Childhood
"Look!" Luo Yu grumbled, pointing at Luo Zeping and saying, "You don't even need to brush your teeth! Dad, you're a bad guy, forcing me to do things I don't like every day."
Then he shook his body and opened his fists: "One day I will become Ultraman Tiga and destroy you!"
Luo Zeping held his forehead and sighed, then said seriously, "Since neither of you has brushed your teeth, go brush them together now. The toothbrushes I bought you last time were a pair, so go get the other one for the kid to use."
Seeing that his father was very serious, Luo Yu didn't dare to refuse anymore. He put away his attitude and went back to his room angrily to take out the other toothbrush from the drawer. In just a few steps, he hummed at least ten times.
Luo Zeping shook his head, thinking that the child was really naughty. He said to Guanzi, "Boy, you have to brush your teeth. Otherwise, it's bad for them. Oh, you don't have any front teeth, right?"
Guanzi said, "Well, my front teeth have been falling out for almost a year."
"What?"
"What?"
Xu Xiaoxia and Luo Zeping were both shocked.
Xu Xiaoxia squatted down to check Guanzi's teeth. After confirming that Guanzi's front teeth had not grown at all, she looked at Luo Zeping with a puzzled expression.
This is very unusual. Normal children's front teeth will grow back within half a year after they fall out, but Guanzi said that his front teeth have fallen out for a year, but there is no sign of regrowth at all.
Luo Zeping said, "Guanzi, could it be that you remembered it wrongly?"
Guan Zi shook his head: "No, I lost it on the Mid-Autumn Festival last year. It hurt a lot. I remember it very clearly."
Seeing how thin he was, Xu Xiaoxia suddenly thought of something. Thinking back to the environment when she went to his house yesterday, she said, "Boy, do you usually just have a simple meal with grandma?"
As soon as she said this, Luo Zeping understood.
This is probably due to malnutrition.
Guanzi smiled innocently: "Well, I eat whatever grandma eats."
At this time, Luo Yu had already found the toothbrush, and he interrupted: "Found it, kid, let's go brush our teeth, and then we can have buns and soy milk."
Xu Xiaoxia looked at Guanzi with eyes full of pity, but this was not something she could change. She touched Guanzi's head and said, "Go and brush your teeth with Luo Yu. After that, we'll have breakfast and then cake at noon."
Guanzi didn't expect that he could still eat buns. In his memory, the price of waste collection was two cents higher per kilogram two years ago, and his grandmother would buy buns three or four times a month that year.
So much time has passed that he almost forgot the taste of buns, but one thing he remembered was that they were sweet.
Now Aunt Xu wants to give it to him, but he is a little hesitant to accept it, because he has eaten Aunt Xu's cake today, and now he wants to eat her buns. Is this too much?
But grandma said that I should eat whatever Aunt Xu gives me, so... okay, I'll eat it anyway.
Guanzi nodded: "Okay."
Seeing that he took so long to answer, Xu Xiaoxia guessed that he must be embarrassed, so she said, "Don't be shy. From now on, you must come to your aunt's house often to play. Auntie will make delicious food for you every day."
Guanzi felt his face was a little itchy, so he scratched it a few times.
By the pool at the door, there was a red bench under Guan Ziluo's feet.
Luo Yu opened the children's toothpaste, squeezed a thumbful of it onto the bristles of the toothbrush, handed one to Guan Zi, and said, "You can brush now."
The toothpaste was pink with gold dots. Guanzi had never seen such a toothpaste before. He picked it up and smelled it out of curiosity.
It smells so good. I really want to eat it.
Luo Yu had already started brushing his toothbrush. Seeing that Guan Zi hadn't moved and had been holding the toothbrush to his nose and sniffing, he said, "What's wrong? Doesn't the strawberry smell good? We have a cantaloupe flavored one at home. I'll get it for you."
Luo Yu jumped off the bench and rushed into the house, shouting, "Mom, I want to use cantaloupe-flavored toothpaste. This strawberry-flavored one doesn't smell good."
It was too late for Guanzi to stop it, as it fell too fast.
Xu Xiaoxia stopped biting the bun in her hand halfway, wondering what her son was up to. But as long as he wasn't doing anything bad, it wasn't a big deal if he made some noise occasionally.
She stood up, went over to open the cantaloupe-flavored toothpaste in the bathroom shelf, tore off the sealing film, and handed it to the child with foam in his mouth under her.
The child with foam in his mouth took the toothpaste and immediately rushed out to hand it to his new friend.
The new friend didn't take it. The child was a little disappointed and asked aggrievedly, "What's the matter? You don't like cantaloupe flavor either?"
Guan Zi shook his head: "No, I like the strawberry flavor too. I just thought it smelled so good and wanted to smell it for a while longer, so I didn't brush it."
Luo Yu suddenly understood and let out a long sigh, "So that's how it is. I thought you hated the taste of strawberries."
Guanzi said: "No, I like strawberry flavor very much."
Luo Yu said, "This one in my hand is cantaloupe flavored. Do you want to try it?"
Guanzi hesitated for a few seconds and nodded: "I want to."
The foam in Luo Yu's mouth had already disappeared as he spoke. He said, "Then hurry up and brush your teeth with the strawberry-flavored toothpaste. Then I'll squeeze out the cantaloupe-flavored one for you and you can brush your teeth again."
"Wow, you're really smart." Xu Xiaoxia came out and said, "Can't we just make the cantaloupe flavored ones tomorrow?"
Luo Yu thought so too. He smiled and said, "Let's make the cantaloupe flavor tomorrow. Today we'll make the strawberry flavor."
Guanzi hummed.
After brushing their teeth, the two children sat on the solid wooden sofa in the living room, holding a bun in one hand and a cup of soy milk in the other, eating with relish and enjoying themselves very much.
The house where the Luo family lives is a small two-story suite. Luo Zeping has already gone upstairs to organize materials for this year's school. They are from Lingcheng and were transferred here for work to teach in the primary school for two years.
Xu Xiaoxia locked the door and went upstairs, leaving the two children playing on the first floor.
Luo Yu entered the room and took out his private collection of rare Ultraman gift boxes: "Boy, which Ultraman do you like? I'll give you one."
Guanzi didn't say anything. He had only heard of Ultraman, but didn't know that there were so many types of Ultraman.
"What's the matter?" Luo Yu saw that he didn't answer, thinking that Guanzi disliked his stinginess, so he said, "Do you think one is too few? Well, then I'll give you two."
"Oh no, no, no." Guan Zi quickly waved his hand to refuse: "No, I don't know Ultraman, I don't mean to think it's too little."
Luo Yu uttered a "Ha!", as if he couldn't believe that there was someone in this world who didn't know Ultraman. He said, "Don't you watch TV?"
Guanzi said, "I don't have a TV at home."
Luo Yu was puzzled again. There were people who didn't have a TV at home. He said, "In that case, the TV in my house will be your TV from now on."
He picked up the remote control on the coffee table and turned on the CRT TV.
This TV was there when they moved in. At first, he was not used to it because it was so different from the LCD HD TVs in Lingcheng. But his mother said that they would only live here for two or three years and would not buy a new one.
Luo Yu held the remote control and kept changing channels: "Whatever you like to watch, I'll change it for you."
Guanzi thought for a moment and said, "Snow White."
Luo Yu laughed and said, "These are shows for girls. We boys should watch Ultraman, Seer, and Boonie Bears!"
Guanzi said, "Then I want to watch Ultraman."
Luo Yu cut to the Ultraman channel. On the TV screen, a monster was destroying the earth. Ultraman was about to appear!
The two of them sat in front of the TV with their eyes wide open, watching with fascination.
When Xu Xiaoxia went downstairs to get the cake and came back, she saw the two of them still watching TV and couldn't help but interrupt them: "Hey hey hey! Do you want to eat cake or watch TV?"
Luo Yu turned around and gave Xu Xiaoxia a look: "We want both! Mom, please cut the cake for us. We want to eat while we watch."
Xu Xiaoxia said sternly, "No, you can't have your cake and eat it too. It will only develop bad habits in you. You can only choose one."
Luo Yu got up from the ground: "Then I want to eat cake. Boy, I'm going to turn off the TV, let's go eat cake."
Guanzi is so engrossed in watching Ultraman at this moment that he is not even looking forward to the taste of the cake. He just wants to continue watching the monsters destroying the earth and Ultraman taking action to clean it up. This is so cool!
But he was an outsider, and it was rare for him to take advantage of Aunt Xu's family so much. Guanzi said, "Okay."
After turning off the TV, Guan Ziluo and Xu Xiaoxia went into the kitchen and sat down, waiting for Xu Xiaoxia to cut the cake for them.
Xu Xiaoxia ordered a six-inch fruit cake with strawberries, blueberries, green grapes, and green citrus on top, which looked delicious and tempting.
Guanzi swallowed and his flat stomach began to rumble.
Luo Yu's hearing was very good. He heard Guan Zi's stomach growling. He said, "Mom, cut a super big piece for the kid. His stomach is growling."
Xu Xiaoxia smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I'll cut it into super big pieces for you kid."
Guanzi's face started to itch again.
Xu Xiaoxia cut most of the six-inch cake and gave it to Guanzi. Guanzi took it, said thank you, and started to taste it.
The moment he put the cake in his mouth, his heart seemed to be sweet. The fragrant and sweet cream melted in his mouth, the cake base was soft and fluffy, and the fruit was fresh and delicious. The cake was really delicious.
Gotta take it to grandma to try!
Guanzi stood up and said to Xu Xiaoxia, "Auntie, I want to give the cake to my grandma. I have to go back now."
Xu Xiaoxia was touched by his words: "No, no, just stay here and eat with Luo Yu, and I'll take it to your grandma."
Guanzi shook his head: "I want to deliver it myself." He wanted to taste it with his grandma.
Seeing that he insisted, Xu Xiaoxia gave up. She put the tableware and the remaining cake back into the box, then handed it to Guanzi and said, "Remember to finish it quickly, otherwise the cream will melt and it won't taste good. Besides, children should visit each other. How about Luo Yu come to your house to play tomorrow?"
Guanzi wanted to nod, but then he remembered that there were no toys at home, only bottles and cans. He frowned, not knowing whether he should refuse it.
"What's the matter?" Xu Xiaoxia saw his doubts.
Guanzi said, "I don't have any toys at home. It's not fun."
Xu Xiaoxia couldn't help but laugh when she saw that this was the reason he was hesitant and refused to agree. "Who says that children have to have toys to play with each other? You can take Luo Yu to pick up bottles, or play hide-and-seek with Luo Yu. Aren't those all possible?"
Luo Yu jumped up and down, with cream all over his mouth. He said, "Pick up bottles, pick up bottles. Boy, you have to take me to pick up a lot of bottles tomorrow, hehe..."
Guanzi's face started to itch again. In the past, the children of his age all looked down on him and thought he was dirty. No one wanted to play with him. No matter what he did, they could only watch. If he encountered a few arrogant and domineering children, he would not even be able to watch.
Fortunately, Guanzi has never been bullied. The only reason is that people think he is unlucky and are afraid that if they meet him, they will become as unlucky as him.
When Guanzi got home, his grandmother was sorting cans and plastic bottles at the door. The prices of the two were different. Cans were 10 cents each, and plastic bottles were 80 cents per pound.
Guanzi said, "Grandma, I brought the cake. Auntie said we should eat it quickly, otherwise the cream will melt. I will share these bottles, and you can come and eat the cake."
Wang Dajuan gave a toothless, haggard smile: "Okay, okay, then did you say thank you to Aunt Xu?"
Guanzi put the cake on the small table in the living room and said, "Come on, grandma, go and eat it." After that, he helped Wang Dajuan in, sat down on a bench at the door, and started to distribute the bottles.
The cracked cement floor at the entrance was basically filled with bottles and cans, leaving only a small path for electric vehicles and people to pass.
Guanzi started to work and did not finish the division until dusk.
He counted and found that the five sacks of plastic bottles weighed about 50 kilograms and were worth about 40 yuan, and there were 300 cans, which were worth 30 yuan.
And I picked up all these in a week.
Guanzi looked up at the sky. It was dim, but not completely dark yet.
He stood up and went to pick up some more coins to see if he could pick up two more.
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