Chapter 27 Liu Cao

The marriage between Liu Cao and Hu Xiaohu is doomed to be unfortunate. Soon after the two got married, Hu Xiaohu went to work in a timber factory in the town.The indicator was brought by Director Hu, and Hu Xiaohu became a city resident in a blink of an eye.Hu Xiaohu also often regards himself as a city dweller. He wears sunglasses, wide-legged flared trousers, cigarettes in his pockets, cigarettes in his fingers, humming pop songs, and trembling on the village street. Wander around with a flick.Hu Xiaohu's appearance mostly appeared at night or on Sundays.The town is more than 20 kilometers away from the village on a dirt road, and he has to ride a bicycle for nearly an hour to and from get off work every day.

In the newly married days, Hu Xiaohu went out early and returned late, and looked very hardworking, just like a happy and family-friendly man.Liu Cao has already gone to work in the health center, and there are not many people in the health center to see a doctor, which is a minor ailment of headache and brain fever.Before Liu Cao came, there were already two barefoot doctors in the health center. Most of the time, she always carried a basket to the mountains to dig herbs, and then sorted and dried them when she came back. In the evening, Hu Xiaohu came back on his bicycle, ringing the bell.When Liu Cao saw Hu Xiaohu came back, she didn't say much, and went into the house to cook.Hu Xiaohu also followed into the room, washed his face, looked at Liu Cao happily, and touched her body with his hands.Liu Cao pushed him away and continued to work, Hu Xiaohu swallowed and muttered: Let's see how I deal with you at night.

Hu Xiaohu staggered out of the house, put on sunglasses, lit a cigarette, and wandered around the village street with a contented expression.When a farmer who has finished work comes back from the field, he greets him when he sees him: Xiao Hu, are you off work? He replied loudly: off work.How is the second brother? Are you tired of being a farmer? The person who was called the second brother said enviously: How can doing farm work compare with your going to work?How nourishing you are. Hu Xiaohu smiled with a very superior expression, raised his hand, flicked the cigarette ash gracefully, and greeted people with a grunt.

When the three old and four young people in the village were almost gone, Hu Xiaohu walked home with his shoulders slanted.At this time, Liu Cao had already cooked the meal, and Director Hu was sitting at the table waiting for him.As soon as he entered the room, he sat next to Director Hu, and Liu Cao began to feed the father and son. The father and son saw each other every day, and there was nothing more to say. After talking about eating, Lao Hu picked up the bowl. After dinner, Hu Xiaohu still had to go around the village with a cigarette between his hands.At this time, when there are the most people on the village street, he walks around under the noses of everyone with his chest out and his stomach in. If someone asks him a word or two about the town, he will stop and spit all over his mouth. Talking in vernacular for a long time, talking about new things where buildings have risen again, where people have accidents and have been arrested by the police.

When the people on the village street were almost gone, he also walked back. The sunglasses had already been taken off and hung on the clothes on his chest. When entering the hospital, Liu Cao was still sorting herbs in the yard, and Lao Hu was lying in the house, flipping through editorials in the People's Daily.Hu Xiaohu said: Well done, stop messing with these things endlessly, let's go, let's go to sleep and rest. Liu Cao answered him angrily: You sleep with you. Hu Xiaohu tilted his neck, glared at her, and went to wash his face and brush his teeth.When he went back to the house and spread the quilt, he saw that Liu Cao hadn't come back yet, so he pulled on his shoes and shouted at the door of the house: Liu Cao, are you still sleeping?I have to get up for work tomorrow.

Liu Cao didn't answer, and didn't move, she was still busy with her head lowered by the shadow of the lamp. Hu Xiaohu yelled again: What's wrong with you, why don't you let people rest? Lao Hu coughed and rushed outside and said, "Wow, let's have a rest, Xiao Hu is still at work tomorrow morning." After Lao Hu finished speaking, he turned off the light in his room with a "snap", half of the yard was dark at once, and Hu Xiaohu also reached out to turn off the light, and the whole yard was pitch black.Liu Cao stood silently in the yard for a while, then returned to the house, washed her hands and face, took off her coat and lay down on the kang.

Hu Xiaohu crawled over in a hurry, took off Liu Cao's underwear two or three times, and touched Liu Cao's upper body.Liu Cao lowered her voice and said bitterly: I know this all day long. Hu Xiaohu said while he was busy: If it's not for this matter, why did I come back from such a long distance? Liu Cao lost her voice and could only endure silently. Hu Xiaohu seemed very dissatisfied: You are a dead person, so I don't know how to respond. Liu Cao closed her eyes and did not speak, she just hoped that this crime would end soon.The more she looked forward to it, the more he didn't intend to stop, and said cruelly: "Damn it, let's see how I can beat you to death."As he moved, he pinched Liu Cao with his hands.

She yelled and resisted below. Hu Xiaohu snorted angrily and said, "Don't yell wow, why are you yelling again." It didn't take long for Hu Xiaohu toss on Liu Cao before falling asleep. Liu Cao lay quietly for a while, and seeing that Hu Xiaohu was fast asleep, she put on her clothes, turned on the small lamp by the bed, and continued to read the "Compendium of Herbal Medicine". Early the next morning, while Hu Xiaohu was still asleep, she had already woken up.When the meal was almost ready, Hu Xiaohu also got up, and when he saw the breakfast, his face sank and he said: You are feeding pigs, and I don't know how to change it.I have to run such a long distance. After a long time, I can’t keep up with my nutrition. How can I still work?After finishing speaking, he ate a few mouthfuls indiscriminately, dropped his chopsticks, put on his sunglasses, and rode away on his bicycle.

Liu Cao glanced at Hu Xiaohu's disappearing back, felt relieved, and then picked up the medicine basket and went up the mountain to collect herbs.As long as she walked to the mountain, the world in front of her eyes was hers. The birds were singing in the woods, and the brook flowed under her feet. She squatted by the stream and washed her face, and picked a flower on the roadside to wear on her head. The self in the flushing water laughed happily.This is the happiest and happy time of the day for her. Occasionally, she would also visit her natal home.In the eyes of mother Wang Guixiang, the water splashed by the married daughter is obviously not as close as when she was at home.As soon as she entered the door, her mother started nagging, telling her over and over again to honor her father-in-law, take care of her husband, and live a good life.She couldn't listen to a word of what her mother said, and it still annoyed her, so she went to her brother's room.Brother was leaning on the kang cabinet and reading a book. When he saw her coming in, he put down the book and looked at her face carefully.

Brother said affectionately: Cao'er, how are you doing? She didn't answer her brother's words, and said to him: "Brother, you're not too young anymore. I'm gone, and my brother is gone too. It's time for you to arrange your own marriage." Every time she said something like this, my brother stopped talking and picked up the book in his hand to read. She stepped forward to snatch the book with her hands, fell on the kang, looked anxiously at her brother and said: You can't live like this for a lifetime, can you? My brother was anxious when asked, so he said: Why am I alone, don’t I still have a mother?

Mom is mom, you are you.Mom can live with you forever?Liu Cao yelled at his brother anxiously. The elder brother bowed his head and said, "I'll think about my own affairs after my younger brother is promoted to the army." Sitting on the edge of the kang, she persuaded in a low voice: Brother, don't ask too much of your younger brother. If he can't do it, will this day be over? Liu Shu didn't say anything, he opened the cabinet, and took out Liu Dong's letters from it. The thick stack was carefully stored and numbered by him.He often read his brother's letters one after another like a novel.Writing and reading letters to his brother became the most important part of his life. He picked out a letter and said: My brother has made progress again, and another news report of him has appeared on the front page of the newspaper in the military region. Liu Cao took the letter from his brother, read it at a glance, sighed lightly, and a sad look appeared on his face. Liu Shu glanced at his sister: Did Xiao Hu treat you badly? Liu Cao didn't speak, sat silently for a while, and then went out. Liu Shu shouted at his sister's back: "If Xiao Hu treats you badly, I'll settle the score with him and see how I deal with him." That evening, Hu Xiaohu was wearing a mirror again, holding a cigarette in his hand, and while wandering on the village street, he saw Liu Shu from a distance.He took off his sunglasses and threw away the half-smoked cigarette in his hand. For some reason, he was a little afraid of Liu Shu. Liu Shu walked by his side, looked him up and down and said: Can you be a decent person? Hu Xiaohu smiled flatteringly and said: Brother, I am a decent person, now I go to work every day and don't go anywhere. Liu Shu glared at him, turned and left.Seeing Liu Shu walking away, Hu Xiaohu bent down to pick up the discarded half of the cigarette, shrugged his shoulders and walked forward. Liu Shu was very famous when he was in school. When he was in school, Liu Shu didn't associate with anyone, and always walked alone.At that time, there was a head boy in the middle school, and some children were gathered to fight.Children in middle school are in their adolescence, and their excess energy cannot be vented in ordinary life, so they try their best to find trouble.Many students are afraid of this group of children. When school is over, students often go home in groups of three or four, but Liu Shu still goes his own way like a lone ranger.He carried a schoolbag on his shoulder, and sometimes held a novel in his hand, which he glanced at from time to time. That day, that group of kids intercepted Liu Shu. They were a group of sophomores and freshmen in high school.Liu Shu knew Fathead Yu, but he hadn't said anything before. Fathead Yu and his gang blocked Liu Shu's way. Liu Shu stood in the middle of the road, looked at Fathead Yu's group coldly, and said in a low voice: Get out of the way. Fathead Yu and his group looked at him with a smile, and someone said: Liu Shu is really awesome. At this time, the students on the same road were standing far and near, watching the development of the situation, including Hu Xiaohu and Liu Dong.Hu Xiaohu tugged at Liu Dong's arm and said: This time your brother is going to be punished, he usually ignores no one, it's too good. Some of Fathead Yu's group came to push Liu Shu, and more people booed from behind. Liu Shu still didn't speak, first backed up, then squatted down, picked up a few stones, at first Fathead Yu thought Liu Shu was going to throw stones at them, so he hid a little away, unexpectedly, Liu Shu emptied the books in his schoolbag On the ground, filled with stones.When doing all this, he didn't panic at all, but rather slowly, then he stood up, put the schoolbag with stones on his shoulders, and walked forward with the books under his arm. Fathead Yu and his gang laughed and surrounded him, and someone yelled: "Look at him, take care of him." Someone ran over and kicked Liu Shu.Liu Shu dodged it, suddenly picked up his schoolbag, yelled, and threw it at Fathead Yu and his group.A person's back was hit by a schoolbag, and he immediately lay there motionless.Liu Shu swung his schoolbag like a whirring windmill, and Fathead Yu and his gang finally encountered a stubble, and fled for their lives in all directions. When Liu Shu saw that the crowd had left, he acted as if nothing had happened, poured out the stones in his schoolbag, packed the books, and left without making a sound.The students who were watching the fun were all dumbfounded. No one would dare to trouble Liu Shu in the future, and no one would dare to bully even the children who were on the same road as Liu Shu. For a while, Liu Shu's name spread throughout the school, and someone secretly nicknamed him "Cold-faced Detective", which is the incarnation of justice from the children's perspective.Wherever Liu Shu went, there were children pointing at his back from a distance and saying: Look, he is a cold-faced policeman. Hu Xiaohu started to be afraid of Liu Shu from then on, although many years later, he still has lingering fears.Liu Shu is usually a man of few words and never wants to socialize with others. He always finishes work on time and sits there with a book to read during breaks.At night, he squatted in front of his house and played the flute. Many people couldn't understand Liu Shu. Hu Xiaohu once said to Liu Cao: Your brother is silent from morning till night, what is he thinking? Liu Cao said angrily: You ask him, I am not him, how do I know? Hu Xiaohu naturally didn't have a chance to ask Liu Shu. When he saw Liu Shu from a distance, his legs felt a little weak.After half a year of marriage, Hu Xiaohu discovered that Liu Cao, who used to be as beautiful as a fairy in his heart, was actually like that.Even if she ate in the same pot, she didn't look at him directly, and her attitude towards him was no different from before marriage. One night, Liu Cao was sitting on the edge of the kang, sewing a piece of clothing, and Hu Xiaohu was also sitting on the kang, smoking, looking at Liu Cao and saying: We have been married for so long, why don’t you look at me directly? once? Liu Cao didn't speak, and was busy with the work in hand with a cold face. Hu Xiaohu sprayed a puff of cigarettes on Liu Cao's face: Why are people in your family like this?With whom?Do you also want to be a cold-faced policeman? Liu Cao waved his hand to drive away the smoke, but still ignored him without raising his head. As soon as Hu Xiaohu stretched out his hand and turned off the light, he immediately threw Liu Cao onto the kang, grabbed the things in her hand, and tore her clothes.Liu Cao neither cooperated nor resisted, he pressed her under him, and felt her body became more and more cold and stiff.Hu Xiaohu tried his best and worked hard for a long time, but it was still a one-man show.He felt that there was no meaning at all, and after turning over, he said angrily: Fuck, that's what happened to you. Liu Cao turned sideways, leaving only his back. Hu Xiaohu felt very sad, a flower that was so pretty in his eyes in the past, now married back, after pinching and rubbing, the result is still the same, she still doesn't have to look him in the eye.Hu Xiaohu's self-esteem was hit unprecedentedly. The more she treated him like this, the more he wanted to take revenge on her. As long as he had time, no matter day or night, he would put her under him and vent his anger on her body.Her silence and cold reaction made him angry and discouraged. While pinching her, he gritted his teeth and said: "Stinky bitch, do you still have a big treasure in your heart?"Say it. Liu Cao turned her face sideways without saying a word, letting him torment herself. Hu Xiaohu guessed right, she really couldn't forget her big treasure.Dabao's surname is He, and he was one grade higher than her in school.At that time, the two had a good impression. After Dabao graduated, it was not easy for her to see him.Sometimes in order to catch a glimpse of her, Dabao would walk a few miles on the mountain road and wait for her on the way she must pass after school.At that time, she hadn't learned how to express, just looking at Dabao blushing and heartbeating, she would be excited for several days.The relationship between the two has never pierced that layer of window paper, and all good things are concealed. It wasn't until she graduated from high school and returned to her hometown to participate in labor that the relationship between the two had a turning point.Once watching an open-air movie on the threshing ground of the brigade, Dabao stuffed a note into her hand while it was dark, saying that after the show was over, she was asked to wait for him under the willow tree at the head of the village.She didn't remember the plot of the movie that day at all, her mind was full of the words on the note. When the movie ended, she first walked for a while in the direction of going home, and then turned around and walked back to the two big willow trees at the head of the village.At this time, the people who left the venue had already left, and the noisy village street suddenly became quiet.When she came to the willow tree, she didn't find Dabao. When she was wondering, Dabao came out from behind her and hugged her.Excited and nervous, she let out a "Yeah".Dabao gasped in her ear: Cao'er, I like you, let's go. Since then, she has been in love with Dabao. When she was free, she went to the mountains to dig herbs in order to meet Dabao.The two made an appointment before she went up the mountain, and this meeting was to make an appointment for the next meeting. The mountain was very quiet. Dabao and Liu Cao dug herbs together, sang to the birds in the woods, and swore to the stream at their feet that they would love each other forever and never regret it. Before Liu Cao got married, she finally met Dabao on the mountain.They hugged each other hard to separate, Dabao asked in tears: Cao'er, can't you marry him? My brother is going to join the army.After she finished speaking, she fell on Dabao's shoulder, her tears wet. Dabao shook her, and asked more eagerly: Do you have to marry him? At this time, Liu Cao's rationality had overcome her emotions, she bit her lip, and said with a pale face: He Dabao, although I am married, I like you in my heart. He Dabao hugged his head in pain, feeling overwhelmed with pain. At this time, she said again: I can get married, and I can also get divorced in the future. Dabao raised his head and moaned: Then I will wait for you. Liu Cao is still secretly meeting Dabao, and the date is still on the mountain.Now Liu Cao has more time to go to the mountains to dig medicine, and every time she goes up the mountain, Dabao is there waiting for her.After they hugged each other, they held hands to dig medicine, and lay there when they were tired, watching the birds sing.They no longer dared to sing as loudly as before. Half a year after Hu Xiaohu was newly married, he felt that marriage was boring.He seldom went home and lived in the wood processing factory in the town.I came back once on the first day of the new year, and once on the fifteenth day. When I came back, I seldom wandered on the village street, but squatted in the yard thinking about my thoughts.When he saw Liu Cao who came back, his eyes were still bright, and without any explanation, he dragged her into the room to vent his anger.Afterwards, he also felt bored and empty. Early the next morning, he left.For ten and a half months, no one was seen.