Yidong City is a forest city. The virgin Korean pine forest occupies most of the city’s boundaries. Beicha District, where the Li family is located, is at the foot of the Korean pine forest.
Ms. Li has four sons. The eldest son, Li Muwen, left with the army when he was fighting against Japan. He didn’t hear from him for many years. He didn’t send a letter until after liberation, saying that he settled down in Fujian after the war and returned home. Into the government as an official. The third son, Li Musen and Li Muwu, lived several miles apart. Like Li Muwu, he worked as a worker in a grain store. The fourth son, Li Mulin, went to the provincial capital in the early years and rarely came back.
Although two of the four sons are not around, but after the baptism of artillery fire, Mrs. Li is very satisfied with her current stable life. As long as the family is safe, it doesn’t matter if her son is around.
The sons and grandsons are all complete, and life has passed. If Mrs. Li has any wishes now, she hopes that the old Li family can have a girl. In the generation at the foot of the mountain in Beicha District, the old Li family is notoriously prosperous. Mrs. Li’s mother-in-law gave birth to seven sons in one breath. After Mrs. Li married into the Li family, she gave birth to six sons in a row, but unfortunately only four survived. It is even more regrettable that she never had a daughter in her life.
People who lack a son’s family look forward to a son, and people like the Li family who haven’t seen a daughter for generations can’t help but hope that there will be a pink and tender girl at home. It’s a pity that the four sons are still sons no matter where they live. Every time Mrs. Li receives a letter and sees the news that she has a grandson, she can’t help sighing.
Finally this time, the second daughter-in-law, Wang Sufen, gave birth to a white and tender girl. When Mrs. Li got her wish, she couldn’t help but feel anxious. Wang Sufen is almost forty years old. She suffered a lot in the early years. Not to mention she didn’t bring it back, she gave birth to four sons in a series of difficult times.
When she gave birth to the third child, Li Mingnan, Wang Sufen’s milk supply was insufficient. When she gave birth to the fourth child, Li Mingbei, she basically didn’t breastfeed much. Therefore, Li Mingbei grew up on goat’s milk. It doesn’t matter what the rough boy eats, as long as he can feed himself, but the tender little girl doesn’t know if she can digest goat milk. In this era when a single episode of diarrhea could easily lead to the death of a child, Mrs. Li was a little worried, for fear that she would not be able to support her hard-to-get granddaughter.
Hearing the children in the East Room crying, Mrs. Li put down her chopsticks and said, “The girl is awake, I’ll go to that room and have a look.”
Liu Xiulan stopped using her chopsticks after she was half full. She saw Mrs. Li get up and stood up: “I’ll go see if the child has urinated?” Go to the east house.
In the east room, Wang Sufen picked up her crying daughter with her eyes closed and patted her quickly, knowing that the child was hungry. Although I know that I should have no milk, I can’t let the child cry like this. Wang Sufen sighed and unbuttoned her shirt, only to realize that her chest was a little swollen.
Tentatively, she pushed her daughter closer to her chest, and the little one closed his eyes and sucked on instinct. At first, it was a little hard to suck, and there was some light sweat on the tired forehead, but after a while, Wang Sufen heard the child’s swallowing sound.
Mrs. Li and Liu Xiulan opened the curtains and came in. Wang Sufen was grinning when she heard the voice and raised her head quickly: “Mother, this fish soup is so good, the little girl is getting milk.”
“Really?” Mrs. Li let go of Liu Xiulan’s hand, took a few steps towards the three-inch golden lotus, and walked to the front of the kang. She lowered her head against Wang Sufen’s shoulder, and sure enough, she heard the little girl gulping for milk, and then glanced at her daughter-in-law’s chest, she could feed the child with a bulging look.
Mrs. Li was instantly happy, she touched the child’s thick hair, and said regretfully, “You know that the fish is no longer stewed, so I should keep the soup for you. I will let Ming Nan and the Let’s go around the river in Mingbei and see if you can still catch fish?” Thinking that it hasn’t rained much this year, the water in the river is less, and I haven’t seen much fat fish and shrimp even in summer, Mrs. Li He added: “It’s fine if you don’t catch a fish. It’s a big deal to kill a chicken and cut a piece of it a day to cook soup for you. How can you eat it for ten or eight days.”
The old lady is a quick-witted character. When the three Mingxi brothers finished their meal, she drove them out to go fishing. Li Mingdong doesn’t have to go out. When next summer, he will take the college entrance examination, so he doesn’t need to do anything at home, just sit at the desk and read.
Mingxi has already entered the third year of junior high school, and his words and deeds are very similar to Mingdong. Although he also follows his family to fish in the mountains and underground rivers during the holidays, he is not as reckless as the two younger brothers. Everything is orderly.
Mingnan and Mingbei are ten years old and seven years old. It’s the time when cats and dogs hate jumping up and down. Usually, they don’t do their homework after school, so they drop their schoolbags and run up the mountain. Mrs. Li didn’t care about the two of them. Anyway, every time she went up the mountain, she could carry some firewood and sticks back. She could also pick up some fungus and mushrooms from time to time, and occasionally she could catch two rabbits to improve the food for the family.
As soon as the three boys went out, the noisy home immediately quieted down. Li Muwu squatted at the door and ate some dry tobacco pouches. He got up and called Li Mingdong: “You have been studying for so many years, so give your sister a nice name.” /
Li Mingdong pondered for a moment, then said with a smile: “Peach’s Yaoyao, its Ye Zhenzhen. My son is at home, suitable for his family. My sister might as well be called Li Mingzhen.”
Li Muwu gave him a blank look: “Speak human words!”
Li Mingdong, who was immersed in romantic poetry, was poured back to reality by a basin of cold water. He glanced at Li Muwu helplessly, and explained straightforwardly: “That is to say, the grass, the tree, and the growth are like thick and dense.”
Li Muwu understood this time, and he nodded with satisfaction: “This tree, grass, and grass will never break its roots. This name is easy to support, so I will call it this name, and I will give it to her now. account.”
Speaking of which, Li Muwu put on a big padded jacket and a leather hat and went out, but as soon as he got out of the yard, Li Muwu stopped. He looked up to the sky and thought for a moment, then turned around and came back. As soon as he entered the door, he asked in a loud voice: “Mingdong, what’s your sister’s name? Is it Li Mingshu or Li Mingcao?”
The drowsy baby in the east room cracked open and began to cry, seemingly hearing the name of his father. Sitting at the table, Li Mingdong, who was reading a book in Russian, heard that his good name changed in the blink of an eye, and he almost cried: “It’s not grass and trees, it’s Li Mingzhen! Forget it, I’ll just write it down. , you can go back and make the wrong name again.”
Li Muwu took the note handed over by his son, squinted his eyes and read word by word: “Li… Ming… Zhen? This is Zhen? Oh, this word is too difficult to write, wait for your sister. How can she write her name in school, she can’t cry?”
“That can’t be called Li Mingcao?” Li Mingdong said with some dissatisfaction, pulling his neck: “Why don’t you build one yourself.”
Li Muwu frowned and thought about it for a long time, then silently stuffed the note into his pocket, put on his hat, turned around and walked out: “This name is also very good, let’s call it this.”
Wang Sufen, who was listening to the movement outside with her ears sideways in the east room, grinned: “Dongzi’s father is a tough mouth.”
Old Mrs. Li couldn’t help but be happy, but she had to say two good things for her son: “Actually, the second child is not stupid, but he has suffered from the loss of not going to school. He has followed Dongzi all these years. I know a few words, and I am much stronger than before. I heard that he can write his name now, which is not bad.”
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were whispering. Only then did Zhen Zhen, who had been in a daze, slowly wake up from the chaos. She opened her eyes, but she always felt blurry in front of her eyes. She moved her arms, stared, kicked her legs, and kicked Unwrapped quilts.
Old Mrs. Li happily wrapped her granddaughter again, and said very proudly: “Look at our family, this girl has strong arms and legs, and when she grows up, she can kick a pig with one foot!”
Zhen Zhen was deeply shocked by the vision depicted by Mrs. Li, she tried to put her arms and legs in order, trying to change Mrs. Li’s impression of herself.
Patting the child for a while, Mrs. Li said, “This child in our family has a happy birthday. In the past, it was said that Buddha became enlightened on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.”
Wang Sufen echoed: “When I was a child, I heard my grandmother say that in the early days, when it was relatively stable, tributes had to be placed to pay homage to ancestors and gods on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Later, when the army was in chaos, people could not have enough to eat, so they were not happy. This is it.”
Old Mrs. Li also recalled: “No, even though my family was very poor when I was a child, at this time, I would take out the beans I have accumulated over the year and cook it in a small urn of porridge, and each person would be given a small half bowl. It’s a rare good meal.” The more she talked, the more she couldn’t sit still. She put on her shoes and went down to the kang and said, “Although I’m not rich now, I still have some beans I saved in the past year, and I still have hazelnuts and pine nuts that I picked up in winter. Little, let’s just cook a pot of sweet-scented osmanthus to relieve cravings, it’s already the twelfth lunar month, and it’s time to eat a few good meals.”
Mr. Li went out after talking, Wang Sufen fell asleep while patting Zhen Zhen, and soon fell asleep.
Hearing the soothing and long breathing next to her, Zhen Zhen slowly opened her eyes and tried her best to recall the past…
Zhen Zhen, called Li Zhenzhen in her previous life, after her parents divorced, she was left in her original home. Apart from giving her living allowance once a year, she rarely came back to see her at the rest of the time. Fortunately, Zhen Zhen was open-minded, and did not become depressed because of the broken family, instead she felt more relaxed than ever.
After graduating from college, Zhen Zhen used the money she earned from her part-time job in college to open a flower shop, but when she was looking at the shop, something hit her forehead directly. Zhen Zhen squinted her eyes and recalled carefully, what seemed to hit her was a golden bead that fell from the sky?
Zhen Zhen was a little stunned, what beads are so powerful, and they smashed them all at once? But it seems that there is no discomfort after the thing hits me, but there is a familiar feeling of blood thicker than water…
Zhen Zhen couldn’t help but stretch out her little hand and gently touched her forehead, but she didn’t seem to touch anything except her delicate skin. After thinking about it, Zhen Zhen didn’t even understand what was going on, but her eyelids became more and more heavy, and she soon fell asleep.
“Milk! We’re back!” A loud voice sounded from the door. Zhen Zhen, who had been sleeping for a long time, was woken up by the sudden sound. She opened her eyes and only felt the darkness in the room, and she was shocked. it’s getting dark.
“What are you shouting? I don’t know that there are children in the family, so I can’t keep my voice down!” Mrs. Li seemed to be startled by her grandson, and ran away angrily!
Listening to the deafening voice, Zhen Zhen had a black line on her face: Milk, your voice is louder than my brother’s!