She took a cabbage as her father said, and Li Fu watched his daughter's every move the whole time. In fact, there was no need for it. There was nothing else in the vegetable cellar except some shriveled cabbage. But her natural suspicion made her
He must keep an eye on the food at all times.
While Li Fu looked at his daughter's obedience, he was proud of his own methods. He still had to fight to death. If he was afraid of being beaten, he would not dare to steal food again. He thought to himself.
Li Fu lazily went back to the back room and lay down. Li Xinghe quickly made fire for the stove and cut up the cabbage and stir-fried it.
Wipe the Kang table clean, lift it up with laborious hands and walk into the back room.
"Dad, second brother, it's time to eat."
The second brother, who was staring at the small black and white TV opposite, said nothing and just moved his body to the side to ask her to put the kang table in place.
She turned around and put the fried cabbage slices on the table. Then she filled two large bowls of corn grits porridge and the two large corn pancakes, and gave them to the two men.
Li Chengquan sipped his porridge while watching TV, "I don't know who ate the delicious food at home. You make these things for me every day that dogs won't eat. If you don't have meat, you should at least eat white rice, right? The whole thing
Is my family the only one in the village that still has polenta every day?”
When she heard her second brother's shout, she didn't stop cleaning the kitchen and continued working silently.
Li Fuben was holding a bowl and sucking away. He was startled when he heard his son say that dogs don't even eat it. He looked at his second son, slapped his mouth and said, "You can forget about scolding her, but you even called me a dog. You
Eat this, it's fried with meat and oil, it's quite fragrant. We also have rice at home, let's eat it together when your eldest brother comes back." After saying that, he tapped the rim of the fried cabbage dish with his chopsticks.
After hearing this, Li Chengquan curled his lips and said nothing. He picked up a chopstick and ate cabbage stir-fried with oil.
Soon, the father and son were so overwhelmed by the meal that not even a drop of oil soup was left on the plate of cabbage fried in oil.
Li Xinghe put away the bowls and chopsticks, went to the kitchen, and poured the remaining corn porridge in the pot into two bowls. He threw the few wild vegetables that his father had washed just now into the bowls and walked out of the low building.
door and carry it to the warehouse next to it.
Although it is spring, the sky still gets late very early, and the warehouse is very dark. There is no electric light here. I have to finish my meal quickly while there is still some daylight.
Li Xinghe quickly called out softly, "Mom, it's time for dinner."
In the leeward corner farthest from the door, she built a small kang with mud and straw. The quilt was not thick and was patched all over, but it was clean.
As soon as she finished shouting, the quilt on the kang moved, and a woman who looked to be in her fifties sat up. In fact, Wang Fang was just over forty years old, and Li Fu was ten years older than her. He was
A bachelor who cannot marry a wife. But his hard life makes Wang Fang look almost as old as Li Fu, who is in his fifties.
She didn't know whether it was because she sat up too quickly or because she was hungry, but she felt a little dizzy and leaned against the cold wall.
Li Xinghe hurried over and stuffed the pillow behind his mother to isolate her body from the cold wall. Then he wrapped the quilt around her and handed over the bowl of polenta with wild vegetables.
"Hey, the wild vegetables are growing?"
"Yes, Mom, but there are very few now. I only found these few, and there will be more and more in a few days."
"Xinghe, I'll give you this bowl with vegetables. You can eat more. Mommy lies down every day and she's not hungry." She looked at her own bowl and her daughter's bowl and said.
"No, mom, just eat it while it's hot. I just ate some in the kitchen."
"You lied to me, how could you have eaten it in the kitchen? Your father found out and beat you to death. I am really a sinner. I want to give birth to you and suffer. It would be great if you were also a son. You don't need to suffer these sufferings with me.
.”
My mother has said these words many times, but she does not believe that her gender is original sin and that others are at fault.
"Okay, eat quickly. It's not like you don't know that I only ate less at dinner. Dad also gave me pancakes in the morning. Otherwise, if I starve to death, who will do the work? Mom, don't worry."
she said,
Knowing that she couldn't resist her daughter, she tremblingly picked up the small bowl. Wang Fang, who had not eaten vegetables for a whole winter, chewed the fresh vitamins in her mouth. The unique spicy fragrance of wild vegetables made her feel like she was alive again.
.
She picked up a vegetable and stuffed it into her daughter's mouth without any explanation. The mother and daughter looked at each other, smiled, and drank up the porridge in silence. All the rice soup stuck to the bottom of the bowl was completely eaten away.
Li Xinghe returned to the kitchen with the empty bowl. The pot where the fire was used for cooking had been cleaned long ago and new water was put in. The residual heat from the ashes of the fire below would turn the cold water into warm water. This water is used by the family to wash.
This cooking stove pit is connected to the bottom of the pit in the back room, so the kang in the back room will be very hot. This comfortable heat will last until 3 or 4 o'clock in the middle of the night. Of course, this is
Only the men in the family can enjoy it.
Dad and his second brother went out to the canteen in the center of the village during the day and played cards for a long time. Li Xinghe prepared warm water for them. When they were tired from playing, they washed themselves early and went to bed.
There was not enough water left, so she added some cold water, and the ice-free water was just enough for her and her mother.
The nights in small villages in the mountains are always extremely quiet. Night has come completely, and there is no electric light in the warehouse, so you can't see your fingers.
She took out the largest broken pot, lit a pot of firewood, brought it together to prevent sparks from flying, and pushed it towards her mother so that she could lie down warmer.
Then she walked out of the warehouse with her clothes on, and stood looking into the distance. The mountains in the distance were dark in color, blending into the night sky. The nature and universe around her enveloped the small village where she was, and the silence was filled with a sense of security.
She stood in this small earthen courtyard, stroking her fingers. The night always reminded people of the past. When her mother was cooking and working at home, she always wanted to secretly leave some for her. Once
I was beaten so hard by my father that I couldn't get off the bed for half a month. Since then, my father no longer allowed my mother to cook or touch the food at home. When it came to food, he deliberately starved her mother and refused to let her eat enough.
.
After that severe beating, my mother's body completely collapsed.
She touched the fingers of her right hand little by little with her left hand, feeling the strange presence on her finger. With it, she must use it well and live a good life with her mother in the future.
Listening carefully, snoring could be heard coming from the earthen house on the other side of the kitchen.
She felt relieved, rubbed her fingers and thought, two potatoes appeared in her hands, took out a lot of firewood, hugged the firewood, and turned around quietly and walked into the warehouse.
Find another old brazier in the corner of the warehouse, put some firewood in it, and light it.
"Xinghe, why are there so many firewood left today?" After one pot of firewood was burned, my daughter lit another pot.
"Mom, there's more than just firewood." She said, holding potatoes in front of her mother's eyes like a treasure.