Chapter 19 Chapter Eighteen

Lu Xiaolong's younger sister, Lu Xiaohui, is a second-year student at Beijing Experimental Girls' Middle School. She has a round face, short hair that covers her ears, and is of medium height.At first glance, I think she is slightly fat, but she is still slender when you look closely. It is probably because of her slightly plump round face and those particularly large, wide-set eyes that give people the impression of a fat baby.That face and those eyes remind you of the large floor-to-ceiling windows and the bright white sun, and also remind you of a team of kindergarten children being led by their aunts. There will always be one or two particularly round, white and chubby faces in the team. If you attract your attention among a group of uneven children, your eyes will be attracted by him, and you will even feel the beauty of life virtually.

From a physiological point of view, Lu Xiaohui has another characteristic, that is, she is extremely clean.This kind of cleanliness is not just that she loves to be clean, but that she looks clean.Some people still feel unclean even if they bathe frequently and change their clothes frequently.And her cleaning habit seems to be innate: her face, neck, and arms are naturally white, and the breath of her body makes you feel clean and refreshing.In her mother's words, our Xiaohui is not like our family, she seems to have fallen from the sky.Both father and mother said that there was a faint fragrance of lotus seeds on her body, including her room.

Lu Xiaohui also has special intelligence, some of this intelligence may come from her father's political leadership and her mother's shrewdness in world affairs, but most of this intelligence is not available in this family.When I was young, my family lived in a one-story dormitory, and my neighbor was a rich lady in the old society. The husband, a Kuomintang officer, surrendered to the revolution and joined the ranks of the Communist Party.Lu Xiaohui often went to her house to play, and called the rich wife in the old society and the current chief's wife Grandma Jin.From Grandma Jin, she received a whole set of different influences. In her own words, the first thing she learned from Grandma Jin was how to distinguish and appreciate the beauty of women.Grandma Jin told her what kind of nose looks good, what kind of footwork is noble, what kind of face is beautiful, and what kind of face is handsome.These things that would be regarded as bourgeois decadent ideas among students of the same age have become the starting point for understanding life in Lu Xiaohui.She began to read literary masterpieces at a very young age, and the combination of acquired cultural influence and innate spirituality made her a special "minded" girl.

It is precisely because of this characteristic that Shen Li was very sensitive when she met Shen Li at the criticism meeting.When Shen Li took off her glasses, Lu Xiaohui found that this was a face completely different from the surrounding environment.The whiteness of her skin and the beauty of her appearance seemed abrupt in this world, or could not be tolerated by the world, and her temperament was only familiar to me from the world of Grandma Jin.In this dense and noisy sea of ​​people, she instantly felt the similarities between the other party and herself.The other party is taller than oneself, and oneself is shorter.The other party is cooler than yourself, and you are warmer.The other party is more noble and addicted than oneself, and I am closer to and adapt to the environment than the other party.The other party is whiter than myself, and although I am white, the difference with the environment is softer than the other party.When this beautiful woman expressed concern for her brother, her momentary reaction was a little subtle.This kind of subtlety was clearly seen by her introspective review later: she was both kind and vaguely resistant to the other party.

When girls like Hua Jun and Tian Xiaoli fought hard for their elder brother, she only had a sense of intimacy with them.And when this woman who claimed to be a graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music appeared in her brother's world, her psychology was more complicated. She already understood the complicated reasons.At that time, the admiration and admiration for Shen Li's appearance to a considerable extent distracted her from the excitement at the rally, and on the way home, she still recalled the bright face of the woman on the background of the crowded playground. She even guessed that what the other party was wearing was just a pair of plain glasses.I really regret that I didn't establish contact with her at that time, and I may never be able to contact her in the future.She was a little melancholy, both for her brother and herself.Losing this connection is like reading the beginning of a novel, discovering a heroine who intrigues you, but losing the right to continue reading.

Thoughts like flowing smoke were quickly dispelled by reality.When she put down her bicycle and opened the door to enter the house, the living room was already full of smoke.My father was buried in the smoke and continued to breathe motionlessly. My mother came out of the kitchen and asked, "How is your brother?" There was a serious expression on the dark and thin face.Lu Xiaohui didn't think about how to answer for a moment, she walked to the sofa facing her father and sat down. At home, she is the only one who is not afraid of anyone.The father, almost the whole family is afraid of him, the mother is afraid, the brothers are afraid, but she is not afraid.

Mother, everyone in the family is also afraid of her, father is afraid of her, brothers are a little afraid of her, but I am not afraid of her.She is the youngest child of her father, and she has been favored since she was a child; she is also the only biological child of her mother, and she deserves to be favored.The parents seem to be very dignified towards the brothers, but they are actually a little bit afraid.She understands the reason: the father must feel that he has not protected their biological mother; and the mother, who is a stepmother, is also worried about the emotional birth of these two sons who are not her own.As a result, all people are afraid of each other, but there is a difference between being more afraid and less afraid.The mother is more afraid of the father, and the father is less afraid of the mother.The elder brother is more afraid of his father, and the father is less afraid of his elder brother.Only her, no one is afraid.

Father looked at her, as if thinking about how to talk.The mother sat down on a chair not far from the father, put her hands on her knees and waited with concern.Lu Xiaohui knew that her father had already put the question before her without asking the question, and he was waiting for her answer.She said, "Beiqing University held a meeting of ten thousand people to criticize." Her father smoked a cigarette expressionlessly, and her mother asked, "Criticize your brother? He is a middle school student, and he is not from Beiqing University." My father became impatient and slowly He stretched out his hand and waved it in the air.He was smoking a pipe again today, which indicated the heaviness of his thoughts.He smoked heavily with his pipe in his mouth, raised his eyes to look at Lu Xiaohui, and waited for her to continue talking.

Lu Xiaohui briefly described the situation of the criticism meeting. Her father listened without saying a word, and her mother said eagerly: "Xiaolong doesn't listen to you at all, and things are getting worse now." The father still didn't speak, and the mother watched Seeing him, he complained, "If I knew this earlier, why didn't you let him go?" The father put the pipe on the tea table with a bang, stood up with his hands behind his back, and said sharply, "My son is already over eighteen years old. Doesn't he know how to be responsible for his actions?" After finishing speaking, he turned his back and looked at the grape arbor outside the window.Mother paused for a while, then said, "He doesn't think about it either, it's not his business alone."

Father turned around and waved his hand angrily. The hand was heavy. Although the movement was not very quick, it showed a rare dissatisfaction. He said, "You're talking bastard!" The mother looked at the back of the father and said nothing.Lu Xiaohui said to her mother: "Mom, Dad is worried about my brother's affairs, so don't make trouble." She said to her father again: "Dad, have you changed your clothes? I want to wash them before dinner. gone." Father stood still, and Lu Xiaohui said again: "Where are the clothes you changed? It's useless to worry about something. Thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, what happened to my brother may not be known!" Father sighed. Sitting down on the sofa, he said, "Isn't that obvious?" Lu Xiaohui said, "That's not necessarily true." Her father looked at Lu Xiaohui, as if hoping to find some beneficial possibilities, then lowered his eyes and shook his head slowly, stopping. After a while, he said, "The clothes have been changed, and they are on the chair beside my bed."

The clothes started to be washed after dinner, and the second elder brother Lu Xiaogang did not come back from the school. The three of them finished their meal in a relatively dull atmosphere, and the father went upstairs to the study.Lu Xiaohui set up large wooden basins, small wooden basins, and washbasins in the hallway, put washboards on the shelves, and started to wash clothes.My mother occasionally helped her pour dirty water and fetch a bucket of clean water, and sat on the sidelines watching her wash clothes with a heavy heart. Lu Xiaohui was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, showing her plump arms and delicate hands. She pulled the big tub closer to her, put the washboard in front of her, and scrubbed along the slope of the washboard. Laundry, as usual, brought her a sense of peace and joy.This is a white undershirt, soaked in soapy water in a large basin, the water is full, and rubbed on the washboard.Soapy water gushes out from the rolled up clothes along with scrubbing.The sound of the water gradually subsided, and the soapy water flowed into the basin, and then the clothes were soaked in the wooden basin, and then they were soaked in the soaked soapy water on the washboard and rubbed together. .For a piece of underwear, if you scrub it three or five times, you wring it dry, put it in the washbasin, and then scrub the second piece.She rubs out some small vests in two hands, wrings them dry and puts them in the washbasin.Mother stared blankly at her neat work, and would have admired her a long time ago: "Xiaohui is capable, I don't know where I learned it from?" When the shirt was washed, she sprinkled some dry soap powder on the collar and cuffs, Rub it watery, then soak it in a large wooden basin, soak up the soapy water, and rub it out in twos and threes on the washboard.After washing the coat and trousers, the whole thing can't be rubbed, just scrub one trouser leg by one trouser leg, sprinkle soap powder on the important part and scrub it with your hands, and finally scrub the whole ball roughly, wring it dry and put it in the washbasin.After the clothes have been scrubbed in soapy water, they are rinsed on the kitchen tap.In the process of doing laundry, she experienced the joy of being in charge of housework. When her mother sat there blankly watching her do the laundry, she often felt that her mother was younger than her.Her mother's admiration often made her feel very calm, as if she was the housewife in charge of everything in this family of five, and her mother had to listen to her instructions on many issues, as if Lu Xiaohui was her older sister.This feeling makes Lu Xiaohui feel very interesting.At this time, she would order her mother like her younger sister, asking her to pass her the soap powder box, and asking her to bring another empty washbasin, and her mother always cooperated willingly.In this family, facing two older brothers who were not born to her, the mother always felt a sense of isolation. She often looked for more spiritual support from her daughter, which Lu Xiaohui understood. The mother couldn't stop asking again: "Do you think Xiaolong will be designated as a counter-revolutionary?" Lu Xiaohui brushed her hair that had slipped to her forehead with her arm, and said, "Don't think about it, it's useless." As she spoke, she took out a father's shirt wet from the soapy water to check how dirty the neckline was. Through the light, she accidentally saw a black shadow in the pocket of the shirt. She took it out and saw that it was an old man. A soaked envelope.The mother asked from the side: "What is that?" The envelope was folded in half and unfolded. It was a letter to my father, with the address of my father's office on it.Received by Lu Tiehan, followed by two words in brackets: private letter.Here's how to prevent the secretary from unpacking.There are only two words in the signature: this city.Mother stretched out her hand and said, "Let me have a look." Lu Xiaohui's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly said, "It's quite wet, don't touch it." She took out a piece of letter paper from the envelope and opened it. It was a letter without letterhead. The content was very brief: "My situation is very bad. I wonder if you have heard? I can't contact you much during this time. You don't have to reply. I have never told anyone about the weekend activities, don't worry. You are busy, don't worry about me. In addition, I heard that Xiaolong's situation is not good, you must know. That's all, I will try again when I have the chance Call. Na".Lu Xiaohui took a hasty glance, shook her head with a smile, and said, "He was asked to find an old colleague, and the handwriting was not clear, so it didn't make much sense." She put the letter back into the envelope, casually Put it in a pile of newspapers on the coffee table partition behind him: "I'll just give it to Dad later." The mother continued to watch Lu Xiaohui wash the clothes one by one with a heavy heart. After washing, rinsing and drying the clothes, it was already late, and Lu Xiaohui came to her father's study.Pushing open the door, my father was writing something, and when he heard the voice, he asked without turning his head: "Who is it?" Lu Xiaohui closed the door behind her, and said, "It's me, Dad." The father was writing something on the letter paper, and seeing his daughter Walking over, he flipped over the letter paper and turned to look at Lu Xiaohui.Lu Xiaohui put the soaked letter gently on her father's desk and said, "This is in your shirt pocket." Her father's thick eyebrows twitched.Lu Xiaohui said: "I didn't let my mother read it." The father looked at his daughter, and Lu Xiaohui said again: "I didn't read it either." The father's eyes fell on the folded envelope, he opened the drawer and put the letter in the drawer, and then Pointing to the chair next to her, she said, "Sit down, Xiaohui." My father has been visibly aging for a while now, the bags under his eyes are more cystic, his eyes are bloodshot, his beard is dark without shaving for a few days, and there are deep wrinkles on his high forehead.Lu Xiaohui thought and thought, and finally made up her mind, and said, "My brother has declared a hunger strike." Father's body shook slightly, his jaw trembled, and his heart was obviously hit hard.Lu Xiaohui said again: "It's already the second day, and it started yesterday." Her father said, "Then they are holding a rally today?" Lu Xiaohui nodded, but said nothing.His father's eyes looked cloudy and dull, and after a few seconds, he looked down at the drawer where the letter had just been placed, stretched out his hand and gently pushed the drawer up, and said with a heavy heart: "It's all because I didn't handle it well. "