Along the way, she was immersed in this indescribable and inexplicable melancholy, she didn't know why, she couldn't explain the origin of this feeling, maybe Jiang Cheng's emotions infected her, this was just a short farewell, But he was mournful like a farewell. She didn't know why his emotions changed so quickly, why he changed, he was always a mystery.
When she got home, it was almost dusk, the small yard was quiet and very clean, she didn't see her younger brother, nor her father.
She gently pushed open the door of the small earthen hut. The room was very dark, but she still saw that the small earthen hut was cleaned and things were neatly arranged. She thought, this must be due to her younger brother, and her mother quietly Lying on the kang, when he heard the sound of the door opening, he raised his head with difficulty, and when he saw clearly that it was her, a look of joy immediately appeared in his dry eyes. The person on the kang still has evidence of being alive.
She got close to her mother, and went over to gently touch her mother's cheek. The corner of her mouth twitched and she said with difficulty, "Bing'er... you are back... you are back."
She helped her mother to sit up, pulled her mother's pillow and put it on her back, and let her lie on her back against the wall. She put her arms on the back of her mother's neck and asked, "Mom, where are my dad and Qiangqiang going?" gone?"
The mother stammered again, and said with difficulty: "Your father... let... the sheep... go, force... him... Going... to do the New Year... goods... go."
Seeing that her mother was having such a hard time speaking, she stopped asking her mother. She took a pillow from the kang and put it on the back of her mother's neck, and said, "Mom, just lie down like this. If you feel uncomfortable, you can shake your head." , I'll help you change your posture."
Mother nodded with difficulty.
She started to cook, and after a while, her younger brother came back in a tricycle loaded with firecrackers, couplets, cigarettes and alcohol, and her father came back with the flock of sheep.
Dad shut the sheep into the sheepfold, walked quickly into the house, saw her, said nothing in silence, turned around and went out to work again, carrying water to drink the sheep, and adding night grass to the sheep at the same time.
As soon as the younger brother came home, he saw her and said happily: "Sister, you are finally back. We all miss you to death. Mom is looking forward to your return every day."
She was very relieved to see her younger brother happy and stable, no longer the desperate, sad and helpless look when he just dropped out of school.
The younger brother put the new year's goods he bought in the cool room next to the earthen house, and came to help her cook and light the fire. While lighting the fire, the younger brother said excitedly: "Sister, I want to sell coal. Now the price of coal has been rising. I think selling coal must be Can make money."
She didn't say anything, she couldn't bear to pour cold water on her brother when she saw how excitedly he was planning how to sell coal, but selling coal needed money, where did they get money? The family still has debts owed to several relatives that have not been paid off, and they have to borrow money for farming every spring. How can there be spare money to sell coal? Why is my brother's idea so unrealistic
She sighed, kept silent, and worked silently. Her gloomy mood was obviously at odds with her brother's high enthusiasm. The younger brother was beaming and talked for a while, then suddenly asked: "Sister, why don't you talk?"
She smiled wryly and said, "What should I say? Is selling coal so simple? Where do you get the money to sell coal?"
The younger brother smiled and said, "I was just about to discuss this matter with you, sister, can you do me a favor and find a way to lend me some money?"
She smiled and said, "Don't be naive, can this be done with a little loan? Besides, you're only talking about coal sales, do you have a car, and what do you use to transport coal?"
The younger brother said excitedly: "You don't have to worry about this, I have a way to solve it, sister, do you still remember Li Qiang, my junior high school classmate, who visited our house the year before last."
She thought about it, her younger brother brought a classmate back to her family before, and that was the only classmate her younger brother brought back home. It was a boy who lived in their neighboring village. In her impression, he was a scruffy, thin and thin man. weak boy.
The younger brother said: "This winter Li Qiang came to our village to sell charcoal. We bought charcoal from him. He said that his second uncle sells coal. He helped his second uncle as soon as he graduated from junior high school. He knows how to do this business. He can make a lot of money, and now he works alone. He bought a second-hand Dongfeng truck and has been selling coal for two years. He has made a lot of money and is about to pay off the money he borrowed to buy the car. He does it alone. It’s too hard, driving with fatigue all the time, he wants to partner with me, and he has paid back the money to buy the car, so money is a bit tight, so he persuaded me to partner with him.”
She thought about it, her brother's plan was quite feasible, and wondered how she could get some money. She suddenly thought, could she use her salary as collateral for a loan from the rural credit cooperative where her unit is located, but, Director Wang of the credit union didn't know her at all, and she thought again, Secretary Qiao had a very good relationship with the director of the credit union. Here, then, she said to her brother: "I'll do my best.
The younger brother said happily: "Sister, I will leave this to you."
She poked her brother on the forehead and said with a smile, "You're being polite to me."
Brother hehe smiled.
She said again: "But you and Li Qiang's partnership must put the ugly words up front, and the two of you have discussed how to share it, so don't make too much money and cause conflicts."
The younger brother smiled and said: "Oh, sister, don't worry, Li Qiang is my best buddy, besides, I am not a child anymore, I understand the truth that brothers and sisters settle accounts clearly, when we really work together, we should discuss how to share Well, the key now is to solve the money problem.”
"After New Years, I'll take my driver's license test. When you get the loan, Li Qiang and I will go to Shanxi to sell coal. When the off-season sellers come back to stock up, we can make a lot of money by selling them in the peak season." The younger brother said confidently.
She smiled and joked: "You really have a business mind, and you are thoughtful, but you don't know how much money you can get. Is the money enough?"
The younger brother said with a smile: "As much as you have, if you have less money, you should stock up less."
After a while the rice was cooked, she fed her mother porridge, and her father sat on the kang to eat sullenly. Since she came back to now, my father has not said a word. In fact, my father has always been so taciturn.
After dinner, she washed the dishes, and her younger brother went to play in the village. Dad sat on the kang smoking a cigarette and glanced at her from time to time. When she finished packing everything, his father jumped off the kang and said in a stern tone: "Binger, Come to the cool room." After speaking, he went out first.
She instinctively guessed that her father must want her to explain the 10,000 yuan, but she was worried that her mother would hear the trouble, so she avoided her mother. Thinking of Yin Yunfei's 10,000 yuan, she couldn't help but gasped. She had fabricated countless lies about this matter, but she felt that none of them were convincing, but she had to lie, and she must not tell the truth.
Pushing open the door of the cool room, she was taken aback. In the past, it was full of sundries and there was no place to plug in the plugs. Now, it was cleaned up by her younger brother, and the things were arranged in an orderly manner. It's very cold here.
Under the dim light, she saw her father's serious face. He took out the key from his pocket and opened a big red chest against the wall. He leaned over and rummaged carefully in it. Li asked sternly, "What's going on?"
In her memory, her father had never spoken to her so harshly. She tried to control herself and try to remain calm. She said, "Dad, do you believe me? Do you believe what I say?"
Dad kept his face and said in a stern tone: "Say!"
She lied that the man who claimed to be her boyfriend was the son of a mine owner in the town where she lived. Here, she didn't know it beforehand.
Dad stared at her without saying a word. After a while, he said: "The man didn't say what he was doing, but he seemed very stylish and polite. He came in to our house for only a few minutes and then went out. I was busy. I didn't pay attention to him, after he walked by, I found this out, is he really a playboy?"
She nodded, and Dad still stared at her suspiciously.
She said anxiously: "Dad, don't you believe me? You watched me grow up. Don't you know your own daughter?"
Dad was still silent, staring at her sharply, silent for a while, as if he believed what she said, and said in a soft tone: "Bing'er, although our family is poor, but the poor have a backbone, and they must not love others. Money, do you know? Return the money to him immediately after work, and tell him clearly. "
She nodded heavily, standing on the floor of the cold room like an ice cave shivering with cold, her father waved his hand and said, "Go and accompany your mother, your mother doesn't know about this, so don't tell her."
She responded and hurried back to the house.
When she returned to the house, her mother's lips were trembling, and she was twitching to say something. She stopped her mother from speaking with gestures, and hurried to help her mother up, and let her stand against the wall. Scrubbing the body, my mother's muscles had shrunk, and many joints were deformed and swollen. She couldn't touch her with her hands. Whenever she touched her mother, she would grit her teeth and cry. She wiped her mother carefully, and her heart hurt like a knife.