, second uncle, my grandfather, my second grandfather, my uncle, my fourth uncle, and Uncle Fulai and others took two days to move them back. The cabinet in the main room was also made by my uncle, and he also wanted to make a dressing table for my mother, saying that when my mother got married, she didn't accompany her, and he always felt sorry for my mother."

The cat climbed onto the new bed and sat up and down on the edge of the bed twice: "It's not beautiful, it's not as beautiful as my uncle and we."

Liu Rui also sat on it and tried it: "That's right, Brother Xiaowei and our kang are also beautiful."

Liu Kui and Xiumei's cave dwelling was also expanded into a large suite this time, Liu Wei and Liu Rui lived on the kang outside, and Liu Xin and Liu Lei slept with Liu Kui and his wife at night.

Liu Yun followed Liu Changqing and Sun Chang'e at night.

The members of Sun Yufang's family didn't want to make too many demands, but they felt that sleeping on the kang was too wronged for their daughter, and hoped that the Liu family could make a bed for her.

There are very few places to live in cave dwellings in the Central Plains. Living in cave dwellings is regarded as a symbol of extreme poverty. Kang is not a local feature. Local people who do not have beds generally sleep directly on the ground with corn stalks or wheat straw.

Those living in caves near Wangning are indeed poor people who cannot even build a low mud thatched cottage, and many of them live in caves that are so narrow that they can barely accommodate people, without even a window.

The cave dwelling and kang of Liu Changqing’s house are the product of Liu Changqing’s improvement based on what he has seen and the descriptions of his comrades back then, plus his own imagination and understanding, which are beyond the local people’s cognition of these two things. Some people think that it is understandable for their daughter to live in a cave, so it is normal to ask for a bed.

According to the local customs, the new bed must be made by the man's family when we get married, and other furniture is usually accompanied by the woman's family.

However, in Wangning, Sandaohe, and Yangmiao areas, most of the so-called dowry from the woman’s family is paid by the man and bought by the woman’s family. Some even require the man to buy the furniture directly or send it to the woman’s home in advance, and then buy it in advance. The day before the wedding or on the day of the wedding, it is sent to the man's house as a dowry in front of the neighbors.

In fact, the woman's family doesn't want to pay, but still wants face, and the man has to save this face for the woman's family.

Of course, this kind of situation rarely happens in the villages near Liujialing. This is not because they are more enlightened than the people near Wangning, but because they are too poor. It's not worth the money for a washbasin stand sold in the store. Even if the woman's family drives the man to death, they can't spend money to decorate the woman's home.

Liu Yu's current room is already high-end and beautiful that other people around Liujialing can't even imagine, but Liu Xia is still a little worried looking at it. In recent years, many people near Ning have become rich thanks to the Luogezhuang Coal Mine. The level of marriage is also rapidly raised by these people.

When a beautiful girl like Sun Yufang gets married, the family usually has higher requirements on the man. If Sun Yufang's family suddenly makes some demands before getting married, it will be Liu Changqing who will be embarrassed in the end.

Liu Yu's wedding date has been fixed: August [-]st in the Gregorian calendar, Army Day.

This auspicious day was not seen by the seniors of the Sun family or the seniors of the Liu family, but by Liu Yu himself.

Because Liu Yu had a hard time talking about the time of marriage, the elders of both parties decided to ask him to find someone to see him, but Liu Yu just forgot such a date.

He swears that the fortune teller deduced it based on his and Sun Yufang's birth dates, and the elders of both parties also pretended to be confused and obeyed him.

The Sun family pretended to be confused because their daughter was determined not to marry Liu Yu, and they were also very satisfied with Liu Yu. bedding.

Liu Changqing and Sun Chang'e pretended to be confused because they learned the lessons of Liu Mao's second marriage, which made Liu Changqing feel that it is more appropriate for the children to make decisions on things like marriage.

Liu Hai said in a letter to Liu Xia after knowing Liu Yu's chosen wedding date: I suddenly feel uncomfortable. It seems that the fourth brother really wants to be a soldier, but now, he is destined to regret it for the rest of his life.

In Liu Changchun's cave dwelling, only the main room and the three rooms used for Liu Yu's wedding were expanded, and the two rooms on the east side were not moved by Liu Changchun.

In fact, according to Liu Changchun's plan, he didn't even plan to move the main room, but Liu Changqing said: "Even if marriage is a great event, Liu Yu is still a junior, and the house he lives in is higher than the main room and the house where the elders live. rule."

Liu Changchun had no choice but to let the main room be rebuilt. In order to reduce Liu Changqing's burden, he said that he will live in the main room in the future, so the one he used to live in does not need to be expanded.

As for Liu Mao and Xu Xiaohong's cave, even the 13-year-old Liu Wei knew that they must not move, otherwise the second uncle would go crazy.

After seeing Liu Yu's new house, a few people went to stick to Maiji Bird together for a while, and when the weather got hot, they went home, sat in the shade of a tree and started to practice calligraphy and do homework.

Maoer graduated from elementary school this year and has no summer homework. In addition to practicing calligraphy for an extra hour every day, he also asked to learn textbooks for the first grade of junior high school.

Liu Xia decided to adopt the same teaching method as Che Jie, let him preview first, and then tell Liu Xia, and Liu Xia will tell him what he doesn't know.

Liu Wei has a lot of homework, which makes Liu Xia worry. At the same time, he is more grateful for the decision to let Maoer go directly to the fifth grade last year. Otherwise, Maoer has to do a few homework like Liu Rui now, although not as much as Liu Wei. But it's choking enough.

Sure enough, the swing has been remodeled as Maoer said. The small bench used to sit on the cat was replaced by a large, red-painted elm board. It is much more comfortable for an adult like Liu Xia to sit on. The rack has also been replaced with a taller one, nearly five meters high, making it more enjoyable to swing higher.

Mao'er was sitting closest to Liu Xia. After writing for a while, he would look up at Liu Xia, grin at him with a big smile, and then continue writing.

Liu Xia didn't want Mao'er to be too nervous. After Mao'er finished writing and read the book for less than an hour, he urged Mao'er to get up and play on the swing with him.

Mao'er sat on Liu Xia's lap, and the two of them swung higher and higher. Mao'er laughed and screamed, and finally attracted Liu Yun and Liu Lei.

The two little guys were already stumbling and able to run, and they refused to be hugged by adults, and ran around by themselves. Xiumei had to chase them all the time, in case they ran into the ditch without seeing them.

That's why Liu Xia and the others didn't go to the Fengxi River to write and read. If the two little guys were playing by the river, Xiumei wouldn't dare to be distracted for a second.

The two babbled and asked to go on the swing, but they were too young to swing by themselves, so they stretched out their arms for Liu Xia to hug.

Although Mao'er was very reluctant, he let Liu Xia out and let him play with the two little guys.

But after swinging for a while, the cat didn't want to, and the uncle kept hugging his brother, which made him very uncomfortable.

Liu Xia never missed the slightest bit of his feelings for Mao'er, he stopped the swing, let Mao'er come up too, stood on the bench behind him, held tight to the rope of the swing, and the four of them swung together.

Now the cat was happy, he swung the autumn higher and higher, almost reaching the level of the swing frame, scaring Liu Yun and Liu Lei and screaming, but the more he played, the happier he was, until Xiumei told them to eat lunch.

After lunch, Liu Rui and Liu Xin followed Xiumei to take a nap, Liu Wei sat on the kang in the main room and continued to do her homework, and Liu Xia and Mao'er went to hang out with Mai Jiniao for a while.

When he came back, he saw Liu Changqing and Liu Kui were still sitting in the shade of the trees talking in the yard. Liu Xia asked the cat to take the Maiji bird into the main room, soak it in salt water first, and called his father and elder brother to live with him. in the house.

When Mao'er returned to the cave dwelling where they lived, he saw his uncle, grandpa, and uncle sitting on their new kang, with a large pile of money on the kang table.

Liu Xia stretched out his hand to pull the cat onto the kang, and sat directly in the gap formed by his legs: "Uncle, brother, please count, I'm afraid I may remember wrongly."

Liu Changqing and Liu Kui exchanged glances, stretched out their hands and pushed the money towards Liu Xia: "Boy, you are still young, the family owes you enough if they don't give you pocket money, and they always ask you to use money to supplement the family. From now on, when you earn money, you can spend it yourself, and if you can’t spend it, save it first. The days will be long in the future, and you may use it at any time.

Your fourth brother's wedding, you have seen it, everything is ready, the furniture is made by Xiaowei's grandfather and uncle, and only a fee is charged. I don't know how your second brother heard it, so he went to give the money in advance Xiaowei was an uncle, and he gave an extra 50 yuan. When he gave away the furniture a few days ago, Xiaowei's uncle gave back the [-] yuan.

Your fourth brother is actually very sensible, just those two fashionable clothes that he bought by himself, he changed them back and forth when he went home, and he usually wears work clothes issued by the factory, and his salary and bonuses have been saved all the time!

A few days ago, your third brother got back 300 yuan. He knew about it, took another 300 yuan and ran to Rongze, forced to return the money to your third brother, and said that he would not let your third brother owe you any more.

A few days ago, your second brother asked your Uncle Changxing to bring back another 300 yuan, plus your fifth brother sent it back. I guess there is still some leftover after finishing your fourth brother’s work, and then I will give away all the family’s money over the years. The bills are all paid off, and our family will never owe money again. "

Liu Xia laughed: "Uncle, big brother, I have a lot of money from the state in a month, and I can't spend it all. What do you owe me? I am the child of our family. If I know how to earn money, I should subsidize the family. Not only do you earn money to give me some flowers? Then what do you do for me?" He picked up the cat's little hand and rubbed it a few times: "Well, it's clean, baby, help my uncle give this money to me. Divide into two equal parts."

"Medium." Maoer agreed, and obediently took about one-fifth of the money and started counting. He carefully counted the money twice, and said to Liu Xia, "Uncle, the total is 840 yuan. I'll share it with you, this is four hundred and two, this is four hundred and two."

Liu Xia took twenty from the pile of money on the left and put it on the pile on the right. He took the extra pile in his hand and pushed the other four hundred to Liu Changqing: "Here, I'll just give you four." Bai, my fifth brother is a baby, and I am also a baby, you can't just want my fifth brother and not me, can you?

If my fourth brother can’t use it for marriage, you can spend your own flowers, and Xiao Wei can’t wear Lao Lai, and you can’t just ask my third brother to buy it for him. If it’s okay, ask my sister-in-law to go to Rongze. Let her buy some more clothes for Xiao Wei.

I keep the rest for myself. If I can’t get a separate dormitory after I start work, I will rent a room with Mao’er. "

Mao'er supported Liu Xia: "That's right, my uncle said that he earns money by being filial to grandpa and grandma, and also buys me good things. Grandpa, you take it, and when I grow up, I will follow me." My uncle earns a lot of money, and I am filial to you, my grandma, and grandpa, yes, and you, uncle, I am also filial to you, and I can buy you many good things."

Liu Kui said: "Baby, with your words, uncle will be happy if he doesn't buy something nice for uncle."

He picked up the money on the table and put it in Liu Changqing's hands: "Uncle, the baby is here for you, so you can take it, Xiaoyu's marriage is a big deal after all, and I always have some money in my hand, just in case.

But Yao'er, don't spend any more money on your family. I'll have something to do in a few days. A gravel factory is going to open in the west of Fujiazhuang, and it will start in October. I'm preparing for it now. I have already made an agreement with others, when the eldest brother earns money, you don't have to take care of the family affairs anymore. "

Liu Changqing put the money back into Liu Kui's hand: "I'm too old to go out now, and you are the one who usually goes out to do errands, so take the money."

When Liu Changqing and Liu Kui left, Maoer suddenly asked Liu Xia: "Uncle, what is renting a house?"

The concept of renting a house is very simple, but Liu Xia didn't want to give Mao'er a correct explanation, so he said: "Renting a house means that we are far away from our house, and we can't live in our own house, so we go to live in someone else's house first."

Mao'er felt that something was wrong, but he might never have the consciousness to question Liu Xia, so he just said: "I don't want to see someone else's house, uncle, let's live in our own house."