The north wind whistled and there was a heavy snow like goose feathers in the sky. The old lady of the Li family was sitting in the stove, filling the stove with firewood and smoking a cigarette bag, with a bit of sadness on her face. color. Suddenly, the cotton door curtain was lifted, and Li Mingnan, Li Mingnan and Li Mingbei came in from outside, bringing in a cold wind and flakes of snow.
Seeing the old lady sitting in the kitchen, Li Mingbei shouted before taking off his thick gloves: “Milk, my brother and I caught two fish.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the little old lady suddenly stood up from the stove, raised her leg and knocked the cigarette bag and pot against the sole of her shoe, while cracking her mouth and saying with a smile: “Really? I take a look, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen all the fish.”
Li Mingnan handed the two two-pound carp strung with hemp rope to Mrs. Li, picked up the water scoop, scooped half a spoon of cold water from the water tank, and drank it.
“I haven’t caught such a big fish this summer.” Madam Li looked at the two fish in her hands tossing and turning, and she couldn’t close her mouth with laughter: “It just so happens that your mother is about to give birth. Now, your eldest brother is also tired of reading, so I stewed the fish to make up for them.”
Li Mingbei hummed and asked again, “Can my mother give birth to a sister this time?”
Thinking of her grandchildren, Mrs. Li was also a little worried, and sighed: “I hope to have a girl, I’m upset when I look at you stinky boys who can eat poor old men.”
Li Mingbei laughed and asked Li Mingnan to squat in front of the stove to bake together. Suddenly, the two boys wrinkled their noses, looked at each other, grabbed the hook of the stove on the ground, and with a few strokes, they pulled out two roasted, charred potatoes from the stove. Regardless of the heat, the two of them hurriedly picked up the potatoes and put them on the stove.
When Mrs. Li turned around, she saw that the two baked potatoes had been half eaten by her grandson. If it was usual, she would definitely have scolded a few words, but today her grandson has caught two big fish, and she doesn’t feel distressed anymore. Instead, she laughed and scolded: “Like what it looks like, go to the West Room to eat, and ask Osmanthus to come out to stew the fish.”
The two boys responded, and while holding the still-hot potatoes with their hands, they shouted at the top of their voices: “Sister-in-law, milk let you come out to cook.”
A girl with big, shiny black braids walked out of the Westinghouse. Her face was full of vigor at the age of seventeen or eighteen. She washed her hands with water and asked, “Mother, what are you doing tonight?”
“Boiled fish! Boiled cabbage and potatoes!” Mrs. Li said in a loud voice, leaning on a cane.
Although the two boys of the Li family call Osmanthus a sister-in-law, Wu Guihua has not yet married Li Mingdong, the eldest son of the Li family. Wu Guihua’s family came from a landlord, and because of the poor composition, life was very sad. When Osmanthus was seven or eight years old, the family really couldn’t get enough to eat, so I thought about selling the big girl Osmanthus in exchange for something to eat, but the few who came here were unwilling. It happened that the old lady of the Li family passed by the Wu family with relatives. She saw that Osmanthus was good-looking and had a cheerful personality. The Wu family also knew that the old Li family was kind, so the two discussed it. Child brides-in-law.
This sweet-scented osmanthus has been in the Li family for ten years. When I first came, I also went to school for a few years. I knew a few words. When I was thirteen or four years old, I stopped reading it and helped with cooking and washing. Shabu Shabu clean up the house.
Mr. Li sat on the small stool in the stove, watching Osmanthus swiftly kill the fish and remove the scales, and poured a little oil into the pot, then got up satisfied and said: “The stew is more fragrant. , Dongzi can’t eat meat and fish for some time.”
Osmanthus responded crisply, throwing her long braids behind her, and swiftly cutting potatoes with her hands and feet. At this moment, there was a sudden cry of pain from the east room, and Mrs. Li forgot to take the walking stick. She ran to the east room in three steps and two steps, and asked anxiously, “Dongzi, mother, is it? Isn’t it activated?”
“It’s been in pain for a while, and I guess I’ll give birth soon.” In the room, Wang Sufen endured the pain, grabbing the mattress under her body and adjusting her breathing.
“Oh, I have to endure this matter, why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Mrs. Li took a look and immediately shouted: “Mingbei, hurry up and find your third aunt for help.”
Li Mingbei grabbed the leather hat and buckled it on his head, wrapped his coat and rushed out. Osmanthus in the kitchen heard the movement, quickly boiled a pot of water, and brought all the prepared things into the room.
Beicha District is a small town surrounded by mountains. Although Li’s family is in a town, the population is sparse, so they don’t live close to each other. Fortunately, Li Mingbei had neat legs, and he ran to his third aunt’s house without much effort.
Mr. Li’s third daughter-in-law, Liu Xiulan, was cooking corn mush when she suddenly heard a dog barking in the distance. She stood up, poured chopped rutabaga into the mush and stirred it, calling his family’s Son: “Photon, see if your second uncle’s brother is here.”
Li Mingguang opened the door and took a look, just when he saw Li Mingbei pushing open the door of his house, he quickly turned around and said, “Mom, my brother Beizi is here.”
“It must be your second aunt who is about to give birth.” Liu Xiulan wiped her hands on her clothes and turned to call his eldest son: “Mingrong, come and watch the pot, I’ll go to your nanny’s house.” Said He hurriedly followed Mingbei away.
Mrs. Li’s second daughter-in-law, Wang Sufen, has already given birth to four children, so although she is older now, the birth canal is opening fast.
Washing her hands in a hurry, Liu Xiulan came over and touched Wang Sufen’s belly, and said to Mrs. Li, “Mother, take a break, I’m here.”
Old Mrs. Li took advantage of the situation to sit on the kang, made room for the third daughter-in-law, wiped the sweat on her head and said, “I can’t exert myself when I am old. When your second sister-in-law gave birth to Beizi, I was still me. The one who delivered.”
Liu Xiulan said while pushing Wang Sufen’s stomach: “Beizi is already eight years old, so when will that happen.”
Wang Sufen wanted to laugh when she heard it, but she was afraid of venting her energy, so she bit her lip and pressed down hard. Liu Xiulan hurriedly shouted, “Oh, I saw my head, second sister-in-law, try harder.” Wang Sufen Grit your teeth, hold your breath, and press down hard.
The unbearable pain caused Wang Sufen to snort coldly, the sweat on her forehead wet her hair and stuck to her face. Just when Wang Sufen felt that she couldn’t hold it any longer, a warm current revolved from her abdomen, and as the blood flowed away, Wang Sufen slowly regained her strength, and her spirit felt much better.
“Wow wow wow…” A crisp cry echoed in the mud-tiled house, Liu Xiulan took a look at the baby after catching the red-covered baby, and suddenly cracked her mouth and smiled: “Mother , the second sister-in-law gave birth to a girl!”
“Really? Let’s take a look!” Mrs. Li leaned over. Liu Xiulan swiftly cleaned up the child, wrapped the prepared quilt and handed it to Mrs. Li’s arms.
Mr. Li lifted the quilt and took a look inside, then said with a wide-eyed smile: “It’s really a girl, I gave birth to four boys, thinking that it would be possible to have a granddaughter without a daughter, look at you. You guys have given birth to sons one after another, and I just assume that I can’t hold a granddaughter in my life.”
“Second sister-in-law has a good life, and my daughter will be in pain in the future.” Liu Xiulan smiled and quickly helped Wang Sufen clean up, washed her hands, picked up her clothes and said, “Mother, you are busy, I’m going back.”
“Don’t go back, let’s eat here.” Mrs. Li hugged her granddaughter and didn’t lift her eyelids: “You will go home now, and there is probably nothing left in the pot. Today, I let Osmanthus stew cabbage and potatoes. , and it boiled to a pulp.”
Wang Sufen also persuaded while lying in the bed: “It’s not that outsiders are polite, my younger brothers and sisters can eat here.”
Liu Xiulan drank a few sips of water in the morning. At this time, her stomach was rumbling. She has always been cheerful and has a good relationship with Wang Sufen’s sister-in-law. It’s a waste.”
“What’s the matter?” Mrs. Li said indifferently: “If there is such a big event in the past, why do you have to cut some meat and come back and make some dumplings to satisfy your cravings. Alas, it’s all because of the bad weather in the past two years. , I haven’t received enough food in the past few months. If I hadn’t opened up wasteland and planted some vegetables, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even be able to eat enough.”
“No.” Liu Xiulan also sighed: “I heard from Mu Sen that the grain harvested in the countryside this year is quite a lot, but all of them have gone to the outside of the mountains, so we can’t get the grain supply. .If it wasn’t for Ting Niang’s family who also planted some land, I’m afraid we can’t even eat corn mush now.”
Mrs. Li came from the old society. She had a hard life when she was a child. She had an extreme desire and anxiety for food. Although the Li family has a household registration and can take the grain book to get the food supply every month, Mrs. Li still felt uneasy, so she took her son and grandson to find a flat place in the ravine a few years ago. In the famine, crops such as corn, soybeans, cabbage, potatoes, and sweet potatoes were also planted. When supplies were abundant, these things could also improve people’s lives. Now that there is a sudden shortage of food supplies, the Li family is barely hungry because of these crops.
In the kitchen, Osmanthus has already cooked a meal with ease. She stewed a pot of cabbage and potatoes, cooked a pot of corn batter, and posted a pot of cornmeal pancakes.
The fish caught by the two brothers from the north and the south were stewed in a pot of tofu, noodles, etc., and the oil was full of aroma. The remaining one boiled a large bowl of milky white soup, which was for Wang Sufen to drink milk.
Li Muwu came back from get off work and heard that his daughter-in-law had given birth to a girl, so he quickly took off his coat and went to the east room to see his daughter-in-law and the newly born little girl.
Osmanthus picked up the fish soup, helped Wang Sufen to sit up, and then handed her a bowl of fish soup.
Li Muwu looked at his daughter’s face and felt very satisfied, and his voice was a little more gentle than usual: “Drink more soup and have enough milk to keep our girl full.”
Wang Sufen smiled reluctantly: “How old are you, how can you still have milk? When you gave birth to Beizi, you didn’t give much, so you still led the sheep back to feed Beizi alive. Tomorrow you go to work and ask around Ask, see who raises sheep, let’s buy some goat milk every day, it’s better than feeding Mumu.”
Li Muwu gruffly hummed, and said, “Tomorrow, I will go to register my daughter with a household registration and see if I can bring milk powder and brown sugar back.”
Wang Sufen lowered her head and ate half a bowl of fish soup. When she turned around, she saw that Li Muwu was poking her girl’s pink face with her rough fingers. The girl was sleeping sweetly. Wang Sufen was afraid that he would cry and ask for milk if he woke the child up, so he hurried him out: “Don’t stay here, eat quickly.”
Li Muwu stood up with a smile: “For such a big event, I have to take out the wine I have saved, and I have to drink a cup with my mother anyway.”
The table was set up outside, and there was a crowd around the family. Li Mingnan and Li Mingbei stared at the dishes on the table and swallowed. Li Muwu came out of the East Room to get the wine pot first. Li Mingdong quickly picked it up, took out two small wine cups of two taels, and poured a glass of wine for Mrs. Li and Li Muwu each.
Old Mrs. Li took a sip of wine first, pointed to the pot of fish, and said, “Dongzi eat more fish to nourish his brain, and now he is about to go to college.”
Li Mingdong pushed the eyes on the bridge of his nose, showing a gentle smile: “I haven’t seen meat and fish at home for a long time, how can I eat it alone, you can eat milk first.” I want to give it to Liu Xiulan again.
Liu Xiulan hurriedly took the bowl and avoided it and said, “I can’t read or read, so don’t waste things. I’ll just eat the vermicelli in the chopsticks and soak it in the flavor.”
Li Muwu saw that his son was going to put fish for him, so he quickly waved his hand and said, “If you give me the fish head, the wine is the best, and I will leave the meat for you guys to eat.”
Li Mingdong then took a chopstick for himself, and the three younger brothers quickly took a large chopstick and ate it with relish. Li Muwu took a sip of wine and took a bite of the fish head. As soon as he gnawed the fish head, only the bones were left, when he heard the cry of a tender baby next door. Li Muwu couldn’t help laughing: “My daughter is awake.”