Reborn back to 1984

Chapter 9

Shen Heying reached out to take it, but was stopped by Zhang Lingen: "Hurry up and take a bath, eat the porridge and I'll go ask the carpenter, and start working as soon as possible to make the cart." His expression was serious, but his eyes betrayed his mood—very happy and relieved !

When a child grows up and knows how to honor his parents, what could be more comforting in the world than this?At this moment, Zhang Lingen forgot the hard work and fatigue of the day, and only felt full of strength. If there is a load of seedlings in front of him at this moment, he can pick them from the east of the village to the west without stopping.

Shen Heying didn't dare to pour cold water on her husband's enthusiasm, so she gave Zhang Xiuqing a hard look, and withdrew her hand reluctantly.Zhang Xiuqing didn't pay too much attention to it. Although her mother was a little bit aggressive and put a lot of emphasis on money, she was still pretty good to her.

Compared with the efforts of her parents without complaint or regret, her return is really insignificant. Zhang Xiuqing is very glad that she was able to be reborn when she was young. It is not too late, and there is still time for everything.

Zhang Xiuqing's hometown is a land of fish and rice, with many riversides, ponds, and rice fields, and there are also a lot of mosquitoes. At night, countless mosquitoes swarm up. If you don't want to drive them away, don't even think about eating in peace.While her parents were washing, Zhang Xiuqing tied a small bundle of damp firewood to a stick, lit it with a match, and after the thick smoke rose, drove mosquitoes in the yard along the wind direction.

Zhang Xiuhong and Zhang Xiaofeng had already escaped, Zhang Xiuqing held her nose, and only walked around the yard twice before she was so smoked that she burst into tears.This method of repelling mosquitoes is dangerous. Only a few families in the village are still doing it, and all those with a little money have lit mosquito coils.Zhang Xiuqing once again deeply realized that money is not everything, but without money is absolutely impossible.

When the smoke cleared, Zhang Xiuhong poured a few barrels of well water on the ground and dried it a bit. The two sisters worked together to lift the Eight Immortals table out of the living room.At this time, the countryside has already been powered on, but in order to save money, many people move tables and chairs to the yard as soon as it gets dark, and use moonlight to illuminate them.

As the youngest child, Zhang Xiaofeng didn't do much housework. He squatted on the ground and played with the wheel. In such a hot day, he wasn't afraid of rashes.

Zhang and his wife walked out of the house soon, and the family sat down to have dinner, to be precise, to drink thin porridge.Zhang Lingen didn't like to talk, but today he was an exception, and he took the initiative to ask, "Xiuqing, do you know what to do with this cart?"

Zhang Xiuqing raised her head and looked at her father. Not knowing why, she felt a little guilty, and quickly looked away, and took out the blueprint she had drawn earlier from her pocket.Zhang Lingen glanced at it after taking it, but put it aside without looking at it carefully.When Zhang Xiaofeng saw it, he immediately reached out and grabbed it. While watching, he chattered non-stop, asking Zhang Xiuqing why the wheels were installed in that position, why there were only two legs, and why the trunk was made trapezoidal...

Zhang Xiuqing was afraid that the light would damage her eyes, so she quickly snatched the drawings back and put them back in her father's hand.

Shen Heying muttered as always: "Waste of money, tossing around..."

But Zhang Xiuhong kept her head down, not in a high mood.

After finishing the porridge, Zhang Lingen hurried out without taking a break. Judging by the direction he was going, he should be going to the old carpenter Lu Weirong's house.Zhang Xiaofeng was a child at heart, and clamored to go together.Shen Heying was worried, for fear that the old carpenter would open his mouth aloud, finish the porridge in two mouthfuls, throw down the bowl and chase after him.

The two sisters stayed at home, one was washing the dishes and the other was cleaning the table. After a while, the other took a big cattail fan and sat back to back on the Eight Immortals table.The two had their own concerns, and they didn't speak. They just listened quietly to the sounds unique to summer nights in the countryside: the sound of frogs, the barking of dogs, the intermittent crying of children, and the sound of the neighbor next door driving away mosquitoes with a big cattail fan. "Papa..." sound.

The small river slowly flowed under the bright moonlight. When a gust of wind blew, the surface of the river shimmered and the leaves rustled. Zhang Xiuqing's originally irritable mood gradually calmed down.Relying on mountains to eat mountains, relying on water to eat water, there are so many rivers in her hometown, there are so many fish, shrimp, snails, and mussels in the rivers; What else is she worried about!
"Sister, I want to earn tuition fees by myself. Do you have any good ideas?" Zhang Xiuhong suddenly broke the silence. Throughout the night, she was thinking about what Zhang Xiuqing said to her, especially the phrase "It's better to ask for others than to ask for yourself". It's really a word that wakes up the dreamer.

"There is a way, but I don't know if you will suffer."

"As long as I can go to school, I can endure any hardship." As if a drowning man had grasped the last straw, Zhang Xiuhong turned around and grabbed Zhang Xiuqing's wrist with such force that it hurt her: "I have had a Wish, that is to go to university, jump out of the farm, leave this poor and backward place, find a decent job in a big city, and walk around when you have money... I am not heartless, my parents gave birth to me Raising me and supporting me to study, I keep all these in my heart, and when I am promising in the future, I will honor them well. I just don’t want to be like them, planing food in the soil for a lifetime, and then born, grown, and buried... …Sister, please help me, I am already 15 years old this year, if I don’t study, in two years, my family will follow the rural customs, make an appointment for me early, and when I turn 20, they will marry me Get married, and then spend my whole life around fields, stoves, and children... I am not willing to spend my life like this. I want to change my destiny by studying, but my family is too poor, and your mother’s temper is just as good as Tao’s. , if I dare to make trouble with her, she will definitely beat me to death. Instead of pinning my hopes on them, I might as well earn tuition fees by myself, then no one will be able to stop me..."

Zhang Xiuqing never knew that her younger sister's quiet and well-behaved appearance hides a restless heart.Due to the poverty of their family, the two of them slept in the same bed since they were young. They thought they knew each other well enough, but in fact, they only knew the surface.No wonder the relationship between the two sisters was so bad in the previous life. The hateful thing is that I have never thought about the reason, and I only feel wronged from my own standpoint, thinking that my sister is unreasonable...

Zhang Xiuqing's silence made Zhang Xiuhong feel uneasy. Thinking of the incident of pushing sister into the water during the day, her face suddenly turned pale: "I'm sorry, I'm too ignorant, can you forgive me, sister? I know in my heart that I shouldn't blame you for this. But I don't dare to quarrel with Mom, I only dare to get angry at you... Am I being selfish? I don't understand your feelings at all, in fact, your pain is no less than mine..."

"It would be a lie to say that I don't feel uncomfortable, but I have already figured it out. If you can't change what has happened, you can only accept it." Under Zhang Xiuhong's surprised eyes, Zhang Xiuqing smiled and said: "I You can accept failure, but you will never accept giving up. Your life goal is to go to college and jump out of the farm, but my life goal is to start from scratch and make a lot of money every day! Do you think your sister is very vulgar and got into the eyes of money? inside?"

Zhang Xiuhong never thought that her elder sister would have such an idea. In the 80s, the market economy had just started, and private enterprises were still in their infancy. Those who dared to do business were often regarded as opportunistic liars. It's shocking.

Zhang Xiuhong was extremely surprised and shocked, and didn't know what to do for a while, so she just heard Zhang Xiuqing continue: "I am not a whim, I have carefully considered how I will go in the future, if you want to despise me, don't do it in front of me." Face, what I need now is encouragement, not blow!"

Zhang Xiuhong immediately understood that her elder sister had made up her mind, hesitated for a moment, and persuaded: "Since you can earn tuition fees, why give up your studies? If Dad knew, he would definitely not agree."

Zhang Xiuqing shook her head: "I don't steal, and I don't rob. I earn money with my own hands. There is nothing to be ashamed of. I think Dad will understand me. But you, if you have the time to persuade me, you might as well beg me. You must know that earning money in this poor country is not an easy task."

Zhang Xiuhong ignored sister's joke, and said sullenly: "Have you really made up your mind? You won't regret it in the future?"

"Let me tell you a story!" Zhang Xiuqing raised his head, looked at the stars in the sky, and said, "There is a philosopher in India who was born with a special literary temperament, and he fascinated many women. One day, a The woman knocked on his door and said, "Let me be your wife!" Although the philosopher liked her very much, he still replied, "Let me think about it!" He listed the advantages and disadvantages of not getting married and found that the good and the bad are equal, so he fell into long-term distress and couldn't make up his mind for a long time. Finally, he came to a conclusion, "If a person is faced with a choice and cannot choose , you should choose the one you have not experienced.' So he came to the woman's house and said to the woman's father, 'I have decided to marry your daughter.' The woman's father replied coldly, 'You are late After ten years, my daughter is now the mother of three children!' The philosopher almost collapsed when he heard it. He never imagined that the philosophical mind he was proud of would end up with regret. Two years later, the philosopher fell ill from depression. Before he died, he threw all his works into the fire, leaving only a commentary on life—if life is divided into two, then the philosophy of life in the first half is 'No hesitation', the philosophy of the second half of life is 'no regrets'. Xiuhong, do you understand? I will not regret my decision today."

(End of this chapter)