Xing'an Mountains 1984: Starting from climbing mountains to support the family

Chapter 138 Dad, Si Ni sings a song for you
"Dad, I didn't catch anything today!"

Chen Weidong said with a smile.

"Dad, why didn't you hit him?" Wu Ni looked at Chen Weidong with her big eyes blinking and asked innocently.

"Uh... I didn't hit it, so why bother?"

Chen Weidong touched the silly girl's head helplessly.

"Dad, if you can't catch any prey in the future, I will raise you when I grow up!"

Dani said sensibly.

"I'll raise one too!"

"I'll raise one too!"

"~"

As soon as Dani spoke, the little girls rushed to raise their hands.

"Haha, now you all have learned how to make cakes for your dad!"

"Dad, what is a pie in the sky?"

"It's delicious. Dad said that when we grow up, we should buy him cakes, right, Dad?"

"oh oh!"

"Ugh... the way you little girls think!"

The little girls discussed in their baby voices, which made Chen Weidong laugh and cry. Then he ignored these little guys, tied up Black Tiger and White Tiger, and put away his guns and backpack.

Then he played with the little girls. Soon it was dark. After dinner, the family of eight lay on the kang.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, Chen Weidong slept in and woke up at around eight or nine. Si Ni and Wu Ni came running over to call him for dinner.

"Dad, give me a hug."

After Chen Weidong got up and put on his cotton jacket and trousers, the two little girls started to act coquettishly.

"No hug! Who told you two to sit on my butt?"

Chen Weidong pinched the chubby little faces of the two little guys and then walked out.

"Dad, wait for Sini!"

"Dad, wait for Wu Ni!"

The two little girls were chasing after him like little followers. Before he had taken two steps, the two little kids would hug his thighs and act coquettishly.

"Uh~ Who can bear this?"

Chen Weidong carried Wu Ni on his shoulders, held Si Ni in his arms, and walked out of the main hall.

"Hehe~ Dad, it's the best!"

"Kiss."

Si Ni and Wu Ni smiled instantly and kissed him on the face happily.

"Dani and the others?"

Chen Weidong held the two little girls in his arms and asked when he saw that only Liu Xueting was in the kitchen.

"Xiaohua went out to play with them just now, so it's a good opportunity for you to go and call them back for dinner."

"Row!"

"Why don't you two go play with your sisters?" Chen Weidong asked Xiang Si Ni and Wu Ni.

"Second sister, let us be responsible for calling dad to eat!" Si Ni said in a baby voice.

"All right……"

The two little kids were very excited to go out with their dad, especially Wu Ni. She rode on Chen Weidong's head, sitting high and seeing far, just like riding a big horse.

"Dad, Sini can sing. Sini will sing for you!"

"Wuni can sing too~"

The two little guys said in a sweet voice.

"Sing if you want to."

Chen Weidong was speechless. These two little guys wanted to sing on their own, but it seemed like they were singing specifically for him.
Since I bought the radio, I have heard the two little ones sing a few times, but they were just humming and I had no idea what they were singing. After all, Wu Ni sometimes couldn’t speak clearly.

The voice just fell.

Si Ni made a baby voice: "Huff, huff, huff~" sound.

Wu Ni also made a "whoosh whoosh~" sound.

Chen Weidong: "Uh~ what are you guys spitting at? Your saliva is all over Daddy's face."

"Dad, listen, it's not finished yet."

The two little kids became anxious, fearing that Chen Weidong would cause trouble, so they quickly stretched out their little hands and covered his mouth.

Chen Weidong: “?”

"Whoosh whoosh, boom, boom."

"..."

Then the two little guys started singing in a sweet voice, not to mention that they couldn't understand it at all compared to before.
This time Chen Weidong actually understood a few words. It turned out to be "The Railway Train Runs Towards Shaoshan," a children's song from the 1960s and 1970s. It is a passionate classic red song that was widely circulated in the 1970s. I didn't expect that these two little guys could actually sing a few words.

"Oops! Forgot."

"Ask big sister later!"

The two little guys sang and sang for a while, then forgot the words and said a little embarrassedly.

"These two little silly girls."

"Did you learn all this from the radio?"

"No, my mom taught me. My mom can sing too!"

"Mom sings so beautifully. When we get home, we'll ask mom to teach us more." The two little ones said in baby voices.

Liu Xueting was an educated youth. It was normal for her to sing revolutionary songs in that era. However, in the countryside, when people could not even get enough food,
Singing was not a serious thing, so Chen Weidong seldom heard Liu Xueting sing. At most, she had hummed a few lines to comfort the children.

However, these words caused fragments of memories to suddenly surge out of Chen Weidong's mind.

He could not remember Liu Xueting singing, but he clearly remembered that Liu Xueting could play the harmonica. The harmonica is a small wind instrument, which is called the piano in your pocket because it is easy to carry.

It was very popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Educated youth, workers, students, soldiers and other literary and art lovers liked to play.
But that was in the city, in the era of big pot rice in the countryside. This kind of petty bourgeoisie sentiment and not doing a proper job would definitely not be accepted.

He froze for a moment, as if he had done something wrong to Liu Xueting.

Just because of the mouth organ.

Liu Xueting is an educated youth who went to the countryside. She is from the south and does not fit in with the people in the village. Liu Xueting is also trying hard to change herself and integrate herself into rural life little by little.

After marrying Chen Weidong.

At that time, Liu Xueting's most precious thing was this harmonica.

That was the instrument she was best at when she was a child.

When she went to the countryside, she took nothing with her except the mouth organ.

When life was difficult and depressing, she would always take it out and blow it.

The tunes are all Soviet ditties.

Originally, it was about expressing emotions and the unique spirit of the educated youth.

But later, Chen Weidong ran into it.

Chen Weidong didn't understand any of this stuff at the time. In this remote village where people couldn't even get enough food to eat, he got angry when he heard that Liu Xueting was still thinking about bragging about this.

So he scolded her harshly and asked Liu Xueting to throw away the harmonica.

However, if you put yourself in his shoes, when Dani wasn't born yet, Liu Xueting married him, moved away from home, away from her parents and family, and didn't allow her to express her emotions. It was indeed a bit overbearing.

"I don't know whether she threw it away or not. If she did, I'll buy her a new one to compensate her!" Chen Weidong sighed.

Chen Weidong brought the two little girls to Widow Jiang's house and called the other four little girls back home for dinner.

When she got home, Liu Xueting had already released all the dogs from the kennel.

As soon as Chen Weidong and the six little girls returned to the yard, the four puppies ran over and circled around Chen Weidong and the little ones, wagging their tails like Hot Wheels. The two big dogs, Black Tiger and White Tiger, were much calmer, barked at Chen Weidong twice, and then went on to play by themselves.

Chen Weidong put Xiaoliu down from his arms, squatted down and stroked him one by one.

"I've already fed the dog food, you should also wash up and eat."

"Da Ni and Er Ni, take your sisters and wash your hands and have dinner."

At this time, Liu Xueting came out from the main room and urged.

"Ok!"

Dani and Erni heard Liu Xueting's words and called their younger sisters.

"Eat! Eat!"

The little girls panted and followed their eldest and second sisters happily.

Chen Weidong smiled.

After breakfast,

Chen Weidong sat on a chair, warming himself by the fire and cleaning his gun.

Six little girls were playing with the dog in the yard.

Liu Xueting was washing dishes in the kitchen. Chen Weidong cleaned his gun and moved over.

"Why are you here now? I've finished cleaning." Liu Xueting didn't know when she had finished cleaning and was about to come out of the kitchen with something in her hand.

Her black hair was spread over her shoulders, and her profile was half-covered, looking beautiful and hazy.

"Wife, I remember you had a harmonica. You didn't throw it away, did you?" Chen Weidong asked slowly. He suddenly remembered this matter, as if it had become a knot in his heart.

Liu Xueting suddenly remembered something and froze subconsciously.

She paused, looking slightly flustered.

She quickly explained: "Did you see it? It's not that I didn't listen to you, I just put it under the box and forgot about it. If you don't like it, I will throw it away now. I won't blow it anyway, and there is no use keeping it."

Liu Xueting meant what she said. Now all her thoughts were on her man and children. Maybe when she first married Chen Weidong, she felt a little homesick, but now that she had six lovely and sensible children, she felt like she had found roots.

She said, standing up in a hurry,

however

Just as Liu Xueting stood up and passed by Chen Weidong.

Suddenly a hand gently grasped the hem of his clothes.

"and many more."

Chen Weidong couldn't help but smile: "Wife, why are you so nervous? It was my fault before. In fact, it's best that you didn't throw away the harmonica, otherwise I would have bought you a new one~"

Liu Xueting: "Uh~ Don't buy it, I have one at home and I couldn't bear to throw it away before."

"Xue Ting, it was my fault before. I was incompetent, so I blame you for this."

"But now, I understand. My wife is beautiful and can play the harmonica. Not only in Jiuqu Village, but also in the whole Hesong County, there is no one else like her."

"I'm not as good as you say. You are so shameless. I've never heard you brag about your wife like this. And I don't blame you, so why are you apologizing?"

Liu Xueting said, but she felt happy in her heart.

Chen Weidong looked at her and said, "Wife, can you take it out and blow it for me?"

"Don't you like hearing it??"

"Hey, who said I don't like to listen? I just didn't appreciate it before."

"Okay then!" Looking at Chen Weidong's eyes, Liu Xueting nodded.

Soon Liu Xueting came into the room. After a long while, she came back with the harmonica in her hand. It seemed that it had been left there for too long.

The mouth organ is short, about the size of a palm, with a green mouthpiece and a delicate stainless steel casing.

But the outside was carefully wrapped with a handkerchief.

Chen Weidong pulled Liu Xueting to sit next to the fireplace in the main room. She carefully took the harmonica out of her arms and wiped it.

As if she couldn't believe that Chen Weidong wanted to listen, Liu Xueting turned her head to look at Chen Weidong again.

(End of this chapter)