between clouds and mud

Chapter 5

The children of Wutong Primary School are not keen on studying.They are sitting in the classroom, but their hearts have already flown to the fields.

Xiao Liu, who pretended to love learning, turned into a top student in one fell swoop. She pretended to be an old god and sat there, never talking small words, passing notes, or making trouble.Teacher Wu likes her the most, Xiaoliu is the most well-behaved child in the class.

During the parents' meeting, Teacher Wu praised the couple wildly, saying that their tutor is good at raising their daughter, and Xiaoliu loves to learn and knows how to be polite.If every child is so obedient, their teacher's work will be much more comfortable.

By the way, the results of the mid-term exam were announced. Primary 1 not only got No.[-], but also got full marks in all subjects.

The husband and wife are full of red faces, and they also attach great importance to their daughter's study. For this parent meeting, both of them came to the school to attend the meeting in the neatest clothes.

You must know that this parent meeting, even the number of parents is not enough. There are a total of eight students in the class, and there are only six parents present, and there are only two from the primary school.

Basically half of the people were absent, which shows that parents in that era were indifferent to their children's learning.

The hard-working people have not yet realized that for poor people like them, the college entrance examination is the only chance to change their destiny, so many people helplessly miss this unique opportunity because of their compromise with poverty and ignorance of life. possible.

People who are still struggling on the line of food and clothing, open their eyes and face the pressure of survival, how can they devote their spare energy to think about the direction of fate?
Zhou Lao Liu walked home in a ecstasy, and went to the town to make a pot of wine.Xiao Liu didn't expect that he would become a good student just by messing around.

Xiaoliu couldn't bear to be beaten. They actually only had three children in the first grade.But the father was full of ambition, and even took Xiao Liu to burn incense on his grandfather's grave, to bless his granddaughter to study hard and get a title on the gold list.

While drinking at night, Father cried again.

This was the most emotional fluctuation Xiao Liu had ever seen him.

Dad said he remembered his childhood, and this was the first time Xiao Liu heard the story of Dad's childhood.

It turns out that not all adults are born parents, they used to grow up slowly from little dolls.

A long time ago, Lao Liu was still young, so let's call it Little Saturday.

When Xiao Liu was the age of Xiao Liu, his parents passed away one after another. He lived by begging in a small alley in Changsha City.But he didn't mention the experience of being bullied and expelled, and only summed up his childhood with the sentence "grow up with a lot of food".

This boy has suffered the bitterness of life, but never forgot the sweetness that life gave him.

He piously said that he ate hundreds of meals and wore hundreds of clothes.

A wall separates the two worlds. Xiao Saturday sneaked into the school, and he studied tirelessly by the window of the school, where Xiao Saturday learned to read and count.

Of course, he would be expelled often, but he got on with his thick skin, and there was a tolerant teacher who didn't mind that there was an extra student by the window.

Once, Xiao Saturday was lazy for half a month before going to school. The teacher had been waiting for his absent students for a long time. The children were about to graduate, and Xiao Saturday also received his graduation gift, a beautiful pen.

What a rare item in that era, the teacher gave it to her hardest student, and that was the only gift she gave.

Although Xiao Saturday no longer goes to school, he still does not forget that he practiced the most beautiful calligraphy with that pen, and later learned a carpentry craft. When he was skilled, he could draw a beautiful circle or any other shape.

No matter how hard it is, can it be as hard as that time?
Times have moved in a better direction.

So Xiaoliu, what a happy child you are, even though it is just a cowshed with not bright light and sometimes leaking rain, you are qualified to sit in the classroom and read and study openly, while some thieves can only lie in fear Gather knowledge on windows.

"Father, isn't your own son Zhang Chengnian?" Xiao Liu thought for a long time, and his daughter, who had no sense of life at all, looked up and down his father.

In fact, we can't just blame the mischievous children. Teacher Wu's class is very boring. He follows the scriptures like an old master, so learning has become an overly tormenting thing.

Although Xiao Liu was serious on the surface, she had already started to wander in her mind. If Zhang Chengnian hadn't told her to give her some advice when she was doing her homework, she would have given up on herself a long time ago.

Xiaoliu's temperament is to touch and move, and he must be supervised, so Zhang Chengnian naturally became the best candidate.

This conscientious little teacher, in addition to the homework left by the school, also gave her extracurricular homework.

What a cruel heart.Not only do you have to do an extra homework, but you also have to carry an extra bento every day when you go to school. Xiao Liu stares at this devil from hell with gritted teeth, and hates her father for repeatedly telling Zhang Chengnian to be more ruthless to Xiao Liu.

If you are not ruthless, you can't stand still.

Zhang Chengnian opened the bento contentedly, most of the time the box was filled with rice and pickles, oh today there are eggs.

Zhang Chengnian generously put the only egg into Xiaoliu's bowl. She smelled the delicious eggs, so let's reconcile with you temporarily.

The family's first Spring Festival ushered in the crackling of firecrackers.At the end of the new year, people who have worked hard for a year are finally willing to reward themselves.

On this day, the children put on new clothes proudly. At that time, people in the village were not able to go to the store to buy clothes. The women in the village had extremely skillful hands, and stitches and threads turned into various patterns in their hands.

On the night of New Year's Eve, the children first take a hot bath.The mother's hands were so strong that Xiao Liu felt that a layer of her skin had been rubbed off. After taking a bath, she curled up her mouth in pain and wanted to cry, and her father impatiently said: "No! Crying, crying, the family will be unlucky for a year in the coming year."

After hearing this, Xiao Liu quickly swallowed back his tears, followed his father's example, and patted his little mouth: "Bah, bah, bah."

Xiao Liu wore a brand-new thermal clothing on the inside, a wool sweater with dense stitches, and then put on a jacket and long johns.Wearing new clothes from the inside to the outside, the body feels warm, driving away the winter chill, and you can still smell the faint fragrance of saponins wafting from the skirts of the clothes.

The New Year’s Eve dinner in the evening is a delicious delicacy that children have been looking forward to for a year. Sea bowls are filled with chicken, duck and fish.

Xiao Liu twitched her nose lightly, followed the smell and climbed up the shaky high stool. The legs of the stool were uneven due to years of wear and tear. Her body trembled along with the stool. .

She was dull for a moment, then spat out a small white tooth.

"I've lost my teeth, I've grown up." Dad took a puff of his pipe tobacco, walked over and said, his beard stubble brushed against the little girl's face.

The mother was holding the sea bowl, and the words in her mouth became more gentle: "All year round, when will you find time to repair the stool?"

Xiao Liu was sore and itchy from her father's beard stubble, she turned her head to avoid it.

Imitating his father's tone, his teeth were leaking when he spoke: "Carpenter—there is no good bed at home."

In the evening, father and mother sit in front of the fire to watch the new year, and they hold the tongs and talk about homework.The dead branches in the fire will splash some sparks from time to time, and the bamboo will make a crackling sound from time to time, and the firewood exposed to the air will sizzle with fine blisters smoked by the fire.

Along with the rising smoke, there are more than a dozen pieces of dark bacon hanging on it. Dad said that the bacon roasted with cypress branches is the most fragrant, so most of the firewood is burned with cypress branches.Occasionally, Xiao Liu would sneak in some bamboo with the tongs, and when she heard the sound, her parents would know that she was skinny again.

But during the Spring Festival, Xiao Liu will not be scolded. Parents say that the family should not quarrel or have conflicts with others during the Spring Festival. They abide by these rules and hope that the coming year will be smooth and peaceful.

Hunan is the hometown of fireworks and firecrackers. Outside the window, there are fireworks all over the sky. Sparks are blooming high in the sky, and the streamer makes a loud noise. The valley at night alternates between light and dark. What a beautiful night.

One side of the world, a handful of bonfires, a piece of fiery trees and silver flowers, and a family reunion.

Open the creaking wooden door in the early morning of the first day of the new year, and the whole world is covered in silver.This was the heaviest snowfall in winter, ice ridges fell under the eaves, the branches were bent by the white snow, and the ground was covered with a vast expanse of whiteness.

"There will be heavy snowfall this year, and next year's harvest will be good." This snow fell to the hearts of farmers, what an auspicious omen.

Xiao Liu, who was dressed in round clothes, went out with his parents to pay New Year greetings, and congratulated from door to door: "Happy New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai."

"Happy New Year." Shouts came and went.

Adults gather on the table to play cards when they are having fun. Although most of them can’t read the characters, they must know the numbers on the cards. The numbers are in uppercase Chinese characters. The cards are thin and long. This is a unique card in the countryside of Hunan. ——Draw a fortune.

The children ran to play snowball fights on the Niuping in groups. The Niuping is the smoothest grassland in the village, and it is covered with snow at this time.

On the first day, Ganniuping started to build a military project. They wanted to build an ice and snow maze.After the maze was built, each gully was a trench. The children squatted in the trenches, threw snowballs, and then flexibly switched positions.

Xiaoliu has more thoughts, she follows Daxiang, and following him will definitely beat the other little friends to pieces.Unexpectedly, it is precisely because the tree attracts the wind that the little friends all concentrate their firepower against the big brother and eliminate the biggest evil force first.

Xiaoliu became the target of public criticism, and the soldier who didn't want to be a living target cruelly left the general and ran away. Daxiang scolded her for being weaker than Junzi, and had been shot by the pickets long ago when she fled on the battlefield.

Xiao Liu has already thought of a way out, she is going to seek refuge with Fang Nier.

Fleeing all the way, she got into Zhang Chengnian's position.

She raised her hands in surrender and smiled flatteringly, but don't expect the scheming Zhang Chengnian to be merciful, a snowball hit her face, this time was the most ruthless, the tip of the little girl's nose turned red from being hit.

Xiao Liu's snot flowed down, and she sucked her nose.

Zhang Chengnian was obviously playing tricks on her, out of a faint mentality of failing to do something bad: "Why don't you cry?"

"I'll cry after the New Year." She was very sensible and took her father's words as an imperial decree.

"Good girl." Zhang Chengnian reached out his hand to shake off the snowflakes from her hair. He spread his hand, and in the palm of his hand was a small ball wrapped in golden tinfoil: "Brother rewards you."

This kind of candy packaging is very rare in the village, and it looks very delicious. Xiao Liu put it in his pocket unceremoniously, as if he was afraid that he would regret it.

There was no trace of fighting on Zhang Chengnian's body, and Xiao Liu, who weighed several times, expressed dissatisfaction: "Why didn't anyone hit you?"

Zhang Chengnian pointed to his forehead and said, "Playing games depends on your brain."

That smug expression seemed to be satirizing Xiao Liu: It's a pity you didn't.

Xiao Liu didn't forget to grab a snowball before he ran, and covered his face viciously.

Are you smart?

It is natural to take refuge with sincerity. Seeing Fannier's disgusting eyes, Xiaoliu mysteriously took out a small yellow ball from his pocket: "Good stuff, haven't you seen it before, Fannier, I'll give you half."

Seeing Xiao Liu's dog-legged appearance offering treasures, Fan Nier said clearly: "This is from Brother Cheng's house, and his father bought it."

"Everyone has it." Fannie pulled hers out of her pocket.

In the end, the two negotiated an agreement, because everyone had this rare item, so Fang Nier took the whole one away.

Xiao Liu pursed his lips. I heard that it was chocolate, it melted in your mouth, it was delicious.

Even dreaming at night was the same yellow candy, and the round ones fell into her pocket one by one, and when they couldn't fit, she took the sack to pick them up.

There was a stream of saliva on the pillow, and A Niang sat on the edge of the bed and took out the soles of her shoes, shaking her head and laughing, "What kind of dream is this, Nier?"

During the New Year, there is a happy event in the village.In Chengnian, his father stopped going out to work and married a new daughter-in-law who stayed at home with peace of mind. I heard that children with stepmothers have a miserable life.

But based on her understanding of Zhang Chengnian, his stepmother should have had a miserable life.

In the first two days before the start of school, the children worked very hard, burning lights and fighting at night, writing hard.

Xiao Liu finally opened his dusty schoolbag, opened his homework that had been silent for a long time, and was about to smash it to death.

There is also a box of golden yellow, plump chocolates in the books that are poured out together.

Dream come true?

Xiao Liu licked a mouthful, the fragrance remained on his lips and teeth.

(End of this chapter)