When I was a child, the family was poor, three sisters, my father worked in the printing plant, more than twenty yuan a month, my mother went to the suburbs to dig up some wild vegetables, because I lived in the city, there was no land, my mother had no culture, I relied on my father's meager income to support the whole family, I paid five yuan to my grandfather's family every month, and then I went to the coal factory more than ten miles away to pull a rack of loose coal, a cart of coal for five yuan, my father pulled in front, my mother and sister and I pushed in the back, although at that time I was only six years old, my sister was nine years old, in the end there were more people, and my sister urinated to let me stay at home.
At that time, there were many people pulling coal, many, basically rack cars, from the unknown day to the coal plant, to go late or off work, or no coal, just wait, sometimes wait for a day, some simply put on the cover, wait outside the factory door until dawn, line up to the front of the line.
In order to pull on the coal early, my father always went to pull coal at six o'clock in the afternoon, put a broken quilt on the car, generally the mother always went, the family left my sister three, sometimes let my sister and I go, potholed dirt road, empty car when I went, my father pulled me and my sister, when I came back, it was not OK, the steamed buns and water I brought were always eaten half in advance by my sister and me, at that time I felt that the New Year was really good, I could eat dumplings, I could wear _ blue twill pants, a red cloth shirt, my father gave each person two cents, it felt very happy.
_ To Chinese New Year's Eve night, after eating dumplings, I put the new clothes on the bedside, went to bed early, just dawn, heard the sound of cannons, put on the new clothes, went to the street to play, it was cold, it was early, there was no one on the street, quietly, occasionally there were firecrackers sounding a few times, the red couplets posted by the shops on both sides of the street, brushed together, red and bright, very good-looking.
Turned around and went home, my mother cooked the dumplings, we couldn't wait to eat, and then went to the street to play, at this time the people on the street gradually increased, wearing coarse cloth new clothes three three two two, more and more, all go to the East Street to see the twisted rice song, people are really many, four villages and eight townships are coming, the crowds of people, heard the gongs and drums noisy, lively, covered with two cents in the bag do not know what to buy, selling things there are balloons, peanuts, melon seeds, sugar cane, fireworks, flowers and rice peaches, and so on. Put the hot two cents and buy five cents of candy, there are six candies. Bought five cents of sugar cane, two or three knots long, saved _ dime and went home, ran for half a day, tired
At the end of the year, the mother pointed to the empty face jar and said to her father worriedly, Alas, it is time to roll over, the year is good, the month is difficult! Father comforted, it's okay, I worked more overtime this year, the babies went to school after wheat day, the place to spend money was more miles, my father worked overtime every day, overtime every day, went to work at 7:30 in the morning, left work at 11:30 in the evening, my father was tired of back pain every day, plastered, and lived day after day.
In August, my sister and I went to school, the tuition fee was fifty cents, my father did not pay at that time, my mother took the eggs saved in the basket to the store for some money, seven cents for eggs, just enough to pay the tuition.
Fast forward to the late autumn, the father is not in good health, the salary has not been paid, the school let me pay the book fee and miscellaneous fees, me and my sister each _ yuan, there is no money in the family, the teacher urged several times, I let my mother borrow money, at that time were generally poor, there was no extra money, turned _ circle, did not borrow, the mother went home empty-handed, sitting on the wooden bed with a dejected head, the meal was not done, the father came back, asked, said let go to the cousin's house, his cousin's family is in business, the conditions are better, borrow two yuan, at the end of the month the salary will be returned to her, the father ate a few rounds of dry bread, After drinking the water, I went to work.
I clearly remember that when school was out in the afternoon, my mother and I came to my cousin's house, shouted the door, no one agreed, patted the door knocker again, no one responded, ready to turn my head back, heard an impatient voice from inside, who, what is called, playing cards, the voice did not fall, the door opened from the inside. The eldest cousin was sleepy-eyed, her hair was messy, she was wearing a coat, kicking and pulling on the slippers standing in front of her, _ look at us, the feeling of disgust immediately poured out, yo, is it you, is there anything wrong? The mother plucked up the courage to explain her intentions, and the eldest cousin said coldly, Oh, this matter, why didn't you say it earlier, yesterday I saved the money, there is no change in the family. The mother was stunned, then we returned, said to turn around and want to leave, : Alas, wait, the eldest cousin stopped us again: Oh, I still have some money, wait, I will go to get it to you, the province will meet the cousin to complain about me later. After saying that, I pedaled into the courtyard, and my mother and I stood in the doorway.
_A while, the big cousin came out, handed the money to the mother, I don't know if the mother did not pick up, or the big cousin's hand was loose early, the mother took an empty, the money landed on the ground, I want to bend down to pick it up, good coincidence_ the autumn wind blew, the big cousin entered the courtyard, closed the door, the mother stood in the doorway, looking at the street, looking lonely, I don't know what to think? And I went to chase the four fifty cents that tumbled with the falling leaves, and the wind blew the yellowed autumn leaves into the corner of the alley, and the crumpled paper money lay pitifully in the fallen leaves, so weak and helpless, I bent down to pick it up, smoothed the money, handed it to my mother, who took the money, pulled me silently, and went back quietly.
Many years later, our family conditions gradually improved, and getting better and better, but I always remember that difficult time, and then the eldest cousin's family fell into difficulty, my father tried his best to help them, so that they could get through the difficulties, although the money borrowed in that year was returned to the eldest cousin a few days later, but my father said, no matter what, I helped us in those years, we must remember that this kindness must be repaid, and my father's words _ sounded directly in my ears.
Although my father has been dead for a few years, whenever the autumn wind rises and the leaves fall, I think of the old days, and now that the conditions are better, my father is gone, alas, in that era, my father's generation was not easy, but fortunately, with the advent of the new era, we no longer suffered from the past.