After the festival, the snow turned and the muddy road was muddy. I rode hard on the canal dam. It was already past two o'clock in the afternoon when I returned to the county town. I pushed the car and walked into Xizhangzhuang exhausted. The old landlord, who was full of joy, opened the door for me. Seeing me entering the door alone, the old lady stretched her neck in confusion and looked behind me.

"Where is Xiaozhuang's mother? Where is Xiaozhuang? Where are the two of them?" the old lady asked urgently at me.

"I'll come back first, Sister Hong will go back to Dayinzhuang to pick up Xiaozhuang." In order to comfort this enthusiastic old man, I made up a reason casually.

When the old lady heard that Sister Hong was going to pick Xiaozhuang up, her face suddenly burst into laughter: "I had told Xiaozhuang's mother that she would take Xiaozhuang back soon. If you two go to work, the child will be handed over to me and your uncle. We haven't seen this child for more than a year, and I am really thinking in my heart. When Xiaozhuang left, she would call her grandparents. Now she wouldn't forget us, right?"

"How could it be? Don't look at the child's young, but he knows who treats him well. Xiao Zhuang always remembers you in his heart. He always says he misses the grandparents in the city, and yells to come back." In order to make the old lady happy, I continued to say in response to her words.

"We are smart and will definitely have a great future in the future." The old lady smiled and welcomed me into the door, "Look at your mud, it's hard to walk on the road, right? Go back to the house and wash it, change the clothes for me to wash it."

"Auntie, no need, I will wash myself tomorrow." I refused warmly.

When we returned to the east wing where we lived, the windows and windows in the house were cleaned. This was so nice to the old man. As soon as I put down the luggage I brought back, the old lady walked in with two kettles.

"Auntie, this is a little local product brought to the family. You and the uncle try it." I handed my mother a piece of pork belly and a fat salted chicken to the old lady.

"How can this work? Keep it for yourself." The old lady put down the kettle and waved her hands quickly, "You are back, the family is popular, and it's lively. Your uncle is almost looking through his eyes."

"We miss you too." I stuffed the rope that tied the bacon and salted chicken into the aunt's hand. "This is what my parents asked to bring to you. We live here and get the care of you and the uncle. Thank you very much."

"What are you thanks? We are happy from the bottom of our hearts." The old lady took the gift gratefully and pointed around. "After the snow, the sun has been good these two days, and the bedding has been drying for you, so I'm looking forward to you coming back. I'll go cook now, and wait for your uncle to come back for a walk, and you two have a good drink."

From the afternoon, the aunt steamed, cooked, fried and stir-fried in the kitchen, and made a large table of dishes. It seemed that another New Year was over. The old carpenter was naturally very happy to see me coming back early. He traveled all his life and liked to make friends and lively. Because he had no children, he could not stand it anymore. The old carpenter was generous and had a good alcohol tolerance. In order not to dispel his good mood, I also let go of the alcohol tolerance I had developed and drank with him a cup.

"When will Xiaozhuang bring her children back? It's snowing all day long, and it's not easy to walk on the road. Why don't we go and pick them up?" The old man took a few glasses of wine and mentioned Xiaozhuang again when he opened his throat.

"They should come back in the next two days. The snow on the road is almost melting, so we don't need to pick it up again." Although I didn't know when Sister Hong would come back, I answered with certainty.

"I heard that your yarn mill is going to give it to the private sector. Isn't this a mess?" The old carpenter squirted with alcohol with a red face.

"It should be called contract management if it is not called private." I explained it according to the statement in the newspaper.

"Isn't this just a fool to let the state's property go? If it were before, it would have been a crime!" the old carpenter said with squinting eyes.

"I'm all going to do this now. Besides, the factory is not good, so this is probably a solution." I knew I couldn't explain clearly, so I picked up the wine glass in front of me and took another sip.

"The cotton mill is the largest enterprise in our region. It was so prosperous back then. Everyone in your cotton mill walked on the street, all of whom were holding their heads and chests up, which made people envious. Now, why can't it be done if it doesn't work?" The old carpenter put down his chopsticks, lowered his eyes and sighed.

"Now, no one can explain this clearly. I don't know if I can explain it clearly in the future..." When I mentioned the current situation in the factory, I felt nervous. "As for whether the national property has been ruined, we little workers really can't control it. Although we have always said that workers are the owners of the factory, we have never really taken it as a family at any time."

"What if the sponge mill is really given to private people in the future, what should I do if there are thousands of people in your factory?" The old carpenter stared at me with a sad look.

"If it really doesn't work, just lay off. Haven't you started to smash the 'three iron' now?" I felt a little breathless, and I felt a sense of desolation of being slaughtered.

"Child, don't worry. If the yarn mill is really not good, just follow me to learn carpenter. I promise you to become the best carpenter." The old man put down his wine glass and patted me hard on the shoulder, "You have to remember that as a man, no matter how big the matter is, you have to straighten your waist. Don't lie down. You have to support the sky for the little and Zhuang mother."

"What kind of old calendar are you? Who still learns from carpenters now?" The old lady walked in with a piece of food and smiled at her husband with a angrily voice, "Wu Ping has skills and skills, so she is much better than you."

"Don't look down on the carpenter, but with this skill, I have never let you suffer any grievance in my life." Hearing that the aunt suspected her skill, the old man thrust his neck in dissatisfaction.

"Yes, yes, your skills are good and famous. You have never let me suffer in your life." The aunt praised her husband, her eyes delayed, and she looked at me gently, "Your uncle is right. If you are a man, you must stand tall. Even if you and Yin Hong are laid off, don't be afraid. I and your uncle have some savings over the years. You three will live with us, and you will not have to worry for a while."

The aunt's words were like a breeze. I was about to say thank you, but somehow I felt a little choked.

In the middle of the night, I woke up in my thirst, and most of the alcohol had dissipated, and my consciousness began to wake up. The lights in the room were on. Half a bowl of cold boiled water was placed on the square stool beside the bed, and a hot water bottle was placed on the ground. This must have been after I fell asleep drunk. The aunt was afraid that I would be thirsty in the middle of the night, so she carefully placed it here. After drinking the water with gratitude, I pulled out the lights. The moonlight floated in from the window, and the water was smudged on the ground like a water. There was no noise in the daytime, and the occasional barking of dogs added to the tranquility of the fields. The village in the night was really beautiful.

I lost my sleepiness and half leaned against the head of the bed to remember my thoughts. At this moment, I wonder if Sister Hong was also tossing and turning, looking at the moonlight and thinking about me. Why did Sister Hong not come back on time? Is she feeling inconvenient to take Xiaozhuang with her, afraid of causing misunderstandings among the villagers? Or is Xiaozhuang's health unhealthy and her illness worsened? If this is the case, she needs to come back and take him to the provincial capital as soon as possible... Sometimes people can't think randomly, and once they let go, it will be difficult to take back. My heart is churning.

In the following days, Sister Hong still didn't come back. At that time, there was no other contact information except writing letters and telegrams, I felt more and more restless. The old Carpenter was also a little anxious. The old Carpenter proposed to go to Hongjie's house in Hexi. Although I wanted to fly over immediately, when I thought of Sister Hong's concerns, I still suppressed the anxiety in my heart and advised the uncle to wait for another two days. If he went to work on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and Sister Hong and Xiaozhuang didn't come back yet, we would go to Yinjiazhuang, Hexi together.

I went to Senior Brother Xiao Cai's house and was "big Yong". I saw Xiao Meihua on the big forehead there. I asked her when she would come back. Xiao Meihua said embarrassedly that she had come in the third year of junior high school. She wanted to go shopping with Senior Brother Xiao Cai during these days holidays. Senior Brother Xiao Cai asked me why Yin Hong hadn't come together, and I told him that Yin Hong hadn't returned to the city yet. Senior Brother Xiao Cai and Xiao Meihua were both surprised and asked me what the reason was. I told the truth that I couldn't understand. Xiao Meihua asked me again if I had been to their village. I asked her a little alert and heard that she had heard it.

What? She said that before she came back, she heard from Sanhong's brother's mine that she had been numb to beat a man who was trying to make trouble in the mine. I unconsciously stroked her right leg, which was still aching, and asked her if it was said by a guy named Caoshan Mine. She said it was this vulgar thin man. I cursed a swear word. Senior Brother Xiao Cai advised me with a worried look on his face. You are a man with a wife and children now. Don't cause any trouble in an impulse. He heard me tell you that Ergoudan was numbed by Sanhong's brother and Caoshan Mine.

I stayed at Senior Brother Xiao Cai's house for an afternoon, and then had dinner with their repeated attempts. When I went out, the sky was already dim. Before the moon rose, the dark wind blew the bare treetops, making a slight husky sound. I walked alone on the ink-colored street, like a vain weed filled with loneliness.

Sister Hong, why haven’t you come back yet?
Chapter completed!