Liu Gen said nothing and added some sorghum stalks to the stove fire.
Ouyang Xue continued: "I know you are doing it for your mother's good, but if you do that, your mother will be unhappy. It will take a long time to adapt to a strange environment. In a place like Nanhai, people are indifferent and unlike
You are so comfortable at home. If you are really good for your mother, then you'd better not take her away. I know you are filial, but I think filial piety is a kind of obedience. Let your mother make her own decision and obey her.
Will.”
Liu Gen looked sideways at Ouyang Xue and said after a long time: "Thank you for reminding me. Yes, obedience is the greatest filial piety. I will follow mother's wishes."
Ouyang Xue smiled slightly, saw Liu Gen's cuffs, revealing the sleeves of the thermal underwear she bought, and asked what she had just said: "Liu Gen, don't you want me to stay?"
"The holiday is so short, don't you have to fulfill your filial piety? It's better to go home with your dad and spend the New Year with your parents." Of course Liu Gen wants Ouyang Xue to stay, but the conditions here are really bad. The environment she has lived in since she was a child,
It's so different from here.
"But I want to stay." Ouyang Xue looked at Liu Gen, as if begging him to keep her.
"No, you should go home." Liu Gen said coldly, stood up, scooped hot water from the pot and said, "Wash up."
Xiangzi heard the conversation between the two. He had already woken up and was about to get up, but Ouyang Xue and Liu Gen came in together, so he had to close his eyes again and fall asleep.
After Ouyang Xue took the wash water and walked out of the cave, Xiangzi stood up, put on his clothes and said, "Brother Gen, why are you chasing Ouyang Xue away? If she is willing to stay, then let her stay here to spend more time with our mother."
, the Chinese New Year is also more lively.”
"You don't understand." Liu Gen scooped up another basin of wash water and prepared to take it out to wash her mother's face.
"Brother Gen, have you changed your mind?" Xiangzi asked as he got off the kang and put on his shoes.
"Why did you change your mind?" Liu Gen turned around and asked.
"It's about taking my mother to the South China Sea."
"Ouyang Xue is right, you must respect your mother's wishes." After Liu Gen answered, he picked up the basin and was about to go out.
"Gen'er, Mom's not going anywhere, she's just staying by your father's side. Don't try to get her wrong!" Mom heard the conversation between the two brothers, walked into the cave, and snatched the washbasin from Liu Gen's hand.
"Haha... Mom, Gen'er listens to you, but Mom also has to promise Gen'er something." Liu Gen chased after him with a smile.
"What do you want my mother to promise?"
"After the Chinese New Year and school starts in Liuzhi, my mother will go to the county to take care of Liuzhi and let her concentrate on her studies instead of running around. This will save her from worrying about you." After listening to Ouyang Xue's words, Liu Gen decided not to pick up her mother.
It’s Nanhai. I rent a house in the county town. Firstly, my mother can cure her leg problem without having to work hard at home. Secondly, she can take care of my sister Liuzhi’s food. She doesn’t have to live in a school dormitory. It’s a big girl’s home.
In that kind of collective dormitory, you can't study in peace because you will often be harassed by boys.
"But who will feed the sheep and chickens at home? Who will do the work in the fields?" My mother did not refuse.
"This is not easy. We have sold the sheep and chickens. We will rent the few acres of land to the neighbors for planting. We will collect some rent every year and it will be enough for food. Mom and Willow Zhi can come back to see them during the New Year and the festival."
Look at Dad..." Liu Gen squatted at the entrance of the cave to persuade.
"Where do you want my mother to live in the city? She will die of suffocation if she has nothing to do all day long!"
"I will rent a house for my mother and Liuzhi to live in. If my mother can't live here, I can do some small business in the county..."
Xiangzi walked out and said, "There is no need to rent a house. People can live in the building of my house. After the New Year, Brother Gen and I will clean up the two rooms and let my mother and Liu Zhi live in them."
"Yes, Xiangzi's yard is quite big. If my mother can't stay idle, she can grow vegetables and raise chickens in the yard. Haha... You can raise as many chickens as you want, right, Xiangzi?" Liu Gen thinks Xiangzi's idea is a good one.
After Ouyang Xue washed her face, she also came over to help persuade: "Yes, aunt, you can rest assured that Liu Gen is studying in Nanhai, otherwise, he will always worry about you. If you live in the county, you can communicate with Liu Gen every now and then."
Phone calls, no need to wait for every holiday to see each other."
Liu Zhi also joined in the persuasion: "It would be great if Mom could study with me in the county town. I can eat meals cooked by Mom every day, haha... Huanhuan can also live with us.
"The Huanhuan she was talking about was Jia Hehuan, Jia Hekai's sister.
"Are you guys working together to kidnap me, an old woman?" The mother pulled her face down, glanced at the children, and then said with a smile: "Look at this attitude, if I don't agree, you guys will too.
He will carry me there!"
Knowing that her mother finally agreed, Liuzhi rushed forward and hugged her: "Mom is so kind!"
"When Mom looks at you and slaps you in the face, you will know that Mom is not good." Mom said, pinching Liu Zhi's cheek gently.
"Oh, I'm so happy." Xia Tian walked into the yard with a camera on his chest: "Sister-in-law, I'm leaving. I'm here to take a family photo for you and your children."
"Let's go. I'll make breakfast for you, Reporter Xia." As soon as my mother heard that Xia Tian said she was leaving, she turned around and went into the kitchen.
"Don't be too busy. I'll leave after taking photos for you, my sister-in-law. The village chief's family has already prepared breakfast." Xia Tian took her mother's arm and called to the children: "Liu Gen, you guys, stand around your mother.
.”
"Xue, you come too." Mom called to Ouyang Xue and asked her to take a photo with her.
"Uncle Xia said it was a family portrait, I..." Ouyang Xue glanced at Liu Gen.
"It's okay, come here, I'll take a few more pictures." Xia Tian waved to Ouyang Xue to stand next to Liu Gen's family.
Liu Zhi and Ouyang Xue stood on both sides of her mother, while Liu Gen and Xiangzi stood behind her.
My mother suddenly said with tears in her eyes: "It would be great if your father were alive!"
"Mother..." Liuzhi held her mother's arm.
My mother wiped away her tears and forced a smile.
Xia Tian took many photos of the family and Ouyang Xue respectively.
Mother prepared gifts for Ouyang Xue and Xia Tian, nothing more than dried fruits such as jujubes and walnuts.
Liu Gen did not go to see Ouyang Xue off, but only sent her outside the yard, watching her and Xia Tian go back step by step.
Two days later, Yanagi Gen took Xiangzi and Yanagi Zhi, each with their bedrolls, and returned to the county town. He planned to renovate Xiangzi's burned home into two rooms before the start of the next semester, so that his mother, Yanagi Zhi and the others could live there when school starts next semester.
.
The main money spent was on paint for doors, windows and walls. There were ready-made ones to buy and paint. Liu Gen found a construction craftsman to repair the doors and windows. The three brothers and sisters painted the walls and took care of the kitchen. They also built a corner of the original garden behind the house.
I built a large chicken coop with asbestos tiles, and found someone to connect the water and electricity. Within a week, the two bedrooms and the kitchen were all renovated.
"It's too cold to sleep here in the winter, so I need to buy two electric heaters." That night, Yanagine and Xiangzi said as they slept on the newly bought bed.
While Xiangzi was renovating the house, he got all his ID cards and driver's licenses renewed. Debt collectors also came to him. Xiangzi made a note to them that he would pay off the debt owed by his father in three to five years. Those people also
Didn't embarrass him again.
"Brother Gen, after we return to Nanhai, we must do the deal we talked about as soon as possible. In the future, my mother and Liu Zhi will have to rely on us. Now, I finally know what responsibility is." Xiangzi looked at the painted ceiling,
Tears fell from the corners of my eyes.
"Xiangzi, I will accompany you to visit Uncle Kui tomorrow." Liu Gen knew that Xiangzi missed his father.
"Well, my father is working in a labor camp in the city, not far from our county seat. I'll ask Slug to borrow a car tomorrow so we can go see my father in a nice way," Xiangzi said.
The slug Xiangzi is talking about is named Liu Deyou. He is Xiangzi's playmate since he was a child. His family owns a hotel and restaurant. In the past, he received help from Xiangzi's father. Now that the business has grown, the family has some spare money. This time Liu Gen and Xiangzi renovated the house.
Slug also helped transport materials, and his father even treated the three brothers and sisters to dinner several times, so he knew how to repay kindness. After Liu Kui was sentenced, Liu Deyou's father even visited the labor camp.
This time to repair the house, Liuzhi took 5,000 yuan from the 50,000 yuan that Liugen sent back and used it up. In order to visit Xiangzi's father, Liugen asked Liuzhi to take another 2,000 yuan and planned to buy some new year's goods back.
The three siblings and Xiangzi drove into the Slug family's van. More than an hour later, they arrived at the farm and met Xiangzi's father.
Bald head, wearing a gray prison uniform, with the words "reform through labor" written on the front and back, Liu Kui didn't look as bad as he thought. He was quite energetic, but he was a little thinner and darker, maybe because he worked outside all day.
for the sake of.
"Dad..." The moment Xiangzi saw his father being brought to the interview room by two prison guards, he knelt down with a plop and burst into tears: "Xiang'er is back to visit dad!"
"Uncle Kui..." Liu Gen and Liu Zhi stood up.
"Get up!" Liu Kui shouted: "Father is not worthy of you kneeling down to me! Dad is a sinner! What are you doing when you come back! You shouldn't come back!"
"Dad, no matter who you are, dad will always be dad! It is only right for a son to kneel and kowtow to his father!" After saying that, Xiangzi really kowtowed three times before standing up: "Dad, now, I and I
Brother Gen is hanging out in the South China Sea together!"
Liu Kui's eyes were red and he looked at his son and Liu Gen: "Xiangzi, in the future, you will follow Liu Gen well. Dad can't be by your side anymore. Your mother's grave is in the ancestral graveyard of our Liu family in Xishan. If you have
When you are able, go and erect a monument and a tomb for him. Don’t forget to burn incense sticks for her during the New Year and festivals, and kowtow to your mother on behalf of your father to apologize. I, Liu Kui, can’t help her!" Liu Kui said,
The old man burst into tears: "I have to thank Liu Erzhu (slug Liu Deyou's father) for this. He collected your mother's body and buried it in our ancestral grave. Your mother's bones were saved..."
"Don't worry, Dad, Xiang'er will do what Dad said." Xiangzi said, took off the watch and handed it to Liu Kui: "Dad, I redeemed this watch."
Liu Kui glanced at the watch in Xiangzi's hand and said with a wry smile: "I am a prisoner, why do I wear this thing? You keep it, it is a thought left by my father. How do you have the money to redeem this watch?"
"Brother Gen paid for it for me," Xiangzi said.
"Liu Gen, I, Liu Kui, really saw the right person back then. I know you can do great things in the future. From now on, you will treat Xiangzi as your own brother. Please!" Liu Kui bowed his head and said with both hands.
"Uncle Kui, if you don't tell me, I will treat Xiangzi as my brother. My mother has accepted him as her son. Don't worry, Xiangzi has grown up now and is sensible. He has also vowed to pay all the debts he owes you.
The debt has been paid off..." Liu Gen said with a smile, took out a thousand yuan and handed it to the prison guard: "Uncle Kui, Xiangzi and I will come back to see you often in the future."