Picking up the face plate, he went to the outhouse and looked at the ladle of water floating in the big vat. Tie Jun felt a little sad.
There is no running water, no heating, no shower heads, no toilets, no mobile phones, no computers... It is the 1990s, and there is not even a TV at home, alas!
After washing up, he brought a plate of water into the room. Tie Jun stripped himself naked, scrubbed himself from top to bottom, put on the underwear given by Chu Yao, turned around and saw himself reflected in the window.
He is tall and thin, with pointed eyebrows and starry eyes, a strong nose bridge, and slightly curled lips. He looks like a cool, cold-blooded man no matter what. Why was he so unlucky and useless in his last life?
"Brother, I can sing, I can sing!"
Da Ya shouted excitedly through the door. Tie Jun was so scared that he covered his chest and immediately laughed, "Brother, what are you covering? Do you have it?"
"Wait a moment!"
Tie Jun quickly pulled out a set of blue acrylic sportswear with two white stripes and put it on. Then he got off the kang and opened the door, and the girl got on the kang in a flash.
"Wait for me!"
"And I!"
Erya and Da Zhuang climbed onto the kang one after another. Da Ya walked to the edge of the box, picked up the kang broom as a microphone, and turned around.
"Now, please enjoy a song by the famous singer Tiehua, "Missing You in the Snow", everyone is chirping!"
The three of them clapped their hands vigorously, and Daya closed her eyes and started singing.
Erya leaned on Tie Jun and listened in rapt attention. Da Zhuang stuck his buttocks out and dug into the kang mat. After singing, Da Ya squatted down, holding on to the box and began to sob.
"sister!"
Da Zhuang climbed over and patted the eldest sister on the back. He was so clumsy that he didn't know how to comfort her.
"Let her cry. If she doesn't cry, she will be sorry for our father's bottle of wine!"
Tie Jun kicked Da Zhuang, and Da Zhuang nodded and patted the eldest sister mechanically.
"Brother, I'm scared when I think of going to Beijing to go to school. I'm afraid I'll miss home!"
Erya, who had never even taken a train, whispered on Tie Jun's shoulder.
"What are you afraid of? If you miss home, just write more letters. Our two girls will be the best everywhere."
"Oh, I'm not afraid, but I didn't even pass the high school entrance exam!"
Da Zhuang stopped taking pictures, played with his eldest sister's long hair, turned around and sighed.
"Brother, I want to go to Beijing with Erya to make a living."
Da Ya suddenly turned around, the tears on her face were not yet dry, her eyes were about to burst into flames, and her face was full of yearning and expectation.
"Don't be ridiculous, why don't you go to Beijing to sing and sing?"
The three of them were startled. Lao Tie walked in with the toad head in his mouth and stared at Daya. Daya snorted and turned to face the wall without saying a word.
"Dad, why did you get up in the middle of the night...ah, it hurts, it hurts!"
Da Zhuang leaned against the wall and tried to escape, but Lao Tie slapped him twice, causing him to scream and run back to his room.
Erya got off the kang, picked up the thermos and poured a cup of warm water for Lao Tie, "Dad, your throat is dry, drink a glass of water!" Lao Tie squeezed out a smile and drank it in one gulp.
"I acted like a great dancer all day long, howling and jumping. How can I act like a girl? Let me tell you, Erya is gone, go home and live here!"
"Come back, come back!"
Da Ya was picking at the wall to vent her dissatisfaction in a low voice, but she turned half of her body and stared at Lao Tie from the corner of her eyes, ready to escape at any time.
"Dad, Da Ya is already 21. She will be a mother sooner. Don't beat and scold her all the time, especially in the factory."
Tie Jun pulled his father to sit on the edge of the kang, waved his right hand at Da Ya behind him, and Da Ya quickly got off the kang and pulled Er Ya back to the house.
"You know nothing about pampering but a filial son, and a stick will produce a filial son!"
The target ran away. Lao Tie glared at Tie Jun and let out another scream.
"Dad, those are all old traditions..."
"Trample to death!"
"Trampled to death?"
Tie Jun was stunned. Lao Tie pointed to the smoking toad head outside the door, and Tie Jun smiled.
"Dad, you were so surprised that I thought you would trample me to death, hahaha!"
Tiejun jumped off the kang, pulled on his shoes, stamped out his cigarette butts, threw them into the stove, and returned with a smile.
"Dad, that's all an old tradition. Look at who still can't touch the soles of their shoes, and the broomsticks are full of pimples."
"Don't fucking think that after drinking foreign ink for a few years, I'm here to educate you. I was created by your father. What's wrong? I'm an eighth-level worker, and I support five of you wolf cubs!"
The scolding was not enough, so the old man raised his big hand.
"Before she passed her last breath, my grandma said, "Everything goes well with our family. Dad, please explain to me, what does that mean?"
Lao Tie glanced at my mother's photo and didn't dare to slap her down. Tie Jun was secretly happy that it was the old lady who did the job. Even though she was gone, her power still remained.
"Mom, did you say this?"
Lao Tie stood up, walked to the desk with a frown, and whispered to the portrait of his grandma.
"Mom, family harmony means... it means harmony. That harmony... means not beating the girl, hehe, right, mother!"
"Dad, it's not harmonious to hit a kid!"
The Iron Army is in a hurry and must strike while the iron is hot to save themselves and Da Zhuang from the big slaps and sticks.
"Go, I'm talking to your mother, please step aside!"
Lao Tie's cloth shoes flew over and hit the target. Tie Jun's face was washed away in vain.
"Mom, that's it. This kid can't do it without being beaten. Look at that big guy. If he doesn't be beaten for three days, he will go to the house and uncover the tiles. Hahaha, it's dark. Go to sleep!"
After finding a step for himself, Lao Tie turned around with a smile and pointed at his feet. Tie Jun quickly threw his shoes over, "We workers have strength!" Lao Tie hummed and walked out.
"Hey, don't go!"
"Stop the ink stains, I'll try my best to exercise restraint, that's it!"
When Lao Tie turned around, Tie Jun was so frightened that he stood there. Lao Tie went back to the house. Tie Jun shook his head and smiled bitterly, that's okay, half the sky was saved!
Sitting in front of the writing desk, looking at grandma, Tie Jun whispered: "Grandma, I leave it to you, no one can fix it, please, hard work, hard work!"
I put away my smile, took out the paper and pen, thought for a while, and hummed a song called "Single Love Song". I forgot the words and just made up a sentence. I guess it's probably right.
After finishing writing, he laid out the bedding and got into bed. As soon as they disturbed him, he lost all sleep. Tie Jun stared at the things he had to do soon, counted out 123, and fell asleep without realizing it.
"Oh, oh, oh, cluck!"
Tie Jun opened his eyes, tilted his head and looked out the window. He saw a big rooster standing on the windowsill and singing loudly. Tie Jun had the idea of killing the rooster to scare the hens, and threw out a copy of "Children's Literature".
"boom!"
"You tm, you tm!"
The big rooster cursed and flew away, "You're such a sucker!" Tie Jun cursed, sat up, took off his clothes and looked at the alarm clock, 4:40.
"ill!"
It's impossible to go back to the cage and sleep. Mom must have gotten up to make pig food. In half an hour, the old iron will be cleared. Oh, what a hard life!
After getting dressed and getting off the kang, she opened the door and came out. My mother was squatting and taking out the stove.
"Mom, let me do it!"
He picked up the fluttering mother and put her aside. Tie Jun picked up the stove hook.
"Haha, your mother is gone, so you have a boss now. Okay, mom, go check on Lao Hei first. I haven't eaten for two days and I don't know what's going on!"
"No, three years, no, one year, my mother must live in the building!"
Seeing his mother walking out the door with her hunched body, Tie Jun called out in a low voice.
After taking out the ash and slag and pouring it into the ash bucket, the iron army began to build a nest in the furnace. Once the nest was ready, he pressed some small pieces of coal on top and started to light a fire.
Don't underestimate this kind of fire. In the future, every child in the city will be able to endure hardships without being choked.
After the fire burned for a while, half a bucket of coal was pressed down, the blower was turned on, and Tie Jun straightened up.
"Brother, get up!"
Da Ya and Er Ya pushed open the door and came out, wearing rags. Tie Jun was startled, "Are you two going to go?" "What's wrong, you want to go pick up coal?" Da Ya looked at Tie Jun sideways.
It's embarrassing. Now that I think about it, Da Zhuang was originally assigned the job of picking up coal, but he assigned it to Er Ya. The reason seemed to be that girls had an advantage and others could do it for him.
"Put it there. You two help mom with the work. I'll pick it up. I can even run."
"Hey, the sun has risen from the west, and our college students also know how to feel sorry for others!"
"Sister, please stop saying a few words. Don't you want me to write songs for you?"
Daya stuck out her tongue, lowered her head and went out to get the basket from the coal shed.
Tie Jun said nothing and went back to the house to change into the work clothes that Lao Tie had discarded.
"Brother, the eldest sister is just joking. You don't need to go. There are old men and women over there. Seeing that you are a young man, they will bully you!"
Erya grabbed Tie Jun and glared at Da Ya. Tie Jun chuckled, snatched the flower basket from Da Ya's hand, and carried it on his back.
"Sister, why don't you help mom? I'll go with my brother and ask him to tell me about our school."
"Is he okay?"
Tie Jun was very angry when he said this again, and the consequences were serious.
"OK!"
He picked up the clips and canvas gloves on the wall, threw them into the basket, and strode out.
"You said that my brother has become better and that he cares about our family. How come you forgot about it as soon as you opened your eyes?"
Erya put the basket on his back, yelled at Daya again, pursed his lips and chased Tiejun.
They bypassed a rubbish pile in the backyard and quickly boarded the railway track. The two of them ran slowly along the track.
"Erya, was my brother so bad before that he didn't even do any housework?"
"No, it's grandma who won't let you do it, saying that your hand holding the pen can't get calloused...Brother, you are gah!"
Tie Jun suddenly stretched out his hand and took Er Ya's hand. He was such a little girl. Her hands were covered with calluses, and her palms were covered with fine scars. Tie Jun was instantly jealous.
"Erya, study hard and don't worry about anything. From now on, I will take care of the family."
"elder brother!"
Looking at the frail elder brother, Erya's eyes turned red.
"Why, I have to be like Li Kui in order for our family to live a good life. Silly girl, we have to rely on this!"
After tapping Erya's little head, Tie Jun laughed. Erya was stunned, but also laughed, took two steps forward, and caught up with Tie Jun.
Tie Jun came to pick up coal for the first time. He didn't expect it to be so far away. The two of them jogged for more than half an hour. Looking at the bangs on his sister's forehead, Tie Jun's heart became even stronger.
When he arrived at the freight station, dozens of people were waiting to unload the truck. As expected, they were all old men and women. Tie Jun suddenly felt shameful.
I have been in school for so many years, how have my family been doing?
Tie Jun began to think about this question for the first time, and the answers to his past life began to emerge. Everyone was poor and I was the only rich one. No wonder, he had lived a good life by stepping on his family.
"Brother, what are you thinking about? Grab it quickly!"
Erya fought for a long time, and when he turned around, his eldest brother was there in a daze!
Tie Jun was stunned and saw Erya being protected by two grandmothers, and rushed up quickly.
The battle ended in less than five minutes. Erya grabbed seven or eight pieces of coal. To be honest, it was not much in total. Tie Jun only grabbed two pieces. The two old men were fighting, and Tie Jun played the fisherman's role.
"Girl, have you got the notice?"
Protecting Erya's two old ladies, he put coal into Erya's basket while asking questions.
"Grandma, I don't want it, I don't want it!"
Tie Jun didn't dare to look at it and squatted down to study tactics.