The Burden of the 2000s (2)

What is the holiday life like for children?

When Wang Xiuhong didn't have a holiday, she would get up early in the morning to cook porridge and stir-fry vegetables, and then boil an egg in the porridge every time. While waiting for the rice porridge to cook, she would take out the half-finished clothes and continue to make them.

Wang Xiuhong didn't graduate from junior high school, and she had been working in factories. Before she got married, she worked in a clothing factory in a big city. She could use a sewing machine and make clothes manually. She could make general styles.

At that time, she sent all the money she earned every month back home, and asked Grandma Duan to take it to buy medicine for Grandpa Duan.

Later, all kinds of beautiful skirts suddenly became popular, pants were no longer popular, and small suits became popular for children's clothes. The factory had too much stock and couldn't sell it, so it sold it, and naturally these old employees had to leave.

Wang Xiuhong was at the age of marriage, so she returned home. She met Duan's father through a matchmaker. After that, they got married and came to this city together. Wang Xiuhong joined a clothing factory. It was not difficult for her to make her own clothes.

Before, she thought it was too troublesome to sew one stitch at a time, and it was not as good-looking as sewing machines. She once asked her husband if she could buy an old-fashioned sewing machine that was discarded from the factory. It was cheap and she could use it.

The main reason was that with this sewing machine, she could make any clothes for her family in the future without the trouble of sewing one stitch at a time.

But obviously, Duan's father, who had not passed away at that time, was not so considerate of his wife. He asked her to sew directly and said that buying a sewing machine was a waste of money.

Wang Xiuhong has always been a docile person. Her husband did not let her buy it. Even though she was making money every month and could afford an old, cheap second-hand sewing machine, she still did not buy it. She only started to make clothes one stitch at a time after cooking, washing dishes, sweeping the floor, mopping the floor, and taking care of the children every day.

When she finished most of the clothes she had made yesterday, the rice porridge was almost ready, so she put down the clothes and started cooking.

After she was done, she went to call her son to eat.

Children sleep a lot, and Duan Qingen quietly got up to draw while Wang Xiuhong was asleep last night and slept late, so when the mother opened the door, gently pushed her son's shoulders, and gently called:

"Qingen, get up, it's time to eat." The fair-skinned little boy was still sleeping with a red face and no response.

Wang Xiuhong first suspected that the child was sick, after all, the child had a minor illness every few days since he was a child, but she reached out and touched his forehead, and it was normal temperature again.

It seems that he was tired from crying yesterday.

Thinking of this, she gently helped her son tuck in the corners of the quilt and went out to eat by herself.

When she finished her meal and touched the rice porridge in the bowl, it was neither cold nor hot, just right, Wang Xiuhong went into the house again, called Duan Qingen up, and coaxed her son who opened his eyes in a daze to wash up.

There was no microwave oven at this time, and Wang Xiuhong was going to work soon. Although it was summer, it was better for children, especially weak children, not to eat cold food.

Duan Qingen almost floated up.

He found that he had underestimated the child's body. After sleeping all night, he was visibly listless the next morning.

So, such a scene could be seen at Duan's house.

A little bean in a short shirt and big shorts was stepping on a small stool in a daze, brushing his teeth in front of the mirror. On his white face, a pair of big black eyes opened and closed at this moment, as if he was about to fall asleep.

Wang Xiuhong had just put her bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen, and when she turned around, she saw her son's cute appearance, and her heart softened immediately.

She said, "If you are really sleepy, go to sleep after dinner, and don't rush to do your homework."

Duan Qingen held a toothbrush in his mouth and agreed vaguely.

After washing up, he sat back and took a spoon to start eating seriously.

Wang Xiuhong saw it and praised him: "Qingen is really amazing. No rice fell out today."

Waiting for Duan Qingen to finish his meal, Wang Xiuhong washed the dishes and cleaned up, and then kissed her son on the fair cheek.

Seeing the fair-skinned boy was stunned by her kiss, and then stretched out his hand to cover the place where he was kissed, Wang Xiuhong couldn't help but smile:

"You are still shy when your mother kisses you, our Qingen is really a man."

Duan Qingen couldn't understand the connection between being a man and being shy when being kissed.

Anyway, he stood at the door with a confused look on his face to send Wang Xiuhong out to work, and added a sweet sentence: "Goodbye, Mom."

Wang Xiuhong was busy as if she was fighting a war yesterday, and today she finally found that her son seemed to be different from before.

Still so obedient, but willing to take the initiative to talk.

She squatted down, touched her son's little head, and asked softly, "Qing'en, why are you so well behaved today and come to send mom to work? Are you afraid of being alone at home? How about mom take you to the factory and you can play in the yard?"

The clothing factory where she works actually allows children to be brought along. Anyway, it is piecework, and you get paid as much as you do. If you work less because you are busy taking care of the children, you will get less money.

It's just that it's too hot in the clothing factory. Duan Qing'en is weak, and Wang Xiuhong is afraid that the child will get sick from the heat, so she has always tried to bring her son there as little as possible.

But now it's Qing'en's father, so it's a bit taboo.

Wang Xiuhong thought, if it really doesn't work, let Qingen play under the shade of the trees in the factory yard. Anyway, there are tables there, and there are not many people during work hours, so it's good for him to do homework.

Duan Qingen shook his head: "I'm not afraid, I just want to see my mother off."

The little boy, who was wearing the most ordinary clothes but was fair and good-looking, said seriously: "Dad is dead, now only I can protect my mother, I have to grow up quickly, be more sensible, and protect my mother."

Wang Xiuhong was stunned at first, and then tears fell all of a sudden.

In fact, when her husband was there before, he couldn't protect her, and he even hurt her more than anyone else.

But seeing such a young son say such words seriously, Wang Xiuhong's heart was still warm.

She wiped her tears and continued to touch her son's head:

"Qing'en, be good. Even if dad is not here, mom can take care of you alone."

"You can do your homework or sleep in the morning. Mom will give you one dollar. If you want to eat or buy something, go downstairs and buy it yourself. Remember to bring your key, okay?"

Duan Qing'en nodded and took the one-dollar bill.

At this time, one dollar is a huge sum of money for a child.

Wang Xiuhong saw that her son's face was indeed not afraid. He only looked at her with clear eyes with clear black and white, so she closed the door with confidence.

As soon as the door was closed, she breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, without a man, life is still the same as before, isn't it?

****

Duan Qing'en did not continue to sleep in the morning. He sat at his desk and continued to write and draw.

He didn't recognize all the characters, but he learned all the pinyin.

At this time, the original owner had already begun to recognize words, and there was also a dictionary at home, which was bought for him by Wang Xiuhong. Duan Qingen thought about it, moved a stool and stood on it to take the dictionary from the cabinet and put it on the desk.

Then he began to concentrate on writing short stories.

His current identity is a primary school student.

A precocious primary school student is still a primary school student.

So if he wants to write, he can only write fairy tales.

Duan Qingen wrote for almost an hour, scribbling and revising, and wrote about ten pages of stories.

Although it looks like a lot, it is actually because the notebook he used is the kind of small notebook used by primary school students.

When he finished writing, he got up and stretched his body, and then started drawing.

The drawings were the illustrations of these stories.

He didn't finish his work until about 10:30 in the morning.

Just as he was about to pack up and go downstairs to walk around and breathe some fresh air, someone knocked on the door outside.

You don't need to think about who it is.

Duan Qingen opened the door, and it was Zheng Yuxuan standing outside.

She was quite happy to hold a plate with two thick pancakes on it, with the crispy crust still slightly curled up.

"Qing'en, my mother made some pancakes and asked me to bring them over to eat with you."

Duan Qing'en reached out to take it, but Zheng Yuxuan quickly pulled his hand back: "Don't burn yourself again. This pancake just came out. If you get burned again, I'll do it. Where can I put it?"

Duan Qing'en: "Put it in my room."

So the little girl carefully carried the plate into the room, and after putting it down, she clapped her hands again; "I forgot to bring chopsticks."

"Qing'en, bring two pairs of chopsticks."

Duan Qing'en noticed that she didn't bring chopsticks just now. After she said this, he just came out with two pairs of chopsticks.

Zheng Yuxuan took one of the pairs, sat on his "exclusive chair", rolled up the top pancake on the plate with chopsticks, and then picked it up and put it to his mouth to blow.

While blowing, he took the time to say to Duan Qingen, "Let's go catch cicadas tonight. We haven't eaten them for a long time. I feel like eating them."

There is a poplar forest here. At night, cicadas will climb up the trees to shed their shells. Zheng Yuxuan used to like to catch them with Duan Qingen with a flashlight. After catching them, they would share half of them. It was best to fry them.

She liked to catch them purely because her father liked them. Zheng Yuxuan often heard her parents say that they caught cicadas like this when they were young.

At that time, every household had difficulty in getting enough food. Children were hungry quickly, so they could only find food by themselves, such as fish in the ditch, birds in the mountains, and cicadas. Anyway, they caught whatever could fill their stomachs.

Zheng Yuxuan was sensible and knew that his father had been in a bad mood since he became disabled.

With his condition, the factory would definitely not hire him, but he could not do anything except work in the factory. He had only one arm and one leg, so he could not even be a gatekeeper. After all, he could not run fast. He could not be asked to catch thieves when they came.

She vaguely realized that she couldn't comfort her father directly, so she could only be sensible and well-behaved, helping her mother with things, and then catching cicadas for her father to eat.

Children don't hide their thoughts. Duan Qingen guessed what she was thinking at a glance, and he didn't expose her. He nodded happily: "Okay, I want to eat cicadas too."

Seeing that her only friend agreed, Zheng Yuxuan was happy. When she was happy, she wanted to do something to make people happy.

So the little girl took out her homework from her schoolbag and said happily: "Let's do today's homework. If we finish it early, we can go earlier in the evening."

Duan Qingen nodded, opened the drawer and took out the homework inside.

The two were about to do their homework when they suddenly heard the laughter of children downstairs.

In the laughter, there were also a few sharp shouts that belonged only to children:

"The monster is coming! The monster is coming!!"

When the voice reached their ears, Zheng Yuxuan's face changed almost immediately.

In this area, the only person who could be called a monster by the children was her father.

Since her father lost one leg, the children would stay away from him and shout monster loudly.

Zheng Yuxuan was of course unhappy that her father was said like that, but even if she told the children of the same age not to say that about her father, they still did it.

It even developed to the point where they would call her a little monster when they saw her.

Zheng Yuxuan is still a little girl now. Even if she tried to make herself strong, she was still angry and cried when facing a group of people calling her a little monster.

As a result, seeing her cry, the children became more excited.

From then on, she stopped saying anything to them.

Because she had already realized cleverly that she couldn't beat these people, nor could she scold so many people, and she could only be bullied if she came to the door.

She just felt sorry for her father being said like that.

Duan Qingen put down the pen, opened the screen window and looked out.

Sure enough, I saw Zheng's father limping towards me with a cane and a bag hanging on it.

It was too high to see the expression on his face, but from the fact that he continued to walk forward as if he didn't hear anything, it was clear that he had long been used to it.

There were some women sitting in the yard, talking while making clothes and sewing soles. Among them were the mothers of the children who shouted "monster" to others, but they didn't care, as if this was normal.

It is a lie that human nature is good, but it is true that human nature is evil.

Especially when they are children, this is the most cruel time, isolating their peers, bullying, beating and scolding, abusing animals, deliberately damaging other people's property, and stealing.

Without the correct guidance of parents, or if parents see it but don't stop it, they will do it more justified.

Some children begin to realize that what they did was wrong after they grow up and become sensible, and they will also reflect on why they could do so many bad things when they were young.

But there are also some children who, due to various factors, cannot change these bad habits until they grow up, and finally hurt others and themselves.

Just like the children who are running around laughing and shouting "monsters" now, they really think that Father Zheng, who has lost an arm and a leg, is a monster.

Now they are many people, and they can shout it out loud and run away laughing.

But if it is one or two children who meet Father Zheng on the road alone, they will be scared and more obedient than a kitten, and dare not say a word.

They will even dare not run because their legs are weak.

Because in their hearts, Father Zheng is indeed a monster.

Looking at the children who shouted loudly, Duan Qingen pushed the stool under the table and said to Zheng Yuxuan: "Don't do homework, let's go and teach them a lesson."

"Forget it."

Although Zheng Yuxuan's expression was still not good, he was still rational: "We can't beat them. There are so many of them, and we can't talk to them."

"It's okay, we don't have to beat them, and we don't have to scold them. I have a way to deal with them."

Duan Qingen pulled Zheng Yuxuan downstairs.

Although Xiao Qingmei was half-believing and half-doubting, she still chose to believe her only friend.

After they went down, Duan Qingen took Zheng Yuxuan directly to the group of children who had already run to the corridor of the building.

There were less than ten people in total, the oldest was eight years old, and the youngest was six years old, all of them were children in this area.

The oldest was a chubby boy, holding a wooden stick in his hand, hanging the clothes on the back of his neck on the back of his head, pretending to be a monk, and the other children pretended to be monsters, being chased by him to kill monsters.

Duan Qingen called out his name directly: "Chen Zhanxiong, you are not allowed to call Yuxuan's father a monster in the future!"

Although Chen Zhanxiong was only eight years old, he grew up fast and looked like a ten-year-old child. He was always very prestigious among the children of the same age, and he always looked like "the first in the world, the second in the sky, and the third in the world".

Now seeing Duan Qingen, a kid who was not allowed to play with them, dared to stand up and say such things, he was immediately angry.

"What do you care about me? I'm going to say it! You're playing with this little monster, so you're also a monster!"

When the little kid next to him saw the "boss" speaking, he quickly followed suit:

"Yes, you're also a monster!"

"You're all monsters!!"

Before Chen Zhanxiong could come up with a new game for everyone to drive away the monsters, the fair-skinned little boy spoke first: "If you don't listen to me, I'll make you pay the price!"

The phrase "pay the price" doesn't sound like a middle school student to a kid, but instead makes Chen Zhanxiong feel a strong provocation.

He sneered, looked at Duan Qingen's little arms and legs, and put his hands on his hips: "What price can you make me pay, you first grader!"

Duan Qingen glanced at him, pulled Zheng Yuxuan and turned around and ran away.

A group of elementary school students were stunned for a moment, and then they all laughed.

And he said he paid the price, but he was scared away so easily.

As he was laughing, Chen Zhanxiong suddenly saw through the alley that Duan Qingen was heading straight to his sister who had just started high school and was sitting in the yard doing homework on a table.

There was no preference for boys over girls in their family, and his sister's grades were much better than his. She would definitely go to college in the future, and she was the first child in the family.

A well-behaved and sensible man who helps with housework at home and does not make anyone worry about him. He is also a considerate cotton-padded jacket who has made his parents famous outside because of his excellent grades.

With a naughty and mischievous person who had poor grades, always skipped naps and ran around when he was disobedient, had to be watched carefully when doing homework, or else he would leave the class, who didn't know how to spend extra money on clothes and shoes since he was a child, and who was washed every day with ice cubes. Big pants.

It’s clear which one is more favored at home.

Especially since both his parents work, Chen Zhanxiong has been basically raised by his sister since childhood. Especially during the holidays, whether he can go out to play basically depends on her sister's words.

Compared with his parents, Chen Zhanxiong is more afraid of his sister.

Because he made his parents anxious, they could still run away if they wanted to beat him, but if his sister wanted to beat him...

She is the one who wins the 1,000-meter championship in every school sports meeting.

Chen Zhanxiong suddenly had an unknown premonition in his heart.

He ran over quickly and heard Duan Qingen talking.

The little boy, who was as big as a pea, was wearing clean and neat clothes. He had a fair, tender and beautiful face and asked his sister yearningly:

"Sister Chuchu, do you still have the tape you gave to Chen Zhanxiong last time? I wanted to listen to it last time, but Chen Zhanxiong accidentally lost it and couldn't borrow it. Sister Chuchu, if you still have it, you can lend it to me. Shall I listen to it? It’s the tape.”

Chen Chuchu saw Duan Qingen coming over and put down his pen and listened to him with a smile. After understanding what he said, Chen Chuchu said: "..."

The smile on the girl's face gradually disappeared.

She took a deep breath and gently asked the little Doudin in front of her:

"Qing En, did you really see my tape at Chen Zhanxiong's place?"

Duan Qingen nodded and said crisply: "Yes, Chen Zhanxiong brought it to school last time and said that you bought it from Sister Chuchu."

Chen Chuchu's expression gradually became irritable.

She stood up suddenly, looked at her brother who was looking at her in horror from a distance, and ran over.

"Chen Zhanxiong, you little bastard!! How dare you take my tape! I bought it after saving for a long time! That's awesome! You even lost it!!"

"Don't run!! I have to beat you to death today!!!"

Fifteen minutes later, Chen Zhanxiong was caught and beaten by his sister, and his cries resounded throughout the entire courtyard.

Duan Qingen ran back to the alley with Zheng Yuxuan.

A group of children were cautiously raising their heads to watch the boss being beaten. When they saw Duan Qingen coming, they all stared at him with hatred and vigilance, as if he was some kind of poisonous creature.

Duan Qingen named another person:

"Zhang Ziqiang, you are not allowed to call Yuxuan's father a monster again, do you understand?"

Zhang Ziqiang is the second oldest child in their small group. When Chen Zhanxiong cannot come out, he is the one who takes the other children to play together.

Seeing Duan Qingen say this, his heart beat loudly as he listened to Chen Zhanxiong's howling cry.

But he still said firmly: "Why should I listen to you? No! I'm going to scream!"

Duan Qingen looked at him with squinted eyes. When he was about to get angry, the first grader pulled Zheng Yuxuan away again.

This time he ran directly to Zhang Ziqiang's house, knocked on the door, and saw Zhang's mother coming out. He raised his head and asked.

"Auntie, where did you buy the big top you bought for Zhang Ziqiang? I also want my mother to buy one for me."

Zhang’s mother looked puzzled: “What kind of spinning top?”

Duan Qingen: "It's the big top that costs ten yuan. He bought it last week and keeps it at school. He said you bought it for him. Auntie, where did you buy it?"

Mother Zhang immediately remembered that she had lost ten yuan inexplicably last week.

At that time, she had just come back from outside. She put her coat on the chair and ten dollars in her pocket. When she saw it was gone, she thought she had accidentally lost it outside.

A big spinning top for ten dollars...

Five minutes later, Zhang Ziqiang was carried home by the angry mother Zhang, holding her by the ears and scolding her all the way.

After Duan Qingen returned, he looked at the third largest person in the small group again.

The little boy who was only seven and a half years old quietly took a step back: "..."

He swallowed and said cautiously: "I will never call Zheng Yuxuan's father a monster again."

"I'll never say it again!"

Duan Qingen squinted his eyes again to look at the other children.

"We won't say it anymore, we really won't say it anymore."

"Don't look at me, I never said that."

Once you have mastered the technique of filing a complaint, you will definitely be able to file a complaint accurately.

Whistleblowers are always annoying.

But when you are the one who complained...

Hehe, it’s really cool.