vines and melons

Chapter 1

In the twelfth lunar month of 1938, Erniang gave birth to Erni, who was rejected by her family because of her gender.That day, Erniniang, who was suffering from the pain of childbirth, felt her muscles and bones loosen at the moment the child left her body. However, her heart tightened even more because her first child gave birth to a baby. Daughter, I am afraid that the second child will give birth to a daughter.

There is a saying in the countryside: there will always be a climber, but not one who will wash the pot.If she had another daughter, she would have no "materials".The child had been wrapped up for a while, but she didn't hear the midwife speak. She guessed that she was a girl again, and she still asked with a trace of fantasy: "What is it?"

The hot-eyed grandma Erni, who was impatient with grandchildren, saw that she was a girl again, and she was extremely disgusted in her heart, so she didn't bother to pay attention to her daughter-in-law's questions.

The midwife saw that Erni's grandmother was silent and said, "It's the same as the boss."

Grandma Erni got angry when she heard "the same as the boss", and said angrily: "It's not different—!"

Erniang glanced weakly at Erni who was crying beside her, and also scolded herself in her heart that she had no material and would only give birth to a girl, she turned sideways with tears in her eyes, and wiped her sweaty face with her hands, Feeling thirsty again, he said, "Mom, give me some water."

Grandma Erni yelled at her son Zhang Quanyou in the courtyard, "Go, bring her a bowl of water!" Afterwards, she said, "What can you do?", and twisted her body out of the kiln door.

Zhang Quanyou brought a bowl of water with a straight face, put it on the edge of the bed, turned around and went out without even closing the door.

The twelfth lunar month's wind was bitingly cold, and it swished to the kiln door, got into the kiln, and threw it on Erniang's face, feeling so cold, Erniang looked up and shouted with difficulty: "Her father, put the Close the kiln door!"

Zhang Quanyou, who hadn't gone far, was taken aback when he heard the call, but in the end, he still didn't look back.

Erni yelled at her son and said: "Close the door, you will get wind and cold during the confinement period, I'm afraid it will be troublesome, if you don't, you won't be born."

Zhang Quanyou heard that there was something in his mother's words, so he turned back and closed the kiln door with a bang.

This sound shook Erniang's tears from her face, Erniang wrapped in the broken mattress suddenly stopped crying, and at the same time trembled with a "huh".It is said that confinement children have no ears (can't hear), but this child was frightened.Erniang was startled, could it be that this girl is a noble family!If it was a boy, she would be pleasantly surprised to hold the child in her arms delicately, look carefully, see if there is anything different about the child, and then pat him lightly and say: Oh!You heard the good boy, it scared you, don’t be afraid, mother is here and think about it again, if it’s a boy, don’t need her to tell her, her father will definitely close the door gently, let alone slam the door, think about it Seeing Er Niniang involuntarily glance towards her side, she couldn't help feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.

From then on, Erni's grandmother's attitude towards her daughter-in-law took a sharp turn for the worse. Before Erniiang asked her mother-in-law, her mother-in-law always responded with nice words, but now she either ignores her answers or speaks in a vicious manner.Especially the old man, Er Niniang asked him for a long time, and every time he talked, he was "a hole in the head" (speaking badly), which made Er Niniang unbearable.Once, in order to catch up with the work on the loom, Er Niniang intentionally made more lunch and had it hot at night.Zhang Quanyou saw that the dinner and lunch were the same stuffed buns and sweet potato stalk soup. He put the bowl on the stove and said angrily, "I won't change it!"

Does Zhang Quanyou think that food is not enough? He is like a mirror in his heart. What else can this family eat these days? !What else do you want to eat? !Three meals a day as long as there is something to live on is not bad.These words clearly dislike the daughter-in-law for not giving birth to boys.

Erniniang understood Zhang Quanyou's implication, she stretched her neck and swallowed, not daring to be angry or speak.At the same time, she said to herself: I don't believe in that evil!If you will have a daughter, you will have a boy!

Sure enough, the next year, Er Niniang gave birth to a child as she wished, and the whole family was so happy that they burped after eating bran and swallowing vegetables.

With the help of her little brother, Erni was also treated like a normal person, but the good times didn't last long, and this kid died within a hundred days.Er Ni's good life can be said to be a flash in the pan and then disappeared.

(End of this chapter)