It was the beginning of October when we left the border city.
The scenery outside the border city is monotonous, with sand and gravel everywhere.
Occasionally, there are small mounds and hills.
Because there is no rainfall all year round, there are very few trees growing here.
Even if there were any, the leaves have all fallen off this season, leaving only the bare trunk.
After walking for a while, Tuanzi finally woke up.
When he opened his eyes, he found that he was not in bed, and looked around with some fear.
"Daddy..." Tuanzi quickly got up.
At this time, the bed curtain was drawn open, and Tuanzi saw his father.
"Tuanzi is awake?" Su Qingyun asked with a smile.
As soon as he saw his father, Tuanzi was no longer afraid, "Wake up!"
Su Qingyun sat down beside the bed and took the clothes beside her and put them on Tuanzi.
Tuanzi obediently stretched out his hands and feet, and tilted his head back to let his father put the sweater on him.
There is still a hint of early autumn in October, but the mornings and evenings are already quite cool.
Tuanzi is still little, so he needs to wear his little sweater.
"Mom, where is this place?" Tuanzi looked around and asked curiously.
"Forgot again? This is our family's carriage." Su Qingyun smiled and said, "Okay, come and put on your shoes."
After putting on clothes and shoes, Er Teng brought warm water for Tuanzi to brush his teeth and wash his face.
After finishing, Tuanzi grabbed a bun in one hand and ran to find his father.
"Daddy!" Tuanzi ran out and plopped on his daddy's back.
"Have you had breakfast?" Lu Changge supported the kid with his backhand and took him aside.
"Eat it, Daddy, look at the big bun!" Tuanzi showed the bun in his hand to his daddy.
"Go in and eat. There's dirt outside."
Although there was no wind, the dust raised by the carriage as it passed was still a bit heavy.
Tuanzi was coaxed into the carriage by his father, and ate two buns and a pancake, as well as a box of strawberry milk given by his father.
After drinking the last bit of strawberry milk, Tuanzi burped.
"belch!"
When Erbao heard it, he also started to learn it with a "hiccup" sound, and he even started to laugh as he learned.
"Brother, don't imitate me!" Tuanzi's face turned red because of his brother's laughter, and he stretched out his hand to tickle him.
"Ah... cluck cluck... Guoguo!" Erbao was lying on the bed laughing. When he saw his brother trying to tickle him, he quickly crawled away.
After playing with his brother for a while, Tuanzi ran to find his father again.
The scenery outside remains unchanged, with only yellow earth remaining.
Tuanzi sat outside for a while and felt bored, so he got back into the carriage.
At noon, the carriage did not stop.
For lunch, they had steamed buns and stuffed buns, accompanied by previously cooked rice soup.
After lunch, Tuanzi lay on the bed and played with his younger brother.
After a while, the two brothers fell asleep with their heads touching, holding their baby Pearl.
Su Qingyun was sitting outside the carriage. After a long time, she didn't hear the voices of Tuanzi and Erbao, so she went over to take a look.
Seeing that they were all asleep, I took out the small quilt and covered them.
Tuanzi moved a lot when he fell asleep, and Su Qingyun was worried that he would fall off the bed, so she pulled up the wooden railing outside the bed.
Lu Changge and Su Fu were not the only ones who left.
Those who could afford it would buy a small horse-drawn carriage or a wooden cart, which was usually pulled by a mule.
There were no other options, so they could only rely on their own two legs to reach the next city.
Therefore, the two dark horses including Lu Changge stood out in the team.
A horse is faster than a mule.
By the afternoon, Lu Changge and his team had left the others far behind.
Looking back, I could only vaguely see small black dots representing their figures moving.
After walking for another half an hour, Lu Changge found a suitable place and stopped the carriage.
Brother Su, who was following behind, saw this and pulled the reins to turn the horse in another direction and parked side by side.
"Brother, would you like to rest here tonight?" Su Fuyun turned around and looked around and asked.
"Yeah." Lu Changge responded and got off the carriage.
As soon as the carriage stopped, Dahei and Erhei jumped off impatiently and chased and played around nearby, releasing their nature.
After being stuck in the carriage for a whole day, they were already getting tired of sitting there.
The carriage stopped and everyone got out.
As soon as Tuanzi's feet touched the ground, he couldn't wait to run to Dahei and Erhei.
"Big Black and Second Black! Wait, wait a minute..."
Su Fuyun, who was standing by, saw this and quickly shouted, "Tuanzi, don't run away. Come back quickly!"
Seeing that Tuanzi seemed not to have heard and was still running away, Su Fuyun hurriedly chased after him.
Brother Su helped Father Su and Doctor Xu down and brought them a small stool.
"This carriage is so tiring." Old Doctor Xu got off the carriage, stretched his old arms and legs, and said with emotion.
"Who said it wasn't true..." Su's father nodded in agreement.
After sitting in the carriage for a whole day, I felt uncomfortable all over.
After carrying his wife and Erbao down, Lu Changge called Brother Su to start moving things.
Pots, bowls, pans, and other utensils were placed in the compartment on the top of the carriage.
Remove the interlayer boards and use them to set up the tent tonight.
He then took down the folding table and chairs, and Brother Su, who was standing next to the carriage, took them over.
After everything was arranged, Dahei and Erhei, who had just run away, also came back dragging two dead trees.
Also coming back was Su Fuyun holding a dumpling.
"Brother, Dahei and Erhei are so amazing!" As soon as Su Fuyun came back, he couldn't help but share with others what he had just seen.
"They can actually pick the wood, and they pick only the best ones."
Hearing his uncle say this, Tuanzi seemed to be proud and shouted in praise: "Dahei and Erhei are the best!"
Hearing the praise from their little master, Dahei and Erhei let go of the dead tree in their mouths and barked to indicate that they heard it.
The big tail was swinging back and forth happily.
The dead tree was dragged back, and Lu Changge took out his machete and started chopping the wood.
Brother Su and Su Fuyun, on the other hand, went to look for stones to build a stove.
After Tuanzi came back, he went to see his grandfather and Doctor Xu.
His father and brother were also there.
After the simple stove was set up and the firewood was chopped, Lu Changge began to cook dinner.
Although Brother Su's carriage was not small, it was still not big enough to accommodate four people.
So their food was placed on Lu Changge's carriage.
As for dinner during this period, we probably ate it together.
Before setting off, Doctor Xu went to the inner city to buy enough dry grain and rice.
It is inconvenient to cook rice outside, and they don’t have much water prepared.
So for dinner today, they still prepared the dry food themselves.
Served with a bowl of freshly cooked egg drop soup.
Lu Changge took out another can of spicy diced radish and asked them to eat it with the cakes.
"Brother, what is this? It's spicy, crispy and delicious..." As he said that, Su Fuyun scooped another spoonful and stuffed it into the pancake.
"Diced radish, homemade." Lu Changge looked back and said.
Then he turned back and continued stirring the millet porridge in the earthenware pot.
Erbao can’t eat cakes or buns, so millet porridge is made for him.
Of course, Lu Changge put in a few more handfuls of rice and cooked some for Tuanzi and his wife as well.
Even though we were outside, we couldn't just take care of the food for the children and daughter-in-law.
While cooking porridge, Lu Changge did not forget to take the time to eat dinner.
Everyone was eating, even my brother was busy eating.
Only Erbao was sitting there watching, and he instantly became unhappy.
"Daddy... ah daddy, this time..." Erbao waved his little hands and feet, indicating that he wanted to eat too.
Tuanzi, who was slurping his egg drop soup, heard this and looked up at his father, "Daddy, my little brother is hungry!"
"Got it." Lu Changge said without turning his head.
Erbao heard his brother's voice and turned his gaze over.
"Pot...Pot...Ci!" Erbao stretched out his little hand to his brother and leaned forward with his upper body.
However, Erbao was sitting on a small rattan chair, and his front and two short legs were trapped by the sticking out rattan.
Lu Changge also stretched out one foot and stepped on the small rattan chair.
No matter how much Erbao moves, the small rattan chair cannot be overturned.
"Is Erbao too hungry?" Doctor Xu, who was standing by, saw it and laughed.
"He wants to try everything he sees." Father Su couldn't help laughing.
Speaking of children, Doctor Xu turned the topic to the Su Fuyun brothers.
"My dear, your two sons are not young anymore. It's time for them to get married after they settle down, right?"
If you were serving a sentence in a border city before, it would be best not to get married, as it would be difficult for you to support yourself.
But now that they are no longer criminals, it is time for them to consider starting a family.
"Talk about marriage..." When Father Su heard him say this, he was also stunned. He really had not thought of this.
Su Qingyun, who was standing by, heard this and looked over.
However, the Su Fuyun brothers did not react at all.
"It's up to them to decide. I won't interfere." Father Su glanced at his eldest and youngest sons who showed no reaction and smiled.
Over there they were discussing the Su Fuyun brothers getting married, and over here, Erbao's porridge was ready.
Lu Changge took the pottery pot down, used a branch to stir the fire, and pulled out five roasted sweet potatoes.
I picked a small one, peeled it, took out the sweet and soft sweet potato inside and put it in a bowl.
He scooped another half bowl of porridge into the bowl and mixed the soft rice porridge and sweet potatoes evenly.
The porridge is still a little hot, so put it on the table to cool down.
Erbao got anxious when he saw his daddy taking his small bowl away.
"Daddy...the bowl!" Erbao pointed at the bowl on the table, wanting his dad to take it back.
"Boil it and eat it later." Lu Changge washed his hands and then picked up Erbao.
“Ci Ci…” Erbao’s eyes were still on the bowl, and his saliva was flowing out.
The porridge cooked by Lu Changge was not enough for everyone, so he scooped half a bowl for his wife and Tuanzi each, and saved the rest for Erbao to drink in the evening.
After dinner, the sky gradually darkened.
Next to them, there was a large pile of branches that Dahei and Erhei had bitten back.
After dark, they lie down beside the fire and keep watch.
Ordinary horse-drawn carriages are not suitable for rest, especially for the elderly.
Lu Changge set up a tent next to the fire, which could barely accommodate three people.
Finally, Brother Su rested in the carriage, while Father Su, Doctor Xu and Su Fuyun slept in the tent.
On Lu Changge's side, there is a place to sleep in the carriage.
It’s just that Lu Changge is a little too big to squeeze in, so he can only lie outside with a blanket.
After a day's journey, everyone fell asleep soon after lying down.
Dahei and Erhei were lying beside the fire, opening their eyes from time to time, indicating that they were not asleep.
A dreamless night.
I woke up the next day, had breakfast, packed my things, and set off.
The carriage was moving very fast, and by noon, Lu Changge and his group caught up with the team that had left a day earlier.
Tuanzi poked his head out and looked back, asking, "Father, why don't they leave?"
"Because they have to stop to eat." Su Qingyun said as he took out today's lunch from the memory card.
She took out enough food for the three of them, closed the lunch box, and gave it to her husband.
"Then why don't we stop?" Tuanzi shrank back, lowered the curtains, and asked again.
"We have a carriage, so we don't have to stop."
"Oh!" Tuanzi nodded and understood.
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