The year before last, Xiaolan, a 78-year-old provincial model worker, suffered from cancer. In hospitals in counties and towns, Didi Lala was treated for more than a year and died last autumn.
When she died, Dad Wu, who accompanied her through the last journey of her life next door, leaned down, put his mouth to her ear and told her loudly that her son and grandson's rural "minimum living security" had finally landed, and their lives had finally landed. When her own affairs are handled, the village committee can send her father and son to the nursing home in the town, where they will be raised by the government and let her leave safely.
A delicate breath fell on her throat, and Xiaolan finally closed her eyes with satisfaction.
Xiaolan married her in-laws on 196 1.
She was only 19 years old when her father-in-law who helped cook in Taizhou brought her to this house, and she was wearing two sheephorn braids. Although she is thin, malnourished and sallow-looking, her round face, handsome eyebrows, thin lips and two shallow dimples around her mouth can make people shine at a glance among a group of rural eldest sister-in-law girls.
She came with a blue cloth bag on her back and followed her father-in-law's head, evasive and shy. On the way into the village, her father-in-law told everyone that this is his daughter-in-law in the suburbs of Taizhou, named Xiaolan. Later, she went out to work with everyone in the village and invited a group of neighbors to take care of her.
Along the way, he asked Xiaolan to say hello to everyone.
Xiaolan kept her feet on the ground and looked at the stranger. Although a little embarrassed, once introduced by her parents, she is much more generous in front of strangers. She nods at everyone. According to the gender and age of different neighbors, we call her "mom and dad", "uncle and uncle", "empress and aunt" and "eldest brother and sister-in-law", which is simple and appropriate. Her voice is crisp and mellow, which has aroused the envy of a group of girls and wives in the village.
Daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law walked all the way home from the village entrance, and the family had already prepared a table of dishes, which was a banquet. When everyone didn't have enough to eat, where did they get the money to hold a wedding reception? Her father-in-law sent a letter home in advance, calculated the time and date, invited his cousin and his wife, bought a catty of pork and a catty and a half of tofu, made two jins of bean sprouts with warm water, and then cut two leeks on the edge of the field, so that a table of rice was finished, and it was rare to eat meat at a time. "Fat water does not flow out of the field." The old man invited his cousin and his wife to testify.
Everyone who has seen Xiaolan in the village is chattering in private. It's a pity that such a good baby was snatched back by her family as a daughter-in-law. It is also said that if someone gets married, there will be hope for this family. Otherwise, where can their son find a wife? This fragrance has been broken since then.
Lao Juntou's son, nicknamed "Bao", can't find a daughter-in-law in this village because of a strange disease that villagers can't understand. It began when the willows fell in the leap year of the lunar calendar, and it took half a year to heal itself without medical treatment. Once it breaks out, "Bao Bao Xiao" will never stop working, wandering around in front of and behind the village all day, muttering to himself, ignoring anyone and being immersed in his own world. When it's time to eat, he will run home to eat by himself, and then go out for a walk after dinner. No one at home will persuade him to come back. When he was seventeen or eighteen, his illness began, and the old man took him to other places to see a doctor. After all, he didn't get better, and he gradually lost confidence and stopped going out for medical treatment. The old man saw for the first time that the hospital could not cure his son's illness. He also invited some witch doctors to be "protectors" and wanted to ask them to help exorcise evil spirits. I tried many times, but I still didn't get better, so I let go.
The good news is that Bao disease will not happen in leap years. In those years when he didn't have an attack, he worked in the fields like a healthy person and was willing to work hard. As long as no one mentioned his illness, he was never angry with others. Also, even during his illness, he didn't steal or damage other people's things, nor did he hit people or swear. He always gets along with others as long as they don't play tricks on him.
For a long time, his family only pinned their hopes on marrying his daughter-in-law, hoping that he could "flush out" this "evil force" that caused the whole family a headache.
In the years before he married his daughter-in-law, Lao Juntou worked as a chef in Taizhou. A few years ago, I couldn't afford to rent a house in the city, so I was introduced by an acquaintance and lived in Xiaolan's house in the suburbs. More than a hundred miles away from home. The old gentleman seldom goes back to his hometown every year, so he lives in Xiaolan's house and doesn't pay the rent. He brings some leftovers from the restaurant from time to time. Xiaolan's parents have many children and the food is not enough. Xiaolan's family is very grateful to his little light and spent several years in spring drought.
The old man lives in Xiaolan's home and tells Xiaolan's parents that it is not a long-term solution to make a living in Taizhou and leave his wife and children at home. Now that the places are tight, the business of the hotel is getting lighter and lighter, and it is about to close. He wants to go back to his hometown, reunite with his family and return to farming life. My family has only one son, three rooms, spacious living and no burden of idle children. I'll find a daughter-in-law to go back. A family of four is full of strong labor and can't go home without food. At the end of the year, the team will have some dividends, which is better than the family living outside at both ends all the year round. My son is in his twenties, and his daughter-in-law hasn't been found yet, so I'm worried.
He explained to Xiaolan's parents that he wanted to take Xiaolan home and marry his son.
Xiaolan's parents have many children and little labor. In recent years, she has benefited from the old man. Seeing that the old gentleman is very clever, skilled and honest, with only one son, three rooms and a good family in the countryside, she agreed.
Xiaolan saw that the old man seemed to be a reliable person, and also expected that his son would not be too bad, so she listened to her parents' arrangement and followed the old man to her husband's house.
After the family had a welcome meal, Xiaolan settled down in Laojun's house. The room is ready-made, and the bed and bedding should be ready. The lunar calendar is not a leap year this year. Xiaolan's new husband is not sick, and everything is normal. Xiaolan thinks her husband is honest and a bit "stupid". On weekdays, he doesn't talk much, but he works hard. He is also decent, so he resigned himself to fate. He came to her husband's house, didn't rest for a few days, and went to work in the production team to live.
After the old man came home with his daughter-in-law, he greeted his neighbors in the dark and begged others not to tell Xiaolan that his son was ill before Xiaolan gave birth. People in the village are very kind, and everyone sympathizes with the misfortune of the sick Bao. They all hope that he can "wash away" the root of the disease after marriage, and no one will make irresponsible remarks about Xiaolan.
The old gentleman's family takes good care of Xiaolan. There are four strong laborers at home, and there is no burden. Besides, the old gentleman used to work in the city, and he saved some small change. His family went to the street and bought some vegetarian dishes for his wife to eat. Xiaolan also realized the care and love of the whole family. Life is stable, food is improved, and Xiaolan's face is getting red.
In the second year, the lunar calendar is not a leap year, and Bao is still not sick. In early spring, Xiaolan was pregnant. In autumn, Xiaolan gave birth to a son. With a son, Xiaolan's life is firmly rooted. Soon after the full moon, Xiaolan herself went to work normally. Xiaolan has adapted to the environment in the village. She is familiar with her head, active in her work, young, handsome and articulate, and has a cultural foundation in the third grade of primary school. After the Spring Festival, some people in the village suggested that she should be a female captain and take a labor force composed of young women to do farm work in villages that need young people to assault.
1963, April of the lunar calendar, when catkins were flying, "Bao" became ill. As usual, he stopped working in the field and wandered around.
Xiaolan was frightened, and it was useless to persuade. "Bao" suddenly entered his own "evil" world, facing his wife like a passer-by. Xiaolan is busy discussing with Gongdie to send her husband to the hospital. Who knows that my father-in-law has a smart face and is full of worries. He thought to himself that when his son married his daughter-in-law, his illness was "washed away". It seems that this idea failed. He is thinking about how to stabilize his daughter-in-law and leave her and her grandson behind.
Her father-in-law advised her: "son, I have lived in your house for several years." What do you think of my old man? "
Xiaolan didn't know why he wanted to talk about the past, so she casually agreed: "You have lived in our house for several years and helped us a lot."
"You said you have been married to our family for almost two years. Is my son a good worker? "
Xiaolan is puzzled: "I know this. I just don't know when he will get better from this disease? "
The old man refused to pick up her topic and continued, "What will your mother-in-law and I do to you when you come to our house?"
"This have no words. You treat me like a daughter. These two years are much better than our family. "
With such a foreshadowing, Lao Juntou finally told Xiaolan the truth: "Son, we won't hide it from you now. My son got this strange disease when he was a teenager, and it happens every year when catkins float on his head in March of leap year. I have also sought medical treatment in many ways, and I have not improved. "
Xiaolan couldn't help crying when she heard this. It turned out that the old gentleman lied about his son's illness and coaxed her. Unable to restrain her anger, she pointed at her father-in-law's nose and shouted angrily, "Why did you cheat me into your house without telling my family?"
The old man didn't talk back, but just sighed assiduously. After a short pause, he went on to say, "He is also very strange about this disease. When he goes on stage, he doesn't steal, rob or make trouble. He eats and sleeps as usual. When the autumn grain comes down, I will be fine myself. "
Xiaolan is skeptical. I didn't eat, the children didn't feed, I didn't work, and I cried all over the floor.
The old man has no choice. It's worth asking your neighbor's sister-in-law to accompany Xiaolan. For several days in a row, Xiaolan saw her sick husband come home at night as usual. I stopped eating when I got home, stayed home after dinner, and finally went to bed. It's really similar to what the old man said.
A few days later, when the old man saw that Xiaolan's mood had calmed down a little, he said to Xiaolan in a pleading tone, "Look, my daughter, you came to our house to save our family. Now that the child has been born, you can raise your son in our home. "
Lao Juntou continued to enlighten her: "Nowadays, people are short of clothes and food. Wherever you go, you are still doing farm work. In the future, we will leave our family to you. We listen to you in big and small matters at home, and everything is up to you. "
Xiaolan looked at her infant son, who was less than one year old, and at the two old people who were close to her as parents, and fell into a long silence.
Neighbors came to comfort Bao when they saw that he was ill again. Aunt and sister-in-law accompanied Xiaolan to wipe away tears, and finally they always came down to persuading her to stay and telling her that when last autumn arrived, her husband's illness would be fine. As usual, I hope Xiaolan will stay and support this family.
The cadres of the production team and the brigade learned the situation and also came to Xiaolan's house to do her work. Let her stay in the village with peace of mind, continue to be a good leader of women, and encourage her to take good care of this family. In the future, the brigade will further train her. It is said that she is a potential female cadre.
Xiaolan wanted to go back to her hometown in Taizhou, but her parents-in-law disagreed, saying that it was too inconvenient for a person to go out with a nursing child, for fear that she would never come back with her child. She had no choice, so she asked the breeder in the team to help her write a long letter to her parents and tell her about her current experience.
After getting married, Xiaolan always writes two letters to her parents in Taizhou. I first wrote it after my father-in-law and I came here. The letter introduced the situation of my husband's family, expressed the freshness of leaving home for the first time in a strange environment and missed my family, mainly to reassure my parents. The second time was written after giving birth to a son a few months ago. I gave good news to my parents and wanted to invite them to visit my grandson. After the second letter, parents not only wrote back, but also sent three feet of red cloth to make sweaters and coats for their children. The letter explained that Taizhou is more than 100 miles away from her husband's house, so it is difficult to get there by sea and boat for one day, and there are boarding hotels on the way, which is too expensive to go back and forth. Xiaolan was immersed in the joy of her newborn son, and expressed her understanding and understanding that her parents could not come.
This time, she hoped that her parents would come anyway. Facing the present situation, she really can't face it alone and needs her parents to help her make up her mind.
After receiving the letter, her father took a boat from Taizhou for most of the day, stayed in a hotel in the county, then took a bus from the county to the town, and then walked more than ten miles to the village in the evening.
When her father came to this village, her hysterical husband didn't know where he was wandering. Her father-in-law led her in-laws from Taizhou, searched the front and back of the house and the front and back of the village, and compensated her in-laws with great distress, so that they could persuade their daughters to stay and take care of their grandchildren anyway.
In the evening, after the hysterical husband came home, he still went to the table to eat in the face of the husband he had never met. From beginning to end, no one was present. After dinner, the father and daughter just wiped their tears and sighed.
The next day, Xiaolan's father walked around the village again and asked the villagers about the normal year of his son-in-law. The statements of neighbors and village cadres confirmed the in-laws' statements about their son's illness.
On the third day, he separated his in-laws from his mother and worked as a daughter alone. "As the old saying goes, marry a woman and pour water, and marry a chicken with a dog. Now you have been with him for two years, and your son has also given birth. What else do you want? I asked him about several cases. Leap years don't happen. When he was not sick, he was also a strong worker in the village. You have a child now, but not more than two years ago. Who wants a woman with a child? Daughter, accept your fate. Maybe in a few years, he will get better slowly! "
Xiaolan weighed it repeatedly and finally agreed to her father's request.
Autumn grain comes on stage, Bao's illness is really good, and he goes to work as usual. In the evening, Xiaolan asked her husband about his illness, and he couldn't tell her why.
Xiaolan counted with her fingers that every two or three years, there will be a leap year. With his illness, he can make do for life.
Xiaolan's work under the title of head of women is even tighter. In the following years, she was commended by the town people's commune for several years in a row. In the next few years, I went to town for meetings from time to time. Most notably, when the child was three or four years old, he was elected as a representative of women and went to the county to attend the county women's congress.
1967, as a representative of the brigade, she participated in the "live learning and use" seminar in the town. The brigade arranged for the staff to prepare a speech for her to familiarize her with, focusing on her deeds of taking care of her sick husband, honoring her in-laws, taking the whole family to actively participate in labor, and giving full play to the role of rural women. The government arranged for her to tour the countryside to "talk about use", which fully affirmed her praised moral sentiment and her love for the collective and family.
In a blink of an eye, Xiaolan is in her thirties, and her life develops according to the original logic and rhythm. It's just that Bao's hysteria is as usual, and it hasn't improved because of Xiaolan's careful care. Fortunately, Xiaolan was born in poverty, knew people's sufferings, endured humiliation, had a peaceful mind, a flat wife and a fairly smooth life.
Since attending the county women's congress and touring the town to "talk about use", Xiaolan's reputation in the town has gradually increased. The village party branch trained Xiaolan to join the party, and the county women's Federation sent people to the village to summarize typical materials and publish them in district-level newspapers. Xiaolan is known throughout the county as a typical example. She can not only dare to fight in agricultural production, but also practice social morality and take care of her sick husband.
In the mid-1970s, Xiaolan's son grew taller and taller. After finishing primary school in the village, he entered the junior high school in the neighboring village. By the second day, the child began to soar and his voice became hoarse. Xiaolan understands that the child is beginning to enter the developmental age.
It was Sunday and my son didn't go to school. Xiaolan was drying the food in the field outside the door, and she accidentally found her son sitting there whispering alone. Xiaolan was shocked. Isn't this the same as when his father was ill? I saw her son staring straight at him, muttering to himself, and no one was watching. Xiaolan hurriedly put down her work, hugged her son and asked him anxiously. However, as if he didn't know her, his son just talked to himself involuntarily.
Xiaolan is flustered now. Her son is the support and hope of her life over the years. When her "Bao" husband was ill, she didn't pay much attention to her, but put all her thoughts on the child and took good care of the child who looked like her. Seeing this situation today, she sat on the ground and couldn't stop crying: "How can I be so retribution!" "
Xiaolan refused to give up and asked for leave from the cadres in the team with the idea of seeking medical treatment and taking medicine as soon as possible. Like her father-in-law, she embarked on the road of seeking medical treatment for her son. The level of hospitals in this town is hopeless. She ran to the county hospital first. After several visits, she patched things up and borrowed money to run a provincial hospital.
After running for half a year, my son's condition did not improve, and Xiaolan's heart gradually died.
The son, like his father, got better when the autumn grain appeared. After a year's suspension, my son continued to study at school and barely graduated from junior high school. This book can't be read any more.
Xiaolan's face has lost its former sunshine and vitality since her son became ill. When working with everyone on the scene, she often keeps silent and thinks about her own ideas alone.
When Xiaolan is depressed, do her work in time, care for her and remind her. The secretary of the brigade branch specially found her home to encourage her to cheer up, maintain the typical image of rural women in the new era, overcome family difficulties, continue to lead women's commandos, and give full play to women's role of "holding up half the sky". The secretary promised that if he could not be promoted to work in the brigade due to difficulties in family life, he would be rated as a "model worker" in the future and enjoy the corresponding political and economic treatment.
Faced with such a family situation, Xiaolan doesn't care much about promoting cadres and evaluating "model workers". She just thinks that her in-laws are getting older and worse every day. With such a husband and son, such a family can't support themselves unless they cheer up and lead their husbands and sons to live forward.
Xiaolan continues to be the captain of the women's assault team, but every year when her son and husband are sick, her efforts are even harder than ordinary people.
In this way, Xiaolan survived for more than ten years, and her parents-in-law were ill in bed. Xiaolan carefully prepared and served filial piety until she was buried.
In recent years, governments at all levels have also fully affirmed Xiaolan's contribution. 1975 won the county model worker, and 1979 won the provincial model worker.
Years of wind knives and frost swords have carved wrinkles on Xiaolan's forehead. Her hair is all hair, first her temples are frosted, and then her hair turns gray. She is in her fifties with white hair.
In the 1980s, the countryside has been turned upside down. The women's commandos in earlier years had already disintegrated. After the reform of rural people's commune and production brigade system, all farmers contracted to operate, the agricultural production structure was profoundly adjusted, and market agriculture flourished. Xiaolan's village has become a vegetable base in big cities in the south.
Xiaolan's family, like other families in the village, grows vegetables in the abnormal year of the lunar leap year. Xiaolan leads her husband and son, reasonably arranges the structure, does not miss the farming season, grabs the seeds and harvests, and the income is similar to that of neighbors. When there is a leap month, Xiaolan makes arrangements early and only grows food crops, with little labor. Of course, in such a good year, the income is naturally much less than others. Also, now all children can work in cities, and their income is much higher than that of farming. Xiaolan is not looking forward to this, and she is not assured that her son will go out.
Time flies. In an instant, my son is in his thirties and not married. His hysterical attacks are much more frequent than Lao Zi's. At present, the old man's illness still occurs in leap months every year, but his son often gets sick even in leap years. My son can't get married, which has become a heart disease that Xiaolan can't cure and a pain that she can't solve every night. She is afraid that one day, when she is old, her son will be taken care of. This matter can't be discussed with her husband who can't beat a boring fart with eight sticks. She has been thinking about how to find a daughter-in-law for her son so that he can have a care in the future. However, she can't bear to let a girl with a good family lead her own life, and she can't bear to hurt other girls. In this contradiction, she often can't sleep at night, tossing and turning.
Cold comes and summer goes, and several years have passed.
1 day, an old woman who knows Xiaolan well came to the neighboring village, saying that an older man in Guizhou married his wife and gave her a little pension money. It didn't cost much, far less than the bride price money spent by local rural girls. I asked Xiaolan if she would also think about her son.
Xiaolan is tempted.
A few months later, my mother-in-law really brought a Guizhou woman, who looked like she was in her thirties. This woman told the story of her life. The year before last, her husband fell to his death while quarrying in the mountains, and followed others to Jiangsu, where he saw that life was far better than his hometown. She would like to see the family introduced by the old woman.
Xiao Lan, look at this woman. She is thin, dark and honest. From the outside, this woman and her son really don't match. However, she knows very well that her son can only go up and down. Xiaolan showed great enthusiasm, hosted meals and gave gifts, and promised that if the woman stayed, she would send her family savings over the years to her home to support her parents.
The woman stayed.
More than a year later, this dark and thin woman gave birth to a grandson at home. Xiaolan was more at ease with this daughter-in-law and sent a sum of money to her parents, in order to further stabilize her heart.
Xiaolan wants to lead this woman to work in the fields, but this Guizhou woman said that her family used to live in the mountains and she was not used to farm work here. She walked west with a child in her arms all day, but she never set foot on the ground. Xiaolan can't do anything about her. She just sighs that young people today are different from the past. They can't stand suffering, and they are far worse than before.
Just as her grandson was about to finish a week, one day, she came back from the field with her husband and son, and suddenly found her daughter-in-law missing, leaving the child alone at home.
Xiaolan panicked this time.
I hurried to the neighboring village to find my daughter-in-law's hometown, the daughter-in-law from Guizhou who came first. Where did I find my daughter-in-law from Guizhou missing? My family was anxious and looked everywhere! When I came back, I begged several neighbors to go to the station in the nearby township and county, but where can I find the shadow of my daughter-in-law!
Since then, the burden on Xiaolan's shoulders has become heavier. The life of a family of three generations, inside and outside, depends on her alone.
As a provincial model worker, Xiaolan received some living allowances every month when she was in her 60s. The income from her own acres of land is not bad, and the days go by day. A few years later, her husband Bao also fell ill and left him.
She is always worried that one day after a hundred years, her son and grandson will not be able to live like normal people.
She found cadres in the village and town many times and submitted the materials of her son's medical treatment in recent years to her superiors. Her neighbor, Dad Wu, also used a lot of social connections to find people everywhere. The village cadres actively spoke for her, and the town and county levels sent people to investigate and verify. With the concern of all parties, the rural "minimum living allowance" for her son and grandson was finally approved.
Xiaolan can finally close her eyes under the grave.
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