122. 122 I remember your voice.
"Mom, do you often catch colds and fevers? This awful weather! It's so cold at night I have to cover myself with two blankets, and I sweat even wearing just a jacket at noon. But if I take it off and put on short sleeves, the wind makes me a bit cold. I don't know what to wear to be comfortable." Xiao Yuan complained irritably, but he also felt that his mother was working too hard. He was thinking of persuading her to transfer back to an office.
Su Yu pulled up her sleeves and raised her arm to show her son her biceps. "I caught a cold several times in the six months since I came here, and I never stopped taking medicine. But after six months, I got better. Partly because I adapted, and partly because my body got better. I work every day and it's great exercise. Do you believe I can still carry you on my back?"
With a whoosh, Xiao Yuan's eyes lit up, and he moved his legs, showing a hint of eagerness. But after glancing at the people around him shoveling straw into the sand, he felt a little embarrassed and stammered, "Never mind, I'm quite heavy. I'm afraid I'll make you fall and my dad will beat me."
"Don't talk like I've ever hit you. Don't smear me." Ning Jin scoffed at him.
"I'm afraid of the first time because I've never done it before," Xiao Yuan chuckled and ran off with the shovel on his shoulder.
But he was really tempted, so on his way home at noon, he kept looking at his mother's back and said, "Mom, come on, I'll give you a chance to throw me to the ground on my back." He shamelessly said.
Su Yu handed the shovel to Ning Jin, bent her legs to stand firmly, and opened her arms, saying, "Come on, Mom definitely won't let you fall."
The 1.8-meter-tall young man was perched on his 1.63-meter-tall mother's back, his legs bent so low they were almost dragging on the ground. After walking about five meters, he offered to get down, biting his lower lip and smiling, "Strongwoman, from now on I'll call you Strongwoman. Come on, let me carry you." He bent down and looked back at her.
“I don’t want you to carry me. Your dad carries me now. It’s your turn when he gets too old to carry me.” Su Yu refused. “If you want to carry someone, go find a girlfriend.”
Xiao Yuan scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You're already in your forties or fifties, why are you acting like a lovey-dovey young man in his twenties?"
"There are young men in their twenties who want to be affectionate but don't have a girlfriend. If they want to cheat on their partner, they have to ask their mothers. If their mothers refuse, they feel jealous and keep complaining."
Ning Jin followed behind, carrying two shovels and watching the show. One moment the mother and son were showing affection, the next they were arguing. It was just that some of the young people were too slow to get out of character, and could only stare wide-eyed, speechless.
In winter, instead of planting trees or grass, they just stomp straw in the sand to prevent wind erosion and stabilize the sand. The process is very fast; they keep stomping without stopping. At first, Xiao Yuan was very unaccustomed to it. After half a day, his neck and feet ached, and he had to ask his dad to massage his shoulders after taking a bath at night.
"They've brought in an old man," Ning Jin complained.
“I’m not worthy. If you don’t believe me, call your eldest son over. He’ll pee seven or eight times in half a day, and then he’ll need to drink water. He doesn’t even do as much work as I do in an hour. Hey, Dad, if you push me any harder, I’ll be bedridden tomorrow.” He grumbled through gritted teeth. When his mother came in, he complained, “Mom, look at Dad. I told him Ping’an doesn’t like to work, and he got upset and pinched my arm until it was bruised. Everyone knows Ping’an doesn’t like to work, but I’m not allowed to mention it?”
"I won't get involved in the affairs of you three, father and sons. Don't talk to me about it, I don't understand."
"You miscalculated, you brat." Ning Jin tightened his grip, making him scream and struggle to escape.
"This kid has become quite the chatterbox now. You wouldn't have noticed it in previous years. I wonder if Ping An had already said everything he wanted to say back then. In the last two years since we separated, no one has spoken up for him anymore, so he's become quite sharp-tongued."
"Personality influences each other, but also leads to competition. When they are together, if both are talkative, one will always seem weaker. So, one is active and the other is quiet, and they live in peace. But when they are apart, the consequences of their mutual influence become apparent."
"You mean they're secretly competing? I didn't realize they were such good friends." Ning Jin said in surprise.
"It's not about competing with each other secretly. It's good to have a good relationship, but there is still some comparison. We will spontaneously choose the state that is more suitable for getting along, and only when we achieve a balance can we have a good relationship."
So it's better to separate. People can't be one-dimensional. Take Xiaoyuan, for example. He's used to being quiet, reserved, and meticulous in front of familiar people, so he can't unleash his lively and talkative nature. It's not just that he's afraid others will be surprised or uncomfortable, but he himself feels awkward.
Ning Jin understood immediately. He was also rude and fierce when he was driving a car and showed no mercy to his parents and brothers, but he had never shown either of these traits in front of Su Yu.
Even as the Lunar New Year approached and everyone was preparing to go home, Su Yu's letter to the Southern Hope Newspaper still hadn't received a response. She didn't know if it had been rejected or if the year-end rush had kept it from being approved.
But she should go back now. Ping An has already sent two letters urging her to return, saying that if she doesn't go back soon, he will take the train to pick her up.
"Finally back! I was so bored waiting. And my dad, you left, fine, but why did you clear the house out? When I got back and opened the door, all I saw were tables, chairs, and a bare bed frame. There wasn't even a blanket. The bicycle was gone too. I had to borrow a neighbor's bike to go to my aunt's house and get two blankets. Otherwise, I would have had to sleep in the snow." Ping An complained as soon as he saw someone, put his arm around his dad's back, and muttered, "Did you plan not to come back when you left?"
“That’s exactly what I meant. I figured you guys don’t come back often, and I’d be even less inclined to come back after I left. The bicycle was getting worse and worse, so I sold it while it still had some value. As for the bedding and clothes, your uncles took them all. I figured the bedding had been there for years, so I just let them have it. You bought new bedding? You’ve run out of money? Shall I get you some?” Ning Jin looked at his son and pretended to reach into his pocket.
"You really want it?" Seeing Ping An reach out without hesitation, he smiled irritably, readily pulled out his money, and asked, "How much?"
“You can give me whatever you think is appropriate.” Ping An pulled Xiao Yuan over and gestured for him to reach out as well. “Why aren’t you being proactive when someone’s offering you money? Are you getting special treatment in the Northwest?” He looked at the three of them with feigned suspicion.
"Oh, right, I got special treatment, Mom carried me on her back, and Dad massaged my shoulders, so I don't need the money, I'll compensate you with it all." Xiao Yuan raised his eyebrows provocatively.
"Wow! Is it really true?" Ping An jumped up and asked loudly, the money he had just received no longer appealing. "Great, great..."
He struggled to speak for a while, then glanced sideways at the three people who still had the nerve to smile, and said angrily, "You guys really know how to live frugally."
"Why aren't you saying anything?" He waited for a long time but didn't get the answer he wanted, so he walked backwards and pressed the person who was smiling but not answering.
"What are you saying? Xiao Yuan is telling the truth." Ning Jin looked at his son, who was suddenly acting like a child, and deliberately teased him to see what he would say next.
"Mom, what about you?" Ping An asked the other person, turning her head slightly.
"Should I pay too?"
"Then give it to me. I'll call you Mother. You can decide what to give me." Ping An angrily reached out her hand.
Su Yu didn't miss his darting eyes. She took out a roll of money from her bag, pulled out five bills, handed them to him, and asked, "So short of money? Got a girlfriend and need to please her?"
"Never mind, I refuse to talk to you right now." But his unease betrayed him.
Tsk, the big pig has matured and has found a pretty girl he likes.
Su Yu didn't press the matter. Seeing that Ning Jin hadn't noticed anything amiss, she didn't bring it up either. Instead, she said, "I'll carry you on my back whenever you help me stomp straw in the sand."
"Never mind then." He was distressed whenever the topic of labor came up, but generously said, "Let Xiao Yuan have it. He's the younger brother, so I'll give him this good opportunity."
“Dad, what did I tell you? Look at your eldest son, isn’t he lazy? If he had been born thirty years earlier, he would have been a lazy bum who cheated and swindled in the fields.” Xiao Yuan, as if he had caught Ping An by the tail, quickly showed it to the person who was unwilling to admit it.
“You’re right.” Ning Jin nodded readily. “I’m such a diligent person, I don’t know how I ended up with a lazybones.”
"Su Yu is back?" Upon entering the alley and seeing their neighbors, the group tacitly stopped bickering and warmly greeted the aunties and uncles.
"Is this a new child in our alley? I don't even know her. Little one, come on, come home with Auntie, Auntie will give you some candy." Su Yu bent down to tease a little girl with rosy cheeks. Seeing that she actually took her hand, she couldn't help but laugh: "Whose child is this? She's quite outgoing and not shy at all."
"Da Bao's daughter," someone said, and the others looked at Su Yu to see her reaction.
"Da Bao?" Su Yu looked at the chubby girl, whose clothes were quite nice, with fine stitching and no patches, and asked uncertainly, "Zhang Da Bao? Du Xiaojuan's eldest son?"
"Yes, that's him. This little girl is only three years old, chubby, and has a good temperament. Da Bao really adores this girl."
"Auntie, candy," the rosy-cheeked girl urged, smacking her lips.
Su Yu was so incredulous that she didn't even bother to correct her address. She took the bag Ning Jin was carrying and gave her two handfuls of candy, filling the two pockets in the front of her smock. Then she was surrounded by a group of children, all calling her "Auntie."
“He looks a bit like Xiao Hu. I remember Xiao Hu also had a round head and round face when he was little,” Ning Jin said as she entered the room.
"Maybe it's hereditary round face. Er Ya has grown to a normal size now, and her face is still round. But Da Ya seems to never gain weight. She works in a restaurant and still looks very thin." Ping An is also in Northeast China. He is in school, while Er Ya is already working. She even brought him some things to visit him and told his classmates that she was his cousin.
Su Yu sighed and didn't say anything. She could only say that Er Ya and her sister were unlucky to have met a heartless mother. Da Bao's personality was generally recognized as being seven or eight parts like Du Xiaojuan's, but after he got married and had a daughter, the little girl was favored by her mother, and Da Bao's attitude changed accordingly.
In a few days it will be 1986, and in another year Er Ya's father and Er Bao should be released from prison. I just hope that their personalities have changed, but if they haven't, it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. Apart from her family, no one else knows the address of Er Ya and her two siblings.
The day after returning home, Su Yu and Ning Jin took their two sons to visit their parents at their third sister's house on foot. When they went out in the morning, they bumped into Da Bao's wife. Su Yu noticed that she was staring at her, so she nodded without saying anything, turned her face away, and left the alley.
"That's your grandfather's voice." As soon as they entered the village, Su Yu heard her father's unhurried voice and joked, "The old man is probably judging a family dispute."
When you're in your sixties or seventies, you get most annoyed by these trivial arguments. The older you get, the more you like to tell people about the cases you've judged for others. When you get old, your personality becomes like a child's, and you like to attract everyone's attention to yourself.
"Grandpa!" Xiao Yuan ran over first and stood on the road, calling out, "Grandpa, look who's back! Do you still recognize me?"
"Oh, my grandson is back! I've been waiting for him, I can't chat with you anymore." Old Su got up from his chair, leaning on his cane, wiped his eyes with a handkerchief, and said to his grandson who came over, "My eyesight is failing and I can't recognize people, but I remember your voice."
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