In his previous life, Xu Ping eventually went to the city, but not during the summer vacation after graduating from elementary school. Instead, he went there after the Spring Festival. At the insistence of his uncle and aunt Xu, he was taken away by Xu Daming and his wife.

The transition from primary school to junior high school naturally wastes time.

What's more, she has no household registration. Not only her, but her younger sister who has always been "fortunate" to be with her parents is also an illegal resident.

However, her little brother Xu Fufu, who was only half a year old, was registered and had a household registration.

After Xu Ping returned to Beijing with her parents, she discovered that she had always thought that her parents worked in a big city and rarely sent money to her grandparents, so they should have a good life. However, when she arrived at where they lived, she found that they only rented a room in a large courtyard in the suburbs of Beijing.

The whole room is only 20 square meters and is divided into two parts by a curtain. When you open the door, you will see a lame table with two bricks on one of the legs. There are some greasy-stained seasoning jars on it. There is also a single-hole gas stove on the table and a small half-meter-high liquefied gas cylinder underneath.

Further in, the tools and equipment from Xu's father's auto repair stall, along with a small key-making machine, took up a large area. Besides that, there was a folding square table provided by the landlord and three small round stools. On weekdays, the three members of the Xu family ate here.

Lifting the curtain that served as a partition and walking inside, there were two iron beds, one large and one small, crammed together, along with a simple non-woven wardrobe. These basically filled the room. Xu Ping, his mother Liu Xiaocui, his younger brother Xu Fufu, and his younger sister Xu An slept on the large bed. Xu Daming slept alone on the small bed.

Four people slept on the 1.5-meter bed, and there was also a half-year-old baby who was afraid of being pressed or bumped. It was so crowded that they didn't even dare to turn over. The next morning, no one slept well. After Liu Xiaocui changed her son's diaper, she went back to take a nap.

Xu Damin made himself a handful of noodles, ate them, and then pushed his cart out of the stall. Liu Xiaocui worked as a housekeeper. Ever since she became pregnant with Xu Fufu and had an ultrasound at a small clinic that confirmed it was a boy, she had stopped working.

Their hometown Chengde is not far from Beijing. There is a train going directly from their county seat. After passing Miyun is Huairou. The place where they live now is in a village southeast of Huairou County seat.

So Xu Ping didn't feel tired at all. She had long been accustomed to the trekking life in the mountains, and she was finally living with her parents. It was also a new environment, so she was very excited.

She got up and sat at the table in the outer room for a while. Seeing that her mother and siblings were still sleeping soundly, she looked around and found that the cement floor of the house was black and greasy, and there were many residues on the gas stove from cooking. The two towels on the washbasin rack at the door were so yellow that their original colors could not be seen. They were all grayish yellow.

Xu Ping's grandmother and second aunt were both capable people. Although their family was poor and shabby, it was definitely not dirty. Influenced by them, Xu Ping also became a very hardworking child.

She looked out the window from inside the house. There was running water in the yard, and there was a solar water tank next to the tap. She saw that people in other rooms were getting hot water from the solar water heater. It should be a public one.

After a while, probably because it was time to go to work, the yard gradually became quiet. Xu Ping held the plastic basin, carefully opened the door, and went to the yard to fill half a basin with warm water.

After washing her face with warm water, she first rubbed out several gray-yellow towels with laundry detergent. The water in the basin could no longer be seen, but the towels showed their original color. One was white, and the other was also white.

After washing the towels, she started scrubbing the floor. She requisitioned the shoe brush on the windowsill outside. After cleaning the floor, she changed the basin of water and started cleaning the stove.

Liu Xiaocui was annoyed by her endless rustling noises. When she got up and looked around, she saw that the outer room was sparkling clean. Her temper instantly disappeared and her mood improved. She even praised her, "Oh, my daughter is really capable!"

Liu Xiaocui herself works as a housekeeper, so logically her home shouldn't be so dirty. But just like a hotel chef who only wants to eat ready-made food after work, the people who cook at home are mostly the chef's wives.

The same is true for Ms. Liu Xiaocui. Moreover, she has not been feeling well in the past year. When she was pregnant, she was an older pregnant woman, and her body functions were not as good as before. She felt very tired all the time and wanted to lie down.

Later, in order to avoid being caught by the Family Planning Commission for having more children than allowed, she ran to her cousin's house in the mountains. She lived there from the sixth month of her pregnancy until Xu Fufu was one month old before leaving her cousin's house.

After returning to the rental house, the two children alone kept her busy every day, so she naturally couldn't take care of the living environment.

But who would refuse a clean and tidy living environment?

Xu Ping received her mother's praise and affirmation as she wished, and she worked even harder. She washed her brother's diaper mustard, her parents and sister's clothes, bed sheets, pillowcases, etc. very frequently, and was good at taking care of her brothers and sisters. After Liu Xiaocui taught her how to use the gas stove, she even took on the cooking chores. She was like a little top all day long, never having a moment to rest.

Liu Xiaocui felt that her eldest daughter was so caring, and even vaguely regretted that she should have taken the child to her side earlier...

Xu Ping became an indispensable member of the family. Her younger brothers and sisters were very attached to her. The neighbors in the same courtyard all praised this little girl for her abilities. Xu Daming and Liu Xiaocui also affectionately called her: "Daughter, Dabao, our daughter, the eldest daughter, etc."

As for the issue of going to school, at first they asked someone to inquire about the tuition fees and policies of nearby middle schools. Later, because Xu Ping was so capable and Liu Xiaocui was motivated to make money after giving birth to a son, she went back to work at the housekeeping company after February. The family really couldn't do without Xu Ping.

Alas, the matter of going to school just ended like that.