Chapter 4 memories of army green pants

"Isn't your father scary? I heard that soldiers use their front teeth to pull out nails." One day a friend saw his father in military uniform and asked.I remember that I looked at my friend blankly for a while, and then burst out laughing. "Who did you hear? My dad has never pulled out a nail with his teeth!" At that time, the war had just ended, the North and the South were divided, and the confrontation was particularly intense.In my eyes, my father is an envoy of justice who defends the country.To me, my father in military uniform was more handsome than any star on TV, and he was different from other fathers who wore suits to work, so I was quite proud of it.Whenever I see my mother put the carefully polished military boots next to Jin Ling or my shoes, I will have a sense of security guarded by the warship.

But there are downsides to having a father who is a soldier.I have especially fond memories of the green army trousers.In the past, my mother would always make my father's old army trousers smaller and wear them for me. With the short watermelon skin hairstyle and the army green trousers, it looked quite old-fashioned.I hated wearing those trousers so badly that I sometimes lost my temper and didn't wear them, but such a temper tantrum didn't help my mother, who was always thrifty, at all. My busy father is often not at home, which is also a big dissatisfaction for me.Although my father was always nice to us during the short days or two when he was home, I still felt sad that I didn't see him as often.In fact, I have spent the longest time with my father among the three siblings, but even I feel lonely, and it is normal for younger siblings to cry.My mother always tried to make up for my father's vacancy. Whenever she was free, she would tell us why my father couldn't be with us often, remind us how much he loved us, and how gentle and considerate my father was when we were in love.Whenever we miss our father, my mother always asks us to write to him, and tells us what my father said before going to bed, making us feel as if our father is accompanying us to sleep.

The mother in my memory is always busy sooner or later.When we got home from school, she would always stuff us with prepared sweet potatoes or fried kelp for snacks; in winter, she would knit woolen hats, scarves and gloves for us.I hardly ever saw my mother sleeping.Occasionally when I got up late at night to drink water, I would see my mother concentrating on keeping accounts or writing letters to my father who was far away in the army.Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I always see my mother’s neatly folded quilt and her busy figure in the dim light of the kitchen. I hear the brisk sound of chopping vegetables in my ears. I look back to check the clock on the wall, as usual It was five o'clock in the morning again.

When winter comes, my mother will put the big sauce cubes that we think are stinky in the corner near the kitchen; in the autumn sun, peppers and cabbage gangs are drying, and bean sprouts are also planted at home, and they are also added to the cartons of apples. Some soil, plant onions or peppers to eat. My father is often not at home, and my mother does all the maintenance work at home.She would fix creaking closet doors herself, and grease the frames with candle grease when the doors didn't pull properly.Any problem can be solved as long as the mother's skillful hands are used, and the old things can also be tidied up to a new look.Looking at a mother like that is amazing to me. The thought that "my mother could do anything" made me feel incredibly proud.

I remember that in an interview, the other party asked: "What should I do when the family needs a man?" At that moment, I unconsciously asked: "What things do I need a man to help with?" Maybe it's because I can do it all by myself.Now, like my mother, I do almost all the housework by myself.From changing a light bulb to fixing a loose doorknob with a screwdriver, I can easily fix anything in the house if I have a toolbox.It seems that I have inherited my mother's manual repairing skills, and now those skills are also in use.

Compared with the birthday that children like, our three brothers and sisters look forward to father's vacation more.In addition to being able to hang on the father's arm and act like a baby, we can also go to the barbecue restaurant that we go to once every three or four months to have dinner. For us, father's holiday is a very special day. Such a rare meal out is a thoughtful gift prepared by the father to reward the mother for carrying the housework alone.But in my memory, because of the long-lost meat, my younger siblings and I were always scrambling to eat meat, but my mother was just busy grilling meat for us.The father who couldn't stand it would say to his mother: "Don't just focus on the barbecue, you have to eat it yourself." The mother replied: "I seem to be full in the morning, and I have indigestion." While talking, he pushed the meat to his father. .When I was young, I saw my mother always avoiding meat when I was eating out. I thought she didn’t like meat or eating out, but I naively enjoyed the opportunity to eat out.

I heard the lyrics of a song on a radio show not long ago: "Mother said she didn't like eating Jajangmyeon..." It reminded me of my mother who said "indigestion" while putting meat in my bowl , A burst of sadness arises spontaneously.