Two villages give birth to butterflies

  Li Ming was stunned for a while, his mind went blank, and he didn't come to his senses until after a while. He looked down at the clothes on his body, the pants, and the shoes on his feet, but couldn't even remember how old he was now. Feeling a bit confused, he decided to head home first. Anyway, judging from his appearance, he hadn't traveled to another place, and his parents were probably still the same. She didn't want them to be white-haired people sending off black-haired ones.

  Li Ming pushed the cart slowly towards home, the road was still familiar, after a few turns he arrived in front of his own house's iron red gate. The gate wasn't closed, it was slightly ajar. He used the cart's front wheel to push open one side of the door and pushed the cart into the yard.

  This was still her family's old house, and later when her parents became wealthy, they moved to the village entrance and built a building. Li Ming listlessly raised his head to look at the old house, as if he were dreaming of looking at an old photo.

  When his eyes fell on the two little rascals by the small well in the vegetable garden, he was so angry that he almost slapped himself in the mouth.

  She remembered that she was eight years old this year and should have started school, but because her twin siblings at home had no one to take care of them, her mother planned to let her stay at home for another year to take care of the children before starting school late. As a result, on the day she collided with her aunt, her mother was furious when she returned home in the evening and found that the two little ones were so dirty that they couldn't be seen as human beings, and Li Ming hadn't taken care of the geese in the enclosure, and the big yellow dog at home had bitten two to death. , and also made the newly sprouted small white vegetable field look like it wasn't. So her mother was very angry, picked up a fire stick and beat her, Li Ming was so scared that she quickly escaped under the stick, her mother didn't catch up with her in one go, and in anger, she picked up a steamed bun that had just been bought - at that time, it was a rare thing to eat only a few times a year. , and casually threw it at Li Ming, unfortunately, the accuracy was not good, and it didn't hit.

  Originally, Li Ming's mother, Cheng Min, was not a nagging person. She would scold the child and then let it go without bringing up past grievances. But that day, Li Ming seemed to have gone crazy, as if he had bumped his head, and turned around to provoke her: "Hey, you can't hit me."

  Li Ming suspected afterwards that she must have hit her head badly, otherwise she wouldn't be like this.

  Old Lady Cheng Min was furious, picked up something by her hand and threw it out, scolding:

  "I'll beat you to death, you little runt!"

  Li Ming hadn't become nearsighted at that time, his eyesight was very good, he saw the bullet shot by her mother with one glance, got scared and changed color, hastily turned around and ran, didn't run a few steps before hearing a loud noise behind him, hastily jumped up, a big brick slipped past under Li Ming's feet, scaring her into a cold sweat.

  This experience was unforgettable for her and her mother.

  Qie Mian is unforgettable. I've never seen such an annoying child. If this were to really happen, she would be miserable for the rest of her life.

  Li Ming is unforgettable. Look at my skills. How agile. And those white buns rolling on the ground, spewing fragrance - what a precious weapon.

  The mother and daughter made up with each other while squatting by the stove burning fire last night.

  Moreover, Li Ming moved his mother with emotion:

  "Mom, you said if I'm beaten up, my dad will scold you when he comes back. If I get hurt, who'll take care of the kids for you then?" Is it that easy to find free child labor?

  Li Ming's mother had red eyes and also felt very regretful.

  Li Ming also realized that taking care of children at home is not a good job, the risk is too great, so he thought about going to school.

  The situation was stronger than her, and she didn't go to school until the second year.

  Li Ming suddenly found himself back to life, standing at the door and thinking for a moment. For now, let's not talk about anything else, today he mustn't make his mom angry enough to hit him, it's too wasteful of food.

  And those two little brats are also very unlikable.

  Quickly parking the car to one side, rolling up sleeves, taking a few swift steps to get beside the muddy monkeys, one hand... ouch, so painful, one by one, dragging them to the washing basin on the stairs. Using the half basin of murky water in the large washing basin, first giving the two little rascals a head wash.

  Two little cubs were quite happy, playing with a loud crash. Seeing the water change color, they poured out and scooped up half a basin of water to give them a thorough cleaning. Only then did they drag them into the house, wiping them clean with towels. Revealing two white and tender beautiful babies.

  Among the three children in Li Ming's family, Li Ming is considered delicate and not very outstanding. On the other hand, her two younger siblings, a boy and a girl, grew up to be handsome and beautiful, respectively, and are both exceptional individuals. Unfortunately, they are not very diligent or hardworking, and stopped studying after high school. However, they both married well, with their spouses coming from families with good conditions.

  So Li Ming and his sister had a pretty comfortable life, although they still loved to complain.

  Now Li Ming returned to his childhood, looking at these two little kids, he couldn't describe what kind of mood he was in.

  "Sister, I'm hungry." Little brother Li Lianhui looked at her with eager eyes, interrupting Li Ming's daze.

  "Oh, I'm hungry, waiting..."

  It seems that she was not very good when she was young, no wonder her mother scolded her and left the two children behind to practice cycling alone. It's no wonder she got hit by someone. Alas... Actually, Li Ming was just an eight-year-old kid at that time, what responsibility could he have? But now they are adults, their feelings are naturally different.

  Li Ming walked into the kitchen, lifted the lid of the pot and took a look. It was empty, with only a large iron pot that had been scrubbed clean. He opened the small door of the cabinet on one side, and on the top layer of the reed curtain, there were several corn flour pancakes. Except for bowls, chopsticks, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, there was nothing else left.

  Li Ming's nose was a bit sour, and he suddenly remembered that at that time, they were so poor. In a year, they could not eat fine rice or white flour noodles more than a few times. Cornmeal pancakes and millet rice were their staple food. It's completely different from now, when they're tired of eating meat and are particular about having fresh green vegetables and fruits.

  Looking at the younger brother and sister's eager appearance, she picked up a cold corn cake. At that time, the corn cakes were not as refined as they are now, let alone with added sugar, beans, white flour or millet flour, the texture was rough and the taste couldn't be compared, but this was their daily staple food.

  Li Ming took a deep breath and pulled out the glass bottle with less than half of the bean oil left inside.

  "Wait a minute, it's going to be good."

  She poured some oil into the pot, added straw to the stove and lit it, and made two small pancakes for each of them, golden yellow in color. Watching her brother and sister eat with such relish, she thought to herself that even if their mother came back and beat her for wasting oil, it would be worth it.

  It's also heart-wrenching, more than 20 years have passed, she really forgot that when she was a kid, they were so poor, at that time it seemed like everyone wasn't rich, and there were many families poorer than theirs.

  She changed into two small clean clothes, which were the leftover clothes she wore when she was young and the old clothes of her aunt's children in the city. Some places even had patches.

  After finishing the meal, she sent two younger ones to play and strictly forbade them from getting their clothes dirty again. Then she started cleaning up the house, without having the energy to carefully think about what was going on with her now.

  As she gathered the clothes her siblings had taken off, she searched for anything that needed washing. Only then did she carefully examine her surroundings - this home from twenty years ago could truly be described as "bare and empty", with newspaper pasted on the walls and ceiling, a half-new, half-old reed mat spread out on the kang, and the wooden edge of the kang bearing the natural grain pattern of the wood, smooth to the touch from frequent rubbing.

  On the ground near the back window, there were two wooden trunks that stored all the clothing and daily necessities of their family. On top of the trunks, a row of objects such as snowflake-shaped soap, small mirrors, cups, etc. were placed against the wall. On the opposite wall hung a large mirror with a purple-red frame, about the size of a newspaper page, on which was pasted a picture of Chairman Mao and a sun shining brightly. The purple-red frame showed the old age of this era. Below the mirror stood an eight-immortals table in purple-red color, with some patches of red lacquer worn off.

  Although there aren't many things at home, they are still tidy and clean, with no clothes waiting to be washed. Li Ming didn't bother looking anymore, took his siblings' dirty clothes out to wash them.

  Li Ming sat on the steps in front of the house, washing clothes with a washboard, while keeping an eye on the goose pen and the big yellow dog, as well as the two little cubs playing. The family was already so poor that they couldn't afford to let the big yellow dog ruin their property. The eggs laid by these geese could not only improve the family's diet but also be sold at the market for some money, which would help supplement the household expenses.

  Li Ming quickly washed and hung out the clothes.

  Watching the two little ones playing with sand on one side, they're quite happy. Fortunately, the sand is pretty clean and refreshing, much better than mud. Turning back to enter the house, she carefully examined every nook and cranny of the three rooms again. The more she looked, the more despondent she felt in her heart. More than 20 years ago, under such conditions, her parents had step by step enabled their three children to live a rich life. Now seeing the scene from back then was like a dream, she asked herself if she would have had the confidence to endure that hardship and work hard every day with hope, trying all means to change this situation.

  She thought of many friends and classmates' homes, which should have been about the same back then, and couldn't help but feel a deep respect for this generation.

  Soon, her mother, who had been working overtime at a construction site behind the village, got off work. Seeing that Li Ming had washed clothes and his siblings were very clean, she praised Li Ming for a few sentences, and didn't ask about Li Ming's waste of oil either. She gave each of the three children a steamed bun bought from the army cafeteria, then went to the cellar to pick up a big white cabbage stored last year and started making dinner.

  Younger brother and sister are eating white and fluffy steamed buns, happily jumping up and down.

  Li Ming sat in the kitchen making fire for her mother, holding a steamed bun in one hand and eating slowly. She was indeed a bit hungry, but felt somewhat numb.

  Looking at her mother's young and fair face, busy in front of the steaming stove, her slender figure and raven-black shoulder-length hair showed the mature charm unique to a young married woman.

  That's right, her mother was indeed a beauty back then. When she was young, she didn't understand things, and when she grew up, through old photos, she just thought that her eyes were bright, her face was pretty, and she looked a bit rustic. You can't see more from the ID photo.

  Now Li Ming looks at his young mother with the eyes of an adult, and compares her to her plump figure more than 20 years later, which has a different flavor in his heart.

  And her father, who seemed to have never aged, from thirty to fifty years old, always looked the same, with an ordinary appearance and few words, forming a sharp contrast with his mother, who was fiery and hot-tempered.

  At that time, Father was working in the sales department of a winery in the town, a large collective enterprise.

  At night, the whole family had a meal of bok choy soup, with scallions, small white vegetables and small cabbage dipped in sauce, and they ate a delicious meal of rice balls.

  That day, Li Ming's fate changed a bit. At least she wasn't chased by her mother with a steamed bun and a brick, but was praised instead. However, Li Ming lay on the kang, listening to her father's loud snores and her younger siblings' soft snores, tossing and turning.

  She didn't understand what was happening to her, that well should still be in use by people drinking from it now, how did she manage to squeeze through such a small gap back then when she was little?

  Her boyfriend doesn't know what happened to him, the only comfort is that she is still with her parents, but what's going on in this world, what exactly happened?

  For three consecutive days, Li Ming did not go out to play with his buddies, but stayed at home to take care of the children, do chores and keep an eye on the big yellow dog.

  The child suddenly became sensible and capable, her mother was quite happy, but the originally quiet child seemed to be even less talkative. However, the couple were too tired every day and didn't pay much attention.

  Sneaking away when no one was paying attention, Li Ming went to the big well twice again, but her eyes were about to pop out, and the water in the well didn't change at all, she was still herself. She was even scolded by Zhang Da Shu who lived nearby for being a naughty child, fearing that she might fall in if she wasn't careful.

  Li Ming had no choice but to accept the fact that she was back in the past after several days of adaptation. This matter really couldn't be told to her parents, in rural areas, saying someone came back to life is a curse word, even if she said it, her mother would say she's dreaming. Anyway, let's just consider it as having had a dream of growing up.

  Perhaps I was just dreaming after all, Zhuangzi and the butterfly, who knows? But anyway, life has to go on, doesn't it?