Chapter 16: 1970s sisters
"Mom, just give me fifty dollars."
In a simple breakfast shop, a tall boy in a school uniform was walking around with a middle-aged woman, pleading and a little impatient on his chubby face.
The middle-aged woman wiped the table and frowned, "Didn't I just give you 30 yuan the day before yesterday, why do you want another 50 yuan? You eat a lot of food and wear a lot of clothes at home. What are you doing with the money?"
"Didn't I tell you, the last time my classmates invited me to dinner, I have to invite me back."
The middle-aged woman put the bowl in her hand in the sink, and muttered while washing the bowl,
"Then you bring your classmates back. Mom will cook a hearty meal. It's better to keep it than if you paid fifty yuan."
"Okay, what a fart!"
The fat boy scolded irritably, "Our house is such a humble shed, I'm not ashamed to bring my classmates back!"
......
In fact, the fat boy was right. Although this store has a sign of a breakfast restaurant, it is actually a simple shed next to the vegetable market. There are several tables and chairs for guests to eat.
Washing dishes and vegetables all rely on a pull-out hose.
And this fat boy and middle-aged woman, Huo Zhiwen, and his mother Jiang Xiaxia.
Just the second year after He Nian moved his hukou out, Jiang Xiaxia and Huo Chenyang divorced. The two quarreled every day and night, so much that Huo's father and Huo's mother couldn't stand it, so they lived in Mr. Huo's house to take care of the old man.
Later, it was estimated that the two of them were also annoyed. Jiang Xiaxia took a large amount of alimony and wanted to take Huo Zhiwen's custody by the way, so she quickly divorced Huo Chenyang.
It's just that within two years, Jiang Xiaxia started playing mahjong more and more, and when she finally realized that something was wrong and stopped her losses in time, there was not much money left in her family.
If it weren't for Huo Chenyang's son's sake, he would give a little living allowance every month. In the first few months, the mother and son might not be able to even afford food.
But even if Huo Chenyang misses his old love again, he has already remarried his wife, and his new wife is pregnant. He said it was impossible for him to take care of his son, and he doesn't have the ability to take responsibility for his ex-wife's life.
Jiang Xiaxia had no choice but to prop up herself and open a simple breakfast shop. Because of the remote location and her average craftsmanship, even if she was busy from morning to night every day, she could barely make ends meet.
Huo Zhiwen asked his father for the tuition fees for the two years of school.
So this time, when she saw her son who was ignorant and only asked for money, she didn't know how to help her when she got home from school. Jiang Xiaxia put down her bowl and chopsticks and started to scold him.
"Shame, your mother, I worked so hard to earn money to support my family, but you despise me ashamed. You know how to ask for money every day, but you can't do anything except ask for money. Tell me, when you spend so much money on school every day, when will you be able to do it? Don't give me a countdown for the test? If you are really capable, you go with your dad and see if he will care about you!"
"Mom, don't think I don't know, my dad gives me money every month, can you just take fifty yuan out of that money?"
"The money your dad gave? Oh, the money he gave isn't enough to put your teeth in! I'm telling you..."
"cluck-"
Jiang Xiaxia's scolding was interrupted by the sound of the car rolling over the manhole cover.
She turned her head and saw the face of a delicate and lovely little girl sticking out of the car window, with a soft voice and a smile on her cheeks.
"Grandma, I want a bag of milk."
Just after she finished speaking, another head stuck out behind her. It was a little boy who frowned and retorted her.
"It's not grandma, it's auntie."
The little girl was stunned, looked at her and then at her brother, wondering, "Why not grandma?"
"You're so stupid, grandma all have white hair, all those who don't are aunts..."
Childish language, very cute.
If the person called grandma is not himself.
The two children are so forgetful that they can't remember it in the past four years.
But Jiang Xiaxia recognized that this lovely pair of siblings was Huo Yiluo and Huo Yihao.
...then the couple sitting in the car who couldn't see their faces.
It was Huo Xingchao and He Nian.
......
Jiang Xiaxia suddenly didn't want to face them.
I haven't seen you in four years.
People are sitting in small cars, but they are selling breakfast in a shabby shed, dressed in plain clothes and full of dirt.
Because of the hard work of the past two years, there are already many wrinkles on his face, and even carefully pulling out a few white hairs on his head.
No wonder people say they are grandma.
She lowered her head, her voice soft,
"Wenwen, Mommy's hands are dirty, give them a bag of milk."
Huo Zhiwen sat in the chair and refused to move, angrily,
"If you don't give me money, I won't take it."
"You take it to them, and Mom will take it to you after she washes the dishes."
"This is what you said, don't go back!"
Huo Zhiwen's eyes lit up, he jumped up, and happily took a bag of hot milk from the box to Huo Yiluo.
The little girl politely said thank you.
He felt a little familiar, but he couldn't remember it.
It wasn't until Huo Yiluo turned around to ask for money from his parents that Huo Xingchao's face was revealed, his eyes widened, and he shouted happily, "Uncle! Auntie!"
He Nian and Huo Xingchao raised their heads when they heard the sound, and were a little surprised when they saw Huo Zhiwen.
Huo Xingchao raised his eyebrows.
"You don't go to school, what are you doing here?"
Huo Zhiwen scratched his head, "School is over, I'll go home for lunch."
He Nian's eyes fell slightly behind him.
The middle-aged woman was bowing her head, wiping the bowl with her hands, as if she was so busy with work that she didn't even raise her head.
She didn't say anything, just nodded.
"Have you finished eating? We happened to stop by, should we take you for a while?"
Huo Zhiwen's eyes widened in surprise, and he nodded quickly, not even caring about the money he had just agreed with his mother.
The key is that he suddenly thought.
If he went to school in such a small car, his classmates would definitely envy him!
Before Jiang Fuan, didn't he talk about the Colonel's flower just because his family bought a car.
Uncle's car is much more advanced than the Kola Feng in Jiang Fuan's house!
But just as he was about to open the car door excitedly, his mother grabbed his hand tightly.
Huo Zhiwen turned around in surprise,
"mom?"
Jiang Xiaxia didn't look at him, she kept staring at the woman in the car and smiled,
"No need, I'll take him by myself later."
"mom!"
Jiang Xiaxia still ignored him, maintaining a smile on her face, but even blue veins appeared on her hands.
Huo Zhiwen was in pain from being dragged by her, and he was about to cry, but when he saw the frightening state he had never seen before, he swallowed his words.
He shivered and wept sadly,
"No need, auntie, that, my mother will send it to me."
He Nian bent his lips, did not look at Jiang Xiaxia, just smiled and said goodbye to Huo Zhiwen,
"Okay, then we'll go first, goodbye Wenwen."
"Etc., etc."
Huo Zhiwen saw that his uncle was about to leave, and as soon as he was in a hurry, he pushed his mother away, lay on the car window, shy face, and his voice was coy,
"Uncle, can you give me some money? My classmates invited me to dinner before, I want to invite me back, not much, just..."
Before he could finish speaking, Huo Xingchao had already opened his wallet and took five hundred yuan for him, the corners of his lips curved,
"Buy yourself a pair of shoes if you have more."
The shoes on Huo Zhiwen's feet were all degummed. He told his mother twice before that he just asked him to mend it himself and ignored his request to buy a new pair of shoes.
At this moment, Huo Zhiwen was holding a huge sum of 500 yuan, but his heart was pounding.
He jumped up excitedly, "Thank you uncle! Goodbye uncle! Goodbye auntie! Goodbye!"
When he was young, he had a conflict with Huo Yihao.
But after all, it's just a dispute between children. After so many years, He Nian and Huo Xingchao will not hold on to this point.
After all, Huo Zhiwen is also their nephew, and Huo's father and Huo's mother are still thinking about this grandson.
He Nian and the others will not ignore the past together because of Jiang Xiaxia's relationship.
......
The car gradually drove away, and before the window was closed, the little girl's coquettish voice could be faintly heard.
"Mom, why can't you take Aowu with you?"
Then came the gentle voice of a woman,
"Pets can't get on the plane, forget it. Besides, we're just traveling, not moving. We'll be back in a week. Don't worry, my uncle will take good care of Ouu..."
The car slowly disappeared in this narrow street.
Jiang Xiaxia stared blankly at the exhaust gas left behind, as if she had lost her strength.
The son next to him was still happily kissing the money in his hand.
She was silent for a while, then slowly returned to the sink and continued to wash her dishes.
She had foreseen that the rest of her life would be spent working in such a cramped and shabby hut.
When he died, he might not be able to afford a tire on the car He Nian was sitting on.
But so what.
The Jiang family was ridiculed and despised in the village, and her grandmother died at the end of last year. The family blamed her, and there was no warmth in returning home during the New Year.
She didn't want to go back to Shaping Village, so she could only live in the city like this.
Boil till death.
......
Jiang Xiaxia felt the piercing coolness of the water in the basin, and suddenly thought of many, many years ago.
She and He Nian were picking up stones in the stream.
She got impatient after picking it up for a while, ran to play in the water with her friends, and used the stones she picked up to beat the water.
But He Nian had been squatting there, picking it up very carefully, surrounded by beautiful small stones.
At that time, she was still laughing at He Nian's downfall in her heart, and even regarded some stones as treasures.
But now, Jiang Xiaxia suddenly realized that maybe their fate was already doomed at that time.
He Nian saved more and more things, but all his things sank into the water and disappeared little by little.
She was able to return with a pile of stones because He Nian was willing to give it to her.
And now, He Nian doesn't want to.
She just has nothing.
......