Salad Days

Chapter 1

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Jiang Shen was not too early to go to school. He was still helping the family with farm work when he was 7 years old. Their family is in a town at the bottom of the county, and each family has contracted farmland and fishing grounds. Many children like him did not go to the city to study until they were eight or nine years old. In the early years, they all ran naked in the fish ponds in the countryside Yegouzi, even if there is a preschool in the town, they can't control them.

The Jiang family is also different from other villagers, actively responding to the country's call, and only gave birth to one son, Jiang Shen - the key is actually that the family is poor, and they can't afford to have more children.

Mother Tan Lingling has been thinking hard about sending Jiang Shen to study in the city after the new year, but father Jiang Luoshan is not active.

"After September, the wheat will be harvested." Jiang Luoshan brought a water basin to the bedside to wash Tan Lingling's feet, "Shenzi can help."

Tan Lingling was not very happy: "It's good if he doesn't make trouble, and the dog is not as happy as he is all day long."

Jiang Luoshan: "Don't you still go to the city to deliver groceries every week? He will be of great use at that time."

Tan Lingling didn't speak, she took out her hot red feet from the basin, wiped them clean and climbed onto the bed, Jiang Luoshan made do with his wife's leftover footwashing water and soaked it for a while, and took it out to the yard when it was completely cold .

When he came back, he passed by Jiang Shen's room, took a look inside, and found that the child was still reading comic books.

Of course, Jiang Shen also found his father. It is not wrong to hide the manga in his hand, or not to hide it.

Jiang Luoshan said with a cold face, "Do you still want to sleep?"

Jiang Shen nodded hurriedly, carefully put away the "Doraemon" he rented with a week's pocket money, and said obediently: "Sleep right away."

Jiang Luoshan snorted, "If your mother sees it, you'll tear up all the books."

Jiang Shen didn't dare to refute, and pretended to be asleep with his eyes closed under the quilt. When there was no movement, he dared to poke his head out again. After thinking about it, he stuffed the comic book under the pillow as if worried.

The next day Tan Lingling got up early, and she would not be idle on weekends, she had to pick fresh vegetables and send them to the city. Jiang Shen also knew this rule, so when she heard the movement outside, she crawled awkwardly no matter how sleepy she was. stand up.

When Tan Lingling entered his room, she saw her son wearing a sweater with half-closed eyes and a sluggish expression.

"Don't wear this." Tan Lingling flipped it out, "It's very cold in spring, it's freezing outside."

Jiang Shen gave an obedient "Oh", changed his sweater and went out to brush his teeth and wash his face.

The hot water Tan Lingling was still burning, Jiang Shen couldn't wait, so he just used cold water, brushing his teeth was fine, he gasped from the cold while washing his face, shivering, and hurried into the room to wait for breakfast.

Tan Lingling said helplessly, "What are you in a hurry for? Don't have frostbite on your face as it's almost spring."

Jiang Shen drank the porridge and said vaguely "no", Tan Lingling turned her head and took the Pequein that she usually put on, spread some on her son's face.

The two packed up and were ready to go out. Tan Lingling got a lot of food, half of which had to be carried by Jiang Shen. There was a shuttle bus from the town to the city, and it cost 3 yuan per person, which was included in the cost. Tan Lingling told her son not to doze off in the car and crush the bamboo shoots, got out of the car and bought a bag of white rabbit toffee and stuffed it into Jiang Shen's padded jacket pocket.

"Hold it for a while when you're bored." Tan Lingling walked across the street, and further north there was the largest cultural palace in the city. "Don't run around after entering, do you understand?"

Jiang Shen put the sugar on the tip of his tongue and smiled: "Understood."

The cultural palace in the city is really lively on weekends. It is a novelty for someone like Jiang Shen who has been running in the mud since he was a child to come in and watch it once. Running up and down in a circle, Jiang Shen was dizzy.

The middle building is a classroom for dancing. When Tan Lingling went in to deliver food, Jiang Shen was waiting outside.

He is still tall enough to see the scene of the dance room through the large windows without stepping on his feet.

The first-class water is full of female dolls younger than him, dancing "Little Sisters of the Grassland Heroes", the two girls who lead the dance are braided with horns, their upper bodies are tight-fitting red and green hexagrams, they wear Mongolian hats, and their skirts swing Like a flower, the dance teacher clapped his hands and shouted the rhythm: "1/2/3! The rotation is wrong! Turn your waist!"

After the green skirt turned the red skirt, the teacher was still not satisfied: "Open your arms! Push your legs hard! What are you doing!"

Jiang Shen was fascinated by it, and Tan Lingling didn't notice it when she came out. He was sipping candy, sticking to his teeth and making a "hissing" sound.

Tan Lingling patted his head: "What are you looking at?"

Jiang Shen came back to his senses, a little embarrassed.

Tan Lingling glanced at the dance room: "Look at how hard she is, to learn to dance at such a young age."

Jiang Shen was a little confused: "Am I working hard or are they working hard?"

Tan Lingling was stunned for a moment, and she smiled disrespectfully to her son: "Go and try to stretch your legs? Let's see who works hard."

Jiang Shen didn't know why, so he really went to the door and poked his head in to test it out. The dance teacher knew Tan Lingling, and said hello, "Sister Ling."

Tan Lingling pushed Jiang Shen in from behind: "Mr. Lin, this is my son, he is almost 8 years old."

Teacher Lin smiled: "It looks quite tall."

Jiang Shen has never seen such a beautiful person since he was a child. He has fair skin and a good figure. He looks like a fairy girl standing in a dance costume. He blushed and wanted to hide behind his mother, but was dragged out by Tan Lingling : "Aren't you going to stretch your legs?"

Jiang Shen stammered: "No, no pressure."

Teacher Lin didn't mind: "Want to learn to dance? Try doing some stretching."

Jiang Shen didn't know what Lajin was at all. Teacher Lin pulled a chair and sat down, beckoning to him: "Come here."

Jiang Shen walked over like a mask, Teacher Lin asked him to stand with his back facing him, put his arms around the boy from behind, and held his calf with one hand: "Stand up straight with the other."

Jiang Shen nodded, Teacher Lin lifted his calf and began to stand up, Jiang Shen was honest, Teacher Lin said that the other leg stood up straight, and he really stood up straight, and he didn't feel it until the lifted leg was pressed to the shoulder. He was in pain, but boys were taught not to shed tears since childhood, he gritted his teeth and held his breath, his toes were all over his head and he didn't make a sound.

Teacher Lin was a little surprised, she asked Jiang Shen to change her leg again, and did the same posture again.

"Does it hurt?" Teacher Lin couldn't help asking him after pulling on both sides.

Jiang Shen thought about it, and said "it hurts" honestly.

Teacher Lin chuckled: "Why don't you say it hurts?"

Jiang Shen scratched his head: "It doesn't hurt that much... I can bear it."

Teacher Lin glanced at him again, and took Jiang Shen's hand to find Tan Lingling. The mother stood at the door of the dance room and watched the whole process, and it was rare that she didn't laugh at her son.

Jiang Shen didn't know what the teacher said to his mother, he was still fascinated watching several little girls in the dance room supervise each other and practiced circles, one of them was not happy to find him watching, so he pouted and hid innermost.

Jiang Shen watched them dance non-stop until Tan Lingling came to tell him to go back.

On the way, his mother bought him another handful of candy, and she didn't speak when she got in the car, as if she had something on her mind. As soon as the car started, Tan Lingling took out her bookkeeping book, wrinkled her eyebrows and started counting.

Jiang Shen didn't dare to disturb her, and his legs swayed back and forth following the bus.

Tan Lingling looked up at him, and suddenly said, "Do you want to learn to dance?"

Jiang Shen said "Ah" after eating the candy and didn't realize it.

Tan Lingling clicked on the book with a pen: "I go to the dance room every week, didn't you see everything today?"

Jiang Shen asked cautiously: "Do you have to do stretching every week?"

Tan Lingling said coldly: "After learning to dance, it's every day."

Jiang Shen gritted the candy, and couldn't help "hissing" a few more times.

He didn't tell Tan Lingling whether to go or not. When he came back, he ran to return the borrowed "Doraemon", and counted it carefully when the deposit was returned.

The owner of the bookstore is a little old man, smoking an outdated cigarette, and the reading glasses are very old, and they are on the bridge of the nose so that they can't fall off.

"Do you still want to borrow it?" There are only a small bookstore like him in the town, and there are not many children who come to play that they don't know.

Jiang Shen put the money away carefully: "I won't borrow it anymore."

The little old man raised his eyebrows: "What's wrong? Did you get beaten up by your mother?"

Jiang Shen shook his head: "No, I'm going to learn to dance."

The little old man was choking on his cigarette, showing his yellow teeth and laughing: "Why do boys learn to dance?"

Jiang Shen: "Why not?"

The little old man: "The things of the little girl's house."

Jiang Shen was not too happy, the little old man glanced at him again, and suddenly said, "Wait a minute."

Jiang Shen saw that he folded in to find something, there was a sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets, and then slowly moved out with his back bent: "Here." He stuffed the book into Jiang Shen's hand, "I'll give it to you."

It was really an old and bad book, the title page was missing, and when I opened it, there were not many words in it, but there were stick figures of young people dancing and the like.

"Don't you want to learn." The little old man knocked the pipe of the cigarette on the table, "Take it and have a look."

Jiang Shen had candy and money in his pocket, and when he returned home, he found the courtyard door was open, Tan Lingling was talking to Jiang Luoshan, and his father was smoking a cigarette with a disapproving expression.

Jiang Shen poked his neck and looked, but didn't dare to go in, and ran back to the field in a hurry.

In March and April, the countryside is full of busy people. The dog next door has a hoe tied around his waist, and he digs the soil with a shovel to sow seeds. Now it’s no different than before, only children are doing nonsense like this, and adults are directly driving the planter. .

"Dog hair!" Jiang Shen called him, "Where is Qinglinzi?"

Gou Mao straightened up, because it was cold, he was dressed like a ball, and it was hard to bend over: "What are you eating?!"

Jiang Shen ran over: "Tang, do you want it?"

Gou Mao opened his mouth: "Peel one off for me."

Jiang Shen peeled it off for him, and the dog's hair was very happy: "Did you go to the city?"

Jiang Shen will only come back with sugar if he has been to the city.

Jiang Shen nodded: "Where's your sister?"

Gou Mao: "I also went to the city. I learned how to draw. I don't understand her. Why don't you be so comfortable with us? I just want to make trouble."

Jiang Shen was also embarrassed to say that he wanted to learn to dance, and he didn't want to be judged by Gou Mao to make him suffer.

"Wait to get eggs?" Besides the busy farming season, pheasant and duck eggs also come down at this time, and a bunch of wild dogs like to make trouble at this time, "I also made an appointment with Shubao and the others. Going back to the city to go to school, I won’t be able to enjoy myself for a few days.”

Jiang Shen: "They are too old and always bully me."

Gou Mao put his arms around his shoulders: "I have me this time, what are you afraid of? Let's compete with them. If we win, Shubao's new mobile phone will be mine this semester."

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