The Siheyuan of the Young Educated Youth

In 2010, in the mountains of Northeast China, the sky was covered with snow and small blue snowflakes were floating. In front of an old house with three rooms, an old lady with gray hair was leaning on a stick and looking at the mountains in the distance. I don't know if she was reminiscing, missing, or waiting.

An old lady wearing a bright red Tang suit cotton jacket, black pants, and black cotton leather shoes passed by the door. Seeing the old man standing outside, she came over to greet her: "Sister Liu, are you waiting for the child to come back?"

The old man looked at her and said, "It's so cold, what are you doing?"

The old lady in Tang suit said: "My third son has brought his children back to celebrate the New Year. I'm going to the store to buy snacks for them. I'm afraid your children won't be back for a while. Last night, the third son treated guests to a meal at the Dejuyuan Hotel in the city. I saw your four sons with their wives and children and their father's family also having dinner there. I'm afraid they will be back in the evening. You should go back to your room and wait! You can have a reunion this year."

The old man was stunned for a moment: "I just came out to get some fresh air and take a walk. Go quickly, the child is still waiting at home!"

The old lady in Tang suit: "I'm going to go, you should come in too! It's going to snow heavily." After saying that, she walked quickly towards the store.

The old man walked back into the house with his cane.

It was a cloudy and snowy day, and the old house became increasingly darker. The old man slowly turned on the light. The light bulb had not been replaced for a long time and emitted a dim light.

The old man took the stove hook and walked out of the house again. He lifted the wooden lid of a ground jar in the yard, hooked out the chicken inside with the stove hook, and slowly brought it back into the house.

He came out again slowly, this time with a big carp in a plastic bag. The old man's hand holding the plastic bag was brown and black, full of wrinkles, with thick and deformed joints, and a little stiff due to the cold.

The old woman went in and out again and again, taking all her beef, mutton, pork, and ribs back into the house.

After years of running in the mountains, he developed severe rheumatism and was unable to move around easily, so he cooked while sitting down.

I kept muttering to myself: "I saw it this year, but I don't know if I will be able to see it next year!"

From time to time, she looked at the door and out the window, and there was a voice in her heart: "They will not come back for the New Year."

The child's father's second wife runs a fruit shop, the conditions are good, and the children love to go there. This old house, the old lady, is also sick, ah!

But I was also looking forward to it. What if they came back? No matter how painful or tired my legs were, I still insisted on cooking. I couldn't let the children come back without a hot meal.

……

The bell of the Spring Festival Gala rang, and the melody of Unforgettable Tonight played on TV.

The food had already gone cold. The old man sighed and stood up to turn off the TV. As soon as he stood up, he suddenly fell down...

After an unknown amount of time, Mrs. Liu opened her eyes, stood up, and saw herself lying on the ground. Snowflakes were flashing on the TV, the windows were covered with frozen window grilles, and it was already slightly brighter outside.

A new year begins!

Her hard-working life was over!

Since no one cares about her, she doesn't have to care about others.

She wants to let go of everything!

Just don’t know where to go next?

Suddenly, a strong force pulled her from behind, and she flew backwards at high speed, passing through walls and mountains without any resistance. In a blink of an eye, she felt her back hit a piece of iron plate and suddenly stopped. Then she heard a female voice: "Wake up, wake up, get up, get up, we have arrived at the station, we have arrived at the station! People at the door, please make way, please make way, people are getting on and off the train, please make way, don't block the door..." As she spoke, her feet were kicked several times. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a female steward in her thirties, holding a key in her hand, clearing the person sitting in the aisle of the train.

Isn’t this the train she took to go to the countryside in August 70?

Is she reborn?

Her father, who was an honest factory worker, and her mother, who was a temporary worker, used all the family savings over the years to buy a spot for her brother to work in the factory. She had no choice but to come to the mountains in the northeast to work in the countryside, carrying her baggage.

The little girl back then was timid, aggrieved, confused, fresh and full of yearning... She was gone for the rest of her life and never left.

She was sad and upset when her parents gave up on her; she cried because of the hard work; she felt regretful that she couldn't abandon her husband and children when others went back to the city to take college entrance exams; she struggled to support the family and raised four sons while her husband was in prison, but she divorced him and married another woman when he was released from prison, and she hated him; she missed her children and grandchildren when they went to the city to work and live; she felt lonely living alone in the mountains!

……

Now that I'm reborn, I'll change the way I live.

She stood up, lifted the luggage under her butt, and moved to the side to make way.

The train slowly pulled into the train station. There was a long whistle blast, and the train suddenly stopped. My head almost hit the train carriage, and then the train stopped.

The female attendant opened the door, and a fresh breeze with fine raindrops floated into the carriage, diluting the turbid air in the carriage. Qi Feifei felt much more energetic.

A man was carrying two travel bags and had a child about one year old slung across his back. The child was sleeping soundly, and his saliva wet the man's clothes.

The woman was holding a little girl of four or five years old in one hand and carrying a basket in the other. In the basket was a chicken covered with a cloth.

The four people took care of each other as they got off the train, covered each other with plastic sheets, and walked into the drizzle.

An old man wearing a half-new, buttoned, double-breasted jacket, holding a pipe in one hand with a pipe pouch dangling from the pipe stem, climbed onto the train holding the handrail with the other hand, and brushed off the raindrops on his body with his hand.

An old lady at the back was wearing a dark blue jacket with a large collar. It was very smooth and looked as if it had been carefully ironed. She was carrying a basket around her waist with about thirty or forty eggs padded with straw. The old lady used her hands and arms to block the rain to prevent the eggs from getting wet.

The female stewardess helped her onto the bus, reminding the old lady to be careful when she stepped on the bus, as the stairs were slippery due to the rain and there were many people on the bus, so be careful not to get eggs squeezed on them, as they were very precious.

The old lady happily muttered that all this was saved for her daughter, who had given birth to a big fat boy and needed the money to produce milk.

Qi Feifei looked at this scene and the corners of her mouth rose unconsciously, but suddenly froze. In her previous life, when she saw this scene, she was clearly in tears.

My parents gave all their love to my brother.

After buying the ticket, she only had 50 cents left in her pocket. Her parents didn't give her any more money or tickets. The clothes and bedding they gave her were all worn out over the years. She didn't even have cotton shoes or hats, and she didn't even have food to eat on the way.

My mother said that the family was really short of money and had not received the next month's food allowance yet. It was really difficult. My father and brother still had to go to work and they couldn't go hungry. She asked her to be patient and everything would be fine once she got to the educated youth center.

On the train, she watched other educated youth carrying large and small bags and eating the steamed buns, dumplings, snacks and fried dough twists brought by their parents, while she was left hungry.

That's why she sat in the aisle near the train door. She was so sad. Seeing other families were so warm and happy, she could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

Decades passed and everything faded away.

Thinking of this, she quickly reached into her pocket, and the fifty cents was still there!

This body has not eaten for two nights and one day!

When I thought about it, my stomach started to ache from hunger. I pressed my stomach with my hand. Alas, that huge table of food before I died was wasted!

I shook my head. No matter how much I ate, it wouldn’t satisfy my current hunger. What was I thinking?

Where can I get something to eat now? I turned my head unconsciously and looked around, hoping to see someone eating and see if I could buy some.

The flight attendant has already left. At this hour, those who need to sleep can sleep, and those who need to take a nap can take a nap.

Ah! I'm so hungry!