Yidong City is a forest city. The red pine primeval forest occupies most of the territory of Yidong City. Beicha District where the Li family lives is at the foot of the red pine forest.
Old Lady Li had four sons. The eldest son, Li Muwen, followed the army during the Anti-Japanese War and had no news for many years. He did not send a letter until after the liberation, saying that after the war, he followed the army to Fujian Province, not only became a leader, but also married and had children and settled down there. The third son, Li Musen, lived a few miles away from Li Muwu and worked as a worker in a grain store like Li Muwu. The fourth son, Li Mulin, went to the provincial capital a few years ago and rarely came back.
Although two of her four sons are not around, having experienced the baptism of war, Mrs. Li is very satisfied with her current stable life. As long as the family is safe, it doesn't matter whether her sons are around or not.
With sons and grandchildren, and a decent life, if there is anything that Mrs. Li still wishes for, it is to have a girl. In the Shanjiao area of Beicha District, the Li family is famous for its prosperity. Mrs. Li's mother-in-law gave birth to seven sons in one go. After Mrs. Li married into the Li family, she also gave birth to six sons, but unfortunately only four survived. What's more regrettable is that she never gave birth to a daughter in her life.
Families who lack sons hope for sons. Even the Li family, which has not seen a daughter for several generations, can't help but hope to have a tender girl at home. Unfortunately, no matter where the four sons are, they still give birth to sons. Every time Mrs. Li receives a letter and sees the news of another grandson, she can't help but sigh.
Finally, this time, the second daughter-in-law, Wang Sufen, fought for her wish and gave birth to a fair and tender girl. While Mrs. Li got what she wanted, she couldn't help but feel worried. Wang Sufen was almost 40 years old. She suffered a lot in the early years. Not only did she not recover, but she also gave birth to four sons in a row during the difficult years.
When Wang Sufen gave birth to the third child, Li Mingnan, she didn't have enough milk. When she gave birth to the fourth child, Li Mingbei, she basically had no milk, so Li Mingbei grew up on goat's milk. It didn't matter what a rough boy ate, as long as he could be kept alive, but it was not known whether a tender little girl could digest goat's milk. In this era when diarrhea could easily lead to the death of a child, Grandma Li was a little worried, fearing that she would not be able to feed this granddaughter who she had finally gotten.
Hearing the child crying in the east room, Old Lady Li put down her chopsticks and said, "The girl is awake. I'll go to that room to check."
Liu Xiulan stopped eating after she was half full. When she saw Grandma Li stand up, she stood up as well: "I'll go and see if the baby has urinated." As she said that, she helped Grandma Li walk to the east room.
In the east room, Wang Sufen picked up her daughter who was crying with her eyes closed and patted her quickly, knowing that the child was hungry. Although she knew that she probably had no milk, she couldn't let the child cry like this. Wang Sufen sighed, unbuttoned her clothes, and then she realized that her chest was actually a little swollen.
Tentatively, she brought her daughter closer to her chest, and the little girl closed her eyes and sucked instinctively. At first, it was a bit difficult to suck, and a little sweat appeared on her forehead, but after a while, Wang Sufen heard the child swallowing.
Old Lady Li and Liu Xiulan opened the curtain and came in. Wang Sufen was grinning. When she heard the voice, she raised her head quickly: "Mom, this fish soup is really good. Little girl is eating milk."
"Really?" Old Lady Li let go of Liu Xiulan's hand, took a few steps with her three-inch golden lotus feet and walked to the front of the kang. She lowered her head and leaned against Wang Sufen's shoulder, and indeed heard the sound of the little girl gulping down milk. She glanced at her daughter-in-law's chest, which was bulging and could feed a child.
Mrs. Li was immediately happy. She touched the child's thick hair and said with some regret: "You should know that the fish is not stewed, but should be saved for you to make soup. Let Mingnan and Mingbei go to the river this afternoon to see if they can catch any fish." Thinking about the fact that there was little rain this year, not only was there less water in the river, but there were few fat fish and shrimps even in summer. Mrs. Li said: "It doesn't matter if you don't catch anything. At most, we can kill a chicken and cut a piece of it every day to make soup for you. You can eat it for ten days at least."
The old lady was a quick-witted person. After the three brothers Mingxi finished their meal, she chased them out to go fishing. Li Mingdong didn't need to go out. He would take the college entrance examination next summer, so he didn't need to do anything at home. He just sat at the table and read.
Mingxi is already in the third year of junior high school. His words and deeds are very much like Mingdong's. Although he follows his family to the mountains to farm and fish in the underground river during holidays, he is not as reckless as his two younger brothers. Instead, he is very methodical in everything he does.
Mingnan and Mingbei were ten and seven years old, jumping around and being hated by cats and dogs. They usually didn't do their homework after school, but threw down their schoolbags and ran to the mountains. Old Lady Li didn't care about them. Anyway, every time she went up the mountain, she could carry some firewood sticks back, and she could often pick some fungus and mushrooms, and occasionally catch two rabbits to improve the family's food.
As soon as the three boys left, the noisy house immediately quieted down. Li Muwu squatted at the door and smoked his pipe for a while, then stood up and called Li Mingdong over: "You have been studying for so many years, give your sister a nice name."
Li Mingdong pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "The peach tree is young and tender, with dense leaves. The daughter is getting married, and she will be a good family member. It would be better if you call your sister Li Mingzhen."
Li Muwu glanced at him expressionlessly: "Speak human language!"
Li Mingdong, who was immersed in romantic poetry, was brought back to reality by a bucket of cold water. He glanced at Li Muwu helplessly and explained bluntly: "It means that the grass and trees are growing luxuriantly and densely."
Li Muwu understood this time, and nodded with satisfaction: "This tree and grass will never be uprooted. This name sounds easy to keep alive, so let's call her this. I'll register her now."
Li Muwu put on his cotton-padded jacket and fur hat and walked out. But as soon as he left the yard, he stopped. He looked up at the sky and thought for a moment, then turned back and asked in a loud voice as soon as he entered the door: "Mingdong, what's your sister's name? Is it Li Mingshu or Li Mingcao?"
The sleepy baby in the east room seemed to have heard the name his father had given him, and he immediately burst into tears. Li Mingdong, who was sitting at the table flipping through a Russian book, heard that the good name he had given him had changed in the blink of an eye, and he almost cried too: "It's not grass or tree, it's Li Mingzhen! Forget it, I'll just write it down so I don't get the name wrong later."
Li Muwu took the note from his son and read it word by word with narrowed eyes: "Li... Ming... Zhen? This character is pronounced Zhen? Oh, this character is too difficult to write. What will your sister do when she goes to school to write her name? She will cry, right?"
"You can't call him Li Mingcao, can you?" Li Mingdong said unconvincedly, pulling his neck: "Why don't you give him one yourself?"
Li Muwu frowned and thought for a long time, then silently put the note in his pocket, put on his hat, turned around and walked out: "This name is also good, let's call it this."
Wang Sufen, who was in the east room, tilted her ear to listen to the noise outside and burst out laughing: "Dongzi's father is just stubborn."
Old Lady Li couldn't help but laugh, but she couldn't help but say a few good words for her son: "Actually, the second son is not stupid, he just suffered from not having been to school. In recent years, he has learned a few words from Dongzi, and he is much better than before. I heard that he can even write his own name now, which is not bad at all."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were whispering to each other, and Zhenzhen, who had been in a daze, slowly woke up from the chaos. She opened her eyes, but still felt that everything in front of her was blurry. She moved her arms and legs, and kicked away the loose blanket.
Old Mrs. Li happily wrapped her granddaughter up again, and said with great satisfaction: "Look at our girl's strong arms and legs. She will definitely be able to kick over a pig when she grows up!"
Zhenzhen was deeply shocked by the vision described by Old Lady Li. She tried hard to put her arms and legs properly, trying to change Old Lady Li's impression of her.
Patting the child from time to time, Mrs. Li said, "Happy birthday to our child. It was said in the past that the Buddha attained enlightenment on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month."
Wang Sufen echoed, "When I was little, my grandmother told me that in the early days when things were relatively peaceful, people would offer sacrifices to their ancestors and gods on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Later, when there was chaos and war, people didn't have enough food, so this stopped being popular."
Old Lady Li also recalled: "That's right. When I was a child, even though my family was very poor, we would always take out the beans we had saved for a year and cook a small pot of porridge at this time. Half a bowl for each person was considered a rare good meal." The more she talked, the more restless Granny Li became. She put on her shoes and got off the kang and said: "Although we are not rich now, we still have some beans saved from last year, and there are still a lot of hazelnuts and pine nuts picked in the winter. I might as well ask Guihua to cook a pot to satisfy my craving. It's the twelfth lunar month now, and it's time to have a few good meals."
Old Mrs. Li went out while talking. Wang Sufen dozed off while patting Zhenzhen and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Hearing the soothing and long breathing next to her, Zhenzhen slowly opened her eyes and tried hard to recall what happened before...
Zhenzhen, whose name was Li Zhenzhen in her previous life, was left in her original home after her parents divorced. Except for sending her living expenses once a year, they rarely came back to see her. Fortunately, Zhenzhen was open-minded and did not become depressed because of the broken family. Instead, she felt more relaxed than ever before.
After graduating from college, Zhenzhen used the money she earned from working part-time to buy a flower shop. When she was looking at the shop, she was hit on the head by something and traveled through time. Zhenzhen squinted her eyes and recalled carefully. It seemed that what hit her was a golden bead that fell from the sky
Zhenzhen was a little stunned. What kind of bead was so powerful that it could send her through the sky? But it seemed that she didn't feel any discomfort after being hit by the bead. Instead, she felt a sense of familiarity that blood was thicker than water...
Zhenzhen couldn't help but stretch out her little hand and gently touched her forehead, but she seemed to touch nothing except delicate skin. After thinking about it for a long time, Zhenzhen still couldn't figure out what was going on. Instead, her eyelids became heavier and heavier, and she soon fell asleep.
"Grandma! We're back!" A loud voice came from the door. Zhenzhen, who had not known how long she had slept, was awakened by the sudden voice. She opened her eyes and found the room dark. She then realized that it was already dark.
"Why are you shouting? Can't you keep your voice down now that there's a new child in the family?" Old Mrs. Li seemed to be frightened by her grandson and retorted at him angrily!
Listening to the deafening sound, Zhenzhen's face turned black: Grandma, your voice is louder than my brother's!