The brother and sister followed Grandpa Qi to the kitchen, where a kerosene lamp was lit. Mother Xu was sitting in front of the stove, lighting a fire in an old cotton-padded jacket covered with patches. Xu Mo was sitting on a small stool beside them, wearing an adult cotton-padded jacket that almost reached his ankles and was tied with a rope in the middle. At the stove, the wife of the benefactor uncle was putting vegetable cakes into the pot.
The footsteps of several people startled the people in the kitchen. They all turned their heads to see the people entering the room. The dim kerosene lamp added a bit of warmth to the dark night. Aunt Xu saw the brother and sister behind Grandpa Qi, their eyes were red, and they were sobbing in silence.
At this time, Xu Mo suddenly stood up, walked to the two of them and looked again and again, and finally walked to Xu An, whose eyes were red, and shouted loudly, "Second brother." Before they could react, he continued, "Second brother, where is my sister? Isn't she with you?"
Xu Ning...
At this time, Father Xu and Uncle Benefactor also came in. When Grandpa Qi and Uncle Benefactor and his wife saw them like this, what was there for them to not understand?
Grandpa Qi sighed and said to Xu's father, "You two can bring the children into the house and talk!"
The benefactor uncle also said at this time, "Come to our house,"
When they entered the house, Xu's mother hugged the two siblings and cried bitterly. Xu's father also hugged them with red eyes.
Xu Mo looked at this and that, and asked again with red eyes, "Second brother, where is my sister?"
A few people hugged each other and cried...
Xu Ning came over, picked him up, and said, "Xiao Mo, don't you recognize your sister? During the Chinese New Year, your sister used her lucky money to buy you candy."
Xu Mo's eyes were red as he said, "You are my sister? Sister, where is your hair? Why is it so short? Why did it turn black?"
Xu Ning... "Black is healthy. The weather is too hot, so my sister cut her hair short. It will grow out after a while," but she thought to herself that she would cut it short even if it grows out. She didn't plan to change her hairstyle before the college entrance examination resumed.
Xu Mo hugged her neck tightly and cried on her shoulder.
After Xu Ning managed to coax Xu Mo to stop crying, they sat on the kang and started talking.
Xu Ning asked her parents what happened and why they were here?
Xu's mother cried and said, "It's my fault. I have implicated you and made you suffer."
Xu's father comforted her, "How can you be blamed for this? You didn't go to Hong Kong with your father-in-law at that time. No matter what happens now, I will not let you down. Our family will always be together."
Xu Ning learned the whole story from his father's narration.
Xu Ning's grandfather, Lin Wenqian, was a businessman before the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 1954, his whole family went to Hong Kong. At that time, Lin Man had already married Xu Minghong and had just given birth to her eldest son, Xu Yang. Lin Man stayed and did not follow her parents and younger brother to Hong Kong. Her father, Lin Wenqian, left a sum of money for his daughter and took his wife and son to Hong Kong.
After his parents and brother left, Lin Man and Xu Minghong taught at Beijing University. Later, they had Xu Ning, Xu An and Xu Mo, and the family lived a happy life. In those years, Xu Minghong's half-brother Xu Mingwei asked him to divorce Lin Man and sever ties with him, but Xu Minghong firmly refused. At that time, Xu Minghong's father was still alive, and Xu Minghong had many students to help him. Although Lin Man was suspended from work and stayed at home, it did not have much impact on their lives. The family lived the same as before until the second half of 1968, when Xu Minghong's father passed away and Xu Mingwei immediately broke off ties with him.
Xu Minghong first arranged for his eldest son Xu Yang to join the army. Looking at the 12-year-old Xu Ning and the nine-year-old Xu An, he was unable to make a decision. He used to have a student from Heilongjiang Province, and he helped recommend his current job, that is Zhao Jianshe's younger brother Zhao Jianguo. He immediately contacted Zhao Jianguo, and Zhao Jianguo called his brother Zhao Jianshe and asked him to find out which brigade and which village had simple folk customs. He only told him that the teacher's child was coming to the countryside and wanted to find a more reliable place. He didn't say anything else.
After listening to him, Xu Ning sighed inwardly and gave a brief account of her and Xu An's situation here, including the fact that they had built a house and now lived by themselves, not with the educated youth.
Then he opened the bag he brought and said, "Mom and Dad, this is the cotton-padded clothes I made for you. I was thinking of waiting for you to contact me and Xu An and then send the clothes to you. Now that you are here, you can put them on first. The winter here is too cold. It hasn't snowed yet, but the temperature can be dozens of degrees below zero at the coldest time."
After that, he took off Xu Mo's clothes first, and put on his cotton jacket and trousers. They fit him well, but were a little big.
When Xu Ning had finished dressing Xu Mo, she saw her parents sitting there still, looking at her with red eyes and saying, "Mom and Dad, change quickly!" When his parents started to change clothes, Xu Ning put the beggar's clothes on Xu Mo. The clothes and pants were a bit long, so Xu Ning rolled up the trouser legs and sleeves twice. Looking back, she saw that his parents had also changed into cotton-padded jackets and pants, and she gave them two sets of beggar's clothes that she and Xu An had pieced together from their old clothes and asked them to put them on.
He said to them, "Mom and Dad, put these two old clothes on the outside so that they can be easily washed if they get dirty while working."
Both of them understood that the more worn out the clothes were, the better, so they put on their clothes and pants.
Xu Ning took two pairs of cotton shoes and said, "Mom and Dad, these are the cotton shoes and socks I bought for you last time at the supply and marketing cooperative. They are defective and do not require invoices. I was going to send them to you together with the cotton clothes. You should change into them quickly. But there is no one for Xiao Mo to wear, so I didn't buy any for him. Here are the cloth and cotton. Mom, please make two pairs for Xiao Mo."
Li Man smiled with tears in her eyes and said, "Okay, Mom will do it. I will do it for you guys in the future."
Xu Ning smiled and said, "Okay, let's make the shoes for my parents and Xiao Mo first. For Xiao An and I, ask the aunt in the village to make two pairs of cotton shoes for each of us. That's enough for us to wear."
Li Man smiled gently and said, "Okay, listen to my daughter."
Xu Ning saw Li Man folding the clothes she had changed out of, so he asked, "Mom, these clothes belong to Grandpa Qi and his family, right?"
Xu An pointed at the big cotton-padded jacket that Father Lin had just worn and said, "This belongs to Grandpa Qi. I see him wearing it often." He then pointed at the long cotton-padded jacket that Xiao Mo had just worn and said, "This belongs to Uncle Benefactor."
Father Xu asked, "Xiao An, why do you call your benefactor uncle?"
Xu Ning and Xu An told Lin's father and mother about their encounter with the wild boar in the mountains. Lin's father and mother immediately pulled them aside and asked, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Xu Ning told them, "Mom and Dad, we are both fine. The uncle just happened to come down from the mountain and killed the wild boar." He then recounted what happened at that time, including that he did not want the wild boar and let the siblings take it away.
Xu Ning added, "Mom and Dad, that uncle and aunt are both good people. They saved us and told us not to talk to them outside, fearing that they would do something bad to us."
Xu An continued on the side, "Grandpa Qi is also a good man.
Father Xu said, "Your Uncle Lu and I are college alumni. He was a few years older than me. When I entered college, he had already graduated. The teachers at school spoke very highly of him. I didn't expect him to be here."
At this time, there was a knock on the door from outside, calling them to go eat first.
When they walked into the kitchen, they saw a pot of dumplings brought by Xu Ning on the table, as well as stir-fried cabbage, shredded radish, scrambled eggs, sweet potato porridge, and vegetable pancakes. Xu Ning knew that these were made to entertain the Xu family members since they had just arrived today.
Father Xu pulled Xu Ning and Xu An over and said, "Hurry up and kowtow to your Uncle Lu. Thank you for saving your life. In the future, you must be filial to your Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu." Xu Ning and Xu An immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu, in the future we will be filial to you, just like we were to our parents." Father Lu quickly pulled the two of them up and said to Father Xu, "Brother Xu, what are you doing? It's not a big deal, you have to make your children kowtow."
Mother Lu also said, "Don't be polite. In a situation like that, anyone can lend a hand. Come sit down and eat." After that, she pulled Xu Ning and his two siblings to sit at the table.
Xu Ning said, "Aunt Lu, Xiao An and I will go back to eat. We still have some dumplings left at home."
Mother Lu said, "Good boy, eat here. Your parents just came today, so sit together and have a reunion dinner."
Grandpa Qi also said, "Let's eat here, everyone, sit down quickly." After Grandpa Qi finished speaking, he sat down at the table first, and Aunt Lu also pulled a few people to sit down.
After dinner, they talked about how to sleep. Since there were only two rooms with kangs, they decided in the afternoon that Dad Xu and Dad Lu would stay in one room with Grandpa Qi, and Mom Xu and Mom Lu would stay in another room with Xiao Mo.
Now Xu Ning and Xu An came over, and Xu Ning said to Grandpa Qi, "Grandpa Qi, can I let my parents live with me first? Come over early in the morning, and let them move in once the kang is ready."
Grandpa Qi nodded and said, "Go ahead, come early in the morning. Old Chen comes every morning to lead the ox cart to the city. Don't run into him. Just let Little Mo play at your place. If anyone asks about him, just say he is delaying the adults from working. I asked you to help take care of him."
The entire Xu family thanked Grandpa Qi, who waved his hand and went into the house.
Mr. and Mrs. Lu sent them to the door and told them what time Old Chen would come in the morning. They should calculate the time and get up. It was cold, so they didn't need to get up so early.
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