Chapter 16 Chapter fifteen

Yinwa was the first person to welcome the New Year in Zhoujiazhai, not because she lived on Huanglongyuan near the sun, but because she didn't blink all night.Yinwa has been running around in the cave.She didn't dare to sleep, for fear that she would freeze hard once she fell asleep, and she didn't dare to stop, for she would shiver with the cold.There is firewood in the cave, which is dry grass, dead branches, and corn stalks, which she picked up before the snow fell, and there are not many for cooking.The snow has been falling for a long time this year, and I don't know when it will clear up. These firewood will last until the Lantern Festival, so they can only be used for cooking, and they cannot be used for warming unless it is absolutely necessary.Food is the most important thing, as long as there is hot food to eat, you will not freeze to death.It's easy to handle when you're cold, and the residual heat from cooking can keep you warm for a while. You can go for a run at other times, and you won't be cold after running.

The rotten kiln where Yingwa hid was located halfway up Huanglongyuan.There is a long row of cave dwellings here, which should have lived in many houses before, but they were abandoned later.The rotten kilns are actually not rotten, they have not collapsed. Some kangs and pots in the caves are still good, but no one lives in them and they are abandoned.These rotten kilns often become a shelter for beggars and homeless people, and they are so remote that they may become dens for wild animals.Yinwa's rotten kiln is where she often lives in the past few years. The location is relatively good, close to the ramps of the upper and lower Huanglongyuan, and the interior is spacious. It's just that the owner removed the doors and windows when he moved, and Yinwa tied the corn stalks into bundles. Live in those holes.

Yinwa can't help but remove the corn stalks and get out to look down the plateau after running in the cave for a while.Although the snow was all over the place, like a curtain, she could still see the smoke rising and falling in the village, smell the sharp aroma of saozi noodles, hear the crackling of firecrackers and the noise of New Year's greetings.All this reminds Yingwa of celebrating the New Year at home before she got married.The new year is the happiest time of the year for Yinwa. Although she does not have new clothes every year like her younger brother, she can eat whatever she wants, but she has no complaints, because during the Chinese New Year, Zhou Shuan and his wife are afraid of causing bad luck. It's so rare to stop beating her and scolding her!Only at this time, Yingwa can tie her braids with red strings and run in and out without worrying about Zhou Guoshi scolding her as a goblin; only then can she jump rope and kick shuttlecock with a large group of female dolls outside the door without worrying about Zhou Shuancheng. The big-eared slap in the face yelled at her that the pigs in the pen had not been fed and the animals in the shed had to be fed; only then could they eat two bowls of rice in one meal, without having to watch their parents roll their eyes in fear.

It's a pity that there is not much time like that, and she grew up quickly.I had hoped that I would be fine when I grew up, but who would have thought that I would be reduced to this level today!Yinwa thought about it, and couldn't help shedding a line of tears. No matter how hot the tears were, they couldn't stand the cold wind. As soon as they came out of the eyes, icicles formed, and the baby hurried back to the cave and continued running. It's not that Yingwa hasn't thought about remarrying, but she knows it's too difficult.Widows can no longer marry, this is a rule passed down from the old generation, although she has not consummated the house with that little man, but she is a married girl after all, others don't care about these, anyway, a man is a widow after death.Of course, with the temperament of Yinwa, she can ignore other people's eyes, but the problem is where does she marry?Who will marry her again?Zhou Shuancheng is willing to marry her again, if there is a dowry, he will not accept it in vain!But Yinwa's current identity is the daughter-in-law of the Beishanpan family. If Zhou Shuancheng wants to remarry his daughter, he has to return the dowry that Beishanpan has already paid, so that he can redeem his daughter, or the Beishanpan family will quit.Is Zhou Shuancheng willing to do this?When Yinwa married Beishanpan back then, she received a big gift, which was double the price, one was a daughter-in-law, and the other was Yindan.Today, if the baby is introduced to remarry, it will be sold as a widow at half price.This trip is too far away, is Zhou Shuancheng willing to suffer this loss?As for returning to Beishan and marrying from there, it is basically impossible. Now that you have torn your face, how can you enter someone's house again?Even if people don't care about it, who can guarantee that the old man will not play tricks and force her to be a child?After all, this is her hometown, where her eyes are completely black, and she will be left to others no matter how they punish her.

Even if no one else interferes and everything is up to her, it is still difficult for Yinwa to marry herself.Who would want to marry a widow if he could get by a little bit?Marrying a widow is a very shameful thing. Such a person is either stupid, sick, or ugly.Is Yinwa willing to send herself away like this?Of course she doesn't want to, she is still a big girl!But no one believed her words, and she couldn't take off her clothes for others to test.When others looked down at her, it forced her to resist, and she said in her heart, hum, you hate me, and I still look down on you!In Yinwa's view, she has changed her fate twice in the past twenty years, and the pain in it is unspeakable. If she remarries again this time, she must make up her own mind, choose carefully, find a man she can rely on for life, and jump out of the sea of ​​suffering.Before there is a suitable candidate, she will rely on Zhou Shuan to start a family. Anyway, she is not free to eat and drink from them. She trades her sweat for a foothold.With such a safe idea, Yingwa's emotions gradually calmed down.

Sweaty from running in the rotten kiln, Yinwa went out again to have a look. At this time, she saw a person climbing up the slope far away. Although the face was not clear, she knew by guessing that it was her younger brother Zhou Baogen.After she settled in this rotten kiln, only this younger brother sneaked up to visit her every now and then, and brought her some food.It's snowing heavily today, and it's the New Year's Eve, so no one else will go to this barren mountain. Yingwa was relieved that she didn't love her brother in vain.This younger brother was brought up by her since she was a child, and she has a very good relationship with her.Zhou Shuancheng and his wife do regard their son as a treasure, but they are too busy. The eight people eat, drink and dress, and they don't have much time to take care of their son, so it is logical to introduce the baby and become Zhou Baogen's personal servant girl.Zhou Baogen was physically weak since he was a child, and Zhou Shuancheng and his wife did not let him play with other dolls for fear of being bullied. His only playmate was Yingwa.For this reason, the baby is not less beaten and scolded by the parents, no matter when and where, as long as Zhou Baogen cries, it is the crime of the baby.Because of this, Yingwa has always respected this younger brother like a Bodhisattva, for fear of making him unhappy, whatever he wants to do, as long as Yingwa can do it, he will be satisfied.Fortunately, Zhou Baogen was still young at that time, and he had no other hobbies, but he liked to eat good food.

Ordinarily, Zhou Shuancheng and his wife love their son so much that they can eat anything delicious for him.But the problem is that there are some things that you may not have at home, and you may not be able to come across them when you buy them on the street. The terrible thing is that Zhou Baogen wants this, and he will get it right away.This forces Yingwa to often do it by herself.All delicious food is inseparable from two raw materials, white flour and sesame oil, but Zhou is very stingy as a couple, and regards these two things as precious as gold, and no one can touch them until the holidays. It is also a simple meal.But Zhou Baogen doesn't care about these things, he will make trouble if he wants to eat, and cry if he doesn't give it to him, and he will suffer if he cries to attract the baby.If it is done, let Zhou Shuancheng and his wife see it, and they will deal with the baby indiscriminately. Instead of saying that their son is greedy, they say that the baby has spoiled their precious son.The best way to lead the baby into a dilemma is to marry Zhou Baogen behind Zhou Shuan's back, so that both parties will be safe.

One day Zhou Baogen suddenly wanted to eat pancakes, Yinwa quietly told him to make them for him after his parents were gone.In the morning, Zhou Shuan set up a set of oxen to plow the field. Someone from Zhou Guo's natal family told her that the old lady was sick, so she hurried over to visit her.Seeing that there was no one at home, Yinwa immediately went into the kitchen and poured oil into the noodles and got busy. Just as the pancakes were boiled in oil and put into the pan, she suddenly heard the sound of a cow bleating outside.Yinwa was stunned, it was broken, Zhou Shuancheng should have returned home early, she ran out of the kitchen to take a look, and saw that Zhou Shuancheng hadn't entered the door, and was unhacking the cow outside, she hurried into the kitchen again, grabbed the cow from the earthen pot He took out two handfuls of soybeans, ran to the door and sprinkled them on the ground at the door.After doing all this, the oil cake in the pan was just cooked, she fished it out and served it to Zhou Baogen, let him eat it quietly, and then went to the kitchen to clean up the pan and stove to wipe out the traces.

Zhou Shuancheng took off his jacket and just stepped into the threshold when his foot slipped and almost fell. He bent down to see so many soybeans on the ground, and was so distressed that he carefully picked them up one by one, scolding people while picking them up.Scolding my wife for not feeding soybeans to chickens, scolding long-term workers for being careless in feeding livestock, scolding children for not worrying about eating idle food, scolding myself for being unlucky and never meeting a person who will live well in my life.By the time he got dry from cursing and picked up all the soybeans on the ground, an hour had passed.In an hour, Zhou Baogen had already finished eating pancakes, Yinwa's pot was washed and dried, and it was as if nothing had happened.When Zhou Shuancheng walked into the kitchen to drink water, he seemed to smell a scent. He pinched his nose and sniffed carefully, but he inhaled a strong sour smell. It turned out that Yinwa deliberately opened the water tank Cover, take the sour to cover the aroma.The two children heard the sound of drinking water from the kitchen like cows, they smiled at each other, and quickly wiped the smile away.

Later, when Zhou Baogen grew up, he suffered from many problems due to his pampering, such as eating too much and being lazy, not fond of reading, being self-willed, etc., but one thing is commendable, that is, he sympathizes with his sister.Although he can't be the master at home, he will always help guide the baby within his ability.Just like this annual going out to seek refuge, Zhou Baogen couldn't stop the custom, and he couldn't screw his parents, but whenever he was free, he would climb up the mountain to visit his sister. Yingwa stared intently at the shadow at the foot of the mountain, wondering what delicious food her younger brother would bring her today.Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. Smell noodles are the best, but you can’t bring them with soup. There must be dumplings, and meat buns are also indispensable. It’s best to have big strips of fat meat, fat as thick as five fingers, and it’s best to sandwich it in hot steamed buns Satisfy your hunger!In the past, she made good food for her younger brother, but now it is his turn to take care of her.

Looking at it, Yinwa suddenly let out a cry, and her chest throbbed violently.It's Brother Li Gong!The man didn't wear a hat in the cold weather, and stood proudly like a western-style building. There is no other person in Zhoujiazhai.Yinwa didn't expect that her brother Li Gong would come to see her, such a heavy snow, it's still a big New Year's Eve!Yinwa was so excited that she rolled her hands and feet and ran to the slope. Before she could leave, she sat on the ground and slid down.She has to pick up Brother Ligong quickly, the road is buried in snow, and he will go to the ditch. Zhou Ligong watched Yinwa slide down from the height like a cannonball, his body plowed a deep ditch in the snow, and he flew to his feet after a while.He was afraid that she would not be able to hold back her momentum, so he bent down to pick her up, and just in time took Yingwa into his arms. Yinwa, who was in Zhou Ligong's arms, suddenly burst into tears for no reason, loudly, indulgently, and sadly.She had never cried like this.In the past, no matter how others bullied her, she would at most shed tears secretly and would not cry out.It's not that she's particularly strong, or that she's hard-hearted. She's used to seeing the world as cruel, and knows that she's not the flesh and blood of her parents. No matter how much she cries, no one loves her. Who is she crying for?But today I don't know what's wrong, Yinwa even cried out loud. Yinwa cried Zhou Ligong to the point of being overwhelmed, she stuck to his arms and hugged him tightly, he could neither break free nor dare to turn around and embrace her.After all, this is not the yellow-haired girl from more than ten years ago. Although she is his younger sister, it is taboo to hold such a young and vigorous younger sister in her arms.Zhou Ligong could only pat her on the back to comfort her and said, stop crying, stop crying.Unexpectedly, this warm action like coaxing a child not only didn't stop Yinwa from speaking, but made her cry even more sadly. Zhou Ligong had no choice but to say that crying during Chinese New Year is unlucky, so stop crying, ah!He didn't expect that he would use the old customs as a prevarication, but such words really worked, Yinwa stopped crying immediately, she wiped her tears with her sleeve, and looked at him with a sweet smile. After entering the door of the rotten kiln, Zhou Ligong felt sad.Where is this place where people live?Their barns are way better than this one!When he got used to the darkness inside, Zhou Ligong saw that there were no mats on the kang, and it was covered with wheat straw. He touched the kang platform, and it was cold, not burnt at all.Yinwa smiled and said, sleeping in the grass nest is very warm, wolves, insects, tigers and leopards are like this.Look at the pot table again, it is collapsed, and there is a pot on the ground supported by three pieces of ginger stone.Yinwa said that the pot table collapsed last year, this year Baogen said to help me clean it up, but he has something about the smokehouse this year, so he forgot about it.Zhou Ligong knew that Baogen was busy, and when he went out just now, he saw him going to the smoke shop, saying that the shops in the town wanted to pay New Year's greetings to each other. The inside of the cave was getting darker, Zhou Ligong didn't dare to go forward rashly, he couldn't help but tugged at the back of Yingwa's clothes.He asked Yinwa, how did you spend the night?Are you not afraid?Yinwa said, I am used to it.Zhou Ligong imagined the dark night in the barren mountains, there must be wolves, and there are also legendary ghosts, how frightening a defenseless girl must be facing this dangerous darkness!But Yingwa is so calm, if it is not numbness, then it is complete despair. Yinwa took Zhou Ligong to the center of the cave, told him to stand still, and then lit the kerosene lamp, so that Zhou Ligong could clearly see the emptiness and depth of the cave.Yingwa brought the quilt from the kang, put it on a large ginger stone beside Zhou Ligong, asked Zhou Ligong to sit down, lit a fire next to him, and let him roast it.After all this was settled, she said to Zhou Ligong, second brother, don't go back at noon, I will cook for us, and let's celebrate the New Year together. Yinwa's eyes were full of anticipation, Zhou Ligong couldn't bear to brush off her kindness, he said, well, this is a picnic. Yingwa was so happy that her whole body was warm, and her stiff joints immediately came alive, bouncing around like a doll.She removed a pile of corn stalks inside the kiln as if by magic, revealing a large basket covered underneath, uncovered the basket, and took out a chopping board, knife, shovel, chopsticks, bowl, spoon, and other utensils with a clang.As she took it, she said that these should be hidden at ordinary times, lest someone steal them when I am not around.Zhou Ligong said, you have all the things here.Yinwa said, I have lived here for several years. To Zhou Ligong's surprise, Yinwa also took out some sweet persimmons, apples, pears and other fruits that are rare in winter from the basket. If it weren't for the rich family's hiding in the cellar, these things would not have been preserved for such a long time. of.He asked where the fruit came from, Yinwa said, second brother, let me tell you, don't scold me.Zhou Ligong said no. Yinwa said that it was an offering. Zhou Ligong was stunned.Yinwa said, sometimes I have nothing to eat here, so I have to go out for food.Before the New Year's Eve, every family has to send offerings to their ancestors. I was so hungry that I had no choice but to pick up offerings from other people's graves.When I encounter something good, I hide it because I don’t want to eat it. Anyway, it’s cold in winter and it won’t go bad. Zhou Ligong didn't know what to say for a while.He remembered Mencius's "A Man of Qi Has One Wife and One Concubine", and the incident of begging for sacrifices reappeared more than two thousand years later.However, the man Mencius described had no worries about food and clothing. He just wanted to show off in front of his wives and concubines, boasting that he had wealthy friends to invite him to dinner, but Yinwa was forced by hunger.A person, a woman, if she was not forced to have nowhere to go, would she eat the offerings from the graves of the dead? Zhou Ligong stomped out the fire in front of him, and went to Yinwa's stove to warm up. He wanted to save some firewood. After finishing the meal, Yinwa raised her head and met a ray of sunshine.She shouted in surprise, second brother, the sky is clear!The sun on the first day of the new year did not disappoint people's kindness, struggling to show its face in the cold to share the joy with people, it did not forget the miserable person in the rotten kiln, and greeted her through the gaps in the corn stalks on the window . Yinwa and Zhou Ligong worked together to remove the corn stalks blocking the door and window, and let the sunlight in.The cave was immediately filled with golden brilliance, and the two of them had their New Year's lunch in the bright sunshine. Although the meal was simple, Yinwa ate it deliciously and sweetly.