take a break

Shuhua sleeps together.

There is a big room in the orphanage, and all boys, big and small, sleep on a big bunk.For every two older children, there is a quilt for every two people, and for every three young children, there is a quilt for every three people.

Seeing Chen Shuhua carrying Li Xiaoyu onto the bed, the other two boys who shared the quilt with him were very dissatisfied.

"He doesn't wet the bed, does he? My clothes are all clean."

"It's enough for three people to cover one bed, do you want to add one more person?"

"Xuesheng never wets the bed, he doesn't cover us with a quilt, he has his own quilt." Chen Shuhua quickly explained, "Xuesheng sleeps against the wall, I sleep next to him, he won't touch you."

The two boys muttered a few more words, then took off their cotton jackets and trousers and fell asleep.

"Are you all lying down?" asked the oldest boy, "Have I turned off the lights?"

As soon as the lights went out, the whole house immediately became dark.

Chen Shuhua was lying on his right side, trying to distinguish Li Xiaoyu's face with his eyes wide open.

He stretched out his left arm, holding Li Xiaoyu in his arms through the quilt, with a bright smile on his face.

"Xuesheng, it's great to be able to celebrate the New Year with you!" Chen Shuhua whispered in Li Xiaoyu's ear, "From now on, we will spend the New Year together every year, okay?"

In the dark, although Li Xiaoyu couldn't see Chen Shuhua's face clearly, he could understand his mood through the latter's cheerful voice.

He took his right hand out of the quilt and groped to find Chen Shuhua's hand.

As soon as the two hands touched, Chen Shuhua immediately squeezed Li Xiaoyu's hand, and said softly: "We have made an agreement."

Li Xiaoyu squeezed Chen Shuhua's palm as an answer.

The two were lying quietly together, arm in arm, head to head.

Snoring sounds with different rhythms and volumes gradually sounded, setting off the silence of the room.

Just when Li Xiaoyu was about to fall asleep in a daze, Chen Shuhua suddenly hugged him tightly and whispered something in his ear.

"do not leave me!"

I don't know if it's an illusion or reality, but Li Xiaoyu seemed to hear a sad cry.

Since the police from the County Public Security Bureau left, there has been no news.

Seeing that the boy Chen Shuhua picked up from the roadside had been admitted to the orphanage for almost half a year, but still had no household registration, Liu Chunhua reported the matter to his superiors.

After research, relevant leaders of the Pingqiao town government decided to register the baby boy's household registration in the name of the Pingqiao Town Welfare Institute.

Liu Chunhua found Chen Shuhua and told him that the baby boy was about to settle in the orphanage.

"Xiaohua, I think the name you gave Xuesheng is quite good. From now on, he will be called 'Huai Xuesheng'."

Chen Shuhua knew that for orphans who never knew who their parents were, the orphanage gave them the surname "Huai".

He had always hoped that he could be with Xuesheng forever, but when he thought that Xuesheng might never see his parents again, he felt sad for Xuesheng again.

"Xuesheng, did you hear that?" Chen Shuhua looked at Li Xiaoyu who was sitting in his arms, and said sadly, "You are going to settle in the orphanage."

Li Xiaoyu didn't expect the biological parents of this body to come to him at all. He knew that it would be a matter of time before he settled down in the orphanage.

However, he very much minds that he is given the surname "Huai", which has the characteristics of an abandoned area.

He didn't want to be labeled as a prominent orphan.

"Li..." Li Xiaoyu tried his best to speak in standard and clear Mandarin, "My surname is Li..."

Chen Shuhua looked at Li Xiaoyu in his arms in surprise, and asked, "Xuesheng, are you talking?"

Li Xiaoyu nodded, and slowly said word by word: "I... want... surname... Li!"

"Li?" Chen Shuhua asked, "Is it the '李' that eats plums? There is a 'wood' on the top and a 'zi' on the bottom?"

Li Xiaoyu nodded, and turned his expectant eyes to Liu Chunhua.

Liu Chunhua was surprised by the interaction of the two children. She looked curiously at Li Xiaoyu who was looking forward to it, and was amazed.

"Little thing, do you speak Mandarin? You already know how to read? Oh...it's not easy!"

"I... want... to be named... Li!" Li Xiaoyu stared into Liu Chunhua's eyes, and said every word, "My...name...is...Li...Xue...Sheng!"

Although Li Xiaoyu's pronunciation was not clear, it was enough for people to understand what he meant.

"I see. You want to be called Li and Li Xuesheng, right?" Liu Chunhua said with a smile, "If you call me 'Mom', I'll consider helping you."

The corner of Li Xiaoyu's mouth twitched almost undetectably.

You know, in terms of real age, he is only 4 years younger than the current Liu Chunhua.

He couldn't pronounce the word "Mom".

"Liu...Mom...Mom..."

Li Xiaoyu called out stiffly.

"Oh... my son!"

Liu Chunhua responded happily, and hugged Li Xiaoyu into her arms and kissed him hard.

Li Xiaoyu was very depressed by the words "good son", but he couldn't protest.

He had no choice but to comfort himself in his heart: "I am only 14 months old now."

Liu Chunhua kissed Li Xiaoyu's tender face enough, and returned Li Xiaoyu to Chen Shuhua contentedly.

"My dear son, Mom will go to the town government to find the leader and wait for my good news."

Liu Chunhua left with light steps, and Chen Shuhua helped Li Xiaoyu adjust his sitting posture so that he faced him.

"Xuesheng, call 'Brother'!" Chen Shuhua stared at Li Xiaoyu excitedly, pointed at himself with his right index finger, and urged, "Quickly call 'Brother'!"

At my age, I am more than enough to be your father, but you still expect to be my elder brother?

Stop dreaming!

Li Xiaoyu squinted at Chen Shuhua, and called out childishly, "Xiao... Hua!"

"It's not Xiaohua, it's 'brother'." Chen Shuhua corrected, "You should call me 'brother'."

"Xiaohua." Li Xiaoyu called again in Mandarin.

"It's 'brother', 'brother', quickly call 'brother'." Chen Shuhua urged eagerly.

Li Xiaoyu didn't bother to pay attention to Chen Shuhua, who was eager to be an older brother, and simply climbed off the latter's lap, and practiced walking unsteadily.

Now, he can already walk a short distance without the support of external objects.

He is only one step away from officially learning to walk.

Chen Shuhua followed Li Xiaoyu, while protecting him, while talking like Tang Seng.

"Xuesheng, quickly call me 'brother'!"

"Why don't you call me 'brother'?"

"Call me 'brother'..."

……

The next day, Liu Chunhua went to the Pingqiao Town Police Station to register for Li Xiaoyu.

The name on the household registration book is Li Xuesheng, and his date of birth is April 1981, 4.

Liu Chunhua presented treasures to Li Xiaoyu with the household registration booklet, coaxing him to call her "Mom".

Li Xiaoyu called out "Mother Liu", took the household registration book from Liu Chunhua's hand and looked at it carefully, and then he let go of his hanging heart.

"From now on, I will be called Li Xuesheng." Li Xiaoyu thought to himself, "This is a new beginning. Compared with my previous life, my life will definitely be more brilliant!"

Seeing that Li Xuesheng's date of birth was April 1981, 4, Chen Shuhua asked in puzzlement, "Mother Liu, how do you know Xuesheng's birthday?"

"The day you picked up Xuesheng was December 1981, 12. At that time, he was about 7 months old. So, we pushed his birthday forward by 8 months. It shouldn't be too much difference." Liu Chunhua explained patiently.

"Oh..." Chen Shuhua looked down at Li Xuesheng who was holding the household registration book with a serious face, and thought, "Not only does Xuesheng have no parents, but he doesn't even know the exact date of birth. How pitiful! I must treat him well in the future, Let him be happy and happy forever!"

Time flies, and children grow up surprisingly fast.

In a blink of an eye, Li Xuesheng was able to pull bamboo baskets and follow behind a group of older children breaking corn stalks, digging sweet potatoes, picking firewood, and scraping coal cores.

Chen Shuhua got rid of the immaturity of a primary school student and is about to enter junior high school.

Since entering Pingqiao Town Primary School, Chen Shuhua has always maintained a proud performance of No.5 in the whole grade for five years.

The school recommended him to take the elementary school entrance examination of C County No. [-] Middle School, hoping that he could win glory for Pingqiao Town.

When Liu Chunhua learned of this, she immediately cleaned up the firewood room of the orphanage and let Chen Shuhua live alone so that he could review and prepare for the exam.

After living with a group of boys, big and small, for 7 years, Chen Shuhua was so happy that he suddenly had his own room.

Of course, he did not forget to share this benefit with Li Xuesheng.

"Mother Liu, I want Xuesheng to move in and live with me."

"You have to concentrate on studying for the exam, Xuesheng will disturb you." Liu Chunhua objected.

"No." Chen Shuhua quickly explained, "With Xuesheng by my side, I will concentrate more on my studies."

Liu Chunhua didn't understand this kind of statement, but she didn't want Chen Shuhua to have any troubles before the exam, so she agreed.

She also deliberately called Li Xuesheng aside, and told him not to cling to Chen Shuhua all day long, and not to disturb his study.

Li Xuesheng thought to himself: "I am really wronged. He is the one who clings to me, why does everyone think it is I who clings to him?"

However, for the sake of not having to sleep in the Datong shop anymore, Li Xuesheng obediently made a promise to Liu Chunhua.

On the first night of living in the woodshed, Chen Shuhua was so excited that he couldn't sleep.

He put his arms around the drowsy Li Xuesheng and kept talking to him.

"Xuesheng, no one snores or grinds their teeth. I'm not used to it."

Under the guidance of Li Xuesheng, Chen Shuhua can already speak Mandarin fluently.

However, he only talks to Li Xuesheng in Mandarin in private, and usually uses dialect.

"slowly