60s Splendid Life

In winter, the sun sets early and the weather is cold. The doors and windows in the house are closed, and the inside is dark and airless, and all the smells are stuffy inside.

"Your grandfather lives in this room. I'll go and have a look. I don't know if he's awake or asleep." Lu Jianguo opened the door of the room and went in. As soon as he entered, he could see a person lying on the bed. The room was a little dark. He went to light up the kerosene lamp by the bed, turned the wick, and the room was bright, and it was only a little brighter when he walked in.

Lu Jin, who was following behind, stepped into the house and smelled a very stinky smell of excrement. It was the smell of someone who had defecated and urinated in the house for a long time and hadn't cleaned it up. After sending him off, he stepped back half a step and stood outside the door, hesitating whether to go in. At this time, he had to admire his uncle for staying inside.

"Daddy, daddy, wake up, wake up, I've brought you food. Can you see who came to see you?" Lu Jianguo was used to the smell in the house, because he was always there on weekdays. Come in to feed the old man and clean the house, and basically no one else comes here, he woke up the half-asleep old man on the bed, and asked: "Dad, look, who is coming to see?" is you."

Hearing his son's voice, Lu Laogen tried to open his eyes, his vision was blurred and he couldn't see clearly. He asked in an old and feeble voice, "Who's here?"

"Xiaojin came to see you and brought you meat. Do you want to get up and eat? Let me help you up and eat." Lu Jianguo picked up two pillows from the side and placed them on the head of the bed, putting his paralyzed father Get up and lean on.

"Oh, good, Xiao Jin is here, good." Lu Laogen's tailbone was broken, he couldn't even sit up, and he could only lie down halfway to eat. There is also a son who will never leave him as his own father, and he is afraid that he will not live until today.

However, despite being taken care of by someone, Lu Laogen, who has been lying in bed for a long time, is much thinner than he was a year ago. Lying on the bed is like a living skeleton, just struggling through the day.

Hearing that his grandson came to visit him, Lu Laogen tried his best to open his eyes wide to see his grandson clearly. Who would have thought that after he became paralyzed, except for the eldest son who took care of him day and night, none of the other sons and daughters came to visit him, even None of the grandsons he loved the most in the past served him, but this grandson who had severed ties with him came to see him and brought him meat.

Hearing the people in the room talking about him, Lu Jin stepped into the room. When he got closer, he was shocked to see the old man lying on the bed. This was the first time he saw the old man after he was paralyzed. Thinking of becoming what he is now, it's no wonder his uncle and second uncle said that the old man's time is numbered.At this moment, all the resentment he had in his heart disappeared, not because he forgave, but because he felt that it was not important, and it was not worth spending so long to resent someone, so at this moment, he faced the old man's pain again. At that moment, his heart became very calm instead, "Grandpa, I'll come and see you, are you okay?"

"Hey, good." Hearing the voice, Lu Laogen still recognized which grandson this grandson was. The old man tried to lift his hand trembling, but he couldn't lift it after working hard for a long time.

When Lu Jin saw the old man's movements, he didn't take the initiative to hold the old man's hand. He was able to visit the old man today, but it didn't mean that he forgave what the family had done to his brothers and sisters. He just I didn't want to offend my conscience, and I didn't want to face rumors from outsiders, so I came here for this trip.

But even so, this grandson who threatened to sever ties with him was able to visit him, which still made Lu Laogen very excited, but now he is paralyzed, and the movements of his limbs can't keep up with his brain. The body that obeys the command of the brain is still alive.

"Xiao Jin took his younger brother to the city to get medical treatment, and he just came back recently." Lu Jianguo's words explained that his nephew didn't come to visit his grandfather for so long, but he was not at home, so he didn't come.

Lu Laogen let out an oh-oh, but couldn't say what he wanted to say.

"Father, let's eat. You can drink some soup first." Lu Jianguo opened the lid of the basket containing the rice, put the lid aside, brought out the vegetables and vegetables inside, put them on the table, and spooned the soup to feed him. The father drank and continued: "Today the pig was killed in the village, and the eldest son's mother took the pork and made broth. You can try it and see if it tastes good."

A spoonful of soup tasted in the old man's mouth, and a little soup overflowed from the old man's mouth. Lu Jianguo was used to it. He picked up the towel hanging on the side and wiped the old man's mouth before continuing to feed the old man the soup.

"The Chinese New Year is only a few days away, and we can have a good year this year."

After feeding half a bowl of soup, the old man pushed his hand.

Knowing that his father meant no soup, Lu Jianguo put down the soup bowl, picked up the bowl filled with rice and fed the old man again, and took a piece of braised pork for the old man to eat, "And this braised pork, yes Xiao Jin brought it, try it and see if it tastes good."

When his uncle was feeding Lu Laogen, Lu Jin stood not far from the bed and looked at the old man who had to be fed on the bed, and the old man who used to sit on the highest seat in the house. The feudal patriarchs high in the mountains can't get in touch with each other at all.No matter how strong a person was when he was young, when he was old, he would have to be fed to his mouth even when he was lying on the bed. At this moment, he suddenly lost all interest in staying in this room.

"Uncle, I will go back first."

"Ah, are you going back? Oh, it's better to go back earlier."

After the people finished watching and the things were delivered, Lu Jin said goodbye to his uncle, and after saying goodbye to the old man, he turned and went out.

When he went out, he just heard the sound of someone opening the door of the opposite room. He subconsciously looked up and saw an old lady with disheveled hair opened the door of the room and came out. The old lady Lu who is the only one in this house is his own grandmother.

Lu Jin looked at the old lady Lu expressionlessly, without even the desire to call out "Grandma", so he walked out.

The old lady Lu was stunned for a moment before she realized who the one who had just left was. The old lady hopped to the door with her little feet, but she was already gone. The old lady spat on the ground and scolded her unfilial children Only then did he carry a bag of grain to the kitchen to cook.

The old lady who didn't like everything saw a few girls cooking in the kitchen, and she couldn't help cursing.

"What's the matter with my daughter, I provoked you, what are you doing scolding my daughter?"

Chen Aihong, who was in the opposite room, heard her mother-in-law scolding her daughter, and couldn't help but ran out to argue with her mother-in-law, and the two quarreled again.

When Lu Jianqun heard that his wife was arguing with his mother, he didn't dare to go out to help. He couldn't help his wife and mother quarrel, but if he dared to help his mother, he would have to be cleaned up by his wife when he returned to the house. I understood that he just needs to stay away from the quarrel between the wife and the old lady, and he can't afford to provoke either of those two women.

Lu Jianguo, who was inside the house, was holding a bowl to feed his father, and he was already used to the sounds of quarreling outside.

***

Lu Jin couldn't hear the excitement in the old house, and he had already returned home by this time.

Before he went out, he had already heated up the dishes, and when he came back, the dishes were still hot in the pot, and there were pancakes left at noon, but a few children said they didn’t want to eat pancakes, so he grabbed a handful of vermicelli and put them in the meat Cooked together, the cooked vermicelli absorbs the soup, becomes soft and fat, and tastes good.

The children and the elderly in the family each had a big bowl of vermicelli and meat, and each had an egg.

In the evening, Murong Zhende took the meal and went back to their room to eat together.

After they had dinner, it was already dark outside. Lu Jin packed up some dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them. He didn't dare to wash dishes in cold water in this weather. in the water.

In winter, two large pots of hot water are boiled in the pot of their kitchen every night, not only for washing dishes but also for bathing.But the weather in winter is really too cold, and they don't take a bath every day, they take a shower every few days, wash their hair once a week, and the rest of the time they just get some hot water to go back and wipe their bodies, and change the clothes that are close to them.

Compared with other people who don't take a bath for ten days and a half months, Lu Jin pays more attention to hygiene in this respect. He really can't stand not taking a bath for a month or two, or even a whole winter, so they The adults and children in the family usually take a bath every three days, and change their clothes more frequently. The clothes are hung outside the yard to dry every day.

"Come fetch water, right? Be careful not to burn it." While Lu Jin was washing the dishes, the older sister brought her younger brother to fetch the bath water. Seeing her elder sister carefully filling the bucket with a spoon, she knew that her elder sister He couldn't burn himself like this, so he didn't help.

"Brother, shall we wash our bodies tonight or take a bath?" Lu Qinglian scooped hot water into the wooden bucket and asked her brother.

"When did you take a bath?" Lu Jin thought for a while and thought that the last time the children took a bath was a few days ago, but today it's so late and so cold, he said: "How about You can wash it at noon tomorrow, it’s already late today, go wash your body and go to sleep.”

"Oh, okay. Brother, I want to wash my hair tomorrow."

"Okay, let's wash together tomorrow."

After Lu Qinglian filled the hot water, she poured a few spoonfuls of cold water into the pot for cooking, added two sticks of firewood to the stove, and then called her younger brother to help, and the two of them went out with half a bucket of hot water. Bring it back to the opposite room.

After a while, grandpa came out with a wooden bucket to fetch cold water, and went back to wipe the bodies of several grandchildren.

The sister over there went back to her own house with a bucket of hot water.

After Lu Jin cleaned up the things in the kitchen, he saw that there was no water in the water tank, so he went out to fetch water with the bucket, and poured the water back into the water tank, filled the kitchen water tank with water, put the food container Close the cabinet and cover the bottles and jars on the table.

Although there are no mice and cats in the house now, things still need to be packed just in case.

There are also these freshly made bacon outside, which should also be packed back and hung under the eaves, and left to dry in this place.

When he came back to the house from the outside, his grandfather had already taken a few children to tell stories on the kang. He listened so intently that he didn't even hear him enter the door.