Chapter 19 third chapter

Two years later, on the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the day of resignation from the stove, my daughter was born.My cousin, Wuguan, drove a walking tractor and pulled us back from the commune health center.Before leaving, my aunt said to me: I have already put a contraceptive ring on your daughter-in-law.Wang Renmei lifted the scarf covering her head, and asked her aunt angrily: Why did you release the ring without my consent?The aunt put down her scarf and said, "My niece and daughter-in-law, cover it up so you don't get caught in the wind."It is a death order from the Family Planning Commission to release the ring after giving birth.If you marry a farmer and give birth to a girl in the first child, eight years later, you can have a second child with a ring. But if you marry my nephew, he is an officer, and the army’s regulations are stricter than those of the local government. Home farming, so, in this life, you don't want to be born again.

There is a price to be paid for being an officer's wife. Wang Renmei burst into tears. I hugged the child wrapped tightly in a coat, jumped on the tractor, and said to the five senses: drive! The tractor spewed black smoke and ran on the uneven country road.Wang Renmei was lying in the carriage with a quilt covering her body. The carriage was bumped violently, which made her crying into twists and turns.Why don't you give me a ring without my consent...why don't you let me have a baby...why... I said impatiently: Don't cry!This is national policy!She cried even more fiercely, sticking her head out from under the quilt - her face was pale, her lips were black and blue, and her hair was stained with a few straws - all the national policies were your aunt's local policies.Jiao County is not so strict, your aunt just wants to make meritorious service and get promoted, no wonder people scold her...

Shut up, I said, if you have anything to say, go home and cry all the way, not afraid of being laughed at! She threw off the quilt suddenly and sat up, staring at me and asking me: Who is laughing at me?Who dares to laugh at me? Cyclists kept passing us on the road.The north wind is strong, hoarfrost is everywhere, and the red sun is just rising, and the hot air from people's mouths immediately forms frost on eyebrows and eyelashes.Looking at Wang Renmei's gray and chapped lips, disheveled hair, and straight eyes, I couldn't bear it, so I comforted me with words: "Okay, no one is laughing at you, just lie down and cover yourself, it's not like falling sick during confinement." Just kidding.

I'm not afraid!I am a green pine on the top of Mount Tai, fighting the severe cold, fighting the wind and snow, and having the sun on my chest! I smiled bitterly and said: I know you can, you are a hero!Don't you still want to have a second child?How can you live if your body is damaged? Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she said excitedly: You promised to have a second child?This is what you said!Five senses, did you hear that?You testify! it is good!I testify!The five sense organs spoke in a low voice in front. She lay down obediently, pulled the quilt over her head, and her words came out from under the quilt: Xiao ran, don't count your words, if you don't count your words, I will fight with you.

When the tractor arrived at the small bridge at the head of the village, there were two people on the bridge, making noise, blocking our way. The people who quarreled were my elementary school classmate Yuan Ji, and the other was Hao Dashou, a clay sculpture artist in the village. Hao Da held Yuan Ji's wrist. Yuan Ji howled while struggling: Let go!let go! But no matter how hard he struggled, it was useless. Wuguan jumped out of the car, stepped forward, and said: Man, what's the matter?It's early in the morning, are you competing here? Yuan Ji said: "It's just right, five senses, you come to judge."He pushed the cart and walked in front, and I passed behind on a bicycle.

Originally he was on the left, and I just rode over from the right.But when I rode behind him, he jerked his back and turned to the right.Fortunately, I reacted quickly. I threw the handlebars with both hands and jumped onto the bridge, or I would have gone down with the car.It's freezing cold, and if you don't fall to death, you will be disabled.But Uncle Hao blamed me for knocking his car under the bridge. Hao Dashou didn't refute, but just held Yuan Ji's wrist tightly. I hugged my daughter and jumped out of the car.As soon as my feet hit the ground, I felt excruciating pain.It was really cold that morning.

I limped onto the bridge.I saw a bunch of colorful clay dolls on the bridge.Some broken, some intact. On the ice at the bottom of the river on the east side of the bridge, a broken bicycle was lying, and a small yellow flag was curled up beside the car.I know the words "Little Banxian" are embroidered on this flag.This man has been godly since he was a child, and he is really extraordinary when he grows up. He can not only use a magnet to take out iron nails from the stomach of a cow, but also castrate pigs and dogs. As a "Little Banxian", he climbed along the pole, tailor sewed an apricot-yellow flag, embroidered the three characters "Little Banxian", tied it to the rear shelf of the bicycle, and rode it hunting.When I went to Jishang to plant flags and set up a stall, the business was booming.

On the ice to the west of the bridge, a wheelbarrow was tilted.Two handlebars, one broken.The wicker baskets on both sides of the car beam were broken, dozens of clay dolls were scattered on the ice, most of them were broken into pieces, only a few seemed to be intact. Hao Dashou is eccentric and formidable.He has two big and skillful hands.He is holding a ball of mud in his hand, staring at you, and he will be able to squeeze you out alive in a while.Even during the "Cultural Revolution", he did not stop making clay children.His grandfather was a mud boy.His father pinched too.It was passed down to his generation, and it was even better.

He is a person who makes a living by making and selling clay children.But it’s not entirely like this. He can make some mud dogs, mud monkeys, mud tigers and other toys with simple craftsmanship and a wide market. Children are willing to play with this.What clay sculpture artists do is actually children's business. If children like it, adults will pay for it.But Hao Dashou only pinches clay dolls.There are five main rooms in his home, four side rooms, and a spacious shed in the yard.His house and shed are full of clay dolls, including finished products with powdered faces and eyebrows, and semi-finished products waiting to be colored.On his kang, only the place where he lay was left, and the rest of the place was densely packed with clay dolls.He was in his forties, with a big red face and gray hair with a pigtail in the back.The whiskers are also grey.There are also clay dolls in our neighboring county, but their clay dolls are made out of molds, and all the dolls have the same appearance.His clay dolls are made by hand, and each of his clay dolls has the same shape and will never be repeated.It is said that all the dolls in Northeast Gaomi Township have been pinched by him.It is said that everyone in Northeast Gaomi Township can find their childhood self in his clay dolls.It is said that he will not go to the market to sell clay dolls until there is no rice in the pot.There were tears in his eyes when he sold clay dolls, as if he was selling his own children.So many clay dolls have been smashed, he must be very painful.It made sense for him to pinch Yuan Lian's wrist.

I walked up to them with my daughter in my arms.I have been in the army for a long time, and I feel uncomfortable in civilian clothes, so even when I go to the hospital to accompany Wang Renmei to give birth, I still wear military uniforms.A young officer holding a newborn baby is powerful.I said: Uncle, let Yuan Ji go, he definitely didn't do it on purpose. Yes, yes, uncle, I really didn't mean to.Yuan Ji said in a tearful voice, please spare me.Your handlebar is broken, the basket is broken, I will find someone to repair it for you; your child is broken, I will compensate you. For my sake, I said, for this girl's sake, and for my wife's sake, let him go and let us drive over.

Wang Renmei leaned out from the carriage and shouted loudly: Uncle Hao, help me pinch two dolls, male ones, they should be exactly the same. People in the village said that Hao Dashou bought a doll, tied his neck with a red string, and placed it on the kang for worship. The child born looked like a clay doll.But Hao Dashou's clay dolls are not allowed to be selected.Those who sell clay dolls in neighboring counties place their clay dolls on the ground in large groups for anyone to choose.Hao Dashou’s dolls are placed in the car basket, covered with a small quilt. When you go to buy his dolls, he will first look at you, and then reach out from the basket. Whichever one he finds, it will be that one. Some people think that the doll he took out is not beautiful, and he will never replace it for you. There is a sad smile on the corner of his mouth.He doesn't speak, but you seem to hear him saying to you: Are there any parents who think their children are ugly?So, when you look carefully at the child he handed to you, it gradually becomes pleasing to the eye.The child gradually became alive, as if he had life.He never bargains with you.If you don't give him money, he won't ask you for it.No matter how much money you give him, he will not thank you.Gradually everyone thought that buying his clay doll was like ordering a real child from him.The more you talk the better.It is said that if the clay doll he sold to you is a girl, you will definitely give birth to a girl when you go back.He sold you a man, and you will definitely have a man when you go back. If he gives you two children, you will have twins when you go back.This is a mysterious agreement, and if it is broken, it will not work. My daughter-in-law Wang Renmei is unreasonable. She is the only one who yells and asks him for two boys. ——Wang Renmei was pregnant when we learned about the mysterious legend of Hao Dashou selling dolls.This will only work if you are not pregnant. Hao Dashou really gave me face.He let go of Yuan Ji.Yuan Ji rubbed his wrists, with a mournful face: I was really unlucky today, I saw a bitch urinating on me as soon as I stepped out of the gate, it really came true. Hao Dashou bent down, picked up the broken clay dolls, and put them in his pockets.He stood by the bridge and made way for us.His beard was covered with frost, and his face was solemn. What happened?Yuan Ji asked me. girl. It doesn't matter, the next one is the son. There is no next one. Don't worry, Yuan Ji blinked, and said slyly, buddies will help you find a way when the time comes.